Get out your foundation paper because both blocks are constructed that way. As a combination block and sash design we found the easiest way to make the blocks accurately was to foundation piece them. The 12″ square is a traditional block called Tumbling Blocks by Comfort Magazine or Rocky Mountain Chain by Hearth and Home Magazine. The second block is Flying Geese. Have you noticed? There’s only two blocks this time! Get these finished because on the 15th you’ll be busy again. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to get your blocks.

Check out this little cutie. He or she is part of an adorable little group called Snowbabies! I was working on these at the Dear Jane retreat last November.

They have been fun and easy blocks to work on. The snowy stitching on their little clothing goes really fast.

When you’re ready to sit back and relax with a little embroidery check out the new Snowbabies pattern. There’s 12 blocks and a great setting for a 52″ x 65″ lap quilt in the seventeen page pattern set.

Just Takes 2 Blocks for February 1 – Click here

P.S. If you had your own personal quilt geek to answer computer tech questions what would you ask him?

Set up your ironing station!

Fire up that sewing machine!

It’s January 1st!
We’re off and running – it’s time for the first blocks in the Just Takes 2 quilt!

The response to the Just Takes 2 mystery quilt has been fantastic. Brenda and I are glad you’re as excited about this quilt as we are. You see, we’ll be making the blocks right along with you and sharing our progress on the Just Takes 2 blog.

We are beginning with six blocks. Five of them are 6″ blocks and one is a 12″ block. One is an applique block. One is a combination of piecing and applique and four are pieced blocks. Have you noticed there is redwork embroidery on two of my blocks? If you know me you know I love redwork and embroidered quilts. There were several in the Infinite Variety exhibit and I wanted to include some in my own Just Takes 2 quilt. From time to time throughout the year you’ll see it on different blocks whenever I think it looks nice. If you don’t like embroidery – no problem. It’s not a required part of the quilt. If you do like it you can add your own designs if you want. It you’d like to use the same designs I did you can do that too. We have an instant download in the Online Store you can purchase for (go ahead and laugh) Just $2!

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

I won’t take up any more of your time with details or reminders. I’m sure you’re anxious to download and print the patterns so you can start sewing. There are tutorials for many of the techniques mentioned in the Instructions section and I’ve also put links on the Just Takes 2 page. You can also review techniques in the Dear Jane software. We have fourteen days before you head over to Dear Jane on January 15 to get the next set. I hope you’re as excited as we are and will have a fantastic 2012 with Just Takes 2. Don’t forget to share your blocks on the blog. All you need to do is click on the big red Share Your Quilt button! We’re still working out a few bugs so let us know if you have any problems.
 

Just Takes 2™ Blocks for January 1 – Click here

I like this simple sprig. The leaves are almost like little hearts.

Our quilters got ambitious with this big layered flower and polka dot leaves.

Simple yet perfect!

We’ve seen this circle filled flower before.

More polka dot leaves, flowers and cherry berries.

A closer look………

And the grand finale at the bottom right hand corner of the quilt.

If you haven’t looked at the entire quilt in a while you can see what a stunner it is. I know I’m sorry to see the project begin to wind down. We only have one more block and the two remaining borders. That got me to thinking that Cyber Monday would be the perfect time to put the past block patterns on sale for the first time ever! As my thank you for following along with this quilt you can purchase any of the blocks you missed or get the digital download patterns to start your own Beyond The Cherry Trees quilt for

The green fabric has faded to brown. The yellow has faded. I suppose the fabric that is now cream could have originally been cream but I doubt it…..

because it’s the bottom layer of the center circles right next to the background and most quilters would have used a color that contrasted with the background in that piece.

This layer of the flowers could have been cream but again, I kind of doubt it. More likely it was a double pink or even a double blue print like we’ve found in other blocks.

When you see an outline drawing of the block it’s quite pretty. I have a feeling all those peaks and valleys in the flowers will get tedious when stitching but it’ll be worth it when the block is finished.

The block has a fair amount of applique on it but the quilter managed to tuck a quilted motif in on all four sides of the block. This simple flower is a design we’ve seem in other blocks and fits nicely.

Now as adorable as these little stacked flower are, they have me still scratching my head. Why would you quilt the simple flower on three sides of the block and then put these stacked flowers on the fourth side? I don’t have a clue but it’s just one of the reasons why I love this quilt so much!

I’ve been thinking about making more patterns available as instant downloads. Please let me know what you think about that. Does that interest you? What patterns would you like that way? Clutch and I want to know!

P.S. I listed a bunch of Christmas patterns on ebay this week and will be listing some Christmas fabric tonight so be sure to take a look!

If you’re a quilt maker looking at the corner of this quilt wondering how the borders were added you notice the seam running parallel to the edge of the quilt and immediately conclude the borders weren’t mitered. Not seeing a second seam indicating the addition of a corner square you’d surmise border strips sewn to each side and then to the top and bottom of the quilt.

Surprise, surprise, not with the Cherry Trees quilt! This quilter never ceases to amaze me. I haven’t seen applique borders on an antique quilt like this before. Have you? – Please share the story.


The borders were sewn to the center blocks counter clockwise in a log cabin fashion.



Fabric requirements and cutting instructions are given for adding the borders in a traditional way with the side borders added first and then the top and the bottom. If you want to work with the partial seams you’d need to construct the borders like the original quilt don’t forget to adjust your cutting measurements to allow for this in the length of the border strips you cut. I will admit this method might give you a bit more freedom for design because you could complete the applique on the strips before sewing them to the center and just cut off the ends without regard for how the design stops at the end of each side. I have trouble with circles that aren’t perfectly round so I’m going to need a bit more structure to my method.

This month’s pattern is for the Right Side Border Strip. It was such fun to follow along the vine and find all the hidden treasures quilted in the peaks and valleys of the vine.

The block is in pretty bad shape. The greens are faded and some of the fabric is missing so at first glance it doesn’t look like much.

As you can see, my helper is never far away from this quilt. I can’t understand what it is about this one that intrigues him so much.

I had worked on this section months ago and figured it was a good place to start stitching again.

It turned out pretty neat with all these leaves and berries.

I found this on the opposite side.

Do you see anything here?

Woo hoo! How cool is this? There were lots of great designs in the center of the block.

Here’s our block with all of the stitching done.

and a quick look at my ‘dock garden’ and our hot humid sky tonight. You can download this month’s block on the Beyond The Cherry Trees page.