One More.......

On my last blog, I left out my granddaughter Reilly's quilt. I love this quilt! I actually made two of them, one for Reilly and one for Ashlynn. The reason why these two quilts are so dear to me is that my mom and my Aunt Sybil had a huge hand in making these quilts a reality. My mom and aunt embroidered all of the critters on each quilt. They had so much fun making the critter squares, that they made enough for me to make the two quilts. (There were even enough squares left over for me to make a rag quilt for my grandsons!) Anyway....when those two showed me what they had made I knew that I needed to go shopping to purchase enough fabric to make those squares into the quilts that my grandchildren enjoy today. I visited a cute little quilt shop back in Arkansas and purchased enough fabric to make the quilt that I am sharing with you here and then I looked for different fabric for Ashlynn's. My mom and aunt were overjoyed to see their treasured blocks made into these quilts. Since making the quilts, my aunt has passed away, but her love lives on by way of these quilts.

Quilting for my granddaughters!

I have made a quilt for each of my granddaughters, except for one, little Miss Addie. As I was going through the pictures of the quilts that I have made so far for the girls, I realized that I had never made her one. So sorry missy... grandma is going to have to jump right on that! Below however, are the ones that have gone out these physical doors of mine, but never completely out the doors of my heart. It's amazing how much you put of yourself in a quilt. I guess that is why when I find an old quilt in an antique shop, I always wonder about the person who made it. What were they thinking about when they were working so diligently on that quilt top. Who was it for? Where did the fabric come from and how long did it take them to complete it. I even wonder about the circumstances for which the quilt was made. Was it a joyous occasion, a sad occasion, or was it strictly made for needed warmth. My guess is that a lot of those old quilts were made out of sheer love for those that they were going to and for the pleasure that they would bring... I know mine are. I dearly love the ones I made these quilts for! So... without further chatter here are a few that I have sent off.

First up is Teagan's. I lLOVED this fabric when it came into the shop. It was just so cheery! Since my son and daughter-in-law had just had a new little treasure, I thought this would be just perfect!



And the label. (I realize that these are rather hard to see, but hopefully you get the idea!)



On Miss T's bed, Stef decided to put the first quilt that I ever made for them. I found this incredibly soft flannel in a cute little quilt shop that I thought would be just right. I must say, it looks pretty cute on her bed!



And its label.



Next up is Ashlynn's. Ashlynn and her mom picked out a quilt pattern from a magazine I had sent their way. Now Ashlynn just loves the ocean with its many shells, so I picked out a line of fabric from the shop, that matched just what she had in mind. This quilt, once made, looked nothing like the quilt in the magazine because it was all in Ashlynnie's colors. (Actually, I liked it way better than the one in the magazine!) I decided to scallop the edges to make it look even more distinct than the one in the magazine.



And her label.



Keira loves dogs, so when she saw this fabric, she just had to have it. I used a nice, pink, minkie on the back. That fabric is wonderfully soft, incredibly expensive, but so messy to use. Would I use it again? You bet!



And finally, here is Keira's label

Quilting for my granddaughters!

I have made a quilt for each of my granddaughters, except for one, Miss A.

Quilting for my granddaughters!

I have made a quilt for each of my granddaughters, except for one, Miss A

Quilting for my granddaughters!

I have made a quilt for each of my granddaughters, except for one

The Wedding!

There was a wedding in our family as we closed 2009 out... our son Michael married the girl of his dreams, Miss Casey Simone. For the wedding, I set aside time to make a gift box, to hold all of their gift cards and/or money, and the ring bearer pillow. I used a brown silk dupioni for the gift box and a bright pink silk dupioni for the pillow. On the box, I embroidered the kids' initials along with the date of the wedding. On the pillow, I decided to embroider a portion of their wedding invitation along with a scripture verse out of the book of Song of Solomon. I used some left overs of the brown silk to make piping around the edge of the pillow. For those who know me, I love to glitz just about everything so it was no big surprise when everyone saw how many crystals I used on these two items.





Here are my cute little granddaughters with the dresses that I made for them for the wedding. Ashlynn and Reilly were the flower girls, so I made their dresses out of the white silk dupioni. I used the same bright pink silk, that was used for the pillow, and gathered it up for the waist band and bow for the two dresses. Using the glitz again I covered up my stitching lines, where I had gathered up the waist band, with pink crystals. I used an adorable trim that I found, around the neck of each dress. On the inside lining of each dress, I embroidered the girls' initials. For our little Miss Teagan, (affectionately known as Miss T.) I used the pink and the brown silk dupioni and quickly put together a dress for her. I decided that I would again, scrunch up a waist band and again cover the stitching lines with crystals... this time using brown ones. All three looked so cute and each had fun dancing and twirling in their new dresses.

(Pssst! I see you Keira!!)



Is this not the cutest picture?? She was very into her dance. ;-)



Miss Ashlynn had fun dancing it up with her cousin and ring bearer, Tallon. And not to be outdone by her cousins our sweet little Keira, who also fancied herself to be the hottest dancer out there, was on the floor behind them.



And of course, I had to make a quilt!! I quickly made a lap size quilt for the two of them to cuddle under while watching tv. I wanted to show you the label on the back too. Such a fun wedding!

Christmas Revisited!

As you know, this was suppose to be my 'sewing' blog. But being true to form, I seem to get easily sidetracked.. especially when it involves my children or grandchildren! So, I thought it would be nice if I actually shared with you a few things that I had the pure pleasure of sewing these past few months.

This seemed to be the year for stockings!! Some of the ones here are simply replacing older ones that I had made years ago. Now that nearly all of my children are married, I decided that I wanted ownership of those dear, old, stockings so that I can keep them hanging on my own fireplace mantle. Such sweet memories for Jim and I of times past. (Elizabeth... you're the last hold out! Get that old stocking in the mail.)

First up is Rebekah's replacement. (Don't forget.. you can click on any picture if you need a clearer view.)



I even made a new one for Christopher (my son-in-law) this year!



Next is my son Michael's. (I know, I know, these aren't the best pictures... sorry.)



My niece, Gretchen, had a new little darling this year. Here is her precious Milan's stocking that hangs at her grandma and grandpa's house. I decided to make a little pocket and sew it onto the back of the stocking..... just the right size for those little treasures she might acquire from her many new fans! ;-)



Pocket on the back.



Not to be outdone, my nephew had his third little boy this year. Since I had made the other boys' stockings, it was only right that dear little Joshua got his own as well.



Another friend had asked me to make a couple of stockings for her friends. Stockings are such a different type of gift to give.. and isn't it nice to be a little different? The first one is for her friend Karen, while the second one is for Karen's husband.






I also made aprons and dish towels this year. That was really fun! I purchased the waffle weave fabric by the bolt so it was easy to cut up, embroider and then make into towels. Once done I cut and ruffled some fabric and added it to the bottom of the towels.



The great thing about the aprons is that they are reversible!



The towels.




James and Stef were the ones who got the quilt this year. The center portion was pieced together by using a tall fat quarter pack that we had at the shop. Since I waited for such a long time before I actually pieced the quilt together, the coordinating fabric for that particular line was not easy to find. But eventually I found enough of the fabric to get this quilt made for them.



I also took the time to make and hand embroider a pillow for my bed.