January Quilt Blocks

 I have been taking it pretty easy this month in the sewing department.  After a busy Christmas, it was nice to catch up on things around the house; I worked a few shifts at the hospital, and I had 2 photo sessions which required hours of photo editing.

I told myself I was not able to tackle sewing until the photo editing was done... and so now that's finished, I have been sewing for the past few days... Ahhh... bliss!!

The first 2 quilt blocks are for the Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along:

Block 8  - "Easy Spinning Star" 

Block 9 - "Make Mine a Double"

All 9 blocks so far - 3 more to go.

My local quilt shop, Traditional Pastimes, has a few BOM on the go, and I am doing the "Freebie 15" quilt along... if I go to the shop on the 15th, I get the main block for free (provided my quilt block is done) and I simply need to purchase the companion for that month's block.

First up is the "freebie 15" - the log cabin designs were supposed to be really narrow strips, but I gave up and cheated, substituting a block then finishing the final 3 rounds of the cabin.  

The original log cabin centre required strips of x/16th"  - ??seriously??  I can barely sew a straight x/4th" any given time.  I'm still pleased with how this block turned out.

Block 4 Freebie - "Skipping Stones"

Block 4 Companion - "Riptide"

Freebie 15 & Companion & 18 small hour glass units (3.5" x 3.5")

The first 4 Freebie 15s & the companions

When the Freebie 15 & Companions are done, there will be 24 12" blocks + all the 3.5x3.5" hourglass units... I can hardly wait... it will be a large (queen or king-size) quilt... and oh so nice.  Too bad I don't have a cottage by the ocean.  :)

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year to 2012!!

Now that Christmas is past, I can show 2 quilts that I finished in December last year but I just couldn't add them to this blog because they were Christmas gifts for 2 of my sisters.
I have 5 sisters so that is a lot of quilts to make... and that will probably be the extent of my quilt giveaways as quilts do tend to be quite expensive... but I love my sisters dearly and so I don't mind splurging on them.

Gift #1: Modern Patchwork Squared Quilt Along Quilt (P2QA)... done!

Don't you just LOVE the quilting my friend Dalene did on this quilt??? !!

Leaves were quilted along the borders.
The brown with polka-dots was the backing.

My sister Christina loved this quilt.

 Gift #2: The Summer Sampler Series Quilt Along (SSSQA).  This quilt required a lot of paper-piecing and it was a lot of fun.

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Dalene quilted this one, too.  I just LOVE the pink stippling done on this quilt. 

My sister Rochelle loved this quilt.
(Her daughter Maleah is hiding behind this quilt - haha)

Now onto other projects:

The Christmas Tree Pants that I made fit quite nicely under our tree.

I finished Block #12 for the Birdie Stiches Quilt Along 2011

All 12 blocks (Canadian edition) of Birdie Stitches Quilt Along 2011

Block #6, "Cathedral Star",  for Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along

The first 6 blocks for the Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along.

Block 7, "Twinkle of Hope", for FQSQA

I didn't like my final edition of last month's Freebie 15 Companion, so I purchased another block & pieced it together the way I preferred...  This one is called "Pebbles".

Block #3 for my local quilt shop Traditional Pastimes "Freebie 15" quilt along.
This block is called "Ripples in the Sand"

Freebie 15 Block 3 Companion - "Snails"
(The colours are a tad yellow on this pic b/c of the lighting.)

I am not planning any new projects at this time as I have a few items that need finishing:
- 3 quilt tops that need batting, backing, binding, quilting
- ABC quilt that needs to be started... then completed
- piece twelve 9.5"x 9.5" stars together into a quilt
- work in progress on FQSQA & the "Freebie 15" quilt blocks

Hopefully, this will be the year that I will finally complete some photo albums!!

What is on your to-do list for 2012??