Blocks of the month

 

I've been working on instructions for the last two guild blocks of the month.  Buttercup, the block for April, was all made before Bonnie Hunter came out with her lovely Tulip Time pattern using very similar blocks.  Great minds think alike.

Stems can be added by piecing, applique or embroidery, but I left my block without stems.  I hope the guild members enjoy this block as they seem a bit wary about the very improvisational March block, Wonky Stars.  

Meanwhile, I decided to wrap up the guild blocks of the month in May. We hope the guild can resume meeting in person in September and each monthly program team can offer its own block of the month then.  While I've been doing this, I have organized a monthly lottery for anyone who wants to participate.  I hold a drawing every month, and people mail a 6" block to the winner.  Some months, we've had 20 blocks sent, which would make a nice table runner or topper.

The final block in May will be Friendship Star to promote the friendships we make in the guild.  Our group has grown from about 20 when we started in 2008(?) to almost 80.  We've even had some new members this year when we haven't been meeting in person.  The monthly teams have really helped people get to know each other in such a large group.

I've been making four blocks each month - the best one for the lottery and three for my Dear Jen quilt which is coming along slowly.  I hope to devote a little more energy to Dear Jen in the months ahead because some of Kingwell's blocks are pretty complex.

Still busy in the quilting room

First it was hot, then today it's rainy.  Both conditions are perfect for quilting.  There's AC if I need it, and lots of scraps to keep me busy.  Here are the two table runners I finished a few days ago:

Last year I participated in a swap of Missouri Star squares.  I made a few extra in case I needed them to make a bigger quilt.  One swap block went really well with the fall colored squares and another (from my local guild swap) went with the green ones.  The green table runner has Christmas fabric on the back so it can be used for the holidays (if the person likes not-quite-lime for the season).  Since finishing those, I made a bunch of modern Christmas trees that became table runners, but I'm waiting for fabric to come from etsy for the binding.  Then I'll take photos of those.  I plan to try to sell a few on my etsy shop and a few at the local flower/gift shop.

Meanwhile, I've been mining the depths of my string basket for a little bit of a longer term project.  The pattern, Honeycomb, is by Karen Griska who will be speaking at the state quilt guild in May.  I love her scrappy and her selvage quilts, so I look forward to meeting her.

My honeycombs look more like wheels, and I'm planning to make my quilt with just eight of them (they measure about 15").  My selection of strings just isn't big or varied enough to make the full sized quilt.   Not sure I'll make the same border, either.  I was thinking of a piano-keys or a rail fence border made with light strings instead.   I want to get the top done before the fall state guild meeting so that I can get everyone excited about Karen's coming.

So far, I have parts of six wheels ready to put together, but I'm waiting until I have them all so that I can shuffle the pieces around.  I've never used paper plates to separate parts of a quilt before, but I'm finding them very handy with this quilt.