Bragging Time

Do you mind if I take a moment to brag on daughter Erin? It's been awhile since I've said much about any of my kiddos, but Erin made a baby quilt, and I now have all the pieces of the process to share.

Of course, beginning with the cute part makes total sense. Baby Sophia is now 7 months old and her momma (Erin's sister-in-law) shared this adorable bundle of preciousness on social media. Wouldn't you just love to hold and squeeze her? I bet she giggles all over; she looks like such a happy baby.

No doubt the quilters who follow this blog also noticed an interesting bit of a quilt folded over the back of the chair. Erin made it! I have pictures saved here from last spring when Erin was working on this quilt and knew that eventually I would be able to share.

Gorgeous florals and soft coordinating solids comprised the fabrics Erin selected for the quilt. I love that she chose the 9-patch block. That is such a versatile block. It is simple, great for a baby quilt, and can look quite sophisticated with gorgeous fabrics. Winning all the way around.

Blocks laid out on the dining table. Controlled scrappy look, I would say. Erin has a designer's eye, so I am sure she took great care in where she placed certain colors and prints.

The completed quilt top called for a picture to mark the accomplishment. It sure is a beauty!

Then to the hand-quilting. I can remember having her sit beside me to try hand-quilting when she was a teenager. I was certain she would take to it, but NO! She was outa' there after about a dozen stitches. Perhaps a seed was planted that day, though, because these stitches put mine to shame.

Here are a few random shots Erin sent of her finish. Check out the scrappy binding and the label.

I'm thinking that most of the print fabrics are from AGF, including the backing. Just beautiful!

I am so proud of Erin and her quilt-making. Click back to see this one she made about three years ago for Sophia's big brother.

I began this post with cuteness and I will close with cuteness. Erin always has a trusty helper nearby when she's working on a project. Assistant Rocky is never far from the action.

He's proud of his quilt, or maybe he just adores his human. Either way, he sure is a handsome boy.

I had a big technological breakthrough yesterday after the moaning I shared here. I feel so much better now about "distance learning" -- it does not seem quite so daunting now as it did before. After that success, I made great progress in the quilting room. I have some awesomeness coming in the next few days!

Hope you all are sheltering in place, minding your social distance, and doing your part to flatten the curve. (So many interesting phrases coming from this pandemic.)

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Apprentice Cat

For the past two weeks we have been cat-sitting for our daughter and son-in-law while they have been vacationing. Rocky is a delightful guest who is much more a people-cat than our Gracie.

Getting my bedspread project finished while Rocky has been here has been interesting. He tries to "help" and it usually results in my giving up after awhile. He wanted my attention focused on him and not the bedspread. I have it on good authority that he does this with Erin, too.

Awhile back, Erin sent this picture of him after he positioned himself between her and her quilting frame. Look at that face! Is it any wonder we let him interfere help the way he does?? He's a cute little apprentice.

So here at my house, I found he was never far from the sewing action. I looked up while hemming the bedspread to see these ears on the other side of my table.

Often times, his ADD kicks in and he is distracted by birds. The collage above shows his fascination with birdwatching.

 'No! You will NOT finish pinning this skirt onto the spread! Pet me, instead!'

'Mmmm, I think I feel a nap coming on!'

How does one resist such a handsome boy?! I sure can't, and his frequent appearances in the middle of my work definitely slowed me down. But it's all good. He's worth a little extra time. As apprentices go, he makes up for any lack of efficiency by being just so darn loveable.

Today, his parents return from their trip and we take him home tonight. It will be good to see them back safely and I know a certain daughter who has missed her kitty and who will be more thrilled to see him than us!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Daughters Making Quilts

Today's post comes from a mighty proud momma. It certainly appears that quilting has dominant traits in our gene pool, and both of my daughters are carrying on the hobby.

Both Erin (DD1) and Emma (DD2) have made baby quilts for their friends. I have written about both girls and their quilting escapades over recent years. I will link here. And here. And here. And here.

And DD1 is at it again. Her sister-in-law will be having a baby girl in late summer, so Erin's kitchen table shows full-scale quilt production activity. I visited her briefly on Saturday and took a few snapshots.

This will go together so quickly, and with Erin's artistic "eye" it will look amazing, no doubt. She says she plans to hand quilt it using the same big-stitch method she used on the last baby quilt she made - this new baby's older brother Jordan.

Here at the homeplace, I have just two more days of classes left in the semester. A bit of grading and submitting will finish things off, and I will be free-free-free for the summer! I am more than a little bit thrilled about this!

I need to get a solid "to-do" list going so I don't waste time with indecisiveness.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

An Update on Erin

Last week when I was trying to climb out of my blogging slump, I offered up a couple of updates on quilting exploits by my younger daughter and my dear friend. Today, I bring you yet another update - this time from older daughter Erin. Just like her younger sister, she too, has been busy making a baby quilt. Below is the inspiration picture that Erin referenced in building her version.

She shopped for fabric, and in good "quilter-in-training" form she bought more than she needed or wanted. Some of each group would work, but not all, so of course it becomes necessary to buy it all, then select the ones you want, right?

Next, cut out pieces and begin sewing. Easy, peasy. And audition every so often, just to get a feel for what is taking shape.

At times it is necessary to "unsew." This activity is best done with coffee and a supportive friend to help.

After the supportive friend has done his part, he gets to prance about on the growing project.

After Erin finished the piecing, she formed the quilt sandwich; she used a really soft sweatshirt material for the backing. I imagine after it is washed a few times, this side of the quilt will feel quite soft and warm.

Erin is a meticulous quilter, putting her mother to shame. I hurry too much. She took her time and very deliberately formed her stitches in the straightest lines I've ever seen.

Eventually, Erin's fastidious attention to detail resulted in a finished quilt. It is just wonderful, of course. The nautical theme fits with the family, as they have memories filled with lakes, cabins, boats and summer vacations. The occasional pop of red that these fabrics offer is a nice surprise, and adds interest. Don't you love that lone red heart in the block above with all the anchors?

Just as Erin was ready to attach the binding, the wee one was born; this enabled her to incorporate a label with the initials and DOB. Notice the subtle red flange? Nice touch!

The binding looks fabulous, and finishes the quilt perfectly. Honestly, Erin does not get this artistic "design eye" from me - others in the family are far more artistic. I sure can appreciate it, though.

And as my final pic for this post, let me introduce the sweet little man for whom this quilt was made!

This is Jordan. He is the nephew of our son-in-law. Erin and Jeff will be meeting him for the first time this weekend as they are traveling to Minnesota on Thursday. The quilt will be presented then. I just know they will love it.

My girls sure are getting to be good with baby quilts, aren't they? I am always so pleased when I learn that another one is needed. It is a sure sign that they will get as hooked on quilting as I am. Continue the tradition!! Their great-grandma Wharton would be so proud. *smile*

I do believe I have a couple more updates on various quilting friends still to bring you all, so come on back to check 'em out.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

It Runs In the Family

There may just be a bit of bragging in today's post for my two daughters, Erin and Emma, have become quilters. And here is one proud momma with a big grin on her face. As youngsters, I had them both in 4-H and they took sewing projects all through the years. Getting them to sew anything else throughout the year was just not happening, though, and I thought for sure they would never pick it up again after starting college.

However, I think something deep down might have been at work, for now that both girls have lots of girlfriends who are having babies, all of a sudden I am finding out that they want to make their friends baby quilts!! I am more than willing to encourage this!

Erin has made several already and even guest-blogged about one of them. She currently has another in the works and it is going to look fantastic (no, I'm not at all biased!).

This is her inspiration picture, taken from Pinterest. I love it in these colors, but since she knows the baby is to be a boy, here are the fabrics she selected.

In addition to these, she also will include a couple of her husband's cotton shirts. This is significant, for the mama-to-be is Jeff's sister.

In order to get some of the prints she wanted, she bought some fabric bundles, so now she is on her way to establishing her "stash." She pulled out some of these to use, and some to save for an as yet undetermined future project.

Evening lighting.

Obligatory cat-on-quilt picture; why do cats do this???

Daytime lighting.

Not too many days after these blocks were stitched I got a few texts with questions about spray basting, and she went straight to work layering that quilt and preparing to stitch! (She does not seem to have inherited  her mother's tendency toward procrastinating, thankfully!)

Spray basting completed.

Big-stitch quilting begun; isn't it perfect?

So that covers DD1 and her baby quilt exploits. Now let's follow up with DD2's efforts from earlier this year.

This past winter, Emma asked if I would help her with a quilt for one of her college roommates whose baby was due in April. We got busy right away, and finished it in plenty of time for the baby shower. And not long ago, Emma sent me this picture of little Paxton Nash snuggled under the quilt! How precious!

I am quite alright with my girls picking up this quilting habit. Even if all they ever make are baby quilts for others, just think of the joy they are bringing these new moms, while at the same time learning quite a lot about a hobby that could grow on them over time, just like it has done with their mother. Sweet.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Helping Dear Daughter

You'd think that after working on quilts for others for most of this past year, two of which were t-shirt quilts, I really wouldn't willingly agree to one more. Well, when the request comes from your own sweet daughter, yes is always the answer. And happily so, I might add. *smile*

Erin's sister-in-law is a high school senior, active in everything. Part of that ultra-activity is a t-shirt for each occasion or event. Erin, along with assistance from her m-i-l, decided a quilt was called for. I am hoping that Erin will eventually write a blog about gifting this quilt, but for now I can share a few choice pictures from our recent day of stitching. We completed the entire quilt top in one long Saturday session; we began with shirts still uncut and finished with all but the last two borders (measuring issues).

Erin cuts out each shirt panel - 15" square.

She presses on the fusible interfacing.

Sewing a row together.

Pausing for a photo op.

A "queen" with her sash and a silver star crown.

So we had a fun day. With two machines going, we really made fast work of it, and the finished quilt top looks really good. Erin chose two flannels for the complementing fabrics - a plaid for the cornerstones and backing; a solid navy for the sashing and borders.

Because the quilt will not be quilted in time for Christmas, we made two pillow cases out of the flannels and a couple of shirt parts. Here's how they look; and they are finished, so Christmas will be complete!

Won't these be wonderful for the long cold winter nights ahead?

Happy Quilting, Friends!