News from Texas

I am just home from another retirement trip to Texas. I got to deliver Olivia's bunny pillow gift to Aunt E. I think she likes it.

While I was there, Bradley turned 8, was baptised and confirmed AND dominated in a Little League game of baseball.

And then this was announced! Gabe is a coach at Lewisville High School (The Lew). Everything is big in Texas, including this 6A school.  

He has been coaching for 20 years and now has young coaches on the staff that he coached when they were in high school.  

 

Ready for sunshine!

 

My baby bed conversion.

This was a major undertaking for a girl with almost no woodworking or power tool experience but, I got it done!

This baby bed has been in my family since about 1945, serving 2 generations of babies (including my older cousins, me and my siblings and all of my children) before it was determined unsafe.

The last 20 years, it was in the quilt shop as a display for baby quilts. 

With these stencils and the slobbery finger patina, I could not throw it out and no one in the next generation had a place for it.

SO - - I took the baby bed apart and I purchased a large sturdy used coffee table from FB Marketplace. I primed and painted it. That was the easy part.

Then, after several trips to the hardware store, conferring with a couple of carpenter friends and watching multiply YouTube videos and googling questions ("Why do screws break?" - "What is an impact driver?" - "What is the difference between steel wood screws and brass wood screws?"), I attached the baby bed back rail and two ends to the painted coffee table.

I could go on  for a while about all of the things that went wrong but, as my favorite carpenter said, "Sometimes you just have to figure it out as you go." 

I would never want this craftsmanship to be judged but, I can say it is sturdy and level and I love it!

I purchased the two back pillows but, back in my comfort zone now, I covered a piece of foam for the cushion seat.

Olive thought it looked like the perfect place to take a break with her book. I agree.

Visit Adel this week!

 

February Temperature Block

 In case you didn't catch this on the FB Page, here is the most recent Temperature Quilt Block. The average high temp in central Iowa for February was 36 degrees.

I am now considering setting these blocks together in vertical rows by year. If I make the rows 12 blocks long x 10 years wide, that will make a really cool decade temperature chart.  But, then it again, that will take 10 years!

I think I will head that direction and see where it ends. Three years would be the right size for a bed runner, right?

The next generation - -

 8 year old Olivia recently came for a day of sewing. She wanted to make 6 little Easter pillows to give as gifts - - -  2 for grandmas, 2 for aunts, 1 for her mom and 1 for her to keep.

We started by stitching on the lines of a recipe card and she caught right on. She kept saying, "slow and steady -- focus".

Then she picked out fabric and I cut 4 1/2" squares which she stitched together on three sides. 

I used fusible web and cut out 2 bunnies for each little pillow, one for the back and one for the front. 

Olivia drew on the faces and stuffed each. I stitched the 4th seam to close our opening and hand stitched on a little tuft of fiberfil.

That best part was seeing how proud she was when finished. She wants to come 1 day a month now for more sewing classes.  I think I can fit that in.💕

Words of hope - - -

- - - - - after another snowy Iowa weekend- - - 

 

Sunday Funday

I didn't do much sewing today but did have fun watching the grandkids and their friends at church make and put together snack bags to distribute to local first responders including fireman, policeman, bus drivers and school cooks.

They dipped mint chocolate Oreos in white chocolate and garnished with green sprinkles - - - so many sprinkles.

They also made rice krispie bars and popcorn mix plus they had a variety of other donated cookies.

Then they bagged their treats and put a personal label on each.

It was impressive to watch them work together on a charitable project for their community with not one cookie snitched!

New backings just in!

 Shop for all of our backings online at shopadelquilting.com or call for an appointment to come see in person.  515-993-4115