Rhonda's 2nd Boston Block Hotpad Class - Part 1

Okay here is the First Lesson for this class!

 Boston Block Hotpad Class - Lesson 1

I am going to begin by listing the things you will need.

The most important thing you need will be a template.
I have the templates available and will send them for free.
You will need to send me a postal address so I can mail them out to you. They are hard acrylic so they are not sent through email.

 my email - patchesbyr@yahoo.com  

You will have a chance to work with a 1 1/2" template or a 2 1/2" template and you can have both if you like. Please make sure you specify which one or ones you want.

You will need a small cutting mat preferably about 6" sq or so. 

Any old cutting mats can be cut up and used for this if you have a used mat.

You will need the usual supplies:

rotary cutter
scissors
thread
pins 
a smaller ruler would be good if you have one. I use a 2 1/2" x 9" but you can use whatever you have.
If you use a template you have make sure you put nonslide dots under it. I use a thin strip of sandpaper cut to fit on mine.

In the next lesson I will discuss what fabrics and colors go together and how to get the best out of the design. 

1. choose fabrics and colors wisely 
2. how to make a Boston Block
3. how to use the boston block to make a quilt block
4. how to use the quilt block to make hotpads my way. 

Of course there are many ways to do anything and I understand my methods aren't for everyone. But if I can help anyone to find an easier way to do something then I am happy to oblige!

This is a Boston Block pieced square unit:

                 

Two quilt blocks I will be using to build our hotpads.

Please remember my methods are easy to do and are a bit of an illusion. 
Designs look harder to make than they really are. It is all in the tricks of the trade! 

But I assure you beginners can make both of these quilt blocks!! If you can use a rotary cutter and mat you will be able to do this. 

Quilt blocks I will be using to build our hotpads.

 I would like to show you how to make a quilt block

    with 6 rows of 6 Boston Blocks in it -

This is what it will look like:

Quilt Block designed by me - Ashley -  6 rows of 6 pieced blocks(units).
Some are HSTs(half square triangles) and some are Boston Blocks
So I will be showing you how to make these 2 Blocks my way.
This quilt block uses the 1 1/2" template



And then we will also make this quilt block-
It has 4 rows of 4 pieced blocks(units).
This quilt block uses the 2 1/2" template

     

Feel free to ask any questions you'd like! There are never any dumb stupid questions only questions you don't know the answers to yet. If you don't ask you can't learn.
I'm always happy to help if I can.

I'll be posting the next lesson next Tuesday Aug 19th 2014

                                                            

We had a good time going to Independence Iowa for the quilt guild lesson. I was oh soooo nervous but I kept my cool. I actually think I did a good job but of course there are always things that could be better.

I just hope I didn't confuse anyone. I have a bad habit of giving too much info at one time.
Several ladies thought it was fun so I guess it went okay.

I got comfortable after I got into my favorite subject My Boston Block LOL. 

Renee the lady who asked me to come was really nice and helpful. she was a doll. She helped me alot and was great at making me feel welcome.

DH and I decided not to drive home in the dark so we stayed at a motel which we haven't done for a very long time other than stayin at Branson for the retreat. We enjoyed having some one on one time without my mom at our shoulders. We live in her back yard so she is at our door alot or on the phone.

Now that the lesson is behind me on to other things. I need to finish my black and red wall hanging and I have the yellow mini tablerunner to back and quilt also.

I have a doll quilt to make also for a swap I signed up for. I have some ideas but need to make some choices. When I get it partly done I'll post some progress pics!!

My kitchen is a disaster so I NEED to get it under control again LOL when I am into quilting nothing else exists LOL

It's still cloudy and dreary and windy outside. Hope we get some sunshine soon!

Wishing you all Sunshine and Laughter!!

Quilting Gallery and A Quilt Guild Lesson

The Quilting Gallery has added my blog to their blog list. I am happy to be included in a great place to find lots of great quilting blogs!!

Check out the Quilting Gallery for some great ideas on lots of great quilting blogs!
http://quiltinggallery.com/quilting-bloggers/

Last evening I had the opportunity to give a lesson at a quilt guild. It is the first time I have taught at a quilt guild. I have allowed people in the past to have some of my info to teach their own guild.

So this was a first for me. I am not a great public speaker. My hands were shakey to start but once I started talking about my favorite subject  - My Boston Block - then it all came easily after that.
The ladies were all really wonderful and I felt very welcome there. I enjoyed sharing some of what I do with these great ladies.

I hope I can teach at a quilt guild again in the future. I love sharing what I learned and I want to expand the scope of sharing my shortcut methods with more quilters.

But the Lord will lead me in His will and I will go where He leads.

I am in the process of finishing up a wall hanging and a mini tablerunner. I also have a doll quilt to make for a swap on the Quilting Haven. I am going to try to finish these before I move on to other things. When finished I'll post pics of them.

Wishing you all Sunshine and Laughter!!  Rhonda

One of the things I love to make are Dresden Kaleidoscopes. These are fussy cut with a dresden plate template. I make my own template and then use it to mark the elements on the fabric so I can lift it and place it on the next repeat.

I used one of my Dresden Kaleidoscopes for the center of this doll quilt. I added a green border putting the center on point. then used the same fabric the Dresden Kaleidoscope came from for the 4 corner triangles.  I backed it with a light green print.

  This Doll Quilt went into the mail to my swap partner yesterday! I hope she likes it!!
   It measures about 16" by 16". The dresden kaleidoscope is 8"

                                                       

Wishing you all Sunshine and Laughter!! God Bless and have a great day tomarrow!!  Rhonda