Block making sweatshop

I have been a block making fool this weekend. First up is a block I made for Barbara in my AQB1 group. She has 9 patches from her LQG swap and wanted different blocks to finish up her quilt. This block started out to be one thing but ended up to be something totally different when I was done. I had intended to make a Japanese knot block called Kurume but didn't have enough of the orange fabric for the strips I needed. Six months ago, I would have totally panicked and had a small meltdown. My confidence in quilting has grown and now when things like that happen, I'm okay just winging it. This block is 12.5". The block is suppose to be facing the other way but blogger loaded it up like this and I think I like it better. The next two blocks are 6.5" but this collage makes the pinwheel block look huge. The two blocks are the exact same size. The string x block is the smallest string block I've made to date.

Stephanie is working on finishing her PTQB blocks. She's doing an ABC themed quilt for her daughter. Since 26 blocks is such an odd number for a quilt layout without leaving one or two blocks out, we decided to add 2 more blocks so that she could lay 4 across and 7 down. Somehow, I got suckered into making the two extra blocks. I kid, I kid, I volunteered. She sent me two panels and some scraps and here's the result of first block:

And the second...

See that strip of pears on the left? That almost didn't make it into the block. It was "accidentally "going to fall into MY scrap pile. I love those little pears!

I also made some more nine patches and I think I'm all caught up. I made more scrappy nine patches too but no picture. I've already got it in quilt top form and I'm almost done. I know, another quilt top... I need to stop making them and start finishing some of them.

My niece and I have come to a compromise on her camouflage quilt. Here it is:

It was the only way I could make it work since she also wanted leopard and Nascar fabric included. Yes, my friends, my sister has raised a redneck. Apparently, I do "do ugly". The things you do for those you love. Never in a million years did I think I would EVER utter these words: "Yes, can I have a half yard of the mossy oak camouflage please?". Yikes!

More leftovers

I'm a big fan of leftovers when it comes to food. I think sometimes it just tastes better the next day. It looks like I'm a big fan of leftovers when it comes to quilting too. My newest quilt top is another happy accident. I was cleaning off my cutting table to work on nine patches when I found some scraps. For my Circles Quilt, I worked with 1/4 yard cuts of Flights of Fancy. I needed 7.5" squares for the circle quilt so it left me with a bunch of random pieces that were too small to use for nine patches. I was going to throw it in my scrap bin but friends, my scrap bin overfloweth. So I just started randomly piecing blocks. When I was done I had 16 blocks of all different sizes so I made them all uniform by adding white borders and finished each block at 12". I assembled my 12" blocks together but I felt like it needed something more. It was just too white. I added 1.5" strips of Kona in Bahama Blue and 5" borders in black and voila, I had another quilt top. This one measures 59" square and I love it! It also gave me an idea of what to do for my Circle quilt too so now I am one happy chica!

So now I'm off to get a shower and get ready for a night of great food and a few drinks with some friends. I hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Boxed in

Thanks for all the feedback on the Circle quilt. I think I'll be spending some quality time with my seam ripper this weekend. In the mean time, lets move on to some happier crafty projects. Stephanie asked me the other day if I had any ideas for a quilt to make with her HB Pop Garden jelly roll. I remembered seeing a quilt I really liked a while back so I tweaked it a little. I cut 2.5" strips out of my Amy Butler stash and some Kona white and made two blocks . I took pictures with measurements and sent it off to her and I really was going to stop there because I really don't need another quilt top.

I couldn't stop at two so I made a few more. 28 more to be exact. Oops.
This one's a teensy bit closer to be made into a quilt top. No, I don't have backing for it but I do have the binding made....

Edited- For those who you who wanted block measurement details:

*for the block with the floral border-

floral: (1) 2.5"x4"

(2) 2.5"x8"

(2) 2.5"x10.5"

white: (2) 2.5"x4"

(2) 2.5"x6.5"

*for the block with the white border-

floral: (2) 2.5"x4"

(2) 2.5"x6.5"

white: (1) 2.5"x4"

(2) 2.5"x8"

(2) 2.5"x10.5"

Your finished block will be 10.5"x12". I made 30 blocks for a finished size of approximately 58"x60.5". This is a very easy, beginner friendly project. The blocks are fast and easy to piece together. I made mine in the span of two nights with some blog reading in between :0). If you make a quilt with these measurements, I'd love to see it. Enjoy!

Circle quilt top done?

I've finished assembling my circle quilt top and I'm not sure I like it. I love each individual block but I'm not crazy about them together. It's just so busy! I have seen other circle quilts with multiple pattern fabrics and loved it. Maybe Flights of Fancy is just too much for something like this. I could always sash in black and this way each block would stand out ( and ya'll know I love me some sashing!). My niece loves this quilt but she also wants me to make her a quilt with different types of camouflage fabric * so I'm not too sure I can trust her opinion. We have different tastes in just about everything. Hmmm, what do ya'll think? Leave it alone or add sashing?



Did ya'll know there's different TYPES of camouflage? Seriously. I keep telling her I don't do ugly but she's not listening.

Mendocino Madness

I've decided to name this quilt Mendocino Madness or maybe Mad for Mendocino. Either way, I'm CRAZY about this quilt!! Sixteen beautiful blocks by eleven talented ladies from AQB1 ! I'd like to say that I planned the little pinwheels in the corner but I miscalculated the measurements for the border and came up short. Four pinwheels later and all was well in Mushyhed's world. This quilt top measures 74"x74".

Here are the credits for this beautiful creation:
1st row: Barbara, Barbara, Sara, Barbara
2nd row: Kelsey, Tasha, Sarah Ch, Vanessa
3rd row: Barbara, Kvinta (Ann) , Tasha, Jessica
4th row: Dallas, Karen, Sarah Ch, Sarah C

Many, many thanks to the eleven wonderful and talented ladies who help me make this beautiful quilt!!

Great mail day

Did ya'll hear that loud squeal at about 5:30p.m. today? That would be me. Look what I got in the mail today... I got it via my newest addiction, the Flickr swap group. It's a good thing fabric can be washed because I'm certain I drooled on it ( oh please, you know you would have too!). I also received my block from Dallas from AQB1:

She even sent me a piece of Belgium chocolate but it didn't make it to the photo op...My quilt top for AQB1 is about 90% done so I'll finish it tonight and post it. That is if I can tear myself away from Flickr...

I also received my blocks from Anina's 9 patch swap. Yippee!

I wish all mail days were like today's.

Another bee block and a new project

For Stephanie's block in PTQB, she wanted a spiderweb block. It's been a while since I made one, I had to look at the tutorial to refresh my memory. I love this block. It's so easy to put together and uses all sizes of scraps. Stephanie sent the linen for the kite and a bunch of pre-cut strips so it really took no time to put together. It's a good thing my friend Mali has most of my scraps right now , otherwise I'm sure I'd be starting a new project. Speaking of new projects, this is what I'm working on now:

Let's just say that I'm not scared of curved piecing anymore :0)