SYLVIA'S BRIDAL SAMPLER BLOCK

This afternoon I finished the current BOW on the SBS site, M-6 Providence. There are 33 pieces in that little 6" block! I partially foundation pieced, and partially just machine pieced. Whew! A good one to have done.

REALLY OLD UFO

I learned to make cathedral windows long, long, ago (30 years?) and this was my first project! It was put away, just as you see it on the left. It's a beginner's job for sure -- don't look closely at the windows! The fabric is horrible, and was cut with scissors -- not especially straight. This must have been started before rotary cutters came into style. Evidently, once I learned the technique and had the border half on, I grew tired of the project and stuffed it away. Anyhow, I can't throw away anything I've worked on, so I finished it into a pillow. The back side of my work is so awful that it had to be hidden and as a pillow top it is. This sad little project is now done. Perhaps one of my granddaughters will like it as a tuffet for their dolls.

SIGGY SEASON

This is my second year to make siggies. They are small squares that quilters love to swap and collect. There's a large Siggy Swap on the Dear Jane list every year. There's also an International Siggy Swap that goes on too (DJ is international too though). I added a link to the international swap on the side of my blog.

Pictured is the Siggy block I've been using on the International Swap in 2009. My DJ swap blocks will be similar, but I have selected a cherry fabric to represent Michigan, and oranges to represent Florida. I'll have two corners of each.

If you are interested in swapping siggies one-on-one with me, please email me at: Nana.Quilts@gmail.com

Here's the directions for making them.

SIGGY BLOCKS

FABRIC:
Use only quilt shop quality, pre-washed, 100% cotton fabric.

CUT:
Center: Cut one 3.5 inch square of light. This may be white, off-white, or any light color. Quality muslin works well. Do not use white-on-white, as ink doesn’t adhere to it well.

4 Corners: Cut two 4.0 inch squares of a fabric of your choice and cut each once on the diagonal.

SEW and PRESS:
Center and sew two triangles on opposite sides of the center square.
Press seam toward triangles. Trim off the extra ‘wings’.
Center and sew the other two triangles on the remaining sides of the center square. Press.

DO NOT TRIM:
Receivers like to trim their own blocks. Different people do this differently, so even though they may look a tad ‘sloppy’ not trimmed up, resist the temptation and send them as is.

SIGN:
Use a Pigma® pen, or any waterproof, permanent, pen that is intended for fabric to sign your block. The color is your choice. Please include your name, state and country. It’s easier to sign your blocks if you put them on sandpaper or press a piece of freezer paper to the back first. Press to set the ink. You may choose to embroider your information if you want to. If you use a rubber stamp, be sure your stamp pad is waterproof, permanent, intended for fabric ink (like VersaCraft).

EMBELLISH:
You may add any washable embellishments you want to. Plain Janes are welcome too.


SEND:
Most of all, have fun trading Siggies with others around the world!

TIPPED HAPPY HOUSES

 

My happy houses are all set, uphill and downhill, and ready to fly. They will get a final trim to square them up by the hostess of the swap, so they all are trimmed the same. How nice is that?

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

 

What's happening to the neighborhood? Everything from rose cottages, cowgirl ranches, and psychedelic homes are here, and only 2 are identical! 12 of these are going to the swap. Two I'll keep. They just need their uphill downhill borders before they fly off to Texas.

HOUSES SWAP

This morning I made two houses for the houses swap (link on down, lower left). They will be tilted left and right with a tilty border. These are so fun and so much remind me of one of my children's favorite books when they were little, "The Big Orange Splot". In the story, Mr. Plumbeam lives on a 'neat street' where all the homes are just alike. But one by one the neighbors start transforming their homes and yards to represent all their dreams. It is a wonderful story about being yourself.

This is a great way to use up small 2" scraps and strips. Any Bonnie Hunter (link on down, lower left) fans out there?

NEW FABRIC

 

New fabric arrived at my house via Fed Ex today! On the left is a piece that I will use for the backing of my Vintage Valentine quilt. I love the soft petals with the rose edges. It reminds me of the wool petals with rose buttonhole stitch on my blocks. It is from the Elm Creek Winding Ways line. In the middle is another Winding Ways fabric. Love those curves! And on the right is another piece of neutral. All of these were in the $5 'ish per yard category on the Quilt In a Day Fabric Frenzy and Boutique on-line. Too good to resist!

DRESDEN PLATE

The block of the week on Sylvia's Bridal Sampler is Dresden Plate. These are 6" blocks and there are 20 curved petals on this one. I think this may be one of the ones in the "finished is better than perfect" category!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

Since so many folks are planning on cutting back, and making more homemade gifts this Christmas, I decided to add a Christmas Countdown to my blog. It's there for me, as much as anyone.

In our family, we try to keep the focus on Baby Jesus' Birthday, rather than a big gift extravaganza. The adults do a gift exchange, so we each receive one gift. But everyone, of course, gives to the kids. The years that there are more home-made gifts under the tree are the best, for sure.

HERE A CLUCK, THERE A CLUCK EVERYWHERE A CLUCK, CLUCK...

I've been busy making 12" chicken blocks this week, for the FatCats swap. I have four of each of these guys/gals all done, but will probably make a few more. I can send in 20, and I'll want to keep some of these. I think it will make a fun, whimsical quilt!

BAKE SHOP

I added a new link on my blog today. It will take you directly to Moda's Bake Shop. I generally don't advertise on my blog for any company, but this link has many free recipes (patterns) for jelly rolls, layer cakes, etc. There are some great ideas at the Bake Shop!

Scroll down and look on the left for the link.

Have a sewing day!

TWO MORE SYLVIA/'S BRIDAL SAMPLER BLOCKS

Yesterday I made two more SBS blocks M-1, Spinning Hourgrlass, and H-3, Sarah's Choice. That's 5 for March, which meets the SBS Offline Quilter's group challenge this month, so now I'll probably go back to other projects for a while. I'll still try to keep up with the BOW on the big list.

Over the weekend, I finished 3 more 6" Syliva's Bridal Sampler blocks, K-3, Churn Dash, M-5, Ohio Star, and M-10, Key West Beauty. Feels like progress! Slow, but sure..............

BULL'S EYE QUILT

This UFO is about 5 years old. It is a traditional, primitive, bull's eye pattern made in Civil War era reproduction fabrics. The circles were cut by folding a fabric square into fourths, and then free-hand cutting the circle. The circles are sewn with raw edges. When I put it out on my queen-sized guest bed to get ideas for quilting, I realized that with just a bit more border it would be large enough for a queen bed.

So back to my stash I went. Since this is a primitive quilt, I want to stick with that thought and only use stash on it. I pulled several good-sized pieces of fabric that I could use. I'm looking for suggestions.

Which fabric(s) do you prefer, and how would you use them in the borders? Please leave a comment with your ideas, and thanks in advance for your help.

SYLVIA'S BRIDAL SAMPLER

For the first time in forever, I worked on Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I completed two blocks, B-5, Grandmother's Flower Garden (which I started long ago when it was the BOW), and N-3 Clay's Choice (the current BOW).

DEAR JANE BLOCKS

Yesterday I made two Dear Jane blocks. These are little 4" finished-size blocks. The quarter is for reference to view the size. The one on the right is L-1, Window's Pane, and has 22 pieces. On the left is A-8, Florence Nightingale, with 11 pieces. These two will be in the mail today, off to a collective effort to make a DJ quilt for a special someone.

VINTAGE VALENTINE BLOCK 5

I finished Vintage Valentine Block 5 last night. Now I'm all caught up with the group. Block 5 was the February Challenge. I changed the rose buds to make them dimensional. This quilt is so addicting that I'd love to keep going on it, but other projects call. I will wait until the March BOM is announced.

AND AFTER PRESSING

It's amazine what a good pressing will do!

VIINTAGE VALENTINE BLOCK 1

While away from home, I try to take hand-work with me. This past week-end I hand-appliqued Block 1 of the Vintage Valentine Quilt. I'm doing this with a Verna Mosquera designs on-line Yahoo group. This was the block for Jan., so I'm already behind! My block could use a good pressing, but I don't have an iron with me. I love the wool petals with the buttonhole stitch, and the covered buttons accents. What better time to get started than Valentine's week-end?

HEART BLOCKS

These 6" blocks are all set to send in for a heart swap in our Friendship Swap group. Four are pieced the same as the 40-some I made for the DJ H2H swap, and on the other six I experimented with various ways to applique. Three are done in back-baste, my first try at that method. I used a charm pack for the applique ones, so each is different focus fabric. I think they all turned out well.

VALENTINE SWAP

Yesterday my package from the Valentine Box Swap arrived from Shelley. I just love the mini-quilt and other things she sent!

This is the quilted Valentine card and envelope that I made for Cindy.

RETURN FROM HONEYBEE

It's very hard to get back to normal after 4 days of nothing but quilting and laughter at the Honeybee Retreat, Quilt Stampede!

A young Clint Eastwood was at the retreat!

Here I am with Billie Lauder in her "Beyond the Battlefield" class. She is a very sweet person and so creative!!!

Here I am posing with Gwen Marston in her "Liberated Stars" class. She is such a neat person and great teacher.

I also took an applique class with Yvonne Porcella. It was a very fun weekend!

QUILT STAMPEDE

Today I'm packing for "Quilt Stampede," the Honeybee Guild annual retreat in Jacksonville. This year it's a cowgirl theme. I have my bandanna fabric star block for the drawing (bandanna fabric as background or star), my cowgirl hat (from 1975 'ish!), and of course my challenge quilt. Besides being required to use the 3 fabrics (bandanna, check, & blue denim), buttons and ribbon in the kit you were given, you also had to include at least 6" of couching (I couched DMC floss for the rope), and so many inches of free-motion quilting. I added a few extra fabrics -- the fussy-cut cowgirls and the tan print. It's my first challenge quilt ever, but my 3rd Honeybee retreat.

ORANGE PILE CHALLENGE

This is a group of fabrics I pulled, for Pat Sloan's Orange Pile Challenge. Lime green and a few yellows and pinks jumped in. I don't know yet if that's allowed! I'll find out as she posts more. The on-line retreat is in February.

SEWING MENDS THE SOUL

My dear friend, Carol, gave me these wall words for Christmas. Finally, this past week, I cleaned out my sewing room enough to get near a wall, and apply the words! I do indeed believe in this sentiment. Thanks, Carol.