Orca Bay

I've finally finished piecing and quilting my Orca Bay.  I literally took it off the quilter and folded it up and put it in the car to bring for show and tell time during the Dancing 9s class Bonnie was teaching in Oliver Springs.

 
Bonnie asked me about my color choices .... 



At the time this mystery began, both my girls were taking classes at TTU.  The school colors are purple and gold... so I changed the black and white of the orginal pattern to purple and gold.


It also happens that the local high school colors are red and blue (navy).  Navy was too dark but the lighter blues worked well.



Since I still had some of these fabrics remaining I decided to piece a backing with the leftovers rather than buying more fabric for a solid backing.  With an idea and some help from an online friend (Thanks Cindy!)  we determined I had just enough fabric....

 

I love the way it turned out.  And the red binding I think frames it nicely

Easter

After the Easter Egg hunt we took a walk around the neighborhood.  Of course no walk is complete without picking some beautiful flowers for Nana!

My youngest grandson beginning to eat real table food instead of jarred baby food.  He loves his mashed potatoes and we can sneak a mashed carrot or green been in there once in a while!

We gave Matthew his "uniform" for the Knights of Columbus.  We still have to get the tux to go with it.

Spring flowers are popping up everywhere!

I received these beautiful azaleas for the garden.

Totals 2014 - March

Ok, I am definitely late with this, but life has been busy and I have been mostly offline lately in order to keep up.  I'll catch up with several different posts on what's been happening, but for now I am just going to update my work progress

I completed the quilting on my Orca Bay just in time to take to Oliver Springs, TN to show at class with Bonnie early in March.  I now have the binding on and just need to add a label.  The class was Dancing 9s... the baby quilt she made for her two nephews.  Mine will be shades of pink/orange/lavender... what I call sunset colors... and will be given to my brand new grand-niece when complete.  As of today I have enough blocks  assembled for the first two rows and must cut up more strips to continue progress.

I have agreed to help encourage a friend by starting and working on a new quilt together.   Make It Your Way    I'm not sure if this link will work, but you can copy/paste to see the pattern and directions.  

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/MakeItYourWay

I am trying to stick with clearing things out and using my stash, so I chose 8 goodwill shirts in green and blue.  I did supplement with 4 yards of cream fabric with either blue or green tiny dots on it.  This will make a nice low volume quilt. 

WORK COMPLETED IN January-February 2014
 ....07.....customer tops quilted (YTD  15)
.....01.....customer quilts bound (YTD  4)
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting (YTD )
......01.......quilted flimsy (YTD 1 )
.....10.....hand-work hours (50TD )

Bonnie Projects in Progress

....done..Orca Bay
............... Celtic Solstice Step 1 blue triangles cut( 350 of 380 pairs)
............... Celtic Solstice Step 1 white and orange star points cut (380 of 380)
..............  Celtic Solstice Step 1 orange star point units sewed (50 of 140)
............... Celtic Solstice Step 1 white star point units sewed (100 of 240)
......24..... Dancing 9s  9patch blocks made (YTD 24)

.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD  6  of  81in 2013)   ...  (81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
.............. Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
.............. Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
.............. Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts

UFOs – WIPs

2006 Barn Blocks
2009 1950s Santa

2009 Sunbonnet sue …prairie point borders

2010 Swartz Creek Quilt
2010 Vicksburg BOM 

2011 Cheddar Bowties 
2011 Happiness Key

2011 Novelty Quilt (pat sloan)

2011 Dear Jane/Hot Momma Rose

2012 Basic Class Wall Hanging…. Borders, quilting

2012 Winston Ways

2012 Turkey Tracks

2012 Midnight Flight 
2012 Pillow Cover …assembly

2012 Red/White D4P…assembly

2013 Daisy placemats/runner (sept)…. needs binding

2013 Red blue floral placemats (sept)…. Needs binding
2013 Florals & 9Patch (aug)

2013 Maddie Bea Sweet & Sassy (becky’s barn)

2013 Spring Wall Hanging (WSS project)

2013 Becky’s Barn Basket wall hanging… borders, quilting

2013 Celtic Solstice (nov)

2014 Cracker Barrel - Blue/White strip quilt (jan)… L/E for CS

Waiting to be Quilted

Rosewood Cottage (since 2006) quilting by hand

Monkey Wrench BOM (since 2007) for sale

2 blue placemats (R taylor)

Serenity Prayer...

God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The stash to make a quilt to help me cope,
A quilt to give to comfort those I love in times of hurt, fear and uncertainty.
And the courage to keep on sewing when life itself seems held together by a single thread of hope.
Bonnie K. Hunter, 2014

After hearing about the tragic mudslide in Alaska and the loss of friends Bonnie modified the prayer to her own skillset.  It is one that we can all use when we hear of events, illness and tragedy that are beyond our control. We always want to do something to help.  

Prayer will always help.

Dancing 9s

Yesterday my friend BettySue and I drove over to Oliver Springs, TN to meet with the Ritzy Thimble Quilt Guild and take a class with Bonnie Hunter.

Bonnie's classes are always so much fun and so informative.  She begins by helping everyone find their quarter inch mark.  We test sew some strips and then we are off!

I was so busy having fun and sewing I forgot to take pictures! 

But first, the inspiration for my color choices for this quilt is my brand new great-niece Brooke Lynn.... just 17 days old in this picture.  This will be a gift for her once complete.

 

I was able to snag some pictures from Bonnie's post that she took in class.

These are the border blocks we cut from the strips we sewed.  I cut one border block from each strip set followed by a bunch of 2in strip sets to form the 9-patches.

Here I am at the end of the day with my first completed block.

When I got home I pulled out the remaining pieces I had stitched up in class and put together a total of 3 blocks, a good start on this quilt.

 

Pathway of Valor

We have all heard about Quilts of Valor...quilts are made and given to those brave men and women who have served this country.   Here is a request for blocks which will be made into QOVs.  A simple tutorial and where to send your blocks.


http://kevinthequilter.blogspot.com/2014/03/kevin-quilters-big-announcement.html


How many blocks will you make?

2014 UFO Listing and Totals

This morning I realized I have not been keeping up with my blog lately. It is already March and I haven't even posted my UFO list or my totals list.  The polar vortex has thrown my schedule into a tizzy!  Icey roads, some snow and the extreme cold weather has kept me busy with caring for my grandson due to school closures.  And now, this week began Spring Break!  Since he has been with me more than in school with his friends, I paid for daycare for him for the two week break so that I could get a rest and have some time to myself.

I was able to finish up all my customer quilts; working in short spurts around entertaining the grandson and working into the night.  I have made progress on my personal quilting projects too. 

Much of my handwork hours have been spent de-boning and cutting up shirts for Celtic Solstice.  I have also just finished de-boning an additional 22 shirts in shades of pink-orange-purple for a Dancing 9s class that I will be taking with Bonnie on March 16th.  I intend this quilt to be a gift for my new grand-niece!


I have also worked on my Spring Wall Hanging and have all of the daffodils and tulips blanket-stitched on.  I am currently working on the hyacinths.

I have also begun a project of making monthly ornaments to fill my Christmas tree next year... so far I have made red/white Bow-ties and mittens and am working on hearts next.

I struggled at first, but once I discovered my coordination and slowed my pace just a bit I began to enjoy sewing on my treadle.  I am barely half done with Step 1 of Celtic Solstice, but having slowed down, I find my piecing is more accurate and I am really having fun!  My poor electric Singer is gathering dust!

I have finally moved Orca Bay to flimsy status...almost. I have decided to add an extra solid black border to frame it.   I am rushing to make a pieced backing with the remaining fabrics and get it quilted in time to share with Bonnie during the show and tell portion of class.

Silly me, I started a blue/white strip quilt (Cracker Barrel) to use as a leader/ender as I worked on piecing my Celtic Solstice. What was I thinking!  I have plenty of UFOs that I could have used... but no, I just had to start one more project! 

WORK COMPLETED IN January-February 2014
 ....08.....customer tops quilted (YTD  8)
.....03.....customer quilts bound (YTD  3)
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting (YTD )
.............quilted flimsy (YTD  )
.....40.....hand-work hours (40 YTD )

Bonnie Projects in Progress

....done..Orca Bay
...............Orca Bay piece backing, quilting


.....350.... Celtic Solstice Step 1 blue triangles cut( 350 of 380 pairs)
.....380.... Celtic Solstice Step 1 white and orange star points cut (380 of 380)
.......50...  Celtic Solstice Step 1 orange star point units sewed (50 of 140)
....100.... Celtic Solstice Step 1 white star point units sewed (100 of 240)

.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD  6  of  81in 2013)   ...  (81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
.............. Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
.............. Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
.............. Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts

UFOs – WIPs

2006 Barn Blocks
2009 1950s Santa

2009 Sunbonnet sue …prairie point borders

2010 Swartz Creek Quilt
2010 Vicksburg BOM 

2011 Cheddar Bowties 
2011 Happiness Key

2011 Novelty Quilt (pat sloan)

2011 Dear Jane/Hot Momma Rose

2012 Basic Class Wall Hanging…. Borders, quilting

2012 Winston Ways

2012 Turkey Tracks

2012 Midnight Flight 
2012 Orca Bay… borders, quilting

2012 Pillow Cover …assembly

2012 Red/White D4P…assembly

2013 Daisy placemats/runner (sept)…. needs binding

2013 Red blue floral placemats (sept)…. Needs binding
2013 Florals & 9Patch (aug)

2013 Maddie Bea Sweet & Sassy (becky’s barn)

2013 Spring Wall Hanging (WSS project)

2013 Becky’s Barn Basket wall hanging… borders, quilting

2013 Celtic Solstice (nov)

2014 Cracker Barrel - Blue/White strip quilt (jan)… L/E for CS
2014 Dancing 9s

Waiting to be Quilted

Rosewood Cottage (since 2006) quilting by hand

Monkey Wrench BOM (since 2007) for sale

2 blue placemats (R taylor)

Antique Quilt Tops

Ellen also brought over some tops that her grandmother had made.  
She was thinking about selling them to make room in her overcrowded house and wanted to know what they might be worth.  I've seen some tops go at yardsales and auctions for $25-$50, but have no true idea of their worth.  Do you know?  If so, please let me know so I can pass the info on to her.

These are real feedsack quilts!

Double Wedding Ring 88x72 (some stains)

92x64

72x46

 This utility quilt was pieced with a variety of fabrics spanning form 30's feed sacks to 70's

87x66

An Antique Family Treasure

 My friend Ellen, who might be interested in quilting, has been talking about this wonderful quilt her great grandmother made, and how she would maybe like to make something similar.  Today, she  treated me to a show.  She carefully rolled this up between sheets  onto a cardboard tube and what a thrill to have her unroll it on my living room floor!

Pieces stitched together with an assortment of beautiful stitches.
A   painted bird and nest, applique pansies 

Ribbons dated 1897 from a teachers association in Nashville, TN

And while this quilt did not have a label... it did have this little slip of paper pinned to it

Globetrotting

Pat Sloan has started a new quilt along this year... check out the details here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/QuiltWithPatSloan/

here is my block one   Washington DC

I haven't had a chance to make block 2 Venice, yet, but I have all month ;)

Holiday Season Summary

I'm behind on my blogging... I've been too busy experiencing the holidays this season rather than write about it.

First, was the Christmas food.  I pulled out my pizzelle maker that I had bought when the local hardware store close a couple years ago.   I'd never used it and decided with my SIL coming and knowing how much she loves caonoli's that now would be the time to give it a try. 

  I forgot to take pictures of them when they were filled with the chocolate chip cream filling, and they disappeared so  quickly, you know they were good!

 

I made a BIG turkey for Christmas Eve dinner and we enjoyed turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey soup and turkey enchilladas for the days to follow.

The holiday and family visits would not be complete without a backyard game of football!  Here in TN we can do this at Christmas... back in MD and VA we we did it after Thanksgiving dinner.

There is the 10 hour drive to MD to visit and catch-up with the in-laws while watching the game!.....  and a must-do stop for a Maryland crab fix.

 

Then there was the post new year deep freeze and the snow... all 1inch of it!  that closed the schools for FOUR days until the icy roads were cleared and safe for buses.  We were able to purchase a saucer and had some driveway fun!

A great way to start the new year!...when you are 4!

 

Celtic Solstice Link-up

For the past several weeks Bonnie Hunter has hosted a link-up where everyone who is working on her most recent mystery, Celtic Solstice, can link their own blogpost  to Bonnie's and we can all share our progress.     I am amazed at the number of quilters who have been able to keep up with the mystery steps and have finished their quilts!  

I, for one, am way behind.... and I know there are others who may or may not link up.  This holiday season has just been to busy for me to barely begin working on this king size quilt, much less finish it. But, I am happy with the progress I have accomplished  thus far.  Progress is progress... no matter how much or little you have made.

I quit cutting those blue triangle pairs when I lost count, somewhere after 300.  I began stitching the 3.5 inch blocks together, but added a little twist to the challenge for myself...   

I am using my 1921 Singer Red-Eye treadle to sew this project!  I've had her for a while, sitting and looking beautiful in my quilting room; but I have never sewn on her.  I've watched Bonnie treadle away on Quiltcam and decided it was time to put her to work.

I used Bonnie's seam guide and a hotel key card to mark my quarter inch and got started.  I've had a few problems lining up the triangles properly to make the blocks end up the correct size.   I discovered that the flannel shirts I used are fraying a bit on the edges and that little nick on the blue triangle that is to be used to line up the fabrics is a bit fuzzy and difficult to line up with some of the fabrics.  I also discovered that some of these flannels are a bit stretchy and don't sew as nicely as I would like.  

I'm glad I didn't jump in and just sew through the whole stack, sewing all 300 on one side then the next.  I did a few at a time and checked them for size.  I had to do a lot of frogging  and restitching at first, but now I believe I have figured out how to line these things up and am making some progress. 

I've completed 100 of them so far... half white and half orange.  Now that the quilt has been revealed and I know the white ones are for the block and the orange are for the border, I've decided to sew just the white ones for now so that I can move on to the next step and work toward getting some blocks made.  I'll finish the orange ones later when I am ready to add the border on the quilt.  

I am really enjoying sewing on my treadle.  There's a rhythm to working on her and I love the sound of her beat.   I've got the added bonus of a bit of exercise as a treadle along.... maybe I will treadle away a few extra pounds this year as I complete my projects!

Be sure to check out the other bloggers and their progess here on Bonnie's blog:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html

Totals 2013 December

December is always a busy month.  
Customer work was completed.
Shopping done and gifts wrapped. 
Some home-made gifts completed too!   
Helping with and attending my grandson's Christmas Pagent.
Baking Gingerbread men, Pfefferneuse, Pizzelle and Canoli!
A visit from my brother and his family.
Preparing special meals and treats.  
A trip to Maryland to visit my husband's family. 

With schools closed for the holidays I've also had to keep and entertain my grandson for the last two weeks!  It's been fun and challenging and exhausting and I am ready for school to start again in January!

I even managed to quilt MY Christmas quilt before Christmas (Dec 24!)  Even though the binding is not yet on, I count this quilt as completed because it would have been done if the red fabric I had for the binding didn't bleed so badly when I pre-wash it.... Thank goodness I did pre-wash!  I even ran out and bought a second red fabric in hopes of getting it bound before visiting family arrived, but that red bled too, although not as badly!  I ordered some Retayne to stop the bleeding, but it will not arrive until January.  So the quilt was done enough to put on display for family to ooh and ahh, and I will get the binding on in January.
  
Every "spare" moment I could sneak away I cut parts for Step 1 of the new Bonnie Hunter mystery, Celtic Solstice which began on Black Friday.   It wasn't until Dec 30, after all the holiday travel and festivities that I was able to sit and start sewing parts together.   For an extra challenge, I decided to sew this using my treadle!  I bought it at a yard sale several years ago and it has been a beautiful decoration in my quilting room ever since.  Watching Bonnie on quiltcam using hers has inspired me... so I decided this would be a good time to start using it.   I even started a new strip quilt (Cracker Barrel) to practice my 1/4in seam and to use as a Leader/Ender!    I should have used one of the PIPs listed below... oh well!   

As I look over the list below, I am amazed at how much I was able to complete this year.  There are several PIPs that are near completion too, so I have made a lot of progress on my UFOs.  I also reduced my stash by selling at least a dozen quilt kits that had hopes of making "someday" but would probably never get to.  That allowed me to reorganize and find other UFOs and kits that I hope to make progress on in the coming year.  I'll be making a new list in the coming days or weeks and setting goals for the new year.

WORK COMPLETED IN December
 ....04.....customer tops quilted (YTD 70)
.....01.....customer quilts bound (YTD  21)
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting (YTD 13)
.....01.....quilted flimsy (YTD 13 )
.....10.....hand-work hours (166 YTD )

MY PROJECTS COMPLETED in 2013:  16 !!!!
Lucky Charms wall hanging (1/21/13)
Basket Sampler Welcome wall hanging (2/15/13)
Knitted afghan  (3/20/13)
Scrap Mania quilt (3/19/13)
Orange/Blue Jelly Roll quilt (3/18/13)
Hope Academy Banner (3/27/13)
Baby Brother quilt (3/22/13)
Baltimore Album Quilt (4/5/13)
Civil War Snowball Quilt 4/5/13)
Big Brother Quilt (5/7/13)
Easy Street Quilt (7/22/13)
Matthew's Puppy Quilt (7/25/13)
Floribunda Quilt (9/9/13)
POTC swap blocks completed and sent

30 Bowtie Ornaments for gifts (12/10/13)

Sloanie 2012 Christmas Block Swap Quilt (12/24/13)

Completed Projects Waiting to be Quilted
      NONE!

Projects In Progress 
 Spring Wall Hanging.... tulips done, 2/3 daffodils done
  Disappearing 4 patch...blocks are completed, ready for assembly
  Sweet & Sassy.....9 blocks completed, sashed and a quilt corner assembled
  Becky's Barn basket wall hanging...assembled, needs final border
  Novelty Quilt... blocks cut, need assembly
  Happiness Key...background complete, needs applique/embroidery
  Floral & Pinwheels.... made 4 pinwheels then renamed.... Florals&9patch
  Dresden Plate placemats
  Daisy Placemats...need binding
  Red floral Placemats... need binding 
  Cracker Barrel (blue white strip quilt L/E for CS)
 
Bonnie Projects in Progress
.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD  6  of  81)   ...  (81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
...done....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 49  plus 21 in 2012) total  70 of 112 
....done...Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
....done...Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 55 plus120 in 2012)  total 175
.....done..Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 08 plus 24 of 32 in 2012) total 32
.....done..Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles, make winged triangles (175 of 175)
.....done..Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (0)
.. done...Orca Bay Step 7 make flying geese (64 of 64)
......8........Orca Bay Step 8  sew quilt rows - (14 of 14 rows assembled)
...............Orca Bay  final border
.............. Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
.............. Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
.............. Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts
....done.. Celtic Solstice... Goodwill shirts deboned (37 of 37)
......140... Celtic Solstice Step 1 orange base triangles cut (140 of 140)
......120... Celtic Solstice Step 1 neutral base triangles cut (120- 240)
.......350.... Celtic Solstice Step 1 blue triangles cut( 350 of 380 pairs)
.......100...  Celtic Solstice Step 1 star point units sewed (100 of 380)

Christmas Morning

The grandson came over early this morning and made a beeline for the presents under our tree.

We will be spending the day racing hotwheels and playing candyland

A Quilter's Dream

'Twas the night before Christmas,
And the quilts were not made.
The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed.
The stocking weren't hung, the pantry was bare.
The poor weary Quilter, was tearing her hair.
Stacks of fat quarters, tipped over in streams.
Visions of Log Cabins, had turned into dreams.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
But a bus full of quilters with all of their gear.
They went straight to work with just a few mutters,
Sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters.
The patterns emerged from all of the clutter,
Like magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter.
Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese & Bear Tracks
Each quilt was a beauty-even the backs.

Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed.
The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed.
Their work was all done, so they folded their frames,
And packed up their needles, without giving their names.
They boarded the bus, and checked the next address.
More quilts to be made, another quilter in distress.

She heard one voice echo, as they drove out of sight,
Happy quilting to all and to all a good night!

~ Author Unknown
Found on Quiltersbee.com where you can read more Christmas poems

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and happy new year!

Celtic Solstice Update...

I've made a little more progress on this new mystery quilt by spending Quiltcam time cutting more blue triangle pairs!   

I've got my plan and am checking them off as I cut five of each pairing.

Here is my progress after my first cutting session

Last night during Quiltcam I marked off another 90+

This puts me at about half-way done cutting these blue 380 triangle pairs  needed for this king size quilt!  

My sewing time is very limited this year, so keeping up is totally out of the question.   I know Bonnie suggests doing whatever amount you can of each step as clues are revealed, but I find that too confusing... and I don't want to have piles of assorted parts scattered around the room... for who know how long it will take me to complete this.   I think it is much easier for me to work only one step at a time. 

More organizing!

I stopped at Goodwill on the way home from church today, just to check on more flannel shirts for the back of my Celtic Solstice.

While I was there I took a quick detour through the furniture section and found the perfect shelf to start unloading boxes and displaying my fabrics!

It is the perfect size to fit at the end of the bed and still have room to open the door!!  Instead of working on Celtic Solstice or finishing up customer work, I spent the afternoon unloading 6 boxes of fabric from the under-stairs closet and refolding to fit the cabinet.  This is some (maybe most) of the remaining yardage I collected when I worked at the LQS.  I got paid in fabrics and would "buy" 1 or 3 yds of coordinating fabrics I liked,  with no idea of what I was going to make.   I also have some pattern/fabric kits I put together for retirement work!

As you can see, my 90" roll of batting is too long to fit on the bed.  I thought about getting a heavy weight umbrella stand and standing the roll upright,  but the ceiling isn't high enough.  My daughter will eventually be "adopting" the bed to use for her youngest... so I must come up with a new method for storing and using these big rolls.

I've got some re-arranging to do and will continue my hunt for appropriately sized cabinets to store my collection of scraps and Goodwill shirts.

Celtic Solstice ... A little progress

Not much progress has been made on Celtic Solstice.  I'm still working on cutting Step 1... I've got all the orange and neutral base triangles cut and just a few of the blue triangles.  I couldn't wait to cut all 380 pairs... and began by  sewing a dozen blocks together... just to see what they would look like.  I'm glad I did.  I had trouble keeping the points and getting them to the correct size. I did a lot of frogging... multiple times!   I watched and read then re-watched and re-read the directions and finally figured out that my problem was that little notch.  My blues are mostly flannels and the notches weren't as obvious as they could be with a crisp cotton shirt.  Once I figured out that they were my problem, I was more careful about aligning the edges and the blocks went together smoothly.

Since then, I've been busy on the weekends with both grandsons (7months and 4.7 years) and again after school with the oldest grandson... crawling along playing cars and zookeeper and keeping him happy while Mom works.

I spent most of today baking cookies with Matthew.  Pfeffernusse (German spice cookies) and gingerbread men.  Tomorrow is my grandson's celebration of Christmas around the world and we are bringing these treats and will read the Gingerbread Man story to the class .... it was Matthew's favorite book when he was young!

I have also been busy working to complete customer quilts.  I finished this beautiful Orca Bay for Sara and I am almost done with her modified Trip Around the World.

Just two more customer tops must be quilted for Christmas and I will be able to get back to working on Celtic Solstice... or even quilt my Christmas quilt for me!... a swap made in January 2012 that has been patiently waiting it's turn on the quilter.   I love the Christmas dolls in the border fabric... representing my friends that contributed to this quilt.

Wishing you Merry Christmas and happy holiday season with friends and family.

Monday Linky

Monday was the day to link your blog to Bonnie's and report in on progress with Celtic Solstice. You can view and check the links to other blogs here:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/12/celtic-solstice-mystery-monday-link-up-1.html 

I haven't made any progress since some cutting on Friday (see my last post     here... http://madakamom.blogspot.com/2013/11/black-friday-play.html

But that's because I drove to Indianapolis this weekend with the family to see the Colts vs Titans game.  Unfortuantely for us, the Titans lost again.  But it was a fun trip spending time with family.

We did make a couple of very important stops...

First, on the way to Indiana was a stop at the Goodwill in Bowling Green, KY where I snagged another handful of blue plaid shirts for my backing, one yellow, one green and a couple of neutral shirts for my stash.

But, even more exciting... on the way home we stoped at an antique mall boasting over 600 booths! (exit 76B off of I 65)  I promised I would just make a quick run through to see if there was anything of major interest. An hour and a half later I hadn't  seen even half of the booths, but I did spy many antique quilts and sewing machines... several Singers.. some in bentwood cases, 3 treadles, one iron Singer treadle table, a Morse, several Whites and.... be still my heart... TWO featherweights!  They were both in excellent shape and locked behind glass doors.  I thought long and hard, consulted with hubby and finally decided one just had to come home with me!

I paid a little more than I would have liked, but it was in excellent shape and I've been wanting one for some time.  Her serial number is AH 435380 which indicates she is a model 221-1 born January 1948...she looks real good for a senior citizen!