Quilting as usual and 13th grandchild news

The little red bird needs an eye.

I started the "Sweet Land of Liberty" quilt by Cheri Payne in 2013.  I finished 2 blocks and then we went to Wisconsin for 18 months.  I never got around to finishing it when we got back.  Lori at Humble quilts is having a sew-a-long doing this quilt so I had to jump in.  I completed the basket block last night.  If you don't have the pattern, like I do, Lori gives you dimensions and Cheri's Facebook group has similar patterns you can download and create your personal version.

It's interesting sewing one of Cheri's patterns because when something doesn't turn out exactly as you had planned, you say to yourself, "It's okay, it's supposed to be primitive."  It's very freeing (if that's a word) and I find myself relaxing more as I sew.






We had a very special occurrence on Christmas Eve.  Our newest grandson made an appearance.
We went to see him on snow covered roads (very slick).  He was born in the evening and had to stay 24 hrs. so they all spent Christmas Day at the hospital.  It was my son's year to spend it with the in-laws so they left the hospital and went directly to Christmas Dinner in Lehi.  Then, my husband and I promptly got sick so we haven't seen him since.  We're finally on the mend, especially my DH who was down in bed for days and is just now starting to get some energy back.  Hopefully we can see him soon because they only live 10 minutes away.

Actually, I went over there on Tuesday to take a treat but only Dad was there.  Mom and baby were at the other Grandma's.  We'll connect soon~

Collecting the fabric for the mystery quilt.

Bonnie Hunter's most recent mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake, kept me busy during the Christmas season.  I have more pictures of it than I do of Christmas itself.  Pity. . .

All the parts completed.

I chose to use up my watermelon fabric.  I call it "SPITTIN' SEEDS ON RINGO LAKE".  It's almost Christmasy but not quite.

First block ready to assemble.

I've decided on a different layout than Bonnie suggests.  I'm going to put all the blocks together without the sashing and I'm going to do a straight set instead of doing it on point.  I will only use 49 of the blocks instead of 50, a 7 X 7 setting.  I'm going to use the watermelon rind fabric for my border.  It will turn out smaller but that means less area to have to actually quilt.

First 2 blocks sewn together

We took the tree down yesterday and I'm still putting ornaments and other decorations away.  Christmas kind of came and went.  It was our lean year the year most of the kids go to their in-laws.    There was a miscommunication with my sister so she didn't come for Christmas dinner like usual. My two daughters and families came but were only here for about 2 hours and then the house was empty once again.

I guess this is what happens as the kids grow up, get married, and have their own families.  It's a natural thing.  I think I might go to one of their houses next year so Christmas will last all day.

Boy, I sure ended this on a bittersweet note.  That wasn't my intention.  Let's just say we had a transitional (and exciting because of the baby) Christmas this year and leave it at that.

Robin