savoy019

I am so happy to have made decisions about the borders for "Contentment," my original quilt celebrating our marriage (our 23rd anniversary is on October 23).  I started this project just before our 20th anniversary.  Zeesh!  Birthing this project has been like having a baby...in slow motion! The first border has the pieces woven like a chain (my "chain and bull's eye" border...Steve calls it the "ball and chain border").  That seems appropriate for an anniversary quilt. I am calling the second border my "pop bead and bull's eye" border since Steve said it reminded him of a toddler's pop-together toys.  I could not make a decision about using one blue, so I used twenty-eight (stash justification at its BEST!) and almost as many purples. I felt the first border wasn't heavy or solid enough so I knew I wanted the second border to have the visual weight of a solid strip of color but be more interesting than that.   It's getting t...

Finally!  I've made some progress on my "Repro Madness" project.  I have added a 1-inch finished sawtooth border around the center medallion block (the block finishes 16-inches square and 18-inches square with the addition of the little border). It took 68 of the little suckers for this one border, but it was made much simpler by taking all the ingredients as my "leaders and enders" project during the retreat.  For those not familiar with Bonnie Hunter's "leaders/enders" concept...she uses something like this, say two triangles, as the fluff that she adds to her chain piecing "chain" right before being ready to stop chain stitching.  That saves thread and makes it easier to start chain-piecing again without the machine trying to "eat" the fabric bits.  That is how I made all my half-square triangles, which I later pressed and trimmed down to size before assembling strips of the little beasts. I love how this border looks around...

I was very happy last Friday to cross the Tennessee River into Florence to partake of the Batting Brigade Quilt Guild's show. I totally underestimated how many beautiful quilts would be on display and did not take an extra battery for my camera.  I am so sorry to have missed taking pictures of some of the quilts...my apologies to those quilters! This Alabama Quilt was made by the guild in the 1990's and has been displayed in Welcome Centers along many highways entering the state. I loved seeing the peanut block...my mother's father was a gentleman peanut farmer near Goodwater, Alabama. My new hometown of Tuscumbia, Alabama is the address of Helen Keller's home/museum, which is represented by the hand water pump. I will let the quilts speak for themselves through the quilt labels. You will enjoy the homemade ribbons! Uh-oh...worse than usual photography alert...this quilt was made by Betty Hughes. Made by Susan Manno... Now, go finish something! Teresa   :o)