Birthday Blocks on Parade

One of the annual traditions in my Brown Bagger's Quilt Group is our birthday block swap. Like every Brown Bagger activity, participation is optional.

This year's block is a free pattern, Dresdens Squared from The Missouri Star Quilt Company.

These are Marion's birthday blocks. She has the first birthday of our group, on January 30th. Happy Birthday Marion!

If you want to make this block, here's the video.

I didn't like last year's block, so I opted out. However, lately I've been "wowed" by how our 2015 quilt blocks can look in different fabrics and different layouts. The next two quilt photos are composed of the same identical block. You'll be amazed.

Joanne chose red, white, and blue fabrics and set her quilt in a star burst. Doesn't it look great?

Pat used Kaffe Fassett stripes and shot cottons and set her top in an attic windows style. The pattern has a great three dimensional effect and the blocks appear to be popping out of the quilt. It will be a gift for her son-in-law, Andrew to use at the firehouse.

 Can you believe that both of these quilts (above) are made from the same quilt block?

Here is Valerie pondering her newly completed top made from her birthday blocks from 2012-13.

Want to see how Valerie's quilt would look in animal prints with a hot pink background? Check out my version, aptly named Wild Thing. Yes, it's the same quilt.

At our recent MLK Quilt Weekend, Karen finished an oldie but goodie, starring flying geese blocks we swapped back in 2009.

Isn't this gorgeous? I made the block in the upper right center with two purple triangles and one teal triangle. Everyone had fun looking for the block that they gave Karen.

Here's a close-up of Karen's beautiful quilting in progress.

I still have my flying geese blocks in a box, but Karen's layout has inspired me, so I need to see if I have enough blocks to copy her design--remember, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I used Kaffe Fassett fabrics against a lavender background. I think that if I add some appliqued pugs, it may look even better!

I am off to a quilt retreat tomorrow and promise to take lots of photos. I still have some quilt photos to share from my talented Brown Bagger friends from our previous two meetings in January, so stay tuned!

Special thanks to Karen who contributed many of the photos for this post!

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy