My dad's birthday and his quilt

Monday would have been our dad's 68th birthday.  We never imagined last year we would be celebrating without him.  It is safe to say that the day was far more difficult than any of us would've imagined.  Back in Utah all of my other 6 siblings were able to gather at my parent's home.

They served Fish and Chips, a favorite of my dad's.  I have been lucky enough to go to the fish and chips shop around the corner from the home my dad grew up in Grays, England with him.  Memories I'll absolutely always treasure.  I was so fortunate to visit his home with him a handful of time.

We did a balloon release.  Everybody wrote notes and letters to my dad on balloons.  Then we released them for him to read.

My uncle Andy, my dad's best friends and younger brother, releasing balloons in England.

And here we are in Virginia, my little family timing our release at the same time as everyone in Utah.

We also celebrated with Apple Pie, my dad's favorite.

I woke up and I felt okay.  I knew it was his day and thought I would be okay.  And then I saw the picture from my uncle and it was over.  I had a very very sad morning.  Missing my dad so incredibly much.  I'm so thankful for my amazing mom and siblings, we are all suffering together and that makes it better in a way.  I have 7 people who know exactly what I'm feeling, the massive void I feel and know my dad completely.

I decided that afternoon I would spend making another quilt block for his memory quilt.  This is the 6th block, the white is his shirt.

I really enjoy sewing and creating, it distracts me and makes me happy.  Then the cherry on top is working on this special quilt of my dad. I have a large canvas picture of him in there with me and  yes, I talk to him.

Another one I haven't shared. The blue is his shirt.

The first three.  Only the bottom plaid gray/blue is his shirt.  The other two do not have his shirts.

I look forward to adding to the collection of blocks.

Union Jack Attack

Since our dad passed away Heather and I have both been wanting to keep his memory alive.  We talk about him, think about him and our hearts ache for him.  I'm consumed with sadness missing my dad.  It is so so hard.  I still cannot believe it's real.

One thing in missing him is doing something about it.  Writing his story and memories have been on my mind but I still find it too hard to do.  I've written in a notebook a lot but it brings me down.  I just have to try and balance it all I guess.  I've also wanted something tangible of him, just to have him with me always.  I have a couple of his hats, shirts and sweatshirts I wear often.  I love those.

My mom was able to part with a good amount of his clothing.  She said seeing it in the closet made her so sad and she wanted us all to have things.  There are 7 of us kids.  My brothers each have hats and jackets from my dad.  Heather and I also received some of my dad's dress shirts so we could make our own memory quilts.  He is from England so it is really neat to have an image that represents him.  In his office he had a lot of Union Jack things.  We also made him a Union Jack quilt for Father's Day a couple years ago.  Here is my progress so far.

The only block in this set that has my dad's shirt is the plaid blue/gray.  I couldn't wait to get started so I made two blocks before I had his shirts.  The rest of my blocks will contain his shirts.

I laid all his shirts in the middle and on each side I started piling different whites, reds/pinks and blues that coordinated.

This one below, which doesn't contain any of his shirts, is so sweet to me.  I ordered a couple of these prints specifically for this project.  The crowns (from Sarah Jane's "Let's Pretend" line) were the perfect royal blue and exactly what I wanted in a Union Jack quilt.  And the hearts...of course were perfect.

These pictures are all from my phone so some quality is better than others.  I really love the white flowers in this block (from Tasha Noel's "Simple Life").  I really like the stripes too except where they meet in the middle. Hopefully that won't bother me in the big picture.

And the block with my daddy.

I quite enjoy making these. They don't make me sad just really happy with each finished block. I have other things going on so I try to sneak in some paper pieceing here and there.

Speaking of which this is a free paper pieced pattern from traceyjay quilts that I found on Craftsy.  I searched quite a bit online, different tutorials and patterns to find the exact Union Jack I wanted. I wanted a bigger block (many are much smaller) this is 12 x 18.  Also on the diagonal pieces I like where they are thin on one side and thick on the other.  Just looks more like the real flag.

Thank you for taking time to stop by the blog today and for reading about me and my dad. :)

Union Jack Zipper Pouches

I got some real cute Union Jack panels a few days ago.  I had the perfect project in mind.

As you are probably well aware, our sweet daddy was from England.  Can I tell you how nice it is to have something so visual represent him?

While in Utah many many people helped me (in lots of ways) and especially watching my kids.  That last week I was at the hospital with my dad a lot.  The week after we were planning the funeral.  The weeks after that when I could it was so nice to sneak away and spend some time with my siblings.  I am so fortunate to have such a big family and so many nieces that adore my children.  My husband was only able to stay for one week so I was solo most of my time there.

I found out some favorite colors and went from there.  Have you seen the panels?  I got mine from The Quilted Castle.  They have small panels with lots of small Union Jacks (each are 9 x 11) in lots of cute colors.  Then there are also larger panels with large Union Jacks.

Union Jack Panel at The Quilted Castle

I love getting to use such bright and happy colors.  Lots of chevrons and lots of dots!

I had to replenish my zippers this week too...I love having bright colored zippers on hand.  Each pouch is about 9.5" x 11.5".

They should be receiving them today.  I am so dangerous posting these already.  Just kidding, my 14, 12 and 10 year old nieces don't read our blog :)  But one is for my 31 year old cousin, she has no excuse! :)

Hope you're having a good day!!

England quilt for our Daddy...

We have mentioned that our Dad came from England. You can read his sweet story here. 

Anyhow, we are all a bit nostalgic for England and all things British.  This year for Father's day, us three daughters (me-Heather, Megan and our sister Amy) and our Mom contributed to making this quilt. We each had to make 3 24" blocks. There is paper piecing, applique, and lots of piecing. We were able to find some really fun fabrics for it too.

Our Dad was really touched, he really likes it. 

 This Lizzy House castle peeps line was great for it, King, Queen and castles. Super cute!

We love our Daddy, love England, love quilting! Hope you liked it too!

Keep Calm and Graduate On from The Blueberry Moon

Keithena from The Blueberry Moon has a fabulous quilt and story to share today.  Absolutely LOVE this quilt, such a great idea!!  The British side of me is very inspired!!  The Blueberry Moon has some fun places to look around, her quilts, recipes, tutorials...so stop on by after her feature :)

Remember When I said London was calling?

Well look....It did. And it was for Brontë.

Quilt and pillow ..... Jolly good I'd say.   

    WARNING!!

        Here comes the quilt story....It's a bit long winded.

     When I was 19 I read "Wuthering Heights". Oh, I loved that book! I read it over the summer of 1986. It was a challenge for me. I love to be challenged. It remains as my all time favorite reads. The author of that great tale, Emily Brontë, I found fascinating also. I remember telling myself at the time. If I ever have a daughter. I will name her Brontë. 

     Eight years and two sons later, I did. And she, like the book, has been challenging. In the very best way possible. I have learned so much about who I am by raising her. She is fascinating, complicated, silly, kind, smart, thoughtful, creative, strong-willed and beautiful.

     On tuesday she begins her senior year of high school. She has plans to attend college. She is thinking photo journalism. I am thinking..... I never want her to leave !!!

      Senior years are so tough these days. The stress can be overwhelming for these kids. I have watched some of my son's friends get crushed under the pressure. And some achieve amazing things. I know what lies ahead for her. And it is a lot. The best and most challenging of times. As a mom I can only comfort her. The work and results are all up to her.

      So comfort her I will...

 With this pillow.

                               

 And this quilt.

    This idea came to me a while back.I was going to wait until graduation. 

But for all the reasons I will give. The time was now....

        I know in the days ahead, 

She will come home mad at something some dumb girl said....

"The Boy" will bruise her heart....

The testing will melt her brain....

The teacher just won't understand....

There are sure to be,

Rejection letters......

Failed awards....

Grades that didn't come out as planned......

Plans that seem like they will never succeed.....

But then again there will be,

Great test scores....

Amazing teachers....

Homecoming ........

The Prom .....

The acceptance letter...

Graduation celebrations....

The acceptance letter....

Saying goodbye to friends.....

For each of these moments in time. She can run home  cuddle up with these gifts of love. She can cry tears of anger, happiness or fear. Scream into the pillow. Hide under the quilt.

But she will know she has a Mom that loves here......

And the goal is to just......

Keep Calm and Graduate on !!!!

More pics....

 If any of you out there have a Senior in your life...... I think this makes a great gift idea. 

In the next few weeks, I will have the PDF template for the the letters and cap. Also included will be cutting and finishing instructions.  So keep a look out.......

Queen's Jubilee and a Union Jack Tutorial!

As Heather and I have mentioned before, our dad grew up in England and we both have had the chance to visit the other side of the pond a few times, so England is close to our hearts!  In fact we have an awesome quilt we just made for our dad that we'll be sharing sometime after Father's Day.  This month the Queen of England celebrated her jubilee and Liz from Dandelion Daydreams was kind enough to fill us in on the events and share her Union Jack Tutorial!  YAY!  Thanks so much Liz! Make sure to see Dandelion Daydreams, her WIPs/projects and a great gallery!


At the start of June 2012, the Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee.  Coupled with the fact that we are also hosting the Olympics this year, Twenty Twelve is set to put Great Britain on the map!  We certainly all fell in love with the Royal Wedding last year.  The pageantry and pomp and circumstance was such a wonderful spectacle.  And, quite frankly, any occasion that enables me to hang out the bunting, eat Victoria Sponge, drink Pimms and enjoy afternoon tea, is one that I intend to fully embrace.

I am more of a visual learner and love all the wonderful free tutorials online.  I have learnt nearly everything about sewing from an online tutorial somehow or another.  So this is my chance to give something back to the wonderful sewing community in blogger blogland.

I couldn't find a free online block, so this is how I made my Jubilee inspired in mostly pictures and a few words...

Materials Needed


To make a finished block size 9 inches by 14 inches approximately

• 1 rectangle of fabric for the base of the block (mine is blue) measuring 9" x 14";
• 2 different colour strips of fabric measuring 2" x 42"  (approx 2" by the width of fabric)**; 
• 8 white 1" x 42" strips of fabric 
• sewing machine
• thread
• iron

** alternatively, if you want to use a FQ or scraps for these pieces, you need two 2"x20" strips (of same fabric); and one 2"x18" and one 2"x11" (both of same fabric).  The white 1" strips need to match these lengths as well.  

How to:

1.  Start by cutting your fabric to the sizes listed above.  Here is my main blue rectangle which measures 9 inches by 14 inches.

2.  Next up take your two long coloured strips (these will make up the crosses on our Union Jack) and sew a white 1 inch strip down either long side.  It makes it faster if you chain piece these.

 3. Press the seams open and you will end up two strips with white borders on all their long sides.

 4.  Next cut your rectangle in half diagonally.

5.  Now you are going to take whichever strip you want to make your St Andrews' cross (mine is the solid pink strip) and sew it right sides together along the diagonal cut.

Repeat for the other side of the rectangle.

Lining up tip:  When you sew the second side of the strip into the diagonal, I found it helpful to line the rectangle up face up, then slide the rectangle side over so that its in the right place before flipping it over so that right sides are together.

 This is what you are aiming for:

6.  Now measure your strip, it should measure 2 1/4".  We need to know this measurement for our next series of cuts.

 7.  Now cut your rectangle in half on the other diagonal.

 8.  From each diagonal edge, cut a strip off measuring 1 1/8" (One and One Eighth inch) off.  Thus making room for your strip which you know will end up with a width of two and a quarter inch.

You should have now cut each of your triangles down by 1 1/8" each along the diagonal.

 9.  Sew in your next strip as before in step 5, aligning carefully on your second side.  The picture below shows how the stitching line for the second side of the strip.

 10.  Trim the ends of the strips so that you have a perfect rectangle again.

11.  Now we are going to start on our St George's cross part of the flag.  Cut your block in half on the longest side so that you end up with two long thin rectangles.  To find my middle, I just fold my block in half and crease the middle with my finger.  

12.  Once again, you need to trim 1 1/8" (One and One Eighth inch) off either side of the middle of your block.  

 13.  Sew your other strip onto each side of the rectangle, ensuring that you line up accurately on the second side.

14.  Now for our final set of cuts!  Bet you feel like a seasoned pro at it already!!

Cut your block in half again this time so that you end up with two short fat rectangles.  Then cut 1 1/8" (One and One Eighth inch) from each side.

15.  Sew your last strip into the middle gap and voila...

Your Union Jack block is complete!

I hope that all these instructions make sense.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.  If you make one, please link back to this tutorial if posting pics online and I would love it if you would add your pic to my Flikr group.

I have also made a tutorial showing how to sew a more representative Union Jack flag block which you can find here.

Many thanks
Liz
xxxx