Hi all!

Gmom count me in! I have two done to date and will see how many more I do. The weather is getting cooperative for being out in the gardens again. Yayyyyy!!! I have to keep remembering it's only the end of March and this is unusual.

Dan, that IS cool! I'm afraid if I stop by the website, my list of "to-dos" will be "forget about its"! lol

...for some reason...beth....all I can think about beth is peanut butter easter beth eggs beth...I think it's a subliminal beth thing ya beth know?

Deb, how is Melvin doing? Thinking good thoughts and saying prayers for him.

Michelle, great idea about print shop! I hadn't thought of that option.

Have a good nite all!

Dee

Hi,
Melvin died last night around midnight. I'm devastated! Toby's lost (his brown boston brother) without him. I had to cancel the surgery for this morning (taking out his kidney.)

Melvin never showed any signs of being ill. He was shiny, healthy, ate and played with Toby up until Friday. Even tried to run a little on Saturday in the yard! I just knew something was wrong, but never suspected anything more than a stomachache. When he went to the vets Saturday, the vet suspected a hurt back. Mel's back was really tense. When he did the xrays, ultrasound that's when he noticed gas lines were off- something was blocking the pattern of lines. It turned out to be a mass on his kidney. One kidney was perfect- so we were waiting for the operation on Monday. All bloodwork turned out great, urine too was tested, nothing abnormal showed up. Everything looked good-Mel stopped eating on Sunday afternoon, so we rushed him to the vet once again. The Dr. gave him a pain shot, antibiotic and said to wait until Monday for the operation because he needed a full operating room staff to assist. We thought Mel would be ok. I asked if Mel could stay at the vets for constant care until Monday. They said no one would be there to watch him after hours, he would be better at home. Mel rested on a feather bed all night (my Daughter stayed by him all the time.) He coughed, stretched and died so suddenly. I was able to say goodbye- and then he was gone. He didn't suffer. We are still in shock. I spoke with the vet today- he said Mel had advanced cancer? I'm sooo confused. Mel was the picture of health. He was 9 1/2.

Thanks so much for Everyones' Prayers, kind thoughts.

Hugs,
Deb

(((HUG)))) I"m so sorry Deb...

hello
so sorry deb, we lost a pug that way just a small lump on the face and few days later he was dead, vet said it was a tumor that grew into the brain very quickly. he was only 3 years old. I miss having a dog and can't wait till we get moved and can get one.
(HUGGS)
michelle

Deb, that's just awful. You're in our thoughts and purrs.
-Dan, Bump & Stella

(((HUGS)))

Sincere sympathy to Deb. Pets are always full members of the family to me.
Hope the other pets are bringing you some comfort.
Weather here is very windy and there may be more snow tomorrow. It's crazy all over this year. Sending best wishes to all in the north East too. The weather and flooding sound just awful.
beth b

it's in the 70s, pushing the 80s, here in Michigan, which is completely unheard of! you know I'm enjoying it though!

what I'm not enjoying is that my computer crashed last night. luckily, the local library has a computer lab (which is where I am now) which I can use until I've got a working one in the house again. I won't be posting as much as usual in the next couple of weeks, but I'll be checking in from time to time. after all, you all can't have ALL the mayhem! I need some too!

my best to you all! see you in a few days!

peace.
-dan

Deb I'm so sorry about your dog. My prayers have been going your way.
Dan how old is your computer? Have you looked into new ones?

What kind of games would you like for the momth of April?

I hope all, are doing well today. Like Dan said yesterday we had 80+ temps mine on the opposite side of the state was only 48 today. As long as the sun shines I will enjoy it. But we need some rain because of the fire danger. We are in extreme RED.

Sure hope to get some more block makers for the month. So far we have:
gmom
Dan-the-mailman
lindaruzicka
beth-b-kodiak
Faintheart

I'm gonna have to drop out of this one. Between Summer showing up early, and going to work 6 days a week, I'm gonna have to make time to concentrate on getting the seeds planted in the ground.

You all have a great time.

-Dan

I have my pattern picked out and I have to go to Joanne's to get some of the stitchery witchery stuff. This will be a fun one to do!!

hello
I'm working on some blocks
not sure how many but I will send in several at least. like I said they are not appliqut, I had already cut them out before I saw the appliquet part and didn't want to wast them, and I did appliquet last month.
I'll let you know when they are in the mail.
oh I will nned you address to.
thanks
michelle

Dan-Sorry to loose you for this month. Hope you come back soon.

Michelle-I'll send you a mail soon. That is ok that the blocks are not applique. I've never got any of your blocks so I don't know what they looked like.

We still have 5 for the month of April:
gmom-me
lindaruzicka-Linda
beth-b-kodiak-Beth
faintheart-Dee
Micyrey-Michelle

If I've missed anyone please let me know. Maybe somemore will join us.

Have a good evening.
gmom

If anyone is wanting to try this and looking for a nice easy beginner block, may I suggest Friendship star?
I am adding two rows of this to my QOV quilt. One on top of the square and one across the bottom to change the shape from square to rectangular. It really works up looking nice.
There are pics of this star on the quilting forum and of course, on Quilters Cache.

Hi all,

Let me try this again! I posted on Friday for a block and it never showed up or I sent it somewhere????????

Guess the block and it is yours. No hints to start. May the best guesser win?

Good Luck to all.

Where are all our players for the quilt?

Gmom

HUm,,,, how about "Magic Cross"?
BB

is it applique or regular?

Hints for the block are:

Not Magic Cross, and it is a regular quilt block.

It is made up of greens and off white.

Happy quessing.
gmom

hello
I have most of mine done, I'm doing a pieced WITH an appliquet, you'll see.
I'll get these on the way in a day or so.
thanks
michelle
I'm gonna guess one of my favs....Star Flower

split rail?

Sorry-Not Star Flower or Split Rail.

Next hint: It's a block that has never been guessed at any time in our 3 swaps.

Any other guessers out there?

Good Luck
gmom

you know, I NEVER knew there were so many quilt blocks!! YOu could quilt for 20 years and probably never do them all!

how about "Contrary Wife"..somehow I just like the ring of that!..."L"

hello
I'm sorry I need to back out on this one, we are getting rilly close to moving and I rilly don't have the time to finnish these up, I need to get my sewing stuff packed.
sorry maybe later in the summer after we move, or in the fall.
michelle

Linda, I like the sound of Contrary Wife too.
I just got a book "849 Traditional Patchwork Patterns". unfortunately, there are no directions just sketches.
Interesting but not nearly as exciting as I expected.
I'm guessing Snail Trail. Think I'll try that one soon.
Have a beautiful National Quilt Day.
BB

okay, I finsihed 4 pillows that I've been working on, just about have a afagan finished and now it's time to start my applique blocks. I think maybe 6 should cover everyone so far?

Sorry to everyone! I have not been on the computer for about a week. By the end of the day I'm so tired I can't seem to climb the stairs to use the computer. Our weather has been great and so much work to do.

For the free block: It is not Contrary Wife or Snail Trail.

Next hint: It has 24 pieces to the 12 1/2" block.
Not a flower block
Never been quessed in 3 months.

Michelle: I'm sorry that you have to leave us but I do hope you make it back before we are done.

That leaves 4 of us:
gmom-Sharon
lindaruzicka-Linda
beth-b-kodiak-Beth
faintheart-Dee

It's time to go to bed. Sweet Dreams
gmom

I'm going to guess Broken dishes. I have not seen that one yet.
Like Linda I'm going to send just six blocks.
three each of two different ones.
Hope that suits everyone. Things are getting really busy here so I'm glad to back off a bit on the 12.
Beth

Beth and Linda,
Why are you making so many blocks? There are only 4 of us in the swap. Make it easy on yourself and only make 4. Who would the other blocks go to?

The block is not Broken Dishes.
Try JoAnn's past blocks, it may be listed there.
The colors are green and off-white.

Have a great evening!
gmom

well, I need one for myself.."L"...and ,,geez, I guess i don't need six huh?...

OK, four is good with me too.
Mind if I mail them to you this week?
I won't have a return address for you for a couple weeks. We will be in SD and I don't know the address yet.
Beautiful here, finally, and we have gotten going on the painting.
Beth

May 3 is our deadline. I hope we all remember. Anytime you want to send the blocks is fine.

Beth, When you send me the addy I will send out your blocks.

Who will host for the next month?

Have a great day everyone.
gmom

gmom and others -
I have a suggestion for May and will be willing to host it if this sounds okay. I would still keep the group name "Seeds & Stitches" for the swap, but for the month of May it would be a Charm Exchange. The common definition of charms seems to be a piece of all cotton fabric cut 5 x 5" My idea was to match partners and you would exchange your mailing information with each other after you are matched and then send 5 charms (at least one of which needs to be with flowers, fruits, veggies, or foliage) to your swap partner - and, of course, get 5 in return. Typically people use 5 different fabrics when trading charms. I will even offer an option that if you would like to send and receive from 2 people instead of only one, you can sign up to be matched with 2 people. I don't think I want it to get any larger than that.
I know nearly everyone is busy with end of the school year things, their gardens, etc. at this time of the year. I will likely be back to my sewing machne when the really hot weather shows up, but for now, I thought it sure would fun to get a little fabric in the mail.
What do you think? If the group prefers to sew for the month of May and do a block exchange that is fine, too. I will not have time to host a block exchange right now though.
I hope we can keep this group going!
Jeanne

Jeanne, I like that idea. I will probably only be doing a bit of sew through the summer.
I have two quilts to do binding and all the vintage patches to work on in my "Spare time".
Your idea sounds good to me, small and easy to ship too.
Is the fabric for the charms prewashed or not? Seems like it make sense to prewash but this is new to me.
Beth

Jeanne,

That sounds like fun - I would be willing to swap with 2 people :)

Marie

Okay, I will post this under a new heading for May and then people can sign up. It will be fun to have a simple swap for the month of May. As for prewashed or not, either is fine. If you are a stickler for knowing which it is, just ask your swap partner once you are matched.
Back in a day or two...
Jeanne

Beth- I got your blocks today. Thank you! When I get blocks from the other 2 I will send them out.

Sandlapper- The Charm exchange sounds good to me, also. I will go for 2.

Monday is the deadline for our blocks. Mine are not all done but will be by the time I get the other blocks.

Have a great evening.
gmom

Sharon,
my blocks are finished but could you send me your address again? Seems like I deleted a lot of stuff that I should've kept!!

Or if anyone else has it, they can send it too.."shaking head"...geez, you'd think I'd learn!

Sharon,

The applique blocks went out this morning. I went to my local PO which had shortened it's Sat morning hours (which I missed by 7 minutes) so ended up going another 15 miles to get them on thier way. They should arrive Tues. according to the PO. My apologies for the delay...I'm not functioning as smoothly as I used to these days.

Dee

Linda-I'm sending you my address right shortley.

Dee-Your blocks arrived yesterday. Thank You.

Everyone have a great evening.
gmom

I did mail mine out on Monday, thanks to Dee. I sure hope they get there tomorrow!

Sharon, did my blocks arrive??

Linda, Your blocks did not arrive today, maybe tomorrow.

What a nice day we had today. Got some vegetable planting done and with the rains they should sprout in no time. The only bad thing about today was the black flies. I hate them.

All my winter sowing and traded seeds are doing real good. Thanks to everybody who sent seeds.
Later
gmom

Linda, Your blocks arrived today. Thank You! The envelopes are ready to go out and as soon as I go to town they will be in the mail. I will let everyone know when that day comes.

Have a great evening!
gmom

HURRAH!!!

Blocks are on the way. The post lady said 3-4 day. So be watching.

Linda won the game block. Because we did not finish the game I put one slip of paper for each try, shook the bag and Linda was the winner. The block was called Shadow of the Swallow.

I don't know how to post pictures on this forum so if anyone would like to post yours when you get them that would be nice. Thank You if anyone does it.

Many thanks to all who started this trade and to those who finished.

Please post when you get you blocks.

Thanks to all.
gmom

I would've never guessed that! and I"m not a picture poster either..LOL!

I'll need to look up Shadow of the swallow. It sounds pretty.
We have safely arrived in SD and it is COLD!!!! been snowing most all day and there is a winter storm advisory for tonight.
AZ was feeling like summer and here we have winter again.Where is spring?
Here is our address for the "summer"
P O box 428
Keystone SD 57751

I received my blocks today! My what lovely lovely pieces!! Thanks to everyone that participated.

I came home from work to find the most pleasant surprise...applique blocks!!! :))) They are all so unique and pretty!

Thank you, Sharon for hosting this fun exchange!
Here are the blocks I received:
{{gwi:1255521}}

Thank you everyone for sharing your lovely work!

Dee

My blocks arrived and they are great. Thanks to all who played and to Sharon for being hostess.
It was fun to try something new and I'm sure I'll be doing more applique next winter. Was I the only newbie to this technique?
BB