blocks for Linda

I am interested to see how Linda’s quilt turns out! So…I approached this assignment by printing out a copy of one of her sample blankets to search for a natural rectangle and trying to reproduce using the given fabrics.

Lather, rinse, repeat three times:

Fun! I hope these are what Linda’s looking for…

Block Catch-Up

I wanted to share some of the blocks I made, I am finally caught up (woo!). Thanks everyone for hanging in there and apologies for my late blocks. I also posted about these on my blog, so I’ll make it quick over here.

First are Chawne’s blocks from January. Summary: I had a hard time matching corners. I really did try. Sigh.

Next are November’s Neighborhood blocks for Megan. Summary: Yay, fun, wish I could have made more blocks but was running short on time and didn’t want to hold on to them any longer.

And finally, here are October’s Sampler blocks for Melanie. Summary: Thanks for trading months, Melanie! And I hope you like what I did with the colors.

February!

I spent the day rounding up the fabric for the February blocks, and will ship it out this week. For inspiration, I turned to these weavings from the Bauhaus exhibit at Moma (click here for another example):

A bit abstract, and a bit of a departure for me, but I think it will be fun. I’ve sent each of you packages with a lot of solid grays (and some solid greens and yellows, although not every bag), yellow/green/gray prints, and a few sprinklings of pink and magenta in there for fun.

I sent each of you more than enough fabric (I hope) to make, ideally, 4 blocks. Each  squared up block should measure 6.5″ wide by 10.5″ tall. You can definitely make more blocks if you have time and desire (some can be as simple as 2 squares sewn together).  Please return any unused fabric to me along with your blocks.

-If you get a piece of fabric in your pack that includes some pink (click here for examples of pink fabrics), please be sure include a bit of that fabric in at least one of your blocks. (If you have multiples w/pink, you can include all in one block or a bit of each in one block or whatever you want. I want them to be the floating “what the!?!” things that make your eye travel through the quilt.

-Please include a bit of gray in each block (this does not necessarily  have to be a solid gray)

- Please make at least one of your blocks be a striped block (ie. just strips of fabric, such as the first sketched block shown below)

- Please feel free to add a bit of fabric from your stash if you like.

- Please, do not worry if you have wonky (not straight) lines. I like wonky. (But. Please do press your seams!)

- Have fun with the other blocks. I’m going for blocks that are geometric. Here’s a sketch of some simple ideas that I came up with, feel free to use them or use your own.

Please send any unused fabric back to me, as I’ll use it to make the rest of the blocks. I plan on including big fields of solid colors and printed fabrics in between the blocks. It will be a fun experiment, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Thanks for playing, and let me know if you have any questions!

For January 2010

Jan 2010 is my month to mail out fabric for the bee. It seemed appropriate to do something relatively simple to begin the year.

Your fabric pack will contain: one charm pack containing forty 2.5″ squares, two 2.5″ squares of flour sacking cotton, and two 3″x45″ strips of Osnaburg cotton. This should be plenty of Osnaburg, but if you can’t cut 34 squares of Osnaburg from these strips, please substitute for the remaining squares with your own muslin or neutral scraps or with lighter-toned charm squares from the pack provided.

Warning: Osnaburg is a loosely woven cotton and I did not pre-shrink it. If you use a lot of steam when pressing, it will begin to shrink a bit. This organic shrinkage is something that I like about the fabric, but please use caution to make sure that your blocks do not turn out too small. The best shrinkage occurs after the quilting in the first washing…

I ask that you each make two of these 6×6 checkerboard blocks using 2.5″ squares; the finished block should be about 12.5″ square. In each block:

• 17 of the 2.5″ squares are Osnaburg cotton
• 1 of the 2.5″ squares is flour sacking cotton, randomly placed
• 18 of the 2.5″ squares are from the charm pack provided, mostly used whole, but should include an “intentional mistake.” [The sample includes a pieced square. Click on the photo for more info.]

You should feel free to include your own scraps or invent other “mistakes.” I only request that there be 36 identifiably separate squares in each block and that corners meet cleanly.

Thanks!

Little houses for Megan!

Hope you like them Megan. I thought this way you could just add the muslin to the top and bottom of the lil’ homes!

A Row House for Megan

These scrappy little houses are a delight to design and execute! Thanks for the fun, Megan.

The neighborhoods around me are filled with vestibule-entrance row houses, so i tried to make one of those.

November is for Neighborhood!

Hi girls,
I’ve *finally* gotten the November fabric bundles in the mail to each of you! Inside your bundle, you will find a lot of random scraps in many sizes accompanied by 3 large squares of muslin. I’d love for you each to create two or three small houses using the colored scraps and then set the houses into a 12-inch plain muslin block. I have purposefully sent each of you way more scraps than you will need to make the small houses–please send along the leftover scraps back to me with the completed blocks–I just wanted to make sure you would have lots of color and pattern choices for the houses, and I’m hoping for a lot of variety among the house shapes! I’ve included among the scraps some larger scraps of colored shot cottons to be used in the construction of your houses–in case you prefer solid roofs or windows. The houses themselves should be 2-3″ tall within the muslin block.

The inspiration for the November Neighborhood quilt blocks is, of course, the amazing quilt below:

I’m really hoping for a unique + diverse neighborhood, and the sky’s the limit as far as what kinds of buildings to build! Houses, churches, schools, post offices, whatever you like!

If you are stumped construction-wise on how to piece these little houses, take a look at this tutorial for ideas. but *please* come up with your own house designs so that everyone’s will be unique!

I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all *build* from your scraps!!

Oct. blocks!

So now that it’s Nov. 6th, I’ve finally gotten my October blocks done! Still have so much more fabric that I might make a couple more before putting them in the mail though.

Hope that you like them Melanie!

September and October blocks

I don’t think I ever posted a picture of the blocks I made for Amanda back in September. I really had fun making these wonky stars and the fabric selection was really lovely.

I’m assuming Amanda got them and hopefully they look good with the others she received!

I didn’t have a minute in October to sit down and sew Melanie’s blocks but a few days ago I finally decided on what kind of blocks I was going to make and tonight I took the time to sew them up. I chose 2 fairly simple blocks so that I wouldn’t screw them up too much! My first block is a Rail Fence block and the second one is a Dutch Nine Patch. I hope Melanie likes them!

The larger block is 12 inches square and the smaller is 9 inches square.

I can’t wait to see Megan’s fabric selection and I promise I’ll sew the blocks up faster!

Wonky Blocks complete!

So sorry that they are a bit late… will get to the post office with them in the next day or two.  They were so much fun to sew up!

Hope you like them Amanda!!