Sunday Morning

"The path of the righteous

is like the first gleam of the dawn,

shining ever brighter

till the full lights of day."

Proverbs 4:18

March Friendship x and + Swap

It's the last Friday in March and that means more X and + blocks!

 Suz and I worked with brown, red and pink fabrics this time. Here are the twinsies that I created. I mailed half to Susan in Australia.

She sent me these four beauties! I love that she included some butterflies as I'm looking for every clue that spring is maybe finally here!

Our eight bright blocks will be joining the others created over the last 6 months. (You probably haven't noticed, but each month I've used the same aqua solid fabric as one of my choices. I notice that Suz always includes some of the hexie fabric.) Only two more months to go!

Next week will be Selvage Week here at Lollyquiltz...

I'll be showing you several ideas for using the colorful edges of your fabric instead of just throwing them away.  See you then!

Ode to Cheery Churn Dash

Over the last month, the mail man has been kindly adding to my growing pile of cheery churn dash blocks. It's been so exciting!

It all started with this darling! It was a year ago, in January, that my friends from the Mid-Century Modern Bee created blocks for me during my month as the Queen Bee. I posted a tutorial here with a quick way to make them.

I remember the excitement when the first few blocks began to arrive!

By the end of January 2013, I had a nice assortment of blocks in my chosen colors of pink, red, and orange. Juicy Fruit became it's name. I loved it so!

Often one to not leave well enough alone, I soon decided that my throw size quilt should really be bed size. Oh, and wouldn't it be fun to throw in a few large size blocks, I commented to Linda and Suz who each soon gifted me with a twelve inch beauty.

Over the last year, I've been making more 6 inch churn dash blocks every now and then. Last summer, I even spent one whole retreat day making them.

That's when I got the idea to begin adding some yellow and white into my bright pallet. 

When my turn to be the MCM Queen Bee rolled around again, I decided to get serious about finishing my Juicy Fruit quilt. I again asked the members to sew  up more churn dash blocks to add to my collection. No one complained, I hope!

I laid their additions all out together to admire. Who can't smile when you look at that!?

Just in case you are interested in the numbers up to this point I counted them all. There are 24 full size blocks each made up of 4 small churn dashes. Then, I also have 70 single six-inch churn dash blocks. Yes, that's right folks, that's 166 little churn dashes tucked away just waiting to come out and play!

Without my friends I would have never gotten to this point. (Isn't that how life is with just about everything?) I'm planning to finish up the remaining 34 six inch blocks that I need plus a few more larger churn dashes at a weekend retreat coming up in mid April. I'll finish this, I promise!

Sunday Morning

"Be joyful always, 

pray continually,

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

I Thessalonians 5:16

Random Thursday: March Edition

This month seems to be flying by and my blogging has been sparse! I've been a busy girl. The mail man has been filling my box with packages filled with cheerful churn dash blocks. I'll show you those later!

 I'm preparing for a short guild presentation on selvages. Suz shared some with me all the way from Australia...thank you!

 My little featherweight was my best friend last week as I sewed many hours at the dining room table testing a quilt pattern for a new designer.

 Here are the yummy Kona solids that I was playing with!

While I was sewing along, I kept thinking about his beauty that graced my bed during a weekend stay with a friend. I've been wanting to make a dresden quilt  and these low volume colors are just what I had in mind! Is any idea really  new?!

Outside, some days are really warm. I even spotted a tiny flower today! Forget that it snowed on Sunday or that there's more in the forecast! 

My hubby has been slaving away on our basement re-do. (It's been going on forever it seems.) I think up the ideas and he makes it happen! This old window  is now a chalkboard. My "new" old screen door gives access to storage under the stairs. When we get it all finished, I'll post a full reveal. Soon, I hope!

 Last week was my birthday. My husband surprised me with these awesome shoes by Toms. The fabric used to make them is handmade in India at a leper colony and then the design hand stamped by artists working for JOYN. JOYN was started by my friend, Melody, to give employment opportunities to the poor in India. I'm so proud to wear these shoes and think about how they came to be! Aren't they pretty.

 Something else pretty: My new fruit bowls, found at Home Goods. They match my shoes!

 Spring break for the grandies meant a trip to the zoo. Getting a good picture of the monkeys children can sometimes be a challenge! (The lady in the background wearing short sleeves and shorts must have heard the wrong weather forecast!)

Another favorite spring break past time is a visit to Science City. I had fun tagging along with these sweet girls. I just wish that I'd worn pink shoes!

See ya  later!

Friendship Diamonds

Over the weekend, I got together with my BFF, Jan, at her home in El Dorado, Kansas, near Wichita.  One of the important things on our list of things to do was to set this diamond quilt together.

You may recall that a few months ago I showed you my version of this quilt. The diamonds were not consistent in size due to the construction method given in the pattern as well as two of us making them on different machines  . 

Jan and I both became frustrated with our blocks and hid them away for the last five years. Finally, I realized that I could easily trim them all up with my triangle ruler so that they would be equal in size. Friday, Jan and I worked together to get her top all put together so that it could join mine.

These Gypsy Diamond quilts are probably about the 10th friendship quilts that Jan and I have worked on together. This one just took the longest! As you can see, we used different fabrics for the setting triangles and Jan added a pretty pink border to hers.

I wonder who will get theirs quilted first?

And how shall we quilt them? We've only had since 2009 to think about it!

Sunday Morning

Hope is some 

extraordinary

spiritual grace that

God gives us to

control our fears,

not to oust them.

                 Vincent McNabb

Color Photo Challenge: Black, Part Two

In challenging myself to photograph 16 word prompts each month based on a color, I didn't anticipate that the color black would be difficult. But it was. Here are the last 7 photos for my February challenge.

DOOR: My front door is black. A berry wreath adorns it for winter.

 CREATURE: When it's 5 degrees outside, I wonder how these cattle stand it. Maybe lying down helps keep them warm.

 NATURE: A tree stump with black fungus growing on it looks almost like it had been burned. Does it look like a heart to you?

NEW: If you have to do dishes, you might as well have a pretty bottle of good smelling soap to help make the job more pleasurable. (Well, the lid is black!)

 STRUCTURE: I'm imagining this gorgeous urn filled with flowers this spring. Soon, I hope! Too bad it's not mine.

 INSPIRATION: The details of this old screen door remind me of the quilt that I designed a few years ago called Beaded Curtain.

 QUILT: I don't use a lot of black in quilts, I guess. My Kandinsky inspired art quilt, Test Signals,  comes the closest.

That's all folks! Green is the color for March's photo challenge. I think that will be easier...I'd love to see some of that color springing up outside, wouldn't you!

Sunday Morning

"you help us by your prayers.

Then many will give thanks on our behalf

for the gracious favor granted us

in answer to the prayers of many."

2 Corinthians 1:11