I'm back!

What a whirlwind of a month it's been! Two major household remodeling projects began at the very tail end of April and just finished on Friday, May 25 at 7:30pm. Then at noon on Saturday, May 26 (that's right, just about 18 hours later) Thing 1 graduated from high school and we had 50+ well-wishers here at the house for a celebration! Whew!

In the midst of all that activity and party preparation I did manage to get a little sewing done. The middle panel of my Tree of Life applique quilt is complete!

It's all needle-turned, so progress is slow; this center panel measures about 36" x 43" and took me 27 months to complete. Notice I stated that time frame the same way you do when you've had a baby and people ask you her age? You get so used to replying, "two months, eleven months, fifteen months" that by the time two years rolls around, you're still stating her age in months. What does that say about this quilt? No idea. I just think it's an interesting observation...

It obviously needs to be pressed and the blue wash-out marker lines need to be washed out, but I'm just so gosh-darn happy to say this section is complete! Four borders to go - hopefully that won't take another 27 months!

Here are a few close-ups of the individual branch segments...

This one is my favorite. I love the little purple worm and the dotted pot - both Kaffe fabrics. In fact, there are quite a few Kaffe fabrics in these little bits of applique. One of the reasons I love it so much and I've stuck with it for over two years!

In closing, here's a photo of my family with the new grad, Thing 1, in the center. It was a marvelous day with fabulous weather enjoyed in the company of many great friends and almost all our loving family members. It simply could not have been better :)

college quilt top completed

The quilt top for my college-bound girl is complete! She laid out all the blocks to her liking, and I think she did a fabulous job evenly balancing the lights and darks.

The pattern is "Green Glass Door" by Blue Underground. The finished size of this quilt is 78" x 87" which I thought was big enough for a dorm-sized bed. But I've just learned that dorm beds are 80" long! So I think we're going to add a 7" or 8" strip to the top edge of the quilt to add some needed length. Maybe a near solid in a darker teal, or a strip of a bigger patterned print bordered by some 1.5" width strips like all the blocks. I don't think either will look too out of place, since the top will be covered by a pillow most of the time, but if you've got a different idea let me know ASAP!

There are lots of Amy Butler prints from a few of her fabric lines in this quilt - Daisy Chain, Midwest Modern 2, and Lark. Also a little Joel Dewberry Modern Meadows, and of course Kaffe - shot cottons and prints. A nicely blended hodgepodge of teal and turquoise :)

I'm sending it out to be quilted - this thing seems huge to me! It's the largest quilt I've made to date. As I was crawling around on the floor pinning the last long seam I thought to myself, "this is why you haven't made a king-sized quilt for your own bed!"

It definitely needs a name. So far I'm drawing a blank...