Summer Progresses

I was perusing Ebay the other day and look what I found! Not only that, I won the bid for it, so I am now the proud owner of a really straggly, well used, deteriorating old quilt! And so why did I buy it? It was advertised as a cutter quilt, for one thing, and I had to save it from that fate! Also I love the old indigos on the pink. A wonderful combination!

 

 At first glance I thought the block in the lower left was a square of dark fabric! But no, it is a shoofly block with literally no contrast! Do you think quilters of old did this just to be playful as we do today? These blocks are 9" squares. I adore the zig-zag setting! Now here is the funny part, to me at least. It is virtually the same pattern as my Pioneer Trail!

 Pioneer Trail done in prairie colors, but the exact same block and setting! And here I thought I designed this pattern! Seriously, "nothing new under the sun", as they say!

 Meanwhile, back in the sewing room there is little to report. Little blocks that is. These are three inch blocks. Simple enough for even me to accomplish without much sweat! A new design in the works!

 

Photo Ready

I actually went outside today, and it was beautiful! This is a big deal for me as I have been slaving over the sewing machine for hours every day. One project I will be so glad to finish! It is from the beautiful Cocheco Mills line of fabric from Marcus Fabrics. I have had to send away for more fabric a couple of times. I just ordered a different border fabric than what I originally intended. That is because I design on the fly. I think I know what I am doing, but I regularly change plans in mid stream. I am not sure what that says about me as a designer, but the best laid plans, and all that...  Photos of that quilt will be coming.

Today I went outside with a mission in mind. I needed to take new photos of a couple of my quilts. I am working on new covers, getting ready for International Quilt Market and all. The weather was beautiful and sunny and so I headed over to Stoney's Market, which is not officially open for the season yet, but I got great shots there once before, so I thought I would try it again. Stoney's is a garden and vegetable stand that is very rural in appearance, but sits right in the middle of office buildings, mostly doctors. They are very nice about me commandeering their walls and fences and plants and props.

And while I was searching for places to display my quilts for photos, look who was watching me. Goats, sheep and lots of chickens too. The rooster kept crowing me off his turf, so I left him and his harem alone. 

Here is Dream Catcher with a few of the props I appropriated from Stoney's. 

I got a couple shots of Pioneer Trail as well. Not being a photographer by trade, I do a lot of messing around and never know if I will get anything I can use.  I think I like the one with the goat the best, but I can only use that for blogging! Not such a great pattern cover!

Here is a new release. I showed these little quilts a while back and then sent them off to Karen Mowery for photos because she has antique dolls from when she was a little girl. (Hee hee-I'm gonna hear about that!) Didn't she take a nice photo for me? She is talented in so many aspects that I value, and I count on her way too much. In this pattern you can use a focus fabric for the center or cross stitch a sampler from a chart in the pattern.

Getting ready for market has been taking my attention, and I have three quilts out being quilted. You can catch a glimpse of one of them at Quilt Hollow. Mary Flynn is doing her magic on a new one. Normal for her, thrilling for me! You may recall that Mary recently quilted baby quilts for the twin boys just born to my granddaughter. I enlarged one of the designs to adult size just so Mary could do the pattern that you will see on her blog. Awesome is all I can say, just awesome!

Hope your weekend is as happy as mine!

SHOP TALK

A word of warning: If you always read blog comments in your e-mail box you may not be seeing them all. My last post had two comments that I only saw because I looked in the comment section. None of us like to miss what people have to say!

Some of you asked to see more of Sue's quilt made with the Coverlet Collection II from Windham Fabrics. Here is her completed top. It is really great looking! It is on display at the shop (What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff) along with kits! I also noticed when I was there today that they have Pioneer Trail on display along with kits! They have lots of other kits as well, but I am only promoting my own stuff here!(My patterns are available at the shop or my website, if you are interested!)

The second picture shows the Stars and Garters quilt on the bottom and Indian Paintbrush on the top, hanging from rungs of a ladder. Isn't that a cute display? The shop looks great! They have a ton of cute Christmas things out already, and darling wool projects with kits.

I am thinking you have noticed that jacket, so here is a close-up. Prairie Paisley! Can you believe it! For those of you who love that fabric, here is another use for it!

Karen Dianne over at LeeHaven has been working hard to complete her version of Indian Paintbrush. She renamed it Dancing Ladies. It is turning our really nice! Go take a look!

That's all for now!

PIONEER TRAIL

Last Friday was a fun day! There is a Quilting Bee that meets at the LQS every Friday, and they invited me to join them there for lunch. The reason is that they had swapped Shoofly blocks for my pattern Pioneer Trail, and they wanted me to come and see the finished quilts. I was excited that they had chosen my design for their swap! Five of the ladies had completed their quilts. In spite of the fact that many of the blocks were of the same fabric, each quilt had its own look according to how the quiltmaker placed fabrics and the border fabric that they chose. Each quilt was a beauty!
In this quilt the Shoofly blocks represent the wagon wheels rolling west along a dusty zig zag trail, hence, the name Pioneer Trail. Each of these quilters had fun deciding how much grass or mud to include in their own trail.
Barb is holding her quilt in the first photo. Barb chose a fabulous Ginny Beyer print fabric for the border of her quilt. It looks lovely!

In the second photo Mary Lynn shows her quilt. Mary Lynn included a pieced border on hers as my original quilt had.




The border that Betts put on hers, in quilt #3 is a poison green from the Pennsylvania Plain and Fancy collection. It looks great!

Pat, with quilt #4, chose a beautiful border fabric for her quilt that really sets off the colors of the blocks.

The final quilt, #5, was made by Bobbie. She actually completed her quilt for Christmas and gave it as a gift. I took this photo back in November, I think, and Bobbie's face is nowhere to be seen! Great looking quilt though, and someone received a great gift from her. I know I have posted at least two other quilts that Bobbie has made on my website (Patchalot Patterns) in the gallery. These will all be posted there also for inspiration to anyone who views them.

Thanks ladies, for inviting me to share in the unveiling of your finished quilts and for allowing me to share your beautiful quilts with my blogging buddies!