Block Swaps Update

I'm still having a great time swapping quilt blocks. Every time I join a swap I learn something new. Here is a picture of the blocks I received in the Civil War fabrics Ohio star block swap.




Here is a picture of the Puss in Boots blocks I received:




I'm working on three other swaps, a "scrap happy" swap on Quilting Around the World a mini nine patch swap for block_swappers and a nine inch nine patch for the same site.


There are many good reasons to join a block swap.
Reason one is to try a new color scheme. I tried a new color scheme for the Puss in Boots swap. I had all those colors but never would have combined them myself.

Reason two is to find out more about your stash. In the Scrap Happy swap I learned that my stash was lacking in very dark colors. Next time I shop I will be adding some dark colors to help make my quilts "sing".

Reason three is to try a new block pattern. In the Scrap Happy swap I made a block I've never made before. It's just a simple double four patch, it's a classic, but I'd never used it before.

Reason four is to increase your productivity. Those deadlines really get you sewing.I find that having a deadline makes me more productive. I know that without these block swaps I wouldn't have made as many blocks as I have. When I finish these five swaps I will have enough blocks made to put together 5 new quilts. How's that for productivity!

Reason five is to help you "raise the bar" on your accuracy. I always want to send in my best work so I'm a little bit more careful and accurate when I make blocks to swap. That's a good thing because I know sometimes I get a little sloppy than I'm not happy with the way my quilts turn out.

Can you tell I highly recommend swapping quilt blocks? Head on over to some of my favorite forums and join a swap today, you'll be glad you did.
Quilting Around the World
Block_Swappers
MailBlocks
About.com Quilting

If anyone knows of other block swap sites please leave me a comment.
Also I'd love to hear about your quilt swapping adventures so leave a comment, I'm sure we're all interested in what you have to say.

Quilt Block Swap Frenzy!!

I'm swapping like crazy!! Here are the Puss in the Corner swap blocks I did for QATW.

This is the color scheme that "Bookworm", the swap hostess asked us to use: earthy reds, warm browns, and golden creams and tans.
I haven't used this color scheme before. It's beautiful and I had all the colors in my stash already, so I guess they're colors I like. I just needed a little nudge to combine them. I love when I find a swap that teaches me something.

I'm also working on 2 more swaps. These swaps are on Blockswappers, a subgroup of the Stashbusters group that I've belonged to since 2002. The first is a mini nine patch swap. The blocks finish 3 inches. I don't know what I'm going to do with them but they're so cute I couldn't resist. Any suggestions?

I signed up for 4 sets of 10 and I have one set done and the other 3 sewn into strip sets. I'm hoping to get those finished today. If I do I think I'll sign up for a few more sets, like maybe 6......that would give me 100 swapped blocks and the 5 extra from each set that I make. I'm using up some of my fat quarters and if I cut 5 dark 1 1/2 inch strips and 4 light 1 1/2 inch strips I get 15 3 1/2 inch nine patches. Here's a picture of my progress so far:


I'v also signed up for 2 sets of 9 inch nine patch blocks. That will give me 20 swapped blocks and about 8 that I've made for myself. For some of the blocks I used the "leftovers" from the fat quarters I cut my mini 9 patches from so I have a lot of different blocks.


I found that 2 FQ'a will make six 9 inch 9 patches and 5 dark and 4 light 3 1/2 inch strips cut from the width of the fabric will make 12 blocks. Ten to swap and two to keep.

This swap isn't due until May but these blocks are so easy and I was in the mood for some simple piecing yesterday that both sets will be finished today. So far I'm the only one who's signed up for this swap. I hope as the due date gets closer more people will sign up. It would stink to have all my blocks made and have the swap canceled.

Any one else interested? in joining? Go to Blockswappers and sign up. Here's a picture of some of these blocks:

Now what other swaps can I join................

Community Quilt Projects

I'm working on making quilts to donate to the Woman's Shelter in the town I work in. Each year at Christmas time my office "adopts" the people in the shelter. We take up a collection of money and gifts. This year there were 12 children between the ages 3 months and 16 years old in the shelter along with thier mothers. That's more people than ever. I felt awful.

Can you imagine having no home? I cannot imagine how stressful that must be for a Mom. I donated what I could but really felt it wasn't enough.

My quilting guild, the Bayside Quilters, has a community quilt program. I usually have a goal of donating 3 quilts a year to this program. I didn't meet my goal last year because I was busy selling, buying, moving and fixing up my new house. I'm thinking that this year instead of donating to the guild I will use my time and stash to donate quilts to the Woman's shelter.

There are a couple of problems with that. One is that I can't make a quilt for just a couple of the kids, it's all or nothing. The second is I won't know until just before Christmas how many kids or what thier ages are. The third problem is TIME. The fourth problem is MONEY for the batting.

I think the biggest problem is going to be the time. I could make and quilt 12 60" by 60" quilts in 12 months IF I had my quilting machine set up. But I don't and I don't think I will be getting it set up any time soon. I don't have space in the house, not unless I set it up in the dining room and that would be really ugly. The whole first floor is an open floor plan and quilting machines are just not attractive.

I bought this house with the intention of using the building out back as my sewing studio. It will be PERFECT! Isn't it beautiful?? Can't you picture me walking out there in the morning with my dog and my cat to spend the day listening to music, sewing and eating chocolate??

But, my son and his family have come to live with me and they need the studio to store thier household belongings. My son is in the construction business and he has no work. He's exploring other avenues of work but has not found anything yet. The storage unit they are currently using costs $240.00 a month,..... way to much money!!


I can quilt on my home machine, but it takes so long and it puts so much stress on my home machines and my body that I really don't like to.


So I'm setting myself a goal of making 2 quilt tops a month for now and I will worry later about finding the money for the batting and how I will get them all quilted.
Anyway, we'll see what I can do.

I've already made some progress. I have a couple of tops made so far. I have two done and three that need borders. I might just make the YBR a little bigger and not put a border on it. I'm having a hard time finding the right colors for borders and I don't want to go out and buy any fabric. I just can't afford it. I'm thinking of using simple patterns that will look good without borders. Any suggestions anyone?

My Quilting Machine

I hate moving! I want to be quilting, but I can't because I don't have access to my quilting machine. I'm lucky to have a temporary sewing room at my friend's house so I shouldn't be complaining. If you'd like to see the old timer I quilt on check out my webshots album.
by cindynvb
I haven't updated my quilt photo albums in forever, but you can check them out here, Dear Jane
by cindynvband my 2005 quilts
by cindynvb
Here are my 2006 quilts, you'll notice I've used lots of scraps.

Quilts 2006

Obviously I'm a just a little behind on posting my quilt photos, haven't uploaded any pictures since 2006. Also I have at least 130 Dear Jane blocks made, but it takes forever to scan them so I don't know if I will upload any more of them. As soon as I do, I'll let you all know. I love to show off my quilts. Show and tell is my favorite part of my guilt meetings.

How to save money on QUILTING for new Quilters

How to save money on QUILTING for new Quilters

Join your local Quilting Guild. You will find lots of support and information there. Don’t be shy about being a beginner; we all were at one time.
When you’re starting out resist the temptation to buy every tool, gadget and book on the market. The basics will be enough to get you started and keep you going for a long time. See my list of “Basic” quilting tools.

3. Check out your local Library – borrow books before you buy them. I love new quilting books, but much as I would like to I just can’t have them all. The library is a great way to stretch your budget. My library has quilting magazines and lots of the latest books.

4. Buy Used and discounted books and magazines. For books try half.com, Amazon, Mackenzie books and Ed Hamilton books. For magazines, E-bay, Craig’s list and Quilter’s Flea Market are my favorites.

5. Save batting scraps and cut them up to use as pillow stuffing. I
use some of my ugly fabric and make a pillow form, leaving one side open. I fill it as I go so I don’t have a big pile of batting to cut up all at once.

6 . Buy your piecing thread by the cone. I use a thin, lint free thread in a neutral color for piecing. Lots of benefits to this, first, the cost, you’d have to buy about 11 spools of thread to equal 1 cone of Bottom Line or Sew Fine, my current favorite piecing thread. I figure I save $10 to $15 on thread buying the cones. These threads make much less lint, which will save wear and tear on your machine Also fewer spools of thread makes for less clutter.

7. Find patterns online for FREE! See my list of favorite pattern and BOM sites. (coming soon)

8. Don’t know how to do something? Go online for free tutorials, but you knew that already didn’t you?

9. Buy your backing fabrics from the clearance bins of your favorite quilt shops. I always look at the discounted fabrics and when I find something I like I buy enough for a backing. Do you really need to spend $8.00 a yard for the backing? My local shop sells their older fabrics for $2 -$3 a yard and they have a good selection.

10. Shop for fabric online. Here area couple of my favorite discount shopping sites:

Quilter's Flea Market and Hancocks of Paducah.

Saving money on your quilting hobby is just like saving money on anything else. Buy only what you need, don't waste your "leftovers" , buy quality because it lasts and makes your job easier.

Basic Quilting tools

Must Have Quilting tools
Here's my shopping list of quilting tools for the beginner. If anyone see's something I've missed, let me know and I'll add it.

Rotary Cutter- buy the Olfa brand, I like the 60mm ergonomic one for cutting up to 8 layers. if that’s not in the budget, the 45mm one works well also.

Extra blades – a sharp blade will make your cutting much easier and more accurate

A cutting mat – but the largest one you have room for, it will speed up your cutting and get you to the fun part sooner.

Sharp scissors – I recommend the Gingher brand 8” sheers and a pair of 4” embroidery type for clipping threads. I keep my small scissors on a lanyard around my neck; otherwise I spend a lot of time looking for them.

An Iron – I like an iron that is a bit heavy and that will get very hot. I don’t worry about steam because I use spray starch. Your iron should be comfortable to use because you will be using it a lot.

A large ironing surface – I made a big ironing surface by taking a scrap of plywood , stapling a piece of cotton batting and an ugly piece of fabric to the underside of the plywood. (No stapler? Use duct tape, a girls best friend LOL) Then I cover it with an old beach towel that I can throw in the wash when it gets stiff with starch.

Rotary cutting rulers – I LOVE my ruler collection, probably have too many, but they really make the cutting and sub-cutting much easier- I like this brand the best because I can see the markings very well.
http://www.quiltknit.com/rulers/page15.htm
Olfa makes a good ruler also. Buy the brand whose markings are easiest for you to see.
I would start out buying a 6 1/2” by 24” and a 6 ½” by 12”. I would add these to my collection as I went along – a square ruler in the size block I make the most, i.e. a 6 ½”, 9 ½”, and/or 12 ½”- these are great for squaring up finished blocks. Then an easy angle for cutting triangles.
http://astore.amazon.com/quiltville-20

Notions – needles, pins, (buy good ones, cheap pins are not sharp, frustrating to use and can ruin your fabric) a pin cushion, extra bobbins, (wind a bunch of these before you start to sew) oil and a brush for your sewing machine, (it’s very important to clean your machine after), a seam ripper, I like this type the best:
HAVEL'S ULTRA PRO II SEAM RIPPER
http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item--i-C-18935
Or this one:
HAVEL'S SEAM RIPPER WITH Handle
http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item--i-C-18933


Thread – buy good thread, cheap thread is not worth your time and money. I like to use a thin thread like Bottom Line or Sew Fine in the bobbin, both produce very little lint and more thread will fit on the bobbin, saving you time.

Sewing Machine – again not a place to skimp; Buy the best you can afford.
I would focus on quality rather than features. Lots of stitches and options are nice, but I’d rather a sturdy, reliable simple machine than one with a lot of “bells and whistles”. The reason for that is quilt making uses simple stitches.
The features you will need are a straight stitch, the ability to lower the feed dogs, and an adjustable zig- zag stitch. The accessories you will need are a ¼ inch foot, a darning foot and an appliqué foot. You will be happy with these features for a long time

BABY QUILT

It’s time to make a baby quilt again. The baby shower is next week and as you can see by the picture, the baby quilt is not ready! I don’t know what I was thinking; I just started the quilt last week. I should have started it much sooner. Oh, well, this won’t be the first time I’ve been late with my quilt giving.

I don’t have the right fabric for the inner border, but I do have a nice blue and green multicolor fabric for the outer border. I am planning on using the green fabric or something similar for a thin inner border. I believe the green I used was a Patrick Lose fabric which I bought at Safftlers in Whitman, MA. Hopefully they will still have some.


I seem to be going fabric shopping a lot lately. So much for my stash busting efforts! I think I’m buying as much fabric as I’m using!
I really hate it when I have to stop sewing because I run out of fabric or supplies. It really ruins my momentum. Part of the reason I’m having this problem is because my stash is all packed up ready for my much delayed move. If I had known the seller’s bank was going to take so much time to get their paperwork done I would have left out more of my UFO’s, WIP’s and fabrics. I can’t get the quilting done because I don’t dare load a quilt in my quilting machine in case I have to move before it’s finished, but I could have finished more tops. Well, I shouldn’t complain, I really have gotten a lot done lately and it really isn’t a hardship to go fabric shopping.

Floral Quilt

I'm still not in the mood to challenge myself, but I do feel like quilting. Here's what happened when I dug out a HUGE bag full of 6 inch nine patch blocks that I've collected in block swaps, or made when I felt like sewing but had no project in mind.

Instant (almost) lap quilt! This took me about 4 hours to piece.
It has no borders yet because I don't have a stash to shop right now. It's all packed up waiting for my move to the new house, Sure wish the bank and attorneys would get thier paperwork done so I can move and get my life settled again. Needing border fabrics was a good excuse to go to the quilt shop. You can see by my photo of my "loot" that I did buy a little bit more than just the border fabrics!!

I think having sets of blocks made up is like having a brownie mix in the pantry, much faster than starting from scratch and will always come in handy. I've made 3 other quilts from my bag of nine patch blocks and they're all different.

Here's the last one I made. This was a gift for a friend, Joe Cavana,who has since died. I'm so glad I made this for him, he really loved it and it gave him a lot of comfort.

Having some blocks in the "pantry" enables me to make a comfort quilt up real quick when I need to.

QUILT SHOP TRIP

I needed some fabric for a couple of baby quilts and the borders on a floral patchwork quilt I'm making as a gift. I also wanted a pattern to make a fabric handbag or tote. Since most of my stash is packed in preparation for my move I thought a trip to the local quilt shop was in order.
I always have a great time shopping for quilting fabric, patterns and tools, but today was an exceptionally good time.
I shopped at Emma's Quilt Cupboard in Franklin, MA. From the outside it looks like a tiny shop, but inside it's packed with fabric, patterns, tools, notions and books.

Hung all over the shop were beautiful quilts showcasing the classes being held and patterns that they sell. As soon as I walked in a Piece of Cake design, "Stars in my Garden" caught my eye. I've wanted to make that applique pattern for years, but had forgotten all about it. Maybe I will dust off my book when I get settled into my new house...... we'll see
I thought that the two ladies who were working were the best sales clerks I've ever met. They were very friendly, knowledgeable and knew when to help me and when to leave me alone to browse. I took up a lot of their time, asking for this and that and they both made me feel as if they were really enjoying helping me. Now that's a rare experience in the retail world.
I got everything I needed and then some. I splurged a little (it's my birthday after all) and got the EQ6 upgrade. I found some very nice fabric for backings for $3.33 a yard, that's a real bargain for quilt shop quality fabrics. Emma's sends everyone who signs up for their e-mail birthday gift, a discount coupon good for a % off your total order. So I'm trying to justify buying all this quilting stuff because it was a good buy!
I highly recommend Emma's Quilt Cupboard http://www.emmasquiltcupboard.com/
The shop has a great selection, great service, great classes and reasonable prices. Well worth the trip.
.

How to save money on QUILTING for long time quilters

Saving money on quilting boils down to three things, use what you have, buy only what you need and pinch your pennies when you do buy. Here’s a list of ways to do just that.

1. Use your scraps. For ideas on how to organize your scraps read this post by Bonnie Hunter.
http://quiltville.com/scrapusersystem.shtml

2. Use those ugly and “what was I thinking of” fabrics for backings.


3. Make a challenging quilt. It will take longer to make the quilt so you fabrics will last longer and you will have fun learning something new and stretching yourself.


4. Don’t buy a new magazine until you’ve used a pattern from an old one.


5. Don’t buy a new pattern until you’ve used one you already have.


6. Join a quilting guild if you haven’t already, you’ll have lots of quilting fun for very little money.

7. If your quilting guild has an auction,donate, attend and bid. The members of my quilting guild donate their unwanted items and most of them are sold for under retail. If your guild doesn’t have an auction, suggest having one. It’s a great fund-raiser and lots of fun.

8. Check out Quilter’s Flea Market, it’s a great place to sell unwanted quilting items and buy some new-to-you things for a less than new price. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QuiltersFleaMarket/


9. Shop your stash - see Stashbusters online group for lots of great ideas to use your stash.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stashbuster/


10. Finish your UFO’s and WIP’s. Unfinished projects are a BIG money waster. Remember, it’s not a quilt until it’s quilted!



Please leave a comment with your favorite way(s) to stretch your quilting dollars, we all will appreciate it.

MONEY & QUILTING

Quilting has become an expensive hobby. If you make a large quilt you are probably going to use 15-20 yards of fabric, a batting, thread and needles. Then there are the non-consumable supplies that you need to have, the rotary cutter and mat, pins, books and patterns.
I’ve been quilting for a long time so I have lots of tools, some of which I’ve never used…ouch, and LOTS of fabric. I have a huge stash of quilting fabrics and I’m glad I have them now because as gas and food prices rise my budget for non-necessities is shrinking.

I recently read a blog post on how to save money quilting written by a non-quilter. While I agree with some of her ideas I don’t agree with all of them, and I think that her list is more relevant to the new quilter than the person who’s been quilting for a long time. If you’d like to read it this is the link:

http://www.quiltingandpatchwork.com/2008/06/20/10-ways-to-save-money-quilting/

The things I, as an established quilter do to save money on quilting will be different than the person just starting out.

So I’m going to write a couple of posts on money saving ideas for quilters. The first will be for those of us who have a “stash”, the second will be for the new quilter.
If you have any money saving ideas please post a comment and share your idea with the rest of us. I think we’ll all have to learn to be more frugal if we are going to be able to continue to pursue our hobbies as the price of gas continues to rise and takes a bite out of our budgets.

New Day, New Block

Still not feeling motivated enough to tackle the borders on the Carolina Crossroads Mystery quilt. I really need to get that one finished. It's a gift for a special friend who's done so much for me that he really deserves a quilt.

Here are the blocks I made for the September BOM for my quilting guild, the Bayside Quilters. As most of you know the BOM is a favorite and almost universal activity of every quilting guild. If you don't know how this works, each month we get pattern. Each member who makes a block puts it in the "kitty" and gets a chance to win all of the blocks.
I made three this time, one to keep and two to swap. I'm hoping that having two blocks will increase my chances to win.

A few years ago I was incredibly lucky and one several times. I used those blocks to make fours quilts as gifts. Having a ready made stash of blocks sure made my gift giving easy that year.

Quilter's Block

I'm still not ready to tackle any large projects, so today I finished a paper pieced star from Carol Doak's book "Fifty Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars". I started making this block two years ago, but I really don't like to paper piece so I set it aside. I like the colors (still) but don't know what I'll do with it, I'm not sure I want to make any more right now.
I think I need something easy and quick to finish. I just finished a king size quilt and I have 2 more king size quilts that I'm working on, but I'm at a standstill right now. They are both ALMOST done but I just don't feel like working on them. I guess I have Quilter's Block. Do you every get that? What do you do to get by it?
The Carolina Crossroads Mystery quilt just needs the borders sewn on, then the machine quilting, the scrappy one patch needs the last 3 rows put together, the border and the quilting. I love the machine quilting part, but hate sewing long seams, so I always have a hard time motivating myself to get the borders on. When I can get away with it, I don't use a border, but both these quilts are so busy they need a plain border so the eye has a resting place. Guess I will just keep working on little projects until I'm more motivated.

Latest quilting projects

Today I'm feeling tired and lazy, but not so lazy that I don't want to play with my fabrics. I'm not up to anything challenging so I decided to make the September community quilt BOM for my quilting guild.
It's a very simple scrappy string quilt.
Here is a picture of four blocks put together.
These look great when they're made up. I made one a couple of years ago on a muslin foundation using red as the center strip. It's one of my favorite quilts. One of these days I'll make another one .