quilting

Test Day!

/ eileenbjennings / 1 Comment

When I was a teenager, someone gave my dad a Hawaiian shirt with cars on it. That was the start. Over the years, he received more Hawaiian car shirts until he had quite the collection. Dad teaches high school auto mechanics and started wearing the shirts on days he was giving a test. Students would see him walking down the hall, wearing a bright flowery shirt with Corvettes, and lament about how they forgot about the test and weren’t prepared. The shirt collection continued for a number of years until the high school went to a more “standardized” faculty dress code. At that point, the shirts were boxed up and put in the attic. A few months ago, Dad gave me the box, thinking I might be able to do something with them.
So, this is what I came up with:
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It wasn’t anything very technical, but still enjoyed. Vroom, vroom….

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A Quilt for Owen

/ eileenbjennings / 1 Comment

I fell off the sewing bandwagon for a while (darn full-time corporate job), but I’m back! First on my list was finishing a sweet scrapbook quilt for some friends. Their son, Owen, is almost six months old, but it’s been hot and who wants a quilt in the summer? (Great rationalization of my procrastination.)

Family and friends all contributed to the quilt by designing blocks in the color palette that matched the nursery. I appliquéd all of the blocks and then assembled the top and finished it with super soft minky fleece and gingham binding.

It takes a fair bit of time to make one of these quilts (this is the eighth one in the last five years), but it’s worth it. I love hearing the stories of how people are enjoying their quilts. I hope that they are enjoyed for years.

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Family, Stories and Forced Crafting

/ eileenbjennings / 1 Comment

My mother-in-law’s family tries to get together every couple of summers for a family reunion. Usually the site of the reunion is down south, as that’s where most of the family has been over the last couple of hundred years. This year we met in Natchez, MS for a few days of story-telling and fun. My husband’s uncle, John, always prepares a genealogical summary of a specific branch of the family and it is presented at the reunion.
20140706-122608-44768748.jpgUncle (Professor) John

My husband enjoys all the stories and the recording of said stories.

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I, of course, use the opportunity to force sewing and crafting on people. At the last reunion, I coerced people into making quilt squares and then put them together for a small lap quilt. We continued the tradition this year and I have some fabulous squares to work on over the next few months.

20140706-123243-45163152.jpgAunt Jeanette and Nancy looking over the last quilt.

It’s always a fun time and hard to say goodbye to everyone. Until the next time….