Tag Archives: Tu-Na

Tu-Na Quilts: Progress on “She Has Her Mommy’s Nose”

Yes, there is hope that I will finish this little quilt soon. I renamed the quilt in this post. I’ve got a ton of different projects going all at once, some secret sewing and some with deadlines, but I am making some headway with this one. I’ve sewn all the blocks into rows.

Now just to press the seams, sew the rows together, quilt, and bind. That may sound like a lot but really it’s all down hill from here, at least for me. I’ve already got a quilting motif in mind which is more than half the battle to finishing at this point.

But I do need your help. As I am getting closer to a finish for this sweet quilt, I am thinking ahead and want to select just the right binding for it. I originally bought this peach for the binding but now I am not sure.

Possibility A

Here’s an idea

of how this one might look

But then I started leaning towards the greenish teal.

Possibility B (the coloring is more like the pic above than the one below)

This is how the teal

could look.

And now I think it could use just a tish of color. I remember how Tish of Tish in Wonderland likes to bind her quilts with a flange. I think you can see that hint of color around the edge best on her many quilts in this post.

Possibility C

Here’s how a flange binding

would look using both these colors.

I really appreciated all of your comments (see this post) when helping me to decide on the size of this quilt. I was really torn about what to do so I asked the new mommy for her opinion and she said to keep it as is which will be a nice crib-size or toddler bed size.

But this binding is a quilter’s question. So please leave a comment which you think would look best and help me get to a finish: A, B, or C. I thank you very much!!

What I Learned Today:

Decision making is not one of my strengths.
There are a lot of decisions to make when sewing a quilt.
It’s always nice to ask a friend(s) for help.

Question: A, B, or C?

Linking with Wednesday Wait Loss, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Let’s Make Baby Quilts, Sew Can She, Moving It Forward Monday, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Jos Country Junction, WIPs, Linky Tuesday on Freemotion by the River,

Tu-Na Quilts: Happy National Sewing Machine Day!

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I thought I’d be sitting down in front of my sewing machine humming away (the sewing machine that is) all day until I realized that today is a very important day. Since I’ve had this partially written post in draft form just lying around, I thought this would be a good day to dust it off, finish it up, and hit publish.

I have two houses in two states that are far apart. This means I have a fabric stash and a sewing machine in each house. But it wasn’t always that way.

Up until last fall, I lovingly carted my beloved Pfaff back and forth between houses.

Here’s my Pfaff Creative 1475 CD model. I have lots of different feet for this one. I like the way they snap on and off so easily and I like the needle threader. But it has way more stitches and features than I have ever used. I’ve sewn my daughter dresses and hats with it. I’ve sewn my boys lots of pants and caps with it. She’s been through a lot of fabric through the years.

But I knew there would come a time I had to stop doing that (toting the machine back and forth) and decided it was then. Yes, I intentionally, left her behind last fall. It was hard to do as we (us dedicated quilters and sewists) can get quite attached to our machines.

I love that old machine. She works like a charm. I thought I’d be able to find another one just like her at my other house since that is in an area with lots of people and shops. But sadly none was to be found. After looking for a used machine for several weeks, and having a quilt that needed to be finished by Christmas, I decided to take the plunge and look for a new machine.

That took a few weeks and finally I made a decision to buy one, no, two machines: one for home and one to cart to class or work day with the quilting group.

But my husband said that sewing table needs to be cleaned first and then he’d help me lift them out of the box. My sewing space is close to the laundry area and garage entrance and becomes a catch-all place.

I made speedy work of stashing the stuff. Now I was ready to open those boxes.

A little red 215 to tote around.

A nice 740 with scissors (I love that feature) and LED lights (love that feature). But I had quite a time getting used to having a button and not a lever to lift the presser foot.

Both of those machines together cost almost as much as our new car did in 1979. If you add in the cost of all the extra feet I purchased, that put it over the cost of that 4 door Citation. My husband was in shock. “But both of them are on sale,” I pointed out. “And the feet and accessories are 25% off.”

Here’s a shot of her in action. I was working on the Mod Bear quilt, which I did finish in time for Christmas and have yet to write a blog post about.

Today I salute all three of my machines. Without them, I’d be doing it all by hand.

What I Learned Today:

According to the internet, the invention of the sewing machine saved countless hours of time (since about 1 hour of machine sewing was about the equivalent of 14 hours of hand sewing). I imagine with today’s impressive machines, even more time is saved.
The tailors of yesteryear feared the invention of the sewing machine since they saw it putting them out of business.
The first sewing machines cost $15.00 and was still cost-inhibitive for many thus making the tailors feel better.
I love the built-in scissors and automatic needle threader functions as well as that 11 inch throat on my new machine. However, the button to lift the presser foot is a bit hard to get used to. Now that I am back sewing on my Pfaff, I am always trying to push the invisible button and wondering why my presser foot isn’t going up. I imagine when I get back to sewing on the new one, I’ll be forever searching for the lever.
There’s a day to celebrate almost everything. Today is also:

National Make Your Dream Come True Day
National Call Your Doctor Day (I hope you don’t need to do that)
National Weed Your Garden Day
National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day
National Cupcake Lover’s Day
and International Axe Throwing Day

Question: Which one will you celebrate?

(UPDATE) This post was published yesterday-June 13, 2017. So today we are onto celebrating National Bourbon Day, National Pop Goes the Weasel Day (I kid you not), National Flag Day, National Strawberry Shortcake Day (I celebrated that on Sunday), and International Bath Day.

Linking to: Sew Fresh Quilts, Midweek Makers, Mama Spark’s World, Katie Mae Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, Wednesday Wait Loss

Tu-Na Quilts: Now, We Have an Elephant Parade

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With the sudden and speedy delivery of the baby elephant, Lily Rose, last week, I can now officially say we have an elephant parade.

The happy new family is snuggly stitched together.

Notice that Lily Rose has her mommy’s nose. I am making this quilt for the baby of my best friend’s daughter.

When my friend called to tell me that the baby had arrived she said, “And she has her mommy’s nose.” Sounds like a good name for this quilt.

I’ve even sewed some of the blocks into rows.

I will be adding side pieces onto the elephant row. And where are the missing rows?

I’ve still got three rows to sew.

They are sitting beside my machine to remind me to sew them first before other things.

I sure am glad I took good care of those blocks while traveling. It’s making sewing and laying out the rows so much easier. I’ve had to do some playing around with my sewing machine and moving the needle to make sure the scant 1/4″ seam allowance matched the ones made on my sewing machine at my other house.

If you missed all the excitement of her arrival last week. catch up here with

Tu-Na Quilts: Let’s Make Elephants (Here I describe how my pieces traveled from one house to the other).

Tu-Na Quilts: We Have an Elephant Parade (The happy couple is expecting)

Tu-Na Quilts: ’s Arrived!!! ( Tu-Na, DOQ {Doctor of Quilting}, helped with the delivery of this wee one)

However, much of my time and writing this month is being used up over on the Bee Inspired Blog where I’m sharing some of my adventures and misadventures of my trip to Paris as well as some construction tips and trials as I sew another poodle block for myself using this pattern from The Objects of Design.

You are welcome to stop by:

Tu-Na Quilts: All Aboard. Fasten Your Seatbelts. We’re Taking Off for…

Tu-Na Travels: Day One in Paris

Tu-Na Travels: Day Two in Paris and Poodle Block Cutting Tips

Tu-Na Travels: Day Three in Paris and Prepping Those Furry Pieces You will never guess who we meet today.

and do check back on Bee Inspired all month as I’ve got more funny and interesting Parisian stories to tell and see some gorgeous French Poodles heading my way.

What I Learned Today:

There’s been way more writing happening than sewing in my house lately.
The poodle block is actually quite easy when separated into steps.
I do miss being in Paris.
Beth, over at Cooking Up Quilts, mentions my coneflower double star block that now belongs to Cathy, on today’s Main Crush Monday post. I miss that stunning block but I have those fabrics safely tucked in their own bin for a quilt using that same block pattern for me. I stop to admire and pet them every now and then. Anyway, Thanks Beth!! I’m honored!!!
I “pet” fabrics? Hmmm, this household is going to the dogs.

Question: Where have your travels taken you? I’ve been to London. I’ve been to France, and Germany, and traveled the U.S. extensively. But we honeymooned in Canada.

Linking to Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Moving It Forward, Design Wall Monday, Let’s Bee Social and Midweek Makers, Jo’s Country Junction, Mama Spark’s World, Katie Mae Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, Wednesday Wait Loss

Tu-Na Quilts: She’s Arrived!!!

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The proud parents and Dr. Tu-Na are pleased to announce the arrival of Lily Rose at 2:41pm Central Time today. She measures at 7.5″ x 8.5.”

Here she is on the delivery table (ironing board) shortly after birth. I notice I still need to cut the cords (thread) yet.

Mom and baby are doing fine. Delivery went faster than expected.

Dad is snorting to all that Cha Cha (grandma) says that Lily has her mother’s nose.

The doctor, however, is tired and may go take a nap.

(The free pattern for this adorable small elephant can be found here on the Sew Fresh Blog. Thanks, Lorna! See my previously written post here (Tu-Na Quilts: We Have an Elephant Parade) for more info about this new mom and dad.)

What I Learned Today:

Being creative is tiring!
So is writing two blog posts in one day!

Question: A baby elephant is called a calf. A baby rabbit is called a kit —short for kitten. Who knew? What are other babies called?

Thanks for stopping by,

Karen A.k.a. Tu-Na, DOQ (Doctor of Quilting)

Linking to Wednesday Wait Loss, Sew Fresh Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, and Midweek Makers.

Tu-Na Quilts: We Have an Elephant Parade

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Maybe two elephants don’t really make a parade yet but this elephant couple is expecting their first baby and it’s coming soon. Well, actually, an elephant baby is called a calf and then this could be a parade.

The free pattern can be found on the Sew Fresh Quilts blog by Lorna.

Did you know that the gestation period of an elephant is 617-645 days— almost 2 years? Elephants have the longest gestation period for mammals. I wonder if there is any living thing that is longer? And I thought 9 months was a long time to be pregnant.

It’s a good thing that this baby quilt has not been in the works for 2 years. I better get working on it to get it finished. Besides that, this little one (elephant) will be making his or her appearance soon–maybe even this afternoon. Will it be a boy or girl?

I first posted about this quilt here (Tu-Na Quilts: Let’s Make Elephants). The pattern for this large (8.5″ x 11.5″) elephant can be found here on the Sew Fresh Blog.

Update: The baby elephant has arrived!! Read all about it on this post if you missed all the excitement (Tu-Na Quilts: _____’s Arrived!!!)

What I Learned Today:

Thinking about a project takes more energy and time than just sitting down and doing it. Those elephants were rather easy to sew.
Work more and procrastinate less.
I’ve learned a lot of group names from you. It’s been fun and interesting to read your responses. If you think of more, go back to here (Tu-Na Quilts: A French Poodle for Moi) and comment. It will help me gear up for our Trivia night when I go back to AZ.

Question: Pick an animal/bird/insect/reptile/etc. What is its gestation period? Here’s one to get you started. Rabbits spend about 31 days in “the oven.” And that explains why we have so many rabbits running around our yard and in the garden this year.

Linking to Wednesday Wait Loss, Sew Fresh Quilts, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, Sew Can She.

Tu-Na Quilts: A French Poodle for Moi

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June is my month in the Bee Inspired Group to be the Queen Bee or the Hive Mama or the Bee Boss or whatever we call ourselves when it’s our month to ask our Bee mates to sew a block for us. I gave them all a heads up last month to check their quilty passports because we would be heading to a destination far away. This is so exciting!

I got my inspiration for a block from several sources, one of which is this lovely piece of fabric I happened upon while my mom and I were fabric looking (not shopping since I never intended to buy anything) early this winter.

I could also title this post “How a Free Fat Quarter cost me $68.00” because this was not the only piece I found.

We each had coupons for a free fat quarter (no purchase needed) which is why we happened to be in that quilt shop in the first place. Well once I spied this piece on the clearance shelf I just had to have it as it was perfect for my Parisian themed guest room. At the time of purchase, I had no idea how I would use it. But you all know that’s just how it is sometimes…a lot of times.

I remembered seeing a poodle pattern on the blog The Objects of Design. If you haven’t had a chance to check out her blog, you are definitely missing some real talent and some other fun free block patterns.

Isn’t she cute!! I want to make a few more.

I posted the links to this free pattern and tutorial, some construction tips, some pics of the room where the quilt is intended, and the inspiration behind this block on the Bee Inspired Blog. You can find it here.

There will be a pack of proud French poodles posting my way soon. I’ll be sure to take some pics of them when they arrive.

What I Learned Today:

A group of dogs is called a pack or kennel.
A group of crows is called a murder—I actually learned that last month from Velda and her crows so I guess I learned today that I still remember that little piece of trivia.
I only have to mail out two blocks for the other two Bee groups to which I belong.
June will go very fast anyway.

Question: Let’s have a little fun with groups. Pick out an animal or a group of people or group of something and tell us what a group of them is called. Here’s another one to get you started: A group of elephants is called a parade or herd. Speaking of elephants, I better get busy sewing a little parade of elephants on that baby quilt soon as that baby is not getting any younger or smaller!

Linking to Monday Making, Moving It Forward, Main Crush Monday, Sew Fresh Quilts, and Midweek Makers, Katie Mae Quilts BOMS Away,

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate and read all your comments, suggestions, and questions. I reply by email and often here on the blog as well as time permits. But sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I get behind. Just know that I value your taking the time to comment. Until next time, keep that needle flying!

Karen

Tu-Na Quilts: The May Bee Blocks Were on Their Way Before Month’s End

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May’s Bee blocks were so much fun to make and again were hard to send away as I wanted to keep them for myself. I thought by doing these Bees I would be able to narrow down all the quilts I want to make but instead I’ve lengthened my list.

I may not have made much progress with the elephant quilt this last week as I was busy with cleaning the sewing room and organizing the stash but the May Bee blocks are done and gone. I’ve also made my own block to request from my Bee mates which I will reveal on another post.

This 16″ faux nine patch in a nine patch block went to Irene in North Carolina.

Irene, who is a member of the Bee Inspired Group wanted pale grays or soft gray and white fabrics with no other colors. Yes, that itty bitty 9 patch almost in the center has pieces that finish at 1/2.” The slightly larger 9 patch in the center of the block has pieces that finish at 1.5.” I find it amazing how big 1.5 inch pieces are after working with 1 inch pieces. You can read Irene’s story and get the pattern tutorial here if you’d like to make some for yourself. She’s making this quilt for herself and I also included a little reading material within that block just in case she can’t sleep.

Since it was quite large, I carefully folded it and put it in a small manila envelope. It mailed for 70 cents.

The next block I tackled actually took longer to pick out the fabrics than to sew it. I had pulled so many different fabrics but finally settled on this.

These cats went to Jan in California.

Each cat block is 9 1/2 inches so she asked for two sewn together. I’m glad she did as they look so cute next to each other. Jan’s post and simple tutorial can be found here. The pattern comes from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. If you’d like to make a batch for yourself, you can watch Jenny demonstrate these Pins and Paws Blocks here. Jenny is fun to watch and she makes sewing anything seem so easy.

I put these cats in a legal size envelope but they were overweight so it cost 70 cents to mail with a word of caution from the postal worker that fabric gets caught in their machines. So I’m hoping these little beauties make it safely to California.

Finally, the last block for the month was completed and I had a really hard time sending it off. Luckily for me, I have at least a yard of each of the fabrics and they have been set aside so I can make a stunning star quilt for myself.

Cathy in Montana is the recipient of this beauty.

The pattern and tutorial for this 12 1/2″ unfinished Double Star block can be found here. While it looks complicated and I dreaded doing it for a long time, actually almost all month, it really went together well. I learned a new way to make those flying geese that didn’t waste fabric. I was really leery about that method on the tutorial but it worked really well. I followed Cathy’s advice to increase the 2 7/8″ pieces that are used for the half-square triangles (the teal dot and navy on my block) to 3″ and trim after sewing.

Cathy asked us to choose a fabric to fussy cut for the center and then match another fabric for the accent points. She’s hoping for a rainbow of colors. To round out the quilt and to provide some color consistency to it, she asked for navy, white, and gray fabrics and told us where to locate them in the block. I can’t wait to see her quilt as I think it will be stunning. It mailed for 49 cents.

I must admit that when I first pulled that coneflower fabric off the shelf, I thought it to be rather ugly but I needed something that could be fussy cut. So I looked at what I had for the accent and settled on the teal dot. Wow! Now I want to make a whole quilt of teal coneflowers.

Oh, and I have ugly yellow coneflowers with a green background and ugly pink coneflowers with a brownish background. I wonder what I could pair them up with?

What I Learned Today:

There’s always more than one way to solve a problem or make flying geese blocks.
Joining three Bees might have been a mistake as it was supposed to help me narrow down the list of quilts I want to make but has instead increased the list.
Sometimes the things or projects I dread the most actually end up being the best.
I need to be sewing in my sleep or hire someone to sew for me so that I can start and finish making all the quilts I want.
My quilting life is so full of choices, decisions, and endless possibilities.

Question: Have you ever had any difficulty mailing fabric or hearing that it got caught in the postal machines?

Linking to Sew Can She, Monday Making, Em’s Scrapbag, Main Crush Monday and Sew Fresh Quilts. Katie Mae Quilts BOMS Away

Tu-Na Quilts: Velda’s Crows

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I had a lot of fun sewing the crow blocks for Velda last month. She blogs over at Granny Can Quilt. Those crows took on a personality by themselves. By the time I was done, fabric had flown all over and a huge mess was everywhere.

So I wrote Velda a letter to introduce these feisty crows and included it when I mailed them to her.

You can read more about my April Bee Blocks here.

Here’s a peek at the letter I sent and then you can see if you can pick out who is who.

Hi, Velda!

I really don’t know what happened but I woke up this morning and a whole murder of crows were flitting about my sewing room. Unfortunately, they are not a quiet bunch. So I shut the window fearing anymore would fly in, opened the envelopes (there are two) and shoved them in. Such a ruckus they had so I am warning you as you open the envelopes that “all hell will break lose” in your house.

Let me introduce you to (you’ll have fun picking them out or at least I hope you do):

Charles: This is one sophisticated “he” crow. He’s dashing and debonair, and very stylish although his pants never seem to match his other attire. He tends to choose pants that make him appear taller than he actually is.
Sharlamane: She prefers going by Sharla and gets rather snippy if you address her formally. She’s a sister to Millie and one colorful bird—both with her attire and her language. But rumor has it that she’s got cold feet with the fellas.
Henrietta: This is one sassy old crow; probably stemming from the fact that she was raised by a bunch of chickens. She’s always poking her nose err beak into other’s business and turns green with envy. You can tell when she’s going to throw a fit as her beak starts to turn color first.
Millie: She’s an entomologist. Birds, bees, and other insects just seem to follow her everywhere. You can barely tell she’s Sharla’s sister as they never see eye to eye on anything but they do have some similarities.
Harry: Now he’s a navy man err crow. He’s always loved the sea. Some of the ladies think he’s rather a “stuck in the mud” kind of guy. Once he’s made up his mind about something there’s no changing it. Watch out for this one. Once he’s attached to you, there’s no way to get him to move on.
Roberto: This dashing dude crow thinks he’s hot stuff. The ladies really swoon over him. When he starts talking and flapping and doing his little crow dance, he gets everything and everyone stirred up around him. I think you’ll fall for him too. I had a hard time saying goodbye as I was smitten from first glance.
Gertrude: This sweet crow would do anything for anyone. Unless you call her Gertie. Then you’ve made her bad side. She’s always cleaning up around her. Her little beak is always so busy with tidying up that it often looks sore. Dust seems to follow her where ever she goes.
Harvey: This delightful crow is rather a noisy and nosey fella. He’s always poking his beak into other crow’s business so much it often looks like it’s sporting a bruise.
Abigail: She’s always running late and always in a hurry. She doesn’t seem to mind wearing two different socks. Don’t get in her way or she’ll run right over you.

And there you have these delightfully noisy crows to stay with you forever. Sorry, but I don’t sew quietly. I know you said you didn’t want more but I couldn’t help myself as this was such a fun project. Maybe you can use the extras on the back or just make your quilt larger. Thanks for helping me out.

Have fun, Karen

Now it’s your turn to have a little fun. Can you tell which crow is which? Click on Crow Quiz below to take you to my quiz to see if you can correctly identify the names of these feisty but oh so colorful, new, feathery friends of Velda’s. Thank you to my newly college graduated son for creating this quiz for me (I guess 4 years of college really paid off) He was able to graduate in 4 years with a degree in Computer Science AND another degree in Electrical Engineering. This is one proud mama!

Crow Quiz

What I Learned Today:

When the fabric speaks to you, just go with it.
My quilting is more a matter of enjoying the process and less about creating the finishes.
It’s always stress-relieving to include a little fun in the process.
When it comes to computer stuff, it’s so much easier to ask for help or in my case let a kid do it for me.

Question: What have you done for fun lately?

Linking with Sew Fresh Quilts, Wednesday Wait Loss, Midweek Makers, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Sew Can She, and Em’s Scrapbag.

Tu-Na Quilts: Let’s Make Elephants

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Here’s what my elephant quilt looked like when the project stalled in March.

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Here’s how it traveled to North Dakota with me so that it could be finished.

I labeled each block and each row and used lots of Clover clips to hold the labels in place. Then all the sewn rows and the ones needing sewing were put into a new gallon Ziploc bag.

The trip took three days and I didn’t want any pieces getting lost or mixed up.

I also clipped each row together and included my hand-drawn pattern. I had bought a package of 100 Clover clips when I was in Bismarck last summer (using a 50% off coupon from JoAnns) and took half of them to Arizona in the fall. Now they’ve come back to my ND home. I sure hope I remember to take them back to AZ with me or I’ll be buying more down there.

This quilt is for my best friend’s granddaughter. That baby just turned 6 months old and I might have to make it larger if I dawdle any longer.

I’ve already got 7 rows sewn. See how I labeled these rows. for transport? I sewed the paper label with the row number on the end of each finished row using a large stitch length. It only took a couple of minutes to do this and it is better than using pins.

My goal for this week is to move this project forward by:

Finish sewing the chevron rows.
Deciding whether to make the quilt a tad wider. I have most of the blocks made already if I decide to do so. Currently it measures 40″ x 56″. By adding two more blocks to each row (which completes the next peak in the chevron), it would be 48″ x 56″. What would you do?
Sewing up those three elephants and their background strip.
Sewing the top together.
Sandwiching the layers.
Free-motion quilting it. I already have a plan.

This list may be a bit ambitious (realistically I may only get thru number 3) as I also have to sew up and mail the three May Bee blocks this week. In addition, I am Queen for one Bee next month so I need to sew up a couple of test blocks and prepare a post.

To motivate me and keep me going, I thought I’d link with Em’s Scrapbag for Moving It Forward (love the tag line for her blog—”When life falls to pieces, make a quilt”).

And in case any of you are transporting quilt blocks, I’ll link with Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl for Tips and Tutorials Tuesday since I have some tips on keeping your blocks and rows organized. (Button is on the sidebar).

What I Learned Today:

I need something or someone to get me motivated.
Cold coffee tastes really good. I have a habit of pouring myself a cup and finding it three hours later.

Question: Would you make this quilt wider or not?

Other linky parties that I’m attending: Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication and Let’s Bee Social on Sew Fresh Quilts and Works in Progress at Silly Mama Quilts.

Tu-Na Quilts: April Bee Blocks are Done and Mailed

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My husband asked me, “Why do you participate in those Bees and then mail away your hard work?” So I thought I’d give you a list of the reasons why I choose to do so. Feel free to add other reasons in the comments sections why you participate, if you do so.

It gives me a good opportunity to try out block patterns to see which ones I’d eventually like to include in a future quilt. I can honestly say that most of the blocks I’ve sewn so far are ones that I probably would not have thought to use but now I see that many would make a beautiful quilt.
Sherry from Tennessee received this 16 1/2″ block. Those 40 little blue squares were not so little as they started out at 2 1/2″. She asked us to use any shade of blue including navy and turquoise but limit the use of pastels. I had to ask my mom for some of her blue fabrics to get a nice variety. Sherry’s daughter is getting married and these quilt squares will be part of her wedding quilt.

You can read more about this quilt here and get the pattern and tutorial here. This envelope cost me 70 cents to mail because it was overweight.
I learn new techniques (such as improv when I made Kate’s trees and gnomes block) that I probably would not have tried on my own. Yes, it puts me out of my comfort zone.
These Bee blocks allow me to use colors that I’d never put together on my own.
Lis from Nebraska asked for Tic Tac Toe using orange, pink and white. I probably would never have chosen to use those color combinations but it did look really nice when it was done. This block was 12 1/2″ unfinished.

If you are interested in making some of these Tic Tac Toe Blocks, you can find the pattern here. The postal attendant brought out the slot to check for its size and it didn’t go through. Thus it cost me 98 cents to mail. If you’ve read about my other blocks I’ve mailed each month, you probably agree that there appears to be no rhyme or reason behind the postal rates.
I get to “meet” other quilters from all over the world. I’ve shipped blocks to Canada, England, Australia as well as many states in the U.S.
Velda from Prince Edward Island in Canada asked for 4 crows for her block. She asked that we not sew them together so she could incorporate our crows along with hers in the quilt. Each little crow block was 6.5″ and really went together well. There were some improv parts such as the beaks. It was a good thing that I had already lifted the lid on my comfort zone box or these crows might have really been a stumbling block.

Velda’s got some crazy crows living close by that have been causing her such consternation as they create such a cacophony and conundrum around her house that she decided to embrace the chaos and celebrate them by making an incredible crow quilt. But these are not just your typical crows; they are a colorful bunch.

You can read Velda’s post here. Free downloadable patterns for birds or crows can be found here or here (this one is paper pieced but could be easily adapted to piecing).

Velda graciously volunteered to take my Bee month for April so I thought I’d send her some extra crows. I don’t know what happened as I cut out enough for 8 but as you can count there were 9 when I finished. But I didn’t stop there, I had some fun with these crazy crows and let their personality shine as I named each one and sent Velda a letter introducing them. I will share more about my unruly crows in my next post.

I put 4 crows in one envelope along with the letter and 5 in the other envelope. Evidently sending mail to Canada is expensive as each envelope was too thick to go through the 1/4″ slot (yes, they were checked), each was overweight (yes they were weighed), and each was leaving the country. Thereby, costing $2.50 to mail each envelope.
It allows me an opportunity to improve my sewing skills. I’ve become much better at matching seams and sewing an exact scant 1/4″ seam especially when it gets sent to someone else.
I get to participate in something bigger than just making a quilt for myself. I look forward to seeing those blocks I sent to others made into a quilt.
It’s fun!

What I Learned Today

I miss those crazy crows. I will have to make some for myself.
I need to sew up the May Bee Blocks early this week.
I will be Queen for one of the Bees next month which means I have to decide on a block pattern, sew one or two blocks, and write a post.
I do have a plan.

Question: What’s got you excited today?

Linking to:

Monday Making and Main Crush Monday. Buttons are on the sidebar, too.

I’m trying a new linky party this week. Show & Tell Monday with Bambi