Design Wall Monday

Even though the sewing machine has been pretty quiet lately I'm still being pretty productive. I finished Ronan's quilt, which by the way has been initiated, if you know what I mean what can happen when you change a baby boy's diaper and you aren't quite fast enough to get the new diaper in place.  :-)

I finished both bindings that just needed the hand stitching. The puzzle quilt can be seen here, and below is one quarter of the pink and white star quilt that Lynn started a number of years ago and is finally done. I'll take a better picture later.

And I decided to pull out the Carolina Crossroads UFO that Nikki has been wanting me to finish for her. That's what is on the design wall.

I started this quilt back in late 2007 - early 2008 when Bonnie Hunter offered it as a mystery quilt. I followed along with the mystery and was even keeping up until it came time for the borders. I wanted something different than the original design, but I just didn't know what. Of course, I couldn't decide and then other quilts "got in the way" and this was set aside.

A couple of years ago, Nikki saw the top and asked if she could have it when it was done. I finally told her that she could have it, but that I had no idea of when it would be done. She said she'd be patient. (Yeah, right!) Anyway, this resurfaced a couple of weeks ago when my friend Kare told me that she had signed the two of us up for a class with Bonnie Hunter at Quilt Beginnings in Columbus. (I have great friends, don't I?)

Kare wants to take one of Bonnie's quilts that she has made with us when we go and that got her started on a search of projects. I decided to do the same. I've made a fair number of different quilts using Bonnie's patterns or variations of her patterns - Pineapple Blossom, Four Patch and Furrows, Fourth of July, Double Delight, Patches and Pinwheels, and Strip Twist - to name of few. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, most of these have been gifted already and I have no way of taking them with me, and I just realized that I don't have pictures of some of these quilts on this coputer. I'm pretty sure I took pictures. I just have to figure out where I put them.

Of course, the quilts I mentioned here are the ones I have finished. Besides the Carolina Crossroads shown above, I have two Double Delights that are UFOs and I'm really not sure what else. Sad, isn't it?

Anyway, to get back to the borders of the Carolina Crossroads....When I put this quilt away, I put it with some fabrics that I thought I might use in the border. After discussion with my brother Jerry and Nikki, here are the fabrics we decided to use.

I have to piece the borders and then add them to the quilt, but I'm doubting that the whole thing will be completed before the worshop with Bonnie, which is May 21st. It doesn't really matter. I'm excited that we figured out what to do and that I can soon cross this off my UFO list.

I finally got a decent picture of the Amazon Star quilt top this morning. As you can see below, it's big (104" x 104") and the guys had to hold it from the balcony so I could get a picture of the entire thing.

If you have a few minutes and want to read how a young person pays tribute to a special teacher, follow this link. http://blog.scholarshippoints.com/scholarship-contests/she-gave-us-a-life-lesson-more-valuable-than-any-chemical-equation-zoe-pendleton/

The granddaughter of my friend Vaughn wrote the essay as a scholarship entry and I encourage you to read and then vote for Zoe. I think this essay is well-written and speaks volumes of not only the teacher's quality, but of Zoe's ability to recognize  and thank someone who has played an important role in her life.  Good luck with the scholorship and school, Zoe!!

What is on your design wall? Check out what other quilters have on their design walls.
Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times.