YEAH!!!!

The first of 3 “Ivan’s Diamonds” is finished! I finished this at the retreat.  It took a day and a half to quilt.  Once I have things organized, I’ll give you a taste of the retreat.  If you want a bit of the backstory of this quilt go HERE.

It is quilted with a blue thread, with a combination of flowers, swirls, tear-drops, wiggly thingies and whatever fit in.

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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Linking to:

• WIPs on Wednesday @  Esther Quilt Blog 
• Midweek Makers @  QuiltFabrication
• Wednesday Wait Loss @  Inquiring Quilter 
• Happy Needle  and Thread @  My Quilt Infatuation
• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @  Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Finished or Not Friday  @  Busy Hands Quilts
• Sherry @  Powered by Quilting

I did a trunk show around the middle of the month … When the trunk show is over and everyone has looked at the quilts, they all get put into the bags I brought them in.  It would take too long to do it in an orderly fashion, so they just get folded and put into bags.

The next day, I take them out of the bags and begin the process of sorting through them.  There are quilts that go back onto the beds, there are Christmas quilts, there are quilts for when we have extra people, there are quilts that I use for teaching and there are quilts that might be gifted in the near future. This is what it looks like when I empty the bags and before I start to sort:

After about 2 hours, the quilts (not including the ones that were put on the beds look like this:

The quilts on top of the red bags have specific destinations in the house.

Other than the quilt my grandmother made for my parents wedding, I usually don’t show any quilts made by others.  This time I showed one that was half made by my grandmother and finished by me years ago.  You can read the story HERE.  And you can see all the quilts that I made using Grandma’s fabrics HERE.  I also showed “Thank you Notes” made by my cousin, Terry.  This was given to me with blocks signed by cousins and aunts and uncles that have received quilts.  When I received “Thank you Notes” I was overwhelmed and there were quite a few tears of astonishment! You can read that story HERE.

At the trunk show, several people asked me about “Thank-you Notes” … they thought it was a great idea.  It is a Missouri Star pattern called “You’ve got Mail.”

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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Linking to:

• Wednesday Wait Loss @ Inquiring Quilter 
• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Finished or Not Friday  @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Sherry @ Powered by Quilting
• TGIFF @ Celtic Thistle
• Caroline @ SewCanShe
• Tish @ Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland
• So Scrappy Saturdays @ So Scrappy

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So, this quilt has been gifted … and I got a picture back with my newest great-nephew, Gage, and the quilt.  He was born in late August.  From his pictures, he’s a real cutie!

I used a Dr. Seuss layer cake along with “Slate Grey” solid from Free Spirit.  It was a fun quilt to make.  Probably because I LOVE Dr. Seuss!

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After writing my list of the 9 projects I have on the go, (click HERE), it has helped me to become focused.

The 2 sections of squares became the little zipper pouch.  DONE!   And, I think it’s super cute!  (Thank you Cathy for the package of squares!)

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Yup, another marathon.  This time it’s a lot of small ones and I was able to do them myself without help.  I do have one more that is waiting for assistance.  SEW – that will mean that I will have 6 quilts to quilt.  Only one of them (Square Dance: centre-top row) was started this year, the rest are UFOs.  This will help toward my PHD in 2018.  I’m not going to do the math because I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch!

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The flimsy from the Square Dance Mystery is done.  It’s 24″ square.  I’m debating whether or not to put a border on it.  The directions for assembling this quilt are well written.  And see that centre star?  She has a unique technique for making those long half triangle squares.  It was easy! No messing with weird shapes.  If you want to make this little topper or a bigger quilt, the steps are still available at “From My Carolina Home.”

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Yes, the quilt I’ve been quilting on for ages and ages is now completely quilted.  Just the binding to go and I’ve started putting the binding.  I was hoping that it would be finished before this post went live, but alas, it’s not.  Maybe today, I might just “get ‘er done!”  Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a picture of the whole quilt by Sunday.  The forecast is for rain, rain, rain … so if there is a break, I’ll get a picture.

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Thank you!

to all of you who posted comments about my gifted “Thank you Notes” quilt!  I was already overwhelmed with the love that the quilt represented!  And then the many  comments from my blog readers … wow!!!  You can read about it HERE.

I had written to another cousin (asking her to show her mom the pictures when she visited next) and told her  that I was overwhelmed. Here’s what she wrote back:

Now about feeling overwhelmed……maybe now you know how we all felt when we received the precious quilts that you made for all of us!  So special……not only for all the work you did…..but also that they were made with love….and with Grandma’s material .  Thanks again for such a beautiful gift

Orca Bay #2 Progress

Two posts from February 2017 show the progress I had made on Orca Bay at the time.  You can check them out HERE and HERE. The first picture is of the blue string blocks. The middle and right picture are the red string triangles that I cut from my red string fabric.  I made the red string fabric from strips of my red fabric.

Today, I have all of the hourglass blocks made, although I still have to trim a few.  But – that monotonous task is done!!!!  And, some of the white Ohio stars are in progress.

For some reason, when I was figuring out how many red triangles I needed, I was way short.  There’s a huge difference when you need to make 1/3 as many more.

SEW … I still have a zillion pieces to go … but seeing those partial Ohio stars helps me think that this may get done!

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  
• Finished or Not Friday  @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Sherry @ Powered by Quilting
• UFO Challenge @ Jo’s Country Junction

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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It’s cold for here …  and this picture is exactly what I want to do!!!

Yesterday, I puttered around, ironing pieces of fabric … pressing a zillion blocks …

I decided to take a break from quilting and binding and started working on the one project I started this year that I have to finish … a retreat bag – similar to one I made for my sister.

Then I realized that I cut 4″ corners, not 3″ corners … I did check the pattern and I know I saw 4″ … but that was for the distance up from the bottom for pocket placement.  Grrrr ….  Then, I came to terms with the fact that it will be a boxier bag … Then, I couldn’t find the zipper … I added the pockets to the lining … and decided that I should work on binding my “Summer Envy.”  But, I didn’t want to.

SEW … I found the zipper (it had fallen on the floor under my cutting table) … and I finished the retreat bag. The one on the left is the one with 4″ corners, the one on the right has the 3″ corners (which is how it’s suppose to be).

This bag was not a UFO – so I can’t count it as one … but I can include the fabric on my tally: 1 ¼ yards!

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  
• Finished or Not Friday  @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Sherry @ Powered by Quilting
• Caroline @ SewCanShe

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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