Latest News and The Stars and Stripes Quilt Finished

I will be a bit chatty today, as I have a bunch of news. First of all, I finished my Stars and Stripes Quilt and I am so happy about that. I have a bit of America now hanging on my walls, and that is nice. There was a lot of machine quilting, and yesterday, I did the hand sewing to finish the binding. Joe was thrilled with it too, so that is always nice. The camera did not capture all of the quilting...don't ask me why...I did the best that I could with Joe holding the quilt. It will have to do. I have added the pic of the quilt on the wall next to the heart quilt that I made.

Secondly, I was surprised with lovely snippets of fabrics from Lizzie who has the blog called A House in the Country. The fabric was to give me an idea of what I needed for The Civil War Bride Quilt. I have lots of ordering to do as far as the pattern, background fabric, and lots of fabric for the applqiue work. Thanks to Lizzie, I have a good idea as to the colours that I will need for the fabric. I love Civil War fabric and hand applique, so it should be lots of fun. I am buying most of the fabric from Autumn Rose Quilting but also from an online shop called Civil War Fabrics, which you can see here. Thanks again to Lizzie who has been encouraging me so much and for your lovely surprise. Lizzie said that it will cost a bit to get all of the supplies, but I know I will love it, as having a quilt like this on our bed will be stunning. Here is a pic to remind you what the quilt looks like:

Then, I got two siggies in the mail yesterday. One of the siggy blocks is from Eva who lives in Germany, and I just love that rose in the centre of the block. Also, a lovely red plaid block from Saskia in the Netherlands. Thanks both of you so much!

Finally, yesterday Sherry Nugent from The Irish Quilting Magazine told me that I won a book called Quilting for Embroiderers. Is that perfect or what? I do quilting and machine embroidery so that is just right for me. I can't wait to get it! Sherry said that it is in the mail with Issue 6 of the magazine, and I should get it next week. I also found out that my name is in Issue 6 of the magazine announcing my win, and that is always nice. I can't wait to see that!

Also, I wanted to tell you that Jaybird is having a wonderful giveaway. You have to check this out, as there are too many things to tell you about.

Have a wonderful weekend! Joe and I woke up to a lovely, sunny but cold day, but after the week of storms, we are thrilled with that!