It’s been almost two years in the making. The longest I’ve ever worked on a quilt. Now it’s true the first year was a quilt along, I had to wait every week for two blocks. Then I realized that I don’t like such a busy sampler. So I started making Hawaiian applique blocks, each one taking a long time since I was sewing by hand. Needle turn applique. 
I thought I’d try to hand quilt around the applique. Yeah, right! It’s probably been 20 years since I’ve done hand quilting. I even went and bought a quilting hoop! No go! Within five minutes I realized that I couldn’t do it. Maybe I could do it on one block, but the quilt was heavy and unwieldy. Echoing the shapes on the machine worked out just fine.
I only used 26 of the hundred blocks on the front of the quilt. So most of the rest ended up on the back. Sure if I had bordered each block they might have stood out more, but this is why I don’t like samplers made of small blocks. There really is no place for the eye to rest.
Of course, the quilting has no relationship to the blocks on the back, which also means – no focal point.
But for the back of a quilt – this is impressive. It also makes the quilt much heavier – all those seams and thread. Since this is going to be my snuggle on the couch quilt – both sides will be visible.
The small blocks all got a lot of detailed quilting. The border bands got none, which means they stand out as real frames. I used wool batting which was wonderful to quilt with, really smooth. It does give the quilt more loft, definitely more than cotton.
I’m very pleased with the result. I shared this image on the Splendid Sampler Facebook page. Pat Sloan herself commented on it. She really liked how I made the project work for me. 
It’s not about having cookie cutter quilts, it’s about personalizing the project.
I embroidered a simple label, after all the work, I simply wasn’t up to making an elaborate label.
So what did I learn from this project? I improved on certain skills, like paper piecing. While working on the blocks I realized that I want to do more applique, which led to the needle turn Hawaiian blocks. Having done them, I think I’m ready to move on to other kinds of applique. I like the hand-sewing, I just think I’m done with Hawaiian style blocks.
I realized that sampler quilts aren’t my thing, but I am very very pleased with my solution and my ability to use most of the blocks.
I don’t think I’ll be doing any more mystery quilt-alongs. I have too many ideas of my own to work on. All in all, a great experience and another unique, warm handmade quilt in my collection.
Leah
Especially when there are two a week and I never know what technique will be used. This bee was made with English paper piecing method, which means, it was all done by hand. It had a few more items but I simplified.
Unlike this simple applique coneflower. I understand, you are asked to design one small block for a major project and you want to put in everything but the kitchen sink. As someone who did learn design – less is more, and if there are 100 unique blocks, there has to be somewhere for the eye just to rest.
A good old fashioned pieced block, my choice of fabrics makes this busy enough! I am trying to have a number of blocks with dark backgrounds, rather than have all the backgrounds light.
Ahh, paper piecing. This is becoming a favorite technique for me. This project with its myriad of different paper-pieced projects has really taught me a lot. I bought the add a quarter ruler, I use my light box all the time, my paper piecing has improved immensely. Of course, I still need to rip out here and there, but not as often as before.
I could have machine appliqued this one, I decided to do needle turn applique. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking that one of these days I may want to make a Hawaiian quilt, now I’m not so sure. The Hawaiian design elements are much larger – so I’m not giving up on the idea yet.
This mid-century modern block had a cloud and a bush by the front door – I nixed them. I also fussy cut the old fashion phone in the window.
The original sample was much scrappier, I put some thought into the colors, but still was surprised by the final block. Not in a bad way, I thought it would look different.
Yay for more paper piecing and a color palette that I love.
An off center Dresden plate gave me a chance to get scrappy. The original block had a pieced background – more overkill. My background fabric is busy enough.
A week late I jumped in.
I had to play catch up. My color scheme is yellow, all kinds of yellow. All the blocks are pieced, so that makes it much easier.
But 100 blocks in 100 days is a lot faster than a whole year.
I’m using all kinds of fabrics I have lying around. Some are from previous projects and some are fabrics I’ve picked up at the guilds where people are getting rid of what they no longer want.
Some are the tiniest scraps that will only show up in one block and there will be fabrics that will be repeated more often. Of course I caught up, actually, I am much more than caught up. I’m in Hawaii this week, having a backlog of completed blocks, means that I can upload the pictures on the correct day. There is some kind of challenge with prizes, my prize will be another quilt.
I am thankful it was a pieced block. I have been doing the applique and embroidery, but I’m just happy that the midway point was something I love.
Speaking of applique, a pin cushion. This time, I used monofilament and a very small zigzag stitch on the machine. I even made the pin heads using a heart pattern on my sewing machine.
More piecing, I love these colors! Need to use this kind of combination more.
Embroidery/applique, I changed this block out, I called it: oops the spools fell over. The original had the spools in a row with more embroidery – too fussy for me, so I simplified.
This one really tickled many people’s fancy. I have never gotten this many likes on the Facebook page, usually, I’m at around 50-90. 
There was a block with a squirrel, blech, so I went to my Sizzix dies and simply made this fox. Nothing original about him, but I’ve used him often and prefer him to the squirrel.
The past week or two have been a lot of appliques, this was supposed to be neater, but all those fiddley pieces, I just threw it together as is. Not a favorite, but will probably find it’s way into the final quilt.
Now you can laugh at me. This was a simple foundation pieced block. It just looked so plain! (says the person who complains about the over designed blocks). It also looked like an old-fashioned crazy quilt. So I didn’t use interesting fabrics, like lace, or velvet, but I did add the embroidery. See, even I can embellish!
I think the instructions called for machine or fancy hand applique, I decided to try my hand at needle turn, something I clearly need more experience doing. A Hawaiian Style quilt is in my future plans.
Big new! I ordered and received a portable design wall from Massdrop. It is portable, but it’s not something I will be taking down daily. It is also, large, 72″ x 72″, no room for it in my very messy studio, so it is upstairs in the spare bedroom, I figure this will give me more exercise going up and down the stairs.
It also gives me a chance to see what fabrics I want to repeat and what color schemes work well.
The purple embroidered block will probably have to go. This was my own creation, probably instead of a bunny. It is simply too dark and reads as a solid from just a few feet away. I never said I was a great designer, I can make mistakes too.
Applique sewing machine. I did this one needle turn, even though the instructions called for a completely different method. I did enjoy this one.
Then it was on to a very complicated little paper pieced block. I really like paper piecing, even if this close you can see that the spool isn’t competely accurate. It is certainly accurate enough for one block among one hundred.
A very different type of paper piecing – this time string piecing. Almost feels like random placed ‘strings’ of fabric, but if y0u look at the images of everyone’s heart – the layout is exactly the same.
I now have three blocks with hearts. How different they are.
Every so often a designer recognizes that these blocks are only 6″, so simplicity is the way to go. 
Can I just say I hated making this block? I think it shows in how sloppy my machine embroidery is. There was another block I hated, enough that I came up with my own once again.
The block was embroidery, but full of words like, faith, sew, create. Have I mentioned I don’t like literal blocks!! Are you seeing what I’m seeing? That yellow flower is awful and really doesn’t belong here at all. See even I can over do things.
The joys of embroidery, snip-snip and it’s gone. Once it’s quilted you won’t even see the markings, that unfortunately are permanent. 
This was supposed to be made entirely out of selvedges. Clearly it isn’t.
My bad, there isn’t enough contrast between the orange and yellow, so just a foot away and you can’t see the egg shape in the center. That’s what comes from making my own fabric choices. I understand the designer wanting to include a curved seam, once again, not very noticable on such a small block.
Another block that called for embroidery on the bands – um, no.
I’m no longer putting these in formation, they look better helter skelter.
Here is my old lightbox, as in over 20 years old. When I actually worked as a textile designer a light box was a must. A very large one was a must, I was doing repeats by hand (no regrets there, I can tell when someone just plugged their pattern into a repeat program).
The frog is for size reference. This is what I just got.
Since I no longer do textile design repeats by hand, I also didn’t need as large of a surface, so I chose the 12.” x 9″ ‘box. I took the old one to Goodwill, it’s not like I was going to get any money trying to sell this old behemoth.
Back to the embroidered block I went, I enlarged only the flowers, cut out the vines, the leaves the bugs and the butterflies. Really, it’s a 6″ block, there will be 100 blocks in this quilt, simplicity and paring down are my new buzz words.
I love hand embroidery, like knitting, I find it very soothing.
I really like my end result. I posted it on the Splendid Sampler FB page and got quite a few compliments and no complaints.
So instead I went into my stash of 
LOVE this owl, both the making and the end result. There already are a few more blocks with embroidery, so I think the over all affect will be fine. I am not sharing this block on the FB page – this really has nothing to do with what the designer offered.
Meanwhile in the piecing categories, the orange triangles were a very interesting method. I like this block.
As well as this one.
This Dresden plate is appliquéd onto the background, I like this kind of appliqué. The designer included some circles on some of the blades! NO! I understand, it is so easy to add just one more element. I want a pleasing overall quilt, I don’t want a messy compilation where one can’t see the forest for the trees.
I have 29 blocks here, I’m sure the placement will change, there will be smashing between the blocks, but I’m still happy with what is happening here.
I love this block that my friend 
Very happy with my color choices. 
This one could have been paper pieced, but I worked carefully with the half square triangles and flying geese rulers. 
A nice clean back ironed well (almost) makes working with these small pieces much easier. Soon no one will see the backs. So I better show them from time to time.
I’m not crazy about this block. The designer was very literal, she even embroidered the stripe to look like a measuring tape as well as embroidering the words, measure twice, cut once.
I do love a good basket. Aside from my first embroidery block, I am using prints, no solids. It will be interesting to see when I put this together if it is too busy. I may decide to sash with a solid. Right now I am enjoying the challenge of making the prints work. Being so influenced by the modern quilt movement, I’ve added a lot of solids to my work. So this is a change.
In this block the circle was supposed to be appliquéd on top, I am proud of my ability to insert a circle, so I did. And interesting but not surprising thing is happening with this QAL (quilt along). People are veering away from the patterns, changing them drastically or adding new blocks. So there has been a crackdown by the developers, they are deleting blocks that don’t conform. It’s a delicate balance, you offer a massive project for free and then you want to keep tight control.
This might not pass muster, I was working with tiny scraps and I mirror imaged two of the outside hst (half square triangles), so instead of pinwheeling around the center block, they form more on an hour glass shape. Some people responded by saying, just remove and twist, some people don’t understand geometry.
Creating some very light blocks.
And some with higher contrast. 
My intent is to get good contrast between the blocks and I think I’m achieving that. As time goes by I’m getting scrappier and adding more colors, like browns and even allowing the pink I rejected, back in. 
I even found a wonderful new box for the blocks. No way would the original box hold 100 plus blocks. I found this lovely one.
Once the quilt is done I’ll have to find another use for this. Clearly I like the scrappy quilt look, even on a box.
Plenty of room to fill.
I’m stash busting, and was thinking of green, orange purple. Sort of.
I figured out very quickly that making 6.5″ blocks is quite a challenge. Yes I’m a very good quilter, but working that small isn’t easy and it’s forcing me to stop, work slower and really pay attention. I’m not very happy with the way this block looks, not the colors, they are fine, but the piecing isn’t to my liking.
Neither is this one, the piecing is a little shoddy and going scrappy is one thing, but that row with the same fabrics twice – not good. More about how I solved that in another post. And contrast between the squares. Some will be light and some will be dark.
There is the square with both appliqué and embroidery.
It’s been fun paying attention to the smallest detail, even if in the long run they can’t be seen.
7 blocks done.
Then there is one that is only embroidery. Designed by my friend
My efforts are paying off, the points meet, the colors are offering enough of a contrast. 6.5″ isn’t a lot, look at the little eraser next to this block.
A friend recommended the 
I even went back and made the first practice block they released before the official quilt along started
So far this is the box I’m using for storage, it had some holiday gift in it, it is 7″ square so it’s the perfect size, I don’t think it will hold 100 blocks, so at some point I’ll have to find a new solution but for now it works.