Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Finished quilts

On August 11, 2013 I went through my two cupboards of unquilted tops and took photos and measured all of them.  There was a whopping 53 tops, from mini to king!  About half had backings with them.  I started in machine quilting some of the smaller one and was surprised when I counted them this week and found out how many I have completed since then.  I have finished 16 of them!  I have only added one top to the collection, but it is the big one that is the background photo on my blog.  These are some of those quilts, some have already been donated without getting finished photos.
throw size using Quick Curve ruler

Full size Crazy Stars 

Foundation paper pieced flowers

Half Yard Challenge Mystery wallhanging

Kaffe Hexagons wallhanging

Mini Sampler


Oak leaves made by my friend Vicki, given to me after her death

Picket Fences throw

Scrappy Trips lap/throw

String pieced donation quilt

Table topper or wallhanging


Sunday, January 05, 2014

Favorite Quilt Tops of 2013

These are my two favorite tops finished in 2013, neither of them quilted yet!  I started off 2013 by finishing a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called Easy Street.  I love the colors!  I started it after Thanksgiving 2012 and it was a finished top in January 2013.  I am not a green fan but I do love this quilt!  It's huge! 
 I ended the year finishing a log cabin quilt from a book by Judy Martin.  I started sewing it at a retreat at Palouse Divide Lodge in November and finished the top in December, 5,206 pieces.  It's 94 X 94.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Starting Anew in 2014

I skipped all of 2013 and half of 2012 in blogging.  I am motivated to blog again.  I will slowly be working on updating my sidebar and all that fun stuff.

I am going to start by saying that June 14, 2013 was a day that changed my life forever.  My son, Brad age 22, had come for the night of the 13th from Moscow in time for dinner.  My daughter Amy, SIL Nathan and grandson Jared were there for the week and we were all going to take off Friday, the 14th for Boise.  My nephew Brett had just graduated from the USMA at West Point and my sister was hosting a party.

Brad had just graduated from U of Idaho and was working for the U of I in plant breeding.  He was hired for canola, mustard seed, etc. but was still working in wheat breeding that he had kept going through undergraduate studies.  He was going to go out that morning and check wheat test plots on our property which was standard for the weekends he came home.  We all thought he was out and about and finally realized he wasn't around and his pickup was there and I went into his room and found him dead.  Doug was right behind me and pronounced him and called the sheriff.  I called Lisa who was on the road from Seattle to meet us in Boise so she and Kevin made a turn and came here instead.

All tests were inconclusive, tox screen showed nothing, forensic autopsy showed nothing and eventually the forensic pathologist for the state declared "probable dis-arrhythmia of unknown etiology".  Basically his heart stopped in his sleep for no known reason.  In researching this, it happens to young adult men more often than women and usually in their early 20's.

It's been an emotional struggle to understand and accept.  He was physically fit and had a brilliant future.  I guess God needed him elsewhere, that's about as religious as I am going to get.

Future posts will be related to quilting and other adventures, but I needed to start out by getting this one off my chest.