September Blocks

Here is the block my partner Crafty Pug sent me along with a post card and some scraps of matching fabric. What a great ideal that I will be using thanks Crafty Pug. I love the block, name of block "Magic Cross".

From Australia with LoVe

Mary C just emailed me to say she received my Sept block and so I thought I would share it with you. Now my block has a new home in Canada with Mary.

Mary wished for a star block in traditional Christmas colours.

Sue's Block!

This is the block that is on it's way for Sue Belleli! It will go out in the mail today! It is a friendship block made from Robin Pandolph's fabrics. I thought the friendship block would be a nice way to say hello across the miles! 
Leona (Florida, USA)

Welcome to Sandi from Florida

Several of you ladies would know Sandi as she has been the co-ordinatior of the American quilt swap group, which gave me the inspiration and idea to start up an Australian one.  Sandi has handed over the reins of that group to another member to run.  With this, she has decided to join our group - which is a real honour.  So join me in welcoming Sandi.  I will make a swap block for her this month, although she was my first ever swap partner.  Sandi is looking forward to getting to know all her new friends down under.

Also, just a reminder to get your blocks finished and posted out by the end of this month.  From emails received, I know you are all on track.  You all should have received a link to post directly on this blog, so please feel free to show them off - we all love to see the beautiful creations.

ps, just made Sandi's block, she is saving Australian themed blocks from her down under friends.  I think these cute Koala's fit the bill.

Linden's September Block for Sue

Hi friends

This is the block I made for Sue, my September swap partner. She asked for pink and green shabby chic. It's a traditional block pattern from Quiters' Cache, but embarrassingly I have misplaced the pattern and have neglected to note the name of it. I hope that you like it, Sue. It was fun to use fabric I wouldn't normally choose for myself - I have some left over so am thinking it will be good for pincushions and other little Christmas gifts.

Helpful button with tutorials- Amys creative side

Hi ladies,  I have just popped a button on the side tool bar to Amys Creative side.  She has fantastic tutorials on items such as perfect 1/4 inch seams.   Really cool and useful stuff  that I thought would be great to share.

Another Christmas block

Here is the block I made for Ann - our newest member and 3rd Canadian to join.  Ann requested Christmas theme in cream, green and gold, but I couldn't resist slipping in a bit of cheery red to finish it off.  I really enjoyed how this block came together - so easy with  great effect I will be sure to make a few more of these.

Hi All

Beautiful block from Leena

Hi All Beth here just doing a test post

have a fantastic day hugs Beth

Hi All !!!

WOW Sue thank you for setting this up. A great way of showing everyone our wonderful blocks our partner's have made.

I received this gorgeous Xmas block as well as a lovely piece of Xmas fabric and my first Chrissy card from Crafty Pug this week.  

Jacob's Ladder in country colours

is my request for my block swap.

Sue made my first block. Just love it!

Next Beth sent me this lovely block.

A big thank you to all the swappers for my gorgeous blocks.

Interactive blog is working

Shortly all members registered in the block swap group will receive an email to be a publisher on this blog.  So you can all use it to "show and tell" blocks you make and receive from each other.  And when all the blocks come together I can't wait to see the quilts we all make.

I also wanted to share the Country themed block I made for Paola,  she has had to withdraw from the group temporarily but I had already made this for her - so will still pop it in the post.  Hopefully she will be back swapping with us soon.  

Here is the link to my personal blog, if you havent already done so, please follow me

http://www.quiltedhugsandothernonsense.blogspot.com/


Sue

Great Job

I think a BIG "ThANk YoU" to Sue is in order.

Sue has organised this swap group and has gathered members from far & wide.

I never knew how much fun it would be and I encourage other bloggers out there to join us.

September blocks received!

hi all!
thanks to sue for making the blog interactive - will be so great to share our blocks all in the one place!

here are the lovely ones that i was lucky enough to receive this week....

my christmas block from Maria - so bright and festive - i love it!

and a very generous Alicia sent two blocks for the regular swap - aren't they gorgeous!

thanks so much for sharing your creativity with me ladies

pugs and kisses
xx

testing....testing....1, 2, 3.....

hello!
crafty here, on Sue's blog - cool hey!
xx

This blog is YOUR blog

I think I have discovered a way to have all members post on the blog and add your own pics of  photos.  I have a couple of  members to test that this is working ok  and if it does then I will send out invitations to all members of the group.

X fingers it works  Sue

showcasing 2 more blocks

Here is the block that I have made for Leona in the USA, so now it has a holiday in Florida ahead of it.  Leona requested Flying geese in reproduction fabrics with a white or muslin fabric.  (I used calico).  The print does not show up well on the phots but its teal and burgundy with tiny cream flowers.  (click on the image for a close up), I was very proud of my points on this one.

And this stunning poinsettia  has been made for Cheryll by Tarnyia - I am sure Cheryll is going to love this one !!  Gee we have a talented bunch of ladies in our group.  Tarnyia satin stitched around the applique, again you can click on the image for a closer look- its superb.



Also - Must not forget a big thank you to Sandi, who has been co ordinating the USA block swap group.  Sandi has joined us as a reserve if I need an extra swapper at any time, which means Sandi, I might have someone for you every month at the rate we have been going xx

Another 2 members have joined

Just a quick update to welcome Val from the Yarra Valley in Victoria, and Anne from Nova Scotia  in Canada.  I am just waiting for these ladies to send details through so they can swap with us in September.  Its amazing that so far we already have 14 new members doing their first swap in September - double what we had in August with 7 newbys for that month.

I have been chatting online with Sandi who has been running the American swap - just to get some ideas and hints on co ordinating the swaps and she tells me the most she has ever had was around 35 members and we are well on our way to that target.  All from a start in li'l Ol Adelaide :-)

Another new member- + let me know your blogs.

A big quilted hugs welcome to Minette from Terrigal in NSW (Central coast), Minette is a new quilter so may have lots of questions along the way.  She has just become a new blogger also, and only has one follower (2 now I follow her blog), so lets all join in and make her welcome.

Minette said "if you really want to have a look at my humble blog it is at"

http://www.sewdownunder.blogspot.com/

If anyone else has a blog that's not in the followers list on this blog let me know and I can add it - so we can all follow each other and get word out there.  The challenge will be to get a 4th country to join in,  so far we have 25 members made up of

18 Aussies
5 Americans
2 Canadians

I have also (finally) figured out to get the link to the blog onto the side toolbar so its easier for new members to copy and add it to their blog.  SO if you dont have this on your blog please add it.  Thanks ladies Sue xx

Ellens block has arrived from America

Very excited to get a soft parcel in the mail from overseas.  Inside was this cute and fun reindeer friendship star from Ellen.  Ellen was my swap partner in the US group for August.  I will pop her an email inviting her to join our group.

Larrain's September Block

My sewing afternoon did not go exactly as planned, I spent too much time on blogs, just scrolling through and reading.  And I had the ironing to do or we wont have any shirts for work next week : -(

But I did manage to get this block made for Larain, who requested a Traditional block in pinks, yellows and lilacs.  I had some lovely lilac and lemon fabric which I was itching to use so had my chance, sorry Larrain there is no pink in it.

I may get to my next project after dinner tonight, I have so many WIP at the moment its hard to work on just one. 

Rosemary's cat quilt

Rosemary has just emailed me a pic of a quilt she has just completed for her friend who lost their cat.  She wanted to share this with everyone
The quilt is titled Remembering daisy. 

Showcasing crafty Pugs blocks for September

Here are three blocks made this month by Crafty Pug.  The first block is for our Christmas swap and she has made this for Maria.   Its an absolutely beautiful star.  I am so jealous of the perfect points !

The second one is being sent far away to Alicia in Oklamoha.  So this one has a journey ahead of it.

And last but not least is for new member Irene who requested a block in Autumn colours. 

I think we will all agree that Crafty Pug has done an amazing job, its hard to pic a favourite, but if I had to chose it would be the Christmas star. 

Well done Crafty Pugs  xx

Welcome member # 24 Tarnyia

Message from Tarnyia:

Thanks for letting me join your group... I live on a sheep station in the outback with no fabric shops close by so when I go to Perth I stock up.. my nearest town is 72kms away and we are a 7 hour trip from the city. Looking forward to making a start with you all...
Luv T xxx

Message from Sue
Please remember to pop some pics of your blocks on the blog to share with everyone, or email them to me and I will display them for you. Quilted hugs, Sue x

My new Blog- please follow me....

Hello to all the ladies that follow this blog.  Over the coming days / weeks you may notice a few changes to the blog.  Reason being is that I have decided to start up a second "personal" blog and leave this one for us to use to showcase the blocks and quilts made with the blocks in the swap.
I will use my personal blog to show off my own quilts and share my quilting journey and welcome you all to follow this.  So I will be removing the quilts I have made from the side bar, as I gradually add them to the new blog. 
I have called this blog Quilted hugs and other nonsense.  You should find it on this blog (in the blogs I follow section) or by typing quiltedhugsandothernonsense.blogspot.com in your search engine.

First September swap on its way

As we had an influx of 10 new members participating with their first swap this month, I have assigned 2 swaps for the ladies that have volunteered and am doing a few extras myself.  I like to swap as soon as possible with new members as a welcome to the group, but cannot "hog" you all.

Here is the first swap for Linden who joined up with us in August.  Alex kindly did Lindens first swap and I have paired with her for September.  Linden is saving brights in purples and oranges.  I don't have any bright orange in my stash at the moment but did have this lovely pansy print (with yellow) that I think does the trick.  I hope Linden likes her block - it will be popped in the post tomorrow.

Caramel Pie is baked

Caramel pie

There have been a couple of postings of this quilt along the way- and now I am pleased to show off the completed item (all but the label).  After completing stitching on the binding tonight.

I have named this quilt Caramel pie as it reminds me of that.  I have made it as a gift for my dad for Fathers Day -  I hope he likes it. 

Double click on the image to see the detail, I am very proud of the joins and how they matched up nicely .

here come the swaps here come the swaps............

I am all done assigning partners - so without any more delays I am about to start sending the emails.  Please just touch base with your swap partner prior to starting their block in case their preferences have changed or to clairfy the choices. 

I have managed to get a head start on my Christmas swap block - and here it is ( I will email Cathy not to look until the post arrives), My first Christmas swap - Doves.  As well as a bonus 9 patch for her in some autumn tones

Almost spring and time for our next swap.

I am just in the final touches of gathering the lists for our September swap, its huge with 10 new members doing their first swap with us. 

As I dont want a new member to swap with a new member first time round I will be getting the ladies that have offered to do extra swaps to help out, and I will be pairing with some of you too.   So a big thank you to the ladies that have offered to do extra swaps.

Initially my intention was to do the first swap with all new members as a welcome swap to the group, but with the rate of growth in August and for September it would be impossible for me to keep up.  Already I have completed a swap quilt (well still putting it together)  and I have only had the group running since May which in amazing..  I will gradually get to all of you in time and look forward to getting to know you all. 

I am hoping to get the swap partners finalised and sent out over this coming weekend.  So stay tuned to your email.

Another member shows off their block

Linden emailed me the lovely baby bunting block she had made for Alex. 
Alex has requested this block in pastel "gelati" colours and I am to let the swap partner know what colour to make each block so Alex gets a lovely surprise every month.  
So keep posted on this or Alex's blog to see what flavours are on the menu.

Debbies Block to Cathy

Here is another stunner that Cathy wanted to share as she received it in the mail today from Debbie in Canada.  Cathy wants to apologize as the original post said this was from Larrain, but she got her blocks mixed up as the envelopes were wet in the letterboxes. So thankyou to Debbie :-)

Christmas Block swap members emailed tonight.

Hi girls

Shortly I will be sending out the swap members for the first Christmas swap.  I have just realised however that with 12 members we are going to be doing 11 swaps, so you will be one short on a 12 patch quilt.

I think we could make our own last block to tie them together, perhaps if you are missing something you were hoping for like a Christmas tree or star then you could put the finishing touch to it. 

I look forward to seeing all the lovely blocks on your blogs as you make and recieve them.  If you are not a blogger and want me to publish a pic, just email it to me- happy to display this for you.

So... here we go, put on the Christmas Carols and have FUN

CHRISTMAS BLOCK SWAP - CLOSED

I now have 12 members participating in the Christmas swap,  9 Aussies, 2 Americans and 1 Canadian.  I have decided to close off the numbers at 12 so with us each swapping once per month, the group will run for 12 months.  So the swap should end next August giving us plenty of time to put the quilts together in time for  Christmas 2011.

If you missed out on registering for the swap you can choose a Christmas theme as your standard swap.  If this swap proves popular and we get more interest for it next year I very likely will run it again. 

Members participating in this years swap are:

Me (Sue), Cathy, Crafty Pug, Cheryll, Leena, Rosemary, Maria, Linden, Teena, Pat, Mary from USA, and Mary from Canada.

I am just finalising who will swap with who and will send the first months partners out later this week.

Friendship quilt in the making - part 2

sewing on the sashes

Tonight I have been busy sewing on the sashes and joining the blocks into rows.  I have added in a block that I made which gives me 16 blocks to work with so I will make a square quilt with 4 rows of 4.  Then with borders it would be like a Queen bed topper.

sashes 1/2 done

Lots of unpicking along the way

There was quite a bit of frustration and unpicking along the way due to not all of the blocks being the same size.  This give me the opportunity to mention to all ladies participating in the swap to try and get your finished blocks as close to 12.5 inches raw edge to raw edge as you possibly can.  I am new to swapping too and I am the first to admit that I have made and sent a block too small, until it was pointed out to me. 

uneven join

Generally in quilting when a pattern tells you a block size this is allowing for the 1/4 inch seam allowance but not always so you will have to add this on.  Before you cut your fabric do a quick mathematic caluclation of one edge of the block to check that it adds up to 12.5 inches,  In this quilt I had a couple of blocks about 1/2 inch short of this, and a couple about 1/2 inch too big.  When they are too big you can trim a little, or resew a seam a bit more, but when they are too small even with scant seams and stretching it makes it very hard (so better to be too big than too small). 

I didnt think to check the block sizes before I got to the step of sewing each row together and then found out the hard way that the vertical strips did not line up.  I unpicked and re-sewed several times to try and get them to match up and this was the best I could do. 

As it turns out the worst of the uneven seams is in the centre of the quilt so I have decided that I will put a label over this join with the name of all the contributors in the making of the quilt on that.  This will hide the join and not make it as obvious.

More postings soon as I add the borders.  I am not going to show a pic of the whole quilt until it is completed - so you will all have to wait for that one.

Churn dash Friendship quilt

Here are all of the lovely churn dash blocks I have received in the swap.  I have laid them out on my dining table in a random order and taken a picture from each end.  I am sure you will all spot your block in there.

Now I have to play with them to assemble them into a pleasing display.  I am not sure if I should put sashings between them or perhaps set them on point. 

I have purchased 3 lots of bulk fabric, one in a creamy brown colour and one in a rich navy and the third in a golden brown as these are the dominating colours and what I will use to bind it all together.  I may use one of these as backing, or do a pieced backing from all 3.  So here we go.  Stay tuned as I will post updates on this quilt coming together as it is made by all of us.

Another UFO (almost) completed

Dont you just love it when Spotlight have a sale !!.  As a spot light member, I received a voucher in the mail last week for $40 off any purchase over $100.  I get these a couple of times a year and its a great time to stock up on Batting and fabric for backing.  I dont tend to purchase too much quilting fabric from them as such as the range is not great, but its good for the backing fabrics and the odd piece here and there.

Here is my lovely roll of wadding which now means I can finish a few quilts YAY.

Tonight I pinned the quilt I am making Dad for Fathers day,  this is the one from the Moda Scrap bag (featured in an earlier post).  I have named this Caramel Pie as the colours remind me of the yummy banana caramel pies with a cream top and chocolate drizzle.  I will be binding it in the lovely chocky print.

Pinning a quilt our is my least favourite part of the quilting process as its tedious.  I always have to get Hubby to help me straighten it out and smooth out the wrinkes.  So- bye for now, as I now off to the sewing room to start the quilting process.  Keep your eye out for a completed pic in the side bar any day now.

Cathys block to Crafty Pug

I love to see the blocks members make and recieve, so please post them on the blog or email me a pic and I will post them for you.

Here is the stunning block our very clever Cathy made for our very Crafty Pug.  Its so elegant.

And a big welcome to member #23 (another) Kathy from Vic.  Very happy to have you on board.

Free giveaway

One of our newest members is having a free giveaway.  So view this link to her blog to get a chance to win.

http://oneygirl-myquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/

As they say, you have to be " IN IT TO WIN IT"

Good luck everyone xx

BUTTON TO LINK TO BLOG

If you would like to pop this button onto your blog, simply view the posting in July - copy and paste into your side bar on your blog.

More members, we are now at 21 (key to the door)

The flood gates have opened up, and I can barely keep up with all the enquiries for new members wishing to join.

A big warm quilted hugs welcome to new members Nolene from Shoal Bay in NSW,  Dallas from central Victoria and Leona from Florida.

Just when I have my excell spreadsheet all sorted with the swaps I have to do more juggling.  Not complaining though as its great to have such a great bunch of ladies all wanting to share and participate.

Since posting this I also would like to welcome Mary from Canada # 22

its raining members-

I cant believe how fast things are taking off- 

A big welcome to Debbie, our first Canadian to join, and also to Irene (an Aussie). 

I am still waiting to hear back from a few new members with their preferences but we should be all set with me allocating members partners for September.  I have decided that the cut off to join each month will be mid month as it gets to hard, so if anyone joins from 15th of the month on (or thereabouts), they will start their first swap the following month.

Lastly here is the Shabby chic Ohio start that I made for Ellen in the US. She wanted predominantly green with floral.  I think it fits the bill.

Two more US members joined overnight

Please join me in extending a warm Aussie welcome to Mary from California and Pat from Oregon who will also be doing their first swaps with us in September.

Welcome to Alicia from OKLAHOMA (member #14)

Just a quick note to welcome our first international member Alicia from Oklahoma in the USA.  Alicia will do her first swap in September. - which is only a couple of weeks away now. :-)

USA MEMBERS INVITED

After some email discussions with some of you, I have decided to extend membership of the group globally.  It should make it more fun and challenging with friends being made far and wide. 

I know some of you have already joined the USA group that I am also a member of, and I have extended an invitation to them to join our group as well.  I have also emailed the co ordinator of that group Sandi to see if she would mind putting the button to the link of our group on their blog.  They dont have a button, but perhaps this may encourage them to get one to so we can link up. How cool would that be.

The postage to the US is not huge if you flatten the block and use a normal sized envelope.  I posted one today with a postcard and it was only $1.80 airmail.  If you do not wish to swap with the US ladies as they join up let me know, and if you are a member of their group and have swapped with some of them, when you make email contact please encourage them to visit and follow our blogs and join us too

Lucky member 13 and churn dash finished.

A big welcome to member number 13 Larain.  I am just waiting for confirmation of Larain's preferences for her to start swapping.  Interestingly she saw details of our group on the US one which I know a few of you ladies have joined, so this is great networking.  You may recall some time ago I made mention that I had resigned from the US swap, but that only lasted a week before I rejoined.  I just couldnt leave all my wonderful American friends.  I was contemplating inviting them to join our group too, but first wanted to check with you all if you would be ok with swapping with US.  Their group is run very similalry to ours as I based the idea on theirs after being a member for a few months, the only real difference is that your postage is about $1.50 to send an airmail quilt block to them in the US.  I also pop a post card of my home town in, and have received the same in return or info on where they live like town information pamphlets and the like.

The other exciting news is that I have now received all of my churn dash blocks so I can begin to play around with them to form a quilt - pics will be posted as this comes together.  A big thank you to Rosemary for your block, It came in the mail on Friday as did my Canadian swappers block from Debbie.

First eye spy quilt

planning the layout

I have been saving novelty children's eye spy prints for about 2 years now and finally have got around to using some of them.  I have so many that I have stored them into categories, boys, girls, and animals - which can be for either.  Its quite amazing when I look at them the array of fabrics I have  cows, racing cars,  dinosaurs, frogs, ballet dancers, mickey mouse and dogs flying planes and everything in between.

As I have 5 great niece's, 1 great nephew,  and 2 grandsons (with another due in September) and twins due in March 2011 - I will have plenty of demand for them.  Each of these littlies has received a nursery quilt from me (except the unborn ones of course). 

Giaan is  a very girly girl so her quilt has castles and ice scaters,  cupcakes, butterflies and magic wands - just to name a few. 

The final stages were to outline each jigsaw puzzle shape in bias binding.  I was very pleased to find this pink border fabric which has A is for apple, b B is for bird and C is for cupcake written on it.  Quite appropriate for the eye spy theme.

The quilt is a gift for Giaan who will be turning 3 very soon, I just need to get some batting and then I can quilt it. 

Inspiration for this quilt came from APQ magazine Vol 17 #4

Christmas block swap

Christmas stash

By now most of our members have registered to participate in the Christmas swap.  A couple are yet to send me their preferences so if you have not already done so please get these details to me.  It will work exactly as the general block swap only with a Christmas theme on the block and fabric.

The swap will start in September and I will send out (email) partners in the last week of August, and then I will send the regular swap partners out first week of September so it is staggered each month.

Most months you will have 2 different partners - so we can mix it up a bit, I will try hard to get this right. I have excell spreadsheets all set to go, and my stash of Christmas fabric is growing in readiness.

Welcome member # 12

A big quilted hugs welcome to member 12 Linden from Canberra.  I approached Linden from seeing her profile on the American quilt swap site and invited her to participate in ours.