Bowls With Borders Blog Hop

 August 14th

Jen Duncan

Sharon D.

Apron Valley Road

Quilts and Quilt Things

Pieceful Life

 North Hills Quilter--that's me!
Vroomans Quilts

Somewhat Fanciful
Jane's Quilting

I hope you take a minute to hop on over and see what everyone else is up to today.

http://www.reginagrewe.de/index_e.html  Here's where you go to see the other things the awesome designer, Regina Grewe, of the Bowl pattern is up to.  I especially love the cat paper pieced pattern.  My daughter would love a quilt made out of these blocks.

http://www.reginagrewe.de/04muster/0406hochstapelei_e.html
Here's where you go to get the pattern for the paper pieced bowls.


Here's what I did with my block.  I know, not very impressive compared to what most of the blog hoppers are up to, but I joined the hop to help me get over my fear of paper piecing.  This little block took me about 30 minutes.  I'm not sure I did everything correctly and when I tore the paper off, some of the stitches came undone, so I need to be a little more careful I guess.  But, I did accomplish my goal of facing my fear of paper piecing!  Now, if I go on the show Fear Factor and one of the challenges if to paper piece a quilt block, I will know that I could handle it.

I love blog hops that challenge me to try something new so I can get better at quilting.  I hope you will join up with a blog hop the next time you get the chance.  

If you hear of a blog hop that features applique, that's my next hurdle.  I have so many different applique dies for the Accuquilt, but just can't bring myself to sit down long enough to try them out.

Blog Hop winner will be picked on Wednesday at noon

http://northhillsquilter.blogspot.com/2012/08/christmas-in-july-blog-hopmy-day.html

Be sure to check out the quilt I made for the blog hop and enter the giveaway for the $25 gift certificate to JoAnn's.  I will be picking a winner tomorrow at noon.  Good luck everyone!

Christmas in July Blog Hop...my day

Contest is now over...thanks for stopping by!

Here's the list of all of the bloggers.  I hope you have a chance to check out what everyone else is up to.


These lovely ladies share the day with me:
Grandmama's Stories
Sandra Kaye Designs
North Hills Quilter==that's me :)
Lv2sew
Quilty Doodads
Quilting in South Carolina
The Raspberry Rabbits
Charise Creates
Traveling Quilter
Nancy B at That Other Blog
Selina Quilts

Here is a super easy quilt to make for when you need that last minute Christmas gift.  I know you aren't like me and wait until the last second to get everything checked off your list!  You probably make all of your Christmas gifts during the summer, so you can take your time and relax!  Ha :)

For this project you will need at least 6 different fabrics.  More is better because it is easier to lay out the blocks so things don't match.  I used up pieces and scraps so there isn't an even number of anything.  I am the area coordinator for Binky Patrol (www.binkypatrol.org) and we get donations of Christmas fabrics all the time.  I have two big boxes right now that are waiting to be made into Christmas stockings for the troops.  Last year the local high school partnered with us and we made over 300 stockings in a single day!  The National Honor Society kids filled them and then delivered them to the returning wounded soldiers that come through Travis Air Force Base.

Ok, back to the quilt...
You need to cut 4 1/2 inch squares and 4 1/2 inch by 8 1/2 inch rectangles.  You will need three sets of these per 12 1/2 inch block so just do a little math (it's ok, you can use a calculator, I won't tell anyone) and figure out how big you want the finished quilt.  I make a ton of kid size quilts so I would go with either 12 or 20 blocks.  This one was made with 24 blocks set 4x6 so it is big enough for a tall guy.  But, it you are really ambitious, you can make it King Size.  I made a King Size quilt once.  Yeah, once...

 Start by sewing one square to the end of the rectangle.  You can press these, or not.  I'm not a presser.  If I can make a quilt without having to get out of my chair, I'm a happy camper :)

 Then, sew two strips together, flipping so the squares are on opposite ends.

Now, sew the last strip on, with the square next to the rectangle.  This is your basic block.  I have no idea if this block has a name or not, but I just came up with it while trying to clean out some of my scrap boxes.  I had some 4 1/2 inch squares and was making 9 patch blocks.  Then, I came across the 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch rectangles and started playing around

Begin the layout of the quilt.  This can be the fun part or can drive you crazy.  I love having my kids help me with this as we all gather around the quilt and move blocks until they are perfect.  I'm sure they will tell their children about making quilts (or how I tortured them!)


Sew the blocks together, add a border and quilt!  I added 4 1/2 inch borders all the way around, but you can make them any size you want.  Finished size of my quilt is 56x80 inches.  Great for cudding up on the couch with and would be perfect in Red, White and Blues for a Quilt of Valor or any color you like.  This quilt took me about 4 hours to complete.  Like I said, I love making quick and easy quilts.

This quilt, along with many others will be going to the Emergency Responders and those recovering from the Aurora Colorado shooting.  If you would like to help out, join the Facebook page for more information.  We are trying to collect about 400 quilts to cover everyone involved in the tragedy.  Can you make up a quilt quickly and get it sent?
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aurora-Colorado-Emergency-Responder-Quilts/401592493230782

We'd love to have you join us!

I promised a prize for this blog hop since it is Christmas :)

How about a $25 gift card to JoAnn's?  I love shopping at my local JoAnn's and shopping online.   It's where I get all of my batting for the many quilts I make.  I use the 50 yard roll of Kodel brand and with a 50% off coupon can get it shipped to me for about $38.  I love the poly batting because it is thin and makes the quilts lightweight.  Perfect for cuddle quilts.
http://www.joann.com/kodel-traditional-loft-polyester-batting-48-x50yds/prd14437/

Here are the rules for the Gift Card Giveaway:
1. Leave a comment letting me know if you are a last minute gift maker or you work on Christmas gifts all year long.
2.  Leave a second comment and let me know if you've ever made charity quilts.  What is your favorite charity to give them to?
3.  Leave a comment if you are a follower of my blog.

Three comments, three chances to win.



Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Block Blog Hop Schedule

http://lesleythecuddlequilter.blogspot.ca/2012/06/think-christmas-blog-hop-schedule.html

Here's the schedule for the Blog Hop.  My day is August 2.  Can't wait to show you what I've been up to.

more Red, White and Blue blocks

Today I made another 12 blocks and my daughter helped me lay them out.  I'll be sewing these together, adding a border and quilting them up soon.  They will become a Quilt of Valor soon to thank a returning wounded soldier who is protecting my freedom.

Red, White and Blue Blog Hop, My Day, Welcome!

Welcome to my blog all you hoppers!  I hope your legs aren't getting tired just yet :)

The thing I love most about a blog hop is getting to see so many different and new blogs.  So many people have so many different and great ideas about quilting and life and I've learned a lot already.  Just the first day I was blown away by the great blocks and started to sweat just a little bit, but then I thought, hey, relax and have fun with this!  I joined to make myself step outside the box and make something I wouldn't ordinarily do on my own.  I joined so I could stretch myself and grow as a quilter and a person.  So, here goes!

Of course, I also waited until the last minute to get my block done.  If you read back over the last few weeks on my blog, you will see that my family has been going through some stressful times.  My husband's mom found out she had cancer, moved to Tennessee to live out her final days with her daughter and passed away on Sunday.  I suffer from migraines and have been having a really rough time lately.  They are getting worse and worse and I'm sure the stress of everything else hasn't helped.  My oldest daughter is in Hong Kong right now teaching English (boy is she having a great time) and so today is here and I said "OH NO!" it's time to make my block for the hop :)

Well, what do you do when you are crunched for time and need to make a quilt quickly?

I GO! for my Accuquilt Go! fabric cutter.  I tell you that when my husband got it for me 2 Christmases ago he wasn't so sure I would get much use out of it.  It was a pretty big investment ($199 for the cutter from JoAnn's on sale) and each die can run from $20-$50.  But if you are smart, you will watch ebay, check out amazon or find some friends to share with.  I have no idea how I would quilt without my Accuquilt!  Especially these half square triangles.  Before the Accuquilt, I could only sew squares together :) (And I don't get paid for saying any of this--I just love them that much)

So, I grabbed two of my favorite dies, the 6 1/2inch half square triangle and the 6 1/2 inch quarter square triangle (which is called the 4 7/8 inch triangle--weird name huh?-it also makes flying geese, but I haven't tried those yet) and got busy cutting some Red, White and Blue fabrics.  I have a good friend named Debbie who brought me some fabulous fabrics from her stash last summer.  She knows I make LOTS and LOTS of quilts for kids (big and small) and brought me up a whole car load of fabrics.  I've been having fun playing with those fabrics and cutting them up and making quilts and giving those quilts away.  So, I grabbed some fabrics, cut them up and started sewing.  I wanted to make a pinwheel block and so I started sewing.  I sewed 6 blocks like this:

 Well, something wasn't right.  It wasn't spinning the way I wanted it to.  I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.  That's what I get for sewing with a migraine!  I had turned the pieces the wrong way!  Silly me :)  So, then I made 6 more blocks like this:

 Each block is different, with Red, White and Blue, to go with the theme of the Hop:

 Except for this guy.  He is just Red and Blue, because I knew I was running out of time and didn't feel like cutting more white fabric.

 Here are all 12 blocks laid out next to each other.  I'm going to make some more blocks to bring this up to a Quilt of Valor size and probably do some sashing in between them blocks as well.  I have to wait until my daughter #2 comes home from tennis before I make any kind of final decision on block placement.  She always helps me decide on how the quilt looks best.  She has a great eye for color placement.

For now, I'm about to head out the door and get a shot for my migraine.  I know this post won't appear until midnight, when I will be fast asleep :)  Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up and the headache will be gone.

I hope you can hop on over to the other bloggers today and see what they are up to as well.

July 11th
Nancy R 

North Hills Quilter That's me!

Sunshine Girl

Grammie Q
knitnoid

I'd love it if you would follow me, I'm so close to 200 followers.  The Christmas in July Blog hop is coming up soon and I'd hate for you to miss out.  Santa will be bringing presents and a giveaway for that one and then the Paper Pieced Bowls Blog Hop will follow soon after.  I've never tried paper piecing so I'm excited to give that one a try too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Red White and Blue Blog hop still going strong

Check out the button on the right side bar and keep hopping.  My day is tomorrow and I am working on my block.  Every time I think I have a block figured out, someone makes it in the hope.  I've got one picked out and sure enough, today there is one beautiful block finished up and featured.  Bet you can't guess which block I picked!

I'm going to see how many blocks I can finish up today and see if I can't make a whole quilt top.  If nothing goes wrong, I should have a finished top by tonight.

I'm also anxiously awaiting an email or phone call from my doctor with results from my MRI.  No news is good news right? But if they didn't find anything, that means we aren't any closer to figuring out how to get rid of these headaches.  I'm thinking I might need to pick up an ice pick on my way home from dropping the boys off at tennis lessons this morning.  :)  People have suggested Accupuncture. I do have a lot of pins and needles around here...