I started a project to make a quilt for each of my nieces and nephews. It wasn’t really planned. I just started doing it. I don’t often make baby quilts and this is my way of showing them I love them. There are 12 nieces and nephews. Now there are four great nieces and nephews with two on the way. Yikes! The total number of quilts I wanted to make was 15, but I need to make 18 total. I don’t have a time frame, but I am working on the project steadily.
I don’t really have a rhyme or reason for the designs I choose. I get inspired, make a quilt and send it along. Sometimes I ask if they like a certain color. Sometimes I don’t.
Patrick’s quilt (2010). I made about the time he graduated from college. It was the first of the series and really started off the whole project.
Michaela’s quilt (2011) was made after she started college and I made two pillows to go with it.
Erin’s quilt: Pavers (2011) – I wasn’t quite done with the idea I had when I made Michaela’s quilt, so I made another similar quilt using different fabrics.
Andre’s quilt (2014): I didn’t plan on making quilts for the younger kids until they got older and into college. That changed with this quilt, which just seemed perfect for the oldest of my youngest nephews.
Robbie’s quilt (2013): this was another college quilt and it ended up with Robbie because his mom made a comment about the colors being his college colors.
Aidan’s quilt: Wonky Nine Patch (2014) – this was a fun quilt to make and Aidan really liked it. He is larger now and needs a larger quilt. Perhaps that makes 19 I have to make?
Pierce: Disappearing Pinwheel – I didn’t know what do with this quilt when I made it. Aidan’s quilt was in progress and I didn’t want to give one boy a quilt and not the other. They are younger and I didn’t want hard feelings. I decided that this quilt would be a great boy quilt.
Kieran: I was full on with food quilts when I made Food Quilt #3 in 2015. As I have said the fabric is good for boys. Kieran sent me a VERY nice thank you note for this quilt and seems to adore it. It was one of the items he took with him on his year abroad, which made me feel really good.
Kiera’s quilt: Kiera was headed off to college in the fall of 2016 and, while, I wanted to make Flowerburst for reasons explained in the post on the topic, she kept coming to mind while I was making it.
Philip: Ta Dots and Stripes is a funky quilt. Phil lives on his own in Maryland and is pretty tightlipped about his life. I thought of him when I was finishing up this crazy quilt. I finished it in March of 2018. Phil says he uses it as a lap quilt and displays it on his couch.
Sean: I also finished Planned Improv in March of 2018. This was a design from a class with Sarah Goer.
Kieran: This was actually a baby quilt. It wasn’t part of the Niece-phews project, but I did give it to a nephew when he was a baby. I finished it in 1999, so it can probably be considered the very beginning of the project even though I wasn’t planning on it back then.
Alex: I decided to make the Metro Twist for Alex, Sean’s husband though he wasn’t on the original list. He still hasn’t come over to get it.
Michaela and Patrick: they are getting married in 2024 and I decided they needed a quilt. Scrappy Celebration was perfect.