Birthdays, Celebrations and a Giveaway
I have a birthday coming up this month and it’s a big one … the kind with a big fat ZERO at the end of it.
I haven’t yet decided how I will be celebrating … so here’s your chance to give me some ideas and win something nice for yourself.
Someone from the group–who asked to be anonymous–has put together this prize package for one lucky winner. There are some nice fat quarters, YLI silk thread, a couple of Sulkys, some AQS applique scissors, some notions, and a nice book.
At this time of the year, most of us are busy finishing up handmade gifts for others … this will be a nice gift for one of you.
For a chance at this prize, leave a comment before noon (east coast in the US) on November 24 telling me how you celebrated your last big birthday or your idea on how you think I should celebrate mine. I will chose a winner (using random.org) and pass on the winner’s info to our anonymous angel donor.
If you aren’t a Block Lotto regular, be sure that the email address you enter when you add your comment is valid so that I can get in touch with you.
Update: for some reason the option to add comments has inexplicably disappeared. If you want to enter the drawing, but cannot add a comment, email me and I’ll be sure to include you. (I am secretly hoping by updating the post, the ability to add comments will re-appear …
AKA Road to Tennessee
I am usually better at mentioning the traditional names for blocks, even when I’m not a stickler for always using them.
Andie’s Road to Tennessee Block
This month’s block is historically known as Road to Tennessee. Andie has a tutorial for making a 9 inch scrappy version from charm squares on her blog here:
Road to Tennessee Block Tutorial
It’s True – Great Minds Think Alike (GMTA)
I
love the happy coincidences that happens when you have an idea and then start seeing it over and over … as a reminder or a push to move forward.
Yesterday Julie W sent a photo of the November blocks she’d made, including a mistake block–made by re-arranging the 4 units that make up the Easy X block. She thought it was an interesting option for people using this block for their own quilts.
Apparently, Cathy thought it was a pretty good idea, too … years ago. When I was reading blogs last night, look at the finished quilt that I found.
You can read more about Cathy’s quilt here: XOXOXO is Finished.
Scrappy Sampler Progress 2
With the woven blocks stitched in the module, I tried a few layouts. This one works.
I am looking forward to piecing the final quilt.
Woven Bars added to Mod Sampler
I made Woven Bars for my Full/Queen Sampler. And I was able to complete a couple more modules.
Spokes for Mod-Mod Quilt
FINALLY! Very Cheerful little blocks…I hit a snag on my background fabric though. When Sophie gave us the fabric requirements, I as a new quilter, thought,”Snort, HOW</em could it possibly take that much fabric?" Well, now I know!!! I have waited through the store's Inventory but, still none of the same fabric has appeared!!! What a surpise! So, I decided to just buy something else and mix it up a bit…I am not sure how that is going to work out for me but, at least I am still participating and I continue to learn as I do. Thank You Sophie for all the great lessons you prepare for me…The Rising Son still takes first place for difficulty!…So, I hope to finish those next!!!
Adding Woven Bars to the Mod-Mod Sample Quilts
I have a plan for this month’s Friday Night Sew-in: to catch up with the blocks for at least one of my own Mod-Mod quilts. It’s never too late to catch up … or decide to jump in. I really love all the quilts that have been shared here and can’t wait to see them finished (mine, too!)
How Many Blocks
Here’s the updated chart how many blocks we made so far in the Block Lotto that you’ll need to make each size/version of the quilt.
| Small | Crib | Throw | Twin | F/Q | King | |
| Woven Bars | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Sweet Dreams | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Little Windows Blocks | 2 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 25 |
| Spokes Blocks | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 21 |
| Sunrise Blocks | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 |
| Diagonal Bars Blocks | 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 20 |
| Triangles-in-a-Square Blocks | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 12 |
| Star Chain Blocks | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Bead-on-a-String | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 17 |
| Double Chevron Blocks | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
If you are sewing together the modules as you go, you’ll be making these this month.
Quilt Layouts By Size
Here are the quilt layouts for each size, with the Woven Bars blocks highlighted.
Small (42-inch square)4 modules arranged 2-by-2
|
Crib (42 by 63-inch rectangle)6 modules arranged 2 (wide) by 3 (high) |
Throw (63 inch square)9 modules arranged 3-by-3
|
Twin (63 by 84-inch rectangle)12 modules arranged 3 (wide) by 4 (high) |
Full/Queen (84-inch square)16 modules arranged 4 by 4 |
King (105 inch square)25 modules arranged 5 by 5 |
If you are making blocks (or thinking about making blocks), please do blog about it here. Use the category my sampler and the tag mod mod qal. This will make it easy for someone to take a quick look at what others are up to by looking at posts in the my sampler category.
There’s something about the October Blocks
As I was making this month’s blocks and putting together the directions, I started thinking about using it for the rainbow scraps challenge next year, in a color way similar to the one we’re using, except the gold/orange would be replaced by the color of the month and combined with neutrals. I might make my blocks a little smaller, 5 by 10 inches each, so I could use up smaller scraps.
Then I thought about LAST year’s October block and how I am using it for this year’s rainbow scraps challenge. This time, I made them bigger, 10 by 15 inches each. I made the last two month’s blocks (orange and brown) last night. My plan is to make one block for each of the colors in the Rainbow Scraps Challenge and to add 4 more for a total of sixteen big blocks.
Sophie’s scrappy rainbow oak leaf blocks
Maybe it’s just a matter of timing and around this time of year, I’m thinking and planning for new projects in the new year or maybe there’s just something special about the October blocks?
Sampler woven bars
Hi everyone,
Here are my sampler woven bars for twin size.
It may look like I am up-to-date but am not happy with the centres of my sampler sweet dream blocks,
and am lagging behind with those sunrises, still have to finalise choice of centre fabrics. Margaret
Blue and white sampler
Ginny — your blue and white sampler is just wonderful and I LOVELOVELOVE how it is turning out! The blue and white coloring is so crisp and caliming yet the designs really stand out but all has good coherency.
I couldn’t “wrap my mind around” what colors to use for the sampler and was doing good to get blocks made for most months to send in and thought about making a few for myself later on. I might just make my blocks into a row by row style top. But your quilt sure is tempting!