Wedding Reception

Here's a few pics of our son Nick and new daughter-in-law Ashley's lovely, low key family style reception at her parents' beach house.  They worked so very hard to get the house and yard ready for their guests!  In the front courtyard guests were greeted with this:

I never learned who made the beautiful driftwood/beach rock art piece for them.

Inside, the living room wall displayed photos of both Nick and Ashley from baby to present.

The clips had their ages marked, so fun to see what they looked like at the same ages--and as a couple now.

Many of our family members at the table...

..with the next bride-to-be getting bunny ears from her little brother!

Here the bride's father is giving his speech for the newlyweds.  Grant and I, my brother, and several of Ashley's relatives also said many kind things and gave hopes and wishes for the future. 

 Ashley got a little emotional during her speech...

Happy to be joined together and celebrating with people who love them.

We're only missing brother Kevin from this family portrait--he had to leave early to catch a flight. My CK flowered dress stood up well to the day.  I made four cream cheese pies for the dessert table--which disappeared in record time!

 The couple on the dock, prepared to sail away in the channel.

 Ashley hamming it up in the Captain's hat. 

 Her dad made the "Recently Married" sign, so funny.  Many guests took the cue and left but a lot of family members stayed a bit to help clear up and we got to know them more.

It was a lovely day and we are so happy to have another family to join.  We wish Nick and Ashley a long and happy married life. 

More Sewing

After our busy family weekend with the newlyweds' celebrations--to be detailed in a separate post--I got back to the sewing room to play with pieces and parts for more Chunky Churn Dash blocks for my Dad's quilt (free Pattern by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville).

I'm having so much fun with all my scraps and rail sets.  Shirtings, dots, plaids, traditional and brights all play together. 

This one had to have repeat surgery--I sewed the top row on upside-down not once but twice!

I like to sew them up in batches of six blocks, makes it easy to lay them out on the cutting mat and not have to spend too much time sitting to sew or standing to iron. I'm probably going to use blue and cream for the hourglass alternate blocks--my Dad likes blue. Bonnie's design calls for 60 Churn Dash blocks, 61 alternate hourglass blocks, and she has three borders to make the quilt finish just under 80" square.  I may just add more blocks and eliminate the two narrow borders.

The rain was falling to the northeast and there was some thunder and a few drops of rain this afternoon.  I took this photo after lunch hour. 

The leading edge sure made the sky beyond so blue. While we worried that rain would spoil the wedding reception, the terrible weather predictions for other parts of the country soon played out.   My sympathies to all those who have been flooded or had tornado strike damagest, the pictures on the news are devastating. 

Chunky Churn Dash

I previously posted about my Dad needing a replacement for the Turning Twenty Quilt I made him in 2007 HERE.  I'm just getting around to sewing up pieces and parts I've since collected and cut for the Chunky Churn Dash quilt (free pattern by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville).  This is my favorite kind of quiltmaking--piecing, sewing, cutting, and more sewing :)

The stacks on the left are the four rail pieced and cut sections--all made from scraps and stash from 1.5" strips.  I cut a bunch of 2.5" neutral center squares and some colored center squares for variety--as well as sets of 4  2.5" print squares for the corners of the churn dash blocks. 

I played with a few block layouts before heading to work this afternoon.  It will be fun to mix and match as I go.  There are lots more 2.5" squares to pull for the number of blocks I plan to make.  Today when I was at my parents' house, I told my Dad that I was making him a new quilt and he was very happy.  He said, "I miss my old quilt", and I asked what happened to it, and he said he didn't know where it was.     Mom and I went on a search and it turned up on the guest bed under the down comforter.  Although a bit threadbare, it was still functional.  I have a feeling he will steal it back to use until I get the new one made!

Meanwhile, final preparations are being made for the wedding reception this weekend for our son Nick and his bride, Ashley, who exchanged rings in a private ceremony performed by my brother last Sunday.  We are all crossing our fingers that the rain and cold wind now predicted will be much less forceful when the day arrives.  The couple and I went shopping at Superbuzzy for fabric for their quilt and I've ordered the Jen Kingwell pattern, Dreamweaver (designed by Michelle McKillop).  It's an advanced pattern with a pieced background and a medallion and streamers appliqued on top.  I'm excited to get started on that one too.  Never a dull moment around here!

Time Flies

Didn't mean to lag between posts so long, but time is flying by fast.  I have been doing  little bit of sewing--a very little bit.  My sister returned the Falling Charms quilt and I got the binding made but not yet attached. 

She free-motioned the swirls on her longarm, but said it took her two hours to get the longarm working well after it had been sitting idle for over a month.  The binding is an old Concord Fabrics print from stash--I have no recollection of when or where I acquired it. 

The colors go very well with the charms in the quilt.  I'm hoping to give this to the intended recipients this weekend at our annual Mother's Day brunch.   

Our son Nick's wedding is rapidly approaching and there are things to do.  I was tasked with pulling photos for a display at the reception--Oh what a rabbit hole that is, getting out boxes of pictures!  It was easy to find solo pics of Nick as a baby, but much harder in the later years.  We took annual Christmas photos for many years and there are lots of those, and of other family gatherings, but not so many of just him, particularly as a teen.

I'm going to guess this photo of a bunch of cousins was taken on Mother's Day 1998, based on the youngest baby in the picture, our niece Emma, who is being held by Nick on the far left.  The darling blondie girl on the far right is getting married this year too, niece Anya.

A few years later the house had changed color but Denis, our dear departed orange and white cat, still favored the porch.  The yellow coreopsis flowers looking so lush here inspired me to buy a few to plant now.  The purple Mexican sage in the background was planted the year we moved in and it is still alive and flourishing. Daughter Erica looks like she has a bunny tail there where the sun is hitting her! Erica has been too busy to come over and play with her placemat fabrics we bought...

...but Erica's boyfriend Ryan had picked out a few fabrics in the sewing room for me to make him this coaster.  It is an easy 5" charm square project with only 5 charms needed.  A wine glass can be inserted in the center where the folded charms meet.

I used green on the back as its his favorite color too.  Meanwhile, future daughter-in-law and I have been messaging ideas for their quilt and plan to do some fabric shopping this weekend. Can't wait!