Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2013

I finished my latest scrappy quilt just in time for Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival.  If not for the deadline, it would probably still not have binding!

I wanted to decrease my fat quarter stash so decided to make another quilt using the Spring Fever quilt pattern by Buggy Barn. It takes 30 fat quarters. One might assume that using 30 fat quarters would make a dent in my stash. Right?  Well, the dent is hard to see!  I used fabrics that I thought would give my quilt a vintage look and I must have succeeded because my grandson told me that it looked a "little old fashioned".

This is the second quilt I've made using this pattern.  The first one was black and white only.  Very different quilts but I like them both.  Be sure to visit Amy's Creative Side to see all the quilts in the Festival!

To and Fro quilt pattern

Looking for a new idea for a baby or toddler quilt?  My To and Fro quilt is finally available as a downloadable pattern!

To and Fro quilt

Have a couple of charm packs that you've been wondering what to do with? This may be just the right project for them. You need 77 charm squares (5") and some 1 1/2" wide strips to make this 37"x49" quilt.

This is also a fun quilt to make when wanting to use up a bunch of scraps.  It's like getting a quilt for free when you use fabric left over from other projects, right?  Read the first post about this quilt here.

You can download To and Fro right now at Double Nickel Quilts or Craftsy or PatternSpot.  Be sure to check out some of the other downloadable patterns also available if you're not familiar with these sites or haven't visited them in awhile.  There's more than just quilt patterns available and lots of  FREE patterns too.

BlockBase Sew Along quilt block #1249 New Star

This is the last block in the BlockBase Sew Along by Electric Quilt. We got to choose our own block!  Be sure you check out all the different quilt blocks this week.  I can't wait to see what other people came up with!

BlockBase #1249 New Star

I chose block #1249 because I hadn't seen it before and I think it works very well with the rest of the blocks.  It was a simple one to paper piece.  It has just four identical sections.  I've been working on a layout for a quilt using the blocks from the Sew Along but that's for another day.

Note-After seeing Jenny's idea for the layout, I think she must have been reading my mind!

BlockBase Sew Along quilt block #2088 Rolling Nine Patch

Rolling Nine Patch

Wow! The Rolling Nine Patch block is block #11 in the BlockBase Sew Along.  Just 1 more block to go!

I made a 9" quilt block this week.  I didn't color it the way it was in Block Base this time.  I made "the background" all one fabric instead and combined 2 squares into a rectangle which made more sense to me since the 2 squares would have been the same fabric. See what I'm talking about here.

If you want to see more interpretations of this quilt block, go here.

Chevrony again!

Chevrons and zig zags seem to be everywhere these days so I made my Chevrony quilt pattern again!  It's so easy and uses up a bunch of fat quarters which I seem to collect too many of!  Each row uses one fat quarter.  It can also be made using 5" charm squares.  Either way, it's a great way to use some of that stash you have. The quilt finishes at 48" x 64".   My new quilt is on the left and the original is on the right.  I think it looks great in any color scheme!

If you are interested in making this quilt, a pattern is available as a download.  You can get it here.

BlockBase Sew Along #1301 Lucky Star quilt block

Lucky Star quilt block

Here's my block #10 in Electric Quilt's BlockBase Sew Along.  It's called Lucky Star and was published by Nancy Cabot as are the Broken Star, Prairie Flower, Pyramids and Independence Square blocks that were made previously in this Sew Along.  

If you'd like to see more Nancy Cabot blocks, visit my blog called Moore About Nancy and check out the Nancy Cabot Sew Along.  A new FREE block pattern is published each day.

I made this block 8" finished and used paper piecing to construct it.  

Check out all of the other blocks here.  You need to scroll down the page to see the blocks.

BlockBase Sew Along quilt block #2901.5 Broken Star

Broken Star quilt block

Here's my block #9 in Electric Quilt's BlockBase Sew Along.  It's called Broken Star and was published by Nancy Cabot as are the Prairie Flower, Pyramids and Independence Square blocks that were made previously in this Sew Along.  

If you'd like to see more Nancy Cabot blocks, check out my blog called Moore About Nancy and check out the Nancy Cabot Sew Along.  A new block pattern is published each day.








I made this block 9" finished.  I paper pieced it because I thought that was the fastest way for me to make it.  It could certainly be cut and pieced easily also.

Check out all of the other blocks here.

BlockBase Sew Along #1401

It's week number 8 in Electric Quilt's BlockBase Sew Along!

This block is called Borrow and Lend and is block #1401 in BlockBase.  Looks like four spools to me!

Anyway, it's super simple and can be made from 5" squares.

I chose to keep the background fabric the same and make each "spool" a different color.  I just thought that worked better with the other blocks I have made so far.





To make a 9" finished block like mine, you just need a few basic parts-

1-5" X 2" strip for center
2-2" squares of background fabric
4-half square triangles of both fabrics-2" unfinished

I made my half square triangle units with Triangles on a Roll 1-1/2in Half Square triangles (finished size).  I really love those things!

Make 4 of these units and sew together like the block above.  Each section should be 5" unfinished.

You could vary the background fabric in each section for a different look!

To see all the other blocks made this week go here.

Seven Free block patterns

Wow! It's been a week already since I started the Nancy Cabot Sew Along.  Here are the blocks that have been posted so far-

Cactus Basket

Album

Fruit Basket

Georgetown Circle

Old Gray Goose 

Variable Star

Kentucky Cross Roads

If you are interested in receiving the block patterns each day, you can sign up for a daily email on that blog.

You must verify your subscription in an email that is sent after you sign up.  The response has been fantastic but a few people have not verified so I'm just sending out a reminder.

Nancy Cabot Sew Along starts today!

The Nancy Cabot Sew Along at Moore About Nancy officially starts today, eighty years after Nancy Cabot started publishing quilt blocks for the Chicago Tribune in 1933.  Today the blog tells a little history about Nancy and her newspaper column but starting tomorrow, a block will be posted each day on the day that it was published by her.  It won't just be a drawing of the block which is what she provided, I'll tell you how I think it should be made with the resources that we have available today so start looking through your scraps and be ready to sew!  

I'm planning on making a sampler quilt of 6" blocks but I already know that some of the quilt blocks are much too complicated to make at that size.  However, there are a lot to choose from since she wrote the column well into the 1940's!

Cactus Basket quilt block

The first quilt block she published, she called Cactus Basket.  It is made differently than what I find most commonly pops up when I "google" Cactus Basket quilt blocks however.  Check back tomorrow to start sewing along.  You may sign up for an email subscription on the Moore About Nancy blog.  You will receive a link in an email back to you that you must click on to verify that you really want to sign up.

BlockBase Sew Along #1774 Thunder and Lightning

Thunder and Lightning quilt block

Here is block #7 in the BlockBase Sew Along hosted by Electric Quilt. It is called Thunder and Lightning and is block #1774 in BlockBase.  I made this block 9" finished and used Triangles on a Roll to make the small half square triangle blocks.  Very fast and easy.  Lucky for me my quilting buddy had a roll and was willing to share! 

The flying geese units were made using Quilt in a Day's Small Flying Geese ruler.  A great little tool if you read and follow the directions.

Check here to see all the blocks made this week.






This block is attributed to Nancy Cabot as are the Prairie Flower, Pyramids and Independence Square blocks that were made previously in this Sew Along.  Seeing Nancy Cabot's name so often made me want to find out more about her.  I searched BlockBase and it came up with 749 blocks attributed to her!  I decided that I would like to make a sampler quilt from just her patterns and starting making blocks.  Here's what I've made so far-

With more research, I discovered that Nancy Cabot wrote and sold patterns for the Chicago Tribune in the 1930's.  I found those old newspaper articles and decided to try to make the blocks in the order that they were published.  If you think you might like to sew some blocks too, I will be hosting the Nancy Cabot Sew Along starting January 22, 2013, exactly 80 years after Nancy Cabot started publishing in the Chicago Tribune.

Join me on Tuesday at my new blog, Moore About Nancy, and learn a little about Nancy Cabot and a lot about the history of quilting t1hrough her eyes and mine.  Each day a new block pattern will be introduced so check back often