LOTS of quilt pictures!

I have lots of new pictures for you tonight! First is a photo of the fabrics that I used in a Turning Twenty Mystery Quilt that I started at a retreat several years ago. And, shhh! There's a secret! I'll tell you in a minute!

I had some of the blocks sewn together wrong from when I first worked on it years ago, so I avoided "unsewing" until this last weekend. I was finally in the mood to "redesign some seams," so I got started. This is the center before I got started on the borders. My last classes at work are Friday, so maybe I'll have some time to finish the borders this weekend and show them to you next week. By the way, please ignore the black weed blocker and rain water jugs in the background. I won't have time to tidy up outside until I get out for the summer. However, you may admire my diplendia blossoms in the background! : )

Now, are you ready for the surprise? I've finally finished my Harvest Quilt. Okay, okay, I still have one side of binding to finish. Anyway, I started both of these quilts at the same time. Why? They're both the same mystery quilt! What a difference fabric selection makes! I LOVE the rich colors of the Harvest quilt, while the pink quilt is a little too sugary for my tastes. I'll have to wait and see how it looks when it's finished.

Gratuitous Sinbad picture! He had to know what I was doing outside.

Here's a quilt you haven't seen before. Mom just quilted this little child's quilt for me last week, so I don't have it bound yet. I'm back to three quilts waiting to be bound now and another one that I just dropped off to mom this afternoon. Help!

By the way, did you recognize the leftover centers from this quilt? I hate to throw out leftovers. I just added in a bunch of coordinating colors in a simple 36 patch and sewed them together. Easy baby blanket!

My begonia half hidden by one of the diplendias.The diplendia keeps the begonia from getting too much sun. Don't you love the matching pots? Ooohh, Sinbad's getting a belly!

One of my clemetis plants in bloom. I have some mandevilla coming up beside it. Those blossoms should be open in a day or two. My, do I need to scrub my bird bath! Come on summer vacation!!! I need some outdoor time!

I bought a darling drooping tree. I want to plant it in the garden, but right now the weeds are taller than the tree! The poor thing will just have to live in a pot on my landing until it grows up some.

More quilt photos. Can you tell I'm in love with this Tonga Batik quilt? It's one of my favorites of all of my quilts, and, I hate to admit, the only quilt that I have ever made by completely following a pattern. Although I will say that it was a block of the month, but I used my own fabrics for it. It was supposed to be much darker, in rich cranberries and golds. The original was beautiful (and I've added the fabrics to my stash!), but I LOVE these cooler colors in blues and greens.

Okay, I'm all pictured out! I hope you enjoyed them.

See ya later,

Debbi

Misc.

Well, I went back to my owl wallhanging last night. My petals this time actually look really good, if I do say so myself! And I do.  : ) I'll get some photos this weekend and post them. I'm almost finished with binding my Harvest Time quilt. I need to bind my Black and Blue quilt next.

I also finished a girl's baby quilt and Mom quilted it for my this week. That means three quilts in need of or in the process of being bound. Whew!

Final thoughts on Bandit:

Well, I was right about Sinbad missing Bandit. Sinnie slept with me all night last night. He first curled up on my shoulder where I could pet him and reassure him. He then alternately sprawled across my chest, flopped across my throat, and wrapped himself around my knee. For the last couple of months, Sinnie has slept inside the sunroom near the window with Bandit sleeping in his catnip garden on the other side. Sinnie sat in the suroom and saw everything when I brought Bandit home and when my husband took carried him away for burial. I grieve for Bandit and feel sorry for Sinnie.

Red Seas and Harvest Times

How fitting. Mom's feathers remind me a little of scroll work. Maybe instead of Red Sea, I should call this quilt Red Sea Scrolls, do you think? I like it!

 The outer edge triangles have half designs.

 A full design on a light square.

A distance view of the pattern.

 A complete feathered circle on the red squares as well.

A really good photo of the feathers on a light square.

Yesterday, Mom finished quilting my Harvest Time Mystery Quilt from two - or was it three?- years ago at the Q.U.I.L.T. Retreat to the Hills. She did a great job, as usual! Here are some photos, starting with the backing.

I actually had to buy fabric for the back of this quilt. I couldn't find anything that was the right color or feel in my stash. This fabric came from Digital Quiltz in Eureka Springs, AR. John's sister was clearancing out the shop after John's passing earlier this year. Now I'll think of John and Martha every time I see my quilt. That will be a nice memory. The photo shows the colors a little darker than they actually are. The flash on my camera phone didn't go off. Camera phone photos, you say? I know, but I was in a tearing hurry this morning, and it was the best I could do if I wanted to get something posted today. I broke my husband's car Wednesday, so he had to drive me in to work this morning. That means that I was on his time schedule instead of mine.

This photo is actually a little light, but it shows off the quilting nicely, so I included it. Isn't the quilting beautiful?

Way too dark of a photo. I hoped to show one of the butterflies in the red square, but oh well. You'll just have to use your imagination.

 Again, a bit light on the colors, but you can see one of the cute little butterflies in the green.

Entirely too dark without the flash again, but a great shot once more of some of the quilting.

A look at the overall Turning Twenties design that we were given for our mystery quilt. I chose the inner border design to give it a bit more challenge then used a wide outer border to feature my lovely focal print fabric. Fairly accurate on the coloring in this photo.

Ooh, I caught one of the red butterflies with this shot!

 Another view of some of the pattern. This photo shows the colors the best. Aren't they lovely and warm?

 Callie (on the far right) was trying to help me lay out this quilt.

Okay, so I'm now up to five large quilts to bind, right? Aaauuugh! It's a good thing I have July off because I think I know what I'll be doing! How exciting. At least I know that I'll have a couple of quilts to enter in our guild quilt show next April.

Back to grading...

Deb



Another quilt top finished!

I started this quilt at the Q.U.I.L.T. retreat in 2009 as a mystery quilt. All I had left to do was adjust two of the borders that I had mismeasured and then put on the final border. If it was that easy, why didn't I do it years ago? Oh, who knows. I always had new quilts calling, I guess. Anyway, I hope Mom doesn't have any plans for this summer since she is my quilter. This is the third top done on my To-Do List page! Hip, hip hurrah! I've also finished one side of the border on my hearts quilt. Only three more sides to go. Spring break and rainy weather = project completion time!

 I decided to pick these daffodils before the rains destroys them. We're expecting 5-7" in the next 48 hours.

 More daffodils and some paperwhites. Don't those smell great?!?

I finished two quilt tops on Saturday and one today. Yesterday I didn't touch my sewing machine. Instead, my husband and I built this plant bench outside of my new sunroom. I built one inside for my indoor plants this winter, but it's nice enough to put some of them outside now, so they needed someplace to sit where my husband doesn't have to mow around them. It may not be fancy, but we live way out in the country, so who's to see but us? I like it.