Designing Monday

My only sewing this week has been cutting blue squares to start a new project.  I have piles of blue fabric all over.  That's my SOP.  It kind of drives my husband crazy as he is very organized for the most part and I am only somewhat.  I have come to realize that this is my system and that's what works.  I found a pattern from the new Quilt Sampler that has blue and cheddar.  Always a great combo.  Hopefully I can get some traction this week and start sewing.

We have been doing lots of digging and planting this week.  We decided it was time to empty and move the compost bin so we can get all the good stuff from the bottom.  Down at the bottom I found these 3 lovelies.

Can you see the big, bold print?

These have been in my composter for at least 3-4 years.  What's funny is the slogan on the back.  It says "Louder because it's compostable."  I can remember being in the store and the clerk just cringing because the bags were so noisy.  You could hear the person stocking the shelves in the back of the store all the way up front.  Obviously they did not live up to their ads because these are nearly like new except for the dirt.  So into the trash they go.

Hop on over to Judy's blog  to see some beautiful quilt designs.

Designing Monday

I love how these blocks turned out.  I remade the template for the white background in order to get the required 10" finished block size that the pattern states.  I discovered once I started putting the blocks together that the star points would not meet.  I can only guess that all the pattern pieces were  too small.  I downloaded the templates from a free pattern provided by All People Quilt.  There was no gauge on the pattern, so I couldn't tell until it was too late that they are the wrong size.

I guess it doesn't really matter.  I think the blocks look great and the fabrics were fun to choose.  I like that there is so much white space available to quilt in.

Next comes the borders, so that means this top will make at least one more appearance on the blog.

I also took some photos this morning of our church sanctuary.  I am on the decorating committee.  We decorated for Advent a week ago and I forgot to bring my camera.  We like to keep a photo book of or work so we can make remember what we have done from year to year.  Thought you might like to see what we have done.  It is always fun to share ideas.  The star banners on the far right and left are ones I made last year for Advent.  I am glad the committee decided to use them again.

Hop on over to Judy's blog  to see more great designs.

Nine Patch Oldie

This is a nine patch quilt made by either my grandmother or her sister. The nine patch blocks alternate with solid white squares.

I love some of the fun little fabrics in it, like the horses pulling the little carts.

And this one with dancers.

I remember having a doll dress made of this green check with gold squares.

There are 3 squares along one edge that are actually 16 patch blocks. They look like a square made of light purple print, but are actually 2 different purple prints cut into 16 little squares.

The borders are blue and yellow at the top and bottom of the quilt and light pink and purple on the sides. I love how she used a dark pink in the corner when she ran out of the light pink.

When I unfolded it, I could see that some of the black dye was starting to bleed onto the white squares. This makes me sad as the quilt is in really good condition otherwise.

Make Way for Thomas

Here is the quilt I made for one of my niece's twins as a Christmas gift. I tried to find a Tinkerbell panel for her daughter, but could only find a fleece one that I liked and it was the wrong colors and I don't really love working with fleece. So I will have to work hard this year finding a Tinkerbell or other suitable panel for a little girl.

I found this panel while we were visiting our son at college. When I parked at his fraternity house, he was gabbing with some of the guys in the parking lot. I couldn't wait to show him the panel of Thomas the Tank Engine. I was afraid the guys might razz him, thinking I had bought it for him. When I unfolded it, they were all ga-ga and wanted one to hang in their rooms at the fraternity house. They loved Thomas! I guess they are just big kids at heart.

Finished Product

I used to work in a manufacturing plant. Our goal everyday was the amount of Finished Product out the door. That term Finished Product will forever be glued in my brain as a measure of success. So I am happy to announce that I have Finished Product to show today. This table runner I started last week is now complete. I used English paper piecing to make the flower shapes - a technique I have been wanting to try for awhile. I found some patriotic Civil War fabric on a half price sale at Hancock's and pulled the rest from stash. The backing is a print of Confederate money. My favorite piece of fabric has pictures of Abraham Lincoln all over and I never got it into the quilt.

What I'm Working on Today

Here is my latest project on the design sofa. No, I don't have a design wall. So I use my design sofa or my design floor or my design table which doubles as our kitchen table, so I have to keep things moving when I use the table.

I'm trying to get this ready for the July 4th holidays. I need a new table runner as I still have my Christmas table runner on the kitchen queen. Time for a change!!

I found a slug on one of the new grapevines. Yuck. I am now on a heightened state of alert. Probably yellow, but I'm not too up on the whole Homeland Security thing. Except I may need to call in the troops if slugs are on the move.