Bloggers Quilt Festival Two Color Quilt

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Over at Amys Creative Side she is hosting the Bloggers Quilt Festival.
In the Two Color Quilt category I've entered my recent finish of a Two Fabric, Four Strip Quilt from Eleanor Burns book "Day and Night". Top fabrics are Fusion by Robert Kaufman with wide backing in batik by Windham. Longarm quilting by Lori Allaire of Millie & Me, Montclair, CA.

This quilt is twenty blocks plus borders to give it a finished size of about 60 X 72 inches. Quilts in the books are a smaller size but these dimensions are my favorite for a generous sized lap quilt. In true Eleanor Burns style she leaves none of the fabric to waste and the book also contains instructions for projects to be made from the leftover cutaways in the pattern. I used smaller cutaway pieces to make a matching throw pillow. The top of the pillow was quilted with Warm and Natural batting and some lightweight muslin to give it a softer more plush top construction.

The quilt was handed over to it's rightful owners this month, our dear friends Paul and Diane, on the occasion of their marriage on October 19th. When they told us about their happy plans in January I asked did they want a quilt as their wedding gift? Their response was an enthusiastic YES! We planned a dinner together at our house so they could pour over my books and patterns and make their choice. We discussed colors and print styles and while they gave input in that area they did not know the fabric we had chosen until they received their quilt.

Paul and Diane are avid hikers and cyclists and the quote from John Muir illustrates our view of the new life they have launched together. 

Bride and Groom. 

Bulgaria in September

 First I got one of these, a Passport, like a real grown up who just might travel some day soon.  Yes, two of my grandchildren have has passports since birth and have certainly used them more than I might ever.  But here I was, with a passport and ready to make plans.

I packed rather efficiently, I think, for a two week trip.  The advantage being that I had little need for jackets since I could wear any of Kel's once I arrived in Sofia.  My planned travel clothes were comfy with the long haul in mind.  At 8:30 AM on Thursday September 13th the shuttle picked me up and I was on my way to LAX.  

Sixteen hours later here is a quick shot of the lovely hotel room, in Hollywood, where I spent the night. Mechanical problems grounded our plane, back to the airport bright and early Friday for another go.
Ah, travel.

 LAX, re-booked for a flight to Atlanta and on to Paris, France, in Europe!  Yes, I was excited.

While the delay was tiring and frustrating it was also rather interesting.  After several hours in the re-booking line I ended up at the hotel with the same group of people I'd chatted with in line.  The upside to the delay was a short time with interesting people I never would have spoken to otherwise.

FRANCE!  That Is France! Below me, I'm flying over it, in Europe.  Yep, I was the dorky tourist taking pictures with her iphone out of the plane's window.  And I'm not ashamed.
It's France for God Sakes!  There, below me.....

An interesting fact about travel, airports all resemble each other more than they don't.  Here is my gate Paris.  Yes, PARIS, In France.

I have poor luck when it comes to food and travel and have to say that the leftover half of the Wolfgang Puck sandwich, purchased in a kiosk at the Atlanta airport, got me thru this part of my day.  Downside to layover in Paris: Very Long Line for the ladies room and no way to buy food.
Upside: I was in Paris, last stop before Sofia!

Quilts

This past year I made two twin size quilts that I want to show in particular.  Both were the fun and scrappy design of "Yellow Brick Road" and both have gone to Sofia, Bulgaria.  The first is for Gabriel for his fourth birthday.  The top of the quilt contains fabric not only from other quilts of his but a number of his pillowcases and other fun fabrics.  Most quilters have a 'thing' that they do with each quilt.  Mine is that I like to put fabric from another previous quilt into the new one I work on.

 The backing is a Map Of The World design and because I so fell in love with it I decided to overlook the fact that the fabric is rather heavy weight.  It's a very warm quilt which will serve well this last winter in Bulgaria.

 This is the second Yellow Brick Road, also twin size, that went to live with it's owner Roza in Switzerland via her grandmother, or 'Mimi', Mariana in Bulgaria.

This is also one of my early adventures into a pieced backing, which also contains the label.  And I was very happy with the results.  Much more interesting and attractive than just a seam down the back. And looks good whether centered or off center.

It was important to me to label this one and in, Cyrillic writing, the label says;
To Roza with love from Mimi
Made by Gayle, quilted by Tomi
In Ontario, California, USA
June 2012

С РОЗА С любов от МИМИ
Направено от Гейл, ватирана ОТ Томи
В Онтарио, Калифорния, САЩ
ЮНИ 2012 г.


Roza and her quilt;

Mariana works with Jason at the Peace Corps office in Sofia.  She was my first contracted quilt and I was honored to be asked to make this for her granddaughter.  When I visited Sofia in Sept (Next Post!) I spent a  wonderful afternoon lunch with Mariana discussing quilts, our children and grandchildren, and the destiny of finding a quilter for her granddaughter. 

A Year In Review

I was startled to discover that I had done one post in the entire year.  And that one was lame so I deleted it.  Now that the Christmas season is upon us and soon we will be reflecting on another year past I've decided to do some after the fact posting, and probably in no particular order.

After living with us for over four years Kiera and her mother made the decision that she would move to Dallas Texas to live with her mom when school ended this past May.  It was a transition that could have been accomplished in a different way than the method used and lives changed in some ways that might have been handled better. It has taken awhile for me to realize the impact that the events of this year has had on our lives.  Life is to be lived and one thing you can't prevent is change, it's best to just move forward in a positive way.

We had a trip to the Getty in April for Kiera to finish research on an Art paper.  Not that any sort of an excuse is required for a great day at The Getty.

For anyone living in southern California who has not taken a day to visit this amazing place it shouldn't be missed. The architecture;

 The views;

It's been a year....but aren't they all!

Every year brings changes, many good, some not as much but such is life. With the New Year we look forward to experiencing all that comes our way. I'm going with this motto; "Never regret anything, because at some point you wanted it."

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Santa knows where he needs to show up early. Our Christmas morning.

Opening presents with Ryan and Jess during their weekend visit.



The 'go anywhere do anything' fleece blankie.  Chargers on one side, home decor on the other.

Rainy Day

Sometimes we get rain in October and today we've had enough that I've turned off the automatic sprinklers for tomorrow. That's real rain. And it looks very fall season-ish outside.

I left work early to come home a pick Kiera up for her dentist appointment, back home about 5 and the cool temp, below 60 (!!) inspired me.  I tossed an environmentally friendly pre-formed log from primarily recycled material into the fireplace. I lighted the scented candles above the mantle to cover the smell of said log. Put on my sweats and slipper socks and relaxed on the couch with the cafe mocha we picked up on the way home and the book I wanted to finish.

Doesn't that just look cozy? Until I noticed that the living room was looking a little hazy and realized the flue apparently wasn't opened although I had moved it from the prior position. Fortunately the flames from a post production recycled material log didn't prevent me from reaching in to open it. And as I type this the fan for our central heat and air is running and the haze is clearing nicely. And I think I'll go make some tacos for dinner. I am happy to report sunny and back into the 80s for my planned day at Glen Ivy Spa with Roxanna on Monday because obviously I'm not 'doing' the fall thing all that well.
http://www.glenivy.com/springs/