Friday, May 15, 2009

the reason...

The reason for my inactivity on this little bloggy, can all be attributed to one word: quilts.
The reason for the quilts can be attributed to another word: babies. Lots of babies. Five to be exact.
And another word: love--for the mommy of those five babies.
Yes, it's true, a life-long best friend is pregnant with quintuplets. I can't the imagine the gammet of emotions she must be feeling, so I wanted to do a little something to help her feel calm and welcome those five babies to the world, even though they won't be here for a few more months. So, I made my first quilt... plus four more... in seven days. I literally worked from morning to night everyday, but I was able to get them shipped to Utah in time for the shower, so it was worth every second. I feel like I need to give a speech, so here it is:
Thanks to mom for funding the project. Thanks to Gina and Brooke for getting me going with several hours of cutting fabric and sewing blocks. Thanks to DJ for not complaining about having an absent wife for seven days. And, lastly, thanks to Mack for being such a patient baby and sitting in his exersaucer/activity gym/swing/blanket/floor/lap all day everyday. I'm a little embarrassed by the poor sewing, and a little tired of looking at them. :) But, I'm also a little proud of the accomplishment. Is that wrong?? ...Here they are:

April 16th




April 17th




April 18th




April 19th




April 20th




And, all of them together...


Hi little babies! I'm so excited to meet you!

26 comments:

kami said...

LIBBY! those are beautiful!! i want to know what pattern you used (alright if i knew anything about quilting i could probably just copy it from the pictures) but i'd love to make one of these. what a sweet friend you are. those babies will love their quilts!

Keri said...

You are amazing...I don't know how you do it all. They turned out great!

Richins Family said...

wow libby! they are so amazing :) will you teach me how to do that? they turned out so great! your friend is lucky to have you :)

Haylee said...

WOW Libby those are absolutly gorgeous!! What friend is having quints?? I can't even imagine!! Hows life in Pittsburgh? will you be there for quite some time?

Brooklet said...

They turned out beautifully! I can't believe you got them all done in time (you failed to mention that during those seven days, you took a girls trip to DC, with sewing machine in tote!)

Emily said...

i love the fabrics. lovely.

Hina Schneider said...

Wow! Super cute quilts I am sure your friend is going to love them. Best of wishes for her and her new five children.

Ashley said...

WOW! You are amazing and a really nice friend to do that! Those are adorable! I want to make one!

p.s. Michelle called me this morning to tell me that she made a bag just like the one you carried around when she saw you last weekend. (the amy butler purse) anyway, I LOVE the pattern and want to make one ASAP. You need to post a picture of yours!

Michelle said...

Wow is all I can say. Good job.

Brett and Rachel said...

I'm SERIOUSLY impressed! Those have got to be some of the cutest quilts I've ever seen. I'm not a quilter, but after seeing those I now want to become one. LOVE the fabrics!!

kristen said...

lib these are GORGEOUS! i'm not usually a quilt person but you know i love those modern fabrics and simple design! she will LOVE them!

tiffany and darren said...

Very impressive! They look awesome!

Jill T said...

These turned out great! I like how they coordinate but aren't identical! Does she know genders yet? When is she due?

brittany said...

Holy cats that's amazing! The quilts are beautiful and your friend and those five little babies will love them!

Anonymous said...

This is definitely epic, Libby. Do I know the lovely mother-to-be? What a great friend!:)

Amy F said...

Oh... they are so lovely! As in, I love them! Good work. When you do something, you really do it right!

Anonymous said...

that is crazy! thanks for the well wishes, they're locked in now and excited to move in so we should be able to close on monday! I remember her, I can't believe she's having that many babies!:)

Libby said...

you have some serious talent...and that is why we can't be friends anymore. i have standards...my friends must watch trashy shows and have little to no talent. oh and be on the ugly side. oh which you fail on all levels...so do the rest of my friends. seriously, those quilts are so beautiful. i love love love them. you truly are so talented.

Jaclyn said...

I LOVE these quilts!! Beautiful fabric choices! I'm not nearly as creative as you are, so I did use a pattern for my skirt... :)it's Simplicity 3881. It's pretty easy. The only really difficult part is the zipper. No matter how many times I practice I always have trouble putting in zippers.... :) Happy sewing!

brittany said...

Libby,

I'd love to go on a photo outing when you're in town! That would be so much fun, just give me a call!

Stephanie said...

Great fabrics! You're amazing!

Pitcherpost said...

I just got done saying goodbye to you and I'm too sad to go to sleep (and Aubs might be awake and crying still too) so I thought I'd comment on your blog! It makes me sad to think I'm commenting on your blog but I won't get to see you in person to talk some more about the same blog post!

Anyways, those quilts are amazing. You should be proud. Although I'm super bummed I wasn't in on the block cutting party, I would have loved to help out! I'll forgive you because was out of town that same week if you'll forgive me for not helping! Ok, so did you really sew in DC on that girls trip?? You multi task like no other!

Ashley said...

The black and white secret! ;) I was feeling less then satisfied with my black and whites, I always use an action that I love most of the time but doesn't work everytime. What it does is adds a curves layer and a levels layer and then it tells you to adjust the opacity to your liking and erase back blown spots but it sometimes is really flat so i bring the opacity of the levels one WAY down, double click on the levels layer and the levels box comes up. The two sliders on the left most side I move them to the right! Quite a bit until it's really contrasty. Hope that made any sense at all if not email me and tell me to explain it better!

Smith Family said...

Hey there! I am a old friend of DJ's from high school and I came across your blog and noticed these cute quilts!!! I was wondering if you made them from a pattern(or how you made it) and where you got the cute fabric?? If you get a chance to let me know I would love it! I would love to make them for my girls! You did a really good job!! - Sarah Smith (Scarbrough)
sarahmae83@gmail.com

Katie said...

I know this is a little late but as the recipient of these quilts (or at least the carrier of the recipients) can I just say how much I LOVE them (as in to tears when I first saw them), how much I know the babies will love them, and how perfect they are considering you didn't know what I was having when you made them-and yet somehow they are perfectly suited for four girls and one boy. Love them. Love you. Can't wait to see you this week!

Kelly and Kimberly said...

Libby, I'm been admiring these quilts for weeks and now I am finding myself wanting to make one for a friend. Did you use a pattern for these? I can probably figure it out but thought it might be easier with a pattern considering I haven't made very many in the past. I hope you guys are well. Love, Kim Schroeder Smith