I had a total creative block on the most recent quilt I loaded on the longarm. I stared at it for a week, then I was gone for a week. Today I was determined to do something on it. I had a simple swirl design and just did that on the top border, it looks fine. I advanced the quilt......yeah.

....and tomorrow I will do the body of the quilt. It is the bargello Ellen taught at a past retreat. I hope to get this one done in a timely manner now that I finally made a few decisions. Next quilt I choose will have a plan before I load it.

I also hand turned the binding on the first side of the quilt I finished 2 weeks ago. I am just happy to be making some quilt progress again.

Ami_Quilts (sewingupasto) said:

I am just happy to be making some quilt progress again.

It's a good feeling, isn't it?  :-)

Absolutely. I did get a table refinished last week as well as finish a pair of shorts. I took the binding project but did not touch it. We took 11 hours to drive back yesterday. We drove the scenic route including Rocky Mountain National Park. The aspen trees are starting to change color and we just enjoyed the slow drive home thru mountain roads. 

I made a pretty detailed list of things I want to get done. There are quite a few garments on the list and I think most of them are from the fabrics I got on our trip to SAS in February. I already made two things out of one of the fabrics. I do plan to keep busy.

Your photo resembles the one on our family plot in a small rural cemetery near my home town.  It starts out with my great grandparents then grandparents, parents and 2 spots left for me.  I plan on cremation so that my be the end of the family line there.  There are older family members a few rows down.  After working on our ancestry, DD and I spent an afternoon looking at all the graves with names and dates.  Really interesting history.  

It is rather sad how our families have dispersed so much.  My om was one of seven and they all stayed within 20 miles of the home town.  Their kids, my cousins, all split for places all over the US.  Very  few jobs were available there so we had little choice.

Is that a Mason's symbol at the top of your family headstone?

Yes, I think so.

Apparently old William was a big fish in that small pond ...  he had twelve children, was a very prosperous farmer and businessman, helped found a bank, etc.  My college-age kids wandered around the Crabbs corner of the cemetery after the service and made my DF chuckle when they told him that they had no idea there could be so many Crabbses in one place. LOL

Actually, she wrote "Kawabunga!!" as the first word in her thank-you email.    I guess that dates us because we remember growing up with Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob.

I could not believe how the neutrals in the quilt kinda match her living room couch. (Mind you, I have never seen photos of her home.) She writes that she will send me a photo of her rocking chair because the quilt is a perfect complement to that chair.

After babbling cheerfully in her email about how much she loves the quilt and was "honored to receive one of your coveted quilts" (!!!!??) Wanda wrote "Muchas gracias, xie xie, merci beaucoup! I love it!" so I guess that covers all the languages she needs in Sacramento.

She also wrote that she will be the envy of all her friends and family.

Wow!  All of her excitement from thousands of miles away makes up for the sheer drudgery of making the doggoned quilt.  LOL

what a nice response!

It does look good with her couch...

It is always so nice when the recipient is over the moon about a gifted quilt. 

I made more progress on the binding of my last quilt. One an  half sides left to go.

Today I decided I just needed to baste the quilt on the longarm so I could start in the center. I got that done and quilted the 2nd border at the bottom and did a little design in the center. Tomorrow I hope to make good progress on the middle. Now that it is basted I can roll it back and forth as needed to execute my design.

How utterly satisfying!  

Her enthusiastic response completely justifies the time and effort you put into making it.  It is *always* so wonderful when the recipient values the quilt.  :-)