Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Modern Irish Bee: March Blocks

This month in the Modern Irish Bee, the über talented Sarah is our queen.  She requested bright, colorful spider web blocks using a grey-based LV print in the central star.  Sarah wrote out beautiful instructions in her blog post to make this block, carefully warning us of a few pitfalls (thank you!) and referred us to a lovely tute by Heather.  


I have made spider web blocks in the past using paper templates, but Heather's tutorial used a fabric square cut into quarters as your guide.  She gave very simple, straight forward instructions for marking the triangle templates, making it quick and easy to start stitching.  I like, too, how the star is kind of thick and chunky  here, showing off the LV fabric. However, this method does result in 4 rather large LV scraps in the process.  This is fine by me as I'll use them right up in my medallion quilt.


Sarah specifically asked for eight coordinating strips in the same color family at the immediate edge of the star.  The idea is that this will really highlight the star in the midst of the scrappy webs.  I do like the look, but boy I found it difficult to find 8 matching, non-repeating prints!  I did it in the end, but really had to dig through the old scrap bin!


On the negative side, my blocks are indeed smaller than the 12 inch square (unfinished) they should be.  Sarah says it's OK, but it's really niggling at me.  There might be a quick unpick of the four quadrants and a re-stitch in the hopes of finding a real 12 inch square block in there! 

On the positive side, I love how these blocks turned out.  I might steal Miss Sarah's idea and slowly make a few of these in my quiet moments and eventually build up to a quilt top.  They were super easy to make, creating a very satisfying evening of sewing.  I love how they used up the old scraps very quickly, giving me a walk down memory lane with each quarter square. 

13 comments:

Canadian Abroad said...

These are a great bee block to choose because making a whole quilt of them would be challenging.

pennydog said...

I think Sarah has really thought it through with the centres and the colours, whilst still making what will be a very real scrappy quilt. It's going to be awesome!

Judy said...

I like the vibrant colors! They look rather challenging to piece-nice work.

Ruth said...

They look really lovely - bright and happy!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Pesky measurements xxx

Katy Cameron said...

Beautifully bright and cheery :o)

Erin Quinn said...

I really love this idea of coordinating the inner ring to highlight the star. It works so well.
I do love scrappy quilts, but I am too OCD to make them work myself. I'll just sit and be envious from afar. Will wait with baited breath to see this one finished :-)
E xx

Leanne said...

I always find it challenging to make this block the right size, it seems to squish up or something and become too small, so you are not alone in that. The idea of outlining the star is excellent.

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

You've done a really good job. Guess what I am doing this morning? Though I will struggle to have enough scraps.

Judith, Belfast said...

I hate it when my blocks turn out smaller than they should be! Prettiest spiders webs I've ever seen! Jxo

Tomomi McElwee said...

Yours look so bright and light. Mine didn't end up 12"either. My math knowledge says it shouldn't be.

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

Such pretty blocks

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

They're gorgeous!

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