I've completed a few more blocks for my Swoon quilt.  This is block #6.

Choosing the fabrics to use for each block is really a lot of fun.

Don't these prints look great together?

 I finished another project on my To Do list so I got to make the next block for my Swoon quilt.

Four done, 8 more to go.  I'm thrilled with my progress so far.  This rewarding myself system is working well.  I just may continue to use it throughout the year to make sure I always make time for my own sewing projects.

I've completed another project on my To Do list (I can show it yet as it's a gift) so I was able to reward myself with making another block for my Swoon quilt. 

These are so fun to make.  Lucky for me I've also completed 2 other projects so I'll be working on 2 more Swoon blocks soon.

Once I put the final stitches in the binding on my Bella's Garden quilt, I got to reward myself by making another block for my Swoon quilt.

Aren't the colors so pretty?

I've got a long way to go on this project but I'm already getting a little excited.

I'm sure you've heard the old saying "the shoemakers' kids have no shoes". That's what it's been like here, at least regarding our own bed.  While I've made plenty of snuggle quilts that reside on the couch and get used by all of us regularly, our own bed was neglected for far too long.

I'm a little embarrassed to show you the "before" picture but I'm so happy with the end result that I want you to see the huge difference my new quilt makes.

I had purchased this quilt from a store when we moved into the house, to have something to put on the bed until I could make something prettier.  That was 11 1/2 years ago. I grew to really dislike the color scheme and I was long over the brown curtains.  The headboard needed to go to.  We bought it at a huge discount 28 years ago because of a small chip on a leg that no one could see and it wasn't our style any more.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen some of the photos I've shared of the process of making my new quilt.  It all started with this stack of fabrics I purchased exactly 10 years ago this month. It's Bella by Amanda Murphy.

When this line came out, I immediately fell in love with the color palette and the prints.

After picking a pattern (The Garden Fence by Ann Baxter, published in QUILT magazine in December 20??), calculating the yardage because I needed to make it bigger than the pattern finished and placing my order, it went into a project bag, onto the shelf and sat.  And sat, and sat and sat.

In May 2020, since I was stuck home and had a lot more time on my hands, I pulled this out, determined to get it started.  The construction was easy enough as it really was only a huge pile of Half Square Triangles.

I had a bit of an impediment  help when it came time to trim all 168 HSTs. I guess Miss Callie had to ensure I was doing a good job.

Laying out the blocks is a favorite step.  I get a first glimpse of how the finished quilt is going to turn out.  I'm pretty OCD about not having the same print or color right next to each other.

Adding the Yellow sashing was the final step to assembling the blocks.

Next the blocks were sewn into the rows, adding the Green sashing strips between the blocks and the rows. The colors are off in this photo because I took it at night. 

With the addition of the borders, the top was done.  This pic was taken in February 2021. Needless to say that while I typically work on only 1 quilt at a time, this one was the filler between other projects.

Then in Sept of this year (Yes  1 1/2 years after I finished piecing the top) I finally loaded it on the frame. I was determined to get this done before the end of this year.

I chose Glide Light Turquoise for both the top and bobbin threads.  I love how it plays with all the colors and prints.

Hand stitching the binding was a longer than normal drawn out process due to our Fall activities but eventually it was finally done, 2 1/2 years after it was started.  It's certainly not my oldest WIP but it's one that I'm beyond thrilled to have finished.

As I was working on the photo shoot, the sun decided to cooperate and gave me the most amazing light. It was tough to get the whole quilt in the photo as it's really big, finishing at 94" x 106". That's 400 lineal inches of hand stitched binding.

I love how you can really see the gorgeous texture.

Even the stitching shows nicely on the back.

I used one of the prints from the fabric line because for this particular quilt, I wanted it all to match. No matter which side you see, it's all so pretty.

The panto choice was Tickle Too by Beany Girls from Willow Leaf Studios and of course, I used my favorite Quilters Dream 80/20 batting.  I love how this batting is just the right weight, shows just the right amount of the stitching and doesn't crinkle up quite as much as 100% cotton batting.

With the too long overdue replacement of our mattress and the purchasing of a new frame, this quilt now adorns our bed. I'm a happy, happy girl. No more daily backaches and a pretty quilt to snuggle under every night.

The greatly disliked brown curtains was also replaced and now this space is a ton more cheerful and bright.  It makes me smile every time I walk in the room.  

Finishing this quilt was my Christmas present to me. 

 I've always wanted to make a Swoon quilt. I bought the pattern and the fabric many years ago.  And then it was another project that sat sitting on the shelf.

This past summer, there was another Swoon quilt along aka Swoonalong and I had hoped to join in, even if I wasn't able to keep up with the schedule.  Well it didn't happen at all, but the pattern and fabric stack was still on the corner of my cutting table....tempting me.

Recently I decided to start on this quilt, but only as a reward to myself for completing other projects, whether it be a quilt for a customer or a project from my own list.  The fabrics I'm using are True Colors by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirit.  I fell in love with the bright colors and prints of this line when it first came out in 2014 and I immediately bought a 1/2 yard stack (skipping the brown, gray and black prints) Sometime later I also bought a fat quarter stack, not realizing I already had plenty. :)

Here is my first block.

I've doodled a bunch of ideas for the layout and I think I've settled on one but time will tell.  I need it bigger to fit our king size bed so it will end up just a bit different than then pattern.

Who knows how long this one will take to be finished but as long as I can be focused and work at getting projects crossed of the To Do list, I'll continue to be able to reward myself by making anotehr block. Stay tuned to see the progress.

 I don't think any blogger means to not post for almost 2 months.  Certainly I don't but sometimes life gets in the way of things we want to do.  What have I been up to lately?

Sunshine hasn't had any motivation to work on the new quilt for her bed so when I asked if she wanted help, she readily said Yes.  At the rate she was going, this quilt was never going to get done.  All of the blocks are sewn and I'm working on adding the faces before I add the sashing and border.  This quilt will get finished before long.

These are the culprit that has been robbing me of sewing time.  Yes it's Girl Scout cookie season here.  Not only do I help my daughter with her own sales but I'm the Cookie Mom for my troop and the Cookie Manager for my enter service unit (neighborhood area of troops).  Our service unit is the largest in our council of 15 counties and although we aren't allowed to booth sales this year, there's still inventory to manage, numbers to crunch and figures to reconcile with the baker's program used to manage the sale.

Without being able to sell at booths this year, our troop sales are down, which is to be expected.  We're saving for trips to NYC to see a Broadway show and Washington DC so we're happy with just being able to sell at all this year.  Hopefully next year, everything will be back to normal and we can work hard to earn funds to help pay for these future trips.

There has been a bunch of secret sewing also going on here but unfortunately I can't talk about any of it yet.  Just trust me....some of it is really exciting and I can wait to share the great news!