In October, 33 quilters made 136 monochromatic 9-inch star blocks,  with a black background, called Twinkle. The blocks were won by Laura, Nann and Christa. Complete guidelines and a links to the block pattern, optional template and paper piecing foundation pattern are in this post: Twinkle, Twinkle, Monochromatic Stars in October   The tag for ALL blog posts about this block: twinkle   Here is the list of the blocks and who made...

Here are the numbers generated by random.org …  and here’s what they mean. Congratulations to our October Winners: Laura R (48 blocks) Nann (48 blocks) Christa (35 blocks) I will be sending the winners email later today to confirm their mailing addresses and ask how many of their own blocks they want to keep. As soon as I have heard from all three winners, I will put together the mailing info for everyone who made blocks this month....

While the workmen were here today installing the new floor in my dining area, I updated the the underlying web template on this site.  You likely won’t see any differences, it’s mostly a matter of working well and maintaining compatibility with the new version of WordPress.  If you notice anything that looks odd or doesn’t perform as expected, please let me know. While I was there, I also tried three different social media...

If you have made and posted blocks this month, you should have received sneak peek email from me this morning.

What would you do?  What should I do? It’s that time of year when I start thinking about the Block Lotto for next year.  But instead of being able to think about themes and blocks, I am distracted by the fact that visitors and downloads are up, but participation is the activity for which this site was created is down.  I hoped to create a community and make friends, but the only interactions I have had with members of this...

When the first few rule-breaking tulip blocks showed up last month, someone suggested it might be time for the second Duds and Orphans lotto. I wasn’t sure I had any orphans to contribute, but found these 6 inch Thrifty Blocks, made in a different color way than the ones we made in March, 2009. Do you have Block Lotto Orphans or Duds and an interest in entering them in a lotto drawing?   Let me know in the comments and I’ll figure...

I have sent email(s) to everyone who made Tulip blocks last month. If you didn’t receive it (but should have), let me know. If you received it and found an error or couldn’t open the attachment, let me know. Separate email was sent for the rule-breaker blocks with mailing info for those.  Ditto the messages above for that one....

I first saw this star block design on Angela’s So Scrappy blog. Her version is 6 inches.  Ours is a 9-inch square (finished size) block with added snowball block-style corners. I made this one. The fabric guidelines and my directions for making this block can be found here: Twinkle Star Quilt Block Pattern This block uses the Triangle-a-Square unit AKA Peaky and Spike. You may use whatever technique you prefer to create the four units in...

In September, we celebrated Spring with the members of the community that live in the southern hemisphere and making this 9-inch square (finished size) Tulip block. Marianne made this one. 32 quilters made 136 blocks. Complete guidelines and a link to the pattern are in this post: Think Spring (!?) in September   Tag for ALL blog posts about this month’s block: tulip This list is an archive of the blocks made, who made them and who...

We ended the month with 122 Tulip blocks (and 14 more of the color rule-breaking variety). Thanks to Mr. Random.Org for his help in selecting the winners. And they are: Corinne (41 blocks) Laura (41 blocks) Sue K (40 blocks) As it turns out, 41 is a magic number if you plan to put your blocks on point–it’s the number of blocks you need for a 5 by 5 arrangement. Maybe that means these blocks are meant to be set that way … though, of...

I’ve added a list to the at-a-Glance page to list the blocks rejected for breaking the color rules. We’ll have a separate drawing for the people who made them. I’ve sent email to everyone who has made blocks this month asking them to let me know if any of their blocks really are breaking the color rule of tulips being made from different fabrics which are the SAME COLOR.  I thought some looked questionable on my screen but...

Rules are rules, but when I reject 10 blocks for not following the color rules for this month’s block … it feels like I must be failing somehow to communicate them to all of you. I always feel bad when I have to reject blocks for not following the color/fabric guidelines, especially because in my own scrappy quilts, you are likely to find those kind of rule-breaking blocks.  But then I start feeling all kinds of ambivalent because...