Quilted Advent Calendar

Here is our family's Advent Calendar. I made another last year for the family of one of our Goddaughters, Anika. The pattern, which I changed a bit, is from Quiltmaker #58, November/December 1997. The inverted triangles under the buttons are little fabric pockets, where the buttons hide until it's time each night to pull one out--the kids have been faithful and attentive to that part!

The hardest part about making this is collecting the buttons! I am a little picky about having to have a star at the top, so not just any buttons will do. Plastic buttons are easier to come by, and less expensive, but you have to pick out the nice ones, like some from Mary Englebreit. Ceramic buttons are nicer, but are harder to come by; good ones are expensive! In the photo you can see the very first ceramic gingerbread boy who started my collection in '97; I found him at The Country Peddler, a fine quilt store that sadly, is no longer around. I just checked my button collection recently, and have enough to make another, but I would have to choose for whom I would make it.

Quilt for my Grandma

Here is a quilt that I made for my Grandma Gwenny, who just turned 87. She has been living in a nursing home/assisted care facility since June. She's not too happy about it, so I had the big idea to make her a quilt, something that might help her know that I think about her every day. It was meant to be more scrappy, but it turned out all right. It had to be an appropriate size, about a lap/throw size, for a few reasons: first, Grandma's not very big in stature; second, it needed to be a quilt that wasn't too big for the bed; third, it needs to be machine-wash size, so that her caregivers can easily clean it, just in case of spills and other senior moments.

The label is from "Make Your Own Quilt Labels!", by Kim Churbuck.  I love her art!

Another Bug Jar Quilt

This Bug Jar quilt was made from "leftover" pieces from the original bug jar quilt (now a baby quilt). A few additions of bug fabric were necessary, but then I got to use some more "cutesy" bug fabrics, which didn't make the cut when the quilt was originally destined for number one son.

The best part of this project, aside from finally calling it done, is that I got my Janome machine out of the deal. I was working on the machine quilting on my old Kenmore from Sears, a gift from DH in 1994, and the timing or something went bad, so it was not catching the bobbin thread and it was not pretty! Not a good thing to happen when you are 3/4 done with the quilting!! So I brought it to the nearby sewing machine shop, and they didn't know what was wrong without sending it away. And I needed to finish it now!! It's a Christmas present! I have two weeks!! DH said that I should think about a new machine, so I looked, and for the $$ the Janome does what I need.

Bug Jar quilt for my cousin's baby

I've been doing a lot of quilting projects lately, not enough blogging. Here's a little something to celebrate.

A few years ago, 4+, I started collecting fabrics for a bug jar quilt, hoping to also learn foundation piecing for the frog, bug, lizard, and other critter in the critter quilt. Alas, the foundation piecing was a bust for me, perhaps to be taken up again in the future. Then, number one son, who was the intended recipient, decided he was too old for the bug jar concept. He wanted Star Wars. And maybe the bug/frog/lizard quilt could be for the new baby coming in our family. Sigh.

So there it sat, for a few years, a completed top, but no more energy on my part. Then, a few months ago, my cousin and his wife found they were expecting, and nicknamed the little one "Baby Bugg". Aha!

With some unsewing, and a bit of restructuring, the quilt was definitely getting somewhere, and soon!

The label is from "Make Your Own Quilt Labels!" from Kim  Churbuck.  I used fabric markers to color it in, after I traced it.

Thanks to my Auntie, who helped deliver the quilt to the new baby. I was hoping to not have to mail the quilt. The young ones, Grandma, and I drove out to SD to visit said Auntie, then she drove out to CO to visit the new grandbaby. Nice when things work out!