Apple/pinwheel quilt

Many years ago I taught a summer quilting class, making the 6 hand-appliqued apple blocks to give my students instruction and experience in the delicate blind stitch. As part of this summer's finish-up-my-projects project, I used scraps from my stash to make the pinwheel blocks and set them all with 3" sashings, also from my stash.  Even the batting was pieced from scrap batting, making the whole project a real bargain. The blocks are 9" blocks and the finished quilt measures 38" x 50". It is machine pieced, hand appliqued, and hand quilted. Notice the 3-dimensional leaves.

teddy bear quilt

Among my many projects needing to be finished this summer was this quilt top.  Many years ago, when Jesse was in his early teens, he wanted to make a teddy bear quilt in blues. I prepared 12 blocks for him and he embroidered 2 before he got bored with the project.  A few years later I embroidered the rest and put them together in this quilt top to save for when Jesse had his first child.  Now that it is finished, I will let the grandchildren enjoy it when they come to visit, to get wrapped up in the proxy loving arms of our Jesse. 

The quilt blocks are 10" square, the finished quilt measures 44" x 58", is hand-embroidered, machine-pieced, and hand-quilted.

Jesse's Afghan

Jesse enjoyed crocheting and was quite good at following patterns and even creating his own patterns.  He made two baby afghans, lots of flowers (complete with stems and leaves), and stuffed animals (and of course the purple wizard hat). He had started this afghan for himself, when he first learned to crochet, getting about a third finished before getting bored with it and moving on to his other projects. I finished it for him and will send it to his niece, Mia. It measures 44"x58".

doll quilt

This little doll quilt (or wall hanging) is made from scraps leftover from the recent Hearts & Gizzards quilt. It measures 27"x27", is machine pieced and hand-quilted.

hearts & gizzards

This quilt is another of my summer need-to-finally-finish projects.  I made the quilt top several years ago, using the blue and white scraps left from Eli and Kira's wedding quilt.  The design is called "Hearts & Gizzards" or "Dutch Windmills" and measures 42"x55".  The windmills/hearts are hand-appliqued and the quilt is hand-quilted.

baby afghan

My summers are spent cleaning, organizing, and finishing up projects.  This afghan used up yarn leftover from an identical afghan I made for my granddaughter, Kaitlyn a couple of years ago.  Who knows who will get this one...  It is crocheted and measures 31"x39" (excluding fringe). The rocking chair was mine when I was a little girl.

Zentangle

One advantage to working at the library is I get to see all sorts of books on all sorts of subjects.  Recently a book came through called One Zentangle a Day by Beckah Krahula.  Zentangle is a fancy kind of doodling.  Each piece of art is done on a 3 1/2" square of paper called a tile.  It looked so fascinating that I ordered a copy of the book and was immediately addicted. It is relaxing, therapeutic, and very fun. Each tile can be completed in 30 minutes or so and tiles can be tucked anywhere and taken with me for any spare down time.

This is my first attempt, not a traditional tile, but a bookmark.