Tri-County Quilt Tour 2012

It's that time of year again. The Tri-County Quilt Tour was this past week (Wednesday to Saturday). This is for Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish counties in Washington State. There were 13 participating quit shops in all three counties. How it works is you go to each quilt shop and they give you a pattern exclusively for thier shop. You collect all 13 patterns and make a quilt in your color preference, fabrics, etc. You get to view each shops version of all the quilt tops put together in thier own color choice, fabrics, layouts, etc. They sure are creative. The theme for this year was Sew Northwest. I liked them all but a few were standouts for sure. One had each of the blocks reduced and added to the side of a house block. Very cute. One was done up in great browns and light green batiks. Beautiful. One was done with each row a scrappy row of three different colors (red, purple, and blue) However, the most amazing quilt top was one done with a seascape and reduced blocks in the sky the sea and the sand. VERY clever and innovative. I will post pictures once I get them downloaded.

I was finally able to go on the Quilt Tour with my 82 year old Mother-in-Law Gladys. We had the best time. She has never been to most of the shops we visited. I even took the time to take her to a couple of shops that were on the tour a couple of years ago but don't do it anymore. We went down to the farthest one away on Wednesday and finished up the 6 we couldn't get to on Friday. We had a spectacular time. We lunched at Applebees and just laughed and ooh and awed all day long for 2 days. Fun times had by both of us.

This year they gave away charms with a $10 purchase. We didn't realize it at the first shop so we ended up with 12 charms. They were really cute. Scissors, spools of thread, sewing machines - one new, one vintage, quilt blocks, etc. Very Very fun.

Sent several packages today

I am so excited. I sent several packages today out to wonderful ladies in my FLICKR grougps swaps and bees. I am in Gone Quilting which is a virtual bee. I sent the block to Debbie and 2 blocks to Alisha. Both were great blocks. Here is a picture of them. Unfortunately, Alisha's wonky star blocks sat in the envelope to be mailed for a few days before I realized I hadn't gotten a picture of them so they are a little wrinkled. She used Riley Black Promenade fabrics for the stars. Very cute.

I also sent out 11 wonky star blocks to the Scrap Happy group. I will get 11 blocks back that have been constructed by other quilters. Too cool. I hope we do this again so I can complete the quilt made with these. I will have to post pictures tomorrow.

Pictures of 3 x 6 Quilt Bee Blocks

Here are the pictures of all 6 blocks for the 3 x 6 Quilt Bee Blocks. I love the way these turned out.

Blocks sent for 3 x 6 quilt Quilt bee

I finished all the blocks for the 3 x 6 quilt Bee on Flickr. I got to pick the block pattern and the fabrics based on the requests of the others in my Hive. I am in Hive 10 and it was quite challenging to pick the block. I started with the fabrics then had to find the pattern that suited what I gathered.

The next project

I am here sitting on a plane and thinking of what my next project will be. Now that I have finished the potholders, and other goodies for PP10 I have found some other projects to get me thinking outside the box and to meet new quilters. I can learn new techniques, or just play around with different color combinations that I wouldn't have thought to do on my own. Let me just say there are some really talented quilters out there. I normally do more traditional pieced blocks but these wonderful people really make we want to try some great techniques that I have shied away from before. Especially applique.

If you want to see all the wonderful quilt groups out there, and there are many, go to Flickr.com. This website is amazing. It is free (unless you upgrade) and you can post pictures that your friends and family can then look at. You can also find and join groups from car and photography groups to QUILT groups. I have joined an few online Bees called We Bee Modern, Gone Quilting, and 3x6 quilting bee. I am having a fun time getting to know my fellow quilters. Each Bee is set up a little differently. Some each person is assigned a month and during their month they send all the members the fabric they want them to use and which block to sew. Some tell you the colors they like and provide a mosaic to show you what they like then you pick the fabric and the block. You can see what others have created by looking at the pictures posted to the group. It really is exciting and a lovely site.

Each day I seem to find another group that is inspiring. There are swaps, small quilt exchanges, and quilt alongs. One group is doing the Farmers Wife quilt series which I am thinking of starting once I get the book. Off to see what else is out there in Flickr land.

Potholder Pass 10 items sent

Hooray!! I was able to send my items for the Potholder Pass 10 to my partner. She is located in Biggleswade, United Kingdom so it will probably take a 10 days or more to get to her. I sure hope she likes everything. I was supposed to make 2 potholders but I eneded up making 4 potholders, a pincushion, an apron and a tote. I just went a little crazy. Log cabin block is one of my favorite blocks and there are so many variations of it that I just kept thinking of one and had to do it. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun.

Her colors she likes are spring colors so I used Yellows, Pinks, Blues, and Greens. I had a great focus fabric with butterflies on it and in those colors that I used as my inspiration when pulling coordinating fabrics for the swap.

I will post pictures next week unless I can get them downloaded sooner.

Till next time....

Sneak peak for PP10

I have been working on the potholder for the Potholder Pass 10 whose theme is scrappy log cabin. My partner likes spring colors so I used yellows, pinks, blues, greens. Here is a sneak peak. I am enjoying it so much as the log cabin is one of my favorite patterns.