On that note, I'm going to bed

I just finished the Italian Tile block.  What fun!!  It may not be lined up precisely but I'm happy with it.  I can't believe I'm about to say this but, I think it might turn out better WITH Y-Seams.  I might actually give that a go...tomorrow.

And I finished that stupid tree of life.  I thought all was well until I went to crop my picture.  I DID put two squares in the wrong places.  I guess I'll be re-making this one tomorrow too.  

With that, I'm going to bed!

Grease!

I went to see Grease! last night at the PAC...wait, I'm thinking it's probably no longer called the PAC.  Whatever.  If you're local, you know where I'm talking about.  If you're not local, it really doesn't matter where I tell you we went!  It was a great show.  Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel though...that was beyond cheesy.

Around the Circle starting on the left - Ruth, Linda, Kim, Jenny & Jen

Jen & Ruth

I swear to god I take the worst pictures ever and I have a really big head.  But, I did finally get my hair cut so that's a plus.

As for the block, a change of perspective is sometimes all it takes. My block was drafted correctly, it just needed to be re-arranged to work out!

I've put so many hours into my Quilts on Barns Block of the Week this weekend...it's a good thing I don't keep track, I'd probably want to smack myself.  The good news is, I just have a few more blocks to make and then the first 26 blocks, directions, PDF's and all will be complete.  Then it's onto the next 13.  My goal is to get the first year (52 blocks) completed within the next month or so.
Speaking of the Barn Quilt Block of the Week, Lish talked me into starting a Flickr Group for the BOW.  If anyone is interested in contributing, the group can be found HERE.

Tree of frustration

Ok, really it's the tree of life. I just happen to be frustrated because I managed to draft the block incorrectly and not notice until it's pretty much assembled.

Looks like I'll be re-drawing this one and having another go at it!





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It's Quilted!

After two nights of quilting the Keyholes quilt is quilted and the binding is sewn on the front.  Now I just have to work my way through the hand sewing and then make a label.  I used a teal thread and I'm surprised at how much it blends in.  I really thought that was ALL you were going to see.  I guess the orange is louder!

Block of the Week – Block 8 – Corn and Beans – Green County

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #8 –Corn and Beans – Green County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.
 
Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:
 
Cut the following pieces:
(2) 3-1/2” Squares – Green, sub-cut into 4 pieces – These will be over sized and get sewn onto the corners. These are not put onto paper.
(1) 3-1/2” Square – Red, sub-cut into 2 pieces – A5, C5
(6) 2-1/4” Squares – Red, sub-cut into 12 pieces - A2, B2, C1, D1, E2, E5, F4, F5, G4, G5, H2, H5
(1) 3-1/2” Square – Blue, sub-cut into 2 pieces – B5, D5
(1) 3-3/4” Square – Blue, sub-cut into 4 pieces - E3, F2, G2, H3
(10) 2-1/4” Squares – White, sub-cut into 20 pieces – A1, A3, A4, B1, B3, B4, C2, C3, C4, D2, D3, D4, E1, E4, F1, F3, G1, G3, H1, H4

Click HERE to print a clean Corn and Beans Instruction Sheet.
Click HERE to download and print the Corn and Beans Foundation Pattern.


**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file.  When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100%.  Take a moment to measure.  The Solid Line along the bottom edge of section A should measure 2".  If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**


Don't forget to come back and post the link to your blocks so I can see them.  I LOVE to see them!!  Don't have a blog or don't have time to post?  Just email me a picture and I'll get it uploaded.

How to & How not to Assemble a block

I was working on the Corn & Beans block for tomorrows Week 8 block. I thought I'd take pictures of the process to hopefully make it a little easier for the assembly of your block.  First things first, write the colors you’re going to use on your foundation because with the way this one is set up on paper it doesn’t make much sense until you’ve paper pieced your sections.  I had to re-arrange the pieces just so they’d fit on one page. 

Once your sections are paper pieced, lay your pieces out like this:

Next up, you want to sew together the four pieces that comprise the middle section.

Next you will sew on the four remaining paper pieced sections.

Lastly, you will sew on the four oversized green corners.

When finished, square it up.

Your block is complete! 

Now, let’s check out what NOT to do…  It’s like a blooper reel for quilters.

Mistakenly lay block out so that the green corners are going to attach to the sides instead of the corners.

Take a nice picture showing how easy it is to attach the corners.

Square up. 

Repeatedly measure block and wonder how exactly it became 6” – to be a 5-1/2” block once it’s finished.  Scratch Head.  Curse.  Reprint the foundations to try and figure out where the error is.  Scratch Head.  Curse.  Glance at Picture and realize you’re an idiot.  RIP.

  

Cut new green corners, lay out and finish as pictures above show.

Quilts on Barns - #95 Crossed Canoes

Crossed Canoes is located at N5295 County E in Albany WI.  I should have taken pictures of the rest of the property but I didn't.  They're re-doing all of the buildings and painting them these crazy colors.

It's still pretty orange...

I spent a few hours today assembling the Keyholes Quilt.  It seemed no matter how I arranged and re-arranged it just wasn't going to come out perfectly so in the end I just went for it.  Obviously the issue was because I used anywhere from 3-4 strips of each fabric.  The pattern is written up for one strip of each fabric.

I'm not as scared of the orange it now that it's put together.  But, I wonder what color thread I should use to quilt it?  I have an orange/purple backing fabric and I was planning on using that same fabric as binding but now I'm leaning towards the blue/aqua wavy stripe fabric for binding.  I guess I'll make that call once it's quilted.

I also drafted 11 of the Barn Quilt Blocks today.  I still have 2 to go but they're a bit on the confusing side so it might be a few weeks!

Quilts on Barns - #94 Queen's Jewels

The Queen's Jewels is located at 7173 North McDermott Road in Albany WI.  At this point in the day instead of getting out of the truck each time we stopped at a barn, we were just opening the doors and standing on the running boards to snap pictures.  I inadvertently stopped right in front of a snow bank.  Sherry, without knowing the name of this block waved her hand and said, "The queen demands you pull forward."  Linda and I burst out laughing immediately because we knew the name of the block.