Land of the Free

On our way to Baby Boy's birthday party I delivered this cute quilt made by Mary. If you look closely she included a building for the Quilt Police.

Mary gave me free rein on the quilting. Fun, and intimidating at the same time. I kept thinking, 'I like this, but will she?'






I wasn't settled about all of the quilting when I loaded the quilt. I knew I wanted lyrics in the flag, but I wasn't sure which song.

I decided on the lyrics from chorus of "This Land is Your Land."












The buildings are rather plain. Mostly stitch in the ditch and window panes.

In the sky areas I tried some new ideas.

 I printed out some children's coloring pages as inspiration for the sky. I found a sun, moon, airplane and wind.

I also threw in some flag poles, corn fields and flowers between the buildings. No pictures of those, unfortunately. This was fun, and fortunately, Mary really likes the result of giving me free rein. My favorite bit is the sun in the corner.

Grandmother's Legacy

I received a call from a new customer, Deb. Her grandmother had recently passed away, and she had received a quilt top from her grandmother's estate. Deb remembered her grandmother working on quilts while she was growing up. This one is hand pieced on a muslin foundation, with the embroidery added when the blocks were sewn together.

I had so much fun looking at the fabrics while I was working on this quilt. I think that the quilt was made with fabric scraps from years of garment sewing. I think the fabrics go back to the 1940s. Though I'm no expert at dating fabrics.

I love this cowboy fabric! 1950s? What do you think? Some little boy's pajamas maybe?

 The dotted seersucker is maybe from the 1960s or 1970s. A summer dress for a young girl?

 

 The multicolor swirl looks like the 1960s to me.

 I know I had some of that rust pin-dot in the early 1980s.

How about the calicoes? I thinks 1970s-80s.

I wish that Deb had been able to talk to her grandmother about the quilt. I'm sure that her grandmother could have told her wonderful stories about family and fabrics. What a wonderful legacy.

Baby Boy Turns One

It's hard to believe, but our youngest grandbaby has turned 1. He had a cute circus themed birthday party. Mommy, my dear daughter, made a cute photo booth with props.

Here he is with big sis, Spicy.

Here I am with my Dear Motorcycle Dude.

Dear Daughter-In-Law made a cute, and yummy cake for the occasion. She also made a small "smasher" for, well for smashing.

While he was smashing, all the kids were dipping in for frosting.

All in all, I'd say a good time was had by all.