A Baby Quilt For Ian

 Here is a quilt that I made for little Baby Ian Burke.  Ian is our niece and husband's newborn son, their first.  I wanted to do some curved piecing, and I've got to say, this sure fit the bill!  I used blues and yellows, since NieceStitches loves all things Swedish. 

NieceStitches was nice enough to put this photo of Ian on Facebook for his 3-month picture.  I was so excited to see my quilt there with Ian!

Here is a close-up of the quilting I did on the quilt.  Simple curves between the seams, forming a mesh of circles.  Lots of fun to do.

And here is the back of the quilt.  I used a really pretty Harmony Art organic cotton for the back, and added in some strips of the fabric used on the front, as well.  The light blue fabric is called Silent Stumps in Harmony's collection, and is a nice sateen for a wonderfully soft feel.

I am going to finally get to meet little Ian this summer, and I can't wait.  I should add also, that this precious little guy is SisterStitch's first grand baby, so she is head-over-heals about him.    

Wedding at Tahoe

I know it's been way too long since I've posted. A lot has been going on!

KittyStitches had a spell in the vet hospital, using up yet again another one of her nine lives!

But the big news is that my NieceStitches got married! The wedding was at Lake Tahoe (Squaw Valley, to be precise), and it was so beautiful. Bride and Groom are perfect for each other. The wedding was so beautiful, and there was even a nice, gentle snowfall during the reception! You can see some photos of the wedding at my SisterStitches' blog, Frayed Edge, which can be found on the sidebar of my blog or here.

This is DaughterStitches and myself at Squaw Valley, sitting in this funky big chair!

Not being a skier myself, I found certain things about Squaw Valley interesting, like chairs made of skis!

And what appeared to be parking meters for skis!

I guess this is where you "park" your skis if they aren't so expensive?

Bride & Groom Aprons

I have a second wedding coming up in my family! In addition to having SonStitches get married to MissesStitchesJr, my lovely niece is getting married very soon. Her nice friends gave a shower for her last week and invited me to it. (Was I maybe the chaperone?!?) The shower was lovely, and it was so nice to see how much all the girls care about NieceStitches.

This photo shows part of my gift to NieceStitches. I found patterns in Quilters Newsletter for a paper pieced block of a bride and a groom (June/July 2009 issue). Now, I haven't done much paper piecing, but I've always wanted to, so I decided to give these little squares a try. I purchased some plain, full bib aprons on which to sew the finished bride and groom. The block is only 3" square finished,

so there were many small seams to sew!

Here is the bride's square. I added an eye (French knot) and some silk ribbon embroidery, plus cotton embroidery to give her a little bouquet. Notice her very pointy little high heels!

And here is the groom's square. I gave him an eye, too, and using silk ribbon, made a larger French Knot to represent the ring that he is offering to his bride.

Then I added the little strips around the edges and sewed them to the aprons. I know that these two like to cook a lot (I've sampled their efforts, and they are really GOOD at it!). I hope that these aprons will be used and stained a lot!