Clean Your Plates

Our Community Supper is serving up the last of the big (10” blocks). Sixty Three quilted and bound. I am waiting for just one more from Cynthia (Wabi-Sabi Quilts) who has to wait until her Post Office in Tokyo opens up to personal mail to the states. Again, that is the beauty of the potholder method, I could (although I highly doubt I will) finish the entire quilt and simply leave a blank corner to add hers when it arrives. 

Here are the final biggies from you very patient quilters.

Shirley Farnsworth, Dexter, Maine. Shirley is a peach! I just can’t describe her any other way. If she finds something she thinks you might like, she just up and sends it to you. She sent me two blocks and two beautiful labels.

I decided to go with this one because I love yellow and because the sentiment on the label was perfect. I will use the other in my next pot luck quilt. Thanks Shirley!

Jane Dallmeyer, Washington, Iowa. I contemplated cutting this down for the smaller blocks but this is a clever block I wanted to show it in its entirely. I think I may copy this one for a quilt in the future. I love Jane’s message, “Smile Anyway”! Thanks Jane!

Marsha Fuller, Dickinson, Texas. This little beauty came from the estate of a friend of Marsha’s. This was one of the last blocks to arrive and I thought I might have to cut it down to fit the 5” slot, but with a little re-work on another block, I was able to save the whole compass. Thanks Marsha!

Lin McQuistin, Columbus, Ohio. Lin is a remarkable quilter. I have enjoyed seeing her beautiful quilts on Facebook. She has joined many of us in sew-a-longs with BarbaraBrackman and others. Simply stunning work. The amazing thing about Lin is that she is equally adept at both hand and machine work. I thought this block was hand appliqued until it arrived. I admire anyone who can machine applique like this. And her label is superbly inked using a Susan McKelvey stencil. Just gorgeous. Thanks Lin! 

Now that the big plates are (almost) clean, get ready for some dessert. The mini (5”) blocks are coming next.

Please Sir, May I Have Some More

Serving up the next batch of 10" blocks in our Community Supper quilt:

Marjorie Farquharsen, Chatham, Massachusetts. Marge and I share a deep passion for quilt and quiltmaker history. She has chaired many committees of the American Quilt Study Group over the years. She said she is off on a new tack by incorporating bright contemporary fabrics with subtle reproductions. I hope you stay on this tack as I love this block! Thanks Marge! 

Deb Boucher, Edgecomb, Maine. Deb has a longarm business, “Tea Rose Quilting”.  She belongs to my local group and always brings some delightful quilt for show and tell. I love this star block and especially the pawprint fabric. Thanks Deb! 

Jo Butterfield, Mildoura, Victoria, Australia. Jo says, ”I’m so happy I could take part in your little bit of fun. This is not actually a reject but a trial of the pattern we did in a class/tutorial years ago. Have fun joining all your blocks together.” Thanks Jane, I have been having fun finishing all these beauties! 

 I had a near disaster with Jo’s label. When I went to press the edges under, I turned it around and noticed that it was completely blank. Yikes! I was pretty sure she had used a friXion pen that is supposed to disappear after ironing. Guess I proved that it works! I had heard that if you put it in the freezer the marks will come back. This too proved correct! So, I simply traced over Jo’s writing with a permanent pen and voila! 

 Karen Dever, Moorestown, New Jersey. I took a class form Karen several years ago and she is a lot of fun. Karen and her husband got stranded on a cruise ship and subsequent port of entry and were quarantined for weeks. We can all learn from Karen’s experience that no matter where you travel, ALWAYS take more quilting than you think you will need! Apparently, Karen made her own quarantine story quilt. I am anxious to see it. I adore this block and used one of my favorite reproductions to bring it up to 10”. Thanks Karen! 

Andrea Kozoil, Tipp City, Ohio. Andrea was the recipient of a little quilt I made in Lori’s (Humble Quilts) swap a few years ago. I can’t find any reason for you to reject this one so I suspect (like me) you simply made one too many for the quilt. You can’t go wrong with a log cabin block. This one looked like Christmas colors to me so I used one of my favorite Judie Rothermel fabrics on the back. 

Carol Lewin, Hay Springs, Nebraska. Carol says: “Have disliked this block because of the stem. Made one and quit. Glad I didn’t buy the kit!” I don’t see anything wrong with the stem, but I am so happy that you do and were willing to part with it. Thanks Carol! 

Cherie Moore, Belleville, Illinois. Cherie says:” his is a reject block from Barbara Brackman’s Civil War block of the week. I remade a few that didn’t quite work for one reason or another. Well, I think it works fine here Cherie. Thanks Cherie! 

Joy Murphy, Hillsborough, North Carolina, (The Joyful Quilter). Joy says: “Thanks for turning this “oops” into something other than another UFO.” Thank you Joy as this is a great addition to the mix! 

Kyle Redente, Fort Collins, Colorado. (Timeless Reflections) “Leftover Logs” from Colorado. Simply perfect. I’ve been following Kyle and her spectacular quilts for years. I consider her to be the queen of label making. This one is not only beautiful, it also has the perfect sentiment! Thanks Kyle! 

Darlene Reinke, Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. Darlene said – “I found this in the attic. I can’t believe I bought the striped backing, it’s so thin you can see through it. I learned a long time ago, if it’s worth my time, it’s worth good fabric.” So true! However, this makes the perfect "orphan" block. Thanks Darlene! 

Kathy Wagner, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. (Kathy’s Quilts) I had to trim (with her permission) Kathy’s huge block down to fit the 10” requirement. I hated to trim off all that hot pink as I think the color reminds of us of these wild and crazy times. But, the center with the adorable Russian nesting doll will instead remind us that we can all fit together comfortably by using a little common sense and kindness. Thanks Kathy! Sandy (My Material Creations) sent me this adorable yo-yo cheater print which I felt was perfect for this bright block. 

Stay tuned for the last batch of big blocks and the rest of the mini (5”) blocks. Can’t wait to sink my teeth into those little guys. I love working with small potholder blocks. It makes the bindings go so fast!

A Heaping Spoonful

After all my blathering about how huge this quilt was going to be, I have come up with a plan that I think hope will make it a manageable size. This is my fifth and final layout. I am delighted to say that I have reached maximum capacity at 80 blocks (sixty four 10” and sixteen 5”) for an overall size of 85” x 85”. This means that 79 of my fellow quilters will have a part in this wacky quilt. It has been a wonderful way to connect with fellow quilters in this time of uncertainty.

Recent finishes:

Amy Aycock, Alexandria, Virginia. Amy said: “I love the color and basket pattern but decided to make my quilt from smaller blocks, so this one became an orphan.” How fortunate for me! Thanks Amy, I love the color and pattern too! 

  

Deborah Juster, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Deborah has a daughter living in Maine so hopefully we may meet in person one day. I love this orphan with the special corner blocks reminding us that what we all need is “peace”. Her label rings true for us all. Thanks Deborah! 

Sandy Helin, Watsonville, California. (My Material Creations). Sandy shares my love for mini quilts and for antique fabrics. She generously sent some delicious antique indigo fabrics for a little mini challenge with Janet (Rogue Quilter). You can see the outcome (here). Sandy called this a “Frankenstein” block and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I adore this block. The fabrics are simply gorgeous. I debated whether to cut this down for a 5” block but couldn’t bring myself to lose any of that fabric. Love that circular label too. Thanks Sandy! 

Susan McDermott, Warren, NJ. When I opened Susan’s package and started reading the lovely enclosed letter, it brought me to tears. She had included a block from her dear friend Jill Reid who passed away in 2014. Susan assisted Jill’s husband in cleaning out and distributing Jill’s stash and unfinished projects. This was the last block remaining. I had heard so many wonderful things about Jill over the years from other blogging friends. She was a true kindred spirit and I am so very grateful to Susan for sending Jill’s block. 

Susan’s block is made up of squares she used in a Leaders & Enders project for many years. She is going to make a quarantine quilt of her own utilizing these blocks in the potholder method. I had to add a bit of a border to make it 10”. This is my kind of block. Thanks for the fabulous labels too Susan! 

And this is Jill’s – I had to cut off Jill’s perfect points a bit to fit into the 10” format, but I know she is smiling down on me saying “you go girl!”. 

Sharon Messmore, Naples, Florida. Sharon says: “Finally have a resting place for this block. It was sewn as the beginning of a block of the month Christmas quilt a few years ago. The first 2 blocks were cute, but the succeeding blocks were ugly. It went to the orphanage.” Thanks Sharon, I am happy that it made its way here! It was a long vertical block and I had to cut the star part off and reattach to make it a 10” block. It worked perfectly. And, I love how the Dear Jane repro fabric on the back looks like Christmas trees. 

Cyndi Woodhead, Baldwin City, Kansas. Cyndi says, “For the last 4 years I have been designing a queen size hexi quilt. This block is a reject idea, but it was the perfect size to send to you. Hope you enjoy the process of combining all of these random blocks.” Yes, Cyndi this is the perfect block and I am truly enjoying this process. Thanks a million! 

Next course coming right up!

Serving up Another Batch

Although I am enjoying this quilt beyond measure, there are two things that I would have changed had I knew how great the response to my request would be. One, I would have started this back in March when I had 6 weeks of free sewing time to work on it, and two, I would have asked for 6” or 8” blocks instead of 10” so I wouldn’t need a forklift to hang this puppy up! The one thing about a potholder quilt is that it is often much heavier than one that is conventionally made. There are nearly 3 extra yards in this because of the individual bindings so you can see how it can pack on the pounds.

Here is the next batch:

We’ve had a Churn Dash explosion! It is hard to beat a Churn Dash so I am happy to see 3 of them in this community quilt. I know Barb (Fun with Barb) did a block swap a while ago so I suspect she inspired many of these. Thanks Barb!

Cecile Denis, Vendome, France. (Patchwork Inspirations) If you look up “sweet” in the dictionary, you will see a picture of Cecile’s face! She is always so upbeat and positive. I love participating in her sew-a-long each Spring. And, despite my excessive “stash”, I have never seen the green print in this adorable little Churn Dash block (and matching label!). I added a border that looked like antique French fabric to bring it up to 10”. Thanks Cecile! 

Dorothy (Dotti) Hossler, Stepney, Connecticut. This sweet little Churn Dash was too big for the 5” blocks so I picked up on the purple in the floral print she used and added it as a border. I’ve had that purple print for so long I think this qualifies as vintage. Thanks Dotti! (Oops! I just noticed that I added and “e” to your name when I made your label. I’ll change it tonight!) 

Wendy Tuma, Northfield, Minnesota. (Pieceful Wendy) I added a bit of sashing to this adorable Churn Dash to bring it up to 10”. Wendy’s label is so true, “Quilty Friends are the Best!”. I think her note paper is encouraging as well. We all need to remember that we’ve “goat” this! We will survive. Thanks Wendy! 

LuAnn Krug, Indianapolis, Indiana. (LuAnn’s Loose Threads) LuAnn says: “I’ve honestly lost my quilting mojo through all this so I started doing some counted cross stitch. I have been home since March 11 and am amazed what you can get via curbside pickup.” Yes, LuAnn, I think our world will change in many ways. It will be interesting to see which “brick and mortar” stores can stay afloat when all is over. I am happy that these two blocks came my way. I use the one with the label for the back so yours is truly a two sided block. Thanks LuAnn! 

Pat Dudek, (aka Quilting Babcia), Scio, New York. (Amity Quilter). Who doesn’t love a basket block? I am pleased to see a few coming my way and all of them are different. I love this one. I’m sorry I had to cut the bottom of just a bit to fit the 10” parameter, but it does not detract from its beauty. Thanks Pat! 

Karrin Hurd, Roseville, California. (Karrin's Crazy World) I think anyone who has quilted for a while will recognize 3 of these little blocks as being part of a “Dear Jane” quilt. Karrin added the uneven 9-patch to make it a square. I love the applied one that she didn’t even finish before she decided to do it over. Well, it works for me. I used a "Dear Jane" repro fabric on the back. Thanks Karrin! 

 Beth French, Bowdoin, Maine. Beth said: This basket block was used for Jan Patek quilt-a-long that Attic Heirlooms did a few years ago. I added the kitty.” Beth is one of those fun people that quilters just want to be around. I think you can tell that by her whimsical little kitty in this gorgeous basket. It was an oversize block and I was so sorry to have to cut off the bottom of the basket in order to save the handle. I made sure to keep that kitty intact. Thanks Beth! 

Deborah Wheeler, Olds, Alberta, Canada. Uneven 9-patch (aka Puss in the Corner) is such a great block. Deborah made this one even better by putting in on point. I added the little bit of red to bring it up to 10”. Deborah’s message is spot on. Be strong, be joyful and be safe! Thanks Deborah! 

Save room for more, the next course is coming soon!