Screen Porch and Emily's Quilt

I know that I usually try to keep my posts, few as they are, to the topic of quilting, but for the last few months, since November really, the idea of adding a screen porch to our house has been foremost in our minds. Finally it is actually coming to life. After talking 2 builders, deciding on the basic plan, getting the HOA approval, getting a re-fi mortgage with cash out, and getting a building permit, the first holes were dug a few weeks ago. Then after a 2-wk wait for an inspection of the footings the builder was able to start filling the footings. The project involves changing two windows in our bedroom to French doors, and cutting a door in the sunroom brick wall. Here are some photos of the process to date.
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The supports for the roof are going up as I write this. The metal roof will start right under the soffits and slope a bit towards to back yard. We will have white pickets inside on the lower portion of the screens, and a screen door on the right side with a path eventually leading around to the patio. Oh, and a small triangular hot tub (in the outside left corner) and a TV (in the inside right corner) will be two of the furnishings inside the porch. Other furnishings to be determined when it is closer to being finished. You can draw all you want on graph paper, which I have done, but only when you actually see it in person do you have a real sense of the space. Right now it sure is looking BIG! Pardon the spacing of the pictures - I can't seem to get that quite right!

Now an update on my quilting. I haven't finished the Skinnie wall hanging for us, but I have been working on Emily's quilt. They will soon be moving her from her crib to a twin bed, and I want this ready to hang above there when they make the move. I have finished the hand-quilting on the center of the quilt and am 1/2 thru with the hearts and loops on the border. Soon will be ready for a decision on the binding - purple like the border and backing, or green like the flange. That will be up to the parents, but I'll bet they go with the purple, especially since the binding on Reilly's is the same as the border and backing.  

 

Spring Skinnie Finished and Donated

As usual, I didn't get a very early start on this little project for my guild meeting, but I thought I had it ready to add the binding by last Saturday night - guild meeting is not until Thursday afternoon, so I thought I was doing great. I had used the blue marker to mark the border for my hand-quilting, and after finishing that quilting I had wet the border pretty thoroughly to get rid of the blue ink. Then I discovered that the pink batik fabric I'd used for the petals of the flower and in the border had run through to the backing in one corner! I tried to rinse it out, after taking out the quilting in the offending corner, but of course that didn't help anything. So, what to do??? I had already decided that I liked it well enough to do another one for us, but hadn't figured I'd need to do it this quickly!

So Sunday morning found me starting another one. I figured if I did the piecing and applique on Sunday I could do the quilting on Monday and Tuesday and the binding and hanging sleeve on Wednesday then I'd be OK. The background of the 2nd one is a little different from the first one, and I substituted a lighter pink for the petals but otherwise it is pretty much the same. I looked several places for buttons but didn't find any that I liked better than what I already had. 

Here is the finished one that I took to the guild meeting

and here is a close-up of the top of it  

 I still need to finish the one I am keeping - re-do the corner of the border and then add the binding and hanging sleeve. I found some butterfly and bug buttons on Hip Girl Boutique that I ordered to add to mine. They should be here in a few days so I'll see how they do.

Next on my quilting agenda is to trim the Blooming Nine-Patch 

I got back from my quilter last month put the binding on it. I also need to finish the hand-quilting on granddaughter Emily's quilt.

I am almost finished with the center section. Then I'll be ready to do the border. I plan to do the same pattern on it that I used on her sister's quilt, 

which I think was a heart and loop design, but I need to double-check that. This is one rainy weekend, so if the baseball game we have tickets to for tomorrow afternoon is rained out like tonight's was, then maybe I could get the center section finished tomorrow. That would be quite an accomplishment for me! If I do too much hand-quilting at one time I regret it later with achy shoulders and thumbs.