A Very Quilty Birthday!

Among my quilt group friends, it is well known that you have two birthdays. First there is your real birthday, typically celebrated with family and sometimes friends. Second, and often more important, is your quilting birthday, which is celebrated in our quilt group with cake, gifts of fabric and birthday blocks, and a spectacular off-key rendition of Happy Birthday which often sounds more like a funeral dirge. We need to work on our tempo...

Saturday was Marion's quilting birthday.

Cake! Chocolate of course!

Presents!

Birthday blocks!

Each year our group chooses a block pattern. Participation is optional. The birthday girl chooses her own colors and everyone in the group makes blocks for the birthday girl. Marion has chosen black and white fabrics with a brightly colored center for her 2014 birthday block. Our block this year is a pattern by Terry Atkinson, called Snap Shot and it is the cover quilt of her book, Happy Hour.

I asked the girls to bring in some of the quilts they've made from birthday blocks in past years. It is fun to see how different they appear depending on the fabrics, settings, and size that they've chosen.

The first year we did a birthday block exchange was 1996. We did a star signature block. These blocks are extra special because they are signed, and one of our original members has passed away.

This is Kim P.'s birthday quilt done in patriotic colors.

This is Lori's birthday quilt in shades of blue.

One of the hardest birthday blocks we made was in 2007. It required a special ruler, precise cutting and perfect 1/4 seams. The pattern is called Oriental Lanterns and it was in an Australian quilt magazine. Lots of tears were shed over this one.

I used the original nine blocks I received and finally made a wall hanging in 2012.

Lori was brave and made hers larger.

This is Pat's quilt with our birthday blocks from 2009.

This is Kim P.'s birthday block quilt using the Bento Box pattern
in batik fabrics. We made this block in 2006. I finished mine last year
and you can see it under the tab, 2013 Finished Quilts.

We made this quilt for Karen's 50th birthday and it was also our
birthday block last year because we liked it so much.

One year we did a sampler quilt. This is Nancy D.'s in blue and yellow.

This was our birthday block in 2010 or 2011. Pat super-sized hers and made it out of Kaffe Fasset fabrics.

Karen's quilt is made of batiks.

Don't they look very different from each other?

I hope that you enjoyed seeing some of our birthday block quilts! Happy Quilting Birthday Marion!

Linking up on Tuesday to FreeMotion by the River. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy