ANOTHER YEAR OF QUILTS

Yes, I am still quilting up a storm.  Here are tons of quilt pictures.  Some you may have seen before, but are now completed.  Some are new.  Thank you to my sister, Suzanne, friend, Barbara for displaying most of these quilts for me!  You can click on the picture for a better view.

Panel wall hanging for the month of July.  If
you look close you can see the fun quilting.  Quilted
by the Quilt Shop on Main, Jasper, WI

Side view of the Blue Hydrangea quilt.  Quilted by Cathy of Happy
Dog Designs, Garland, TX  This is a soft and pretty quilt.  I purchased
this kit in Colorado in 2008.

My Garden Quilt.  Using the Turning Twenty quilt
pattern, this quilt will grace my screen porch this
summer. Love the blues and purples.  Also quilted by Happy
Dog Designs

Nifty Nine Patch.  Again, part of a BOM through the
Quilt Shop on Main Street, who also quilted it.  

Road Trip quilt.  I purchased the pattern and fabric in 2009 while
still living in Milwaukee, WI.  I finished the quilt top a few weeks ago!
Needs to be quilted.  Fun and easy to make.

Sweet Plum (named after fabric line).  I won a couple of the charm
packs in this fabric.  What to do with them?  Well, I purchased
additional fabric, found a 24" center block pattern online and using the
charm packs, built the quilt around it.  The fabric is wonderful.  This
quilt will be gifted to a very special person very soon.

Back of the Sweet Plum 

Jeannie's Quilt - named after the owner of Ye Olde Quilt Store
in Cedarburg, WI.  Part of a BOM, every month we were given
two block patterns and a fat quarter of fabric.  We had to make
the two monthly blocks using the fat quarter in each block.  The other
fabrics of the block would be anything we wanted it to be.  I made the
center block.  I love the way this quilt turned out.  Cathy of Happy Dog
Designs quilted it.

Illusion quilt.  My Friendship Star Sisters Block Swap group did
a block swap of illusion blocks.  I purchased special fabric for it.  I
loved the fabric so much, I decided not to participate in the swap and
keep this soft and pretty quilt for my self!  Not quilted yet.

Look closely at this quilt and the one below. Same quilt, different fabric.
Offered as a BOM by The Quilt Store on Main.  We had a choice of
cotton or batik fabric.  Well, I could not decide so I did both.  Above
batik version was quilted by the store and needs binding.  When my friend, 
Sally, was here over Thanksgiving she mentioned she would
like a green quilt for her guest room.  Well, I pulled this out and
she loved it. Good thing, because I really didn't like how it turned
out.  Sally paid for the quilting and I am currently hand sewing the 
binding on.  It will be sent to her in a couple of weeks.

Personally, I prefer the red version of this quilt.  Just something about a 
red quilt that makes me happy. This version was quilted by 
Cathy of Happy Dog Designs.  Amazing what a difference the color
and type of fabric used on a quilt can make, isn't it?

Made this little patriotic quilt for my friend Shelley.  It was fun and
I know that they (her husband,  Bob, is my cousin) are enjoying it.
 Quilted by Cathy off Happy Dogs Design

As part of the online block swap group I am a part of, our
first swap was a churn dash block. I have blogged about this
before, but wanted to included it in this post as well.  I added
the middle square in reverse to make it a 25 block quilt and to
add more interest.  Still needs to be quilted.

Another block swap quilt, this time with a holiday theme.  I
added the lattice work.  I love these blocks - all so different
and all so beautiful.  Still needs to be quilted.

So, while I was making my little nine patch blocks for the holiday
block swap (see above photo) I fell in love the with the fabric. Deep, rich
colors I decided to participate in the swap and make a holiday quilt
for myself!  It is not quilted in this picture, but is now complete.  It was quilted
by Cathy of Happy Dog Designs.

Decided I needed a fall quilt.  Again, I the very simple and easy
Turing Twenty pattern.  I love the border!  Quilted by The Quilt Shop on
Main.  I had enough fabric to make a matching table runner.

 House and Log Cabin quilt.  Part of a BOM offered by The
Quilt Store on Main.  If you look closely you will notice that
each house has a different "side" design to it.  We made one
house block and one log cabin block each month.  Again, we
had a choice of using batik or cotton fabrics.  Again, I made both.
The cotton version is currently being quilted by Cathy.  

Close up of the houses and log cabins.  Cathy of Happy Dog Designs
quilted this one.   She used a dog paw design for the quilting.
  After all, no home is complete without a dog (or cat or pet in general)! I will
be donating this quilt to help raise funds for a dog rescue group.

This is a sweet, girly lap size quilt. I purchased the kit "Weekend Retreat" in
Milwaukee around 2009 and finished it recently.  Truly took only
a weekend make, so it would be a great quilt to make at a quilting retreat..  
Once quilted, it will go to my great-niece, Shannon. I plan to 
make a more boy-ish version of this quilt for her little brother, Zachary.  
Below is a side view of the quilt.

I do have a few more quilts that are currently being quilted and are not pictured in this post, including a a wall hanging and baby quilt.  Stay tuned!

UNIQUE TV STAND

While I was waiting around for my farmhouse table to be done, I did find an old, solid oak, small library card catalog in the warehouse where my table is being made.

This is what I saw buried in June's warehouse!

Well, I loved it.  I am an avid reader and work part time at a library.  I needed this piece.

I had moved my TV to over the fireplace a few years ago.  While I didn't mind watching it up there, I couldn't decorate my mantle the way I wanted to.  So, I was searching for a TV stand. What could be more perfect?

Not a great picture.

Roy, the carpenter, worked his magic adding an apron around the bottom of the card catalog and legs to it.

Close up of the "skirt" and legs

I now have a beautiful, completely unique television stand.

Better picture and I love the "moon" effect from
the flash!

FARMHOUSE TABLE PART V - FINALLY - IT IS DONE!

So, the farmhouse table odyssey has finally come to an end!  It hosted Easter dinner and I am thrilled with the results.  It was a seven month journey and one with a lot of bumps in the road.

The table was originally delivered as planned right before Thanksgiving.  However, it arrive in pretty rough shape.  I say that because the top was rough - too rough for a table that would be used on a daily basis.  I wasn't happy.  So, June, the lady who I went through to have it made, said she would take back and plain the top down, re-stain it and bring it back.  We agreed, due to the holiday season, that this would take place after the holidays were over.

You can see the crack (left) and also
the roughness of the table.

Within two weeks I noticed a crack in the wood.  I called June and she, along with her carpenter, came to look at it.  By this time the crack was getting pretty wide and longer.  If you looked at the crack from a certain angle you could see that eventually it would run the whole length of the board.  Not good.  So, along with the top needing to be planed, this board needed to be replaced.

Seems like every few days the crack got bigger and bigger!
By the time it was picked up for repair it was over
18" long and getting wider.

True to their word, the middle of January my table top (just the top, the legs and frame stayed) went back to the shop.  It wasn't until many phone calls later and the middle of March before the table top finally arrived back home.

One view of the finished table.  Love it!

Added my quilted table runner - all decked
out for Easter

Served Easter dinner on the table!

Guess I should have ironed the table cloth!

Sam is always hoping for a piece of ham to fall

It took forever for my table top to return.  Seriously, I was starting to get upset!  But, I am so happy with it.

Camera makes everything long orange in color.
None of it is.  

So, the saga is over and the end result is great.  The moral of this story?  Good things sometimes take time and are worth it in the end!