A couple people have let me know that the Stop Spammer Registration plug-in was blocking them from logging in.  If you have also been unable to login, I have disabled this self-described aggressive spam plugin that is supposed to prevent spam registrations, logins and comments.  It had been working beautifully, but in the last few days has become, perhaps, a little too aggressive for us. Anyone with an account should be able to login now. The...

When I saw this illustration on Design Sponge, my first thought was that it would make an interesting quilt block … then I noticed that the colors are the same as those we are using for our Bead-on-a-String Blocks this month (minus the black and white).   (The yellow-orange-maroon combination works pretty well with cream/tan, too, doesn’t...

The Rafflecopter spit out a winner this morning and she is: Caroline (Quiltermomma1). Caroline said she plans to use the blocks to make a baby quilt for her chiropractors.  I can’t wait to see it. Congratulations, Caroline!

This month, we add Bead-on-a-String blocks to our quilts. (For those who are still sitting on the fence, I’ve included last month’s Double Chevron Blocks, too. ) Small Crib Throw Twin F/Q King Bead-on-a-String 3 6 7 10 13 17 Double Chevron Blocks 1 2 3 4 6 8 You will notice in the layouts that these blocks often appear three-in-a-row in the quilts, but sometimes appear on their own. Because the only guidelines for the blocks for...

Have you noticed all the great tips everyone has shared in their process of making the Bead-on-a-String block?  I thought I’d pull them together in this post for anyone who is looking for more information (and visual aids) for making this block. Andrew shared a link to a very detailed YouTube video which walks through the appliqué method that I call faced appliqué, How to Do Almost Invisible Appliqué by Machine. You might want to make...

Earlier today, I mailed a chevron block each to Helen, Jude, Karen, Kate, Madison and Shelley.  I hope you like my block and all the blocks you receive. I was thinking about my process while I was at the post office today and talking with the postal clerk about how I am mailing stuff like this every month and how I work hard to keep the envelopes as flat as possible so they can travel as “letters” and not “parcels.”...

In the way that one thing can lead to another, Kristin was inspired by the giveaway of Elizabeth’s hand dyed fabrics to offer up something for another giveaway on the Block Lotto. In January 2010 we made 280 Tic-Tac-Toe Blocks. Kristin won 40 blocks and is offering them for the giveaway.   Here’s how you can earn chances to win. Earn ONE chance by leaving a comment telling us what you would do with these blocks if you won.  Kristin...

I was having a hard time putting away the Holiday Baskets table topper after the holidays, so I decided the answer was to make something new. When we made the Silly Strings blocks back in July 2012, I was living in the tiny adobe oven casita, suffering from all kinds of allergies (the allergist literally told me I was allergic to EVERYTHING … though since moving out of that place, most of my symptoms have disappeared) and had no...

It always happens.  I think I’ve created some new block … and then I see it in a quilt on someone’s blog.   And that happened recently with the Bead on the String … though I did’t save it and am having problems finding it again … I’ll keep looking. The good news is those are happy coincidences because they usual lead to some new idea about how to use the blocks in a quilt design. Our block is...

Here are my first three beads.  I plan to be back with more. I used a mix of fabrics for the strings–one solid black, on BOB print and one white-on-black print–to see how they played together.  The white background is a woven stripe from my stash that I thought was a favorite that I thought was long gone.  I was happy to find it and use it for these blocks. I’m donating my chances this...

  I noticed this quilt on the blog, Fist Full of Fabric, and thought the combination of greens, pinks and purples was interesting.  Look closely and you’ll see a range of light to medium greens, medium and dark pinks and dark purples.   I think it has potential for a future lotto block … what do you think? When we talk about color palettes, sometimes a photo really is worth more than a simple text description. Last month, as...

In February,  we are making a 7-inch square (finished size) Bead on a String block using white (a solid or white-on-white print) for the background, black (solid, black-on black or white-on black prints) for the string and two fabrics (solid, tone-on-tone or multicolor prints) of your choice of yellow, orange or maroon for the bead.  Ellen made this one. The block pattern directions are here: Bead on a String Quilt Block Directions The tips...