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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Fabric... Welcome to the Patriotic Quilter where I like to share all things quilty as well as red, white, and blue! Please feel free to look around and enjoy yourself! I would love to hear from you.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Beauty and the Bissel

Hi All,

Its just after 8 AM here and I've been up for a few hours.  Do you ever have some of those chores that you put off but then the time comes when you can't deal with it and even if it is 6:30 AM, you simply have to steam clean the living room carpet?  Today was the day for me.  I'd been noticing that I needed to do it, and then last night my baby nephew came for a visit.  We usually move the coffee table out of the way and remove some other items that aren't child-safe, thus exposing much of the floor to view.  This morning, I had not yet put the items back and decided to tackle that job.  The good thing is that it is now over and I can get on with more fun things, AND most of the day is left.

I opened the drapes and found this lovely sunrise.


I love the effect of pretty light when there is snow on the ground.

It has been a busy week.  Yesterday I taught a class on back-basting applique at the local shop.  I had 4 students and they all did a marvelous job.  It had been a while since I've taught it and I think I did okay, but there are a few things I'm noting to change:  like to have more than one sample of each step, in case I need to repeat demonstrating it, and to use a much shorter length of thread in the examples so that I don't have to spend time untangling.

Project wise, I put together the courthouse steps and the flying geese from my big project into 26 blocks.




I need 25 for the quilt, but I made an extra in case I want a different choice when assembling.  Those blocks must be nearly half the quilt in size, but there is still plenty more work to be done to piece all of the sashing strips and border pieces.

I was at this point when another project interuppted me.  I'll share about it in my next post.  Our guild members are all asked to contribute one kid quilt each year.  There is a camp held nearby in the summer for kids who have been diagnosed with cancer or brain tumors and our guild donates enough quilts that each camper gets one to use and take home.  While I like to make charity items, it seems that I have to get in the right mood.  The right mood hit me on Tuesday morning, but as I said, I'll share that next time.

Have a wonderful day!
JoAnne

8 comments:

  1. Uhhhhh, steam cleaning carpet at 6:30am?!! No WAY! Must be the military in you! LOL LOVE your stars--so beautiful and can't wait to see the finished top. I know I'm gonna really want one just like it! And your guild proect hits very close to home since my DH was taken too early with a vicious brain tumor. Can't imagine children but then our class serves dinner at Ronald McDonald once a month and I see them every time we're there. :-(

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  2. I love the look of your navy/cream stars. It would be tempting to stop right there and make them into a quilt by themselves, but I know the bigger project will be awesome.

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  3. I do things at odd hours too. Sounds like you have made the new home - teaching classes and already involved with a guild. Those star blocks make me smile - oh, all on the wall and looking pretty.

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  4. Those are such great blocks. It is a wonderful quilt already!
    No way would I be cleaning my carpets at that hour! : )

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  5. What a beautiful sunrise. I'm so glad I'm not the only person who does things at peculiar hours!
    Your star blocks are fantastic I really like the courthouse steps centres. Have a lovely weekend. Xxx

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  6. I can't say that I've ever been compelled to get up early to clean--lol! I love the stars--can't wait to see the quilt come together!

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  7. Gorgeous star blocks!! Love them.

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  8. FYI. I don't think I've ever gotten up and cleaned carpets before 6 in the morning. EVER! I might be inclined to do some cleaning at 11 at night. I'm a night owl not an early bird! The stars look great. And, yes sashing can be a pain and eat up a ton of time. But it will be lovely in the end.

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