Christmas Ornament Block

It's my turn once again for the OMQG block of the month, so I created this fun ornament block which will finish at 12 1/2 inches.  You will need 2 contrasting Christmas fabrics, white fabric and a small piece of gray or silver.

Cut:
    6 - 3 1/2 in sq of Christmas fabric 1
    3 - 3 1/2 in sq of Christmas fabric 2
    4 - 3 1/2 in sq of white
    1 - 2 in sq of silver or gray
    2 - 4 1/2 by 2 in strips of white
    1 - 9 1/2 by 1 1/4 strip white
    1 - 9 1/2 by 2 1/2 strip white
    2 - 12 1/2 by 2 1/2 in strips white

Lay out your 3 1/2 in Christmas fabric squares.

Put the white squares (right sides together) on each corner.  Then draw a line from corner to corner with a pencil.  Making sure it goes in the correct direction to give corners to the Christmas ornament.

Sew along the line, trim a 1/4 inch seam allowance, and then press open.  Lay out to form the ornament.

Lay out the blocks like a 9 patch with the Christmas fabrics in stripes.

Sew together in rows and press.

Sew gray fabric between the 4 1/2 in strips and press.

Center gray square above middle Christmas square.  Sew strip to ornament square.

Add 9 1/2 by 1 1/4 inch strip to top of block.  Add 9 1/2  by 2 1/2 inch strip to bottom of block. Then trim sides to even up the block.  The trim the bottom strip (if necessary) so the block is 12 1/2 inches  high.

Add a 12 1/2 inch strip to each side.  Square the block to 12 1/2 inches.

Bright Star Points on Black.
    
   Its my turn to do the block-of-the-month for the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild.  Since I love wonky stars, I thought I'd do a slight variation, using solid black for both the background and center squares to give it more negative space.  I also love bright colors, so it should be a fun quilt when put together.  This is my first attempt at a tutorial, so feel free to look at other tutorials if mine is unclear.  (Just google 'wonky star tutorial' - and be sure to use solid black for both the background and center squares.)  

 Step 1:  Cut 9 4 1/2 inch squares from solid black.  Then 4 6 1/2 inch squares from bright colors.

Step 2:  Cut the bright squares into triangles.

 

Step 3: Lay 4 triangles at different angles over 4 of the black squares, making sure that after sewing and pressing, all of the black will be covered.

Step 4:  Sew the triangles to the black using a quarter inch seam.  Fold over and press.  Turn the squares over and using the black square as a guideline, trim off the excess colored fabric.  You can then unfold the square and trim off the excess fabric at the seam, leaving a 4 1/2 inch square - partially black and partially colored.

Step 5:  Lay the other triangles over your trimmed squares in the opposite direction.   Sew with a quarter inch seam.

Step 6:  Turn, press, and trim off the excess triangle fabric to make a 4 1/2 inch square.  Then unfold and trim off the excess at the seam.  Press the squares.

Step 7:  Layout your star point squares with the black squares as shown above.  Sew squares into 3 rows using SCANT 1/4 inch seams.  Then join the 3 rows together using SCANT 1/4 inch seams.

Step 8:  Press and you now have a completed block.

June Projects

     I had a very busy June planned for myself - temp work and a 2-week vacation to Washington DC with my friend Donita.  Everything pretty much fell apart.  Donita had to cancel since she accepted a teaching job in Mississippi and has to relocate from Utah and attend training right at the time our trip was scheduled.  My annual temp job was 2 weeks shorter this year finishing  in May instead of June.  I'm thrilled that Donita is moving out to this end of the country.  We've been friends since high school and are both excited that we'll be only a 1-day drive apart.  Still, at first I was pretty bummed out - but then I realized I had a whole, free month to do whatever I wanted.  My sewing machine and fabric stash were calling my name. 
     I began making a tossed nine-patch for my bedroom from charm packs I'd picked up on sale during a recent shop hop.  At the same time, I decided to work on a scrap quilt for the spare bedroom.  I've been going back and forth.  I want to get the nine-patch done, but there's something very satisfying about cutting and sewing all those 2 inch squares together.  I also took a break one morning to create the disappearing 4-patch in red-white-blue for the OMQG June block of the month.  I thought that would be easy, but apparently I either can't sew a scant 1/4 inch seam, or can't cut accurately or both, because it took 3 tries before I finally got one to come out the right size.  From now on I'll just make all blocks too big and cut them down.
     Time is flying by while I quilt.  So much to quilt - so little time.  Maybe I'll do this every June.

Minimalist Quilting

I have a split personality.  I love to read blogs about minimalism and simplicity.  I'm in awe of all those people living with only 100 things and traveling the world unencumbered.  Part of me so gets it.  When I'm sitting out in my screen room, all I want is fresh air, sunlight, birdsong, and a comfy place to sit while I drink my tea.  When I go to bed, I just want a serene, comfy place to lay my head.  I don't want my living room and kitchen surfaces covered in knickknacks.                                            Aaah....But then there's quilting.  I just can't help myself.  It's spring and that means flowers!  It doesn't matter that I don't have any particular project planned.  It doesn't matter that my fabric bins are overflowing.  It doesn't matter that I already have a bunch of projects going.  It just matters that all those cute flower prints out there are calling my name.  I can never be a minimalist quilter.  To me quilting is messy, colorful, overflowing, creative, and most of all fun. 

Cell Block H

     I'm a thrifty person by nature, so when my favorite summer nightie more or less disintegrated in the washer, I decided to make a new one.  I scrounged through my pattern box and discovered a 99 cent special from a Joann's sale and then headed to my stash for a big enough piece of cotton.  I had about 2 yards left of a small green plaid that I'd used as a quilt backing.  I got busy cutting it out.  My first clue that something was wrong was the strange opening in the front.  After carefully reading the directions, I discovered it was a maternity nightgown!  At 59 I sure don't need one of those, but I like roomy nighties so I sewed up the gap and continued.  When I tried it on, it was not only several sizes too big (obviously pattern sizes do not equal regular clothes sizes), but was the ugliest thing I've ever put on.
     I showed it to my daughter, who smirked and asked for a fashion show.  After about 10  minutes of laughing, she said she couldn't decide if it looked more like a table cloth with a hole cut in the middle or a dress from one of those B movies from the 50s about women in prison. We promplty dubbed it the "Cell Block H Nightie".  Thrifty definitely wasn't better - but I just can't help myself - I see a strip quilt in its future.

Welcome to my new blog

    Hi.  I've been putting off creating this blog for awhile (had a little chicken-itis), but decided to put on my big girl panties and get started.  For those of you who know me as Linda, you may be wondering about my blog name.  When I was a little girl, my best friend Shauna and I decided we needed nicknames and that longer names were better than shorter ones, so we combined our first and middle names.  She became Shaunalynni and I became Lindianna.  Fifty years later, I'm resurrecting that name and the spirit of that little girl.  She was brave and adventurous and never afraid to be different.  I hope to use this blog to share a few of my little adventures with family and friends (old and new). 
     In March I joined the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild (OMQG).  What a great group of women - creative, fun, and very supportive.  It's already sparked my creative spirit, so I'll be posting some of my creations here soon - and also a link to the OMQG blog so you can all see the wonderful things going on there.  Everyone there seems to be in love with color and there are no quilting rules - so it's the perfect place for an imperfect quilter like me.