they're coming! they're coming!!

 Beebee's hearts are finished...

 Quite by chance a little star shape appeared in the centre of the four hearts...

So sorry Beebee that these are so late... the truth be told I had put your fabric away so carefully that I couldn't find it for ages. Finally last Wednesday night after tearing the room apart I found the envelope!

So these little hearts will be winging their way west over the Pacific on Monday.
Viv's fabric is now put in full view so they won't suffer a similar fate! I'll be onto them tomorrow, so should be caught up again...
Best, Kate

Is was easier than it looked...what took me so long?!

I finally got Kate's block done!!  I kept putting it off and putting it off because it looked difficult and I thought I needed a large chunk of uninterrupted time to work on it.  Then tonight, it went like "zip!"  The fabrics are repro's from Marcus (Judy Rothermel).  I really enjoyed making this block!  I can't wait to see what you do with them, Kate.

Now, on to Beebee's hearts!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Thank you for my winding blades

Thank you Sue, BeeBee and Lizzie for my blocks. I love them!

Left and right two lovely greens from Sue, top  a brown floral from BeeBee

Top is from Lizzie, Left and bottom from BeeBee, right is mine

Playing nicely together

I've lots more to do but I'm very happy with the start.

Thank you!

Now onto some heart appliqué....

I'm caught up..!

I think..? No, I am, I'm caught up with all the blocks, Melina here's your green stars...





..and





I hope you like them, they'll be in the mail sometime today..


I was excited about making Kate's block, how different and I love half square triangles...





I have quite a bit of Civil War fabric so that worked out well..
In the mail today too Kate..


Looking forward to seeing what you have for us BeeBee and just while I'm here has anyone heard from Linda..?

Process and photos - Winding Blades block

Good morning fellow Bees.
As promised here are the processes and photos for my Winding Blades triangular block. Some of the photos are a little dark - I apologise - I couldn't get the flash to work this morning.

You will need:
1 light or medium fabric
1 medium or dark fabric

Layer your two fabrics right sides together and cut:
one  6 3/4 inch square - we'll work on this first
one  3 5/8 inch square - set this one aside for a sec.
From these we will get 10 little 3" Half Square Triangle (HST) units

1. Making the HST
On the 6 3/4 in square lightly mark TWO diagonal lines corner to corner.

Sew a scant 1/4 inch either side of these two lines - sewing 4 lines in total.

Once your lines are sewn, mark two additional lines through the centre to further divide the square - top to bottom and side to side.

So now you have 4 lines, 2 going corner to corner, one horizontal and one vertical all going through the centre of the square. Cut on the marked lines. 4 cuts.

You now have 8 little HST.

To make the remaining 2 HST take your 3 5/8" square. Mark ONE diagonal line and sew a scant 1/4" either side of the line. Then cut on the line. This gives you 2 more HST.

Press open. Trim up the HST if necessary to achieve 3" squares.

2. Cutting the 5 setting triangles.

From your darker fabric cut one 4 3/4 " square. Then cut this square into 4 diagonally - giving you 4 little triangles.

 

Use one of these triangles as a template to cut the fifth triangle making sure the long edge is on the straight grain.

So you now have five triangles from the darker fabric and ten 3" HST units

3. Assembling the triangular block.

Lay out the HST in 4 rows as illustrated below.  I found it easier to lay them out "on point" as they will go in the block. Make sure the darker half of the HST is to the top.

Lay the 5 triangles at the end of each row. Long (straight edge) side at the bottom.

Sew units  into strips.

Sew strips together matching intersections, to form the triangle.

You're finished!

Thank you once again. I hope that these instructions are clear and that you enjoy making my block.

Happy sewing! K

Kate's block for June - Winding Blades

Hello, fellow Bees.

I have long admired scrappy quilts, particularly those which appear both simple and complex at the same time.  As well, I joined this group to stretch myself and perhaps learn new skills. With those things in mind, the block that I have chosen for my month is inspired by an antique quilt featured on page 92 of Quilts of Virginia, 1607-1899, made circa 1860 by Susan Spigle of Botetourt County.

  

Forgive me for not sewing a sample – I’m a little busy at the moment finishing a quilt for our Sydney Exhibition, but I intend to start my HST next week – a new skill for me, having never sewn any in any quantity in my life!!

DON'T FREAK OUT - Its just one triangular block!!

Please choose 2 fabrics from your own collection:

1 medium/dark, and
1 medium/light

or

go scrappy and use as many combinations of these as you like!

My preference is reproduction fabrics, but the quilt will be scrappy so go for it. The charm of scrap quilts is their variety of fabrics and the charm of friendship quilts is the inclusion of fabrics and combinations from friends that I might never have thought of using myself.

Each block requires 10 HST + 5 medium/dark triangles (the triangles will be half a 2 ¾ “ square cut diagonally)

HST should be 2 ¹/₄" finished (ie not including seam allowance).

My research says you should cut 3 ¹/₄" squares, make your HST then trim back to 2 ³/₄", however, use whatever HST making method you prefer to achieve a 2 ¹/₄" finished HST.

Assemble the HST into rows with one medium/dark triangle each.

Click on the image for a larger version.

The assembled triangular block should measure 11.25”  x 11 .25”  x 15.9” (not including seam allowances)

Thank you and I hope you enjoy making my block!

Let me know if you have an questions.

Kate

Getting caught up...and a funny confession!

Thank goodness for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend!!  (and being able to play hookie from my church musician job on Sunday!)...I finally got caught up!  I added purple to Marlene's fabric to finish hers...

...and dug around in my green tubs to come up with this for Melina.  I hope it is the sort of thing you had in mind.  The star points look black in my picture, but they are really a deep green Shadowplay (Maywood). 

Is anyone else having frustrations with Blogger??  I cannot post comments on many blogs...I get in this endless loop of it saying I'm not signed in after I type a comment.  I sign in, then it takes me back to my comment and asks me to type the letters correctly.  After I do that, I'm right back to the screen where I sign in and give my password.  AAAHHHH!  It is so frustrating!  I have sent a couple of "help me" messages, but nothing is any better. 

True confession time:  a while back, Kate made a post showing the two blocks that she made.  I was very sick at the time and had a high fever.  I dragged myself off the couch long enough to see the post and really study the pretty blocks (eye candy for the sick soul!!).  Then I dragged myself back to the couch and slept.  Well, later I sort of hallucinated that they came in the mail already instead of just being pictured on the blog post!  I sort of thought, somehow, that they arrived in the mail and my husband brought the package to my drowsy dreamy state on the couch and said, "open this...it feels like fabric...this will make you feel better."  I was really VERY sick, I guess.

Well, when I got better, I convinced myself that they really had already come, and I must have just misplaced the mailing envelope containing the blocks.  I searched and searched, then Lizzie's block for me arrived...how could I post about my joy in Lizzie's block arriving when I had not posted about Kate's yet?!

So I spent a few weeks turning the house, especially the quilt cave, upside-down looking for the missing blocks.  Then I wondered if I had accidentally thrown them out!  I was horrified!

Meanwhile, the blocks DID arrive in the mail, delayed a little, and I STILL did not make the connection that they were from Kate.  How could they be from Kate when I had already gotten them from Kate when I was sick and misplaced them.  I didn't originally read the note in Kate's parcel saying that they had been delayed.  The guilt of "losing" those two blocks made me not want to make Marlene and Melina's blocks until I found them.

Finally, Thursday night I realized I just had to make the two blocks and get them in the mail.  THAT is when I finally, thoroughly, read the note in Kate's parcel...THESE were the blocks I was looking for!  I AM SUCH AN AIRHEAD!!!

I tell you, since turning 50 in December...I have not been the same!!  I thought it would be a gradual decline into mushroominess...

So thank you Kate, and thank you for the 30's fabric you included in the envelope!  I am so embarrassed that I did not make the proper connections!  I will get Marlene and Melina's blocks in the mail tomorrow, along with another block I got done this weekend.  Thank you to everyone's patience with me and my crazy brain!!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Catching up! Marls' African Ladies and Melina's Green Star

Marls' African ladies.

The bright blue just seemed right.

 

 Melina's green star.

Hope you like my 1950's hunting dogs! Changed the arrangement just a bit to incorporate the game birds in the corners.

Both will be in the mail on Monday.

June is my month and I've a few ideas still percolating so I'll make my decision soon and post photos instructions etc in a week or so.

bye for now

Kate

Sue's trees

Hello my friends
This week I have worked on trees for Sue. After thinking for a few weeks I decided to go along the applique path.

My pattern is based on an antique applique quilt (circa 1840 - 1850) from Westchester County, New York and published in the 1988 Quilt Engagement Calendar  - the original was sewn in indigo blue.

 

These were needleturn appliqued using a batik fabric with a leaf pattern in shades of apple green and pale jacaranda. Sue, they will be winging their way westward to you tomorrow. I do hope you like my contribution.

Kate