"And More!" Again and Loving It....QM's 100 Blocks Volume 10

Well, actually, it's here. Details.

By now you are either well aware of the fact that Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 10 is out this week, or you have been living in a cave. Granted, if said cave was in Scotland in 1745 and you were sharing it with a certain red-headed Scot, you are excused. But otherwise I am certain you landed here as part of the blog tour to celebrate, so welcome to Quilting Hottie Haven and my own little celebration of inclusion in this landmark volume of the 100 Blocks series! You'll note that as in Volume 8, I'm firmly part of the "And More!" crowd, and that is all fine with me. If you put all the And Mores from all 10 volumes together you would have a seriously awesome rave going and I'd hate to miss that.

If you've seen my video, which looks like it was shot in semi-darkness by an 11 year old because indeed it was shot in semi-darkness by an 11 year old, you've seen a little preview of my block. Maybe you also entered my "Cutting Room Floor" contest on my facebook page and threw out a guess of why I was wearing that big old button, the explanation having been left on the cutting room floor when the video was edited for length. Congratulations to Becki Morrison, who while not completely correct in her guess of "for those who need over 50 font," she was the closest to my delight in being a part of QM's 100 Blocks "because of the really delicate and subtle jewelry they send you." So size, and all things involved in it, mattered in this case.

Woo hoo!

My block, Puddle Jumper, is #975, which I love because that's a really easy number to remember forever and for always. God forbid I ever have to save the life of anyone by reciting what numbers my blocks have been in the 100 Blocks series, but I thank QM for making this one easy.

Despite my better judgement, Puddle Jumper was so named due to the fabric colors used. It's a method I really try not to employ in my quilt or block naming, but rules were made to be broken. I thought the aqua middles to these blocks looked like puddles, so there you go. Sometimes there's a good story behind a quilt name, and sometimes the story just sucks.  Unfortunately, this is one of those times. But who cares - it made the volume, so I'm happy!

A few weeks ago I wrote this blog post, which explains a little bit about why the block in the magazine looks nothing like the one I'm holding in the video. Although Kelly Eisenger at QM read and thoroughly enjoyed my post and immediately sent me a photo of my block so that I could whip up a new one, there are even more reasons I chose to go with a completely new color scheme:

• I was out of the teal batiks
• I make too many teal/purple quilts (see background of video for exhibit A)
• I rarely use red, so I thought "What the heck?"
• I believe whole-heartedly in putting a spin on any design, and this includes my own, because making something exactly the same way over and over again is boring.

Using the block in the video, I whipped this cute little baby quilt up last week, using four of the blocks and some pieced sashing.

I'm thinking of calling this "Rampant Viral Illness" as it looks a bit like measles and my youngest daughter was sick with a horrid flu the entire week I was making it. There. That's a way better quilt naming story for you.

Virus-like or not, I think the quilt is pretty cute, and shows a new variation on some setting ideas for my block. My older two daughters think it is the ugliest quilt I have ever made. I'm no longer feeding them until they take it back. PS, they are wrong, and clearly have not seen my trunk show featuring some of my early creations.

Pretty quick and simple

I played with the block in EQ7 a bit and came up with a few more design ideas for you.

Throw five blocks set on point with some setting triangles and you have a long table runner. Extra points to the first person to get one done by Thanksgiving next week.

Or eliminate the sashing or setting triangles and just play with the background fabrics a little for a cool secondary thing going on.

The block in the above mock-up was done all scrappy, and you can see the difference in movement between it and a the blocks shown previously. Both are great (if I do say), and it just depends on whether you are going for a more planned or a more scrappy look.

A little more planned

A little more scrappy

If you do use this block in any of your upcoming projects, I'd love to see!


My fabulous blog sponsor, Fat Quarter Shop, has graciously agreed to augment my giveaway prize of a copy of 100 Blocks Volume 10 with a $35 gift certificate to their online shop. Aren't they just the best?

To enter, all you have to do is comment below telling me what you are currently working on, and how long you've been working on it. Is it a table runner kit you bought yesterday and plan to complete this weekend? Or is it a Baltimore album you started before Baltimore was even a city? Let's inspire each other with our stick-to-it-iveness for the epic projects, and share ideas for quickie projects for when we just can't take one more second of the epic ones.

For a second entry, become a member of my EQPD facebook community, and comment that you did so in the pinned post at the top of that page. It's not mandatory for entry, but it's a fun little community of daily quilty snark and sharing and I'd love to have you be a part of it!

Enjoy the rest of the blog tour and good luck with my giveaway!