Sunbonnet Sam -- From the Past to the Present

I shared the news recently about my first grandchild. Yesterday I shared an ultrasound photo of his perfect feet.

Today I share the quilt I am finishing for him. My maternal grandmother, Lucy Moore, began this quilt sometime in the 1950s when my mother was pregnant with one of us. Alas, we all turned out to be girls so my mother took the blocks made by my grandmother and pieced them together but never finished it.

She made a quilt from clothing of my childhood for my son. She had saved some of my dresses and coats I had outgrown and put them in a hope chest. When I got pregnant, she took her favorites I had worn as a baby and toddler and created a crazy quilt for my son. He still has that little quilt.

She gave me this quilt over a decade ago to finish one day and I put it away. I had almost forgotten about it until my son and daughter-in-law shared their wonderful news a few months ago.

I am working on some quilting templates for the squares and will machine quilt all but one square which I've asked the new mommy to complete. Then I will bind it and add a custom label which I'm designing which will document the four generations of loving hands which created this "masterpiece". I will share a photo of the finished quilt and label once it is completed.


Have a terrific Thursday! Off to work on my latest quilt block designs of a butterfly and a dragonfly :) and then off to work I go...

Etsy Shops I Adore -- More of My Favorites

There are so many unique and imaginative artisans showing their creations on Etsy. Today I include three more of my favorites, each offering varied selections. I hope you visit each and find something you just can't resist!

Bear Creek Creations (bearcreekcreations) offers customized shirts. Each has a different quilt block design. They are beautiful and meticulously made. The quilt pieces are set into the inside of the shirt and then the front is cut away to reveal the pattern -- almost like cut work! The result is a shirt with dimension. Prices start at $24 -- very reasonable for a one-of-a-kind custom shirt!

Hiphazard is a new shop (since 1/09) to Etsy and also sells shirts but none are a shirt you're going to find in a local store. I will warn you if you are easily offended, it is probably best to pass, but if you have a wonderfully twisted, irreverent sense of humor, you will find shirts with art that will make you chuckle and may find you have to click that purchase button! The cost is $15.60 for each shirt. I hope check out this new find!

Sekhments Treasures offers handcrafted jewelry. As well, they will do custom work taking your vintage and old pieces and make something new and unique just for you. My favorite section is the "10 and Under Free Ship" section. The offerings include earrings, both pierced and clip style, necklaces, all are as the section title implies -- $10 or less and no cost to ship!

I am working on a new series of cross-stitch patterns for my shop as we speak -- the same elegant Chinese Symbols and Kanji but with a twist as well. More on this later.

Happy Thursday everyone! Tomorrow I get to see my new grandbaby on the ultrasound! My son and daughter-in-law have invited the new grandparents to join them at this appointment. We may find out whether we will have a boy or girl but the really exciting news is that the tests to check for genetic problems and birth defects have all come back and I am going to be the grandmother of a healthy baby! What a blessing!!

A New Quilting Attitude -- Books for Quilters Who Want To Make A Noise

Quilting is fun and challenging for me and I spent several years working on different quilts. All have been gifted to those who fell in love with them, except my second quilt which had more mistakes than perfection. After I completed it, I made shams, pillows, swags and jabots all to coordinate and redecorated the master bedroom of my then-home. It was beautiful, even with the imperfections. Most who visited admired the entire room, never honing in on any of the quilting non-perfection I seemed to see every day.

One day about a year after all was completed, my then-husband's dog was left home with me instead of going on the road with his "dad". It ticked him off. I came home from work two days later to one square in my quilt, smack dab in the middle, bitten into shreds with the batting in pieces spread over the rest of the bed. Amazing how a 6" square of batting can be shredded and expand to seem like a bushel full!

I was horrified and more than a little angry!! I remember picking it all up yelling at nobody -- the dog sure wasn't listening. He turned tail and disappeared into the back yard...

Then I gathered myself together and reconstructed that square by hand. As I was doing this, I realized for the first time that I was making a piece of history and memory for myself. That was 15 or so years ago and when I divorced, I brought my quilt and all the accessories with me. They are still in my bedroom decorating the space I call my own. Today, when I need to clean or refold this quilt and see the center square, the memory of that time and of the incident brings a smile and warmth to my being. Time does indeed change things for the better if we allow it.

Today's book reviews are for quilters who are ready to try something different. I've been designing quilt block and quilt patterns of late but think it is about time to begin making another quilt. I want something new and challenging -- something with attitude to reflect the me that has evolved over the last 5 years of singlehood.

Crazy Quilting with an Attitude by Barbara Randle has wonderful writing, great photos and some really beautiful projects, many with a Victorian but modern feel. Take a look inside her book here.

Crazy Quilts: History-Techniques-Embroidery by Cindy Brick/Nancy Kirk is a fun visit to the history, how to and various embellishments to this genre of quiltmaking. There are some wonderful stories and photos of crazy quilts of yesteryear which can motivate one's creative juices. Take a look inside and you may find a book you want to add to your reference library.

Finally, if you enjoy the first Barbara Randle book on crazy quilting, this one may be an add too. Barbara Randle's More Crazy Quilting with Attitude contains 14 new projects, each with an attitude of its own! There isn't a look inside feature at Amazon but the cover photo is enough to make me curious to see more!

Have a great Monday! I plan to :). See you tomorrow!





P.S. If you're running out of time for Mother's Day gifts, Amazon offers a gift card/certificate that can be emailed:

A Fan Quilt Block Pattern For You -- FREE

A free Quilt Block Pattern for you created by me :). Includes suggested fabric list, a photo, chart showing placement of the various templates and the templates: http://tinyurl.com/cgfj32.


Please feel free to link here so that others can enjoy and use this pattern but please don’t publish it elsewhere. If you want to, please ask permission and link back to either my Etsy shop (http://dpeagreendesigns.etsy.com/) or my blog (http://dpeagreendesigns.blogspot.com/). You are free to sell a completed block or quilt that you create and call it your own. If you want to give me credit, it would be lovely but not required.