Happy New Year

Christmas has come and gone.  It's time to gather up the decorations and take down the tree.  I really hate to see it all go back in the boxes but I do like the feeling of a new year and a fresh start.  What will I do in 2013?  I want to read more books.  I want to lose weight.  I'd like to learn to love exercise.  I'd like to finish some of the quilting projects filling my shelves.  I wonder if finishing one each month is a realistic goal (still thinking about that).   I do have a couple of "new" quilts to make this year.  One for my niece who is getting married in June, and one for my granddaughter who is turning eight in June.  I've got the supplies for both and can't wait to get started.  And I think I will keep blogging.   This is my 33rd post and I've recorded over 4100 page views which is an average of over 128 per posting.  I can hardly believe it.  It has been very enjoyable and I like having a record of the quilts I have made and a bit of the story behind them.

Today I'm sharing a little table runner.  I made it in the fall of 2011 so this is its second appearance for the holiday.  But actually, two other quilters contributed to the finished product.

I made the mostly red block on the left, Sandi Ray, a favorite teacher and quilt designer made the center block and my good friend Kay Card made the block on the right.  We all participated in a block party and cookie exchange at "The Pine Needle" the fall of 2008.

I won't burden you with all the rules, but basically each person attending made six identical 8 1/2" blocks (one to keep and five to exchange) and had to use this particular cream background fabric, the red print (seen in my star) and the green print (in the corners of my block).  You could add your own fabric as well.  I purchased the large poinsettia print and fussy cut the centers of my blocks as well as the gold fabric for the little triangles around the poinsettia center.

My block is called "Quiet Time" and Kay's is called Sister's Choice.   Both of these blocks are in my "Favorite Sampler Quilt" (March 12, 2012 post).  Kay and I got together a least twice to work on our blocks and really hoped that we would get each others block in the blind drawing.  And we did!

The Block Party and Cookie Exchange was held at The Pine Needle on December 13th, 2008.  I was happy with most of my blocks but traded one to get Sandi's block.  She actually gave me her 6th block, the one she was supposed to keep for herself.  I loved it and liked how it looked with mine and Kay's.

 My six blocks and bits of left over fabric sat in a shoe box for almost three years, until my December 2011 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine arrived the end of October.  There was an article about quilt designer Jo Morton and several pictures taken inside her home.

 

This little table top quilt caught my eye and I knew I could use my block exchange blocks to make something just as cute.  And I did.  

I used three different blocks instead of two the same but I used the picture as my inspiration and to give me a starting point.  I was limited in the amount of fabric I had left so the sashing and border could only be so wide but it worked out perfectly.   I quilted it myself in the ditch and was quite pleased with the end result.  

And what did I do with the other three blocks you ask?  Well, two of them are gone (I cannot bring myself to put in writing what I did with them), but I turned the other into a pillow and enjoy getting it out almost as much as the table runner.