Heres Abe!

Happy Friday!

Here is my finished top for the Abraham Lincoln Quilt Challenge.

And some close ups:

It has changed many times and here are a few of them.

Here's an early one 

This was the most recent working design -

In the end I just didn't like the scale of those log cabin blocks.  Too bad too, because I made 20 of them!~ and they are 1/2" finished logs.

This way I can incorporate the log cabins (after all he was born in one!) and also the Declaration of Independence which was a source of encouragement for him during the Civil War to keep our country united.

I had several requests to see the orange quilts in one photo.  Some girlfriends were here yesterday and were kind enough to hold them.

Also, I was remiss in telling everyone the 5 things I see as them having in common; they were:

Color - all the same; solids, except for the purples which were a tone on tone on muslin.

Flying Geese - they all contained these units even the one on the left, which looks like a jesters collar.

Drop diamond Machine Quilting - over the whole surface, right over the applique, off white thread.

Border Treatment - they all have pieced top and bottom borders and strips on the sides.

Berries!!

Thanks for all the other similarities that you found!  It was fun to read them like all being botanical and all having birds of some kind.

I ran across this the other day.  It is a name tag to a Gwen Marston retreat.  The theme that year was 4-block quilts, so I made a 4-block name tag for me and my Mary B.   During the course of the retreat other 4 letter names were made including Gwen.  Some women used diphthongs to create 4-block name tags.  Like

 K  A

TH Y

A diphthong is a group of consonants that make a single syllable sound.  Can your name be a 4-block?  The berries were added at the retreat as well....aren't quilters fun?

The best for last -

This week I received a surprise gift from Vicki of Load of Scrap.

It came with a beautiful note.  I can't believe how generous and thoughtful she was.  Thanks again, Vicki, I just love it.

Whoopie for September!

Hooray!  It's September, the most wonderful time of the year!

My husband was returning from a trip to LA, it was the last official weekend of the summer and I decided to make some whoopie pies.  I'm wearing an apron my dear friend, Pat, sent me for the my Birthday.  It's a hoot!

So in addition to the traditional chocolate whoopies, (see recipe here at Be*Mused) I decided to try red velvet pies too.  You can find the recipe for them by clicking here.

They turned out a little thicker and smaller than the chocolate, but they were delicious!

and speaking of orange, look at this dollie - hot pink with orange dots!!  - thanks Jilly!

Dog days of summer - coco and the garden

The bird house on the left is from my husband, I'm hoping a little winter bird will move it to stay to warm.

Quilting??

I'm working on my Abe Lincoln quilt and it has taken a sudden and dramatic turn.  The result will be so many left over blocks, that I'll have enough for another small quilt. 

Winner!

Winner! Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.  I hope if you came for the giveaway you come back for inspiration.

Here are the names -

My son Andrew, thanks for all your computer help, picked form the prize basket --

And the winner is.....Donna of Cats Meow Two !!

Please send me your mailing address and congratulations!


Kate of Empty Fields sent me this lovely note and wonderful fabric!  Thanks, Kate.  Visit her blog, she has lovely things!

And finally, I'm back to Abe Challenge Quilt.


I hate this part!!  I used to skip it, then I became a big girl, and my quilts are better for it :)

Give away - Red & Orange again??

Happy Monday -

Thank you for all your comments on my Orange Series and for entering the giveaway.

I've added a few more goodies to the fall basket, including chocolate.  Good luck to everyone.

I'll close the giveaway tomorrow and announce. the winner on Wednesday.

A couple of years ago I had two challenges, one with my small group, which was "Baskets" and one with the Garden State Quilters, which was pulling 2 crayons from a big box.  Can you believe I pulled out a red and orange crayon?  What were the chances.

Here is the little quilt that I made with red, orange and baskets.

It doesn't have berries, but I did try prarie points for the first time.  Here is a close up of the quilting.  On the partial baskets, I decided to quilt the the missing parts.  You can see that here.

For the backing I used this fun Asian fabric -

 Okay, now you really have seen all my orange quilts - whew!

See you on prize day, Wednesday.

Orange, Purple, Berries and Red all over......

Warning - the color combinations in this post may be disturbing to some viewers.

It all started at Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Retreat in 1996.  A group of retreaters decided to have a little challenge.  We picked the color orange, that was the challenge, use orange.

I decided to do a twist on a traditional block and this is the quilt "Orange Horse Feathers."

This is the back - a funny Halloween print.

 My friend, Laurie made the label of  dancing skeletons (this ones' for you Tonya).

I had so much fun doing this one, I decided to make another one on my own.  This is the second one "Alleluia".

My friend Mary B. said she always thought "Alleluia" when she saw these trumpets - so this is what I did on the back.  Was she surprised at the time!  Shame on me, no label, must fix that!

I appliqued it by machine with raw edges.  You can see it here.  There is a cool and easy way to do this and maybe I'll do a tutorial some day.

Well, after two, why not round out the series with a third.  I decided to go a little berry crazy on this one.  Okay, a lot berry crazy!!

These are small berries, smaller than a bobbin -

 
I think I'll use this beautiful Kaffe fabric and quilt this up this winter, it's been around for years, probably 10 as a top.

Giveaway!  We've had over 100 posts - I can't believe it~
Thank you to everyone who has been encouraging and left such nice comments and helped me along the way.  I'll be adding a few more things to the basket this weekend.

You up to 4 ways to get your name in the hat:

Leave a comment on this post.

Become a Follower (if you already are, let me know).

Add a link on your blog about the giveaway (and let me know).

For a bonus chance, email me at barb.vedder@gmail.com and tell  me 3 of things the quilts have in common.  There are more like 5 things, but some are harder to detect on the computer.

If you don't have a blog account, you can email me and I'll add your name.
Good Luck!