A Quilting Time Machine

Now that my oldest son Andrew has moved to Denver, I've been working on returning his bedroom to guest room status.  I started by tackling the walk-in closet, which was in sore need of organizing.  Over the years the closet became a place to stash all manner of stuff - including costumes, clothes, quilts, and keepsakes.  

As I was sorting through the mess, I discovered several quilts I had made for him over the years.  I'm not sure why he left them behind, except maybe he thought they would be safer at our house than with him.  Hmmm.  Anyway, it was a bright, sunny day so I decided to take pictures so I'd have documentation of the quilts.

This is one of the first quilts I made as a beginning quilter, probably in the late 1980s.  I started by making 4-patch blocks, then assembling them in rows.

The layers were machine quilted using gentle curves along the seams.  This was a technique advocated by Robbie Fanning in The Complete Book of Machine Quilting, an early reference for machine quilting. 

In keeping with the animal novelty fabric in the quilt top, I used a leopard print for the back of the quilt.  Interesting to me - I used a wider binding than I typically use now, and I didn't miter the quilt corners!

Another early quilt was this red and green Log Cabin quilt - a Christmas quilt.  Again, not sure on the year it was completed (no label - I'll have to remedy that!), but probably early to mid 1990s.  

I used the services of a local long-arm quilter for this project; I think I wanted to finish it in time for Christmas!

Close-up of the quilting, binding, and backing.  Still using that wide (2.5 inch?) binding.  Amazingly, I still have scraps from this quilt in my stash!

I've shared the story of this quilt before.  Andrew took this quilt with him to Denver, but I'm including it here as it's part of the story.

This memory quilt has also been documented on the blog.  I know Andrew was worried about his dog chewing on this quilt (see the red and black quilt above), so he kept it stashed in the closet where the dog couldn't get at it!

This final quilt was not stashed in the closet, but has been waiting for its photographic opportunity before being shipped off to Denver.  

I remade the Endless Chain pattern in black and gold fabrics to remind Andrew of his New Orleans roots now that he's far from home.  Black and gold are the colors of the New Orleans Saints football team, and most of the fabrics have fleur de lis images (the fleur de lis image is associated with New Orleans - it's even included on the city flag and logo).

I got a little sentimental with the label.  The quote on the quilt is from Hodding Carter, and it's been part of a family history/photography display in our house for years.  I thought it was a good thought to send off with my wandering son!

String Star Memory Quilt Update

For the past 8 years I've been using my late father's collection of plaid and striped shirts to make memory quilts for family members.  I've managed to use up a good bit of the shirt fabric over the years, but lots of strips and strings remained.  To use up those scraps, I chose to make a version of the Spring Clean Quilt, which features stars made from strings.

Earlier this year, I finished making all the string blocks needed for the quilt - 144 blocks, to be exact.  Since my design wall was empty this week, I decided it was time to start assembling the star blocks.  The 144 individual blocks get assembled in sets of 16 to form a star.  So far I've completed 4 blocks - leaving 5 to go!

Each star block is 32 inches, making it difficult to photograph them on the design wall.  Instead, I spread them out on my dining room floor.  BTW, not every fabric in my string blocks is shirt fabric - I also used some novelty fabrics related to my dad's hobbies, etc.

Of course, once you put quilts on the floor, the dogs have to come and help out!  My golden retriever/English lab mix McKenzie was the best helper; Bailey, the black lab mix, was a little less enthusiastic about helping!

A Week of Scraps

A lot of scrappy stitching happened this week.  Not all of it was Rainbow Scrap Challenge related, but scraps got used and goals were reached.

The RSC color for January is light blue.  I pulled several 1.5 inch strips to make a 49-patch block using Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World technique.  

I also stitched up 2 quarter log cabin blocks using repro light blue fabrics.  

Best of all, I finished stitching all the string blocks needed for my memory quilt version of the Spring Clean Quilt.  I needed to make 144 blocks for this version of a string star.  Earlier this week, I decided I was tired of the stringy mess on the sewing table and pushed myself to finish stitching the remaining blocks.  If you've ever stitched a long-term string project, you know how messy all those strings and bits can get!  As soon as I finished the blocks, I tidied up and snapped a picture of my milestone.  Now I need to assemble the blocks, but that won't come until a little later this year - there are other projects clamoring for the space on the design wall.

I haven't had a chance to look at this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone was stitching up this week!

String Star Progress

One of my goals for the 17 UFOs in 2017 challenge is to make significant progress on a string quilt that's been hanging around for awhile. 

My quilt was inspired by Brioni Greenburg's Spring Clean Quilt*.  I love string quilts and was quite taken with this block arrangement that created stars.  I purchased the pattern and decided to use fabric scraps and strings leftover from making memory quilts from my late father's shirts.  I knew my quilt wouldn't be as bright and colorful as the inspiration, but it would be full of memories.

 

I can't say for sure when I started constructing blocks for the quilt - definitely over a year ago.  I decided to use white cotton fabric as foundation for the blocks instead of paper.  Once I got the foundation blocks cut, I dug through the shirting scraps and started slicing pieces into strings.  I didn't think I'd have enough fabric variety, so I threw in some sliced up novelty fabrics I had also purchased with my dad in mind. 

All the string components and blocks are at our weekend camp, so I only get to work on construction occasionally.  This weekend was one of those occasions.  I finally finished enough blocks to lay out my first star.  Only 8 stars left to complete!   

As I worked on the individual blocks (light blocks, dark blocks and half & half blocks), I was concerned that some of my "light" fabrics weren't light enough.  I think I will have to be careful in how I use some of the lights, but when the quilt is done and quilted, I don't think it will matter all that much.  I'm looking forward to making more string blocks next weekend!

*The Spring Clean Quilt was published in Issue 8 of the online sewing magazine Fat Quarterly.  I've tried to find an active link for the magazine, or a stand-alone publication of the pattern, but so far I haven't been successful.  Apparently there are some issues with Fat Quarterly's website, and it's currently inaccessible.  I'll keep checking so I can add an active link to the pattern in case anyone is interested in making the quilt.

Breaking from Binding . . . For Spools

Folks, the bind-a-thon continues, but I took a break today to play with some spool blocks.  After seeing Kathy's wonderful top, I was inspired to dig out my spool blocks.

 

I used Bonnie Hunter's Spoolin' Around block in 2013 as a leader-ender project.   I didn't plan or color-coordinate anything, just tried to use up small scraps.  I finished up 270 blocks.  Not sure why I stopped, but I could use more yellow, aqua and brown blocks to make an even 300.

 

Since the blocks are so random, I think I'll use a random layout for them.   And I'll definitely set them on point, even though the assembly is a little more time consuming.  These are only 3 inch blocks, so the quilt top won't be huge - once I get it assembled I can decide if more blocks or some borders are needed.

The bind-a-thon has not made much progress in the past two weeks.  I needed to finish the Scrap Jar Star binding so I could give the quilt to my mom in person last week.  I didn't finish the binding before leaving for Florida and I didn't have many opportunities to work on it while visiting family.  It came back home with me and I'll have to ship it to her when it's finished.

 

I did finish binding the memory quilts I made for my nieces.

 

My local long-arm quilter, Cindy Braiwick, did a fantastic job with the quilting.

 

I especially love how she quilted the gold borders.   The girls loved their quilts and immediately wrapped up in them, even if it was a balmy 75 degrees outside!

I'm linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge one more time this year, as the spool blocks were inspired by the RSC.  And now I'm done spoolin' around - it's time to get back to binding!

 

Memories

Memory quilts.  I'm not sure there is an "official" definition, but I use the term to describe quilts made to memorialize departed loved ones.  I have been making memory quilts (in my typical s l o w fashion) in honor of my father, using fabrics re-purposed from his large wardrobe of plaid and striped shirts.  Another memory quilt was completed yesterday.

 

After making two earlier memory quilts, I realized I needed to streamline the process a little if I ever wanted to finish making 7 quilts - one each for the children and grandchildren.  This was the first quilt in the streamlined design - HSTs in the center, then a border, then a zig-zag border and finished with an appropriate novelty fabric border.  Not so obvious in the picture, but the novelty border here is fish, as my dad loved fishing. 

 

Again, I turned to my LAQ, Cindy, who quilted jumping fish over the entire quilt top.

 

I added a label (personal info obscured here) to keep track of pertinent details. 

 

I put the last stitches into the binding yesterday afternoon while enjoying a beautiful, almost-Spring day at our camp.  My goal was to finish the quilt by the intended recipient's birthday - today!

 

Memories!

 

 

Leaders or Enders?

I was a relative late-comer to the concept of using leader-ender projects to increase one's quilt-making output.  I never used the leader-ender practice when piecing, mostly because I never saw the need for it.  But when Bonnie Hunter promoted the idea of working on two quilts at the same time - one as the "main" quilting project, the other as a leader-ender project - I was sold!  Now I feel guilty if I do any stitching and don't use leader-enders as part of the process.

The Queen of Leader-Endering - Bonnie Hunter - has announced this year's L-E quilt along will be Tumblers.  I didn't really want to jump on the bandwagon because I have other quilty ideas in mind that will work just as well as leader-enders.  But Diane of Butterfly Threads blogged about her Tumblers AND her great Tumbler templates and I started weakening.

 

I rationalized that I already had some Tumbler pieces cut and ready to go. 

Inspired by Karen at Nana Girl Quilts, I had cut a stack of Tumbler pieces several months ago.  I had finished making memory quilts from my late father's shirt collection, but I had way too much shirt fabric left over to just toss the remainders (the fabric is mostly poly-cotton blends, so I didn't want to mix the left-overs into my regular fabric stash).  Karen inspired me to make a Tumbler quilt to use up more of the shirt fabrics; I had started cutting pieces, but hadn't progressed any farther.

 

I've done some tentative piecing of the Tumbler parts, but I'm not sure there's enough color variety in my shirt fabrics for a successful quilt.  I'm trying to decide if I want to throw in some random scraps of cotton quilting fabrics that were also used in the memory quilts.  I don't have any of the scraps cut in Tumbler shapes yet, so I guess my next step is to do some more cutting.  BTW, I'm using a Fons & Porter Wedge Template because it was the only ruler I could find at Hancock's when I first started cutting Tumbler pieces several months ago.

I'm still undecided about whether I'll use this as a leader-ender project, but I think a little more experimentation will be a good thing!  

Memory Quilt #6

I have been making a series of memory quilts using my father's shirts.  When my dad passed away four years ago, I took all of his plaid and striped sport shirts with the intention of making quilts for his children (my sisters and me) and grandchildren (two grandsons & two granddaughters).  It has taken me a few years, but I've made quilts for everyone but myself.  I added the final border to quilt number six today.

 

The center of the quilt is a Carpenter's Wheel block with a nautical-themed antique map as the neutral fabric.  I used the same arrangement for quilt number five.

 

After making 4 of these HST zig-zag borders, I've got the process streamlined.  I still love zig-zag borders, I just don't think I want to make any for awhile!

 

Like quilt number five, this one also has a sand dollar print border, but in a darker shade of blue.  Quilts five and six are for my nieces who live at the beach, so I'm happy the quilt weaves their lives with his.

 

I love this picture - the girls are helping Poppy with his garden.  I think I will make a photo-transfer of this picture as part of the quilt label. 

 

 

 

2015: It's All About the WIPs!

Many bloggers have shared delightful quilt year retrospectives this week.  I was inspired to look back over my quilting year, and I was surprised to find I had only completed TWO quilts this year!

On the other hand, my collection of WIPs (works in progress) seems to just keep growing.  I did some cleaning and tidying in the sewing room this fall, and decided it was time to focus on finishing projects.  That's my goal for 2015 - to make a serious dent in all the projects in varying states of completion!

 

Both of this year's completed quilts were started as part of the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

 

I probably would have finished more quilts in 2014, but I developed a reluctance to begin that last step in quilting:  applying the binding.  Normally, I don't mind the binding process and actually enjoy hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.  For some reason, I just could not get excited about binding for most of this year.  As a result, there are four quilts in the queue that need binding! 

 

I did manage to get a few flimsies completed this year.  There's also another plaid memory quilt - similar to the quilt top in the upper right corner - in the queue for quilting.

 

The biggest queue is quilt tops in various stages of piecing.  I'm embarrassed to fully enumerate all of the languishing projects, so I chose a few to really focus on for the first part of the year.  

The birds, flowers and stars are destined to be an applique border for the bowtie blocks below.  

The blue and white blocks were a year long leader-ender project of uneven 9 patches and alternate sawtooth stars.  All the blocks are finished now and need assembling.

Rounding out the projects are two samplers from 2014.  The Rainbow Scrap Sampler was offered by Angela at Soscrappy.  I've been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for a couple of years, so doing the sampler was a fun project to share with online scrap-loving friends.  I also participated in Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album, a sampler that focused on author Jane Austen and her friends and relations.  I need to finish another half dozen or so blocks for this project before it will be ready for assembly.

 

There's still at least one more memory quilt to make.  That will be a total of 6 quilts made from my father's shirts.  I made a good start on the center of the 6th quilt today.

So my goal is to avoid new projects and focus on finishing some of the quilts I've shared today.  It will be hard to resist the siren song of fabric and creativity, but I'll be much happier when some of these projects are off the "To Do" list!

 

 

Memories in Plaids and Stripes

The memory quilts have come out to play again!

 

The last time I wrote about my memory quilt project, I had completed the center Carpenter's Wheel medallion for a 5th quilt.   In this picture, the Carpenter's Wheel is pinned on top of another completed memory quilt top, so I could see if I liked the result.  The next step was making more HSTs for another zig-zag border.

 

However, as I was digging through the bin of fabrics I had stashed for this project, I found another antique map fabric I knew would be perfect for this quilt!  

The fabric features a host of imaginative  nautical images, which will be great because this quilt and the next one will be for my nieces who live at the beach.

  

 I ripped apart the original Carpenter's Wheel block and remade it with the nautical map fabric.  I added the darker gold inner border last night.  The HSTs for the zig-zag border were already pieced and I got them pinned in place - now I just need to stitch them.  I have some sand dollar print fabric for the outer border and that will complete quilt #5!

 

One of my favorite pictures of my dad & me!  He would've celebrated 84 years this week.  It's good to have great family memories!

Memory Quilt Progress

 

This week I managed to finish piecing and attaching the zig-zag border to my latest memory quilt.  I love how the zig-zag looks on the corners!

 

I think I have enough of this fabric (guitars and banjos) for the outer border.  My dad was a life-long guitar and banjo player, so this fabric is perfect.  I also used it for the backing on one of the previous memory quilts. 

 

I keep adding new HST units to the pile, as there are still two more quilts to complete!

Retreat to Stripes & Plaids

During my unplanned quilting retreat last week, I returned to a project that stalled almost two years ago.  After my father passed away, I decided to make memory quilts using his collection of striped and plaid shirts.  I initially completed 3 of the quilts and then got side-tracked into other projects.  As I re-arranged my sewing studio to make room for my new sewing machine, I came across the basket of shirting fabrics and resolved to get the remainder of the quilts made.

 

For the first two memory quilts, I used Bonnie Hunter's Star Struck and Blue Ridge Beauty patterns.  After those two quilts, I realized I could work more efficiently by using one size of HST unit and just making different designs.  I finished an additional quilt, a quilt center and lots of loose HST units before getting distracted by other projects.  

 

I started my re-directed project by adding a frame to the barn-raising style center medallion I had previously pieced.  The gold fabric is an antique map print - my dad was a geography buff.  When I was little, he would keep me occupied for hours by having me find countries, cities and geographic features on the world map pinned to my bedroom wall!  After adding the medallion frame, I worked out a zig-zag border.  The border isn't stitched yet, so I guess that's the next step.  The quilt top will be finished with another fabric frame or two.

 

Next, I thought I'd try a Carpenter's Wheel center medallion using the shirting HSTs.  In the stash I found a hunk of off-white with a small white design which worked nicely for the background squares.  I set the new medallion on top of the barn-raising medallion and decided it was a good plan.  I'll add a different framing border to the Carpenter's Wheel.  I might even try a different HST border, although I'm quite fond of the zig-zags!  I will make one more Carpenter's Wheel block (maybe with white background fabric?) and that will finish up the memory quilts for my dad's grandchildren.