A Quilt for Elijah

A few months ago I finished this quilt for my nephew.  Sadly, he died just a few days before his due date.  I have put off writing about this quilt, not knowing what to say about it.  I know the past month has been tough for my brother and his family.  They have moved along in their busy lives, taking care of their other 4 children.  Their courage and faith has been a great example to me.  So Allyson & Dave, if you are reading this, know that I love you!  I made this quilt thinking of you and your little boy...and I do love how it turned out.  So here goes:  

The pattern is "Simple Simon" from Amy Smart's book "Fabulously Fast Quilts" -- I have used the pattern before and I think it's a great one for baby boy quilts.  The fabric is an adorable Riley Blake line called "Greatest Adventure."  I love the little boys in this -- throwing airplanes, wearing capes, riding in cardboard box cars.  Super cute.  

For the quilting I did some straight lines in the middle section, loops on the white border, and loopty-loos around the outside boarder.  Not sure how well you can see it on this backing, but there it is:

I had a fat quarter bundle for this quilt, and so I ended up with some fabric left over.  Much of what I didn't use had a white background.  So I made this second quilt.  Frankly, I don't love it.  The pattern is simple, which I like.  But I think solid white borders might have looked better.   The pattern is from Elizabeth Hartman's book "The Practical Guide to Patchwork."  

I quilted waves around each of the squares.  Up until recently I have only done meandering, all-over quilt patterns (the same thing over the whole quilt, not following the quilt blocks at all.)  So actually quilting only certain parts of the quilt was new for me.  The challenge is that you have to start and stop and twist and turn the quilt more often.  But I did this one simply so I could avoid all that.

The backing is from another Riley Blake line -- I can't remember the exact name, but I think it also has "adventure" in it.  It is cute little newspaper hats.  I think a bolder binding might have helped this quilt out too.  But this one will have to do.  :)  

Space Quilt

A couple of years ago my sister gave me a small fat quarter pack -- I think there were 6 fabrics.  They are space/astronaut fabrics from a the line called Planet Buzz by Blend Fabrics.  I didn't have many fabrics that would match with these, so I looked for a pattern using 5 or 6 prints, plus some background fabric.

The one I ended up using is from a book called "Take Two and Add a Few" by Atkinson's Design.  I won this book in a drawing at my local quilt shop.  It is older, and the fabrics are not my favorite, but it ended up being a great pattern for me this time.  The "floating" blocks seem fitting for a space quilt. I had a few extra blocks and scraps of fabric, so I pieced the back.

I tried a new quilting pattern -- kind of an elongated, meandering maze.   I even went out on a limb and used some colored variegated thread.  When I first started quilting it kept breaking and I initially thought it was because it is a different brand and weight of thread than I typically used.  But after trying to adjust the tension, I changed my needle and didn't have any more thread breaking.  Yay!  I think my other needle may have had a knick in it or something.

You can see in the picture that my meandering corners kind of changed -- from boxy to curvy. I started with the curvy corners at the bottom, then when I came back the next day I morphed into boxy -- oops. I'm certainly not going to unpick it all.  :)  Despite the imperfection of my quilting, I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.  I'd like to try it again sometime.  And since I have 2 more basted quilts, I may just be able to do it.

I am on a roll.

This was on my list of goals for the Finish-a-Long. 

I am linking up to the Finish-a-Long party at She Can Quilt.

do. Good Stitches - Teen Quilt

For the past couple of years I have been participating in an online charity bee -- do. Good Stitches.   How it works is that there are about 8 assigned to one "beehive."  We live all over the U.S.  Each month everyone makes a couple of quilt blocks and mails them to a person in charge to finish the quilt.  That quilt is then donated to Project Linus, a non-profit organization that gives quilts to children in need -- for example, children who are seriously ill.

So in May I was in charge of the quilt for the first time .  First I contacted a local Project Linus person who gathers the blankets and distributes them.  I asked her if there were any particular needs, and as suspected she said they are often lacking in boy quilts -- specifically teen boy quilts.  This was not surprising, as quilters tend to enjoy making cute or pretty things.  Having 3 boys myself, though, I am happy to contribute something cool instead (or something like that. :))

So off I went to choose a quilt pattern suitable for a teen boy.  I decided on Mister DJ by Melissa Cory.  We are all using scraps from our fabric stash so I needed something that could be nice and scrappy.  I chose the colors, shared the instructions, and waited for fun little packages to arrive in the mail.  It was so fun to open those envelopes and see the different blocks.  A few of the other ladies sent an extra block or more.  That was so nice.  I had plenty for the quilt -- even 2 extra for the back.

I love how the quilt turned out and hope that it is appreciated by some teenage boy out there.  :)

This was on my list of goals for the Finish-a-Long. 

I am linking up to the Finish-a-Long party at She Can Quilt.

BOM Cowboy Quilt

I have been doing a Block of the Month quilt at my local quilt shop for several years now.  I have posted about most of these quilts -- except for this one because I didn't like it much and never quilted it!

1.  2012 Japanese Sampler
2.  2013 Cowboy Sampler
3.  2014 Solid Sampler
4.  2015 Neutrals Sampler
5.  2016 Red and White Sampler
6.  2017 Cotton and Steel Sampler (We are on our last month!)

So the Cowboy Sampler has been a flimsy for a few of years now.  I just don't love it.  Despite the fact that I'm from a small town in Idaho, I am definitely not a cowboy (or a cowgirl. :))  You can't see the fabric well here, but they have cowboy boots, spures, horseshoes, etc.

 

The quilt shop offers quilt fabrics in two or three different color-ways -- that year I chose this cowboy color-way because it was made from Batiks (a type of hand-dyed fabric.)  I had never sewn with Batiks and wanted to give it a try.  The sashing and backing are just quilting cottons -- the backing is some from a halloween fabric line, which I got for 60% off after Halloween.  The sashing is just a solid black quilting cotton.

It was fun to experiment with Batiks.    I loved how flat they ironed out.  The feel of the fabric was quite different from other quilting cottons.  As I quilted, though, my stitches on the Batiks didn't look as nice as the ones on the sashing.  I will have to see how it looks after I wash it.

As usual, I like like the Cowboy Quilt better now that it's been quilted.  I still struggle with exactly what to do with it.  Is it even donate-worthy?  It is the size of a toddler quilt, but those colors are pretty dark for kid's quilt.  I don't know, maybe a cute little boy with cowboy boots would appreciate it.  In hindsight, I probably should have made the quilt larger for an older boy....someone who doesn't want something cute.  ;)

It was kind of surprising to see how poorly pieced this quilt was.  My 1/4 inch seam must be a lot more accurate these years later.  Good to see I've made some progress.  :)

This was on my list of goals for the quarter.  Yay!
This is one of my finishes for Quarter 3 of the Finish-A-Long.

May - July

May

This year Mother's Day and the birthday of Brian's mom was on the same day.  So we went to the cemetery to leave some flowers.  We only go to the cemetery a few times a year, and the boys often complain -- but once we are there they are content and happy.  There is a pond and some ducks there.  Tanner got a little nervous when the ducks got too close.  The plaque in the bottom right is in memory of those who died in the 9/11 attack.

Eric and Brian went on a 5-mile hike with the Webelos.  They had a nice time and got some exercise.

June

Brian took Eric to a "Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband" concert.  Eric was not familiar with this group, but he really enjoyed it.  The group is entertaining and great for families.  

The boys finished years 6th, 4th, and Kindergarten.  Here is Tanner with his lovely teacher.  They had a fun program with some great songs.  I did feel a little bad because the flyer said to dress their best -- well, I kind of missed that detail and let him pick out his outfit as usual.  Ooops.    He was still super handsome!

For several years now I have given Brian a photo album for Father's Day.  I always include highlights from the previous year -- so in this case it was our 2016 family album.  I have several pictures of the boys all looking the book over like this.  They always enjoy seeing the pictures and reminiscing. Brian requested Shepherd's Pie for dinner and we had Banana Splits for dessert.  

We're in for another year of CFC soccer.  Each year they go to a Real Salt Lake game.  This year his team got to sit on the team's bench while they did their pre-game warmup.  

We decided to take a vacation in nearby Park City this year.  Often we are driving many hours to California.  But this time, we packed up the car and less than 30 minutes later we were checking in to our hotel.  We had a great time.  I especially enjoyed the cooler weather.  Most days were in the high 60's and 70's -- warm enough to swim, but still very comfortable.  One day it cooled down considerably and actually SNOWED!  You can't tell from the picture below, but it is snowing out there.  I loved it!

We took a day and went to Heber City.  This is the town where my grandparent's and other relatives are buried.  We went by the cemetery.  Tanner requested to take a picture by my Grandpa's grave since his middle name is the same as his.  :)  We also went to a War Memorial in Midway.  The view of the valley was beautiful -- storm clouds and all.  The memorial has plaques for several wars that the US was involved in.  They listed people who had served in those wars, so we went around and found our relatives' names.

We also spent a day at the Utah Olympic Park.  In 2002, Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics.  Park City held some events in skiing, bobsledding, etc.  We had already been to the Olympic Museum, so this year we splurged and bought all day passes to do some zip-lining, climbing on the obstacle course, and riding the Alpine Slide.  The kids had a great time.  

We also did a little golfing, played at a local elementary (the boys liked the Tether Ball having seen it on Napolean Dynamite) and played at the resort (swimming, ping pong, and fuseball.)  Brian's sister was in Utah that same week (she lives in West Virginia).  So she and a few of her kids came to visit us at the resort.

July

I didn't take very many pictures in July.   All that excitement in June must have worn us out!  We didn't do much for the 4th of July.  We even got away with not buying any fireworks because our neighbors up the street invited us, and several others, to watch their fireworks.  That was a much better show than we ever do.  They had some nice aerial fireworks -- pretty, but loud.  Tanner didn't like the noise and as we left to walk home, he said to me, "My favorite part of the fireworks is going home!" :)

One very sad thing that happened is that my brother and his wife had a stillborn baby.  He was full-term and just 2 days before Allyson's induction date, she couldn't feel the baby move.  They found out he had died and after giving birth discovered he had the cord wrapped around his neck.  We had a funeral for little Elijah.  Despite the sadness, it was a very spiritual experience.  My brother and his wife have been amazing through it all.  Our siblings flew in for the funeral and we had a nice time visiting and spending time as a family. 

On a lighter note, in July we watched our friends' bunny for a couple of days.  It was very fun for the kids.  We don't have any pets, and probably never will, so this was a real novelty.  The bunny was very cute and Eric and Tanner visited him often.  

Jan-April Review

Well, I seem to be due to write a review of what we've been doing as a family.  Here goes:

January:

Brian took the boys to an alumni event -- dinner and the University of Utah basketball game.  They had a great time.  Glad I still have a "Y" fan in there.  (Can you see Andrew's "Y"?  It took me a minute to figure that out.)

Each year the National PTA holds a "Reflections" contest.  Tanner entered this year with a stop motion video he made with a Nintendo 3DS. The theme was "What is Your Story?"  Tanner's video was made with Playmobil Soccer players.  His brief statement explained that he loved soccer.  The video was only 10 seconds long, but for a kindergartener that was good enough.  He won awards at the school, district and council levels.  The Region competition was held at Jordan High School.  Here he is posing with his medal and certificate.  

February:

Andrew turned 12 this year!  His birthday fell on President's Day, so Brian was home and we all went to In and Out Burger for lunch. Andrew likes shoes and is always noticing other people's cool (expensive) shoes.  This year he got two pairs of converse shoes and headphones for the Xbox 360. Brian also got him tickets to go to a Real Salt Lake soccer game.   

April: 

We went to Rexburg for a few days to see Grandma and Grandpa and the Larsen cousins.  One day we took the kids to Fat Cats and bowled and played Miniature Golf.  Tanner was especially cute cool as he danced to the music.

We took Andrew to the Rexburg temple and also went and played basketball at the church.

Happy birthday to Eric!  He turned 10.  Last year he was way into Basketball.  This year it was all Football.  Rather than a party with friends, he just wanted to hang out with his buddies.  And can you see what he is holding up in that last picture?  A Fidget Spinner.  This was a super popular toy -- for about 2 months.  :)  

Near the end of the month, we also celebrated April birthdays with cousins.

Easter - we had a nice easter at home.  Decorating easter eggs, having a little hunt in our yard, eating chick cupcakes, and attending church.

Andrew and Brian went to a Kansas Concert.  Not Andrew's favorite music, but he enjoys attending concerts with Brian.

Lastly, Tanner discovered skate parks.  He has been watching Shonduras videos on Youtube -- well, since Shonduras is a skater, Tanner wants to be a skater.  He doesn't skateboard yet, but he is pretty good on a scooter.  Here he is with his best friends, at the skate park.  I am typing this in the summer and sure which the sky was cloudy and grey today!  I remember that, even though the boys are in shorts, it was nice and cool that day.  I love that weather!

Lastly, we were so pleased when the middle school called and said that Andrew was going to be recognized as the "Patriot of the Month."  The teacher's nominate one boy and one girl in each grade to receive the award.  It is based on citizenship and academics.  They presented the "Patriots" at an a school assembly.  Nice job Andrew!

Finish-a-Long Goals Q3

Last quarter I missed the Finish-A-Long date for posting my goals for 2nd quarter.  I was disappointed and so I'm going to make sure to post something this time!  My goals are lofty -- my batting is not.  ha ha.

My favorite part of the quilting process is piecing.  Quilting is more challenging, and really dislike basting.  So that means I have a few quilt tops waiting to be basted and quilted!  So for this quarter's list, I am only including completely pieced tops that need to be quilted.  So here's the list:

1.  Mystery Quilt

2.  Summer Sampler Quilt-a-Long

3.  Persimmon Quilt

4.  Holly's Tree Farm Quilt

6.  Space Quilt

7. Teen Quilt

8.  Orange Scrap Quilt

9.  Sports Quilt -- no picture, but it is also a finished top, ready to be quilted.

10.  Fairytale Quilt -- this and the following quilts are also pieced tops, ready to be quilted.  So old that any pictures I took are buried somewhere in the dusty corners of my hard drive.  😬

11.  BOM Cowboy Quilt

12.  Clementine Quilt

I am linking up to the Finish-A-Long linky party at She Can Quilt.

Spring Wall Hanging

I've finished another wall hanging for my stairwell.  This one is for Spring.  I wanted to use bright colors, so an Allison Glass Sun Print charm pack did the trick.  Now that it's finished, it kind of reminds me of striped easter eggs -- if I imagine the rectangles as ovals anyway.  :)  I have seen a few striped quilts similar to this -- some wonky, some not.  I have liked them so I just went with it.  No pattern was used, and I can't give credit to any one source. 

I also made a couple of pillows that were donated to an auction in behalf of some friends.  My offer was for a custom made pillow -- any letter, any color.  I had hoped I could make something new for some fan out there that cheers for another college.  No luck, just the Y and the U -- the only other ones I've made in the past.  Oh well, it was still fun.

And for you, my 2 sisters who read this....here are the boys on Easter.  Without even trying, they went to church matching nicely!