County Fairs and a Baby!

It's been a busy week. Monday, I judged all of the quilt categories at the Lorain County Fair. That was tremendous fun and there were some wonderful (and a lot!) of projects.

Wednesday, I traveled an hour and half from home to judge at the Morrow County Fair; and although there were not as many quilts there, they were beautiful. I always have mixed emotions when I'm asked to judge a quilt show or Fair. While it's exciting and wonderful to see all the beautiful quilts, I'm always a bit worried that I'll have a difficult time choosing the winners. Unlike the Lorain County Fair, judging for Morrow County was done before the Fair opened. Because of that, I don't want to show actual pictures of the quilts and their ribbons.  

I am careful to make comments on every single entry. I think every participant deserves to know what my thoughts are about their project, and not just my negative thoughts. I ALWAYS find a positive, even when a quilter has entered his/her project in the wrong category and is disqualified. Because of that, it takes me quite a long time to judge. I don't mind though. I get to look at and touch quilts the entire time I'm there.  😊 

I did get some quilting done recently. I finished binding the Celebrate the Season banners, but I don't have a good picture. I'll be sure to get one and post it soon.

I also completely finished my Sunset Strips quilt.

I had extra blocks and not enough of any single fabric for the backing, so I pieced one. 

Even with all of the wonderful quilts at the Fairs and my completions, the highlight of the week was Tuesday when we all joined Lynn and Ty in welcoming a new baby to the family! Layne John was born at 7:48am.   

The girls stayed with Ty's parents Monday night and arrived at the hospital around 9:00. They could hardly contain their excitement!

We're all thrilled to have another grandchild and they entire family is doing well. The girls just adore their brother! I think he's happy with them too. 

Thursday was the first day of school for Nikki's kids. Quinn is in 4th grade, Sadie is in 2nd, and Ronan is in Kindergarten. I think they were all excited to begin.

This picture was posted on the school's Facebook page. I'm not sure what Ronan's thinking here, but he told me that he had a "great day!"

Ty is taking some time off work to be with Lynn, so I'm subbing for him until after Labor Day. I'm enjoying the opportunity to teach Sociology, Government, and World History. That's my certification area and I don't often get the chance to actually teach because I'm usually only in the classroom for a day or two. 

This weekend is being spent sewing, reading, and catching up on housework. What are you doing this weekend?

Design Wall Monday

I am working really hard at completing projects that have been sitting around for a while. So in between new projects, I pull something old and work on it. Sometimes I'm lucky that they are small and I'm successful at finishing them before a deadline project demands attention or I get bored with it.

I still haven't decided if I want to add scrappy borders to the quilt I was working on last week, so I took it down and started something new. In my defense, this is a very simple quilt and I've had the fabrics pulled for a very long time.

The pattern is called Mingled and it's by Robinson Pattern Company. Like I said, this is quick to make and I love the center. According to the information on the pattern, the concept for the quilt began with seeing what happens when any two sides mingle together. The idea quickly expanded to represent how the best qualities of a father and mother mingle together to make a new and exciting creation - a baby! 

And since we'll be welcoming a new baby to the family tomorrow, I thought this quilt was appropriate to make right now. It's layered and ready for quilting. I hope to do that this evening.

I also pulled out a wall hanging that I cut out quite a long time ago, only to discover that there was a slight error in the cutting instructions. Instead of trying to figure out how to make adjustments, I simply put the pattern and fabric in a bag and tucked it away. No more! 

Adjustment has been made, as well as a Winter version of the same pattern. This is Celebrate the Season by Thankfully Sew.

Sorry for the fuzzy picture! I'll be sure to get a good picture when the quilting and binding is complete. Since the quilting will be very simple, I'm hoping to get this quilted tonight also. Keep your fingers crossed!

Binding is made for all three projects and if I'm feeling very productive tonight, perhaps that will get put onto all three. That would be nice, but I hope to go to bed early since we are meeting Lynn and Ty at the hospital around 6:00 tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned for baby news!

What are you working on today?

To see other quilters' project, go to 

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

and

Monday Making