A Memorial Quilt for Bryant

Bryant, a friend of my brother and sister-in-law,  passed away suddenly a few days before Christmas 2013.  Bryant was in his mid 40s and his death, of course, was devastating to family and friends. While most folks were doing last minute Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve, Bryant's family members were shopping for funeral attire.  My SIL, who is best friends with Bryant's mother, wanted to present her with a quilt in memory of her son.

I'd not had the pleasure of knowing Bryant, but was honored to get to know him while my SIL and I worked together planning the quilt. Our final decision was a t-shirt quilt that was to include pictures of Bryant and his two lovely daughters along with various t-shirts that Bryant favored. 

It happened that my mother came for a two week visit in March and the plans were for her to bring the finished quilt back with her to give to my SIL. While Mother was here we had loads of fun attending the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop, planning my indoor hydroponic garden plus we were able to work on and finish Bryant's Quilt. We both had a marvelous time working side by side as the quilt came together. Most importantly we had quality mother-daughter time that will always be remembered and cherished by me,  just as Bryant's family will always remember and cherish him. 

Quilting is suitable for all life events and even though Bryant's Quilt was made because of a sad life event, its making created happy moments of laughter and fellowship that my Mother and I shared together...moments that I will always remember. And even though I did not know  Bryant, I thank him for the happy life event that was shared with my mother by making this quilt. Even in death one can still bring joy to those left behind. 

Bryant's Quilt

As of this photo the borders still need to be added. We used batiks for the sashing and the quilt borders.

He enjoyed outdoor sports so I embroidered designs on a couple of the shirts.

It's difficult to see in this photo, but two of the t-shirts had pockets in which I embroidered a heart and a fancy design on the fabric.  Since the pocket of a t-shirt covers the human heart, love ones can put their hand in the pocket for a few minutes and dwell between the hearts. 

I thread binded the quilt with my Serger using a wave stitch. I love this stitch and finding I'm doing it more often instead of tradition binding.

And then....

...Mother and I wrapped up in the finished quilt.  My motto is a newly finished quilt should immediately be wrapped around someone!

Have you made a memory quilt or a t-shirt quilt? 

It was an honor to make this one.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you have a blessed day.

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

The Beauty of Spring

Happy Spring! 

I hope Spring has finally nudged out Winter for her appearance on stage.

Quilter in Motion posted some nice photos of Springtime in her area which encouraged me to take a walk with my camera.

My Irises are starting to bloom. This one has such a large bloom, it's as big as my hand! My sister over at Sew Much and More gave me the roots several years ago and this is the first year they're blooming. They seem to be popping up everywhere now that roots have had time to spread!

 In Mythology Iris means "the goddess of the rainbow, along which she travelled to earth as a messenger of the gods." (dictionary.com).  Maybe she brings the message that Spring is here.

My vine Roses are starting to bloom now. I have these growing in several spots in my back yard and when they are all in full bloom, my backyard is a sea of Roses!

And my treasured Oregon Grape (a.k.a Grape Holly or Leatherleaf Mahonia) In the early early Spring it produces little yellow flowers that eventually gives way to these berries. Its actually the State Flower of Oregon. Apparently it grows well here in central Georgia because my plant is about 20 years old and 6 feet tall. 

Over the next few weeks the berries will turn this vibrant blue-purple, shinning bright in the sunlight. The birds love the berries, the Mockingbirds especially... and they are such a joy to watch from my living room window! I've recently read that the berries were used for medicinal purposes by the American Indians.

My hydrangeas are just starting to leaf out but this is a picture from last year I thought I'd throw in. I love the blue flower heads.

Spring is amazing!

What do you have sprouting and growing in your yard?

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

A Storm At Sea with a Heart

A friend of mine Debbie is expecting a new granddaughter...well, as quilters you know what that means...It's an occasion for quilt making!

Debbie designed, pieced and quilted this amazing quilt for the new addition to her family. She's named the quilt "All Roads Lead To My Heart".

What's also amazing about this quilt is, it's a Storm at Sea pattern. Can you pick it out? Color placement transforms the Storm at Sea pattern into something uniquely different and fascinating.

After seeing Debbie's quilt I scoured the Internet and found these other Storm at Sea quilts. 

Have a look...

Quilt Inspiration

Generations Quilt Patterns

Stormy Evolution

Pinterest

Hope you've been inspired to create your own Storm At Sea quilt? I guess, for me, it's another project to add to my bucket list!

Thanks for stopping by. Leave a comment! I enjoy reading what you have to say.

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Oh My...Oh My...My Plants Have Grown

I must be doing something right...It's been 16 days since I initiated the DWC hydroponic systems and the tomatoes are loving it...actually...all the plants are loving it.

Around April 2nd or so, I set up more DWC containers to transplant some seedlings that were more then ready....these young sprouts so eagerly growing were the bush beans, okra, yellow squash and bush cucumbers. My hubby also bought two bell pepper plants and a poblano pepper plant...I think he's really not wanting to wait for my seedlings to get big enough! (And my seeds are Non-GMO and the plants are probably not).

Continue to Read about my hydroponic garden adventure >>>

Days For Girls

I'm pausing from writing about my March "doings" to write about a sew-in I attended Monday. Okay...we really need to talk about this!! It was for a charity organization called Days for Girls. This organization makes sustainable feminine hygiene kits for girls in impoverished countries. Have you heard of them? I hadn't!

OMGosh...I've never thought about how females in other countries handled their feminine cycle days.   Something we take for granted because of using disposable items AND having the money to buy them. In my own little world I've not considered what females do in impoverished areas....one thing they don't do is go to school on those days...that's a lot of education missed in one year. How can these young women ever feel empowered if they are lacking in education?

The below picture from the Days for Girls website is much better then the picture I took today and explains the kit better than I ever could.

Today we made the shields and the pads. The Shields are made using our quilter's cotton and the pads  are made using a soft flannel. 

There were seven of us today and we were able to make 18 complete kits. I think we did an awesome job for our first meeting! Alas, it does help when you have an organized facilitator...

...and most items are cut out waiting for needle and thread.

The seven of us decided to form a team and meet once a month to sew for this worthwhile cause. Now the difficult part...we need to think of a name for our team. We were informed of a team that calls themselves "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pads"....Hmmm, we need to beat that! Any suggestions?

Check out the Days for Girls website. It's all very interesting and enlightening. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop

A continuation on my "doings" for the month of March. 

It was an eventful month and participating in the Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop took up about a week of that time.  The Hop this year was from March 15 thru March 22...eight consecutive days this year instead of the customary four. The extended time contributed to less stress, spending more time in the shops and consequently spending more money! My sweet mother arrived from Louisiana to join in the fun, my daughter attended one day and another local quilty friend was with us for two days. Our little group had loads of fun and welcomed all the inspiration. My mother and I were motivated to settle in behind our sewing machines, going forth, sewing into the night.

I generally feed my stash from the clearance sections of each shop, buying one or two yards of fabric or a pattern I feel I can't live without (or thread or a new ruler or something I've been eyeing on the gadget wall). We're really lucky here in the Atlanta area to have an abundance of quilt shops to choose from.

Here are some of the sights that inspired us:

It seems Chevrons are showing up everywhere these days.

 I find I'm drawn frequently to "different" quilt block designs. Not truly modernized or traditional designs but a nice combination of the two...a hybrid I'll call it.

 A technique I'm wanting to conquer this year is paper piecing. I find the designs are extraordinarily remarkable. I believe this is Feathered Star by Judy Niemeyer. 

This photo does a poor job of showing the vivid colors of this shop hop quilt designed by one of the quilt stores.

The shops were fabulous as always and with the extended days we were able to take our time and enjoy what the shops had to offer. 

This is from Intown Quilters

 Patricks, which is actually a feed and seed store that sells, of course, feed and seed, plants, and old fashion candy...and yes...fabric.

 Cottontail Quilts has only been around two years, but they sure knew how to throw a shop hop party.

 Red Hen Fabrics was a fun place with a nice assortment of fabric and everything else quilty.

There were many more quilt shops participating and we had fun at each one.

Oh yeah, here are the items that will now be living in my home...fabric, patterns, a book, and a few notions.

Have you been to a Shop Hop lately?  I would love to hear about your experiences and what you bought!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Sewing and Quilt Expo, Atlanta Shop Hop, A Memorial Quilt, An Indoor Hydroponic Garden and Other Happenings

It's been a busy month for me in "doing" as in doing a lot of stuff.  I attended the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo, participated in The Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop (with my mom), made a Memorial T-shirt/picture quilt (with my mom) and started an indoor hydroponic garden in my sunroom now dubbed the "garden room".  More to come on my "doings" in future posts.

Firstly, I attended the Sewing and Quilt Expo in Atlanta March 12th - 15th. I was only able to attend one day, but it was a fun filled one day. It was an excellent test for my new knees and they passed with flying colors....no pain and I was able to enjoy walking the convention center concentrating on what the vendors offered and not on the pain in my knees...Yay for me!

The Spring Expo generally concentrates on Sewing and not quilting as much and then it's reversed in the Fall, but this Spring the Expo seemed to be heavily weighted with quilting and machine embroidery which suited me just fine.

Of course there was lots of fabric...both for quilting and dressmaking. It was a fat quarter Wonderland. Not to mention bolts and bolts and bolts of all fabric types!

There were sewing machine and long arm dealers encouraging all to come and play....which of course I did.  They also had a vendor that sold Featherweights (luckily located in Atlanta if I ever wanted another one). Extremely reasonably priced and the machines were in awesome condition.

And of course Vendors offering everything you can imagine...rulers, embroidery, technique demos, patterns, patterns, and more patterns! 

Jenny Haskins had a fantastic display combining quilting and machine embroidery.

And this vendor had the cutest seasonal quilted flags.

The quilts on display were awesome. Here is a small sample...

 Wow...look at all those Hexies!

Awesome!

I'm always amazed at the Art Quilts....

That's it for now!

Thanks for visiting and check back soon to read and see pictures about my other "doings" with the shop hop, the memorial quilt and my new hydroponic garden.