It’s been an entire year since I last posted on this blog.
I had such good intentions of sticking with my plan of regularly posting and sharing the quilty happenings of my world. But ya know, life kinda had a few other plans for my day-to-day routine.
They say a picture tells a thousand words. And the occurrences over the past year have brought lots and lots of pictures. So rather than try to catch you up with lots of words, I thought some strategically placed pictures would do a lot of the talking for me.
Most of the past 12 months had really good things happening in them, but a few had some stinky moments too. I’m happy to say all the stinky stuff is resolved, and the really good things are still happening. So, let’s go for a tour and you can see the highlights of what I’ve been doing!
Lots of classes happened over the year in my home classroom. Here is Jean as she is working on her “Grandma’s Wedding Ring”. We put a couple tables together then laid a sheet over them. As she placed each section in the proper place, she would pin it to the sheet. At the end of the day, she gently rolled and folded up the sheet to take home. Once there, she could unfold the sheet and continue working without loosing anything or have anything out of place. Works really well when there isn’t a design wall handy, and placing things on the floor isn’t an option for laying things out.Whenever I get a chance to do some piecing, I like to use my folder system. I call it “Power Quilting”. Each folder is a layer, and is a specific section of a quilt. 8 layers shown, representing 3 different patterns being worked on at the same time.One of several T-shirt quilts I was commissioned to make over the past year. These are always so much fun to make and always a delight to see the recipient’s face upon the “reveal”. I even hid for a weekend. Well…not really. I turned off all my devices and just sewed at my desk and put this together. It was so therapeutic for me. Sewing is my happy place. The top is all completed now and waiting to be long arm quilted. Mine are always last in the queue, which is why there are so many waiting. This sweet quilt is a Moda Bake Shop quilt. Recipe card # 5, named Ganache.I also was able to do a bit of thread painting on a quilt made by a very special friend for her father. Just a couple long threads to clip to finish. It was such an honor to work on this beautiful tribute.What a happy moment this was! Our son and his beautiful bride on their wedding day!I was able to do a couple of trunk shows as well. The guild meeting for Sunset Slope Quilt Guild is about to start so there are a few ladies buttoning up a couple things. While I’m not in the photo, all the quilts you see are mine. The topic was “Vintage Linens” where I talked about how to take vintage, hand embellished linens and turn them into a quilt. They got to see my Quiltworx portfolio as well.These cute little gnome girls are waiting for their hats to be embellished. These, and about 35 more, were fairy gifts for the ladies at one of the two retreats I held over the last 12 months. They were so adorable and such a lot of fun to make!And here is the evidence of the retreats I hosted. 37 women at this retreat! We filled the Ball Room of the Wine Country Inn located in Palisade, CO for an entire weekend. 31 ladies attended the next one held 5 months later. SO MUCH FUN!This is such a special gift I received from one of the ladies attending my November retreat. It goes where ever I am working…always within eye sight so I can keep things in the proper perspective all the time. Such a comfort!Here we are at retreat about to play one of the two games we always enjoy. CLR — Center, Left, Right. Everyone starts with 3 FQ’s (fat quarters of fabric) and the winner takes all. HUGE amount of laughing and carrying on was done by all.Here is a Vintage Linen quilt in the “puzzling” stage. It’s now a finished top…or maybe I’ll put another border around it. Still in progress.And you know…there were MOUNTAINS of laundry to do over the past year…mountains and mountains of it. And dishes too. But I won’t show you those. Eeewwww…..no, just the mention of them is enough. But regular housework happened a lot too.Thought you’d like a peek at my long arm queue. Most are for customers, waiting their turn to go on the frame. And a few of my own at the end of the line. It’s a never ending stream of them of which I’m always grateful to have cross my threshold.And this happened! THIS is the culmination of nearly 5 years of hard work and persistence. I did it! It felt like I graduated from college. I’m still pinching myself. It’s now in a frame and sitting close to my desk where I can look at it every time I sit down. Classes – both in-person and via Zoom at my home classroom and at various quilt shops, trunk shows, guild presentations, long-arm quilting and blogging ALL circle around this piece of paper and what it represents…my absolute love of quilting and teaching. I Have Arrived!These sweet ladies “arrived” with me!! Donna, Cynthy, and I are the newest Quiltworx Certified Instructors. We had an amazing week together as we finished our certification training and all it entailed. In the background you can see my Dinner Plate Dahlia on the left, and two of Donna’s beauties…Glacier Star and Mariner’s Compass. In front of us is Alchemists Crystals playing peek-a-boo. It is a stunner and I can’t wait to make it so I can teach it!!
Thanks for taking a whirlwind tour through the past 12 months of my day-to-day life. Are you tired yet?? I am! Maybe I’ll take a nap before I start on the next 12 months. Eeehhhh…maybe not. I’m having too much fun!
But until next time, may your bobbin never be empty!
I don’t know who sings that song, or when it was recorded. In fact I know very few of the lyrics. But what I can say, it that I’ve got that tune on a loop inside my head, and everything is looking pretty good right about now.
Today was Mission UFO day in the classroom, and I just had a couple of women to sew with today. But boy howdy did we get a lot of things worked on. It was a terrific day, and there are lots of pictures to share.
So while I’ve got dinner in the oven, (and it smells super tasty), let me show you what was finding it’s way under needles and onto the design wall.
Hmmm? What’s for dinner? It’s Keto Stuffed Peppers, one of Gary’s favorites, and super easy and quick to throw together. Ground beef, riced cauliflower, 2 eggs and 1 can of tomato sauce with salt and Mrs. Dash all mixed up and scooped into green peppers that have been halved and cleaned of seeds. A generous squirt of ketchup across the top, placed into a baking dish with ½ cup of water in the bottom of the dish to keep it from scorching, then bake at 350 for about an hour and out it comes ready to eat. And just to cover all the bases, I get most of my Keto recipes from www.ruled.me — so easy on a class day!
Anyway, let’s get to the best part of the day…show and tell from the classroom!
Jean has been hard at work on her second Prairie Star. Yes, you heard that correctly…her Second! Beautiful color way for this one! And she is doing a terrific job of working through it too! I can’t tell if I’m more excited for this one, or if she is, but it’s amazing!
Vicki finished her Rainbow of Jewels—Mirage Quilt by Laurie and now it’s off to the long arm quilter. She’s started another one called Dragonfly Lanterns. It’s a cutie that’s just beginning to take shape. Terrific project!
Here are the first few blocks for Vickie’s Dragonfly Lanterns. A really great pattern/kit for a young little fella.
Jean also wanted to get some help on squaring up the blocks she made for this quilt, called Watercolor Garden. It’s a simple little block made for a quick quilt for her granddaughter. Another winner.
And for me, I’ve got the stacked folders happening today. That, plus some quilting on my domestic machine to finish off some Impatiens placemats. With a lot of repetition for this quilting, I like to mix in a little regular piecing to break up the process. One layer of folders, then a petal, another layer of folders, than a petal, and so on until all the way through the folders.
These are my folders, laid out for a quick view. Three different patterns between the six folders. I really enjoy working this way…helps to make quite a bit of progress every time I’m able to sit down to sew.Here’s the setup for the first petal of an Impatiens placemat. 2 placemats down and only 4 more to go!
Then for seatwork this evening, I’m working on this vintage quilt that needs a bit of repair.
Remember this? I blogged about this and what work would need to be done.I’ve got a nice start on removing the first damaged side. Using a water soluble pen, I marked the path needed to remove the damaged section. It’s a bit slow going but will be well worth the effort to bring this darling quilt back to whole.Not much to finish on this side. I always love digging into a vintage quilt…there is so much to learn from each piece. This one is entirely hand pieced AND hand quilted. Interestingly, the quilting thread, which is cotton, is significantly stronger and more heavy than both the fabric and the piecing thread. Several of the hexie flowers are fussy cut as well. Definitely enjoying this one.
Lots of good things happened today. It really was a good day…Oh Happy Day!
It’s time to get back in the saddle of blogging. Believe it or not, I’ve actually missed spending time at the keyboard. Part of my absence was due to the final push to get everything ready for the kick-off of Great Escape Quilt Camp. But the other issue came from the failing (failed) graphics card in my laptop. With only so many hours in a day, and each day’s list being longer than 24 hours worth of work, prioritization had to take place. I’m happy to say that I’m back up and running on a different machine and these fingers are flying along with more stories to tell and beautiful quilts to share.
Even during the past 4-week push of readying the house, I still held classes and met with customers for their long arm work. I bet you’d like to see some of the snap-shots taken to share here on my blog.
Shall we begin?
Remember when I showed how to smooth the seam of a fleece backing? Well, now that this beauty has been received, I can show you the top. The fleece was the backing for this t-shirt quilt for my parents. It’s now living in Florida with them, and all these t-shirts were acquired during their years as full-time RV’ers. Lots of fun memories for them saved into a useful and cuddle-worthy quilt.Just a close up of a shirt block and some quilting. Turtles and Florida, along with wolves and Alaska seem to be among the favorites!Another Mission UFO day here. Valarie working on her Rocky Mountain Bear Paw, and Jean working on her Prairie Star, both are Judy Niemeyer patterns.Here’s Cindy working on the borders of her Hanging Gardens.And the Hanging Garden, hanging sideways to make it easier to reach the remaining sides while on the design wall.Vicki has just put her project on the design wall, Rainbow of Jewels–Mirage Quilt, by Laurie Shifrin. It’s a real eye catcher!And last but not least, here is my work station. I’m using up a stash of strips and turning them into area rugs for the bedrooms. A long process (hahaha, pardon the pun), but it is so nice to have some scrappy rugs that can take a lot of wear.
I think that sums up the rest of the story for the quilt related events happening to date. I’m really looking forward to sharing more and more of the exciting work being done by my students.
Stay tuned! Beautiful things are about to show up!! Until next time, may your bobbin never be empty
It happened! The day that Gary and I have been working towards for nearly 4 years happened on Friday!! Our very first Great Escape Quilt Camp event began on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. sharp, and concluded on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ….’ish. All the hard work, the worry—the excitement—the stress—the planning—the culmination and success of the event, has been accomplished.
Here we are, cutting up before the “serious” group photo. Amazing women, one and all!
Let me tell you a bit about our weekend. To say it was a good time, just doesn’t paint a large enough picture. We had 7 wonderful women attend our camp to christen Great Escape, each of them bringing their own specialness to the blending of humor, insightfulness, camaraderie and caring. Their backgrounds and occupations varied from farming to nursing and everything in between…and I mean EVERYTHING in between. Their ages ranged from 30-something to 70-something. But the one thing that was a constant between them all was their love and passion for quilting. From novice beginner to quilting professional, we had them all at camp. Patterns worked on ranged from Judy Niemeyer and Jenny Doan, to Jacqueline de Jonge and various patterns from magazines. The blending of their personalities, their talents and their humor brought only one outcome… an experience so good, they all stayed until the very end of the event.
Now, I’ve held several retreats in the past 7 years, and at all of them, there were always ladies that would begin leaving as soon as breakfast was over and the rest would trickle away as the day progressed. But Sunday…they lingered, and stayed longer, and left within minutes of each other.
When do you know that you’ve finally found the work you’re meant to do? I believe, it’s when your goals are completed and your dreams are brought to life. How do you really know it’s the right one? For me…it happened the first night of the retreat, when I was in the kitchen working on dinner and I listened to the sounds coming from the classroom. There were the usual sounds of sewing…the machines, the rotary cutting and sounds from the irons. But what laid over all those sounds were not the quiet voices of women hard at work, but the sounds of laughter, sharing of personal stories, praise and encouragement for projects being brought out, and life stories shared. That humming of beautiful noise made my heart swell, and that’s when I knew…”we had arrived”.
A quick photo of the classroom with everyone hard at work. Projects were coming together in a beautiful way. But what the picture can’t show is all the conversation that was buzzing amongst them all.
So, without further ado, let me share with you some of the wonderful work that was being accomplished over the weekend. You will be amazed and impressed. I know I was.
Sharon A. working through her Wedding Ring Table Topper by Judy Niemeyer. Such beautiful rich colors!Sharon A and Sharon W visiting after taking a look at my Vintage Compass, another Judy Niemeyer pattern.Here’s Ivy showing us her cute little top that she completed during the retreat. As a novice quilter, she did a wonderful job with all her corners and color placements. You go girl!!Another vantage point of the classroom with everyone busy as bees. Sharon W has a charity quilt on the design wall as she studies her block placement.A quick shot over the shoulder of Sharon E, of Betty’s project. A beautiful project by Jacqueline de Jonge, called BeColourful. Sharon E worked steadily over the weekend on a stunning version of Judy Niemeyer’s Vintage Rose. You can see Kim’s sweet project in the foreground. Her cutting and piecing were spot on, and the hombre fabrics used were so, so fun!
And now, the rest of the adventure begins. I’m hanging onto my hat and dipping into the wind, much like Sister Bertrille of the long ago TV series, “The Flying Nun”.
See—even she’s hanging on to her “hat”. Lift off is about to begin!!
Hang on Vera! The merry-go-round is about to get going real fast!
Here we are, as serious as we can be, lol! Dianna, Ivy, Kim, Sharon A, Sharon E, Sharon W, Betty and me. Now, with 3 women named Sharon and their last name initials spelling AWE, how could we have had any other time, than an AWEsome time!!! Simply the best!
I was rearranging a bookshelf today and I came across a UFO, tucked away in a notebook that I’d forgotten all about. Imagine that!
Here they are! I get the biggest smile on my face when I see these. Such fun fabrics and sweet looking dresses. I have a hard time deciding which is my favorite.
It’s a shame these little cuties are still unfinished, but I plan to rectify that toot sweet! I think the reason they are still in the block stage and not completed is that I simply couldn’t decide how to set them. Should I make them each into single little wall-hangings to be spread out in a couple rooms? Should I group them into pairs? Or should I put them all together in a group of four—wait—should they be place in a line horizontally…or vertically…or maybe in a square with two rows of two????
Obviously this little girl needs a trim to square up the sides, but how fun are these fabrics together?? I was so determined to use the big print as the center panel, I had to match together a couple pieces in order to get a big enough piece to use. Not too bad at that. Flashy and feminine all at the same time.And this one is just so ready for a dinner party. I would loved to wear something like this back when I had a figure to match. Who says you can’t mix batiks with regular cottons.
I’ve been stumped, evidently for years over the very same questions.
Maybe this one is my favorite…red IS my favorite color after all. Then again…maybe not….And then there is this lovely. Yes, red is my favorite color, but this one just makes me hum. It’s so awesome when something makes my heart sing.
I think the answer is just going to have to be…yes! To all those options! Which means of course, that I’ll have to make more.
Hmmm…. maybe not.
Now I love paper piecing. You could even say that I’m a bit crazy over paper piecing. But I’ve learned a thing or two about these types of patterns over the years. And the bottom line is that you get what you pay for.
This is the pattern cover sheet that originally caught my attention. The cover samples are quite cute, but I have to admit that I like mine better. I wish the patterns were just a tad bit better, but I can’t be unhappy with the end product. I haven’t seen any of this designers more recent work, but I hope she’s still at it and going strong.
These adorable little dresses were purchased from a pattern designer from her on-line shop, just sure if it was Craftsy or Etsy. And she’s got several others that I also bought. Sweet, sweet little projects, and very reasonably priced. And! The patterns can be printed on your home printer with great success.
So, here’s my little bit of unhappiness with these patterns. There are no seam allowances written into the pattern. Definitely not the end of the world…not by any means at all! But it does make sewing these patterns a little easier to mess up without that little added bit on the pattern.
Her graphics are good…and the instructions are succinct in their explanation of what to do. I just think one little additional thing put on the pattern would make the construction just a tad easier.
I don’t mean to sound like a paper piecing snob. But I think I’m just really used to how Quiltworx puts their patterns together. And I suppose that would be why I’m working towards becoming a certified instructor for Judy Niemeyer and company. From their entry level patterns to their advanced level patterns, they build upon skills every step of the way. And it’s more than impressive.
But for now…I’m going to raid my scrap tubs and see about pulling out some fabrics that I’ve been eager to put into something small and quick just for me. I think these little cuties are going to see some needle time real soon!
I’m thinking, a cuddle is worth a whole heck of a lot. Whether it be with a pet, or a child…a loved one or a warm fuzzy cover…cuddles take care of a very specific thing we humans need.
In a word…Comfort. Cuddles bring comfort—to both the giver and the receiver. And comfort brings security and peace and eases stress, and—and—and… The list goes on and on for the benefits of a cuddle.
As quilters, we have the unmatched ability of being able to create cuddles without even being present. I love that aspect of what we do. It reaches not just beyond our immediate surroundings and those we gift our work to, but it also reaches beyond time. Much like the quilt in a quilt mystery that I unveiled yesterday.
Over the weekend, I made a cuddle throw. Literally…a throw sized little thing made from Cuddle fabric by Shannon. It has a great story to start it off. And I’ve included some of the tips I learned about dealing with this sort of project. Read on, my friends…
Here it is…first look after the last seam on the top. SOOOO cute!
During the summer, last year, Gary and I went to an estate sale. I was specifically looking for vintage linens that I use to make quilts. These items also are incorporated into my trunk shows and workshops to teach about this method. Of course, when at an event like this, I look at everything I can find to see if there is anything to re-purpose or might be a treasure of another kind. You can find literally anything and everything at one of these sales.
Here they are! You can see the pink sticker on the box that says $2.00…it was such a no-brainer choice. They were all mine!
I found these boxes tucked under a table, just haphazardly sitting on the floor. I knew what they were and was a bit intrigued to see if the contents matched the boxes. They sure did. And when I saw the price on the boxes, they didn’t just slide quietly into my bag, they jumped.
You see, there is a technique to shopping at a sale like this. You don’t pick it up unless you are truly interested in the item. If you need to think about it before you buy it, you put it in your bag and carry it with you until you decide. Because believe me when I say, people watch you and if you touch it and show interest in it, others will as well. Then, the likelihood of it being there when you decide to go back and get it, is nearly zilch.
The price alone was worth the purchase…$2.00 a box! That’s right…just 2 smackers a box. The original price was over $50.00 a box! Yep…they jumped into my bag, and home they went.
I decided right away I was going to make this little cuddle throw for our daughter, and over Valentine’s Day weekend seemed to be the perfect time to get started.
The long narrow box held 17- 5” strips of a variety of red, black and white colored Cuddle fabrics. A “quilt-as-you-go” pattern was included, which I promptly ignored. I chose to use a “Jelly-Roll Race” pattern. No measuring, no fuss. But…. there was lots and lots of muss.
Yep…lots of muss. My shirt and jacket were COVERED in red, black and white fuzz. The floor, my desk, my machine…fuzz was everywhere and I’m still vacuuming it up 4 days later. The dye wore off on my hands too. It needs a serious washing after its done. After the first wash and dry cycle, it will all be good and shouldn’t affect anything more.
Cuddle fabric is a unique product which has a lot of wonderful qualities, but also some things about it that are less than fun to work with. Now, I’ve used Cuddle type fabric several times as backings for quilts, and they give me absolutely no problem at all. The end product is totally worth the little bit of care that’s needed to ensure a good result.
Having said that, the issues in working with a fabric like this…regardless of the type, whether it is Minky or Cuddle, smooth or textured, they ALL are slinky and stretchy. And! Their edges curl when cut. The larger pieces don’t curl quite as much, but the smaller the pieces are cut the more they curl. Stretching the fabrics cause them to curl even more. BIG thing to be aware of.
The other thing to be aware of is that they shed. Like a shorn angora anything. There is fuzz EVERYWHERE! You simply cannot avoid it. There are ways to reduce the fuzz…like placing painters tape across the backside of the fabric to make a long WOF (width of fabric) cut. You cut down the middle of the tape so each side has a bit of the tape when separated. Then you don’t take the tape off until that edge is sewn into a seam. Taking the tape off takes most of the fuzz, and the pulling of the tape and subsequent curling of the edge won’t matter because it’s already got a seam to keep it straight.
But I digress. The tape method doesn’t work with smaller pieces. And these 5” WOF strips had curl to them as soon as they came out of the box. Knowing how to manage the curl is a learned skill that I’m happy to share. To have a good outcome I did several things. First, I increased my seam allowance to ½” which allowed me more maneuverability on the approach to the presser foot. Curling on the bottom fabric could be managed by the machine bed, but the top fabric had to be continually uncurled and repositioned as I fed the layers to the presser foot/needle. But the struggle grew as the project did.
Here is the next pass lying across my lap. Both sides of the fabric are curling away from each other, and the curl is becoming more and more significant.My solution was to use wonder clips to hold the two edges together. I prick myself over and over again with pins on a long seam like this, so wonder clips were the tool of choice here. They also allow the fabric a little give when it comes to adjusting out pleats and folds.
Then, there is the sliding/slickery issue of having two layers of this pass through the machine. As the project grew, it became heavier and thus would pull slightly to the side. So, another factor was added into the “anti-curl” technique. The bottom fabric had to be guided with the right hand to keep it true for the ½” seam allowance. The left had to continually readjust the top fabric, along the left side, to keep the “curling” influence at the right side of the fabric from pulling it askew. Uncurl, readjust the tug-of-war, sew; uncurl, readjust, sew; repeat to the end.
Here you can see the distortion of the fabric as its growing weight pulled at the top fabric. Time to step up the game.Here’s the right hand keeping the right side straight and managing the curl as it goes under the needle.And the left hand holding the left side up to keep the weight from distorting while also helping to keep the alignment straight.
Even with the added steps necessary to work with this fabric, it went together quite quickly. The finished top size was 58” x 67” and took only about 4 hours to sew up. Perfect!
Next, was what to do about the finish.
The top was a bit weighty, and backing of the same fabric doubled the weight. Adding batting was too much. So, I opted for no batting. I also decided to not quilt it either. Reason being, to add stitch lines for the quilting would completely change the look but more importantly the feel and drape of the cuddle.
Finishing looked like this! I laid the backing on the floor, face up. Then, placed the top over the backing, face down. I pinned along one side, the top and the bottom of the quilt. That left the uneven 4th side of the quilt, which always happens on a Jelly-Roll Race. Measuring in from the side of the backing along the last side, I marked a straight line the full length of the quilt, then pinned it in place. Now, I had everything secure. And I did NOT cut anything off to bring it square at this time!
Pinned and marked…ready for the closing seam all the way around. NO trimming yet!
Next, I sewed a ½” seam all the way around the quilt, using the marked line along the crooked side as the edge, and leaving a 4-6” opening along one of the other sides. Once it was all sewn, THEN I trimmed the excess fabric off the bottom and the crooked side, making all sides even and no trouble with the curling problem.
Last step was to turn everything inside-out and sew a 1” seam around all 4 sides. Plus, a few inches of hand sewing nicely closed the turning opening. Just another couple of hours of sewing.
Here she is! Ta-daaa! It’s done. A wonderful, soft and cuddly little throw was made, and is now waiting for delivery to its new home. It was kinda hard to send it on its way it turned out so nicely.
When our kids were little, I always made them pajamas to sleep in. I told them that even when they were sleeping, I was holding them and giving them lots of love and snuggles because I made their pj’s to do that job for me when we were apart during the night.
This little cuddle blanket is kinda like those pj’s…sending lots of love and snuggles to my girl when I can’t be there in person.
So, what’s a cuddle worth to you? It’s worth everything to me…and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Not a shop hop, where every shop you enter holds a new gadget and fabric to revel in. But a real scavenger hunt within one quilt?
I did that today. Let me tell you about it.
When Gary and I began our quest to build a new “barndominium” to hold both our home AND our business ventures, we bundled up all our furniture to move into a storage unit during the build. Just this past week we’ve brought more of that furniture home. Several of these pieces were wrapped in sheets and old blankets. As several of these pieces were unwrapped, I set out to launder the wrappings and put them away until needed again.
In the pile of things to wash, I found not one—but two quilts from Gary’s great-grandmother. (Great Grandma Davis lived from 1887-1964, and Gary has a few memories of her from his early childhood.) I think they were pulled into this service because they were heavily worn and showed much damage. Well, when I picked up the first one to inspect for laundering viability, I noticed right away there was more to this quilt than met the eye. A further investigation was in order.
You can see here an area of the quilt that is completely missing…but there is something peeking out that shows there’s more to see beneath the rest of the old girl.
I’m glad I looked further, because this old girl held a secret inside her.
And another area of shredded fabric with more surprises hiding beneath whats on top.
Yep…a quilt within a quilt. My fingers got itchy and the scavenger hunt was on.
This old lady was tied, and the only way to learn her secrets was to clip all the ties and separate the layers.
Once all the ties were clipped and removed, the only thing keeping it together was the binding. It obviously needed to be removed, but how. The decision was made after looking at the condition of the folded edge of the binding. It had several threadbare areas and showed a lot of wear over the whole binding.
The decision was easy…I chose to cut the binding off. Now if it had been in slightly better shape, I would have opted to carefully remove the stitching and unfold the binding with the expectation that if the backing needed a little patching, the material in the fold of the binding could provide that. That wasn’t the case, so out came the scissors.
The ties are out and the binding has been cut into. You can see the beginnings of what started to fall out of the quilt as soon as the scissors opened up the layers.
As I was cutting away the binding, the batting…or wadding… began to crumble from inside the quilt. Crumble sounds like it disintegrated, but that’s not an accurate picture of what occurred. The batting fell out in crumbs. It had long since balled up into crumbs and migrated towards its corners and simply fell out of the quilt when the fabric was no longer there to contain it.
What looks like a pile of lint is actually whats left of what was used as a batting. I’m thinking it was more of an unwoven layer of cotton, nothing like anything used in todays quilts.
You can see what’s left of the batting in the lower right hand corner of the quilt…it’s a wad of crumpled, pilled batting. Not much of it either. I assume the rest of what used to be the batting must have fallen out of the quilt through the various holes and missing fabrics of the quilt.
Once the top was removed, you could definitely see what was inside. This little quilt was revealed. The curiosities didn’t end there. Beneath the little nine-patch baby sized quilt was not a jumbled layer of crumb-y batting, but a collection of various other fabrics which I am guessing was the original backing to the baby quilt along with perhaps some aged muslin. And what was even more curious is the layers of fabric were not stitched together, but rather laid on top of each other with the hidden quilt top over that. The batting that turned to crumbs was placed in there somewhere, but the evidence of where is a mystery.
Here is what I found when I lifted off the outer top remnant. A sweet little baby quilt with some patches and partial blocks to make a uniform size.
The little baby quilt top has a few other stories to tell as well, and someday I hope to learn about them. The fabrics that it’s made from look to be from the 1930’s and perhaps even earlier than that. I’ll learn more as I research the print patterns and fabric types. It does appear they are mostly from shirt weight fabrics in more feminine colors. Cottons with a variety of weaves, and perhaps a linen print as well as a lawn or batiste. All the seams are sewn by machine, but the various patches correcting cuts or holes are done by hand.
Beneath the little baby quilt top are these layers of what looks to have primarily been flannel with a baby print on it as well as some added pieces of muslin. The blue and pink striped fabric on the bottom of everything is the back of the original quilt. I’m so curious as to how this all came together.
Then there is the original top. Several large holes and tears are present, and some places the fabric is missing altogether. Other places within the body of the top are sound enough to save and add together.
I’ll be selecting the best areas of this tattered old girl to save…most likely to add onto the body of the baby quilt that’s been revealed in the middle of this quilt. We always remark about walls having eyes as we wish we knew the history created within a home, but I think this quilt has quite a few stories to tell. Somehow, I think my scavenger hunt is far from over!
Now that everything is separated into its respective layers, I’ve got some choices to make as to how best to proceed. Through all this process, my goal is to preserve as much as possible to create a useable top which will become another quilt. It will take some time to determine what to do, but I’m up for the challenge. It’s a great test of my skill set, and I’m happy to bring to life something that was most likely destined for the garbage bin.
I know I have another “prize” to open with the other quilt lying beside me. And what is even better is that I have another one like these two, but from my family. These will be a trip down memory lane with lots to tell as the layers are uncovered. I’ll save those adventures for another day.
Wow! It seems like forever since I’ve been at my laptop and sharing my world with you, but it’s only been since Tuesday. Settle in for a cozy read and see what’s been happening around here.
Wednesday was a great day because I got to spend the day with my good friend Susie. We hadn’t been able to spend a girls’ day of visiting and sewing since before Thanksgiving. It’s good for the soul when a little time is spent nurturing a friendship and motivating your creativity. We giggled and squealed and summed up our lives for each other. Susie worked on a great project, the Carpenter’s Star by Jennie Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company. And I worked more on my Moda Bake Shop Ganache pattern.
Here is Susie’s Carpenter Star. The blocks have been laid out and she’s putting the rows together. It’s looking marvelous!
We even had another good friend stop by for a little while. Maggie leads a quilting group at her church and I’ve helped her several times over the past 6 years that they’ve been active. As part of my certification process for Quiltworx, I’m encouraged to do some pro bono work and I love doing things for Maggie and her ladies to help them learn new techniques to incorporate into their mission of giving.
We’ll be meeting in March for a day class on Fractured Paint box. It’s a terrific introduction to Judy Niemeyer’s method of paper piecing…one I love teaching and seeing the light of accomplishment sparkle in the eyes of those giving this pattern a try.
This is my Fractured Paint Box quilt that I will use to teach Maggies’ group in March. I love this pattern! Jelly Roll friendly and the perfect size for a throw on the sofa to cuddle in during TV time.
It was a great day!
Mission UFO landed again on Thursday and we had another new table arrangement for 4! Cindy, Jean, Susie and I all spent the day working on our various projects. Susie again was at her Carpenter’s Star.
Cindy nearly finished up the body of her Hanging Garden, only two more rows to add. Then the borders!
Once those last two rows are attached, switching the layout to be square to the world will be so much easier to visualize. But it’s coming along nicely.
Jean was hard at work on her second Prairie Star in a blue and yellow colorway.
Jean’s working on the lone star diamond points that are in her Prairie Star. The blues and yellows to golds are stunning in this color way she’s selected.
And I was putting the rows together on my Ganache.
Here are the rows all connected. Next comes the horizontal sashing. It’s coming along too!
So much laughing, visiting, sewing and sharing happened on Thursday. It was a great way to spend the day while working towards our respective goals of finishing up projects on our UFO list.
Friday was good too! Kids coming home for the weekend means lots of activity, lots of fun and good food too. Our son Grant and his friend Tyler came home to help us move furniture. We missed out sweet daughter-in-law Maddie, who couldn’t come this trip, but we visited with her several times and kept her in the moment as best we could. Getting older isn’t for the faint of heart. And while Gary and I aren’t all that old, we just don’t move the way a 20-something can. Go figure!
These ladies came home from the storage place, and it was so cute to see them side by side. After a little bit of sprucing up, they will each find their way to a special place to be admired and honored.
The darker cabinet on the left holds a beautiful White machine that I bought from a friend 20 years ago when her family was moving and didn’t have room to take this along with them. And the lovely on the right is a Singer Redeye that I bought from an estate sale a couple years back. She’s been in storage for quite a while before we brought her home so will need a bit of a spa treatment. But her decals are beautiful! Looking forward to seeing her in all her glory soon.
And this family heirloom made its way to the game room. It put a smile on my face to be sewing and hear the guys playing the pinball machine, laughing and carrying on for a few fun hours as the kids tried to best the dad whose skills were a little dusty but still spot on to win several matches.
Gary’s dad bought this pinball machine when he was high school. They spent many, many hours playing on this machine. It’s a wonderful thing to share this same kind of fun with our kids.
Saturday was more of the same. But Sunday was a day we enjoyed together just keeping company and swapping stories.
And my Sweetheart of nearly 35 years surprised me with these! Flowers for my heart, and fixings for a movie night…popcorn for me, and M & M’s for Gary.
The first flowers for me in our new home. They are so pretty, and who can go wrong with popcorn! It’s better than chocolate to me, lol!
And the sure way to a girl’s heart, after flowers of course is a new set of kitchen spatulas! ! They are! I had snapped the handle of my favorite spatula while whipping of something on Saturday, and these lovelies came home with my flowers. And presented much the same way. Like a bouquet of flowers, lol. He’s such a keeper…looking forward to the next 35 years too!
I’ve been admiring many of the Pioneer Woman’s kitchen gadgets for a while now. So when these came home to live in my kitchen to replace the sadly broken spatula, I just clapped my hands and smiled happily to use them to cook our next meal.
Today, Monday, was a bit melancholy as we said goodbye to the guys when they headed back home, and we began the task of settling back into regular life. Lots of laundry to catch up on as I clean and stow blankets and sheets used to wrap furniture; a blog to catch up on; a quilt to load on the long arm; figuring out the placement of the furniture brought in; and perhaps a nap…maybe a couple games of pinball too.
Would you believe me if I told you that I’m really enjoying my Tuesdays these days? Well actually my Tuesdays AND my Thursdays which are now dedicated to Mission UFO.
While the weather outside was looking blustery and full of snow over Grand Mesa to our north, we were warm and toasty in the classroom being industrious and having a great time visiting and sharing stories with each other.
Cindy is making lots of progress on her Hanging Garden project. Take a look at how far she got today.
I love how this is going together. It’s built on-point, so tilting your head slightly will give you a better view of what it will look like when finished. Just a little more for the body before the borders go on. Such a great pattern!
Her boarders are already made, and her goal on Thursday is to finish up the body and then get the borders put on. I think I’m looking forward to her finish as much as she is.
I was able to get the blocks on my Ganache set with side sashing. Now, I just need to add the horizontal sashing and put the rows together.
Here it is…growing wider all the time. Adding the horizontal sashing will increase the body to be a much better shape to fit on a bed, lol. I struggled a bit in trying to put the smaller components together in a scrappy way until I tried a sample block that all matched. THAT was way harder to do, which surprised me a lot! Back to a scrappy layout and it just got easier from there.
Out of the same project box (…my Moda Bakeshop box), I pulled out a set of blocks that I’ve had waiting to be set for several months. This quilt is called “Sherbet” and is made from the Bakeshop Recipe Card #1. It’s another quick and great looking quilt made from a layer cake plus some additional background fabric.
I can honestly say that I don’t remember a thing about buying the layer caked being used here. I like the fabrics well enough. Actually, I like them a lot better in this quilt than I did as a layer cake. My preferred palette is much brighter than the colors here. But it’s growing on me and I’m glad that I’ve worked with this color way. It’s stretching me as a quilter…and that’s always a good thing.
And over the weekend, the yummy plaid fleece that I showed in a previous blog became a cozy quilt. As soon as it makes it to its new home, I can show you pictures of the front, but for now…a peek at the back is all I can share.
It’s a happy day when the quilting motif looks so good on the back of a quilt. It’s curvy without being too feminine, and a quick moving e2e pattern that allows a nice drape to the over all quilt.
Tomorrow, I have another friend coming to spend the day and we plan to sew and visit to our hearts content. We haven’t been able to have a sew day for a couple months now. So, I’m really looking forward to our time together. I hope to have some great pictures for you too!
Have you had a chance to sew with a friend lately? I mean, in person and not through a virtual platform? Even in our current life where so many of us are taking extra precautions, and self-isolating, I think it’s an important thing to still try and get together with others. Don’t get me wrong, each of our personal situations require us to do the things we are compelled to do, but the shortest story to the long diatribe is that we are social creatures. Everyone needs personal contact to thrive — and we are suffering in ways many of us cannot see right now because we are just trying to make it through all this “stuff”. But for others, they feel it more acutely.
I suppose that as I write this, my readers could easily ask about what I do and the why that goes behind having classes and meeting with a friend or two. The honest truth about the classes is that I’m trying to get my business back on track…classes and retreats followed closely by long arm business are my focal points. But meeting with a friend is purely because I need to be in contact with that person.
I would love to say to everyone, just meet with one friend, and catch up with them. Meet outside or wherever you can to respect each other’s personal decision about dealing with “stuff”, but reach out. Our isolation can be such a hard decision to bear, and the simple act of seeing a face you care about…a whole face, is like food for the soul.
Somehow, somewhere, sometime…we have to reach out and re-connect. I think those days are going to become easier to accomplish. I hope we all can find a way to reconnect and regain so much of what we’ve lost by being absent from our regular lives.
I wish everyone a better day today than what we had yesterday.
Not only has Mission UFO launched…it has landed with a beautiful finish!
Last week Mission UFO was begun. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at my home classroom/studio and anyone can come. The exciting thing is that in just a few together we are seeing some excellent finishes being made. For more information, contact me for details and you too can join in the fun!
Jean and her Prairie Star. What a great moment! Some happy tears were shed for this lovely success.
Jean has been working on this project for a couple of years, and it is a wonderful finish for her. I’ve been with her every step of the way and must say, it’s been a fun adventure. She has already made nice progress on a second quilt of this same pattern in a different color way. We’re both excited to see how her next one comes together.
Mission UFO at its finest! It’s such a rewarding experience when projects that have been put aside are brought out to reach their conclusion. The sense of accomplishment is such a nice reward.
Here is Cindy’s progress on her Hanging Gardens project. She’s completed all her blocks and is now laying them out row by row and sewing them together. This a trickier build since it’s constructed on point. She’s doing a terrific job and it won’t be long before the top is completed.
I’m so excited for both ladies!
Here is the cover photo of the Impatiens pattern.
For me, one of the piecing finishes I’ve marked off my UFO list is the Impatiens placemats by Quiltworx. This is such a sweet pattern, and the color ways you can use are endless! This five-petal flower can be made with just lights and darks of the same color as I’ve done with mine shown below. They can be made with a different color in each petal with centers all the same. You can even mix up the colors within the petals to be two of one color and three petals of another then group them to resemble a pansy, which is one of my favorite flowers. The combinations are endless. And they make fabulous gifts.
Here are my lovely flowers. The pink one is waiting for her binding, and the little teal lady is prepped to quilt. The other four will follow their friends shortly.
The Impatiens pattern comes with enough sewing papers to make a set of 4 placemats. To make larger sets of placemats, you simply need to buy more sewing papers. Additional sets of papers are called “Replacement Papers” and come with everything you need to make more items…minus the instructions. No need to buy another set of instructions when you have them included in the first pattern you buy. I think that is a brilliant thing to do, and I always encourage my students to think of this option when they are considering making multiples of the same pattern.
I’ve had some quilters express concerns about the curved seams required in this project. To which I tell them Judy has designed these little gems to go together as easily as a hot knife goes through butter…it truly is amazingly simple. To have a student master this curved seam in one try is a huge reason that I am committed to this company and the way these patterns are designed and written. Truly the best in the industry, in MY humble opinion.
Quilting is always a consideration on every project and this is one that can be done easily on your own machine at home. Quiltworx includes a template for quilting these in each pattern packet. It is a suggestion and certainly not required at all, but it’s a great place to start if you want to try your hand at doing it yourself.
There are many different means to attain the same goal, so let me tell you about different options.
One method is to layer several sheets of newsprint type paper under the quilting template. Then, take the tread out of your needle and sew on the quilting lines, resulting in needle punched dotted lines on all the layers beneath the pattern. You can use a pouncing chalk to dust those lines onto each petal or use each paper as a single sewing template. A white chalk on dark fabric is not bad, but then there are the lighter colored petals. I choose not to use a colored chalk on lighter fabrics because it can be problematic when trying to remove the colored chalk.
You could also sew over the punched lines. That isn’t as easy for me to see where I’m going as I sew. These are both good options…just not for me. I need a solid line.
Since there is only one template for quilting but 20 petals to quilt, (5 petals x 4 placemats), I need to either mark each petal separately or make 20 copies of the template. The template is larger than what will fit on my home copy machine, so I’ll need to go another route.
Ta-da! Enter Golden Threads Quilting Paper. Now, I must give credit where it is due, and my student Cheryl is the one who told me about this product and the method she used. I had Clubb’s order me a roll of this paper, and set out to give it a try.
I have, and frequently use the newsprint paper made for the copy machine. It’s a great product. But for this application, I need to be able to see the exact placement of the paper for where I need to quilt. You can easily see through this paper to know where your quilting will be. It’s a thin yet sturdy tissue that does not shred when painters tape is applied to keep it in place. You can use regular tissue paper to do this, just know that it is greatly fragile and any writing utensil you use can, and does pierce the tissue. Also…ink from pens and felt markers penetrate regular tissue. But NOT so with this Quilting Paper. Definitely worth the price, and it’s not that expensive at that.
Using the blue flower as an example, I’ve got the 5 templates ready for quilting. Just need to make the “quilt sandwich” for it. Here is the quilting paper laid over the first petal. You can easily see the fabric under the tissue.
I used the bottom curve as a rough registration mark to know how to place each template. This paper also makes it easy to see where the quilting lines will fall so that I won’t put the curved stitching inside the center spikes where I plan to add straight line stitching after the curves are put in and paper removed. This is going to be fun!!
Easy Peasy! Can’t wait to show you all the finished placemats.
