Here's what I've been up to

I've been working like a mad woman on a quilt that my friend, Judy, asked me to make for her. Her niece is getting married the end of May and Judy said she usually makes a quilt as a gift for these weddings. This time, she can't do that since she has numb fingers from chemo and is pretty much confined to a wheel chair while her spine heals from bone cancer. So, she asked if I would make a green colored quilt for her. 

I found a pattern in a magazine that seemed as though I would be able to get it finished in time and here it is, laid out on my floor.  

It's simple white-framed blocks set on-point and I originally planned on doing a simple border of the focus fabric which you can see here. It's a hard to see in this photo but the border fabric is a green and blue coral reef which I think is very pretty.  

I originally bought this fabric some time ago to make a quilt for Don and me, but never got around to beginning it. When Judy said she wanted something green, I knew this was the perfect to collection to use.

Yesterday, I finished putting the rows together and trimmed the triangles off the sides and discovered that I'd made the center way too small!  Yikes!  What to do now!  Well, it'll have to be a more elaborate border--and wider than originally planned.  I'll begin working on a pieced border today and hopefully that will bring this baby more into the size range of a queen sized instead of twin sized as it is now.  I'll keep you updated on how this goes.

While I spent February in Alabama, I worked on a quilt my daughter had asked me to make.  She wants a quilt made with the colors of the ocean and she and I chose the batik fabrics together.  Again, it's a simple framed block around 6 colored fabrics that really do remind me of the ocean.

I got most of the blocks finished before I ran out of the neutral colored framing fabric. As soon as I got home, I went to the shop where we'd bought the fabrics a year ago and indeed, they had more of the neutral! I've not returned to this quilt yet because of working on the green quilt, but I hope to finish it as soon as the green one is done.

I also worked on this Bonnie Hunter Talkin' Turkey quilt while I was on vacation. I got all the blocks done and cut most of the sashing and began piecing the border.  I've always wanted a red and white quilt and I think I'm going to really like this one.  I used as big a variety of red fabrics as I could, and I realized that nearly every block has some part of a dog in it, as well as a few cows thrown in for good measure. I think I'll call this quilt "Krimson Kanine Kwilt"  just for fun!  It too will wait to be finished.

While I was in Gulf Shores, I made a few trips to the LQS and I'd bought a fat quarter of this fabric to use as a neutral in the Talkin' Turkey quilt. As I worked with it, I liked it more and more, so I returned to the shop and bought a few yards to bring home with me. Don't know how I'll use it just yet, but I just love the apple blossoms on the pin dot background.  As I worked on the TT quilt, I made a huge mistake and now have a couple hundred HST in red and white that I may use with this fabric. We'll see.

And, lastly, I began working on my first leaders and enders project.  Several years ago, I'd made up a bunch of small 9 patches--they measure 3" finished--and recently came across a pattern where I could use them with this green fabric that I've had on hand for a while (that means several years at least. lol ) So I started making up the blocks as I worked on the green wedding quilt.  Unfortunately, I've sewn up all the little 9 patches I had and only made about 15 of the 40+ blocks needed for the quilt, so I'll have to get busy on making more 9 patches out of scraps.  

This will be a quilt for the house here,  an extra one to have on hand when we have a house full of kids and grand kids.  I like the way it's turning out and, for sashing, plan to use a bubble gum pink that I've also had "on hand," and I think that will brighten things up a bit.

So that's what's happening in my quilting world.  Now I have to finish my daily chores and get to the local cheese shop. I'm going to a Downton Abbey dinner on Saturday and I'm to bring the cheese and fruit course.  Should be interesting shopping for just the right selection of cheeses.  Maybe I'll be tasting a few. (See a delighted grin on her face!)  I also have a "sew in" all day Saturday with my guild so I have to get this ready the day before.  Should be a very fun day.