Orphan Block Challenge!

I told you about the Orphan Block Challenge, in my previous post.  Last Wednesday, we presented the finished projects at our quilt group.  I have to admit I was excited to see what someone had done with the cowboy boot block I had submitted.  It seemed like it would take forever until someone stood up with the project incorporating a cowboy boot block.  Then finally, Janell stood up and said she had been excited about the block she had gotten for the challenge.  She did not wait to work in it and got it done weeks ago.  Then she held up this fabulous tote-bag with my block on it!  She continued to explain that last fall she had won the 'challenge fabric' quilt block competition at the Customer Appreciation Fun Run, and that she had another of my blocks from that challenge!  She showed us the other side of the bag, and it had the cowboy boot block that I had submitted to Challenge Block Competition the previous year.  Wow! I got both my blocks back in the same fabulous project.  This is a quilted tote bag.

Thank you, Janell. I love, love, love this bag!

The fabric on the shaft of the boot, is  the
challenge fabric from the last challenge
fabric block competition.

I have always entered a block, or four, into the quilt show challenge block competition, but have never won.  I am definitely a winner this time!

This cowboy boot block pattern is in Fons and Porter August 2015 magazine.  I enlarged the pattern by 25%, so it could be used in a 12 1/2" block.

Council Quilt Show Challenge Blocks

My husband drove me and T up to the Council (Idaho) Quilt Show on Friday, July 3.  We had a fine time.  We enjoyed the trip and the show.  I had paid for two of the challenge blocks last year, and I mailed them to the show in June.  They were very boring blocks indeed.  I did see the display at the show and did see the new fabric and the theme for next year.  Next year's them is "Into the Woods".  I did not purchase any of the challenge blocks for next year's show.  A week after we attended the show, I received a little package in the mail, from Council.  Hmmmmm.  I opened it up and it was three pieces of challenge fabric for the Into the Woods challenge blocks.  I did not pay for these. Why would they send me more challenge fabric when the ones I submitted before were the most boring bland blocks in the entire challenge block display of 2015?   Well, I believe they played their cards right.  1)  this fabric is very versatile and 2) the theme is much more open to the imagination and piecing abilities. 
     Here is what I do when I have two or three challenge fabric pieces to work with.  I use the first piece to cut the largest chunks for my blocks, then I used the second piece for the next largest, etc.  Then after the blocks I need to get done are finished (in this case three), I have scraps that I can use to make one more!   I have finished four challenge blocks for the Council Quilt Show next year.  I am getting ready to mail them in and be done with it.  I suppose I should include payment for the blocks, even though I did not request them.  Here we go:

This is the challenge fabric for 2016

I had this cross-section of tree trunks fabric in my stash
and decided it went well for a simple woodsy pinwheel block.

This boot block is my new favorite, and decided I could adapt
it to the "Into the Woods" theme.

I saw the play "Into The Woods" years ago at BSU.  I remember
it had Rapunzel in it and Megan Tucker, but I don't remember much else.
So here is my Rapunzel block.

I seem to be queen of wonky houses, so I decided to use the scraps
to do a wonky cabin block.  I could find no Fairy Tale subjects in
my stash, so I decided on the Tin Man and his cabin in the woods.

 There is nothing boring about my challenge block entries for the 2016 Council Quilt Show.

One Thing Leads to Another

After I made my first 'house' block at the retreat in November, I made a house block with the "Challenge Fabric" for the quilt show next August.  I decide, after I finished it, that there was too much blue and it needed a tree perhaps.  My friend, Mary F., said, "It is easy to do. You just remove this section and replace it with a piece that has a tree!"  Well, I have risen to the challenge and made my first tree piece of piecing.  However, it was a fat little tree and I did not want to cut off either side of it, so I used it to make another experimental bag. I did actually make another tree that I did piece onto the challenge block. 

Of course, a tree needs some bears or something and I had bought this cute orange and brown bear fabric at The Quilt Barn (Kimberly).  I really needed a snack bag, because I was planning on departing to Albany, NY on December 15 and then drive all the way back to Boise from there, so snacks . . . absolutely.  Corn chips, bottle of H20, peanut butter M&Ms, gluten free biscotti, etc.

Wow! This bag really handled the trip cross country. I love it.