It was a lot of work–a lot of stopping and starting–but it is finally quilted! This is my parrot Building Blocks Quilt (pattern from Debbie Mumm’s website).
This quilt was quilted with individual spirals down the center, overlapping spirals surrounding the center, and crosshatching from the spirals to the edge.
This quilt just needs the binding and it is finished!
Easter and Spring are synonymous–this time of year is one celebration of life and new beginnings. Friday and Saturday were perfect spring days–warm and sunny. I spent Friday doing what I enjoy most–quilting. Joey and I spent the day in the studio with the windows open.
I also changed my display quilts to something more appropriate for the season–a little late this year, but the weather has not made it feel much like spring. There are two locations in my house where I try to change the quilts with the seasons. These first two pictures are the quilts that currently hang in the front entrance.
This is the dining room decorated with Spring / Easter quilts.
The pleasant weather continued on Saturday and I couldn’t resist going outside. I spent some time pulling weeds and trimming the hydrangea.
Sunday, Dana and I attended the Easter service at church with my parents. The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity. I struggled with the right words to capture my thoughts and then found Johnny Hart’s BC Easter cartoon. Sometimes a picture DOES say more than a thousand words!
No holiday would be complete without family. We finished the day around the dining room table enjoying another wonderful family meal with everyone present–Grandpa and Grandma (my parents), Harold, myself, Matt, Miranda, Dana, and Dusty. We enjoyed barbecued salmon, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, orange fluff (salad), peas, corn, and baking for desert.
There was also a generous distribution of chocolate and Easter candy supplied by a couple of Easter Bunny stand-ins.
After everyone left, I spent the last few hours of the day in my studio finishing up the quilting on my Debbie Mumm Building Blocks Quilt. I won’t show you a picture yet as the threads still need to be tied off and buried inside the quilt. My quilts always look a little they need a hair cut when they are at this stage.
So this weekend was about all the things that are important to me: my faith, my family, quilting, my faithful companion: Joey, great weather, new life, and of course chocolate!
It is my hope that this weekend brought you an opportunity to enjoy those things that mean the most to you as well. Happy Easter to each of you!
This bunny belongs to Dana. It was a gift from her great aunt and godmother. He is animated and plays the song, Rockin’ Robbin with the chick filling the role of back-up singer as he pops out of the egg. Very cute!
I have joined many of the quilters in blogland in the latest quilting craze–string blocks.
I started by using used dryer sheets as foundations. I made 10 blocks during the month of February and another 17 blocks during the month of March. The total string blocks that I have pieced to date on dryer sheet foundations is: 27. These blocks measure 6″ x 8.5″
Thanks to Finn I have also been using old color catchers as string foundations. Thanks to Mary I have been making these string blocks into coins. These blocks have been trimmed to 4″ x 9.5″.
These string blocks are more traditional in nature as they have been pieced on a muslin foundation. I made a total of 12 of these blocks during the month of March. These blocks finish at 9.5″ square.
At this point I am just making the blocks in the spare moments that present themselves during the week. As the blocks are finished they are sorted into boxes by type, where they will sit until the right quilt setting presents itself…………………..or until I run out of strings (Like that will ever happen! *VBG)
My goals for March were to finish my March bluework snowman block and to quilt and bind my Bricks and Stepping Stones Quilt.
The March bluework snowman block was finished about a week ago.
….but the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt was not finished until late last night–just in time to make the March deadline! This quilt will be given to one of my niece’s as a wedding gift when she gets married on April 14.
This quilt measures 86″ x 104″.
The piecing pattern is from Bonnie’s Quiltville website. If you are interested in the pattern, follow this link:
This is a closeup of the fabric on the border of this quilt. I love this fabric.
I also finished my crayon block. The moles seem to have eaten my daffodil bulbs so the only daffodils I am going to see are those that I put on a quilt!
This last picture is Joey. When I am finished with the binding on a quilt, I like to measure the length and width of the quilt. The tape measure proved to be too tempting a toy for Joey.