Thursday, December 9, 2010

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.

9 comments:

Myra said...

Great blocks Dena! Love those trees! 8-)
I took a look at your Tutorial. Lots of work went into posting that! Good for you! Nicely done!
Happy stitchings!

Unknown said...

love the trees

webbsway said...

Hi Dena!

SOOO nice to see what you are working on. I had to laugh when you said:" I think everyone joins swaps with the best of intentions and don't anticipate the hiccups life throws in our directions...

I would agree with your one hundred percent! The same goes true with all of my projects I have worked on all year long for my Christmas presents! It seems there is ALWAYS something that upsets my "apple cart"! But , I prefer your :hiccups"!term! Because it is SOOO true! Even down to the next few days-all this week something has tripped me up DAILY!

My dear friend/mentor once told me that when you learn something new we are suppose to repay the debt by passing it along to help someone else -AND- that is what I think you do with your wonderful tutorials! Thank you so much for every inch of knowledge you share! Thank you, thank you !:)

Michele Bilyeu said...

Your comment on 'best intentions' is right on! But hey, these trees are adorable...so you are doing just great!

I hadn't noticed your paper piecing tutorial before and it's fabulous! I am including it on my '2,500 Free Quilt Patterns' in the hints and tips category. Hope you get lots of interest because you really did a nice job of this!

Happy Holidays, Dena...thanks for your friendship and support this year. It meant a lot!!!

Unknown said...

beautiful

Ivory Spring said...

Paper piecing is one of the things I want to give a try once things slow down for me - will be checking out your tutorial.

Micki said...

Well, you know how much I love Carol Doak and paper piecing. I love those trees, and I have most of Carol's books.
Micki

Laura said...

Simple design but so nice! I think they'd make lovely Christmas cards. :)

Anonymous said...

Love your tree block. The colors are great. Now I'll go to read your tutorial.