For a friend of a friend of a ...

When nephew Chris lived in Chicago, he dated Payal, who made her first t-shirt quilt with me. Payal works out with Jason, who saw her quilt. Jason wanted something similar done with his baseball shirts from high school and college. And here it is! 53" x 60"

Top 10 Reasons to Finish Nathan's Quilt

10.  He's my youngest nephew.
9.  He did graduate a month ago.
8.  He lives in Indiana.
7.  I love his parents.
6.  He has the straightest hair of all my nephews.
5.  I love him.
4.  I haven't made him a quilt since he was really little.
3.  He's tall.
2.  I need to move on to other projects.
1.  If his quilt was all in one piece, I could use the ceiling fan without disturbing what's on the design wall - er, floor.

A Request and an Opportunity

I'm usually not able to see how a quilt of mine wears or how a purse holds up to daily use.  Last year when I was in physical therapy I made a purse/laptop carrier for my PT Chandra's daughter.  Recently Chandra asked if I would "rehandle" this bag.  Lavina has used it daily for almost a year.  So what an opportunity to see how one of my pieces has held up.  Except for the handles/straps, it looks pretty good.  But then the riddle:  if the straps are done during construction of the bag, how can I replace them without deconstructing the bag.

When I was making a bag for my sister Paula, I learned how to use D-rings. And these became the way to provide new straps for this purse without taking it apart. Voila!

The quilt for my nephew Nathan is coming along. Of course this is the part of the project when my OCD kicks in, exclusively centered around whether these fabrics are right for him. The pattern/design I'm confident about - in fact I love how it's turning out. But the one batik - the main one - is reading almost more coral than pumpkin. I keep telling myself that this fabric is the color of a sunset. But then I see that coral color and fret. These are some of the blocks on the floor - they still need to be assembled.

Big Day!

My Husqvarna Sapphire 730 returned from its month-long stay at the Spa. And to welcome it home, I moved my sewing tables. Instead of looking out the window, the window is now on my right. See the Friday the 13th blog entry to compare before and after. Luckily my Husqvarna Computer 500 has been a terrific back-up, but I'm thrilled to have my machine back.

This are the first bits of nephew Nathan's graduation quilt. I think this is a bold and graphic pattern and very manly with these batiks. Can't wait to see how this is going to come together.

All in the Family

My cousin Jerry's daughter Erin is getting married this summer, and of course there will be a shower for her. My mom and I can't go to Kansas City for this shower, but we are sending this casserole carrier as our present. Jerry's a woodworker who made this fabulous spoon for this project. Should I sign Jerry's name to this present?

June Graduation

 

Jimmy Shimizu has graduated from Naz and is on his way to the University of Dayton. He helped his mom Joanne chose which of his hockey jerseys and t-shirts to use in his graduation quilt. What a way to recap a hockey career! He just received this quilt and is pleased.

Good.

All scenes as landscape quilts...

Every thing I saw in the past two weeks became a possible landscape quilt, whether it was the wide expanse of the Grand Canyon or the gentle reddish tones of the underbrush or the sharp snowy peaks of the Tetons.

Perhaps in 7 or 8 months we'll have a monster snow and be snowed in and I won't have anything to do and I can work on some of these landscapes.  Perhaps...

Anniversary in the Great West

What a great trip to the West!  We began in Santa Fe.  And then we hit five of the parks, beginning with the Grand Canyon.  Words cannot describe the majesty.

We also went to Zion, Bryce, the Tetons, and Yellowstone national parks. 









The sunset over the Grand Canyon was as enthralling as the helicopter ride in the canyon. 

We know we are privileged to experience the beauty and diversity of our country.  Perhaps - perhaps - in another life we could have been cowboys.

The most amazing thing about this picture taken at the Tetons on our anniversary is the snow. 

Our adventure to the West is over.  Now it's back to the studio.  One of the women on our trip saw my jacket and loved it - she's ordered one in "Grand Canyon" colors.  While this project is at the bottom on my list of 7 projects, it is of course the one I want to do the most!

Promotions...and demotions

I'm proud to announce the addition of three new Quilters to the Quilting World - Natalie, David, and Anna - and Quilting Apprentice Rebecca. Here they are with their first quilts, and I am pronouncing them spectacular. But I did make an error with their ages and must do a little demoting. David, while eager to be in junior high, will actually be a fifth grader in the fall. Natalie and Anna will both be in junior high in the fall, as soon as they finish 6th grade this month.  I'm truly amazed at how terrific their quilts are!

Here is David's Bear Paw Quilt, a very tricky undertaking.  I'm proud of him for his vision and his execution.

Anna is working on tying her quilt with embroidery floss, and Rebecca is picking through the scrap basket.

Natalie is working at my machine quilting the edges of her quilt.  Not only did both Anna and Natalie piece their quilt tops, they both did machine quilting, too. 

Good Quilting Fairies come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. And moms often make good ones. Here's Natalie, David, and Rebecca's mom working with David on tying his quilt top.

Natalie's "Flying Geese" Quilt.

Didn't they just do the best job on these quilts?

Anna's "Flying Geese" Quilt.

Those Pesky Scraps

This is an ideal time to clean the studio - we're leaving town Friday, my good machine is still at the spa, the lessons with the kids wrap up tomorrow, my graduation quilts are completed.  But could I clean?  No.  I had to use up the scraps from the last few projects.  The bag on the left - the scraps were foundation pieced onto leftover Warm N Natural batting, and the bottom is boxed.  The bag on the right is just a plain old Mors bag.  Now that these scraps have been used, perhaps tomorrow I can actually vacuum.