Pam's Heirloom quilt

If you are a follower of Pam Buda's blog (heartspunquilts.blogspot.com) you have already seen this outstanding heirloom she has created. This photo is from its unveiling in her booth at Quilt Market in Houston. Isn't it amazing?

This will be available to make in 2019 at quilt shops who sponsor the Circa 1880 club. In her post about this quilt here, she explained how she swapped blocks with friends to keep this scrappy and get it made by the deadline of Market. I was fortunate to be one of those who swapped blocks with those participating.

In this photo you can see the piles of 10 blocks on the design board to the left (300 blocks on that design board). In the middle are the baggies of blocks I received from others. And on the design boards piled to the right are pieces waiting to be sewn together to make another 120 blocks.

This is the kind of quilt I have always wanted to make, and this opportunity gave me the motivation I needed to keep making enough of those little blocks for a large quilt--hundreds and hundreds of those little blocks! There is a reason why I make mini quilts. I have a hard time staying focused on making the same little block over and over, but I proved to myself that I CAN do it! :)

My trusty featherweight has been the machine of choice for this project. Most of the blocks are made (there are about 75 left to stitch together), and now I am starting to assemble rows.
Here I am auditioning blocks to get a good balance of colors in a row.

I have 5 rows assembled and pinned to the edge of my design wall, where my half log cabin blocks are still residing. I hope to make more progress on this project when I go to my annual retreat in January. I actually made my first blocks for this quilt at retreat last January. This secret sewing has consumed much of my limited sewing time this year, and it is really fun to finally be able to share it with you!
If this quilt draws you in as much as it does me, check with your local quilt shop to see if they will be hosting the club.

Aside from that, since my last post I have been trying to get a few little quilt tops marked and basted.
They are starting to pile up again, and I do not want a repeat of 2016, where I had 30 little tops to quilt, and I added half again that many as the year wore on.
One of these will hopefully get quilted before the month is over to fill in as my Mini of the Month.  



We took a quick trip to Southern Utah last week to visit some friends, and attend a concert by The Piano Guys. On the way home I used my birthday month coupon at the little shop over the mountain (Village Dry Goods) to get 25% off of this lovely selection. 

Jo Morton's new Spice it Up line embodies the colors of Fall, to me. And I picked up a few of the new Primitive Gatherings Flower Garden line.
And look at this--one of the employees at the shop has made up Jen Kingwell's Long Time Gone quilt in Civil War repros. 

I have the pattern and when I finally get around to making it, I want to do something along these lines.
Until next time, 
Janet O.