Missing Blogger Found Alive!

Wow, that was a much longer bloggy break than I had planned on.  After such a long time,  I'm feeling a little out of practice with blogging.  So, I'll just jump in and get past that awkward feeling!

I did get my Quilt of Valor finished in time for the Quilt Show.

I started with this panel, way back in June.  Then I stalled and stalled, until I found out it needed to be a finished quilt, not just a top, for the quilt show.  I pretty much panicked at that point.

Okay, in the interest of not boring you, Dear Reader, nor myself, I'm giving you the condensed version.

First try at the star - I didn't like the way the white "bled" into the border.

I added an inner border to contain those fierce birds, then starting adding the blocks I received from Magpie Sue over at The Magpie's Nest blog.  I made a false start when it came to the stars in the corners, but eventually got them right.

Final star - used some older fabric and it looks great.

I went to a quilt show and found a Q.O.V. fabric that was perfect for the outer borders and binding.  I talked to Bridget at my LQS, who has a long-arm machine.  I knew I couldn't do a decent job on this (as it would be my first try on a long arm), so Bridget volunteered to donate her time and talent to quilt this for me (Thank you, Bridget!!).

Finished!

I got it back from her on Tuesday at 9 p.m. and had until Thursday at 10 a.m. to get the binding done.  And I got it done in time!  Yay!  I think our collaboration worked really well, Sue - Thanks!

When I went to the quilt show I mentioned above (where I found the Q.O.V. border fabric), I also bought myself a new wallet.  Isn't it cute??

The creator's card is visible in this shot.

Lots of storage room in here!

And look at all these cute selvages!  I haven't had a new wallet in years, and I'm loving this one!

I participated in a block exchange with my friends in California.  They were doing blocks for The Future's So Bright quilt that Crazy Mom Quilts did.  Here are my blocks.  We made 8 each of Block A (the double 4 patch) in two color schemes, and ditto for the Block B blocks.  Using brights, of course!  I missed the exchange date (didn't read the calendar correctly . . . too focused on the quilt show), but they should be there by now.  And the blocks I'll receive will be here soon.  This is gonna be a fun quilt to do. I should get busy making more blocks for the quilt, as I certainly have lots of bright fabrics to play with.  But I want to play with some other things for awhile first.