And The Last Seam Goes In -

This happened yesterday.

Much quicker than I thought it would!

But something happens in a very fast way when you are working with extra large blocks - 

11 seams to join the blocks into a quilt top and it was done!

I take copious amounts of notes as I sew because I will KNOW right away if my block pressing will work when joining block-to-block and finally into the quilt top.

Pressing went MARVELOUSLY!  Hooray for big wins!

And here she is!

I'd like to introduce you to Abbeygate, named after a famous street in the Latin Quarter of Galway, Ireland.

There are buildings on this street that date back to the 1600s and are still in use as shops and pubs. 

Yes, pressing matters and so does stay stitching around the outside edge!

Why did I press my triangles to one side?  Because I plan on cross-hatching with hand quilting and pressing open wouldn't do as a "stitch in the ditch" because I"d be catching nothing but sewing thread.

If I were to machine quilt this one, Pressing open would have maybe eliminated some bulk.

Or if I had decided to do something like MORE Baptist Fans (I need a break!) pressing triangles open would be an okay thing because the hand quilting would cross the seam lines, not stitch along them.

So it depends on how you want to handle the quilting when it comes to what to do with the seam pressing directions.

From the depths of the stash -

Column prints were very popular during the Civil War era.  I picked this up in the early 2000s (Which makes it over 20 years old now? What?!) And the perfect quilt for it never came up.

It's one of those large directional prints that works great as a backing...

The color is a bit off here due to my overhead lighting, but those roses are mostly dark red with a bit of pink.  And since this is NOT a Christmas quilt, I think it will do fine.

Besides - what else is a girl supposed to do with 8 yards of this?

And surprise!!!  I've got it in another colorway, too.  What was I thinking?

The goal today is to get this loaded into the long arm for machine basting.

Yes, there will be a pattern, but not likely until late summer/fall because the hand quilting could take that long.

Some things are worth the wait!

Our trip to England didn't reveal as many tile floors as I usually find in places like Ireland and Scotland - I think because we didn't visit many churches or pubs where I usually find such things.

Here are a couple from door stoops -

Simple but so classic!

Storefronts had wonderful old mosaics from businesses past -

I love the font and the corner detail on this one -

Isn't this wonderful?

Such artistry!

Of course, there had to be a photo of this iconic mosaic!

Now this has possibilities!

Seen outside a pub in London.

And yes, there was a squeal when I saw what the USPS left for me!

Your strips have started arriving and I am over the moon excited.  This is the best Christmas gift ever - thank you all so much!

Some of you know me so well -

My favorite chili chocolate bars!

(All for me, because I'm the only one who adores them!)

Some with such sweet notes that they brought tears to my eyes.

Some tied so prettily with ribbons worth saving!

Hubster Dave is at the QPO this morning meeting with the electrician who is helping us get the electrical panel changed so that I am generator ready when the next storm comes.

They have replaced the meter and are now installing a plug thing (I'm so technically challenged you know!) so that we can just plug the generator into the thing and I'll have full power at the QPO during an outage which means I can keep the internet running for the retreaters at the inn.

They'll have the whole house generator - and I'll have a way to keep things going in my office.

The storms we've had this past year have let us know that this is the next "Big Thing" that we need to do to prepare for future things.

At any rate - the power will be off over there until they get that all installed - which means, I'm going to start digging into the aqua strings this morning here at home and I'll have some progress to show you on the string quilt that your gifted aqua strips are going in!

If you are just now seeing this request - Would you, could you - if you feel so inclined - Send me a string/strip of the aqua you are using in your Old Town quilt?  Minimum width is 1'' but I can use anything above that and they don't need to be straight cut.

Simply put a strip in an envelope, put a stamp on it and mail it to me at:
Bonnie HunterQuiltville12615 Wilson HwyMouth of Wilson VA 24363

Thank you so much!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Follow your bliss, folks!