What did you do today?

Today, I finished my Poetry lesson plans for next week. It is a short school week, so we will not read a story in Reading class. Thus, I can do something fun with another reading skill. Next week, we are reading a variety of poems. We will learn about poetic elements, different types of poems and will spend time reading and analyzing them. It will also serve as a review of other types of figurative language that we have already covered.

Today, I finished my English lesson plans for next week. I really do not like the English textbook much and in the second half of this year, I plan to focus more on how to use the language. So, next week, we will be learning how to write an outline and conduct research. The students will have two assignments given. The first is their career speech for the 4-H public speaking contest in January. Since it fits with the standards Tennessee says the students must accomplish, it is always an assigned project. The students will also have a chance to choose a different research topic from the various Time for Kids news magazines we have in class.

Today, I created two study guides for Reading stories we will cover in January.

Today, I finished the laundry for the week.

Today, I washed the guest room linens and cleaned the guest room. I also gave Vince instructions NOT to clutter that room again.

Today, I made a batch of dishwasher detergent. I found a container of Citric Acid in the pantry and remembered that I purchased that so that I could make my own detergent, then forgot to complete that task. So, I found this recipe at DIY Natural and decided to give it a try. My first load is washing now. More information to follow.

Today, I finished marking the small pieces of Rob and Izzy's wedding quilt.

Today, I vacuumed the house (again!)

Today, I finished reading a book: At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks.

It never ceases to amaze me what I accomplish when I sit and make a list. When I think about it I always feel like I did not accomplish much, when actually I do.

What did you do today?

More Summer Progress!

I purchased the fabrics for this quilt top last June and have been working on it since then. Finally it is finished! I love the brights against the black background fabrics. Now I need to figure out if I have fabric for the back and I can get it off to Chris for quilting!

Three years ago, Elizabeth left me to return to Texas. I sent her off with her own Eric Carle quilt, created with fabrics designed around his book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". I had fabrics left over and since I will be teaching Reading next year, I decided to make my own! Here it is! I even have the backing fabric all ready to go! Nothing new purchased for this project!!

I have also created 4 tote bags from fabric left over from my Balloon Race quilt, and 3 tote bags from some canvas my mother-in-law gave me.

The stash of fabrics are slowly being used.

On the funny side: I took this sticker off a shirt this morning and stuck it on Narnia's forehead. She has left it there all day. Silly Dog!

Summer Progress!

Today is another in and out day! Vince is continuing to work on the garden shed and had already advised me to be ready to assist him! (That is the OUT).

I finally repotted this plant that we brought back from my mother-in-law's house in Alabama. I can only hope that it survives!


I spent the day in my working studio, finishing up those UFO's of a variety of types! Yesterday, I finished Jena's quilt, well more accurately, Maurice's quilt. Earlier last week, I did the quilting and put the binding on. Yesterday, I put the final stitches in the binding and here it is:


I also finished 4 sets of Car Club placemats that will be door prizes for next year's Bunny Run Car Show. These were pending from Last Year! I never finished them. So, I decided they needed to be completed this summer and be available for next year's show. Here are two sets:

I was also working on using up the fleece and ribbons I had laying about. So, I put together more of ribbon blankets that I have been successful selling and using as baby gifts.

I had a lot of red and blue fleece so many of the blankets have a patriotic theme going on. The flannel I used was a yard sale rescue and left over pieces from other flannel projects. As always, I work to reuse or rescue fabric and make them into a new creation!

My goal for today was to finish these up. Yay to have met that goal!

Studio Changes!

Vince and I (mostly Vince) have been hard at work on the current household construction project.

The intent is to convert my original studio into a second guest bedroom. So, Vince finished the utility room so that it would be a small working studio. The photo above shows my threads in their new home on the wall.

Here is where I sit and sew:

I can open my curtains and get natural light in there, plus I have SUPERB overhead lighting. My original studio had very poor lighting.

I also have lots of shelf space for my doo-dads and what-nots.....Did you find Barbie's Head yet?

The original studio is gutted: Wall paper removed, ceiling removed, carpeting removed, wall mirror and paneling removed!
The door you see in this photo leads to my working studio:

This is facing the wall that use to have mirrors on it.

What we found very entertaining was that there use to be a door in this wall. It was the original basement of the original house, so there was a doorway into the cellar.
When I was explaining this to Rob, he asked how there could be a doorway there when that part of the house is below ground level. We decided that the best way to describe what the outside door looked like was to say that it was one of those old-fashioned basement doors...like in the scary movies!



SO, we have quite a bit of work pending here.

When it is finished, it will have a Murphy bed on the wall with the scary basement doorway, a larger closet for my storage of fabrics, shelves for Barbie, wood laminate flooring, florescent lighting in the drop ceiling, a ironing board that lowers from the wall, shelf space for books and plenty of floor space for me to set up a large cutting station. YAY!

Something Old.......

In January, my friend Jena asked me if I could do some repairs on a quilt of her husband's. We met for lunch and then she introduced me to her husband's quilt. It was made by his grandmother and he now wants to preserve it.



I looked at this and I knew that there was no way to repair it. The back looks bad, too.





I told Jena that I would probably have to salvage large blocks out of the quilt and create a new one from these blocks.
When I got it home, and really looked at it, I realized that it would be hard to do.


















I did manage to salvage 5 Twelve inch blocks from the quilt. It was hard working around the extensive damage and paint splatters. The original top was one solid piece of fabric. The original quilter used what looks like a thin blanket as batting (nothing at all like any batting I know of) and then a solid piece of fabric for the backing. I wanted to keep as much of the original quilting as I could in the blocks, and given the fragile state of the quilt, I left the three layers together when I cut my 12 inch blocks.

Then I searched and found three fabrics that would complement the colors in the quilt. Today, I finished putting the new quilt top together!

Failure to become a quilt

In June of 2007, when I was in Pennsylvania with Sherry, I purchased a quilt pattern which was a variation on the Card Deck, and used Log Cabin Blocks. I had seen it several times that weekend and loved the pattern.
The following summer, when Cat was visiting, we purchased the rest of the fabrics so that I could start this quilt.

I did start it, and right now, I cannot find the photos I took of the quilt progress I had made.
I did manage to get all of the log cabin blocks sewn and the colors were wonderful!

The problems arose when I had to cut the log cabin blocks on the diagonal and then sew them together with background fabrics.

I had mountains and valleys in my quilt! I took it apart several times, repinned, trimmed, and stitched this quilt attempting to make it do what it was supposed to do.

All to no avail.

Finally, I just decided it would never be a quilt. I took what I had left and remade them into two nifty totes and several small purses!


These are presently being gifted to several friends.

Actually Izzy has just claimed the tote with the pink handles!

So, the moral of this story is: "When fabric does not go your way, make something else!"

Hmmm.....Summertime "To Do" list??

I was meandering through my old posts and came across my Summertime "To Do" list, and thought it would be interesting to see what I actually finished!

Here is the original list with updates in GREEN

1. Finish the following quilts:
Jennifer's baby quilt (finished)
Peacock (top finished and delivered to long arm quilter)
Spinning Card Deck (this has been given thought and is being remade into a different design)
Skyward Nines (background and border fabric purchased)
Log Cabin (from the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics I bought as a kit at the 2009 Paducah Quilt Show!) (nothing done with this project!)
2. Finish the fabric rug I started 4 years ago using the Locker Hook method! (no progress here!)
3. Finish baby bibs for Etsy store. (finished as of today!)
4. Photograph items for Etsy store. NOPE
5. List items in Etsy store. NOPE
6. Yard Sale in June! Rescheduled for August 7
7. Clean out school filing cabinets (done!)
8. Decide on and organize Math Stations for RTI (Response to Intervention) method that will be used in school next year. (this one is a biggie!!) DONE! This started with an inventory of what I already had. I found that I had a number of perfect activities and all I needed to do was organize them. I created instruction sheets for each activity, listing supplies needed and making sure the activity parts were organized. I had to create little drawstring bags for some activities. I still have TONS of items that need to be cut out from cardstock and organized into folders, but I have help planned and a date arranged for next week.
9. Organize school cabinets DONE
10. Re-hang signs in classroom. (done!)
11. Repair entryway rug in classroom. DONE
12. Put 2009-2010 scrapbook together. I purchased the scrapbook and extra pages just two weeks ago.


Additionally I completed these activities:
Dyed and sewed new curtains for the window and the shelves in my classroom.
Spray painted the bookshelf in my classroom
I finished the Readers are Leaders quilt and the Prairie Schooler Quilt.
I added a hanging sleeve to the Hot Air Balloon quilt
Vince hung all three of these quilts in my classroom
Vince made and hung new pegs for the students' backpack and coats.
I finished the binding for the Snow Crazy Quilt.

So, overall, I made progress and had a busy summer! I am glad it is not over yet.

Resolutions: June Update

There are Peacocks Here!

Yesterday morning, I started to piece together this Peacock quilt. I had worked hard getting the individual blocks put together, and the piecing the sashing.
Here it is laid out on the floor in my studio.


My goal yesterday was to get the entire top stitched together, borders and all!
I was diligently working on the top when I received a call from a friend who told me about a piece of furniture that would be perfect for my new classroom arrangements. So, I finished the seam I was working on, changed my clothes to ones with less threads and headed to Jackson.
Fortunately, I arrived at the yard sale in time to see the piece of furniture and decide it would work very well. Unfortunately, it was being held by another lady who had already purchased it! I tried to buy it from her, but no deal. SIGH.

So, it was off to North Jackson to Hancocks to purchase fabric to replace the curtains in my room. I did not find anything inexpensive enough that I liked (I needed over 10 yards!) So, I bought muslin and will be dying it teal. Then I checked out Hobby Lobby for some wide ribbon that I will be able to use as bulletin borders (instead of the cardstock ones that have to be replaced every year!) I also bought the ribbon in teal! (sense a theme here?)

Up the drive home, I realized I had not finished my Sunday School lesson on the Thessalonians. So, I had to do my reading and research so that I can impart a little knowledge in class.






Then I was able to return to my borders! Here is the finished product. It covers the top of my king sized bed nicely.


Here are some details on the 3 of the 12 individual star blocks.


All in all, a project finished. I purchased the fabrics and pattern in March 2009. I will purchase backing fabric while in Pennsylvania and then get it to the quilter when I return!

Resolutions; May Update

Project Status!

I am one week into my summer break! I do have in-service training for the next two days though, so very little progress will be made on home projects while I think about school!

However, I did manage to finish the Red/White/Blue quilt. It was made with a technique called "Stack a Deck". I use scraps of fabrics I had laying around...the blocks have been here for quite some time! It is a nice lap sized quilt.


This "Prairie Schooler" quilt I found in a magazine, I believe it was a 2007 magazine. I liked it and purchased the fabrics that the pattern featured, so this one has been around since 2007. I worked on it in bits and pieces since then. The only fabrics I purchased were the letters and the scrambled letter fabric. I used scraps and my stash for the remainder of the quilt. It was my first quilt with prairie points and I think they turned out well! I do need to finish the binding on this one, but otherwise it is complete, label and all!


This quilt is one for a friend of mine who is having her second child. I decided on the "I Spy" design because then the older brother could play with the younger brother! This one is complete except for a little bit of binding and the label. I wanted to wait and put the baby's birthdate on the label!


And finally: I finished one of the pillows that will grace my classroom this fall. This is one of two pillows that I am creating from items that no longer have a life on their own. I used a discolored fabric shower curtain, and the stuffing material came from an assortment of stained pillows. I washed the stuffing material (Fun stuff!!) and created an interior pillow form (again from re-claimed fabric). I did purchase two zippers so that the outer colorful cover could be removed and washed as needed. Here is a link to my classroom "alternative seating" project that these pillows are part of: Sit, Stand or Lounge?

♪ ♫Summer Time, Summer Time, SumSumSummertime.♪♫♪♪

Yes, my summer vacation has "officially" begun. I do have several days of In-service training scheduled, but I plan to (once again) catch up on those unfinished projects.

I do have to say that I managed to get more projects finished this school year than last year, which is probably good as I have a lot more school projects for this summer!


My "To Do" list for this summer (as of today's date):

1. Finish the following quilts:
Jennifer's baby quilt
Peacock
Spinning Card Deck (this needs serious seam ripping and thought!)
Skyward Nines (all of the nine-patch blocks are finished!)
Log Cabin (from the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics I bought as a kit at the 2009 Paducah Quilt Show!)

2. Finish the fabric rug I started 4 years ago using the Locker Hook method!
3. Finish baby bibs for Etsy store.
4. Photograph items for Etsy store.
5. List items in Etsy store.
6. Yard Sale in June!
7. Clean out school filing cabinets (done!)
8. Decide on and organize Math Stations for RTI (Response to Intervention) method that will be used in school next year. (this one is a biggie!!)
9. Organize school cabinets
10. Re-hang signs in classroom. (done!)
11. Repair entryway rug in classroom.
12. Put 2009-2010 scrapbook together.

I am sure there will be many more tasks accomplished, but these are the ones I am determined to do!

Spring Break Day Seven

Ah, slept in again until 6:30! What ever will I do when I have to return to work on Monday?

Spent the morning in my studio, cutting batting and basting quilts. I also finished stitching the baby bibs and turned them right side out.

Additionally, I stitched the 3 small ribbon blankets that will be in my Etsy Store!

I picked up lunch for mom and I and spent the afternoon with Mom, playing Scrabble and celebrating Lauren's departure. Lauren is a student who is receiving her degree and did a practicum at Southern Oaks. She is finished now and will be getting married next weekend. So the folks threw her a small party! We had cake and punch and sang songs. It was fun.

After leaving Southern Oaks, I traveled to Jackson to pick up markers for a project we are doing in school after TCAPs. I had some recycling credit at Office Depot, so I went there to buy my new markers.

Upon arrival home, I got to work on the garden. Yesterday it was tilled and composted and organized into nice rows. Today I put in markers to remember where plants are to reside in the future and I put some of the seedlings in. Each yellow marker is made from cut up foam trays.

You cannot see the seedlings well, but I have corn, cucumbers, beans, and zucchini planted. The potatoes are in as well (but they are completely underground!!)

That was enough gardening fun for me, so I watered them, and watered the seedlings still in the greenhouse and called it a day.

Tomorrow I will get the soaker hoses in place and plant marigold seeds.

Now for a nice cool shower!

Spring Break Day Six

Day Six---I know it was yesterday, but I was in such pain yesterday evening, that I just went to bed with the heating pad!

It started out well, sleeping in until 7:00!!!

Then I spent the day in the studio, working on the Green String quilt. I finished the top and the borders...it needed a little TLC to flatten out, working with those diamonds and bias edges is not an area that I excel in. So, I had to re-do some seams! But it looks good now! (Photos will show up in the Day Seven blog later today!)

I had some left over batting pieces, so I pinned several baby bibs that are destined for my Etsy Store. The store is empty right now, so I am working on some new additions.

I also COUNTED MY STASH! I am embarrassed to say that it is right back to where it was when I initially counted my stash! ACK! I did not count any of the backings or fabrics that are designated for the following quilts (as they are in the basting/quilting stage of completion):

Green String quilt
I Spy quilt
Pumpkin Floral string quilt
Patriotic Stack & Whack quilt
Prairie Schooler quilt
Bright Girl quilt

In the afternoon, Vince tilled the garden, and I went and worked with the soil...I worked in compost and pulled out roots and weeds. I straightened the rows and that is when I gave in. My lower back was tighter than it has ever been and I could not straighten up well. I figured it was a good time to revisit my garden plan.

I have been researching various ways to improve my garden for this year, and will be planting certain plants to protect others....keeping certain critters out of the corn! I also have a border of lovely marigolds to help with pests and critters. Since part of my garden does not get full sun I have to consider which plants will tolerate partial sun. Also, since my garden still slopes a bit, I have to consider which plants will tolerate more water!

I think I have a plan now!! But by the time I had finished that and we ate a late dinner, I was finished! I heated up the heating pad and went to bed with a good book.

Fortunately this morning, I awoke feeling good!

Spring Break Day Five

This morning was spent with my dear friends Caroline and Deb. We traveled to Millington, to the Naval Support facility there. As military folk, I can get on base to shop at the commissary, which usually has good prices on groceries.

More importantly, we look at it as a day out. We love each other's company and the ride gives us time to catch up with each other. The ride is filled with laughter!

The only slightly upsetting aspect was that I found out that my military ID card had expired! Now Vince and I need to find time to travel to Millington during a weekday so that I can obtain a new card. I guess that will be a June activity!

I was also able to stop in Oakland to drop my quilts off to Christine Ballard.
She will creatively and beautifully quilt my Pieces of the Past and Snow Crazy quilts. I do not have a delivery date, but I know I will get them back sometime this summer so that I can finish those two this year! I hope that by the time she has these two quilted, I will have at least 2 other tops to give her for quilting!

When we arrived back home after our adventure, I was amazed that I had the entire afternoon ahead of me! I spent part of it digging the compost out of the bin to spread on the new garden area. Vince will (hopefully) till the garden tomorrow so that I can get the seedlings in the ground soon!

I spent a little time working on the Green String quilt--I have the rows pinned together into a top and will stitch them together in the morning. Then I can get the borders on it and declare the top finished.

After dinner, I barely beat Vince at Scrabble (689 to 680). Our games are not always that close..so it was nice to have a challenging game tonight! We play Super Scrabble, which has a larger game board and twice the tiles. It is a lot more fun and a lot more challenging to play!

Spring Break Day Four

The Gleaners” by Jean-François Millet

To glean is to gather grain left behind by reapers or to gather bit by bit.

This morning I awoke with the dawn to begin yet another day of my spring break! I started with my studio, working on the Green String quilt. I laid the pieces out and stitched them into rows, then became distracted.

I pulled out the white fabric that I plan to use in the Mustang quilt and then paged through all of my DMC flosses to find a red that I liked. Then I washed both the fabric and the thread, to determine if the red would bleed onto the white. (Many hours later I checked the fabric and the thread, and there was no red on the white!) Then I sat and used my marker to outline the line drawings of the Mustang. I also determined the size of the white blocks that I will need to use.
The quilt design is similar to the Snow Crazy quilt. I am embroidering pictures of my Mustang onto white squares. The crazy quilt blocks will be different red fabrics.

After an hour and a half of quilt fun, it was time to leave for the Gleaner's House. I loaded up my vehicle with two boxes of paper and an 8' x 10' area rug that I was giving to a freecycler.

I headed downtown to Gleaners, first stopping at the bank to cash a check I have had since February! I also stopped at the City Drug store to make a copy of a photo of my father (the one where he is standing by the Chickaloon Bridge in Alaska) and pick up a package of razor blades (to remove the expired military stickers from my windshield).

At Gleaner's we sorted, cleaned and priced the goodies that local folks donate to the thrift store. It is always a real experience! I love that we get to shop there as well! I brought home a 24" tall Elmo doll for the puppies!

Lunch with friends was at Jack's, a local fast food eatery that is actually better than McDonald's or Burger King!

The rest of my afternoon was spent giving a rug to a freecycler (Yay! One more item out of my house!), getting my hair color touched up and visiting my Mom. I also made some time to piece together the rows on the Green String quilt, that was a bit of a challenge. Matching seams on diamond shaped pieces takes some time. They are finally all pinned and some are sewn together. The rest is a task for another Spring Break day!

Spring Break Day Two

Since Vince is working days this week, I am up by the time he leaves the house (5:30 or so). Today was no different!

So, since I was up earlier than I planned, I figured I could spend time in the studio! I worked further on the Green String Quilt and put borders on the I Spy quilt (yes, I know it is not the same quilt I was working on yesterday!). Here is what I accomplished on the Green String Quilt...I cut and sewed the background diamonds. I made a few mistakes along the way before I got them the way I wanted...so I did not work much on this quilt today.

The I Spy quilt is for a friend who is having a baby in June. It is all ready to go and I have the backing fabric in the washer as I type this!
Then I went to church and Sunday school. I had lunch with my dear friend Caroline at our favorite local Mexican restaurant. We are going to have a yard sale together with some other folks in June! YAY!! I love yard sales...Now I get to clean out the house and price items and then get rid of them!

I spent some time at Gleaner's House Thrift Store before visiting Mom. At Gleaner's I scored a great 2" 3 ring binder, and some letter and number tiles. The tiles sort of look like oversized Scrabble tiles. I believe I can create a station activity with those! I also picked up a broken keyboard (for that as yet unknown craft idea!).

My visit with Mom was interesting...she had previously asked me to bring her a Catholic bible as the one she had was not a Catholic one. So, I brought her my parent's bible and she spent our visit paging through the bible, making comments about snippets of sentences she read. At least she was reading the bible!

I stopped by my classroom on the way home to pick up a box of used paper (for Inez's grandson's baseball fundraiser), the box of chip bags I need to send to Terracycle, and my large dry erase eraser.

I also gassed up the truck and washed it!

Upon arrival home, I sorted through the stuff in my truck and loaded up the 3.5 boxes of fabric I am bringing to Diana tomorrow. I also collected all of the newspapers around the house and from the recycling bin to bring to Lisa tomorrow (for the birds!) Then I collected up the loose 2-liter plastic soda bottles that had escaped the plastic bag they were in! I boxed the bottles as they will be used at the end of the school year for the 6th grade end of year water fight. (At least if it is still scheduled to occur!)

When I came back inside, I emailed Chris about dropping off two quilts on Wednesday, and then proceeded to my studio so that I could iron the backings and make sure I had batting. I have a piece for the Snow Crazy Quilt but need to buy batting for the Pieces of the Past quilt. One out of two is not bad! My last post on these two quilts was back in June of last year!

Here are the finished tops for Snow Crazy, this is almost a full sized quilt.
And here is Pieces of the Past, this one is a king sized quilt.




Now I am finished for the day. It is dinner on my own (Vince had a late flight), and then off to bed to rest up for my Clarksville trip tomorrow!

Spring Break Day One

One my first day of Spring Break I woke up at the same time I usually do. So much for sleeping in!

So, I decided I should make the best of it and stay busy.

I started with the laundry! Then cleaned up the kitchen, scrubbing the counters and clearing off all the clutter that accumulates there. I did manage to finish all of the laundry, get it folded and put away! (normally the laundry sits in the basket for a week--folded of course--but not put away!)

Then I wandered into my studio where I am working on two quilts simultaneously. I have one that I am making for a friend that needs to be finished before the end of school. I finished all of the string pieced diamonds using only scraps of fabric that I had in my stash. The "Green Scrap" box is now EMPTY! I just need to find a background fabric that compliments all that green! Here are my diamonds:


This is a diagram of the pattern I am working from for this quilt:


The other quilt is a neat quilt using nine-patch blocks. The blocks are each 3" square. A few years ago, when I still belonged to the Jackson Guild, I joined a block exchange and then realized I would NEVER have the time to complete the required blocks each month, so I resigned. Of course I had a bunch of nine-patch blocks already sewn so I did need to find a quilt to use them in! Fortunately, I found one I loved and saved the pattern with the blocks. Well, it is one of the quilts on my list to complete this summer so I started making some additional blocks now. I finished another 45 blocks yesterday and cut a few more. I need a total of 148 nine patch blocks. I need to search the stash for a background fabric for that one as well. Here are some of the nine patch blocks with the picture of the Skyward Nines pattern I am working from. Since so many of my blocks have blue in them, I am thinking of either a gold or gray background.

I also responded to a freecycle request for fabric! Last year someone gifted me a ton of cotton fabric scraps that I washed and sorted and then stored. I used a little of it but most of it is still sitting in boxes in my studio, getting in the way. I looked at this ad as a sign that I should part with some of this fabric so that it can be used! I now have 3.5 boxes of fabric on the couch waiting for me to deliver it on Monday. (I guess that counts as a stash reduction!)

Of course my dogs and I wandered down to the pond to feed the fish and turtles. We also walked through our 'orchard' and noted that all of our trees have leaves and some have flowers! It looks like we did a good job with the initial planting! YAY for fruit!

That was my day one!

Quilt Bling!

Cat and Sherry had the opportunity to spend the weekend in Lancaster at the American Quilt Show. They took great photos of the quilts on display there and I am sure that they were very motivated and inspired by what they saw. Of course the vendors are always a favorite place to spend money!

I was thrilled today to receive an envelope containing my very own QUILT BLING! I love that Cat and Sherry thought of me on their quilting weekend!! I plan to wear my bling when I go to the AQS show in Paducah Kentucky at the end of April! YAY!

Sunrise in New York

When I was living in New York, I started working on the Thimbleberries block of the month quilt.

The year was 2005.

The program used 12 blocks to make 2 lap quilts. I finished the first set of blocks to make the 'Sunrise' quilt and since I was still in NY at the time, the name of the quilt became "Sunrise in New York". Only the top was put together.

Its sister quilt (Sunset), which I finished in Tennessee, became "Sunset in Tennessee".

I moved to Tennessee in the end of 2005.

Sunset in Tennessee was machine quilted by another quilter for me and finished in 2006.

Sunrise in New York was partially machine quilted by me. I finished the label and the binding and then I planned to hand quilt the 6 large blocks myself. I usually have one quilt that I am hand quilting, so I can work on my skills.

Here is the finished quilt:


Here is a shot of the label I put on the quilt when I finished the machine quilting of the sashing and borders.


Please note the date of March, 2006. Yes, I know it is now March 2010. Yes, it seems to have taken me 4 years to hand quilt 6 blocks.

All I can say is that I enjoyed the journey!