Here it is--the R/W/B post.

With apologies to all of my friends outside the USA, I decided to do a little patriotic parade as we approach Independence Day. These are not all still in my possession, but I am trying to hang on to enough of them to decorate my home. So in no particular order, "Three cheers for the red, white and blue!"

My brother has this one.

My daughter, Aimee, has this.

Daughter, Angie, is the owner of this one.

These 2" pineapples have gone to various friends.

I believe Julie and Carole are the owners of these two.

This little grouping hangs in my kitchen. Stars are 2".

The only large quilt in the bunch. Wish the quilting fairies would come quilt it in the night!

This is hanging in my sewing room.

This Lisa Bongean design hangs in my living room, along with...

...this. This is one of two "most pinned" items from my blog.

This little AAQI quilt sold at International Quilt Fest in Houston last year.
No idea where it is. This is the other "most pinned" item from my blog.

I made this for a small quilt swap with Gayle last summer. The only

hand-quilted piece in the bunch here.

This sits on my hutch, but the middle is covered by a soup tureen.

This little pincushion is one of two
r/w/b that I made--the other was gifted.

That is all of the R/W/B stuff I could scrape together. You have probably seen most of it before, but hope it was fun to see it all together.
Until next time,
Janet O.

I'm doing big stuff, too!

Back in March, when I agreed to do the mini quilt trunk show in May, these stars were on my design wall. I didn't touch them for 2 1/2 months (other than to move them out of my way) while I frantically sewed up minis.

Last week I got the border strips cut (haven't sewn any on yet) and Monday night I cut the cornerstones. Major progress, huh? If you are familiar with Sharyn Craig's method of the Garden Maze setting, this will make sense. If not, just smile and nod. I need to choose a color for the sashing and then put black star points on the ends of those pieces, once they are cut. When it is all sewn together it creates the effect of the Garden Maze setting without the hassle of making "X" blocks for the cornerstones.

I"m curious to know what color you think would look good in the sashing, though I don't promise to take your advice. : )

While DD#1 was visiting she finished up the Primitive Gatherings stocking ornaments that she had started on her last visit. Here are all 8 of them and they aren't as bright as they appear. I think they turned out great, so maybe someday I will make them. Click to see them close up. Good job, Angie!

Recently my blog friend, Victoria (Park Hill Farm blog), posted about her great buys at the Keepsake Quilting tent sale. I was amazed to see the red fabric she had purchased (yes, Julie--THAT red!). It is a favorite of mine--older and hard to find. It wasn't on the shelf at Keepsake last October, or I would have finished the bolt, believe me. I expressed my dismay that she had found it there, and the next thing I know there was a chunk of it in my mailbox. Victoria, like so many quilters, is a very generous woman. I promised her another little ornament from some of the fabric. She already has one of my pineapples and a log cabin, so one of these baskets is for her. These are still (obviously) in the works.

Did any of you do Terry's "Goodnight Irene" SAL? I watched. : ) It is a lovely quilt. I've seen it on many blogs and haven't seen one I didn't like, but I especially loved Terry's cool blue and green batiks.
Well, she had all of these HSTs leftover and didn't want to play with them, so I volunteered. Now Irene's dolly can get a good night's sleep, too. The blocks in this little piece are 1" finished. It is approximately 6 1/2" x 8 1/2".
I have a few more HSTs left and am pondering other setting options.

Okay, finally (I didn't think I had that much to share, but this is getting lengthy--sorry), I'm sure many of you have seen Ann Hermes' (Notes From the Quilt Lab blog) yardstick gallery. I love it and have wanted to replicate it somewhere, somehow. A year or so ago I happened to find an old yardstick at a local thrift store from what is now a favorite local quilt shop (it used to be mostly clothing fabrics, but as times changed, so did they). Today I finally figured out where to put it and how to hang it without putting more holes in my walls.
As you enter my sewing room, this is what you now see.

To the right of the sewing room door is the bathroom door. Upon leaving the bathroom you get this happy view.

Rather than using felt pads behind the yardstick and putting holes through it all, I got a similar effect by using clear Command strips and hooks. It holds the yardstick far enough away from the wall that the hooks from Ackfeld Manufacturing fit nicely over it. I'm very happy with the results and hope to find another vintage yardstick at a thrift store when I am in town tomorrow. It is too much to hope that I will find another one from a fabric store. I may have to settle for one from a hardware store--if I can find one at all.

Until next time,
Janet O.

Now you see it...

Yes, I see the 4-patch turned the wrong way, but I didn't see it until it was being quilted!

...now you don't--almost.

How did my Mother's hand get in this picture?

Could you tell it was that small? I know when it is enlarged that much the stitching really gives it away. But I'm trying to get better at making the borders and binding "to scale". The binding is tricky when you try to get it close to 1/8". If anyone has any tricks as to how to make it work, I'd love to hear them!

This little quilt went off to my dear friend, Carole, who is undergoing chemo. It is named "Heaven Can Wait"! It is a variation on the Stairway to Heaven pattern. I just changed the name and the value placement. It goes to Carole with lots of prayers for successful treatment. I was waiting until she received it before posting. 

Not much else happening here in the way of quilting. 

I have continued to stitch up little things that just hang around. When there are lots of HSTs left in my "parts" bowl (do you have one of those containers?) it is easy to put together some of these...

...when you don't have time to get involved in a big project.

And then I found enough R/W/B ones to make some more hangy things to go with one of my little mini quilts.

So many patriotic quilted things decorating the house now. I've shown most of them at one time or another, but maybe I will have to do a R/W/B post soon.

I have a niece getting married next week. Unlike some of you who make quilts for your nieces' and nephews' weddings, graduations, babies, etc., I have no such tradition, but I admire those of you who do. I have 11 nieces and 10 nephews, besides my own two girls and two boys. Half of them are married or engaged. All but two have graduated from high school, half of them have graduated from college, about half of those have gone on to complete advanced degrees, and between them all I think they have 26 children, so far. I don't have that much quilting time!! So for this niece, who has been very close to my Mom, I have been making a few pineapple ornaments from my Mom's quilt scraps. This is four of the six she will be receiving.

I hope they will mean something to her. I think they will.

DD#1 flew in from NH on Saturday. I look forward to a week with her here!

Until next time,

Janet O.