My Retirement Quilt

On my last Postie Quilting day I was the lucky recipient of a beautiful retirement quilt!

Isn't it incredible?  And even more incredible, the wonderful women who made it for me!

Katja and Sonja are missing from the picture.  Thanks to all of you for my quilt.  I will treasure it, snuggle under it and all around love it, forever!

I gave away a few quilts on my last day of work.  So as not to make the post too picture heavy, I finally figured out how to make a collage.

I have so many great friends still working at the Post Office.  Thinking of you all lots!

Stash Busters Quilt Along Week 6

I assume everyone survived the paper pieced block.  I heard a little, (actually a lot) of stories of how long it took to piece.  To make it up to you, this weeks block is REALLY simple.

Oops, forgot to crop.  Oh well!  The cartwheel block first came to my attention one day when I was cruising the Moda Bake shop and saw this quilt.  I loved the overall effect of several blocks piece scrappy.  The original pattern used a jelly roll, so the strips were 2 1/2".  I downsized the pattern so that we would end up with a 12 1/2" unfinished block.

Pick four feature fabric strips that are 2" wide by at least 15".  Piece each strip to a background piece that is the same size.  Press the seams towards the background for two strips and towards the feature fabric for the other two strips.  If you think ahead, the colours that are diagonal to each other have to be pressed the same.  This will give you seams that are going opposite ways when you are piecing the block.

Cut each strip set into four pieces that are 3 1/2" long.  At this point they should be 3 1/2" squares.  Lay your pieces out as shown above and piece together.

You will probably take longer to pick your fabrics than to piece your block.  Have fun!

September's Winner is.......

Mrsmarg is the winner of September's prize which is the Vintage Lifestyle book.  Congrats Margaret, random number generator has picked you!

Now for October's prize.  I was amazed at the number of pictures posted on our Flickr group. Ninety eight pictures for September.  Woohoo!  You women amaze me.  One prize just doesn't seem like enough.  For October I will be offering two prizes to be drawn randomly from all the pictures posted to our group.

The first prize is Nancy Halverson's latest book and pattern.  You will just have enough time to make something for this Christmas.  The second prize is a Hoffman Bali Pop called Caramel. Mmmmmm good.

This block from our Flickr group really impressed me.

Betty really mixed things up, went her own way, and came up with this stunning block.  I will have a little something special coming Betty's way!

Stash Busters Quilt Along, Week 5

It's hard to believe that we are at week 5 already.  I just checked our Flickr page and we are up to 81 photos.  Wonderful!!!!!  On October 1st I will draw a winner for our first months giveaway, and post what next months giveaway will be.  So don't despair if you don't get your pictures up by the 1st, they can count towards next months prize.

This weeks block is Circle of Geese.  Click here for the link to the Piece by Number page that features the block and a link to download the Pdf pattern.  Beth at Piece by Number has graciously agreed to let us use her pattern for our quilt along, thanks so much Beth!  When printing the pattern be aware that there is a clockwise, and counterclockwise, pattern.  Print four copies of one of them.  I used the clockwise spin.

This is a paper piecing pattern so remember to cut the pieces bigger than you think you need. LOL!  I had a few miscues and therefore a little reverse stitching to do.  I started with a fat quarter of background and ended up with a little piece about 2" x 3" left over.  Allow yourself lots of fabric.  Beth has a link on her page to some great paper piecing directions in case you don't know how, or need a little refresher.

I decided not to make one of these blocks out of my reproduction fabric since it wouldn't really fit in a reproduction quilt.  Instead I  made a second batik block.  I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

For those of you that follow the quilt along through facebook, please be aware that throughout October I may be away from my computer on Sundays and therefore not able to post the link on Facebook.  It will be scheduled to appear on the blog for 00:01 each Sunday, so you may need to go directly to my blog at lindasquiltmania.blogspot.com to find it.

If you have a problem downloading the pattern from Beth's page, please let me know and I will try to walk you through it.  Happy quilting everyone!

Split Nine Patch Quilt

Way back at the start of the year I showed you a picture of my basket of quilt tops and vowed that I would have half of them quilted by the end of the year.  Well...... I am running a little behind.  I did finish one of them a little bit ago.

This is a scrappy split nine patch.  The top was pieced about 12 years ago, and has waited patiently for me to get it quilted.  I loved digging this one out, as looking at all the fabrics brought back a lot of memories of quilts past.

Once it was finished it needed a home.  Luckily my friend Dawn was having a birthday the next day so it seemed appropriate to give it to her.  I won't call Dawn my oldest friend, as that would be rude and untrue.  She is however my "longest" friend.  We met back when I was 15, and have shared each others lives every since.  I treasure our friendship!

Dawn sent me this picture of her enjoying her new quilt.  Perfect!

I am lucky to have several wonderful friends, many of whom have joined me in my Stash Busters Quilt Along.  Today I would like to feature the blocks that Betty S. has made so far. Great job on the blocks and it looks like she is making a dent in her stash.  This will be a lovely scrap quilt when it is finished!

Stash Busters Quilt Along Week 4

This weeks block is a traditional block called Weathervane.

Ooops, my photo editing cut the points off.  Really, they are there.  LOL

To make this block you will need three fabrics, a background a medium and a dark.  Cut the dark 4 1/2" centre square.  All the remaining pieces will be cut from 2 1/2" strips.  From the dark cut four 2 1/2" squares and eight 2 1/2" Easy Angle pieces.  From the medium cut four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" pieces and four 2 1/2" Companion Angle pieces.  From the background cut four 2 1/2" squares and sixteen 2 1/2" Easy Angle pieces.

Lay the pieces out as shown and start sewing together.  For those that don't have the rulers, you need to make eight 2 1/2" half square units and four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" flying geese using your favourite method.

You should end up with a 12" finished, 12 1/2" unfinished square.  Try playing with your colour arrangement.  With bright and funky fabrics this old favourite is a lot of fun!

Ho Ho Ho, It's Time to Make That Christmas Quilt

Even though it is still September, it is time to think about getting a Christmas Quilt finished. While on the Island this summer I was inspired by a quilt I saw in the Comox store, to make this quilt.

The Nancy Halverson panel is so cute.  I cut it apart, placed a 2 1/2" strip of the coordinating fabric between each piece of the panel, with a little Moda green as sashing.  More green on either side of the panel and here it is.  The quickest Christmas Quilt I ever pieced.

I quilted HO HO HO on one side, and a few snowflakes on the other.  For background quilting I used the circle in the circle.  A green Glide thread was the perfect thread to add a little bit of shine to the quilting.

Green Minky on the back, and OH OH OH for those that have a warped sense of humour like mine.

Have you finished your Christmas quilting yet!