Another Scrappy Child's Quilt

I recently finished this scrappy child's quilt.  It is machine pieced and quilted.  It measures 38 in X 50 in.  I gave it to a colleague for his grandchildren to use.

Here are some photos to show some of the fun details that can be found in the quilt.  In this one you can find a fairy, a volcano, flowers, and a snail among the colors (red, purple, yellow, blue, orange).

And in this one:  Piglet and Winnie-the-Pooh, a station wagon, a zebra, houses, trees, and fireflies.

 

This one:  dogs, dragonflies, horses, pottery, and dots.

 

This one:  red owl, skiers, and race car monitor gauges.

 

The back is just white muslin, so I pieced the label:

Old Log Cabin Quilt

Here's the other quilt my paternal grandmother made.  It isn't dated as the autograph one was, but I think it must have been pieced in the mid-to-late 1960's as the other one was.  It was was quilted by my mother and sister Cathy.  It measures 68 in X 83 in.

 

Here is a close up

And here

This one shows the damage done when I took it on a camping trip at the end of medical school.  I was wrapped in it to get warm after floating down the Buffalo and caught a couple of sparks from the campfire.  I regret the damage, but have good memories of the trip with DeWayne Nash, Ken Carpenter (deceased), Joe Cloud, and Gene Hardin  (those guys were like brothers to me).  Sure hope the ones who can will be at our 30th class reunion this weekend.

 

Here's a picture from the camping trip.

Two WIPs

I have two projects I am currently working on.  One is another scrappy child's quilt.   This one is for a colleague who saw another one I had done.  It will be used for his grandchildren.  I pieced twelve 11 in blocks (so when sewn to the sashing will finish at 10.5 in square).  The sashing is 2.5 in wide, so when sewn to the blocks will measure 2 in wide.  Here are some photos of some of the fun details.  This first one shows robots, flowers, skiers, a red convertible.

This one shows a cat peeking out, a razorback, Tigger, a steamboat, stars.

And in this one you can see the owl in the connecting 2.5 in square, a dancing cat in a hat, a race car, carolers, trees.  

The other is an ambitious knitting project.  I’m making a swirl jacket using the pattern Sheer Beauty by Sandra McIver.   

Here I've stretched out the knitting so you can see the two yarns:  Noro Taiyo (color #28) and Malabrigo Lace in Damask (#13o).

Two Pairs of Fingerless Mittens

Here are two different pair of fingerless mittens I recently finished knitting using "left-over" yarn from other projects.  I think they might make nice gifts, especially since we all love to text/etc with our smart phones these days.   

I love the lace pattern on the lighter blue but it isn't quit as form fitting as the darker blue.  Perhaps in the future I can combine the two patterns.  For the light blue one I used the pattern Swan Maiden Mitts by Holly Terrell and left over Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine yarn. 

For the darker blue ones I used the pattern Pianissimo Mitts by Becky Herrick and the same yarn (Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine) in a darker blue, left over from the same project.

Country Garden Small Quilt

This small quilt (12 in X 12 in) was made for the ALQS7.  It is mostly machine pieced with a few small pieces hand appliqued (the center of each flower and the side triangles on the right).  It is machine quilted.

Here is a close up of the small flower

Here is the back of the quilt before I sewed on the sleeve and label.

The block, country gardens (you can get the pattern here if you create an account on Fons & Porter website), is from Mountain Mist.  The pattern dates back to 1941 and was designed by Margaret Hayes of Knoxville, TN.  It can be found in the book:  Mountain Mist Quilt Favorites (published in 1998).

Family Autograph Quilt

My paternal grandmother pieced this quilt.  She pieced quilt tops for all of the grandkids.  Mine was a log cabin which I'll show you in a few weeks.  This was an extra one, I won the draw.   It has the names of all her children and their children, some friends (or else family member I don't know), and towns in the area embroidered on it.  She also put some Bible verse on the quilt.  I would love to know why these verses meant enough to her to put them on the quilt.  She died August 1981, early in my senior year in medical school, from peritoneal carcinomatosis.  She didn't have much trust in doctors/hospitals, so when she finally sought help and surgery was done, it was an open and then close.  Her abdomen was completely seeded with tumor.  My Aunt Earlene doesn't know what the primary was and her death certificate doesn't say either.

Anyway, I love the quilt.  It measures 67 in X 91 in.

Here's the one with my name (mispelled-- Romona). 

and this one is my dad’s block

and this has my brother John’s and sister Susan’s names

In our family there were two Randy’s, my brother and a cousin (younger, often referred to as little Randy).  My grandmother put my brother with our Mom (the yellow block) and my cousin with one of his sister’s (the blue block),

These next three contain Bible verses.  As mentioned above, I would love to know why she choses them. 

and this  (Mark 13:18)

and this (Matthew 22: 14)

My grandmother pieced the quilt top, my mother and sister Cathy did the quilting during my first year in college.

Two Articles on Bone Biology

There are two good articles worth reading on bone biology and physiology in June 2012 issue of Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 

The first one is a good review of the basics, blood supply, cell types, bone matrix, bone formation, bone growth, and bone remodeling.  The second article then uses the first to discuss clinical correlates.

Bone Biology and Physiology: Part I. The Fundamentals; Buck, Donald W. II; Dumanian, Gregory A.; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 129(6):1314-1320, June 2012; doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e31824eca94

Bone Biology and Physiology: Part II. Clinical Correlates; Buck, Donald W. II; Dumanian, Gregory A.; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 129(6):950e-956e, June 2012; doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e31824ec354

Three Knitted Hats

I have over the last few weeks knitted three hats.  Two of them for my young friend with breast cancer for whom I made the "one pink heart" quilt.  She has lost her hair to the chemo, so I knit her a couple of hats.  The third hat is for her husband.  You can read their blog, “Fighting Fancy,”  here.

This one is a mohair/silk yarn (Artyarns Ensemble Glitter Light) and is very soft.  The pattern is Tähdellinen by Tiina Kuu.

Here it is from the side:

The second one is not quite as soft.  It is made using Little Monkey's Stitch n Spin Merino Fiber which is 70% merino/ 30% banana fiber.  The pattern is Intuitive by Julia Zahle.  It can be worn either “cuffed”

or as a slouch hat, unfolded:

Here is the one for her husband.  It is made using Tahki Yarns Tara Tweed yarn.  I used the Cross Skull Cap pattern by Kimberly Nicdao Villareal.

Puppies in Waiting Wall Hanging Quilt

This wall hanging is made using a linen tea towel as the centerpiece.  I framed it with a lovely brown/black batik and added appliqued dog biscuits.  I used the same machine the trapunto technique I used on the African whole cloth quilt to help add a little 3-D effect to the puppies.

Here is the finished quilt.  It measures 25 in X 33 in.  It is machine pieced, appliqued, and quilted.

Here is a close up to show the one dog looking forward.

This one show more of the border detail.

Here is the back which is brown/white print.  I'll add a sleeve for hanging ease and a label, then I plan to donate it to the Humane Society of Pulaski County to be used in one of their fund-raiser silent auctions.

Links of Interest

Updated 3/2017-- all links removed as many no longer active.

These links are of interest to me and perhaps will be to you.

Today is  @jordangrumet’s birthday.  Did you know he has published a book of his poetry?  I have my copy which I am enjoying.  Read his post on how to obtain your copy.

Via @FauquierENT who tweeted this:  “Creative Ways to Wear a Scarf for Patients with a Trach or Ugly Neck Scar http://bit.ly/NfdmSG”   Not all the 25 ways shown in the video would actually work for patients with trach but enough of them do.  All of them would work for the rest of us who might just want to know more than one way to wear a scarf.  Check it out.

Have you read @joannacannon’s post  “Watch Out For The Normal People”?   If not, then I recommend you do so.  It is wonderful.

Knitted Lace Shell Top

So I frogged (or unknitted) the May Day Poncho and used the yarn to make this top.  The yarn is Artyarns Ensemble Glitter Light which is lovely, a 50/50 blend of silk and cashmere.  The pattern is Date Night by Nikol Lohr.  I’m really happy with how it turned out.   The neckline is very flattering.

See the finished sweater here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/rlbates/date-night

I may knit this again and see how it turns out in say linen as the tunic version.  We’ll see.

Scrappy Child's Quilt

My latest quilt is another scrappy one.  I've been trying to use up some of my scraps, but feel the need to do a non-scrappy one or two next.  This one uses 10 in scrappy blocks that are then put together with 2 in wide sashing.

The next several pictures show some of the fabric details I hope the child will find interesting.  This one has a moon, a girl, flowers, a feather, and several colors.

And this one has a dancing cat in the center, dogs, leaves, carolers, and more. 

And this one has a car, route 66 sign, a tea cup, and flowers.

This one has Arkansas razorback fabric, polka dots, “she crab soup,” and flowers.

The back of this quilt is pieced also using a "book" panel with the pages being the blocks.  The sashing on the back is 3 in wide.