Update

27 Aug 2011 17 Comments

by averyclaire in Applique, Baby Quilt, Family, Quilting Tags: , , ,

Warning: This is a LONG post…after three months of absence.

On July 6th we welcomed a brand new baby granddaughter, Maya, into our family. She is precious. Of course that meant “another” trip to Colorado to see our new little bundle of joy. Her parents are thrilled to say the least. It is SO hard to be so far away from them.

In May and June I caught the quilt bug! All I have been doing is working on quilts. First I would spend some therapeutic and meditative time in my garden weeding, then would have my shower and get to it! Last post I showed you the first two blocks of an applique quilt I am working on. Here are photos of the next six making a total of eight completed. Number nine is in process. (There are 16 total, so only halfway there.) It’s an easy applique pattern from Edyta Sytar called Sweet Sixteen.

I am committed to finishing projects this year. So here is a photo of a pinwheel quilt in process. Have the bug to use up old fabrics using half square triangles….hence the pinwheels.

Next I have a photo of my Japanese bento box that is still being hand-quilted by yours truly. I have only about a third of the sashing to quilt….but it seems to take forever. And when one has a million hand projects to work on….which one does one choose? (I even have one of those felt Christmas stockings I am putting together at the request of my DD.)

And last but not least I have made another 25 baby blankets with matching teddy bears. These are for my large quilt group Holiday Boutique which happens every year in November.

So between my garden, three active quilts in process, a Christmas stocking, 25 baby blankets and teddy bears, and a stabbing effort to get the laundry, cooking, and cleaning done….well…it’s a crazy fun world for sure. I did do a tiny bit of cross-stitch and taught my granddaughter, Sophia (age 9), to quilt (she made a small quilt for Maya); she learned to cross stitch; and learned to embroider (made two pillows).

And in the midst of all of this I was ill for five months…..April, May, June, July and August. In April I thought I got food poisoning. Not so. The painful attacks after eating, hanging over the commode, would last for four hours at least three or four times per week. After lots of doctoring, lots of tests, and my own experiments trying to be “fat free”, “lactose free”, “gluten free” nothing worked. Even the specialists at our wonderful Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago are mystified. However, I did learn after charting my food for weeks, that I simply cannot tolerate any kind of complex carbohydrates…no rice, no pasta, no breads of any kind, no crackers, no carrots or beets, anything with high carbohydrate content. There seems to be no name for my condition and no cure….but now I finally have no more illness so long as I don’t eat those things. I did lose a LOT of weight during this time (not such a bad thing…a bonus for me). Guess I just have to live and eat differently now. Golly I miss my junk food!!!!

For now it’s good to jot out a fresh blog post. I have silently lurked amongst all of your blogs in the past three months and they are wonderful. Thanks for visiting. Amities, Averyclaire

Happy Spring…

22 Mar 2011 10 Comments

by averyclaire in Applique, Baby Quilt, Cross-Stitch, Needlework, Quilting, Rabbit, Sewing Tags: ,

Yes…it’s been six weeks…going on two months. I’m just not good at posting often. I hope you will all forgive me for the times you visited and found nothing new. But….I HAVE been enjoying my retirement.

I am slowly working on “Briar Rabbit.” Love him, but he’s really tedious. It’s a Cedar Hill pattern (I love their patterns), but can’t wait to have him done and framed. I wanted to do a rabbit for Easter, but I must not be in the mood. Perhaps my focus has been more on quilting lately. Ahhh…whereever the spirit pours out the creativity I guess.

Here’s a peek at the quilt top I have created for our new baby granddaughter-to-be due to arrive in July. Her name is going to be “Maya” and her Mom likes Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit……so……here are some of the blocks. Here’s Peter….with an embroidered flower garland….

and here’s Johnny Town Mouse, Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb….

and some pretty flowers….

and here’s Nutkin smelling the embroidered flower…

and some hearts and birds and pretty scrolls….

and here’s Jemima Puddle-Duck and friend….

along with a lunch basket and some carrots…

another flower…..

and voila…..the quilt top waiting to be quilted.

The block patterns came from the book “More William Morris Applique” by Michelle Hill. Her pattern was made with William Morris fabrics. I wanted something more pastel and I wanted to make it larger. So I added sashing where there was none….and I added the blocks with the letters to spell the name “Maya.” I drew the letters by hand. And because it was so very pastel I also added the flange cording around the blocks and sashing. It helps to separate something so pastel that does not have a lot of contrast. The blocks were machine appliqued.

There will soon be a baby shower and I hope the top is quilted and complete in time for the big day. It was a lot of fun to make and prodded my creative touch with the changes I made to the pattern. It now measures about 40 x 50.

And last but not least….I made a new cushion (approx. 16″ x 50″) for my son and daughter-in-law’s foyer bench. A request that somehow remained set aside for more than a year. It feels good to check things off the to-do list.

I pray all of you are enjoying warmer weather and hints of Spring. My walks on these warm days are delightful and inspiring. Back to the rest of the “to-do” list….

Til next time……Amities, Averyclaire