Class #4

Here are the blocks we did this week in class. Well, the top two are actually corrected versions with the green removed. The other three are the new ones. We have the Friendship Star on the left, the Monkey Wrench in the middle, and the Spool on the left. These were fun...a step up in difficulty, especially to get everything to line up correctly.

Now we just have two more blocks to do and then the sashing. One more class to at least get started on that part. It will be great to see it all together. I will also post the backing that I got for it in my next post.

Ahh, the summum bonum in action....little "g" of course...

This morning I came upon a sight that warmed my heart.

4 quilts, strewn around my living room as the picture shows, but imagine four boys cuddling under each. My quilt rack was emptied of its contents...my grandmother's mothers old quilt, the pinwheel quilt I did after Duke died, --the two quilts I show there as special---and my rag quilt. And then one boy grabbed the quilt off the floor that we use to protect the couches when the dogs lay on them. Unfortunate for him, but one could see how he could be confused. It does not exactly look like a dog bed.

So the summum bonum in action. Quilts doing what they are meant to do. Not hanging on a rack, but wrapping children in warmth. That is what grandma's mother would have wanted, what Duke would have been happy to have helped with, and what I certainly thought of as I crafted them.

Class #3

More blocks from class. This week we did the Hour Glass (top right), the Snowball (top left),

The Pinwheel (bottom right), and the Framed four patch (bottom left).It was a lot of fun. You can kind of tell from this picture how I will put them together...green in between, about one inch. Then in between I will put yellow squares

This makes a total of 7 blocks done. 5 more to go for the sampler. Then we will "sash" them together. A new word I learned this week! :)

Class #2

Well, we are working on a sampler quilt in class, so I wanted to show my progress so far. We got to pick our fabrics this week. I liked the Partridge print, and it makes for a "bright happy quilt" as my class mate said. MAybe a bit too bright, but the colors are that of the flag of India, so that is OK. :)

We did a nine-patch first, then a rail fence, then a four patch. It is pretty obvious from the names which is which, I think. It was fun. We are practicing the basics, but will be working our way up to a double pinwheel, so that will be a bit more complex.

Once we are done these blocks we will have a sampler quilt, but from these foundational blocks many different patterns can be made. You can use the Rail fence to create a Blaze pattern...the nine patch can be used for the Irish Chain. You can also mix and match to do all sorts of things.

Anyway, we are really having fun with this. It has been a great class so far.