September Quilting~Buggy Barn Crazies~Jewel Tones

September 19th brought our little quilting group back together after a 3 month break, and the project we worked on was a quilt called Crazies, by The Buggy Barn Company. When we started our little group in August of 2000, this is the first quilt we all made. It was fun! We decided to do it again.

As I was setting up for quilting, I was trying to decide how much space we would need, so I brought out my little blue card table that we shortened for another purpose, and I needed to raise it back up to normal height. Hmmm…what can I use? I wonder……let’s try upside down cones of thread!  Perfect….and colorful!

The pattern is a ‘stack and whack’ pattern, cutting through layers of 4-6 at a time, or whatever your preference is, . After you get all layers cut, you ‘rotate’ the stacks so all the fabrics on each layer are different.  We have found that the LARGEST pizza box that Godfather’s Pizza has, works perfect!! The template for the blocks is 15 1/2 inches, I think, if I remember right. Godfather’s has always been very generous by helping quilters out!

It was fun to see all the fabric choices everyone had made, and the end result. Each block in this quilt will be different. No two will be alike.

Patty was the first to show her finished block, and she needed to leave a little early, so I snapped this photo before she left. I can almost see a star pattern in this block.

The rest of us laid our quilt blocks out later. From top left, the blocks belong to Renea, Michelle, Christie, bottom row, KT, Leslie, and Margaret. Renea used pinks and browns, I chose fabrics that blended well with my furniture, and Christie chose blues and browns. KT used batiks, Leslie chose her fabrics by ‘shapes’, and Margaret said she just ‘kind of pulled’ fabrics. Well, it looks like ‘just pulling’ worked well Margaret!

I have a confession to make. Everyone else started their quilts from the beginning. I had a quilt in progress from a couple years ago. All the blocks were sewn, but I had been working on embellishing seams. I had put it away and had to find it, but I finally did, so I finished embellishing the seams. Now I plan on working on finishing it.

This year we are doing something different with our fabric exchange. For the past 15 years, we have exchanged fat quarters, with the winner who chose the fabric, getting double fat quarters. This year, a few of us were considering dropping out of the fabric exchange because we are ALL ‘well stocked’. A different idea came up to still have a fabric exchange, but just for the winner of the draw. Our original plan was to just bring one fat quarter each month for the winner, then another idea came up to exchange ONE YARD (or two half yards, or 4 FQs…we aren’t picky!) of fabric or pull from our stash. It makes it more economical to exchange one yard, rather than 2 1/2 yards for FQs, and this way, ONCE A YEAR, with everyone exchanging, the winner will receive NINE YARDS of fabric

KT was our first winner, and she chose jewel tones. We had a couple girls who were unable to be with us yesterday, so KT will get a couple more fabrics next time. Aren’t they beautiful?

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My day ended perfectly with a visit from my grand nephew and his grandma (Sissypoo)…..

…and watching Do You Believe on Blue Ray. A perfect day!

The Happiest Day of My Life~ September 11, 1975

Forty years ago today at approximately 3:30 pm, Louie and I said our ‘I do’ ‘s’ in the Galena, Illinois courthouse. We were accompanied by our friends Diane and Steve, who were also a couple. We were to be married by the Justice of the Peace, but he was not available. I panicked. Thank the Lord though, a Circuit Judge married us. I giggled from nerves all the way from the beginning to the ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’. I was one month away from being 18 years old.

This announcement should have also mentioned my father, Sanford McClure, who passed away when I was 12, and Louie’s father Emil Bartels, who passed away when Louie was 6. Both of our mothers remarried.

This is us today. Forty years later, and I am just as much, or MORE in love than the day I took his last name. Thank you Lord Jesus for choosing Louie for me. I prayed for a man just like him when I was 13, and He delivered.

We are taking some vacation days this week and just spending time together. We don’t have any big plans, just doing whatever. No schedules, no pressures, no far away destinations. Yesterday we went to Dubuque and ate at Pizza Ranch. In case we weren’t sure before, we now know. We are old. We got the Senior Discount!!!!

I’d be really happy if the Lord blessed us with 40 more years, but I know that is probably pretty unrealistic, so I’m going to ask God for another 25 years, AT LEAST.