Today I went to my monthly quilting circle where we made signature blocks that will get turned into a quilt as a thank you for our past leader.

It was super easy to make this block! Here are some basic diretions: first start with one 2 1/2″ wide strip by the width of the fabric. One strip will make 2 blocks. Cut 2 rectangles that are 6 1/2″ long for the top & bottom of each block. Then cut 2 – 2 1/2″ squares for the middle.

From the background fabric cut one white 6 1/2″ long rectangle for the middle and two 2 1/2″ squares for the corners. Join each part of the strip using the flip and stitch method. Layer the square on top of the strip, sew across the diagonal and flip back to reveal the design. Then sew all 3 rows together to make the block. There’s no need to cut off the excess fabric. Then sign the block in the middle.

Here are a few of the completed blocks. We chose a polka dot fabric theme for our group. Each person made 2 blocks and signed one of them. What a fun quilt this will be!

I love fabric. I mean, don’t we all? But every now and then a really special fabric collection comes along. Now don’t get me wrong – I usually try to buy at least one to two new fabric lines each week so that I have something  to list for my on-line quilt shop. However, I usually shy away from Christmas fabrics because they are seasonal and don’t really sell well all year long. But, boy, when I listed Laurel Burch’s Holiday Celebrations, I couldn’t believe the response! Here’s a sampling of just a few of the fabrics from the line:

I bought her previous Christmas collection and it didn’t sell well. So I’m not sure if the designs are better, or if there is just more demand for her fabrics; whatever the reason, I’ll take it! Cotton prices have been increasing and I felt bad that this was the first line that I had to list at the 9.95 price point, but that hasn’t seemed to matter (especially since I’ve seen it on-line for much higher). As soon as I could tell this was going to be a hot-seller I immediately called Clothworks, the manufacturer, to order more so I can try to keep up with demand.

Here are pictures of some of the glitter basics tonals.  At first, I was a little worried because so-called “glitter” fabrics I’ve bought in the past from other fabric companies have usually been very messy. However, these are actually more like sparkling tone-on-tones where the metallic doesn’t rub off.  That was a relief! (The glitter basics are just 9.5o per yard so that helps lower the average cost a bit.)

Finally, here’s the crowning jewel of the collection, the focus panel with wonderful whimsical winter motifs and plenty of metallic gold sparkle:

I can’t wait until my customers start sending me pictures of what they make with this line!

I had my monthly quilting circle meeting today and it was “sew” much fun! I’ll tell you more about it in the next post, but for now I wanted to show you the adorable fabrics we exchanged.

Each person had to bring in three bug fabrics or fruits and veggies. These are my mine.

Then we got a variety of fabric pieces in return, one set for each participant. Here are the ones I received: Bugs and butterflies strips that I can use to make bug jar blocks.

And another group of fruits and vegetables that would be perfect for a kitchen jar quilt!

Bobbie, our guild president gave us each a pattern to make these cute bottle jar blocks. You start with a strip of fabric 5 1/2 inches wide by 9 inches long. Add small “snowball” corners to each side of the fabric and a 1 1/2 inch strip of brown at the top for the lids. Cute, huh?

One of the programs I participate in with my quilting guild is a club called “12-4-12”. We have a goal to finish one project a month for 12 straight months. Everyone that completes this goal receives an award at the end of the year – a fabric shopping spree!

Here’s my latest project that I completed just in time for last month’s deadline. It’s a ric-rac baby blankie that I finished in under an hour (on the last day of the month).

I started with 1 yard each of two different flannel baby fabrics in blue and some coordinating brown ric-rac.

I sewed the ric-rac onto two opposite sides of the backing fabric face up. Then I pinned the top fabric right sides together and stitched around all sides, leaving a small opening to turn.

When I sewed the two pieces together I stitched just outside of the stitch-basted ric-rac so I wouldn’t have to pull out any stitches. The two pieces of fabric weren’t exactly the same size, so I trimmed off the excess after sewing. Then I turned the blankie to the correct side and fluffed the corners.

Finally, I top-stitched all the way around so I wouldn’t have to close the opening by hand. I used a decorative serpentine stitch in blue. Voila-a finished baby blanket in under an hour!