Catching Up!

It's ages since I last posted, April actually and now we're in June.  My elderly father's been ill and spent a couple of weeks in hospital and since then I've been having to go into Winchester every day, sometimes twice in a day, to take care of him. He is very much weaker, and more frail, than he used to be, and it is taking him a long time to recover, but I think he is, at last, getting stronger. Today is the first day that I haven't gone in to see him but I telephoned and he said my brother went this morning so not to bother going in.  It has given me a bit of a break as I've also been working the last few weeks.  I invigilate exams at the local sixth-form college so between that, seeing to Dad and my usual doggie day-care for my daughter I haven't had a lot of time to myself.  Oh, I nearly forgot; the grandchildren were on half-term last week and I was called upon a few times to look after them.  That isn't a chore, by the way, but it does curtail the time to do things for myself.

Looking back, I'm actually amazed at how much I have actually achieved.  I've managed nine blocks for my Splendid Sampler.  I've been catching ten minutes here and five minutes there.  I know that one block took me a week to do and I must have spent about about two dozen short sessions doing it. The embroidered one took me over a week to sew, mainly during the evenings.  So here they all are.

# 17 Family Stars

 I simplified this one by doing all of the star points in one colour.  This meant that I could make the Flying Geese units using the no-waste 4 at-a-time method.

#18 Lina's Gift

This basket block looks a bit plain compared to some of the others but I think it will be a bit of resting space for the eyes when it is sewn in with all of the others.

#20 Nature's Walk

This one is so cute.  I've kept the embroidery as simple redwork as it will go with the previous embroidered block.  I've a feeling there might be more of these embroidered blocks so I'll keep them all in the same style.

#21 Sweet Candy

A super simple one that didn't tax my brain too much although I did agonise over choosing the fabrics to use.

#22 Goose on the Loose

This one was foundation paper-pieced.  I've only ever used this method of construction since I started this Sampler so I was a bit wary but I'm so pleased with how it's turned out.  Such perfect points in each quadrant.  It did create a fair bit of waste, though.

#23 Hand in Hand

This one had a really intriguing way of creating those long triangular shapes which was really super easy to construct.  It did involve making a template but it came together in a unique way and is rather pleasing.

#24 Inspector Sidekick

The pattern for this one used half square triangles but I decided to use Flying Geese units so that I could fussy cut those Fleur de Lys and make it quite symmetrical.  I also decided to use my new-found skill of paper-piecing and drafted out my own patterns to use for those units.

#30 Simple Surprises

After the last three time consuming blocks it was a relief to make this one.

#33 Selvedge Saver

I've been saving my selvedges for some time now so I was pleased when this block showed up today.  I've only used my French General edges as that is the fabric line I am using for this QAL.  I made this by starting in the bottom corner and using a few dots of basting glue to stick the first strip to a 7" paper square.  I continued sticking strips on top, working back up to the top corner.  When the paper was covered I then stitched close to each edge.  Some of the selvedge edges have a fringed edging so I've left them lying on the top.  I quite like it.

I've missed out quite a few blocks, about 10 I think as well as a few of the bonus blocks.  These are mainly applique blocks or complicated paper-piecing ones and I might come back to them when I have more time on my hands.