The Mystery of Festive Mystery

Sue of Quilt Times http://quilttimes.blogspot.com  gave the Christmas QAL participants a challenge:  try and figure out the design of the blocks/quilt.  We have some clues: 
     We know the quilt is 42 X 60 and that the blocks are 9".
     This made me think there are 4 blocks across and 6 blocks down with a 3" border.
     We have our ABCDs.
     We know  it's festive.
    
Since we have 20 C's I thought they would be used between the blocks as a kind of sashing but only across, not down.

That left the As, Bs, and Ds for the blocks and border.

I had to abandon my idea that we were making  pinwheels because I couldn't come up with a 9" block that was pleasing.  Finally I came up with a version of the Friendship Star at I think looks pretty nice.

      This block will leave plenty of patches for a pieced border that I think will look good. 

So that's my guess.  Saturday at Sweet P's http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.co.uk  I'll find out how far off I am:)  Paulette of Sweet P Quilting and Creations will host the Christmas Quilt Along this month, so join us there.  It's always fun.

The ninth block of the Treasure Chest Quilt is Prickly Pear  http://www.facebook.com/#!/quiltinaday and mine is finished.

This block is really easy to put together and has a great finish. 

Only 3 more blocks and we're done. 

I'm going to be looking for a new qal to join. 

Or else I can finish all of my WIPs that are piled up in my sewing room.

God Bless.

Something Good

In May and June of 2011 I worked on blocks to donate to the Quilt of Valor block challenge hosted by SewCalGal.  I sent in 15 blocks and didn't think I would hear about those blocks again.  But in fact I have heard about some of the blocks that I made and am so happy to be able to share the nice thing that's happened.

Some of my blocks along with blocks made by a quilter in Virginia and a quilter in Florida were made into a Quilt of Valor by a quilter in Wisconsin and presented to a veteran in a ceremony in Chicago honoring veterans of the 442nd RCT.  I received a thank you note from him with a caricature of him holding the quilt.

How nice is this!

The veteran, George Okamoto, also received the Congressional Gold Medal and was written up in his hometown newspaper in Indiana. 

George, thank you for your service to our country and your contribution to my freedom which I enjoy every day. 

Now just between you and me I admit that I am thrilled that some blocks I made have honored a deserving vet.  It's really a nice feeling and I feel very happy about this.  It's terrific to hear back about something I did.

I spent all of yesterday working on the QOV I'm making for my brother and I think I can see a light at the end of this tunnel. 

I tried sewing together 4 of the 6 inch blocks to make a 12 inch block and I like the results. 

I'm going to mix them with the other 12" blocks I have and hopefully it will all go together easily and look good.



Remake

I had to remake the Long Nine Patch block for the Treasure Chest Quilt because the size was off by an inch and one/half. I had posted a comment on the QIAD facebook page to see if anyone else had difficulty with the block directions, and learned a few things in the answers I received. And I confess (but only here on my little blog) that I went from thinking I was a fairly good quilter in the intermediate stage to a downright amateur because I misinterpreted "finished size"  when squaring up.  I'm over it though.  I spent yesterday making blocks for the Quilt of Valor I'm putting together and my confidence is back. 

What did I learn from this experience?  First, there are some very helpful and kind people in the quilting community who can zero in on a problem and help make it right.  This is one reason I would like to join a guild or find a class to join. 

Second, specialty rulers are a pain the dupa!  When directions call for a certain brand of ruler that is for a particular configuration, I have to figure out how to comply with the directions without the ruler since I don't have that many.  Sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong, like this time.
My QAL and blogging friends Hazel and Lesley brought up the ruler issue recently and it's no doubt that certain of the rulers make quilting easier, especially when it comes to squaring up a patch or a block.  http://hazelsquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/perseverance-good-news.html
But even though I am physically a 21st century person, my quilting mind goes back to women who made quilts, that now hang in museums, using feedsack cloth and I suppose simple templates.  I have more tools in my sewing room than those women probably ever saw and yet I don't always have what I need. 

I apologize for the venting.  As I said I did learn a few things and that's why I like to join qals.  Fortunately for me learning is enjoyable.  Good thing because I'm always doing it the hard way;-)

Hope your quilting and crafting is going smoothly.  If not, I hope you are enjoying it anyway.

God Bless. 

Long 9 Patch and May FMQ

Block 8 of the Treasure Chest Quilt I am making along with other followers of Eleanor Burns on facebook is the Long 9 Patch block.  http://www.facebook.com/#!/quiltinaday/app_154809041280482 

The FMQ Challenge for May was taught by Leah Day.  We did stippling with lines through it. 

My check list is complete for this month. 

God Bless.

A Nice Win

You may remember this quilt.  I made it during a mystery quilt along at Erik Homemade Coffee Break ezine http://erikhomemade.typepad.com/erik_homemade/ .  This is one of my favorite quilts. 

Recently I learned that I won in a giveaway that Erik held for anyone who participated in that quilt along. How nice is that? What I won is perhaps the most elegant tool I now have in my sewing room. It's a Gingher Seam Ripper.

For a mistake prone person like me it's the perfect gift:)

I'm sure it will come in handy. 

Thank you, Erik Homemade.

I noticed that the Erik Homemade website will be having a block of the month qal beginning next month, so that might go on my to-do list. 

Hope you are all well.

God Bless.

May Christmas QAL - 3

When I saw the angel block Sharon gave to us as a bonus, I had to try it right away.  We all love it, so thanks again, Sharon.

God Bless.

May Christmas QAL 2

 From this

 to this

to this.

All done for this month.  And I got my plants into the ground, so now on to ironing and maybe working on the FMQ challenge. 

Enjoy your weekend.

God Bless.

May Christmas QAL - 1

My ABC's are waiting for the next part, so I'm signing in at Sharon's  lovely place http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.co.uk/ and will get working.  We have a lovely day here so I'll be running out to get some canterbury bells and sunflowers into the ground, but not before I work on Festive Mystery.

Tomorrow is Christimas QAL Saturday

Tomorrow we are gathering at Sharon's blog http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.co.uk/   for the May Christmas Quilt Along.  We will work on the 4th installment of the Festive Mystery Quilt, and I think we will be seeing some real progress with all of our pieces.  Can't wait.  I'm not sure what May for Me is all about but I just visited Sharon's blog and saw her posts about it and it looks very interesting.  I think we'll have fun tomorrow with the Christmas QAL.

Whenever Quiltmaker magazine has their 100 Blocks Blog Tour I participate, at least since Volume 2.  I was lucky this time around and won the Volume 5 issue when I visited Jennifer at Curlicue Creations  http://www.curlicuecreations.com . 

Jennifer also sent me one of her original patterns for picnic coasters  and they are so cute.  Can you see the little ant?

 Also in the package was the magnet of a quilt block.  Really cute.  Thank you, Jennifer.  I love both gifts.

Hope you can make it tomorrow.

God Bless.



I Almost Didn't Make It

April came and went and I completely missed the seventh block in Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day  Treasure Chest Quilt.  I thought I was out of the game and posted on the  QIAD  facebook page boohooing about it, and two of their followers commented that I should still go ahead and make the block and enter it even if late.  So I did, and it was accepted.  I sewed in a fury on Tuesday, but it is an easy block to make, and for maybe the first time ever each piece matched up perfectly.  Sometimes Life is just plain good:)

The block is called Greek Cross.  I like that name. 

If you'd like to vote for my block, voting is open until May 10th.

http://www.facebook.com/quiltinaday?sk=app_268607469849125 

So now I have a checklist.  I need to complete three things each month:  

Treasure Chest block

Festive Mystery qal

Free Motion Quilting Challenge

Another list; oh boy.

In my last post I shared the Quilt of Valor pictures I had taken at the MQX East. 

I could not settle on a quilt pattern for my quilt.  I was making a whole variety of stars in 12 inch blocks using patriotic fabric, but I it wasn't what I wanted for this quilt. Then about two weeks ago I received my Quilter's World June magazine and found the one I wanted to make.

So now I have another WIP and that is very satisfying.

Hope everyone is well and happy.

God Bless. 

   

April FMQ Challenge

This month we were shown Don Linn's method of transferring quilt designs to fabric that I found unique and helpful.  At first I thought it seemed like alot of work, but when I utilized the method I found that it is easy.  I like it very much.  You can get the how-to here:  http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-2012-fmq-challenge-tutorial-by.html

We used tulle and a permanent marker to copy the design and then transfer it to the fabric.

The nice thing is that the tulle can be saved and used again. 

Now, when I did the sewing on this beautiful design, things didn't go as nicely.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get good at this.  One of the problems I have is that when I'm sewing forward or towards me I can see and follow the lines easily, but when I sew away from me or sideways, I can't seem to follow the lines. 

I won a fat quarter bundle during SewCalGal's Golden Quilter Awards event.  http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/   It is the first bundle I've ever had and boy, do I love it.  It's a Darlene Zimmerman's Sweet Pickins bundle from Robert Kaufman fabrics.  It's very much 1930's type fabric.  Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works donated the bundle.  http://www.cvquiltworks.com Thank you to Jackie and to SewCalGal. 

I have more quilts from MQX East to show.  I was so happy to see this booth.  I have the fabric to make a QOV for a family member and I hope to get it done soon.  I have SewCalGal to thank for introducing me to this organization because of her event last year. 

God Bless You.

Part 3 of Festive Mystery Almost Complete

I've been working on Part 3 of the Festive Mystery Quilt for two days and am almost done. There was alot a work involved in this section, so I feel that I've made major progress on the quilt top.  I still have to square up the rectangles (funny, huh?)  and redo a few, but that's nothing compared to everything else I did. 

I like the diamond design in the strips.  And the hourglass square is one of my favorites.  And I'm happy with the dark fabric near the white background.  We're halfway done I believe.

This is another quilt from the MQX East show.  My attention was caught by the border edging. 

It makes me want to be more creative when I'm finishing my quilts. 

I sometimes like to see simple quilting and this one is an example.  The quilter just used a circle template and created her design.  I have read that Amish quilters use this technique for border designs. 

I love the 3D effect on this quilt of the little quilts on the clothesline.  I like the simple quilting, too.

The prarie points look great, too.  I haven't tried those yet, but I will.

God Bless You.

Have a great week.