Baltimore Top - only borders to go!

I couldn't wait to get up this morning so I could put all of the blocks together on my Baltimore.  I already had the sashing around the blocks so this morning all I had to do was sew the rows together.  Now on to the borders.  There will be another small gold border around this (I think you have to click to enlarge this view to see the first small gold border) and that will be followed by an applique swag border.  I hope it won't take too long to make that........I'm looking so forward to getting it finished.  Here it is with only borders to go...........

Baltimore Album Quilt Center Complete

I'm sooooo excited - I just completed the corners on the center block for my Baltimore quilt. 

Tomorrow I can put the blocks together and then start on the borders.  I'm so excited to get this quilt so close to being finished.  It's taken many, many hours to applique all of the blocks and I'm so pleased that it's almost there.

AZ Retreat 2010

I went to the AZ Retreat Thursday through Sunday (Feb 18-21) and had a wonderful time.  We had lots of free sewing time and also had plenty of time to talk and get caught up with friends. 

They had goodies on the tables for us this year (a heart pin cushion and a filled snap bag):

The hostess at my table (thanks PatH) also gave us a gift - some fat 8ths of some beautiful batik fabric:

 

We did a right and left game where a quilting story was read and we passed 5 fat quarters.  I won some more beautiful batiks (thanks Jonna):

There were door prizes that were drawn throughout the weekend - I was so happy to win Elly Sienkiewicz's DVD - Advanced Baltimore Applique:

We were also invited to pick out goodies from an exchange table - I enjoyed getting a few gently used items to bring home with me.

We had a fantastic guest speaker this year (Terri Doyle, an amazing longarm quilter). Here is a direct link to the pictures I took of her trunk show:   http://good-times.webshots.com/album/576862581OVIICb

We did some mini-classes; one on paper-piecing and one on making a large tote bag. There were some off-topic mini-classes this year too; on on tatting &amp on on beaded bracelets. We had one dinner out together at a nice restaurant (the Elephant Bar).  We did a block lotto, had an ice cream social, and of course went shopping at a local quilt shop (The 3 Dudes Quilt Shop).

The highlight for me is always show and tell.  Since there are 32 of us we spread it out so that there are several who show their quilts each day.   I just love seeing what the other ladies have made and it inspires me to keep quilting.  Here is a direct link to the quilts shown during the show and tell sessions:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/576859887zKTQKK

Baltimore Album Quilt - Blocks and Inking Complete

Here are all of the blocks for my first Baltimore Album Quilt.  The Center is on-point and a picture of it is in the previous post. These are close-ups of the remaining blocks with their inking completed.

Block 1:  North, South, East, West; Home is Best

Block 2:  Friendship

Block 3: Courage

Block 4:  Love, Marriage, Home, Family

Block 5:  Faith, Hope, Peace, Love

Block 6:  Our Three Sons

Block 7:  Gratitude

Block 8:  Gather Blessings

Block 9:  Bend to the Patterns of Life with Grace

Block 10:  Abundance

Block 11:  Joyous

Block 12:  Do What Makes Your Heart Sing

Baltimore Album Quilt - Center Block for First Baltimore Album Quilt

Here is the center block for the first Baltimore Album quilt I'm making.  It is a silhouette of my husband & I. 

Center Block:  I Bless the Day I Found You

And here's a close-up of the block.  The silhouettes are inked.  Believe me when I say, I was pretty scared to start doing all of the inking on this quilt.  I was afraid that I'd ruin some of the blocks that I had spent so many hours appliqueing.  They all turned out to be okay though - whew!  I'll post updated photos of the blocks for this quilt with the inking on them next.

I picked out fabric for the sashing and the borders the other day so now I'm really getting excited to get the quilt put together.  I plan to applique a swag border with ribbons between each swag.  I can hardly wait to get this one finished!  Especially now that I can see the finish line.

Baltimore Album Quilt - month 9 - Eagles

I found this antique eagle pattern in a Quilters Newsletter Magazine some time ago and have been longing to get to the month we make eagles so I could make him.  I liked everything about the pattern except the face.  The face on the pattern looked more like a duck so I changed it to look a little more majectic - more like an eagle.  Of course I just had to embellish him some too.  He has the word courage written by his foot.  It's in honor of my grandson, Logan, who just went into the Army in January.  I'm so proud of him for deciding to serve our country.  He says he even likes basic training so far.  Way to go Logan!

I've decided to use the blocks I've made so far and make two quilts.  Now that this eagle block is finished, I've completed all of the blocks for the first quilt.  I have four more blocks I want to make for the second quilt.

I'm back

Hope you had a happy Valentines Day and cupid got you with his arrow.

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I posted to my blog.  It really couldn't have been that long, could it? I had a little surgery (skin cancer) that was a bit more extensive than I had imagined.  But I'm healing up now and should be able to get back in the swing of things.