December BOM

I have been a bad blogger. This is always the busiest time of year for me, and there are so many things I have let slip the past month. I did, however, manage to get the December BOM done. This is the 20th and final block, so now I can sew all my blocks together with the sashing and red cornerstones and have a completed quilt top.

The December block is from Quilterscache and is called Red Cross 2. I used a light background with my Civil War reproduction fabrics, and this is what I ended up with:





The fabric in the background is what I picked to use as sashing. All of my blocks are done in reds and navy blues, and the sashing fabric is a lighter blue with a navy print. I'll be using the same red as the block centers for the sashing cornerstones. I am going to lay out my blocks as soon as I finish this post and get some sashing strips cut so I can get this one finished! I'll post a picture of the top as soon as I get it all together.

Carolyn

November Block of the Month

I got a BOM made for November--just one more to go to meet my goal of 20 blocks! I already have the sashing fabric picked, so I'm almost ready to start putting them together. I liked the block from Quilter's Cache called Home Circle because it had a technique that none of the other BOM's have used yet. The instructions show it made in one main color plus a background color; I used three colors plus a background color. I used the same red I've been using for the center, a red and navy print for the 4-1/2" circles, and navy print for the squares that make the ring around the center square.

To make the block using more colors, I cut twelve of the 2-1/2" background squares, and eight of the 2-1/2" navy squares. I cut the 4-1/2" squares from the navy and red print. I sewed one of the background squares to the corner of the 4-1/2" squares

and then sewed a navy square to the opposite corner. You sew on the diagonal line you drew on each square.

Trim off the excess fabric between the sewn line and the corner.

and press the remaining triangle to the outside. It should look like this:

Now, add background squares to the other two corners.

Trim the excess fabric and press the triangles out and you have something like this:

Here's a picture of the completed block:

On page two of the instructions, there is a link to a quilt that is made from different bright colors with a light background that would make a cute scrap quilt. On page one, it tells you how many blocks will make a Project Linus quilt which would be really cute.

Happy sewing,

Carolyn

Sometimes Things Just Don't Work Out.......

....the way you planned. I got the latest issue of Quiltmaker a few weeks ago and was a little too anxious to get my Christmas Lights mystery quilt finished.

So what's wrong with this picture? I managed to sew an entire row with the blocks going the wrong direction! That's what I get for being in such a big hurry. Now I have to unsew and fix the whole bottom corner.

On a better note, look what I found when I was cleaning up in my sewing room:

A charm pack with a matching jelly roll. I already know what I'll do with it; something simple enough that I won't mess up!

Happy sewing,

Carolyn

International Quilt Festival

I finally got around to looking at all the pictures I took at the International Quilt Festival in Houston and thought I'd share them here. Keep in mind that I didn't photograph all the quilts that were displayed; just the ones that I liked the best, or ones that I have the pattern for and thought of making. It's always nice to see someone else's interpretation of a familiar pattern.



Close-up shots of the quilt above:

A Dear Jane quilt, which I have no desire to make, but I like seeing ones that others have made:

It seems that I am partial to the medalion-style quilts as that is mostly what I took pictures of; odd that I've never made a medalion quilt......I knew that I was partial to the appliqued borders on pieced quilt, and frequently use that technique.

Here's a view from the second floor of the vendor section. There were literally hundreds of different vendors and lots of nice things for sale.

Here's a picture of me with one of my internet quilting friends, Eileen from New York, whom I got to meet at the Festival on Friday. (I'm the one in yellow.)

I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures, but they really don't do justice to all the beautiful quilts. If you ever have a chance to attend and are a quilter, I highly recommend the trip.

Carolyn