House blocks - with a creative twist

This is the pattern I purchased at Eagle Creek Quilt Shop in Shakopee MN. It's called Ryokan (Japanese Inn) and is designed by Joe Wood. There are 12 blocks in the set. The houses are all the same, except for the tiny miniature Amish style quilts making up the large side of each house.

I love them! Now I need to figure out what I want to use to make the houses themselves. The pattern calls for traditional fabrics - which are not found in my stash. But I think some nice batiks that are fairly neutral would look good in the house pieces too. Then I could use the hand dyed looking fabrics for the little quilts instead of the solids. This may take some playing. I might have to make a sample block each way - traditional and batik - and see which way I like better.

A mini vacation

It is so good to be home again! I have been gone for a few days as my husband and I took a mini vacation. We combined visiting family, 2 baseball games, a day at the zoo, 18 holes of golf, and only ONE quilt shop.

We had a really nice (but too short) visit with my cousin. Thanks for the yummy supper and the free bed, cuz!

We had gorgeous upper 70 degree sunny days the whole time we were gone so it was perfect for outdoor activities such as the Minnesota Zoo, Columbia Golf Course, and Minnesota Twins baseball at Target Field.

Today on the way home we stopped in Shakopee MN at the Eagle Creek Quilt Shop. OK - my husband dropped me off while he topped off the gas tank. This quilt shop is in the old railroad depot in this riverside town and features some really beautiful samples. I think one of the most interesting things about visiting new quilt shops is seeing what they have displayed that is unique. I was not disappointed because every turn brought more eye candy. I bought a really fabulous pattern for "house" blocks where the large side of the house is made up of a miniature quilt. More on that another time.

And they had a small display with the fabric being featured in the next Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop. It was a tease because we couldn't buy it yet and it was really pretty!

July Count On It

Not sure why I can't seem to rotate this photo in blogger. Oh well . . .

My Count On It block for July is ready to hang up by my door. It actually would look good in my guest bathroom too. The decor in that bathroom is all centered around my flip flop wall hanging and a beach theme.

Jacob's Ladder blocks

Jacob's Ladder is one of my favorite blocks - right up there with stars and pinwheels. This is block #5 of this year's Saturday Sampler. All of the blocks are 12.5".

As I've mentioned before, I chose to go with a traditional colorway this year because I needed to step out of my comfort zone, which is brighter colors.

However I'm also making a second set of blocks to satisfy my craving for brights. That set of blocks is black and white with a bright accent. Each of the first 4 blocks just had one bright color added, but in this one I used 4 (purple, blue, green, yellow). And I'm loving the looks of both sets so far.

Each month we can opt to make a bonus block and enter a drawing to win them all. This month was black and white with brights. How ironic!! So I made 2 identical B/W/Br blocks - one to keep and one to enter into the bonus block drawing. Maybe I'll win some pretty blocks!

And the WINNER is . . .

The winner of my 300th blog post Giveaway is post #12 from Luci at Thymely Stitches. She will receive the Perennials charm pack in the mail. I've emailed her already and look forward to hearing back from her. And thank you to everyone else who posted a comment.

Giving something away is always fun!

Lots of pinwheels

My pinwheel sets are done and ready to drop off with Sylvia. I can't wait to see how they look with the other yellow/gold/orange pinwheels and the black/white/gold daisy pinwheels. I think it will be a fun quilt when it's all put together.

On a side note - come back tomorrow morning to find out who has won my 300th post giveaway.

300th Post GIVEAWAY

It's time for me to celebrate reaching another blogging milestone - 300 posts! And to do that, I'm hosting a Giveaway. After midnight Tuesday night (June 21), I'll draw a random winner of this charm pack.

The charm pack is Perennials by Moda which is full of rich colors. I am a huge fan of deep colors and of bright colors, so this is a particular favorite.

You have up to 3 chances to earn an entry for the giveaway:

• 1 entry = post a comment on my blog


• 1 entry = post about my Giveaway on your blog and let me know


• 1 entry = become a new follower of my blog

Watermelon tablerunner

This tablerunner is 50 inches long! What was I thinking when I started hand quilting this thing this morning?

I am keeping it simple, but it may still take me until July 4th to finish!

Log cabin variation

Recently I joined a block swap that I've followed online for awhile at Quilt Block Swap. Each month we are assigned a partner and we make just ONE 12.5" block for that partner based on their personal preferences.

This is just a little glimpse of the block that is going into the mail today for my June partner. She wanted log cabin blocks made of batiks. This is a variation on the traditional log cabin.

I love the idea of making just one block each month because it gives me a chance to work on something new without having to start a whole new project. No chance of it becoming a UFO, right?

Getting close to 300!

I'm nearly at blog post #300 - another milestone! It will most likely be within the week.

Stay tuned for information on a celebratory GIVEAWAY!

A little hand quilting is in order

I've decided to hand quilt my little Twister project with random circles. The whole thing is the size of a placemat, so it shouldn't take very long. And it's something I can work on here while visiting my new grandson. I can't hold him ALL THE TIME!

30's fabrics

Aren't these pretty? I love the look of the 1930's reproduction fabrics, but haven't done very many things with them over the years. That may be about to change!

I've joined The Clothesline Club at the Pin Cushion for this quarter. And this the the fat quarter pack for this quarter. I absolutely love the colors. The bottom fabrics are a fruit themed larger print that really makes me think of the feed sacks my mom used to make all kinds of things in the 1950's: dish towels and even clothes for me.

Each month of the program the group will meet for refreshments, show n tell, and to get a pattern for new project. This month's project was a very clever apron using 1 square of fabric, plus the pockets and ties. I'm not sure I'll make this apron, but I can't wait to use some of these fabrics because they are so pretty and cheerful.

Big news!

I've had a REALLY good reason for my blogging absence. Our first grandchild arrived on Thursday, June 9. Mason weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz and is 21.5" long.

He is pretty sweet and destined to changed our lives for the better! And I'm very glad he is only an hour away so we can spend lots of time with him.

We're doing more pinwheels

Friends In Stitches (my quilty buddies) have used this block 3 times now for charity projects. I have used it for a personal project. It is one of my all time favorites.

And a few of us are making another project using these. I've been working on gold and orange blocks the past couple of evenings. The background will all be the same cream. The pinwheels will be in 8 different golds, oranges and a GORGEOUS black daisy fabric. The daisy fabric has a touch of the gold and orange in the centers of each daisy.

More to come on this project.

iPad apps for quilters

I love it when people share information on the apps they have discovered. I was presenting at a short workshop on geneology last Saturday and a participant noticed my iPad laying on the table. We began to talk and discovered we are both quilters as well. That is when she showed me the Quilt Fab app on her iPad.

It is FREE and has quite a few interesting features. The blocks in the app are all traditional blocks, but you can do a lot with them: change the colorway, change the size, check the yardage needed, see them used in various layouts, and combine them with other blocks in the layout. It isn't as powerful as my EQ software on my computer, but it is a great little mobile tool.

Patriotic block

One more version of my Saturday Sampler block #3 - can you tell I like this block?

Our bonus blocks this month are supposed to be in red, white, and blue to be patriotic in theme. I sure would like to win a bunch of these!

No time for sewing this weekend unfortunately. All day on Friday and Saturday were spent at our state Delta Kappa Gamma convention. Today has been spent catching up on laundry. And I've been busy catching up on some work things since my laptop crashed on Thursday night and I've lost a major project I was working on last week. Lots of time will be spent recreating something I hadn't backed up yet. Stupid of me and I know better! What can I say?

Hugs 'n Kisses

Another "lost" UFO has been found. I was cleaning out a box of odds and ends in my sewing room closet. I know this was made before we moved to this house and we've been here 5 years now. And I have no idea if I had a plan for this quilt top. It is crib sized, so I guess I'll finish it off and save it for some future baby gift.