MEMORY QUILT

I have made many quilts for family and friends.

I have also made many baby quilts.

I have always loved making quilts

for people because it is one of

the ways that I can show them 

how much  they mean to me.

A couple of months ago,

a dear couple that I've known for a long time,

asked me if I  could make a special quilt for them.

This was one of the hardest projects that

I have ever done for anyone.

You see, the reason that this quilt was so hard for me to make,

is that this wonderful and lovely couple

lost their baby while she was five months pregnant.

Both my husband and I know how hard that is

because we went through that several times.

The father sent me a picture of what the nursery

was supposed to look when they would have brought

their son home from the hospital.

This was one quilt that I was determined

to make exactly how they wanted.

It took me many weeks trying to find

the zig zag fabric to match from the picture he sent me.

I am so glad that I got it done exactly how they wanted.

Now I just need to quilt it and put it in the mail.

This couple is very dear to me

and I hope that this is a blessing to them.

SCRAPPY YARN

I'm a quilter, and when making quilts,  I have leftover fabric.

I can't bring myself to throwing away the fabric.

I am always coming up with ideas of what 

I can make with the leftover fabric.

Well,I have the same situation with my yarn.

I can't bring myself  to getting rid of the yarn

once I am done with a project.

I  came up with an idea and I'm liking the way it's turning out.

I am  crocheting granny squares using

the leftover yarn from previous projects.

I am going to make 120 granny squares

and join them with black yarn.

My goal is to get this done before Christmas

and give it as a present to a friend.

Making a granny square is a very easy

crochet pattern to make.

There are many YouTube videos

that can teach you how to do one.

My favorite YouTube Channel is Crochet Crowd.

Click the link below for their instructions.

Granny Square

 What I did yesterday after we got home from church.

I was watching football and crocheting.

One of the bags filled with yarn that I'm going to use.

It's definitely going to be a scrappy yarn blanket.

I can't wait to see how it's going to look when I'm done.

I SO LOVE YARN!!!!!!

I so love to play with yarn!

I so love to play with fabric too!

I'm a member of a group on  Facebook that loves to crochet.

One of the members posted a picture of a scarf

they have been working on.

I absolutely fell in love with it

and I knew that I had to make one.

I found the tutorial on YouTube.

I have learned that I'm a visual learner

so I need to see it being done so that I don't  make mistakes.

I'm  so happy YouTube exists.

I found the pattern under Crochet Crowd.

Click the link below:

Corner to Corner Scarf

Once I finished the scarf, I decided to make a hat.

I made the Messie Bun Beanie.

I found the pattern on Ravelry.

It's a very easy pattern to make.

I made this bun in about three hours.

Messie Mom  Bun Beanie

Enjoy and have fun making these items.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF THANKSGIVING

This Thanksgiving, Jorge and I will not have either one of our sons with us.

To be perfectly honest, I don't like it.

Living hundreds of miles away from them does not help.

But this is life and it is what it is.

Jorge and I are so thankful for the sons the Lord has blessed us with.

David, our oldest, is a wonderful son who works very hard

and is always helping those in need.

He has been blessed with an awesome wife,  Amber.

She is an answer to our prayers.

I don't know how she does it in supporting

him in a lot of his activities.

We're thankful for Chris, our youngest son.

He has always had a tender heart for the underdog.

I don't know how many times he has come to people's aid.

In a few weeks, he will marry his princess, Liz.

She too is an answer to our prayers.
She has such a zest for life.
To know that she will care and love my son is an
answer to a parent's prayer.

I'm thankful for my husband who has loved me for the last 33 years.

We've gone through our ups and downs

but he has always been there for me.

I'm so thankful that he is still alive from the 

motorcycle accident he had this past September.

I'm thankful that he wants to serve the Lord in the best way possible.

So yes, this year, our Thanksgiving is going to be different.

Our sons are not going to be with us but I am still thankful.

God has blessed me in so many ways.

We will be spending Thanksgiving with friends from church.

We will have fun  and it will be different.

So as you spend this day with your family,

reflect on the blessings that God has given you.

WEDDING QUILT

My youngest son, Chris, has found his princess and she said yes!

I couldn't be happier.

Liz  is a very fun loving, joyful and beautiful young lady.

Because of this wonderful occasion,

I'm making them a quilt.

I asked Liz what are her favorite colors.

I happily went to the quilt shop

and selected fabric.

Chris and Liz will be getting married December 17, 2016.

I have a short period of time to get the quilt ready.

So I had better get to work.

FLORIDA BREEZE SHOP HOP

Back in January of this year, I participated

in my first Florida Shop Hop.

A shop hop is where different quilt shops

work together in coming up with a theme.

They then design a block for their particular shop

and the customers go to each shop and purchase

the kit from that particular shop.

I decided to do it and check out the shops.

The shops were in different parts of Florida.

The furthest I had to travel to was in Orlando.

Yes, I was determined to go to every shop and get the kits.

Since I only had a week to visit each shop,

I had to plan my itinerary very carefully

so that I can maximize my time and travel.

I was able to accomplish all of the visits.

When I got home, I put away the kits

and had completely forgotten about them.

Last week, I decided I needed to get to work on

them because I'm doing another shop hop.

The blocks are all applique.

I rarely do any applique but I decided I would this time.

I still need to finish the edging on the pieces,

make the sashing and put the blocks together,

add the borders and then quilt it.

QUILTFEST 2016 CHALLENGE QUILT

Last year I went to my very first Florida quilt show.

The quilts were exquisite.

At the show, I bought a kit for this year's show.

The kit includes fabric and the directions.

We have the freedom to design a 

the wall hanging no bigger than 110" overall.

The quilt has to have either a nine patch, applique or 

a design embellisment.

The main fabric in my kit has beach umbrellas

and that's where my idea for the quilt happened.

 The three fabrics that were included in the kit.

 I chose to make nine appliqued umbrellas.

I chose nine different fabrics to make the umbrella.

I fused paper back fusible and pinned

the umbrella design and started cutting.

I did the same thing using black fabric for the handle.

I fused all the umbrellas to the 5 1/2" block.

The red sashing is 1 1/2".

The blue border is 1 1/2".

The umbrella border is 2".

Now I'll quilt it and get it ready for this year's show.