Pages

Monday, December 27, 2021

Design Wall Monday - December 27, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!  This is the last Monday in the year.  I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress on UFOs this year, but haven’t tallied up the finished quilts to see for sure.   I think I’ll just look at the UFOs that are left and keep on keeping on.

My latest adventure in paring down and sorting through my quilt hobby collections is:  Quilt Magazines!  I love to look through old quilt magazines, and read the articles, look at the old advertisements, fantasize about making a quilt or two from the issue.   However, I have way too many magazines.

The magazines are now separated from the books and sorted into piles by publisher, year and month of issue, etc.  I am amazed at how many I have.  I am pausing to look at the piles and think about how I want to pare them down.  Right now, I’m thinking of just keeping the very old magazines (1980s)) of which I have several publications that are no longer in business and also keeping just one publisher of the newer magazines.  I am thinking of keeping Better Home & Gardens publications (American Patchwork and Quilting).  I will let you know how the culling project goes. 

My only piecing this week has been to make a small quilt to match my recently finished Wedding Ring quilt.  The small quilt (just a top right now) will finish at 14 inches square.  I am sleeping under the bed sized Wedding Ring quilt, and had the thought the other night that I had not made a small version.  So yesterday, I made one.   Here it is:


I don’t think I showed you the finished bed sized quilt when completed.  I will do that next week, I promise.  I am looking forward to starting a new year, and looking at my hobby with fresh enthusiasm.  How do you feel about starting a new year?

Thanks for all of your great posts that you have linked with Design Wall Mondays during 2021.  Mondays are special as we get to visit so many quilters and see what they are making.  Please link back to this blog post from somewhere within your post, and mention Design Wall Monday in your post.  


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, December 20, 2021

Design Wall Monday - December 20, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!  This is the last Monday  before Christmas - are you ready?  I am not, but Christmas comes whether we are ready for it or not, doesn't it?  

In this week, I am reflecting back on the year almost gone, and thinking about the year to come.  Today, I'd like to repeat a post from a Christmas past:


Penny Lane showing me how to Chill


Finding quilting calm in the Christmas season:

(1) 
Work on a project I know.  This season is not the time to learn a complicated new project.  I pull out a familiar project and it brings me peace to move it further along.

(2)
Make space to work.  I don’t have to have the whole quilt room clean and tidy  but I need to have the sewing machine area clear, and the ironing board empty and ready for pressing my seams.  If this is not possible, I find some hand stitching to relax me.

3)
Choose my moments.  Some times in the day are not the best times for me to sew, but I try to seek out a half hour or an hour to sew because I know it feeds my soul.  Easier to do on some days than others.

(4)
Remember that quilting pleasure is about the process....not perfection.  There is so much self-imposed stress in December that it’s best for me to take a deep breath, relax and lose myself in the process of piecing, pressing, cutting, binding  my projects.  It helps me to work on something that has absolutely no time schedule for finishing.  

Two pictures from my home:  Ice Skaters on our coffee table:


In a perfect world, the skaters would have magnets on their feet, and I could put another magnet under the metal tray, and magically move them around.  Alas, they have no magnets, so I just pretend they are skating around their rink.

Our Christmas tree: 


The red and white ribbons and flags are Danish, snowflakes are either crocheted by me, or cut out of paper (scherenschnitte).  Gingerbread man was made by one of our grandsons, years ago.  

This week I'm also making Christmas cookies for our church's Christmas Eve service.  I like to make and bake cookies, but at my age, I can't eat very many, so this is a great solution for me.  I am making 10 dozen cookies (2 dozen of five different kinds).  If I remember, I will take a picture of some of them to show you next week.  Thankfully, there are no calories for me in cookies I give away.

I’m looking forward to your link and seeing what you are doing this Christmas week.  And have you have given any thought to goals for 2022?  Please provide a link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your current post.  Thank you.  And MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sunday, December 5, 2021

Design Wall Monday - December 6, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!

The project I am starting on today is making some pie potholders.  I have this pie novelty fabric that I cut up into separate pies:  


And I also have these quilted circles that were cut from the edges of a bedspread that I repurposed as a round table cover.  I am going to try to use both of these UFOs and make some pads for use at the dining table.  They will be something to put under a hot dish.....or under a pie.  If they get finished, I will show you a picture next Monday.

Here are the quilted circles:


We are privileged to have a special guest all this week.  Our daughter is here from Texas to spend some time with us ahead of Christmas!  She is going to help us decorate the Christmas tree and put up some lights outside.  It is so much fun to have her here.  She really enjoyed getting a real Christmas tree yesterday because big flakes of snow were coming down while she was helping her Dad tie the tree on top of the car.  Her hair was covered with snow.  She doesn't get to experience snowfalls very often in Texas.  It has all melted away now, but she looked so cute with big flakes of snow in her hair.

What are you working on this week?  I am looking forward to seeing what you link up with below.  Please join the Design Wall Linky Party today and then we can go to your blog and read all about your projects.  Thank you to those of you who provide a link back to this blog post from somewhere within your blog post.  And also thank you to all who mention Design Wall Mondays and encourage people to come and visit.  You are my kind of people.  

Hugs, Judy

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, November 29, 2021

Design Wall Monday - November 29, 2021

Good Morning Quilters! 

While at the quilt retreat in Shipshewana, I completed making my Cynthia England pattern (picture piecing method) sewing machine project into a sewing machine cover for my sewing room.  


The original blog post about this project is here (Post from a year ago)

It went together easily.  I used one long rectangle piece of fabric, and two narrower rectangle end pieces that were curved at the top.  I mainly thought of a "mailbox shape" when I cut the pieces.  I drew a grid with a pencil of 45 degree angled lines, 2.5 inches apart on the muslin lining.  I put batting between the outside and inside layers of muslin and quilted it on the machine, all except behind the picture, using a quilting foot.  With the Cynthia England sewing machine picture to the front side, and all other sides quilted, I assembled it with the seams to the outside.  Then I cut a piece of plaid fabric on the bias and made binding and sewed it by machine (and again by hand) just like the edge of a quilt - to cover all the raw edges of the seams.  Binding around each end curved piece, and binding around the complete project on the bottom edge.  The binding was full with the batting layer included in it, and it looks just like piping on the finished project.  It went together easy-peasy.  Below are more pictures of the finished sewing machine cover:

Picture of it on my cutting mat, so you can see the inside:


On the machine, but I took this picture Sunday night, and in evening light:


And one last picture of the back side of it, on the machine:


This week we have been eating turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and enjoying all leftovers from our family's Thanksgiving Day celebration.  The feast is good for the whole weekend.

I made three pies, as I usually do, because my DH's favorite is apple, and I want to make an apple pie for him, and two pumpkin pies because it is an easy tradition to make two, since my crust recipe makes two crusts, and the recipe on the large can of pumpkin makes two pies.  Some of the pie went home with guests, and I think there are only two pieces of pumpkin pie left for our dinner tonight.   The apple pie was gone by Saturday.  


What have you been sewing this week?  What is on your design wall?  Please join in with our Design Wall Linky Party below and tell us all about it.  Thanks to all of you who mention Design Wall Mondays on your blog post, and also provide a link back to this post.  I am thankful for you.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, November 22, 2021

Design Wall Monday - November 22, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters! 

While away at a retreat, I worked on several UFOs and put them on a design board there, so I could take  pictures  for you.  

(1)  Using up old, old scraps (some from my Mom's stash) to make some baby quilts.  I used most of the old scraps, the ugly scraps, and inserted some children's prints and polka dots to make it cheery.  I think I will choose a solid background, add these strips, and make two baby quilts from this.


Close up of one strip:  (I will trim the sides to make them even before using them)



(2) A UFO of fall leaf prints and fall colors in 16 patches of half-square triangles:


This looks so "blah" on the design wall, that I decided to add a dark (maybe forest green) sashing and borders to it.  Also, with 32 blocks, I eliminated the two right side ones as "too light" and won't use them.  Leaving it 5 blocks by 6 blocks size.  So it is still a UFO, but further along, with all the blocks assembled.

(3) Another fall quilt - a Maple Leaf block project:


Everything except the far left column was my UFO.  I am now making 50 more blocks to make it much larger.  The column at the left are seven blocks made this week, plus there are 43 more leaf blocks now prepped to put together into nine patches.  Notice the leaf next to the bottom one in the left column?  I didn't discover until I took a picture that I have assembled the middle row of the nine patches backward.  My last unsewing and sewing at the retreat was to fix that block.  A picture sure points out the mistakes quickly, doesn't it?

Thanks for joining the Design Wall Monday Linky Party.  Please post your picture and link to your blog below, and show us what you were busy with this last week.  I appreciate all of you who mention Design Wall Monday within your blog post, and also provide a link back to this post from within yours.  You are my kind of people!  Happy Thanksgiving week to the American bloggers who are celebrating this week.  I am very thankful for all of you.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, November 15, 2021

Design Wall Monday - November 15, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!  This week I am going to a quilt retreat and yesterday I made a long list of things to take with me……..everything but the kitchen sink apparently.   My car will hold it all, so it’s all good.

The last block for the May Day Basket Quilt is finished.  I am so happy!

While on retreat, I hope to buy fabric for the alternating blocks for this project.  I have decided on a solid green, and am taking two of my 30s era quilts with me to try to find a similar green to that used in those quilts.  

Here is the final (#30) quilt block of the May Day Flower Basket quilt. 


The two 30s quilts that I own are shown below:




What are you working on/playing with this week?  Please join the linky party below and show us.  Design Wall Mondays is open for you this morning, and will remain open all week.  Those of you who link back to this blog post and also mention Design Wall Mondays in your post are my favorite people.  


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, November 8, 2021

Design Wall Monday - November 8, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!

Lately the Maple leaves and Oak leaves in Michigan have been so pretty that I felt like working on a leaf quilt.  I looked at one of my UFOs that is made with Maple leaf blocks.  Why was it a UFO?  I was trying to decide how big I wanted to make it, and couldn't decide. 

So this week, I decided on the size, calculated how many more blocks I would need to finish it....and cut some fabric.  Here is a Maple leaf block, ready to sew the nine pieces together.  But first I will trim up the hsts and applique the stem to the bottom right corner piece.  I think it finishes at 6 inches square. 


The amount of new blocks I want to finish this UFO is 50.   Since I have 49 blocks made in the UFO now, I am half way.  This week I  made all the hsts and stem pieces to make the remaining 50 blocks.  I am going to a retreat soon, and I thought this would be a good project to take with me.  It would be basically sewing together nine patches, and when I'm at a retreat, I like to take the whole room in, and work on something that I won't have to concentrate on too much.  Nothing too deep thinking for me, as I have the attention span of a gnat, and a room full of ladies quilting is so special to me - I don't want to miss any of it.

The May Day Basket block (the LAST one) is going slowly.  I looked at it yesterday and counted 13 more French knot groups that have to be embroidered on it yet.  I think it must have more French knots than most of the other blocks.  Either that, or I'm getting slower in making French knots.  I wish I knew how many French knots will be in this quilt top!  Trillions?

Here is the current status of block #30.  These flowers are of unknown origin - especially the red ones.  On most of the blocks, I can imagine what flower the maker was thinking about - on this block I can't.  So I am making them very colorful and thinking they are imaginary flowers.


What is on your design wall?  Thank you all for being so faithful in posting your pictures.  I love to look at them, and go to your blogs and read about your beautiful work.  You encourage me so much!

Please include a link back to this post within your blog post, and mention Design Wall Mondays to your readers.  I appreciate the linky party people who do that, you are my kind of people.


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, November 1, 2021

Design Wall Monday - November 1, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!

This past week I decided to work on something small and simple, and an Instagram friend, Taryn Faulkner, had pictures up of a #Halloweekendsewalong.

Her name on Instagram is Reproquiltlover and she inspires me because she loves to make copies of vintage quilts, just as I do.  Anyway, she made a cheddar and white pinwheel doll quilt that made me want to make one too.  I looked in my stash of hst pieces, and found some red and white ones.  Here is what I made:


It is 12” by 15” and the pinwheels are 3” square.  While looking for two color hsts to play with, I also found these, and I could make another version in tan and white:





Taryn said she pressed all the seams open on her small quilt, so I did too.  The hsts were already made and the seams pressed to the red side, but each seam after that was pressed open.  I thought you’d like to see what the back side looks like:  


I will be adding a border to it.   I also got out a fall quilt UFO to see what was to be added to it to finish the top.  I chose some fat quarters from my stash to make more blocks to get it finished.  I hope to have some progress on it to show you next Monday.

This is the view each morning, from my bedroom windows:


Soon the trees will be bare branches, and the grass underneath will be a colorful thick carpet of fallen leaves.

What are you working on?  Please join the linky party below and show us what you are doing.  Thanks to all of you who talk about Design Wall Mondays in your blog post, and also provide a link back to this post.  You are my kind of people.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, October 25, 2021

Design Wall Monday - October 25, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!  My quilting progress has been slow this week. 

Life has been full though, as we attended another wedding.  It was a wonderful time of celebrating our Granddaughter Alexis as she became Mrs. Blake Freed Saturday night.  They are so happy and so are we.  It was a beautiful day filled with love.  Here is a recent picture of them:

Here is a picture of me from Saturday night.  I’m wearing “my wedding guest dress”  that I talked about before the last wedding we attended.


I added a lace shawl because the wedding was outside in Michigan, and the day was sunny, but a little chilly.


So I have very little to show you today, just a little more embroidery on the very last May Day Basket square.  Block #30:



It will get finished this week, as I am taking my sister to the hospital in Muskegon tomorrow and it will be a day of driving her, and waiting for her while she is there.  She is going for a fistulagram, which is an X-ray checkup of her fistula.  A fistula is a connection made between a vein and an artery (in her arm) that is used for her dialysis treatment.  It will be an all afternoon process for her, and I am sure the embroidery will keep me from worrying more than I should about her.  I am thankful I have embroidery to do.

What is your plan for quilting this week?  I saw some nice finishes posted last week.  Good work!  

Please join in the linky party below.  Thank you to those who link back to this post and also mention Design Wall Mondays in your post.  You are my kind of people!

    


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, October 18, 2021

Design Wall Monday - October 18, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!  The May Day Baskets blocks are almost finished.  There are 32 blocks, but I am only using 30 to set the blocks 5 across and 6 down.  This week I finished my 29th block:


When I get the last block finished, I have to decide how to combine them to make a quilt top.  
Here are two examples, one from the Successful Farming Magazine, November, 1932, of the original offering of the patterns, with green setting blocks.  Next to the magazine photo is a copy of the only internet version I could find of a similar quilt, with orange setting blocks.  They both have the same outside border that looks like a ruffle, but is not.  The set of patterns I am using were copies from the ones offered in 1932, and were published in the 1980s in a quilter magazine.   I know I will set the blocks on point, and I do like the peaceful medium green that is seen so often in 1930s quilts.  I’d be interested in hearing what your ideas are for this quilt.


The last basket block I am making had a bird in the basket!  I left the bird out and substituted more flowers in place of the bird.  I don’t think the 1932 version had only one basket with a bird, but I could be wrong.  Anyway,
my version will be all flower baskets with no birds.  See 1980s pattern for this block:


My version of my last block that will be this week’s hand work:


It sure will be exciting to get this last block finished!  What are you starting - or finishing this week?  It is so nice to look at all of your blogs and see your beautiful work.  Thanks so much for being part of Design Wall Mondays.  I am looking forward to sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading about your projects.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, October 11, 2021

Design Wall Monday - October 11, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!  And Happy Thanksgiving Day to those of you in Canada!  I am celebrating with you today because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and why not celebrate it twice.  I have much to be thankful for.  My cold is almost gone, and I did get tested for Covid, and the test came back negative.  I didn’t think it was Covid, but I wanted to be sure.  And was so thankful that it was just a cold, and I am feeling better every day.

My May Day Baskets quilt blocks are almost finished.  Here is #28 of the 30 blocks.  I have only 2 more to embroider.  Yeah!!  When the last 2 are completed, I will have to decide how to sash them, or if I want to add a plain alternate block.  


I drew a name out of the hat for the free "Pinwheel Garden" pattern for the little 11" by 13" quilt.  And the winner is:  Bonnie, from the In Stitches with Bonnie blog.  Congratulations Bonnie!  Please email me with your address, and I will put the cute little pattern in my mailbox on its way to you.


There were a few questions about the Dalia quilt that was on my friend's guest bed while I was traveling last week.  To refresh your memory, it was this:


The embroidery is done by machine, and I did find a label which told me it was mass produced from.....Japan....or China?  I don't know, but it was beautiful and it looked great in her guest room.  


Also in her guestroom, was this charming little poem, framed on the wall:


Welcome Guest!

Hello, Guest, and howdeedo!
This small room belongs to you,
And our house and all that's in it----
Make yourself at home each minute.
If the temperature displeases
Take a couple of our breezes;
And if that should chill you later----
Sit upon our radiator.
If a hungry pang is twitchin'
Make a raid upon our kitchen----
Help yourself to book or blotter,
Easy chair or teeter-totter;
All is yours that you like best,
You're at home, now!
Welcome, Guest!

I looked up the author when I got home, and it was written by J.P.McEvoy in 1918.  I shall have to make a framed copy for my guests to read in our guest room.

I am hoping to have another May Day Basket block finished next week to show you.  What are you working on this week?  Please join the linky party below and show us your Design Wall Monday treats.  Thanks for linking back to this blog post, and also mentioning Design Wall Mondays somewhere within your post.  You are my kind of people!




You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, October 4, 2021

Design Wall Monday - October 4, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!

We are staying with friends and this quilt is on our bed in their guest room:


I think it is a mass produced quilt, as the embroidery is done by machine.  It is very  pretty and I will ask my friend more about it in the morning.

We are away from home and I have a cold, so my post today will be short and sweet.  I hope to be feeling better and at home very soon.

Please join the Design Wall Linky Party below and cheer me up with your pretty projects.  Thank you to all of you who provide a link back to this post and also mention Design Wall Mondays on your blog. You are the best!



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, September 27, 2021

Design Wall Monday - September 27, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!  What did I work on this last week?  A doll quilt!  With Buttons.  Have you ever made a small quilt/doll quilt that has buttons on it? 


(Of course, this doll quilt cannot be used by little children, because the little buttons might come off and be swallowed), but it is fine for a doll quilt for a grownup like me.  Here is the story of this cute little quilt:

My friend Joan Brink brought over a small quilt kit she had received from a friend, and it was so cute.  We both decided to make it.  Here is the pattern, from the Red Button Quilt Co. (Here)


Joan's pattern included the fabrics, and some tiny little colored buttons to sew on the embroidered border around the quilt.  Here is Joan with her kit when she came over to my house yesterday.  She has the top all finished except for sewing on the little buttons.  You probably can't see them, but the package of little colored "flower" buttons that came with the kit are in her right hand.  Joan is going to hand quilt her little quilt.


When I made my version, I had fun sorting through my shoebox of half-square triangles to find four alike to make into pinwheels for the quilt:


I love pinwheels, and this little quilt went together so easily.  I have a little glass jar full of pearl baby buttons, and I used some of them on my doll quilt.  I sewed a button in the middle of each pinwheel and also used the tiny pearl buttons for flowers in the border around the edge.  I put the batting and the backing together before I sewed all the little buttons on, and the buttons served as the "quilting" to keep the three layers together.  I sewed each button on separately, and tied and cut the threads, leaving the thread ends showing on the front, so it is technically a "tied" quilt.  I also put triangle hanging sleeves on the top two corners of the back.

If it isn't a free internet pattern, I don't like to make a quilt with a pattern unless I have actually supported the designer and bought the pattern.  So I ordered this pattern and am giving it away to any of you who are reading this blog.  Leave a comment below if you would like to be included in the drawing for the pattern.  The pattern will include a set of small colorful "flower" buttons with it, but no fabrics.  

I had this same issue with making a quilt without buying the pattern once before, and you can read about it here (Here)  if you are interested.  It is a pattern from the same pattern company, and another cute little quilt with buttons on it.

What have you been making this week?  I have spent extra time caring for my sister, and embroidery time while with her has been a peaceful pastime.  I hope to have another May flower garden block or two to show you next week.  

Please join in the Design Wall Mondays linky party below, and show us what you are doing.  Thanks for joining in!  A special thank you to those of you who mention Design Wall Mondays in your blog, and also provide a link back to this page.  


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, September 20, 2021

Design Wall Monday - September 20, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!  I decided to veer off into another subject related to doll quilts:  A spool doll bed.  I have regular doll beds and have some wooden thread spools saved to make doll furniture.  Have you ever made a doll bed with old wooden thread spools?  I would love to hear about your experience if you have, and also send me a picture.  Here are two pictures I have saved from the internet:


Source:  Baker Street Antiques

If I make a rocking chair instead of a bed, I will make a cushion for it.  The spools don't look very comfortable for a doll to sit upon.  

Source:  Etsy

This bed looks fairly straightforward.  I would stain it instead of painting it white though, and I would add a ticking striped mattress.  (And of course, sheets, pillows, and a doll quilt).   And a doll!

My progress so far:  I have a shoebox full of wooden spools, and a sketch of a possible doll bed.  I have just purchased stain and a small brush.  I was looking for more pictures of spool doll beds yesterday, when I found the rocking chair made of spools.  So maybe I will change my mind and make a chair.

Stitching news today is that I am finishing one more dish towel with an iron on embroidery transfer of a squirrel!  I thought I was finished with the squirrel towels, but I found another one.  This is definitely the last one, and there are only two more tree leaves to embroider before it is finished.




The squirrels are so cute outside this time of year.  Our driveway is being pelted with acorns, and they are busy squirreling them away.  It must be a harsh winter coming, as the oak trees are producing a bumper crop of acorns to prepare the animals for it.

The boat is out of the lake and into storage, and the dock is being removed later this month.  The hammock came down Saturday.  These are the sad moments of fall starting, but the good moments are the trees are starting to turn into their beautiful colors, and I'm looking forward to their spectacular annual show.

What are you working on this week?  I visited all of your blogs this past week, and you are an amazing bunch.  I am blessed to see what you are working on every  week.  Thanks so much for continuing to link to the Design Wall Mondays linky party.  And thank you to those who provide a link back here and also mention Design Wall Mondays - you are appreciated.



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Monday, September 13, 2021

Design Wall Monday - September 13, 2021

 August, 2012, nine years ago, I took a class on curved pieces at the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids.  This was before I even moved to Grand Rapids, as I remember staying with my friend Joan during the quilt show.  My sample from the class:



And a vintage Drunkard’s Path block that Joan had at her house.


Joan Brink’s vintage DP

 March, 2021  On the Design Wall progress:




September, 2021,  the finished quilt:  




The binding was completed this week.  I would have used more of the block fabric for the binding, but it was all gone.  I used all I had in the quilt.  I bought a half yard of solid dark brown and used that.  It feels really good to finish it.

Close-up pictures:





Can’t wait to see what you are showing us this week.  I am going to post a comment on your blog today.  Last week, I looked at everyone’s post and didn’t take time to say anything.  Today I’m looking forward to some conversation with you.  You are the best at lifting my spirits, and I look forward to each Monday.  

Please join in the Monday Design Wall Linky Party below and show us your projects.  Thanks to you who provide a link back to this page, and thanks to those who mention Design Wall Mondays in your post.  You are my kind of people!



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Monday, September 6, 2021

Design Wall Monday - September 6, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters!  It’s Labor Day and I am celebrating all the workers who keep our country going.  When this holiday was created, in the late 1800s, working conditions were dire.  In the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living.  Despite restrictions in some states, children toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages. Thankfully those days are gone, and we celebrate our labor force today and appreciate all they do.  

My “labor” for this week has been to sew binding on a UFO.  i have four quilts just back from the long arm quilter that need binding.   I started this quilt way back in 2015  (Here) and am happy to report that it is now quilted and bound.  Yeah! Another UFO kicked to the curb.  

The quilt is 81 x 94 inches and is made of LeMoyne Star blocks and snowball blocks.  It is part of the Collection for a Cause series by Marcus Bros. and is called "Warmth", and was a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity.

Here is a picture taken last night of the completed quilt, and it's held up by the newly weds, Mr. and Mrs. Angel Morales:


Mica and Angel are the couple who just got married at the wedding we went to in Delaware last week.  They flew to Michigan and spent a week at our cabin for a honeymoon.  We are taking them to the airport today in Grand Rapids so they can fly back to Delaware and start married life together.  Can you tell that they had a super time on their honeymoon?  The quilt isn't gifted to them (they were just handy to hold it up for the picture), as we gave them several of our smaller wall quilts as a wedding gift.

The Jane Stickle quilt is still on my design wall, staring at me.  It will stay there until I sew the blocks together.  It may be this week!  September is a month for completing old UFOs.  Anyway, I'm telling myself it is.  

What are you working on now that it is September?  Please join the linky party and show us your project of the week.  Or projects of the week for some of you.  I appreciate those of you who provide a link back to this post, and also mention Design Wall Mondays in your blog.  Thanks!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter