Nice Holiday Break

I had a really nice holiday break. My husband and I went to Iowa to see my family for a week. We saw nearly everyone. It was very low key. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera!

While there, I taught my Mom how to rotary cut. I was hoping to get a little farther along than that but she has sewn before and should pick it up pretty easily from here. She has fabric, a nice sewing machine and some books but hadn't made the jump to making something yet. Now she has most of the pieces cut out to make a relatively simple table runner. I hope she keeps going with it.

Also, we went on a day trip to the Amana Colonies. Looking for a restroom, we stumbled upon a quilt shop and I got to meet fabric designer Stephanie Brandenburg. She even had the original painting used to create this fabric. It was fun to visit and got me thinking how I would love to design fabric.

My Grandma didn't really react to the quilt I made her. I'm not sure why and it was definitely disappointing. It looked beautiful and it looks great in her bedroom or living room. Even when I've talked to her twice by phone since then she hasn't mentioned it at all. Bummer...

(I didn't blog about it but I had it long arm quilted with a rose pattern and used the solid brown for the binding. Maybe one of my family members has a photo of it they can send me and I'll post it.)