inspiration quilt

here is my inspiration quilt, but in place of aqua, yellow.

March Block - Duchman's Puzzle

alright! here goes march! i found this idea in the dec 2010 American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

Materials:
16 - white 4 inch squares
4 - 4x7.5 inch rectangles (color #1)
4- 4x7.5 inch rectangles (color #2)

General Instructions:
Finished block is 14.5 inches square
sew right sides together unless stated otherwise
1/4 inch seam allowances on everything

1.) cut all your pieces

2.) Mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of each 4 inch white square

3.) align a marked white square to one end of a rectangle (note the direction of the diagonal line)
3.) sew ON the drawn line and trim the excess leaving a 1/4 seam

4.) press open the attached triangle, pressing the seam in one direction toward the triangle

5.) in the same manner, place a marked white square on the other end of the rectangle. stitch, trim and press as before...
...and now you have a FLYING GEESE UNIT! the unit should measure 4 x 7.5 inches.

repeat steps 3-5 so that you have 4 flying geese units in color #1 and 4 flying geese units in color #2

6.) next, using our flying geese units, make FLYING GEESE PAIRS! with which ever colors you are using make sure that the same colors are on top/bottom each time. in my case, grey on top, red on bottom. press the seams in one direction. the unit should measure 7.5 inch square.

...a flying geese pair!

7.) now our flying geese pairs are going to become a DUTCHMAN'S PUZZLE BLOCK! the placement looks like this: oh, and press the seams open.
tada! the final block should measure 14.5 inches

now, for color choices. i want greys, true reds, and yellows. here are a few samples from my stash to see what i mean. you can use any combination of colors with each other. i used red/grey, but it could be red/yellow or grey/yellow. i want a variety of combinations and variety of large/small print. it does not all have to be small print (like most of my examples)!

I am so excited to see what you guys come up with!
let me know if you have any questions!

Beki's Quilt Piece

OK, Rose, I hope this is good. It was fun putting it together, even though I had to use old dull scissors. Rachel said Bandanna was your favorite pattern. (At least I think that is what I remember her saying---my fuzzy old brain). This was fun. Thanks for an easy fun one!

abigail's block

so here it finally is. i have had it done for a week or so and just never had the chance to get it posted! roseanne, i hope you are ok with some mess-ups and crooked lines! things not being perfect makes me crazy (and panic sometimes) so quilting is going to be a funny experience for me while i am learning! but i am really excited now that we are started.

i am also getting really excited because i am in charge of march and i have the pattern decided and now i am trying to pick colors....can't wait to share!

Dalana's Block

Dalana's Block...

Up here in Little Rock for the weekend and Rachel and I worked on it together...

Well, Rachel did most of it!

I just wanted to be with these CUTE girls- who could blame me?!

Georgia's Second Square! (Rochelle's Square)

That's what we will call it...since I did the cutting but my mom did the sewing.  I'll work up to that!

Rachel L's Block

For the first one, it looks alright. Hope it works well!

I inherited the fabric from my Mother-in-law. I do not have a fabric collection.....yet.

Mine's done

I ended up not picking the best evening to put this together (a bit of a crazy afternoon/evening) and ended up just waiting until all the kids were in bed to finish. But, it's done. For my first quilt block ever it wasn't too bad - and I'm excited to do more!
Can't wait until next month.

Churn Dash Quilt

I found this quilt pattern in an old quilting book that I had. It uses 12 churn dash 12" blocks.

I thought I would share it with you guys, hopefully my quilt will turn out something like this...

Obviously, the colors will be a little different.

It has some sashing in between the blocks and a couple of borders around the edge.

I am loving all of the blocks so far!! Thanks everyone! :)

Introduction - Finally!

With 3 of my 4 children - the one not in the picture is another boy a bit older than my youngest

NAME: Roslyn Beckstead

WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Georgia (that's were I met Rachel G. and we miss her!), but grew up in New York, schooled in Utah, then Houston and back to Utah where my husband continued his schooling.

HOBBIES: I LOVE cross-stitching, to read, garden (any working out in the yard), run, and bake.

SEWING EXPERIENCE: My mom taught me to sew when I was little, but I didn't do much to improve my skills. I have made simple patterned clothes, but don't ask me to do anything different from the pattern. If your body doesn't fit the pattern, sorry. :) But I can sew a pretty good straight line, so maybe I'll get a hang of this quilting thing - I've never made a real one and the king size jean quilt has been in strips in a box in my basement for 4 years!

WHAT IS YOUR BEST FEATURE: I really like my hair and hope to never go gray because I don't ever want to color it. Also, my eyes after a good cry are a really cool bright green (they are a bit of a dull hazel normally).

WHAT CRAZY THING TO YOU WANT TO TRY: I'm not much of a "try something crazy" person, but I always wanted to go sky diving. After having children . . . no more desire.

WHAT MAKES YOU PANIC: I'm pretty easy going, but if my husband is out of town - every creak, bump, noise, or moving light outside sets my heart racing. Especially if I've watched anything that isn't a girly movie.

Life has been crazy, but I'm excited about the quilting group and promise to stay on the ball. Again, sorry this is late getting on. It's been fun reading all the other introductions.

Right Foot or Wrong Foot?

I found this post over at Cluck Cluck Sew about the difference between sewing feet (foots?). Is everyone else just using the foot that came with their machine like I am? Or have I been living under a rock when it comes to the right or wrong foot to use? I figure if everyone is using the foot that came with their machine, it wont really matter in the long run, and all finished measurements will be the same.

Cluck Cluck Sew post, "It's all in the Foot"...

"One of those things that nobody tells you when you start quilting is how important the right foot is. When I started, I just figured that the foot that came on my machine was an exact 1/4” foot….when really the foot that came on my machine had a seam allowance from the edge to the needle of 3/8”. It doesn’t sound like a big difference, but believe me…when your making a log cabin block or anything with a lot of piecing…your finished blocks end up way smaller.

The one on the left came on my machine (a Bernina), the one on the right is a 1/4” patchwork foot I bought (with a handy guide on the side so you can pound a bag of Doritos and sew at the same time).

The stitches down below show the difference….the left is the 3/8” seam allowance, and the right seam is the exact 1/4” allowance. Pretty big difference huh?

Anyways…the point is, that most machines come with a foot with an allowance of 3/8” and not 1/4” like many believe. So when your making a pattern that calls for a 1/4” seam allowance, you might end up with some small and un-matching blocks and seams if you’re not using the right foot. I know this from experience(s)(s)(s).

P.S. For a long time I compensated for not having the right foot by bumping my needle position over to the right a couple of spaces. On my machine I could bump it from a O to a 2 and it was an exact 1/4”. But..make sure you measure the needle settings on your machine before you try it."

thx

Thanks Rach for the pic...I actually do not have that one and so it is fun to see it on here with Avery! What fun memories, thanks! And BOY, y'all are surely so fast!!!! Those that did the churn dash block already!!! Wheee!!! I gotta get my machine out and set up, haven't done that yet!

Thanks too Rachel for fixing my intro and making it appear where it is supposed to! I appreciate your help for the old inept one here.

Love you, and happy piecing/sewing to all,
Beki

Beki

Ok Mom B here is your intro!!!  (I didn't have many pics it was between this and the golfing one- this one won!  Avery did her makeup-- she doesn't normally wear it like this!)

NAME: Karin Rebecca Graham go by "Beki" among other names, my favorites being Mom and Granma 

WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Marietta, GA (as an army brat: born in Texas -El Paso---GO TEXAS! Produces HOT women--huh? ;> , then Germany x 2, VA, SC x 3, GA x 2, Hawaii, AZ x 2, OK, CA.)

HOBBIES: doing things for and with my grandkids (I love to send them each mail every month...definitely becoming a big production!); reading-mostly non-fiction but do enjoy some fiction; writing-mainly kids stories, but am working on a few short stories; knitting-mainly Christmas stockings as we add a new ones. But there is nothing more fun that is legal than being a granny!!! :>

SEWING EXPERIENCE: I taught myself at the ripe old age of 22, I inherited my granma's OLD antique machine with the long attachment that you pushed with your thigh, it was way cool and we needed luau outfits for me and Gary especially since we were cooking the pig in our back yard!!!! From there I made a lot of my maternity clothes and oldest four kids clothes even baptismal, and Halloween-which I would use a basic pattern but then make up my own stuff to create what I needed as there were no patterns at the time, now, oh sheesh, y'all young mom's have so many resources and choices at your fingertips that I only dreamed of! once those four were done it was hand me downs to the other six. The last thing I sewed was making a prom dress for Kimi in hmmm around 1990? And other than quilting on quilts already pieced together, I have not done any quilting!

WHAT IS YOUR BEST FEATURE: ahhhh, hold on, need to call my husband, I see y'all asked yours,but before I do, I am told by everyone-my legs, so that is the best I guess-though I been told my eyes and lips, but now I am anxious to see what the hubs says ;) .....

WHAT CRAZY THING DO YOU WANT TO TRY: well, I always push myself, and I have already done a few crazy things in my life: had 10 kids (my goal was 12), went to school and graduated with RN almost 2 years ago, now on my radar is learn to play the fiddle, learn Irish Dancing and maybe Tahitian Dancing, try various jobs out, since I have cut my boys hair for over 30 years it would make sense I should get my hair cutting license, go on church missions....who knows what else -- the world is the limit! OH I KNOW....Join a quilting blog, as I begin a new job! (hmm sort of rhymes!)

WHAT MAKES YOU PANIC: Gosh, being a mom,granma and RN gives me lots to panic over, but I have learned to turn much of it over to the Lord, it is NOT good for my health! True moments of stop my heart panic come from moments when I get strong impressions something is wrong with my family somewhere and when I thought I had made a mistake in nursing.

Churn Dash Block for Rose

My Block for Rose!

You'll have yourself a lovely red quilt right around/not long after V-day!!!

(hope my red doesn't clash with the others... mine doesn't seem like its as deep of a red as the others...)

ok here ismine hanging on the magnet board

One Down, 11 More to Go!

I was "sew" excited (ha) to get started that I finished the first block yesterday while waiting for my hubby to get home from work. I have never sewn a quilt block before and was shocked when it only took an hour and a half to complete (that is including the row I had to rip off and re-sew because I sewed it on upside down...whoops). Rachel thought I should go ahead and post my finished product. I hope everyone else is excited as I obviously am!

February Block

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS FEBRUARY ALREADY!!

TIME TO GET STARTED -

IS EVERYONE EXCITED LIKE I AM?!?!

HERE WE GO...

Ok, so I am going explain the tutorial as plain as day as I can, I hope it is easy to follow and understand. This block is very simple but I love it!! I hope you enjoy sewing it! The technical name of this block is "Churn Dash".

You will need a scrap of red fabric and of a white/cream color fabric, about the size of a fat quarter. (Feel free to use whatever scraps of red and white you have)

First, cut the red fabric into 4 - 4 7/8 inch squares.

Then, cut the white/cream colored fabric into 5 - 4 7/8 inch squares.

Take 1 of each color and stack them face-side together.

Draw a line from corner to corner...

Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew a line on both sides of the line you drew.

Then go back and cut on the line you drew...

Open and press flat with an iron.

(You should have two red and white/cream colored diagonal blocks)

Repeat the steps above and you will end up with four blocks that look like this:

Using the same concept, you are going to make 4 more squares that look like this:

*Instead of drawing a line from corner to corner you will want to draw a line down the middle of your squares (about 2 3/8 inches will be the middle)

Sew on each side of your drawn line and then go back and cut on the line you drew.

When you are done with all 8 blocks square them down to 4 1/2 inches.

Line up your squares like the picture below. You will have one left over white/cream colored square. You will want to square it down to 4 1/2 inches as well. That block is for the middle.

Sew into three rows:

Then sew your rows together...

and TA DA!!

You have a 12 1/2 inch Churn Dash square!

When I first stared sewing my block my baby was playing in the living room. I was checking on him every few minutes because he loves to get into EVERYTHING!

This is where I found him! Needless to say, I had to wait until his nap to finish my block and write my blog post. He says HI from UNDER his toy..lol

I hope you enjoy sewing this block!!

creating

this quote from this talk has been on my mind a lot lately as i have been at home more and as i approach something totally new for me (like making a quilt)!!!

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

Everyone can create . You don’t need money, position, or influence

in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty..."

"...Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.

But to what end were we created?

We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fullness of joy.

Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—

is to seek and experience eternal happiness.

One of the ways we find this is by creating things."

---Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Rachel II

NAME: Rachel Smith Loerts (Abigail's little sister)

WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Prairie Grove, Arkansas (work in Fort Smith and Fayetteville) Most interesting places I have lived are Rome and Mexico City. Los Angeles and some in between too.

HOBBIES: My hobbies are really my work, so I feel blessed. I am an Architect Intern (my license in less than a year if all goes well) so I am constantly reading design blogs and periodicals. I am looking at turning some design interests into hobbies (i.e. textile design into quilt making!). I do draw an awful lot with graphite, pen, and sometimes watercolors. Since I just got married in July 2010 and bought a house in Dec. 2010, my hobbies lately are learning to cook, designing awesome interiors, and executing the designs with my husband's construction skills.

SEWING EXPERIENCE: Novice. I, like Abigail, grew up with sewing around me my whole life. We had handmade outfits and prom dresses and most recently got to design my wedding dress which my mother sewed. (See picture. It was the best pic of the dress I had access to today) Being a new homemaker has induced a sense of urgency to learning how to make new things, like curtains! Abigail and I made many the pajama pant and pillow in high school so I can thread a machine and sew a straight line...... I think I am better at design concepts of sewing so I want to be able to MAKE.

WHAT IS YOUR BEST FEATURE: my "pea" or "pee" yellow/green eyes that change color

WHAT CRAZY THING DO YOU WANT TO TRY: I want to open my own DIY shop and sell local handmade items. I would also love to start a fashion/design house with my sisters and bff LRat

WHAT MAKES YOU PANIC: I panic too much to know what causes it!

Intro

Me and my baby, Ilo

Name: I'm Robyn Allen (Marion's daughter)

Where Do You Live? Currently I live in Colorado, and I love it! I grew up in east Texas, spent my freshman year of college in Missouri, then lived in Utah for 3 years before moving here.

Hobbies: Floral Design, Skiing/Snowboarding (well still learning the snowboarding part) crafting, keeping up with my craft blog, Something Pretty, sewing, re-vamping thrift store clothes, shopping for sales!

Sewing Experience: I grew up with a mom who could sew anything and everything. When I was younger I had no interest in learning how to sew, and never took advantage of learning my mother's skills. I started making alterations and mending clothes about 3 years ago when I received my grandmother's sewing machine. After getting married I have sort of taught myself to sew, of course with much needed guidance from my mom over the phone. I have yet to cut out a pattern and sew it, but I hope to soon learn. My latest accomplishment was a gathering stitch to create a ruffle!

What is Your Best Feature? Well according to my husband he said the top 3 are 1st eyes, 2nd smile, and 3rd, and I quote, "big boobies!" I agree with the eyes part.

What Crazy Thing Do You Want to Try? I have secretly always wanted to try out for America's Next Top Model. I also would love to own a little flower and craft shop that is run out of an old Victorian style home. I haven't thought about this at all have I??

What Makes You Panic? I am extremely claustrophobic, so no small spaces or having my legs trapped. So things that make me panic...revolving doors, airplane seats, crowded trams, tight bedsheets, knee boarding...and the list goes on.

***I grew up with Rachel and Rosanne in Texas and we were all in each others weddings. I also got to know their cousin Rochelle pretty well when she would visit them during the summer. I just wish we all lived closer to each other, but this quilting bee is going to be a great way to keep in touch!

Introduction

With my first granddaughter, Emma

My Intro!

Name: Hello everyone, I'm Marion O'Neil (Robyn's Mom)

Where do you live? I live in east Texas. I was actually born in central Texas but moved
shortly thereafter to Whittier, California where I grew up, went to school, got married, and had 4 children before leaving for the south, where we had our 5th little surprise.

Hobbies: Sewing, reading, cross stitching, crocheting, spending time with my grandbaby, spending time at the lake with family.

Sewing Experience: I started sewing when I was about 12 and took a home-ec class. At the end of the class all the girls made a dress and participated in a fashion show. From then on I started making dresses and other clothes for my mother and me. My experience includes numerous dresses for my girls, formals, two wedding dresses, a few quilts, curtains, pillows, and other misc projects.

Best Feature? Blue eyes

What Crazy Thing Do You Want to Try? By now I've been there, done that.

What Makes You Panic? Phone calls late at night, they always bring bad news.

Introducing Me!

My Favorite Sewer- Grandma Grebe

LOVE THIS LADY!

NAME: Rachel Graham

WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Little Rock, AR (Previously GA, UT, TX, & Long Island)
HOBBIES: Running, Reading (Jane Austen's my fav), Sewing, Hair, Lots of Girly Stuff with my Girls, like hair, makeup, mani/pedis, and hanging out with my honey!

SEWING EXPERIENCE:  Not too much a class in HS, and then since I got my machine Christmas 2009 I've been trying to do some things here and there- but I DEFINITELY have a desire to be better!

WHAT IS YOUR BEST FEATURE:   I guess my legs
WHAT CRAZY THING DO YOU WANT TO TRY: Scuba Diving with Joey, maybe in the Red Sea?!  & Qualify to Run the Boston Marathon
WHAT MAKES YOU PANIC: The thought of anything happening to the kids or Joey, & extreme messes (like the time I spilled hair removal wax all over our carpet-- yeah I dont keep it in the house anymore...)

Thanks everyone for joining me!