This and That

My how time flies. It sure has been awhile since I've been here. Oh well, I'm definitely not be the best blogger in the world.....if only I could figure out how to get all those posts I've created in my mind to magically appear here.

Anyway, I've been busy....some of this and some of that. Everybody seems to be having babies lately. I've been busy with baby quilts and have even forgotten to take pics of some of them - acck.

Here are a couple quilts for Project Linus. The small one has since been quilted and the 4 patches will be quilted after I complete the current baby quilt.

Would you believe all the 4-patches were leftovers from a quilt-along I did a few years ago? I was rummaging through boxes and ran across them. Pulled the green from stash and by the time the weekend was done so was the quilt top. 

This next top was completed last year, shortly after taking Julie Herman's class at Block Party in Portland. This is Northern Lights. The top has been waiting to be quilted. I looked at it one Monday and realized it would be the perfect 80th birthday gift for a special friend. (Her birthday was that Saturday.) I completed the quilting and got it in the mail on Friday and it arrived on Monday.....Not bad for a last minute idea. 

Finally, yesterday's finish. Way back in 2009 I won some leftover 6" apple core pieces from Terry Atkinson . I created a plastic template from the pieces and started sewing. Those convex and concave curves of the apple core pieces were quite a challenge. So much so that I actually tried piecing some by hand to see if it was any easier. It was, but was also much slower. Needless to say, I plugged along over the years. Back in March of this year I ran across that box that held all the bits and pieces and realized I was just a few short rows of having a completed quilt top. A little bit of work and the top was completed. The quilting was completed this weekend and the bias binding was made and applied on Saturday. All the wonderful curves that caused me such grief sewing them together made the hand stitching of the binding an absolute breeze. The binding just seemed to want to roll over into place all by itself. After a mere 24 hours the binding was completed and the quilt was washed, dried and placed on the bed. A true record for me. Binding a quilt, especially a queen sized one like this usually takes me a week or more. 

And now, I will bid you all a good day and happy sewing as I head upstairs to sew those last few rows together on the current baby quilt in progress. 

Why I quilt

A very special quilt for a very special lady -- We love you BEV!

Productive Weekend

For the last month or so I've been working on a project that has been rather challenging for me.

It's been challenging because I've been using a bunch of orphan blocks, leftovers and lots of pictures to make a quilt for a special friend. I've borrowed a phrase from Finn that seems to fit this quilt "Everything But the Kitchen Sink". Here it is before the borders.

My freestyle letters didn't come out as nicely this time as they did the first time around. However, the first time around, I had set them with black and decided that the black background was just too much. So, I redid them with the blue background. I'm not as happy with them.

The Bearded One surprised me and made the suggestion of the split border with the light and dark blue. He also rejected the only blues I had in my stash that there was enough of. Oh darn, I had to go to the LQS. I really have to try to get a better picture of this. I got pictures from several of Bev's friends and tried to incorporate all of them. We call Bev the matriarch of our WetWesties camping group. It is a privilege to be able to boast an "I know Bev" bumper sticker on your Westfalia.

Considering the mish-mash of leftovers that I started with, I really didn't think this was all going to come together but yet, somehow, it did. I'm happier with the way this turned out than I thought I would be.

After just two years, my little patch of columbine has spread considerably. This year I've also added some new, red ones but I've put them up in the garden on the left, just below the shed. I love the patch of forget-me-nots in the background. They're spreading like crazy and I just can't bring myself to pull them, even when they're in a place I don't want them to be. I only wish the Magic Garden Elves would come visit and get rid of all the weeds!

And, in case you haven't figured out by now, I like to take weird pictures of a certain spotted one. How's this one KD?