December BOM, Kings Crown

I'm in love with this block.  It was so much fun to make.  Here's the link to the tutorial by Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell.  Our quilt guild, Temecula Valley MQG is asking members to make at least one 12.5" block each month, to donate to our Charity quilt project.  The first block was presented in January, due in February, and in February 2018 we're planning on putting the blocks together into quilts to donate to a local cause.  I always make four blocks, two to donate and two to keep here for a future project.

I got a head start on these because I'm traveling part of December.  Now I need to go pack!

May your bobbins always be full,

More BOM stitchin'

It seems as if the only sewing I've accomplished lately is Blocks of the Month for my Modern Quilt Guild.  It's true, but I have a good excuse, I've been doing a lot of traveling.  In August, I went to Iceland, in September I "did" the Ultimate Gameday Weekend Tour, and in October I went to Spain for two weeks.  Altogether, I'm traveling over 100 days this year.

All that traveling has cut into my stitching time.  I have one small project to do and two large quilts in the planning stages.  Wish me luck.

You can find the info on the Spools BOM on the guilds' blog, here.

May your bobbins always be full,

Simple Pleasures BOM

This is the September Block of the Month for the Temecula Valley MQG.  It was fun and easy to make.  You can find the tutorial here.  Our member, Susan saw this block on IG and couldn't find a name or instructions for it.  I named it and she wrote the tutorial.  Susan did an excellent job.

All the blocks for the BOM project this year are 12.5 inches.  As usually two of these will go to the guild and two will stay at my house.  I'll be ready to make a quilt from all the blocks next year.

May your bobbins always be full,

X and Plus blocks

This month it's my turn to present the Block of the Month to our Temecula Valley MQG members.  I love these X & + blocks.  I used Amy of Badskirt's tutorial but upsized the measurements to end up with a 12.5-inch unfinished block. This is such a wonderful, scrappy block.

Here are the measurements I used:

Center Cross - (2) 2.5-inch squares and (1) 2.5-inch x 6.5-inch strip.=

Edges of Cross - (4) 2.5-inch x 3.5-inch strips

Background Triangles - (8) 3/5-inch squares

Branches of the X - (4) 5.5-inch squares

To have a true scrappy look, use at least 7 fabrics, I used 8.  One fabric for the center Plus, one for the "arms of the Plus", four for the branches of the X's, and at least one for the background triangles.

My next project is to make a quilted item inspired by a magazine or newspaper photo.  We're calling it the Mag Challenge!  Wish me luck.

May your bobbins always be full,

A New Sampler Quilt.

My quilt guild, The Temecula Valley MQG is starting a Block of the Month program this year.  The goal is two-fold; first to make quilt blocks to be donated to our Charity Quilt Committee and the second goal is to have the BOM be a skill builder.  We're encouraging members to make another block or more each month for their own Sampler Quilt.

Each month a member will introduce a 12 inch BOM, it'll be posted on the TVMQG blog with a tutorial.  This is all new for us, but it should be fun.

Here is the fabric I've pulled for this BOM Challenge.

A 9 piece fat quarter set of Dear Stella by Rae Ritchie
Noe by Eric McMorris for Free Spirit (5)
Haberdashery Tape Measures for The Henley Studio Makower UK
Petal and Plume by Bari J. for Art Gallery
Nature Walk by Tamara Kate for Michael Miller (2)
Moon Rabbit, Autumn Rice by Rashida Coleman Hale for Cotton and Steele
Honor Roll by Ann Marie Horner for Free Spirit (2)
Tuesday Night Ladies Bowling League 1972 by Kimberly Kight for Cotton and Steele

This is a 12.5-inch block based on the directions at Cluck Cluck Sew.  Her measurements don't go all the way up to this size so I had to improvise.

The second block I made is the 8.5"-block with a border, to make 12.5.

And the final example is four 6.5"-blocks joined to make a 12.5"-block.

These are "my" blocks that I'm keeping.  I have a month to make the donation blocks.  Our meeting is on Thursday, and I'm excited to see everyone's response to this new program.

This should be a fun BOM Challenge, especially with all the different contributors.  I'm already working on a sampler quilt for the Solstice Challenge, but who doesn't need another quilt or two?!

May your bobbins always be full,

Kona 2016 Color of the Year Block Challenge

The Kona Color of the Year for 2016 is Highlight.  For my Kona Challenge quilt block, I’ve decided to pair it with Pomegranate, Papaya, Chartreuse and Kona White.

The color is off on the block photo, but you get the idea!

May your bobbins always be full,