Black & White Disappearing 4-Patch

Last week I had a total hip replacement on the right side and have not been in the shop since then. I knew going into the surgery that I would be home a few weeks and that it would be even longer before I could drive. For several weeks leading up to my surgery I practiced sewing with my left foot. Just the other day I began sewing again. I have become quite proficient sewing with my left foot. 

The star quilt pictured below was a block exchanged that I participated in with two of my sisters and my mom. I believe we exchanged those blocks in 2000. I finally finished in July, 2011. In March 2012 Son #2 moved out and I put this quilt on the bed in his old room. He came home to visit over July 4th. After he took his bags up to his room the first thing he said to me was, "Mom, can I have that quilt on the bed?" My initial response was no. But he continued to work on me all week and I caved in. 

That brings me to the quilt that I am working on now. My sons have always been very jealous when it comes to quilts. I can not give one a quilt without giving a quilt to the other. So a Black & White quilt was requested from Son #1. 

I first saw the Disappearing 4-Patch when Earleen showed me this pink and white one she made with pink scraps I gave her. I decided this would make a nice black & white quilt. Since I am making a king-sized quilt I made my blocks a little bigger. I wanted to keep it simple so I could get it done as quickly as possible so my block units are 6 1/2 inches square. I chose this size because I have a 6 1/2 inch square dye for the AccuQuilt. It was a breeze cutting out 256 squares with the AccuQuilt.

I assumed I would set my blocks like Earleen's quilt, but last week I saw this blue one on Pinterest. It is from the Moda Bake Shop. I really like how the dark squares come together and the light squares come together.

This morning I finished my blocks and played with the lay out. What do you think? I do believe I am going with the one on the bottom 

(like the blue one).

Up Coming Classes

Finally, classes are scheduled for the first part of 2013. Classes will not actually be starting until February 1st because I am getting a new hip on January 8th and will be out of the shop for a few weeks. Below are the pictures for the class samples. For some of the classes we have more than one sample.

These two quilts are the same pattern but the second one uses a solid fabric. This is from Jane Sassaman's book. It is a great way to use large print fabric. The class is called "Jane's Star."

The next class is "Start with Hearts." This small heart quilt is what we will be using for our beginner class. My daughter chose the fabric for the top one and I made it just for this class. I made the other one in 1998.

This fish quilt has been very popular in the shop. It is a very simple pattern using a large print fabric. The first two are similar except for the sashing and border.

This next quit is the same pattern as the fish quilt. This one uses the line of fabric "Cocoon" by Valerie Wells. This class is "Chris' Fishes."

We also have three samples for the next class "Rectangles." The top one is very scrappy using mostly Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Chris chose the fabric and made the second one.

This third one is made of all batiks. It is a very simple pattern. It looks like rectangles but is actually pieced as square blocks.

The next sample is from the class, "Mod Medallions." We will be doing fusible machine applique in this class.

In "Scrappy Strip Tube Quilt" we will be using the strip tube method. This is a great way to use up some of your scraps and there are so many possible ways to lay out the blocks.

"10 Minute Quilt Block" is another easy one. This quilt goes very quickly and the curved part is easier than you can imagine.

This quilt is taken from the book "Strip-Smart Quilts." In this "Urbanista" class you will use a special ruler to cut the pieced strips to make the blocks.

This "Partly Cloudy Poncho" is made using laminated fabric. What a great look for rainy weather.

When this fabric, "Salt Water" by Tula Pink hit the door I knew instantly that I had to make a quilt with it. This zig-zag quilt is perfect for this fabric. The vertical strip highlights the octopus. We plan on making fabric kits for this class, but of course you can choose your own fabric.

As you can see this fabric is pretty awesome. Who wouldn't love that octopus?

January 2013 Newsletter

 Happy New Year!

I spent most of the day working on "The Branch," the newsletter for Quilt Vine. Classes are scheduled now through April. 

I know that the newsletter is too small to read here but you can see how it looks. I am so happy with it.