An Extra Day in the Sun :o)

I'm still enjoying a bit of fun from my participation in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, vol. 9. The school where I teach uses a video broadcast for morning announcements each day. On Friday's there is a special segment called "Trojan Spotlight" which features an interview of a student or a teacher who has done something special. Some of the past participants have:

• shot their first buck...a major milestone in the life of a tweenager/teenager :o)
• set a record in a district sporting event
• participated in community theatre

As you can see it takes a lot to be invited to appear on Trojan Spotlight! Being a published quilt block designer qualified me ;o)

Of course I had to make up a new sample of Dashing Geese to show on camera since the prize pillow I'd made for the blog hop has already been sent to it's new home.

Dashing Geese

I thought I should use something nice and bright to appeal to my younger middle-school-age audience. This DS Quilts flower print and Cherry Rain by Timeless Treasures fit the bill just right! 

All participants on Trojan Spotlight get a Trojan Spirit t-shirt. At this point in the year the only sizes left were small and X-large. Neither of which are a good fit for me. I've been wondering what I'm going to do with the t-shirt when it came to me...use it to turn the Dashing Geese block into a pillow!

The bright red is almost a perfect match for the Cherry Rain print of the geese. I'll use the screen printing to be the back of the pillow and the rest of the knit fabric can be used for borders. What fun this will be! 

Hope you have a great weekend! 

And the Winners Are...

Before I announce the winners for the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks blog hop drawings I'd like to thank each person who took the time to stop by my blog! This is the first time I've participated in something like this and can I just say it was so much fun! I so enjoyed reading each and every comment. I also want to thank all of my new blog followers...you made my day!!

Last night I used the Random Number Generator to select two winners. One for an issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, vol. 9 magazine, and one new blog follower to receive a Dashing Geese pillow cover. Both winners have been contacted by email. I know you are anxious to find out who the winners are!

First, the winner of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, vol. 9 magazine is Deb G! She will receive an issue directly from Quiltmaker's :o) Congratulations Deb!!

Next, the winner of the Dashing Geese pillow cover is my new blog follower, jrt14!! Thanks so much jrt14 for adding my blog to those you follow! I will get this pillow cover in the mail as soon as I receive your address :o) 

Before I go, let me tell you I was so surprised by how many "no reply" commentors there are out there. I actually had to try several times to find a winner for each prize. So, if you comment on blogs you may just want to check your profile and make sure there is an email address associated with it.

If you make a Dashing Geese block I'd love it if you'd share it on my flickr group page...or tag it in IG with #dashinggeese and be sure to let me know: @shadowsoftheblueridge

Thank you again for making this blog tour such fun! 

May ALYoF Goal - Applique Flowered Borders

When making quilts for the Faith Circle of do. Good Stitches I find the quilt top usually needs to have borders added in order to be larger than just a small lap quilt. I like the finished quilt to be at least a throw size - covering the top of a bed, but not as large as a twin quilt.

I am currently in the process of assembling the March Wonky Disappearing 4 Patch quilt for our bee. The blocks are joined and are ready for borders...fun, flowering borders!

A couple years ago I purchased The New Applique Sampler by Piece O' Cake Designs. I highly recommend this book if you would like to learn needle turn applique...and you should because it's great fun!! This book contains patterns for fresh, whimsical flowers and I know they will be perfect for this quilt. However, I am going to use raw edge applique (fuse the applique pieces to the border fabric and machine stitch the edges.) 


 


So far I've cut out and fused down the flowering vine applique for one side of the quilt. It still needs to be machine stitched down.

My May "A Lovely Year of Finishes" goal is to complete the border for all four sides and attach them to the quilt top. I am linking to the May ALYoF Goal Party. I am entry No. 33!

In a previous post I showed the beautiful Wonky Disappearing 4 Patch blocks made by the sweet ladies of the Faith Circle. Here they are joined together:

I am really liking the softness of the these colors! My bee-mates chose such pretty fabrics :o) Can't you just picture how fun this is going to look encircled by a border of sweet, whimsical flowers?

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!