2015 Parade of Quilts...

Quote for the Day:

I have never done a "Year-In-Review" post before about my quilts, but I thought I'd do one for 2015...just because.

Please join me on this trip down 2015 Memory Lane...

My first finish was actually a finish-up of a quilt that I started in December 2014..."Vintage Embroidered Stars".  This was also the first (and only, so far) quilt that I sent out to be long-arm quilted by someone.  Machine-pieced, my own pattern...

My next project was "Mr. Chillingsworth", a gift for my chiropractor that I machine pieced and hand quilted, purchased pattern.  This quilt now hangs in one of his treatment rooms.  

By March I had a severe case of the "winter blahs" and made this Spring table runner for my dining room table.  Machine pieced and machine quilted, "Disappearing 4-Patch", free on-line tutorial...

Next up was another "Choo-choo Train" quilt...the fourth one I've made so far!  I give this quilt to each of my grandchildren on their first birthday (the fronts are the same but the backings are different for each one.  This one was for Clark who turned one in June.  Machine appliqued and machine quilted, from a purchased pattern...

In June, I made this "signature" quilt for Kate and Jon for their wedding in July where they had their guests sign it.  There was no pattern for this...I just got the idea from seeing a picture online and made up my own pattern from there, machine pieced and machine quilted.  It was also my first time working with batiks! 

In June a friend and co-worker of mine was diagnosed with cancer and I made this quilt for her...also a "signature" quilt...signed by our co-workers.  Machine pieced and machine quilted from free online "Wonky Stars" pattern.  These blocks were my "leader/ender" project from 2013 or 2014...

And the last quilt for the year was the hand-quilting project that I had been working on since April and finished in November...Erin & Dale's vintage embroidered quilt...

Along with these quilts, I also made 2 receiving blankets for new babies that arrived in 2015...Franco and Rylen!!

I know that I'm not nearly as productive as many quilters/crafters out there...but I do my craft for the joy it brings me and to spread happiness and smiles to those I love!

Loretta

Thanksgiving Recap...

Let's see...we're only slightly over 2 weeks past Thanksgiving Day...so...yeah...this post is right on time!  LOL

Our daughter, Erin, and her family came in for a few days to spend Thanksgiving with us!  We had a great visit and a very nice Thanksgiving dinner!

Clark showed us what "food coma" looks like...

...because when you've had enough, you've had enough!!!  

Clark and his dad, Dale, also provided the dinner entertainment!!! 

Sera and Clark with our dog, Ginger...

While they were here I gifted Erin & Dale with their wedding quilt!  This top was purchased from Ebay already hand-embroidered...I just hand-quilted it.  It is 100" x 100"...a king-size!!!

Loretta

Summer's Almost Over...Time For a Change!!!

Quotes for the Day:

"Our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." ~M. Scott Peck

"Go where you are celebrated—not tolerated.If they can't see the real value of you, it's time for a new start." ~Unknown

You're probably thinking I've fallen off the face of the earth...again...but really I've just been incredibly busy.  I can't believe that summer is over because I feel like I've not really had a summer yet this year.

My summer started out with deadlines for finishing three quilts...

Clark's 1st Birthday quilt...

Kate and Jon's wedding quilt...

...and Karen's comfort quilt...

In July, we took 14 days and went to Georgia to take care of our two grandsons so that their parents could get away to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  

Just a few short days after returning from that trip, I decided that I had to make a job change to maintain my own sanity, so near the end of July I started job-hunting.  It didn't take long before I had an interview...followed by a job offer...which I accepted last week!  I have put in my resignation at my current employer and this week will be my last work week there...followed by an already-scheduled vacation for our daughter's wedding. 

After my vacation, I will start my new job in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) at West Virginia University Hospital.  I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time!  Change is always difficult, but I'm so ready for this new phase in my life and career!  

In the midst of all of this job hunting/interview/preparing to leave my current job, etc., I've been seeking calm and peace in my quilting.  

I pulled out a project that I had purchased at an estate auction 4 years ago.  The blocks were already pieced but needed put together and quilted.  

 

I squared up the blocks, laid them out on my design wall in the layout above, then decided that they needed some cream-colored sashing between them to help break up the "busyness" and help make the top large enough to fit a queen bed.  They are now sewn together with the sashing and I am currently working on making a "piano-key" border with the leftover fabric.

I've also been hand-quilting on my daughter's wedding quilt.  (She gets married in 2 weeks!)  The quilt won't be done in time for the wedding, but just this weekend I reached the half-way point and am now working on the second half!!

Loretta

New Quilt Project...

About 5 years ago, I purchased a hand-embroidered vintage quilt top off of Ebay.  My daughter saw it, finished some the embroidery that needed completed, and asked if I'd make it into a quilt as a wedding gift for her and Dale when they got married.  

It seems that wedding is in the works for later this year, if all goes well!  Hence...I figured I'd better get to work on it.  

It is a king-sized quilt, measuring 100" x 100".  Whew...might take me a little while!  

It is too big to get a nice picture of it in my house because I really don't have a place or bed that big to lay it out on, so I took pictures as I was loading it into the frame yesterday.  

I started hand quilting it today.  What I like about these tops is that the quilting lines are already pre-printed on them so there is no marking involved!

Like most vintage linens, there are some "storage spots" that will show up in the pictures as I post my progress.  These don't bother me because when it is all done, I will soak the whole thing in Oxi-Clean.  I do this to all of my vintage linens that have storage stains on them and I've never had any stains that not come out.  ("Storage stains" refers to the brown spots that are caused by either bugs that get up into the fabric at some time OR that come from being in contact with non-sealed wood like a cedar chest or wooden shelf.)  You can't wash the item before quilting because it will wash out the pre-printed quilting lines and you take a chance of the unfinished edges raveling.  

Loretta