Sep 28: Suej has asked for a simple, no frills, dark grey quilt for her daughter for Christmas,  king size of course. Final size will be 90 x 106.
​Sep 29: ​Starting to develop ideas for a plan from fabrics on Fabric.com & at Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shop. This stretched into several days & over 90 fabrics & several layout options.
​Oct 06: We have settled on a plan. Using the Yellow Brick Road pattern by Terry Atkinson but with only 5 fabrics in the blocks. (The pattern calls for 30 fat quarters but I will be using 1.5 yards of each fabric instead.) Ready to order fabric, of course there wasn't enough available for the plan. A few minor tweaks later & the fabric is ordered. It looks so simple now the process is over.
​Oct 15: Fabrics are here. Started cutting. The pattern calls for 30 fat quarters. I am starting with 1/2 yard cuts. Using only 5 fabrics, that is 6 fat quarters each or 3 half yards each.
Oct 16: Pre-washing. Cut the & pieced the backing. Cut the strips that would make the blocks.
Oct 17: Piecing the strips. Cutting the strips. Oh no! I just sewed the 40 x-block seams the wrong way. Now I need to rip out those seams & sew them the right way. Finished the x-blocks.
​Oct 18: Finished the blocks. Next I have to arrange them.
Oct 24: Did the layout.
Oct 25: Piecing 80 blocks into 10 rows of 8 blocks each.
Oct 26: Quilt center is done. Whew!
Oct 27: Borders are on & thus the piecing is done.

Oct 28: Picked out Deb's Swirls while here to pick up her More Hearty Good Wishes quilt.
Nov 08: Pieced a dresser cover. Will quilt that first using Deb's Swirls 1.
Nov 09: Wound lots of bobbins, cut delicate batting & quilted the dresser cover. Ordered more thread. Using Magnifico #2167 Cloud Cover, a dark grey high sheen thread.
Nov 12: Thread is here.
Nov 08: Pieced a dresser cover. Will quilt that first using Deb's Swirls 1.
Nov 09: Wound lots of bobbins, cut delicate batting & quilted the dresser cover. Ordered more thread.
Nov 12: Thread is here.
Nov 14: Starting the quilting process today & working until the binding is done--about a week. Prepped & loaded the backing. Loaded the batting. Started prepping the top. i.e. trimming unending loose threads.
Nov 15: Quilting.
​Nov 16: Quilted. Binding attached to the dresser cover.
​Nov 17: Binding is attached.
Nov 19: Quilt binding is done. Working on dresser cover.
​Nov 20: Dresser cover finished & quilt delivered.

Sep 11: Renewing plans (started a year ago) to make a second Hearty Good Wishes quilt.
Sep 14: I will make a modification of my original using smaller triangles. Our plan is now complete. Quilt size 90 x 106. Bought out the last 10 yards of dark woven texture fabric from Fabric.com.
Sep 15: After much planning, the shop was out of one fabric & I needed to order another.
Sep 16: Suej made her final selections. Everything is ordered.
Sep 17: Bought 5 of the fabrics today from Greensboro's Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shoppe.
Sep 18: Offered pattern ideas. Cut what I can so far. Waiting for other fabrics to come in. Had to make a few minor changes so my triangles would match up.
Sep 19: Dark fabric is here so I can start on the sashing. Sashing is cut.
Sep 20: Have my work cut out for me today--sewing sashing on background fabrics.
Sep 21: The blocks are made. Adding the vertical sashing while I waiting for the last fabric to some in.
Sep 22: Rows are together as far as I can go for now. Ready to cut backing, horizontal sashing & outer border. Ordered more backing/border fabric.
Sep 23: Backing is ready. Sand Seagrass fabric is here.
Sep 25: Rows are together. Horizontal sashing & joining rows is in progress.
​Sep 26: Quilt top center is together. Last bit of fabric came in today.
Sep 27: First border is on. Second border is one and thus the quilt top is finished.
Sep 28: Took the quilt top to Suej so she could pick her pattern: Bay VIew with clouds and sea gulls.
Sep 29: Quilting.
​Sep 30: Quilted.
​Oct 10: Squared & binding is attached & "clipped".
OCt 16: Starting hand work.
​Oct 24: Binding is done.
​Oct 28: Suej came by & picked up her quilt. Sent the photo posted at the top of this blog.

Aug 26: Washed and pressed the fabrics.
Aug 27: Prepped the binding, added borders to the top & back. Added leaders to the back (leaves) to make it large enough to longarm. Will use Bottom Line #609 Dark Blue thread & bobbins to quilt Nancy Haacke's Owl Damask panto. It will be rather dense even at max size. Batting, humm. Thinking silk/bamboo but that is thin. Thought I had some Quilters Dream Deluxe on hand but apparently not.
Aug 28: Decided to order a bolt of The Warm Company's Warm & Plush 100% cotton batting (no poly scrim). Been wanting to try it. Since they don't sell a twin package, I ordered a bolt.
Aug 31: Batting is here. Looks & feels like W&N only plusher. Changed thread to Bottom Line #619 Tan with Bottom Line #602 Gold bobbins. Loading. Quilting. Quilted.
Sep 05: Attaching binding.
Oct 14: Binding finished. I have decided to gift this quilt to Dorothy Wonder, my dearest of friends.

Last year's School House Event was so much fun, I wasn't about to miss this year's event. Same format. Some of the same teachers. Lots of new women to Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shop. Home with only two projects & a pattern, I used great restraint. I saw a quilt in a book I would love to make someday. and a dream of a third when the right fabrics come along. See! I couldn't spring for these this time ...

1. Halloween is something my daughter absolutely loves!!! I finally brought home a little black/orange/golden yellow/green/mummies/owls (you get the idea) project to have some fun. I was thinking a charm pack twister quilt but changed my mind to using a 1/2 hexagon ruler to make a braid style quilt, at least partly. Just looked through my stash and found some coordinating black, yellow & orange solids. Hmmm. Ideas are popping. Will made the braid first and then see how I will put it all together.
2. Browsing the shop when I skipped class for a few minutes, I spotted a navy & gold batik I could not leave behind. I searched for something to coordinate with it and selected another batik. Going to make another one of my "no-piece" quilts (one batik on each side with no piecing except a seam), add a border (found the perfect shade from my stash) & binding & use it to cuddle in my navy blue recliner this fall. Thinking Dream Orient silk & bamboo batting.
3. Happy Child was one of many quilt designs on post card sized cards. I kept coming back to it & decided not to leave it behind. The hard part will be finding the right 6 fat quarters plus sashing fabric to make this quilt. (Never did. Probably never will.)
4. My last heart throb of the day was "I'm Feeling Good" in Charlotte Angotti's Surprise Yourself! book. The quilt I like is on the book cover (top one).Ah, one day ... (3 yrs later dont remember it.)

Apr 23:  I was browsing the local quilt shop, Sew Original, when these dogs stole my heart & wouldn't let go.
Apr 24: Cut out the top. Ready to sew.
Apr 25: Piecing the top. Center done. Needs borders and need to buy backing.
May 23: Bought backing
Jun 16, 18: Added borders. Quilt top is finished. And my granddaughter, Monica, wants it. YES!
Jun 20: Monica wants Paw Prints.
Jun 27: Will do the pattern at 7.5" so each paw is about 3.25". Thread is Art Studio #204 Scarlet Macaw. Using Quilters Dream batting.
Jun 28: Made the backing. Saved enough for the binding. Added several inches of the dog toss fabric to the top edge of the backing. Binding is ready. Loading.
Jun 29: Basting & testing tension.
Jun 30: Quilting. Lots of thread break problems.
Jul 01: Quilted.
Jul 02: Squared, attached binding & clipped...so ready for handwork.
Jul 12: Binding is finished.

Mar 23: Elizabeth Perez (daughter of Eddunio Gomez)  and her family stopped by announcing they wanted a quilt made for her young boys who were nearby playing quietly but energetically. When he spotted my !!!Happy Fourth of July!!! quilt & loved it as much as I do, it was settled. We would make a much smaller one. I would start searching for fabrics & she would come back to make a selection. I told her if I could find a matching jelly roll & layer cake in patriotic colors, that would make the fabric selection easy. Searched all afternoon but didn't have any success finding pre-cuts or similar fabrics. Kept finding duck cloth and seersucker. Aarghh!! 
Mar 24: Elizabeth & I worked together for several hours looking online for fabric. When I noticed some of our selections were Northcott Stonehenge fabrics, I focused on those. When I searched wider, we found precut strips and a fat quarter bundle. We were set. She picked a cute backing fabric featuring pirates & we placed the orders. I had already drawn the quilt in EQ7 some months ago so we just had to pop in some of our fabrics to get an idea of how it might look. The real quilt won't be so repetitive. Now all I need is time. Oh, and I get to use Eagles On High again!
Mar 27: Pre-cuts are here. Includes a beautiful panel.
Mar 30: Pirate backing and inner border fabrics are here.
May 10: And now after a week of planning, we have a final plan for the quilt top.

May 03: Started working on the stars. Need to make a template. First effort not so good but know now what to try next.
May 04: Working on those stars. Nasty little innocent looking little blocks. Cut the templates for the stars.
May 05-07: Continuing work on the stars. Stars & their backgrounds are cut out ready to sew.
May 08-09: Working on stripe blocks &  on the sashing & cornerstones that complete the star blocks. I can't imagine doing this project with the fabric constraints without EQ7 to give me an evolving idea of the total look.
May 10: We have a plan: Q7.
May 11: Piecing the stripe blocks.
May 12: Finished the stripe blocks after planning a 2nd quilt for another day.
May 14: Piecing the star blocks.
May 14: One down, 11 to go. I have to do better than several hours on one star to make everything fit together nicely. 4 more blocks mostly complete.
May 20: After several days, the star blocks are finally done. The blocks are assembled & the inner border is on.
May 21: Quilt top is finished.
May 22: Need 1.5 more yards of backing. Ordered.
May 29: The rest of the backing fabric is here.

Jun 21: Programmed IQ. Loading.
Jun 22: Loaded and quilting. Using Bottom Line Ivory thread. Very hard to show the quilting on such busy fabrics but I'm trying.
Jun 23: Quilted. Made the binding using the pirates fabric. It is all I have left. Ready to attach it & then start the hand work.
Jun 24: Attached binding. Ready for hand work.
Jul 09: Binding is finished.

Jan 22: First contact when Branna spotted Carrie Byrd's quilt.
Jan 23: Talked on the phone & sent links to Superman theme fabrics. She loves the fabric featured above so I quickly composed a Just Can't Cut quilt in EQ7.
Jan 25: Sold! That was easy! Doing a quote .... to see if we can do business. Fabrics I like for this quilt & a few layouts are listed.
Jan 26: My fabric choices and quote have been accepted. Have until July to get everything done. Fabric is ordered. Hope they look as good in person as in my EQ7 rendition.
Feb 02: Fabrics are here. May not use the stars...not happy with the match.
Feb 13:Washed & pressed all the fabrics.
Feb 14: Cut everything for making the top. Pinned the strips that will become the pieced blocks.
Feb 16: Strip sets sewn, cut and made into blocks.
Feb 17: Have my layout I want so ready to assemble the top center.
Feb 18: Quilt top is finished.
Mar 03: Programmed IQ ... smaller/denser this time. Will use white thread.
Mar 04: Piecing the backing. Need to insert a strip of black in the center to get the length I need. Also need temporary leaders on top and bottom so I'm using the star fabric I bought and didn't want to use in the quilt. It is poor quality but perfect for leaders. (Leaders are the 3" I need to load the backing beyond what I need in the quilt.)
Mar 05: Backing is ready. Loading. Hmmm, did I ask about batting? Need to before I cut & go on.
Mar 06: Loaded. Testing thread. I started quilting using Bottom Line Silver. It was so hard to see, that we changed to Magnifico 2167 Cloud Cover  with Bottom Line Silver bobbins.
Mar 07: I have enough fabric left to quilt some pillow covers. Breanna will finish and stuff them.
Mar 08: I had a nagging thought to check the back of my stitching sample. Good thing I did. The backing we chose will not hold up to quilting. Show stopper for now. Pieced the pillow covers. Ordered the new backing. Quilting the pillow covers.
Mar 09: Finished the covers.
Mar 10: Shipped the covers to Derek while Breanna is out of town
Mar 13: New backing is here. Needs piecing.
Mar 20: Pieced the backing. All set to prep & load.
Apr 28: Quilting.
Apr 29:  Yesterday, with two rows to go, I noticed a couple of  small yellowish stains on each side of the quilt. Took the time to deal with them as best I could.
Apr 30: Showed Breanna the problem areas. She optioned for me to proceed without replacing the fabric. Quilted.
May 22: Squared the quilt & made the binding.
May 25: Attached the binding on the front.
May 28: The binding, and thus the quilt, is finished.

Dec 30: I used EQ7 to add a few borders this very colorful panel.
Jan 01: Rudy is helping with color selections.
Jan 02: We've decided to use Kona Cotton Royal & Malibu (as used in the star quilts). The red is Kona Cotton Cardinal I have on hand. The tan flannel is a remnant from Joan's Lodge Quilt. Blue fabrics are ordered.
Jan 03: Cut tan & red strips, sewed red border to panel, pieced the backing, made the binding.
Jan 07: Thread: Bottom Line Silver. Batting: wool. 
             Made a schedule. HA HA HA! No way, Jose! I mean, Rudy.
Jan 08: Pre-washing & pressing fabrics. Rudy & I changed the plan...again.
Jan 11: Cut borders.
Jan 17: Rudy cancelled this project. Batting & panto are flexible choices.
Jan 18: Dorothy took over ownership of this project. Ordered new backing.
Jan 24: The new backing is here. Will use Animal Crackers panto. Since the wool batting is already cut, we will use it. Still need to pick a thread.
Feb 05: Pieced most of the top. Still need to do top & bottom blue borders & piece the backing.
Feb 07: Finished piecing the top & the backing. Backing needed a leader on one end. Made two bindings I will send to Dorothy--red & curry.
Mar 17: Quilted.

Dec 31: Rudy bought these fabrics today & had them shipped here. We are going to use the pea pod print as a border on the front and for the backing & binding.
Jan 01: Made a slight change & ordered a tad of pink fabric with yellow stars to do it.
Jan 04: Fabric is here. The striped border is pinker than shown on the website which is good. Actually the whole panel is pinker. Very nice!
Jan 07: Pieced the top. Made the binding. Didn't have enough backing so ordered more fabric.
             Thread: So Fine! #520 Barely Peach. Batting: wool. 
             Made a schedule. HA HA HA! No way, Jose! I mean, Rudy.
Jan 12: Extra backing material is here with a nice note from the vendor.
Jan 17: Rudy cancelled this project. Batting & panto are flexible choices.
Jan 18: Dorothy took over ownership of this project. Only changed the pantograph. Since the wool batting is already cut, we will use it. Bobbins are wound & ready.
Jan 28: Bought Baby Bunny Panto.
Jan 29: Loaded.
Jan 30: Quilted.

Jan 01: What is one more quilt among so many? LOL Rudy is going to have one colorful booth at the trade show later in January. 
Jan 01: Will use the logo colors using Kona Cotton solids. Rudy will try to get his logo done elsewhere & then just lay it over the quilt center.
Jan 02: Fabrics are ordered. Have solicited the help of Patricia Ritter of Urban Elementz to help with the panto.
Jan 03: Auditioning fonts--will use serif font for "sharp sewing". Also getting familiar with the piecing plan. i.e. 

• # strips of each color & width
• # squares per color combination & size.

Jan 05: IQ loaner is here. Now own upper & lower case alphabet letters in a simple font created by Patricia Ritter of Urban Elementz.
Jan 06: Working today on turning the logo text into a pantograph. Have posted first pass. Rudy likes it so now it needs a bit of tweaking.
Jan 07: Thread: Bottom Line White to match background. Batting: wool. 
             Made a schedule. HA HA HA! No way, Jose! I mean, Rudy.
Jan 08: Fabrics are here.
Jan 09: All fabrics pre-washed & cut.
Jan 10: Making 1/2 square triangle blocks using Strip Ruler method.
Jan 11: Cut & pressed all the blocks. Ready to sew. Backing & binding are ready. This quilt is now top priority.
Jan 12: Sewing blocks together. 208 square or 1/2 square triangle blocks will become 13 4x4 star blocks joined into 3 rows.
Jan 13: Finished small star rows. Joining the rows & making the stars.
Jan 14: Third day of piecing...Finished the center with all the stars. Now the borders.
Jan 15: Finished the second border only to discover I have a major case of friendly (wavy) borders. Looking back I can see it coming... Stopped to be sure my loaner IQ was okay & to test my pattern. It could use some tweaking... Quilt top finished. Will tweak the pattern for a couple of hours.
Jan 16: Re-tested my pattern. Loading and quilting. Quilted & squared. Attaching binding. Adding Wonder Clips. Shipping Express tomorrow. Monday us a postal holiday.
Jan 20: Rudy received his quilt.
Feb 11: Quilt back here to finish the binding.
Feb 27: Bound.

Dec 30: Rudy is with the company where I buy my Wonder Clips (see Suppliers page). He contacted me about a quilt he wants to promote is business at an upcoming show in January.
Dec 31: We considered using Moda grunge fabrics ....
Jan 01: But decided to go with Kona Cotton solids. Rudy will try to get his logo done elsewhere & then just lay it over the quilt center.
Jan 02: Been working on the Cut & Sew pantograph. IQ crashed so I lost the design & all 4 quilt layouts. A loaner computer is on the way..
Jan 03: Getting familiar with the piecing plan

• # strips of each color & width
• # squares per color combination & size

Jan 05: Loaner IQ is here. Re-programming my unfinished panto I was working on when my IQ crashed. Now I have an & created by my sister, Sandy Daugherty to add to my Serif Uppercase Alphabet created by Ellen Munnich. Offering two layouts but any density is fine. Rudy's choice of course. 
Jan 07: Thread: Bottom Line Light Yellow. Batting: wool.
              Made a schedule. HA HA HA! No way, Jose! I mean, Rudy.
Jan 08: Fabrics are here. The yellow & the red are off. I have enough red on hand to substitute.
Jan 09: All fabrics pre-washed & cut except the yellow. Rudy is working on matching his logo yellow to fabric.
Jan 10: Making 1/2 square triangle blocks using Strip Ruler method. We have a yellow I found at a local shop that matches the shade on a box of bobbins Rudy sent me. Thanks, Rudy, for both. Washed the yellow fabric.
Jan 11: Pressed the yellow fabric and then cut & sewed the remaining strips. Will delay further work on this quilt until the Sharp Sewing quilt is being longarmed. Backing and binding are ready.
Jan 18: Back to this quilt. Finished cutting everything. After pressing all the squares seams open, it is back to the tedious matching points, basting, checking and finally sewing the 13 star blocks.
Jan 19: Still piecing...
Jan 20: All 13 star blocks are done.
Jan 21: Center of quilt is done & starting on borders. Got the first & hardest one on.
Jan 22: Stayed up all night (21st) & finished piecing the top. Checked & tweaked the programming. Loaded. Quilting. Quilted.
Jan 23: Squared & binding attached. Clipped with Wonder Clips. Ready to ship. Photos are dark because there is heavy fog and freezing rain outside. Rudy decided I should do the binding and then ship. Too late for this show. I did my best but just couldn't get it done any sooner. Several all nighters & going with minimal sleep, the stress of trying in vane to meet the deadline was disappointing for me and especially for Rudy. I will not work under such deadlines in the future. I must say Rudy was a delight to partner with on his logo quilts. The biggest cause of the failure was my very poor estimation of the time required to do these quilts.
Jan 27: Binding finished.
Jan 28: Shipped.

Aug 23: Home from Greensboro, I knew I couldn't rest until I loaded this project into EQ7. Borders can be adjusted. Outer border is also the backing.
Nov 26: My dear neighbors who live most of the year in Miami helped me get 4 packages up here today in the pre-Thanksgiving snow. While here, they asked me about a queen size quilt for their home in Florida. I showed them this one and they liked it, selecting High Seas panto to go on it. (I did a plan with the sashing red--thus Heather's comment--but the original won out. I'm glad.) I am really looking forward to making this for Eddie & Maria.
Dec 03: While the longarm is down for repairs, I started on this by pre-washing & pressing the fabrics.
Dec 04-05: Cutting & piecing the triangles.
Dec 06: Squaring the large 20" blocks.
Dec 07: Sashing. Main quilt top is together.Just need borders.
Dec 08: Took a quilting holiday.
Dec 09: Top & back are pieced & ready to quilt.
Dec 20: Loaded.
Dec 21: Quilted.
Dec 22: Made the binding.
Dec 23: Attached & clipped the binding. Ready for hand work.
Dec 24: Starting the handwork.
Dec 27: Binding finished.

Rita is one of our mail carriers.
She has one of my quilts but not a flannel & wool snuggly one. It's time.
Using Suede flannels by P&B Textiles from Beverly's online 
except for the tan, a Moda flannel, from Fabrics.com.

Week 1
Nov 17: Maybe it is the super cold outside, maybe it is the Santa panto Intelligent Quilting is giving away this week, maybe it is my love for wool and flannel, whatever -- it is time to make Rita a winter quilt. Yep! I am going to quilt Santa on this for Santa Rita. Well, she does deliver a whole lot of Christmas packages and every other kind of package too like QUILTS to and from the cabin all year long. Quilt top pattern is Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs.
Nov 21: The solids came in today. 
Nov 22: The tan fabric with trees is on the way.
Week 2
Nov 23: Pre-washed the solids. Studied the directions & started cutting late tonight.
Nov 24: More cutting. Spent most of the day with my sister in great need of help. What a privilege. Still managed to cut what I have & can start sewing strips tomorrow. Camel shade of fabric with trees will be here Wednesday, the 26th.
Nov 26: Cutting & started sewing. The last of the fabric is here now in spite of the snow..
Nov 27: Power was out until noon. In addition to getting ready for some quilters this weekend, I cut the red border & binding, cut & pieced the red backing. Made all the blocks. Started squaring them.
Nov 28: All 35 blocks are now squared.
Week 3
Dec 01: Main quilt is in one piece.
Dec 02: Piecing finished. Loaded.
Dec 03: Quilting. Machine broke down just before the end of the first full row. Waiting on parts
Week 4
Dec 10: Parts are here and installed. Quilting has resumed.
Dec 11: Quilted. I ran out of backing (meant to add a strip top & bottom but forgot. Had to remove the quilt, add a red strip, sew it on the back and then reload before basting & quilting the final row.
Week 5
Dec 13: Attaching the binding. Started the hand work.
Dec 20: Bound & finished.
Dec 21: On my mind & in my heart for 34 days spanning 5 weeks, I can't wait to deliver this later today. Well, that didn't happen.
Week 6
Dec 23: There will be a delivery today. It is raining so I will just leave this in the rocker on the porch. I won't get to see Santa Rita open it & that has broken my heart. What is important is that she will have a warm quilt to come home to after a long cold days delivering mail and packages.

What a wonderful day. Haven't done anything like this in a couple of years. SCHOOL was complete with a principal (my daughter) & lots of teachers who taught 2 classes each. Every 15 minutes we changed classes learning a new project at each stop. We were given raffle tickets & a sheet of labels with our names on them. If we wanted to buy something we saw, we put one of our name stickers on the item and gave it to the teacher. During class changes, these were taken to the register for us so we didn't have to carry our loot around with us. After all the classes, a held receipt was ready for us at the register so there was no waiting time to check out. How smart was that? Many of the 15 minute classes today were introductions that will be followed by full length classes this fall.

The event was a great success. You know how when you are in Walmart & are forever having to wait for someone to get out of your way or you are moving your own cart slightly to let someone else pass? Today I constantly touching butts with others trying to get past me while I browsed bolts of fabric. More than a dozen times I had to re-route myself to get past more of those butts. We were all having so much fun shopping & learning & planning our projects we hardly noticed.

Before classes, the Moda fabrics Hearty Good Wishes caught my eye along with the book Sew a Modern Home. I got my project all planned (with Donna's help while we caught up on all the news) & my bolts laid out for cutting on a quiet out of the way table being used as needed as a cutting station. The cutter had stepped away so I went outside to give away a t-shirt to Paula. When I came back, the bolts were all neatly back on the shelf & the book was back where it came from in the other direction while Ms. Cutter was hard at work on other bolts. Time stood still for no one yesterday. After my dismay, I recreated my plan (I think) & stayed put until everything was cut. I had my granddaughter at the register start a hold ticket for me. This was before school even started so I was already, as I said three years ago, in a "dangerous wonderful place."

I have only spotted one tiny flaw in the whole quilt. I have asked for more information on this quilt. So far, I know it belonged to a woman in Blowing Rock, NC. It was literally purchased off her bed by the ladies at a local miniature auction/emporium type shop about 6 weeks ago. The purchaser, also a Linda, thinks the quilt was made in Scotland but that is not yet confirmed.

I priced the longarming at a modest rate for custom SID (Stitch in the Ditch) at $485. I have only done minimal SID on my longarm but enough to know it is not easy & very tedious. Add fabric & piecing labor & the price goes up and away. The quilt design is as special as the hand work--Red, White & Blue theme with stars and (rail fence) stripes. There are 17 star blocks & 18 rail fence blocks outlined by a unique zig-zag border. Three borders top & bottom and four borders on the sides finish off the quilt top design. Only 8 fabrics are used--4 blue, 3 red and 1 yellow. I do not know how to even describe the batting which is at lease twice as thick as Warm & Natural with very nice drape. It doesn't have loft persay. Even my homespun fabric with wool batting is not as thick. The weight is not from the batting but just the size of the quilt. I slept under it last night (temps were in the 60's here in the mountains) & was very comfortable.

July 2015: Finished my Stars & Strips quilt inspired by this one. No comparison but each has its charm.

March 18, 2016: I decided many months ago to give this to Joan Taylor knowing she would really appreciate the workmanship. See her comment below. Today I met Joan in nearby Wilkesboro for a fabric & quilt swap. Too large to ship, I passed this on to her in person.

Jun 26: Duane came by and looked at some ideas I had. We also searched Fabrics.com for more options. I went through my flannel stash and came across some tartans I bought several years ago. One really caught Duane's eye. Using EQ7, I showed him layouts using the red/black/white tartan & solid red flannel. Bingo! I ordered the red & backing flannels and started figuring out how to use the tartan.
Jun 28: Wanting to fussy cut the tartan blocks, I didn't have enough for the layout Duane liked. Also realized all those bias cut borders would have been very difficult to match plaids. On to plan 2.
Jul 01: Two wonderfully soft flannels are here. Red & tartan rows are pieced. Need to order the grey and black flannels.
Jul 09: Last of the fabric is ordered.
Jul 11: Fabric is shipped & expected Tuesday, July 15.
Jul 15: Fabric is here.
Aug 16: Discovering it is not so simple to figure out the exact dimensions for a diamond in a square block. Think I finally got it.
Aug 18: Finished the center. Started on borders. Got the first one (grey) on.
Aug 19: Finished the borders and thus the quilt top.
Aug 20: Pieced the backing. Auditioning patterns so Duane can choose one tomorrow.
Aug 21: Paw Prints it is. Wool batting. Silver thread. Loading. Quilting.
Aug 22: Quilted. Love it, I do. Binding is attached.
Aug 24: Hand binding.
Aug 27: Finished.

Jun 13: Contacted David: Yes, I would love to get this as a Christmas present.  I know that she loved this pattern when she saw it...I don’t know about the colors or all the steps involved.  I’m sure she would like fabric that feels nice to the touch. The colors in the picture are quite striking, but I don’t know if they would be good for our bedroom

Jun 27: Today David & I finally got down to business. We looked through lots of fabrics on Fabrics.com focusing on batiks. After our phone conversation, I auditioned fabrics into the EQ7 drawing & added a row of blocks.. We'll continue this process as David has time until we arrive at a plan.
Jul 01 & Jul 07: More fabric selection phone adventures. Over & over : They are all just so beautiful! David has made his main selections so I will now select coordinating fabrics for the 9-patches from David's vast list of favorites.
Jul 09: We have a plan. Looks so simple once all is said and done. David agreed to the simpler inner borders so the diamonds are gone.
Jul 10: Fabric is ordered. Must say David is a perfect gentleman & a pleasure to work with. So glad there is plenty of time before Christmas to enjoy the piecing and quilting as much as I have the planning.

Jul 16: Fabric is here & looking good. I made a couple of swaps now that I can see the fabrics.
Jul 21: I have some time waiting on a partner to get back with me so I am pre-washing the fabrics in the 9-patch blocks. Got the first set of 20 done. Four sets to go.
Jul 22: Working on small 9-patches.
Jul 24: Finished the small 9-patch blocks. Pre-washed & pressed 16.5 yards of two feature fabrics & backing.
Jul 25: Cutting more fabric. Will start piecing the larger 9-patch blocks.
Jul 26: Hope to complete the large 9-patch blocks today. Well. I did one anyway & need to focus on something else for now.
Aug 03: Completed the large 9-patch blocks.
Aug 04: Cut the background fabric.
Aug 05: Completed the center of the quilt. 
Aug 06: Adding borders...
Aug 07: Borders and thus the quilt top are finished.

Aug 11: Waiting for a pattern selection so I can quilt this.
Aug 14: Still waiting. I've suggested what David needs to look for & referred him to Donna Kleinke's patterns to see if any of those work for him.
Aug 17: Doing overlays of possible patterns.
Aug 19: David chose Deb's Swirls 2 by Deb Geissler.
Aug 21: Cut the batting.
Aug 27: Pieced the backing. Loading...
Aug 28: Loaded & starting to quilt. Making the binding while IQ sews away. Quilted. Will unload tomorrow.
Aug 29: Posted quilting pictures. Quilt is squared, binding attached and clipped ready for hand work.
Sep 02: Bound.

Feb 14, 2012: Acquired this beautiful panel.
Dec 27, 2013: Commissioned to finish this panel as a sofa quilt.
Jan 2014: Planned the sofa quilt, ordered and bought fabric and then the gentleman decided it was not worth the cost. Oh well.
May 19: I'll be making this for some new friends. Hubby was a great help to me. He & his wife will decide what borders to use.
Jun 05: We have a plan. Still working out what to use on the back. I have some homespun but may not have enough. Will use cotton batting to keep the panel as clear as possible.
Jun 18: Started cutting and adding borders.
Jun19: Finished cutting the final two borders and added them. Piecing is done. Backing is ready.
Jun 20: Programmed IQ. Loaded & ready to quilt.
Jun 21: Quilted.
Jun 22: Made & attached binding. Started hand work.
Jun 24: Binding is done. I do love the way this quilt turned out.

Mar 19: While riding along today, Marie told me she wants another quilt in May for a friend who loves black & white cows. Just getting ready for when she can come by and help design this quilt. For now, I am stuck on patterns like Just Can't Cut It or Take 5 for a patchwork look. I even kinda like the blue Holy Cow fabrics. It will be fun to see what Marie likes & where we end up.

Mar 24: Marie came by and we designed her quilt. I was up until past midnight getting everything ordered. Turns out in May means for Mother's Day. This Just Can't Cut It quilt using panels & large 15" to 16" blocks will piece quickly. The Farm Chic fabrics have both light and dark images online but I think either will work. Since Windham makes both lines of fabric--Holy Cow & Farm Chic--I hope they will coordinate nicely.
Mar 27: Four of the eight fabrics are here & they feel so wonderful, especially dairy farm scene. And the two fabrics lines will coordinate just fine.
Mar 28: 6 panels and Cow Toss on Blue came in. One more to go.
Mar 29: Last fabric is here. Decided to pre-wash everything--something I rarely do. Mostly I was killing time waiting for a friend to come over. Got everything pressed and ready to cut.
Mar 30: Took most of the day cutting this out just so. Waiting on Marie to come by, I pieced the blocks. We looked for patterns when I came across one I forgot I had by Donna Kleinke. Why not use The Cow Jumped Over the Moon?
Mar 31: Quilt top finished.
Apr 07: Loaded.
Apr 08: Quilted.
Apr 14: Squared the quilt. Made the binding.
Apr 15: Binding is attached. Starting hand work.
Apr 26: Binding is finished.

I learn something new every day. Today it is all about Littlest Pet Shop Fabrics. With only one fabric to work with, Diane & I are up for a challenge to make her daughter's dream quilt.

Ali is 10. This is her quilt. Along the way, she has made many of the design decisions.

Jan 21: First contact by email and then phone call. "I would like a full size (78 x 87), plain sort of quilt with some patches of characters to accentuate the quilt. Possibly a cream color quilt with a border of pink and 6 patches of Littlest Pet Shop characters inside the border." Started designing. After working with the purple, I noticed the email from Diane saying her daughter preferred the pink.
Jan 22: Still coming up with more samples. And we have a plan.
Jan 23: Diane's husband had the idea of using Crazy Hearts rather than the more traditional heart blocks. Quilt size will be Full Size (54 x 75) with an 8" drop making the total quilt size 70 x 90.
Jan 27: Pink flannel backing is ordered and on the way. Buggy Barn Heart Crazies pattern is on the way. The Pet Shop fabric was ordered several days ago on eBay. When it comes in, I will find 2 shades of pink that coordinate for the borders. I have the tonal white on hand for the sashing and background. I must say I really like the way this looks. I hope the fabrics only make it better. We are still exploring ideas for a quilting pattern including paw prints and hearts.
Jan 31: Main fabric & heart pattern are here. The heart pattern creates 8.5 x 13.5 blocks so we need to tweak the pattern. Going to a quilt show tomorrow & hoping to find what I need.
Feb 01: I learned today that matching pinks is NOT an easy task. My granddaughter and I visited every booth at a quilt show in nearby Stateville today looking for the best matches. I would have been lost without her. Thank you, Monica. Found a lighter pink subtle marble & the same shade with darker pink hexagons making it a blender.
Feb 06: Started on the hearts. Traced the pattern pieces on freezer paper. Ironed on & ready to cut the white ones. I didn't have enough of the darker pink (only 1 yard available) so off to a local quilt shop.
Feb 07: Found a solid dark/hot pink that matches the hexagons so I am using three pink fabrics instead of two. Now I have a plan I am excited about. Heart blocks are cut out & ready to piece. We are going with Paw Prints minimum size 5".
Feb 08: Piecing the heart back together.
Feb 09: Heart blocks are together. Cut borders. 
Feb 10: Cut animal blocks. Added sashing. Adding borders...

Feb 11: Adding last two borders. Quilt top is finished and ready to quilt. Tonight I will program paws to 5". If I didn't say so before, we are using wool batting with Bottomline #621 Lace White thread to blend in the background.
Feb 12: Batting is cut. Backing is pieced and ready to load.
Feb 13: Loaded & basted. Quilting.
Feb 14: Quilted. Squared. Binding is ready to attach.
Feb 15: Binding is attached. Hand binding underway.
Feb 17: Bound. And finished.
Feb 18: Shipped.

Wool batting and loose quilting will make this a warm lap quilt that will be well used & washed as needed.

Jan 10: Top & backing pieced.
Feb 21: Myra selected a QOV eagle pattern for this quilt she will give her father.
Mar 06: I suggested Eagles on High & Myra agreed. Quilting.
Mar 07: Quilted. Binding is attached. In the binding queue.
Mar 12: Bound & thus finished.
Mar 13: Final pictures.

I decided to order the center panel here to see if it was something that was nice enough & 
something I could work into a quilt. Eventually purchased additional panels for the side images as we transitioned from a large bed quilt with just the one panel to a sofa quilt (left image) back to a king size bed quilt (right images).

Five months later, the binding is finished and the quilt ready for delivery.

Dec 23: I have been talking/thinking about a quilt for Charles for several years. I finally got him to sit down long enough for us to talk about. Wood ducks are his #1 big thing & horses are a close second. We found a panel online he likes so I ordered to see what it really looks like. He would prefer lots of images on his quilt of wildlife that he loves.
Dec 24: I had never heard of wood ducks before so I returned to RedBubble to see what photographs I might find. I picked 16 and had them printed on post cards.
Dec 30: Post cards expected today.
Jan 19: Started suggesting quilt top layouts. Narrowed down to simple browns and blues.
Jan 20: Ordered several fabrics as indicated in captions below.
Feb 02: Wife Myra says Charles likes "very simple". I am liking the piano keys more and more. These will only be on the drop & help reduce the picture fame look. Favorite color blue will predominate the top. Myra will be by soon to make a final decision. Posted more  ideas, some inspired by suggestions from Joan.
Feb 21: Got in 3 coordinating panels. With Myra's help tonight, we have a working plan. After cutting the panels, we will work out the sashing and/or borders. Also, Myra needs to measure the sofa. Didn't happen so I stopped by and measured it myself.

Feb 25: Cut out the panels. Laid out the quilt map using Excel. Using real panels changes things.Mar 01: Cut panels and started piecing. The panels are warped so it is a bit of a challenge to cut and fit them together nicely. I find I am trimming and trimming and trimming yet again.
Mar 02: Finished piecing the center and then took it over to show Charles. Charles was not going to settle for a sofa quilt. He wants something that will one day fit a King with as much drop as possible. My max width is 90 and 100 makes a good length. When I suggested some nice pinwheels above and below the center, Charles suggested more wood ducks--8 more--framed in wood bark & black. Use other panels on the sides framed in just black. Well, panels are easier to piece than pinwheels. Ordered 8 more panels & am very grateful to Thread Bear Fabrics in Georgia for not gouging the price on these like some vendors are.
Mar 05: My panels are here.
Mar 17: Cut the panels apart.
Mar 18: Trimmed the 19 panels I need to their proper size for piecing.
Mar 19: Completed the expanded layout details. Cut the pieces to go around the small panels.
Mar 21: Framing the panels.
Mar 22: Panels are framed & connected into borders
Mar 23: Putting it all together. Oops. Got the wood ducks borders reversed. Attached right side border. It needs a tad of tweaking. Still have the left side & top & bottom final blue borders. To tired & too hungry to continue. Ahhh, was able to go on after a short break. Finished the sides. Pinned the top & bottom. Will sew them in the morning & be done.
Mar 24: Pieced.

Mar 27: Quilting some pillow covers to test thread choice (silver) and patterns. I am going to try a combination of two of Anne Bright's pantographs. Very nice, I think. Doing the design small on the pillows. Will do it larger on the king size quilt ... maybe.
Mar 28: Finished 2 sets of pillow covers and ordered inserts. Love it! (I can love my own work, no?)
Mar 30: Want to try to find enough fabrics to piece quilt. I need just over 6 yards and only have 3 of the brown I wanted to use. Guess this will be my first hodgepodge backing. Hmmm. Some brown. some blue, some black & may even include one of those extra panels or two. I have been putting this challenge off but alas, can't load and quilt until it is done.
Mar 31: Decided to order enough of the Dark Bark fabric to do the backing rather than trying to piece something together. I have just over half of what I need already. It would be ridiculous to fudge the backing after working so hard on the top. My first order got canceled--they didn't really have it.
Apr 07: The rest of the backing fabric is here.
Apr 08: Piecing the backing. Will need some strips on the top & bottom to ensure enough backing to load properly. Got everything ready to sew.
Apr 09: Backing is now pieced. Ready to quilt.
May 01: Loading
May 03: Quilting. Quilted.
May 05: Squared.
May 08: Let the binding begin.
May 29: Bound & finished.