Tommy's Crib Quilt

The end of February I uploaded a bunch of pictures to my blog of quilts I've made in the last several months. I'm finally getting around to writing about them and posting.

Today's quilt is the crib quilt I made for my grandson. I was told the color scheme of the nursery and gave my daughter-in-law and son some choices of a pattern. I found this pattern on Pinterest. I modified it a bit by making it smaller and leaving off the borders.

I had it quilted with a meandering star pattern.

Whenever I make a quilt for my grandchildren I like to put a label on the back that has a Bible verse. My intention is to pray the verse for the grandchild.

And of course, there has to be a label with the child's name and date of birth.

I was so excited when I found this backing fabric. The theme for the nursery is "I love you to the moon and back". Isn't this just the cutest?

I didn't get the quilt finished until after Tommy was born, so I mailed it to him.  When they received it I got this the picture from my son.

He's a goof.

This feels like an awkwardly worded post. I struggle with how to write more than 'Look! I made a quilt for my grandbaby!' and somehow make it sound interesting.

A Wall Hanging

I thought I'd show a picture of the wall hanging quilt I made for Grandson's room.

It's a Missouri Star, a nod to the state he was born in.

Even though all those triangle points gave me fits, I finally got it right and really like how it turned out. it's about 26" square. I only did quilting in the white background. The orange binding frames it nicely.

Today I am thankful for...

...my mom teaching me how to sew when I was 9 years old
...PJs on at 7pm, popcorn and a movie with Hubby
...the challenge in the sermon this morning to be more generous

The Saturday Evening Post

Well, I blew it. Last night I was especially tired and climbed in to bed early. After I read for a while, I turned off my light and snuggled in. Then I remembered I forgot to write my thankful post for the day. Oops!

Yesterday was a pretty good day for me. I finally finished the quilt for Grandson (Thomas). Holy cow, it took me a ridiculous amount of time to get that thing done! (I'll show a picture after it reaches its destination next week.) I finished the label, sewed it on and tossed it in the washing machine. Then pinned it on my design wall and took a bunch of pictures to make sure I documented it. I packed it in the box the quilter sent it to me in and taped it up, slapped on the mailing label and have it all ready to go to take to the post office on Monday.

When that task was done I rewarded myself with a trip to Target (yay!) and a pedicure.

When Hubby got home from work we headed downtown to one of our favorite restaurants and ended up with a 45 minute wait. Fortunately, the restaurant sends you a text when a table is available so we were able to wander around a few nearby stores. There is a really cool toy store downtown that I have a feeling we'll visit often to find things for our grandbabies.

Today was spent mostly at home. Hubby is working on the daunting task of organizing and sorting through the stuff in our storage room. You know, that stuff that you keep because maybe.... or we've had it for so long we might as well hang on to it... We are getting a little better at tossing things that we realize we haven't used for a long time like the uncomfortable metal folding chair we've had our whole married life and maybe we might need it for extra seating but really we have used to for probably over 20 years but have moved it 6 or 7 times and besides we have a real dining room table set with 10 chairs so we really don't need the uncomfortable chair. (It's gone now.)

I talked with Daughter on the phone for a bit this morning and we video chatted with Son and Daughter-in-law and Grandson. We got to witness Thomas working so hard to hold his head up while laying on his tummy. It was so cute to see!

Son sent me this adorable picture earlier this week. Such a cute smile and such a bald head! Love them both!!! (Thomas looks so much like his daddy.)

I worked on grandbaby #3's (!!!) quilt this afternoon. She's due in just a few weeks, so yeah, I'm already behind on that. Sigh. It's really different from anything I've made and I'm only going from a picture.

After Hubby was done watching football we went to explore an antique store. We love looking around, but rarely buy anything. Supper was at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, then a stop at the grocery store for one thing that ended up being three bags worth of stuff.

Today I am thankful for...

...a smiling grandson
...finishing his quilt
...pedicures
...a good night's sleep last night
...keeping in touch with our kids

A Blue and White Quilt

Earlier this year I was thinking about the quilts I have made for my kids. I realized that I have made two quilts for each of them (including my son-in-law), except my daughter-in-law. I have only made her a table runner. Yikes. I decided right then that I would make her a quilt for her July birthday.

I knew she would love the Blue & White color scheme. I found the pattern on the blog Jo's Country Junction.  It was a pretty easy pattern and I love the uniqueness of it and the modern look.  

76x64

A close-up of the background fabric and the quilting.

It was a hit! My daughter-in-law liked it enough that she wore it around her house in July. :)

A Baby Quilt

With two more grandbabies on the way, that means more baby quilts to make!

I put this 38"x44" quilt together quickly since we had planned a trip to see our son and daughter-in-law and I wanted to take it to them rather than mail it or wait until after the baby is here.

I used black and white fabrics with a splash of orange.

I will say that I enjoy the piecing part of quilting a whole lot more than the actual quilting. Once in a while I'll tackle the quilting myself and when I do, I always use some blue painters tape to help me. I thought this quilt would look good with some straight-line quilting. That sure did take a lot of tape! I think it took me 30-40 minutes to tape this all up.

 I just sewed in the space between the strips of tape.

It worked pretty well!

I found on-line a pretty gray flannel with tiny stars for the backing.

But just wait and see how it looks in the nursery of our soon-to-be grandson!

Isn't the paint on the wall awesome? My son dreamed up the idea and my hubby did the taping and painting. I love how it turned out! And the quilt looks so good in there. I am happy with my choice of the orange for the binding!

A Really REALLY Big Deal

My last post was about the old cloth tape measure that belonged to my great-aunt and how my mom graciously gave it to me. Well, today's post is about and even BIGGER deal.


Four years ago, when my dad turned 80, my parents asked us kids to write down three things we wanted from their house. I thought hard about two of the items, but one was a cinch for me to come up with. In reality that "one" item was actually multiple items. My mom had acquired several quilts that her ancestors had made. I found them many years ago and asked for them, but Mom wasn't ready to give them up then.

My parents are getting ready to move (more on that in another post on another day) and have been sorting through some things. When we were visiting my parents a couple of weeks ago, I asked my dad if I could have the quilts. He said we'd have to get Mom's consent. I went upstairs to find five quilts in the closet and brought them down for my mom to look over.  Mom's first reaction was to shake her head "no" pretty adamantly. We talked about it occasionally for the next couple of hours. Mom kept shaking her head "no".  I even asked Dad if it mattered if Mom gave her consent. He said it was part of her grieving process of moving and letting things go. Mom did finally say it was okay to take four of the five quilts. The one she kept was one that her mother made.

I pinned them up on my design wall and photographed them to share on my blog at the request of my blogging buddy and fellow quilter, Kathy. 
 
This Nine-Patch red, white and blue quilt was made by my great-grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Sweden when she was a teenager.

Nine Patch, 71x84"

The note my mom wrote and attached to the quilt says that she bought all new fabrics for this quilt and all the stitching was done by hand and that it was probably made in the late 1930s or early 1940s. I remember my mom telling me that it was the last quilt her grandmother made.

This applique quilt was made by my paternal grandmother. I never knew she quilted! It looks to be machine pieced and hand appliqued and quilted. My guess is the flower fabrics are from feed-sacks.

Flower Applique, 69x84"

This quilt was definitely well used and loved. It is the most worn and stained and faded of the quilts.

This wool quilt was too heavy to pin up on my design wall, so I laid it on the deck. The note my mom had with it says my paternal grandmother's mother, my great-grandmother, made it. Then she added at a later time "or her mother". (!)  It is very heavy and pretty stinky (musty). I have in on the screened-in-porch right now airing out. I did get some advice on how to clean it and it sounds like a two person job, so I'll have to wait for Hubby to help me sometime.

Wool Quilt, 80x78"

 It does have a few holes in it. My dad says he remembers sleeping under it.

I saved my favorite for last. I love them all, but this Double Wedding Ring quilt is in pristine condition and I love the old feed-sack fabrics. The note with this one says that my maternal grandfather's mother made it, my great-grandmother, and there is another note that includes my great-aunt's name.

Double Wedding Ring, 84x88"

Thank you, Mom, for entrusting the care of these special quilts to me. I know it is a Really REALLY Big Deal for you to give them to me. I know they are treasures and I plan on caring for them with utmost care.

I have been searching for how to care for these and how to clean them properly. I have emailed an expert in North Carolina and she gave me really good advice on how to clean them. I want them to at least smell good enough to use some and to display.

I wish I could have a conversation with the women, my ancestors, who made these quilts. Why did they make them? Who did they make them for? How long did it take to make them?

Baby Girl Quilts: Take Three

This is the quilt that my daughter "ordered" to go in the nursery. The colors for the nursery are pale yellow, navy and gray. Such a pretty combination! The walls of the nursery are gray and the crib is white. My daughter made some pretty sheets for the crib in navy and yellow.

44" x 52"

We talked about and looked at pictures of ideas for the design of the quilt. I sketched out several possibilities and took pictures and emailed them to her for her to decide what she liked best.

Since I am not very confident in my ability to make a whole quilt with half-square-triangles, we settled on these two rows of chevrons and the rest 4 inch squares.

I found a pretty gray paisley print for the backing and used a darker gray polka dot for the binding.

I think what I like best about this quilt is the time my daughter and I spent working on it together.

All I have left to do is sew a label for it with the baby's name and birth date!

Baby Girl Quilts: Take Two

Baby Girl's second quilt I made:

I first saw this pattern on Pinterest. I downloaded the directions from Craftsy.com.
I just loved the burst of the star.

39" x 44"

I decided this was a good "tummy time" quilt. The black and white fabrics  make a nice contrast that babies like to look at.

I chose some minky type fabric for the backing. Minky is a very, very soft fabric. Such a great fabric for a baby quilt.

As I was working on this, I was thinking about other color combinations. They are endless.

Baby Girl Quilts: Take One

Almost as soon as I learned I was going to be a grandma, I started thinking about what quilt I could make for the little one. Okay, that's not quite true, I started thinking about this first quilt before my daughter was married. Grin.

This measures about 58" square

The solid purple color is fabric from table runners I made for my daughter's wedding reception.

As I was sewing those forty-some table runners almost five years ago, I hoped that someday my daughter and son-in-law would have a baby girl so I could use all that purple fabric in a quilt.

The fabrics in this quilt are kinda eclectic, kinda by design. I didn't want this to be a super nice quilt with lots of details. My intention was for it to be more utilitarian, one they could feel free take outside on their farm for Baby Girl to squirm on while they work in their garden. 

I found the fabric with little quilt blocks at a quilt shop in Iowa. It lists the counties in Iowa. I thought it was fitting, since my daughter and son-in-law have moved back to his family farm in Iowa.

The backing consists mostly of the solid purple fabric and one strip of the Iowa county fabric.

And of course the label, With Love from Grammy and Pops. (These are names we chose for ourselves...I secretly hope Baby Girl comes up with her own names for us.)

Stacked Squares Quilt

I looked at this fabric, PB&J by Basic Grey for Moda for a long time. I wasn't sure if I like the colors because they seemed to be kind of washed out. I finally bought some pre-cuts: a package of 10 inch squares and two rolls of 2.5 inch strips. When I saw this quilt on the Moda Bakeshop blog, I knew that was the perfect design for the fabric.

It was a fun quilt to put together. As I was arranging all the pieces on my design wall I felt like I was putting a puzzle together.

I had the good people at Missouri Star Quilt Company do the quilting and chose a square quilting pattern and love how it compliments the squares in the  blocks.

I would definitely use this pattern again especially for fabrics that have bigger prints. I sorta laugh at myself when I snuggle under this quilt and think about how much I like it and the fabric since I was unsure about the fabric for so long.

Just What A Quilter Wants

This adorable little girl is my great-niece (or is is grand-niece?). I made this quilt for her when she was born two years ago. (I wrote about it here on my other blog.) Her mama posted this picture today and told me that Lucy drags this quilt wherever she goes. She sleeps with it and drags it around the house with her.

And obviously, it's the perfect quilt to snuggle with while reading a good book!

It makes my quilter's heart happy to see someone (even a two year old!) loving and using a quilt I made for them. Thanks to Lucy's mama for posting the picture and letting me share it!

Four Corner Jelly Roll Quilt

For some reason my laptop (where all my quilt pictures are) won't recognize the wi-fi in this lovely apartment, so I resorted to my tablet and was able to upload from Facebook one picture of this quilt. There are more on my computer, but sadly, technology isn't my friend tonight.

I found the pattern/directions for this quilt some where on Pinterest several years ago. It took me a while to look through my 489 pins (I might be slightly obsessed with quilting...) on my Quilts Board, but I finally found the link to the blog I got the instructions from. Click over to here for the directions.

(The term Jelly Roll refers to the precut fabric strip that are 2.5" by width-of-fabric. There are about 42 strips that are rolled up and I guess it looks like a jelly roll.) (I'm sure that's clear as mud....)

The directions were very clear and this quilt went together very quickly. I added the borders, but I am not overly thrilled how they turned out. I like the idea of the pieced borders, but it might look more balanced if they were longer. I used a charm pack (5 inch squares) and cut them in half. I guess by trying out new things helps me learn what works and what doesn't. No matter how pleased I am with the borders, I love the fabrics and it's a snuggly quilt!

My Third T-Shirt Quilt

I have made t-shirt quilts for each of my kids. I don't remember where I first got the idea, but it was so fun to put these together and remember the younger ones that wore those t-shirts. Most of the t-shirts are from the kids' upper elementary, middle school and high school days.

Aren't my babies so adorable?

Last spring my daughter and son-in-law made a big move back to my son-in-law's family farm in Iowa. In the process of moving, my son-in-law came across a box of his t-shirts from his high school days and asked if I would make a quilt for him. I was tickled that he asked me!

I really like to make these quilts with all different size blocks. I see a lot of t-shirt quilts that have every block exactly the same size. I just love the randomness of the different sizes. My wonderful engineered-brained hubby puts the puzzle of all the different sizes together for me. Then I sew them together and fill in the empty spaces with "blank" pieces from the backs of the t-shirts.

I found a perfect red and black flannel fabric for the backing.

I feel like I get a  little better with each quilt.  I like the quilting on this one.  You can't really see in the photo, but I used a red and black variegated thread for the quilting.

I finished in time to give it to my son--in-law for his birthday in September.

Some Quilts

I thought I would post some pictures of a few of the quilts I made over the past year. I know I have a few readers who would like to see them.

I made this quilt for a cousin and her husband. They are just absolutely great people and we love spending time with them. They love the Lord and are very encouraging people.

The pattern is called Double Slice Layer Cake. I think I found the pattern in a book, but I don't have access to the book right now, so I can't link to it. (Yay for moving!) But here's a link to a YouTube tutorial for the same pattern. (A "Layer Cake" is a pre-cut package of fabric cut into 10" squares.) I love how the borders turned out. I've tried a few times to create my own borders (not following any directions) and this is the first one that turned out even better than I thought it would! The scrappy binding is  a perfect finish.

The backing was pretty fun too! It's a print that combines all the fabrics in the line together. In the corner with a red frame around it is the label. I try to make a label for each quilt. My sewing machine has a few simple fonts to choose from.


Below is a wall hanging quilt I made for my hubby's birthday. Well, he only opened a box full of fabric, not the actual finished quilt.

The pattern is called Kaleidoscope.  I bought a ruler that included the pattern. This was easier than it looks, which is a fun thing. Looks impressive, but is pretty simple.

I put a red and black binding on it and had it quilted with red thread.

I am pleased with how it turned out. Hubby is going to hang it in his new office. I sure hope he has the wall space! I haven't asked him that yet.

I'll periodically put up pictures of the quilts I've made. Last year was a prolific quilt making year. It's fun to have a record of them.