90th Birthday Quilt

My grandmother is an amazing woman! Among other things, she actually had the patience to teach me to quilt! Some of my earliest and happiest memories are being at her house, underneath a quilt on the quilt stand, listening to her and her sisters talk and watching their needles. (Also, watching cartoons. She had cable and we didn't!)

She is the main reason I sew. Quilts mean love to me, and I want to be surrounded by things that remind me of my childhood and of her. So I sew! (Seriously, say it out-loud. So I sew. :)

This weekend, NannyPud turned 90. Obviously we threw her a major party! For my part, I decided she needed a quilt, as she is always making a quilt for one of us!

In October, I sent my family (basically her siblings and decedents) 5" squares of Kona Snow ironed onto freezer paper and asked them to write something and send it back.

Some were elaborate.

(My mother, who hasn't sewn in 20 years and swears she hates it, whipped these 2 up without a pattern. She just drew them out and filled them in! That's talent! :)

Some were simple.

All were filled with love.

I also printed out pictures I stole from her house onto Printed Treasures Printer Fabric. There were ones of her with her kids and grandkids and siblings. This is my favorite, one with my grandfather.

Finally, I laid it all out with random fabric squares.

There is a blue one from DS Quilts Picnic Line for JoAnn's (they don't have it in the stores anymore, so no link), a green one from DS Quilts (I know its Denyse Schmidt, and I'm 99% sure I got it at JoAnn's, but I can't find it online, and I don't know the line, sorry), and the red Mama Said Sew Sewing Guide fabric from Sweetwater.

I blogged about the middle rectangle here, a dedication block I embroidered.

The back is a grey sheet from Target and I appliquéd a fabric copy of the invitation to her party in the center.

 All in all, it turned out really well! Everyone loved it, especially NannyPud! I'm really glad I did this for her, she is amazing and deserves an amazing quilt!

See ya!
EL

PS: Here is my block. It's an iron-on from the same Stitcher's Revolution packet I got at JoAnn's as the dedication block.

Best Day Ever . . .

Happy Birthday NannyPud!

WIP Wednesday

Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post . . . we lost one of the best men I've ever known last week, and I didn't feel much like sewing or talking. But this week I've been doing a lot of both . . . so I thought I'd share!

I have been working on a Tribute Quilt for my amazing grandmother who turns 90 on Saturday! NannyPud has been quilting since before I was born, and is extremely talented and prolific! For her 4 children, 8 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren (not to mention countless in-laws, friends, and random people), she has made TONS of quilts! But I don't think anyone has ever made her one! At least, not since she was a little girl!

(This is a block from the quilt.)

So last year, I decided she needed a quilt for her 90th birthday. I sent off 5" squares of Kona Snow to my aunts, uncles, and cousins and had each one send me back something.

(Here is Miss A's)

I added pictures on printer fabric and random color squares, and here is the quilt!

(I'll get a better picture at the party and show you later!)

I'm working on the binding tonight, and hopefully I'll have it all done tomorrow. We'll present it to her on Saturday at her big party! I'll write a post all about the quilt on Sunday and show you some of the amazing squares I got back!

Until then, I'll be binding and reminiscing!

I'll leave you with my view from my quilting spot today!

(Miss A playing with my mom and dad!)

See ya!
EL

Family

My family lost someone this weekend, so I don't really feel like chatting. I'll be back in a few days.

EL

Friday Finish . . . Technically

TECHNICALLY, this week we finished . . .

an ear infection! (And antibiotics and feeling crummy and having multiple baths a day and LOTS of laundry!) In this picture she is using her play stethoscope to make her puppy feel better.

Miss A doesn't always want to be cuddly, so when she's sick we don't do much other than cuddle. So no sewing was done this week, but I can tell she's feeling better since she's running around in circles singing the Cat In The Hat song!

I'll have something to show next week!

Until then, I promise I'm working! (No more sitting on the couch watching princess movies.  Oh well, all good things come to an end, right?)

See ya!
Ellen

Friday Finishes!

So, I'm still grouchy and a little sick. The problem is I spread the cold to the husband and Miss A. Then Miss A got creative and turned a little cold into a double ear infection! So this week has mostly consisted of cuddling on the couch and watching princess movies.

I have also been jealously following all my friends (and a bunch of people I wish were my friends) at QuiltCon on Instagram. The grouchiness has increased greatly.

But I channeled that crabbiness into a little productivity.

From the couch I finished up the AMH receiving blanket for The Niece.

I can't tell you how rich and beautiful these colors are! The pictures don't do it justice. I really want to keep this for myself!

Since it's supposed to be soft and sweet, I went old school on the labeling. No tags or iron-on labels, just embroidered initials.

I learned this from  my amazing grandmother. Here is one of the many quilts she made me and her embroidered initials.

Speaking of my phenomenal grandmother, she turns 90 on March 16th. (This is also National Quilting Day! An awesome coincidence!). We are having a big party and, even though she said no gifts, we are giving her a quilt. She has spent the past 40-some-odd years making quilts for everyone, so we decided to make her one! I am getting blocks from my cousins and aunts and uncles and putting them into a top with fabric pictures of her and blocks of Sweetwater Mama Said Sew fabric. It's dictionary definitions of sewing words. (I ♥ Sweetwater fabric!)

In the middle of the top will be this:

(I embroidered this dedication block instead of using a label.)

The heart is an iron on by Stitcher's Revolution (I got it at JoAnns).

I just printed out a pretty font for the words and traced them on.

That silver thread looks awesome, but it was a pain in my you-know-what! (I'm not saying here as my mamma might read it and get mad. She's whipped me before for saying certain words and she might whip me again!) I'm pretty excited about the quilt, though. I hope it looks as good put together as it does in my head!

See ya!
EL

Happy Colors

That's what I need right now. Partially because of the crazy Texas weather that can't make up its mind if it wants to be warm or cold; partially because of the "push-Mamma-to-the-limits-of-her-sanity" phase Miss A is going through; but mostly it's because I have a cold and I'm a pretty crabby patient!

With my Christmas money, I bought myself two things, a membership in Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars BOM club and a stack of this QuiltCon Kona Solids bundle from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I didn't mean for them to go together, but this week I decided I needed something happy, so I put them together!

This was our December Practice block! Paper piecing has always been a sore spot with me. I get pretty frustrated, and this was the first time I've done it without my friends Lisa from Vintage Modern Quilts and Michelle from Urban Spools with me! They are amazing teachers and definitely had a ton of patience threw my little hissy fits during my last paper piecing projects!

This is the "Funky Star" from January! I'm feeling more confident in the paper piecing now! I wouldn't say I love it, but I definitely love the end product! I'm pretty satisfied at the end of an hour when I've completed something that looks this sharp! That never happens!

Here is February's "Exploding Star"! It's my favorite so far! I find I get a little cocky in the middle of the blocks ("Hey, I can do this! No problem!") and then I mess up. I have had to do a LOT of "unsewing", but again, the end product looks so nice it's almost worth it!

I also had to whip up a fabric tray from Noodle Head's tutorial to keep my instructions in. It's extremely easy, and so cute! I used more of my seemingly endless stash of Essex Linen and a fat quarter of Tula Pink's Prince Charming.

Here it is holding my paper piecing supplies!

Here are two more random happy colors I've seen today. The yellow Jonquils in my garden, and my pretty mug full of tea!

All this makes for a much happier patient!

See ya!

EL