Lovebirds wedding quilt finish, books, happy new year!

 

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with all our kids and spouses and grand babies with us - 

And on Christmas day Tommy and Camille opened up their wedding quilt.  It was so fun (and challenging) to make and I hope they will enjoy it.  David literally laughed when he saw the finished top, so I feel a bit insecure about it, but, it truly was fun to make. 

Indigo for Tommy and the bright cheerful colors for Camille.  In the folky style they wanted. 

And not the last quilt I will ever make for them... 

Machine quilted very freely - 

Quick photo after church - 

Side note - look at the Carolina blue sky - one of the things I love about living here, even as I miss the beautiful quiet New England snow. 

And now I've eased into the new year by cleaning out, straightening up, rearranging,  putting away all the baby things (Kaela's family is moving to California - I'm still in shock).  I've started a new quilting process notebook, and a new bullet journal.  I love a fresh start. 

Here were my books in 2023 - I listened to many of them. 

Most memorable were Demon Copperhead, True Grit, Tom Lake (all on Audible).   Lessons in Chemistry, Our Missing Hearts.  

Happy New Year quilty friends!  

x

Cynthia 

Lovebirds Quilt center finished

I've gotten back into my sewing room and have finished up the center of the Lovebirds Quilt for Tommy and Camille.   It's just called that because somehow I started calling them the lovebirds when they were engaged;).  

I really enjoy this kind of improvisational piecing.  Thinking about borders now....   

They were married outdoors at the Bonneville Glen in Salt Lake City, in the blazing sunshine, reciting beautiful vows they had written themselves.  I felt just overcome with emotion just bursting with happiness for both of them and for us too! 

The shady areas were so wonderful for photos.  Camille's dress! 

So here we are now with all three of our children married - 

Keenan and Noelle, David, Camille (and Charlotte), Tommy, me, Kaela (missing Joe but so grateful Kaela and Charlotte could attend). 

A reception indoors with food and dancing - 

I loved this moment.  Their first dance, with parents joining in halfway through: 

A memorable wonderful day, one of the best! 

xo

Cynthia 

Some progress on the Lovebirds Quilt

After posting my progress on Lovebirds (Tommy and Camille's wedding quilt) last week, I realized I wasn't happy with parts of it, so I chopped it up a little and eliminated a couple of things.  

I am really simplifying the design and making the appliqué center of the quilt a little smaller, still making sure I include the motifs Tommy and Camille want to see in the quilt.  

One motif they want is "glasses" so I created some glasses with pink variegated sashiko thread.  Not sure if it's obvious but that's meant to be a stack of books too. 

I also did their traced hands in sashiko, so fun.   There wasn't enough contrast so I simply wove red and dark blue thread through the sashiko stitches.

The next element would be "flowers" and so I piled up some fabrics to audition: 

I created this little flower arrangement yesterday, and machine appliquéd it.  The pot and stems are invisible machine appliquéd, and the flowers and leaves are raw edge appliqué, collage-style.  I really enjoy working in this improvisational way.  I see that it may need another element or two for balance, which I can easily do the next time I'm in the sewing room. 

I really had fun with this block and it reminded me how much I enjoyed making little collage quilts during the quiet covid years in Tokyo.  

It's a tiny detail but the yellow center below shows a figure reading a book.  Tiny fun detail. 

For now, I'm happy with how the center of the quilt is taking shape.   It will be a bit of a puzzle putting it together, and then on to some simple borders. 

Meanwhile, David has done a nice job with the front of our little townhouse, with only minimal input from me;).  The green birdhouse was my Mom's.  And, Happy Pride.

Big sis Charlotte turned three, what a love.  When asked what she wanted for her birthday she said "pink!" and when asked how old she would be, "three candles!"

That's all for now friends!

xo

Cynthia 

Lovebirds parts 1 and 2 finished, and peanut butter cookie recipe

I've finished piecing the first two parts of Tommy and Camille's wedding quilt.   It's really fun to work on.   The photo helps me to see a place or two where I might want to add a little more appliqué.  

I'm just working from a loose plan, sort of Jan Patek-style.

The main thing was figuring out the trimming sizes for each big block or groups of smaller blocks. 

A glance back at the sewing room as I shut the door behind me (childproof doorknob, lol) -

Charlotte spent the afternoon with us.  We had lunch on the patio, went for a long walk, made peanut butter cookies to share with a neighbor, rested and watched a show.  Back at Kaela's I made dinner for the family, and there we go, another day is done.  My sister-in-law Amy has come into town to help Kaela for a week, hurray!  This may mean more sewing time for me;).  

The following recipe is based on an old Cook's Illustrated recipe, but I don't add extra peanuts, and I increased the amount of flour.   

My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies 

Makes 3 dozen. 

Ingredients: 

2 3/4 C flour 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

2 sticks (1 C) butter, softened

1 C brown sugar 

1 C sugar

1 1/4 C JIF extra crunchy peanut butter 

2 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract 


1.  Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

2.  Combine dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl; set aside. 

3.  Cream butter and sugars.   Add peanut butter, eggs and vanilla.  Mix to blend well.  

4.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. 

5.  Using your hands and a spoon, make little craggy mounds of dough, 12 per cookie sheet;  using a fork dipped in water, make "criss cross" marks in each mound of dough.  

6.  Bake at 350 degrees, 11-12 minutes.  They will be slightly puffed and browned around the edges. The centers will not look completely baked.  Cool on cookie sheets a few minutes until the cookies settle.  Transfer to a cooling rack. 

7.  YUM! 

A little appliqué on Lovebirds

I've been able to sneak away to my sewing room here and there to start again on Tommy and Camille's Lovebirds quilt.  

I finished this rainbow awhile ago, needleturn appliqué: 

Raw edge appliqué for the little birdies: 

Using the "mono" setting to check for contrast: 

These mountains (purple of course, and set on a pink sky) as a nod to Utah were so fun to make using invisible machine appliqué:

It's fun to work on the Lovebirds quilt so soon after their wedding.  It just makes me smile.  They are getting settled in San Francisco.  Everyone is still talking about their lovely and fun wedding.  I hope Camille's parents have recovered!  It's so much work to be the parents of the bride! 

Most days I'm over at Kaela's... 

She's starting to not need the back brace so much.   She is such a good mama at such a difficult time. 

We had a rainy Memorial Day weekend.  I worked a little on some geneaology.  Tried not to panic at the state of our country.  Kaela and Charlotte were able to go to church for the first time in weeks so that was good.  

More and more is coming out about the accident, as the police report became available and Kaela spoke with one of the people who stopped to help.  Would you believe the first people on the scene to help Kaela were an off-duty police officer and his mother?  Angels on earth in the right place at the right time, and brave enough to stop.  Kaela spoke with the mother who was able to clarify a lot of things.  Kaela must have been in such shock.  It was good for her to hear that they got the babies and Charlotte out first, then some men got Joe out, and then the EMS and fire rescue arrived although she said they waited a long time for that.  Kaela is getting good help for her PTSD but I think it will be a long healing process. 

These are the moments we are cherishing..... David with the babies, Ellie and Amelia.  Behind this photo is a lot of spit up, laundry, feedings, changings, and two-almost-three year old Charlotte adding a lot to the mix too.  

On our trip to Utah I started listening to Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel, Demon Copperhead.   It is set in the mountains of southern Appalachia during the opioid crisis - themes of dysfunctional foster care, poverty, neglect, cruelty, addiction and everything that goes with it.  Desperation, and hope.  Based on Dickens' David Copperfield.  The larger societal systems that just keep people in poor rural areas down.  Difficult themes and I highly recommend it but with a very big "content/language warning" for my gentle quilter friends.  Demon is an unforgettable character, rarely has a character felt more real,  and you are just desperately rooting for him the whole time.  And it's sort of a tortured love letter to Appalachia where my Mom and all her people were from. 

Lovebirds quilt block 2.3 - house

Spring has sprung here in North Carolina.... 

and I finally started the Lovebirds Quilt for Tommy and Camille, who will be getting married in May (!).   The quilt is not "due" until Christmas;).  

The blocks are going to be very improv, in the style of folky Jan Patek quilts. 

I have made a basic sketch of the quilt, and divided it into five main sections, although I'm not making the blocks "in order."   Sections 1, 2, and 3 have 3-6 blocks each; section 4 is a side border with three blocks, and section 5 is tentatively a top border of leaves and flowers.

The overall vibe will be:

    primitive pictorial appliqué  (Camille and Tommy asked for certain motifs, totally cute) 

    random, asymmetrical layout 

    all the colors - with plenty of dark blue, green, lavender/pink, and pops of brights.

I started with the House block - the biggest block and closest to the "center" of the quilt.  

Last week I spent three days and two nights at Kaela's, to help their Au Pair, Ina,  with the babies and Charlotte while Kaela and Joe were out of town.   It was both great fun and super hard, all at the same time.  ;).   

Back on the home front,  I am finding such pleasure in spending time in the sewing room.   I listen to music, podcasts, or books, losing track of time as I putter or sew. 

Books I have read (or listened to) in recent weeks:  

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng - highly recommend it.  It is dystopian, so moving, thought provoking, really hard to put down.  

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.  An enjoyable listen, several narrators.  

Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg - an oldie but goodie from 1995.  Really struck me this time, the lack of cell phones back then.  We actually paid attention to the people right in front of us - just something that occurred to me over and over as I re-read this thoughtful novel.  

I hope if you are reading this, your week is off to a beautiful start!  

Cynthia