Fifth S.I.X Challenge Completed

Finally put the finishing touches to Barb's challenge block.

I still don't like the diamond block - I should have left out the quilting lines - but it's all about play and learning :)
I have written a poem around the pieces (well actually it's not my poem, but I have hand-written it - if you get what I mean). It is Quilt Teacher's Ten Commandments by Cindy Thury Smith, you will find it here, along with some other quilt related poems. Barb is a school teacher and also takes quilting classes with her own designs, so I figured it was appropriate to include it.
Yay! one more challenge to complete!

How Not To Do It!

OK, so I made the decision not to stitch around the diamond shaped postage stamp fabric. I started stitching a couple of rows around the outside with glitter thread, then stitched across the shapes and 'quilted' it by linking points etc.
Nope - didn't like it :(
The problem is that the 'stamp fabric' shows up the holes if you unpick - a bit like sewing leather.
Ah well! It's not great, I don't like, but I'll just suck it up and perhaps when all the blocks are completed it won't look so bad (but I doubt it!).
Here it is - warts and all:

The third block has triangles of different shapes - you know those mathematical ones like isosceles and equilateral. But we are not going to to have a trigonometry lesson here and I have ignored Pythagorus' theory and hypotenuse didn't even come into it when I was cutting them out! (If you do want a lesson, here is a quick reference).

This time I appli-quilted the pieces with a small blanket stitch using a Madeira gold/black thread so the edges would stand out more. I have considered using the same blanket stitch in wavy lines as a quilting line, but it probably doesn't need it, and to be honest - I find that quite boring!

Hope your day was creative in some way!

Using the Postage Stamp Fabric

As promised in the previous post, here is one of the blocks using the postage stamp 'fabric':

I'm not going to stitch around the pieces - that will get done as part of the quilting - these pieces have been lightly glued in place with Gem Bond (it is my glue of choice when stitching as it is very flexible, dries clear and if you don't like what you have glued down, you have a little time before it sets).
Got to go and buy some batting now! That is one thing which gets whittled down out of the stash - even using all my smaller pieces :(

Have a creative day!

Barb's Block for the S.I.X. Challenge

I have just about finished the edging for S.I.X. challenge number four - Cheryl's block - just having to do a bit of hand stitching.
This is Barb's block, which I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I was quite down (lack of creativity and commitment) and I think it was the white background.

Now, Barb loves the brights, so I thought that I would honour that, even if I have to really hunt for something suitable in my stash. That being the case, changing the background colour was probably not an option.

I thought about cutting it up.

But one day, I spied the wonderful collection of bright colours in a box lid of used (cleaned) stamps.

An aha! moment!

I have 'made' some fabric for 2 blocks, which leaves only a small search for suitable fabric for one block!

One a white background I stuck, using matte Mod Podge a whole range of New Zealand stamps - old ones and new ones, some collections are together, but mostly I arranged them by size - not colour. If you brush the Mod Podge over the stamps, the paper is quite flexible and can be easily stitched without tearing.
Check back here tomorrow to see one of the blocks I have made with my stamp fabric.