Monday 12 May 2014

Giant Block on my Design wall

Monday 12 May

On my design wall this morning was this enormous block. At least it's the largest I've ever considered making: each  of the 36 square units measures 6.5" unfinished.


36x36" 
In the meantime I've been sewing, so these squares are all sewn together, completing the centre of the top. All it needs now is the single border and I have my top for the Craftsy course Dot to Dot Quilting with Angela Walters. I should manage to get the border on and the sandwich pinned together this afternoon, ready to continue the course.
I'm looking forward to learning to do straight line FMQ; in the past I've always used the walking foot for straight lines and gentle curves. While that wouldn't be a problem on this scale it is when making a bedquilt, and sometimes having the entire quilt to the right of the needle. I shall be trying the designs on a small practice "quilt" to get the feel of them, and then using them on this pieced quilt to practise combining motifs.
I think that my biggest challenge will be keeping my lines straight, or at least having a minimum of wobble!


I'm linking up with 

stitch by stitchPatchwork Times

Update: Wednesday 14 May

The pieces are all together and borders added. 


I was pinning yesterday when I realised the backing wasn't wide enough so I removed the extension piece I'd added in the middle. Don't ask how I didn't notice until I was pinning! Suffice it to say the quilt top is a little wider than the table and I usually do the pinning on the living room floor. The backing pieces and the wadding are lying on the table waiting for new extension pieces.

Linking up to: 

Sew Fresh QuiltsWednesday link up




Happy sewing

Marly.
Sunshine in the sunshine!






16 comments:

Unknown said...

such a lovely work!
I admire quilters...you must be so patient! lovely colors too!! best wishes Evie

~Kris~ said...

This looks great. Good luck with your course and with the straight line quilting. I will be interested to hear how it goes for you.

Sewgreen said...

That is such a lovely block!! (top?) whatever it is, I love the colors!

Jo Ferguson said...

Making the quilt from one, very large block, is such a wonderful idea. I love your design and colour choices. I can't wait to see how it will look, quilted.

Vireya said...

I'll be interested to hear what you think of the course. It's one I was wondering about, too.

Dar said...

I like your "big" block. Please be sure and tell us how the course goes.

Lisa J. said...

Hi Marly: I've made this quilt too.The problem for me was once I put it together I didn't want to wreck it with my bad beginner quilting....I thought the straight quilting would be easy but I'll have to practice a bit more before I quilt my sample. I like the colours you chose. Mine's hot pink.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

It's looking great Marly, your colours work well together, especially in ht sunlight.

Unknown said...

This is fabulous! Can't wait to see how you quilt it. Great block and colour choice.

Found via Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.

Tanyia said...

I am pretty partial to big blocks, I just love the look of them! Your block is just beautiful and I really like the colors as well.

Stopping by from Lee's hop http://domesticdeficitdisorder.blogspot.com/2014/05/wip-wednesday-may-14th.html

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of a large block for a quilt. I am about to embark on a similar project in the very near future.
I will be very interested to hear about FMQ straight lines, I had only thought of using a walking foot but can see that having the needle on a particular side of the seam might be an issue. Can you change the position of your needle to over come this issue.

Jasmine said...

I love your big block. It is very sunshiney. My boys just gave me a 20.5 inch square ruler because I love giant blocks. They want me to make a giant star, and now I am thinking about other blocks. :)

Vicki in MN said...

I think I need to do large blocks and make it a 30" block add borders and have a 36" neonatal quilt-quick and easy-thanks for the idea!!

Lorna McMahon said...

Love that last little shot of the sunshine in the sunshine, Marly! This is a really sweet finish. I enjoyed reading about your ideas for quilting. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Marly said...

Answer to Clothmaker who has no-reply status.

Because the feed dogs are lowered for FMQ you have to move the fabric yourself while the needle goes up and down as usual. Thus, you're not limited to going only backwards and forwards, but can also go from side to side.
What I meant about having so much fabric to the right of the needle is that if your quilt is 2 metres wide you'll have up to one metre of quilt sandwich rolled up in the small space between the needle and the column on the right-hand side of the machine. When you change direction you have to pull the fabric round, which is both awkward and time consuming. With FMQ you have to move the rolled sandwich much less frequently. You don't change the position of the needle, only the fabric.

I hope this helps

Marly.

Vera said...

Looking good. It'll look even better once quilted! Have fun!