Finishes are Great!

I returned from a beautiful trip to Nova Scotia itching to finish a few projects. I had made some wonky rail fence blocks using Mary's techniques and put them together for a donation quilt to American Hero Quilts. I just have to find some dark backing fabric and I can bundle up top, binding and backing and send it off to give a returning soldier some comfort and support.



I also, at long last, finished my free-hand baptist fan quilting on this small shoo fly quilt. I followed Tonya's wonderful instructions and used size 12 pearl cotton. It is a relaxing method, I didn't stress about making them perfect, and it gave wonderful character and texture to the quilt. I must have worked on this quilt dozens of places ... waiting for karate and piano lessons, on airplanes, at my small quilting circle, on the sofa at home ... I'll have to start another one soon.

Many Years in the Making

At least 11 years ago, before I moved to Connecticut I'm sure, I created a stack of 9-patches for a quilt I saw in a book. They all had green centers, and I looked for awhile for the perfect green fabric for some of the alternate blocks. However, even after I found a great textured green, I could never really decide if that was what I wanted to do with those nine patches. I agonized over it much more than necessary and they sat in a box. Being a big fan of many of Bonnie's designs at quiltville, I got the urge recently to make her sister's choice quilt, and decided to use up all those 9-patches, both in the squares and around the border. My 9-patches were 7.5" instead of 6", but only minor tweaking was required to adjust the pattern. I'm pleased that I used every single one, plus had to make 3 more to finish up the border. Just finished adding the binding. I just machine quilted it simply with wavy lines. I'm looking forward to enjoying this after it gets a bit cooler.


I found some great dot fabric in the Project Linus stash attic that inspired a few more bright tops - we'll tie them on Wednesday and they'll be on their way soon to cheer up a sick child!

Round Robin Done

After thinking about many ideas and trying out several, I finally finished a spring fling round robin center that I like. It seems both easier and more difficult to have a recipient with very few preferences - I hope she likes what I came up with and I hope my center inspires the next 3 quilters! The photo just shows a peek of the whole center block.

I have also been finishing up some tops for Project Linus quits. I get together on Wednesdays with a great group of ladies, and we add fleece backings and then tie the quilts for local children in need. They have a wonderful stash of donated fabrics, so when I want to try out a new pattern I can whip up a top and bring it in to finish it there. It's so fun to be inspired by fabrics I find there and then know the quilt will go to a good cause.