I’ve gotten lots of really nice quilt pictures to show you again today!
This was hanging in Kathy’s sewing area when I visited last week and I loved it!
I see so many sampler quilts online recently and I’m just wondering if you like making samplers or would rather make multiple matching blocks? I haven’t made a sampler in a long time with the exception of the small one I made for the church talk about quilt blocks in the Bible. I’m just curious how you all feel.
It rained all morning and now I swear I can see the grass growing and turning green in front of my eyes! Spring is here! I got this beautiful little card from Launa last week.
Tomorrow is a busy day at church with confirmation happening in the morning with coffee and cake to follow. Our community service will be held at our church Sunday evening with more coffee and bars to follow. It will be so nice to see everybody!
Asparagus is plentiful and cheap in our grocery stores right now – I just cut up this bunch in a big bowl of lettuce salad to have with lasagna and garlic bread for supper. I also have custard in the oven and when that comes out I can finally go to the sewing machine while I watch basketball.
What are you doing this last Saturday in March?
Susan K’s long term blue quilt if special. I know she is happy it is finished and so will her ancestors be happy. I am not much on one block samplers….. like the blocks to circle a center and perhaps be different. BUT right now NO new quilts starts……
I’m watching basketball too Mary! Have worked on a quilted wall-hanging and finished my laundry. Now it’s feet up to relax for a bit until I go get my 2nd Covid vaccine later this afternoon.
Do you eat the asparagus raw or blanched or otherwise? I love it but rarely buy it. Usually too expensive for my pocketbook LOL.
Donna O – it’s under a dollar a pound here right now. I usually eat it raw in my salad but I like it cooked, too – needs lots of butter tho’!
We have also been enjoying the asparagus. Like to stir-fry in a little butter with some onion, about 2 minutes, then put 2 Tbsp water in pan and cover with lid for another couple of minutes. Don’’t care for it “mushy” so this cooks it just crisp tender. Nice spring treat. Pat in Iowa City
Mary last ad I saw here in the paper was $2 per pound but still not expensive. I am often disappointed in the bunch I buy. Hard stiff stalks. Maybe for my Easter dinner I’ll buy a small amount. I usually simmered it in milk and then add butter.
Thanks Mary for your reply.
Not sure if you receive Bernina WeAllSew E-Mails. Many techniques for your Bernina and recently I saw one on machine appliqué plus you can look back at ones you may have missed. Several videos. I’ve learned from them. They come out maybe every other week or maybe not that often but come in your email. Free projects now and then.
Even if you don’t want to subscribe you can view them.
Susan’s Hawaiian quilt—WOW!!! Beautiful! Hopefully treasured all the more for being such a long term project!
I cut into some yardage to make a new project this morning. Got the blocks all cut and ready to go, then took Akira for a walk. It’s sunny out and was 47 degrees when I left, but a very chilly mile because of the wind. Poor Skyler will have a wait for a bit til it gets warmer! I cleaned my machine and am now ready to sit down to start my blocks!
Boy, that asparagus looks delicious, as does your plan for supper!
Sounds like you will have a wonderful Sunday at church. It is so good to be back to church again! Thanks for showing my quilt, pictures don’t do some of the quilts really well but all the quilts in todays blog are gorgeous. When Penny gets a bit more trained I can go back to sewing again!
Kathy Hanson – would you post the name and other info about your flower quilt in the comments for a reader?
I hope that I can find it! I made it from a class many years ago and the ladies that made the pattern and taught it are local. Give me a bit of time to see if I can find it. I would be happy to share if I can find it!
Basketball 🏀, all day!! Love the quilt show today. I love the colorful hexagon quilt and the backing on it. Beautiful card from Launa. I like sampler quilts and any quilt, really! Take care.
You have a wonderful show again today. Normally I am not a huge fan of samplers but LOVE the quilt Kathy made. Would you please ask if there is a pattern and its name. Thank you Mary for all you do for us.
Your right! You do have great pictures for the post today.
Don’t forget your cinnamon rolls for next Sunday.
The snow is melting, I see many patches of prairie grass.
I’m watching the Iowa eagles on the nest cam. Yesterday one had hatched and watching for the other egg to hatch. The nest cup is so deep it’s hard to tell what’s going on.
UPDATE!!
There are 2 bobble heads in the eagle nest,….both have hatched.
Great quilt show today! I have 2 sets of sampler blocks in my UFO stack. I keep putting off numbering them so they can be finished. I will watch my grandson play spring football in a little while. Tyler plays for Idaho State! Go Bengals!!
Trying to get in the mood to sew. My son died four years ago and my mom last year 💔 Terry
Terry – oh, I am also sorry, Terry! Could I help inspire you to start sewing something?
I am so sorry, Terry! One of my daughter’s died, it will be 20 years ago mid April. What I did was to make a memory quilt for her – I even put pictures of her in it and I hang it in my dining room in April and May (her birthday was in May). It was so helpful to me to do that, and it is wonderful for me to hang it up every year in her memory. We do learn to live with their loss (and your mother’s as well) but we are never the same. We will always think of them and love them. Love is forever!!
Terry, I am so sorry for the devastating loss you have experienced.
Grief affects everyone differently. I could not quilt for three years after my son died. I am grateful for how much working with fabric soothes me now.
I hope you find what helps you and gives you peace.
I would rather make a sampler than anything else. Especially if the blocks are all different sizes. I make lots of them. I get bored sewing the same block over and over. I’m doing the Shine On Sew Along with Bonnie and Camille right now.
Just finished my daily walk, recording Lady Baylor Bears and getting ready to wash dirty car before watching ORU win (I sure hope). I live45 miles north of Tulsa so we’re all pulling for our Cinderella team.
Mandy-my son and his family lives in Tulsa. Been there many times. I really like the area. Every time I visit my grandson will take me out to a quilt shop that is a log cabin and I enjoy shopping there so much. Have you been there? I believe it is south of Bixby.
Watching Oregon State vs Loyola now, but NASCAR TRUCKS have qualifying on a dirt track soon. Then the CUP qualifying on same dirt track is next! Go #12 Ryan Blaney! Cup race is tomorrow! A big change from paved tracks! They brought in many loads of dirt and put it over Bristol track!
So many pretty finished UFO pictures today. Thanks for posting them, Mary.
I sat out on the deck in 45o sunny weather before lunch. Still so much snow to melt. So peaceful, tho.
My heart goes out to Terry for the two big losses she has gone thru!
I prefer to make quilts with one or two blocks. I have never liked sampler quilts. I would love to be going to your church get togethers. There is nothing like small town Iowa community functions.
Gwen – being with my church family with a brownie and a cup of coffee is priceless!
I’m waiting for our electricity to come on, 30+ hours into an outage. High winds, torrential rains, it is reported that the electric will come on in five hours. We have a generator so I could sew, but I’m afraid of power surges when the electric comes back on. I have a surge protector, but I also have incredibly bad luck, so I’ll just sit here and read with my kitty. I’m ok with that, she’s getting older and has issues, so time is precious.
Sampler Quilts: I get excited about a BOM type. But I have yet to like any of the sampler quilts I’ve made. Too distracting from the whole top or something. I have begun to use sampler quilts with enough generic border as backings. Live and learn!
Not a fan of sampler quilts. However I did make a Bible quilt with all different blocks and I love it!!
Jean – did you use Kay England’s book “Road to Jericho” to make your Bible blocks? Could you send me a picture of your quilt?
Hi Mary from beautiful North Carolina! Our daffodils are all most done but still look beautiful against a backdrop of blue periwinkle on our steep banks. We’re watching a cardinal build her nest outside our kitchen window. It’s nice to having something cheery to look at since I’m out of sorts! HA! My sewing room has been boxed up and stored on the back porch in anticipation of a total basement remodel! They haven’t even started work yet but I’m already cranky without my “ happy place”! I’ve always made quilts I love and only after doing blocks of the month and quilt alongs, that I decided I really love sampler quilts. I’m doing six various BOMs and a Wednesday quilt along with Pat Sloan currently. All seven of them are sampler type quilts and I’m enamored. BUT, I’m sitting here with nine large and one small quilt that need binding. Am I off my rocker? HA!
Pam in NC – I’d give anything to have a cardinal build a nest where I could watch! I’d get those boxes unpacked in the dining room if that’s the only choice. It will pass the time while that big remodeling project happens in your basement!
Loved the quilt show today. I like sampler quilts and have made 2 and enjoyed the process. I am following along with Pat Sloan on her sampler quilt (I guess it is called a sampler) and it is fun as she gives a new block pattern each week.
Hugs and prayers go out to Terry. So sorry for her losses.
Watching basketball and I have a quilt made long ago that matched my bedroom…but I made it too small and it only covers the top of my bed. I just took off the binding and I’m going to add more batting and fabric. I think I have a plan…hope it works.
I’m watching basketball today also! I was sorry to see Loyola lose today. I loved seeing the story about the elderly fan! I wish they could have kept on winning for her. It’s great to see happy stories! I’m having trouble motivating today. Tomorrow is another day. It will be a busy week getting ready to host my family for Easter dinner and an egg hunter for my grandkids.
I wonder where my email to you went with the picture of my mini charm piece, Mary. It didn’t come back to me and I sent it 2 times. No biggie I guess.
This spring, asparagus has been the cheapest I have ever seen to be. I bought quite a few pounds and made asparagus soup, then canned it. So yummy. We also like it quickly steamed and served with lemon juice and mayo. We like our broccoli that way too.
The quilt show is wonderful today. Especially love Blue Hawaii. I once painstakingly appliqued a Hawaiian design to a background block. It isn’t easy, that’s for sure. Your finish is awesome, Susan K. from Tx.
I think sampler quilts are special. Plus, as someone else said, you don’t get bored making the same block over and over.
GO BEAVERS!! OSU
Thanks so much for the compliments. I kept the finished blocks in a box for years afraid I would mess it up when quilting. I’m so glad to have it finished.
It sure does help when you are in a positive mood to do a very good job on a project. Even if it takes several years! Very nice.
Betty in Rapid City
Look at you Mary eating your vegetables which aren’t your favorite food. I bet the lasagna tasted good too. Our grass is greening so fast with the nice weather except for that wind yesterday. Feel bad for Carol still with no power. It was 56 today so took a nice walk this afternoon. I like Kathy’s sampler quilt very much versus some I have seen. Hers has more continuity with the rows.
Beautiful pictures of quilts today. Thank you readers for sharing!
Today was beautiful. I saw 6 of “my” dogs on a walk . It takes longer when more of them are out😂. I did two loads of wash and hung them out, pressed backings for and then layered two Honor Flight Quilts, sent two Goodwill Angel cards to sick Guild members, and checked one more DD off the list! I watched Oregon win while layering. The quilt show today was beautiful. How are the squares table runners finished? Good for Carol for finishing her long time quilt—stunning. I have two sampler quilts with just 6 blocks; I like that size. I don’t like sampler quilts too much., but I like Kathy’s a lot because it has variety. Watching Arkansas vs Oral Robert’s ( they beat Ohio State🥲). We ate on the porch😀. We like grilled asparagus.
Diane and Squeak – can you believe Arkansas won?????
No. We thought that ORU would hold them off! Now we’re cheering for Syracuse! Hoping they can win. I did have Baylor on my bracket, but OSU was in the Arkansas bracket🙀🙀
I am going to sew two more vinyl zippered project bags!
Lots of pretties to see today!! I LOVE asparagus and take advantage of it when it’s available. I used to have a yummy lasagna recipe but since it’s just me now I don’t make it anymore. And I don’t like Olive Garden’s!
Custard sounds so good.
Sherrill – I would not make this large pan of lasagna for only me – Rick willingly eats leftovers so I won’t have to cook for a couple days!
I’m not much for samplers. The sampler is very pretty but I would skip it. Always enjoy your blog.
Mary
A friend in South Dakota says asparagus grows wild in the ditches near Sioux Falls, SD. She cans tons each year
Does it grow near you too?
Shirley – yes, if you know where to look!
Great quilt show. Love the nine patch. Such clever fabric placement.
A beautiful and varied quilt show & tell today! I just love asparagus, nothing says “spring” more than those fresh stalks. Back when our children were confirmation age we always had confirmation on Palm Sunday; somewhere along the line in the Lutheran church that rite was moved to Pentecost. Palm Sunday still seems like it should be “Confirmation Sunday” to me; but, then, I’m old and getting less and less accepting of change, I guess. I love Samplers, my first quilt back in the old “lap quilting” days was a sampler and I’ve always had a special place in my heart for them. I’d love to see your Quilt Blocks of the Bible sampler quilt.
A great quilt show as always!! Thanks for the comment, Mary about asparagus, just looked and it is 99 cents per pound here. Gotta have some–also looking for rhubarb. Need my spring fix for that also.
The finishes are beautiful—good job, bloggers. I am definitely making some of my stash into mini-charms.
Our favorite way to cook our asparagus is on the grill; we coat it with olive oil and sprinkle on some garlic powder. If we don’t want to start the grill, I cut it into 1 1/2” pieces and sauté with olive oil and garlic powder, just until tender crisp.
A lot of talented quilters out there. I use to teach beginning quilting and we always made a sampler quilt in order to learn different techniques. I just finished two sampler quilts from Kathleen Tracy’s book, Schoolgirl Sampler. It was so much fun. The blocks all measured 4 and 1/2 inches which was something new for me, but I made all 72 of them. I’m so happy that churches are opening up again. It’s what we have all needed all along. Mine just meets on Sunday morning right now and people are slowly coming back. Some are still to scared of the virus. I love seeing all my friends at church again.
Kate – our church was full this morning and it was so great! It felt wonderful to be back to normal after a year of a socially distanced, masked congregation!