This Mother's Heart 25 Blocks Strong

Went for a little trip this past weekend.  I made a few blocks (I think six) in the Pilot on the way there and back.  It was very crowded and not very comfy (for me at least). 

Here is a view of my lap on the way there...

Non-quilters can stop reading now.  You will have no interest in the following information.  In the above picture I was hand appliqueing the colored piece onto the cream background.  That is how I have made all the blocks except for two today. 

The two made today were machine zigzagged instead of hand stitched.  You know what?  They look OK.  I now have an "even" 25 blocks (even as in they make a square on my design wall).  So I'm not going to work on those for a while.  See my secret blog for projects I'm going to be working on.  If you don't have the address for that, send me an email, and I will send it to you (unless you're in my family).

I gave my FIL the Zigzag Stars quilt Saturday.  He seemed to like it.  I also gave my SIL the Cotton Seeds wall hanging.  She sent me a phone pic today of it already hanging in her foyer.  She says she likes it a lot. 

~Joan



New Blog and Finished Quilt

I have another blog.  It is by invitation only.  It is for secret projects I am working on.  If you want to see it, send me an email at whistlersmother10@carolina.rr.com, and I'll send you the link.

Here is a project I finished a couple days ago.  It is about 80" square.  The second and third pictures are close-ups. 

After the projects are finished and presented to their new owners, I'll post them here as finished. 

This one is being delivered on Friday of this week, but I don't think the recipient reads my blog.  At least I hope not anyway.

~Joan

For Sale Soon on eBay...

Soon I will be listing the above two quilt tops for sale. I am cleaning out some of my unfinished quilt tops that I can bear to part with.

The top is called Zigzag Star. It might be staying here. It is lacking two borders. I love the zigzag that runs down the quilt and can just imagine it with a large feather quilted there. I also really like the stars with the tiny 16-patch centers. But now that I've pieced it, it just doesn't scream "keep me forever". Well, maybe it's whispering. I think I'll refold that one and put it back in the drawer.

As for the bottom quilt top (Mennonite Mosaic), it definitely must go. I was this close (imagine pic of my forefinger and thumb a nanometer apart) to hand quilting it. I even bought the right shades of each color thread to correspond to the fabrics in the quilt. When I first saw this quilt top on two other blogs, I HAD to piece one...it was like an obsession. It is really an amazing design. The colors read as solids from a slight distance, but they are all actually tiny Thimbleberries prints. The problem?? There is no place for red fabric (in this large of a dose) in my life. I don't want to repaint any rooms or make new window treatments for the living room, so it must go. I am seriously considering making one with brown where the red is so I can use it for a bed quilt in my bedroom. Hand quilting has me in its grasp, and I should piece and hand quilt one before the grasp loosens!

If you are interested, check out my auction button to the left...might be a day or two before it's listed. I hope to do it today, but one never knows!

~Joan

Scrappy Stars Renamed...Center Finished

Lo, and behold...a mostly finished quilt top! This pattern is called "Scrappy Stars", but I had to rename it considering that I have lots of scrappy star quilts already. I think Zigzag Stars will be the new name for this. It still needs a thin inner and wide outer border to be complete, but this is a great start! It measures 68" square now. The original pattern only had 3 rows of blocks, but bigger is better here at the ole homestead. If you want to see past posts about this, search for "scrappy stars".

Just got some great news. My family will be "house sitting" for one of my husband's cousins for a week in July. They have a large in-ground pool (that's a big plus for us), and we can use their house for housing. It would cost a fortune for our family to pay for temporary housing for a week (hotel, condo, cabin--you name it!). So this is a huge blessing for us. We will be close to my WH's family, so we will be visiting with them as well.

~Joan