Tasting Table Tuesday - Celebrations Galore!

I promised you a post filled with pictures this week and I don't think you'll be disappointed!  Our grandson's birthday was the highlight of the week and we had a great time with him, and it was so fun watching both of our grandkids getting to know each other.  They are only four months apart and I'm sure they'll be best buddies in no time, if we can get them together often enough.  Difficult task, considering they live on opposite ends of the country...  But we'll do our best...

Birthday Boy was ready for bed before he opened his gifts, but his mom peeked later and loved these, and I'm sure he does too.  These tiny guys are only 4 inches high, and the pattern pieces are the tiniest I've ever worked with, but I love how they turned out.  I used this pattern by Heather Bailey and it's really well written.  It always amazes me how much stuffing these little guys take!

The day after the Birthday Party, all our kids got together and somehow managed to surprise us with a  Fabulous Brunch to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  They took over our kitchen on Saturday morning and got everything started while I was in the shower.  We had no idea what was going on until the last minute.  I would have put another leaf in the table if I'd known what they were up to, but we all squeezed in, including 2 highchairs, and it was GREAT!  They made a delicious omelet-type dish from Barefoot Contessa (click here if you want the recipe - it's delish!), fresh fruit salad, pancakes and bacon.  What a feast!  Even fresh roses for the centerpiece.

Now on to the sewing projects...  I finished both of the quilts using more of my re-purposed oxford shirts, previously blogged about here.  This one is for a baby girl, and I just love the old-weathered look it has, combined with the lavender batik  I quilted it with straight rows of stitches in grey thread.  Very simple, but I love it.

I also promised you more details about this quilt once the recipient received it.  I shipped it off to her last week and she has it now, so I'd like to take this opportunity to share her story with you.  We became fast friends in high school and she's one of the sweetest people I know.  My heart broke for her when I got an email from her in March saying she had just lost her 20 year old son.  I was working with these oxford shirt fabrics at that time, and when I saw that their last family photo was taken on a beach, I couldn't help but think of how suitable one of these "beachy-looking" quilts would be for them.  And as a quilter, I know how comforting a quilt can be, at least to me they are.  So I made the decision to make her a quilt, and left it up to her to decide whether to keep the quilt for her family to enjoy, or possibly donate it to the organization she is actively involved with to help raise funds to help students avoid drugs.  You see, her son died of an accidental heroin overdose.  As they struggle with their loss, they have come forward with their story to try and help other families.  She wrote an article for her local newspaper and has agreed to let me share it here.  The story is very sad, but they hope that they can help others through their experience, and if sharing this story helps just one person, it's worth it.  If you'd like to read her story, here's a link.  And here is the Comfort Quilt.

Now on to a happier topic - my Tasting Table!  What's on it today???  Hopefully, my entry to my local quilt guild's Quilt Exhibit which is coming up in September.  I started this quilt years ago (I hate to say how many...) and finally decided it was time to get this UFO finished.  It's actually a continuation of these oxford shirt quilts, because at the time I collected the shirts from my engineering coworkers, I also collected their old neckties.  I made 35 blocks out of the ties, but then put them away and forgot about them.  So they've been brought out and I've started assembling them into a quilt.  I hope to have some pictures to share in the next couple of days, so stay tuned as I attempt to make something wonderful out of this vintage batch of ties.  Cheers!