Pinch Hitting For Pepper....

It really isn't my turn to do the blog post, my day was yesterday :0)

But Pepper, AKA Peppercorns2, is down with a bad headache and so....to prove I am a kind and loving sister...I offered to do her post for her....LOL!

I had actually just finished putting together a treasury on Etsy,  I used to do a lot of treasuries but since there are now 23,680 treasuries I have kind of slacked off a bit!  However, I was surfing around Etsy and found a couple of items to put in my favs...

                              Calloohcallay

                           TeaWorksCottage

Side by side in my favorite items list they looked so good together that I could not resist curating a treasury around them... 

Click on each of the items in the treasury below to be taken directly to the shop, or you can visit the treasury on Etsy here...

                                Burgundy Fog
                               

Thank You!

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance of those who have died serving our country. I tear at the sound of “Taps” played at ceremonies on Memorial Day. “We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.” –Francis A. Walker.

"Memorial Day was first celebrated on May 30, 1868. It was observed by placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers during the first national celebration. Gen. James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which around 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. This date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
The alternative name of “Memorial Day” was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The holidays included Washington’s Birthday, now celebrated as Presidents’ Day; Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971."
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/05/31/what-is-memorial-day/

Today I would like to thank those who gave their lives,  all who have served in the past and those who currently serve plus a huge thank you to all their families and loved ones!

Click on each of the items in the treasury below to be taken to the shop of a military person or a family member of someone who has served in the military.

                                                   Thank You

VE

So My Teenage Granddaughter has decided.....

On the design for the quilt I promised to make her...

This may seem like a simple thing, however the discussion about the "theme" of the quilt started 8 years ago....we have gone through several ideas...including a quilt featuring strawberries ( I have several strawberry fabrics in my stash now)....a quilt featuring cooking (which she does quite well) but finally, now that she has a newly decorated room and considers herself to be more mature, the decision has been finalized.....the quilt will be  black and white and feature a music theme....WooHoo!

First item on my quilt "to do list" was go through my stash for possible fabrics and then shop for others...her Mother and I took her to a fabric store.....that was....an interesting experience!  Teenagers have strong opinions about fabric too :)

Next I found a quilt pattern I had purchased that had a music theme...which meant music symbols that I could copy for the applique portion of the quilt...

We knew we wanted  basic 12" square blocks..... some of them a nine patch quilt block of black squares alternating with black and white print squares....

I needed 125 5" squares like the ones above......to create 25 blocks that look like this.....

They are finished....so happy about that!

I also needed 24 of the white blocks that will end up as 12" appliqued squares....I have some of them finished.....

There will be 10 of these with the appliqued music symbols (I now realize that these symbols are backwards, but every quilt needs a mistake they say!) and 14 with a hand quilted design of the music symbols....I am going to use black quilting thread so the design will pop!

I will also hand quilt around each of the appliques (which are machine sewn on with a very tiny satin stitch),  do some hand quilting around the small squares which make up the larger square....these will also be "tied" in the center with a black yarn.

For now I have 2 applique blocks to finish, next I will lay all the blocks out until I find a grouping that I like, then I start sewing them together to form the quilt top.....if life goes as I plan (haha) the quilt top should be complete this coming week!

Check back in a couple of weeks for the next phase in the saga of the quilt!

VE