Quilt-Along: First Block Finished

Amazing...I finished the first block on time!! (Colors are so much prettier in person)

I got so excited that I tried to find the next block today. New patterns are published on Thursdays--I got a little ahead of myself.

Google Reader is History

So sad...it was so easy and now we must all learn something new. *Sigh*

I've found the easiest one for me to be Bloglovin, it even imports all the blogs you follow from Google Reader.

So...off you go now. Hurry--Google reader is gone as of tomorrow. Click on the button on the right and you're on your way.

Ooops!!

I realized today, when I received a rather unfriendly comment, that my post about the Quilt-Along did not publish on the 21st, like I had intended. For that, I apologize.





However, take heart...this Quilt-Along is only one block per week and it would be easy to give it a go either from your stash fabrics and/or a quick trip to the quilt shop (who can resist that??)

And to the person who continually feels the need to comment on my short-comings, I can only respond that I am not perfect. I would love to speak with you further, but since you post as "anonymous," alas, my hands (fingers?) are tied.

Its a Quilt-Along!!

Have you seen this quilt?? Its the finished design of the Quilt Along by Michele Foster at Quilting Gallery. Doesn't it look like fun??? I have always been drawn to quilts that have different sized blocks; I just think it makes them so interesting.

Not only am I going to join in on this Quilt-Along, I have also donated a prize. More on that in a bit.

I love Cherrywood Fabrics (who doesn't???) so I intend to use them on this project. I had originally planned to pull from my stash, but where's the fun in that? *grin* Instead, I'm using a combo of the Cherrywood I already own along with these colors:

My background:

My main colors for the blocks:

And a few Cherrywoods from my stash to add a little "pop." Unfortunately, the photo makes them look dull--trust me, they're not!

When Michele asked for prizes to be donated, I decided to donate my quilting. It was only a tiny step from donating my quilting to wanting my own quilt to quilt. So, if you win the prize I donated, you can have a free edge-to-edge pattern on this Aiming For Accuracy quilt or, if you love it as much as I think I'm going to love mine, you can have custom quilting for 50% off.

The actual instruction begins tomorrow, so there's still time to join in the fun. If you do participate, let me know. I'd love to see the colors you choose. There will also be an additional prize for my followers that join in.  Come on now...you know you want to!!

White Sulfur Springs Auction Quilt

A longtime customer of mine, Barbara, called and asked whether I'd be willing to donate quilting on a top she'd made that is to be auctioned at the benefit for White Sulfur Springs. Unless you're from the Plumas County (California) area, you have no idea what that is. WSS is an historic County landmark dating back to the 1860's. It was a once beautiful majestic ranch house/hotel overlooking all of Mohawk Valley. Unfortunately, in 2004, the 400 acre ranch was purchased by a Bay Area citizen who, after razing several old structures on the land, agreed not to tear the house down, but refused to use any of his funds to restore it.

In 2007 I was called on to inspect the structure (at that point, I was a Code Enforcement Officer for the County). It was not in good shape; however, it was not at a point where demolition would be required. Seeing the inside of this once glorious house was a perk; seeing its decay was sad. The structure was "red tagged," as it was not safe to be inhabited. Currently, the Mohawk Valley Stewardship Council is holding benefits and raising funds to restore this once majestic building and return it to the public for events, weddings, etc.

So...back to the quilt! Barbara asked if I would donate my quilting on her top and knowing the history of WSS and feeling as if I have a personal connection, I enthusiastically said "YES." She sent the quilt and for the first time, gave me the green light to do whatever quilting I wanted. Because the quilt is very simple and has only two colors, I felt that my quilting needed to really accent rather than blend.

This is the finished quilt.

I quilted all of the purple areas first because I couldn't decide what to do with the baskets. In the border I did two sizes of piano keys, alternating between two and three inch divisions. The setting triangles got more line work, just much tighter. In the solid purple blocks, I opted for some swirly grid work.

Then it was back to the baskets.  What to do???  I had several ideas and finally, because I just couldn't decide, I called Dennis in to vote. I went with his choice of the feathers, pebbles (one of my other customer called them grapes) and leaves.






Although the color didn't turn out in the preceding pics or the ones of the back, below, the baskets and backing were a really nice shade of green that went beautifully with the purple. I quilted the the purple using So Fine! Purple Iris and the green areas with a light green Bottom Line thread. I used the same thread both top and bobbin and it really made the back of this quilt fun!

I have no idea why, but this photo looks as if I've made it black and white. I didn't, but it sure shows off the quilting nicely. (hmmm....maybe I should do that on purpose in the future???)

I feel very honored to have been asked to quilt this top and hope that it raises a lot of money to help with the restoration. Their annual event is on June 30th and Barbara has promised to let me know how it goes.