My Own March Madness

I have about 4 quilts and 1 large apron project going. That's my own March Madness for you. I have taken up the Starlight quilt again, which I posted about earlier. I've come up with a cheap design wall by using a fleece blanket on sale from Target ($3.98). I used the existing bookcase and pinned the fleece to one of the shelves, this also helped to get a level design wall.

I've pinned the hexagons, although they stick quite well. I've got another fleece blanket in case I exceed my size but for now, this will do. It was useful to layout the hexagons and see where my blanks are, how the colors are coming together, and where I could use some improvement. Some of the blanks are solid hexagons, some are rubics-cube type pieced hexagons, and some are three pieced hexagons. I have started some of the solid hexagons and filled them in - mostly on the sides. So far, this is all hand sewn and I love it.

La Grandmere

La Grandmere. Named for my grandmother because I worked on this quilt on the way to and from her 100 year birthday party last spring. I got a lot of comments from the flight attendants and looks during layovers. I hand quilted this one using a fan motif. This quilt was a gift from my husband and came from France as a kit. I ran out of the dark brown and the only source I could find was from a web site in Japan and in Japanese. I enlisted the help of my friend Hide to complete the transaction for me. Interestingly, the cost of the fabric was comparable to what we pay in the US. I frequently hear that Japan is a very expensive country so I was a bit surprised.

On a completely different topic - if I were singing for my life/in a sing off (American Idol - last week's show), I would sing Tall Trees in Georgia. Eva Cassidy sings this one so beautifully. I cannot sing but I feel it is important to be prepared, just in case. I used to sing this one to my girls when they were tiny babies. Now when I sing, they usually say "no songs!"

Another Cute Apron

I finished this apron for my friend Summer. She has an eclectic collection of blue and white dishes that would look great with this apron. I uploaded this picture with Photobucket so am experimenting with that. It uploads the picture really big and then I have to shrink it down. I'd like it to upload a thumbnail-size picture so will work on how to do that.

We had bitter cold here but today the sun is out and it feels good. I am making really good progress on handquilting. It is really nice to just sit with my husband, and frequently a cat, and quilt. I have a killer callous! I started a new quilt with a modified nine-patch design and Prairie Points. I am very excited about this 3D effect and texture to the quilt.

My Grandmother

At 100 years and 8 months, she passed away in her sleep. She taught me to sew, draw, be happy when camping in the rain. She and my Grandpa used to drink powdered milk (blek) and mix it in a purple container called The Purple Cow. We camped a lot in Michigan, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. She was very creative and thrifty. I have a beautiful rug she made from scraps, a Dresden Plate pillow sham, and a pencil sketch of a pheasant. I have some gifts from her when I was little including a pink sewing basket that I still use to keep fasteners in. I have a stuffed cat from a calico type quilting fabric. I have a dried flower Christmas Tree that I hang on my front door at Christmas time (and others).

I went to her 100 year birthday party. It is a nice memory for me. My Grandma asked me several times if I had a house and what it was like. From her perspective having a house meant security. She would frequently say "that's good, dear." She liked soup, hot water, and especially ice cream.

I will tell my girls about their Great Grandmother and hope they have some of her creativity and purpose.

Christmas Sewing

Long time no post. I've been sewing like crazy! I made a mom and 2 daughter aprons from three different blue and brown fabrics - they all coordinate to make a set. I hope my friend and daughters like them. I made another apron for my twins club gift exchange. I was so pleased my apron was traded three times! I got lots of really nice compliments on the apron. I made a apple and green apron for my friend Kate who has a very vintage kitchen. I made a Christmas apron but have not finsihed it yet. I made a brown and pink apron for a local friend of mine. She makes the most wonderful soaps! I made two Birdie Slings for two girlfriends. I made one with blue handles and lining - like the one I made for myself (previous post in July) and the other with red handles and a red-orange lining. Well, the reds and oranges really did the exterior fabric justice! Much more so than the blue, even though I am much more of a blue person. When I bought the fabric for this project, I had my two friends in mind. One is more like me, we could be sisters. The other is fun, eccentric, and kind of quirky - the red and orange is for her. I have a couple more aprons in mind...

My husband and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary in early December. We had a really nice night out at a restaurant where we went when dating. We walked the route of one of our first dates in downtown Denver. We talked about falling in love and our hopes for our family. We exchanged our gifts - traditional wood for 5 years. He gave me a really cool bamboo bowl. I gave him a wood bench. It was a really nice evening on lots of levels.

News on my QOV - I got an email that said due to poor weather, they didn't get such a great turnout at the ceremony where they were giving quilts to Veterans. So, our Social Worker, Marti, is holding on to our quilt, waiting for the right soldier. She says our quilt is on display to highlight the Quilt of Valor program at her facility. Marti is keeping me up to date on the status of our quilt and hopes to find a new home for it soon.

Quilt in Progress. I previously posted about a quilt I got as a kit - it is teal, brown, I was doing a fan design for the quilting. Well, it has been sitting on my To Do table for quite a while. I realized that I like the fabric backing but not for this quilt so I was neglecting the work. Last night during Gray's Anatomy I started ripping. Of course this is painful but I am really happy thinking about the new backing fabric I will find. I am also thinking that I will quilt this by hand. One of my favorite blogs, Lazy Gal Quilting talks a lot about hand quilting. She gave some good advice about hand quilting a few months back. I'm gonna try it. I like hand sewing, I find it relaxing and cozy in the winter months. I'm not so fixated on the end product of this quilt so I feel like I will enjoy the process.

Since it was over a month since my last post, I am skeptical about posting again before Christmas. I will wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays.

QOV Destination

Last Sunday I received my destination for my Quilt of Valor. I was instructed to send it to a social work with the veterans health care system in Little Rock AR. I got all my stuff together and mailed it on Wednesday past. Godspeed little quilt. I simultaneously want the gift to be anonymous but I also want to know who receives it. I included some information about the quilt and quilters in case the soldier wants to know. I included my email address to the social worker in case she can make time to let me know about the recipient. I work with a man whose son is supposed to be deployed for his FOURTH, yes 1-2-3-4 tour in Afghanistan/Iraq. Somehow that seems like too many to me, and to his Dad too.

QOV Waiting for Destination

I got my Quilt of Valor back from the long armer. The pictures do not capture the beauty of the work she did. There are dense patterns next to feathers surrounding the stars. Some stars have unique quilting inside the center to highlight them. The setting blocks have scallops in the small blocks and a simple flower pattern in the larger blue block. Truly art. When I washed the quilt (yikes!) and put it in the dryer, it came out like a grandmother's quilt that had been loved and washed for years and years. For the label, I did a semi-wonky log cabin and used fabric markers to fill in the name of the quilt, etc. I finished the presentation case and a short journal, which describes how the QOV came to be. I am waiting for my "destination." Then I will send it off and hope the soldier likes it and feels appreciated. It was a joy to make and to think about who may receive the quilt some day.

Had an odd experience at Hancock Fabrics this weekend. Typically I'll shop when I have the 40% off coupons. Sadly, I lost my coupon but shopped anyway. I was buying fusible interfacing and asked if it counted as a notion or a fabric item. I was told neither, but that the manager sometimes counts it as a notion, sometimes as fabric. I think it should count as something so I know when to use my coupons!