Monthly challenge block

I just finished four blocks for our montly block challenge. Each month someone in our group picks a 9" block pattern. We each make our own version in our own color choices. At the end of the year we will put our quilt tops together any way we want to. We should come up with some great looking quilts.

I was one month behind - so I did February, March and then got ahead a little by doing April and May. Now I have a little time off from this project. I need to make some paper pieced signature hearts for a swap that is due in April - only have to make 8 more of those.

And two blocks by Vicki . . .

And one by Billie

A quilt every few days or so #3

I made this quilt about 12 years ago. My friend Lois drew the teddy bears, one for each month of the year. I did the stitching and made the quilt, also hand quilted it. It would fit a child's bed and my friends asked why I was making a kid's quilt when I didn't have kids at home, or any grandkids at that time.

I told them that the first grandchild gets the quilt - and I gave this one to Ben when he was first born. Maybe I'll make another one sometime - for the grandchildren that we hope will be coming to WV before too long.
We made a pattern for the quilt - which we have been selling for a couple years now.

For fun one day I was playing with photo shop and came up with some fun colors that would be very cute in this type of quilt . . .





Do you have a favorite redwork quilt - or redwork project? Or green, or purple, or blue?

A quilt every few days or so #2

This quilt is the same pattern as Aunt Mary's Rose - but done in Christmas colors . . .


I liked making the other quilt so much, that I decided I wanted another - and a quilt to put on the bed at Christmas time was the perfect idea. I started working on this quilt in Southern California - after I finished the pink one (which didn't get quilted for several years).

I had run out of fabric for the inner red, print pieces - only needed a little bit more but of course I had gotten the fabric some time before and couldn't find it anymore. We had company visiting from Panama and we went to Thrifty Drug Store and there in the back of the store was a sundress of the same fabric. The same!!!! I grabbed it up and as we were checking out, our friend from Panama started to barter with the clerk - she said, "I'll give you 4.00 for that sundress".



I was amused, because our friend didn't realize we didn't barter at the stores here, and it was drawing some attention. The clerk really didn't know what to do - but I told her that I was happy with the price - I just wanted that sundress. I was able to finish up the quilt top and when I tell the story now, everyone tries to find the pieces of the sundress, since they are a tad different shade, but over the years you can't tell the difference.

I was quilting this top one day in SoCal when we got the news that the papers were ready to sign on our new house. I stuck the needle in the quilt, went to sign the papers and never did get back to quilting it after we moved. Then about 5 years later we moved to N. CA and one day I took out the quilt - the needle was still threaded and in the fabric, and amazingly enough, not rusted. So I finished it up and that winter it went on our bed on Thanksgiving night.

This quilt goes on our bed on Thanksgiving night and stays until New Years eve - when I change it for a different winter quilt. It is one of my favorites - because of the story, because of the colors and because it is just a nice friendly quilt.

Do you have holiday quilts for your bed?

Sew-in - christmas carol challenge quilts

Each month at our sew-in we get a new step for the christmas carol challenge quilt. If you are just joining me - the challenge is to pick a christmas carol and them make a quilt from it, like a round robin, except that we each do all the steps on our own quilt.

The first step was to make a 22 1/2" square to depict the song. Second step - 2 1/2" plain (not pieced) border. Third step was to add corner triangles to set the block on point (we apparently are getting another step that will turn it back right side up instead of sideways) and the fourth step is a 4 1/2" pieced border - that is the step for March - due by March 27th, our next sew-in.

It is amazing how different ladies translate the songs. Diane and Daisy are both doing White Christmas - and their quilts are really different from each other.

Diane's quilt - third step . . .

This is the appliqued center . . .

A corner of Diane's quilt. She is doing everything in WOW (white-on-white) except for the appliqued center with the sleigh. She was working on step 4, the 4 1/2" border, flying geese, all in WOW. A very striking quilt.

Susannah - step 3 (the white on the outside is wall, not quilt)

Susannah's center - her family picking out a christmas tree in the woods . . .


Daisy's center with step 2 - she is also doing White Christmas . . .

Daisy - step 4 . . . on the design wall . . .

Close up of Daisy's fourth step - a printed border of quilts in the snow . . .

My quilt - step 2 - T'was the night before Christmas - still some embellishing to do . . . and I MUST learn to take straight photos. . .


Here is my steps three and four - the corner triangles and the 4 1/2" border - I decided to do do flying geese. The green/white fabric is the fabric I was searching for - all over the internet, in friend's stashes, in quilt shops - and I was so lucky that my friend Diane had a fat quarter of it and that was enough to finish the flying geese, but I needed more for another border later in the quilt, and Ann Shipley in North Carolina had some in her stash and was willing to sell me some. Three whole yards - oh happy day!!!! Thank you Ann and Diane!!!!

This photo shows how I did one side in red/green flying geese and when the border turned the corner the flying geese switched to being the white with green. I like the way it turned out. There was a lot of figuring to get it to come out right. Don't let anyone tell you that you will never use the math you learned in school - I used it a LOT in this border.

We'll get our next step on March 27th - can't wait to see what Susannah will have us do next. Maybe we can talk her into giving us the step early.

A quilt every few days or so #1

I have two friends that are showing a quilt a day. Julie is just starting to show her quilts and Sharon has been going for two months now. I can't promise a quilt a day - but I'll try for one every few days and we'll see how that goes. You can spend an eternity at Sharon and Julie's blogs - they make some of the best quilts you'll ever see. Julie does my machine quilting - so you'll see some of her work here from time to time.

The first quilt I want to show you is one I made over 15 years ago. It is hand appliqued and hand quilted. We call it Aunt Mary's Rose - after one of Don's aunts. I like this photo of it on the porch of our house in N. California.

This is the whole quilt, hanging on the clothesline at the house we lived in before we bought this house. I miss that clothesline - we aren't allowed clotheslines here and I think that is a shame, because you get such pretty pictures on clotheslines. I am trying to think of some way to string a line from the house to the little grove of trees in the back yard - a line that I can hook up to take photos of quilts and then take right down.

Close up of the hand quilting. This is the quilt I have on the bed in spring.

Do you change your quilts with the season.

Craft Month - Quilting Month

March is National Craft Month and also National Quilting Month - but in honor of bloggers worldwide I declare it International Craft Month and International Quilting Month. So what shall we do for this wonderful month? Any ideas for a great craft? Any idea for a quilt that you just MUST make? I'd like to see your projects and ideas.

For me, I starting out the month binding a quilt for a raffle quilt for St. Francis Nursing Home.


Each fall there is a county wide Volunteer Day, sponsored by Whatcom Volunteer Center. There are hundreds of opportunities to volunteer and I signed up to help with the raffle quilt. It was machine quilted by a local volunteer long arm quilter and now I have it again to do the binding and label, and then it is ready to raffle near Easter.

The fabric used for this quilt was from the story book Brown Bear, Brown Bear - extremely cute.

There is a day care at St. Francis and each year the staff helps the children and the residents of the nursing home make handprints on fabric, a child print and an adult print on each block. Their names are written on the quilt blocks too.

Close up of fabrics and handprints . . . the binding is done in the stripey fabric . . .

After the binding is done I want to make more YoYo Easter Eggs (get free pattern by clicking the words) for the wood basket in the dining room.


Last year I made a plastic canvas Bunny Cottage. I think the eggs will go nicely with the house.

So let's hear about your plans for International Crafting and Quilting month - I'm sure you have lots of fun things planned.

Before and After - Vintage Thingies Thursday

It is time for Vintage Thursday Thingee - and I've got some great things to share. Please join us at Coloradolady, where Suzanne is our hostess, to see vintage thingies!

And stop over at Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday! You know you want to see all the wonderful thrifty buys.

When we lived in CA we had a friend who lived in a wonderful old house. The yard was full of wondeful flowers and trees. Lucille had gardened all her life and the yard was wonderful.

A lovely spirea that had grown horzontally along one fence . . .

Wysteria that scented the town for blocks around . . .

And a bush that grew the biggest snowball flowers I'd ever seen . . .

Lucille had lived there for years and years and now she was alone in the house and soon it became apparent that she no longer was able to stay in her home. Her niece decided that instead of selling the home, she would rent it out, giving Lucille the hope that someday she might be able to return to her home.

The house was full of lovely old antiques - used by Lucille all her life, and I asked her niece, since she was renting out the house, if I might buy the small china cabinet from Lucille. Her niece said she thought she would leave all the furniture for the renters.

Not long after, we were jolted awake by the fire siren going off in town - and as we looked out our window we could tell that the fire was near Lucille's house - in fact it WAS Lucille's house. The fire department was only two blocks away and they reached the house in time to save it - but not before major damage was done.

The cause of the fire - the renters had wanted to save money by not using the dryer and had piled their wet clothes over the large intake grate to the furnace. When the furnace could not get enough air to circulate through the house because of the wet clothes on the intake grate, it caught fire and the fire quickly spread to the attic over the kitchen. Most of the house was saved, but many wonderful antiques were lost.

The next day we walked past Lucille's house, and the smell of wet, burned wood, and the drip, drip, drip of the water still there from the fire hoses was the most dismal sight and sound I'd ever seen or heard. It broke my heart to think of Lucille's house burning.

Soon after, her niece called me up and offered me the china cabinet for free. Here is the reason it was free . . .



The lovely little cabinet was burned, and wet, with broken glass and smoke and fire damage. I took the cabinet anyway and put it in our back yard. Then began weeks and weeks of sanding and scraping, more sanding and more scraping. The top was burned so badly from the fire being in the attic that I had to replace one of the boards on the very top.

After the scraping and sanding and cleaning was done I painted the whole china cabinet white, added some pretty knobs and it was ready to use. For several years bits of fine ash would sift down - from nooks and crannies that could not be reached to clean - it has finally stopped - 20 years later.

In our new living room . . .

Filled with my pine cone dishes, with a flock of chickens below . . .

We are thinking of painting the back of the open section white, so other dishes will show up better. Thinking - that's all for now - just thinking about it.

Have you refinished a piece of furniture? Was it more or less work than you anticipated?