Top's Done!

Today I put the borders on my niece's quilt. Feels good to have the top all finished! I used a triple border: 1" black border, then 2" note print border and finally a 3" blue border. It will be a good size for her dorm bed, I think!
The finishing of the quilt will have to wait, though. We are off again. This time it's vacation. We're spending a week with our kids and grandkids at a state park in Missouri--centrally located for all of us. We're looking forward to the time away and a chance to get in lots of hugs. Hope the weather will be good for outdoor activities! (I think there's a quilt shop in a little town nearby...field trip for me one day?)
Not sure I will make the Aug. 15th deadline I set for completing my niece's quilt. I was telling a new Indiana friend this last week and she gave me a great idea! Why not send it to her at college (instead of at home before she leaves) and tuck in some goodies with the quilt--Oreos, M&Ms, etc. Sounds perfect to me, and takes the pressure off!
If you have not heard of the Quilters' Hall of Fame, take a look at their website. It is located in Marion, IN, in the restored home of Marie Webster. She was quite a lady in her day--the 1920's. She designed, published and sold quilt patterns and was the author of the first book about quilting--Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them. Many of her designs appeared in Ladies Home Journal in the 20's and 30's.
Each year they hold a Celebration in Marion. A new member of the Hall of Fame is inducted and there are classes, lectures, quilt exhibits, auctions, a vendor mall. One can see "celebs" walking around--Eleanor Burns and Georgia Bonesteel have been regulars for the past few years.
I have been attending the Celebration for at least 5 years now...I use it as a time to reconnect with some of my quilting buddies in Indiana. For the past two years, I have had a booth at the vendor mall--a chance to spread the word about my patterns. It's fun to talk with quilters and hear their comments about my patterns. My "Apron Strings" was definitely a hit!
Have fun stitching (yes, I have some little scrappy projects packed to work on during vacation!). Carol :)

Progress

If I would stay home, I'd have my niece's quilt all finished by now! But last week I was in Indiana for 4 days, at the Quilters' Hall of Fame Celebration. More on that in my next blog.

I AM making progress on the quilt for my niece. I have all the blocks finished and am setting them together today. What a fun block to work with! It is a 9-patch, made up only of 4-patches and half-square triangle squares, so it's very easy to construct. I have played with different layouts, and several different looks are possible. At first I thought I would turn the blocks two different ways.

That layout looks like this picture. I like the secondary pattern that appears. But what would it look like if all the blocks were going in the same direction?

The last picture shows the blocks laid out that way. A secondary pattern appears here, too! For some reason, I like this layout better. It seems more young and fun. Plus, I don't have to think about which way to turn the blocks when I am setting them together. They all go together the same way!

Told you it was easy!!! I'll have the top done in no time, now! Back to the sewing machine...hope you're having fun with your sewing, too!

Carol :)

Creating More Leftovers

I'm working on my niece's graduation quilt. It is definitely a break from "scrappy"! I'm only using two fabrics for this quilt--black music notes on a cream background and a black floral design on a blue background. And I'm making BIG blocks--18" Jacob's Ladder blocks--so I only need to make 12 of them to have a quilt big enough for her dorm bed. It's turning out to be fast and fun. A picture will be coming soon.
I had another idea in mind originally so I bought a bit too much fabric. I'm already thinking of what I'll do with the leftovers! :) Happy summer stitching! Carol

Giving Birth to New Patterns

Introducing PINKS and APRON STRINGS...

Finally my two new patterns are ready! I can't believe how long this process has taken...but I have had a few other things going on the past few months, too! This was like giving birth, but not as painful!

I've been thinking about this "Thanks, Grandma" line of patterns for a long time, and have lots of sketches and ideas for it in my notebook. There will be several quilts for little ones, some doll quilts, and some large quilts. My grandmothers were the ones who got me started sewing and interested in quilts and quilting. I hope they are smiling down on me, proud of what I'm up to! :)

I pulled fabrics from my drawers of vintage prints for Apron Strings. They were a joy to work with! And I used packaged bias binding around the edges of the wall quilt. That was easy to work with, too! I just might have to try it on a larger project!

And I used some of my huge collection of Aunt Grace fabrics for PINKS. I hardly made a dent in the collection, though. Expect to see more Aunt Graces in upcoming projects.

Patterns are available by e-mailing me: cloessel@yahoo.com . Hope you continue to have fun with your fabric scraps! Carol :)

Time Out

I've had a time-out this week--daughter, son-in-law and 17-month-old granddaughter visited. I had to put everything safely out of reach, so projects got put away in my sewing room. Now I'm slowly getting them back out. I'm taking a fresh look at them and prioritizing.
I need time-outs. I am not one who can sit and sew all day long. My body says "get up and move around!" I keep my ironing board upstairs so that when I need to press, I get some exercise. I take a break to go outside and pull a few weeds. I go work out at Curves. At the cottage with my quilting buddies, a couple of us went for a walk when weather permitted. (On one walk, we saw a deer run across the road ahead of us and spotted some Lady Slippers in the woods!)
Time-outs are good not only for working out the kinks, but also for thinking. Many a "road block" has been worked out during a time-out!
A week-long time-out is too long, though. I'm ready to get back to sewing. It won't be long before my sewing machine is humming! I need to get my niece's graduation quilt done! :)
Happy sewing to you, too! Carol