Yesterday I finished another four “crumb blocks”–total complete blocks now number 10. My long-distance quilting friend, Helen says her next project is going to be the crumb blocks she saw here on my site.

While I was looking through some magazines last night, I noticed a pattern in Quiltmaker from March/April 2004 – Issue No. 96 that looks similar to my crumb blocks set into a log cabin pattern. The crumb block becomes the center of the log cabin block and then there are 3 logs around the crumb center. The pattern in Quiltmaker has 4″ square blocks that are paper pieced. My blocks finish 8″ so my log cabin would over 12″. Since my crumb blocks are mostly green I am not sure what colours my logs would be………hmm………food for thought.

Originally I thought I would just sash the blocks, add corner stones and finish the quilt. However, the more I think about it, the more possibilities there seem to be. Tthis is proving to be not only a quick block but a versatile one as well. The possibilities seem endless.

This is my Bear Paw quilt. This quilt was started the weekend of November 18, 2000. There were 5 of us who got together that weekend to work on the same quilt project. The pattern that the rest of the group worked on was “Circle of Friends”. I was still too new to quilting and not sure of my skills. I took a look at the number of templates that were required and decided that I would make Bear Paw instead. I finished all the blocks for the quilt that weekend in November 2000 and they sat it that state until July 2005. In July I finished piecing the top and then quilted it on my new long arm machine with the clam shell pattern. The quilt was shown finished at the October 2005 PieceMakers Quilt Guild show and tell. I wonder if Colette, Veryan, Teresa, and Cyndi ever finished the quilts they started that weekend?

I made it! The Rail Fence Around the World quilt was finished in time for show and tell at our quilt guild meeting last Wednesday. Another UFO off the list.

We had an interesting workshop at guild meeting on the use of photo-transfer paper. The gal that let the presentation is quite the artist. Although I am artistically challenged when it comes to drawing, there are things even I can use this medium for. I immediately thought about using this special paper for making unique labels. I also thought about transferring some of the art work my daughter has done for me to fabric and showcasing it in some wall hangings. I think there are some more UFOs about to be born!

This is one of my daughter’s latest drawings. She calls it, “Cluck-a-tude” or “Rooster With an Attitude” This picture alone inspires me to create a quilt!

One of the special things about our monthly guild meeting is the group of us that go for coffee after the meeting is over. We have been going to the same Starbucks on the third Wednesday evening for coffee for so long that last Wednesday they had our chairs and tables arranged for us in anticipation of our arrival.

After reading Colette’s blog this morning, http://www.lapagedecolette.blogspot.com/ , I thought I would share the bear that I made.

Meet, Sandy.

Sandy sits in our foyer and welcomes everyone to our home. This is the fist bear that I have made. I took a bear making class a couple of years ago and Sandy was the result. I want to try making a few more bears but quilt making seems to keep getting in the way.

I worked on my Rail Fence Around the World quilt on Friday night. The binding is half sewn to the back of the quilt. I will try to finish it tonight during Desperate Housewives. My husband and I are hooked on this show and the weekend is not complete until we have watched the latest episode.

I did stray a bit from the completion of my UFOs. I was surfing the net yesterday and came across a new way to use up bits of fabric left from other projects. This technique is called “crumb quilting” and is very mindless. I find this type of block construction relaxing and low stress–absolutely nothing to match. You just keep joining fabric bits together until you have a piece the size you want and then you trim to size. The blocks I made were trimmed to 8 1/2 inches. I managed to make six blocks yesterday. The only rules I respected in the construction of these blocks were that the fabric scraps I used were green or contained a green element and two fabrics that touched could not be the same fabric.