Sallie's Quilt for Mary

A quilt is not a quilt. Some deserve a bit more attention than others. This is one of those. My friend Mary spent a lot of time making this one and she has plans to put it in our local Heritage Quilters of Huntsville show this fall. So I researched and looked all over the net for ideas for it.

The pattern is called "Sallie's Quilt" and is from Red Crinoline Quilts, formerly Bonnie Blue Quilts. They specialize in civil war reproductions. "Sallie, a Brittany Spaniel, was the beloved mascot for the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. " is the description of the pattern from their web site. 

I got my quilting inspiration from another blog (Sew'n Wild Oaks) and am very happy with how it turned out. I even emailed Lynn and she was kind enough to email back with the information I was looking for. She free-motioned hers, I must admit the Statler did mine :0)

"cathedral window" inside the inner squares

This is the outer block

Pumpkin seeds in small irish chain blocks

Each block and star are outlined with stippling in the light areas

I used a blue thread to quilt the same flower from the border into the 3 inch areas on the blue blocks

Setting triangles

Border corner

Flower in the center of each border

I also went back and outlined the black border on each side. 

Thanks Mary for letting me work on your beauty! and thanks to Lynn for the inspiration for it. 

Melissa 

Finally tidy

We have lived in this house for about a year and a half now.  We love the wide open floor plan and the oak trees in the yard.  The bad thing is that this 3200ish sf house (one story) has literally no storage space.  There is a room at the end of the bonus room that is about 7 ft x 10 ft.  I have just tossed stuff in there to get it out of sight. The Christmas boxes and other seasonal decorations are neatly stacked to one side, but 2/3 of it is a mess. Time for some organization!

Christmas stuff, not too bad

Before, stuff piled in.

This calls for a trip to the local home improvement store.  The closest one happens to be Lowe's, so off we go.  I found a system by Rubbermaid that is similar to Elfa. You mount a rail across the top and then  "hang" vertical rails on this. The shelves are then adjustable on those rails.

Of course this project was not without a second trip to Lowe's.  The top rail needs to be mounted into at least three studs to carry the weight limit. The wall I was wishing to use had the studs every 24 inches, not the standard 16 or 18.  The holes on the rail did not line up with my studs.  So I improvised and decided to use two different walls. (The one on the left is an interior wall and the studs were standard. I guess since the other one is technically attic that is the discrepancy.) I needed more shelf brackets and more shelves in different sizes. All in all, I am happy with it. Still plenty of space left !

After, all neat

In case you are wondering what all that stuff is, it is mostly craft and arts stuff.  Now I can locate whatever I am looking for. The only stuff not in there is current sewing stuff and scrapbooking supplies. It is not air conditioned and so gets too hot for all that. 

What do you need to organize?