Finally Finished!

Finally finished the double wedding ring quilt. It turned out pretty nice I thought. The customer gave me permission to put pictures of it on the blog and promised me a picture of it bound and at the reception. It was the first double wedding ring that I have done, and took longer than I thought, but it was worth the effort.


This is on the machine. It sure looks big! It sure was big!

This is on the bed. I would love to have it on my bed!

All the swirls and leaves turned out very pretty.

What a Week!!!

This has been a busy, busy week with a few surprises thrown in just to make life exciting. I have been canning all week and have done green beans, apricot jam, raspberry jam, dill pickles and sweet pickles and even processed pickled beets for my daughter, Angel. All that plus working on a double wedding ring quilt for a customer.

Last Saturday I took two quilts over to the County Fair. I have not entered a County Fair before and so I was a little nervous, but decided that I might as well give it a try. I had shown some of my quilts at our community Heritage Days for the last two summers and a favorable response gave me courage.

On Tuesday, I couldn't wait any longer. I had to find out if I had received a blue ribbon or what. I decided that I would stop in and see if I could get in because I knew that the vendors would be setting up that day for the opening on Wednesday. As I walked into the building I got so excited. There was my quilt hanging right out front with a big beautiful ribbon on it! Wow! What a thrill! My quilt received a "Best of Division" ribbon.

I say "my" quilt, but in truth, it was pieced by my daughter Amber and quilted by me. We were both thrilled. The quilt that I had quilted for my Grandson, Taylor, received a blue ribbon. That was neat too, even if they did hang his quilt sideways. Amber pieced that one also. She has become a talented quilter with a keen eye for color. I have been grateful to be able to work on her quilts.


This is not a very good picture, but I just had to have one of it hanging there with the ribbon on it and all.

This is a somewhat better one of it a few weeks ago at our community Heritage Days celebration. My sweet husband made the stand for it and it hung outside of the building to let people know where the quilt show was.

About Grandkids

Well, its been a busy day. I have been thinking as I've been quilting and my thoughts turned to Grandkids, as they often do. I have quite a number of Grandkids and have really enjoyed being a Grammie. We have moved around a fair amount and this is what I told my children that I wanted my Grandkids to call me. In the south Grandmothers are called Maama, but that seemed foreign to me, not being from the south (even tho we lived there for 20 years). In the east my grandkids call their other Grandmother Nanna, and my husband's mother was Grandma Gifford, so that didn't seem to fit. Anyway, Grammie it is.


So, as I got thinking, I thought about the quilts that I have done for Grandkids. I was not quilting when many of them were small, but the last one was born after Grammie got rolling with her long arm and so I have quilted several for her. She is a sweet one year old with a three year old sister. I did several for her when she was born, one from Grammie and one from Aunt Am. I also have quilted several doll quilts for her older sister.




This is the quilt which Am pieced for Iyla. I loved the colors, and so does Iyla!



This is the quilt that I made for her. I love Beautric Potter and when I saw this material, I just had to make it. I loved doing all the tiny leaves in the sashing and the larger ones on the border as well. It was pre-printed, so there was no piecing involved, which just seemed to fit my busy life and so it seemed the perfect choice.



This is the doll quilt made for Isabella's birthday. The little bears were trapuntoed (is that a real word? Maybe I just misspelled it), so they stand out a little. I understand that this blanket gets drug round the house a lot. That delights me! I got to know these two little girls much better this summer at the family reunion and what a joy that was!

Home at Last

Wow! I'm home at last! I really enjoyed my trip, but I missed quilting everyday. I have to get busy now as I have a number of quilts to get done. I enjoyed the break, but it is always nice to be home in your own bed, if you know what I mean.

It was fun to come home and see the comments on the Blog. Lisa commented about "Pirates Treasure" and so I thought you might like to see it.

This was Logan's mom's first quilt and I think it turned our really nice. Logan loves it and that is the most important thing of all!

Well, guess I'd better get busy. The new quilt is calling my name!

Vacation and Family Quilts

This last couple of weeks, I have been visiting a daughter and her family in Massachusetts.
We have been visiting historic patriotic sites and I have so enjoyed seeing the places where our country was born. There is still such a spirit of freedom in those areas. I do however feel that most of the visitors centers would benefit by the added color provided by historically based quilts mixed with the other displays. Women also played a large part in the birth of our country.

It was fun for me to see the quilts that I have sent to her family being used and enjoyed. In fact, I have been sleeping under the circle quilt during my visit here. This quilt was pieced by another daughter for a Christmas gift and I quilted it.


Amber appliquéd the many circles onto individual blocks for the top. I decided to continue the circle theme and quilt circles over the whole quilt top. I used a Hartley Fence and really enjoyed the way it turned out. I continued the feel of the circles with a scalloped motif in the borders and then used piano keys in the striped outer border. It is not perfect, but I think it turned out really fun. It was the first time I have tried something like this.





The little bears quilt was made for the little bears in her family (3 active boys).


The squares with the bears were printed on the material and so the quilting was easy - just quilting around each square and adding a swirl in the empty spaces. The checked border offset the plaid back. It really looked fun and the boys love it.

It is always nice to see the quilts you have worked so lovingly on being appreciated and loved.

This last couple of weeks, I have been visiting a daughter and her family in Massachusetts.
We have been visiting

I am a self proclaimed Fabric Junky!

My name is Glory Gifford and I am a Fabric Junky! I absolutely love fabrics. The texture, the colors, the way they look in different lights of the day. Even their smell! I like walking into a fabric store and inhaling that almost palatable scent. All my senses are awakened and I feel alive! For years I have kept boxes and boxes of fabrics piled in my basement. Many are remnants, some are from the poorer years when we gathered from textile dumpsters, and others are full pieces that I had to have, but have never figured out just the right project to use them for. Occasionally one of the kids will bravely sort through them and I hear mutters under their breath, wondering why Mom has so much fabric that she never uses... I just have to have fabric that I can use whenever I want to. One of my favorite dreams is to get fabric from old swatch books from designers or stores. There are so many varied textures and colors; it would be fabulous! I don't know if I can adequately convey to you the feelings fabric evokes, but if you know what it is I'm trying to say, then maybe you too are a Fabric Junky!