Pretty in Pink!

Before Whitney's mission, she had an obsession for fat quarters. For those of you that don't know what a fat quarter is, it is a piece of fabric that measures 18 x 22 inches. She would pick up a few at a time when she went to fabric stores. When Whit was home for Fall Break a few weeks ago she got a couple of bags of fat quarters out of her cedar chest. One of the bags was full of 20 fat quarters in various shades of pink and white. I thought they were all cute fabrics but I didn't really have an idea for them. Last week I was looking at the blog of modern quilts and saw a pattern called a Bento Box. I decided Whit's cute pink pieces of fabric would look great put together in squares.

I asked Whitney if I could make her a quilt top for her bed out of her pink fabrics. Of course she said "yes". I divided the 20 fat quarters in to 4 groups of five. Each block has one of row of each the five fabrics in it. I will eventually have twenty blocks, but for now here are the first ten.

A closer look.


I love the polka dots.

Because these turned out so cute, I decided not to cut them into the Bento Box squares. I like them just the way they are.

Quick and Easy Quilt Top!

This is my quilt top in a day.

I used the Storytime fabrics that I found in Gunnison.


I love this cute quilt. It is 60x60 so it is big enough for a toddler.
I think I will put a minky back on this. The lady that helped us at the quilt store said that if you use minky you don't need to use any batting.

Whit's Christmas baby quilt.

Her first try at the longarm. I think she did very well.

The fabric for the back of Banner's quilt came in the mail today. I will post pictures as soon as I get it quilted and bound. I know it seems like I don't do anything else but make quilt tops but the other things that I do don't show up well in pictures, i.e. laundry, dishes, vacuuming, teaching piano lessons, practicing the organ, reading and cooking.

Easy, Breezy Mitering!

Banner's quilt top just before I sewed the strips together. I have learned so much on each quilt that I have completed. I finally got the triangles on the sides and top to be even on this quilt.

This quilt called for mitered borders, so I thought I would give it another try and see if turned out better than the last time. First, sew all of your border strips together. I had four for this quilt. You will need extra length when you miter the borders.

Mark the center of the border strips.

Mark the center of the quilt top, bottom or side.

Stitch the quilt and the border together leaving 1/4 inch on each side. Back stitch a couple of times to make sure each end is secure.

Fold the body of the quilt in half on the diagonal with right sides together. Lay the borders flat like shown in the picture, raw edges even.

Place a pin to mark where the stitching stops and then use your ruler to mark a 45 degree angle to the edge of the border. Line up the ruler with the quilt center folded diagonally and the pin.

Pin the fabric on the line, especially at each seam of the separate border fabrics.

Sew on the line.

After sewing, open up to see if all the borders line up. If they don't, unpick the seam and try again.

After the corner looks the way you want it, you are ready to cut off the extra fabric.
Use your ruler and rotary cuter and cut 1/4 inch from the seam.

Press seams flat.

It looks quite nice. I think this is an easy method, at least it was for me.

The finished quilt top. As soon as I choose the back for this it will be ready to quilt.

Temple Trip! Not!

On Wednesday, Whitney and I decided to go to the Manti Temple because Whitney had never done a session there.

We saw these beautiful colors in Salina Canyon.

We were sad when we discovered after our 100 mile drive that the temple was closed for some work and had been closed for a week. I wish I had heard that announcement in church.


All was not lost. On our way home we stopped at a cute little quilt shop in Gunnison and found a treasure. I had been looking for this particular fabric for almost three years. I saw a little quilt that they had made up and recognized the fabric immediately. The lady at the shop told me that fabric is not made anymore and is a four year old collection but they had some bolts of it and some kits made up for a large baby quilt. I purchased one of their kits because it had the polka dot in butter and blue. I am so happy that we stopped. Who knew I would find what I was looking for in Gunnison.

This is the first block finished for Banner's quilt. I am working on it slowly but surely.

Christmas 2009

Liz & Dennis------Josh & Stacy

Anne Adele & Maurie-----Liz & Dennis

Shelley & Alan-----Jennifer & Jim

Jennifer & Jim-----Shelley & Alan

John & Rebecca-----Anne Adele & Maurie

Sara-----John & Rebecca

Josh & Stacy--------Sara

Morgan & Andrew---Tennyson

Noah & Becky---Kelsie

Whitney---Maren

Miranda & Brooks---Seth

Leslie---Gabriel

Madison---Miranda & Brooks

Rachel---Arden

Tennyson---Madison

Kelsie---Banner

Arden---Esme

Seth---Jonas

Banner---Rachel

Hannah---Lily

Jonas---Leah

Gabriel---Noah & Becky

Maren---Leslie

Leah---Whitney

Esme---Morgan & Andrew

Lily---Hannah

Here is the list for Christmas gifts. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know. I hear through the grapevine that some of you no longer want to participate in the Christmas gift exchange, if so you need to let me know and I will remove your names from the list.

Happy Birthday Miranda!

Have a wonderful day with Brooks, Whitney, Morgan, Andrew and the little girls.

I hope you have some good food and a lovely cake.

This is your present, though it will be real, not a picture. Whitney will be bringing it to you.
We love you.

Busy, Busy!

The finished product. I quilted it in a spiral pattern

I found an invisible binding stitch that can be done quite fast and really is invisible.

Banner was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this past week.

The inductees.

We are very proud of her. You have to have good grades and citizenship to be in this society. We have been privileged to see all four of our girls inducted when they were in 8th grade.