Where Does the Time Go?

What a year indeed!!  I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I posted her! I am still here.  Still sewing!  Still quilting!  Still a wife, Mom and Grammy!  Our family grew by one last early August!  Sweet Elle Angeline was born to our younger son, Anthony and his wife Leah!

She is simply delightful in every way!  And this family sure did need some more estrogen!!  She does resemble her older brother Neal, but has smaller features, light blue eyes, where Neal’s are brown, and lighter hair and skin tone, as Neal has olive skin!

Although spelled. Elle, we call her Ellie!  And she has a determined spirit and a curious nature!!  Neal is quite the older brother and is generous with sharing and teaching her new skills.  They adore each other in every way, which is so nice to see!!

                                           

Anthony, Leah, Neal and Ellie came to stay with us in March, as the kids’ daycare closed down and both Anthony and Leah had to work from home like the rest of the country, so I was able to help watch the kiddos while they, and my husband, worked here in the house. 

 They stayed with us for 10 weeks, then moved on to stay with Leah’s parents in western Pennsylvania, until they finally got back to their home in Philly.  The kid’s daycare reopened and so far, so good.  It was an adjustment for us all, but oh so lovely to get to spend such quality time with them all!!   Neal and I read LOTS of books and he had fun mastering our Alexa devices! LOL!! Ellie was on the cusp of crawling and beginning to pull up on stuff!  



Meanwhile, our older son, AJ and his wife Meredith are expecting their first child- a boy!!  Her due date is August 11th, which is right around the corner.  We’ve all been social distancing and self quarantining , so we’ve not been around them to see the baby belly grow!  That are both, also, working from home since March.  

                  

I had a pile of small utility quilts, each made from a singe charm pack, ready to bind, when the kids moved in.  So they waited patiently in a pile, until the kids had moved on.  They are all bound and given to Meredith and AJ for the new baby!  

                    



                    



                   

                   

                   

I also made them a larger quilt, with a requested lion theme, in blues and greys, that they can hang on the wall in the new nursery.

                         

I also made them a matching lion pillow for the rocker, and gave all these quilts to them with a really big patchwork tote bag that matches one of the small utility quilts.

                   



So, we all have babies on our minds these days!! Just waiting for the call that labor has started.  We aren’t allowed to go to the hospital to see them there, but hope to see them all when they get back home.


So, that’s enough for now.  Hope you all have stayed safe and healthy in this weird new reality.  What has kept you sane these days?  Are you sewing up a storm? Reading? Reorganizing stuff?  Finding new ways to get some exercise?  Trying new recipes?  If you and your better half are spending so much more time together with working from home, like my hubby and I are, how’s it going?
It’s certainly a better commute, right?  Ya gotta laugh, right?

Take care and stay healthy and safe! More to come!

                         God Bless!!  Polly

Still Here!!

I am sorry for not posting in soooo long!! In my defense, I was helping plan my daughter-in-law's first baby/our first grandchild shower. This was hung on my front door for the shower then went home for the nursery wall!



So honored that it was held here in my home!  So very much fun!!  

Meet Grover, my son's favorite toy as a toddler, who was very well loved!  

So, of course, he had to come out of Anthony's storage tub in the basement to a place of honor on the table.   

And I got the baby a new small Grover to pop out of the top of the diaper cake!!

Her colors for the new nursery are grey, blues, black and white.  She made this pretty quilt for the baby herself!! :-)

This is my real official quilt for my first grandson, who is due October 2nd!! 

I stayed with their colors as much as I could (wink) but did add a few tiny splashes of green!!  

The colors and design reminded me of water sliding over rocks in a stream with tiny bits of moss here and there...

so I named it "Babbling"...which will also describe the baby a few months down the road!! 

I also did some real modern free motion quilting on it!!  Really loved doing that, too!!

Then, I bought some cute charm packs of children's collections and made small utility quilts that can be used for car seats and carriage and such.  

A charm pack has 42 five inch squares and with a 6 by 7 layout, you get a little quilt that is about 27" by 32"!

It takes about an hour to lay the charm squares out and sew them together.



Then about 30-45 minutes to layer and quilt it.

Then about an hour or so to attach and sew down the binding.

So, they are fun and quick and easy to make.  It does take a bit more time should you decide to add a bit of applique'!!

I really loved making them all!!  A few of them are all flannel.  Some are all regular cotton fabric, and some are regular cotton fabric on the front and have flannel on the back.



We had lots of great food, games, prizes and fun!  And Leah got awesome baby gifts...which Yogi stole two of from the open bags and boxes on the floor, after everyone had gone home!!  

He confiscated a rubber ducky and a little blue stuffed elephant!!  We all just had to laugh!!