Prayers Needed for Preemie

Remember this preemie quilt I made? I forgot to take a picture when it was done, and I did not even take a picture of my niece with it.... she has been on bedrest in the hospital. I gave it to her, and she thought it was quite cute. Her baby is coming today! They have been unable to stop the premature labor that started a few days ago. She is at 27 and 1/2 weeks, so this baby is going to need our prayers. Hoping for the best.........

update on 7/29 -- labor stopped on its own, so for now we're back in a wait and see mode. Niece is already half way dilated, so it could be any time. Thanks for your prayers. The need is still there.

Twin Girls!

There is a family at church who just had twin girls! It was a long pregnancy for poor Mom. She had to be on bedrest and was so uncomfortable. Finally the babies were born. The little one had to have surgery, but now they are both home, and the family is getting settled in. Big Brother reportedly is in love with his new sisters. Aren't they all adorable????

I was thinking about age, and realized sadly that these young parents probably consider me Old. I'm likely the age of or even older than their parents! They maybe think I have my life all figured out, I'm an expert at child rearing as mine are both adults now.... ha! Inside I don't feel THAT much removed from where they are in life. I remember those early days. Are those days really 20+ years ago now?? Time is funny, isn't it.

Yesterday I spent some time at church using the nice, big tables for basting quilts and then quilting them. I finished three quilts and was going to send them all off to various charities such as Project Linus... but now I'm tempted to give the two little ones to these little baby girls. First I'll find out if they have loads of quilts and blankets already filling up their home. I wonder if Big Brother has one, too.

This picture shows the pile of quilts I had with me at church yesterday. The top two are baby quilts that are rather small... perfect for little twins (both girls hovering around 6 pounds, more or less). The brownish one is for Wrap Them in Love. And the bottom one is a quilt I made for my brother-in-law. I picked it up from the machine quilter yesterday, and I LOVE it! Thank you for your great work again, Diane!

None of these has been bound yet. I need to get busy on bindings, but first, there is a birthday party to attend this afternoon.

Have a great week, everyone! And remember, young or old, we're all bumbling through this life, doing our best, trying to figure it all out. We'll finally Get It when we're in heaven, I think. (Warm thoughts of my dad who is in heaven, welcoming his brother who died this week.. my uncle who looked a lot like my dad.) I'm feeling sentimental!

P.S. I'm doing the Pay It Forward thing.. first three people who sign up with me will get a gift from me (I have a year to get it made and sent). Meanwhile, you also make this offer and send gifts to three who sign up with you. Fun? Please say yes and sign up!

Featured Quilters

Guess what... I was asked to be a featured quilter at our next guild show in February 08. Because I give away so many of the quilts I make, I am going to have to get super busy finishing some quilts to keep, so I can fill the display case that will be mine. My pal, Sally, is the other Featured Quilter, and she is just like me ... gives away most of what she makes. She and I are going to have a busy few months getting ready for the show.

I am having fun discovering old UFOs. Some of them I had forgotten about! I worked on this most of today.

These blocks have to be about seven years old. My friend Carrie from Nebraska and I made blocks in double sets and shared a set with each other, so we each ended up with the same pile of blocks (20 of them). I have been intending to work on this and never dreamed I would let it sit around this long. I am liking this tipsy turvy setting I'm using. I hope to make this quilt queen size. I have never made one that large, and my hubby and I use a store-bought quilt on our bed! It's time to get this one done and have a home-made quilt, finally, to cuddle under.

That's all my news for now. I have to get up early for work tomorrow and already stayed up too late. Where does the time go???

A Cat and Some Blocks

Our daughter's cat needed a vacation. He lives with her in an un-air-conditioned apartment, and it was just too blasted hot. He came to our house to cool off and to get reacquainted with us. She misses him, so I'm posting pictures -- she wanted to know what he has been doing.

This spot at the front door is a favorite place, rivaled only by the back door where he can attempt to hunt our neighborhood chipmunk. I swear that chipmunk knows the cat is there but safely out of reach. It'll come right up to the door and sit there teasing the poor cat! Anyway, this spot at the door keeps him occupied for hours as he watches the world go by.

When he knew I was following him around to take his picture, he decided to do his stretch and roll routine.

After all that hard work, he needed a snack.

And finally, he went to the front window, another favorite spot, especially at nap time. It's a good place to see some great bird activity. By the way, even though it was horribly hot when he came, it cooled off nicely and so we can enjoy having the windows and door open, which is really fun for the cat. He's an indoor cat, but he just loves the fresh air he gets when we can open up.

When the cat is not inspecting my fabric or my sewing machine, I manage to get a few blocks made. I'm making RWB blocks for To The Top which gives quilts to vets. Here's what I have made so far. I thought I had more than that, but I guess not.... better get back to work!

Note to daughter: I am working downstairs, and I can hear him running back and forth upstairs. I don't know what has caught his attention up there, but he is getting some good exercise.

Quilts, Old and New

I went out of town again for a short visit to my mom and sister. I had some fun quilty experiences during my weekend in addition to visiting. I took some time to wander up and down the main street of my home town. All the shops have changed since my childhood, of course, so everything was new. I haven't taken time to look at the shops for many years.

I found some really great quilts in an antique shop! They had a lot of them! I couldn't afford my favorite one which was this (and made me think of Lucy and her poison green, although this one isn't quite poison-ish enough):

Here's one that some crazy quilters might like:


There were more, but I didn't get pictures of the others. Here are the quilts I purchased!! I really like them! If any of you are good at dating fabrics, can you tell me what era you think these are from? I'm guessing the small one is 50's-60's, and the large one is about 40's or 50's?? I may be way off. These are tied and nothing fancy, but they are soft and well loved.

Here's the small, lap size one, followed by a close-up of the fabrics.

Here's the large one, followed by a close-up of the backing fabric. (Isn't it wild?!)

I love how both of these quilts are so soft and well-loved. They make me wonder about the person who made them, probably a woman. The large one was made to keep her family warm and cuddled. People slept happily under it, and kids played on top of it. Somehow in the end, no one wanted it any more. But I do!! It represents a lot of love and emotion to me, and I plan to use it for naps and just sitting under to read or watch TV.

I know some people carefully store or display their quilts and don't want to use them, especially antiques. But I am of the belief that quilts are made to be used, and a well-used one is well-loved and is full of the thoughts and dreams of its maker and its users. Fabric doesn't last forever, so while it's still useable, I'm going to use it!

Of course, if I owned an award-winning Paducah-quality quilt, I might change my story. But for now I'm very much a utilitarian quilt maker and quilt user. And I hope the quilts I give away get used and loved.

On our way back home we went through a small town and found this -- a couple of Amish girls were sitting in a grassy area along the road, selling quilts, food, and baskets. They let me take pictures, as long as I didn't photograph the girls themselves. The hand quilting was really beautiful. I wish the photos would show that better. The quilts were pretty, but I think they used a lot of fabrics that were cotton/poly blends. That surprised and sort of disappointed me. There's a plain whole-cloth baby quilt here, with pastel prairie points. It's so pretty and is beautifully quilted! I took a picture of it, but it just looked like a blank fabric. Wish I could show you the detail, but this is what you get! (There are breads and pies on the table. I bought a loaf of bread, and a strawberry pie.)

On this one you can sort of see the quilting in the lone star quilt.

You can see a little of the whole-cloth baby quilt and its beautiful quilting. I don't know if these pictures will enlarge when you click on them. Try it and see!

The jars are honey and various jams.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! This marks the end of my week off, and the end of my free time for sewing and such. I sure had a great week! Now I'm going back to work but only part-time, so I'm still pretty lucky with having time off.

A Preemie Quilt May Be Needed

This evening I made this little preemie quilt top. It is 24" square. I am going to back it with flannel, but I don't have any on hand that will match. I'll buy some tomorrow. My niece is in the hospital on bedrest, trying to keep her baby from being born too soon! I think she is at 24 weeks right now. It would be difficult for the little wee one to make its appearance now. There would be worries and possibly some icky procedures for the poor thing to endure. I just hope they can all hold off until much later... a good six weeks or more would be excellent. If not, they will be needing a preemie quilt, which is why I made this tonight -- for that 'just in case' scenario. Best thing would be if the baby waits and is born full term, and this can be its first doll or teddy bear blanket!

I also started another top using donated orphan blocks. I used a fun "slap them together in quick fashion" method. That means, very little planning. It needs more additions, so at this point no one knows what it will look like in its final form, especially me!

Oh! I forgot to thank you for the comments regarding my first "orphan train" top. After I asked you about it, I left it hanging on the closet doors overnight. When I looked at it again the next morning, I decided it looked fine, and that some kid will love it and not even notice that the border might have been better in a different color. So off it goes to a volunteer machine quilter.

And finally, I got a border on this one which is also orphan blocks so it counts as one of Finn's orphan train challenges, I guess. This one will go to Wrap a Smile -- http://www.wellsrotary.org/ -- click on Wrap a Smile to read about what it is.

Send some good, healthy thoughts the way of my niece and her baby, please! (For those of you who know my family members, this niece is on my husband's side.)

Done by Midnight

Here's the orphan top that I finished last night at 11:30 p.m. (I describe this project in my previous post.) I wanted to use stash fabrics for the borders, but now I'm thinking that blue fabric doesn't do this quilt any favors. I don't have any other that would be better, so I'd have to go shopping. And I hate doing borders, so the thought of ripping this one off and re-doing it gives me heebie-jeebies. What do you think? Is this border acceptable, or does it take away from the quilt like I think it does? It'll go to a child or teen in an orphanage.. perhaps that child won't be so demanding about having a perfect border. (?)


When it's done (which may take several years if I need to re-do that border), it'll go to Wrap Them in Love. You can read about it here:

http://www.wraptheminlove.org/

Orphans Find a Home!

I took Finn up on her challenge to use up orphan blocks. She is posting pictures of the gorgeous results at Riding the Orphan Train (see the link in my list of blogs to the right). A while ago I volunteered to accept orphan blocks from members of a charity quilt group. I got several in the mail, and Finn's challenge has given me the kick-start I needed. I'm pulling them all together to make some tops. Here is a photo of the beginnings... a sneek peak at what I'm working with. (One of the blocks fell on the floor; it's shy.) Last night I slapped them up on my design wall, and today I'm putting them together. It's fun, and I hope this turns out half as pretty as the others that Finn has already posted.

Fiddley- Diddley

I have been quick to adapt to my time-off status and have been moving slowly. I just fiddle-diddle on things and have not made huge headway on anything. But that's OK, too. For now I have no huge, looming deadlines.

This doll quilt was one of my UFOs. Those 16-patches are made with 1-in squares. I was originally thinking of selling the doll, a basket she sleeps in, her outfit, and the quilt at a church bazaar, but I'm kind of attached to all of them now and haven't decided if I can part with them. After all, I may be lucky enough to have a grandchild at some far point in the future, and he/she will want a baby to play with.

I also finally made some blocks for our guild project. We are helping make quilts for Home of the Brave, Minnesota Chapter. Quilts go to Minnesota families who have lost a son/daughter, father/mother, husband/wife in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. These are the blocks we make. They're quick and easy; I had just put off doing them for several months. (We use Civil War reproductions and those are not my favorites, so I find them easy to put off.) Unfortunately, the need keeps growing, so I'll try to keep contributing. We collect signatures in the middle square.

On another topic, I have a new cell phone that has a camera in it (a first, for me). I don't know how to get the pictures from camera to computer. Can anyone explain it simply for a not-too-swift-with-new-gadgets person?

Just a Mini

For some reason I made this little miniature quilt. Don't ask me why. I just found myself working on it. The little squares are 1-inch. The total quilt is 8" x 9". I kinda don't like the way I quilted it, but I like everything else about it... especially the fact that I started it in the evening and had it done by midnight. Maybe this little mini quilt celebrates the fact that I have the next ten days off! WooHoo!!!

A Full Weekend

I went to a quilt retreat this weekend. It was very hot, and that squelched my interest in doing a lot of sewing. Another factor: it took place at a camp in my home town. When I felt too hot I went into town to visit my mom and my sister. So ... I didn't get a lot of sewing done, but I still had a good time. When I did sew, I got some good things accomplished. And I took time to swim and to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I have always loved waves and the lapping sound against the shore. At night we enjoyed cool breezes off the lake, so sleeping was very comfortable.

This is one of my completed tasks. I made the top a few years ago, and finally got the borders on this weekend. (Does anyone else hate borders? It's my least favorite part.) I finally can get it quilted! It's a pattern whose name I have forgotten, but I found it on-line at quiltindex dot com. It's a lap size quilt that I plan to keep.

Here is the lodge where we did our sewing (with lake around it on three sides).

Here's the beautiful lake. It's a clear, clean lake - great for swimming - cold but refreshing.

Part of the excitement of going into town from the campground was to visit my sister's new bookstore! It opened on Saturday, and I was too excited to NOT be there. My sister did a fantastic job setting up this new business. The store is attractive, comfortable, and the book selection is excellent. It's very exciting to have a bookstore in the family!

If you click on this picture (above) it'll get larger, and you'll see my ABC sampler quilt in the background. It looks nicer there than it did at my house! I have a 2nd quilt hanging in the store just out of view, to the right of that doorway in the back. By the way, I have no idea why some pictures get larger when you click on them, and some don't. Can anyone explain that to me?

That's my mom in the pink shirt. If you ever visit Alexandria, Minnesota, please stop in at Cherry Street Books (503 Broadway). Have a cup of coffee and go home with a wonderful treasure to enjoy reading.

After the retreat was done, and the bookstore was closed for the weekend, we got to watch a band festival parade! I no longer have children or nieces marching in this fun parade, but I still enjoy watching it and cheering for the wonderful bands. They work so hard and do fantastic shows, in all kinds of weather! This year's was HOT and WINDY. Aren't these flags pretty?

This band in red and yellow is from the school my kids attended. Both of them marched with this band in previous years. That guy in the shorts is a judge. He's speaking critique comments into a hand-held recorder.

MQ Show

Minnesota Quilters annual show took place last week... quilts were fabulous! I accidentally went there without my camera. Luckily my FIL had a digital camera with him and let me take charge of it for the day. I took a lot of photos, but I feel funny posting them, so I'll just show you the Best Of. Pictures don't do them justice at all, as I'm sure you know. And I apologize for my pictures that are bad. I use the excuse that I was using a new-to-me camera.

Here's Best of Show, Large Quilt - made by someone in Nebraska. I didn't record any of the names of quilts or quilters.




Best of Show, Hand Quilting




Best of Show, Long Arm Quilting (sorry, the quilting doesn't show at all)



Best of Show, Wall Quilt - I wobbled!

Which setting to use??

This weekend I made four pp'd blocks (pattern by Carol Doak). I am trying to figure out how I want to use them. Here are my options:

1) a straight setting of all 4

2) an on-point setting using five blocks. I'd have to make one more block. The blobs of fabric are there to help visualize a fifth block in that space.

3) an on-point setting using four blocks.

4) three blocks in a table runner. The fourth block would go to a RWB block collection that is happening at one of my on-line groups, or I could use the two halves or four quarters of it to add interesting block parts to the ends of the runner.

Which is your personal favorite? Or do you have any brilliant ideas other than what I have shown here? So far I haven't even thought about borders and all those options that will come into play when I settle on the setting. Here's one more thought: I don't use table runners very often. I'm more apt to make use of a wall hanging, or even use it as a table cloth/table covering. However I *like* table runners and might use them more often if I had a better variety on hand.

It's after 1:00 a.m. here and high time to sleep and stop thinking about these blocks. If you feel like voting for a setting option, I look forward to your thoughts. If not, that's OK, too. Nighty-night!

Pam's Quilts

Thursday night I attended a guild meeting in Woodbury. The speaker was Pam Witt from Omaha, NE. Pam and I both grew up in Alexandria, MN, and our families have known each other for years. So it was fun to see Pam again after many years and to see her beautiful quilts.
She does a lot of applique. I admire anyone who can do it so beautifully! Although I love the look of applique, I'm very bad at it. I don't think I'll ever be much of an appliquer. Enjoy Pam's quilt show (and if you live in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, please read my note at the end.)





Pam with her rooster quilt.




The above quilt top was not made by Pam. Believe it or not, Pam got this from her chiropractor. The chiropractor has a bunch of tops made by his/her grandmother. They were described as "nasty." Some have been thrown out, and others donated to Goodwill. This one was in the car to be taken to Goodwill. Pam thought quickly and suggested an exchange. She made a lap size quilt for the chiropractor and in exchange was given this top.

Pam shows what she calls a feminine quilt that she likes to give as gifts. Hey, Pam.. my birthday is in September! (wink)

This quilt by Pam is currently hanging in the Minnesota Quilters annual show taking place at the River Centre in St. Paul. I went there today and had a great time looking at all the absolutely gorgeous quilts. What a bunch of awesome quilts!

This is a closeup of Pam's quilt. It was quilted by Karen Kielmeyer. Karen does beautiful work, too. (Karen has also quilted several of my sister's quilts.)

**

Here's my note for Twin Cities quilters: my local guild, Dakota County Star Quilters, would like to have Pam come speak for our annual show which will be next February 2008. We are looking for another area guild who would like to hire Pam for speaking and/or teaching at the same time in 2008. Pam has to drive here from Nebraska, and we could use some help sharing the mileage costs. If you are in a guild that is searching for an interesting and entertaining speaker, Pam is just the ticket! In addition, she wants to become more known in this market. Sharing the mileage costs would be very helpful. Just send me an e-mail if you think your guild might be interested.