Live Laugh Love

I finished the Scrapbasket Sampler from the Quilts by Cheri Facebook page:

Front  26" x 46"

Back

Cheri's pattern had a primitive design of flowers, leaves and vines at the top--I substituted one of my favorite sayings.  At the bottom I added my initials and the year--I love seeing those things on other people's quilts so was happy to add them to my own.  The back is made of all the 4.5" squares I auditioned for the front--I only had to cut 4 more to have enough for the back.  See my earlier post about the decision-making process here.  It shows some of my ideas about choosing those squares.

I had to force myself to make this quilt this size--I still don't know where I'll hang it but it's done, it was fun, and I'm ready to move on to the next thing on my list--making a few more dresses for Stella--she will be ONE June 2 and we'll be there to see her.  Here she is just the other day:

There is something so delicious about baby toes!!

My husband has been working very hard in our flower beds and his work is really paying off.  We were sad to learn one of our Knock-Out roses has the virus Rose Rosette caused by a tiny mite in the roots.  There is no cure, it is 100% fatal and will almost certainly spread to the other five roses right near by.  So sad--they are as beautiful this year as they have ever been :

Approaching the pond--there are 3 large Knock-Out Roses on both sides

The fish are happy:

And a few more quilty-things underway:

Westering Women block #4

Stella's Splendid Sampler block #22

My Tumbler quilt as it grows--a great Leader/Ender project, only 13 more rows to go

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

The Latest Progress

While my husband is working hard on the garden beds, I've got other kind of beds to work on.

I finished The Scrapbasket Sampler, by Cheri Payne, provided on her Quilts by Cheri Friendship group on Facebook. These are 4" blocks:

26" x 46" 

As usual, I made some changes.  Her applique' on the top border was very primitive and some people did it in wool, it was perfect for that.  I used one of my favorite sayings and did a machine buttonhole stitch with thick black thread.  It was pretty fast as I used Steam-a-Seam 2 so I could draw the letters correctly and then reverse then when putting the fusible of the back side of the fabric.  On the bottom border I kept the basis design put thought to add my initials and the year on the bottom sides.  I love seeing words and dates on quilts so this was fun to do.  Some people used different fabrics for the four borders but after I agonized so in selecting the setting squares, I kept the borders all the same, a lovely mocha brown I bought in Chicago.

Today we got the 20th block from The Splendid Sampler.  Here are the first two rows assembled:

So far I have changed or eliminated three of the blocks--my goal is to get this done fairly quickly each day--new blocks are provided each Thursday and Sunday--at the end of 50 weeks we'll have 100 six-inch blocks.  There are over 80 designers so some of the blocks feature embroidery or other hand-stitching I don't want to do on this quilt.

I'm also keeping up with Circa 2016 from Temecula Quilt Co.  Each Friday there is a new bit of  instruction.  See my center here.  Fortunately, there are only small blocks to do right now, two a week.  But as we will need 120 half square triangles that finish to 1.5" at the end, I'm working on those now--they make the perfect leader/ender project:

Now it's time to get Rajah Revisited caught up before the May instructions appear.

And I'll end by sharing the doll quilt I received this week from the swap hosted by Lori at Humble Quilts. It came to me from Kim A. in Kansas City, MO:

20.5" x 24"

This is a great collection of reproduction fabrics--I found it amazing that Kim only used one fabric I have in my stash, a purple print--odd, since I have a substantial stash of these kinds of prints.  Thanks, Kim and Lori!  Here is the one I sent to Roni H. in Tarpon Springs, FL:

20" square, I think

It's fun to share this little quilts with others in different parts of the country and world!

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Voting Is Now Open

I've been working on these sweet little 4" blocks from Cheri Payne--it's her Scrapbasket Sampler she posted on her Facebook group, Quilts by Cheri--Friendship Group.  It's a closed group you have to ask to be added to--they watch carefully to keep the non-quilters out.

There are two more blocks to be released soon but I've gotten caught up on the 23 available.  I found out about it last week and have been working on these babies like crazy.

Now I want to decided on the background and this is where YOU come in:  you get to voice your opinion on which you prefer.   Please put your vote in the comments below so I can keep them all together.

Option 1:  A variety of tan prints ( I stopped cutting when I only had 15 blocks done--there would be 7 more blocks to add)

Option 2: One dark gray small print:

Option 3: A variety of light shirtings, this only shows two, I would use 4-5 in similar value to these:

Option 4:  One medium gray small print:

There is always Option 5:  None of the above because you have a better idea--bring it on!  I have a preference among these 4 but am still open to suggestions.  It's not like I don't have any more fabric to choose from...

I hope you will play along and let me know what you think--Let's Quilt!

Barbara