In Spring of 2015 I cut the pieces for my first Swoon blocks. By February 2016 I had three finished blocks. Then they fell completely to the back burner.
When I joined Miss Love's Finishing School for the Winter 2019 QuIP session I decided to mostly pick projects that were really old WIPs and would be fun to work on. And mostly that they are projects for me. Finishing School runs for eight weeks and I chose to put my Swoon quilt in two of those slots, planning to finish two 24" blocks each week. Well, naturally the week 1 and 2 randomly selected projects were Swoon and Swoon. So, over the past two weeks I have finished four Swoon blocks! Here are all my blocks.
It is exciting to make progress on an old project. This leaves me just two more blocks plus sashing to finish my quilt top.
What old WIP do you miss working on? What's holding you back?
Alison Vermilya
Your blocks look so fabulous together! I can't wait to see what colors you've paired up for the last two blocks.
When I have a WIP that I am not working on, usually it's because the project is at some sort of an impasse -- either a decision that I need to make and am putting off or I need to get something for the project. I did just order two yard of fabric so that I can finish the tops of two different quilts, so that's more productive than I normally am!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Alison. Stuck at an impasse is probably a common reason for setting aside a project. Do you usually only work on one project at a time?
Bernie
Sarah, these are wonderful. I love this pattern. I made one large swoon as a holiday wall hanging which I really enjoy. But your colors - yikes, this is so pretty. Will it be bed sized? Love it.
sarah
Post authorAww, thanks Bernie! I pulled some of these fabrics for a palette building challenge way back and this project was what sprung out of it. I've used these colors again and again and I love them! Not sure yet how big I'll make the borders and sashing. It's not going to live on a bed, but it may be a good guest quilt for when we have visitors.
Lisa J.
This is going to be a stunner Sarah.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Lisa!
Jaye
I love the way you paid attention to the directionality of the fabric. Great color palette as well. I noticed you didn't break up the blocks into a bunch of HSTs as the original pattern used. Perhaps the pattern has been updated since I did mine? I think the larger pieces of fabric look better. I always feel good working on a UFO and am currently working on finishing my City Sampler, which is old.
sarah
Post authorSame pattern. I reworked the pattern to keep the large pieces of fabric uncut. ;-) City Sampler is another good one that I need to get back to.
Kathleen McCormick
What is holding me back...time. That being said I must choose my Feb focus - have to look at the list and get one thing done. Love your swoon blocks. I made some years ago and I love them!
sarah
Post authorA monthly focus is a great idea! I have a "what deadline is screaming toward me?" system and that can be stressful. ;-) I'm glad I opted in for Finishing School so I could prioritize these WIPs with a deadline for making some progress. Thanks for visiting, Kathleen.
Anja @ Anja Quilts
Well done. The blocks look great.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Anja. No idea when I'll get to the last two, but I'm loving them! :-)
Mary
Hi Sarah, I’m so glad that you decided to resurrect your Swoon block project. These blocks are so awesome, and I think you know how much I love this palette. Are these the 24” swoon blocks or the 16” ones? Take care, Mary.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Mary. My favorite palette. This is the project that I first used the palette. These are the 24" blocks... pieced like the 16" pattern.
Jennifer Thomas
I love your Swoon blocks! They look amazing in these fabric combinations. What holds me back? No deadline. I'm way more likely to finish when I have a deadline looming over my project!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Jennifer. No deadline is my #1 problem for finishing things. UFO/WIP challenges are a help for that for me. Projects with deadlines jump the queue in the priority list.
Kaholly
They are really pretty! All this time later, that’s still a great color combo!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Kaholly. It's surely a good thing that I still like it!
Elizabeth Bolton
Swoon!~! I love this block, and your color combo is fabulous. I made a 24" swoon block with French General prints, then surrounded it with other star and 25-patch blocks in the same print and now have it as a duvet cover. I'm itching to make more swoon blocks, but life does have a way of sidetracking me! I have a Civil War BOM that is giant and about 2/3 finished that I hope to complete this year, tho I'm not working on it at the moment - too daunting! I'm a bagmaker and doing a test bag which should be finished today - woop!! Enjoy your blog - thanks for sharing!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Elizabeth. One of the things I really love about the Swoon quilt is how versatile it is. I love seeing everyone's spin on it. But oh boy those blocks take a while to make!