My sister, Frankie, has been working on her first quilt in about fifteen years. She called me one day in late June or early July, to say that she was standing in the middle of a fabric sale, and could I help her figure out how much she needed to buy!?
She decided to do one of Eleanor Burns’ “Quilt in a Day” quilts. This one is the log cabin block. She’s made 24 blocks in shades of turquoise and tan/brown. She wanted to create the idea of sand and waves.
The lovely part of all this is that we have shared the work on the top. Over three visits, I did the sewing, and she pressed the blocks and handed me the next strip to be added. I think if we had had one long day without any obligations, we might have gotten it done, but both our lives are so busy that we had to take a little time here, and a little time there. Frankie gets to assemble the blocks into the top, and add borders. She will also be making a variable binding from the strips that were left over ( you know…..”Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without). We both love saving money and being frugal with what we have.
I’ve really enjoyed this time with my sister. I wish I could have this same experience with all the ladies in my family. Elegante Mother appliqued several things that I quilted, but she is the only other member of the family with whom I’ve collaborated.
I have pictures of the blocks, laid out on the floor in the pattern Frankie liked for her quilt. I need to download them and send them off to her. With a little bit of prompting, perhaps I can get her to post them for you at her blog. And when I get pictures taken of MY last quilt for the year, I’ll post them, too.
Daily Archives: January 1, 2010
Catching Up
I didn’t realize how long it has been since I last posted. My host’s domain was down for a little virus hunt for the past three weeks. I realized we were up and running once more when I began to get spam posts from commenters. It used to be that we had short comments about sex or drugs. Now, I get long paragraphs that don’t make sense. Apparently they’re using their own drugs…
December was busy, just as it must have been for all of you. Dear Husband and I shared the gift shopping, and I did most of the wrapping. I didn’t need to buy any paper, tape, gift labels or decorations. It was a pleasure to use what I had on hand to make really pretty boxes. One large box in particular, for DH, turned out well. I used burgundy paper with a gold tinted wired-edge ribbon. Our daughter-in-law sent the gift directly from the store. I didn’t even open the box, I just wrapped it. When DH opened it Christmas morning, this HUGE box had been used to send a metal air-tight container for the boat that is roughly eight inches tall and six inches wide. It was funny, so I didn’t mind.
Frankie and her family, plus one Danish boy friend and their dog, Sydney, came to us for Christmas. Frankie stopped to pick up Elegante Mother on her way up on Christmas Eve. They arrived in early afternoon, and we tried to stuff them with crab cakes on a bed of spinach with orange aioli, and/or mini burgers with carmelized onions and gouda cheese.
Everyone was with us through Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, the dog, my brother-in-law and my oldest niece needed to return to Indiana. Elegante Mother returned to her condo and caregiver on Sunday mid-day, and Frankie and the two kids stayed until Monday morning.
You can bet the counter was heavy with goodies. We really tried to be conservative in what we ate, but there was a LOT of temptation. I didn’t start making cookies until the week of Christmas, so there were a lot fewer choices to be made, but we tried to hit the family favorites between us. Frankie brought us a copper tub FILLED with the most incredible chocolates you have ever tasted, and DH brought specialty popcorn to add to the mix.
My oldest sister (My Sister The Nurse), her husband, her oldest son and his daughter joined us on Christmas Day. There were 12 of us to dinner. Frankie brought prime rib which she packed in salt to roast, and we did mashed potatoes, green beans, and Caesar salad. I forgot the ribbon jello, so we had it for days afterward! *G* I got rather pushy encouraging my family to HAVE SOME JELLO!!!
Frankie has been working on her first quilt top in easily fifteen years. We worked on it together on Sunday afternoon (more in the next post). The kids went into Chicago to visit Navy Pier and the Museum of Contemporary Art, among other things. We were hit by quite a snow storm the day after Christmas, so I didn’t envy them walking in Chicago. We spent the evenings watching DVDs.
It was a WONDERFUL four days. I really enjoyed having my house filled with family over the holidays. EM adjusted to the busy days, and we were glad to have the chance to celebrate with her. It seems quiet now, in comparison, but we’re taking a few days to relax before we hit January paperwork time.
We hope that you all have a healthy and prosperous 2010!!