Oh, Samplers

It's been too long since I've posted here! I've been sewing, but slowly, and not finishing very much. I've been working a lot on some samplers.

Anyone else's sewing desk look like this?! Please say I'm not alone! :-D

Oh, samplers...as I've written before, samplers aren't really my thing...but I guess this year, they are! *sigh* It's been really great, though, to sew a block at a time.

I currently have five, yes, FIVE samplers in progress. They are in various states of completion, so I thought I'd share my progress here. No finishes today, and pretty poor pictures, but I am finding it's hard to get around to taking really good pictures, so this will have to do. :-)

Months ago, I sewed up a bunch of six inch samplers as part of a contest on Instagram. They all were in Sweetwater fabric, and I made a good number of them, and plan to eventually make more...I've shelved the Sweetwater sampler just for a bit, though...I'll be back to it, maybe when I finish up one of my other many samplers.

Last year, while I was still pregnant, I started a six-inch sampler. I started it with the Moda sampler shuffle (the patterns are still available on Fat Quarter Shop's blog). After the 30 blocks, I decided I wanted a few more. I didn't want to set them on point, so I needed more to make it a bigger quilt...but I didn't want to make it too large. My goal became 48 for a six by eight layout.

My goal is to free motion quilt it on my home machine. I've only done small quilts so far, so this will be an adventure! I'm almost there, too. I've sewn 47 blocks, so I just have ONE to go. So close...and then I need to figure out what color to sash with...

I've made these blocks from scraps (including my backgrounds) and I wish I could say it put a dent in the scraps I pulled for the project, but I don't think it did, really. Part of the problem is I've been able to add more scraps that fit with the color scheme...but my bin is still overflowing. I'm going to have to figure out another scrap project. And soon! These represent only the scraps I pulled for the limited color palette for the sampler.

I also embarked on a Patchwork City Sampler quilt from the book by Elizabeth Hartman. I'm sewing these with travel-themed fabrics and I love it so far. I don't have many blocks done, but I'm okay with taking my time. I've finished 18. Out of 75. This is going to be a very long term project. Below are some of my favorites so far. For these, I'm using scraps where I can, but I'm also not shy about pulling yardage from my shelves.

In addition to these three...I've joined two more sampler sew alongs. *yikes!* The first is the Bernina Block Party and it's a year-long sew along. We're six months in, and I've been able to keep up, happily. I'm excited about the finished quilt, but I haven't loved the directions, to be honest. So I've been switching things up as I feel like it. For instance, anytime the pattern has you cut squares in half to make half square triangles, especially if there are multiples, I sew them two at a time. Because why wouldn't you? I do think it's very unfortunate that they're trying to make it beginner friendly, but by not using standard piecing shortcuts (for HSTs or flying geese) I think they're actually making it less beginner friendly. Just my opinion. I'm awfully glad that I'm experienced enough to figure it out on my own! I am stoked about the fabrics I picked and I think it'll be a cool quilt.

{Please excuse the dire state of my sewing room. I have so little time to sew anyway, and I tend to favor sewing over cleaning up my space!;-)}

And then...I couldn't resist...I bought the pattern for the Summer Sampler program. I love the quilt. I love star blocks, and I love the layout. I've made all the star blocks and I'm working on the filler blocks.

But those take a bit of time...I'm also trying to decide if I want to redo any of the star blocks. There are a few I'm not thrilled with, but I'm also not sure how I would change them. So, we'll see! Below are some of my favorites.

The thing is, I'm actually pretty excited about all these projects! I don't typically get excited about samplers, but right now, I totally am. And I'm hoping to eventually finish them.