Tag Archives: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Block One is Finally Done

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Some ideas just have to percolate for awhile. That’s the way it was with my snowflake.

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This pattern was designed by Vanda from Quilt in Piece and can be downloaded here free through January 15, 2018; don’t delay, download yours today.

I wasn’t sure how to proceed. Should I make a white snowflake on a red background or a gray one? Should I make a gray snowflake on a white background or a red one? Where should I add some ric rac? I asked my husband; no help there. I asked my quilting group friends; some said use the red background while others said use the gray background.

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Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 12 Released Today

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Before there were electric lights, piles of wax held candles on the branches of Christmas trees. Once they were all lit the tree was ablaze with light. Literally, many Christmas trees and homes burned to the ground because of this practice. You’ll be relieved to know that this block will light up your quilt the modern way.

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Tu-Na Quilts: It’s Coming

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My version of block 11 is still coming. I’ll be back in a day or two with it. I hope you’re enjoying the hop. (Edited: The block is finished. You can read about it and see it here.)

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In the meantime, you’ll enjoy seeing the versions from these hosts and find the pattern for block 11 here.

 

 What I Learned Today:

  1. Double check dates. Don’t rely on memory or at least my memory.
  2. It’s hard to admit, but mistakes can happen, even to me.

Question: Are you prone to making mistakes or do they slap you in the face every once in a while revealing that you are only human, too?

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen

 

 

Tu-Na Quilts: Block 2-Tree Farm Finished for I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long

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I finished Block 2, Christmas Tree Farm, for the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long almost two months ago but haven’t been able to write about it.

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I’ve purchased small yellow star buttons to add to the tops of the trees after I’ve quilted the top.

This cute block pattern was designed by April at Janda Bend Quilts and can be found Continue reading →

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You A Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 10 Released Today

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Today’s charming Christmas Lantern block is designed by Diane of Cwilt. You’ll find the link to her free pattern on her blog here. Don’t delay. It’s free only until January 15th so download it today. Continue reading →

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 9 Released Today

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♪ Do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? ♪

If you guessed Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, you are right. Most everyone knows that song. If not, you can listen to it here. But did you know it originally started as a poem and was published by the Montgomery Ward department store? This poem, written by Robert May in 1939, was included in a coloring book and given to children when they came to visit Santa.

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Today’s block can be identified just by looking at his nose. This Reindeer Games block was designed by Bobbi at Snowy Days Quilting. You’ll find the link to her free pattern on her blog here. Don’t delay. It’s free only until January 15th. Continue reading →

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You A Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 8 Released Today

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In the spirit of giving, we give you another free pattern today. But don’t delay in downloading your patterns, as they are free only as long as the quilt-a-long is going on.

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This block may look challenging to some of you. But it goes together easily just follow the directions. I used the pictures a lot to tell me if I was on the right course or not.

Sola, at Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co., created this super cute pattern. You can find the pattern on her blog here. Don’t be overly worried about it. I’ve got a couple of construction tips for you to help you along your way and so do my fellow hosts listed below.

First, the pattern makes two identical present blocks within the block. At first, I thought I’d only make one present for my square. I should have done that and once finished I would have realized how easy they were and then gone on and made the second. Instead, I cut out for both presents and tried sewing them up together. I highly suggest cutting out and sewing up only one at a time. Why you ask?

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I accidently cut two of those white with red pieces that were to be set aside. This meant that the remaining piece would now be short and I would have to start over.

Next, when sewing the angled edges together, baste them in place along the seam line and then check. If the ribbons don’t match, you can easily remove the basting and try again. Why you ask?

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I machine basted just thru the ribbon seams to see how they lined up. It took me about six tries on each present before I got it right. Ripping out only this much saved me a lot of time. I use this technique a lot when matching angles.

I will add the ric rack bows and gift tags after the top is finished and quilted.

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I’ll use fray check on the ends of the ric rac. I had to find a way to sneak some ric rack into this block.

I think the bows and tags really dress up this gift and also help create the 3-D effect.

I hope I’ve inspired you to grab your fabric and sew up a couple of presents today.

Then post the picture on either Sola’s party link on her blog or on the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook page or tag # #iwishyouamerryqal on Instagram to win some prizes. Remember you have until October 23rd at 11.59 PM to link or post your pic to be entered to win.

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Thank you to Warm Crochet for offering this prize. In addition, they are also offering a discount code to all QAL participants. Use the code “ChristmasQAL” to get 10%OFF your purchase. Thank you also to Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl for offering a pattern for this giveaway. You can find her shop here.

At the end of the QAL there will be a link to download a picture of your finished quilt. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must make a quilt top using all twelve of the QAL blocks by January 16th, 2018. Thank you to all these sponsors for prizes.

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Here’s all my blocks so far.

Find info on where to get the pattern and see my Block 3-Santa’s Belt here,  Block 4-Christmas Memories (ornaments) here, Block 5-Snowman here, and Block 6-Angel here, Block 7-Poinsettia here. As you can see, I am still working on blocks one and two, so you see, there’s still time for you to join along. You can find the pattern for block one-snowflake here and block 2-tree farm here.

I’ve got a start on the tree farm. I’m starting to see a secondary theme emerging. Do you?

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Meet the rest of the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Hosts as they reveal their version of this block

Look for Block 9 to be released on October 24th.

Coming soon:

My Art with Fabric Blog Hop post on Wednesday  (I hope you’ll be back to check it out as I’m really excited about it)

A visit to the Quilted Ceiling Quilt Shop in Valley City, ND.

A look at all the Quilt MN Shop Hop loot

What I Learned Today:

  1. Take more pics. I do take a lot but I could use more.
  2. When the camera stops working: take out the battery, wait 10 seconds, reinsert the battery, start taking pics again.
  3. Deer don’t like zucchini. They ate the watermelon but left the zucchini in the garden.

Question: What was a unique gift you gave or received? I made a jar of reindeer noses (malted milk balls and sour cherries) and gifted them to our neighbors at our AZ house a couple of years ago. They all enjoyed them. I should do that again.

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

Linking to:

I Wish You a Merry QAL Linky Party at Alice Samuels Quilt Co.

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River

Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

WIPs at Silly Mama Quilts

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 7 Released Today

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 Did you know there’s a song about a poinsettia? It starts out:

♪ Percy the puny poinsettia
Is hanging his bloom in dismay
If they had just kept him wetta
He’d be a houseplant today
Folks liked the other plants betta
Now he’s alone on the shelf
Even a plant with no uncle or aunt
Shouldn’t spend Christmas Day by himself ♪

If you’re interested in finding out what happens to Percy, you can listen to it here.

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The seventh block in our I Wish You A Merry Quilt-A-Long just happens to be a poinsettia. However, this poinsettia definitely isn’t puny and it sure is cute.

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The pattern can be found here at SandyStar Designs.

You will have fun sewing this one. Ohhh, the possibilities! I wanted to use just one color for all of the petals but wanted to make a definition between them. Voila, ric rac to the rescue. I plan to use ric rac in many of these blocks. I liked ric rac as a little girl and still do. I think I’ll start a campaign to promote the use of ric rac again. There used to be so many colors to choose from at the store and now the selection is rather limited. So let’s start using more ric rac.

Adding the ric rac, took a bit of thought. I started by machine basting the ric rack onto the piece that I wanted it to lay flat against.

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Then I pressed the seam open.

Check the picture below to see how I easily squared the half square triangle/quarter square triangle pieces.

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I aligned the diagonal line on my square ruler along the seam line as noted by the black arrows. I made sure the cutting line on the right side of the ruler would fall exactly at 3.5 inches at the place where the quarter square triangle seams joined as noted by the red arrow. This is very important as it ensures the square will be cut accurately and each quarter square triangle will be the correct size helping tremendously when matching seams.

Sewing all that ric rac in the seams produced quite a clump in the middle. It was so thick when I joined the final two seams that I didn’t even try to sew through it. I didn’t want to break a needle but I tried to get as close as I could to the center.

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Once all the seams were sewn and pressed, I cut away the center making sure there would still be plenty of block that would be covered by the appliqued circle.

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Reducing this bulk, helped the appliqued center lie flat.

I used a vintage thread spool to trace around for the center part of the poinsettia.

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I often look for items to trace around especially round things.

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That’s how I made my pretty-but not puny-Poinsettia.

Are you making a Poinsettia this week?

Grab your fabric and sew up a poinsettia today.

Then post the picture on either Sandy’s party link on her blog or on the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook page or tag # #iwishyouamerryqal on Instagram to win some prizes. Remember you have until October 23rd at 11.59 PM to link or post your pic to be entered to win.

Prizes

Special thanks to Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter for supplying a pattern for the giveaway. You can find her pattern shop here.

At the end of the QAL there will be a link to download a picture of your finished quilt. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must make a quilt top using all twelve of the QAL blocks by January 16th, 2018. Thank you to all these sponsors for prizes.

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Here’s all my blocks.

Find info on where to get the pattern and see my Block 3-Santa’s Belt here,  Block 4-Christmas Memories (ornaments) here, Block 5-Snowman here, and Block 6-Angel here. As you can see, I am still working on blocks one and two, so you see, there’s still time for you to join along. You can find the pattern for block one-snowflake here and block 2-tree farm here.

Meet the rest of the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Hosts as they reveal their version of this block

Look for block 8 to be released today also! You can find my version of Block 8 here. Block 9 will be released on October 24th.

Coming soon:

A visit to the Quilted Ceiling Quilt Shop in Valley City, ND.

A look at all the Quilt MN Shop Hop loot

What I Learned Today?

  1. There appears to be a song written for just about anything.
  2. There’s a lot of creative quilters making this quilt. I Wish You a Merry QAL facebook page shows lots of creative versions of these blocks.
  3. Looking at all that creativity makes me want to start another one of these quilts but in blue and white.
  4. Someone, probably on four legs, stole all of our watermelons from the garden. My husband even put them in hiding amongst the vines and laid corn stalks over the top. We picked one last week and it was delicious. I hope they enjoyed them, too.

Question: Does your Christmas decorating include buying Poinsettia plants?  Do you use ric rac?

If you want to be notified of my posts when they publish, please subscribe to follow me using one of the three ways; email, WordPress, or Bloglovin, found on my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

Linking to:

I Wish You a Merry QAL Linky Party at SandyStar Designs

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River

Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

WIPS at Silly Mama Quilts

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 6 Released Today

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♪ Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o’er the plain

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains ♪

 

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Welcome to the Block 6 Release Party Day of the I Wish You A Merry Quilt-A-Long.

Here she is sweetly singing ♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo. ♪

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I’ve personalized this pattern a wee bit. She’s got a new “do” and some eyelet edging on her gown,  She’s also sporting a halo.

You’ll find this pattern at Sandra Healy Designs here. All the patterns are free until January 16th, 2018. So don’t delay, download your pattern today. Sandra’s also offering a 20% discount in her shop at Sandra Healy Designs until October 25, 2017. Just use the coupon code MERRYQAL20 when you check-out.

I learned a few tricks to make this angel a bit easier to put together.

  1. I don’t have a lightbox. In order to trace the applique portion of the pattern, I taped it on a window and then held the Lite Steam a Seam 2 over it with the yellow lines side facing me. Then I held the Steam a Seam over the paper and just traced the lines moving the Steam a Seam as needed for the next part of the applique. Make sure to leave about half an inch of space between each part.tunaquilts 2a

2. This pattern has lots of applique pieces with rounded edges. To make the rounded edges nice and smooth, I turned my prepared fabric applique piece while I cut holding the scissors in one place. This helps to make the rounded edges round and make nice crisp lines. It does make a difference. It is so much better than holding the fabric/paper still and moving the scissors cutting up and down. Having a really sharp scissors also helps. I also have a scissors that I only use for applique. The blades do get gummy and I clean them off with rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab.

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O.k. This wasn’t the best pic to highlight this point. But it’s really hard to hold the scissors in one hand, and the fabric in the other hand, and the camera in another hand when I only have two hands!

3. I chose NOT to use a stabilizer this time. I used one when I made the ornaments and look what happened here. I’m still picking out the remnants. I think this angel block turned out well.  

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This looks so much better than the back of the ornament block. but that one will look nice, too, once I finish picking out all the paper. The block pulled in just slightly on the bottom but still finished very close to 12.5″. This was probably because of the bias tape edge of the eyelet lace trim. After thinking about it, I could have trimmed this bias edge away in the back before stitching it down. 

4. You can also see in the pic above that I used a piece of lightweight iron-on interfacing on the underside of the face. this is so that the embroidery thread French knots do not pull through the front.

5. I also found that the sewing machine needle will get gummy from the Steam a Seam although the package says it doesn’t. To remedy this, either clean off your needle when done with rubbing alcohol or use a needle that you save just for applique.

6. Finally, I encourage you to personalize your block to make it unique and to reflect a bit of yourself in it. Add some fun embellishments. If you look at Sandra’s pattern, you can see that I changed the angel’s hairstyle and added a halo. I also added a bit of eyelet trim to the bottom of her gown.

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She just got back from the hairdresser and is sporting a new “do.”

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I appliqued the feet first. Then stitched down the gown leaving the trim flying free.

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I think those toes are so cute just peeking out from under the gown.

What can you do to make your angel block unique?

Here’s how all my blocks look together. The gray, red, white, and yellow are all the same fabrics in each of the blocks. They just look different in the pics.

Find info on where to get the pattern and see my Block 3-Santa’s Belt here,  Block 4-Christmas Memories (ornaments) here, and Block 5-Snowman here. I am still working on blocks one and two, so you see, there’s still time for you to join along. You can find the pattern for block one-snowflake here and block 2-tree farm here.

That cute snowman pattern that was released two weeks ago is catching the eyes of everyone! In fact, my snowman above was featured last week on Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers. That was really exciting. So, Mr. Snowman, this one’s for you!

I’ve been enjoying seeing all the unique snowmen being posted on the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook page.

Grab your fabric and sew up an angel today. Then post the picture on either Sandra’s party link on her blog or on the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook page or tag # #iwishyouamerryqal on Instagram to win some prizes. Remember you have until October 9th at 11.59 PM to link or post your pic to be entered to win. Thank you to Island Batik for supplying the prize for this block.

block six prizes

The next two blocks will be released on October 10th at 12:01 AM Eastern time. The remaining blocks will be released every other Tuesday with the final block set to post on December 5th giving you just enough time to finish your quilt before Christmas.

At the end of the QAL there will be a link to download a picture of your finished quilt. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must make a quilt top using all twelve of the QAL blocks by January 16th, 2018. Thank you to all these sponsors for prizes.

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Meet the rest of the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Hosts as they reveal their version of this block:

Coming soon on Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats:

Tu-Na Quilts: The Reveal of the Listed Loot

Tu-Na Quilts: The Reveal of What Was Added to the List (a.k.a. The Big Splurge)

Tu-Na Quilts: The Reveal of My 2017 Quilt MN Shop Hop Fabric and a Bit More About the Designer

Tu-Na Quilts: A Few Words from Tu-Na Helper

Tu-Na Quilts: It’s All Out of the Bag (A Wrap up of the 2017 Quilt MN Shop Hop)

Tu-Na Travels: Visiting the Quilted Ceiling in Valley City, ND

What I Learned Today:

  1. There’s a lot of creativity in the quilting world. Looking at all the blocks on the I Wish You a Merry QAL Facebook page makes me want to start about 4 more of these quilts.
  2. It’s easy to get behind even with fun things. I am behind in posting the remaining posts of the Quilt MN Shop Hop and my Valley City  Quilt Shop as I was busy preparing the post for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival. But they will be coming.

Question: Are you sewing along with us? If you aren’t, what color fabrics would you choose?

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

At this time, I have no affiliation with any of the shops, products, companies, or services that I mention here on Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats.

Linking to:

Block 6 Linky Party at Sandra Healy Designs

BOMS Away at What a Hoot Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilt

Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts

Moving It Forward Monday at Em’s Scrapbag

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River

Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

 

Tu-Na Quilts: I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Block 5 Released Today

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♪ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go ♪

from my sewing room to the shops I visited today!

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I visited The Quilted Ceiling in Valley City, ND today and found this cute guy. More about that quilt shop in a future post.

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Lots of snowmen greeted me in that quilt shop.

Maybe you can say the same. It’s not too late to start quilting along with us on this merry adventure. Of course, the blocks are a mystery until they’re revealed every other Tuesday.

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Sherry at Powered by Quilting presents our block for today. You can visit her blog here for a free pattern of it.

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She’s included several ways to make this pattern your own.

I had a lot of fun sewing this one. It’s cute and quick and the directions are well-written. Be sure to use a scant 1/4″ seam so you won’t be making your block too small. I find when a block has lots of small pieces, and this one surely has some tiny ones, that one runs the risk of the block ending up being too small because the seam allowance was just slightly too big. Those slightly too big seam allowances can add up and one can find themselves with a block that is smaller than one needs. Yes, that’s experience talking…more than once. I’ve also learned to make sure I cut the pieces accurately.

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I thought I’d show you the lovely back. I guess if I’d known I was really going to use this picture, I’d have given this block a light mist of Best Press (no affiliate) just because I like the way it leaves the block all crisp and neat. Sherry’s pattern gives you directions which way to press the seams. I like that! I don’t like to have to guess because usually I end up having to repress those seams.

I’ll be adding some button eyes, buttons for a mouth, a carrot button nose (I have to find one first—I’ve seen them), and some buttons down his “suit.”

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On our shop hop trip, we found lots of carrot button noses and I even remarked about not being able to find apple buttons but I could buy lots of carrot buttons. Now I wish I had bought at least one. I think I’ll be using 5 small buttons for his mouth. Sometimes, after I see a block in a picture, I can tell how it would look better. I’ll sew them on after the quilt is all quilted so that’s a few months off, yet.

The pattern also includes directions for adding some twiggy arms which I’ll embroider later. If you don’t want to embroider yours, you can make some applique twiggy arms.

Be sure to check out all the handsome snowmen (and maybe some gorgeous snowgals) that will be popping up on the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook page as well as #iwishyouamerryqal on Instagram. If you are sewing one, be sure to link up at the party found on Powered by Quilting. Prizes are involved for a lucky person.

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The next block will be revealed on Sept. 26th. Can they get any cuter than these?

My block three–Santa’s Belt– see my post here and find the links to get your free pattern for it as well as links to other hosts to see their versions.

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My block four–Ornaments–see my initial post here to find the link to get your free pattern for it as well as links to other hosts to see their versions. You can see my finished block post here.

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I am still working on blocks one and two, so you see, there’s still time for you to join along.

Meet the rest of the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Hosts as they reveal their version of this block:

Coming soon on Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats:

Tu-Na Quilts: The Reveal of the Listed Loot

Tu-Na Quilts: The Reveal of What Was Added to the List (a.k.a. The Big Splurge)

Tu-Na Quilts: The Reveal of My 2017 Quilt MN Shop Hop Fabric and a Bit More About the Designer

Tu-Na Quilts: A Few Words from Tu-Na Helper

Tu-Na Quilts: It’s All Out of the Bag (A Wrap up of the 2017 Quilt MN Shop Hop)

Tu-Na Travels: Visiting the Quilted Ceiling in Valley City, ND

What I Learned Today:

  1. My eye is healing nicely according to what my eye doctor said at today’s visit. This is good and bad news. It means that all is going well. But that also means that it’s good enough to schedule the other eye surgery for the end of the month. See this post for more info about that.
  2. I had an inkling that would be the report. This morning when I woke, my green, warning, wrist band fell off on it’s own.
  3. North Dakota has some great quilt shops, too. On our long way home from the doctor, Monday, we stopped at The Quilted Ceiling in Valley City. Lucky for me, and you, the owner was there and I got a lot of interesting tidbits about that shop and some pictures that I will be sharing in a future post.

Question: Do you live in an area that gets snow? Do you play in the snow? A number of years ago, I helped my girl scout troop make snow angels on the lawn of our state capitol building. We held that world record of simultaneous snow angels for a number of years. It was fun to be a part of that record-breaking moment.

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

Linking to:

Block 5 Linky Party at Powered by Quilting

Linky Tuesday at Free Motion by the River

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

 

Meet the rest of the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Hosts as they reveal their version of this block