Winter Blocks for Winter Weather

Hey there!

Have you been having fun with the weather?  It's been crazy here in Texas!  Yesterday was about 30 degrees and today it's 65, and tomorrow...well back on the roller coaster again.  

I've been stitching up a few charity blocks for the Austin MQG.  Jessica chose a block by Pat Fryer called Good Neighbors for this month's block.  She picked contrasting blues and aquas for this lovely pattern, along with a silver or white background.  I used some of the leftover fabric from my Riley Blake Challenge to piece these.  Won't they all look so crisp and clean like fresh fallen snow when all put together?  

Charity Blocks

I'm also busy sewing some charity blocks for the Austin Modern Quilt Guild.  As the VP of Communications, I'm in charge of the charity/outreach projects for the year and I've decided it would be fun to have a little challenge!  

I pick a block each month to post a tutorial about and pick colors, and the guild members make as many (hopefully not as few) blocks as they want and bring them to the meetings.  Each block they bring is an entry to win some of the blocks from the pot.  The rest will be used to make charity quilts.  

I'm having so much fun making these blocks in fresh colors and I love seeing them pop up here and there on members' blogs or Instagram!  Here are a couple I've made so far.  They measure 12.5" square.  The block is called Texas Puzzle.

Oklahoma Tornado Relief: Moore Love

I'm sure you've seen the devastation in Moore, OK on the news.  It's really sad for me since Oklahoma City was my home for a year after optometry school, where I met my boyfriend, where I met so many friends.  The people are so friendly and these challenges are disheartening.  My friends are all safe, but I just found out today that two of my former co-workers lost everything in the tornado.  

The Oklahoma City Modern Quilt Guild is collecting quilts for victims.  If you'd like to help, you can find more info here.  Please mail completed quilts by June 30.  You can email okcmqg@gmail.com for the address.  Of course my prayers go out to all the citizens of Moore and those affected by the tornado.  

Charity Quilt Top for DMQG

I finished up a quilt top for the DMQG this evening.  We were given baggies of fabric - mine had almost a full layer cake in it - and told to do whatever we wanted.  I immediately thought of the perfect project for my lovely mix of Modern Workshop and Oasis.  The It's a Hoot Baby Quilt by Amy Ellis went together so quickly and used a minimum of extra fabric beyond the precuts - perfect for charity quilts!  

Castle Peeps in the Kitchen Windows!

I purchased a Castle Peeps scrap bag from a friend and decided to make a quilt for one of the kiddos at the OKC children's hospital.  Fun and cheerful is the best way I can describe Lizzy House fabric!  I bought Elizabeth Hartman's book A Practical Guide to Patchwork from the same friend and decided to try a small version of the Kitchen Window quilt for the amount of fabric I had on hand.  I think it turned out well, no?


Castle Peeps by Lizzy House for the kitchen window elements
Black Stones from JoAnn for the inner block sashing
Robert Kaufman stargazer for the outer block sashing

Another Charity Quilt Top Finished

Last night I finished up another charity quilt top.  When I lived in OKC, I was a member of my church quilt group and we made quilts for kids at the local children's hospital.  I'm moved but I'm still active with the group and take the quilt tops back when I visit.  


Awhile back, someone donated loads of fabric to the group but they were mostly the ornate, oriental and guilded fabric with gold and silver threads on everything.  I didn't think they were very kid friendly, but when it's being donated, you have to make do with what you've been given! 


I came across Camille Roskelley's Thimble Blossoms pattern called Coming Soon and decided that would be a fun arrangement for some of the fabrics I had acquired from the donated bunch.  Here's what I came up with.  I was going for a castle feel, but you have to see the fabric in person I think to really appreciate it.  


The small rectangles inside the blocks are a fabric that looks like stained glass windows.  The blocks are made out of several sky, water, and grass prints, along with a few playful horses galloping through the fields.  As I was cutting this out, I thought I should make another one with fussy cut Castle Peeps as the small rectangles.  

A note about this pattern - it was so super easy to make!  I could have made this whole quilt in a day if I'd wanted.  The directions were easy to follow and there are so many possibilities with this one.  Don't be surprised if you see other variations in the future :)

Cat lady quilt top complete!

Welcome back from the Thanksgiving holiday!  Hope everyone had good food with family and friends.  I finished the crazy cat lady quilt top and I must say, it's pretty awesome!  I used some of the JoAnn fabric that was only $2/yard for the border and it really pulls the black, yellow, and grey together. 


Speaking of sales, I know I went way overboard on fabric sales Friday and Monday.  What about you?

I promise I'm not the crazy cat lady...

I have a bunch of fabric that was donated to my church quilt group for the charity quilts we make for kids at the local hospital.  Some of it is well, unusual.  Here's an example.  Notice the cats in the black and white prints?  Yep.  Cats all over!  My friends make fun of me and call me a crazy cat slash quilt lady even though my cat temporarily lives with my parents.  Anyway,  here's what I'm working on this week.  Hopefully one of the kids will love cats!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I made myself a deal...

I have to finish quilting 1 quilt in the stack of finished tops before I can make any. more. quilt. tops. period!    I'm not sure if this is because I'm becoming burned out, unsatisfied that no one seems to want to pay for a quilt, or that I just have too many.  Anyway,  I've undertaken quilting my Bliss sampler quilt and won't start anything else until I complete that sucker!  So far I've finished the outer border.  I know this isn't the proper way to quilt, but I'm lacking inspiration for the center and sashing.  I want to try something besides stippling but am not quite sure what just yet.  Any suggestions?

Last night I finished my roller coaster quilt top.  I think it's so fun!  Looking back at the pattern's suggested way of organizing the blocks, I totally messed it up, but I don't think anyone will notice :)

Roller Coaster Quilt

In the spirit of 100 Quilts for Kids, I've been working on another pink/grey/black quilt top this week.  This is such a fun one!  Finished quilt will be 37" x 48" and is from Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott.  I just love that book!  The quilts are all perfect sizes for charity quilts too.  


Here's a sneak peak at something I'm working on to possibly sell in the future.  What do you think of my Nintendo characters?  I'm such a geek/nerd :D  It's ok, I do what I want because it's my birthday today!  My grandma gave me a JoAnn gift card.  Perfect!

More charity quilt tops :)

Here's the latest of my charity quilt tops.  The blue & orange one is the culprit of the sheared finger :)  No blood spatters there!  The pink/grey one is some fabric that was donated to my quilt group lately.  I'm not sure it's the most kid-friendly, but I think it'll work.  I have another one cut out and ready to put together real fast later this week.  The pattern is Road Trip Quilt by Cluck Cluck Sew.

Crafting is dangerous...

Last night as I was rotary cutting some fabric for a charity quilt, I wasn't paying enough attention and rotary cut part of my left pointer finger tip right off - nail and all!  I was quite shocked, as you may imagine.  I don't have my new insurance coverage yet and my finger was spewing all over, so what is a girl to do?  Call her daddy, who happens to be a veterinarian but lives 4 states away.  After tight wrapping, ice, and multiple tylenol, I am doing better.  I didn't have to go to the ER because I can't find the rest of my finger to reattach.  It's definitely gruesome-looking and sore, but seems to be fairly superficial and will probably look normal after it's healed.  The good news?  There's not a drop of blood on the fabric I was cutting!


Anywho, this post is taking awhile to type, as you can imagine, so here's a pic of a quilt top I finished earlier this week.  It is also a charity quilt, but not the one I shed blood for!  The fabric is all from JoAnn.  The pattern is a free download from Connecting Threads.

Keep your fingers clear of the edge!  Happy sewing.


I'm linking to Freshly Pieced and Fabric Tuesday.