Make-A-List Monday January/February

We are experiencing the first blizzard of the season in New Jersey.  I'm not sure how much snow we will eventually receive, but the amount does not matter when you are 2 years old and all you want to do is build a snowman.

The blizzard allowed me to have a sleepover with my sweet grandsons.  Nothing is better than a little face greeting me at 6:30 in the morning saying,
 "You want to play, Mimi?"

I thank God everyday for allowing me to share my life with these beautiful little boys.

My big news this month is that I am the proud owner of a new MacBook Pro with Retina Display 
laptop computer. 

I have been having fun with my new toy/tool.  This is the first blog post I have written with it.  I've taken one introductory class and I am scheduled for another later in February.   I'm sure I will never learn all that this device can do.  Hopefully I will learn enough to make this purchase worthwhile.  So far I LOVE my new computer!

January

(in review)

1.  Spend quality time with my wonderful grandsons.  

A few pictures from our adventures this past month:

 Is there a baby among all those toys?

 Ryder loves to read books.

 Look at Logan standing at 8 months old!

 Look at the ice that Ryder cut with his saw from the pond.  

Just like Frozen!  

(No worries...Granddad helped with the saw) 

 Logan is ready to RIDE!

 Helping Granddad move all that snow.

 Logan and his incredible smile!

Ryder and Logan enjoying some brotherly bonding time.
XOXO

2.  Garden Stroll inspired commission quilt.

I continue to make progress on this quilt. 
 I have almost finished the first set of blocks.

3.  Katie and Brian's Memory quilt blocks.

Lots of great blocks to add to the quilt.

4.  Baby Zurich's pink and brown quilt.

I wanted to make my friends Brian and Katie a special quilt for the baby girl who will join their family soon.  

I have always admired this quilt from Studio 180 Design.

 I got out my graph paper and started sketching some ideas based on this quilt.

 These are the quilts I designed.

 The next step was to find fabric to match the pink and brown nursery Brian and Katie are planning.

 Here is the final quilt.  At this point I still need to hand tack the binding.

Here is Katie, the mommy-to-be, holding the quilt I made

 for her special little girl.

5.  Quilt for Wyatt.

Wyatt is a little boy that my daughter cared for this past summer while she was on summer break from her middle school teaching position.  Shea became quite close to little Wyatt and she asked me to make a quilt for him.  His NYC nursery is decorated with turtles so I chose a Quiltmaker magazine pattern. Here are some pictures as I created my quilt:

Wyatt turns one year old in April.  I hope to have his quilt finished so Shea can give it to him for his birthday.

6.  Four Friendship Corner blocks for the McCall's 
Make It Your Way quilt-along.

7.  Complete piecing, quilting , binding and labeling a 
Quilts for Kids quilt.

This is the quilt I made for a needy child this month.

8. Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt:  
Grand Illusion!

It amazes me how all those little bits and pieces become such an amazing quilt when they are put together.  Thanks Bonnie Hunter for this wonderful mystery!

9. November and December 2014 Aurifil quilt-along blocks.

I am now working on a setting for all 12 blocks.

10.  November and December 2014 steps for the 

Tell It to the Stars quilt-along sponsored by Judy Laquidara.

Currently I am working on a pieced border for this quilt.

There has been no progress on any of the following:

11.  November and December 2014 Wishes Quilt-Along blocks sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop.

12.  Choose fabric for Arcadia Avenue Quilt Along sponsored by Sassafras Lane Designs.

13.  January Mini-Quilt by the Aurifil Thread Designer of the Month.

14.  January block for the Friendship Star Sisters 
2015 Block of the Month.

15.  January block for Quiltmaker Magazine 2015 New Year's Mystery:
Auld Lang Stitches.

16.  January block for Pat Sloan's 2015 Mystery Quilt:  Vacation Time.

17. January blocks for Calypso Kaleidoscope by 
Quilt Addicts Anonymous.

18. January block for Scrapitude: Scrap-in-a-Box mystery quilt by 
Quilting for the Rest of Us.

19. January blocks for the RSC15 Sampler by So Scrappy.

20. January Block for the Nancy Zieman 2015 Adventure Quilt.




21.  Complete quilting the quilt currently loaded on Annie:  
 Lazy Sunday and any other quilts currently on my Git-R-Done List.

Lazy Sunday has been quilted.  I was only able to finish Lazy Sunday and my Quilts for Kids quilt this month.

There has been no progress on any of the following:

22.  Bind/label 5 table runners and other quilts I complete this month.

23.  Black & White Sampler blocks

24.  Crazy Quilt using Shar Jorgenson templates by Omnigrid.

25.  Fit for a Hero, a quilt by Judy Laquidara.

26.  Grandma Mary's 9-Patch, a strip club quilt by The Village Quilter.

27.  Country Threads Sampler blocks.

28.  Candy Striper by Anita Grossman Solomon.

29.  Julie Herman's Toes in the Sand quilt.

30.  Uncle Sam's Quilt, a strip club quilt by The Village Quilter.

31.  Dear Jane triangles.

32.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Civil War Tribute

*James River Blues

Daisy Dazzle

Glory Box Table Runner

Cool Breeze

Just a little progress on James River Blues.

33.  Attend the Quilts for Kids workshop at Pennington Quilt Works.

Lots of quilts were completed this month.

34.  Attend Saturday Sampler workshop at Pennington Quilt Works.

This is our block for this month.

35.  Attend Strip Club at The Village Quilter.

I was unable to attend Strip Club this month because of the weather.  
These are the strips I will receive when I am able to get to Mt. Holly:

I still haven't seen the quilt that was made from these Downton Abbey fabrics.

36.  Celebrate my DMIL birthday.

Bad weather forced us to change our surprise celebration plans but we were still able to get together to celebrate my DMIL's 79th birthday.

February

1.  Spend quality time with my wonderful grandsons.  

2.  Garden Stroll inspired commission quilt.

3.  Katie and Brian's Memory quilt.

4.  Make a few little zipper pouches for future gifts.

5.  Quilt for Wyatt.

6.  Nine 6" Economy blocks for the McCall's 
Make It Your Way quilt-along.

7.  Complete piecing, quilting , binding and labeling a 
Quilts for Kids quilt.

8. Complete the 2014 Aurifil quilt top.

9.  Complete the 2014 Tell It to the Stars quilt-along sponsored by Judy Laquidara.

10.  November and December 2014 Wishes Quilt-Along blocks sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop.

11.  January and February blocks for the Arcadia Avenue Quilt Along sponsored by Sassafras Lane Designs.

12.  January & February Mini-Quilts by the Aurifil Thread Designer of the Month.

13.  January and February blocks for the Friendship Star Sisters 
2015 Block of the Month.

14.  January and February blocks for Quiltmaker Magazine 
2015 New Year's Mystery:
Auld Lang Stitches.

15.  January and February blocks for Pat Sloan's 2015 Mystery Quilt:  Vacation Time.

16. January and February blocks for Calypso Kaleidoscope by 
Quilt Addicts Anonymous.

17. January and February blocks for Scrapitude: Scrap-in-a-Box 
mystery quilt by 
Quilting for the Rest of Us.

18. January and February blocks for the RSC15 Sampler by So Scrappy.

19. January and February Blocks for the 

Nancy Zieman 2015 Adventure Quilt.

20.  Complete quilting the quilt currently loaded on Annie:  

 Turtle Quilt for Wyatt and any other quilts currently on my
 Git-R-Done List.

21.  Bind/label 5 table runners, Lazy Sunday and other quilts I complete this month.

22.  Black & White Sampler blocks

23.  Crazy Quilt using Shar Jorgenson templates by Omnigrid.

24.  Fit for a Hero, a quilt by Judy Laquidara.

25.  Grandma Mary's 9-Patch, a strip club quilt by The Village Quilter.

26.  Country Threads Sampler blocks.

27.  Candy Striper by Anita Grossman Solomon.

28.  Julie Herman's Toes in the Sand quilt.

29.  Uncle Sam's Quilt, a strip club quilt by The Village Quilter.

30.  Dear Jane triangles.

31.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Civil War Tribute
James River Blues
Daisy Dazzle
Glory Box Table Runner
Cool Breeze

32.  Attend the Quilts for Kids workshop at Pennington Quilt Works.

33.  Attend Saturday Sampler workshop at Pennington Quilt Works.

34.  Go out to dinner with some very dear friends.

35.  Attend a Super Bowl party.

36.  Celebrate Valentine's Day.

37.  Take a few training classes for my new MacBook Pro laptop.

Until Next Time.....Happy Stitching!!!

Sharyn

Show & Tell Tuesday - Day & Night and Checkerboard

Show & Tell Tuesday

I have two quilts to share today.

In August of 2013 I shared my Spider Web quilt on Quilty Pleasures.

The pattern came from the book "Day & Night" by Eleanor Burns.

I had a lot of fabric left over so I decided to make a few more quilts from the book.

Day & Night

The pattern for this quilt can be found on page 20 of the book.  I made the three color variation.

I completed Day & Night in 2011 and the finished quilt measures 70" X 95".

Checkerboard

Checkerboard was literally made from bits and pieces of the first two quilts that would have otherwise been thrown away.

When I originally pieced this quilt I had just learned a technique to add the quilt "label" by embroidering on the binding.

Notice the date on this label - 2010

and the name - Mini Star

When I recently went through my stack of completed quilts, I did not see this embroidered label.  I made another label and attached it to the back of the quilt.

I wasn't sure of the exact year I made this quilt, so I guessed 2011.  When I made the discovery the label had already been attached to the back of the quilt.  I wasn't about to re-do it.  

Actually, I thought that maybe one day in the future someone may discover the discrepancy between the two labels and wonder what the story might be behind the differing dates and names.

My finished quilt measures 37" X 52".

Until Next Time.....Happy Stitching!!!

Sharyn