An Update and a Little Chef Ensemble

Roscoe's Pa had his surgery yesterday.  The doc seemed satisfied with how it went.  Now the not so fun part...recovery.  My husband is managing his pain fairly well with the meds and is in a good frame of mind.

WhiIe I am trying to reorganize life right now to take care of  Pa, I have to put my quilting on hold.  I will give you a peek at a cute gift I made for Granddaughter #1 earlier in the year.  The free tutorial for making the hat and apron can be found at Making It Fun.  Here is the hat...

The top of the hat shows up too dark in the picture. The fabric looks like this... 

Here is the apron... 

 

And I just made up the oven mitt.  I have to say this kitchen ensemble has gotten a workout from the little chef.

Scatterbrained

Yes, now you know more about me.  I am apt to be forgetful when under stress.  In my rush to maintain my blog, I posted the same pictures twice.  Duh.  Why am I stressed?  Roscoe's Pa was trimming a tree and the ladder gave way to soft ground under one of the legs. The result was a broken ladder, a broken knee cap, and impending surgery. Daughter #1, who is a physician, did a rundown of all the ladder injuries she has seen in the Emergency Room. I think Roscoe's Pa got off easy...in spite of how upset he is about the whole fiasco.  At least it might be fixable.

Yes, I did make the deadline for Colin's quilt.  I wanted to hand deliver it yesterday as we were in his hometown in Indiana for a family reunion.  (As mentioned in a previous post, Colin is our three year old nephew who will have surgery to correct a lymphatic abnormality on July 7th.)  Here's the finished quilt!  It is a combo of an I-Spy quilt and a Matching quilt and I am happy with it.  Here is the front...

And here is the cozy flannel pawprint back...

And a close up after washing and drying...

I hope he enjoys it and it keeps him quietly occupied while healing.  He doesn't know about his upcoming surgery.  No need to worry the little guy just yet.

Still sewing

I haven't posted for a while because it has been such a busy month around here.  I am sewing furiously trying to get my nephew's quilt done before this Friday.  I am now doing the hand sewing on the binding.  I have a busy week ahead and four days with my little granddaughter.  Will I get it the nephew's quilt done?  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'll show you another quilt from my past.  This is Carmen's quilt.  She is a really good friend of Daughter #1.  Carmen works a full-time job, is the mom of two cute little guys, and a marathon runner.  She had a nagging knee pain and she persisted with the doctors for relief.  It turned out to be bone cancer.  She is currently approaching 10 months of 'cancer free' status.  Anyway, isn't our quilting obsession a great way to extend our support to someone who is facing a tough time?  It's a relief to be able to do something small to perhaps bring some love and comfort to someone.

Yes it is a variation of same pattern that I have used over and over again.  It's definitely time to branch out to other designs.  But I love the simple block and playing with the fabrics and colors.  I used Lakehouse fabric for this quilt.

A Finish

While I am working on the three QIP's, I will show you something I previously finished for some good friends.  They live in the southwest but were originally from the midwest so I tried to keep that in mind when choosing the fabrics.  The color scheme was orange and aqua and I used a variety of fabrics...mostly Moda.

Here is what I started with.

And here is the finish.

Levi's Pillowcase

Here is another finish for my little Amish neighbors.  It is not one of my stellar sewing projects.

Levi's birthday brought him to age 11.  He is a really cute kiddo with a real different approach to life that is hard to explain.  Let's just say he gives his mom and dad a lot to worry about at times.  He requested a blue and green pillowcase.  I decided to go with a plain fabric that had a little texture to the color without actually being a print.  I struggle with those solid colors.  I am a print girl through and through.

Voila...the ugliest pillowcase I've ever made.  (And yes, a poorly done photograph, as well.)  Sometimes you hit the mark and sometimes you don't!  I think he liked it though.

Another QIP

Yes, I now have three quilts going.  I need to draw the line, don't I?  Naw.

I have quilt #1 for GD#2 which you have seen previously.  The top is done and ready to be made into a sandwich for quilting.  Here is the back...

I have quilt #2 for GD #1.  Most of the cutting is done.  I am now officially at 34 different fabrics for this quilt.  I hope it turns out the way I envision (something I am not real good at.)

And now another quilt for my great nephew who is three.  He must have surgery in early July for a 'lympathic abnormality' that is above his bladder and tied up in blood vessels by his intestine.  I think this is a lot for a little guy to go through.  Plus there are some unknowns associated with this surgery.  Anyway, I am in making him a 'matching' quilt for something to do with his quiet time after surgery.  I am ready to sew the squares together.  Each square in the group on the left has a matching square in the group on the right.

Here is a close up of some of the squares...

                                     

A Quilt Panel

Usually I don't go much for quilt panels.  They just don't interest me.  But I have made an exception.

I saw this panel at a LQS and it depicts some things I see nearly every day (with the exception of the quilt frame...yes, I have seen a quilt frame surrounded by Amish women working their needles... but never outside.) 

 

 

So I caved and bought the panel thinking it might make into a nice throw-sized quilt for watching TV and be a remembrance of where we once lived.