A quilt for Marion Elise

I just finished this baby quilt for the new granddaughter of Dave's old friend, Leroy. I was told the mother, Erin, doesn't like pink. Requested colors were green, yellow and tan. So I did those.colors but added more. Hope they like it!

Trip photos, plus snowflake quilt

Here's one more photo I meant to post from our trip to Roseville. Ronin is sitting on his quilt.

Jim took these photos of us on the bridge near their house.

You follow that windy path up to their house.

I'm happy to say that my snowflake quilt is back from its travels with the Noble Seasons special exhibit. It has been to many Mancuso quilt shows across the country as well as other events. Its real name is "No Two Alike."

One last photo from our trip, this time in Pismo Beach. While we've driven through many times, this is the first time we actually stayed here. We stayed at the Cottage Inn, and it was delightful.

visit to roseville

One day on our trip we went up to Roseville to visit my brother Jim and his wife, Kathy. They just moved up there in November. My niece Amity and her two boys, Xavier and Ronin joined us, too.

They live next to a nature preserve. They have views of this fabulous oak tree from their house.

There are vernal pools nearby, which are visited by migrating birds. We saw Canadian geese while we were there.

This was the first time we got to meet Ronin.

Amity brought the two quilts I made for the boys when they were born. Xavier has fun playing on them and making up stories about what's happening on them.

At 9 months, Ronin can pull himself up and use a walker. He likes to crawl, too.

My brother Jim with Ronin.

Jim is a talented painter! I loved their new home, too.

We gathered on a bridge at the preserve. Jim took a couple photos here, too. I'll post them next time.

"puppy dog dreams" quilt

Here are Bob and Suzanne at the baby shower I went to last weekend. Suzanne is holding the little stuffed dog I made, seen in a recent blog post.

Now they're about to open up the baby quilt I made for them. You can see the Lotta Jansdotter fabric on the back.

Oh no! My memory stick ran out of room, so I didn't take any more photos at the shower.  I didn't take any formal photos of it at home either, but Matilda posed nicely for a Cat-on-my-quilt shot.

 

Here's another one.

Even Ginger got in on the act!

Here is a detail on the embroidered puppy dog faces that I did. I call the quilt "Puppy Dog Dreams," and yes, Bob and Suzanne have dogs. One's a corgy - see him in the lower left corner?

Here are the other embroidered puppy dog faces. The one in the middle is an approximation of their other dog. I lightly quilted the zig zag block pattern in the ditch (that's quilting lingo, for you non-quilters out there) and tied it throughout with yellow embroidery thread.

More Octopus's Garden photos




I have been having a heck of a time posting on this blog. Blogger problems are still not cleared up apparently.  I'm trying smaller photos to see if that helps.



little fishies

The kelp was stenciled on and then embroidered all around.... I don't dare add another photo, because this is when it's been freezing up.

Octopus's Garden Baby Quilt

My niece has received the baby quilt I made for her new son Ronin, so I'm comfortable about posting photos now. Yippee!

Here it is, tada. Hand appliqued, hand embroidered, machine quilted.

Boat detail. I added a couple of kitties because my niece loves kitties.

Jellyfish detail. I stamped words for almost everything, with Carol's wonderful letters.

The octopus is a major player. You can't see it very well here, but he is smiling.

Here's the other kitty, exploring in his submarine.

I have taken more detail photos that I will share on another day.

What I've been working on lately

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I have been busy. I finished the ocean-themed baby quilt for my niece's new baby and have sent it off to them. I'll post photos in a few days, after they have it. I also have finished all five prayer flags for my sister-in-law's birthday. I'll post photos of them here after her bday (July), but I plan on posting them on the Prayer Flag Project blog sooner, one of these days.

I've also started a new quilt, something completely different: non-baby, non-prayer flag, non-applique. I would call it an art quilt by virtue of its unorthodox fabrics - not a quiltin' cotton in sight - although I am piecing it. I'm not quilting it, just some ties or buttons. I just started it on a whim, and I'm liking it.

Recently my granddaughter turned two! Happy Birthday, Samantha! Here is the dress I made for her, made with zoo-themed fabric we found in Cazenovia.

I also made her a birthday banner. Here it is in progress. Carol's letter stamps.

It turned out cute. They could use it for other birthdays.

I couldn't resist putting my "I Voted" sticker on Ginger on the day of the recent California Primary.

Magic Box of Letters

I tried to visit Carol McDaniel every month in her last years, because she was not driving and didn't get out much. I always brought a tote bag full of projects that I was working on - quilts, knitting, items I was making for my granddaughter, etc. One of the last times I visited her, she told me there was something she wanted me to have.

It was a large box of letters and numbers for stamping, complete except for the number 2.

This is what it looks like on the outside. It says "Fern" on the outside, who knows why. Carol got it many years ago; she lived in Laguna Woods, formerly known as Leisure World, where elderly people live. There are lots of yard sales there after people pass on. It has been well used.

Now, months later, I have been using the letters for the first time. They are 1" high, wonderful. I'm putting words around the "Ocean" baby quilt.

A word in progress. I'm no good at calligraphy (being left-handed is a challenge for calligraphers), but I have used rubber-stamped letters in some of my quilts. These letters are the largest and grandest that I have, and I am grateful that Carol thought of me to have them. I will never forget her.

what I'm working on

Here's Matilda inspecting my progress on the ocean-themed baby quilt. She's sitting on the whale. I'm enjoying this return to needle-turn applique.

I finished my granddaughter's raincoat and sent it off. Not my best work, but it looks okay so long as you don't scrutinize it too closely.

I made a hat, too!

Last but not least, I captured Matilda and Ginger hanging out together! No cuddling yet, but I'd say these two are buddies of a sort. Hurray! Ginger will have been here a year in May.

ocean quilt

I've been working on a baby quilt for my niece, Amity, who is expecting her second son in April. I won't have it finished by then, but I'm making pretty good progress so far. She requested an Ocean theme.

This octopus will have a happy face eventually. He sits in the lower right corner.

Other parts waiting to be added. I don't know how much to reveal. What do you say, Amity? Do you want to be surprised, or would you like to see how it progresses?

I'm having fun with this!

I

samantha in California

We were lucky enough to have my daughter and her husband and daughter stay at our house for 8 days. They just left on Thursday, back to the snow in Mid-State NY. Here are the best of the photos that I took:

Samantha was curious about our wall-to-wall carpet.



Here she is with the little flannel quilt that I made for her for Christmas.

She knows how to patty cake now.



Grandpa and Samantha with remotes.



It doesn't get much better than having a grandbaby dandling on my knee.

She gets lots of comments about her strawberry hat.

She got to meet her uncle.

This is one of my favorite shots. How fun to wear a sundress in January!