Twisted Tradition - Block 7

Are you staying warm? In my neck of the woods in Rhode Island, we received quite a bit of snow last night, and while the snow was light, fluffy and easy to shovel, we are expecting temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit tonight. Brr... We're not used to these temps around here. Tomorrow, I'll be skiing in an area where it will be -13 at 5 am.  I guess you have to be a bit crazy to enjoy strapping on boards when it's that cold!

I've been trying to finish things up, and my Australian Block-of-the-Month designed by Sue Ross from Material Obsession is on the list. This block was all hand-pieced with much fussy cutting of the red plaid and triangles inside the inner circle. I continue to be delighted with the provided fabric and feel like I'm stretching my own thinking with these choices. The final circle was appliqued onto the teapot background this morning, and another block is almost done and will soon be revealed. Only one block left and then I can work on strip-pieced sashing for the block corners. 

My guild had us make a list of outstanding projects to finish up this year, (this project is not on the list) so I've bunches of tops, blocks and a few small projects to try to complete. Number 7 was drawn for January, so that will be to complete a top using some leaf blocks that I won years ago. 

Stay warm tonight!

Twisted Tradition - Pot of Flowers

On school break now and have much more time for quilting. This pot of flowers will become the center of a much larger quilt. This is a block of the month from Material Obsession in Australia and I'm about a year behind.

Twisted Tradition - Block 2

The cars are full of gas, cell phones charged, extra water in containers on the counter, generator checked, propane purchased for the grill and all items that could become windblown are safely stowed. Sandy is roaring outside at 35 mph, with expected gusts to 70 mph and my school is closed for two days. The crockpot is filled with pirate stew, and we're hoping the power stays on long enough to cook it without firing up the generator. After painting some trim in a bedroom this morning, I decided to finish handpiecing block 2 of my Twisted Tradition quilt. This is a block-of-the-month that I purchased after seeing the quilt in Sisters, OR, in summer of 2011. My aunt made the same quilt and hers is done; I'm just quite a bit slower! See block 1 here.

It turns out that somehow I received the wrong block in the mail, but only realized it recently. This block actually goes to Let's Twist Again, but I'm not going to pursue having this remedied, since the store is halfway around the world in Australia!

I love how we had to fussy cut the diamonds in the block center to create this pattern. As well, the purple patches and green paisley. Can you find the purple patch that is sewed in the wrong direction? I'm ready to sew block 3, but there's some fabric missing, and I'll need to head to my LQS to see if they have anything that can work. Of course, the LQS is closed along with everything else in my town, so it will be a few days before I can get started. Guess I'll have to get out some other UFOs!

This is my neighbor's beautiful red maple. It's hard to tell, but it's really blowing hard out there. Her oak trees (in the background) have lost almost all of their leaves in the wind from yesterday. Stay safe if you are in Sandy's path!

Material Obsession Block 1

My DS, the racer above, broke his leg last February when he was skiing. Luckily, it was a closed spiral fracture of the tibia and didn't require surgery. It did, however, require quite a bit of physical therapy.  He had a full-length cast for 6 weeks, followed by a below-knee cast for 6 weeks and started therapy before the last cast was off. We found out that his crutches were too short which caused him to have an odd gait when he was allowed to put weight on the cast. Also, his hip and ankle were extremely weak. Therapy just ended this week and I'm happy that he is now walking well with only a slight limp when he's tired. He isn't allowed to run for four more weeks and then we'll have a final orthopedist visit. When racing season starts next December, he'll be all set to ski again.

I started this block before he broke his leg, but finished it while he was in therapy. It was very peaceful to sit and hand-piece while he was engaged in varying exercises with Michelle, his therapist. The block itself has a story: I went to the Sisters Quilt Show in Oregon last year and was enthralled with quilts hanging from one building. The fabrics sang to me and the color choices were something that I would never pick, but loved. As I was gushing over one quilt - a woman came up to me and told me I could make the same quilt as it was a block-of-the-month designed by Sue Ross from a shop in Australia. (Maybe it was Sue Ross I was talking too. Can't remember) I signed up as soon as I got home and packages with pretty stamps started arriving. The blocks were put on the back burner, as I was working on a bunch of other things, but now they are coming out and challenging me with fussy cutting, hand-piecing and curved lines. It's been fun so far and I'll share other blocks as they are completed. The blocks are from the shop Material Obsession in Drummoyne, Australia. Kathy Doughty, the owner has written amazing books with wonderful patterns and also has a blog.

I love how the stripes radiate out from the block's center. It's a bit wrinkly right now, but lays flat.

 Doesn't this center just make you smile?