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.

Flower Sugar Very Berry Cherry, by Lecien of Japan

What can I say about this fabric? I love it so much I want to marry it! Well, maybe not to that extreme but I do want to buy a ton of it so I can make every quilt in the world with it! This quilt is made from Charm Packs. I ordered the fabric right before we went on our summer vacation. I knew it would be waiting on me when I got home and couldn't wait to get started!

It came together fairly quickly and I love how all the bright colors pop against the white. I have several expectant loved ones. This quilt is tucked away in my sewing room until I hear "boy" or "girl" so I know who to gift it to! Hmmm Maybe I should start thinking on some boy fabrics just in case! The last few projects have quilted like buttah since I switched my batting to Quilters Dream Cotton Batting. It really makes a big difference. I used a mason jar lid to grid the quilt top in perfect circles.

The backing is from the same line in a turquoise blue with little cotton flowers. I used a black and white striped fabric to make the binding. Soooo sweet!!

McKenna's Quilt I

I'm sure that I am in the same boat with most quilters. You have a huge list of people you want to make quilts for and a huge list of quilts you just want to make! I try to merge the two so that I can continue to sew at my pleasure, make what I want when I want and if it's giftable to one of the people on my list, awesome! I've had my granddaughter McKenna on my list a good while. McKenna is now a first grader and not a baby anymore. I wanted to make her a quilt that wasn't babyish or baby size but something that was bigger and that she would love all the way through college and beyond. I found this adorable fabric shop and as soon as I saw this fabric bundle, I knew it was for McKenna. I added a few of my stash fabrics, the gold polka dots and Zig zag.

I also made the binding from the leftover strips of fabric. Although I did measure, I'm always afraid I haven't made enough!

On a side note, I love what I call my "squaring drawer". I can just sweep all the tiny pieces of fabric there while squaring. It really helps on keeping the mess down!

While I'm already off track, I want to mention my sewing machine. After my beloved Esante died in the middle of a project, I ran down to Walmart and grabbed this Brother Project Runway for about 120.00 bucks. Although it drives more like a Ford than a BMW (like my Esante), it's been perfect for my piecing needs. I don't think it would handle actually quilting, but since I mostly quilt by hand it's not been an issue. I only planned on using it until I could upgrade but keep putting the upgrade off because for right now, it's perfect.

Because I want to give McKenna and my other granddaughter Estelle both big girl quilts at the same time, I decided to put off quilting until after I get Estelle's done so that I could quilt them back to back and hopefully have them both done in time for Christmas. Here are some pics of the quilt top. I will post the finished quilt when it's all quilted and ready to go.

Here is sweet McKenna!