Wow, Almost the End of April!

I really do have good intentions to post on my blog.  I just need to be better at it on my phone and then I could manage it easier.  Getting the pictures to my computer takes effort.  Well, not really, it's just plugging in a cable...  

In my last post (two months ago!) I mentioned our house flooded.  Almost all the repair work has been completed (the bathroom still needs baseboard and the floor guy said it wasn't his job) and I spent my entire spring break working on the house putting things back together and cleaning EVERYTHING, absolutely everything in this big house from the construction dust.  "Someone" still needs to install my new laundry sink, but he has been busy farming.  The laundry sink was old and since it had to come out we chose to replace it with a nice stainless steel one.

I have gotten some quilting done.  These pictures are going to be in a random order.  

Wildest quilt top I have ever made - Kaffe fabric blocks from two swaps, assembled into one top.  The string blocks were sliced in half and I made the middle fit by adding black and white.

I used red and green Christmas low volume prints for this Chamomile Quilt.

Disappearing 4 patch

Another view at dusk with a bit of sunshine.

Brown Bag mystery 2020 Kaffe version.

Brown Bag Mystery 2020 - Batik version piano key border

Partially finished block of the month sample quilt

Easy Stripe Tablerunners

Quilts I made for a 16 year old girl (she went to the one room elementary I work at) and her mom.  The girl is undergoing treatment for her third bout of cancer.  I put two different fleeces on the backs so they could tell them apart.  All the blocks were made over the last couple of years as leader/enders.

Gnome is Where Your Garden Grows - shop sample top

This is a VERY old UFO, more than 15 years old.  I had the blocks done all this time.  Today I put them into a top and I have a backing ready to baste and quilt it.  I needed a gift for a college graduation and the young woman loves blue.  I am using a fun a nd funky backing with pink, her other favorite color!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday.

Sampler and Campers

I finished the latest batch of shop samples I had (two huge boxes!).  I finished the top of the Riley Black Sugarhouse Picnic quilt.  It took a lot of cutting, but at least there were only 8 different blocks and it went together well. 

Sugarhouse Picnic

 Here are a couple closeups. 

 The other items I made were from a panel.  The panel has two placemat fronts, one pillow front and a potholder front.  They are fun to make and are very cute!  I am not a camper and don't own a camper and they wouldn't match a thing in my house, but they are fun.

 Daffodils in my pasture when I was out doing a photo session of the sampler quilt.  I love how they are so random out there.  I have always had an idea of digging some up, but I have a few scattered around my flower beds and decided I would rather leave them.

I am joining Alycia for Finished or Not Friday. 

An Old Sampler Quilt

Back story:  In the late 90's I joined a yahoo group called Washington State Internet Quilters.  I did not live in Washington, but had gone to college in Washington and I live only an hour from the border.  I shop in Washington a lot, as that is where Joann's, Costco, Walmart, etc. are, crossing the Snake River between Idaho and Washington.  We abbreviated the group to WASIQ.

The group did a LOT of swaps.  We started a block swap where someone had a month and sent out fabrics to the others and got blocks back.  We didn't have a name for the group, it was called Swap Without a Name.  I shortened it to SWAN and it caught on.  We swapped for several years.  This quilt is made from one of those swaps.  I pieced the top YEARS ago!  The blocks were from 2003 or 2004.  It marinated long enough and I quilted and bound it and finished it this morning. 

SWAN floral quilt

detail photos

my dog Leia got in on the photo session

Interestingly two friends made me wallhangings to match the quilt!  I finished them and have been saving them all these years waiting to finish the quilt!  The first one was made by my late friend Debi.  She sent the top and I quilted it myself.  The second one was made by my friend Joann.  She asked for extra fabric and made a "big block".  I added the borders and quilted it.

I pieced this shop sample for Your Best Friend's Quilt Shop.  Christina (owner) had the stratas sewn, I cut them and assembled the top.

I am linking up with Alycia at TGIFF.

Found Some Old Projects

I am STILL working on my sewing room redo.  Since I am going every single thing (even saved printed copies of things), it is taking forever.  Plus I get distracted.  What?  Distracted?  Yes!  I do see the end in sight!

I did manage to sew on two bindings from quilts in this post., but that is it for quilting.  However I am finding projects, oh am I finding projects.  I was shocked to find these blocks.  I remember making a few, but not all of them and then realized this was my guild sampler/technique quilt that a group of us taught in 2001 and 2002.  It's quite the grouping and I have some other pieces including a full Mariner's compass block that needs appliqued to the background.  I don't know why the fabrics aren't with these, but hopefully I can find some in my stash.  I will have to really think about this one and it will be a nice donation quilt someday!  It's not getting to the top of my list at the moment.

Another old project I found was this one.  I started it in 1995, hand piecing.  

 This is how many rosettes I found completed.  I saw some pieces somewhere and I tossed them, which is just as well.  I think I will try machine stitching them together and appliqueing the whole thing to a background.  It's a good memory quilt of some old projects since they are all charms.

 I am really going to cringe when I get my final list of UFO's done! 

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.