Friday 18 July 2014

Swoon Along

I have a group of quilty friends. It started with A and C whom I began working with three years ago and discovered they quilted. We have since done shop hops and sewing days and they have taught me so much (and I like to bully C to buy fabric and I bullied her to start a blog, too. You're welcome, C.)

Well they recruited two friends from work to also start sewing and quilting. K took to it like a duck to water and already has an impressive stash. CW is very, very new but already put together an amazing HST colour value pillow. It is sooooo nice. I want one. Plus she is turning into a bit of a fabric hoarder too, so that is a bonus.

Along came the idea of a Swoon Along. The more experienced of us knew we could tackle it and figured the two newer sewers would have our support if they got stuck. We all bought the pattern and decided this would be the summer of the Swoon.

A hosted our first "meeting" at her house. She is incredibly generous with her space. Of the group of five only three of us made it but it was a blast. A even made lunch for us, shared her sewing machine (I didn't want to haul my heavy new baby all the way there) and her iron and ironing board, cutting mat, etc. It worked out fine with us three sharing and we all got a block finished! Thank goodness for generous people!
My first block starting to come together.

K starting to do her cutting.

A has piles cut because she is using the same fabric for all the blocks (and is doing 6, not 9, blocks).

K kept making cutting errors but she didn't let it get to her. I think she is learning so much!

Here is my first finished block! Love that Tula Foxfield! I'm using Kona Shadow instead of white as my background.

Here are our three blocks. I thought it was funny to see that A's block (purple) was the most "perfect" with the seams and such, mine (turquoise) was pretty good and K's was a beginner's effort (she struggled with some seams and such) but they all look amazing!
Since then I have been working away to do more blocks.
Here is block #2. 

Block #3.
I was worried that block 3 had two fabrics that were too close in value to really show the Swoon pattern but now I think it is my favourite block so far!

C has one block done but was away on our first day (she totally ditched us for another friend) and came home for less than a week before jetting off again. I know she'll keep up, though. K has a second block done (and it looks even better than the first; you can tell she is improving with each attempt) and A has another block done (it looks the same as the first). CW has come down with a nerve injury in her arm or wrist or something so she is on pause for the time being, but hers is going to be in all contrasting Kona solids so I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I hope our next Swoon Along day is as relaxing and fun at the first!

Lynn

P.S. I'm actually keeping this quilt when it is done. Like, for myself. Crazy, right?

3 comments:

  1. I love Swoon - it is on my list of to-do and I have Joel Dewberry fabrics set aside for it :)

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  2. I have a group of friends I sew with as well... I don't use their names on my blog either! :) We love getting together to work on our individual projects and get "quilt consults" when we're stuck on a quilt-y challenge!

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  3. Hello, where does one get a pattern for Swoon? Thanks!

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