About 3000 words - in pictures!

Finally . . . some photographic evidence of my recent projects! First, all of my Elegant Garden applique blocks completed to date. As I finished the last one in my stash, I was patting myself on the back, because I thought it would be a couple weeks before the next one arrived. Of course, it came the next day, and so I'm behind again!

I've been putting together the Somewhere in Time blocks from the free BOM at Blockcentral. The pictures don't do the fabrics justice. They include a rich burgundy, and a lovely Hoffman with gold embellishment. I've just printed the August block, Union Square, and will probably put it together this weekend.

The Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild is in the midst of a challenge. In April, we each went through our scraps, and assembled a little bag of them. They were to be no smaller than 4" square, and could contain up to 20 fabrics. The objective is to create a quilt to be complete at our December Christmas party, using those fabrics, and as many as we wished from our own stash. The only requirement was that at least half of the packaged fabrics were to be included. I received the fabrics of Cheryl, a long-time friend, who was actually responsible for directing me to the Guild more than 20 years ago. It was quite an eclectic mix. The fabrics chosen to be omitted were all rather bright, except for one decorator fabric. The blue, used in the border of this piece was quite a large "scrap", which appeared to be left from a dress-making project. After studying the selection for a while, a Lori Smith applique pattern was selected, and some taupe fabrics in the mix were used in place of what might be green in a regular palette. I thought it would resemble some of the 1850's quilts where the color was migratory, and greens often faded to brownish hues. The vase is a brighter red paisley. Only the background, a gray, was added from my stash. You can see in the picture that it is marked, ready to begin quilting. I'm pleased with it so far . . . I'm not sure if it is to be kept a complete secret . . . so don't tell anyone you've seen it!

A friend finished her Santa quilt, which was a Block of the Month from a local quilt shop before it closed. It encouraged me to get mine out of the PIP's, and start working on them again. I had six blocks appliqued, and six to go. There are now three to finish . . . well, and the one I'm working on, but it has passed the half-way point. The original design was accompanied by some 12-inch finished pieced blocks, and those have been done for some time. There are also to be 14 six-inch pieced blocks, miniatures of the larger blocks. I made four of them, and then, hearing my own drummer, I appliqued a heart in one of the pieced red frames. I always like to add my own touches to the mix, so I'm going to make six more of the small block frames, using some of the toys shown in the Santa blocks throughout the quilt, such as brass horns, a rocking horse, a doll, a doll-house, a teddy bear, and a little wagon. I'm going to cut kits for the small blocks, and have those ready to take to Camp. It's amazing how much more can be accomplished when one pre-cuts.

It's just four weeks until our Guild Retreat. I rather thought that our numbers might be down this year, with gas prices where they are. However, we have surpassed our previous record number of participants. Our full complement will be 51 this year . . . I guess everyone is enthusiastic about our theme, Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue. I can hardly wait for it to get here myself, and way ahead on assembling the hand-outs, thanks to a great deal of help from my dear friend, Laura.

Several friends drive quite a few miles to get here for the event, including Dawn. She is teaching one of our "make-it-take-it" projects on Friday evening. One of the things we all love is the Baked Oatmeal for Breakfast at Camp Tecumseh. Dawn said she got to remembering it, and had to make a pan because she couldn't wait until September! Griff drives over from Cleveland for the weekend, and my DSIL flies in from Texas. It's a wonderful reunion for us!

Sossity will also present a "make-it-take-it" project on Friday evening. She has been handling sleeping room assignments, which can be rather frustrating. Some people seem to think they are staying in a four-star hotel. It's a great facility, but the rooms are more of the dorm room type. Some people have indicated a desire for a two- or three-person room. I don't know where they think the remaining half of the group would sleep, if they received their choice, since the rooms have eight beds in each room. It's not as though one lounges in the room as one would in a hotel. Most of us just fall into the beds and sleep long enough to hit the ground running in the morning.

I think I hear my current Santa ho-ho-hoing for me to come sit in my recliner, and stitch down his mittens. Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.