I’m checking off a long list of works in progress!  There are two baby quilts with a swiftly approaching due date: one quilt is finished, one is in the final steps of binding.  Did you notice that I mentioned *one* due date, but two babies?  That’s right, twins!  You’ll hear lots more about that when the quilts are done and I’m cleared to share.  I can’t wait to tell you all about it!  These quilts were designed to have special meaning for their families.  My hope is that the quilts will help the babies see and learn about precious stories from their past and give peeks of the adventures ahead — which is a lot to ask from tummy time, isn’t it?  But with a couple interactive quilts and a loving Mommy and Daddy, I have faith.

There’s also a quilt top that I sent off to a local shop for long arm quilting.  With the time crunch, I just couldn’t do it all.  It was a relief to admit that and accept (paid) help.  Hopefully I’ll have that one back soon so I can work on binding it over the upcoming holiday weekend.  I’ll share more about the importance of this special quilt soon, too.

I’m excited about our upcoming quilt-worthy celebrations and hope you have many of your own in the months ahead!

When my friend Clint was in his final weeks battling testicular cancer, I felt really helpless.  I wanted to do something for Clint, his wife Angela and their family, but didn’t know what or how.  I ended up writing to Angela, feeling pushy and awkward, and offered her my future sewing services.  I wanted to make something from Clint’s shirts to help their little boys remember him.  Thankfully, she knew just what I meant and in spite of how weird I felt offering, she was glad to accept.  Her Aunt already wanted to make bears for the boys, but Angela didn’t want Clint’s adult daughters to be left out.

Clint died December 11, 2011.  Angela sent me a box of shirts.  At the time, I was in the middle of a project and had to set them aside, but I couldn’t resist – I pulled out a random shirt and hugged it, then carefully boxed them up.  She had picked out a sewing pattern she liked and included it, McCall’s Crafts M6135, if you’re interested.  She preferred Bear B, with his cute little toes.  (Love the toes!)

If you decide to sew a memorial bear, just know it’s really difficult to cut into a friend’s shirt.  I didn’t want to be slicing into his shirt, I wanted him to be wearing it.  I dragged my feet.  As she did when we were losing Clint, Angela helped me to be practical and get to it.  Let me tell you, that woman has an amazing strength and a supportive spirit!  Did you notice that there are four bears?  Yes, there’s one for Angela, too.

We decided these Daddy Bears should have the #weloveclint bracelets we wore to support him and spread the message about testicular cancer.  I think they really like their bracelets.

Here they are with my own little Anna Claire Bear.  (My Aunt Joyce had these made for my cousins and me when we lost our Grandma.  They’re little, each made from her favorite wool coat she bought on a vacation in Ireland.)  When you are missing someone, it really does help to hold a little bear made from clothes that remind you of them.

Clint’s Daddy Bears are a very hug-friendly size.

I hope when they hug their bears, they can feel their Daddy hugging them back.  Because you know he is.  You know he always is.

In a post already loaded with pictures, I still need to share the most important ones with you.  Here are Sarah, Kathleen and Victoria receiving their Daddy Bears.  Enjoy the smiles and hugs!

With many thanks to their Mom for delivering them and sharing these photos with us!

If you’d like a way to help other kids going through the loss of a parent, please take a look at the Clint Miller Memorial Foundation and consider making a contribution.

We’ve been concentrating more on healthy eating at home, and keeping my mind on food has lead to an urge to make some scrappy, visually interesting placemats.  I can’t help it, my brain just defaults back to sewing from so many other topics.  When I saw a preview of the new “Shape Workshop for Quilters” book from Fat Quarterly, I immediately wanted to try the Satellite Placemats.  (See the preview here, or buy here.  Great price for such a beautiful book!)

My first project from the book is still a work in progress:

This is my first attempt at something with so many seams meeting up in the middle.  I’m thankful for that center dot that conceals some of the wonkiness, and I’m hoping I can do well enough sewing around all those tiny circles!  I still haven’t tried free motion quilting, and I’m not sure this is the time to attempt it.  But I do love this design, so I think I’ll keep going and just see.  (I’m seeing it as a dart board so far, and a few friends saw pizza.  Maybe with other prints and colors I’ll start to see a satellite.)

The book is full of modern quilt blocks, complete quilts and other projects in fresh, inspiring colors.  There’s a selection of templates in the back, along with a basic quilting tutorial and helpful tips throughout the book for the technical bits, and loads of gorgeous photos for your creative side to drool over.  Great book!

This is one of those times when the blog is quiet, but I’ve been hard at work on stuff I just can’t show you yet.  I spent a few weeks on a very special project that I hope to share soon, and then there will be a little series of quilts, including the partially finished one above.

Isn’t it funny when you spend weeks or months working on something only to hear, “Where do you find the time?”  You don’t find time, you use it — wisely or not, right?

This friendship cuff bracelet takes me right back to the 80s, but I still love it today!  I made this based on the tutorial at Sew 4 Home, using the recommended flat braid woven ribbons from Simplicity.  The belting used as the base of the bracelet can be purchased here.

They look like the knotted friendship bracelets we made back in high school, but without the time investment.  The entire bracelet probably took about 15 or 20 minutes to make.

I love how the ends fray!  They look even more authentic with the ends undone like fluffy little tassels.

I’m too long between posts but not yet able to share what I’m working on, so this is just to let you know I’m still around.  This current project is one of the many reasons I’m so glad I can sew!  Hopefully you’ll see why soon.

At the completion of this project, there will be a bit of Good Fortune:

Then it will be back to a stack of baby quilts.  My friends keep surprising me with their growing families!  (Some of them are even surprising themselves with their growing families!)

And then I found this video from Leanne at She Can Quilt.  No pins, no glue needed.  WOW.

This morning I am thankful for the crafty bloggers who share their skills!

This was a really special birthday for my Mom.  She just retired (WHOOOO!!!) and has free time to do lots of new projects.  She’s got plenty of plans and I certainly didn’t want to direct her use of time, but I thought it might be fun for us to slowly work on a quilt block or two a week from The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt.

We haven’t come up with a game plan yet.  Do we want to work on the same blocks together, or whatever strikes our fancy at the time? One block a week?  Two?  More?  And what size quilt do we want to end up with?  Or maybe just a wall hanging?  We’re still deciding, so it might be a while until we really start.

The book comes with a CD of templates so you can create all 111 blocks in the book.  You can see some great examples in The Farmer’s Wife Quilt-A-Long group on Flickr.  (I’m really loving Erin’s at Why not Sew?)  Even aside from the quilt, the book is a fascinating read.  It’s based on a magazine contest from 1922 asking wives of farmers whether or not they’d like their own daughters to grow up and marry a farmer, and why.  The heartwarming letters they received are filled with love and stories of simple blessings.  The world changes around us, but each generation remains the same in wanting the best possible lives for our kids.

If you’re looking for a crafty gift for your Mom or daughter, take a look at this book!

A friend sent me a box of fabrics to make a quilt for a charity we both support, Mothers Fighting for Others.  The sweet floral prints made me think of Little House on the Prairie, and I realized that I should work with that.  If the little quilt is going to be auctioned to raise money for an orphanage and a school, isn’t it fitting to pair it with a beloved book from childhood?  What Mom or Grandma wouldn’t want to share those memories with their special little girl?

I’ll throw in some white and make an hourglass quilt small enough to be a baby quilt, but large enough for a little girl to sit under and read a good book.

Just to add some intrigue for the quilt’s new little owner -  some historians think the hourglass quilt design may have been used as “quilt code” to help send messages to escaping slaves.  An hourglass quilt hung outside or visible in a window was a message about when and where travel would be safe.  The colors used may have told when to expect help.  (You can read more here.)  There’s a lot of dispute about whether or not quilts were actually used as codes, but I love the idea that not only can you stitch love and comfort into a quilt, but also bravery and kindness.

This is just going back my “to do” pile while I get to other things, so it may be a while before you see it again!  If you’d like to own this future quilt yourself, I’ll post again later to let you know how you’ll be able to bid on it.

Granny square quilts are popping up everywhere!  I loved Jolene’s granny square quilt tutorial at Blue Elephant Stitches as soon as I saw it.  This design is meant to be great for using up scraps, but since it’s based on 2.5″ squares, it works really well with a jelly roll and charm squares.

I used a Moda jelly roll in Silver and two charm square packs of Malka Dubrawsky’s new fabric line A Stitch in Color.  Jelly rolls are strips of fabric 2.5″ wide and as long as the fabric, so cutting 2.5″ squares was especially easy.  The charm packs are 5″ squares, so they just needed to be cut in quarters.  This saves a LOT of cutting time, lets you get right to sewing AND if you’ve fallen in love with a beautiful line of fabrics, it’s a great way to use them all together!

Since the finished blocks are trimmed up and used on a diagonal, you’ll end up with your fabric on the bias — it tends to not want to lie perfectly flat.  Don’t let this worry you, a good pressing before you sew the blocks together works wonders.

And somehow I have to hold every quilt top up in front of a window.  I seriously need to make quilt top curtains someday.

The gray background makes the bright colors almost glow.

But be prepared to share, everyone will want your quilt!

If you’d like to see more granny square quilts, check out the I <3 Granny and Scrap Attack Quilt-Along groups on Flickr.  You’ll find loads of inspiration!