A Friday Finish (Not Mine)

I'm hitting the road today, but right quick  before I leave, I want to share this link to the newest Scrap Squad quilt.  Nope, not mine (although mine is going to the Long-Armer Ann today!).

It's Colette's "Mandarin Express."  She used 1920s repros, and I just love it!

Here is the original from the May/June issue of Quiltmaker Magazine:

Go here to read all about Colette's version.

Then come back Sunday for a Road Trip Report!





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100 Blocks Vol. 7

I love being "ahead of the game."  Twice now, I've tested blocks for 100 Blocks magazine.  The next issue, Vol. 7, hits newsstands May 7.

My group of testers sewed 13 blocks.  The blocks were made in a variety of techniques, including piecing, applique, and foundation piecing.  It's so fun to see the new magazine and say, "I tested that block!"

Before the magazine is published, Quiltmaker will host a Blog Tour on their blog to showcase some of the block designers.  Go to Quilty Pleasures blog to see a preview of some of the 100 blocks, beginning April 29.

I've had some trouble with links since I changed over to Bloglovin.  If this happens to you, the Quiltmaker blog url is:

http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/

Although I'm not "officially" part of the blog tour, I'll post photos of the blocks I tested. And of course, I'll again offer a giveaway of some of the blocks I made.

Come back on Monday, April 29 for the Blog Tour kickoff!


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WIP Wednesday: A New Project

All month I've worked on UFOs, BOMs, and samples.  I decided to reward myself today by starting something new!

And what would that "something new" be?  Jamie's "Brick Road Sew Along."

I have a lovely stack of Free Spirit solids that I bought from Amy Burg Gibson.  She is using them for her Sugar Block Club; however, I am using Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Modern for my blocks.  Soooo, here are my colors for the Brick Road:

Using my color wheel, I started selecting complementary colors.

The true complement to bright orange is bright blue, but it looks too much like Boise State University Broncos.  So the first block I chose was purple and orange:

Next:

Then:

When I edited the Summer School catalog at Pacific Lutheran University, these were the first colors I chose for the catalog cover:

The next year, I chose:

I have 45 bricks to choose, so this is going to take some time.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

How is your April UFO coming along?  I confess, I haven't even worked on mine this month.  Only two weeks to go!




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Scrap Basket Sunday Block a Day

When one is retired and doesn't have to be somewhere everyday, one wakes up in the morning and thinks, "OK, today is Sunday, airport run."  Otherwise, one is surprised when DH says "you're taking me to the airport, aren't you?"  I love only leaving the place twice a week!

I'm also loving reading all the links on Kim's "Scrap Basket Sunday."

Even more, I'm loving playing in my own scrap basket!  Karen at Anna Lena Land sponsors a "block a day" challenge each season.  The idea is, even if you can't make a quilt each week, you can make one block a day!

The Spring Block a Day is the Chevron block.  Can't get much easier than this, and I love the results!  I'm doing mine in a rainbow arrangement, using all polka dots:

There will be 90 blocks, so I need nine rows of 10 each.  The Roy G Biv rainbow has only seven colors, so I'll add brown, black and grey.

Here are my other "Block a Day" quilts.

Bowtie:

Hourglass:

Flying in Squares (Flying Geese):

Tessellating Crosses:

Streaks of Lightning:

And my favorite quilt of all time, Summer Strings:

Wow!  I can't believe how many of Karen's Block a Day quilts I've made! That one block per day thing really works -- thanks, Karen!


From the desk of your