Wednesday 1 July 2015

July Block of the Month

Hello to Everyone!
Today is our 7th Block of the Month in our Oceans series

July has wonderful ORCAS or Killer Whales if you prefer. 


As usual, our block is 14" (37cm) and on the Intermediate Level.

I asked a good friend Lisa England to help me make the BOM because I still cannot sew with my arm hurting so much (I have frozen shoulder).

These photos and the finished block are all credit to her and her kindness... Thank you Lisa, I really appreciate it!


Little swatches of fabric were glued down onto a piece of paper. Make sure that you have enough contrast. 
The Orca is diving out of the water and there is a lot of water splashing around her. The baby is diving more into the air with a small bit of splashing on the sides.

Please feel free to change the colours to something you like.








You can even write onto your sections which colours you like and then begins the fun with sewing up the seams.







 Lisa uses a wooden wall paper roller to flatten her seams instead of an iron during the piecing process;  works great!  She uses the iron after the sections are complete.











trimming seam allowance -- Lisa does this with scissors as she goes




trimming section to size -- she pieces all the sections then trims them all at once down to size.





Here is a section of the Orca finished

Now just to sew all the sections together.









The finished block for July - Orcas playing in the water.
Really beautiful!

The block is Free for July in my Craftsy Shop
I hope you all enjoy making this one

You can find more info and the Quick Links Here

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Thanks to everyone for the wishes on my anniversary. We made plans to go and eat out and about an hour before we had to leave all the kids decided to arrive home and also go out with us. It was actually really lovely. A good day!

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Other Good News - 

Paper Piecing 1/4" digital Magazine (Issue #6 - Summer Fun)
 is also out now and issues can be found at the Craftsy Shop too.

You can find more info HERE

7 comments:

Plum Cox said...

Another great block! Hope that your shoulder eases up soon.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

That is a beautiful block - so realistic!

Rosa said...

Another stunning pattern!

Erin said...

Lovely block, as usual!

Could you describe that tool Lisa uses to press the blocks - or post a link to it on a store? I never get good results finger pressing, but I would love to not have to go to the iron after every single piece.

Thanks!

Lisa England said...

Erin, I am Lisa who made the block. I don't know if this is a tool Janeen uses or not, so I thought I'd answer your question. I learned this technique from RaNae Merrill in a class I took from her. She sells these tools on her website. Go here
http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/browse_dept_items.asp?Store_id=585&page_id=17

and click on the link for tools and the roller is at the bottom of the page. She even has a link showing how to use it. You want to pull the fabric tight while you are rolling it. My roller is not from her shop, as I had one like it that I used to use when my husband and I wallpapered some rooms years ago. Now that I don't want wall paper, it is a tool that lives in my sewing room. I also use it to press seams open when needed. I still use the iron, but by doing this first I don't burn my fingers like I used to! I am totally sold on this tool/technique -- can you tell? You may be able to buy these at a paint store or some place like Lowe's but I've heard many of them are plastic, which doesn't seem as sturdy as wood. Hope this helps!

Annie said...

Thanks for another fun block.
Good luck on the frozen shoulder. Mine was really bad last year, but I'm back to about 95% of my former mobility and comfort - a bit of rotation movement left to get back and the arm still gets tired/sore if I keep it in one position too long. I'd be happy to tell you more about my frozen shoulder if you think it would help.

Esther Aliu said...

What an impressive block, love it!