A Small Zebra Quilt

Look at this cutie! It's about 12" x 12". I got the block on the free table at my guild. It had everything except the zebra on it, even the hand quilting with wonky x's. I thought it was pretty cute. It needed a little something, so I added the zebra, quilted it, bound it, and I will now enter it in our small quilt auction at my guild's store during the show.

I have found other little treasures on our free table over time. It's fun to see what I can do with a discarded piece of something; I always wonder who got rid of it, and why they thought it was no longer useful.

My Mom's 95th Birthday!

My mom is 95 years old! Her birthday was on Saturday. We had a big party. It was so much fun! Former neighbors came, relatives, friends from church, and friends from where she currently lives. I think Mom had a good time, and we three sisters surely did. Later in the evening, after Mom had a nap, and the rest of us cleaned up the party room (see my cousin's daughter gleefully vacuuming in high heels), a bunch of family members went out for dinner. That was fun, too.

This is Mom and her three daughters. Our brother couldn't come, unfortunately.

My mom has outlived all her siblings and her husband (our dad). She has four children, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren with another one coming in July. She has seen a lot of changes in her life! She remembers, when she was five years old, they sold their horse (and she cried), because they had a car and no longer would need the horse and buggy. And now we're searching far into space and using computers with amazing powers! What a change in her world!

Catching Up to the 20th Century

That's right, folks. I'm catching up to the gadgets from the 1990s. I'm on the cutting edge.

Several years ago my SIL gave me a blender for Christmas. It has been here all this time, waiting for me to use it. To be honest, I tried, but it scared me -- so loud, and I thought for sure I was doing something wrong.

Finally I decided I wanted to make smoothies, so I pulled it out and shut my eyes, and turned it on. Voila! Smoothies! And my fear of the blender has vanished! Yay! I know there have been a zillion gadgets created since the blender, all much more efficient, smooth, quiet, etc. But I'm slow to take on the new stuff in some ways. So, today I'm celebrating the discovery of my blender and the ability to make smoothies.

This one is made with yogurt, strawberries, blackberries, milk and ice. I'm not sure I like blackberries in my smoothie. I'll have to keep trying different combinations. I'm nowhere near those modern green things that people drink. So far I'm still at the "it feels and tastes like an ice cream concoction" stage.

I can hardly wait for peaches to be in season!

Friday Books: Ove

I read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I loved it, and I hope you grab it and read it soon. You will also love it. It's a book about love.. I can't describe it any other way.

I am going to stop talking now, because I don't want to waste your time... go get a copy of A Man Called Ove and start reading.

plant yourself in your favorite book nook with "Ove"

Stuff I Sewed

Three pin cushions made from 4.5" blocks that someone else made-- I picked up the blocks at one of my guilds - either the free table or I purchased them at our "store" during the show. I think I have more little blocks. If I find them, I'll turn them into pin cushions as well.

Most of these are going to Quilts Beyond Borders. One will be donated locally. My cousin made one of the quilt tops, and I quilted it.

It's just one little quilt block, but I had so much fun making it and using that tiny half-square-triangle.

a wall-hanging size which needs to be bound and labeled

Keep those scraps out of landfills! These are cat and dog beds filled with quilting scraps. I donate them to a local animal hospital.

Now, back to my sewing room for more fun.

Miscellaneous Monday Musings

Good Monday Morning, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend and also have a great week ahead of you.

I have not done much sewing lately! Bummer, eh? But I did manage to make this little pencil/pen case for myself, to help keep my purse a little better organized. I used Kaffe/Brandon Mably fabrics for the outside.

I'm making a Weather Quilt, or a Temperature Quilt. I alternate the names I give it. I make a rectangle indicating the high temperature of every day in 2016. So far it has been fun. I'm trying hard to not get behind on it.

Here's some baby news. I got to hold this cutie at church two Sundays in a row. She is a.dor.a.ble!! Just as in quilts, pictures don't do her justice. She's so soft and adorably cute. Plus, she makes the cutest range of funny faces!

Here's another baby. He was born Saturday night, at 26 weeks gestation. He could use your prayers. He is doing amazingly well for being so tiny and early - even breathing on his own! But it's a long road to getting him up to weight and health to be able to go home. He's our little Chocolate Bunny. Amazingly tiny. Momma is doing well and is on Cloud 9.

P.S. He weighs just over 2 lbs.

Friday Books: God Help the Child

I read a real, for adults, book! It was a good one, too... God Help the Child by Toni Morrison. A girl, grown into a woman, with a difficult childhood that continues to impact her life and her decisions. A boy, grown into a man, with trauma in his young life; the trauma continues to impact his life and his decisions. These two characters' lives intertwine, and their early traumas color their decisions in adulthood and how they work out their relationship. Very interesting book that shows why history matters. Amazing, awesome book.

A winter book nook -- would you like to try it??

Loose Threads, Dropping Names

We were back at K's house on Friday, this time with the small group, Loose Threads - our first gathering in 2016. As you work your way through these photos you will see that we are name-dropping to beat the band! See if you can catch all the famous quilters names we dropped.

K showed us a variety of quilts from her family and from her own past to present in quilt-making. It was great fun seeing her beautiful work. The lighting was a challenge (she was standing in front of a window), but you get the idea... beautiful quilts.

This first quilt was made by K's grandmother. It was beautifully made from tiny squares and hand quilted. Even though it looks modern with its color choices, it is really quite an old quilt. I loved it and kept it on my lap for a while.

Some of K's work -- batiks, Jane Sassaman fabrics (unquilted), and Marcia Derse fabrics.

These next four are made by S1, first is a Kaffe Fassett knitting pattern, next is a quilt made from silk ties! This picture doesn't do it justice. Third is a Kaffe Fassett fabrics quilt, and last is a challenge made for another group.

Next are works by S2. The medium size quilt was inspired by Wanda Hanson of Exuberant Colors blog, and the small one is leftover scraps S2 had after taking a class by Gwen Marston.

While we took our turns doing Show and Tell, I was working on a binding of a lap size quilt. I had been given several fabrics, free, from Sandi Irish and then had it quilted by Missouri Star Quilt Company. It's going into a silent auction at my church, and I don't have a photo of it yet. I will soon, though.

My show and tell included this one, which I showed you a couple posts ago. It's my attempt to follow a plan in a book: The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, a Guide to Creating, Quilting & Living Courageously by Sherri Lynn Wood.

After our gathering I was inspired to sew.... not that I did anything all that creative, but I managed to get this small one completed. It is going to be a baptism blanket for some baby at my church. I have another one in the works - several other crafters and I are sort of scrambling, as several baptisms are coming up, and our pastor asked for knitted and/or quilted blankies to give to each baptize-ee.

And my last photo shows the "key" I made to go on my Weather Quilt that I'm working on - showing the high temperature of each day in the year 2016.

Did you catch all the names I dropped? Wouldn't want them falling on the floor and breaking.

Friday Books: Numbers

Last week I read a child's book. This week I graduated to young adult. Numbers by David A. Poulsen is about a teenage boy who is a new kid in town. He fits in with the outcasts who call themselves The Six, but also searches for his real niche and bounces around between groups; even has a girlfriend. He has a favorite teacher who inspires him to think in new ways. He is challenged to stretch that thinking in the end, and it gets a little tense and exciting as he tries to sort out his thoughts and the truth.

I'm glad to be reading again and hope by next week I'll be back to adult books.

A Sleepover Sewing Weekend

I guess a sleepover sewing weekend really means it was a retreat... I call it that, however, because we were all in our home territory, more or less. Friend K invited us to come sew for the weekend, and to sleep there. It was SUPER fun! Her home has a wonderful little sewing area for a small group, and the accommodations were superb. We all brought food to share, which K's husband thought was marvelous.

I got a lot done or nearly done. Notice the preponderance of the color blue. Blue is my favorite color.

Here is some of the work by the others. I didn't get pics of it all. What a productive, fun weekend we had!

We already can't wait to do it again next year.