Progress in quilts and

Busy I have been, Some days you just have to take a break and do what you love.

You wake up one morning and realize life is short.

You need to get busy, work on things on your bucket list, how about the quilt

project boxes, spending time with family and friends, going for walks, attending

great lectures, doing things with your husband and son.

This is just the start. A lot has been accomplished and I have felt good doing it.

Hopefully in the coming weeks I will catch up on my adventures.

I have missed keeping my "journal" up.

I finally finished my version of "The Splendid Sampler." This is the quilt
I am sure everyone heard about by Pat Sloan and Friends.
I printed off all the blocks as they were presented.
You may remember I made a quilt for the family of Kerry Ann that had ALS.
The fabric is by Moda, and was designed for this cause.
I had a lot of it left over, as I did not know how much I was going to need.That
was my selection of choice for this quilt. 
It is not every block that was presented, and I used a couple that were 6 inches,
and not part of the patterns and added a couple additional colors to give it a bit of pop.  ( I just liked them.)  As they say, I did it my way.
The back is done, and it is ready for quilting.

I joined Kathleen Tracy's group to work on some smaller quilts.
I love her patterns, plus they aren't taking as long to make.
This "little" quilt is 6 1/2 by 7 3/4 inches.  It is machine pieced, and hand quilted.
It was a free quilt  kit from Temecula Quilt Company.
It had been a long time since I hand quilted anything.

I have quite a variety of small quilt kits that have accumulated.
It is time to work on them. This one was fun to make.  Plus, I found
I could hand quilt it faster then trying to do it by machine.

Still doing a bit of cross stitching. I have a friend that loves hedgehogs.
The combination of hedgehog cross stitch and the fabric went together well.

Took another class in card making. New ideas are whirling around in my mind.
This led to purchasing more dies, and paper.  And here I was trying to destash some of this craft!
I have some friends that are enabling me.  

Found a quilt on the internet called "Kingfisher".  As you can see it is made with diamonds and
hexies.  The pattern shows the diamonds much larger along with the hexies.  I have this box
of hexies that made with 1/2 inch papers.  This led me to downsize the diamond to accommodate  the size hexies I have.  When you have over a 100 already made, you adjust! This makes for a
great hand project when traveling in the car.  Over 50 have already been appliqued.
The last car project took 3 summers of driving back and forth to Buffalo for family reunions.

Another quilt top completed.  I think this was a pattern from Temecula, also.
It is made with 3 different size squares.  I had precut squares of navy and greens. Their
choice was scrappy, Mine is scrappy, but using greens and blues.  I also made it a bit larger.
Lap size, for more of a coverup.  The back is made, too, and ready for the quilter.

One of my new style of cards.  Another great way to use up scraps.

Great way to use embellishments as well.

Been working on my photography composition.
Have taken a couple classes to learn more about my current camera.
Some may be paying off.

Not the greatest picture (didn't learn about inside photography, yet).
This is Thomas Dambo, who curated the Troll Hunt at the Morton Arboretum.
He was a great energetic speaker.  Reuse, recycle.

Here is one of the Trolls on display at the arboretum.
What a wonderful display.  Six guardians of the forest are hiding in the trees. It
is being enjoyed by children and adults.

Another kit I have had for a while, well years.  I was in the mood to do it
all by hand.  Made the templates and cut it out, sewed on the lines for the seams. Even
the borders are done by hand.  Then to top it off, I quilted it by hand as well.
It has been many years since I did anything totally by hand.  It was relaxing and fun.
Need to do more of that.

Today I leave you with one of my better pictures.
Enjoying nature has been one of my greatest passions.
Being retired gave me a chance to get out there and foster that passion.
Life marches on, take the time to enjoy what you love.

Have a wonderful day.
Mary

Last quilts for the year

Winter will be coming soon.

At the end of the card retreat I wanted to take

photos of the last quilts that I had finished.

Some times it takes a while to get those bindings on.

That morning was a bit cold.  It was fun to see the ice among
the fallen leaves.

I started this quilt last year. I had seen several on the internet
and had the thought, I can do that.  It is just a scrappy nine patch.
Each block consists of 4 corner of either a black on white or vice
versa.  The center 5 blocks were of a color and different shades of it.
What a wonderful way to use up more of the stash.
It is colorful and warm. (Already tried it out.)

This a table topper that I finally finished up.
I had appliqued all the "Halloween" hexies to the black
background, and it sat unquilted for a couple of years.
One day I got brave and decided to machine quilt it
myself.  These is nothing special about the quilting.
I just tried to use straight lines.
It turned out not too bad. 

The tulip quilt is a combination of left over blocks from
two different sets of applique quilts.
You know that some times you get making a block and you like
it and just don't stop.  Well that happened a couple of times. The only
thing different is the tulip heads are two different shapes. The
background fabric was the same and so were the leaf shapes.
Then what to do with them?  I just laid them
out and did not mind where they landed.  

After I laid them out, found out I had 4 left over, and did not feel
like making any more.  Back art!  Great way to not add to the
orphan block box.

For the back of the color scrap quilt I used yardage I had on hand
to make it. With each of these quilts I was able to use fabric I
had on hand.

The burning bushes that day were gorgeous.  The red was so vibrant.

The end of Fall.

There are a couple quilts in the works, but none that will be
completed before year end.  Hopefully, there will be several more
completed projects in 2018.

Happy Quilting
Mary

Riverview Farmstsead (Quilts)

Fall is around the corner.
Are you ready?  I am not.  Would like to see a bit more summer.
Actually, we are having unseasonable HOT weather this past weekend.

Looks like this squirrel is getting ready for fall.

As you can see I have gotten a couple more quilts done!!
Believe it or not, these tumblers were left on our guilds
freebie table several months ago.  Well I could put them together!
The quilt has come and gone already.
This past weekend our son was the Best Man at his best friends wedding.
I had told Andy if he would like to give them a quilt, he could pick one.
Out of so many I have done, this is the one he picked.
It is a large lap.  Perfect for two to cuddle up with.

This quilt is a finish from the quilt cruise I took in February
of this year.  It was a class by Gyleen Fitzgerald.
The pattern is called "Quilt of the Century."

Just another view of it.

Now this is my prized completion. This is Jen Kingwell's pattern,
"Steampunk".  My friend Sandy, in Georgia, gave me the pattern and plastic
templates a couple years ago for my birthday.
Two years ago when I was visiting with her, we each started our own
versions of the quilt.  We cut out all the templates two times.  Each of us
put our blocks together different.  Sandy is still working on hers.
Once I got started, I kept on going strong.
I did sew the curves all by hand.  I found it too hard to sew them on the
machine.  I could do it faster by hand.
I did use Jen's idea for the gray as sashing and setting triangles. I have
never used gray before.
I love how it all turned out.

I am so pleased.
I did not use any rhyme or reason on setting it up.
Just laid them out and put it together.
 

Just a little showing for the traveling Monarch Butterflies.
Their journey has begun.

I did make a small tumbler quilt as well.
So much faster to do and instant gratification!

This is where these pictures were taken here in Illinois.

I am not done.  Still have two more quilts to finish the
binding on.  I am working on mug rugs too.  Almost time
for our fall retreat at the Siena Retreat Center in Racine, Wisconsin.

Hope you are having a great day.

Mary

Antique Stars

Remember in October when I was at the quilt retreat

in Racine, one of the sisters brought these star blocks to our sewing area?

She had been given them, but did not know what to do with them.

Knowing we were quilters, she thought we would know what to do with them.
No one could really decide what to do with them, have them appraised, and sell them. or
make something with them.
Well I decided I would work with them, and see what I could do.

This is what I did!
I found some antique muslin at a quilt show in October that was only 36 inches wide.
I had to figure which way I would get the best use of the fabric, as those stars are large.
I then, hand appliqued them each to a square, squared them all up, and sewed them together.

This turned out to be a pretty big quilt.
I am so proud of how well it all came together.

My friend and longarm quilter, Wendy Yates did the beautiful quilting.
I was lucky in that the stars were all hand-pieced and laid flat.
She made sure that each star was quilted, and would be stable.
I am in awe with how beautiful the quilt turned out.

Because the stars were definitely old, I wanted to no have a flowery back.
I went to my plaid stash and pulled out what I had to make the backing.
The red plaid is what I used for the binding.

This weekend there is our Spring Retreat in Racine, and the quilt is going up there with me.
I am going to give it back to sister that had the stars.
I hope she will like what I did.

I will let you know what happens.
Have a great weekend.

Mary

Another finish

For-get-me-not What a perfect flower for remembrances.
I used up the rest of my 1000+ half square triangles to make
this sweet baby quilt.  I was going to include it in my
"Latest Finishes" post, but because we had gone to the Emhurst Conservatory
I decided to show it this way.

This little conservatory is one that we have visited every year at Easter time since we had Andy.
You sometimes find a place that offers peace and that touch of Spring.
This is ours.  When they started the campaign to purchase a brick in memory, we had one made
for our own family.  It keeps the memory of the daughter we had, that did not survive.
When my parents both passed we added the second brick in their memory.

I love the idea that we have left a memory of our family.
Time changes a lot of things, but this memory is forever.

Happy Spring
Mary

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