Marching On ! (I missed February)

 Hello!  I will start with my sad news first.   We helped COCO over the rainbow bridge on February 28th.

She was born on Christmas Day 2009.  She always loved the snow!

She loved the February blizzard!

We had family coming to stay with her while we went on a cruise, but Coco stopped walking on her own and that was our last line of acceptance. 

A friend gifted my this sweet figurine.  I've been very sad as you can imagine.  She was a constant companion for over 16 years.  I will add more photos at the end.

I made a dolly quilt for Diane.  I've been making them for about 20 years.  Here is this years quilt.  A simple 4 patch with brown and red.

Nutmeg got in on the fun (bribed with a few treats).

I made a protest quilt in response to the ICE killings in Minnesota.  This was a human thing, not a political thing.... 

It is all paper-pieced and took me a long time!  It still needs quilting.

I have completed all the blocks for my Semiquincentennial  and in the process of piecing it all together.

We sailed away to the caribbean on our favorite cruise line:  Holland America.  We were sailed on the Rotterdam, a new boat to us.

Dining room above, and Tamarind restaurant/bar below.

the Orange Party (in honor of their home country and Royalty)

cake me away party...

Old San Juan

Dominican Republic

St. Thomas

Holland Private Island.  The water was amazing!

I even found a sewing machine on board!  They have a lot of interesting art pieces  centered around music.

If you're still scrolling through, I have FINISHED my eagle quilt top!  woo hoo!

I think it was on 2025 goal list.

Part of the backing.  Isn't it great?  Wendy and I found it in Portland.  It is an Alexander Henry print.

Signs of spring at long last.  Daffoldils.

Thanks for the visit and for all of your kind comments on FB and Instagram  about my Coco.

Until next time,

xoxo

Barb

Jolly January! 2026

Happy New Year!  (is it?) Let us hope so.  My first finish this year is a Japanese Rice Bag.

I did a lot of big stitch to add interest and embellished with buttons.

Whoopie!  Coco turned 16 on Christmas Day!

She is deaf and also probably almost blind, but still happy to go for a walk and have her breakfast and dinner.I am recommitting to my Jane Stickle Blocks.  You will note that I always use Jane Stickle, as Dear Jane was a book title....an idea.....not the quilt's name or makers name.  Her name is Jane Stickle.

In an effort not to repeat fabrics, I have selected all 81 prints I'll be using to make my quilt.  I am using the potholder method for construction.  Here are some blocks:

I have joined Cecile and Corrine's Sew Along this year.  The theme is triangles.  The rules are you have to make 16 different blocks with no two the same.

Here is my plan.  This will also be my semiquincentenial quilt to commemorate the 250th Birthday of America.   It may also commemorate the end of our Democracy, but I pray it won't be....  I am literally heartsick about the state of things.  You are free to feel however you wish, but this is my blog and my opinion.

Here are my blocks so far.

I continue to work on my Scrappy Star Sew Along.  

My wish for you is that you have lots of quilt projects to keep you busy and happy.

If you are still here,  I will leave you with these beautiful nature photos, which have been inspired by fellow bloggers Janet, Gladi and Gail.

xo 

Barb

TMI Quilt

 Back to my Three Mile Island Quilt.  

The accident happened in 1979 so I'm using classic 70s colors; avocado green, harvest gold and chocolate.    I'll be adding sashing and borders of course. I found this great chart on line.

I'm using the Jen Kingwell steampunk pattern that I used in my Chernobyl quilt.  There will be three in the series of Nuclear Accidents.

I've been sifting and sorting and purging again.   It is sometimes a little painful, but it all feels better when it is gone.

One of the projects was auditing my sheets.  Ridiculous!  I had so many sets and random singles.

While watching the January 6th hearings I got them organized and folded.

King sets and pillowcases I want to keep

Twin sets - one set going back about 25 years.  The tulip sheets by Laura Ashley and they are still in perfect condition.

Queen sets:

Would I rather be sewing? sure.....but it felt great to get this job done.

Some are going to Goodwill and some are going to my kids.  yay!

Other stuff I'm letting go of to various thrift and charitable outlets:

Don't worry - that Chrome quilt was not included!  ha ha

As Mary Poppins so wisely said: "Well Begun is Half Done". 

I always over plant my containers because I want them to look lush and full.  It becomes survival of the fittest.

The weather has been sublime.  Coco likes to enjoy the fresh air outside without actually being outside, lol.

The labyrinth down at the Sound has expanded a lot since I last saw it.  I would have walked it, but coco wouldn't have understood.... at all.

Happy Juneteenth.  I'm grateful for  this cultural awareness holiday.

Stay well friends!

xo