Emery's Quilt ...

Here's the latest "Emery" quilt. The first quilt I made for this little two-year-old granddaughter was shipped off to Texas for flood relief efforts in October, so I whipped up another one for the kiddo. I love these adorable Little Red Riding Hood fabrics.

Emery is our two-year-old granddaughter with a ton of personality. She's the one that stands at the edge of the pool, yells "cannonball!" and belly flips into the pool. She needed a quilt full of color and a little sass.

Two colors that I don't put together a lot in "real" life are red and pink, but I have to admit that they have been a favorite color combination for granddaughter quilts this year. Red, pink, and white are so bright and cheerful...

Two More Granddaughter Quilts...

A few months ago I gave away a few quilts I'd made for three of our granddaughters for Christmas to those in need in the aftermath of hurricane Harvey. So... in the last couple of months I made three more to compensate. All of the quilts I've made have been "one of a kind" till these two. I walked into the quilt shop by our home and instantly fell in love with these fabrics and decided to make two from these sweet prints.

I just don't think it gets cuter than this...

I made these identical quilts for Hazel (18 months) and Charlee (8 months). I used the star pattern that I've used on a lot of the baby and toddler quilts. I love the simplicity of it. It works up so fast!

I can hardly believe it, but this Monday I pick up the last four quilts from the quilter. All I have to do is bind those four, and I will have finished the quilts for the hubs, our children, the kids-in-law, and all our grandchildren. Forty-one quilts in all. I feel relieved and pretty accomplished, if I do say so myself. I'm so grateful that my husband fully supported me in this mighty adventure. He was so sweet to encourage me every stitch of the way!

Kitchen Dishtowel Curtains...

When we decided to renovate our kitchen, I knew it would be a gut job. Everything went. Although we contracted out all the heavy work, I knew the decorating tasks would be left up to me. {Yay!} There's nothing I love more. I started looking on Pinterest for some curtain options for our corner kitchen windows and the windows in our nook (right next to the kitchen). One of the options I found on Pinterest was this dishtowel curtain idea from "Refresh Restyle."

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I fell in love. So simple to make and I love the looser weave on cotton dishtowels that still give privacy, but allow light to filter through. I especially loved the little tassels on the ends of the towels.  So, I started looking for some creamy towels with a touch of gray and I found these at Cost Plus World Market...

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Love at first sight. This inexpensive dishtowel (regularly $3.99, but often on sale for $3.19 each) has the same adorable tassels with just the colors I needed. Unfortunately, I have two corner windows that are much taller and wider than the window in the picture above, so these dishtowels were not as long as the length of my windows. That's ok, however, because I love my curtains in these windows to be a little more than half the length of the window. Weird? Maybe. But, my windows have a northern and eastern exposure, so I get the glorious early morning sunshine through them. I love my curtains in that spot to reach a little more than halfway up the window allowing us the privacy we need, but low enough to fill my kitchen with sunlight! I tried just folding the top a few inches more than they had in the above window, but then the window coverings looked bulky and weird, so I went a different route.

First, as I said, my windows are wide, so I used four dishtowels per window. I sewed two together lengthwise for one side of one window and two more together for the other side of that window.  I cut off the top of the towels 23" from the bottom (tassels not included). I marked, folded, and pressed the fabric 21" from the bottom of the towel. Then I folded the hem under twice, so I had about a 1" hem and the dishtowel was 21 inches long.

I ordered some curtain clip rings and a couple of tension curtain rods.  Put them all together and whaaalaaa....

Mind you, I only have my iPhone to take photos, so inside photos are always dark, but you get the idea. One more...

Since I was on a dishtowel roll, I also made some dishtowel curtains for the nook area that I'll post about soon. Wishing you a wonderful fall weekend!

Reed's Quilt...

One of the challenging things about making a quilt for everyone in our family is the fact that a bunch of them are older boys and men. There are so many fabrics that are appropriate for girls or women, and so few for teenage boys or men. This quilt is for our almost-twelve-year-old grandson Reed.

One thing is for certain, however, and that is most teenage boys like cars. When I saw this Jeep fabric I considered it a shoe-in for Reed. The coordinating fabrics put the icing on the cake!

Reed is our oldest grandson and when the grandkids are all together they all look up to Reed. Our younger grandsons particularly adore him. He's fun-loving and patient with them all. Since there are seventeen grandkids under nine, that's says a lot about Reed's personality.

I've decided I love this particular pattern for a quilt. It's an easy quilt pattern that works up in hours, rather than days, which is important since I have so many quilts to finish. It also highlights the fabric -- rather than the pattern on the quilt -- which I love!

I chose a quilt pattern that reminds me of puzzle pieces for the quilting...

And the back is a mix of the fabrics found on the front of the quilt...

I hope to put a few more quilt tops together this week. Right now I have five quilts at the longarm quilters that will need binding when I pick them up and six more quilts to make. {I can do this!}

Blake's Quilt...

It's been awhile since I've published a post, but I've been very busy with a complete kitchen remodel and completing quilts. Mind you, we're not doing the kitchen remodel ourselves, but it still takes a lot of time to pick out fixtures, cabinets, countertops, etc.

A couple of weeks ago I had nine quilts that I'd gotten back from my longarm quilter and each one was in need of binding. I'm happy to say I have finished all those quilts in the last two weeks! Two of them were for grandkids and seven for sons or daughters of ours. This one is for our eight-year-old grandson Blake...

When I asked Blake for his favorite colors and themes for a quilt, he gave me -- green, teal, and orange; tigers, cats, and owls. Unfortunately, he didn't get one of those in this quilt. When I saw this fox fabric I immediately thought of Blake, and that was the end of my search! It wasn't hard to find two contrasting fabrics...

I love this foxy fabric from a Robert Kaufman line called Minis Fox Natural.

Blake is such a fun kid. He always has a smile on his face, and he has no fear. He came for a visit this summer with his brother and sister. One day we drove up to a swimming pool for an afternoon of fun, and he immediately stated he was going to jump off the high dive {operative word being "high".} The mother/grandmother in me got a little scared. I didn't want to be accused of my cutie patootie getting hurt on my watch from a colossal belly flop. He, however, was undeterred.

Without a thought he marched right up to the end of that diving board and hurtled himself off. I held my breath till he broke the surface of the pool multiple seconds later. I love his enthusiasm for life.

I chose a cute swirly pattern for the quilting. It's playful and fun like Blake...

I've decided I'm not going to post photos of my kid's and kids-in-law's quilts. I was going to post pictures but not tell whose quilt it is, but some of them look so much "like" the person that I'm pretty sure they will know it's theirs. I want their quilts to be a surprise, so I've decided not to show a picture of those quilts till after they open them for Christmas.

Miles' Quilt...

This week I hope to work on binding the nine quilts in my closet that need binding. Me = deer in the headlights look. It's a little overwhelming. The other day I counted and I only have eight more quilts to make. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that they are all adult sized quilts, so they take more time, but I'm on the downward slope so I've got to keep a positive attitude.

Little Miles turned six-years-old this summer. He and his cousin Hudson are pals, so I used the same inspiration fabric on both quilts, but the accompanying fabrics are different. Here are the fabrics I chose for Miles...

Miles and Hudson have several things in common. They are only a few weeks apart in age, and they are the only boys among the children in their families. This, they deem as a mighty weight upon their slim little shoulders.

Miles is the oldest child in his family. He has three younger sisters who he adores and watches over with love. He's a charming little southern guy, who opens the doors for the women/girls in his life, and says "thank you" at all the appropriate times. I love him so much.

From far away this quilt looks like it has off-white blocks and the dino blocks, but there are actually three major players in this quilt. There is a natural cream colored fabric, the dino and the circles fabric...

For the boarder and back of the quilt I chose a light and dark chocolate brown diamond checked print that is really cute with the other fabrics...

For the next few weeks we are having our kitchen renovated. Today they are completing the tear-out that they started yesterday. Thursday and Friday new cabinets will be installed. We're very excited.

In the meantime I will be plucking away at binding the quilts in my closets!

Reese's Quilt...

I finished binding the last of the quilts I have here at my house, just in time to pick up more ready-to-be-bound at the longarm quilter's home on Monday. Things are progressing. Yesterday I posted about Charlee and her "twin" cousin born just a few weeks before her. Well, this quilt is for Reese (Charlee's "twin" cousin). Reese is as sweet as they come. Seriously. Chocolate brown hair, like her momma, with beautiful blue eyes like both her parents. Here's her version of the quilts I made for the two grandbabies...

I used the same fabrics I used for Charlee's quilt, except I used a pink background for the bunnies, instead of the white. Otherwise, they are alike. Again, these darling fabrics come from the "Wonderland 2" collection from Riley Blake. The back of the quilt is gold polka-dots on cream with a strip of fabrics from the front of the quilt...

These bunnies melt my heart...

I'm excited to get this next round of finished quilts back from the quilter, and I'm ready to start piecing quilts again. I only have about 10 more quilts to put together and some of those are all cut out ready to sew. I think I'll be done by November. That's my goal. Of course, we do have a complete kitchen renovation scheduled in mid September, but I'll just be managing that project not doing the work. {Excited!}

Charlee's Quilt...

Baby Charlee's quilt is finished! Charlee is one of two granddaughter's born last spring. She's a beautiful little angel, and we're so grateful for her. Her "twin" cousin -- born just a few weeks before Charlee -- is getting a similar quilt, but I chose the white background for the bunnies for Charlee's.

Here's a sweet story about Charlee's name. My grandfather, Charles James Reed, was born in Wales in the late 1800's. He served in WWI for the Welsh Fusiliers, and after the war immediately immigrated to the United States. He married and had only one child, my mother, before he passed away (from conditions experienced in the war) when my mother was just a little girl. With only one child, you wouldn't think his legacy would continue much through the generations, but last count he had twelve grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or great-great grandchildren named after him. I think that's amazing. Of course by now, the g-g-grandchildren are also being named after their fathers or uncles, etc. Charlee, however, is only the second girl named after him. My mother was the first -- with the middle name of Charlene. I'm so proud that Charlee carries her father's and my grandfather's name.

I am absolutely in love with these fabrics. They are from a Riley Blake collection by Melissa Mortensen, called "Wonderland 2." I bought them on Etsy, and they are currently 20% off. They are such adorable fabrics. You can buy them here.

Again, I used a half-triangle pattern for the quilt, leaving big squares of the bunnies. Love those bunnies...

When my thirteen-year-old granddaughter was visiting a month ago, she suggested on Christmas morning my husband and I Facetiming our children's families so we could watch them open their quilts. Good suggestion. After all this work, it would be wonderful to see each one open their gift. 

The back of this quilt is simple...

Today I'll finish up Charlee's "twin" cousin's quilt who was born a few weeks before her.

Berkley's Quilt...

Our little granddaughter Berkley is a force to be reckoned with. She lives with determination and gusto, and we love her for it. She'll be turning nine next month. Her favorite colors are navy blue and coral, and the animal she's loved for as long as I can remember is the owl. I'm hoping I hit a home-run with this one...

I love the woodsy theme on this quilt -- mostly owls, with squirrels, bunnies, raccoons, and foxes and a colorful banner added for charm. Berkley lives in a beautiful rural, woodsy setting -- most of these animals probably reside in her backyard!

This quilt is a smidgen on the dark side for a little girl, but I fell in love with the owl fabrics. I just hope she falls in love with it too...

I use the same fabrics on the back -- lots of polka-dots and owls...

One more down! Quilting took a backseat in the month of July and it will for August too. I'm trying to finish some quilts before I spend more time with family next week. I'm hoping in September I'll be able to finish a bunch more quilts, because Christmas is only four months away. {YIKES!}

 

Dallin's Quilt...

One more is finished.The other day someone at the quilt store where I buy some of my fabrics asked how many quilts I had completed. I still haven't bothered to count. All I know is that I'm making steady progress.

This particular quilt is for our second oldest grandson. He's nine years old. {I just had a "moment" when I realized if Dallin is 9, we have 16 more grandkids under nine. And, let's not forget the "one on the way." That's a lot of little ones -- whew. Sometimes it surprises even me.} Anyway, Dallin is growing up, so I wanted to make him a quilt that reflected his life right now and maybe a few years in the future.

Dallin started Cub Scouts last year, so I thought I'd make him a quilt about the great outdoors. I'm sure that will be a big part of his life in the years to come. I used some of the same fabrics on his brother's quilt, but changed out the predominant color in Dallin's to be navy blue.

The fabrics I used were primarily from Dear Stella and Riley Blake lines. They all have a woodsy vibe that I adore for little boys and the fabrics compliment each other beautifully...

I chose a swirly pattern for the quilting. Love it...

I'm finished with making all the quilt tops and backs for all the grandkids (that's 24 quilts), so I'm currently working on our kid's and kids-in-law's quilts now. I have to admit, I'm a little more anxious about their quilts. I find myself second-guessing fabric choices and designs. I have found some fabulous fabrics however, so I'm looking forward to putting them together!

Dallin's finished quilt measures 50" x 60". The half square triangle blocks are 9.5 inches (trimmed down from a 10.5" block)  and there is a 2.5" boarder around the quilt.