Nearly Insane…Nearing the Finishing Line…Blocks 40 to 46

It is Row 7 today, in my series of posts on the progress of my Nearly Insane Quilt,  based on a 19th century quilt by Salinda Rupp... I have now less than 20 blocks to finish! The blocks are all set on point, with 7 and 6 blocks in the alternating rows.

The blocks are 6″ square and except for a few, foundation paper pieced by me.  I drafted all the patterns for FPP on the free Quilt Assistant software, based on patterns in Liz Lois’s book, which contains only line drawings of the finished blocks.

Most of the fabric used is Summer Breeze 3  (with a fat quarter bundle of matching solids) by Moda Fabrics, and the Dutch Garden 2 Collection by Boundless Fabric. I also used a couple FQs in blues and greens plus a jelly roll of yellows I had in my stash.

Nearly Insane Block  40

Number of pieces: 29

Level of Difficulty: Easy. This is one block where I made some changes from Salinda’s original block, adding those diagonal strips in the corner pieces. Now I wish I hadn’t.

Technique: Foundation paper pieced (FPP)

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 40
Nearly Insane Block 41

Number of pieces: 31

Level of Difficulty: Moderate.   This basket block was another which would have been easier to English paper piece or even  machine piece with nesting seams. But it gave me a great opportunity to use up that pretty soft blue, lage floral for the background.  All in all, a very pretty block!

Technique: Foundation paper pieced with handle of the basket appliqued.

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 41
Nearly Insane Block 42

Number of pieces: 120

Level of Difficulty:  Difficult…hmm…moderate? 120 pieces in a 6″ x 6″ block and so many points! I love this particular block and have made it into an 18″x 18″ cushion cover too!

Technique: Foundation Paper Piecing

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 42
Nearly Insane Block 43

Number of pieces: 88 pieces

Level of Difficulty: Difficult, as a lone star block is. So many y-seams and then the 8 seams meeting at a point in the centre…I tried (unsuccessfully) fussy cutting the strips for the diamond pieces, succeeding only in the centre.

(Arguably) the prettiest block in the quilt!

Technique: Strip pieced the eight bigger diamonds and then machine pieced them together. Also machine pieced the 4 corners and the triangles to the star.

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 43
Nearly Insane Block 44

Number of pieces: 84

Level of Difficulty:  Truly insane block! With four 8-point stars and 32 y-seams! And to add to my woes, I kept losing the pieces, despite doing my best to keep track of them.

Technique: Foundation paper pieced the centre strips and English paper pieced the stars.

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 44
Nearly Insane Quilt Block 45

Number of pieces:44

Level of Difficulty: Moderate, because of the huge(!) 1″ pieces.

Technique: Foundation paper pieced (FPP) and machine pieced.

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 45
Nearly Insane Quilt Block 46

Number of pieces:37

Level of Difficulty: Easy–another log cabin block, this time with a star in the centre! (Compare with Block 11 and Block 76)

Technique: Regular machine piecing

 

Would you say this was the prettiest row so far? In case you have not seen my earlier updates, click the links for each row below:

Row 1 ( Blocks 1 to 7)

Row 2 (Blocks 8 to 13) 

Row 3 (Blocks 14 to 20, with a couple missing)

Row 4 (Blocks 21 to 26)

Row 5 (Blocks 27 to 33)

Row 6 (Blocks 34 to 39)

Breaking News! The Foundation Paper-Piecing Patterns for the blocks of the Salinda Rupp Nearly Insane Quilt are now available on my store!

Nearly Insane…Nearing the Finishing Line…Blocks 34 to 39

In  my series of posts on the progress of my Nearly Insane Quilt,  based on a 19th century quilt by Salinda Rupp , here is Row 6. I have now less than 20 blocks to finish! The blocks are all set on point, with 7 and 6 blocks in the alternating rows.

The blocks are 6″ square and except for a few, foundation paper pieced by me.  I drafted all the patterns for FPP on the free Quilt Assistant software, based on patterns in Liz Lois’s book, which contains only line drawings of the finished blocks.

Most of the fabric used is Summer Breeze 3  (with a fat quarter bundle of matching solids) by Moda Fabrics, and the Dutch Garden 2 Collection by Boundless Fabric. I also used a couple FQs in blues and greens plus a jelly roll of yellows I had in my stash.

Nearly Insane Block  34

Number of pieces: 33

Level of Difficulty: Easy star block. Salinda has a number of these; however, she added interest by sewing up different centres for each. On my part, I did some fussy cutting to prettify them. (The temptation to substitute these blocks with more interesting and complicated ones was great but I did manage to resist it).

Technique: Foundation paper pieced (FPP).

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 34
Nearly Insane Block 35

Number of pieces: 64

Level of Difficulty: Moderate. I do not like to foundation paper piece hour-glass QST blocks ( nor pinwheels, for that matter!) They are much easier to machine piece with nesting seams.

Technique: Foundation paper pieced.

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 35
Nearly Insane Block 36

Number of pieces: 79

Level of Difficulty:  Hmmm…moderate? 79 pieces in a 6″ x 6″ block! The four-patches are also easier machine-pieced than foundation pieced. Lots of triangles and lots of points to match.

Technique: Foundation Paper Piecing

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 36
Nearly Insane Block 37

Number of pieces: 97

Level of Difficulty: Moderate.  Though it has 97 pieces, not too many points to match; it is quite a pretty block too.

Technique: Foundation paper pieced (FPP)

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 37
Nearly Insane Block 38

Number of pieces: 45

Level of Difficulty:  Easy, easy! The fussy cutting and high contrast make it quite a delight to look at!

Technique: Foundation paper pieced (FPP)

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 38
Nearly Insane Quilt Block 39

Number of pieces: 29

Level of Difficulty: Easy and whimsical! Another one where I used up my larger prints.

Technique: Foundation paper pieced (FPP)

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 39

 

I think I may be able to get back to quilting pretty soon. My sciatica seems to have improved dramatically with the Kerala Ayurveda Oil Treatment I am taking! In the meanwhile, in case you have missed my earlier updates, click the links for each row below:

Row 1 ( Blocks 1 to 7)

Row 2 (Blocks 8 to 13) 

Row 3 (Blocks 14 to 20, with a couple missing)

Row 4 (Blocks 21 to 26)

Row 5 (Blocks 27 to 33)

 

Breaking News!! The Foundation Paper Piecing Block Patterns for this quilt are available for sale on my store from May 29, 2023!

 

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