Cowgirl Dreams

"Cowgirl Dreams" 80" x 80"

This is one of those quilts where I can honestly say,
"The fabric made me do it."

Since before I started making quilts, I've been collecting fabric with a cowgirl theme. 

Some of it goes back to 1997!

I think it's because of watching all those TV Westerns as a kid.

  

One of my favorite things about this fabric is the names of the characters.

The cowgirls are Emmy Lou, Grace, Red, Ma, Kitty, Ginny, Nell, Jesse, Jolene and Rosa.

The cowboys are Hal, Hap, Slim, Squirt, Tex, Luke, Jeb, Rey, Gus and Pole Cat.

The horses are Sadie, Smoke, Maverick, Rio, Blanco, Big Star, Cookie, Juniper,

Mojave and Freckles.

A cowgirl needs her boots, too.  So they fit in the corner stars.

I decided it needed fringe, and found this fake buckskin.  Perfect!

I'm looking forward to quilting on those rope lines.

I think the cowgirl spirit might fit for all of us quilt-makers.

The pattern for this quilt comes from the book, Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again, 

by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran.

It tells how to make the large center star.  I added the corner stars and border.

A finish, a stencil, and a birthday!

"Mardi Gras"  74" x 60"

I've been quilting this for the last month.

The border is yukata cotton from Okan Arts.

I had fun outlining the leaves and flowers.

The fans are a mix of old shirts, plus new and vintage fabrics.

The binding is an old Ralph Lauren home decorator linen, 

leftover from a chair cover.  

I don't have the chair anymore, but I couldn't let go of this fabric!

The batting is Hobbs Tuscany cotton/wool mix, 

which gives the quilt extra crinkle when washed.

Last week I received this wonderful quilting stencil from Barb's new Etsy shop.

I'm thrilled with its nice large size!  

I'm going to use it to hand quilt this next spring.

First, I'll finish my winter project, which I started last night.

Now for the birthday news.  Tomorrow is my big six-oh!

It's a happy occasion for me.  I see it as the beginning of the "third act" in the play of life.

These blocks are going to be part of the Pi Project.

Did you know that Pi Day is 3/14/15?  

This one is very special because these are the first five digits of Pi.

I didn't know about it until my dear friend in France, Katell, announced it on her blog.

It took her post to tell me that the Pi Project is happening in my very own state!

They're making a long fabric ribbon with the digits in Pi.  They'll take as many 9.5" blocks 

as they can get, with a rough deadline of Feb 14.

Maybe your blocks will join mine!

The Pi Project, PO Box 2127, Vancouver, WA 98668

Click here for a wonderful showing of Pi blocks from France!