Hawaiian Quilt

 I finished the Hawaiian quilt. It has blocks of 18 inches so it is a little unusual in size, 78 by 102 inches. On the setting triangles I did the flower designs in darker gray quilting thread. Since the squares were quilted as they were done, putting it together was more complicated. I sewed the fronts of the squares together on the machine (the only machine sewing on the quilt) and then slip stitched the backing together. It only took five years.

Christmas Quilts

 After spending last Christmas without my extended family because of Covid, I decided to make quilts for everyone who came for Christmas this year.  I think I got a little carried away because I made 16 quilts. Some of the quilts are for specific people, especially those for grand children, but others can be chosen according to age and rank. Jim being the oldest goes first. (I know he will say he is the most rank.)

    Bubble and Squeak.  

This quilt was a kit from Connecting Threads.  The name means a dish that uses leftovers and therefore is a scrappy quilt. It was machine pieced by me and machine quilted by Diane Bowman. It was made for Gretel because she has a yellow bedroom. It measures 88" be 94".

Martha's Quilt

Martha and I saw a quilt similar to this on Pinterest. I chose the fabrics from a Connecting Threads pallet and designed the quilt from there.  The quilt is machine pieced, needle turned applique, and hand quilted by myself. Obviously the quilt is reserved for Martha.  It measures 80" by 92".

Out of Bounds

This was a wall hanging pattern I found in Fonz & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine (September/October 2014)  I enlarged the pieces by 3/2 to make a bed sized quilt. The quilt was machine pieced by me and machine quilted by Diane Bowman,  It measures 82" by 84" and is available to all.

Irish Chain

I saw this quilt on Pinterest and copied it. It is scrappy, machine pieced by me and machine quilted by Diane Bowman. It measures 86" by 88" and is available to all.

Sammy's Woodland

For Christmas, last year, Jim gave me the Northwoods Medley Accuquilter die. I had never done machine applique before, so it was a learning experience. The quilt is my own design, machine pieced and machine quilted by me. It is 80" by 82" and belongs to Sammy.

Civil War Quilt

This quilt was part of an Underground Railroad group project. We used the patterns from Eleanor Burns  Underground Railroad Sampler and I supplemented with patterns from Jennifer Chiaverini's Loyal Union Sampler book. The fabrics are all civil war prints. The quilt is machine pieced designed and hand quilted by me. it is available to all and measures 84" by 84".

Charm Stars

This quilt was found in the book, Quick and Easy Scrap Quilts by Leisure Arts. I love scrap quilts and I have plenty of scraps.  This quilt measures 78" by 88" and is machine pieced and machine quilted by me. It is available to all.

Candy Village 

I cannot at this time find the magazine that this pattern was in but I will continue to look for it. The quilt is 70" by 80" and was machine pieced and machine quilted by me.  It is reserved for Sofie.

Pink Unicorns

This is a quilt of my own design for Molly who loves not only unicorns but also pink. It measures 72"  by 82" and is machine pieced and machine quilted by me.

Bluebird

This was another kit from Connecting Threads. I have no idea why it was named "Bluebirds".  The quilt is 84" by 102", machine pieced by me and machine quilted by Diane Bowman, It is available to all.

Starry Path

I made this quilt using the Accuquilt die, Starry Path.  The quilt is 80" by 86". It is machine pieced and hand quilted by me. It is available to all.

Cleopatra's Fan

This quilt was also made using an accuquilt die, Cleopatra's Fan. It was quite challenging. The quilt measures 84"by86" and was machine pieced and hand quilted by me.

Origami Lotus

I found this quilt pattern in  Quiltmaker magazine, (May,June 2020) It is a scrap quilt and measures 88" by 100". It was machine pieced and hand quilted by me.  It is available to all.

Peggy's Scraps

This quilt is my own design. I was inspired by the blog Quilting on the Crescent.  This is the only quilt I did not make this year. I made it last year. It is machine pieced and machine quilted by me and measures 88" by 92". It is available to all.

Ocean Waves.

This is a traditional pattern. I made it for Kameren because her school colors at York College are green and white. The quilt is 76" by 88" and was machine pieced and machine quilted by me.

America's Garden

I bought this kit from Guildcrafters store which no longer exists. It is made with retro fabrics and  shows the state flowers of all 50 states.  I will include a map to help identify the states and their flowers. The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted by me.  It measures 80" by 94" and is available to all.

Twilight in the Forest

This quilt pattern was given in Quiltmaker magazine, (November, December  2019) . I had to do a lot of resizing because it was originally a twin size and paper pieced.  I made it much larger and resized the stars to be able to use my accuquilt dies.  It is now 88" by 88". Machine pieced by me and machine quilted by Diane Bowman.

I am ready for Christmas, this blog entry will give my children and grandchildren a chance to think about which quilt they want.

A Quilt I Forgot to Post

 This is a quilt I finished earlier and forgot to post. The pattern is called Origami Lotus.  It is queen size and I hand quilted it. It will go into the collection for the kids to choose from at Christmas. It is made of scraps,

Sofie's Quilt

 This is a twin sized quilt I made for my granddaughter, Sofie, I found the pattern in one of my quilting magazines. Many of the magazines put pictures of the quilts included in the issue in the front with the table of contents or on the inside of the back page. Others don't and it makes it difficult to find a quilt you have seen but can't remember where. This was a fun quilt to make and went quite quickly.  I machine quilted it with a meandering butterfly design.

An Irish Chain

 I think the Irish Chain is my favorite quilt pattern. I have done several versions of it. This one I saw on Pinterest.  I was a little nervous about the big white spaces but after Diane Bowman quilted it for me, I am very happy with it.  She used a variegated blue thread and it stands out nicely  The quilt is a queen size and will go in the group I have promised to those who come for Christmas.

Practicing the Piano

 This year I have begun to practice the piano regularly. I taught piano for twelve years and have a Bachelor of Arts in music but not performance. I haven't played in perhaps twenty-five years. I stopped because I got my engineering degree.  I remember when my Dad was in his seventies and wanted to learn to play the guitar. He practiced diligently but those of us who listened saw little improvement. He stuck with it for over a decade. Now I am practicing. I find it is not my ability to concentrate that determines how long I play but how long before my arthritis in my hands dictates. I am really enjoying the struggle. I find a real thrill in discovering the abundance of information in the score. It is like my mind is eager to learn,  Hubby must feel a lot like we did when my Dad practiced. He keeps suggesting I try easier pieces. Soon the weather will get warmer and he will be able to work in the garden and I will continue to practice.

Sammy's Quilt

 I finished a double bed quilt for my Grandson, Sammy.  I had been given the Accuquilt dies, The Northern woods, from my son, Jim, for Christmas.  I had never done the machine applique before but I got some good advice from my friend, Cathy, and it turned out fairly well.  I machine quilted, which I am not the best at. I had less trouble quilting the animals and trees than the straight lines on the blocks. My machine has a stitch regulator attachment and I am getting the hang of that. (It stitches as fast as the quilt moves, within reason )  On the border I used the walking foot and that worked better for the straight lines. 

State flowers

 This quilt was made from a quilt kit I bought from The Guildgrafter's Quilt Store a few years ago. The store went out of business before I noticed the kit was not complete.  I had to do some supplementing and rearranging but, in the end, I was very pleased with the result. The quilt was machine pieced but hand quilted.  I really enjoyed thinking about the states and their flowers as I worked on each square. It is a queen sized quilt and at this time I don't know what I want to do with it

Keeping Busy

I have been working on quilts. At this time I have one on the hoop, one on the frame and three waiting to be quilted. I will show them as I complete them. I have also been embroidering another set of pillowcases.  I like to do that in the evening when Hubby and I are together, he reads or watches TV while I do my needlework.

I also knitted a sweater for Jim's dog, Juan. It is a lousy knitting job, but it is for a dog.  I tried it on Mindy and she loves it. When I hold it up she runs to me to have me put it on and is disappointed when I take it off. I hope Juan likes it as much. 

Lions

This time of year the Lions have their Candy Cane Drive.  This year was a little different.  We didn't give out candy canes because of the pandemic. Fortunately the weather was mild and people were very generous. The Lions in our Lathrup Village Club also came out strong and filled every slot available for begging.  We stand outside of the Market Square store in Birmingham. Lion Paula and her family provided entertainment for donors.

 

A Blue Christmas

 I put up the Christmas tree all decorated in blue lights and blue ornaments. I figured it matched the mood, a blue Christmas without the kids. We will Zoom on Christmas eve but of course it's not he same as having them here. Since the quarantine began we have zoomed every Friday night. It really has helped me keep my spirits up and I really look forward to them. Gretel makes the arrangements.

Today my quilting buddy, Linda, dropped off a special gift.

Busy Ladies Book Club

  I am in a book club started by my daughter,  Gretel.  I am not sure how many members there are.  We meet on Zoom once a month. My other two daughters are in it as well as some of Gretel's coworkers and college friends. So far we read Radium Girls, by Kate Moore,  Ona out of Order  by Margarita Montimore, and The Book Lady of Troublesome Creek  by Kim Richardson. This month's book is The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich.  On my own I read Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance,  The Water Dancer by Ta-nehisi Coates and Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart.  It has been good to do some reading. The Book Lady and the Water Dancer were by far the best.  I haven't started the Night Watchman yet.

Embroidered Pillowcases

 I really love embroidered pillowcases.  I think they belong on a bed with a quilt. I also enjoy doing the embroidery.  I like the variety of stitches required. I finished another set.

Placemats

 For the last few years I make placemats for the kids who eat at a table (That excludes Jim and Martha). At first I though these looked ugly but the kids encouraged me to finish them and I think they were wise. They were more time consuming than I had expected.

I also made clothes for the girls' American Girl dolls and Bitty Babies. The Black and white jumper was a Simplicity, Daisy Kingdom pattern. Think before you attempt another. Most of these patterns were passed down to me from my sister-in-law, Katherine, who is now in a nursing home.

My Red Wing Fan

 As a pre-Christmas present for Martha, I made a Red Wing throw. Martha is an avid Hockey fan. Her living room is decorated with framed pictures of the team, some of them autographed. I imagine down south there isn't the enthusiasm for ice hockey like there is farther north. I used the attic window pattern and machine quilted in a red wing symbol.

More pre-Christmas gifts

 This is a throw a made for Jim. The pattern is called "Card Tricks.

" The first block was really tricky but after that I put all the pieces together one part at a time so that I wouldn't get mixed up. I chose the pattern because Jim likes to play bridge. I machine quilted it and tried to be fancier but it didn't work out as well as I wanted.

Pre Christmas presents

 I made throws for the kids for Christmas.  I will send them early because they are made of Christmas fabrics and they can put them out on the sofa or where ever as a holiday decoration. I used up most of my Christmas fabrics. One of the women I had gone to water aerobics with offered me a lot of her Christmas scraps, some were very small. So I made an Irish chain. the squares are only 1.5 inches. 

  I machine quilted it.  I am still learning how to do that. I used a snowflake stencil.  I was quite pleased.

Morning Star

 I finished this quilt and will be sending it to my daughter, Martha.  I cut the pieces using the Accuquilt die called Morning Star.  It was surprisingly easy to assemble. I used mostly batiks.  I then had it machine quilted by Diane Bowman. If you look the pattern has hummingbirds in it. 

Helene's quilt

 Helene is a close friend who I met sixty-four years ago as I began high school. She is one of those real, down-to life, people that you can always count on.  In spite of Hubby's fears I met her for lunch last Thursday at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Needless to say at that time the restaurant was not crowded.  Last spring I made her a quilt but with the pandemic it hadn't been given to her yet. So I did.

Lists

 My Mom was a great one for making lists. Every morning with her coffee she would make a list of activities for the day.  Sometimes, especially near Christmas, it was written in shorthand. Even as she closed in on one hundred years she still listed her bills and when they were due in a notebook. I take after her. When the kids and I were younger I also made lists. I had the days of the week appointed or specific tasks, laundry, scrubbing floors, shopping and even visiting Mom.  Now it is harder to make the lists.  Hubby does all the cooking and shopping. Scrubbing the kitchen floor is more a semi-annual event and laundry is three loads a week, light, dark, and towels.  I still try but I often can't think of what to list.  I love Excel. When I was working and quilting I made an elaborate spread sheet for how long it would take me to finish a quilt. I would figure the deadline for finishing it, how much I could do in a day and when, at the present rate of progress, I would likely finish. I still use that spread sheet for my brother's fiftieth wedding anniversary quilt but most of the quilts I finish rather quickly as that is all I do these days. I do have a spread sheet listing what quilts are in process.  When I was younger I would only work on one at a time now I have twelve in process. I also make a honey do  list for Hubby but it doesn't change much.  He says that if he says he will do something there is no need to remind him every six months.