Signature Blocks

I love signature blocks. When I participate in a block exchange I always want the maker of each block to sign the block somewhere. Years later, when I look at the quilt I can remember happy times with those people and what great friends they were - or still are. The reality of this world is that people move - some move a lot! - and no matter how well you think you might remember who made each block it's easy to forget once the years go by. I have a few quilts made from unsigned blocks, and by now I have no idea who made which blocks.

At the beginning of this year there were quite a few sets of friendship and signature blocks on my UFO list. Yesterday, as I was putting a set together into another finished flimsy, it occurred to me that these quilts would make a great topic for a post.

Here is my latest finished top - I sewed the final borders on last night before going to bed. Seventeen of these blocks were made by my friends in my little guild - North Star Quilters - as a thank you for serving as president for 2007. The blocks are always simple stars, as our logo is a sawtooth star. I love this tradition - which reminds me, I still need to make a block for this year's president! She wants jewel tones - I'll have to do some hunting to find those in my stash!

These blocks are from a world-wide blogging exchange I participated in during 2006. It was organized by an Australian blogger who has - unfortunately - stopped blogging. There were about three dozen of us participating. It's so much fun to look at the blocks to see where they all originated. The 36 I received were perfect for this small top. My block made 37 - so I put it (actually "them" as there were four of mine left over) on the back of the quilt. I will always remember what I was doing while sewing these blocks together - watching election returns which marked a huge event in our national history. I did take time to whoop in jubilation a minute after our local polls closed and CNN projected Barack Obama as the president elect. I'll never forget how marvelous I felt, and this quilt will be a wonderful reminder.

Three more sets of friendship blocks have finally been sewn into one finished flimsy and several other items - I've talked about those in recent posts here and here and here. The only signed blocks are in the Christmas pillows - I've forgotten who made many of the blocks in the other two exchanges. I know who was in the group at the time, but can't remember who made which blocks. I sure wish they'd been signed too!

Another signature quilt was among those I finished during my August finishing frenzy. I love how it turned out!

Still another set of signed friendship blocks became this flimsy. It has been pinned onto the longarm since August. Hopefully I can get it quilted sometime this month so I can display it for even a few days before fall vanishes and Christmas decorations fill the house. Besides, I can't quilt Lily's bear or any customer quilts until it is finished!

I have still another finished flimsy done with blocks from this group that is waiting for quilting. When we decided to exchange double nine patch blocks it never occurred to us how large the quilt top would become! Apparently I don't have a picture of the finished top - just take my word for it when I tell you it also has borders. I will do a simple all over pattern on this one, so I should be able to finish it before the end of the year.

Last but not least are two more sets of blocks made by the same ladies that made the previous two quilts. I'm going to put these together in the same quilt - turning the tiny blocks into centers of more log cabin blocks. This is one of the projects I'm taking to Quilt Camp this weekend, so hopefully I can show you another finished top early next week. I have light and dark strips cut and sorted just waiting for me to start working on them.

This leaves me with only one unfinished set of friendship blocks - a group of blocks from an around-the-block round robin. These, too, aren't signed. I need to make a chart of who made which blocks before I forget. I've put these up on my design wall so my mind can start coming up with ideas. I know I'll do a bunch of rearranging, as well as make more blocks to add to the mix. Stay tuned - I'm determined to get this one to the finished flimsy stage by the end of this year so I can cross off every project on that sidebar list!

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Gratitudes:

1. Wonderful fall colors everywhere
2. Hot oatmeal for breakfast
3. Savory roasted vegetables - pumpkin, parsnips, sweet onion, peppers, squash
4. 94% fat free Jiffy Pop Kettle Corn
5. A diminishing UFO list