Excellence in S’s and Zs!
Several weeks ago my nephew Josh and I helped my mom lay out a quilt on the floor of the clubhouse at her apartment complex. This is an “Orange Peel” quilt, and my mom spent many years of her childhood in Florida, so she named it “Florida Sunshine”.
On Easter we took photos of the finished (GORGEOUS!) product. She wanted me to show it off here. I dare you to find a brighter quilt.
Front:
Back:
Detail:
Here we are, Team Florida Sunshine:
It’s Spring Break for me and so Zach is using this opportunity to completely sand and refinish the hard wood floors downstairs. Here is a photo of him looking exhausted only 3 days into his labors, and a sneak peek of the floors, now sanded and puttied:
The good news is that I get to stay at my parent’s house and they get to have some quality time with the Boogedy. Here is my dad getting fed rice cracker snacks…this is the only time I’ve ever seen my father willingly eat peanuts:
My mom went outside and found a little friend for the Boogedy to examine:
And every night we get to sleep under the most glorious quilts ever made. This one is called Venetian Tiles my sister Jeaka made:
I topped that one with a coordinating “Woodland” throw my sister Marian made:
As the Boogedy says, “PECKY BOO!!”
My friend Jenn approached me last July about knitting a blanket for her little cousin’s birthday in September. A knitted blanket turned out to be prohibitively expensive (and time-intensive), so we agreed on the size/price/general color scheme (bright!) for a pieced quilt instead. Jenn’s taste seemed to lean toward geometrics and liberal use of stripes. She insisted that the quilt be feminine, but not little-girly, so that as Delaney grew, she wouldn’t think of it as her baby quilt.
I enlisted the help of my mom and sister to help with piecing and binding this twin-size beauty, and had it professionally quilted by Sue’s Machine Quilting in Roy, UT. I was so pleased with this quilter’s work and speed!! I highly recommend her if you’re looking to have something quilted. I embroidered the label and appliqued it to the soft flannel back.
By the time we had everything figured out, we had to push our date to xmas, instead, and Jenn says that Delaney sat in the box on xmas morning and really was delighted by the present. I was so pleased, because I know that sometimes little kids can be so non-chalant about blankets, socks, clothes, etc.
Here’s me laying it out at my mom’s apartment:
My mom and I pieced this quilt for Zach for Christmas 2007. I am notorious for making quilt tops that then sit unfinished for months (or even years…see the story of the July 21st Header). Months ago I purchased backing (though not quite enough), batting (polar fleece), and cotton floss for tying. Then my house has been in such upheaval with construction and new roommates that I misplaced several of those items.
Truly, I forgot all about the quilt. Then all items except the floss were discovered in the bottom of the armoire, necessitating a trip to the fabric store for replacement floss and more backing.
Last week mom came over at 7:30am and spent the cool hours of the morning helping me tie the quilt on my driveway under the trees.
I went back the fabric store Saturday because I had forgotten to get material to bind it. I will post full pics when the thing is fully bound and labeled (should be done just in time to re-gift it to him for xmas). At that time I’ll tell you where this quilt’s queer title came from!
So many new babies in the last year! I made a pixie hat for most. This rainbow hat is for my guy, whose sex was unknown until birth. You can see him in it here.
My nephew’s hat was photographed atop an appliquéd quilt made 25(?) years ago by my mom for her second granddaughter, Rachel:
Rachel is the recipient of pixie hat for her own daughter, born in January. This is the detail shot so you can really see the colorplay.
Pattern Notes: I found the Crystal Palace pattern to be too big when I used Koigu yarn (my favorite yarn for this project). So I cast on only 78 stitches and followed the pattern in all other regards…perfect for a newborn head. My friend Kristin (a Delicate Genius!) agrees with me on this and also casts on 78. The pattern is easily resized by casting on a multiple of 4 plus 2.
I also found that the hat needed some way to hold it on! I started with skinny braided cords, but they were too long and cut into chubby soft baby chins. This hat has shorter i-cords that can just be tied and untied easily. I think this is my favorite option so far. I’ve thought of experimenting with tabs and velcro, but velcro gets unattractive quickly, and tying a knot is timeless!
Zach has been begging for new slippers for months. The ones I made him 3 years ago finally wore out. So, I made a new pair from this pattern. It’s very easy to follow, once you put aside your doubts and just have faith that it will all work out in the end. I’ve made slippers for at least 4 people, including myself (and I rarely make anything for myself!).
I used Lamb’s Pride yarn, which produced that great fuzzy look.
They’re like Dr. Seuss feet!
The background here is a lap quilt I made years ago titled “Knock Knock, who’s there?, banana, banana who?, knock knock, who’s there? etc.” I gave it to my mom, who then admitted that it wasn’t really her thing and gave it back. That’s something I really like about my family. Rather than hanging on to something we don’t really LOVE for years and years, we’ll admit it and give things back so the maker can give it to someone who will treasure it. In this case, me! (I don’t usually allow anyone to stand on it, but the slippers were brand spankin new!)
