TEMPO TWO

In the past, I have enjoyed doing over and redesigning some of the patterns of my previous quilts.  Sometimes it is because I wasn't satisfied with the result of the older quilt; or maybe I just enjoyed making the quilt, and want to experience the process again.

With this quilt, I knew that rearranging these two little blocks from my original quilt, Tempo, would produce an entirely different quilt.

Tempo Two was scaled down from the original to 36 3-inch blocks to accommodate my need to machine quilt on my small domestic machine.

I also chose all older fabrics for this quilt from my scrap bins including one of my prized Da Gama browns.  The border fabric is an old Kaye England stripe that I have loved for years. I always like using the fabric scraps that I have on hand; it challenges me sometimes to figure out how to use the amount of fabric that I have.  Thus, it was necessary to match the pattern and piece the border in a couple of places.  

The Stats: Tempo Two, 2021, 24"x24", Paper pieced, machine pieced, and machine quilted.

The original Tempo quilt, as it was pictured in my book, Traditional Two Block Quilts is shown below.  The arrangement is entirely different containing 49 4-inch blocks, and was made in 2004.  The pattern for this quilt is on page 89 of the book.

My Da Gama fabrics were designed in England and manufactured in South Africa.  I had purchased a stack of the brown fabrics on a quilt trip back in the 1990s, and have used them sparingly over the years. This is all that is left of my stack -- every little scrap is saved for a future quilt.

 Here is a quilt that contains a sample of all of my brown Da Gama fabric collection.

Below is the brown Da Gama fabric I used in the new quilt.  The fabrics come in other colors besides brown.  I would love to have some in red.

BOHO JUXTAPOSITION

 I somehow missed the 1960s/1970s!  We were the right age to have had a roaring good time, too; but guess we were so entrenched in Bob building an engineering career, and I was busy rearing babies and feathering our nest.  Also, at the time, I was not interested in the feminist movement; as I was perfectly happy in the traditional stay-at-home homemaker role.  I always was and still am after 62 years of marriage. I cherish every day that I get to stay home.  I haven't minded the pandamic and my health issues during 2020 at all.

The one thing that I regret missing was all of the wild and crazy fabrics available for clothes and the home.  Therefore, I have always wanted to make a quilt with something a little wild.  Now that there are a lot of those fabrics in the market and quilt stores, it is now time for me to live in the 60s/70s!

This is a do-over of my previous quilt, Juxtaposition, now using mostly Kaffe Fassett fabrics with some others worked in.

The Stats:  Boho Juxtaposition, 2021, 23"x23", Paper pieced, machine pieced, and machine quilted.

Below is the first Juxtaposition.  Both quilts are actually more photogenic than some of my others. Did I just assign a human trait to a quilt?

Well, that is enough of the era for me.  By the way, I never owned a mini-skirt, bell-bottom pants, or a long flowing, brightly patterned dress.  I didn't want to scare my children.  Actually my grandchildren like this new quilt.

KEEPSAKE STAR RELIVED

After a couple of months working occasionally on this quilt, I finally finished it yesterday.

The "Keepsake Star" quilt first appeared in my book, "Keepsake Signature Quilts" in 2003.

The original quilt, made in 2001, as it appeared in the book:

I loved the way it came together with signature blocks, but I have wanted for years to make it in other fabrics.  

I'll always cherish the orginal quilt; as it is a reminder of a fun, teaching trip to Michigan --- thanks to a quilting friend from long ago, Helen Buzzell, of Marshall, Michigan.

This time around I chose reproduction fabrics (Civil War era), and scaled the pattern down for a smaller quilt.  However, the orginal pattern is in the book, page 60.

I wanted to try some different fabrics and color combining red and purple this time.

I'm finally, after five years, getting used to machine quilting; but I wish I could still be able to hand quilt.  This quilt contains some time-consuming machine quilting on my small domestic machine.  

The Stats:  Keepsake Star Relived, 2021, 29"x29", Paper pieced, machine pieced, and machine quilted.  Fun fact -- there are 200 star points in this small quilt.

This was really in my comfort zone --- going to try something new for me next!

SEA SPARKLES

In my reading up about "Sea Sparkle", I learned a new word ---bioluminescence.  I can not begin to duplicate nature's phenomena, but I enjoyed putting together this quilt.

It is in honor of our grandson, Wyatt, who is a U.S. Navy submariner.  Those that know him, know that he is always a SPARKLE in any group.

The Stats:  Sea Sparkle, 2021, 23"x 23", Paper pieced, machine pieced, and machine quilted, owned by Wyatt Cosat.

This is one of his favorite childhood toys --- That is what a Navy submariner looks like as a kid --- a cookie monster waving goodbye!!