Baby Quilt

Here are some blocks laid out on my "design bed".  I have a small design wall, but sometimes the bed just works better, and the blocks don't get blown off by the fan.  I hope that this gets a lot better when it's sewn together.  I think as usual, my idea of a baby quilt is more like a small child quilt (maybe not even that small)  It will be a little under 42 inches by 54 inches finished.   I don't plan on a border, and I plan on using a red binding.  A long time ago I saved a picture of a quilt that I liked and that looked easy in my folder "Quilts to Make", and this is my take on it.  The one I got the idea from was green and red with plain blocks.  I would show the picture, but I don't want to offend someone, since I can't remember where I saw it. 

I'm Back

DH was in the hospital for a week, first they tried to get his heart back to normal beat with medication (IV's mostly) and then when that wasn't working they did a TEE and shocked his heart.  The Dr. said that that could work for a day or for a week or 6 months etc., and so far so good.  He goes in for a heart cath. on July 11th, and then will take his documentation to a surgeon to see about fixing a leaky valve.   His original Dr's. we think were milking his insurance's (had the advice of another Dr.) and so in midstream we changed from one group to another.  Hopefully, this group is good.  After he got out of the hospital it was running around from one appointment to another, and it was only the last couple of days when I have done any sewing.  These are the parts to the border for my Roll Roll Cotton Boll.   There are a good many hours represented here, lol.  I'm making a half sized quilt, but since I had enough of the 3 patches for the entire quilt I went ahead and made them all.  I was going to do a strip down the middle of the back, but I got to thinking, I have enough of these for another lap quilt sized border with just a little more sewing to make more corners, and I have enough 1/2 square triangles to do 15 more blocks.   I think that since the colors are pink, brown and green with no reds that I may just do another version, with blue as the fourth color perhaps.  It won't be the same, as I may or may not do the tiny half square triangles around the blocks, I may do just strips instead, and the string blocks will be replaced with a modification.  On the Quiltvillechat site, there are a few different varieties.   Is this why I haven't run out of UFO's yet?  Everytime I think I'm getting somewhere I create another, lol.   Thank you for all the good wishes for my husband, we are hoping for the best.

Granddaughter's First Sewing Project

Last night was the first time that this young lady had touched a sewing machine, and she wasn't too comfy with the idea.  My DD and I reassured her that if you were careful it was safe, and took out the thread.  She started out sewing on notebook paper and the first page was not straight, but pretty darn good for the first attempt.  After about 6 or 7 rows she went on to another sheet and did every single row of the notebook paper, and each line was almost perfectly straight.  When we felt comfortable leaving her in the next room we went to visit with others and we could hear her going top speed.  We were very surprised with how well she did, she is a talented little girl, but she surpassed our expectations.  Today DH and I went over this afternoon and DD had helped her with some real sewing, they were up to the point of sewing on the casing and it looked really nice.  We helped her finish it up and she did 99 percent herself.  Isn't she amazing!

She is a dancer and is going to competition in Ohio.  This is the first and smallest of a 3 bag kit that she received for Christmas and they will come in very handy in her luggage when she travels.  It's a little soon to see if she will like sewing enough to really get into it, but if she does I can see some costumes made by herself in her future.  She will be eight soon.

Gator Quilt that Goes Along With The Previous Post

Here's a picture that Ruth, my possible quilting buddy, sent me of her Gator Quilt.  We had cut out the big blocks and the solids and she had sewn the solids.  She hadn't received her white and blue Gator fabrics yet when she was over, so she took it from there.  I think that my brothers would enjoy one of these.

First Camping Trip in About 35 Years, Gator Quilts

Oh Yeah, as you can see from the title, DH and I are big outdoorsy sorts.  My brother in Jacksonville camps fairly frequently at an army base called Camp Blanding, it is for the National Guardsmen.  When I was younger I spent many happy hours across the lake, which also borders Camp Blanding, at a couple of recreational parks and even when we had a boat to get there, had a picnic lunch at Camp Blanding.   My brothers are both able to get on the base, and one had gotten a campsite for tents and the other a cabin.  Because of DH's health, our life has been pretty restricted, but I thought we should give camping a try anyway, we aren't getting any younger and we spend way too much time indoors.   Our intent was to tent camp, there is water on the site and a bathroom about 50 yards away or so, and my brother has lanterns and flashlights etc.  Unfortunately, we picked a time when a storm was rolling in, lol.  We had a really nice time the first day and sat by the fire above until about midnight.  The young man in the picture is my nephew Robert who was a perfect kid the whole time even though he's 15.  Our intention was to tent camp, but a storm with winds and lightning was expected in the middle of the night so we all slept in the cottage.  The cottage was a really nice little two bedroom house with a screened porch, all the amenities and a beautiful site on the lake.  It is such a beautiful place and the water so clear and beautiful.  I waded and the water was cold, but my brother from Georgia and his son even did a little knee boarding.  We were supposed to take a boat ride the next day, but it was still windy and a little nasty, exhilarating though, I enjoyed the portion of the second day that we spent there also.  We left about noon and drove home.  The little tent is what my brother uses when he's by himself, he has a larger one that we would have used.   To make this quilty, last week the lady who came and quilted with me came back and we worked on two of her quilts, a flowery one for her that still needed some cutting out, and a University of Florida Gator one that she is making for a grandchild (if it turns out well she plans to make several more for other grandchildren).  Anyway, it happens that both my brothers are Gator fans, especially the Florida one, and so I'm going to make them Gator quilts also.  My Florida, tent camping brother had his quilt that I gave him a few months ago with him, it seemed the perfect size for sleeping on the ground with a twin sized air mattress, and it made me feel good that he's using it.  I thought that Gator quilts would be excellent thank you gifts.  I have really good brothers.   Many times when my brother camps he goes with buddies, but sometimes he goes alone, and hopefully he will invite us some more, and it would be even more perfect if my other brother and his son could come too.

New Great Grandbaby - Great Grandbaby - Finish for March

My granddaughter had her baby, Cecilia Marie, this past Thurdsday, March 24th, and she was a big baby for a tiny mama.  Little Cecilia arrived weighing 9 pounds 4 ounces.  She's a cutie, I can't wait to see her in person.  

Here's another cutie my first great-granddaughter on the porch enjoying the spring weather.   I have 3 great grandbabys now, including my grandson's girlfriends little boy, who is 18 months old.  Mackenzie is 15 months old. 

Amy's BOM quilt is all done without too many days to spare to keep to my goal of a finish a month.   It's definitely not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it.  Now to wash it and dry it and make it crinkly, lol.

Cecilia Marie's Quilt Done

Cecilia's is ready in time for the shower tomorrow.  She isn't due until March, but I don't get to see that branch of the family very often so it will be nice to delver it in person.

The back isn't super girly, but I was with Marcy my DGDIL and she assured me that she thought the plaid was cozy.  I added the panel down the center with pink angel bears to make it more girly, and as Marcy said, I think it is cozy.   It is from another flannel sheet set that was on sale at Target.  The twin top sheet was enough for this quilt and baby Landon's too.  His is basted and ready to quilt so it will be done soon.   His father had told Marcy that they expected to be home from the hospital yesterday, but now they are hoping for today.  Poor little guy.  I'm sure his parents must be stressed and exhausted.

It's a little hard to put everything that I would like to on the label with the embroidery machine, but hopefully this will suffice.

I Tried But I Couldn't Do It

Maybe someone can add just one, but not me.   Blogger wanted this picture at the top of my previous post and I wanted it at the bottom so we compromised, I am doing two in one day, lol.   I wanted to add this as my grandson Caleb has a girlfriend named Gabby who seems to be quite an artist.   I don't know if she made this like a quilt on purpose, but I think that if she were a quilter she would be a darn good one.   Can't you just see this in fabric.  I can too, but since I am scared of applique I'll just have to continue to imagine it.     P.S.   Sorry about the gigantic magnetized pencil holder thingy holding it to my refrigerator.

Chinese New Year And Funny but Cute

We have made friends with the owner of the Chinese Restaurant in town and a couple of weeks ago were given an invitation for lunch on Feb. 3rd, Chinese New Year.  I read up a little bit on the internet and it said that it was customary to bring oranges and a gift, also red was a good color.   We put on our red shirts, and had a nice dinner there with my daughter, her son David, and my granddaughter-in-law, Marcy and the baby.   I ordered an embroidery pattern from Embroidery Library and I thought it came out very well.  I stitched it on a fancy felt and Emily seemed very happy with it.  Marcy also made Emily and her daughters flower clips for their hair.   Marcy is starting a small home business making the clips and they are really cute.   Her website is:  http://kenziesclippies.blogspot.com/   We also brought a bowl of oranges of course.  Hopefully, we didn't commit any serious cultural errors.   We got to sample several new Chinese treats including a soup with long life noodles, chicken neck bones and boiled eggs.   We really enjoy our friendship with Emily, but haven't really met her husband.   He stays in the kitchen and cooks, she says that he doesn't speak English.  

Speaking of staying in the kitchen cooking.  This is my 17 year old grandson Caleb, another of my daughter's sons, she has five.   He has a job cooking and I stole this picture off of one of his friend's facebook.   I thought it was cute and funny.       HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Flu and Misc.

We had planned the dinner for my DD and her new husband, but it wasn't to be at this time. The day they left for their honeymoon the flu started and then we were dropping like flies. DH and I had flu shots, thank goodness, as it was still very miserable and had hold of us for several days although the first day was the worst. We try not to go around where there is illness, but the baby (13 months) had it, and we were happy to help with her. Poor little thing, she had it the worst and the longest, even to the point of an emergency room visit, but she is doing well now, too.
I did manage to finally get Tina and Michelle's quilts basted after starting to feel better. Tina's was finished this morning. Now on to prep my machine and myself for the free motion quilting. I do enjoy it even if I am rather challenged, lol.



















I was very excited to win Kathy's giveaway from Kathy's Quilts. I had admired her Ho Ho Ho quilt and wallhanging and now I have one all cut out and even partially sewn and ready to go, and she did the work for me, lol. I had made a pumpkin table topper for fall and then gave it to the lady who has cut my hair for the past 4 years, and so I hope to get another table topper and my Ho Ho Ho wall hanging done in the near future to be ready for next year's fall and Christmas seasons. Isn't the Ho Ho Ho ornament that she sent with it adorable. There was also chocolate candy, but even sick we managed to finish that off.

Tina's Top W Borders and Pillowcases

I have the borders on Tina's quilt as you can see. I think that I like it, I hope that she does. Scraphappy suggested green for the small border and I had thought of it, but didn't think I had enough. I'm glad she suggested it as I checked and I had just enough for a 1" border. I asked my granddaughter-in-law what she thought for the large border (since Tina is
her mom) and she picked the yellow.












I wanted to make my brother in Jacksonville small pillowcases to go with his quilt and they are my first finish for the year. I thought 1 yard should be enough for 2 little pillowcases, wrong. I had to make a trip to my LQS, and they didn't have the exact fabric, but they had some that goes pretty well, from the same line, I think. They are 2 different sizes, for the pillows he uses in his living room, one is a little longer than the other.

Jan 2, 2010 Sea World and Thank You

January first we went to St Augustine for DD's wedding, and then January second we were off to Sea World thanks to our new Son in law who works there and shared some passes with us. It was quite exciting for DH and I who are pretty much homebodies.
We went with my grandson, granddaughter in law, and great grandbaby and we saw quite a bit and were there from about 4 pm until after 10.
There were some very talented entertainers there, a great saxophone player, a wonderful singer, and an excellent barber shop quartet for examples. In the fourth photo DGS is enjoying the music and singing along.

I also have noticed that I have quite a few new followers in the past few days and I just wanted to say thank you for your interest, it is very appreciated. Those of you who have blogs, I will be visiting in the next few days. I apologize, I am behind in my blog viewing and my comment answering and it's not because I am unappreciative, it has just been a busy time.

01-01-11 Wedding at 1:11:11PM

My DD is really into numbers, so getting married on January 1st 2011 at 1:11:11 really appealed to her. The pictures are out of sequence, but it was a very small wedding, just DD her new husband Ernie, DH (Ernie), the innkeeper (Justice of the Peace) Scott and I. It was very nice even though small. It wasn't a first marriage for either of them and that was how they decided they wanted it.
The fifth picture is coming down the stairs after the ceremony, and the sixth is in the B&B's parlor after the ceremony which was on the second floor veranda where he had proposed to her a couple of years ago.


This picture (The fourth) is pretty self explanatory, cutting the cake in the little parlor where we had cake before we went out to lunch.




This (#2) is on the veranda where the ceremony was. We were in the trees on the second floor.



(# 3)My camera wouldn't cooperate and I missed the original wedding kiss, so they were nice enough to recreate it immediately after.

(# 1)This is the B&B's brochure and information book in their room, the honeymoon suite.

Sorry, Blogger is putting my words way apart from the pictures so I numbered them. Then I accidentally erased some so they are all askew now.

One Down Fifty-Nine To Go

I've finally gotten around to starting Step 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery, and I can see that it is a doozy.  This is my second string block ever and making the first one for the mystery was almost as tedious as I remembered.   Last time I was up and down pressing after each strip, and this time I used my trusty little wallpaper roller, so that was easier, also this block was a trial so I didn't assembly line sew, so I know that doing that will make things easier.  I didn't really have strings, so I was cutting and sewing.  I plan to cut a bunch of varied strips, and that is three things to make life and strings easier.   There is hope!  If worse comes to worse, I will try to get 30 finished and do the other 30 later, as I plan to make 2 lap quilts anyway, unless it is so gorgeous that I have to have it for my bed.  It is one of Bonnie Hunter's, so that could happen.   My brothers visit was very nice, he liked the fleece blankets and pillowcases that I had made for his step grandchildren.  I didn't realize until after he left that I had forgotten to take pictures of them, oh well, if you've seen one the others aren't much different, lol.   I do like to have pictures though, it helps me feel like I'm accomplishing a little bit.  

We have made plans for Christmas, like Thanksgiving it won't be our traditional.  Christmas Eve we will go to my daughter's and see her side of the family, and hopefully sometime during the holidays we will see my son and his side.   Christmas day we are taking one of my grandson's, Micah, to visit with his cousin Robert and my brother Vince in Georgia.  They will meet us in St. Augustine and we have reservations to eat at the Columbia Restaurant, which is one of my favorites.  It will be a nice day and I'll get to see more of my family.

PS  My brother Vince just called me, he is at an estate sale where they have a Singer Featherweight.  He isn't really a sewer, but he does like unusual things and he has taken a liking to my little featherweight and so he's going to get the one he's looking at for himself.  He's bringing it with him on Christmas, and I'll bring mine too, so we can compare.  Both of my brothers are very handy, and I told him that he will be able to take care of his himself, and then he can teach me.  I miss having a sister, but it is great having brothers. 

  

More Cross Stitch From ChookyBlue's Cross Stitch Display Inspiration

My niece Kerri and her father lived with us for awhile and either my DD or I taught her to cross stitch.   She was about 4th grade then and is the mom of 7 now, two of which are teenagers.  I felt honored that she presented me with her first.  (I like to collect pins.)

About that same time, I taught my son who was a senior in high school.  He made this for a girl that he really liked, but she blew it and he gave it to me instead.  I love it still even though I was second choice.

My DD made this for me when a mother of several small very active children (boys) and I treasure it also.  It is beautiful, and was a sacrifice.

My father was a man who it was hard to get gifts for, his wants weren't great and if he wanted it he probably got it himself.  I made this family tree for him and he really loved it and was touched.  I felt very happy when I could find a gift he really liked.  This was the first, the second was his first brand new goose down pillow (from my mother and I) and the last was a lined flannel shirt from LL Bean when he was terminally ill.  It makes me happy to know that I found something that really made him happy. 

After I made a family tree for my father I made one for DH.  This one is obviously bigger, and my father joked about why DH's was bigger.  I told him I couldn't help that we had 3 kids and they had 5.  I'm a more is more type of person, lol, so if there was a bare spot I filled it.  These look almost nothing like the original pattern.  I tried to add emblems that were meaningful and added lots of family information.  I took patterns from all over the place and adapted things such as making the tree considerably bigger.  It's amazing how often when a birthday or anniversary is needed that we go look on the family tree cross stitches.

Several people commented yesterday on how they cross stitched but gave it up for quilting.  I can't really say that, I met my Waterloo.  This is the pattern.  Every single little tiny block is cross stitched and a co-worker made one that I thought was the prettiest that I had seen.   I wanted one too, and still do, but I didn't get too far and between work and this bugger, I pretty much couldn't see well enough to do it anymore (it couldn't be that I was getting older helped too).   I still keep it and hope to finish it one day, but I make no promises.

This is how far I got, I think it's beautiful.

It's worthy of a close-up.  I didn't get far, but I love what I did.  Small things occupy small minds, lol.   I haven't done any cross stitch since the little sampler that I did back in 1996 when DH was having surgeries for a broken leg, but I treasure the ones I have and they warm up my home.  they were done with love.  Thank you Chookyblue and Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it.  Have a wonderful holiday.