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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Block #19 of Moda Blockheads

Night Flight
by Lynne of Kansas Trouble Quilters



And the question for today is
"Do you display your quilts in your home and if so, how?"

Well, of course - that's the primary reason I make them.

This is what you would see today if you walked in the door

"Flags of the American Revolution"




If you had come a couple of weeks ago you would have seen

"Lilac Hill"
 The wall in the foyer is where my big, not bed size, quilts hang.   The quilts change with the season.
My 20 year old grandson hangs them by climbing a ladder that leans over the steps.
We attach the quilts to a board painted the same color as the wall and hang the board on the wall.
We used to pin the quilts to the wall but that got old quick.


Then, if you go into the living room, there's my chair which always has a quilt on it
as well as the desk with the Tablestand quilt.


And of course, usually I'm working on something.


The couch has a "throw" sized quilt on the back as well as quilted pillows to match the season.
And my baby bulldog Elizabeth who is 7 months now and growing up quickly.


In the Master bedroom the quilt changes with the seasons also.
This is Homespun Stars and has never been released as a pattern.  Since the book it was in is out of print, I'm thinking of redoing it as a pattern.
Each star has a different season and it is huge.


And in the younger grandkids room (they come and stay every other weekend)


Midnight Clear is on the bed.
Here it was with the "Snow Guys sham".  
Now it just has the red pillowcases but I liked this picture better.

Anyway, yes, when you come to my house you know a quilter lives here :).  There will be different quilts as the seasons change but they will be there.

So, now back to Lynne's awesome block.
To download the pattern, go to her blog by clicking here.

And then lets go see what the other designers said about displaying their quilts and see what they did with Lynne's block.


Have a great week ladies and meet me back here next Wednesday for Week #20 of the Moda Blockheads BOW.

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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Block #18

Rocky Mountain Puzzle by Carrie Nelson
made out of my Coral Bells fabric line.


To download the pattern go to Moda's blog by clicking here.

Hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July :)

The question for today is 
"Do you sew and stitch every day"

Answer
"Yep.  I get up in the morning, put the coffee on, take the dogs with me when I open the chicken houses so they can do their duty, feed the wild birds, the inside birds and the dogs, light my candles and sit with my coffee and sew for at least an hour.  I listen to my devotion CDs and stitch and get ready for the day - every day.  

Then at the end of the day, after the dogs and I take our walk and after the chickens are shut up in their houses, I sit and stitch for at least another hour while my husband watches TV and I listen.
I find applique calming and enjoyable.  It helps me get ready for a good nights sleep by soothing away any issues or turmoil the day may have brought.

Now lets go see what the others have done with Carrie's block.


Lynne -

Have a great week ladies and meet me back here next Wednesday for Week #19 of the Moda Blockheads BOW.

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Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Moda Blockheads Block #17


Trail of Tears
by Lisa Bongean
made from fabrics from my 
Castlewood (Cream)
Hawthorne Ridge (Barn red)
and
Fern Hill (moss)
fabric lines.


To download the pattern for Trail of Tears click here
and to go to Lisa's blog for tips and tricks click here.

And don't you just love this little block stand I found in the Ackfield booth at Market.  I think it's just the thing to showcase our blocks before  they go into the larger settings. I ordered some then and there.  To get one of your own click here.  

Now to back up a couple of weeks and answer a question or two.
"Is there a quilter whose work always inspires you?"  
She's no longer with us but my friend and cohort Linda Brannock's quilts always inspired me and got me thinking.
We would start with an idea and she would say "and then we could....", and I would say "yes and then we could"..... and the ideas would jump back and forth and build geometrically instead of in a straight line.  We truly designed some wonderful quilts together.
I miss her.
I have worked with some major designers and have had great times and great quilts working with them - and no one else's mind clicked with mine the way Linda's did.


And speaking of outside influences - my latest Tablestand was inspired by Anna Coselli who
made her Moda Blockhead Beeskep Block this way.  
I emailed and got her permission to use her Blockhead idea in my summer Tablestand 
"Birds and Bees"
and am sending her a kit.


The Tablestand quilts have a front and a back so you can put them where they can be seen from both sides.
You can order one by clicking here.

Now let's go see what the other designers have done with Lisa's block.

Lynne -

Have a great week ladies and meet me back here next Wednesday for Week #18 of the Moda Blockheads BOW.




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Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Moda Blockheads # 16 - Me again -

Two Flags


I'll give you the link to download the pattern in a minute but first I want to tell you that there is a mistake in the directions.  They tell you to add 1/4" seam allowance except to the poles and the red stripes.  No -- the poles and stripes need 1/4" seam allowance too so please forgive our "oops".

With that said you can download the pattern by clicking here.


First we need the background for the stripes and the field and we need one pattern and one pattern reversed.
So cut two pieces of background fabric and place them with the wrong sides together.
Iron your freezer paper template to one piece of fabric and cut out both background with about 1/4" seam allowance.
Draw around the template and remove it.


Place the second piece of fabric on the sandpaper board, turn your template around


and hold it in place while you draw around it.
Now you have both flags ready for stripes and "fields".

Both the stripes and the poles are 1/4" finished.
If this was a larger block or there were more of them, I would definitely use a 1/4" Clover Bias Maker.
They aren't just useful for bias but for stems, flag stripes, poles, anything that you want a nice straight edge on.  They come in 1/2", 3/4" and 1" too.
Straight edges are really sometime more difficult to applique than curves.
To see my tutorial on doing stems, etc. anything with straight edges, click here.



But.... since a whole lot of you won't have one, lets figure out another way to get our stripes and poles done.


The backgrounds are about 2" wide and there are 8 stripes in all. 
So - giving ourselves some fudge room, cut a strip of red 3/4" x 17", 
 fold it in thirds lengthwise, and press the heck out of it.



Now cut two strips the width of the background and two slightly shorter.


Applique in place.


Cut out your "field" and appliqué in place.


And since the flag is so small and bulky I cut out behind the "field".


And since it's so bulky, I baste under the whole flag before appliquéing to the pole and the background.
As an aside I cut the poles 3/4" x 7" each and folded them in thirds like the stripes.  I trim them to size later and turn the bottom ends under when appliquéing. 

I hope you have as much fun with them as I did.  
It's quite a change for me to be doing things this small.

Now lets go see what the others have done with the flags.


Have a great week ladies and meet me back here next Wednesday for Week #17 of the Moda Blockheads BOW.



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Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Once again it's Wednesday...........

And it has been a very busy week.
Saturday I took Max's sons Quinn & Cullen and joined my son Brian and his lovely wife Shannon, along with their kids Gabriel, Lilly and Brooke
and we all went to Silver Dollar City.

And of course I had to take some quilting along - my summer Table Stand "Birds & Bee's".

Cullen & Quinn, Lilly & Brooke.
Luckily Brian very thoughtfully rented a scooter for me so I could keep up.


Then yesterday, he rented a boat and we went simming and "tubing".



Quinn, Lilly & Cullen as well as


Gabriel & Me.
(It took both Brian and Brian Jr. -he's 18 - to help me get back into the boat 
but I made it!!!!!)

 Then this morning I had to start for home because I decided to go at the last minute and didn't get my Moda Blockheads post ready.
I mean - Its Wednesday.

I missed the bumper boats and cars and the zoo.

And the bungee jumping.


Cullen and Lilly said it wasn't hardly scary at all the 2nd time.


Apparently tonight they're doing night time Zip Line and I'll miss that too.

Can you believe the sacrifices I make for you all and Moda?

And since it's Wednesday we need to post Jo Morton Block #15 - her "T" Block.



You can download the pattern for the block by going to her blog and you can go to her blog by clicking here.

Now lets go to the other designer's blog and see what they've done with the T.


Have a great week ladies and meet me back here next Wednesday for Week #16 of the Moda Blockheads BOW.




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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Another Day, Another Blockhead Block

And finally it's warm in Missouri - mostly.

So I changed the quilt on my bed to one of my Spring/Summer quilts "Spring Break.
The pattern was featured in Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine a couple of years ago but its been long enough that I put the pattern in my store this week.  


And to celebrate I put the BOM pattern on sale for 25% off this week.


You can order it by clicking here.

Don't you just love Lori's quilting?


The Moda Blockheads Block for this week is 
Square Within a Square by Betsy Chutchian.
You can download the pattern by going to her blog 
and you can link to her blog by clicking here.

And TA-Da!  I finally found the list of questions we're supposed to be answering.

The question for today is "When you teach what is the one tip you always share?"
A primary tool in doing applique is a sandpaper board.  It holds the fabric in place while you draw around the pattern ensuring that the fabric pattern is the same shape as the paper pattern.  

And since next week is my week again and, as we all know by now, I do appliqué,  I found the link to my basic tutorial on Freezer Paper Appliqué which includes the use of the sandpaper board.
You can watch the tutorial by clicking here.  

We carry sandpaper boards in our store and you can order one by clicking here or you can simply glue a piece of fine sandpaper to the back of a clipboard or a piece of cardboard.

Now - lets go to the other designers and see what they did with their blocks.


Have a great week ladies and meet me back here next Wednesday for Week #15 of the Moda Blockheads BOW.




Posted by at 4 comments:

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Moda Blockheads Bowtie Quartet Block #13 revisited...........

Here is my Bowtie block in it's neat little frame.  

  
and here is the same block done by Lorraine Hofmann
out of Linda and my line "Country Paths".
I love the way she fussycut the knot on the bowtie :)

 

Both of us appliquéd the knot and I'm revisiting the block to include my tutorial on making crisp, clean squares like this.
The tutorial shows how to do windows and doors but the technique is the same.  
You can watch it by clicking here.
I had thought that David Schultz was going to include the link in his post but something must have happened so I decided to revisit the block to include it.

Lorraine messaged me today to ask what size I cut the paper square.
The finished square measures 1 inch and you're going to need to fold the fabric over so I cut the paper piece 7/8 of an inch square.

Well - Yesterday was quite a day.  
First the Blockheads Block - always fun and exciting.
Then I remembered that we have to go to Kansas City today for Pep's doctor's appointment at 2:00.  (He's doing very well and we've appreciated your prayers and comments, thank you all) 
I also remembered that my standing appointment at the beauty parlor is today at 2:00.  And ladies, I don't do hair, I do quilts.  
So I had to scurry around and get in yesterday.  Luckily someone cancelled so I got in.

And finally, my dryer decided to stop working.  Pep and I made a late trip to Sears and bought a new washer and dryer - the washer has been acting up too and they're both 20 years old so it's time they retired.

Today I will take my Table Stand Front to the doctors office and stitch while Pep sees the doctor.
And we've ordered some of the little frames to put in the store.  I just think they're so neat!  :)

Keep quilting ladies.


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