BOMs Away Monday - 14 Nov 2011 (and an HST tip)

I'm feeling happy!  AQS awarded me the Blog of the Week. Never thought my humble little place would tickle their fancy.  :)

Welcome to my Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays! 

(We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.)

Whew! Got two monthlies totally caught up. :D


Baby Janes: 

And the Flying Needles guild BOMs:

November

September

August

Notice all those tiny HSTs in the September block?  No way was I going to make those any other way but by using free print-out sheets that make the task so much faster and accurate.  (Just make sure your printer is printing at 100%, and not "fit to page" or whatever your software calls that mode.)

Pin paper to right-sides-together fabrics, sew on dotted lines.

Cut on solid lines. Sit down in front of a nice show and pull the papers off.  :)  

You get perfect HSTs every time.  :D

P.S.  Be sure to check out the unique GIVEAWAY that BOMs Away Regular, Marlene of Kissed Quilts is having until Sunday midnight (the 13th) Pacific time. She's designed several quilts for challenges the last few months. You just might enjoy being her follower, too. My favorite is her "1892 Rondure":

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What interval project have you got going? Weeklies are welcome along with regular projects that you've broken into monthly units, and -of course- true BOMs.  Share your eye candy and show off your progress since the last time you linked up! There are some wonderful monthly and weekly projects going on out there. You guys amaze me.  :D

BOMs Away Monday - October 16, 2011

Welcome to my Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays! 

(We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.)

Two in one week?  Wow!

In quadruple: One for the local guild monthly block drawing, one for Valor Quilt Bee, one for my quilt of all year's blocks, and one for a compassion quilt.

Sunny's active in blogland, so y'all only get a peek of her basket block for Swap Adventure.  :)

~*~*~*~

What interval project have you got going? Weeklies are welcome along with regular projects that you’ve broken into monthly units, and –of course- true BOMs.   Share your eye candy and show off your progress since the last time you linked up! There are some wonderful monthly and weekly projects going on out there. You guys amaze me. :D

BOMs AWAY Monday 10 - and a HST tip

Welcome to my Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays! 

(We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.)

Well, I suppose it's a good thing I started BOM's AWAY Mondays, because otherwise I'd ignore all my BOMs again this week. I'm just so sick of them still and would rather only work on more UFO finishes.  

However! I got back on schedule with the first 4 July BOMs.

First I did my Swap Adventure block for Sandi in Oklahoma. I loved this one!

Next I did the two BOMs that are already cut out: 

Selvages:

Wild Rose Cottage (my favorite of the pieced BOMs right now)

And last I did the July block in triplicate for my local guild's BOM project. (One block for my 2011 quilt, one for turning in for the monthly drawing, and one for a Quilt of Valor.)

Siggy for July (spun around by Blogger) I think I'll quilt Hancock's sig in it.  :D

And that's all for this week.

But I do have to say that this is my all-time favorite way to make HST's:

(print it out free at http://www.quiltingandwhatnot.ca/Half-Square-Triangle.html - just make sure your printer is set for 100% size)

What you see on the back after stitching on the dotted lines:

soooo easy!

Don't need a whole sheet's worth? Just cut off a row and do that many:

Cut apart on the solid lines, fold, peel the paper, press open.  Lots of HST's in a fraction of the time.   :D    (I get great results with plain printer paper - recycled previous printouts, even - using a slighter tighter tension and smaller stitches.)

~*~*~*~*~

What interval project have you got going? Weeklies are welcome along with regular projects that you’ve broken into monthly units, and –of course- true BOMs.   Share your eye candy and show off your progress since the last time you linked up! There are some wonderful monthly and weekly projects going on out there. You guys amaze me. :D

BOMs AWAY Monday #5

Welcome to my Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays! 

(We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.)

Got another Beachwalk block done - my May allotment:

Did the local guild BOM in quadruplet this time around (1 to turn in for the drawing, 1 for the guild's Quilts of Valor project, 1 for my own 2011 guild quilt, and 1 for the Valor Bee for the May Fourth Week offering):

And finished this month's allotment for the weirdly named "Selvages" project - two of these blocks:

And now, it's your turn!  Show us the BOM you're working on lately, and check out what the others are doing!   

BOMs Away Monday #1

Whew! The last two months of last semester really took a toll on my block of the month projects. I think I overestimated how many I would be able to keep up with when I signed up for a couple new ones in addition to committing myself to finishing several from my UFO list this year. 


To help keep these on track, I'm starting a weekly goal of blogging about them each Monday, kind of a sister goal of linking up to WIP Wednesdays (since that's been so helpful in keeping me on task with my UFO list). Next Monday I'll make this a link-up tradition in case anyone else can use the bit of motivation as well. Plus, it's just incredibly fun to see what folks are working on.  :D


So. . . crazy me has no less than 9 BOM projects on my slate for 2011. Two are shorter ones, so some day it'll slacken up a bit. 3 of those fell behind one month, and 3 others fell behind two months during the term. Now you see why I'm starting "BOMs Away Mondays"!

Vermont Star

This week I caught up my Flying Needles blocks, which are actually done in triplicate - one to turn in at my local guild's monthly lottery, one for the guild's Quilts of Valor program, and one to keep. These will one day make a whole quilt top that celebrates the 235th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. 

I sewed my May Block Swap Adventure block for Pat in Oregon, who wanted a star in brights, NO black. (Yes, I used the same pattern so I could streamline cutting - besides, I thought it would be fun to play with a swirliness in the center.)

And I got all the pieces washed, dried, and CUT OUT (that part's a bit of a pain on these) for the March, April, and May blocks of the Patriots in Petticoats kits that have been stacking up. (I have seriously allergic reactions to the sizing on fabric, so I always have to wash them before sewing.) Hopefully I'll have all 6 blocks sewn before BOMs away #2, but Grandpa comes in tomorrow evening and Devon graduates on Thursday, so I'm not going to cry if they're not. These blocks are very fun historically - each one is dedicated to a gal who helped the Independence movement. I list the stories as I post the blocks, so if you like that sort of thing, just go to my label for "Patriots in Petticoats" and scroll though the results. :D


After these, I'm moving on to the more artsy BOMs on my list, because I tire quickly of working with these colors even though I love the historic quilts.

BOMs Away. . .

Just *barely* got my Flying Needles March BOM sewn in time for today's meeting. I was lucky there was still food on the buffet when I finally got there! It's a Union Square block, in honor of Patrick Henry's famous Liberty or Death speech.

Oops - It spun when it uploaded. Oh well, just tilt your head to the left if you have a strong need to see the birds right-side-up.  ;D

And I did get the block made for my Swap Adventure March partner on Sunday, but she's active online, so you get the same peek she did.  ;D

I loved working with this fat quarter. Had to make a copy for myself!

January and February BOMs 1 - 2

I have to play a little catch-up with my blogging, so I'll just list the BOM blocks I stitched last month with the coordinating BOMs for this month.

First, we have the blocks for Flying Needles Quilt Guild. At our general meeting, if you turn in a block, you get a ticket and the winner of the draw gets to take all the blocks home! (Fun stuff!) I make my blocks in triplicate: One to turn in, one to keep for a complete theme quilt at the end of the year, and one to turn in to Ginger for the guild's Quilts of Valor efforts (since these are in Americana colors, why not!?)

Sharon is running the BOM function this year, and she had the greatest idea for a theme. 2011 is the 235th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, so she's chosen 12 star patterns that relate to the theme. In January, we sewed Rising Star blocks, which signified Thomas Paine's best-seller Common Sense. This appeared in January 1776, after the fighting had started. The pamphlet was widely distributed and loaned, and often read aloud in taverns. It contributed significantly to spreading the ideas of republicanism and liberalism, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army.

Incidentally, New Hampshire was a rising star, itself - as it adopted a state constitution in January 1776 – 6 months before the Declaration of Independence!


February's block is pretty self-explanatory: Washington's Star



BOM #2 - Linda's Swap Adventure

Linda organized this swap group through the blogger world, and I'm having a blast with it. The first block was made for my January partner, Mary in Canada. The other two blocks were sewn today for my February partner, Sylvia in Australia:











Speaking of which - Here are the blocks I've received from Mary and Sylvia!