Even in summer, when the mercury begins to climb, quilts are still on some of our minds. We had a very small group at our meeting - lots of travel and a very bad ankle break (hope you're doing better Denise!) kept some of our members away - but we still had quilts!
These quilt blocks were shown by Barbara - she is piecing together some quilts that will be donated to families/children in need. The block on the left is a simple 9-patch, and once it is pieced it is cut straight down the middle in both directions, then resewn, creating the invisible 9-patch block shown on the right. Clever, no? Barbara passed out yellow fabric to be used in the center of the blocks and asked each of us to make her a block or two or ten - this is such an easy way to help - and fun, too!
Barbara wowed us all with her string quilt! This is one of my very favorite quilts - I'm working on one but I'm using darker colors, and after seeing Barbara's I might have to rethink what I've done - I love the bright, happy colors in this quilt! This is a foundation-pieced block - Barbara sewed her fabric strips to pieces of newspaper, which she said she'd never do again! It takes a long time to remove the paper...I'm using muslin, which I recommend, but it adds weight, where the paper does not...so it's a trade off!
Each strip block starts with the same fabric in the center of the block, in this case it's the white fabric and then fabric strips are sewn and flipped until the block is filled, then it's trimmed. This is a great way to use up scraps!
Kareena continues to prove you can have blue in Christmas! This top is all machine-applique, and her work is so precise it's a sight to see!
Such lovely little piggies! I don't remember who made the pattern Kareena used, but this is the second or third quilt she's made like this - tons of applique that would send someone like me running! But it turned out so great I might be rethinking machine applique!
Marsha brought in this adorable monster quilt - she made it for her grandkids to use when they visit her. It's made from a panel and all Marsha did was outline each monster and quilt in the ditch...pretty cute!
Helen went crazy and made more fabulous hot pads! Last month when I saw her creations I was determined to go home and sew some up for shower gifts...never got to it but I did have a wedding to occupy my time - this month these are on my list - they are too cute not to copy!!
Helen made this beautiful flower quilt - and she said one of my quilts inspired her! Unbelievable, no? Years ago I did make a Rose Quilt - at least that's what I called it - and I gave it to a friend who loves pink and flowers. Seeing Helen's quilt reminded me of the one I made...which is really nothing like Helen's but I appreciate her saying I inspired her work of art!
Helen also made the quilt above - it may be small but it makes such a statement! Her stitching is so beautiful - it makes it's own pattern. She is going to hand quilt this, and maybe she's going to make it larger, she wasn't sure - each block is about 10-inches so the top is about 40 x 40, give or take a few inches. Do you see a cross or an X? I just see how amazing it is - way to go Helen! Oh, Helen told us she needed a break from all the "busy" fabrics she was using - you know, to give her mind a chance to relax...and THIS is what she came up with! Oh to have her brain for just a day!
I had two quilts to show, but I'm going to save them for another post - they're not quite done! It was a fun meeting - not only were quilts discussed but we managed to cover quite a few topics, including Paula Deen, who we all felt got a raw deal...what do you think??
