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!

Old Business on the Agenda

Several topics I have recently covered here on the blog seem to need or warrant my following up, so I will take care of this "old business" today.

On October first, when demonstrating hand quilting at history day, I was disappointed with the graphite marking pencil I'd used. I shared that experience here. I have since purchased the marker shown below. Since several readers left me comments concerning the same issue, I will try to make it a priority in the next week to use this marker and give you all a full report.

 Yesterday, I spent the day sewing with friends at Terry's. I worked very diligently on the two T-shirt quilts and made lots of progress. The assembly-line method for these two quilts seems to be working very well. I will bring pictures at some point, so stay tuned for that.

The girls who also quilted - Jan, Sharon O. and, of course, Terry - all worked on some pretty things, so I will devote tomorrow's post to their efforts.

Back at home, I have Erin's Diamonds to quilt. I am still feeling like this is going to be a very time-consuming project, but I have to have faith! If I do just a couple hours of quilting each day, then progress will at some point become evident. Right now, it still feels like I have just started.

I hope I am not recycling pictures. (Just checked; this one is. Sorry.) It's the nature of hand quilting, I suppose, which makes every picture look the same as the last. I may very well (inadvertently, of course) run a duplicate. Still pretty to look it, if I do say so myself. *wink*

I have a little helper keeping me company. For the last week and a half, Erin's cat Rocky has been with us. He seems to enjoy observing the quilting process - or maybe he just likes snoozing on the back of the chair.

Weather in Ohio has been glorious lately. I do so love October's humidity-free blue skies. The two pictures shown here are from our wooded back and side yards. Fall colors are playing second fiddle to falling leaves. Our color is never overly spectacular, but we do have pretty views, nonetheless. These sun-drenched days with temperatures in the low 70s are total perfection.

I asked for help a few posts back in trying to reconstruct my blog roll. Apparently, Blogger had some issues, as others have experienced similar losses. It's nice to know that I wasn't responsible for the deletion. I am slowly adding in some of my old favorites, and am discovering new blogs, too, as commenters leave me the names of blogs they regularly visit. If quilting blogs are of interest to you, click on some of the links in my blog list and surf around for awhile. Make sure you have lots of time to browse, as it's easy to get lost in the massive web of quilt blogs out there.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Readers! I have so many blessing for which I am grateful. I have been reflecting on those blessings and giving thanks.

I have had some diverse fun the past few days. On Tuesday evening I went with 6 family members to Cincinnati to see White Christmas The Musical at the Aronoff Center.

The show was fantastic. The costumes, the singing and especially the dancing - all were exceptional. This show was a treat in every way. As my sister said, "Best night ever!" We all had a wonderful time.

The sweet twins, my nieces Anna Rose and Mary Jean, attended with us. Aren't they growing? They are now 8-year-old second graders.

 A very cool opportunity to support our servicemen and women was available to us at the Aronoff. Guests were invited to sign cards which were collected and will be delivered to deployed military around the world. The girls sent their sweet sentiments, as did the rest of us. Talk about blessing - I am grateful to our military, for sure.

We also had to get a picture of the twins with their Grandma Jeannie. If you want to take in a show at the Aronoff, I suggest you allow time to dine at Trattoria Roma which is just a half a block away and easy walking distance from the theatre. We had a wonderful meal - from wine and appetizers to entrees and dessert.

All of this festivity resulted in my staying the night in Hillsboro at my mother's. I thought you'd enjoy seeing the beautiful flowers blooming in her sun room. Many, many healthy African violets and a whopping Christmas cactus that is just beginning to come into bloom. By Christmas it will be full of bright red flowers.

Through all of this, we are cat sitting for our older daughter while she and her husband spend the long Thanksgiving weekend at her in-laws'.

He's such a handsome kitty. He loves coming here as he has space in which to roam after being limited to his 1-bedroom apartment in Columbus.

I have done minimal sewing, but a finish was accomplished. I will share that soon, as well as some fun projects from the Frankfort girls.

Wishing you all a most blessed Thanksgiving!

Super Bowl Sunday

Big doings in America today, folks, as in some way or another we all get into the Super Bowl spirit.

For quilters who don't really follow it or care at all, our local Ben Franklin always holds a sale on this day. Big discounts on regular fabrics and bigger discounts on Christmas fabrics. Then there is also double yardage on the 50-Yard Club. Do you know what that is? The girls there keep an index card on every customer with the yardage bought over time. When a customer gets to 50 yards, she is rewarded with a discount on the next purchase - 10%, I think. So on Super Bowl Sunday, you get credit for double yardage. So if I were to go there today and buy 10 yards of fabric, they would write down that I bought 20 yards. Nice deal, eh?

For quilters who do have an interest in the football game, like me, there is the making of snack foods, and a project that is football-watching-friendly. I have a binding to stitch, so I will work on that.

In the kitchen I plan to make a big batch of black bean salsa, a pot of potato soup, and a cake or some sort of dessert. Not sure on that just yet.

DD Erin and her boyfriend Jeff are visiting this weekend. Erin was promised a quilt at Christmas time, so we visited the new sewing room to peruse the Kaffe Fassett books. She listed several that she liked, but tossed that list when she saw Hot Diamonds. I will have to get the title of the book, but the minute she saw it she knew that was the one she wanted. The next step was to pull the fabrics.

The fun part, right?? I love going through my Kaffe tubs. All these fabrics just invite stroking. Erin had a couple of years of art training, so she has a good eye for selecting colors.

Wouldn't you have liked being here with us for this wonderful birth of a quilt??

Here are the winners, in the order she wants them used. I took this pic, along with several closeups so we don't lose the order. When we put them away, we put them in order, as well, and again, I took another picture. We are not going to make any goofs with the order here. Hopefully!

When Erin comes, her cat Rocky also comes. he loves roaming our big house after being cooped up in a 3-room apartment for a month. He is quite a character, and we love his little kitty personality.

When I say Rocky explores every bit of available space in our house, I am not kidding. Even open fabric drawers are fair game. Can you tell he is enjoying the fabric as much as we were??

Happy Quilting, Friends! Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday!