A little of this and that

So hubby and I babysat for two of the grandchildren while their folks flew to Napa to join my other two children and their spouses to celebrate the fact that 3 out of 6 of them had turned 30 during 2012!
It was such a great feeling having all of the siblings and spouses celebrating together and so much fun watching their antics via facebook postings. I look forward to tasting some of their Napa choices at Thanksgiving.

My 3 wonderful children; Brian, JB & Keli

My Children and Spouses: Brian and Heather, Keli and Nate, JB and Claire.

Two of  our grandchildren Caleb and Brynn sound asleep at Grandma's.

So now that babysitting is completed this time around it's back to the painting of Grandchildren's guest room and possibly begin on the dining room.

But to give me a jump start in the studio I've decided to participate in a Quilt along.

Stay Tuned.

So there once was a very special lady

Once upon a time there was a very special lady in my life, her name was Sheila Hatty. I called her "Aunt Sheila" even though she was technically my mother's only cousin. Aunt Sheila had three boys, Tommy, Joe and Lou. [Wish you could have seen my mom and Sheila when they got together such par tier's and stinkers. ]
When I found myself a single mom during my 30's it was my Aunt Sheila who mentored me after all she had raised her 3 sons quite well basically on her own. I still remember one funny tib-bit of advice from her was that my boys were sure to fight as they were growing up so if they began a fight I was to grab a broom and swoosh them outside and do as she used to tell her son's, "their fights were not to damage anything of mine, just themselves if they insisted on being stupid enough to fight."
Sad to share I lost my Aunt Sheila when she was much too young, 67 years old if I recall correctly. I watched her fight a very strong fight against cancer yet she lost. In our many talks while I was coming to grips with her illness she shared how much she loved her grandchildren and her one regret was that she would not have the time she wanted with her youngest grandchild Ava. Well her little Ava graduated from high school this past June and I KNOW my Aunt would be so proud of the job her son Lou did raising his daughter and even more proud of the wonderful young lady Ava has grown to be. So to honor my Aunt Sheila I designed a special quilt for my cousin Lou to give to his daughter so they could remember all the wonderful times they had as she grew through her childhood years.
So here are photos of my process of creating Ava's memory quilt.

Quilt top sewn together now ready to quilt on the HQ16

Quilting on HQ 16 frame, almost completed working on
the bottom right corner, a special label with family photos 

Rolling the quilted top off the frame.

Almost rolled off frame, you can see the quilt shape.

Adding the University t-shirt to the back.

Adding University T-shirt to backing.

I usually design a t-shirt memory quilt with all the t-shirts on the front with a solid backing but in the case of Ava's quilt her father did such a great job of saving or compiling t-shirts that included nightgowns from early childhood, little short shorts with labels on the behind, ;-) and t-shirts from her high school years I made a creative decision to save the University T-shirt for the main focus of the back.

It's almost completed, just need to finish the binding.

Here's my label, special family photos along with my message to Ava.
Isn't my cousin a handsome dad.

Center focus on front of quilt.
The yellow piece is part of a nightgown my Aunt Sheila gave Ava.

One side of quilt.

Lou (Daddy) and Ava's (daughter) memories.

Ava's memory quilt.

PS: you might be interested in reading more about this quilt:
back in the saddle again
quilt top coming along slowly
ok-so-I've-been-little-busy

Finally can share about a special quilt

I have kept quiet about the last two quilts I made since they were to be gifts for some special people in my life. [Thus kept secret until the recipients received them.]
This weekend was the wedding shower of my nephew Gerald Taylor and his bride to be Megan McFall.  I was not able to travel to MI to attend but my gift made it's way thanks to the good ole USPS to the shower. I hoped they could tell my thoughts were with them.

When deciding what to design for this very special couple I wanted to honor their contemporary side yet also honor their family sentiments and traditions honoring their Irish heritage. [*Side note: Jerry proposed to Megan while they were traveling throughout Ireland]

So I chose some pretty batiks in colors I felt they liked and then decided to use a traditional pattern. "Irish Chain".

Irish Chain squares design sewn together.

Completed Quilt top on my design wall.

Next step quilting completed on my HQ16.

Detail

Signature on front. I actually did label this quilt on the
back with pattern name, date, made by, etc.

Trying to take photo to document yet the wind was not totally cooperating
;-)  heck maybe you can semi see the batik backing I chose.

I miss the wonderful bridge I used to use while photographing my
creations. Sadly it's in VA and we now live in PA.

Staging on the rock in our backyard for the time being until I can locate
another sweet bridge or spot to use for photographing my quilts..

So the wedding shower has come and gone. I've been told the "soon to be married" couple love their quilt. I'm hopeful to receive a photo soon of the lovely couple w/quilt (if I'm lucky). Hubby and I are looking forward to attending the wedding Oct. 27, 2012  to be a big family celebration.

So Until…..stay tune, I hope to be able to post about the other completed quilt soon, I just need to hear it has made it way to it's recipient.   May the sun keep shining on us all.