Today I will work on finishing this quilt top.  The fabric was purchased last year (or maybe the year before??) on spec…I loved the stripe and the beautiful Jacobean-like flowers.  At the time I didn’t have a pattern in mind, so I guessed at yardages I might need, then did a search on the internet and came upon this free downloadable pattern on the Benartex website, which I modified for the yardages I had.  I am pleased with the result, and think that this will be a favourite.

This quilt top was made using leftovers from a quilt that mom made.  It seemed a shame to have all these black and white 1/2 square triangles sitting in a box, so I gathered them all up and sewed them into 6″ blocks.  Each block has 16 HSTs.  I used leftover black and green squares from another project for the alternate blocks.  I was amazed at how easily everything fit together!!  I had enough fabric on hand to make the sashing, the larger HST yellow/black border, and the backing and binding.

My mom and I finished a quilt top that we donated to Serendipity.  It was supposed to be a quick, easy quilt to make!  I think they used the quick and easy term rather loosely!!   We added the narrow black border to dress it up a bit (and give your eyes a chance to rest).

I drew this tree from a magazine photo while I was away.  It was so relaxing to sit out on the patio in the sunshine and sketch.  For some reason the local scenery did not inspire me the day I drew this…must have been homesick!  I was surprised at how well this turned out as I haven’t done any drawing at all for more than a year.

You can see that I haven’t done all the arms of the starburst yet, but I couldn’t wait to show you what I am working on.

Of course I picked up a few quilting items, including some gorgeous batik fabrics for the quilt I plan to make next.  Always thinking ahead!

It was interesting to see the cholla cactus garden in bloom, and we enjoyed wandering around Skull Rock and watching the climbers at Hidden Valley.

I’m taking along some hand sewing to keep me occupied in the evenings.  The sun goes down early, so this leaves time in the evenings to watch DVDs or TV.  I like to hand sew… I can’t  just sit and do nothing!

While away, I hope to take in a quilting class.  I’ve done my research and have found a nearby quilt shop that has a one-day class on Judy Neimeyer’s paper piecing method.  I LOVE Judy’s quilt patterns, so hope I can get into the class.

Here’s a photo of the quilt that I am currently working on…Stars ‘N Boxes.   Since the picture was taken I have added another border (in coral).  I pieced the binding using some of the “leftover” scraps from the jelly roll of fabrics used in the quilt centre. I downloaded a free pattern called “Boxy Stars” that I stumbled across on Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville website.  This was the perfect pattern and it was so quick and easy!  Thank you, Bonnie!

I’ve started some hand sewing now that my knitting projects are finished.  I have been working on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt for the last 5 years (gasp!).  I have all the “flowers” done and I’m working on joining them together with a row of green hexagons.  This will be a queen sized quilt.  Each flower has 37 hexagons and I’ve made 90 flowers, so that is a crazy number of hexagons!  Each hexagon is 1″ wide.  I tend not to focus on the amount of work/time that it will take to complete when I start a quilt.  If I like the way it looks, I will make it no matter what!  This quilt top has quite a few fabrics that came from dresses that my mom made for me when I was little, so this project has a lot of memories built into it.

I hope that the osteoarthritis in my hands will not prevent me from hand quilting this so that it will be completely made by hand and then it would truly be a traditional quilt.  It will probably take me another 5 years to do the hand quilting.  Oh well.  There is no rush.