Ingrid Whitcher

I have been so busy working on upcoming commitments that I have not spent much time on my “fun” quilt. I am hoping the frog quilt will be my next large competition quilt. Here is my progress so far.

These are the class samples for the “Sewing for Baby” week of sewing camp. I had a lot of fun designing the diaper bag pattern. I think I may end up making a purse or project bag out of it for me. The projects include a diaper bag, flannel receiving blanket, changing pad, bibs and stuffed animal.

I am in the planning stages of the Pensacola Quilters Guild 2012 Opportunity Quilt. I have had the privilege to work on a committee to design the quilt. We finished the construction of the top and another quilter is working on doing all the stabilizing quilting on her long-arm. I am hoping that this will help keep the quilt “square” while I am doing the quilting. I am really excited about the design.

I thought I would give you a sneak peak into how I work on designing the quilting. Keep in mind that the quilt is 100 inches square. I had a print-out of the quilt design to scale that I taped onto the wall and then worked with layers of tracing paper to get the design finalized. I will try to post some pictures as I work on the project. (I do not have the quilt yet.)

This summer I plan to teach sewing classes again to kids. I have been working up some ideas for a week of “camp” where they will come for a few hours for a week. I am grouping the projects into themes. This is my kitchen theme.

My one wish this Christmas was to get some nice new pictures of the family. Mark took the afternoon off and we went to the beach. Can you believe it was warm enough for short sleeves the first week in January! The sun was a little bright (squinting) but overall we got some great shots. So – here is my crew.

Every now and then our family finds a place that we really enjoy going. There is a new donut shop in Pensacola that is really nice.

Let me explain my credentials, or rather my “donut heritage”. Since I was small, I can remember my Dad daily getting his donuts and coffee. When I was about 7, on Sunday mornings on the way to church, Dad would always go to an area bakery for his donut and then thru the McDonald’s drive-thru for coffee. Later an official donut shop opened and Mom and Dad became good friends with most of the “regulars”. A few years ago, Dad told me how one of the ladies that worked across the street from his office would “hold” certain donuts for the men in his office if they were running low and she had not seen him yet. He is now on the verge of retirement and facing the problem of no good donut shops nearby their new house.

I am delighted to say that at least when he comes to visit, we will have a nice shop to take care of him. Dad has passed his love for donuts down to my youngest and this has become a bonding time for them.

Our family enjoyed both the donuts and the atmosphere of the new shop. We hope to visit often.