Guess What?

Blogging buddy Sheila of Sew Cook and Travel (link) emailed me to let me know about Quiltmaker's Parade of Homes issue and a connected give-away by Quilty Pleasures: Quiltmaker's blog (link).  Seems there was a paper-pieced house pattern up for grabs!   You just know I had to check it out...   and found the cutest house block made by Kimberly Jolly of The Fat Quarter Shop (link)!

Photo swiped from Quilty Pleasures (link)

Reading through the post about the house block, I found there was a give-away and, because the question asked was right up my alley... I commented on where I buy quilting fabric:  brick-and-mortar shops or online shops?

Well, guess what?

I won the house block Kimberly Jolly made (my favorite!) AND a copy of Quiltmaker magazine (September/October issue) containing the house block pattern!    

Photo of block and a tiny house block for comparison

I would have been happy just to win the pattern but I got my favorite house block in the Parade of homes!    *doing the happy dance*   

Not to mention I also received the magazine, which included the house block pattern!  *more happy dancing*

I'm not sure what I will do with the house block...  I'm thinking either an appearance on the backing of my tiny house quilt...  OR a pillow cover.   Will have to think on that for a while....    In the meantime, thanks again for the head's up, Sheila!!!

Tiny Trees: All together now...

The tiny trees for my tiny village are all done now...

...quite a forest, yes?

Tiny Trees: Blocks 28 - 30

I'm starting to think it's my camera that is giving me probs taking consistently clear photos...

...it wasn't expensive and I've given it a workout over the past 5 or so years!

So.... maybe it's time for a new one?

I'm loving this sky fabric.... thanks again, Janet!

Tiny Trees: Blocks 25 - 27

I'm on the home stretch now... at least for the tiny trees!

I'm repeating greens but I do like them... and the trees will be interspersed among the houses anyway.

Blogging buddy Janet O. shared some sky fabric with me for my tree blocks...

Imho, it's PERFECT and I love it!!!   Thanks, Janet!

Tiny Trees: Blocks 23 & 24

It's fun stretching one's boundaries about what greens should be included in making trees...

...I figured that with all the funky fabrics I used for houses, I needed some funky trees as well!

However, there is a need for "traditional" trees.... yes?

If anyone knows how to get rid of a camera gremlin, I would appreciate the sharing of that knowledge...   *lol*

Tiny Trees: Blocks 20 - 22

I'm starting to feel better about piecing these tiny trees...

...not to mention getting braver about fabric choices.

Couldn't resist the sun...

...or the fishes!  After all, this is a memory quilt....

Tiny Trees: Blocks 17 - 19

The tree blocks are fussier than the house blocks...

...more pieces, more seams.

The trees are cute tho...

...and the camera gremlin is capricious!

Tiny Trees: Blocks 14 - 16

I'm on a roll now!

Definitely going to have some crazy looking trees in this village...

...and yes!  Some night-time trees...

...darn camera gremlins!

Tiny Trees: Blocks 11 - 13

I do think it's better to piece a bunch o' blocks in a row rather than one at a time...

...and I'm making a decision to cut one seam out of each of the tree sections.  For example, the block above has smaller, horizontal "sky" pieces at the tops of both trees but that seems like a waste of time and fabric.... especially that larger of the two trees.

Just makes no sense to me...

... did I mention I love using up tiny scraps of fabric?

Tiny Trees: Blocks 8 - 10

I don't have a wide variety of green fabrics but do have enough for thirty tree blocks.

I would like to know how exactly I mange to screw up just one photo out of three...

...it's like some gremlin is up to mischief or something.

Sky piecing is getting slightly better, I think...

Tiny Trees Four Through Seven

Tree block making continues apace...

...however, "doing better with sky" is slow.

Tiny tree blocks continue to be thread magnets...

...and photography skills seem to vary between shots.  Curious...

Tiny Trees

The tiny tree blocks have introduced another set of shapes to figure out how much fabric is required and I'm having to piece sky sections because I've underestimated how much I'll need....

I hope the learning curve is steep....

....however, I think it's going to take a bunch of practice.

Tiny Houses: The Trees

I couldn't live anywhere there weren't trees so... as a break from tiny houses and buildings, I be working on tree blocks. 

I plan on making 30 tree blocks; however, I am back to work and, with 10-hour work days (4 days/wk), the tree making is going to take a while.  Not sure whether to post one block per day or wait til I have three tree blocks to share. 

Next week, I go back to regular work hours and 5-day weeks... I won't know what to do with myself in the afternoons!   *lol*

Tiny Houses: The Farm House

Since we have a barn, we need a house for the farmer and her family to live....

I only had one strip of the brick fabric and had to piece sections for the vertical sections so that the bricks all ran in the same direction.   Yes, I'm a tiny bit obsessive like that...  

Tiny Houses: The Barn

Tiny villages are always on the verge of farm land so I thought we needed a barn to store hay and a place for the animals to live.

The barn pattern had two windows but I decided to have a barn quilt.  I should have just done the windows... a 1" barn quilt is a bit of a challenge!

Tiny Houses: The Church

I was feeling a bit cocky after making the school so I jumped right on piecing a church for my village!  Let's just say that I learned a LOT about paper piecing with this one.... and am glad I only got one wonky window...

At least the sills line up...

Tiny Houses - Continued

I've done the math... I'll need 154 blocks for a twin quilt/coverlet.  I'm thinking 120 tiny houses, 30 trees, and....   4 something.  More houses?  More trees?   NO!   I think we need a school for our village, yes?

Whatcha think?

Tiny Houses: We have a small village!

I have completed 60 tiny houses and the lettuce box is stuffed full!

My small village looks like this....

Not the greatest photo.... I was perched on a ladder... but you can get the idea. 

Tiny Houses: Pink & Purple (last ones, I promise)

Well, at least for a while...  to have enough tiny houses for a bed-size quilt, I may have to revisit the pinks and purples again.

However, in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy colors other than pink and purple!

I did find a bit more "sky" fabrics so I'll put off the run to the LQS for a while.

I think it's time to checkout the orange scrap bin......

Tiny Houses: Pink & Purple (what? more?)

While it was easier to sort fabrics and stack with the patterns, I am about done with pinks and purples.

Although, I do like purples...

...and using scraps I thought I'd never be able to use.

Like the dark purple print on this tiny house.... I only have a 1.5" x 2.5" scrap left of this.   So nice to have this out of the scrap bin and into a quilt.

Tiny Houses: Pink & Purple (still more?)

The pink and purple scrap bin was stuffed full...  really!

And I'm not saving any small scraps from the tiny houses because they really are too small to be used in another project.

To be honest, I'm gonna be glad to get to the bottom of the pile in the basket...

...I'm definitely ready for another set of colors!