Removing basting threads and The Hexie Blog block of the month project

There are a few more Soupcon blocks posted on the Soupcon FLICKR Group. They are lovely. Jean has used flowers in each and I think that a pile of these stitched together would make a great quilt for a gardener! This is her favourite block. I love the pink flowers and the pink background. It makes me think the flowers were reverse appliqued!

This one is interesting. Notice how the plumes connect in every other inner point. Very interesting and effective technique!

The block below is Jean's first block. She mentioned that she glued the block to the background for applique but then had difficulty removing the basting threads. For her remaining blocks she used tiny applique pins and that's just fine. Use the technique that works the best for you. If you too have difficulty removing the basting threads, here are two HELPFUL TIPS, one for removing basting threads and the other for basting! To remove basting threads that are caught in the glue, place your block right side down on a towel. Place a damp towel on the wrong side of your block and let it sit for a few minutes so soften the glue. The basting threads should slide out no problem. If not, let it sit for a little longer and try again. To avoid this problem altogether, before basting give your star a spritz of starch and a good press with a hot iron. Remove the basting threads and now you can glue (or pin) baste the star to the background. The pressing with starch will keep the seam allowances folded tightly to the wrong side. Now back to this block. This is a great example of each patch not having to be identical.  The roses are slightly different but you still get the movement of them revolving around the center patch. Jean also mentioned that the center patch is slightly off-center but I'll have a fix for that in the next Soupcon installment!

Here is the fourth block Jean made. She has been very busy! Here is another example of something a little different. Notice how Jean has used two different orchids and then alternated them. Lovely! And the brown background is very earthy and organic! It really shows off the block nicely! Jean has done a great job of her blocks. I wonder which one she will use for step 2 which will be released on Friday. So excited!!!!

Several days ago I mentioned a hexagon block of the month being hosted by The HEXIE Blog. I decided to give it a go and here is my January block! It still needs to be appliqued to the background (yet another project for yet another day)! This block was cut out, basted and stitched together in one evening. I expect stitching it to the background will take one more evening. Once it is stitched down I might embellish it with some little bits of applique however once again, that will be yet another project for yet another day! I need more days!

The instructions call for 2.75 yards of background fabric and so I went through my stash. I found two similar fabrics and between the two there is more than enough for backgrounds. Here are the two I chose.

This week I did a demonstration for my Guild and the name of my demo was "Thinking Outside the Half Square Triangle". I really enjoyed doing the demo and tomorrow I'll share with you what I did and what I've been doing! So until tomorrow, happy sewing!

Karen H

Choosing Fabrics for Soupcon, Block Storage Idea & A Hexagon Block of the Month

Missie of Traditional Primitives suggested that I show pictures of the fabrics I purchased for my Soupçon QAL and I am more than happy to do so but I didn't buy any fabrics. I just went to my stash and used what I have. I don't generally purchase fabrics for a specific project; I buy fabrics that tickle my fancy (my fancy is easily tickled judging by the size of my ever growing stash)! If I buy fabrics I like then I find that they tend to work together. I am always looking for subtle neutral prints that work as backgrounds and I also like prints with a great deal of variety in the print so that I have lots of fussy cutting options. With that being said, here are the fabrics I started with for the blue version of Soupçon. The blue print was bought specifically for fussy cutting. I put the star on the dark background on the left. Sorry I meant to take a picture of that but I forgot.

This is sort of the best I can do to show you the two together. They don't match but the work together just fine!

Yesterday I demonstrated the same big blue fabric on a light green stripe background.

These are the fabrics for the red version of Soupçon. I bought the red specifically for fussy cutting.

Missie also suggested that I show how I go about selecting a motif to fussy cut. I don't put a great deal of time into it; I just move my window template around on the fabric until I like what I see and then I start tracing and cutting. I don't have much of an idea of how the star or flower will look so that means I am eager to get sewing so I can enjoy the big reveal! Tomorrow I'll show you some befores (the "raw" fabric) and the afters (the stars I made from the fabric). I hope it will inspire you to get creative and have fun!

Kath asked if it would be a good idea to select her fabrics in advance. It all comes down to how you like to work. I sometimes select my fabrics in advance but usually end up changing my mind as I go along. When you lay fabrics out together you are often seeing equal amounts of each but that isn't the way the block is constructed. And that's why I end up changing my mind. This is a scrap quilt so if you pick fabrics from your stash just give yourself permission to change them as you go along (if you want to that is)!

In my travels around the interweb I came across two interesting things: a hexagon block of the month and an fabulous idea for storing blocks. I am reluctant to store blocks flat because I can't see them and if I can't see them I forget about them. I can't remember where I saw this idea but I thought it was brilliant! A pants hanger was used to store blocks. I think I'll invest in a few more hangers to store blocks in this way.

The second fun thing I found was mentioned on blog I read, Sarah Did It. Sarah is an admitted hexieaholic and she linked up with a Hexie Block of the Month pattern at The HEXIE Blog. If you are truly addicted to hexagons and need just one project this might just fill the bill! The instructions call for 1" hexagons. You can find a master template for 1" hexagons under my tab English Paper Piecing & Hexagon Fun. You can make your Block of the Month Hexagons and store them on a pants hanger!

If you have any questions about the Soupçon QAL please feel free to email me or just leave a comment. I'm more than happy to help and share! So until I post again, keep warm (it is -20C here, -27C with the wind chill) and keep sewing!

Karen H