Teaquilts

How to Square Up a Half Square Triangle using Bloc_Loc

2012-02-11T22:51:00.001-06:00

Look at this nifty new tool to square up HSTs!

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The Strip Stick

2012-02-10T18:51:00.002-06:00

I want to introduce you to the Strip Stick designed by Babb Enterprises. This gadget was written up in the new products section of Quiltmaker. I recently saw the stick about a month ago but didn't purchase it at that time. Recently I had a class participant ask lots of questions about pressing seams open for a particular project so last week end I purchased the Strip Stick to test the product.

It passed with flying colors. While I don't have problems pressing my seams open, it does make the job easier and the seams stay flat. I didn't even have to press on the right side to make that happen. I found that you can use steam or if you have a very hot iron, steam is not necessary.

I'm so sold on this product! I used the 18" size to press rows 80+ inches long; just moved the seam down as I pressed. Since then, I've purchased more sticks for those in the St. Louis area who may want to try the stick. The price is 8.99 but I need to add shipping making the total $10.00. This month's Scrap Quilting Club participants will have the opportunity to win a 18" strip stick and I'll bring mine so you can test it too. I only have a two of the 45" strip and that cost is $17.00.

Here is a video from the manufacturer:

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Design Wall Monday

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

I had a lot going on in my family this week so to keep my sanity, I sewed any time I was at home to keep my mind off of serious matters. I did get a chance to layout all 64 blocks and label them for my Double Time Log Cabin but I did not get a chance to sew them together into a quilt top. Hopefully I'll do that this week.

Instead, I made a new quilt top based on a project I saw at retreat. All the fabrics I used I pulled from stash but I can't find anything at home to use for a border. I did a little shopping yesterday but didn't find anything yet.

I also started working on Mock Log Cabins blocks this week. For something I wasn't supposed to work on, I made 49 blocks. I took my containers of 1.5" cut strips and started cutting them to size. I'm having fun trying to achieve the light and dark sides of the logs while using a lot of color in the light sections. I only need 192 blocks to complete the quilt. LOL I think I'll do something else for a while, maybe...

To see more design walls, visit www.PatchworkTimes.com .

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Design Wall Monday and Quilt Retreat

2012-01-30T06:00:00.001-06:00

I had a great week. I spent the first portion getting ready to attend quilt retreat. I sewed strips and cut fabrics for special projects. Below are the two quilts in progress that I worked on. Then, I have a slide show of projects I saw during retreat.

First, here is my log cabin quilt I took out of my UFOs to move further along. I needed to add two rounds to each of the blocks. I only have 9 circles shown, but I have all 64 blocks completed, enough to make 16 full circles. I'll lay this out on Friday during my craft guild meeting at work. I'm looking forward to sewing the quilt top together.

Then, I worked on the main retreat project for which I prepped the strip sets at home. The project is from Ricky Tims' book Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts. If you haven't tried this technique, please do so. I must warn you that it can become addicting.

Here is a link of a slide show of some of the participants and projects I saw at retreat. We had so many projects going on among us. "Ain't no mountain high enough" to stop the creativity. For some reason blogger is not recognizing the YouTube video so click here.

To view more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.

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Design Wall Monday

2012-01-23T06:00:00.002-06:00

After showing my jean rag quilt a few times, I began to notice that I had seams coming apart. I'm not sure if it's because I slightly lengthened the stitch length or if I had a spool of bad thread. To make sure the entire quilt was in tact, I resewed all the rows. It has now been washed once. I'd like to wash it one more time to get the seams to fluff a bit more.

Saturday we had the first meeting of the scrap quilting club and I posted about it in the previous post. Here is the project we will be working on as our yearlong project. It's called Flying In Squares by Melissa Corry and is a pattern on Moda Bake Shop. Below are my two test blocks. I also have a few segments of the first block.

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Scrap Quilting Club

2012-01-21T22:34:00.000-06:00

Yeah! We started scrap quilting club for the 3rd year. We have 5 new members, Cynthia, Kathleen, Darlene, Connie, and Carol.

Congratulations to Kathleen as she won the door prize! We started our first project of the year, Boxed In, that in Quiltmaker's magazine 100 Blocks Vol. 2. The blocks were made in 9", 12" and 15" finished sizes. Next month I'll post photos of the completed tops. For now, here are a few of the blocks made in class.

Then for show and tell, Lee Etta and Carol brought their exploding star top which was last year's "yearlong" project.

The next set of pictures have nothing to do with scrap quilting club, but I wanted to share this birthday cake my daughter had made for her boyfriend's birthday party we had tonight. Unbelievable!

Here is a photo of her with her friend.

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Design Wall Monday

2012-01-16T06:38:00.004-06:00

I haven't had time to post but have been busy working on quilting projects. I had to do some prep work for my scrap quilting club that's slated to begin this weekend. In the process, I've made 12 Boxed In blocks from Quiltmakers 100 Blocks Volume 2. I used scraps leftover from the Frolic fat quarter packet I previously purchased. This will be my third quilt top and I still have more fabrics left; seems like the fabrics are multiplying.

Then, I finished cutting jeans I'd purchased from a garage sale about 3 years ago. Why do we purchase items we already have plenty of at home? Yes, because it was at a price too good to be true. Well, I decided that these would not go into my normal denim storage so I took them straight to work where they sat and sat. Finally, during our craft guild sessions it took me three sessions to get them all cut. Saturday I started putting the blocks together and then decided that the denim was too boring. Apparently I need color a lot in my life. So, I added lots of machine embroidered appliqued hearts and other machine embroidery designs. I got bored again and started combining denim, removing pockets and labels and then sewing them back to plain blocks, using scraps of denim for applique, even basket weaving on one. I decided ribbon would be good too. I have no clue what I'm doing but the last two days have been fun! No worries about mistakes; incorporating them in without a guilty conscious. Sadly, I can't work on it now because of a lot of reasons. Hopefully, I'll get Recycled With Love completed by the end of the month. By the way, heart embroidery designs are from a variety of designers. I can't remember them all but do recall Designs by JuJu, Affairs of the Heart, OeSD, and Dakota Collectible. If you're interested in one in particular, let me know and I'll look in my library for it.

Thanks for stopping by. Visit Patchwork Times to see more design walls.
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Happy New Year

2012-01-02T22:48:00.000-06:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I was busy throughout the entire holiday season. I hosted Christmas dinner at my home so I had to clean and cook for the 25 or so guests prior to their arrival. We had a fantastic time and I just hated for all the excitement to end. I worked Tuesday through Friday and then spent New Year's eve at my niece's home and we line danced our way into the New Year.

For as quilting, I made a few more quilted wallets; that made the total of 33 wallets in less than a week. I enjoyed making them and have a few in my stash for myself to use throughout the year.

In addition to the wallets, I made this quilt for my husband who watches television in his "man cave." This should keep him plenty warm. This was a mystery quilt that's now for sell called Friends and Fellows.

I sewed the remainder of the drunkard's path blocks together from a previous project and then sewed them into this quilt top. It's not very large so I will need more borders to get it to a decent size of lap or twin size quilt. We'll have to see how this one plays out.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-12-19T06:00:00.002-06:00

I'm back with another design wall Monday. Yeah! I still haven't taken a photo of a completed quilt. Maybe I'll take it to work this week to get that done. However, I did make the remainder of my drunkard's path blocks and have the quilt top completed. Now I need to add a few borders. This pattern is from JayBirdQuilts. Mine is a little different as I added setting triangles all around and of course the borders I'll add at some point.

I finally decided to make a few Christmas gifts. I made Wonder Wallets by www.LazyGirlDesigns.com about three or four years ago for friends and family. Last year they started asking for replacements but I didn't get around to making them. This weekend I made twenty. They went really fast and would have been faster if I'd made them all from the same fabric. I had to constantly change threads to match the wallet and/or Velcro colors. Maybe I'll make a few more if I get a chance.

That's it for me. To see more, visit Patchwork Times.
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Design Wall Monday

2011-12-12T06:00:00.008-06:00

I started a new project yesterday. I've been wanting to make this quilt since last year. I even purchased the batik fabrics and had them still stored together in the store bag. I decided last week to clean my sewing room and guess what I found. I'm having so much fun with the drunkard's path blocks. Of course I cut them with my Accuquilt Go! die cutter, 7" finished blocks. I have over half of them sewn as the sewing is super easy. All the previous curve piecing experience has allowed me to get a lot done in a short period of time.

To see more design walls, visit www.patchworktimes.com.

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Drawing Winner

2011-12-11T20:45:00.000-06:00

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments. I have used random number generator for the drawing.

The winner is commenter #3, Lizzy. Lizzy, I've already sent a message to your email account requesting your snail mail adderess.

Thanks everyone for playing along.
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A few more finishes

2011-12-10T22:48:00.000-06:00

Okay, I forgot to take a final photo of this quilt. It's a charity quilt for hospital use in the preemie ward. They need basic quilts that can be washed a lot. I used my Asian themed charm packs for this one.

I quilted the African Inspired Card Trick quilt. It was one of the scrap quilting club projects. The pattern is from All People Quilt.

Instant Karma was made for a great niece who wanted an orange, pink and purple quilt. Weird color combination but it does reduce the family quilts I need to make. It should be less than ten now; I need to check the list.

Made the small tumbler changing pad/quilt for my step-daughter. She's have a baby in February but the shower was today. Of course the tumblers were cut from my Accuquilt die cutter. If you need a tutorial, visit my tutorial tab.

And the final quilt in this post is Jitter Buzz, a retreat project I started in February 2009. I sometimes think of it as the quilt from hell as the directions were not correct when I was piecing the top. I'm just glad that it's done and I really like it.

Don't forget that tomorrow is the last day to enter the drawing. See previous post for instructions. Also, I have one more quilt I completed but need to clip a few threads and sew the label.

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What I've been doing; 2 Finishes, Give Away

2011-12-07T06:00:00.005-06:00

I've been missing in action. My life kind of spun out of control. What have I been doing? The very brief version: In September we had our guild's quilt show, in October I went to NYC and in November I helped coordinate a major line dance party. I wasn't able to work on anymore Quiltmaker's 100 blocks so I didn't complete the goal to get them all done in a year. I'll make another post about my NY trip, but here are two finishes.

I did a major happy dance when I completed my dear Jane quilt I call Scrappy Jane. Hey, that officially makes me a Janiac! The fabrics are only used once per block or triangle; no repeating once the unit was completed. I enjoyed the process of making the blocks and triangles, having fun with the challenging piecing. What I did not like was binding the darn thing! I'm glad it's done and I'm so happy that it does have scallops. My next scallop quilt will most definitely be smaller. I started out hand quiting, then took it to a local church group to do some hand quilting; it still needs more quilting in the triangles but for now, I'm putting it aside. Oh yeah, it won 2nd place in the quilt show in Bed Size Quilts category.

Here is another finish, cathedral stars, but I named mine Crystal Stars. I didn't think I'd ever get through making all the units. Another one I'm glad to get off my to do list.

I have some other quilts I've completed but don't have photos of yet. Let's see, two baby quilts, a quilt I made for a family member and at two more. So, don't go away too long as I promise to be back soon with more eye candy.

I noticed that while I was gone that I now have 100 followers. If you are a follower and leave a message, I'll enter you into a drawing. I have been cutting my batik quarter yards into strips. I'm sending 15 batik strips 2.5" wide to the lucky winner. You have until Sunday at 8:00 p.m. to enter.

Have a great day everybody!

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Design Wall Monday

2011-09-12T06:31:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while. I still have a lot of things on my personal schedule with line dancing and providing quilt lectures and workshops. I'm sorry to report that I haven't had time to work on the 100 blocks in months now.

I was on the Tim Ezell Show on KTVI as a representative of my line dancing group's work with the Gateway Classic. We taught Tim how to do the Wobble Dance.

Here is my actual design wall with 2 of my 3 current projects.

And this is my other current project. I'm also preparing for our guild's quilt show the end of the month so the DJ quilt must get the dreaded scalloped border. It's been sitting for many, many months, almost a year with no work. The show is definitely my motivation. By the way, I hate scallop borders! Maybe because the quilt it so big for my first scalloped border project. Definitely because I don't really know if I'm doing it right. I'm using a combination of instructions provided from various sources. I wish I could have done the faced border but was afraid it would have been very difficult to line up the scallops directly around the triangles. I have almost 2 borders completed. I'll post a full photo when it's finished.

Here are the results from one workshop I gave; many different ways to make scrappy stars.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-07-11T05:03:00.001-05:00

I'm so busy that I can't seem to post on a weekly basis. I did a little sewing this weekend, making one of the 100 blocks (temporarily in the center of the quilt). I'll post information about it when I make a few more as it not actually sewn into the quilt. The quilt in progress is for my cousin. I've added 2 borders. I think I'm going to add another border with the black/white print to make it twin-size.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-06-27T04:56:00.000-05:00

We had scrap club meeting last Saturday and I worked on the project, Peaches and Creams, but in a scrappy version. This pattern can be found by clicking on the link or by visiting Judy's site, www.patchworktimes. I have a cousin who wants his quilt to have a lot of color so I made mine scrappy.

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Free Patterns from Accuquilt!

2011-06-25T17:43:00.001-05:00

Accuquilt has 22 free patterns. Sign up for their website by clicking the photo like this on the right side bar. For doing so, you'll have access to download 22 patterns, free of charge!

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Design Wall Monday

2011-06-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

I had technical difficulties last week and comments posted last week I wasn't able to respond to. I appreciate your comments and read them all!

This week I'm showing the finished top I showed last week; it look completely different. This quilt started talking to me. I didn't know what is was until it tapped me on my shoulder. It didn't want the traditional setting with straight blocks with plain sashing. It wanted just a little more so I gave in. The top stopped talking as this point, after making a final statement, "black binding would be a nice finish." That was I plan after it's quilted.

I worked on Quiltmaker's 100 blocks this week as well, making a post yesterday. Here is a picture of the blocks I made and to see the full post, go here.

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Quiltmakers 100 Blocks: Blocks 55-59

2011-06-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

I've been very busy lately, so busy in fact that I haven't made any blocks in over a month! I'm playing catch up again. I need 12 blocks to be on schedule so I got busy yesterday. Here of 5 of them.

Block 55 - Delectable Grapes
Block #110 on page 26
Marian Mapes
46 pieces

This one will be a mini wall hanging for my kitchen. I decided not to stitch around the appliques at this point but rather during quilting.

Block 56 - Mount Vernon Steps
#195 on page 69
Maria Umhey
Cheerful Quilts
20 pieces

This one is my favorite block in this batch as I'm partial to log cabin quilts, especially those with 1" finished strips. Sure wish I had time to make this in full size but I already have a log cabin started from a year or two ago that's not finished.

Block 57 - Ripples
#191 on page 67
Laura Stone Roberts
Assistant Editor, McCalls Quilting
www.mccallsquilting.com
96 pieces

Whew! I was so glad to get this one pieced. I didn't follow the directions, making two "section 2" units instead of one. What was wonderful in my error is that the same pieces are used in section 2 and section 3 so I just had to frog stitch, you know, "ribbit".

Block 58 - Tapestry
#182 on page 62
Rebecca LoGiudice
Willow Hill Quilts
www.willowhillquilts.net
41 pieces

Again, not paying attention I had to "ribbit" and it took a little longer than necessary. I guess I need to bet my groove back. Nice block that one day I'll make in scraps. This time I used a fun black and white print for the background.

Block 59 - Focal Point
#180 on page 61
Doug Leko
Antler Quilt Design
www.antlerquiltdesign.com
53 pieces

I was so excited that this block went together correctly the first time out! LOL This is a quick block to make with dramatic effect. Try it.

I have a busy week planned as I have a Sampler Quilts lecture on Wednesday. Along with my regular scheduled activities, I don't see much sewing in my future. And, I just remembered I need to send something to the Scrap Quilting Club regarding this week's project. Gotta go!.
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Design Wall Monday

2011-06-13T06:51:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, but here is a quick post of my design wall. It a project for the scrap quilting club.

to see more design walls, visit www.patchworktimes.com
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Retreat Pictures

2011-06-07T22:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't forgotten my blog and my friends. I've just been extremely busy with working, family, and trips. My job keeps changing daily with new boss, new support staff (as 3 has retired in the last 9 months and 2 were laid off), and I now supervise three employees.

I've also had two trips, one a quilting retreat and a family reunion. I'm posting the retreat pictures from May 20-22 at Whistling Meadows Retreat Center in Greenville, IL. We had so much fun. You've got to view this video of the quilt police showing up at our meeting. It was unexpected so I missed recording at the beginning. We are definitely a rowdy bunch!

So what did I work on at retreat? I started working on my Shakespeare in the Park and got almost half of the rows pieced. Then, I realized that I left a set of setting blocks at home and had to put it away and work on something else. I was disappointed as I really need a large workspace to finish this quilt.

So, I started working on a Scrap Quilting Club project from a few months ago. I have a few more blocks done than what's showing. Have a few more to go.

Our group project was the Jellyroll Sewing Race. The quickest anyone could make this quilt was 1 hour 45 minutes. So, the quilter who completed this in 30 minutes is definitely a sweatshop worker. LOL We had so much fun. I made two of them at retreat. This is my first one.

And, here is my second one made from a scrap bag I purchased at Hancocks of Paducah during the quilt show. I joined the strips with a diagonal seam. I've come to the conclusion these will make excellent quilts for my family members (about 10) that are still on my list.

Here are the other quilts made. They all have their own personality depending upon fabrics used, scraps or from a collection. These are our charity quilts for 2011.

Debra won the race and received $15 gift to local quilt shop.

Here is a photo of the challenge quilts to make any quilt, any size that was dimension with fabric, not just embellishments. I did not make a challenge project as my life is too hectic at the moment.

We also made cd holders for our cars but I don't have pictures of them. In the next post I'll post that along with two other quilts I gave away at the family reunion.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 53 and 54

2011-05-14T10:00:00.003-05:00

I'm going to have a hectic next three weeks and am not sure if I will be able to keep up with the blocks. I'm really thrilled that I got this week's blocks completed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can find a few minutes to work on the blocks. Here are the two for this week.

Block 53 - Bird's Eye View

#108 on page 25
by Dawn Heese
www.dawnheesequilts.blogspot.com
13 pieces

Instead of needle turn, I used fusible web and have a reverse block.

Block 54 - Porch Swing
#197 on page 70
by Cyndi Walker
Stitch Studios
www.stitchstudios.com
56 pieces

I'm not sure what I was thinking. I didn't use enough contrasting fabrics to make this block but it's completed and included in the count.

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Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Volume 3

2011-05-13T23:15:00.000-05:00

Because of my computer issues I have not had a chance to visit or enter the give-aways for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 3. One day I did pop into Quilty Pleasures Blog to see a few of the blocks and was again amazed at the blocks show cased on the blog. I think I am a block addict!

Diane at Quiltmaker contacted me and said in honor of the 100 Blocks Volume 2 Challenge that I'm working on (completing all 100 blocks within a year), she would send me a copy of volume 3. I really appreciated Diane getting me a copy because as soon as they hit the stores I'd plan to go purchase my copy. When the package arrived in the mail, I was so excited. But wait, this package was heavier than a package containing one magazine. This is what was inside.

Included was the magazine AND 30 fat quarters from the American Jane collection by Moda. Here is a close up of the FQs.

Then upon closer inspection, I'm now thinking that Diane must have (1) been following me around in Paducah, KY last month or (2) she's been lurking in my home. In Paducah I purchased a yard each of two chicken prints by Timeless Treasures Fabrics.

I plan to use them to pull fabrics for these patterns which are part of a BOM quilt called A Country Journal by Maggie Walker Design. I've had these patterns for a long, long time and haven't done a thing with them. When I saw the fabrics in Paducah I thought maybe just purchasing a little fabric would motivate me to start the project. FYI - you can still purchase the patterns!

I really got a kick out of the kit Diane sent me. Now I have enough fabrics to re-do the entire kitchen with this theme. So, "thanks again Diane for such a wonderful surprise and well appreciated gift."
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 50, 51 and 52

2011-05-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

I hope all you moms had a wonderful mother's day! I sure did. Spent the day with family, having a family meal and then I taught them a few line dances. I didn't want the day to end.

In case you're wondering where I am online - I'm not there much. My computer hard drive crashed and is in the shop for up to 30 days. Funny, if I hadn't purchased a service contract when I purchased the computer, I could have had my computer back in 3-4 days top. Because the hardware is bad, the machine gets shipped back to the manufacturer. I've decided I'm never purchasing another service contract again. I'll just spend the money to fix my equipment or purchase another one. The one positive is that I've been backing up my computer files since my last crash two years ago so this time I have my files. Just need my darn computer back...

Now, on the fun stuff! This week is my 26th week of making blocks so that means I need to have up to 52 blocks completed. I'm really excited that I was able to make the journey so far. I know some of you have gotten too busy to work on the blocks and I fully understand. Come back when you get time. I don't have time either, but since I started this "crazy" challenge, I feel compelled to complete it for as long as I'm able. So without further ado, here are my blocks for last week.

Block 50 Scarlet Days
#176 on page 59
Kimberly Jolly
Fat Quarter Shop
www.fatquartershop.com
73 pieces

A fun block to make as you got to make half square triangles and flying geese. I wonder what this block would like like with scraps; just don't have time to play around at the moment.

Block 51 Rosie's Posie
#101 on page 22
B+Cara Bonner
Quilt Nook Gal Designs
www.thequiltrnook.com
mine=22 pieces

I delayed working on this block because I was waiting for my yo-yo makers magically resurface from their hiding place. I think I have them stored with a WIP, but which one is a mystery. However, I had these yo-yo made from old calico prints at least five years ago. I rearranged them, reducing the number needed since they were all the same size. I also omitted the rick rack bow and the hand embroidery. I just need to get the base blocks completed at this time.

Block 52 Merry Little Flower
#113 on page 28
by Kari Ramsay
Fresh Cut Quilts Pattern Co.
www.freshcutquilts.com
11 pieces

A very quick block to make, especially since I used fusible which is why it's reversed. Again, the yo-yo was already in the batch I used for the previous block.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 46, 47, 48 and 49

2011-04-28T05:00:00.006-05:00

I have 4 blocks to upload, 2 for last week and 2 for this week. I'm still one block behind as I should have 50 completed by week's end. It feels great to be at the half way point in my journey. I just pulled fabrics from FQs and scraps to make these blocks so they have no defined theme.

Block 46 Midnight Dream
#126 on page 34
Carolyn Cullinan McCormick
CM Designs, Inc.
http://www.addaquarter.com/
57 pieces

A great paper pieced block. I found that the 4 corner units would make a great block as well so it's two blocks in one.

Block 47 Simply Sweet
#109 on page 26
Barbara Jones
QuiltSoup
http://www.quiltsoup.com/
7 pieces

I need to make some applique blocks so this one is easy. I didn't even reverse the pattern to make with fusible web as the original is hand applique. I've finally realized I can't do them all by needle turn with my current schedule; that's how I got behind making the blocks. I decided to use satin stitch instead of button hole stitch. I find the washed quilts hold up better with the satin stitch.

Block 48 Star Flight
#155 on page 49
Kathy Brown
The Teacher's Pet
http://www.the-teachers-pet.com/
37 pieces

Cute and easy to piece block. Enjoy the strong contrast of the black print with the other fabrics.

Block 49 Payton's Star
#160 on page 51
Sharyn Craig
http://www.sharyncraig.com/
37 pieces

This one is my favorite for the week. Love the appearance that the block is made on point.

P.S. - Anyone going to Paducah on Friday?

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Design Wall Monday

2011-04-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

My neighborhood was affected by the severe weather that hit the St. Louis area this weekend. I was fortunate that my family and I did not suffer damages to our homes. Most of us lost power from Friday evening through Sunday. As I look at the damages to the metropolitan area, we are very fortunate that no fatalities occurred. God definitely protected many, many people.

I did make one of my QM challenge blocks but will upload it later this week with additional blocks. Scrap quilting club was canceled Saturday due to the weather so no pictures this month. This is the start of our project due next month. I only need 35 starter blocks but sewed everything I had in a bag of strings given to me by Doris at our last quilt guild meeting. This is the result one person's trash being someone else treasure.

Since I had no power, a friend invited me over to sew and I quickly and graciously accepted. I quilted the Black, White and "Red" All Over quilt for my retiring supervisor. This will be her last week on the job. Not sure how I feel about the next batch of changes affecting my department in the next few months. Everyone hired or that I've worked with, having had close working relationships, have retired. I'm having a woo is me kind of moment right now. I just need look over the quilt to clip strings and check quilting tension before handing it over as the binding is also done.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-04-18T05:35:00.003-05:00

This design wall is sparse. I had meetings 6 of 7 days last week with one day having two meetings! I was able to work on the 100 blocks by working on a few pieces at a time. This is what I had Sunday at bed time. I made 5 blocks this week and started on one for this week. I'm one block behind which I will not be making anytime soon!

To see more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 43, 44 and 45

2011-04-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

After posting the other two blocks for last week, I realized that I was four blocks off schedule. So, I got busy on Saturday and made three more. I'm now one block behind, #129 Sew Little Time. I really wanted make this sewing machine block but need special fusible web that I don't have at home.

Block 43 Paisley Punch
#107 on page 25
Dian Harris
Associate Editor, Quiltmaker
www.quiltmaker.com
9 pieced

This block was a challenge for me even though it's one of the simpler ones. I decided not to needle turn, as indicated in the directions. I decided to try freezer paper technique and forgot about reversing the patterns; didn't matter in the end but my block is reversed. I also tried for the first time to use my machine blind hem stitch. I wasn't happy with that result either. Maybe I should have chose another sewing machine for this technique, not my older one.

Block 44 Diamond Blade
#189 on page 66
Leslee Price
Painted Pony 'n Quilts
www.ppnq.com
Mine = 80 pieces

A great scrap buster block. I changed the method of piecing. First, I cut two strips to make the 4-patches instead of cutting individual squares; made them a lot faster. Next, instead of making 12 HSTs, I made 4 HSTs and 4 flying geese units thus reducing the number of pieces.

Block 45 Carousel
#192 on page 67
Gerri Robinson
Planted Seed Designs
www.plantedseeddesigns.com
92 pieces

The ultimate scrap buster block. Nothing need to match actually, even the pinwheels. The center five pinwheels were leftovers from blocks I made last week, already sewn. Just trimmed them to size. The outer four pinwheels are from HSTs leftover when piecing fabrics for bindings on the diagonal. This block has 24 different fabrics but could have used a lote more! Sorry for bad photo; it was blurry and this was the best my software could do.

I wanted to share a photo of a friend's quilt top made with Asian fabrics using 100 Blocks, Vol. 2. When I saw the quilt I tried to convince her to start a blog but she declined. It's so pretty that I just had to show you. She now has border on the quilt and will be quilting it soon.

As I look at Cynthia's quilt top, I can recognize a lot of the blocks I have already made. Leave me a post letting me know how many of Cynthia's block you have made. Will be interesting to see who has made the most. I think I made 21 of the 25 blocks.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 41 and 42

2011-04-13T23:53:00.000-05:00

I'm ahead this week posting a couple of blocks. I know that I have some applique blocks assigned that I have not completed yet. Still, I haven't had time to tally how many blocks I should have at this point. My goal is to post a few blocks and then I can get some other things done.

Block 41 Homestead Album
#184 on page 63
Sarah Maxwell and Delores Smith
Homestead Hearth
www.homesteadhearth.com
44 pieces

I must be in a churn dash mood. I like this block and it's a great scrap buster block. I did change the 3-piece corner units so that the print and background fabrics did not rotate around the block. I like the secondary design that changing the positions created. Homestead Hearth in Mexico, MO is one of my favorite quilt shops. They are over 100 miles from my home but I still visit them 3-4 times a year.

Block 42 - Shoe Boxes
#127 on page 35
Denise Starck
Graphic Designer, Quiltmaker
www.quiltmaker.com

What fun block to make, especially around Easter. I'm calling this one Easter Pumps. I could have used fabrics that contrasts more but then they wouldn't have looked like spring-type shoes. In addition, I made my heels and straps in a fabric other than the actual shoe as shown. I just wanted to see how the shoes would look with two fabrics over using just one. I like them both ways and this would be a great pattern made in scrappy pairs, especially for a shoe lover. Be careful when paper piecing; you need to cut these wedges really big. Ask me how I know...
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Design Wall Monday

2011-04-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

I've been a tad busier than my design wall shows. The problem is I had a lot of meetings this week and although two of them were sewing related, sewing outside my home actually slowed down my progress as we were having too much fun. I also decided to become a line dance instructor this week, replacing someone who decided to go back to school. So, I'm a little nervous about officially having everyone looking to me for inspiration though I have been assisting various instructors for a while.

Here is my design wall as it currently stands. Piecing DWR quilt is time consuming. These are the same pieces I had on the all last Monday but the arcs are now sewn. I think two of the melons are pieces. This will be a WIP. I'm leaving it up on the wall until it's done otherwise the pieces may never come out of storage.

On the bottom of the wall are the Quiltmaker's 100 blocks 37-40. I'm a little behind on them and hope to get caught up this week.

I sewed three borders to the Bloomin' Flowers quilt this week. I'm sad now that I can't quilt it yet as I have three tops that I have to get done ASAP. This has to be my favorite quilt I've made in a while. I put of spring decorations today and so wished it was completed so I could display it. Maybe if I worked on DWR quilt above I could hang it on the design wall to pretty up my room. Geese, anybody want to work in my sweat shop?

I worked on partial borders on a couple of other quilts but will show them when they are completed.

To view more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 38, 39 and 40

2011-04-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

I've been behind with the blocks so today I sat down and completed 3; have 1 more in the making. I chose all traditional pieced blocks so I could get them completed without needing fusible, freezer paper, paper piecing tools, etc. I haven't touched the book with the patterns for a while and spent about an hour looking for it. Of course it was in a non-sewing area, making me wonder "why did I put it there."

Block 38 Sew-Easy Butterflies
#200 on page 71
by Darlene Zimmerman
Needlings, Inc.
www.feedsacklady.com
28 pieces

Such a fun block to make. It went together rather quickly, just as the name implies. I'd love to have a large quilt of this pattern.

In an effort to make the blocks quickly, all of them are just scraps laying around the sewing room left over from Bloomin' Flowers quilt top I recently made.

Block 39 Star Dance
#188 on page 65
by Celine Perkins
Perkins Dry Goods
www.perkinsdrygoods.com
37 pieces

I like the addition of the HSTs in the corners to change this block.

Block 40 Chunky Monkey
#187 on page 65
by Carrie Nelson
Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.
www.missrosiesquiltco.com
73 pieces

Whew! That's a lot of pieces in a 12" block BUT it is my favorite this week. I would love to have a large bed size quilt of this block. It is just beautiful. I used the same print in the middle of the churn dash blocks instead of choosing a different fabric for each one. From the print I chose the other colors to use for the churn dash units and the sashing.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-04-04T06:00:00.008-05:00

I've been very busy this week, completing a few quilt centers and even starting another project. First up is my Zigzag 9 which is part of scrap quilting club. This top is due at the April meeting and I actually got it ready 3 weeks early. Last week I sewed the blocks into rows. This week I pressed the rows, make a few corrections (ripping) and now have a quilt top. I do plan to add a couple of borders although not required by the pattern.

Then I pin basted the quilt I would like to have completed by the end of the month.

The majority of my time this week was spent machine embroidering the blocks needed to finish Bloomin' Flowers. I even have the entire center sewn and the 2nd pieced border is ready. I selected fabrics as I made blocks and am so happy with my UNplanned quilt.

I was blessed this week and received 3 Accuquilt GO! dies in the mail! They are Dresden Plate, Double Wedding Ring, and Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.

Of course I couldn't let them all sit in the packages. I decided to make the sample project included with the die, four rings, to test the die cutting accuracy (see if I need to use paper or not) and ease of piecing. I got a few units cut and laid out on the design wall. Hopefully I can get this top sewn this week.

To see more great projects, visit Patchwork Times for a complete list.

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Scrap Quilting Club

2011-04-03T19:57:00.001-05:00

Here are the very late pictures from scrap quilting club 8 days ago! Hey, I've been busy so come back and check my design wall Monday post to see what got my attention this week.

The main project was to have Scrappy Stars tops completed. The only ones to show up this month completed was mine and Norma's. Drew is working on hers as you can see in the photo. Hopefully we'll have more of these quilt forth coming in the next month or two.

We have a year long project with the Exploding Star and here are some works in progress.

In addition, two of last years projects came back to class for show-n-tell

Come back later this month to see the Zigzag 9 quilts. They are sure to be awesome!

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Design Wall Monday

2011-03-28T06:00:00.007-05:00

Scrap quilting club was Saturday but I haven't had time to upload photos from the group yet; hope to do so in the next day or two. Our project for March is Zigzag 9 pattern by Iowa Star Quilts. I made the scrappy version with the white scrappy background in 2006.

A member suggested this project for 2011 club project. Thanks Cynthie for getting us the patterns to work on this project. Since I'd already made it in the traditional style. I decided to make it in blues and greens (all shades). Remember these units?

And here are my rows now sewn together. When I took the picture I needed to press the rows before sewing them together. The rows are doubled layered so I have completed this step.

My other time consuming project this week is Bloomin' Flowers. I still need to embroider 2 main blocks and then 4 filler blocks (I think - can't remember now that I'm at the computer and I'm too lazy to get up.) I've been machine embroidering the blocks while watching television. At the same time, I'm cutting fabrics and piecing frames for the blocks. Talk about multi tasking! I'm still enjoying the process. It now has every color family represented and now it's getting difficult to pick fabrics as I didn't make a plan when I first started. This is definitely not my usual way of working on a large project so I'll just have to see what I add next...

Have a great Monday and to see more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 35, 36 and 37

2011-03-23T05:35:00.001-05:00

I didn't post blocks last week so I was two blocks behind, needing four blocks for this week; here are three of them. Note that I'm working out of order of the monthly posting to get caught up. I have basically skipped the applique blocks for now.

I have enough with the Valentine theme so I'm moving on to something new. For my next blocks I will use African prints whenever possible. I have collected so many of them over the past 7 years from a vendor at the Paducah and Nashville quilt shows. I have mostly scraps, FQs and some yardage. I'm trying to use the smaller pieces first. These blocks will definitely be challenging in that I'm trying not to add solid fabrics into the mix. We'll see how long that requirement will last.

Block 35 - Rose Twirls
#198 on page 70
by Elisa Wilson
Elisa's Backporch Design
www.backporchdesign.com
24 pieces

This is an interesting block to piece. With the technique shown in the magazine, you had left over pieces that I used to make an additional block. The pieced triangles squares are also leftover. I pieced these units together and may frame them to make 12" blocks for the quilt if needed.

Block 36 - Mini Pod
#157 on page 50
by Emily Cier
Carolina Patchworks
www.carolinapatchworks.com
31 pieces

I just love this block. I had so much fun fussy cutting the green fabric on the bottom as that's a great area to show case large prints. I used the wrong side of the fabrics in the connector pieces as it was too busy with the right side of the fabric showing.

Block 37 - Infinity
#164 on page 53
by Vickie Eapen
Spun Sugar Quilts
www.spunsugarquilt.com
26 pieces

Again, I love this block. I also fussy cut some portions of this block for consistency among the African prints to break up the pattern. The black stripe was included in the red print and I used it to separate some of the elements.

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Bloomin' Flowers

2011-03-23T00:08:00.000-05:00

I feel so bad working on the Bloomin' Flowers quilt when my Quiltmaker's Challenge blocks for the week are not sewn. However, I made two of them tonight (plus one I made one last week) that will post early in the morning so now I only need one more for this week.

I'm having too much fun bonding with my embroidery machine at the moment. I have almost half of the quilt sewn out and 4 of 6 embroiders sewn into great blocks. I have no idea where I'm headed with this quilt other than I'm using scraps that are in my studio that hasn't made it into my scrap bins. The only regret so far is using green as a frame when I will be using it as sashing in the rest of the quilt. I plan to leave it in anyway as I'm not that concerned about it to rip the block.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-03-21T05:30:00.010-05:00

I've had a busy, productive week. I started out doing a little shop hopping in Troy and O'Fallon, Illinois with a friend. Then I gave a presentation to our quilt guild about the Scrap Quilting Club and showed the quilts we worked on last year. I limited each participant to 4 projects each and we still went over 20 minutes. The program was a big success and I think we will have a few new members in the next two months.

Then I had my line dancing event on Friday so I decided to add embroidery to a t-shirt. Well, the shirt got caught early on in the embroidery process but I didn't know it so I had to add another chick to cover the hole I had to cut to get the shirt to lay flat again.
So I sewed out another one without any mishaps this time on a beige t-shirt..

I had my sewing group over on Saturday and did not get a chance to work on 100 blocks this week as I spent my time cleaning and cooking for the group. After they left, I finished the center of the scrappy stars quilt that was assigned to the scrap quilting club in February, due this week. Not pictured is the prep work for this week's class as I forgot to take a picture. We have a really neat project that I'll talk about after class on Saturday.

I started this machine embroidery project designed by The Stitch Connection. If you want more information on the pattern, view this post I made last week. This is 4 of 12 main blocks and those small embroideries are 2" finished and I needed 12 of them. This project will definitely keep me busy.

That's all for now. To see more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Today's Project

2011-03-15T00:36:00.001-05:00

You're expecting to see one of my works in progress, right? Wrong! Apparently I don't have enough on my plate. I've really been missing working on a major machine embroidery project. I was looking through my design files and selected three of my favorites from the thousands of designs in my library, lol.

Tonight I started Bloomin' Flowers by The Stitch Connection. I have worked on the Snowman Collector in regular applique (scroll to middle of page) as well as the redwork machine embroidery version. I have quite a bit of both styles of their patterns so I decided it was time to "receive some return on my investment" so to speak.

It took approximately 2.5 hours to prep, stitch and add the borders to the first block. I am again impressed with the digitizing from this company. The end result is always beautiful! This block is not a quick-to-stitch one. My machine's time clock displayed 46 minutes to stitch. I found it took me at least 1.5 hours; I stopped counting the time. This block has 41 color stops, not including the stitch out to get the applique watering can. I decided not to stitch the watering can design but printed out the pattern full size. I then traced it on the right side of fabric with fusible web on the back. That also meant I was able to use a smaller piece of fabric than called for in the directions.

I decided to make my quilt scrappy instead of using one background fabric (both styles are mentioned in the pattern). Matter of fact, the entire quilt will be scrappy; I just love a quilt with a lot of different fabrics. Oh, yeah, here is my 1st block.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-03-14T05:00:00.002-05:00

I found some time on Saturday to finish the top for my supervisor's retirement quilt. I added a 2nd border in all black since she really prefers a black/gray quilt. The smaller blocks are from the scraps and I used them to make corner blocks. Now I have to determine what type of backing fabric I want to use. I don't have anything suitable at home if I want it to match. I'll see if I can find something on sale at local quilt shop before piecing from stash.

I made a few blocks this weekend. The first block is from the pattern; 2nd block and three 3-part squares are scraps from making the 1st block.

I had leftover "Valentine-type" strings from making a previous block. I used them to make my favorite type of string block. Now I have all the blocks ready for a quilt; just need to find a stripe fabric. I seem to be addicted to stripes in my sashing for the moment.

Sunday I got a little time to make the last three blocks for this scrap club project. I even started working on some of the sashing pieces. Hopefully I can get this top pieced by the end of the week.

That's it for me. To see more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Choosing Fabrics for Stack-n-Whack Quilts

2011-03-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

This post is to answer a question from my blog comments. We have e-mailed a couple times and a blogger would like more information on how to pick fabrics for stack-n-whack quilts. She saw the progress I posted a few days ago while working on this quilt and wanted me to upload a picture of the original fabric that resulted in these blocks.

If you know me personally, you are aware that I try to help everyone to the best of my ability. So, I have uploaded photos as well as 2 videos on this subject. Please note that the videos are raw. That means, these are my first videos, I'm holding the camera myself, I may say a term/technical term in error but you do know what I mean. I DID NOT rehearse, just me rambling.

Here is the fabric I used in the blocks above. All the photos in this post have been left large so if you click on them and then click again, you will see up close the fabrics details.

Here is the fabric yardage with a hinged mirror on the corner at a 90 degree angle. Please note that these are mirror images and not true kaleidoscope-type designs. Yes, this is still connected to the yardage; I was able to not have the rest of the fabric showing in actual photos. In the videos you will see the additional yardage.

In this photo, the mirror is at an angle some where between 50-55 degrees. (I have not measured, just random). Note that more than 4 designs units are shown in the picture.

Another fabric choice appropriate for stack-n-whack quilts.

In the videos I show how to use the mirrors, show fabrics that may or may not be appropriate for stack-n-whack quilts. I hope you find the videos helpful. Remember, they are my first and they are raw with errors.

Video: Part 1 of 2

Video: Part 2 of 2

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Quilt Progress

2011-03-09T05:00:00.001-06:00

I had time yesterday to work on the quilt for my retiring supervisor. I'm really pleased with adding the black sashing as it helped to tone down the red a bit. I still need to sew the final two rows together and then plan borders based upon amount of fabrics I have left. I'm not sure yet if I'll get a chance to work on it anymore this week.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-03-07T06:13:00.001-06:00

I've had a productive week. I worked on various blocks, 4 of which is from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks challenge. The blocks with the primary colors is for a quilt I have cut out for a male member of my family. I'm just planning quilts and will assign them to someone when I get them done.

Here are my blocks for the Valentine quilt I plan to make. I've switched out some blocks. The only glaring block that needs to be replaced is the left block on bottom row. The yellow just doesn't fit with the others. So, I'm still one block short.

I'm having difficulty keeping supervisors. The last one I had retired in August of last year. Someone in the department was promoted and I was hoping she'd stay at least a year. However, she became a grandma and is planning to retire the end of April. She and I started work 25+ years ago on the same day! There is no way she can leave without a quilt from me. She liked the four stacked posey quilt I made our previous supervisor so last Thursday I started one for her. I took in three fabrics and she choose this black,grey, dark brown, and white print. I almost cried as gray and black just isn't my favorite colors to work with. I'm adding a little "Tea" to it by framing the blocks in red. I did pick a red with black streaks in it so it would not be too bright. I plan to use black sashing and gray corner stones in an attempt to tone down the red but first I need to frame the last 8 blocks.

I hope you enjoyed my design wall today. To see more, visit Patchwork Times.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 33 and 34

2011-03-06T17:04:00.000-06:00

Today I'm posting this week's blocks. At the end of the post is the schedule for the month of March.

Block 33 - Dot Goes to School
#147 on page 45
Jane Quinn Quilting in the Country
www.quiltinginthecountry.com
6 pieces

This block doesn't show Dot going to school at all. I did want to try the crayon technique so I made the word "love" in the center. I have decided to make a wall hanging and use this as the center as I don't know how washing a quilt with crayons will hold up over the years.

Block 34 - Hugs & Kisses
#139 on page 41
Linda Lum DeBono
www.lindalumdebono.com
20 pieces

A very straight forward block. I decided to use the same fabric for the pink squares instead of two. I also used the main print for my yo-yo center instead of choosing another fabric. Basically I'm starting to run out of "heart" theme scraps though I guess I could cut some from yardage.

I hope you enjoy this week's blocks and don't forget to visit the other participating blogs on my side bar.

March 2011 Block Schedule:

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 31 and 32

2011-03-04T20:27:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I finished my blocks for the week but didn't get a chance to post them. I feel really good that I got them done before Sunday!

Block 31 - Norse Bloom
#102 on page 22
Karen Comstock
Quiltricks
www.quilticks.com
23 pieces

For some reason my block did not align with the layout diagram after sewing down my stems. It was my first time adding the stems with this method so it's definitely user error. I enjoyed making the block and will definitely use this one in my Valentine quilt.

32 - Cute as a Button
#136 on page 39
Amanda Herring
The Quilted Fish
www.thequiltedfishpatterns.com
25 pieces

Truly a "cute" block and I enjoyed making it. I could have worked on rounding my curves a little more, but I was in a hurry to get the blocks completed. I added a drop of glue to the 3-D tips to keep them from flopping in the photo. I'll add the buttons after its quilted.

Here is a sneak peak of a few things on my design wall. This one will be a quilt for a male family member; haven't decided who yet.

I'm having the worst luck with supervisors lately. One retired last August and someone in the department was promoted. Now she's leaving at the end of April. I started this quilt for her. I haven't promised to have it finished by her last day, but I'll try.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-02-28T05:35:00.037-06:00

I have a few odds and ends on my design wall this week. First up is my design wall filled with blocks from the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Challenge. I'm trying to make blocks for a bed size quilt for Valentine's Day next year. I may replace a few blocks as I continue to make them. I have a setting that needs 12 blocks so that leave me plenty of options as I go along. I made the last two blocks in the 3rd row on Sunday. You can see close up and details on a separate post.

I had Scrap Quilting Club meeting on Saturday and uploaded a lot of photos in another post showing the results of January's project and quite a few photos from last year's projects. However, here you will see my continuing work on the March project. I made the bottom row of three different units. Whew! I'm kind of over making 9-patches though. The strips on the left are for another project that requires 4-patches but it's just a kit without a deadline; I just cut it out of the remaining fabrics used for this project.

This is the project the scrap quilting club is working on for February with the results being revealed in March. I still need to make three more blocks and quite a bit of sashing. I'm thinking of not adding a border to this one. We'll see after I get it pieced together.

I also added the binding to the front of the cathedral stars quilt but it was about 4" too short. I hope to add another piece and then make a label. I guess my handwork during lunch this week will be hand sewing the binding to the back.

Hope you have a great week and go visit Patchwork Times to view other design walls.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 29 and 30

2011-02-27T16:24:00.000-06:00

I'm due for four blocks by this week's end as I'm slightly behind. Today I made two of them although they are not in correct order of the schedule posted earlier this month.

Block 29 - Vanishing Squares
#175 on page 59
Sandi Irish
The Irish Chain
www.irishchain.com
16 pieces

Look at page 15 of the magazine for a great quilt setting with this block. I'm still making "Valentine" theme blocks for a bed quilt so I don't have a lot of contrast in my blocks.

Block 30 - Bar Code
#177 on page 60
Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle
Fun Quilts
www.funquilts.com
# of pieces individual to maker =, mine = 34

Pretty easy block. Used up scraps from previous blocks to make this block, adding in a few fabrics to provide variety.

Don't forget to visit the other blogs participating in the challenge by clicking on the links on the left hand side of my blog.
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Scrap Quilting Club

2011-02-27T15:57:00.000-06:00

The scrap quilting club met yesterday and had a lot of show and tell. So, this post has a lot of photos. The first group of pictures are the results of last month's project, Awesome Lap Quilt from Moda Bake Shop. Our group had problems with this pattern in that if you trimmed the edges as recommended in the pattern, you lost quit a bit of width in the quilt which also resulted in the end blocks being trimmed too much. We had various solutions to the problem which also included doing as the pattern recommended without any changes.

The first two quilts were made by Sarah and Jennifer who trimmed the ends as recommended by the instructions. You'll see that the end blocks are not the same size and the inner blocks. Sarah added a scrappy sashing which kind of reduce the effect of the trimming.

Carol took her quilt top apart and decreased the size of the blocks by 1/4" and resewed back together. That made for less trimming on the sides, not loosing the symmetry of the quilt blocks.

LeeEtta and Sue decided not to match the blocks at the seams as suggested by the instructions. This made for less trimming on the sides as well.

Cherie and Sharon decided to make their quilts vertical and in doing so made more units to prevent trimming the blocks. This gives the quilt a make over, especially for Sharon's who's quilt is the larges size of all those shown.

I decided to unsew approximately 1.5" from each row end and add strips from fabric I'd plan to use for my first border. This allowed my blocks seams to match as well as kept my blocks symmetrical. I also noticed that I couldn't get all the units as my jelly roll was apparently not as long as those indicated in the pattern so I used more strips than indicated. Although the quilt does live up to it's name, "Awesome Lap Quilt", is was not an "easy" quilt first quilt of the year for the club as I'd imagined. We will have a few more quilts to show next month.

Here are other projects shared, some club projects from last year, others were not.

We are working on the exploding star as our special project this year. Here are portions of the quilts in progress.

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Charmed I'm Sure

2011-02-22T20:15:00.002-06:00

My quilt guild had a charm quilt challenge this month and last Thursday was the big reveal. There is nothing super fancy about my quilt but I didn't want to see another one on the line so I kept it a secret. Here is my charm tumbler quilt I titled Charmed, I'm Sure. It has 202 different fabrics including the backing and label.

My first plan was to scatter the charms and piece how they landed. For some reason that did not appeal to me so I went to plan B. I decided to make frames with the tumblers (by the way cut 3.5" with my GO! cutter) by separating the light and medium/dark values. I also had fun throwing in novelty fabrics. I just love looking at this quilt. It tied for 2nd place in the challenge. NOTE: Quilt was hung upside down on the line.

Here are some other charm quilts that members made. I forgot to write down the names of the makers. If you are members of the guild and have correct information, please let me know.

Drew Benage
3rd place

Doris McCall

Debbie - tied 1st ?

Norma Silk
Tied 2nd
over 400 1.5" .5" rectangles

Judy Kooi

Connie Barnett
Tied 1st place

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Doily and Clock Finishes

2011-02-22T09:08:00.001-06:00

I was secret quilter to Lenore and she was kind to take and send me photos of the hand made gifts I gave her over the weekend.

I can't remember the designer of the doily machine embroidery design. This is an Ace Points free standing lace design names something like Valentine Rose Hearts. There about 10-12 different designs. I made four separate hearts on the embroidery machine and then zigzag stitched them together.

The clock stitching is from Adorable Affordable Designs called Thread & Spool Clock Design. I could have changed the wording but it was appropriate for the clock so I left it in. The clock was my first and took way more time than it should have. I ran into problems after problems and though it's not perfect, I was determined to finish it for the gift giving event.

Thanks Lenore for the photos and it was so much fun being your secret quilter at retreat!

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Design Wall Monday

2011-02-21T05:15:00.002-06:00

I had a very productive week. I started out making blocks 27 and 28 of the 100 blocks challenge from Quiltmaker's magazine. I made separate post about them here.

Then I made modified a clock by adding a machine embroidered sewing related clock face and a doily for the person at retreat whom I was their secret quilter. I forgot to take pictures so no photos of these two finishes.

Then when I got to retreat, I completed the Awesome Lap Quilt top with my modifications. I even made the binding (no back yet as I didn't take the fabric to retreat.) Also on my design wall is a few of the 114 3.5" unfinished 9-patches for a project the scrap quilting club is working on next month. The final project on the design wall is the blocks I made at retreat for a scrappy trip around the world.

Here are all the blocks in the order they were sewn into rows. I actually have the top center all pieced but forgot to take a final photo. I also made binding for the cathedral stars quilt and flying geese for another project (again, no photos).

For more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 27 and 28

2011-02-17T00:03:00.000-06:00

I realized that the dates for the February assignments was incorrect. Here is a new block assignment chart:

Block 27 - Isobel's Flight
#128 on page 35
Cinzia White
www.cinziawhite.com
41 pieces

I thought this block would be difficult because of the curve piecing but it went together pretty fast. The most tedious part was paper piecing the geese on a curve. I wasted a lot of fabric but it was worth it. I don't think I'll make an entire quilt out of this one but it was a great challenge.

Block 28 - Hope Blooms
#105 on page 24
Nancy Halvorsen
Art to Heart
www.arttoheart.com
42 pieces, mine has 41

For this block, I cut the background 13" square and cut my squares for the flip corners 4-3/4" square. That way I had room to trim after the block was made. I used all machine stitching with this block and even that took a little time. I'm still making heart blocks when I can as I need a bed size quilt to use next year if all goes according to plan.
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Design Wall Monday

2011-02-14T06:13:00.000-06:00

Not a lot of quilting going on over here this week. I worked on 100 Blocks challenge, making two blocks due last week and working on one for this week.

I cut and sewed strips for itty bitty 9-patches then cut them apart. I also used some of the same fabrics with muslin and cut strips ready for some 4-patches. These will go with me to retreat this weekend.

That's it for me, visit Patchwork Times to see more walls.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 25 and 26

2011-02-13T11:36:00.000-06:00

I'm very late with posting. Don't quite know how I spent my week that resulted in my not getting the blocks finished during the week. Today I completed last week's blocks, including them in this post. Hopefully I'll get this week's blocks made by Wednesday, maybe earlier. I'm also including the block assignment chart for this month at the end of the post.

Block 25 - Hearts Bejeweled
#104 on page 23
Susan Guzman
SuzGusDesigns
www.suzguzdesigns.com
29 pieces

Instead of hand appliqueing this block, I used fusible web. I just ran out of time during the week and this was much faster for a photo. I haven't gotten around to stitching the edges down yet so it still needs some work.

Block 26 - Simple Celebration
#148 by Anita Grossman Solomon
Make It Simpler
www.makeitsimpler.com
33 pieces

I wanted to play with color on this one. The photo is a little off, but I like not using a traditional "light" fabric that was white or off white for the background. The pink just jumped out of my scraps. For me, the whole purpose of making the blocks is to experiment with techniques and color. This one is growing on me....

Here is the chart for all the blocks assigned for this month.

Enjoy working on the blocks and please visit my left side bar to see blocks made by other participants. We are growing, growing. I have at least one local participant who doesn't have a blog yet. She has 20 blocks made in the oriental theme.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-02-07T06:00:00.016-06:00

I've been working on my challenge charm quilt this week. I finished the top, basted it, quilted it, and sewed the binding to the front. All that's left is to hand sew the binding to the back. Unfortunately I can't share it until next Friday as it's a secret.

The only other project for me during the week was to make my two 100 Blocks for the week. I change the first pattern dramatically so it doesn't look exactly like the original. I used machine embroidery in the corners and machine decorative stitch to stitch the center "x".

That's it for me. To view more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 23 and 24

2011-02-02T19:13:00.000-06:00

Whew! I didn't think these blocks would ever get completed. My life is very busy right now and with the start of tax season, I don't see it getting any better for a while. While I'm here, I want to post that the drunkards paths blocks are behind. I should have 2 more blocks posted by the end of the week but I don't think that's going to happen with my schedule.

Block 23 - Faire la Bise

#116 on page 29

Helen Stubbings

Hugs "N Kisses

www.hugsnkisses.net

www.hugsnkisses.typepad.com

21 pieces, mine is 17 pieces

I must have been out of my mind to schedule this block during this hectic time in my life. I had in my head to make this block with fusible web instead of hand applique. Then why did I prep the pieces for hand applique before it dawned on me that that's not what I wanted! I started working on the block, yes hand appliqueing it, and my stitching wasn't as perfect as I'd like on this one. So I decided enough hand work and used my sewing and embroidery machine to finish it. I needed to test the embroidery machine as I picked it up from the repair shop on Saturday. I used my decorative stitched on my sewing machine for the "x" stitches on the diagonal. Then I used my embroidery machine to stitch the corners. The design is from Dakota Collectibles. Not perfect, but I'm glad it's done!

Block 24 - Geese 'Round the Rosie
#168 on page 167
Gudrun Eria
GE Designs
www.gequiltdesigns.com
www.gudrun.typepad.com
33 pieces

Since I was machine embroidering, I continue with this block, adding a heart in the center of this block instead of fussy cutting a piece of fabric. I made the single flying geese as instructed in the pattern but used Quilt in a Day rulers for the four purple ones. I like the accuracy of this method. I also found that when I made the singles that if I pressed the folds on the squares to make the geese, they were more accurate. I usually draw lines with this technique. I guess dragging the pencil across must affect accuracy a bit.

Don't forget to check my left hand side bar for a list of 100 Blocks participants. There are now eight of us!

NOTE TO PARTICIPANTS: In order for your blocks to show from the side bar link, you MUST have "100 blocks" somewhere in the body of the post or in the labels section. Otherwise, all your posts will not be visible with the link.
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Design Wall Monday

2011-01-31T20:29:00.000-06:00

I had a very busy week last week but didn't necessarily get to work on the projects I would have liked to work on. I organized a co-workers retirement party that happened today so my weekend was spent shopping and cooking. I did pin baste two quilts as work by reporting to work early to use the conference room floor.

My friend called and said it was time to get my crystal stars off of her long arm. We figured out a way to work with the nesting without using the software feature. It now needs to be trimmed, binding made and applied.

One of my quilt guilds met on Saturday and I took this this fabric to cut a new project for a family member. I didn't get much done as I couldn't stay very long but did sketch out a plan for the quilt.

I picked up my embroidery machine from the shop. After an extensive cleaning and replacement of three parts, the machine is in top running condition. I cut a few hearts on my GO! cutter and used the embroidery machine to stitch around them. I cut a few hearts as I'd planned to make a heart quilt but machine was not ready to do that when I was ready. So, this one will be put away for now.

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Noveau Riche - 2nd Finish for 2011

2011-01-29T17:20:00.000-06:00

I started Noveau Riche on my birthday last year, July 28th. I fell in love with the quilt and my friend purchased the kit for my birthday gift. I'm glad I finally got it quilted, especially before my next birthday LOL.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-01-24T05:00:00.004-06:00

I had a long, busy, and productive week. I had a few meetings and events to attend in addition to my sewing projects. My quilting week started with me loading my Crystal Stars (Cathedral Stars) on Karen's long arm machine. We had a few problems with Shirley Stitcher (auto sewing program). I was able to get about half of it quilted before I had to leave. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish the quilting during the week.

I worked on the 100 Blocks and drunkard's path block for the week. I just need to make this weeks DP block to be caught up. These blocks have separate posts if you want more information about them.

Next up was basting a quilt top to quilt on my domestic sewing machine. I selected Noveau Riche. It took two sittings to get it done and I have the binding made. This week I hope to make a label and sew on the binding. I'm just excited to get it quilted.

My scrap quilting club meet on Saturday. I have a separate post for this topic too. If you want to know where to get the pattern (Awesome Lap Quilt) and see other quilts in other fabric choices, click here. I decided on Sunday that I did not like how the pattern design instructed users to square up the ends as opposed to having the pieces cut to size. If I cut off the ends, my outer blocks would not be the same width as those on the inside of the rows. Sooooooooo...I'm taking the rows apart to add a strip on each end of the rows. I then trimmed the rows to the same size. I like this much better. I have half of it completed and will also work on this project during the week. You may have to see the large picture to see the difference in the top and bottom halves.

That was enough for me this week! I'm glad I accomplished a lot but now I need a small break. To see more design walls, go visit Judy at Patchwork Times.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 21 and 22

2011-01-23T13:01:00.001-06:00

This week's blocks will go rather quickly, especially if you omit the hand embroidery.

21 - Sweet Dreams
Block 132 on page 37
Tricia Cribbs
FriendFolks
http://www.friendfolks.com/
13 pieces (mine = 17 pieces)

I decided I wasn't going to hand embroider this block as I didn't know what to do with the design used in the magazine. I thought I'd have my preferred embroidery machine back from the shop but that didn't happen either. So, I went through my "test" blocks and picked this butterfly embroidery. Of course it wasn't large enough to fit in the center so I had add a frame.

22 - Shifting Star
Block 186 on page 64
Scott Murkin
Patchwork Possibilities
http://www.patchworkpossibilities.com/
20 pieces

I'll state the obvious, my star is twisting in the opposite direction. Since I had a friend over last weekend, I've been machine quilting in the dining room and cutting in the kitchen. So, when I started sewing the block in my studio, the instructions were in the kitchen. I could see how the pieces match up so I just sewed it together. When it was completed, I realized mine twist the other direction and I can live with that. I changed how I made the flying geese units as I didn't want to have the leftover HSTs I would get if piecing according to the magazine's instructions. Instead, I cut 1 purple square 7-1/4" and cut 2 each of two different fabrics into 3-7/8" squares. If you don't know how to sew this together, let me know and I'll find a link online somewhere.

Don't forget to check back weekly at the links on the left hand side of my blog to see what the other participants are making with the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks 2nd Edition blocks.

Now I'm off to go mattress shopping with my daughter... No resting going on ove here!
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Scrap Quilting Club

2011-01-22T23:12:00.000-06:00

I had a very exciting day as the scrap quilting club met. We are starting out on an easy project. We have some neat stash buster projects planned and another year long project. As I did last year, I'll post photos as we work and you'll get to see the quilts as we go. We mostly work on projects that are free online. However, this year we are working on two patterns that the participants must purchase. Stay tuned for some great quilts from the club members.

Today we worked "Awesome Lap Quilt", a free pattern from Moda Bake Shop. I chose an easy quilt to start us off for the year. You just need one jelly roll and you're off and running.

Here is my quilt top in progress made from Christmas print jelly roll (although it doesn't scream holiday.) Notice that the edges do not match. This is part of the design and the quilt top is squared after sewing all rows together. I think I will square the rows in sets of three so I don't have to square the entire length at once. I also added two additional rows and plan to add 2 borders to make it into a twin size quilt.

It's amazing how different pattern designs look with just changing fabrics. Jennifer chose select colors and her top is beautiful. She sewed here entire top; just need to press and square it up.

Carol used a batik jelly roll and it's also beautiful. It makes me think of water.

Cherie used scraps she selected from stash in particular color way. This is one of my favorites as I love true scrap quilts and using stash. I plan to remake the quilt again using my stash after I start cutting more 2.5" strips from my stash. Cherie joined our club this year and traveled quite a distance. Thanks for joining and we hope you enjoyed participating. I look forward to seeing you next month!

Someone commented that they may like the quilts vertical instead of horizontal. So, I took a picture of Cherie's quilt again. I agree, I like this orientation better. The rows could easily be extended to make a larger quilt.

Drew showed her African Inspired quilt top she finished. This was one of last year's project. I love the border print.

Laura is working on a string quilt she started last year. Her scraps are scrumptious!

I'll have photos of completed quilts next month, with even more colorways. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of all the works in progress.
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Bargello Quilts

2011-01-22T21:02:00.000-06:00

The Quilting Gallery have bargello quilts up this week. I entered a quilt but please go vote for your favorite.

http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/01/21/vote-now-bargello-quilts/

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Many Paths All Around - Drunkard's Path Block 10

2011-01-20T14:00:00.014-06:00

I decided to get this week's block done before the rest of the week got out of control. I made a cutting error when sizing this block and will need to take one seam apart and add 3/4" strip of fabric to get the 1/4" I'm short. No, you can't see it in the picture as I cropped it out. LOL The beauty of Paint Shop Pro and Picasa.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 19 and 20

2011-01-19T19:12:00.000-06:00

It took me a little longer to get my blocks completed this week. I've been so busy and spent a lot of time away from home. I have four more meetings planned for the next four days.

19 - Snow Happy Home

Block 115 on page 29

by Monica Solorio-Snow

Happy Zombie

www.thehappyzombie.com

14 pieces

This is the fourth block with a winter theme. I really like the whimsical aspect of this block. The hearts, instead of smoking exiting the chimney, are so cute. I used reverse applique for my "curtain" fabrics. I found the perfect heart button for the door window too. I haven't sewed the buttons on yet; will do so after the project is quilted. See last photo of the four winter blocks.

20 - Versailles

Block 121 on page 32

by Chloe Anderson and Colleen Reale

Toadusew

www.toadusew.com

41 pieces

I wanted to play with color technique on this block. The picture doesn't do the block justice, but it is gorgeous. I love the design and wish I had time to make an entire quilt with this block and fabrics. To save fabric when piecing the angles, I cut rectangles 1" larger than foundation pieced pattern and then cut it diagonally.

I'm thinking I will make these four blocks into a wall hanging. Not sure how I want to do that yet but I'll think about it for a while.

Thank you for stopping by. I added two more blogs in the last week that are participating in the challenge. For a list of all blogs, look on the left hand column for links. However, if you would please visit Ellen and Karen, I'd really appreciate it.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-01-17T05:00:00.003-06:00

I've worked on a few projects this week though my design wall will not reflect such. My challenge project is needing one more seam to compete the quilt center. Then I'll have to decide if I want a border or two added. I'm working on a few steps to the project for the scrap quilting club but can't show that until Saturday after we meet. I can show you a photo of the stack of quilts I made backings for this weekend. I made backs for 4 quilts and pieced 1 batting for a larger quilt where warm and natural wasn't wide enough. I then took that quilt to a friend's house to load on her long arm machine. I plan to quilt it later today.

I have one of the 100 blocks completed but not the second. The second one involves hand work and I'm only half done. So, I'll be posting this week blocks in the next day or two. I did finish one quilt, Hot and Cold, and it's my first finish for the year. That's all I have to share this week; go to Patchwork Times to view more design walls.

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1st Finish

2011-01-16T23:58:00.000-06:00

I finished Hot and Cold, a quilt top I made in May 2008. This quilt is wonky string blocks made with hot colors in one set of block and cool colors in the alternate blocks. I'd started quilting it the Fall of 2010, having half of it completed. For some reason, I set it aside and never got back to it until now. The quilting is free flowing wonky lines to keep with the theme. I used two different threads while quilting to coordinate with the blocks. I found the perfect binding fabric in my stash that I cut on the bias. These are not the best pictures of this quilt; it a little too large to photograph inside at home. I'll try to get a better photo at work later this week.

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Quiltmaker's Online Newsletter

2011-01-11T19:41:00.000-06:00

Here is the link to the newsletter. My blog is listed for the 100 Blocks Challenge. Please go read the newsletter. Thank you!

Quiltmaker's Online Newsletter
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 17 and 18

2011-01-11T08:08:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited this week to publish my blocks. I have lots of information to share in this post.
I now have a list on my blog titled "Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Roll" for short cuts to posts on the participants sites. If you have labeled your posts with 100 blocks, it should pull up all your blocks. Please check your link to make sure it's working properly.

Magazine or book? That's the question. I have been using my magazine a lot and it was starting to show signs of wear. To prevent the magazine from shredding to pieces, two weeks ago I took mine apart and now I have this neat binder. It's recycled from the days when I worked on my Dear Jane quilt blocks and was waiting there for me with sheet protectors ready to be filled.

Here is the front page of my binder. The yellow paper has the pattern numbers I'm working on for the month. I scratch through them as I make the blocks. What's not showing is my spreadsheet to keep me on track so I do not make duplicate blocks. At the bottom of each pattern page I also write the date I made the block and total number of fabric pieces required.

For blocks I haven't made yet, if I have any of the templates cut or fusible web drawn, I'll add those in the pockets with the appropriate blocks. I travel with this book, fusible web and freezer paper. If I get a chance, I'll trace pieces I need from the pattern sheets. This is done in no particular order as I plan to make all the blocks anyway.

After I use the templates, I'll store them in the "templates" pocket. The pocket is a pocket file folder I cut down to fit (I made the pocket fit the magazine back cover). I also store the original pattern sheets, each one in a separate page protector, making them easier to get to when I want to start working on new blocks.

Now for the information on the blocks made this week:

Block 17
Snowman Farm
Block 103 on Page 23
June Dudley, Editor in Chief
Quiltmaker
http://www.quiltmaker.com/
5 pieces

I haven't made snowflake type paper patterns in a long time and it was fun to go back down memory lane. This block while very dramatic for such a simple design took me quite a while to make. Since I didn't use batiks, I decided to satin stitch the edges and all the turning required to stitch was time consuming. I love my little snowman block and its now resting in the block section of Quiltmaker's calendar holder. Make a calendar holder for yourself; you will enjoy it.

18 - No ordinary Flake
Block #140 on Page 41
Susan Marth
Suzn Quilts
http://www.suznquilts.com/
17 pieces

This block was very quick to make and I had fun making it. I used blues for my background so that this block could be used with three other blocks in a wall hanging. I used a medium blue rayon thread for my button hole stitch.
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Design Wall Monday

2011-01-10T06:00:00.004-06:00

I've been busy working on various projects this week, not all of them quilt related. The biggest job was to put away Christmas decorations and clean up all the pine needles. I decided not to keep snowman related projects out this year. I went straight to decorating for Valentines Day. In doing that, I realized I need to make a lot more quilts in order to decorate more than my living room.

I worked on another huge project that is quilt related but involves computer work. I realized last week that I had a total of 230+ labels on my blog. Labels are the quick links visitors can use to search particular topics. That was a long list. So, I've been editing posts and trying like mad to reduce the number of labels on my blog. In order to delete labels, I must remove them from the posts. This task will take me a while to complete. I'm motivated to compact them and now have 112 labels. I don't know what is a good number of labels to have, but I know 230 isn't.

Last week I made drunkard's path block #8.

SECTION UPDATED 1/12/2011

I have this week's blocks done too. ~~I haven't blogged on the two 100 blocks ones yet~~. I recently found out that Quiltmaker is going to write something about the challenge on their Quilty ~~Pleasures blog~~ News (their e-mail newsletter.) and I want to add the link to this week's post. Here is the link: Quilty News. ~~So hopefully by Tuesday, I'll blog about the blocks.~~ Here is the link to this weeks blocks: 100 Blocks

Then I had to make a decision on a project for the Scrap Quilting Club this month. This is my cutting made from a jelly roll. The project doesn't have any borders but I plan to add two to mine to make it twin size. This will be a family member's quilt, probably my mother. She decided to go to a twin bed and I think she needs a Christmas quilt this year.

I worked a little on two challenge projects this week. Those are to be a surprise reveal so can't show any photos of them.

To see more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.
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Drunkard's Path Block 9

2011-01-09T20:25:00.000-06:00

I'm really having fun with these blocks. I cut a few more pieces this week with my GO! cutter so my next one will have a few new fabrics added. If you have the curve master foot for your sewing machine, now is a great time to pull it out and put it to use.

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Drunkard's Path Block 8

2011-01-04T22:56:00.001-06:00

I finally found and use my curve master foot. Wow! I should have been using this gadget all along. I made this block super quick. Anyone else out there making the blocks? I am so enjoying the different blocks and all of them would make great quilts by themselves. I still haven't decided which format I want for my one block quilt; I still have a few blocks to make before deciding.

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Design Wall Monday

2011-01-03T05:00:00.003-06:00

We are starting another year of design wall Mondays thanks to Judy of Patchwork Times. I have been really busy this week with a lot of activities. I used every spare minute at home sewing to get my tasks completed. I made 3 blocks and I blogged about them here and here. The last block is Judy's block that's included in 100 blocks volume 2.

I started my second quilt top with the blocks. I need to add a teal 1" border, then a 6" floral border to this quilt center.

I also worked on a challenge quilt that will be revealed at a much later date. I cut the pieces about two weeks ago. Now, I'm using the pieces for chain piecing. To view more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 15 and 16

2011-01-02T16:00:00.001-06:00

After making a list for this month, I made my blocks for this week. The blocks are a little more time consuming than in the past. In the magazine, there are a lot of blocks that are all applique or a mixture of applique with some sort of piecing, be it traditional piecing or foundation piecing. So each week you will have some applique work. If you want to prep all your applique blocks, use the list below. You may want to make templates (if needed) for all the blocks you will make this month from the pattern sheets then you don't have to keep using them over and over during the month.

15 - Sparkles Snow Globe
Block #131 on page 37
Mary Jane Carey
Holly Hill Quilt Designs and The Christmas Shoppe
http://www.oldstnick.net/
31 pieces

I'm going to start making blocks with a winter theme so that I'll have a small wall hanging, table topper or pillows to use next year. My applique is leaning a little but I like my block anyway and enjoyed making it. I didn't have baby rick rack but used what I had at home to get rid of some in my stash.

16 - Sunset Fiesta
Block #179 on page 61
Judy Laquidara
Patchwork Times
http://www.patchworktimes.com/

Judy has an informative blog that's filled with patterns, recipes, knitting tips, canning, and a whole lot of other things under the sun. This is one of my favorite blogs and so I thought I'd start the first week of the year by making her block. I love how she designs and enjoyed piecing the block. I added some prints into it just to see how it would look. This block would be great inspiration for a bed size quilt.

I thought to make the list a graphic so that you can easily print the list for working purposes. Have a great month working on the blocks.

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Drunkard's Path Block 7

2011-01-01T13:34:00.000-06:00

In just under the wire is drunkard's path block #7. Now I'm off to work on the sampler quilt and maybe select blocks for the 100 Blocks challenge for the month. Just remembered I have to get ready to go to mom's home for early dinner. Will work on list later today.

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Year End Statistics

2010-12-31T23:59:00.015-06:00

Here is my year end wrap up and it's filled with lots of numbers.

The good news is that I finished 34 projects in 2010:

You would think I did pretty good for 2010 but let me tell you some more about my year. I started 2010 with 120 UFOs but ended with 140. I have 20 more works in progress than what I started with. How did that happen? I started 52 projects in 2010 of which I completed 17; I also completed 17 UFOs (quilts started prior to 2010) during the year as well. On my list for 2011, I created a total of 35 UFOs in 2010. This was partly due to the creation of the Scrap Quilting Club where I sometimes made two or three tops to show different design possibilities. Of the 140 UFOs, I have 42 tops that are ready to be quilted so that's good. Now, I just need to do some serious machine quilting!

I have updated the 2010 Tab on my blog to show all the projects. Please stop by and view them. You can use this LINK as well.

If you list your progress on your blog, I'd love to read it.
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Drawing Winner

2010-12-31T12:05:00.002-06:00

It time to announce the winner of the FQ packet.

I used a random number generator and this is what it returned:

Number 3 is Vivian of Sew at Home in Pine Ridge. Congratulations Vivian; hope you enjoy the packet. I'll e-mail you for your snail mail address.

Thanks everyone for participating. I wish you all a safe and wonder Happy New Year!

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Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Project in Progress

2010-12-29T23:10:00.000-06:00

I've decided to make my first twin size quilt with twelve blocks. The 13th block that's only half shown in this photo is so neat that I plan to make an entire quilt with this one using scrap squares. To set these 12 blocks I ordered three fabrics from the Frolic collection. The stripe fabric in the sashing I cut on the bias as the stripe was printed on the straight of grain. I added unbleached muslin I had in my stash to separate the stripe from the blocks. I didn't want to put a plain sashing on the quilt since the blocks are so busy (sounds crazy doesn't it?). I felt plain sashing would actually detract from the purpose of the quilt blocks - to make a quilt out of my normal comfort zone as far as fabrics are concerned. These are by far the busiest blocks I have ever made so I keep up the theme with busy sashing. The chocolate brown kind of tones it down a bit.

Look at the sashing in the second row on the far right. I tried piecing the bias strips but this is how it looked when it was pieced. It was too distracting so that one will be replaced. I still need to piece more sashings and cut more squares to go around the perimeter. It sure feels good to start making something with the blocks.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 13 and 14

2010-12-28T23:10:00.002-06:00

Well, I cleaned my room enough to make these two blocks. Hey, I was having sewing withdrawal.

13- Nouveau Riche
Block #181 on page 62
Toby Lischko
Gateway Quilts & Stuff
http://www.gatewayquiltsnstuff.com/
12 pieces

I have a quilt top made in the traditional setting for this block. So, instead of using assorted fabrics for each piece, I chose 3 fabrics to make this block with. I also changed the orientation of the left half of the block. I think they look like flower vases and didn't want to turn it upside down. I love this block and it was really easy to sew.

14 - Flutter
Block #199 on page 71
Patty Young
MODKID, LLC
http://www.modkidboutique.com/
13 pieces

This was an easy block that was also fun to make. It was just perfect to make during the holiday season. I love that you can fussy cut the center square to add interest.

Please visit Judy D and Cathy's site to see their blocks too. They are doing an excellent job keeping up with the schedule, completing the blocks the same week as me; instead of the following week.
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Design Wall Monday

2010-12-27T03:00:00.020-06:00

Last Design Wall Monday post of the year! I'm so proud of myself that I was able to post each Monday of 2010. My last design wall is short and sweet. The only sewing this week was on my drunkard's path blocks. I needed three blocks to be caught up this week and that's what I made. You can see close up shots of the three new blocks here. I don't know how much sewing I'll get in this week as I must clean the sewing room first!

I had a great Christmas, spending time with my family. Dy daughter got me really, really good. I was invited Christmas morning to breakfast at her home with a few of her friends. Don't ask me how I ended up preparing the meal. LOL I was a little behind in cleaning my home for afternoon guest but it all worked out in the end. I received a few quilt related items, a watch I'd been eyeing for about five months, and a Wii. Now I can go purchase Wii Fit Plus. I so wanted the system, hoping it will encourage me to exercise.

Leave me a message stating what favorite item you received during the holiday. I'll draw for a winner of a Moda Half Moon Charm Pack at 12 Noon on December 31st. It has 42 squares so some are duplicates. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you a Happy New Year!

To view more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.
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Drunkard's Path Blocks 4-6

2010-12-22T00:02:00.000-06:00

Would you believe that I completely forgot about making drunkard's path blocks? Even when I realized it I thought I needed to make only 2 blocks; wrong, I need to make 3 to get caught up.

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Here is a collage of six blocks I have made so far. I may have to remake blocks 1 and 2 to match the others but I'll worry about that later.

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Design Wall Monday

2010-12-20T03:00:00.007-06:00

I finished my daughter's Christmas quilt. She fell in love with it. I chose to upload this picture of her asking for matching pillowcases too. She is too funny. I did tell her that they were easy to make and I'd be happy to show her how to make them. I used Judy L's method for applying the binding. In the past I'd apply binding to the back with sewing machine and then iron to the front and sew down with the machine from the front. A few times I tried appling to the front but didn't like the effect of the stitching on the back. With Judy's method, you pin the binding to the back without pressing and sew from the front. Because the binding isn't pressed to the back, stitching next to the seam line makes the stitch almost invisible from the front. Thanks the the tip Judy.

I made Blocks 11 and 12 from Quiltmakers 2nd edition. To see the blocks, go here. While making those blocks and piecing the remainder of the Christmas quilt backing, I made three more scrappy trip around the world blocks.`

At guild I won this Happy! cake layer in a guild raffle. Now I want to work on the Layer Cake Sew Along. But wait...I can't do that until...

I catch up with the drunkard's path blocks. I completely forgot to make one last week so now I need to make two of them (could be three - I need to check) so that's my task this week, nothing else.

To view more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 11 and 12

2010-12-19T21:13:00.001-06:00

11 - Spectrum Square
Block #151 on page 47
by Linda Ambrosini (no website)
10 Pieces

I'm making easy blocks this week due to the holidays.

12 - Boxed In
Block #171 on page 57
by Julie Herman
Jaybird Quilts
http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/
28 pieces

I used scraps to cut my squares as I'm using a fabric line for my first set of blocks. However, you should be able to make this quilt with pre-cut squares already in your stash. Just add a background fabric and this one will stitch up in no time.

To view more blogs participating in the challenge, click on the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks tab above.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 9 and 10

2010-12-14T21:43:00.001-06:00

This must not be my week to work on the blocks. I did more ripping on these two blocks than I would have on an entire quilt. Nothing wrong with the instructions; just my head that's muzzled with sinus infection AGAIN and it's becoming irritating.

9 - Pinwheel O'Strings
Block #123 on page 33
Rachel Griffith
P.S. I Quilt
http://www.psiquilt.com/
40 pieces

This was a fun block to make, especially since I used Jamie's technique on her tutorial. It was great not having to tear away a lot of paper. Actually, I picked this block so that I could try this technique before making my next string quilt. Thanks Jamie! I had to rip one quadrant and resew strings together as I cut the block too small. Gee, this took way longer than necessary. I do like this block with the half inch finished strings, has so much character.

10 - Tile Works
Block #162 on page 52
Monique Dillard
Open Gate
http://www.opengatequilts.com/
49 pieces (although mine has 45 pieces)

I have 45 pieces because I made 4 rectangles to replace the HST/square units that were cut in the same fabric. Excellent block and it would go together very well if you make sure you cut the pieces the right size as I apparently didn't because two of my geese were too big and I thought I cut the exact same sizes for the pieces. Again, must be sinus brain because it's definitely my error.

I put my blocks on my design wall and took a picture. They are so cute. My local quilt shops do not have any more of this fabric line in stock. So I shopped online with http://www.quiltshops.com/ and found a few shops that had the fabric line. I was able to see all the stores with the fabric line in stock and I was able to check their prices so I comparison shopped as well. I LOVE this site when I'm in need to a specific fabric line. It has the best search engine; just my opinion. Any way, here are 9 of my 10 blocks. I'm trying to decide if the first quilt will have 12, 15 or 16 blocks.

Check the following blogs to see their blocks. They look so different because of the fabrics used.
JUDY CATHY SARAH
NORMA (no blog yet - as of yesterday she'd made 7 blocks)
Kathy, Karen, Debra, and Cynthia will be joining in the fun sometime in January
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Assignments

2010-12-13T10:56:00.000-06:00

I haven't started my blocks for this week yet. I've decided to post the blocks I've chosen to make for the rest of the year. That way you can get them done early if you choose or work on them as planned. I tried to pick easier blocks (less pieces) as we neared the holiday season so here goes:

Week of 12/12/10:

#123 Pinwheel O'Strings page 33
#162 Tile Works page 52

Week of 12/19/10:

#151Spectrum Square page 47
#171 Boxed In page 57 (you should already have pre-cut squares for this one)

Week of 12/26/10:

#181 Nouveau Riche page 62
#199 Flutter page 71

So far I have 4 participants that have started their blocks. Two online (Judy and Cathy) and two in my guild that meets in our homes (Norma and Sarah). Sarah started a new blog and I'll add her to the list when I upload my next two blocks. Shout out to Norma - "We got to figure out what's going on with your blog page so we can include you too.")
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Design Wall Monday

2010-12-13T00:48:00.002-06:00

I've kind of bounced around this week. Had a lot of non quilting related activities but utilized my time at home very well. I finished the Christmas top for my daughter. She will love that it has pink in it. I used a few traditional Christmas prints as I didn't want to purchase anything (other than the starting FQ bundle I'd purchased for this purpose). I used the scraps from the blocks, remaining FQs from the bundle and a few from stash to piece the scrappy border. I took pictures late at night and the colors are way off. Also, it's too large to photo at home. I'll upload another photo when I pin baste it this week at work.

How many panels do you have in your stash that you're not going to use? I have quite a few holiday panels. I also know that I didn't purchase over half of them. I've been given stash a few times of sewers cleaning their studio and I just cannot let the stuff go in the trash. So, I pulled a few from stash to make this center for the back of the Christmas quilt. It's now big enough for me to frame with additional Christmas prints from my stash. It took two photos to show all the panels, but they are sewn together. I'm certain the designers didn't plan for them to be used this way.

The fabrics for this rag quilt was already cut by another quilter who wanted it gone from her stash. She'd gone as far as to sew blocks into 3 rows then decided not to finish it. Of course it ended up in my stash and has been hanging out in my studio for about two years. I got tired of moving the bag and decided to finish it this weekend. It's only two layers of flannel and the only quilting is as the blocks are joined. I will donate this quilt.

These blocks and units were made while working on other projects. I need twenty blocks to make my first quilt. I have enough strip sets sewn to make at least 30 blocks and strings ready to sew to make an additional quilt or two. I'm still trying to get rid of cut strings, squares and other shapes in my studio. To get more information on this project, see my Tube UNsewing post I uploaded last week.

To vie more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

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Tube UNsewing

2010-12-08T09:49:00.003-06:00

Have you sewn tubes of strips together that you then need to slice into some magical number and then unsew a seam in each slice to create your design? I've done this many times when making bargello and other strip quilts. Every once in a while my brain will leave the building and I open the wrong seam and have to re-sew it back together. This just happened to me recently and I thought you might enjoy my process of where the unsewing should be done.

I had a lot of 2.5" strips leftover from sewing bindings on the million quilts I have made. I had filled three shoe boxes with them. I'd use some of them for scrap projects or make scrappy bindings but the pieces just kept growing and growing. I decided to use Bonnie Hunter's scrappy trips around the world pattern to get rid of a chunk of them. They'll make great quilts for some of my family. So I sat down in front of the television and cut strips approximately 16" long. Those too short were placed back into the box. After all the sorting, I now have one shoe box that's not appropriate for this project. I'm happy already.

Once I sewed my fabrics into tube I cut them into slices. The photo below show slices I cut from the sewn tubes. (Not originally part of this demonstration, but notice that I pressed the seams open except where I sew the top and bottom seams to make the tube. The purpose is to keep it flat while I make my cuts.) The first thing to do is to grab your seam ripper and take a seam apart. For this project, it doesn't matter which one.

Here is one unit where the seam has been opened. Note the arrow by the seam line between the first and second fabrics. On another slice locate this seam and take it apart with your seam ripper.

When you do that, this is what you now have. The fabric at the top of the first slice is now at the bottom. Notice that the pieces are forming a stair-step design up and to the right. Go ahead and note the seam between the first and second fabrics on the 2nd unit as shown by the arrow. On another slice locate this seam and take it apart with your seam ripper.

Now you have three slices that look something like this, still stair-stepping up and to the right. Continue unsewing the slices by taking apart the seam between the first and second fabrics of the last slice opened.

This photo shows five of the pieces opened and the pattern is still emerging correctly. Go ahead and tackle the last slice.

Now here are all the unsewn slices. The dark blue fabric is dominate as it stair-steps from bottom left corner to top right corner. What if I wanted the snowman fabric to be in the center? You'd simply move the left two slices to the end on the right.

Walla, you have a different arrangement. Any fabric chosen could be in the center with only a little rearranging of the slices. I like my snowman in the center so I'll sew these units together. Before pinning, finger pressed the seams open, you know the ones not pressed prior to cutting and the ones that were unsewed. YES, pinning does takes time but I'll explain why at the end.

Here is my sewn block, made without any UNsewing mishaps that needed fixing.

Here are four blocks sewn using chain piecing while working on other projects.

Here is the answer to the question in your head...I know it's there. Why did I press the seams open instead of as instructed in the pattern? The pressing options in the pattern works efficiently for piecing the slices into blocks. Abutting the seams is great for this task. I found that when I put four blocks together, too many of the seams were facing each other instead of going in the opposite direction. This is very difficult to plan, especially if you want to randomly arrange your blocks prior to sewing them into a quilt top. That would have taken too much thinking and planning ahead. I like my seams pressed open (which I do on the majority of my quilts) because it makes for a smoother quilt top which is very beneficial in the quilting stage with so many seams. Try it, you might be surprised!

I hope this will be useful.
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Design Wall Monday

2010-12-06T05:16:00.006-06:00

I been busy making blocks this week. Here is a quick view of them.

I was so excited about the bear block that I made my first quilt top with the Quiltmaker blocks (okay, just one block but that's a start.) I'll quilt it when I need the next baby quilt so I can add baby-to-be's name and date of birth before quilting it.

Friday was my craft guild meeting that meets at work after hours. I usually cut fabrics there so I cut out units for patience corner blocks. Since a lot of the fabrics were directional, I decided to use Anita Grossman Solomon's method she calls No Patience to cut the fabrics. I plan to make 20 blocks and here are 12 of them. I'll rearrange these when all the blocks are sewn. If you want to see the technique, refer to the book "Rotary Cutting Revolution - New One-Step Cutting". The arrowhead block technique that's being high lighted on many blogs is included in this book as well as in Quiltmaker's November/December magazine issue. The book has an additional 6 quilts with the cutting for the pineapple and miter log cabin quilts being my favorites. Before you ask, "No, I don't plan to make another pineapple quilt" at least not any time soon. :o) I don't think my daughter reads my blog as I'm too boring so I'll let you know that this is her Christmas gift. It will be made to fit a full bed so I made the "super-sized" blocks. It will still need borders to get it up to size. What was so funny today is that my daughter came by today and took about six quilts to add to her decorating theme. She already had about five or so from previous years that were never returned. She tried taking my snowman collector bed quilt that we use on our bed. I had to stop her at that point. She'll appreciate having her own holiday quilt.

I started decorating for Christmas on Sunday. I have a few more wall hangings to put up and then the tree. I love decorating for Christmas but it sure takes a lot of time. When a movie I wanted to watch came on television, I grabbed my 2.5" strings that were left over from making bindings (three shoe boxes). I separated the long pieces from the small pieces and randomly cut them for a future project. I keep working and sewed about 90 16" strips into pairs. That was a good task while watching television.

To view more design walls, visit Patchwork Times.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 7 and 8

2010-12-05T12:01:00.009-06:00

I'm on a mission this week. I really wanted to get a particular block completed (you will understand as you read) so I worked on them over the weekend. So my blocks for this week are already made. Remember, if you don't want to sew the blocks I made, just make substitutions with any block not already completed.

7 - How About a Hug?

Block 144 on page 43

Heidi Pridemore

The Whimisal Workshop

http://www.thewhimsicalworkshop.com/

18 pieces

Heidi participated in the blog tour posted on Quiltmaker's blog in November. She had prizes for a random drawing and I won one of them which was a FQ bundle of Furry Friends she designed for Blank Quilting. I appreciated Heidi's gift so much that I wanted to make something with it instead of just adding it to my stash. So I made her block with the fabrics, adding Kona Cotton solids for the bear applique. Since I had the fabrics already pressed, I decided to keep going and I now have a nice quilt top to quilt when the next baby comes along. I even cut enough strips from the FQs to make a scrappy binding. I really like this line of flannels. They were so easy to sew with and I experienced no stretching. I donated the remaining scraps (very little as I tried to use them all) because I just don't need to start organizing flannel scraps when I'm trying to get control of the regular cottons. LOL

8 - Summer Picnic

Block 196 on page 69

Pam Vieira-McGinnis

PamKittyMorning

http://www.pamkittymorning.blogspot.com/

49 pieces

I just picked this block as I wanted to see how a print for the background would look when it was completed. The only thing I would change about my block would be to fussy cut the center square. I used my go cuter to cut these pieces as the die had the shapes needed for all the units. For the 8 rectangles I cut 2.5" strips (from FQ...if you use yardage, 1 strip will do) and then fan folded 4 of them. I then laid perpendicular with the 4.5" square, folds slightly overlapping the 4.5" square to cut into 2.5" x 4.5" strips. For all cuts, I added a sheet of paper (old telephone book page) before adding the mat to ensure accuracy of cuts.

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Many Paths All Around - Drunkard's Path Block 3

2010-12-04T21:28:00.001-06:00

I thought I wasn't going to get the third block completed for the week! I think I got tired of cutting the required number of shapes for each individual block. So, I've decided to make the blocks scrappy, still using blue and orange as my color palette. Saturday I spent some time ironing and cutting fabrics. I now have a pile of shapes to make quite a few blocks. Here is my block #3 in scrap format.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 5 and 6

2010-11-30T23:17:00.003-06:00

5 - Spiked Pinwheels
Block 125 on page 34
Robin Koehler
Nestlings by Robin
http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com/
36 pieces

My block is made a little different than the instructions in the magazine. I visited Robin's site during the blog tour and saw different variations of the block made into quilts. I was so fascinated by them that I put this block high on my list to make. It's the same block that's used in the tree skirt sew along but looks completely different with two prints instead of two tone on tone fabrics.

6 - Maywood Blossom

Block 137 on page 40

Deborah Johnson

In the Doghouse Designs

http://www.inthedoghousedesigns.com/

22 pieces

This is my first applique (mixed technique) block. I figured I should start some of these now so I will not have all applique blocks at the end of the journey.

I have 2 online bloggers participating so please visit their pages.

P.S. I'm having so much fun!

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Design Wall Monday

2010-11-29T04:00:00.022-06:00

I completed my Blocks of the Week and made separate posts for them last week. NOTE to participants: I plan to work on Blocks 125 and 137 from Quiltmaker mag and block 3 of the drunkards path pattern.

I finished the Tidbits on the Vine top. For pattern info, visit last week's Design Wall Monday post. The floral border is a little too bright for the pastel fabrics inside but that's all I had in my stash. This quilt will belong to someone in my family. I still have about 10-12 more quilts to make for family members.

This photo is a lot strange as it's too big for my design wall and it was hung upside down which I didn't notice until adding photo to my blog.

This quilt top I thought I'd finished in February of this year for my cousin. Sometimes being nice can become a chore. Prior to making this quilt top I'd made a complete quilt and was about to mail it to her. She then asks for a quilt with a motorcycle on it. It took a few years for me to get motivated to make a quilt for her again. Then in February I finished this quilt which is approximately 66" wide by 57" long. I showed her a photo and then she sends me a photo of her motorcycle club logo which is purple, black and white. She asked for the logo to be included, to make it large enough to wrap up in, and to add all colors, not just red, white, black, and blue. Hm, needless to say, this quilt went on the back burner again (I also had the back pieced). This weekend I decided to get this top completed by adding two rows of tumblers to the top and bottom, including some logos in the shapes. It's not what I would have done with this quilt, but under the circumstances it's now a quilt top that's twin-size and I'm officially done with it, no matter what future requests I may or may not receive. I still need to add about 24" to the pieced back before it can be quilted. Here is how it looks now - a little strange if you ask me.

I saw the Philadelphia Pavement quilt on a blog last week and knew I wanted to make one and had the pattern already. I started cutting strips with my go cutter. I have just four rows of a quadrant pieced. I have a plan on how to adapt the pattern to piece this quilt a little easier. It will be a long term project as this quilt has abut a millions squares (slight exaggeration but not by much).

I didn't get much quilting done this week, even with two days off as I spent portions of two days shopping. I went to JoAnn's on both days, Hancocks, the mall, and a quilt shop that I'd recently received a gift certificate from. I didn't spend too much and purchased things already on my list that were on sale, using additional percentage off coupons. I didn't even purchase one gift from the stores I visited so I went online and order a few items for some of my quilting buddies. I just have one or two more items I need to pick up. Did you shop any this weekend?

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Many Paths All Around - Drunkard's Path Block 2

2010-11-24T07:46:00.001-06:00

Here is block 2. In order to get a few more fabrics into thequilt, I made the corners in a different fabric.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 3 and 4

2010-11-24T07:39:00.008-06:00

3 - Odd Fellow's Chain
Block 159 on page 51
Karen Combs, Karen Combs' Studio
http://www.karencombs.com/
73 pieces

I had a bit of a challenge using this fabric line for this block. It would have been so much easier to just use a lot of the solid prints for contrast. However, I purchased this line to get out of my comfort zone. My center star does not contrast as much as it should but it's staying that way.

4 - Tumbler Star
Block 194 on page 68
Benita Skinner, Victoriana Quilt Designs
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/
20 pieces

I tried using another teal print with this block to use one color family as shown in the magazine. However, it blended too much. I did determine that the reason I'm having so much problem with contrast is because while the fabrics change colors, they do not change value, other than the chocolate brown prints. I'm determined though to use the fabric line in as many blocks as possible; I may have to add some supporting fabrics though.

OOPS! I forgot to add that Judy has started her blocks so please visit her blog too.

added 11/25/10 -- Cathy now has her four blocks posted. Visit her too.

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Design Wall Monday

2010-11-22T02:00:00.005-06:00

These blocks are at the top of my design wall. This week I started two self-made challenges. You can read more about them by clicking on the respective links. The drunkard's path block is one challenge and it's the first of twelve blocks. The two middle blocks are the results of starting the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks challenge. The last block is a Mountain Top block I use for chain piecing. I decided to make another block instead of making HSTs. I now have 10 blocks.

I'm still in the process of cutting scraps and decided Sunday to cut pieces for "Tidbits on the Vine", a free pattern from Henry Glass & Co. I made the background scrappy to use some of the brown scraps I have that never seem to get used. Instead of using the flowers and leaves from the pattern, I decided to use the flowers I made with my GO! cutter. The leaves I also cut with the cutter using the designer dies by Ricky Tims. I cut the dies and then trimmed off sections to use for leaves. What a great way to use the dies and I hadn't thought of that prior to the purchase.

In addition, my Scrap Quilting Club met on Saturday and I posted a separate blog entry for that. Another post I uploaded was for the Strip Tease Tutorial. Visit Patchwork Times to view more design walls.

Enjoy the holiday week. I hope I get my three challenge blocks completed for the week with all the fun.
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