A good sewing day..............

We really didn't get much rain yesterday except in the early morning but I had decided I was going to sew since the end of the month is creeping up and I have my self imposed quotas to fill.  I finished the binding on Charley in the Forest in the late afternoon.

Next I cut the setting triangles for my 1996 quilt.  I need to cut 2 more of them and also the corner triangles today.

After that I cut the binding for this star quilt and got it all finished by machine.

There was still a half hour left of the third TV program last night so I started sewing the diagonal rows on this quilt.

Today I'll hang the finished quilts on my double design wall in the basement and take photos.  There are 2 NCIS shows on tonight so I'll keep sewing diagonal rows while I watch them.
 

Inside and outside..............

I spent a lot of time outside yesterday but first, inside.

I hand sewed about 45" on the Charley in the Forest binding.

I trimmed the prints and solids star quilt.  The backing is 3 fabrics.  The one in the middle is a limey green with pink circles.  Since they are opposites on the color wheel I don't know how to describe the color with the mix.

I pulled some fabrics as possible binding.  I'm not opposed to having a light binding because this quilt will probably be for a young person and the darker fabrics may be too dark.

I have narrowed it down to three of the five fabrics I showed.  

Fabric #1

Fabric #2

Fabric #3.

I think any one of them will work so I just need to make a decision.

I forgot to take any photos while I was outside so I took this one from the kitchen window.

One of the garden centers had $15 pots planted with an assortment of annuals so I got 2 of them and put the contents in my hanging pots.  I just had to fill in around the plantings with a little dirt and they were ready to hang.  I'll get a better photo outside some day.

While outside I dug 3 coneflowers and 2 Lungwort and planted them in pots.  They will go to my granddaughter's house at the end of May.  I need to dig more but that was enough for one day.  I also did more cleanup in the front garden and dug out some dandelions.  I'm wondering if I'll be stiff and sore or if my body is adjusting to outside work. 

Another round of squares.............

I cut one more group of squares to add to my 1996 project.  It is the same fabric that is used in the center 9 patches.  I think I have enough of the lightest fabric to cut setting triangles and then I can sew this together.

Another 110" is hand stitched on the Charley quilt.  There is only 108" left to stitch.  I may spread that over 2 days.

The last 2 cacti buds are finally blooming.  I think I can safely say these really are the last blooms.

The Redbuds are in full bloom and now the rain will probably knock a lot of the petals to the ground.  We got a little over a half inch of rain yesterday by 7:30 p.m.  It rained again after dark and more rain predicted for late today and tomorrow and 80 degrees.

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.