Baby Quilts

We are such a blessed family.  In my extended family we will have 4 sweet babies born in 8 months time.  With close friends also having babies it is time to mass produce and design baby quilts.  I like when a pieced top has so many 90 degree angles I love to quilt them with the bubble pattern to soften all of those corners.  The brown quilt is actually for the baby of hunting enthusiasts.  The backs of both of these quilts are Minky.  The softest fabric I have ever seen.  These will soon be wrapped around soft little babies.  Welcome to the family.

Wow look at these colors!

A friend brought me a beautiful quilt to quilt.  She called it Sugar Plum.  I love the colors. The little gold dragon flies in the purple fabric are so sweet that we echoed it with the stitching.  SM was thrilled with the results.  I was happy to be part of that. 

Antique Quilts

I have a special friend who has an everyday quilt that they have used for picnics and anytime they are sitting outside.  She was told that it was quilted by her Great-Great Grandmother.  She loves to talk to her kids about family but know one knows how old this quilt truly is.  It is worn and loved.  The binding was fraying and so I put a new binding on it so that it will last another 50 years hopefully.  I am wondering if the leaves are fabric from flour sacks or any date anyone could give me.  It would add to the story of this carefully and well loved and used quilt.  Thanks in advance. 

Adventures with Half Square Triangles

I bought a pattern that would make hundreds of half square triangles.  I load the fabric and tell the computer to work this pattern.  When it is done I cut all of these patterns apart and trim them.  Each group of patterns would make 144 of these blocks.

With this pile of blocks I can make many different quilt patterns.  Here is the one that I just finished for a young women who just got married.

Here is the close up of the quilting.  Kind of a inside out paisley. 

The trimming of all 800 half square triangles was a little time consuming but it was better than sewing each block individually.

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland for the first time.  My Husband, Bob, our Daughter Michelle, and I joined long time friends from the San Diego for this experience.  Over the years they have gone several times so it was good to join someone who knew all of the ins and outs of Disneyland.  This is what their children wear for this adventure. 

If you are over 10 years old you can't dress up.  So this is what Michelle wore to dress up with the little girls.  We made autograph books and spent time getting autographs from many of the characters.  Michelle was just as excited as the other kids to meet the princesses and others.

Honestly you would think that Minnie Mouse and the Princesses were real.  It was fun to take our time and let Michelle and the kids have this experience. 

All the roller coasters and other rides thrill everyone, but this is as close as Bob gets to the Tea Cups without getting sick.

Because these aren't my children I will only show them from the backs.  But even from the back you can see how cute these two and a half year old twins are in their Snow White and Cinderella dresses they are.  People would stop us everywhere to take their pictures.

 My two favorite Cops in the whole world, be safe and have fun.  

Part of our Disneyland package was eating at Ariel's Grotto.  This was the easiest on my feet for meeting Princesses.  After this picture the different Princesses actually came to our table for pics and autographs.  My stomach and my feet were very happy.

Day two here were are ready to tackle this world.  This time the twins are mermaids.  So much fun we had.

This is the most visited room in the park.  With 4 little girls and Michelle we were here and rooms like it almost every other minute.  Good thing they were clean and roomy.

 We decided to work our arm muscles instead of our feet and row a canoe around a river.  The only difficulty was when I ended up with 3 little ones in front of me and another one behind me.  I was the only wet adult in the canoe.  Michelle was between the strong men because she did not want to row.  I had to work hard to keep up on my side.  I enjoyed this ride, but next time the guys can fight oars with the kids. 

I don't generally like roller coaster but this one was terrific.  Usually I am too tall for the back and neck rests.  This was great.  I really enjoyed this ride and didn't have a stiff neck or back afterwards.

Three days was the right amount of time to enjoy the two parks and enjoy the company of good friends.  We enjoyed every minute.
The last day hours before getting on the plane home we went to the beach.  The water is definitely warmer than our coast water, even in August.  It was a perfect way to end this trip.
Now you know what we have been doing instead of quilting.  We are forever grateful for family and  great friends.

Cooking Fun

This week we had a fun diversion.  We were cooked for 80 people for 3 meals this weekend.  It is always fun to do this service.  We did sloppy joes, chicken noodle soup from scratch and buttermilk pancakes from scratch.  It is fun to see happy hungry teenagers.  The Youth went to a very old cemetery and worked for the better part of 5 hours cleaning, weeding, and other general help.  It was chilly outside but managed to not rain.  Then to the church for hot chicken noodle soup, kids even came back for seconds and more.  I think that I have it down to a science now.  Grateful to be able to be part of something fun for the kids, and grateful to all of those who helped me.  Now back to real life, with quilting and cleaning to make up for last week.  One quilt on the machine for a wedding present for a friend then on to the work/play with the quilting business. 

Make you laugh

Just thought I would make you all laugh.  I was hanging a quilt up so take a picture and Torri, my little Shar Pei dog heard a noise outside and ran to check it out.  When she stands all of her wrinkles sag to her tail.    Maybe someday I will get a picture of her face.  She is a good girl.
I have one quilt on the machine for a wedding on Friday.  Need to get back to work.  I will take a picture of it tomorrow.