Block a Days and a FLASH!!

Here are my block a days 6/28-7/4.  Paul and I are going on a little bike trip from the 3rd -5th so I'm getting ahead again.  The 5 batik blocks are 12" and the 2 Aster Manor are 10"

Here are the 10" blocks  and Batik 12" I have so far.

So...I was planning on leaving up the 10" ones and maybe working on a layout for them and even going through the calendar and finding the next 5 blocks sized 10" and make them.  

But as I was looking at the batik arrangement (I had to take the 10" ones down for the picture) I had this FLASH!

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I've started another leader/ender project using 2.5" batik squares to make 80 9-patch blocks.  I'm doing  this as part of "The 9-Patch Project" you can read about it here.  Of course, making one 9-patch blocks a day is too slow and using the leader/ender method I get 5-6 done a day with out trying so I have about 50 made already

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ok back to the FLASH:

My brain said, "what if you take some of those 9-patch blocks and use them as setting squares in the border....

and what if you put plain sashing strips in....OR WAIT use 2.5" strips for the sashing.

  

I like the plain sashing better. I think.

So now I have another new project to play with.....cuz Hell-O do I really have time for this!!!!?

that would be "no".

Oh and I did buy a lot of the black batik when we were shop hopping but I'll bet dollars to donuts I'm going to need more!

I may have to go to a quilt shop today...what a shame.

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This has nothing to do with quilting stuff. 

While on vacation, I bought a 550 piece puzzle. It was very difficult. (partly cuz I think I need new glasses...) It took Meghan and I 3 evenings to complete. 

I used that Mod Podge stuff to glue it together and framed it. I never did anything like that with a puzzle before. From across the room and with me needing an updated prescription in my glasses the puzzle pieces blend real nice....

boo-hoo, I miss the Ocean. 

Actually the shore and the sound of the waves is what I miss...I'm afraid of the ocean and all the sharks and fish and lumpy things you step on when your 20 feet off shore in only 3 feet of water but your mind starts playing the theme from Jaws

in your head...

(Yes, I know, I'm 47. I should get over it already!)

Design Wall Monday (week 26)

Whoa-week 26!  I think that's officially half-way through the year.

I have the same blocks up as last week. However, now some of the rows are together. I will get it all together this week.

Visit Judy's to see what other's are working on this week!

Block A Days

Yep, I'm getting back in the sewing groove.  These are the 24th-27th.  I need to count the 10" blocks using the Astor Manor fabrics I should be close now to having enough for a top. 

I don't know if I've ever shown this quilt before. I made it from leftover batiks a few years ago.  I hang it in the summer.

Blog BOM Block # 8

Shop hop...

We (me & Libby) had a blast! I drove on Wednesday. We started out at 9am and didn't get back home until 8:30 pm!  Since we now use a GPS, we didn't get lost once in over 200 miles of driving. 

The second day Libby drove, another 175+ miles!

I took pictures of all the shop hop quilts:

                 It's my favorite part of Shop Hop seeing the same blocks....so different!

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Tomorrow we head for the beach.

I'm so excited I can't stand myself!!

I won't have a computer... so c'ya when I get back......

Design Wall Monday (Week 23)

Another Monday already!! 

Here is my wall.  I have the leader/ender 9-patch & Snowballs back up. I think a 9 x 12 block setting will give me a good single bed size quilt, with a border or without....we'll see.  So I will need to make 38 more blocks.  I just love the scrappiness of it. 

The batik blocks to the right are 9" blocks the 1st 2 are block-a-days. I'm making the next bunch of 12" blocks from batiks with a black background and 9" blocks from brights...but I got confused and made these 2 from batiks~ The 3 on the far right row are the first 3 blocks for this year's Shop Hop Progressive quilt. I'm using the same batik color-way so the 2 block-a-days will hopefully fit in! I think I like to make things difficult for myself sometimes. 

The shop hop starts this Wednesday through Saturday; 12 shops. Libby and I are going,this is our 5th year, I think.

 I believe this year we finally have the perfect itinerary; efficient while avoiding the city of Pittsburgh during rush hour; which has been our nemesis in the past! Last year was the first year using a GPS--didn't get lost once. Of course, our getting lost, confused and turned around in the good ole days of MapQuest made for some hilarious moments.

Several times we'd be amazed at MapQuest's accuracy and singing its praises only to be cursing it's existence later as we drove on and on looking for "Lovey Lane"...which we never did find.

A few times I thought we were going to end up in Ohio. And actually another year we did. We were on the PA turnpike and were suppose to get off the last exit BEFORE the Ohio line and we were gabbing (I know it's hard to believe!) and missed it. The nice toll booth man let us u-turn at the toll plaza and head on back into Pennsylvania.

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These are June and Augusts'  Monthly minis; they were on the wall earlier for this photo.

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This weekend was a local guild's show. (Blog-less, Libby and I entered quilts. Here are her three entries.  It was Libby's first show, she received 2 ribbons. She was very excited!

 

My Mariner's Compass quilt was voted "Viewer's Choice". I was excited too!

 

The show is held in a little church and it was impossible to get a straight on shot as the rows were so close together.  It was a fun afternoon of looking at quilts, talking about quilts...you know-all that good stuff!

For more quilting 'good stuff'. Visit Judy's.

Block-a-Days

Tonight I finished blocks for 6/14-21. 

1st "Block-a-Day" top

56 x 69

(12" blocks)

I went from thinking the blocks were yucky and a waste of my time to really liking the top; amazing what some sashing and a couple borders will do! I need to remember that. The sashing fabric I had. I did buy the gold and print for the 2 outer borders.

This is off the wall and on a hanger. The binding is made, lest I use the fabric for something else (been there, done that!).

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And here is the July Monthly Mini.

I haven't done June's yet. 

I was hoping to have this done for my Memorial Day Picnic. I finished it on Tuesday (ha-ha).