Simple Quilts...

I am so grateful for my Grandma Helm and her willingness to share her talents with me. When I was in Young Womens one of my projects was to learn how to quilt. My grandma was willing to take time out of her day and teach me how. She and I tied a queen size quilt, learned more about each other, and just shared some time together.

Now that several years have passed; I still keep that time with my grandma very close to my heart. Every time I sit to tie a quilt I remember stories or comments she made to me. I was reminded of some stories as I tied another quilt this week for a friend's Christmas gift.

Even though my grandma is still here, she won't be forever, but those memories and the ability to quilt will be!



The quilt I started this week, it is finished now, but this is it half way done.



Close up of the fabric; back is a solid dark purple

Crafty bug...

Every once in awhile I get the crafty bug and need to work on a project! I really enjoy working on crafts and I find myself coming up with new ones everyday. One that I have been working for quite some time now is a patchwork baby quilt. I am teaching myself how to do it, so it is coming along very slowly. I posted about it before, but decided I should post pictures now for future reference! Pictures are not the best, because I took them with my phone.


I love the fabric I am using, it is really cute!


Another view of fabric. If you were in person you could see the design it is starting to create. I traced the design from a quilt my Great-Grandma Dodge made for my parent's wedding as inspiration.


Full quilt thus far! I only have a few runs left to do, but again slowly learning. I learn something new the further I go. I also still need to stitch it so it will lay flatter and not look so bunchy.

Another fun crafty thing I have fallen in love with is making cards! I made all of our Christmas cards this past year and here are a few others I have made:


I made this one for my Aunt Mutt! It was a simple card, I just took different papers and layered them and then embelished with stickers. The back was used for a little letter/note.


I made this one for my boss; he is moving to Califonia (thus the scuba guy). The group of people I work with and I wanted to do something nice before he left. A card was something on the list. Again, this was an easy card. I just layered paper and tied a ribbon around it. Then I layered the blue paper on top with the scuba guy I made with my Cricut.

Feeling Crafty....

I often find myself with down time that I don't know what to do with; this weekend was one of those times. I should have been studying for my final...but lets be real who wants to do that when I can be doing crafts? I learned how to tie quilts a few years ago from my Grandma Helm. She taught me for one of my young women's projects. It was probably the funnest three weeks I have ever had with her. I admire my grandma a lot; she is an exceptional woman who has been through a lot in her life. I feel like I have a special bond with her, because she taught me this craft. It is even more special to me since I know she learned from her own mother.

I had bought some fabric on Black Friday and I have been dreaming of what to make with it. It hit me one night as I was laying in bed exactly what I wanted to do with my Black Friday find...I am going to try a patchwork quilt. On my bed is a quilt that my Great Grandma made for my parent's wedding gift, it's a patchwork quilt, and the inspiration for my crafting project.

I have never done a patchwork, but have wanted to for a long time. So, I pulled out my sewing machine and got busy making a baby quilt. I have only done a line and a half, but I think it is turning out pretty well for being my first time!













Oh yeah, I did manage to get some studying for my final in too! I will be taking my test tomorrow; I just hope I can remember all of the stories and poems that we read.

Thanks for reading!