FW77: Nellie & FW78: Old Maid

So I am ahead of myself. I made these blocks along with last weeks block. I felt a bit overwhelmed by Nellie. I considered not doing it. 1. it's only in two colours, so feels a little flat and 2. It feels a bit like block 6 April which I just didn't really feel that enamoured with. But, you know, I caved in and faced the beast. We have recently discovered the joys of lego in our house. I thought it would be too complex for a 4 year old, but no, she's right in there. So there has been some amazing windows for sewing. I got lots done this week. It was so nice.

Nellie block
I'm still not sure about this block. It just feels a little clunky to me. Not a favourite. I wish I had made the diagonal squares into the third colour but ack, nevermind. I did use my 'team B' fabrics. As this process has gone on I have swerved in my fabric choices leaving some originally much loved fabrics on the back burner. These are definitely back burner fabrics. The spots are a little dull now I have upped my colour values and the blue bird fabric has too big a print on it to be that successful in small units. But I thought it would be good to put them in a few more blocks so they give balance to the overall quilt when I put the much earlier blocks in. We shall see. I am not sure I like using B team fabrics as the end result doesn't spark joy.


I am pretty happy with how everything lined up though! There were lots of nesting seams so it came together much more easily that it would appear.


And the back is pretty neat. The whole thing lies very flat which surprised me.


Here's how I got everything to line up. Pin central! It took me a while to actually learn how to pin effectively. In the end I happened across a YouTube video which made it all clear. Amazing.

Block 78 Old Maid

I am pretty happy with this block. It is two colours which isn't ideal but the pattern is lovely and it came together really well. I used Kerry's idea of cutting triangles four at a time so that the diagonal is not on the bias. This really helped with stretch.


These are also slight B team fabrics but I do really like them so it was good to get them out again. The circles are a bit widely spread out so they don't work on some of the smaller unit blocks and this peachy colour is a little vibrant somehow. But I love how it turned out.


My one glitch! D'oh!

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