How to Utilize a Quilt

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2012_Oct 23_Miranda under Halloween quilt-Optimized

I was going through some pictures on my computer today and I came across this one.  This picture was taken October 23, 2012.  I had just given my son and daughter-in-law a quilt for Halloween that year and my son took this picture and sent it back to me.  My previous post today was about the length of a quilt that I am making as a gift for someone.  My kids like quilts that are long enough to completely wrap around themselves like my daughter-in-law is doing in this picture.

There is no better compliment to a quilter than to see the recipient “cocooning” with the quilt that was made for them.  🙂

A Flimsy, A Milestone Birthday, and A New Hiding Spot

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2014_May 5_Reflections_Wedding Gift for Lindsay Verde_Flimsy.

I have been working on this quilt top for a while.  This pattern is called, Random Reflections.  (Refer to my March 1, 2014 post for pattern details.)

I decided that the recipient of this quilt would not want it the length it was in the pattern as that would not provide enough length for wrapping around oneself in the cocoon fashion that my kids like to do with quilts so I added two more rows to the original pattern which made this top finish at 80″ long, rather than 60″ like in the pattern.  Next up will be to get this one quilted as it is needed as a gift for the end of June.

Today was my MIL’s 85th birthday.  Family members took her out for lunch at a local restaurant to celebrate.

Harold's Mom's 85th Birthday_May 5, 2014.

She had some help from the younger crowd to blow out the candles.Harold's Mom's 85th Birthday002_May 5, 2014. And just because it makes me smile….

Joey Under Long Arm Table-OptimizedThis is a picture of Joey’s new hiding spot.  He is not impressed with the flooring renovations that have been happening upstairs.  He used to like to lay on the carpet in the sunshine to soak up the rays.  The carpet has now been replaced by laminate flooring so now he heads downstairs and climbs up on top of the stack of quilts under the long arm to sleep.  I think he thinks he is hiding under there, but the tail sticking out gives him away.  🙂

 

Happy Birthday!

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Today was our daughter’s birthday.

When the kids were small, the tradition was that the birthday gal or guy got to pick the menu on the day of their birthday.  Even though our daughter is married and has a home of her own, she still enjoys the tradition of coming home to celebrate her birthday supper.  This year, it was chicken for supper and cheesecake for a birthday cake.

Happy Birthday DD!

Dana's Birthday_April 30, 2014-Optimized

Here’s to many more birthday suppers in celebrations of the birthday gal!

Progress On My Oldest UFO

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2014_Apr 27_Matthew's Star Quilt_English Paper Pieced.

In the last couple of weeks I have been making some progress on my oldest UFO.  I have not worked on this project since 2006.  This project is an English Paper Pieced project so the work has all been done by hand–no machine.  This makes for very slow progress!

For history on this project…please refer to a post I wrote on March 10, 2006.

I still plan to give this quilt to my son when it is finished–I am just not sure when that will be.  My son graduated with his certificate since my post in 2006 and is now due to graduate from university with his Bachelor’s degree on June 13, 2014.  Given that I have only added two rows to this project since 2006, it is doubtful that I will have this finished by June.  However, I continue to pull this project out to work on it in the evenings.  I smile as I stitch, lost in memories invoked by the fabrics–no flowers or “girlie” stuff by request of my son.

In time this quilt will be finished…but the time has just not come yet.  🙂

Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive Show

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This past Friday, a friend and I attended the Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive Show.
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This year, the show featured Modern Quilting.  The Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild had an excellent display of Modern quilts.  The members of this guild are full of enthusiasm and were on site to share their knowledge of the Modern Quilting movement.  Giveaways at the FVMQC booth included packs of 2.5″ squares of Modern fabrics like this and some cute buttons.  The button I picked says, I’m here for S.E.X. Stash Enhancing eXperience.  Apparently, this was their most popular button.Giveaway from FVMQG Booth-Optimized

Many of the vendors at the show were featuring the Modern Quilt movement in the products that they were featuring for sale.  I believe I have been bitten by the Modern Quilt bug because this tower of 23 fat quarters–Dots by Riley Blake Designs–was calling to me.  The stack of fat quarters on the right is from Thimbleberries’ Flashback line.  These fabrics will be added to a project that I have been collecting fabrics for–a log cabin quilt featuring Thimbleberries Vintage Stitches line.  The yellow/orage batik will be added to the collection of fabrics I have collected to make a landscape quilt featuring Arches National Park.Purchases from Hamel's at Sewing and Craft Show_March 2014 (1)-Optimized Purchases from Hamel's at Sewing and Craft Show_March 2014 (2)-OptimizedI also picked up some spools of thread for my long arm, some threads for a redwork project that I want to start and some fusible webbing for my Sashiko project.  That metal tin with the clear top is for holding your ball of perle cotton to keep it from rolling away on you when working on your redwork project.
Purchases from Sewing and Craft Show-Optimized

These are fabric purchases from another vendor.  The ruler was on sale for $1.99–which is a great score since it was regularly priced $19.99!  The black and white fat quarters will be added to the black and white stash awaiting a future black and white quilt.  The stack of fabrics on the right–are 1/2 yard each of Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda (Main Street and City Park Pickle) plus a 1/2 yard of Kona cream, and 3 fat quarters of coordinating Kona solids and a fat quarter of Road 15 coordinate–Vine Street Pickle.  This pack was a great value at $19.99 and will be the beginning of another Modern Quilt.  The brown batiks in the front are for that Arches National Park landscape project.
DSC_0534-Optimized DSC_0535-OptimizedSo once I get some of my UFO’s under control, I can dabble a bit in the Modern Quilt movement!