Q is for Quilting

I have a couple of hobbies. Quilting is my primary one and I enjoy scrapbooking as well. I learned to quilt from my friend Brooke in 2007. She worked with me on a quilt for my nephew who was going through a hard time.  Her gift of teaching opened up a whole fascination with fabrics, colors, patterns, etc.. I won a quilt pattern last fall I'm still aching to get started on as well as a summer picnic quilt for our family. This season in life with little ones is not much of a hobby time anyway. As much as I enjoy scrapbooking, getting paper and scissors out with a toddler isn't a very good idea. Here are a few of my favorite projects:

First one for Mark, 2007

My Matthew's 1 year quilt in 2010

My goal is to have Daniel's made by his second birthday, just like I did for Matthew.

Here are some of my favorite baby blankets I've made for others.:

For Rachel who I nannied for almost a year. Plus, her mom and I have been friends for over 10 years including room mates before we both got married and were in each other's weddings, etc. It was the first one not under the oversight of Brooke. I forgot I rotated the pictures on this one. Learning has happened since then.

 I met these families in the first married small group through our old church:

baby Brooke.  We also both moved to our current church.

Sweet Grace who spent the first few months in NICU, because was born at 25 weeks.

first baby boy one for Ranger

I've done a couple of adult ones:

Anniversary gift for Katy and Michael. I hadn't figured out scaling larger yet.

Christmas gift for my mom. I actually have this one back now to add new kiddos to it for her.
I'll get around to  it :-)

This t-shirt quilt is the one I've made for me. 

This quilt, made from over 50 t-shirts, lives in our storage ottoman in the living room.
I'm very cold natured, so it's pulled out year round to snuggle under.
The boys and I read or nap. Billy and I watch tv under it. 

Having this skill has also opened up the door for me to participate in the Linus Project. They provide the fabric and batting to make a quilt for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need.    They have over 400 chapters across America. If  you can sew a straight line and want to help, go to their website here. The local chapter came to our church building. Me and two friends along with many women from our church had a great few hours sewing and chatting.   

Linus Project 2009

My mother-in-law passed this treasure down to me several years ago. It's a quilt made by Billy's paternal grandmother, extended family and friends. They all stitched their names and few included the year. The blocks were completed in the  late 1930'. early 1940's

Alice, my mother in law and Me

Knowing how to quilt has also allowed me to teach both of my nieces. Before they grew all up... *sniff sniff*. They each came over to spend a week with us during the summer. They brought over all their t-shirts and viola!

Ashley Summer 2009

Joan Summer 2009