2016 One last page for Quiet Book

I had thought of making a page for potatoes because I had this burlap material.  I had forgotten to do it, until I saw on Tina's blog a picture of her little guy in the grocery shopping cart, hanging onto a huge potato.  So I made this bag, spelled potatoes wrong, but oh well, and the potatoes.  I showed a potato to Jill on Skype this morning.  She said it looked like a chocolate chip cookie.  But they're plump little potatoes to load into and out of the bag.

2016, two more pages of the Quiet Book

Next, the lion with huge floppy mane to play with.  Last page is a (sorta) mirror to look into and telling him to be happy.

2016, Quiet Book for the Teeny Guy

 1st page, boy holding kites with matching kites n the basket,  2nd page, mail box, that opens with letters from grandma inside.

 3rd page, a circus tent, zipper opening, full of funny animals to put in and pull out.  4th page, shoes, appliqued down with one shoe with laces to tie.

Next page, ice cream cones with fresh ice cream to be buttoned down.  Next page, a Jellyfish with tentacles with beads to push up and down.  First tentacle with 1 bead, the 2nd with 2 beads, etc.

Next page, butterflies, and dragonflies, bodies sewn down, but the wings can be moved.  Next, pieces of fabric to feel, corduroy, minkie, etc and one little zipper to play with.

Next two  pages, a roadway from Archie's garage to the houses, with a dog and pond appliqued down.  Inside the garage are several large cars to play with.

November, 2016 Single Irish Chain

My friend and co-worker, Robin, in Maplewood wrote to tell me she had worn out the quilt I made for her 15 years ago.  It's nice to know someone just loved my quilt to death.  So I made her a new one, this Single Irish Chain.  It's a little larger than the usual throw size.  The back is this nice, soft pink flannel.

2016 Two Small Wall hangings, One Half Square Triangle Throw Size.

 This is my Halloween quilt for the front door.  I was going to sew a pumpkin, but I found these
9 patch squares and decided to just sew the face on them, no pumpkin.

This is my Thanksgiving quilt for the front door.  The Turkey is made from my plaids, of course, in the Dresden plate style.  Happy??? Thanksgiving???  He looks a bit startled.

 This quilt was years in the making.  When you make flying geese, or snowball blocks, there is a small corner to cut off.  Usually these are thrown away as scraps.  But I saved them from lots of projects.  I squared them off to a little less than an inch and a half, very tedious.  When I sewed them together, I didn't bother about matching points or cutting off points.  Then I added the larger HST's to make it bigger, and give the eyes a place to rest.  I found the perfect stripe for the back.

2016 16" pillows for Jill

Jill sent me this wonderful fabric a few years ago for curtains for her baby's room.  This past year they moved and the curtains don't fit their new house.  She sent two back to me to be made into pillows.  The other curtain will go into a "tuffet" at some future date.  Of course I couldn't just make pillows, I had to patchwork design them.
Each pillow is different.

October 2016 throw size for KIC

 This is such luscious flannel fabric given to the guild from the family of a member who died this last year.  It is a small simple quilt with a soft pink backing for a girl in Kids in Crisis.  These quilts are sometimes given to the women's shelter, Seekhaven, in town.

September 2016 Flannel Quilt for Kids in Crisis

 I made this quilt from heavy flannels, so I didn't use small pieces, it went together quite fast, but still took time.  The material is very rich in color.  I just put it together randomly.  I got the material from a woman in the quilt guild who recently died.  Her family gave most of the fabric away to be used for Kids in Crisis.  It really is amazingly beautiful material.  I already happened to have some heavy flannel in my sewing room.  I think I was going to use it to make a snugly warm nightgown for myself.  But it was perfect in color for the backing of this quilt, shown on the bottom picture.

5 Single Irish Chain Quilts for Newborns at Church

 Earlier I showed the box of squares that was overflowing.  I cut the light fabric squares and then spent the last 6 months or so, sewing the blocks and using up the squares.  I was determined to finish these quilts before I allowed myself to go onto something new.  The bluish one is for a boy, of course, the pink ones for the girls and the yellow/green for whichever.  I really like the combinations of fabrics on the yellow one.   They are all different sizes and will go into the cupboard at church to wait for the babies to be born.

Charity quilts, August 2016

 This top quilt is for a baby at church.  I make them, they are put in the closet and given to the next baby born.  Simple squares of plaid.  I hand quilted it with gold thread, time consuming but fun.

This quilt is for Kids in Crisis, the organization that gives quilts to children going into foster care in town.  I think I've done all the quilts in this pattern that I will make, there have been a lot of them.  I finished up all the extra squares I had made.

Making quilts, Using squares

 When I make a quilt, I save the smallish fabric pieces and cut them into 2" of 2 1/2" squares.  After awhile I have a box full.  I can sew them together like this into 9-patch blocks which are fun and easy to make.  I get stacks and stacks of the blocks.

 After awhile, I have to face it, I have to make the blocks into quilts.  These will go for newborns at church, mostly blue for boys, mostly pink for the girls and a scrappy one I'm making for a friend in  NJ who told me she's worn out the one I made for her 15 years ago.  This is the product of a bunch of the blocks I've made.

Lap size, Single Irish Chain, 2016

I had some two inch squares cut out and in the middle of things I got anxious to sew them together.  I've never done a single Irish chain before.  I really love this pattern, and it's fun and easy to make.  This will go to a Kids in Crisis,

2 Throw Size, for KIC. June, 2016

 These two quilts are resulted from left over blocks from other projects.  The top one was from the quilt I made for Alex Lysenko, a couple of  years ago.  The bottom one was from blocks I made from the 'Marion" fabric, the woman in our guild who passed away, her family gave most of her fabric away.  I made so many blocks like this from her fabric because they're are forgiving and easy to do.  I have almost enough for another boy type quilt.

Full Size, finishing up the quilt for Georgia, 2016

My friend, Georgia, had this quilt pieced by her mother.  She asked me to help her finish it.  I just topstitched the edge to hold it together and added borders.  I used the extra fabric she had to piece together a backing, there wasn't enough of one fabric for the whole back, but I enjoy pieced backing, so it worked.

Throw Size, for Kids in Crisis, 2016

 In my newest quilt magazine there's an article about foster kids who receive quilts.  One woman got one and now years later she remembers how it helped her at a time when she felt alone and abandoned.  She still uses the quilt.  That helps me remember why we, in the quilt guild make quilts for KIC.  The top one is the "plus" quilt, the second picture is the back of the  first one.  The bottom quilt I made a long time ago, and just put the back on.  I was thinking I didn't like the quilt, but it actually looks quite pretty.

Large Throw, 2016, Comfy TV Watching "Hug Me" quilt

I found some big pieces of this very heavy material, that almost feels and looks like flannel on one side, the other is just woven plaid.  I was thinking this is way too  heavy for quilting and was tempted to throw it away.  Instead I cut it into large pieces, put them together randomly.  I was going to leave it, but decided to just tack some beautiful, blue flannel on the back.  I had enough to make two big quilts that are great for keeping you warm in front of the TV, or reading.  I had to serge around each piece because the material tended to unravel, then I top stitched at each seam.  Lot of sewing and lots of thread, but these quilts will keep Vere and Andrew very cozy for years.

Full Size, 2016 Half Square Triangles in Neutral

Over the years I've collected a lot of neutrals and thought a whole quilt with them would be fun.  Also, I love making half square triangles, so this quilt was inevitable.  I had Lou quilt it with her long arm machine.  Notice in the very middle of the top picture is the mistake in this quilt, a whole row with the dark side of the square  facing the wrong way.  I didn't even notice it until I posted the picture.  Oh Well, humans are not meant to be perfect.  I added the three borders, light, medium and dark because it wasn't quit big enough.  I really love this quilt.

Full Size, President's Block, 2009

 I belong to a quilt guild here in Moab and everyone has the chance, or honor to act as president for the  year.  It really is not too hard of a job and I did it in 2008.  At the end of the year, everyone makes a block, all in secret, on a theme suggested by someone.  So everyone made a block for me out of retro 30's fabric.  Good choice.  I really love this quilt.  I made a few blocks myself so I could have a larger quilt, and had it quilted by the Lou, on her long arm quilting machine.