A Polka Dot BOM - October 2015 Block

As mentioned in my last post,

I just LOVE participating in BOM's!

Here's my 2nd block from

Melissa Mortenson's BOM over at PolkaDotChair

October 2015 Block

A Polka Dot Chair BOM

I just LOVE participating in BOM's, and I'm actually currently active in a few different ones at this time!

The most recent BOM that I joined is with

Melissa Mortenson

over at the

PolkaDotChair

Her September 2015 Block, was a simple, yet a very fun pattern for me:

Plus Quilt Block

Here's my version of her block:

Wouldn't this look awesome in a quilt, if every block were a plus block?

Can't wait for the next one to come out!

Fun with Quilt Blocks!

I have recently started getting into making wonky house quilt blocks due to a swap I've been participating in on Swap-bot.com, called the "BOM Wonky House Block Swap."  So far I've participated in two of the Wonky House Block Swaps this year, and am really loving how fun these blocks are to make!  Of course, they are paper pieced, so it takes some patience to make them, but they are so adorable when they're finished!!

Here's the two I've made so far...

"House in the Woods"
Block pattern design by Regina Grewe

"Wonky House Block"
Block pattern tutorial by SewCraftyJess

This year has been busy for me...

I haven't had a lot of time to spend in my sewing room the past couple of months,

so unfortunately I've got a lot of UFO's piled up. 

About all I've had time for was a quilt block here and there.

So here's a few more blocks I've managed to squeeze in since the beginning of 2015:

 "Butterfly in the Sky"

"Let Them Eat Cake"

Snapshots QAL: Block 1

"Sew On & Sew On"

Snapshots QAL: Block 2

"Put the Kettle On"

Snapshots QAL: Block 3

"The Penny Arcade"
Pat Sloan's 2015 Vacation Time QAL: Block 4

 

 "The Beach Bag"
Pat Sloan's 2015 Vacation Time QAL: Block 5

"Summer Nights"
Pat Sloan's 2015 Vacation Time QAL: Block 6

"The Hot Dog Stand"
Pat Sloan's 2015 Vacation Time QAL: Block 7

And although I posted about the first 3 Vacation Time blocks in a previous post,

here's a reminder of what those first three blocks look like...

Block 8 just came out on August 1st, so I have yet to make that one!

"A Person's A Person No Matter How Small!"

...a Dr Seuss crib quilt

A friend of mine is soon to be having a baby, and she asked how much it would cost to have me make her a Dr Seuss themed crib quilt.  There was no way I was going to make her pay me for a quilt for her baby-to-be!  I told her I'd make one as a gift for her and baby.

So I found a variety of fabrics to put into this quilt...  One fabric was from JoAnn Fabrics, a couple I purchased on eBay, a couple others I purchased at Herrschner's in Stevens Point, WI, and a couple were found right in my stash!

The photos show what I came up with for her baby's crib quilt,
which I named after one of Dr Seuss' quotes:

"A Person's A Person No Matter How Small!"  ~ Dr Seuss

"Dancing Stars"

DANCING STARS

Last fall I was contacted by McCall's Quilting with the exciting news that my name had been drawn as a winner in one of their online contests.  "YAY!"
What I won was a Moda Layer Cake... "Atelier" by 3 Sisters for Moda, to be exact.  

I was super thrilled and couldn't wait to get started making a quilt with it!  I decided right away that I would make myself a quilt, as I'd never made one for ME before.  The fact that I won the layer cake made me decide to treat myself to a quilt called

"Dancing Stars"

... a pattern I found in the book

"more Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts"

by Pam & Nicky Lintott.

 

Progress went quickly, as I was very diligent at sticking to my guns on this one and not letting it end up on the UFO pile!

It took me one week to make the quilt top...

Then off to the long-armers it went, where it was on a waiting list to be quilted.

I just got it back 4 days ago, and finished it off with the binding, took a few pictures, laundered it, then took some more pictures!

Finished...before laundering...

a view of the back...

It is already getting a lot of use (by me!), and I couldn't be happier!

AND... it's Jasper kitty approved!  ;)

Here's a closeup photo of my quilt after I laundered it...

I just LOVE the look and feel of a quilt after it's been laundered!

Didn't the long-armer do a GORGEOUS job of quilting this?!?!

*Credit for the long-arming goes to Meandering Mary of New London, WI.

(Note: For first time washing of any quilt, I use and recommend Retayne to help prevent colors fading and bleeding, especially if the fabrics used in the quilt were not pre-washed).

"Lunchboxes"

Two years ago my son asked me to make him a food themed quilt, featuring some of his favorite snacks and food.  I struggled with how to go about doing this since the only patterns I could find were canning jars.  I didn't feel that a quilt with canning jar blocks would be appropriate for a boy... Haha!

Then I found a pattern called "Lunchboxes" and just had to buy it! 

Today, January 27th, 2015, my son turned 15... We celebrated his birthday over this past weekend, and I gifted him the long awaited for food themed quilt.  I am so glad he still loves it and didn't feel too old for it!

Here are some pictures...

The next two photos are closeups right after it was long-armed, but before binding was added.

The next three photos are pictures of just the quilt top before it was long armed.

Vacation Time: Block 1 update

I like this block so much that I decided to make more than one.  So as I participate in Pat Sloan's 2015 Mystery QAL: Vacation Time, I will be making 4 quilts total instead of just one.

Here are my blocks for the first step... (There are 2 skull blocks, but I wasn't sure if I'd like dark or light color ways better until after making them... I like the light color way better).

Note: I am strictly using all stash fabric for these quilt projects and won't be buying any fabric for them... It's part of my goal to use up stash fabric that's been sitting around for way too long.

Another Pat Sloan Mystery QAL!

Last year I participated in Pat Sloan's Globetrotting Mystery QAL, and my quilt top is off at the long-armers waiting to be quilted.

Here's a couple pictures of my Globetrotting mystery quilt (quilt top only... Completed quilt photos will be published in a few months when it's completely done)...

Now I'm participating in Pat Sloan's 2015 mystery quilt project called "Vacation Time."  I plan to make 3 or 4 versions of this new mystery quilt... I've started with a skull theme to use up some skull fabric from my stash... Here's a picture of the first step...January's block:

I have some Harley Davidson fabric I plan to use for another version, and then I want to find some cute or pretty fabric from my stash to put into another version.  I love this block and how fantastic it works for fussy cutting focal fabrics!