2021 0521 Musical Gifts Quilt

Wendy Engleson and I were quilt fabric shopping on April 14th when we saw a music quilt. The one on the wall had piano keys and all the instruments that Mike and I play so I thought it would be fun to put it in the band room. I took a picture of the one on the wall but they didn't have pattern anymore and it was unavailable. Wendy and I measured it as best as we could, bought fabric and I went home to draft the pattern.

Jameson had expressed interest in making a music quilt for his teacher, Lori Jo Barnes, but that is a big project for a teacher gift from a student. Lori Jo plays the keyboard in Mike's band, Plum Crazy.  She can see it when she is here if the band ever gets back to practice. It has been a long hiatus with all the Covid-19 restrictions, since March of 2020.

On Tuesday the 11th of May I went to Heather Farrell's and quilted the Music quilt. I was finished with it's binding on May 21st, 2021. This is probably the fastest that I have ever made a quilt from start to finish. The soft cream color minky is the softest Heather has ever seen.

2020 1215 - Thomas' and Mike's quilts

 Thomas told me that he wanted a quilt that I made so the search was on for a good pattern. I chose a couple and asked which one he liked the best. He chose a quilt pattern called "On the Move." This is the result.

The real problem came when we realized that he couldn't come home for Christmas because of the Covid lockdown. So I made the top up and sent it to Natalie. Her mother-in-law, Deb Hardin, helped out by quilting it. They chose this backing for it and it was completed by December 1st. 

Onec I made this I realized that I had enough fabric left to make one for Mike. It helped that he said he really liked the one I made for Thomas. So on I went. I was able to quilt it on December 4th.

The binding was finished on December 15th. The minki we found for the back has glitter on it and this is what it looks like.

2020 1209 - Grinch quilt for Victoria and Scott are finally done!

One day I was at the Coaldale Quilt store, now called Chicken Feed Quilts, and saw a kit for a Grinch quilt! Awesome, Brad would love that since he loves the Grinch and Christmas. The project was definitely on!

The first one was for Brad so I made it in Texas while visiting Natalie. However, Natalie wanted it so I left it for her and made another one for Brad at home in 2011. 

Then Victoria and I  each wanted one so I made two more in 2019. When my friends, Nese Capron and Beth Barrus came to visit at the end of September 2019 we had a heavy snow and got snowed in. They helped me piece together two tops while we waited for the weather to clear so we could explore Banff. It was fun to do with them. Beth and I cut and put the pieces in order and Nese sewed the first top. I finished the second one after they went home.

I finally finished Victoria's on Nov 6, 2020. And I saved the one that my friends had sewn for me. It was finished a few days later.

 

Victoria's quilt

When Scott saw them he wanted one. This time I had to order more fabric. He wanted it large enough to wrap him and the two girls in. Just add an extra border and voila!

Scott's quilt

 

So that total grew to five Grinch quilts.

2020 Fall - Baby Quilt for new babies in the Saunders Family

 The year 2020 saw a few new babies in the family plus time in Covid lockdown to make many quilts. Three of these went to these new babies.

Fabric was chosen

 

Rob and Mackenzie's miracle baby, Madelyn Faith Peterson, was born on July 17th, 2020. Mike and I were able to deliver this baby quilt on September 16th, 2020. Covid restrictions were partially lifted by then.

 

 

Ethan and Janie had their miracle baby, Leo David Cichy, on 27 Aug 2020. Victoria and I were able to deliver this baby quilt on October 1st 2020.

 

 

David and Ashley's baby, Kirra Audrey Cichy, was born on November 4th, 2020. Ethan delivered this blanket for us at the end of November.

2020 0708 - Finishing Vicki Gardner's quilts for her grandchildren

 Our good friend Vicki Gardner died of cancer on October 23, 2019. I had told her before she died that I would help with whatever she needed to do. So when she died the family asked Wendy Engleson and I to finish four quilts for her grandchildren. She had some fabrics cut out and some just selected. I finished the ones for the boys and Wendy did the ones for the girls. We delivered them on the 8th of July when the Covid restrictions were lifted enough to do it. This included all of Jeff's kids and one of James' kids.

This one is for Jeff's oldest child, Luke.

This one is for Jet, James and Tiana's youngest.

2019 0923 - Quilt for April

 I finally made a quilt for myself from fabric I bought in Texas years ago! I used the same pattern, Fresh Vanilla, as I did for Mike's Christmas Quilt. Once again all I had was fat quarters so I used the adapted version also. I finally finished it on Sep 23, 2019.

I love this fabric and finally get to enjoy it.

In Memory of Bobby MacDonald

 

 Dave MacDonald, Patricia Edmonds, and Bobby McDonalds

 

Tragedy struck at Christmas when Dave MacDonald’s only brother took his life on Christmas Eve, 2018. on April 10 - 13, 2019 Dave has three sisters, Patricia Edmonds, Janice Mellish and Cathy Mc Jannet. He decided he wanted to do something to help his sisters and him remember their brother. 

They had a closet full of his flannel shirt. Marilynne organized us into a quilter’s weekend at our home in Taber. Marilynne, Allyson, Ruthanne and April made four quilts in a weekend from cutting the shirts apart to sewing them into a pattern. We had the shirt pockets included in each quilt so Dave could slip a note into each one for his sisters. The fourth one was for Dave.

We were able to get the tops all sewn. Next I quilted them on the my friend's long arm quilting machine by May 20th, 2019 and Marilynne bound them.

Dave and Mame took a trip out to New Brunswick where two of the sisters still live. Cathy McJannet, from California, met them there and they had a little memorial of sorts where he presented them each with a quilt. He posted this photo on Facebook sometime in the fall of that year. I am not sure when they actually went there.

Baby Quilt for Adria Saunders

We had another grandchild. She is Scott and Adina’s fourth child. I decided to make one like for the other grandbabies. I have done a dinosaur for Takuma, a butterfly for Thalia, and dragon flys for Vivian, Adria’s Sister. So this one is a humming bird in the oval so here goes. It took me a while to figure out the humming bird.

On April 17th, 2018.Heather Farrel helped me quilt Adria's quilt on her long arm machine. I was going to give it to her for her first birthday but I never got the binding done. Adina had said that I didn't have to make one so I hadn't been in a hurry. Once it was quilted all kinds of things happened. Grandma died, then tons of previously planned trips happened.  It wasn't until October that Adina said Adria kept stealing Vivian's so it was time to get it finished.

It took a long time to do so we gave it to here for Christmas 2018. She is now 20 months old. I am a little slow but it still works. She now has her very own quilt to snuggle in. Apparently snuggle is her favorite new word. This is her and her Dad, Scott opening it at Christmas.

2018 0206 - Laurel Burch - Holiday Celebration Cats minus the cats for Mike

Deb Hardin introduced me to the Laurel Burch collection of Holiday Celebration Cats. She had made an amazing tree skirt with these fabrics. Laurel Burch passed away somewhere in those years.

When Jean was selling out her fabric I bought some fat quarters and material to make this quilt from a pattern that Deb gave me as a quilt challenge. The pattern is called Fresh Vanilla from a Better Homes and Garden magazine called Make it Modern in 2013. The pattern uses yardage but all I had was fat quarters. I started it at Natalie's house with the adjustments that I would need to make it work. Years passed and I finally finished it for Mike. He needed a longer quilt than the little one I had made for the little kids.

Visiting the Scottish Highlands on the East - 19 Jul 2018

Our second major adventure was to the North Eastern side of Scotland. This is the land where Mike's grandmother came from, mainly in Banffshire. We wanted to visit castles and gardens along the way. 

The first one was Dunnottar Castle, a medieval Fort on the point of a cliff overlooking the North Sea. It was founded by St Ninian but unsure of the actual date, possibly in the 5th century and later became a fort. The surviving buildings are from the 15 or 16th century. It was a prominent place in much of Scotland's history such as, a hiding place for the crown jewels of Scotland when Oliver Cromwell invaded in the 17th century and a place important in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. It had many other important events occur there including an invation by the Vikings.