Finishing a Stack N Whack

 

I've been working on getting some oldies but goodies quilted and finished this year. I made several Stack N Whack from Bethany Reynold's book and taught the technique in classes, but never got this Lemoyne Star top finished.

I know a lot of quilters make lists of UFOs and tick them off as they go. I like that idea, but didn't think of doing it with these tops. I realize the blue dots probably don't really go with the style of fabric on the front, but the blue sort of matches the blue in the quilt and that has to be good enough this time. 😀 

I ordered it along with 3 others when an online shop had a good sale. So I am set to quilt the next 3 ufos too. I think the quilt panto looks like cinnamon rolls.

 It's a whole lot of yellow, but I wanted the kaleidescope blocks to blend in with the background and 

do love the result.

I had a hard time finding a binding as the colors in this print are unusual, but I think this rusty burgandy works.

Busy week, a few pictures....

Jane's Sampler 22 Larkspur

I had a busy week of a Saturday UFO class and three nights of classes in a row, but not much to show for it in pictures. Sometimes the students spend their time cutting and don't sew in class as much. 

That Way, Sampler 22 Larkspur

 Veronica got her blocks finished for the Beginning Quilting class...they will put it together next month. The others in class had blocks finished, but I didn't get pictures for some reason...where's a photographer when I need one?

Veronica's More Peas in a Pod Beginning Quilting

We put Jane's Serenity quilt on the big design wall last Sat. and she sewed  the blocks into rows. I saw her Tuesday and she had the entire quilt sewn together...it's gorgeous!

 Jane's Serenity

 Ruth worked on a Stack N Whack from a class I taught many years ago..she got most of her blocks finished, so can start putting them together.

Ruth's Magic Stack N Whack

 Pat also brought an oldie but goodie...her Tangled in the Kite Strings. I love string piecing and need to do some again for fun!

Pat's Tangled in the Kite Strings

I don't have a class scheduled today, so hope to get a quilt loaded on the frame and start quilting it. First, there is some cleaning calling my name...

A few more bits and pieces....

The Sunbonnet Sue Sampler group met the other night....Marta came with the first two rows sewn together and the third with two of the blocks ready and just waiting for the last block, Bits and Pieces. We were missing a couple members of the group, but Marta and Diane got their blocks finished. 

 Becky brought her Stack n Whack quilt from last year's class to Tuesday sewing last week. Love to see those finished tops.

 I loaded and started quilting the Red, White and True quilt the other day...nothing but problems. After taking out almost a whole row of quilting, I managed to re-quilt that row. But there was still a loopy issue at the very end. So I need to get back up there, take it out and figure out what is wrong.

On a happy note, The Red, White and True Quilt Along begins tomorrow with the cutting directions....are you ready?

I went to the KC Quilt Festival yesterday with friends. What a great show and lots of shopping opportunities. I managed to find a few fabrics I liked!

I am heading to my hometown soon to spend the day with dad and other family members...Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

A few shares

 Laura brought her finished Stack n Whack top to Tuesday Sewing ...it turned out so pretty. I like what she did with the borders, it really brings out the reds in the blocks.

Jane has been free drawing applique shapes for a campers world quilt. It's amazing what she can draw! Her use of color is great too, wouldn't you love to go camping in her world?

I prepped the new Miss Tess quilt and sewed the backing together so it's ready to load on the frame. I also worked on a bunch of quilt labels. I'll get a pic soon, I promise.

It was back to work yesterday, so after a day with mostly meetings and not much work time, I guess I'm ready to get busy today and get things done so I can open the library. 

Stack em up in more ways that one!

I met with two Sampler Clubs this week. The group that meets Monday night had a tricky block, so didn't finish their blocks, but they were doing great by the end of the night. Two of them did bring their blocks from the last two classes, shown below. Laura brought her Stack n Whack quilt from last month's class to pick out borders. Pretty pretty! 

Marilyn's Sampler 19 blocks

Laura's Sampler 19 blocks

The Sunbonnet Sue Sampler group met for the first time last night. They just finished Beginning Quilting in June and were excited to be working on their next quilt. They learned how to make and square up half square triangles last night to make Friendship Star blocks. 

 They all chose a variety of fabrics, so it will be interesting to see how they all come together!

 I sent them home with the pattern to make the Shoo Fly block before class next month.
Do you remember your first quilt? What pattern did you use?

 I pieced the backing and prepped the new version of the Which Way is UP? quilt yesterday so it's ready for the quilt machine. I don't think I have posted any pix of it yet, but will do so soon!  I hope to get it loaded today and start the quilting. Wish me luck!

Tuesday Sew-in day!

 I sewed with the Tuesday group yesterday...it's always fun to see what everyone brings. Michael works there and brought in his Stack n Whack quilt to show us. We loved it! See if you can see the Trek stars on it.

 Becky brought the eight paper-pieced diamonds she had made at a retreat last year. She needed to put them together with the setting triangles and squares. Isn't it gorgeous?

 Cheri worked on another set of Stack n Whack blocks that she made with her leftovers from her first quilt. She used green background this time and they look so different!

 Dianne worked on setting and finishing her Stack n Whack too....she auditioned many shades of pink, purple and coral for that small border, but we all liked this one the best.

I bound Cobblestone Path, but still don't have a good picture of the whole quilt. I should've asked some of the ladies to hold it up so I could take a pic, but I didn't. I will get one soon! I also cut out a new version of the Miss Tess quilt, so it's ready to arrange and sew together.

I finished quilting Ruby Shadow this morning, so need to trim it and attach the binding. I'm also getting things ready to go on my quilt retreat tomorrow. I am taking two new projects, and a few other things I've been working on. I will post retreat updates while I'm there so you can join in on the fun. 

The magic is blooming!

You might remember that I taught a Magic Stack n Whack class last week...I was excited to see that the quilters that come to Tuesday Sewing had brought their blocks to work on. Many of them had their blocks finished and ready to set. Pat (above) got her setting triangles cut, cut another section for blocks. and worked on a couple blocks.

Cheri set hers on point Tuesday.

Gretchen had hers almost set on point, but I didn't get a picture of her progress before she left.

Betty is making pieced sashings and cornerstones for hers and had sewn them to many blocks before we left.

Becky had her blocks all finished when she came, so worked on her setting sashings and cornerstones.

Dianne finished making her blocks...don't they look sort of like a starry night or am I just dreaming?

Laura completed three more blocks Tuesday so is half finished with them. She's not sure if she is making a quilt or several smaller projects with them.

We all marveled at how different they all look and how interesting it is to use this method to cut blocks. I can't wait to see the finished quilts!

A few weeks ago we made Diva Frame Wallets on Tuesday under Becky's guidance. Betty had to leave before she finished so I snapped a couple pix of her finished wallet. She is already using it!

Spinning up some fun...and an EQ glitch

I spent some time the other day finishing my Magic Stack n Whack block models that I cut for my class. I plan to make a quilt using both patterns in the quilt together, so I thought it might be good to make a few more blocks in different sizes.

I found the block in EQ and printed out the dimensions for both a 10" and a 14" block (the original blocks are 16" and 12"). I made the rectangular pieces larger than they were on EQ as I had some problems making this block from the EQ pattern when I made the Turning Cartwheels quilt but I eventually got it figured out. The teal block is 10" and worked out ok after several tries. The 14" blocks were trickier and I ended up cutting out the pieces several times before I finally got it right.  ***Note to self: cut a test block, don't just cut out all the pieces for several blocks.

Eventually I realized that more was wrong than just the rectangular pieces, because these blocks were turning out about the same size as the original 16" ones. Hmmmmm.....

But they are really pretty so I guess it doesn't matter!

I would like to note here that I use EQ all the time to see my designs as I work on them and use the graphics I can make there, but I very rarely use the cutting dimensions that you can print out as I can figure that out myself. So I do print out templates for paper piecing and templates for odd shapes and they mostly work out. With this block, it's more difficult to figure out dimensions, so I relied on theirs. I just need to do a test block next time before I cut it all out!