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.

Christmas QAL April Post 2

I enjoyed the MQX East in Providence very much and I did take lots of pictures.  Funny thing, but one of the vendors told me she did not allow pics so I deleted the one of her quilt that I had while she watched me do it.  Oh well.  I do have pictures of the winning quilts and some others with special attention to the fmq that was done on them.  I'll just show a few now. 

I just visited Lynn's blog http://sewnwildoaks.blogspot.com/   and was pleased to learn that one of her quilts was on display at the quilt show.  I wish I had known.  I looked at so many, but I think I do remember hers because I love the traditional quilt styles and spent more time looking at them.

This quilt won Best in Show.  I guess you can see why.

This quilt looks like a huge photo from afar.

The quilter used quite a few techniques to get her desired effect.  The water is silver decorative thread.

This one I love.

Of course, I love this cat quilt.  But I noticed that the quilter kept her fmq simple and achieved a pleasant effect, which won her a ribbon.  There are feathers quilted in the sashing, but the squares are simpler. 

God Bless.

Christmas QAL April Post 1

I'm getting ready to go to the MQX East http://www.mqxshow.com/MQX/East/Home/index.cfm
but I wanted to check in with Lesley http://lesleythecuddlequilter.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-christmas-quiltalong-is-here-with.html and everyone else to see what you are all doing.  Thank you, Lesley, for the applause and I hope you are enjoying your cinnamon buns.  They probably smell and taste delicious:)  They certainly look good.

The instructions for this month are posted so I hope to get to it later.  If I don't I'll still look in to see everyone else's progress and enjoy the sight of all the beautiful Festive Quilts being put together out there. 

Have a good one:)

Christmas QAL Reminder

Lesley of The Cuddle Quilter http://lesleythecuddlequilter.blogspot.com/  is the our bright and shiny hostess tomorrow for the Christmas Quilt Along.  She will have the third part of the Festive Mystery Quilt and we all are waiting for that.   

I plan to attend my first quilt show tomorrow, but will definitely get sewing later in the day and hopefully have some photos to share with you.  I guess it may seem funny that I've never been to a quilt show or attended a quilt class, but it's true.  I hope I'm not totally intimidated by the quilts and decide to never touch my rotary cutter again:) 

So have fun over at Lesley's and I'll join in later in the day.  With three parts of the Festive Mystery Quilt done our quilt tops are going to really take shape.

God Bless!