DOLLEY AND DARCIE

You may remember this quilt from an earlier post of mine. It is called Dolley Madison Stars. I had been admiring those Baptist Fans that Darcie has been doing, and I thought this quilt might look good with them. So I sent it off to Darlin' Darcie (you can check out her blog) and she quilted it for me. She did a great job, and the fans really add to the old fashioned appeal of this pattern. If you have spent any time visiting Darcie's blog, you already know how talented she is in so many ways. It was so fun to connect with her through the magic of the internet!
By the way, I don't normally have a wreath on my pillow, but it needed a little something to add interest to the photo. So now I am explaining why my photo is interesting.






The second photo is of the back of the quilt. I decided to add stash to coordinate with a larger piece of fabric that wasn't big enough. It was actually hard to part with these big pieces of my stash because I love them and wonder what I could make with them. That must be a symptom of the illness :o) On the other hand, now I love the back of the quilt as well as the front. As I pieced the back together I actually cut some of the larger pieces into several smaller pieces just to make it look "more interesting". I also used up the rest of the sashing fabric. By the time I got done, the back ending up taking several days to complete. When I got the quilt back from Darcie I looked for the sashing fabric to bind it, and realized that it was used up! Sometimes I really outdo myself!
For those of you who have been finishing up UFOs like crazy this year, this is my one UFO accomplishment! Yes, I did start others to be completed in the future. I also actually completed some projects from start to finish! It counts if they are small, right?

MY HAPPY PLACE

Remember those 9-patches I was making a while back? Well they finally turned into something! Look, a quilt top! I have been planning to make this quilt for the longest time. I saw it in a Quilt It magazine that featured Nine-Patch Favorites. There is no date on the magazine, but I found an ad in it for a 2003 quilt show. So there you go--it takes me a while to do things! I am very pleased to finally have this UFO done to the point where it can be quilted. There are actually several other 9-patch quilts in that book that I would love to make. But not quite yet. I have patterns to create and instructions to write that I have put off for far too long. One thing at a time...at least I am seeing some progress.

I happened to see My Happy Place quilt while cruising through photos the other day, so I popped it onto my sidebar. I thought it would brighten up the place. It is a pattern I designed about a year ago that incorporated a few orphan blocks that I had. Finn has everyone all psyched on orphan block quilts, and it is so much fun to see what people are creating. You have probably seen her new blog, http://orphantrainsfromfinn.blogspot.com/ but if you haven't been there, you need to check it out. Fun stuff!

Last week I mentioned that my Dad was coming to visit, but that is not going to happen now. He became ill a week ago and went into the hospital in Minnesota and ended up with three stints going into his heart. He feels much better now. They have him on oxygen, and he decided that it was too much of a pain to try and come here and have to transfer planes, etc. I agree, especially in light of the problems that can develop while trying to catch a plane, etc. It seems like everyone is having trouble with the airlines these days. So hopefully he will be able to come here in the fall. I am just glad he is feeling better! In the meantime, my daughter, who lives in Atlanta, is coming for a week! She arrives tomorrow, and I am excited about that. I know she hopes to make a baby quilt for her friend while she is here. Lets see what we come up with! For now, I am headed to bed to read for a while. I am half way through Harvesting the Heart, by Jody Picault. She writes good stuff!

YOU CAN'T HAVE TOO MANY 9-PATCHES

I showed you my 9-patch stars previously, and I have had some snatches of time to work on that quilt. I know that every time I show a project I tell you how much I love it. I hope you don't think that I am bragging. I just get enthused about creating stuff, and whatever project I am working on is my new favorite! As I go around the blogs I am always so impressed with the amount of talent out there. The stuff I do is always quite simple, by comparison. Well, those Home Sweet Home houses were more complicated, but I just followed the directions and was inspired by the wonderful designers. Anyway...

These stars are actually called Dolley Madison Stars. I love anything with 9-patches, so they were a natural for me. I said before that I had lots of no-brainer 9-patches to make and that is just what I did. See photo example above. I actually did this no-brainer version several times. I think I fell asleep and went on auto pilot. I am trying to come up with a good excuse. Anyway, I am really swift with the seam ripper, so no harm done.

I would love to have been in a 9-patch swap, but I wasn't, so I had to make a big variety of blocks. It takes longer, as you know. But it is done. I found myself counting and recounting to see how many were completed. Then I decided to count them into piles of 10 and safety pin each group together. Lots easier to know how many I had completed.

I have all the stars joined together with sashing for the body of the quilt. I found the sashing at 50% off at the LQS. It is Moda Christmas fabric, if you can believe it. It is a pretty tan with a cable design on it. Now I am working on the border. And so it goes.

Today is another fabulous day in Virginia Beach, so I need to get out and run errands and work in the yard! Big smiley face :D

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

I think I am done! At least I am done with the houses. I have them all assembled and now I have the border to do, but I am putting that off for a while so my friends can catch up with me. At least that is my excuse. I really just need to take a break and work on other stuff for a while.

This is the UFO that I am working on. I have had these blocks made for a while and need many more 9-patches to finish the quilt. I love 9-patches. They are totally mindless and always look so cute. I am using scraps and drawing on my stash to build the blocks. If I can weasel in any little homeless piece, I do! I will show more on this as I progress. I am also working up my little eagle in wool, so we shall see how that goes. I am a hands on designer. If I could only create it in my mind and then reproduce it! But no! I have to make part of a design and then let it stew to see what will come next. It is a slow and painful birth! The good news, and the bad news, is that I have no deadline, if you get my drift.
By the way, I just thought I should take a minute to mention that I haven't ever added any blogs that I read on my sidebar. The reason is that I read so many blogs (though not every day) that I am afraid I would leave someone out and I don't want anyone to feel bad. I really enjoy and appreciate all of you! I am a member of the Stash ring, and am connected to all of those quilters through clicking on that. I also have an extensive list on Bloglines that I go to. If you like to cruise blogs and haven't connected to Bloglines, just click on the icon on my sidebar and you can sign up. It is easy! This enables you to list all the blogs that you like to visit. It shows which blogs have updated entries. You can go there and click on your favorite blogs anytime.
Did you get a laugh out of my dog and cat diary post yesterday? Someone sent it to me I got a kick out of it. It really fits those animals, doesn't it? Have a happy day!