A Country Baby

The other day I made another fleece blanket for Baby Jay--my grandson. He's 3 months old now and weighs over 12 lbs! Don't you just want to pinch these cheeks?
And check out those blue eyes too! He reminds me so much of his mom when she was this age.

I'm headed up to the "country" aka Utah to see this cute little "country" baby soon. So this is fleece blanket #3 for him. Can a baby have too many blankets? I found this darling John Deere fleece at JoAnn's and it made me think of him. I did some freehand clouds on it...similar to the pantograph pattern by Keryn Emerson, "Oriental Cloud." My freehand version went way faster and didn't turn out so bad. So...it's a "country" blanket for a "country" baby!


Now, get back to work Grandma! Lots of quilting to do!

A New Member of the Club

...which club? The "Grandma Club"!

On Dec. 30, 2009 I became a grandmother for the first time! Jay William Barnes entered the world at 2:22 am, weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz.

Below is the first picture I saw of Jay. It came over on my cell phone (via text) from my son-in-law. It was love at first sight! (check out that blonde hair!)

Jay was born a few weeks early. He had a little bit of a rough start and had to be under the bili lights in the NICU. I called them his "disco dancing" lights!

Daughter #1 and her Sweetheart, Jay's parents, live in Utah, near the Idaho border. As soon as we heard the great news that our grandbaby had arrived, we jumped into our car and drove as quickly as we could. 12 hours later...the picture below is my husband meeting his grandson for the first time. Notice Jay holding is grandpa's finger!

Here he is looking at his mom. "Are you my mother?"

Two new happy parents with their little baby, ready to leave the hospital.

I returned to Utah 3 weeks later to spend a week with the little family. Here they are with Jay. Look how much he's already grown!

He's now almost a month and half old! He weighs over 11 lbs! (yes, I'm one of those grandma's, who shows everyone pictures of the cutest baby ever! I show everyone...the people at the grocery store, the bank tellers, the ladies at the quilt shops...everyone!

And what kind of quilt did his grandma make for him? A fleece blanket to keep him warm up there in the snow. I chose a fleece with surfboards...to remind him of his grandma down here in sunny California!

Now back to quilting! Lots of little boy quilts to make for my grandson!

Special Things

Recently I had the opportunity to machine quilt a darling dinosaur quilt. This special quilt is from a grandmother for her 3 year old grandson. It's from the Kansas City Star book, "Dinosaurs-Stomp, Chomp and Roar" by Pam Manning. I know the little boy will treasure it always.

I look forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time in Jan. Daughter #1 is due Jan. 20th and is expecting a little boy. I bought the Dinosaur book to make a quilt for my grandson someday. "When a child is born, so are grandmothers." ~Judith Levy

And here's something else that's special. It's very special to me. I see this on my front porch every time I enter my home. It's a plaque that my sister made for me while she was in Louisiana serving a church mission. It's actually made from a slate roof tile. She painted our name on it. I love it and treasure it always. This week she would have been 48, but to me she'll always be 32. That's how old she was when she left this mortal existence. I treasure these special little things that remind me of her...

Now get back to work, Vivian! This is your busy season!