Edie's Quilts

Julia picked this bouquet for Grandma today, and put it in her bike basket for the ride to Grandma's house!

We were treated to a quilt show & tell!

My mom's friend, Edie, dropped off a stack of 9 quilt tops that she had started when she lived in Florida. They are all different and fun! Simple patterns in great old calicoes and solids.

I love that gray print in the middle quilt below.

The drunkards path is awesome! Hand-pieced and I love that mint!
Mustard and gray? Oh, yes!

Look at this elongated hexagon! These fabrics came from her mother-in-law's stash, so some of them are really old.

A grandmother's flower garden. Is it a requirement for every quilter to have one of these in our UFO stash? I have one, my mother started one...

Edie found the pattern in a magazine, then used the magazine pages for the foundations. She thinks it was started about 30 years ago. She'll be working on this one this summer.

This one is crazy cool! Double knit polyester!
Edie didn't make this one; she bought it at a yard sale.
The colors and prints are awesome.

I offered my assistance in layering and basting or tying, so you'll probably be seeing more of these when the weather cools off.

Thanks for sharing your work, Edie!

Summer Crafts Part 1

I decided I should try to make something every day this summer.
Something quilty or crafty or yummy!
So far, most of my crafts have been samples for Bible Camp.

Julia brought up the bead bins last weekend to repair some of her broken bracelets.
I finally made myself a necklace to hang my reading glasses from. I've been wanting one since I bought the glasses a couple of years ago. There's a matching bracelet, too.


I made the beads months ago. They are rolled from recycled paper. The process is addicting! Fabric ads from quilting magazines make the prettiest beads!

On deck for tomorrow: God's eyes.
Coming soon: My 200th post giveaway!

edit: I just joined a Paper Bead Trade. How fun is that?!

QOV Thank You

One of the Quilts of Valor that Julia collected for her Silver Award project was given to Colonel Mark Sheehan, just before he deployed to Afghanistan last November. We've known Mark and his family through school and church since our kids were all little.

Mark's daughter Mary was confirmed with Julia a few days before Mark came home. That night, her mom told me about this gift for Julia that would be coming home with him:
a mission-flown American flag!


The entire presentation case is incredible- the flag, a certificate with her name on it signed by the Commander, pilots and loadmasters of a C-130-J, and patches from the 143rd Airlift Squadron. When he delivered it today, he said he was the only one in his unit with a cool quilt!

We're so honored to have this amazing representation of our freedom in our home!

First Day of Summer

How we spent the first day of summer...

Watched two new fawns scamper about the back yard.

Mama knocked some seeds to the ground for her little ones.

Layed out my hexie table runner, in situ.

Watched Pete's team overcome a 5 run deficit to win a playoff game.

Unfortunately, Julia and Pete are still taking final exams. They'll be done tomorrow, then summer vacation can begin!

Hexie Love

I've jumped on the hexie bandwagon!

Did I need a new project? Of course not!
Am I loving it? YES!!

It will be my summer take along project.
Here it is in action at Pete's baseball game.
(That's him standing at home plate, ready to catch the next inning.)

I'm using the same pile of modern fabrics that are in the Bento blocks. Hey, they were out!
I wasn't sure if I wanted linen or white cotton in between the flowers.
The linen was closer! Ha, ha.

A must have these days in my hand sewing kit:
Reading glasses!

I'm dragging Janet with me to the Etsy Party at Craftland tonight!
I need to print some business cards and be sure to wear one of my pins.
Will we see you there?

More Mod Bentos

OK. I think I'm done piecing bento blocks!


At the beginning, I was almost paralyzed with fear.
What if I picked horrible combinations and no one wants to use my blocks?

After Julia's help getting started and a couple of blocks under my belt,
the process became so fun and freeing!

Nothing bad will happen if the combos are not perfect.
No one will be harmed if I put a Heather Bailey next to a Jane Sassaman!

My happy assortment of blocks makes my smile!

Visit the Flickr pool to see other people's blocks!
On Flickr, I did my best to label the fabrics I used, in case you see something you have to have!

Bento Block 4

Here's my fourth bento block for the swap. Now I need to decide if I'm going to make more or stop here. Four blocks could be a wall hanging or a table runner. I probably don't need anything bigger than that.


I think they look so cool together!

I can't wait to see what I get from other quilters!

I've been hoarding some of these prints in my stash for years.
It's fun to get them all out and play!

Biscuit Basket for Janet

Yesterday was my BFF Janet's birthday. Her husband threw her a last minute "surprise" party. It was nice to see her mother and sister and the other family friends are a hoot.

I was working on this Biscuit Basket for her when her husband called to invite us to dinner. The Modas were just yummy to work with! Mill House Inn by Joanna Figueroa, Fig Tree & Co.


I didn't have exactly the right ribbon. After I filled the basket with orange flavored pizzeles, I decided the red ribbon was better. It's not perfect, but better.

Pete has had a busy scouting weekend. Thursday was the troop picnic, another Eagle Court of Honor Friday night, car wash on Saturday and Jamboree meeting tonight. It's all good!

Mod Block 3

These blocks are so much fun!
I need to decide how many more I'm going to make.
1 or 6 or more?

Mod Block 2

Here is Block 2, before being cut into quarters.
One of the things I like about this swap is that we can keep a quarter of each block for ourselves, and trade/swap the other 3.


This blocks has some Art Gallery fabrics, a linen blend, a Heather Bailey and a Martha Negley.

Mod Bento Block Swap

I'm really excited to be participating in the
Mod Bento Block Swap!
Thank you, Jessica, for hosting the swap!
And Thank you, Ashley, for letting us use your tutorial!


I'm really happy with my first block. Julia and I had so much fun creating fabric combos for the blocks. Phillip Jacobs, Kaffe, Amy Butler and Valori Wells play so well together, don't they?

I've got 8 more piles ready to be cut and sewn!

Ready for something random?
Isn't this the cutest tissue box ever?

Have a colorful day!

Union Unity Quilt

Yesterday was Bill's birthday and he was really happy to see that his Union College magazine had arrived in the mail. (Don't we all get excited when we see a quilt on the cover of a magazine?)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember when we made our family block for the Union Unity Quilt. It's fun to finally see it in print and we're hoping to visit it in person this summer. Only seven blocks were chosen to be featured in the article, and ours was one!

Here's what Bill wrote:

The square, made by my wife Tina, shows Union has been a big part of my family's life. My father, Ed Craig, was an electrical engineering professor for over 35 years, and growing up, I attended numerous football, basketball and hockey games. Union was home in many ways, and as you can see from the block, my older siblings Stephen and Terry also graduated from Union. In 1979, my father took a sabbatical to teach at the University of Liberia in Monrovia - my mother and I went as well. It was an incredible year, and our appreciation for African culture is the inspiration behind the fabrics in the block's border. Over the years, I have witnessed my father's dedication to the College, as a professor, volunteer, fan and overall member of the Union family. It's my hope that this square, in some small way, serves to recognize his connection with Union.

A Scouting Weekend

Where did this week go? Time seems to be flying faster and faster!
I spent most of the week preparing for our Community Bridging Ceremony. Girl Scouts come together to cross the bridge to the next age level and are greeted by an older scout. My troop bridged from Girl Scout Senior to Ambassador.

It was a gorgeous night for an outdoor ceremony. It seemed like there were hundreds of Girl Scout Daisies and Brownies! Julia impressed everyone (including the council representative on the right) by playing Taps on the bugle. She totally rocks!


The next morning, we attended an Eagle Scout Court of Honor.
Julia was the first one up to congratulate Manny, noting their scouting friendship, playing echo Taps together, and playing in jazz band. (Yes, she always wears her GS uniform to Boy Scout events!) Pete is in Manny's troop, but was unable to attend the ceremony.

For his Eagle project, Manny planted a Liberty Elm on the grounds of the Senior Center and built the stone wall around it. His mom planted the flowers! (Sorry the tree blends in with the ones behind it.) It was a pretty cool project!

After my father passed away, my mother and I planted a weigela in his memory. (She was a member of the garden club at the time.) You can see Manny's tree in the background, and a bocce court in between.

The jazz band played a dinner show at a local restaurant Saturday night. They blew the roof off the joint! Julia looked even prettier than this picture shows. She loves playing jazz, but won't play an ad lib solo. I wouldn't do it in high school, either, so I totally get what she's feeling. Grandma's putting pressure on her, though! (Manny played at least 7 solos. He's amazing! It was Manny Day.)

Pete went on his Jamboree shake out weekend and survived the heat and a severe thunderstorm. A perfect practice weekend for the Jambo! He had a camera with him, but never took it out. I hope he does a better job at the Jambo.