Jaba I have been busy practicing on my new machine. Hoping after the next 2 quilts I will be ready to work on the boom blocks. Really want to do more then meandering and STID.

Yay, Janice! Everyone will be so excited to see their blocks. I'll be away when they arrive (going to the AQS show in Paducah!!) but it will give me something to look forward to for when I return.

Ibex, yes my 'local' swap blocks are 12", just like our Boom blocks. So glad you are planning to participate next time!

Terri, you are getting so much done! I am envious of your long arm. I'm sure it makes it faster and easier to get your quilts quilted.

Can't wait to see your pics of finished quilts! :shock:

Have a great time in Paducah! I suspect you'll be coming back full of inspiration and new ideas and hit the sewing machine as soon as you return. Me? It is time to get to work on the dissertation. If no major progress is done, no next BOOM for me.

Does anyone know when the next BOOM will be? I've been watching this one, greatly regretting not joining in the fun! I have a new baby due in September, so I am hoping I can manage to participate if it is this summer. You all looked like you had so much fun!

terriamn, so glad you like the long arm. I have just meandered on these, got a little stale after not doing it for 6 months. I love the intricate quilting but more often than not I like the quilts better that are just the very simple patterns. Guess they look usable to me.
sewbiz, I envy you going to Paducah! I was really wishing we could come home 3 weeks later so I could go but it wasn't going to happen this year. It is a fabulous warehouse of fabric though and I will sure make it a stop going to and coming home from Florida each year. At least as long as we drive down that is the plan. Hope you have a really good time.

It hasn't been set yet but likely in the summer. These are wonderfully fun! If you know the baby is coming and the due date for the blocks is in September, you can knock them out and send them in long before the baby arrives :-)

Thanks Jaba, too bad the timing didn't work out for you to see the show this year. Starting this fall they are adding a second show in Paducah every year... so there will be both Spring and Fall shows. Maybe you can plan your migrations around those dates?

NZquilter, congrats on the baby! Is this your first? Janice hasn't set a time for the next Boom yet, but I hope you will watch for the sign up announcement. I usually get my blocks done in about two weeks (because I am consumed with them!) so you can always finish early if you have baby prep things to do. We'll be looking for you!

Professor Ibex, get that dissertation written! :)

Thanks, sewbizgirl! This is my second baby, with my eldest being only 13 months:) I'm know I'm going to be super busy here soon, but I'm certainly going to watching out for the next Boom. I have already told my Hubby that if the timing is good around the baby's due date, I'm signing up for the next one. In the meantime I'll practice various 12" blocks to make sure I can make them to standard!

NZQ, I'm taking about two months off from the booms as I cannot seem to run them and do my own quilting. I expect that I'll open signups at the end of June or early July. I'll be sure to post here when it goes up. Normally signups take about three weeks so we'd be starting in early August. If you are swift like some of our regulars, you'll have some time to nest after your blocks are made. But of course, babies tend to come on their own schedules, not ours. :)

Bizarre AM. First let me say normally I live a very quiet life. Doorbell rings at 6:10 this morning, dh answers and charges upstairs Terri wake up their is a policeman at door for you. Ha what, scared me instantly awake. Thought OMGG what happened to one of my kids. Not my kids thankfully. He informed me my ex dh From 36 years ago yes from 36 years ago had committed suicide and my kids were his next of kin and would I notify them and ask one to call the coroners office. Called my 4 kid's and ex SIL. Even though he had abandoned us I'm proud to say my kid's are stepping up to the plate and taking care of his arrangements. Don't know how police linked him to me, they said he did leave a note so who knows maybe he put my address on it.

Oh my, Terri... that is a pretty unsettling start to the day. I'm very sorry for your kids.

Terriamn, I am so sorry! That is too scary all around. So much is falling on you lately... Good thing you are a tough woman! Hugs and prayers!

LJDUGAS! Calling LJDUGAS! Please check your email for a message from me. Thanks!

Did he live in the same town Terri?? My ex lives in California..havent seen him since 1988.. Doesnt know about his 2 grandsons....I got a call the other day from a LA County police wanting to know if I was David Baysingers sister.. I laughed and said no but I was married to him. He has been sick and wanting to come back to Missouri. I asked the police how they got my phone number and his remark was "we are the police we have access to things like that". (mines a cell phone). I gave the info to my son who hasnt seen him since 1988 when he was 6...leaving it up to him what to do. He chose not to have any contact with him..thats a lot of years of no contact but an occasional letter over the years...I figured at 33 hes old enough to make the decision himself..Im feeling he made the right one!

Yes we lived in same city but only corresponded a few times in the last 30 years. Unfortunately he inherited some really bad genes

That's really sad too, Joan. I think your son made the right decision. My hubby and his next younger sister had nothing to do with their biological dad. He was abusive to their mother and she divorced him when they were very small. DH once went to meet him when he was a teenager, but I think he was very disappointed. His sister never wanted to know him or have anything to do with him. It's sad when men don't realize what they have in their children and families. Without them, they have nothing. My husband would never have left his children for anything... so glad he is nothing like his real dad.

I agree but its not only men that do it. My sons "girlfriend" gave him custody of Conner when he was 2. She sees him every other weekend but thats it and its hard on him because of the difference in households...Im glad hes been with David for past 10 years full time... My daughter left her 3 kids and husband to move to Kansas. My great grandson had so many issues I would have to go get him at school almost every day. He was 6..girls were 10 and 12...She came and got Josh but the girls havent seen her but a couple of times since 1998...they are 29 and 31 now and dont have contact with her or Josh...its sad...I am SO thankful for my family when I was growing up..we were close it was a different time...so glad I grew up in the 60's....I feel like its a whole different world the grandkids are going to have to grow up in...sorry...not sure why im so "down' tonight but glad you all are here to understand!! :) Thanks friends!!

Aprilites, most of you should be receiving your tracking numbers this morning directly from USPS. Please look over the address to make sure it is correct. Jaba and Francie, yours are going to your summer home :) and TG, yours is going to Mom's. If there are any problems, let me know. Mollymunchkin and Marija, I will email you your tracking numbers later this morning.

Received my tracking number, now to stalk my mail lady!

Saw my tracking number notice just now. I'm so excited!! I've been a fabric shopping fool for the last couple of days. I'll be working every day through next Wednesday so had to do my shopping now. When I stress out, I buy fabric.

As I get older and older I realize that most families have some horrible issue that cannot be resolved quickly or easily. If I watch the news too much I get horribly depressed because there are so many bad things going on out there. Thanks to love from family and friends, I survive and can be productive most of the time. I suspect we are all like that. The key is love. Give it freely and with joy as long as you can. And drink lots of water. Hugs to all of you.

Joan, that must have been very hard on your son making that decision but he thought it out and made his choice. He didn't run away from it.

Family issues! They can be so complicated. So hard on children when their parents aren't present in their lives. Children always think it's their fault....

I got my shipping notice! Thank you, Janice. I'm off to Memphis this afternoon, and then on to Paducah tomorrow, but will look for my package when I get home. :o

Thanks Janice for hosting this wonderful Boom which allows us so many wonderful opportunities of creativity, inspiration, friendship, knowledge, discovering, learning and beauty. I received my USPS tracking. Janice you are so thoughtful and talented in running this Boom. THANKS!

Isn't it wonderful to be able to create some beauty in this world filled with so many challenges. Wish you the best with the difficulties we all face.

Got my tracking number...that sure cheered me up!! :) I'm glad I get to see so much of the 4 grandkids here in town. Wish I could see the older 2 girls more than I do but they are in Illinois, at least they are close to each other. My youngest sure can make me laugh and feel loved...I think that is the key! Thank you ALL for understanding and making me know I'm not alone with family concerns!! Come on package!! LOL

Your families are very lucky to have you ladies.

Received my my tracking number. I look forward to getting the squares. DH and I are van camping for three weeks in May. I'm taking your squares and the big squares I made to go with them and adding embellishments to them. Will finish the quilts up before the next boom. My original design won't work as it was 9'x9' and we didn't have a place to hang it. I'm turning these squares into two or three sister quilts.

Once again thank you o everyone for the encouragement during the boom. Janice you are a wonderfully organized, kind person. It's been a real pleasure ladies.

Your blocks are in the care of USPS now. :) :) :)

And for everyone having a difficult time right now, and that's a bunch of us, stay strong for yourselves, your loved ones and your communities.

So I got home from work today and saw a USPS parcel outside the door and got really excited! It wasn't for me :-(. I will just have to be patient, I guess.

USPS is pretty fast but not quite that fast! Don't worry, it'll be there soon. ;)

Got my tracking # today. Thanks, Janice.

Received my tracking info. Thanks so much Janice for , well for everything.
Thanks and hugs to all the 18 Boomers, for your welcome to a newbie, encouragement, wisdom and sharing.
I loved being part of this Boom, It helped, ya'l will never know how much.
Due to health and family issues I wasn't able to go see and be with my brother in his last days, his memorial is this Saturday.
It was a comfort and relief to be able to stop in here and enjoy ya'ls banter and pic posts, And for me to remind myself I had to keep my act together because I had blocks to finish for you wonderful ladies.
Can't wait to receive my wonderful beautiful blocks!!
I hope my blocks for ya'l are ok and not any kind of disappointment , I'm sure I was one Janice wanted to tsk tsk and set in the corner :D. I tried.
Anyways back to the business of dealing with life. Hugs

Marietta -- I'm so sorry to hear that you have lost your brother. You have been a joy in the BOOM and your blocks are lovely. Pushing yourself to try new things is part of the fun of this BOOM. If this BOOM helped you with your grief in any way, I am glad for that. Piecing helps me while my emotions are in upheaval. I am sending you prayers and hugs in this time of sadness for you and your family. RIP brother of yours.

Marietta. I too thought it was me so I asked Janice to check my blocks and she did and said my blocks were fine, so I bet there are several boomers who think it might be them. If I could have redone Molly's block I would have. Molly I promise your next block will be better! I was satisfied with the other blocks, even happy with some of them. I learned a lot. And my next blocks will be better. That's all us newbies can ask for. Next time we'll know! The other boomers seem very forgiving.

It it was wonderful being a newbie in this boom with you. I didn't feel so stupid asking questions, as I thought, maybe Marietta needs to know that too. I for one, enjoyed your comments and I loved the guitar block you made for me.

After the boom was over I bought a Craftsy class, piece like a pro, that I think will bring my piecing to the next level. It talks about half square triangles and quarter square triangles and when you use them and 1/4 inch seams and how to figure out if you're actually doing a quarter inch seam. This class made me realize that I didnt know what I didn't know����. Of course wouldn't it be nice to live next door to one of these amazing boomers and be able to get help?

great boom. Thanks everyone for your patience with us newbies.

Boomers, I'm not going to out anyone on here and you all don't need to either. This boom is done but I ask again that in the future, three things happen for EVERY block:

Sew with about 12 stitches per inch, certainly not under 10
Sew 1/4 inch seams
Measure so your blocks come to 12 1/2 inches square, or as close as you can reasonably get

These are basic good construction techniques everyone needs in order to make blocks that come up to size and will not fall apart. Newbies to piecing need to learn these things and experienced quilters can occasionally use a refresher as can everyone in between. We welcome all skill levels in this swap and we will continue to but blocks must hold together and come as close to 12 1/2 inches as possible. Blocks made with a basting stitch won't hold together. Blocks made with perfectly cut pieces will not come out to 12 1/2 inches if you use a half inch seam or an eighth inch seam. Can't happen. I ask that everyone who doesn't measure start measuring. If you aren't great at 1/4 inch seams, practice. Go online and search for basic piecing techniques. You'll find many resources; something will surely work for you.

Through the years, I've been accused of requiring perfection and told that I expect too much. Nope. I do expect every boomer to strive for good construction and sizing. Everyone, everyone, who has been in this swap since I took it over has had all the basics to make blocks but they all haven't practiced a few skills to translate those basics into 12 1/2 inch blocks that will hold together. If you can adjust your machine, you can instantly solve the stitch length problem. If you can sew a half inch seam, you can learn to sew it at a quarter inch. And if you will use a ruler to check sizing after sewing two pieces of fabric together, you'll know if you need to make a change to your technique.

Boomers, past, present and future...you CAN do it. I have absolute confidence in that.

Marietta, I'm so sorry you have lost your brother. Big hugs and prayers. Thank you for the beautiful blocks you made for us. I love the one you made for me. I hope you will 'play' again next time. It just gets better and better.

Janice, thanks so much for running another successful swap! And thanks for keeping us all on our toes and helping us to be better block makers. Kudos to you, my friend! :hug:

Blocks are arriving today, or at least most of them are. :) Woo hoo! The vast majority of the blocks I saw were wonderful. I hope you will like them. If you have the time and wish to, I'd love to see pix of your blocks all together. I'm sure others would too.

I'll be leaving feedback on the QB next week. Any of you can do so too. And don't forget I'm happy to take any comments about any aspect of the swap by email.

Signups for Boom 19 will start in late June. For those who asked, color "requests" will remain requests. I will ask that they be taken into consideration but boomers need to be prepared that some people will go their own way regardless of the requests. It happens every single round and I'm just not going to stress about it anymore. My focus will remain on the construction side, not the creative side.

I'll be off line line for a few days starting this afternoon so I'll reply to any emails next week. I'm going down to my sewing room for a few days and don't plan to poke my head out until something, ANYTHING! is done. I've got a mini that has been this close to being done for months so maybe today is the day.

Boomers, enjoy the blocks!

My blocks will be here late today and with luck I'll find time to get them up on my design board sometime this weekend.

Janice thank you for all the work you put into making this a successful swap I have enjoyed every one that I have been in. Also Thank you to all the swappers newbies and old pro's alike the time spent on the boards and sharing our lives the good, the bad, and the funny makes every one of my blocks that much more special.

Ladies just got my blocks from both groups! I want to thank you all so much. My blocks are all Beautiful this quilt will be wonderful!!! Great swap until next boom!

I got my blocks today too. I love every single one of them. Thank all of you, Ladies, for such pretty work. I know my Sara is going to love this quilt. Hope to see you all again in the next Boom.

Woo Hoo just walked in the door w/ my squishy!!! Haven't even had a chance to look yet so exciting! Thanks everyone