This is just to say

I have begun
the new quilt-along
that is at
the old red barn co

a project
that you probably know
is
one too many

Forgive me
the quilt looks delicious
so fresh
and so clean


(with apologies to William Carlos Williams. Follow everyone's progress here.)

Peonies

They have to be my very favorite flowers. My mother cut these for me from her garden yesterday, in the rain. They smell heavenly.

Meet Quiltie

When we were children, my brothers and I each had a different "lovey". Mine was a polyester department store baby blanket that my mom improved by hand-applying a satin ribbon binding. I loved my blankie. My oldest little brother had a Plaudie bear (more on this in an upcoming post), and my youngest brother had Quiltie. Ted's quiltie is awesome, with needle-turned hearts surrounding a calico checkerboard. That handmade quilt became threadbare as baby Ted and then toddler Ted dragged him everywhere and slept with him every night. I still have my blankie, and I think lovies can be very important to little children.

When Henry was born, we got several "minkee" blankets as gifts from friends. They are very very soft, but they lack personality. I know that's probably because they often need to be replaced and the simpler something is, the easier it is to replace. But. I made this little guy when I made this quilt for my friend Katie's son. I had a few extra blocks and I cut them down from half-square triangles into these hourglass blocks. The quilt measures about 11 inches by 13 and is batted with bamboo, which makes it very drapey and not at all stiff.

Henry is currently a fan of grabbing things, and this quilt has been in his crib ready for grabbing since about three weeks after he was born. It goes with us on most car trips and in the stroller, protecting his chubby little legs from the sun. I know I can't force this little quilt as his lovey, but he does seem to like it now, rubbing it on his face to soothe himself in the crib, sucking his thumb all the while. And I love to see him snuggling with this little quilt that I made him.

Bowties or butterflies?

I did it again-- I took my quilt photos in the fat middle of the day. It makes the colors so over-bright. But here we go anyway. This is a crumb-type scrap quilt that I made in the months just before our baby was born. It's made up of alternating nine-patch blocks (an "x" block next to a "cross" block, if that makes sense). It was inspired by the ones that the little red hen makes, like this one, except that I only put colors in the corners of alternate patches instead of in each patch.

It measures about 36 inches by 43 inches, and sports my normal stippled quilting. Each patch of the nine-patch blocks is 2.5 inches finished. There are a few different white fabrics in the quilt, some Kona bleach white and some white on white prints, because this is a true scrap quilt. Everything came out of the bins.

Everything, that is, except the back, which I love. It's a green and white print of tiny train tracks complemented with the yellower-green leaf print. Initially I had planned on doing a green binding as well, but I'm so glad I opted for the dark brown Civil War repro print. There are tiny light brown leaves on it, and I think the dark color does such a great job of setting off all that white.

The baby boy has been using this as an activity quilt. When we went to our mothers' group, he rolled around all over it, and he spit up on it at least once during Mama/baby yoga. Thus all the stippling. I love dense quilting like this on a baby quilt because it can be thrown in the washer and dryer without a thought. It's getting softer and softer. I hope the boy will grow to love this one as much as I do, in all its crinkly goodness.

Shady days

Just what we all needed yesterday. An afternoon on the front lawn with a bowl of cherries (for me) and a big white sunhat (for him). Ahh. I love the shady, breezy spring.

Still here!

Hello. There's not much going on here, other than loving on my little one and begging him to sleep. His once-daily nap is usually filled with laundry and picking up after the day before, but there has been some crafting as well.

I made this itty bitty baby dress from the made by rae pattern for our friends who welcomed a little girl thirteen days ago. We went to visit them this weekend and I simply could not believe how little baby Claire is. I can't remember when Henry was that small, even though it hasn't been that long at all. Whew! I'd better keep my eyes open.