Red Cross Quilt in Progress

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

~Mark Twain

Quilting

The box of four-patch blocks is still stuffed so I'm making Red Cross as a lap quilt for myself. The crosses are a mix of exuberant Kaffe prints and quiet monochromatic traditional prints. Setting a few four-patches and leftover squares so check values. Good to go.

Red Cross layout

Several four-patches were larger than the others, four- or five-inch finished. A speaker at our guild last year cut the “pluses” more narrowly instead of reducing the four-patch sizes so I reprised her idea. Do you see them? I think they add interest. 

Red Cross top without border

Now to plan a border.

Reading

Ms. Evans has written an engaging novel about a woman who writes letters daily to everyone - family, friends, authors, and one person whose letters she never mails. It reminded me of Helene Hanff’s 84 Charing Cross Road. One of my book clubs will be reading this in the fall. Hooray.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Green Bow Ties

What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.

~Colette

We traveled across the eastern US this spring for a delightful family wedding. So good to see the next generations growing up, becoming responsible and still fun! Then a second trip to the west coast. Wow. Now we are home resting up… in the heat. But lovely memories of people and places. 

Quilting

There were extra fabric squares from the Fireworks quilt. Loads of them, of course. I’d cut extra black-and-white squares and many green squares that hadn’t been used at all. Here they are resting in the scrap bag. So what else can I make?

I’ve always wanted to try the three-dimensional bow tie pattern. These squares cut into four pieces are a good size. Here’s my first layout…

And here’s what I finally chose. Moving the blocks into circular shapes changed the way they should be blended.

Bow tie seems to take two light and two dark squares. The center of the tie “sticks up” a bit because it is made from a third dark square. Sewing was a bit tricky as the block progressed. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Variable Star Wall Quilt

Only the weakest of people believe that love is the weakest of weapons.

Governor J. B. Pritzker

Quilting

My daughter called last week wanting two wall quilts to reduce the echoing of their stairway. The one from the second to third floor. They have an old house and the stairs are as steep as the pulldown ladder we use to access an attic. How did women get up these in long dresses?

Variable Star wall quilt

She likes very quiet colors like taupe. This one almost fits the bill and the top was ready to go. [plus, my granddaughter loves pink.} It was quick to quilt a spiral. I took more time on the binding including zigzagging the seams to give it more support.  

My quilts usually square up well but I also blocked this one to encourage it to hang flat on the wall. Finally I added a sleeve remembering to leave a space in the center and near the sides for the support brackets.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 46" x 46"

Block: Variable Star

Batting: Tuscan Rose 100% cotton

Thread: White Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: FMQ spiral

Approximate yardage: 4.5-5 yds

Reading

This is a book I might not have chosen but found tremendously interesting. It was a book club read. How grateful I am to expand my horizons by reading things others suggest and taking time to discuss them. 

Tom Standage hypothesizes that the development of civilization can be seen through the introduction of six beverages: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-cola. Each was a catalyst for societal and technological change. Beer developed with agriculture through Coke's popularity from globalization. 

 

A fun and thought-provoking read. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Long Time, No See, but Finally Finished

We should measure the prosperity of a nation not by the number of millionaires, 

but by the absence of poverty, the prevalence of health, 

the efficiency of the public schools, and 

the number of people who can and do read worthwhile books.

~W.E.B. Dubois

Quilting

Two years ago I sent this top to a longarm quilter. It's too large for me to handle anymore. She is a talented quilting designer but her machine had tension issues halfway through. Lots of tangled threads on the back, arcs of skipped stitches, etc. It seemed a mess. I cried and put it away. 

This year again sees me on a move to sort, repair, organize, and donate extraneous stuff. A kindness to myself, my children, and others. Someone can get some use from most items. So I've spent a few months unstitching, restitching, topstitching, anything I can do to get it in better shape. It will never be perfect. 

Finally it seemed safe to wash and dry. I soaked it for a couple of hours then spun water out on the gentlest cycle. It's been laying on sheets to dry.

Ocean Waves 5

By some miracle many of the tension issues are hidden. They aren't gone, but the batting expanded while the large stitching holes in the back shrank. Hopefully it will last longer.

The background is Kona Snow while the back is a wide white cotton. The winking colors make me smile. The same pale blue stripe is the inner border and binding. Batting and thread are unknown because they were chosen by the longarmer.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 102" x 102"

Quilt Design: Ocean Waves

Quilting: Free motion with wreaths, orange peel, and parallel lines

Approximate yardage: 15 yds(?)

Someone loves it and has asked for it. I feel better. 

Reading

The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi by Boyce Upholt is a comprehensive overview of the Mississippi River basin from its geologic beginnings through native settlement and especially the changes wrought by European settlers in the past 200 years. 

As a geologist I appreciated the explanations of the wide bends through the basin from Illinois south. Industrialization brought enormous inventions to remove snags, straighten those bends, and deepen the channels. Those events caused loss of fish, soil, and water quality. 

Now there are attempts to restore some lost ecosystems. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Quilting My Stash of Tops

Freedom is not a state; it is an act.

~Representative John Lewis

Quilting

Since I haven't quilted in a while it seemed smarter to start with one of the smaller tops. This used the last of my shirt fabric. It looks good but the fabric stretched a bit so I needed a quilting design that doesn't cross any threads. Baptist Fan fits the bill although I haven't sewed it in a while. Good practice to get back in shape. 

Smaller Blue Cross quilt

The back is a yard of a paisley print extended with some blue from my sister. It was leftover from a back she made. Don't you love using up all the bits and scraps.

Back of Smaller Blue Cross quilt

The color of the crosses in truer in this photo.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 49" x 59"

Quilt Design: Cross made without blocks

Batting: Tuscan Rose

Thread: Pale blue Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: Baptist fans

Approximate yardage: 7 yds

Monarch Update

Those caterpillars were voracious. When the milkeed ran out, they ate butternut squash which is said to work for older cats. Of the original twenty, fifteen pupated. The others died, probably lacking proper nutrients. 

One of the pupae is ready to burst. The markings on the wings are visible through the shell.

Monarch ready to break chrysalis

If their casing was attached to the ceiling, the new butterflies clung to the shell for about a day. The ones whos casings fell simply climbed the wall when they emerged.

Monarchs, pupae, and caterpillar

I put a blooming salvia in their enclosure. Although several flew to the plant, I never saw them eat. A day later they started flying around the cage so I knew it was time to release them. 

Monarchs ready to release

Lavender, begonias, and clover are currently blooming in our yard but the monarchs simply flew skyward as soon as they were out of the enclosure. Hopefully they smell flowers in Hermann Park across the way.

Reading

Chris Sweeney has written an engaging biography of pioneering forensic ornithologist Roxie Laybourne. Working at the Smithsonian and the US Fish & Wildlife, she used her expertise in microscopic analysis of feathers to improve airplane safety, catch poachers, and convict kidnappers. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Starting with the Sashing

Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of the man who can fabricate it.

~Hannah Arendt

Quilting

Determined that those discarded yellow sashing pieces from the previous top are NOT going into the scrap bag. I decided to make a simple baby quilt. The sashing is very pale. In addition to soft yellow, it has pale pink and tan. 

I pulled what I had and it wasn't much. Most of the pale pinks were only 1/8 yard cuts; too narrow for the centers. So they are the triangles while the centers are tan.

Now there are two more quilt tops in the queue. I need to take a break and quilt them up.

Variable Star baby quilt top

The star points are simply flying geese so I tried a new-to-me way. Four-at-a-time flying geese. Here are a few explanations of the technique. 

While it was very easy, accurate seam allowances are essential. Mine were a smidge too wide and the geese ended up 1/8" short. Grr.

My friend, Sue Bianchi, has created a timely and engaging quilt that compares the level of concern each US state takes in the care of their residents. She's written an explanation on her blog. I hope to see this art piece soon.

Reading

Sangu Mandanna has a new book about witches. Sera Swan was one of the most powerful witches in Britain until she raised her beloved great-aunt from the dead after a heart attack. Now she runs an inn with barely enough magic to keep previous housekeeping spells going dreaming of getting her full power back.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Pink Cross Baby Quilt

We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Quilting

I have a shoe box of four-patch blocks that I've been making as leader/enders recently and also saw someone is starting a four-patch challenge or QAL. That motivated me to pull it out and organize them. Currently there are over 200. Many are three-inch but some are four-inch blocks. And I need another baby quilt. What to do? 

There are some bright pinks in my stash so I decided to make a Red Cross block. Here it is laid out with a choice of Kona Snow or light yellow print sashing. No brainer for me: Kona. {I made that brilliant decision after cutting the yellow. At least it's ready for a second baby quilt}

Two sashing choices

They are eight-inch blocks making the top close to forty inches. A simple border will keep it baby-sized.  Here are my choices. I planned to use one of the pinkier pinks and post them with blue but the purply-pink on the left popped the blocks better. It's enough darker that a blue post doesn't look right. 

Border choices

The border fabric is about 43" wide and is cut WOF. If I'd sewed the borders the "regular" way like Courthouse Steps, there wouldn't be enough. So again, I sewed partial seams. Each border needs only the inner width and one side. Just enough to work. 

Pink Cross baby quilt 

Perhaps it should be called Pink Cross instead. 

Meanwhile eight monarch caterpillars have started to pupate. Good thing; there's no milkweed left. I'm giving them cucumbers but while the older ones seem to be eating it, the smaller ones aren't. Who knows if any of them will make it? 

Monarchs pupating

Even these will be lucky to survive after molting. I plan to get some flowering plants since very little remains in the garden and another hard freeze is predicted this weekend. {My begonias may bloom because I covered them.}

Reading

Tim Cook passed away last year, one of Canada's most prominent and respected military historians. Although much of his work focused on WWI, he wrote an excellent book on the efforts of Canada and the US fighting fascism - The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism During the Second World War.

Canada entered WWII years before the US and worked tirelessly to protect the North American continent from invasion as well as supporting Britain in their darkest hours. 

The Good Allies by Tim Cook

It was enlightening and educational to read history from the Canadian view. 

This week I also rewatched Argo about the Iranian hostage crisis. Remember the signs we had thanking Canada? How sad that we allow one person to destroy in one day a mutually benefical relationship developed over 100 years.  

The book on which the movie is based more truthfully records Canadian efforts and the escape via plane. The movie has to have an exciting escape scene at the end that did not happen. It also downplays Canadian work despite the risks. That goodness they have strong moral character. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Yet Another Shirt Quilt Top

Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it. 

~Aubrey de Graf

Quilting

I subcut the next set of 4.5" strips into 8.5" rectangles. There are also lots of 2.5" squares leftover from the first top. I didn't want to make triangles again so decided to make small four-patches. 

The shirt rectangles are sewn around it with a partial seam for the first side. Very easy to do. I've used that method on several quilts including Flying Squares and the outer border of a Melon Patch. It's a useful technique to remember. 

Originally I cut all my darkest purple shot cotton for centers thinking the mediums and lights needed some dark values. Wrong-o. It's too much. 

So I replaced half of them. Now there are still more leftovers for another top... and a bunch of white shirts, too. 

By the way, here's my first idea for these pieces. It looks a bit like a rail fence but it didn't make me happy so I moved things around. {See the quote at the top of this post.} Perhaps it's finally internalizing.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Using More Blue and White Shirts

Kind words cost little but they accomplish much.

~Blaise Pascal

Quilting

If you know me, you know there are still lots of strips cut. Way too many. After deboning the shirts and cutting some into smaller pieces than were easy to use, I sliced the rest into 4.5" strips. When the previous top worked out, I went looking for another idea with easy {larger} pieces. There's a pattern from 1942 called A Red and White Crisscross that looks like an X that I simplified. First, this X is made of two squares and a rectangle. Second, it's not a single block anymore. All the whites are squares, too. This meant I had to lay everything out to line up the fabric correctly but that's much easier than sewing eight triangles around each X. 

The blue shirt strips were subcut into 12.5" and and 4.5" units while the white strips were cut into 4.5" squares and 7.25" squares. The larger ones were subcut into QSTs for the border.  

With the Xs as a guide, I added white squares as needed to sew the diagonal rows. 

I simply eyeballed the final rows by lining up the sewn line with the squares below. Of course, you could measure everything if you preferred. Haha. 

There were enough of these pieces to make a second, slightly smaller top, too. At least one of these will become a donation when the weather cools enough to think about quilting. 

They were fast and easy. Fewer seams means less fraying of these vintage fabrics. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Blue and White Shirts

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

~G. Donald Gale

Quilting

I started my blue and white shirt quilt saga years ago before DH himself retired. Whenever he retired a shirt, I checked it over and kept it if it was in good shape. I soon realized they are almost all blue or white. All solids or very calm prints. Recently more came from my sons and a few from a resale store nearby. Despite admiring Kaja's work incorporating shirts and other found textiles into her work, I never actually made anything with them.  

Eventually I planned a simple checkerboard. Unfortunately I chose the lightest blue shirt to pair with white. It's just too pale for my taste. And too difficult to sew the fabric.  

Instead of making a large throw it will be a baby quilt and that's only because I hate to discard all that work. Plus someone will like these pale colors for a newborn. 

Did I mention how hard it was for me to work with these no-iron shirts? Since I had already deboned a huge pile of shirts I decided to cut them into 4.5" strips. That seemed narrow enough for the fabric. And there they've sat for the past year until Nann showed her Gator Party. 

This was a way to use them. I cut my own rectangles from the strips. 

They are still too quiet so I dug through my stash for a few large scale blue and white prints that might be a man's shirt. Polka dot, autos, and a darling Japanese rabbit print. 

Next I pulled a bunch of leftover solids from my bins to add teeth, and whipped this out. It's adorable. The solids add some punch. My daughter requested the throw. Hooray. But I won't start quilting until the weather changes. It's still in the upper 90s F (mid-30s C) here. 

Now to plan backs for both, baste them, and wait for cooler weather. 

There are more strips, of course, but now I have another idea. 

 Reading

Another enjoyable Japanese coffee shop book. This shop is run by cats and only appears sporadically. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Work on Hatchet Blocks Continues... Slowly

Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people  - people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.

~E.B. White

Quilting

No more green scraps in my bag so I switched to tans. At first they looked good but as more have been added, the excitement of the quilt is dimming. 

My dear friend, Gayle, gave me some of hers and I found several new greens on a shopping trip. But there's still too many tans. 

Out of the blue, Patty sent a box of her scraps which I immediately trawled for greens. I'm switching out some of the tans {so the sets are part tan and part green} but after a while I've just removed the duller blocks and replaced them completely with green.  Eventually I decided the beige carpet might be the problem so I cut background triangles. The background is an abstract print of pink, grey, and white. Its value is similar to the carpet but the difference in color livens the quilt. 

Here are some of the discarded blocks. Funny how these brighter darks work well with the tans. Perhaps the contrast of bright and dull. I'm making plans for a second quilt to expand this idea. 

Meanwhile, I've been creating seed starters from toilet paper rolls for our VBS. The children will fill them with potting soil and seeds, then water and watch for the week. I make these for seeds in my own garden as the edges help distinguish planted seeds from weeks. They aren't difficult but about 250 will be needed. My hands are hurting. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Melon Patch Baby Quilt Finished

You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. 

He is set to test you. And many are failing.

~Pope Leo XIV

Quilting

That was quick. It's done - quilted, washed, dried, and ready to gift. All while we took a couple of {short} vacations. Of course I quilted a spiral. By now it's easy and it matches the rounded feel of the Melon Patch blocks. 

In keeping with the "use it up" mentality I used the last of the plaid on the back. As usual it was needed to widen the WOF fabric used for the back. There might have been enough plaid to make both stripes but it might have needed some of the outer border trimmed from the front. So, an extension was wanted. I like it. 

Quilt Specifics

Size: 45" x 45"

Quilt design: Snowball or Melon Patch

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton

Thread: blue Superior Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: Spiral with a walking foot

Approximate yardage: 5 yards

One of our vacations was a trip to San Francisco to visit friends, watch the Giants, eat great seafood, and walk the city. The California Academy of Arts has a sphere enclosing a rainforest that you view by walking up a spiral ramp. Fish, parrots, and butterflies. Small terrariums had even more animals. 

Walking to dinner we finally saw the parrots of San Francisco. These bright green conores have red heads and loud squawks. There must have been thirty having a raucous meeting. We watched them for half an hour and they never let up. 

When we returned to Houston we went to an exhibit on the craftsmen heading the restoration of Notre-Dame at the Julia Idelson building. Although a small exhibit, it was quite interesting. Among other things, they highlighted finding examples of the original carpentry tools and the blacksmiths who recreated them. There were many artifacts but also lots of video interviews which are also on YouTube in French with English subtitles.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Orphan Melon Patches

We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.

~James Baldwin

Quilting

I just pulled those string blocks from my orphan stash when I found nine Melon Patches under some fabric on the table. They are not going to a box; they will make a quick baby quilt. There was loads of cream background which I managed to cut incorrectly. Eventually there was just enough to make this...with a bunch of triangles going to another box. Sheesh.

There wasn't more light fabric that worked which meant I pulled out the blue fabric box. I looked for a navy. They either were wrong or didn't have enough yardage. But this mottled batik seems good. 

The inner border was an after thought. It was only going to have one border but...

the plaid was on a stack for the guild giveaway table when it fell on the top. Who'd have thought it would work? Not me. 

Without much consideration I sewed a quick border... and introduced a new problem. The quilt is just a bit too wide for the outer border to be one width of fabric. There's only a half yard. If you look carefully you'll see my usual solution. 

I sewed the outer border with a partial seam. That meant each side length could be lessened by one outer border width. Just enough to fit. Hooray. 

If I'd really been thinking, I'd have done the same with the inner border so they would pair better visually. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

A New String Quilt Idea

The first casualty of war is the truth.

~Aeschylus

Quilting

Since I've made so many Four-letter-word quilts, I'm down to pretty dull and dark colors in my scrap bag: black, brown, greens, with a few purples and reds. I've been wondering what to make with these when I was reminded of the Hatchet blocks. What if the blocks were made of strings and split between light and dark sides?

These first pieces were made last summer but I found them in the orphan box. 

They look well on the pink and grey print background. Time to make some more. Now it’s hard to find dull strings in my scrap bag. 

Eventually I pushed into dark/bright purples. Those two in the top left are too bright. For one I added some duller strips but simply deleted the other. 

When I completely ran out of greens, I added light browns and tan. They look okay but the green is better. A small shopping trip is in order so this is turning into a longer term project.

At some point the background pieces must be cut so I'll know how large I can make this quilt... Hopefully, lap size. 

While my family’s visiting, we saw the new Pixar movie, Elio. What a treat! Hopefully you can find time to see it, too.

Reading

Max documents several groups efforts to stop the Holocaust including Orthodox Jews in Switzerland. 

Enjoy the day, Ann