Tuesday, February 25, 2014

welcome to the north pole sew-a-long

This year,  I am psyched up about having joined several sew-a-longs and block-of-the-month online programs. I have stayed on top of things so far, but it is still just February. I wonder if I have the staying power to complete all of them? Hmm.. I am certainly going to try. It will probably get a little more difficult in the warmer months when I don't want a warm quilt on my ready warm lap or want to spend more time outdoors than in. Maybe I will just have to take the sewing machine outside when it gets warmer!

Welcome to the North Pole with Val Spiers has become a revived SAL with several new participants - I being one of them. I really didn't know what I was getting into when I joined this program; I thought it was be easy cheesy. Boy, was I wrong! I spent all morning trying to get my fabrics right on the first block - Mr. and Mrs. Claus' House. I really loved the green fabric for the main house, and cut a smaller entrance way in green as well, but it didn't stand out the way I wanted it too. I returned back to the blue and added the blue shutters. The chimney was also an afterthought or change of fabric; it was first in browns. I might change the front door to brown?!

I am not going to appliqué until I have a few more blocks finished. I want to see more of a collection of blocks before I make an impromptu decision and change things later.

With the snow on the bottom, I went with the idea of cutting three inch wide strips, folding in half and sewing along the edge of the block. I made some ripples and sewed very close to the edge below the house and hill. I like the 3-D appearance of snow and drifts. I could add more stitching to the snow later. We'll see. So far, I am quite content.

I could really envision hand stitching lots of details.....this is a very exciting journey for me. I am feeling much better about it today than when I made the block. I am now looking forward to the next block and have already picked the color scheme for it.

One thing I have to remind myself about BOMs or SALs in that I shouldn't put too much weight on one individual block. In the end, it will be a collection of blocks. The overall impression is more important. Better said than done sometimes, right? I also like to hang the block up and live with it for a while.

I am curious to seeing what the other lovely ladies have done on their North Pole blocks!

Keep sewing and thanks for dropping by.
Karen

10 comments:

  1. Hallo Karen,
    der Block ist sehr schön geworden, mir gefällt er so wie er ist, ich würde da nicht mehr dran ändern, aber ich weiß schon Du wägst immer gerne ab ob es noch besser werden könnte.
    ....und wer ist jetzt der Streber?
    LG
    KATRIN W.

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  2. I really love the choice of fabrics and colours for your block and the 3D effect with the snow is really wonderful. I look forward to seeing this quilt grow.

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  3. Your snowdrift texture is a great idea, and the blue bias door is charming!

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  4. I love the greens and blues. I am trying to use some scraps and it is quite hard to get the right mix of colours because there are so many layers to this house. I really like your 3D snow drift. What a great idea. Thanks for linking up.
    valspierssews

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  5. Hallo Karen,

    ein toller Block...mir gefallen die Farbkombination und der Hintergrund sehr...

    ♥ღ♥ -licher Gruß
    Klaudia

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  6. Lovely block - I'm doing this one too after watching a few bloggers do it last year. I am theming my houses and am leaving the stitching for a while and will decide about the snow later too. I like your 3D idea and have a few ideas in mind for mine.

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  7. Hallo Karen,
    toll schaut Dein Block aus und ich würde daran auch nichts mehr ändern.
    Die 3D-Schnee-Idee finde ich großartig!
    Viele Grüße
    Marle

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  8. I love the colours that you have chosen, your block looks great. I have found the North Pole to be quite fiddly but so worth it.

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  9. Ich finde Deinen Block und die Wahl der modernen Stoffe genial - das sieht super aus!!!

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  10. Dein Block ist wunderschön!! I LOVE IT!!
    GLG
    Deborah

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Thank you so much for dropping by and leaving comments! You really make my day! - Karen

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