I was cleaning the basement today in preparation for the art quilters' group on Monday. That means I have to get all of my own pieces off the design walls too. This piece was just waiting for its border so now the top is done. I really like this simple little quilt. My brunnera is blooming in the back yard. The flowers are a deeper blue than the picture shows.

Some more flowers opened on the pulmonaria. I was surprised to see 2 different color flowers on the same stem. The hosta plant behind it is just coming up.

I have been watching the Billy Graham Classic Crusades on Saturday night. It is amazing how timeless his messages are. The things he mentions sound like today's world when he was saying them in 1959 and 1985 on 2 of the shows. I think the world has changed so much but I guess I was not aware of some of the problems of the world when I was younger. Maybe it is because the news programs on TV have changed so much over the years. Now we hear about every little thing that happens and it wasn't like that in the 1950's through the 70's.

Spring, inside and out

This may not look any different than yesterday's picture but it is all sewn and on the pile for my program Monday night. The program is titled "It's all about fabric choices, or what flavor is your quilt?". I will be showing the same pattern made in several different fabric groups to show how different they look. I have 13 different patterns (or block designs) and 41 quilts to show. Outside, the forsythia is just starting to drop flowers and leaves are sprouting. I showed this when it was first blooming on Mar. 29th with snow on it. I think the cooler weather helped the flowers to last longer this year.

This close up shot is a new little shoot of gold mound spirea growing amongst the periwinkle vinca.

In the back yard the pulmonaria is blooming. It is a lonely little plant with lots of bare dirt around it right now. This is one of the early peonies. It is one of the few that have bright colored stems. I didn't cut down last year's stalks so they are still hanging on. I have only done a little clean up in the flower beds so far. We have one more warm day promised before the rain and a 20 degree drop in temperature.

Final layout

I found a fabric I liked for the top and bottom setting triangles and corners. This is just blocks on the design wall in this picture but I have it about half sewn together. I had a computer club meeting to attend last night so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. I did a little rearranging of the blocks and decided the light half block in the middle on the right didn't look so bad after I had the other half blocks in there. This is so much prettier in person than it is in pictures.

It is supposed to be in the 70's today. I may have to spend some time outside checking all of my perennials. Spring is finally here!

Someone emailed me and asked where the Cobblestones pattern was available. Cobblestones is my own original design, named by me (with help from a reader). All it is comprised of is a shape created in many colors which is then placed on a design wall and moved around until the values and colors are pleasing. It could be done with diamond shapes, squares, etc. This is not a pattern where you pick up color A and surround it with color B, C, D, and E. This is designed piece by piece and comes from the heart and soul. I have played with arranging colors since I was a small child and this is just an extension of that play.

Are you tired of this yet?

I have one more full block, 2 half light blocks and then the most dreaded part, making half blocks divided crosswise. I may try a print fabric there instead. I posted yesterday about the program I am giving next Monday night. I have already shown all of the quilts on my blog in the 21 months and over 700 posts. You can see all of them by going into the archives. It is going to be a trunk show and not a display with lots of quilts hanging so it is impossible to post pictures of the program without the post being a mile long.

A friend has a blog!

Gayle Bong has started a blog. Click on her name to go to it. You might remember my Thirty something quilt that I showed here. She has written several books and has some acrylic templates to help with the cutting. Welcome to blogland Gayle!


Also I wanted to mention that anybody who lives in the Sandwich, IL area, and wants to see my quilts in person, I will be doing a program next Monday night, April 20 at the Fair City Quilters' Guild meeting. They meet at 7 p.m. (promptly) at the Federated Church in the 400 block of N. Main St. There is a guest fee of $3. I would love to meet some of my readers.

Setting triangles

I need to make 2 more blocks to finish the rows and then all of the rest of the setting triangles. To have the pattern follow through, the setting triangles on the left need to have the dark large triangle and the ones on the right need a light large triangle. I hope it doesn't look lopsided and heavy on the left when I get done. I need sunshine and we finally got some today. Yesterday was damp and cold with the wind. It didn't rain but it was cloudy all day. The funeral was beautiful. Two of my cousins shared memories of their mother and 2 groups of grandchildren sang. It was a beautiful tribute to their loving family.

Adding more greens

I decided to add some non-batik greens into this quilt. I was getting bored with the variety so far. I am still using the same light batiks with the new greens. It rained all morning yesterday and let up just in time to get my mother to her Dr. appointment. It rained some more later in the day. Today we have a funeral to go to, one of my aunts. She was the last of my dad's generation. Now my parents are the last 2 left on both sides of the family.