January 2011 Recap

In January,  52 quilters made 376 Stacks blocks--almost 100 more than the previous record high for the block lotto.

18 people made and entered lotto blocks for the first time in January--welcome again to Andrew, Barbara M, Becca, Blondie, Brenda Kay, Cathi, Ellie, Irene, Julie Wy, Kathy B, Kina, Lisa, Marybeth, Melinda, Moira, Pokey, Susan and Tiffany.  Some of you were lucky this month . . .  I hope you all had fun and will stick around.

So many blocks meant a lot of winners, a full dozen in fact.  Congratulations to Cathy C., July Wy, Kinda, Karie, Michelle, Lisa, Linda, Pokey, Melinda, Caroline and Wilma--I can't wait to see all the bright quilts that will be made from all these blocks.

Here's the January block list archive:

• Andi - 3 (donate)
• Andra - 2
• Andrew - 9 *NEW*
• Barbara B - 9 - Winner #8 (30 blocks)
• Barbara M - 9 *NEW*
• Becca - 9 *NEW*
• Benta - 3 (donate)
• Blondie - 2 *NEW*
• Brenda Kay - 9 *NEW*
• Carol - 4
• Caroline - 9 - Winner #11 (30 blocks)
• Carrie - 1
• Cathi - 9 *NEW*
• Cathy - 7 - Winner #1 (36 blocks)
• Celine - 3
• Cory - 9
• Debbie - 3
• Ellie - 9 *NEW*
• Ginny - 7
• Irene - 7 *NEW*
• Janet S. - 9
• Julie P - 8 (donate)
• Julie Wa. - 8 (donate)
• Julie Wy - 9 *NEW* - Winner #2 (35 blocks)
• June - 8
• Karie - 9 - Winner #4 (30 blocks)
• Kasey - 3
• Kate N. - 9 (donate)
• Kathie - 9
• Kathy B. - 9 + 1 *NEW*
• Kelly - 3
• Kim - 7
• Kina - 2 *NEW* - Winner #3 (35 blocks)
• Laura - 9 +1
• Laurina - 8
• Linda G - 4 (donate)
• Linda N - 7 - Winner #7 (30 blocks)
• Linnea - 9
• Lisa - 9 *NEW* - Winner #6 (30 blocks)
• Maree - 9
• Mary Jane - 9
• Marybeth - 7 *NEW* (donate)
• Melinda - 9 New - Winner #10 (30 blocks)
• Michelle - 9 - Winner #5 (30 blocks)
• Moira - 4 *NEW*
• Pokey - 8 *NEW* - Winner #9 (30 blocks)
• Rho - 9
• Sara H. - 9 (donate)
• Sarah V. - 4
• Sharon - 4
• Shelley - 9
• Sophie - 9 (donate)
• Susan - 3 *NEW*
• TIffany - 2 *NEW*
• Wilma - 8 - Winner #12 (30 blocks)

Ooops ... again!

Mary Beth (AKA mb) ALSO reminded me that she wanted to donate her chances ... and so a new Winner #2 was randomly selected.

Congratulations, Julie Wy.

(Who knew it would be so hard to give these blocks away ;-) 

3 last minute stacks

Hi everyone,

Finally I managed to save my pictures on my computer and should now be able to post them on the blog now. As Sophie said earlier, my husband is travelling in the US for business and took the camera with him because he was visiting New York yesterday. So I took some pictures of my blocks with my Blackberry this morning but I couldn't seem to be able to transfer them anywhere... Anyway all done now so here are the pictures of my 3 blocks. The colour aren't really nice on the pictures (darker than in reality)

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks Sophie for the welcome back!
Celine

Ooops

I just saw Sara's comment, letting me know that she had said she was DONATING her chances this month, so I went back to Random.ORG one more time, and our substitute winner #5 is

Michelle L.  - You said these will make a fun quilt ... prepare to have some fun, Michelle ;-)

Sorry for the double post--I can't seem to access the blog from my computer at home for some reason (but email works--go figure).

Congratulations!

to all the lucky January winners! Make something pretty!

... and the (MANY) Winners are ...

It stands to reason that if I raced home during my lunch hour, that I'd have network/blogger problems and struggle to post the winners names.  I'm hoping the post-by-email function will work (since that's how I am posting this.

Here are the January Winners:

1. Cathy C (36 blocks)
2. Mary Beth (35 blocks) - newbie!
   
   Edit to admit to another OOPS--Mary Beth ALSO donated her blocks, so Julie Wy (another newbie!) is our new winner #2
   
3. Kina (35 blocks) - newbie!
   
   Everyone else will win a set of 30 blocks
   
   
4. Karie
5. Sara H 
   
   Edited to admit, OOPs, I Goofed -- Sara donated her chances and Michelle L is the new winner #5
   
   
6. Lisa M - newbie!
7. Linda N
8. Barbara B
9. Pokey - newbie!
10. Melinda - newbie!
11. Caroline
12. Wilma
    

If you are thinking that newbies had a lot of luck this month ... remember we had EIGHTEEN people make lotto blocks for the first time in January. 

The  Random Number generator site worked pretty well ... Two people won TWICE and so I had to "draw" again for two more names.




I have to race back to the office now, but will be sending email to all the winners tonight asking:

1. How many of your own blocks would you like to keep?
2. Carefully confirm that the name and mailing address I have for you is correct (before I send it out to the 50-some quilters who made blocks this month!)

What a month it has been!  Congrats to the winners and to everyone who made this a record-breaking month.  18 NEWBIES!!  376 BLOCKS!!

Welcome Kathy B - Welcome BACK Kelly

Kathy B. and Kelly emailed me last night with photos of their blocks and a desire to join or re-join the Block Lotto.  They've both been added as authors, but, given the deadline at noon (Eastern Time),  I thought I'd go ahead and post their photos for them this month.

They are both Texans:  Kelly is in Houston and Kathy B. is in Lubbock.

Kathy made 10 blocks.

Kelly made 3 blocks

 

 

Together they bring our total--with a little over 4 hours to go until the deadline--to 373 blocks.  

I've also received email from Celine who will also be returning ... and is currently working to get her photo off her phone (her DH is travelling with the camera!) .  I think we've all been there--technology is great except for when you can't seem to make it work no matter what you do.  

Welcome to the Block Lotto Kathy B.  Welcome back, Kelly and Celine.

3 more

3 more, which should bring my total to 7. Somewhere in my messy sewing room, I have ten more strips cut out, but they have gone walkabout.

stack-y stuff

If you scroll down to the bottom of this designer profile, there's a stack-esque use of jelly roll strips...

http://www.fatquarterly.com/2011/01/meet-designer-amanda-murphy.html

Wonky Town

I finished the top from the blocks that I won a couple months back.  I took the idea from Mary's quilt.

Thanks everyone for all your wonderful blocks!

Four Plus Four Equals Eight

Here are four more for January Stacks lotto. I felt eight was better than four, especially with all the pretty stacks that have shown here on Block Lotto!

Thanks ~ Pokey
Pokeydot Quilting

Thread help

I am pretty new to quilting. And I'm wondering what thread everyone uses for piecing. What I know I learned from my grandmother and she only uses cotton thread. So I've only used cotton. However, I've had a hard time finding the big cone spools of cotton thread in any of the stores near me. So I wondered if everyone just uses polyester or if you all just buy little spools. I've found some options for buying cotton thread online, but the price range is pretty big. So if you use cotton thread only what brand do you buy? Thanks for any insight you can offer! - Andrew

Liberated stars

I have finished a top with half of the liberated star blocks I won. I think the narrow red sashing sets the blocks off quite nicely. Thank you again to all who made these blocks!

4 more stacks

Here are 4 more stacks from me, for a total of 7. They're fun and use up a lot of scraps!

My stacks

Hello everyone, I am a newbie here and to quilting. Thanks for letting me join in on the fun. I'm sure I will learn a lot of new patterns.

Two more stacks to add

Here are two more stacks to add to my 7. These were thrown in the scrap bin for being a smidge small, but then I read where Sophie said 10 1/4" meet the guidelines....so from the scrap bin to the ever growing pot!

Will our process scale?

We're going to have at LEAST 10 winners this month and probably at least 350 blocks to mail. I'm beginning to wonder how well our process will scale. I've decided NOT to ask someone else to randomly choose the winners and will do it myself this month  . . .  just in case things don't scale so well.

For the benefit of the (many!) newbies this month, here's what will happen on Monday.

Sometime after NOON (East Cost time),  I'll take the list and turn it into an even longer numbered list, where everyone appears once for each block they make.  I'll add up the donated chances and split them up among the (many!) newbies and the handful of others who have not yet won a set of lotto blocks.

I'll use this Random Number Generator to "pick" 10 numbers in the range of the long list. (It could be more than 10--however number of winners we have).

I'll compare the random numbers to the long list to see who won and make sure that no one wins twice.  If someone has won more than once, I'll go back to the Random Number generator and pick some another winner, rinse and repeat until we have 10 (or however many) UNIQUE winners.

The winners' names will be posted on the blog.  I'll also email all the winners to let them know and ask them:

1. How many of their own blocks they'd like to keep
2. To confirm that the name and mailing address I have for them is correct (before I send it to everyone).

Then, I'll create the mailing info to send to everyone which will have mailing addresses for all the winners and a (VERY) big chart which shows all the blocks we made and how many of your blocks you'll send to one, two or three of the winners.   And then all our blocks in squishie envelopes can be sent to the winners ... what great "valenties" our winners will be receiving from all of you.

FYI, because of my work schedule (where I have 2 hours of meetings in the middle of each day) and my lack of access to (most of) the internet from work, the "drawing" may have to happen later in the day ... but the NOON deadline will still apply. 

four more stacks

I've managed to make 4 more of these stacks bringing my total to 8. I can't believe how many blocks everyone has made this month, it's amazing! Sorry about the fuzzy picture - it's the best I can manage with my phone in low light. -Laurina

Dec Blocks

My forest is complete!  I received the last pair from Kim F today.  Thank you to everyone who made such fun wonky trees.  I have not noticed any problems - Good Job!

~Andi in Arizona

Benta's stacks

Three blocks for the January Lotto (donated please Sophie) and I seem to have a full house (or a full forest LOL) for the liberated trees, thank you all very much!

As part of the learning curve of making blocks with other people ... I'd like to ask whether most of you do wash your fabrics before making blocks for your own quilts.  I don't, so I am having to create a stash of Block lotto fabrics separate to my own stash, and I wondered if anyone had any suggestions on how to manage this.

Benta

Two More Stacks for Me

Thanks for an easy, fun block to start 2011, Sophie! So many chances for winners this month too! Fingers crossed inside my mittens:) Sarah V. in Northern Ontario, Canada

My Stacks...

Wow look at everyone's stacks.  So many "new" people too!  How cool.

Here are mine...

Karie

The Sneak Peek email for February has been SENT

If you are one of the FIFTY people who have made blocks this month, you should have email from me with the advance info for the February block.

Because I just sent an email message with FIFTY email addresses in the to: field, there's a better-than-even chance that your email application may decide I'm a quilting spammer, so if you don't have the message, look in your spam folder.

This is also a good time for everyone who made blocks to double-check that I have the correct number of blocks credited to you in the list in the sidebar and, if you have a blog, that I have included it on our Blog Roll. 

I really enjoyed making the February block and have a lot of design ideas for using it ... as usual.  I can't wait to hear what all of you think.

Love These Stacks!

Hi, I'm glad to join in. I'm Pokey, and when I saw Sophie's easy strip project, I said, "This one's for me!" I teach second grade, but I'm also always on the lookout for simple to accomplish squares for quilting. I tell everyone that they can make a quilt, and this is a great example.

I'm joining in for the first time here, thank you Sophie for your patience! Poor, girl, this elementary school teacher needs the grade 2 directions, she had to help me through 6 emails!

So, here are 4 blocks, and hopefully I'll get a few more done before the end.

Thank you for letting me share in the fun with you.
Oh, and come visit me at Pokeydot Quilting!

My first two blocks

Newbie first timer here. I just joined up on Friday, thank you Sophie, and hopefully will have some more completed before the end of the month.
My name is Blondie and I love to create all sorts of things. My motto has always been when the fun stops, I stop.
I have been drooling over all the past blocks y'all have been sewing. Looking forward to sharing more blocks in the future. You can always visit me at my blog Vintage Primitives

Once again, thank you for having me.
Blondie

All done

Here are all nine of mine for January. This picture includes the two I already posted.

the woods

 I want to thank everyone who sent me blocks. I love them! The picture doesn't have all of them in it, but a good many of them that I had received so far. Some of my off ones are in there too.
What I am going to do is.....
Put a quote about geocaching in it. The blocks and caching are international!
It will read something like....

geocaching: using multi-million dollar satellites to find tupperware in the  woods

So far I have my name done!!  Julie P

total stacks....8

Here are the last three stacks from me for January blocks. These go into the donate pile too. I worked on my wonky tree quilt a little too. Will post that later! Julie P aka joe tulips.

flimsy made using the stacked coins block

I'm participating in Judy's monochromatic challenge, where she challenges us to make something every month using just 1 color and 1 neutral color (black or beige or white). This month's color is yellow and I used my yellow fabrics (which tend to the gold end of the spectrum) and the stacked coins pattern to make "Gold Coins." It is 4 columns of 5 blocks and about 40" x 50". I'll bind it in scraps from the fabrics I used.


~ Becca (QB29)

Six more stacks

With Sophie's reminder that I could trim at 1/4", I only had to fix two blocks. Here are my six others with a total of seven.

Seven, donated

I started lurking on Block Lotto last year, but this year I finally, finally jumped in.  Here are seven blocks, all for donation. These blocks made up really quick, so quick that I think I am going to borrow this pattern for the Facebook quilt block swap (a little hint why it took me so long to make time).

Without further ado:

January Blocks - 9 + (1 for donation)

Laura Randolph

First 2011 block

Here's my first stack. I have others, but must have made my seams too deep, because they are not quite 10.5. Not sure I'll get back to taking the rest apart before the sneak peek, so wanted to post at least this one. Fun block!

Add to the stacks

This is my third block for the month...donated.  Photo taken on the patio in sunny Phoenix, temps in the mid-70s today.  Sending warm thoughts to all of you up north!!
~Andi

blocks in the mail

My apologies to Andi, Julie and Rami. I'm mortified for my blocks to be the stragglers in the forest. If it matters, the blocks were distributed as follows:

Andi-one 12" pair
Julie--one 6" pair; one 9"pair
Ramie--one 6" pair; one 9"pair

Congratulations Ladies.

Trees Arrived!

Blocks this week from Sophie and Melinda in GA.  Thank you!

more stacks

Here are some more stacks

this brings my total blocks to 7 - but am hoping to make up some more this weekend

stacks

These are my 9 blocks for January - my first time! Can you tell I like blue, green and purple?

Wonky Village

I wanted to give you all a progress report on my wonky houses.  I've created a wonky village.  I added some trees to the batch to offset the houses some.  Then I went looking for a green that was on the bluish side for the grass to compliment the turquoise skies and dark enough to anchor the rows.

Then I used "stepping stones" to add the names of all the people who contributed to this quilt.  Since one of the requirements of the block was using white and red, I used those colors for the border and I think it works to tie the whole thing together. All that's left to do is the back and binding....I'm thinking a scrappy turquoise...what do you think?

All I can say is I love it!  Thank you all.

Janet S.

One more!

Update my total to three! Yay! This was my leader-ender project today whilst sewing other things.

The lean to it is the angle of the photograph, not the block!

MORE squishies :-)

Hi all

I have now also received trees from Belinda, Deana, Kathie and Michelle, which leaves Melinda's and Sophie's blocks to come.

Sophie you asked about 'Quality Control'.  All my blocks look to be really well made, so no problems there, although I havent started sewing them together.  It did occur to me that if I found a problem once I started sewing them it would be difficult to see whose was the problem.  One of my ladies kindly put a sticker with her name on the back of each one she sent me, so I will do that too when I have some ready to post (initially in blog land ...any day now!)

What has thrown me is that the list showing who is sending me blocks uses people's first names, and the envelopes quite often only have the sender's surnames on them, so although I have blogged about them I have to hope that I have attributed the right trees to the right senders!  Would it be possible for the members' surnames to be shown on the list too, or would people prefer not to have this shown?

Benta

the new guy

Hi everyone! I'm Andrew. I'm fairly new to quilting. I've quilted on and off with my grandmother for a couple of years. But last year I finished my first quilt on my own! I even quilted it myself on my Mom's old Bernina (not exactly a longarm). I was pretty proud of myself. I will post a pic of it sometime soon. Anyway I've completed 2 squares so far and have fabric cut for 4 more. Thanks for including me and good luck everybody!