Jane Stickle Quilt: C-12

Block number/name: C-12 “Family Reunion”

Date completed: May 13, 2009

Number of pieces: 39

Notes on block: Lots of little ladybugs. Lots of little seams. This one took a few days as I have been spending lots of time playing a certain video game. (Too much time? But I am having fun doing it.) But it finally done and is a happy block, I think. It’s crazy to think that I’m nearly at the halfway point in this quilt. Wow!

Nine-patch-a-rama

I haven't been terribly productive lately, but I did manage to make my first set of 16 nine-patches for the Three-by-Three swap.


I'm really happy with how they turned out. Hopefully, the recipients will like them too!


I was able to use up the last of some fabric bits too, so that was awesome. I think my favorites are the brown and green ones. I'm just a sucker for green.

Jane Stickle Quilt: C-7

Block number/name: C-7 “Megan’s Mountain Laurel”

Date completed: May 8, 2009

Number of pieces: 45

Notes on block: Slowly but surely… it took a few days to finish this one, a little bit each day. I was surprised at how well I was able to do on it, what with the bazillion pieces and all. This is one of those blocks that once I saw it, I knew just what fabric to use in it. That is a rare event for me! It’s funny because I was thinking about setting this fabric aside altogether because it is such a funky yellow-y green color. But I’m so glad I didn’t! I think it looks spiffy.

I noticed the name after it was all put together. My sister-in-law (who is traveling about in New Zealand at the moment-- lucky girl!) is named Megan. She called today to chat, just as I was working on this block. How cool is that? Serendipity.

Feeling swappy

Last week, I decided to join in on a couple of swaps.


The Three by Three swap is being hosted by the ever-amazing Anina. There are 50 of us participating in this two (maybe three) month nine-patch exchange. The blocks are all supposed to include 2 different fabrics. I've been seeing lots of fabulous scrappy nine-patch quilts lately that have me feeling very inspired. It should be a lot of fun seeing what we all get at the end. I definitely need more scrappy fun in my life!


Snip.Sew.Send. is a virtual quilting bee organized by Adrienne. Each of the twelve participants will be sending out fabric and instructions to the other members and then in return will receive twelve blocks. It's a lot like the block exchange I'm doing with my guild, except that it's all by mail. The bee is starting up next month, but "my" month isn't until January, thankfully, so I have lots of time to figure out what I want to do. I'm really excited about this one. It is going to be a lot of fun "meeting" other quilters and being involved in such a collaborative and creative venture.

Swaps are pretty new to me. I've only participated in two previous ones, and those were for fabric-- so all I had to worry about was cutting an appropriate sized rectangle. Making and sending blocks is definitely a little different-- I haven't even started and am already feeling the pressure of creating perfect 1/4" seams! But at the same time, I'm really excited about trying some new things, and having some new crafty experiences. I can't wait to get started!

May block exchange

The start of another month means it's nearly time for my next guild meeting and for the next block exchange block. (If you're interested, you can read about how the block exchange works.) This month was kind of fun. The box was full of lovely purple, green, and blue batik strips.


According the instruction sheet, the batiks were from a Hoffmann Bali Pops pack-- essentially a jelly roll, but all Hoffman batiks. So pretty!

This is the block she had us make:


Simple, but so effective! (More so in real life... the colors are much more vibrant in person.) I love the batiks with the pretty white-on-white print she included. I'm thinking I may have to file this idea away in that "quilts I want to make someday" file in the back of my brain.

Jane Stickle Quilt: A-13

Block number/name: A-13 “Starlight - Starbright”

Date completed: May 3, 2009

Number of pieces: 21

Notes on block: Considering all of the inset seams, this block came together super smoothly for me. It always feels so good when that happens! And this block completes Row A!!! Now I really need to get off my duff and start putting some sections together, I think.

In other news, both Keith and I have rediscovered the World of Warcraft. I have a bad feeling that this is going to kind of cut into my stitching time. Hopefully, I can balance the two and not get completely sucked into WoW (as has happened in the past). At the same time, I’ve been so focused on my quilting lately, it’s kind of fun to be doing something a little different.

Some stairwell improvement

It seems I have been taking a little inadvertent blog break. It's not that I have been doing nothing. It's more that I've been doing a lot of the same thing, namely, quilting the Mod Sampler Quilt. I finally completed the quilting over the weekend and did the first stage of binding. Now I just need to do all the handstitching on that. Of course, I haven't finished the binding on my Stacked Coins Quilt yet either. Hopefully, I'll get some binding action going and have a finished quilt to share this week!

In addition to lots of quilting, we finally managed to get one of my quilts hung. Woo hoo! We've only lived in this house for 2.5 years now. I figured it was about time we finally get a quilt on the wall.


Yay for handy husbands! (Thank you, Keith!)


It is hanging on the landing between the first and second floors of the house. It's kind of tough to get a good picture.


I started this quilt as a block of the month back in 2001. It is a Maggie Walker design called My Cat's Garden. It is all machine appliqued using a satin stitch. It was a lot of satin stitching. I have a pretty awesome thread collection as a result. The quilt was completed in 2005. I kind of chickened-out on the quilting and just outlined all of the applique. I really wish I had done more. Despite that, I am crazy proud of this quilt and am so happy that it is finally hanging up where I can enjoy it every day.