granny's Christmas quilt and pillow

When we decided to go visit the hubs' grandmother over Christmas, I knew I wanted to make her a Christmas quilt!  I had fallen in love with Bonnie and Camille's "Vintage Holiday" and Fig Tree Fabrics "Christmas Figs" fabric lines, and as you can see, they play well together.  The star pattern is reminiscent of the first Christmas quilt I made for myself.  And while the quilt is most definitely a Christmas quilt, the colors allow Granny to keep it out year-round if she likes.

The green minky backing is ridiculously soft and snuggly, but man, it is hard to quilt!  Maybe my walking foot is wearing out, but minky makes quilting so slippery.  Memaw taught me a trick with binding - when you can't decide, go with polka dot!  So I went with this red with tiny polka dots.

This quilt needed a partner in crime, so I made a pillow!  The pattern is from Amy Sinbaldi (free pattern here), and I love how the embroidery came out.  I'm not very skilled in embroidery, mostly because it takes patience and time, neither of which I'm good with!

The backing is from Bonnie and Camille (I can't remember which fabric line, I bought it years ago), and coordinated perfectly with the "Vintage Holiday" mini charm pack I used on the front.

Granny loved the quilt and pillow!  She's really an incredible woman, and has so many fascinating stories to share.  She used to quilt too, and I've got some of them in my house.

barrett: 68 months old

Back to school today!  Break is over, and while no one is happy that the days of sleeping in and lazy couch snuggles are over for now, I think both kids were excited to see their friends again and get back into the groove.  We've been entertaining ourselves with puzzles lately, and were doing one last night when the kids wanted to help.  Can you believe it?  Barrett is a natural at puzzles, and was matching up the tiny pieces (750 piece puzzle) so quickly.

Barrett had his first piano lesson today!  Britton and I were talking about Barrett taking lessons, and that incredibly smart girl goes, "I hope he loves piano like you do." And I was immediately grateful that I had followed my gut when I decided to let her make up her own mind.  Barrett was nervous, but finally warmed up to his piano teacher, and he thinks he will like piano lessons.  

Likes:  orange yogurt, dinosaurs (his new favorite)

Dislikes:  going to sleep

113 months old

Whoops!  With the holidays and school being out and me getting back to work, I completely forgot to take Britton's monthly photo.  It was actually Britton who reminded me today!  Not much to update since Christmas - the kids are enjoying the time off, playing with friends and new toys, and riding bikes around the neighborhood.  

Britton has decided to stop taking piano lessons now.  This decision was hard on my heart, since I took many many many years taking piano and I wanted Britton to be able to play well.  And she can - she's taken lessons for 2.5 years.  But she was losing interest and would not practice without threats, so I made the decision hers.  Barrett will be starting piano lessons next week!  :)

Likes:  The Rock's Titan Games, Sweet Valley Twin books

Dislikes:  going to bed on time (school next week will be rough)