Taking Stock

Despite traveling and time spent working at the Western Idaho Fair, I was rather productive this year.  I completed 13 regular quilts, 1 small wall-hanging, 1 big bag, 1 pillow, 1 placemat, 1 kitty quilt, and 10 doll quilts.  Oh, and I completed 4 quilt tops (they are not completed quilts).  

What I find interesting is that out of 13 regular quilts, 7 of them were made from scraps.  I have so much lovely fabric, but I keep using the scraps to make the majority of my quilts.  I have done a couple things, in 2022, that are not typical of me: 1) I actually bought and used a pattern to make a quilt; 2) I watched a couple of YouTube videos about quilting, specifically about using scraps.  Karen Brown has a YouTube Channel, and she did a tutorial about using the "after-quilt."  Every quilt you make has an after-quilt.  When you make a lot of quilts, you have a lot of after-quilt fabric scraps.

I find myself, once again, in a fabric purchasing moratorium.  I have tons of lovely fabric.  I do not need more.  In 2023, I am resolved to use my lovely new fabrics, that I have purchased, but not used.  I am going to let the scraps stack up!

Of the four quilt tops, that I made, but do not have backs and have not been quilted, three of them are made from scraps.  Let me tell you about the latest one.

Teresa and I made "Black and White Mostly" quilts in 2018.  We had collected black and white fabrics for three years before we ever got started on our quilt tops.  We each made one.  To use up some of the yardage we bought, I pieced the backs from black and white fabrics.  Still there is yardage in my cabinet from this project, which is perfectly usable in future projects.  However, there is also a pile of scraps from two quilts:  the after-quilts of two quilts.

I pulled out this black and white pile of scraps and decided to use it all up and get it out of my quilt room.  I have found this activity to be enjoyable, but futile, in the past and now.  I made a 55" X 68 1/2" quilt, and still had a pile left over.  I guess that is to be expected, if the original pile was scraps from two quilts.  So, I am going to use the after pile, to make the backing for the quilt top I constructed.

Following is a video, I made, showing how to use your pile of scraps (aka the after-quilt) to make a whole new quilt.

I love how the quilt top came out.  I really hope you like my video.  I am a novice in the video department.

I started by sorting the scraps into piles by size and shape.  Then just started sewing them together.  Then, I decided I could experiment with new block ideas as I go.  One of Karen Brown's videos, was about "How to Make an Ugly Quilt".  None of my big chunks were as big as hers: 14" X 14", so I found three darks and three lights that were the biggest of my pieces.  The smallest of the six determined the size I would make my squares.  It was 11 1/2 inches wide, so I cut my six squares to 11 1/2" X 11 1/2".  When I finished, they were 9 inches square.  You have to layer them dark, light, dark, light, then cut through all the layers on a diagonal.  Then shuffle, cut again, shuffle and turn sideways, and repeat.  You must watch Karen Browns's video, at Just Get It Done Quilts to believe how amazing this process of making quilt blocks is.

Quilt top:  Black and White Mostly (top row are blocks based on Karen Brown's video)

I will talk more about this quilt when it is actually all quilted and complete.  See you next year!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Happy Christmas Eve!  What an exciting and fun-filled year we have had.  I did plenty of quilting and sewing, read a couple of books, and did some traveling.  This second "Radiance" quilt is the last quilt I have completed this year.   

Since I needed to get it in the mail, I photographed it pinned to my design wall.  The shadows are from my cabinet (on the left) and my glass windchimes (above).  I am pleased with how it turned out.  I used a fat-quarter bundle for most of the central fabrics in the star.  It is composed of squares, half-square triangles, and flying geese.

I made a quilt for the kitties and included it when I mailed the big one to my cousin.  This is Mochi, who is a quilt hog, I am told.  She claimed the kitty quilt immediately, and Betsy doesn't get to share it.  I will be making a kitty quilt for Betsy in the coming months, so she can have her own.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

A Snowy Day In Idaho

Greetings and happy birthday to me!  No cake this year; I decided to have chocolate pie instead.  Meanwhile, I have been carrying my shark quilt around in my car for weeks, trying to figure out where to take a photo of it.  So, this morning, after chocolate pie, we went out in the backyard and took a photo in the snowiness. 

Remember that D or F movie about snow sharks?  These are not snow sharks, but there are a lot of them in this quilt.  Shannan named the quilt, "Smooth Sailing in Shark Infested Waters".  It is a little long, but I love it.  If you click on the photo it will enlarge so you can see the details of the quilt, including the S.S. Crabby submarine in the lower right corner.

The pie was made last night, mostly by my husband.  It has a wonderful gluten free crust.  What a great day!

Radiance Star Quilt Completed

You may remember that I posted about this quilt on September 3 and 5.  It was finished in October, but I was unable to photograph it until this week.  I found the perfect barn, in Canyon County, to use as a back-drop (actually hold it up while I take the photo).

I have made another Radiance Star quilt, which is at my long-arm quilter's for quilting.  It will have the same swirling pattern on it as the one pictured here.  I took a photo of the quilt top while it hung on my design wall.  Radiance II is for my cousin, who likes jewel-tone fabrics.  I used a fat-quarter bundle and three pieces of yardage to make her quilt top, below:

Radiance I is completed and laying on my table, as I took a photo of Radiance II on my design wall.  It makes for a nice reflection.  Don't mind the crap stacked on the hat tree to the right.

Typically, I don't buy patterns to make quilts, and typically, I don't make two of the same.  The bonus of using this pattern is it has instructions on how to make four identical flying geese blocks without wasting any fabric.  It rather blew my mind, when I first did that process.  Now I have a new skill in my set.  The one on the wall does not have the outer border on it yet.  I added tulip corner treatments to it in the aqua color that is in the center star.  The background fabric has dragon flies on it.  I am excited that it will be completed pretty soon.

Quilting Retreat in Cascade

On October 27, A and I drove up to Cascade with our sewing machines, rotary cutters, and our projects.  We had not been to this location before.  It was at Trinity Pines camp.  They sure had plenty of room!  They had a lovely view and it was snowing when we arrived.  I got to sit next to A and across from a couple other quilters that I knew.  We met some folks we had sewed with last year, when the retreat was at the Ashley Inn.

This photo shows the view of the mountains out our window.  This huge room had windows on three sides!  I shot this over the top of my machine (which is not in the photo).  That is Shannan's embroidery machine in the photo.  I counted 14 embroidery machines at our retreat.  I prefer doing my own thing.

Speaking of "my own thing," above is the beginnings of my shark quilt.  I love those shark fabrics!

This is a view of the great outdoors, from the safety of the covered balcony that wraps around that huge room we were all sewing in.

This is the view from our cabin, as the sun came up on Thursday.  Our cabin has three bedrooms down-stairs and two up-stairs.  Each bedroom has it's own "on-suite."  On-suite means bathroom.  A and I shared a bedroom. 

This view is from up in the balcony, inside that huge room.  We had a gal giving chair massages up there.  She was very good.  Each of has had a six-foot table to spread out on.  My table is the one in the lower left with the empty blue and white swivel chair.  You can see A to my right, working away, and Shannan and Marie across from us. 

After I finished my shark quilt top, I started on my Halloween wall-hanging.  I did not get it finished before our fun time was over.

We drove back to our valley on Sunday, Oct 30.  I did finish my Halloween wall-hanging on November 2nd.  

Tada!  It is done in time for next year!

Idaho Quilt Done!

The Idaho quilt is finished!  304 blocks all sewed together.  The blocks are 5-inch square blocks.  The quilt is 72" across.  I sandwiched it using 505 spray basting and I stitched in-the-ditch on my home sewing machine.  Then I made the binding strips with one of the black fabrics.  

I machine bound it.  It makes it sturdier for one who wishes to use it well.  VO came and got it after I took this photo of it:

I am making a smaller version from some of the scraps.  It will be too big to be a doll quilt.  It will be a wall-hanging!

What is on the Design Wall in October?

At the end of September, we headed out for a week in Oregon.  When someone says a week in Oregon, it does not automatically mean the Oregon coast.  We had a marv time along the Columbia River.  I did not visit a single quilt shop, but I tried to find that huge fabric store that used to be in the Portland area.  I never discovered it, so perhaps COVID brought it to an untimely end.  I did, however, buy three quilt books at Powells in downtown Portland, and we had lunch at the Mad Greek Deli on Burnside. Yay and yum!  I have to mention we went on a wonderful and relaxing sternwheeler ride on the Columbia River.

Now, I have a quilt on the design wall that is all 5-inch square blocks, except for eight half-square triangles.  I am making it for a gal I met at the Western Idaho Fair.  For a simple design, it takes a bit of time to get the color scheme right; you know, planned randomness.  Then there are 304 squares to sew to each other.  

These blocks are not sewed to each other yet.  The blocks on the right are hanging off the edge of my design wall.  I had to resort to pinning them.  I am working on the heart piece, which takes up four blocks and will be located five rows up, on the Idaho, near where Treasure Valley would be located.  It's a big heart, so it covers several towns.  The day before we left for Oregon, my long-arm quilter called and had my Radiant Star quilt finished.  I picked it up, but I have not had time to trim it up and put the binding on.  I will do that after I finish this amazing Idaho quilt for VO.  Happy quilting!

Charity Quilts

 I did take time, over the summer, to make a couple quilts to donate.  One of the gals in my quilt group inspired us all to swap 5" X 5" squares of fabric and make quilts with the variety.  As it turned out, I had a couple of charm packs that my dear friend, Teresa, had given me.  I swapped some of those and used the rest in one of the two quilts I made with five-inch squares.  In August I went to my long-arm quilter's house.  She just happens to have an antique manure spreader in her rear driveway.  She helped me get it on there for a photo.  It turned out pretty good.  

This is the one with the "Woof Woof Meow" fabrics in it.  I know Teresa would be happy that I am donating what I made, with her fabric gift.

Driving back from farm country, I spotted this corrugated make-shift gate, next to a barn, that was next to the road.  I pulled over and pinned up my quilt and shot it, and I was away again in two shakes of a lamb's tail.  But then I decided I liked the one my husband took of it in my quilt room. This is the other donation quilt.  I put a bold floral on the right border, just because I like being wildly eclectic.  I think someone will love this quilt.  Both donation quilts are the same size.  You can click on the photo, and it will enlarge, so you can see the details better.

Finishing Up My Radiance Star Quilt Top

I modified the borders on this quilt, from the pattern.  I put corner tulips on the outer border to cause the eye to bounce back to the central pattern on the quilt top.  I cut some extra 6 inch square blocks and made them into 5.5 inch half-square triangles and some 5.5 inch square corner blocks.

Adding these corners to my border, reduced the number of 5.5 inch WOF border pieces by two.  That is hard to believe, so I believe the instructions had me cut at least one too many.  

This is my completed quilt top.  Now, I need to make the back, which can frequently be a point of procrastination for me.  I am determined to not hold up getting this one competed, so tomorrow I work on the backing.  

What's On The Design Wall in September?

My "Blues Medallion" quilt earned a first-place ribbon at the Western Idaho Fair.  I finished my scrappy log cabin quilt top, and I put it on top of my "to-be-finished" pile.  I plan on quilting it myself on my home machine.  Then I got out my pattern (yes, I actually bought a pattern), and read the instructions.  It is called Radiance, by Material Girl Quilts.  The cutting instructions are good, but you cannot just make four of the center bits and four of the outer bits, without thinking seriously about which directions to press the seams.  A note to that affect would greatly enhance the experience of the quilter.  This quilt does go together rapidly as long as you pay attention to how you press the seams, so they match-up with the center flying geese segments.

I think I can have it done by tomorrow night.  I am going to add border corner treatments to my quilt top.  The border is just plain white in the pattern.   So, go sew something and then share it with someone!

Blues Medallion Quilt and Update on The Fair

Last spring I had my blues and greens out and these bright blues caught my eye.  I decided to make some random liberated churn dash blocks.  I have had them up on my design wall for months.  Just after I returned from my cross-country travels, I relaxed in my quilt room and sewed all nine together, finally.  Then I reasoned, I should probably just keep going, get a quilt top done, and move on.  So, I did. 

I keep doing these improvisational quilts, and I do not get the quilts done that are on my "to-do-this-year" list.  

I did put it in the fair.  It is not that big, so I was hoping they would not hang it from the ceiling where it's beauty cannot be appreciated.  Yesterday, they hung it from the ceiling.  Oh well, nothing can be done about it.  For the first time ever, I am working at The Fair in the Home Arts Department.  The real benefit of working at The Fair, in the Home Arts Department, is:  I get to touch all the exhibits!!!  I got to touch the ones I handled at 'in-take".  I got to touch all the ones that needed relocating.  On judging day, I got to touch all the ones I placed for my judges.  My main judge pointed out some details on the embroidery that I never would have taken the time to notice.  She has opened my eyes.  Also, on judging day (Wednesday), I got to place ribbons on tons of knitting and crocheting, so I got to touch a whole bunch of those, and I am amazed at how wonderful the workwoman ship is on these projects/exhibits.  Yesterday, we placed all the exhibits on display.  It took us 9.5 hours.  Today The Fair opens.  I got to sleep in this morning, and I don't have to go in until 4:30.  Yeah!  The hard work is done.

She Loaned Me Her Rail Fence

Prior to my RV odyssey, I got this quilt back from my amazing long-arm quilter.  I made the binding, then I hit the road.  It was waiting when I returned in mid-June.  I had some company, so I did not hop right on getting the binding sewed on.  I got it completed in early July, but it took me some time to get it photographed.  I picked up another quilt from my amazing long-arm quilter, last week.  While there, I photographed a couple of quilts, but especially the beautiful one with the 'granny fabrics.'  She loaned me her rail fence.

I admit, I love making these scrappy type quilts.  It is a good way to use up some fabrics that you wish to get out of your quilt room, but just cannot part with them.  Meanwhile, months ago I showed the quilt top to my cousin, who just loved it.  She said some of the fabrics remind her of wallpaper in the houses of her childhood.  So, guess who is getting this one?!

Quilted Pillow Cover and Quilted Tote Bag

Before my trip, I got one quilt back from my long-arm quilter.  I have put the binding on it, but I have not taken a photo yet.  I also have made two donation quilts, since my return, but I need to take photos of those.  I made a cute throw pillow for my aunt, with an orphan block that she admired when she was here.

On July 16, my quilt group had a one-day quilting retreat near Kuna.  Each attendee brought a quart bag of scraps, which were placed in a pile and mixed up and handed back out.  We were each given a 15" square of interfacing.  We were to sew some of our scrap pieces on it to make a free form block.  Everyone did a nice job and they looked marvelous hanging up, side-by-side on the wall.  After lunch, we were given a pattern to make a tote bag using our block and more of our scraps and two yards of fabric that we could pick up from some laid out on a table there.  I did choose two fabrics that really went with my scrap combination.  I finished my tote bag today.  

My block is on the top row, second from the left.  I could not understand the instructions that they gave us, so I made my bag the same way I always do.  I wanted a bag big enough to hold a couple of quilts, for when I have some for show and tell, therefore, I made my bag bigger.

See inside?  My two donation quilts fit nicely in there, and there is room for more!   Love the pocket!  I made the button hole without a button holer on my machine.  I am so proud of me.

Then some guy came in my quilt room and tried to make off with my amazing new quilted bag, made purely from the scraps of others.

Back At Home, In Idaho

We arrived back in Idaho on June 15 around 6:30 PM.  It is good to be home.  We did visit quilt shops, while traveling across the country; six quilt shops to be exact.  I was very careful to not run amok at quilt shops.  I think our favorite none-quilting shop was Valley Pecans, on Highway 287, at Chillicothe, Texas.  There is a lot more in this unassuming building than pecans.  They have local and not local kitchenware, pottery, candy, wind chimes, chairs, lamps, confections made from pecans, and a sandwich and pie shop in the back corner.  They had gluten-free bread, so I was able to get an amazing sandwich wrapped to go, for lunch a little later on down the road.  

The quilt shops we visited where the Calico Cow, in Roswell, NM; Homemade Quilts N More, in Grand Cane, LA; Around the Block Quilting and Stitcher's Quest, both in Ft. Walton Beach, FL; Peace By Piece Quilt Shop, in Biloxi, MS; and finally, Curtains, Quilts, & Cabins, in Colby, KS.  I got amazing fabrics at each, and they each had a fabulous selection of fabrics, so it was easy to get overwhelmed.  The amazing thing about the Biloxi quilt shop, Peace By Piece, was that they had so many actual quilts for sale, as well as fabrics, notions, and long-arm quilting services. I took photos of Marsha at each quilt shop.  Please have a look on her Gluten Free Doll Quilts blog. 

So, what is on the design wall in June?  I am sure you are wanting to know.  I made these nine churn-dash blocks a couple months ago, and finally started to make a medallion quilt with them as the center.

I used blue and green stripped fabric to make half-square triangle blocks for the corner stones in the first and third borders. The broken dishes blocks, in the fifth border, I used the same colors that are in the original center nine blocks.  Well, the weather here is certainly divine, compared to the hot we experienced on most of our trip, so I am spending a little more time outside at present.  I will update you in July, because I have been busy quilting before and since my trip.  I have some bindings to put on, then some quilts to show off.

Traveling with Aunt K and Marsha

I have been out-of-state since May 13.  My husband and I drove our RV down to Phoenix.  He caught a plane back to Idaho, and my aunt and Marsha have been accompanying me on a road trip to visit my daughter and my other aunt.  They both reside in Florida; one in Ft Walton Beach, and the other in Gainesville.  For all the info, please visit "The Girls'" blog, which Marsha is keeping up as best she can during the trip.  Use the link, in the left margin:  Gluten Free Doll Quilts.

Tonight, we are staying over in Wichita Falls, Texas.  I will update my blog when I return to Idaho in about a week.

Here we are in Grand Cane, LA, a most impressive and friendly quilt shop.

Similar to Amelia Bennett's Gees Bend Quilt

Now that I have finished this quilt, it has occurred to me that I have been piecing scrappy pillow tops since I was 14, back in the 70's.  If I had made my pillow tops bigger, they would have been quilt tops.  I have made some scrappy flannel quilts, with just fabrics I had on hand, before I ever heard of Gees Bend.  But I love this quilt I made based on Amelia Bennett's quilt.  You can learn more about her in the 2002 book The Quilts of Gees Bend, by John Beardsley, William Arnet, et. al. I found it on Amazon books, and you could actually view the book, on-line.  Since I did not want to infringe on copyright, I did not copy the page with the photo of the quilt.  I made a sketch for me to follow in my quilt making endeavor. 

I had no intention of making a replica, just something similar, so I used only fabrics I had on hand. I am no hand quilter, believe you me, so I quilted it on my home sewing machine.

I used just one print, as she did, and the rest are solids.  I ran out of the dark blue, so I did not make the bottom and right-side edges (borders) as wide as hers.  I had no green, so I used the sandy color from the top left corner, down where the green section on hers would be.  Mine has more gradual curves, and is pretty straight, not wavy.  I was not sure how the pale binding would look, but now that it is done, I love it.  I used my grandmother's taylor's chalk to mark the lines for my quilting, so I washed the quilt right after I completed it, to get the remaining chalk off.  It turned out so soft and inviting.  Here is my creation:

I was working on it at a quilting retreat last fall, and a couple of the quilters said Gees Bend quilts are just utilitarian and why would anyone want to make one like them?  I thought them a little close-minded.  Now I have shared my quilt with a few people, here in my neck of the woods, and have received some compliments from them.  One of my friends, told me she really liked it, as she likes to make quilts with row quilting on them, with her home machine.  I like how it looks and how it feels.  I am a contented quilter.

Glamping Quilt

A and I both got our bindings on our glamping quilts.  They both look adorbs!  Both quilts have glamping fabrics from Riley Blake Designs, from about four years ago and from 2021.  The 2021 fabrics are called Joy in the Journey.  They all go so well together, and we are both pleased with how they came out. 

This is my "Glamping Quilt".  It has cute little mid-century travel trailers on it, with bicycles, tents, and cats and dogs wearing their best glamping sweaters.  So much fun!  The pattern we used for this quilt is one we adapted from a doll quilt pattern in a book, my quilting niece sent me for Christmas; Civil War Legacies III, by Carol Hopkins, Ellie's Tea Garden, pgs 27-29. 

This is the doll quilt in Carol Hopkins' book.  We love how the design translated into a big people quilt.

My Spiral Art Quilt

My friend, D, gave me an art quilt class from Susan Carlson.  I finished it yesterday!  I was not sure, at first, if I wanted to make a quilt that used glue to attach the fabric pieces, but I decided to just go with the flow.  I am so glad I did!  It was so much fun, even though I had some gluey fingers to take care of now and then.  I really enjoyed the process and the outcome.  I think I may do another one.  Please view the slide show, just below.  Give it a few seconds to start and click on the icon on the lower right to make it full screen:

It was an on-line course, that I could access as often as I wished, so I could run wild, then decide to see what was next or go back and see if I missed something.  It is actually a quilt.  It has the top, batting in the middle, and a back.  I stippled it myself and added a traditional binding.  

This is a close-up, so you can see my stitching and how the colors blend together.

Besides needing something to glue your fabric scraps to (I used an old piece of sheet because I did not have any muslin on hand), batting, and a backing fabric, it requires only a few other supplies.

I used a 2' X 2' piece of foam insulation board that you can obtain at Home Depot.  It is nice to keep your project flat and easy to stick straight pins in.  You need a basket of light and dark scrap pieces of fabric that are whatever colors/tones you wish to work in. I used tweezers to move my small pieces and hold the edges up, of the bits I already glued down.  Yes, they are unicorn tweezers, and they are the best.  I used a Frixion pen to trace the edge of the curved area onto my other pieces; easier than guessing what the curve is. I used varigated polyester thread to do the quilting, as it works better in my machine for stippling than cotton thread does.  I used my sharp Singer scissors, as I do not have a pair of duck bill scissors.  I think Susan Carlson's classes are very popular, so the duck bill scissors are available locally.  My scissors worked fine, but it may have taken me more time to make my small intricate cuts.  I recommend her Spiral art quilt course, as it is worth being able to see her process and learn from her and go back and revisit all the info she has packed into the course.  I admit, I was not keen about using tule over my quilt top, but it saved me from a ton of gluing little edges down and it makes my quilt look amazing.  I used the pale blue shiny tule.  I also bought a yard of the pale pink matte finish tule, which I decided against.  I like the shiny! 

It is 24" X 24" and is hanging on the wall in my quilt room.   Thank you, Daria, for the wonderful gift.

Joy In The Journey

My dear friend, A, and I have been working on our "Glamping" quilts.  She purchased the fabrics about two years ago and we are finally getting them done.  We did our entire quilt tops in January, then of course, came the part of making the backings.  Procrastination.  They are both, currently, at the long-arm quilter's place for amazing quilting.  

I had purchased a couple fabrics at the local quilt shop to go with what A had provided, which included a contrasting fabric from Riley Blake's 'Joy in the Journey' fabric line.  

It is charcoal with flowers, and I had saved enough for both of our bindings.  Meanwhile, Marsha whipped up a nine-patch quilt and needed an outer border, and the charcoal with flowers fabric was perfect.  I did not want to short-change A and I of our binding material, so I went to the quilt shop and naturally they were out.  Luckily, I was able to order more from Fabric.com, so Marsha was able to finish her quilt.  [Click on "nine-patch", above, to view Marsha's Nine-Patch Madness quilt.]

Let's discuss looking for fabric at Fabric.com.  All our glamping fabrics are from Riley Blake, so while searching for the charcoal with flowers fabric, I stumbled onto some amazing got-to-have-it Kewpie fabric (from Riley Blake).  Three Kewpie fabrics to be exact, so my additional three fabrics arrived with the Joy in the Journey charcoal with flowers fabric.  I needed to make something with the Kewpie fabric right away.  I made a wall-hanging for my dear friend, A.  I used some of the charcoal with flowers on the inner border of the wall-hanging.  That stuff is amazing!  It just goes with everything!  Yes, I still have enough for our bindings.  Really, I do.

click on the photo to see the details and Kewpie Dolls closer up

New Beginnings

I retired from work earlier this week.  My first day of retirement was March 1.  I have a lot to look forward to.  I have time to visit with folks I don't usually see very often.  I will be getting more exercise.  I may get some things cleaned out and tidied up around the house.  I am going to meet regularly with my cousin and see if we can make some joyful noise with our stringed instruments.  I can state, as a fact, that I have played Mozart and Bach, however, I am extremely rusty.  I am hoping to improve.  My husband and I, and possibly two cats, will be doing some traveling around the nation in our RV.  Yes, I am going to be quilting and keeping up blogs.  My dear friend, Daria, gave me a retirement gift of an art quilting course, that I am very excited about.  I have one quilt project to complete prior to me allowing myself to start the course.  I know I will be very absorbed in the art quilting, so I want to get the backing made and the quilt quilted and bound before I start on this amazing odyssey. 

March 1 was a gray cloudy day, but there was a pinch of sunshine to the southeast. My day.

My Glamping Quilt is at the quilters, as I type. My 'Similar to Gees Bend' quilt is the one needing a backing, quilted, and bound.  Then art quilt time!  Then make a duffle type tool bag, Star quilt, Unikitty quilt, plaid quilt, military quilt for Education, kitchen sink quilt, red and green quilt, Elvis quilt, shark quilt, an artsy quilt with blue churn dashes, and making a coat from a quilt (VFW).  Plus, I have a quilt top, I made in 2020, out of old lady fabrics, and it needs a backing and quilted.  Okay, that is a quick summary!

My next post is already determined. It is about one of the fabrics in our glamping quilts. It's amazing!!

Six Baskets and a Bird

I got my vertical row quilt completed in time for the drawing at our quilt group.  After that I put it away until today.  Unfolding it and seeing it again was a good experience.  I had been looking at it for about three months and needed a break from it's brilliance.  My husband calls it "Eye Sore." It is definitely fun!

The baskets in the four corners I did about four years ago, and I did a tutorial at one of our quilt meetings on how to make them.  The pink triangle basket, at the top, I made last year as part of quilt challenge, where I ended up redoing the block smaller, so this larger one ended up in here with several other orphan blocks.  The basket (at the top) with the blue handle, I made on purpose to fill that spot up on top of the row of eight-point stars.  I like the real mish-mash going on here, now that I have had a break from it.