dolly quilt parade

They're done!  All 6 dolly quilts I started are done!

There's a second Raggedy Ann and Andy quilt from fabrics Mary sent me:

It's still busy, even in the sunshine.

There's Double Irish Frogs II:

There's Watermelon Fence, which I love more every time I look at it:

 

There's Lollipop Ladybugs:

I adore this one and will have trouble parting with it.  And I hope those ladybug buttons don't cause any trouble with little ones...

There's brights bordered with VW bugs:

And last but not least, the one made to go with the doll, another brights, but with popsicles:

With the doll:

Tonight we're having some family and friends over for a cookout.  The weather is beautiful and we couldn't have asked for better on a holiday weekend.  I hope to have some quilty time, too...

Some of the blooms my guests will see (because I just have to add more pictures!):

The columbines started out as a purple and a double pink.  They reseed and grow like weeds, but look at the vareity of colors I'm getting.  Sadly the double one didn't make it last year.

This peony came from my grandpa (my dad's dad) and my parents literally had to haul it out of the ground by tying it's root ball to the car when they moved my grandma out of the house!  It's almost entirely white (little hot pink streaks at some petal edges) and smells wonderful.

This crazy rose bush (it's taller than me!) was brought over from Germany by my mom's ancestors when they immigrated to the US probably 5 or 6 generations ago.  I've been told it's probably a Yellow Rose of Texas by a friend/rose officianado, but I responded that the Yellow Rose of Texas should then rightly be called the Yellow Rose of Germany.  Starts of this have been given to any family member interested, but I seem to have the greenest thumb, as everyone claims it's hard to get started.  I had no trouble, but planted it next to our chicken coop (no chickens - hubby says they're dumb and stinky), so maybe chicken poop is the key?  But once you do, look out!

The flowers are so pretty - very old-fashioned, which I love:

The hubby doesn't like to mow near it...

I don't blame him - look at those thorns!  They seem to reach out and grab you, too.  My Great Aunt Helen used to swear hers tried to rip her clothes off every time she mowed near it!

And finally, some irises I rescued from a friend of my mom's:

She was moving and the house was going to be bulldozed to turn the land into a golf course.  Anything left behind was a goner.  They're "old fashioned" irises - no fancy hybrids with huge petals and deep colors, but I love them just the same.  And with a 100+ year-old farm house, these fit right in!

Happy quilting,

Katie

scrap challenge update - May edition

Where has the time gone?  Less than a month to go on the scrap challenge!

Sew like the wind!

Progress on scrap quilt #2 has been slow.  I've been easily sidetracked, but here are the blocks:

Now let's look around and see how the other participants are doing...

Beth reported earlier this month that she's got pieces ready to sew.  Sew Beth Sew!

Mary's last report you've already seen - she dared to blame me for her making a mess.  And then she went and bought more fabric.  THAT was not my fault!  You'd better get busy sewing Mary!

Cheryl teased us with just one finished block yesterday.  Seems she has a few other projects on her plate as well, what with that ugly fabric challenge.  Get busy morphing that ugly fabric into a butterfly so we can see the scrap quilt too!

Theri went ahead and completely finished hers earlier this month.  Stayed up all night for three or four days working on it to give to her uncle who has been diagnosed with a very aggressive kind of cancer.  Incredible finish, though the story is so sad. 

Kathleen and Oscar have been hard at work getting blocks together for her scrap quilt.  I really like it.  The more I look at it, the more I think I need one like it.  The strips of strips just seem to float in the quilt.  Very unique, but how much does that black cat hair show up?  (Like I don't know...)

Keep sewing gals!  We're nearing the finish line.  I have to sleep on my ideas for setting those blocks above, but I hope to have a second top done by June 14th!

Sidetracking me are a stack of 6 dolly quilts.  (Thanks again, Mary!)  This one was finished last night:

I really like it.  I had my doubts, but I really like it.

The other 5 are all at least basted.  Double Irish Frogs II is in the process of being bound (what I SHOULD be doing right now...), so more pics to come soon.

I also have been distracted by garage saleing (no quilty finds, though there were some good non-quilty finds), going to a cardio kickboxing class (wow...I didn't know I HAD muscles there!), and getting the beloved Neon fixed (this weekend it goes in to have the oil sensor replaced) again again again.

And finally, about two weeks ago I won a giveaway over at Dotty Jane and I've neglected to take a picture and blog about it.  So here are my winnings:

I didn't realize it until after uploading the photo that the little pattern is obscured.  It makes a little zippy pouch that is cute.  But I LOVE the Make Life charm squares.  There are some with words on them that I just want to carry around in my pocket so I can look at them when I want to.  Does that make me crazy?  No, wait, don't answer that.

And I mentioned that since I'd won a giveaway, I'd be doing one of my own to pay back.  I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be giving away, but I have to make it first and, well, you've read the rest of the post, so you know why it might take a few more weeks...  It WILL happen.

Happy quilting!

Katie