What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Every year the Dutch Modern Quilt Guild organizes a Quilt Along (QAL) with a Block of the Month (BOM) and I normally don’t participate. There are various reasons for that, one being that I prefer working on my own projects. This year the guild decided to try a different ‘…of the month’, namely colors! Ohhh that sounds so liberating! No specific blocks to do, just a monthly color to use in any of your blocks or projects.

That is FUN!

That I can do!

I am adding a personal challenge on top of the color requirement. I want to ...

Friend Cheri shares her leftovers with me from time to time. It is always exciting to get a new bag of possibilities.

Sort and straighten and ask, “What do you want to be?”

Somehow, I was seeing stars. And that gave me a place to start.

I added a few fabric scraps from stash and adjusted as I went along. I don’t know how I would write a pattern, or even a tutorial for something like this. It is an interesting process, though. A discovery every step of the way.

And the, Ta-dah! A quilt!

Finished size is 33 ...

Some of the flowers that I sowed last month have already turning into plants that I can plant out in the garden this week. Some have not come up at all. I will have to redo them to see if it is a problem with the seeds, or if it was too wet and cold the last two months.I love to fill my garden with bright colors. my garden has the perfect size for me right now, but I do wish there was a bit of room for bigger plants, like a magnolia tree.

Magnolias flowers are something special ...

It was kind of a nasty day weather-wise. We had some dry spells, but we also had some real downpours of rain while we were out and about yesterday. We're hoping for better weather today. We have a plan to take a walk in historic downtown Bowling Green. We'll see how the morning plays out. The forecast isn't looking promising. In any case, we're having lunch at a nearby brewery in hopes of scoring another beer t-shirt for Erik.

Getting back to yesterday, our day started at the National Corvette Museum. That was on Mike's ...

It was kind of a nasty day weather-wise. We had some dry spells, but we also had some real downpours of rain while we were out and about yesterday. We're hoping for better weather today. We have a plan to take a walk in historic downtown Bowling Green. We'll see how the morning plays out. The forecast isn't looking promising. In any case, we're having lunch at a nearby brewery in hopes of scoring another beer t-shirt for Erik.

Getting back to yesterday, our day started at the National Corvette Museum. That was on Mike's ...

I don’t think I have seen many Australian quilts designed by Australian quilters that I didn’t like…alot! My husband and I spent a year in Australia right after we got married 55 (!!) years ago. We shipped a trunk of belongings ahead and in it was a quilt, a “Friendship Circle” quilt (similar to a Dresden Plate) that my Grandmother made, probably in the 1930’s. I don’t know when it was given to me but it seemed to have been always in my room or on my bed or a chair. I don’t recall seeing ...

 Good morning, my friends. We had a beautiful day for our visit to Mammoth Cave National Park.

Now take ...

 Good morning, my friends. We had a beautiful day for our visit to Mammoth Cave National Park.

Now take ...

It has always been suggested that quilts should have a backing that is one piece of fabric or a backing which has as few seams as possible and the pieces are all cut from the same cloth. I have always struggled with this since I usually just buy a half meter or one meter of fabric so that I have a lot of variety in my stash. As my quilts got larger, using one piece of fabric was a challenge and I really liked the idea of a pieced back. Sometimes I have leftover blocks that I can piece into ...

Good morning, my friends. It's a good thing I have lots of pictures for you today. We can both just sit back and relax. I did almost nothing yesterday. The day off was very nice, and I'm happy to report my pain level is back to pretty much zero. (At my age, we're not ever quite at zero.) 

The only thing I accomplished yesterday was getting Smitty out for some more Cattucky grass.

The people with the big woofies moved on and so the space beside us was empty. I've realized if I carry him around ...

Good morning, my friends. It's a good thing I have lots of pictures for you today. We can both just sit back and relax. I did almost nothing yesterday. The day off was very nice, and I'm happy to report my pain level is back to pretty much zero. (At my age, we're not ever quite at zero.) 

The only thing I accomplished yesterday was getting Smitty out for some more Cattucky grass.

The people with the big woofies moved on and so the space beside us was empty. I've realized if I carry him around ...

Good morning, my friends. And it is a good morning because I'm happy to report that my hip pain has improved until it is almost non-existent. It's hard to believe because it was nearly unbearably painful for the past two days. We went on the Maker's Mark tour yesterday, which involved a LOT of walking. Sorry, no shuttle bus for the day. After the tour, we were able to pick up my medicine. I took one 20mg tablet of prednisone and a muscle relaxant, and today, the pain is nearly gone. It's practically a miracle.

So ...

Good morning, my friends. And it is a good morning because I'm happy to report that my hip pain has improved until it is almost non-existent. It's hard to believe because it was nearly unbearably painful for the past two days. We went on the Maker's Mark tour yesterday, which involved a LOT of walking. Sorry, no shuttle bus for the day. After the tour, we were able to pick up my medicine. I took one 20mg tablet of prednisone and a muscle relaxant, and today, the pain is nearly gone. It's practically a miracle.

So ...

When I first had the idea to create a Film at Five quilt based on 1-1/2″ squares, it seemed so innocent.

At this point, using it as mostly a leader-ender, there are 100 25-patches for the centers and 220 sashing strips for between the blocks. Yep, 4040 pieces later, and there is still a long way to go.

Ah, well, quilting requires not so much patience as persistence. After all, the longest seam stitched so far is only 5-1/2″. Mere seconds. You just have to be willing to do it a few thousand times.

It shall be finished ...

And there wasn't much time for anything in the morning. We took off early to go to the distillery.

There was a barn just through the entrance gate. It was never mentioned during our tour, and so ...

And there wasn't much time for anything in the morning. We took off early to go to the distillery.

There was a barn just through the entrance gate. It was never mentioned during our tour, and so ...

Good morning, my friends. We've moved on down the road this morning. We're in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, which is just about 20 miles from Bardstown, Kentucky. This is where Mike gets to check a few things off his bucket list, starting with the bourbon distilleries. So, I'll tell you about our plans for the area in a bit, but let's go back to where yesterday started. 

We were in no hurry to leave the previous spot, and that gave me plenty of time to work on my slow-stitching yesterday morning. I filled my hoop.

Good morning, my friends. We've moved on down the road this morning. We're in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, which is just about 20 miles from Bardstown, Kentucky. This is where Mike gets to check a few things off his bucket list, starting with the bourbon distilleries. So, I'll tell you about our plans for the area in a bit, but let's go back to where yesterday started. 

We were in no hurry to leave the previous spot, and that gave me plenty of time to work on my slow-stitching yesterday morning. I filled my hoop.

Grandma’s Quilt Block is the name of the fourth Mercantile block – the Mercantile Quilt is on Lori Holt’s blog and the directions will be there for a very long time from what I understand.  I am making this for an RSC quilt but it can be made with any fabric you wish to use […]

Good morning, my friends. We spent our last day in Paducah visiting the National Quilt Museum. We’d driven by it the day before, but entering through the front door, it was bigger than I thought. And before I go on, I want to say that being here in Paducah during “Quilt Week” has been quite an experience. The crowds were bad at the quilt show, but there was something special about being with so many quilters from so many different locations. The museum was similar, and the crowd was much less bothersome.

Here’s how it looks approaching the ...