Autumn Block a Day" Flying Birds

Even though it's still hot in Texas, today is the official "First Day of Autumn." And that means a new "A Quilt Block a Day!"

[Sorry, Ann Roberts tells me the link doesn't work! To join the "A Quilt Block a Day" community, go to your Facebook homepage and search for "A Quilt Block a Day." Be sure to type all five words, there are other "Block a Day" groups.]

I chose the "Flying Birds" block, since the migration of the Canada geese always heralds the arrival of fall for me. We made lots of half square triangles for the summer BaD, and this block also requires HSTs.

Here is the finished block:

I'm using scraps of Civil War Reproduction fabrics, left over from the Farmer's Wife Quilt I made last year for my brother's 60th wedding anniversary.

Tutorial

There are several methods to make this block. I will start with the easiest method, and as the season progresses, will add different techniques.

The block requires three HSTs of dark and light, three light triangles, and one large dark triangle.

For a block finishing at 6", make three HSTs that are 2.5" raw-edge-to-raw-edge. Even though the two-color block only requires three HSTs, I am using the 8-HST method.

1) Cut one square of light fabric and one square of dark, each 6.5"

2) Place the fabrics right sides together and press lightly (this will help keep them from shifting as you mark and sew). Draw a line diagonally from corner to corner in both directions:

3) Stitch 1/4" away from each line. Cut diagonally between the stitching lines, then again at the horizontal and vertical center of the block:

4) Press the seam toward the dark of each HST and square up to 2.5"

5) To make the small light triangles, cut two squares at 2.78" and cut each on the diagonal. Cut a dark square at 6.78" and cut diagonally. Arrange the pieces as shown and stitch all the pieces together. Be sure your seams are scant 1/4" then sliver-trim to square up to 6.5":

If you have access to Eleanor Burn's book "Birds in the Air," her method makes two identical blocks without cutting the small triangles. That is the technique I plan to use!

I hope to see some of your Flying Birds blocks on the "A Quilt Block a Day" Facebook page!

From the desk of your

Design Wall Monday: A Quilt Block a Day

I inherited the "A Quilt Block a Day" Facebook group from Karen Snyder several years ago. Each season, I post a block tutorial here and BaD quilters make one block each day – – usually 90 for the season.

This summer's block a day was inspired by a quilt from Quilt-it...today magazine. The March/April 2014 issue features a half square triangle quilt by Pat Bravo on the cover using her "Rapture" collection from Art Gallery Fabrics. I particularly enjoy using AGF fabrics, probably because of the quality of the greige goods they use. The background fabric is white from Michael Miller's cotton couture collection. Yummy! I buy it by the bolt.

My quilt is a bit different -- primarily, I used larger HSTs. Also, I included a few solids that complement the Rapture fabrics. And also, I pieced about 10 blocks wrong. I initially thought I would rip them apart and fix them, but I decided leaving them "as is" would add a bit of randomness to the quilt. Because I would be spending my summer in Texas, I cut out all the pieces for this quilt at one time. Then, each morning when I sat down at the sewing machine, I first made one block. This is a great way to make a quilt and also to check if your machine has developed any problems overnight.

As you can see, I miscounted when I cut my blocks! When I finished hanging all my blocks on my makeshift design wall, I was short one block! Guess this "finish" will have to wait until I return to Colorado, and my fabric stash.

Come back Wednesday for the Autumn "A Quilt Block a Day" tutorial. And if you haven't already, consider joining the BaD group on Facebook.


From the desk of your

Friday Finish

Next week is the official beginning of autumn, but it's still high summer in Texas! 

Lots of traveling this summer has meant not much quilting. But I did get a Jelly Roll Party sample finished.

This is "Olympia" from Cozy Quilts Designs. The fabric is "Reels" from Zen Chic. Cornelia quilted an allover circles design using a light grey thread -- don't you just love it?

Come back next Wednesday for the autumn "A Quilt Block a Day" tutorial. 

From the desk of your

Summer Finishes Catch-up

I didn't do much blogging this summer, but that doesn't mean I wasn't sewing! Mostly, I sewed summer clothes to wear in hothothot Texas. 

Here are some of the quilts I finished this summer. First, a 90th birthday quilt for my Uncle Bob. He joined the Navy at age 17 to serve in WW II, and he still golfs and bowls every week.

Ohmigosh, searching for the post about this quilt, I realize I never blogged about it! This was the July Jelly Roll Party quilt. The pattern is Strip Twist by GE Designs, and the fabric is "Red, White, and Free" from Moda. This is the only photo I have of this quilt, so you'll just have to take my word for it that the pattern goes together very fast. And it's a great introduction to partial seams!

I also finished "college quilts" for friends starting (and continuing!) college. First up, "Prairie Windmills." I actually started this quilt in a class with Kathleen Moorhead Johnson at Quilt Wyoming 2013. When my friend told me her Princeton-bound daughter loves pink, I knew this quilt had to be quilted and bound for Stephie!

I love working with batiks, they press so beautifully. So crisp, it's almost like folding paper!

CJ quilted it with an allover floral design using a Neapolitan-ice cream colored King Tut thread.

I hope you can see the detail of the quilting in this closeup!

The second college quilt I made was for my own Elder Son. He decided to quit selling Jeeps and go back to college to earn his MBA at Pacific Lutheran University, one of my own alma maters. I'm so pleased and proud!

The great thing about PLU student housing is, they have a dorm just for Seniors and grad students.  But the rooms only have XL Twin size beds -- and J-Man has had a queen-size bed since high school.  So Mama had to right quick whip up an XL Twin quilt!

I used Bonnie Hunter's "Sticks and Stone's" pattern and almost all my pre-cut black and white squares. Yay for Scrap Therapy!

I stuck in a few fussy-cut blocks. Love this "skull" one, and

this one to remind Justin of his kitty, Moussa Koussa. They only allow fish for pets in the dorm, I told him he should rename the cat "Fish." 

Of course, I bound it using "Susie's Magic Binding" in my favorite black-and-white stripes and scrappy brights.

It's already Fall in Tacoma, so I mailed the quilt straight to college. It will be waiting when he checks into his dorm!

I have another finish to share, but I think I'll save it until next Friday. Let's get this post published!



From the desk of your

September 1 UFO Parade

How was your summer? I enjoyed the "time off!" Now it's time to get back to work and catch up on those UFOs.


First, though, the UFO number for September is:

#6

Mary J has FOUR finishes to share this month! This is productivity!

You can check out the story behind the quilts on her blog, Zippy Quilts, here:https://zippyquilts.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/6-august-projects/

Her #7 (August) finish is a donation quilt. I love the super-sized leaf!

Since #7 was finished early, Mary spent August working on her "Swim" quilt. I love the wavy piecing, it looks as though the fish are swimming through seaweed.

Mary has set herself a goal of one donation quilt per month, and she made three tops in August. 

Good on you, Mary! I think it's wonderful that you are sharing your quilts with others.

Sandi is ahead of the game this month -- not only does she have only three more UFOs to finish, she has her Christmas wall hanging all ready to go!

Love those colors, Sandi! This will be so cute for your holiday decorating.

Gill had a wonderful summer holiday, and is ready to get back into the sewing mode.  

My summer sewing has involved my boys - they wanted to make wall hangings of the favorite characters from Studio Ghibli (a Japanese Anime maker). Jacob's (9 years) favourite character is "No Face" from Spirited Away - surrounded by "Soot Sprites". He chose the colours and the design concept and drew the templates and did some of the cutting and piecing.

So fun that your boys are getting involved with sewing! Both my boys made quilts for 4-H projects, and that skill has served them well.

Sue is also getting back "into the swing of things." She enjoyed a weekend sewing retreat and look what she finished!

I managed to get a UFO done finally!  We're all moved in and mostly sorted out now. I also had a sewing weekend away last week and got my UFO No. 7 done.  It was to make a donation quilt for a hospice and I've finished one and have quite a few blocks put together for a couple more so I'm calling that a finish!

Here are Sue's other UFOs, first a thread catcher:

And a cushion cover made from leftovers from her Rainbow Lattice quilt:

Nancy has several finishes to add. First, this gorgeous embroidered quilt:

Then, her actual August UFO:

She also got addicted to the "Snapshot" blocks. I love this one!

More details on Nancy's blog, http://fabric-addiction.blogspot.com/

Oops, almost missed Donna's finish! She hand quilted around the propellers on the airplanes of this darling baby quilt! Click on the photo to see the details:

Mary J of Zippy Quilts is our UFO Parade winner this month. MJ, send me your postal address and I'll seen you some goodies!

Just a note, it's OK to send the photos of your #6 finishes for September as soon as you have them. I'm writing the blog on a new computer and it takes me a long time to figure out how to add photos, so the more time I have to work on them, the better!

It's been a busy summer. I'll be back to my normal blog publishing schedule this week -- I hope you all enjoy starting (and finishing!) your UFOs for September!

From the desk of your

August UFO Parade

What, August already?

 My summer has been dedicated to preparing for my "deployment" to Texas. I'm serving as "Deployment Mom" to my niece while her mother is on a long deployment with the USAF. So quilting (and blogging!) have taken a back seat.

But not for our intrepid UFO Finishers!

First, the number for August is:

My favorite number!

I did manage to piece one quilt this summer. Elder Son is moving to Tacoma to complete his business degree at Pacific Lutheran University, my own alma mater. He hasn't lived in a dorm before, so he needed an extra-long twin quilt for his bunk.

Of course, I decided he should have a new quilt three days before I left for Texas! Bonnie Hunter, and Sticks & Stones to the rescue!

It's almost too big for the design wall, so one corner is folded back in the photo. Cornelia is going to quilt it for me using rainbow variegated thread and a block meandering pattern. She'll mail it to me to bind, and I'll send it on to Tacoma before it gets cold there!

The first finish to come in this month is by Gloriajean. Isn't the quilting amazing? This block would make a terrific "A Quilt  Block a Day," don't you think?

Irene really has been productive this summer. Three finishes! First, This adorable placemat (I want the pattern!). 

Then a lovely watercolor study:

Irene writes:

I had the placemats on my to do list for years and managed to get two cardinals done this month.  The watercolors quilt was something I practiced on about ten years ago. In order to get it done I practiced my machine quilting - not so good. However, this is one for me to keep, and I know if I had hand quilted, it would be in my stack for 2016!

Details on Irene's blog, A Serendipitous Retirement.  

At the last minute, Irene also sent this finish:

This would make a great baby or Quilts of Valor quilt, Irene!

Sandi named her two July finishes for US Navy ships homeported near her home in San Diego.

The main project was Koronado, but Kidd was the bonus project that my interests were fixed on when I saw this QOV Kit.  You recognize the two names being US Naval Ships home port San Diego?  Of course I did take some liberty with Coronado :)! 
Here is the link to my blog where I tell all...
http://kwiltnkats.blogspot.com/2015/07/sunday-stash-report-july-12-2015.html

Coronado is dear to my heart, because:

On 28 February 1994, the USS Coronado became the first combatant ship in the history of the United States Navy to embark women as part of its regular, full-time crew.^[1]

Kerry is another three-finisher this month. First, cute Valentine squares:

Next, two more months of calendar quilts, May:

And June:

Kerry writes:

The first one is called Valentine Squares. This was super easy and went together quickly. The second two are from Karen Schaefer’s Calendar Quilts. They are May and June. I am slowly  working on all of them and have 4 completed.

 I am with you on the Calendar Quilts, Kerry! I keep buying the kits, but never seem to get beyond February in completing them!

Donna made this clever satchel for her grandson, and agreed I could share the photo of the model.

Her second finish this month looks so real, I thought it was a photograph! Donna explains:

 ... the small wall hanging was a class I took at the Vermont Quilt Festival. Completed during the 6 hour class. Yay! But will need to be quilted and probably a little embellishment as well. But I like it!

I like it, too, Donna!

Heather G. finished this gorgeous Bonnie Hunter/Mickey Dupre quilt, "Ring Around the Hexies." 

I love the colors you chose, Heather! Read more about Heather's Hexies at PeachyPages.

Mary finished a sample quilt for a future tutorial, using shirts and pants. Look closely at the photo and you can see the sleeve plackets on some of the blocks!

Mary promises a tutorial on her blog soon! Follow Zippy Quilts to get the instructions.

Wow, thirteen finishes! And in the middle of Summer! The UFO Parade prize for this month goes to Gloriajean. I'll shop for a prize in Texas, Gloriajean, so send me your postal address and I'll mail you something fun.

In the meanwhile, keep on quilting!

From the desk of your