FW: Friendship Siggy Stars

I was in a block swap a few years ago with my online quilting friends. Since then I've met some of these people in real life at a quilting retreat in Manchester, NH and hope to one day meet more.  I posted last week a few of my Christmas whist list items starting with this Bingo fabric that I had seen on eBay.

Well there were two sellers on ebay with this fabric for sale and the one with the cheaper price only had 3 yards left. Not enough.  :( The other seller was asking too much per half yard so I asked her if she'd match the other sellers price and she replied back with no can do.  :/

Thanks to the HGTV Quilters on facebook, my friend Karen posted a link to where she had found it online and I looked it up and the price is right!  I can buy my 6 yards from there and pay only $35.88 and they have free shipping on orders over $35.  Still dear hubby doesn't understand why/how that this would make an excellent Christmas gift from him to me... and keeps asking are you sure?  

Yes honey, I want the fabric that is hard to find and the seam guide for my machine. I will be so happy with these gifts. Really! :) 

So far, as you see from the top photo, I have 6x6 blocks sewn together -and I was hoping to grow my quilt some more to make it a 7x9 setting before borders.  BUT after trying to acurately figure up how many yards needed for backing, I realized that would be way tooo big!

Actually I only need to grow it to be a setting of 6x7 rows.  I need it to be a good sofa size -you know, long enough to tuck under my feet and come up to my chiny-chin-chin while watchin TV. :)

So a few people have already said they wouldn't mind making me a block - and thanks to my recaculations, I only need 6 more blocks please! :) 

     

These closeup photos are for them to look at as a guide. As you can see *ANYTHING* goes ugly, bright, old or fungly...  as long as the fabrics are dark/light they'll work! Sorry they're not centered, I was focusing on zooming in on the siggy parts.

     

I've found it to be a lot of fun to participate in a swap where you make # of the same block and mail to a hostess... then she divides them all up and you get back that many different ones. :) Very fun to look at your new blocks.... and get a wide variety of colors and fabrics, plus have reminders of your online friends when you see their names in your quilt! :)

   

My husband was looking at my quilt top and was impressed to notice that I have blocks from New Zealand and Australia as well as many states here in USA :)

   

Can you believe that I never signed my own block??? and for everyone else I traced the state of Texas around my name and put an "Orange" dot where I lived.... no telling where or WHEN I'll find that ornament to trace around for my own stinkin block. :P  Look and see, I'm not too ashamed to admit that I used some old uglies in my blocks! :P or as Bonnie Hunter would call them, "Funglies" ;)

 

Showing you the EQ draft again so you can visualize that white thin outter border is reserved for some siggy strips that I collected the year I was in the FQ Bday swap and we all sent along 2.5" X 6.5" siggy strips. I'll have those all around the border - and that's not all.... there are more snowball siggys planned to use on the back separating my "bingo fabric" pieces... 

I've also found it to be helpful to have a strip of leftover blocks separating the 2 panels on the backing so that when you pick up a quilt to wrap up with, you can easily tell which way is the long ways... :)

I've been asked, so what do I write in the center?  HGTV board name, city state and real name. last name optional. some swappers only listed their state. some put both city and state... it's up to you.

   

TIP - I found it to be a little hard to sign the center if you use a WOW or COC. I'd recommend a solid white or cream... so that your pen's ink will show up evenly. 

 

I'm already planning to use 2.5x6.5 strips of siggys I got a few years ago in the FQ Bday swap in my light outter border... and also some more 6.5 snowball siggys on the back...

   

So thankful that I noticed the size dementions at the bottom of the screen in my EQ7 program... this will finish plenty large enough with a setting of 6x7 blocks + borders it will finish at 86"x95" which is slightly larger than a twin size. ;)

I'm so looking forward to finishing this quilt.  Now if I can only convince the family members who are asking me "Which store would you most like a gift card from?" to just simply gift me cash to use for paying my longarmer.  It really would be helpful and I'd love it all the same if not more than a shopping card to a clothing store. I can only imagine the looks they'd give me... b/c if you are not a quilter, you just don't get it.

Love from Indiana!