Welsh Beauty

Another swath across Welsh Beauty has been quilted. It seems like the quilting goes faster since I'm stitching closer toward to the end. There is still a long way to go though.

Here are pictures from left to right. Of course Blogger decided to mix them up and put the center photos first. Oh well.

In April, several friends and I traveled to Archbold Ohio for the Sauder Quilt Show. This isn't a huge AQS show but more a home town show. There were a lot of beautiful quilts and I couldn't decide which ones to show you.

I decided I'd take pictures of all the whole cloth quilts and show them to you. 

Some of the quilts are hand quilted, some are machine quilted. All of them are lovely. The information label lists the size of the quilt and the type of quilting.

The ribbon picture shows the variegated yellow color the best.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday

Wildflower Woods

I've started a new project . . . and it's not a blue quilt!

I don't normally sew BOM's but several years ago I ordered a fabric kit from Caroline's Cotton Cottage in Rome City, Indiana, called Wildflower Woods. Wildflower Woods is based on wetlands located in Noble County, northern Indiana, which Gene Stratton Porter wrote about and worked so hard to conserve. 

The fabrics were delayed for a long time and the kit wasn't available whenever I stopped at Caroline's. Then the pandemic happened and shut everything down. I finally made it back to Caroline's in September 2020 and picked up my kit. It has patiently waited it's turn and now it's time to start.

The kit was a BOM but I received all the monthly kits at one time. Here is the center medallion of the quilt for month one made with 4 Lady of the Lake blocks.

Month 2 has been added to the center.

The instructions suggest some broderie perse on the light triangles of the center. I did have fabric left from fussy cutting the Lady of the Lake blocks but I think I'll wait until later in the process to decide if they'll be added.

Wildflower Woods is #4 on my list of challenges for 2022.

Linking to Put Your Foot Down, Peacock Party, TGIFF!, Finished Or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Violets

A new squirrel has come to live in my sewing room, a violet block!

I've seen this flower on other blogs. I followed a link back to Menopausal Melon which led to another link which had the actual instructions on the Block Lotto website.

I decided to make just one block for now. 

The instructions list several different sizes of blocks. I decided to make a block with 5" squares since I have a basket of 5" squares.

She's a cutie! Someday more blocks will join her.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Stitch Sew & Show, Oh Scrap

Hearts & Wreaths

I finished a Hearts & Wreaths applique block before I left for Phoenix in March. This was the 13th block. I wasn't sure about the yellow I used for the hearts but the brighter fabrics leaves added some zing.

Block 14 was finished before I went to the April retreat. Block 15 is in progress. 

Click here if you want to read about my first post recording my Hearts & Wreaths journey.

Winter is officially over now and the air is warmer. Now it's time to start getting ready for mowing the yard.

We have a lot of black walnut trees on our farm with several along our driveway and at least 5 on the west side of the heifer pasture (which in the winter is known as the sledding hill). 

All winter long I see squirrels running through the pasture to the west fence then running back with a black walnut in their mouth. 

This mess is at the bottom at the tree I showed you. These hulls needed to be raked before mowing started. Those walnut hulls will quickly dull new lawnmower blades.

Last fall the local grandsons and I picked up 3 tubs of walnuts out along the roadside. Our son and the grandsons picked up even more tubs. We do have a local market for black walnuts. They have a machine that washes/beats off the outer hull then you are paid for the weight of the walnuts left. 

The walnut hulls are then ground up and bagged for use as pet bird litter or, if you're a sewist, used to fill pincushions! The grandsons received $15 each for their efforts.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday

Green & Turquoise Shoo-fly Blocks

This last week I sewed green and turquoise shoo-fly blocks for my Star Dance quilt. I'm only showing half the blocks since I made 2 of each fabric.

20 green blocks -

I didn't use sage or forest greens for my blocks. 

22 turquoise blocks

Here is a link to the original Star Dance pattern. My quilt isn't going to look exactly like the pattern.

Spring is finally here but it went straight into hot weather. I tried to take a picture of this oriole eating grape jelly at the feeder. I didn't notice that squirrel snoozing on the tree limb until afterwards. Apparently he thinks it's the dog days of summer now.

I haven't had a flower pot set in the center of the tree stump for several years. The grandsons are old enough to be careful when they jump off the edge.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Scrap Happy Saturday

Flower Patch SAL Finish

The Flower Patch SAL mystery quilt has been completed!

The last block to be made was block 16 which is a repeat of block 1.

For the border, Denise had us add fabrics borders, nothing pieced which surprised me. I was really expecting a flying geese border. For my border, I cut a 3" strip of background fabric and sashed the center.  

As of now, the flimsy measures 69" square. However my quilt isn't completely finish, I'm planning on added a flying geese border but that takes some time to piece. I'll be sure to update you on the final finish when the borders are attached.

This sew along started last September and is finished now. I don't normally participate in sew alongs or mystery quilt but I did for this quilt and I enjoyed myself. Of course I do enjoy foundation paper piecing.

Linking to Flower Patch SAL, Needle & Thread Thursday, Peacock Party, TGIFF!, Finished Or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap

Blue Ridge Beauty Flimsy

The last time I posted about Blue Ridge Beauty, I told you I had to turn one of the HST's in all of the blocks! Once the blocks were corrected, it didn't take to sew the blocks together for the center of Blue Ridge Beauty.  All I needed to do at retreat was add the two borders.

He measures  99.5" by 110.5" and will be donated to a charity auction. They will quilt him before the auction, I'm very happy I not to do the hand quilting.

All the fabrics for this quilt came from my stash except the outside border, I didn't have a large enough piece of yardage on hand. That striped border fabric has been in my stash forever! I was glad to finally find the perfect use for it.

I also pieced the binding at the retreat so that's finished. I always try to piece bindings right after I finish the flimsy so the fabric isn't used in another project. Otherwise you can be in for a nasty surprise later on when you look for fabric to bind a quilt.

I like to piece the auction quilt early in the year so it's done and ready to go. I will be hand delivering this flimsy to our DIL in August who will then deliver it to be quilted. I don't deliver quilts through the mail.

Blue Ridge Beauty is a Bonnie Hunter pattern and is found in her book Leaders & Enders.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Stitch Sew & Show, Put Your Foot Down,  Needle & Thread Thursday, Oh Scrap