Dotty Stars finished!

My Dotty Star is quilted and bound!

I chose an edge-to-edge quilting design (also known as pantograph) called "Petal Pushers" in a very pale pink color. My long-arm quilter has a giant array of patterns to chose from, and I wanted something flowery but not too dense because the front is busy enough already! The backing is primarily the flower dots on blue print you see here with a white on white strip right down the middle. I had to make-do with what was left on the bolt of those flower dots. Quilt backing fabric on clearance - gotta love that!

The binding is an irregular white dot on black print. Something about the uneven spacing of these dots seemed a better fit than dots in a grid pattern. And of course, it just had to be a print with dots!

It's now hanging in its new habitat - my sewing room! I took down my Mary Engelbreit New York Beauty quilt and placed it on my new quilting ladder. It feels pretty good to have enough quilts here at my house to be able to rotate them.

If you'd like to see any details about the pattern I used for this quilt and some construction tips and tricks, you can read all about it by clicking on "Dotty Stars" in the Labels section in the right sidebar.

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 :)

Summer Sampling

So I jumped into another online quilt-along. This time it's the Summer Sampler Series brought to us by Swim, Bike, Quilt, Fresh Lemons, and Freshly Pieced.

As of right now I've managed to maintain a 100% on-time average with these blocks. We are only 1/3 of the way through the 12 blocks, but this stick-to-it-ness is an impressive feat for me! I like how they've organized it into three blocks per week - one on each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  That kind of schedule doesn't drag it out too long - which always seems to be my downfall - 'cause really, if you give me 12 weeks to finish something, I'll surely wait till week 11 to start!! And maybe I won't even start after all since by then I'll have been distracted by some other shiny, new project. Remember Hammy in "Over the Hedge" or the dog (what's his name?) in "UP!"?  Yep - that's me.  But hopefully documenting it here will keep me accountable and motivated. Here are my first four completed blocks:

I'm using a pile of leftovers from a dresden pillow I made earlier this year for my Pillow Panache classes. The fabrics are a combination of Michael Miller, AMH Garden Party and Chocolate Lollipop, Erin McMorris, and a Kaufman spot in the background (that I'm trying to locate more of - if you've got any tips.)

First up last Monday, Star of Virginia:

Last Wednesday, Greek Cross:

Last Friday, Mosaic:

And just yesterday, Garden Path (my favorite so far!):

Not sure where this quilt will end up, but the fabrics sure are summer-y and fun to work with! Have any of you jumped into this quilt-along? It's not too late! Just click on the button above or in the sidebar to get started :)

the power of flowers

Today I learned a lesson in the power of a handful of tulips.

A co-worker of mine has gone through an incredibly rough time over the last several months.

Today is her birthday.

Her favorite color is purple.

On a routine grocery trip I spied some purple tulips.

I took them to her at work.
Unexpected tulips delivered to the birthday girl = unexpected hugs given to the bearer of tulips :)

All that happiness from a handful of purple tulips.

And these little pretties made by Lorrie are going to brighten up the neighborhood quilt this afternoon as I piece all the blocks together :)

And lastly, that Mary Engelbreit... she surely got her message right today...

Oh, heavenly day!

Today I spent an entire hour outside walking my dog, and it is a glorious day here in Northern Illinois. All of our snow is finally gone, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and LIFE IS GOOD! I have also spent A LOT of time staring out the window today, finally feeling that soon I'll be seeing this view...

This is a small garden area near the gate to my back yard. It is the view I see every time I drive the car into the garage, every time I come home from walking the dog, and every time I go out in the morning to get the paper (during the summer, of course.) It is a lovely little area filled with boxwoods, snapdragons, coneflowers, zinnias, as well as other annuals that spring up from seeds that were just "dropped in." But my favorite part is the sign. I made that several years ago from a pattern found in a Mary Engelbreit craft book. I have to repaint it and the post (a painted stairway spindle and ball-topper from Home Depot) every few years, but it is worth the time - so cheerful! It stays outside all year long, and every year the twine holding up the sign breaks, and sometimes the entire thing is covered with snow. But it is always there, waiting for spring and flowers - just like me!

Speaking of flowers... these Anna Maria Horner Garden Party prints came in the mail last week from hawthornethreads.com. I just had to get them out and photograph them on this wonderful day along with these cuties...

Aren't they happy! Alexander Henry Willow line... again from hawthornethreads.com

I did have a few moments of productivity today when I managed to get some more paintbox quilt-along blocks done. Only six more solids to go and I"LL BE READY FOR SASHING!! I am love, love, loving how they have all turned out!

Hope you are having a glorious sunny day at your house, too!!