Saturday, October 29, 2016

Garden Quilt Progress

I have been working off and on to get a quilt done for my newest grand baby, Layla Grace. 

 I made a block with a pot of tulips.


I used the freezer paper appliqué method, and machine-stitched with invisible thread and a size 8 needle.  It went together pretty easily.

Then I remembered the problem with stitching through freezer paper.  You have to cut away the backing fabric and pick all the paper out of the seams when you are finished.



My team's football game was not very exciting today, so I picked with tweezers while halfway watching on TV.


I think I got most of the little dribs and drabs of paper out.


I also embroidered antennae on the butterflies and eyes on the birds.





Layla is getting excited about it...hurry up, Gigi!



Handwork is a little difficult for me because I have a dislocated arthritic thumb on my left hand.  I have been getting by with steroid injections, but I think it may be getting bad enough to have the surgery to fix it.  It is not an easy process, and will require a big cast and weeks of rehab. 



We are in the North Carolina mountains this weekend, and are blessed with beautiful sunny weather to show off the autumn foliage.




We are also celebrating my husband's retirement from work.  His official last day is November 1.  He is going to go by on Monday and say goodbye, but his office is cleared out and his work is done!  We are so blessed that his cancer is in remission, and now we have some time to enjoy his retirement together.  I am looking forward to this new phase of our lives.


Friday, October 14, 2016

Chenille Baby Quilt

It only took three months to finish the quilting on this little baby quilt!  But, it came off the machine today!



I purchased the top at an antique store in Pittsboro, NC, back in April.  I put it on the machine in July, and tried quilting, but it hurt my ankle to stand on the concrete basement floor.  Little did I know that I had a broken leg!  I went to the my orthopedic foot specialist a week later, and found out I had a displaced oblique fracture of the fibula.  I got an ankle brace...which I am still wearing, because the fracture has still not healed.  Anyway...

I echoed around the chenille flowers, did spirals in the squares, and leafy vines in the borders between    the chenille stripes.




The backing is a soft flannel in pastel stripes.


It is good to finish the quilting!  After it is bound, it may offer it for my new grand-baby Layla to use until her garden quilt is finished.



My state of North Carolina has been through a bad time following Hurricane Matthew.  We were at our mountain cabin when the storm hit, along with our son and his family from South Carolina.  Their power was out for five days.  When we returned home, our Raleigh house was fine.  There are many places in North Carolina that are totally flooded.  It is amazing what too much water can do.  My heart goes out to all those who are in shelters, hoping that they will have a home left to return to.

 
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