April 2015 – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

What a beautiful Spring time we are having in South Texas. The trees are so pretty full of beautiful green leaves. It is amazing how fast they bloom. We are in another rain pattern the next 3 days. No complaints as we need the rain.

I have finished the applique for the Medallion for Enduring Legacy and 2 Star Blocks (4 1/2″). I have 10 more 4 1/2″ Stars to make to complete the Center Medallion. I am really enjoying this project.

Enduring Legacy Medallion — Enduring Legacy – Center Medallion

Stars for Enduring Legacy Center Medallion

I have now finished 4 Blocks for my Stars Across Texas Quilt. I need to be careful on my stitches – think I almost pulled them too tight on the Rose. I also need to do the barbed wire on the “Texas” block……….This has been a great project to work on because all one has to do is follow the lines and not think! Just remember how to embroidery! (LOL)

Stars Blks 1 thru 4 — Blocks 1 through 4 of Stars Across Texas

Have a great day – we are getting out today – going to iHOP for breakfast. I can eat eggs, but not much of anything else because I am a Celiac and cannot eat all the goodies at other Restaurants. So this will be a great treat for me – NO COOKING. Then we will be going to a couple of Quilt Stores in San Antonio. Just to get out will be wonderful. Hubby is doing great and hopefully he will be able to take the hard neck brace off at night. We see the doctor tomorrow.

We are also making plans for our annual trek to Sierra Vista, AZ this winter! YEA! I am soooooo ready. It is so nice to get in that 36 foot Fifth Wheel and travel – not to mention that it only takes about an hour to clean each week. Laundry is accomplished much quicker. Yes, looking forward to when we pull out and head West for the winter. I would like to go East to the Houston Quilt Show in late October then turn around and head West! Fun Fun Fun!

Have a great day and enjoy your quilting projects!

Here in La Vernia, Texas we have been blessed with 8 inches of rain in the last 2 or 3 weeks. I really do believe now the drought is in the beginning stages of going away! – Hopefully. This has been a 10 year drought and the last one was in 1950. Back then we only had swamp coolers – We were young and dumb and did not need the air conditioner’s like we have now.

I have missed my Blogging and Quilting, BUT, good news. Hubby came out of that surgery great. I had to get him away from the Hospital so they would not make him sicker (LOL). We were home by 7:15AM on Easter Sunday.

It is hard to believe that this Friday it will be 3 weeks since his surgery. Thursday we will go see the Surgeon and hopefully they will put him in a soft cervical cast. He has really done well. I would love to have some of his stem cells and grab that wonderful immune system he has. The scar is almost – almost gone. He now has a beautiful white beard and I am encouraging him to trim it when he can and keep it. Makes him look younger – and I feel older. LOL. I am thankful that I am able to meet all of his needs. Being a caretaker is a difficult job, no complaints here as he took care of me through 3 Lumbar back surgeries. What a trooper he was for me. Darryl is not doing well, but appears that he will make his 51st Birthday on Wednesday the 22 of April. It was on his 50th Birthday when he was told about the Cancer. He has beat the odds – they had given him 5% chance to survive a year. Although he is not doing very well now, and close to the end of his long difficult struggle with the Lung Cancer and COPD, he has made the year and beat the perdentages.

I have been working on my Texas embroidery quilt blocks and last Friday I decided I could safely start on a project. I have 2 quilts ready to work on the settings, but it would be difficult for me at this time to really be able to concentrate on selection of the fabrics and the design setting. So those are in the “que”.

I wanted to make this a “stress free” quilt project – (I have had the course with Stress in the last year) and did not feel that I would do a quilt justice pulling trying to pull fabrics and come away with something I would like in 6 months (Mood Changes?). I found a pattern I had purchased last year called Civil War Legacies (Quilts for Reproduction Fabrics) – Enduring Love #270 by Carol Hopkins Designs…… Now this is an interesting title……….How is it I did not realize that these patterns are made especially for certain reproduction fabric lines when I purchased it – Probably because I liked the pattern and did not pay attention, as I often do. So as I began to review the directions, the fabrics that the quilt had been made from were Judi Rothermel’s Enduring Legacy. Of course, as always, I did not have on piece of that fabric line in my newly acquired mountains of reproduction fat quarters or yardage!

Civil War Legacies - Enduring Legacy — Enduring Legacy – Carol Hopkins Designs

I quickly googled the fabric line and found that Whittle’s in Kentucky had the majority of the fabrics I needed I was unable to find the border print so I chose another print and I found the 3 blue’s from Thistle Bee Quilt Shoppe in North Carolina. So all I needed was the fabric and I would be ready to start. I was so happy and surprised on Monday to find my stash from Whittle’s! Now I am inspired to get back to my passion of quilting and working on a quilt – not just “playing” around.

I have started on the center medallion which will be a 12″ finished center. I have the stems in place and one bird (no wings yet) and the rest pinned in place. I am going to finish it today and tomorrow will start cutting out fabrics for the “borders”. I used fabrics from “Party of Twelve” for the Blue Bird and the Brown Bird Bodies. I wanted to add some lights so decided to use some shirting fabric! This will be fun.