A Bright Green Farm

All of my Danish nieces and nephews were born after I started quilting.  As a result, I made baby quilts for all of them, they also each got a "big Boy or Girl" quilt at age 5, and I'm almost done making each of them a teenage quilt (only one of them has yet to reach that mile stone in life!)  My American nieces and nephews, on the other hand were almost all born before I started quilting - indeed most of them were born before I entered their family!  So they never really became part of the tradition.  However, by the summer of 2014, I had almost managed to make and give a quilt to each of my nieces and only Rob, the oldest, hadn't yet received a quilt.

Fortunately, several good occasions presented themselves, Rob had completed four years in the Army, including one year of combat in Afghanistan, and returned to us safe and sound.  We were all happy that he chose not to re-enlist.  Instead he entered college at UK and completed his degree, with the assistance of the GI Bill, in record time and with top grades.  Last, but not least, Rob who had always been a very determined bachelor, had started hanging out with and seeming awfully fond of a certain fellow student named Gretchen.

So, it was very fortunate that I finally had managed to finish this big quilt - which at 94" x 114" is definitely big enough for two - and could finally give Rob a quilt of his own.  It's basically just a scrappy monochromatic quilt, all 4" green squares cut from my stash and entirely hand pieced.  Then, as always, machine quilted by Regina Carter, who used a pattern called Swirling Ferns..

I named the quilt for the Bright Family Farm where Rob grew up, because I know Rob, like all the rest of us, is very fond of the farm, even though at this point in his life, he prefers to live away from the farm. And I was able to give the quilt to Rob at a family gathering on the farm, which happened to be the first time many of us met Gretchen.

Dog Bed 21

I have no idea what happened to this dog bed, number 21.  I have these two pictures of it.  One of them in one of my crates.  But I have waited too long to post about it, so I simply do not remember what happened.  No big deal.  I know I made it, so there it is.

Tropical Seas

I made this quilt because I, a few years previous, had bought a hand full of fat quarters which appealed to me, both because of their unusual colors and the whimsical depictions of mermaids, seahorses, and jellyfish.  Those fat quarters were my start and I pulled lots of matching fabrics from my stash.  I love when I am able to go shopping in my stash and find enough fabric, like this to make what I think is a great quilt, without having to purchase any additional fabric at all.  

This quilt is a baby quilt I made for the second daughter born to my friend and former colleague, Mary Sidney, at the Southern Center.  I have no idea how many years Mary Sidney and I worked together, but she has been at the Southern Center for many years.  Unfortunately, both of her children were born after I moved away, as were just about all the Southern Center children, so I do not know them.  But I am sure Mary Sidney and Harrold are super great parents.

The 51" square quilt was machine quilted by Regina Carter who, quite appropriately, used a pattern called Fancy Fish!

This picture of Baby Amelia - obviously made quite a while after she ceased being a baby - shows her playing with her older sister, Ellie.

It's a Jungle Out There!

I no longer recall why I decided to make a "cheater" quilt for this particular baby, but I actually really like the way it turned out.  It wasn't made of a panel designed to become a "cheater" cloth or a baby quilt, rather, I just cut a piece of this beautiful fabric, approximately equal to one repetition.  And when I bordered it with the pink fabric I had, which happened to match perfectly, it looked like a perfect little girl jungle quilt.

I hand quilted it, just following the outline of the fabric design, and that became the quilt I gave to the little girl adopted by my friends Jan and Mou.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures at all of Makaela, and not even any of her older brother, Jaden.  But I know they are both thriving, happy, good looking kids, who are well loved, and who love each other very much.                                                                                                           

Dog Bed 20

I have written previously about the Mutts With Manners Program, sponsored by our local Humane Society, which places homeless dogs with prisoners at our local medium security prison.  Cheri, a dog trainer - and dog whisperer - works with the prisoners teaching them how to train dogs, but the prisoners do all the hard work socializing and training the dogs, who are then able to find forever homes making lots of families in our community very happy.

My husband and I adopted one of the Mutts, Luka, after our own wonderful 16 year old rescue dog, Jesse, died in November of 2011.  Cheri adopted Luka's classmate, Levi, and shortly thereafter, one of the other MWM volunteers, my friend, John, adopted a third memeber of the "L" class, Lulu.

Since I had already given Cheri a bed for Levi, of course, I wanted to give John one for Lulu, as well.

I wasn't able to get a picture of Lulu on the bed, but here is one of John holding her.  You can tell the two of them belong together, can't you?  Though, I hear that Lulu is quite fond of John's wife, Cindy as well.