Spreading Leaves & Cherries

The cherry cake quilt is getting closer to completion.  Its a really cheerful quilt to work on during dreary winter days.  Only four more applique blocks to finish and then I can sew it together and think about border choices.  What to do, what to do:  fancy  appliqued border with lots more berries, vines and baskets or just call it a day and add a plain border fabric?   Time will tell as soon as its finished!

Closeup of the latest finished block - its called Spreading Leaves from the Inspired by Tradition book by Kay Mackenzie.  This book is really great as it comes with a CD so you have options for 6, 8, 10 and 12 inch blocks all ready to print out.  Even though this is a six-inch finished block, I used the pattern for the eight-inch block as I wanted the applique to fill in more space.  I plan to use this book to make at least two more blocks as there are a couple more cherry blocks included.  Really appreciate you stopping by for a visit, and always enjoy your comments and feedback!

Cherry Wreath

New year, new month, new block for the cherry cake quilt which has been in progress for (ahem) a while now!  The pattern is from Lori Smith's Fit to Frame: Pattern Sixteen - was so pleased that its a perfect fit for the appliqued setting blocks.

Progress so far on the cherry cake quilt. All good intentions to stay on track and finish this during the first six months this year.  I'm really pleased with it so far, and just passed the half way point with the applique blocks.  The cake stand blocks came from a friendship swap within a Reproduction Quilt Yahoo group, and I just love the colors, so don't want to let them languish any longer.

I appreciate you stopping by for a visit - tomorrow I'll be cheering for the 49ers and working on the next block!

Blue Pedestal Block , Trains & Lavender Sachets

This fun filled summer has been busy, but managed to snatch a few moments here and there to finish this blue pedestal block for the Tulip Farm quilt from Blackbird Designs.

We celebrated my husband's 60th birthday with a fun train trip to Reno.  We challenged ourselves to take all public transportation and foot transportation during this trip, and it was such an amazing experience.  We walked to the bus stop from our house and took Amtrak to Reno 9 about a six hour journey.   This was our first train trip, and I highly recommend train travel, and can't wait to take a longer train trip in the future.  During the trip between Sacramento and Reno, docents from the California Railroad Museum provide interesting stories about the gold rush era and how the early train tracks were built over the sierras. 

This is a view of Donner Lake, and the docents described the harsh winter fate of the doomed Donner Party during the winter in the 1800s when emigrating to california by wagon train many perished.

Just harvested some lavender that I used to fill this little sachet.  These are fun to stitch and the pattern is in the June 2011 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.  So enjoyable to pick up a quick stitching project during the dog days of August!  Hope you are all having an enjoyable summer, and are getting some stitching in.  Thanks for stopping by!

Leaping Hare

This is the latest block from the Tulip Farm quilt by Blackbird Designs, and it just cracks me up to look at the proportion of the tulips and the hare.  This is what I love about folk art quilts - the sense of whimsy and unperfection which is so me...

Two weeks ago we had our latest folk art class at the local quilt store, and we were so sad to hear that our leader, Gretchen, was retiring from teaching.  But the next day I got an email from the quilt store that they are going to keep the classes going.  So, so pleased to hear about this as I would really miss getting together with the group every month to share our progress.

This is the latest red and white transferware find.  I was thrilled to pieces yesterday to find the large Jenny Lind platter at a thrift store, and not a chip in sight!  I have been so taken with bone dishes since I started seeing them on the Blackbird ladies' blog.  They are perfect for catching tiny applique pins or bits of thread when you are sewing.

This is my favorite picture so far of Jamie and her Dad at the wedding, taken by one of her friends.  We are patiently waiting for the rest of the pictures.  The photographer emailed today and said she is sending the rest of the pictures to us tomorrow.  We are looking forward to getting together with the family for Father's Day, so it will be fun to see the rest of the pictures together.  The wedding was really beautiful and so touching to see our daughter's wedding day.   Hope you are all having a lovely early summer with time to get a few stitches in!

Tulip Farm - Blue Vase Block

 Took the last stitches in the latest block from Blackbird Designs' Tulip Farm quilt.   Seriously love making these blocks.  I have always been a fan of their designs and this quilt is one of my all time favorites.

Snowballs in Sacramento?  Yes, these are the closest we get to the real thing, and just love when they bloom every year, no matter how fleeting their appearance.  The wedding is next Saturday, and I think we are about as ready for it as we can be at this point.  The weather is predicted to be in the 70s, so should be a wonderful Spring day.  Hope you are all having a lovely weekend with time to get a few stitches in!

Tulip Row

Finished this row of tulips for the Tulip Farm quilt. The red tulip that is second from the left kind of looks like a parrot tulip - at least that's what I was going for. What do you think?

A picture of our real tulips just blooming at 8:00 a.m. this morning.  Still pretty dark outside!  

We are enjoying the progress of bulbs we planted in pots this year.  The daffodils planted in the ground are long gone, so its fun to see the next round of spring flowers.  The lilacs are blooming later this year.  Its been a colder Spring here in Cali. 

Off to look for a dress for the wedding this afternoon.  Hopefully I find one so yet another think to mark off the list!  Hope you all have a great weekend, and have time to get some stitches in and enjoy some Spring flowers!

 

Garden Club - Grandmother Block

Decided to include this Grandmother block from Country Threads' Life in the Country book instead of the girl block in the original quilt.  Since I'm not sure how well this block will fit, I plan to add another rectangle at the back and probably will applique a basket of tulips behind Grandmother.















I'm taking a hand quilting class once a month and tomorrow is the day that I get four hours of uninterrupted quilting bliss to work on my Millenium Garden quilt!  Since the hoop and I do not get along, I'm just laying it out flat to hand quilt it and hopefully it won't turn out too wonky - tried to baste it fairly close.  I'm really loving the thimble pictured on the quilt - not sure of the brand name but its so comfortable.

Will leave you with a little spring - the daffodils are late this year, but its so nice to see their sweet little faces on a dreary day. Planted most of the bulbs in pots this year, so looking forward to seeing what comes up! Hope you all have a lovely weekend with some time to stitch or work in your garden.