It’s An Inside Job……

No…that’s not my quilt up above but isn’t it pretty? Typical Maine scene someone who knew what the heck they were doing created. Me?…I really just shoot from the hip…on a wing and a prayer!  I know I have been doing a lot of whining about the heat. So I thought I would show you what I have been doing inside, while trying to avoid that heat. Last Christmas, i made two lap blankets. One for my wonderful friend and mother in law Alice, and one for my terrific father in law Woody! He actually posted photos of them a few posts ago. I made them from scraps I got at a yard sale. The material all came from L.L. Bean. A woman worked there and ended up with a huge amount of sample material. I was lucky enough to get several large boxes of it from her. I have done so many crafts with that material, I can’t even begin to tell you.

After seeing the lap blankets I made for A & W last Christmas, my husband Bob told me he would like one. So I started making him one. I don’t have a lot of masculine looking material left. He really likes red…of course…he’s an Aries and don’t laugh because I have never quilted and it’s all done by hand. This is the front. Just pieces cut this way and that and sewn together any which way! No pattern or method to my madness really. God I hate this font. Hold on…..I’m back!… and let’s see if this font is not so crowded as the last one…so far not so good i guess. This Lap Blanket is much longer. I was going for 5 feet but got carried away. Bobbie is at least 5’9” and he is hidden behind there! Oh well…he doesn’t mind. Here is another shot……

Another font change! Sorry. That black piece in the upper right is suede. I ran out of material big enough and thought he would like the feel of it. The back side of that is very furry and warm. See his white sneakers below? I am glad I did not see his face behind there because i made him stand there for a bit…my camera was screwing up! Alice tells me it looks like the colors from the family crest. Bobbie is Scottish. Why do you think I call him Bobbie McGeek?? He’s also Irish and French and I forget what else? Alice would know! She is a master genealogist! 

That’s the front. It’s wrinkled, needs to be pressed, and stitches need tightening up. Now I will purchase a coordinating piece of soft fabric to sew onto the back as well as a satin blanket border. With Alice and Woody’s, I stenciled the first letter of each of their names onto a piece of fabric and sewed it on with a blanket stitch using embroidery thread. That is Woody’s, above, and here is Alice’s… Bobbie’s will get a big B and that would stand for his nickname Bobbie or for his last name Bean! How about that? So….that’s what I have been doing while watching movies, and watching my husband play Modern Warfare on the Xbox! The computer business has picked up as well. This is historically a very slow time of year for us. Can you guess why? Yup…..THE HEAT is keeping folks inside more…..but I can’t complain about that now can I?? Not one bit. What are you all doing to stay cool??