This was a fast and fun little quilt to make.

I got the idea from Jackie’s tutorial. First you piece together blocks to make a top and add a border to it.

Then make a template of a small square with the off centered X in it. You have to be sure that when laying the X on the lines that you don’t cut into the next block.

After I’ve cut out the blocks with the template the first quilt looks like Swiss cheese.  If you are really thrifty you may want to cut smaller blocks from what’s left to use in the border.

Keeping the small squares in order sew them together to make a smaller quilt with pinwheels.

Add some borders, quilt it, and bind it, and ta-dah! I’ve made Spring Pinwheels in a simple fast way!

Here’s where you will find me 2 or 3 days a week helping Amy in the office at GraRock Trucking.

And no, the photo has not been flipped. I’m left-handed!

This small art quilt came about because I got side tracked making another quilt.

I was working on this project inspired by Kaffe Fassett.

In the process of trimming my blocks I ended up with this pile of scraps and just couldn’t make myself throw them away.

Now I need to finish my original project.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of our projects.

Mother & Julia provided some entertainment for us by singing “When You and I Were Young, Maggie.”

Sewing Bloopers

Uh-oh! Barbara sewed her red diamonds side by side instead of end for end.

Polly’s lovely machine quilting is deceptive.

It looks like this on the back side.

Rebecca is not happy. She spent over a day paper piecing these beautiful blocks …

… only to find out they were drafted too small.

I added triangles to the wrong side of my square.

And Mother sewed some of her blocks together wrong also.

However, our spirits are not dampened!

We have enjoyed having Julia & Queena join us for sewing here in the basement. I was named after this dear lady who kept us in stitches with laughter. I remember that she gave me a “name sake” dress made of red & green  plaid fabric when I was a little girl.

Julia’s daughter Queena and Emily are big friends.

Mildy brought an old antique quilt for “show & tell.”

And then she also serenaded us with the harmonica and yodeling.

Father comes over to the steps to see what all is going on.

Yesterday we had a nice visit to the VA Quilt Museum. The exhibit was on kaliedscopes and displayed quilts by Jinny Beyer, Jane Sassaman, Paula Nadlestern, and others. It was a wonderful exhibit but I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures.

Be sure to check out Polly and Barbara’s blogs for other activites of our Heatwole Sewing Retreat.

The last carload arrived this morning from Georgia. My sister Coleen came with her 2 daughters and 1 grandson. Here Coleen reads a wonderful Valentine Story to us about Claire Bleu.

Katina brought projects along to help keep Dexter occupied.

And then Katina worked on an oil painting of children playing in a yard.

Before bedtime I finished up my second project. Now I need names for both of them.

For the quilt on the left, I recieved blocks from my fellow PTQs using the North Wind pattern in yellow/green and red/violet. Then I added the plum squares for the border. The quilt on the right is made mostly from fat-quarters that I recieved from Valerie Wells. The pattern is based on a pattern, Garden Rows designed by Gerri Robinson.

I hardly know where to begin as there has been so much activity here at my sister Sheila’s house. My niece Jennifer has been working on her Cathedral Windows quilt for quite a few years but she keeps plugging away. She will only be able to be here evenings so she wanted hand work instead of machine work.

Barbara has already finished this quilt top with the “diamond running through.”

Ashton found the toys upstairs and …

… and Amy got a little more of her “Spinning Pinwheels” quilt sewed together.

Polly gave me this 2 lb. bag of Circus Peanuts to share. She knows I really like them.

Reanna wanted to make a something too.

Ashton liked playing here with the drums, but when one of the boys came and really whooped up a ruckus he was glad to be sitting in Gramma’s lap.

Visis Barbara & Polly’s blog to see more pictures of our sewing retreat and how we could visit with our niece Sheri all the way out in Nevada.

The sewing has begun.

Our sewing day began when these youth girls came with a little pile of fabric cut out and ready to be sewed into dresses.

At the end of the day they each had a dress to model for me.

Vicki decided to draw instead of sew.

The youth boys showed up around 5 and started making supper for the girls. It was interesting watching Jessie, Justin, & Dale cut up vegetables with clumsy fingers.

 Chad said he knew how to make good tea. And he did. It was good ole Southern Sweet Tea!

Justin & Lowell mixed up the pizza crust to perfection.

These boys worked like troopers in my kitchen.

And then it was time to serve the girls.

After supper Dustin & Justin supplied us with some music.

Karla at the piano …

… and Veronica on the violin.

And then there were table games too.

Parting Shot