Barn quilt and dining al fresco

Scott has been keeping himself busy recently by painting an awesome barn quilt for our porch!  I love it!  I actually found the design on the interest (sorry I do not know the creator) and I think that Scott's rendition turned out great.  Thanks, Scott!

Scott had extra time at home due to a positive Covid test earlier this month.  This was a first for either of us, as we have been so careful the past two years.  So far, I have not tested positive. 

I love those colors!

It looks great up close and from a distance too. 

We have had nice weather this month, so we've been eating outside a lot. We have the choice of eating on the back yard patio (above, with grilled brats)...  

...or eating out on our front porch.  We enjoy the front porch because we can greet our neighbors as they walk by.   You can see our garden in the background - it looks so great right now with the alium bulbs blooming and some fresh mulch showing off our hostas. 

This was another patio dinner - Pesto chicken, rice, and broccoli, and a nice cool Tom Collins.  Cheers! 

 

Big Change!

Our big news is that both Scott and I retired as of the end of March!  It was a big decision, we both worked past age 65, but we decided that "it's time".  Making the decision to retire was a whole lot easier, though, that doing all of the requisite paperwork (Medicare, Social Security, investments, etc.).  I'm glad that is all done! 

My (former) employer, Neuco, Inc., hosted a really nice retirement lunch for me and and all of  the employees at Neuco.  They catered a delicious Mexican lunch from a nearby favorite, Yerbabuena, and I got to stay in the lunch room and greet all of my friends and colleagues.  My boss, Gretchen, invited my family and also other recently retired colleagues.  Sadly, Gretchen could not be there because she was home sick with Covid.  She sent the gorgeous flowers in the first photo.  Shown above is daughter Hannah, myself, DH Scott, and daughter Genevieve. 

Later that same week, we attended granddaughter, Ella's, 4th birthday celebration!  This was about the first time that our whole family was able to gather since before the pandemic forced all of us to shelter separately.  It was a joy-filled day with lots of kids and laughter and cake!
Above is Ella (left) and another granddaughter, Lily (right).  In the background is daughter Hannah and her son, our grandson, Henry.  I don't think the kids slowed down once all day!

My daughters, all three beautiful inside and out:  Emily, Genevieve, and Hannah. 

The whole crew:  Matthew, Emily, myself, Ella, Scott, Kate, Hannah, Henry, Danny, Lily, Genevieve, and Joe.  I love them all so much!

Happy birthday, Ella!

 

Finishes - 2021!

 Wow, I had NO IDEA how many projects I finished in 2021 until I gathered them together and counted them!  I guess those little short sewing sessions added up to many completed quilts and other items! Note, some of these have not been blogged about yet, their stories will follow.  Here we go:

Oh Christmas Trees - table runner made for my niece, Collin. I drew Collin's name in our Secret Santa drawing this year.

I didn't make this awesome album quilt, but I re-bound it for my niece Collin, and her husband, Austin.  It is a well-loved quilt, made maybe in the 70s, it felt like silk working with it! I ripped off the original binding and added a fresh, new bias binding of muslin.  Ready for lots more snuggling!

I made a couple of Christmas pillow covers to add a little more Christmas fun to my holiday decor! 

One more little star pillow!

Sweet Baby Rose - made super quick for my coworker's new baby.  Rose made an early arrival so I quickly made this of saved extra equilateral triangles from another project. I love how the quilt gets so soft and crinkly after washing.

Hugs for Deb - finished quilt top, I never got a photo of the finished quilt! I tied the quilt to keep it super soft and fluffy.  This was a gift for a special friend who need a big hug. 

Rocky Mountain Love - baby quilt for little Owen (son of Cara K.) who lives in Colorado.  

Sweet Little Hearts - dolly quilt for my granddaughter, Kate, to celebrate her first birthday.  I have started a tradition of gifting each grandchild with a baby quilt when they are born, and a matching dolly quilt when they turn 1.

Sweet Little Hearts - dolly quilt for little Henry's first birthday. 

Siddhi Quilt - started in Sujata Shaw's online class from 2020, finished early in 2021.

Another project worked on this past year was going back and adding labels to all of my quilts.  I'm almost done with that.

So that's my year 2021 in review!  I know we all have busy schedules.  I work full time and also teach piano lessons to about 15 students each week.  It's important to me to fit quilting into my schedule.  I just love it, it feeds something inside me and makes me so happy!

Playing with Solids - #mfaQAL

 Hello and happy new year! I am optimistic for the coming year, as I have a new grandbaby on the way (in August), plus some new and exciting things for me personally in the wings.  More on that later.

I am starting with the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Quilt along! #mfaQAL.  Check out the many Insta posts and also their website!  https://www.broadclothstudio.com/mfa-qal  Their website has this fantastic Digital Coloring Page where you get to try LOTS of different colors and combinations for the quilt! 

The quilt is fairly simple, just 9 blocks, each designed by a different designer, and all with a modern edge. I have always loved quilts made with solids, but haven't sewn with them for years!

My fabrics - all Kona solids.

First block - Water Lily

Web page showing full quilt with 9 blocks.

Family time is the best!

We just took a great trip to the east coast to visit my brothers and their families.

We hadn't seen any of them since well before Covid, so this was a joyous reunion! 

We stayed with my brother, Chuck, and SIL Jean.  Jean fills their house with lots and lots of fanciful, arty touches everywhere!

Cute napkins, and we enjoyed several lovely beverages in those fun swirl glasses!  

It was so fun to reconnect with our great nephew, Huddie (short for Hudson).  He is so sweet and in motion constantly!

Doesn't everyone have a bottle opener in a pink flamingo's butt? 

Brother John and SIL Helen.  They hosted us for a fun evening of dinner and cards around the dining room table.

My other great nephew, Rhys!  His exuberance and joy really shows in this photo.

Dinner out on the last night of our visit, love this bunch!

 

Summer Days

I'm loving our flower pots this year! The hot pinks and lime greens look great together, and those tall red grasses with the soft plumes are so pretty blowing in the breeze.  We love to sit on our porch to have a glass of wine, or even to have dinner.  It's fun to visit with our neighbors as they walk by, too.
Scott made the patriotic barn quilt a couple of years ago.

This Peach Pecan Crisp was over-the-top good!  Our neighbors down the street have a peach tree, and they gifted us a nice big bag of fresh, sweet peaches, which we didn't know would grow so well in our climate!  We both thought great peaches were grown in Georgia, or also in nearby Michigan, which has a nice, temperate climate for fruit, because of Lake Michigan.  
This Peach Pecan Crisp (find the recipe here ) has a really crunchy, sweet topping that complements the tart-sweet peaches.  We topped our servings with vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

Quilt top finished, Hannah's birthday

Quilt top finished!  Simple design, 6" squares, in a streak of lightning setting.  All those Kaffe fabrics in the quilt are so gorgeous.

I got inspired when it came time to make Hannah's birthday cake this year!  I had seen Molly Yeh on Girl Meets Farm make a Barbie cake, and this is my version.  The cake and frosting were both delicious - lots of butter and cream cheese, what's not to like?  But it was difficult to frost the cut edges of the cake.  Oh well, the sprinkles helped, and Hannah loved it!

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Hannah and her little man, Henry, so handsome!