last big project of 2010

Everyone in our home has a quilt on their bed made by me. :) Several people now in my extended family also have quilts from me now too. :) Last spring our 15 year old nephew came to live with us. It was a VERY hard transition for ME, not him but ME. Greg lived with us from March until mid June then moved back to his dad's. My husband and I knew it was a matter of time when Greg came back, not if Greg came back. Greg came back to live with us at the beginning of October and will be staying with us until he graduates in 2 1/2 years unless things really change at his former home. With all of this being said, I knew if Greg was going to be living in our house, he too needed his own quilt made by me.

This is what I came up with.
He loves it, I love it, I am so happy with how this turned out. I backed the quilt with fleece to make it extra snuggly and warm and it does. :)

I went through all of my stash and started pulling out fabrics with oranges and blues, I think it turned out really well. What I was most happy about with this quilt is my quilting, I made sure to use my walking foot this time and TAKE MY TIME. I have a tendency to rush myself at the end of a project, just want to get it done and zip through the quilting part and have had some big ol' puckers on the front and back for doing so. Not this one, I was so, so happy with it.

Greg's mom passed away last Thanksgiving, he has had for a 16 year old kid a really rough road, but the best thing about Greg? He is a GREAT kid and he is now one of my kids too, I always wanted 3 kids, now I do. :)

(Tutorial for quilt found here)

Happy Birthday to my MOM!

My mom said growing up having a birthday so close to Christmas was a pain, I though find it even more special because in addition to celebrating Jesus's birth this time of year we also get to celebrate the birth of my mom!

Happy 66th Birthday Mom!

a gift for my Grandpa

I posted in October about a special visit from my 91 year old Grandpa (seen here meeting the youngest Great-Grandchild, Garrett). My Grandpa lives in Florida so so far away.




Even though the temperatures are usually warm in Florida I wanted to make my Grandpa a nice throw, something to put over his legs on a "chilly" Florida night.



Looking good so far?

Here is my finished product, I wanted something that was bright and cheery for him to have in his home. I sent it off to him a little early, wanted him to enjoy it as soon as possible. When he received it the weather had been unseasonably cold down there and he told me he has been putting it to good use, yeah!!

Here is my label, it turned out really cute! I joined Sweetwater's monthly label crew club and with every months project you also recieve a personalized label. December's was perfect, all I had to add was a little personalization, iron and then stich it on and I was done. I was really happy with how this special throw came together. I only wish I would have made one sooner and sent it down for my Grandmother to enjoy before she passed in August. At least I did it soon enough for my Grandpa to enjoy. Merry Christmas Grandpa!

Jerry and Cathy's turn

Back in August I did a post on 2 special quilts I made for Jenny and Lucy. Jenny is my SIL's cousin who had lost her mom to ovarian cancer in May and her daughter is Lucy.
After a busy summer with my kids and then getting back on track with our back to school routines I was ready to start on quilts for Jerry and Cathy, the husband and sister of Janet who had passed last spring.
This is what I came up with for Jerry. I used the pattern "fair and square" from Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts. I LOVE this pattern, it was so easy and I think it really show cases the clothing and fabric that I used for his special throw.




(The only thing I KICK myself for is not using my walking foot, so stupid, I will NEVER do that again, I was getting a little burned out from a lot of sewing so I thought I would save myself a few minutes and just whip through this project with my regular machine foot. NEVER again.) Although after washing and drying this a few times I felt better about the finished product. :)

As I was cutting up Janet's clothing I was thinking of creative ways to get as much usable fabric out of all of it as possible.....above is a picture of one of the pockets from Janet's corduroy pants. I thought Jerry could put the remote in the pocket or some little snack like candy or just put his hand in the pocket like maybe he did when he and Janet would walk arm in arm on little strolls, maybe he put his hand in her pocket? I dunno, my little imagination working away, I was trying to think of things that might make him feel a little closer to her. :)

Next I did Cathy's quilt, Cathy is my SIL's mom, Janet's 1 and only sibling. I was at a loss of what to do.....then I started thinking about it and thought about a patchwork throw. Who doesn't love a nice snugly patchwork quilt? So patchwork it was. I was able to use more of a variety of fabric's with this one....pieces of clothing I had left and then a lot of feminine florals I had in my stash. I never had a sister. I only have brothers, or bothers I call them HA HA. I found myself thinking of Janet and Cathy laying under blankets or a patchwork quilt as young girls giggling and talking into the night.

Now Cathy will have something for herself made from bits and pieces of Janet's clothing to snuggle under and keep her warm while I'm sure she thinks about her sister and all the memories they shared as kids, growing up, as adults, parents and then the heartache of being apart.

Janet believed in Jesus Christ as her personal Savior as I do too. Although her time on earth was brief (as all of ours will be compared to eternity) I do hope for that the time Jenny, Lucy, Jerry and Cathy are still here on earth without Janet they do have a little bit of some physical things Janet had to keep her memory alive and to keep them warm.

P.S. Lucy is going to be getting a new baby sister in April.....ahhh how the circle of life goes round and round. :)