Sister's Choice Quilts

Checking In Before New Years

The huge Christmas Quilt Give Away went great.  I didn't get any pictures of the presentations because it was total pandemonium when we opened our gifts at my dad's house on Christmas night.  Everyone seemed to like what they got, so that was good.  

Oh, and my widowed brother in law?  Who I was debating whether or not I should give him a quilt as I wasn't sure he really would know what to do with it?  Well.  That was the most gratifying presentation of all.  He loved what he got.  Then he started telling me how my sister who passed away a year and a half ago had a quilt I had made for her on their bed.  He said that she loved it and he has continued to arrange it on their bed every day just as she had done.  He told me he always positions the quilt just so and that the label I had sewn on one corner was his guide as to how it should lay.  He was so sweet.  I do not even remember what quilt I had given her that he was talking about!  He said, "The green one, you know?"  lol I had no idea. Clearly he loved that quilt as well as the one I gave her before she passed away.  And the one I gave him for Christmas will be cherished as well.  

You guys all overwhelmingly told me he needed a quilt too, and I am so happy I listened to you!  I gave him the red and blue medallion quilt made from Minick and Simpson fabrics.  He has a red couch it will look great on.

My sister Andrea posted a picture of the quilt I gave her.  I am so happy it goes so well with her decor.  It even matches her cat.

It truly is better to give than to receive.  I was so happy to do this for my family.

Happy New Year everyone!!  We are going to have some fun projects in the new year.  I am raring to go!

The Patio Set, Fifth Reincarnation

I told you I would share a photo of the patio cushions in their new location.  My son in law is very happy with the look of his back deck now.  You can just see it at the top of the photo---he has put up a triangular shaped blue canvas cover over the deck, which will protect things from the sun and other elements.  Hopefully the cushions will last longer in their present incarnation.  I also love his string of lights above.  

It looks so inviting, doesn't it?

It is so nice to do something for someone who really appreciates it. He has thanked me a dozen times and I know he is going to thoroughly enjoy using his deck with the spiffy new cushions.  Any time, my dear, just ask.

Second Hand Clothes, A Finish

I am so pleased with this quilt.  Every single bit of it, I love.  The pattern is Second Hand Clothes by Bonnie Blue/Red Crinoline, and the fabrics mostly Kim Diehl designs over the past year or two.  There is a vibrancy to the quilt that makes my eye dance over its surface.  There is liveliness, optimism, and hopefulness that just jumps out at me when I look at it.  This quilt just says "Yes".

This quilt is destined for someone I dearly love, and I tell you, I said a prayer with every stitch I made.

 

Patio Cushions, Fifth Reincarnation

It is a wrap on the patio cushions I recovered for my son in law.  Here you see half of them.  It took a couple of days to finish six cushions and two throw pillows.  

I think that fabric gives the cushions a fresh summery look.  He is a pretty patriotic guy, so the red white and blue color scheme is right up his alley too.  He just got a royal blue canvas cover for his deck, so this will be a very nicely color coordinated look.  If I can get a photo of all the cushions in place at his house, I will share it with you.

This patio set consists of a love seat that rocks, a comfortable arm chair and a coffee table.  My husband bought it for me in 1988.  27 years ago.  When the set was mine, I recovered the cushions about every five years.  I was always pretty careful to bring the cushions in for the winter and also when the weather was wet.  Otherwise they were out in the sun all the time, which of course faded the fabric.   

This is the set on our patio two houses ago.  The third set of new covers for the set!

About six years ago I passed the patio set on to my daughter and son and law for their new home.  I gave the cushions one last recovering when I passed on the set.  Let's just say they weren't quite as careful as I was about bringing the cushions in out of the rain.

So, there was a big mildew issue.  Yuck.  I am telling you, these cushions were gross.  There was no escaping it, I had to remove all the previous years of cushion fabric and get down to the basic foam of the cushions.  You see, each time I recovered the cushions, I had just covered over the old fabric, since it was perfectly sound, just faded.  But now with all that mildew if was a different situation.

How odd it was to remove layer after layer of cushion fabric.  It brought back so many memories of where we lived at the time, what my color preferences were, what was going on in our lives.  Kind of like an architectural dig.  Layers of fabric, layers of years, time passing.

So now the patio set is all set for its 28 summer, wearing its fifth set of new covers!  A lot of things have changed over those years, but that patio set keeps on going.

 

Baby Quilt Finish

This is the little quilt that Sara and I collaborated on.  Some dear friends had their first baby, a little boy, and this quilt just seems so appropriate.  Daddy is a helicopter pilot, so the pinwheel design of the blocks seems sort of aeronautically themed.  The quilt was beautifully quilted by Mary Flynn of Quilt Hollow, in a design of airplanes and curlycues.

I adore Sara's choice of fabrics for this quilt.  Some Kate Spain, some Bonnie and Camille, and some things she just liked and threw in.  That kind of mix is always the best I think.

 

Quilt Kit Give Away!

I have something so exciting to share with you all!  As you know, I have been working on a quilt called Victory Star, designed by Paula Barnes for Red Crinoline Quilts.  I bought a kit and took a class with Paula a few years back.  Well, the friend I took the class with who also bought the kit, has decided that she no longer cares to make the quilt herself and has offered it to me to give as a giveaway!

My friend has done some cutting for you already.  She has cut out the pieces for the stars, which are in marked baggies, along with detailed instructions on how to do the piecing.  The kit is complete with all the fabric for the setting triangles and borders.  If you like the looks of this pattern, you will love the Victory Star kit, which originally retailed for over $150.

The colors of the fabrics are navy blue, turkey red, golden tan and brown.  It has a rich warm feel to it, and finishes at a generous 75 x 75".  The kit as shown is no longer available anywhere, so this is a great opportunity to acquire it.

 This kit is packed in a box, sealed and ready to be mailed to the lucky winner, so please leave me a comment on why you would like to win!  I will announce the winner on Monday.

I Got the Most Important Thing Done

I did accomplish my number one priority yesterday---the quilting on the third charity quilt.  Now to sew the binding down, and that chapter is complete.  Since I care for my little grand child most days, I have been trying to sew a bit in the evenings if I am not totally exhausted. 

Last evening, I had the door to the studio open around 7:30, since the evening was so mild and lovely.  The biggest moth, no, the biggest insect, I have ever seen flew into the studio.  It proceded to flap its eagle sized wings and plow headlong into the ceiling, the walls, the light fixtures.  Seriously, I was so alarmed that this out of control beast was going to fly into ME!  I have a sister who has a moth phobia, and I was beginning to understand her fear.  Finally it settled down, right on top of one of my favorite quilts, the Red and White Snowball.  I decided whacking it with a broom was preferable to spraying it with insect spray.  I know, poor thing.  Really?  I don't think so.  I flailed around with the broom a bit, but it was obviously going require more than a broom to take this creature out.  Luckily for both of us, the rather anti-climatic end to this tale is that it flew out the door into the night.

That little exercise took up rather a lot of time, believe it or not.  The only other thing I was able to accompish was to start cutting out the lattice fabric for my Hill Country Baskets quilt.  It turns out I will have plenty of fabric, whew.  I need 185 of these 2 x 6 1/2 inch strips, and they all have to be fussy cut.  Hopefully tomorrow I can make some progress on that front.

I cut 14 6 1/2 inch strips the width of my striped fabric, and now need to fussy cut them into two inch wide pieces.  Tedious, but easy.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Happy sewing.