Laura's Quilt ... continued

I have finished piecing the top of Laura's Quilt ...

... and now I need a good name for it along with some fast quilting design ideas.

Our Busy Life

Recent visitors in our home have been Laura's family, Dale & Ruthie Dickerson. Ruthie is my first cousin.

Laura with her sister Audrey and brother Kevin.

Paul's sister Dorcas trying desperately to find some fabric to match her quilting projects.

I quilted at Colonade Gardens in Columbus for the Pilgrimage. This young girl showed an interest in learning to stitch.

This is the site for the new Bogue Chitto Cotton Gin in our area. A number of old hog barns have been removed and the pits filled in.

The Grabers gathered at the river for boat rides ...

... and a picnic.

This app shows Jupiter is here and Saturn is here!

Nice pose, Ashley!

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly." The same applies for young girls!

I wonder if this fish is going to be any good.

No fear of snakes and critters with these boys.

Joshua

Marv & Darryl

Karla & Laura giving me an elaborate rendition of "Chop Sticks."

It takes 6 people to plant 3 raspberry bushes!

The great day that Kirby & Ashton learned to ride bicycle.

Sheila & Georgi hold baby Abigail who looks like her big sister, Brooke Yoder.

Laura's Quilt

I decided to go for a whole different look and pattern for Laura's quilt. We started to make her quilt using the Tossed Nine Patch idea but it just didn't work well with the fabrics we had chosen. You can see the beginning of the quilt here in the top right corner of the design wall.

 

Now, since I have seen what Film in the Fridge has made here and here, I decided to sew the dark 4" squares together to make rectangles. I cut the green squares into 3 strips and added the strips to the lighter focus fabric. Now, I think we are on to something that will work.

Picnic and Hymn Sing

Our church was invited to Willard & Jenn's for a picnic under the shade trees.

Here Tressa enjoys one of her, (Is it 13?) great grand children.

Our congregation has many little children and young parents again after a long dry spell.

The youth group enjoyed each other's company.

Dana & Thelma played "corn hole" with ...

... Jewel and Alma. Leland helped keep score.

Jeff visited with brothers, Otis & Elmer while their wives, Marie & Anna Mae who are sisters share together.

"Happy Birthday to You" made Diane smile for her 25th birthday.

Hiedi visits with the "birthday girl."

On Sunday evening we gathered at Roy & Tillies for an outdoor hymn sing. Brother Roy is bedfast. He enjoyed the music from the open window.

After the singing these girls appeared at my side to shake my hand and get a pink lozenge. I failed to have the candy on hand, so I took their picture instead.

Oneida rounded up a baby goat ...

... for the children to pet.

Quilt Books

I recently acquired 2 new books for my quilt library. The first one, "Color & Design by Heather Thomas" is an eye catching book. I found it at JoAnn's in TN when I was at a Mountain QuiltFest. I had finished my shopping and decided I'd sit at the table to browse through this book while I waited on my sisters. This book is full of rich colorful photos of quilts and great designs and inspiration and ideas for quilts. I drooled quite a bit! There was a fellow sitting across the table from me and we engaged in small talk. He had been cutting trees all day and was tired. He brought his wife to JoAnns to indulge her and then they were going to go out for supper. When he realized that I really liked the book I was looking at he offered to buy it for me. Well ... who am I that this stranger should buy a book for? And he was dead serious. We talked some more and I ask him to meet his wife. He finally found her and I met the sweetest lady, and yes, they like to bless people and would love to buy the book for me. With the 50% off coupon the $29.95 book was only $15. He handed me $16.00 cash. Oh, ... I just couldn't turn them down. And then in all my excitement I failed to get an address to send a thank you note, but I did write down their names, Eddie & Kathy from Knoxville, TN. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And this just makes me want to bless someone else.

And the second book "Baskets -- New Quilts From an Old Favorite" is published each year with 18 finalists in the challenge. I like to enter this contest each year making a new innovative quilt from an old traditional quilt block. My entry this year ended up looking more like pyramids than baskets, so I named it "Pharaoh's Tombs." You can read about it here.

There was even room to tell about the 'Farmer's Delight' quilts my family has made.

This book is available from AQS and Amazon.