The Making of the Compasses

Back in 2004, the Friendship Quilting Bee decided to do a block round robin based on 12 inch or larger blocks of tricky techniques.   Each person would decide on 2 block patterns and a theme colour.   My colour was warm orange.   

I decided on Drunkards Path and Mariner's Compass.   Drunkards Path because it introduced curves to us all and Mariner's Compass because I loved it.   For the Mariner's Compass I decided to use Quiltsmart Mini Mariner's Compass foundation piecing packs as I didn't think any of us were up to the challenge of "real" compass piecing and also because some of the group hadn't done foundation piecing before.   I love Quiltsmart and had used their double wedding ring pack - fast, easy and effective.

For the round robin, members had the option of simply making the block for the person who had decided on the pattern and sending it on to them in their theme colour, or making that block again in their own theme colour and keeping it.   I had already decided to do a second block in my own theme colour and making a nap quilt.

C's choices were Salem and Balkan Puzzle in green and grey.

Jo's choices were Texas Lone Star (foundation piecing) and Feathered Star in red.

 
 Ju's choices were Christmas Star and Morning in Burgundy

My second choice of Drunkard's Path in orange.

In order to add enough blocks for the quilt top, I added a Crazy Patchwork block using bits of the fabrics used in all the blocks

And a centre block of a wonderful painted Gecko fabric I bought ages ago.   I used lovely bits of warm flannel and dark brown to sash and ended up with this delicious snuggly quilt top.

And with Leah's wonderful Free Motion Quilting Project quilted it to death.

OK have gone kinda way off topic, but nice to go down memory lane.   So back to the Compass.

As the pack had four templates I thought I would also make a compass and doing it and finding it so easy and wondering how I could include my 21 inch compass into the nap quilt with the others, made the snap decision to buy the Quiltsmart 47" Mariner's Compass, use that for the centre of the large double bed quilt and surround by the four round robin compasses.

Top Left - C's Compass.   Top Right - Ju's Compass.   Bottom Left - my Compass.   Bottom Right - Jo's Compass.   Centre - my Compass.

The Quilting Challenge

I started the year with 4 UFOs which had been sandwiched and waiting to be quilted for over 2 years and decided this would be the year I would finish them.   There were a number of reasons why I wanted to, to clear the decks because I was tired of starting quilting projects and never fully enjoying them because I knew that there were those UFOs stuffed in chest begging to be finished and used and because I was mid way through a 2 year border round robin with 11 other quilters and knew that by mid October I would receive my quilt back and it would need finishing.   UFOs piling up and up and up.

I found Leah's Free Motion Quilting Project and decided it was an ideal way to get those quilts out, finish them and improve my quilting at the same time. 

Despite my best intentions I also made two new quilts, a baby quilt for my new grand niece and a hug quilt for my sister but even so polished off 3 of the UFOs and have the final one - my round robin Mariner's Compass waiting to be transformed from an UFO to a WIP (the transition to my mind is that first stitch!).   So I'm taking up Leah's challenge of UFO Sunday and also how to design a quilting pattern for a quilt.

 UFO Sundays on the Free Motion Quilting Project

The journey begins here!