March blocks, part 1

(reposted from my blog)

So, March! March is my month for the Tethered Threads block party! Exciting stuff! I can't believe I haven't posted about it yet, but now there's plenty to talk about. The photo above is of the fabrics I sent: four solid Kona cottons and two prints from Erin McMorris' Wildwood line. (The Konas were purchased at Fabric Shack and Pink Chalk Fabrics and the Wildwood at Hawthorne Threads--all of which are online fabric stores that I really love. Also, I just saw that Erin McMorris has a new line coming out. Sweet!) I decided that we needed a new queen-sized quilt for our bed (this is the one we've had for years), so I requested 15-1/2" blocks that will finish at 15". I have 22 coming from the group, so I plan to make either 3 or 8 and set them 5 x 5 or 5 x 6, depending on how many I feel like churning out. I also asked the group for blocks that read dark with pops of color and said I was inspired by the intuitive piecing and projects found in Jean Wells' Intuitive Color & Design.

The ladies in my group certainly haven't disappointed! (Check out the Flickr pool here--it's full of great blocks!) The photo above is of the first four blocks I received, all of which came yesterday. The top two are from mommymae and the bottom two are from Amanda. WOW! I am super impressed and can't wait to see this come together!

Though I guess that means I need to do my share, too! The photo above is how far I was on Saturday. Hmm. I've finished that block and started on another, but they are big and taking a long time to complete. So glad I have the help of 11 really talented ladies to make this happen!

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!!