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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Our Endless Summer Quilt
It all started when Hancock’s of Paducah put some charm packs on sale for $5 each. How could I pass that up when the fabric line, Saturday Morning by Basic Grey for Moda, was so cute? They weren’t the type of fabrics I would usually buy, but one design in particular, the lines of people, caught my eye. So I bought five charm packs.
I started designing a quilt requiring over 200 5″ squares, and soon realized I was going to need a solid fabric to balance the wide variety of prints. Luckily H of P had an off-white grunge print from the line on sale, so I bought a few yards. Then I saw the Moda Love pattern on Pinterest and decided it would be perfect for the center of my quilt.
The quilt would be quite large, maybe bigger than any quilt I’d ever made. I decided it would be perfect for our bed. Wouldn’t you know, H of P put batting on sale, including an extra-light batting that I had never tried before. I bought one, figuring I could make a summer quilt. I also bought a very busy triangle print from the Saturday Morning line for the binding, and a wild streaky blue print for the borders.
It took me a while to decide how to quilt this quilt. I decided on one design for the center, modified a flower design from Lori Kennedy’s blog for the squares, and modified another flower for the border from the same blog (she’s so talented, and has some awesome tutorials on her blog). Here’s the back of the quilt where the squares are:
I named this the “Endless Summer Quilt” because my husband and I fell in love one summer over 40 years ago and married three years later; in the summer, of course. I hope we use this summer quilt for many, many years to come.
Clothes for the Grandkids
I loved sewing for my children when they were little. I don’t know how I found the time to do so, but I did. Now I’m having a ball making clothes for my grandkids, and I don’t have to squeeze sewing sessions in during nap times or late at night because I have much more free time these days.
Our grandson loves the Avengers and anything that has to do with super heroes, so buying this fabric was a no-brainer:
Not long ago during our weekly Skype visit, he modeled his shorts; his mother says he wears them all the time. I was so pleased!
I also made a dress with matching panties for our granddaughter. But she just started crawling this week, so I’m not sure how often they’ll be putting her in dresses now. Maybe she can wear this to church though:
I made both items on my vintage Bernina using fabric from JoAnn Fabrics, which joins Hobby Lobby as my only remaining shopping-for-fabric-in-person options now that Hancock Fabrics is going out of business (sniffle!).
Blast from the Past
I once thought being a retired homeschool mom would give me lots of time to write, but I was wrong. Between homemaking, taking care of our adult disabled son, quilting, sewing, gardening, staying in touch with family and friends, and quilting (yep, I mentioned it twice because I just love having time to quilt!), I don’t have much time to blog.
Besides, I feel like I’ve said it all when it comes to homeschooling. But I have readers with homeschooling questions. So I’m going to start reposting articles I wrote back when I was still in the homeschooling trenches. I’ll label and tag them “Blast from the Past.” That way my blog can keep sharing information while I’m on my sewing machine learning the latest machine quilting techniques.
Stay tuned!
Jelly Roll Race Quilt and Ripple Effect Table Runner
A while back, I emailed a friend a link to this video, saying “This looks like fun!” And the next time I saw her, she had already made the quilt! So of course I had to try it, and discovered that you really can make a quilt top in a little over an hour, and have fun doing so. Here’s my version post-quilting:
Another project I made was a Secret Santa gift for someone at church. This name of this table runner is “Ripple Effect,” and it comes from Gudrun Erla’s book, “Fast and Furious Family.” It was easy and fun to make, and now I want to make one for myself!
