Silent Sunday

Fleece Blanket Time

It's been awhile since I have made a fleece blanket for Project Linus, but the last few evenings have been chilly enough that I wanted a warm project to work on.  Not only does a fleece blanket keep you warm while you are working on it, but it also warms your heart once it has been passed on to a child in need.

You can find full instructions for making fleece blankets like this one at www.skipstitch.com/instructions.

'Tis The Season

Christmas is less than three months away, so you know what that means...it's that time of year when we are all crafting furiously, but we don't dare share too much about our projects for fear of spoiling the surprise.  Showing bits and pieces of projects without explanation makes pretty uninteresting blog posts, but I'm hoping that keeping a few secrets will make the holiday a little more special for a few people on my Christmas list.

Moving Forward

I made it around the detour and I'm moving forward with the Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road quilt.  I'm pleased with the finished top, even if it isn't exactly the pattern that I started out to make.  Now to see if I can quilt it without any detours!

Silent Sunday

Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road

I can't remember how many times over the years I had teachers ask me if I read all of the directions before beginning an assignment.  Apparently not much has changed since my school days.  I started a quilt using the Yellow Brick Road pattern and somewhere along the way I missed the part in the instructions that said, "Leftover strips will be used later".  Translated that means, "Don't sub-cut all of the strips just yet", but I didn't figure that out until after I (yep, you guessed it) cut all of the strip sets.  Thankfully, I was able to design enough blocks from the pieces that I had leftover to finish the quilt.  No, it's not really a Yellow Brick Road quilt now, but I think my Detour Around The Yellow Brick Road is just as nice!
And for those who are wondering if I have learned my lesson about reading directions...probably not.     

Flowers Inside And Out

Last week a few of my quilty friends and I traveled to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY to see a display of quilted wall hangings made by Alice Hunt and to tour the gardens at the Cornell Plantation.  There were beautiful flowers everywhere...inside and out!  If you are anywhere near Ithaca before the end of October, I highly recommend that you take the time to visit the Nevin Welcome Center and see "A Tribute to Flora", you won't be disappointed!

Texture Quilts

The Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild begins it's new year at the September meeting with a whole new slate of officers.  For the next two years I'll will be the Outreach Chairperson and will be heading up all of the guild's charity projects.  I'm excited about this new position and I have several new ideas for how our guild can help people in our community through quilting.
Our first project will be making Texture Quilts.  Not only are these quilts needed by our local nursing homes for patients with dementia or those who are vision impaired, but they will be great stash busters for guild members!  Any fabric with texture or bold patterns can be used in these quilts.  Corduroy, fleece, terrycloth, sateen, seersucker, brocade, lace, flannel, chenille...as long as it can be washed and dried it can be used in these quilts! I made this Texture Quilt as a sample and I was surprised to find that I had so many fabrics that aren't found in quilt shops in my stash!  I think with the help of the guild that we will come up with some very interesting quilts for our local nursing homes!

Silent Sunday