#fussycuttingsewalong April roundup
Hello everyone!
Another selection of hexagons made out of diamonds for you all. This month the theme was Shapes. I was busier than I realised, making a total of 10 starflower over the 5 weeks.
We kicked off April with a freestyle week to celebrate being a quarter of the way through the year. I made three for that week.
Mostly, I was playing with fabrics I had wanted to use, but not had an opportunity to yet, and returning to the theme of lines.
This first one is playing with lines in the centre. Once I had joined the inner diamonds, it reminded me of ironwork railings or balconies. So I chose this delicate floral for the outside and fussy cut it so the flowers looked like they were trailing.
The beige backgrounds didn't match as closely as I hoped.
Next up, a new layout. I originally cut this out intending to have a traditional layout with the lined fabric in the centre and the dog ears in the outer diamonds. But I saw so many people on IG playing with the layout for freestyle week that I got caught up in the fun and switched it up. I definitely like it better this way, it's more fun.
And finally, a one-fabric challenge I set myself. This is a fabric I got in a scrap bag at the Festival of Quilts last year. It was one I considered for Lines month. I am really happy with the effect I created, I think the patterns on the inner and outer diamonds blend into each other nicely.
So on to the Shapes starflowers. I really struggled for suitable fabrics for this theme. Which I found slightly annoying, because I distinctly remember suggesting the theme to Naomi last year, so I felt like I should have had more fabrics that worked. I sent lots of messages to Naomi trying to work out which fabrics were usable. Still, I managed to put together 7 starflowers.
Week 1 was a whole curved shape motif. Such as circles or ovals. This was my first attempt. I checked with Naomi about the orange fossils material, which was fine, but I could not work out what to pair it with. Eventually I chose the bright blue dino eggs.
The result is loud and bright. It's a bit overpowering.
So for my next one I went much more subdued.
This one works much better for both the theme and aesthetically. I particularly like the circular owl eyes.
By this point my friends on IG had alerted to me to the fact that Aldi had fat quarters in again, and they were perfect for the theme. So I picked some up, and made a third circle motif starflower.
This is all from one fabric, the inner diamonds are sections of a paisley pattern.
On to the next week. Still working with curved motifs, but this time with sections, rather than whole motifs. I only made one, but I think it's my favourite for this month.
The Tula Pink Chipper fabric was perhaps a bit of an obvious choice. I do think it works well with the white metallic fabric, that has been sitting around in my stash for a little while, waiting for a use.
The third week was looking at angled shapes (triangles, rectangles, hexagons etc) and going back to whole motifs. I made two - I had hoped for more but time didn't allow it.
This one is two of the new Aldi fabrics. I really like it, especially the angular star effect created by the inner diamonds. It's a close contender with the previous one for my favourite of the month.
And secondly, an all green one. Diamonds in the middle, with rectangular cameras around the outside.
This one feels a bit meh to me.
And for the last week of the month, sections of angular shapes. I really struggled with fabrics of the right scale, eventually concluding that these boats fitted the bill. Fortunately, Naomi agreed.
My original intention was to put the boats in the centre, forming a star shape, and have the zig zag lines around the outside. But having cut out, I realised I had already used the blue zig zags like that here. To avoid using the same fabric in the exact same way, I changed up the layout.
To be honest I think the result is a bit of a mess. Much like the orange fossils, it's too bright and the whole effect is a little hard on the eyes. But two separate people commented on IG that it was 'stunning' and I don't get that very often, so there must be something good about it.
So that's it - 10 starflowers! I hadn't felt productive this month, but clearly I have been. I have tried a few things that are a little out of my comfort zone with some of the colours, and to be honest it hasn't all worked brilliantly. But one of the good things about this sort of challenge is it gives you space to try different things. I am very much still trying to work out what 'my style' actually is.
However, in positive news, I won the monthly giveaway, so a little bundle of fabric has landed on my doorstep! Thanks, Naomi!
The May theme is Animals, and it is going to feature the return of Butt Week! You have been warned. Here is my Butt Week effort from last year, now sewn into my Fussy Cutting Forest quilt top.
Thanks for reading!
Another selection of hexagons made out of diamonds for you all. This month the theme was Shapes. I was busier than I realised, making a total of 10 starflower over the 5 weeks.
We kicked off April with a freestyle week to celebrate being a quarter of the way through the year. I made three for that week.
Mostly, I was playing with fabrics I had wanted to use, but not had an opportunity to yet, and returning to the theme of lines.
This first one is playing with lines in the centre. Once I had joined the inner diamonds, it reminded me of ironwork railings or balconies. So I chose this delicate floral for the outside and fussy cut it so the flowers looked like they were trailing.
The beige backgrounds didn't match as closely as I hoped.
Next up, a new layout. I originally cut this out intending to have a traditional layout with the lined fabric in the centre and the dog ears in the outer diamonds. But I saw so many people on IG playing with the layout for freestyle week that I got caught up in the fun and switched it up. I definitely like it better this way, it's more fun.
And finally, a one-fabric challenge I set myself. This is a fabric I got in a scrap bag at the Festival of Quilts last year. It was one I considered for Lines month. I am really happy with the effect I created, I think the patterns on the inner and outer diamonds blend into each other nicely.
So on to the Shapes starflowers. I really struggled for suitable fabrics for this theme. Which I found slightly annoying, because I distinctly remember suggesting the theme to Naomi last year, so I felt like I should have had more fabrics that worked. I sent lots of messages to Naomi trying to work out which fabrics were usable. Still, I managed to put together 7 starflowers.
Week 1 was a whole curved shape motif. Such as circles or ovals. This was my first attempt. I checked with Naomi about the orange fossils material, which was fine, but I could not work out what to pair it with. Eventually I chose the bright blue dino eggs.
The result is loud and bright. It's a bit overpowering.
So for my next one I went much more subdued.
This one works much better for both the theme and aesthetically. I particularly like the circular owl eyes.
By this point my friends on IG had alerted to me to the fact that Aldi had fat quarters in again, and they were perfect for the theme. So I picked some up, and made a third circle motif starflower.
This is all from one fabric, the inner diamonds are sections of a paisley pattern.
On to the next week. Still working with curved motifs, but this time with sections, rather than whole motifs. I only made one, but I think it's my favourite for this month.
The Tula Pink Chipper fabric was perhaps a bit of an obvious choice. I do think it works well with the white metallic fabric, that has been sitting around in my stash for a little while, waiting for a use.
The third week was looking at angled shapes (triangles, rectangles, hexagons etc) and going back to whole motifs. I made two - I had hoped for more but time didn't allow it.
This one is two of the new Aldi fabrics. I really like it, especially the angular star effect created by the inner diamonds. It's a close contender with the previous one for my favourite of the month.
And secondly, an all green one. Diamonds in the middle, with rectangular cameras around the outside.
This one feels a bit meh to me.
And for the last week of the month, sections of angular shapes. I really struggled with fabrics of the right scale, eventually concluding that these boats fitted the bill. Fortunately, Naomi agreed.
My original intention was to put the boats in the centre, forming a star shape, and have the zig zag lines around the outside. But having cut out, I realised I had already used the blue zig zags like that here. To avoid using the same fabric in the exact same way, I changed up the layout.
To be honest I think the result is a bit of a mess. Much like the orange fossils, it's too bright and the whole effect is a little hard on the eyes. But two separate people commented on IG that it was 'stunning' and I don't get that very often, so there must be something good about it.
So that's it - 10 starflowers! I hadn't felt productive this month, but clearly I have been. I have tried a few things that are a little out of my comfort zone with some of the colours, and to be honest it hasn't all worked brilliantly. But one of the good things about this sort of challenge is it gives you space to try different things. I am very much still trying to work out what 'my style' actually is.
However, in positive news, I won the monthly giveaway, so a little bundle of fabric has landed on my doorstep! Thanks, Naomi!
The May theme is Animals, and it is going to feature the return of Butt Week! You have been warned. Here is my Butt Week effort from last year, now sewn into my Fussy Cutting Forest quilt top.
Thanks for reading!
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