The sun comes earlier now...as the days of winter shorten. By 6:45 the sun is peeking in the little half circle window of my front door....slanting all the shadows from south to north. There begins to be some warmth to it's light and color, the whiteness pushed back, further and further. I open the blinds on my east facing window and the sunshine shadows fall across the entire room. Another day. Time. Seconds, minutes,hours making their way across my life...moving in the seemingly endless march toward darkness. Clarity and confusion. I have wondered about them, and concluded that they connect in a circle, slidding from one the other and back again..an endless circle. Impossible to stay fixed in either, that's the circles doing. Life, beginnings, ending...and all that stuff in the middle....where we muddle from day to day. Where does the time go ? Reflections. Did the Amish first name that quilt Sunshine and Shadows or does it go back further? And who first saw that pattern and thought about the suns journey across the sky? And maybe there is a reason I prefer Straight Furrows, with their lightness and darkness going somewhere. Today the sun near my computer falls across a piece from my scrapbag...Uncle Jim, my mohters oldest brother and a much more youthful Finn. Uncle Jim....part of the sunshine of my life. He lived in Milwaukee, WI all my growing up years, but he came north to see his mother, my Grandma Lottie, who lived with us. His visits were special..*VBG*...my mom made chocolate cake when he came...how can you beat that???

Monday...Monday....and I could use a nice BIG dose of The Mamas and The Papas...but they are no where to be had. Guess I'll settle for Helen Reddy. I think she'd understand why this cartoon has lived on my sewing room wall for years and years. Ya know?? Sometimes it just doesn't matter what anyone says.....lets stick to the plan at hand ! I think I've just had the least productive weekend(or week) of my life. But since my memory is slipping daily, I can't be sure...*VBG* Hope ALL of YOU got lots done, or totally vegged out, whatever was needed..and...if you go down to the woods today....keep your eyes open..*G* 

Predictable and Vintage..or nearly so. This wall quilt hangs in my hallway. I handpieced the 4" bow ties back in the late 1980's. I managed to collect 25 of the Marcus Brothers reproduction fabrics of that era. This a charm quilt, with each fabric used just once. I used unbleached muslin and the set in seam method of piecing. It's hand quilted in ecru. I had not intended to have it on point, but when I laid out the bow ties I just wasn't happy with the straight rows of 5. I rather like them this way. After it was completed, I still wasn't completely happy with it, so I tossed it into a kettle with tea bags and changed the colors...some more than others..LOL. I rinsed it well and dried it, and then pressed it lightly. Oddly enough, the tea smell lingered for quite awhile. The clamshells in the big triangles don't follow across..they radiate out from the row of bow ties in each of the 4 directions.

A close up to show the detail of the quilting. There is none on the bow ties themselves, but with the background grid quiledt at 1", the bows rise slightly. It was a pretty flat batting..an older Mountain Mist, back before we had Warm and Natural or the other new batts. And clamshells in the big triangles, I like clamshells..*VBS*

FINN FALLS FLAT......oh my..... there goes my "no fiber" diet....*G* But...not too badly. I'm going to plead my "case". I didn't buy fabric to build stash...honest! It's that second graduation quilt I have to make. I shared with you the first one will be the pineapple blossom in amish colored solids, with a print background. I have that one nailed down. Cut, kit, and sew. But that second one...my DD wants a star, the spinning star, with focus fabric centers that relate to the girl who is getting it. Easy piece?? No...not so much. Finding coffee fabric was easy, Betsy had some. Horses, no problem, DD found those. BUT where are the fabrics that say "U of M" or the ones that say "MN WILD" for the hockey team??? I need at least 20 different fabrics for the centers, altho I could repeat one or two I suppose. Better that I worry about this NOW rather than in April. The trip that resulted in "fabric fondling" was another emergency trip to the opthomolist's office...my left eye now thinks it should be getting some attention too...sure will be glad when this is over...*VBS*

This one I really like, as I can fussy cut the part with the postcard or map of Minnesota. 

A center square of these should do nicely, but if something better comes along..that's ok too. 

These neon hearts are my least favorite, so they are last...*G* I think they will work ok..but if we find something we like better, they can get bumped. 

Scrap Happy...and my most recent "finish". This one is just back from longarm quilting, and now has it's binding also. I'm just thrilled to have this one finished and ready to put on my bed. I know it's not a big deal for all you gals who long arm quilt your quilts as you make them...but for me it's the different between a few days or weeks, and months and months of hand quilting. I just had it meandered, edge to edge, as it is a simple quilt and intended for daily use and comfort. A very special thanks to my long arm quilter..she's wonderful..and I'm so appreciative that she fit this in between other quilts that were getting much more quilting than mine..*VBS* 

The close up..not of the mundane pieceing, but of the great meandering done by my wonderful long arm quilter...*VBS* I'm sooooo delighted to have this one done and ready for my bed. 

The sun coming in, and those MARVELOUS diagonal runs...ahhhhh...just had to take ONE more full shot of this quilt for you to enjoy..*VBS* 

Post a Note: I just got an email from Katie (Mismatched Quilter) letting me know she's been called home to MI for a family emergency. She's a snowbird in Florida this time of year. Her link is on my sidebar and I know some of you have begun to visit her blog. I was so happy to hear from her, and that everything was ok. Us silly old bears worry, you know..*VBS*

Pieces From the Past....on a sunny Wednesday morning in WI...greetings to all my blogger friends. At the time I pieced this wall hanging I didn't know the name of the block. Since then I've discovered its called Road to Jerico(spelling?). I liked that it made the arrows. It's a simple 9 patch turned into a square in a square with triangles. Probably the biggest difference is that you MATCH the triangle to the piece of 9 patch that it is touching. I think it would make a great baby quilt. I didn't use a design wall..and if I had the balance of lights probably would be better than it is. The block finishes at 8". Which means the 9 patches finish as 5.5". I worked with 2.25" squares to get the 9 patches that size. The quilting is inside each colored piece, and a line of cross hatching through all the black squares. The little bit of red you see in the upper right is the quilt that was on the back of the loveseat...LOL. The wall hanging is bound in a dark green and black stripe. 

Here is a close up of the block and how I quilted each one..*S* This was done before my many eye surgeries. I couldn't begin to work on fabrics this dark now. 

POST A NOTE: For Dakota Gal....I'm really uncomfortable posting a request for you on my blog. The blogs are journals of thoughts, feelings, happenings in our lives that we share via the internet. In my opinion, they are NOT a forum for requesting things from other quilters. If you wanted , you could create an accessable blog for yourself and make your request to the world. You had to sign up with Blogger before you could post a comment, just take that to the next level, and post your request yourself.

There are bulletin board forums for sharing fabric, blocks, patterns, etc at About. com and one of the best is at http://kosmickitty.com This is the World Wide Quilt Page. Once you are on the main page, click on Bulletin Board or Swaps, Trades, Sales, etc. I'm sure there are many other forums that swap things. Sorry to disappoint you, but this is just NOT the right place for what you are requesting.

Sunny Baby Ducks crib quilt...this is one of the older quilts I own. I bought it quite a few years ago, for $20 in a small antique shop. It's just 6 of the appliqued ducks set with lattice. The only quilting is some machine stitching in the ditch of the lattice. There is NO batting of any kind in this quilt. What appeals to me, the most besides the yellow ducks, is that the quilt maker used muslin sugar bags as her background. There are 6 appliqued ducks on 6 opened out sugar bags. The back in the same, sugar bags. She turned what little printing was left on them, to the inside, but when you hold the quilt up to the light, you can still see the words and sugar symbols...LOL. From the dimentions, I'm thinking probably they were 10# bags of sugar. I think this was made in the 1930's or possibly, the 1940's. It falls into the category of the depression years quilts. 

A close up of the little duck. As you can see, no quilting in the duck blocks. 

Post a note: Dakota gal..you are doing just fine. When you click on leave a comment, that's what it does. It is the only way for you to "put" anything on my blog.....only I am able to "post" an entry..so don't worry. I clicked on your name, and see that you don't have a blog listed for me to visit as yet. Hope you will join us in Blogger land..*VBS*

Eye Update: Saw the "eye guy" again on Thursday. The last bits of infection are still there, but losing their grip on the cornea. He has added antibotics by mouth, and I will be continuing with the eye drops. There is a small amount of damage to the cornea, but only along the upper rim. Not enough to do anything about, and the chances are very good, that I won't lose the cornea..hurray for that !!!!!! Have to go back in 2 weeks this time..*VBS*

Baby Savannah with her new quilt. A friend of my DD adopted this baby girl from Guatamala in 2002. Savannah was just a few weeks old. She and her new Mommy live in Minneapolis, MN. This quilt is more of those darn Aunt Gracie fabrics..but my DD loves them and so do her friends. The reason you're getting scanned photo album pictures is that my camera is having tantrums again. Did you notice on the RR crossing how I've got that "creeping blackness" in the upper right corner again...grrrrrrrrr..just when you think it's safe to come out of the water....LOL 

Savannah at 3 years..this is her christmas picture. It's probably time for a big girl quilt...*VBS* 

One more baby and quilt, yellow background sawtooth star. With this quilt, for baby Conner, I kept all the star points the same, and used fun KP Kids fabrics for the centers. We knew this baby would be a boy in 2004. The yellow fabric has little stars and blue dots..really a cool fabric. 

I apologize for the poor picture quality. This is what happens when you don't get a picture before the quilt leaves your house. Several of you commented about the yellow background in my RR crossing top(below). I often use yellow as a background..you just saw it in the Sawtooth Star for baby Grant. Sandra showed a couple of her bowtie quilts and it got me thinking. I love the bowtie pattern...and make it frequently. With this baby quilt(for baby Dominic) my DD decided to give the quilt to the GRANDMA instead of the mom. It lives at Grandma's house..*VBS* One of the things you see in this bowtie, is that I add a 1.5" strip acaross the top of the first bowtie, and across the bottom of the second ooe, etc. It gives them a bit of a "dancing" look...staggered. Also makes the quilt just a tat bigger..*G* Since we didn't know what the baby would be, I just went with spring colors and the yellow(with baby chicks) background. 

Baby Dominic with his quilt...he's thinking.."hmmmm, how do I get the pacifier into my mouth?" 

Some of you, I am sure, are fans of the chldren and the flying dog in "The Never Ending Story" movies. I have my own version of the Never Enging Story, and I rather like it..it involves scraps of fabric. Cutting up small pieces of fabric into "scrap shapes and sizes" ala Bonnie's scrap saver system...as many of us are..isn't it amazing how fast the scrap bin fills up, and the stash looks the same???? I have way more 1.5" strips than I thought I did. And despite an ongoing project with 6.5" log cabins, a small blue and tan double 9 patch, I still have to have more than what ever fits in the bin. And most they are colors I don't want in my log cabins or the blue 9 patches..LOL. So, onward to a Railroad crossing block. I'm not particular that 6 strips of 1.5" each times 4.5" wide make one set of rails. Actually I toss at least one 2" strip in there, to make sure I end up at 6.5"..*VBG* So my rails look more like string quilt piecing, most of the time. I started this as a charity quilt on Sunday, I have alot of yellows, and many of them mid-sized amounts and quite a few fall into the pale yellow catagory. So they became the 6.5" setting blocks and triangles. I had 3 FQ's of the star fabric, purchased out of a sale box at a LQS. The challenge is: can I get enough 4.5" sqares and the corresponding HST's that I need and keep those all the same, while everything else is scrappy...*VBG* I love a challenge. I'm following(sort of) the layout in Trudy Hughes, book On Point. But she only makes her rails 3.5" X 6.5"...I kind of like the 4.5" better. Slightly bigger quilt and not really any more sewing. Without borders this is pushing 60"+ already. So a good couch size or whatever it grows up to be..Hope you all have some sunshine today...We've hit the halfway point in February...how are you coming on your Feb. goals??? 

Be Mine, Valentine....*VBS* 

LOVE is a four letter word. In any language, it holds a certain significance for someone or something we feel strongly about. We say "I love my dog", or "I love quilts" and we know what we mean by that, altho others might not understand. They don't have to, it's MY love I'm talking about to them, not theirs. It's up to us to know what love means. And if not that, then at least, know what you mean when you say "I love you".Love comes in so many forms and at so many levels. You can't just lump love into a pile, and have it covered. It needs to be more specific, especially today...Valentine's Day. A day for lovers and for lovers of love.and maybe romance too. But can you sort through it all, and dig way down deep and know who...in the whole world...you LOVE the most???? Cause it's ok to do that...*S* We don't need to tell anyone WHO that special love is.....but I'm going to. I'm going to tell you, in the whole world, the person I LOVE the most is Gramma Lottie. My mothe's mother, whom you meet in a photograph a couple of days ago. She was the second daughter, and born in 1882. She married and had 4 children, the youngest was my mom, the only girl. This is the Gram who lived with us, almost my entire childhood. She outlived all but one of her children, living into her mid 90's. She's been gone now, for many years, but my love for her is a candle burning in the window of my heart. Steady, strong and true. If I had red paper and a lace doily, she's the one I'd make a valentine for, today...*VBS* Happy Valentine's Day 

POST A NOTE: I already know you readers are going to think the quilt directly below this is an ON POINT layout. It ISN'T. Viewing the edge of the quilt at the blue 9 patch...the hourglass above it has a blue triangle touching it, same on the right side and another blue triangle in the hourglass below, that touches the blue 9 patch. Same with the 9 patch just to the right of it, and the one below..and in fact, ALL of them. I laid out the 9 patches the way I wanted them, and made the hourglass block to MATCH the 9 patch it touched. That also means that each 9 patch is just a 2 color 9 patch. This won't work if you make scrappy multicolored 0 patches.
What is neat about it is that you get the onpoint look, and also a "boxy" look, which I like. Inquiring minds needed to know...*VBS*

Desi Loves Lucy, Joanie loves ChaChe, Ross Loves Rachel, Franke Loves Johnnie, and so it goes.... I DO NOT love Aunt Gracie or any of her kissing cousins. And she has many. Will I EVER see the end of the Aunt Gracie fabric in pastels? Do I have it in red, white and blue also? Will they ever quit making it? Does Darlene Zimmerman have to come up with such neat traditional quilts using it? Hmmmmmm? But a victory for me...ANOTHER FINISH!!! My ovn version of 9 patches and hourglass. I match the side of the triangle to the color of the 9 patch it touches..*VBG* Gives you a neat "boxed" loo, and that is what you see instead of 9 patches and hourglasses..*S* Pretty much means ypu ahve to lay out the hourglass blocks tho. 

Another recent finish, using up stash. The 2.5" squares are cut and stacked in a rubbermaid(all bright kids prints) and for some reason I thought the ABC fabric would be a great background..ya, right. I usually make my baby quilts about 44" X 54".