What was lost.... is found (and 2 finishes)

I knew I was missing some stuff.  I knew it as surely as a mother knows one of her kids is awol.  And as my stash reorganization came to it's satisfying conclusion, I knew these missing items were lost forever.  Perhaps thrown out in the garbage by accident.

Maybe I grabbed up one of my stash boxes when I was pulling together my last donation for our local Women in Need Charity.  If so, I wonder what they thought of it when they got it.

The small list of missing items:
a Bonnie Hunter book (the first shirt tail one);
a cone of thread (easily replaceable);
prepared quilt bindings for some gift quilts waiting for label and binding.

Oh!  Did I forget to count quilts waiting for labels and binding in my UFO numbers?  I don't know how that could happen....  <long silence, crickets chirping>  (sheepish grin...biting lower lip...)  Alright, already, so my suspiciously short UFO list is ten short!  There!  I've confessed.

Anyway - back to what I was writing about..... I was most upset about the bindings - I could replace the thread and Bonnie's book (although I think I got an autographed one).  But the bindings were for gift quilts and used the last of certain fabrics.  Not only would I have to find a sufficiently sized replacement fabric, but I was going to have to sew binding lengths together and then iron them. (whine n' snivel).

An impromptu invitation to the family ranch this weekend made me think I should get two of those quilts bound, and so with a deep sigh of resignation, I went to the stash of quilts and pulled them out.  And what did I find?  Tad-dah!

I was over the moon!  And the red and pink paisley fat quarter was a bonus (it is soooo pretty!).  The package of hand quilting needles were a complete surprise.  I don't remember buying them.  But, best of all was finding the bindings.  So I have no excuse now about getting those bindings sewn on.  I may have to finish the hand sewing at the ranch, but they will be done and in the hands of loved ones.

The first one is for my mom.  Pink, yellow and green stars, with alternating blocks of a floral that has those three colours.  I call it Stars In My Garden.  My mother has a beautiful flower garden and these are colours she will love.  It's double bed size.

The second one, Sunflowers In My Garden, is a Buggy Barn pattern.

I challenged myself to find a pattern to use up some brown fat quarters.  At the time, I hated brown and whenever I bought a FQ bundle I would pull the browns out and put them aside.  When the stack of browns became a tower, I knew I had to do something with them.  I found this buggy barn pattern and thought it would solve my problem.

Each quilt square is made up of 64 patches of brown - an 8 by 8 square that went together super quick because I strip-pieced the browns, subcut the strips, then mixed and matched.  And each of the corner stones is a 4 by 4 patch square of browns.

A funny thing happened as I made this quilt.  I discovered I loved brown - as long as I don't have to wear them that is.  My stash of fabrics now includes all sorts of lovely browns - from dark chocolate to milky lattes.  My new sister-in-law loves sunflowers.  She has been collecting some pottery with a sunflower design.  I thought the pattern would be a perfect compliment for her ranch house decor.