Hanging Gardens Quilt Top

 The Hanging Gardens quilt top is a little more than halfway put together.

First Rows of Hanging Gardens

 Today I got two diagonal rows of blocks and two diagonal rows of sashing and cornerstones for the Hanging Gardens quilt done.  Plus, my longarm got tuned up in just one day, instead of 3 or 4 weeks, as they had told me would be the case yesterday when I dropped it off at Nebraska Quilt Company in Fremont, so I went and picked it up, which, along with an order at Wal-Mart, stole three hours out of my day.  Ah, well; I have a longarm, groceries, and four rows of the Hanging Gardens done.

Sewing Hanging Gardens Quilt

 Today I got the majority of the Hanging Gardens blocks done.  I finished two, just to see what they look like; the rest still need the outer two strips sewn on.  There are 25 of the blocks with the dark plum-colored outer strips, and 16 of the blocks with dark blue floral outer strips.

Reckon I can get this quilt done in time to enter it in our County Fair? Entry date is July 8th. I kinda sorta doubt it... especially if I decide to custom quilt it, rather than use a pantograph.

Meanwhile, here's the view from my north-facing window.  Somewhere behind those clouds, about 20 miles to our north, there were severe thunderstorms and a few tornadoes.  In the middle of all the watches and warnings, the setting sun appeared below the thunderheads and, simultaneously, the rain began.

The last picture is the hibiscus son-in-law and daughter Todd and Dorcas and their children, Trevor and Brooklyn, gave me for Mother's Day.

Now it is nearly midnight, and the lightning is flashing and the thunder is rumbling.  A thunderstorm to the west is moving in our direction.

Background Fabric & Four-Patches

 After visiting my brother in Omaha today, I stopped at Hobby Lobby and got 5 yards of 108"-wide white-on-white fabric for the background of the Hanging Gardens quilt.  It was only $7.99 a yard, and very nice quality fabric.

When I got home, I cut all the background pieces, then sewed together all the light and dark squares for the tops of the 'baskets'.  I put two sets of doubles together to make a couple of four-patches... and that was enough for today.  I used up two full yards of that 108"-wide white-on-white fabric (that's the equivalent of about 4 ½ yards of 44"-wide fabric), cutting 476 pieces.

Fabric for Hanging Gardens

 This is the fabric I'm using for the Hanging Gardens quilt I'm making for daughter Hannah's sister-in-law Esther, whose mother Bethany, a good friend of mine, passed away last August.  I offered to make her a quilt from her mother's fabrics and/or the pretty dresses she sewed for Esther when she was little, and Esther took me up on my offer.  I switched the first photo to black and white to make sure I had placed the fabric according to color value, from dark to light.

The colored fabric is all cut now.  I need to buy some background fabric; I don't have enough.

"You Are Loved" Fabric Book

 Today I made the fabric book, "You Are Loved", that goes with Maisie's quilt.  The pages have Quilters' Dream wool in them.

"You Are Loved" Bound & Labeled

 Granddaughter Maisie's "You Are Loved" quilt is bound and labeled.  The quilt measures 56" x 55".  I used Quilters' Dream wool batting, 40-wt. Natural White Omni thread on top, and 60-wt. Cream Bottom Line thread in the bobbin.  The fabric is from Dawn Rosenberg's "You Are Loved" line for Henry Glass fabrics.  I used no pattern, except for the paper-pieced sawtooth stars, which came from EQ8. 

Tomorrow I'll make the coordinating fabric book.

Quilting is Finished on the "You Are Loved" Quilt

The quilting is finished on granddaughter Maisie's "You Are Loved" quilt.  Next, the binding, the label, and the coordinating fabric book.

Backing

 

More Quilting, Maisie's "You Are Loved" Quilt

 Sooo close to being done with Baby Maisie's "You Are Loved" quilt!  But my back got done before the quilt did.