Saturday, September 27, 2014

Summer's End - Finally!

A frequently asked question - Where does the time go? - seems to be my motto lately! Several months have flown by since I last posted.  I like to have photos to post and that has been one of the reasons why I haven't posted.  I have been slow at completing projects and even slower at taking photos.
My last post showed the beginnings of Layla's quilt.  Here are photos of the finished product:


The finished quilt.  Hanging on my quilt holder in the hallway




A closer look:
 

 
 
The quilt label.  In the background you can see the pattern quilted in the plain squares.
 



Another look
 



I was pretty happy with the way it came out.  Layla (and her parents) are moving to Ohio today  :(
I will be saving my Southwest Airlines Frequent Flyer miles so I can go visit them!!

As soon as Layla's quilt was done, I needed to start on another for a sweet baby girl (now 9 months old)

Here are some photos of what I have so far:

The mom likes baby blue and asked for a little bit of yellow.  Here are the fabrics I chose:






Then I cut them out:
The small squares were to be ironed into prairie points.  The half square triangles were to be made into pinwheel blocks.
 

 
 
I chain pieced the half square triangles.



Believe it or not, there are 120 prairie points there!  It was 109 degrees outside when I ironed those little buggers - What on Earth is Wrong with me!!!!
 

 
 
No way was I going to PIN those prairie points on!  Gotta love fabric glue sticks!!


 
 
The quilt top:
 



I need to layer and quilt it.  I have had many things keeping me busy - mainly work (my paying job :))   BUT, I managed to take a little side trip:

This is my wonderful friend Kim  (I have a daughter named after her!)  We toodled around central Illinois visiting Quilt stores in her little Smart Car.  I had heard there is lots of sitting room in there and there is!!


 
 
The reason I was able to visit with  Kim is because my son Nathan, was getting ready to graduate from his Army Officer Course in Missouri.  I planned to leave a few days before his graduation so that I could fit in some fun with Kim.
 
Here is my son - Nathan!  He is child #6, son #3 - A 2nd Lt in the Army and attached to the Arizona National Guard:
 
 
 
I told him he needed to look like he loved his Mother in this photo.  I think he did a pretty good job!
 
After Nathan's graduation, I took him and his friend out for lunch.  Then Nathan and Tanner jumped into Nathan's truck and headed west, I headed east.  Back to St. Louis to catch a plane to San Antonio for a team meeting out at a Presbyterian camp grounds.  We had two days of meetings, a game of kick ball, two turns at canoeing, then home after 8 days of being gone.  Whew!
 
Two days before my trip, we said goodby to our dog of 14 years. 
Penny
 
 
Now maybe you all can understand why I have not had the time to write.  But of course, I will end this post with a promise (which is more like a hope) to not let so much time go by before posting again!