July with Beth

Hello ladies! I sent all the fabric today, so Rebecca, you might get it by Christmas! (Not really, I hope!) I wish I was more on top of it, but honestly, June 30th is pretty darn good for me :) I have been busy completely something that I really wanted to get done this year...a quilt for my 5 year old son. I gave it to him on his birthday, last Sunday...

He really seemed to like it. I loved making it.

Okay, so my squares....I put some info into the note I enclosed, but I wanted to put links here to pictures....

http://www.dsquilts.com/quilts.asp?PageID=1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27953607@N05/3859895296/

Just for some inspiration! I love Film in the Fridge and how she puts together so many of her quilts. I may have sent you five times what you need in terms of fabric, but I don't want you to run out. Also, I would love to have your scraps back so I can put together the remaining eight that I think I will do.

Thanks again!

I can't wait to see what everyone will create.

Beth

More May Blocks

These next blocks are from Karissa:

The block on the left is an Ohio Star, and on the right is a Mini Bow Tie block. I love how the blocks Karissa chose really showcase the prints of the Nicey Jane. These blocks are gorgeous!

Next, are the blocks from Beth:
I don't have block names for these because... she made them up! Isn't that cool? I really like the sawtooth star variation, and I keep thinking in my head what neat setting arrangements you could do with a bunch of the blocks on the right. I may have to try that one of these days!

I am having such a great time seeing what everyone has made and envisioning how all these blocks will go together. I am itching to assemble my quilt top!

May Tethered Threads Blocks - Marty and Megan

I have been such a bad blogger. May was my month for Tethered Threads, and I haven't posted anything. To be honest, I've received most of my blocks, but most are still in envelopes on my desk waiting to be opened and squealed over. For some reason, I didn't want to open them if I couldn't blog about them right away. Now that things have settled down, I'll be able to post a few at a time. So, without further excuse-making:

The fabrics I selected were from the Nicey Jane collection by Heather Bailey. I requested that people make blocks inspired by Modify Tradition, my latest obsession. The first two blocks that I received were from Marty:

Both of these blocks are from the Dear Jane book, and I love the way she used multiple prints in each, making them very modern. The block on the left is number H-1, Peek-a-boo, and the block on the right is number L-2, Stephanie's Snowflake. Don't you just love how they came out?

The next blocks I got were from Megan, who somehow managed to get her blocks made and mailed right before her wedding (check out her blog, her wedding dress is gorgeous and she made it herself):

The block on the left is a Quatrefoil, and the one on the right is an Antique Tile (one of my very favorite blocks). These are super-cute and I can't wait to start assembling my quilt top!

Catching up

(reposted from my blog)

Time is still flying by, and I'm so behind in posting! Ack! Here's a quick catch-all of the blocks I've made for my Tethered Threads block party. The blocks above were made in May for Jessica, who requested blocks following tutorials from Modify Tradition. She's making a modern sampler quilt--so cool! I really love this idea, and am still so in love with those Nicey Jane fabrics!

The blocks above were made in April for Wendy, who requested some Ticker Tape–style blocks. I really love the look of these, but they were SO time-consuming to make. Glad I only had to make two!

And last but not least, I received all 24 of my March blocks! These above are from Rebecca and came all the way from New Zealand!

And these are from Kathy. Love them all!

March blocks, part 5

(reposted from my blog)

Two more blocks, this time from Jessica! Jessica sent a very sweet note along with the blocks stating that she was terrified to start on them but had a really great time making them. I felt the same way about making my two, which surprised me a little, since I was the one doing the asking. I have really enjoyed getting all these blocks in and seeing how differently everyone interpreted the "assignment." I've got four more to receive, plus at least one more to make, and then I will start working on the layout, which is going to be a lot of work in itself! Still, I'm getting excited to see all of my blocks together; I haven't laid them all out yet!

March blocks, part 4

(reposted from my blog)

More blocks! I've received six more blocks for my Tethered Threads block party this week. Above are the blocks from Megan.

These are the blocks from Jen J.

And these are the blocks from Wendy, whose month is April. She's asking us to make blocks based on the Ticker Tape quilt. Hmm... Seems I've done some of these before.... Looks like I'll be busy this weekend!

March blocks, part 3

(reposted from my blog)

More blocks! I am currently half way there! The top two blocks in the picture above are from Marty, and the bottom two are from Nicole. SO much piecing--thanks, ladies!

And these two blocks came from Beth. I am loving how everyone's are coming out SO different! I'm really getting excited for this quilt, and I have a great idea for layout, once I have all the blocks back. Stay tuned....

March blocks, part 2

(reposted from my blog)

After all that rain we had last week, we finally had a bit of sunshine and I was able to get some pictures taken. These are the blocks that I made for myself for my month of the Tethered Threads block party.

This first one wasn't really planned; I just kept putting together pieces and trying new things. I'm really happy with how the curved piecing worked! Some of the larger pieces don't exactly lay flat together; I think it's because the cuts were long and the fabrics did a little shifting in the process. It's a learning process, but so far I really like the techniques from this book, even though they're a bit time-consuming.

This second block is modeled after one in the book: a courthouse steps block with little wonky inset piecing. I made mine a log cabin with wider strips, but I really like how this one looks. Again, it took a really long time (you don't think 15.5" blocks are going to take that much longer than 12.5" blocks, but they do!) but I'm pleased with the results.

I have blocks in from two more ladies that I need to get posted. Stay tuned!

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!

New Member

You all are aware that we lost Heather this past month. Life got busy for her so we agreed to let her off the hook.

I want to introduce Amanda to you. She is going to be joining us the make us 12 again. We have already lost February so I am going to add her to the end. She will be October. I met her at our recent Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I've seen her work and she's very creative. Also eager to tackle anything you throw her way. I will send you her address in an email. You can see some of her work if you go to the Modern Quilt Guild link on this blog. Feel free to send her a welcome.

Tethered Threads: January

(reposted from my blog)

These are the blocks I made for Rebecca for the January edition of my Tethered Threads quilting block party. All of her fabrics are the new Heather Bailey Nicey Jane, and they sure are nice! Rebecca just gave us freedom to do whatever, so I did some more improv piecing and pretty much like what I came up with.

I think I was thinking "garden" with this first block. I wanted to let some of the larger prints do their thing, like that green one and the pink and orange one on the far right. My original plan was to not use the pink in the border on the left and bottom and have the corners of the squares touch, but I went a little too big on that bottom left square and didn't want to chop anything off, so did a little more improv to make this work.

This block just kinda came together organically as well. I just wanted to continue using up all the small pieces I had, so once I pieced the log cabin blocks, I just went to town. I really liked using these fabrics and the freshness that results from all of them together. I didn't add anything of my own to these blocks and used up every last thread that Rebecca sent, too! There are more seams here than I typically work with, but I still think the overall effect is nice.

Catching Up

December was an incredibly stressful time for me this year. My husband got sick and was hospitalized for a couple of weeks around the holidays. Getting my Tethered Threads blocks in the mail throughout that time was so uplifting and comforting. I love them all. They're just the look I was going for, and I can't wait to put them together into a quilt.

Things are much better now, but since I was so intent on enjoying the blocks I neglected to note which ones I had received so that I could properly thank each of you. I have figured out 6 people who have sent me blocks but I have 14 blocks, so I apparently have left someone out. I think I received blocks from Heather, Karissa, Jessica, Megan, Beth, and Marty. Do correct me if I'm wrong.

I just finished Heather's blocks today, and I plan to dig up some more of my fabrics to send to Wendy tomorrow (Welcome, Wendy).

This is such fun. Getting to play with beautiful fabrics - what could be better?