Granny Square Quilt

Last year I wrote a post about Granny Square quilts here. These were inspired by Jolene at Blue Elephant Stitches whose blog I've been following for a while. She has updated her tutorial and it is up at the Moda Bake Shop and the new tutorial uses pre-cut jelly roll strips.

Granny Square Quilt at Moda Bake Shop

This is a quilt pattern that still catches my eye and I've been collecting 2.5" squares to make a scrappy version sometime in the future. Here's a version I made using Moda's American Banner line of fabrics

Granny Square Table Topper - FOR SALE

And here's a few more examples that I've found in the last few days:

photo from Holly and Olive

photo from SewCraftyJess

Doesn't that just inspire you to bring out the bright colours and start sewing?

--Ann

WIP Wednesday - February 13

Busy week for me this week. I have a custom order for 8 placemats - almost done, just need to pop into my local quilt shop for fabric for binding. The placemats are made from a fun fat quarter pack called "Cinnamon Spice" by Blackbird Designs from Moda fabrics. I have lots of fabric left, so watch for more items made from this fabric line in the near future!

Cinnamon Spice Placemats

Quilting Cinnamon Spice Placemats

I also finished the friendship star border on my blue & white quilt and added the final blue print border, bringing it up to a nice lap/twin size quilt top. Just need to look for a backing and this one is ready to go out for quilting!

Blue and White Sampler Quilt

And finally, I had 5 friendship stars left over after I pieced the border for the bigger blue and white quilt and put them together into a table runner that's now listed for sale in my shop here!

Blue and White Table Runner - FOR SALE HERE

So, that's what's happening in my sewing room this week! How was your week?

--Ann

Linking up with:
The Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #77
Quiltsy Team WIP Wednesday
Freshly Pieced WIP

Guild Tinner's Challenge

I belong to the Dalemead Quilt Guild that meets just outside of the city in a small hamlet called Indus. Members come from nearby and from far away - some drive more than an hour to meet with us! This year, Peggy introduced us to the Tinner's Challenge. We each brought a tin and $10. The following week, we each received a different tin containing a piece of fabric, a list of people in our group and a theme or a pattern. The object was to complete a block using the fabric and the instructions or theme provided and then pass the tin on to the next person on the list.


Here's the one's I've had so far:

Tin #1 - Theme: Christmas. This tin had no instructions, just a piece of lovely Christmas fabric. Because it wasn't specified, I decided to make a 9" block rather than a traditional 12" block.

Christmas quilt block

Tin #2 - Theme: Jewels of the Sea. No instructions in this tin either. The first block was a Storm at Sea block. Going with the Jewel theme, I made mine a Jewel Box quilt block using blue as the background.

Jewel Box quilt block

Tin #3 -Pattern: Goose Creek. Just had to do some digging to find some deep green and purple fabrics to go with the pretty batik that was in the tin.

Goose Creek quilt block

I'm excited to see what the rest of the tins are going to look like! Have you done any group challenges? Did you find they stretched your skills?

--Ann

WIP Wednesday - February 6

Here's what's been happening in my sewing room this week:

 I've started basting some little 1.5" hexies from my scraps - not sure what they'll be when they grow up, but I've got plenty of time to decide! (Actually, this is NOT my sewing room - I was watching TV in my PJ's and was quite comfy on the sofa!)

 

And last week I started quilting this baby quilt on my machine, but for some reason, still unknown, when the bobbin thread ran out, my machine needle hit the plastic on the free-motion foot and broke the needle. The main shaft on the free-motion foot is slightly bent and my landscaper son did a quick fix by filing a bit off the plastic so I could finish. I have made this pattern a few times and I think I need to up the challenge by quilting something other than an all-over meander or loopy stitch. Any ideas?

 And today, I sewed at my friend's house and this is what she's been working on - a paper-pieced Harry Potter quilt. The pattern is a block of the month from Sewhooked and if you're a Harry Potter fan, this is an awesome project!

--Ann

Linking up with
Quiltsy WIP Wednesday
Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #76

3x6 Sampler Blocks in Blue & White

Do you remember these blocks from the Flickr 3x6 Bee Quilt Block exchange? I pulled out the quilt blocks that had yellow and purple in them and made this quilt with batik sashing and borders.

And I had 6 blue and white blocks left that I thought I could make into a baby quilt, but when I got it together, it didn't look very baby-ish to me. And then it was put aside until I could figure out what I wanted to do with it. I decided I would add a pieced border and another border of the same blue I had already used to sash and border the original quilt blocks. I like how it's coming together so far!

I think when I have this blue and white quilt finished, I will go back and join the next exchange again. It's a great challenge for me to work with someone else's colour choices and it's fun to find a unique quilt block to make.

--Ann