Bear Hugs

The third baby quilt for our soon-to-arrive grandson might be my favorite! 

The background on the front is off-white cottons; the blue stars are flannel with a cotton surround that matches the inner border and binding; the bears are all Minkee with black cotton noses and red cotton hearts; the outer brown border is also Minkee.

The bears are adorable! The mouth detail is embroidered with pearl cotton as are the black (hard to see) eyes. I must say that while making this, I didn't think the bears were adorable! Each bear has a number of pieces to be appliquéd and I sat with a vacuum by my side for all of the fuzzy pieces!

The back is a creamy white Minkee that matches the bears' paws, ears, and faces.

This approximately 48" X 48" quilt has polyester batting. I machine quilted this in straight lines across the quilt - I wanted to be sure the quilt stayed very soft.

Colorful Chevrons

The second quilt for our soon-to-arrive grandson is all about chevrons and color. His mom likes color and she pinned this quilt on Pinterest. 

I decided I could do something similar without a pattern. This is the baby's quilt.

The color pieces are all batiks while the white fabric is cotton.  I really had trouble finding the fabric I wanted. I started with just turquoise and white blocks but that was too blah so I moved on to batiks and added the orange.

I machine quilted this following the chevron on both the colored and white parts - lots of corners to turn but it turned out fine. 

The back is flannel. The batting in this quilt is cotton.

This quilt is about 46" square.

Triangles and Polka Dots

I began the first quilt for our soon-to-arrive grandson while at Quilt Camp last fall. I gave a little peek here.

These are 2" finished squares with a corner triangle. The triangles are left from making binding mostly. A few are from my friends at camp. I saw the design in Sunday Morning Quilts  and wanted to make it. It took quite a while but I love how it turned out. The binding is hard to see - it is a blue with different colored dots.

This quilt was folded right before the photo - can you tell?

The back is large polka dots broken up by a strip of smaller dots and 6 little squares with triangles.

This quilt is about 42" by 45". I machine quilted this with straight lines in a grid pattern. Instead of binding, there is a piece of white cotton fabric between the top and backing. 

Blue Blankie

Our newest grandson will arrive soon. When our first grandchild arrived almost ten years ago, I made her 3 quilts. I couldn't decide what to make so I made her a regular  quilt with a flannel back, a summer quilt with no batting, and a heavier quilt. Since then, each grandchild has received 3 quilts upon their birth. This baby boy is our 8th grandchild and most likely the last one but who knows?!?!!

Anyway, since I have been doing a lot of knitting, I decided he needed a very soft, light weight blanket too. The color is blue like this yarn. The photos of the blanket don't show the color very well.

The blanket is about 30" X 38".

  
It is reversible.

This is made from Rauma Babygarn, a washable 100% Norwegian wool. It should be a nice weight year round.

I knit most of this blanket on our winter trip to North Carolina in January. It was a great project to do while we were on the road.

More Snow and A New Lid

We are in Champaign, Illinois where Ray has a meeting twice a year. We came AFTER the storm that went through northern Illinois on Saturday night. More snow - ugh! Now we have a ANOTHER storm going through the same area! Thankfully we have reservations to stay here until tomorrow. So far today in Champaign, we've had heavy snow, sleet, ice, and now more snow.

This year I brought along knitting. I planned to do some shopping today - the important kind - fabric and yarn, but the weather intervened. Ray and I planned to shop when his meeting was over but it looks like we'll just kick back, watch more of the Olympics, and I'll knit.

I had some alpaca left from the vest I made last fall. On Friday, I decided that I should make Ray an alpaca hat.

I was knitting on the way to Champaign and Ray wanted to know if he'd be able to wear the hat home. The answer is yes! 

  
I finished it just a few minutes after Ray came in from his meeting. They ended a little early due to weather. Lots of people are trying to go home and a few, like us, are just staying here.

  

When we leave for home tomorrow, Ray has a super soft, warm new hat to wear. I have plenty of alpaca left - maybe I need a hat too!

Snow

I took this one day a week and a half ago 

through the windshield of the car.

We have had at least two snows since.

I lose count!

It just keeps coming!
And more is supposed to come tonight ...

Quilting outside the box

I had a little time to spend in the sewing room this past week. I was able to get this quilt top together. 

I used a Josephine jelly roll from French General by Moda that I bought at Country Threads when I was at Quilt Camp last fall. 

This is not a normal fabric choice for me but I do think it is always good to quilt outside the box once in a while!

Nursing covers ready and waiting...

Our newest grandson will most likely arrive with the next month. His family is ready - especially his Mom! 

We are ready too! The quilts are done but I can't show them yet! The nursing covers are done and delivered. 

I'm not sure how to take a good picture of a nursing cover - I decided to hang them.

The cover is a 25" wide by 23" long finished rectangle with a 16" length of boning in the middle of the top between the straps. The boning holds the cover away from the mom so she can see the baby. 

The strap is cut at 3" and finishes at 1 1/2". It fastens with a couple of D rings. 

I forgot to take a picture but the lower right corner has an 8 1/2" square of flannel folded on the diagonal sewn in the side and bottom hems. It is used to wipe the baby's mouth.

These are easy to make - sure wish I'd have thought of making one many years ago when I needed it!

Storage under my ironing table

Lots of ideas have floated around my head about the storage underneath my perfect ironing surface. And I didn't even wake up once during the night with ideas - guess it's was not an earth shattering decision!

I finally decided on cube/cubby hole storage. Some are closed in the back and others aren't.

The open ones are perfect for long things like freezer paper and appliqué mats. 

I keep my water for ironing in Dasani bottles. It is tap water - I do NOT buy water for pressing!