Mom's Sunbonnet Sue Quilt

Suzanne and Mom with finished Sunbonnet Sue Quilt

Mom had a little over half the quilting done on her Sunbonnet Sue quilt last year when she got sick.  I promised I would finish it for her, so took it home when I left her house last June.  I worked on it in Phoenix and even on the train while I traveled back this February.  During my stay with her, I managed to complete it!  It's cheerful, pretty and was a pleasure to work on for her.  We had fun choosing the binding together from fabric we found in her quilting cupboard.  She liked watching the progress every day and seemed very pleased to see her happy little quilt completed.      

Happy 10th Anniversary to the Borgers!

Tami & Jeremy have their wedding quilt!  The happy couple were married in June 2001 and I just finished their gift. It may be the first and last wedding quilt I ever make. Oh, the pressure! Every anniversary that passed made me feel more guilty.  No pressure from these dear friends, mind you, but I knew they were looking forward to receiving it.  Little did I dream when I started this project that it would take me so long and they would have 4 children by the time I gave it to them.

When we arrived at their front door and knocked, we heard excited little voices shouting, "They're here!"  Wow, what a welcome we got!  The children were SO excited.  And I think the grown-ups (us included) were, too. We last saw each other at our grandson Caleb's first birthday party, which was over a year and a half ago.  It was time for a good visit!

Of course, as little kids will do, they had to bring out all manner of their most prized possessions to show us.  I always think that is the way children express they are glad to see someone.  They may not have the words to say, "I've missed you" or "It's so nice to see you again" so they put their favorite toys in your lap instead.  It's so sweet.  We visited for awhile and then it was time for the big presentation!

I think they like it!  

Those children were so excited you'd have thought that quilt was a magic carpet or something equally wondrous.  They hugged it, rolled around on it, poured over every square all the while giggling their hearts out.. "What does this one say?" "Look at the kitties!"  "There's dogs over here."  "Whose name is that?" So many questions and so much fun.  We spent a considerable amount of time examining the names on the signature blocks, words and shapes I had hidden in the quilting and scripture verses I had written on unsigned blocks.  It made me feel better about being so late with this gift, for had I completed it in a more timely fashion, there would not have been these delightful children to enrich the process of giving it.  

Burying stray threads with the kiddos

It's a simple quilt of nine-patch blocks comprised of rail fence blocks and solid squares.  Tami and I sat together by the fireplace in my family room (way back when we still lived in Michigan and they weren't yet married!) and sorted through my fabric stash, choosing colors and prints she liked.  That afternoon is still a pleasant memory for me, as is the memory of their beautiful wedding day on the shores of Lake Michigan.  

Tami wanted the quilt to be colorful and cheerful and that's just how it turned out. The fabrics were chosen in friendship and the blocks were signed with good wishes, blessings and love. Then all was stitched together (...slowly...) with more of the same in my sunny Arizona sewing room.  I like to think there's a lot of sunshine sewn right into that quilt.  I know there's a lot of love. 

T-Shirt Ringlet Scarf (or Grammy Is Feeling Crafty)

Strips cut from old T-shirts

I found this clever project on a couple of blogs recently.  It's a scarf made from old 
T-shirts!  It looked easy, fun, and seemed like a good way to use something that was headed for the the rag bag anyway. 

Candy Corn T-Shirt Scarf 

Here's the finished product on the left.  My results were not quite as nice as the two blog scarves.  It looks rather like a Halloween-style Hawaiian lei, don't you think??  But, I like it and will wear it when we go to a Pumpkin Patch with another grandson next week!

Makes me hungry for candy corn!
If you have old T-shirts you'd like to cut up and a little free time, complete instructions are available here:

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/crafts-projects/make-this-quick-n-easy-ringlet-t-shirt-scarf.html

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/recycled_tee_circle_scarf

See you in the Pumpkin Patch!

25 Fat Quarters for 25 Years

At the end of June I celebrated a major anniversary - 25 years as a cancer survivor!  I wanted to do something fun & special to mark the day, so decided to go to my favorite Phoenix quilt shop and purchase one fat quarter of fabric for every year of survival. Twenty-five fat quarters = too much fun! When the appointed day arrived, reason and logic overcame my celebration spirit.  Realizing that at $2-$4 apiece my fat quarter extravaganza would take a fat chunk out of my wallet, I decided to think on it a day and come up with a more budget friendly way to celebrate life.

Flossie Featherweight with 25 Fat Quarters & 80 Hearts

What a nice surprise it was to open my email the next morning and find an offer from Keepsake Quilting - a lovely fabric shop in New Hampshire - for 25 fat quarters at $1 apiece!  It seems that they, too, were celebrating a 25 year anniversary and were offering customers 25 lovely chunks of premium quilting fabric for only $25.  The only downside was that they made the fabric choices. I thought about it for, oh, less than two minutes, then placed my order!  The package arrived Saturday; ALL the fabrics are gorgeous.  I also ordered a package of 80 die-cut heart shapes in 1930's vintage prints to sweeten my celebration.  All in all, a great deal and proof that "good things come to those who wait."  Happy 25th Anniversary to me and Keepsake Quilting!

Kickin' Up Some Dust

Road to Paducah

Kicked up some dust in the sewing room and found 4 more U.F.O.s!!!  Two are baby quilt  kits from Patchers at the Lakeshore from many years ago.  They will be quick to complete as they are already cut and the batting provided requires very little quilting.  Also found a quilt top for a sweet preemie baby who was born last year.  It's tiny, as she was, so will be a quick project, too.  And then, how could I have forgotten my Road to Paducah Quilt?? This is a favorite project and I can't believe I "forgot" about it.  I was working on it only a few weeks ago.  Could this be the end of the list??

There was a colossal dust storm here on Tuesday! I've always said this state has some serious dust, but this  dust bunny was thousands of feet high and about 100 feet wide.  If you search on Google for "Phoenix dust storm" you will find lots of links to incredible videos and photographs.  I tried to post a link, but can't get it to work so that you can just click through to the site. Check it out if you haven't already seen the news stories.  It's more amazing than my growing U.F.O. list.  Really!

A List of U.F.O. Sightings

Here's a list of recent U.F.O.s which have been spotted on sewing room shelves, discovered in drawers and found in fabric stashes. The list is fairly complete, but I wouldn't be surprised to find more!  It's
good to have them gathered in one place, as it squashes the ever-present desire to start a new project.  I need that!
Or perhaps you hadn't noticed??
"Little Quilts" Flag for Joan's new house
Ryan's Cradle Quilt
Peter's Kitty Quilt
Susan Wingett Quilt
Tami & Jeremy's Wedding Signature Quilt
JoAnn Fabs Block-of-the Month Star Sampler
Butterfly Baby Quilt 
Seven Stars for Seven Sisters (Good grief - I started this in 1996!)
Blue Folded Star  (Yikes - this one is from 1982!)
Thimbleberries Pine Tree Quilt
Desert Star Medallion Quilt 
2001 Christmas Row by Row Quilt
Christmas Round Robin Quilt - Blockhead Babes
Purple Sampler Blocks - 50th Birthday Quilt
1999 Pink/Green Row by Row  
Snowballs in the Garden
2009 Summer Mystery Quilt  
2010 Summer Mystery Quilt     
"Bull's Eye" Quilt
Apple Core Charm Quilt
Antique Dresden Plate - quilt blocks from Mom
Aunt Grace Pinwheels 
Teddy Bear Baby quilt 
Jackie Robinson Wildflowers Quilt
Charity baby quilts I & II (oh, dear..took these kits home from a guild meeting years ago!!!)
Road to Paducah Quilt
Daire's Baby Quilt
Mom's Sunbonnet Sue Quilt
2013 Summer Mystery Quilt

A No-Sew Week

Didn't sew a single stitch this week!  Sad, but true.  However, lots of other stuff has been going on.  Baby Ryan got his "cradle" quilt and really seemed to like it.  He also got his very first haircut this week!  This photo was taken while he still had his baby curls.  On Tuesday we took a trip to Prescott, AZ to celebrate Laura's birthday. Prescott is in the mountains about 85 miles north of Phoenix. After browsing the shops and having lunch at the Adirondack Cafe, we went to Goldwater Lake in the Prescott National Forest. The drive up was beautiful.  The town is historic and picturesque. The park was gorgeous and peaceful.  I hope you enjoy the pictures!  With any luck, there should be a newly completed U.F.O. to report after the holiday weekend.

Slow Going

Wiggly babies

The U.F.O's in my desert don't come with aliens.  And there is no traveling at light speed in my sewing room.  Everything takes longer than I think it will or should.  That is a lesson for me to learn and remember. There's something in the Bible about counting the cost before you start a project. I need to find that verse and commit it to memory.

I am not fast, but I am making progress. Grandson quilts are nearly finished! Ryan's needs hand sewing on the binding. I'll do that this afternoon, then bind Peter's quilt tonight. Then it's back to the wedding quilt.  I feel more competent in free-motion quilting skills having worked on these smaller projects.  The old saying "practice makes perfect" is so true.

Can you see the words in the background of the kitty blocks?

Here's a couple
close-up photos of
Ryan and Peter's quilts.
The kitty faces turned out so cute and
I am pretty pleased with myself for the quilting on the background of the
cat and baby blocks. Practice is good!

There was time for some outdoor activity last week as well as sewing.  Tom and I rescued a baby Mockingbird from the pool very early one morning. We wrapped him in a scrap of quilt batting and set him on a  baker's rack next to our grill. The pool water has been so cold in the morning and the little guy was shivering. We weren't sure he was going to survive.  After putting him on the baker's rack, we noticed an adult Mockingbird flying back and forth, as if it were feeding him. Later in the morning, he hopped out of his batting nest! Still later, we noticed he was gone. Hope that means he's okay and off somewhere learning to sing like a grown-up Mockingbird.   Also, we enjoyed our first summer afternoon in Grammy's pool.  Water has taken a long time to warm up, and it was still a tad chilly, but we had a lot of fun.  

Cold baby bird!

Baby Boy Projects

Ryan's Cradle Quilt

This week I'm working on a couple baby boy projects. Only half our grandsons have the quilts they were supposed to receive at birth (Bad Grammy).  Ryan's will be cradle-sized like the one his big brother received ON TIME (it pays to be the first grandchild!). Petey's quilt is larger as he is in his big boy bed now. It will be a good size for naps. There's a lot of work already completed on these projects and I think I can realistically hope to finish them by next Monday.

Peter's Kitty Quilt

The wedding/anniversary project is coming along nicely. I worked hard on it last week, logging many hours of quilting time. Six of sixteen blocks are quilted!! But, I'll take a brief break this week to work on these small projects, which are close to being finished. The boost that comes with completing a project will keep my motivation up for work on the larger quilt.  

I'm thinking about creating a list of all my U.F.O.'s, but can't decide if that would be motivating or just plain discouraging.  Maybe, if I have a few things finished in another week or two, I will post a list.  Maybe....

U.F.O.'s Sighted in Phoenix, Arizona!

All right, friends and family....are you ready? It's time to get back to a little blogging, but with a new theme for the summer of 2011.

Little Flag for a friend with a new home

Back of Flag Quilt with hand drawn label

Do you believe in UFO's? I sure do because I have about 20 of them in my sewing room. No, they're not the kind with little green aliens. They are incomplete quilting projects, otherwise known as Un-Finished-Objects. 

 This summer I plan to try to finish a handful of these UFO's and will post my progress here, along with other tidbits of fascinating news from the Sheps in AZ.  Here's a glimpse into Mission Control Headquarters where we'll be keeping tabs on all the UFO sightings.  Most days, we just call it "Grammy's Sewing Room."  

   

Craft table and fabric storage closet

Cozy spot for hand sewing

Betsy Bernina, faithful friend

I made the Flag Quilt over Memorial Day Weekend just to reassure myself I knew how to start and finish a project.  Cutting and sewing went well, quilting was fast because the project was small.  I had a hard time recalling details about binding techniques, but in the end remembered it all without referring to instructions.  Guess my quilting brain is still functioning after all.  

The project on the sewing table is a signature quilt - a wedding gift for friends. Blocks were made ahead of the date to have on hand for wedding guests to sign at the reception.  These friends are celebrating their 10th anniversary today. Oops! Where did the time go?? Hopefully, it will be completed by the end of June and become my first finished UFO.   Stay in touch for news of future UFO sightings!

Bad Quilting Grammy

Sheep Quilt for a Shepherd Baby

I'm so far behind in the quilting projects I'd like to do. Caleb is 5 months old and his quilt, though nearly finished, should've shipped with his cradle back in March. Poor little Peter doesn't even have a scrap cut out for his quilt, though a nice robot quilt for his big boy room is shaping up in my head. Our newest, about-to-be-born grandson might have something by the time he is a month old. I'd better get to my sewing room and quit this blogging stuff!

October 9, 2007 Posting Revisited

Guess what? It's August 2008 and my hobby room is at last cleaned up, organized, decorated and DONE! I promised to post photos in an early blog (10/9/2007) and now can finally do just that. Worn out carpet has been replaced by a "dark pine" laminate floor. Boring beige walls are now a warm tan color that reminds me of graham crackers. Our favorite interior designer says it's a great color for creativity. We found a multi-purpose craft table on clearance at our huge JoAnn Fabric store that will be a great spot for scrap-booking, cutting fabric, beading or gift-wrapping. It's white laminate like the bookcase we bought last fall and the sewing table Tom/Dad built for me for Christmas several years ago. There's one real wood piece, an old lamp of my mom's, and quilts on the wall to add a cozy feel to all the white furniture. On our next IKEA outing, I hope to purchase a large round rug (only $19.99!) to add a bit more color to the room and give the dogs a snoozing spot when they're hanging out with me. Closet, cabinets and bookcase are filled with things for crafting, just waiting for me to make time for hobbies. Yippee - I love my room!

Here we go with our first ever Blog! I've been wanting to start a blog for about a year and a half, ever since we adopted Calder, the furry member of the Shepherd family. Guess I have finally thought about it long enough to plunge in and get started. And besides, if I wasn't doing this right now, I'd be painting the wood trim in the sewing room.

I really should be helping Papa Shep with tonight's work. We're painting the bedroom at the front of the house, which will soon become my sewing-quilting-scrapbooking space. It sure will be good to once again have a space dedicated to my hobbies. Our home in Michigan had lots of wonderful space for storage of my crafty supplies. And, over the 13 years we lived in that great home, my hobby spots had evolved into wonderful, perfect spaces for me to work on my favorite projects. In our cozy desert bungalow, I'll need to be very organized and space conscious, but thank goodness, I get a whole room to myself!

I'll try to post some pictures when the room is done. Now it's time to help paint.