What's On Your Bed?

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com has a Linky this week asking "What's on Your Bed?"  So I thought I'd play:

This is a queen-size that I made extra long because I was making a very strong design by the way I turned the blocks--which I received in a group swap.  It is really long on a queen size bed but when we moved up to this king size it fit perfectly, if I turned it sideways.  And see the folded one at the foot of the bed:

This is the Texas braid quilt I started in Bonnie's workshop May 2011.  It's called "Stash Circa 2000"--100 years from now it will be a great collection of late 20th, early 21st fabrics.

Five days of tax season left for me then I can quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday April 9, 2012

Sunday, my day off,  I spent a good bit of time figuring out what classes I want to teach this summer at Patches & Stitches, my local quilt shop.  This showed me how far behind I am with the quilting things I thought I would get done.  Like this Hexagon very small quilt: 

It is still a work in progress but I hope this photo will show the idea to potential students. 

And there's this Big Stitch Utility quilting sample:

It's from the great book, Utility Quilting by Carolyn Forster, published by Landauer Press.  The whole quilt is one big courthouse step block:

Samples that are done make the best class advertising but it's tax season and I'm running as fast as I can.  I did select this one for a class since it IS done:

The last time I taught this, from the book Colorsplash by Piecemakers, several people wanted kits so theirs could look as much like this as possible.  As this is now about 5 years old, we'll need to pick different fabrics.  Remember to buy what you love when you see it, because when it's gone, it's gone...

There are 9 days left until the end of tax season and then I'm free--to catch up on all these projects, get up-to-date on the Just Takes 2 red/white blocks, make my Challenge entry for Judy Murrah's Challenge , due May 1, get the back made for the Wedding Peacock quilt so I can get it to my quilter, and probably a bunch of other things too.

Be sure to check out Judy's Patchwork Times to see what others have been doing.
Let's quilt!

Barbara

The Wedding

Our youngest son was married yesterday to the love of his life.  Everything went perfectly, even the things that didn't, and a great time was had by all.  Here is the happy couple:

Lauren Santoro and Andrew Black Wilkins

The reception was held at the Davidson Center, at the US Space and Rocket Center, in Huntsville, AL--a great venue for such an event.  The Saturn 5 rocket hangs horizontally overhead and stretches the length of the massive room.   There are many display cases for browsing, a great way for the guests to be occupied while awaiting the arrival of the bridal party and the start of dinner.  It was a wonderful day/night for everyone.   A new family is created.

Now it's back to real life for me as I go into two 65-hour weeks as we wrap up another tax season.  Sure wish I was going on a honeymoon instead!  

After April 17  I can catch up on all the quilting I want to get done.  Right now, time for a nap. 

Let's quilt!

Barbara









Design Wall Monday March 26, 2012

It's Wedding Week and life is hectic!  We worked in the yard most of Sunday and things are looking good there.   Spring has sprung early this year, as it has for most of you, so the place should look nice later this week as a few friends come to visit.  Here is the pond:

Yesterday I saw the first water lily bud so hopefully, there will be a bloom in a few days.

I've signed up for a doll quilt monthly swap, starting in April, and here is what I think I'll do for the first one:

I have a large bag full of these 2" finished size half-square triangles so this is a fun way to use them. 

And I'm almost done all the Just Takes 2 red/white blocks for the first quarter.  The last block is supposed to be hand-pieced but I'm doing it by the hybrid method:  machine piece the straight lines, hand piece the curves.  I'm eager to sew this first quadrant together--we should get that info soon.
My friend, Judy Murrah, has a great challenge for those who love vintage lace.  Check out her blog: Judy Murrah   She provides creative ideas for embellishing and making memory gifts.  I couldn't resist this one--making a wedding memory is my next plan--after tax season!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week--can you believe it's the end of March already!  Check out Patchwork Times to see what others have been doing.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday March 19, 2012

It's crazy time for those of us who work "tax season".  Add a wedding to that, and a 5000 gallon backyard pond that is coming to life, and I am BUSY! 

Here are my Just Takes 2 blocks--and I'm only 5 blocks behind.  Hopefully, tomorrow, my last day off for a while, I'll get several of those, foundation paper pieced, blocks done.

The other big news I received this week was from Pam Dransfeldt, of Califormia. She is the Joyful Quilter, an awesome longarmer I met on Facebook.  A few years ago she quilted my quilt, Joyful Journey, (the purple one center on the top row of my banner) and I pieced a second one of those for her.  Hers is called Joyful Journey Too and she was pleased to get a call from the Glendale, CA quilt show last week that our quilt won First Place in Two-Person quilts:

The blue ribbon matches so well!  Maybe now I can get her to enter Paducah--mine was accepted there in 2010.  It would be great if the twins both got to hang there.

And just one shot from the yard--our cherry tree looked so pretty last week:

Be sure to see what's happening at www.patchworktimes.com

Off to work--wish I could quilt!

Barbara





Design Wall Monday March 12, 2012

Relief!  Peacock Love is done! 

The border print adds a great touch.  I added 2" black solid strips to both sides of the border print before attaching it to the quilt.  I had hoped to do perfect miters but the border print is not symmetrical so each corner is different.  The lines all match as close to perfectly as I could get them so the flowers not being perfect seem less noticeable:

If you are working with symmetrical border prints, like Jinny Beyer designs, you will find tremendous help at her website: jinnybeyer.com  Her tips and lessons are great:  Tips and Lessons. 

Now I can get back to those red and white blocks from JustTakes2.  The 15" feathered star is next, then a couple simple paper-pieced flying geese strips.  Hope to get these done before March 15, when the next unit comes up.  Then we'll get instructions for joining all these blocks into the first quarter of the quilt. 

I've been very busy at work and to complicate matters, I was rear-ended on our main highway 2 weeks ago so this week my car goes into the shop for repair.  The other guy's insurance will pay for the rental car and all repair costs but it's just the time to do all this that is annoying.  Fortunately, I was completely stopped and had left lots of room with the car in front of me so it was only one wreck, not two.  He was very apologetic and claimed full responsibility.  I was stopped, he was looking in his rear-view mirror and just plowed into me.  No one was hurt but I was shaken up for a few minutes, until we could get our cars out of the main traffic lanes.  A police officer was on the scene for another issue, so that helped.  Be careful, people, watch out for each other.  None of us has time for a car wreck, so slow down!

My beloved husband took the netting off our large pond yesterday and now the goldfish are coming to life and ready for food again.  There's some leaf debris I need to get out and the water needs treatment but the wedding is less than 3 weeks away, it's the height of tax season for me, and I really just want to sew!  With guests coming for the wedding I must work on the pond some but not today.  Maybe tomorrow...

Check out what people with more time than me are up to at Patchwork Times

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday March 5, 2012

Teaser!  All 30 blocks are done and only the  last row has to be joined to the rest.  I ran out of steam.  So here is a shot of the border fabric:

It will be a great outer border.  Hopefully,  Tuesday, my only day off this week, I'll be able to complete this last step. 

Be sure to check out Patchwork Times with Judy L to see what others have done.  Probably a lot more than I got done. 

Let's Quilt!

Barbara