Catch Up Post

I've been a slacker when it comes to writing blog posts. It's always on my lists, but doesn't always make it to the top of the list.  I finally sat down at the computer and decided to write a few words and share a few pictures. 

Remember the black and red version of Mapleton Avenue that I shared last month? It has been gifted to Quinn and I even got a few pictures.  Yay!

I finished my two-color plus a background Atlantic Avenue quilt and LOVE it! Jack picked these colors and he is very pleased with results too.  

In case you can't see it in the picture above, I used the same black and white striped binding for this quilt. I think it is perfect for these quilts. I have at least one more project on which I plan to use it, so I guess it really was a good thing that I bought quite a large amount of it.  

I had some "sewing for others" to do and this big beauty is now complete. I did not get a picture of this after borders were added, as it was too big for my design wall. Plus, it was raining and pictures just weren't going to happen before it needed mailed. I'll share some of the pictures that I receive from the person who commissioned it. 

None of these pictures do the quilt justice. The fabrics are beautiful and it was a joy to make. After the borders were added, this beauty measured 93" x 107" The pattern is Sweet Caroline by Myra Barnes of Busy Hands Quilts.  

I have a couple of secret sewing projects on which I'm working and I'm enjoying them very much.  Here are the fabrics for one of the projects.  These just make me smile.  😊

I have a few other projects on which I've been working. I'll get some pictures of those to share too. That may happen this weekend, but I wouldn't hold my breath. 

Design Wall Monday and More

This is still on my wall, but there are more blocks done. I'm happy with the progress, considering I'm only working on this as a leader and ender project or in between other projects. Click HERE to see what I had done last week. 

If you read yesterday's post about my quilt challenge, then you know that I finished my Stepping Stones quilt before the challenge deadline. So did Sarah, and she sent me a picture of her completed quilt. She finished before the deadline too. Yippee!  It's beautiful!

And finally, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the grandkids are growing up. I got a call from Quinn yesterday, and this picture. She lost her first tooth! She is so excited! Most of her classmates have lost a number of teeth and she was thinking that she would never lose any. Well, she also said that the one next to it is loose, so I guess she was wrong. hehehe

What is happening in your quilting world?

Check out what other quilters have one their design wall.

Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times

Success! Sort of...

I've been chronicling Quinn's cookie baking attempts today and here's the conclusion - Part 3 of 3.  Part 1    Part 2

The first batch of cookies are done and taken off the cooking sheet. 

After anxiously waiting for them to cool, Quinn gave one to Grandpa Jack, me and then herself so we could taste and evaluate. We all decided that they were ok, but think we need to add more cinnamon and perhaps some honey, chopped apples or raisins. We added a touch of honey to the rest of the dough and I think Quinn's smile says it all.   

In her words, "Grandma, we are on the right track! These are going to be GREAT when we figure it all out"

While the cookies were baking, Quinn finished writing her song and thinks that maybe she'll be a singing baker when she grows up. 

Jack and I were thrilled to be her "reward!" 

The Baking Begins

The baking has commenced!

Quinn is reading the instructions and mixing the batter. This took a long time, but it was fun and well worth it. She said it is great to bake because you get to practice reading and math. But of course, the best part is that you get to eat the cookies. :-) 

And while the dough was chilling, it was time to practice some music skills. Quinn wrote a song using the notes she learned from Mrs. Phillips.  

And then she and Grandpa Jack tapped out the song while Quinn sang the words.  

Rewards

Jack and I are considered rewards!

Quinn had an exceptionally good week at home and school so Nikki and Zach told her she could choose a reward. Her choice was to go to Grandma's house to practice making cookies for the treat she'll take to school on her birthday. Because our plans today were nixed due to bad weather, she is here to begin the testing. There is something good about snow day!  :-) 

Because of some pretty stringent dietary restrictions, we have to come up with a recipe that has no sugar, no nuts, no dairy and no cocoa. She can have some sugar alternatives, but not all of them so we are trying to keep it simple by using agave, homemade, unsweetened applesauce, etc. 

And to top it all off, she wants them to look and taste good to the other students. Mmmmm, I think that may be the challenging part because the normal snacks are pretty sugar-laden. Quinn is really great at accepting the treat and then taking them home for her brother and sister to enjoy. While the other kids eat their sweet treats, Quinn enjoys a treat Nikki has given the teacher to have on hand for those occasions. 

As you can see in the above picture, we have a few things to try. Wish us luck!

If you have a recipe you think might work and are willing to share, we'd love to hear it.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!   

Tip Tuesday! Sharing the Love!

"Tip Tuesday!" - Sewing with Children

I love learning new things and then sharing that knowledge with my quilting friends. So, every Tuesday I'll provide some tips, hints, tricks, tutorials, shortcuts, etc. that I've learned over the years and share them here on the blog. 

"Tip Tuesday" will be a collection of information about a wide variety of subjects garnered from a large variety of sources.  I am not an expert by any means and do not take credit for being the great wizard behind all of these hints and tips. I will gladly give due credit whenever possible.

These tips will be archived and accessible to you just by clicking on the "Tip Tuesday" tab above. 

Read, enjoy, and be inspired! 

We all have a love of sewing and quilting. If we didn't, we probably wouldn't spend nearly as much time (and money) doing it. Chances are that if we didn't love it, we also wouldn't spend nearly as much time reading blogs (thanks for reading mine, by the way), checking out websites and wishing we could spend more time with our sewing machines. Somehow, reading about quilting helps when we can't actually do it. I am very appreciative of those people who spend so much of their time and energies sharing their talents with us. 

I too enjoy sharing my love of quilting with others. I teach a fair number of quilting classes at area quilt shops, I give private lessons, I co-host a number of quilting sew-ins (Old Bags' Days), and I am a member to a couple of quilting groups. I enjoy all of it and feel blessed and honored to be able to do those things.

One of the things I enjoy most about teaching is when I introduce a new quilter into "our world" and I watch as they start the process of creating. I love it when that proverbial light bulb goes off and they "get it." And then there is nothing quite like seeing the pride in their faces when they are showing off their first completed project. Oh my, how I love that moment! If you have never spent time with a new quilter, you might want to consider doing so. It is really an awesome thing to do.    

I often work with children and find that very satisfying. All of my grandchildren spend time in my sewing room and I love that. (I do put up scissors, pins, cutters, and anything I don't want messed with.) They all play with my fabric and thread and I'm ok with that.

 

I even like to have them stop in and spend time with the Old Bags' Day quilting people. 

Quinn and Sadie love to "help" me sew by sitting across from me while I chain piece and keeping the sewn units in order and untwisted. They also love to help me organize blocks on the design wall and say "Ta Da!" when it's done.

A couple of years ago, Quinn wanted to start sewing and I bought a simple little chain-stitch sewing machine. It's basically a toy and somewhat of a pain to use, but she loves using it. A couple of weeks ago I showed her some pictures of two young ladies who made quilts for 4-H projects. 

The back of Kelsey's quilt is adorable cow fabric!

Here's a close up of Brileigh's quilt back. Can you see the ants that are heading to the watermelon?

Quinn loved what she saw and wanted to start some "real" sewing. I said ok, but that she needed to practice on her machine before using mine. (I was in the middle of a project with a deadline and couldn't give it up right then) She was fine with that and started working with some basic strips. 

Do you see the Clover Wonder Clips? I often use those instead of pins when I'm working with young kids. 

I wanted to make sure she remembered how to backstitch and I had her do that a few times. 

This machine has a finger guard by the needle but she doesn't need that anymore. If the young person you are helping needs a guard like this, I suggest taping a piece of yarn or cardboard on the front of the machine so that it hangs down in front of the needle. 

When their finger hits that, it's time to stop and re-position their hands. It's kind of like the tennis ball hanging in the garage so you know when to stop. (Oops, no picture of that. I'll have to take one the next time I do that.)  

Quinn sure is concentrating here. I often have to remind new quilters, young and old, to breath. I'm not joking here. They will be so busy concentrating that they hold their breath.

And they need practice pinning, or clipping in Quinn's case.

I don't know yet what she'll be doing with her pieced strips, but I'm sure she figure out something.

Who knows, maybe she'll make something like the two 4-H girls.

If you have the opportunity to help a new quilter, especially a young one, I suggest you give it a try. Just look at how happy and proud can you make someone. I think the grandmas were pretty happy and proud too!

I've linked this post up with Sew Cal Gal's - It's All About the Kids blogging event. (Thanks for the info Sharon!) 

Click HERE to see Sew Cal Gal's page and HERE to see the link-ups that have been posted so far.  

Happenings with Pictures!

Last weekend was our annual sisters' weekend, that actually lasts longer than the weekend. As usual, we had a blast catching up and just plain enjoying each other. This is the first year we have not gone to Burr Oak for the event. 

Instead, everyone made the trek to my house this year and I was thrilled. I've always taken my sewing machine and over the years, everyone started doing the same. Here you can see five of the seven work stations that we set up. 
   

Pat was teaching us all how to make umbrellas and we had a blast. We made a total of 13 full size umbrellas in one day and two children's umbrellas were made the next day. These are so much fun. 

Thanks Pat! Now I see fabric and think, "Oh, that would make a great umbrella."

I worked on a couple of projects that needed finished up for classes I'm offering. I finished my table runners but forgot to take pictures before I dropped them off at the shop. :-(  

I finished my Jewel Box wall hanging and LOVE how it turned out! I'll be teaching this at M & E Quilt Shoppe in Sandusky. If you happen to stop in or send them a message, tell them Agnes sent you. That's my "shop" name. Don't you think it fits in with Mabel and Ethel better than Joanne?  

Ann was busy working on her Fabric Boxes. She's making a HUGE number of them and I can't wait to see them all done. She is her own little sweatshop!

After I finished up the projects that needed done, I pulled out my Prairie Star and began working on that. I'll get this done. It just seems like every time I pull this out to work on, something with a deadline pops up. I WILL get this done!

As I mentioned recently, Nikki and family have moved back up near us and I am thrilled! To help get her acquainted with some kids her age, Quinn attended a Vacation Bible Study camp this past week. She had a wonderful time and met some kids that will be in her class come Fall. Last night was the End of Camp Celebration and Jack and I joined them for a Family Fun Night Carnival. 

It was a lot of fun and they had a bunch of stuff for the kids to do. All three kids went through an obstacle course, although Ronan only made it half way through because he couldn't figure out how to climb the one set of inflated stairs. Of course I didn't get the camera out until after they had done that, but I did get some pictures of Quinn and Nikki rock climbing. 

Look at Quinn! She was nervous at first, but did a great job. She got a little over half way up before she had to stop because she couldn't figure out how to reach the next stepping stones. She was a bit too short to grab with her hands and still have her feet touching a lower rock. She did a great job and said that it was hard to do and her legs started shaking.

It's a bit difficult to see here, but Nikki is on the right and Quinn is on the left. I  love how the sun is shining across the picture through Nikki and on to Quinn!

After rock climbing, all three kids waited patiently to go into the bouncey castle. Can you tell the sun was kind of bright? They had a great time in there!

And finally, after the fun times out side at the Carnival, everyone went to the sanctuary for a brief program. When the minister called the kids up to sing, Quinn jumped up and ran on stage. I had hoped that she would stay close to the front so we could see her, but nope. She went toward the back and finally ended up just about in the middle of the pack. I know it's difficult to see, but there she is, right under the big red and yellow arrow. Even though she was in the middle of crowd, we did have a clear shot at seeing her. 

She wanted me to take a picture of her doing the hand signs and choreography for the song she liked the most. Of course grandma obliged.  :-)

I'm going to be doing a bit of sewing this afternoon and them we're heading to Nikki's house for a small cookout. 

Enjoy your weekend! I know I will.

Guest Chefs at the House

We had a couple of guest chefs at the house last night and they sure did make a great meal! The girls each made a small pizza for themselves and while they were baking, Nikki made a big one for the adults.

They're concentrating on their work and really didn't want to be bothered with having their picture taken. I think Quinn is saying something like, "Don't bother the master when she's working."

 

Don't their creations look scrumptious? Quinn mad a smiley face with pepperoni and I think Sadie's could be called a cheese lovers special.  :-)

 

 

They were so proud of their pizzas and even shared with us. What fun!!!

 

Maybe I can get them to cook one more time before they have to go home.