Monday, May 1, 2017

Bella Skillbuilder, Months 3 and 4

Happy May Day! A memory from when I was small and lived in Enid, Oklahoma, is that girls from the high school would put on pretty spring dresses, go the city park where May poles were set up, and then walk in circle after circle, weaving beautiful satin ribbons around the May pole. Does anyone remember that? Do communities still do it?
I'm a month behind on posting the skill builder blocks. During the middle of March, our son and his family moved to a new house, and two weeks ago today, Mark and I moved my parents into a skilled nursing facility about 40 minutes away, after going through every.single.thing in their house in order to downsize. Somehow, sewing completely fell by the wayside. Today, I'll share my thoughts on the blocks for Months 3 and 4.

Month 3 was the pineapple block.
I have always wanted to make pineapple blocks. To date, I had made one--using the paper piecing technique. The block turned out great, but I'm never a happy camper when it comes to removing all that paper from foundation paper piecing.

So I was anxious to try the Pineapple Trim Tool by Creative Grids, a company that is already a favorite when it comes to rulers.
It took a bit of concentration to make sure I was using the proper part of the ruler when it came time to square/trim. However, that was pure operator error. The ruler is easy to use if you just follow the directions.

For Month 3, you make four blocks that finish at 10"(above)  and 3 three blocks that finish at 8". I decided to try a little something different with the tan block, and so it looks more like rings, but it's an interesting variation.
I love how the blocks came out, and I would definitely recommend the ruler if you want to make some pineapple blocks. Using this ruler also saves fabric, as you only need to cut rectangles 2 x 4 1/2 inches, and 2 x 6 1/2 inches. Which is kind of ironic if you are making pineapple blocks to bust through your stash.

Month 4 is Flying Geese.
This block is made with the Eleanor Burns flying geese ruler by Quilt in a Day. I'll say that I was skeptical to begin with. I often find that shortcuts in reality take nearly as long as the non-shortcut version. But I was willing to build some new skills, so I remained optimistic.
I'm happy to report that I was quite pleased with this specialty ruler. I would probably have hesitated to buy it without being part of the skill builder BOM but, as with the Pineapple Trim Tool, this is another ruler I'm happy to have in my sewing kit.

One of my geese insisted on being rebellious and flying in the opposite direction, but sometimes you just have to follow your own personal wind current.
You can find all the information for the Bella Skill Builder for Month 3 and Month 4, including videos and a list of the other quilters participating, on the Jolly Jabber blog. If you haven't begun yet but are interested, here is all the information you need. Also, if you see a ruler you want to try, they can all be found on the Fat Quarter Shop website in their notions section. Happy skill building. :)

2 comments:

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Lisa said... #

I am also really pleased with these new rulers in my toolbox! Love your colors

Robby said... #

Thank you for your thoughts on the Pineapple Trim Tool. A pineapple quilt is on my wish list, sounds like this tool should be too. I've been doing Eleanor Burns method of geese for about 10 years, and I like it so much I have two sizes of that ruler.