big news

Look at all those apples!

We need to get some pickin' done before that branch breaks! This is going to be a bumper crop of apples from our 2 trees this year,the first time they have done so well. Bob has paid special attention to them all summer, getting advice from the nursery on what to treat and how to help the trees be happy. Well, I think they are very happy! Bob bought a new electric juicer and started making apple juice last night.

I have some more very fun news to share, I have been holding off for a long time, ever since June. The need to keep this under wraps has been an awful long wait for me, but at least I don't have to keep it hush-hush for 9 MONTHS!

Can you guess what that means?!! Brita and Ben are blessing us with our first grandchild, due in late February--hoping to avoid Leap Day! That's them on the right, with Dan and Grandpa and Grandma Herbert back in June when the baby was maybe peanut-sized. Brita is healthy and fit, no morning sickness, Ben is looking out for her, and things seem to be developing just as they should be.

As for me--since it's all about the grandma, right?--I'm planning on some things to make for our new little one. Trying not to overwhelm Brita with a whole pile of baby things all at once, but here's for starters--

I'm trying to learn how to make little knit booties from this wonderful new book filled with totally cute baby stuff. You will notice that the yarn is black, kind of drab for little baby, but this is a test run and as soon as we get the results of Brita's next ultrasound I fully anticipate a switch to another more appropriate color! Also made a couple little flannel receiving blankets, an easy way to pacify my need to start a supply of handmade items for babies!

Making these little quilts for donation is a fun task, and I got all three finished, bound, and washed today, ready to deliver to Deb and Quilts For Kids. This is the same corduroy I talked about last week, and after washing it is nice and soft.

Here's another quickie that I made today--

wine bottle gift bags from Quilt Smart--the pattern is printed on fusible interfacing and sewn right into the bag. Makes it so easy! The pink one is destined for the upcoming silent auction at Bear Patch to raise money for Susan G. Komen fund. Watch The Bear Blog for more information.

finishes

A few more finishes to note:

Two matching Christmas quilts for a customer are done and ready to be delivered:

I used a new pantogram design for these called Poinsettia by Patricia Ritter. This design looked to me like it needed to be stitched in vertical rows on the quilt instead of the usual horizontal. That simply meant that I needed to mount the quilt "sideways" on the frame, which normally is fine and something I often do. But this backing fabric was directional with cardinals perched on branches, so they needed to go "sideways", too. And that meant the seam in the backing was also "sideways", meaning parallel to the rollers, and centering it in the middle of the quilt top was a new thing for me. It took several extra steps, but it got done!

When I was gone in January on my little quilting journey, I sewedup 4 little quilts to be donated to Quilts For Kids.

First thing I did when I got home was quilt them up, now the bindings are cut and ready. It is fun to be able to do those. The 2 on the bottom of the stack are just simple panels of fabric and small enough for a little baby. The other 2 are a bit bigger and made with a 4-patch pattern from the QFK website. I just put a large all-over meander on them and call it good.

Now here's a chocolate cake that I did not personally finish, but I can vouch for its yumminess! It was served yesterday at a baby shower I attended at Brita's house, she and Molly put together a fun celebration for Sara's upcoming first baby. Thanks for inviting me, girls!