Friendship Exchange quilt

One more UFO to mark off my list and this one is very special, because it has blocks made by friends near and far. Three of the ladies now live in Rapid City, one has moved to Texas, one has moved to Kansas City, and one has moved to Iowa. So half of the group has moved away but I still have a little piece of them to hold near.



My block is the house block on the top row. We each got 1 yard of the brown floral and could choose whatever blending colors we wanted to use, so from the floral print you can see some folks pulled out the lighter pinks, greens, and aquas. And others went with the deeper colors from the print. But every block works beautifully with the others.  I love this one!  And I wish the colors showed up more true in these photos because it's very rich and warm.

Binding another UFO

I'm working on the binding for my Friendship Exchange quilt, which is another UFO. 



This quilt has been a long-term project begun as a friendship exchange among 12 ladies in 2015. We each made 13 blocks using a brown floral fabric.  After exchanging them, each friend would end up with a full set of 12 blocks, plus we had an extra set to use for a donation project.  After marinating for 2 years, a donation quilt was completed in June 2017 from the extra set of blocks we made, and the quilt was donated to a local fund raiser.  However, I still had my own set of blocks to work with and chose to make my own quilt nearly identical to the donation version because I liked the layout.

The color in this picture isn't very true, as the blue here is really a teal and much more greenish. Once it's bound, I'll share a photo of the finished quilt. And I need to make a label to include the name of each lady involved in the exchange so I won't forget any friends.

Lots of random sewing

I had a LOT of trouble focusing this weekend on any one project. I just wanted to play with lots of different things - so I did just that.  My theory is that after having 2 finishes last week I needed to start something new. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

One of my random projects this weekend was working on my 13 blocks for the friendship exchange that I'm doing.  I now have 4 blocks completely done and the final pieces all cut to finish the other 9 blocks.  So I can do a little piecing on these any time I have a little time.

The focus fabric that we are all using is the dark brown floral. It has touches of tan, red, green, gold and blue in it so I'm anticipating some really lovely blocks. There are 12 of us working on blocks and will exchange them in June so that we each have 1 block from each gal. The 13th block will go into a charity quilt to be donated to some local group.

Later this week I'll show you some of the other random things I worked on, including 3 new small projects. Yikes! - that means I need to add 3 things to my WIP list don't I?

Block Swap

My coordinating fabrics are selected and last night I made a decision on the block design.  During my lunch break today I laid out these fabrics to determine the location of each color in my block. I think I have a plan.

Now - I have 6 months to make my 13 blocks, but I hope to get them done by the end of February so that I don't end up procrastinating and run out of time.

A new block swap

This beautiful brown floral is the focus fabric for a new friendship block exchange that I'm doing. There are 12 of us participating - some via long distance even.  We don't even all know each other - YET. But it will be fun getting to know everyone and working towards that exchange of blocks.  

The rule is that we must select a block design and then use this fabric to make 13 of that block. When we meet in June to exchange, we'll each end up with 12 unique blocks - 1 from each of us.  The 13th set will become a donation quilt that we'll make for a local group. Right now we are leaning toward donating it to the local scholarship auction. 

I've purchased some coordinating fabrics to start working on blocks over the weekend. There are some really lovely shades of aqua and pink in this focus fabric, along with creams and golds and browns.  I'm ready to go . . . except I haven't made a final decision on the block design yet.

A closer look

I just had to share a few more photos of yesterday's quilt.  The setting for these blocks was a "super" sashing, with some blocks surrounding by a pieced wide sashing. Other blocks fit in without any sashing.  This layout was from a past Saturday Sampler project.

Wildflower Friendship Quilt

 It's always nice to record a finish and especially nice when the quilt has a special meaning. This was a friendship exchange started a couple of years ago. The focus fabric (Wildflower line) was purchased and each one of 12 ladies received 1 yard. We had to use that focus in our block. We each made 13 blocks, so that when exchanged we had a block from everyone. The 13th set of blocks we put together into a quilt that was donated locally to a scholarship fund raffle. 

Each of the 12 blocks is beautiful and I have photos taken of each friend holding up her block so I can always go back to remember who made which one.  The yellow border is from the same fabric line and is just the yellow version of the aqua focus fabric.  I really love the results - so happy and perfect for summer.

UFO finish - finally

OK - this UFO has been very patiently waiting to be finished.  It was a Christmas themed friendship exchange that I was involved in - back in 2009!  There is a green ivy fabric that was used by everyone in their blocks.

I made my blocks that spring and summer (13 of them) - and we got together to exchange them in September 2009. The 13th block went into a charity quilt we donated locally.

In late 2010 I finally decided to set the blocks on point with a simple sashing and cornerstone layout.  Then Carly quilted it for me. 

In the fall of 2011 the binding was stitched on, but then I didn't get the hand sewing done on the binding before Christmas. So I set it aside. What was I thinking!!  So close to a finish.  I'm happy to say to I dug this out and finished up that handstitching  on the binding over the weekend.  The only thing left to do is to is write on the label.  I guess I'll have to put 2009-2012 on it as dates to remind me it was a LONG time getting finished.  But it feels good and is on my sofa to enjoy through the holidays this year - finally.