Blocks from the Past Quilt Along Weekly Update

I feel I have dropped the ball a little bit this week. I forgot that it was Monday.  I know that never happens to other people, so I'm sorry it happened to me. If you are following along, go check out my friend, Konda's blog to see about this weeks blocks. As for myself, I have copied out the applique pieces, with hopes of getting 1 or more prepped in the next few days.

I also have a few pictures to take of some of the things I have gotten done this week, so I can get them up on here. Many great things, and some harder things have been happening, including some sickness. Kyle has had an icky nose for much of our time in Utah, and I had thought it was possibly teething related until I got it. We also had Spencer come home sick from work one day, and Nate got it just after that. Luckily it wasn't something that stuck around for very long. Also, in the last 2 weeks, Nate has decided that he wants to be a big boy, and no longer uses diapers, and has even being staying dry at night. We are very proud of him.

Anyway, it is after my bedtime now, so I must bid you adieu.

First partial finish of 2015

While this is a finish I am only going to call this a partial finish at this point. Since I'm trying to get myself all the way to bound and labeled with some of my UFOs, bound and labeled will be the only Finishes allowed. I'm also going to be rewarding myself for Full finishes with a fat quarter for each finish every 100 days. The 100 days of not buying fabric will also grant me a fat quarter. This way I will be using my fabric faster than acquiring new fabric.

Anyway. This lovely little house is part of a swap I'm participating in with my mom and some of her quilting friends in Indiana. There are 5 of us and we will be making 10 houses every month. There are few different styles of houses to choose from. They finish at 4.5 inches. i had fun picking out the fabrics for this one, since I had a Curious George print that was the perfect size for the window. They are now packaged and on their way to Indiana.

Finish #2 of 2015

This is my second finish of the year. It is a baby blanket/quilt for a new little guy, the son of a lady from church. It is all flannel. I used 5 inch squares that I randomized using my random number generator app and then sewed together just making sure that the same fabric was not touching itself on either the sides or the corners (until the end where 2 touch on the corners, betcha can't find them :P). I used a low loft batting and sewed, flipped, and topstitched to give it binding-like look. It was the first quilt I tied. I have helped tie some for donations, but this was the first one I did by myself. It's a bit bigger than I realized. It finished at 49 inches square.

Quilt Along Progress

It's another Blocks from the Past Quilt Along Day. Go check out Natalie's blog for the beginning blocks. I have had a few very busy days since returning to Utah, so my blocks are still living as dreams for a little longer.

I had a baby shower last Saturday with another one this Saturday, so a lot of my focusing the past week has been on some blankets/quilts for those. I also have been hard at work on a comfort quilt for a friend. Pictures of all these things will come if I can find some time. I also have been trying to get some blocks ready to mail for a swap I'm in with my mom and a few of the ladies from her guild (in Indiana). And I hope to soon be able to get a little more progress done on Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery. My husband and I have also been enjoying some time together sitting and watching 1-2 episodes of some of the shows that have been waiting patiently for us to start, so my binding is coming along slow and steady on my Round Robin. It is slower some days, since the shows get a little more intense at times.

Hopefully, I will have more to share with you soon.

In an attempt to use what I have, I have not bought fabric in 101 days.

First Finish of 2015

 My first finish for the year is this lovely mini quilt. I chose to participate in Schnitzel & Boo's Mini Quilt Swap: Round Three. We each signed up and gave a little bit of information about our selves, and she very generously paired us all up. We were to make a mini quilt to send to a new friend. A big part of the fun is that we could follow any number of other people on Instagram who were also joining in this swap. But none of us know who is making the quilt that will be coming to us. 

Shipping opened this week for getting them to our partners, so I had to get over my fears of my partner not liking it, and get it quilted. I managed to piece it at my parents' house while I was visiting for a very long Christmas visit. My mom allowed me to search her stash for just the right fabrics and I am quite please with how it went together. I finished it with a bias binding of the same bright square fabric that I used for the back and included a corner label and 2 hanging corners. Once I have settled on what extras I want to include in the package, it will be on to it's new home.

Blocks from the Past Week 2

Hello again dear friends. With another Monday comes another Blocks from the Past Quilt Along update.

This week Natalie is discussing fabric selection and fabric requirements for this project, so go check that out. As for myself, I plan to stick fairly closely to the book in layout, while doing scrappy neutral (or low volume in modern quilt speak) and scrappy colorways, too. Just before heading off to Indiana for 3 months because my dad had a heart attack (and he's doing really well now) I had started to sort my scraps by color. The bags and bags of scraps were just getting to be overwhelming, and needed to have some help in finding a way back into use.

The book is Teach Yourself Blocks from the Past by Marie Henry and, while out of print, copies can still be acquired through Amazon.

Remember to use the #BFTPqal for any progress you post to Instagram.

I am hope to get pictures up soon of some of the other progress I'm making on other projects, including 3 versions of Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery. And an addition 5 more projects I decided I needed to add to my life, yesterday.

Happy crafting.

Blocks from the Past Quilt Along

Welcome to the new year. To get us started off right my friends Marion and Natalie are hosting a quilt along from a wonderful old out-of-print quilting book called Teach Yourself Blocks from the Past over the next several months on their blogs. I have agreed to help out with a few of the blocks and will post about them here on the appropriate days. Each week there will be 1 applique block and 2 pieced blocks. For more information including the schedule, be sure to check out Marion's blogpost with the starting information. Otherwise, I'll see you back here next week.