PATCHWORK -- INSIDE AND OUT

As I'm working on MY patchwork inside (to finish my Irish Chain block exchange blocks) . . .

. . . my husband has his own brand of patchwork on the outside of the house -- to remedy a water problem in our basement utility room. He is raising the concrete (which has "settled" over time) that supports our driveway pavers so that water won't run toward the house(and in to the basement) in a heavy rainfall.

And like any good quilter, he plans well for the placement of his "patches" so he will know exactly where the pavers belong to keep the pattern correct.

And as I take a break from my patchwork, I am finishing up my granddaughter's birthday sweater.

Actually, between the time I took this photo and got around to sharing it with you, the crochet edging is finished as are all the seams. All that's left is the buttons that I will buy tomorrow.

That means I can now start on my grandson's sweater this evening --I guess I'd better get to it.

ALL WRAPPED UP

Oh, my. Two celebrations within a week of one another. And opposite ends of childhood for our youngest and eldest grandchild.

Our youngest, Roman, celebrated his first birthday last week and his big sister, Juliana, will graduate from high school on Monday.

We get to go visit them and enjoy the last couple days of grandchildren sitting (Their other grandmother has been with them the last few days.) until Mom and Dad get home on Monday, just in time to see their first baby graduate. They have been busy in Minneapolis this week at Quilt Market.

My preparations for the celebrations are almost complete.

Including my first attempt at towel monogramming. I'm thinking that they turned out quite nicely.

And the machine embroidery for the yoke of the nightgown I think is quite OK too. I'm hoping the "puckering" will relax a bit once the Solvy is off the back. (It just might have been a mistake to try to press the hoop wrinkles out with the Solvy still there--just to get this photo!)

I'll finish the nightie when I get more fabric from my daughter's home studio while I'm there. So I guess it's not all quite wrapped up after all. Some of it needs to wait just a few more days.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT . . .

. . . or at least I hope so.

I've been playing with my embroidery machine again -- and using very different weights of fabric. First of all on this voile (from daughter Anna Maria's collection) for the yoke of a nightgown. The body of the gown will be the print. (I think I'll make a trip to the shop to get a little different colors, but I'm pleased with the quality of the stitches.)

Amazingly, I didn't even have to change the tension settings to get a good result on the practice towel either.

Oh, yes, I'm still knitting along on that sweater and my "take along" dish cloths.

And, of course, still enjoying the spring blooms I find in my flower beds.

OK, time to go back and play some more, or shall I just go outside and enjoy the birds' songs after our late afternoon rain?

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Oh, my goodness. I had almost forgotten I had this pattern "book". I knew I had a lot of my mom's old patterns, but this one contains the pattern for not one, but for three patterns of sweaters that she made for me while I was in high school! I no longer have those sweaters, but I do indeed still have two others that she knit me during those same years that I still actually wear. AND my daughter and granddaughter each have one as well.

Now, the reason I was looking through all my patterns was to find a pattern for "chunky" weight yarn for a sweater for my granddaughter for her August birthday. (Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to find patterns for late grammar school age and pre-adolescent children?)

And, hooray, I found a pattern that I am using. (This is the back, but I guess you cold figure that out.)

And since I showed you a bit of my mother's "hobby", I thought I might as well show you that I try to keep up a bit with my father's as well. At one time he must have had around 100 rose bushes. And they were all beautiful.

These are the first blooms on one of my (only) three bushes.

I think both Mother and Daddy might be pleased that the "apple doesn't fall far from the tree"!