This is a magnificent HeartStrings quilt that I've had the honor of binding and labeling. The top was sent to Rhonda to quilt. It is so striking and that's because the block maker took the time to work to make the blocks all similar and then lay them out so nicely. I used it in a demo of HeartString blocks a couple of weeks ago at my local quilt quild. It does generate many comments. And to think that we generally use scraps for HeartSting quilts!

Here are three quilts I've had the joy of working on this winter. Gals in my local guild and I made the blocks and finished the pastel baby quilt. The other two are from blocks that Sue Frank forwarded to me. I set the blocks (and see now the errors I made in the multi-colored one! Oh-oh!!), Rhonda, Carol or Kathy quilt them and then I bind and label them. They are now ready for donating.

This lovely blue/biege HeartString baby/toddler sized quilt was a combined effort of Agnes of Iowa and myself. Agnes is the mother-in-law of my "boss" and has started sewing HeartString quilt blocks/quilts at my suggestion. This quilt is much nicer in person that my photography shows. It will be donated to a fund raiser at the library I work at to raise funds for our new library building. Great job Agnes for the blocks and Rhonda for the longarm quilting!

Last year I was in an International Applique Round Robin and one of the gals wanted Halloween themed blocks. These are two that I finished while in Florida in February and gave her just before her March birthday. The cat is all needle turn applique and the pumpkin queen is machine appliqued.

Florida Quilt Show

While in Panama City Beach we attended the Quilt Show put on by the St. Andrew's Guild. It's a smaller show, but with lovely work. I noticed how much lovely hand applique and hand quilting was on exhibit. Most of the shows I attend have more pieced quilts with longarm quilting. I'm thinking it's because Panama City area has more retires and they have more time than those of us who are still working and trying to get quilts done quickly. I've posted pictures here of the one Wayne & I both voted for as Best of Show. It didn't win Best of Show, but was made by the gal who made the Best of Show quilt (it was a Vintage Moments quilt of 30's repros). This was another activity we enjoyed on a rainy day in Florida. After the show we went to Quilting By the Bay Quilt Shop. If you are ever in the area, do stop there. It's a lovely setting and loaded with all sorts of patterns, fabrics and the best selection of notions I've ever seen in a quilt shop. I did help the economy of Panama City just a little that day!

February Vacation

Our trip began on a Saturday in mid-February as we drove to Florida stopping the first night in Illinois. Sunday, Feb. 9 we drove to Paducah, Kentucky and experienced the devastation of the wind storms that moved through that area two weeks before. On Monday, Feb. 10 we visited the Museum of the American Quilt Society. Wayne had not been there before, but this was my third visit. The exhibits at the time included wonderful miniature quilt. I especially liked the whole cloth quilts. They were magnificent. From there we drove to Franklin, Tennessee to have lunch with my cousin and his wife. On Tuesday we visited the Motorsports Hall of Fame at Taledaga Speedway in Alabama. We also toured the track. It is an experience to see the cars that have raced there and actually be at the track. We both enjoyed this visit. From here we drove to Panama City Beach, Florida where we spent 9 days. It was our first stay in the panhandle area of Florida. We need something warmer as a spot to spend our winters! It was just too cool and windy while we were there. But we enjoyed the time away and seeing another area we had never been to before.

Friends invited us to visit them at their winter home at Port St. Joe, Florida, for the day and that was terrific. The walk on the peaceful beach was lovely. It was the best day of our trip.

Another day trip we took was to Pennsicola, Florida, to the Naval Aviation Museum. I was very emotionally stirred thinking of the events that happened when certain planes were in use. The wedding of my paternal grandparents was one event that brought tears to my eyes. A reaction I didn't expect to have. Walking through the submarine exhibit also struck me. They had the photography studio set up. My dad wasn't stationed on a submarine, but he did work in the Army Air Core as a photographer so the equipment was probably very similar. I came out thinking I needed to watch the movie, Pearl Harbor, with a new appreciation of what the people went through at that time.