| A Quilt for Karen - Finished
February 13, 2011 Karen told me that she
preferred earth-tones. To me that meant brown - yuck. I spent a couple of
years looking at different fabrics that might make a nice earth-tone quilt
but never found anything that was quite right.
In late autumn 2010 Rod and I went to an estate
sale in Bayside that had the word "quilting" in the ad. I was hoping to
find thread. There wasn't any but there were lots of fabric sample packets
with lovely vintage paisleys in browns and tans. I knew I had found the
fabric for Karen's quilt.
On the way back we passed a sewing machine shop
and Rod purchased a Baby Lock embroidery machine for me as a Christmas
gift. It arrived after the blocks were combined. |
I didn't have much of a plan, but was
inspired by some of the Kaffee Fassett quilts that had a Moroccan flair.
The squares put themselves together in what I hope is a pleasing
combination. This was the first project
using my new machine and I got a little carried away. The interior border
features Karen's name and some random phrases that popped into my mind. A
little quirky.
Photographing the quilt was a challenge. Although
you can't really tell, the dominant tone is brown, but in different lights
the other colors popped. None of these images really shows what the quilt
looks like, but perhaps that is the magical, mystical quality of the owner
coming through. |
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A Quilt for
Camille - Finished April 2011
My aunt Camille is an amazing woman
who, at almost 80, is still working. Over the years she has been a
caretaker of anyone in the family who needs help.
She eventually turned her attention
to cats. Lots of cats. Probably too many cats. Very sick cats. I made her
this little quilt with individually embroidered squares with different
cats on it.
She happily announced her intention
to give it to an elderly neighbor who she was looking after. Since the
quilt took eons to make, I really didn't want that to happen, so I signed
it on the back including her name.
She said she was going to name each
of them.
I believe her. |
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A Quilt for Me Finished May
16, 2011
(From a
post
on the Quilting Board)
Rod and I were walking our four
legged children a couple of weeks ago and on the way home we spied two
fabric sample books in the trash. Needless to say, they followed us home.
(The books, not the dogs. The latter had no choice since they were on
leashes). I
shared my good fortune with the members of the Quilting Board.
It took hours to snip the fabric out
of the book, resulting in a very sore hand which would have been worse if
I used pinking shears. More hours washing it with vinegar, cutting off the
resulting snarls and then airing it for two days in the seaside sun to get
rid of the musty smell. At last, sorted into neat piles by fabric type and
then color, I was in a rush to get it out of my living room.
That's when the trouble started.
I thought I'd make a nice scrappy DP9
quilt to use on the front porch for those slightly cool evenings when the
fog rolls in and I'm a little chilly, but Rod isn't. there was such a
hodgepodge of patterns. Maybe I'd drag it to the beach, too. So I happily
stitched away. 1/4" seams? Bwahahahaha! No.
I didn't have a lot of time and I
figured I could whip it out quickly. I also didn't feel like clearing off
my workspace where I normally make veils and that meant no measuring.
When it was time to cut the panels,
did I measure? Nope. I just folded those bad boys in half and hacked away.
Rod stuck his head into my studio and
asked, "Don't you think you should measure them, dear?" "Never!" I
chortled. One little concession was laying the panels on top of each other
so they were roughly the same size. As the backs were revealed, he said, "Ummm,
maybe you should have adjusted the tension." There were big loops and
tangles of bobbin thread on the back. "Just don't look at the back," I
instructed. |
I thought about redoing those seams.
I really did. But I couldn't find my seam ripper.
"Well, as long as it's big enough to
cover part of a person," he said, referring to my endless production of
lap quilts.
Then I sandwiched. Pins? What pins? They just stick you in the finger when
you sew. The sandwiches slipped and slid all over the place as I
quilted them. When it was time to sash with the muslin bottoms, well some
had enough, others didn't. What a mess. I was starting to get a little
concerned.
I pieced the panels together as best
I could and was a little horrified when I saw some gaping holes. Oops!
Uh oh. One of the panel strips didn't
quite match up at the seam. I started giggling in horror. Blaze joined in.
My eyes fell on several rolls of wide
wire edged ribbon. I got them on sale in the Michael's clearance bin a
couple of years ago. I think I intended to use them on aprons. *Blink*
Bright idea! I handed them to Blaze who went to my trusty overlock and
ZIP! The wire was gone. I figured blue goes with everything. The sky is
blue, right? I covered up all the messy seams (and holes) and even had
enough for a binding.
It's lumpy, it's bumpy, and don't even think of looking at the back. With
every seam, that quilt rebelled -- but I fought back. It was an exercise
in persistence. But in the end, when I look at it, it makes me
laugh. It reminds me that only God can make something perfect.
I did everything wrong, but I like it
and that's what counts. As far as Rod's concern about it being big enough
-- it covers a king sized bed! Surprise! The quilt police can try to catch
me and confiscate my sewing machine for crimes against fabric, but I will
hide under my king sized quilt. Here she is. |
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Quilts for
Friends I Don't Know - When I found the Quilting Forum online, it was
an endless source of inspiration. I decided to join the monthly doll quilt
swap to hone my skills.
You are paired with someone who tells
you their likes and dislikes and you try to make something you think that
person might like.
So far I've done three. Not sure what
happened to photos of the first one. Oh, well. |
Tons of Quilting Fabric for Sale
Some time ago my husband and I saw an ad for an estate sale with the
phrase "tons of fabric". It was like a magnet. I am a confessed
fabricholic. We got there quite late and that usually means that lots of
stuff is gone already. Well, I can't imagine how much there was before we
got there. Let me put it this way, when every spare inch of room in my car
was stuffed with fabric, we stopped shopping. It hardly made a dent in
what remained. The woman, still alive, was a fabric designer of some
renown. Anyway, we now have too much fabric. Please visit our fabric
section and help us de-stash.. |
| Doll Quilt June 2011 - This
one was done for a lovely woman who loves batiks and citrus colors. Oh,
and also a fondness for dragonflies. I liked it so well that I almost
wanted to keep it.
I wasn't sure how much citrus was too much, so it
is a double sided quilt with dragon flies embroidered on it.
This little quilt battled me in an odd way. I
never name quilts, but I called this one, "No matter what I do it's always
just a little strange".
Much to my chagrin, the bobbin thread in my
embroidery machine did something odd so the word "strange" came out white
and fuzzy!
I left it that way because it's true.
Everything I do is just a little strange. Really.
I hope she likes it. |
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