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Fat Quarter Shop

Rebuilding New Orleans, Block-by-Block

Books have been written, songs have sung, stories have been told about the city of New Orleans.

How to describe one of the oldest American cities: Do you start by telling of its rich cultural heritage? Founded by the French, given in treaty to Spain, sold to the United States, plantations worked by people of color? Or do you speak of its music: sultry blues, magical jazz, upbeat zydeco, strains of Caribbean rhythms mixing in? Perhaps you speak of its magnificent architecture. Maybe you speak about the exquisite cuisine peculiar to that city. The cuisine that makes my mouth water just mentioning it, and makes my taste buds dream of delights to come, resides in that city.

All of those things are New Orleans, plus much more. The people of New Orleans laugh easily, work hard, and dream the same dreams of all Americans. The dreams came crashing down when Hurricane Katrina unleashed her fury upon the city. We have all seen the pictures of the devastation left in her wake. It was heart wrenching to see what the failures of the Army Corps of Engineers and Mother Nature had wrought. Homes and businesses, schools and hospitals, all destroyed or damaged badly. Far away in Missouri, I cried as I saw what had happened to the city of beauty I had known growing up in southern Louisiana.

The people of the city are determined to rebuild and reclaim their lives. They are tough and resilient. They are bravely trying to clean up the mess. In the days immediately following the storm there was help, there still is help, but not enough. There are some famous and well-known people who are helping but they can’t do it by themselves. Presidents visit the city and promise aid but when they go back to Washington no one comes after them to follow through.

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Block of the Month (or Week) Quilt Alongs

I have a confession to make … I’ve never participated in a block of the month (or similar type) quilt project. I know, shock, and I call myself a quilter. Well, that’s about to change, as I’ve committed to two that I’m really excited about. These are both block of the weeks.

First up is Rachel’s Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along. The instructions will be posted once a week, for 12 or so weeks.

rachel-pinwheel-sampler

I’ve decided to make mine with 1930s reproduction fabrics with solid white as my background.

pinwheel-sampler-fabrics

Instructions for the first block have been posted already. You’ll also want to check out Rachel’s half square triangle tutorial. There’s also a Flickr group where you can follow along too.

Next up is Anina’s Pinwheel Party. This will be a weekly project starting March 1st and last 13 weeks.

pinwheel-party

I’ll be using solid bright fabrics with a black background.

pinwheel-party-black

I’ve done very little applique, so have not committing myself to these fabulous projects (yet!).

Erin’s Florabunda Block of the Month is absolutely beyond gorgeous.

Block 1 and Block 2 have been posted already. But really, Erin has so many fabulous tutorials, I highly recommend starting at the beginning of her site with a pot of coffee. You won’t be disappointed.

My good friend Anita from the Netherlands is doing this project. Here are her first two blocks. Aren’t they beautiful.

anita-florabunda

Over on the Aurifil Buzz blog, Pat Sloan is doing a Meadow Breeze block of the month. The first block has been posted already.

Reeze is doing a Tulip Tiles block of the month. I just love this one too. Hurry and download the instructions for the first two blocks, as they will not be available forever.

Dutch Tulip Tiles


Quilter's Daily Blog Along

What about you? Are you currently working on any Block of the Month/Week projects? What have you done in the past? Do you love them or hate them. What I find so amazing about the ones I’ve featured above, is the fabulous tutorials that go along with the projects.

Join us at the new Quilter’s Daily Blog Along. The idea is that each day a new prompt will be posted, to give you inspiration for your next blog post. On your blog, write a post using the daily prompt as a guide. Then head over to the blog along site and add a link to your post in the comments for the specific day.

Today’s prompt, from me, is Block of the Month (or Week) Quilt Alongs.


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Weekly Quilt Contest: Snow, Ice, Cold (Brrrrrrr!)

Congratulations to Yvonne of Belgium for winning last week’s weekly themed quilt contest, Two-Coloured Quilts, with her very unique I and Y challenge quilt.

Thanks to Jojo’s Quilt and Gift Shoppe for their donation of a Metro Market fabric bundle. Thanks also to the 758 voters that cast their ballot over the weekend. It was an exciting contest.

This week’s theme is Snow, Ice, Cold… quilts that make us go Brrrrrrr! To enter, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo. Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

This week’s contest is sponsored by my good friend Geta Grama from Romania. Many of you will already be familiar with her as she’s had several of her free tutorials featured here. I am also the very lucky owner of one of her shadow trapunto quilts.

Last year, Geta published her first Shadow Trapunto e-book, which is fabulous by the way. Now, she’s released a new set of patterns, called Pockets with Love. The pockets are made using origami (the traditional Japanese art of paper folding ). She adapted the technique to fabrics and instead of a single piece of paper, you use two (or three) pieces of fabric. They are super cute and super easy to make. These are perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter or Christmas as you could hide little treats in the pockets.

pockets-with-love

The winner of this week’s contest will receive one set of Geta’s Pockets with Love patterns, including the bonus Jolly Bag pattern. Check out the fabulous bags she’s made.

Here’s Geta’s latest free tutorial from her blog, a gorgeous portfolio. Perfect for any little girl. I do believe this would make a great present for my almost 4 year old niece’s birthday later this month. Of course, you can change the fabrics for the artistic little boy in your life too.


If you want to be a sponsor, contact me.

Blog It

You may use the code below to add the logo to your own blog. Thanks for helping to spread the word. The more contestants, the more exciting the contests.

photo-contests

<a href="http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/weekly-themed-quilt-contest/"><img src="http://quiltinggallery.com/images/photo-contests.jpg" alt="Weekly Themed Quilt Contests" width="125" height="125" /></a>


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Fusible Thread Flag Project

flag

Charlotte Warr Andersen has put together this fabulous tutorial on making one-layer applique with fusible thread. The finished product is light, with no build-up of layers, and can be folded and washed.

I’ve never seen applique done like this before, and must admit I’m very impressed with the technique. The instructions and photos used in the tutorial make it easy to understand.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends to the south. Hope you have a wonderful day spent with family and loved ones.

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Cross Country Christmas Quilt Designer Blog Hop

quilt-designer-blog-hop

Gudrun Erla of G.E. Designs has invited eleven very cool ladies to have some fun blog-hopping around the country starting today.

Each will post every day sharing favourite Christmas recipes, traditions and stories.

And each day, one of them will share a Christmas/Holiday project with you. Twelve days… twelve free projects. WOW!

There will be prizes!!!

Start your hopping here:

Fun, fun, fun … for everyone!!

For day 1, Gudrun has posted this adorable quilt-as-you-go Sweet Trimmings Christmas tree wall hanging. It’s super cute and very quick to complete as you quilt it at the same as you put the top together. I definitely need to make one of these for myself. Maybe add a few buttons to serve as ornaments too.

sweet-trimmings

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Scrappy Bookmarks

With less than two months left until Christmas, I’ve started thinking about some quick and easy gifts I can make.

These fabulous Scrappy Bookmarks definitely fit that bill. Terrie has put together a great tutorial with lots of photos.

bookmarks

If you need a refresher course, be sure to check out Nadine’s video tutorial on edge stitching Inchies. It’ll come in handy for doing the edges of the bookmarks too.

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