Busy Sunday...

Block Lotto

Been going at it really strong to catch up with the Block Lotto modern quilt and I have to say it was really fun!!!  I had to do 12 blocks of the May block which was stripes.  Many people said it was hard, but I guess my sewing foot is on the mark for a 1/4 inch because once I started I had no problem doing them.  The ones on this bed have been sewn together into units of four.  Now I have to put them on on the Block Lotto site and tell them now many I made.  Not only did I do the 12 for my queen size quilt that I am building (been at it since January - but you can start late because all the patterns are there, you just need to catch up) but I also did 4 more to enter the lottery and 2 others that were the wrong size.  So that's not bad - 2 out of 18 that didn't work.  The secret, I made the side triangles (you make a square and cut it in half to make

two triangles) from a 5" square, much bigger then what they ask for, but really, it's easier to cut down to being short on the size.  The size of each square is 7 1/2" which makes the large square.  They had to be true blue, and that's what they are with cream on the lines.  But as you can see from the above picture, I made a couple with the orange/yellow/wild colour original quilt colour that will be the border as well as more squares.  It's in some of the circle blocks as well.  

So I have to remember (and ladies we know what it's like to remember anything.... with the large list of things-to-do we have  ;)  to enter the block lottery before the end of May.  Check out my post!!!

The other Quilt that I've been working so hard to get done from my list of things-to-do this month is the Layer Cake Quilt from Material Girls' website.  It was an excellent QAL that was fast (truthfully, with working full time and only quilting every second weekend this was quick for me but so much learning) and teaches you so much that each square can before a quilt of it's own.  All you have to do is choose one or two of the blocks you liked and make a complete quilt on it.  Here are quilt blocks 13 - 18 (I did 19 and 20 last month).  All are done now and I need to sandwich the quilt.  I missed the deadline for this one (by one month) but that was because I had to go into the hospital (nothing serious) and the medication before that got me size for 3 days before and a week after.  So darn, no final prize, but the quilt itself is a prize.  Judge for yourself.

They look fantastic all together, with a border of 2 1/2 inches and a large finish border of 3 1/2.  I won't show the final picture until it's all together and then you can be the judge yourself.  If you want to see the blocks along the way, click here.  Everyone says the background is what makes it, the layer cake was a simple, light, pastel layer cake, but it pops with the black and white.  The borders will only be the black and white, so all will really show up in the end.  I'm excited about it and I said I would put the quilt together and have the top layer by the end of the month, then in June, I'll quilt it with tiny circles in black thread only on the black material.  That would be so good looking, it will be approximately a queen size quilt.

I've done more but I'll blog about it in another blog. 

Thanks for listening.

Busy catching up with the BOM's and my homework.

OK, my plan today was to catch up on the Layer Cake block of the month. So here they are, the 1st two.

Square 3

Square 1

Square 2

Square 4

Star 3

Also I had to finish my homework on the "Galaxy of the Stars" quilt from the FVQG.  I had to do paper piecing, not one of my favorite.  And to top it off, the pattern was off, so we had to add .5 to the pattern on the outside section.  They need to be 12 1/2 inches, and some areas were off, but it turned out OK in the end.  Check it out.  Love the colours.  I love how this quilt is turning out with the batik.  How can you go wrong with batik.

2nd Star 3.

Also I was interested in continuing on with the Thangles quilt.  So I finished with block 2 and 3.  Here they are, it's my Apple Quilt.

This one is bigger then the others

Nice to mix and match.

So that's what I did today.  I did cut up another layer cake, but you need two for each square, so I'll have to continue on.

BEST MOMENT:  finishing the galaxy squares for the guild.

WORST MOMENT:  having to undo the galaxy squares a couple of times to get the material to flip over correctly and cover the area needed.  But it will be worth it in the end.

Down the Rabbit Hole - finally I started it...

As was my goal this year, I wanted to do some blocks of the month online, do some samplers, and Gable House and Co. has a fantastic one.  It's called "Down the Rabbit Hole" and Jennifer Overstreet does a fantastic job of explaining each and every step.  At this point it's very simple for a beginner quilter, and although I'm past that step, it's still fun to figure out other ways to do the blocks, making it more challenging.

A friend of mine gave me 50 pieces of fabric for my 50th birthday, so I'm using all those scraps.  They have  patterns with green, blue, pink and red, some modern, some old.  It's quite the combo but it's going well so far.  I'm  using some green material as a filler or background to bring it all together.  I already purchased 2 meters of this greenso that's working out with no new purchases.  The object in "my head" is to use all that material she gave me, so it will be my birthday quilt at the end.  The things we do to ourselves!!!!

I started this BOM late but in one day (a snow day) I did a lot.  See below for all the squares made so far.  It makes me smile to see them now.  I started at 8:00 pm and stopped at 2:00 am in the morning (yes I got lost in the sewing, but when I started to make mistakes and not have fun anymore I realized I'm getting tired and went to bed).  It really did go fast, the making of the blocks so far.

What is the schedule for the blocks you may ask?

• September - Nine Patch - Completed.
• October - HST (half square triangles) and Pin Wheels - Completed.  Had to undo and redo...
• November - Flying geese - there are 88 to do!!!!  Looking at doing them 4 at a time, but I need to find one of those lessons online to remember how to do it and to make sure it's the right size!!!  Might do it a bit bigger.
• December - Friendship Star - Completed.
• January - Variable Star - will cut them out today.  
• February - Calico Puzzle - completed.
• March - Monkey Wrench - Boy, is this going fast!!!!
• April - Grandmother's Fan and Orange Peels
• May - Piece and assemble it all together.
• June - final!!!!

This is the only BOM that ends so early so I get a new quilt then and can show my quilting guild early.

Nine Patch using different greens and pinks

Calico pattern and Pinwheel

Friendship Star - did two colors because ran out of red poka dots

I also worked a bit on my "Valentine Flowers" quilt, I'm sewing the binding, but I still need to quilt all the white sections of the quilt.  Another day, or rather in the next month.

I also bought some more fabric (I'm addicted!!!) from Wineberry's Quilting Store, wanted to treat myself after such a hard week, but I broke a promise to myself that I would not buy any more fabric unless I finished two more quilts.  That's a sign of addiction.

They look black but the color is indigo, with great modern patterns.

Finally, been working really hard on my applique BOM from Sycamore Hill website, another great BOM that I'm enjoying but is taking longer then I thought to do.  I could of used fusing but I instead I wanted to do "turn applique".    Here is what the January and February blocks look like:

Started this one.  All leaves are the same.  But I have about 5 pinks.

February's Block, haven't even started this one yet...  But I have the material.

So I am catching up!!!

New BOMs Joined

And because of that I'm looking at another 3 BOMs, I cannot resist and they're FREE!!!  The first one is from the Blogger Girls' Block of the Month.  They are asking for reds and greens, my favorite colors and it looks more challenging then some of my other ones.  Love the final look.  What do you think?

Need to make a lot of HST's.  But I love the colors!!  Can't resist.

Not Yet Started but will start

Take a look at the left hand side for all the BOM's I'm participating in but at this point.  There is only one that I have not started yet, the Garden, because it's paper piecing and it takes time, and it's very high level but you don't learn anything unless you try.  

Debbie Mumm, who I love, has a new BOM that you do every two months.  I haven't started this one as well because I don't have the material.  I need some more red and blues to get going.  You can see the great work on the left, how wonderful it looks.  I'll also need some tan, but I'll need the brown that's in the quilt as well.

Material Girl has a Layer Cake sampler. You use two layer cakes, one for the pattern and the second one for the background that should be solid.  You can use a basic color for the web site instead of the second layer cake.  Go to the link above to see the sampler of having a basic color.  Amanda Castor has a sample on her website.  Love all the different patterns here to uses and what I can learn.  

I can honestly say at this point "I HAVE GOT TO STOP JOINING BOMS!"