Christmas Gifts

December 22, 2019April 2, 2024 Elizabeth E.17 Comments

Since all the recipients of my handmade Christmas gifts have received — and opened — their presents, I can now share what I made for my four children. Gifts for adult children and their families can be challenging. Sometimes we’ve given money so they can share an experience, sometimes we’ve purchased gifts for the whole family — spending hours in the toy aisle at Target — but sadly, most of the grandchildren want something from the toy aisle at Amazon these days. Other years we’ve given a beautiful Christmas picture book.

This year, we went this way.

I had leftover bits from my Criss-Cross Christmas quilt, but had to search to find more fabric to make what I wanted, then used an entirely different line for the backing and binding. When these lines sell out, they are gone gone gone.

I started these in April (in process photos, above) and finished, quilted, and bound them in November and mailed them before Thanksgiving so the families could use them in their decorating (if they wished). I unpicked the upside-down animals, righting them (as seen in the left photo).

CrissCrossChristmas_front — Christmas Criss-Cross, quilt #219

We were at my daughter’s for Thanksgiving, and I snapped this quilt, casually tossed on her bed. I thought it looked great. I hope to get photos of what the other families are doing with their table toppers/bed accents/wall hangings/whatever.

We finished up our 2019 Gridster Bee by making these hot air balloon blocks, free from Woodbury Way. They are for Afton, who lives in an area known for their hot air balloon festivals, so it’s a fitting block for her (although she may just really like them, I haven’t asked). I was supposed to do Block 4, but things just kind of morphed into something else once I got going.

Finally, in other happy news, this is a photo of me dropping off three quilts that were accepted to the upcoming Road to California Quilt Show.

We have quite a group that will meet up there, with Lisa bringing friends from Utah, Carol coming all the way from Boston, Kelley from Palm Springs, and the locals (Simone, Leisa, Laurel and I). It will be a gathering, of sorts, for a few members of the Gridster Bee! We generally meet upstairs for lunch, overlooking the gallery of hanging quilts. This year I’ll have a quilt in that gallery as well, as our Inland Empire Modern Quilt Guild has been selected to provide those quilts. I’ll have more news about all of this when it gets closer to Road, which will be held January 20-26, 2020.

I have one more Christmasy post on Christmas Day, so until then, keep your spirits Merry and Bright while finishing up the shopping, baking and gathering. And if you are having a solo holiday experience this year, I wish you lots of good music, great take-out, and quality sewing time.

200 Quilts · Family Quilts · Quilts

Riley’s Quilt

June 30, 2017April 2, 2024 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

Red, White, and Blue giveaway info is at the end of this post. Many thanks to all who entered!

RileyQuilt_8

If my grandchildren come to visit me long enough, we can crank out a quilt. Last time it was Keagan’s. This time, it was Riley’s. I discovered last time that simpler quilts are best, so I started leafing through my BLOCK Magazines from Missouri Star, until I happened on her pattern titled Slice of Life, found in Volume 1, Issue 4. You can get a download here.

Riley Quilt layout

Riley picked out blue and green prints from my stash (using your stash is also a good thing to do) and he ironed while I cut. He arranged the squares on the wall into groups of nine.

Originally the book called for “layer cake” squares, which if you have a layer cake (or have the pre-cut sizes memorized), you are set, but I don’t. I get grumpy when patterns call only for precuts, and don’t tell you what the actual dimensions are, so I’m telling you that I cut squares that were 10-1/2″ square. [Yes, I know they are bigger than a layer cake.] I narrowed the sashing, cutting it at 2″ (sewn in it will measure 1-1/2″ wide). You make three of these giant nine-patches, then cut them apart like this.

RileyQuilt_3

I cheated a bit, and folded the giant 9-patch into fourths, and took a bare sliver of fabric off the fold when I cut–kind of like when the local quilt shop cuts fat quarters. Then we arranged these new designs up on the wall.

RileyQuilt_Hallway

Sometimes Riley took a break with his little sister.

RileyQuilt_4

I sewed the giant pieces together, but sometimes Riley did. I pinned it a LOT when it was his turn at the sewing machine, also teaching him not to sew over pins.

RileyQuilt_5

Everyone helped pin baste the quilt on the kitchen counter. We would pin a large section, then shift the quilt.

Everyone helped quilt, even the littlest sister, as well as my daughter, mother to these three charmers.

Binding was next, again from the stash. Late that afternoon, they went to the beach and my husband and I headed up the mountains to our church’s camp for the young women. I sewed on the binding all the way up, and while we waited for the program to start. I finished it.

RileyQuilt_8a RileyQuilt_8b

Backing is Marimekko fabric. RileyQuilt_8c

He couldn’t think of a title, so I wrote a couple of details on the back. I think this is the section that Riley quilted–I think it’s great that he helped in all phases. This is Quilt #184 on my 200 Quilts List.

The youngest of these grandchildren is eight years old, so I imagine her turn will be next! Baby Blues comic strip ran these this week, and I thought it fitting (although the sisters do quite well, too!)

Congratulations to Nancy S. who won the bundle of Painter’s Palette Solids! I’ve been in touch with her via email and will get the bundle sent out to her. I had the best time reading over all the comments about fireworks, from those who had a first date watching them (that happened to me, too, early in our courtship) to those who watched barges-full launch them into the air. Thank you all for your wonderful responses!!

(This is for those who mentioned that they watched them over the Washington Monument.
I did too.)

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200 Quilts · Family Quilts · Quilts

Magic Stars Quilt, with Sarah Jane fabrics

January 15, 2017April 2, 2024 Elizabeth E.15 Comments

It begins here…

…with fabric by Sarah Jane. A relative of mine fell in love with her work and asked me to make her a quilt for her daughter, who has a name similar to mine.

(I couldn’t say no.)

I found the pattern on Michael Miller’s Website, and followed it exactly.

I made it over the break between Christmas and New Year’s. You can see my husband’s nutcracker collection on top of our hutch.

I trundled it off to my longarm quilter, and she did a quick turn-around. It’s always a happy day to pick up a quilt from Cathy. This fabric is very silky, and I enjoyed working with it.

And on my birthday, I declare it done! Happy New Year, Happy New Quilt. This is Quilt #176 on my list of 200 quilts. I never thought I’d reach 176 quilts. If you haven’t started your list, do so now.

We chose a pattern called “party ribbons” for the quilting, as it fit in with the theme of the fabric.

The backing has unicorns with touches of gilt bushes.

I packaged it up and sent it off, the people in the Post Office helping me find just the right box.

(I love my post office.)

I didn’t label it because it was going to live at someone else’s home, but if I could, it would look like the one above.

Rebecca sent me this photo of the quilt on her daughter’s bed. So glad they both like it!

200 Quilts · Family Quilts · Quilts

Keagan’s Quilt

August 16, 2016April 2, 2024 Elizabeth E.20 Comments

Keagan, my first grandchild, came to visit me last month (along with her Mom–our daughter– and family. She’s crazy about Paris and France and all things French, so I collected a few fabrics before she got there and surprised her with them.

And you just can’t leave it at that in a quilter’s house.

L’Amour recoufortand de Paris, quilt #167
Pieced and quilted by Keagan Charon and Elizabeth Eastmond
July 2016

L’Amour recoufortand de Paris, the title, means Paris’ Comforting Love, because she considered how quilts give comfort and since it had all things Paris in it, she thought it up and had my husband translate it for her.

Keagan_5 We got all the pieces cut out, then I had to go and Take Care of Things, and when I came back, this was the design she’d carefully put together on the design wall. We sewed the pieces together–me on my regular machine, and she beside me on the Featherweight– and we put the top together. Her brother Riley helped iron the blocks; it was a team working together.

I stitched most of it on the Sweet Sixteen machine, but had her take a turn at the quilting, so she could say she’d help quilt it, too.

Since we were working against a deadline, we used a glue stick to tack down the binding, and then I top-stitched it into place.

And then, just like that! it was time to head on home. Here they are Sunday morning, all the kids (Keagan and Riley and Maddy) lined up for a picture before they piled in their van to drive home.