Lollipop Garden

The only garden growing here is a quilted one!  Lollipop Garden.

I presented my Scrap Quilts lecture on Monday for the Shoreline Quilters.  Thank you ladies (& gentleman) for being such an enthusiastic audience and for inviting me.   This quilt was a favorite from the talk.

 You just can't miss using 30s reproduction fabrics.  They go together so well and are always cheerful.

 It snowed 5" inches here Monday - can you believe it?? Thank goodness I was only traveling 18 miles.   Seeing this happy garden quilt was very welcome.  The piano key border frame this quilt well and uses lots of scrap strips.

 Here is a little Hollyhock flower featuring Little Bo Peep.

Oh, there's her lost sheep.   tee hee

For the backing I used 3 food fabrics that share the same color story.

 I'm a good girl and have it labeled.

 My Scrap Lecture is both informative and fun.  Email me if your group is interested in this program and trunk show.  I have some openings in late spring and fall 2018 and I'm booking 2019.

Thank you FWB block swapper, Jane, for your random act of kindness!  Quilters are so generous and thoughtful.

I love the Abe socks you sent me.  What a fun mail surprise.  I've never even seen these  - yay!

**Last Call**
 Paperpieces.com is giving away 2 packages of circles to a lucky winner through my Instagram.  Go to my feed funwithbarb to enter.  Drawing closes today at 5pm EST.

I love these circle papers!!

Have a fun week~
xo

Spring? Where?

My son said today "mom, if you build it; it will come"....Spring that is.  I sure hope so.

It's a Miracle!!!  Paper Pieces now offers circle papers for making berries.  Seriously how did I not think of this?  I've been cutting my own for over 20 years.  Now I have to fix my tutorial and start with "order circles..."

They work perfectly and I'm super thrilled.  They come in many sizes, find then at Paper Pieces.

Today I did a little Easter decorating.  

My vintage postcard collection and family egg collection.

 Bunnies and eggs are always a cheerful harbinger of spring.

Mr. Starbuck spent several hours looking for spring today too.

I'll be presenting a Lecture and Trunk Show Monday, April 2nd at The Shoreline Quilters Guild right here in Branford, CT.

Have a great week!   
xo

Darling Doll Quilts Duo

So, it's snowing again here and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Love Nest - Little Liberated Medallion Quilt 22 x 24.

I made these two workshop sample blocks a couple of weeks ago.

Last week I just felt like playing in my sewing room.   You ever do that?  Just want to make something for no reason?  

 I raided my two miscellaneous block drawers.

and composed this fun little piece.  I used leftover stars, the black and red pieced section on the right was from Jill's sewing room.  I added pretty bird and floral fabrics, one little nine patch and
Voile'

I quilted it by machine with my Newest Baptist Fan stencil using 

Invisafil 100 wt thread.   I LOVED using  this tread.  It blended across all areas of the quilt.

I even used left over binding pieces.  See?  It was like a public service project, right?

I just love this texture

The backing is a cheater print - still needs a label.

Darling Doll Quilt #2

I received this sweet Doll Quilt from blog reader/friend, Rondi.  She lives in KY and has sent me very nice notes from time to time and a few little quilts.  How cute is this one?  It is a Gwen Marston pattern.

Hand quilted with little fans - squeal.  So cute.   It has Little House on the Prairie fabric for the backing which I have never seen before.

It fits perfectly on one of my little beds.  So charming.  Thank you Rondi for this wonderful gift.

In other news:  I'm working on this Medallion Quilt (again).  Talk about over cautious pinning...wow.

I've been working on this top for so long.  It first appeared in spring 2016......that is 2 years ago!  how did that happen?

Wish me luck with the last 2 borders.  

Hope you're having fun with whatever you are working on.

xo

barb

p.s. thank you for all the nice comments and appreciation of the swap this year.  I'm so glad that everyone had fun and likes the Churn Dash blocks.

Barb the Builder

Hello!  Thank you Ocean Waves Quilt Guild for inviting me to present a lecture and lead a Workshop.  I had a great time and you did too.

Helen and Denise came from Cape May on a very bumpy ferry - thanks ladies! 

We had a very busy day of liberated home construction. 

 There were 25 women in the workshop and they all built great houses.

 Wow - what an amazing collection of houses!  We had a piece of Elmo fabric and he featured in many of the houses.

 I love the variety.  Each house is different and has its own personality.

If you would like me to visit your group or quilt shop to teach this fun workshop send me an email barb.vedder@gmail.com  I still have booking openings in 2018 and 2019.

Thank you Wendy for hosting me in your beautiful home.  I'll be sharing some of her amazing garden and collections soon.  We were guild friends in NJ and had such a great visit.

I was billeted in NJ to wait out the Nor'easter that hit Wednesday.  Here is how it looked on Thursday.  Still think it's "beautiful" Pauline?  ha ha 

Coco and I surveyed the damage at our local State Park; Chatfield Hollow.  It was sad to see so many trees and branches down.

Tuesday, we woke up to this.....again......

The (2nd) nor'easter provided a good day for me to do the Repro Block Swap. 

Here are the sets of 22 blocks before they were swapped.

Today I'm going to tackle the 1944 Modern Churn Dash Blocks from 36 swappers.

Guess what?  we have another winter snow storm coming next week!  wee.

I leave you with my Christmas plants which are blooming again.

Have a super week!

xo

p.s. did anyone in the workshop find my pearl bracelet?  :(