It has been a long time.....

I have been thinking about this blog on and off for a while now, and since school is out, I thought I would finally set aside some time to update it and also to locate the photos that have disappeared while it lay dormant.

I am still a Grandma, and our wee guy is now ready to start school in the fall. We have plans to go camping with him in a few weeks and he is quite excited. Our daughter will be taking a course, so we will have him all to ourselves each day until her classes are over.

It has been quite a while since I have been a "quilting Grandma", but there are several very overdue projects all ready to begin working on in the next few days. I can hardly wait!

My goal is to post more frequently in the coming weeks.

Beautiful Flowers

Mom carried red roses and white calla lilies at her wedding, so that is what we chose for the party. The cake had a centrepiece of red roses and a white calla. The tables had bud vases with red roses. The focal point for church, and later for the reception, was a large bouquet of roses and callas.

60th Anniversary Plans

Mom and Dad's 60th wedding anniversary will be on May 29th. There will be a celebration at Dad's residence on Sunday June 1, and our niece,Chef Lyndsey, will cater the refreshments.

I have been browsing through stacks of photo albums and selecting photos of significant events in their lives, and today I will be scanning them and sending them off to our daughter to use in a powerpoint slideshow. Copies on DVD will be lovely mementos for the children and grandchildren.

We are looking into copying Mom's wedding bouquet of red roses and calla lilies for the front of the church that day, and then for the party later on.

Hitty Charm Quilt

At long last I have completed the tiny Hitty charm quilt. I chose the tumbler as my template, and used all of the provided squares, as well as new pieces from my fabric collection. Hitty Stella and Hitty Olivia are very pleased with it. Tomorrow we will try it on the bed, but for tonight they are just admiring it.

More tiny quilts

After signing up for the Hitty Charm Quilt challenge, I got thinking about the original Hitty's summer quilt, and decided to give that one a try. It is reminiscent of a single spiral log cabin block, and it requires partial seams for each log. The logs are added round and round instead of being added in opposing pairs. I found a block diagram for it once, but at the moment I can't locate it! I was hoping to get started tonight, but I think now I will just plan it now and start it tomorrow after school.


I also printed out all the Pat Sloan Farmer's Market blocks to date from her blog, and I'll pack them to take to the Dear Jane Retreat in Shipshewana with me. Hand applique will be very relaxing to do in the van and while visiting.

Itty Bitty Charm Quilt

Yesterday a challenge was issued on Hittygirls. I will receive a kit of 16 pre-cut charm squares in the mail to create a Charm Quilt that measures 5.5 X 6.5 inches. They will be prints and solids and I can add my own fabrics too. That sounds like fun. I think I'll cut a few 1.5 inch squares later today and make a practice quilt for my Hitty.

Have you seen the new webcam at Pat Sloan's Blog? She has it aimed at her design wall so we can watch her work in progress. There is a block swap on the wall now, but she will be changing it out later today.

http://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pats-design-wall.html

Happy April Fool's Day!

Wedding quilt

Our nephew and his new bride are delighted with their wedding quilt. It was great fun to make, using the ideas presented in Judy Sisneros' creative book, "9-Patch Pizzazz: Fast, Fun & Finished in a Day". It was fast (relatively speaking), and it was fun, but it was definitely NOT finished in a day. I have fabrics selected to make a second one, as soon as two more quilts in progress are completed. The heart feather border quilting was enjoyable to stitch, and I would definitely use that motif again.

The groom's cousin was so inspired when she saw this quilt top, that she set out to make her own version. I haven't seen it yet, but look forward to her photos.