BLOCK OF THE MONTH OUTSTANDING QUILTS Part 1

Every year since 2008 THE QUILT SHOW has presented a beautiful BLOCK OF THE MONTH quilt project FREE for Star Members. These quilts have been created exclusively for The Quilt Show by the various designers, available only for that year from this worldwide quilting community, an Internet based show. 

These quilts always provide excellent instruction for exceptional designs. Everyone who completes one of these quilts has learned a lot and can be proud of their accomplishment.

Here are just a few of the many BOM quilts that have won awards at quilt shows around the world. Enjoy and be inspired:

2008 BOUQUET FOR A NEW DAY, designed by Sue Garman. I had to hunt to find a photo. This was made by Ann Shibut: 

2009 STARS FOR A NEW DAY, designed by Sue Garman. This is my version. It was included in the book 500 TRADITIONAL TREASURES, published in 2014. Can you find my mistake?

2010 Sue Garman designed two for this year, STAR CRAZY and HUGS AND KISSES:

Hugs and Kisses by Sue Garman

Star Crazy by Jill Buttel 

2011 RUFFLED ROSES designed by Sue Garman. This is my version, completed in 2019, won Best of Show, Fanfare 2019, Heritage Quilters of Huntsville. Quilted by Lois Kindley:

2012 SEDONA STAR designed by Sarah Vedeler. Here is a spectacular example:

My, My, My, My Sedona! made by Alice Alinson

2013 TWO OF US designed by Sue Nickels and Pat Holly: 

made by Karen Boe Quilted by Barb Simons

2014 A TO Z FOR EWE AND ME designed by Janet Stone: 

Made by Barbara Colvin, First Place York Quilters Guild

2015 MY COUNTRY HOUSE designed by Lynette Anderson:

My Country House by Lynette Anderson

2016 RAJAH QUILT REVISITED designed by Lessa Siegele. This is a remake of an historic quilt with ties to England and Australia. This is my version:

Rajah Revisited by Barbara Black 

2017 HALO MEDALLION designed by Sue Garman. This started a lot of good things for me. The Sunday Sew and Sews group was formed, meeting in my home once a month for guidance on this project. Sue was quite ill and passed away January 8, 2017 so I was asked to help with the FORUM since I was making the quilt. I'm still here. Here are three especially great versions:

Janet Noever made this as a Sunday Sew and Sew. She made it her own by adding her beloved Seminole Piecing to a couple borders.

Brenda Miller got the Sunday Sew and Sews started when she asked me if I thought she and her sister, Joanne, were "capable" of making Halo Medallion. I offered to help guide them and the rest is history. Notice Brenda's lovely First Place Ribbon

Joanne Miller, sister to Brenda, and co-instigator in getting the Sunday Sew and Sews going also earned a ribbon on her quilt. All of these were featured at Fanfare 2019 Heritage Quilters of Huntsville

2018 THE PATCHWORK BARN designed by Edyta Sitar.

The Patchwork Barn by Sandra Thomas

2019 SIZZLE designed by Becky Goldsmith:

SIZZLE Made by Terri Taylor, quilted by Patty Wilson

2020 AFTERNOON DELIGHT designed by Sue Garman. A tribute to Sue after her passing, this pattern of hers is the only time a published pattern was used for the BOM.  

This beautiful example won BEST OF SHOW at the SW Florida Quilters Guild earlier this year:

AFTERNOON DELIGHT made by Terri Saarinen

This takes us through the first 13 years of Block of the Month Quilts from The Quilt Show. Have YOU made any of these?

Next week will feature the remaining past 5 years. I asked members of www.thequiltshow.com to send me photos of their winning Block the Month quilts and I received MANY from the most recent 5 years. See you next week!

NOTE: A few of the photos were taken from the GALLERY on The Quilt Show. There are many quilts there to inspire and educate you. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

MY FAVORITE QUILTS # 5

 I am wrapping this up with one my my MOST favorite quilts. I say this is the quilt that changed everything for me as a quiltmaker.

   JOYFUL JOURNEY, 87" x 87", 2009

In late 2008 the Block of the Month Quilt for The Quilt Show.com was revealed at International Quilt Festival in Houston. I fell deeply in love with the pattern. And I was smitten with the designer, Sue Garman. I made it a point to meet her and tell her how much I loved it. As it turned out, she was making an easier version with larger pieces to add to her pattern company offerings. She graciously agreed to send me her file for Washington Medallion and our friendship was sealed. 

I wanted to make this quilt for our 2009 guild show. I selected my most favorite fabrics and decided from the beginning to put my best work into this project. Though I had been quilting for almost 24 years, I usually had a "close is good enough" attitude. Now I was determined to do the very best I could. Things that didn't align were taken out and done again. 

When the top was done, I found that one of the two baskets was sewn in upside down. The baskets are the only blocks in the quilt that have a definite top and bottom. I spent almost two hours unsewing the errant block, and getting it on it's feet. I felt much better when that was done.

As the top neared completion I began to think about who could quilt it in the custom manner I wanted it quilted. On Facebook I saw the work of Pamela Joy Spencer Dransfedlt, who lives in California. Her work was exactly what I was looking for.  I contacted  her to ask if she would take it on, and if she would be coming to International Quilt Festival at Long Beach, CA that summer. She loved the quilt so we arranged to meet at Long Beach for the hand-off. 

Little did I realize then, wonderful longarm quilters are busy. So asking her to have this done in about 6 weeks as a huge Ask. But she was game for the challenge. 

Then I learned I could not enter this quilt in the judged show in Houston if I paid for the quilting. So we began a collaboration. I offered to make her one of these quilts in exchange for the quilting. Her husband loved this quilt from the moment he saw it so her response to my offer was "Steve says yes!". 

Here is the quilt I made for her after she quilted it for herself. It hangs in her living room and I occasionally spot it in her family photos on Facebook:

Pam did an outstanding job on the quilting and the piecing is pretty good too. It is a great quilt and means a lot to me. It represents my willingness to take myself seriously as a quiltmaker. 

Here are some detail shots:

It was such a great quilt I decided to enter the American Quilt Society show in Paducah, KY. for the first time. It was juried in and hung in the 2010 show. 

Then it was selected for the book 500 Traditional Quilts, published in 2014, featuring the best traditional quilts being made at the time. And it was included in the Special Exhibit of many of those quilts at International Quilt Festival Houston in 2014. 

My friendship with the late Sue Garman means more to me than I can describe. This quilt started it and she taught me so much over the  next almost 9 years I was honored and lucky enough to share this Earth with her. Including how to make pieced borders fit a quilt by using "Floater Borders". I have a Tutorial here explaining that process that I include on my blog with her permission.

The other thing this quilt gave me is the title for my blog. When I decided to start a blog at the end of 2010 it was easy to name it "My Joyful Journey". Quilting should be fun and joyous and filled with the beauty of luscious fabrics and inspiring design. It certainly is for me.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Round One Done

 Recently, I wrote about the Round Robin swap the Sunday Sew and Sews are doing. Eight of us created center blocks, 12"-16", to swap with 3 others over the next several months. See that post here: A Feathered Star

My first project to work on belongs to Donna D. She made a 15"  Feathered Star block, using the wonderful pattern from Sue Garman, Washington Medallion. The pattern is available for purchase, at Sue's online shop: Washington Medallion. It is a Block of the  Month pattern--you can choose to buy all 12 patterns or each one individually. Month 1 is the Feathered Star pattern. Month 2 sets it on point and adds the HST border and floater border.

Here is what I did with Donna's Feathered Star:

First, I set it on point, creating a 21.5" center, including seam allowance. Then I made 56 Half Square Triangles (HST), using 7 different prints and 5 different backgrounds, two of the backgrounds were used twice. The pattern shows how to do that easily, using paper. I simply used a mechanical pencil to draw the sewing line on the back side of the light fabrics. Very easy to see and sew as a pair, creating 8 HSTs from each pair of fabrics. 

After the HST were sewn into border strips, it is time to figure out the size of the "floater borders" that make everything fit together perfectly. 

Learning how to calculate Floater Borders changed everything for me as a quiltmaker. It is the BEST thing I learned from Sue, but certainly NOT the only thing. 

In a perfect world, our piecing would fit precisely. In reality, or at least in MY world, the more seams in a border, the more chance for the border to grow or shrink and not be a perfect fit.

CALCULATING FLOATER BORDERS:

1. Pieced HST borders, including seam allow. 24.75"  (these should have been 24.5"--mine grew)

2. Center Block, including seam allowance     21.5"

3. Difference between 1 and 2                          3.25"

4. Divide 3 in half                                             1.625"  FINISHED WIDTH of the  Floater

5. Add 1/2" seam allowance to 4                      2.125"  WIDTH to CUT the Floaters

For the Left and Right Floaters, cut 2.125" x 21.5".  Sew to the left and right sides of the center.

For the Top and Bottom Floaters, cut 2.125" x 24.75". Sew to the top and bottom of the center, AFTER sewing on the Left and Right Floaters and pressing them toward the Floater. 

Now, add the Left and Right HST Borders to the quilt. Press toward the Floater,

Add the Top and Bottom HST Borders to the quilt. Press toward the Floater.

The quilt top is now 24.75" square, ready for whatever comes next. 

NOTE: the fabric I used for the Floater was a fat quarter, not long enough to cut 24.75". I could have pieced it to be long enough, but decided to add Cornerstones to the Top and Bottom borders instead. Those squares were cut 2.125" and added to the left and right ends of the Top and Bottom Floater borders.

If you want MORE of this information, I have an even more detailed Tutorial on the process. Find it here: The Magic of Floater Borders

Here is Donna's center block, as I received it:

I hope she likes what I've done with it.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

AFTERNOON DELIGHT--Month 11

The end is in sight! As you are getting all your blocks done, you are probably thinking about the layout for your blocks.

In the Month 12 instructions, Sue writes about the "circular" applique blocks and the "X" applique blocks. That was when I realized they were made like that--on purpose. Remember, my sample quilt was made start to finish in 5 weeks--with the help of my Sunday Sew and Sews.

Here is Sue's original quilt. She placed the circular and X blocks in alternating positions. And I am sure she worked with her fabric choices as she decided which to place where:

When it came time to lay out my blocks, I used Sue's as a guide--you have to start somewhere, right? Then I moved blocks as I needed to based on fabric choices. Even if you used the Kit Fabrics that I used, your blocks will be different and you may want to lay yours out differently from mine:

There is no right or wrong way to lay out the blocks. The way  that makes you happy is the right way. So decide what you like, take a PHOTO, then ask your family and friends for their suggestions, if you must. I guarantee they will want to move things around--so the photo you took will allow you to correct their changes. It's your quilt, you decide.

If you have stuck with the monthly instructions, there are a few Double 9 Patches to finish. If you charged through them, you can move directly to the last of the applique blocks.

This month brings more applique blocks and there are 6 of them! I often wish I could ask Sue why--why are there 6 now when there were only 2 each month for the past few months? Sue was a very fast quiltmaker--making 6 applique blocks in one month was a snap for her. Not for everyone, though.

Here are my applique blocks for this month:

Block 31--notice how the maker centered the design on top of the fabric so the center circle is perfectly placed--fussy cutting at its' finest! Sue suggests you omit the center hole if you find it too challenging.

Block 32

Block 33

                                                                    

Block 34

Block 35--if you want the swirls to go in the opposite direction, print the pattern in reverse

Block 36--Tip in the pattern says to sew 4 squares together before cutting out the entire design

Next month, the last 4 applique blocks will be revealed and  you will be on your way to assembling your quilt!

And, today, November 1, 2020, the 2021 Block of the Month quilt will be revealed on Facebook Live at 1 pm PST. Be sure to tune in to see it--it is such an amazing quilt and very different from this!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

AFTERNOON DELIGHT--Month 10

 If you are still here, working on Afternoon Delight, it's time for 2 more applique blocks and, maybe, more Double 9 Patch blocks, if you didn't rush through all 64 of them. 

One of these applique blocks is really pretty easy, the other one, not so much. Can you tell which is which? Here are mine from the Sample quilt made last year with help from the Sunday Sew and Sews.

Block 29: Take this one slow. Carefully cut out all those petals and take care as you put it in place on the background. Sue even says you can substitute a different circle around the center heart if this just looks too difficult:

Block 30:  Sue says you can applique the buds on top of the bud stems, as was done here, OR reverse applique the buds under the bud stems. Either way will look just fine: 

We will soon be unveiling the 2021 Block of the Month quilt, designed by Australian Designer, Wendy Williams. I made the quilt from the same Kit fabrics we will be offering with a small change to the fabric choice I made for the very center. It is an exciting design, that many people are going to LOVE! About as different from this year as can be. And we use a new-to-me technique I love. How about a teaser?

If you haven't renewed your membership, now is the time. The super special "Stay at Home" price will not be there forever--6 months for $19.95 or 12 months for $39.95. They will add your subscription to the end of your current term, no need to wait until your subscription runs out.  Renew Now

AND NOW IS THE TIME TO REMIND EVERYONE---the patterns for Afternoon Delight are ONLY AVAILABLE FREE until December 31, 2020. After that The Quilt Show no longer has the right to provide them--that right reverts to the designer--so you will have to buy them after this year ends. Print them now if  you ever think you will want to make this quilt. Hard drives crash and then you lose them all, we cannot provide them to anyone after December 31, 2020 for ANY reason. 

Be sure to post photos of your work on the Forum--everyone loves to see what you are doing: Afternoon Delight Forum 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

AFTERNOON DELIGHT--Month 8

This pattern is the 2020 Block of the Month pattern offered FREE to Star members of The Quilt Show--join today to receive the entire year of patterns free. This is in addition to all the great content provided by The Quilt Show, 26 shows, a new one every two weeks, and so much more. If you want to know more about why I am such a fan, here is why.

This month brings two more applique blocks and more Double 9 Patches, unless you are done all 64 of those. A few people have mentioned on the Forum that they just couldn't bring themselves to do all those Double 9 Patches with 3/4" finished squares. Someone mentioned a great alternative:  just make regular 9 patches. The blocks are 6.75" finished, so the squares are manageable at 2.25" finished. This will still give the quilt strong diagonal lines and have the feel of the original, with much less work. As I always say, "It's YOUR quilt, you get to decide".

Here are the two blocks in my sample quilt made with the help of the Sunday Sew and Sews last year:

Block 25

Block 26

I hope you are taking the time to watch the 4 Master Classes that The Quilt Show has put together--they include the best of many past shows. Two are on Piecing and two are on Applique. I "watch" them as I am sewing and jump up if I see something I just have to really watch closely. Some of my favorite teachers are in these shows, some who no longer teach and sadly, Sue Garman, who has passed away. Such a great way to see the wide variety of instruction and inspiration membership in The Quilt Show provides.

Recently, Alex Anderson told the world I am making the 2021 Block of the Month quilt from Australian designer Wendy Williams' pattern. Wendy has designed an exclusive quilt pattern only available in 2021 from The Quilt Show. I am hard at work on the machine quilting right now so I can be ready to tape The Quilt Show in Dallas later this month. I first wrote about this Here.

How about a teaser:

Mostly the back but there is a pretty amazing border fabric...

Eventually, you will get to see the entire quilt in all its' glory. I just know you are going to love it.

Let's quilt.

Barbarra

The BIG Reveal--AFTERNOON DELIGHT!

It is finally time to show off the 2020 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims!

Afternoon Delight, designed by the late Sue Garman, has been on my personal bucket list for years. So when Alex Anderson asked me what I thought about using it for the 2020 BOM, I was all in!

Sue's Original:

Sue's company,  www.comequilt.com, is run by her daughters and they graciously allowed us to use this pattern. The next few days were spent figuring out a suitable fabric line for kits and within 3 weeks of that first phone call, I had fabric in hand and a plan to get this done.

My Sunday Sew and Sews came to the rescue--I asked a few if they wanted to help, those I felt sure could drop everything for a few weeks and jump in. They did--in 5 weeks this queen-size top was done and ready for the longarm quilter:

The Team--Donna D is missing here

The fabrics for the Kit are from Andover Fabric, Yarra Valley designed by Max and Louise with a few extras for "pop" thrown in:

Prints--27 pieces, a half yard each

Backgrounds--10 pieces, one yard each

The best thing about THIS KIT--each quilt made will be as unique as the maker. YOU will decide where each fabric goes. The fabrics are not numbered and I won't tell you which fabric was used in any particular block. It's your quilt, you decide!

You can see which fabrics we used--the Sunday Sew and Sews helped me cut up all this luscious fabric. If you want to use what we used, that's fine. But you don't have to--that's the beauty of this kit. And I guarantee you won't run out of fabric.

There are a limited number of kits so if you want one, don't hesitate to order now.

Borders are an optional add-on. Choose the Blue I love, or the Red that is similar to Sue's original  or a lovely light for a completely different, contemporary look. The 4 yards in the border add-on is enough for the borders and the binding. The Blue and Red borders include a great black for a narrow inner border.

Of course, you can use your own fabrics. This is a scrap-buster for sure. Everything goes in this project.

The quilting adds a fun touch to this quilt. Here are a few details of the quilting by Lois Kindley:

We hope you are as excited about this Block of the Month as we are. All of the Sunday Sew and Sews said this was a "bucket list" quilt for them too.

Join or renew your membership so you are ready to go January 1, 2020 when the first pattern is released.  www.thequiltshow.com

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Best of Show

Sometimes you make a quilt you love, even if it takes 8 years to complete.

I began Ruffled Roses in January 2011 when it was the Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show.com. Designed by the late Sue Garman, I loved it from the moment I saw it. The fabric selections are mine but the pattern is true to Sue's design.

This took years, lots of turned edge machine applique', and was put away during tax season each year, and then was on the back burner for a few years. In November 2015, I got it back out and worked on it at a private retreat Sue and I were on together, for professional teachers, by invitation. I invited her to join us and was so pleased when she was able to arrange to come.

That week was so special for both of us. We became true friends and I felt like I was sitting at the feet of the master, trying to be a sponge, to soak up all I could from her. We shared a lot in common, and talked for hours, walking on the beach and as we worked on our projects, side by side.

Here Sue is, enjoying the sun at her favorite stitching spot at our lovely beach house getaway:

Little did we know then, she would soon be diagnosed with terminal cancer and in a little over a year from then she would pass from this world.

I finished Ruffled Roses recently and entered it in my guild show, the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville Fanfare 2019. I miss Sue so, still think of her often, and wish she could see this.

Fortunately, I have a local longarm friend who does beautiful work and wanted to have a go at this one. Lois Kindley will get her own blog post soon. For now, here we are:

Selected as Best of Show from among 225 wonderful quilts, I feel so pleased, yet humble too--I learned so much from Sue, who was the most generous, giving person you could know. She would be pleased for me, I am sure.

Soon, I'll have lots of photos from our show--it was so good. It just ended last night so I have to do the other quilts justice with a long post, including names of the makers.

If you missed this show, I am sorry. If you attended, you know how good it was.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Just a Bit of Houston 2017

I am still in "recovery mode" from my 13 amazing days in Houston at Quilt Market and Quilt Festival.

You can find much better photos of all the winning quilts here. In reality, I saw only a few of them as my time on the show floor is quite limited. Here you will get just a taste of what I did see over the 13 days I enjoyed in the great state of Texas.

The first quilt I went to see is mine--in case I never got back downstairs again:

Then I went right to the next exhibit I had to see. There were 75 quilts in this exhibit, here are just a few:

Sue was designing and drafting this pattern in November 2015 when we spent a week together at a private teacher's retreat in Virginia Beach. It took my breath away to see it completed:

This is what brought me to tears:

Oh, Sue, how I miss you! The love and admiration that was shown to you at this show is beyond description. You live on in all of us who were lucky enough to know you or your work.

Another exhibit I took a moment to see was the work of Danny Amazonas:

I was thrilled that a mostly "traditional" quilt won Best of Show:

And my favorite view of Houston is the view from my Hilton Americas hotel room:

Just to the right of the Marriott Marquis hotel, that tall building in the center back, is Minute Maid stadium, where I understand there were some baseball games played while we were there. I did not step outdoors for 9 consecutive days so the World Series didn't bother me in the least. Houston was abuzz with excitement and they had a big parade while we were there--several blocks from the Convention Center. Restaurants were crowded but that's always the case during Market and Festival.

Here is the gang I hang out with in  all our finery:

And at our Farewell Dinner Sunday night, at Pappasitas, those of us who stay over for Monday departure. It's a good thing this shot is a bit blurry, because so are we:

Now that I've had 8 hours of sleep for the first time in 2 and a half weeks, I can't wait to do it all again NEXT YEAR!

Let's quilt!

Barbara