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It came just in the (Saint) nick of time.    I had enough batting left for Black Diamond Strings without resorting to making a frankenbatt.   

I auditioned several prints for the backing before I remembered this one. It's genuine vintage (36" wide), a gift from an AAUW friend some years ago.  There's a yard remaining.

I used black thread to quilt serpentine lines through the center strings and at each block intersection.  

 Luncheons Tuesday (Zion Woman's Club) and Saturday (Lake County Women's Coalition), both at the same local restaurant.***  I was hostess for ZWC and brought my vintage Christmas tablecloths to decorate (we were in one of the restaurant's small rooms) but I was so busy presiding that I didn't get a good picture. (***Local as in four-tenths of a mile from my house!)  

On Friday we joined friends Bill and Debbie for dinner before going to the high school performing arts center  We all enjoyed the high school's holiday show by the ...

I made two of our traditional favorites:  Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish and cranberry bread.  In 1990 my colleague Pam raced into the library saying she'd just heard a great recipe on NPR and had to write it down before she forgot it.  I still use the copy made from her transcription (lower right) though  NPR tells the story every year.     I discovered the cranberry bread recipe circa 1976 when I read Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin for a library storytime.   Recipe cards with splatters indicate tried, true, and delicious ...

Black raspberries were ripe at Lake Carina Forest Preserve on Friday afternoon.  Lake Carina was a gravel pit that was quarried to build the tollway (I-94) in the late 1950's.  That road and a high-voltage transmission line are the eastern boundary.  

The lake and the stream that flows into it.

The Home Forum feature  in this week's Christian Science monitor  further identified the raspberries as black caps.   I picked a handful and ...

Left:  the bumblebee was intent on the liatris (blazing star) as I snapped several photos.  

A 2' long eastern fox snake was crossing the path.  It curled up when I stomped.  The snake is not venomous.  It warns predators off by shaking its tail to mimic a rattlesnake.  I saw the behavior as it swished the gravel on the path.  Then it slithered into the undergrowth.  

I found another fringed gentian ...

Don't you hate it when you have a really vague idea in your head of the fabric you want when you go into your LQS (local quilt shop), and they don't have it?  Then, don't you love it when they have the perfect thing, and it isn't what you had in mind at all?  Funny, but that happens to me all the time.  I found this perfect gorgeous batik to use for the background in my "All Stacked Up" blocks.

Even though there are some HSTs in this pattern, it's a nice change from the ...

My grandson needs a new quilt.   It seems he has outgrown all the quilts I've made for him.  It's no wonder.

Look at this child!  I think he gets taller every day!

He wouldn't give me any ideas about the style or colors I should use.  He wants to be surprised.  I bet that would be risky with a lot of 16-year-olds, but I'm pretty sure he'll like whatever I do.  I've decided to use the "Cartwheel" pattern by Stephanie Sheridan.  It was featured in the Aug/Sept 2016 issue of McCall's Quick ...

Hearts of Hope (55" x 68")

This was a sew-along pattern designed by Bonnie Hunter to show respect for the people of Ukraine. I made it in honor of my mother-in-law whose family fled the region ahead of WW2.

Hearts of Hope (border and binding detail)

If you have read my blog before, you know how much I love string piecing--so, you can believe that I enjoyed making this one.

Hearts of Hope (backing detail)

I used a lovely sunflower (the Ukrainian national flower) print for the back.

Hearts of Hope Pillow (18" x 18")

As usual, I had leftover ...

I made a quilt for one of my grand-nephews.

Here is his baby quilt.

I try to make a flannel baby quilt, then a regular cotton big-kid quilt for kids in my family. This way, when they move from a crib to a big bed, they have a quilt that will fit.

This time, I went with a string quilt. I made 4.5" HSTs with strings and a neutral background. I arranged them in a layout I saw HERE.

Here is my result.

String Squares (76" x 94")

String Squares (binding and border detail)

He likes a series of ...

I had this pattern bookmarked thinking it was something I could work on with my granddaughter over spring break.

This past snowy weekend was incredibly productive for sewing, and I am so pleased with the progress made in my Christmas scraps box. My 40 blocks are all sewn, trimmed, papers removed, and edge-stitched.  Whew!

As mentioned in the previous post, I dug out a box of scraps to make string blocks during our weekend snow storm.  I had 6 made which were samples from a workshop I taught (back in the day when such things were possible), and most of the foundation papers and strips were cut, so it was all straight sewing.

The papers were removed while watching ...

There's a snow storm outside, and I am sewing up a storm inside!  I always like to have a simple sewing project for storms, as our power often goes out.  String blocks are perfect, as they are easy to pick up again if you are interrupted.  I had a few sample blocks leftover from a class I gave at the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival a couple of years back, so decided I would add some more to the pile.  I dug around the bottom of my Christmas prints to find some usable scraps.

These blocks are rectangles, and ...

As I was looking back at my Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts (see previous post), I thought it would be interesting to remind myself of the other BH patterns I have made. I have included  Bonnie's name for the pattern and my name for individual quilts [in brackets], if they differed. The year indicated was the year that I completed the project.

Carolina Chain (2015)

Patches and Pinwheels (2015)

Bricks and Stepping Stones [AKA Autumn Path] (2015)

These were three of my first efforts. I was afraid of the small pieces, so I made the units a bit bigger than ...

I am using my dining room table to baste this big one -- it's about 105 x 105 inches (king size).

If you have read my blog (or just looked at the pictures!) you know that I delight in string blocks. This is my latest string project.

String Carpenter's Star (82" x 82")

Carpenter's Star (sometimes called Carpenter's Wheel) is a traditional pattern, and layout charts are available in many places online (the one I used is HERE), but I substituted string blocks for the regular color or print blocks.

I drew it on EQ8, so I could get an idea of what I would need.

EQ8 Plan--I did change the four corners to string blocks rather than ...

While I can plan string quilts on EQ8, the pictures never show the real variety of string blocks.When I made Multi-Color Stars, I mentioned that I was going to make an experiment to see if I could show the layout to better effect. Here are the results.
 

String Stars 65" x 75" (straight layout)

String Stars 65" x 75" (offset layout)

Other than the layout, these quilts are alike in overall size, size of blocks (4.5" finished), mix of strings, and fabric for the stars. With the straight layout, the string diamonds come together in fours (focus on ...

Work in Progress

I'm basting a new string quilt. Here's a peek!

Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,

Turn this very blue quilt YELLOW!

Summer Sunshine (AKA Winter Blues designed by Bonnie Hunter)--84" x 94"

Winter Blues designed by Bonnie Hunter

 Click the photo above to buy the pattern from Bonnie's store.

When I first saw this pattern, I somehow KNEW that I had to make it in yellows. Yellow isn't my favorite color (that would be red), but it seemed just right for this.

Yellow, yellow, yellow!

My version is less scrappy than Bonnie's--I used a white-on-white swiss dot, a white-on-yellow polka dot, and a pale yellow sunshine print ...

 Every year, I enjoy creating a version of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt. This year, her quilt was called Grassy Creek.

Grassy Creek [AKA October Picnic]  (98" x 98")

I used Bonnie's colors of red, orange, gold, and grey; however, I substituted blue for her green. I call this October Picnic because this was my color inspiration photo and the palette I created.

The quilt went together well, thanks to Bonnie's excellent writing of instructions. You can see some of the steps I took by clicking on the "Grassy Creek" label on the right pane of this blog ...