Well, doesn't that look like fun!  I know some places are experiencing summer, we had a very brief visit, but tonight are under a frost advisory and we have a fire going in our woodstove.  Such is  life in our neck of the woods. 
Block 57 just had to have a playful touch as it is called Air Castle so I started with the polka dot fabric and picked out colors that went with it.  I was delighted to see that the purple even had a matching yellow-green.  Always a delight when my scraps come together this way when none of them are from the same fabric line.

Originally I was going to use the polka dot for all of my background pieces, but when I laid it out I thought it just looked to busy...

So I switched out the corner HST's for a "quieter" background fabric and I like how the star design becomes more of a standout feature.

Click on the link below for a pdf copy of the pattern.
Passing the Days pdf patterns

I hope you find something fun to do today and
​Happy Quilting!!

I am still playing catch up with my blog posts and blocks.  Block 55 fell on Mother's Day so I came up with one I have named A Mother's Heart.  The construction on this one is a little different than what we have been doing, but it goes together easily.  I just raided my pink scraps for this one.

Block 56 marks eight weeks of our staying at home time.  Eight weeks.  So I looked for a block with "eight" in it's name and came across this one.  Another fun one to make that uses Flying Geese in combination I bring you Eight-pointed Star.  Not  a very creative name,  but sure a beauty.

My wall is getting pretty full of blocks, but our county has applied to enter Phase 1 of reopening here in Oregon so I am waiting to see what that means for us.  I have some ideas going forward that I will let you know about when we know how this all is going to work.  In the meantime be sure and click on the link below to get your copy of the pdf patterns for these blocks.
Passing the Days PDF Patterns

I hope you all have a blessed day and thanks to those who have let me know you are enjoying making the blocks with me.  I have gotten some delightful emails and even some photos.  I love seeing what you are doing!

​Happy Quilting!!

It has been rainy here as I get caught up on my little blocks and that inspired my color choice for Block 53-Love in a Mist.  Of course there had to be red, but instead of the white background I was first going with I decided on a light gray to represent the mist.  

The main tip I have for you on this one is to take time to square up those corner triangles.  I do it at this point and then again after all four triangles have been sewn.

Day 54's Block is called Annie's Choice.  This block is made up entirely of Half-square Triangles.

The HST's get put together into four-patch units.  This is where I recommend fanning the seams when you press.  The seams will naturally want to lay to one side or the other so just open up the intersection and let them go the direction they want to.  I finger press the back side then use my iron to press the back and front.

This is what the entire back of my block looks like.  Fanning the seams in this way helps those bulky intersections to lay pretty flat.

For the pdf patterns just click on the link below.
Passing the Days pdf patterns

I hope you have a blessed day and
Happy Quilting!!

Sometimes my inspiration for color comes in the tiniest packages.  Today's block is Indian Puzzle and as I looked at my scraps I had this polka dot in black which would go so well with a red.  Polka dots just make for a happy block.

A couple of tips for sewing this one together.  First when joining the two Flying Geese the seams face the same direction which makes it a little more challenging to match them up well.  I find a little dab from a water soluble glue stick is just the trick.  I place glue at each end and line them up.  This will hold them in place as I sew.

Tip number two is to use the pinning trick I have shown you before when matching points.  The first pin is placed through both units at the very tip of the point and then used to snug the two pieces together while adding the next two pins.   Those two pins will hold things in place as you sew.  Sew slowly as you come to these points and remove the pins as you go, stopping with your needle in the down position so that nothing shifts out of place when you remove the pin.

There is a lot of matching to do on this one, so just take it slow
and enjoy the process.

Click the link below to get the pdf pattern for this block:
Passing the Days pdf patterns

I hope you find joy in the little things today and
Happy Quilting!!

The block I chose for Day 50, the beginning of week 8, made me think back to days spent with aunts and uncles.  It made me think of the smell of roses-which I associate with visits with my grandmother.  It made me think of beautiful floral prints on fabric.    Aunt Sukey's Choice is the name of the block.  
I dug into my scrap box and came across these two prints.  I usually like very simple background prints, but decided I wanted to see how this one would work.  And the border fabric could easily be fussy cut for the center square.

All I needed to add was a medium to carry the show and I found this one to be a perfect fit.

Here is what I ended up with.  Using the print for my background fabric does keep the medium pink from showing up so dramatically; giving the block an overall softness that I rather like for this one.  I wish I had a lot more of those fabrics as I think they would make a beautiful quilt.

For block 51 I have chosen Saint George's Cross.  My research showed that this is typically represented by the colors red and white and associated with the Crusades.  I just didn't want to go there so instead was inspired by this little Red-breasted Nuthatch that is a regular visitor to our yard.  I often see them in small flocks when we go for walks in the woods and their calls are special to me for that reason-they take my mind back to some of my very favorite places.  They are quite entertaining to watch as they go up and down feeding on our peanut feeder since upside down seems to be their preferred mode.  What is striking about this bird is that dark streak.  

So I went with  dark and medium Cerulean Blues to show off this block.

I could have used Half-square Triangles to make those corner units, but I really need to practice those Quick Corner Triangles some more.  I have not used this technique as much as the others and find that I am not always getting the perfect result I desire.  So that means I need to stop avoiding it and practice, practice, practice.  I have mentioned before that one of the tricks is to leave the base block underneath and only cut away the extra small triangle.  This does indeed ensure that your block stays squared although I do not like having the extra layer of fabric.  

I am pleased that three of my four came out perfectly.  The fourth was just a tad small.  I pulled out my Best Press and starched them this time and that did help.

Some of the construction of this block is similar to Block 50.  If you are finding it difficult to get those Flying Geese points to cooperate as you sew the two units together I recommend flipping them over so that the bulky seam is on the bottom.  

And, as always, sew slowly over those bulky seams when joining the block together.

​Click on the link below to find the pdf patterns for these blocks.
Passing the Days pdf patterns

I hope you have a blessed day.
​Happy Quilting!!