What's all the fuss?

What are my kitties checking out?

Something sure has their attention.

 

 

Wait, what is that among my Liriope?

Is it a cake on my doorstep?

It's a mockup of my pom pom American flag.

 

I had hoped to participate in a blog hop celebrating pom poms.  Things happen and that did not come to fruition.  I had planned to make an American flag before, I think, any of us had an idea of the terror to occur in Boston.  Then, I kept hearing on our local news of the anniversary of the bombing of the Murrow Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.  Living in the Tulsa area, only 2 short hours from OKC, I remember going to visit the site shortly after the bombing.  I have been to the incredible memorial and attended a damaged (and now repaired) church across the street from the site, while I was working in the City.  Then the local news continued with the tragedies to strike our area.  April 24, 2008 a tornado struck Catoosa (basically east Tulsa), killing 7 people.  We are fast approaching the first anniversary of the devasting tornado in Joplin, MO which is only about a 4 hour drive.  The blog hop has very creative ladies from around the globe.  I am absolutely amazed at their creativity, accomplishments, and dedication to their crafts.  So, the fuss is all about resiliency and those who selflessly help each other on a day to day basis.

 



 

 

Tessie

I was surfing, admiring Pinterest !  I found a pattern that I like - Tessie Quilt Pattern
Tessie .  I just ordered it online today.  My LQS cannot order it for me.  Yes, I try to support them so they will be here for me.

When I found the picture, I found a blog post.  I left a message for the owner as to the name of the pattern.  She was very kind to tell me the name of the pattern; she had taken a class; and a link to where I could purchase the pattern.  I've had a couple of communications with her and learned that she is using many polka dots in her quilt.  So, late last week I sent her a care package of a few BRIGHT polkda dots.
Here's some eye candy.

The post-it note on the pink lets my new friend know that I made a tote bag for one of my daughter's new SIL's when she got married.  This SIL was a hairdresser at the time.  Then at 45 she suffered more than one stroke and was near death.  The doctors thought she might be able to return to work, but that has not been possible.  The big yellow dot has a note also.  It was backing for a quilt that I made for one of my grandboys.

 

The fabric on the keft was used this past week to make a mini tote for my 3 year old great niece.

The pink/purple fabrics were purchased in Paducah.  My friend Kathi and I decided at the eleventh hour to go to Paducah year before last.  We literally decided and called and got a hotel about 60 miles away in TN and we jumped in the car for a day trip to the hotel.  Yep, there are some white polka dots in the aqua fabric.  I started a quilt and soon found that polka dots and solids weren't doing it for me.  I needed to spice up my choice of polka dot fabrics - not just dots.

I adore the red/off white fabric.  The red has a scallop design, making it dainty.  The white with red and navy was used for the lining of the mini tote.  That stuff on the right is the towel the fabrics were lying on and my concrete porch.  Hopefully, my pics will improve.

These are a couple three of a favorite Christmas fabrics.  That's another collection in my stash.  A friend dropped a hint that she wanted a king Christmas quilt.  I started collecting fabric and working on small blocks with the intent of each block having a different print with the same solid in each block.  I may not make that goal.  Shortly after she dropped the hint, she said she had an 89 year old friend of hers make her a Christmas quilt.  So, I stopped on the quilt and not the collecting.  It may be finished some day and on my queen bed.

 

And now for the finish.  The yellow is a delicate yellow (yellow is scarce in the stash).  There is a small blue dot.  On the right is another Christmas print.  These are just some of the polka dots that I considered BRIGHT and I hope my new friend is blessed and can help someone else.  I have found that sometimes it is as economical to buy 1 yard as other amounts.  So, I am glad that I have a new friend and hopefully my pattern will arrive in time for me to get some blocks cut for hand piecing before I visit grandboys.

I imagine many of these fabrics might find a place in my quilt, too.

What I've been doing ...

My brother and sister-in-law were blessed with twin grandchildren in September 2012. No, they are not identical twins.  Actually they have quite different plumbing.  I decided I wanted to make a quilt for each of the twins.  I picked some gender neutral fabric and it quickly arrived at my home from fabricworm.com .  This is a Tim and Beck line available at the time.

 I added one print with a bee from a Winnie the Pooh line that I found at Hobby Lobby.  I just liked the yellow print.  The white sashing and backing are Kona Cotton - some variety of white. I hope the bright colors and the same fabrics being used in each quilt is a hit.  My brother told me that my niece does not like pink.  My nephew and niece's older daughter has never had much, if any, pink.
I own half a long arm and have never used it much.  It lives 60 miles from me and by the time I make the trip there...  So, I decided to hand quilt the baby quilts.  Yes, hand quilt. (My first thought was to make needle turn Sunbonnet Sue and Sam quilts - that's not happening for babies!)  So, I started and eventually got the quilting finished.  I showed the quilted, not bound, quilts at guild Show and Tell and had all intentions of getting them in the mail before the next guild meetings.  I've lost count of how many monthly guild meetings have come and gone since then.

I finally did bind each quilt.  You can see the stip in the picture above.  It resembles the lined paper I had when I learned penmanship.

Then I decided the twins' older sister who turned 3 this March needed to have a surprise in the box for her.  I decided to make her a little bag.  I had planned to embroider something on the front.  Then, one idea lead to another.  When I was cutting fabric to sandwich for a machine quilting class this past Friday, I cut the fabrics for sister Ilona's bag.  I sewed the bag together in approxiately 1 1/2 hours this morning AND I am not a morning person.

Ilona's "bow" bag

 

 

The bow started out as an "I."  In my great wisdom and the fabric face down, I decided which was the top, etc.  Once you put the outside pieces right sides together, you don't see them until the bag is almost complete.  So, when I turned the bag right side out and saw what looked like a dog bone, my heart sank.  My perfectionism was out of control.  Then I thought - this is for a 3 year old and meant to be well used.  So, I studied it and decided to put a button on the bow.  The bow is black and white gingham, so I found a red button and white button in my stash and EOS (end of story!)

 

Now, the FABRIC (that's what I always declare being in the box) is on its way from Oklahoma to Maryland.

 

Oh, yeah!  More pics follow - backs and labels.  Baby Elias' label has red and blue stitching around it - both my nephew's grandfathers (my dad and my SIL's dad served in WWII).  The label mentions that.  Also the meaning of Elias is included on the label.  Baby Elina's quilt has a scant few daisies embroidered on the label.  One of her names is Lynn, my SIL, her paternal grandmother.  One of my earliest memories of SIL Lynn is her love of daisies.  The meaning of Elina is also on her label.  Along with some sappy rambling about who made it, where, machine pieced, and hand quilted, and commeration.

 

That's about it.

The twins' quilts on my neighbor's fence

The fabrics are the same in each (often large rectangle/small square in opposite quilts).

Elias' label with red/blue running stitches

Elina's label with embroidered daisie

 

The quilts on my front fence (soupy yard)

A front and a back of quilts (and back of neighbor's house)

 

I definitely need to give some credit for the free patterns:



Michael Miller Fabrics' Citron-Gray Nursery: Patchwork Baby Quilt with Monogram

I hunted for the Citron gray fabrics and could not locate enough to make the quilts.  I also did not do an initial block as Mom and Dad were not sharing names or initals prior to the birth.  I could have put a "C" for their last name, but I decided against it.  (I have some Amy Butler prints in my stash for a queen size quilt from this pattern.  Yep, I plan to put a stripe of one of the fabrics down the back. I'm thinking of using aqua for my solid with it.)

To get the pattern for the mini tote (including the alphabet - it's all one PDF!):

http://schoolhousepatterns.wordpress.com/free-patterns/the-mini-tote/

 

I hope that I have properly credited each and every individual who has very graciously given freely of his/her talent and enabled me to make these quilts.