Nine Patch Top

Hey everyone,
It's been over a month since I last posted and I feel a little rusty as I start writing. I almost can't explain all the good things happening. Keep in mind, I'm a pretty simple person - it doesn't take much to keep me happy! I think I'm starting to get the hang of being a mom of adults. I'm a recovering helicopter parent and it feels so good to let my children take on more adult responsibilities. My youngest son going off to college was relatively painless. I feel like I have time on my hands and that is a welcome feeling. Here is what I've been up to-

Here is what I've done with the 9-patches from the Quilters Unlimited McLean chapter exchange. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm now deciding how to machine quilt it - either straight lines going diagonally through the 9-patches or an all over meander. The blocks are 8" and the top measures 48"x 72".

On the design wall are my crumb blocks set with this scrumptious blue hand dyed fabric. If asked what are my favorite colors, I'd say purple, green and blue. If pressed to really only pick one, it would be blue in all its lovely shades. This one really pops and I'm happy to finally use it.

In my new pursuit of furniture painting, I've finished two chairs. I rescued this rocker from a home in foreclosure in my neighborhood. The front porch of this home was full of discarded stuff. I figure this rocker was sitting on that porch for almost 2 years. The wood looked weathered and carpenter bees had started to burrow. I found the seat pads on sale and was lucky they were a perfect fit. I don't have anywhere in my home to put this, but I'm in love with it. I seem to be falling in love with freebie furniture. By the way, the dresser I showed you a couple posts back sold after only two days at the thrift shop. I didn't make money - just covered my costs - but I learned a lot and that was it's purpose.

This is a chair my mom gave me. It came from her mother. My mom had it in her laundry room for years - a place to set things on.













It was pretty beat up, which I don't mind so much, but it also looked pretty dirty. Even TSP wouldn't clean it up.

Two friends came over to watch me paint this one. They were over for about 4 hours - the time flew past. We had tea between the two coats of paint. I think they are excited about trying out the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, too.
















These photos were taken after I waxed it the next day. I was so anxious to take photos while we had a bit of sunshine (and I do mean a bit) that I didn't wait to buff it first. I'm now using it as my computer chair.





On to a couple other tid bits -

My friend Janet over at Rogue Quilter has written some moving posts about her grandson Ben. The sweet little guy has Dravet Syndrome. I'd never heard of it and wanted to share with you the challenges facing this young boy and his family. Click on his name to go to his mom's website where she shares his story. We hear a lot about deseases like Alzheimers and breast cancer. It seems to me it's even harder to deal with a disease that few people have heard of and affects the daily life of a child.

Did you know you can find out which of your blog photos have been pinned on Pinterest? Type this in front of your blog address - http://pinterest.com/source/ . For instance, I typed in http://pinterest.com/source/pursuitofquilts.blogspot.com.

And finally, I finished the online photography class at ShootFlyShoot. I don't think any of the above photos are that great, but I'm pretty proud of this one I took of Len, especially since my first attempts resulted in total darkness. If I can use a DSLR camera on manual mode, most anyone can.

Here's one gal who's lookin' forward to some dry, sunny days of fall!