Lots to catch up on today! I think my priorities are correct in introducing my 100 year old grand daughter. Big sister is in first grade this year. She loves school so much. This week her class celebrated the 100th day of school for this year. The children came to school dressed up as though they were 100 years old. It was so much fun to see the joy on her face when the day finally rolled around.
She was so cute with her gray hair (wig) and cat eye glasses on a chain. H was watching the bus pull up with this huge grin on her face. These special days at school are so much fun for the kids.
Moving on to this year’s Stay At Home Round Robin…. It was Brenda’s week to choose what we were to incorporate into the round. She chose the square in a square block, also called an economy block. For some reason, I had the idea I needed to make a larger block and it was bothering me. I couldn’t come up with a way to use a bigger block. At first, I thought I would skip the whole round. But then I decided to try and make a tiny one. My first attempt was very wonky and I tossed it. Then I tried again and made two blocks I was happy with.
The blue piece set the size for the block. The blue square measured 1 1/2″. I cut large white squares for the surrounding triangles and chopped those in half. The finished square ended up being two inches. I made two of these. They are totally improv which means the center is not square. (I still need to trim the blue corners on the back side). I love them!
I also made this blue border by alternating the solid blue with two tiny black and white HST’s. As I mentioned before, all of these bits are leftover from a quilt I made a while back. As of yet, I have not attached the blue border or the tiny S-I-S blocks. I want to wait to see what comes up on Monday. But for now, I like the idea of this layout.
Since I keep referring to the quilt I first made with these pieces, I thought I would show the original quilt to you again. I made this quite a while ago as part of a quilt along with The Inquiring Quilter. Seems like seven plus years is long enough to hold on to the extra bits. Time to use them up!!
Hand quilting is a great way to keep my hands busy while watching television or listening to an audio book. This peek shows a snippet of a wall quilt I am working on. I stitched much of this while Ray watched the Super Bowl last weekend. By the end of that time, my fingers were sore. Even with a thimble, it is hard to push that needle back and forth for a long period of time.
In the sewing room, I have been working on a quilt for a blog hop in March. (I am way ahead of schedule on this)! The layout of this quilt allows for lots of FMQ practice. I have been quilting it with a straight ruler. After a number of squares like the one above, I think it is time to switch to a curved ruler. When I practice with the curved rulers, I have a lot more hiccups. There are so many pretty motifs to be stitched with rulers so I am motivated to keep practicing.
Loving that last picture and the story along with it!
Totally agree Kathleen. She is so cute these days. Sometimes grumpy but always, always wanting to be a big girl too. I think that is what causes the grumps. Maybe it is that pull between wanting to be little and also a big girl. But that outfit – so cute. I love that her father lets her stay in whatever outfit she pulls together. 🙂
Once again I came for the quilting but your granddaughters stole the show! I loved the 100-year-old and the I-dressed-myself photos. Such fun! Thanks for sharing, Bernie!
Hi Tracie: Happy to share. These girls are so much fun. They make me smile all the time. I will see them for a quick visit Saturday night and I am really looking forward to it!
Bernie, you give my horrible day such a nice end. This little cuty… I love her. And as a real girl she has decorated herself! No boy would do that I believe. It must be worm in your houses, no socks.
You see, the first I comment is little sweetheart…. Her big sister, wow good looking for 100 ages.
Back to „business“… your square in a square is exactly what fits to this work in my opinion.
The black and white quilt with blue is fantastic.
Handstiching makes so much fun and I can tell you, I am finished the king size!
I think I have to messure how many yards/meters of straight lines I did.
Binding is prepared. Oh yes, only two more rounds… time is flying, or?
I love your idea for this border!
Have a great weekend!
Eva, I am sorry you had such a miserable day but happy this post cheered you up! The girls always make me smile. Both of them are often in bare feet. When I put socks on her, she eventually takes them off anyway. For the 100 Day celebration, I saw a picture of big sister and some of her classmates. They all looked so funny and very excited – Some of the girls had their hair sprayed gray. The boys had crazy beards and mustaches. What a silly thing. My guess is the teacher had a wild class on her hands that day.
Thank you for the thoughts on the little square in a square. I am so happy with it. Also very happy with the hand quilting. This piece is small (18″ x 25″) so it won’t take too long to finish.
Have a wonderful (stress free) weekend!
As a teacher, I always loved those “special” days! And my hat is off to the parents who go the extra mile to make sure their child gets involved!
( One of the stories that I love to tell is that a child wrote: “When I am 100 years old, I will play golf with Mrs. (Teacher!)”
The teacher has never played golf and is more than 30 years older than the student. So very cute!
Hi Torry – Did I know you were a teacher?? I don’t remember this. What grade did you teach?
You must have heard so many funny things. 🙂
I taught everything from kindergarten to 5th grade. I also taught library.
And, yes, children are so darn funny.
Your quilt is looking really good, and I like your square in a square blocks! Will be fun to see what you think of next week’s border. The two girls are such a hoot! Their smiles literally light up the room, and you can’t help but grin back. The 100 year old has the look down pat, but the kiddo just cracks me up!
Thanks Wendy! Ray and I are dog sitting for a week so I will get to see the girls when I go to pick up Wusha on Saturday. Looking forward to it.
It will keep me busy until I know the next prompt on Monday! 😉
Your granddaughter stories are priceless. One of our grandsons just had 100 year old day, too. I’m thinking that is a relatively new trend that is sweeping the country. So fun to see them in character. And the dressing. We have just passed the all mismatched stage, although there is some pjs all day stuff going on, and our granddaughter is now only 1 inch shorter than I am and borrowing her mother’s clothes. Yikes!! I love all of your projects, and am really fond of tiny anything in a quilt, so those improv S-I-S blocks and tiny HSTs are delicious to me. They look great where they are, but I’ll be interested to see where they end up.
I can’t believe your grand daughter has grown so! H is very tall for her age so I think it won’t be long until she is close to my height. I remember my children doing the 100’th day – or maybe just Julia? But they celebrated with all of the counting. They didn’t dress up.
Thank you for the comments on my SAHRR. I am enjoying this. Already thinking about how I will quilt it. 🙂
Those granddaughters are the best! The gray wig and the 100 years old theme. . .what a hoot. And little sister. . .such a fashionista. One of my granddaughters wore lots of layers. . .why? Because she could decide so she wore it “all!” Love your SAHRR border. So fun to use up the trimmings from a previous project!
Terry – do you live close by your grand children? How old are they? Such fun memories!
As for using the trimmings, I won’t use them all up since I want this to hang on a wall, but I am enjoying the challenge of using nothing but the leftovers. So far, I have been able to stick to this. 🙂
I love seeing posts about your precious granddaughters! They bring a smile to my face.
Thank you Gretchen. They are both the sweetest little girls.
What a fun post! Love your little square in a square blocks, but that last photo of Little Sister just made my day. What a cutie pie! Thanks for joining in with us, Bernie! Have a great weekend!
Hi Brenda – I am so glad I made the tiny s-i-s blocks. I really like them. Now it is back to waiting for the next prompt!! This has been a lot of fun 🙂
I’m glad you were able to come up with square in a square blocks that make you happy, and I love that they were made improvisationally. And it makes me so happy to know you are so close to family and able to watch your granddaughters grow. 🙂
Yvonne – For some reason, I am really tickled with these s-i-s blocks. I didn’t want a chunky, larger block and this worked out well. Hopefully I can keep limit next two rounds to fit on the remainder of this border. The center is so busy I want to keep the last border calm.
My sister in law had a pin she stuck on her daughters every once in a while that said ‘I dressed myself today.’ Useful for days like A’s! I do love the grandchildren stories. They are so fun. Your round robin is turning out great. If you want to calm it down, you coul use a strip of the plain blue as an interim round. That would give the eye someplace to rest. Have a wonderful weekend Bernie!
Great minds and all that…. if you could see my design board, you would see a blue border going around the piece right now. It looks great.
Love the idea of the pin!! Both girls wear some wild outfits at times. Makes me smile.
Look at those cute girls! I remember loving the 100th Day celebration when I was teaching. Those tiny square-in-a-square blocks are so fun! Your blue, white, and black quilt is a beauty, and I love how you’re using up the leftovers in your SAHRR, Bernie.
Thank you!! I think we both have great SAHRR projects – Hoping to wrap the existing part with a blue border this week and also incorporate whatever the prompt is for two corners. Just need to see what comes out on Monday!! Have a great weekend Diann.
Your 100 year old granddaughter is adorable and obviously joyful about school! H dresses herself just like Laney used to (and sometimes still does!). It’s all part of their incredibly creative little minds. She reminds me a bit of Ev, who desperately wants to go to school with big sis. He goes to a preschool at his church, and he has been “acting out” at school recently. I am praying he will get his little act together, he is such a sweetheart. I suspect it is all the family upheaval of the past year+.
I so love your SAHRR, the colors, your placement – it is going to be so pretty.
Hmmm, I bet Ev is feeling the stressors of the past year. I remember when Andrew and Naomi moved the family out here from Vermont – same time as A was born and Covid hit. It was a tough year and it was hard for H to deal with it. They feel it, don’t they? Hopefully things will soon calm down for your grandson.
I’m liking your idea for the s-i-s use. Looking forward to what is coming next week. Blessings,
Hi Angie: Thanks so much! I am looking forward to Monday as well. I wasn’t able to comment on your post but wanted to tell you I love how you fussy cut the centers for your S-I-S blocks. The whole thing is adorable. Also, I get the frustration about colors not photographing properly. That is frustrating at times!
Your SAHRR is really fascinating; very modern and improv vibe! I, too, was in that QAL seven (really?!) years ago with TIQ. The quilt I made went to a dear friend in Florida who just loves it.
The 100 day celebrations are so fun for the kids – and I love H’s outfit – adorable. Of course, little sister and dressing herself is just as adorable. Love your SAHRR and thanks for showing the original. Oh, the old piles of scraps from favored quilts…they are hard to use up sometimes…but you are doing a fabulous job!
Lovely photo of your granddaughters. The 100 year old ladies day is a wonderful idea. Your square in square blocks look great too 🙂
Your SAHRR quilt is awesomely dramatic! Love it and eager to see what else develops ❤️
Precious little one 🤗
So interesting to see how each quilter in a SAHRR interprets the same cues differently! Great idea to make mini economy blocks for yours. Also your granddaughter makes being a hundred years old look like WAY too much fun. That is what it would be like to be a hundred years old, but still have the joints, flexibility, energy, and metabolism of a 7-year-old! 😉