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!

Veterans' Day Sewing

A couple of days ago I shared the black and white wall hanging I made last Friday at Sherrie's annual event. I also promised to bring you a compilation of what all the other girls worked on, so let's get going! These are unedited photos, so we are looking at projects, not stunning photography, okay? (If you are a regular follower, then you already know not to have that expectation.) *smile*

Sherrie invited her friend and neighbor to join us for the day. Rose Ann worked on a Block O quilt. She claims she is a new quilter, but look how fantastic her blocks have turned out! Everything matched, which is a feat even for a seasoned quilter. Good job, and welcome to our annual event, Rose Ann.

Linda worked on a patriotic quilt that looks very involved. She had a cloth stretched across the floor and placed all her pieces in order so that the star points would match the correct center. Whew! From the second picture, you can clearly see that her organization paid off. This will be a stunning quilt.

Frienzie Susan came early and was already sewing when I arrived. She is our newest retiree, so perhaps her life is settled enough now that she can do more sewing. Her preferred hobby is scrapbooking. But I digress! This table runner will be given to her daughter who has Fiesta dinnerware. What a great look this will be with all those fabulous colors.

Pam is another Frienzie who probably prefers scrapbooking, but she has really taken to quilting more and more in recent years. I just love this Carpenter's Star that she made. It is a nice big block that will be a gorgeous wall hanging, or possibly a table topper.

I really love this block. It has a look similar to the Swoon block I made back in the summer, but this seems a lot simpler to construct. And it loses none of that fantastic impact in being a simpler block - that is a big win-win, if you ask me.

Frienzie Kay came late, did not sew, but she did bring two quilts that she worked on and finished while on a recent sewing getaway to Sanibel, Florida, with a fun group of ladies. Look at these two stunners.

Finally, we will take a look at what our gracious hostess worked on. Frienzie Sherrie had grandson Camden on her mind as she worked on this fun Disney-themed quilt. Every one of us remarked on the unusual color of blue in this fabric, and Sherrie said that is what drew her to it when she bought it.

This is a close-up of just one block.  Nice big squares making up an easy 9-patch block - one of the fastest and easiest! Perfect for getting a lot done in a single day, for sure.

Above is the result of Sherrie's day of work. I don't think I heard whether she is going to use sashing strips in this or not. I see she has some gray and white stretched underneath there. Either color would work well with these blocks.

And that wraps up another year of sewing with Sherrie on Veterans' Day. We ate good food, shared lots of laughs, caught up with one another, met a new friend, and made pretty things. That sound like a really great day, doesn't it? It was. The only thing lacking was that a couple of our Frienzies could not be with us, as they had scheduling conflicts. Lyn came, but did not sew. Hettie and Sharon had other obligations.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Making Emma's Wall Hanging

Friday turned out to be a very productive day for me, as Sherrie held her annual day of sewing on Veterans' Day. We are not an unpatriotic group, but the sewing  has very little to do with Veterans' Day. She began hosting us on this day because we Frienzies all had the day off, and thus provided a good time for fellowship and sewing. Several do honor Veterans in other ways at other venues; we certainly don't forget to pay tribute to our brave service men and women.

Deciding which project to work on was a bit of a process, because quilters always have several options, don't you know. After a bit of deliberating, I decided to devote the day to working on DD Emma's wall hanging. She asked for this over a year ago, so I have really procrastinated on it. It was forever taking a back seat to other things that came up for my attention.

I have written about this wall hanging in a couple of earlier posts. Click here for when I bought the fabrics (scroll way down) and here for when I made the HSTs. I also described the drawn-out design that Emma tweaked and approved. With all this advance work done, Friday's job was simply to sew the whole business together, which I thought I could accomplish in just the one day.

Let's get to the pictures, shall we?!? (Good grief, I do go on at times.) I will walk though my progess and explain a bit as I go. Below, are the first 5 rows. I was unsure about how to construct the wall hanging, and knew that doing the Eleanor Burns' method of chain piecing would become complicated, so I opted to do just a few rows at a time. That plan worked out pretty well; this section of the top 5 rows was my early-morning focus.

I then moved on to the  middle section, shown above, which was harder to keep straight as this is where so many more triangles came into play. Keeping them going the correct direction (I followed our drawing in the link above) became a real challenge. I think only one HST might be going the wrong way, but do you think I care? Not in the least! *smile*

By late afternoon, I had the lower section of rows together. As I packed up at day's end, only the top 5 rows were actually sewn together. The remaining rows were stitched, but not attached. You can see the gaps in the photo.

Later Friday night, I made myself go back to work on it. My ususal tendency would be to ignore it - procrastination is my M-O. However, I am happy to report that I attached all those rows, added the top and bottom borders, gave it a healthy starch and press, and VOILA! I have the top done!

Emma loves it. We are currently deliberating our quilting option. I like the idea of vertical lines of quilting. What color thread? I am considering black or clear, mono-filament thread. We shall see in due time.

I feel very good about finishing this long-standing WIP (work-in-progress). It was one of 3 main goals I had for this month, so to have it together is a big deal.

Yes, I did sew with friends; I will bring you a few of their projects in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

I will link up today with Beth at Monday Making; she is desconstructing old work shirts and turning them into quilts - something I am very familiar with!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Embroidery Stitching

That title may throw a few of you off, as I can't think of one time on this blog that I have written about doing embroidery. Well, that changed yesterday when I acted on a whim and made a mini quilt to display for Thanksgiving.

I saw this little darling at Terry's while we sewed there last Tuesday; she always does such a great job of decorating for the seasons and holidays. I was so enamored with this particular mini-quilt; knew I could make something similar for myself.

And I did.

All these fabrics have been in my fat quarter drawers for years - I mean, like over 20. It still feels good to use these stash fabrics. Some quilters get tired of the stuff they bought so long ago; not me. I am glad to be putting them to use.

Since I was making this up from the picture I took, I really had no idea what size to make the blocks, so I randomly made 3" squares and HSTs. I made lots more than needed for one mini, but I might make a couple of extras. Who knows how those might come in handy, right?

This is my first embroidery in - oh, how long - 30 years? I did counted cross stitch way back in the day, well before I dove into quilting. The last letter will get finished off later today.

I am linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. She has some interesting observations about good lighting for hand work, and a bonus! A clip of music featuring James Taylor!

Have a great Sunday, y'all!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

An Update on Sharon

My dear friend Sharon, with whom I taught for 29 years and have quilted with in our retirement, has been in a blue period. I suppose most of us know about Picasso and his "blue period," and he really was blue. Sharon just love blue quilts. No somber moods here!  

It has been ages since I last updated her sewing activities here on the blog, so let's see what she has been up to in recent months. 

In September, she unfurled this column-style quilt she'd made - she does not normally have time for sewing unless it's here, so to see this beauty was a treat. She spent some birthday money on - what else - gorgeous fabric - and made a fast and super-simple columns quilt in luscious blues. We didn't take the time to lay it out neatly, (we should have!) but here are some rough shots of it. Soak in those beautiful florals!

Sometimes, the fabric can do all the work. Why fuss with cutting and piecing intricate designs when a group of fabulous fabrics can result in a fast and satisfying finish?

A quilt that she did work on  here on our Tuesday sewing sessions was this 9-patch blue and cream quilt with gorgeous sashing strips. These fabrics are mostly (if not all) Laundry Basket Quilts Fabric, and Sharon has had a wild affection for them, for sure. Below is a more complete shot, however it is a big quilt, so not nearly all of it fit into the frame.

And, in staying with fabrics from Laundry Basket, she began working on this so-simple quilt that uses 10" squares or layer cakes. The pattern is called Star Gazer and is free from Andover Fabrics; I think I will have to make this, too - someday. It looks so easy and fast, and it makes a 72" square quilt which is rather a nice size.

Sometime this fall - September, I believe - the internets and blogs were all abuzz about Jelly Rolls. Sharon and I could not spend the actual day of the celebration working together, but on our next available Tuesday, we did spend our time making a jelly roll quilt. (I will share mine at some point - it was a huge disaster, and I will 'fess up about it; just not yet.) Sharon used a jelly roll of Kaffe Fassett blues/greens to make this cool quilt. The first picture is what we did on that one day; the second picture is of her finish. It is a variation of the traditional jelly roll race quilt. Since we'd both done a couple of those, we found this alternative.

And just this week when we sewed at Terry's, Sharon was working on a flannel quilt in her nephew's college colors - blue and gray. Won't this be great for a college apartment?

Now, not all of Sharon's creating has been of the blue variety. Take a look at this luscious flannel quilt  she plans to use for the back of her sofa - what a great quilt for winter reading or movie-watching. I think I could get lost in this for a day or two.

That pretty much completes our catching up with what Sharon has been up to. We will be missing her today at our Frienzies Veterans' Day sewing with Sherrie. Sharon has to perform gramma duties for her two grandsons. She will be with us in spirit, though, I just know it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

An Update on Emma

Blogging regularly has become a real chore for me lately, and I can't quite pinpoint a satisfactory reason. For close to nine years, I have always been eager and happy to share my quilting work here on my little blog. Lately, though, I am in a slump. I have plenty of material to blog about, but I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for doing it. I think I will just go with the flow through the remainder of the year, blogging a bit less frequently, and perhaps begin the new year with a renewed vitality for more regular blogging. Typically, I do find lots of renewed energy as I being a new year.

I will take a moment today to fill you in on an update from DD2, Emma. Back in February, she and I worked together on a baby quilt for Brooklin, one of her college roommates. That little boy is pictured above with said quilt and his parents in a professional photograph! Special quilt! *smile*

And last month, the two of us worked on another baby quilt for her boyfriend's sister. That quilt, too, was a huge success. Above, Emma and the mother-to-be are showing off the quilt at the baby shower. Since she appears to enjoy making these baby quilts, I am holding onto hope that she will eventually fall into quilting as a hobby. I did try to cultivate it when she was a child, but it really never seemed to interest her all that much. Perhaps there was an incubation period??

In other Emma news, she has recently been in Chicago with her boyfriend who was attending a school-related conference. He is working on a Master's degree in engineering, and earned a spot at this conference. Emma tagged along. Above is the only picture she sent me of their sight-seeing.

And finally, she got some really good news a couple of weeks ago. My sister-in-law, Emma's Aunt Ann, put her name into a "giving raffle" sponsored by an order of nuns in Indiana. Emma's ticket was drawn and she won $250! Isn't that sweet? Ann told me she put a different niece's name on each raffle ticket she bought and said a little prayer as she sent them off. How nice! Here's how she looked when she opened the envelop.

Crazy girl. But I sure do love her!

Hope you don't mind that I spent a post focusing on one of my kiddos. I am still sewing, and making a fair amount of progress on November's UFO. Hopefully I can share that soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!