Laurel Leaves Under the Wire

I took Shelly at her word when she said we had until the end of the bee to finish her blocks....and now my laurel leaf block is winging its way to her!

Hope you like it!  This quilt is going to be stunning Shelly!

Mary's Paws

I've had Mary's Bear Paw block finished for quite some time, but just never took the time to get over here and post it. So I'm sure Mary has seen it by now, and now you can see it, too.


This block was very easy and more fun than I thought it would be. I thought I'd get bored with those triangles, but they went fast and I didn't. Talk about First World Problems! Haha . . .

I also thought I'd give you a glimpse of what my Laurel Leaves quilt is looking like so far.


These are all the blocks I have so far. Note that I have not even pressed or trimmed them yet.

I'm adding an applique border, but my design quandary at the moment is whether or not to add some sort of red solid or red & white pieced border in between the blocks and the outer border, or not. What do you all think?

Blocks for Mary and Jackie

When Jackie's block packet arrived in the mail, then and only then did I realize that I hadn't yet done Mary's block from the month before!

Seeing as how they were both foundation pieced, and given that I tend to procrastinate on things I'm not especially proficient at, I figured I'd better just jump in and do them both without stopping, or I'd just get even further behind.

So . . . I did . . . and here's Mary's . . .
And here are Jackie's! So glad to be done, and neither one of them was nearly as bad as I had myself imagining them to be. Whew!
Now I have the rest of the month to "rest on my laurels", meaning . . . to work on my Laurel Leaf quilt. I just got another block in the mail today -- thanks Jessica!

Leaves for Shelly

My fingers are a bit sore, but with Helen's encouragement (thanks for coming over to sew today!), I pushed myself to finish this block for Shelly tonight, so it can get in the mail before the new year. 
Sorry for the bad lighting in the pic, but I knew I should keep the momentum going and just get the blog post done now..

Shelly, please ignore my bloggy whining about this block, it really was a fun one to do, and I'm grateful for the challenge you gave us.  I had forgotten how much I like applique and was excited to rediscover the style and my water soluble marking pen (hope i got all the blue lines out, btw).  You have inspired me to add some applique to my current project, and if it turns out half as cute as your laurel leaf quilt will be, I'll be satisfied.

Can't wait to see all the blocks together.

Bringing up the rear...

I finally finished Shelly's block. I want to thank Shelly for being so gracious, kind, patient, and understanding with my tardiness. It really wasn't that this was too difficult. It was just that my life went haywire with all my traveling at work over the past few months. I knew it was coming....it wasn't unexpected. My inability to "handle it" was somewhat unexpected for me. I apologize to everyone for getting so behind....especially to Shelly and Jessica.

I used scraps from the cowboy quilt I made a few years ago. I blogged about it here, if you want to see it. I thought these scraps should belong to Shelly. It just seemed right. :-) I hope you like it, Shelly. I'm sending along some of my little leftover scraps. If you need more, just let me know.

I really think this is a beautiful block, and I cannot wait to see how Shelly puts it together. It's going to be amazing. I loved sewing all the applique parts on by hand, too. I love handwork.

We had a long car ride to Florida for the holidays. I had already had all the leaves sewn on one branch. I did the second branch in the car on the first day of driving. That night in the hotel room, I made the rest of the leaves (I use the starch method...sorry, Shelly, my needle-turn skills really suck). I finished sewing them on during the second day of our trip. It really helped make the car ride pleasurable. So, thanks, Shelly!

Now, I'm on to Jessica's blocks. I am in Florida and forgot to bring some blue scraps with me. So, I had to go shopping today for some fabric for you. Oh, darn! (LOL) Found a GREAT quilt shop here, so thanks for that! I sewed up all the half-square triangles tonight and have two of the four rows put together already. I should have your block done in the next day or two.

Next, I need to find a post office so I can get these blocks off to you gals. More soon!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Stephanie

laurel leaves block

For Shelly. I am sooooooo happy to see this block completed!

This block was challenging for me, even with a little applique experience under my belt. Shelly, it's a good thing I love you so much!! :)

Finished Block for Shelly

Done! An interesting challenge, that I got better at with more practice.

Autumn Leaves

I am watching my dogwood leaves turn red and float past my windowsill.....[Hmmm, sounds like a song I once knew].... while I am enjoying sewing these laurel leaves for Shelly. Am a slow worker and may not finish in time, but who wants to hurry the seasons anyway?