Jo Arnspiger's Confederate – Mississippi Flag pattern

To contact us Click HERE


GREAT! Another block for the  Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge, this one from Jo Arnspiger. Harking back to her Confederate ancestry with this beautifully executed Mississippi Flag pattern (a blue background with white star) Jo writes:

My father’s family were almost all from Mississippi and Alabama. I choose the dark blue background and white star block pattern which represents the first flag flown by Mississippi in 1861 when they seceded from the United States. This flag was never officially adopted but was raised over the capital building and inspired the song “The Bonnie Blue Flag”.  See: Free Union and Confederate Quilt Patterns, ( by Judy Anne Breneman.

My great great grandfather Henry Stephen Archer Sr. served in the 32nd Mississippi Regiment from Mar 1861 through 1864. Sometime in 1864 he was reassigned as Chaplain for the 41st Mississippi Regiment. Copies of some of his military papers indicate President Davis was instrumental in approving his reassignment to the 41st Regiment as Chaplain. 

I have recently discovered the existence of the personal diary of Henry S. Archer for the years of his service in the Confederate Army. A microfilmed copy of the diary has been ordered through  Interlibrary Loan. Can’t wait to get my hands on that.
 
John Samuel Smith, a brother of my great great grandmother, Elizabeth Hurt Smith, also served in the 32nd Mississippi Infantry and died in battle 15 May 1864 in  Georgia. My great great grandfather, Joshua Atwood Tilton, enlisted in Co. D, 8th Regiment Alabama Infantry 10 May 1861. He was discharged 23 Oct 1862, having suffered a severe gunshot wound to the arm, leaving him with little or no use of the arm. He was a railroad engineer before the war and apparently continued that occupation after his discharge.

THANK-YOU Jo, for sharing your quilting talents, and for the stories about the service of two second great-grandfathers, and your second great-grand uncle. How very special to find the diary of one of these soldiers. Perhaps you can transcribe it for a series of blog postings? Just thinking...  ;)
So, DearGenea-Quilters, remember the  Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge runs through 15 April 2011. We're going to raffle the resulting quilt at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree on Saturday, 11 June 2011 at the Marriott Burbank Conference Center. Proceeds will be donated to the Society's scholarship fund for the 2012 Jamboree.

Leah Day's free-motion quilting tutorials

To contact us Click HERE




Wiggly Woven Lines is one of many Free Motion Quilting videos offered by Leah Day on YouTube. I am SERIOUSLY considering ding the  365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs Project. Even if I take time off to attend genealogy conferences and the week-long studies at Samford this year, I'd certainly know a lot more about free motion quilting when I got done.



Although Leah has a website, the Free Motion Quilting Project was so big, she devoted an entire blog on the topic.  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com. There's advice about maintaining consistent lines and improving your sewing machine setup.


This girl is rockin'

She's a (New York) Beauty!

To contact us Click HERE
I finished up this 20" mini for the Doll Quilt Swap round 12 on Flickr. And just under the wire, since mailing deadline for international parcels is tomorrow.  I had the top finished for a couple of weeks, but just managed to figure out how to quilt it this weekend.  Nothing like time pressure to crystallize one's thinking!

Here are a couple of close views of the quilting. This is easily the most ornate FMQ I've ever done.  It was actually quite fun!



This little gem finishes at 20" square.  I'm sending it off into the ether, and hoping for the best.  My partner had practically zero presence on the discussion board and in the comment threads, so I really don't know what she'll think of it.  Never mind, I'm hoping for the best.

A new arrival at Mottl and Tzeitel's!

To contact us Click HERE
Who remembers Fiddler on the Roof, where there is a big ruckus in the square with all kinds of excited chatter about the "new arrival" at the home of young Mottl the tailor and his new bride?  Watch the first few minutes of this clip to refresh your memory:

So you won't be surprised when I show you my new arrival - a 1939 Featherweight! She's in prime condition - the gold decals around the edges are intact, hardly any scratches, beautiful scrollwork engraving on the face plate and chrome wheel.  The serial number begins with AF, which signals a 1939 date of manufacture.  She came in her original case (that doesn't smell, which I gather is a problem with some of them), with bobbins, a handful of feet that look like medieval instruments of torture, the original instruction manual, and a zipper foot attachment with cams and an "automatic zigzagger".

I had to take a trip to Toronto for a meeting, and on a whim I checked Toronto Kijiji listings to see if there were any Featherweights on offer.  I saw three listed, but this one was the only one I went to see.  It was reasonably priced, easily accessible by public transit, and was being sold by a retired lady who was "decluttering" and reported that the machine had been in her family since its purchase.  It had clearly been well taken care of.  And now she's mine!  I am beyond thrilled and very happy to be able to give this little darling a good home!

Everybody's Doing It!

To contact us Click HERE
Voting, that is!  Tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and won't we all be glad when that is over! Even the Canadian news is awash with polls and pundits weighing in on the presidential election.   Well, here's another election you can vote in, and this one is for everyone around the world!

My quilt, Summer Wedding, was nominated for best quilt photography in the recent Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  My BQF post where the quilt is featured in full can be found here. I am tickled pink! So if you care to vote for it, please go to this link and scroll down to the section dedicated to quilt photography; you'll see this photo above my blog name, Stitchliterate. Give us some clicky love! I would be grateful for your vote!

Everybody's Doing It!

To contact us Click HERE
Voting, that is!  Tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and won't we all be glad when that is over! Even the Canadian news is awash with polls and pundits weighing in on the presidential election.   Well, here's another election you can vote in, and this one is for everyone around the world!

My quilt, Summer Wedding, was nominated for best quilt photography in the recent Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  My BQF post where the quilt is featured in full can be found here. I am tickled pink! So if you care to vote for it, please go to this link and scroll down to the section dedicated to quilt photography; you'll see this photo above my blog name, Stitchliterate. Give us some clicky love! I would be grateful for your vote!

Simply Charming Mini's Book Tour

To contact us Click HERE
Konda's done it again, and has published another amazing book.  This one, I have to admit is one of my favorites.  I love mini quilts. In fact I have several hanging on my dinning room wall.

When I was first introduced to Moose on The Porch's pattern books I fell in love with the each of Konda's instructions and the color combinations that she uses.  Creating mini quilts from charm packs allows you to get those same color combinations yourself...not to mention that you can create these little beauties out of your scraps as well.
Be sure to check out the Mini Quilt Along starting September 11th.  They will be making a quilt every two weeks from Simply Charming mini's and giving away some awesome prizes.
Speaking of awesome prizes, Konda is offering a free copy of her new book to one of you. Just leave a comment here and I will choose a winner by Tuesday.

Hop on over to Spun Sugar Quilts tomorrow for another chance to win!

Phoebe's Quilt

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Some quilts take longer than others to finish.  This was one of those quilts for me.  It wasn't difficult or uninspired, quite the opposite.  This one sat around while I tried to figure out how to quilt it and what to back it with.

Pink, purple or even black fabric kept catching my eye, but nothing seemed to fit. Then I found this crazy flannel.  The price was right and an impulse purchase followed.  (You know how it is).  The drive home was filled with doubts and second guessing myself.

When I got home and put it up to the other fabrics, I remembered to always go with your gut.  I couldn't be happier :)

A little swirly quilting with pink thread (I was feeling brave after my success with the crazy backing) and I was finally finished with the Moose on the Porch Layer Cake Quilt Along, which I just noticed was way back in 2010.  Oh well, here's to finishing project!

What are you working on today?

December

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Welcome December!  It is so nice to see you.  While we could use some rain/snow, I've been happy that the weather has been mild so far.

Without further adieu, here is the Hello Sun December Block.

Oh, sorry, wrong picture.  That is my adorable little granddaughter in the blessing dress that I made for her.  Not sure how that got in there ;)

Here we go...


This is our last block, and my favorite of the bunch. December is my favorite month.  After all, Christmas, my birthday and my wedding anniversary (20th this year!) are all within 9 days of each other.  This block has a couple of little special touches.  First, the deer is made out of corduroy from an old pair of Josh's pants. Second, I mixed things up a bit by adding white embroidery to the deer and used a little white thread on the tree.  

I spent Friday sewing all of my blocks into the final quilt layout and working on the finishing instructions for you. I will be posting those on Monday or Tuesday so be sure to check back.

We'll also be having two giveaways at that time, so stay tuned.

Layout Instructions & a Give Away

To contact us Click HERE
I'm up burning the midnight oil to bring you the layout instructions for Hello Sun!  I just snapped a couple of pictures on my cell phone of the process.

Assembly line style to move things along a little quicker...
Progress...then a quick snack of homemade sweet potato fries.

Back to work and things are coming together nicely!
Finally finished and no one was around to hold up the final project resulting in a quick fuzzy picture. I should have called Marion, she makes a great quilt model.  
I'll have to take some better pictures, but not at 1:00 am.  Oh, my, I need to get to bed.

On with the give away...
Michael Miller has sponsored our give away with two charm packs of Cotton Couture!
One Winner will be chosen randomly from the finished Hello Sun quilts posted in the flickr group. (You don't have to use my quilt layout). Another winner will be chosen from the comments left on this post. What could be better than free fabric from Michael Miller?

The winner for the drawing from comments will be announced next week. The winner for the quilt will be at the end of the month. I can't wait to see your finished quilts!

A new arrival at Mottl and Tzeitel's!

To contact us Click HERE
Who remembers Fiddler on the Roof, where there is a big ruckus in the square with all kinds of excited chatter about the "new arrival" at the home of young Mottl the tailor and his new bride?  Watch the first few minutes of this clip to refresh your memory:

So you won't be surprised when I show you my new arrival - a 1939 Featherweight! She's in prime condition - the gold decals around the edges are intact, hardly any scratches, beautiful scrollwork engraving on the face plate and chrome wheel.  The serial number begins with AF, which signals a 1939 date of manufacture.  She came in her original case (that doesn't smell, which I gather is a problem with some of them), with bobbins, a handful of feet that look like medieval instruments of torture, the original instruction manual, and a zipper foot attachment with cams and an "automatic zigzagger".

I had to take a trip to Toronto for a meeting, and on a whim I checked Toronto Kijiji listings to see if there were any Featherweights on offer.  I saw three listed, but this one was the only one I went to see.  It was reasonably priced, easily accessible by public transit, and was being sold by a retired lady who was "decluttering" and reported that the machine had been in her family since its purchase.  It had clearly been well taken care of.  And now she's mine!  I am beyond thrilled and very happy to be able to give this little darling a good home!

Everybody's Doing It!

To contact us Click HERE
Voting, that is!  Tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and won't we all be glad when that is over! Even the Canadian news is awash with polls and pundits weighing in on the presidential election.   Well, here's another election you can vote in, and this one is for everyone around the world!

My quilt, Summer Wedding, was nominated for best quilt photography in the recent Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  My BQF post where the quilt is featured in full can be found here. I am tickled pink! So if you care to vote for it, please go to this link and scroll down to the section dedicated to quilt photography; you'll see this photo above my blog name, Stitchliterate. Give us some clicky love! I would be grateful for your vote!

April Layher's Pride of Ohio Block

To contact us Click HERE



WOW! April Layher is the second Genea-Quilter to submit her entry for the Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge to benefit the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree scholarship fund. April has also graciously volunteered to piece all our blocks together and prepare the quilt for tying during Jamboree 2011 in June.
Here's what April has to say about her "Pride of Ohio" block:

"I chose this quilt block because it represents generations of my family. Although I am not the historian that my sister is, I do know that our family helped to settle Ohio and has been in Northeastern Ohio for many generations. My favorite place in the world was my Grandfather’s dairy farm in West Farmington, Ohio.  
My Aunt Polly and Uncle Elton Bland owned a grocery and dry goods store with plank flooring and hitching posts in West Farmington. They were the dearest people in the world to me. Many cousins still live there, their homes sandwiched in between Amish houses. I fondly remember waking up in the upstairs bedroom of the farmhouse to the clattering of hooves and buggies driving past.
The little cemetery in town, Hillside Cemetery, features the names and dates of my ancestors, going back over 200 years, and some of the stones are so worn now, that only a rubbing will clearly discern the names. Osmer, Hosmer, Curtis, Hatch, Christy – so many familiar names in one graveyard that make me feel a part of this little town in Ohio, even though I have never lived there."

 Here are some of April (and Tami's) Ohio ancestor photos:

 My grandfather Addison Osmer as a young man.

 My Dad at 17 in his town baseball  uniform.
My Mom, Marcelle Burge Osmer and her little brother Bruce Burge.

"For all these reasons, I chose the Pride of Ohio block because my family, though simple, working people, formed the backbone of Ohio and, indeed, of our country. I am grateful and proud to have such ancestry."

Jo Arnspiger's Confederate – Mississippi Flag pattern

To contact us Click HERE


GREAT! Another block for the  Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge, this one from Jo Arnspiger. Harking back to her Confederate ancestry with this beautifully executed Mississippi Flag pattern (a blue background with white star) Jo writes:

My father’s family were almost all from Mississippi and Alabama. I choose the dark blue background and white star block pattern which represents the first flag flown by Mississippi in 1861 when they seceded from the United States. This flag was never officially adopted but was raised over the capital building and inspired the song “The Bonnie Blue Flag”.  See: Free Union and Confederate Quilt Patterns, ( by Judy Anne Breneman.

My great great grandfather Henry Stephen Archer Sr. served in the 32nd Mississippi Regiment from Mar 1861 through 1864. Sometime in 1864 he was reassigned as Chaplain for the 41st Mississippi Regiment. Copies of some of his military papers indicate President Davis was instrumental in approving his reassignment to the 41st Regiment as Chaplain. 

I have recently discovered the existence of the personal diary of Henry S. Archer for the years of his service in the Confederate Army. A microfilmed copy of the diary has been ordered through  Interlibrary Loan. Can’t wait to get my hands on that.
 
John Samuel Smith, a brother of my great great grandmother, Elizabeth Hurt Smith, also served in the 32nd Mississippi Infantry and died in battle 15 May 1864 in  Georgia. My great great grandfather, Joshua Atwood Tilton, enlisted in Co. D, 8th Regiment Alabama Infantry 10 May 1861. He was discharged 23 Oct 1862, having suffered a severe gunshot wound to the arm, leaving him with little or no use of the arm. He was a railroad engineer before the war and apparently continued that occupation after his discharge.

THANK-YOU Jo, for sharing your quilting talents, and for the stories about the service of two second great-grandfathers, and your second great-grand uncle. How very special to find the diary of one of these soldiers. Perhaps you can transcribe it for a series of blog postings? Just thinking...  ;)
So, DearGenea-Quilters, remember the  Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge runs through 15 April 2011. We're going to raffle the resulting quilt at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree on Saturday, 11 June 2011 at the Marriott Burbank Conference Center. Proceeds will be donated to the Society's scholarship fund for the 2012 Jamboree.

Leah Day's free-motion quilting tutorials

To contact us Click HERE




Wiggly Woven Lines is one of many Free Motion Quilting videos offered by Leah Day on YouTube. I am SERIOUSLY considering ding the  365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs Project. Even if I take time off to attend genealogy conferences and the week-long studies at Samford this year, I'd certainly know a lot more about free motion quilting when I got done.



Although Leah has a website, the Free Motion Quilting Project was so big, she devoted an entire blog on the topic.  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com. There's advice about maintaining consistent lines and improving your sewing machine setup.


This girl is rockin'

Be Nice to Yourself

To contact us Click HERE
I tried to think of some insightful-sounding title, but that's really all I've got--you should be nice to yourself.  It's really easy to get overwhelmed and stressed this time of year because there are end-of-the-year work things, Christmas gatherings, possibly graduations, extra cooking, extra shopping, extra traffic, and a list of things you have to do and an even longer list of things you want to make before the almighty 25th gets here. 

(Or the 21st, if you're one of those end-of-the-world types.  But if you are, you're probably not that concerned about your holiday presents.  Good for you!)

So be nice to yourself!  You're doing the best you can with what you've got.  I know it's incredibly distressing when you truly want to make something and time just won't let you.

Those adorable crocheted owl ornaments I wanted to give to family and friends with Christmas cards?  Not happening. 

In fact, Christmas cards?  Not happening until this weekend.  I'm behind this year.

And you know my goal of Knooking something as simple as a dishcloth?  KILLING ME.

I had intended to make a bundle of dishcloths for my mom's birthday (last week), and then I would knit her a shawl for Christmas.  Colorful dishcloths with interesting patterns seemed like a great birthday present, and a shawl seemed like a more thoughtful and holiday-appropriate project because it would take a little more time.  Right? 

Wrong.

Here's the thing.  This washcloth:


took almost as long to make as this shawl:


There are a bunch of reasons for this, the most obvious being that I am a knitter.  I've been doing it forever, and I'm comfortable with it and my hands know what to do.  That shawl doesn't really have a pattern, because I was a little too tired for patterns last week.  So I modified a version of another pattern, and just knitted in stockinette stitch.  I increased one stitch at each end of all the right-side rows.  I basically knitted a giant triangle.

I enjoy Knooking.  I really and truly do.  I think it's fantastic and weirdly creative, and I do want to try more with it--especially more small in-the-round projects.  But it's new to me.  It feels weird because I know how to crochet and knit (even though I hold the needle wrong in both of those things, and I'm most comfortable holding my Knook wrong as well.  Sad but true) and Knooking is like both of those things, except that it's not. My hands are telling me how to do one thing, and the pattern books tell me to do another, and my brain is trying to figure out how to make it work.

So after I made ONE dishcloth in a week and a half, I realized I was going to need to switch the projects.  And so I knitted up a shawl (after a few mess-ups and unravelings) in about 5 days.  This was with some getting up early and staying up late, but it was still faster than Knooking. 

Part of me wants to act like I'm a big dang deal for knitting a triangle in a few days.  The more logical part of me knows that I'd better try to keep someone from feeling like crap just because they're not immediately amazing at trying some new skill.  Because I think that's what gets most people.  They try crocheting and because they can't immediately make doilies, they think they're bad at it and never touch it again.  Or they pick up knitting, and their stitches are uneven and they just don't feel as intuitive as their friends look (key word there.  Not "as intuitive as their friends are") when they knit and so they think they suck and they quit.  Which is so sad! 

I think yarncrafting is fun.  I think handmade items are beautiful.  Knitting at the end of the day makes me happier than just about any other activity.  It falls right after giving my daughter a bath, and getting a shoulder rub.  I love it.  Some people might not.  For some people, it's stressful.  It's not fun, it's not interesting, and it's not something they want to do.  And that's fine!  But I'd rather someone try and decide s/he doesn't like it than try and hate it because s/he's not immediately great at it.

All of that is easy to forget when you're worn out.  And I've been really worn out.  It happens.  I knew I wouldn't be planning to give many Knooked gifts this year because it's still a very new thing for me, but I thought I'd at least be able to handle a few dishcloths.  But I wasn't, and it irritated me.  But then I finished the shawl (late, which really irritated me because I didn't change plans in time to give it to my mom on her real birthday) and my mom loved it.

My mom is truly one of my favorite people to make things for.  She freaked out over the shawl.  I showed her two ways to wear it and we immediately discussed washing instructions.  She primped in front of my bathroom mirror, styling and re-styling it.  She tried wearing it under her coat and over her coat and started naming off shirts she could wear it with and, finally, she took a phone pic of herself and sent it to my sisters before 8 o'clock in the morning because she had to show it off.  It was super ridiculous and it really made my day.

(Also, my mom is that nice lady who comments on several of my posts.  You may have already guessed this, but she's incredibly supportive.)

It was nice to have a reminder that I'm awesome.  I'm just not awesome at Knooking--yet.  I know that sounds a bit vain, but if I'm not nice to myself then I get discouraged.  When I get discouraged, I don't make as many things.  When I don't make as many things, I'm not as happy as I am when I do.  And on and on and on.  Since it's so easy to get stressed and discouraged right now, I figured at least some of y'all needed the pick-me-up as  much as I do.

So: You're awesome.  You're doing your best and you're trying new things and you're super impressive at stuff.  You are, really and truly, awesome.  You're just maybe not-awesome at that new thing you're doing. 

Yet.

Give yourself time, be nice to yourself, and get back to it.  Have a great weekend, awesome person.  Good luck with those skills of yours.  I bet they're awesome.  

She's a (New York) Beauty!

To contact us Click HERE
I finished up this 20" mini for the Doll Quilt Swap round 12 on Flickr. And just under the wire, since mailing deadline for international parcels is tomorrow.  I had the top finished for a couple of weeks, but just managed to figure out how to quilt it this weekend.  Nothing like time pressure to crystallize one's thinking!

Here are a couple of close views of the quilting. This is easily the most ornate FMQ I've ever done.  It was actually quite fun!



This little gem finishes at 20" square.  I'm sending it off into the ether, and hoping for the best.  My partner had practically zero presence on the discussion board and in the comment threads, so I really don't know what she'll think of it.  Never mind, I'm hoping for the best.

A new arrival at Mottl and Tzeitel's!

To contact us Click HERE
Who remembers Fiddler on the Roof, where there is a big ruckus in the square with all kinds of excited chatter about the "new arrival" at the home of young Mottl the tailor and his new bride?  Watch the first few minutes of this clip to refresh your memory:

So you won't be surprised when I show you my new arrival - a 1939 Featherweight! She's in prime condition - the gold decals around the edges are intact, hardly any scratches, beautiful scrollwork engraving on the face plate and chrome wheel.  The serial number begins with AF, which signals a 1939 date of manufacture.  She came in her original case (that doesn't smell, which I gather is a problem with some of them), with bobbins, a handful of feet that look like medieval instruments of torture, the original instruction manual, and a zipper foot attachment with cams and an "automatic zigzagger".

I had to take a trip to Toronto for a meeting, and on a whim I checked Toronto Kijiji listings to see if there were any Featherweights on offer.  I saw three listed, but this one was the only one I went to see.  It was reasonably priced, easily accessible by public transit, and was being sold by a retired lady who was "decluttering" and reported that the machine had been in her family since its purchase.  It had clearly been well taken care of.  And now she's mine!  I am beyond thrilled and very happy to be able to give this little darling a good home!

Everybody's Doing It!

To contact us Click HERE
Voting, that is!  Tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and won't we all be glad when that is over! Even the Canadian news is awash with polls and pundits weighing in on the presidential election.   Well, here's another election you can vote in, and this one is for everyone around the world!

My quilt, Summer Wedding, was nominated for best quilt photography in the recent Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  My BQF post where the quilt is featured in full can be found here. I am tickled pink! So if you care to vote for it, please go to this link and scroll down to the section dedicated to quilt photography; you'll see this photo above my blog name, Stitchliterate. Give us some clicky love! I would be grateful for your vote!

The one where I broke up with AMH (A Monstrous Headache)

To contact us Click HERE
I present to you, dear readers, the most difficult thing I have ever made. It is a quilt with velveteen hexagons on the front, bamboo batting, and flannel on the back.  It looks pretty, I grant, but it is a monster. It took me nearly the entire weekend to quilt it, and I am still feeling it in my shoulder blades!

The top wasn't too bad to put together.The velveteen frays like mad, and I should probably have gone with a 1/3" or even a 1/2" seam allowance. But I went ahead with the quilter's quarter inch.

Afterwards, I seemed to remember that I had read a blogpost by Anna Maria Horner that warned of this - where are these insights when you really need them?

To ensure that the seams held secure during the normal usage of a quilt, I decided to stitch in the ditch using a wide zigzag. I was particularly concerned about the joins of the y-seams. I used a yellow Aurifil 28 wt thread for this.  Upon scrutiny post-wash and dry, the seams seem to have held up well.

I do like the way the zigzags show up outlining the hexagons on the back.

Oh my word! Muscling this through the quilting on my little Pfaff was something else! Hercules and his labours had nothing on what I went through. I really thought it was going to send me back to physio - my shoulders and back were on fire with the weight of it. I took a break after each row to stand upright and swing my arms.

The hexagons are 9" across (I used the Marti Michel template to cut them) so I needed something to secure the centres. I thought about tying them, but decided to go with a decorative machine stitch. You can see if it you look closely in the centre of this hex.

This quilting makes a nice and loose quilt, kind of floppy.  It is a very strange shape, though. It's about 80" long and 50-odd inches wide (I have hung it sideways on the line in these photos).

The velveteen, flannel and cotton binding are all from Anna Maria Horner, who happens to share the monogram of this quilt, A Monstrous Headache!

Truly, by the end of the weekend, I was ready to divorce this quilt. I had mentally projected all my ill well onto it and even once it was finally washed and dried, all fluffed up, I was still feeling hard done by.

I was cranky about its odd shape and wondering what in the world had possessed a woman who is experiencing her own personal summer in the depths of Canadian winter to construct a quilt that weighs about 20 lbs. and heats up like a blast furnace!

However, I am starting to come around. Even though I swore that we broke up on the weekend, I am beginning to feel that we were only "on a break". I think we might have a chance to be happy together, after all!