heh ... and I was concerned about running out of background fabric!   Even though I had a "ton" of a specific beige neutral, I absolutely DID run out of it!  

So, i went with Plan B .... *yes*!  intentional scrappy beige neutral backgrounds!  ::cough::

I've been working all summer on crazy quilt blocks.  Do some of you remember the swap that Kathy Shun hosted many years ago?  I started the blocks way back then.  Then I took a series of on-line classes from Kathy Shaw in an effort to learn more techniques, get ideas, and make progress on them.  I finally have all 20 blocks started and 7 completely finished (I'll try to post some pictures when the baby is napping or else tomorrow).  There's still a ways to go though. 

Progress has been slow on everything quilt related because I'm still watching Great Grandson, Zahn, and 18-month old great granddaughter, Kingsley, while their mothers work full-time. 

Kingsley is not feeling well right now.  Her mom (Lindzey) took her to the emergency room this past week with really bad stomach and intestinal flu.  Then within a day she also seemed to have a cold.  Poor little thing - she's still not doing well.  To top it off, her mom called last night at bed time and told me she (Lindzey) tested positive for Covid.  I was distressed to hear that.  She had a scratchy throat on Friday, I've had one since yesterday.  I tested negative this morning, thankfully.  I guess I'll test again in a day or two.  So, I've been watching a sick baby.  This is hard.

On with the saga.  I was getting frustrated that not much other quilting besides the crazy quilting was getting done so I decided to work on my Civil War Bride quilt starting last week, before all of this happened. 

I got all of the Civil War Bride blocks sewn together.  Next is working on the borders.  I have a plan for them, and have ordered a 3/4" bias tape maker for the stems, so I'll soon be set for that step.  In the meantime, I'll work on selecting fabric, etc. for the leaves that go on those stems. 

I looked back at old pictures I had saved and my Civil War Bride quilt has been in process since 2009.  It's about time to get it finished, right!  I'm going to try and include a picture.  It's 16 blocks, is all needle turn applique, and embellished with various pretties.  The bride is wearing a white dress, which some may not think is authentic for the civil war era, but before I chose the white I did some research.  Queen Victoria introduced wearing a white dress and it was all the rage for many in that era.

Here it is, although after many attempts, I still can't get it to post right side up.  Ugh.  I think I'll delete it try it again in a separate post.

Here's a closeup of the bride and the groom (I designed him and that block).

those are splendid blocks! Whole quilt is beautiful.

Hope you don't have Covid..and hope all your sickees are back to right as rain soon.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Linda, that is *spectacular*!  I'm not surprised that it has taken this long, since 2009, to get it completed.  Each block is an enormous amount of work, as there is *so* much applique in each block.  And if you're also working on other projects, or just get bored with working on it for such a long time, it adds up.

Is there another border that goes around it?

Have you given any thought to how to quilt it?

Thanks Suze.  I appreciate your good thoughts.

Thank you Shelley.  Yes, it took a long time to do each block, but truthfully, I set it aside for several years, unable to decide how I wanted to complete it.  There were 5 more blocks in the pattern and I wasn't fond of them.  I substituted 1 of the blocks with the groom block.  The other 4 I finally decided to just not do (even though I had drawn up some patterns I liked to replace them - a house for them to live in, etc.) - I finally decided it was more work than I wanted to do, that 16 blocks would make a nice sized quilt, and to just get it done.

Yes, I'm working on the border now.  I originally thought I'd do a swag border.  I finally decided, that with a little bit more work than that, I could do arced stems with leaves and a bud beside each block.  I've got it drawn up, and am finally excited to get it underway, and completed.

As far as quilting, I took Susan Smith's Freehand Quilting Master Class (the one that Dee also took), so I have some fill ideas for the blocks that I think I can pull off.  I'll outline all of the elements first, and do stitch in the ditch around the blocks and sashing.  I'm still thinking on the quilting for the border.  I'm going to have to see how it turns out before I decide.  I love doing feathers, so there will likely be some in there somewhere.

Your quilt is totally amazing!!! All that work while watching 2 GGgrandchildren.  You are wonder woman!

Glad you are squeezing in some quilting time again. The quilt sure is beautiful and will look awesome hung in your house. Sorry to hear the little one is sick and now her mama too. Hope everyone feels better soon.