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while browsing today, i found this blog and simply HAD to add this badge to my home page.  i wholeheartedly support and encourage hand quilting because it is sooo enjoyable; i know, many don't have the time or the interest, but give it a try....you might become a devotee.  i am currently hand quilting my amish center diamond quilt.  the great thing about quilting (or many other things also) is that the stitch improves with continual practice.  when starting a new quilting project after a time away, it takes a bit to get into the rhythm of the stitching.  once the rhythm kicks in, it's easy to pick it up at every free moment. 

my confession

as a refresher, i'll remind you of my previous confession....i am (or was) a log cabin flunkie.  new york beauty?  no problem; cathedral windows?  piece of cake, but log cabin success evaded me.....until now.  here are my first six after receiving some invaluable tips that catapulted me into log cabin heaven!  and i didn't have to take any one of them out...no ripping, no redoing, nada!  my last log cabin disaster was the amish wallhanging; 9 blocks, 5 of which were redone at least once.  i'm pretty sure it's a case of right/left confusion, but a real pro gave me some inside tricks that have nothing to do with turning them, well almost.  i am giddy with log cabin success, truly!  i also got some ideas on organizing my strips to avoid the wrinkled clump in the shoebox.  that's my chore for the weekend, to get them all ironed and sorted lights/darks.  to quote mrs. goodneedle, "life is good!"  **** i spent a bit more time quilting on the amish center diamond and have pulled out stencils for the remaining 2 long borders.  only the corner squares on the final border need quilting, along with the 2 outside long borders.  i also got the gray scrappy pinwheel quilt basted with the wool batt.  that will probably be the next to get quilted.  it's over 40 degrees here today, so not sure how long winter will last or if it will ever really get here.  thank you jet stream!

orca bay deconstructed

the title is a bit of a misnomer as i haven't actually CONstructed the top yet.  what you see are all the various parts in various stages of completion.  yes, all the ohio star blocks are done as are the cheddar strippy squares.  i've still more purple strippies to do as well as finish up the green triangles AND cut the light triangles for the border units.  whew!  i am on my third set of 6 bobbins for this project alone; that's right, i've already used 12 bobbins of thread, currently on my 13th, not to mention my 3rd spool of the stuff.  i am still thinking this will be a january finish as i've almost nothing else to do every day.  **** i've also been quilting on the center diamond, just about finishing the 4th brown triangle; next are the brown corner squares of the next border and then the borders, for which i'm thinking baptist fans....not sure yet.  i've had a stencil of fans i bought ages ago and this would be a good place to use it, i think.  once that border is done, it's just the outside, which is about 11" wide--plenty of luscious quilting space indeed!