Quilt Blocks for do. Good Stitches

I was a little behind on my blocks for do. Good Stitches but thankfully everyone was understanding.

These blocks are going to Lindsay (more info here) for September:

And these are on their way to Kat (more info here) for October:

Now I just have to make my November blocks and I will be all caught up!

Happy Quilting

Postage Stamp Quilt

Awhile back I fell in love with this little number by my friend from afar, Heather:

That lady has a way with blues, greens, and browns that makes me melt. I can't tell you how many projects of hers I've added to my favorites, but this quilt in particular spoke to me. I thought the color palate would be perfect for our family room and a much needed step away from the girly quilts I tend to make.

I comment on Heather's blog and flickr photos a lot and we've chatted many times about good books we've read. I decided that we were on friendly enough terms for me to contact her to see if she would be willing to swap with me, some pre-cut patchwork squares in above palate for some money. Instead, she suggested I make her a couple of circle of geese blocks. I was oh so happy to make that trade!

This block was a challenge for me since I'd only tried it once before under the expert tutelage of 'Grandma', my quilty friend Sabrina's grandmother. I ended up piecing one of my blocks on the wrong side but I got the fundamentals.

Heather asked for blue geese on a neutral background. I decided to go with aqua and turquoise blues on Kona Medium Gray:

She approved so I went for it! Once I made the first corner, the rest were pretty easy. I did go ahead and make templates, cut, and number my pieces. I wasn't too careful about it and gave myself extra room but it was still very helpful to have the right shapes for each piece and to have everything cut out ahead of time. Since the first corner I made on the first block was a little off, I ended up making her 3 instead:

You can see my numbers on some of the blocks but I washed them before I sent them off. Which was a mistake. Big. So big, in fact, that I decided to send her a bonus item since I didn't have time to make more blocks:

Yep. She got that pretty little quilted book cover. I had to. It matched. Sorry Hollie!

You can see Heather's pictures of what I sent her on her blog. They are better than my pictures. Make sure to check back with her so you can see what she ends up making with the blocks I sent!

In exchange for my blocks and the bonus book cover, Heather sent me a bag full of wonderful little 2.5" squares for me to combine with fabrics from my stash and make my own Postage Stamp quilt. Of course, being me, I immediately sorted all of the squares by print and color:

And then by tone:

Now they live in this bag while I cut fabrics from my stash:

Which I am slowly but surely doing whenever I can steal some time away from all the other things I am catching up on.

Believe it or not, I've almost gotten through that entire stack!

Happy Quilting

ps - I think it's time to lint roll my design wall. See all those strings?

Quilt for Jade

Our next quilt with Journey4Acure was designed by Amie for Jade. Amie has a daughter right around the same age as Jade so she was able to help Amie pick out a block and color scheme. We used this tutorial to make orange and pink Rolling Stone blocks:

I am really looking forward to seeing this as a finished quilt but for now I'll have to wait since it's my fault Amie didn't get her blocks on time. I'm slowly but surely catching up...

For some reason I'm having trouble uploading pictures on blogger. Anyone else?

Happy Quilting

Quilt for Aiden

The NOVA Modern Quilt Guild has started a new charity project in our area with Journey4Acure. Their organization is devoted to raising funds to advance research efforts and development of a cure for pediatric cancer, while creating broader awareness about the realities of pediatric cancer and providing support networks & valuable resources for families facing their own journeys. I took that straight from their website because I couldn't have said it better.

Our guild is teaming up with their organization to make a special quilt for a boy or girl each month. We're doing this almost exactly like my do.Good Stitches charity bee except in addition to committed quilters and stitchers, we also open up the quilt to anyone in the guild who can't commit full time but wants to participate in that month's quilt.

For our first quilt in September, going to baby Aiden, Kari asked us to make blue and green wonky cross blocks using the directions by Elizabeth Hartman for SewMama Sew.

The tutorial calls for 4 blocks sewn together but Kari also had us make an extra couple of blocks so she could mix them in with blocks made by the other ladies. I'm pretty fond of my blocks:

To finish off the blocks, Kari added some white sashing and some fancy piecing for the back.

The icing on the cake is the beautiful label Kristy designed and Amie customized for the back of the quilt.

This beautiful quilt will be off to cheer up its owner later this month.

Happy Quilting

Quilting Bucket List

The lovely peeps at Gen Q have revealed their quilting bucket lists today and I was inspired to put some of my own goals in writing too. In no particular order, the following are goals I would like to accomplish in my lifetime...

1) Attend a week long quilting retreat. So far I've only been on weekend retreats and it seems like a significant portion of my time is wasted while I'm setting up or breaking down my stuff. It wouldn't have to be fancy or formal, though a cruise would be super sweet.

2) Make a queen sized 1" English paper pieced hexagon quilt. This is actually in progress now but I am well aware it may take me several years to finish.

Tutorial on my method coming soonish

3) Buy a fancy sewing machine. Right now I sew with a 15 year old Bernina 1260 and it works very well considering. However, it doesn't have any fancy features, is heavy, and is pretty loud compared to the newer models. I have been eying the Bernina Aurora 440QEs but it's out of my budget at the moment.

4) Teach a class. I have demonstrated my English paper piecing method at a quilt show, retreat, and at my house for my modern quilt guild members, but I consider those less formal. I would really like to teach a class at a quilt shop or quilt show where people pay to take it and I teach them something that's worth their money.

5) Make some quilts to hang on my own walls. I have made 3 wall quilts for other people during flickr swaps but I haven't made anything like that for my own home. I would really like to make some wall quilts to match this one given to me in the For the Love of Solids flickr swap:

6) Design a fabric line. Even if my fabric is only ever on Spoonflower, I want to go through the process of designing the patterns, infusing a color palate, printing the fabric, and using it in a project.

7) Be published in an in-print magazine or book. This may not actually be as elusive as I think it is, but it seems like you have to be pretty fancy to be published in print. Editors must be looking for projects that are editorial and unique, in just the right colors, well photographed, and with well done instructions. I don't think I'm there yet. 

8) Make clothes for my own children. I've made a few pillowcase dresses and other little things for my nieces and appliqued a few things for my nephews but I think it would be wonderful to do these things for my own babies. For now, we're praying for God's blessings.

9) Sell a quilt to a stranger. So far, I have sold quilts to friends and family members to give to others as gifts. I would really love to sell my quilts online or at a craft show and have the satisfaction that complete strangers value my work.

10) Go to the Spring or Fall quilt market. What an adventure that would be! I would love to see new lines before they come out (and buy them), browse booths, go to Lizzy's cake party, meet my favorite designers, and see the industry from a different perspective.


I can already say that I've led a workshop in my guild, demonstrated at a quilt show, white gloved a quilt show, sold tickets for a guild raffle quilt, been to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton Virginia, founded and grown a quilt guild, made a quilt to be auctioned off for charity (actually 3), made preemie quilts, been to a quilt retreat, made a king sized quilt and many other smaller quilts, was featured on an e-zine, did some tutorials, sold some quilts to family/friends, made myself something to wear, started a blog, and so on. In just 3 years of quilting I feel I have accomplished a lot and I'm ready for more.

So what's on your bucket list?

Happy Quilting