REDO and mini show

 Have you ever finished a quilt top only to dislike something about it?  Well, here is my story on that note.

For years I have worked on the Over the River pattern by Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill. My husband was the one who admired it in a quilt shop on a vacation and so I bought it. 

It took years to finish the detailed embroidery started in 2016 and completed in 2019.  And then it sat.  I had all the materials together as I had selected some beautiful fall batiks to compliment the sepia colored stitching. 

I took it on retreat and finished the top!  Hooray!

But I did not like the blocks in the middle as the red print was what I had originally selected, but the outside flying geese did not have that many reds to pick it up.  So I frogged the blocks in the middle, leaving the green blocks. 

And last night I saw a batik out of the corner of my eye in my storage room that looked perfect. 

I recut and resewed the blocks putting the top back together!  

My hubby and I went to the Wisconsin State Fair yesterday.  I have been going ever since I moved her decades ago. Such memories and such traditions for us.  Here is me in front of a new mural of all the things state fair from animals and cheese and foods.

We love the Kids from Wisconsin, a great musical group chosen yearly from all over the state. There are probably 40 kids between the musicians in the band as well as the singers and dancers.  As always, they have a great combination of numbers with costume changes and different songs featuring the talents of the individuals. 

And one of my favorite parts is the quilts.  I did not enter the competition this year, but saw many friends' quilts displayed.  Here are a few of them. The first place winners in each category are always hung from the ceiling available to see but out of reach of hands. The rest are placed in cases with a variety of other crafts. such wonders!

Merry Merry July

 So now that the kids are gone, I have returned to quilting.  It is nice to be creative and start to finish up some things. 

Besides working on many 9 patches, I pulled out my Merry, Merry Snowman by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill. I started this in January with a friend.  She would do the block first and then I would do it the next week. She was able to put her top together, but I got stuck with all the things going on. 

I had taken it on retreat in May and had things bundled up according to blocks.  The pieced backgrounds were completed, but I didn't have all the fabrics/wool I needed for the applique. And that is the state I found them in. 

So one at a time, I selected the missing pieces, chose fabrics and attached them.  The snowmen are all made of wool and then blanket stitched around the edges by hand.  There are many embroidery details for each block as well such as lettering, arms, carrot noses and such.  But I do use the machine to attach the fused fabrics. Button eyes will be attached after quilting. 

And here are the blocks  6, 7, 8, and 9.  

Hooray for me!

Update

 My dear daughter in law is doing better.  Her kidney has somehow started filtering and doing its job. The doctors judge this by a creatinine level. And it decreased which is good. She will not need a 2nd kidney and she has decided not to proceed for a 2nd pancreas.  She has lived with diabetes since she was 14 and does not want to attempt another surgery after the complications and days of sitting in the hospital. She misses the boys so much. We send lots of photos. 

As for the boys we are now at 50 days being together.  Wisconsin weather is lovely as compared with Louisiana.  They have gone swimming in all kinds of lakes and pools becoming so comfortable in the water with their goggles. We have visited lots of playgrounds as well, which they love. Additionally we have been to zoos. a planetarium, parks for trails to walk, indoor climbing, and more. I have them read almost every day which has boosted the second grader's confidence. And lots of homemade treats and eating outside.  We love being with them and I get lots of hugs. 

And no, the flight plans did not go as planned. I just returned from driving to the tail of Missouri and back in 2 days for returning those precious boys to their dad who drove them back to their home in Louisiana. I miss them already. 

A wonderful picture to treasure

Only picture with just me and my boys. 

Carousel at Vilas Park in Madison, WI

So back to quilting. I have tried to squeeze in some piecing here and there on my 9 patch wonder. I have the 5th row attached and the blocks for row 6 made. 

I am also hoping to get my Merry Merry Snowmen blocks finished this week. 

Now to make lists and return to the many projects in various stages needing to be finished. Well that and all the neglected parts of the house to clean.