Sister Kick in the Butt

I chatted with my sister yesterday, and was severely chided for not blogging and for staying well behind on our quilt-along.  (Like, more than a year behind - whoops!)  Sufficiently berated, I went out and bought more fabric - that's progress, right? 

Quilt-Along Progress:

Eliza's Ninepatch - done
Star Dreams & 54-40 or Fight - done
Twirling Star - pieces cut and problematic
Spinning Star
Calypso
Centennial
Rising Star
Blazing Star
Star Stairway
Windmill Star
Missouri Star
Broken Star
Ringed Star - (super scary, with partial seams - being saved for last)

So that's 3 out of 14 done.  I might need to replace the light pink that I chose for the middle of the Twirling Star block.  While I'm debating, I think I'll go ahead and do the Spinning Star block and come back to the Twirling (is that okay, Karen?).

Diamonds

Working six days a week has limited my quilting time, and I've been even more distracted for the last two weeks searching in and indexing the 1940 census.  I have managed to finish the top for our diamond quilt in bits and pieces.  This was Eric's idea and fabric selection, and we planned out all of the layout together.  He did a large part of the cutting, and I did all the piecing and pressing.  And he's the one holding it up for the photo shoot.  Definitely a joint effort.  This is destined to be a throw in our living room, fitting with my comfy armchair:

Now to choose a backing and find the time to quilt it!

Friday Finish!

This is the first Friday I've had both a finish and time to post, so it's my first link up to Amanda Jean's finish it up Friday. 

I finished this quilt a more than a week ago, but heard that it reached its recipient today.  The pattern is out of Fat Quarter Quilts (or More Fat Quarter Quilts - I'm not positive).  It's a lap size quilt for my husband's grandmother, recovering from an injury.  This quilt is like a hug that I could put in the mail!  I quilted in the ditch on the lattice part and straight lines on the borders.  I wanted to do some free motion in the borders, but I don't trust my FMQ skills enough yet.  I'm so happy with the color choices I made for the front.  The back is orange fabric that I used for our wedding and had left over in my stash. 

I love that my quilt has legs!  My very patient husband got dragged out early in the morning before our commutes to take some quilt pictures and get some odd looks. 

My Star Log Cabin quilt is also a finish from last week, but I'm not counting it because it doesn't have a label yet (so it's not really done, right?) and I don't have any pictures of it bound.  This is the one I started some time in high school - I'm trying to figure out exactly when I started it so I can label it properly.  Maybe for next Friday?

WIP Wednesday: Binding Edition

I think I need a WIP Weekend Edition, since that's when I seem to do most of my sewing.  I've been working six days a week for the last few months, which wreaks havoc on my down time.  Not complaining - I'm having lots of fun at my bonus position - but it's made for some sparse posting.


In other news, spring is just around the corner (it will be sixty degrees out tomorrow!) and my Spring Zig-Zag wallhanging briefly made an appearance on my wall, although it has since been replaced by a beautiful framed art print. 


Completed Projects:


Lattice Quilt - A new and completed project since the last time I posted a WIP Wednesday.  Made with love for my husband's grandmother.  I finished hand-sewing the binding last night!  It needs a label before its sent off, but it's otherwise ready to be packed up and sent.  Pictures soon, hopefully!



Handwarmers - Another new and completed project - I made my husband some little pocket handwarmers from felt and rice for Valentine's Day.  These were really quite fun and simple to make, and he now has two pairs to help keep him warm while he's stationed outside in the cold.  (Not that he needs it right now exactly since it's getting warmer out!)


Free Motion Quilting Worksheets - I'm counting these as completed, since the class is complete - although these are more like scratch paper than actual projects.  I never posted about the actual class - I had a lot of fun, developed confidence in my ability to learn this, and I know that I need to keep practicing for a long time. 


Ongoing Projects: 

Star Log Cabin - Once I got started hand-sewing binding, I kept up the momentum with this one.  I'm about three-quarters done sewing down the binding, and I think another couple episodes of Battlestar Galactica and/or Upstairs Downstairs should see me through it.  It will be awesome to cross this off the UFO list after about ten years!

Diamond Throw - I finally gave in and picked this up off the floor where it was all laid out.  I have oodles of options to pick from for an additional light repro fabric, thanks to a very generous friend.  I want to get working on this one, because I have visions of it draped on my living room sofa, and I like it.

Orange and aqua throw -  I'm practicing my free motion quilting skills on this one, by quilting flowers in the background squares.  Each one is a little different, but I think I'm okay with that.  However, I think I'll have to work up my courage to show it. 

Dad's Sudoko Puzzle - No physical progress on this one, but I was inspired by Amanda Jean's awesome Math Facts quilt.  It didn't hurt that the colors match the oranges I've used for this quilt already, but it was mostly the bold, graphic, and decidedly nerdy statement the symbols make.  I've been toying with the idea of using a variation on blocks like these as borders around the Sudoko as a central medallion.

No Progress/On Hold:

Red and White Crosses and Losses  - need to order some more red solid (but from which online store?)

Placemat Pair

Curtains for the dining room

Fall wall hanging of maple leaves - put away for the season

Sisters Sampler
Wedding Quilt
Old Timey Stars

Hand-quilted dresden plates

Orange and aqua pillow covers - still not dropped off my list

This Week's Stats:
New projects - 2
Completed projects - 3
Currently in progress - 13

WIP Wednesday

New Projects: 

It's finally winter - quilts in the snow!

Star Log Cabin - This is really an OLD project, started when I was in high school!  I brought this back from my parents' house at Christmas, and decided to get to work on it and finally finish it.  I had finished the top quickly and hand-quilted it, but got stalled on the binding.  For some reason I decided it needed a bias binding, even though it doesn't have any curves and has some bleeding issues so it won't be washed.  This week I decided to soldier on, and now the binding is attached and waiting for some quality hand-sewing time.  

Roll of bias binding - finally made up.

Detail of the bleeding, which looks worse in person than it does on film.

Free Motion Quilting - I've done my homework for my FMQ class tomorrow night - cutting and pin-basting 18" sandwiches.  I'm wicked excited about my new FMQ foot and the prospect of improving my skills here.

Ongoing Projects:

Diamond Throw

No Progress/On Hold:

Placemat Pair

Curtains for the dining room

Fall wall hanging of maple leaves

Orange and aqua throw

Sisters Sampler
Wedding Quilt
Old Timey Stars
Dad's Sudoko Puzzle

Hand-quilted dresden plates

Orange and aqua pillow covers - still not dropped off my list

This Week's Stats:
New projects - 2
Completed projects - 0
Currently in progress - 13

2012 Sewing Plans

The new year has me reflecting on how I go about sewing, and I am making some plans (is it too late for them to be resolutions?) about what and how I want to sew this year. 

1. Finish more.  I am really good at diving into projects, pretty okay at finishing tops, and horrible at follow-through.  This is why I still have UFOs from more than eight years ago (almost a quarter of my life!).  I have already taken a stab at this particular UFO, and I'm hoping to finish the binding soon.  I'm also thinking of using the Finish It Up Friday link up at Crazy Mom Quilts as motivation to push myself to follow through on more.  Which leads me to...

2. Blog more.  As I've said before, once I miss a bit, I feel like I'll never catch up, and it perpetuates itself.  I am going to try to post more, maybe with more link ups - and hopefully with more finishes!  I want an awesome collage of finishes at the end of 2012. 

3. Explore more.  I want to push myself to learn new things (hopefully without starting too many new tangent UFOs.)  I am signed up for a free motion quilting class this week (and I have to finish my basting homework in prep for that!).  I also have a project set on the shelf because of my fear of Y-seams, which I need to get over and tackle.  I know I'll make good friends with my seam ripper for both of these, but they'll make me a better and more well-rounded quilter. 

WIP Wednesday

Completed Projects: 

Secret Project - Like I said earlier this week, all completed and on its way to a very special family member.  To be shared soon.  

Christmas Gifts - Posted earlier this week.

New Projects: 

None!  I have been sorting through some inherited blocks, but that's an OLD project, and I haven't technically started working on it yet.  However, here's a sneak peek at some antique Sunbonnet Sues: 

Ongoing Projects:

This now has another row of blocks across the top.

Diamond Throw - The nine-patch units are all sewn up as blocks, and they are assembled into diagonal rows.  We did some figuring on how to square up the edges, and I've been working on that.  It needs a little more width, which means picking up an appropriate light reproduction fabric to work with.  

Crosses and Losses - Interestingly, for the last couple weeks, the Quilt Index Blog has been focusing on examples of the Old Maid's Puzzle, which is a different name for the Crosses and Losses block.  I made a bunch more blocks, but ran out of Moda Ruby, and have to order since my local quilt shop is out.  I had planned to make a complete top of the same block, but the Quilt Index examples are making me reconsider using sashing or setting blocks. 

No Progress/On Hold:

Placemat Pair

Curtains for the dining room

Fall wall hanging of maple leaves

Orange and aqua throw

Sisters Sampler
Wedding Quilt
Old Timey Stars
Dad's Sudoko Puzzle

Hand-quilted dresden plates

Orange and aqua pillow covers - still not dropped off my list

This Week's Stats:
New projects - 0!
Completed projects - 2
Currently in progress - 12

WIP Wednesday #3

Well, nothing new and nothing completed, so I'm afraid I'm pretty boring this week.  

Ongoing Projects:

Crosses and Losses - More HSTs and blocks this week - I'm at 15 12" blocks now.  I laid it out on my bed, and I'm thinking I'm not quite halfway there.  I'll keep chipping away at it, stacks of HSTs at a time, and maybe by the time it's cold enough, I'll have at least the top done.  

Tops Awaiting Quilting:

Placemat Pair

Quilted Awaiting Binding:

Spring Zig Zag (still)

No Progress/On Hold:

Curtains for the dining room

Fall wall hanging of maple leaves.  

Secret Project
Orange and aqua throw

Orange and aqua pillow covers

Sisters Sampler
Wedding Quilt
Curtains for the dining room
Old Timey Stars
Dad's Sudoko Puzzle

Hand-quilted dresden plates

This Week's Stats:
New projects - 0
Completed projects - 0
Currently in progress - 14

WIP Wednesday #2

I had a nice long three-day weekend for Labor Day, with two days all on my own.  I felt so productive!  I cut half-square triangles while watching the entire first season of Glee (yeah, I'm late to the party).  


Completed Projects:

Nada.

New Projects:

Fall wall hanging of maple leaves (no pictures yet).  

Ongoing Projects:

Crosses and Losses - Lots and lots of cutting and sewing HSTs and trimming.  Eight twelve-inch blocks down, I'm not sure how many to go.  I'm thinking that I'd like to make it bed-sized, which means a couple more weekends of sewing.  

Curtains for the dining room - One panel is done, one needs to be hemmed still.  But it's pinned up and hanging, so it's a partial win, right?

Tops Awaiting Quilting:

Placemat Pair - Finished the second front and cut batting.  Still debating cross-hatch and organic wavy quilting.

Quilted Awaiting Binding:

Spring Zig Zag (half-bound)

No Progress/On Hold:

Secret Project
Orange and aqua throw

Orange and aqua pillow coversSisters Sampler - found out that I'm more behind than I realized, made a list, and got copies of my sister's drafting
Wedding Quilt
Curtains for the dining room
Old Timey Stars
Dad's Sudoko Puzzle

Hand-quilted dresden plates

This Week's Stats:
New projects - 1
Completed projects - 0
Currently in progress - 14

WIP Wednesday (#1!)

I'm joining in the Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday for the first time this week.  It seems like a perfect linky for me - I love lists, and I have plenty of things in progress.  

I've been a little stalled in progress because of a living room makeover (involving *three* trips to the furniture store, one failed delivery of a couch that wouldn't fit, and four to seven more weeks of waiting) and a smelly washer, but I have made some progress!  I'm hoping that this linky (and especially those stats at the bottom) give me a push to at least move some things from the "On Hold" list to the "Ongoing" (or *gasp* "Completed"?) list.  

Completed Projects:

Sewing Machine Cover - This one was new *and* completed!  Start to finish in two days!  It's not the most shapely, but it will keep dust off and out of my machine.  

New Projects:

Crosses and Losses - Fabric acquired (Kona? Ruby and White), but not even washed yet.  I did do a mock-up in purples of my cheater plan for the block - all HSTs and squares means no evil bias triangles.  (The mock-up block doesn't count as a project, does it?)

Ongoing Projects:

Spring Zig Zag - Finished quilting and attached binding, just need to hand-sew the rest of the binding, add a hanger and a label!  Just in time for fall!

Orange and aqua pillow covers

Placemat Pair - One top is finished, and then I ran out of a fabric.  I'm trying to decide what quilting to do on these - crosshatch, squiggly lines, or taking another stab at free motion.  

Tops Awaiting Quilting:

I really thought there was something to go here.

No Progress/On Hold:
Secret Project (need to get moving on it!)
Orange and aqua throw
Sisters Sampler - held up by wedding and now sister's summer school schedule
Wedding Quilt
Curtains for the dining room
Old Timey Stars
Dad's Sudoko Puzzle - I have all nine blocks for this one, I just have to decide how to sash and set them, and if I want to make the quilt bigger somehow.  

Hand-quilted dresden plates
This Week's Stats:
New projects - 2
Completed projects - 1
Currently in progress - 13

Perfection

I've been struggling in my quilting with perfection.  Not that perfection is a problem, but my desire for it has been holding me back, making me afraid to try something lest I screw it up.  To illustrate: I have four projects sitting in my living room that are half-quilted.  (Okay, so part of that is that I have a lot of loose ends to weave in before I move on, and it's been HOT.)  But I keep second-guessing myself on how I want to quilt something or if I can execute what I imagine.  I'm making a resolution to go ahead and just finish some things.  If I botch it, I have my handy seam ripper and I will learn something from the process.

All that said, this (found here) is exactly how I want to finish quilting my zig-zag quilt - yes, the same one I've been waffling about since, oh, March?

Diamonds are a Man's Best Friend

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but my husband is crazy.  I've gotten him into quilting, and he made a very nice, simple, Christmas lap quilt in December 09:

I really should take a better picture with natural light now that it's sunny and it's all finished and bound.

And now he's upped the ante.  Remember those reproduction prints I posed about?  He is turning them into a bed-sized quilt of pieced diamonds.

Which means matching points and offsetting pieces so the allowance comes out right.  It's taking some trial and error, and he's still working on his quarter-inch seam, but I think it should come out pretty well.  How he plans on quilting a full-size quilt on my very basic Janome is still a mystery - I don't think he's thought that far ahead yet.  For now, diamonds:

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!  Nothing like a solid deadline to get some projects finished!  We went to the Boston Pops dress rehearsal concert last night - and I realized Friday morning that we had nothing to sit on!  I took a top that I made in high school and had no idea what to do with:

I got the set of fat quarters as a freebie from a Shop Hop back in the day - and they are so wild they don't match anything else in my house or tastes.  So I threw on the borders, and in between other projects I got the whole thing quilted with a denim backing!  I finished the quilting with minutes to spare before our bus, so we took it unbound and sat on it.  No action shots from last night, though, because my husband liked it so much he wouldn't get up!  

A note about the photos - this is the first time I've really done a photo shoot of my quilt projects.  For the top one, I climbed up on a stone wall to put it up there, and may have attracted some strange looks from my neighbors (the downside of living in a city).  And then I decided to take advantage of our blooming hydrangeas and get more creative:

So, maybe it will get bound before we go out to the fireworks tonight.  For now, I'm nerding out with 1776 and homemade burgers, potato salad, and cake!  Yum!

I have a confession - I am a nerd.  I am actually a nerd of many kinds - a science nerd, a history nerd, a quilt nerd, a museum nerd, a Park Service nerd.  And yesterday, my dear bloggies, those last three collided in a fantastic way.

Last Sunday my husband and I took a trip to the New England Quilt Museum, in Lowell, MA. We took a detour on the way into the NPS Visitor Center to pick up some yardage woven at the Boott Cotton Mill (we saw the exhibits there on a whole other trip, and that's a whole other post).  We also picked up some repro prints at NEQM at the end of the day (more on that later) - so, yes, we went to Lowell to buy fabric.  (I repeat, I am a huge nerd.)

From the Bancroft Collection, Marcus Fabrics for NEQM.

The current exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum is One Foot Square, Quilted & Bound - a collection of quilts (including several Civil War hospital quilts) constructed with quilt-as-you-go techniques that result in "potholder" blocks, which are then whipstitched to assemble the quilt.  Many of these were signature blocks, and the curator's speculation (which seems quite plausible) is that this construction method was a way of speeding up construction of bee quilts.

The biggest downside to the museum, in my mind, is that they do not allow photography in the exhibits.  So this post will be picture-poor, but I will try to describe our favorites the best I can.  On the plus side, they did give out a mini-catalog of the exhibit that lists the titles, dates, makers, and sizes of the quilts exhibited.  My not-so-inner museum nerd loves it, and only wishes they'd included catalog numbers for future reference.  While I'm on the subject of the collection, the museum does have a very limited online gallery; however, only the Cook-Borden star quilt is currently displayed.

Two of the standout pieces are actually sister quilts, both made by the Portland Ladies Aid Society in Maine in 1864.  They share fabrics, embroidered and appliqued motifs, and makers - which makes them incredibly rare.  As a quilter, I think they are pretty; as a historian, I think they are amazing.  They feature motifs of cannons and mortars, Masonic compasses, and an observatory that was a landmark of Portland.  One is in much better condition than the other - not surprising given their age and the use of silk.

I was struck by a third Maine Civil War quilt as well.  There was a red and white Crosses and Losses quilt made with the same "potholder" technique.  It is dated 1863, but with the two color solid blocks it could have been made by a "modern" quilter yesterday.  I have added Crosses and Losses to my to-do list - now the question is solids or prints?  Two color or rainbow?

The final highlight for us was a diamond quilt made in New Hampshire in 1876.  It was essentially a nine-patch made out of diamonds.  Eric was fascinated by it, and studied it while I looked at the rest of the exhibit.  Each block was individually bound - they started with a red stripe, and apparently ran out and replaced it with a red check.  It was a signature or presentation quilt, and Eric was finding patterns in the use of the red check and common surnames.  This is the quilt that inspired Eric to go back to the shop and pick out reproduction fabric.  He's been playing with drafting his design, and it may be taking a more modern direction, which will be fun.  I'm still having visions of those period prints in diamonds on my bed, though...  So there might be two diamond quilts in our future!

Catching Up

As my sister helpfully reminded me last night, "you're now 3 weeks behind on your blog!!"  Mea culpa.  I'm here to try to remedy this.

It has (finally) been beautifully sunny out here, so my sewing time has been taken up by walks and a wee bit of spring cleaning recently.  And a couple of my projects are destined for other people, so they're not ready for sharing yet.  But I'm not holding out on everything - I have a couple experiments in quilting to share.

First up: Two completed pillow tops, which match the orange and blue lap quilt that is half-quilted and intended for the living room.  The quilting on the nine-patch seemed obvious - dense, straight-line quilting emphasizing the nine-patch block.  

I love the way the grid looks on the back - I'm almost disappointed that this part will be hidden!  Now that it's quilted, I need to figure out how to finish the cover - and decide whether I'm brave enough to tackle a zipper.  Can we do it?

And my spring zig-zags at last.  I straight-line quilted in the ditch along the diagonals in dark purple, and I love the way it turned out.  I debated adding a second line of quilting echoing the zig-zags in the middle of the rows, but I think I'll leave well enough alone on this one.  One of the reasons I never finish things is that I'm afraid it won't turn out perfect.  And you know what?  This isn't perfect, and it won't be, but it will be done, and cheery, and look wonderful on the spot I have picked out for it on my wall.  Or so I have to keep telling myself...

And now I'm back to my machine, hoping to have some finished table runners to share sometime soon.

Indecision

Well, not much quilting this week.  We've been preoccupied all week with tracking the near-shutdown of the federal government, which would have left me with a lot of free time to quilt.  However, I'm now on my weekend, and making it my goal to catch up with my sister.

In fact, I'm skipping ahead a bit - she finished one called the "Spinning Star," while I'm working on the "Twirling Star" simply because I had a clearer vision of the fabric choices for it.  That is, for two of the fabrics.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

I'm stuck on choosing the right medium pink.  The first option is bright, vivid pink - perhaps too bright.  The second might not have enough contrast.  The third has a wide stripe that could mean a subtle variation in the points that would emphasize the twirling of the block.  It's actually a reclaimed pillowcase that I'm also contemplating using as a backing for my zigzag wall hanging quit:

The purple will be the binding - I'm going for a very narrow 1/4" binding.  I'm not sure how I feel about the stripes with the zigzags, but then again, it'll be against the wall and nobody will see it anyway!  

Now if I could just stop dithering and get something finished....

Dresden Plates

My fun project this weekend was playing with dresden plates.  I want to use these to make a small wall hanging to use for our wedding.  It'll have a purple flower and an orange flower - I'm currently playing to figure out how many different prints to use in each and what styles to use.  Right now they're just petals up on my design wall.