I was so happy to get the call to pick up the 2 quilts I had dropped at my local quilt shop, Will n Bee’z Quilt Shop. Jeff, the machine quilter/owner, was able to quilt this one with a pattern of fishing items.

You can see the design better on the back, although it looks even better in person.

This was a quilt I started way over 20 or 25 years ago, for Rob. It was one of the first ones I started making after taking some classes. In my cleaning, sorting and organizing project I’m embarked on, I found every single one of the little pieces needed to finish it up. Now, I need to bind it and Rob will finally have a lap quilt with a flannel back to snuggle up in when we are in the camper or wherever he likes.

Here is the second one I picked up. Jeff’s wife and co-owner, Mary, was kind enough to take a picture of it being quilted for me.

This one was started from kits received at a shop hop before Covid. I put together the ones I could figure out and made some more on my own. He quilted this one in a simpler, wave pattern. I need to bind that one, too. I think this one will be in my living room when it’s done. It’s a good size for wrapping up in when watching tv or reading.

Here’s the chicken quilt I’ve been working on lately. I finished it up today and Rob dropped it off to be quilted. This quilt was started many years ago by one of my kids, who lost interest. I found fabric, squares that needed ripping out and re-sewing, some with holes, and some I had apparently sewed myself or at least had a lot of input in (i.e. stood over them while they sewed!) and they looked ok. I re-sewed blocks, made more, added black sashing and the brick-colored border. It’s actually a blender fabric, which means it is not solid. There are little bits of other colors in the fabric that help it go with most of the blocks. For the back, I took the large pieces that were leftover, along with the extra squares that had been cut and sewed them all together until they made a piece big enough to back it. I didn’t get a picture of that, but it looks nice to me. I’ll show that once it gets finished.

I was in a hurry to finish because once I saw how nice it was turning out, I decided to make it for Rob’s Mom’s 90th birthday. The quilt shop is very busy, so I wanted to give them plenty of time to finish machine quilting it. I will still need to bind it. I’m so happy to have found a way to use that fabric. She loves chickens and has 3 in her yard, and decorates with chickens in her house, so it will be perfect for her.

I have been spending hours and hours on quilting lately. I feel so happy to have gotten so many projects to this point. I know that once the garden gets going, this quilting frenzy will come to a screeching halt, as I cannot dedicate this much time in 2 places, inside and outside. However, it’s still way too wet and cold to get out there much.

My plan then, is to bind the 2 that are ready for that step and get them in use. I found parts and pieces and fabrics enough to keep me going for many, many more projects. There are several that are either almost done or well on their way and I will probably choose one of those to work on next. I also just completed a shop hop, the first one around here since before Covid, so I have 8 free kits for blocks from that.

My goal is not to build my stash or project pile up, instead to bring it down and get all this creativity from all these years into usable form. To that end, I have been buying little pieces when a certain color is needed, pieces for sashing, and of course backing fabric. This is all quite expensive, especially when it comes to backing fabric, since you need a lot. I was delighted to come upon a sale where the quilt shop was clearing out some fabric for $4/yard. I was able to find 2 pieces that went with 2 of my projects that are almost done. I actually went back home and got my unfinished projects and took them back to the store to make sure they would work. Since one is very large–queen or king sized–I got 8 yards for that one! It was a great deal, but if it ended up not matching, it would have just been another large piece of fabric that would remain unused!

Even I don’t know which thing I will choose to work on next–that’s part of the fun of it all! Tonight, I’m doing other things. Tomorrow, maybe I’ll decide.