I have a plan for this month’s Friday Night Sew-in: to catch up with the blocks for at least one of my own Mod-Mod quilts. It’s never too late to catch up … or decide to jump in.  I really love all the quilts that have been shared here and can’t wait to see them finished (mine, too!)     How Many Blocks Here’s the updated chart how many blocks we made so far in the Block Lotto that you’ll need to...

As I was making this month’s blocks and putting together the directions, I started thinking about using it for the rainbow scraps challenge next year, in a color way similar to the one we’re using, except the gold/orange would be replaced by the color of the month and combined with neutrals.  I might make my blocks a little smaller, 5 by 10 inches each, so I could use up smaller scraps. Then I thought about LAST year’s October...

This is the time of year when I start thinking about what will we do NEXT year and I would love some input from you. Earlier this year, I asked for some input on colors and I hope you’ve noticed some of your suggestions in the blocks this year.   But before I start thinking about color, I start with the block patterns themselves.  I think about block sizes and overall themes for the year. A lot of my block ideas start with a, “What...

If–like Cathy and Toni–you are having problems printing the GIF version of the templates on the Quilter’s Cache … try this PDF one: sweet_dreams_template-converted I simply converted Marcia’s image to a PDF file format that will print at the correct size IF YOU DO NOT LET YOUR COMPUTER SCALE IT. The dialogue box you see when printing will likely look different than mine (on a Mac), depending on the computer/operating system...

I can’t get the templates to print properly so I don’t end up with a 7.5 inch (unfinished) block.  Mine ends up 8 inches no matter how hard I try to re- size templates and print.  My seams are exactly 1/4 inch. As you can see the triangle measurement is not right and I can’t get it any smaller than 7 1/4 inches.     Any advice?  I’m not very good at this re – sizing stuff.  If I was going to make all the blocks for...

I was catching up with the Block Lotto this morning and one of the quilt designs from Tula Pink’s City Sampler, 100 Modern Quilt Blocks popped into my head and seems to be a perfect match for this month’s lotto blocks. Clicking the book image will take you to Amazon.  If you like the geometric blocks we are making this year for the Block Lotto, you might want to check out the block patterns in this book. This is the Skyline quilt...

I hope I have the right category as there will be Block Lotto quilt(s) at the Expo and Block Lotto members are going to be there with their other quilts, too.  The Expo is unique as it combines 2 folk art traditions, woodcarving and quilting.  It’s also an open show welcoming all quilts; old & new, beginner & expert, traditional & modern, small & large, near & far, yours or someone else’s.  Every quilt has a...

When I saw this quilt design by Deb Grifka, called Holiday Sweater, I knew that personally, I would never do all that machine appliqué, but … I might make some spokes blocks, mostly white spokes on a given color, a few with the colors reversed, and run with the color/setting idea to create a holiday sweater quilt of my...

For those of us who have enjoyed the house blocks on this site over the years, I thought I would mention that the newest issue of Quiltmaker features quilts with house blocks of various types. There is a nice 2-story house with gables designed by lori Holt, and a traditional house block combined with an Irish chain.  you may enjoy browsing it at your nearest magazine stand. [added by Sophie] Linda made me go looking online for images. I found...

These are my 14 spokes blocks for my Mod-Mod Queen-size Sampler quilt. As I was making them, I put them up on the wall in an on-point orientation. Have you noticed that the spokes within the block looks the same whether they are in a straight set or on-point? The only difference is whether the touching spokes are vertical and horizontal or on the diagonal. If you look REALLY close, you might also notice that my set of 14 blocks has that one of...

I received a lovely surprise package in the mail today from Karen Nicole.  Last year I re-mailed some blocks for Karen that should have gone to Norway instead of to me in New Zealand.  Karen sent me a lovely piece of South African fabric to say thank you.  It is a lovely soft green neutral piece and I am sure it will be put to good use in the future.   Thank you very much Karen – I really wasn’t expecting it.  ...

While I was catching up on blog-reading this weekend, I came across the Point Me quilt tutorial that Jessica created for Julie’s Intrepid thread.  You can find the tutorial here: A Quilt Tutorial and a Sale If you have made this month’s block (or even just looked at the directions), you already know how these blocks are constructed–a diagonal cut through a background square and an inserted contrasting fabric. Pairs of blocks are...