Five Shadows

My quick trip east with family over the weekend went well. I arrived home late last night.

My Mother passed away Sunday, February 4th at the age of 89. She will be missed, but we enjoyed our time with family and friends celebrating her life. Oh the stories that were shared! I’ll spare you, but we had our laughs and tears. She was quite a lively and godly lady!

The Loper Clan, my father in the suit sitting in bottom row, my brother on his right, me and then my sister on his left. We are surrounded by our kids and grand kids, spouse standing behind each of us. (hope that makes sense)

Years ago, my mother gave me a hand embroidered ‘blanket’ that was made long before my time by the ladies of the church I attended as a child. I believe it was a fundraiser where families purchased a square for their name to be embroidered in to the blanket. Kind of a memorial of members and friends at the time. I don’t know if it was auctioned off at some point, but it was in my grandmother’s possession when she passed away in 1994. My mother gave it to me. I’m not sure why, maybe she thought I’d appreciate it as a quilter. But, I always thought I should not be its “keeper” as it belonged with Mt. Paran Church in Maryland, not with me in the Midwest.

The church kindly provided refreshments for our family and guests after the burial in what they now call the Historic Chapel as this structure is believed to be one of the oldest in the area established in 1718, 300 years ago! I spoke with the Session Clerk and Associate Pastors telling them the story of the  embroidered blanket. They were delighted to learn about the blanket and will be happy to once again have it in the church’s possession, as I promised to return it to its rightful owners.

My son wants to take proper photos of all the embroidered squares before I ship it off. As I took a closer look at the squares today, I found one was completed by my grandmother, and another by her younger sister. Dated 1914. My grandmother would have been 21 years old when she did this hand work!

This piece of embroidery is an amazing piece of history! Beautifully handcrafted! If any of you know the proper name for the embroidery piece, please let me know!

As for my to-do list for this week, I decided on prepping Chopsticks, pattern by Jaybird Quilts. I’m using fabrics I purchased from Craftsy in one of their mystery boxes and also fabric from a LQS, all purchased about 3 years ago.

I got all the fabrics cut and even some of the triangles block piecing started.

How did I do on last week’s To-Do List:

1. Pet fabric and figure out what project to prep for sewing club days. ✔️
2. Quick trip East, so not much else will be accomplished. ✔️

To-Do List for this week:

1. Pack and ship the Mt. Paran embroidered blanket.
2. Finish shopping for fabric for the Temperature quilt and attack the Hexies!

Linking to To-do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

This week I completed two each of two block designs from the Letters to a Soldier Book by Jodi Barrows.

I’m calling this my Hummingbird quilt because I fussy-cut hummingbirds to piece into as many blocks as possible.

Since I’m using Jodi Barrows’ Square-in-a Square method and rulers, I’m going just a bit slow as I read and learn her method. One thing has become apparent. I will not be able to quickly chain piece certain sections, as I must be aware of placement and orientation of the hummingbirds. Also, my points are not yet perfect, so I need to take note of proper cutting.

My quilting day with friends was canceled today due to snow. I decided to use today to finish several quilt backs for quilt tops I completed last year.  I’m folding the top & back and placing them on hangers. Attached in a plastic bag, are binding, thread for quilting, and any ideas I have for the quilting. I’m smiling at the new organization, but it doesn’t mean finished! At least it is a step in the direction towards finished! In the mean time, my sewing room is looking less like a crazy pile of abandoned projects!

I need to figure out the next project for the monthly quilting day with friends. The Hummingbird quilt takes too much concentration to work on while chatting with friends. I’ve already started 2 new projects this year, the Hummingbird quilt, and the Temperature quilt, but I’d like something brainless to work on while gathering with friends. I have at least three quilt projects pulled together with fabrics and patterns.  I suppose I just need to figure out which one I love most and start prepping it.

How did I do on last week’s To-Do List:

1. Work on Hummingbird quilt. ✔️ 4 blocks completed!
2. Work on back for Chic Country quilt.  ✔️ Plus organizing several other backs.

To-Do List for this week:

1. Pet fabric and figure out what project to prep for sewing club days.
2. Quick trip East, so not much else will be accomplished.

Linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Goal setting.

I thought I had my year planned out for 2018 with all my quilty goals for the year.

Then up pops a Temperature Quilt from 2017 on Needled Mom‘s blog.

Now I just HAVE to make a Temperature Quilt! Gah!

Needled Mom made a Temperature Quilt for 2017 using a flying goose block. She divided up the thermometer in 4 degree increments selecting a different fabric for each increment. She used the high of the day for the goose and the low of the day for the sky. This year she is making a Temperature Quilt with Square-in-a-Square Blocks.

Her sister joined in making a quilt too. Since one lives in CA and the other AK, their two quilts look way different! Take a look at Needled Mom‘s blog.

I’ve settled on using a pieced hexie. I took advantage of Paper Pieces 25% off sale they offered earlier this week. Seeing their sale kind of clinched it for me, that I should jump in and make a Temperature Quilt this year!

This all leads to my One Monthly Goal for February.

For February, my goal is to organize this project!

I’ll need to pull and purchase fabrics while waiting for the hexie paper pieces to be shipped. I’m using Kona Fabrics color chart panel to select fabrics to represent the temperature increments.

Since I’m already over a month behind, I hope to get fabrics sorted this weekend & start some piecing. If I had started at the first of the year, I would only need to piece one hexie a day. Hopefully over the next few months I’ll be able to get caught up.

Above is the hexie design I plan on using.

Linking to One Monthly Goal sponsored by Elm Street Quilts.

I just started a new project.

Several years back I attended a lecture by Jodi Barrows on her Square in a Square system. I already owned one of her rulers and a book or two. But I hadn’t gotten into them enough to really become familiar with her techniques.

I’ll be working through Jodi’s Letters to a Soldier Sampler Quilt book, but instead of using her line of Civil War fabrics I’m using the  Hummingbird print pictured above. I fussy-cut 56 Hummingbirds in 2 1/4″ square to 5 1/2″ square to use in the sampler blocks.

This is one of three new quilts I planned out at the end of 2017. The plan for the year is to continue quilting the finished quilt tops so they don’t turn into UFOs, while starting a few new projects.  I have to have something to take to work one while sewing with friends, right?!

How did January go for you? Do you have any finishes or headway made on new projects? I’d love to hear about them!

How did I do on last week’s To-Do List:

1. FMQ a quilt for a friend, she made it, I’m quilting it. ✔️ Completed and returned to her.
2. Make 3 quilty gifts for a gift exchange Jan 25th. ✔️ Sorry, no pictures.

To-Do List for this week:

1. Work on Hummingbird quilt.
2. Work on back for Chic Country quilt.

Linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Phew!  This quilt took longer to piece than I expected.

Here she is with blocks being laid out, not the final layout, but getting a taste of what the top would look like.

The finished quilt top is 7 rows by 9 rows with the half block border going around the outer edge to finish off the secondary circles.

I’m pleased with the top. Love the secondary circles. Fingers crossed when it comes time to quilt!

Pattern: Chic Country by Sew Kind of Wonderful

Fabric: Fossil Fern by Benartex

Top measures: 73 1/2″ x 91″

Linking to One Monthly Goal sponsored by Elm Street Quilts

We welcomed our first grand son into the world born Jan 7th. My three year old grand daughter and I had sleepover at her aunty’s home while Mom recuperated in the hospital with her new born learning the ropes of nursing.

We got to visit Sunday night at the hospital sneaking in just under the visitation ban that started Monday morning. Just look at that cute expression on my grand daughter’s face at her first look at her baby brother! So precious!

Her first time holding her brother with Daddy’s help.

By accident, I left my current hand work at my son’s home. Let’s just say there was some confusion with bringing a new born home. My son thought the box of quilting and books was his wife’s and stuffed it in a closet. I thought the box got stolen from my car! After I returned home with out my quilting, my son looked a little deeper and found that he had put it in a closet. Guess I’ll just have to take another trip to visit my grand kids and pick up the quilting!

To-Do List for this week:

1. FMQ a quilt for a friend, she made it, I’m quilting it.
2. Make 3 quilty gifts for a gift exchange Jan 25th.

Linking to To-Do Tuesday

It would be nice to say New Year, New Goals. But that is just not going to happen as I have so much to finish from last year. And the year before. And projects bought with good intentions that have not been touched but tucked away in a closet. And the tops completed 2017 and waiting to be quilted.

You get the idea!

I’m actually excited about finishing those quilts carrying over from 2017.

Thoughts for 2018:

I was thinking about not selecting a word for 2018, but as I get together with my quilty friends the word “finish” keeps resurfacing. I’m sticking with that, “Finish!” for 2018!

As I look over my list of completed quilts from 2017, I’m kind of impressed with what I did accomplish.

• 20 quilt tops quilted and bound
• 12 of the 20 were quilts from table runner size to lap size, carried over from previous years
• 8 of the 20 were quilts made from start to finish – mostly baby quilts

My goal for January 2018 is to complete this quilt top! The pattern is Chic Country by Sew Kind of Wonderful. I’m enlarging it for a twin size bed for my grand daughter who recently moved from a toddler bed to a twin.

I’m linking to One Monthly Goal hosted by Patty of Elm Street Quilts. Go take a look at the other posts as everyone gears up for a new year of quilting! You can join in too!

Happy New Year everyone!

Grand daughter loved her little bunny family with the babies in the pockets of Mama bunny’s skirt.

I tell you, turning those skinny arms & legs on Mama and Papa was a real chore. And then the bow tie beat me, so I improvised and made a bandana for Papa instead of the bow tie.

We celebrated Christmas with our adult children on Christmas Eve by attending church with my son’s family. In the evening we all gathered at my daughter’s home and exchanged gifts. We spent Christmas day at my son’s home. When hubs and I arrived our grand daughter had all her dollies lined up in her bed room on the new quilt I had made for her and the bunny family was included among the dollies. It was so nice to see her playing with them.

The quilt for grand baby number 2 was all pieced before hubs and I left on our trip. We came home after Christmas to a house at 32ºF/0ºC! The furnace was not working! I just could not sew in a house that cold, so once the furnace was repaired, grocery shopping done, laundry from our trip caught up, I had just 3 days to sandwich, quilt, & bind the Forest Fellows quilt top to reach the second part of my OMG for December.

Quilt top pieced.

And quilted and bound. I’m so pleased that I will have this quilt ready to present to my grand baby when we get that call that he has arrived!

I’m linking to One Monthly Goal. Be sure to go visit and see what all the other quilters have completed this busy month of December!

Hubs and I are on a little trip to celebrate our 40th anniversary!

My, but those 40 years have flown by!

In a few days, we will head to our daughter’s home for Christmas.

She and her husband have decided to be vegan after a year or so of being vegetarian, so food will be a bit different than what was our ‘family tradition’ while my kiddos were growing up. My daughter told me she would not be serving my traditional meal of potato cheese soup with sausage biscuits for Christmas Eve. I told her that was fine with me, they need to come up with their own traditions! That meal was what I came up with when the kiddos were young and I wanted a quick meal to prepare and get us all ready to head out to our Christmas Eve service at church.

We have entered a new stage in our lives, having our adult children host our family Christmas gathering! Last year our son and his wife hosted our Christmas gathering. It was lovely, so much fun having a little grand daughter in the picture. I’m looking forward to seeing what traditions each of our adult children add to their lives in their own homes and those married with their own young families.

Do you have any particular-to-you Holiday Traditions? Are any changing with the passage of years?

May you have a Blessed Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!