Happy first finishes - 2021

One plus to being cooped up at home is - more time for sewing!  On the first of the year, which is also my birthday, I cleaned up and cleared out my sewing studio!  I organized everything (which involved a quick trip to the dollar store for more clear plastic boxes), and took stock of all my UFO's (unfinished objects, or projects).  I made a list of all of my UFOs, and also listed projects not yet started but planned for this year.  I won't mention how many projects are on those lists!!!

First completed quilt for 2021 - Siddhi Quilt, started in an online class with Sujata Shah a few months ago.  Sujata is an excellent quilter and teacher, and just a beautiful person, too.  Scott and I were honored to meet her about 5 years ago.  
This is a small quilt, hand stitched with perle cotton.  You start at the OUTSIDE edges, and work your way around, adding pieces as you go.  The stitching goes through all three layers - backing, thin batting, and top pieces.  You just cut your pieces with a scissors, folding under the edges with your fingers.  No iron or rotary cutter needed.  I really love how it turned out, and have another one started already. 

This is a doll quilt called Happy Little Star for my grandson, Henry's, first birthday, which is coming up in April.  This is a small version of his baby quilt.  A truly unusual feature for me is the fact that this quilt is done way before the event!  I am usually finishing projects at the last possible minute!

This quilt, Happy Little Hearts, is a doll quilt for my granddaughter's Kate first birthday, coming up in May.  Yet another quilt done ahead of schedule!  This is a smaller version of her baby quilt.  I had fun with the free-motion quilting in the borders.  

 

'Tis the Season for New Christmas Stockings!

We were not able to have a house full of family this Christmas, but we still decorated - including a stocking for each family member!  This meant that I needed to sew some NEW stockings!

These two new stockings are for our daughter, Genevieve (GVG for short, an it fits nicely on a stocking!), and her darling daughter, our granddaughter, Lily, who turned 3 on Christmas Day.  I did have other stockings for them, but I decided I needed to make them nice, new ones, to better blend with our Christmas color scheme. 

These stockings are for our two NEW family members, born in 2020!  Two new grandchildren (total is now 4, we are blessed!), Henry - first born child to Hannah and Danny and Kate - second child to Emily and Matthew and sister to Ella.  We can't wait for NEXT Christmas, when (hopefully) all of the family will be here for Christmas morning!  We will be crowded, and it will be chaotic - and I cannot wait!

These are the stockings at Emily and Matt's house.  The one on the right is Emily's (she attended Indiana University), and the one on the left is for Ella.  I made Ella's this year.

The one on the left is Matthew's (he attended Notre Dame), and the one on the right is for Kate.  I made Kate's this year. 

Good tidings of comfort and joy, from our house to yours!

 

Happy New Year 2021!

Happy new year, 2021! I wish all of you a year filled with love, good health, and happiness!

We took a drive yesterday so I could visit a couple quilt shops! I had depleted much of my Christmas fabrics, especially reds, while sewing several new Christmas stockings for new family members.  I had fun doing some stash building! 
I also had this panel that I purchased a couple of years ago, that I plan to incorporate into a Christmas quilt.  Plan for that quilt is tbd.

New year's eve dinner was surf and turf!  Scott made the entrees, I made the sides, and we both enjoyed!  My birthday is January 1st, so this was also my birthday dinner.  

I got this puzzle for Christmas from my Secret Santa, my nephew, Austin.  It was lots of fun!  So much fun, that we just broke it up, and started it again!

 

FH Quilt - reimagined! #uanduqal

Quilt inspiration from Unconventional and Unexpected, by Rod Kiracofe.  Early last year, Sujata Shah put out a challenge to quilters, to make a quilt inspired by a quilt from the book. Mine is finally done!

 

I started with a vintage string quilt made by my grandma, Frances Heggestad.  Grandma signed her letters "love, Gramps and FH", so I call this FH Quilt.  I took the blocks apart - which were about 12-1/2" square - and recut the blocks into (4) 6" square blocks.  Many of these 6" blocks were  not used, due to damage.  Her quilt was well-loved!  You can see my first post about this here.

Auditioning fabrics for sashing and cornerstones.  After trying muslin, and gray, I ended up with various blues and reds for sashing, and several different prints for the cornerstones. 

Progress on the design wall.  As usual, I had not purchased enough of the reds and blues, so I ended up supplementing with some in my stash.  I love scrappy quilts, so this was a happy accident. Grandma never purchased fabrics for her many quilts.  She used old clothes, and scraps, given to her by friends and family.  Grandma made some quilts which she kept, or gave to family members, but she gave many more to charity.  

I love this old photo of my grandma, c. 1940.  That's my dad, a new sailor with the Navy (he enlisted), and his brothers Orville and Gordon.  

Here is the original quilt top, before I ripped apart the blocks.  

Ta da!  The completed project - FH Quilt Reimagined.  I used my favorite poly cotton blend batting, and soft muslin on the back.  

Photo shoot.  I love how it turned out! I think Grandma would have liked it. 

Close up, showing the ties and binding.  

Reading , eating out, and a zoom birthday

My lovely daughters!  Emily, Genevieve, and Hannah - as beautiful inside as out, I must say!  All three are now mothers, fine mothers all of them - my heart is so full!
Genevieve celebrated a birthday recently - but we were NOT all together, as shown in this photo (taken at Scott's birthday party this past February):  we  "met" via zoom.  Ah, the times we are living in!

Favorite photo of Genevieve and Scott - we were about to attend "West Side Story" at the Lyric Opera last year.  I said, jump up like you're dancing in the show, and they both did it!  Note, Scott is 69 years old, and had both feet in the air!  Genevieve is a dancer by training (BA, Northwestern University), and it shows. :)

Lovely Genevieve.

Scott and I WENT OUT TO EAT for the first time since early March.  Hannah had just gone back to work at the local establishment, so we went to support her.  It was late afternoon on a Saturday, before the dinner rush (so not crowded), and we didn't have to wait for an outside table, so we felt fairly safe.  Masks were worn going to and form, of course!  

Just finished this book, and enjoyed it thoroughly!  Our library was closed for months - I think they just reopened yesterday, with reduced hours/services - but you could still pick up books.  I put in a request for some novels, gave them some guidelines, and a librarian curated a selection of books for me!  This was one of them, and I loved it.

Stay safe, everyone!

It's a girl! Kate makes her entrance!

It's a girl! Sweet granddaughter Kate, posing on her special quilt, So Many Hearts.  
Katherine Louise was born 5/14/2020, a full 3 weeks early!  Long story, but mama and baby are healthy and doing well!  The quilt pattern was a simple heart block, 4 squares (3 pink, 1 white) sewn into a 4-patch and set on point.  I think the squares finished at 2", and the simple white sashing finished at around 1". I did a loose meander for the free motion quilting.  The batiks for the hearts were all from my stash.  Many were from a jelly roll purchased about 5 years ago, to make mug rugs for Emily's bridal party.  Perfect use for the leftovers!  I filled in with other scraps I had - pinks, purples, oranges, and a few green/pink prints.  

All of the newborn pictures from the hospital remind us that Kate was born during the Covid-19 outbreak, so both mom and dad are wearing masks.  Even so, you can see the love and wonder in our daughter, Emily's, eyes as she holds her newest daughter.  Her 2-year-old, Ella, stayed with us a week during the hospital stay.  

And check out little Kate and her daddy, Matthew,  sharing a special moment together.  How sweet is this! 
Since Kate was early - and I was late getting her quilt started - plus the fact that Scott and I kept Ella here for a full week (we didn't get much else done that week), the quilt was not done in time for Kate's homecoming.

Emily had hired a painter to paint her nursery - but because of Covid and not wanting workers in the house, she ended up painting it herself.  She even added one wall of peel and stick adorable bunnies wallpaper.  So soft and pretty.

Pretty mama and sleeping baby - welcome to the world, little one!

Oh My Happy Star

Oh My Happy Star delivered!  It's a good thing, because baby Henry arrived 15 days early!  Quilt was done in time for them to use when bringing Henry home from the hospital. 
The quilt had a long journey to its completion!  Once the muse finally spoke to me, it was easy:

Simple squares and half square triangles in bright, fun prints plus pure white Kona make for a sweet and simple baby quilt.  At the time of its making, we didn't know the gender of the baby, but I did know the nursery design and color scheme (gray, white, and bright colorful accents).  But it didn't start this way. 

My first idea was pinwheels - bright happy scraps, leftover from another quilt I made for Hannah and Danny (parents of the baby to be).  I spent LOTS of time making this, pressing seams open, picking fabrics carefully, figuring out the math to add the sawteeth borders (ugh).  And after I got it all "done", I hated it.  Hated. It. It was just TOO TOO  - too bright, too big, too scrappy.  So while thinking of another baby quilt idea, I ripped apart the pinwheels. 

I trimmed down the pinwheels to a smaller size, added white sashing and soft gray cornerstones. Aahhh.  

I added some simple white borders, and this top is done.  This quilt will go to another baby someday.  But in the meantime, this quilt is hanging on a hanger, awaiting quilting.  

Baby quilt idea #2 for Hannah's baby.  I used a simple color scheme of gray, white, aqua, and peach, and cut lots of 60 degree triangles.  Nice and simple, and I loved the result.  For about a day.  Then - I started rethinking it.  I thought it was too scrappy for Hannah, and not modern enough for her taste.  

Triangle quilt, take two - nope!  this is not it either.  All of the pieces are in a box, and will work for another baby quilt someday, but not this one.  Thankfully, the muse spoke to me, and I ended up with Oh My Happy Star.  I think I finally made the quilt, start to finish, in less than a week - including free-motion quilting.   I work full-time, and teach 18 piano students a week.  

Baby Henry's homecoming day!  I think they both look super cute. I love that Hannah is using the quilt, and not just hanging it on the wall, or storing it away in a drawer. 

Oh My Happy Star at home in Henry's adorable nursery. 

Sweet dreams, Henry!