BluePip Designs

I spent most of July alternating between catching up on my quilt-alongs and spending time with my kids both inside and out.  This worked out really well because I felt like I was getting a lot done even when I only had twenty minutes or so to sew! First, my Summer Sampler blocks .  As always with this sampler, I am mixing things up and creating my own interpretation of the blocks.  There are currently three blocks in the "to make" pile but I adore the nine that I have done already and can't wait to have this quilt on my bed. Next, my 100 days blocks .  This year it's a new pattern and there's lot about it that I really like: the unique way Angie wrote the pattern, not all the blocks are square, most of the blocks are a quick sew, and the blocks aren't in any particular order based on what elements make them up.  My plan for a pastels has slipped a little, but I'm ok with that.  I've long been obsessed with crazy quilts and making this is a joy. 

Today we are traveling almost exactly eight years into the past.  Eight years ago yesterday I finished my very first quilt! You'd think I would have gone outside and taken a picture, but it was my first quilt photography experience too.  Plus my current quilt-holders were a little too small to be helpful (one wasn't even born yet!). Some thoughts.  I borrowed my mom's circa-1980 Kenmore sewing machine to make some boppy covers when I was pregnant with my second child because I didn't like any of the ones they had in-store (they turned out great, if you are wondering!).  Then my mom came to visit and took the sewing machine home with her.  I missed it so much I ended up buying my own machine two weeks later! I had always been interested in quilts, and this was the first time that I had dedicated access to a machine to try it out.  My mother-in-law is a quilter and she gave me this pattern (which I no longer have) from one of her quilt magazines.  She tol

Flying geese.  I love them and I hate them.  One of the reasons I decided to make the Ricochet Quilt  last summer was to improve my technique with these units.  If you're like me, you hate the waste of piecing them traditionally, but struggle to get them to the right size with their points intact with the no-waste method. Enter the (almost) no waste flying geese method.  This method lets you make four geese at once that end up slightly oversized so you can trim them down to the perfect size.  You can also use a full quarter-inch seam instead of a scant seam.  This prevents the tops of the geese from getting cut off.  Finally, it gives you a little more room for error in case one of your squares is slightly off. Cutting Cutting is based on the size of your FINISHED  flying goose block.  There's a chart after the picture, but in a nutshell: You will need one large square for the goose (inner) fabric.  Size of square is your desired finished width plus 1.25 inches.  Cut t

Quilt-alongs!  There are always so many good quilt-alongs to choose from, and this year is no exception.  I am currently working on three: Gnome Angel's 100 Blocks in 100 Days , with her fantastic new Kinship pattern; the 2019 Summer Sampler , and the Quiet Play Pattern Club .  All of them are very different and keep me busy in different ways.  Each has a distinct style and colorway: 100 Blocks is traditional and I'm going for pastels, the Summer Sampler has curves and is black, red, and yellow, and Quiet Play is all pattern pieced and bright and full of rainbows. My goal for the month is to piece together all the Quiet Play blocks I've already made and make at least three more to add to the sampler.  I was hoping to have the bee made for this blog post, but after a series of disasters, it's just not going to happen.  One piece had the paper rip early and everything just got off and on another I put the wrong color fabric in the wrong spot and I'm not sure it'