Miss Ginny Month #3

Dear Blossom of Friendship Quilters,

Welcome to the New Year and let's begin by introducing you to Miss Ginny. She's a charming block with three little yo-yo's that gives it some added depth. I used a "large" yo-yo maker to make mine. I like the fact that all of the raw edges are completely contained and hidden in the center of the yo-yo. The colorful iris will have you thinking "Spring" as you work on your block.

After Christmas my husband and I spent some time in the mountains at our cabin. As you can see by the picture, I'm working on beautiful bouquets of flowers while surrounded by 2-1/2 feet of snow. I kept thinking that I needed to do some shoveling...NOT. The snow was so pretty to look at and I was cozy and warm inside with a mug of hot chocolate. Quilting and chocolate.....life doesn't get much better than that!

Here's a sneak peek at Miss Poppy. You'll be meeting her next summer. The main part of her basket is from the Gypsy Rose collection by Fig Tree Quilts. http://www.figtreequilts.com/ This new fabric collection works in beautifully with the rest of the blocks and you'll be seeing it soon in your monthly shipments of gorgeous fabrics.

The pink binder that I'm using to keep myself organized looks totally unorganized.....but trust me, I know where everything is. I also have another binder just for the border flowers.

Have a beautiful New Year my quilting friends. I resolve to make quilted gifts throughout the whole year and have a nice little stockpile of treasures established by Christmas 2009. I may even post some pictures of gift ideas to make me stick with my resolution.

As always,

Lynn

Miss Pansy Continued

Dear Quilters,

Only one border flower this month since it is such a busy time for all. Don't forget you need to make four flowers and reverse two of them. The flower is on the outside border and the numbers are A18 to A22.

Many blessings to you and yours for a wonderful Christmastime.

As always,

Lynn

Miss Pansy Month #2

Dear Blossom of Friendship Quilters,

Well, December is here...already. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by love and good food!



I don't know about you, but I've been busy "decking the halls" at my home. It is so much fun to take out and display those Christmas quilts that have been carefully tucked away. I love to open my large storage boxes and find items that I bought last year at the after Christmas sales. What fun displaying new and old treasures. This year I spent quite a bit of time sorting through all the ornaments and set some aside to give to my grown children. I got a little misty-eyed when I unwrapped an ornament that I remember hanging on my Grandmother's tree many decades ago. Isn't that what quilting is all about? Creating heirlooms that everyone will treasure decades from now.

Speaking of treasures, how's your block of the month coming? This block goes quickly as there aren't quite as many pieces as the first block. I suggest that you start sorting all of your fabric by color. Remember to save ALL of your fabric as we will be using it throughout the whole quilt for continuity. I'll post the picture of the border flowers later on in the month. Since December is such a busy month, we will be making fewer flowers for the border.

I'm also enclosing a couple of pictures to show you what I've been up to when I'm not working at the store or working on the Block of the Month.

Here's a darling little quilt that is in the book Comfort and Joy by Mary Hickey. This goes together very quickly and could also be used to decorate a table.




I'm a collector of many things. I love wooden tool boxes and anything that is just plain different. You've probably heard of the phrase "canary in a coal mine". In the little town of Murphys, California, I found a little wooden cage that was used as a canary carrier down into the mines. I've given it a new role to display some of my Jim Shore ornaments.






The next image is a wooden toolbox that I turned on its side to display some of my really little ornaments. The ornament on the top shelf, second from the right is my grandmother's little ornament that made me misty-eyed.




Treasure each day in this special month of December. Decorate, sing carols, spend time with children and recapture the magic of Christmas.


As always,

Lynn

Miss Daisy Continued

Dear Quilters,

By now you have probably received your first bundle of fabric for Blossoms of Friendship. (Hope you like it as much as I do!) I took my Delightful Quilts in Bloom book to my local Kinko's and had them make all of the enlargements. They cut the binding off of the book and very carefully removed the pages I needed to have enlarged.....from the twelve baskets layout to the border.


I'm enclosing images of the border flowers that you will be creating also this month in addition to Miss Daisy. Don't forget when you make your border flowers that you need to make four of each...two reversed and two not-reversed.

The first flower includes pieces C1-4 and A38-40.




















The yellow flower includes pieces A75-79.


The purple includes pieces A59-66 and don't forget #58 the leaf below.





















Last but not least, pieces A6-11.




















Remember our goal.....let's try to keep current and work on the border each month while making the baskets of flowers.

As always,
Lynn

Miss Daisy - Month #1

Dear Quilters,

Welcome to the first blog that begins the Blossoms of Friendship Block of the Month Program for In Between Stitches located in Livermore, California.

I'm excited about this block of the month for several reasons. For starters, the quilt is fabulous! When I first saw the design in Delightul Quilts in Bloom by Mary Ross and Barbara Scheu, I knew I was going to make it. I suggested to Melissa Emery, co-owner of IBS, that we offer Blossoms of Friendship as a BOM program....and to my delight she agreed.

I work at IBS on Monday....so for the last few weeks, since July 28th to be exact, I've been selecting, cutting and kitting fabric for this beautiful quilt. In my spare time I've been stitching and I'm up to block number seven!

Each month I will post an image of my block for you to follow. If you want to make substitutions of some of your own fabric, then by all means, make this quilt yours...unique to you. I'm including enough fabric each month so you can also make some of the flowers for the border. My goal is to have the border flowers all made by the time we get to block #12. I'll post the border flowers that I made for Month #1 next week.

I started a binder with dividers and plastic sleeves to hold all of my fabric for each month. I suggest that you may want to do this also. We will be using some of the same fabrics throughout the duration of the program, so stay organized! (I'll post a picture of my binder that is overflowing!) My binder travels with me wherever I go. I've made so many border flowers that I had to start another binder just for the border......I'll post images of that one also.
We are starting with Miss Daisy and your package of fabric is stunning. I have more fun putting these monthly packages together! Some months will contain more fabrics that others as we progress through the program.

So welcome to Blossoms of Friendship. Thank you for signing up for the program. We are starting a journey together and our destination is the completion of a treasured heirloom quilt.

As always,
Lynn