Birthday Block Swap Completed.

Firstly - apologies for the blog silence. I have the bloggers worst nightmare problem - a broken laptop! Also the 'house' PC that I am currently using is very sick, currently it will only work lying on its side and is making the most awful noise. There are other computers in the house but we all know how much more convenient it is to have your own laptop - and would you want to blog in a teenage boys bedroom?

Quilting wise I have not made as much progress as I was hoping - but isn't that always the way?
However I have completed the Birthday Block Swap I started last July. This is the last block, it should have been the June block but was not actually completed until July. It has gone to Libby who lives in Buffalo NY - her theme was ferns and violets and I decided to do an embroidered block for a change as I had found this lovely design in a quilting mag a few months ago.


This is a close up of the stitching. I have used hand dyed fabrics as my first two borders and then a fern printed fabric for the outer border.

So over the last year I have made blocks for 11 people that have gone all over the world. It has been a good swap as I have tried out new blocks and ideas that I never would have tried otherwise. I have received enough blocks back to make my quilt but am still disappointed that three of the ladies I made a block for have not sent me one yet. Perhaps there is still time?

Two more Black & White Log Cabin Blocks.

I am pleased to report that I have two new log cabin blocks from the Birthday Block Swap. The first is from Libby who lives in Buffalo NY.

This second one is from Sue who isn't a member of the Block Swap but who kindly said that I couldn't just have 11 blocks so she made me this one! Thanks Sue!

Sue is a friend from blogland who has now become a 'real' friend. I read on her blog that she had just moved to Yorkshire and wanted to join an embroidery/patchwork group. I invited her to visit ours and she decided to join!
I still have a couple of blocks to come in to make up my 12 - fingers crossed they will arrive soon.

Birthday Block Swap - May Blocks

May was 'my' month in this swap and I thought I would share photos of the blocks I have received.
My theme was black and white log cabin with red centres. I did not give any instructions about the sizes of logs or centres because I wanted the scrappy effect.
There are 12 of us in the group so I was expecting 11 blocks. So far I have received 9, although one lady made two and one block was made for me by Sue who was in a different group from me. 4 members of the group have not sent a block although 2 have been in touch to say that they are still intending to make my block.

I really love the blocks I have received - the advantage of swapping is that you get a much scrappier effect than you could just using your own fabrics (unless you had a mega stash!). What I have decided to do is to use 8 of the blocks as the central panel of the quilt and then add more panels to the sides. The first will be flying geese. I think this could make a really attractive quilt.

Here are some close up photos.

The block I have left over will be made into a cushion for DS2's girlfriend for her birthday next week.

Birthday Block Swap April

These blocks were actually made at the beginning of the month and sent off to Ann in Brittany France before we went away. Never got round to 'blogging' them before and I would like to have the complete set of blocks on my blog when the swap finishes in June.
Ann asked for 9 inch shoofly blocks in blue and cream. Now the swap is for one block only but as you can see I made (and sent) three. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly this was such a simple block to make I thought it was not fair to make only one as I had spent a lot of time on some of the previous blocks. Second I was not sure which fabric would work best for Ann so if I made three if she didn't like one or it did not fit with the others she could reject it.

This first one is made with a Rowan fabric - this one I liked best!

This is just an ordinary floral fabric I had in my stash.

This one is using some of my hand dyed blue fabric.
I was disappointed to read on the swap forum this morning that Ann has only received blocks from 3 swappers so far. I hope that this changes soon - I know I have been late with some of mine but am all up to date now.
May is my birthday month (it is my real birthday on the 7th) so hopefully some blocks will arrive for me soon! I have asked for black and white log cabins with red centres.

I am itching to get started on some of the projets that I brought back from America with me but I am not allowing myself to touch anything until I have completed my City & Guilds pieces. I have college again in 2 weeks and I must make some serious progress by then.

Birthday Block Swap March - Civil War Baskets

Here I am again reporting my Birthday Blocks late. This first one was actually finished on time but I wasn't happy with a couple of the points so I decided to make another. This one is hand pieced except the borders and it took much longer than I thought it would!

As usual I am sending two - I always feel my blocks are not good enough - but on reflection I think these are pretty good. Hope she likes the fabric - I am not up on Civil War fabrics - but found these in my stash from Andover fabrics - said they were from civil war period on the selvedge.

February Birthday Block Swap.

Yes I know its March!!
I was late doing this and I felt so guilty that I had to make two! Actually I always enjoy the swaps and find that often I want to make more than one.
February was Sherry's month - she wanted black and white blocks 12 inches square.
This first block is from Judy Hopkins' Book Once More Around The Block - it is called 'squirrel in a cage' (??)

The second block I made up to use the pieces I had left over - this would've worked really well except that I cut the outer borders wrong TWICE and had to cut into much more black. Anyway I am going to make some little black and white HST's for my maverick stars border with what is left over.

Cilla decided I needed some help!

January Birthday Block Swap

This birdhouse block was actually completed and sent last week. It should arrive sometime this week with Pat in the US.
The theme was birdhouses (again) and this time I decided to do a paper pieced block which is from quilterscache. I have used a selection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the houses and a woodgrain effect fabric for the roofs. The black 'holes' are hand appliqued.

Hope she likes it!

Birthday Block Swap December - Mardis Gras

Sad to say that I am still behind with the Birthday Block Swap but hey it is only Jan 4th today so things are not all bad! This block is for Peggy who lives in New Orleans and it will be in the post to the US tomorrow. Peggy's theme was Mardis Gras and at first I was really stumped on this one. Luckily Peggy posted up some blocks on the same theme that she received in the last swap so that gave me some ideas. Basically she wanted blocks using the traditional Mardis Gras colours of purple, green and gold. I have used some of my hand dyed cottons for this - I have tried to photo this block twice with little sucess - but trust me the colours are much better and darker 'in the flesh'. The block is called Cheyenne from the Judy Hopkins 'Once More Around the Block'. I liked it because the central gold and purple pieces made a 'cracker' shape. Hope Peggy likes it too!

As you can see I made two other blocks as well - these are using some printed Mardis Gras fabrics I found in my stash. I was not sure if they were ok because they may have too many other colours in them. Anyway I enjoyed making them and I am sending them to you as a bonus Peggy - they will be ok for the back or for some cushions!

Since New Years Eve I have been busy with a new project. For a few months I have been reading Bonnie Hunter's blog and admiring her scrap quilts. Anyway she has started a new Mystery Quilt, Double Delight and I could not resist.

There are 120 of these units which need the other two shirting triangles added - and that only completes Step 1. However I am finding the repetitive nature of doing these little blocks very calming and enjoyable. Bonnie is a very generous quilter who has loads of free patterns on her website along with the steps for the mystery quilt.

November Birthday Block - Birdhouses.

As you can tell from the title this block is very late and I would like to apologise to Jovita in Lithuania for whom it has been made. One of the reasons it has taken so long is that it is all hand stitched - which I really enjoyed.

I am finding it really difficult to take photos at the moment as the light is so bad but you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

October Birthday Block Swap

Last night I completed my October Birthday Block for Ginger. She asked for a star with a separate design in the centre - mine is a pinwheel but does not stand out that much because of the subtle colours of the fabrics. Not sure which photo is best so I included both.

Ginger asked for soft shades of blue and pink and I was quite uncertain which fabrics to choose. However with a bit of research I found that she likes this fabric range - Posh by Moda. I only had a charm pack so had to mix the patterns up a bit - hope she likes it!

September Birthday Block Swap

September has been a very busy month for me - I have been teaching most days so it has been difficult to keep up to date.
Anyway I have now finished Stacy's September block. It is called Florida Star. I'm afraid the photo is not great as the background fabric is much creamier than it looks - it is Hoffman cream batik. I am actually quite pleased with the result so hope Stacy likes it!

August Birthday Block Swap

These are the blocks that I have made for August, the second month of the Birthday Block Swap on About.com. I made them last week and they are already on their way to Susan in Indiana USA. The block is called Pennsylvania, chosen by Susan and she wanted white on white background with 1930s prints.
The block was so quick and easy to make that I decided to make two for her! Sorry about the folds in the blocks on the photo but I got them all packed up before I realised that I had forgot to photo them! Hope she likes them!

Birthday Block Swap

I decided to sign up for this swap last month - hosted by Kate on about.com The first birthday girl, Deb who lives in Ohio USA, requested pale stars on BOB (black on black) background. The pale blue star was my first attempt but I soon realised that I had problems - the middle square was cut on the bias not straight with the grain and some of the points were very near the edge. So I decided to start again and make the pale green and lavender star.
This one turned out well - if a little boring!
Anyway I decided I might as well finish the first one too - although it was a bit tight as I had only one FQ of the BOB! It turned out better than I expected although some of the seam allowances are not a quarter inch and the central square is stretchy. Anyhow I decided to send both to Deb and then she can choose which she likes best!
It has been much more difficult than I thought to make blocks for someone else - I always think mine are not good enough - hence why I ended up making two. Anyway as always this will be a good learning experience and hopefully I will make some more quilty friends along the way!!