Scrap Quilting Club

The scrap quilting club met yesterday and had a lot of show and tell.  So, this post has a lot of photos.  The first group of pictures are the results of last month's project, Awesome Lap Quilt from Moda Bake Shop.  Our group had problems with this pattern in that if you trimmed the edges as recommended in the pattern, you lost quit a bit of width in the quilt which also resulted in the end blocks being trimmed too much.  We had various solutions to the problem which also included doing as the pattern recommended without any changes.

The first two quilts were made by Sarah and Jennifer who trimmed the ends as recommended by the instructions.  You'll see that the end blocks are not the same size and the inner blocks.  Sarah added a scrappy sashing which kind of reduce the effect of the trimming.

Carol took her quilt top apart and decreased the size of the blocks by 1/4" and resewed back together.  That made for less trimming on the sides, not loosing the symmetry of the quilt blocks.

LeeEtta and Sue decided not to match the blocks at the seams as suggested by the instructions.  This made for less trimming on the sides as well.

Cherie and Sharon decided to make their quilts vertical and in doing so made more units to prevent trimming the blocks.  This gives the quilt a make over, especially for Sharon's who's quilt is the larges size of all those shown. 

I decided to unsew approximately 1.5" from each row end and add strips from fabric I'd plan to use for my first border.  This allowed my blocks seams to match as well as kept my blocks symmetrical.  I also noticed that I couldn't get all the units as my jelly roll was apparently not as long as those indicated in the pattern so I used more strips than indicated.  Although the quilt does live up to it's name, "Awesome Lap Quilt", is was not an "easy" quilt first quilt of the year for the club as I'd imagined.  We will have a few more quilts to show next month.

Here are other projects shared, some club projects from last year, others were not. 

 

We are working on the exploding star as our special project this year.  Here are portions of the quilts in progress.

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Charmed I'm Sure

My quilt guild had a charm quilt challenge this month and last Thursday was the big reveal.  There is nothing super fancy about my quilt but I didn't want to see another one on the line so I kept it a secret.  Here is my charm tumbler quilt I titled Charmed, I'm Sure.  It has 202 different fabrics including the backing and label. 

My first plan was to scatter the charms and piece how they landed.  For some reason that did not appeal to me so I went to plan B.  I decided to make frames with the tumblers (by the way cut 3.5" with my GO! cutter) by separating the light and medium/dark values.  I also had fun throwing in novelty fabrics.  I just love looking at this quilt.  It tied for 2nd place in the challenge.  NOTE: Quilt was hung upside down on the line.

Here are some other charm quilts that members made.  I forgot to write down the names of the makers.  If you are members of the guild and have correct information, please let me know.

Drew Benage
3rd place

 Doris McCall

 Debbie - tied 1st ?

Norma Silk
Tied 2nd
over 400 1.5" .5" rectangles

Judy Kooi

Connie Barnett
Tied 1st place

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Doily and Clock Finishes

I was secret quilter to Lenore and she was kind to take and send me photos of the hand made gifts I gave her over the weekend.

I can't remember the designer of the doily machine embroidery design.  This is an Ace Points free standing lace design names something like Valentine Rose Hearts.  There about 10-12 different designs.  I made four separate hearts on the embroidery machine and then zigzag stitched them together.

The clock stitching is from Adorable Affordable Designs called Thread & Spool Clock Design.  I could have changed the wording but it was appropriate for the clock so I left it in.  The clock was my first and took way more time than it should have.  I ran into problems after problems and though it's not perfect, I was determined to finish it for the gift giving event.

Thanks Lenore for the photos and it was so much fun being your secret quilter at retreat!

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Design Wall Monday

I had a very productive week.  I started out making blocks 27 and 28 of the 100 blocks challenge from Quiltmaker's magazine.  I made separate post about them here.

Then I made modified a clock by adding a machine embroidered sewing related clock face and a doily for the person at retreat whom I was their secret quilter.  I forgot to take pictures so no photos of these two finishes.

Then when I got to retreat, I completed the Awesome Lap Quilt top with my modifications.  I even made the binding (no back yet as I didn't take the fabric to retreat.)  Also on my design wall is a few of the 114 3.5" unfinished 9-patches for a project the scrap quilting club is working on next month.  The final project on the design wall is the blocks I made at retreat for a scrappy trip around the world.

Here are all the blocks in the order they were sewn into rows.  I actually have the top center all pieced but forgot to take a final photo.  I also made binding for the cathedral stars quilt and flying geese for another project (again, no photos).

For more design walls, visit Patchwork Times. 

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 27 and 28

I realized that the dates for the February assignments was incorrect.  Here is a new block assignment chart:

Block 27 - Isobel's Flight
#128 on page 35
Cinzia White
www.cinziawhite.com
41 pieces

I thought this block would be difficult because of the curve piecing but it went together pretty fast.  The most tedious part was paper piecing the geese on a curve.  I wasted a lot of fabric but it was worth it.  I don't think I'll make an entire quilt out of this one but it was a great challenge.

Block 28 - Hope Blooms
#105 on page 24
Nancy Halvorsen
Art to Heart
www.arttoheart.com
42 pieces, mine has 41

For this block, I cut the background 13" square and cut my squares for the flip corners 4-3/4" square.  That way I had room to trim after the block was made.  I used all machine stitching with this block and even that took a little time.  I'm still making heart blocks when I can as I need a bed size quilt to use next year if all goes according to plan.
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Design Wall Monday

Not a lot of quilting going on over here this week.  I worked on 100 Blocks challenge, making two blocks due last week and working on one for this week.

I cut and sewed strips for itty bitty 9-patches then cut them apart.  I also used some of the same fabrics with muslin and cut strips ready for some 4-patches.  These will go with me to retreat this weekend.

That's it for me, visit Patchwork Times to see more walls.
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Type-u-later,

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 25 and 26

I'm very late with posting.  Don't quite know how I spent my week that resulted in my not getting the blocks finished during the week.  Today I completed last week's blocks, including them in this post.  Hopefully I'll get this week's blocks made by Wednesday, maybe earlier.  I'm also including the block assignment chart for this month at the end of the post.


Block 25 - Hearts Bejeweled
#104 on page 23
Susan Guzman
SuzGusDesigns
www.suzguzdesigns.com
29 pieces

Instead of hand appliqueing this block, I used fusible web.  I just ran out of time during the week and this was much faster for a photo.  I haven't gotten around to stitching the edges down yet so it still needs some work.

Block 26 - Simple Celebration
#148 by Anita Grossman Solomon
Make It Simpler
www.makeitsimpler.com
33 pieces

I wanted to play with color on this one.  The photo is a little off, but I like not using a traditional "light" fabric that was white or off white for the background.  The pink just jumped out of my scraps.  For me, the whole purpose of making the blocks is to experiment with techniques and color.  This one is growing on me....

Here is the chart for all the blocks assigned for this month.

Enjoy working on the blocks and please visit my left side bar to see blocks made by other participants.  We are growing, growing.  I have at least one local participant who doesn't have a blog yet.  She has 20 blocks made in the oriental theme.

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Design Wall Monday

I've been working on my challenge charm quilt this week.  I finished the top, basted it, quilted it, and sewed the binding to the front.  All that's left is to hand sew the binding to the back.  Unfortunately I can't share it until next Friday as it's a secret.

The only other project for me during the week was to make my two 100 Blocks for the week.  I change the first pattern dramatically so it doesn't look exactly like the original.  I used machine embroidery in the corners and machine decorative stitch to stitch the center "x".

That's it for me. To view more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks: Blocks 23 and 24

Whew!  I didn't think these blocks would ever get completed.  My life is very busy right now and with the start of tax season, I don't see it getting any better for a while.  While I'm here, I want to post that the drunkards paths blocks are behind.  I should have 2 more blocks posted by the end of the week but I don't think that's going to happen with my schedule.

Block 23 - Faire la Bise

#116 on page 29

Helen Stubbings

Hugs "N Kisses

www.hugsnkisses.net

www.hugsnkisses.typepad.com

21 pieces, mine is 17 pieces

I must have been out of my mind to schedule this block during this hectic time in my life.  I had in my head to make this block with fusible web instead of hand applique.  Then why did I prep the pieces for hand applique before it dawned on me that that's not what I wanted!  I started working on the block, yes hand appliqueing it, and my stitching wasn't as perfect as I'd like on this one.  So I decided enough hand work and used my sewing and embroidery machine to finish it.  I needed to test the embroidery machine as I picked it up from the repair shop on Saturday.  I used my decorative stitched on my sewing machine for the "x" stitches on the diagonal.  Then I used my embroidery machine to stitch the corners.  The design is from Dakota Collectibles.  Not perfect, but I'm glad it's done!

Block 24 - Geese 'Round the Rosie
#168 on page 167
Gudrun Eria
GE Designs
www.gequiltdesigns.com
www.gudrun.typepad.com
33 pieces

Since I was machine embroidering, I continue with this block, adding a heart in the center of this block instead of fussy cutting a piece of fabric.  I made the single flying geese as instructed in the pattern but used Quilt in a Day rulers for the four purple ones.  I like the accuracy of this method.  I also found that when I made the singles that if I pressed the folds on the squares to make the geese, they were more accurate.  I usually draw lines with this technique.  I guess dragging the pencil across must affect accuracy a bit.

Don't forget to check my left hand side bar for a list of 100 Blocks participants.  There are now eight of us!

NOTE TO PARTICIPANTS:  In order for your blocks to show from the side bar link, you MUST have "100 blocks" somewhere in the body of the post or in the labels section.  Otherwise, all your posts will not be visible with the link.
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