Thank you, Bluebell.... I'm averaging about 3 a day so I figure a little over a 1 1/2 months to do this. Probably longer with life interruptions and challenging blocks. I'll be gone for a month in April so I'd like to get as many done as I can before I go. Enjoying this project and applying no pressure.

Teen, You can do it, You can do it.

Wow Teen!!!! You finished a lot already! Love the blocks.

Teen- those are really looking nice!

I've been cutting out pieces, have 39 blocks cut so far (but only the 10 sewn). I'm cutting those using templates right now, and they take a bit longer. I don't think I'm going to be using anywhere near the background fabric I expected based on what the book said, so that is good.

You sound very organised Macybaby!

LOL Anael, right now I've got batik scraps and rulers spread all over my cutting table!

I hate pulling them all out and then packing them back up, so I tend to want to cut a lot of the blocks before putting it all away. I am hoping I'll use up most of my batik scraps with this quilt. It will be the third one I've made trying to use up them up.

I have been considering starting this quilt, and was surprised to see that the book calls for 10 yards of the main fabric. Even with the binding, that seems excessive to me. For this of you who have made this quilt - what would you say is the amount of fabric really needed for the background fabric for the blocks alone? Thanks.

Wow, ladies you are going lickety-split! Such beautiful fabrics and blocks! My blocks were scrappy so sorry DonnaPea I can't answer the background fabric question.
I ended up making two smaller quilts rather than the one larger one. My Sister chose the one I had completed..... and the other is still a flimsy waiting for it's turn to become a quilt.
I am loving seeing your pictures, thanks for sharing them.

Donna, since I'm using chunks of border and sashing I decided not to use for what it was cut for, it's hard to tell what kind of yardage I've used.

However I really doubt this is going to use more than 3-4 yards.

So I did some math- 6.5" block would use 42.25 sq inches, 140 blocks would be 5915 sq inches total. Assuming a yard is 40" wide, that would be 1440 square inches. So that works out to be 4.1 yards. And only one or two blocks will use a lot of background, so it should not take over 4 yards.

Since I've no new blocks to share, here is my cutting table in all it's "glory" :)

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2znknih0.jpg

and my growing pile of blocks waiting to be sewn

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psfuf7ggys.jpg

Thanks everyone! Macybaby....when you hit that sewing machine, you will be pumping these babies out!

DonnaPea....I hope you join us on our adventure. These are really a blast to do....at least for now...lol!

Thimble....I don't remember seeing your quilt in the thread... Would you share pics again?

ok...today, I completed 4 blocks...

C3 - Album 1
F6 - Album 2
A5 - Amethyst
F7 - Mr. T

You ladies are really smokin' it!! I am so glad to see everyone getting excited about the SBS again. Thimblebug, Dottie, so glad to hear from you again. Can you believe Anael started us with this in January of 2013?! Even with my entire sewing room in storage, I am going to have to find my book and a bin of scraps to get working on it again. Love you all for the inspiration! Keep it going!

YEAHHHH more blocks!! Love them Teen.

:D Macybaby, I see what you mean. Well, still organised IMHO :D

DonnaPea, like the other ladies, I have no idea how much background fabric I used. I used different fabrics but I guess Macybaby is about right with her math.

Laurafet, how many blocks do you still need to do? Any idea?

I started these blocks a few years ago and stalled for whatever reason. Your lovely little blocks might be just what I need to get back on track.

Thanks for doing the math for me! That sounds more like it.

Hopefully the ladies inspire you enough to finish Karen G. I would love to see what you did already!

I've got 50 blocks cut - so only 90 left to go.

That's the spirit :D :D

Awesome!! I started cutting appliqué blocks last night watching Olympics. I do the turned edge/machine appliqué (invisible stitch) method. I hope to knock a few of them out this weekend. One's ready for the machine so I just may do that later. It's a play day with DH today..have no idea what we are doing but lunch is included!! Works for me...

please join us, Karen! Pull that box out and let's finish this! I got your back....

Had a lovely day with DH..came home and sewed...lol!

4 more blocks today...grand total so far is 27...woohoo!

N8 - Dbl 9P
F3 - Bow Tie. (Me no likey Y-seams...blech!)
C1 - Contrary Husband
G6 - Grace's Friendship

Ohhhhhhhhhh those are beautiful. The appliqué one went very very well! And your Y seams are perfect :)

Great you had such a lovely day with DH :) :)

I've got 85 blocks cut. I think I may go with 11x11, and then I won't have to "make up" for the blocks I'm skipping. Though I think I've only skipped about 6 so far.

I did end up buying a batik layer cake, I was running out of greens and purples. Now I have plenty of colors to finish up.

It's your quilt Macybaby, it's not written anywhere you have to make all the blocks.
85 cut........I still think you're organised :D
Can't wait to see your next ones!!

Your quilt is going to be awesome, Macybaby. 85? Wow...you are rockin it, girl. I have 3 blocks cut out but will sew them up before cutting more. I get bored with just cutting so I need to stay motivated by seeing some completed blocks. My cutting isn't such a chore to get out since I'm only using about 5 fabrics so it's easy to stay neat and organized.

I'm having Sylvia block withdrawals. Lol! I did not get to this project all weekend. Tons of stuff around house and my 90 year old neighbor issues...plus, yesterday I worked on mystery quilt. Hopefully, full steam ahead next week. I cleaned my sewing room today so it will be ready for me to hit it when I return.

I spent most of the weekend working on the 18th Mystery train quilt - really like how that has turned out.

I really enjoy the cutting part of the process. I'm going to stop at 121 and sew them up, then decide if I want to go any farther. I'm looking forward to sewing them, I love working on these smaller blocks.

Keep it going ladies! You are doing fantastic! Anael, you asked- I have about half of the blocks done. I am currently staying and caring for my 87/89 year old parents, and my sewing (actually furniture and everything) is scattered in storage between 2 sons and my parents house, so I'm not doing a lot of sewing. I am piecing a king sized top for my oldest son that was to be a christmas gift and will now be his birthday in May if I'm lucky, but if I can find my book at the younger son's across town, I can at least work on a few blocks here and there. I really want to be able to say I completed the entire 140 blocks.

You're a lovely person Laurafet, caring for your parents! I can imagine there's not much Laurafet time left.....don't worry, we will be here for a while longer ;)

I've got just a few more to cut and I'll have my 121 blocks. Am looking forward to starting to sew on them. I've used up a lot of my batiks, but still have 5-6 that I have big chunks (like a yard or so) left. I think I'll do a border that uses only them, but not sure exactly what. Will have plenty of time to think about it!

I've got them all cut - so now back to sewing!

I'm going to use these as an incentive to keep working on my Catch Me if You Can quilt - that is major paper piecing. I've got 35 set of papers and cut fabric for that, so figure for each one I complete there, I can do 3-4 of these blocks. I've only got one that I kept as foundation piecing - since I'm doing so much of it already.

Oh my goodness Macebaby, you're making that quilt? WOW, it's stunning!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing your blocks, Macybaby. I just returned from mini vacay.....will be doing more blocks starting tomorrow.

I'm off and running again.

D3 - Mothers Delight
A1 - Mosaic #3
L2 - Mothers Favorite
I8 - Birds in the Air

Lookin' good!!

Those look nice. I think the quilts with all the same background look neat - and the matching sashing makes the colors sort of float. I have no idea what I'll do about sashing, but I have a long way to go before it will be an issue :)

I've gotten distracted working on the border for my mystery train quilt, but I have gotten two more sections for the CMIYC quilt sewn (only 33 more to go).

Thanks! I am planning on using WOW sashing w/dark blue cornerstones for that very "floating" reason. I've been playing with the design and, so far, I'm liking white sashing. We'll see tho. Many more to go before decision is made. These blocks are so fun to make. I need to get back to the mystery and finish that up this weekend.

Three more today..

N4 - Cut Glass Dish
I4 - Anvil
G4 - Chimneys & Cornerstones

After lurking around on this board and admiring all the beautiful blocks, I'm in. Here are my first 2. Although I was familiar with paper piecing, this was the first time I'd ever really used it. Looking forward to getting better at it, and practicing a lot of techniques. I love variety in quilts, get very bored with ones that are all the same type or color, so I think I will enjoy this one a lot. I am using a creamy background, plan to have a scrappy look with many different colors. Going to see if I can make it a charm quilt, not repeating any fabrics except the background (we shall see if I can do this). Thanks for all the inspiration!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]589653[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]589654[/ATTACH]

Yea!!! So glad you are on this journey with us! I love the scrappy sampler and would have done the same except I had 2 full bolts of fabric that I decided to use for this controlled sampler. So that is what I did. And now, I'm loving it so much that it may end up on my guest bedroom bed in my new home.

Your blocks look great. I wasn't very exposed to PP either but you will be an expert by the time this sampler is done. Good for you to tackle not so easy blocks right away. I mix simple with challenging to keep me motivated. I feel much more competent and can easily whip through PP now. Looking forward to seeing more of your blocks.

Glad you joined Donna - you are off to a good start. Projects like this are great skill builders, that is why I like them so much.

They really are fun to sew up - I spent most of yesterday working on them. I think some sew up faster than it takes to cut them.

Cutting can also be a challenge when the cat decided she wants to sleep under the cutting table. She's learned to curl up tight so I don't step on her.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psfq33pp6k.jpg

Since I'm going controlled scrappy, I had to cut almost all the pieces one at a time. I tried hard to not use the same fabric more than once in a block, except for the background.


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psek8hjhxc.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psbh670h6x.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psgtokfz86.jpg

and more, I spent all day working on these.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pssloyfhtk.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2qulwcto.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps8ubu2xkm.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pseywt7ald.jpg

I am not doing any paper/foundation piecing on these.

I've getting my fill of that with this project. I'm doing this with regular fabric.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psnthkrobc.jpg