Group Quilts Over the Years

I mentioned in my last post that my quilt group did our 5th exchange (someone correct me if I'm wrong) recently last month. Here's a picture of my sister's quilt she put together using the blocks. She was so speedy, because this was her favorite yet. The picture is a little fuzzy, but we used the Prairie Paisley collection for Moda. We all did 12" stars of any kind. As you can see they turned out really fantastic. I've heard lots in the group say it was the best one yet. I have no idea what the body of my quilt will look like. I know I'll do stripes on the border, but that's as far as I've gotten. I've got tomatoes ripening in bowls and bowls in the fridge that need my attention sooner. . .

The second picture is our very first exchange in 2005. The group was larger then, as we were testing the waters for who would want to stick with it. We did shoofly blocks, and instead of sewing the blocks together (I was scared of what would come of our huge beginner group, frankly) we just exchanged fabric scraps cut to size. So each quilter had to go home and sew over 80 blocks. It was a good lesson in what "white" means, and also in what kinds of fabrics are good to work with (Wal-Mart is not, in case anyone didn't know that yet.) I sashed and bordered it with old fabric my sister had in her stash from the 80's.

I was thankfully not in charge in 2006. The idea was proposed to do houses, which isn't my style, but I liked the idea because we all came from the same neighborhood. It was one of those starter neighborhoods with small lots sandwiched too close, and everyone's house looked very similar. I did love my time there, and wouldn't trade my quilting friends for anything, but it's nice to stretch out a bit in our current surroundings. But I digress. I finished this quilt with pine trees, which remind me of Portland, and a fence, which is in honor of Mending Wall, by Robert Frost. Good fences do make good neighbors. This may seem like a fine quilt, but my friend Michelle did one that is outstanding. She layed out similar to mine, but in the sashing she embroidered the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 88:119, "a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." It's magnificent.

Last year (2007) we got really crazy and did two exchanges. (Exciting in the quilt world is only understood by those who obsess over fabric, too.) We had a fun party one night and I layed out 4-5 different fat quarters for the group to vote on. We chose a very dark brown one with little blue and salmon flowers on it (shown in my border). Everyone took a scrap, and had to bring back a 10" block of whatever design that matched that fabric. I really liked the idea of this one. And I liked what I got back. I finished it with the blocks on point, and checkerboard corner posts in the border.

The second one last year was a treat for me. I'm glad the rest of the group agreed to do it. We stuck to civil war fabrics and everyone got a color. We did 10 9-patches for each quilter. I made these larger basket blocks to put in the middle of the 9-patches and then bordered it with one of my favorite pieces from my stash. Baskets aren't usually my style either, but it was suggested that we exchange baskets along the way. After I did them, I'm thankful we didn't exchange baskets because they're tricky and difficult to get just right. I'm a stickler for points being lined up, so I had a bit of unpicking with these.