February Block for Amy (USA)

Hi All! I hope that 2014 is off to a great start for everyone! I must admit that the end of January snuck up on me and suddenly it is time for me to post a block! Here we go! I am asking for an 8 inch LeMoyne Star Block.

I will be using these blocks to make a quilt for my father. He is a retired Captain from the U.S. Navy Reserved. I found the quilt panel and fabric pictured below. I will use the star blocks to ring the quilt panel to create a quilt for his birthday! 

 

 

The colors I am looking for are reds- deep, but not maroon, navy blues and deep blues, and creams. The fabrics can have small print, marbles or solids. My star has small stars in the blue and cream.

Start by cutting:

Cream - (4)   2 1/2 inch squares

       (4)   3 inch squares

  Red -   (4)   3 inch squares      

Blue - (4)   3 inch squares  

Draw a diagonal line across all the cream and 2 red 3" squares. Pair 2 red and 2 blue squares, 2 red and 2 cream squares and 2 blue and 2 cream squares.

Sew 1/4" on either side of the lines you drew. Press and cut on the line. Press to the darker color. Trim the HST's to 2 1/2" 

 

Layout the blocks as shown and sew together with a 1/4" seam.

I sewed each row together, pressing the seams of each row in opposite directions. This helped to "lock" the blocks together when sewing the rows together. 

Your block should measure 8 1/2". If you have any questions, please let me know!  Thank you!

Amy (USA)

  

Jennifer's January Square- Amy (Canada)

I LOVED THIS SQUARE!!! As you may have noticed, I am not a neutral kind of gal (see my previous color selections… BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT!!). I recently saved up to buy some fancy rain boots (that I promised my husband would last me 20 years). I have been wanting these boots forever and had very carefully selected the gray pair as they would match my maroon raincoat (that will also last me 20 years), would go with my other jackets, and I don't have gray boots, so they'd be perfect. I tried them on, but couldn't commit. I left the store and walked around the mall. I found another store that had the same boots, but their sample was red. Ah ha! That is what I wanted. Yep, I have bright red rain boots and they fit me perfectly! So, when I saw that this square was full of neutrals, I was skeptical. However, as I started selecting my colors (with two reds, of course) I started to see Jennifer's vision. I absolutely love how this went together, and love how it looks! This is going to be amazing, Jennifer! I cannot wait to see how it looks finished. Speaking of finished… My 2013 quilt is at the long arm quilter and I am so excited to get it back and bound. I will send pics soon, hopefully!

Katy Finished Her First 'international stashes' quilt!!

I decided that I should start the year off right...by finishing all unfinished projects. My quilt from 2012's group effort was top of the list, and so this weekend I got down to business and tackled the final leg of my beginner quilting journey, learning how to make my own binding and sew it on...

Thankfully, the fear was way worse than the actual sewing. I'm really happy with how the quilt turned out, given that it was my first one ever (besides baby quilts and flannel throws, which don't really count, do they?). I love the retro backing fabric I found for it at Tonic Living.

I found great joy in remembering how each person's fabrics contributed to the final look and feel, and took time to really look at each little 3x3 block when I was top stitching the final squares this Saturday. I haven't washed it yet so I think it will take on a more wrinkled appearance after that, which I'll like very much. I need to sew in the dangling threads still but it's 99% done!

The kids and I had fun playing ISpye this morning with it...I see a bird, a boy, a butterfly, a lemon! A castle, a princess, a worm, an owl!

Thank you all for helping make my first quilt! I'm now ready to tackle the "Colour Value HST quilt" from last year, with the goal of having it done before April!!!
xo
Katy

And Another January Block..

Here is my January block for Jennifer. I had a crash course and helping hand from Linsay (thank-you again!) and am really pleased with the outcome. Jennifer, I hope it fits well with the other blocks you receive. The tan brown and red look similar in the photo but stand apart in daylight.

Although I don't have a presser foot with the 0.25" seam allowance, I am easily able to reposition my needle to still achieve the correct seam allowance with the standard foot. Not great long term, but adequate until a quarter inch foot arrives soon in the post.

Will pop in the post

Claire
x

Here's another January Block for Jennifer

Despite December and January zipping by in a blur of festive celebrations, camping holidays, kids swimming lessons, a short return to work and now planning for another few days camping, I managed to complete your block last night Jennifer.














I felt being completely incompetent and nervous when using my rotary cutter without the ruler to lean against Jennifer.  I'm always up for a good challenge and I pushed on and eventually managed somewhat rectangular pieces of fabric.  However, my somewhat wonky rectangles and squares have resulted in somewhat curved seams and a couple of slightly under 8-inch sub-blocks.  But I could compensate for that when joining them all up.  Two trimming errors (same sub-block, same error repeated, same self-admonishments) meant that I had to cut two extra rectangles and I have to confess that they were made using the ruler.

My local fabric shop is quite limited in its range of solid colours so I am nervously hoping that you like what I did manage to find Jennifer. It wasn't until my final sub-block was being put together that I realised that I had not used any white, but I think perhaps that is why I could combine a pale grey, very pale green and a cream without making the whole thing look too washed out.

I feel like I say this every time, but I really am looking forward to seeing how you arrange all our blocks,

Anthea xx

January Block

Hi All,
I have Jennifer's block done and ready to ship! Yippee! It was fun to just start cutting into the fabric!

And now my exciting news-look what has come to live at my house!!! I have quite a bit of learning and playing to do and I cannot wait! Cleaning and cooking may be put on hold for a while....

January Jennifer...

Ta da!! I'm never early for anything...and yet, somehow I managed to get Jennifer's block done before the end of the month! Maybe this is a sign of what's to come in 2014 for me...

Jennifer, I had so much fun making this block. I'll pop it in the mail asap. You always pick the greatest patterns. I was a bit nervous about cutting without my ruler and then sewing the blocks together evenly. My sub-blocks never were exactly 8". I'm struggling to figure out why this continues to happen, but think it is a combination of my old old machine, its tension, and a slightly bigger 0.25" guide on my machine...anyway, I think I pulled it off, even with some uneven edges in my sub-blocks. Maybe this is the year I'll get a new machine. There is something I like about using the machine my mom used when I was born though... anyway, the quest for a perfectly sized block will continue for me.

Warm January wishes. We had such miserably cold weather here, but now it feels spring-like outside, which feels weird. Bring back the snow! Go away rain! xo  Katy

December Block for Micaela

Sorry I'm late, Micaela. I made this last week and then didn't get around to downloading my pics until this morning.

It took me a little while to get the hang of the crazy patchwork, but once I got going I really enjoyed making this. Looking forward to seeing how they look all together.

Thank you, all, again for letting me join in the fun in 2013--I plan to keep an eye on your progress this year and when I get around to making some more blocks for my quilt, I'll be posting pics as the project comes together.

Happy New Year!

Doris

Sneak Peek at 2013 Charity Quilt

Hello Ladies, I think I have all of the blocks now for our charity quilt for a child. Thank you 2013 members! It was so fun to lay these out and start to get an idea of what the finished quilt will look like:

 

The plan is still to finish this and give it to a local refugee center here in Switzerland. I have already made a contact and they will be happy to take our quilt.

 

Please let me know in the comments section any of your ideas for a charity quilt for 2014.

 

xoJennifer

USA Amy's Block for Micaela & a Christmas Miracle-ahem-FINISH

Happy New Year to all of you! It is going to be a fantastic 2014! Welcome to all our new members-I am especially excited that Pam has joined us. She is my Aunt and my role model/inspiration/idea of what and who I want to be as a quilter! Yep- no pressure Pam :)

Now onto pictures- I finished Micaela's December block-two days into January-sorry! After my rush to finish the quilt below, my machine and I needed a few days off and a good cleaning. I enjoyed making this block! Very liberating just grabbing fabrics and stitching them together without any clear plan.

 Now on to the Christmas Miracle-Finish.....drum roll please.....  I stitched the blocks together and added the borders Monday December 23, spray basted and quilted Christmas Eve and added the binding on Christmas Day. We did not see my parents until December 27 so I had a few extra days. To say that they were surprised would be an understatement! My mom keeps says she thought she was getting a few pillows because we had discussed some ideas. She especially loves the idea of our group and that this quilt came together from women all over the world. She is so touched! I thank all of you for helping to make this incredibly special quilt! And the pictures....

I used white thread to echo quilt around and inside all the stars and diamonds. 

The green fabric on the back is the same as the borders.

My parents right after opening the quilt.