Quilt-a-thon!

Our local group holds a quilt-a-thon 4 times a year. We meet at the West Bath Fire Station and have the hall for the entire day. Everyone brings a dish to share and works on whatever they fancy. Although I get much more done when sewing alone at home, stitching and laughing (not to mention eating) with friends is so much more fun. It always reminds me of the song in the Music Man (with the words changed to suit the task!), “Stitch a little, talk a little, stitch a little, talk a little, eat, eat, eat, stitch a lot talk a little more”! Saturday’s group was very productive.

Megan was working on her Flying Geese blocks. Megan always amazes me! She is the Farm Manager and Educator at the Chewonki Foundation. So, after a long day of tending livestock, gardens and children she plays with fabrics! She hand dyed all of these vintage feedsacks with natural dyes from the farm. I am sorry to say that my photos do not do them justice.

The colors are absolutely gorgeous and so soft to the touch. Dying is such a trial and error process, especially with natural dyes and mordants. I didn't see any "errors" in this batch! 

This corner (Jackie, Jerry, Sandy and others) was busy making "kennel pads" for local animal shelters. I forgot to ask how many they have made already, but I know it is "a lot"! 

More worker bees!

I finished a veteran’s top and gave it to Kathy the quilting angel. Of course I forgot to get a photo but I will post it when it comes back and I have put the binding on.

I hope you all get a chance to stitch with a friend this week!

The cat is out of the bag!

I have been keeping a wonderful secret for months! On January 14 we were blessed with the birth of this little guy – “Sonny”. My daughter did not want photos on any social media so I kept my delight to myself. Now that he is 4 months old they don’t mind if I tell all my blogging friends of our great joy. And, I wanted you all to know why my quilt production has slowed down a bit since January! 

 I can now show the quilt I made for him back in November. As you can see by the nursery, my daughter is a big fan of Roy G Biv (rainbow colors). Let’s hope he finds a pot of gold at the end someday! 

I can’t wait for grandson #1

to meet grandson #2 when they come for a visit in a few weeks. I am the luckiest Nana ever!

A Special Gift

 A few weeks ago, I received a wonderful squishy package in the mail! Doreen (Aunt Reen’s Place) sent me these gorgeous Dutch fabrics. Petra Prins and Judith Ebbelaar from the Netherlands were in the states this spring. Doreen and her group were fortunate enough to have them give a workshop in Virginia (read about it here). And I am fortunate enough to have Doreen as a Blogging friend and share in the wealth! Aren’t these beautiful? 

I normally hoard cherish special fabrics for a long time before using them, but I knew I had to do something with at least one of these right away.

I had been pondering a mini quilt with this little chart panel for some time and Doreen provided the perfect blue for the border and binding. These little chart panels are printed in Maine and this one is of one of my favorite areas. 

 

I used one of my many toiles for the back.

 

Thanks Doreen for the perfect blue!

It is a bit early to reveal my May mini quilt, but I am working on two secret sewing projects right now and I wanted to get this posted before I ran out of month!

I will post a follow up at the end of the month for those of you who are following along. Have fun!

Here is my latest Noah and Matilda block – 6D

Janet (Rogue Quilter) said I should stop saying “cheat” when it comes to my quilt-a-long endeavors. She is of course correct as there is no real cheating if we are having fun. So… I “modified” this block a bit by eliminating one bunch of grapes and adding a leaf instead. 

 Although the grapes are pretty small (see the dime??) they were fun to make. And, of course they vary slightly in size and shape in order to appear more realistic. The substitution of the leaf was simply because I needed to balance the colors. I didn’t have enough neon in this block so it had to come in the form of two leaves.

Both the background and the backing fabrics are antiques and they needled beautifully! 

Happy May Day!

It seems that so many traditions have fallen by the wayside. I used to love making these little paper May Baskets as a child. I’m doing my best to keep some of these happy memories alive. This one is for a 94 year old friend. Hope she doesn’t suspect it was me!

May you all enjoy a bit of spring today.

Busy as a Bee

As April is always my busiest month I don't feel bad about "cheating" by considering my (Humble Quilts) mini swap as my April mini quilt. I would like to thank Randy (Barrister's Block) and Janet (Rogue Quilter) for doing the same. It makes me feel a lot less guilty. Do follow the link to see their adorable quilts. Lori (Humble Quilts) will be linking all of them up shortly and it is always fun to see these little gems.

Barbara (Quilts, Gravestones and Elusive Ancestors) made a gorgeous little quilt this month. I love this style of quilt and I adore the center panel!

Pat (Thoughts from Taylors Outback) made a fantastic little doll quilt for April  and even made the doll! Amazing!

I promise hope to be back in the swing for the May minis! Thanks for your patience!

Sweet Swap Delight!

Lori at Humble Quilts hosted another enjoyable mini quilt swap. This is the fabulous quilt I received from Christy in Oregon. Look at all those geese! I think this is particularly appropriate for the spring (or rather lack thereof) we have had this year. The geese just keep going round and round since they don’t know whether to head south or go back home! I love this kind of border.

And look at this sweet label. Hand embroidered!

 She also included these lovely dish cloths and a beautiful packet of French General fabrics. Thanks again Christy!! 

Here is the little quilt I sent to Shannon in Wisconsin. I loved these little square in a square blocks with those bright reproduction centers, but it didn’t occur to me that they would become really “square” when the little block was set on point. I still like it, but it was not the look I had intended. Life’s lessons! 

Thanks Lori for another really fun swap!