One shopping trip = 3 baby quilts, second finish of 2016

Meet sweet baby girl Larkin! 

Isn't she adorable? My co-worker is her mother, so I wanted to make this special girl a quilt.  I used my same group of baby quilt fabrics, purchased two years ago for one quilt, and they keep turning into one more quilt! 

Gretchen (my friend, Larkin's mom) had picked gray as her favorite color for the nursery, so I picked fabrics from my bin to complement her theme (and I did add a solid gray from my stash).  I love the butterfly fabric in the border, with just a hint of my favorite color, lime green!

I settled on a simple meander for the quilting, using a variegated pastel thread.  I topstitched the binding in lime green. 

Sorry the light isn't very good, but I snapped these early in the morning before dashing off to work.  I wanted to bring the quilt to work with me, and present it to Gretchen.

Originally thought I'd just make a dolly quilt for Larkin, but ended up adding borders to make it baby-size.

Hudson's quilt - a much larger quilt! Made for our great nephew, Hudson, who is named for us! What an honor! This is the quilt that started this string of baby quilts.  I shopped for a nice variety of bright, modern prints and made these fun tumblers. 

This is Hudson with his mother, Miranda, at our daughter's wedding.

Simple quilting completed the quilt. 

Second quilt made from my baby quilt bin - for little baby Lena! Love those butterflies in the border, too! Kristin, the baby's mother (special friend of the family), chose cute pastels like aqua, orange, and yellow for her theme, so I tried to skew the color scheme in that direction.

Kristin holding the quilt at her baby shower.  We've know Kristin since she met our daughter, Emily, when they were in the 7th grade.  Best friends ever since.

Baby Lena with her snuggle quilt.  I think she likes it. 

Happy Day! Baby Lena's Quilt, Unconventional Book, Jazz Concert

This picture makes me so happy!  Kristin, the baby's mother, sent me this photo, which was NOT staged!  This is why we make quilts, isn't it? Is there anything sweeter than this? Here is baby Lena, who pulled my quilt down from the edge of the crib, and cuddled with it, and fell asleep in its warm embrace.  I just want to kiss her sweet sweaty little head. 

I am totally in love with this book - I was so happy when I received it in the mail!  I had heard about it from friends - I knew I would like it, so I ordered it with a Christmas gift card (thank you, Austin!) - and it FAR EXCEEDED my expectations!  The author, Rod Kiracofe, presents these quilt selections with such artistic excellence, it is hard to describe.  He speaks with the voice of an expert curator, fully understanding and respecting the quilts and their makers.  But it is more than that.  He also obviously loves these quilts, and his kind heart comes through the prose of his book.  It is a treasure.

Doesn't this beauty look straight out of today's "fresh modern" movement? Love the purple and green combo, and those circles - how inspired!

And who doesn't love a spiderweb? Look at these two beauties!  The one on the right has hand-dyed green as the background - before hand-dyed was "cool".  I wonder what the back story is on that!

And how about these  pieced columns?

Another happy thing happened today! Scott and I attended a very special concert at Symphony Center in Chicago:  Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with Wynton Marsalis!  They played a program of masterful compositions by:  Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and John Coltrane.  Wow - what a night!  Wynton Marsalis gave a narration throughout the evening, telling the stories of how these masters influenced each other, and also shaped the history of jazz.  It was, in a word, thrilling!
Of course it was an excuse to get dressed up, and I got to sport my new sparkly bracelet - a Christmas gift from my daughter, Genevieve.  Lovely!

Baby Lena!

What a little miracle! I ADORE this picture...this is my daughter, Emily, and her best friend's little daughter, Lena - one month old.  The look on Emily's face says it all, doesn't it?  Emily instantly fell in love with this sweet baby.  

Emily sharing a laugh with Kristin.  Lena was so good-natured about getting passed around from person to person. 

The lovely Kristin and her sweet daughter.  Emily and Kristin have been best friends since junior high school.  Meeting Lena was one of Emily's reasons for coming home for the weekend. 

One more close-up of Lena.

Such a pretty sleeper!

Zigzag Quilt Decision; New Life; Best Garden Bargain Ever!

Finally getting somewhere on this project! I made a couple of changes, and I think I finally have something that both my daughter, Emily (the recipient) and I will like.  I added MORE fabrics (always a good choice, if you ask me), in warmer tones, and I also changed it to a scrappy, yet somewhat organized, layout. Someone told me once, when arranging flowers, you should always add yellow, to help the colors blend better. I think it holds true in quilting, too. Always add a little yellow.  And black.  And of course, lime green. Yay.

Someone new arrived this week! Meet Lena Mae, born to the lovely Kristin, who is the best friend of my daughter, Emily.  Kristin had told Emily about the birth right away, but swore her to secrecy until Kristin spread the news on facebook.  Well, Emily's excitement got the best of her, and she sent me an email yesterday, with the following subject line:  "Okay I cannot hold this in any longer".  (Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone else, and the news hit facebook later that same day) When I read what had happened, I burst into tears right there at my desk at work, happy tears. I have known Kristin for so long, and love her so.  Welcome, little Lena!

I just LOVE my newest hydrangeas! These three plants are all the "Bombshell" cultivar, somewhat similar to the "Incrediball", but smaller in stature.  Perfect size for the bed between my porch and the sidewalk.  I found the plants ON CLEARANCE at Lowe's late last year, for ....drum roll....$5.29 each!!!! I pounced on them!  Scott said, "how many do you want?" I got six!

Here's another Bombshell, by itself, in front of our bedroom window.  My window box has NEVER looked this good, the petunias are going to town! Geeves, the blue heron, is keeping watch.