HONOR GUARD

Finally something quilty to show! I was afraid you were going to kick me out the the ol' quilt bloggers club if I didn't post something about quilts soon! Well, things have been in very slow progress. I don't know why I seem to have so many distractions in my life. Part of the blame lies with you other quilt bloggers who distract me with your wonderful posts. I showed a piece of this quilt a while back, and have been waiting until I finished the directions to show the entire quilt. I still need to get the covers printed, but look! I got a photo! That is half the battle for me! Yesterday was an overcast day and perfect for picture taking.
Look how cute this is as a table topper! And each eagle has a word of advice: Honesty, Kindness, Gratitude and Faith. I have struggled with a name for this quilt and today it came to me. HONOR GUARD! What do you think? I hope you can see the quilting. It was beautifully done by Rosemary Skinner of The Quilted Fox in Virginia Beach. Thanks Rosemary! Her quilting is the perfect finish. I love designing and making the tops, but that is as far as my talent goes. I am ever so grateful to each talented quilter who completes my work!

On another note, Granddaughter Becky was talking on Skype with her boyfriend Travis who is in Utah. Becky has still not gotten a job, although I have been thrilled to take advantage of her computer skills in creating better images for my new pattern. Travis remarked to her that maybe she could do batting for me with my quilts. She said, "Do you even know what batting is?" No, he admitted, he did not. I am sorry Travis, if you are reading this, but I keep having fits of hysteria as I imagine what a batting job might entail. Beating the quilts with a bat perhaps? Or maybe me getting to a certain point in the quilt and calling out, "Hey batta-batta-batta-batta"! Got any other suggestions?

Time to go. Batter up!

SCRAPPY BY DESIGN

Just thought I would travel back in time and show you the very first quilt I ever designed. I called this one Scrappy Patches, and it won me a ribbon in the Block Party guild quilt show that I was in at the time, in Bellevue, WA. This was about ten years ago, and before we were blessed with so many wonderful reproduction fabrics. I find it interesting to note that the quilts that I design today are not unlike that first one. My preference in quilts has not changed, although I do believe I have learned quite a bit along the way.

The above picture is a portion of a quilt that I designed and just finished. It is off to the quilters! I am working on directions and can't wait to show you the finished quilt. This is just to, hopefully, whet your appetite. You might notice that RED is still my favorite color!

I have had a sudden influx of individual orders for the Indian Paintbrush pattern this weekend. After visiting a couple of my favorite bloggers, I discovered why. Karen, the Mistress of Leehaven, has posted her Indian Paintbrush quilt on her blog again today. Karen completed hers quite a while ago, and it is a beauty! Also, Mary at Quilt Hollow, just completed herIndian Paintbrush quilt, and has it on display for us. Be sure and take a look at both these blogs in case you haven't been there yet.  I should have mentioned this earlier, but the Olde Green Cupboard has been at the Paducah quilt show with lots of kits and patterns for Indian Paintbrush as well!  

Don't be left out of this ordering frenzy! Visit Patchalot Patterns web site and order your pattern today! I always honor Canadian customers with the same postage rate as US. 

As always,  stitch a little, Patchalot!

COUCHING CROW

A couple years ago I remember Melanie, at Covered Porches and Wooden Screen Doors, mentioned that she put out fabric scraps for the birds to build their nests in the spring. Such a cute idea! So I decided to try that. We have a deck on the third floor that is surrounded by trees. (Remember the squirrel probelms?) Anyway, I placed a hand full of fabric strings on top of a table and anchored them a bit with shells. I was hopeful that the birds would recognize the wonderful bounty that lay before them! The pile became smaller, and I wondered if some got carried by the wind, or had the birds found this little stash? One morning last week I was sitting in the livingroom, just off the deck, and saw a bird on the table. In my mind I saw him picking up a strip and flying off with the strip blowing in the wind. I sat quiet and hopeful that the bird would figure it out. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a couching crow! Yes, this dear birdie had a creative bent! He picked at the same strip over and over again until he had ruffled the little strip into a flower, and off he/she flew with it! He is not just building a nest, he is decorating it! Wouldn't it be funny if birds had contests to see who made the most creative nest? Suddenly I am seeing reality TV in birdland: Flip This Nest! Or how about Decorating Cheep! Seriously, I wish I had a picture of that bird. It was so cute!

So how do you like my blog's new look? I asked my talented granddaughter to see what she could do to give me a facelift, and voila! She performed her magic! I always have to depend on the generosity of others when it comes to this techie stuff. She did good! Now she needs to teach me!

For those of you who wondered if I would ever come back with the completed eagle quilt, I am happy to show you the finished quilt. It measures 21" x 21". The corner stars are foundation pieced, which makes them quite easy to construct. I am still working on the pattern, but it will be done soon. I will keep you posted. I am scheduled to teach this as a class in June here in Virginia Beach. Can you tell I took the picture on the deck? I love that deck! Sorry, no squirrels allowed.

We are receiving our daily share of April Showers here, so that can only mean lots of May Flowers, Right? I do look forward to that! Have a happy day!