Chilly Sunday, Sadness, and Soup

It's difficult to be my perky self this morning. For the third time, a niece has ben taken from our family. First there was Diane, then Rachel and now Carol. These intelligent, beautiful and talented young women were far to young to go through the horrible ravishings of cancer. They fought a seemingly endless battle very bravely. Carol is in the photo, on the right. This picture was taken three or four years ago at an anniversary celebration in Minnesota. I remember changing Carol's diapers and a teenage crisis - she wanted a beautiful tan for the prom but stayed under a sunlamp too long! I'm remembering her father's pet name for getting a rise out of her, Carol the Barrell. We hate to lose our loved ones but are thankful they no longer suffer.


My latest project is from a new book I got last week. The block has several different names, in the book, Scraps and Shirttails, Bonnie Hunter of quiltville.com calls it Milky Way and has designed a quilt she named Swing Your Partner. I have made 16 blocks, using plaids from my stash and the background fabric are leftovers from other projects. Next step is to find something for sashing strips and borders. I'm not sure there is enough of any one color and I may have to go fabric shopping!

The photos below are of two of my antique quilts, found in antique shops in Madison, IN and we don't know the history behind them. Both quilts are scrappy looking and use muslin for the alternate solid blocks and backings. Both are heavily hand quilted. When held up to the light you can see the dark flecks from the cotton batting. Both quilts are on display and are becoming quite fragile. They may have to be put to rest in a safe place. The Churn Dash blocks measure approximately 5 1/2" now and I imagine they were 6" before the heavy quilting and many washings.

This second quilt, a Butterfly quilt is very fragile and I am thinking I need to draft a block pattern and make it from today's fabrics. The block is rectangular, measuring 8 1/2" x 9 1/2".

This quilt was a gift from my daughter Tracy about ten years ago. I wonder if my quilts will someday be as treasured the way I do these!

And now the SOUP of the Week: Vegetable Beef

No picture but if you sniff really hard, you may be able to smell it. One pot of soup equals three meals and three meals equals about three hours of stitching time!

Chet is waiting to be served - so till next time. . . .

Just Me