Birthday Block

It's almost August and time for the August birthday block. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am almost always early. I made this block a few weeks ago. I thought it would be a nice thing if I mailed it tomorrow so it will get to it's destination in August.

Jeanne in Wisconsin asked for a 12" teapot block. She requested that the background be cream or off white. Although she said any teapot pattern would be acceptable, she did give this web address for a suggestion http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/. I hope she likes the block.

String Heaven

There was a post on the Heartstring site by Barbara in Virginia. She said she was tired of making string quilts and wanted to give away the strings she had. I don't really need any strings right now but, hey, if someone is giving them away, I'm all over it.

To my surprise, the package arrived just a few days later..........................................

Besides all the wonderful strings, there are also a large amount of triangles which will be great for using in the corners of string blocks. There is also some larger pieces of fabric.

Sometimes I am just blown away by the generosity of people.

Finally - A Finish

I have been working steadily on hand quilting the baby quilt. In between I am still making crumb blocks and string blocks but there hasn't been much worth taking a picture of. I had wanted to make Mary's RWB Sting block quilts but I only had small pieces of RWB fabric. So instead I made a quilt from Eleanor Burns' book Still Strippin" After 25 Years. I am less than thrilled with the results. I had bought what I thought was a terrific fabric for the background. It is white with the words Democrat in red and some more white with the words Republican in blue. It turned out to be a bit too busy and the pattern design sort of got lost. In addition, some of the blues, even though it has stars on it, are too light and it too blurred the design. Anyway, I will send it to Alycia to help her meet her personal QOV goals.

Orchids

I am just amazed at how many of my orchids are blooming this year. Here is another vanda type that has just bloomed.

Here is an orchid that I have had for many, many years. It has never bloomed before. Last year we replanted it in this basket hoping it would do something more than just sit there. It is a rather large plant.

Believe it or not, it has finally given me a flower. Do you see it? No, let me get a bit closer.

OK, so it's not much to show but it is at last blooming.

Zizzy-Dot Swap #12

The topic this time was flower pounding, which I think is big fun. Here's Dotti's card.......

She said she used ice plant flowers. I am not familiar with these but the card sure turned out nice.

Here's mine..........................

I used some yellow asters and their leaves which I bought in the supermarket. Isn't it interesting how we both stitched around the flowers in almost the same manner.

Bits and Pieces

I received a little surprise package of bits from Kate. It was a fun bag and the bits screamed at me "I dare you!" Can't you hear them?

So what else do you do with such little pieces but make some crumb blocks.

There were a few bits left over. They were added to the bag of bits that Vicki gave me. I think they are mating when I'm not looking.

I have a collection of crumb blocks, string blocks, coin blocks and 2.5" squares. One of these days I'll make something out of them.

Last 3 String Blocks

I sneaked out from work early today. It gave me a little extra sewing time so I made the last 3 sets of string blocks.

Dana in Texas asked for a white center string with lemony yellow on one side and strawberry pinks on the other. Her note says "think pink lemonade." I really like yellow and pink together and it's another color combo I just might have to copy.



I had a bit of trouble understanding the request made by Susan in Texas. She asked for half cream or beige and the other half solid red, solid blue or red/blue combo. I asked for clarification. Susan did not respond directly but I was told that prints would be OK. I am still not so sure I got it right, but I guess Susan will tell me when she receives her blocks.

I saved Eileen from Mississippis blocks for last as I thought her request was the hardest. All she said was cream/beige center, scrappy. Everyone knows I love scrappy but I really need a little more direction than that. Scrappy blues, or scrappy orientals, or scrappy feed sacks. I just wasn't sure where to go with this. And then I go the bright idea. SCRAPPY. Of course, use the scraps from all the other blocks. Duh, why didn't I think of that? I did leave out the Halloween fabrics.

So, which is your favorite color combination?

Another 3 String Swap Blocks

Chris in Kentucky requested a white on white center with black on white and white on black strings. This is an often requested color (or lack of color) combination. It is a combination that makes a very striking quilt.


Linda in Wisconsin had a similar request but with a twist. She wanted a bright yellow center string. In addition she wants one skinny yellow string 1/4" to 3/4" wide only on one side. This should be an interesting quilt and I hope I get to see it completed.

Brandy in North Dakota has asked for a black center with orange strings. I just love screaming orange. Of course I also love Kawasaki green and pale pink, but not necessarily all together. There's just no accounting for taste.

More Swap Blocks

I have completed 3 more String Swap blocks. The first one is for Sharon in Illinois. She asked for a 1" white on white center with pastels strings. That was easy, I have lots of pastels.

The next two are rather unusual requests. Donna in Illinois (I believe she is Sharon's daughter) requested a bright orange center with Halloween strings. She is in luck there. I was in a charm swap many, many years ago. One month the topic was Halloween. I ended up with a ton of Halloween charms and had no idea what to do with them.

Last on the list is Jill in Texas. She requested all brown strings (yes those strings are really brown) with pink outside corners.

It is just amazing how many combinations of colors there are. I suppose you could make string quilts for the rest of your life and they would all look totally different. No, I am not proposing making string quilts for the rest of your life, I'm just saying!!