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!

Tasting Table Tuesday

All sewing has been put on the back burner this week, because our grandson is in town!  He came all the way from Florida and we don't see him often, so we're making the most of the opportunity to spend some time with him.  He's celebrating his first birthday this week and I just finished making his birthday gift.  Can't wait to share pics of that with you, but I don't want to spoil the surprise since his mom follows my blog.  So that will have to wait until next week.  But be prepared to "ahhhh" when you see it - it's SOOO adorable!!!

And our granddaughter will be here with her parents this weekend as well, so we'll have both grandchildren at the same time, and that rarely happens - hopefully I'll have some pictures of them both to share next week as well.

Nothing else new on my Tasting Table right now though, but I finished the Cube Mates quilt, and I'm mailing it to my friend tomorrow, so I'll share pictures with you after she receives it.  It's a surprise, and it wouldn't be fair for you to see it before she does.  And the other Oxford Shirt quilt with the lavender batik is on my basting wall right now.  So I might have that one finished before next Tuesday's post as well.

So no pictures today, but be prepared for picture overload in next week's post, if not sooner.
Now it's time to enjoy a glass of wine with my hubby...  Enjoy your Tuesday!  Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - new projects, same shirts

Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day Weekend.  We just got back from visiting family in Western PA.  It was a great weekend, but now I've got a couple of days to get some work done before we head out for another weekend trip.  Busy time of year for traveling, that's for sure!

Late last week I started working on two quilts, simultaneously.  That's a first for me, but since they're both made with mostly the same fabrics, I thought it might be more efficient that way.  I'm using more of my oxford shirt collection for both of these quilts.

The first one is a special gift for a friend of mine, so I can't share too many details right now, but the I'm using a pattern I designed myself, called "Cube Mates" for this one. It's the second quilt I've made from this pattern, only I'm using a different fabric for the rectangles - a Moda fabric from an old line called "Simplicity" that I've had in my stash for a while now.  It is printed with inspirational words like "home, love, celebrate, harmony", etc. and it seems like a perfect match for the "simple" squares of oxford shirts.

The next one is another custom baby quilt, and my client requested the same shirt fabrics, because she loves the soft "beachy" look, but she wanted to just give it a little more of a feminine look, so I'm adding this batik that has a soft lavender background with tiny little flowers sprinkled all over that pick up all the colors in the shirt fabrics.  I think it adds just the right amount of femininity without being too girly.

The pattern is made up of large rectangles of shirt fabrics, and small rectangles of the batik.  I got the idea from this quilt by Red Pepper Quilts and Rita was nice enough to post some basic instructions on her blog.  I've reduced the size of my quilt though - this one will be about 48" x 60" - a little bigger than your typical baby quilt, but just the size that my client prefers.  I think the small floral rectangles will look like little tufts of wildflowers growing between the bricks, like the colors you'd find in wildflowers on the sand dunes at the beach.

I've got all my blocks finished for both quilts.  Now I just have to start putting them all together.  I'm very excited to see how both quilts turn out.  And I've still got even MORE of these shirt fabrics left!  Although I've put a pretty good dent in them this time...

Tasting Table Tuesday, which way do I go?

Good morning! The sun is shining and it's a gorgeous day here in PA. What's on my Tasting Table this Tuesday? Lots of things! It's one of those days when I have so many ideas rolling around in my head that I don't know which one to start first. (I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem!)

Anyway, first on the list is to finish this new bag - a custom order - I'm in love with the fabric she chose, which really makes this project fun to work on. I love it when a fabric really "talks" to me like this one does. I'm very excited to see how it's going to finish up, and I'm sure my customer will be thrilled with it. The designs look like they were drawn with a Spirograph, and I spent hours playing with one when I was a kid. Happy memories! This bag is made with this pattern - another Two Zip Hipster. (It's afternoon now and I just finished, so here is a picture of the finished bag as well.)

Next on my list is another quilt using my own "Cube Mates" pattern. This is a repeat of the one I made using re-purposed oxford shirts, but this time I'm using this cream fabric with beige words written on it for the rectangles. I've had it in my stash for quite a while and didn't know what to use it for, but this will be perfect. It's from Moda's Simplicity collection that was out a few years ago. It goes well with the pastel shirting colors.

Another idea is to make a quilt using these fabrics. It's a jelly roll of grey & cream fabrics that would make the most awesome quilt, especially as a gender-neutral baby quilt. The soft grey & cream colors are so classic-looking, yet with a modern flair. I found it on a great Etsy shop called SanourrasFabricLove and she has a terrific fabric selection! If you are looking for a quilt like this, all I need is a little nudge (hint hint) and I would order this fabric in a heartbeat! Otherwise, I'm going to wait until I get caught up on some other projects first. But I really love the idea for this one!

Plus, I've got a plan for a quilt I'm going to make for my husband. I'm drawing up my plans on EQ and I'll share them with you soon. This year we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and I've made quilts for everyone but him. He is so supportive of this sewing obsession of mine and I think it's time to make a quilt just for him.

And my list could go on and on, but I'll stop here for now. If I spend all my time on the computer, I'll never get these projects finished! Time to go sew! Have a great day all!

"Cube Mates" Completed

Today I finished binding my quilt and the weather cooperated, so I was able to get some quick pictures outdoors before supper - (well most of them were outdoors - this first one was on my living room floor.) Don't you just love the late-afternoon sun? It was almost around the side of the house by this time so it didn't hinder my photography, but you can still see the yellow glow in the background.

I quilted this one with straight-rows of stitching 1/2" away from each seam, using a light grey cotton thread.

I mentioned before that the top is pieced entirely from oxford shirts I collected from my co-workers in the 1980's, and you might think "Free Fabric - Great!" - right??? Well, it might have been free, but what I didn't spend in cash, I spent in time. It's definitely a labor-intensive process. After washing & drying the shirts, you have to cut the sections apart, remove all the buttons (ok - I could have just thrown them out, but I love to collect buttons!), discard the stained and/or worn areas, then starch them all before cutting. The old fabric was so soft that I thought it would be easier to work with if I starched it first, and it made a huge difference! Definitely worth the time! Of course, that meant I had to wash the quilt when I was done, to remove the starch, but that's ok.

Using newly purchased fabric would have been much faster, but wouldn't have that "well-worn/loved" look that I love. And if you know anyone who worked at Wellsboro's Glass Factory in the 1980's, you just might find a piece of their shirt somewhere in this quilt! :)

For Sale at Etsy.com - click here to see more.

Cube Mates

I'm a little behind schedule, but "Cube Mates" is finally pieced and here's how it looked right after I finished the quilting. It's a little rumpled yet, but will look much neater after I finish the binding and give it a good press. I hope to finish it tomorrow and will post the final finished pictures in the next day or two.
Makes me want to buy a beach cottage to go with the quilt! But this one is destined for my Etsy shop, so I just have to make another one - or two - or three...