Bus Trip Coming Up

My local quilt guild is sponsoring a bus trip to four shops in northern Illinois this Saturday and I can hardly wait to go. I think it is going to be really fun.

The quilt below is for Project Linus and the pattern comes from Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts Magazine, winter 2008 issue. I cut enough pieces for two tops so I'll put the other one together this winter.
This block is for an autumn quilt that I will probably do this winter, also. I made a sample block to make sure I liked my color choices and I think it will be fine. The block centers come from a panel that I cut apart and then I found some of the coordinating fabric so I got some of that too.
You may wonder what's up with the purple but several of the center squares have touches of purple in them (eggplant, grapes, etc.) and I thought the purple would make them pop. There is a border fabric that goes with this also and I cut it apart and will use the green/brown acorn part for sashing and the wider part for borders. I'm anxious to get several blocks done so I can get some idea what it will look like when finished.

IBOL Total

Okay, so the Iraqi Bundles of Love count is 3,443. If you figure around 8 - 9 lbs. per bundle then approximately 14 TONS (maybe more) of sewing, quilting and knitting supplies were sent to Iraq for the women to use in their co-ops and homes. All because Major Art LaFlamme and his wife, Kristin, thought it would be neat to ask some people to send a few boxes of items. This simple request was passed on and on and on and became a world-wide phenomenon. What impresses me most is the unbridled generosity shown by so many people to benefit total strangers. I'm really proud that I was able to be a part of this. Women rock!

Carol Doak was here!

My quilt guild hosted Carol Doak a couple of weeks ago and I took both classes that were offered. The first one was a miniature paper pieced quilt with houses, trees and stars from her book "300 Paper Pieced Quilt Blocks. I have it all done including the quilting. Hurray!!

The second class was "Fire and Ice" using the Iceland Star from her Mariner's Compass Stars Book. The top is done but the sandwiching and quilting is yet to be done.
This is not a Carol Doak pattern but it is paper pieced. This is Lotsa Pops, Quiltmaker Magazine's Project Linus pattern from Jan-Feb '09 ( I think). My cheap digital camera doesn't do too well because the dark fabric is purple, not blue, but you get the idea. This was the last top that I pieced this past winter. Now we are about 5 weeks away from leaving for Florida so I have to get my self together and decide which projects to take with me to work on this winter.