My Baltimore Album Blocks

Here are some not so great pictures of my Baltimore Album blocks. I ventured into the closet and pulled out my box of blocks and my clear vinyl. In the box with my BAs were 20 or more heart blocks, and some hand pieced blocks.

In the photos, the three dark colored blocks on the left are ones ready for stitching onto the light background. Some of the blocks on the top row (which are difficult to see) will not go into this quilt. They are some of my first blocks and I am not happy with my color choices or my stitching. I need to make one more heart shaped block if I am to have four blocks, one for each corner. Last evening I looked through my BA books. There are four more blocks I found that I want to sew to be included in this quilt.

The pictures of the individual blocks are some of my favorites. The heart shaped block with the smaller hearts forming a larger heart are all the fabrics that I was using for the blocks. My original color scheme was dusty pink and dusty blue. Why, I don't know! The lyre block with the folded roses is my favorite. I enjoyed making this block. A couple of the blocks still need some ribbons to finish them.

Next comes the stitching. But before that happens, I want to stitch my first Aunt Millie's Garden block. I have my fabric cut, my overlay drawn, and my stem fabric ready. Since my bias bars have not been uncovered, I will use a different technique for making the narrow stems for this block.

Not to be forgotten is the challenge quilt for my quilt guild. I signed up to participate in the challenge, and it is due early September. I have the fabric and my idea, but have not started on either yet. Then there is a friendship block exchange due in October (I think). Also, I have this darling aqua quilt that is on my design wall. And, there is the $5.00 block that has not been sewn yet. I have not picked up the first Bunny Hill Heritage Chrismas BOM block, yet either.

Finally, I have some plans made. I am committed (in more ways than one) to these projects since I have now written about them and have talked about them. I do feel better - I have some deadlines ahead of me. I know I work better when I have a deadline! Let the stitching begin!

Happy Quilting

Monday's Design Wall

Happy Monday! Here is what is on my design wall this Monday. These blocks are the result of a friendship block exchange that happened yesterday. Our guidelines were: sherbet colors, 9-1/2 inch block, your choice of design. We are 12 very diverse quilters. I grouped the blocks in two color ranges: one group is the lime green, lighter blocks, and the other group are the purple, more intense color blocks. Yes, I know. The purple butterfly is in with the lime green blocks, but I wanted six blocks in each picture, so there you go.

I laid these blocks out on my bed this morning and added another block that Julie gave me. It is more intense colors, but I was looking at the idea of using these blocks to surround a center medallion design. I was thinking of putting a border of pinwheel blocks around a center block. Julie's block is a 12 inch block finished. I think that would leave me with 3 inch finished pinwheels. I laid these blocks out on my bed because my design wall is not big enough to accommodate that large a layout. Don't you love the very colorful quilt peeking out and around the blocks? That is my current bed quilt (which I absolutely love, BTW) that I finished a few years ago. It is all batiks.

This last weekend was busy for me. Saturday was my Quilting 101 workshop. I really did not need to do too much this month since one of the other ladies in our guild did a demo on applique. She is a very accomplished applique person. I did the project along with the group. I learned a different way to sew my applique stitch. It was not difficult to transition, but I needed to think about sewing the opposite direction that I normally sew (which is from left to right). Kathie sewed from right to left. It is much easier to see the edge of the applique piece which makes for stitches that are more hidden. She also basted the pattern piece to freezer paper, then pulled the paper out from under the applique piece just before closing the seam. Kathie irons the freezer paper on the underside of the fabric. I usually iron the freezer paper on the top. It is good to take classes from different people. I always learn something new.

On Sunday, I went to the block exchange, then had lunch with some of the ladies from the group. After that I went home, picked up my husband, and we took off to the county fair. It was the last day of the fair. There was a show that evening that he wanted to see, so we attended on that particular day. We also saw the crafts and quilting exhibits, which were in a different building this year. It was really hot, and we arrived in the hottest part of the day. By the time the show started, it had cooled off a bit. We stayed at the fair until closing. I usually will attend the fair two or three days each summer, but since our guild did not do any exhibit quilting this year, I went for one day only.

My husband and I enjoy going to county fairs. We missed the fair in Sonora last month, but we hope to go to Santa Clara's fair, and maybe the State fair this summer. If I can find dates for some other county fairs, I hope we can attend them as well.

Hope you all have a great week.

Happy Quilting

Triple the Fun

Above you will see three quilt pictures. My hubby took these pictures with his new camera at the Santa Rosa Quilt Show. There was no sign stating that photography was not allowed, so I am posting pictures here. I am not sure if you can see the names of the quilters, and I apologize for not writing them down so that I could include the names here.

Three ladies met and formed a group to make Baltimore Album quilts. One of the ladies did not know what a Baltimore Album quilt looked like, but she agreed to make the quilt sight unseen. What a brave soul!

You can see from each picture that there are many of the same blocks in each quilt, but also some blocks that are unique to each quilt. One quilt is very traditional, the second quilt is a little different in design and also traditional, and the third is quite different in the use of color and design of some of the blocks. I think you can guess the third quilt was made by the quilter who had never seen a Baltimore Album quilt before.

I am have a Baltimore Album quilt in progress. I have 20 or more blocks completed, but I decided I wanted to make 25 blocks. I have the other five blocks laid out, and ready to sew. When I started this quilt, I was taking classes at a local quilt store. It was an ongoing class that met once a month. We were to complete a block a month. The idea was to have enough blocks done in a year to make our quilt.

Well, partway through the project, I changed my color scheme. I started out with dusty pink and dusty blue. I progressed to the more traditional red and green. Then when I entered my "purple period", I included some purple (actually, a lot of purple). In looking at all my blocks laid out together, I think I could make two different quilts with the colors that I have so far. I could also put them all together in the same quilt, and include all the colors I have used in the blocks in the border as well. This project is one of my large applique quilts that are "in progress". If I remember correctly, I have five large applique quilts that are "in progress" at this time.

I am preparing to start another large applique quilt, Aunt Millie's Garden by Piece O Cake Designs. Crispy is beginning this quilt, and I thought I would applique along with her. I purchased a large amount of a purple fabric to use as my background when I bought the pattern. The original quilt has red as the background. Why do I think I have time for another large applique project? I should be finishing one of the older projects instead of starting a new one. Or, I should be working on the applique BOM I bought last year and have not started yet. Or, I should be making the Bunny Hill BOM basket blocks that I have been downloading.

Back to the subject of this post...three Baltimore Album quilts. I like all three for different reasons. I like the idea that three quilters get together to make the same quilt, and each quilt is different. Each quilt reflects the personality of the quilter. Don't you find this fun? I love it.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Until next time.....

Happy Quilting

Happy 4th of July

Here is a picture of a quilt that I made from a friendship block exchange. It is one of the first exchanges in which I was a participant in a friendship group that I had joined. We received the blocks on Saturday. I went home immediately and sewed the blocks together, and had it basted the next day. I was so excited. I was going to machine quilt this sampler myself. Well, a few years later, I decided to have it professionally machine quilted. Genece Hoskin did a beautiful job of custom quilting my quilt. I wanted to get the binding on this week so that I could post a "finished" picture in this post. Well, it is the 4th already and the binding is not done, but I decided that I wanted to post the picture today anyway, so here it is. My block is on the top row. It is the large heart block. I worried and worried about this block. I did not know if the ladies would like it, or if my work was good enough, etc., etc., etc. Years later, I like my block as much now as I did when I made it. Our guidelines were: red, white (not beige) and blue colors that would work with a 12 inch finished scheme. Of course, my friend Monica's block is the large eagle block that is not on a white background and does not work into a 12 inch scheme (she loves to break the rules). Since it was such a beautifully appliqued block (and it was Monica's block), it holds center stage. I felt so special since I was the first one of the group to get my top together. Well, I am sure there are others in the group who have actually "finished" their quilt before I will finish mine, but this 4th of July it will be almost finished. I will sew on the binding this afternoon and start sewing down the backside by hand tonight. I will then take it to the July guild meeting this Tuesday evening and share it. That evening it will return home to be placed on our living room wall for display for the month of July, and possibly August. My bargello flag quilt will be joined by my patriotic sampler as one of my favorite quilts. I want to take this moment to send my thanks to all the soldiers and their families who have sacrificed so much so that my family and I can live in freedom. On this day I think about all the soldiers and all their families who have sacrificed so much over the years to keep our country free. I want to thank all of them from the bottom on my heart. I also wish every person in every country around the world could live in peace. Until that happens, I will continue to keep the words "World Peace" in my prayers. Happy Quilting

P.S. It looks like I have lost my paragraph spacing again. Sorry!