Batik Leader and Ender Rail Fence Donation Quilts

My personal leader/ender project has been fruitful this year. These are donation quilts #7 and #8!

Numbers 5 and  6 can be found HERE.

Numbers 3 and 4 are HERE.

Numbers 1 and 2 are HERE.


This time, I went with an uneven Rail Fence block to better show off the colors in the batiks I used. I did one in a stairstep layout and the other in a windmill layout.

#7 Batik and Black Rail Fence (stairstep layout)--66" x 74"

#7 Batik and Black Rail Fence (detail)

#7 Batik and Black Rail Fence (backing and binding detail)

#8 Batik and Black Rail Fence (windmill layout)--64" x 64"

#8 Batik and Black Rail Fence (detail)

#8 Batik and Black Rail Fence (backing and binding detail)

I'm not a big batik fan, and some of these fabrics are truly ugly! However, when you put them together, the overall effect is good.

I'm still putting together Rail Fence blocks as leaders and enders--more quilts to come!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 148 at the Quilting Room with Mel.

Boxes Of Strings: An Original Design

Update: I have added the basic instructions for this quilt to my sidebar. Click on "Boxes of Strings Instructions."
 

When I was designing and making Stringing Beads, I thought "what if?"--always a dangerous thought for a quiltmaker!

The centerpiece of the Stringing Beads block is a trapezoid shape.

Stringing Beads trapezoid

What if I made it a triangle?

Boxes of Strings triangle

I used the same size paper foundation (4.5" x 8.5"), and I arranged the strings with medium/dark tone on one side and light on the other.

All blocks have the same color orientation.

It created a wonderful optical effect, I think--boxes and boxes and boxes!

Boxes of Strings 74" x 84"

A huge variety of fabrics add interest.

Boxes of Strings (detail)

Boxes of Strings (detail)

Boxes of Strings (detail)--Scooby Doo!

I used a solid backing and quilted around the diamonds and through the string blocks.

Boxes of Strings (backing and binding detail)

This was a lot of fun to create. The instructions are very like the Stringing Beads instructions found on the right sidebar of the blog. Just make a triangle template and arrange your colors, light and medium/dark, on either side of the triangle--all the blocks are the same. (In my case, the light strings are on the right side and medium/dark on the left of an upward-pointing triangle.)

Sometimes wonderful things come from those "What if?" moments!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 147 at The Quilting Room with Mel and the UFO Challenge at Jo's Country Junction.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2017

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2017 was hosted by soscrappy. Each month, we worked with a color--at the end of the year, I put my blocks together. Here is the result.

66" x 92"

Backing and binding (detail)

One of the months, we were to use multi-colored scraps. Because I wanted to stick with single colors in my Rainbow quilt, I used that month to create this quilt which I called Stringing Beads.

Instructions

 
During the month when we were to use neutrals, I worked on a couple of other projects. (I had used neutral strings each month in my rainbow-colored blocks.) One was my leader/ender project, and the other was a string quilt (as yet unfinished) which I call Boxes of Strings. I'll post instructions for it when I finish!

Leader/Ender Project--Two-Rail Fence

Boxes of Strings

Thanks so much to soscrappy for hosting this challenge.

I'm linking to ScrapHappy Saturday and Fiber Tuesday at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Sapphire (Ruby) Stars is Finished

Last year, Kevin the Quilter hosted a mystery quilt project. He called it Sapphire Stars, and it was fun to participate with others in creating a quilt.

His quilt featured blue, but I went with my favorite color--RED! I don't think I ever really understood the concept of light red, so my quilt doesn't sparkle like Kevin's, but I like it. Please pardon the bad pictures--I was battling both the flu and the wind!

 Many thanks to Kevin for the great project.

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 143 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Two More for the Ongoing Leader/Ender Project

I'm continuing my new habit of leaders and enders. I have made six quilts so far (since about June 2017) by doing this. All will be for donation.


The latest two use black instead of the light neutrals of those before. Previous quilts can be found HERE (#1 and #2) and HERE (#3 and #4).

62" x 74"

68" x 74"

I'm working on a batik and black version now. I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can accomplish next year.

I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.

On Ringo Lake--Part 5

The geese are once again flying over Ringo Lake!

In honor of Christmas, I give you Roast Geese.

Browned and delicious!

Note the nice dark color--our earlier geese were not yet roasted.

Unroasted Geese!

I'm loving the browns--I think there are more brown quilts in my future.



As a special treat, I'm providing a link to a tutorial on Roast Goose--our traditional Christmas dinner--in this case, presented by a guest chef. Just click on the chef's picture to see the video.

Enjoy!

Christmas Roast Goose

From my home to yours, a very Happy Christmas!

I'll be linking with Mystery Tuesday at Quiltville after the Christmas Holiday.

Two More Donation Quilts From My Leader/Ender Project This Year

I'm pleased to have finished these two quilts, and I have two more almost done!

This is my Leader/Ender project this year--a two-rail fence block.

Stairstep Layout

Stairstep Layout (backing detail)

Windmill Layout (backing detail)

Windmill Layout 

The previous two quilts can be found HERE.

I have two more near completion and one more underway--I'm really enjoying the process of finding different ways to use this simple block!

I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.