A Birthday Lap Quilt

At Christmas time, I made lap quilts for three of my children but wasn’t sure the older son would want one.  Then, I decided he might like to have something to throw over himself and his two dogs when he naps in his recliner.  I wanted to use scraps and made his quilt using my 1920s Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt book.  I had made a wall hanging back in 2010 when I first received the book, but for this quilt made blocks I hadn’t tried before – all with blue scraps.  The blocks were of various sizes and I used borders to make them all the same size and maroon sashing to put them together.

The backing/batting is a pretty blue fleece.

The quilt measures 48 x 60 inches and took on a nautical look without my intending it to be that way.  I think it will be a nice 60th birthday gift for my son and his dogs.

Five Lap Quilts for Christmas

Now, that Christmas is over, I can share some of my holiday quilting projects.  I have a large stash of orphan blocks, saved over the years from various projects or sometimes made as a single, difficult block that I would not want to use for a big quilt.  I decided to put some of them together as lap quilts for my son in St. Louis, his wife, two daughters and their dog.

In each case the quilts were 36×48 inches (except for the one for the dog) since that’s about as big as I can handle on a domestic sewing machine any more.  Also, the quilts were all backed with fleece and included  hand-embroidered labels.  My son’s quilt was made up of black/white blocks, which included several Judy Martin blocks, an Eleanor Burns block and a 70s style appliqued turkey.

I used sashing and some lively polka-dot fabric as borders to complete the project.

My daughter-in-law’s quilt had a large medallion block in the center that was made as part of Jacquelynne Steves’ Sew Sweet Simplicity quilt-along.

The older granddaughter’s quilt was made using a block I saw on the internet.  I added an embroidered panel at the top.

The younger granddaughter’s quilt centered around a block I found online plus three hand-embroidered panels at the top.

The dog’s quilt was made using blocks from a Barbara Brackman Civil War quilt-along and one block I made for a swap about 12 years ago.

The family sent me a picture of Cocoa with her quilt.  I’ve never met Cocoa and think the next time I’ll need to add a few more blocks for a bigger quilt.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Laura in Redwork (and Bluework) Wall Hangings

My younger daughter has been a life-long devotee of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her books (Little House on the Prairie et al – the TV series, not so much).  She has always wanted to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Mansfield, MO, and had a chance to make the trip with her sister last month.  Her excellent report on this trip is here.

One of the souvenirs she brought home was a gift for me – a pattern for a wall hanging called Laura in Redwork by Johanna Wilson (Plum Creek Patchwork*).

I like to do simple embroidery and had red-checked gingham on hand, so I made up the original pattern for my daughter.

I made a label that incorporated a picture of my daughter standing in front of Laura’s house in Mansfield.

I gave her the quilt on Mother’s Day and she was very happy with it.  It measures 38×38 inches – a big wall hanging or a small lap quilt.  Her dog, Daisy, looks anxious to have it on the couch where she can get cuddly with it.

I wanted to make a wall hanging for myself but not that big and I didn’t want to work with the same materials again, so I reduced the pattern by 50% and came up with a wall hanging in blue that is 22×22 inches.

I like both versions very much.  It would be a good pattern for a quilter with a bit of experience rather than a beginner since the instructions aren’t too detailed.

*Plum Creek Patchwork – 1410 County Highway #5 – Walnut Grove, MN 56180