Miss Martha

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Miss Kelley is going to be a grandmother! I'm so excited for her as I know first hand how wonderful it is to have a granddaughter.

I spent awhile searching for fabric because I wanted to make the perfect baby quilt for Miss Martha, who is named after Miss Kelley's mother. Such a beautiful tribute in so many ways.

 I chose the Tilda line "Bon Voyage". It has the sweetest ditsy prints in soft beautiful shades of pinks, purples, blues and yellows.

The block is what I call a "flying pinwheel". It's made up of a ton of HST blocks that took days to square once sewn, but the end result was so worth it! It measured almost exactly 52x52 before the boarders. 

I hope Miss Martha gets years and years of use out of her Tilda quilt and that she can feel all the love that went into making it for her.

Inspiration

These fabulous fabrics from Ruby Star put my creativity into high gear. I think I want to remake every quilt I've ever made with this line! The first quilt I've finished is a butterfly quilt. The outlined birds and gold trimmed leaves melt into the bright cherry blossoms. Perfection.

And They're Off!

Sew, after changing my mind a hundred times about selling my quilts, I finally have some in my Etsy Shop!

I realize that this is probably the worst time ever to try to sell something non essential. Where will things go from here? Will we be ok? How long will it take our economy to recover? I have so many friends and several family members already out of work. The domino effect of people not being able to work reaches us all. I pray it's temporary. All I can do is try to pull my weight in my little spot of the universe. Donating to specific people and places close to my heart I know are hurting financially. Keeping my kids at home. Sewing face masks, checking on my neighbors.

I feel so fortunate at this time to have something in my life that's grounding, calming and an outlet for anything that's weighing on me. My sewing room is my refuge and creating quilts is my therapy.

Gifted or listed, I'll keep drawing, measuring, cutting, sewing, ironing and putting love into every quilt I make.

Vintage Half Square Triangle

Quarter Square Triangle in "See Breeze" Fabric

Starburst made with "Cotton + Steel"

 

 

Arlo and ???

Both of my nieces are due right around the same time. Abby is having baby boy, Arlo and Danielle is having baby girl ??? They haven't decided on a name for her yet but I'm sure it will be totes adorbs whatever they pick!

Arlo's quilt was made from Breeze and baby girl's  butterfly quilt from various Liberty of London fabrics.

Doing Work

Sew much time has gone by since my last update. Isn't that always the case? To answer my own question, yes! The quote, "the days are long, but the years are short" is my absolute all time favorite. It has been attributed to Gretchen Rubin, and I just think to myself, what a smart lady. It sums up the whole of this situation we all find ourselves in, wondering where the time has gone. The following is a glimpse into where some of my time went!

Thinking of, dreaming of and the making of quilts eats up a lot of life. I see the imperfections and where I could have done better in each, but I just hope that you think they are time well spent.

 Estelle's Quilt

Both McKenna (pictured in a previous post) and Estelle's quilts were hand quilted. I did not get any closeup photos before gifting but since they are my granddaughters, maybe they will let me take some more photos for documentation purposes!

 I call this quilt "Scrappy". It was made from the leftover fabric of a previous quilt. I gave it to Maura to use as a lap quilt but it somehow made it's way back down to the sewing room and has become Tucker's couch quilt. He knows he can't get on the couch unless I lay the quilt down for him. Nola has taken to using it too, although she get's on the couch regardless if it's there or not. She gives zero cares for rules!

This 9 patch is another quilt made from scraps. It started out as an experiment in using tiny blocks and ended up being a tiny quilt. Turns out tiny is tedious!  Thankfully it's the perfect size for Estelle's dolls and gets more use than I ever thought it would.

Hand quilted quilt for Christy Jo's Kennedy Lin. Christy is one of my oldest and dearest "Delphi" friends. Aprox. 20 years ago I met some of my best life long friends on a Delphi pregnancy board. We all still keep in touch through Facebook and meet up as often as we can. We are now some of us grandmothers ::gasp:: and it was my honor and pleasure to make this for dear Christy's first grand baby.

"Miss Hadley Grace" - I cannot say her name without hearing it in my sister Carole's voice. Sadly, Carole passed away a few years ago and I know she would have loved this quilt I made for her granddaughter, my great niece.

Ellie Jean - Don' we just have the sweetest names down here? I made Miss Ellie an Irish Chain Quilt and can't wait to make another one. I love this pattern.

Mrs. Betsy Wray is a retired school teacher, who taught both my daughters more years than I can remember AND my husband way back when. I think she started teaching when she was 10 because I swear we are the same age! Miss Betsy has meant so much to our family over the years, it gave me great joy to make this quilt for her Emmylou.

Oh, baby boys do exist! This was made for Cambam's baby Corbin.

This last quilt really should be a separate post because it took me over a year to complete. It's the largest quilt I've ever attempted and completely hand quilted. It was truly a labor of love for my husband, John.