Rhonda's Second Sampler Quilt Along

On the Quilting Board  I started my Second Sampler Quilt Along. I did one last year and decided it was time to do another one.

I thought I would show you all the two Quilt Blocks I have designed for the BOW so far.

This is Autumn. It is the second quilt block in the BOW. I posted it last night on the QB. It uses my star point blocks and is not hard to do at all. Once you learn to make the Star Point Blocks it is easy. A beginner can do it. Check out the Star Point directions above.

Here you see the star point blocks laid out so you can tell where the colors are used and how the blocks are turned. This makes it easy to see how the design goes together.  Once you have the star point blocks made it is a simple matter to just sew the squares together into the quilt block just like you would any other quilt block.

You do need to pay attention to where the points of the star points join. I use a stitch and tack it in place so the points match up and wherever I have two seams I tack them so they can't shift.

     This one uses my Boston Blocks. They are really easy to make. After you make the  Boston Blocks you just have to sew the squares together in the right order.

Here is the layout for this quilt block. Again pay attention to where the colors go. And make sure the blocks are placed in the right direction. It is easy to turn them around when you are joining blocks so check this frequently to make sure they are in the right place in the right direction.


If you're a member of the Quilting Board you can send me a pm and I will add your board name to the activity page so you can be notified each week when I post a new quilt block to the Second Sampler.

If you are looking at the threads on the QB there are TWO SAMPLERS on there. The first one I posted 3 quilt blocks each week but this one I am only posting one quilt block per week. So look for the word SECOND in the title to see the one we are doing now!!

Anyone is welcome to join us!! So the more the merrier!! 

My Day Today

I usually keep grandkids on the weekends. But I was sick this last weekend and so I cancelled having the kids come. I thought I had the rest of this week til Fri without kids and I could get my house organized(I have been reorganizing and cleaning) and get some stuff done that you can't really do when kids are underfoot.
So I get a call this morning would I go get Zachary for today and tomarrow. Zach is my autistic grandson and my DDs only care giver for him when she needs something. so I go get Mr. Zach from school. He is autistic and when his schedule is interrupted it can cause problems. But he loves to come to our house as he gets one on one with Papa and me. He also gets away from his sister and brother and our house is quiet compared to their house! LOL  I keep a laptop hooked up to a printer for the kids and he regards it as his when he is here. He loves to print off pictures and then draw stories around them putting himself or his mom and siblings in the picture. So he is here now and having a great time laying on the floor drawing on his printed pictures! LOL

The need my DD had is her FIL has a terminal disease. He has Fibrosis in the lungs and it is getting progressively worse. He has been on borrowed time for quite awhile now. So he is in the hosp and DD had to be there. They all rely on her to get things done that need done. So she does all the insurance stuff and helps her MIL to be where she needs to be and is her DHs support system. My SIL Zach's dad is a Chiropractor and they live above the clinic. Her FIL has been working the office in the clinic and when he can't then DD works there. Her FIL hasn't really been able to work in the office much for some time now. So DD is a bit stretched thin at times. She also has 2 other kids with health issues that make daily life interesting. She is also the leader of her DD Rachel's girl scout troupe as well as the troupe leader for Zach's and his brother Joey's boy scout troupe. She is a busy lady!!

So when she needs me I try to be there. I keep Zachary two weekends a month anyway because I am his respite care worker for the Gov waiver he is on. It pays me to be his care giver. So we have him alot each month anyway.

LOL When he found out he wasn't going to go back to school tomarrow but stay with me he asked me if he was going to live with us now?  LOL  I think his being here during the middle of the week confused him! *Grin*

From Zach and I we wish you all sunshine and laughter!!

My Cut Down Method

I used to sell my gift items to a local gift shop. Over the 12 yrs I sold to her I made alot of pieced items. I am always on the lookout for anything that saves time and effort. 

While watching some of the Quilt shows on TV I developed my own shortcuts.

 I call it the Cut Down Method.

You cut fabric swatches and sew them together and then using a template you cut out the center into a unit I call a "Block". when I was cutting out HSTs(half square triangles) I would sew strips together and then open the strips and lay the template on there and cut out the HSTs. This was my first shortcut.

Then I thought what if we use 3 fabrics. So I experimented with 3 and this is what it looks like:

                  

                     

1. Cut swatches of fabric

2. Sew 2 together

3. Sew on the third swatch

4. Lay template on the seams

5. Cut out the block from the center with a template

6. Ta-Da! a Boston Block made with the cut down method

Directions for these are in the tabs above
 Star Point Block    Combination        Drunkard's Path
  Wings Block         4 patch Blocks     Kansas Dugout  

Each one is the same basic principle but there are slight variations. One might be 3 fabrics but cut a bit differantly One uses 4 fabrics instead of 3.

 Check them out and try making some and see what you think of the process!! 

Have fun! Rhonda

Follow up on Forums

Well I am now a member of the Quilting Around the World forum and now that I can do things on there I am enjoying it.  I plan to see  if I can post any tutorials on there but I don't see a place to do that so don't know.

Hope you are all having a good quilting day today!!