Gardening observations - flowers in the sidewalk cracks?

This weekend I put in about 3 hours planting caladiums and annuals in our front flowerbed.  I had my IPhone tuned to Pandora in my shirt pocket, and my mix is a lot of piano jazz, so it was a lovely breezy morning, not too hot yet.  I had to do a lot of bed cleanout, pruning, and leaf raking too (filling almost a whole trash bag).  One thing I noticed was how easily weeds grow in those little grooves between the sidewalk and the curb.  Just little bits of soil and moisture get in there, but those weeds just really root down and get well-established (and hard to pull out).  Which leads me to a hypothesis that if I wanted to start some flowers or vegetables from seed in the spring, I should skip all those special seed-starter pots and systems, and just dribble those little seeds in those cracks by the road side, and just see what happens!

Where do my quilts go?

Well, since I've started quilting around 2009 or so, I've completed 15 quilts (using a long-armer most of the time for the quilting).  Of those 15, I've given 9 of them to family or friends or to a charity our Guild sponsors.  Of the six I still have, I'm currently using one on our bed, and the other 5 are safely stored away.  I do have a quilt stand, but I have quilts made by others (some commercial) hanging on it, so I definitely need to change those out and display my handiwork.  I also have a quilt made by my grandmother, a Grandmother's flower garden, stored away, and I would like to find a sunlight-free area to enjoy it more.  Definitely a good question, Sophie! 
We are in the middle of remodeling, but about to move back into our bedroom, so my daughter's former twin bed will soon display one of my quilts instead of a raggedy store-bought one that is currently underneath all the pile of clothes! ;)

recent work

This is a large disappearing 9-patch I-spy that I made as a donation quilt for our Guild's Covers for Kids project.  Since this photo I have added a greyish-black tot border.  I still need to find the backing fabric.  My friend Donna in our friendship group will quilt it.  Beneficiaries are Ronald McDonald House, a homeless daycare and a group that works with abused kids.  The large 8-inch squares feature boy-friendly novelties.  (The quilt is sideways, sorry).

This is another disappearing 9-patch but in a mini-style.  Each square is 1.5 inches.  I have a large stash of 4-inch I-spy squares that I have obtained though on line swaps, and I selected the ones with very small prints and cut them in quarters to get the starting 2-inch squares.  I donated this mini (about 22x22) to our Guild's mini-quilt auction, which this year benefitted Search One Rescue.  It is a non-profit that trains individuals and dogs to search for missing people.  (Some of the people and dogs attended the show!)  I quilted this one myself.  I called it "Dolly's Bedtime I-Spy."
For those of you new to I-Spies, the concept is that the quilt is a conversation starter with young children.  I spy a whale, can you find it.  I spy something orange, can you find it?  Or the objects can be selected to create a story...

And here's another quilt with a lot of detail.  This is my Beatles quilt, called "A Beatles Rebus," which I entered in the show.  In addition to some of the overall Beatles fabric used in the outer blocks, in the inner blocks, I have references to 57 songs or albums written or recorded by the Beatles.  It's a rebus, because some of the references are visual puzzles.

 

 

I think this quilt is more interesting up close where you can see this visual detail, and I could have done a better job in spreading out the colors as I created the blocks and then assembled the quilt.  But I worked on this about 2-3 years to gather the different fabrics to represent the songs, so when I finally got on a roll to put it all together, color impact wasn't so much on my mind. It is also so big that my very temporary design board was my den floor. 

Patriotic Star quilt

This patriotic start quilt was designed by Shelly at Quilter's Connection, our local quilt shop in Northeast Dallas.  She had a civil war and contemporary red white and blue color way, and I chose the latter.  I made most of the blocks in 2011, and it took me several months in 2012 to get the 51 sashing blocks made (those devilish red diamonds!).  Maria Davis Hall quilted it for me this spring.  Shelly's kit suggested a deep blue background fabric, but I didn't like the color with the other blues in the blocks, but needed some color to contrast with the white triangles surrounding the square blocks, so I selected this red, blue and white star print.  I think this quilt looks better from far away than it does up close (my piecing errors aside), because the white triangles really pop the blocks.  Up close, I fear the background print is a bit busy.  But my husband likes it, so it will be his gift.  The backing is red and white polka dot print, and the binding is the same red fabric as the accursed diamonds!

More Dallas quilt guild photos

This quilt is "My Crazy Heritage" by Sally Brown of Colleyville, TX. This quilt won a special ribbon for its handwork.  It is composed of antique handkerchiefs from the women in the quilter's family, with individual embellishment with small keepsakes or symbols of the women involved. This is a quilt that is lovely from the distance but really worth a close-up look.  the quilt below is a similar family remembrance of the quilter's family background in England, with the center representing events or English cultural practices, and the border containing English pub signs.  The quilt is called "In the Blink of an Eye" and the quiltmaker is Sylvia Showers of Brenham, Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

additional quilts from Dallas quilt celebration

This is a very nice pictorial quilt that did not win a ribbon, but I liked it very much. "Headwaters" by Gay Young, based on a photo of the headwaters of the Rio Grande near Creede, Colorado.

Dallas Quilt Celebration

Last weekend was the Dallas Quilt Celebration, sponsored by the Quilt Guild of Dallas.  There were more than 350 entries, as well as several exhibits.  As a general impression, I would say the show was dominated by applique, album, and mariners compass quilts.  Lots of amazing workmanship.  I'll post some of my photos.

"Proud Ladies by Dot Collins of Port Neches, Texas; antique embroidered blocks with pieced feedsack prints, scallop borders.

 

The gold above is the "Best in Show," by Linda M. Roy, "Vintage Button Bouquet." The green-bordered is "Springtime," by Germaine Reconnu, Sachse, Texas, 1st in Seniors category.

 The red and white above right is "American Vortex" by Marilyn Hardy, Tyler, Texas. The red and white album is "Baltimore Snowflakes" by Sunisa Cote, Southlake, Texas, which won first place, artisan Large Applique.  I'll post more tomorrow!