Decisions....... I got offered a new job today. One making lots more money, but doing something I'm not so sure I want to do. So, which is worth more......the extra money(and I'm talking about quite a difference in pay) or sticking with a job I don't mind, but hate at the same time because the pay stinks? DH and I were discussing it earlier and he says, "you and I both seem to be afraid of change" lol....he hit the nail on the head there! I am 41 years old and the job I am in now is only the 2nd "real" job I've ever had. I worked 6 years in a blue jean factory, then 11 years I ran a daycare in my home which I loved and did not consider a job, even though I know it was, now worked where I am almost 6 1/2 years. I have til 9:30 Thursday morning to let the guy know my decision. DH will only say "I'll support you whatever you decide" He's no help. I've been weighing the pros and cons and still can't make up my mind! SOMEBODY HELP ME! hehe..but then, by the time I get any comments on this post, the decision will have been made....so I guess it's all up to me, myself and I. Oh well, I'll let you all know tomorrow what I decided.
Since I'm unable to get to my sewing machine right now, due to all the yardsale stuff piled in my sewing room, I'm sharing pictures of the BOM I'm doing. I'll post one at a time til I use them all up just so I'll have pretty pictures to show you! Happy Thursday everyone! Wish me luck!

Beauty in Nature... I borrowed this picture since I didn't have a camera with me on the river Saturday. We saw one of these majestic beauties while floating down the river in our canoe. He was perched in a tree and stayed put til we got right beside him, then he took off. It was a BEAUTIFUL sight to see and one we that had all 4 of us in awe. Made the whole day for me.
Of course, it was WAAAY better than the sight some would have seen had they been near us when I got my line hung up and dh says. "There's a snake ahead of you". Now I'm ok with sharing the river with snakes as long as I know where they are and can keep my eye on them. So I'm scanning the river ahead looking for this snake when something to my right catches my eye. I look down and there RIGHT beside me is a snake in the water......he was thinking seriously about climbing up in the boat with us, too, I could tell. I couldn't swat at him with my pole, it was hung up and wouldn't reach..I couldn't grab the paddle cuz I would have had to set the pole down(or threw it in the river)......basically, I couldn't do anything anyway but SQUEAL at dh to do SOMETHING! lol....he finally swatted at it with his paddle and the thing swam away. NOW it's funny, but at the time, I was not happy with him for just sitting there waiting to see what I'd do. Later in the day, ds and dh switched places so ds and I could paddle on down to the truck and dh and our buddy could take their time and fish. We paddled along at a pretty good pace and had a wonderful one on one visit. My ds(age 19) has become quite a young man. Anyway, we are paddling along and I look up and we had almost ran over another snake! It was swimming along in the same direction we were going and the front of the canoe(where I was) was almost on top of his tail when I saw him. I swatted at him with my paddle(dh was proud when I told him) and scared him away. DS and I both thought it was a copperhead. The first one, I have no idea what it was. So it was a very adventuresome day for us! DS and I had never been a paddling team b4 and we did a fine job. I let him take the back because he needs to learn that in case he ever decides to go floating with his buddies or gf.
He told me about his new girlfreind while we were on our way, too. I can't wait to meet her. He sounds like he's flipped over this one. I'm glad to hear it because he has been head over heels in love with one(whether he knows it or not) for a couple of years, and I've felt like she's just strung him along. They were "best" freinds, not dating, but I know if she'd given him half a chance they would have been a lot more. So I'm glad to see him have a gf who wants him for a bf, not a freind to use when the "real" bf is not around.
Well, not much sewing going on this weekend, but busy cleaning and sorting and getting ready for that yard sale I haven't had yet! lol......next weekend for sure!
Hope you all have a glorious day!

Turning 20. This is my turning 20 top. I didn't have any new pictures to show yet, so I thought I'd share this one. I found some really cute fq's with a sewing theme, and went and bought fq's that I thought would match. I was not crazy about the end result, though. The sewing theme fabrics get lost in the shuffle. Eventually, though, I will quilt this and it will go on the bed in my sewing room.
Thanks for all the bday wishes. All in all, it was a good birthday. We didn't really do much because we had some business to take care of for the inlaws after work, but that's ok, I didn't mind doing that for them. They have done a lot for us in the past, I'm just glad we are able to help them now.
Today we are supposed to go on an all day float trip in our canoe. We are meeting a freind for breakfast, then it's off to the river we go! IF ds shows up that is. If he doesn't show, I'm going to let dh and the freind go, and I'll come back home. KIDS.......Anyway, better go finish packing the cooler. It'll be full of water for me and beer for dh! Hope you all have a great 3 day weekend.

Happy Birthday to Me!! Yep, today is my birthday. I thought I'd post a picture of myself and maybe tell a little about me. The picture is typical me......mouth open, laughing. This particular picture was taken in the reception line at my daughters wedding last year.
I was born 41 years ago in Greenville, SC. When I was 13 months old, Daddy reinlisted in the Army and we were off to New Mexico. From there, we moved over and over and over! I've lived in SC, New Mexico, Texas, Kentucky and Germany before coming to Missouri at the ripe old age of 11. There were also several "moves" back to SC where we'd stay a few months between stations while Dad went to the next place and got us a place to live and while he was in Viet Nam. We moved to Missouri the summer before I entered 6th grade and lived on the military base for a year before Mom and Dad bought a house. I started Jr. High in a tiny school in Laquey, Mo, which is really nothing more than a spot in the road. One of those "If you blink, you'll miss it"(LITERALLY) type places. I got to go there for the rest of my school days, graduating with a class of 36 students!

I met my dh while I was in the 8th grade, and he a Junior, but we didn't start dating til he came back after going to school in Nashville for a year.(he is 3 years older than me). Between my Jr. and Sr. year of High school, we became engaged. Got married a month and 2 days after I graduated. In June, we'll celebrate our 23rd anniversary. My parents moved back "home" to SC in 1987, so I tell everyone they brought me to Mo, married me off to a Mo Mule and deserted me. I wanted to follow them, but dh wouldn't leave his parents.(his parents are much older than mine and his 2 sisters both live out of state, so we were the only ones they have here). I know it was the right decision, but sometimes I miss having family around.

We have 2 children. Sara, who got married last year to a wonderful young man named Jeff. They live 2 hours away and I'm really proud of them. They work hard and have a beautiful home to show for it. I'm just waiting patiently for them to announce that I'm going to be a grandma! Sara says it will be a while, though. David is our "baby". Though at 19 years old, he can hardly be called a baby. He still lives at home with his dad and me. He's still trying to find his way in life. Not sure what he wants to do quite yet.

I've been sewing almost all of my life. I remember Grandma helping me to make clothes for my dolls when I was about 4. I have pictures of myself (somewhere) in dresses I made myself in the 6th grade. I didn't really start quilting in earnest, though, til after my kids were born. Now it's an obsession! I do still make clothes for myself sometimes, but my main interest in sewing has migrated to quilting.

Well, now that I've told more than any of you wanted to know, I think I'll go get ready for work. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

All together now. AWWWWWWW.......... I hope if the mama of these beautiful little boys sees this, she doesn't get upset with me for sharing this, but you all have seen the quilts I made for the twins, I wanted to share this beautiful picture I got in the mail today. I got a packet of pictures yesterday and bawled all the way from the mailbox to the house. Not really sure why. Could be that I'm 800 miles away from my family and don't get to be a part of all of this. Could be that I'm just a bawlbaby who bawls over ANYTHING! BTW, for those of you who don't know, my first cousin is the dad of these babies. Their grandma is my moms sister and we are very close, so close, she was the maid of honor in my wedding. Well, then today, I got another packet of pictures and was doing good til I saw THIS one. Yep, here came the tears again! By the time I get to see these little guys, they'll be 3 1/2 months old. ****sigh

I did get the quilts in the mail today. I mailed them to my mom and dad's house. They will hang on to them til I go down in August. I wanted to hand deliver them, but since we are planning to fly, I figured I'd just mail them with the bday gifts for my niece and nephew I had to send today. I'll get labels made before we go down there and attach them when I get to my folk's house.

Well, nothing else new here today, so am going to go see what everyone else is up to. Hope you all are having a good week.

B is for done... Ok, I know that doesn't make sense, but who said I ever make sense? No one I know! Big goofy grin. Anyway, the baby quilts are all done and bound. Just waiting for the birth announcements I was told are on their way so I can get the spelling of the names right for the labels. Addison Chase and Brayden Isaiah are the names, but these days, you cannot count on the spellings, so I will wait til I get confirmation. I'm told a stack of pictures are accompanying the announcements!I LOVE pictures. Especially baby pictures. I can't wait til I get my hands on these little guys in August. Sometimes I really hate living so far from my family. Oh well, like Finn, I deal with what life throws at me.
I also got the rwb quilt quilting finished tonight. This quilt is a guild project that we are donating to a Widows Support group. They are widows of soldiers. The quilt has signature blocks surrounding a flag. They will put the names of their lost loved ones in the squares. I haven't got the binding on yet, but will post a picture as soon as I do.We've been invited to deliver it at a ceremony they are having for KIA/MIA in September. I thought she was coming to get it tomorrow night, so this just bought me more time to bind it. I hadn forgotten about a hanging sleeve. And should I give them a pole to put in it? All of this will be addressed at the guild meeting tomorrow night. Then I can get this quilt done and put it away til September. By then, maybe I won't be the guild president any more and it can become some one else's responsibility! I have a sneaking suspiscion that I'll end up with the job one more year. Our guild is VERY laid back and unstructured(I think that's a good way to describe us). We are more in it for the fun and comaraderie than anything else. We laugh a LOT and keep each other inspired and entertained. We range in age from early 20's to late 70's, I believe.
Well, it is getting very late, so I'd better head for bed. Going to be without my 2 seamstresses tomorrow, so I'll probably be wearing several hats and run ragged at work(I am the cutter in an upholsery dept. of a boat factory). I used to be a seamstress, but after sewing all day, didn't want to sew at home, so switched jobs! Still sew occasionally, but not very often. Gn all. I'll catch up with you all tomorrow evening after my guild meeting!

Well, here it is! I took more photos, but if I post them all today, then I won't have any to post later in the week! Gotta have something to keep you all coming back to visit me! hehe. Aren't I an awful tease?

I will show you the A(turtle) quilt. I love the way these turned out. And they were so easy and fast to do. I may just have to make more of them. EVENTUALLY. I'm thinking they may be a great way to do what I am planning to do with Tonya's wonky letters! Will keep you all posted on that one!


TADA!!!! And here it is! The B quilt has less than half the binding left to do and it will be done, too! I got the RWB Flag quilt basted, and will begin sewing on it as soon as I drag my butt out of this chair. Which I will do real soon. May have to take a detour thru the front yard, though, to see where that wonderful aroma coming thru the window is coming from. It's a flower, but I didn't realize I had any that fragrant out there! I'll show more pictures tomorrow. Everyone have a great week!

Auctions.... DH and I love to go to auctions. Sometimes we find bargains to sell on ebay, sometimes we find treasures to keep for ourselves. Then there are things like the quilt you see a part of in the photo. I buy them with the intention of trying to sell them on ebay, but then I get to thinking about how beautiful it is, even with the stains, rips and tears. Then I have the dilemma of whether to keep or sell. If I list it and it doesn't sell, then the decision is made for me, right? Can anyone tell I hate these kinds of decisions? Anyway, I bought 2 such treasures at an auction yesterday. I was playing around with the new "free" digital camera I got with an order of books, so don't have great pics to post yet, but will later. I also finished the turtle quilt, binding and all. I have less than half of the binding to stitch down on the froggy quilt for it to be done!! YEAAA! All's left is labels.

Now for the red white and blue Widow's support group quilt. I have to get it quilted this afternoon so I can have the binding done on it by Tuesday night. Shouldn't be a problem since I'm just doing straight line quilting in the ditch on this one. I'll try to find the time to get some good pics of all of these today during my breaks from sewing. Hope you all are having a great Sunday!

Harvest Spice... is the name of this quilt. It is the one I am doing the block of the month with a LQS. I have 5 blocks bought and finished so far. Not crazy about this having to wait and do it on THEIR schedule, but then, on the other hand, gives me plenty of time to get them done before I have another block to work on! DH was with me Saturday when I picked up April and May's blocks and was not thrilled with the price. So I guess I'll be sure and NOT take him when I have to buy the "extras" like the setting blocks(those are pre printed, not appliqued) and the border and backing fabric! The turtle and frog quilts are in the binding stage, I just haven't taken the time to photograph them yet. I'm thinking now, I'll just wait til they are completed. So I thought I'd share this one with you all. DH did get to see a finished one Saturday and he liked it, so that's a plus. I told him, "This one will be OURS" He's used to me either selling or giving away everything I make!

And speaking of selling. There is a restaurant in town here(I live in a TINY town Population less than 2,000) that has a gift shop. It's along the lines of a Cracker Barrel, but smaller. Anyway, the owner of that came in to my work yesterday during break where I was sitting and stitching down binding on one of the baby quilts and he asked me if I ever sold my quilts. He's wanting to buy some to put in his store. I am not holding my breath, though, because I know he will not want to pay me what I want because he will be wanting to make a profit. I may take something up there and just see how it goes, but not expecting much. But I did take that small section of my Cathedral Windows in to show my gf yesterday when I got my hair cut and she LOVED it! We discussed it a bit, but I told her I'm not making any deals or quoting her any prices til I get it done! I may get sick of it while it is still in the wallhanging size, or I may continue til it's a queen sized bed quilt! Who knows, but I told her when it's "done", I'll bring it in and we'll talk! I think she'll buy it no matter what, though, even if I have to take payments .
Well, time to head for the shower. DH just left and I need to make a run to the bank b4 work this morning. Hope you all have a great day!

Happy Mothers Day!!!! Hope you all had a nice day today, whether you are a mother or not. I didn't go anywhere! DH went and got donuts for breakfast(he would have cooked, but we got in so late last night we just opted for something quick!) then I spent the day doing what I wanted. That included sewing my 2 blocks for my Harvest Spice Block of the month that I ginally got to go pick up yesterday, got another base block for my Cathedral Windows ready to add the colored pieces and got the froggy quilt ready to start adding strips to. I didn't get any pictures taken yet, so no quilt pics to show, but I am showing you something dh and I bought at Lowes yesterday. Ds and I put it up on the front of the house this afternoon while dh visited his mom for Mothers Day! Normally, I would have gone with him, but I went up there yesterday and wanted to get things done here today. DS and I have a LOT more patience to do these sorts of jobs than dh does, so we try to do them when he's gone! We also put up an outside light at the back door, but it was a plain little one and I didnt' bother to get the picture of it. Funny, we went in Lowes to get one for the back door(our old one had died) and had picked this one out for it when I saw the cheap one and said, "We could get that one for the back and put this one in the front" So we walked out with 2 instead of one!
We had a good time last night. The dinner we had was grossly overpriced, so I cooked dinner today. Couldn't see paying any more to eat out this weekend. But the band was good. We'll probably go see them again some time. The drummer is ds's boss (dd worked for them too before she moved away). They are really good people and we'll miss them. They just sold their hamburger/pizza joint so ds's job with them is almost over. Sad to see them give it up.
Well, since we were out so late last night, I'm exhausted tonight and heading for bed. Will try to get some quilty pics for you tomorrow.

Love.... Tonya's love 4 patches reminded me of this "love" patch I did on a quilt for Sara(my dd) a few years ago. I made this for her for her birthday in October, then just a couple of months later, she moved in with her bf(who is now her dh) and so I figured she wouldn't be using it much longer.....but the last time I was at her house, it was on their bed! I figured a guy wouldn't want to sleep under something so "pink"! If you want to see the rest of this quilt, you can by clicking on Sara's name.
Sara
There you will find several pictures of this quilt and some of the individual blocks I did for it. Every block had a heart and pink....otherwise, the only "rules" were BRIGHT! I loved it, still do! The page is a part of an EXTREMELY outdated website that I just haven't taken the time to update. But feel free to browse thru it and see some of the work I've done in the past.

DH is wanting to go to the greenhouse! I can't let him go without me, so will have to shut down now! More later!

Happy Mothers Day!!!!

No pictures.... sorry, I don't have any new pictures to share this morning, but wanted to touch base! Still working on catching up with all of you, as I haven't had the time to read thru the list the last few days. Told hubby last night my eyes felt swollen, and I thought it was from flying dust and cigarette smoke at work. But when I went to bed, I was doing a little wheezing, so thought maybe I'm trying to come down with something. Got up feeling better this morning and since I was ready for work early, thought, "I'll go for a walk"...I lost 20 lbs walking last year and have not lost any more since I quit..Today would be a good day to get back with it....WRONG...it is so chilly out there that after walking less than 1/2 mile, my eyes were very watery and I was wheezing again(from breathing in the cold air, I think), so turned around and came back home. BUT at least the motivation is back! Maybe I can walk this afternoon. I refuse to let this get me down! We have plans to go see an amature band tomorrow night and I don't want to miss it! I've been wanting hubby to hear these guys since last year(it is my son's boss' band). Besides, a night out on the town is always fun!
Anyway, hope you all have a quilty weekend. I'm hoping to get the other baby quilt done and some photos up! Wish me luck!!

Nothing new today... Nothing new going on here(well, nothing I have pictures of, anyway), so I thought I'd post yet another picture of one of my many many ufo's. This is a round robin top I did a few years ago with an online group. Green is my favorite color and this is the top that covers one of the walls in my sewing room. Not sure if you can tell from the pic or not, but the flying geese in the corners are 3d. I could never decide how I wanted to quilt this one, so it never got done! I think it looks great as wall decor myself, but one day, maybe I'll bite the bullet and take it down and finish it.
Last night(yes, it is only 4:45 am here now and I'm up and going) I went to a freinds house and helped her work on dresses for her ds's wedding. The wedding is one month from today and they have 4 brides maids dresses, the brides dress, the grooms mothers dress, the flower girl and ring bearers outfits all yet to finish! And I thought *I* waited til the last minute on things for my dd's wedding! The mother of the bride lives in another state and I don't think they are very close, so the grooms mother is the one doing the bulk of the work. It was a lot of fun to go over and be involved last night! I may go again on Thursday, just for the entertainment factor(Not to mention the fact, I KNOW they could use help! hehe) My freind is a school teacher, and after next week will have days free, and has no children at home any more, so she'll get it done.....she(we) may be sewing on June 9th to get it done, but I have no doubt it will be done!

EEEEEKKKK..........

another one......so I DO have 20 UFO's. Oh well, that number will be back down to 18 in a couple of weeks. I'll have the baby quilts and the Widows support group quilt all done soon! This one is a paper pieced eagle I did for my dh over a year ago. But, b4 I got it finished, he and I got in a HUGE fight over what I did all week the week I was off(he thought I should have been cleaning house but I was working on this surprise for him instead). Anyway, so I threw it at him and said, "HERE is what I did all week"...but could not find it in me to do any more to it, I was so angry! I eventually did spray baste the 3 layers together, but have yet to quilt it. Maybe I'll get it done for him for our anniversary next month! It's small and should be an easy one to get done! Also was thinking about maybe listing a couple of the other tops on ebay and seeing if I get any bites.....That would help shorten my list, too! (not to mention give me more fabric $$) **evil grin.........but WHICH ones am I willing to part with? Decisions, decisions!

I also sat and watched a couple of movies today and sewed on my cathedral windows section. Julie may forget ever asking for this by the time I get it to any size! I'm doing smaller sections than the author of the website suggested, but I'm doing what I'm comfortable with. I'm doing this in greens and burgundy/mauves. The light mauve looks more pink on my screen, but it blends in pretty well. And I'm sure it will even better when I have more of it together.
I did get the quilting done on the turtle quilt, but the only picture I was happy with was the close up of the center. I'll take a better one tomorrow of the whole thing. Meanwhile, here is what I did to the center.

I also did some sorting of yardsale items(the yard sale a couple of weeks ago got rained out so has yet to happen). Really hoping to have it next weekend. Our drought is over, now we need a break in the rain. The rivers are full and the garden is a muddy mess......some of us are just never satisfied, huh? Myself, I think Mother Nature is going thru the change and can't make up her mind WHAT kind of weather she wants to throw our way! Oh well....on that note, I'll post this and go see what all of you were up to today!

WOOHOOO! One baby quilt ALMOST done. Just needs the extra quilting around 3 of the turtles and whatever I decide to put in the empty triangles. But all the strips are attached and I love it! The center did come alive when I added some color all around it! Thanks to those of you who encouraged me to go on with this project! It was worth it. I'll have it finished and photographed later today, but for now, Morning Ramble's talk of her daughters upcoming wedding made me nostalgic, so I went and was looking thru my own daughters wedding last September. The photo I'm sharing is one of her and her new hubby at his mom and dad's place. From the day she was born, I dreamt of making her wedding dress. When she announced her engagement, that was my first question, "Are you going to let me make your dress?" Some pple say I'm CRAZY for this, but hey, I've been called worse! I wanted to try my hand at some bead work, but Sara loves simple styles, so this dress was fairly simple to make. The hardest thing was keeping her future dh from seeing things(we didn't even allow him to see the fabric!) and since they already lived together in a tiny apt, we were very careful when I went to thier place(2 hours away) to work on it! Ok, now I'm rambling! Think I'll go cook breakfast then get back to sewing!

Quilts.......finished and not..... Well, today, I got the nerve up to make a list of my UFO's and put them on paper. I did it from memory, so am not making any promises that there are not more lurking in the sewing room! When I got ready to post them, I thought, "hmm......the least I can do is post a picture of something I did finish!" So the above picture is a quilt I made for a co workers grandbaby this past fall. We found this really nice print with different vehicles on it and fussy cut them to put them in the "windows". Grandma wanted the theme to be "Planes, Trains and Automobiles". In the green windows, I quilted a plane, train or auto..free motion quilting on my sewing machine, and stippled around the rest of it.......Now here is my list........***gulp....

1) MacKenzies wedding quilt--ready for binding

2) Scotties--a lap quilt about halfway thru hand quilting

3) Christmas Row by Row--another one about halfway thru hand quilting

4) Mystery Gems in the Ruff--Top ready for quilting

5) Widows Support Group Quilt--Top ready for quilting(has to be done by May 23)

6) Pieceful Pond--top ready for quilting

7) Mariners Compass--Round Robin ready for quilting(though this top adorns one wall in my sewing room)

8) Lonestar--Top ready for quilting(I received this top as a Christmas gift from my great aunt and it's hand pieced, therefore has to be hand quilted.hehe)

9) Blue Squares--Top ready for quilting..will be donated to Hospice.

10) Twins quilts--I counted this as one because I'm working on them as a set and they will be done real soon!

11) Ducks Baby Quilt--Needs borders and quilting...will probably go to another group our guild donates quilts to for young mothers who have nothing.

12) Grandmothers Flower Garden--this top was my "car" project for long drives, but it got to big for the car, so has been kind of abandoned!

13) Kaleidoscope--really just a few pieces I sewed together that will never get finished because I didn't care for the process......do I have to count this one?

14) Sawtooth Star--most of the blocks done, just lost interest in the project because all the blocks are one of 2 blocks and got boring.......want to finish one day since dh helped pick out the fabrics!

15) Dear Jane--doing them in order and have about 2 or 3 rows done, I think.

16) Cathedral Windows--My "new" car project.......just recently started using the method I found here: It may or may not be for my hairdresser/friend who is looking to buy a Cathedral windows quilt.She saw one that one of her clients made before she passed away and Julie said she would have given Doris ANY amount of money she asked for for that quilt........Maybe she'll like mine as well! If not, it won't hurt my feelings any to "have" to keep it myself!

17) One I can't post on here because of certain pple that may/may not read this blog, but it's in the piecing stage

18) Harvest Spice--Block of the month I'm going with a LQS. I still haven't had a chance to pick up Aprils block yet, but intend to do that Saturday along with May's and I normally sew them as soon as I get them.

19) Turning 20--a top ready for a border.This should have been closer to the top of my list, but I forgot it up there and am not going back and changing all the numbers!

Ok, not bad, I guess.......less than 20! UGH...... I'm hoping my friend with the long arm machine will have time to quilt a couple for me this summer. She's a school teacher, so should have some time after her sons June wedding!

After all that, I have nothing else to say........I'm ashamed of myself and mustn't start any new projects til I at least cut this list in half........HAHAHAHA........I see that happening.....NOT! On that note, I'm outta here!

Garden pictures. Here is my first iris bloom of the season.

Below: the first picture is another one of my clematis blooms. The other one is of the whole plant growing on my porch step rail.

These are the zinnias I started from seed. Soon, they will be tall enough to plant here in the flower bed. I wanted them to be at least as tall as the mulch is deep before I plant them!

The dill is starting to look more like dill and less like tiny blades of grass!

Hard to see, but there is a tiny strawberry there in front of that bloom!! Funny how the little things excite me the most!

I'm in love again... Well, Jane and the others were right. I like this again! I'm showing step by step pictures of how it goes together. The above picture is just a shot of the backing fabric with the batting folded onto one half so I could spray baste the batting and backing together. I line them up, then fold one half of the batting up over itself, and spray both the batting and the fabric with a light layer of spray. I then fold the batting back down and smooth it out. I repeat the process on the other end and then I flip the whole thing over and smooth out any wrinkles in the backing fabric.

Here I show how I pinned the center block to the center of the batting-backing layers.


And here the first strip is stitched down to the center block.

The next strip is flipped over and awaiting the next strip.



The last strip of this side is being sewn on here.

This picture shows the center block with the side strips all sewn down. It is now ready to add the horizontal strips to the top and bottom.



This last photo shows the last strip I sewed on tonight. If you look to the left of the photo, you'll see the vertical strips I sewed on in the previous steps and the 3 horizontal strips I've sewn on so far, along with the 4th being stitched down there. The way I was taught to do this particular quilting method shows just starting at the top(or bottom) and sewing strips all the way down, til you get to the other end. But, me, being me, had to make it more difficult by adding the center blocks to give it some character! The all strip method is a great, fast way to produce quilts for charity. The guild member who introduced this method to us suggested you use a busy background fabric so if your lines are not perfectly straight(and I assure you, mine are NOT!), it won't be so obvious.

I also took a few garden pictures this afternoon, but will try to post them in the morning since it's getting late and I'm ready for bed! Have to go to a LQS tomorrow(oh, what a chore) to pick up my April and May BOM's I'm signed up for there. Cannot believe it's May 1 already, and I didn't make it up there to get my April block! Oh well.......I'll catch up eventually! and with that positive thought(positively insane, if the truth be known) I'm outta here!