2022 Quilt Review

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. 

~Abraham Lincoln

Quilting Review 2022

Why did I think life would be easier once the children were grown? Between helping family and aging, DH and I have had a busy year.  My sister sent me a birthday card once that said something like, "We love to mind business, mostly each others'." And I am fortunate to have such a close, loving family... even when they are in my business. {It's entirely different if I get into their business.}

Since we moved to the tropical south full-time, we have little need for more large quilts. Actually little need for quilts but my soul needs them. So most of my efforts this year were baby quilts. 

Looking back at 2022, I mades groups of quilts {in that never-ending effort to use up the scraps.}

Four-letter quilts

and string quilts. This one was the completion of the #AHIQPalette challenge. Only a month late. 

Blanca Peak Sunrise baby quilt

I used several sets of leftovers to make a lap quilt {that's still not quilted}. Although it used many blocks in my leftover stack, there are a least two more sets of blocks that have never been sewn into a quilt. Projects for the coming year. 

An Optical Illusion quilt has been on my list for decades and finally was completed this year. 

Optical Illusion baby quilt

Hopefully some wall quilts will get finished next year. I pulled out my sketchbook recently and have been delighted to find so many ideas. Now to get busy with them. 

Although I haven't commented as frequently as usual, I've read most of your posts and enjoyed my visits into your sewing spaces. Thanks for opening your personal space to us. 

FUR (Fabric Use Rate)

Again, no finished quilts in December. 59 yards for 2022.

Happy New Year! 

Enjoy the holidays, Ann

2021 Quilt Review

If the only prayer you ever say is, "Thank you," that will be enough.

~Eckhart Toile

Quilting Review 2021

Personal matters still occupy most of my attention but there was time this weekend to pull this post together. I'm not doing anything new but I occasionally read some of your posts. They are welcome reminders! Hopefully I will be back by summer. We'll see.

Staying home again this year gave me the time to finish several long term projects. DH is delighted his Giants baseball quilt was finished in time for the playoffs. What fun to watch the games under it.

SF Giants baseball quilt

And the back... because you might forget what Giants fans we are. ;-) Two-sided quilts more than double the fun. I've made a few but need to figure out how to make more.

SF Giants baseball quilt back

What a delight to see the Shadow Star quilt  on our bed {where the applique shows up nicely}

Shadow Star quilt

and the Wheel quilt in the guest room. 

Wheel quilt

I quilted the baseball quilt on my domestic machine {hey, it's smaller} but sent the two behemoths to my friend, Peg Collins. What beautiful work she does.

The rest of the year focused on clearing my excessive stash by making  kawandi placemats and baby quilts. 

Kawandi placemat

As usual there were several styles of baby quilts. When I get a new idea I like to reprise it. Small changes help me explore the usually easy designs. It's a way of slowing down even when I make several during the year.

This time, there were Hatchets

Hatchet 4 quilt in blue

and Hourglasses

Red and yellow Hourglass quilt

and Crosses

Cross quilt 3

and more Scrappy Trips/ Postage Stamp quilts

Scrappy Trip in green

and Strings

String Tulip 3 quilt

along with a new style. Is it Coins or Strings or simply a scrap quilt?

LOVE baby quilt

Reading

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a joyfully meditative series of reflections on the natural world blending her Potawatomi heritage with her botany degree. In addition to looking at plants with scientific tools and questions, she also acknowledges them as our oldest teachers. There is much to consider in this book, not the least is viewing the abundance of nature as a gift to be treasured and reciprocated rather than a resource to be collected and hoarded. It's an excellent example of the importance of listening to multiple viewpoints.

Wishing us all a safer and more constructive world in 2022.

Enjoy the day, Ann

2020 in Review

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

~Dr. Seuss

Not about the pandemic. We are all crying over our losses. But another quiet holiday at home with only video chats for company got me thinking. When our forebears moved, they left everyone and everything they knew behind. They didn't gather together again. At best they had letters. That's why album quilts became popular - a way to memorialize absent friends. Don't you know our foremothers took those quilts out on holidays and traced the names and verses on each block. How grateful they must have been to have that one tangible link to their former lives.

No plans for New Year's although there has been time to talk with all my family this week. A group of us watched Soul together online. There's an app for that but I didn't find it easy to use. Thank goodness several people are tech savvy. We got rolling about an hour late but enjoyed sending comments back and forth. Popcorn and a comfy seat for everyone - because we were all at home. Today I hope to call more friends. And I will smile as I see {or hear} every person. Then I will pick up some mementos from my parents and grandparents and sit for a while remembering all the good times we had.

Quilting

Despite or because of all the horrors, 2020 turned out to be the year to clean up and clear out. All it took was staying at home for months to get us to focus on overflowing storage - the drawers, the cabinets, the attic, the garage, and the shed. Sheesh! More UFOs found the light of day as DH and I cleared and cleaned the entire house. He sorted, tested, scrubbed, and sold or donated loads of computer and electronic equipment. I actually met my frequently listed but always unmet goal to whittle my stash in half. It's now three shallow boxes. {That's not counting the box of clothing fabric or the box of projects in progress. However, the remaining projects are all in that one box instead of being hidden - and forgotten - in various locations.} 

I had {and may still have} more fabric than I will use in my natural lifetime so it was actually a relief to work through so much of it. Sewing two dozen pillowcases for family, another two dozen tote bags for foster children and family, and a dozen quilts absorbed much of my excess fabric and leaves room for new purchases in the year ahead. The quilts fell into three {occasionally overlapping} categories:

Scrap, stash and strings quilts:

Stash, scrap, and string quilts in 2020

 

{Although the fabric is older, several of the designs are new or new-to me, including two with tulips. Loving them!}

Star quilts:

Star quilts in 2020

and quilts made from the Parts Department: One for a friend

Ocean Waves scrap quilt 3 

and another for me. 

The Square Deal quilt

Hooray for using fabric and blocks that have been "resting" on shelves for a while.

There was also a Christmas stocking for the newest grandchild and two aloha shirts. 

The Shadow Star top is almost complete. {Another pile of blocks that have been waiting on the shelf.} It should be finished in January and then will be off for long arm quilting. My arms can't move that much fabric around as easily as they used to and every stitch will show on the solid white. 

So, what's up for 2021? I'm not making many predictions and plans this time. We do have a new AHIQ prompt which we'll share next week. And I could make up some of the clothes... but right now, I'm relaxing, reading, and chatting with family. Just what the doctor ordered!

Monthly FUR (Fabric Use Rate) 

No quilts completed in this month either. But I finished one more kawandi, several tote bags and the Christmas stocking. That took11.5 yards. The 2020 year total is 165.5 yards. I hope to start the new year with some finishes of the two big quilts I've been working on: Wheel and Shadow Stars. We'll see how quickly that pans out.

Reading

Nann recommended The Address Book by Deirdre Mask and I just finished it.  The subtitle highlights the main points: What street addresses reveal about identity, race, wealth, and power. Without addresses, people can't vote, obtain bank accounts or jobs, get fire or ambulance services... or pay taxes. Without addresses, citizens have no identity. 

Deirdre began in Indian slums, moved to ancient Rome, then discussed the neuroscience of smell and mental mapping. Empress Maria Teresa numbered every house in her country to know who could be drafted for military service. 

Some of the first addresses numbered buildings by the year they were erected. Philadelphia led the way with odd numbers on one side of a street and evens on the others as well as assigning one hundred numbers to each block.  Europeans developed boulevards and parks while Americans used a grid with numbered and lettered streets. 

Stories of how countries name streets and number buildings ranged the globe but she ended the book with three new methods: what3words, Google Plus codes, and  Facebook Robocodes. 

Wishing everyone a healthier and happier year ahead. Peace, love, and true goodwill! 

Happy New Year, Ann

Quilting Year in Review and AHIQ Prompt 2020

"The hallmark of those countries and companies that continually thrive is that they continually reinvent themselves."

~ David Rothkopf

So long 2019. It's been a rough year for our family. How fortunate that my siblings and I get along so well. They are the best. With all that, you'd think I wouldn't have done much quilting and yet there are more finishes than ever {although the stash level hasn't dropped much.} How did that happen? Most of them are baby quilts - relatively quick, easy to quilt since there is less weight to manipulate, and a great way to use up extra bits.

Chinese Coins,

Scrap quilt using leftover Chinese Coins to make HSTs

Lone Stars,

Lone Star baby quilt

and Hourglasses featured heavily.

Hourglass quilt in solids

Parallel lines, spirals, and fans are my go to quilting designs. The first two use a walking foot but the fans are FMQ. Angela Walters' YouTube videos have given me many new designs to quilt and smaller quilts are the perfect playground. Fifteen baby quilts, two small collage quilts, and only two lap quilts.

After several years of declaring I'd start sewing clothing again it finally happened: three dresses and two shirts.

Examples of the clothing sewed in 2019

What's up for 2020? Several larger quilts that were set aside. Once the quilting is done on the Square Deal, I'd like to finish Tethys Waves and the star quilt but I also have more clothes in mind. Having a friend to sew with helps with clothing; we encourage each other and help with fitting. Hopefully I can leave more time for new projects like wall quilts or art quilts. Several of these ideas have been running around my brain for a few years. It's time to make the time to make them.

Monthly FUR (Fabric Use Rate) 
Two finished baby quilts = 7.75 yds plus two yards donated for a monthly total of 9.75 yds. I only started tracking in October so the grand total for the past three months is 72 yds.


AHIQ Prompt 2020
Kaja and I email frequently - especially when a new prompt is due. Trying to remember all the previous prompts was difficult so we added a page just for them because we all get behind in our intentions or change our minds about a project or simply want to review the past. We've tossed several ideas around and decided some need more gestation. In the meanwhile I finished another hourglass quilt, this time for my niece, and am discovering several more ideas. Kaja commented that she'd like to explore those blocks, too. It seemed like a good prompt for the beginning of 2020.

Would you like to join us exploring Hourglass? While we are thinking of the simple block, it could have many other interpretations. That's part of the joy of improvisation. What does it mean to you?

Use the hashtag #AHIQhourglass so we can find your work and post it on the AdHoc blog. More details there.

Happy New Year!

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bordering Plan and AHIQ December 2016

As several people noted there's not enough fabric to extend onto all sides. The solution is to use different borders. Thanks for all the great comments on my previous post; they gave me several ideas for incorporating different borders and adding applique.

Julie reminded me of Susan McCord string pieced leaves border on Barbara Brackman's blog. Love the graceful way she incorporated the leaves and vine.  Sue Nickel's New York State of Mind has three different borders. There's another I've been considering that combines zig zag and applique borders. I thought it was Freddy Moran's quilt but can't find it online or in my books.

I measured then measured again but no more fabric appeared. With the narrow chartreuse inner border the quilt now measures 63" by 75". Because there are two different birds, the toile cut into two 6.5" borders: the first is 84" {two strips} while the other is 124" {three strips.} They will fill one short and one long side.

The blue gingham could be cut into three 10" strips but only 129" or four 7" strips that are 172". The final choice was four strips because it's the only way to fit the final two sides.

Here's what it looks like laid on the kitchen floor. Quieter than I realized.

Spiderweb quilt with blue borders

Next is to decide which border extends to the edges - the applique or the toile.

As usual lately, this is not the most improvisational quilt. However, I had visions for the border but didn't have enough fabric to carry it through. On to Plan B which is turning out better than the original idea. That's my bit of improv.

With the bird toile attached, I'm considering appliqued birds on the blue gingham. Another adjustment since my first idea was vine with leaves. Second was adding flowers. I'm working much more slowly than normal because of the holidays, diffidence about my applique abilities, or actually thinking about the results. Not sure what proportion each is playing.

Kaja and I have plans to start quarterly improvisational challenges next year. We hope quarterly will allow more time for all of us to complete other, personal work but frequent enough to see progress on improvisational topics. Check us out next month for all the details!

Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

Folded Star Quilt Finished

Making a public goal got this quilt done. It's in the mail. Hooray! There was no more of any of these fabrics. A remnant of another green made the binding. In fact, there wasn't quite enough so I added a slightly different shade visible at the bottom left if you look carefully enough.

Folded Star quilt

Last week I showed a photo of the spirals without the echo rows. Here it is again with echo quilting which makes the spiral stand out better. {The Ad Hoc Improv Quilting link is still open on that post. Kaja and I would love for you to join our study/discovery of utility and improvisational quilts.}

Detail, Folded Star quilt

Just another detail of the quilting. I wish I'd used grey fabric where the navy triangles are.

The center was quilted with a walking foot by eyeballing the width. The navy and grey areas are FMQ. Playing with curls, hearts, bubbles and stipple. I did mark the spine of the feathers in the outer border.

Detail, Folded Star quilt

Quilt Details

Size: 40" x 40"

Pattern: Folded Star by Cristy Fincher

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Thread: Various embroidery and sewing-weight cotton

Quilting: Walking foot and free motion on a domestic machine

DH took me with him to a meeting in Pennsylvania so I spent a perfect day at Valley Forge. It was so warm; several locals were on the grounds reading and sunning. They must know winter is coming.

This is the Potts' home that George Washington rented at Valley Forge. The front door is almost a dog-trot; when open, air blows straight through it and out the back door. (Texas pioneers built homes with a wide open hallway down the middle to cool their houses.)

Valley Forge headquarters of George Washington

Here are some details of the rooms.

I watched Hamilton's America on PBS this weekend and was surprised to see so many places I've visited. Several were from Valley Forge. They seemed to be standing exactly where I took my photos! The program mixed parts of the Broadway musical Hamilton with background visits to various museums and historic sites. I thought I'd be disappointed that it wasn't the entire musical but the program was excellent. Hope you saw it or have a chance to see it... and the musical!

I'm dusting off my copy of The Federalist Papers to reread. These essays written by Hamilton, Madison and John Jay urged Americans to ratify our proposed Constitution and are still used to interpret the original intent of that document.

Rooms inside Washington's Valley Forge home

Ten to twelve enlisted men lived in cabins like this that have been reconstructed throughout the Park. Love the split rail fence.

Log Cabin for enlisted men at Valley Forge

The National Memorial Arch was built in 1910 and finished during WWI. Chiseled in it is Washington's tribute to his troops: Naked and starving as they are we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery.

National Memorial Arch, Valley Forge PA

Enjoy the day, Ann

Around the World Blog Hop and My Oldest UFO

One of blogging's delights is meeting people with common interests as well as intriguely different ones. It's fascinating to see what others are doing. Stephie shares her work and personal outlook at Dawn Chorus Studio. She and I were both working on soft blue Ocean Wave blocks when we met. She also knits, draws and paints. It's a special treat when she posts something she's finished. Stephie runs... miles and miles it seems. I don't, although I used to hike and trek a lot. Her photos of the Cornish countryside are always enjoyable. (Hooray for geology!) I was so pleased she asked me to join this blog hop celebrating creativity and friendship around the world.

I grew up in a family of very talented women. My mother needlepoints, my grandmother knitted and sewed. She knit suits with notched collars and pleated skirts that fit her to perfection. It was my paternal grandmother Martha and great-grandmother Marinda who quilted. Marinda had the first sewing machine in her county. She loved sewing so much she'd sew for anyone who brought her fabric. Both these quilters died when I was a baby so although we had a houseful of fabulous quilts no one taught me. 

Never fear. I read all the Little House on the Prairie novels. I was sure I knew everything. At twelve I made my first quilt, a double bed log cabin, by cutting up dresses my sisters had outgrown. (Because that's where you get scraps, right?) I machine pieced it with quilting thread. (Hey, it was a quilt.) I machine quilted it every twelve inches whether it needed it or not. This quilt went to college with me then to my first house. My children fondly remember picnics on it. It finally fell apart after thirty years. I'm surprised it lasted that long.

This is my oldest UFO - 25 years old. It's hand pieced and quilted. Why isn't it finished? Frankly, I forgot how much quilting I'd completed already. Now it's by my chair to work on in the evenings. Perhaps I'll have it done in another year or two.

Sampler Medallion 

Sampler Medallion detail

I've always liked really 'ugly' fabrics; friends have even given me yardage as a dare. Even so, I wasn't always happy with my quilts. Color combinations I'd thought would be fabulous frequently looked flat. After a lecture by Pat Bishop of Quakertown Quilts, three friends and I started a scrap block exchange bee in our guild. By making a personal challenge to use every block I received I learned to use colors and prints I 'hated.' Not only could these blocks be worked in, they frequently brought the quilt to life. My problems were underdeveloped taste and overdeveloped color snobbery.

I already posted several quilts that used scrap bee blocks including Bow Tie, Princess Feather, Flying Squares and Baskets of Friends but here's one more... still unquilted.

Amish Gems - a scrap bee exchange quilt

My stash is fairly small - two clear storage boxes for everything quilt-related. Petting fabric is a major hobby; I take it out and rearrange it frequently. While I try to fill in color and value gaps, I buy fabric because I like it. These are usually quarter- or half-yards although I buy more of stripes and solids. Running out is always fortuitous. My quilts are improved by forced creativity.

I sketch pieced designs on graph paper but use an unlined pad for pictorial quilts like A Daisy a Day. I may start with a fabric or color in mind but I don't consciously use color theories at the beginning. I just sort through my stash setting random fabrics next to each other. I keep anything that creates a reaction either by fitting in well or standing out glowingly. After that I'll have an idea of missing fabrics or colors. Then I go shopping. Yea!

Why do I quilt? Because I simply must. I love fabric - touching it, feasting on the colors and prints - but I especially love making quilts. Planning a design, layout, cutting, sewing, layering and quilting both calms and invigorates me. There are always quilts dancing in my mind.

Thanks again, Stephie! See you online.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Pink & Coral T-shirt Quilt

What can you do with seventeen t-shirts and one woven button-down? Make a t-shirt quilt, of course! Here's the one I made for my daughter's roommate. Her favorite was the woven button-down honor guard shirt. It absolutely had to be included so I appliquéd the parts with text onto the quilt.

T-Shirt Quilt in Pink, Coral and Green

I used the colors in the sashing to select colors for the Texas Mink. This time it's limited to coral, pink and green with a bit of yellow. Practice improved the Mink; this border is much fluffier and fuller than the first one.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Daisy Quilted and Bound

A Daisy a Day is finished in time for the quilt show next month. I used a Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton batt and YLI Soft Touch, Metler Fine Embroidery and Aurifil Mako threads for quilting. It's linked to the Free Motion Quilting Project because I used Flowing Leaves to fill the background.

A Daisy a Day

Here's a closeup of the ladybug on its daisy.

How did I create the legs? I cut them from this Alexander Henry fabric. It's also the reason the quilt was reversed. There weren't three legs in the other direction!

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Creating A Daisy a Day

It's so interesting and helpful to me when people share some of their creative process that I want to do the same. The daisy quilt began with the book study assignment simple leaf and extended into radial structure. I scanned an old family photo, traced two daisies and enlarged the sketch to a workable size.

Drafting the pattern on tracing paper took several days. I discovered predilections for partial seams (Ruth McDowell's puzzle pieces) and drawing too many lines! Partial daisies filled in some blanks. Reversing the pattern put the taller daisy top left. Several iterations were needed to simplify sufficiently.

After labeling both sides of the draft, I heavily retraced all my lines on the back side. Now freezer paper will lay on top of a reversed pattern. All template markings are on the front (paper side) of the freezer paper so no ink bleeds from template to fabric. Later the draft can be turned to the front again to avoid confusion when piecing.
The ladybug was a potential pest. Unsure of the result, I made templates of her wedge and pieced it first. It's easy to rid a quilted garden of ill-behaved insects!

Here's my first ladybug. The second and back legs look fine but the front leg/head combination is really Ms. Pac-Man. Darn; that visualization will stay with me forever!

After three more attempts and one day searching the fabric stores (it's tough, but someone has to buy fabric) I pieced a ladybug I can live with. Time for fabric audition.

Daily photos tracked frequent fabrics changes and allowed more thoughtful reflection. For example, although the last layout is misaligned, it still reads as flowers and is more vibrant. Something to consider next time.

Here are several possibilities for the border. Which would you choose?

The pieced top is here. I'm still quilting it.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

I'll Give You a Daisy a Day

A Daisy a Day quilt top

What a beautiful day for a bicycle ride through the blossoming trees! When I ride my bike I can hear the birds warble, watch the water dance down the creek and smell all the goodness of the earth. I've found a spot where the mallard and his mate love to dunk their heads searching for goodies on the shallow bottom.

I had to sew some of the joy of spring into my current quilt. Using Leah Day's Flowing Leaves, I've finished most of the background of my daisy quilt. I don't think I'll quilt so heavily on the daisies; I'm still working that part out in my mind.

Free-motion quilting

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann