The Heron Unfolded -- Almost Done!

Our saucer magnolias are in full glorious bloom! I have never seen so many flowers on this tree!

The next few pictures are the evolution of the great blue heron on which I have been working diligently. When I get near the end of a project like this, I get a little manic!! Here I have just started to add the water around his feet.

I am auditioning the first of the sky pieces here. I had decided to piece the sky background using multiple sky blue and aqua fabrics just to give it a little more pep. I random cut curves into the edges as I do love curves and the rest of the piece is all straight lines!

Ah, this is the way the day started at Marcia's. I had finished the heron and his background. If you remember, I decided that he shouldn't sit in the middle but should be on the far right side, so I lopped off most of the pattern for sky on that side. However, it needed more on the left side and even before the Janet Fogg class, I had decided I would do pieced blocks but wanted it subtle. First I planned on doing Storm at Sea but decided that was too busy. Next came Snail's Trail which is also called Ocean Waves. At first I was going to make 8 inch blocks but that felt too big so I went with 6 inch blocks and made the Ocean Waves block -- just didn't work -- again too complex for the sky. Would you believe that I found a block called Great Blue Heron!!! So I tried that!

This is the heron with his new Great Blue Heron blocks almost completely assembled. I still have one to go which bridges the darker color of the water and the lighter color of the sky. This piece will look much better when it is quilted and the sky pieces lay flatter. I still have a couple of things to do on the heron to "improve" him and then we will be ready to quilt. I am feeling quite productive as this is my fifth quilt finished so far this year.

Vicki Welsh, I hope you are reading this blog! Priscilla brought this fabric from your Etsy shop and when I saw the name, I knew I recognized it as you have posted comments on my blog! It is a beautiful piece of fabric. We loved the piece on the right hand side as a companion. It is an African fabric Priscilla got years ago and it was a perfect match for the colors. This was one of several projects Priscilla was working on!

The next two pictures are of Priscilla's turquoise jacket which is just beautiful. The colors and the fabrics are just stunning! It is one of my favorites I think! Too bad it isn't my size! That is Priscilla looking up at it!

One of the deer that frequents Marcia's pasture hesitated and posed for me right before I left this afternoon! Since Marcia no longer has her horses, her pasture has become home to deer and one very happy groundhog who I pictured in a blog much, much earlier!!

The article about the Almighty Dollar Exhibit was published recently in The Numismatist which is the journal of the American Numismatic Association. Through internet connections (my blog), the editor (who coincidentally lives here in Rochester) heard of the exhibit and wanted to do a small article on it. Pat Pauly (the curator and organizer of the exhibit) quickly responded with text and pictures and it actually got published before the exhibit is over! How is that for a cross-interest exhibit! If you double click on the article, I am sure you can read it!