Tag Archives: Quilt Blocks

Executive Decision

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Back in the AtoZ Challenge 2017, I completed the 26 blocks you see below, and then some. The directions often allowed you to cut enough fabric to create 2 blocks. So I thought, why not?! I’ll have extra in case of mistakes. Well, I surprised even myself and had very little waste. So much so that there isn’t much of any of these fabrics left. There’s a familiar ring to this for me. I seem to have a knack for having just enough to do the blocks. Can you say ‘throw caution to the wind’? I must be good at that.

AtoZVoteImage

I also took a vote as you see in that above photo. I wanted to know which color everyone preferred as the sashing (the strips connected the blocks). I totally agreed that the blue was pretty and between the comments and FaceBook, it won the vote.

The unfortunate thing is, I am making an executive decision and using a coordinating gold fabric that there is an ample amount of and as you may notice, there are 30 blocks rather than 26. I am positive that I don’t have enough blue. There is a common theme between the 2017 and 2018 A to Z quilt construction. That common denominator is a lack of fabric as I mentioned above. I’m determined to stay out of the fabric store as long as possible in order to use up my gargantuan fabric supply. So my apologies to my votees

—-the color will be gold. 

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And Z is the End/#AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

My original plan was to exhibit last years quilt top for you. At the time of this writing this won’t happen.But I do have a finished quilt top from this year’s A to Z. After all, last year is old news and why not give you a look at this years?! The arrangements were layed out in various fashion for my family to put in their 2 cents worth of advice. I was forced to keep the Indian Square block in a central location. This is because of it being the rogue block that was 15 1/2 inches compared to all the other 12 inch blocks.

Can I say how this kept me up all night? Can I also say how much I disliked the person who was responsible for writing the incorrect templates down in the book? I was ready to pull my hair out.

Image result for pulling my hair out gif

These were the possiblities below.

The blocks are not in A to Z order. Instead, I chose to arrange them in a visually pleasing arrangement. Had I been able to keep all of them in a 2-color scheme, that order might have been possible. But as we say ’round here, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.

So the last factor in the end result this year is a lack of fabric. You would think that with 4 fabrics in this quilt project, there would be enough to do what was needed. But no. There is no extra fabric left on this project. Not enough to put sashings around every block. Not enough to correct the Indian Square block either. That being said, I hope you like what I came up with.

I present the 2018 A to Z Quilt “The Thunderbird”:

2018atozfinish

2018 A to Z Quilt top

Ozark slang for the last day of the 2018 A to Z is /Zero for No Count Good For Nothin’.

This means you are counted in the lowest of the lows. And the person telling you this, should they be brave/angry enough to say it to your face, should be backed away from pdq(pretty damn quickly). You may be in danger of a punch in the nose. (And no, I would not punch the author of the book in the nose just for the record.)

Thank you all so much for stopping in each day, or even once or twice during this challenge. I appreciate all the likes and comments and encouragement so much. To my fellow bloggers, I will be spending some time catching up on all your wonderful posts the next week or two.  Happy Trails to you all!!

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you can spend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Hither and Yon/#AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

This block used all 4 fabrics I had selected for this challenge. It’s the last block I’m making for the quilt as I will be putting it all together for the Letter Z post. The number of blocks I now have work out into an even pattern. And I even found a way to use that larger 15 inch block (Indian Squares).

 

Hither & yon is an Ozark slang that I don’t hear very often. Mostly it would’ve been something used by the old-timers back at our Community Building gathering days. We had gatherings for 4-H, The Women’s Club, Voter events, and I even had a bridal shower held at the old Manila schoolhouse that I’m referring to.

 

 

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Hither & Yon block

Hither & yon is an Ozark slang that I don’t hear very often anymore. Mostly it would’ve been something used by the old-timers back at our Community Building gathering days. We had gatherings for 4-H, The Women’s Club, Voter events, and I even had a bridal shower held at the old Manila schoolhouse that I’m referring to. But to keep from rambling hither & yon, let’s keep on topic. The phrase, hither & yon would have been used to refer to a loose cow or hog that ran in all directions; in a disorganized fashion.

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you canspend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Mosaic X/ #AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

The Mosaic X block is pretty straight-forward in its appearance as a letter. I like it probably the most just because of the early childhood teacher in me. And I mean how could you go wrong by making a quilt of X’s for some little one who likes pirates for instance? Or an X’s & O’s combination also comes to mind for a Valentine’s Day gift. Of course, there’s always the idea of using up your scrap stash of light and dark fabrics for some colorful X’s in a quilt. Which would you prefer??

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Mosaic X block

Ozark slang  expletive moments

When I was growing up, anyone heard rattling off an expletive (curse word) or sassin’ (back-talking) their elders might have been met with some sayings like these:

  • You’re achin’ for a breakin’
  • You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’
  • You’re itchin’ for a lickin’
  • Hush!
  • Watch your mouth!
  • You’d best not let me hear that again!
  • Tan your hide
  • Go git me a switch
  • I’ll fix your wagon (meaning your attitude is about to get put in its place)

 

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you can spend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Wagon Tracks/ #AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

Wagon Tracks is a combination of familiar patterns. The 2 patterns I speak of are the 4-patch and the half-triangle square. With these two it’s easy to mix and match to come up with alternatives. For this block, the name selection is easy to understand. It has direction and appearance as a ‘track’.

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

An advantage to this type of quilt block is that it can be easily chain-pieced for quick assembly. The photo below demonstrates how a series of similar pieces can be sewn in a continuous fashion for efficiency. Less cutting, stopping and starting; more uninterrupted sewing.

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chain piecing

The final product is this eye-catching block. It resembles a Jacob’s Ladder pattern to me. Maybe I’ll find the one that I finished q to show you sometime. For now I’m pressed for time. Mother has a pretty major surgery Thursday morning and I’m hoping to have a chance to post before too late in the day. It is an hour drive to the hospital and she’s guaranteed a 3 to 4 day stay minimum.

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Wagon Tracks block

What parts do you’all come from = Ozark slang

The you’all is a continuous word that flows naturally. It’s not ya’ll as in the deep South. More of a roll off the tongue word that sounds like it’s supposed to be one word. I’m pretty sure my sister and I will hear this inquiry during our extended time in the waiting room waiting on Mother’s surgery. And our ‘parts’ is our town or the closest one to us.

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you canspend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here

Hill and Valley/#AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

For the 22nd letter of this A to Z (and one yet to be revealed), I’m just hoping the ‘V’ in the title will do. For the sake of keeping my quilt blocks uniform, I needed to choose a block that didn’t need any extra color choices than I’ve already used. To be quite frank, I need to stay away from the fabric store as long as possible in order to use up my rather large fabric supply.

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

You see, there is such a thing as Too Much of a Good Thing. And my fabric collection is the perfect example. By the time I use what I have, the Vintage fabric in my stash will be Archaic. Besides that, there is obviously a monetary side to all this fabric purchasing.  So enough of this blubbering about the letter choice I made for this block. Let’s see it finished!

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Hill & Valley block

Vittles = Ozark slang

I have been slippin’ in my usage of this word. It was used back in the day during all those reruns of ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and so I took it for granted that my daughters would know what it meant. But alas, they did not and looked at me with that sideways glance all parents recognize when they’ve clearly dated themselves. So, for you young whippersnappers who don’t know the definition to this word, it means Food. Whether serving Dinner- Supper- Breakfast – Snack- and 2nd Snack, these are all vittles. Its thought to be a terrible mispronunciation of the word victuals which is a proper word meaning the same as above.

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you canspend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Ohio Star/#AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

There were several choices in the book I was referencing for the A to Z Challenge for the Letter O. And this one seemed like a good choice. The Ohio Star is a very popular block, but this one is a different take on it.

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

 I learned one thing this time. It would be best to pin and pivot the needle on this type of block. I also need my machine to cooperate and not wadd up the thread under my fabric when sewing, but I’ll save that topic for another time. The real concern in sewing blocks with pivoting is that I need to learn to better ‘set in’ those kinds of pieces. My question is this…is it any better with paper piecing? I intend to find out this coming year. Til then, as I say to my kiddos, You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Here’s my feeble attempt, puckers and all.

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Ohio (neveragain) Star

Oh for Pete’s sake, you’d think I’d killed your dog! = Ozark slang of the day.

You are being over dramatic about something. Dogs are often a best friend or part of the family and the idea of that loss is upsetting. But you know what they are unhappy about is not anything nearly that tragic. Get a grip in other words.

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you can spend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Mosaic II/ #AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

This one is very simple. And when you’re doing over 2 dozen never-before-sewn blocks in a time crunch, a few simple ones are absolutely acceptable. Have I ever mentioned working how 11-hour days are a little taxing the older you get? Any sympathy is appreciated 😉sarcastic mr krabs GIF

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

So the Ozark slang for the day is probably not that unknown, but it was well used back in the day during my high school years. Miss Goody two shoes is the phrase and you know the type. They’re all about themselves and think they are too good to even breath the same air as you. Hence they were portrayed by my friends with a finger towards a turned up nose. It’s most definitely a mudslinging term if they came from the same station in life as you and were no better off. We would say they were ‘above their raisin’.

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There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you can spend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Mosaic2b.jpg

Lily Quilt/#AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur cuppa coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

So this is spring and I’m definitely ready for some cut flowers. A little early for day lilies in Missouri, so why not bring some inside with a quilt block?

 

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

In this book I’m using for the Challenge, there are a few floral quilt blocks. I chose this one probably because every sampler should have at least one floral choice, in my opinion. And also there is a particular little girl who spends her days with me named Lilly and I just thought it was the perfect choice for this year. She’s a sweetheart and this will let me always think of her smiles and laughter once she has headed off to kindergarten. (but not for a couple years at least)

Lilyquilt

For today’s Ozark slang I’m sharing a saying I’m 100% sure I heard my Great Grandmother mumbling . “Look at that Yahoo!” would have been her reaction to seeing someone drive down our country gravel road at a high rate of speed. Calling them a yahoo was a ladylike attempt at swearing in her case. She was not impressed at all and had no use for such nonsense.

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you can spend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.

Keyhole/#AtoZ

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The April A to Z Blog Challenge is an annual blogging event in which participants blog every day (except Sundays) one post for each letter of the alphabet for the entire month. My theme for the year will be “Quilts and Ozark Slang.” So gitchur coffee or sodapop, grab a pilluh, and sit a spell.

Book Illustration
Fabric Layout

 If I had made several of this block, I would want sashing between each one for sure to distinguish each one. Otherwise I don’t think it would have the same appearance. It was a little bit of a cantankerous block. You have to pivot those corners around the square blocks in the center with your machine. Or do what I did…….stop,cut the thread and restart after you turn your fabric. Either way, it would probably frustrate a new quilter and I would not recommend this one for a starter block.

Keyhole1

For my Ozark slang of the day, I could have went with cantankerous I suppose. But it isn’t a ‘K’ word and there doesn’t seem to be a synonym for it that will help me out. So the word isn’t quite ‘Kind’ enough to suit me. So I’ll just have to ‘keep it between the ditches’. So what does that mean to a quilter? The space between each sewn piece is a ‘ditch’ and to quilt our tops onto the batting and muslin, we often times follow those lines. Especially in a piece as the one above. There wouldn’t be any markings to worry about and it will make a very snug finish. Snug equals no bunching of the batting between the layers of fabric. You know how a comforter can get all wadded up after a lot of washings? Well quilting in the ditch on a particularly detailed block will alleviate this and keep it ready for washing after washing for years down the road. That’s why your grandma’s quilt is still in one piece.

Now for you ‘knee high to a grasshopper’ whippersnappers, you really need to keep your life between the ditches. The straight and narrow path is not always the easiest, but it will get you to the goal. Which is,hopefully, a life well lived.

There are many more wonderful blogs this year that I hope you can spend a couple minutes reading. All you have to do is click here and select something that interests you. To read about the A to Z Challenge and what we are all about, click here.