Design Wall Monday - May 25, 2020

Decoration Day, now called

Memorial Day

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by John McCrae

Remembering all those who fought for our freedom, and thankful for their sacrifice.  I have good memories of services at our town cemetery with the 21 gun salute at noon, very impressive to me as a young girl.  My father wore his WWII uniform, and my brother and I decorated our bicycles with crepe paper in the spokes.

I am still working on the vase of lilacs.  The lilacs should be out here in Michigan soon, as spring has definitely arrived.  

At least there are not many French knots on this one, but many daisy stitch lilac petals.

Lots of great ideas in last week’s linkups.  I know there will be more today-can’t wait.  Thank you all for participating.   I am sitting with my sister during her dialysis this morning, and am looking forward to seeing your blogs.  As usual, my only request is that you link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your post.

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Design Wall Monday - May 18, 2020

Good morning quilters!  I had a fairly non-productive week and hit a “coronavirus self-distancing slump” .  I am over it now, and have started sewing again.  The May Day embroidered baskets are back out, and I’m working on two.  The one I just started has some of my favorite flowers in it - lilacs.  Do they grow where you live?  Are they in bloom now?  For me, yes and no.  Yes, They grow in almost every farmhouse yard in Michigan....big bushes full of their sweet blossoms.  No, they are not in bloom yet.  I am trying to use different purples as I stitch, just to amuse myself.  

The second basket has blue bell shaped flowers.  Blue flax, possibly.  I am almost finished with this one.  

What are you doing to keep yourself in a good mood during these unusual times?  One song that lifts my spirits is found on youtube.   (Here)  Several United Kingdom church choir members are singing together, though separated.  I like to play it to start my day, and am thankful for their efforts to cheer everyone.

Please link up with a picture of what you are working on, and also comment here on what you are doing to keep yourself in good spirits.  I appreciate all of you so much.  I ask that you provide a link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your post.  Thanks!



  

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Design Wall Monday - May 11, 2020

Happy Mother’s Day yesterday to all of you who are mothers.  

Since this coronavirus self-distancing is making me sad......and I am going a little bit mad.......I decided to sew PLAID fabric.  I am having the best time with it.  Yes, it is a little break from my 2020 UFO mission, but the plaids were calling me.  Here’s a little doll quilt that I added a plaid binding to this week.  Old Bear, my brother’s childhood friend, has his plaid mask on and is liking the new quilt.  

Here is the doll quilt alone:

I sorted all my plaid stash and made piles of plaid fabrics that I thought would play well with each other.  Then I sewed two quilt tops, and have a third one started.  I guess I missed my sewing machine!  Also, the plaids are so much fun.

Here is the first top, with a carpenter’s square block enlarged to  64” X 64” top.  Eight blocks by eight blocks, each finishing at 8” square.  All easy solid squares or hst blocks.

Next, I took one of the piles, ginghams, and made a baby quilt top:

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Most of the ginghams are from my Mother’s stash, and many are a blend of cotton and polyester, very thin.  But it will do to put under a tiny baby.  Each strip is cut at 3 inches wide and the block finishes at 7.5 inches.  Quilt top is 30” by 45”.

Third quilt is made of squares cut at 6.5 inches, and another darker square of 4.5 inches put on a corner, then sewn thru a diagonal line on the smaller square, with the triangle flipped up over the corner.  Of course I saved the cut-away waste triangles for a small quilt later.  You know I did.  This quilt will be 8 blocks across and 9 blocks down, before borders.  I didn’t use any pattern for any of these tops, and had fun playing with designs.  On the pic below, ignore my blue plaid bedspread in the background, as my bed is my “design wall” at the cabin.

Also, it snowed yesterday here in Michigan!   In this picture you see the white flakes in the air, and my daffodils trying to be brave.  It wasn’t enough to cover the ground, but still.....it is the middle of May.  Enough already!

What have you been up to?  Please check in with a picture so we can go to your blog to read about it.  Don’t forget to provide a link back to this blog post from somewhere within your blog post.  

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Design Wall Monday - May 4, 2020

May is here!  This UFO finish was one I saved for May.  In honor of May Day, I finished the final border on my Buds in a Basket quilt that I started a long time ago.  When I began, I enlarged the quilt by making more basket squares, and then it got put away before borders.  But Sunday, I added the last border, and this UFO is ready for the long arm quilter.  I am celebrating May with it.

My favorite block is this one,  because the biggest piece of fabric is from my Mom's stash, and is an authentic 30's fabric.  I wonder what Mom made with this cheerful fabric?  The flowers in the fabric are round, just like the ones in this quilt.  Serendipity.  

Here is the quilt on the design wall:

And I am still enjoying embroidery of the May Day Flower Baskets Quilt.  One basket each week.  Here is this week's basket.

Looking forward to seeing what you are working on.  Spring has finally arrived here in Michigan, and Sunday was a beautiful day outside.  Hope you are enjoying spring weather where you are.  Show me your design wall, and tell me what you have been up to.  Please put a link to this particular blog post somewhere within your blog post, so people can come back here and go to the next link.  Thanks!

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