Oct 3, 2012

Kennedy's Quilt


This is the first wall hanging quilt that I made.
I made it for my first grand daughter Kennedy, and she is now 
5 years old.
This quilt was a lot of fun putting together, deciding which fabric goes where.


I hand appliqued "Kennedy" with a blanket stitch.
There a lot of "peek a boo" embroidery on the quilt.














I also made Kennedy "Ellie" the elephant.


My daughter Lindsay, made the pillows and quilt on the back of the chair.


I cross stitched Rainbow Brite for Lindsay when she was three years old, about 27 years ago.
Lindsay modernized the cross stitch, but painting the frame aqua.





The colors in the room all match the quilt perfectly.


I love the little embroidered pieces that Lindsay made for her
 2 year old daughter, Charlotte.



I hope you've enjoyed the photos of Kennedy's quilt, and the mini tour of Kenned and Charlotte's bedroom decor.
I go back home today, after being away from home for a month.
I will miss all my children and grand children but will be happy to return home to my poor husband who has been alone all this time.
The "Baby Brit Quilt Along" will resume on Monday.

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Oct 1, 2012

"Swooning" into Autumn

Hi everyone!  I am participating in the "Fall Leafs Me Happy" Blog Hop.  The button is located on the right of my blog.
This blog hop is being hosted by Cherry, and Madame Samm who is a cheerleader for blog hops.  Thanks Madame Samm and Cherry :)
The theme of the blog hop is to make a 12 l/2" block using fall colored fabrics.
I made the "Swoon" quilt and loved making those blocks.
They were huge, 24 l/2" each.
Here is the pattern, showing off the blocks I love so much.

Image of Swoon- Pattern 142 PDF pattern

I decided to make this block for the blog hop but I had to make it half the size, converting it to a 12 l/2" block.
I call this block "Swooning into Autumn".
I chose an orange fall leaf color for the star.
Unfortunately the background color in the block is not true to life, because it is actually a sage green. 
The outside points are black (in autumn we turn our clocks back and it gets black outside very early) with green and orange dots.


This block is a little more true to color.
I added the next row.


Now the miniature "Swoon" block is complete.


I sandwiched the batting between the front and the back and safety pinned it together, preparing it for machine quilting.


I shadow quilted the star, with a l/4" stitch, and stitched in the ditch on the rest of the block.  
I used an eggplant mini check for the binding.
I thought of black, but the eggplant colored binding made the colors in the block "pop".


Here is my finished block.
"Swooning into Autumn".


Here is the back of the quilt.
I love this fabric.  Hallowe'en always means "fall" to me :)
I had to be careful with the quilting so that it wouldn't take away from the print on the back.


Here is a list of the other blogs that are participating in the
 "Fall Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop" today.
Visit them and leave a comment!


I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial today.


I have really enjoyed making this block and being part of this blog hop.
For more information all the other blogs that are participating through October 10, click on the "Fall Leafs Me Happy" button to the right of my blog.

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Sep 28, 2012

Paperdoll Block

LINDSAY
goes to her
tennis lesson
THWACK!
Afterwards, she
meets 
REBECCA
for a
picnic...


This was the second block I made, and it took forever!
I will point out all the details to you...
The red skirt has box pleats, they were all hand embroidered.
The tennis racket was pretty time intensive.  The webbing is all embroidered in white, as well as the little red and white accents around the racket.
The shoes have white laces all embroidered, and the white soles around the shoes are also embroidered.
The picnic basket....do you notice that the sandwiches are appliqued, with brown embroidery around them, and the ziplock bags are embroidered.
The chocolate chip cookies are appliqued, but the chocolate chips and the little baggie and twist tie are all embroidered.
I used to belong to a tennis club down the street from where I lived when I was growing up, so this block brings back memories for me:)

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Sep 26, 2012

Maisie and Benjamin

I have been staying with my daughter Rebecca, and son in law Dave, since September 6.  They go to the hospital to be with and feed Benjamin, and I am looking after Maisie and keeping the house clean.  Benjamin weighed 4 lbs. 15 oz. at birth, and is still in the NICU.  He is healthy, he just needs to do a few things developmentally, like nursing enough to gain enough weight and go home  ♥
Maisie is 2, and Benjamin was born on September 5, 8 weeks early.
Two kids with lots of personality, who still need to meet each other.


I made Benjamin a quilt, the fabric is really cute.  I bought the kit about 4 years ago and have been waiting for a grandson to make it for, all this time :)  Benjamin is our seventh grandchild, our second grandson.  


I fussy cut the little baby heads and they are surrounded with scrappy yellow and blue prints.  The border is a soft, soft, minkie, and so is the back.  Isn't the quilting beautiful?  I didn't do it, my friend Cindy did with her long arm machine.





I made little burp pads for little Benjamin and added some ribbon loops for him to play with when he gets bigger.


On the back of the burp pads, I put some really soft minkie.  The burp pads are 9"X14" and sometimes Rebecca covers up Benjamin with the burp pad because they are so soft and the perfect size :)


This is Rebecca with Benjamin on Sept. 8, 3 days after giving birth.


I made this little pendant banner for Benjamin's crib, so that there could be something homey and colorful in the room.
The pendants are 4"X6", and I put heavy pellon in the middle so they would have some body.


It is difficult for Rebecca when Benjamin's oxygen gets low after he nurses, and the buzzer goes off and the red light blinks.  The nurse runs into the room and tells little Benjamin to breathe.....It is a little disconcerting.....


This is Dave, holding his precious little Benjamin.  
Hopefully Benjamin will come home soon and Maisie will be able to meet her baby brother :)



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Sep 24, 2012

Baby Brit Quilt Along, week #8



Hi everyone.  I am still staying with my daughter Rebecca and looking after her little girl Maisie, who is two years old.  Rebecca's baby boy is still in the hospital, since he was born 8 weeks early.  He is healthy, just needs to develop a little more.  I will be posting pictures of them on Wednesday, make sure and check back then, the photos are really cute!

I left my Baby Brit blocks at home, the sashing is cut but I neglected to bring them with me.  I will be returning home on October 3, and the "Baby Brit" quilt along will resume on Monday, October 8.
Here is Lindsay's last block.  I love the color combinations.  
The dark green contrasted with the striking gold :)


My Baby Brit Quilt Along will continue on Monday, October 8.
Thanks for being patient :)



Sep 21, 2012

Paperdoll Block




REBECCA 
goes on a 
camping trip
with her whole
family.....singing
old campfire
SONGS...
roasting hot dogs
and making
S'MORES
are her
favorite...Mmmm


I love this block, it is the first one I made.  
Look at the buttonholes on the shirt, don't they look real?
The compass was really difficult to applique, the green circle and then the off white circle, the red needle is embroidered and  N,S,E and W are drawn with permanent acid free marker.
Aren't the hiking boots cute? The eyelets, laces and scalloped souls are embroidered.
Each one of the marshmallows was appliqued, and the stick was embroidered.  That took a while!
I also really like the hot dogs in the ziplock bag :)  The hot dogs are one piece of fabric appliqued, and everything else is embroidered.
All I can say, is that this paperdoll has a really nice camping outfit :)
Unfortunately we never went camping as a family, but Rebecca and Lindsay went to girl's camp every summer and had great camping experiences there.



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Sep 19, 2012

Laptop Cover

A couple of years ago, I made a laptop cover for my daughter who loves owls!  
I liked the little owls that I machine appliqued so well that I added a little padded one that dangles, sort of like a bookmark.
The owls have button eyes backed with white and black felt, and their wings are soft brown minky fabric.



This is the back of the laptop cover, with the flap open. The flap has a long velcro closure.  I padded the cover with cotton quilt batting.  It was a really simple project.
If you make a laptop or ipad cover, just make sure to add 1" all the way around so that the laptop or ipad can slide in and out of the cover easily :)


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