I finished Solstice Dream. I added more leaves, berries, bees and caterpillar to the border.

The top is currently 36 1/2" by 42 1/2". I was really happy to cross off a wool appliqué wool project off my To Do List. Solstice Dream was a fun project, I learned a few new stitches and new techniques.
I am getting ready to mail the quilt top to be machine quilted.

A Lillie update. Lillie is growing and learning new things each day. She is now 5 months old, over 30 pounds and 20" at the shoulder. A few weeks ago, I was able to get a few not blurred pictures of Lillie and Molly.

I attended the Houston International Quilt Festival last week. I flew to Houston on Wednesday, November 1st, I arrived just in time to attend preview night and flew back to Phoenix on Sunday night. The George R. Brown Convention Center is huge, a total of 547,730 square feet on the first floor which equals about 10 football fields. Pictures of the 2017 Houston winning quilts.

There were over 1000 vendors at Festival, lots of beads, buttons, patterns and notions to covet. I am afraid that I coveted and bought too much this year.


. Buttons and beads

Beautiful linen fabrics and trims


Sue Spargo's second edition of Creative stitching pus some patterns I just could not pass up.



A few notions I needed.

I promised myself that I would not buy any quilt kits this year. Oops, I fell in love with Jacqueline de Jonge's La Vie set Belle quilt. Not only did I buy the fabric, I also purchased the Swarovski crystal to embellish the quilt. I am now trying to formulate a plan to make sure I finish this beautiful quilt in the next year.



Another fun time at the Houston Quilt Festival, always great to spend time with Sandy, my quilting buddy, Monica plus an opportunity to meet new quilting friends.

These last 10 days, I have been concentrating on finishing all the blocks for Solstice Dream. Last night, I finished the Curvy Caterpillar block.



I rather enjoyed stitching the tiny caterpillar and I am thinking I may add some caterpillars and bees to the borders.
This afternoon, I stitched all my Solstice Dream blocks together. The quilt is now 24 1/2" by 30 1/2".
I really like all the blocks but I think my 3 favorites are Pretty in Pink, Curvy Caterpillar and the Marsh blocks.



I have the top border prepped and really to appliqué and embellish. I am beginning to think I might be able to finish the quilt by November 1st.

I woke up this morning to bright sunny skies and a beautiful fall day in Phoenix. I turned on the computer and read a blog posted by my friend, Sandy.

Sandy wonders - "What will this post on my not-widely-read blog accomplish? Nothing, I’m afraid. Only our government representatives can pass laws to assure help for the mentally ill or to get automatic guns out of private hands. We absolutely must push for them to do exactly that."

I often wonder the same thing when I call, write or email my elected representatives. What can one phone call do? What can one letter do? Probably not much BUT many calls, letters and emails to our elected Congressional representatives does work, maybe not right away but persistent pressure DOES WORK! I decided to support Sandy's blog post by posting to my not-widely-read blog.

How many mass shootings will it take for the United States Congress to pass common sense gun control legislation? When will the United States Congress stand up to the NRA? When is enough really enough?

I took a week off from stitching September Fresh Cut BOM, I was able to finished blocks 9 and 10 of Solstice Dream.
Nest Building

I always go a bit crazy stitching drizzle stitches, I love to just pack them in.


I fell in love with the colors of Morning on the Seine silken pearl which was used to stitch the cast on bullions and crested chain around the cotton appliqués on the petals.



Just had to post latest picture of Lillie. She is getting bigger everyday. Lillie is 17 weeks old and now about 25 pounds. She is getting too big for a small dog bed but she did manage to curl up small enough to fit this morning.

Yes, this might be a problem. I definitely think this is a problem as I do not know where this wire came from!



Do you think this angelic face might be responsible for the current problem?


Katie and Molly vote GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!

I have been stitching quite a bit lately, I have more projects started than normal and I want to finish Solstice Dream before the end of 2017. I finished stitching Woven Petals and Pollen Gathering. I now have more than half of the blocks are completed.


The woven petal block has feathered chain stitch in the leaves which adds an interesting look to the leaves. I sewed blocks one through eight together, these blocks are 18" by 24".

The girls got groomed on Monday which is always a good time for a poodle photo shoot. It was not easy to get 2 poodles posed and I was thinking posing 3 poodles might be impossible. I actually got some great pictures of Katie, Molly and Lillie.

2 black poodles and 1 white poodle equals a poodle Oreo cookie!

The girls were amazingly cooperative of posing for me however Lillie did decide that she needed to climb over Molly.


Lillie is now 15 weeks old, she seems to get bigger each day. She weighs 22 pounds and is 15 1/2" at the shoulders. Lillie is a sweet puppy and keeps Katie and Molly on their toes.

Trying to stay on track, finished block 6 of Solstice Dream quilt. The block is 12' by 12" finished size.

This blocks used a variety of threads which always adds interest to the finished block. Rousseau Ric Rac is appliquéd in place then thorns, pistil stitches, were stitched with Painter's Rousseau pearl cotton. Painter's Kadnisky shimmer floss adds a beautiful shimmer to the bird wings and tail. New to me was the Feathered Chain stitch on the 4 larger leaves, adding a small in the chain really added a lovely touch to the leaves.

Turkey work is never my favorite stitch, I did preserve and stitched the 4 bee bodies using Thread Gathers Sheep's Silk. I used a Bunka brush to fluff up the cut stitches. The Bunka brush is a notion for turkey work which makes the fluff so much easier.

I have not posted for a while, web site needed a major update plus I have a new puppy.

Lillie was born on June 4, 2017 and I brought her to my home on Saturday, August 12th when Lillie was almost 10 weeks old.
Chrissy, Lillie's mother, is Molly's litter mate, so Molly and Lillie are aunt and niece. Molly had a tough time excepting Lillie as a new sister but after a 5 day snit, Molly and Lillie became friends. After 5 weeks, Molly and Lillie are now almost inseparable.



Katie, who turned 11 years old on September 2, 2017, leaves most of the puppy sitting duties to Molly but still has accepted Lillie as a permanent member of the family.