Quilts from Thimbles in March

Better late than never is my new motto! At our Thimbles meeting in March, I took lots of photos of the quilts for Show and Tell. Pat, our beloved leader, was out-of-town with another commitment. I'll try to give the name of each quilter, but I'm not remembering all of them. Fellow Thimbles, please leave a comment if you remember who made the quilts that I forgot or credited to the wrong person:) The stunning quilt above and below were delivered to Sandra that day, freshly quilted.

Gretchen's black, tan and red stunner from the book 40 Fabulous Quick Cut Quilts. I want to make this one.

Sarah (no blog) designed these blocks and  used selvages she collected from her other quilt projects.

Jane with her just quilted Cupcake Quilt. She used Minkee for her backing. I convinced her to give me the trimming of the green Minkee. It has already been gifted as a pet bed.

Don't you just love Paula's Pinocchio creation?

I'm totally blanking on this one. Love the fabric and design. I recognize Gretch holding the quilt, but can't remember if it is her quilt or if she was helping someone else.

Great design!

Pat with her  batik wall-hanging.

Sarah, no blog, drew the string blocks after seeing a similar design on cheater cloth. She sewed her quilt with pieced string blocks. The basket quilt is Kitty's Baskets from Pat's book Spotlight on Neutral, but with colorful batiks!

Danita's  block of the month from Little Quilts is now done.

Marie, on the right, with her beautiful Twister quilt. Leisa, on the left, quilted the top for Marie.

Elaine hand-quilted her Emily Jane quilt. Elaine and

Pam split a kit. Pat's beauty is machine quilted.

Teresa with her Snowman wall-hanging.

Teresa and "Sir Quilt Dude" with a favorite design from our "Sisters" days.

I'm thinking this is Debbie's Jelly Roll Race.

Leisa and "Sir Quilt Dude", but again I've forgotten the name of the quilter with this wonderful quilt.

Janet adding the final borders to her new Spring quilt.

If anyone can tell me the name of the quilters on the ones that I've forgotten, please let me know and I'll edit this post. As always, it was a wonderful Thimbles weekend! Pat, we missed you!

Words on Wednesday

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Design Wall Monday

Two years ago, several dear friends surprised me with this project to celebrate my retirement from public education. It was the brain child of my dear friend Kathy. Kathy with the help of friends at Sweet Home Quilt Shop chose the fabric, Fresh Cotton by Fig Tree Designs. Judy, another friend-for-always, cut and sewed the blocks. They then recruited all the folks that I had worked with at their elementary school to sign the blocks with their name and title of their favorite book. Blocks were also signed by members of our book club. Most members of our book club also worked at this same elementary school at one time. At my retirement party, the folks in attendance signed the remaining blocks. I wasn't sure how to arrange the blocks. This week inspiration hit when I decided where to hang this wonderful gift. I have a spot in my sewing room that is perfect. I made four additional blocks for the corners. I need to have one more of those blocks autographed and then I can begin sewing the rows together. I'll play with the blocks first to get a better balance of color. Can't wait to have this project become a quilt. Any suggestions on what I should name this quilt?  Visit other projects at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

Finally, Finally, A Finish

This quilt has a new name. It is now known as "Gently Assemble As Desired."  I stole the phrase from Marie Bostwick  author of the Cobblestone Quilt Series. I listened to her interview with Pat Sloan and Deb Tucker on American Patchwork and Quilting Radio Show while adding the borders. My quilt looks nothing like the original pattern, Hopscotch, but I love it. I couldn't begin to tell you how to assemble this one. I have learned that next time I make this quilt (and I will make one just to prove to myself that I can follow the directions on a quilt pattern) I need to make a sheet with fabric swatches next to the cutting directions. The fabric for this quilt is all flannel, my first flannel quilt. Leisa, long-arm quilter extraordinaire, took the quilt last Friday to do her magic on it. It is such a good feeling to finally, finally, finally finish a project this calendar year. I've been sewing, but not getting to the finish line.

Blue and Cream Swap Blocks

Red and White Project

Words on Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday post have always appealed to me. I seem to have a problem finding a photo and not saying something about it.  Finally, it dawned on me that I could do Words on Wednesday. I love collecting inspirational phrases, quotations and photos of amusing expressions. I discovered this wall-hanging in an antique shop in Paducah last year. I immediately purchased it for a friend for her birthday. I put it in my gift closet, then completely forgot that I had purchased it. Her birthday is in December.  It wasn't until I saw the photo in my photo library that I remembered that I had purchased her gift. It's a good thing I take lots of photos:)

Where Memories Begin.....

Time away from regular life is a good thing! This past week dear hubby and I took a road trip to Orlando to visit with our youngest son and "Mickey". DS has been working at Disney World since the end of January in the Disney College Program. We've wanted to visit him, but have been providing extra care for hubby's mom. Her health has now stabilized. She is getting excellent care in the assisted living, so we headed South to Orlando.

DS works at the Magic Kingdom in Frontierland. They don't call them uniforms at DW. It's called his costume. They are not workers, but Cast Members. Michael is having a blast. He's meeting people from all over the world. This is a dream come true for him. We were able to meet 3 of his 5 roommates (yikes, 6 males in one apartment) and spent time with them at the Parks. 

Disney Hollywood Studios

It was truly like having our own personal tour guide from Guest Relations. Michael and his buddies spend most of their free time exploring Disney World. He knew all kinds of neat facts and how to approach the rides and shows with minimal wait time. 

Magic Kingdom

Epcot

Michael and Marion

Me and Michael

Family portrait time

 While no quilt shops were discovered or explored on this trip, ideas for quilt were abundant.

 Since Michael will live in Orlando through the beginning of August, we are already planning a return trip. This time we are hoping to stay in one of the hotels on the Disney property. We are investigating the Caribbean Beach Resort, Colorado Springs Resort and Pop Century Resort. DH and I would love to have any feedback if you have spent time in any of these resorts. We are not traveling with children and are looking for a resort that is quiet and comfortable:)