Someone Else is Sewing Today!

Be sure to see the other two new posts below mine.

Chris and I were catching up by email earlier this week. She mentioned that she was getting ready for a move. I asked if she would like me to make her October block and she took me up on it. I was really happy to do this because as I posted last week I was wishing I had used more fabrics in my first October block. I was curious to see what changes would take place with more fabrics.

So this time I used 10 reds and 7 greens, To be perfectly honest, I don't see much difference! I like them both! Here is today's version:

Here are both blocks together. Amy, I will be finished admiring after this weekend. They will be in the mail to you next week, one from me and one from Chris.

xoJennifer

Another Charity Block

This is a traditional block called 'Honey Bee'.  The lady who taught me this block thought that the petal shapes were bees and the nine-patch in the middle was the honey pot.  I have always loved this block and it has worked well with the colours from Jennifer's inspiration fabric.  This was one of the first blocks I made when I learned patchwork in a little local shop in Australia.  We were taught how to draw the block pattern on paper, transfer it to stencil plastic, cut from the fabrics and then hand-sew the whole block together.

Here is the original block from 2003 and here it is with its friends in my first quilt, on my bed.
Linsay.

Phew, here's a weight off my mind

Don't worry Amy, I have made progress on your Christmas block and have the HST's all trimmed.  But I did need to finish the charity blocks first as they were laid out on my cutting mat!

My starting point was the bright green tree fabric.  And I liked these Winged Squares that I found on this blog (during quiet time) and around Pinterest.  So I thought I'd experiment and combine them.   I have made a couple of errors by sewing two of the scrappy HST's of the same colour right next to each other and was too lazy to unpick them.

I have decided that the one's I made are really too busy in reality.  I think it is the flecked fabric I used as the background - it doesn't disappear enough.  Also the tree pattern in the middle doesn't really work as a bi-colour central square that during quiet time's blocks use very effectively.

Oh well, lesson learned.  I hope you can slot them into the charity quilt Jennifer.
 
Anthea

Catching up!

Finally made Stephanie's September blocks this week:

Lots of Kaffe fabrics in there for you, this is going to be a fun and vibrant quilt!

And this one took a little more time, but what a fabulous Christmas quilt your parents are going to receive! Amy, I'll bring it to MQG next week...

Now, off to get started on Halloween costumes!

Happy October,

Doris

Merry Christmas!

Amy, I can't wait to see this quilt when it is finished. It is going to be fabulous! I really like the finished look of my block, it is very festive! Here is my contribution:

And here are just a few more notes that might help our other group members:

• This was a good project to work on in stages. One night I cut everything out, another night I sewed my half square triangles and squared them up, and then finally today I started sewing it all together.
• For some reason I missed the request on Amy's post to use at least 6 reds and 4 greens. I used 6 reds and 3 greens. As I started assembling the area outside of the star, I wished I had cut more of a variety of both reds and greens.
• Sewing the pieces together in small groupings was helpful. These were my stages: 

The center star:

The four corners:

The four sides:

As Amy suggested, it was extremely helpful to take pictures as I worked so that I could keep track of where every piece belonged and to be sure the pieces were all turned in the right direction. 

So now my block is going to hang on my design wall 

for a few days before I send it ...just so I can admire it!

Thanks Amy, I'm glad I could be a part of  this quilt for your parents!

xoJennifer

Better Late Than Never ?!?

So...here are my July blocks. Hot off the sewing machine today! THANK YOU DORIS, for patiently awaiting these blocks. Hopefully they will fit into the 2 empty spots nicely. Ahem! I now have some printed text fabrics to add to my stash!

And...here are my 2 August blocks! Thank you CHRIS for your patience!! The pinks look a tad washed out in this photo. Looking forward to seeing all of our blocks together :)

And soon to be started...my September and October blocks :)

Happy Fall, from Canada!

Shauna

October Block for Amy (USA)

Hello All! Now that Fall is upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, I feel the need for a Christmas quilt! I have set the lofty goal of completing this quilt in time for Christmas for my parents! They have a cabin in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and I can picture this quilt on the couch by the fire! I spent quite a bit of time looking for inspiration and stumbled upon a block tutorial by Melissa at Happy Quilting. I am using her Star Value Tutorial-
http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/2013/05/star-value-tutorial-for-between-heaven.html

I changed around the colors using reds, greens, and white/creams. If you have Christmas fabrics in your stash, use them! If not, I am looking for deeper reds (no pinks) and deeper greens. In my block, I feel like a few of the green triangles are too light, but I am going with it! You can use prints or solids. I included both creams and whites in the stars and outer corners.
Please use at least 4 different green fabrics and at least 6 different red fabrics.

Cutting Chart for a 16 inch block-

Red Squares for HST   need  16  measuring 3 inches x 3 inches

Green Squares for HST  need 12 measuring 3 inches x 3 inches

White/Cream Squares for Star HST  need 8  measuring 3 inches x 3 inches

White/Cream Squares for Diamond HST  need 4 measuring 3 inches x 3 inches

Red Squares need 16 cut 2 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches

White/Cream squares for Star  need 8 cut 2 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches


After cutting-
Match 4 green 3" x 3" with 4 white/cream 3" x 3"

Match 8 red 3" x 3" with 8 white/cream 3" x 3"

Match 8 red 3" x 3" with 8 green 3" x 3"

Follow Melissa's tutorial for making and trimming up the HST's to 2 1/2" squares and for assembling the block.  After I laid the block out, I took a picture before starting sewing. This definitely helped me when it was time to sew. I referred back to the picture many times & saved myself from having to use my seam ripper.

                

I am excited to see this quilt come together! My mom thinks our group here is absolutely amazing-I must agree! My biggest difficulty will be not telling her over the next couple of months!

If any questions arise please let me know!  Thanks in advance! 

Amy (USA)

PS I also got Stephanie's blocks done-just have to get to the post office!