Returning to Basics - The Future of Quilting?
I have read several articles lately about how the present economy will most likely affect things we do in our everyday lives. Here at Quilting an Crafting.com and at our house it has always been about basics, using scraps perhaps buying a bit of material - for a larger panel - but for the most part looking thru the scrap bags/bins to create a theme then using or redesigning a pattern to create a one of a kind quilt. The Christmas quilt was a case of buying theme pattern fabric but when it arrived the print was a lot different size than we expected. We reworked the pattern to fit the print and have a really nice one of a kind quilt. My wall hanging came about by digging through the fabric remnant bags/bins then creating a pattern out of those-a sea scape-as it turned out. I didn’t know until it just sort of happened. We think a big part of quilting is (1.) having an idea then (2.) building a theme and pattern to fit your idea. Lots of quilts years ago were built from joining sampler blocks together. So find your remnants chose a block size, and make one block, then a second, and a third, and before you know it you’ll have enough blocks to join to have a bed quilt, and it will be all your work! So don’t get to hung up on being up to date, start simple and build on that and have fun!
Let us take this chance to wish everyone a Happy and Joyous Holiday Season.
The Christmas Gift - 2
Quilting can be a way to maintain a bit of stability when your world is turned sideways. The focus of having to spend a certain amount of time doing something you have control over allows you to momentarily forget the world. In - out- in -out pull, repeat, repeat. The turmoil in your mind subsides. Then you stop and voila ! see how much has been accomplished.
I bought 3 blended/variagated colored threads for the OZ quilt; a yellow, green and a pink.The center panel of movie stills is all done. I used the pink and green alternately in the 4 small stills in the center, outlining elements of the pictures as I felt necessary. For the BIG Glinda pic- pink, Wicked Witch - green. For one of the large Dorothy?Toto pictures I used a light bright blue and in the other a dark purple.I outlined elements of these pictures also.Think reverse coloring book.
Three of the four narrow yellow brick road borders around the center panel are done with the yellow thread in horizontal rows. Two the wider long side borders of the Munchkinland montage are done in pink thread, vertical rows. It will be back to the green thread for the two W.W.W. corner squares. Not sure what color thread I will use for the ruby slippers on yellow corner squares, then back to horizontal rows of yellow for the outside yellow brick border.
Laid the quilt on our bed the other day to see how it is all coming together. I was very happy. I also needed sunglasses- the colors in the fabric are very bright.
Four Seasons
1980’s
Wall Hanging: machine pieced, hand quilted
Pattern: Star’s over the Smokies
Adopted from: More Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel
Using the Flexi-curve technique, explained in the book, I made blocks for each season, with topical quilting motifs; (examples) pumpkin-fall, mittens-winter, ice cream cone-summer, tulip-spring, in the four corners of each block. The four squares have the same block pattern motif so when they were joined they create the diamonds and triangles. This makes it look like four suns that flow from one season into the next. The quilting on the light blue border is a continuous weave which ties the four blocks into one whole world as it were. The two oldest boys enjoyed this in their room for years, and it is now part of the kitchen wall rotation.
Stars and Scopes
2008
Bed Quilt: Machine pieced, hand quilted
Pattern: 6 triangle hexagon on a paper pieced hexagon back
Milky Way from Quilters Newsletter Magazine jan/feb 1998
This is the second quilt I have made using this block combo. I fussy cut the 6 kaleidoscope triangles and then sewed them into hexagon blocks. The Milky-way blocks were paper pieced. (When I first read about paper piecing I got the impression this was a good way to use up scrap material - not so!) The blocks were then machine joined together into a rough center piece rectangle. The rectangle was then hand appliqued to the border frame. The gold lame bias tape was then hand sewn around each block. Spider web hexagons were hand quilted onto the border frame. Each of the star blocks is outline quilted and the kaleidoscope blocks are quilted following the design on each block. It makes for a very spectacular bed display. My husband uses the first one of these as his bed quilt when he goes to run the kitchen at summer camp for the Girl Scouts on Cape Cod each year.
The Wedding Quit Phase 4
Major glitch! Major Owee!
My right thumb became the filling in a firewood sandwich**. I am right handed. NO quilting, or sewing, not much of anything for a few days. Two weeks later and the joint is still stiff and sore, but i am back to the projects at hand.
The baby quilt is done. Hurrah! The final bit of binding all sewn, although a four year old could have done it faster.
On the craft front I have the base backgrounds glued inside the four Santa boxes. Lovely gluey fingers even though I use a brush. What am I doing wrong?
Back to the quilt. Four of the Wedding quilt squares are done. I can hold the needle and put 4 or 5 stitches with no problem. Gripping the needle to pull through - - - ouch! So now I’m really glad I’m Lap Quilting. Left hand to the rescue. Right hand stitch left hand pull.
The thumb has now improved so quilting goes - right hand stitch, pull, stitch, left hand pull. I can still only do one length of thread at a go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Ice cold water soothes the thumb, while producing the ooohhh thats cold whimpers.
**Happened while stacking the spring firewood supply - which is now done and drying for the first cold this fall.
Wedding Gift
Phase 3
The saga continues
Time to start cutting fabric! Eight identical or, nearly identical, wedges for each flower. Some of the 20 flowers are kaleidoscope and some kaleidoscopish. Following the pattern (insert info again) I sew, press, sew and press the eight wedges into one unit. Eighteen of them have nearly perfect centers - then there’s the other two! Fortunately the pattern calls for a circle applique over the center of the flower.
Back to the fabric stash for the centers. Rather than one piece of fabric for all 20 flowers, I used several colors of the same type of fabric. (Remember those scraps we said to save) A semi-sheer, semi-glimmery fabric. Purchased that several years ago in a scrap bundle. Matched colors to flowers, then appliqued them on.
Cut 12 1/2″ squares from two complimentary fabrics for the back ground squares. Match the flowers with the back ground they look best with, then applique the flowers to there back ground squares. You don’t have to turn edges as the making of the flowers does all the work. I did find that a needle helped pull out the points as I went along.
Decided on a quilting pattern, using gold cotton thread I quilted around the center applique - about 1/4″ away. Then 1/4″ inside each petal.Next using multicolored cotton (blue/green/yellow/red) thread I quilted again about 1/4″ away around the outside of the entire flower.
In each conner I quilted a fleur-de-lis, using a quliting stencil for the pattern.
The Baby quilt nears complition! Its all batted/backed and tied, and the binding is sewn half way around.
KudoSurf Me!
