Bears By the Beach

Baby Jack's quilt was delivered when we went to SC to see him.  You may remember it started with 2 ideas: my DS loves bears so I picked the Bear's Paw block, and my DDIL wanted a beach theme since he would be born in Myrtle Beach.

She picked this colorway, blue and grey with a pop of red.

When she mentioned a nautical theme, anchors, wheels, etc. I immediately thought of a piece of fabric I had at home - a piece that had been tucked away for many years.

I knew exactly where it was, still wrapped in tissue paper.  It was a piece of screen printed fabric from Key West.

The most amazing thing about this fabric is that it was given to me in 1975 by my Nana, my grandmother.  I washed it, not knowing whether it was still usable.  It came out perfectly.  So I set out to design a quilt using fabric that was given to me by Jack's great-great grandmother!  I quilt for a lot of reasons, but this is one of them.  I love the stories that get woven into each unique, one of a kind quilt - the priceless memories.

After playing around in EQ7 for a while, I decided on the quilt layout on the left.  Then I decided to personalize it a little (plus I didn't want to make 8 of these little blocks).  The blocks finished at 8" and there was a lot of little pieces and fussy cutting.

I used a Bookman font for his initials and the baby bear applique from a quilt I made for my DS's college graduation quilt in 2001 (yes, I don't throw much away LOL).  I really liked how the grey worked as the sashing.

 

The red check was perfect.  Now it was time for the hand quilting.

I added a red check binding and it was finished!!  Notice the feet - Karis wanted to be part of the photo session. :)

Here's the back.  There were little fussy cut anchors on the front, and a whole piece of the fabric on the back.

As we posed Jack on his quilt, Karis came close.....

and closer.....

and closer!!  Mission accomplished LOL!

And then did what she does so often, gives her little brother a kiss - melts my heart.

I used the last piece of this fabric for the label, and named it "Bears by the Beach".

So here's my punkin, I hope he enjoys his four generation quilt that will always be a reminder of where he was born :).

Karen

More Pickle Dish Pieces

The patient actually allowed "Nurse Nancy" some time to herself today and so I headed upstairs to my studio to "play".  He is only 5 days out from surgery and is really doing well.  One day at a time...

 

I always forget how much I enjoy paper piecing until I do it again.  It's really so easy and fun to just follow the lines.  I'm couldn't wait to complete one block so I cut 2 corner pieces and the melon piece in the center.  They seem to be slightly small.  I'm going to have to tweak my templates as  they are pulling just a little.  So I'll be ripping this block apart, but it's the only one put together at this point.

I took some pictures this afternoon of my studio.  It kind of looks like a bomb went off with all the piles of fabric, but I'm almost done with this stage I think.  I keep changing the size and needing more blocks.

I decided to make it one row bigger so I needed 26 more arcs.  And then it's on to cutting the corners and the melons.

These grey ones are a piece of cake with only six pieces in each arc.  I'm not planning on having that many in the quilt but I should have saved them until last.  They have about half as many pieces as the pickle dish arcs and go together really fast.

This is the view I have of my workspace when sitting in my chair.  I have an "extension tray" that pulls out when I need it.  I find it's perfect for holding pieces when I have picked sets of fabrics to go together.

Here you can see the extension pulled out from the sewing machine table.  My DH made this sewing table for me several years ago.  The extension was my idea and it has been a wonderful thing I use often.

It seems every post lately has included personal pictures, and this one is no exception.  Here is Baby Jack at 3 weeks old.  Still kind of long and lean. :)  How I would love a little snuggle time with him.

And here is Karis.  My DDIL found this wonderful photographer in Myrtle Beach.  This was taken during Jack's baby photo shoot.  Karis didn't feel like smiling and this is what happened.  Pure magic in my opinion...... but then again, I may be biased.  I miss both these punkins so much.

Until next time,

Karen

Passing the time (and a few more pictures)

I needed something to do while waiting. Waiting for what you ask??  My DH has gone under the knife again, this time for a total shoulder replacement.  Plus they did a rotator cuff repair just for good measure!!  So I spent a total of 5 1/2 hours in the hospital waiting room.  I knew I would need a project to help pass the time and had been saving the "ripping off the paper" stage from these arcs for that very purpose. 

So far I have about 80 or 90 arcs done.  I've been wanting to do a pickle dish quilt for a while and now I have a start. Yay :).

Pulling off all the papers took longer than I thought and I had quite a few people in the waiting room stop by to ask what I was doing.  Being a quilter is always so much fun for me, no matter where I am.

It was definitely worth it, the points are so pretty and now that chore is behind me.  Next will be sewing on the melons - not totally looking forward to this step.  I still haven't decided how big it's going to be or exactly what the final colors will be, but I'm crazy about what's going on so far.  These are mostly leftovers from my Easy Street I did last spring.

 

Now for some more pictures (thanks for indulging this Nana Girl).

Love this picture - just looking at all the different sizes :). We walked down to the beach one night after dinner - the beach is beautiful just before the sun sets. It's hard to believe my grandson (right in the middle) is only six - he might just take after his daddy (who is 6'7")!! LOL

Here are my 2 precious granddaughters...

and my newest love (3 weeks old today)!

 

I need to get back to the patient - we just got home from the hospital today.  What I've learned so far is that major shoulder surgery is not for the faint of heart!  Wish me luck,

- Karen

 

 

 

Introducing...

our newest grandson!!  He arrived on his due date, 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 21" long.  My very creative DDIL made this pendant for his arrival.  The nurses made quite a fuss over it.

Big sister was immediately smitten.

She really couldn't believe it was a real baby :).

 

And her attentiveness continues even at home.  She wants to hold him often and then poses for you to take her picture.  She is such a delight!

This picture to me is pure joy.  Here are some random shots of our trip to Myrtle Beach last week for our first visit.

He loves his mommy.....

and his Daddy.  (Jack seems to have inherited his daddy's love of sleeping LOL.)

Aunt Katie and Cameron...

Uncle Jeremy and James...

everybody got their turns holding him for the first time.

James with his little boy cousin.

And this is the first picture of all 4 of our grandchildren :).

All babies are miracles from God...  I could stare at this face all day.

I noticed that this is not the best background..... but getting a picture like this is harder than it looks!!  I am just glad we took a picture.

Next time I'll share Baby Jack's quilt.

I am blessed.

Karen