Peace Be With You...

I just put the final stitches on the binding to another quilt.  Originally I named it Prayers for Day and Night, but didn't care for that title.  I've now renamed it 'Peace Be With You' as that seems more fitting.  It is a prayer quilt for my sister-in-law who is battling lung cancer right now.  I just found out tonight that she's back in the hospital with another infection so please pray for her.

This quilt is based on the Day and Night pattern as depicted in Eleanor Burn's Day and Night book.  It finished at 52.5" x 63", so it's a good lap size for her.  My good friend Susan quilted it for me.  (She enjoys that part of quilting much more than I do.)

I think Susan did a great job on the quilting.  She did all over feathers in the interior and more symmetrical feathers in the outer border.  She also did a curlicue in the inner border that really looks good.

I ran out of the light blue fabric for the back and had to piece one together.  I like how it turned out and am glad I had to do it.

The book actually enables you to save the leftover pieces from cutting the strip sets and use them to make 2 other quilts.  I'm hoping to start quilting at least one of them tomorrow and will share them when they're done.  I'm eager to finish another one of them because it will go to Brenda along with this quilt.

Until later...

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

Busy little bee...

As I'd hoped, I've spent quite a bit of time sewing the last couple of days.  With only the pets for company and no obligations, I've had a lot of free time.

First off, I fixed the sample Mini Star block where the points didn't quite meet up...

I'm pleased with it now.  And I went on to finish the top.  It's 22" x 27" and was made from the leftover pieces of another quilt (Prayers for Day and Night).  I also pieced a backing for it from scraps and it's pin-basted and ready for quilting.

Then I finished piecing this quilt top - Prayers for Day and Night.  It's a nice lap size at 52.5" x 63".

I also had to piece the backing to this quilt because I didn't have enough yardage left over of the fabrics.  But it was a happy circumstance, because I like how it pushed me to do something different for the back.

It still needs to be pin-basted and then I can hand it over to Susan to be quilted.  And finally, I managed to get another quilt sandwich ready - D9-Patch.  I'm hoping to decide on a quilting design today and perhaps finish quilting it.  It's only 35" square so I think it's doable.

I've had a pretty productive week away from home, but like they say - There's no place like home.  And I'm eager to return...

Until later...

The God of peace be with you all. Amen.- Romans 15:33

Progress...

First off, Happy Easter to everyone!  I hope you spent the day with those special to you but even more important - thinking on the reason we celebrate it.  Christ has conquered death and provided a way for us to join Him in heaven.  Hallelujah!!!

I made some more progress on the Day and Night quilt.  I finished cutting out all of the separate units...

There are 48 in each pile.  I also completed one of each type of sample block.  Each block consists of 8 units and will go into it's own quilt.

12.5" Day and Night Block

Mini Star Block (before trimming)

5.5" Mini Star Block (after trimming)

I noticed last night that the points on this block didn't quite meet up in the middle.  I've made myself wait before fixing it to see if I still had a problem with it in the morning.  I do!  So I'm going to take it apart and realign it.

Spider Web Block

After I assembled the Spider Web block I went back and read the directions (go figure!).  I need a special Kaleidoscope ruler to cut down the units into perfect triangles before piecing them together.  It went together just fine, but do you notice how each triangle is slanted a bit in one direction?  I have the ruler at home so I'll have to wait to work on this one until I return.

As for my pet sitting duties, everything's going fine.  Nicky hurt her back leg running yesterday morning, but it's a reoccurring injury and just needs rest.  She's being smart about it and spent all yesterday laying in her bed.

As for the other dogs, they've been wanting in and out and in and out and in and out and...  You get the picture.  It'd be much simpler if there was a revolving door here, but I suppose it's a bit of exercise for me.

On that note, I'll leave off with a picture of Abby eating breakfast...

Until later...

P.S.  Happy Birthday Gracie!!!

There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18 (MSG)

Day and Night...

There's not much to do down here on the farm pet-sitting - other than let the dogs in and out a dozen times and put the cat in the sink to get a drink of water.  It's very quiet and peaceful (except for the occasional serenade from Abby).  It's given me a chance to rest and relax and I'm enjoying the solitude. 

Having said that, this afternoon I dragged my mom's sewing machine into the living room and set it up.  It was simply too quiet in her sewing room and I'm used to having the background noise from the tv while I'm quilting.

Luckily they have a very large living room and I didn't need to move any furniture.  It'll do for the time I'm here.

I have so much free time right now that I've been able to start piecing a prayer quilt for my sister-in-law.  It's based on the Day & Night pattern out of Eleanor Burn's book of the same name.  I don't believe she created the block, just a special ruler that simplifies creating it.  Here are the strip sets for the quilt...

Using her ruler, you cut each strip set into a number of different pieces.  I finished cutting the ones on the left into these units...

I figure tomorrow I'll finish cutting the other strips and start piecing them all back together.  What's so great about this method is you end up with 3 different quilts.  Each unit is put together with it's matching units to make a quilt.  When all is done, I should have a Day & Night lap quilt 52" x 64", a Spider Web quilt 32" x 32" and a Mini Star quilt 21" x 26" with almost no waste!

There are a lot of points to match up when piecing the units together so I'll need to be careful and take my time.  I expect that part will take a while, but I'll be sure to show you when I've finished them.  My good friend Susan is now doing machine quilting so I'm hoping to finish piecing the largest top before I return home so she can quilt it for me.  I know she'll do a much better job than I would and I want this quilt to be special.

I did manage to snap a few more photos of my charges this evening.  They still don't like the camera, but perhaps they're becoming more used to it (and me).  These are the 3 dogs I'm watching.  The 2 black ones are brother and sister.

Abby needs a haircut!

I think Nicky is part Greyhound.  She's both skinny and high strung.

You can see how nervous Bandit is at the camera...

Until later...

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."

by Thomas Aquinas