Yellow Brick Road on a Rainy Day

Yesterday, all the news was about the "wintry mix" of weather we were supposed to receive today, starting early in the morning. The schools all scheduled a "Two-Hour Delay" to allow for the roads to be cleared and the rush hour traffic to subside. Well, all we have gotten is a cold, dreary, rainy day. Not to complain since our lakes are still so dry from the months of drought.

I worked on Yellow Brick Road blocks in deer, leaf, and and other grassy and woodland fabrics fabrics for the young man I wrote about yesterday. We have fondly called him "Jimmy-James" since he was a baby. I also want to make a quilt for the one nephew who has never gotten a quilt from me. He is the oldest, and came along before I started making quilts. I have made three for his children, however! I also want to make one for my sister and her husband. And I have never finished the one for my daughter-in-law's sister, using Lilly Pulitzer fabric. All it needs is borders and to be quilted. Maybe if we have a few more rainy days!

Blogger is not performing well this afternoon, and won't allow me to upload any pictures right now. Tonight is quilt guild, and tomorrow morning we are leaving for our first trip to the mountains in several months. BRRR- I have packed my long-johns and my "Hot-Fingers Mittens." Maybe I will be able to bring one of my small sewing machines finish piecing the quilt top up there. (Pictures posted Jan. 21)

Jumping Around

I can't seem to stick to one project these days. I have worked on about four different quilts in the last week. I was going great on quilting my round robin top, but have come to a crashing halt. I did the entire top white border in a detailed filler using King Tut thread on top and Bottom Line in the bottom. The top looked so pretty! May I add, this is the exact same thread combination I had been successfully using already except for the colors. But when I rolled up the quilt to advance it, I got a horrible sick feeling when I saw the back. The white bobbin thread looked really bad! Some of the thread was just laying on the back, there were little knots at many of the turns, and the backtracking showed up on the purple backing.

I started ripping it out, spent about two hours, and got about five inches done. Maddening! To teach it a lesson, I abandoned the project for a couple days. I am still mulling over whether to rip it all out, go with the good-looking front side, use marker to ink out the knots.... but this series of Round Robins is supposed to go in our state Quilt Symposium show the next time my guild hosts it. I know I don't want mine to be a poor example of my quilting. So, I'm sure I will be frogging for many nights to come. (Rip-it, Rip-it, Rip-it!)

I started working on a UFO that I promised my daughter-in-law that I would make for her sister. I bought several Lilly Pulitzer fabrics in bright tropical colors, and am framing four-inch squares with various black and white batiks. It is so cheerful and pretty! Her sister had bridesmaids wear whatever Lilly Pulitzer sundress they liked at her wedding on the beach in Nags Head last year. So, I hope she will like this.