100days100blocks2019

Those of you who also follow me on Instagram or Facebook (thanks!) will be aware that I have been participating in a sew along project. In fact I have done this twice before, in 2016 and 2017. All projects have been hashtagged #100days100blocks and then the numbers of the respective years. This year we used a book authored by the originator of the 100days100blocks project, Angie Wilson, otherwise known as @gnomeangel and on Facebook her group is called Home of the Gnome. The book is called Kinship 100 block fusion sampler and you can order it straight from her website. I'm hoping that maybe next year when she will run the project once again using the same book it might be more easily available here in the UK.
There is an equal mix of 8 x 8" and 4 x 8" finished size blocks and the book suggests various ways to put them together but you can just make your own arrangements too as I have done.

I'm trying to reduce my fabric stash so ordered myself to not buy new fabric but use what I had already and by chance my eye fell on my collection of hand dyed fabrics. These were not dyed by me (septic tank so not a good idea!) but bought over many years from a variety of sources.

From July to earlier this month we all posted one block every day either on Angie's Facebook Group or on Instagram with the hashtag #100days100blocks2019. There are prizes involved in successfully doing this but I simply played along for the fun of it.

You can see the completed quilt top above. It hasn't been quilted yet but by some fluke I have just machine quilted a background for a totally different piece and it suddenly struck me it would work very well for this one too. No intricate quilting is required as it would just be lost in that sea of colour. I'm ready to tack this monster (60 x 80") and get to work. Wish me luck!

Wanted to picture it first though and my trusty helper was able and willing using our summerhouse as a prop.

African Dreams 69.3/8" square

Above is the quilt I made in 2017. During that year we used a different book: Tula Pink's City Sampler; 100 modern quilt blocks. I first saw this book during our visit to New York where we attended the Brooklyn Quilters Show and one of the suppliers selling during that show was Gotham Quilts who had one of the quilts made with that book hanging on their stand. In 2017 I used African fabrics combined with black sashing. All blocks for this quilt are 8 x 8" finished size. The quilt was computer guided long arm quilted by Kay Bell.
The project also ran in 2018 but sadly too much else was going on that year and I didn't play.

Garden of Earthly Delight 80.4" square

The first year Angie did the project was 2016 with Tula Pink's book. I think if I'm honest I wanted to buy a fabric collection and the project was a good way to justify the expense. I used the Garden of Earthly Delights fabric range from FreeSpirit fabrics and added an additional round of fabric around each block. This quilt too was long arm quilted by Kay, and it did win the Prize for Computer Guided Long Arm Quilting at the Scottish Quilt Championships in September 2017.

Will I participate again next year? It looks likely as I'm already eyeing up fabric collections (naughty, naughty!) and also looking at my stash. Somehow I feel there might be a bit of fabric buying coming up once I decide on colourways or find a collection of fabrics I simply can't leave in the shops.

The blocks are very simply and Angie's instructions are excellent, quite explicit and aimed at pure beginning quilters so this would make a good project for them. But if you're experienced you'll find a lot to keep you occupied with fabric choices and fuzzy cutting (like I did in the Garden of Earthly Delight and African Dreams). You can choose to machine piece (this is what I did in all 3 cases) or you can use Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates (also available from Angie but also here in the UK from various suppliers). The next round will start on the 1st July 2020. It seems like a long time away but no doubt it will be upon us before we know it!

Sign up for Angie's Newsletter and follow her on Instagram to find out more. These links are simply for your convenience. I don't use affiliate links on this blog so no money comes my way. I simply love the project and wanted to share!