Baby Blessings

In our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we do not baptize (christen) our children when they are infants, we wait until they are 8 years old to be baptized.

However, when our children are infants, we do have another special tradition.  The infants are brought before the church congregation and given a special personal blessing, usually by their father, along with the assistance of invited family and close friends.

Baby Bennett wore the same outfit his daddy wore for his blessing.

My oldest daughter, wanted her daughter (Olivia) to wear the same dress that she and I both wore for our blessings.  After much searching, the dress could not be found :(

Fortunately, Olivia's Great GREAT Grandmother crocheted her a BEAUTIFUL amazing blessing dress. ...but there was no slip. :(

So, what did I do?  I got up at 5:30 am, the morning of the blessing and made her one :)

I have my grandmothers slip that she wore for her christening as an infant.  (My daughter, Kate, wore it under her blessing dress that her grandmother crocheted her).  I used this for the pattern.

It is REALLY big, and will still fit her when she is two years old!

It worked perfectly :)

....and for dessert....

Red & White Modern Block Swap Update

A while back, never mind how long ;), my quilty BFF's and I had a red and white modern block swap. (Click HERE for forever ago post)  I knew that it would be January before I could get around to assembling it :(

I did, however, map out my design plans.

I knew I wanted to use flying geese to fill out the blocks and complete the quilt.

So, I made a gazillion flying geese ;)

I even arranged them in this fun chevron pattern for little entertainment ;D

I need a bigger design wall.  Here is about 2/3rds of the quilt top.

First off, all of the blocks I make from here on out will be made with a darker red.  I wanted a bit more variation in the quilt.  Also, I am, for the most part, going to be having red be the back ground fabric, instead of white.  After looking at the quilt laid out, I think it needs it :)

As part of my plan, I wanted to include two 16" blocks.  One of which, was my first attempt at Hawaiian Applique.  It turns out that Hawaiian Applique is just a snowflake ;) I opted for a simple one.

I first tried to use freezer paper for a template method.  The paper was too cumbersome, so I switch a 1/3rd of the way through to template free, back basting method.  MUCH BETTER!

Boy, did I enjoy making this 16" Block.

Oh, but I forgot to add the center :(

All taken care of!

Next up was an 8" Celtic knot applique.

This was also my first attempt at a Celtic knot!

I love how the little stitches look on the back!

It came together pretty quickly.

My son traced the pattern onto the block for me with a Frixion pen.

I am so happy with how this turned out! I LOVE it!

The next block is a 12" block designed by an IG friend of mine (aylin-nilya.blogspot.de) called aylinnilya bubbles.

This is a super fun take on the old standard log cabin.

It is foundation pieced.

I love foundation piecing!!

I used scraps from the three different reds that are in the quilt.

Next up is an 8" block, copied from a block that Konda did for her Red and White. quilt.

I used a different method than she did.  I strip pieced it.

I'll post a tutorial later :) ..if, you'd like.

Now for a 12" Dresden plate.  I love them :)

Super quick, super slick!

Simple and sweet!

Now for a 12" foundation pieced star thing  ;)

This block came from the first edition of the 100 block magazine.

It was easy, but took more time than I wanted to spend :/  Happy with result.

Now for my other 16" block.

I had originally wanted to do a intricate feathered star, but the New York Beauty Circle of Flying Geese (by Better Off Thread) won out!

This block takes some time, but is not hard.

The worst part is attaching these little curved pieces. 

 (the big curves are much easier!)

I meant to make the flying geese white and the sky red, but I am SO happy I made the mistake!

It's perfect!

The last block is one I designed.

I have been doing a ton of sketches of churn dash and bear paws.

I think this 8' marriage of the two worked out quite nicely :)

I can't wait to get this top all together!!!

#BFTPqal Week 4

Welcome to week 4 of The Blocks From the Past Quilt Along!

(If you would like to post this button to your blog, feel free to use this graphic and here is the link address to use with it- http://myquiltdiet.blogspot.com/2015/01/blocks-from-past-qal.html)

This week we are headed over to Konda's place for pages 10, 11, & 61 over at moosequilts.com/blog.

Confession time, I didn't do any blocks this week for the qal.  I have been totally obsessed with completing my quilt from the Red & White Modern Block Swap that my quilty BFF's did last year.  Here is what I completed :)

I'll post the details later :)

Click HERE to go back to the Schedule Post. Be sure to tag your progress on Instagram with #BFTPqal.  You can also join our Flickr group HERE.

The Scrappy Scrumptious String Quilt

Almost from the very first day I started quilting back in January of 2012, 

I started saving selvages for a string project.

The first project I was going to do was a crocheted bath mat.  I gave up on that one when I found out I would need to sew all of the strings end to end :/

Next I saw the string blocks and that is what I stuck with.  

The design evolved over time until I ended up this :)

Each block is 9.5", unfinished.  I used a foundation piecing method.

The white strips were cut to 1.5" wide.

My favorite paper to use is the Ikea art easel paper.

It is so fun to see little bits of all of my past projects.

I need to come up with a new scrappy project for the next few years.

For the binding I used my favorite Grease text print.

And, of course, the pink sparkle peeps had to make an appearance.

My label had a typo :/  I used some white craft paint and fixed it all up ;-)

Now for the washer!

Finished size 72" x 54"