Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

Ruby Patchwork- my first quilt finish of 2012!

Usually by the time I finish a quilt I have gotten my fill of that particular fabric line.  But I am still head over heels for Ruby!  I had a request for more ‘soft quilts’ after the fleece backed Halloween quilt came out in October, and I knew just what to do.  A charm patchwork quilt with one of the coordinating flannel prints on the back!

My Nana was visiting us this week, and she helped me sew on binding.  I’ve been joking about it because we watched The Bachelor while we worked, and you’d think that that would be the novel activity for my 88 year old grandma.  But no–watching The Bachelor is a normal Monday night activity for her…it’s quilting that isn’t!  It was so special to have her sew this with me, and with two pairs of hands we knocked it out in two nights!  Since I don’t have an extra thimble, though, I felt like a bit of a sweatshop owner…I need to remember to pick up an extra thimble for when I put my guests to work!

 We finished it the night before she left so I hurriedly washed and dried it so she could see it in all its crinkly glory before flying out!

Ooooh I absolutely adore a soft crinkly stippled patchwork quilt!

Ellie decided to wake up at 4am on this cold snowy morning, school is cancelled, and Nic’s attempt #1 to drive into work was thwarted by too deep snow, so this one is on the sofa this morning as we all snuggle beneath the flannel!

Katie - I love Ruby! Your Nana looks pretty happy to be sitting there helping you work in the quilt 🙂

Leslie - I have a Ruby jelly roll I plan on working with today! I live in Monument. It is definately snowing up here today. The kiddos are happy!

Alli - Oh my goodness, if I had a quilt my grandma helped me finish, it would be my favorite quilt in the WORLD. Yay for your beautiful quilt! 🙂

Margery Daw - I really love the colours and patterns of the fabric. Maybe I will use it for my next quilt. It looks like we are due to have a little snow tomorrow over here in England, so the quilts will comig out!

Deb - Beautiful grandma, beautiful quilt! I’m glad your quilt is being put to good use so soon! How many charm packs/ charms did you use?

Sew Create It - Jane - Gorgeous quilt and even more special that you’ve had your Grandma help with the binding…what a treat.

Gorgeous photos too…your Gran looks fabulous in those pictures :o)

Sandra in WA - What is it about snow days that brings out the quilter in all of us? 3 weeks ago the PNW and Seattle area was covered in snow and ice. We were snowbound for 5 days, but thankfully our power never went out. I started and completed a quilt in 4 of those days. On the 5th day, it was cold and sunny, so my quilt got to pose for photos laying on the 9 inches of clean white snow and ice in the yard.

I made the “Jelly Roll Race” pattern, but cut my own 2.5 inch strips from random novelty prints in my stash. It looks marvelous!

debby - Holy Hannah!! The quilt is so pretty, I think I might have that fabric in my stash, I am sooo going to make this quilt. Your Grandmother looks way younger than her age!! How fun to be able to share this special quilt with her.

Susanne - so pretty!! It’ll be a classic for sure!!!

Audrey - It is beautiful! I love that line of fabric, too, and it was so sweet of your grandmother to help you finish!

Lori Ferguson - Your colors are gorgeous. I think your work is exceptional…especially for your first time. Please keep posting your beautiful results. Thank you for sharing.

Traci Denton - I absolute LOVE this quilt! Do you know the name of the fabric you used for the backing? (That light blue one)? I love the look of yours but don’t have an eye for colors so I was hoping to just find the one you used. 🙂