I liked this block going in, though. My background is pretty busy and it takes a strong block to stand up to that holly print! This block is called "Solomon's Star". Thanks, Tamara, I like this one a lot.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
November BOM ...
I liked this block going in, though. My background is pretty busy and it takes a strong block to stand up to that holly print! This block is called "Solomon's Star". Thanks, Tamara, I like this one a lot.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Four More Random Blocks...
Not that I have to, I just feel badly that I made a commitment and then flaked on it. How hard is it to make a block a week and post it to a blog that I don't even host? Donna has been really sweet to pull a number of a block for us all to do each week, and there isn't any pressure from anybody to do each and every one. I just think it would be really neat to have 52 blocks in a box at the end of the year! Some of the people who are doing the FBP blocks have different colors or specifc prints they use for the different sized blocks... so they can actually make reasonable looking quilts with the blocks they've made and some of us never even thought of anything that organized! The blocks are all free from Marcia Holm's Quilter's Cache. Some of the blocks really neat, some are not the most interestingto make, and some have wildly complicated directions - the "This isn't as hard as I'm making it look" variety - but making a block a week really does improve our piecing skills, especially those of us who are beginners! I know my points have gotten much more accurate and I'm not intimidated by HSTs or small blocks with lots of pieces.
Color choice is another matter - sometimes it is on, and other times not so much. I have a lot of scraps (Kerstin will vouch that I simply cannot throw anything out) and fabric that is pretty dated... but making "scrappy" quilts this year and teh weekly FBP blocks is using up a good deal of that stash. I'm not officially keeping track of yards in/yards used, but the last fabric I purchased was the back for Marjory's quilt (which I had sent directly to Kerstin and didn't even see until it was quilted onto the top!) and the fat quarters I bought at Sisters in July. Oh, no... I forgot...there was the FQ I bought at the Pacific NW Quilt Expo, but I sent that directly to my Friendship Bag Swap partner... so I'm not sure that counts either.)
Let's see, what blocks do we have in this post? "Footstool" is the first - not sure why it is called that... I'm not seeing it in the block, but whatever. I changed the direction of the hourglass blocks, so I may have inadvertently made another block entirely!
Next is "Rotunda", though my bright color choices and the elephant print make it a bit hard to seee the tradional block pattern.
The one that looks blue is actually black-and-white print, and red-and-white print ... appropriate for "Dewey Dream" (yeah, 'Black and white and red all over' - sorry, couldn't help myself!)
This very last block is not a catch up, it is the current FBP block for week 44 - can you believe it!?? the year is almost over - called "Gamecock". I can't leave well enough alone, though, so I did what my friend Hetty suggested, and swapped out the center square. It was supposed to be the BG color, but I used a blue one. It does make the birds' heads a little harder to see, but the block was way too white the way it was designed!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Lovely Rainy Weather !
I do love the rain... it makes the trees so happy! Everything is cool and private because people stay inside their nice warm, dry houses... and I get a chance to stay in and quilt, or knit, or cook, or paint! And when I go outside for a walk, everything smells so fresh and good!
I've been catching up on projects for a while... I finished Marjory's quilt, made a pincushion for Sheila, pieced all the Hawaiian Shirt pillows (now I still have to actually quilt them - that is a bit intimidating, still) and I'm catching up on the NorCal (Christmas Quilt) BOM and the Friday Block Party missing pieces. I had a lot of trouble posting these four photos to the FBP website with comments next to the blocks. The formatting got all wonky, and I had to re-do the post five times to get it right...so I'm just going to post these, and not actually comment on them next to each one.
The first one is Something-or-other-swallows (the pattern I used for Leena's quilt last year), the second is Fool's Puzzle, the third is Blind Man's Fancy, and the last one is Album Star. Maybe the order they'll come out - I don't know!
The first one is Something-or-other-swallows (the pattern I used for Leena's quilt last year), the second is Fool's Puzzle, the third is Blind Man's Fancy, and the last one is Album Star. Maybe the order they'll come out - I don't know!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Poor Martine!
Just look what was inside... a pretty laser-cut card (with a letter from Martine), a box of chocolates all dressed up in a raffia bow - each of the chocolates has the photo of a different scene of distinctive Dutch Architecture. There i
s a kit to make a Garden Themed wall hanging along with the fabric and embriodery floss to complete it... and a small bag of wee tiny buttons (smaller even than doll-sized) for embellishment! How nice of her to fill the pretty lace trimed bag with such an assortment of goodies!
THANK YOU, MARTINE!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
FBP and Friendship Bag
Now that Florence got her bag, I can show you what I made... my first bag ever. The bag was dead easy, and I'll probably end up making bags as Christmas presents, or as wrapping for Christmas presents... they were that much fun!
I put some tea, biscotti, and a fat quarter of darling Halloween Fabric inside Florenc's bag - she said she liked all the little extras, so that made me feel pretty good about sending them off to her.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Last of the pillow blocks for now... maybe.
This block is called Morning Star 2, from Quilter's Cache... it w
as way back at week #8 in the FBP blocks, and I don't know if I had even started by then! Probably had, but I didn't do this one. I made it out of some of the Kahala Shirt Fabrics for the kids' pillows. Hoped to hae them all finished and given as "Birthday Presents" yesterday - that didn't happen... I still need to practice more on my quilting. I'm getting better, though. I'm still reluctant to put the quilting on these, as I know they'll be around for a long time - and while I don't need perfect, good is really necessary.
I made a little bag to send off to a quilter in Florida as part of a swap. The bag was fun and I got some quilting practice in on it, too! My "water" pattern is getting better. I loved the Halloween fat-quarter and just had to put it in! It was the ONLY thing I bought (Oh, no... I got a book, too... forgot) at the Pacific Northwest Quilting Expo last week. I was pretty proud of myself for not spending a fortune! I did colect a bunch of cards and wrote on the back what I wanted from each of the vendors, so I can do all that shopping later, tee hee.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Playing catch-up yet again!
This first one is actually the current block, so it isn't a catch-up at all.
Titled "Nelson's Victory", I used bubbles, white tone-on-tone ocean waves and blood red. Problem here - there wasn't enough of the perfect blood red! I had another red, but it was too dark; didn't look quite bloody enough. So, Scot that I am... I sewed some tiny red strips together to get my last 3 1/2 inch square. Yay me! The windy morning made for an oddly-shaped block.
This next one is a catch-up block from the week
What did I learn from this block? Never sew when you are mad at somebody. You'll just have to take a do-over ! The Do-Over did come out a bit better; I really like the reddish flowered Chinz pattern, and the middle green is my "most favorite" color ever (no fair telling the 'teacher police' about my grevious grammar errors, you guys!)... Anyway, I wasn't about to let this block go and waste fabric just because I had a burr under my saddle. I suppose the solitude did me good, as I'm not as PO-ed as I was. The block is still wonky, but it will do.
This last block is the "Castles in the Air" for FBP that I posted a while back. "Jack" (yeah, the Ripper- thanks, J!) and I spent some quality time and I got the blue blocks where they belong. One more of the Hawaiian Shirt Fabric blocks, and I'll be good to go for the 27th! Just puttin' the pillows together! Cathy and Duck will get theirs later, but they are OK with that.
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