Elisabeth and Her Valentine's Banquet Date

What a handsome couple. They were on their way to the college Valentine Banquet and concert. Hope he has her home before midnight!!

Oh, and there's *me* in the bottom of the right window, taking the picture!!

~Joan

Look for the Book!

I want to make a small wall hanging as a gift for a friend. I'll need it in about a month, so I started the blocks a few days ago. I couldn't find the book the pattern was in, so I just winged it. I forgot that the little wall hanging used 1-1/4" wide strips and not my usual 1-1/2" wide ones. So now I have 16 blocks to start a log cabine throw for some day. What a difference 1/4" makes!!

This. is. my. life...

~Joan

Spool Quilt as of This Morning

Has seeing my spool quilt made YOU want to start one? Huh? Do ya--huh, huh, huh? If you do, I'll trade a set of 25 blocks with you! Let me know if you are interested. I am trading a set of 25 with Sam. Can't wait to see what she sends me.

I like mine a lot more now that I'm incorporating some non-Thimbleberries prints and backgrounds in there. These are all sewn together, plus I have about 20 more blocks pieced.

~Joan

My Sewing Room View

Here is the view from my sewing room. We got 4 or so more inches of snow last night. It makes everything so lovely.

~Joan

So Sad...

There is no picture for this post. I started machine quilting my Grass is Always Greener quilt last night. I was so happy to finally get it loaded on the quilt frame and rev up the machine for those first stitches. The machine was skipping stitches something fierce. I put in a new needle, only to find it was worse!

My husband happens to be going by the repairman's shop today, so he is going to drop it off for me. Meanwhile, I'm sure I can find some other things to do!

~Joan

Hubby and Me

Here is a recent pic of us. It's from December 2009.

Enjoy!

~Joan

Grandmother's Flower Garden...Also in Bloom

Here is a project I found when I was cleaning up my bedroom. There are UFOs all over our house. I find convenient places to stash them, and they are forgotten for years. This particular UFO is so old that I don't remember where I got the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. I really like the old-fashioned classic patterns. You know what I mean--the quilt patterns that everyone knows, whether they quilt or not.

I only had five blocks, and they are stained. In my limited experience, I have seen nearly all the stains on these era blocks come out perfectly. I got the idea of connecting them with a fabric that would match all of them. Hahahaha...more difficult than I would have thought. I ended up with the feedsack-type sewing print you see with the blue background. I added the hexagon-shaped blocks BY HAND all around then joined them together. That's the point at which it went into hiding again.

The irregular-shaped edge was one aspect I did not want to deal with. Binding that would be torture. So last week I hand-appliqued it to the vintage-looking cream in the pictures above. I basted about half of it and started hand-quilting it. Today I finished the basting (yellow thread) and have done more of the quilting.

It's ugly as sin. I particularly dislike the purple stripes in the ugliest block (the blue and black one--see the close-up picture if you can stomach it). I realize in retrospect that I should have put the ugliest block in the middle (where it would be hidden by our napkin basket on the table, LOL), but it's too late now.

I am using thread that matches the backgrounds of the fabric so that the stitches don't shout (since the whole runner does anyway!!). I love old (antique, vintage) blocks, and some of my favorite quilts are ones I made using someone else's beginnings and brought them to an end.

Stay tuned. I'm sure I'll be posting a finished picture in this decade.

~Joan

New Project--Surprise, Surprise!!

I was cleaning out my drawer of small miscellaneous units and saw oodles of half square triangles. Years ago (about 9) I made my sister a little Corn and Beans quilt wall hanging. I've had it in the far recesses of my mind since then to make a throw-sized one. My HSTs are 2-1/4" square, not the optimal size, but I just adjusted the size of the other pieces to accommodate them. Without piecing any other HSTs, I have enough to make most of this quilt. I only have to cut the large triangles.

I am from the north, and corn and beans are about the only veggies I ate growing up. That is another reason this quilt has been on my make-someday list.

This is a long-term project...not hurry whatsoever.

~Joan

Three Little Posts

Here is the first of my three short posts for today. Ta-da...the famous Christmas cactus bloom. That's all. That was yesterday. It is nearly faded today!

~Joan