Getting Behind

I need to post the 4 additional blocks I have received (I love them all!), but I am running behind and have, once again, misplaced the cord to my camera. Thank you so much Kathy and Jennie J! I really do love the blocks and will give them proper accolades soon! :)

Nicole :)

Two more blocks!

Yesterday I got yet another fabulous package in the mail and I had to show it off. Last month, I went on a quilting retreat with my BFF, Janelle, and her family. I brought along fabric for my quilt blocks incase inspiration hit....it never did. I had more than enough to work on, but when I was showing Janelle the fabrics for this month she asked if she could make my blocks for me. Knowing I have a lot on my plate with the holidays approaching readily agreed. I am so glad! She did some really fantastic blocks!


This swap has been so much fun! I bought this fabric wanting to make a quilt, knowing it would have to wait.....so, this has been all of the fun, none of the work. I almost feel guilty! Every time I lay the quilt blocks out together I get a bit more excited. Now to settle on a layout, borders, sashing, backing. Decisions!

fall colors

I totally thought "fall" the moment I saw the fabric for November's Tethered Threads Bee from Nicole. Orange, brown, yellow, green and it's November?! This is totally going to be a fall quilt.

My biggest effort went into making this fall colored tree. By far, this was my most challenging piecing yet. All those little squares were tricky to work with, but I learned a few new techniques.

On the second block I lost a bit of steam. So, for that one I went with a color frame with a cute little owl in the center. Quick and simple, but I was happy with how it turned out.

Can't wait to see how these all come together!

Six new blocks!!

Happy Black Friday! I tend to avoid shopping in huge crowds, but I still think I made out like a bandit. We stayed at my mom's house on Wednesday, so I was excited when I returned home late last night and found these blocks from Jessica in my mail box:

  I love the little appliqued apple and pear!!

Then today I got two more packages! First these blocks from Megan:

 And these from Marty:

Gorgeous!!! Then, of course, I had to see them all together.

 I am so excited to see all 24 together! I am lucky to be part of such a great group of quilters.

apples and owls

i loved this fabric when it first came out thinking it was perfect for a fall quilt. imagine how excited i was when i opened my package and saw the owls and apples looking back at me. if given the option to do what i do (which nicole gave us) i like to piece improvisationally. it seems to suit my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants style of sewing.

the first block i did was the improv block on the right. i fussy cut the 'a' and the apple and then did whatever seemed to fit with those 2 and the white piece. my plan worked out and i then embroidered from the 'a' to the white block. then, i added fabric around the edges to fit within the 12.5" paramaters.


i was at a loss for the other one until i remembered seeing amber from one shabby chick do this on a larger scale. not sure what you call this, but i'm going with "uneven stacks on white." i really like the look of that one, but it was a bit of work to get all of the strips to line up in such a random pattern without wasting too much fabric.

(pardon me if the pictures don't work. i'm going to publish first and then go back and fix if they aren't there. i use wordpress, so this is all brand new to me. HELP ME! how do i fix the pictures! problem solved, but i did not have fun doing it.)

Blocks so far

Today I got my second set of blocks and thought I'd give you guys a peek of what I have so far.

Aren't they adorable?? I am so excited to see all 24 together. :) Thanks ladies!!

November blocks

(reposted from my blog)

My blocks for the Tethered Threads November block party swap are done and have been received! I was on a roll last Saturday and got them both done. These are for Nicole, who is making the quilt for herself and just requested blocks that reflect our style.

The thing is, I'm not really sure what my "style" is for patchwork, but I like doing more improvisational piecing for these block party things, so I went with that. For this first block, I really wanted to show off that awesome apple print! I also fussy cut the cat in the (off-) center of the block. It was too tempting!

As much as I like that first block, I loooove this second one! That brown is just too fabulous here! I used it all up in this one, though. At the end I had a few more apple scraps, which I added to the bottom left side. LOVE! Again, Flickr group page is HERE to see the rest of what's being made. My month is March and I'm really getting excited!

October blocks

(reposted from my blog)

Not sure if I've really talked about this here yet, but I joined a block party called Tethered Threads. Our first month was October, and we had to make two 12.5" blocks for mommymae. She is making a quilt for her daughter and had requested modern piecing, along with a little bit of something different, like appliqué or embroidery.

I like the first block better, but I guess I'm pleased with how both of these turned out. The recipient is, so that's great! For both blocks I did some improvisational piecing (stitch, press, trim, stitch, press, trim...) and I added a bit of fabrics from my stash to fill them out. I was happy to see those Anna Maria Horner prints, as I still have bits of those Garden Party fabrics in my scrap pile. For the block above, I didn't want to chop up that lovely print in the middle, so I appliquéd those Good Folks circle flowers to add a little more interest to the block.

You can see the group's Flickr page HERE. I'm excited to see what everyone in the group can do! My month is March and I'm spending a LOT of time thinking about what to request... And what fabrics to buy!