2014 Wrap-up: Grandchildren, Books, Quilts

The last few months have flown by, and I've had no time to blog. I hope to improve on that in the New Year. I'll wrap up the year right here, in one long post.

In November I took a trip to Seattle to see Debra and her wonderful family. I also had a side trip with my friends Tamara, Karen and Gayle to Cannon Beach while I was there. In the interest of actually getting this information on my blog, I have not taken the time to dig up all my pictures. Instead I'm limiting the pictures to my darling grandchildren (oh, and I'm there too)

Jonathan, Madeleine, Diane, and Diane

Me and Diane

Me and Madeleine

Me and Jonathan

Before my trip to Seattle, I had a new granddaughter added to our family in October. Audrey had another girl, LauraJane. It was a whirlwind delivery - Joseph was in Wendover, and Audrey was here in case she went into labor. She did. I took her to the hospital, where she was measured: dilated to an 8. Then she asked if they could hold off delivery until Joseph got there.
--No problem, how soon would he be there?
--Two hours.
--Hmm, we'll try.
Sure enough, it worked. Joseph walked in, and LauraJane was delivered 12 minutes later. I was blessed to be there for the birth. She is beautiful.

Here's our cute girlie, already half-way grown up!

I managed to get a little quilting in this fall (never enough time!) I made this quilt for LauraJane. In the bottom picture is LauraJane's older sister (by not quite one year), Katherine. She likes the quilt too.

This is my block of the month quilt, finished in September. Ray has claimed it for his own. He loves it.

I made five of these wall hanging/table topper NOEL quilts. Four for my children, and one for my sister for Christmas.  I also made 20 pillowcases for the season for my family.

 All right, now to the books. These are the books I can remember reading: (my apologies that the pictures won't line up properly. I'm giving up trying any longer)

The Harry Potter Series. I started this when they were originally written and got derailed after the second or third book. By the time a new book came out after a year, it was sometimes hard to get to it. Plus trying to remember all the details from the books before after all that time was difficult. So I thought, "sometime I'll read them." That sometime came this autumn. I actually listened to them, and it was the best thing ever. The narrator, Jim Dale was amazing. He really made the books come alive. I found myself exercising longer, and cleaning more often, just to get in some more time listening.

I loved the series! So well crafted. Now I'm going to watch the movies.

My daughters and I read The Willpower Instinct together. McGonigal teaches a 10 week seminar on willpower, and the book is written to follow that same format. We decided to read it over ten weeks, and apply the techniques.

I read all of it. Sort of over ten weeks, and really did try to implement a lot of what she said. It's very good, and I' hope to review it every once in a while and keep improving.











Death Comes to Pemberley is the first P.D. James book I've read. I liked it.

Named of the Dragon is another winner by Susanna Kearsley. I haven't yet met a book of hers I didn't like.

The Bess Crawford mystery series by Charles Todd is my new favorite series.I've finished all the ones written so far. A new one is due out in April. I can't wait. 

Lori's Quilt

Oh my. Every day I think: I have so many posts to catch up on--trips we've taken, photos in general, books I've read, and quilts I've finished. Oops. That last one I am caught up on, except for this quilt:

It's Lori's quilt. Lori, Marilyn, Jennifer and I have served together in Relief Society (our church's women's organization) for the last few years. Now Lori is serving with our young women. So Jennifer, Marilyn and I wanted to make a quilt to say "thanks for all the great memories we've forged together." We saw a sample of this quilt in our local quilt shop, and Lori mentioned that she liked it. The three of us took the hint and decided to make it for her. I made the squares (a challenge for me because they are paper-pieced). Jennifer put the whole thing together, and Marilyn quilted it. 

It was a joy to make, and a joy to have the opportunity to serve with Lori and learn to love and appreciate her many talents and wonderful spirit.

Baby Quilt

A friend of mine is having a baby in a few weeks. I grabbed a couple of charm packs  (Moda's A Breath of Avignon by American Jane Patterns Sandy Klop) and quickly put this together. It's not that big--36 inches by 38 inches--but it will be big enough for quite a while. Everything I used to make this came from my stash. 

Here it is, fresh out of the dryer. 

I like to make baby quilts that can and will be used. I tell the recipient: use it, or give it back to me and I'll give it to someone who will use it. It's washable, so it can be spilled on and spit up on. Now, I hope they will be careful and not run over it with their car, but I don't want it sitting up on a closet shelf either. 

Doesn't it look pretty on my new sewing table? 

Additions and Improvements to My Sewing Room

I haven't completed any quilt projects lately. I'm a little bogged down by some intricate quilting I'm doing on a quilt for my daughter. I know I just have to power through, but sometimes I need to take a break.

Meanwhile I've done some other projects to help organize my sewing area. Last October I saw this post on Sister's Choice Quilts. Nicole inspired me, and I ordered some comic book boards from Amazon right away. Fast forward to February, and I finally reorganized my stash. My sister-in-law Orva came over and we put all my stash on comic book boards.  I pinned a note to each fabric with the length of the fabric piece written on it. The fat quarters and fat eighths are in a box on their own. My pre-cuts are also in their own box. Then my daughter Audrey worked her magic and organized it all in color order. I've really tried to use my stash over the last several years, and I feel like it's a much more manageable size now. Looks nice, doesn't it?

These bins (they have lids that are not shown here) are made by Iris, and I found them in packs of three at Costco. They are the perfect size, and they stack nicely.

My measly fat quarters (the row along the bottom) and fat eighths (the few on the top).

My precuts. Actually there is more in the bin now that I've continued to find a few things stashed here and there.

Can you tell I have a thing for red fabric? 

I also have a bin that has projects in it. That's my real goal: get all those projects done. 

This organization is all fine and good (actually wonderful), but the best thing that happened is Ray made me a new sewing table. A few months ago I got a new Bernina 710, which I adore. However, it did not fit in the nice sewing cabinet that I already owned. So we sold the cabinet with one of my older Berninas (my 180 artista) and Ray said he'd make me a table. 

Ray is an excellent craftsman. He's made me many beautiful items and pieces of furniture over the years so I knew that whatever he made would be wonderful. We had many hours of discussion over what I wanted, and how I wanted things to work. The table is so simple that it is deceiving. Much planning went into it to make sure everything was precisely where I wanted it, and would fit my new machine exactly. I ordered an insert from Dream World Northwest (makers of Sew Steady tables). They were wonderful to work with and the insert fits perfectly. 

Here are a few pictures of various stages of construction. The weather was terrible, and my family room downstairs was turned into a wood shop. Ray cleaned it all up, and it was worth the temporary dust and debris. 

 

 

The table measures 42 inches by 80 inches. It's the size of my dining room table with one of the leaves in. The legs are from IKEA, and are adjustable for height. 

I couldn't be happier!

Wedding Quilt

Our son is getting married in a month. It is a short engagement, and most of it is during the holidays. I knew I had to get their quilt done before things got too hectic. I worked on this at my quilt retreat, and it was wonderful to get the top done there. I quilted it and bound it this week. Now it just needs a label.

It's a simple quilt. The original pattern is made with charm squares. I wanted a big quilt so used two layer cakes instead. I also wanted it to be somewhat "manly" since it's my son who is getting it too. I chose Midwinter Reds by Minick & Simpson for Moda, because, well, because who doesn't love some good reds to cuddle up underneath? 

Quilt Pattern: Garden Lattice by Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock  (modified to make it large)
Fabric: Midwinter Reds by Minick & Simpson for Moda
Size: 88 X 88 inches

Christmas Tree Skirt

I recently went through my sewing room and organized it pretty well. Audrey was here and we always make a good team for doing that. One of the unfinished projects I unearthed was from two years ago. I went to a quilt retreat/seminar on free motion quilting at Lake Tahoe given by Jill Schumacher, and this is one of her designs. I thought I had quite a bit more quilting to do on it, but it turns out that it was all done except the binding. (!!)

Last week I sat down at my machine and got that binding on. Now it's under my Christmas tree. Except when Elizabeth grabs it and pretends she's an angel. I included the pictures of her with it on not just because she's cute and she's my granddaughter, but because it shows off the quilting pretty well. 

That is not a stain. It is a shadow.

Christmas Quilts All Around

 I have been itching to post about these quilts for a few months now. I made four of them. One for each of my children's families. I bought the kits a couple of years ago and got the centers done. Then they sat around until I had time to put on the five (!!) borders. Part of the problem is that my children are in and out of my house a lot, and I had to keep these hidden. Nothing gets past my girls in the quilt room.

I gave them on Thanksgiving, so they can enjoy them during the Christmas season this year.  The quilt fabric tells a nativity story The Great I Am. That's what is in the squares between the tree squares.  One option for the panel is to make it into a book. I chose to make the quilt. Like I said, four of them.

I've made a decision not to make four identical quilts again. It's too hard to stay excited about the quilt through that many versions. (Although I like them all now that they've been done for a while). Of course, that resolution will probably last as long as my resolution not to make another Christmas quilt because I already have so many. Hopefully no one will notice the new Christmas Quilt kit sitting in my sewing room that I bought a couple of weeks ago, nor the seven Christmas quilt patterns in my stash. Plus, really, all you have to do to make a quilt Christmassy is to choose Christmas fabrics to make it with.

Pattern: The Great "I Am" by Henry Glass & Co.
Size: 60 X 60
Fabric designed by Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle for Henry Glass & Co.