A quick catch-up

I haven't been posting as I normally do. It's really beginning to irk me that I've gotten lazy about reading and posting. Hopefully now that the kids are back in school, and there will be less babysitting, I'll be able to pick up the pace.

In the meantime, there are a few happenings that I want to share with you. One is that I visited a friend and saw her great-grandmother's Sunbonnet Sue quilt hanging in a guest bedroom. It's in pristine condition, which tells me that it was put away for special guests.  Isn't it sweet? And to have been hand quilted by her great-grandmother! She told me that it is over 100 years old. What a treasure.

The second thing is that Richard helped me to remake the design wall. Check it out. It has two parts. 

The top is a flannel fabric with one inch lines. I found it in my mom's fabrics. It's old and discolored but for the most part intact. I had to piece it together but did a pretty good job of matching the lines. 

The idea is that I'll be able to use the lines to keep my blocks straight as I put them up. I may even be able to use them to measure blocks and strips. That we'll have to wait to see.

The bottom part is a vinyl tablecloth. I've had it for a long time so the fold lines are seriously ugly. They may relax over time, not that it matters much. What does matter is that the design board is about 84" square. I need a step to reach the very top and it goes to the floor, but there are times when I need that much space. I'll keep a step-stool in the play area that Milly can sit on when she plays dolls. 

Pin It Weekly #119

I've been pinning Sunbonnet Sue.  No reason, really.  I just like the cuteness.

Last weekend a nuance alligator paid us a visit.  We no longer have any laying hens and the cute bantam pair are also gone.  Poor chicks.  I hope they weren't too scared while that gator was terrorizing the neighborhood.  He (or she) sneaked back into the swampy area behind our place.  Richard saw him when he stopped for a fish snack in the pond.  We aren't allowed to kill gators but this guy made such a fast getaway, that we didn't even get to call the game wardens.  Now all we can do is keep an eye open so that, if he returns, we can call a game warden to have him removed.

      

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: A Little More Patience

Here are the final photos of the Patience Quilters' Show.  I feel that I need to get them in now because next week we will have the Cotton Quilters' Show and there will be more photos.  

I loved this darling little Sunbonnet.  I wish my photos could do her justice.  She is so pretty and dainty.

Aren't the colors in these quilts just stunning?  

 This next quilt has a nice folk-art appeal to it.  It also happened to be very well made.  I was impressed with the applique and use of color and fabric choices.  It didn't win any awards, but if I had been a judge, I think things may have gone differently.

Happy Quilting,
Mary

AAQI again

Here's another little quilt for AAQI (Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative) that I made yesterday.  I think I have five completed now.  I hope to complete one more before sending the set off to AAQI.  

I do have to label them all and register them on the AAQI website.  I plan to do both of those this week while at the workshop.  I'll have evenings in a hotel with little to do, and since I'm not much for watching TV unless there's something else to do, I may get rather bored rather quickly.

This little darling is Sunbonnet Sue dressed in blue.  I did a very tight micro-stippling on the entire quilt, which took much longer than I expected.  Her bonnet is stippled in swirls and her dress is stippled in hearts. She's wearing lace around her bonnet and at the hem of her little plaid dress.  Isn't she just sweet?

Check out her bonnet.  There's a row of blue seed beads on the crease of her bonnet and a little mussie tussie of flowers on the back.

I'm hoping that there's someone who would love a miniature quilt with a cute little girl who happens to be very traditional.  I'm also hoping that that someone is willing to pay a nice little sum for said little quilt to help support the AAQI.

What do you think?  Won't this little girl help the good cause?