A Gift From the Past

        My sister-in-law found these quilt squares in her grandmother's scrap box.  They were pieces made by her great-grandmother or maybe even great-great-grandmother.  Since her grandmother's vision isn't as great as it once was, Christina wanted to make a quilt out of them for Mother's Day and give it back to her. 

        Late this winter she asked if I would help her out.  Between work, school, and family she wasn't going to get it finished in time. 

       It was so neat to be able to work with these squares and think about how things were in times gone by.  All the stars were hand-sewn.  It's hard to believe the amount of time it would have taken to sew them together. Probably many cold winter days when there wasn't much else you could do. 

        Also, you can tell that this was made in a decade when you wasted nothing.  I'm assuming all these squares were made from scraps left over after she would have made clothes for the family or maybe even cut from the good part of clothes that were worn out.  Finally, by looking at each star closely you can see not all pieces match. (If you look at the photo below in the far right square, The black is accented with red, but the red pieces include red plaid, solid red, and even a few are tan pieces.  Together they finish one star.)  

 

         After laying it out all the stars, I noticed it would be too small to make a decent sized throw quilt.  That is when I decided to frame each piece with the four rectangular cream pieces and navy blue square in the corners. 
         In all there were 55 stars, one short of a 7 by 8 square quilt.  At first we left it as a solid cream square, while we tossed around ideas of how to spice it up.

 
        Christina then found the perfect quote to have embroidered on it.  "Families are quilts, pieced with memories, bound with love."

        Piecing the squares together to make the quilt top was the easy part.  Quilting it together was a little more challenging.  All the star squares weren't all the same size ranging from 7 inches to 7 1/2 inches.  In the end I hope I was able to quilt it with minimal puckers and have each piece lay flat.  

       The finished product is a unique quilt filled with different shades of blues and reds with some black and browns mixed in.  No two squares are the same even though some are very similar.  

 

Planting 2014

 

        After a long, cold, and snowy winter, God reminds us that he hasn't and wont forsake us.  Spring is here and it's time begin planting.  My husband worked all morning field cultivating last year's bean field to prepare it for corn this year.  Then after Good Friday services I followed him to the field to get the planter ready. 

          My husband is anxious to get in the field to try out his uncle's planter.  Last fall his uncle purchased a newer planter.  We then purchases his 2003 Kinze 3600, which is basically identical to what we had but 10 years newer and in much better shape. 

       Since my lifting abilities are limited this year, I had plenty of time to snap a few shots while my husband did all the heavy lifting. First he unloads two Channel bags behind each planter box while I open both bags.  Then he will dump one bag in, add graphite powder, add the second bag, and a little more graphite powder.  Meanwhile I help gather all the empty bags up and put them back in the truck.  

 



        Even though the boxes are full now they will be empty before the field in done.  Time to close the lids and try out the planter. 









        Today the conditions are just about perfect.  The top of the soil has grayed off, but the soil just underneath the surface has moisture present.  You can tell by the dark line left by the marker wheel.  The marker tells a farmer where to drive on the next round so your corn rows have even spacing. 

 

 

       Once a few yards are planted, my husband likes to stop and check the seed depth, an inch and a half.  Guess that means all systems are a go. 

        Well I better go. It is now dark and he will be wanting a ride home.  The rest of the 80 acres will have to wait until tomorrow to be planted.  

 





Ocean Breeze

         A good friend of mine and her husband are having their first baby in August.  They recently moved to California and I thought this color combination was perfect for them.  The turquoise, orange, and gray triangles give off the feel of cool ocean breezes and brilliant sunsets. 

             Last winter I stumbled upon the owl print and fell in love with it.  After finding coordinating fabrics I started piecing it together.  Cutting and piecing all the small triangles became tedious and I found myself packing it away.  Then when I found out they were expecting, I dug it back out to finish it before the baby shower this weekend.  Seems I always need a deadline to complete a project.

         Upon completing the front I discovered there wasn't enough of the white with gray polka-dot fabric for the backing.  Since its been sitting in my closet for over a year, there wasn't a chance to get 1/2 a yard more.  That's when I decided to piece together strips of extra fabric from the front.  At first I wasn't sure how it would look, but I really love the interest it adds.

         Here's a close-up of the quilting. 
        

Our Gift From Above

For this child we prayed and the Lord answered our prayer.  1 Samuel 1:27

 

 

        With joyful heart we anticipate the birth of our first child in July.  We are 24 weeks along and interestingly enough baby is the size of an ear of corn.  Hopefully we will be enjoying some fresh corn on the cob around the time of baby's arrival.

Madelyn

 

       Last night Madelyn Idel was welcomed into this world. She took her sweet time in making her appearance.  Poor Mom was due on February 13 and had been told weeks ago that she would go early.  She is the first daughter of a good childhood family friend.  Congrats Mary Ann & Jason!

 



         I fell in love with these fabrics last winter when they went on clearance prices.  They are from the Marmalade collection of my favorite designers Bonnie & Camille.  Of course I couldn't pass up that opportunity.  I ended up purchasing a half yard of all three front colors and the red/white striped binding.  Then I also purchased a yard of the red floral backing.  Luckily it was just enough fabric.  I think there might have been two-three inch strips leftover. 

        When I found out last July they were expecting, I knew this would make the best baby quilt for them. Mary Ann's just loves the color red from her high school prom dress to their wedding colors and even included in her home decor.  I started sewing it right away.  It's been done and stored away since the end of summer. 
        I did get a little scared a month ago when she had the baby shower.  They wanted to be surprised with what the baby was at birth, but she was almost for sure it was a boy.  So there is now a warm and cozy boy blanket stored away.  

Country Girl

      

It's the Fourth Sunday of Advent and this is my last Christmas present to wrap.

 

         While checking out one my favorite online fabric shops on Black Friday, I came across this Sasparilla line of fabric on sale.  Instantly, I fell in love with the cute cowgirl print.  So I decided to make a throw for my brother's wife, who loves horses.  The Sasparilla line's color palette was more yellow, gray, and light blue with one red and navy print. Since my sister-in-law decorates with much more of a country theme in her house, I added some brown and tan prints from the Honky Tonk line.  Luckily it all went together nicely. 

        It's actually been finished for a couple of days now, but the lighting in the house wasn't favorable to taking pictures.  Last night's freezing rain topped off with an inch or two of snow provided the perfect background this morning. Then I just had to sweet talk my husband into holding it for a quick snap shot and by quick I mean quick.  Hopefully she will enjoy her new quilt on Christmas Eve!

     

 

Winter Wonderland

        Yesterday around two the snow started coming down.  The early predictions said we should expect 2.5 to 3 inches. 

         It stopped snowing just a little bit ago.  To my best guess, I'd say we got 9.5 to 10 inches of snow.  It's such a beautiful snow.  The only bad news is my Sunday school class won't get to present their Christmas program tomorrow, because the roads are too bad for everyone to travel for practice today. 

       My husband is out helping the township clear the roads. Since the road commissioner has the snow plow truck, and another guy has the maintainer, he gets the backhoe.  From the sounds of it, he is having all kinds of fun.  He has used the backhoe twice to get himself out of the ditch and is on his way to push the snow plow up a hill. 



   I was supposed to take these pies to church for a funeral dinner, but I'm beginning to think I might not make it there.

           Guess I'll just stay home, listen to Christmas music, do a little Christmas baking, and work on wrapping presents.