Autumn Glory Quilt Block

Today is my day in the Glorious Autumn Block Party. There will be a total of 45 free blocks by the time it's over! My block is called Autumn Glory. It's a scrappy leaf.

 

 

Here's the link to my designer profile and all the other blocks:

 

http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/autumn-block-party/

 

CLICK HERE for the link to the block instructions.

 

When I designed this block, I had a Juggling Summer Layer Cake that I thought was perfect for this block. I made four leaf blocks and wanted to use the rest of the layer cake. This quilt is what I came up with.

 

My block is a celebration of fall. We don't get much of a fall in Utah. Doesn't feel much like fall now that it's December even though it is technically still fall. To celebrate, I'll be giving away one of my books Simply Charming Minis.

 

 

Need a last minute Christmas gift? Try a mini quilt! Simply Charming Minis has 16 patterns from 13" to 21" all shown in two colors. Mini quilts are so fun you'll be done before you know you started!

Here are the other designers whose blocks are being posted this week:

 

Wednesday, Nov. 28
Erin - One Piece at a Time   
http://erinrussek.typepad.com/

Thursday, Nov. 29   
Nan - Purrfect Spots   
http://www.purrfectspots.blogspot.com/

If you make this block, I'd love to see a picture of it on the flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/autumn-block-party/

Karlene's Simply Charming Mini

Konda asked me on Wednesday if I would make a quilt from her Simply Charming Mini book for this blog hop.  Thanks Konda, it was a lot of fun.  I actually have a lot of this Fig Tree Fabric "Butterscotch and Rose" because I wanted to make Konda's pattern "Charming Flowers" from her book Simply Charming.  So when she asked me to do this I thought it would be fun to make this pattern "Mini Flower Garden" to go with the big quilt that I hope to make one day.  I tend to change patterns that I make, for instance this quilt I made 16 flowers instead of Konda's 8 flowers. I used 2 charm squares for the red in the center of the flowers and I used the same yardage for the background, border, binding and backing.  I love to make little quilts like this, they don't take much fabric, I love putting them out on little tables, and I love practicing my quilting on my Bernina.  Hope you enjoy!

My daughter who is my photographer has gone to bed, so I didn't get some things on my blog that I wanted to tonight.  Please check out my blog today or later to see what I enjoy doing - www.karleneskreation.blogspot.com

Water in my Basement and Sandy

When I came home from Quilt Market, I found that the hose behind my washing machine had overflowed sending lots of water into my sewing room. My husband had noticed, and cleaned up, the water that was in the laundry room. He didn't go into my sewing room though. Why would he?!?

Of course, I noticed this on Thursday, November 1. Sandy had already done her damage on the east coast. It's hard to feel sorry for having no measurable amount of water soaking a couple magazines and some fabric that will dry when so many others have had water wash away their houses. Sandy helped me keep things in perspective. 

I have heard chatter about people wanting to donate quilts. Of course they are. That's what we do. It's nice to be able to donate money, but there's something about sending a quilt that tells people we are sending them our love. But we don't want all our time and effort not going to the people that need it. What to do? Today I heard about one reputable place to send quilts if it is something you are interested in.

Luana at eQuilter has worked with Mission of Love many times - for 9/11, Katrina, Haiti, and Japan relief efforts. She is collecting quilts for Sandy. If you want to send quilts, I would suggest sending them her way. Here is the link:
http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/quiltrelief.html

She will be updating that link with current information.

Thank you for being the good and kind people I know you are!

Giveaways Postponed

In getting ready to attend the International Quilt Market in Houston, I was not able to post winners. I know it doesn't take that long, but there are already 6 undone things on my To Do List.

We'll have some fun giveaways when I get back along with the Quilt Along prizes!

Thanks! Houston, here I come!

It'a A Mini Quilt Along-- Flying Around in Circles

I am SO glad that Konda invited me over for a visit today :)  

HI!!!!, I am Marion (I blog HERE) and I met Konda back in January when I began my SUPER Awesome Quilting Adventure!
(You can read all about my Quilting Crusade HERE)

I soon discovered that Konda was probably the best person I could have happened upon as I was learning how to quilt.  Little did I realize, at the time, that she was FAMOUS and so TREMENDOUSLY talented!!

(DON'T DELETE THIS PART, KONDA!!!) :D

So, are you ready to party??? YEE HAW!!!

I chose "Flying Around in Circles" because, let's face it, it's what I do best ;D

...and it's so DARN cute ;)

So, SERIOUSLY, how did I not know how much fun making Mini Quilts is/are/was???

(Which is it?  That sentence is making me CRAZY!) ;)

How cute is this MINI 16 patch??  The squares are 1" :)

This quilt came together in a SNAP!!

I have a serious crush on these little flying geese ;)

I whipped this bad boy up in no time and gave it to a fiend for her birthday :)

My friend has two little kids, and isn't "Flying Around in Circles" exactly how life is with babies running/crawling around?

I have to add one more thing :)  Konda is a FANTASTIC pattern writer.  Her instructions are SO clear and easy to follow.  A++++++++++++

So it's time for you to show me how you Fly Around in Circles ;D

Bar Hop Quilt Along Block 12

Welcome to Moose on the Porch Quilts! I am so excited to show you the block I designed for the Bar Hop Quiltalong!

 

 

But first! My favorite bar - besides a Hershey's chocolate bar - is a potato bar. I haven't been to a good potato bar for ages! It use to be the go to dinner for feeding a crowd. What do you like on your potatoes? I usually stick with cheese and bacon. I need to get a little more adventurous.

 

Here's the block I designed. I call it Bricks and Mortar.

 

I used just the four fabrics provided by Clothworks. A strip set and partial seams make this block quicker than it appears!

 

Click HERE for the link to the instructions.

 

Here is a mock up of what a quilt of just the blocks would look like with a pieced sashing. Kind of makes me want to build a brick pillar.

 

 

In case you are interested, this is the pieced sashing I used in the quilt above.

 

 

It's a 2" x 12" finished sashing. So the pieces would measure, from left to right, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 2 1/2" square, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 2 1/2" x 4 1/2", 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 2 1/2" square, and 1 1/2" x 2 1/2".

 

If you make a block, we'd love to see it! You can post it on the flickr group at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/2057848@N25/

 

NQR: Doing Hard Things

I'm decompressing today. This post isn't really quilt related. Last weekend I took a trip to Las Vegas. This was not your typical weekend in Vegas. We did walk down the strip which frankly just gave me a headache - all the new smells. I was there for an obstacle race with two of my younger brothers. Their wives came to take pictures. My other half stayed home to control the craziness that six children bring. He thinks I'm crazy. He's usually right.

 

 

The race was full of challenges. One of my brothers dashed through the 11 mile course in an hour and a half! My other brother, who has a bum knee, stayed with me. I just kept my eyes on his feet in front of me. He said stay left, and I stay left. He said run up the hill. I ran up the hill. Except once when I looked up at an airplane and fell.

 

It was an interesting race. It was long. It felt like we would were running all day, but I almost wasn't ready for it to be over yet. Except that all the muscles in my legs kept taking turns having spasms which I have never experienced before. While the race was hard, it wasn't hard to keep going because I had decided I was going to do it. There was no question. So I just kept following my brother's feet.

 

Today was a different story. Today was hard.

 

Today I ran 4 miles and felt terrible. I think I was just working out all the kinks from last weekend. I was full of complaining. My legs were heavy, my back hurt, on and on. I wanted to stop. Bad. Then I thought about my daughter who had her last cross country race yesterday. She didn't have a good race. I thought about what I was trying to tell her to do. And I did it. I picked up my pace a bit and then held on. (That put me at my normal pace. I wasn't going fast.) I had to grit my teeth to keep going. It was hard. I never fell into a rhythm like I usually do. It would have been so easy to stop. Who cares if I stop? It wouldn't hurt anyone? So what if I go for a nice easy walk?

 

Every time those thoughts came, I had to fight them back. I care! I can do this! I am not going to be lazy today! I made myself run a block farther than my usual stopping point to prove to myself that I wasn't quitting today.

 

Okay, I'll embarrass myself. Here's the picture you really want to see. My sister-in-law got this after I finished. I had face planted into the mud moments before.

 

 

 

Sometimes just living every day is hard. But we can do hard things! Sometimes. . .