Split Rectangle Nine Patch #41

This is similar to a nine patch, but split with rectangles in four of the blocks. You must use two different fabrics in the split patches and they two fabrics should have a lot of contrast.

Rotary cutting directions for the Split Rectangle Nine Patch are posted.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Rectangle Nine Patch #40

This block could be interesting with as little as four fabrics and as many as eight fabrics.

Rotary cutting directions for Rectangle Nine Patch #40 are posted.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Rectangle Top #39

The next block is similar to last week’s block, but with rectangles.

It looks good with five fabrics and I encourage you to select your own fabrics. I would love to see this in some of the new modern fabrics.

Rotary cutting directions for Rectangle Top #39 are posted.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Square Top #38

Yes, squares on top. You can cut squares, I guarantee it. And, of course, more rectangles. I think rectangles are definitely underrated in Quiltlandia.

This blocks calls for 5 fabrics, but you could put the same fabric on the two outer bottom rectangles.

Rotary Cutting Directions for Square Top #38

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

What will you make today?

Thanks for your Service

2011 Officers with Gift Bags

The 2011 Officers did a great job. I kind of nudged people to get some gifts together. People really ran with the idea, which was great.

Kathleen's Gift Bag

Sara's Gift Bag

A few people made bags and everyone else added little bibs and bobs to create nice gift bags. It was nice not to make all the bags and I enjoyed seeing the different patterns and fabrics that the bag makers used.

I made the purple bag which ended up with Kathleen. The bits and pieces were nice to look at. Rhonda had put together the parts that we solicited from other members.

Some of the things in the bags were pins, fat quarters, needle cases, the Joen Wolfrom Design ratio tool, disappearing pen, grip dots, scarves, machine sewing needles, Invisigrip and many other fun things.

Ruth and Adrianne were really busy and I wasn’t able to get photos of their gift bags. Check the BAMQG blog and perhaps I will be able to post some photos there.

A-B-C Challenge

We have five participants who brought blocks for the A-B-C Challenge this time. Angela was too busy to make her Hawaiian versions, but I am sure she will bring some next time. 

Some people brought both G and H, others brought G, some of us brought all of our blocks. Kathleen and I have done a number of the same blocks and it is fun to see how different they look in the different sizes and fabrics.

January A-B-C Challenge Blocks

Glacier Bay

This is my G block for the A-B-C Challenge. It is called Glacier Bay and is from Around the Block Again by Judy Hopkins (pg.68). It is also a 6″ block and I cut nearly every piece a little bigger and then trimmed. It still came out a bit wonky, but I like the general effect. I think it would make a really cool secondary pattern if I put many of them together.

I don’t remember ever seeing this block before. Lynette has the 501 Rotary Cutting Blocks version of Around the Block, which I thought had ALL the blocks from the three books, but Glacier Bay was not in it.

Hovering Hawks

I am really like this challenge as it allows me to make one block rather than a whole something every month. Kathleen wants to speed the challenge up a bit, so we will be doing two letters each month for the rest of the year. Next month are I and J.

I am resolved to make the blocks sharpish rather than waiting. I have even thought of making the rest of the alphabet all at once and being done with it. I have a sashing idea that I got from Pam. I am thinking about starting adding the sashing as I go along so that I won’t have to do all the cutting at once. We’ll see.

Question of the Month

Rhonda creates the QotM and this month it was: “What are your quilt resolutions?” Most were normal resolutions about finishing and curbing buying, but some were really interesting. I wrote them out as people said. These aren’t my resolutions, necessarily.

• use more than I buy
• finish one project before starting another
• buy less fabric
• use scraps to make scrap quilts
• finish virtual swaps and bees projects
• teach
• quilt one per month on the longarm
• take sewing machine to be serviced
• end year with 5 fewer UFOs than the year started with
• improvise
• organize so sewing does not take over house
• make something from solids
• stop fearing binding
• make one charity quilt
• bring something to show and tell
• spend more time with real people than with sewing machine
• trust the experience I am feeling
• don’t buy fabric I don’t like
• make husband a quilt
• documenting quilts (labels and such)
• be liberated and wonky
• use orange and yellow
• start a quilt/craft blog
• make mom a quilt
• try curved piecing
• re-sort/organize fabric
• finish husband’s quilt
• plan less and do more

Charity Quilts

Art Gallery Fabrics offers a bag of scraps free for people who will be using the scraps to make charity/donation quilts. Contact Pat Bravo for details. I don’t have her email address, but Art Gallery has a page on FB so, perhaps, you can inquire there.

Deborah made a version of Elizabeth Hartman’s Mod Mosaic quilt with scraps (quite large scraps, actually) from Pat Bravo. What a nice idea.

Postage stamp-type block

Two quilts were finished. A very large number of the postage stamp kits from the December meeting were turned into blocks and returned. I only took one kit last time, but took several during this meeting.

Schnibbles for Cat Beds

Sadly, Amanda has too many scraps and will hold off taking any more until she has made more cat beds. She said that her garage is being overrun. She really needs help making the actual cat beds.

Angela and I were able to spend a few minutes chatting. I spent a lot of the sewing time chatting and looking at what other people were doing. I couldn’t be bothered putting up a table to work on my own projects, an action I will regret later.

Big Stack & Square Line #37

Happy New Year! I hope one of your resolutions was to participate int he Block-a-Long!

This is the first block of the New Year! Another simple block with rectangles. Yes, I am definitely continuing my rectangle love.

It looks good with four fabrics and I encourage you to select your own fabrics and not try and match mine.

Rotary cutting directions for Big Stack & Square Line #37 are posted.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Stacks & Line #36

I find it fascinating how many blocks can be designed using squares and rectangles. This is another block that uses squares and rectangles and five great fabrics.

The Stacks & Line #36 rotary cutting directions are straightforward.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Floorplan #35

I couldn’t think of a good name for this, but Floorplan came to mind and it kind of fits. This has more pieces, but is still pretty straightforward and I am providing the Floorplan rotary cutting directions.

This block would look good with five fabrics, but you could also use four.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Sashed Square #34

I think that this would be a great corner block. I think it would frame or point to other blocks very well.

This block would be great with three fabrics. I have the Sashed Squares rotary cutting directions.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Flock of Geese

This is my ‘F’ block for the A-B-C challenge. There were a number of blocks with names beginning with F that were appealing, so it was hard to choose. I might do another one.

I really like that blue. It comes out a little darker on my screen than in real life, but is a very calming color.

Kathleen did the same block, but in black and white. It it always fun for me to see the same blocks done in different colors and sizes. As I have said many, many times, that is one of my joys in making blocks.

Electric Fan

I saw Kathleen’s Electric Fan at the last meeting. Even though ‘E’ blocks were due last month, I really liked this block, so I decided to make one. It gave me the opportunity to try and figure out how to use the triangle technique for a block from Around the Block.  I didn’t make the Flower Pot that I posted, but am seriously tempted. You can just have one basket block in a sampler quilt!

I like to use fabrics at least three times in a quilt and preferably in odd numbers, if I use them more than three times. I looked at the total fabrics I had used in the previous blocks and used some I hadn’t yet used as much. I used the Empire Gold in another project so it was out, so I used that. I also had only used the yellow-green in the Basement Window block.

Heirloom Challenge

4 Log Cabin Block

These are the log cabin blocks I made for the Heirloom challenge. I added the Empire yellow solid from the Pat Bravo Art Gallery line. I think it goes well with these fabrics. I think the one flower fabric with the pink and burgundy reminds me of the Flea Market Fancy line.

I meant not to do this challenge as I don’t like making log cabin blocks. They are a bit too…fiddly for me. I am not sure if fiddly is the right term, but not a lot of bang for my buck, I guess. Still, I signed up so I stepped up. I tried using the technique that TFQ uses, which is to cut the strips the width they need to be rather than cutting a longer strip and trimming later. That worked ok.

Heirloom Challenge Blocks

Zoom in to see the variety of log cabin blocks that people came up with within the log cabin format. Amazing!

Heirloom block detail

Heirloom Doorway

There were a few blocks that I particularly liked. The wave one (far left) would look great in a quilt with a variety of its fellows. I wouldn’t make it, but I would admire a quilt made with such blocks quite a lot.

The block on the bottom left has lovely graphic quality. The block ont he right looks like a doorway and I really like the fussy cutting.

December Secret Swap

Ribbon detail

This is a small detail of one of the ribbons on one of the gifts. I love the idea, but would never make it-at least to put on a package.

Secret Swappers

Above are the members who participated in the Secret Swap. I just couldn’t commit to the time to make a gift and boy am I glad I didn’t participate, because these ladies are a hard act to follow! Everyone really did their best work. I was impressed and pleased to see such care.

Kathleen's Secret Swap Pillow 2011

Kathleen received this gorgeous pillow. The thing I like about it was how full it is. No matter how many pillows I make, I feel like they aren’t very full.

Show and Tell

Show & Tell

There was a lot to tell and many quilts and projects to show. Sewing Time, despite all the other business was quite productive as well.

Elections
The “new” officers are:
President: Adrianne
VP: Kathleen
Secretary: Amanda
Treasurer: Sara

Thank you very much to Ruth, founder and 2011 Secretary, who will be leaving the board and taking over the challenge coordinator position.

Many Rectangles #33

I really like this block. This block, along with last week’s block, are two of my very favorites. I am tempted to make a whole bunch of them. I think I just like the rectangles and the turquoise.

Rotary Cutting Directions for Many Rectangles.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

If I put the two blocks together to make a quilt, it would look like the quilt below.

Block 32 & Block 33 Quilt

Red & Black

It occurred to me sometime in the distant past that making 6″ LeMoyne Star blocks using stripes was a good idea. I started out using paper piecing. I decided that I don’t much like paper piecing and stopped working on the project. Lately, since I have continued to buy stripes, I have picked the project up again. Creating the tutorial for the LeMoyne Star for my sampler class got me back in the groove as well.

This 5.5″ unfinished red and black cutie is one of the new ones, which I just pieced normally using the method I discussed in the LeMoyne Star tutorial. It is a bit smaller than the blocks I made with paper piecing, so I will add some sashing to it. It is too cute to toss out.

I have some more diamonds cut for other blocks and need to cut the backgrounds and then sew.

So much to sew and not enough time….

One Square & Rectangles #32

Here is another four patch type block, so if you want to make a kind of four patch sampler, you have a few blocks to use.

This block is very similar to Squares and Rectangles. Actually, when I saw Squares and Rectangles again, I actually thought the design was the one I am posting today. The fabric in the upper right hand corner was a stripe that made that patch look split. When I looked closer, I realized it wasn’t but COULD be. And here we are.

Again the directions for cutting are pretty easy. Here is arotary cutting worksheet for the One Squares & Rectangles block.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Flower Pot Directions

The BAMQG blog does not seem to allow uploading of PDFs, so I am posting this here for members (and those of you that want to play along) who need a pattern for the A-B-C Challenge. This is one example of a block that starts with ‘F.’ There are multitudes.

PDF Rotary Cutting Directions for the Flower Pot.

Double Split Four Patch #31

Another in the series of Double Four Patches. This block may not be original. It looks familiar, but I wasn’t able to find it in EQ7. If I find it, I will correct the name.

I have been using my color wheel a little bit to choose colors for the blocks. I am gearing up to research the color section of the Design Principles and Elements podcast that I do with Sandy over at Quilting…for the Rest of Us, so I am trying to get into the habit of using it.

Again the directions for cutting are pretty easy. Here is a rotary cutting worksheet for the Double Split Four Patch block

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.