Progress!

Yesterday, I finished putting the last borders onto the red, white and blue medallion quilt I started working on last winter.  I had found an oversized "Goose in the Pond" block in red and white in my pizza box of leftover quilt blocks.  From there, I added borders, using fabric my Dutch sister sent me and some scraps in my stash.  At one point in the spring, I put it away because I knew it should be bigger but wasn't sure what to do next.  At the Vermont Quilt Festival this summer, I saw just the fabric I wanted for an appliqued border, and that's what I've been working on piecemeal ever since.  It has grown to about 84" x 84" and is ready to quilt.  That's what I hope to be doing over the next month or so.

But first!  I need to finish stitching a facing down on the back of an old wool appliqued UFO that also needs a little hand quilting.  It was an 8" square that I finished long ago.  I needed to do a little embroidery and, when I tried using gold metallic thread, it looked awful.  I took it all out and used plain gold cotton thread instead.  Much better.  A colorful border makes the final little hanging about 11".

My row robin bookshelf quilt returned home Saturday after a trip to Washington state, Australia (two stops there), London, North Carolina, and Florida.  These quilters did some amazing work!  I am anxious to put it together but will try to restrain myself until after I get the Goose in the Pond quilt done.  I did buy a tan "Quilters Linen" fabric (I love this Kaufmann line) for the outer shelving and sides of the bookcase.   It's going to be fun to look at.