Sewing Things

 

It has been a very wonderfully busy time of year.   It's so humbling to think of all the things I've been making and where they are headed in the world.  I have said before how I pray over each item as I'm sewing and the recipient.  Sometimes they are babies, sometimes they are great-grandmas.  Each client has a beautiful story of the baby shower coming up or the reunion they will soon attend.  Sometimes I think I should just mind my own business and not be so dang nosy. 

 

But over the six-ish years I've been making custom items, it's the people that keep me engaged.  I can sew all day long for someone that tells me the littlest tidbit of their life.  I love their stories and what is happening in their corner of the world.  It's so fascinating to me to think of what everyone is busy doing with their days. 

 

Side note: I used to think there was a little girl named Allison who was exactly my age and lived on a farm living a parallel life with me.  That doesn't even make sense, but I guess it shows I've always been thinking about people and their goings-on.  Even fake people!

 

So here we have a little baby Kate who is yet to be born.  Mama likes purple and gray.  The bunting is going in the nursery after the shower and baby Kate will fill out that onesie all too soon.

The rustic churn dash quilt is for a little boy in Canada.  His mama had a baby girl not too long ago and then !! Surprise!!  Baby boy came along.  OH those are the best stories.  I love surprises!  Especially baby surprises. 

Baby Autumn was born at the correct time of year.  Thank you, dear.  I just happened to have masses of yellow matching leaves sitting in a neat little pile near my photo shoot area.  My little nature detectives love the yellow maples leaves. 

My own baby surprise likes to come see me do my sewings.  Apparently patchwork squares work well to line up cars before they race. 

Who knew?

This sweet commission was one of the coolest quilts I've made in a while!  Sadly I don't know too much about the client (except she has a beautiful name and was really patient with some slow fabric delivery) but she has a keen eye for gorgeous fabric.  This was made with Amy Butler's Cameo line.  Each side is a large rectangle with 8" border.  So it is pretty much reversible, depending on if you are in the mood for navy or aqua.  Fantastic idea!  I'd love to make about a thousand of these to change out with the seasons and give as gifts. 

This little daisy chain sampler has been by the couch for about a year now.  Yikes!  I was going pretty well at a letter a day.  And then I met some hexagons and fell in love.  And then I fell out of love with the hexagons and picked this up again.  My 'R' got a little out of hand.  It's lookin' large, but oh well.  This is for me.  I'd like to frame it and hang it in the sewing room.  My daughter wants it as a pillow but I might have to turn that request down. 

I mean, really kid, I have kept NOTHING that I've sewn over my many many years of sewing.  Nothing. 

 

And finally we have Matilda who is a little girl in England and is severely disabled.  A friend is taking her this pillow to brighten up her room in hopes of bringing her a little joy.  My gosh, what a sweet heart to think of color and happiness for this girl.  I do pray that you will feel loved and at peace, little Matilda.  God bless you!

 

Thanks for coming along on my little sewing tour today.  It was lovely to have you!  This next month will probably be a whirlwind as well.  These days just fly by too fast.  It's so nice to sit and chat and see what has been taking place. 

 

I love winter and being snowed in. I'm so excited to settle into the dark winter months and our cozy rhythm of the home.  Fires, candles, lots of quilts and snuggles under them. 



"I don't like tomatos but I love ketchup"

...said my 7-year-old daughter. 

It's true. 

(Photos completely unrelated to content.  You'll see.)

 

I have some of those odditites too.  Here are my top 5:

1.  Gladys from Texas said it best but I echo her sentiments all the way: "I love Jesus but I drink a little."

           I DO love Jesus!  I also married an Italian that makes amazing wine.  We combine the two and life is good.

2.  I love quilting but stink at garment sewing. 

          I tried to step out of my box at Sewing Summit and try my hand at sewing a skirt and pajamas.  Neither has seen the light of day yet.  I've been home a week and contemplate what should become of them.  The seam ripper will be busy, that's for sure.

3.  I love people but gosh am I an introvert. 

        Introverts recharge or get their energy from some alone time.  I completely agree.  I really, really, really love my family and friends but if it's 1pm and I haven't had some down time... I get cranky and put myself in time out. 

4.  Selling a house is stressful but I love kicking everyone out and cleaning "just incase". 

       Open Houses, showings, appointments... I love them all.  It's a tad crazy getting everyone and the dog out but hoooo baby do I love having a good excuse to finally get all that slime off the surfaces.  Mostly I've just been painting over everything.  The cleaning was too intense!

5.  I love writing but blogging is hard.

Until the app arrives that downloads my thoughts in blog-form, this will probably be a little inconsistent.  I don't know who said it, but "I don't know what I think until I write it down" is funny but true.  When I am struggling with a spiritual matter or something is just bugging me, it really helps to just write.  RIGHT?!   But sadly I don't get to write at the computer nearly as often as I'd like.  I have three little kiddos, homeschool, and a little quilting business.  Even if no one ever reads this space (which is very likely!) it's so healthy to write. type.  whatever. 

So there's a little bit about me.  I was recently inspired to be a little more vulnerable in my blogging.  After attending Sewing Summit last week, I still think that's a good idea.  I've often held back on things I want to say so as not to offend anyone.  I've never been sure how much of my personal life to share. 

Well hopefully you'll journey along with me on this here road as I process those things over and over.  It's good to be back. 

East Coast Swing

Did you know that the East Coast Swing is a really fun dance? I actually took a dance history class in college and loved it so much.  Now I can barely put one foot infront of the other without falling on my face.  Those were the days....

My grandpa with the girls.  He earned a Purple Heart in Iwo Jima.  It really was an emotional day.

Anyhoo, we took an amazing trip to the East Coast to watch my hero of a brother retire from the Army after 22 years of service.  He has been to Afghanistan and a whole host of other countries.  He's had quite a career as a soldier and the ceremony was befitting of that.

After that we thought it'd be a great idea to wake everyone up at 4am and hop on a train to NYC to visit Tracy.  After 18 months of emails and sharing experiences about our two girls and baby boys, we finally FINALLY got to hug and have a glass of wine on the quilt I made for baby Brody.

It was a great day.  There was wall-to-wall sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, the kids got along perfectly, the husbands did their job of hanging out and allowing the mamas to laugh, cry, and drink a little extra wine.  (Thanks, S and J.)   Everyone was so friendly - NYC felt like a dream come true.   We only had a few hours there before we took the train back to DC but every moment was savored and stored up in our hearts until next time.

Picnic, coloring, playing ... Love.
Thank you so much, Tracy for the warm NYC welcome.  It could not have been better.  It left us excited for the next trip and more time together.

Back at home I finished up a hip rag quilt for Amanda:

The back of the quilt:

Big girl admires her ring from the Tooth Fairy.  I wasn't really sure if we were going to do the whole Tooth Fairy thing but she had heard about it from another little girl and seemed so excited.  I guess that makes me a sucker!

Her tooth was so wiggly all summer and I kept wanting to do a blog post about Summerteeth.  But it didn't happen until we got to NYC.  Yep, she lost her very first tooth on a crisp autumn day in Central Park.  I don't know any correlating songs about that but it's a pretty cool memory.

Happy Autumn to you!  Hope you're keeping warm with your loved ones and handmade quilts.  :)

2011 has been a very good year!

I'm very thankful to everyone who supported me this year.  January 1st 2012 will be four years that I've made quilts for others and what a wonderful time it's been.  I feel so blessed and so thankful to have made new friends and the quilts that keep them and their children warm. 

A very happy and blessed new year to you all.  Thank you for your kindness, love, and support in 2011!

2008 Quilts

Oh, fooey... I forgot to add my favorite one to the collage. Ok, I'll have to try that again. But in the meantime, these were what kept me busy and neglecting housework for 2008. Maybe next post I'll do one of those fancy collages with all my creations from the past year.