A Memorial Quilt Honoring A Memorable Man

One of the first family members I met while dating my future husband was his brother-in-law, Craig.   I felt welcome from the start, thanks in part to his kindness.   He was at my wedding.  He loved his wife, my husband's sister.  He helped thousands of people during his short life.  He loved always. He supported our family in numerous ways through difficult challenges. He loved my children. Craig was a tease, a prankster, and a spiritual giant. He was a pill.  I adored him.

Last July, almost exactly a year ago, cancer took him away from us.  He fought a hard fight with his wife and 3 kids by his side continually, not to mention with the support of countless friends, church members, and extended family.   He is missed every day.

While staying in his home with his wife and daughter after the funeral, a wild idea popped in  my head.  I wanted to make a Memorial Quilt for his wife, Janet.  I wasn't sure how to approach it, but I just did.  I asked her how she'd feel about giving me most of his shirts so that I could make her a quilt. She was immediately for it.  So, away we went, purging closets and drawers.  Her requests were that 1), it be red, 2), that the University of Utah shirts be at the bottom, and 3), that a BYU shirt be in the middle since SHE was a BYU fan, and she was the one left behind.  (The rivalry between those two colleges lived strong in their household).  I came home with a suitcase full of shirts and with hope to make something wonderful.

I'm not going to lie - this quilt was a challenge.  I had  made a t-shirt quilt before, but that one didn't have the weight of sadness with it. Sometimes I just couldn't think about it.  Also,  I had more cotton shirts than t-shirts for Craig's quilt, and I wasn't sure how to use them well.   I pondered, researched online, asked my friend Carrie for help, played with it, put it away, played with it again.  Sigh.  As the months went on, all three of Craig's children got engaged!  I decided that before the third one got married, I would finish the quilt.  So, the last few weeks have been busy!!

I faced many fears with this project.  It had to be beautiful and nearly perfect for  my dear sister-in-law.  This quilt had to be strong for years to come, for children and grandchildren.  No pressure, huh?   I am mathematically challenged sometimes, so when I design a quilt, (which I rarely do), I have to think it through a long time and check and re-check my calculations.  And, I knew that I had to do some free-motion quilting on the t-shirts, which scared me to death.  What if I messed up???   Ugh.  Lots of pressure.  I do this to myself frequently.

I  marched forward - I finished it 2 days before flying to Utah for the third child's wedding!  It would now be my wedding present to Janet, for marrying off all three of her dear children.

The moment of giving the quilt to Janet will forever be in my mind and heart.  She loved it.  She will cherish it, I know.  I hope during those moments when she misses Craig, that she can wrap up in it and feel his large, strong arms around her and feel some comfort while she waits for the eternities.

I love you, Janet.

Now, here are the photos:

 

On the Long-Arm, quilting away

Up close

C and J in the blue 4-patches, which were made out of his button-down shirts

A Stacked- Coin row of strips from his shirts, and the row below it
is a row of his pockets from the same shirts

This is his company logo - notice the right side from top to bottom.... see the cars?

All done and waiting for the Binding!

My dear sister

C and J Forever 

Christmas Quilt of 20-Something

Remember when I used to blog?  Yea, me too.  Today I shall blog about quilts.

I made this quilt for a Christmas present last year, but it was for Christmas the year BEFORE.  Follow that?  Haha....   It was for my brother-in-law and his family.  It was made from a kit I purchased at a quilt show.  

Well, here it is:

 

Up close, you can see the pattern used on the Long-Arm Machine 

The Kitties didn't want to give it up, but..... they did.  

Babble About Baby Quilts: the Great-Nieces

Two great-nieces were born within 5 months of each other!   More "hugs" had to be created for them as well.

Here is Abby's, born in May of last year:

The pattern was a free one at Moda Bake Shop called, "Sugar Baby".  Abby's momma didn't want pink.  So, this quilt is mostly yellow, green and red.  I added the huge ric-rac because it seemed unfinished.  I do hope that the ric rac doesn't take away from its cuteness if it folds up funny after washing.  Still, it seemed unfinished to me.... maybe it's the fabric I chose for the sashing.  At least that is what my teacher and dear friend Carrie said.  I do love the binding.  Happy colors!

Yes, I learned to make the back a LOT simpler!  Girly on the back, too - I love it.  And, here is sweet Abby getting hugged in it:

Isn't she beautiful?!!

Abby had a cousin born on Sept 9 - the day before B and B's wedding!  I didn't start Ayla's quilt until a few weeks after all the hustle and bustle.  Her mom wanted it very girlie and PINK.  So, pink it was!  I got the pattern out of a book.  I also learned to photograph it better since I knew I wanted to blog about my quilts.  Yes, she CAN be taught!

I'm blessed to have a friend with a long-arm who is willing to teach me how to use it, and willing to help me!

I love the pattern of the quilted swirly flowers.  

This quilt makes me so HAPPY!  I almost didn't give it up!

But, I did.  Isn't she cute!

I loved making these quilts. It brought me great joy to send some love and warmth to these precious babies. I adore their mothers with all my heart  - as I do all my nieces and nephews, and their spouses, AND the ones on hubby's side as well.  We are blessed.   I hope to make lots of quilts!

I started my 6th one which is a Christmas quilt that will be late....

They will just have to WAIT a little while!

Babble about Baby Quilts - for the great-nephew

Within the past year, I had 1 great-nephew and 2 great-nieces join our family, sent straight from Heaven!  Oh, how I wish I lived near them!  Since I don't, I had to make some "hugs" for them.  Here is the first one I made, which was for baby Ridge and delivered last May (Here's his momma's blog) :

I chose a coin stack pattern for an "I Spy" type quilt.  I found the pattern at Moda Bake Shop. It is very busy and very boyish.  I forgot to get some good photos before I delivered it (ok, well, that's because I was still stitching the binding up until a day or so before I presented it.  I was on a long vacation and took it along with me to finish!).  The photos here don't show how bright it really is.

Being a new quilter (this was my third), I forgot the importance of making the quilt back a very simple one.  Well, this one was REALLY cool.... but became a little lopsided when it was put on the long-arm, which was my fault.  Another lesson learned the hard way.  I LOVE the black background fabric - it's my favorite one.

All wrapped up together!

Big brother stole it!  I guess I need to make him one, too!

 I wish I had been a quilter when each of my little great-nieces and great-nephews were born.  I have several  that I have sent little things to, but I would love to make them a fun scrappy quilt, too.  I just might do that.

They'll just have to WAIT a little while.....

Christmas Stockings - the mini kind.

Anyone still out there?  Yes, we're still alive.  I just haven't felt like saying much here.  Yes, there was a wedding - some of you have seen the photos on Facebook.  I will post about that at some point.  I've just kind of lost my blogging desire.

BUT, this post is about my Christmas project this year.  I decided to make something for my son and his new wife that would continue a Christmas tradition of ours.

I love Christmas advent - I love little gadgets and things that count down the days, and we did that a lot when my kids were little.  About 14 or 15 years ago, I made these:

 These little stockings, in a variety of fabrics, have hung down our banister every Christmas since then. They are filled with 1 little candy per person, with varying types so you never know what you'll get!  Some years they were ignored, so one Christmas in the recent past I didn't put them up to see if anyone cared.  They did - I put them back the next year.  That'll teach 'em!  It was nice to know that these treasured sewn-by-Mom stockings mattered.

Here are the ones I made for B and B:

 The differences?  My friend with a letter cutter cut the numbers for me instead of having to use a Sharpie.  The fabrics are a bit more "hip and happenin'", and I was lucky enough to find Charlie Brown Christmas fabric!  Love it - that is a Christmas MUST around here.  

Here is what they looked like together, old and new:

 B and B can choose how to hang them, and how to use them.  Hopefully they will continue a much-loved tradition.  I had great fun making them.  Another special memory begun.

T-Shirts, Memories, and Quilting

When Brian was a missionary, I wanted to make several things for him as a surpirse when he returned.  One was to have his missionary blog all done into a Blurb book.  The other was to have a t-shirt quilt completed.  There were other smaller things I wanted to complete....   Well, I got Year One done of the blog book, and that's it.  I finally finished his missionary quilt the day before he flew back for school on January 2nd. - yes, of THIS year.  WOOT!  Yea, that's me - the amazing goal setter and keeper.....sigh.

My dear friend Carrie once again assisted me in this adventure, as she did when I made my first quilt for L, which I blogged about here.   I had saved t-shirts for my son from when he was a little boy and played on his very first basketball team.  I had no idea what I would do with them, but I saved them anyway.  I am so glad that I did!  What a wonderful treasure this turned out to be!

So, first I laid out all the shirts.  The design areas have to be measured and ironed on to some heavy duty pelon so they won't stretch anymore (NOTE - this is not in chronological order, so don't try this at home!).

This is quite a complicated process - and I am not good at Math.  I had to create my own pattern using graph paper and teeny bits of paper.  Once I got the hang of it, it was actually pretty fun and I enjoyed making a design!  This is not the final copy, but an example of how it works.

After the design was complete and all the strips were sewn together....

...it was time to go to Carrie's house to use her amazing Long-Arm machine.

 

 We had a few challenges with the machine.... it can be a bit stubborn...

but never fear, it all worked out.

And in the end, it was GORGEOUS!! Yes, I am bragging just a little.

 

Some day, I hope my wonderful son truly appreciates the hours and hours of measuring, cutting, reminiscing, adding and subtracting, rearranging, crying, trying again, driving, sewing, and picking out mistakes.  I also hope his future wife (whereEVER she is....) will let him use it and will also love it and appreciate it.  

Guess we will just have to WAIT a little while to see......

Prom Packaging

L is a Senior.  Last night her prom was held.  It was her first.  She looked like a slightly "punk" Cinderella.  Gorgeous.  She didn't leave school early to attend a spa or have her hair and nails done and her body scrubbed.  Many girls do that - I don't really get that, and she doesn't either.  "This isn't a wedding" was our mantra.  Thank Heavens - on multiple levels.   

We started prom dress shopping in March.  She has no problem keeping the standards of dress that our church follows.  Finding a dress on this side of the country that honors that is much more difficult.  While I could have sewn one for her myself, or ordered one online from some companies who support dressing modestly,  we decided to shop for a dress and see if it would be fairly simple to modify.  I have several friends who have done that, so I figured I could do that as well.

L is wonderful to shop with.  She knows what she wants and when she sees it, she's done.   When she was  younger, that bothered me - I wanted more of an  "experience" shopping with my daughter.  You know - "hmmmm.... well, let's see what the other 50 stores have before we get THAT one".  Nope - she wasn't having it.   I now appreciate that talent in her very much.  I wish I had it.  When we walked into the first store the first time shopping, she saw it, loved it, tried it on, and we bought it and were done!  Sweet.

Here is what it looked like before:

And here is the after.  I like the black satin sleeves - I think they "add" to the look, besides covering up my daughter:

They were pretty easy to slip-stitch in.  Because L is only 5'1", I had to also take up the length.  I did that by just folding up and matching seems and layers that were already in the dress, and tacking them in place.  The affect it had was to make it much more poofy and "cinderella-ish".  Worked for her!

She looked like a princess and had a wonderful evening.  Maybe we'll add a photo of her and the "boy".... and,  maybe not.  You'll have to WAIT and see.... :)

Pioneer Day Eve Update

Well, here is what happened with the Pioneer clothing. My good friend Diane loaned us this outfit: (WARNING - Pioneer outfit model should be treated as a hostile witness, your Honor).

Thank you, Diane!! The white blouse was one of the Goodwill Finds.

Below is the outfit I DID create. The hostile model chose yellow fabric in a non-hostile moment:


It all looks better in person. I also made pretty cool bloomers out of jammie bottoms. One pair looked like this - you know, for patriotic purposes:

The other pair I made had big yelllow chickies. LOVE them. Forgot to photograph them. Gotta be a little unconventional, you know?

Happy Pioneer Day - a little early.

(Ok, she wasn't really "hostile", she just wasn't too happy about wearing pioneer clothes for 4 days. Can't blame her for that.)

Gifts Given, Blessings Recieved

I blogged earlier about being "ready" for the stress of preparing handmade gifts this Christmas. Well, I gotta say I waited too long to really enjoy the process as I had hoped. I really didn't make too many, although I did have fun making the things displayed here. I do hope to plan better next year because I DO love to make things for people. Below are some things I made.

I made this wreath for my sis in law and her family. I scanned in some older photos I had (her children are now grown) and I photoshopped them to create the black and white old-looking photos. I bought the frames at Kohl's, got pretty ribbons and picks, used a little glue gun, and here is how it turned out:


I really like it - and so did she! I hope it just stays together well for years to come. If not, she has a glue gun!

I made a few of these for neighbor gifts:

Good ol' Target pails with some tasty goodies inside. Les made the little ornament hangers draped over the front. Fun times!

The main thing I made this year was my first quilt! I blogged earlier a teeny bit about learning how to do that. I had saved remnants of clothes over the years that I made for my daughter since she was teeny. My intention was to one day make her a quilt from those fabrics when she was older - maybe ready to graduate high school, or get married. She is now nearly 17. I decided now was a good time. My friend Carrie very patiently helped me select the pattern, showed me how to cut the pieces in a quick way with a rotary cutter and a rotary mat, and then showed me how to FIX the pieces after I completely messed them up. I made the quilt front, and then Carrie showed me how to make the border, the quilt back, and how to bind it. I went to her house to use her wonderful long-arm to quilt it together.

Here are a few photos of the process. Here it is ready to be pinned on to the rollers:

Carrie is getting it started and showing me how to work the machine.

I am hugging the wonderful machine.

Carrie fixing the wonderful machine....

TAA DAAAA!!!

Ooooh!! It is soo cozy!

The happy recipient, which makes it worth every moment of sewing when she was little, fixing every mistake made while learning this process, and definitely worth completing the project.