Tree and UFO blocks

I just couldn't take it anymore and had to do some quilting this weekend. Should have been working on the commissioned sewing if I wasn't going to work on homework, but it's been so long since I've been able to actually quilt that I couldn't resist any longer. This quilt started with blocks from friends on QuiltChicks (Jane, Jodi, and Pat if I'm remembering correctly). I added two tree blocks, and 2 12 inch square blocks. the 2 inch squares that wind through the top are leftover strip sets from a swap I was in several years ago. Those blocks have yet to be put together. The pic is a little dark, but the predominate colors are assorted dark greens, several shades of dark brown and a splash of red. I'm still looking fabric to use as a border but haven't decided what color I want to use.

Meanwhile, I've pulled blocks for three more UFO quilts - two set of pastels, and a set of Blue/Yellow blocks. Need to pull out the commissioned sewing as well and get cracking on that stuff as well.

And finally, I've got several block possibilities going at the present time for my next submission as well, including a quilt that I plan to submit for possible submission. =)

Gratitudes:

1. Warmer temps this weekend.

2. School is going ok so far............now to finish strongly.

The winners are.....and answers to questions

The winners have been drawn for the two copies of Volume 4 of the 100 Blocks published by QuiltMaker - Congrats to Linda and Jean. And emails contacting them for addresses have been sent. If I don't hear back from either / both of them then I'll draw another comment as needed.

Now to answer questions -
Lori L asked how the border was done on the quilt I made from the block - The border was made by using one of the side sections of the block and laying it end to end to get a continual line.

An anonymous commenter asked what I would rate the difficulty of this block as - and I would say it's on the low to middle side of intermediate.

Dix asked how I choose "Quilted Snail" for my blog name - that came about after an ill-fated backpack trip with Campfire Girls as a kid when I was nicknamed snail. Long story there, but needless to say the name stuck, and people have collected snail figurines and stuff for me ever since. I had found the snail transfers 10 or more yrs ago on ebay (well 6 of the 7 in the set). Made the blocks and put them into a quilt. And figured that since I love quilting, the name "The Quilted Snail" was a good one for me and decided to use it in my blog and website.

Gratitudes:
1. My knee is doing soooooooooooo much better after physical therapy. Still more room to improve, but I can see it working. And i'm thankful for that.
2. A mini warmup is coming in the weather...won't last, but I'll enjoy while I can. =)

100 Blocks Blog Tour

Welcome to the 100 Blocks Blog Tour! I'm glad to have you visit my blog today. I love to design quilt blocks and quilts from those blocks. And have talked about trying to get my patterns published for years, so having a block published in Vol. 4 of the magazine has been exciting for me. When designing I still do a lot of my initial sketching by hand. But when I really get down to working on block patterns and layouts I move to the computer. I have been using Visio for most of what I do because it lets me play with it and I have to admit that it's been easier to work with it because of the years of experience with it. I love to play with blocks that go together quickly and simply but look a lot more complex than they really are or have secondary patterns that develop when the blocks are put together.

This block started with the idea of ribbon winding around a square. It came together fairly easily, and I liked the secondary patterns that developed when the blocks were put together. The block started off looking like the block at the right. And one of the many layouts that I came up with is shown to the left. In the end I decided to simplify it just a little and took out the blue flying geese shown in the pics above. I don't think that anything was lost. When I made the sample quilt, I used a section of the block to make a border for one side of the quilt.

Be sure to leave me a comment if you'd like to win one of two copies of the magazine! And if you leave a comment as "anonymous" please make sure to include a way to contact you if your is drawn.

Gratitudes -
1. A new, more efficient heater with the cold temps that are outside!
2. For the good day at South Newton High School today with the kids. =)

100 Blocks Blog Tour this week

The Blog hop in celebration of the release of QuiltMakers 100 Blocks, V. 4 is this week and starts today. QuiltMaker will be giving away a copy of the magazine to one of my blog readers (will be shipped from QuiltMaker). In addition I'll be giving away a copy of the magazine to someone who makes a comment to celebrate my block being included in the magazine (i'll be shipping this one).

I'm looking forward to talking about my block and the design process that I use when designing. on Thursday.

So be sure to come back and visit on Thursday November 11th and leave a comment on my blog to have a chance to win one of two copies of the magazine! Click here - http://quiltmaker.com/100blocks

Don't forget to check out all of the other blogs that will be showcased this week. =)

Gratitudes:
1. For the priveledge of having my block pattern published.
2. For the fun that I have when designing my block patterns and quilts!

Wonky 12-Patch Pattern

This weekend I started and finished up a quilt top that will eventually go to Sunshine Quilts. And wanted to share the pattern. The pattern can be found on my website by clicking on the top most link on the following link: Http://thequiltedsnail.com/quiltpatterns.html

Enjoy! If you make the quilt, I'd love to see pictures of the finished quilt.

One note - the size of the finished blocks in the quilt can be changed by just changing the size of the squares that you start out with. Remember to allow an extra 2" in cut size when cutting your squares. For example if you wanted 14" finished squares you would need to cut 16.5" squares of your fabrics.

Gratitudes:
1. Allergy meds are a good thing when the nose is all stuffed up!
2. Rainy weather is much better than threats of snow!

Got to Quilt!

Most of what I do here at home these days seems to be tied up with getting homework done or working on commissioned stuff that I have piled up here......but everyonce in a while I just gotta do something quilty so that I don't go nuts...lol. This weekend was one of those weekends when I needed to do something quilty, of course I had to work on my homework first and get the urgent stuff out of the way first. The next 5 weeks will be crazy busy trying to finish off projects for school, but the end of this semester is in sight.

After that I pulled a piece of fabric that had been in a pile of smaller pieces of fabric that I'd inherited after an online friend passed away a yr+ ago. It had been one that I had not been sure of what to do with. I finally decided to use it as one of the two fabrics in a wonky 12 patch block design. I'll post the pattern for the quilt in a bit so that any of you who read this blog can make it if you want to. Eventually when finished the quilt will go to Sunshine Quilts in Bev's memory.

Meanwhile I've pulled a bunch of orphan blocks that work together to put together as a quilt for American Heros. Just need to get some of them trimmed up and then I can start laying out the blocks to see how they'll fit together. =)

Gratitudes:
1. This semester is starting to wind down and the end is about 5 weeks away now.
2. PT is helping my knee feel some better! Slow but sure seems to be the key to healing of the torn cartiledge.