Wedding Quilt For Grandson!

The Wedding Quilt for Brandon and Raegan - too long for the Quilt Holder to display all of it

In March 2024 our grandson surprised his sweetheart with an engagement ring at Red Rock Canyon in Colorado, detailed here The wedding was this past April, and this is their wedding quilt.

Inspiration photos

Inspiration quilt photo - if you recognize it, shout it out!

In order to surprise them, I decided not to ask about colors so checked out their registry and found the colors represented were teal, navy, sage green, and cream. With that in mind, I bought a few yards of new fabric and pulled from stash. I saw a quilt made with these colors on one of your blogs, and I apologize, but I cannot recall who it was. The pattern was Brightly by Cluck Cluck Sew, and I loved it.

Due to last minute health issues, we were unable to attend the wedding, which was in Tulsa. The wedding was at Christ the King Catholic Church, and reception was at the historic Mayo Hotel in downtown Tulsa. We were a bit lonesome and depressed that night, but our daughter texted lots of photos and videos to make us feel like a part of it!

Quilting was delayed because of bobbin eyelashing on the back. After watching many videos and trying everything, I finally stopped ignoring the first instruction: "make sure your machine is threaded correctly". Yes, I had it threaded wrong - good grief! What a relief to get it going again, and I did a simple meander and enjoyed every minute of it.

I made a variation of the Brightly pattern for the twin size quilt and added a border to both sides to make it more a more standard size. Pre-laundering size = 74" x 94"; after laundering = 71" x 92". The border is a dark teal with gray dots, and the binding is Grunge. The backing is a pretty, warm sage-y green I purchased on sale at Joann's before it closed.

Rosie makes a perfect meowdel for these colors

It was nicely crinkled and soft after laundering

Raegan was so excited for the quilt and Brandon can't wait for it to turn cold to snuggle under it

Sammy with Papaw and Grandma (I was photographing our son photographing us)

We drove down south to Huntsville TX and delivered the quilt after a late lunch with our family celebrating the college graduation of our granddaughter Samantha (Sammy). She is our son and DIL's "baby", so it was an emotional day! Sammy is a very smart girl who has had a difficult past year, but she has a wonderful supportive family, a sweet and kind girlfriend, and she is on the right track, as we knew she would be. She has a job working with special needs children and wants to keep going in that direction. We are so very proud of her. 

Sammy with Raegan and Brandon and her girlfriend Cate. She was so happy!

The last quilt I made for Sammy was in 2017. I found out that she loves pink, so I have an initial fabric pull and pattern planned for her next quilt!

If you've made it this far, thanks for indulging me for this long post with gigantic photos! I am very pleased with how this long-awaited quilt turned out and grateful that my new granddaughter-in-law and grandson are so excited for it.

I am linking with a few linkups:

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch

Melva's Sew and Tell

Brenda's Monday Musings

Alycia's Finished Or Not Friday

We Have A Winner - And A Finish!

Toby is exhausted from pawing through the entries to choose a winner!

Toby and I are excited to announce that the winner of my giveaway for the Christmas In July Blog Hop is Judy at Busy Hands Are Happy Hands - congratulations Judy! Thank all of you for your participation, and thank you to Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for hosting this fun event. Getting involved was just what I needed, and I actually have a little finish to show you.

My blog hop embroidery (pattern is from Joy at Days Filled With Joy) has become a pillow, all ready for Christmas!

First I bordered it with scrappy squares, then shamelessly followed Diann's lead (see her beautiful pillows here) by using Crazy Mom Quilts' tutorial for an envelope backing.

For the backing I used a piece of my hoarded stash of Postcards From Santa that I purchased in 2015!

While I was looking for something to finish for the blog hop, I came across 50 "Sixteen Across" blocks I had made in 2023 - I couldn't believe my find!

Then I pulled a dark green sprigged fabric from Joann's, which I auditioned as a sashing. My husband preferred it to a lighter fabric, and so do I. It would be nice to have this one finished before Christmas and on the guest bed along with the Christmas pillow!

Have a great week!

Christmas In July Blog Hop Day 2

 

Welcome to Day 2 of Christmas In July Blog Hop, hosted by Melva at Melva Loves Scraps! Christmas in July certainly sounds better than summer heat, right?

Melva talking with me about the blog hop

When Melva first mentioned the blog hop here, I loftily said "I no longer participate in blog hops", to which Melva sweetly replied "I understand!" But I couldn't get it out of my head- even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it - and here I am! I had forgotten about the magic that happens when there is a deadline for a post - looking through stash, getting that spark again by encountering projects I had forgotten about, and being inspired by the creations of others as well as that sense of participation and camaraderie. So thank you Melva.

For my project, I chose to finally finish a 2024 Christmas in July embroidery from Joy of Days Filled With Joy. Joy is such a creative soul and makes some of my favorite embroidery patterns. Her instructions are easy to follow, and the patterns are easy to transfer. 

I pulled some sparkly Christmas floss as well as some variegated Sulky threads 

Here is a closeup of the background stars on white.

The finished piece with a 3" border is about 12" x 12"

I used fusible embroidery stabilizer on the back and plan to make it into a wall hanging, possibly using some of this pretty Indigo Garden fabric.

How about a Christmas recipe? Since Thanksgiving is our main family get-together and eat-fest, we usually do a low-key menu on Christmas Eve. My favorite Christmas Eve menu is for appetizers and desserts. This is one of my favorite appetizers, made with Little Smokes and my own sauce recipe, and it is good for July too!

Little Smokies in Sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons BBQ sauce

1 tablespoon grain mustard 

1- 14oz pkg Little Smokies

Whisk first 5 ingredients in saucepan, bring to simmer. Add Smokies and heat through. Can throw them into a mini Crockpot at this point to keep warm.

And here is what you've been waiting for - my prize giveaway, which includes:

• A transparent yarn project bag, which can hold embroidery projects or yarn projects. There is an inside pocket as well as loops at the top to keep your yarn organized.
• A zippered mesh bag for holding anything - colored pencils, embroidery floss, crochet hooks, needles.
• 5 Christmas flosses including 4 sparkly flosses as well as a variegated floss
• 14ct Aida Star fabric in metallic gold natural 

Toby is cleaning his paws for the prize drawing

For a chance to win, just leave a comment letting us know if you are working on a Christmas in July project or if it is "no thank you I will procrastinate wait until December", and I will enter your name in the drawing. You may enter through July 27, and Toby will randomly paw, er, choose a  name. Be sure to leave me your email address so I can notify you if you win!

Finally, here are the blog hop participants for you to visit, including the bloggers for yesterday:

Yesterday, July 24

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps - hostess

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts

Carol at Quilt Schmilt

Today, July 25

Vivian at Bronx Quilter

Gail at Quilting Gail

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal - you are here!

I am also linking this post to Alycia's Finished or Not Friday, with Chris at TGIFF and FO or NO , and with Kate's 15 Minutes To Stitch.

Christmas In July Blog Hop Day 1

 

Welcome to Day 1 of Christmas In July Blog Hop! Thank you to our Super-Star hostess Melva of Melva Loves Scraps! Christmas In July is a chance to break out those holiday projects you want to do early in the hopes you can get ahead of the Christmas rush, and if it is hot where you are, maybe you can cool off dreaming about December!

Below you will find the blog hop participants for today and tomorrow There may be a few prizes along the way, pretty projects, tutorials, and possibly some recipes too!

July 24

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps - our hostess

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts

Carol at Quilt Schmilt

And be sure to come back tomorrow for these!

July 25

Vivian at Bronx Quilter

Gail at Quilting Gail

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal

The Almost Wedding Quilt and Upcoming Blog Hop

This quilt has been in progress for a year!  knew I would make a quilt after the engagement, but I waited until colors were chosen. Then a long wait for batting to be delivered (economy shipping might be free, but wow is it slow), the sandwiching process (it is the biggest quilt I've made so I needed my husband to help me), and bobbin tension issues (first time ever!) it is still not quilted. On top of that, I am having some eye issues, so not a lot of sewing is getting done!

Last month we had lunch with our grandson Brandon and his new bride Raegan after meeting them at the duplex they are leasing. The house is so cute - it was built in the 1960s and is in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas, an older neighborhood with tree-lined streets. I showed Raegan a photo of the quilt and she is thrilled. I hope to gift it to her by the first of August.

In other news, Melva from Melva Loves Scraps is hosting a blog hop on Thursday and Friday this week! As you can see from the cute logo, it is called Christmas in July. My day is Thursday along with other quilters, and the hop will continue on Friday with another group. There will be some prizes involved so be sure to check back on Thursday!

Memorial Day Weekend 2025

On this Memorial Day weekend, I am so thankful for the men and women who have died defending my right to live freely and be able to walk outside into my yard and enjoy a rainbow. I have so many freedoms and rights and take most of them for granted. This weekend seems a good time to remember them.

On the sewing front, I am waiting for the batting for the wedding quilt to arrive. I ordered it through Amazon from a shop that is 35 miles away, because I got a better price than going there and picking it up. Well I found out their free shipping is "economy" shipping, and it has already been twice to the same nearby town and then out of state! Two days ago it was back to a local town and now it is "in transit to the next facility" and "will arrive later than expected". Oh well.

New pattern release by Brenda at Songbird Designs - isn't it pretty!

When I walked into my sewing room yesterday, I felt an excitement I had not felt for a very long time - the sewjo is back! So what did I do? In spite of owning one million patterns, I bought a new pattern by Brenda at Songbird Designs called Christmas Stars (it is on sale until 5/31/25!) Although I love it in Christmas colors, I first want to make it in patriotic colors - I started a pull this morning!

See my new pull-up bar! Gus is in the background cheering me on

New to the sewing room is a pullup bar - lol! I have thought about buying one of these since I first saw my (now married) grandson using one in his house in 2016. Yes it took me a long time to buy it! All I can do on it is hang for about 15 seconds and pull myself about 2 inches off the ground, but hey it's a start! I'm also doing the treadmill 4-5 days a week - trying to get more active!

I hope you are all having a happy and safe weekend!

Blog Website Change and I Like Thursday on Monday

I liked this rainbow that surprised us last Friday during a sprinkle

Starting on May 15 - my blog will no longer be at https://www.texasquiltgal.com but instead will revert back to :

https://txquiltgal.blogspot.com

It seems silly to pay for a custom domain when I blog so sporadically. If I do everything correctly in my settings, you should not notice any difference, but let me know if you have any issues.

I'll go ahead and list a few likes and do the I Like Thursday prompt, which continues in the bike mode: have you ever ridden a motorcycle? Well yes, I rode on the back of a motorcycle a couple of times when I was younger. They were fairly short rides, and I enjoyed them, but they were nothing I cared to continue. How about you?

On May 16, Netflix will air a short documentary I am looking forward to watching: The Quilters. It is about men in a maximum security prison in Missouri who sew quilts for foster children. I have a feeling I will like it, as I am a proponent of  win-win programs for incarcerated men and women.

Jeff's Mother's Day gift to me - an Apple gift card. So we purchased Apple TV for a few months!

I liked my Mother's Day! Our son drove up from The Woodlands and spent Saturday night with us. Jeff helped his Dad move some "junk" out of the shed, and the rest of the time we hung out under the pergola. Margaritas might have made an appearance, and the weather was magnificent - partly cloudy, cool, and not too breezy. With my Mother's Day "Apple" gift, we watched the first few episodes of Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV. We love Jon Hamm, and this series is very entertaining.

Tell me about your Mother's Day, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

Wedding Quilt Teaser

Here is an "official" photo of grandson Brandon and his new bride Raegan. I cry every time I see pics of them - they are so happy! They were married in Tulsa on April 26. I hope to have more photos to add to my next post.

This is a sneak peek at the quilt I am currently finishing for the newlyweds. The colors are based on Raegan's favorite color of teal. It is a big quilt, and quilting it will take awhile with having to move it around so much on the 5-ft quilting frame!

This is very similar to my first bike, except there was no rear rack

Today's I Like Thursday prompt is all about bikes. I got my first bike when I was 8. One day I cried and whined so much for a bike that the next day my Daddy took me to the Oklahoma Tire and Supply (OTASCO) store, which was right next to the drug store where he worked as a pharmacist. Daddy never made much money, so buying a new bike must have been a real stretch for him and Mom. I think it was $30, and the owner of the store let Daddy pay it out monthly. It was blue, and I loved it and rode it constantly around our little town. Mom sold it while I was in college, so it lasted a long time!

Joining with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

I Like Thursday

Clouds before the storm yesterday

Yes it has been a minute since I did an I Like Thursday post. But I still read many of your posts, because they are, well, uplifting to me!

I like LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color. Every month she tirelessly delivers interesting prompts, sponsors I Like Thursday, and visits other bloggers' I Like Thursday posts. And on a personal note, I love her open and kind heart. I'm sure all of you appreciate her as much as I do, so you get it, don't you! She was the inspiration behind my decision to post about my likes today, so thank you LeeAnna.

I like any kind of storm cloud, and I often see mammatus clouds (see photo at top of post) associated with stormy weather. National Weather Service describes them as "Drooping underside (pouch-like appearance) of a cumulonimbus cloud in its latter stage of development. Mammatus most often are seen hanging from the anvil of a severe thunderstorm, but do not produce severe weather. They can accompany non-severe storms as well." These preceded a storm yesterday, and I had to run out to get a shot of them!

Gus and Jack

I like my kitties, period, but I like that Gus has adapted so well from his former feral life. You can read his story in this post from 2023. He plays with Jack and Toby and would play with Rosie if she allowed it. He is the most affectionate and vocal of all our five felines.

Photo of a page of a 1960s hometown church cookbook!

Mom's old Jello salad bowl

LeeAnna asked if we have a favorite salad, and my mind usually goes to my Mom's Jello salads. She was the Queen of Jello Salads! My mouth waters just thinking about them. My favorite was one she called Orange Mallow Ring, and it was an orange Jello salad made with buttermilk and marshmallows. It was so, so good, especially with ham. And she served it in the bowl pictured above, which I also like!

I plan to have a photo of my grandson's "wedding quilt", in a post in the next couple weeks. It has not yet been gifted, because unfortunately we were unable to attend his wedding. Details to follow!

Hope all of you have a wonderful rest of the week.

Winging It Finish - A Quilt For Sissy

Finger tips and shoes belong to my favorite quilt holder

Here is my finish on a QAL I started in May 2023. This one is a surprise for my sister-in-law, Sandy. She is 3 years older than my husband, and he often calls her "Sissy", which was his name for her when he was a little tyke.

Side view

Full backing

Closeup of backing

Sandy's favorite bedroom color for years was turquoise - she even painted the walls of her bedroom turquoise  -  and this quilt was originally intended to lay across her bedspread. It was sandwiched and ready to quilt when Sandy innocently and excitedly told me that her new favorite bedroom color was pink and sent me a photo of her new hot-pink bedspread! I "un-sandwiched" the turquoise backing, which was the same turquoise background as the front. At my favorite Etsy shop (That's So Janice), I located 4-1/2 yards of a Tilda-ish print with pink, coral, and turquoise flowers. There is no pink on the front of the quilt, but the fabric blends well as a backing, so it will have to serve as pink for her!

I decided to try a flange binding and used a tutorial by Jenny at Missouri Star. My quarter inch sewing was a little "fat", so the flange is not quite as wide as I prefer, but I do like the result.

My first and favorite block, before and after quilting.

Closeups of Great Barrier Reef variegated thread

This well-written pattern is Winging It by Wendy Sheppard at Ivory Spring. I used my current favorite Great Barrier Reef variegated thread by Y.L.I. Threads for the top and a creamy high sheen thread for the back. All of the butterflies are from stash, background was purchased at Joann's, and the backing from Etsy. This quilt finished at 72" x 63".

Quilting was done with a butterfly themed panto called "Fanciful Flyers" from Urban Elementz.

The turquoise background is imprinted with dragonflies, so it is definitely a "winged" theme!

Rosie, my quilt assistant, checking for loose threads.