Here is the star block I did for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt-Along.

Milo's Star

I’ve called it Milo’s Star. I couldn’t decide on the name for the block when Samelia’s Mum suggested Milo’s Star on Facebook, I loved the idea.

The fabric is from the Happy line by Me and My Sisters. This was the fabric I used in my Happy Memories quilt in honour of Pal, Daniel and Slade – my kitties now on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Happy Memories Quilt - in loving memory of Pal, Slade and Daniel.

I added a 1/2″ finished hot pink border and a 2″ green border to make two mini quilts. I finished the quilting the other day and will add hot pink binding later. One will be for my niece Lucy’s 6th birthday later this month. I may keep the other one I made for myself or give it to my other niece. The sashing looks crooked in the photo only. :)

Milo's Star Mini Quilt

You can download the free tutorial for completing the Milo’s Star block here. There are prizes being given away as part of the quilt-along. Visit the quilt-along site for all the info and the tutorials for the other star blocks too.

If you create my block, please upload to the Quilting Gallery Flickr group or the Facebook group so I can see them too.

While clearing off my camera earlier today, I found this short video that I took of Milo and Barney (my parents’ dog) at Christmas. Milo was trying to convince Barney it was playtime!

Can you help? – Make some 4 Patches 4 Hope this weekend and send them to Regina.

From Regina’s web site:

4Patches4Hope began as a desire to use my passion for quilting and the power of social media and word of mouth to create comfort quilts for those undergoing cancer treatments and also raise money for cancer research. It was to begin on my mother’s birthday – today – October 4, 2011 and be a birthday gift to her. Unfortunately Mom’s cancer had a different timetable, and on July 12, 2011 her battle with this disease ended. I decided to forge forward in her memory.

Make light-dark 4 patch block(s) using 2 1/2″ squares (assembled blocks should be 4 1/2″ square). Use any colors you like for your “dark” but please try to use white or ivory for your “light”.

The goal is 4,000 blocks and $4,000 by February 28, 2012. Received blocks will be assembled into “comfort quilts” and donated to the Anderson Medical Center in Anderson, SC and the Pluta Cancer Center in Rochester, NY. Also each block donated will enter your name into a drawing for “participation prizes”.

Visit the 4Patches4Hope web site or on Facebook for all the details.

Here are the ten 4-patch sets I sent last Fall:

Hopefully, I can find some time to make up a few more sets and send them off before the deadline.

Today, I’ll be a guest on Pat Sloan’s Quilting Radio show. The show is broadcast live at 4pm Eastern, 3pm Central, 2pm mountain, 1pm Pacific. You can listen to it live or subscribe via Itunes and listen to it later.

I will be today’s first guest. Pat and I will be talking about the Quilting Gallery and the plans for 2012. We’ll also be sharing our super secret project which you’ll be able to read about on the blog later today too.

If you have a question for me, head over to Pat’s blog and she might just ask me your question LIVE.

Hope you’ll turn in to listen… and that Milo doesn’t BARK! LOL

Are you ready for a challenge? A quilting challenge, where you get to pick one of your UFOs (unfinished quilting objects), make some progress and get it finished – or almost finished.

Along with Quilting Is Murder, I’m thrilled to be hosting this quilt challenge where we ask participants to save a UFO (unidentified project) from certain death by finishing it up! Here’s the best part: it can be anything mysteriously quilting related *and* you decide if it is "finished" or not when submitted.

Head over to the Quilting is Murder – Save a UFO Challenge page for all the details. I hope you’ll join the FUN and rescue one of your UFOs.

My Challenge

I don’t know about you, but I need some accountability! to get some of my UFOs done this year. I’m overwhelmed with all the projects I have on the go. While I can’t officially enter this challenge, I am going to participate and make a challenge to myself, and you, to get this quilt top done.

This is my postage stamp quilt that I started collecting 2″ squares for back in January 2010. As of mid-December, I have 17 blocks completed. Each block will finish at 12″ square and contains 64 – 1.5″ finished pieces.

I redid the math for this project and decided I wanted a 5×6 layout or 30 – 12″ blocks. During December, needing some time to de-stress, I started piecing the 8 strips together for the remaining 13 blocks for this quilt. Mindless stitching at its best.

I did some additional piecing over New Year’s and now have 52 – 16 patches together. Next up, pin and stitch into 26 patches, then into 64 patches for the completed 13 – 64-patch blocks.

With 3/4″ sashing strips and 2.5″ for the outer border, the quilt will finish at 70″x82″. I haven’t decided yet the sashing or border colours. This quilt will contain 30×64 = 1,920 – 1.5″ finished patches when done! Here’s an EQ7 interpretation:

I started working on these table runners back in September. The mittens appliqué are from Erin Russek. You can read the original post, which includes the various links to Erin’s free pattern and tutorials, here: I’m Smitten with Erin’s Mittens.

This was my first time using Aurifil’s 12wt cotton thread for the blanket stitch. I used a 50wt thread in the bobbin, a size 14 top stitch needle and lowered my tension to 2. It worked like a dream. Love the depth and texture it added to the mittens. I’ll definitely be using this thread again when I want some definition to my appliqué projects.

I wanted the table runners a little longer, so I added 1/2″ finished yellow sashing and used up the leftover charm pieces to add side borders. The red border finished at 1″ and the green border at 2″. The table runners finished at 40″x16″.

I stitched in the ditch around the blocks and all sashings. I did a small stipple in the blocks around the appliqué pieces. For the red border, since it was already stiched in the ditch, I just did a straight line down the middle. For the outer border, I marked where the binding would be attached then evenly spaced out lines to form the diamond shape. I did a simple crisscross design in the coloured sashing edge pieces.

Close up quilting of one of the blocks:

You might recognize the fabrics and colour scheme from the Christmas Ornaments wall hanging I did. This one I kept for myself, as it fits the round table in my kitchen perfectly. I suppose I should pack it away with the Christmas stuff and make something new for my table.

P.S. I’m linking this post up with Pat Sloan’s Show me your stuff post. So many lovely projects to look at!

Linking up here too: WIP Wednesday.

This month, Shruti is doing an ABC’s of Quilting series on her blog. She’s invited guests to help her out. Check out the various subjects that will be covered here.

My post is a Blogland Tour of 10 of my favourite modern bloggers. I have to admit, it was not easy to pick just 10. I could easily have picked 20.

Head over to read my post and see who I chose: Blogland Tour: 10 Favourite Modern Bloggers.

Share your favourite bloggers in the comments below. I cleaned out my RSS reader earlier this week, so now I have room to add a few blogs.

Konda of Moose on the Porch Quilts is hosting a Fat Quarter Stars Quilt-Along on her site. It started late January and will run until end of March 2012. Every Tuesday a new star block is posted.

Here are the first seven blocks that have been created. Aren’t they gorgeous? I love the variety.

You can find the quilt-along info and block tutorials on this page: Fat Quarter Stars Quilt-Along. You can jump in and join the quilt-along at anytime. There are prizes too! See the gorgeous blocks that have been created so far in the Flickr group.

At the end of January, I’ll have a block featured. I’ve been playing around in EQ7 this week, and below are four block variations I’ve come up with. What do you think? Do you have a preference? There’s a poll underneath the photos that you can select your preferred block. The colours will change depending on what fabrics I choose to use. I’m hoping to get a test block done this weekend.

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

Version 4

Which block version is your fave?

My entry for the 2011 Christmas Quilt Show contest, is my Christmas Ornaments wall hanging/table topper I made as a bonus block for our Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along.

It’s available as a free download too. The ornaments block finishes at 12″ and the mini quilt at 19″. If you make the block/mini quilt, please share in the Flickr group… I’d love to see it.

I was told, in order to enter, I must include a photo of Milo in a Santa hat. I haven’t been able to find a hat small enough to fit him yet, so here he is with Santa.

Head over to SewCalGal’s site to see the other entries and enter a quilt yourself. The prizes up for grabs are awesome!

I was born on September 6th, 2011 and I’m 10 weeks old.
I came to live with my new mommy last Friday.

Here’s a picture of me and my brothers at two weeks old with our mom.

My mom is a Spaniel, Shih Tzu, Pug mix and weighs about 13 pounds.

Here’s my dad. He’s a Chihuahua and Yorkie mix and weighs about 5 pounds.

Here’s a picture of me at five weeks.

And a couple of pictures of me at 6 weeks.

And a photo of me at 8 weeks.

I went to the vet on Saturday and she says I’m perfectly healthy.
I weighed a whopping 3.5 pounds and the vet thinks I’ll get to be 10 pounds when I’m fully grown.

I nap all the time.

I have a new bed and lots of toys at my new home.

I have a new coat too… winter is coming.

I helped my new mommy as she was drawing a quilt design the other day.
I’m going to be a great quilt inspector.

I love to go outside and do most of my business out there. Mom needs to learn to get up, dressed and then let me out of my crate in the mornings to go outside, cos I gotta GO!

If I see you walking on the sidewalk, I will try to chase you, and if you don’t stop and say how adorable I am, I might even bark at you. Mom says I need Puppy Kindergarten.

I really like my new home! Mom says I’m a great addition to the Quilting Gallery staff.

I’m participating in the Generation Q Magazine’s Oh Thank Cuteness fun. Visit friends over there for more cute!

Updated Oh Thank Cuteness! – Milo’s Adventures ]]> http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/11/16/introducing-milo/feed/ 47 http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/11/09/can-you-help-cover-a-naked-bed-basics-quilt-drive/ http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/11/09/can-you-help-cover-a-naked-bed-basics-quilt-drive/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:34:40 +0000 Mishka http://quiltinggallery.com/?p=10227 serious mission to get 400 more quilts by the United States' Thanksgiving to meet the 700 quilts she was originally asked for. Can you help by sending a quilt?]]> Victoria Findlay Wolfe owner of Bumblebeans, Inc. started an amazing quilt drive for BASICS, a non-profit organization in the Bronx, NYC that helps homeless families get out of shelters and back into transitional housing.

Her initial interest in finding a good home for a few of her extra quilts ultimately grew into a global effort when she asked the head of Basics if he could use a few quilts, and he responded, “Do you have 700?” one for each of the families on the waiting list for housing.

Last year her “Call for help” very quickly gathered 300 quilts which were hand delivered to the families. You can see pictures of the events and more info at http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

Victoria is on a serious mission to get 400 more quilts by the United States’ Thanksgiving to meet the 700 quilts she was originally asked for. Can you help by sending a quilt?

If not by Thanksgiving, Keep sending! This is an ongoing quilt drive, and they always need more quilts! Every few months they try to do quilt distribution events to personally hand over your quilts, announcing the maker’s name to the family where the quilt will now live. It is a highly emotional and fabulous event!

All kinds of quilts are needed, from baby quilts to large quilts, what ever they receive they can find a home for. New or gently loved quilts can be sent to:

From Mishka…

Earlier this Fall, Scott Hansen from Blue Nickel Studios asked his quilting friends for quilt blocks so that he can put together some quilts for Victoria’s quilt drive. Here are the blocks I sent:

I’m hoping to send a completed quilt of my own in early December too. I have a few tops done, just need to be quilted, bound and sent.