This is the progress on the Dear Hannah quilt that I am making for my grand-daughter, Hannah.  She posed in front of the quilt. She likes to pick out the colors for the blocks.  I really need get working on more blocks for this.

Hannah is in fourth grade and loves to go down and sew with my fabric scraps. She has made many outfits for her dolls, they are looking really good. So far she hasn't sewn her fingers, but I tell her it will happen at some point.

Summer Time Gone - Fall is Here

My summer time is gone and I don't know where it went. It was a very busy time for me.

In June, my sisters, Ruth and Linda, and my niece, Amy went on a long road trip out to Texas for my other sister, Joan's anniversary party. Fred and Joan celebrated their 50th anniversary.

 

I hadn't seen some of the nieces and nephews in years so was a nice reunion with them and seeing how much their children have grown up.  My brother even drove out and so here is a picture of all the siblings. 

 

After the party we continued our road trip. We managed to do about 13 parks, including the Alamo, Vicksburg, and three presidential library's; Lyndon Johnson and both George H. and George W. Bush.

 At the Alamo

 George H Bush Library, on his birthday celebration day so we got cake and ice cream. this was my favorite library [not the cake stuff but the exhibits].

Maybe I would have been a good president?

Even got to the beach with the McKenney clan in Florida.

Now I suppose I must get back to the quilting stuff.  But I will really miss my Katie this fall.  :(

Baltimore Christmas

Over the spring break, I completed the center block on the Baltimore Christmas quilt. So I arranged all the blocks on the quilt wall so I could invision it completed.  Now to sew it together and get started on the borders. Wouldn't it be nice if it was done for Christmas, this year?

 

Happy Bithday and Christmas all over again.

 Another finish: a tree skirt that my daughter picked out the colors. I didn't get it finished for Christmas so she is getting it for her birthday. It is a Judy Neimeyer pattern.

Happy Birthday Tracey. Love you.

EASY STREET

Where has this month gone?  I have been busy crazy. Spent ten days in Tennessee with my daughter and grands over Easter break, which was so nice. 

I have been working on my genealogy trying to finish it up for the family reunion in June.  My sister is celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary so the family is getting together to celebrate in Texas. Two of my sisters are flying in to North Carolina and we will be taking a road trip out, seeing some of the national parks. Ruth has a bucket list of seeing all the national parks so we have just a 'few' more to go. ha ha

In finishing up the genealogy, I thought just a few more pages when I found those 'two special' leaves that have taken me on a wild journey. Finding relatives in Scotland, England, Germany, Norway, France, Israel, Turkey, etc.  Didn't know we came down such a royal line.  But as my sister says, we always acted like 'Princesses'.  My grand daughter wants one of the castles, but alas, most are in ruins. Now that would be a project for one of the 'home maker-over' shows!

Anyway, I did finish up my 'Easy Street' quilt and for the first time took it out to be quilted. Am pleased with the quilting even if the lady changed the color of thread on me.  What's up with that?  So doesn't blend in with the back. But it looks great on my bed and love that it is done! This pattern was Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street mystery pattrnon Quiltsville she ran on her blog.

 The Top.

 A close up of the 15" blocks.

The back pattern.

TURN THE BLUE LIGHT ON

TURN THE BLUE LIGHT ON TODAY AND THIS MONTH FOR AUTISM.

AM SO PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER WHO IS A SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER AND HAS THESE PRECIOUS CHILDREN IN HER CLASSROOM.  WE NEED MORE DONATIONS TO HELP THESE CHILDREN.

LOVE YOU, TRACEY.

Design Wall

I arranged some projects on my design wall this weekend and so enjoy laying in bed and looking at them.

On the left are my ATW blocks received so far in my eagle fabric.  In the middle are the pink block lotto blocks that I won [a few more will be coming soon] and on the left are the finished blocks of the 'My Tweets' that I will be doing for my bed. I have seven of the twelve finished and am planning out the larger center block. I love all the lavender in them.

I also hung up the 11 of 12 Baltimore Christmas blocks finished.

 

World Wide Quilting Day

Our friendship swap group celebrated WWQD with a one-on-one swap. My friend Pat sent to me and I opened her gift today.

Included were two mug rugs, a flowered cross, an egg one, a homemade card, a Sew pin, some sticky notes and an enamel book mark in a lovely box.  All wrapped up in a quilt designed wrapping paper. I love it all.

I made this neighborhood table topper for the friend I sent too, Cindy.

Hope you have had some time to sew today.

SOCK MONKEY

My daughter-in-law, Donna, just finished this lovely baby quilt for a new great-grand niece who is expecting.  So she can make off another finish this year in our 12 in 2013.

 

MoJo Lost and Found

The last few weeks I lost my MoJo and wasn't sewing much. Of course, since I am the main dish washer in this home and I sliced my sewing finger with a serrated knife last week and couldn't do dishes or sewing, that's my excuse.

So this week I got back my MoJo and have learned to sew without my index finger and got some one else to do do dishes and I actually got some things finished.

One more UFO top to sandwich and bind for my daughter. It is called "Affairs of the Heart". All applique that I have been doing for two years.

So while I couldn't hand sew, I put together some more of the grandmother's garden flowers that I started last year while at my friend Pat's home. I now have 18 of them and will start to sew them down on my dark green fabric. I intend to make a large flower for the center of the quilt.  Another UFO! Alas!  This was supposed to be a year of finishes.

My granddaughter, Amber, helped me turn them and lay out the colors. Each flower has 20 different fabrics in them.  Not sure what color to do for the centers yet.

This is what they looked like on Pat's design wall last year when we had a sewing week.

Then I finished up a My Tweets block. [It's for the birds.]

Now I must really get back to washing those dishes. It is too bad the kids have to go to school.

February Finishes

This weekend I finally finished a Christmas tree skirt that just needed quilting and binding on it. I think my grandson wanted this one for his stash. Will see. I have another top done and needs to be quilted. During the day when Katie is sleeping I am working on the one that daughter wanted.

I also quilted a table topper that I did for a swap for World Wide Quilting Day gift. I count it as finished but can't post a picture until after the gift is recieved and opened on March 16, 2013.

Why I have been busy

Wow its almost been a month since I have posted. I did some more of my ATW blocks and have got two more back. Will take pictures.

Just wanted to say that this is why I have been busy.  Katie is six months old now and a delight. I do not miss the sewing time taking time with my cutie-pie.

Around The World Swap

The Friendship Group is doing an Around the World Swap this spring.  Everyone picks a pattern twelve inch block to make in the other participants fabric.  I have been working on mine.

This is a picture of six of the ones that I have finished. I love the way the corners fit into another element of the pattern, it would be great to have a quilt with this. The pattern is from Quilters Cache, called Carol's star so I thought it was fitting for me to use it.

 Debbe M had a flowered pattern fabric so I used greens with hers. And a fussy cut appliqued flower in the center.

 Jennifer sent a dark green/blue batik forest flower fabric.

 Tricia sent a blueish leaf fabric so I added the gold and some of Jennifers green to hers.

 Linda sent a thirties fabric to combine with the blues and yellows.

Cindy sent a fabric with lots houses and shops that I used as the backgrounds.

 

I have received two back with my eagle fabric.

This is my block made in my fabric.

 

First Finish in 2013

I thought today would be a good time to post my first finish for the challenge of completing 13 UFO's in 2013.  So my first [In the first month - January] on the 13th day is my Queen Minisofine from a mystery quilt from 2011.

This mystery was done on Paper Panache with her mystery Fairy Qyilt Godmother.
Here she is after I finished with the hand quilting.

 The Queen is now up on the wall in my bedroom, I'm afraid the gold wall makes her look more yellow than she is.

 

13 in 2013 UFO Challenge

This coming year my dear daughter-in-law, Donna, and I decided we needed to complete some of our long standing projects that seem to mount each year. So this is the challenge - we will finish one project a month = 12, and one to each other that we won't tell each other. That brings our total to 13.

If you would like to join us, please do, and comment on my site and I will list my finishes as well.  Donna - the deal is on.

JUST TAKES TWO & NEW MYSTERY

I finished the top of it Just Takes Two before I left NC last week.  Loving the red and white and it is a reminder of the family quilt of my mom's that was lost. I will have to decide on a name for it and how to do the borders.  It was a great mystery follow along quilt to do this past year.

Now another mystery for 2013, the Easy Street Quilt by Bonnie Hunter [Quiltville.com]. 

 I have the first step four patches done in golds and browns.  Here is my pile.

 A close up [sorry for the blurriness].

 And a view of the twist on the wrong side of block.

Now off to start step 2, am a few weeks behind on these put hope to catch up.

 

Christmas Tree Skirts

Here are views of two of the Christmas Tree Skirts I have made this year.

 

Daughter Grace wanted a blue and silver for her new white tree. So this is a Judy Niemeyer paper pieced star pattern that I used. It looks better in reality than the picture.

The back side is blue and white snowmen. My daughter took the picture on her kitchen floor. Sorry about my feet in the picture.

This is another one for my son and daughter-in-law in red and black.

And the Stockings were Hung

This summer I worked on making new Christmas stockings for the family. My friend Debbie did the embrodiery of the names for them. GREAT JOB, Debbie.

This past weekend the last of the family were together and so everyone now has their stockings to hang and I can now post the pictures.

My son, Richand, and daughter-in-love, Donna, live in Kirksville, Mo and they have three children. ie. corgies.

 

My daughter in North Carolina has four children and a little maltize.  I am staying with them now taking care of Katie, the newest baby blessing.

 

 

 

Here is a close up of Timothy's.

The girls live in Tenessee and their little dog is Keanu's brother, Harley.

They all seemed to like the stockings. Here is Nana's and Papa's but I don't know where I will be at Christmas yet.