Blockhead Blocks 1 and 2 - Do overs

I remade blocks 1 and 2 today, as I did not like the dark blue background in the blocks.  I am still using the blue, but just as an accent color.  I have also added a second accent color - green - to the mix just to give a little more variety.

Block 1 - Replacement on left

Block 2 - Replacement on left, and new green accent

Blocks 1 - 12
 

May Progress

May is almost over and I thought I would recap what I have done during the month.  This was a big month for us with Mother's Day, three birthdays (mine, my granddaughter and my daughter-in-law), my wedding anniversary (43 years) and a spur of the moment trip to Abingdon, Va.  Its all be fun, just lots to do.

Besides making three quilts for baby shower at church, I finished a table runner for my Daughter-in-law, Holli.  The block is called 3D Folded Box and there is a tutorial for making the block, by Donna Lynn Thomas.

Also this month, as shown in earlier posts, I completed 8 flower basket blocks made by my Mom and gave them to her granddaughters for Mother's Day and a very special baby quilt for my granddaughter due to arrive June 30.

 

Worked on the RSC 4-patch blocks for my Jack's Chain quilt; completing all the green blocks for May by May 21.  These are a ton of fun to do, and I am looking forward to June 1 to find out what the color for June will be.

Completed blocks 9 and 10 for the Star of Bethlehem quilt - just two more to do.  I got those prepped and ready to start this morning.  Getting close to having this top ready to quilt :)

I am caught up on my Blockhead BOW projects.  I have the first 11 blocks done, and will make #12 tomorrow.  My good friend Cheryl has been sewing with me the last couple of days and we are encouraging each other to forge ahead.   The one in the middle of the second row and the one on the top row far right, will have to be redone.  When I first started this project, blue was going to be my background color, but I decided that was just a little much.  So now I am just using it in most of the blocks, but have a neutral color background.  I have also decided to add a green, and maybe a red as accent colors as well as I fear I will run out of the blue.  If I would make the blocks right, the first time and not have to recut a second or third time, I might have enough blue! The basket on the far left, third row is the first I have added the green, 

I taught a class in Stab Quilting this month and think I have converts to this method of quilting. Had to prepare for 10 students, putting together enough quilt sandwiches for them to work on and gathering supplies.  Here is mine, partially done.  I will be repeating this in June for the ones that could not make the May meeting, so I did not want to finish it at this point( that's my story and I am sticking with it)

I did manage to complete one more baby quilt and have another in the binding stage for a church baby shower on June 25.  Just one more to do after that and I will be caught up for 2017.  Surely if there were some more to arrive this year, we would already know about it...right?  Keeping my sore fingers crossed.  I will show pictures of those when they are done.

 

And last, but not least is my neglected, lonely Irish Chain/Dresden Plate quilt that I am hand quilting.  It has not received much attention for the last two months, but as soon as I get off here, I am going to go and watch Poldark on Amazon, and stitch away on this patient quilt. 

 

Hope you have a peaceful, relaxing Sunday,

Teresa





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

RSC - Green for May

I have been working on my Green nine patches for May, have 31 done and 2 more to go.  Love these little blocks.  I need six blocks nine patches to make a Jack's Chain block, so once June gets here and I know the June color, I can start making my Jack's Chain quilts block....at least one anyway.  I am anxious to see how they are going to look.

 

I have also been making baby quilts for expectant mothers in our church. We are a small congregation and are experiencing a bumper crop this year 6 new babies arriving this year so far.  I started making these quilts over the last couple years - prior to this year, I had made 3.  I have the top done for #5, but it honestly makes me think of Pepto...hmm, too late to redo now.

 

 

Happy Stitching!   Teresa

 

Mother's Flower Baskets

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's .  I hope your day has been special.

Today, I presented what I called "reverse Mother's Day" gifts.  My mom was working on a flower basket quilt when she passed and it remained unfinished for several years now.  She needle turned appliqued all the blocks, and then hand quilted them.  She did this quilt-as-you-go method for several of her quilts.  Momma was in her early 80's when she was making these blocks.

I took the flower baskets and finished off the block with binding and a sleeve. My husband made block stands for the blocks and then I gave each of the granddaughters a block as a gift from their grandmother on Mother's Day.  I hope they will display the block each Mother's Day as a remembrance of what a great woman their grandmother was.  I also kept one for myself and gave on to a sister-in-law.  I have pictures of the blocks below. 

Moda Blockhead #9 - Ohio Star Variation

I have to say, this is my favorite block so far - Ohio Star Variation by Jo Morton.

I was so proud, did not have to rip one seam out, until this happened.   Ooops, and it was the next to last seam I had to make. Bummer.

So I grab the seam ripper and fixed that wayward 4-patch.  Guess I jinxed myself, because had to sew the last seam twice as well and even so it is still a little off, no problem, I like it just as it is.

Baby Shower Sunday

Today was a special day at our church.  We had a shower for three of the expectant mom's in our church.  Next month we will do another shower for two more ladies that are having babies.  For those of you who attend big churches, that may not sound so unusual to have 5 babies all due within a couple months of each other, but we attend a very small church.  I think our average attendance on Sunday morning is around 125 or so, maybe a little more recently as the church family is growing.


So I have been working on baby quilts for a few weeks now.  The last three babies born in the church, one of which was my sweet Adeline, I made quilts for.  Now its like I set a precedent that I will make a quilt for new babies born into the church family, which I enjoy doing.  But when you have 5 coming so close together, it can be a challenge.

 First up is a quilt for Lorelai, my granddaughter.  Holding the quilt is Ellen, my daughter. 


This quilt is made of blocks that my mother quilted (solid pastel blocks) and blocks that I made (girls).  Both are hand quilted and I used a quilt as you go method to sew the quilt together.


I think it made a very special quilt to have one made both by Lorelai's great-grandmother and grandmother. 

Next up is a quilt I made for Hudson, the only boy baby being expected at this time.  The quilt is held by his momma, Anna.

I had made a quilt for his brother, Abram, who is now 18 months old.  Abram's quilt is primary colors so I went with the primary color theme again for Hudson.

 

Our third baby to be honored is Ivy Hosanna. Here is her mom Carolina and her big Sis holding Ivy's quilt.  I have fun with this chevron pattern - had not made one of these before. 

After I got home tonight, I looked through my patterns to come up with quilts for the next two babies.  Their shower is to be the first Sunday of June, so I gotta get busy!

And I will close with a picture of my two lovely daughters - Ellen and Jennie.  I am so blessed to have two very sweet daughters who are fantastic Mom's.  Jennie spearheaded the shower today.

RSC - Green for May

Start of new month always means more nine-patches in the color of the month.  For May the color is Green, so perfect for May, which the birthstone is Emerald.

I have started on the blocks and enjoying all the Spring greens I have in my stash.

I have to make 33 blocks for May and have completed 7 so far.

My fabric selections for May....even a cute little frog hopped into the collection.

Moda Blockhead Challenge - Learning to accept failure

That is kind of a negative title for this blog post, but really it is a very positive one.  I probably should not say "failure," but rather "imperfection."


I am having a great time making the blockhead blocks, but have learned and accepted that they will never be as perfect as so many that the other blockheads are posting.  I have tried paper piecing them, measuring and re-measuring, re-sewing each block multiple times....and to no avail, they simply are not going to be as perfect as what I see on-line.  (Personally, I think they are photoshopping those pictures!)


What I have learned through this process, is to strive for perfection, love the process but to not be discouraged when things don't go quite like I had hoped.  After all, a 6" block with 40 pieces is truly a miracle if it all come together perfectly.


So here is my latest block - Block 8.  I know what the problem is, its that bottom HST is not right and needs to be re-sewn. There are also a few AWOL points.  Am I going to "fix" it - nope, I like the block, I tried my best and it is what it is.  When I cropped this picture, I cropped off the seam allowance on that top row, but believe me - they are there. 

Thanks for stopping by....Teresa