On the Bed - Summer Romance I

I realized I never got around to photographing the completed Summer Romance I quilt.  I finished quilting it last summer, but didn't get the binding on until two or three weeks ago.  Here it is on the bed:

 This quilt was begun Memorial Day weekend of 2015 and made it to my Nolting long arm a year later.  I used white yardage (probably Kona cotton), and Eleanor Burns jelly roll (Benartex) and some yardage from the same line.  This is a great way to make a quilt since it has only five blocks.  These are Blackford's Beauty, a block that caught my eye in the early 1980s.  A lot of people have called this block a lot of other things, including Snowflake.  Someone told me Bonnie Hunter has a quilt made from this block in one of her books or on her Quiltville website.

 I love these fabrics and their lovely shades of violet and wanted to create some great places for quilting.  You can see the stripe I used for binding at the left edge of the above photo--as well as what can happen after quilting for too many hours in a day.  But that's all behind me now.  It looks great on the bed.

 The additional four patches in the layout were easy to do and add interest and movement.

 Most of the quilting was done freehand with minimal marking.  The local quilt shop was out of blue marking pens, so one of the employees convinced me to use a Frixion pen and assured there would be no problems with it reappearing.  Not quite true.  The quilt has been laundered and dried because I love the "crinkly" quilt look--but I noticed one morning that there were some tiny black dots and dash lines apparent; my thermostat is set on 60 degrees F. at night, and some of them had reappeared.  I didn't notice any when I took photos just now, but the thermostat is set at 68 during the day.

 I loved, loved, loved having the large areas for quilting some favorite designs.  If I had a do-over, I would have used a lighter shade in the outer border.

 It's not a competition quilt, so its imperfections are fine with me.

 It was fun to quilt different designs in similar areas, although I'd be surprised if anyone ever notices them.

It's not my last finish of the year, just the last one to have its photo taken in 2016!  I can confirm that it's lovely to have on my bed during these cold winter nights. I'll show some more as 2017 gets underway.

Happy New Year's Eve and Happy 2017.  I'm going to stay off the roads (and away from the inebriated drivers) and work on the checkered Dresden  plate, read, relax, eat some leftovers, and maybe do some knitting.

Happy quiltmaking, knitting, and so on,...

Why It's an Insult to Offer $100 for a Quilt

 Center panel....

with coordinating fabrics...over $100 already.

Still to go...undoubtedly a few more fabrics, a coordinating backing for the quilt, batting,  thread....

and when finished it will be big enough to use while watching TV but not big enough for a bed.

Shall we count the hours it takes to make it?

I'm not being grouchy.  I'm just pointing out that we need to respect the investment quiltmakers have in fabric, design, supplies, time, talent, skills, and creativity.

Happy quiltmaking, knitting, and handcrafting,....

P.S.: In response to those who have asked, I've decided to post my progress on this quilt as I go along.  I'd like to have it finished by the end of November.  That means that instead of working on multiple projects, I'll try to focus on this one.  That means if you know a family getting a handmade quilt for Christmas or a birthday, you can direct them to these posts so they will have some idea just what is involved in making such a precious, albeit often unappreciated, gift.

Also  in response to those who have asked, yes, you may share a link to this post on your blog or on Facebook.

While people balk at the idea of paying $25 per hour, there are quite a few quiltmakers charging even more--and rightly so.

Borders On! Summer Romance I

I made five of these units for the blocks.

I managed to get them pieced into the blocks, sashings and fill triangles created and sewn.

I debated whether the large floral ivory border or the lavender scattered floral should be on the outside.  I decided on the scattered floral, since we all know the edges of quilts tend to get dirty first.  This is a quilt to be used, not merely admired.

 It finished at 87 x 87 inches, so I'm not sure where I'd find a place large enough to capture the whole thing.  I'll consider that after it's quilted.

I've loved this block since I first saw it in the early 1980s.  Took me long enough, huh?!

I'm not sure I can quilt this before school starts the first week of August.  Also, just the top is heavy enough that it needs to be longarm quilted instead of quilted on one of my treadles.  It certainly has a lot of wonderful spaces for quilting. I'm having a great time planning the quilting. It's the first quilt I've made for myself in over ten years, and I hope to enjoy it for several decades!

I;m linking to Connie's Linky Tuesday as well as to Esther's Blog and her WIPs on Wednesdays.  Both links are in the column to the right.

Happy quiltmaking,.....

The Quilt - Summer Romance I

Still working on the quilt top from Eleanor Burns' Zoey line for Benartex that began with strips and has now seen the addition of white strips for sashing.  I'd love to get the borders on before the end of the day.  We'll see.


Creating some pieced triangles.....

 That square to the right is a stack of post-it notes that I'm using for a seam guide.

Oops....four patches turned the wrong way!

Time to do some R&R (ripping and resewing)....

 At least I have a wonderful seam ripper!

 Okay, now turned in the right direction.

The next challenge is that I need some really big setting triangles--bigger than the Fons & Porter ruler for setting triangles.

 A little sloppiness here could ruin the entire quilt top--and I'm running out of the white fabric.

I decided to use these pieced triangles as a pattern for the solid triangles.

 I just have to be careful and check measurements correctly.  I guess I could have used a huge sheet of freezer paper, but I didn't.

Just checking to be sure!

Happy quiltmaking,...

Summer Romance I - the Quilt

More photos of what is happening with the Wisteria strips from Eleanor Burns' Zoey line for Benartex Fabrics.

 I needed eight of these "split four patches."

Of course, they need this seam allowance, so I couldn't just cut four-patches in two.

I also got to trim a few "baby triangles."

I also needed to piece four-patches to the ends of some strips.

Since this roll of fabrics was purchased last January, I searched the internet for an additional Zoey print.  I've purchased two prints from the line to use in borders, and they've been here for a while.  Yardage of these prints are fast disappearing from on-line shops that I've had experience with.  So, I decided to go with pure white, telling myself that the quilting will show up nicely.

Next I needed half square triangles that would finish with two inch and four inch sides.  I keep moving my sewing stuff around and have no idea where my 2-decades-old triangle rulers are!

Then I remember that even longer ago I had purchased a couple of boxes with a wide variety of templates.  These may have been from Quilting from the Heartland, but I no longer have the original box.

However, the set contained both needed sizes of triangle templates, so I did some more cutting and piecing.

Okay, we are back to work, determined that the next time I arrange things, they will not be in four different rooms!

This is going to be a really beautiful quilt, but I'm starting to feel more than a little anxiety that our school will begin so soon, and I want this top ready for quilting at least! (August 4th is such an early start date--and is happening because of the pressures of No Child Left Behind, Common Core Curriculum Standards, and Standardized Testing.)

Happy quiltmaking,.....

Zoey Strips -- Part 2

This is what has happened with some more of the strips from Zoey, an Eleonor Burns line for Benartex:

A light violet strip was paired with a medium violet strip and pinned every few inches.  Without pins these strips would not come out even because the feed dogs would move the bottom fabric through the machine faster than the top fabric.  I'm treadling a Necchi BU Supernova manufactured in Italy some time between 1950 and 1952.  The little stack of post it notes are to help maintain a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance.   I'm using the zigzag plate but sewing a straight line with the needle in the middle position.  The default position for these old Necchis is to the left.

The fabrics were pressed as they came from the machine to set them and then opened so that the seam allowance is pressed toward the medium violet fabric.

Here's what the back side looked like.

The next step was to layer two pieced strips together with the medium and pale strips opposing each other so the seams would "lock" while they were being cut into 2-1/2 inch strips.

When ready to sew, check to see that the seam allowances are aligned,

and then chain feed them through the machine.  It was at this point that I couldn't help but note how quiet the treadle is and what a peaceful task this is.

After stitching all the units, it's time to clip the threads between them and stack them for pressing.

 I'm sure lots of people are happy with finger pressing, but I want them really flat so I use my little iron with just a bit of steam.

Then they were pressed open.

And here is the little pile of softly whispering four patches with their pretty little intersections in the center.

Does anyone care to guess what comes next?

I apologize for the shadows in these photos, but I was sewing after dark.

We're up to three inches of rain for the month.  Doppler radar reported that it was raining here much of the afternoon, but it wasn't.  I'm wondering if it just got confused by the altitude.  We could get more rain tonight and tomorrow, but there is still a lot of recovery to be done from yesterday's hail and rain.  There is standing water in almost every ditch, and there are lots and lots of huge puddles.
I've decided not to post photos of my badly damaged fuchsia colored geraniums.  I may be able to salvage enough to get them to grow back.  If they had been petunias, they would have been a total loss.

Happy quiltmaking,....

Missy's Drunkard's Path - the Whole Quilt

When I finished quilting Missy's 3-Person Drunkard's Path, I neglected to take a photo of the entire quilt.  Missy sent me some photos she took, so here they are:

This is a wonderful setting for Drunkard's Path, and it's one that is seldom seen.

She also took some more detail photos:

This is definitely one of the happiest quilts I've quilted so far this summer!

Missy, you and Pat did a wonderful job of piecing this top!

Happy quiltmaking,...