Bucket List Club for March 2012

We are celebrating the "Chenile"  technique during the month of March.  We hope to find and share some links and ideas for chenile projects and personally challenge ourselves to try out the technique during March.  This takes place on the C-Bees yahoo group.

There is a brief write-up about the Bucket List Club program at this link with directions to the yahoo groups.     http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/2012/02/bucket-list-club.html

Come join us.  Everyone is welcome!

Lattice Garden BOM

I loved the setting in this block of the month and the simplicity of the applique.   I plan to use different borders to enlarge the quilt.  You will find the project here:  http://www.jeanneraecrafts.com/quilt.html

Here are my January and February blocks.  I am finally using those black/white fat quarters.

Don't you just love the detailed elements you can cut from your fabrics?  I am excited over those little swirls in the center of the flowers.  Fun!

I don't know which flower will be offered for March,  but I hope it will be red or purple or blue or .............  LOL

Happy Valentines Day 2012

Have you heard me say that I get NO RESPECT from my sheltie dog, Kody? He rules the roost. This is my third sheltie and I have to say he cooperates the least,  BUT...........  he's the only sheltie who gives his mom a card for celebrations!  Isn't this card a keeper !!! 

I've heard it said that "Diamonds are a girls' best friend"  but at my stage in life, my answer is always CHOCOLATE !  A few weeks ago, I told dearest Husband, that dark chocolate  with rasberry creme would be my diamond.  I didnt think he took me that seriously, but.............  he delivered ! What a sweetheart!

I'm a lucky valentine today!  I wish for you all to have something to celebrate.

Delectable Mountains - Table Topper

This is a photo of my delectable mountains table topper. It began as a 27" square topper. I angled off four corners so the size doesn't overpower my table. I usually prefer the 18" - 24" size for my table.

The delectable mountains block can appear very dramatic. I think adding the applique softens the drama and makes a nice balance.

This photo is the same topper - rotated 90 degrees and  "appears"  as set on-pointe?  It reminds me of the bear paw block.  I love the look of the bear paw block, but  stressing over the points in all those HST has put me off.  That stress doesnt seem to be an issue when constructing the delectable mountains block. Those points seem to take care of themselves.

My delectable mountains projects were constructed using Bonnie Hunter's  directions over at
http://quiltville.com/delmts.shtml.  Thank you, Bonnie!

I have a post about delectable mountains table runners here:

http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/search/label/del%20mtns

Visit the Free Pattern page for links to project files to create this project.

and  visit the EQ7 page for a link to the free EQ7 project file.

February is Delectable Mountains Month- Table Runners

I mentioned the Bucket List Club for a reason. Yep, February is for the Delectable Mountains block. This block is lots of fun to sew and design with.  There are several different construction methods for this block and different sizes. Here are links to a few of my favorite ones:

This page illustrates a more historical, traditional block and construction
http://www.patternsfromhistory.com/pioneer_patterns/delectable-mountains.htm

This page illustrates construction of a 9 inch finished block,using modern techniques
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/12/go-tell-it-on-mountain.html

This page illustrates construction of a finished block 6" by 7-1/2". It also shows lots of design possibilities. I love the scrappy one!  The block begins with  easy 8-1/2" squares.  I used this construction and dimensions for my delectable mountains collection which I'm sharing here.
http://quiltville.com/delmtspf.html

Here is my delectable mountains table runner.  It measures 12" by 45".

You will notice that I trimmed off the square corners.  This created a bit of a challenge with the binding. I think  I created 60 degree corners.  One corner didn't make for a smooth mitre.  I should have rounded them off.

Naturally, I  played around with this block design in EQ.  Here are a few layouts for table runners. They are all designed with the block dimensions from quiltville.com.  The differences are achieved by how you rotate the blocks.  Examples 1 and 2 use 12 blocks each and examples 3 and 4 use 16 blocks each.

  

Each 8-1/2" square makes 2 blocks, one and another one reversed.  For example, if you wanted to make runner #4, you only need to start with 8 light color blocks and 8 dark color blocks.  Stay tuned for the table topper. It's nearly ready!  

Bucket List Club

Should I mention the Bucket List Club?  The theory for this club is to challenge oneself with a new skill or to use an alternate method to achieve the skill.  A new skill is drawn from the bucket each month.  The rules are simple and few:....participate in any months that you can and use the skill in any method you choose.

Club Activities take place on    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CyberQuilters4-C-Bees/
This is a sister list of  the Cyberquilters group.  So you must belong to Cyberquilters in order to join C-bees.
BUT .........  Cyberquilters is one of the best quilting groups on yahoo, so you will benefit two-fold !

To join Cyberquilters........http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CyberQuilters/
Then join C-bees..............http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CyberQuilters4-C-Bees/

Our bucket list challenge this month is  the  delectable mountains block. We share links and tutorials to block construction and design and post our photos.  Come  join us !

Sofa Quilt - Center Panel

I have survived another phase of the Sofa Row Quilt. I have used all the teal I can take. LOL

I used the large Leaves Galore Ruler to cut the curved borders. I also used it to cut the center applique vine, leaves  AND the faux bias tape.  I just fused it on and top-stitched down.

Now I can move on to the flower appliques, echo quilting and the center panel will be complete.