Midnight Flight Christmas Style

I updated my Quiltville Mystery Page and another Quiltville page yesterday.  It was long overdue. Apparently I never blogged about this quilt.  I took a workshop from Bonnie Hunter with a bunch of friends and my friend Barb went crazy and made too many parts for her own quilt.  You may remember I made a baby size quilt as I was so fatigued (and still working) that I struggled with getting the layout right.  I actually left several mistakes in it

Quilted and Bound and a Loss

 Keeping up with my reading this week.  Finished this one and now reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Lacuna."

 I picked up FOUR quilts from the longarmer down the street.  She quilted my sister's Midnight Flight Christmas Quilt and now it is bound and waiting for a label.

 She also quilted my daughter Hannah and son in law Jeremy's wedding signature quilt.  Also bound and waiting for a label.  I used to label ALL my quilts, then somewhere along the line I got lazy and stopped.  I need to get back to it!

 The grandbaby's quilt with sloth in the center (Hannah and I saw sloths for the first time at the Dallas zoo and we have been in love ever since!).  The embroidery on this is awesome.  My friend Barb decided to make the blocks for me as a gift to Hannah who she has never met.  SO SWEET!  Of course then I had to figure out a pattern and since they are not finding out the gender it had to be gender neutral.  These thirties fabrics worked out well.

 Here is a peek at my lion for grandbaby.  I am hand stitching the binding on so not quite done, but I love the leaves the gal at Blue Whale Quilt Studio put on him (at my request).

Been doing lots of resting, reading, etc. but in the evenings lately I have found some time and energy to sew.  Taking each day as it comes and getting so excited for baby.
If you do not want depressing news click off here.

My nephew Christopher passed away a week and a half ago.  He was thirty years old and six weeks older than my daughter Hannah.  He is the only son of my sister.  She is heartbroken as we all are.  He is above with Coleman as a packer for Halloween.

 Above Coleman, Hannah, Jay (Mac) and Christopher on the bottom.  I took them all to the pumpkin farm and we had such a great day there.

 Christopher smiling in #3. And with my kids below too. So many memories with him and hard to even believe he is gone.

 I wrote his obituary and tried to capture who he was and how much he was loved.

With deepest sorrow, we announce that Christopher Jordan Simons, age 30, of New River, Arizona, died suddenly on Friday, July 17^th, 2020, while undergoing emergency surgery.  Christopher, endearingly known as CJ by his family and friends, was born on December 26, 1989, to his loving mother Tina Baeza (Neff) and his father, Brad Simons in Burnsville, Minnesota.  He was a son, grandson, nephew, cousin, and a friend to so many.  As a child he was always smiling and finding new and clever ways to get into trouble.  He was beyond intelligent and had a knack for math, spelling, and grammar. He was our go to guy for setting up electronics or troubleshooting computer and TV issues!   He would regularly correct others for using improper grammar.  CJ graduated from Career Success High School in Cave Creek, Arizona, at the age of 16 in 2006.  He followed in his family's footsteps and joined the Navy soon after graduation.  During his service he was part of Mission Enduring Freedom and visited much of the world while serving his country.  CJ had many friends, and if you were one you knew you were a brother to him and he would always be there if you needed anything.  He was as loyal a person as anyone could ask for.  He was known for giving advice (our “Dr. Phil”), love, and his daring and brave demeanor.  He could be stubborn and a bit quick tempered, but CJ never seemed scared.  He would never back down from anything. CJ always loved animals, playing poker, video games, going off-roading, cheering for the Packers, and spending time with his friends and family.  He could be regularly seen in his Boondock Saints shirt and seemed to always wear a hat.  He didn't like to smile in pictures, but his smile was larger than life and if you saw it, it would warm your heart.

 He will be greatly missed by his mother Tina (New River) and his father Brad (Eau Claire, Wisconsin); his grandparents Toni and Gary Hirn; his aunts and uncles (Sam, Ashley, Angela, Kathy, Steven, Cheryl, Mark, and Sue);  his cousins (Coleman, Hannah, Jay, Benjamin, Christian, Colton, Barrett, Stephanie, Billy, and Sarah), his girlfriend Jennifer, his ship mates and Navy brothers,  his “New River Mafia,” as well as many others.  CJ was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents and his maternal grandfather Lenny.

We feel if CJ could tell us one last thing he would tell us to hold our heads high. To smile at all the fond memories.  To cry tears of joy of the time spent with him and not tears of sadness.  To hug those you love, forgive those who need it, and know he is looking down on us smiling, and drinking a Faygo.

We love you to the moon and back CJ and always will.  You will always hold a place in so many hearts.  

A Celebration of Life and military funeral honor ceremony will be held as soon as we are allowed to gather the many family, friends, co-workers and all the people who loved CJ.

Antiquing with the Quilt Whisperer!

 Bonnie wanted to hit the antique mall and see what fun we could get up to there in between our workshop and lecture.  Terri and I (and later Kathy too) were happy to oblige!  I have been to this antique mall several times and usually only find about three or four quilts worth looking at so I was crossing my fingers that Bonnie would not be disappointed in the Merchant Square Antique store. 

 These are just some of the quilts we found--she is apparently the quilt whisperer!  They were everywhere! 

 This cute little quilt had "wounded knee" stitched in it and went home with Terri.  We think it may have been tribal made as it did not have a regular binding.

 Bonnie was a hoot of fun and tried out this none too comfortable baseball bat bench!

 It is blurry but here we are laying out quilts in the aisles and taking pictures and then folding them up again.  Sometimes Bonnie redisplays them better than we found them.  Super fun!

We found Bonnie her swimsuit for this summer  Hot stuff!  And her Partridge Family dress too!

 Terry is planning for her quinceanera!

It was a whirlwind trip and fun!  Kathy joined us at the end (after unloading our machines at home and feeding the dogs) and then we all went out for sushi.  Bonnie blogged about it here in case you didn't see it.  

Kathy and I sewed last night so we could get Midnight Flight done and get back to En Provence.  We made a baby size quilt.  This pattern is advanced for the triangle challenged.  I have diagnosed myself with triangle dyslexia.  I cannot tell you how carefully I laid things out...checked...double checked and even triple checked--and STILL I unsewed.  In the end my blocks are mirror image of what they are supposed to be and at least two small blocks have hst's that are turned around..maybe three.  I am apparently letting go of my inner type A because as far as I am concerned it is done!  I will NOT be making this one again anytime soon.  I love it but I find too much frustration in all the checking of chevrons, four patches and hst's for direction.

 I will add a larger border at some point when I need a baby quilt.  Until then, I consider this one done!

Next up the lecture fun!

Midnight Flight Workshop with Nimble Thimbles!

 Our guild waited two long years to get Bonnie Hunter back for another workshop!  It was worth the wait for Midnight Flight!  I learned new things again and had a really enjoyable day with my quilting buddies and Bonnie.

 She gives lots of demos of everything from how to cut your fabric so it measures right, how to get your quarter inch seam right and how to use the rulers required for the pattern used in the workshop.  I love her bonus ruler that comes with the essential triangle tool (which replaces the easy angle and companion angle ruler she used to use but had no affiliation with) because with it you get a perfect bonus triangle that is a useable size instead of one you have to cut down..simply but drawing the seam line correctly!  Saves loads of time and less waste!

Borrowed this picture from Bonnie since I am in it.  This is our table..all old friends with one new gal who was new to sewing joining in. 

 We always have show and tell after lunch and it is so fun to see other quilts!  Kathy showed off her Allietare! 

 Becky showed off Garden Party.  She made this for her son and I love that it came out boyish!  She used boy scout fabric someone gave her and tucked in a few mom blocks too!  I hope the strip I have her wound up in there somewhere! 

 I showed off my Garden Party too.  Can you spot the ladybug?  Becky and I started these quilts in October 2015 on the Quiltville Caribbean Cruise so later we got a picture with both quilts and Bonnie. 

 I also showed off my Allietare!  I love that this quilt was inspired by copper mugs (of Moscow Mule) on the beach--Rocky Point, Mexico to be precise!

 I had about an arm's length of binding to go but I shared my Talkin' Turkey too.  So happy that one is almost done.  Life has been so busy--I put the binding on this on Tuesday morning about 6 AM and spend every spare second at work (when on hold with a customer--I interpret phone calls) working on the binding Tuesday and Wednesday in an attempt to get it done!

 Terry shared the start of this year's mystery--En Provence!  Loving it.  I had hoped to have this much together to share too, but I am still on the last part of the last clue before block assembly.  I plan to get at least this much done this weekend so I can link up!

 Kathy and I had a great day with Bonnie and we are excited to be making a Midnight Flight baby quilt together.

The top left block and lower right blocks are ours (after some unsewing let me tell you!) and bottom left is Barb's in Christmas fabrics.  Laura's (so fun to sit with her and her mom at the  workshop)is on the bottom middle and top right is Becky's.  She had to pick up the chitlins from school so she did not have time to fix her flipped blocks until she got home...

 Others finished their blocks too but we were so short on time we did not get a picture of all the blocks.  Bonnie has more pictures of them on her blog this morning though! 
After cleaning up the church Terri and I went with Bonnie to the antique mall!  More on that in another post!

 It was a fabulous day with friends and Bonnie and new memories made!