Month: July 2016

Practice the quilting with Hard Candy

So, I do not like my actual quilting, ever.  So, I decided that I would work on practicing this while at the same time, hoping to create a few gifts.  Well, while I believe that I will keep this one for myself (quilting is hideous), I did manage to learn a few things.  Slow down……  That is a big issue for me.  I totally need to slow down.

Until you get much better, use thread that is not so noticeable.  Duh.  The thread I used on this, was so pretty on the spool, orange/yellow/brown.  However, it is so noticeable on the piece that every little mistake (and there are tons) shows up, and I see every one of them.

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I actually like the back of this quilt better than the front.  Probably because the awful quilting is less noticeable.  I also liked the fat quarter that I used.  Never knew what exactly what to do with it, but this sort of worked.  You can tell that it was not quite big enough, but it still looks ok.

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So, my geometry skills also suck.  Weird thing about that is that I am a math/science person all the way.  The only math I did not like was Geometry, which is totally weird because I love quilting and it is geometry.  I did not have enough acorn Fabric to make enough pieces at the full length.  So, I figured that I would just shorten them a bit and make a smaller topper.  Well, that would have made total sense if you shortened the correct end.  Duh, again.  I shortened the small end, which just made the hole in the middle bigger.  So, besides practicing my quilting, I need to brush up on my Geometry and maybe give back that MBA to the university.

 

More Rock Candy practice to come.

 

Happy Sewing

 

Happy Quilting

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Monnie’s Treasures

Monnie was my grandmother. She was one of my favorite people. She taught me how to sew. They lived in Dearborn Michigan and we went to visit them a lot. I loved going there. They had a wonderful house (that I still dream about to this day) and always had everything a kid could want (mostly candy and a fridge full of Pop).

Monnie used to get fabric samples from Blair’s Clothing. They were little swatches maybe 1” x 2” to try and get you to buy their clothes. She saved them for me. I would sit at her sewing machine and sew all these little pieces of fabric together in one big long strip. I think this might have been the beginning of my quilting habit, even though I didn’t realize it.

Monnie was an excellent seamstress. When I went to Kindergarten, she made all my clothes. I remember when her and Grandad brought them down to our house and I had to try them all on. Funny, I remember not wanting to. I wish I had some of those clothes today. They would mean so much. But, I will have to settle for one of her quilts.

When I look at this quilt, I am not often sure what I am looking at. Sometimes I see Cubes, sometimes I see stars in the design. This was a quilt that was used every day. It was used at her house and then somehow wound up at our house and my mother used it. I have several of Monnie’s quilts. Monnie was Uncle Donald’s sister(See my post about Uncle Donald’s quilt) , so quilting is a family thing.

Funny thing,  about many of Monnie’s quilts was that a piece of a sheet was sewn across the bottom, so you could tuck it in at the base of the bed. I am pretty sure that this was the cause of my sheet tucking obsession. I must have the sheets tucked in at the bottom. I can’t stand if a foot comes out. Maybe this is a family thing too.

I love the quilt. I find it beautiful, but mostly because she made it. I hold her responsible for my quilting/sewing obsession. Thank you Monnie. I miss you dearly.
Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Treasure your Family

Weird Table Topper

So, this was an experiment because I have never made anything round. I used a sample fabric pack of odd fabrics. There is a store in Amish country that sells the samples they get. I love these to make small pieces. Anyway, this is one of those sample fabrics. I just wanted to see how hard it was to piece something round and bind it. I don’t think I really like the fabrics all together, but maybe I can save it for Easter.
Well, it wasn’t that hard. I like to make small pieces to give away at holidays/birthdays. I have three sisters. Funny thing about that, I didn’t realize that they even liked my quilted stuff. Then, when my mother died, all of the quilts and table toppers I had made for her disappeared. So, I am guessing that someone must have liked them.

I also plan on practicing my quilting with these. Maybe I can manage to do something other than meandering. This pattern was in an issue of Block by the Missouri Star Quilt Company. There example was red and white for holidays, which was quite lovely.
I have already cut out fabric for a few more of these, so expect to see them.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

A Dog Quilt for my Great Nephew

So, on Saturday my great nephew was born about 5 weeks early.  He is perfect.  However I had to hurry and finish his dog quilt.  This was fun to make.  The most time consuming part was the cutting out of all the pieces.  I don’t really see it being used as a quilt to cover up with.  More of lay the baby on the quilt kind of thing.  I made it all from flannels so it is very soft.  This was made from Simplicity 4993.  It has a dog, bear and cat patterns.  Since I am the crazy dog lady, this is quilt that would definitely come from me.

My daughter had not ever remembered me making a “rag quilt” before and insisted that the back was the front and I put the face of the dog on the wrong side.

Now to get a couple more items for Ethan and his big sister before mailing the package off.

It always feels good to complete something.

Happy Sewing.

Happy Quilting.

Uncle Donald’s Quilt – Yes, he made it.

My Great Uncle Donald and Aunt Helen lived on a farm in Ohio. My sister Karen and I loved to go there. The county pound was on their property and we would go play with the dogs and beg my Dad to take one home every time. I remember my Dad letting my sister drive. She was about 12. IT was a place you could do things that you normally didn’t get to do at home. We would spend hours walking on their white fence to see how far we could get without falling off. Some of my fondest memories as a child.

Well, Uncle Donald was one of nine children. He was the only boy. As Aunt Helen told me when she gave me this quilt. He didn’t have a choice. All the sisters were quilting, so if he wanted something to do, he had to join in. It is funny I have quilts form my grandmother and it wasn’t until I got Uncle Donald’s quilt that I realized how much they all meant. I now had visions of my grandmother, her sisters and Uncle Donald all sitting around quilting. I am not sure that is how it happened, but I like to think about it that way.

Uncle Donald made a beautiful quilt. I will always treasure it. I miss him, Aunt Helen and Monnie (my grandmother).
Happy Sewing
Happy Quilting
Treasure your family

My Very First Quilt Ever

So, when I was looking for my red/white/blue quilts in the cedar chest, I came across my very first quilt (which I had sort of forgotten about).  It brought back some fond memories.

I think I started making this quilt when I was about 14.  I had no idea how to do it and the Internet didn’t really exist.  So, I just winged it.

Here’s the story:  When I was a kid, my next door neighbors had these jackets.  On the jackets they had patches of all the places that they had visited.  I thought this was awesome and started to collect them myself.  I had a windbreaker full of patches.  Once day I realized that my windbreaker didn’t fit very well anymore and would likely wind up at good will.  So, I carefully took off all the patched.  For some reason I decided to make a quilt because I figured it was something that I would keep for a while.   I guess I was right.

On this quilt are all the places I visited as a kid and some as I got a bit older.  It brought back some very fond memories of family vacations and things I just did as a kid.  I remember when my daughter was born that I sort of wanted to do the same thing for her, but people don’t make many patches these days.  They are a bit hard to come by.

The actual techniques are pretty awful.  I am not sure what I did when it came to binding.  But, it holds so many memories that I will never part with it.

 

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Happy July 4th – Celebrate with a quilt

This was the second quilt I ever made.  I actually hand quilted it.  It took forever, but it was great therapy at a difficult time of my life.

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

Happy 4th

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting.

Red, White and Blue from the Quilting Widow

In celebration of the fourth, my star spangled baby quilt. I actually made this 12 years ago. It as made from scraps from a charity quilt I made for a local high school. I had the cutest picture of my daughter at about 4 months old laying on the quilt in a little patriotic outfit. I wish I could find that photo and compare it to her now. I did make her hold the quilt, since it was hers. I put it in the cedar chest for that someday when she has a baby of her own (better be a long time from now).

Happy Sewing.
Happy Quilting.
Happy 4th of July.