Vintage Top is now a Quilt

I got the binding put on this yesterday and right now it's soaking in the washing machine. Hopefully a few small stains will come out.

I'm calling it "Square in a Square 9-Patch".

It's a hand-pieced vintage top I bought off eBay several years ago and has been mellowing in a box under my bed ever since. Judging from the fabrics I'd say it was made sometime in the 1930s, though there are a couple pink patches that give me pause.  They feel like polyester, but I suppose the owner could have made repairs before selling it. I used Hobbs 80/20 batting and 100% cotton '30s repros for the back and binding. It's quilted in the "Plumage" pattern by Jody Beamish. I wanted fairly dense quilting to help support the old fabrics and hand-stitched seams.  If it survives being laundered it will be donated to a benefit for a cancer patient in a neighboring town. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Today's the Day......

.....that we make the switch from Dish to DirecTV. Dish got way too expensive, especially with so many channels we will never watch.  We've had it since about 1997 and the only update that was ever done was a new satellite dish when the local channels became available. No updates to outdated receivers, no rewards for being long-time customers, nothing. So when we had an offer to switch, at quite a monthly savings, we took it. I hope we'll be happy with it. I at least hope the hubby will quite complaining about not getting the channels he's paying for. I rarely turn the TV on.

The baby quilts for the twins are finished. We're just waiting for them to make their appearance. Hopefully they will wait another month at least. We want them to get off to a good start.

Owls front & back, just as requested.

And here's picture of the cat who thinks he is now ours.  He's had to stay out on the porch, but he REALLY wants to be a house cat.  He knows that other cat is in the house and doesn't understand why he can't come in and live here too.  SHE DOES NOT WANT HIM TO LIVE HERE!!!  It took her years to get rid of the other interloper.  :)

Never mind the cat, aren't the flowers pretty?

What I'm Reading Tuesday

America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great  by Dr. Benjamin Carson.

He starts the book out with a review of our country's history...how hard our ancestors fought for their freedoms and the intelligence and foresight of the founding fathers in creating the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, setting up our form of government the way they did.

Then he goes on to talk about the things that made this country great...morality, education, hard work....and what has gone wrong to cause the problems of today.  He goes on to offer suggestions of what needs to be done to get us back on the right path....most of them just common sense. Which isn't so common these days. Most of his suggestions would also require more work and sweat than our entitlement addled society wants to put forth.  He doesn't believe in victims.  He grew up in poverty and is where he is today because of his own efforts and isn't bashful about saying that is how the average person will improve their lot....not by collecting every benefit they can apply for.

Some have put his name forth as a viable presidential candidate for 2016.  I suspect he's too smart  a man to want a job where he would have to constantly battle Congress for every little thing.  Members of Congress are too divided along party lines to ever do anything that smacked of common sense...especially if it didn't make them or their wealthy campaign donors even wealthier.

A book well worth reading.

On the sewing front I've trimmed the baby quilts and made backings this morning.  I got out a new package of batting, but on second thought maybe I should check my larger scraps. There might just be pieces that are wide enough.  Quilt Club is tonight so I'll take the tops along to show them off....who knows when those babies will decide to be born, even though we hope they wait until at least the middle of September.