Constellations, a new BOM!

Hi everyone!  It's the last day of 2016! We are at my parent's house for a couple of days after spending time with the grandson, then it's home to start the new year.  Lots of traveling, but we get to see everyone.  Way better than the years we would pile all the kids in the car and head for Grandma's, too.  Less fighting in the back seat.

Since it's closing in on the new year, it's time to start on 2017's projects.  For next year, I have designed another block of the month quilt that will be my major project for the Rainbow Scrap challenge over at soscrappy.  Why not?  I like doing them and the quilts have turned out great so far.

As we know, I don't draw so well (and I don't have the expensive software), but you get the idea.  I've designed this one a little bit differently, so that each month one of the 10 sections will be completed, and then joined to the other sections. For example, in month 3, section 3 is completed and joined to sections 1 and 2. When 4 and 5 are finished, they're joined to 1, 2, and 3 and half the quilt is finished. This way, when you've made the last section, your quilt is complete except for the borders!  The sections include the blocks and the sashing, all of it designed to fit together just right.

Not to worry, I did the math!

The working title for this quilt is Constellations.  Why? Because all the blocks are stars!  The quilt includes both 12 inch and 6 inch blocks, all of them somewhat uncommon--no Sawtooth Stars or Ohio Stars-- but none of them very complicated.  I promise, none of them is as difficult as the Intricate Stitches blocks!  You know I love vintage blocks, though, so these stars are also from our quilting heritage.  And there's only one block to make each month!

For my quilt, I am using some of the many, many fat quarters I have accumulated.  In keeping with my resolution to take more chances with color, I've chosen a lovely blue as a background:

UPDATE:  I had originally chosen Kona Nightfall (a beautiful color) as my background, but then I found the above blue in yet another box.  The pattern that it was with was from 2008, so I think it's safe to say I'll never make that quilt.  There was exactly 4 yards if this, so I've decided to use it instead.  The selvage says that it is Krystal by Michael Miller, but has no date or color number.  It's actually darker than it appears in the picture and looks like the night sky.

So that's the plan!  If it sounds at all interesting, come on along and try a block or two.  I'll be putting up a page for Constellations later this week, and the first tutorial will be posted sometime the first week in January.  After that, new tutorials will be posted on the first Tuesday of the month.

 Hope everyone is having a great weekend and that you have a wonderful new year celebration!  Bring on 2017!

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC17 (!!), Linky Tuesday, and Let's Bee Social.

Plotting and planning

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are now getting ready for the New Year celebration this weekend.  We are currently enjoying the wide open skies, clear crisp air, and great roads of the Midwest, not to mention happy cuddle time with our grandson! I'm taking this downtime to make some plans and goals for next year.  I usually resist this kind of thing, because it makes a fun hobby feel like work, but Yvonne at Quilting JETgirl makes it sound so helpful, so here goes!




I've found from my work that both specific and general goals are helpful, so let's start with the general goals:

     1. If you've been reading this year, you know that we have had a lot of upheaval for the last year and a half, and we have finally settled into a home with a great sewing room.  I've been unpacking 20 years of quilty stuff and fabric that just got thrown into a box when we moved. My goal is to get the sewing room settled and to continue cleaning out and eliminating a lot of sewing clutter.  Less is more for me.

     2. Expand my use of color, both through studying color theory and playing with different color combinations in fabrics.  I'm really happy with the Autumn Jewels quilt from this year, which was a bit of a leap of faith for me, using a curry color for the background.  I want to take more chances like this with color.

A very helpful book!

      3. Related to that, I want to take more chances with fabrics.  Here's a confession for you--prints make me nervous.  I like clean, clear colors that are more blender than print, and there is a lot of popular fabric that I really dislike.  Not naming names, but I just don't get it.  I do feel that I need to use some more prints and find some styles that don't make me quite so anxious.

     4. Better publicize the blog, especially my upcoming block of the month, Constellations.  I'm really torn about this one.  I would like to reach more people, but this really is a hobby for me.  I work full time and the things required to really expand a blog take a lot of time that I don't really have.  Anyone with suggestions, I'm happy to hear them!

Those are pretty big general goals--especially the cleaning up the sewing room one!--so let's look at some specific goals:

    1. Constellations, the new BOM I have planned for 2017.  Details coming this Saturday!  But if you're interested, the tabs at the top of the page still have all the tutorials and instructions for the last two BOMs, Classic Stitches and Intricate Stitches.  

    2. Finish the quilts I started in 2016, beginning with the Intricate Stitches quilt.  (Which is almost done.)

    3. Make a temperature quilt for 2017!  I like the idea from this post from Live a Colorful Life, found HERE.

    4. Make an "About me" page for the blog.  Really hard for me!

    5. Make a Dresden Plate quilt, probably for RSC17.  Or maybe as a medallion for a medallion quilt.  Or place mats! ( Maybe I should change this one to "decide what Dresden Plate quilt to make.")

     6. Find more ways to use my stash of fat quarters, including the lovely "curated" packs I have.  I have way too many! 

So those are my goals!  What are yours?  Suggestions, corrections, and advice all welcome!

Hope you are enjoying the end of the year with family and friends.  Here's to a great 2017 for all of us!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social and the 2017 Planning Party.

The end of a great year

Hi everyone!  Well, we are at the end of another year!  Hard to believe that the end of this week is Christmas and then really soon after that it will be 2017.  2017!  How did that happen? With the end of the year, it's time to look back at some of the highlights and things I've learned this year.  And at the quilts, too, of course!

2016 was a year of big changes for our family, mostly for the best. We added to our family, finally bought a new house, and are still settling in to a new neighborhood.  We like our property and our neighbors and are generally very happy here.  And let's not forget to mention the more than $500 raised in the Gratitude Sale! So here are some of the highlights and some of my favorites from 2016.

I always have trouble picking a "favorite" quilt, or a "best" one, but this year there is no contest!  There are two sewing projects that are not only high points for 2016 for me, but mark major life events as well.  The first is the Friends in the Forest quilt:

Friends in the Forest

I still love it! This is the quilt that I made for our first grandson, who was born this year.  He is, of course, the world's most amazing baby, and a complete joy.  This may have been his first quilt, but I'm pretty sure it won't be his last!

The second high point was much less quilty, but still involved some sewing:

This is a little bit of sentimental stitching that I made for our daughter, who got married earlier this year.  So much happiness!  I made this small purse and a bouquet wrap from her grandmother's wedding gown.  It was such a wonderful day, and the newlyweds still seem to be over the moon.

So those were the two highest points of the year, but there were a lot of other things to be happy about!  There's one quilt that I learned so very much from--the Intricate Stitches block of the month.  Picking a favorite block is like picking a favorite child, but I do love the center medallion:

Intricate Stitches Center Medallion

If that's not intricate, I don't know what is!  I'm still finishing this top, but this is already one of my favorite quilts ever.  I'm planning to quilt it up myself because I like it so much and want to spend some more time with it.  Plus I'm planning another intricate quilt! (Just for me, though, not as a quilt along.)  I love this quilt, and I liked writing the tutorials and seeing your pictures, too.  I hope you have had as much fun making this quilt as I have.  And there's a new BOM coming for 2017--not very intricate but very fun!  (More details soon!)

I also had a lot of fun making this quilt:

A Bear Paws Through the Woods

This is the Modern Bear Paw pattern from Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.  This was so fun to make and I love the multicolored blocks.  This one is becoming part of my Grandma stash and I can't wait until my tiny grandson gets *his* paws on it!

There are so many other quilts I loved and learned from!  I loved participating in the blog hops and exchanges and such, and I've loved getting to know all of you.

Autumn Jewels

Thanks so much to everyone for coming along, leaving comments, making some Intricate Stitches blocks, and just generally being a supportive and fun community.  I'm seriously grateful for all of you and I hope you've had as much fun learning and sharing with me as I have with you.

Framed!

With that, we are putting 2016 in the archives!  The hubs and I are planning on spending the next couple of weeks visiting family, eating in restaurants, watching movies, and generally relaxing.  Plus, we're going to spend some time with this tiny human:

Isn't that a great picture?  I hope that all of you have lovely holidays that make you feel warm and fuzzy no matter which ones you celebrate, and a lot of fun and rest with family and friends!  Merry Christmas and see you next year!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazymomquilts, and the Best of 2016 linky party at Meadow Mist Designs.

Bouncing along

Hi everyone!  How are you today?  We are barrelling towards Christmas and the start of 2017 (!!!), aren't we?  Have you finished shopping yet?  I had a good time on Amazon a couple of days ago, so I'm almost finished.  Yay me!

Of course, there are always a couple of things that just have to be made by hand.  Since this is my grandson's first Christmas, I made him these:

Pentagon patchwork balls!  Is there a little boy who wouldn't love throwing these around the house?  I used a tutorial from While She Naps, found HERE.  It's free, and there's even a free template for the pentagons. I used the pentagons at 100% for the smaller patchwork ball, and I printed them at 140% for the larger ball.  (150% wouldn't fit on the paper on my printer.)

I had a hard time with these little balls, but not because they're difficult.  Look what happened that really messed up my week:

Yikes!  We have a garage door with no garage door opener, and I was putting the door down when I pinched three of my fingers between the panels.  I said some very bad words and cried, too.  My finger isn't broken, but I dislocated it and the knuckle is still pretty swollen.  This made it impossible to put these little balls together using English paper piecing by hand, like they're supposed to be made.  Instead I used a really narrow zigzag and just butted the pieces up and stitched them together on the machine.  Never underestimate the determination of a grandma! It worked okay, but now I wish I had used red thread or something to give it a little zip.

One thing I learned with these is that it takes a *lot* of filling to make them really firm. I used a whole bag of fiberfill to stuff these two play balls, and I need to go get another bag because they're not really firm enough. You can see that they're just a little bit baggy.  I couldn't hand-stitch the last seam yet, but I really hope to have healed up enough to do that this coming week, so that's still open for me to add more fiberfill.  I also put a rattle in each of them:

For the record, the larger one makes a much more satisfying rattle.  I got these from While She Naps as well, and they work great.

Since I can't really cut anything right now, I also worked on these, which I had cut before I had the run-in with the door:

Purple 4-patches! Yeah, I might have to make Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt so that I can use all of these up.  I'm using the magenta for that project as well, but I haven't cut any of those pieces yet.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.  I think we're going to go buy a garage door opener!  And then maybe I'll give the hubs some instructions on wrapping presents.  It should be amusing!

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazymomquilts, Finished or Not Friday, and Oh Scrap!

From fail to finish

Hi everyone!  Are you ready for the new and improved polar vortex?  I hear that it's coming and there is no escape.  The temps were dropping Thursday afternoon, and several people I saw were already shivery.  It would probably help if they wore coats, but hey, that's not my business.  I finally did pull out my winter coat, too.  I didn't think it had been cold enough for a "real" coat, but that wind will just go right through you.

This week I have an actual finish, one that I've salvaged from a failed attempt a few weeks ago:

This is the little quilt that I had almost given up on because of a wrinkle on the backing.  When I posted about it earlier, the general consensus in the comments was along the lines of "suck it up."  So I did, and you all were right.  I was upset over nothing, really.

One commenter, who is no-reply so I couldn't thank her personally, suggested that I make the circles gradually larger in order to finish it up and avoid more wrinkles on the back.  Genius!  That's exactly what I did.  I free-motioned the remaining circles instead of using the walking foot, and they came out a little wobbly but good enough. 

The border is quilted with a big meander that simply circles around some of the flowers in the print.  It adds just enough texture to finish it off nicely.  I also had just enough (literally one inch left over) of the blue binding in the pre-made scrap binding basket.  Sometimes those come in handy!  The binding was done on the machine in no time at all.

I was worried about this being too stiff, but after I took the photos, I tossed this in the wash and it softened up really well.  And the wrinkle that I was so worried about can barely be seen on the back!

Another little quilt in the archives!  Perhaps "suck it up" will be my motto for next year.

Hope everyone has a great weekend as we race towards Christmas.  We are going shopping for a new dining room table.  Somehow ours isn't big enough for the whole family any more.  Odd how that happens, isn't it?

Finally, an update on the Gratitude Sale--donations have raised nearly $400 for the three charities I listed!  Thanks to everyone!  There are still many nice things left, and Priority Mail means you could still have something for yourself before Christmas, so check out the tabs at the top of the page.

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, and crazymom quilts.

Feeling centered

Hi all!  How are things going for you?  We are in a tizzy here, as the semester is wrapping up with exams and papers and all, plus the carpenter has promised to show up this week to finish in the living room.  Cross your fingers that he actually shows, because I am tired of living with construction.  Plus it has been raining like crazy! Too many years of 20 degrees in December has me a little freaked out by 50 degrees in December.  And the allergies hate this!

When I get tired of reading papers, I've been working on the center for my medallion quilt.  After about a half dozen different tries, here's where I am now:

I don't know if this looks boring to you, but it looked the best to me.  I tried several traditional things, like flying geese and diamonds, and none of them looked good to me.  I really wanted the central block to stand out, and everything else detracted from it.

This border is a 1 inch green frame, a 1 inch white border, a colorful rectangle border that finishes at 1 inch (!!!) and another 1 inch white border so that the rectangles seem to float in the white space.  And how happy am I that that rectangle border actually did finish at at 1 inch? 

Happy dancing!  And just for grins, the 4-patches in the corners also finish at 1 inch:

The next "round" is the pieced blocks.  My current plan is to frame those blocks as well, but I'm not sure what color to use.

I'd hate to use gray, but that's what I keep coming back to.  If I had more of the green, I might use that, but I don't have enough of any one color to use it for all the blocks.  I do have some solid gray, though.  I guess I'll have to try out some things and see.  The seam ripper is getting a huge workout on this quilt.

Finally, I want to recommend this book:

It's a little bit older book (2012), but I did find it really helpful in testing out different border options and thinking about which borders would best enhance the quilt.  Bet you could find this one at the library, too!

Hope you're all having a great week!  Off to read more papers, grade more exams, and ponder the border options!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social, Oh, Scrap!, and soscrappy for RSC16.

More testing

Hi all!  Did you have a good week?  The weather here was awful and so I spent a little more time in the sewing room, still cleaning things out.  Still feels like a mess in there, but at least I'm making some progress.  I finally packed up some things that are getting donated and emptied almost the last of the boxes.  I never want to move again.

I did make some progress on the medallion quilt, which I said I would have finished by this coming Tuesday but I probably won't.  Oh well.  Here's what I'm playing with for the first border around the medallion:

Just a mock-up!  White borders to be added in construction phase.

Somehow it always looks better in my head than in fabric.  I'm not sure I like this.  I like the unbalanced part, but I'm not sure the geese are going to work out.  They might be pulling attention away from the center block.  Maybe smaller ones would be better? What do you think?  I think I have to let it marinate for a little longer.

This quilt is all made out of hand dyes, and so is the Grandma's quilt.  I cut all the border pieces for that quilt, but I was left with smaller pieces that won't work in either one.  What's a frugal quilter to do but start making some crumb blocks?

I love it!  These are 6-1/2 inch blocks.  Don't know what they'll become, but those little pieces make a pretty block, don't they?

In a few spare moments I also made up these neutral 4-patches:

They're prettier than I thought they would be.  I don't know what they're for, either, because I am definitely not making Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, even though I just painted the guest room green and hung a purple and green quilt on the wall in there.  Frankly, I don't think a new one would work out, so it's definitely not on the agenda.

One last thing to show you.  This is how I'm storing my fat quarters now:

Wow, I can't believe how well this works.  I saw this on Pinterest and didn't really know how well it would work, but I found this shoe holder at Target for less than $10, so what was the harm in trying?  The silly thing is great!  The fat quarters fit just great, and frees up some shelf space.  And if I ever use those fat quarters, maybe I could put some shoes in it.  Or maybe some notions, it works either way.

Everybody have a great weekend.  We are going to the movies, which is good, because I'm really tired of working on things for the house.  Plus--movie theater popcorn.  Yum!

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or not Friday and soscrappy.

Back to the machines

Hi everyone!  Long time no see!  I don't know what happened, but I didn't sew a stitch for about 10 days.  Just didn't feel like it. (Not exactly true--I actually hemmed and mended some clothes. The horror!) That ever happen to you?  Pretty sure everyone has a spell like that once in a while.  How do you get interested again?

Here's what got me going again:

Yep, I started making a bunch of Drunkard's Path blocks from my leftover hand-dyed fabrics.  I started putting together the Grandma's top and I finally found a border that I thought would go really well with it.  Here's a sneak peek of the border:

The border is 3 blocks wide, but until I put this up on the wall I forgot that I needed to cut some full squares.  I guess I'd better do that before I get too far along.  I need 76 of these babies, so it might be a bit before they're finished.  They're fun to make, though, and you can't say the border won't be colorful.

And what is that?

I'm not sure, but I *know* that can't be squares and strips for neutral 4-patches, because I am not making Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt. Nope. No.  Besides, I really hate making 4-patches, so you know I'm really not doing it, right?

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  One really fun thing that I got to do over the holiday was meet up with Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts.

Preeti (left) and me at breakfast.

It was so fun!  We had breakfast together and it was as if we had known each other forever.  She brought some show and tell and her quilts were even prettier in person.  And look what she brought me:

A zipper bag of my very own, filled with fun fabric just right for a grandson quilt! Plus some great-smelling sandalwood soap! It was so generous and kind, and I love it.  I'll be keeping my colored pencils in it, and there's some extra room for a little pad of paper too, so I can take it along in the car.  Thank you so much, Preeti!

I also got a chance to meet up with Nancy of PugMom Quilts, and her lovely husband Mike.

Don't we look like fun people?

It was so great of them to take time from their family vacation to stop by and see us, and I hope we get to do it again soon.  This is the best part of blogging--getting to meet people who are as obsessed as I am with fabric and the fun things you can make out of it.  I got to see some of Nancys great quilts, too, along with some works in progress.  We had a great time together!

Finally, thanks to everyone who has participated in the Gratitude Sale so far.  At this point, there's been about $250 donated to the three charities, including some donations I made on behalf of others.  Yay!  I decided to keep it open until the end of the year, so there's still time to head over and take a look.  

Hope you all are having a great week.  Now that I'm getting my mojo back, I'm ready to sew up a storm.  But I am *not* making 4-patches.  Nope.  Really.

Sharing at Let's Bee Social, Oh Scrap! and soscrappy for RSC16!

The Gratitude Sale!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the Gratitude Sale!  It's the week of Thanksgiving here in the US, and I am giving thanks for all of the good things that have come to us this year.  It's time to clean out the sewing room and raise a little money for charity at the same time.

UPDATE:  I've decided to keep this sale open until the end of the year.  Congratulations to Tami, our giveaway winner!

I have listed the items for sale on three of the tabs above, right under the picture at the top of the blog. (Patterns are listed with notions.) There you will find all kinds of treasures to bless your sewing room and help you turn fabric and thread into fun quilty things. Those of you who read all the way to the end of this post will find a small Thanksgiving giveaway, too!

Let's get started!

Here's how it works:

1.  You spend some fun time picking out stuff you want from the tabs above.
2. Send me an email (academicquilter@gmail.com) with your list.  **ONLY emails to that address count.  Comments on this post (or any other) will NOT reserve any items for you.**
3. I will check your list and make sure that everything you want is still available, then send you a friendly email with a total and anything else you need to know. 
4. You choose one of the charities below and make a donation in at least that amount.  Consider rounding up! Never fear, the items will be set aside with your name on them as soon as I get your email, so they won't be "sold" before you get a chance to donate.
5. You send me the acknowledgement or receipt from your donation.
6. I tote up your postage and tell you how to pay it.
7. You pay the postage!
8. I send your items!
9. We both do a happy dance!

It seems like a lot of steps, but it's really easy!  Additional information, some ground rules, and disclaimers are below, but for now, here are the charities I've chosen:

I've picked three charities for this sale, all of which are highly rated and use their donations very wisely.  We have donated to them many times and are confident in their integrity, but you can check any of these out for yourself on Charity Navigator or other evaluation sites:

Partners in Health, a global health organization. Right now they are dealing especially with the after effects of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. If you want to know more about their work and to donate, click HERE.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the primary research center for childhood cancer.  No child is turned away because of inability to pay.  To find out more about their work and to donate, click HERE.

Fisher House Foundation, a "home away from home" for families of military personnel or veterans receiving treatment.  There are 71 Fisher Houses in the US. To find out more about Fisher House or to donate, click HERE.

(For this one, you can donate either to the Foundation or to your local Fisher House.  Either way works!)

Additional information:

First come, first served.  I will go entirely by the time stamp on your email.  **ONLY emails to academicquilter@gmail.com will count**  Comments on this post or any other do not reserve any items for you.

Please note that I'm not going to haggle over the prices. I think they're fair and I hate arguments, so please don't ask. 

If you aren't comfortable donating online: Be aware that you probably will get more emails if you donate online.  This is how all charities raise money and is just a fact of life.  These three are pretty good about opt-outs, but if you don't want to, I will take your money and donate it (cross my heart!).  Be aware that you won't get a tax deduction, though.

If you don't want to use Paypal:  Paypal is MUCH easier and very secure, and you can use a credit card. But if you don't want to do that, you can also pay by check, either personal, cashier's, or money order. Send an email so that we can talk about it. I will send you my address, you send a check, we wait until the bank says it's cleared, I send your things. We both do a happy dance!

Shipping options: Well, shipping is a fact of life and I can't afford to send it all without charge, as much as I would like to.  We can talk about shipping options and prices when I tote up your order.  Your choices are basically between flat-rate envelopes and boxes and regular padded envelopes sent by weight.  I have a postal scale and can weigh your items and estimate shipping options when I send your total. (Even if you only order books, I'm not comfortable with media mail.)

Any other questions?  Either send me an email or leave a comment here.  I'll get back to you as quickly as I can!

This sale will end Saturday morning November 26 or when everything sells out (cross your fingers!).  Everything remainig will be donated to various charitable organizations--books to the library sale, for example.

Giveaway!

Did someone say giveaway?  Yes!  What's a Gratitude Sale without something to be especially grateful for?  I am especially grateful for all of you who read this blog, so here's a small token of that gratitude:

Two fat quarters of Gardenvale, plus a blue fat quarter of a beautiful Kona solid!  To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post with something you are especially grateful for this year.  This is open to anyone, and you won't even have to pay postage! I will choose a winner after dinner on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  

The giveaway is closed!  Tami was the winner!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Eat and shop safely!

Layout auditions

Hi everyone!  How is your week going?  I've done a hundred things already this week and it hasn't hardly made a dent in my list! 

This week I am auditioning layouts for the Intricate Stitches quilt.  I know that I drew this all out before I even started, but now that the blocks are done I want to try something new and different with them.  Story of my quilty life--get halfway through the pattern and decide that I'd rather do it differently.  (As a side note, it's the story of my professional life, too.  I'll get halfway through writing something and have an even better idea so that I have to start over.) Anyway, here's the basic layout that I drew out a year ago:

Basic is the word for it, isn't it?  It's my intention to add some pieced borders like a traditional medallion quilt, but also to have plenty of space for the blocks themselves to shine.  What would we call that?  Modern traditional? Modernitional?  Heritage modern?

Here's the same blocks but in an on-point setting, what I'm calling the diamond layout:

This would give a lot of  more modern "wiggle room," but I don't really like it.  Too much empty space and not a great way to include any pieced borders. 

I thought I would like this one, which I call the crowded layout:

The string blocks and cut fabric pieces are stand-ins for some new, smaller blocks that I would have to make.  I really thought I would like this, but there is just too much going on.  Lots of white space and plenty of room for pieced borders, but just visually awful.

One more layout to audition:

I call this the modern layout.  I'm really surprised how much I like this one and how harmonious it seems.  Lots of space for the eyes to rest. I considered this for a long time and had it up on the wall for several days.  Ultimately, though, it doesn't fit with the vintage blocks or have the feel that I'm going for.  I do think this would be awesome with all one block in the two different sizes.

So, I guess we're back to basics!  Now to consider some other piecing that will bring these all together. I know that I will have to incorporate a lot of white space because this is already a riot of color, but I think the empty space will seriously enhance the blocks.

So which layout is *your* favorite?  Any good suggestions for pieced borders to consider?  I have a couple in mind, but I'm always open to new ideas.

Hope you're all having a good week!  Can you believe we're halfway through November?  Yikes!

It's almost here!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social and soscrappy for RSC16.