Another Valentine's Day Table Topper

This one I'm keeping. The center heart is a Linda Causee foundation pattern, but the rest is Carol Doak from the Simply Sensational 9 Patch Stars Book. That book is my favorite, and while I know Carol has a ton of hearts, I wanted something a little different. It was a busy weekend. I finally put away my Christmas decorations, went mall walking with my hubby, and watched 3 movies at home, but still had time to finish this table topper. I've got the fabric all picked out for my Easter table topper, can't wait to get started. But I've got a couple other things I need to do first - February Block of the Month, 4 Fat Eighth Swap Blocks, Round 1 of the Yours Truly Round Robin, etc. etc. etc.

Valentine's Day Table Topper

I started doing these table toppers Christmas of 2006. I had some extra Christmas blocks I got from a swap with my online quilting group and didn't know what to do with them. I was invited to a friend of a friend's house for Christmas Eve dinner and didn't know what to take so I used one of the blocks and cut it into a Octagon and created a Table Topper. It looked pretty good so I made a few more. Now I use them for gifts all the time. I made one that was a fall design on one side and Christmas on the other. I gave that to the leader of a faith sharing group I belong to. I made the purple snowflake table topper for a good friend. It's bigger than most. The latest is a Valentine's Day version that will be a door prize for a coffee group get together the end of January. It's smaller than most. The friend who got the snowflake liked the Valentine's Day one so much she wanted to buy it. I had to tell her no -- I would never know how much to charge. I have a round dining room table and these look great on the lazy susan in the center. I want to make one for every holiday. I've bought a bit of themed fabric, now I just have to do the sewing. I'm hoping to get my own Valentine's Day Table Topper made up this weekend.

Finally Done

This was a challenge block for the online quilting group I belong to that commemorated us reaching 2000 members. I finished the quilt top in May 2007, but I didn't get to put it together and actually do the quilting until December and then I finally finished it in January. It came out okay, but it's really not my color scheme or style. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, so for now it'll sit in a closet somewhere, but at least it's done. I thought the back looked almost as pretty as the front. I love when that happens.

Round Robin

I've had this round robin for about four months but life kept getting in the way. I wasn't really in this group but was filling in for someone else who wasn't able to finish it. I finally got it done. I only did the last round. Ruth (the owner) asked for us to make our state star block and to add as many stars as possible. I added MD where I live, NY where I grew up, HI where my hubby is, and GA where my daughter is. Then I used a border type of fabric to go in between. The person before me used her state star all around the round and I just thought if I did the same it would look to busy. Instead it looks a little boring, but it's more pretty in person than in the picture.

November BOM

Well tonight I finished the November BOM which means I am caught up on Blocks of the Month until February. I still have some other blocks I want to do in this black, white and red theme for a quilt for my son, but I have to put them on hold for a short time. I promised myself I would finish the last round robin I have this weekend. So tomorrow and Sunday are dedicated to that. It'll probably take me a few more days to get done with it, so it may be a while til I get back to my son's quilt. But I wanted to show off the latest block. I printed out a bunch of other patterns from the online quilting group I belong to and will be doing those blocks next. Looks like there are seven more I can do. That'll give me 12 done. Plus one a month for the rest of the year makes another 11, so I can have 23 next December. Hopefully somewhere in there we'll get another 12" block so that I'll have 24. Not sure if that is enough to cover a queen size bed; I may have to use sashing between them. Hope my son likes it -- it'll be his Christmas present next year!

October BOM

Well another day and I got another block done. This one was the block of the month from October. This one is black, white and red for my son. It's gonna take me until next December to have enough blocks to actually make a quilt, but right now I'm playing catch up since I hadn't sewn any since September. So I still have the November BOM and 1000, 1500 and 2500 member celebration blocks to do. Then I'll be caught up. This one looks like a bullseye.

January BOM

I got off for half a day so I worked on the latest challenge for the online quilting group I belong to. Every month we get a new block to make. If we finish before the end of the month we're entered into a random drawing. I made December's BOM last weekend and today I made January's. I'm doing them in red, white and black and I'll make a quilt from all the blocks for my son, Ben. This started last September. I made one then too. To catch up I need to finish October and November. That's next on the list. I was trying to do two different colorways, but have only done the September BOM in blue and gold. That one will be for me if I get it done.

It begins here

Today is my first day of blogging. I decided (after 2 years of quilting) that it might be nice to maintain a journal of my quilting escapades to share with my family and friends what I've been up to.

Today was a very sewful day. I didn't have to work, spent most of the day home alone, and had plenty of time for sewing. I finished a round robin that I've had since September (shame on me) for a fellow quilter in Canada. I made a center for a round robin that's just beginning with the online quilting group I belong to AND I finally got around to sewing a binding on a Christmas quilt (wall hanging or table topper) that I began sometime last year.