New fabric

I received new fabric yesterday. Today, I am going to tease you with just one of the group.

It's so soft and pretty. Mmm!

It's a Westex Fabrics from Japan.

Pizza Box Exchange

The Town & Country Quilters, one of the guilds I belong to, had a pizza box exchange in 2010. Of course I had to join in. Rule were pretty simple, you added fabrics to a pizza box with your name on it, decided on a block you wanted to make for everyone and made your block. At each meeting we passed the boxes on to someone else.

We did not include the block we had made, that's why it was so much fun at the guild meeting on Monday night, to see all of the blocks unveiled. Today, I am showing you the blocks I made. When I get the blocks that were given to me photographed,  I will post them. I hope you enjoy.

Snow @#!%

Snow, wonderful snow!!! Is there a song that goes like that?

Here is a picture (taken from the back door) of our cars after Tuesday night's blizzard that hit Iowa. Yes, looking straight head is my car. The only thing visible is the driver's rear veiw mirror.  On the right is Andra's car. Behind the cars is snow, snow and more snow until you get to the alley.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jordan (grandson) and I shoveled the cars out. We were very tired at that point so we took a break. Today I shoveled the rest of the snow from behind my car. Andra and Jordan will have to shovel their own car out. With luck, I will be able to get to the grocery store for a few more supplies (necessities you know, like toilet paper and bread). I measured and the snow behind the cars was 16" deep and I had to shovel out about 20 feet. I guess I have gotten my exercise for the day. The worst part was where to put it all. Since the building to the south of us is not occupied, we made the decision to throw most of the snow over to them.

2011 MAQ guild BOM

First, I must report to you that I have finished piecing the baby quilt for my newest grandson-to-be. Sorry, no picture because I don't want his parents to see it yet. They have to wait until it is done.

I will add that when I have no hand quilting projects going on, I can really get a lot more done at the sewing machine. I don't think I have ever put a quilt together in three days, before. Yeah, I know it was just a small quilt (36" x 48"), but still, three days is pretty good for someone that can't sit behind a machine for more that 30 minutes without getting distracted.

The Town & Country Quilters Guild, Maquoketa IA, is having a Block of the Month this year. We are a NQA Chapter and are using the NQA 2010 Block of the Month from the Quilting Quarterly. The plan is to make one block for yourself and one block to give to the guild for their charity quilt project. I decided the easiest thing to do was to make two blocks exactly alike, some days I just don't want to think too much, and since my favorite fabric is Fossil Fern from Benartex, that's the fabric I choose.

The guild has requested all their blocks have a cream color background, so the block on the left is for the guild, the block on the right is mine. I am following the color suggestion in the magazine which is burgundy, dark blue, medium blue, and dark green with white and tan for the background. I decided that Fossil Fern Golden Beige would have to work for both the cream that the guild wants and the tan that the pattern wants. Every quilters has to change something to make the quilt their own, right!

I still haven't gotten my Box 2 quilt from the long-armer, where it is getting basted, so I still have no hand projects except for my hexagons. Guess I will be getting a lot of piecing done on the Box 3 quilt this week.

Box Number 3

Finally, I found the time to get the sashing and cornerstones cut and get the blocks laid out. They are sitting beside the machine just waiting for me to get sewing. I have them stacked in rows going across the quilt but I may change my mind and add the sashing to two (2) sides of the blocks and then sew them together, if I do that method I think I want to sew them in long rows down the length of the quilt. Decisions!

So what else have I been up too? Well, I cut and washed the fabric for my newest grandson's quilt, he will be joining us in April. I won't put any pictures up for a while. I'm going to keep it a surprise for the parents since they always keep the name of the baby a surprise until they are born.

I almost have the binding turned on my MY SIDE OF THE BED quilt (Box 1). I should get that finished today. I have desk work to do so that may be just about all I get done unless I ignore the desk, and I just may do that. I feel more in the mood to sew.

Here's hoping you get to spend the day at your sewing machine.

Blocks to Raffle

Don't ask me why I did it, I just did!

I bought five (5) Blocks to Raffle at the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild meeting in January (due at the February meeting). Smarty me, decided that I would get them made up early. We were given (2) 3.5" green squares and (2) 3.5" gold squares. All I needed to do was provide (2) 6.5" squares for each packet. Really simple, right!

Well, I sewed the green and gold together and put them into four patches, all 5 sets. Then I got out my scrap box of 6.5" squares and found four sets of red, then headed to the fabric cupboard to find one more and cut the squares necessary.

Oh, I was just rolling along.

Then, when I put a four patch next to the 6.5" red square I found out I had a problem. A Big Problem!!! They were not the same size. Out came the thread ripper and what should have been a 1/2 day project turned in to a 2 day project.

Actually I do like the blocks but I am hoping I do NOT win any of them. I have seen enough of those blocks.

Box Number 3

Where does the time go?

I looked back and it was January 5th when I showed you the picture of the 10 brown blocks from Box Number 3. Then, I said that maybe I would have a picture to show you of the 10 blue blocks the next day! So if you take 12 minus 5, the answer is 7, so where did the 7 days go?

I did get some quilting done on my Box Number 1 quilt. In fact, I had better get another quilt basted or I will have to go thru "quilt withdrawal" when I finish this one. And quilt withdrawal is very painful. So guess I should figure out what quilt is next, Box Number 2 or one of the other quilts hanging in the closet.

Decisions, decisions, everywhere you look there is another decision to be made. But it's fun, isn't it!

Just arrived!

Years and years ago, the first quilt I ever saw using the Stack & Whack method was made with rooster pillow panel fabric. It was just wonderful. Well, when I saw these new roosters from Quilting Treasurers, I thought of that old quilt and decided these fellows would make great stack and whack blocks.

And here are three tone-on-tone coordinates.

Box Number 3

So far, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week have been so busy that I have not gotten anything done at the sewing machine, nor sitting in my rocker and quilting. I am beginning to have withdrawal symptons. (Like I'm getting really grouchy!) But I did accomplish some on the Box 3 quilt over the weekend. The 10 brown 6" squares each have been incorporated into blocks. Tomorrow (with luck) I will start sewing on the blue squares in the lower left corner of the sewing table. With my table so crowded, I sometimes wonder how I get anything accomplished.

Here are the 10 finished blocks laid out on the floor.

Box Number 3

I have been feeling really good about making a quilt out of the fabrics in box number 2, getting the binding made and the backing fabric picked out and washed, and hanging all of them on a hanger waiting to go to a longarm quilter for basting.

With that machine work done I went back to hand quilting on my 4 patch quilt from box number 1. That quilt is now over half quilted.

Since I am on such a roll I decided to see what else I could find in the basement. This time I came up with a box that contained twenty-two 6" squares from the Lasting Beauty Collection of fabrics by Classic Cottons. A few years back I sent some money in and, as I recall, about every three months I was send a packet from Classic Cottons that contained 6" fabric swatches from one of their new collections, plus a pattern for turning the blocks into a quilt. Well, their pattern made a quilt 37 x 41 inches. That would be way too small a quilt for me to make so I played on my EQ6 and came up with a design that would finish at 58 x 81 inches. Much more my size! I had also pulled 4 fabrics to use in the blocks.

It will be interesting to see how closely I follow my own design or if I end up making changes.