josykatz

This morning my husband comes in and says, "are you ordering stuff again?". He's so funny. I got so excited and came running saying No, it has to be my block from Shelley. I couldn't wait to open the envelope. Shelley your blocks always are so beautiful and I hope that soon I can make mine as nice as yours always are. This block is Gorgeous with a Capital "G". The photo looked great but didn't do it justice as it looks even better up close. I told hubby that this is one of the more experienced type of block. Being new to quilting I think I've been playing it a bit safe. I bought Rhonda's book on this block and it is really good so I'm going to take a leap of faith and try one this month. Seeing Shelley's just brought home how great this technique is.

Rhonda, Thank you so much for doing the swaps and the great tutorial's you post. It's definitely worth getting your more in depth books.

Josie

sgardner

I love the Batiks, but one thing is certain- they NEVER photograph well. The sun has to be exactly correct on my kitchen floor to get the color close to accurate, but even then, the photo never picks up the vibrancy of the block. They always look better in person.

Josie, I need to let you know that I keep looking at my daughter's quilt- my first quilt- to keep me humble when my head starts to get too big. It was only squares, but is far from perfect. I wobbled all over the place on my seams. I finally learned to use those cheater foam buffers that I glued to my machine to keep a consistent seam until I learned how to keep a consistent seam without it. And, that was before I knew about starch and ironing things to keep them flat. So, just keep sewing, and you will get there. You learn something new with each project, even if it's only how to get more consistent seams or matching points better or how to keep rechecking your pattern so you don't put things in the wrong place, or how to get faster with your seam ripper. LOL

Rhonda

Oh ladies I am glad you can 't see any of my first projects! They were so bad!!! I didn't think it was necessary to be accurate at all. I just did whatever and it showed! but 30 yrs later I am glad to say my skills are much improved from those early days. I am self taught and my teacher didn't know very much! LOL

It's more about having fun and enjoying the journey. Love what you're doing or go do something else.

Rhonda

I also have to say I am honored that you all like my methods and designs so much you want to keep this swap alive. Thanks to all who join in.

Rhonda

another thing-- anyone who is doing the star point blocks and wing blocks if you haven't tried them you can use the paper templates in place of the 30 degree template part.

sgardner

I've decided that I like to paper piece those. Maybe I should write up a tutorial on them to add it to your "methods" so that people can choose the one that best suits them. I used to do the star points with a ruler (Rhonda, I have 2 lap sized quilts with nothing but star points- I should photograph them to show you) and the lines on my cutting mat, but they take longer that way. I use Carol Doak's foundation paper and just print them out on my printer, but since I ran out, I am using cheap copy paper instead. The results are about the same, except the copy paper is slightly tougher to remove. I could also upload a pdf so that people could print out their own to paper piece.

queenof2802

Okay, I decided to post my block. Was going to wait til she got it so it was a surprize, but I just couldn't resist!

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The lighting was not great. I decided on using oranges this time. This was a fun one to do. I was afraid that I was going to have to start over because I didn't have enough of the center color, but did a little trick. When sewing the swatches together, I sewed the contrasting color to each side on the off-set and was able to cut 2 blocks out of one! Does that make sense?

sgardner

It's pretty, and will go with some other blocks I've received from previous swaps.

queenof2802

Was alittle worried about the color. Not everyone likes orange. I had stash left over from a Lady Tulip Finger that I am still trying to finish. It was my first top done completely by myself and I have fretted over it for nearly 4 years now! They are still in block form. I have been trying to decide how I want to put it together. Last night after looking through the Mini-Train Ride thread, I have decided to use the same sashing. I will have to go to JoAnn's or The Fabric Shoppe (our local fabric shop) and match material. There are 40 9x9 blocks right now. I don't like the white on white look if they were sewed together. Too much white!!

Glad you liked the sneak peak! Hopefully the real thing will be in your mailbox Tuesday. I am really loving the blocks you have sent me. I am saving them along with the one that I do for the month to make a Rhonda's Block Quilt.