Patchalot More

Hi everyone, I have been absent from Blogland for a while, traveling and spending time with family. Not much quilting going on with me, but nevertheless, I am hearing from people who have questions regarding my quilts.This makes me happy to know that someone remembers me, even tho I have not been "on the scene"!

I got a phone message from Sylvia in Australia asking about the fabric I used in the quilt Picks from the Past, above, published by American Patchwork and Quilting, Feb. 2012 issue. Sylvia did not leave a way for me to contact her, and I am not at home to answer the phone, so maybe Sylvia might read my blog. Like fruit, fabric does not stay on the vine very long. It is replaced regularly by something new. The fabric in that quilt was out of season by the time the magazine hit the stands. I can tell you that the fabric line in that particular quilt was called Civil War Chronicles, by Judie Rothermel, from Marcus Fabrics. And even tho that fabric is long gone, you can check the Marcus website and see that there are new, beautiful fabric lines available. For Civil War reproductions, Judie Rothermel always has a new, irresistible line available, as does Paula Barnes. Also Pam Buda is designing for Marcus now and has a great new line called Prairie Dobbies! If your LQS doesn't carry these lines you can do an online search of the name and find a store. 

On another note, a quilter contacted me regarding my table topper, Calico Pennies, in the recent Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine (Summer 2013). She was having trouble  tucking in the ends by the tabs and didn't have enough fabric left to do so. Since the directions call for quilting the little top before tucking in the ends, I believe the quilting gathered up the fabric just enough to cause this problem. If you make this project you can hopefully avoid this by adding an additional half inch to the length of the back and give a 1/4" for each end to tuck in. I suspect that when I made my own I pinned it tight to prevent this, but the small additional length should help avoid this problem. 

Back to my actual life, my husband and I are in Arizona. He retired May first and then we flew here to spend some time and see family.

We were here to see our darling Danielle go off to prom. Yup, she was wearing HIGH heels, and I definitely was not! I'm the little short grandma! (OK, I may have been bending my knees a little for effect.)

We took a drive to Carson City, NV to visit our kids there. Kathryn, now 8 years old, was baptized while we were there.

We got to spend some time with Becky and the twins both in Nevada and in Utah. Here is Micah and Grey snuggled up under one of my old quilts watching TV. So fun to see them AND my old quilts! Notice that Becky had Grey's hair cut shorter so we can tell them apart. It really helps!

We visited Ellie and Isaac in Provo, Utah. They are our youngest and so full of life and cuteness! They loved watching Netflix on my i-pad. I miss these kids so much, I can't stand it!

Back at the house in Mesa we are delighted to have Mary, one of our oldest grandchildren, staying with us. She was slicing watermelon and look what she found! A heart was inside the melon! Must be a good omen for Mary, right?

My quiltmaking has come to a standstill for the past several weeks. I have been designing, and I have a few things that I need to start working on. I'm excited to get going on it all! 

That's it for now--more will be coming, hopefully soon!