Needle Turnings

You know those times when you just need to start a new project?

2012-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yes? It was time for me to get away from applique for awhile and just do some simple sewing. You know the kind of sewing where you just start feeding pieces thru your machine........no matchy, matchy
colors, no planning.............the kind of sewing where you end up with two blues next to each other
and it's no big deal in the scheme of your quilting life? Aaahhh, mindless devil-may-care
chain stitching would be perfect. While thinking of what pattern would fit my needs, I remembered
a rail fence pattern from a few months ago and I was even able to find the magazine....wow! The pattern I am working on is from the August 2011 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting and
is designed by blogger Kathie. "Weaving the Rails" is the quilt's name on page 45.

So this week I have been cutting 5 /12" pieces from my hoard of 1 1/2" strips. Some of these
scrappy strips are very old.........from the 1980's and 1990's...........and I am remembering past
projects fondly while using these fabrics in my blocks. A trip down memory lane for sure.

If you need a quick project for this time of year, this is a simple, fast and easy one for you to
pick up. Making these blocks has been very enjoyable and since it is a scrap quilt, it takes
no planning..............just pick up the next piece and stitch it on.

I need to only make 25 more and that will take no time to do since this is a speedy block. I'm
having so much fun and with my unending pile of scrappy strips, who knows how big this quilt
will end up being. Fun!

Missie Carpenter of Hallbrook Designs

2012-01-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

About ten or eleven years ago, Missie Carpenter passed around a paper in our local quilt guild requesting anyone interested in starting an applique group with her to please sign up. I was one of the lucky ones to sign the paper. Our small gathering began and it was a fun group because we just worked on our
own applique projects and had show and tell......no committees, no rules, just getting together. Years
went by and Missie had to move to Iowa because hubby got a job transfer. During our gatherings she
would talk about patterns and dreaming of making her own, and she did do a few. Since moving away,
she created a webbie and added some new patterns to her quilting life.

How fun was it to get an email from Homestead Hearth after Christmas mentioning their new BOM
programs and reading Missie's name and seeing one of her quilt designs will be featured as an offering! How great is that for her! And I knew her before she was famous!!! Here is her Life in the Midwest.

To introduce you to Missie and her work, I am inviting you to take a look at her website. She has
a new pattern listed, In the Orange Grove and I am sure you will be seeing more patterns from her in the
future. Good luck, Missie, in your pattern adventures!

Oooooo, love those blue and whites

2012-01-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

I love blue and white quilts all year long but especially in January. Maybe it is because of the white snow on the ground? Add in a pop of old blue in an antique (or new) quilt and I just shiver............and not from the cold. Me loves a blue and white quilt. The snowmen are residing on this old Irish chain till Valentine's Day. It's worn but in good enough shape. It
features one on my favorite old prints, the tiny stars. But if the camera pans out a little further, you see the problem. Someone at one time got very careless with a bleach bottle.

But I love it all the same. And it is so soft. How many times has this one been washed in its life? My newer quilts that I have washed many, many times do not get as soft as some of these oldies do. I want to know the secret! Here is another oldie that is hanging on a quilt hanger that has seen better days. What a wonderful shade of blue from all the wear and tear. The best part of this one is also showing off. There are many tears and worn holes underneath but she is still a mature beauty, too.

A couple bloggers have been showing blue and whites in their posts this month so I am joining in. Hopefully I can get a few more photos posted soon.

I have missed my needle............

2012-01-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas and New Year's has come and gone and the kids and grand blessings are back in their own cities and states, it is time to get back to stitching. Oooo, how I have missed my needle! But how to find it in the cluttered mess of the stitching cave..........no problem, I have more than one! Applique time has been scarce, but that will change tonight. Plans are to pick up needle and thread and work on the third block of the blue willow project.
Here is the progress so far.

Mary Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

A Mary Christmas to you from me. Here is a picture from last Christmas taken when grandson

#4 was 2 1/2 months old. We wrapped him in a blankie, laid him in my old trencher bowl on a quilt to look like Baby Jesus for this Christmas. Quilting can wait a few days, it is time for family. Blessings.

Blue Willow

2011-12-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

Most of last summer, the ladies over at Good Wives were working on an applique willow pattern that they were inspired to work on from a photo of an antique quilt. I knew when I first saw their work that I would be buying their pattern to make one. I needed a handwork project and this would be the perfect one. Last week I started my first of four blocks thinking I would stitch a few stitches here and there. That didn't happen. I was addicted right off and finished
my first big block, about 20" square, yesterday. Today I am lecturing myself to put that second block down and to work on Christmas decorating and sewing gifts. Time will only tell if I listen to my lecture. The ladies at Good Wives are making theirs in red and green and they are lovely. I chose to make mine a blue willow on a teadyed colored brown background. Yesterday I sent this progress photo to my sister who emailed me back a little surprised. When she opened the attatchment, she wondered why I was sending her a picture of ribs. O my! Not knowingwhat to expect, I can see where she may have been confused wondering why I was going to applique dinosaur ribs. (ok, disclaimer here: she works second shift and comes home very tired, hence the confusion....maybe?) See what you think:

Ooo, that photo is way too bright............blue ribs? Hmmmm............

Good Wives Co is a wonderful quilt shop in Marion, Ohio. If you like reproduction and civil war'ish type fabrics then this is the place for you. The shop ladies are always friendly and ready to talk about what you are working on. Lots of shop samples and some decorating items for you to purchase. Search the internet for them. It's my favorite quilt shop and worth the ride over anytime I need inspiration.

Shawshank!

2011-11-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

Weddings are a lot of work! One of my daughters wedding was less than two weeks ago and we are still worn out from the planning, setting up, visiting with family and friends and just plain old having a great time. With Thanksgiving preparations so quickly following the big event, whew............I'm still in a tizzy. Sandwiched
in between all this was our 37th wedding anniversary. I had not had a needle in my hand for a week and a half; feels good to needle fabric again!

Dear daughter's reception was at the old reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Movie
buffs may know that this is the prison Shawshank Redemption was filmed at. Some of the prison has been demolished since the movie but a good part has been preserved for tours and ghost hunts that have been featured on a few tv shows of this type. The central guard room is available for rent for wedding receptions. It's a great
place. While we were setting up for the reception, a tour of the prison was going on and we could see visitors walking thru the old cells. There is memorabilia
from the movie around to see, also. Air Force One was also filmed here

This is the tunnel Andy Dufresne crawled thru in his escape from Shawshank in the movie. The prison is a good tourist destination............something made good from what was a terrible place. My job on set up day was to make salads down in the kitchen area of the prison. While making the salad cups to put in the walk in cooler for the next day's party, I was down there by myself a good part of the time. I did not see any ghosties, but when my mind would wander it was kinda eerie thinking I was sitting all alone in a haunted prison. Yikes! Anyone can look up the reformatory on the internet for more history. It is a beautiful piece of architecture and am glad some of it has been preserved. Here is a view of the back where we were bringing in wedding decorations.

Wishing everyone in blogland and beyond a happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Simple Goods and schoolhouse blocks

2011-11-08T07:45:00.001-08:00

What is not to like about schoolhouse quilt blocks? They are a top favorite of mine. I have made numerous ones and don't get tired of the look or of the piecing. Thru the years I have sold a couple but still own two larger ones I made and a recent mini one. These blocks were started over the summer and set aside for working on the heart/star flag quilt. Last week I finished setting them into this large wall hanging or throw size top. Have been considering doing a quilting pattern on this I have never done before..........baptist fan. Still thinking on that one and will decide soon. Will need to ask help from a friend on that since I never attempted doing this.
If you are a lover of very primitive antiques and grungy crafting, you missed a wondeful show of this type this past Saturday. The Simple Goods show is held in the spring and summer in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and features the best primitives imaginable. Like in the old issues (not these last couple of years, ugh) of Country Living magazine. Candy Looker and Max Squires put on the most wonderful shows. I haven't missed one yet and each show tops the previous one. Please
google Simple Goods show for information for future shows and pictures of past ones. They are on facebook and have fabulous show pictures posted.
I found a great............but very brittle, shredded and worn to death..............vintage doll quilt at the show from the vendor Tinkers Wagon. My loves in antique fabrics are the old blues, navy and brown along with centennial fabrics. Ooooo! Years ago I won a tiny square of a centennial cheater cloth on ebay and get it out now and then to admire it all the while wishing some fabric company would reproduce it now for our new "old" quilts. Folded up on a table I found this distressed doll quilt of the same cheater cloth in just awful condition, but a wonderful find for me all the same. Here you can see my worn little ebay piece with the newly acquired very tired out piece. Both treasures to me!

Primitive stars and stripes quilt top

2011-10-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

For some years I have admired a certain patriotic quilt in quilt history books and on the Smithsonian website. You may have seen it, too...........a center medallion of appliqued stars applied to a red and white striped ground with a border of the same appliqued stars. There has even been a smaller size in some books where the word "baby" is also stitched over the center stars. My only reason for holding back on making a similar one for me is that I applique a lot of stars on my projects and I was dreading doing that many more star points.

This summer I was spending a couple mornings with a quilt friend, Sharon Pinka, who showed me photos of a quilt she was writing a paper on for the publication Blanket Statements for the American Quilt Study Group. She said this quilt was in a museum in Norwalk, Ohio, not all that far away. When I saw her pictures............o my...............I was doomed.

One look at those primitive stars on this quilt sealed my fate. I was making one for my personal enjoyment. Look at those stars...........rounded little edges............no pointy points..........an upside down narrow little heart with a triangle on top. Prim for sure! I guessed by the photo and looked up the similar more polished quilt like this one and went for it.
I practiced making one star. It was fun and pleasing to my eyes. In my fabric cupboard I had a solid old red, a tea dyed looking aged piece and a "I hope I have enough left" dark blue that would be perfect for this reproduction civil war quilt.

After a couple weeks of handwork, I was ready to make the striped background. O no! I put the center on it and it scared me..........all I could see was a big circus tent. Yikes! But when I attatched the borders, it contained those stripes and all was fine. I now have my version of the quilt and am waiting for winter to baste it and decide how to hand quilt it. I have a few ideas.

Here is my folky primitive repro of an Ohio civil war quilt. Thanks to Sharon for showing me her photo and sharing it with me, otherwise, I would still be dreaming of making all those pointy points and never getting around to making them.

spellbound with hexies

2011-10-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have been hexed with hexies. A spell has been cast on me by the quilting gods. Ooooo, it isn't that bad. Years ago I did not like these little six sided shapes. I think I saw way too many
grandmother's flower garden quilts at flea markets and garage sales. Nothing inspiring; they were everywhere and they mostly looked all the same. One night long ago at a quilt meeting the nice speaker brought samples of hexagon quilts...........hoo hum to me and I was resigned to suffer thru.........it was quilting, afterall.....do it for the cause. At the end, she showed us how to baste a hexie to old card stock and how to join them and she called it English paper piecing.

Was I an idiot to prejudge.

I liked doing them! I went home and started doing hexies from scraps. No granny's gardens for me but a little hodge podge project to put on a table or such. I had fun. I liked it. I really liked it. Mindless hand quilting.........fun..........oh I could dream dreams and think thoughts while stitching my hexies.
I hand appliqued my little hexie scrappy maze to a background and use this little quilt often. Here I have it for fall with some buckeyes.

Good memories to remind me not to just jump to conclusions of not liking something in the quilting world before I know more about it. At least try not to!

So I do have a little bag of scraps that I cart around and stitch on when I have nothing to work on and after a little time, progress can be seen. I will make these until I get a good idea of what to do with them. They are fun and good for a take along. Thought has crossed my mind to taking them to church and piece thru the sermon at Mass. Rethink that one; I don't want to be made the sermon subject. But it has crossed my mind since I do think and listen better during handwork...............hhhmmmmm..........

Boo!

2011-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Isn't he cute? He is battery operated. Mary at Quilt Hollow blog posted a photo of the little guys she found at Lowe's for $5. I was at our local store yesterday and look who found his way into my cart. Thanks, Mary, for the idea. He will do double duty come Thanksgiving when his light will turn off and he can face a wall and just be punkin-y then.

He is sitting on another blogger pattern creation. I made this up from Kathleen Tracy's book The Civil War Sewing Circle. It is the scrap squares doll quilt on page 25. I was going to make it scrappy like in the book but that can wait for another day.........thought it would look good in some deep browns and a chedda' for the fall season. It's very seasonal when you see it in person. My camera makes the whole picture too bright. This would be a great easy and fast
pattern to make in any fabric to match any holiday for your decorating. I'm seeing Christmas fabrics........and Valentine's...........Easter............patriotic holidays...................it doesn't end! Fun!

Lovin' those pillars............

2011-09-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

What is not to love about pillar fabric? For sometime I have been noticing them and decided to purchase a few reproductions slowly over the summer. There has been talk about them in blogland, too, so I will share some photos of my purchases. I understand Barbara Brackman/Moda have a new pillar out in a couple colorways but I have not been able to see it yet in the few shops around my area. I will be on the lookout!

Here is a pillar print repro by Blue Hill in brown tones. What could make a pillar print even better? Add eagles. Ooooooooooo! This is from their American Independence line.
Then there are these two beauties from Andover from their Winterthur Toile line. One appears to be black on a darker tea-dyed background. The other is a brown on a lighter tea-dyed
background. Both are wonderful and hard to pick the better of the two I like most.

Here is my most recent purchase. This lovely blue/brown beauty is by Windham and from their line The Presidents Collection.
There is a backstory to this piece. In the recent quilt book STARS! A Study of 19th Centry Star Quilts by the American Quilt Study Group, published by Kansas City Star Quilts, a quilt on page 79 caught my eye. A pillar print! This quilt was reproduced from a larger quilt by Florence McConnell. I was able to make contact with Florence and she graciously shared the maker of the pillar print with me. Although I could not find it in the red colorway she used for her quilt, I did find it in the blue which is just as pretty to me. Thank you, Florence! As a side note, this
is a great book if you like to reproduce antique quilts..........a keeper for sure.

If pillar prints appeal to you, here is a good start for you to google away or to look closely thru the inventory at your local quilt shops. Right now I am happy to only look at my small
pillar collection but I'm sure it won't be long before the scissors and rotary cutter come out to make some great projects with them.

Tumbler

2011-09-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

The large tumbler top is finished and will be added to the "needs to be quilted" pile. It will make a nice long lap quilt for recliner naps when finished.

Tumbling back to the 80's

2011-08-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

Way, way back in the dark ages before the internet opened up rapid fire ways to see quilter's projects and ideas, we had magazine photos as one of the main ways to find inspiration. I had a good sized fabric collection back then but when the idea of wanting to make a charm quilt
popped into my head, there needed to be a way to exchange charms other than with local quilt friends who had the same fabrics I had. In some of the quilt mags of the day, you could find in very tiny print on some obscure page next to bad advertising, requests from ladies who wanted to exchange charms one for one with anyone answering their ad.
I happened to answer a few of these request ads and if you wanted your request to be passed around to even more traders, it was done. All thru the mail. Some wanted 5" charms, some 6", always prewashed. It was always one for one. Every now and then someone didn't play by the rules and would send nasty and not quilting cotton fabrics where I would send it back to them for not playing right. :-)

Here is my tumbler charm quilt made from those exchanges that were so fun to receive in the mail.

And a closeup of some of the 1980's calicos of the era: My tumbler quilt has charms traded from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Nevada, Arkasas, New York and Washington. I also received packages from Australia, too. Getting the mail was so fun that summer.

Since I have been seeing big and small tumbler quilts on blogs for months now, earlier in the year, I also made a small doll size one, called a thimble quilt.

Now I am cutting tumblers from blues and browns to make another and maybe I can show my progress on the next post. In the meantime, here are the tumbler and the thimble one together.
Who knows, maybe a blog reader was a charm trader with me back in the day and has one of her trades with me in my quilt.

Primitive eagles reproduced

2011-08-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

A number of years ago on an online auction site, an old eagle crib quilt was up for auction. The eagles were primitive and appliqued in red and green. I bid on it knowing it would go very high and out of my budget. I kept it in mind, tho, for a future project.

Then a year later, it was up for bid again. O my gosh! I bid a couple times and it went out of my reach again. There was only one solution: draw a similar eagle and make my own. I could afford that! Decided to make mine red and blue. Then I thought to make it more prim style, I would applique an uneven jagged edge around it all and it would look more like "me".

Here it is, out of the cupboard for this post.
Here you can see the funky, wacky prim sawtooth border.
Looking back, I wish I would have put more quilting in the outside border. O well, don't dwell on it now. When I made it in 2003, it was to commemorate Ohio being a state for 200 years. And just to make my own of that antique beauty I saw online years before.

One last look at an eagle..........
Always will be drawn to eagle quilts like many quilters are. I'm sure this won't be the last one I make.

Bradbury centennial quilt reproduced

2011-07-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

For years I admired the Bradbury centennial quilt posted on the Smithsonian site.
I had also seen photos in some books but never a good close up until I found it online. I had collected various patriotic prints from different companies, designers and lines for ages to make my version. Last year I made mine. After Kathie posted
pictures on her blog July 24 th (www.inspiredbyantiquequilts.blogspot.com) of the same print I used on my backing, I decided to show some closeups of my repro quilt.

Since some fabric companies are making new fabric lines reproduced from an antique quilt, this is one I wish they would make a new fabric line from. I would make it again! Where I could not find a close enough repro print, I made up my own, such as in stripes.

This picture shows a couple more blocks with one featuring the same George Washington print a friend was kind enough to trade with me for.
George again:

And more assorted prints used in other blocks:
Finally, the backing which shows the same print Kathie used on the back of one of her little quilts.

On the Smithsonian site you can click under the quilt photo to see closeups of the quilt and the back. I had fun making this.............it's not an exact replica, but a good repro for my tastes to have my "own" quilt like this antique one. I would love to see it in person. In fact, I had so much fun making mine, I didn't want to stop and added an extra row. You may have to look close to see where it is.

Too hot to quilt!

2011-07-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

O my............we are sweltering in Ohio, just like I am sure most of the country is. Can't stand it anymore; cuts into stitching time, right? (We have NO a/c at home and fans barely help at 95 degrees.) Just to post something and wish for cooler weather, I will show a picture of the reproduction crib quilt top I basted a couple weeks ago. I only have the center applique piece hand quilted now. Last year I took this class over at Good Wives Co in Marion, Ohio...........my
favorite quilt shop. It's a 40 minute drive for me but so worth it. The last local quilt shop here closed a few years ago so I drive to Good Wives. They have just what I like.

I changed the corner blocks on mine as I did not want to make the carpenters wheel blocks the original had. I needed something easier to get the top done. Streamlined it. I kept the color placements the same, tho. This is so pretty in person and I am looking forward to having it done and draped everywhere. Now to wish the heat away so I can go back to quilting on this!

I'm a lucky winner!

2011-07-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

The other day I was happy to learn I was the winner of a new quilting book when my name was drawn by Kimber over at www.heirloomsbyashtonhouse.blogspot.com. My win just arrived and wow, it is amazing. Here is a photo of the book History Repeated by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle. Kimber edited the book as you can read on her great blog. I can't thank you enough for this copy. The pictures are lovely and enticing for future quilts. The color of the quilts and the photography are beautiful. Of course I had to show the book on my version of the quilt in Gone To Texas by Betsy Chutchian. I am a happy, happy quilter today...........

Two UFOs finished

2011-07-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

I kept telling myself I was not to start anything new until I finished the three UFOs I have had since last year. For once I listened to myself and here are the first two finished. Even #3 is in the works as I started hand quilting on it last week. Here is the little quilt from the class with Jo Morton last June in Columbus. In order to get mine finished, I did leave off the border of triangles all around it. My decision was to finish it faster by putting a plain border on and I am glad I did it this way. I like the framing on it better with the plain borders. #2 finish was the signature quilt from last year that I passed around for quilt buddies to sign. It is also a Jo Morton pattern. But I'm not a purist. I like to mix her fabrics with others and not limit a pattern to just her fabrics only. Altho, project #1 is all her fabrics since I took the class with her. Her repro prints go so well
with other fabric companies lines as you can tell by looking at any quilt magazine where quilters use many of her repros in their projects. Now it is going to be catch up time on the Barbara Brackman civil war blocks of the week, more tracing templates on some schoolhouse blocks and maybe getting to those blue and brown tumblers I have been wanting to stitch together. Better be getting off this 'puter and get to stichin'!

Salvedges...nothings into somethings

2011-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

I have been amazed at salvedge quilts for some time after seeing some amazing creations on various blogs. At first when I heard of these quilts, I thought: wow, some quilters are really anal.......I mean, I save tiny scraps all the time for future applique projects, but come on, saving salvedges was just a bit too much.
While working on the Civil War Tribute quilt, where the fabrics had salvedges on both
fabrics ends, I thought I would save a few to use on the back label showcasing
Judie Rothermel fabrics for enternity on my quilt.

Then I saved a few more. And a few more. And soon I had a large ziplock bag full. Then I was thinking of going thru my whole fabric cupboard and tearing all the salvedges off. Then I slapped myself out of that last thought remembering sometimes I need the story those ends tell in case I needed to search for more of a certain fabric.

You can see where it can get to be obsessive, tho, can't you?

So one day I stitched some diagonal salvedges on a piece of backing fabric and liked how it looked. Very much. And I was really having fun picking colors and the names and titles on these scrap pieces. O my. Now it was ME who was anal about it all.

Here is my little quilt. I suggest if you would like a mindless little project to give this a try. And then maybe you would want to go bigger and better with larger patterns. Google these kinds of quilts for a new look into the quilt world.

The joke was on me. Something I took as a little weird turned out to be a lot of fun. I don't dare throw out a salvedge edge now because those little words could be
important in a future little quilt. And there are great memories in those little fabric morsels showing the line and a little bit of the print. A veritable scrap book of scraps!!!!

Has anyone else made one?

A quilt or two for Tuesday

2011-06-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Before I tackle my laundry piles, I thought to post a quilt just because it Tuesday. I know that doesn't make any sense but I'm just killing time before I turn that washer and dryer on. Here is one for today that I made a few years ago.

This is an older Jan Patek pattern and I think it was from a booklet of hers about Fat Quarter Quilts, but I'm not totally sure. It features a blackish/brown print with shirtings, reds, olives, blues and tans. And my favorite stars and moons theme.
It was a challenge at the time because the triangle arcs were paper pieced and I'm not much of a fan of paperpiecing. A little, like this, is ok and worked out well.

Here's one more to add. I made this top last year. It was on the wish list to make for a long time so finally it got made. Not quilted yet. Want to save it for this winter as it's pretty large and I am going to hand quilt it. This is also an older Jan Patek pattern from The Winter Book. More stars and moons. More blue and brown. The striped blue indigo is a favorite piece of fabric. I bought tons of that print and never get tired of it. Still have some left; I'll be a sad quilter whenever the last of it gets used up.

That laundry mountain is calling at me...............

I love old blues and browns

2011-06-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

These are my favorites..........add in an old red and some tea dyed tans and beiges and I am in quilt heaven. Needed a little project in between ufo's recently and decided to just cut some simple squares of blues and browns, whack them in pieces and stitch back into squares for a simple little doll quilt or table topper. Ooo, I love the rich deep shades. Once I get some projects finished up from hand quilting, me thinks I will draw out a template for a large tumbler block and maybe use these same colors into a lap size or bigger tumbler. I think a bigger quilt in these deep tones will be a beauty mixed in with my other quilts. It's a plan. Now
to just get 3 good sized wall quilts finished and hand quilted sometime and the plan can go into motion! I'm trying my best not to start anything new until my ufo pile gets slimmed down. But starting new is soooo much fun..........

What if a fabric company used your swatches and then you never heard back from them after the fabric was printed????

2011-06-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

For many years I have collected old indigo pieces of fabric from the late 1800's or early 1900's. My favorites being the stars and especially moons. Many times over the last 15-20 years I have dreamed of having new fabrics made from them. In March 2010 I sent antique swatches to Blue Hill asking if these could be made into new fabric as I have
wanted repros of them for years to buy. That April I got a call from Blue Hill Fabrics saying they were using some of my swatches and they would be in a small line called the Moon and Stars Collection. How fun! The line came out early in 2011 and I have been buying up the ones I liked in the navy, burgundy and browns and have used some in my projects. They didn't use every swatch I sent in but did use my favorite ones. There are some striped ones in the line I did not send in and also a cheater piece they combined the pieces in. The line is credited to their house designer, Sara Morgan, who is an imagined name used by the Blue Hill
people. They did send me the ordering flyer to see the samples from.

Would it not have been nice to get some free fabric????? Yes! I didn't get any free fabric but am happy to see it in print and able to buy what I have lusted for these many years. I think my quilt friends will get very tired of seeing moons and stars in my future projects. So fun!

While I was so happy to see my antique swatches made into new fabrics, I was disappointed that Blue Hill never contacted me when they were due to be in stores. Bummer, I had
to find out on my own.

When I told hometown quilt friends and mentioned it to the online Yahoo group I am on, so many quilters asked if I received any complimentary fabrics from Blue Hill from the swatches of mine they used. Hhhhmmmm, no I did not receive any complimentary fabrics. It was suggested to me a number of times that I write to Blue Hill and request the mentioned complimentary fabric so I did. It kind of felt like begging to me for something that would have been a nice guesture on their part. Then I did write to RR, the man who put the production of my swatches into gear and I never heard anything back from him.
So while I was happy at the fabric being printed, my experience with the process was
not that great. Seems once my swatches were used, I was left hanging to be a consumer (which I was happy to be) and only left with a copy of the swatch ordering leaflet.

Quilters, I would be interested in your opinions on this matter..................

needing to finish some UFOs

2011-05-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last summer I passed around small blocks for special quilt friends to sign as a memory/signature quilt using a Jo Morton pattern. This summer I want to get some UFO's finished to the basting stage where at any future time they will be able to be picked up and hand quilted. Have a number of these to get to that stage but this one
is a beginning. It is now basted and ready for stitching when the time permits. Now to get a few more to this stage. I don't like too many ufo's around so hopefully they look more finished basted. Friends from my applique group, a local quilt guild and the ladies from Good Wives signed memory blocks. This was a good project. Where
I didn't have names for the size of quilt I wanted, I wrote in little quirky quilt sayings like: dull women have clean sewing rooms. Ha! I know my sewing room is in a constant mess.............

More Jan Patek patterns I made.....

2011-05-24T08:12:00.001-07:00

These two other Jan Patek patterns were made a few years ago. The larger one is named Country Paths. I worked on this while my husband was in hand therapy some time ago. While his therapist put him thru pain, I was happily stitching the time away on the applique. I will always remember this when looking at this quilt. The basket quilt's name leaves me right now. Love the way Jan Patek makes normal objects look so fun and wonky.

older primitive quilts I have made.......

2011-05-24T08:05:00.001-07:00

These are two oldies but goodies made from Jan Patek patterns. One is her block of the month called Collector's Series. I. Love. This. Quilt. The other is her Primitive Primer. My gosh. These early Jan Patek patterns are my favorites of hers.
There are still a couple more of her early patterns I need to make.........they are somewhere on my to do list.

catching up

2011-05-24T07:57:00.001-07:00

Extra basket blocks I made were turned into these sweet little mini's that I made for one of my sisters (I have 8), my mom and one for myself. Great for tucking here and there! Have always wanted a little red and white school house quilt so after the red and white quilt extravaganza in NYC in March, I used a small block from a Judie Rothermel pattern and stitched this for myself. I machine quilted it in the style of some old doll quilts from the 1800's you sometimes see. Washed it right away so the cotton batt would shrink and make it look older instead of brand spanking new.

A biggie finished..........

2011-05-24T07:47:00.001-07:00

My basket quilt from When the Cold Wind Blows is finally finished. I am so happy with how it turned out. I appliqued the basket in two pieces so I could use a different handle fabric in some of them. Mine is hand appliqued and hand quilted. There are 600 hours of my life in this quilt. It is huge and heavy and beautiful. A ton of work but so worth it. There is quite a bit of quilting on it. I made my background pices a half inch bigger than the original pattern to give me more room
for the applique......this also meant less baskets. I have 265 and I think 45 of the side fluer di leis (spelling?) which I also changed the shape of for easier applique. It turned out better than I even hoped for. Now on to other projects
that were put on hold for the quilting of this beauty.

meet Jo Morton.............

2011-04-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

meeting Jo Morton

2011-04-05T07:34:00.001-07:00

Last summer I was lucky enough to take a hand piecing class with Jo Morton in Columbus. Some quilting friends and I sat together in her LeMoyne Star class and had a fun day. I began my quilting life hand piecing and it was nice to revisit
the technique. The sweet little quilt with the 5 stars is the one we were to work on in class. I managed to finish my stars after the class but have yet to make the
top. I must get back to that one sometime soon. Too many projects and too little time. If I could only work on some finishes and quit starting new projects.
A national quilter's lament, I'm sure.

A bonnie blue cheddar quilt

2011-04-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Last summer I was able to go to the AQS show in Columbus, Ohio and take a quilt class with Jo Morton that I will post pictures of later. When we took a lunch break
we were able to view the show and vendors. I am not one to look at quilts much at a show as I would rather see the variety of vendors and see what different quilty things they offer. Since this was a large show, I scoped quickly for the booths that
I wanted to see and took off working my way thru the crowds. Sometimes I wished for a long hat pin to stick in a few slow moving fannies, but I controlled myself and went with the crowd flow.

Bonnie Blue Quilts had the most stuning booth and went 3 or 4 times just to gaze and be mesmerized by their beautiful work. I feel for their navy blue and cheddar quilt and purchased the pattern and later the next week drove to Good Wives in Marion to buy the chedda! I have tons of navy blues to use and they worked so well in this. I love this quilt. I had it machine quilted and Good Wives even had it for viewing a while. My mom remarked when she saw all this cheddar that she wanted to lick her fingers off as she felt like she just ate a bag of cheese corn! How fun!

Pictures of Jo Morton late! Thunder storm outside and I want off the 'puter.

Happy April!

2011-04-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

I decided to make the quilt from the book GONE TO TEXAS....................I love that book and quilt. Do you know with all those little pieces that quilt went together perfectly? How unusual is that?
Also started a quilt top that was my version of a quilt in the book CLASSIC QUILTS FROM THE AMERICAN MUSEUM IN BRITIAN.
On page 30 there is a great 9 patch strip quilt from the early 1800's that I loved.
I wish there was a reproduction fabric of the border print. Decided to make up my own pattern and used civil war prints in the one I made. I'm happy with the end results. This is a jumbled quilt in the book and the one I made but being goofy from surgery, it was a good project to work on. Both were machine quilted by a friend and I am enjoying them.

Quilt top finishes

2010-05-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Posting a few completed quilt top pictures. Actually my Bunny Hill BOM is even quilted and bound. All finished! And the tiny basket blocks from the book, When the Cold Wind Blows is all put together and has been for awhile. I don't know when I will get to the hand quilting............I do dread basting this one together and may have to question some machine quilters I know if it is possible to have this one basted on a long arm to ease my aching body. I like every part of making a quilt, except basting the large tops. Not a fan!

I see I did not follow thru on my plan of being a better blogger. Need to remedy that. I have found that some of the blogs I do follow also have not been steady bloggers. Have also found that pictures of projects make a blog better, too. I need the visuals.

How sad............

2010-04-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

that it is now Easter and it has taken me this long to blog about my quilting. And I promised to be better. Let's promise again....

Family has left for their homes so I settled in to read quilt blogs a few minutes ago and read about one of my favorite subjects on Barbara Brackman's blog: centennial fabrics. I don't know how to do the link thing on here, but you can google her name and hopefully find her link. Today she blogged about centennial fabrics, the originals and the reproductions. I was drooling. Decided I would post a picture of my top that I am hand quilting at the moment as she mentioned a link to a centennial quilt that I am making a copy of. I have collected different pieces for a few years and have added to that collection lately with new repros that have come out this year.............a lot from this same antique quilt. It is a great fabric study of antique patriotic fabrics. I have loved working on mine. My blocks are 9" and on some I followed the layout of the original quilt where I had the look alike repro's. On blocks I didn't, I used something else patriotic and on some blocks I made up my own stripes to look similar to the original. Also added an extra row at the bottom.

I had a great time making this top. It is simple and a good break from applique work. The hand quilting is also simply done on this and I am maybe half way thru.

A fun project with all the look alike fabrics that are out. I will still be looking for old looking patriotic fabrics to use in more quilts.

Now if I can just be a better blogger...............

Primitive Turkey quilt top

2009-08-15T17:35:00.001-07:00

This quilt top was finished by me a few weeks ago. With the calendar showing August is half over, I figured it's time to get this basted and begin the hand quilting if I want to enjoy it this Thanksgiving. This is a Country Threads pattern. I love it. Finding primitive Thanksgiving decorating ideas can be problematic and when I saw this pattern.....well, it was one that had to be made. It will also help me in my guild challenge. In February, we had to list all unfinished projects and try to finish as many as possible by next February. I listed 7 UFO's and this is my final one. This is a great guild challenge idea. Hope we do it again next year. My little baskets quilt would qualify then but who knows if I could get that finished even next year. It's a huge project!

O my

2009-05-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have to confess to two silly things that happened to me this week.

I have been doing the rider mower to help Gary out because it takes him 2 hours just to do the push mower parts around the trees, edges, near the woods, blah, blah, blah. He is worn out from doing that. Plus, John seems to give up weekends to help and we hate using his free time to help us every weekend. So I am back on the rider this year. It's so bumpy riding on our uneven yard that I am really tired from that and the sun when I am done. Whine, whine, whine.

What I am getting at is: there is no lady-like way to get on the rider. And if you have a bad knee and a big butt, you are doubly doomed. I don't want the neighbors to see me get on or off because Gary is laughing so hard it gets me laughing and after being on it two hours, I have to pee so bad that I get mad at him for making me laugh.

He does the outside perimeter so I don't get thorns in my legs from the briars in the back. Then I try to get on. My arms are too short to reach the throttle so he does that and puts it in gear and off I go. There are 6 gears and we mow on #4 at medium speed.

As soon as I took off, I wiggled to get seated better and knocked it into #6 gear which had me taking off at light speed and I am too shocked to know what to do! O My!

I am flying across the yard, not following the mow tracks and I can hear Gary yelling, put it in the right gear, slow down, yadda, yadda, yadda. I felt like Lucy Ricardo. Finally I bumped it in #4 and got my bearings. I do not want to know if the neighbors saw me!

Today I needed a length of navy fabric that I already have but needed 2 more yards of to start a project. We drove to a shop in Mt. Vernon and came home and decided to eat at Buck's. It's Friday and it's crowded. I have my hair up in a clip; it was hot out. Talked to waitress and the shop lady earlier. Came home, got into my old clothes.........

The shirt I was wearing the whole time was on inside out.

Gary didn't even notice, but I bet everyone else did. O my!

I know this is long, but one last thing. At Gary's uncle's funeral yesterday, it was a brief service at the funeral home. The "preacher" was also helping park cars outside. Gary's uncle's name is Gordon Howard. This preacher referred to him twice as "Mr. Henderson". O my! A lady in the seats finally blurted out, HOWARD. How awful was that! I felt like I was in that Seinfeld episode where they are burying Elaine's make believe friend. Then the preacher kept referring to him as Mr. Gordon. I had to keep from giggling and Gary and I kept nudging each other. Bet his uncle was somewhere getting a laugh from it all. How awful not to get your name right at your funeral.

I hope you all have a better weekend than my week was!!!

5 years ago today

2009-02-10T07:39:00.001-08:00

A life changing day and miracles.

Beautiful Patches

2009-02-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

Not a good day yesterday. No meowing or scratching at the kitchen door............no hoppity hoppity running to me when I called her name.........Patches died in her sleep in her box Wednesday night. For a week we had been talking about possibly having her put down because she was so thin and her keeping food down was harder for her. Just since July she has been losing weight but still a happy kitty and always bounding out the door when we come home. She was a happy girl till the end.

Just sad to get thru. No more pretty kitty cat. We are pet free now and she was a nice kitty to end our pet life with. :-(

A Tisket a tasket

2008-11-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

Love this quilt. It's A Tisket A Tasket by Primitives by Lynda. Lots of piecing, hand applique and hand quilting. One of my favorites; it was a fun one to make. Makes me wish for spring.......we had a little snow mixed with rain today and it got pretty chilly. Boo! Want that 70 degree weather back.

2008-10-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Today I am posting a picture of the quilt top I made using Jan Patek's Girl Gang 2007 pattern, Flags of the American Revolution. I changed some of the flags on mine. Also took the "liberty" (ha!) of changing the center eagle a bit. Still looks like a chicken but not as scrawny as the pattern. There is an antique quilt from the late 1800's with a similar eagle that this pattern was based on. Fun! Hopefully I can hand quilt it this winter and then add the embellishments. Some of the flags will get star buttons added to them that were made for this quilt. Have to be added later because they would get in the way of the hoop while being quilted and that would really be a bother. It will be wonderful when finished. Colors are mostly muted and on the dark side. Nice, folky prim. This was a fun quilt to make but it will take a lot of quilting to make it look just right.

Happy birthday to my daughter, Kim, today!

Me and My Shadow

2008-10-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

Aaarrrrggghhhh! Still trying to get the hand of this posting business. I had my entry all ready to post, pressed a button and eeekkk! Where did it go? My effort is floating in internet space somewhere never to be seen again. Alas! So for my second attempt.............I finished the hand applique on my quilt top yesterday. This is a Primitives by Lynda pattern called Me and My Shadow. Been working on it for a couple months. Tons of applique but so worth doing. Today I pieced the backing and cut the cotton batt for when I have a few hours to baste it for hand quilting. This will be one of my winter projects. Next post will be my second winter project. These pictures are a lot brighter than my quilt top is. It is a darker top in person and I used a lot of muted coloring for the applique and background. It's wonderful.

Pumpkins

2008-10-12T19:18:00.001-07:00

Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by Megmdill

Friday morning before Megan flew home, Heidi, little Gary, Megan and I went to an outside market for Gary to pick out a pumpkin. Megan took this picture. Gary went thru a hay maze, swang on a Tarzan rope, climbed steps of hay to go down a slide and milked a cow. He picked out a little pumpkin to take home. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon in Ohio and perfect to take a little guy on a one stop fun trip.

I am Poo Poo

2008-10-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

For a quick explanation, when my first grandson was first making attempts at talking the only words he could form for a name for me, granny, was Poo Poo. Even at 4 now, I am not granny or such, but I am Poo Poo. It was a keeper and brings eyebrow lifts from anyone who overhears... ...another daughter who had a baby in March already warned me.........I will be Poo Poo at their house, too. Ahhh, a rose by any other name. Potty training was a little difficult with word association, but we made it thru that. Maybe I shared toooo much??? Giggling over a given name....an endearment to me! :-)

2008-10-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

Gary, Gary, and Aiden