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way to go @Althea F!! it does look beautiful! What an honor to have your work displayed in such a way!

Thank you all!

It is beautiful and a well deserved honor!

Wonderful news Althea. Congratulations.

thank you Penny!

Congratulations! Well deserved recognition of your talent!

Deb Heatherly of Debs Cats N Quilts asked me if she could use my quilt that I made from her Convergence Pattern as the cover for her new release of the pattern this year for the 250 th anniversary of the USA... I was and am very humbled but I wanted to share it with all my Patchworkers Plus peeps... I am over the top with happiness that this happened. It is a great quilt to make for the celebration of the USA if you want to show some patriotic pleasures. God bless!

Yes! What Janice said! Exactly fits for me!

I love seeing your face pop into the zoom! Everyone's face and smiles. Can't wait to see what you sew this coming year. Find time to sew... and the other good hugging stuff - perfect holiday to me!

XOXOxoxo

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Holiday season. Hug your loved ones a little tighter. Find time to sew as we welcome a New Year together.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I appreciate all you do. Even when I get out of touch and finally get on appreciate your patience and encouragement.

Thank YOU for creating this wonderful space to meet, share, grow, learn, and create! You are a wonderful leader!!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season full of yummy treats, lots of sewing and a few fantastic gifts (from others or 'special ones' to yourself Everyone here has made this place better each day - thank you for sharing your talents, your progress, finishes and especially your friendship with us. Truly, I have been blessed because of YOU. -Becky

I was organizing some of my quilt stuff and ran across a pile - yes pile - can't think of a better word at the moment - but a pile of fabric - all reds and pinks...so will use this for my Berry Bloom quilt - am looking forward to starting this project in the New Year!

@ Jacinta, Oh, I agree with you, wholeheartedly! I love how you stitch your words together, as well!

Our living room is getting a bit of a makeover—nothing super fancy: a new-to-us sofa from Facebook Marketplace, some new pillow covers, a vintage rocker in need of updated cushions, a new-but-vintage ottoman, a CRIBBAGE TABLE!!!, and the Crosswind Mystery Quilt. The grandbabies idea of redecorating. Enzo is under the blue pillows and Bentley the green. With the closing of Joann Fabrics, the selection around here is only fair-to-middling. Yes, there are quilt shops, but they aren't really my style. There is the Mill End Store, but I hate searching through tables and tables of discontinued flatfolds. At the quilt show we attended a few weeks ago, we met the proprietor of Boersma's, a quilt store about 1.5 hours south of us. It's significantly larger than anything in the Portland area and is super cute. It opened in 1935! Yesterday, we piled into hubby's truck and made the trek. (He's cute. I think I'll keep him. We celebrate 32 years married on the 16th!) Oh. My. Goodness. Much, much more my vibe and much larger than any of the Portland stores (besides Mill End). We wandered for a couple hours before finally choosing fabrics for Crosswind. I really enjoy narrowing down the fabrics with my husband- along as we are clear who gets the final say. We brought a screenshot of a color palette - that we both liked -for inspiration. We settled on this combo- before dipping in to a McMenamin's we hadn't visited before. Yummy food, as always. And I'd happily swipe their lamps and stained glass any time I visit one of their restaurants. I look forward to sewing with you these next few weeks! May the crosswinds be kind and your threads never tangle. Find the details on the Crosswind Mystery Quilt dashboard.

Oh @Megan V, I love this so much! I totally agree with @Penny and @Delene Bartholomew —what a beautiful way to encourage each other and to celebrate the joy of hand quilting. Your stitches are full of heart, and that’s what makes them perfectly yours. I think we’re all guilty of being our own “quilt police” sometimes, but your story is such a good reminder to let the joy of stitching shine brighter than any self-doubt. Keep going— your quilts are already singing their own happy song in thread and fabric!

I used to hand quilt along side of my mother and my mother-in-law. I could hold my own, but it is too convenient to send my quilts to the long arm! Keep going Megan, it is beautiful!

What a great way to encourage each other... you do wonderful work!!!

Today, my husband took me out on a date to the Northwest Quilters "Festival of Quilts" and then out for an early supper at a local pub. As we were wandering the quilt show, I came across a booth with a woman hand quilting at a frame. There were several hand quilted quilts about- including a Grandmother's Flower Garden draped over a table. I bent over it to examine the stitches. The lady looked up and said, "That's hand quilted." I replied, "I know! It's fabulous! I have one at home that I keep picking up then putting down because I'm not confident about my stitching, and I was looking at this stitching to see how mine compared." She said, "You know, there are no quilt police." "Ah, but there are, " I disagreed. "I am my own quilt police." There was a stifled laugh in the next booth over. Apparently, they'd overheard me, and it rang true for them as well. The kind lady said, "That quilt took me 37 years start to finish. I'm proud of it." She didn't add "even though there are mistakes" or "even if my stitches aren't perfect". I told her that I've been working on my GFG for 14 years but have been tempted to just burn it. She indulged me by looking at my photos of my hand quilting projects. When we came to the Grandmother's Flower Garden photos, she zoomed in to look at my stitches, "Those are fine stitches! You're a real hand quilter!" We chatted on about thimbles, other projects and the local hand quilting guild. When I walked away a few minutes later, it was with a slight spring in my step and just a little more confidence in my skill as a quilter.

Wow, @Becky J. — finishing the batting roll with Berry Bloom was such a perfect flourish! Three bobbins at the ready was a power move. And I love that you even packed the machine for vacation — true quilty priorities! Hope it stitched up as beautifully as it looks.

Wow, Becky — sewing on vacation back in August?! That’s next-level dedication! I’d have been lounging with a book, but you managed a quilt top. How on earth did the machine make it into the luggage?

No sewing, just sunshine — I’d say Kauai was a pretty acceptable excuse.

My hubby and I are off adventuring on the island of Kauai this week! My brother and his wife are our "traveling buddies" and the perfect companions. My brother and I both have health issues that slow us down a bit, while our spouses are tireless, intrepid adventurers. Today, for example, they are on an 11-mile hike through the jungle while we are having a rest day at the condo- drinking coffee on the lanai with our feet up. And everyone is happy.