Daredevils

Daredevils

Working my way through some UFOs: this quilt was from a Barbara Brackman sew-along last summer.  I just got it quilted, and binding sewn around, so it's in the home stretch!

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

Woohoo -- I made it through this series of "challenging pieced blocks!" I've just finished up hand appliqueing the circles at the sashing intersections, and I'm very happy with the look of this quilt top -- it makes me think of a circus or a carnival.

The very odd color scheme was taken from this leaf-print fabric.  I wouldn't normally think of combining kiwi, orchid, maroon and gold, but I think the colors have settled themselves together nicely.  As for assembly, the series was indeed challenging, but I got through all of the blocks!

I'm planning to do echo quilting to outline these uncommon shapes.  It'll be a while before I get to that.  Meanwhile, I'm at that exciting moment when I can put this pile of fabric away and have an empty spot on the table in my workroom. 

 Thank you Barbara for yet another great sew-along! 

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And just when I thought I had the spam thing eliminated, here comes more junk :(

Moderation on, and maybe closing comments completely if this doesn't improve.

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#12 - Evelyn's Star

This final block is named for Evelyn Sharp.

I've been working ahead at getting my blocks pieced and set together.  I'm almost done!!

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#11 - Elsa's Wheel

This week's block is named for Elsa Andersson,
 a parachutist.

One more week to go!!!!!

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#10 Katharine's Wheel

This block is named for Katharine Sui Fun Cheung.

Just two more weeks to go!
I'm trying to sew ahead so I can have my top assembled when the final week's block is released.

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#9 - Florene's 9-Patch

This week's block is named for Florene Miller Watson.

It was actually an easy one!

Making good progress here:
only three more weeks to go.

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#8 Ruth's Compass

This block is named for Ruth Rowland Nichols.

I cut some corner circles this week, and tried the layout both without and with sashing.  I'm inclined toward the version with citron green sashing on the right rather than the direct set with larger areas of plain white on the left.  The sashing seems to emphasize this weird color scheme more.

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#7 - Harriet's Star

This block is named for Harriet Quimby.

Just some Y seams this time -- not too difficult.  I'm going to cut some circles for the corners this week.  I'll lay them in place to see how they look, and to see if I also want to add sashing.

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#6 - Willa's Wheel

This Daredevil block is named for Willa Brown.

Well, this one was difficult!!  Lots of pieces, lots of points, lots of curves.  My block is "quirky" (read: quite imperfect) and maybe I'll redo it one of these days.  Sigh.  Probably not.

We're driving home from our long trip -- in just a few more days I'll be able to actually put my hands on these blocks (and my whole sewing room) again for the first time in six weeks!!!!!!

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along

DAREDEVILS

#5 - Pancho's Garden 

This block is named for

 Florence Lowe 'Pancho' Barnes.

Machine-pieced curved seams this week. 

 My strategy was **many pins.**

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along series

DAREDEVILS

#4 - Helene's Star

This week's block is named for Helene Dutrieu, 

a Belgian aviatrix.

I am machine piecing these blocks, and although they are challenging: so far, so good.  Enough blocks now to begin to see my color scheme: kiwi, orchid and cerise.  (??!!)  Those large empty white spaces will be filled with appliqued circles!

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along series

DAREDEVILS

#3 - Hazel's Star

Our block this week is named for Hazel Ying Lee, who flew for the WASPs during WW II.

 I don't usually use a solid light fabric for background, so this is looking a little bit sparse to me. Despite the bright colored fabrics I'm using for piecing, it seems plainer than my usual scrappy busy style.  I'm thinking about sashing, in addition to the circles I will be appliqueing at the corners of each block. (Cerise printed fabric folded at the bottom.)  But these blocks are in California, and I'm in Massachusetts, so we'll see ... 

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman's weekly sew-along series

DAREDEVILS

#2 Bessie's Sunburst

This week's block is named for Bessie Coleman.  Because these blocks involve such irregular shapes and angles, the potential for biasing and stretching is a concern.  I'm being very mindful of where the straight and bias edges end up when I cut, especially making sure the outer edges of the block are on the straight grain.  When I did the Stars in Her Crown series, I didn't always execute that correctly, which made for some very wavy blocks!

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Daredevils

The first block in Barbara Brackman's new weekly series

DAREDEVILS

has been released.  These will be "challenging" pieced blocks, although this first one wasn't too bad :)

#1 - Amelia's Circle

This week's block is named for Amelia Earhart.  My color scheme will be somewhat dare-devilish (or maybe just odd).  The original quilt design includes pieced-in quarter circles in the corners of each block, but I will applique whole circles over the intersections when I put my blocks together.

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Daredevils

 I spent most of the day puttering with my
 DAREDEVILS project.

Looks like a hot mess here, but I made satisfactory progress with cutting and prepping for hand piecing.

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Daredevils

Barbara Brackman has just announced a new
weekly quilt-along called

DAREDEVILS

The series begins on August 3, and will run for 13 weeks. It will feature challenging pieced blocks.  The blocks will be 15", and with the suggested border, the Daredevils quilt will finish at about 52" x 67".

I wasn't planning to join any new sew-along activities for the rest of this year.  Right now I'm doing Cheddarback, and I will be finishing the blocks for Hospital Sketches soon.  But "challenging piecing" is my soft spot, and I have a set of fabrics already on hand that I think will work perfectly ... so here I go again :)

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