Long Arm Machine Quilting in 2021!

This is the first quilt top I quilted after we got the quilting machine in January.  

This is the nap quilt I made for Hope Brown's high school graduation.  

This is Danette's quilt in the quilting machine.  I made it while I was in quarantine with Covid early in May.  Thank the Lord I wasn't very sick, I just had to stay home anyway, so it gave me time to make her queen size wedding quilt.

This is her quilt on Emily's bed after it was all done.  She had picked out all the fabrics from my stash.

I used more leftover squares from 2020's Covid quilting spree to make Josiah a blanket.  I quilted his with random hearts and quilted his name "Josiah Nathaniel Peter Albertson" in the top border and 

"Lots of love from Grandma A" on the bottom border.  I wrote it on the quilt before quilting, as you can see in this picture.  Then I knew where to quilt when I got started with the quilting.

I quilted three table runners in 2021.  The Spring one is probably the first thing I quilted on the quilting machine.  It was totally practicing!  I found I couldn't see where I was going or where I had been with white thread on much of the white background, so I drew the random pattern in to know where to go.  I have special pens with ink that disappears when you iron it.

The watermelon one I did for Summer, and made six placemats to match.  I quilted a much tighter meandering pattern on these two runners and placemats so that they lay very flat.  I don't quilt that tightly on quilts, because they need to feel fluffier than placemats.
The Fall runner I pieced with leftover strips from Danette's quilt borders and added in the fall leaves fabric I bought in Amish country when I got to go to a Women of Worth conference in September.

After 52 years of my parents living in Joplin, Missouri, this summer they moved to Columbia, Missouri.  My sisters helped them sort and pack.  Marlene found a box with 16 inch quilt squares that had been packed away since 1960!  These blocks were made by Grandma Smith and the names embroidered on the blocks were people Mother and Daddy had known and been associated with in Kansas City when they were in college in the 50s.  They moved away in 1960 to Nevada, Missouri to start their first pastorate.  One block had 1960 embroidered by the person's name.  Marlene sent the box to me in Kentucky.  When I had time to look through the box, I got the idea of putting the blocks together into a quilt and giving it to Mother for Christmas.  This was a surprise to her.  Usually I show her the projects I am working on when we videochat, but I kept this one a secret.  

This is in our quilting area of the basement after I finished the quilting and binding.

Rowen and I were privileged to go to Columbia to see Mother and Daddy and all my siblings December 10-12, and I took the quilt to Mother.  She was very surprised to see these blocks she had nearly forgotten about and remember things about the people embroidered on there.  Many of them are already gone to heaven.  Aunt Velma Hinds, Daddy's aunt, was the Dean of Women when they were in college.  She is still living at 111!  Her name is on one of the squares.

I am always anxious to make another quilt project, but working fulltime does give me only limited time for this hobby.  I joined several Facebook quilting groups that I follow and dream about what I should make next.