Free quilt patterns at Riley Blake

I just love FREE things, don't you? I saw this on another blog last night and couldn't resist passing along a great tip. Riley Blake is featuring free quilt patterns on their website - ready to download and enjoy. These patterns are in PDF format, so they are easy to print. http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/quilting_projects/

There is a whole page of patterns, along with a suggested fabric line. I really like this "Wrapped Up In You" pattern. And I also like "Forest Friends".

And the "Spooky Squares" might be just the pattern to use up some of the Halloween fat quarters I've collected.

July block swap

My swap block for July is in the mail to my partner. Her color request was for blues in any block pattern. So I used the same pattern we did for this month's Saturday Sampler because I really liked the pinwheel center, and used 4 different blue fabrics.

Hope she likes it.

Charm Pack swap

I signed up for a charm pack swap over the weekend over at Ellison Lane Quilts and can't wait to get started. Each participant will buy 1 yard each of 2 different fabrics in an assigned color. We cut 56 charm squares from each and send them back to the swap host. Then we receive a RAINBOW charm pack in return with selections from each color. Sounds like lots of fun doesn't it?

I went to the Pin Cushion this morning and bought my pink fabrics. One of them is this yummy Patina Handpaint called Petal. The other one I selected is a Robert Kaufman Fusions with a soft butterfly design on it. I did pick a third one too, just in case I had duplicated someone else's. We have to upload a photo for the group on Flickr so we can see what everyone else has selected.

Family time today

Baby Mason was baptized this morning in Sioux Falls. It was so nice to spend time with family! And thank goodness the church was air conditioned because it was about 100 degrees with very high humidity outside.

1 down, 11 to go!

Last night I made the first house block from the new pattern I bought. The pattern is Ryokan from Thimblecreek Quilts. It looked complicated, but really went together fairly quickly.

The miniature quilt part took the longest of course, since the pieces are so small. I decided on batiks for the house and sky. And solids for the quilts sections. Each quilt is different.

No progress yet today however. Our power was off for about 2 hours - on the hottest most humid day of the year so far!!! Anyway, it put me way behind on more important chores like laundry. Sewing again later this afternoon I hope.

Black & white & bright . . .

I decided right away that I was going to make a second version of this year's Saturday Sampler blocks each month. That way at the end of the year I will have TWO quilt tops made.

Well, so far we've done 6 blocks and my secondary color choice has been black and white with bright accents. Here are the first 6 blocks up on my design wall. Can't wait for the next block each month.

I also have been making the bonus block each month so that I have a chance at winning blocks. This month's block above is the one with red in the lower left corner. And this month's bonus block is supposed to be done in red and white. I think it would be lots of fun to win a whole bunch of these red and white blocks in August.

More hot and humid weather

One more day of work and then it will finally be the weekend so that I can take the time to do something just for me. Just heard that the heat index may be as high as 110 this weekend. That is just ridiculous!!

So - I may not leave the house at all on Saturday; my sewing room will be the coolest place in the house anyway. Guess I'll have to venture out on Sunday to go to my grandson's baptism. Sure hope that church is air conditioned!

Maybe I'll have something accomplished in the sewing/quilting category to share over the weekend. I'm looking forward to relaxing at my sewing machine!