Xylophone for December QBM

For December and Christmas, it's appropriate that this month's Quilt Block Mania theme is toys - lots and lots of toys! My block is an easy, classical musical instrument, the Xylophone, sure to delight all the little ones out there!

As for how I came up with this block, it was a matter of brainstorming toys and what could easily be sewn. Did I make it because I have fond memories of banging away on one? Unfortunately, no, as I am seriously NOT musically inclined.

Anyway, I got super lucky that the chosen color scheme from Design Seeds contained the primary colors plus two of the three secondaries. 

Of course, I took some liberty by adding the brown, but under out QBM rules, that's permissible. Here's a look at the toy blocks my fellow QBM quilt designers have dreamed up:

and the links to find them.

Puzzle Cube Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Swirlybirds by Scrapdash
Rocking Horse by Appliques Quilts and More
Old-fashioned toy by Blockofthemo.com
Wooden Toy Blocks by Penny Spool Quilts
Xylophone by QuiltFabrication
Stacked Rings at Patti's Patchwork
Toy Truck at Blue Bear Quilts
Bullseye at Pretty Piney Quilts
Toy Plane by Mom and Me Quilting Co
Nutcracker by Inquiring Quilter
Water Colors at Perkins Dry Goods
How to Theread a Book by Craft Towards Joy
Sling Shot by Faith and Fabric
Candyland at EvaPaige Quilt Designs
Shape Sorter Block at Patchwork Breeze
Colorku at Love to Color My World
Toy Wagon by Cristy Fincher
Baboushka dolls by Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Baseball by Masterpiece Quilting

My finished 12" x 12" Xylophone block includes super easy straight line stitching, with a bit of stitch-n-flip thrown in for the hammer. 

As usual, for one Xylophone block, fat quarters are all that's needed. Sorry, the Xylophone block is no longer free, but is available in my Etsy shop.

Post updated November 2022.

Happy Quilting!

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3 Extra Special Border Tutorials

Looking for a different border treatment for your project? Then look no further than these 3 ideas!

First up is the Mitered Border. 

Now, some may find this border scary to create because of those 45 degree angles. But if one is careful in lining up the seams and fabric and taking test stitches, the border is really pretty simple to create. 

And the impression it leaves shows that the quilter took the time and attention necessary to create a fabulous border for their quilt. Trust me - on the right quilt, mitered borders can look stunning!

For a very complete and detailed tutorial, check out my Mitered Quilt Border Tutorial and see if it makes you want to give it a try.

For smaller quilt projects, a Picture Frame Border will certainly add that extra punch!

I really love the look of this border - notice there are no seams? Yet another border that's easy to do, but best kept to small projects because of the size of the fabric needed for the border.

Check out my How to Make a Picture Frame Border for all of the details and closeups. 

Last, but certainly not least, what quilt wouldn't be enhanced by adding a Decorative Flange? Here, it's a very narrow folded fabric strip that's inserted in the seam, leaving the other side free.

For maximum impact, this flange looks impressive when it's kept super narrow. Simple to do but making a really big impact! Check out what I mean with my Inserting a Decorative Flange tutorial. It's just as impressive as Piped Binding, though easier and in a different area of the border.

So the next time your adding borders to a quilt and want something a bit extra, consider using one of these techniques. I'm sure your quilt will be extra stunning!

Happy Quilting!

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Midweek Makers 308

Welcome to Midweek Makers - let's do some sharing!

I'm away from the studio this week, working hard on the relative's house, which means I have no new quilts to show. I hope to be back at it soon, as I'm eager to finish my cat quilt, then move on to assembling the RSC2021 quilt. I think I can pull off those two goals before the end of the year!

As we're getting closer to Christmas, there were two Christmas-y quilts from Midweek Makers 306 that I'd like to showcase. Both of these were still in progress at that time, and now they're finished. Take a look at Donnaleeq's improv Red Birds before quilting,

and her Red Birds after quilting, with a pretty red binding to tie it all together.

The other Christmas quilt, with this before shot from Bell Creek Quilts of an adorable Santa panel,

then with an additional border and of course, the fabulous quilting Bell Creek Quilts enhanced it with.

These two are sending me into the Christmas mood! How about you? Any Christmas quilts to share today?

• please link directly to your post
• please link a quilt related project
• visit with the other guests and leave some comment love

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