Dorothy's Quilt

One day a woman came into our shop to look around.  I looked at her and looked at her.  Where had I seen her before?  When she was ready to leave, it hit me.  I asked her "Are you a nurse?"
She answered "Yes, I took care of your son."

 
My oldest son was in the hospital for several days because his appendix burst.
This was 13  years ago.  Of course, as his mother I spent most of every day there with him.  I took my youngest son and his friend and they did schoolwork while Nathaniel slept.  Dorothy was his day nurse.






Now she is a regular customer in our store.

Evelyn's Quilt Etc

Evelyn's quilt is moving right along.  The large squares are done.  It takes quite a bit of effort to sew tiny pieces of fabric together, especially 1 inch diagonals.  It lets you appreciate good quilters more.  I had to decide whether to take the time to make it all meet up perfect or just enjoy making it knowing it doesn't have to be perfect.

I've done a little bit of golfing.  I watch professional golfers a lot.  They are good.  They are very good.  I know I'm never going to spend the time, money, or energy to get as good as them.  But let me enjoy driving with my children once in a while.

This quilt is a gift.  I  enjoy seeing it come together as the beautiful picture of it

even though it's not as perfect as it could be.

So when I finished it today, I sat in my rocking chair and worked on the binding for Grace's quilt.  That is pretty relaxing.  I do one side a day and now I'm on day 3.

Here's the bread I'm making for spaghetti.  It's ready to be punched down.  I wonder if I can make a foccacia bread out of this dough?  I guess I'll have to look up a recipe.

My Recent Knitting Projects

This is a sweater I finished a couple of weeks ago.  I put it in our store  and about 3 hours later a lady ordered one a size larger with yellow ducks.  (You'll get to see that one another day)  I had thought it was so cute that someone would want it.

This sweater is knit from a super soft cotton, Comfy Sport from KnitPicks.  I love the way it feels.

I finished the collar in white because I ran out of blue.  That came pretty close.  I'm glad I had a way out.

This sweater is from a Debbie Bliss book New Baby Knits.

Do you like the duck. I quess his scarf got in his face.

This is a sweater I just finished for a customer.  I made it a size larger that the pattern called for but it worked out just fine.  It is a pretty sweet one.  This is from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies.

You can see the eyelet pattern in this.  It's nice to do a pattern.  It keeps it from gettin monotonus.

Now I'm working on a dress using size 1 needles and stockinette stitch.  I knitted 1 1/2" last night and I have to go to 11 1/2 ".  How many nights will that take me?  I have done the back, so I did make it through one piece.  There is hope.  It will be very cute when it's done.  There is a story to this one.

Quilting and Flowers

This is the quilt I put on my frame this morning. You'll see more later.

These pictures or lovely old fashion flowers in my garden.

Evelyn's Quilt

Today was my day to take charge of  Bella Jean Boutique.  My girls were out at classes or babysitting, so I took advantage of a sewing machine that is always set up (mine I have to set up on my dining room table) and sewed on Evelyn's quilt.  This quilt has a lot of chain piecing.

I was glad when customers came in to give me a break.  I had the Fire Marshall who is helping us to have the correct extension cord , a fire extinquisher and address numbers on our building.  He did charge us to do this service.  I had a couple of people come pick up clothing  that the girls had sewn for them, another regular customer who has given us good stories of her life when her family lived at the Manhattan Project during WWII.  History is so interesting and it does affect us now.  Another asked about renting my long arm machine. I haven't ever done that.  I think even this lady would be better off hiring me, as she didn't seem very confident about what she wanted to do.   Having people drop in to our little shop does make the day very interesting.

As you can see, with all that, the quilt is moving along.  I think the yellow adds a nice touch.  The flowered fabric I bought years ago in Seaside Or at a little quilt shop.  I made a double wedding ring using it, and this is the leftover fabric. 

Eva's Quilt

This is the quilt I'm working on the days that I'm not working on Evelyn's.  This quilt is in the design process only - all on paper.  I did the borders and the layout on EQ6  but I haven't worked with the program enough to feel comfortable making my own templates on it when they don't have exactly what I want.  Maybe I need personal classes on the program.  So I use bowls and plates and a pencil and ruler and go to work.

This is the inspiration quilt for this project.  It is from the book Whitework Quilting by Karen McTavish.

I get a lot out of her books, especially as I'm starting to do whole cloth quilts more.  This one has applique and trapunto which I also love to do.  My quilt will have some noticeable differences, but hopefully achieve the same kind of elegance.

Evelyn's Quilt

I've started 2 new quilts this week. I'm alternating days that I work on each one for variety's sake. Today is our second day of summer weather, so I'm set up outside to take advantage of the 70 degrees. Is 70 summer to you?  But tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 60's and rain is on it's way.  When you live in Washington, you've got to grab the good weather whenever you can.

But as for the quilt, this is a baby quilt.  I'm using the pattern from the book Big Book of Rotary Cutter Quilts.  I'm only doing 2 of the large squares which is enough for me.  This  quilt has lots of little pieces, so it might take work to have them even. .

This is a view of what I get to look at while working outside.