Birthday Swap Block - Joseph's Delight

Here is another block I've completed for the Birthday Swap I'm participating in.

This one is for my friend Deana and the block is called Joseph's Delight. It's a 12-inch block and she had requested it be made in burgundy or teal shades with a WOW background. I like the block and think it would be perfect in a scrappy quilt or perhaps batiks.

Well, the year is almost over and I'm finishing my final catch-up block. Afterwards I'll assemble the final block for this swap. Hard to believe the year has passed us by already. I'll be posting information on my next block in the next day or two. In the meantime, what are you working on? Anything special planned for the new year?

Another Birthday Swap Block

In my last post I mentioned I had been working on a couple of my blocks for the Birthday Swap I'm a participant on and I thought I'd share one of them with you today.

I'm a little behind on my blocks but I'm still creeping along in an effort to catch-up. I think everyone joins swaps with the best of intentions and don't anticipate the hiccups life throws in our directions...

My friend Billie wanted a block of trees in any size divisible by 3. I chose a paper-pieced pattern by Carol Doak from her book titled Three Hundred Paper-Pieced Quilt Blocks. I love Carol Doak's pattern because most of her books come with a CD of the patterns that you can dictate the size and print out on the appropriate medium. She also includes the cutting dimensions of each piece which you can use if you're using the original sized pattern.  Even though I'm a little late with these blocks, I'm hoping Billie with enjoy receiving them and using them in one of her projects.

If you're a little timid in using a paper-piece pattern, you can use my tutorial to guide you through the process. I know how frustrating it can be to learn a new technique and I was beyond frustration when I tried to teach myself how to paper-piece until my friend Diane sat down with me and taught me the basics. I'm forever thankful for her patience and teaching abilities because I now have the ability to enjoy incorporating this method into my quilting projects.

I'll be highlighting more of my Birthday Swap blocks soon. In the meantime, why don't you tell me what you're working on.

Peeking Out From Under Scraps

Gosh, I hadn't realized it had been this long since my last post. I've been so busy... Time sure does fly!

I was a little busy preparing for the Thanksgiving Holiday as the kids and grand kids were going to invade our quiet home. It is quite a job child-proofing a home. Then we had a miniature snowstorm the week of Thanksgiving putting everyone in high-gear before the day even arrived. I tried doing my shopping for our Thanksgiving meal and it was so crowded in the store I couldn't fit my grocery cart down the isles. Instead I had my husband stay with the cart at the end of each isle while I squeezed my way to find the items I needed. As we were shopping there was a small child expressing their unhappiness. Very loudly, I might add. I felt for the parents because I know how miserable children are when it's nap time. We survived the battle of the grocery stores. All the children and grandchildren arrived safely and we spent a few days playing games, making tons of food, and sharing laughter. I hope your holiday was as enjoyable as mine was.

Well, Thanksgiving isn't the only thing keeping me busy... I've spent countless hours in my sewing studio. I have some pictures to share and I'll start with this one today.

My grandson Elijah celebrated his 4th birthday on Thanksgiving. That is Elijah with his mom and friends at his party. We had his party a week before his birthday because he was celebrating his birthday in Disneyland this year. I made him a quilt for his birthday:

Here is the quilt prior to adding the borders.

Here is the finished quilt. He hasn't received it yet because I wasn't able to finish it before he left for Disneyland (All those darn power outages cut into my quilting time.), but he knows I have something special waiting for him.

The quilt design is called Warm Wishes and is available as a free pattern from Quiltmaker Magazine. It is such a simple pattern that goes together quickly. Perfect for someone wanting to make their first quilt or needing a quick gift. I finished it with freemotion quilting using a meandering design. I'm just not confident in my machine quilting skills to try anything more complex yet. In fact, the entire time I was quilting I kept hearing Obi-Wan Kanobi's voice in my head saying, "Don't cross the stream Luke! Let the Force be with you."

Have I lost it, or what? LOL

What is everyone else up to?