Quilt Blocks, Quilts and a Quilt for Cancer

It has been such a busy last month-and-a-half, but things have finally slowed down a bit, and I managed to tackle some quilting projects again.  Oh, the therapy of quilting!!  :)

First up... the June quilt blocks for Traditional Pastimes' "Freebie 15" BOM:

Freebie 15 Companion: "Bird Tracks"
I really buggered this one up, and it's too small, but I was not about to redo these flying geese!
Usually, I enjoy the flying geese units, but for some reason, I just wasn't getting these instructions!  :(

Freebie 15: "Low Tide"

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Remember this quilt top?  This was the quilt top I made for the Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along that finished up a few months ago.  Well, it sat and sat and sat on my sewing table.  The greeny-yellow was driving me mad... so I HACKED it all apart!  Yeah!!

Now I have 12 blocks that will need to be resewn... MINUS the pukey green-yellow!  :)

Be-Gone, Pukey sashing!!

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There there is this big quilt... from about 1 year ago... Moose on the Porch's Layer Cake Quilt Along.  I FINALLY did some repairs, and my church quilting club friend Dalene quilted it together for me.  It was the first quilt she has done in which blocks were set on-point, but I think she did a purty nice job on this quilt!  This quilt is looking lovely on our guest bed.

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A few months ago, I signed up for Heather Spence's Spring 2012 Mystery Quilt.

Well, I am finally done!

My friend Dalene did an amazing job with the quilting on her long-arm machine!

I absolutely love this quilt!

This quilt is going to be raffled off this autumn and all donations will go toward Breast Cancer.  I haven't determined yet how I will raffle it off or which cancer association/foundation the proceeds will go toward, but it WILL be donated!

I hope to raise money for breast cancer, and one lucky person will WIN this quilt!

The reason for this quilt donation?

My Mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and today is her first day of radiation.

This is for you, Mama!

52" x 63"

Stay tuned for information on how to win this "breast cancer" quilt!!

2 Quilts + 2 Quilt Blocks

I was on a roll last week... finishing off some projects.  It felt so good to catch up a bit.  We drove to Saskatchewan this past Victoria Day long weekend, and I took the quilts with me so I could finish up the binding.  I ran out of black thread about 20" before finishing the black binding quilt, but I quickly finished that one up once we arrived home.  

Dragonflies Baby Quilt
35" x 42"

Stained Window Quilt
43" x 54"

I did a simple meander free motion stitch all over the quilt.

The backing for the Stained Window Quilt.
I love these colours.

Block #8 for Freebie 15
"The Reef"
12" x 12"

Freebie 15's Block 8 Companion
"The Pier"
The original pattern of "the pier" had tiny (and I mean TINY) little posts & rails along the edges of the pier... and I just wasn't into such meticulous work... so I ventured away & did my own version of the pier - which, in my opinion, looks more like a boardwalk, but I like it.  

I'm still working on my Mystery Quilt... Clue #5 tomorrow... Yippee!!

Next on the list:

• finish off the Birdie Quilt
• re-do the Fat Quarters Stars Quilt top (I took the quilt top apart because I couldn't stand the sashing on it)
• add binding to the Layer Cake Quilt which I finished last year, fixed last month, and is now off to my friend Dalene's for some quilting (it's a double or queen size quilt - a bit large for me to quilt)

I will be taking things easy in the next while as I will be starting a new job and June will be pretty much devoted to learning & new beginnings!

Moving Along...

I have been getting some quilting done in the last week...

I am working on my Mystery Quilt, and I just received Week 2's clues but I have to complete those instructions yet...

These are the fabrics I chose for the Mystery Quilt.

I came across the Stained Quilt Along and it is a great way to finish up scrap fabrics!!  

I only had to purchase the solid black fabric.

However, I still have to add batting & backing... then quilt & bind.  :)

Something Old, Something New, & A Mystery

I pulled out some old quilts that I had downstairs... they are my husband's quilts, but they are made by his grandmother & his grand-aunt... but aren't they just ever so lovely???

The more I quilt, the more I really appreciate the older quilts and all the work that was involved in making them... everything from recycling old clothing, cutting the fabric pieces by hand and hand sewing.  

Looking at old quilts makes me appreciate my sewing machine!!!

This quilt was made by my husband's Grandma

Quilt made by Auntie Mildred in her younger days (she is now in her 80s)

I finished my "Origins" (by Basic Grey) table runner. 

White backing, brown binding.

I made my first "sun dial" - 4 quarters sewn together.

This is "Block 0" for New York Beauty Quilt Along.

There are a total of 10 different patterns for these sundials, but I think I am done.

It was fun trying it out, though!

I now have to decide if I'll quilt this quilt top (24" x 24") or if I should add some more borders or stars.

I finished up this month's 2 blocks for Freebie 15.

This year's theme is "Sand & Sea Glass"

Freebie #7: The Boardwalk

Freebie Companion #7: No Diving

I had to do some tweaking with the companion block because the quilt kit had white for the starfish (that's what I call them) but I wanted them brown, so I swapped fabrics and then was short some fabrics within this kit... but I made it all work.

And finally... I have signed up for a Mystery Quilt with Heather Spence Designs!

Heather Spence has designed a mystery quilt and the pattern is $10.  

The $10 is given to a cancer patient who needs financial help with their medical bills.

You can find more information about Heather's Mystery Blog here.

On April 27, I will receive an email with the first instructions to the Mystery Quilt, and these emails will continue once weekly for 5-6 weeks.

I have 2 of the 5 required fabrics, so I will have to go shopping yet for some more fabric.

I know I wanted to take it easy in the quilting department, but I just couldn't resist this quilt along, and it called out to my heart strings... and since I had 2 meters of fabrics at home that I didn't know what to do with... I'll now coordinate some new fabrics with that one fabric to make this lovely quilt.

I love Heather's last mystery quilt (Autumn 2011) so I am sure this quilt will also be lovely.

If you're a quilter, come join the Mystery Quilt fun!!

One-Quarters Through 2012!!

Wowie... time is just flying!!  It's April already!  I love it!  Spring is in the air and so it the nicer weather (although I really can't complain as it has been such a mild winter).

My projects in the last week and a bit have been fairly low-key... finishing up some quilt blocks.

Heart in the Sand - Freebie 15 (March 2012)

Footprints
Freebie Companion
This pattern called for templates in which there were about 36 little bird prints on the sand... but I just couldn't stomach doing such little blocks... so I did these 6 pairs of foot(bird) prints instead.
(Hmmm... looks like I got a few crooked lines again!

March Freebie & Freebie Companion & little hourglass blocks (12 in total)
For the 6 months of this quilt along, I now have 72 little hourglass blocks!!!

The first 6 months of the "Freebie 15" blocks.
This is going to be one very nice quilt when it's done.
If I had a ocean/lake cottage, this finished quilt would live there.  :)

These 2 blocks are for Jovita.
Jovita was one of the block designers for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along, but recently she lost both her twins at 20 weeks.  Konda, organizer of the FQSQA, asked the quilt-alongers if we would sew a heart and a 9-patch for Jovita, and Konda will have all the blocks sewn into a quilt.
Now, how nice it that???  :)
Such a beautiful keepsake for such a heartbreaking loss.

I decided to make more hearts with the leftover scraps from the Freebie 15 fabric... and now I have green, blue, brown and pink hearts (6.5" square each) which I will incorporate into a quilt somehow, one day.

I "stumbled" upon a newish quilt along... New York Beauty Quilt Along.
This photo shows 2 of the first block of the quilt along.
This is my first EVER block in which I have had to sew a rounded corner... I think it looks ok so far, eh??
These blocks look like a cappuccino sun (not anything New York).  

On a Roll Again

It seems that I haven't been finishing off a lot of projects lately, but I did have one project on the go that I just couldn't add to the blog because it was a baby gift for my sister, and I know she checks this blog.  :)

So without further rambling, here is the crib-sized quilt that I made for my newest nephew, Troy!  

Welcome, baby Troy!

Quilting was done in a meander stitch, and I used a varigated brown/cream thread.

 The backing was a polka-dot flannel.

Baby Troy on his quilt.
Born February 9 weighing in at 9 lb, Troy is now 6 weeks old and 13 lb!
He's a cutie!

I made this bag about a week ago for my church's quilt group.  We make quilts for patients with cancer, and we add a quilt in a bag so it's easier for them to bring their quilt (and perhaps a book) into hospital for treatments. 

We moved our son into a "big boy bed" and I added a quilt I had made last year.
Lots of bright colours & fun polka dots.

This photo looks really blah but the colours truly are better up close.
It was overcast & very windy today, so I took this pic indoors.
Anyways, this is my finished Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along quilt top.
Measurements: 59" x 75.5"

I whipped up this table runner last week, but I still have to add batting, backing & binding.
Measurements: 12" x 20"

 And finally... a quilt I am very excited about... the Synchronized Squares Quilt.
I had started this quilt along last year, but I then realized that it was meant to be a rag quilt, so all the coloured squares were to be ragged edges... and I do NOT like rag quilts.
I then pieced this quilt together without ragged edges (ie, the "nice sewn seams") and I just LOVE this finished look.
The squares are layer cake squares that I won last year from another quilt along!

Measurements: 48" x 56"

A peek at the backing: orange with polka dots.

Things on my sewing list now:

• finish up civil-war-coloured layer cake quilt top
• finish green/yellow/brown/white table runner (quilt top done this week)
• start ABC crib quilt
• catch up on the next 2 quilt blocks for Freebie 15 & Companion

... and then perhaps I can start catching up on my very, very overdue photo albums. 

A Few More Blocks

February has been such a crazy busy month... and I am hoping March will be a little less busy and will allow me to catch up on some sewing projects.

I did manage to complete 4 quilt blocks.  The blocks are FAR from perfect, but there comes a time when you really just want to get it done.

Freebie 15: Sand Dollar

Freebie 15: Sand Bar
This block is smaller than it's supposed to be (12") and the sandbar squares are so terribly crooked - agh!

Block 11 "Fractured Star" for Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along

Block 12 - "Faceted Friendship" for Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along

Twelve stars all done... now to add sashing & bind to finish them off as a quilt top!

I have the fabric to finish up the FQSQA quilt top, but I just need some time now!

I am finishing off binding for 2 quilts, so will post photos when they both are done.