I'm Back!

It seems like it has been forever since I posted on my blog. Well, it has been a while, about 6 weeks, I think. December was just crazy. Then Kevin and I both came down with a virus the day after Christmas. We are just now getting back on our feet. So this will probably be a long post. Just warning you. (grin) I have lots and lots of pictures to share, but I will stretch them out over the next few weeks. I kind of use my blog to keep track of things too, so I will be posting lots of pictures of my family. The grandkids are all getting so big!  Now where to start? I know....

I DID IT! I finished all three of the SIL's quilts! I was so relieved to get them finished. I really became kind of overwhelmed in the last few weeks before Christmas. I finished hand quilting Ivan's quilt at 7 p.m. on Dec. 22nd. I sewed the binding on all of them by machine. Jeremy's I turned over and hand finished. It took me so long, that Kevin insisted I finish the other two with my machine. I am glad I did. It cut off hours of work for me. I have a favor to ask you all. If I ever come up with another harebrained idea, like completely making and hand quilting 3 twin size quilts again in a  5 month period, please come thump me up side the head! LOL  It wouldn't have been so bad, but I couldn't seem to start on one and stick with it. I like to have several projects at a time going. Keeps me from getting bored. I finished Bob's quilt at the end of October. I really love the way this one turned out. I think it is my favorite.

I am sorry, I guess I didn't get any closeups of the quilting and none of the backs. I told you I was overwhelmed. LOL I am going to jump around with my pictures a little bit. Sure won't be posted in the order taken, but that is ok. Here is Bob holding it up on Christmas morning. He really loved it.

Next we have Jeremy's quilt. I started hand quilting it on Nov. 1st and finished it on the 30th. I did mostly simple, straight line quilting on it. I think it is Callie's favorite, since it is the only one she got on while I was trying to take pictures of them. (grin)

I was so bummed. I was sitting watching tv with Kevin while I quilted on the last border. I snipped my thread and cut a little hole in the red fabric. I gasped and almost cried. Kevin calmed me down as usual and said , "You'll think of something." I did. I matched the red up to some embroidery floss perfectly. I did a satin stitch over the hole and batting. It is very hard to see. I showed it to Jeremy and we had a hard time finding it. I finally did by feel. He just laughed and said that made it more special. (grin) Here he is holding it up on Christmas morning. I was the most concerned about his quilt, but he loved it too.

I started hand quilting Ivan's quilt on Dec. 1st and finished it on Dec. 22nd. Wow, I really worked hard on that one. It does not have as much quilting in it as the other two, but I knew I would never get it finished in time if I did lots of  quilting. I basically just quilted X's in each of the block sections, then used simple stencils in the outer borders. I was so tickled on the night I finished it, that I was practically jumping up and down. Here it is, before it was washed.

Ivan sure looked happy on Christmas morning while he held it up for me to take a picture.

While quilting on these I also: made 2 nightgowns and 2 pairs of pj's, made several Bow Tucks bags, made a few table runners, made several small wall quilts, finished up several things as gifts, crocheted a few dish rags, took mom shopping, helped her with her celebration, did our Christmas shopping, did lots of baking, and had my husband home on vacation the last 2 weeks before Christmas. Oh goodness, I never want to wait till the last minute to finish things up again. I love Kevin, but it was really hard to get things done with him home. I told him next year to take the two weeks after Christmas if he wants a vacation at this time of the year. LOL

So there you have the condensed version of the past 6 weeks. Tomorrow I will start sharing pictures and updating a little more. As I said, I have been pretty sick. I have coughed so much, that my stomach is sore, and my nose hates the sight of the Kleenex box. LOL  I stayed in bed last Saturday with a fever of 102.2. I still get low grade fevers every night, but I'm getting better. Thank you so much to those who have checked on me. I really hope to get back to normal and start commenting on your blogs again. I also forgot, my Callie was also sick for a week during that time. We got her some meds and she is doing fine now. Well, I need to get off here for now. Everyone have a great evening. Thank you for visiting.