March guild meeting

It has already been more than a week since the March meeting of my local quilt guild. But I made some blocks for the block lotto held that evening that I've been meaning to share.

Block lotto is an optional activity for guild members. We are each given a piece of fabric and a theme and we make blocks (supplementing the given fabric with our own). All of the blocks are collected and then grouped into sets. For every block one makes, one receives a ticket. Over the course of the meeting, there are drawings and winners receive a set of blocks.

This month, the themes were '30s and pinwheels and 8.5" blocks. I actually managed to make three!


Pinwheel blocks are so fun to make, I couldn't help myself.

Alas, I was not a winner this month. But there's always next time!

Guild night

Last Thursday evening was the November meeting of my quilt guild. I thought I'd show you the block I made for this month's block lotto:


The fabric we were given was the purple/gold batik and the theme for the month was stars. I found this block on the McCall's Quilting site. They have a ton of free block instructions offered there. This one is called, "54-40 or Fight." Curious, I actually looked up the phrase and learned that the block name comes from a slogan popularized during a boundary dispute between the United States and the British Empire over control of the Oregon territory, located west of the Continental Divide, north of the 42nd parallel north, and south of the parallel 54°40' north. The Wikipedia article, "Oregon boundary dispute," suggests that the block was originated by women of the time who used quilts to express political views.

History is so fascinating!

Anyway, I didn't win any blocks this time, but it was fun seeing all of the different blocks people created.

July guild meeting

Thursday evening was the July meeting for my quilt guild. Not only did I turn in the completed quilt for Camp Korey, but I also managed to finish a few blocks.


This block is for the block exchange (read more about how the exchange works here). It was kind of a no brainer... not only was all the fabric provided, but the pieces were actually all cut out and ready to sew!


I also finished and turned in two blocks for this month's block lotto. The theme fabric was the patriotic print with red, white, blue, and gold. I saw it and just thought "stars." I'm really happy with how they came out. Hopefully the lucky winner will enjoy them as well! (Unfortunately, I was not the lucky winner.)

The guild meeting was a lot of fun this month. An amazing quilter, Judy Irish, spoke to us about her work, mostly machine quilting but also design. She brought an amazing array of quilts to share with us. It was a really inspiring event. And it also makes me want to do some more machine quilting. Now if I could only finish a project so I can do that!

April guild projects (and a little bit of nostalgia)

Tonight I finished up my guild projects for tomorrow's meeting. Yay!

This month's block lotto had a theme of "spring." The yellow paisley Hoffman floral was provided.


Creating a block just did not go well for me. I started out with a hairbrained idea to do a little mini Lone Star block. I swear, every time I made a measurement, took a cut, or even did a stitch, I messed it up! After more than seven hours of work, this is the best I could do. Doesn't look very Lone Star-ish, does it? But at least I got something done. And I do kind of like the center of it. It is a Jane Stickle design (block E-1).

One bright note with this block: I used silk thread for applique for the first time! Whoa. It's pretty amazing how well it just sinks into the fabric. The stitches really are nearly invisible (especially impressive since I didn't even use matching thread... it was an off-white). At the same time though, it's a little scary because silk thread is super-duper fine. I really wonder how well it will hold up over time. Does anyone have any experience with silk thread? How durable is it?

After the boy went to bed, I also was able to whip out some pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer.


ConKerr Cancer is one of the charitable organizations that my guild supports. It is a great charity that distributes bright, cheery pillowcases to sick children in hospitals throughout North America.

Last month I picked up three kits to bring home and complete (the ones on the left). I also managed to do three more from my own stash (the ones on the right). The Bugs Bunny print and the gold stars on red are left over from my second quilt:


I made the quilt for my friend Brad-- he was a basketball fanatic. We lost track of each other after his graduation. I often wonder whatever happened to him. (And his quilt!) Anyway, I'm not sure how I ended up with an extra two yards of the Bugs Bunny fabric, but it's been languishing in my closet since 1996. It's nice to finally have a chance to put it to good use.

Guild night!

A new month, another guild meeting! Tonight I'll be bringing along my latest block exchange contribution, a couple of blocks to enter into this month's block lotto, and a quilt for show and tell.

For this month's block lotto, we were given an 8"x10" piece of a cute snowman print flannel. I don't feel like I was especially creative this time around, but I think my blocks are pretty:


I made the one above using amandajean's instructions from Week 5 of her Star Quilt Along.


This block is a traditional one called "Corn & Beans." I found it in the book Quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift by Joanne Larsen Line and Nancy Loving Tubesing. What I love about the book is that it takes traditional blocks and puts them together with very modern aesthetic—bright colors, exciting prints, batiks, and more. For every quilt in the book, multiple size options are offered, along with detailed, illustrated instructions (including suggested backing layouts—very handy). The more I look at this book, the more I want to make every quilt in it! And, if you haven't seen the picture book, The Quiltmaker's Gift, you should check it out too. The illustrations are just gorgeous.

I think I must somehow have some good quilting karma built up, because after winning in June's block lotto, I won again in September:


How lovely are these? Mmmm... they all just scream out "Fall!" to me. I'm thinking that I might make them into placemats and/or a tablerunner. I think they would be just perfect for Thanksgiving dinner. I love how even though they are all different, they have the unifying theme that really ties them together.

Last, but not least, here is the latest block for the block exchange:


This month I got to pick my own fabrics to use. The only only request was that we choose muted colors. I gave myself fits with the house fabric I chose... I just felt this need to make sure all the stripes matched. I'm a glutton for punishment sometimes. Also, as it was suggested that we could do some embellishment, it seemed only appropriate to decorate the house with a little Halloween spirit. It was October after all. I fussy cut and then appliqued the pumpkins and attempted a little stitchery in the form of the spider. Hopefully she'll like it!

Plugging along

I think I must suffer from some kind of quilter's ADD. I have so many projects going it is just crazy. I really need to finish something soon, or I may very well go bonkers. I suspect this means starting a new "instant gratification" project. It is a vicious cycle.

Anyway—some new things:

For September's block lotto, my quilt guild has chosen the theme, "Think fall leaves!" I do love fall. And leaves. My husband and I were married in the autumn. So it is a special time as well. Of course I needed to participate.


This block is from the October 2007 issue of McCall's Quilting, from the pattern Ginger & Tea Leaves. I had to add some sashing to get it to measure 12.5". But I think it works pretty well.


This is sort of my own design. I took leaf templates from the October 2004 issue of McCall's Quilting (from the pattern Autumn Luster), but I used them in a completely different way. I've been on a hand applique kick lately, and I really enjoyed putting this one together. All of the leaves are batiks.

I don't think I ever mentioned it, but I was actually a winner in my guild's last block lotto back in June. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to set them, but here are the blocks:


Aren't they wonderful? Some of these are so intricate! The little angel in the center block is wool applique. I even won back one of the ones I made (the one in the bottom right). They are going to make a great quilt. I just have to figure out how I want to do it... I'm definitely thinking sashing will be in order. But that's about as far as I've gotten.

A new guild activity that is beginning with this month's meeting is a block exchange. Participants select a block and then are grouped with a list of other quilters. Each month I'll be making someone else's block while someone in the group makes mine. By the end of a year, we'll all have 12 blocks. We're to include a sample block and detailed instructions in our "block box" along with contact info (in case there are questions). We can also choose to include as much or as little fabric as we want. I've never done anything like this before, and thought it sounded like a lot of fun. Let me tell you, though, it was really difficult choosing a block! This is what I came up with:



And this Katie Jump Rope design is my inspiration fabric. I'm including that and the white background in my box. I'm really excited to see what people choose to do—the colors, whether or not they use the inspiration fabric, how they interpret the block design. It should be a lot of fun.

Block Lotto!

Last month, I attended my first quilt guild meeting ever. It’s a new guild in the area that started-up earlier this year. There were a lot of great people there and I had a fun time and so I went ahead and joined up!

One of the guild activities is a block lotto. A theme is chosen. Members can pick up a fat-eighth of theme fabric and then use it along with their own coordinating fabrics to create a 12” block (or as many blocks as they’re inclined to do). At the next meeting, participants turn in their blocks. The blocks are put together into sets (of nine, I think). Then names are drawn and winners get to take home a set and make a quilt! For every block you turn in, your name goes in the bucket (so to speak). So the more blocks you make, the better your chances of winning.

I decided to give it a shot because it sounded like fun and it's not something I've ever done before. I took my fat-eighth and created these two blocks with fabrics from my stash. (Yay for stash usage!)


The theme is “Independence!”


The theme fabric is the blue star print.

The meeting is next week. Wish me luck!