Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Christmas Block Finagling

I've been immersed in Christmas blocks - blocks that are stretching me way beyond my comfort level.  I thought - wouldn't it be so much fun to finally make a Christmas quilt? - I saw the 12 Days of Christmas Quilt Along, and thought - perfect! . . . . until I saw the blocks - they're all paper pieced and have tons of applique - neither of which do I really know how to do.  But I thought, I've got to learn sometime, right?  Well, here's the first block......
 I obviously had some issues, but I actually enjoyed putting together this block.  It's my first real paper piecing challenge. 
Then I saw the second block (a cute Santa Claus) and um, this is as far as I've gotten.....
The rest of it is all applique and I've never tried to applique ever.  Sooo- that's going to be my experiment during the kiddo's nap time tomorrow I think.  Don't judge me if it turns out all crazy looking. 

Anyone have any tips for applique before I experiment with this tomorrow?!

Meanwhile, the 3rd block came out yesterday using paper piecing and a ton of applique again, so I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed and not sure if I can (or want) to keep up. 

Luckily for me, I came across the Celebrate Christmas Quilt Along yesterday as well.  It started back in September, so I'm late to the party, but I've decided that I'm going to do the blocks that I like from that one and combine it with the ones that I like from the first quilt along and just make my own "super special" Christmas quilt. 

Here's a slightly altered version of Block #1:

Stats for the Week:

New projects - 1
Completed projects - 0

Projects In Progress -
  1. Skill Builder Sampler - up to date
  2. Blogger's BOM - up to date
No progress-
  1. Mom's Christmas Table Runner
  2. Ladybug Quilt
  3. Halloween Wall Hanging (oops- maybe I'll finish it for next year)

Check out the other WIP at Freshly Pieced!
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7 comments:

  1. Erin @ Once Upon a DonkeyNovember 2, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    Hehehe. I've seen a few of those Christmas truck blocks around - how adorable! I love your little snowman driving. Definitely brought a smile to my face. :)

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  2. KristyNovember 2, 2011 at 6:27 PM

    I think go slow and have a try. Applique stitches can be a bit like the binding stitches on the back of the quilt, but smaller.

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  3. CassieNovember 2, 2011 at 7:12 PM

    That paper pieced block looks so good!!! I did some machine applique for one of my FW blocks, and I decided to use some heat n bond (the sewable kind) and fused it to the block and then just zig-zagged the edges and it worked out really well. It was easy to do and I didn't have to worry about anything shifting. Elizabeth from oh Fransson did a tutorial that I thought was good http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2008/07/summer-sewing-simple-machine-applique/ Good luck!

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  4. NancyNovember 4, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    I think the truck block is really cute. I like how you so carefully pieced it with the gifts in the back and the little snowman in the driver's seat. Great job.

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  5. NancyNovember 4, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    Oh, I forgot the question about applique was in this post, too. Are you appliqueing by hand or machine? If by hand, with freezer paper? I just added a series of 5 posts with instructions for freezer paper applique by hand. You can find them at http://myairedalesandme.blogspot.com. The first post in the series is at the bottom, the last on the top. The post at the top is the briefest overview and the other 4 posts give a little more detail; the 4th post links to a website with fairly detailed instructions for the actual stitching. I don't know if that helps you or not....

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  6. Aunt SpicyNovember 6, 2011 at 12:35 AM

    Ohhhh, totally loving these blocks, so much so I had to add them to pintrest!

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  7. KristyLouNovember 9, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    Excellent job with your paper piecing for the first time! I am too scared to try.

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