January Finishes

Our furnace has been replaced and the new one kept us toasty warm last night! The next several days promise to be rather brutal in terms of low temps but there is plenty to keep me busy inside.

The two pictures are two quilts that I made for DH's great nieces, Rachel, 3 and Ella, 2 months. The first, Cheese and Crackers is Rachel's. Then I made Ella's from the scraps from Rachel's. Then, with the leftovers from hers, I made a matching doll quilt but it went to Raeba, another 3 year old, for her babies. These were so cute and I enjoyed making them so much, that I found more of the Be Mine fabric and bought more, just in case there are more girls added to the families. These were finished in January along with several others that I needed to complete. Today I sent 7 tops to the quilter who will work her magic on them. I'm anxious to get a pastel one called Columbine back - it is a very simple background upon which flowers are appliqued by machine after it has been quilted. I think I found the pattern in one of the Quilt Sampler magazines offered by a shop in CO. For today, I'm back to some batiks and listening to a book on tape, soup or chili from the freezer for dinner on a cold winter night.

Wintery Days

Winter has come to Chicago! We are in the deep freeze this week and that makes for a good time in the sewing room. I'm currently working on my Monday Morning Stripper's Bee quilt from two years ago. It has been a headache and I'm struggling to finish it. We chose 12 blocks as a group and then had to use 9. I chose to applique four additional blocks and to use piping around each block. The piping was a good idea - just not too practical! I'm adding a picture of it and if you have suggestions for borders, please don't be shy!

Currently I'm working on a batik quilt just for fun. It is made from all the batik scraps I've accumulated over the years. The more I work on it, the more I like it. Who gets this one? Maybe a friend of DS. She's been a great pal since grade school and we all enjoy her.

Today, our other son's girlfriend decided that she would like to make a quilt. I helped her make Christmas stockings for her entire family during the Fall, doing Redwork or embroidery on all of them. She had never done any sewing but has caught on very quickly. She did a lot of Redwork on the stockings so she got a fairly good introduction to hand sewing. Today we chose the Circle Play book, got out all my Asian fabrics and played for the afternoon. She has put together some awesome blocks and is working on appliquing the second one already. She spent a year in Japan so the quilt choice was not surprising.

The temps here are quite cold and not a time for the furnace to die. However, die it did and we were rather chilly over the past few nights. Fortunately, our home has two furnaces and the downstairs one helped keep us from freezing until the new one was installed. It is in, running and keeping our beds toasty. Something to be thankful for on days like this!

Introduction.......my first post!

I'm Judy and I live in a northern suburb of Chicago with Jim, my husband of 32 years and our younger son Michael and his dog, Leah. Leah is a delightful pup and we have a lot of laughs with her. My passion is quilting and lots of hand applique. Jim and I have lived in the Chicago area for 20 years having lived in Cleveland suburbs for 12 years prior to moving here. We have a summer cottage in Indiana where we love to go during warm weather.

My passion for quilting came from both sides of my family. My paternal grandmother lived with us and she sewed and quilted. My maternal grandmother sewed and made quilts with her sisters when their children were small. Mom made my clothes from feedsacks and I got the bug to make things for my dolls at a very early age. Only one quilt from all those quilters has been preserved and Grandma gave it to me several years ago. I still need to hand quilt it. It is a Grandmother's Flower Garden, made from the scraps from Great Grandma, Great Aunts, Mom's and Grandma's clothes. Grandma and Mom identified many of the fabric "owners" and I will eventually put their names in the center of those flowers. Grandma died last October at the age of 102. Her picture with her quilt was taken at age 101.

Much of what I quilt these days is "just because".....I do what I like with little reason for doing so. Many are also made for family members, but I'm ready to concentrate on my home and children for a while.

The second picture is what I see from my sewing machine. We border a forest preserve and the wildlife love to visit this area. From woodpeckers to deer to coyotes, we enjoy the nature and the woods where we live. Please feel free to jump in and comment on my posts and pictures!