RTQA - blocks so far

I don't have the Colorado block finished, or even started, and it could be a while. However, I hadn't posted a picture of all my blocks together for a while, and since I remembered to do that the other night - here they are!  I did two of one of the blocks, can you find the two that are the same block?

I like the way they look - now, hopefully I'll finish the other blocks before next summer!

RTQA - Montana

The Montana block!  I also have good memories of Montana - I took a great trip to Bozeman for a college cross country bonding trip, and also had a good time at an undergrad research conference in Missoula the same year or the year after.  I like Missoula a lot more than Bozeman though, Em! :)

I liked this block a lot, too!  I was happy with how I was able to make the block what I envisioned, which I wanted to be slightly different than the given fabric numbers/designs. And without really any problems it really came together.  No complaints (except with the quality of the picture - I took this late at night)!

Three (or was it four?) blocks in three days! I am totally a streaky quilter/seamstress!  I'll get in the groove and sew a lot, and then I'll go a week without touching my machine.  (or, in the school year - I'll sew non-stop for a weekend, and then not go into my sewing room for 3 or 4 months!)  I'm trying to get better at this and this summer I've been trying to do just 10-15 min of sewing even when I'm not really 'in the mood' but still I'm pretty streaky, and it will probably get worse in the school year.

Anyone else a streaky quilter/seamstress or is it just me?  Can you identify what starts or ends your streaks?  I have my theories on this for myself, but mostly it's a complex issue, I think!

RTQA - Wyoming

I like this block, though I'm not certain I like the fabrics I chose for it.  I was slightly constrained since I told my 5-yr-old that I would use her 'favorite' flower print in this block because it had only been used in one block before this one. I'm not sure that it turned out exactly like I wanted, oh well. I did make a conscious decision to make the four corner squares white instead of another color like in the RTQA tutorial.  I like the very outsides of my blocks to be as plain/background as possible, I think that will mostly help how I try to put them together.

I did this all today, so perhaps there is hope I'll finish these more or less on time.  I will finish them though, even if I have to during Fall Break.  And I have no idea when they'll make it into a finished quilt... I have lots of WIPS... oh yes, I was going to blog some more of them, maybe soon.

Anyone else regret choosing a fabric they used? Or wish they would have switched around fabric location?  Or perhaps allowed your kid to help you plan a block?

RTQA - South Dakota

I wasn't sure how I was going to like this one - I've noticed I've tended to like the stars the most out of this quilt along and blocks that have a lot of background (like normal quilt blocks, ha) of other colors (besides white) aren't as much my favorites.  (I'm beginning to think about how I'm going to put these together and I think they'll all work, though.  More on this later...)

Getting back to South Dakota, I think the orange/pink fabric here pops enough that I like it.  Though the blue print seems a bit brighter in real life.

I didn't have any real problems making it.  Though I would like to point out that the bottom pinwheel isn't as terrible as it looks - one of the orange-pink triangles just happens to have a bit of white in the print that makes that part of the pinwheel look terribly bent. Anyway, it bothers me a little, though obviously not enough to redo it!

I think I'm only 1 block behind now... oops, nope. Just looked back at Sewing by Moonlight's RTQA page (nicely updated!) and I'm actually two behind.  Need to do Wyoming and Montana... hope to catch up soon!

RTQA - Minnesota Block

I started this block so long ago but only finished it today. My machine was getting a tune-up, and then there was an issue getting the knee pedal screwed back into the desk after having to take it out to get it to the shop.  After some drilling with my husband to help while I held the pedal in the exact right place, finally I was back to sewing.

Side note:  Also, if you haven't noticed your calendar recently, summer is getting close to being over! I have only a week before going back to work again full-time. While I won't say I'll never post on this blog during the semesters, it probably won't be very often at all.

Back to Minnesota... I liked making this block. Pretty easy, and the paper piecing was fine for me since I just made multiple templates. And overall, I like the way it turned out, too.