All posts tagged sampler

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 86, 87, 88, 89 and 90/121

It’s almost a month since I last posted some blocks for the Loyal Union Sampler. Sorry about that! I’ve just been doing other things.

They’re all from a book by Jennifer Chiaverini. Without further ado, here’s the next bunch.

First up is Petersburg.This one is called Pinwheel Star. I like it a lot!The next one is Potomac.Here is another one of my favourites, Prosperity.Finally for today is Railroad Crossing.Here’s the virtual quilt so far. Almost 3/4 finished.I’ll try to get the next few done soon.

15 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on October 21, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged civil war quilt, Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on October 21, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-86-87-88-89-and-90-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85/121

Another handful of blocks to share from the book by Jennifer Chiaverini called The Loyal Union Sampler.

The first one is called North Star. If I had all day every day to sit and hand piece I’d be very happy to make lots of these. I found it very challenging but fun to make!

Another one with lots of hand stitching is up next. It’s called Ohio.

Then there’s Oregon. I’d misplaced the photo for this one and thought I’d missed it out! Thankfully, it was in the wallet with the rest.

A nice and easy one called Peace and Plenty.

Last but not least is Pennsylvania.

Here’s the virtual quilt so far.

10 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on September 26, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, quilting, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on September 26, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/09/26/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-81-82-83-84-and-85-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 76, 77, 78, 79 and 80/121

Five more six inch blocks to share today. They’re all from the Loyal Union Sampler book by Jennifer Chiaverini.

The first one is called Missouri Star.

Nevada needed a little hand stitching.

Next is New Hampshire. I like all the different shapes and lines in this one.

The fourth one is New Jersey. Those tiny white triangles….ugh! I know there’s easier ways to construct the same design but this is how it is in the book so I stuck to it.

The final one today is New York State. It’s one of my favourites so far because I think it could make some interesting patterns if repeated in a quilt.

Almost two thirds completed now.

10 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on September 19, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, quilting, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on September 19, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/09/19/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-76-77-78-79-and-80-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 71, 72, 73, 74 and 75/121

Stepping up the pace a bit on the blocks from the Loyal Union Sampler book by Jennifer Chiaverini. I’ve got five more blocks to share today.

First up is Memory which required some hand piecing.

The next one is so plain compared to most of the others. It’s called Memory Chain. A couple of seams needed to be hand stitched.

The third one is Michigan Beauty. I love this design! Some hand sewing needed here as well.

This is Minnesota Lady’s Slipper. Nice and easy but very effective.

Finally, Miss Van Lew’s Star with lots of hand piecing this time.

This was quite a challenging group for me to sew. I enjoyed every minute. Here’s where I’m up to now.

14 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on September 13, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on September 13, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/09/13/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-71-72-73-74-and-75-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 66,67,68,69 and 70/121

Hello again,

At last! Here’s another five blocks from the Loyal Union Sampler by Jennifer Chiaverini. Sorry that I left it so long before getting back to this project. I’ve been doing lots of crafting in the meantime, just not working on the LUS.

First up today is Maine.

This one is called Manassas.

Next up is Manger.

Maryland is next.

Finally, this is Massachusetts.

This bunch was relatively straightforward to put together. Only the size made them a little bit fiddly.

This is where I’m up to now and I promise to keep at this project until all the blocks are done.

This was always going to be a long term project!

12 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on September 9, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, quilting, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on September 9, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/09/09/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-66676869-and-70-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 23, 24 and 25/121

Plodding along with the Loyal Union Sampler from the book by Jennifer Chiaverini.

First up, an easy one called Cornerstone. This is the first block on the third row.

Next is Cotton Boll (funny name). Another quick one to make. I think it has lots of secondary pattern possibilities for a one block quilt with different colour placements. Must try it some time.

The last one was a bit more tricky but very enjoyable to make. I quite like two colour blacks. This is called Crosses and Losses. Again, loads of pattern possibilities for using lots of these in one quilt.

Here’s the virtual quilt so far. The other blocks are shown in previous posts.

We’re snowed in here. The main road near us is closed to traffic and there are several abandoned cars along the route. British weather, eh? Oh well, I’ll just have to sew 😉

7 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on March 1, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged cornerstone, cotton boll, crosses and losses, Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on March 1, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-23-24-and-25-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 20, 21 and 22/121

Hurray! That’s the first two rows finished.

This one is called Combination Star.

Next up is Connecticut.

This is actually my own adaptation of the original block design in the Loyal Union Sampler book by Jennifer Chiaverini which shows all 12 pieces meeting at the centre. I suspect the Moda fabric I’m using is just too thick to work with this block. I had several attempts which seemed to be getting progressively worse in appearance. All went well every time until the final seam and then there was nowhere for all the bulk to go. I tried spiralling the seams, opening them and also pressing to one side but that final seam just didn’t want to play and knocked everything gonky. I even trimmed the seams with no luck. If I’d been working with prints it would have probably been OK but these solids are so unforgiving. Hence, the final solution after discussion with Claire was to piece the centre in 4 instead of 12 and it’s worked really well.

I was initially approaching this project as a purist. I’m usually more than happy to change designs and patterns to my liking but I’d set out to follow this one to the letter and I found it so hard to “give in”. Anyway, after looking at several of the other blocks that are still left to do, I found a couple with appliqué and I definitely have no intention of doing appliqué blocks for this quilt. Once I’d made that decision it was easy to change Connecticut.

Finally, to complete the second row, is a block called Constance’s Pride. You can see the virtual quilt so far to the right of the screen.

Do you ever change designs? Maybe use patterns just as inspiration and then go off on a tangent? I suppose if we do change things it means our projects will be unique.

12 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on February 19, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged Jennifer Chiaverini, Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, sampler, solids

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on February 19, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/02/19/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-20-21-and-22-121/

Loyal Union Sampler Blocks 18 and 19/121.

I’ve been away from the land of blogs for quite a while, except for my three weekly posts at Sewing Beside the Sea. I’m not going to make any excuses because I don’t have any, other than that my spare time was precious and I chose to craft rather than blog. That doesn’t mean I’ve been a crafting Ninja while I’ve been absent but I have made a few things during the last year which I’ll show you now and again if I don’t decide to disappear back into my crafting cave. Yes, it’s over a year since I posted here. My friend Claire has been going on and on at me encouraging me to write some posts so I promised to dip my toes back in again and see how it goes. Claire has been sending me lists of things I’ve made that I could show and write about here, some of which I’d forgotten and others that I hadn’t even bothered to take photos of before they were gifted. She’s even sent me some photos that I’d originally sent her via email in case I needed to use them here. Where would I be without her?

During the last couple of weeks I’ve put on a bit of a spurt with The Loyal Union Sampler from the book by Jennifer Chiaverini. The last time I worked on these dinky 6 inch blocks was in November 2016 so this project was well overdue some of my attention (notice a theme here?).

Anyway, here’s Christmas Star which has a white background in real life and not pale blue. Electric light does my photography no favours. I gave up counting how many pieces it has. Too many for a tiny block but I enjoyed making it.

This is Coffee Mill. I like how it rotates but that isn’t what caused the blurring!

I’ve updated the virtual quilt and I’m pretty determined to make some headway on this project now so watch this space. It would be nice to get the second row completed wouldn’t it?

I hope you’re enjoying a crafting weekend.

10 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on February 17, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Quilting and Patchwork, The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilting, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on February 17, 2018

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/loyal-union-sampler-blocks-18-and-19-121/

The Loyal Union Sampler Block 12/121 (Part 1)

Good evening everyone,

Can you believe it’s eight months today since I last worked on the Loyal Union Sampler from the book by Jennifer Chiaverini? In my last post about this quilt on 29th February, showing block 11, there were 56 teeny weeny pieces of fabric sewn together to make a six inch finished block. You can see it by clicking here. Today, I set myself a different kind of challenge. Three hours later…

I can hear you giggling! This might not look like much progress in three hours to you but it was a huge challenge for me. I now know why this project got put to one side for so long. The next few blocks all have Y-seams which have tested my patience almost to the limit in the past. I had to sew the white patch on several times and take it back off again but I’m now very happy with it. I know Y-seams are so much easier to do by hand and, I suspect this sampler is supposed to be sewn that way, but that’s part of the challenge isn’t it? I will not be beaten!! If it’s virtually impossible to do a three quarter inch long Y-seam on a machine, why not give it a go? Success is so much sweeter when the challenge is tougher 😉

If I can muster more patience tomorrow, I might be able to show block 12 at the left hand end of the second row. There’s still such a long way to go. What tries your patience the most?

24 Comments

by Oh Sew Tempting on October 29, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in The Loyal Union Sampler Quilt

Tagged handmade, interior design, Loyal Union Sampler, patchwork, quilt, sampler

Posted by Oh Sew Tempting on October 29, 2016

https://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/2016/10/29/the-loyal-union-sampler-block-12121-part-1/

Another Happy Dance

Hi everyone,

Ta-daaaaa! Here are some photos of my finished quilt which I promised to share with you the other day. I hope you like it.

If you visit and read this blog regularly you will know that I’ve been participating in a block swap with eleven other ladies who live all over the world. The swap, called Foot Square Freestyle, was organised by Kate and Sue. We were asked to choose a colour scheme for the blocks we’d like to receive and I chose bright blues and purples.

My original plan was to set the blocks on point but the quilt would have been way too big. My finished quilt has turned out to be a very usable 82 inches square. I tried to achieve a stained glass window appearance by adding the thin black sashing and broad frame. I’m really happy with the overall effect.

The backing is a rich purple print and the quilting is simple, so as not to obliterate the strong lines of the blocks. I wanted this quilt to be squishy and snuggly because it is going to be used.

Here are a few photos showing each quadrant.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers, Kate and Sue, and all of the other ladies who sent me these beautiful blocks. I couldn’t have made this without you. It has been so much fun to be part of this group. I’ve already made my final blocks to send all the way to Australia, so apart from tidying up a few loose ends on my own quilt, that’s me done. I look forward to seeing all of the other F2F quilts as they appear in the gallery during the coming months.

Come on ladies, if you’ve received all of your blocks, make a run for the finish line. It feels so good to be Happy Dancing again 🙂