Traditional Quilt Blocks in Christmas Colors
"A day patched with quilting seldom unravels."
Greetings Quilter - In light of his upcoming 15th birthday, m. mouse and I were having a little conversation about how we could celebrate that marvelous event. He suggested that there would probably be at least 15 fun things he could dream up between now and September 2 - which is his actual birthday. Hard to disagree with that, isn't it? The thing is just not knowing what kinds of things he will come up with.
The first thing we agreed on was that he deserved a special Happy Birthday Hat for the occasion. And, not really liking hats or other articles of clothing, he wouldn't agree to actually having the special Happy Birthday Hat on his little head, but he did allow me to share a hat with him in Photoshop - my image creation software. His first inspiration was to lead the week off with a quilt block demonstration showing how to sew the All Those Fish quilt block. Of course, he slept through the entire process. However, he did wake up to see the final block and pose for this picture at the end of the video. Check it out, it's posted below. His next great idea will be coming up on Wednesday, so check your email to see what he has come up with. It all ties in with Income Tax day and quilt block patterns. In the meantime, Happy Happy! And now for the rest of the news - - Happy Quilting!
How to Bind a Quilt Club and DVD This month’s Binding DVD will show you how to bind a quilt double fold straight grain binding. This is a very traditional method of binding a quilt, and Active Square Patch and above members of TheQuiltingCoach.com and active members of the Official How to Bind a Quilt Club will receive this DVD for free as a benefit of their membership. Non members can order this DVD individually, or you can join the Club. Remember, the DVD showing how to bind a quilt using striped fabric will be available only until the end of April. Then it, too, disappears. You may have questions about the Binding Club, and here are the answers:
Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation
Georgia Bonesteel joined us last Thursday, April 9, for a fabulous eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation. Because there are so many of you who are around the world in different time zones and would incur monster phone bills, I've decided to post the replay of the entire call for this week only: This was a fun Conversation, since Georgia is a longtime traditional patchwork quilter who will share her techniques and secrets for designing quilts as well as:
Also, mark you calendar for April 26, when Scott Murkin joins us. He is a quilt artist as well as quilt judge and physician - in his "other" live. That, too, should be a fun Conversation A Quilt Idea – Tennessee Waltz It’s never too early to start a Christmas quilt. And this isn’t especially a Christmas Quilt pattern. You could just as easily do it in Halloween, fall, spring or any other colors you like. The thing about this quilt is that by alternating the Tennessee Waltz block with a simple Snowball block, you highlight the design of the Tennessee Waltz block and create some interesting stars between the blocks. Because I wanted to offset the blocks, I had some space leftover at the sides of the quilt, and choose to fill them with “partial blocks.” A careful look and you will see 1/3 of a Tennessee Waltz and 1/3 of a Snowball at the end of each row and filling the top and bottom of the quilt top center. As I made this quilt, I wanted to do a pieced border, and decided to carry on the little 4 patches that show up in each corner of the basic block. However, instead of just placing the 4 patches side by side, I put them on point, filling the spaces with the muslin so you could see the 4 patches in the border. Each of the other inside borders was made the width necessary in order to get a nice fit of the 4 patches in the border. To accomplish that, I measured the width of the 4 patch on the diagonal and figured out how many would fit evenly around the quilt. Because it was larger than the center of the quilt, I knew I needed to add a border. Because it was relatively wide, instead of adding just one border, I chose to add two inside borders, varying the width of each. I like to have my borders frame my quilt, so I used a dark green next to the center of the quilt and then surrounded the 4 patches with red. The binding of this quilt is rather wide – 1 inch – and is a double fold bias binding. Read about the quilting in the article Tips – for Creating Quilting Designs on your Quilt
Download the Tennessee Waltz Quilt Block Pattern and the Snowball Quilt Block Pattern Postcard Quilts for the Troops July 4th Roundup Next - Deadline MAY 20!
Penny's Postcard Posse has sent more than 15,000 fabric postcards to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the hospital in Germany. As quilters, we know what those postcards mean to the men and women who recieve them. Some who get them receive no other mail from home. And for all of them, it's a reminder of the wonderful freedoms they are fighting for and the comforts they will enjoy when they return home. The 4th of July Roundup is in full swing - the deadline is May 20! It's not too early to start making patriotic cards for our 4th of July Roundup. This will mark our 4th Year! Check out the postcard patterns on www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com I will continue to add designs, and patterns for the fabric postcards are always free. Remember the Birthday Roundup - Diane had a great idea to send over a package of Birthday postcards that can be handed to soldiers the day of their birthday! What a great idea. So, we've set up a deadline of August 10, and there is plenty of time to get some postcards made by then. She will send over a big box and the soldier "in charge" can hand them out as birthdays arrive. I will be adding birthday-themed postcard designs to www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com, so keep on checkin' To make the 4th of July deadline, get your cards to Diane by May 20. Please send your cards to:
Diane is doing a fabulous job keeping the pictures updated, and if you have sent cards in, let your friends and family know that they can see pictures of them here: www.Fabric-Postcards.com Remember you can get FREE postcard patterns at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com Special Note - we are in the process of changing the Picture Gallery on the Fabric-Postcards.com site. It may take a few days, so bear with us. Not to worry - We have all of the pictures and will get everything squared away soon.
Featured Block in Video - All Those Fish Quilt Block
Download the All Those Fish Quilt Block Pattern
April Quilt Block Patterns The April selection of free quilt block patterns includes a variety of 4 patch quilt blocks, ranging from the easy to make to some that are a little more complex. Click here to download your April FREE quilt block patterns
Click here to download your April FREE quilt block patterns |
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