Endearing

Someone asked me if I was nervous to meet Nie.

I easily answered not at all.

My comfort was merited; she is just as genuine in person as she is on her blog.

Her family is delightful!

She is Stephanie Nielson.

The scars may mask her previous beauty but her endearing spirit engulfs you.

The scars quickly become invisible and you see her.

No accident could ever take her beauty.

We had a wonderful day.

Thank you, thank you to all who contributed.

Nicholas

Oliver

(On His Birthday!)

Jane

Claire

Games of I Spy and Loving the Quilts Already

First Four Quilts Ready...

...to be delivered! The first four quilts arrived from Alaska today and they are beautiful! Allyson did a wonderful job quilting and binding them. I am going to try and contact Nie to see if we can take them to her precious family.

I will be sure to post pictures of the finished quilts. You probably won't see them until after Christmas, it is a bit crazy around our house right now.

Oh and in other news we just found out Tuesday we are getting a new baby girl in May! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Lucky

...when Nie started posting again I would read and ache all over for her....yet, watching her grow and evolve as she gains a new perspective on her new life she is just as she was before, inspiring...I thought of her as I danced in the kitchen with my hubby tonight to colbie caillet and Jason Mraz's song "Lucky." She isn't only lucky to be alive but to be living her life.

Anyway, what I am really here for is to give you an update on the quilts. I haven't heard from Allison in a while but she works summer tourism in Alaska so I am sure she has been *busy*! Last she e-mailed she asked if she could bind the quilts in addition to quilting them...bless her heart! I think she will be visiting Utah this fall and we will probably make a personal delivery if possible. She only has the quilts for Nie's children. Lucy's, the Chief's, and the Nielson's quilts are still in progress.

Sorry I am slow to update. I still have no internet access and no computer now either. Working on both....hopefully we'll find a home for our family soon too...for now I feel lucky we both have jobs and it's a bonus we like them! Hope you've all had a great summer....here's to the beauty of fall.

Drum Roll Please....

Hola Amigos! I have to confess, we have have been very neglectful in our picture downloads. After our blessed Sunday afternoon nap, I humbly brought my hubby the camera and external hard drive and sweetly requested he download and back up pictures. My son turned one last August, his birthday pictures were among those downloaded. How pathetic is that? I have three different cards and apparently the bare minimum for blogging purposes had been previously downloaded. Major slackers here. Sorry for the delay but here are the quilts in all their colorful, beautiful glory, I only apologize that my photography skills don't do them justice...

...Claire...

...Jane...

...Oliver...

A photo with meaning only to me, the first three quilts patiently waiting for the last one to have it's border and back prepared...I was seriously ecstatic at this point!

...Nicholas...

...I finished sewing his rows together before I added the borders to the rest of the quilts but the photo fits better here...

...me...

...the night I finished Gigs quilt and prepared them all for their journey to Alaska, I was very excited, nervous about their trip, and sad to see them leave our home. They have been so fun to make and the spirit of love they carry with them will surely be felt by the Nielsons.

...chilling on my super chic red couch before packaging. Allyson is taking good care of them and last I heard she was dreaming up beautiful designs to be quilted on them. Thank you Allyson for your generosity, I can't wait to see your magic!

Lucy's baby quilt is well under way, the chief's and a larger version for Nie and her sweet hubby to snuggle under will be coming soon!

Skagway

I sent the package last Monday and I put delivery confirmation on it so I could track it...if by chance the quilts were lost in the mail. The idea gave me serious anxiety. I tried to call Allyson twice, the first time I spoke to her delightful husband and the second I left her a message on the machine. I am pretty sure she is a very busy lady. How wonderful of her to donate her precious time, she is sincerely appreciated.

Anyway, I do know the quilts arrived safely to their quilting destination and thought you might want to know as well. I can hardly wait to see them quilted, bind them, and then I dare not imagine giving them away but I will. Sadly and gladly all at once.

I spoke to the husband about downloading pictures for you all, since he takes care of that and makes sure they are backed up for me, and he will. You see, he just does things in his own time. I will try not to nag and post some for you as soon as they are available.

In the mean time, I have Lucy's baby spice blanket ready to sew, forgot to snap a picture before I gathered it all up but you will see it sewn. First on the agenda, a favorite dr. seuss costume to sew, lucky for me it is just the flower with a speck on it. I'll see about a picture of it as well...

The List

I am not the eloquent blogger most aspire to be and don't really even try. I mostly settle at the transfer of information, the easiest form being a list; thus, in easy form, here is my accomplishments of the last 4 weeks.

01. Endured the 10 day flu.
02. Stayed out of the way for a week while the new gas furnace was installed in our rental house by 2 friendly men from El Salvador.
03. Learned a few new Spanish words.
04. Cleaned and vaccumed for a week after the furnace was installed.
05. Started a new part time job as the "office manager" at my brother's NAPA store, only working while my children are sleeping or my husband is home.
06. Finished sewing 4 beautiful quilts for the 4 beautiful Nielson children.
07. Left to do, a trip to the post office to send them to Alaska, post pictures for you all, and start the whole process over with the 3 remaining quilts!

Oh the joy of living life, seriously, all but the flu has been joyful.

Miracles

Speaking of miracles, Nie is back. How about that?

I had a fuel leak on our van and found out it was dangerous to have been driving. I now have a plan in my mind about how to exit incase of fire. Does anyone do fire drills for their vehicle? Is this over the top? I couldn't help but think of Nie. Fire scares me. She survived and is hurting but also thriving. She has always been miraculous but now she is truly a miracle.

Another miracle, we moved and lived. I am still unpacking, waaaaay toooo much junk. We had plenty of help moving but unpacking has been a duet. My husband is my new dishwasher and I do most everything else. Almost a fair trade, seriously it is. I will soon unpack the box labeled quilt for nie and soon after that the quilts will be visiting Alaska.

Did you notice the prints on Nie's new header? If you look closely here the yellow print is exact and if you change the color from a pinkish to blueish, that print is the same also. Oh how you know nie. It's all very exciting.

Updates coming soon.

As always, love yous.

Merry Christmas

Wow does time fly?!

I thought I would update you on what has been happening with the quilts. I was sewing like a mad woman to get them sent to Allyson in Alaska before I trekked to Utah for a day of feast and thanks. She was planning a vacation to Utah early next year and the plan was for us to meet and she would bring what she had quilted with her. Well, long story short, a friend's maternity plans changed and in order to have adequate time to mug on her friend's baby, she needed to go in December. Thus, she is now enjoying snowful baby bliss and nothing has been done on the quilts because I have been engulfed in holiday madness and preparing to move our growing family with our growing piles of junk 700 miles two days after Christmas!

Whew. Just saying it is exhausting.

Anyway, I didn't want you to waste minutes of your precious holiday time checking this blog when nothing has been happening. I am leaving the quilts to pack last so I can work on them again soon! Sorry for the delay.

A random side note, my husband's new boss works with Stephanie's dad Mr. Clark. Small world.

Patience

As Stephanie relishes in the cool crisp feeling of Utah fall air, the renewal of her energy excites us all! She is near her children, her parents, her siblings, her Mr. Nielson, her mountains all at the same time! Oh the patience required for endurance and how gracefully she has endured. I know we all need patience as we watch and wait for the progress of her recovery to continue but today isn't about patience but joy! She is home!



Thank you for your patience as I have failed to keep you updated on the progress of this project. I have been so excited about the quilts it has been hard for me to find time and energy to blog. I hope you like the quilts as much as I do...remember I am very much an amateur but I think the mismatched lines add character (at least that is what I am telling myself).

First, remember the cloud print from Laura Strickland found here http://quilt4nie.blogspot.com/2008/10/jumping-for-joy.html, so many of the fabrics came packaged with ties and ribbons I didn't realize the clouds were a bag, here is the contents:
Sorry Laura and Thank You!

...The organization...I started by including a square from each of you for each quilt, then I focused on each quilt individually laying the squares out very randomly...

...Claire's quilt prepared to sew...

...Claire's top done except the border...

...Claire's yellow border and flowered backing...

...Jane's top ready to sew...my sewing machine gets lots of interest and attention, after I had sewn all the squares into rows at 2:00 am, I realized a helpful hand had moved the needle, I've had to sew a second seam with an appropriate seam allowance so it has taken much longer but looks beautiful still...

...Jane's pink border and butterfly backing...

...Oliver's top prepared to sew...

...a special square in honor of Ollie's Halloween with his dad, my girl's have trick or treat bags out of the same print...

...Oliver's border and striped backing...

...Gigs quilt ready to sew...

...Gigs border (I think it looks like turtle shells) and striped backing...

...what do you think?

Simply...

...adorable, eclectic, inspiring, cute, colorful...i can't think of the right word. I wanted to post a picture of the incredible, colorful fan wall Nie made at Christian's parents house (the quilts remind me of it) but I don't know the exact month she posted it. My hubby had a rough evening and is waiting for me to snuggle him to sleep so words are all I can give. I have finished cutting squares for now and tonight I laid out 8 containers on my table (yes, I added a quilt for Lucy and her baby, I hope you don't mind Allyson). I went through your packages one at a time and chose at least one square from each of you to put in the quilts. I was a little nervous about how it would all turn out and I must say, they are...simply...magnificent! Thank you for sending your love! I am having so much fun experiencing the progression of this project. I have to go back through and select several more squares to complete each quilt, I wanted to make sure to include something from each of you to begin. I promise to share pictures of the first quilt laid out and ready to sew soon. I am certain the Nielsons are going to love our gift to them!

Final Squares

I've been waiting to post the last pictures of the squares hoping I would have them all. If you have sent squares and they haven't appeared on the blog please let me know they are on the way. Also, I probably won't be posting for a couple of weeks. I have many squares to cut and will be sorting them into quilts. When I get to the point of laying out the quilts I will post pictures again. I am so excited to see how they turn out. Here are the final squares:

Thank you Kristin Griffeth from Bedford Texas and her mom Barbara Malmberg from N. Richland Hills Texas!

Thank you Vanessa Ponce from Austin Texas!

Thank you to my talented friend Jill Skousen from New York, New York! (A Utah girl at heart on an amazing journey...)

Thank you Megumi Larson from Roaring Branch Pennsylvania! Megumi brought these fabrics from Japan when she married her husband.

Thank you again to Carolyn Kunz from Milford New Hampshire for sending another package to include this adorable print!

Happy Halloween...the costumes were a hit, the pumpkins carved, the party is over, now on to these quilts!