Destashing yields 49 Tea Cup blocks

Sometimes a "simple sew" is just the ticket needed to move miscellaneous fabric pieces from the stash... to something useful.

Fabric pieces from my stash and several completed Tea Cup blocks.

Last month, my quilt guild, the Choo Choo Quilters, introduced the Tea Cup block and proposed a color scheme for a quilt for our charity quilt project. This block pattern was a welcome change from the precision patchwork I've been doing on my #100Days100Blocks and Farmer's Wife projects. So, I sent myself on a hunt through my fabric stash.

The Tea Cup block

I'm not quite sure why this is called the Tea Cup, but it's as relaxing as a brew of English Breakfast or Earl Grey in one of Gram's green depression era teacups (complete with a saucer!). It's an easy quilt block that can be made with pre-cut 10" squares or, in my case, stash fabrics. Here is a video for this block's cutting and assembly.

At first it was challenging to find fabrics in the coral/peach and dusty blue color scheme, but after digging a while in the stash, I uncovered pieces I thought would meet the requirements.

Pre-cut pieces ready for chain piecing the Tea Cup blocks.

As some of my fabric pieces were not 10" squares, I calculated the size of the block's units and cut individual pieces as needed.

Tea Cup blocks in a 7 x 7 layout.

The Tea Cup block has only 4 seams and trims to 9" square—a fast sew. It was not long before I had 24... then 30... then 42... then 49 blocks.

49 Tea Cup blocks.

My guild is making bed-size quilts this year for our charity. A solid block setting (no sashing or borders) in an 8 x 9 layout will meet the size that's needed. If time permits, I may do another dive into the stash and make a few more Tea Cup blocks.

Understanding Cuddle Quilt math

The Choo Choo Quilters had a very productive Cuddle Quilt workshop yesterday. 

Quilt tops, backing fabrics and batting ready for the group spray basting session.

This annual workshop is a wonderful opportunity to spend the day with a group of generous and talented women from my guild while we make small lap size quilts for our community service recipient organization, the Chambliss Center for Children . As for the quiltmaking process, one of the most expeditious activities to take advantage of at this workshop is a spray basting session. Details about how we accomplish this are in this blog post.

Ginny (left) and Linda spray basting.

I geared up and was prepared for the spray basting session this year. 7 cuddle quilt tops were ready for basting. There were:

Basted quilts at the Choo Choo Cuddle Quilt workshop.

• Three tops made with blocks from the Making Do program.
• One top from blocks made at last year's Cuddle Quilt workshop.
• One improv scrap quilt top.
• One top featuring a panel.
• And one sample top from a fabric line called Bugalicious.

-------
During the 7-hour workshop, 45 quilt tops were spray basted by our dedicated quiltmakers. An amazing accomplishment! This was nearly double our first record of 27 quilts back in 2011.

My friend and fellow guild member, Ginny, enjoys the binding process. She had offered to bind cuddle quilts if I would quilt them. (She attached the binding to this cowboy cuddle quilt for me.) So, in addition to my quilt tops, I brought an extension table for my sewing machine with the plan to free-motion quilt as many basted tops as possible for her.

Cuddle quilts ready for binding.

By 3 pm, I had free-motion quilted 5 cuddle quilts which I turned over to Ginny for binding. At the end of the workshop, however, I still took home 5 spray basted quilt sandwiches from the 7 tops I brought in.

The Cuddle Quilt Math word problem:
"A quilter brings in 7 quilt tops for basting, then quilts 5 basted quilts while at a workshop. If said quilter gives 5 quilts to another quilter to bind, how is it that I still brought home 5 quilts to quilt?"

I guess this is "Cuddle Quilt Math."

Countdown Day 2: Turning orphan blocks into cuddle quilts

Like many quilt guilds, my guild, the Choo Choo Quilters, has a community service project. We make lap size quilts for a local children's agency. These two cuddle quilts were completed in August after our annual guild Cuddle Quilt workshop (an all-day sew-in and get-together).

Cuddle Quilts.

While tidying my studio recently, I uncovered this quilt top, made with 4 orphan blocks and miscellaneous scraps. Oh gosh, I think I pieced this top 4 or 5 years ago. See what a little house cleaning will do?? 

Lap quilt made from 4 orphan blocks.
38.5" x 36"

There were three 10" blocks and one 9" block leftover from two previous projects. How to make them fit together? Turn them on point, "sash" with over-sized corner triangles, and let them float. This made four 15" blocks and the basis for a good-sized lap quilt. Can you tell which is the smaller block?

The top got machine quilted and bound [by machine] this weekend and these three cuddle quilts will be turned in at the next guild meeting. Finito! Nope… no Slow Stitching on this project.

Three finished Cuddle Quilts.

This is rapid-fire post #6 and 2 days until Chattanooga AQS QuiltWeek® opens. I've volunteered to help hang the quilts in the show, so I'll get a sneak peek.

Worldwide Quilting Day—stitching at the mall

Chattanooga area quilters spent yesterday afternoon, Worldwide Quilting Day, together at the mall. Here I am (donning my light-up tiara) with fellow guild members from the Choo Choo Quilters. 

Choo Choo Quilters (from left): Ginny Minninger, Sherry Reed, Vista A. Mahan,
Cristy Clark, Sherry Baldwin, Veronica Hofman-Ortega, and Nancy Allen (seated).

Stitch in the Mall was held at Hamilton Place Mall, and quilters and non-quilters alike came out for the event.

View of tables from second floor.

There were examples of projects and quilts the guild members created on the tables. Since the Choo Choo Quilters is such a diverse group, we covered all the bases with examples of our work—from traditional to contemporary. On display was Nancy's feathered star, art wear (an embellished sweatshirt), Sherry's hand embroidered Challenge quilt, examples of charity quilts, a demo on making a 4-patch, and "Marketplace," one of my improvisationally pieced quilts in a more contemporary style.

This quilter asked about the quilt finishing on my improv piece.

Visitors were impressed with the free-motion quilting.

This is our guild's postcard that I designed. It showcases snippets from the guild's 2014 Paint Chip Challenge. (Info about my entry is here.)

Guild postcard that I designed featuring 2014 Challenge quilts.

Visitors asking questions at the guild table.

It was wonderful to see quilting friends from other guilds and several quilters who have taken classes with me. Celebrating Worldwide Quilting Day 2015 was a fun reunion.

What's inside Brown Bag #5...

This is the final rotation of the Brown Bag Challenge before the grand reveal at the October guild meeting... in a few short weeks. This owner is partial to the inserted strip technique, batiks and fabrics that "read like solid," string quilts, and something with a flavor of the Gee's Bend quilts.

The final Brown Bag of the 2013 Challenge.

I think I"ll revisit my notes from a Nancy Crow workshop I took a couple years ago. Sounds like innovative free-form piecing is in store... what fun!

45 Quilts of Valor blocks

My wonderfully generous and talented quilt guild friends—the Choo Choo Quilters—completed 45 quilt blocks for the Quilts of Valor (QOV) 10th anniversary project. Thank you, friends!

Quilts of Valor 8.5" quilt blocks.

Last month, I requested assistance making these patriotic blocks so they could be mailed to Dennis, our Tennessee Region 8 rep, in time for a QOV Leadership meeting in July. The blocks were collected at this week's guild meeting.

There is still time to participate in this nationwide project. Just visit the QOV website for information, choose a free pattern, and find an official Under Our Wings quilt shop close to you that is taking the blocks. You can replenish your fabric stash at the quilt shop while you're there.

Quilts of Valor 10th Anniversary quilt block

My wonderful friends in the Choo Choo Quilters Guild (my local quilt guild) have offered to help me make quilt blocks for the Quilts of Valor project. We'll be using the 10th anniversary block pattern (shown here) with the assembly instructions below. 

The Choo Choo Quilters will collect completed blocks at the June 17 guild meeting so they can be sent to Dennis Taylor, Region 8 Tennessee Coordinator, who will be attending the Leadership Conference in Nebraska in July. 

Quilts of Valor 10th anniversary quilt block
8.5" square (unfinished size), 8" square (finished size)

Fabrics: Red, white or cream, blue
Cutting: four 2.5" squares BLUE, two 3" squares ALTERNATE BLUE, two 3" squares WHITE, four 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles RED.

Assembly: Use scant 1/4" seam allowance. Place white and blue 3" squares together right sides facing. Draw a diagonal line from corner to comer on the back of the two white squares. Stitch 1/4" seam on either side of the line. Cut the squares on the diagonal line and press open. Repeat for second set of squares. Square up to 2.5". (You have made two 2.5" half square triangles.)

Refer to the photo for color and unit placement. Sew the half square triangle units to the blue squares. Sew this unit to the red rectangle. Make 4 of these units. Assemble four units as shown in photo. The unfinished block (raw edge to raw edge) should be 8.5" square.

Guidelines:

• All blocks MUST be red, white or cream, and blue. You may mix these colors in any position. 
• Sign each block with your first name and state.
• Do not trim the blocks.
• Unfinished blocks (raw edge to raw edge) should be no smaller than 8.5" square. Adjust your seam allowances as necessary.

If you'd like to contribute a block or more, e-mail me and I will send you my address or Dennis' address. Blocks can also be made through November 2013 in honor of the 10th Anniversary and given to a local Quilts of Valor Group Leader or an Official Under Our Wings quilt shop. A downloadable PDF pattern of the 10th Anniversary block is available on the QOV web site here if you'd like to share it with your guild and quilting friends. Thanks for your assistance!

What's inside Brown Bag #1...

My guild, the Choo Choo Quilters, is doing a Brown Bag Challenge this year. We'll be rotating mystery projects—found inside Brown Bags—for the next 6 months. In November, it will be a surprise to see what people do with the supplies and guidelines that we provided in our bag at the beginning of the rotation. So, I won't be revealing much here... just a glimpse to keep you curious.

What's inside the Brown Bag??

You saw the "nucleus" of my Monet-inspired Brown Bag project here. Above are some of the "bits" in the bag I received in the first rotation... along with some guidance and inspiration (below).

Inspiration found in the Brown Bag.

The authors of the String Quilt Revival book did a presentation at a local Chattanooga guild last August. It's fun to revisit quilt history. I can't wait to see what's in the Bag next month.

Are you a stripper?

As a Blank Quilting fabric rep, one of the items in my "bag" are samples of Blank's Fabrications. Lately, I've been enamored with the pre-cut collections of 2.5" fabric strips.

Crimson Inspired
Made with Blank Fabrications Red Hots.

Stripping Directions:
Open package of Fabrications. Pull out colors of your choice. Sew.
Stripping is that easy!

Here is my latest project, Crimson Inspired, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Crimson Inspired
24" x 37.5"

Detail of the free-motion quilting with Tutti by Wonderfil and King Tut by Superior.

Crimson Inspired, detail.

Last month at the Choo Choo Quilters guild meeting my team presented a program on using strips. Everyone is making a "lasagna quilt" top for Show and Tell at the February meeting. The strippy quilts will support our community service Cuddle Quilt project.

On Saturday, February 23, I'll be teaching my Angle Accents class using 2.5" strips and an improvisational rotary cutting technique. Contact Chattanooga Sewing to register. Let's get stripping!

Guild Challenge Results: A Novel Idea

What an amazing exhibit! The 13 pieces in the 2012 Choo Choo Quilters Guild Challenge, A Novel Idea, were thought-provoking and imaginative and definitely stretched the creative muscles of the quilters who responded to the Challenge.

The guidelines for the 2012 Challenge were to interpret a pre-determined sentence from a book or novel in a small quilt approximately 18" square. Any technique or combination of techniques could be used. Here are the interpretations and their sentence inspirations.

"Had I been married to Artois, I would not find myself 

eighteen years old and still a virgin."

Book: Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund

"But of course I remember that in one way I lost the lynch pin years before, 

not long after I acquired the date book."

Book: One True Thing by Anna Quindlin

"She would have the results of Mary's test."

Book: Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

"The first fine day I assembled my three eldest sons and put my design into execution."

Book: Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

"He began to rush his other customers by shouting at them and no one objected to his harassment."

Book: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

""Well, well," Michael said smiling."

Book: Murder at the Washington Tribune by Margaret Truman

 "You prepare to scream."

Book: Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robins

"The four kids ate quickly, they retired to the barn to watch a DVD movie called Scream 2, leaving six adults around the table in the dining room; ___ and Ned, Olga and Hugo, Daddy at the head and Kit at the foot."

Book: White Out by Ken Follett

"Isn't that a disgustingly romantic way for a scientist to behave?"

Book: Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins

"A muscle worked in his jaw."

Book: The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini

"They had grown up among movie stars, but to them Jobs was a true celebrity."

Book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

 "Each cadaver was outfitted with strain gauges and lead cells in its heel 

and ankle and clad in one of six types of footwear."

Book: Stiff by Mary Roach

"Then you'll be more comfortable."

Book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell