When the camera came out for my DH to take pictures of the UFO quilt tops, our little dog, Nipper wanted to get in one of the pictures, so here she is...

Nipper just had a birthday on July 8th and she turned 12.  She is a smooth fox terrier.

UFO Challenge #7 for August

The project for this month was a class given by Karen Combs based on her book called "Combing through your Scraps".  Karen came to our guild in 2001.  I finished the quilt top but it still needs to be quilted.

July UFO Project #3

UFO #3  Cracker Box Quilt Top

In October 2008, one of our Quilt Guild members taught a class on the Cracker Box Quilt.  It is a 2-color quilt, which required 12 fat quarters (6 fat quarters of one color family and 6 fat quarters of another color family).  It also required 1 1/8 yard as an additional color for blocks, inner border, & binding.  I'm happy with the "piano keys" border.  My goal for July is to get this quilted and out of the UFO plastic tub. 

8/1/2012--Last week-end I got the Cracker Box quilt top out of the UFO tub and pinned it together, so it's ready to machine quilt.  Hopefully, I will accomplish the quilting this week.

UFO "Remember Your Family" Quilt Top Finished

I am delighted to have finished the quilt top.  It's a large wall hanging (44 1/2" x 62")  The signature blocks are grouped together by family. 

Blocks for "Remember Your Family" quilt

"Remember Your Family"

UFO Project #12 for June

The title of the quilt is:  "Remember Your Family"
Last year, when I attended a Family Reunion, I thought it would be fun to have everyone sign a five inch block, along with the name of their clan.  There are 40 signature blocks.  However, if someone found the quilt with just these signature blocks, one would not understand where these people came from or how they were related.  So, I did a little research on Ancestry.com

I began with Herbrand "Herman" Gunderson born in Norway in 1855.  He immigrated to America in 1877.  He was a farmer, carpenter, and a blacksmith.  His wife was Thorina "Rena" Iverson born in Norway in 1864.  She immigrated to America in 1879.  They married in 1886 and settled in South Dakota.  They had 13 children and 8 lived.  

The family members who signed the blocks are their grandchildren, great grandchildren, and beyond....

Next, the Photo Transfers began....
There are 10 additional blocks which include a picture of Herman and Rena,
3 pictures showing the technique of making "Lefsa",
a recipe card giving the recipe for my favorite Orange Apricot Salad and 
several blocks listing Herman and Rena's eight children.

Then, I discovered more photo transfers were needed to include the flag of Norway and
the Norwegian Table Prayer in English and Norwegian.  Just for fun, I included my memories of growing up with their great grandchildren.  My nephews grandmother (one of Herman & Rena's children) made the best Chocolate Chip cookies and when we traveled back to Pennsylvania in 1969, their Grandmother made 100 dozen cookies.  Many to be eaten and some to be frozen for later.  She had 2 ovens going all day long.  

The goal for the remainder of this month is to finish the quilt top, which means I need to make a few more blocks and then sash them all together, so the Shadow Boxes stand out.

I loved working on this quilt--searching the history of the family--enjoying the pictures--and remembering all of the fun we had as children.   

Photo Transfer Quilt

As promised, here is the picture of the photo transfer quilt I created for my nephew and his wife for their anniversary.   They received the package yesterday and loved it.  It was wonderful working with all the family photos and reminiscing.  The lake scene was based on all the summer camping trips our family took through the years.

The lake scene was based on the pattern by McKenna Ryan's Pine Needles Art Quilts.  It is part of the At Home in the Woods-Block of the Month called "River's Bend".  

The fabric for the mountains was from the Ro Gregg Marblehead Stone series sold through Hancock's of Paducah.