May Newsletter

A Bit About Life:

Holy smokes! April has come and gone in a hurry! Can you believe that we got about a foot and a half of SNOW on Sunday? When we went to church the ground was covered and it was snowing like a Banshi! When we got out of church at 2:00 pm. It was almost all melted. What can I say? I live in Idaho! :o)

I have been so busy this month. I finished a quilt for someone special for Christmas. These blocks have been in a drawer for a couple of years. In all honesty, I hated them. The colors all seemed to be so dark. I was seriously thinking about giving them away, or better yet... finding a home for them in the TRASH can. I have a great quilting friend who encouraged me to get them out and do something with them. I finally did and I have to admit that the results are so much better than I expected. In fact, it is the most gorgeous quilt I have made! I especially love the big flower border. Thanks to Kim Diehl for her insperation for the applique design.

I wanted the back different. Not a standard piece of fabric, but something.... I decided to make one LARGE block and then border it to fit the top. So, I made a HUGE Bear's Claw block for the back.

I also decided to go completely outside the box on this one and quilt every block differently. I did the whole thing without a pattern and just thought about the block and what might look good for the quilting. Here is the pictures of the quilt. I am calling it the Royal Sampler. I think it is very rich looking. Let me know what you think!

Quilting Views and Tips:

I have also been inspired to TAME my fabric scraps. Bonnie Hunter and Quiltville.com has been my inspiration. I have been using her system to cut scraps into blocks, bricks and strips. I can hardly wait to try her leader and ender idea. Go check out her website. Maybe you will be inspired too! I have been cutting for days and hope to see the end soon. Then I will be able to keep up as each new project evolves and I will have a beautiful "Scrappy" quilt as a BONUS!!

We are into full swing with our Birthday Block Swap at our Quilt group. We have started a second birthday block swap. Anyone is welcome to join. There is a GREAT bunch of quilters here. Click HERE for the link.

Block of the Month:

The May block will be going out to everyone who has signed the guestbook. The Beautiful in Black series is on the number FIVE block. Come and join our Beautiful in Black series group and show us your progress on the blocks. Also, see what others have done. The blocks are so beautiful! Click HERE to find the finished blocks of some awesome quilters! Here is the block for May.

The Quilt in Pastels is on the very last block! Only the sashing and borders are left. Here is the final block for this series.

Well off I go to do some more cutting! My bins are getting fuller and fuller.

Wishing you "Piece"

Susan