Another Top Finished, And A Reminder...

I finished the quilt top for the Marie J quilt yesterday. I really love the way it turned out. Seems I never tire of the Whispering Windmills block pattern (from the book, Lickety Split Quilts). Every fabric variation makes each quilt my newest favorite!
I managed to have all of the blocks assembled before stopping to prepare our dinner. This was also the last photo I took in daylight. (The first photo showing the completed quilt top was taken around 9:30 last night after I finished pressing it.)
Here's a daylight photograph of the fabric I used for the inner border as I previewed it against the assembled blocks. I decided to use this to pick up the same golden tan color in the floral fabric.

I'll assemble the fabric for the backing today and then I'll take it up to Kathy and Nora's shop. I beat my deadline by over a week! I'm using the same darker blue print shown in the above photos.

So, what do you think? Does it remind you of sea and sand? I think I'll choose something on the order of waves for Kathy's machine work. You know I'll share the finished quilt as soon as I get it back and bound, right? Right!
I just want to remind everyone that MONDAY, April 25th is our next Memory Lane Monday. I hope you'll have a story to link to the party. I'll have my post up around 10 pm on Sunday to make it easier for you to link up and join in the fun.

And Now, For A Little Strip "Tease"...

I was very careful to accent "tease" and not "strip tease", because I certainly didn't want to give you the wrong idea! I decided to spend a little time in my studio playing with the fabrics I'd chosen for the applique' quilt to help me decide which pattern I wanted to use.

Aren't they just the most girly, restful colors and patterns? I'm quite sure they're Fig Tree fabrics from Moda, but I can't find my label. If you know which design line they are, please tell me!
I paged through my two favorite quick quilt books...Lickety Split Quilts and Jellyroll Quilts, because...well, I'm using a jelly roll of scrumptious fabrics for this quilt! (You knew that though, right?)
After spending the better part of three days trying to decide, I finally settled on this pattern, called Spiral Strips from the Jelly Roll Quilts book. I read through the entire pattern, and then embarked on the project. The center of this design will be my bluebird applique' square. It's just the right size.

First, instructions said to choose the fabrics and cut the lengths of each strip in half. Check! Then, arrange the strips in groups of four - dark, light, dark, light. Check. Next, I loosely folded each set of four and lined them up like little soldiers awaiting assembly. When I stacked them to fold, I started from the bottom up, so you'll see all the "lights" on top of each set.
Today, I have a long-awaited eye doctor appointment and my four-week haircut. Maintaining this short haircut requires a cut every three to four weeks as my hair grows like crazy, and it's thick to boot! Anyway, I'm telling you this because I'll be out of the house early and home late-afternoon. My appointments are in Sarasota, so Handsome and Kes will hold down the fort while I drive north.

I'll try to get back to sewing when I get home, but probably won't get back to it until Friday. Kes is telling me that I ought to run the vacuum when I get home, too. Don't you just hate it when housework interferes with play dates? But I have to admit she has a point. Perhaps I'll do a little "maintenance" when I get home and set myself up to be able to play all day Friday. Yeah...I'll go with that. I promise my next post will not be photos of my vacuum cleaner!
OH MY GOSH!!! I just realized that I'm only 13 (THIRTEEN) days away from my 500th Post! Can you even believe it? I'm going to have to put some thought into how I'm going to commemorate this event. Anyone have any good ideas? How would you like to see me mark this occasion? Don't be shy. I'll read and consider every single suggestion.

'Til tomorrow, girlfriends!