designer. quilter. teacher. author
Yeah, yeah. Not talking about alcohol, but the two quilts I made for Mrs. T. Over the years she kept all her sons’ soccer and basketball jerseys. I’ve assembled them into quilts for them for Christmas. I finished sewing borders on the quilts today.
You can barely see it, but in the corners of the quilt are pieces of a baby blanket. The green outer border will have all basketball and soccer patches on it once the top is quilted.
Quilt number 2.
I loved making each of these. Such fun!
Fall. The perfect season. Cool, crisp mornings. Breezy afternoons. You can smell it in the air. Leaves are starting to change. And I cannot wait to wear my new fall goodies!
I love fall afternoons. The weather is perfect to take little mister outside to play or bind a quilt.
Just in time to ring in the new season, I finished this quilt. The colors scream October wedding.
Thanksgiving is over and Christmas will be here soon. I finished this commissioned piece. I’m really proud of it and think it turned out really well!
I have the body of B’s two quilts assembled. Here’s a close up of one. I am hoping to get borders on this week. Yeah! Oh, what a relief that will be for me!
T-shirt quilts are so much fun to make, and I was on a tear after putting B’s quilts together that I started on my Pi Phi t-shirt quilt. Finally. I have had the shirts prepped for a year but hadn’t made time to assemble the squares. Go figure. I have most of the squares finished. I had originally planned to have each square finish at 15 inches, but the larger shirts that don’t have any borders look funny, so now they are all going to finish a bit larger. I think. I have to look at everything again. I put one row together the other night and decided that I didn’t like it, so I’m in brainstorming mode again. I’d love to go with what I have and plan to tweek the larger squares, if possible, thus making the top go together a bit faster. I know what I want for the inner and outer borders. Hopefully the planned fabric will work once the body is assembled.
Autumn is coming to an end. I just loved the golden leaves. They are so beautiful. Really they are. When I was a little girl, my sister and I used to collect brightly colored fallen leaves and iron them between two sheets of waxed paper. Well, Mom would iron. But then my sister and I would cut out the leaves to send to my grandmother in Florida so she could decorate her Thanksgiving table with real leaves. L and I thought we were the deal doing that. To this day I think about sending leaves to my grandmother. I’m sure she’d get a kick out of it.
This isn’t my house, but a house in my neighborhood. Look at the leaves?! Aren’t they amazing?!
Last week was tough. S kept waking up at night and we couldn’t figure out what was going on with him. He’s still up a bit more than I’d like, but I think we are nearing the end of that misery. Boo Boo came over on Saturday to give us some much needed relief.
Husband and I took advantage of our few hours of free time and headed toward Atlantic Station. When we got into the car husband asked me if I needed the cup that was in the cup holder. I said yes. I liked that cup. That cup holds water. I then realized what I said and had to jump out of the car to spit out the water in my mouth I was laughing so hard! Like it was some philosophical awakening that cups hold water. duh. That little pun gave both of us some much needed relief.
On Sunday, S attended a birthday party for AG. The first birthday party he was invited to attend. He held up surprisingly well through the event, given that it occurred during his nap time. Of course, as soon as we got into the car he fell asleep.
L’s quilt top is finished. I feel SOOO much better having that project under my belt. The quilt looks really good. I had planned one pattern and didn’t like it, so I took all my cut up pieces and created something else. Something better. I’m very pleased with it.
Before Christmas I have two t-shirt quilt tops to finish and I need to get a binding stitched onto another quilt. I have one of the t-shirt quilts about two-thirds pieced and the binding is sewn onto MA’s quilt. I was getting really stressed out, not thinking I could finish anything, but I’m making good progress. Hopefully that trend will continue.
I finished the quilt for S today. It looks so good, and I think she’ll be really pleased. The quilt is appropriately named “Million Babies”. Each square is a collage of photos that Dr. T has collected over the years. He delivered all the children in the photos. It’s pretty amazing to see how many children one man has helped bring into the world. I imagine it’s incredibly gratifying. What an amazing profession.
Here’s a close up
I’ve had a busy day. As usual, little mister kept me dancing all day and by the time I was ready to take a nap he was up again. Oh, well. And dinner was an afterthought so I picked up some sushi at our favorite sushi restaurant, Zuma. It’s soooo good!
I have had a very productive day. I have almost finished piecing a quilt top for Lindsay. Her brother passed away and I am making a memory quilt from his clothing. I had a pattern in mind, cut out the pieces then decided I didn’t like it. So, back to the drawing board. The quilt is rather geometric – kind of like a brick wall. I like it. I plan to put a black inner border on the quilt top, but haven’t made it past there. Hopefully I’ll figure that out in the next day or two. The quilt might just have more 3×6 pieces for the outer border. I think it would look rather nice.
I plan to be in my very first craft show on November 16th. I’m excited and nervous about it! Friends and family have urged me to do get myself into fairs and shows for a good long while, but I’ve managed to ignore everyone so far. I finally decided it was time. I’m not sure what finally clicked, but it did. I plan to show my quilts – memory quilts, blue ribbon winners and others. Because all my quilts are made on a commissioned basis, I’ll be happy to get inquiries and will be thrilled if I am asked to make even one! I will have several memory quilts there so people can grasp what it is I can do with clothing.
This quilt is a great way to showcase your little one’s clothing that you aren’t ready to part with. There is no better way to cherish the memories of infancy than making a quilt out of your favorite outfits! November 2005
Mrs. F lost her husband recently. I made a king size quilt for her bed from all his clothing. April 2007
B’s mothers favorite color was purple. I made this queen size quilt for her with her mother’s clothing. August 2006
This isn’t a great photo of the quilt, but t-shirts and other clothing were incorporated into this quilt. It’s a personal favorite! June 2006
I also plan to have my barrette holders at the show. Completely customizable. They are super cute and I’ve been a painting fool over the past several weeks getting them ready to go. I must admit that it’s fun to make little girl things!
This one is for my niece for Christmas. In the meantime, I don’t think she’ll mind if I show it off!
Well, off to paint some more.
So I’m trying my hand at a blog. I’m hoping that between S’s naps and other important life tasks, even the not so fun ones like paying bills and laundry, I’ll be able to keep this thing updated. We’ll see. If nothing else it’s a great way for me to get all my quilt projects, past and present, on-line. Of course, that requires time and who has enough of that? Oops…baby’s up. gotta go!
Okay, so a few hours later with some errands accomplished all is well in my household. S is on the floor playing so I’m taking advantage of a few spare minutes. I should be doing laundry since we are heading to Blairsville this weekend, but I’d rather not bother. Besides, I can do it tomorrow.
I am close to finishing a huge photo quilt. A doctor in Savannah, GA is retiring at the end of this month. His wife commissioned me to make a quilt using photos of babies and deliveries from the past thirty years. Pretty impressive, huh? You should see all the newborns with their smooshed little noses and unhappy faces. It’s just adorable…makes me remember the day S was born and helps me realize how much he’s grown!
Here’s another view…..
Kaffe Fassett is coming to Atlanta this month. He will be giving a seminar and workshop at my favorite quilt shop, Intown Quilters (www.intownquilters.com). I was lucky enough to get to see a sneak preview of his new book, Quilts in the Sun, and I made one of the quilts. Here’s a close up. Now, in the book each of the flowers, leaves and vases are appliqued by hand. I stitched one flower by hand then realized I would NEVER finish the project. So, I ripped it out and satin stitched all the parts down with my machine.
Now I’m not much of a pattern person. I’d much rather design my own quilt, but found this quilt particularly nice, so why not make it? Beats re-inventing the wheel.
In the book each of the flowers, leaves and vases are appliquéd by hand. I stitched one flower by hand then realized I would NEVER finish the project. So, I ripped it out and satin stitched all the parts down with my machine.
Here is a snapshot of the back….much more interesting with multiple pieces sewn together…..