This covers it all

Yes, Fred really needs to go on a diet...all four of us do. Fred and Obba have been on prescription food for years. Fred has intestinal issues and Obba is a chronic upchucker. I have been cleaning up one end or the other of each cat for years. Lately they have been doing really well, and I've found a non-prescription food that both boys can tolerate. Their old food will finish up this week and the diet starts once it is all gone. Siddi? She can and does eat anything and everything. Even though I think she is little (compared to the boys) even she is 11 pounds. You'd think I'd be in better shape hefting those cats around - they all like to be picked up and held.

So I pulled out my sampler quilts to get some ideas on quilting my churn and dash block. Note: I did not quilt any of these. They were done by two different long arm quilters.

I told you about this quilt here. There are viny leaves quilted into the sashing and kind of a random leaf quilted into the blocks.


It even has a churn and dash block. But I don't think the quilting here is an option.


This sampler was a BOM at one of my LQS. I got the blocks all done then decided I didn't want to finish it the way the quilt shop had. After a bit I found a sampler quilt in an old magazine that had this offset block. Perfect.


I love how this quilt turned out, put it doesn't photograph very well. The fabrics are Jenny Beyers and for some reason they photograph like a solid.


The blocks are stitched in the ditch and the black has feathers in it. Put on your sunglasses. This is the back, you can really see the quilting.


Again, not really an option. I don't know how to do feathers. Don't think I'm brave enough to try them just yet.

The last sampler is from Terry Atkinson's Lessons from Mama book. I joined a group of quilters that had been meeting for a few years, every year they made a different sampler quilt. Since I wasn't sure I was going to like this quilt I pulled all my "that is so ugly, why in the world did I buy that fabric" from my stash.

I, of course, loved the quilt and all the fabrics once it was done. I recommend everyone make one quilt from all their "I don't like this fabric anymore" stash, you may be surprised.

(Blogger won't let me load the last picture showing a close up of two of the blocks.)

This quilt has viny leaves throughout, and each block has a different quilt pattern covering the block. I think I'm going to do something like this on the single churn and dash block. Mostly because I'd like the practice of marking and following a drawn pattern.

Can you tell I love pieced borders?

I'm almost done piecing the disappearing nine patch...I just have the borders to add. I'll show it when it's done. Then I'm going to quilt both churn and dash wall hangings, and maybe a small lap quilt I finished last year - all quick finishes.

I decided I'm going to make two scrap quilts. Both patterns have a lot of little sub-piecing to them, so I'm going to get them cut out soon and start putting the sub-piecing together as leaders and enders to other UFOs that need finished up also. Being good and bad at the same time (good finishing up UFOs, bad starting two new quilts).

And last but not least:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANCY!