A Plaid Quilt, Many Years in the Planning

Like many quilters, I have collected fabric over the years.  I discovered that I had quite a bit of plaid fabrics when I sorted my "stash" a couple of years ago.

As well as fabric, I am a collector of quilt patterns, in books, magazines and from the many wonderful sites on the Internet.  Unfortunately, I didn't keep good records as to which sites provided me some of the patterns.

I saved all the parts for a large "mystery" type quilt, and decided that it would make good use of a large number of the plaid cottons in my collection.  Before leaving for a winter in Florida, I cut all the pieces for this queen size quilt.  I stitched the blocks when we first arrived, then hung the blocks from some pants hangers, (the type with clips attached).  Recently, I had caught up on my other projects, and returned to the plaid quilt.

Since I wanted a country look, I selected some light tan muslin to be the background in all the blocks.  The beauty of this pattern is the open spaces for quilting that weaves its way between the blocks.  It also has no borders, so I used the muslin for the binding as well.

Busy Quilting

I feel like I have been neglecting my blog! I've been busy finishing up a long list of UFO's. Now I just have to get my two helpers, and I'll be able to take some pictures to share.
Had a quiet Christmas with DH. He surprised me by doing some shopping at Keepsake Quilting and Connecting Threads. He picked out two new quilt books, some packages of fat quarters, so I'd have some new fabric to try out a project or two, two kits - one for a runner and the other for a wall hanging. Both kits involve applique (he knows I like handwork). There were also some new threads, and my annual quilt calendar!
Even Florida is enjoying some winter weather (frost last night). My quilt room doesn't warm up until the sun helps, so I am working only in the afternoons.
Today I prepared my samples for the two blocks my group will be working on tomorrow. We are trying a sampler quilt this year, and hope to finish two blocks each week. Of course, some of the quilters will be working on their own projects, and there are a couple of new quilters who plan to make a runner for their first project. People work at their own speed, and the hope is that everyone has fun and learns something new.