Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 9 Blog Tour!

Welcome to day three of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour! I'm so happy to have my regular blog followers and blog hop guests stop by today :o)

This is the first time I've submitted a block for consideration, and I could not be more excited to have Dashing Geese included in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks volume 9. Here it is, block #883 on page 67 :o)

Dashing Geese found in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 9

Dashing Geese is a combination block containing a small bit of paper piecing for the geese units and regular piecing for block construction. You can read a bit about what inspired me to try designing a block here.

I had so much fun coming up with a design. To begin the process I thought about what kind of quilt block I am drawn to...often these are traditional blocks with a history to tell. I selected the churn dash. Next, I considered what I could do to make this block my own. The churn dash has great possibilities when you consider the "real estate" available in the rectangular areas of the block. Mulling over the options I decided to fill the rectangles with flying geese. 

Due to the dimensions of a churn dash I could not use the 1:2 ratio of traditional flying geese. Instead, I drafted a paper piecing template to create the geese unit. I don't have special software and just used the Drawing toolbar of MicroSoft Word to work out the specifics.  

Depending on the fabric chosen Dashing Geese can look contemporary or traditional. Fabric placement also impacts how the block looks. Here are a few different "looks" for Dashing Geese:




Quiltmaker's invited block designers to make and submit a quilt featuring their block for inclusion in the Designer Gallery section of the magazine. Quilts submitted will also be on display in the Golden, Colorado office gallery for the summer! So fun :o)  

Dashing Geese wall hanging. Photographed by Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.

For this Dashing Geese mini quilt I used my all-time favorite fabric, Rouenneries by French General. In each block I changed up the fabric placement or colors to create a sampler-style quilt.

Magazine give-away! Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, volume 9 goes on sale May 6, but Quiltmaker's Magazine is going to give one of my readers a free issue!  Just leave a comment telling me if you are a contemporary/modern quilter, or if traditional is more your look. I'd also love to hear what fabric line and colors you'd use to make a Dashing Geese block...I'm always looking for creative options :o) This magazine drawing is open to everyone-international included. 

In addition, I'm holding a special give-away! Follow my blog and be entered into a drawing for this Dashing Geese pillow featuring DS Quilts fabrics, hand-quilting, gathered borders, and an envelope closure on the back! In your comment tell me how you follow me (Bloglovin', email, Google/Blogger Follower) to be eligible to win! This drawing is open to everyone who follows my blog-international included. Check out the sidebar on the right if you'd like to become a follower...and I hope you will :o) (Drawing is for pillow cover only, pillow form not included.) 

Dashing Geese pillow with gathered borders

I'll use Random.org to pick the winners at 10:30 p.m. EST, Friday evening, May 2 for both the magazine and the Dashing Geese pillow. Check back on Saturday to find out who the winner's are. You must have an email account associated with your profile in order to win, if your account is a "no reply blogger" I have no way to contact you. 

Make sure you stop by Quiltmaker's blog, Quilty Pleasures, for even more prizes, and a complete list of blog tour participants! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and sharing in the fun!

April - A Lovely Year of Finishes Goal Met

Here we are at the end of April...I can hardly believe it! I am happy to report that I met my April ALYoF goal and finished the pillow :o) But goodness...I'm not quite sure how to document it just yet. You see, it can't be shown until Wednesday when my blog participates in the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks blog tour, because...well because it features my block!! So I guess until that time I'll just have to show you the pillow back so you know it's all finished, and then the reveal will come on Wednesday during the blog hop :o)  I'm linking up with the April Finishes Party and I'm entry No. 38. 

In other news: I've been working on the March quilt for the Faith Circle of do. Good Stitches. The wonky disappearing 4 patch blocks are all sewn together and now I'm making a raw edge applique border to go around it. Here's a progress shot to show how it's coming together.  



I am loving this quilt! When it's all done I think it will be so sweet :o) These wonky disappearing 4 patch blocks are made using my tutorial which can be found here. The flower and vine shapes come from The New Applique' Sampler by Piece O' Cake. This is a great book if you are looking to learn needle turn applique'. For this quilt I'm fusing the applique' pieces down and then will do raw edge stitching on my machine. 

Hope you will stop back by on Wednesday, April 30 when my blog is a stop on Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks blog hop! There will be a fun give-away with prizes :o) See you then!!

Gentle Saturday Morning

Birds are singing, the sun is shining, and a beautiful Spring Day is in it's infancy. It feels so good to be outside.

Just so I could enjoy being outdoors I took the Faith Circle Wonky Disappearing 4 Patch blocks out on the deck for a quick photo shoot :)

Here they are all ready to be cut to size and stitched together. I love this gentle quilt already. 

I have a couple of fun ideas swirling around in my head for sweet additions to these blocks...we'll see if they work out :)

Edit: Tutorial for this block can be found here.

Hope you enjoy a lovely weekend!

April Goal - A Lovely Year of Finishes

April means we are ready for fresh, bright colors and flowers...right?! Thoughts of warm weather and spring clothes sound so good :o) It is so very nice to go outside without a winter coat on!

This month I am in need of a little gift to give away so I've decided to use it as my April ALYoF goal. I have a mental image for a quilted pillow with an envelope-style back. We'll see if I can pull it off ;o)

I started with this sweet collection of orange fabrics:

From left to right, Kona Navy, the plaid and floral prints are from the Blossom Reel line by DS Quilts, Color Weave by P&B Textiles in  Light Orange, and finally Kona Snow.

I'm linking up the the April ALYoF Goal Setting Party! Mine is Entry No. 72. Click over there and have a look at all of the great projects going on...you're sure to find something to inspire you :o)