Sewing Charity Blocks

I have been cutting and putting together charity quilt blocks based on a You Tube Tutorial produced by The Missouri Quilt Company.  I will provide the link at the end of this post.

These blocks are fun and easy to make.

You start with 30-40 10 inch blocks. (Our Guild is using 35 blocks).   You can cut up your stash or simply use a layer cake.

 

 

Next, cut all of the 10 inch square into 3.5 inch and 6.5 inch rectangles:

 

 

Once cut, flip the 3.5 inch size over:

 

 

and sew the two rectangles back together --

 

 

Once all are sewn back together, making sure you have not duplicates, you cut each block into two equal rectangles (5 inches each).

 

 

 

After cutting the second time, you flip one set over ---

 

 

 

And sew the two sets back together, but

 

 

make sure that the short ends are opposite from each other.  Also, try not to have the same fabric touching one another.  You now have a finished block.

 

Put the blocks together in rows of 5, alternating the blocks as shown below:

 

 

Continuing alternating the blocks in each row, making sure the second row begins with the opposite direction of the proceeding row block.

 

 

Continue this process until you have seven rows of five blocks each.

 

You can watch the tutorial, called the Double Layer Cake Tutorial, by Jenny Doan of the Missouri Quilt Company by clicking on the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxC-0T5lXw4&feature=endscreen&NR=1.

 

Try a few of these blocks.  They sew up very fast and make a wonderful quilt top for a child. 

 

Two days to Houston.................

 

Sandra

 





Preparing for Houston - Facinators

Three of us wild and crazy gals will be going to Houston for the International Quilt Show.  We have tickets for the Quiltapoloza party.  This year's theme is "fascinators".  We got together last week and designed - and I say that with tongue in cheek - what we will be wearing.

According to Wickapedia - 
A fascinator is a headpiece, a style of millinery. The word originally referred to a fine, lacy head covering akin to a shawl and made from wool or lace, but mostly feathers. In the modern usage, it refers to a woman's alternative to hat for formal attire; it is usually a large hair decoration on a band or clip with elaborate trimmings and decoration like a formal hat and it can incorporate a base to make it a miniature hat.

Today, a fascinator may be worn instead of a hat on occasions where hats were traditionally worn—such as weddings—or as an evening accessory, when it may be called a cocktail hat. It is generally worn with fairly formal attire.

A substantial fascinator is a fascinator of some size or bulk. Bigger than a barrette, modern fascinators are commonly made with feathers, flowers or beads.^[1] They attach to the hair by a comb, headband or clip. The fun, fanciful ornament is often embellished with crystals, beads, or loops of ribbon, and attaches via a comb or headband; some have a small, stiff, flat base that can be secured with bobby pins. They are particularly popular at premium horse-racing events, such as the Grand National, Kentucky Derby and the Melbourne Cup.

Obviously, we will not be attending a horse race or the Melbourne Cup.  We will just be having fun showing off our styles.

My facinator will be in the Sew Quilty category.  I have it hanging over one of my lamps.  It is a pin cushion with small spools of thread glued around.  I also have a small pair of scissors, needles, pins and a needle threader glued on.  The back has a tape measure tied into a bow.

This should be fun.  I will take pictures of the event and share them with you when we return.

Sandra

 

Fabric from CT

I promised to provide pictures of the fabric I brought back from CT.  Here goes:

Picked these because they were pretty

I am in love with greys and I liked the Christmas fat quarter

This will become pillowcases



These are strips from Yolanda Fundora's latest line of fabrics which will be previewed at Fall Market in Houston.
Visit her site to see all of her collections

 

This is the beautiful batik that I won at our Fat Quarter game

 

 

Hope you have time for some quilting this week.

 

Sandra



Block 2 of Bloggers BOM with Peach Patch Quilts

,

The second block sponsored by Peach Patch Quilts can be found at Sew Kind of Wonderful.  Jenny chose the Churn Dash for her block this month.

 

 

It's not too late to join the Bloggers BOM. The schedule can be found at Peach Patch Quilts.  While you are over there sign up for the giveaway of a quick curve ruler that can be seen on Sew Kind of Wonderful.

 

 

 

 

Happy quilting,

 

Sandra

 

Day 3 - CCQ Retreat 2012



 The third day we started out doing some sewing and lots of talking.  After a tasty brunch, we had our Charm Square exchange.  The charms were Christmas fabrics.

We also had the drawing for the block lottery.  Cathy won it for the second year in a row.  We were all happy because we know she will bring a finished quilt top to next year's retreat

This is the quilt she made from last year's blocks.

We also took time to take pictures of the quilt tops of those of our group that attended the Vermont Quilt Show.  They worked on a round robin quilt top for themselves.  Everyone got to see their top for the first time this weekend.

Beth, Kathy, Patrice, Dorothy, Diane

There were over 60, if I remember correctly, pillowcases donated - many of them made during the retreat.  There were also several quilts donated.  The quilt designs were from Marie Bostwick's pattern in Quiltmaker, "The Path to Cobble Court."

Finally, we took our annual group picture.  Phyllis, our hostess from Camp Washington, graciously took the picture for many of us, camera after camera.

I did have one finished top at the end of the retreat.  It is a baby quilt for my daughter-in-law's best friend.

Sadly, it was time to begin the long journey home.  The leaves were beautiful on the way to Hartford.

 

 

-------The end of a great weekend with wonderful friends.-------

 

 

 

Sandra



Day 2 - Part II - CCQ Retreat 2012

As indicated in earlier posts there were 21 of us sewing up a storm on Saturday.

I took pictures of Beth and Lillian, but they did not come out.  Sorry.

The next event was the "Dirty Fat Quarter" swap.  Each had brough a fat quarter disguised so no one could see what they were receiving.  It is always one of the highlights of the retreat.  This year was no exception.  Let's just say Shellie, Judy and Dorothy entertained us well!!

Most went to bed after this fun event, but some stayed up late to continue working on secret projects.

So much for Saturday.

Last day info will be posted next.

Sandra

Day 2 Part I- CCQ Retreat III - 2012

Some of us were up very early on Saturday, still in pajamas, sewing.  Eventually we all made it downstairs and had a great tasting breakfast.  Then the machines were humming.

 

 

Around mid morning several of us took a break and went to a local quilt store, The Quilt Bug. Again, I found things I could not leave without.

We had lunch back at Camp Washington, then back to sewing.

Some took a walk.  You can read about this over on Rennie's blog, A Quilt Complex. 

There were a couple of secret projects that we worked on Saturday, but I will have to share that with you later.

After dinner it was back to more sewing.

 

 

 

More to follow.............

Sandra

Cobble Court Quilters (CCQ) Retreat in CT - Day 1

Twenty one of us came together for a fabulous weekend at Camp Washington, near Litchfield CT.  Three new friends joined us this year.  It did not take long for the new to wear off. 

The retreat weekend started for me on Thursday when I flew into Hartford and met Pam and later Sue.  We met up with Patrice and Joe for a wonderful meal at The Cheesecake Factory. 

After the meal we went to "Quilting by the Yard" and decreased their fabric inventory somewhat.

Friday morning found us on the way to Litchfield, where we stopped for lunch at the West End Grill.  The food was excellent, as it had been in the past.  We walked around the square, visited a few stores then made our way to Camp Washington.

By four o'clock we had unpacked our sewing stuff, dragged our suitcases upstairs and joined others in the great room to begin the fun weekend.

We ate dinner around 5 or 6, then sometime later we had our annual Show and Tell.  Some pictures of this even are shown below.  Unfortunately, my camera ran out of power and I did not get pictures of all of the beautiful creations of this group.

 

 

 

 

Sorry about how the pictures are shown; they seem to have a mind of their own.

To be continued................

Sandra