Saturday, January 31, 2015

Incentives

I miscalculated how many blocks I have left to make for the Dear Jane quilt top.  I forgot the four corner blocks, so I actually have 107 more to make. I am still going to try to finish 12 a month.

I saw this framed photograph of Jane Stickle's quilt in a quilt store bathroom recently!  I told you, quilt stores have the nicest bathrooms :)  Someday I may have to make the trek out to Vermont to see the original quilt.  I hear they only bring it out once a year though, so I will have to time it just right ....

My sister-in-laws miniature group Dear Jane challenge is what has spurred me on to finish mine.  They are very organized and you get prizes each month if you finish your blocks.
This month I received this cute little needle case with a Dear Jane block cover, a nifty pair of scissors and a seam ripper.  Hopefully I won't have to use the seam ripper too often.  Thanks Cathie for the fun gifts and the motivation!!


Friday, January 30, 2015

Check!

Today I was able to check off the last thing on my quilting "to do" list for January!  I finished up the six Dear Jane blocks that I set as a goal for this month.  I really enjoy making these and once I get going they don't take too much time - well most of them don't, some do :)  Anyway, I counted up how many more I need to make .... 103! I think there are 269 blocks if I remember correctly, so I am over half way there but have a long way to go.  So, I've decided to up my goal and try to make 12 blocks a month and see if I can get this quilt top put together by the end of 2015!





Thursday, January 29, 2015

Quilt Block Inheritance

A couple of years ago we were shown a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top that had been hand pieced by my husband's grandmother (his Dad's mother Onedia May Anderson Holt)  She passed away in 1935, so this quilt top was pieced sometime before that, but never finished into a quilt. The person in possession of this quilt top decided to take it apart and distribute blocks to all of Onedia's grandchildren, so they could each have a part of this quilt.

I must admit, at first I was appalled by the idea!  To take apart someone's work - all that hand piecing?  Ah!!  We all know how much time that takes!

However as time as gone by, I've come to appreciate her generosity in wanting everyone to have a part of "Grandma's Quilt".  Onedia did not live a long life.  She died when my father-in-law was only 8 years old and she was only 36.  I feel honored to have in our possession three blocks from a quilt she worked so hard to put together.  I would like to think of something totally amazing to do with these blocks!  I am open to suggestions!  Please comment or email me if you have ideas :)




The picture below shows Onedia, on the right, with her mother, Martha, on the left.


Wednesday, January 28, 2015

A Few More Show and Tell


Here are a few more photos from the guild show and tell.  Sorry I didn't get great pictures this month!  I will do better next month :)







Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Show and Tell at CWQG

Here are a few photos from show and tell at CWQG this month.  I will try to remember which quilt belongs to who!  I should have written it down...

This beautiful jelly roll race quilt was made by Jeri :)



The quilt below was made by Cindy and is partially hand quilted and partially machine quilted.

 
I'm pretty sure Mary made the cute cat quilt.



I love these two and can't remember who brought them.  The one on the right was made using the pattern from the quilt retreat class that Ellen taught and Christmas fabrics.











Lorraine made this one and Judy made the one below.  It is string pieced using used dryer sheets as a foundation.  I asked if it smelled good :)



A lot of great talent!!

Monday, January 26, 2015

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my Mom's 80th birthday!  It was great to spend time with her and my Dad this past week.  She is in an assisted living residence so I have been able to meet a lot of the residents there and have enjoyed getting to know many of them.  My Mom told me that one woman living there is 103 years old.  This week several were sitting around visiting and talking about their birthdays because there were a lot of January birthdays, and someone asked Betty when her birthday is.  She said, "I was born the day the Titanic sank!"  Yep, that will be 103 years ago in April.  Pretty amazing...
The activities director said that many of the residents there do not remember how old they are, but they do remember what year they were born.  My daughter said, "that's because it's an unchanging number that you only have to commit to memory once."
The picture above shows a better view of the shawl Megan crocheted for her grandma :)  She did a beautiful job and my Mom loves it.

And as promised, here are some baby and young child pictures of Megan!  I believe she was four in this picture with her Little Mermaid birthday cake.  I used to do "OK" in the birthday cake decorating department :)

Always smiling :)  Such a happy baby!

Here she is in her unique Megan-style outfit of her own choosing.  I think she wore this red skirt for about a year, with everything, all the time.  I had to wash it while she was sleeping, if I could get her to take it off to go to bed.

She's still happy and smiling!  Though I do think her sense of style has improved :)  And she is a very talented and wonderful daughter.

I love my family!!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Happy Birthday Megan!!

Today is my daughter Megan's birthday! I still have to post a baby picture of her like I did with my boys :) but for today I posted this picture of Megan with my Mom. Tomorrow is my Mom's 80th birthday and in this picture she is wearing the shawl Megan crocheted for her! She learned how to crochet from my Mom, now she's sharing her talents with my Mom and many others! Way to go Megan! Happy Birthday :)

Saturday, January 24, 2015

White Elephant Sale

Here are a couple of photos of the White Elephant sale the guild had this month. Everyone brought what they wanted to get rid of then bid on what others were getting rid of! It works well and makes a bit of money for the guild.
As you can see there were a lot of books and patterns, some fabric and a few notions. My goal was to come home with less than I brought!
So, this is all I bid on and came home with, spending a whopping $2.  These will be fun to make while using up scraps!

Friday, January 23, 2015

Zentangle Fabric!

At the CWQG meeting, Sheryl showed us some fabric she received as a Christmas present from her daughter. Her daughter is into zentangle and had some of her artwork printed on fabric for her mom!
So cool! I took a picture of the selvedge to see if I can figure out where she got it printed. I would like to find out more about it. I'm assuming she uploaded her zentangle artwork and sent it to some place that printed it on the fabric for her. If I find out more, I'll let you know!
One more thing, Becky you CAN do this! If I can, anyone can! Especially someone as artistic as you will have no problem. Let's get together :) Also, CWQG is having a fun zentangle make and take activity on February 11th at 7:00. $3 guest fee, all welcome!
Once you get into this it's very fun and relaxing! Give it a try!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Iron Caddy

I love this cute little iron caddy made by Gini. She shared it at show and tell for CWQG. This size holds a mini iron and opens up into an ironing mat. Great for taking to classes! She said the pattern has a couple more sizes too, all the way up to a full size iron. I like it!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

I Love Lists!

Are you a list maker?  I am, and have been for as long as I can remember.  If I don't write it down, it typically does not get done.  So this year I decided to make myself a list each month of what I wanted to accomplish on my projects for that month.  I tried this once before and it worked really well!  I just haven't done it for awhile.
So, here is my list for January:
Finish the three wall quilts for my daughter-in-law - check
Make six Dear Jane blocks (I've made two and still have a week and a half!)
Finish baby quilt - check
Zentangle shoes - check!!!!  This was the one that I was unsure whether or not I would get to it, but I'm doing a workshop in February so really needed to get them done.  It seems like I've been working on these forever.  It feels great to have finished them and I like how they turned out!  Now I can wear them!  But I think I'll wait until after the workshop....


When I loosened up and quit trying to make them "perfect" I enjoyed the whole process more and I do like the way they turned out.



Hmmm.... Almost time to make February's list.  At the top of that list will be getting my Zendoodle presentation ready for both guilds!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

A Dinosaur House and an Irish Hat

I mentioned before that my friend Michelle is making card table playhouses for her grandchildren.  Here is the second one she finished, made out of the Stonehenge dinosaur fabric!  I think it turned out amazing!  I love all of the detail she added to it, such as the giant buttons, the windows, curtains and shingles - so cute!

She said that two of her littlest grandchildren were afraid at first to go in this one!  They soon got over it however and were happily playing inside.










The first picture shows the front door rolled up - this shows it closed, with a pretty dinosaur panel.

 I asked Michelle if I could take a picture of her husband's hat.  Her daughter visited Ireland several years ago and brought her dad back an Irish hat which he wore until he wore it out.  A couple of years ago I brought Michelle and Lori back some squares of wool from our Ireland trip.  I posted pictures a few days ago of the pillows Lori made.  Awhile ago, David, Michelle's husband asked if he could use some of her wool squares to make himself a new hat.  And he did!  I am so impressed that he made his own hat!  It looks fantastic.


Here is my husband, in Ireland, wearing the hat we bought for him.  I don't know if I'd ever be able to make one and have it turn out as nice as David's :)