Aaron's Rag Quilt

I don't mean to brag (actually, I do!), but I'm feeling pretty good that I actually started on a quilt "just" two years after my son asked me to make it.  This was another of my Covid isolation projects.  Aaron and I had shopped for flannels when I went to Seattle to spend some time with him over Mother's Day weekend in 2018.  In mid-2020 I started working on it.  Pretty impressive, right?  It didn't even have time to become a UFO!

He was pretty sure about what he wanted.  We ended up with some nice flannels.

It didn't take long to sew the larger sets of squares corner to corner and make four-patches from the smaller sets.

I hadn't made a rag quilt in about twenty years, so I had to buy new Fiskars Easy Action Rag Quilt Snips for clipping all those seams.  Who knows what happened to the scissors I used to have!

If you've ever made a rag quilt you KNOW the most fun part was washing and drying it multiple times to get those seams good and frayed. 

Or maybe I should say the most fun part was cleaning up all that lint.  Wow!

It was worth it in the end.  The quilt is exactly what he wanted.

And now HE gets to wash it!

AJ's Quilt

When my son's friend, AJ, told me he had never been given a quilt I decided that was a problem that needed to be remedied, and the sooner the better.  I knew I wanted to make him something with a geometric design so I searched online and found a free download for "Love Squared" by Lindsey Wright.

Pinks and reds were definitely out.  I thought (and so did my son, my new quilting advisor) the only option for AJ was blacks and grays.   

The white would become black, and the pinks would be shades of gray with the red becoming the very lightest gray.

I've changed patterns a lot to make them my own so just changing the colorway would be super easy.  Right?  OH! Brother!

It wasn't at all difficult to make the blocks.  

But, for some reason working with the layout nearly made me crazy.  Simply assigning each shade of grey a number corresponding with the numbered shades of pink should have simplified it enough.  I drew up a graph of the layout which should have made it even easier.  I even had a color photo with the pattern to use as a guide.  

I don't think I have ever arranged and rearranged a quilt more than I did this one.   I finally said, "Enough!  I like it."

This photo taken outdoors makes it easy to see that I didn't use a solid black but onyx Grunge by Moda instead. 

Some extra blocks for the back because it needs to be cool, too.

Machine quilting with a basic meander .....  

.....and instead of a label just a little stitching.

Then a trip to Seattle to deliver it in person.  

Now AJ has a quilt, and I feel better.

Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

My New Project for September -- Baby Quilt

Not a lot of sewing has been going on around here lately.  But a whole lot of life has been happening!

Everything from taking the grands to Seattle for a week.....

.....to vacationing in Destin with our son and his family and some of the boys' friends.....

.....to having knee surgery.

And the other night we made s'mores in the courtyard here at home.

Aidan really enjoyed them.  I think everyone did.

Gavin is at the stage where he doesn't want any photos taken.  He humored me.

I did get an actual quilting project started this month for the 2013 NewFo Challenge.

These three blocks are for a baby quilt and the fabric might be for the border.    I have all the blocks finished and the sashing is cut, but that's as far as it is right now.  Baby quilts usually get completed around here, though, because there's a definite deadline on those.  That means there will probably be photos of a finished quilt soon!

I'm linking up to Barbara's Linky Party.  You might want to take at look at what others are working on.  

Excuses, Excuses.........And a Finish!

Excuses, excuses.  Or should I say, Reasons, reasons.  I have been too busy to sew lately let alone blog about it!  I guess I should have just been blogging instead about my crazy life, at least then you would know why I'm not sewing.

The last sewing I did was at the June retreat I told you about.  Here are a few of the things that have kept me busy the last several months.

Two of my sisters, Barb and Dee, came to see me for a weekend.

My sister, Debbie and her girls, Natalie, Carrie and Emily, came to see me for a weekend.

Hubby and I took our grands to Seattle for a week to visit our son, Aaron, and see the sights.

We spent a week in Destin, Florida with our son, Adam and his family.  

I celebrated a birthday!  


This is what my sewing room has looked like for over a month.  It was turned into an extra guest room and it has stayed that way.  Hard to sew like that!

The one thing I did manage to finish was the NewFo I started in May.  It was a completed top so it only needed hand-quilting and binding.  That's not work, though.  That's therapy! 

And here's the reason I managed to get this one quilt completed at all.  Little Gracee Mae-Rose, our newest great-niece.  After all, every new baby needs a quilt!

This has been a whirlwind summer.  One last thing will keep me from sewing this week - the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I'm going with my sweet friend, Faye, where I know I will be inspired and motivated to get sewing again.  I feel pretty certain that I'll be in my sewing room when I get home from that.  

Searching for Inspiration (Or WHERE has my mojo gone??)

This week it was brought to my attention by my #1 Fan (that would be you, Faye) that I have not blogged in three months.  Well, that is because I have not been in my sewing room in 3 months.  I have completely lost my mojo!  Or maybe I have just been busy with other things.........

Being near my grandchildren has had a serious effect on how much time I spend sewing.  But I am having a great time! 


In March Hubby and I took our grandsons to see The Harlem Globetrotters.  

We also went to Seattle to visit our son for a few days in March.  I was able to visit a few quilt shops while we were there.  This one was Esther's Fabrics on Bainbridge Island.  Of course I HAD to buy something so I got fabric to make pillowcases for Children's Hospital in St. Louis.  

In April I went to the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah and this is ALL I bought!  I didn't even break out the credit card.  

One day when the boys were here I taught Gavin how to bake bread.  He LOVES kneading dough!!      

We've been to Aidan's ball games........

.......and Noah's ball games.

We get to take the boys out to eat once in a while....

....and to the park.                           

I did a lot of volunteering in the boys' classrooms.  That was SO much fun!  And I got to see Gavin's Chorus performance....

....and Aidan's Kindergarten program.

Now that school is out we have been to the pool a few times, too.

I am worn out just writing about everything that has been keeping me from my sewing room!  

SO!  I am leaving in the morning for a quilting retreat with some very special friends.  I have projects cut out and ready to go.  I will have no excuses if I don't get any sewing done this week!  Hopefully, I will have something quilty to blog about when I get back.  (But, really, doesn't it look like I've been having fun!?!?!?)