Kona Cotton Solid: In Progress

 Hello my quilting friends,

I cannot believe it's already July! Where has June gone? As you know, I challenged myself with a few sew-along projects this year, at least five of which I started in January. So far, I have finished a few tops and added six more projects to the list, making it sixteen.

Sew at Your own Pace and be Happy!

According to the designer, sometimes the sew-along is set to take six to twelve months, but I decided to finish a few tops before the date proposed. Either the pattern needed to be adjusted to adjust the fabric's value for each block or I wouldn't say I liked the pattern's cutting instructions.
As I mentioned in my last posts, the fabric value brainstorming I went through for the Block of the Month 2024 by A Quilt Life was out of my comfort zone. 

I created a schedule in December to keep track of all my projects. While summer was in full swing and I preferred to be outside than indoors, I wrote on another paper what I wanted to be done by the end of June with a specific goal. I did the same with July. Minimizing my goals for those two months helped me focus on my priorities.

Read the Pattern in it Entirety

Another brainstorming difficulty arose when I cut the pieces for the Kona Cotton solid BOF 2024. At first, I followed the cutting direction on the PDF pattern. So, I purchased this project's entire charm pack kit from Fat Quarter Shop. It cost me a lot more in Canadian dollars than I expected.
By the fourth block, it was evident that I wouldn't say I liked the direction for labelling each piece. Some background pieces were of different cut sizes but labelled with the same letter, and others were not even labelled at all.

Here is one example of the pattern labeling all the white background with the letter I which are of different size. The A/I corner of half-triangles, and the D/E/I are the flying geese.

The direction for the flying geese required that you cut squares diagonally and then the three triangles together on the bias, which stretched further after pressing them, instead of using the method of flipping a square over a rectangle. Some instructing pieces require a 5 1/4" square, definitely not the size of a charm, which is 5". Yep, I should have read the pattern's instructions BEFORE ordering the entire collection of the Kona Cotton Solid.

An example of square cut on the diagonal then sewed as three triangles to make a flying geese.

After that, I cut the remaining blocks using the well-known flying geese method and labelled each section with additional letters. The diagrams instructions are good. Okay, enough complaining for this quilt is to awesome!

Preparing 

Preparing many blocks ahead is efficient and kept me busy during the warm and humid day that I can't stand any longer. Yep, the extreme of minus 20C we get her in New Brunswick. I still enjoyed our early walking and evening gardening, but the afternoon are dreadfully hot!

Half Triangle Trimmer

With so many haft-triangles to square, I decided to purchase a trimmer. There are many ruler for that purpose and after watching a quilting using this one, I opted in ordering it. Already using it so much! 

Instead of trimming four sizes of the haft-triangle, I only had to set the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers, trim two sides, and voila!

 

 

 

 

Work in Progress

I'm using the secondary design wall, which is a picnic cloth from the Dollarstore. 

Kona Cotton Solid 365 BOM 2024

One block left to sew and the border. This top will be done before the date set for and that is okay. 

Pressing Mat

If you recall, I redid my two ironing boards with new fabric. The heat scorched the fabric quickly after pressing, leaving an ugly brownish stain. Also, the board got hot when I pressed many small pieces simultaneously.

I reluctantly purchased a wool ironing mat from Amazon, wondering if it was worth spending on another quilting tool. Amazingly, it works great. The wool pressing mat doesn't hold the heat long, and the wool material doesn't scorch after hours of usage.

What was missing under the fabric and batting? There is no fabric heat resistance. Why on earth didn't I think of that myself? Most stores sell their iron boards with fabric covers for lighter household purposes. As quilters, we drive those iron boards for hours!

Check out Sewing is Cool, who wrote an informative article on different ironing board covers.

 https://sewingiscool.com/best-fabric-for-an-ironing-board-cover/

 

Let's Go Quilt!

Resources

• Kona Cotton Solid Pattern BOM 2024: https://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/kona_cotton_block_of_the_month/#color:1
  
• Slotted Trimmer: https://www.amazon.ca/Trimmers-New-Leaf-Stitches-Quilting/dp/B06XGKVC5J/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1UD7LK1O1TYEM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lOhzVl_sS4BK2K9QG-lCsyp8hGkz3MvMAgMg2wi2iRQN4D4dUQAvC_RO5sTmSidWgsA_qH3NBgIasEbihQQqSE-numNG1xukkrRlPRrIg7QKExJVn7fqRagSHgbuJt-1A5GxIHZnlxAVP07QhNcvKeSklhU3QyLcjpYSZzSIRw1GKAj2DdAUmJuPnW8JotQHB8AjD3CxJumJoMsHFUFxyxhJmgg51z4NthwAd6J0Zs2xXacOcrxqPsocV9LZVjGV6mFFkGu_o09NyWlPaK95gbD1ldGJVoKkSscWuCGg_XU.0q1gAcMHxsCWRY9PX5ELMHeAt-d4NFbGcbABuSknI2s&dib_tag=se&keywords=slotted+trimmers+for+quilting&qid=1720703600&sprefix=Slotted+trimmer%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
• Wool Ironing Mat:https://www.amazon.ca/MOHOM-Wool-Pressing-Quilting-Supplies/dp/B08CC3MQWK/ref=sr_1_9?crid=38CPF49N1D9NS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.H5acZGmWACaQUApRLgjArmfhUDPjHnmMDFMPzuOwK7lYH4_J2MW2vH_mbDFW8u0b8ZUJqVDr4JO4q1pjknYE9-I8mrp85FmYBjZUuJT2ZIrfFNNuGL33itwWUIj1rbeVgWFZitZtw9ii1tbdi-5gZTbYPfn9ydZN_IztJ5AaQHuSwk_f5lQKW1sqfEa7y2fFRDWi5rdDg_lpFu0LVC0eCJbDgdsixYatgmYrvARm2skXK6ruMkcCbHMYSh2YVZiC8nDQQSt6inGi9uKmCEbXFOsf9Ob0ID-q_gXyTHpSou4.vf280hRhAGlOxILfcrCZFTTBt9Nl8FnJy-zVftntcQk&dib_tag=se&keywords=wool+pressing+mat&qid=1720703776&sprefix=woo%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-9