Snapshots Quilt Along Mini Blocks From Sondra Davison

I found this blog  "Out of the Blue Quilts"and it has measurements to make mini blocks 6 x 8 inches for the Snapshots Quilt Along.  The mini's are SOOO cute!!
Click on the photo to go directly to the blog or use this address: http://outofthebluequilts.com/blog/

Back in the Sewing Room - Social Climber with Jane Dixon Fabric

The Lonely Iron

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After 4 months of illness, I finally gained enough strength to go upstairs to the sewing room, to make this:

Social Climber pattern by Stephanie Prescott,

fabrics by Jane Dixon for Andover Fabrics, called "Low Tide".
Stephanie has lots of patterns that look interesting to make, and Jane's fabrics
are graphic and colorful.  See Jane's website.

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Here is the journey:

Must clean the machine first.  Vacuumed the bobbin assembly and oiled it.

Figuring out the pattern with mostly these low contrast fabrics.

The colors are so soothing, but it makes it much more challenging.

Some of the fabrics.

Arranging.

Cut and pinned together.

Sewn.

Here's my wall of thread.  I think it's kinda cute!

On the frame.

Quilted: used Seafoam green Superior cotton thread, and did an
all-over freehand quilting in a wavelike pattern.

Another look.

Last one!
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You can see the tell-tale polyester batting.  I used to hate polyester batts.  This one is a medium loft,
Mountain Mist brand.  I have found quilts made with this type batt are light in weight, and are warm.
I did not prewash these fabrics, which is against my usual mode of making a quilt.  The fabrics have a wonderful sheen to them, and are a very good quality cotton.
This was an easy construction, once I got the fabrics situated in a satisfactory way for me.
The colors remind me of the ocean.

Buttercream Twist designed by Kim Diehl.....Made Bigger

Buttercream Twist, 80 inches square.

I made it bigger than the pattern called for, which was is 6 x 6 blocks:
In other words- 6 rows by 6 rows (60 inches square).   So I made mine 8 blocks in each row. 
The blocks are 10 inches square, so that makes it easy to figure out, and also, you can throw this on the bed, any way you want to, and not have to worry about which way is up.

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You can find this free pattern online,

click HERE.

Fabric Choices

I used ALL FABRICS from my 30 year + collection.

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Fabric Cut into Strips

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Scant 1/4 inch seam allowance

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Blocks in progress

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Top Finished

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I liked this pattern when I first saw it.  I thought, it looks so easy and very simple, but it didn't turn out that way.  Don't get me wrong, I like Kim D.'s designs, and I love her color schemes of fabrics.  

Here's the problems I had:

1.  The seam allowance had to be less than 1/4 inch, in fact, almost 1/8 inch, to make the unfinished block 10 1/2" inches square.  Even then, I had to trim blocks after pressing, to make them square.

2.  I tried altering the size of the cut strips to make up for this problem, but that didn't work.
3.  I just couldn't figure out the math on this one- to make the sewn unfinished block turn out to be 10 1/2" square.  I tried cutting the strips for the blocks slightly different widths, but it still would not come out right.   I finally gave up and just stayed with a consistent VERY scant 1/4 seam allowance, pressed and trimmed the blocks as necessary.

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  It helped to use the same ruler to trim the blocks.

My advice:  be as accurate and consistent as possible when cutting the fabric for this quilt, and then again when you are piecing it.  It will make a difference in how your blocks turn out.

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My Quilting Design:

I call it "Kite Tails and Doughnuts"!

It is an all-over design, and I used several different round templates to make the doughnuts.

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Last note:   I chose a High Loft 100% polyester batting!  I found out I actually like polyester batting.  It's warmer than cotton, and it gave my quilting design more definition.

I had fun making this quilt, despite the problems and was lucky to finish it before I got sick.