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One of the quilts I made for a student was a Jacob’s Ladder quilt. I used Kansas Troubles fabrics and alternated the color placement in the blocks then hand quilted it using the Baptist Fan pattern. I loved the way it turned out so much, I started making one for myself. Then I sold my house in Litchfield and quickly had to pack up and move. They have been missing for the past 2 and a half years!

Last week, while drinking my morning coffee, I toyed with the idea of starting the Lucy quilt I have been collecting orange and black fabrics for a fall lap quilt. Who doesn’t need yet another Work In Progress? I decided it can’t hurt to read the directions at least. So I brought down the tote it is all stored in. Looked easy enough so thought I would check out the oranges to make sure I still liked them all, and there in the bottom were two storage bags with KT fabric.

I was so excited I went and searched for the notes from my first quilt. I had made it back in 2016!

I had 9 blocks finished and perhaps another 10 cut out. Now I am up to 40 blocks done and love how it is turning out! I am going to make mine bed size with a block layout of 7 x 8 so it should finish up at 84″ x 96″. I will hand quilt this the same way as Gina’s.

I love the warm colors of fall so am sticking to the reds, purples, oranges, and greens with a few browns and blacks thrown in. Easy to find in the Kansas Troubles lines. It is 90 percent KT with a few other Moda lines in the backgrounds, Primitive Gatherings and 3 Sisters.

In the spring, Humble Quilts blog has hosted a Doll Quilt exchange for I think the past seven years.  I was able to participate again this year and was thrilled with the doll quilt I received from Laurie B. Simply Amazing.

Such tiny half square triangles and flying geese!  I do love flying geese, but have never made any this small!  It is an amazing quilt and so generous of Laurie.  Quilters are the best people!  She even included the adorable pincushion as well.  Personally, I think I received the best of the bunch in this years exchange!

The doll quilt I made went to Ruth in McMinnville, OR.  I saw a large quilt in Vintage Legacies by Carol Hopkins that I loved and though I would try it in Doll Quilt size.  The whole thing was one block repeated in different fabrics.  I have heard it called Broken Dishes as well as Hourglass.  Either way, I love how when the blocks are next to each other, the eye will also focus on the pinwheel created.

I hand quilted roughly a quarter inch inside the background triangles.  It was super fun to make and I even have a few extra blocks to create one for myself.  In Ruth’s thank-you, she mentioned that she also blogged about the Doll quilt exchange at Country Log Cabin.  I feel I should know Ruth – she lives in a town where one of my brothers used to work, her son is retiring from the Air Force, as my other brother did a few years ago.  I also am making a quilt for him using red, blue, and cream grunge fabrics along with a few of his old uniforms that I am in the process of ripping apart.  She spent summers at her Uncle Henry’s farm in Minnesota, as did I at my great Uncle Henry (and Aunt Ardis in my case), but for only a week at the most.  Love her sampler quilt at the top of her blog…

This is the fifth year I have participated in the Doll Quilt exchange and it has always been a positive experience.  I would encourage others to participate as well.  Lori recently gave some stats of the participants.  There are people from over half the states participating and several countries.  It really does seem like a small world.

Last week I found out that the job I had for over 30 years will likely soon be over.  Greg (my boss) and I were blind sided.  The school we work at found a company that will pay for the renovation they want to happen, so Pioneer is out and Sodexo is in.  I am over the shock of it, finally, but as soon as someone stops to say good-bye I tear up.  Perhaps it is a good thing a pandemic has hit and so few people are on campus!

In cleaning out a drawer, I found pictures from years ago of student workers.  We have had so many students pass through our dining hall.  When I got home I started looking at pictures of some of the quilts I’ve made for the students that made an impact with me.

One of the first was a Butterfly quilt from a Debbie Mumm pattern.  I actually made it twice.  As pictured, for Katie, and in purples, for Lindsey.

One of the early ‘disappearing’ patterns from Missouri Star Quilt Company was the Disappearing Nine Patch.  I used patriotic prints for a quilt for Greg.

For Joni, I had a new book called Scrap-Basket Sensations.  All made out of Jelly Rolls, another thing new to the time.  I bought the book for one pattern, and have yet to make it!  I made Island Chain, but instead of using the island batiks pictured, I used Kansas Trouble fabrics, as that was the color palette I loved back then and all I bought.  I made it over a spring break and loved the pattern so much, I bought 3 more of her books!

It was Snickers approved.

Using yet more Kansas Troubles, I made a quilt for Gina using the pattern Jacob’s Ladder.  By switching the color placement of the blocks, it formed a cool pattern.  An old block called for an old quilting motif as well so I had quilted it using the Baptist Fan pattern.

I made a quilt for Seth that is from a favorite designer, Carrie Nelson.  I modified it for size from the pattern, but it is called Tire Tracks!

Gone to Pieces quilt shop in Kimball offered a Block of the Month program one year that I admired every time I went to the store.  I finally signed up to participate in it.  So many stars!  I enjoyed individual blocks, but it was so much work.  In the end, I loved it! But I had already promised it to Natasha.  It was really hard to give away.

Long post, so one more.  Jeanette and I went to Des Moines for an AQS quilt show.  We also took a few classes.  One was using a new ruler to help sew diamonds.  In the class, I of course used Kansas Troubles 🙂 but MJ liked red and purple.  So that is what I used.  I was doubtful, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Every time I look at the pictures, I think of the student I made the quilt for, and am thankful for the time that I had with them.  I had many good years at NCU and met many wonderful people, a few of them quilt worthy.  🙂

February flew by and then in March things came to a halt.  Wish I could say I have been productive through it all, but not so much.  Hard to look forward when things are changing daily.  Still working, but reduced hours.  It has been hard to focus during this pandemic.  But before the Shelter In Place order came, I received this quilt back from Jeanette, my long arm quilter!

I absolutely love how she quilted it! My goal is to get the binding on it this month.  I will post more pictures then because I can’t show it off in person! But here is a taste!

Here is a link to other people working on projects this month: Elm Street Quilts

For my One Monthly Goal, hosted by Elm Street Quilts, I wanted to make a Christmas block each month, with the idea that by the end of the year, I would have enough blocks for a quilt.  This month was a success!

The pattern is from Cotton Way called Christmas Cheer, a cute row quilt of Christmas blocks.  Truly adorable.  I am not sure how many blocks I will end up with, but I intend to enjoy the process!  Check out the other goals met – Elmstreetquilts.com

Last year I saw so many adorable Christmas quilt Samplers – Fig Tree, Cotton Way, Lori Holt, Moda Bake Shop, etc.  The last couple of years I haven’t been able to get much sewing done the last third of the year, so this year I am hoping to do a few blocks each month.  This month I want to start with the Santa Hat!  Check out #OneMonthlyGoal or https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2020/01/one-monthly-goal-january-link-up.html to see what others are working on this month!

I finished my #onemonthlygoal! The label uses the fabric from the English Garden line that matched the candy bar wrapper, but I didn’t use it in the quilt. I was originally thinking of using it for the binding, but in the end I didn’t like the look & went with the floral. So happy with how it turned out! And so glad to have it on my bed!

To check out more, here is the link, https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2019/12/one-monthly-goal-december-link-up.html?m=1

So I didn’t get my goal met for November, so maybe this month I can get my challenge quilt finished, still needs the label and binding to be completed.  I didn’t decide until December 1st how I want to do the label.  So a better chance this time, even though it will be another week before I will get to work on it again.  But I do intend on getting it done!

If you go to Elm Street Quilts or #onemonthlygoal, you can see what others are working on this month.

I did get a quilt top completed in November, that I had started the previous November.  It was the Secret Santa sew along from Temecula Quilt Company, back in 2018.  But I am glad to have the top finished and maybe I can hand quilt it over the winter, at least that’s the plan.

I do like how it turned out – it looks much better in person.  🙂

While reading other blogs, I recently found One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.  What a great idea to keep you motivated!  This month I am going to try and join in.  Only one needs to be listed and I decided to focus on finishing the challenge quilt.

Jeanette has finished the quilting, over a month ago, and I just need to bind it – that has been cut and pieced already also.  It’s the labeling that stalls me.  I try to remind myself that I don’t need to write a novel, just stick to the facts.  So let’s hope I can get it done!

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2019/11/one-monthly-goal-november-link-up.html

Follow the link and check out other projects in the works as well!

This is the farm where I grew up.  My Mother moved here when she was 10 and we bought it from my grandparents when I was 4.  It has seen many changes over the years.  In the late ’50’s, indoor plumbing and an addition was added to the house.  In the ’70’s the hog barn was taken down and the feeding floor was put in, which you can’t see for ALL THE TREES! The machine shed was added and the grainery  has been taken down.  The bins were sold and removed and at the beginning of this month, the barn and silos were taken down.  There have been several aerial photos taken over the years.  The first one was really big, taken in the 70’s.  You can actually see my Grandpa in it testing the fence.  In this one, I think taken around 2008, my Mom and I are in the garden.

The pictures are nice, but my favorite rendition was made by my cousin, Susan.

I am not sure when she made it.  But I love all the details she included.  It hangs at my aunt’s house and I admire it every time I visit.  It is so true to my grandparents farm.  The weeping willow tree south of the house – my cousin, David, hid in it during a night time game of Kick the Can.  We raised Guernsey cows, except for two Holsteins named Black and Decker.  Grandma always had a big garden opposite the house, across the driveway.

She was able to use one of Grandpa’s shirts for him on the tractor.  I love the milk cans too.  Grandpa delivered milk when our parents were young.  The fencing around the yard and the calf barn, the straight furrows (quilting) of the fields, the tool shed in the middle of the circle… I love all the details!  She did such a great job!  I could not begin to make such a beautiful tribute to our heritage.