May the Fourth Be With You!! Raise your hand if you love Star Wars!

May the Fourth Be With You!!

Raise your hand if you love Star Wars!

 Both my hands are raised - I'm a fan!!

Don't you Love this free graphic!!

Today you get a preview of my quilts entered in the Azalea Festival Quilt Show.  Coming up quickly!  Memorial Day weekend is E-A-R-L-Y this year.  The show is May 23 and 24.

LO (Lake Oswego) Runner

18 x 50

Years ago I saw this table runner in downtown Lake Oswego.  It wasn't for sale, but they were nice enough to let me take a picture.  Then the hard part began - figuring out the dimensions and making instructions.  But years later - Ta-Da!!  And it looks great on my green table!

Oh, Baby!!

39 x 46

I could not resist this baby panel.  So bright and fun.  Then GW, a good quilting friend, gave me some bright orphan blocks to use.  They electrified the quilt as a border.  Sweet Dreams!!  

Poppies on the Coast - April Challenge

15 x 19

I grew up in Nebraska.  When we retired to Oregon, we drove over a hill and acres of poppies were blooming!  It looked radio-active!!  Wowzer!  We love living on the coast, houses built up in the Hills, wildlife strolling around and the sound of the Ocean always our backdrop.

Quilt of Valor

70 x 90

We love supporting our Veterans and wrapping them in their quilt.  Patti and I met a veteran while at Gold Beach retreat.  He saved my toast from the toaster!!  He was wearing a military cap.  We got to talking. "Would you like a Quilt of Valor?"  We came home and got to work.  We made a quilt for him.  Our first time working with a panel - mixed feelings!!  This quilt will be presented at the ceremony during the Quilt Show.

If you are in our area; our Quilts of Valor Presentation will take place on Sunday, May 24.  Elementary School on Easy Street!  2 pm.  Please join us!!

ModSquad Improv

27 x 34

In 2021 our ModSquad group played with "Improv" for months.  Then it went into time out for years.  When I showed the group the top, they asked what I was going to do with it, I answered, "Don't know - maybe a dog blanket?"  Well, the group had strong opinions ... and it was NOT going to be a dog blanket.  I do love it - but All that work, and I'm still working on getting that lower left corner to quit sneaking in.

Graduation Celebration (final name to be thought up!)

68 x 90

My eyes and hands are racing to see which one will keep me from quilting first.  I have 5 Grandkids, one in college, the youngest in 3rd grade.  Our oldest granddaughter graduated last year and got her quilt.  From now on, I'm making two graduation quilts a year to stockpile.  Everyone will get one, even if I can't actually quilt by the time they graduate.  This design is inspired by StashLab booklet.

So - your preview is over ... and I'm mostly ready for the show (early!)  And our Brookings Outdoor Pool opens tomorrow!!  Can't wait!  Water aerobics start at 8:15!!  Be there or be square!

Between all this rain and dripping ...

I've been in a funk!  Ha!  I admitted it - that's hard to do.  I guess I got over all that energy to do everything at once.  What took me down? At first it was a sneezing fit, then apparently a cold I shared with a good friend - sorry, C!  And then a week of sinus infection - that's the dripping I'm complaining about.

I was a wreck, a pity puddle, a zombie.  But I still tried to follow my schedule - that didn't work at all!  So do what I say, not what I do - if you're sick - stay home!!!  Rest, drink fluids, moan and groan and wait to get better!  What a hard lesson to remember!

But with all the zombie-ness and sleeping for hours at a time - day and night ... oye vay! my To-Do List runneth over!

If you can believe it - I'm #7 (with a bullet) Lady in Waiting to become Queen of the UFOs!  Jeepers! And I even had a finish this year - it's only March for golly-sakes!  Luckily for me, my QOV double 9patch (an UFO of a few years ago) just came back from a very talented QOV longarmer!  It looks awesome and she didn't even whine about my (very) pieced back! Thank you SS for an awesome job.  She's also on Stashbusters and actually told me I was #7!!  Now that is a full service friend!

Folded view of the top - the name of the quilting design is "Dog Tags".  Very fun and appropriate!

Close up of the back.  And the black/beige plaid for the binding. A large picture of the WHOLE quilt will be posted after it's finished.  I promise!

It's not RW&B - it's all homespun plaids, very man-ly.  The back is all dark beige-ings I was clearing out of the over-flowing beige-ings stash drawers.  I was really happy with the quilt at first.  Then I got nervous about handing over a 17 pieces pieced back to a volunteer!  But all went well, and it turned out AwEsOmE! Happy again!  I even found some black/beige plaid in my stash that's pretty darn perfect for binding it!

I also need to finish a baby quilt for my great nephew and his wife.  Baby's growing right along and I think he/she will be here in May.  The ambiguity is because they live in Nebraska and I'm here in rainy Oregon!  I have two baby receiving  blankets ready to finish for them, and this I spy checkerboard quilt.  My Mom had macular degeneration and about the only quilting she could do was sew a straight line and chain stitch on her Featherweight.  I collected I Spy fabrics (I still pick up a great one even now!!!) I cut squares, paired them up, pinned them, she stitched, I but them apart, checked and refilled bobbins, paired twosies into foursies and we made 7? checkerboard tops for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren's first child.  Mom passed last summer, and I know she's egging me on to get this one done in time for C&K's baby. She never did 'hold with' being late!

I got the top out, ready to add borders and piece the back, ready to quilt on my DSM tomorrow.  AND I've got two small twin Mickey Mouse panel+borders quilts to give to the Disneyland kiddos.  A Nana's got to do what a Nana's got to do!!!

AND Mr M announced that he has grown out of his favorite pj bottoms I made.  He kindly made me a list of which ones need to be replaced.  A few years back I'd made him some very cute robot pj pants.  He grew out of them too quickly and I found the same fabric and made him some bigger ones.

It was very confusing to a preschooler that "they fit again".  But I think he's got it now.  He told his mom, "Nana can find the same fabric and make me some more."  Oh, dear, anyone have 2 yards of Angry Birds fabric to spare??

I have Star Wars (to replace the Angry Birds) and Baseballs ready to cut.

And that's just this weekend's To-Do!!  We'll see if I have any "sustainability" today!! Stay well and if you're not - stay home and recoup!

I'm binding the baby quilt!!!

Well, Friday the doctor said there was a 33% chance our new grandbaby could come this week. Now my DD doesn't agree but I think that 9 months went really FAST! The winning pattern is: Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs! I couldn't decide what to make this baby - my daughter wanted baby blue and brown. I love blue and brown together [smile] but not baby blue! Once I 'lightened' up the brown I could see a glimmer of hope that this wouldn't be the ugliest quilt I've ever made! [and I've made some doozies!!] Quiet, you friends back in NE!! I can hear you!

The Yellow Brick Road quilt uses 9 FQs. Well, I don't buy many FQs! I usually buy 1/3s - first thing I had to do is readjust the number of fabrics to use and what on earth I was supposed to cut! Oh heck - if the kid's coming this week you'd better start sewing!!! I laid out many blues, lights and light browns and whenever I didn't have the correct configurations - I cut more strips! By the way - I may have enough cut to make another kid's quilt for charity quilts!?!

Our condo was turned into a sweat shop! There was fabric, threads and working stations EVERYWHERE. My husband gamely kept adjusting the tv sound to keep ahead of the sewing noises! I watched more football this weekend than I had my whole life! I couldn't get away from it. Wouldn't you know it - too rainy for golf this weekend!

But I got into it and I like the quilt. I had an old patriotic 'beige-ing' - Stars and Stripes by Moda. Remember D? I threw it in, since this is election month!!! Even had enough for the back. This is a total stash quilt! No billfold was opened - batting, backing and binding included. I'm hand sewing the binding on tonight and as soon as it's out of the washer and dryer tomorrow - I'll post a picture.

Hip hip hooray!!! Get'er done! indeed!