Happy Dance!

I can't believe that I won - for a second month in a row! WOW! Congratulations to my co-winners also. What a great start to the New Year!

2010 Lotto Block Index

In 2010, we made these blocks for the Block Lotto.

January - 8-inch Tic-Tac-Toe blocks

All the Tic-Tac-Toes blocks TIc-Tac-Toe Directions

February - 6 inch high "love letters" (free-pieced word blocks)

All the Love Letters Word block Info

March - 9 inch Scrap Strips Pairs (for a Log Cabin Quilt with Attitude)

All the Scrap Strip Squares Block Info

April - 8-inch Wonky Fly blocks

All the Wonky Fly blocks Wonky Fly Directions

May - 7-inch Reeds blocks

All the Reeds blocks Reeds Directions

June - 6 x 8 inch Liberated Basket blocks

All the Basket blocks Liberated Basket Directions

July - 8-inch Fireworks blocks

All the Fireworks blocks Fireworks Directions

August - 9-inch Log Cabin Rose blocks

All the Rose blocks Rose Block Directions

September - 8-inch Liberated House blocks

All the House blocks Wonky House Directions

October - 9-inch Variable Star blocks

All the Variable Stars Star Block Directions

November- 12-inch Sampler blocks with String Corners

All the Sampler Blocks String Corners Directions

December -6-inch wide Free-Style Trees blocks

All the Tree Blocks Basic Tree Block Directions Adding Complexity to your Tree

I've added this index page to the list in the left sidebar.  The number and diversity of blocks we've made over the years is really quite remarkable. To see all the Lotto Block Index posts, follow the label Quilt Block Index. There is also an illustrated alphabetic list of all the blocks we've made with links to the block patterns on the Block Patterns page.

January 2010 Recap

This month was record-breaking, with a new high of total blocks of 280 blocks. made by these 35 people (including 8 first-timers!)

• Andra - 7 ***newbie ***  ***winner #2 ***
• Barbara - 9
• Brooke - 6 ***newbie ***
• Caroline - 9
• Carrie - 9 ***newbie ***
• Celine - 1
• Christine - 9
• Debbie - 6
• Dianah - 9
• Ginny - 6 (donate chances)
• Jewel - 9
• Julie - 9  ***winner #5 ***
• June - 9 ***newbie ***
• Kate - 9
• Kathie - 9
• Kelly - 9
• Krista - 9 *** newbie ***  ***winner #3 ***
• Kristin - 9    ***winner #6 ***
• Laura - 9
• Linda - 9
• Linnea - 9
• Lisa - 9
• Liz - 5 ***newbie ***
• Lois - 9 +1 ***newbie ***  ***winner #1 ***
• Louise - 2
• Manuela - 4
• Mary Jane - 9
• Michelle - 9
• Pat - 9
• Rho - 9 +2 extras  ***winner #4 ***
• Shelley - 9
• Sophie - 9 + 5 extras (donate chances)
• Tamera - 6 *** newbie ***
• Terri - 4
• Trudi - 9

I'm archiving this history-making list, so I can wipe it out of the sidebar and we can start all over again tomorrow with the February block ;-)

January winners

And the winners for the tic-tac-toe blocks are:

Lois

Andra

Krista

Rho

Julie W.

Each of the above quilters will get 48 blocks each.

The final winner is:

Kristin

She'll get 35 blocks.

Congratulations All!

Is it too late to donate these two to the pot for January?

I know it doesn't get me any more chances, but I'd like to donate these two blocks to the lottery for the month. So this will make 9 + 2 extra for January, if accepted. Thanx. I saw the note about 6 winners, isn't that great! Good Luck everyone!

It's time to cross your fingers ...

. . .  or whatever you do for good luck. But don't do it too tightly, because it will likely be some hours before Ginny–our winner picker–goes home after the theater and does the honors.

As I mentioned in the comments, even before the three extra blocks that I'm making right now–I will pst a photo later–for a total of 275, we had topped all previous months of the Block Lotto.  And we will have SIX WINNERS.

If you are one of the EIGHT quilters entering the lotto for the first time, you will have one extra chance (donated by me). If you have entered before, but NEVER WON, you'll had have one extra chance in the drawing (donated by Ginny). 

Good luck, everyone!

tic tac toe quilt

 

Thought you guys might like to see the finished top of  the baby quilt I made with the same pattern as this month's blocks.  When I get it quilted, I will post more up close pictures so you can see the cute fabrics.  

Can't wait to see who the winner is!!!!

Did we make it??

Here are our nine entries for this month! Hope we made it in time! Hubby and I whipped these up this morning :) Not the best picture every though, I accidentally cut off the top blocks... oops.

Kelly's Tic-Tac-Toe Blocks

Kelly emailed me with this photo of her 9 blocks.

Her nine blocks bring our total for the month to 263 blocks. It's not quite enough for 6 winners–we'd need 12 more between now and noon tomorrow–but it's an incredibly impressive beginning for the year.

coming in just under the gun

here are my 9 blocks. The blue one is much more vivid than it looks!

Good luck to everyone tomorrow but I do hope I win! Hehe!!!

Timing and Deadlines for Tomorrow's Drawing

For all the newbies this month (and everyone else), here's a reminder about deadlines and how the lotto works.

The deadline for posting blocks to earn chances in the drawing is NOON (US East Coast time) tomorrow.

After the deadline has passed, I'll put together the numbered list of names–one for each block entered, with the donated chances given to newbies and others who haven't yet won (or haven't won in a while)–and send it to the person randomly picking the winners.  The winner-picker is usually a past winner and someone not entered in the drawing.  If there is no one available, then I'll do it.   This month it will be Ginny.

Ginny will use a random number web site to generate 5 numbers within the limits of our list.  She'll match the numbers to the list and, after checking to make sure all of the winners are unique, ost the results on the Blog.   FYI, for tomorrow, Ginny is going to the theater and so will be posting the results later in the day.  (You can see an interview with her friend's mother–who is making her Broadway debut at 81, on the MSNBC site here ... it's a very nice interview).

After the winners have been picked, I will first contact all the winners, to:

1. Confirm their name and mailing address is correct on my list.
2. Ask how many of their own blocks they want to keep.

AFTER I have heard from them–and sometimes it takes a couple days–I'll mail EVERYONE with the information you need to mail your blocks to the winners.  Because we will have 5 winners,  it will be important to check how many of your blocks you'll be sending to which winners. There's no hard and fast rule, but, GENERALLY, if you make 4 or more blocks, you'll be splitting them up and sending them to 2 or 3 winners.

And while all that mailing is going on, the new Block will be posted early on the 1st of next month.

Good luck to everyone.

 

Brooke's blocks...

Here are five more to add to my January blocks...

Once I got the hang of it... these blocks just popped out of my sewing machine. It was great fun.

It is finished - - - It's an Official UFO!!

Well, it's officially a UFO! Just have to send it out for the quilting! This was soo fun! How I wish my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt would get come together this quickly!! Happy Quilting to ALL!! ... and THANKS to each one of you who contributed blocks to my newest completed UFO!

Newbies First Block

Hello everyone... here is my first (and maybe my only) block for this month. I am going to try to get some more done before the deadline but at least I have one entry for the month.

Very excited to be joining your group...

Final Three from June

: )

My lonely block

Hi all,

I haven't played the lotto for a little while. Time was running out each month at the end of last year before I had time to sit down and sew a few blocks. Anyway I started early this month and only finished my block last week-end. I thought I would do more than one block but I don't seem to have much WOW, most of my fabrics in that category are more white on cream.

So these my contribution for this month and hopefully I'll be a bit more productive next month!

It is amazing to see how many blocks have been made this month, I wonder how many winners we will have. And the blocks are awesome.

CONGRATULATIONS Sophie for a very nice banner!

Celine

Final blocks received!

I just opened an envelope with 4 beautiful polka-dot blocks from Debbie in Israel. The envelope had been opened in the mail, but the blocks were in a plastic bag and had a tag inside with my address and hers. These will be perfect for the baby quilt I'm working on. Thanks!

3 more blocks

Patience was never my strong suit.  After I posted my first 6 blocks earlier today, I headed back to do some more sewing on my current quilt and found fabric chaos waiting for me.  Rather than cleaning, I pulled out a few more brights and made 3 more blocks, to bring my total up to 9.  The more I sew, the less I have to put away, right?

New Editor

While I was looking at the settings for this blog, I noticed that I had not updated to the new editor.  You can read about the new features here:

An Overview of the New Post Editor

I think this means that the great tutorial that Amy B. put together for us a couple years ago on how to post photos is now officially outdated.  I'll add the need for new directions to my list ...

New Contributions

I've been watching this blog since earlier this month, when I followed a link from another quilter's page.  I debated with myself whether to participate.  I don't have a lot of WOW in my stash, but I do have a lot of brights.  I had some spare time on my hand today (and needed a break from my current project), so I gave it a shot.

The first 3 blocks were a mess.  One a total washout, because I completely miscalculated how much fabric I needed and ran out half-way through.  One I may be able to salvage for myself - but the coloured strips will not all be the same width, so it's not part of my set for this lotto.  The third one was close - just missed on one corner.   Finally, with number 4, I seemed to have it figured out.   I completed 5 good blocks, found enough fabric to correct the 3rd one, and here are my six blocks for January.  I promise that they are not as lopsided as the picture suggests - I'll have to be more careful with my placement next time.

If I get some more time this week, I may make another 3, but I wanted to get these posted before time runs out, since Sophie was kind enough to add me to the group really quickly.   I'm really happy to be here, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next.  Please drop by my blog for a visit. 

I'm losing confidence in my ability to take a decent photo

There's a new photo of the Block Lotto banner quilt, now that it's bound and all the quilting markings washed away. But It's still got problems with perspective. One of these days I'll get it right.

I even had some "help" today ... though, when Grace Hopper came over to the quilt spread on the floor as I was on the ladder trying to get a nice square shot, I expected her to lay on it . . . not push it out of the way, as she did, and stretch out on the bare concrete floor and offer herself up as model ;-)

She does add some scale, I suppose. The finished banner is 12-1/4 x 50 inches.

Since I can't seem to manage the long shot, how about a closeup showing the plaid binding and the quilting, post wash and nicely crinkled?

There's an even closer at the quilting here on my blog, Sophie Junction.

Better Late Than Never

I ended up staying home with 2 sick kids today so I stole some time to make some Lotto Blocks.  I managed to make 7.  It took me about an hour and 20 minutes.  Now I have to go spend at least that amount of time on cleaning house.  I also made some tic tac toe blocks, a few days ago, for a baby quilt. 

I can't wait to see what the winner's quilt will look like!