Matryoshka Mom

Hi all,
It has been a few months since I have posted. And thanks to Joan for the nudge to post. Well for those of you who are interested I have been preoccupied with several things . One of the things is cutting out and starting the CCCQ (Cheddar Cheese n Crackers quilt) at humblequilts.blogspot.com. I decided to make mine a twin size and at the end of the pattern she enlarges the pattern pieces. I was able to take these proportions and plug them into my Quilt Pro to see how many blocks to make, ummm about 80 or so. Well,...This CCCQ has smaller pieces that are browns and pinks and blues but I am going to make mine Brown, red and maybe poison green. In other words I would like for all the 80 blocks to be different fabrics.

Ok for those of you who do not know I have several UFO's (Unfinished Objects). One of those being a DJQ (Dear Jane Quilt). And mabye in the near future you will get to see or hear about some the others. Now what does this have to do with the CCCQ one well I really want to use My Civil war fabrics for the DJQ first. So I unearthed the DJQ container and I blew the dust off of the top. Inside there are more blocks done than I originally imagined. I even tucked away a suprise ..a Civil War Jelly roll. I decided to start a new block and use some brown in the block and the leftovers could be used in the CCCQ quilt. I decided to handpiece all of my DJQ blocks so the process is slow. The smallest pieces of pink ,brown and red leftover from these DJQ blocks can be cut down into 1 1/4" pieces to be used for the Dipped in Chocolate quilt. Now I know this all may seem a little crazy but I am determined to figure out an organizational process so that the pieces can be used in the most effecient way.
Also when I was rummaging around through bins of projects I found the 6 1/2" rainbow baskets quilt. This quilt needs 12o blocks and I have about 30 done. Several of the blocks were cut out ready to go. It would be nice to finish cutting out the different fabrics for the blocks so that I could just open the box and start sewing. There are 2 parts of the block .The top handle is appliqued and the bottom is pieced. And today I appliqued 5 handles.
On the subject of baskets, 2 weeks ago, I started the Trick or Treat quilt from the Cold Wind Blows book by Blackbird Designs. these are fun little blocks and each are appliqued on a different shirting background. The leftovers from these are going to be cut down and used in the Omigosh quilt. Omigosh quilt is a pattern by Sue Garman made with 1", 2" strips of shirting and civil war fabrics. The pattern ismade of 9-patches and Shoe fly blocks. They are simply charming.

On a different note... I am in the process of organizing the instructions for a Lone Star Medallion Quilt I designed for a class I will be teaching at Painted Pony n' Quilts in June. I am also writing the instructions for a Paper piecing class that will be taught at the same shop..

But today.... I went to the most oganized party I have been to in a long time. A friend of ours , Roberta, who attended one of the bees I attend was leaving. Patsie organized a signature block gift for her. Each of us made a block for her with our signature in the center. The 12" blocks were laid out on a table in a separate room and after lunch we all presented them to Roberta. The luncheon was organised so that each person brought a part of a salad. It was really neat. Several ladies bought Chicken strips from KFC to add and there were Cakes as well. really yummy.
Mabye I will post some photo's soon.

Tanya...