Father's Heart Quilt

~ sketch and calculate ~

~machine pieceing ~

~ center panel tree ~

~ freehand machine quilting ~

~ straight grain quarter inch binding ~
~ label and hanging sleeve on back ~

~ quilt getting raffled tonight ~

Friends of mine are putting on a talent show and raffle to raise money to benefit Father's Heart Foundation please follow link to learn more about the plans to build family-modeled, sustainable orphanages in El Salvador.

A Proper Tea Party

Some of you may recall that I, my nieces, and nephew have been quilting our way through American History. They've been learning a little about sewing and a lot about our country's past by making quilt blocks with their aunt.

Friday when they arrived little Emma (she's 3) wanted to have a tea party. We often have tea parties when I babysit, they help me make chocolate chip scones and then gather round the coffee table for peppermint tea and scones. However, there wasn't time for quilting and a tea party... but there was a compromise: She could make a quilt block about the Boston Tea Party. She was delighted.

In American history the colonists in Boston threw a shipment of tea from England into the Boston harbor in protest over the high taxes they were being forced to pay the crown. In fabric crayon terms that means a whole lot of blue scribbling to represent the water to start with.

Next an orange crayon was selected. "I think this is the colour the tea cups were" she said.


Well obviously, for it to be a tea party you'd need tea cups. That just makes sense.

Scrappy Squares

Random leftover strips of fabric leftover from other quilts have been accumulating in the sewing room. So many in fact, that there were enough 3.5 inch strips laying about that I could sort them into cool colours and warm colours before beginning to piece scrappy blocks.

This, obviously, is the group of warm colours with a few extra neutrals mixed in. I'm still playing with it, but once I have a balanced layout I'll finish piecing the blocks together using a sashing (imagine the bits of floor are actually fabric sashing and bordering the blocks) to make an infant sized quilt top.

Flying Geese

Still a favorite quilt pattern, "flying geese" has been around for centuries. I thought of this quilt today when I heard the geese flying overhead. High and behind the clouds they flew, and the sound of their calls came faint but clear in the early morning hours as I curled warm and sleepy in my layers of quilts.

Carpenter's Squares

Graphic of quilt design for the quilt class I'm teaching in August:

~Carpenter's Squares Infant Quilt ~

From the class description:

The woven bands of the Carpenter’s Squares create a high graphic design with a modern, a classic, even a Celtic appeal which looks difficult to do, but really isn’t. Once you know the secret of creating consistent T-seams this infant quilt top becomes so simple, beginning quilters can confidently piece it. More experienced quilters will also find this quilt top an excellent opportunity to practice “pinless seaming” a speed construction technique using very few pins.

The "sample quilt" made up to help advertise the class:

Outside the Lines

I started off quilting in straight lines. Two inches apart, respectably thorough but not too dense. Faster on a hot day. Simpler and faster on a project I want to finish quickly. But I got bored.

Like crop circles suddenly appearing in a field of neatly planted straight rows, freehand quilting curlicues suddenly erupted to decorate the last corner of the quilt. I suppose I should know better... never settle for boring rows when arabesques and scroll-work are an option.

Photo Shoot

I finished piecing another sample top for my Counting House (full) quilt yesterday. And having actually managed to hang onto the Sixpence (infant) quilt I finished a few weeks back --finished quilts have the oddest habit of getting up and walking out my door-- I decided to do a photo shoot this afternoon to get some cover pics for the pattern.

behind the scenes

the view from on high

pattern cover photo option #1

pattern cover photo option #2

Which photo do you like best?

Leave a comment or just vote for your favorite in the poll on the sidebar.

Sing a Song of Sixpence

front of Sixpence quilt

Counting House, the full-size quilt pattern got shrunk last week, into a mere Sixpence. That was the easy part. The new baby-size quilt design went together smoothly and I had a blast picking out the color pallet.

Then I decided to machine quilt in "bubbles" (aka "river rocks") a freehand machine quilting design that is.... well, it uses a lot of thread.

close up of freehand "bubbles" machine quilting

I had to make a run to the shop for more thread half way through.

Seven empty, brand-new spools of thread later it was done. Took me twice as long to quilt it as to piece it in the first place. But I do love the texture of a heavily quilted quilt.

back of quilt

The Nursery Rhyme

Sing a song of Sixpence, pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds baked into a pie,
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing.
Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a king?

The king was in the Counting House, counting out his money.
The queen was in the parlor eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and nipped off her nose.

The king called his doctor who sewed it on again
He sewed it on so neatly the seam could not be seen.
Sing a song of Sixpence pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked into a pie.

Pieces of My Day

"Is it so small a thing,
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done?"
-- Matthew Arnold

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems."
-- Rainer Maria Rilke

"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar."
-- Helen Hayes


"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
-- Margaret Atwood

Currently Quilting

I pulled this baby quilt out of storage to quilt for the new little one on its way. My grandmother and I, before her death, created many quilt tops together as a legacy from her to future grandbabies. This quilt was one of her favorites because of her Scottish love for all things thistle.

For those who want to know: The dark spiky and thistle-y print is "Camelot" from Hoffman. The light print is a Maywood Studios "Beautiful Backgrounds" with pale green dragonflies and grasses dancing across it. And the stems and leaves of the appliqued thistles are done with a varigated Sulkey rayon thread.

FourSquare and Seven

Another NEW Quilt Pattern is out!
The pattern includes:


Everett’s Address

Before Lincoln’s brief speech dedicating the Soldier’s National Cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19th 1863, the famous orator Edward Everett delivered a 13,000 word speech. Everett (1794-1865) was a Whig Senator from Massachusetts, former president of Harvard University, and served as Secretary of State under Millard Fillmore.

Everett’s two hour speech began: “Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature.”


Lincoln's Address

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” -- Abraham Lincoln

Remembrance Day

In the town of Gettysburg we find the tradition continues. Each November parades of Civil War re-enactors fill the streets, living history demonstrations and tours pack the National Park, while every hotel in town boasts a conference room turned period ballroom hosting a Remembrance Day Ball. At the appointed time Abe Lincoln, or his double at least, proceeds up Baltimore Street from the Wills House to the National Cemetery to deliver his famous address once more.

---

PIECEFUL SLUMBER PATTERNS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH NEEDLE AND THREAD IN GETTYSBURG PA. [They ship phone orders.]

110" x 130"

Simple squares, from a massive (commissioned) quilt.

Fortunately, I can tie it rather than quilt the mammoth thing.

Oddfellows Quilt

Three years waiting, and 72 hours on the frame -- and this quilt is finally finished.

This quilt block is known as the Oddfellows March, because evidently when they march, the Oddfellows do some sort of cross weaving pattern that if mapped out would evidently resemble the way the blocks align. One going one way and the next going another. (And yes, there really is such a group as the Oddfellows.)
And another name for it is Oddfellow's Star, because of the secondary pattern formed where the corners of the blocks come together.

Three borders (one of the leftover sawtooth triangles when I decided the quilt top had gotten big enough) finish the design and frame it.
I pieced the quilt in homespuns and random lights which gives, I think, a more scrappy feel. And I did not preshrink any of the fabric, but I did machine wash and dry the quilt then. Which is why you can see in these photos, that lovely -- comforty -- squnchiness.

Warm and snuggly.

Red Winged Book Bird

Re-visiting old projects (in other words, going through old boxes) I found:

An easy scrap quilt with a bonus. This is my Red-Winged Book Bird Quilt. Using all my leftover red fabrics and scraps, I made "book" blocks from five rectangles (2.5"x10.5" each) to make the 10 inch blocks and sashed my red books with a black batik. But I didn't stop there. Do you see? Down in the bottom right corner of the quilt is a red-winged blackbird.


Stuffed machine applique on the unfinished quilt top, this attempt at a red-wing blackbird crooning over a cattail was inspired by an old favorite PBS show Book Bird, and the fact that while I was making the blocks for this quilt I was listening to Where the Red-Winged Blackbirds Sing. It's completely obvious I drew my template from looking at the woodblock print cover art of Jim Schulz's CD.

Quilts

Been missing the quilting? So have I. While my sewing machine and iron sit in the corner sulking and lonely I've been busy with other projects (knitting is just so much more portable and easy to take along with me). But in the back of my mind I've been thinking about quilts and quilting and planning my next project... okay, next fifty projects.

Not forgetting all my UFOs, there's "The Quilt Between the States" I promised I'd design for a couple people (a quilt which in theory could/would have been made by quilters during the American Civil War), I promise to finish up our For the Birds Sampler soon ("soon" a loosely defined term which translates as "sometime before I die"), and, oh yeah, I've got an absolutely huge quilt just sitting there basted and waiting for me to finish it.

But also, I'm curious to try these Crumby Maverick Stars, and some small part of me wants to make a few of those 5 inch Dear Jane Quilt Blocks too -- like Melanie, who is Crazy About Quilts .

I've been thinking about small quilts and smaller quilt blocks ever since reading about the Priority Alzheimer's Quilts and the monthly quilt auction put on by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Making a small quilt next sounds like a good idea, don't you think?

UFO promoted to WIP

Three years later this homespun scrappy quilt has finally made it into the quilting frame. Known as OddFellow's March or Odd Fellow's Star (for the secondary pattern it forms) the block has a pleasing variety and lends itself well to scrappy quilts. I love it.

1929patch

One thing we can learn from the fabrics of the Great Depression: Although all was bleak around them, many people chose to be happy anyway. The bright cheerful colors and whimsical designs of 1930s fabric reminds me not to look at the Black Fridays (like in 1929 when the stock market crashed) but to focus instead on the things that are still good in life. The happiness of welcoming a new life into the world, the laughter of children, the dearness of friends and family, the faithfulness of God in dark times. These are all bright spots, cheerful colors in the patchwork of our lives.

Whig Rose Wreath

I do, very occasionally, hand applique. And I can prove it:

This block is an historic reproduction quilt block (done in c.1860 reproduction fabrics). It's known as the Whig Rose Wreath.

Having accomplished one block I then decided I'd done enough of that and framed it out, set it on point, framed that. Set that whole deal on point again, and put a final border around it.

I did add a "Whig Rose" flower in each of the four outer corners, since I had optimistically cut out enough flowers for another wreath block. I didn't want to waste them, but I really don't seem to have the patience yet to do a whole quilt of all hand applique blocks.

Of course, there are only so many borders you can put on a 14 inch block, so the finished size is not large enough to be a bed quilt. But it's the perfect size for a table topper.

Nine Patch Chain

In this quilt I played with the nine-patch variation known as cat's in the corner, using chain blocks and pieced sashing to create the pattern. I did it in a reproduction navy with tan print and a modern metallic gold paisley with a metallic gold oriental print (fussy cut, for scenes). I think the combination was successful. Don't you?

Just Around the Corner

I like to self-bind my quilts (usually back to front) because I can never get my corners to come out smooth with bias binding.

So here's what I do. I trim down the top two layers of my quilt sandwich to the same size, and leave the backing about an inch larger. It's no problem to fold the raw edge in and fold the backing over the front along the sides then; but the corners still take some maneuvering.

The first step is to clip the corner. That point will just get in the way and make things bulky. Snip it off.
Then you can fold over the first side using binding clips to secure it. (Or pins -- pins work too.)And then fold in the other side. Just in case you're not certain what I mean... we're bringing the raw edge of the back to the raw edge of the front by folding it. Like this:Then folding it again. This time that fold line is the spot where the raw edges met; the backing will come over the front of the quilt and neatly hide all the raw edges.
At that corner I use the tip of my pin to make sure everything gets tucked in smoothly and neatly. And then pin it firmly in place.

There are several different choices for how to sew the binding down. In this case I'll use an applique stitch, the nearly invisible surface of the stitch works well for the front of a quilt. If I had folded the front of the quilt to the back, most likely I would simply use the faster whip-stitch. And with a project that's going to see heavy use -- a utility quilt -- I tend to machine sew the binding in place.