Finally Finished

I finished adding the binding to the final baby clothes quilt.  This ended up being the 3rd of 3 that I kept for DD.  The others are a twin, a double, and this one a very generous full/queen.  I made so many others with her baby clothes many of them completely reversible such as this one is.  This feels like an end.  I'm actually glad to see it too.  Knits are such a picky fabric to use in quilts.  While it might be an end to the endless baby clothes quilts it's the beginning of the next chapter and I can finally close the book on everything I started three years ago.  I refused to part with any of DD's baby clothes and stored them away like a squirrel jealously guarding a winter's hoard.

Then my Dear Friend Heather told me about the conception of her son; we didn't know yet that she was having a boy.  That was a great day and I was so happy for her.  I still didn't want to share any of DD's old clothes but I thought, maybe if she was having a boy, which is ironic since some of DD's clothes came from her!  Lucky enough for my heartstrings she was indeed having a boy (who is now in Pre-K!) and that's when I first started allowing myself to pick things out of storage.  In fact Heather got every last stitch of neutral to boy I had.  Oh I did hold one back, you can see it in the heart in the bottom left corner of the above picture.  See the blue with darker blue stripes?  That was a footed sleeper, I bought it because my DH told me he was sure we were having a boy and I believed him.  We have a picture of me with that sleeper draped over my belly laughing.

And all of this got me to thinking.  My mother had quilted, my grandmother had sewn, why couldn't I make a quilt of these clothes?  So I did.  I took what the storage containers claimed to be dear goodness 52 gallons of clothes.  I spent at least two months first cutting out the seams and then stabilizing the knits.  Oh yes that's what I said.  I started with interfacing but that was a real ironing nightmare with all those clothes so I switched to the stabilizer and spray adhesive and then after piecing ripped it out of each quilt before quilting.  It was a real mess.  Yet that's where I started.  By that point I didn't know I'd found a passion that would allow me to explore every pent up bit of myself I'd ever boxed away.

My blog changed as I did.  Instead of just the odd mother who talked about her daughter and only sometimes mentioned any physical limitations.  I found this entirely new quilting world online.  Which is good because I've long since worn out the ear of any loved one that doesn't live with me.  Lucky for me DH and DD are still happy to listen most of the time.  Aren't you glad I still talk about my cats too?

Since I knew how hard it was to part with those darling baby clothes both of my larger baby clothes quilts bear a label proudly honoring the three moms who shared their beloved baby's clothes with me.  The quilting is feathers moving through sashing of the front between every block.  Mostly because I knew I had DD's quilts already tucked safely away, I knew I couldn't ruin anything and I thought it would make good practice.  Then the blocks are quilted with mostly double hearts, though there are some singles and a few triples to represent our family and the three wonderful women who shared more than just clothes.

Do you See What I see?

Today I worked on the final baby clothes quilt.  This is a near twin of one I made the first year I was quilting.  I accidently made nearly twice as many blocks as I needed so I called it serendipity and made another top.  This one is bigger than the original and measures 90" square.  It has a pieced back as well, which I will show you after I get the binding attached.  For now I've finished the quilting.  Praised be!  And delt with all the threads and trust me there were a lot.

This was my first BIG quilt to quilt on the mid arm frame.  I will say there is theory which I picked up as much as I could reading everything I could get my hands on.  This is real tangible data, but it has no true meaning until reality combines and the key clicks.

Keys to making the key click:

1. There are such a thing as defective needles.  It might look great but if you've changed the thread, adjusted the tension, checked your needle plate for burrs, called in some else who knows more than you, clearly rethreaded the machine a zillion times, and checked the manual...  Guess what?  It might just be that brand new needle.  This one in particular I felt the burr as soon as I removed it from the sewing machine.  Wish I'd thought of that before loosing hours and hours.

2.  When quilting on a quilt frame needle size should be two sizes bigger.  So if you've always done freemotion quilting with a side 90/14  you need an 18.  Don't try to bull you're way past that needle size.  My home machine doesn't care, but the Janome 1600P, goes so fast it cares and will shred your thread.

3.  Thread does matter.  I read somewhere that Janome 1600's likes overlock thread, you know the two strand serger thread?  I'm still trying to figure out if that's true.  But currently I have everything set perfectly for the quilt I just quilted using So Fine Thread.

4.  In a the span of half of a 12" block you should not have any thread breakages.  Certainly not the 3-5+ I was experiencing for the past month.

When everything comes together it's like the best homemade gravy you've ever had smothering the best pot roast you've ever tastes.  I'm sure there are more keys to unlock and mid arm frame tricks to learn.  But I can't tell you how happy I am that after 5 amazing passes last night I stopped at half way and went to bed.  Today I finished the quilt!  Okay I still have the binding - let me know when you find a quilting frame that will sew that on too, I'm sure everyone will want one.

Do you know what that means?  Another quilt from the quilt list will be gracing my living room.  I wonder which one it will be?  Actually I already know, but you'll find that out soon enough.

Christmas Quilt-a-long Year 2 August Day End

After lunch I decided to do a bit of quilting on the quilt frame.  I have the second baby clothes quilt, the first of which I called Blessings from Heaven, all loaded and ready to go on the quilt frame.

This quilt is bigger than the other one.  It's measuring 90"x91" and that's bigger than I remembered.  I did a nontraditional scallop as the binding treatment on the first quilt which made the full size quilt more useful on a twin sized bed.  And as it was only my second quilt I stitched the entire thing stitch in the ditch. But this one is another matter.  Because I knew I wouldn't be putting scallops on this one I did a different border treatment all together.

So it starts with a small 2" outermost border which I have been quilting like this unununun (minus the serifs) The next is a border of 3" blocks those I spend a while thinking of how to quilt and came up with hearts that chain loop from one into the other at the bottom.  Once I got the hang of those they turned out nicely.  Finally is the final border that finishes off all of the sashing.  Each intersection has a hand embroidered heart so I have been quilting feathers between the hearts and a doubling back to make an inner and outer heart through the embroidery.  So far I'm pretty happy with it.  There are some mild puckers and so forth on the top as the knits aren't properly interfaced - hey I told you this was a duplicate of my second quilt and made at the same time so why else do you think I've put off quilting it for two years?  To deal with the puckers that I knew would happen to some degree the batty is a lofty 3/4" so hopefully when washed it will be nice and cuddly and at that point I'll just have to just say who cares, right?

Currently I'm in a holding pattern because it's time to start quilting the blocks.  The quilt is so big that the sheer number of wraps around the rails wont allow me access to quilt any single entire block at one time.  I had planned big loops within the heart blocks but as I only have access to about half the bottom of block I'm not sure how to proceed.  If I work with it ignoring what I can't quilt yet I'll end up with way to many starts and stops.  Which leads me to my other thought of simply picking an all over pattern and quilting that within each block.  Does anyone have any other ideas?  Feel free to throw them out, because this is only the second quilt I've done on my mid arm so I'm a bit bamboozled.

Tiny was so excited when I got up to post to you that I just had to share this picture of her.  She must have wanted me to come in the sewing room because now she's sleeping behind the sewing machine.

Hopefully everyone had a great Christmas Quilt-a-long Day.  I know I did.

When is the Love Cooked in?

I didn't sew yesterday.  I know it's a great travesty, but I was thinking about all of you anyway.  I wish you could smell the delicious chili I have in the crock pot.  I soaked the beans last night and started cooking before it was even bright this morning.  It's only 10 am and already the smell has my mouth watering.  It reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter the other day while we were making dinner.

DD:  Mommy when do you add the love in?
Me:  ???
DD:  Everything is cooked with love so when do out the love in?

How would you answer that?  I think I told her I add it each time I add something and I add extra when I check on what I'm making.  But my answer doesn't hold a candle to her question.  I think the same applies to a quilt.  When do you sew the love in?  Is it when you're rethreading the machine for the thousandth time?  Or Perhaps when you add the label?  What about when your quilting it?  Or piecing it - perhaps dreaming of how you will quilt it?

For me I've been lucky enough to know the destiny of all the quilts I was giving away from the moment I started piecing the fabrics (sometimes sooner).  The love starts then.  Thinking about the person while cutting the fabric.  Selecting the proper thread and envisioning their face when you give them their quilt.  While piecing my quilts I feel most in touch with the fabrics involved.  It's then that I can see the quilting materialize as I work.  The hard quilts are the ones that wont talk.  :-)  Those get extra love in the form of the naughty words I call them in my head.  Oh you don't do that?  Of course.

May your quilts always have love sewn in.

Red Star Quilt Extension Update 1

The Red Christmas Star Quilt is such a heavy quilt!  I made it with Warm and White originally and it makes my muscles protest every time I move it around the machine, a big round of applause to people who make quilts this size on a regular basis!  So far I have attached all of my extension strips both to the front and to the back on all sides of the quilt.  I have also quilted two of the sides leaving me half done with the quilting.  Here's how it's looking (full of pins and only close-ups for now)

Before Quilting

After Quilting

 I was inspired by Sue's Swirls so much I tried to apply it to the red quilt.  I knew before I started the quilting would be demanding but I felt it would be worth the efforts.  Somewhere along the way I lost a bit of the wind look to my quilting as I thought more about my mother and her likes and dislikes.  She has never done well in cold climates so my swirls look a bit more like crashing waves.  To move over the quilt I found sometimes I had gaps in my quilting - tiny ones to small for a swirl but a little bit bigger than I'd like to leave empty so I started filling those with a bit of flame work, nothing complicated and perhaps nothing very noticeable but to me it created a fire and ice theme.

At this point the quilt has many pins.  I remove the pins as I quilt but there are always stray ones that stay in, so I try really hard to place a pin cushion like this away from cats, children, and grownups alike.  That has always worked out well in the past as I seem to be the only one that gets poked by the pins.  This is the biggest quilt that has ever been in my house and of course it's willfully working on being even bigger so it's harder to keep out of the way.  As you can see my efforts to keep family members (or meowbers in this case) from harm haven't worked out so well.

Perhaps Tiny thinks she knows best!

Something Leftover

Sure enough yesterday I cut fabric.  With the templates my DH cut for me the whole process went rather quickly.  As I have 60 x 45 inches leftover of the Patisserie fabric (how did that happen!?!?) as well as plenty of other leftovers I believe I will have plenty to make the back after the top is done, we'll see how it goes of course.

Denim Patchwork and Yes that's a Carebear.

I noticed I haven't showed you this yet.  When I came up with the plans for the back of the Gift from Heaven Quilt I planned 3 borders worth of 4 patches, but with a mix-up + a change up of the middle the quilt grew to quickly and I wasn't able to add the 2 set of borders.  Hence the birth of this denim patchwork; the fabrics are made from dd's baby clothes denim, knits, fleece, and so on, so it is wonderfully soft.  I'm not certain what should become of this one yet.  I know I will use a real batting on it and perhaps a blender flannel on the back.  My eyes keep seeing it as a puffy quilt.  What do you think?  While I know sort of how to make one of those I don't have any idea how much Polyfil something like that would take.  Any thoughts?  As for the flannel backing I think it should be something super soft.  Every time my brain says make it blue I argue back "but it has such pretty girlie white patches!"  It's a never ending battle of course.

I don't recall the exact measurements I think it's 42" x 48", but I was noticing yesterday while waiting for the bus, that it is big enough to be a lap quilt.  What do people use puffy quilts for anyway?  Do they always live on a bed?  As I look at the pictures even now it's easy to see what it would look like puffy, but to what purpose?  Maybe I'll figure it out today.

As always you can view my pictures in more detail by simply clicking on them.

Gift from Heaven Quilt Details

Yesterday I was thinking that perhaps instead of making a big fuss about having a fat quarter printed of DD as a baby perhaps I should save that for a different project in the future and instead work on finishing up both the back and the front of this quilt.

Very Different Border Detail on this quilt.

So off I went to go get it.  This WIP was the first project I set aside, so instead of being in the WIP box (which is nearly empty!) it was stashed in the bottom of my closet.  Don't worry the only other quilts stashed in my closet are finished ones.  So I pulled it out and a couple of things stuck me right away.  This second quilt is actually quite different than the first, with different colors and different memories.  All that time ago when I was adding the borders I ran short of the broadcloth but had plenty of 3.5" squares so the border ended up with the pieced border seen abouve where as the first was a straight broadcloth with a scalloped binding.

My favorite blue and terry block that I forgot I made!

I did hand embroidery through all three layers of the first quilt.  By working carefully the red hearts that are carefully placed on the front appear sprinkled on the back.  As this second quilt already has a planned pieced back I didn't think I should embellish all the way through.  So instead the hand detailed hearts have been drawn in the same places as the first quilt, but I'm only working with the top layer this time and wont make the quilt sandwich until later.

Hand embellished details.

So far I have stitched 10 or 11 of these little hearts, and I have 34 total, so I'm about a 1/3rd of the way done.  DD has already been asking whom this one is for. 

The Original Blessings from Heaven Quilt for Comparision.

Dres-Vers-A-Ree

As today is my anniversary I made this post for you last night. Let's see, I have quilty things for share. I have a mockup of the Dresden Plate Layout, which I printed noted on and scanned back into the computer for you to see. It was very difficult to work in the 22" recommended borders and still maintain a top that I liked. The wide borders will be entirely on the drop from the bed top and thereby have a nice scallop to them.

Just for fun and to check my idea of using diamonds for the centers of the Dresden Plates DH laid out a rough of what one of my blocks will look like. Nice hu?

Lucky me I finished up the Friendship + Card trick Wall hanging flimsy. I once again had a hard time with the Card trick block but somehow by sheer force of will I worked it out. I had to snip just a bit to much from the backing to fully compete the border around (I allowed enough extra of the border by 6" but as everyone knows you also have to allow 2.5" x 5 on those border corners, which I didn't have. The tiny missing patch from my backing fabric will of course be where my quilt label will go.

I think that's all the quilt stuff I have for now. It's my 7th wedding anniversary and I've been teasing my DH about having a seven year itch for a couple of months now, in fact I even put that movie on our streaming Netflix list to watch. No telling if we will or not. Take care and hug your loved ones.

When All of the Math Works Out

This is the latest installment of the back to the 2nd Blessings from Heaven Quilt.  I tell you this much is for sure, I'll be thrilled to have it finished and put what began as overflow from my first quilt behind me.  Today I sewed blocks - 74 blocks to be exact.  These are 6" blocks and are merely a four-patch pattern as you can see.  Both borders with pink in them are done, leaving only the middle pieced border, a mere 36 blocks left.

Have you ever wondered what 74 blocks would look like?  I'm not one to like making something over and over, but today it brought me peace to feel the fabric slip through my fingers.  Perhaps it gave me to much peace as I found myself picking out stitches on more than one block simply because I sewed them together colors matching instead of staggered.

No matter it's progress regardless. Yes, I have created two files to have custom printed with dd's baby picture on it. Two files because that way I can order both and use the one I like the best. I'm not certain if I'll be sticking with Spoonflower, or going with KarmaKraft on this one. There is something about the later, knowing the fabric will be printed squarely, and not shrink... It's worth the extra, if only I could find more positive reviews..

Gift from Heaven Quilt Back 2

A week or three ago I saw on Gwen's blog a quilt back that made me stop and think.  It was indeed scrappy and inspired me to consider doing the same, you can see the back I'm talking about by clicking here.  She tells me those are 12" blocks, but yet it reminded me of my box of squares.   The ones I cut out for Jessica's baby clothes quilt. 

Most of you wont know this but I spent three months cutting up Jessica's baby clothes and making them into 3.5" squares.  Yes three months.  I had FOUR 13-gallon kitchen trash bags full of her baby clothes stashed away, or was it five?  That's how I was able to not only make one quilt, but an entire second top to boot. 

Now that top has been waiting for me to get off my duff and figure out some sort of back so I can get started on the quilting.  After all quilts like these long to be FINISHED!

So today I got out that banished box of squares and started counting.  I have 760 of the afore mentioned squares, and to think I've made at least 3 baby blankets using those fabrics since I worked on the Blessings from Heaven Quilts! (Talk about overkill!)

To piece the entire full size quilt back I would need...  Are you ready for this?  900 squares to make the entire back pieced from the leftover squares, I knew there had to be another answer and here's what I came up with.

This layout uses a mere 512 of those 3.5" squares.  For the center I have selected a newborn picture of Jessica, which I will have custom printed after I jazz around with it a bit in Illustrator.  I think I will adjust two different pictures and have them both printed so that I can select the one I like best.  Does it make you want to go sew or simply wish me luck?

Lady Bird and her Gentleman-bird stopped by for dinner, so I snapped a couple of photos. Not the one of Lady Bird with her crest up like I wanted, but maybe next time.

A Quilter's Cookbook

I just went over to the Quilting Gallery.  They are putting together a Quilter's Cookbook full of quilts and recipes just right for the busy distracted person in all of us.  I added my Red a White Chili, a yummy treat that I feel is truly an expression of myself.  It's a great fix it and forget it recipe. Why don't you go other there and join in the fun?

I've done things!

I've come up with two quilt layouts one for the Wildcat blocks from the exchange, and one for the sampler quilt I'll be donating to charity this year. The sampler quilt requires quite a bit more fabric than I had hoped so no stash busting there.

I also went through all my fabrics. I read somewhere that you should go through them time to time, and I found I had a whole lot more apparel fabric than quilting fabrics. How did that happen you ask? Well my neighbor cleared out her stash and everything she didn't think she would use she gave to me. That lead me in the creation of a beautiful blue blouse. It's funny to me because when I first brought the fabric home and was washing it Jessica told me it was "carpet". Now she says "Mommy it's so beautiful". I'm just glad she doesn't think it looks like carpet anymore.

Done

The Purple Carpenter's Square quilt is all one. I finished it up this afternoon. I'm planning on leaving the quilt turned on point on top of the bed, and will be dying the curtains to match tomorrow. Currently they are a funky pink, having been formerly Sage that was bleached in the Florida sun. Sunny our Maine Coon Cat snuck out of the house while we were preparing the front bedroom for my sister, where she will stay for a little while once she's discharged from the hospital. Can you tell, I'm a bit of a mess? At least making the binding for the quilt and putting it on gave me some distraction.

We have combed the entire neighborhood for my dear boy. We think he might be under the house but there is no seeing under there and there is an awful thunderstorm is brewing. I fear he'll end up spending the night outside. Hopefully he will be okay and we will find him soon.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend.

motivated?

Today was one of those days when everything feels, just bleck. It's hard to stay motivated. It's interesting to me that I feel this way, because I did an hour worth work of embroidery, and followed that up by wrapping up the ribbon border on the purple butterfly top. It currently matches the Purple Carpenter's Wheel in size, so if I can get my hands on a bit of batting I'll go ahead and quilt them together.

The camera keeps telling me the quilt top is blue, so I'll try for a photo again tomorrow when the light is better.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I being the crazy person I am have requested coffee and chocolate covered doughnuts. Hey once a year never hurt anyone, right?

Whatever your "dream day" (even if it means you cleaned like mad - as both my mother and I did, today, so the house can be clean tomorrow.) I hope butterfly kisses, and smears of who knows what, find you covered in happiness tomorrow. Love to all of those whom have lost maternal figures, may your heart once again be filled with love on this special day.

Lights Camera GLITTER!

The day did a funny sort of flip flop on me. I started out at the big red Bulls eye store (since their return policy sucks I only buy personal and paper goods there, aka stuff I know I wont need to return). Ahhh but later my sister and I would cruise off to Dunedin, a cute little town complete with perfect green grass, friendly people, and most important small town charm.

What else do they have? Well they have Raspberries, a Platinum Vera Bradley Store, which is how I convinced my sister to take me... As well as Rainbow's End, a huge quilt store that touts itself as being the biggest fabric store in all of Florida, and I believe them.

I was destined for the, yep you guessed it, Glitter! Come on now, you had to know that I really wanted to find the $30 so I can glitter up Lori's Row Robin this month. You can see from the photo what I bought. Pee Wee Glitter LB Colors I, Sea Shell 100, a pristine white which will be my snow, the special fabric glue. The woman who presides over the cash register there is so knowledgeable, just like I remember, and was more than happy to show me how to paint with the glue, and which techniques I should use to get the look I want. For now I'm waiting to get my hands on the three paint brushes she suggested, but as soon as I do not only will you see what I've been planning, but I will also right a review. Oh and this pile is so small not only am I glad I went to the store to buy it because of the wisdom I gained that way, but also because it can be disappointing to receive a much awaited box, that doesn't weight more than 5 oz or so.

Not Sure...

I've been thinking about options for the last border for the Purple Carpenter's Wheel Quilt. I came up with this one, but I'm just not certain. These two borders would bump the size to 70" and I ask you, who wants a 70" square quilt? At the current 55" square I can think of lots of things to do with it, but at 70" it feels like it will need something more to bump it to a full sized quilt or perhaps thrown on the couch.

This ribbon border means making 15 blocks per side plus the cornerstones, and that seems like a whole bunch of work. Perhaps it wont seem so bad in the am.

The Bewitching Hour

What does that mean to you? My mom always used to call the bewitching hour the time right before bed when all small children act crazy, and you know it's time to put them to bed. For me the Bewitching Hour occurs when I've been working on a quilt for a while and I'm starting to get tired. A part of me (the sleepy part) would really like to stop and leave everything for later, but I know as I look around that if I do all the pieces I worked so hard to line up will be run through and in a huge disarray by morning. I know some quilters are lucky and can shut the door on those carefully aligned pieces. But here with three cats, and a toddler who more often than not wakes up before me...

So I sewed together all my little pieces (and left the rest for later). Good night.

E is for Energy

Of which I have none.

After pushing myself all day, the top is done. I'll be posting photos of it later, so be on the lookout for those. I'm planning on quilting it tomorrow, so hopefully a good night's rest will have me ready to dig back in. Thanks to everyone for your kind and supportive comments, I hope to have time to check in at your blogs this weekend.

Take care.

Spring Quilt Festival 2009

A bit of blogging this morning had me finding out about http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/2009/04/quilt-festival-spring-2009.html It looked like so much fun I just had to join in. You're more than welcome as well! Check out the link above for the details. My favorite quilt, is my very first one. I drew up the pattern I would use before I even knew a thing about quilt blocks or seam allowances. I made it from my daughter's baby clothes. The cut off points don't matter, for me it's about all the memories, both of the past and of the future. In this quilt I found a part of myself that I had been missing for my entire life, and yet never knew. Sitting at the sewing machine allows me to reach through the generations to touch the people who having lovingly made quilts before me. Touching all of those fabrics, some outfits had been hand-me-downs and some not allowed me remember all of the joy of my daughter's babyhood and to peak into the lives of the wonderful women who had shared their children's things with me. I am blessed to have made this quilt. Working with bias square triangles and knits at the same time showed me how limitless quilting can be. When I started I was certain I would send it to a longarmer yet, when the time came, circumstances prevented it. Taking a deep breath I started machine quilting in my little Elna which has only a 6" throat, and you know what? It wasn't so bad! To this day that machine is still my favorite for quilting! Jessica playing peak-a-boo with her quilt.

Stop!!!

Who R U?

I am a handicapped, mother. Now let's stop right there. Handicapped is listed first. It is always listed first, seemingly no matter who you talk to. WHY?!?! Being handicapped defines my limitations. It does not define me. While a part of who I am, I am not a chair, a cane, or a walker. With that word first you draw whatever conclusions you'd wish.

That second word. Mother, that can evoke many images. Dark sinister ugly thoughts, or warming happy comforting ones. It's really all up to your perception. Mother defines all that I do. If you ask a mother something - there is a seemingly instant connection between the question and my child. How will my decisions in this moment influence said child if at all?

I am a quilter. It delights me define creative side in this way. I just past my one year quilting anniversary. Everyone gains skill and advances at different rates, especially when you consider we all have different amounts of time to spare for things we really enjoy. New and different things excite me, I feel I'm in a constant state of improving my skills. My love for color, fabric, and thread are all encompassing. I even use my background knowledge in drafting to expand my skills further.

I am a wife. My husband is my compliment, my counter balance, yet at the same time he is very much like me. I do not feel that he is "my other half". He completes me, when he is away part of me is missing, still the world turns and the days move past. He takes care of me in many ways others would never begin to dream of, I love him body, mind, and soul.

I am many other things to, but at this time I'm going to stop and ask you. Who R U? What defines you? Take a moment, maybe you'll surprise even yourself.