Mark Another Challenge off the List!

Elizabeth in one my Flickr groups had the choice for our January block.  Here is the description she gave:

My block is going to be a challenge! I hope you are all up for it!

 I'm not even sure what it would be called...its curvy and challenging. I'm going to say its just a type of piecing haha Really the difficulty level depends on the design you create...I can tell you mine was very challenging so if you are not very experienced in this type of piecing then do not do small pieces or big curves.

 I was inspired by the water and how much I miss it right now!
So I am asking you all to draw a 15x18in block that is inspired by waves, you can look at my block that I've posted to the group, and then create the block using my fabrics (you can add fabrics from your stash but please keep to my colorway.)

Deep breath. Sounds hard and I am a beginner.  Ok, I can do this.  Mind you the package sat on my sewing table for over 2 weeks, staring at me every time I came into the room but I just wasn't up for it.  I was scared. Last week I had to dig in as I am prompt with my bee blocks and didn't want to be late.  The time had come.

Her directions were fabulous and anticipated lots of questions so they were already answered.

First we just had to draw some waves, sounds easy enough.
Then cut each piece of paper with a 1/4" seam to each fabric.

She gave us an order to sew them in and also advised we mark each piece. 

It turned out ok, except for when I joined the top half and bottom half of the block, but I think that is ok. There is a bit of a ruffle where it does not lay flat, but she said that sometimes they don't lay flat.

Imagine a whole quilt of these blocks, it's going to be beautiful!

Garden Fence Blocks

Just finished up some Garden Fence Blocks using this tutorial and they really are so easy! This has me thinking that I may just add a whole quilt of this block to my list.  These two blocks are for Alisha in a Fall Bee and she requested pink and green.  She only asked for one, but they were so quick and easy to do that I whipped up two for her!

Tumbler Swap

The idea of quilts using the tumbler shape have always interested me, so I couldn't say no to a Tumbler Party. We are sending in 12 Fat Quarters in gray, yellow and turquoise and will receive 96 jumbo tumblers back.  Yippee! I recently finished cutting my fat quarters and am patiently awaiting the return package. It will be a little bit of a wait though since they aren't scheduled back until the end of January. I'll keep you posted, but here is a sneak peak!

2012 is here

We are already a week into the New Year - Yeah!
I have been a bit busy working on some projects.
One - I am already getting blocks back from my Modern 99 Bee Members and they are so pretty!
Two - I started and completed a couple of blocks for a Mod Mosaic Bee I am in this year.  I decided on pink and here they are!

Three - I have decided NOT to make the Summer Splendor quilt as I am not feeling the love I once was for it.  The upside to this decision is that I have a WHOLE bunch of Kona solids and that makes me happy!

Four - I have been surfing blogs, Flickr and all over the web for inspiration for yet another group I joined (I just can't stop myself, it's just so addictive) called "For the Love of Solids".  You make two projects, but the big one must be made out of ALL solids so I think I am well prepared, but we'll just see. I have not received my parter match yet so that could all change.

That is a glimpse of this week. Stay tuned for more activites next week!

Last Day of 2011

Today is the last day of 2011 and what a fast 365 days it has been. I am enjoying the blog to share my projects and am thankful for my few readers. Best Wishes to you and your families for a wonderful New Year! 2012 here we come!

It's Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a Merry Merry Christmas!

From Bread Boy and Ro-Ro.

Almost My Turn

It is almost my turn. I am like a kid in a candy store who just can't wait! January is my month in my Modern 99 Bee.  There are 12 of us gals who are using the book Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers. We are to select a block from this book, send out fabric and instructions to our fellow bee members and "wha-laa" - we get blocks back!

I have learned from experience to always do a test block before sending out.  Earlier this year I had to do an orange peel block and that was hard, frustrating, irritating and just a bad project for me.  I am not sure the hostess had tested it first. Anyway, I digress. So....last weekend I worked on my test block.

Lately I am intrigued by the yellow and gray combinations that I see popping up, but I am not sure that I love them, just am not sure.  So...I like them enough to do one quilt, but with a bit of a pop, and my pop is purple! The purple I am using is Kona Mulberry and it is vivid, most of the reason I selected it.

The block I selected is called "Mondarin" and using all stash fabrics (except for the magenta purple I have on order) I was able to get all the fabrics ready for my 11 bee mates!

Here are some progress shots and my finished block.  I would like to incorporate the purple into the sashing somehow but I have a month or so to think about it.  Perhaps when I have all the blocks I can get a better visual and make a good choice.

The Dreaded Dresden

A Dresden plate block, here we go.  One of my bee hive members requested this block this month and having never done one I wasn't sure about it.  Well, it's awesome!  Yes it takes a bit of time but the result is wonderful (and it was a bonus that she was using the Sugar Pop line from Liz Scott, that I adore).  I did it step by step with the tutorial and it is safely packaged and headed back to Australia by now. I'm not afraid of a Dresden plate block anymore and I look forward to more!

Finally Finished!

This is the first quilt I made after my initial quilt class.  I had it done last year, except for the binding, which I cut too short so I just stared at it in the sewing room while I did other things.  Well, it was an easy fix to mark off the list so one day I got tired of looking at it and just finished it, not to mention it is a Christmas quilt and well, it IS the season!
I used this tutorial from Moda Bake Shop by Karrie Lynne using a couple of jelly rolls.  Tell me what you think!

Love that Mug Rug

So last week we had our December meeting of the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild (FWMGQ) and we had a mug rug swap!  I was a bit apprehensive because mug rugs mean binding and that isn't my strong suit but it wasn't that bad. I found a tutorial that made it a bit easier for me - whew! I decided to make this a dual purpose mug rug, one side that would be Christmas-y (I know that isn't a word, but you know what I mean - right?)

And then for the other side I decided to do something, well modern and fresh and not Christmas-y at all. Now I am sorry for the photo on this one.  The chairs were upside down when I took the photo so I had to rotate it for display and it looks a little funky. 

My number was the first one drawn when we started so I had my hands on quite a few of them, fell in and out of love with a good many of them, but am super excited with the one I ended up with.  It was made by the talented (and recently published) Melanie of Texas Freckles. Isn't that hand quilting just adorable? Thank you Melanie!