Wedding quilts...

The picture quality isn't very good- a gloomy day here. But you get the idea. The dresdan plates are for my sweet new daughter, Laurie. Green is her favorite color and they've painted the bedroom green.

The log cabin I have shown before- sharing some of the quilting on that one. It's going to my son, Joe. There's some WV history to it and I thought he would appreciate that. Now they need to come to Indiana and pick out five more quilts from my collection of quilts. That's the gig- you get married you get 7 quilts- one for every day of the week!

The last scrappy quilt is for Laurie's mom who has lymphoma- as she says, "The cancer patient pretty much gets whatever she wants." So I made this lap quilt for her to take on chemo days- it takes hours for that. The 9-patches are only 3"- what was I thinking? It's all a muddle, but it is nice and soft.

A Rainbow of Color...

is what I have after a few hours of dying fabric. I am really happy with the end results. Especially the muted tones on the left. But ya gotta admit that orange is pretty stellar! 36 fat quarters and 2 one yard cuts. They fit in very nicely with my other hand dyed fabs. Not sure what I'll be doing with these, but who couldn't use a little more color in their stash? I'm stuck doing laundry and cleaning house so no sewing allowed- at least during daylight hours. After the sun sets, I figure my time is my time.

Getting ready to go to Alabama for my son's, Joe, wedding shower. I will try to post a picture of the quilts that are heading their way, tomorrow. All of my tall quilt holders are away at camp so we will have to drag out some chairs for the shorter ones- who are always such sweet, willing, volunteers.

Dying to have a little fun...

That's what we did, yesterday. Sandy and I had an urge to dye fabric. So we ordered a bolt of PFD and thought we were set to go... but the fun got multiplied. Tanya got in on the scheme and that girl never does anything simple. So two more bolts of PFD were added to the mix- along with a couple more friends, Kathy and Sandra and it became a marathon- not a sprint. Shew! I am wiped out. 70 yards of fabric later. That's Sandy manning the soda ash station- you've heard me talk about her enough, thought you'd like a face to put to the name. She gives me dirty looks when I drag out the camera. The tie-dyed is a new bedspread for my room. I love the soft blues and browns, a great match for my walls. I forgot to bring rubber gloves home with me so that when I removed all the rubber bands- my fingers turned blue. Still are. But it was worth it. It was a very warm, sunny day so the fabrics had a nice steam on their little zip lock bags. And that yard was covered in baggies, I'll tell ya. Good thing Sandy has a pool- we took a dunk when we were finished. Sandy and I are thinking- next time, one bolt.

PFD=Prepared For Dye fabric

Just to touch base...

Seems like everyone in Bloggerland is incognito. I know I have been busy, as usual. Can't say that I've accomplished much. Just trying to get all caught up before the next big trip. Going to Alabama- without a banjo on my knee. The 1st of August is the Bridal Tea and I am still piecing. Yeah, hard to believe, huh? I was one block shy- of course. Does this only happen to me? So I'm needing the sweet husband to stop at Wally World and get me some glue stick so I can get the last of the applique done. I was hoping to get an embroidered block done in it's place, but it just hasn't worked out. Then there are borders... just a simple swath of fabric. Keeping it simple.

This is the Turning Twenty that we literally threw together for Abe- he is sleeping under, and I quote, "a ratty sleeping bag." I didn't know a 5 year old knew the word "ratty" and it's proper usage. The guilt was thick enough to cut with a knife and so we dug through the fat quarter stash and out came a kinda bizarre quilt- but he doesn't seem to mind and is thrilled with it. Of course he is going to have to wait until the wedding quilts are all done for me to get it quilted. Sorry for the blurry picture.

Anybody wannna help me with the laundry?

Audrey and her quilted bag.

Grandmother at Riley with Ben and Eva.

Ben and Abe- best buds.

Spring Mill circa 1814.

Abe, doing one of the things he loves the most. (don't worry, he can stand on the bottom of the pool- it was only 3 feet deep.)

Three little ones...

These are some of the small quilts I have been playing with, lately. They measure, on average, about 16'x21'. My neice Rosemary asked why would I do that to myself. I actually enjoy it. I have a small metal lunch pail that holds the "project in works." I just open it from time to time and do a block or maybe two. The blocks mostly finish out at 3". So yeah, they're smallish, but not too small. None of the pieces were smaller than an inch. Now what to do with them? I haven't a clue. But, like I said, it was fun.

What fun!!!

My sister, Laurie, and her family came for a visit- the first time in 10 years- and Doy(brother in law) was fascinated by the quilting machine. So we had to throw in some doodle fabric and batting scraps and away they went. They giggled through a pantograph- a bit more difficult than it appears, and then they did some free-hand. Writing their names and just having fun with it. The kids all took a turn at it as well. Thought you all would enjoy the pics.

I have been away on vacation and not sewing too much- though I spent several hours out there, today. My sweet friend Donna needs a lap quilt. You know how some people cook for those they love? And I do that too, but I sew for comfort as well. I'll try to get a few pictures from the reunion/vacation posted soon! Have a great week!