Blockhead 5: Top Completed

 Building Our Skills

When I started Blockhead 5 in January 2024, I had yet to learn that Moda Fabric began Group 1 in September 2023 with only nine blocks, while Group 2 had thirty blocks. Moda Fabric provides a free weekly pattern from a different designer to assemble and improve your piecing skills. I skipped the paper piecing and the applique pattern and sewed thirty blocks using the fabric from my stash.

Unfortunately, as this top progressed, I realized I lacked certain fabrics—some for the outer border, the sashings, and the cornerstones. Yeah, how that happens is simple. When I joined Blockhead 5, my first thought was to improve my piecing skills and not worry about fabric yardage. However, as I sewed each week, I made a quilt for my daughter, inserting four of her blocks from high school. Well, the quilt turned into a monster size!

I should have considered the improvisation I had to make while selecting fabrics for each block, as I did not know how it would look when completed. This part was a challenge, and I must admit there are a few things I dislike about the top, but that is how we learned quilters by building new skills.

 

No Regrets

I tested a few fabric for background for the shashing and opted for a purple Batik.

 

This giant quilt is 80" x 93.5". The blocks are 12", and there are thirty of them. This is what it looks like when you improvise without knowing the final result. What I would do differently next time is make sure I have yardage for the background, sashing, and a main theme for the fabric.  

Final Result

Cats & Butterflies 2024

 I wasn't entirely satisfied with the result of this quilt, but it turned beautiful top, and I'll probably quilt it next winter.
 
Have you ever followed a Mystery or sew-along without knowing the outcome until the designer revealed the assembling of all the blocks you pieced together? The mystery is NOT my favorite project on the top of my bucket list. Too often, I was not too fond of the result or the fabric I chose. But this year, I challenged myself to build my skills in all different sewing areas. Wow,  Blockhead 5 did it for me! If I had a bundle from a designer, that would be so much easier and fun!
 
Now, enough complaining, so let's prepare another quilt top.

Have a lovely summer!

RESOURCES

Blockhead 5:https://www.modafabrics.com/blockheads5