Sunrises and Guests

This is our view from the front porch early one morning last week.

A few minutes later, it looked like this.

And then one evening just before full moon, it looked like this.

Rick & Leona Good came to see us this past week.

While the men went to an equipment auction in Philadelphia, we ladies viewed quilts at the library in Columbus, took in an exhibit at the Columbus Art Center, went to a thrift store and an antique shop, and then had lunch at Cafe on Main. When we got home Leona set to sewing a quilt she brought along.

Paul's sister, Jeanie accompanied us and she helped Leona sew her quilt together.

I started machine quilting my Jungle Quilt.

And now my goal is to finish it by the end of April.

Leona and I each had 1 yard of "jungle" fabric that we challenged each other to make some sort of crib quilt.

The sunrise on another day.

Last evening in addition to having our children in for supper we invited these MDS couples to join us.

Lynn & Nettie Hiebert

Lloyd & Irene

My nephew Scott Hostetler and a friend, Jesse also joined us.

Orange and a Braid

I’ve finally finished my orange panels for the month of March for

So now I have placed the panels from January and February with them onto my design wall to form a braid.

Birds in the Air

Do you remember how Claire Bleu came and we did some En Plein Air Quilting?

 

 I finished my quilt soon after she left and then soon after had a Quilt Presentation and Trunk Show in Tuscaloosa, AL.

 

 

The ladies there were on a buying spree and before I knew it, I had sold this quilt before I had all the documentation done.

Detail

 

 

Birds in the Air

Size: Approx. 20"X16"
Medium: Mostly cottons
Techniques: Fused and machine quilted
SOLD

Indecision–The Storm Within

Based on Tennessee Williams play “Spring Storm.” Choosing between two is sometimes a hard choice. This or that. Good or bad. Life or death. Blessing or cursing. (Deut. 30:19)  “…choose you this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” –Joshua 24:15

After quilting, the bolt of lighting wanted to buckle and the background didn’t want to lay flat.

So I cut down through the lightning and cut out a portion and …

…added a piece of black to the underside.

Then using a zig-zag stitch I  quilted around the lightning to make it sizzle.

When I was all done, the quilt still wanted to buckle and ripple.

I’m all for blocking a quilt to make it lay flat. Just pour a gallon of water over it to soak the fibers, square it up and blow it dry.

I am delighted that I met the March 23 deadline and …

met my goal for March with

Mother and Me

I so much enjoyed having mother here for 2 weeks.

When she finished her “Blue Ribbon” quilt top …

… I took her outside for a photo shoot.

Back inside, she started on her third quilt. Remember how Emily sorted my scraps by color? I chose the orange drawer and the purple drawer for a crazy quilt.

Mother cut out the foundations and then pieced the blocks like she has been doing for years with velvets.

She took both of these tops home with her hoping to quilt them with her sewing machine.

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Parting Shot

1600 Quilt, Giveaway Winner, Picnic

Since Mother finished the FourSquare String Quilt, she started another one with the left over strings of my "Spring Storm."

She just sewed the ends of the strips together  for a 1600 quilt only…

I think it’s more like a 3072 quilt.

I think she was both surprised and pleased at how fast it went together.

 

I need to cut some borders for her, and then I think it will almost be a twin size.

 

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And the winner for my fabric giveaway is #111.

 

111. Linda said...

HI! IT'S THE ROSEBUD PINEAPPLE!

THANKS FOR A LOVELY GIVEAWAY!

HAPPY STITCHING

 

Congratulations, Linda!

 

I found it interesting to see my readers favorites of my NQOF quilts. I'm guessing that "A Plate of Pineapples" and "Pharoah's Tombs" were chosen the most.  Thank you everyone for your comments and participation. A Plate of Pineapples won a blue ribbon last week at QuiltFest in Pigeon Forge.

 

And "Pharoah's Tombs" and "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" were both on exhibit at the AQS Show in Lancaster, but no ribbons there!

 

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Saturday I took Kirby, Stacy, and Ashton for a picnic…

 

…out at the implement shed.

 

Later I took a walk while the boys rode their bikes.  First Kirby’s pant leg got caught in the chain.

Then his chain came off. And later the riding got too hard for Stacy & Ashton. I was glad to get back to the house where the boys could play quietly in the living room and I could get back to my quilting!

Mother’s Quilt, Spring Storm, Guests

Mother has stuck with her string quilt and sewed and sewed. And now she already has it finished. We thought she was making this for charity; but yesterday I got to thinking that here she made this quilt when she is 87 years old, and I think it needs to stay in the family as an heirloom. So she said I could have it. How about that? Maybe we can do something else for charity!

We are trying to think of a good name for it. Maybe someone out there in blog land has a good idea of a name.

I have been working on “Spring Storm” as much as I can. Here is the background for a big bolt of lightning coming down out of the sky.

I’ve machine appliqued the lightning to the background and now I’m quilting it with organic lines about 1/8” apart. I’m loving the texture the quilting is giving it.

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Don't forget to enter my fabric giveaway here. You have until March 17 to enter.

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Last Sunday we had a table full of company.

Darren & Becky with Corina

Wes & Heidi with Jackie and William

Jed & Vicki

Paul’s folks, Mom & Daddy

Melanie

and my mother, Margaret.