New photos!

Finally, a recent picture of me! I decided to let the gray come in, and I don't regret it. Maybe if I have to look for a job, I'll reconsider, but so far, so good. Maybe 'cause I don't have wrinkles yet, I am okay. But hey, I've been resisting the white hairs as they've been coming in since I was 25! (Thanks to my paternal gram...)

This is my selvedge quilt, up to the top stage.... at least the first one. I'm working on a pieced backing to put with it. I got the inspiration from Karen Griska's "Quilts from the Selvedge Edge", but I decided to not make small diamonds in the centers. Even after making the 16 foundation blocks, I still didn't like the 'large-ness' of the florals (foundation blocks). It wasn't until I found the sandy-colored border fabric, that I decided I loved it. The cornerstones were actual 'tests' of the selvedge process made out of 5" scrap foundation. I had to cut the borders (beige) in half so I could add the center diamonds in the borders.

This is the Bingo quilt, finally finished!! Mom added the gold binding (good job mom) and Julie helped hold it up for the photo. Not sure where this quilt will go, but it's ready for our charities. Laura M. quilted our 'angel wings' in the quilt. (Looks great, Laura!)

My grandson, Kai, finally let us finish 'buzzing' his hair!! I never saw a bot squiggle and squirm so much in a barber chair. Mom, Julie is relieved too! You are SO CUTE, Kai!!!!

Hats off to two of my 'quilters'!

Our group of quilters at church are a varied bunch with different levels of skills, but they all have one thing in common.... heart. They dilligently show up month after month and do what they can for whatever charity we are working on next. I love them!!

But I want to take my hat off and bow down to a couple of ladies who, without them, we would never get our quilts done as quickly as they are. Laura McCarrick, is co-owner of a local quilt shop (my favorite!) and a professional machine quilter and teacher,... and a gift! She happened to see what we do and made the offer to help us get our quilts quilted at no expense. Since we are a self-funded group (we sell items to the parishioners) and have received many offer of fabric, thread, batting, etc., once we have the basics, the work is ours to complete. The quilting of the quilts takes so much time and we just don't know how long it could take if we had to rely on just ourselves. Sometimes I think God sends you angels that come in very beautiful forms. The two quilts I just received back from you are GORGEOUS! The pattern you quilted into the quilts is so perfect... 'angel wings'! Thank you, Laura. I'll post some pictures when we get them bound.

The other 'gift' is Mary Johnson, who is a HUGE part of HeartstringsQuiltProject. She has taught us many things, including how to make a string block look beautiful in sooo many ways. She also has quilted many, many quilts and helps to get them where they need to be, whether it is in her direction or ours. The patterns always seem to highlight the piecing done on the quilts and the quality is wonderful. Your 'wings' have given us our 'wings'. Thank you Mary.