Two Finishes, and a 48-yr-old dream fulfilled!

 I am so excited to share this finish!

My Circa 1880 quilt, designed by Pam Buda, is completed!

I started this quilt in January of 2018. It has been an amazing journey, and I am grateful for each of the friends who have swapped blocks with me to make this a beautiful friendship quilt!

It took me two years to get it all assembled into a top (I did have shoulder surgery somewhere during that process). It took me another 6 years to finally decide how I wanted it quilted, and whether I would do it, or quilt by check. The checkbook won. Then it took several months to buckle down and bind it. I am thrilled with the results.

Hubby tried to hold it up over the deck rail so I could get a photo, but the quilt was too wide for him, and the sun was too harsh and made the quilt look strange.

And if you go HERE you can see the rogue blocks I added to every other row.

And if you scroll over halfway through THIS post, you will see a little explanation on how I labeled the rows of blocks that I received in swaps.

The second finish I want to share is from Lori's (Humble Quilts blog) doll quilt SAL, Summit. The last time I shared it, it was just the top, and I said I wasn't going to add a border. But one day, not long after that, I was in the quilt shop over the mountain, and I saw this Judie Rothermel fabric that was just calling out to me to be the border for Summit. So it is, and I couldn't be happier with the results!

This ended up about 22" square. I had made my 4 patches smaller than called for to accommodate the use of leftover stars from my blue and cream schoolhouse quilt.

I quilted around, and through each of the stars, and also did diagonal crossing lines through the neutral blocks of the 4-patches. I wanted something more in the border, now that the tension issue is finally resolved with my HQ Sweet Sixteen. So i used a stencil and pounce pad. Then I practiced on a sample piece.

This pre-binding photo gives you a better view of the quilting. But I hadn't yet stitched the Xs through the center of the stars.

This completes the quilty content. ;)

In May Hubby and I fulfilled a dream we have had since we were first married. We spent 8 days in Ireland, soaking up the beautiful countryside, the amazing ocean views, the castles and fortresses, the friendly people, and the incredible history! I can't begin to do it justice here, but I have selected a few favorite photos. You should be able to click on them to enlarge.

Lookout Point on Dingle Peninsula.

Irish countryside, with a view of the ocean.

Bluebells in Killarney National Park

Giant's Causeway

Cliffs of Moher

Kayaking on the Lagan River in Belfast

There is so much more I could share, but I will leave it at that. We really hope to get back again before we are too old to do some of the other things we would love to do there.

I had planned to get this posted in June, so it would only be one month past my blog anniversary, but since the clock just ticked past midnight, I did not make it. Welcome to July! I am putting together a little blog birthday package to gift in a drawing. If you are interested in participating, sight unseen (because I don't yet know exactly what it will include), please say so in a comment.

Are you enjoying the World Cup, or not a soccer fan? I do love soccer, and catch games whenever I can. 

Wherever you are, I hope you appreciate the beauty and diversity of this world we share. 

To my friends in Canada, Happy Canada Day, and in the USA, Happy Independence Day very soon. Let us stand for everything good in our country, and not sit idly when we can be an influence in a positive direction!

Until next time, 

Be creative and be kind!

Janet O.

Summit, Schoolhouses, a Swap, Sunsets, and CJ

Lori of Humble Quilts blog usually hosts a doll quilt SAL each year. This year it was called "Summit". I did not get it completed in time to be a part of the "Summit" linky party, but I wanted to share it with you. I finished the top on January 2, after having worked on it during two Zoom sessions with the Chookshed Stitchers the last couple of days of 2025.

Though the quilt that inspired Lori's SAL had three borders, I wasn't sure I was going to put any borders on it at all. Then I made the decision to pay homage to my house quilt, and use leftovers from that border to put a border on this little thing. You see, the five stars in this quilt were the leftovers from the cornerstone stars I made for the house quilt. When I saw that "Summit" had 5 stars that finished at 4", I decided to use these five leftover stars, but they finish at 3". That meant my 16-patches had to also finish at 3". Not as hard as I first imagined. The strips I cut in order to make the 4-patches had to be 1 1/4", so those squares finish at 3/4". I cut the borders 1 1/2", and the quilt measures 17 1/2".

I am also thrilled to show you the finished house (or schoolhouse--in order to maintain the alliteration of the post title) flimsy!

One side appears darker than the other--my sewing room lighting just makes it seem that way. This fits nicely on our queen-sized bed, but I haven't decided yet if I am keeping it. It will be a hard one for me to give away. I am planning on having my usual quilter do Baptist Fans across this one. If you are new to this blog, you will find the information on the pattern that inspired this in my previous post.

For Christmas my guild did a mug rug swap. I was feverishly working to get mine finished the day of our usual meeting, when a friend from the guild called to see why I missed our meeting the night before. Such a "duh" moment. We had talked the previous month about needing to have the meeting a day earlier in order for our president (who was hosting at her home) to have us over. I made that note in my guild notebook, and then promptly forgot all about it. Anyway, this is the mug rug I made, which someone will be receiving in our meeting this month. The rotary cutter is for perspective--and because it matched so well. ;)

We had some gorgeous December sunsets. It was hard to narrow things down. This was taken on December 9th. You can click on these for a full screen view.

The photo below is of CJ, my brother-in-law's llama. When I am out moving around the yard taking photos (or for any other reason), CJ moseys on over to the fence to see if I have anything to feed him. 

On December 10th I caught the following photos of the sunset.

Of course, CJ had to get in on the action.

I felt like he was saying, "This is my best side."

I hope your new year has begun well. I'm not a resolution maker. I work on goals each day, so I don't feel inclined to set new ones as a year starts. But I do like to continue to focus on being kinder, more grateful, more thoughtful, and more intentional. There is always room for improvement, and it usually works better for me one step at a time, rather than huge leaps and bounds that are hard to maintain.

Thank you to all who visit my little corner of blogland. I appreciate the comments, suggestions, inspiration, laughs, and most of all, the friendships. Blogging has broaden my horizons in ways I never dreamed!

Let's make it a happier new year!

Until next time,

Janet O.