TIME TO QUILT!!!!

I had a 'retail therapy' trip to three Colorado Springs

quilt stores yesterday.  I came away with some fat quarters plus yardage for a border to add to my stash for my 'Dear Jeanne' quilt!!

Christmas is all put away for another year, the house is in order, soup for supper is bubbling away in the crock pot; and there are new fabrics in the stash.

TIME TO QUILT ----

Does it get any better?

I'm joining the following:

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday

A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is Saturday

Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday

'NOT MUCH QUILTING TIME' SEASON

 The Birthday/Thanksgiving/Christmas Season has taken over my life -- which is a good thing!  However, it hasn't left any time to quilt.  Here is my Dear Jeanne quilt that I was working on when I had to pack up the sewing mess to concentrate on other things.

So, all I have to offer on the blog for now is another "Blast from the Past".  Back in the early 1980s I taught a class on quilted Christmas gifts.  These Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam Christmas stockings were one of the things we worked on.

They are the only samples I've held onto from that class.  Don't know why as I've knitted Christmas stockings for all my family members.

Guess they will be for those future great-grandchildren!

I'm anxious for January so I can get back to whiling away my hours by working on my 'Dear Jeanne' quilt.

If I don't check back in the rest of December, have a joyful Christmas season.

I'm joining the following:

Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is Saturday

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday

Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday

DECEMBER'S THROWBACK THURSDAY

I made this quilt way back in 1984 -- it's not technically a Christmas quilt, but it is red and green!  It is 60" X 87" and is machine pieced and hand quilted.

It is an old star pattern called 1904 Star.  My paternal grandparents were married in 1904, so I named the quilt '1904 Revisited'.

Because of its coloration, we have used it as a tree skirt for several years.

I'm joining the following:

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday

Quarter Inch from the Edge for Throwback Thursday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday

A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is Saturday

CHRISTMAS TREE SKIRT

I made a Christmas tree skirt for my church about 30 years ago.  We (some of us church ladies out to lunch) decided that maybe a new skirt was in order.  I guess I was the logical volunteer.  

I thought about looking for a pattern, but then just decided to go for it.  This is what I came up with.  I bought two yards of the blue sky-like fabric and some gray and white fat quarters.

The stars are paper pieced.

I'm not a machine quilter, don't claim to be, and don't plan on learning; but sometimes, a sewing project calls for it.  I just used my walking foot and masking tape to keep my lines straight.  Wish I could have afforded to have a wonderful machine quilter do their magic.  Until my ship comes in, for most things I will continue to hand quilt; and only occasionally get out my walking foot.  You would think that someone who hand quilts would have the patience to machine quilt, but not me.  Hats off to you machine quilters!!

The label on the back ---

I'm joining the following:

Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

Quilting Readers Garden for WIPS Be Gone Friday

A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It is! Saturday

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday

THROWBACK THURSDAY

It's Throwback Thursday again on Quarter Inch from the Edge  -- time to dig out a quilt from the archives.

I made this quilt in 2004, and named it Xanadu.  It was made to include in my book, "Traditional Two Block Quilts".  

It is 31" x 31", and machine pieced and hand quilted.

When I wrote the book, my editor asked that I include some pattern samples different from my usual palette and style of fabric.  This falls into that category -- I'm not the usual yellow/orange type and parrots are not my thing!  

I've received lots of positive comments on this little quilt, so guess we will call it a success -- it's just not my favorite.

I'm joining the following:
Quarter Inch from the Edge for Throwback Thursday
Quilting Readers Garden for WIPS be Gone Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday
A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is! Saturday
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday

WOOL APPLIQUE PROJECT

Not much machine-piecing time this week.  Been busy doing other things in preparation for our home to be on a local charity home tour in December.  That will probably be the norm for the next four or five weeks.  So, I may be missing in action from the blog world off and on.

However, I do have a wool applique project in progress that I can pick up to hand sew when I have a moment.

It consists of 33 four-inch blocks, two patterns alternating,  and eventually will be a table runner.

All of the wool is recycled from wool garments I found at thrift stores.  I usually pay only $3-$4 for a skirt, most are Pendleton's and other high quality wool.  I then deconstruct the garment, removing zippers, hems, etc.  Next, they go through the felting process of hot water in the washer, then into a hot dryer.  It can be a time consuming process, but the yards and yards of good wool for little money is the pay-off.

The blocks are in various stages of completion -- If I get bored with one step, I can move on to another block, then come back later.  The little white scraps of paper have numbers to keep me straight.  This is a good way to mark projects; I use scraps of freezer paper that can be temporarily ironed on.

 After appliqueing all the parts down, I like to embellish with Perle cotton embroidery.  This is my favorite way to corral my Perle cotton.  I wind the thread on popsicle sticks that I have cut slits in to keep the ends under control.

I have a way to go on this project, but it will be finished some day! 

To view some of my previous wool projects click on " Wool Applique" under my header above.

I'm joining the following:

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday
Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

DEAR JEANNE SAMPLER

I've struggled with my Dear Jeanne sampler quilt.  The colors and fabrics just haven't seemed to work for me.  Since there is no hurry for this quilt, really no purpose for it yet, and I haven't spent any money on it (so far, everything has come from my scraps); I see no reason why I can't switch gears at this point!  If you aren't enjoying the process, why continue?

In a collage, these are the blocks I've finished so far.

These twelve blocks are put away for now.

I've turned to my reproduction fabric scraps, as I always enjoy working with these fabrics.  The concept is the same, a sampler of 5" blocks in the format of a Dear Jane quilt.  However, I am using patterns from the books and articles I have written, and from my previous quilts. 
So far, these are the blocks I have made anew -- some are the same patterns as above, some are different.

Garden Maze and Deco Album

Keepsake Star and Mountain Memories

Betsey's Block and Time Woven In

Crossing Paths and Tie That Binds

Time will tell which direction I will go -- something later to be decided.  My goal in making a quilt these days is always enjoyment of the process.  At this stage of my quilting life, there doesn't have to be an end or purpose in sight, nor do I have to finish a project.  I've already made enough quilts to last a lifetime!!

I'm joining the following:
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

BETSEY'S BLOCK

I've been in love with this block since it first came to light in 1985 in Linda Otto Lipsett's book, "Remember Me, Women and Their Friendship Quilts".  Ms. Lipsett details the history of this quilt made between 1846 and 1875 by Betsey M. Wright Lee, plus details the struggles Betsey endured during her lifetime.  All of us in my small Wednesday morning quilt group studied and loved this 1800s quilt. When one of our members moved to California in about 1987; we duplicated the friendship quilt for her.   The quilt below is now owned by Tere Simonson.

Below is a quilt top I made in 1989 in a class on civil war quilts taught by Marianne Fons.  We were to bring scraps of fabric and a 6" block pattern reminiscent of the Civil War era.  Of course, I thought of Betsey's block.  I left off the outer triangles for a straight set. This was a great class where I learned so much about fabric of the era.  I enjoyed making this quilt top in class; even though I have never managed to quilt it.

When a member, Laura Kozubik Nagel, of our night-time quilt group moved in the early 1990s; we made her a quilt using Betsey's block, but I think these are four-inch blocks.  The block is great for friendship signatures.

  This is Laura's quilt.

In about 2005, I had an urge to revisit Betsey's block and made this top of 100 three-inch blocks.  Once again, I truly love this quilt; but it has remained unquilted.

I know -- I must have the ten-year itch -- can't help myself -- last week I made another quilt top of 49 three-inch Betsey blocks.  They are so much fun to make without much thought!

Do you think I should get busy and finally quilt up one of my Betsey quilts?  

If you are a quilt history buff, I highly recommend Ms. Lipsett's book.  It contains many wonderful stories that will enrich your quilting life.  This one story about Betsey Lee and her quilt has given me 30 years of enjoyment and thankfulness for the era in which I live and quilt.

I'm joining the following:

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday

Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday

Quarter Inch from the Edge for Throwback Thursday (1st of month)

Quilting Readers Garden for WIPS Be Gone Friday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is! Saturday

BOHO CHIC

Bohemian Chic seems to be trending right now as a decorating style. 

 My granddaughter tends toward that vibe, so I decided to make some Boho Chic pillows to give her on her 19th birthday.

 I used the sew and flip method in sections with fleece as a foundation.

Then I added ribbon and applique embellishment with lots of machine embroidery.

The colors aren't my usual quilting palette.  But, I did use up a spool of orange thread for embroidery that I must have had since it was popular the first time around in the 1970s!

Do you suppose the popularity of this look with the young ones is because most of the posts on Pinterest include an unruly, unmade bed? 
It sure reminds me of the flower child/hippie era in the middle 1960s.  I'm not sure I'm ready to revisit that in my own home decor.

However, it was a fun project that was a change from my normal quilting activity.

Happy Birthday to our granddaughter and her quirky, Bohemian style!

P.S.:  The pillows were a big hit --

I'm joining the following:
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday
Quilting Readers Garden for WIPS Be Gone Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
A Quilted Passion for WHOOMP There It Is! Saturday

THROWBACK THURSDAY

I'm joining A Quarter Inch from the Edge (click here) for Throwback Thursday where we are encouraged to dig in our dusty quilt archives and find a quilt from our past.

I made this quilt in 1986 (yes, that is almost 30 years ago); it is machine pieced, hand quilted, and measures 78"x 98" -- big enough for a queen-sized bed.  This quilt was pictured in an article I wrote, "Pizzazz with Stripes" for Quiltmaker Magazine Issue #62.

A friend of mine, who was raised on a Navajo reservation, named it Nizonih Sq; which means Navajo Beautiful Star. 

I still have this quilt somewhere in the stacks of quilts; and probably should pull it out for a new photo shoot.  These pictures are 1986 variety, also; and colors are a bit off.

The browns were all from my scrap stash at the time -- I see that I was heavy on the dots.  I'm sure I was a bit ditsy myself, as I still had kids at home back in those days!!

AN EXERCISE IN GRADATION

My favorite part of quilting has to be playing with color and fabric.  That also has to be the hardest and most confusing part for me.

Even after all of these many years of quilting, I still struggle with choosing fabrics for a quilt.  I decided that I needed to study the properties and color of fabrics more in depth.  So, I set out on a small project knowing the danger of OVER-THINKING the whole process.

My self-imposed rules:

l.  I could only use fabrics that I already had in my scrap stash, with the exception of the black fabric needed to hold the whole experiment together. For some reason, I had very little black in the stash.
2.  I planned to choose 26 different fabrics in 7 different color ways being aware of the size of prints and their intensity and brightness.

3.  I could not repeat the fabrics -- that meant 182 different fabrics.  No problem -- I have a supply of scraps going back at least 30 years, all sorted into colors.

What I did:

I took each color way, cut the 26 pieces 1 1/5" X 2 1/5", and put them in some sort of gradation -- from light to dark or dull to bright.  Then, I sewed them together into strips of 26 pieces each; joined them with black sashing; and put a border on it.

What I learned:
1.  I have a hard time working with yellow and gold.  Evidently, I don't, however, have trouble BUYING yellow.  I had a bunch of yellow fat quarters never touched!  Also, just can't do purple easily.
2.  Red is the easiest for me to work with.  I picked the 26 fabrics in 10 minutes from lots of choices.  I didn't get into the pinks -- just gradated the reds from dark to bright and back again.  However, I included some pink in the burgundy strip.

3.   Greens can be tricky -- are they yellow-greens or blue-greens?  Also, blues -- are they red-blues or green-blues?

4.  I probably have more browns, tans, and beiges in my scraps than anything else; but I avoided true browns in this experiment.  Browns seem to be a non-color and expand a color way, not change it.  I did include some gold-browns in the yellow strip, and some red-browns in the rust strip.
5.  It can get boring fast without varying the size of prints.

6.  Yes, I have a tendency to over-think things!

7.  It can be a lot of fun playing with fabric.

If this experiment ever gets through the quilting stage, it will be bound with more of my red scraps.  Enough over-thinking for now!!

P.S.:  Check out my lifestyle blog, (click here), for a few pictures of Colorado Quilting Council's "Quilt-A-Fair" held this past weekend.

I'm joining the following:
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Be Social Wednesday
Quilting Readers Garden for WIPS Be Gone Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

MORE BLOCKS FOR 'DEAR JEANNE' QUILT

Four more 5" blocks completed for my 'Dear Jane aka Dear Jeanne' quilt.

Garden Maze

Mother's Kitchen

Places to Go

I have to redo 'Places to Go' -- I goofed up somewhere -- funny right side!!

Quilting Connection

Here are the twelve blocks that I have done so far in a collage.

Hopefully, I can get to the quilt store (50 miles away) soon to check out ideas for sashing fabric.  I'm also thinking about different setting options.

Thirty-seven more blocks to do, plus one remake.  Slow going --- but that's O.K.!

I'm joining the following:
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday
Quilting Readers Garden for WIPS Be Gone Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday