A Quilting Finish

Things got busy around here this week but I have a finish! The teal, green, orange and yellow quilt is done. 

I saw a picture of a quilt that I liked a couple of years or more ago and printed it. I couldn't find any information about who designed the quilt or if there was a pattern and I still haven't. Here's the picture.

I used a little math, redesigned a little bit and made my quilt using scraps. The center of the original quilt looks like it was pieced. I found a piece of fabric in my stash that had the four colors I wanted in the quilt so I used that. The quilt is flat but I didn't smooth it out on the 'bumpy' grass. 

I machine quilted this with a large meandering stitch and Aurifil #2600 Dove 40-weight thread. It's seems like a long time since I did any machine quilting and I really enjoyed it. 

The back is similar to an orange grunge I was going to use the same backing fabric for the binding but I liked the black and white in the original picture so I used a black and white stripe. 

This quilt has been added to the donation pile.

I'm still keeping busy taking care of produce - dehydrating, freezing, and eating! 

Our Illinois grandsons visited for three enjoyable days this last week. The older one was here for two days and used the Cricut to cut a piece for the guitar he is making/building. He also made waffles for us! We played Farkel and he helped me perfect and sew his mask pattern. 

The other two boys made S-mores cookies with the 6-year-old doing all of the measuring and breaking the egg while the 10-year-old did all of the mixing. They both worked on making and rolling the dough balls in graham cracker crumbs and preparing maybe eating the marshmallows and Hershey kisses. They also sewed scraps together while I was perfecting their mask patterns. One had a chain of scraps 53 1/3 feet long. He measured it and wrote down the length - important stuff! Later he pulled out the slip of paper to accurately tell his parents about his accomplishment. The 6-year old with a little guidance from Grandpa sewed most of his strips side by side and ended up with a nice, large rectangle of strips. We played Double Ditto a new game that we all enjoyed and Frisbee. That evening we had a picnic and were able to play miniature golf on our way back to their home. In a perfect world our other grandchildren  would live close enough to come visit for a day or more every so often. 

The mask making is picking up again because all of the grandchildren will need them for school. I am making custom fitted masks for each of the kids and they are choosing fabrics. Here are some of the latest.

Each of the masks will end up with elastic or lycra for the ears or with elastic or lycra around the back of the head. No one wants ties which I understand because I don't like ties either. The kids will each decide which mask has what.

And... today I emptied the sewing machine room. New shelves are being installed tomorrow and that room will be in order and clean by tomorrow night. 

Gnomey had a face lift.

Gnomey and Nipper live in our backyard. They arrived were created in November of 2012 by Zoli of Zoli's Woodcarving. You can see the original post here.

Zoli came back today to do a 'facelift'. Wow! What a difference!

We chose to keep the look more rustic.

If needed at some point in the future, Zoli will fill in the cracks and do a solid paint cover.

Our grass is still VERY green for September.

This is looking at the back of our house.

When we sit on our screened porch, Gnomey and Nipper are always close by.

Still celebrating!

A year ago today was the day of Ray's cancer surgery. We are delighted that he is still cancer-free a year later! We are so very blessed. Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts. 

We got our new Bluetooth selfie stick today so we had to try it out - thought I'd share our first photo.

Our Big Adventure is fast approaching and we are ready. We continue to celebrate life on a daily basis.

A new grandson!

Leo Edwin has arrived! He was due on the 14th and we've all been waiting… especially his mom! He made his appearance at 5:40 this afternoon, weighing in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces. He is 20" long. Son Brent said Leo and DIL Emily are doing great.

We hope to meet Leo tomorrow. First we need to help out with the big brothers.

Swaddle time

Daughter-in-law Emily had posted this swaddle blanket photo on Pinterest. I thought it was darling so ...

I found some patterns online and then found the actual pattern with this photograph in the book, Fabric-by-Fabric One Yard Wonders by Yaker and Hoskins.

I looked and looked but could not find a printed flannel like the one in the photo. Ray and I did find a couple flannels that would work and Emily picked out three pieces the day we went shopping.

And now the swaddle blankets are done! 

I made bias binding due to the many curves and corners in the pattern. I always finish the binding on my quilts by hand so I find finishing with a machine a little awkward. 

Sorry I don't have a darling little person to model these! Won't be much longer though!

I think they are cute - wish I'd had something like this when our kids were born. 

My list is shrinking - next up is a nursing cover. And I really need to get the quilts started for this little guy...

Burp!

The baby is due in March, our 8th grandchild. And, of course, it is a boy! Number 3 son for this family. Mom-to-be Emily wanted burp cloths and asked if I could make them. Of course!

Last Monday, we went fabric shopping. Emily doesn't sew but I think she enjoys looking at fabrics - all of the colors, textures, and patterns. We had fun picking out flannels.

I found patterns for burp cloths online but tweaked and tweaked. Emily wanted the cloth 'cut out' at the neckline but she didn't want a tiny cloth. 

burp cloth pattern - to be placed on a fold

I wanted the cloth to have flannel on both sides. And I thought we needed a middle layer for absorption. The middle layer is a bar towel or bar mop. I had to undo the hem at each end of the towel for length before I cut it. The towel is stitched into the seam and there are two rows of topstitching so it shouldn't unravel.

Each cloth finished at 8 inches by 17 inches. 

Emily thought 8 - 10 cloths would be fine. I added a little fabric from my stash and I think I got a little carried away... they were fun and easy to make. Here are all of them - no two are identical. I twisted each one so you could also see the other side.

Now it's time to make swaddle blankets… and a nursing cover… and his quilts. I'd better get busy!

We have a new addition!

We have a new addition! This little fellow now resides in our backyard. The tree needed to come down a couple of years ago but we were able to keep about a 10 feet stump. About a week ago a carver came and created  this gnome holding a squirrel. It is about 7' tall and I can see it from the family room - he is right by the screened porch.

We don't have a name for the gnome or the squirrel yet but we are working on it!

Awesome!

Today is the International Day of Awesomeness, which always falls on March 10 as a tribute to Chuck Norris. To celebrate, you are supposed to perform "Feats of Awesomeness". (from The Missouri Star Quilt Company)

Not sure what I'll do that is awesome but maybe an opportunity will come along!

I think the flu is gone and Ray did not get it - whew! We are off to watch grandson Mack play hockey this morning. 

This might change everything...

I watched this video this morning. It is worth the 12 minutes it takes to watch. It might just change everything…for the better! Thanks Erin, over at One Piece at a Time for showing it to me.