Massachusetts star for June 2011

The April swap blocks are already in the mail back to the swappers; some have already arrived in their new homes.  Sooo, I am a bit late posting the nudge for the June swap block:  the Massachusetts Star.

Mostly I am late because of the changes to the way Facebook handles Groups.  The short version is all Groups are either moving to the new format or being archived.  For reasons I am not clear on (& because Facebook is free, they don't exactly have people standing by to answer questions), our active group was flagged for archival becasue it was not active enough .  After trying unsuccessfully to find out how to get the "upgrade" option for our group, I began the process of creating a new QBS group using the new group tools.  Naturally, once I was almost done our group was changed from to-be-archive to upgradeable.  Oh well, you get what you pay for, right?  Mostly it looks like a good change, certainly more flexible but time will tell.

Which brings us to now.  We are at the third of the first three block swaps for the first half of 2011.  The blocks are due in-house the last Saturday in June.  The directions are in a previous post on this blog as well as other places on-line.

You will need two fabrics for each star.  One fabric should read-as-solid & be either blue OR white OR black.  The other can be red, white or blue OR red, white & blue OR any combination of red &/or white &/or blue.

In addition to the five blocks you send & get five different blocks back, you have the option of sending a 6th block.  Every swap a different person is chosen, sometimes people contact me, sometimes I contact them.  The 6th blocks are gathered together & go to back to that swapper for a quilt for her organization of choice.  For June the blocks are going to the same person who made last years Quilt of Valor quilt.  She is not the first person to make more than one 6th block; all I ask is that the previous 6th block quilt be completed (quilted bound) & a picture posted in the group so everyone can see how their blocks ended up. 

If you would like to join the swap, search in Facebook for the group "Quilt Block Swap- every other month" & ask to join.  If you would like to be part of the Quilt of Valor quilt send an extra block (or two or three) with your five swap blocks.

Massachusetts Star in June 2011

As I have said in a previous posts, I am trying to progress through the three block swaps for this corner from beginner, a bit more advanced, & then truly advanced.  For the third, most advanced block we will be making the Massachusetts Star, which was actually requested last year, but I could not get the directions photographed etc. in time. This block will be 12" finished/12." unfinished. 

Below are the directions with photos for making the block, including the 1/2-square & 1/4-square triangles that make up much of the 9-patch.  You could also follow the directions from the link above.  They are slightly different but will give you a block of the same dimensions.

To make your block you will need two fabrics:

Fabric A can be red or red&white or red&white&blue or blue or blue&white.  In my photos it is pale blue with white polka-dots.

Fabric B should be either reads-as-solid blue or reads-as-solid white or reads as solid black.  I choose black with a black ribbon pattern.

For each block, from each fabric, please cut:

1 - 4.5" square
2 - 5" squares (these will make the 1/2-square triangles)
2 - 5.5" squares (these will make the 1/4-square triangles)

With a pen or pencil, mark a straight line from one corner to the opposite corner on two of the 5" squares (inevitably, it will be easier to see this mark on one fabric than the other; you only need mark the easier/lighter fabric).  Do the same with the 5.5" squares & then, with the 5.5" squares only, draw a second line connecting the other two corners.  Do NOT mark the 4.5" square, just set both of them aside.  

To make the 1/2-square triangles take one 5" square of each fabric, put the right side together, stitch 1/4" from the center line on either side of the line.  This is the same technique used in the April 2010 block & explained here.  Cut right along the line in the center, press open, trim to 4.5" & set aside with the other 4.5" squares.  Do the same with the second square from each of the two colors.  You will need three (3) 1/2-square triangles to make the complete block.

To make the 1/4-square triangles you will begin the same way.  Take one 5.5" square from each fabric.  Put them right sides together, sew down either side of one of the center lines you have marked connecting the opposite corners, cut them apart, press & then trim to 5" square.  A clear how-to is online here.

On the back of each of these, there will be a line from one corner to the center of the block.  Connect this line with the opposite corner.  Then take another one of the newly-made 5" 1/2-square triangle blocks & put it up against the first, right sides together.  The center seams of both should lock together, holding the part that is fabric A in one block to the part that is fabric B in the other.  Stitch down either side of the center line, cut them apart & press.  You should have four (4) 1/4-square triangle blocks that are 4.5" square.  You will need all four of them. 

Once all the smaller pieces are made, the Massachusetts Star is really just a 9-patch.  Layout the three 1/2-square triangles, 4 1/4-square triangles & 2 4.5" squares as below.  Stitch each row together, being sure to press every row in opposite directions so you can lock your seams (otherwise you will have great mounds in the seam allowance) & then assemble the rows.

Four blocks could make a center star, that can be bordered as you like OR twelve blocks will make an ornate border around a 24" medallion that could be appliqued.  The fabrics were chosen with the upcoming holiday in mind or perhaps a Quilt of Valor, if you felt so inclined.

Blocks are due Saturday June 25th, they will be swapped June 26th & will go back in the mail that Monday, June 27, 2011.  As always, we swap in sets of five, so you would make six blocks (keep one for yourself) send five & get five back in the self-addressed, stamped envelope you included with your five swap blocks.

One woman's burden is another woman's valor

Remember when I was so jazzed to get rid of these squares that had been lurking in my demo-bag?  Yea, well I do.  & when I sent them to their new home with Green Eyed Silversmith I did not much care if her cub scout den used them for sewing practice or to clean the wood burning equipment (cub scouts still burn Do Your Best on blocks of wood & then varnish them, right?), just so long as I had them no more & could say, when I got the call, "sorry I do not have the materials to do that particular demo any more.  Could I interest you in something new?"

Anyhow, from that day to this I have not thought of them again.  OKay, that's a lie.  When I cleaned my demo-bag, I discovered another 1/2 dozen or so that had fallen to the bottom & pinned them up in my workroom.  I spent a week toying with the idea of using them for the Baby Snowballs block (patriotic babies-it happens), but I think instead they will form some of the houses in future Funky Town.

As for what I sent off, they were gone & that was fine.  I never expected to see them again.  & then this morning I was catching up on my quilting sites (it really has been an over-the-top-crazy-busy three months) & saw them, all quilted up!  Yes, yes, obviously she added at least as many of her own squares but I don't care.  I had started thinking of these squares as my quilting albatross & it turns out they still had some life in them.  Thank you J*******!

Passing the good deed buck

As I have blogged before, I manage a facebook quilt block swap & this month's block was an altered 9-patch in red, white & blue.  As an extension of the usual swap, we also have a thing called "the 6th block".  No, the name was not inspired by The Sixth Sense.  It is because we swap in sets of five: you send five & get five back.  You can also send a 6th block that is put aside for the group member who has committed to making a community service quilt for that swap.  The idea was a minimal effort from many & a one-time greater effort from one, results in a whole quilt for someone who needs it.  This is very close to something from nothing which is very close to my heart.  The first set of 6th blocks were collected in August 2009.  They went to Pennsylvania & were part of 4or5 (I forget) quilt tops for the local Project Linus.  This time, the 6th blocks are going to Texas to be made into a Quilt of Valor quilt. The funny thing about this swap is it was this 6th blocker (& her community recipient of choice) that solidified the 6th block idea for me.  It has just taken a few cycles for it to come around to her.

As for the block itself, I could not be more sick of it if I had to look at it for another six months.  I have been making this block in red, white & blue on&off since last June.  I have made it at a variety of local venues (the library, community center, shelter, for friends, for anybody who asked) because it is a good basic pattern with complex potential.  It is traditional with a modern twist & I just cannot take it anymore.  Unfortunately, I also have the fabric, cut & prepped for quick assembly if anyone should want to give it a try, to demo this a few more times.  There is nothing for it, the blocks must be made.  Then earlier this year, with an ever-lightening heart I read this month's sixth blocker was thinking of having her son's cub scout den help with the project.  I checked with her first (it is the right thing to do before making my crap her crap after all) & she said "yes".

& so this weekend, all those pre-cut squares are going into the 6th block package with the blocks from across the country & I never have to see them again.  YAY!  Next they will meet Cub Scouts (yay, again), who will do whatever with them, hopefully learning something about sewing (yay) & maybe even becoming part of a Quilts of Valor.  & all I have to do is get them in the mail.

Patriotic tossed nines for February

In February the Facebook Quilt Block Swap Group will celebrate our first full year.  We will also be swapping our seventh set of quilt blocks.  The way our swap works is you send me five of the same block, I swap them with other blocks received from other swappers &amp you get five (hopefully) different ones back. Blocks must be in-house by the deadline- always the last Saturday of an even numbered month or, in this case, Saturday February 27th, 2010.  Blocks are swapped on Sunday of the same week-end & brought to the Post Office on Monday.

Along with your five blocks you need to include a self addressed, stamped envelope to return your blocks to you.  If you use the same size envelope as you mailed your original blocks out in, postage should be exactly the same.

You can send as many sets as you like, so long as they are in sets of FIVE.  All of your sets do not need to be the same, but they can be (this does, however, increase the likelihood of getting one of your own blocks back).  Within each set, the blocks should be more or less the same.

You can also include a 6th Block.  The 6th Block will go to whatever person or persons have asked for the 6th Blocks for that particular swap to make a quilt (or quilts) for a community service type project.  There are some other guidelines for 6th Blocks & they are all on the Facebook group.  This months group is Quilts of Valor & one of the original swap group swappers is getting these blocks to make a quilt from the group. 


Enough about that, here is this month's swap block:  Patriotic Tossed Nines

1.  Cut 5" squares of eight different red, blue, red&blue, red&white. blue&white OR red&white&blue fabrics.  you will also need one 5" square in white for the center.  A note about colors:  In the example, I used white muslin, but white in this instance means reads as white.  it could be white on white, it could be a soft cream (but not a light brown, please), it could be white with another color in it very peripherally.  If you are looking at a piece of fabric & are unsure if it "reads as" white or blue or red or whatever, it is best to avoid it.




2.  Assemble a traditional 9-patch (again, the center square must be white) using the 1/4" seam allowance.  If it is easier for you make strips & cut them down, then by all means do it that way.

3.  Once the 9-patch is assembled, cut it in half through the center

& then again, lengthwise.

4.  Turn two of the opposite pieces so that the small white square that had been on the inside are now opposite outside corners. 

5. Reassemble so the four squares again become a single block & STOP.  When you get your swapped blocks back you will want to square them HOWEVER it makes sense for this to be done right before assembling the squares. 

Remember to make enough blocks to swap (5), maybe even one to donate (the 6th Block) & at least one to keep. 


//If you not currently part of the swap group, but you are interested in joining our swap group, you are very very welcome BUT it would make my life A LOT easier if you joined through Facebook.   Log into Facebook, search "quilt block swap" & find the Group.  There will be a picture of the current block as the profile photo.  Ask to join & you should be approved within a day or two.  If you are not on Facebook, but still interested, go HERE & leave a comment after this post with your e-mail address HOWEVER be warned:  I really cannot do trouble-shooting, take future block suggestions, handle requests to receive 6th blocks, etc. via individual e-mail messages.  The advantage of doing it all through Facebook is all the information is in one place you can check at your leisure.

The end of a good thing

For a while a while ago, I used to volunteer a good chunk of my time here. & here is still there, but the part I saw grow will soon be gone. I am not entirely sure when S** got the idea but she decided/thought/reasoned that a small cottage industry-type arrangement right there at the house to occupy the residents, might make a little cash maybe, but more important it would give everyone involved the general idea of what it was to show up for work, organize your schedule & take pride in what you can do & that this was a good thing. & while she was there it was a wonderful thriving thing.

But on her leaving, things changed. The person that replaced her understood S**'s concept, but somehow someone else in the organization looked at the little sewing space & saw dollar signs. & all the trying to convince her that I am actually pretty good at this & I could not support a dog on what I would make versus how does she think complete novices to the concept of work are going to do it made any difference. Actually it did: it made her tell me I was too negative. & I took my contrary ass home.

I know it is useless going to the board & showing up this folly. In December '07 I got an earful from one of the board members on how he thought the CI should set aside time for Quilts of Valor. Do not get me wrong, QoV is a wonderful program. & the people who send quilts in win awards for their work; they did not learn to sew last week. I could not tell if I should be insulted on behalf of the truly outstanding pieces donated to QoV, or invite him to CI to see what kind of work a new sewer can actual handle (& how many years it would take to piece the quilt top he proposed). In the end I just sat there with my mouth hanging open & a "you are f*cking with me, right?" look in my eye.

I think my favorite part of this whole story is this same manager is actively pursuing opening a restaurant under the AH/CI umbrella. She knows nothing about the food business (or she would know the odds of an experienced willing-to-work restaurateur failing) & she knows what the residents are capable of in terms of cooking ...& hygiene. I am telling everyone who tells me that she should be encouraged in this. Complete catastrophic failure might be the only thing that saves the rest of the organization.

Sooooo, anyone who has been holding onto orphans for the Dali bags, or scraps you have leftover or fabric you bought when you were drunk, you can keep hanging on to it I am not going back. & before anyone calls me & says they are sure the CI is still there, I know it is. & I know it will not be for long, no matter what the plan is.

& no, I am not bitter.