My grandmother turned 91 in April.  She is the last surviving of her twelve siblings and her whole family loved to play games.  In particular, they loved to play Scrabble.  I've made Grandma different Scrabble gifts before, but wanted to do something extra special this year.  I came across this quilt idea and, although I've never quilted before, decided to make something similar.  I semi-followed the instructions found here, but had to adapt a bit to make it look like a Scrabble board and to get it the size I wanted it.

I started planning this back in mid-January.  I used a spreadsheet to lay out the names I wanted to include:  Grandma's maiden name and the names of her parents and twelve siblings.  I drew up a scrabble board on the spreadsheet and colorized the squares so I would know which squares were which.  I knew I wanted to have "LOWDER" span the center square, so I started from there.  It took awhile, but I eventually got them all on.


Next, I counted how many of each color square I would need for both the front and back of the quilt and purchased the fabric.  I started out thinking to make 8x8 squares.  I thought I'd calculated the right amount but once I got cutting, I realized I had underestimated.  I used camel colored flannel for the lettered squares, and then red, dark blue, light blue, and pink flannel for the colored tiles and tan flannel for the blank squares. After two trips to buy fabric and batting, I finally began the process of cutting the squares.




While not quite as tedious as cutting all the squares, this was still extremely mind numbing.




After finishing the Xes, I realized that my squares were going to be too big, so I cut them down by an inch.  This resulted in a large scrap pile that was very soft!






Once I had the squares sewn and cut to size, I added up the number of each letter I would need and added it to the spreadsheet, making sure to note which letters needed to be painted on which color backing. Remember that the back of the quilt is a blank Scrabble board!  This was more challenging than expected, since apparently I have addition issues...



I used fabric paint and a letter stencil I found at JoAnn's to paint on the letters.


I couldn't find just the right Scrabble font, so I had to free hand some of the areas that were left open on the stencil, but I was pleased with the final product.


After letting the paint dry for two days, I began the process of painting on the letter values.  The stencil kit I'd purchased had the 2, 3 and 4, but no 1, so my husband cut one out for me!  Again using the spreadsheet as a guide, I added the number values to each letter.








Next, I placed the quilt squares in the correct order and did a rough lay out of the quilt.


I stacked each row into a pile and labeled the row number, so I could figure out which was which when I was ready to sew the rows together.


At this point I realized that by cutting the squares down, I had eliminated the ability to have a 3/4 inch seam.  Oops.  I ended up making 1/2 inch-ish seams.  I stitched each square in the row together, making sure to have the letters on the correct side!  Then I pinned the rows together to make sure that my seams for each tile were lined up, then I sewed the rows together.



As the quilt got larger, it was more and more challenging to get the bulk through the machine. 


When everything was stitched together, I began to cut the seams, making a fringe about 1/4 inch deep.  The fringing was a messy job.  Little pieces of thread and flannel were everywhere by the time I was done.  Since my grandma has dementia, I wanted to put a quilt label on so she would know who made the quilt and why.  I looked at the ones that were available at the store, but wasn't impressed.  I decided I'd try to make a simple one using some scrap material I had on hand and a fabric marker.  I used heat and bond to adhere the patch onto the quilt.



Once that was done, I ran the quilt through the wash to get rid of some of the threads and to give the quilt a basic "rag" look.  My mom and I then used a lint remover to take the lint and threads off of the squares before I wrapped up the quilt. 

Here's the finished product...



and back...


Unfortunately, we weren't able to make the trip to Michigan for her birthday, but the quilt was delivered by my parents and my aunt.  Here is Grandma with her new quilt.


My parents reported back that she was THRILLED with it and that it was helping her reminisce about her family and her childhood.






MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!  And - score - it fit on her bed almost perfectly!

Our outside time this week has mostly been spent doing yard work and heading back to school!!!!!  What a great week for the You Capture Challenge to be outside shots.

The first two shots are of the girls ready for their meet and greet time.  We brought potted plants with pots adorned with school supplies!



Here's Boo in her first day of school outfit that I managed to finish on Saturday!  I'm not sure I like the skirt too much but she was thrilled with the whole outfit.  (For those interested, I used free tutorials from Sew, Momma ,Sew.  For the shirt I used this tutorial and for the skirt, this one.)



On the walk to school, Bug asked me to take a picture of their shadows.  I really liked this idea and think I will try to take one every year to see how they've grown!

Here's a shot of the girls at the end of the first day running to see daddy and tell him about school.


Now that her sisters are in school again, Ebabe is back in collection mode.  Here's her find on the first day of school.




 And finally, on our walk home from school the other day, we noticed a tree that had a lot of personality.  Here's a shot of our new deciduous friend!


Can you see the face there?  Two eyes and a green mustache...

Check out more outside photos taken for the You Capture Challenge hosted by I Should Be Folding Laundry.
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I've had this project bookmarked for at least a year now and finally got around to doing it.


It took me about a day so I'm not sure what my hang up was.  I even had the shirt - I'd bought it at Goodwill as a gift for my brother for Christmas a few years ago and never gave it to him.  I found it last summer and thought of this.  Anyway, I changed some things when I was making it (not necessarily on purpose!) but I think it turned out quite cute.  I even made a matching headband for fun.

Ebabe loved it!  Now I'm trying to get two more done for her sisters for our family reunion.

So this weekend we went to my in-laws house to celebrate Easter. It's been awhile since we've been to their house to visit and they had redone several rooms to aid in their home business, Yorkie Fantasy. For those of you who sew, you'll understand why their new set up fascinates me! I want a sewing room (or two) like they have!!!

Here's a look at their living room as it looks now.

This is looking from the kitchen into the fabric and supply area. She buys fabric by the bolt now but still has some smaller pieces to use as the need arises. You can also see a glimpse of her cutting table here.

Here is a different view of the cutting table which includes her pressing machine and her embroidery machine.


This is the view from the other side of the room. More fabric and lots of storage! For reference, the cutting table and window are just outside this photo on the left.


Done drooling?! Take a minute, then we'll move on to their family room. This is where the major sewing work gets done. I think she has about 6 different sewing machines in this room, including a serger. If you look closely, you'll see her thread collection on a turn-about in the corner. What you can't make out in this picture, is that there is a desk and a walkway in between the table and the chest of drawers.


Here is what lays between. The master work center. Her orders come in on the computer or via phone and then the process of custom making clothes for dogs begins.

So there you have it. A great sewing set up! My mother-in-law will make anything from costumes to belly bands & panties, to t-shirts, to ball gowns and coats for your pet. If you are in need of good, quality custom made clothing for your dogs (small breed in particular) at very reasonable prices, be sure to check out Yorkie Fantasy.

Well, the last of our guests has come and gone. Now that everyone has opened their presents, I can show you the rest of the homemade gifts we made.



For the family, I made these Snowman ornaments, which I stumbled across on Simple Flourishes blog. Super easy to make and somewhat kid friendly. Bug helped me roll the Model Magic flat and enjoyed fashioning the noses! I used some scrapbooking clips and leftover ribbon to prepare them for hanging.



Using the leftover Model Magic, Boo crafted a Christmas tree statue for GiGi and Bug made a mini snowman for grandma. (photos to come!) Boo also transformed a tin can into a pretty pencil holder for daddy.