Diamond Traditions Blog Tour

Happy Monday and welcome to the first day of the blog tour to celebrate my friend Monique Dillard's beautiful new book, Diamond Traditions.

Please join these bloggers this week to see their versions of the quilts in Monique's book and comment on their featured day for a chance to win a book.
Monday - Thelma from Cupcakes 'n' Daisies
Tuesday - Denise from Quilter’s  Window
Wednesday - Me!
Thursday - Sherri from A Quilting Life
and wrapping it up on Friday - Monique from Open Gate Quilts

In the home stretch

Ready for Block 6 of the Blogger Girls' BOM?  This block is another one of my favorites.  I made a little design tweak by making some of my star points from a different fabric.  Not that I'm all original and stuff - the simple truth is that I ran out of main star fabric and had to make do!  Other than that, this block was a cinch to make.  Head over to Monique's blog to get your final free block pattern.

Next month we'll show our finishes.  I haven't decided on a setting, but I have figured out the order of the blocks.

Don't forget to stop by the following bloggers to see what they've done with Block 6.   And check out the Flickr page, too.

Monique from Open Gate Quilts
Sherri from A Quilting Life
Thelma from Cupcakes 'n' Daisies
Lissa from Moda  Lissa
Denise from Quilter’s  Window
Nicole from Sister’s Choice Quilts

Strawberry Fields Forever

Have you discovered the wonders of Pinterest?  Where you can lose hours looking at home decorating ideas, recipes and quilt designs?  I don't spend a lot of time there, but I do keep an eye out for quilt designs.  When I saw this quilt made from Fig Tree's Strawberry Fields fabrics (one of my all-time favorite collections), I decided I had to make a quilt like it.

I clicked through to find the pattern and was able to determine that the quilt was designed by Ryan Walsh, who has a blog here, though it hasn't been updated in a while.  I didn't see a pattern available for sale through his website, so I looked up the found the block in my Around the Block Again book by Judy Hopkins, decided on a block size (mine are 12") and made my own Strawberry Fields quilt.  There is a narrow sashing between the blocks and a slightly wider border of the background fabric.  I plan to use Minky on the back and finish with a scrappy binding using my leftovers.

This was a really fun quilt to put together - nice big pieces and easy construction.  Thanks, Ryan Walsh, for the inspiration!

April showers bring May flowers...

...and Block #5 of the Blogger Girls' BOM.   I was only able to make one block before the deadline.   My sewing machine decided it wanted to chew up the second version of Block 5.  My Pfaff is in time out right now.

At any rate, here is Block 5, and also a shot of my 9 blocks so far.  Only one more month, quilting friends, and our blocks will be ready to assemble into a quilt!

I'm using the fabric collection Field Notes by Blackbird Designs for Moda.

Please visit Monique to download this month's block, and also stop by the following bloggers to see their blocks for this month.  And don't forget the Flickr page where you can add your photos even if you don't have a blog.  I really love seeing all the different fabric combinations!

Monique from Open Gate Quilts
Sherri from A Quilting Life
Thelma from Cupcakes 'n' Daisies
Lissa from Moda  Lissa
Denise from Quilter’s  Window
Nicole from Sister’s Choice Quilts

April Schnibbles Finished!

OK, *now* my Hat Trick Schnibbles quilt is finished.  It ended up around 35" square.  I hope my mom will like it for her belated Mother's Day present!

I can't wait for Sherri and Sinta's parades to see all the different variations of the Hat Trick pattern.

Edited to add:  The fabrics are batiks and prints from the Paint Box collection designed by Edyta Sitar/Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda, along with some background fabrics from my Jo Morton stash.

Hat Trick

I'm finally getting my energy back after my bout with pneumonia.  I was happy to learn the April pattern for Another Year of Schnibbles was Hat Trick - it was one I hadn't made yet.

I used Paint Box fabrics by Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda, both the batiks and regular prints.  I finished all the 9 patches last weekend, but didn't have fabric for the setting squares or triangles.  The charm packs did not have enough light fabrics to use for that.  Seeing it on my design wall, I was anxious to get it finished, so I started pulling some tan backgrounds from my various Jo Morton collections and I like how they worked with the Paint Box prints.  I think I will leave it square like this, without adding a border.  Edited to add:  I will end up adding borders to this because I'm gifting it to my Mom and she needs something a little larger.  I just have to wait for the Paint Box yardage to show up in stores!

There's still time to join in on the Schnibbles fun!  Visit Sinta at Pink Pincushion or Sherri at A Quilting Life and get all the details.  And if you don't have the pattern yet, you can buy it and download it instantly from the fabulous designer, Carrie Nelson - just go here to her online shop.

No foolin'!

Nope, no tricks here!  It's April 1 and time to show you block 4 in Monique Dillard's Blogger Girl BOM.  This block will be a very memorable one for me because I worked on it while I was recovering from pneumonia!  I've never had pneumonia before and it really turned my life upside down.  Taking a shower and getting dressed was enough to make me have to stop and rest on the couch.  These 2 blocks, which should have taken a day at most, took me over a week to complete.  Every step took me 3 times as long as it normally would, as I just didn't have the strength or brainpower to work on these fabric combinations.

But all told, this will be a memorable block for me for another reason - it's my favorite so far in this series!  I love how changing the fabrics up a little bit make the 2 blocks seem completely different.  I hope you have fun with it too, and I also hope you are completely healthy when you're making yours!  Back to work today after my 2 week "Pneumonia Vacation."

Please visit Monique to download this month's block, and also stop by the following bloggers to see their blocks for this month.  And don't forget the Flickr page where you can add your photos even if you don't have a blog.  I really love seeing all the different fabric combinations!

Monique from Open Gate Quilts
Sherri from A Quilting Life
Thelma from Cupcakes 'n' Daisies
Lissa from Moda  Lissa
Denise from Quilter’s  Window
Nicole from Sister’s Choice Quilts