Lots of progress................

A new needle finally made it into my longarm machine after days trying to avoid doing it.  I loaded this solids and prints Star quilt and got it quilted.  The thread broke 3 times but it is the So Fine which I hadn't had any luck with for a couple months, with it breaking 5 or 6 times while quilting a small quilt.  I may try adjusting the position of the needle and see if the next one goes even smoother.

I decided one loop in each square would be an easy way to quilt it.

I used a beige thread so it shows better on this block.

After I finished quilting I cut the binding for Charley in the Forest, sewed it on the quilt and got 85" hand stitched last night.  This one will take me at least 3 more days to finish.

 

One more fabric............

I found another Kaffe print in the same red/orange as the button fabric for a possible choice for binding. I have to check all around the edge and make sure that fabric wasn't used in an edge block.

I spent all morning yesterday sorting my brown/rust/gold fabrics.  They had been displaced when I started moving things around in the basement.  I love the rich earthy tones but they don't seem to be very popular with most people.  These fabrics were formerly on a shelf unit where my black and whites reside now.  I can move these boxes to an area where I don't have to walk around them now.

A lot of the quilt tops I have made so far this year have been projects that were cut or started in previous years.  I decided to pull out another partially cut and pieced project that was started in July 1996 in a class I was teaching.

I love all of these fabrics even after all of those years.

This is the book I was teaching from.  I went to a week long seminar in Chicago that was offered by Mary Ellen Hopkins in the mid 1980s.  We each made a sample from this book during that week.

This is the one I made.  I like all of the fabrics in this one too.

It's a little hard to see the X blocks because the fabrics are too close in value.  It's prettier in real life.

When I was out in the garden yesterday I noticed the violets are filling in between the Lily of the Valley.

The batteries for my mower aren't holding a charge so I ordered new ones.  My neighbor was kind enough to finish my mowing in the front and also mow my backyard.

Charley in the forest trimmed...........

Yesterday I trimmed my Charley in the Forest quilt.  Then it was time to search for a binding.  I thought I wanted red but most of the reds were more of a pink tone and most of the fabrics on the front are a red/orange.

After auditioning several Kaffe collective fabrics, this one seems the best.  It is also used on the front of the quilt.  In the photo above it is the background of the tree at the left.  I will look again today to see if I can find anything else that works.

This simulates how it will look if I use this one.

 I still had 2 bags of last year's rhubarb in my freezer, shared by a friend, and I needed to use some of it.  Yesterday I baked a rhubarb cake, a recipe that I found on the internet.  It will be good for breakfasts for a few days. 

 

A quilt top for April.................

I really like this quilt top, but then I like all of the quilt tops I have made with these neutral color batiks.

This one is 55.5" x 72".  The next one which will use the rest of the blocks will be larger.

Here are 3 of the others made with most of the same fabrics and a few different in each quilt.  Unfortunately the lighting on the one on the right is bad and I sold it so I can't take another photo.

I mowed grass for a half hour and then went to the garden center and got some plants so I didn't get anything else cut to sew last night.  I just continued with the 3" 9 patches since they were already paired and still on my sewing cabinet.  It got up to 65 yesterday but Wednesday is supposed to be in the 40s.  I'll keep my new plants in the garage for a couple weeks.  I have 5 windows in there so they will get plenty of light.

Family party..............

Some out of state family was in town yesterday so we had a family gathering.  I made frosted creams in the morning to take with me.

I dug 3 Sedum plants to send home with them today.

While I watched 2 shows on TV last night I sewed 8 more 3" nine patches and paired fabrics for an additional 8 blocks.  I didn't get the neutral quilt top pressed so I'll do that today and post its photo tomorrow.

It was 28 degrees when I got up early yesterday morning.  I didn't see any frost on the grass and the flowering trees in town seem to be okay.  We still have a chance of a frost up until Mother's Day so no tender plants will be put into the ground yet.

63 blocks on the design wall..............

I sorted the 174 blocks into matching blocks and couldn't find 63 different ones so there are a few duplicates in this layout.  After I took this photo I sewed the top together but didn't finish until almost 11 p.m. last night so I'll get it pressed some time today and post it tomorrow.

We were in the freeze warning area last night so I'm hoping the Redbud blossoms can withstand the cold.  It usually gets the coldest around 4 a.m.

 

Decision made.................

I made these neutral color 16 patch blocks in 2018 and there are 174 of them.  I had been trying to decide if I should make one almost king size quilt or 2 smaller quilts.  I did some figuring (for about an hour) last night and decided on one quilt 72" x 96" and another one 56" x 72".  There will be 3 blocks left over.  Now I can start playing with layouts.  I think I'll start with the smaller one because it will fit on my design wall on the mail level.

This is a quilt top I made in early 2018 with a lot of the same fabrics.  I made at least one more quilt top of the same fabrics and I sold both of them as tops.

When I went out to get my mail I knew I had to capture this view in a photo.  We have the frost/freeze warning for 2 nights so I'm hoping the blooms on the Redbud trees will survive.