The first half of the year has been a blur and I'm only just emerging from major volunteer commitments at two more quilt shows here at home. I need to tell you all about The Splendid Sampler 2 sew-along!!
I was so pleased when Pat and Jane asked me to participate in their second sampler book (of 100 six inch blocks) after suffering a mild case of FOMO when the first one came out. Although I'm not really a sampler person, I just love being part of fun things when lots of other quilters are involved! Meeting new quilt-folk is a favourite pastime of mine - it is always a life-enriching experience. Sometimes it's hard to grow your circle without pushing yourself a bit and designing a tiny 6" block is a bit pushy for me, actually. After the last few years of (mostly) improv work where I just start cutting and sewing and playing on the design wall, it is a surprising challenge to focus small and design something contained.
I have to keep my little block a secret for a veeeeeeeery long time, but until then I will be trying my best to sew along with the many other designers involved in this book. There have already been many posts about it (like selecting fabric and announcing the 1-wee countdown to the 20-block freebie sew along here). Check the links because there are fabric and book discounts there!
Follow along on the Splendid Sampler dedicated blog for all activities and announcements. It's time I did the same and got up to speed on everything that's happening! There are links in the header of the blog to galleries featuring stunning quilts made with the first book. You'll likely get lots of fabric inspiration there. I'm just in awe of people that can stick with such a big project and finish the quilt - that is definitely not my modus operandi.
I'm going to attempt my blocks in single colour stories using shot cottons from my Oakshott Colourbox purchased during a sale several years ago and lovingly dipped into for rare and special projects. I don't have tons of this fabric, so I plan to be a bit selective. I know making ALL of the blocks will be too much for me to stick with and I'm admitting that right up front. Initially, I planned to skip all of the applique blocks because I never seem to finish applique things that I start (I tend to lose interest after all of the prep work). However, this past weekend at my traditional guild show, I had the pleasure of meeting Rosa, the incredible designer of the Apliquick system. I purchased some of her amazing applique tools and notions, so hopefully I'll get to bust them out and try some new to me techniques for hand applique on some of these blocks.
What about you...do you enjoy the challenge of making a little block every week? Do you love sampler quilts? Is it meeting new designers that gets you excited about a group activity like this? Let me know in the comments!
