RJ Ward Design

I cannot begin to write about how much I have learned from doing Sew Happy Geek's QAL this past month. When I found Jenna's blog over a month ago I really had no clue what I was doing.  To get you caught up you can find the first blocks here , here , and finally here . This block was called the Quatra Star. Jenna has a video up on her site on how to do this block. It could have been done 2 ways - paper or foundation pieced. After watching the video I decided I'd rather screw up on a piece of paper than a piece of fabric, no matter how scrappy it is. Call me scared but what little fabric I have I need to make the most of it. I've done a few paper pieced blocks from participating in the Solstice Star  blocks by Fresh Lemons Quilts so I felt more comfortable in this technique. Good thing is because my handy, dandy seam ripper came through again for me. When you paper piece you really have to make sure that you have enough fabric to cover the area that it ...

I'm still plugging along on my blocks that I've commited to doing for Quilt Along's. Remember these: here and here . These blocks are the ones I've been doing over at Sew Happy Geek . We're getting to the end of the quilt along,  then the hard part will be what to do with these squares. That's when I need to start practicing some Free Motion Quilting - eek! Onto the blocks since I've had these done since they first came out but I haven't posted about them yet. The block above is called the Churn Dash Redux. Love how those red and black triangles are working. They just POP! The last block I've finished so far is the HST Diamond. That red in the middle reminds of something that I should be staring at and it will change into something. It doesn't but it certainly looks like it could! I can't believe how just scraps of fabric that I've had laying around for years is turning into some beautiful blocks. The last 2 blocks are the...

I've accomplished some more blocks for the Sew Happy Geek Quilt Along. Have I told you how much fun I'm having - I'm having fun! My husband asked me a few days ago what are you going to do with all of these . . . I have no clue is my answer. I'm learning and besides I figure it keeps me busy during the day when I'm not working. First up let me show you the Flying Geese Pinwheel Block. I said I didn't like the white fabric with the blues, red and blacks but I must admit defeat when I say that fabric turned out great in this block. Instead of solid red I found this scrap piece of fabric that I had and used this. Makes my head a little dizzy sometimes looking at it because I literally can see the Pinwheel moving. The black fabric was an after thought and I'm so glad I stuck it in. The next block was the Fireflies Block. The color choices on these blocks amaze me. I'm a very conservative person and using bright reds with black and white is re...

Talk about jumping on the bandwagon with all these quilt alongs. I found another blog that is doing a quilt along called Sew Happy Geek and she's been posting a fun quilt along. I went through my stash of fabric that I had laying around and starting picking some colors. Black, Red, White and also a flower print that I wish I didn't really use because it just isn't fitting in very well. My first block that I did was called the Woven Block. It really seemed to go together very well. I was happy with my seams and when I don't have to rip anything out I'm even happier! Next block was called the Snowball Block. We had to lay 2.5" squares on top of our 6.5" squares. Sew in a diagonal and then cut 1/4" past our seam. Again luck was on my side and the seams and points turned out very well. Friendship Star Block will be my 3rd block for the Quilt Along. What I thought was going to be a very easy block turned into more of a challenge. Those Half...