BIG Birthday Surprise!!!
IFQ members are STARS! We checked our mail today, and were struck speechless (a mighty rare occurrence, that)! There were stacks of envelopes with wonderful surprises inside. When we opened the envelopes out tumbled quilt block after quilt block. All in a star theme, each beautiful block wished us a Happy Birthday.
Here are pictures of what we found in the envelopes. Hand appliqué, foundation piecing, conventional piecing, origami work, printing on fabric, and painting on fabric were all utilized to build these beauties. We knew you were a talented bunch, but seeing it in the "flesh" is a thrill.
These beautiful blocks must be combined into a quilt. That will take some thinking and planning, though. We didn't want you to wait for that to see these beautiful pieces so here they are, in alphabetical order.
You can't imagine how stunning this surprise is. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts
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Susan Allsop, chapter leader of AU - Davidson FQ, sent two blocks (to avoid playing favorites, no doubt)! Her beautiful stars have a woven effect. Each one is done in similar colors, but with different fabrics.
You're an IFQ Star, Susan!
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Susan Allsop's second beautiful block. We love them both!
Susan lives in Australia.
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Lynette Brumby is from Australia and is a member of the V - Quilting Sister FQ chapter. She made a "friendship star" block using a dishy hand dyed fabric for the star.
You're an IFQ Star, Lynette!
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Sandra Campbell, from Ohio, USA, sent this lovely star block. The stripes she used for the side and top and bottom patches really set it off nicely, don't they? Sarah is a member of UK - Dart FQ.
You're an IFQ Star, Sandra!
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Sarah Gamble is the fearless leader of the V - Piecemakers FQ. She sent two identical star blocks just brimming with cheerful color. Look at all those points!
You're an IFQ Star, Sarah!
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Tina Girard, of the UK - Threads of Time FQ chapter, sent two blocks - one for James and one for Suzy. Who is that furry little creature peeking out from behind one of those stars!
Tina explained that Nathalie (of FR - La Folie du Patchwork FQ) came up with the idea of star blocks. She wrote that the brief was a ten and a half inch block using the IFQ logo colors with the theme of mariners compass or stars using your chosen method...
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Tina wrote further that her blocks have five stars, each representing a continent. She used fabric from the IFQ Charm Swap for the stars, which she felt was appropriate as they came from all around the world!
Have we mentioned that we're blown away? Thank you so very much!
You're an IFQ Star, Tina!
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Patsy Graham of UK - Dart FQ chapter, used hand appliqué to form the green shapes around her star. It reminds us of the world and a compass! Patsy lives in England.
You're an IFQ Star, Patsy!
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Ann Halden lives in Australia and belongs to the V - LadyBugs FQ chapter. Her wonderful star block uses rich, saturated colors. Isn't it pretty?
You're an IFQ Star, Ann!
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Mary Ann Iesalnieks' star features an interesting crazy patch center and two different kinds of star points. Mary Ann is a member of V - LadyBugs FQ and is from Canada.
You're an IFQ Star, Mary Ann!
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Denise Mallon lives in Australia and is a member of the AU - Davidson FQ chapter. She sent two blocks using the same fabrics, but she placed them in different areas of each star.
You're an IFQ Star, Denise!
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Isn't it interesting how just moving the placement of a couple of fabrics can make such a difference? Clever way to make coordinating blocks Denise! |
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Justine Merry chose intense colors to build her star block. Intricately detailed, this block seem to glow from the center - which is good for a star! Justine lives in England and belongs to the UK - Dart FQ chapter.
You're an IFQ Star, Justine!
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Daniela Montenegro lives in Italy and is a member of the V - LadyBugs FQ chapter. The way the wide and narrow points alternate in this block make it appear to spin!
You're an IFQ Star, Daniela!
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Karen Pantony, from Australia, made this beautiful star block. The colors are spot on and, will you just look at all of those points? Karen is a member of the UK - Dart FQ chapter.
You're an IFQ Star, Karen!
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Jane Parker made this lovely appliquéd block, which we haven't received yet. You just never know how the international post will behave! We were very lucky to receive a picture of Jane's block, though, and we just can't wait until it arrives! Jane is the chapter leader of UK - Threads of Time FQ, and she lives in England.
You're an IFQ Star, Jane!
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Sandra Petrie printed an IFQ logo for the center of her block. Look how she coordinated the colors in in the surrounding patches! Sandra is from Australia and is a member of the AU - Davidson FQ chapter.
You're an IFQ Star, Sandra!
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Lis Plants is from England and is a member of the UK - Dart FQ chapter. Her block is a modified star, of sorts. A quarter of the star is left off and a trunk is added to make a palm tree! Reminds us of IFQ headquarters in California!
You're an IFQ Star, Lis!
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Ann Turner is a member of UK - Dart FQ, and lives in England. This picture does not do justice to this lovely block. The center is an origami-fold type of star set in the larger conventionally pieced star. The vibrant colors in the hand-dyed fabrics just glow in real life.
You're an IFQ Star, Ann!
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Delyse Upton is the chapter leader for UK - Dart FQ and lives in England. Her block uses colors straight from the IFQ logo and is named "Friendship Across the Seas". It looks like it is flying right over the ocean, doesn't it?
You're an IFQ Star, Delyse!
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Jo VanLoo lives in Arizona, USA. Her block features a four-pointed star in two shades of yellow. The blue background sets the star off beautifully! Jo is a member of the UK - Dart FQ chapter.
You're an IFQ Star, Jo!
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Kristi Zirkle is the leader of the V - LadyBugs FQ chapter. She lives in Virginia, USA. Her unusual hand-pieced block features a star inside of a heart. She wrote that she chose this block because we have "IFQ in our hearts".
You're an IFQ Star, Kristi!
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This block and the following eight came from France! Sent by the FR - Folie du Patchwork FQ chapter, these lovely blocks are so perfectly coordinated we suspect the chapter got together and made them as a group. Are we right?
You're IFQ stars, Folie du Patchwork!
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Jacqueline Chalansonnex, of FR - Folie du Patchwork FQ, made this lovely star block. Jacqueline lives in France. Jacqueline used great precision and color choice for her block.
You're an IFQ star, Jacqueline!
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We have recent information that tells us that Nathalie Cambier, leader of FR - Folie du Patchwork FQ, made most, if not all of the following blocks.
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It's easy to tell that these blocks were carefully planned. |
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They all seem to represent the IFQ logo in style.
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... and the colors are spot on! |
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Look at all of those POINTS! |
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How are we ever going to create a quilt worthy of these blocks? |
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Now, this block looks just like the logo.
Beautiful!
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