SewIntertwined Quilt top 99% done

Whew. This one was a doozy. Getting the center square lined up with the other intertwining blocks was quite tricky. I had to remake the center square three times before it was the right size to match up with the other blocks which was really frustrating. Once I got the center square connected it went much more smoothly and I actually got a little choked up when I was pressing out the final seam. It turned out so well! I still haven't sewn down the center dresden yet and I'll probably wait to do that when I quilt it....not quite sure when that will be. 

Sew Intertwined...almost there

I just finished up the intertwining blocks for the Sew Intertwined QAL and they look SO cool!

Here they are all laid out....

I'm very glad I didn't sew the dresden plate down since the center square corners are not matching up with the intertwining blocks. That should 'hopefully' be an easy fix. I wish I'd chosen a slightly softer blue for the solid though because it seems to take away from the prints a bit. Not too big of a deal though. Perhaps I can tone it down a bit with the quilting once it's time for that. I'm really excited to finish this one up.

A little QAL progress

I finished up all 20 of the HST & four patch blocks for the Sew Intertwined quilt and am really pleased with how they look all laid out. 

I made a couple of test blocks for the intertwining blocks. The lovely ladies hosting the QAL provided two different ways of putting the blocks together. Paper piecing or traditional. 

Test blocks
Traditional on left, paper piecing on right

Initially I was planning on doing the paper piecing method since I really like the precision you can get with paper piecing. However after doing one test block I felt that it was going to be too time consuming. 

I made up a second block using the traditional method and really liked how quickly it came together. So that'll be the route I go. 

I also sewed up one of the curves for the Totally Groovy quilt. It's a liiiittle bit wonky. 

Not terrible for first try but not terrific,  definitely worth a little more practice.

Sew Intertwined Progress

I am SO pleased with how my Dresdan plate came out. It was surprisingly easy to put together.

I haven't sewn the plate to the background yet or chosen the middle circle because I wanted to have the entire quilt laid out to determine what would look best. 

My first HST & four patch block also came together without mishap. Woo Hoo. Two for two so far...lets hope the success continues.

One down, only 19 more to go.

Here a QAL, There a QAL

Apparently I have no self control. I've joined two Quilt-a-longs. Not one, but two. Occurring at the same time. I just REALLY wanted to do both. 

The Sew Intertwined QAL started first and I had just ordered fabric from Tula Pink's new Bird's & the Bees collection which is going to look SO awesome with the design of the quilt. This quilt has a little bit of everything. A Dresden plate, which I've been wanting to try since March when I received a Dresden ruler for my birthday. Some easy half-square triangles & four patches to easily breeze through (famous last words) and these REALLY cool intertwining lattice like blocks that we're going to learn how to do traditional piecing or paper piecing...I'm pretty sure I'll be going the paper piecing route since I'm not that fabulous of a piecer and I'd prefer not to have to take a million attempts (slight exaggeration) to end up with a block I'm pleased with.  

When I first learned about the Totally Groovy QAL I wasn't really going to join in since I'd just started the Sew Intertwined one, but then the hostess posted a coloring sheet to help in choosing colors. I am such a sucker for planning things. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE planning things (my follow through needs some work). Then there was a discount for the pattern and then a discount for Kona solids at FatQuarterShop and before I knew it I joined the group, ordered fabric and am now really excited to get started. I even spent half a Saturday coming up with a slightly different way of piecing it to eliminate a lot of the seams. See? Planning. It's a sickness really.