Willow Garden ... number three

Since I moved to The County with Gene in June of 2000, my home has always been called Willow Garden.

Larry and I decided that this one would also be known as Willow Garden.

All we lacked was a willow tree.

We solved that problem today with the help of Mike at TrimPro Property Maintenance .

Life is good!

New Fabric

I am trying NOT to think about fabric and quilting until I have things more under control at the new house.

I have a couple of decks to build and a small fish pond to install ... and eave trough to have replaced ... and dricore sub-flooring to go down in case water gets into the basement again.

In the mean time, I seem to spend too much time on the net looking at fabric shops.  An even bigger problem is the ease with which an order can be placed ... ;-)

My latest find is a shop in South Dakota that carries a wide selection of Australian aboriginal designs.

Check them out if you like interesting fabric and fun colours ... Heartsong Quilts.  They seem like really nice folks.

They sell sets of a dozen sampler fat quarters of the Aussie prints, and give you 13!  I ordered three sets ... 39 fat quarters!

I LOVE them ... but I am not even thinking about what I might make with them ... well, not much anyway ... :-)

It is hard to capture the heart and soul of fabric with a camera, but here are some pictures of the latest additions to my g-r-o-w-i-n-g fabric stash.

:-)

I'm thinking that I should be able to pull out lots of purple from this selection ... but, as I said, I am trying not to think about it.

Off to put it away.  

Out of sight.

Life is good!

A Cross-Generational Quilting Project

Many years ago, likely in the early 70s, I got two quilt tops from my Grandmother.

At one point since then, they got very musty, so I wrapped them up and stored them in the freezer.  I found them when we moved ... in the freezer ... and no longer musty.

The tops were a good size ... 78" x 88".  They were made up of twenty blocks measuring about 18" x 20".

The fabrics were from my childhood ... my grandfather's pajamas, an aunt's dress, sun room curtains ... a real trip down memory lane!

The poodle fabric is so much fun! 

I suspect that my Grandmother made these tops in the late 1960s.  I also expect that all of the fabric was left over from projects or salvaged from old garments.

After deliberation, I made the decision that I'd take the tops apart and rework the blocks.  I did the math and decided that if I put six blocks in each new quilt top, added some colourful sashing and borders, and put on equally colourful backings ... that I could make seven interesting lap sized quilts.

Thus, I am about to make seven lap quilts for my sister and I (as was the original intent when they were given to me) ... and five more, one for each of our  kids.

I have some wonderful fabrics assembled to use for sashing and borders ... fabrics that will truly add MY touch to my Grandmother's handiwork. This is some of them.  The rest are in the washer and drier ... :-)

I am pretty excited to be involved in this project ... finishing quilts started 45+ years ago ... a joint project, by Jennie and Bill Stearman.

Life is good!

Anna's Quilt

The smile tells it all!!

Anna helped pick the fabrics from my stash and LOVES the fact that I had it quilted with a butterfly pattern.

I'll get a better picture of the whole quilt next time we are at her house.

SO happy to be able to do this!

Life is good.

Done ... mostly

I have finished Sloane's quilt ... except for trimming threads.  

I use Larry's nose hair scissors to do that.

I don't own a pair of my own, although at least one grand child has 'suggested' that I could use a pair.

:-)

Next Idea ...

For my grandson, Will, who loves green, I'll add lots of different greens ... and some novelty stuff in the border.

For Grandpa (aka me), who loves purple, I'll use lots of the batik.

Quilting Sloane's orange quilt today.

Life is good.