New Quilties in My Collection....

Happiness in a quilt....

I got the fabric I needed to finish my happy quilt. 

I added a 3 inch border of the black with white vine and bound it with my left over brights.  The quilt is circled by a rainbow.

The back is pieced using the orphan blocks from the front and two yards of the focus fabric. 

I absolutely love the focus fabric.  I could stare at it all day and still have a silly grin on my face.  If you want some it is called "Kaui Kids."  It comes in a couple of colorways.  Use your new on-line shopping skills to find it.  (That is what I had to do.)  Or you can try Little Mamas Fabric - that's where I found it - at www.littlemamasfabric.com.  They are located in Appling Georgia if you happen to live near by.

Swap Results....
I got my quilts from the most recent Flickr swaps.

My Favorite Little Quilt Swap is a blind swap that is done after the quilts are made.  In this one I made a quilt and sent a picture to the swap organizer.  It was then placed as an entry in the swap.   Once all of the quilts were completed members voted on their favorite quilts and were assigned a person to send  to.  The idea being that you would get one of your favorites from the group.

My entry - "Spring Birdies" - pictured to your left was fussy cut and hand quilted.  Yeah, the picture is terrible.  You can get a better look at in on my Flickr photo stream.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/tops_to_treasures/5211626357/in/photostream/  It flew away to Sweden, hopefully with a bit of spring tucked in the wrapper.

The quilt I received is "Ripples" by Yvonne Fordham of Bristol, England.  I love the bright colors, but the real attraction for me was her creative use of hexies and quilting.  She has set them up like a barrier reef and quilted a rippling tide around them.

If you look more closely you can even see some silvery fish sneaking through the wall.

S.T.U.D. or Swap 'til You Drop  This swap is fully disclosed.  You sign up and then are given a partner with similar tastes as your own.  In addition the administrators goal is to give you a partner that you have never swapped with.  I don't know how QuiltinKimmie does it.  I've been swapping with this group for more than a year now, often with two partners at a time, and Kimmie hasn't re matched me yet.

I received this quilt from Rachel Locke in Tupelo, Mississippi.

"Home is Where the Heart Is" is Rachel's interpretation of the theme, "Love, love, love."

I love the way the heart can move around the quilt, but always comes back home.  Isn't that just how life is?

Aloha

Aloha and good morning.

I put my little quilt top together.  Isn't it fun?!  It now measures 36 x 48 and I'm contemplating adding a black border.  I think it the black will make the colors pop, and the added size will make it a little more appropriate for a family of growing boys.

I've ordered more of the white on black fabric for the border.  I'm thinking it should be the same size as the strips (4.5" finished) but I might go just a little bit smaller.

The back will be the focus fabric with a pieced stripe in it.   I have two nine-patch blocks left over and a bunch of the brights.  I'm planning on the strip being the same width as those on the front and off center vertically on the back.

The binding is solid black.  The quilting....what do you think about lime green banana leaves, or maybe aqua frothy waves.  I haven't really decided on this one yet.


Noah 2009 at Shaver Lake CA



Tomorrow my boy goes in for surgery.  The plan is to align his clavicle and brace it with metal plates.  This is hardly the first dent on my first boy.  He seems to make a habit of getting hurt.  He's had stitches on his face, and a broken foot, and several concussions.  He's jammed his fingers any number of times.  He always comes back for more.  I don't know how mothers of extreme sportsmen do it.  My boy hardly qualifies for the title, hasn't had nearly as many accidents, and I'm still a wreck.  I don't think I will ever get used to the idea.  If you think of it, say a prayer for Noah and his surgeon...that all goes well, and that healing is just around the corner.