Charlotte's Rainbow Quilt finished

In April I attended my guild's (Triangle Modern Quilt Guild) "sleep at home" retreat.  It was such fun and I got to know some folks in the process.  

During the retreat we paired up to make blocks for a community giving quilt (our guild supports a nearby foster care system) using donated scraps (mostly strips).   I just love the dark/light scrappy effect of these blocks!  Totally my cup of tea. 

Other than that we each worked on our own projects and I started a Rainbow quilt for my grand daughter Charlotte.  Her "favorite color is rainbow".  

Later at home, pin basting went fast: 

And when I finished the quilt I thought, why not use miles and visit my kids in San Francisco and deliver the quilt in person, so that's what I did. 

So fun to spend time with Ellie and Amelia as well!  They are at a challenging and adorable stage, both. 

In other news a few weeks ago, I co-hosted a small family reunion with folks coming from Ireland, Colorado, and Ohio.  It was for the most momentous of occasions - meeting my "aunt" who had matched with us on Ancestry DNA.  For privacy reasons we've been asked to not post any photos or identifying details just yet! 

But, suffice to say, it was an amazing experience!  

Meanwhile I already miss my kids and grands in San Francisco, and I relish the time I have with Chloe here in Raleigh! 

xo

Cynthia 

Sashiko throw #2 and a new year

Happy New Year!  

A majority of our San Francisco contingent was here for a week at Christmas - Kaela's family of six including their Spanish au pair Laura.  And they got to meet their new baby cousin.  The house was filled to brimming and it was as fun as it was exhausting! 

I made a stocking for Laura - her first ever (in Spain they put out their shoes on the night of January 5th, for the Three Kings to fill) - 

We snuck off to the beach on the warmest day - 

Baby Chloe - so sweet - 

Christmas Eve dinner - 

Followed by our annual yule log cake:  

I gifted the sashiko throw to Kaela's family for Christmas - 

Made with new and vintage indigo collected over time, and some patches of floral Liberty tana lawn. 

I used the instructions in Susan Briscoe's excellent book "The Book of Boro" as a general guide.  No batting, and a knife edge finish. 

The back is also patchy: 

My home is almost "back", with laundry being processed non stop and Christmas decorations put away.  

Itching to get back in the sewing room!  One of my intentions for 2025 is to continue to find joy in quilting, and not get overwhelmed by too many projects at once.  How many is too many?? 

From my home to yours, wishing you peace - 

xo

Cynthia 

More catching up - October and November - baby Chloe born!

Working backwards, with the happiest news, our fourth grand daughter, Chloe, was born just before Thanksgiving;).  

My favorite kind of selfie: 

I was Noelle's support person for her C-section - what an honor! 

Tommy, Camille, and their close friend Sophie were here for Thanksgiving and we just loved having them here - 

Leading up to all that and in no particular order - lots of kitchen time - a stash of granola to freeze for the weeks ahead - 

Our townhouse roofs were replaced over the course of several weeks -  

We went to California for my niece Megan's wedding - here at the rehearsal dinner the night before - Megan, me, my step-Mom Denise: 

And of course also to see grand daughters - 

They have moved to the "east bay" outside of San Francisco - 

The Halloween energy was big - 

Back in NC, ever hopeful about the election - but let's not go there. 

And an ongoing bathroom renovation - is there anything more disruptive, in a small home, than a bathroom renovation?  Ha.  But it was worth it.  My brother makes fine cabinetry and is always in demand.  

I had the walls painted SW Silvermist.  Custom medicine cabinets in natural cherry - 

Shower niche tile, combo of chambray blue and soft green.  The tile guys were here three times!  

Busy weeks, tip toeing around the bathroom renovation.  

A couple of concerts thrown into the mix - Vampire Weekend at the urging of Tommy - and we loved it - 

And Lake Street Dive - honestly, such a great band - warm up band was Tiny Habits, so good too. 

Pizza weekend with our nephew Joey and his friend Paul - 

Noelle and Keenan threw themselves a casual baby shower with southern BBQ and all the fixings - I brought salad, cupcakes and the finished baby quilt - 

In other quilty news I managed to finish doing the sashiko stitching on Kaela's sashiko throw, section by section.  I'm real pleased with it and will give it to her at Christmas.  It's raining today but I will get a better photo at some point soon.   

How do the days and weeks and months fly by so fast? 

xo Cynthia 

p.s.  What are your favorite holiday bakes? This might be a new favorite around here: 

Sophie Gee's Sticky Toffee Pudding 2024  

Sophie - Madame Superstar! - is Camille's bestie and she joined us for Thanksgiving this year.  The night before she left, Sophie made us her favorite dessert.  We devoured it!  Soooo good.  Her mom got this recipe while living in England years ago.  

Pudding: 

1 C water

3/4 C chopped dates 

2 tsp baking soda

4 T butter

3/4 C sugar

2 eggs

3/4 C flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter a 9" square pan.  

In a saucepan, bring the water and chopped dates to a boil, then remove from heat.  Stir in the baking soda and set aside. 

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one by one, beating after each one. 

Gently fold in flour and salt, then stir in the dates and vanilla. 

Pour into the prepared pan and bake 30-40 minutes, until cake is done.  The cake will be very dark. 

SAUCE: 

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C heavy cream

4 T butter

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer 3 minutes.   Keep warm. 

Serve the warm cake over a bed of the warm sauce, and topped with whipped cream.  YUM.  

Catching up! - baby quilts - August and September

The past four months have passed in a flash. Here is a quick catch-up about August and September!  

Over the summer I worked on a couple of baby quilts for Noelle's baby Chloe - 

At the end of July David and I drove up to Maine for a week in Ogunquit with our kids and grand daughters. 

The summer flew by! 

Then at the end of August we drove BACK up to Massachusetts to spend the whole month of September based there.  Yup, we were so hopeful about the election: 

It was wonderful to reconnect with some dear friends, and the place we still feel is "home" in so many ways.  Still, "you can't go home again" sort of resonates.  

While in MA, the most astonishing thing happened. Someone contacted me on Ancestry with a very strong DNA match, and it turns out I have a half-aunt, about my age - my Grandmother had had a baby and gave her up for adoption, later in life, completely privately and no one knew for all of these years. It has been an absolute joy and pleasure to get to know my "aunt", who is the spitting image of my grandmother, her birth mother!   

*Edited to remove a screenshot of a Zoom call, for privacy reasons 

In Massachusetts I also worked on a couple of baby quilt tops for great-nieces due in the coming months: 

I will do another post about quilty things seen during our time in New England, so stay tuned for that!  (If anyone is reading blogs anymore, lol). 

xo

Cynthia