Craftsy's Block of The Month: February

I've completed the February blocks for Craftsy's free Block of the Month class. Do you remember my January blocks? Who knows if they'll all go together. Here's hoping... For this month we made two pretty blocks: a chunky chevron and a Balkan puzzle. I had some "issues" with both blocks. Eep.

First off, when I made the Balkan puzzle (the first time), it came out at 11-1/2 inches. It was supposed to be 12-1/2 inches. Grumble grumble. For my second attempt, I went wild and added 1/4 inch to the template. And it actually turned out the right size. Isn't that odd? Beats me... Anyway, I'm going to tuck my extra lovely Balkan puzzle block safely away and some day in the far distant future I'll attempt one of THESE. Oh my, oh my... Talk about making lemonade!

And secondly, when it came to sewing the rows together - see how there are four rows in each block? - I had a whale of a time matching points, even though I did the nesting seams trick, and pinned, and everything... Grumble grumble. Is there some sort of extra little secret to matching points that I'm failing to understand, or is it just something that comes with experience? I ripped out the final three seams twice each for each block. And they're still not perfect. Grumble grumble.

But oh well, I learn.

You have yourself a fine day. I'll be back soon!

♥M

Continuing Education

The only formal art education I have, I received from my high school art class. I've never taken a craft class or a sewing class. Like most people, I learn by doing. And, yes, I've done A LOT of doing. But I've thought recently that I should work on my skills, that I should try to get better at what I do. There's always room for improvement, right? To that end, I decided to join Craftsy. From what I can see, Craftsy is an on-line community that offers an assortment of on-line craft courses from talented designer/craftspeople at reasonable prices. Okay, I'm intrigued...

So I joined - it's free. But not only that. I also jumped right into their free on-line class which they call "Craftsy Block of the Month". Every month from January to October, students learn to make two new quilt blocks which they then combine into a quilt in the fall. Taking this class will be a good way for me to get my educational feet wet, I think. I will no doubt learn something new (like a bunch of new quilt blocks). I'll meet some crafty folk. Hopefully, I'll get a pretty quilt out of the deal. And, for future reference, it's a good way for me to judge the overall quality of Craftsy's classes and services.

I'm excited about it. I will keep you abreast of my progress, write a little about my Craftsy experiences, and post pictures of my blocks month by month. Above are my first two 12-1/2 inch blocks. They are supposed to be simple slashed blocks: a wonky pound sign and an asterisk. In theory, they're easy to make and get right, but mine for some reason, are FAR from perfect. But no worries. I'm learning, right?

Also, I'm working from my fabric stash so, as usual, it's going to be a scrappy thing. My chosen colour scheme is a somewhat out there but I wanted to try a little funkiness so I don't loose interest halfway through the year. We shall see how that goes.

I wonder what Amy (our teacher) has planned for February... Oh, see that? I'm already looking forward to next month's blocks. That's a good sign I think. Learning is supposed to be fun, right?

So far so good.

♥M


Note: See February blocks HERE.