Home from Cruise

From summer to winter in one day!  That is how I felt yesterday when I left summer in Miami and arrived back in winter in Kansas.  But 5 days of paradise aboard the Navigator of the Sea definitely improved my outlook!

Our stateroom upon arriving on board ship.

A sponge I found on the beach at the lighthouse on Cozumel, Mexico.

The pier at Cozumel, with another cruise ship along side of ours.

Relaxing with some "rum punch" after snorkeling on the reef off of this island. Belize

The "Reef Rocket" that took us to Paradise to go snorkeling.  Belize Harbor

Reeze and Bruce like a couple of drowned rats after snorkeling.

Note glass of rum punch in hand - used to eliminate taste of salt water from mouth!!

New Block of the Month Quilt

Block of the Month for 2010. 

The quilt is called Tulip Tiles and is composed of five 12" tulip tile blocks, pieced sashing and corners stones, applique setting triangles, pieced border with applique corners, and 3 additional borders.  It's blue and white color scheme is reminicient of the delft tiles which often feature tulips or windmills.  The pink and green tulips bring color to the tiles and a breath of spring to the project.  I hope you like making this throw-sized quilt, and perhaps learn some new techniques along the way.

I will offer each block for two months for free, then the block will be available for purchase on my web site:  http://www.morningglorydesigns.net/.

Download the free fabric and supply list.

To download blocks go to the BOM page.

Mystery Solved

A music company reported my blog as having links to illegal music files.  A no-no for sure.  But my blog links to QUILT PATTERNS not music, so whatever bozo identified my blog as an illegal source of pirated music was a bone  head.  Ok, so I am not pleased about this and my irritation is showing.  But since there has not been a single sunny day since before Christmas I feel justified in biting off heads and spitting them out!!  All the more evidence that I NEED to go on a cruise next week to the sunny south.  I pretty much figure I can deduct this whole trip as a medical deduction, since someone's health is definitely at risk if I don't see sunshine in the next day or two.  I can't be held responsible for my actions when there is THIS MANY gray days.  Those of you who have SAD (seasonal affect disorder) know what I mean. 

Thank goodness for my quilting.  It has literally saved me.  Now if I could just get my hands on the moron from the music co. that complained about my musical quilt supply list justice would be served. . . . .

Phew. . .I better go eat chocolate.

New Block of the Month for 2010 -- Tulip Tiles

I am so excited!!  I can finally share my new free Block of the Month with you.  It is called Tulip Tiles and combines both piecing and applique.  It draws on the wonderful blue and white of delft and dutch tiles, with the added color of bright pink tulips to usher in the spring. This quilt would look wonderful in batiks, marbles, or bright prints.  I have done it in mostly blues and whites, but you may want to choose other colors for your spring time tulip tiles.

This block will be available for 1 month.  When I post the link to Block 2 on Feb 20, 2010, I will remove the link to this block.  It will then be available for sale on my web site.  You will be able to purchase the entire pattern once it is completed. 

Click here to purchase the pdf for Block 1.  The cost is $2.00 for download or $2.75 for mail.

The applique placement guide pdf is available with the purchase of Block 1.

The supply list pdf is available for free here.  Supply List

If you want to see a picture of the quilt you can see it here.  This way those who want it to be a suprise can just not look!!!   Yea right!  You know you are gonna look.  hehehe

Picture of Tulip Tiles Quilt

Oh. . . . And the winner is. . . . . Gari from Alabama, wins an assortment of FQ's for commenting on her preference to my post on my guild BOM I am designing!  Congratulations Gari.  Send my your snail mail at reezehanson [at] hotmail.com and I will put your thank you gift in the mail!!! And now off to celebrate my birthday!  :-)

Last Days to get BOM Midnight Posies for free

The weekend is here and my birthday is just around the corner.  And come Monday, January 18, the Midnight Posies BOM of 2009 will be over and the new 2010 BOM will begin.  So if you have not yet printed off the Midnight Posies block patterns you have until Monday.  I have been overwhelmed by the wonderful response I have received for this BOM and am so grateful to those of you who have expressed your admiration and gratitude for this free pattern.  It has really been fun to share it with you month by month.

Remember you will still be able to get this pattern after January 18 by going to my ETSY website and purchasing it. 

This morning I was able to get the borders put on my Bargello Block quilt.  I really like the way it frames the interior and brings out the colors.  I am thinking about quilting it in the ditch just to bring out the pattern a bit more boldly. It is going to the quilt shop tomorrow to hang as a class sample until early February, when the class is scheduled.  It really was easy to make once I figured out how to cut it!  LOL

I just can't stand it any more and decided I had to show you a bit more of the new BOM I will be revealing on Monday.  It is called Tulip Tiles and captures a bit of the feeling I get from the wonderful Delft Tiles in blue and white that I love so much.  It also has pink tulips, one of my favorite spring flowers. 

This sort of looks like my "blue and white period" with the Bargello and this quilt together!  But it wasn't intended that way.  It just happened.  LOL.  I love easy fusible machine applique and a bit of fun piecing so I have added elements of both in this quilt.  Here is another sneak peek.  I know I know, you wish I would quit teasing you and post the whole thing.  Well I promise I will. . . . on Monday.  It will be my birthday present to all of you!  Hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are.

Bargello Block Quilt coming together

Today I pieced the top of my Bargello Block quilt.  I have the borders cut but didn’t get them on yet.  Here is what it looks like so far.  The setting triangles are a very dark blue, but the borders will pull out the shades of blue in the quilt.

This is made up of 24 identical blocks that look like this:

The colors are more accurate in the block picture since I scanned the block.  The quilt picture was taken at night and the colors don’t come out quite right.  This line of fabrics was out last year or the year before and I had a yard of each of these fabrics except for the one with the lines on it.  I found that last week at Quilters Haven in Olathe, KS with the Asian fabrics!  But it was just the right color and I love the stars made out of dashed lines.  This is not as good a picture of the quilt but it does have my dog, Rockie, a yellow lab, peaking out from behind the quilt!  LOL  He has to get in on every picture we take.  I can’t tell you how many times I have cropped him out of pictures I have taken of quilts! 

I have been working on two different Block of the Month designs today as well.  I am designing one for my guild that starts this summer.  I wanted to do a pieced BOM since the last 3 have been appliqué.  I have been playing around with color schemes in EQ6 and have 4 different layouts that I am thinking about.  Here they are. . .still in very rough shape, but they are starting to take shape.

View Full Album

If you have a preference about which one you like, leave a comment and let me know which one you think looks best.  I’ll draw a name from all the comments and send you a set of FQ’s for helping me out with my design! 

And don’t forget I will be ending the Midnight Posies BOM on January 18 and introducing the new BOM for 2010.  Here is another little sneak peak.  I just can’t wait to share this with you.  Would you prefer to see it all at once, like Midnight Posies?  Or would you prefer to just get it a block at a time, like a Mystery Quilt?  Let me know what you prefer. Thanks for your feedback.

Actually I was overwhelmed by the feedback I got on my Midnight Posies offer of sending out the templates for the flower vine border!  I have sent out a LOT of templates and have been so touched by the many complimentary comments you have had about the pattern.  (And thanks for the birthday wishes too!!!) I can’t wait to share the new BOM with you next week!!

I am also quilting a table runner I designed but I will post that next time as I forgot to take a picture of it.  Oh well. . .till next time.

Reeze

More Snow. . . .and sneak peak at new 2010 BOM

Its snowing again in Kansas.  But I am not complaining because it means a snow day for me!  I plan to stay home and make a class sample of a new bargello block quilt from Maggie Ball's new book Bargello Quilts with a Twist.  Its a great concept to do bargello quilts in blocks rather than in whole quilt strips.  I can't wait to make one up.  Here is the quilt I will be making:

Maggie calls this color and setting Blue Delft.  I just love it, but then I am totally in love with blue like so many others, except of course my friend and pattern tester Kathi, who is doing this quilt with me, but hers is in the colors of the sunset -- pink, orange, yellow, and teal.  I am sure it will be gorgeous.  And since she hates blue I never have to worry that we will make the same quilt in the same colors!  LOL

What is so cool about Maggie's method is that the same blocks can be rearranged to make lots of different setting.  All of them are cool:

These are the same blocks just twisted around to make the setting look different.  I had so much fun playing with this setting in EQ6.  I did lots of color variations also and I wanted to make them all!  Yea right.  I will be lucky to get this one done in time for the class.  LOL

In addition to this cool Bargello quilt I am also working on the new BOM for 2010.  Of course it has flowers in it!  Need you ask?  I love flowers in quilts and always manage to get some in to every quilt I make somehow.  I think you may like this new quilt, so I am giving you a sneak peak.

This quilt will be all about tulips!  One of my favorite spring flowers.  It was inspired by the wonderful ceramic tiles I so love, so the name is "Tulip Tiles."  I have designed and adapted a variety of tulip blocks and framed them to look like delft tiles with a great pieced border.  Since my last quilt was pieced blocks with an applique border, this quilt will be applique or embroidered block with pieced sashings and borders.  OK, I hope that is enough of a tease to get you interested.  I am working up the instructions now and will post the first block on January 18, when I take down the links to the Midnight Posies.

So stay tuned for more hints and peaks at the new 2010 BOM, Tulip Tiles.

I am also working on more Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Quilt Blocks.  5 more done in row D.  The first one on the left was a true booger!!  I ended up clipping one of the points big time, and was just too frustrated to go back and fix it.  Now that I am calmer, I think I should fix it but it is already off to the quilt shop so everyone can see my mistake!  Oh well, keeps me humble.  hehehe.  The rest were easy to do.  The Milky way star was rotary cut but the last three were all paper pieced.  I have pieces cut for the blocks for the next 3 rows and plan to sit down and sew them this weekend.

Stay warm wherever you are!