Bee Blocks for Charlotte

I've been busy catching up with a lot of things this past week.  I'm slowly ticking things off the list.  One of the big events of the past week has been that I have finally put both of my boys in preschool two times a week.  It's six hours long each day!  The verdict is that they love it and Alexander has been asking if he can go everyday.  I'm thrilled that we have such a great preschool in our town, Everyone who has sent their kids there have only had great things to say about it, so I know that they are truly in good hands.  So that leaves me a few more hours in the week to concentrate on getting things done!!!

This week I finally worked on Charlotte's blocks, which I had been looking forward to making.  She gave us three solids fabrics to work with and requested 12 inch finished blocks with the freedom to make anything as long as there wasn't any applique!  That was fine by me!

I'll have to admit, I buy quite a lot of fabric and I am addicted to quilting tools, but in fact, I do not buy very many quilting books.  I do however love reference books.  The book pictured above, "The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns", by Jinny Beyer, is one of my favorite books for block reference.  I knew I would enjoy diving into this book to search for blocks to make for Charlotte.

The first block I made shown in the top photo is a Nancy Cabot block called Dancing Pinwheels, 1935.  The second block is known as North Carolina by Nancy Page, 1938.

Forest Quilt Along -- Red Panda

About a month ago, Amy asked me if I would test her Red Panda pattern for the Forest Quilt Along, which I was quite happy to do!  I have loved every pattern that the girls in the Forest Quilt Along (hosted by Julianna and Joanna) have come up with so far and of course I knew that I would be wanting to make the block regardless so it was a privilege to be able to have a sneak peek at what was coming next!  Today the Red Panda pattern has been released for your free usage.  You can find the pattern here.  It is a complex pattern, but don't let all the pieces involved scare you away from attempting to make it.  Just remember, one piece at a time, keep plodding and before you know it you'll have a sweet Red Panda too!  When you are finished, don't forget to share with us a photo of your work in the Flickr group here.  There are a lot of amazing forest blocks to look at and admire in the group already and everyone is welcome to join!

Steam Punk Fever!

I've been away!  I'm not sure I mentioned this before but last year we won a trip to Tasmania!  It was the first time either my husband or I had ever won anything so grand as a free trip anywhere, so we were thrilled!  I plan on posting pictures of our trip as well as pictures from my Great Ocean Road trip just as soon as I get a handle on some urgent deadlines that need to be taken care of right away. 

Tasmania was wonderful!  No, it was more than wonderful, it was truly amazing!  You'll get an understanding of what I mean as soon as I update you with pictures of our trip.  We decided to go at the last moment as we realized that we better take the trip before it got too cold down there.  When we were there I got to meet the lovely Jess in person, who I could have chatted with all day.  I wish we lived closer Jess!

Before I left I actually made all these Steam Punk blocks pictured above.  I wanted to have a hand sewing project while we were away so now all the center circles are attached.  It was good to take them with me as one must have beautiful fabric to stroke and admire at all times! The photo above does not depict the way the blocks will look once sewn into the quilt as they will be sashed and set on point--not horizontal as shown.  

If you haven't joined the Steam Punk Quilt Along, then you must!  We have lots of tips, advice and general help and encouragement within the group and all are welcome!  Even if you just want to peek in and see what we are up to.  Just watch out, you might catch the Steam Punk fever as well!

If you tweet or are on Instagram, you can find us, or post your own progress using the hashtag: #steampunkquilt  I hope you will join along with us!
 

Steam Punk Quilt Along!

I'm trying very hard to convince you that you need to join the Steam Punk Quilt Along.  Here is the start of my quilt, now I will hold off making blocks and let all of you catch up a bit!  I'm very much looking forward to seeing each and every one of the blocks you make.  Come on, join the fun!  Check out the tips and tutorials in the Flickr group.  We are doing this for the pure fun of it!

Must Stash Bee For Melanie

Today I am trying to catch up on bee work that has been neglected of late.  Melanie chose the chubby Churndash block for her month.  I started making a couple and was struggling with my fabric choices, so I just kept making a few more.  This is the first time I've made one of these classic blocks.  I quite like the look of them all together like this...

Steam Punk Ahead--Freezer Paper Template Tutorial

 

 

After visiting Amitie last week and purchasing Jen Kingwell's Steampunk pattern I've been very motivated to start making the quilt.  It seems as if I am not the only one that has been motivated to make this gorgeous quilt!  A few of us online have decided we need a support group to keep us motivated through this somewhat difficult pattern.  Amy and I have decided to start a no pressure/no time limit Flickr support group which you can find here.  We will be posting tips and tricks on how to make the quilt and providing encouragement to help us get through the making of this quilt.  It's a Quilt Along at your pace.  Please come and join us!

I also wanted to add in case you haven't worked with freezer paper previously that you can use the same paper templates over and over...  The same templates should last for the entire project.

I am by no means an expert, but I thought I would share with you this mini tutorial in pictures the method with which I am using to cut my fabrics out in case you might not have worked with freezer paper in the past.  This is just my method, I am sure there are plenty of other ways to go about it, but I thought I would share with you!

Visit to Amitie in Melbourne

I am planning to post about my trip with my dad to the Great Ocean Road this week as soon as I am not on the brink of using up my download limit for the month.  We had a great trip and saw quite a bit in just a short period of time.  Lots of driving for me though, plus dropping my dad off at the airport in Canberra has made me very tired!  Now I am just trying to catch up with all my customer quilts and then will try to catch up on bees next! 

This photo is of what I acquired from my visit to Amitie in Melbourne.  Wow! Can I just tell you how inspiring this shop is?  It was probably the most inspiring shop I have ever visited.  The projects, the fabrics as well as the people!  I was lost amongst the fabrics as soon as I entered the shop.  It felt like I had been there 10 minutes, but in fact my dad mentioned that I was in there for over an hour.  Ooops.  What I liked best about the shop is that there are plenty of fabrics to be found that one does not find easily on the internet.  Many of the fabrics are Japanese, but there is also a substantial supply of Liberties, linens and eclectic styles of fabrics.  Right at the entrance, the Steampunk quilt by Jen Kingwell was displayed in all its stunning glory!  It is quite something to behold in real life and I could not resist buying the pattern for it.  It is now high on my must do list!!! 

If you ever get a chance to visit a quilt shop in Melbourne, I really recommend a visit to Amitie!

Down Under Quilts!

Eeeep!  I was very excited when Down Under Quilts contacted me not too long ago asking me to share my Spider Web Quilt as a project in their magazine.  Today I found a copy of the magazine with my project in it in my mailbox.  Actually, this project was a collaboration of many people's work as it was made from two online bees. 

It's ironic that when I first started quilting about 8 years ago, the first magazine I ever purchased was a copy Down Under Quilts from a Barnes & Noble store in Michigan.  I'm kind of particular about my quilting magazines, but Down Under Quilts is one of two magazines that I purchase on a regular basis.  I'm thrilled to be a part of it!

How My Plus and X Quilt is Progressing

You may or may not have seen this picture that I have posted previously.  By now this photo has been around Flickr, Pinterest, etc.  What may not be apparent though is that this is only a photo of blocks I have made that I scanned into my computer to make this mosaic.  I'm still playing with the design and have all along planned to make this quilt much larger than the 9 x 9 layout shown here.  My goal with this quilt was to make each block special and personal with a theme of its own.  The theme may be a color combination, a play on words, a person that I know, an event or anything really.  My objective was that I wanted to create a quilt that was extremely scrappy with each block telling its own story.  

When it came time for my month in the Must Stash Bee this past January, I asked the girls if they would send me Plus and X blocks and tell me a story with each of their blocks. Here are a few of my favorites that the girls made for me:

Actually, they are all favorites! Here is a mosaic of the bee blocks all together, plus a few more that I made to fill in the spaces:

I will keep posting progress, I promise!

Forest Quilt Along - Block #3

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last blog post!  I know my dad was super pleased with all the nice comments--I guess I don't tell him often enough how great a dad he actually is!  We are all going to miss him when he goes back home!!!

I've finally finished block number three for the Forest Quilt Along hosted by Julianna and Joanna.  This block was designed by guest designer Caroline.  I love this design!  I have long wanted to do a stand of trees like this (possibly not with a paper piecing method though) and to use this texty newspaper print for the trees.  When I first saw this block, I knew right away that I wanted to use that fabric!  I have to admit though, I'm slightly disappointed with the way this block has turned out.  I was trying to imitate the colors of Aspen trees in the fall with hints of blue sky in the background, however I feel like my color choices came out looking a bit flat.  It's not the way I had envisioned it.  Oh well, live and learn.