Latest finishes

Good Morning

As usual I have lots to catch up on, but will be doing it in segments.

Spring is finally here!  The days keep whizzing by and I keep pushing the sewing machines

peddle to the floor.

I am down to one quilt that needs to be bound. 

This one is a pattern called "Oliver" by Monique Dillard.
I finished this one toward the end of 2016.
The half square came from a challenge at Prairie Stitches here in Oswego, back
in 2009.  I made and received over 1000.  This is the second quilt I made using  part of  them.
The pattern called for it to be a square, but I had so many half square triangles, I
decided to make it longer.  Now it is a nice size curl up quilt.

After starting this on in 2008, after my trip to Hungary, I finally got this one done.
The fabric is all from Hungary.  They are know for printing their own fabric.
It is hand made by using a special dye, and a resistance. The fabric starts out as white.When they
use the handmade blocks that have been dipped into the resistance, it is applied to the fabric.
After the pattern is completed, the fabric is they put in a vat of blue dye.
While I was in Hungary,I purchased as much as I could carry home.
The quilt is made up of signature blocks from the ladies on the trip, pictures, quilt blocks that
we traded with Hungarian quilters, and after it was quilted, additional items that I had collected
while on the trip.

The back is colorful, I used these pieces that where also made in Hungary.

The two pictures were myself, my sister and Magda, my Hungarian friend.
I finished up the quilt in her honor, as she passed away in December of 2015.
You can see a small sampling the the different prints.  While at the Emhurst Conservatory, I
felt it fitting to photograph it by the "Forget-Me-Not's". 

This is another finish for 2016 and bound in the last couple months.
Started this one in Michigan with my friend Pat. It needed to just be put together. The blocks
were done, Pat and I purchased the kits together, but neither one of us can pin point the year.

Here is a new quilt. I had seen talk about "Garlic Knot" on facebook.  Bonnie Hunter had
featured this block in Quiltmaker. a while back. I had plenty of 2 1/2 inch squares cut and ready to go.
Started pairing them up and in no time had a top together.
It really was a fun quilt to make. I made blocks until I had got the pattern out of my system.
It turned out to be a nice sized lap quilt.

On the back I made "Garlic Knot" block out of 3 1/2 inch squares.

Here is another Bonnie Hunter quilt, "Tulip Fields".  This one did get a name.
"Elvis is in the Tulip Fields".
It was fun to use so many different reds and greens to make this one.
Trust me, it does not look like a made a dent in my red scraps.

Here is a Christmas signature quilt.  It is wallhanging size.
In 2015 a lady organized a Holiday signature swap.  Most of the ladies were from Europe.
Another quilt done!

My husband and I went to the Elmhurst Conservatory and Morton Arboretum on Wednesday
to enjoy the beautiful flowers, and weather.  I thought there were a few places to
take pictures of these quilts.

Spring has finally sprung.
I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather.
Happy Spring.


Mary

Christmas quilt is ready to be quilted.

Here it is!  I completed it yesterday.  I love love it.  This is made entirely from my stash, and it is mostly Christmas fabric. Each block has a different background fabric.
Some of the blocks are made from Lori Holt's "Quilty Fun" book.
Lori has a blog, Bee in my Bonnet. Some of the patterns are from Instagram.  She has posted the ones not in the book there.
The border is all scrap Christmas fabric.,  It is off to my quilter.
Once I have it back, I will have a lot of fun added a few touches to it. (Bows on the wreaths, hanger on the Christmas ball. some decorations on the tree, just a couple of accents.)

Also, in my spare time, I have been making Christmas cards. I enjoy using the iris folding technique.  I have been trying out some new patterns.

Today, Andy and I got out some of our decorations.  This leads to house cleaning.  I would rather be sewing.  I did clean up my sewing room.  Time to put all that back in order.  Now to get out the next round of fabric to play with.
I hope you are having a great day.
Mary

Thanksgiving and keeping busy

Good Evening,

What a lovely day we had.  As you can see I cooked turkey with all the trimmings.

We are thankful for all our family and friends on this day. 

We pray that all will stay well.

This was a spur of the moment picture.  I cooked the perfect golden turkey today.
I rarely record the day as it is just the three of us.  No formal portraits here, just ready to dig in.

I have been working on the quilt along that Lori Holt has been showing on  instagram.  Been a bit challenging, as I don't have instagram.  No fancy phones here for me.  Lori is from Bee in my bonnet.  It has been fun to use my Christmas fabric, and keep it scrapy.  This is  Charlie posing on the blocks.  As soon as I put them on the carpet, he charged over, laid down and looked at me.  "Is I cute Mom"??  Cats and fabric just seem to go together.

This is what they look like so far.  I think I have 5 more to put together.  She has started putting it together, but think it will be a couple more days before I will be putting mine together. Well, I have put a couple together, but need to finish the other blocks.

The other day I stopped at Joann fabric in Naperville,  I don't need any Christmas things, but walked though the area anyway.
I started to laugh when I saw this display. ( I am sure other customers were wondering what was so funny.)  Can you believe it,  Buffalo Snow!  I am sure Buffalo doesn't want anymore.
We have several relatives that live in the Buffalo area, and did in fact receive up to 6 feet of snow.  The digging out has begun. 

This handsome Cardinal paid us a visit for several day.  I could hear him when he was in the area.  He was looking for his food.  He did not care to have the other birds in the same place that he was when eating.  No female came with him.

As you can see there are a couple blog hops coming up.
Have you signed up for either or both?  I am hosting the Tammy 4 all Seasons.
I have started on my cross stitching.  Currently working on the summer design.
Hop on over to SewWeQuilt for all the details.

Have a good evening, and hope that all have had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Mary