Obligations Fulfilled... Finally!

I finished up the last 2 sewing commitments I had for 2008... YEAH! The first were some blocks I was sending to a friend. They look easy, but they were a booger to make! I think those flying geese had it in for me! LOL! They turned out nice in the end. Here is one of the 8 I made ...

Oh yes, this is the Indian Star pattern found at www.quilterscache.com

The other commitment I had was to make a tote for a friend to give her dd for Christmas. I LOVE making things to give to other folks, but I find that I hate making things for people... does that make sense? When it is a gift, I tend to be relaxed and while I want it to be well made and nice, I don't get overly uptight when I see a small flaw here or there (like points that don't quite match up). But when making for someone to give to someone else, wow! The pressure! And that made me make mistakes.. really dumb ones that frustrated me! But it is done and I think it turned out nice. I love pink and I love purple, so I thought I would have a difficult time giving this one up.. but I know the young woman who will be getting this for Christmas and she will enjoy it... so that makes the parting easier! LOL!

I will be taking a sewing break for a week or so... at least through Christmas... maybe even through New Years! But I already have projects for 2009 on tap... lots of them! So I will be back up and running in sewing central soon.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! "Belle"

Finally some quilting!

As usual life has been moving at a rapid pace and I have had no real time for quilting and, to be honest, when I have had a bit of time I've been to tired to quilt. How sad is that!? LOL!

But I got motivated this past week... mainly because I will be seeing 2 of my great nieces at Thanksgiving and 2 of these quilts are for them! So we have had a bit of a quilt marathon recently. I had the tops done on all these quilts... the labels printed... one back was done (meaning it was cut to the right size and the label had been added)... so I cut the backs for the others.. added the labels.. then got them all sandwiched. My hubby quilted and bound (binded?) 2 for me... he is a gem! (And no, I will not share! LOL!)

First is Ellie's quilt... I had the pillow made, the top pieced and the back ready... so once I got it sandwiched, hubby took off and got it finished in no time flat (he is a quick quilter!)... I think it turned out great...

Next is Noah's quilt... the top is a cheater, but the panel is so cute! I whipped it together a few weeks ago. The "pieced" border is actually a neat stripe fabric. We decided to use the same fabric for the binding.... I love the way it turned out! Hubby finished this one up too.

Here are the 2 I finished up... these are headed to Texas for our family Thanksgiving get together... the first is Madeleine's quilt... my first quilt using repros... it won't be my last! I did a simple diagonal grid for the stitching. I didn't wash the fabrics ahead of time (a first for me.. and it went so against my nature).. and as always I used cotton batting.. so when I washed and dried it, things crinkled up nicely! I love that crinkly look!

Madeleine's big sis, Caroline, has a quilt I made for her when she was born 2 years ago, but I knew she needed a happy too... so she has a doll quilt made from Madeleine's leftovers. This was soo quick and soo easy. A great idea for a child's Christmas!

It's nice to have some WIPs done... of course there are plenty more begging to be quilted... and more than I can list begging to be started! A quilters to do list never ends... it just continually grows and grows....

"Belle"

Baby Quilts Everywhere!

Baby Quilts have invaded Sewing Central here. I love baby quilts... one because they are quick to make (instant gratification)... and two they mean there's a baby! I love babies! So here are the ones hubby and I whipped up last weekend....

We have a young couple in our church expecting a little boy in December. When hubby finished up his blue and yellow snail tails quilt, he had some left over blocks. I commented that the pattern and colors would be a cute quilt for a boy. So he whipped up a few more blocks and created one. It will be quilted after the little one is born. I like to put the baby's name and birthday on the quilt label, along with a Bible verse. And I always put labels on before quilting.

On Friday, Sept. 5, my great-niece Madeleine was born. I decided months ago that I wanted to make her quilt using 1930s repros. I have never made a repro quilt. This will definitely not be the only one I make! I used a simple pattern that shows off the fabrics and is quick to make... Yellow Brick Road. Originally I planned to put 1 border on Madeleine's quilt using another repro fabric... but when I laid it next to the center I didn't like how it looked. I really love the look of white fabric with repros. It seems to make them stand out. So I added the white borders with a slim pieced once (using leftovers from the blocks) in between. I really love how this quilt turned out and the fabrics feel sooo good! I have a sweet purple (sort of lilac) repro print for the back and binding. This one will be quilted soon and then off it goes to Madeleine.

Madeleine has a big sister, 2 year old Caroline. I made her a quilt when she was born, but I decided to send her another one... not for her, but for her baby doll. So I made a few extra blocks when working on Madeleine's quilt... put them together... added a border... and voila... it's done. I have a fun green repro for the back of this one and the border. This is my first doll quilt... lots of fun!

And last.. but not least.. is Noah's quilt. Noah is a very special fella. He is 16 months old and in an orphanage in Taiwan. Tomorrow (Sun. Sept 7) he will meet his mom and dad for the first time. They are there now and anxious to get him into their arms. It has been an amazing journey for the last 9 months. God has been working this out and providing in ways unimaginable to our frail human minds. Noah's quilt is a cheater quilt... so very quick and easy (I suspect he will get another one from his Aunt "Belle" down the road!). I bought 2 of these panels and some coordinating fabrics on clearance a year ago. Thought they were cute and knew someone would need this quilt. The pieced border is also a cheater... it is a wonderful striped fabric that goes with the panel. I have a really cute coordinating fabric to back this one with... it has animals all over it. This is a scrumptious feeling fabric too! Noah's quilt will be quilted this week. They are due home next Friday and I would love to have his quilt waiting for them.

That's all the baby quilts for now. I have one more that I made some time ago. It is about to be backed and quilted for my great-niece Ellie, who was born in June. (Running a tad late with hers!) Once it is done, I will post a picture.

"Belle"

Charm Party Walker Bag

I adapted the Charm Party tote bag pattern and created a walker bag for my mom. We were both pleased with how it turned out. I even remembered to put pockets inside this time... on her last bag I failed to do that! There are 3 things I will do different on her next one (which she wants to be another Charm Party version)... one is to put the top tabs on the back instead of the front (that was a mistake! so they button on the back)... I will also position those top tabs a bit further apart to make it a tad easier to get into the bag ... and last I made the tabs like I normally make the handles for the Charm Party Tote.. so you end up with 2 layers of fabric and 2 layers of fusible fleece. It is so thick, that is made creating button holes difficult. I will work it so there is only 1 layer of fleece next time.

Another Snail Tail Picture

Here is hubby's snail tail quilt top pieced together with all the borders. It is a 90 x 90... as I have said before, hubby is a big guy and makes big quilts! Now when this will get sandwiched and quilted is anyone's guess! LOL! We both have a bad habit of making more tops than quilts!

Bees Buzzing around Snail Tails....

Hubby finished all his Snail Tail blocks with some extras. In fact, we are going to whip up a few more and have enough for a baby quilt... which is great! We have a young couple in our church expecting a boy in December, so that will be his quilt.

All the blocks have at least 1 piece of a yellow fabric with bees on it (Hence the title of this post!).

Hubby laid the blocks out of the bed... here they are ready to be sewn into a top...

Snails, Orange Crush and a Party

How's that for a title?! LOL! It has been a productive weekend here.

Hubby has started a new quilt and as always is making progress at the speed of light! He is making a scrappy Snails' Tail quilt in all blues and yellows. Here is a sampling of the blocks:

I continue to work on my Orange Crush Quilt (which is not orange!) in amongst other projects. I am finishing up these blocks:

I will have all the square blocks done then. I am not planning on putting this on point. In fact, I am not sure how I am going to put it together. Once the blocks are all done I am going to lay them out and play with various options until the right one hits me!

And lastly I made another Charm Party Tote. This one is for a dear friend (a surprise!) and I so want to keep it! (Isn't that the way it goes?). She loves green... I tried an all green layout, but it seemed blah. She loves purple and green together, so I added in some purple and voila! I think it turned out great. I changed one of the inner pockets a bit.. the divided one. I made it a bit shallower and wider. Here are some photos of the outside and inside:

I still have some fabric to cut up for a charm swap and some birthday fat quarters... so off to get that done and then I am thinking ice cream! Yep, I thinking after all this work some ice cream is called for... ok, I'll be good and stick with peach yogurt.. the real stuff, not frozen. But I really want Rocky Road from Baskins & Robbins!

"Belle"

A bit more weekend sewing....

I did a bit more sewing this weekend. Whipped up some blocks for a project I am working on with friends. This pattern is called Dutch Nine Patch (found at http://www.quilterscache.com/). It is a fairly easy block to make, although I think a couple of my centers are a bit wonky! That green fabric stretched a bit while sewing. Still.... I think they turned out pretty cute.

"Belle"

Charm Party Tote Done!

I was determined to finish this tote today! The pattern is great... easy to follow and easy to make.... and along the way I learned a few tricks that I will be using on other projects. I also plan to make more of these totes... probably adapting them a bit with smaller size or fewer charms.

The handles have fallen behind the tote in the picture... they are solid black fabric handles... long enough to tote the bag under by arm, but not so long that it bounces on my hip.

The interior has 2 pockets... one in large and open... the other is divided. The divided pocket ends up being 2 deep narrow pockets that will work fine for pens and an eyeglasses case. On the next tote, I am going to make that pocket shallower and wider... easier for me to "dig" things out.

I used this project to get a bit of free motion quilting practice... on the inside! I traced around the squares on the front.

There is a small front pocket that is perfect for my cell phone!

The pattern calls for buttons to be sew where the charms come together. I opted not to do that. It had no purpose other than decoration and I like the clean look without the buttons. Now if my points hadn't lined up pretty well, I might have added those buttons!

I bought very little for this project. I swap 5" square charms with a group of online friends and so have a nice size stash of them. I pulled the ones used here from that stash... all cut and ready to use! I also used charms for the outer and inner pockets... although the inner pockets could easily be created with a single piece of fabric. The lining came from my stash... as did the handle fabric and the fabric I used to cover a piece of cardboard in the bottom of the bag. Even the button on the front came from a can a buttons I have. The only thing I purchased was the fusible fleece. (Loved working with it!)

I have never had a lot of confidence in my ability to sew. I tried as a kid and later as a young adult and got very frustrated. I still avoid clothing projects! So I get a bit excited when I try something new and it works! And I love that this is for me... selfish I know... but I give away so much of what I make (and love doing that!), it's nice to keep something for once!

Now to get back to Orange Crush blocks... and other projects that are begging to be finished!

"Belle"

Finally! Some Time to Sew!

I have been running in circles lately... going here... going there... doing this... doing that... and all this busyness has taken over my sewing time. But this morning I was able to jump into sewing central (a.k.a. the dining room) and get some things done. I worked on 2 projects.

I am working on a tote for church (I want to be able to take 1 bag... no purse... with all my stuff in it!) using the Charm Party pattern I bought a few weeks ago. I swap charms each month with a group on online friends, so I have lots! I planned to use black and white charms, but as I was digging through my charm stash I came across a black fabric with bright pink flowers... I love this fabric! and I am such a pink girl! So I decided to toss some pink into the mix. I have pieced the front and back panels for the tote (they look the same) and I have the inner pockets pieced. And now I am on hold. I need some fusible fleece for the next bit. I will get that on Friday when I am across town near Hancock's.

I have also jumped back into the Quiltville Mystery Quilt... Orange Crush. It isn't a mystery anymore since all the steps have been posted, but still... there is a tad bit of mystery in not knowing how my fabrics will look when all is said and done. I am working on the blocks created in step 4. I have 2 done... 28 to go! The "red" fabric isn't reading true... it is a dark magenta. It really pops in the HSTs with that bright tealish blue.

I realized today that this quilt is a tad reminiscent of some I have from my great-grandmother. She didn't buy fabric for those quilts. She used what she had on hand (usually from clothes or other sewing projects or feed sacks). And she made them for use... utility quilts. This quilt will be a utility quilt. Both my kids travel several times a year with church groups and such to camps and we need some quilts that can be hauled off with them. And all the fabric in my orange crush (which is orangeless) is from my stash. I might purchase fabric for the back.... or I might try my hand at a pieced back... I'll decide that when the time comes.

Back to the sewing machine.... "Belle"

B & W top finished.. finally!

I finally had time to work on my nephew's quilt this past weekend and got the top done! It is a very easy pattern -- Turn Twenty Again -- and I love the way it all comes together. Here is the center without any borders added:

I knew I wanted to add a little punch of color, so I added a small blue flange between the inner and outer black borders. It doesn't show up in the photo of the finished top, but I am posting a close up shot that shows it well.

Now to get the label done and back pieced... sandwich it.. and quilt away!

In the meantime I have pulled out my Orange Crush box and started working on it again. I have the first 3 parts done and am working on part 4.

"Belle"

Travelling with a Quilter

My hubby had an overnight business trip earlier this week and I tagged along... just to have some us time away from the kiddos. Travelling with a quilter is an adventure... and since he does a bit of quilting also, we had a blast!

First there had to be some reading material to keep me occupied while he handled business stuff.....


















And then we had to stop at fabric / quilt shops. I really loved the Gotta Have It Quilt Shop in Baldwyn, MS. I bought 2 patterns... both of these I had seen online or in catalogs and was hem-hawing about buying them.. but when I saw them in person, I was sold! So sometime down the road I will be making a Charm Party Tote Bag and a Hip To Be Square quilt....






















I also ran into a brand new Hancock Fabrics store in Tupelo, MS (FYI Hancock Fabrics is headquarter in the small town of Baldwyn, MS). There was a Bernina shop in the middle of the store. Hadn't seen that before. The lady there told me Bernina had a deal with Hancock and we will be seeing more of these. I had fun looking at the various embroidery machines... I am contemplating buying one some day... and then I found a Pattern book that caught my eye... well several caught my eye, but I limited myself to one purchase... a stash buster book...



































I also found some cute repro fabrics for this month's charm swap and to use in a baby quilt I am planning for my great-niece (due in Sept.)



My hubby's employer pays for the trip...except my meals and purchases.... I get time alone with him, some news mags and patterns, and fabric to boot... that makes for a great trip!

"Belle"

Black & White Blocks Done!

Last week I finally had the time to get all the black and white pieces of fabric put together into Turning Twenty Again Blocks. I am loving how this quilt is coming together. The goal this week is to get the blocks sewn together to create the main center part of the quilt. I am planning on adding 2 borders, but don't have the fabric for either one yet. I want to take the center part to the quilt shop and play with fabrics there. Such fun!

Ginger Blossoms... Black & White... and Being Behind

I went to my favorite LQS this week... Quilt Arts... http://www.quiltartsonline.com/ I love this shop! It opened last November and is already a hub of activity among quilters. You walk in and are just wowed by color and texture and pattern. When I walked in the door last week I was greeted with the Ginger Blossom line by Sandi Henderson (http://www.portabellopixie.typepad.com/) WOW! I love this line! I bought 6 lovely fat quarters... but alas they are now packaged up ready to be mailed off next week to a friend. Sigh! I think I must return and buy some for my very own! They are just to wonderful to do without!

I also bought a few black and white prints. I have some in my stash... received some from an online friend... and had bought some online. I am going to make my nephew a quilt for his High School graduation. I am using the Turn Twenty Again pattern and have been cutting fabric this weekend. I plan to start sewing tomorrow. I think I may add a small border of a single bright color for a pop.

Bonnie at Quiltville has posted step 5 of her current mystery quilt... Orange Crush... I am woefully behind! I have step 1 and 2 done... did a bit of step 3 and got frustrated... haven't even started step 4 must less 5! Oh well... I will press on (as well as cut on... sew on... LOL! sorry bad joke!) and get caught up one day!

I have been terribly unmotivated in the area of quilting the past few weeks, so I am thrilled to be back in the land of fabric, thread, rulers, rotary cutters etc. The slump has passed and I am ready to get going again!

Step 3 Woes....

Bonnie is challenging me to death with this mystery! LOL! I absolutely abhor working with triangles! Love the way they look... but hate cutting them and lining things up and sewing them.. and these are sooo small! I survived Step 2 by coming up with my own method.. but Step 3 stumped me. PTL Merete came up with a neat way... http://mreteveian.blogspot.com/2008/04/del-3-kjapt-part-3-fast.html

So off I went to give it a try... and it worked! Sort of... they look good, but they are measuring what I think they should measure. From the chatter on the list, the short sides should line up with the sides of the blocks created in step 1 and 2. Mine are too long. Ugh!

So I am setting this aside and waiting for future steps to see how these are used... how they line up. It may be that I can shave a tiny tad off (they are just barely too big) or it may be that they are just the right size and I don't realize it. Either way, I am going to step back and wait a bit to see where Bonnie is going with this.

In the meantime, I need to whip up a couple of new walker bags for my mom, pull out a UFO or 2, start my nephew's quilt... plenty of quilty things to work on here!

Step 2 done... just under the wire!

Step 2 was a bit daunting to me... at first. I didn't purchase the Easy Angle ruler, so I had to work with the regular method. I love the look of triangles, but absolutely hate sewing them! And this block has 3 triangles and 2 are tiny! So I did a bit of playing around and tweaking and came up with my own method. It still took a long time to make them all, but I think they turned out great. I really like this little block, especially paired up with four-patches. I played around with several layout ideas last night. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I use this in another quilt some day down the line.

So now I wait patiently for step 3. Of course I have a "zillion" other projects to work on in the meantime, but this one is more fun!

Step 1 Done!

Aren't little four patches cute? I just love them! They went together a lot quickly than you might think from the time I started until the time I finished. I got interrupted and had several days with no sewing time at all! (Tragic, I know!) I am still fairly new to the quilting game (4 years) and I haven't made a lot of four patches in my day, but I think I will be using them more in the future. I have all sorts of ideas bubbling around!

So step 1 is done... PTL! Now I just have to be patient and wait for step 2! Barb

Step 1 started.....

Bonnie posted step 1 of her newest mystery Quilt - Orange Crush - yesterday... and I wasted no time gather up my strips and heading to the sewing machine. Unfortunately I keep having detours and haven't gotten as much done as I wanted. I am piecing together a dark strips with light strips as Bonnie instructed. I even have some pressed open and ready to cut into small 2 patches (which will be sewn together into 150 4 -patch units!) I have 2 weeks to get these done before Step 2 is posted. Which should be plenty of time. After all I only have those to piece, a quilt for a 4/26 wedding to finish (the blocks are done), a Round Robin center to create, house to clean, family to feed, work, laundry..... no big deal! Lots of "free" time!

Off to move clothes from washer to dryer... towels from floor to washer... and then fabric strips through the sewing machine!

"Belle"

Of course I have time for another project!

I have several tops waiting for me to quilt them... I have a mystery quilt from a few weeks ago begging me to and the final borders and then finish it up... I am in the midst of a quilt for a couple getting married in April... I desperately need to start a quilt for my nephew who is graduating in May... so what did I do this week? Signed up for yet another project! But wait.. it is Bonnie at Quiltville's (www.quiltville.com) newest mystery - Orange Crush. Who could resist that???

Mine will be an Orangeless Crush. I was determined to use only stash fabrics (and I sort of did... I was short on one of my main fabrics and ordered a bit more). I like orange and would have used it in my quilt, just didn't have enough.

I really wanted a different feel... I wanted to get away from wild and bright and do something different, but guess what I found out? I am a wild and bright person and most of my fabrics prove it! So I am determined to start adding things to my stash that don't fit my norm.... browns, gold, burgundy, forest greens, pastels (for when I need some light!).... things like that.

I am pleased with my choices. I have lots of dark and light scraps (as per Bonnie's instructions). The darks are mostly reds, greens, purples, a few browns, pink and golds. The lights are mainly white on white, white on cream and a super pale pink and green that are both almost white. My 3 yardage colors are a dark peacoat navy Moda marble (looks black in the photo), a Jinny Beyer print that is a magenta marble with black accents (that's the one I needed a bit more of), and a wonderful teal by Northcott (I love their fabrics!). For the accent color, I am going with a mixture of lemony yellows that read the same. Bonnie has said this quilt will not have a lot of light fabrics in it, so I am hoping these yellows lighten things up and add a punch of bright sunshine to the quilt.

Time to iron and get everything ready for step 1.. which should be coming next week!

"Belle"

Mystery Revealed!

I finally had time to finish up my Mystery Quilt this weekend. Well, technically the mystery part is done. I still want to add a border of some sort and then quilt and bind it. It is a 56" x 56" right now. I am thinking of adding a small white border and then a larger border (4" I think) of the heart print material. This quilt is going to be a charity quilt for a little girl.

I like how the pattern came together. I really love the smaller blocks and think they would be cute alone in a quilt.

I love how putting simple things together... 4 patches and HSTs in this case... can create a pattern that looks complicated. I need to try my hand at making up smaller elements and laying them out in different ways to create unique looks.

I am very visual which has kept me from participating in Mystery Quilts. I like to see what the end result should look like... most time. I also love to just jump in and do this and that and create a pattern-less quilt. After the fun I had with this Mystery Quilt, I am sure I will participate in more.

"Belle"

The Mystery Continues....

I was able to catch up on all the steps (so far) for the mystery quilt. I made lots of little four patches (step 1)... then some cute little HSTs (step 2 - part 1)... then I put the 2 together to create some really cute blocks (step 2 - part 2). I like the look of these blocks! They would be a cute quilt all by themselves! I also cut some squares of my dark pink fabric and my heart fabric (step 3).. and then I made some more 4 patches (step 4). So I am caught up... or WAS! Then Jody sent out the next step! Oh well, that is fine. I am ready for it! Now let's just hope I don't run out of any of my fabrics along the way! "Belle"

I got the Blues.....

.....but in a good way! I do a charm swap each month with some quilty friends and this month we are swapping blues. The past year I have been using what was in my stash, but this month I decided it was time for some new fabric to share! There is a new quilt shop in my area (http://www.quiltartsonline.com/ ) that I have fallen madly in love with! I would go there daily if it were closer!

I was there on Saturday and found the 5 blue beauties above. The photo doesn't do justice to the colors and the center one is the creamiest, softest fabric! I really want to go back and buy more! It is from Japan... which I thought was cool!

Can't wait to see the charming blues that I receive from my friends. I love swapping fabric! "Belle"

Braids, Mystery and a Wedding....

I am done with all the Round Robins... YEAH! I enjoyed working on every single one, but one of my absolute faves was the last one. I could add anything I wanted! I have been wanting to try my hand at a braided border and this top seemed the perfect candidate for one. I used Bonnie's technique at http://www.quiltville.com/ I love anything that is fairly simple, but looks complicated.... and a braided border definitely fits the bill! Very easy...the main thing is the time to cut and sew!

So now I am on to another project with my online quilting buds... a mystery quilt..... another first for me. I am not good at following rules! LOL! But I was caught up in all the neat fabric combos I was seeing the others post and had to join them. It is no surprise that I am using pink, but honestly I didn't set out to do so. I bought very little fabric this past year! I have been making myself work with what I had in my stash and while I still have a lot, I don't have a lot of yardage.

But I finally found 3 fabrics.. a light, a dark and a contrast that went well together and I had enough for the requirements.

I have even started on step one.. some cute little four-patches... one down.. a "few" more to go! LOL!

And I continue to work on the wedding quilt. I decided it needs to be bigger, so I am making more blocks! 9 more. I will lay it out 5 blocks by 5 blocks.. add sashing and borders. I like square quilts, not sure why.

Hoping I have LOTS of quilty time this weekend! "Belle"

I love my Quilty Friends!

I am part of a small online quilt group through yahoogroups... and I love it! God has drawn us together and made us family. And now I have a most precious token of them. We recently participated in a Round Robin... and I received mine in the mail this week. WOW! It is amazing! I created the center with the wild and wacky house... the rest was added by my friends.... some who are wild and wacky like me and others who are a bit more subdued. I am going to add one more border... a wide one... I just need to find the right fabric. Then I will back it (with something bright and cheery) and quilt it and love using it! "Belle"

Back to the land of sewing.....

It seems I have been away from this blog and away from my sewing machine for a long, long time! Actually, I have done some sewing since my last post. I have been working on some Round Robins with my online quilting friends. Unfortunately, I cannot post pictures as the end results are to be surprises and they read this blog! But trust me, the RRs are looking grand!

My online friends also do a block lottery each month... something new for us and something I have yet had time to be a part of. I was determined to send in blocks for the January lottery... even purchased some fabric for them... but alas it wasn't meant to be! But I had the fabric... and even had part of it cut and ready to go. So what was I going to do with it? I hated to just toss it in the scrap box. Then it hit me... a friend's daughter is getting married in April and I need a quilt for them!

I took the fabrics I had cut... grabbed some others and went to work this weekend. I now have 16 lovely blocks... Scrap Zig Zag pattern from http://www.quilterscache.com/ ... solid white backgrounds with green prints. I really do like the way they turned out. I am planning on adding more of the white for sashing. After that.. who knows! It is certainly not large enough! I just haven't decided how I will add to it... several basic borders... some applique...pieced border... who knows! I will get the sashing cut and the center of the quilt formed and then see what it wants to do!

It feels good to be back behind the "wheel"! I have a number of projects that need to be finished up before I start anything new... I have one more Round Robin to work on (which I have been working on, but I had to stop and order some fabric and am now on hold until it arrives.. hopefully this week!)... then I have several tops that need to be quilted... one in particular for a friend (it is wayyyy over due!). I have several other quilts I need to make this year... I have 2 nieces who are pregnant (so 2 more baby quilts)... a nephew graduating from high school and headed off to college... and a friend's son who will be 18 in the fall (I have given her other children quilts for their 18th birthdays).

It doesn't take long for my to-do list of quilts to fill up... and notice that none are going to be staying at my home! Oh well... they are all gifts of love and I love giving them! "Belle"