Been busy making January Happy Blocks

Monday and Tuesday I was busy making Happy Blocks for my Stashbuilders group! This month, there are quite a few swappers signed up, so that means lots of Happy Blocks to sew, and to also receive!

So far, I've done 10 blocks for Nancy H. and 20 blocks for Barb W.!

10 Minute Block

In the yahoo group Quilted With Love that I belong to, we talked about a neat YouTube video featuring Suzanne McNeill of Design Originals and her fabulous 10 minute block!

I just had to try this, and it was indeed, just as quick and easy as she said it would be! Here's the pic of the block I made.



And while watching some of the her other related videos I found another technique I'd like to add to this block. I think it will make a darling quilt for one of my Quilts For Kids quilts. But, since this is a 16" block, I had to do some of that dreaded math stuff, to re size it to a smaller 12" block. Be watching for an update on the smaller 12" block and see what I do to it!

Cuddle Quilts

Our local Quilts for Community project featured "Cuddle Quilts" at a workshop that was held Jan. 15th. at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum here in Lincoln. Some of the members of LQG (Lincoln Quilters Guild) met to assemble quilts and demonstrate how to make the quilts to visitors. Tours were also available of the beautiful historic quilts that are on dislay in the museum.

These "Cuddle Quilts" are distributed to our local hospitals, shelters for battered women and their chidren, and the City Mission that serves meals and provides shelter for the homeless.

The quilt kit that I worked on that day, was a scaled down version of Turning Twenty. A pattern that uses 20 different but coordinated fat quarters. In the scaled down version we used 12 different fabrics. My kit contained many shades and prints of greens and pink.

We sewed while we chatted and answered questions about the community project and the quits we were working on from the museum guests.

Here's a pic of the top I got done while there, it was a fun pattern, and sewed up quikly. I brought it home with me, to sandwich, and quilt, because they ran short of backing fabric that day, and I didn't want to go clear across town to the place where we hold our guild meetings to get some.

Bonnie Hunter's visit to Lincoln, was fantastic

Most of the day was very cold, it was snowing, and the roads were very ugly. And I was praying that our LQG meeting would not be canceled! Usually, I'm not quite this excited about going, but, tonight was special. Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com was going to be there and give a lecture on Leaders and Enders. Plus, I had to see all those beautiful quilts she brought for her trunk show! And, because there were so many others that had waited forever for her to come to our neck of the woods, and was just as excited as I was, and would have done anything to get there, we still had it. She is such an inspiration to me. She loves scrap quilts probably more than I do, if that's possible! I was able to meet her personally and chatted briefly while she signed my copy of her book Leaders and Enders.


Earlier in the day, she had taught a class on her Scrappy Bargello, unfortunately the class filled fast, so I was out of luck getting in to that. I started one of her scrappy bargello quilts about two years ago, and lol, its still a UFO! I chose to make mine in greens, and have two panels done, and two more to go. I have since dug this out of the back of the closet, and am determined to finish it!

Her lecture was awesome, and her quilts, even more beautiful in real life, than what they look like in pictures. And I so need to get in the habit of using this system while I sew. I hate having to trim all those threads, and am constantly checking my clothes when I leave my sewing room, to make sure I don't have any clinging to me. I also would save so much on thread too! And yes, unfortunately my scrappy double Irish chains which I started as a leader ender project, is in fact, still a UFO! But, hopefully not for very much longer!

Brrr, It's cold!

With almost six inches of snow on the ground, and temps in the single digits, its definatly cold here!

When the snow started falling Sunday, it didn't seem to accumulate much. But, by yesterday (Mon) it was coming down thick. I sure didn't want the nine inches, called for in the forecast! I had plans to go see one of my favorite quilters Bonnie Hunter at our local quilt guild meeting! But, despite all the snow, some very brave quilters decided that the show must go on!
Her lecture on leaders and enders was awesome, and her quilts in her trunk show incredibly beautiful! I was able to chat with her for a few minutes before the meeting, while she signed my book Adventures of leaders and Enders! About a year and a half ago, I started a scrappy irish chain quilt, using her leader and ender system. I seriously need to get that back out of hiding, and get busy getting it finished.

I now have two (top and bottom) dog tooth borders sewn onto Purple Passion. And will work some more on the third ones later today.

This morning I got all my Happy centers cut, and mailed to those participating this month in the Happy Block swap in the group StashBuilders And, now I need to get busy on getting some string blocks sewn!

Since it is snowing, I've kept busy sewing!

The forecast says we could get up to 9" of white fluffy stuff! There's some on the ground now, and its coming down thickly!

This past weekend, I participated in an online sew-in with one of the yahoo groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quilted_With_Love/ I belong to. Had a lot of fun chatting, and working on some UFO's.

Sari, my friend, is getting ansy for her Purple Passion Quilt, to be completed. So, that was one of my primary goals for the weekend. I now have the center part of the quilt top done, and the first diagonally pieced inner borders sewn on. And the top part of a dog tooth border that goes next to the diagonally pieced border.

Today, I got 16 more blocks added to the Blueberry Drizzle UFO. And, pieced some more of the second dog tooth border for the bottom.

Also, this weekend, I have cut all my January Happy centers to mail out to the ladies in Stashbuilders Yahoo group, for the January Happy Block swap!

I'll be doing string blocks for two groups this month, and also Bulls Eye Blocks.

Two of the Bee's I belong to ended in Dec. Quilt Block Swappers, and Bee Crazy, so now I only have one block due each month for sewing bees. I'll miss sewing all the neat blocks each month for everyone, but, hopefully we'll still stay in contact with each other, and start another one sometime.

Purple Passion Quilt Update

Well, nothing like taking one step forward and two steps back, especially when it comes to sewing! Remeasured the center, and needed to take the 1/2 row off the width. So now, there will be three large blocks across and four large blocks down! It's such a relief though to have the center part done.
Today, I cut purple fabrics for the pieced 1st. inner border! Will post pics soon!