Natalie's blocks

I hope I didn't get too wonky and piece-y with these blocks Natalie.  They finish at 12.5.

I pinkie promise that I will try to get working on a baby quilt ASAP too!

A Whole Day AHEAD of schedule. . .

Yay, me!  Done a day early.  Here are the courthouse steps blocks:

These were so much fun to make-- and I LOVE the color scheme.  They will be in the mail tomorrow, Hollie.

I also finished my cross squares several weeks ago.

Yay!  Can't wait to start on April's. . .

More Court House Steps for Hollie

I just finished my blocks for Hollie and they were pretty fun. I adopted a no scrap left behind approach to these blocks so the second and third are pretty improvised...

I hope these work for your vision Hollie!

Court House Steps for Hollie

Here are the block I made  for March. Looking back I'm thinking I may have gotten the color wrong. Hollie let me know if they're not what you had in mind and I'll redo them. 

Hollie I will mail these out tomorrow, hope you all had a great weekend.

Courthouse steps

I'm running a little late, but here are my  courthouse steps blocks, hopefully on the way to Hollie today!   This has been a fun project, it's been a long time since I did this particular block, probably because I'm not one for skinny strips of fabric! !-)

And in keeping with my promise this year of "no scraps left behind" here are two more bibs, showing front and reverse, that hopefully will make lunchtime happy for some child in China. They just need closures before I ship them to Gayly.

And I have barely enough strip set left for a baby quilt, but that's next month's surprise!

April Project - Wonky Star Sampler Blocks and Mostly Solid Preemie Quilts

Hi Ladies,

Most everyone has commented and it looks like everyone is having as hard a time deciding between the two as I am. We'll move forward with both projects (Wonky Star Sampler Blocks and Mostly Solid Preemie Quilts) but you can participate in one or the other or both depending on what your schedule allows. I also want to mention that if you just want to make a preemie quilt top that's totally fine too! I can finish the top with fabrics and batting from my own stash.

Please post photos of your progress or finished work. I will be posting photos of my progress for both projects here, on my blog, and in my flickr stream.


The details and inspiration mosaics for both projects are in my earlier post but there are a few important details I want to highlight again...


 
Wonky Star Sampler Blocks

• Your unfinished blocks should measure 12.5" (they will finish at 12") but you can make the stars within each block as small, large, off-set, and wonky as  you would like. I love the variance in the quilt in progress here:

• I don't really mind if you press your seams open or closed. I have found that where triangles are concerned, it helps to press them open but I understand if you would prefer not to. It does take more time upfront. 
• Backgrounds should be purple solids, stars should be purple prints (see inspiration mosaic here and here). I'm not limiting you to a brand or to certain colors of solids but they should be 100% cotton and sturdy. I would prefer we stick to prints and not batiks for the stars. It's not that I don't like them, it's just not the look I am going for. 
• If I need to send you some purple prints (or solids) please let me know as soon as possible so I can get some in the mail. Again, these should be 100% cotton. It is fine to use 80cotton/20linen blend for the stars (prints like HR Far Far Away 2, Echino, etc)
• I will be making two quilts from these blocks, one for the little girl I mentioned and one for her parents to auction off to raise money for her care. 

  
Mostly Solid Preemie Quilts

• As the heading indicates, I would love it if you used mostly solids for these quilts (inspiration mosaic here and plenty of good browsing on flickr). That being said, I will not turn down any quilt or quilt top you want to send our way. The hospital has 75 beds and I am hoping to donate enough for them to give all of the babies a quilt. More details can be found in the flickr discussion post.
• Our guild is planning on donating quilts on a regular basis so you can participate in the challenge now and/or in the future.
• The minimum size is 29"x29", the maximum size is 45"x45". They can be square or rectangular. They can have squared or rounded corners.
• All materials should be 100% cotton including fabric, thread, and batting. 
• Applique is ok but synthetic bonding material like heat and bond is not (no spray basting either). You can use elmer's glue or a different kind of washable fusing material. Hand embroidery is ok but tight, stiff, machine embroidery is probably not ok. Preemie skin is very sensitive and anything abrasive is not good for them.
• I am going to be washing these all together in baby safe detergent before I take them to the hospital so please make sure you use dye lock materials. I am hoping to avoid bleeds!

Here's a couple of photos of my most recent quilt top for this challenge: 

Feel free to comment on either post on this blog or email me directly if you have any questions. I will try to respond within minutes but definitely within 24 hours. It is not required to send a photo with your blocks/quilts like for Hollie's project but if you want to I will include it in the card I send with the quilts. Both projects are local for me so don't worry about sending money for shipping (we do that in do.Good Stitches {A Charity Bee}). I REALLY appreciate your willingness to help me with these projects.

Happy Quilting!

-Natalie

Testing the Waters for April

Hi Ladies!

I am having trouble deciding what I want to do for our project next month so I thought I would put it to vote...

I recently found out that my coworker's niece was diagnosed with Lymphoma. She's just a tiny little thing and it breaks my heart when babies are sick. Her parents are doing everything they can to raise money for her treatment and I thought it would be nice to donate a quilt for them to auction off. What I really want to do is make a little quilt for her to use while she is in the hospital or getting treatments. If we go with this project I would want to do something similar to this wonky star sampler quilt (explained by Rachel of Stitched in color and tutorial by Victoria of Silly BooDilly) but in purples instead of pinks because that's her favorite color:

blocks by do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} Love group

I would ask each of you to make at least 2 (more would be better since I will be making 2 quilts from them)12.5" unfinished blocks to finish at 12" with any solid purple background and fun purple prints for the stars. It's ok if the prints have a tiny bit of other colors in them but the overall color should be predominately purple (see Jeni's In Color Order series on Recognizing a Fabric's Overall Color). Since this is a sampler quilt, you can vary the size, placement, and number of stars as much as you want. Some of the blocks will be made into a quilt for auction and some will be made into a quilt for her. Here's a quick inspiration mosaic I threw together to get an idea of the range of purples I'm looking for:

Purple Inspiration Mosaic

And because the palate happens to be very similar to the colors I used in my wedding in May 2010 I thought I would share some personal photo too:

 
The other project I am considering asking you all to help out with is to make preemie quilts that will be donated to the INOVA Fairfax Childrens Hospital NICU. My guild, NOVA Modern Quilt Guild, is using RK sponsored Kona Solid charm packs to create modern mini quilts no smaller than 29"x29" and no larger than 45"x45" out of 100% cotton materials. In keeping with the challenge and to make this fun and different, I would ask that you use mostly solids to make your quilts. A few prints thrown in on the top is fine and it's fine to use a print for the binding or backing too but the majority of your top should be done in solids. I highly suggest that you poke around on flickr for inspiration but here are a few of my favorites:

Mostly Solid Mini Quilt Inspiration

I have completed one quilt top already and am working on a second. I made half square triangles with all of the blue, green, purple, and gray charms and white charms. I arranged them randomly to disperse all of the colors evenly throughout and bordered them with white and green:

So which will it be ladies? A couple of Wonky Star Sampler quilts in purples? Or preemie quilts in mostly solids? Leave a comment with your preference and we'll go with a majority decision.

Thanks for your help and Happy Quilting!

Natalie

Jenny's Blocks

Jenny, I am so sorry they're late so I made you five blocks and they're on their way to you!

Hope you like them!

Christy's Steps

My Husband Should Be So Proud

(He's a lawyer -- get it? Courhouse steps?)

Hollie if the block on the left is too wild, I'll make you another one. It is pretty crazy.
Love, Melissa

best for last

OK, I'll stop badgering you all with my court house step blocks...
but this is my favorite.

a few more blocks for Hollie

I made a few more blocks today Hollie.
Please feel free to say if they are not what you were looking for...Id be glad to make some different ones.
I think I prefer the look of this block with a solid...or at least not flip flopping fabric as much as I did.

Court House Steps

Did I mention that I love this block?
I started tonight on my first block.
It finished just under 10 inches.
should I go bigger?

I didn't add any blue to this block...does each block need all three colors?

March Quilt Blocks for Threading Hope

Ladies, I am so sorry for the delay on this month's project. It has been crazy in my world lately and I completely spaced on March being my month. Thank you for the reminder, Melissa!

This month I would like us to make blocks for a quilt that I will be donating to Threading Hope. It's a non-profit that I have been working with (Natalie too!) since September. They take quilt donations and give them to children around the world living in poverty stricken or war torn countries. These quilts provide warmth and love for the children who receive them.

Inspiration Mosaic for March's Blocks

I am asking for Courthouse Steps inspired blocks using Oranges, Blues and Grays. Two blocks would be great, but if you only have time for one that's okay too. The other request is to please send me a picture of yourself with your blocks. You can email me a picture of yourself and I will print it out to include in the package to Threading Hope. They like to send pictures of the people who make the quilts to the children so they can see the person (in this case people) who cared enough to make something for them.

Thank you for your help creating this quilt for a very special little boy or girl out there.

P.S. I don't have any specific requirements on the size of the blocks. I think it will look cool in all different sizes. And prints would be great! You aren't limited to just solid fabrics at all.

- Hollie