Twin Quilts and Bathrobe Quilt

BABY GIRLS

Our family will soon be blessed with twin girls, born to my husband's nephew and his wife.  How exciting!  On my project list, I had fabric saved to make a nice girly quilt.  So what I did was add some addition fabric and made two.  And pink!  I used the same rail fence pattern on both quilts.

I really like the light mint green fabric.  It gives it a cool dimension.  I added yellow, pink and a darker green to break up so much pink. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BABY BOOK

Every baby shower I go to I make a small autograph book for loved ones to write words of encouragement, advise, or just congratulations. 

I purchase various stickers and place them throughout the book.  I wrote some advise:  "Keep it simple".  Children tend to get overwhelmed when we parents plan activities.  A simple picnic in the backyard, a fun walk in the park, making macaroon necklaces...  I found I kept my sons attention better when it was not complicated and we enjoyed ourselves. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MY MOTHER'S BATHROBE

I've been using my mother's white chenille bathrobe for many years and finally this winter it became so threadbare that I decided to retire it and make 2 small lap quilts. 

I purchased some fleece in yellow and pink and found a large print pink flower for the back.  The chenille was worn down and thin that I could see the backing material thru it, so I had to add quilt batting to the middle.  Now they are really warm!

In this picture, I tried to show how threadbare some spots are.  I hand tied each quilt.  I plan on giving one quilt to my sister.  It will be nice to look at it and remember our mother.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ENJOYING SUMMER FLOWERS

With all the rain this year, the trees and flowers are really growing.

This is a Cinnamon Magnolia tree.  When we first moved to our property, it was only 2 feet tall and scraggy.  In 4 years, now it is about 8 feet tall.  My husband threatens every year to cut it down, just to torment me.  I've enjoyed watching it grow.  Some years the beautiful, velvety brown leaves fall off, but they didn't last year.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still quilting and working on other fun sewing projects.  More to show later...

Thanks for visiting

Cinder

Quilt Blocks, Table Runner and Strawberries

OLD MAIDS PUZZLE

 I really like the name of these quilt blocks.  It does seem like some kind of puzzle as you look at them and figure out what direction they are going in.

 

The quilt blocks came from my friend Teresa, who picked them up at an auction and gave them to me.  I thought they were lovely and couldn't wait to set them.  Black and red are not the usual colors I work with, but I gave it a go. 

 The white fabric is old flower sack material.  You can see a few stains on the blocks and all were hand sewn.  Most of the blocks were not exactly square, so I did my best to center them. 

 

  

  The only problem was that one set of blocks was made from this brownish print!  What!  How did this fabric make it into the mix?  It's not red or black, it's not polka dot or checked, and it's not what I would call floral!  How about "unusual"!

 It just didn't go, so off to the fabric store I went and found this great black and red floral print.  I also pick up this lovely red fabric for the other blocks and backing.

 

 The quilt is queen size and I knew at the time I would not be able to quilt it by hand so I sent it off to be machine quilted.  Now I've been able to enjoy it for several years on my bed!

(this is not one of the quilts on my project list.  Holy Moly, I'm still working on those!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 TABLE RUNNER

I'm attending a wedding of my nephew this weekend and made this simple table runner for the new couple. 

 I choose cream and tan colors to make it neutral for any color scheme they have in their home.  This was make with just left over fabric in my stash.

I framed the strips with a little darker color to make them stand out more.  I hope they like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 GARDEN

I'm keeping my garden simple this year.  The early cool temperature and rain limited what I planted and the weather continues to dictate what I will harvest.  Everything is so waterlogged but I have a great BUMPER crop of strawberries.  

 

 I've made jam, ice cream, desserts, fruit salad, shortcake and syrup.  I froze a lot and dried some and ate a lot.  And still so many are rotting in the patch.  Our neighbor is coming tomorrow to pick what they want.  They are good and tasty!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for visiting

Cinder

Braided Rug, Garden

WOOL BRAIDED RUG

 

This rug I made from several wool skirts and jackets.  I loved the red plaid skirt when I saw it and worked the other colors around it. 

I'm still new at making rugs and don't quite know how much fabric it will take.  So this rug measures 3 ft x 2 1/2 ft.

Again, I cut the strips 3 inches wide, sewed them together, then folded them over.  When I had 3 long lengths done, I braided them and hand sewed it on the bottom to keep it secure.  My rugs tend to be wavy, so I vacuum them and it really helps to make them lay flat.  After a few time walking on them with an anti skip pad underneath, the rug lays perfect. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GARDENING

What a spring I am having with my garden, or lack of!  It has been raining every few days so we are unable to till the plot and its been so cold at nights.  Needless to say, I have nothing planted at all!!!!! 

 

I bought a 4 shelf greenhouse, not very large or sturdy, but it came with a clear plastic covering to protect the plants.  I had some tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, and radishes started.  But disaster hit and the wind knocked it over.  I lost most of my seedling and had to start over.  Ugh!  Now the greenhouse is secured to the garden shed.  I reset the plants and they are doing ok.  Nothing to brag about.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PILLOW PROJECT

My sister bought some fabric to recover the seat of her rocking chair.  With the left over fabric I took over the task of recovering 2 feather pillows.  As you can see by the photo, feathers are sticking out all over the pillows, so I bought some light brown bed ticking to cover them before making the outside covering.

I think they turned out nicely.

I even used the old zippers so that the covers can be removed and washed, if needed.

 
Here are the original covers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MUSHROOMS

Morel mushrooms are popping up all over the place this year.  I tried my hand at drying some and here they are.  I made a pot of beef stew and added a few an hour before serving to hydrate them and allow the flavors to blend.  They turned out pretty good.  I was afraid that the mushrooms would disintegrate, but they held their shape.  I look forward to using them in the middle of the winter to capture that spring flavor.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BUSY DAYS

I've been busy at work lately.  Working almost 8 hours a day!  OMG, I'm a good 6 to 6 1/2 hours a day worker.  What's happening is that work in interfering with my sewing time!!!!  Also I recently got back into bike riding and upgraded my old el cheapo bike for a cadillac model.  Cherry apple red and rides like a dream!  My goal:  get healthier, loose weight and get outdoors.  So far it all is working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still working on my project list.  I can check off the braided rug and I'm working on hand quilting 2 quilts.  Here's a preview of one of them....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for visiting
Cinder