Pay it Forward Finishes - Block books

The thing about a year is it can seem a really long time, when its waiting for the annual holidays or Guradian's of the Galaxy II to come out, but it seems so very short when self imposed deadlines are nearly upon you!

Last February, I received a Pay it Forward gift from Deborah@Sunshine through the Rain and randomly selected 3 people to pay it forward to within 12 months.  I chose to make Block books using Sarah Fielke's bonus video shared with those doing her 2016 Block of the Month.  You wouldn't think it would take a year to make them would you?  Just got them done in the nick of time!  So very happy to wrapping these up to post this week!

Abigail wanted blue and red so I used the few O-Ho circles made during a workshop with Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic that never made it into a quilt.  This could be my favourite though I really like the light grey in the next one!

An orphan block of slashed strips - no idea why I made this - must have been for a bee block.  The red star is a block made for me from Global Scrap Bee (my first bee in 2013!)

I showed you this one before - my very first pieced blocks from Craftsy 2012 BOM.  These were the colours chosen by Sobana, so this ones for her.  I will make myself another as I signed up for Sarah Fielke's 2017 BOM called Down The Rabbit Hole - I'm hoping to add a bit of Alice in wonderland to my blocks - I love that book!

Even though it doesn't look like it one has a few more pages than the others.  I used cardboard as the stiffener in the purple/pink one and it seems to fold flatter and not feel quite as substantial as the others, but you can actually get more blocks in.

For the other 2 I used Foam board and it cuts really easily - 1 A1 sheet is needed per book as the cover is 15" so a bit of wastage but not that much.  It gives a lovely finish to the book and makes it feel more durable.

So that's me paying it forward to Abigail, Phyllis and Sobana - over to you!

Charly & Wilbur paying it forward!

Confessions of a Guilty Blogger: One Lovely Blog, Aspire to Inspire & Giving back

There are some lovely things that stick around blog land and some really lovely new ideas that pop up too.  Stay around long enough and you will see the nice ones like Pay it Forward and One Lovely Blog come around again!

Image shamelessy borrowed from Quilting Jet girl and Red Delicious Life!

A few years back Chelsea @ Patch the Giraffe did a thankful Thanksgiving mosaic instead of the black Friday madness and I loved that idea.  Yvonne @ Quilting Jet Girl had Thankful Thursdays for a while and I loved that too and I tried hard this week to make this a Thankful Thursday post but the week got away from me so its a Friday post instead.

My Happy mosiac from 2014

I have to say thank you to Lena @ Quilt Art and Abigail @ Cut and Alter for the nomination.  Just over 12 months ago I wrote this One Lovely Blog post thanking Marly, Lara and Judy for the nomination.  At the time I nominated these blogs and I am happy to say that almost all are still blogging!

A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Ella & Nestas Little Room
Fluffy Sheep Quilting
Just Jude
Pennydog Patchwork
Neros Patch & Post
Slaney handcraft
Sew Fresh Quilts 
Sew Giving
Sew Me

Things do change - change is inevitable!  I know there are less bloggers overall writing regular updates and a lot of people are having lots of fun on Instagram.  We talk about this from time to time (most recently Rachel's post @Stiched in Color)  but I can honestly say that most of the blogs I follow and the bloggers I consider friends and must not miss are very active.  So much so if I miss a weeks reading I have over 100 missed posts in my feedly feed!

I feel guilty sometimes not being able to leave a comment on all the blogs I read.  I even save some for later to deliberately come back to if I am reading on my phone or my iPad but I seldom do go back.  Bad, bad follower.  I am rubbish at writing comments with my phone and I have a nice phone - I really just prefer the laptop keyboard.  My ancient Mac has a lovely keyboard and I am dreading the day it dies on me!

I am also guilty of placing hearts and not leaving as many comments as I could on Instagram - again laziness on my part with my phone!  I tend to browse while waiting in the car after work for G to drive home together or just before bedtime when I'm not quite awake and paying as much attention as I should. 

Someone I admire for always supporting us with comments and encouraging participation is Yvonne @ Quilting JetGirl.  Yvonne's commitment to her blog, support of QAL's and new bloggers and thought provoking topics give so much back to our community I wanted to follow Diana's lead and thank Yvonne for all the support since I first met her on the 2013 new bloggers hop! Diana's post Aspire to Inspire has had me thinking of how I've been inspired by others and how I can give back.
So instead of telling you 7 new things you might not know about me this post has become a thank you and also a confession of sorts on how I probably could give back more.

Evolution quilt with strips from Massdrop fabric purchase and background from LQS

At the beginning of the month, Weeks Ringle wrote a piece on her blog Craft Nectar about supporting the shops that give back to the quilting community rather than the big box stores like Fabric.com and Massdrop.  Confession, I shop at Massdrop and also sales at Craftsy.  I also shop at my local quilt shop, support the pop up shops that come to our guild meetings. buy from friends like Fluffy Sheep Quilting and Slaney Handcraft and also from online retailers like FatQuartershop and LoveFabric.ie.  I try hard to spread the love around.  The money I save on some of the Massdrop and Craftsy purchases I spend locally.  Something I could do better is buy books locally.  It never occurred to me to buy direct from the author and having had a friend write and get a book published this has hit a chord with me.  Instead of the convenience of Amazon, if the shipping is reasonable I can try and buy direct from the writer.

In the comments in that post there were lots of ideas on how we could come together more for our craft and the quilting industry.  Some enduring themes seem to come around like being more welcoming at our guilds regardless of age and taste -  I know we are fighting human nature in that it is natural to form groups and cliques but its not easy being new.  Our hobby is expensive, fabric is not cheap (about $18 a yard here in Ireland) nor are good sewing machines and some had the idea of making a welcome package for young or new quilters.  I love this idea and think it is a very fun way to pay it forward!  Our guild is starting back in September so I'll be hoping to give back offline as well as online.  Welcoming the new, encouraging and supporting our corner of blogland and thanking those that inspire, that to me, make for one lovely blog!  I hope you will spread the joy by visiting those blogs in the links above and join me in thanking them and you all for reading, commenting and sharing over these past 4 years!  Thanks a million!

PS: Pets on Quilts voting is open over at LilyPad Quilting!  We're sharing the joy celebrating the furballs are there are prizes to be won so please click on the button!

PPS: Wilbur is #19! In case you were voting!!

Pay it Forward!

Do you remember the movie Pay it Forward with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment? It was based on a book of the same name about a kid who comes up with a social experiment to make the world a kinder place. He decides on the Pay if Forward principle - I had heard of this before the movie, paying the toll for the next person coming along behind, buying someone a cup of coffee unexpectedly. Giving without the expectation of receiving in return, only asking the next person to do the same at some future date, when they have an opportunity to make someone's day easier!

Charly and Wilbur paying it forward or multiplying uncontrollably?

The book/movie concept maximised this effort by having each person pay it forward to 3 people and have a ripple effect flow through the community, spreading kindness. Isn't that a really lovely concept? Kind of like a pyramid scheme in reverse but with nicer consequences! I must admit I cried at the movie as it was quite sad but noble at the same time. According to Wikipedia, pay it forward has been traced back to a Greek play in 315BC. In blog land I managed to find it as far back as 2006 so still have no idea who started it but it is still going!

Purple mini & swap items gratefully received brightening up my wall!

Serena @Sew Giving (isn't that a brilliant name for a blog!) and I have been very lucky to be the recipient of Pay it Forward gifts from Deborah @ Sunshine Through the Rain (another great blog name!) I received a quilt as you go mini in purples to decorate my sewing space and have it hanging over my computer desk where I work on my designs and blog posts! Thank you Deborah for your thoughtful gifts!

So now it's our turn to Pay it Forward! Both Serena and I are posting on our blogs today to offer to make for you if you would like, something handmade during 2016. We are changing it up a little bit and instead of 3 blog recipients we are going offline too and reaching as far as we can including our guilds/sewing groups as well as our blogs and instagram too.

One of the things the movie concept tried was to do something for a person they wouldn't be able to do themselves. I've been thinking about that and decided on my first gift for someone in my guild. A block book. Sarah Fielke gave as a free gift in her 2016 Block of the Month a video showing how to make a block book. The idea being that you have a book where you can store your blocks made every month until you are ready to assemble them into a quilt. This is very handy for Bee blocks too and much nicer than the plastic tub I have been using to hold my blocks.

Not everyone will have paid for Sarah's BOM and have access to her tutorial and I think every quilter could use one of these so I thought I'd make a few to pay forward to others the gift I received from Deborah. 

 

So this weekend I pulled out some orphan blocks (I made my very first pieced blocks by following the Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month with Amy Gibson. I chose fabric I was not in love with and hence the blocks didn't scream finish me into a quilt and I left them to one side for over 4 yrs!)

The first book I made holds 12 1/2" blocks.  I ended up using purple to go with the strong pinks ( it was the only thing i could find in my stash that worked!) 

Pages of cotton wadding/batting hold the blocks in place and the design is really clever to allow the book to expand so when you add your blocks it's not bulging open all the time. 

I likes this so much I made a second smaller one for a friend who is working on small hand pieced blocks.  I think these would be really good for holding applique pieces on blocks in progress too!

So there you have it two block books!

If you would like a block book custom made for you in your colours of preference (not everyone likes purple - right Serena?)  or  a small handmade gift,  and are willing to make something for someone else within a year,  please leave a comment below.  If there is more than one willing to play along Random number generator will do its thing next Monday!  If there are no takers I will make up a block book and gift it forward to spread the acts of kindness as far as I can!

Don't forget to head over to Serena's blog where she is offering to make a gift today too!

--UPDATE--
Congratulations Shobs, Cut & Alter and Sunrise 4501 who were picked in the draw!  I'll be emailing you for postal details.