Answered prayers

I have friends who live in Maryland.  They have been trying to have a baby for a number of years.  Bless their hearts for their fortitude with failed IVF attempts.  In answer to their prayers, they had a friend raise her hand and volunteer to be a surrogate.  

In mid-January (before all the craziness of the Corona virus grounded us), we had a baby shower.  We had no clue as to gender of the long-anticipated bundle of joy, so I went with gender-neutral.

This is the quilt.  The pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  Although I didn't plan it, the quilt is in the colors of our beloved Georgia Bulldogs.  (G'Mama picked up on it immediately.)  In the picture are the mom, me, and three of the cousins of the long-awaited baby.  

On March 9, Luciana "Lucy" Rose made her appearance.  

Congratulations to Mom & Dad, the grandparents, and family on this long-awaited bundle of joy.  I am so happy to be able to contribute a gift to the arrival of this sweetheart.

Where does the MoJo go?

When I last posted in 2016 (😖), I pledged to post more often.  Well, life gets in the way.  My Dad passed away.  I miss him so much and have been somewhat depressed.  We've had the normal clean-out his house and settling the estate.  None of it has been easy. 

My studio got into a mess and with the depression from missing my Dad, it's been hard to pull up the boot straps and get it straightened up.  Last Monday, I had nine girl scouts come to make pillowcases for charity.  I couldn't let the girls into a mess, so they became my incentive to organize the space.  What kind of quilter would I be if I didn't set a good example?  I cut 30 pillowcase sets and let them choose their set to make.  The two Scout leaders helped facilitate the sewing and all nine girls got to make a pillowcase.  

So, looking back, I've been to a couple retreats with my primary Guild.  Also, the secretarial duties have occupied a couple days a month. This Guild also makes pillowcases for two charities.  I made 37 to donate last year.  

Even with the lack of incentive and other activities, I have had some finishes over the past couple years.  

This quilt was made for Alec and Ashley as a wedding present.  It is from Pat Wys' White Chocolate pattern.  I love Pat's pattern.  Her cutting directions were spot on.  I only had slivers when I squared up the blocks. 

When I can find the baby quilt I made for their first little girl, I'll post it.  One of my upcoming projects is a quilt for baby #2. 

This quilt was made for Shane and Natalie as a Christmas gift for Shane's mom.  

It is a braid quilt.  I took a class at a LQS on the technique.  I think I'd like to try another.  I didn't quite get it done for Christmas but they gave her some of the fabrics and I finished it in January 2019.  

Most of 2018 and 2019 were spent being a buddy to my husband.  Our days evolved into lunch dates out before or after running errands.  He broke his foot in three places in December 2019 so we've spent a lot of time at home and I've spent the first three weeks of 2020 in the studio.  I have really enjoyed my creative time and pledge to myself to spend more time there this year.  I think the MoJo's back.

Sunnyside

Wow!  It has been a long time since I've posted.  It's not because I've been sitting on my thumbs.  Almost all quilters have multiple projects in process at the same time.  I think I've reached max.  I have seven projects in boxes on which I am actively quilting.  I keep saying I'm not going to start anything else until those are finished... and then something comes up...  This time, it was a baby shower.  

I have four granddaughters.  Two of them (Chloe and Kaitlin) live in North Carolina.  A month or so ago, Chloe called and during the course of the conversation, she told me that Mommy is expecting a baby sister.  Oh, by the way, would I make baby sister a quilt?  Of course, I will.  

Pat Wys released a book some years back called Spotlight on Neutrals.  I've taken several classes from Pat and proudly claim (self-proclaimed) the title of President of her fan club.  Although Pat created the quilt in neutrals, I love it in color.  It is called Sunnyside.  It is my favorite "go-to" pattern for baby quilts.  It is the perfect size for laying on the floor for the little one to roll around on. 

The baby's room will be decorated in an "ocean" theme so the requested colors were seafoam green and aqua.  Mommy's favorite color is purple so I knew I couldn't go wrong there.  It reminds me of looking at the water at Panama City Beach and being able to see the colors as they deepen in the Gulf of Mexico.  

 

The perfect quilt for a perfect baby girl.  

 

My First Mystery Quilt

Bonnie Hunter is a nationally-known quilter.  Her website is quiltville.com.  She does scrappy quilts.  I have had the pleasure of taking a couple of classes from Bonnie and she's a wonderful teacher.  

Each year, she publishes clues for a mystery quilt.  The clue on what colors she used comes out in early November so you can go shopping for fabric.  The first clue for blocks comes out on Friday after Thanksgiving.  She releases a clue a week until the Friday after New Year's.  If you keep up with her, you will have a completed quilt.  

For the past three years, I have intended to complete the mystery quilt.  Year 1 (Easy Street), I have the fabrics and completed clue 1.  Easy Street contains lime green and it doesn't speak to me.  I think I'm going to have to swap out the lime green to bring the quilt to completion.  

Year 2 (Celtic Solstice), I have the fabrics.  It's a beautiful blend of shirtings, blues, greens, and oranges.  It is on my to-do list.  

Year 3 was Grand Illusion.  The inspiration came from the Grand Island Hotel on Mackinaw Island.  The colors are yellow, aqua, grass green, pink, black and white.  Bonnie pulls paint chips from her local Lowe's and provides the colors so we have a better representation of the quilt colors than the colors on a computer monitor.  

Here's the quilt in progress.  My white has a design on it with all the colors in the rest of the quilt.  The design is dogs, chickens, butterflies, leaves, etc.  I just love it.

I love the border.  To me, it looks like flowers in bloom.  After I finished the quilt, I asked my granddaughter, Sarah -- the artist, for her opinion on the binding and she said green.  So here's the final...

I don't have a quilt that I have made.  I usually make quilts and give them away.  This one is staying with me.  It's a biggie -- 88" x 88". 

My Legacies

A legacy is something that comes from someone in the past, according to Webster.  I certainly grew up with women in my past who had a love of sewing and they left that legacy to me.

This is a picture of my family.  Left to right, my grandmother (Ethel), my grandfather (Freddie holding my older sister, Sarah), Aunt Ruth, Aunt Polly, and my Mom (Martha).  All the women in this picture sewed.  My mom had a sewing machine that my grandmother gave to her when she got married.  My brother still has it.  My grandmother taught 4H.  I learned to make an apron from her at a young age.  My grandmother also quilted.  I have some of her blocks.  

But this post is about Aunt Ruth.  She was my mom's older sister.  I can only imagine these girls as young girls.  I know they were full of life.  Aunt Ruth was one of my mentors for hard work.  When we worked in the tobacco fields, Aunt Ruth was the stringer.  We handed three leaves of tobacco to Aunt Ruth and she would tie it to the tobacco stick with string.  You had to be on your toes to keep up with Aunt Ruth.  Aunt Ruth contracted hepatitis in 1974 and left us when she was far too young.  Her passing was a great loss to the whole family.  

Aunt Ruth's first great grandchild was born in December.  I can only imagine how excited she would be as I remember how excited she was when my son was born.  When I read about the birth of Jasper, I felt that I had to make a baby quilt for him in Aunt Ruth's honor.  I know that she would have made him one if she were still here.  So, here's Jasper's quilt...

It is by the Trip Around the World pattern from the book Tradition With a Twist.  I think about little Jasper embarking on his life with the world ahead of him.  I hope this small gesture comforts him in the early years of his life.  Congratulations to his parents, Richard and Ashley, and his grandparents, Dick and Deb. 

Lilah's Quilt

The "group" quilt has been finished for quite some time.  It's lacking a label.  If you recall from my last post, a group of friends collaborated to create a quilt for a lady at church who had a stroke.  We showed it at Quilt Guild in February. It measured 74" square. 

I love the Guild but our room is small and it is hard to get a good picture.  It seems like all the pictures have someone's back or a chair in them.  

I've been wanting to take a picture of the quilt outside at my house, but the weather hasn't been cooperating and the ground has been too wet.  But, Sunday was a good, sunny day so I ran out with my camera and snapped pictures of a couple quilts.    

I love how this quilt turned out.  It is the Disappearing Hourglass from Missouri Star Quilt Company's video tutorials.  I didn't get a close up of the quilting.  I quilted it in blue thread.  I find it interesting how colored thread plays on the colored blocks.  On the yellow, it looked grey.  On the white, it was a bright blue.  Quite fun!

Sewing with Friends

I have a quilt studio.  I love it and many of my friends do as well.  One of the ladies in my church had a stroke.  A friend suggested to several other friends in our Sunday School class that we make the lady a quilt.  So, we pulled a couple layer cakes from my stash and used the Disappearing Hourglass pattern from Missouri Quilt Company.  

Disclaimer:  When I am quilting, I don't dress up (understatement).  I dress very comfortably. Make up and hair styling do not exist.  

My cutting table is awesome.  Connie and Sandra liked it as well...

 We put blocks on the quilt wall and then moved them around. Carole, Shirley and I each took turns flipping blocks.  Although, you have to watch Shirley and step stools.  Remember to close the doors behind the design walls!  (Note to self:  don't let Sandra take pictures of my backside.)

Sandra shows our thoughts on the final layout.  We all loved the color block design. 

Don't look too close because some of the pieces were rotated.  When we got them on the wall, it was evident.  Blocks have been taken apart and restitched.  The flimsy is together and the borders are sewn on.  It will go on the frame this morning. 

The best part of the whole experience is the memory we have as friends.  There was a lot of laughter, some scary moments and lots of good food. This is what the studio was intended to be.