# Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way



## freedombecki

Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:


----------



## Truthmatters

That is some handywork and very beautiful.

Job well done


----------



## editec

I don't have any pictures but I do have a quilt made by my great grandmother and her daughters and her granddaughters, too. They made it way back in the 50s.

It is rather beautiful.

I remember them sitting around in a circle quilting when I was a little kid.


----------



## freedombecki

Another good resource for finding a quilt you like is from fabric companies. They hire really good quilters to show off their fabrics, which tend to be prettier each year than last year's. Here's an example:






This Thumbnail is of a Jinny Beyer Quilt.
Jinny has designed numerous lines of fabric over the years for RJR Company, who have been backbone supporters at the annual National Quilt competitions in Paducah, Kentucky. I've taken classes from Jinny Beyer twice at Quilting in the Tetons in Jackson, Wyoming. She's an amazing hand quilter and mathematician. The pattern of her quilt is found at the RJR website in PDF Adobe format, and it is free. Of course, nobody designs Jinny Beyer fabrics except Jinny, so she gives an edge to those who use her patterns and seek and find her really beautiful threads... Here's the page you can find the free Jinny Beyer pattern and others. 

If you sew but don't quilt, you can find lessons at a local quilt store near you by looking in the Yellow pages under "Quilt Stores" or go online. You can also try your luck from following the instructions given. About 1 in 2,000 seamstresses can successfully execute a quilt from the written word, but it could take a year if you try to do all by hand. Some can accomplish a complex quilt like the above thumbnail in a month with the use of a sewing machine. Jinny says she can complete one of her quilts in the same time as most machine quilters. However, if you've ever sewn in a factory, you may be able to do the quilt in s shorter time. At the link above, if you go to the PDF page, you will see a larger version of the thumbnail, which in and of itself shows a stunning nature quilt, imho.​


----------



## freedombecki

Truthmatters said:


> That is some handywork and very beautiful.
> 
> Job well done



Thanks, Truthmatters. The quilt is known as a "charm" quilt. That means each piece came from a different bolt of cloth. Even little speed demons like me on a machine can be challenged to do such a work in less than a month. I cut strips then one square from each strip for weeks on end to make that quilt, leaving more leftovers to make about 20 more the same size. 

I have like, a quilt addiction....


----------



## Truthmatters

I like them best made from scraps of old clothing that people have actually worn and or used.

They mean so much more.

Grandmas tablecoth that got torn, aunt Margrets sunday dress, brother Bobs summer shorts and the like.

Every little corner has a memory


----------



## freedombecki

editec said:


> I don't have any pictures but I do have a quilt made by my great grandmother and her daughters and her granddaughters, too. They made it way back in the 50s.
> 
> It is rather beautiful.
> 
> I remember them sitting around in a circle quilting when I was a little kid.



Well, Editec, I'll dance at your weddin' if you take a picture of your beloved heirloom and show it here. Do you know if the quilt is from pieced patterns or did your family's dear women make applique pieces into a pictorial quilt? If I could see the quilt, I could tell you if you had an album quilt, and the names of the blocks if they are in the traditional mainstream. Barbara Brackman wrote a book on traditional American applique blocks as well, and I have a copy of that around here some where if I don't know the exact name, I can find it if your family's women used patterns from the mainstream, such as Kansas City Star, McCall's magazines, the Workbasket, and other periodicals and publications at or before the 50s when your quilt was done.


----------



## AllieBaba

Thanks for the quilt thread..I have a quilt I started more than a year ago sitting at the foot of my bed, waiting for me to finish it. 

It's nothing like those beauties but it's mine and when it's finished, it will be my first full sized one. It's kind of a funny size, and sort of mishmash, but I figure when I'm done quilting it, it won't matter. It's for my niece, who finished medical school about the time I started it and who is now an ER resident. I'd like to finish it for her before Christmas. That's my dream, anyway, lol...


----------



## AllieBaba

I'll get a pic of it on eventually...


----------



## freedombecki

Truthmatters said:


> I like them best made from scraps of old clothing that people have actually worn and or used.
> 
> They mean so much more.
> 
> Grandmas tablecoth that got torn, aunt Margrets sunday dress, brother Bobs summer shorts and the like.
> 
> Every little corner has a memory



Those are indeed treasures. I have a different take, though. Though my postage stamp charm quilt is mostly new materials, there are a few pieces from the closet of fabrics leftover sewing scraps from my children's growing-up clothes, but all were new as my dear friend has allergies. The fabrics used were both from my quilt store of 25 years, and each piece was picked to satisfy an artist's palette I wanted the women of my small town to have available to them. When you live in a small town and operate such a store, you ask "If something bad happened, and I had to shut the shop down, would I enjoy sewing this particular piece of fabric into quilts for the rest of my life? That made each piece requirement have to be the best I could find in that color niche. Other artists can mix titanium white with any other tube and arrive at a tint. Quilt Artists have to have the correct tint ahead of time, and there are a bazillion tints, shades, hues, and tones out there we can't get in any other way than by careful choosing. It made my shop an assistant to those of an artistic demand to have the correct color available immediately.

Also, I didn't have the privilege of enough time to go to other people's quilt stores, since I had to show up at my own shop every day of my life for all those years when I was healthy enough to do so. When I was working on that quilt, I had to go to my daughter's in Las Vegas. She'd been injured in a motorcycle accident on the job, and she needed a back surgery and someone to sit with her until she healed enough to go back on her beat. It isn't easy to find quilt fabrics in hot Las Vegas, so I had to go to a lot of shops to pick quarter yards of a couple of hundred pieces, and fortunately, they had a JoAnne's fabric store with a decent selection of economical cottons. I remember where I found every piece of fabric in that quilt when I look it over. That quilt maps my daughter's getting well, so like you, the quilt means something to me, but I will not see it again, as my dear friend is now 1300 miles away and is dying of cancer. Her daughter lives another 1000 miles from there or even more, and her son is probably in school now, not a baby, and the quilt may have been overwashed, given away, given to charity, or stored. Who knows? Even so, the picture is all I have left of memories of two familes and the dearest daughter who ever lived.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Thanks for the quilt thread..I have a quilt I started more than a year ago sitting at the foot of my bed, waiting for me to finish it.
> 
> It's nothing like those beauties but it's mine and when it's finished, it will be my first full sized one. It's kind of a funny size, and sort of mishmash, but I figure when I'm done quilting it, it won't matter. It's for my niece, who finished medical school about the time I started it and who is now an ER resident. I'd like to finish it for her before Christmas. That's my dream, anyway, lol...



AllieBaba, that's amazing. You do know that there are whole websites of quilters who show their quiltmaking process, don't you? I hope you will share the colors and progress of your quilt. I'm just so awed to know you are working on a quilt, and in this quilt, for a pretty special reason. Your neice now has nonstop responsibilities, and that quilt will mean ever so much to her, but she may not have time to even adequately thank you for helping her career by giving her such a comforting gift as a handmade quilt.

That's so very special, and I hope you put a camera to use when you can and show us your project. You will get support from other quilters. You may not get much support from the recipient whose entire mind will be filled with the needs of her patients, 24-7 for the rest of her busy, busy life. Just sayin'.

All my love to you, AllieBaba, for such a work.


----------



## AllieBaba

It's amazing.

My silly quilt is made of new materials as well, and imperfect as they come...and I love it, and my niece will treasure it.

I taught myself to quilt a few years ago, using a couple of books. I'd never sewn before, and wanted to.

I started out sewing with a second hand pattern from salvation army for a nightgown for my daughter. I didn't have a sewing machine because before I made that purchase I wanted to make sure I could actually figure out how to put a pattern together. I'd had a very bad experience trying to sew when I was younger and wasn't sure I was even capable of it. 

Well I cut the fabrick...this particular nightgown had long puff sleeves, a yoke, pretty much as complicated a pattern for a nightgown as one could hope to see. Not only that, I didn't know the cut pieces would be for different sizes, lol...so the yoke was for a 12 y.o., the front skirt a different size from the back, hahahaha...I had to do some creative piecing together...

But I was able to figure it out, so I trotted out and got a little sewing machine from Wal mart.

The quilting I started after my sis bought me some beginning quilting books. I made my son a patriotic lap- or child-sized quilt and matching pillow. He loves that quilt and it has seen many miles with us, on beds, couches, in the car, on trips. I machine quilted it...but I'm hand quilting the one I'm working on now, as my little sewing machine would have difficulty with the larger amount of material....I love hand sewing and embroidering, though, so the quilting is therapeutic for me.

Now I'm all motivated! Can't wait to pick it up again!


----------



## Truthmatters

freedombecki said:


> Truthmatters said:
> 
> 
> 
> I like them best made from scraps of old clothing that people have actually worn and or used.
> 
> They mean so much more.
> 
> Grandmas tablecoth that got torn, aunt Margrets sunday dress, brother Bobs summer shorts and the like.
> 
> Every little corner has a memory
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are indeed treasures. I have a different take, though. Though my postage stamp charm quilt is mostly new materials, there are a few pieces from the closet of fabrics leftover sewing scraps from my children's growing-up clothes, but all were new as my dear friend has allergies. The fabrics used were both from my quilt store of 25 years, and each piece was picked to satisfy an artist's palette I wanted the women of my small town to have available to them. When you live in a small town and operate such a store, you ask "If something bad happened, and I had to shut the shop down, would I enjoy sewing this particular piece of fabric into quilts for the rest of my life? That made each piece requirement have to be the best I could find in that color niche. Other artists can mix titanium white with any other tube and arrive at a tint. Quilt Artists have to have the correct tint ahead of time, and there are a bazillion tints, shades, hues, and tones out there we can't get in any other way than by careful choosing. It made my shop an assistant to those of an artistic demand to have the correct color available immediately.
> 
> Also, I didn't have the privilege of enough time to go to other people's quilt stores, since I had to show up at my own shop every day of my life for all those years when I was healthy enough to do so. When I was working on that quilt, I had to go to my daughter's in Las Vegas. She'd been injured in a motorcycle accident on the job, and she needed a back surgery and someone to sit with her until she healed enough to go back on her beat. It isn't easy to find quilt fabrics in hot Las Vegas, so I had to go to a lot of shops to pick quarter yards of a couple of hundred pieces, and fortunately, they had a JoAnne's fabric store with a decent selection of economical cottons. I remember where I found every piece of fabric in that quilt when I look it over. That quilt maps my daughter's getting well, so like you, the quilt means something to me, but I will not see it again, as my dear friend is now 1300 miles away and is dying of cancer. Her daughter lives another 1000 miles from there or even more, and her son is probably in school now, not a baby, and the quilt may have been overwashed, given away, given to charity, or stored. Who knows? Even so, the picture is all I have left of memories of two familes and the dearest daughter who ever lived.
Click to expand...


What a wonderful story. I hope your daughter is doing better now and I hope your friend has a dignified death. I used to live in LV.


----------



## AllieBaba

freedombecki said:


> AllieBaba said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the quilt thread..I have a quilt I started more than a year ago sitting at the foot of my bed, waiting for me to finish it.
> 
> It's nothing like those beauties but it's mine and when it's finished, it will be my first full sized one. It's kind of a funny size, and sort of mishmash, but I figure when I'm done quilting it, it won't matter. It's for my niece, who finished medical school about the time I started it and who is now an ER resident. I'd like to finish it for her before Christmas. That's my dream, anyway, lol...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AllieBaba, that's amazing. You do know that there are whole websites of quilters who show their quiltmaking process, don't you? I hope you will share the colors and progress of your quilt. I'm just so awed to know you are working on a quilt, and in this quilt, for a pretty special reason. Your neice now has nonstop responsibilities, and that quilt will mean ever so much to her, but she may not have time to even adequately thank you for helping her career by giving her such a comforting gift as a handmade quilt.
> 
> That's so very special, and I hope you put a camera to use when you can and show us your project. You will get support from other quilters. You may not get much support from the recipient whose entire mind will be filled with the needs of her patients, 24-7 for the rest of her busy, busy life. Just sayin'.
> 
> All my love to you, AllieBaba, for such a work.
Click to expand...

 
Thanks so much for the support and encouragement, and I will get a pic on sometime tonight. It is quite homely, lol...but the colors are pretty.

Unfortunately, the pattern is sort of swatsticky, lol. It's a simple windmill pattern, lol, and I didn't realize what the pattern would look like till it was pieced, hahaha. We are not nazis in any way shape or form...but I have named the quilt (in honor of Mel Brooks' The Producers) "Springtime for Hitler".

Tongue in cheek of course, but it's pretty hard not to notice.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AllieBaba said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the quilt thread..I have a quilt I started more than a year ago sitting at the foot of my bed, waiting for me to finish it.
> 
> It's nothing like those beauties but it's mine and when it's finished, it will be my first full sized one. It's kind of a funny size, and sort of mishmash, but I figure when I'm done quilting it, it won't matter. It's for my niece, who finished medical school about the time I started it and who is now an ER resident. I'd like to finish it for her before Christmas. That's my dream, anyway, lol...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AllieBaba, that's amazing. You do know that there are whole websites of quilters who show their quiltmaking process, don't you? I hope you will share the colors and progress of your quilt. I'm just so awed to know you are working on a quilt, and in this quilt, for a pretty special reason. Your neice now has nonstop responsibilities, and that quilt will mean ever so much to her, but she may not have time to even adequately thank you for helping her career by giving her such a comforting gift as a handmade quilt.
> 
> That's so very special, and I hope you put a camera to use when you can and show us your project. You will get support from other quilters. You may not get much support from the recipient whose entire mind will be filled with the needs of her patients, 24-7 for the rest of her busy, busy life. Just sayin'.
> 
> All my love to you, AllieBaba, for such a work.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thanks so much for the support and encouragement, and I will get a pic on sometime tonight. It is quite homely, lol...but the colors are pretty.
> 
> Unfortunately, the pattern is sort of swatsticky, lol. It's a simple windmill pattern, lol, and I didn't realize what the pattern would look like till it was pieced, hahaha. We are not nazis in any way shape or form...but I have named the quilt (in honor of Mel Brooks' The Producers) "Springtime for Hitler".
> 
> Tongue in cheek of course, but it's pretty hard not to notice.
Click to expand...

AllieBaba, the swastika quilt is common in America prior to the 1940s. It may have come from both Germany and other EU countries with a third of early Euro-Americans immigrants, but the symbol meant all things good. Hitler started out fighting the Kaiser's war and for his trouble, landed in jail sometime later for exercising his opinion where his opinion wasn't wanted. He grew bitter in jail and wrote a book about how things should be in his mind for his country.

Good things can and do go wrong, and because he was certain his theories were all things good, he adopted the Swastika. As he added people to his cause, some of them felt their country was diminished culturally by their accepting Jews in pity for the way they were treated elsewhere. In their minds the Jews perpetually owed them gratuities, except the Jews turned out to be proud of their heritage and certain that they and only they were chosen of God, as ever. As a consequence, things did not go well for those of Jewish extraction, and their detractors in the Nazi party became more and more self-assured as they came into power for the dreams Adolph Hitler had for pure Ayrian blond and blue-eyed Germans, beautiful and proud, ruling the entire planet. This was met with the down-and-out Germans who took a licking in WWI with great anticipation and longing. Little by little, plans deteriorated, and Hitler took his dreams of pure good and began plotting to take over his Aryan neighbors "for their own good." As he marched into country after country of blue eyed blondes, a lot of the people already liked Hitler, and they didn't fire back when he declared them his. On Krystalnacht, his angry and inspired hoodlums began a purge of Jews, who were blamed for everything from taking away what belonged to Ayrans to being the worst human beings on the planet, deserving of being run out of town and if they resisted, taken out on one-way train rides after all their worldly goods were expropriated. I'm not sure of all the details, but the world saw the Nazi swastikas and sat, not certain or not whether Germany was doing the right thing or not, since many of the things stated above were not known by the rest of the world, and by the time Hitler's speeches inflamed the German people into unknown or questionable behaviors, the world wasn't looking too closely at what was going on until Hitler actually bombed London. Then the truth started sinking in. By that time, Hitler had so much power, it was not known if the rivers of blood in London could be overcome, and several countries joined him just to keep the same thing from happening to their landscape.

The symbol of all good--the Swastika, became overnight, the symbol of dictatorship and murder in the British Isles and elsewhere by the time Churchill made his famous speeches that inspired the English to resist and fight back with a fury the Fuhrer's fire. 

Swastikas disappeared from British and American quilts entirely by 1939, and if any were cut out, they probably became propellers on quiltish airplanes or spokes on wagon wheel squares, fan blocks, Celtic crosses, or full-use parts in crazy quilts. shapes rearranged and embroidered to obfuscate cleverly their former fate.

Hopefully we are past that and someday can go back and figure out what happened to make the symbol of all good come to mean cruelty, the murder of handicapped people, Israelites, and people with brain injuries. That may take another couple of hundred years and the strong will to forgive and forget.

The Swastika on the German flag under Hitler--it goes only one way and is more distinctive than "sorta looks like." Don't throw your effort down the tubes knowing this nor be discouraged. You have 5 months until Christmas. If you have 200 hours left on your quilt, the math tells me you need to work 40 hours per month to complete your started effort, possibly less. Two hours a day or 10 hours per weekend will help you parcel out your time around work and other home responsibilities to complete the work on your niece's quilt.

I hope knowing this will help you set a pace for yourself. If I'm wrong and you only have 80 hours left, that means you can work 2.5 months with a two - week vacation thrown in and still finish your effort without having to give up your fall holidays of Trick or Treat, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve to panic.

Hitler is dead and gone. He and his henchmen can no longer have the symbol of all that is good. That belongs to God, and they persecuted the people of God from both the Jewish and the Christian traditions, shutting down cathedrals and churches right and left across Germany from use by troublesome believers in Jesus Christ, King of the Jews in Martin Luther's bible that required mercy and forgiveness, seven times seventy.


----------



## AllieBaba

Indians have used the swastika emblem for aeons as well....

I didn't use a real pattern; I found the block pattern online, then slapped them together and I didn't think it was big enough, so I tacked on a border, and it's just awful, but like I said, I hope after the quilting, it won't matter....





By alliebaba at 2011-07-13


----------



## AllieBaba




----------



## AllieBaba

Here is the little one I did...

The perspective on my pics is funky, my pup is quite large and the quilt is quite small, and that chair and ottoman are MASSIVE. 

Also the quilt is well washed and dirty cuz we took it camping...though it stayed in the car...


----------



## AllieBaba

I think my camera is getting ready to give up the ghost...


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba, what a beautiful quilt. Definitely *not* the Swastika of prior to WWII. I'd call that a windmill. It looks like you also are hand quilting it. Good job, girl!

Oh the British call the windmill square placed on point "Unknown name," and the two American dictionaries call similar blocks (with minor differences) windmill, so I'm saying I'm not sure but I'd call it windmill. I know that same name came up some time ago in my professional practice, but I couldn't remember the name we'd all settled on. Now, I'm pretty sure it was simply "windmill." I've made at least 4 charity quilts of the same shape, done in charm style (each dark windmill block a different fabric and each light windmill block a different fabric, the light and dark pairs being 3" unfinished.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Here is the little one I did...
> 
> The perspective on my pics is funky, my pup is quite large and the quilt  is quite small, and that chair and ottoman are MASSIVE.
> 
> Also the quilt is well washed and dirty cuz we took it camping...though it stayed in the car...




Allie, the zigzag chain quilt is adorable. Does it have a finite name? I just called it zigzag chain because the blues are zigzags and the red blocks form a chain down the avenues between the blue zigzags.


----------



## freedombecki

And what a cute doggie!!!!


----------



## AllieBaba

Yes, the dogs are everywhere, haha.

The little quilt came from a book my sis got me and I can't remember the name...I think it was 24 Hour Quilts or something like that...very simple, very comprehensive. We just call it the 4th of July Quilt cuz that's what it was made for...I don't think I even finished quilting it, I channel quilted it in the seams of the pieces...and I am hand quilting the other one, with dark green thread. I'm following the pattern which is a sort of swirly dark viny thing that you can't really see in my picture. I'll do the border with just straight line quilting maybe 2 inches apart.....


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Indians have used the swastika emblem for aeons as well....
> 
> I didn't use a real pattern; I found the block pattern online, then  slapped them together and I didn't think it was big enough, so I tacked  on a border, and it's just awful, but like I said, I hope after the  quilting, it won't matter....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> By alliebaba at 2011-07-13






AllieBaba said:


> Yes, the dogs are everywhere, haha.
> 
> The little quilt came from a book my sis got me and I can't remember the name...I think it was 24 Hour Quilts or something like that...very simple, very comprehensive. We just call it the 4th of July Quilt cuz that's what it was made for...I don't think I even finished quilting it, I channel quilted it in the seams of the pieces...and I am hand quilting the other one, with dark green thread. I'm following the pattern which is a sort of swirly dark viny thing that you can't really see in my picture. I'll do the border with just straight line quilting maybe 2 inches apart.....



It's lovely, and maybe I was overestimating the time, but you are hand quilting, and a lot more accomplished than I guessed from your initial soft-stated description. It's going to be a beautiful quilt, and it will bring so much of what your niece needs into her busy life. You're definitely her angel in life, and I know she will love the effort you put in it and feel loved when she wraps herself in it on cold nights. It looks like you're well on your way to a finished work of beauty and love.


----------



## AllieBaba

I'm a compulsive fidgeter...hand quilting is absolute heaven for me. I have to take minutes at staff meetings to keep from making myself sore with fidgeting and doodling and jiggling my legs, so I love this sort of hand work.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's the Big Brother quilt I made for my friend's other grandson to keep big bro from feeling left out when baby bro came home from hospital:




​


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> I'm a compulsive fidgeter...hand quilting is absolute heaven for me. I have to take minutes at staff meetings to keep from making myself sore with fidgeting and doodling and jiggling my legs, so I love this sort of hand work.


I know so many quilters who thrive on handmade quilting. It's their way of life and every one of them says it is a calming and stress-reducing activity. I smile and say, "acupuncture!!!" 

And go back to me merry machine quilting ...


----------



## AllieBaba

I love machine sewing too...I just can't keep my sewing machine and materials out, which is a pain!


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> I love machine sewing too...I just can't keep my sewing machine and materials out, which is a pain!



I don't know, AllieBaba. Having sewing machines/materials out in 10 out of 17 rooms, the garage, and a 7500 sq. ft. building is slightly painful too when I think about it ....

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

About once a year.


----------



## freedombecki

I have a little method for scrap postage stamp quilts. First, I decided on using 1.25" squares rather than one-inch squares. I don't care for the larger size of 1.5" because they're bigger than average American postage stamps, but I see people calling just about any size of square a "postage stamp" on ebay, when they're truly no such thing. I opened one "postage stamp" claim on what looked like a small quilt to find 4" squares on a king sized bed being called "postage stamp". They do have postage stamp quilts there, but when they list big squares as stamps, what can I say? 

I use the standard 1/4" seam allowance and cut my strips of fabric 1.75" When you remove 1/4" from each side, the subtraction of fabric is -.5 which leaves you with a square of 1.25."

Before I left Wyoming, I had worked on a system of sewing a light and a dark strip of quilter's cottons together and had at least a thousand pairs sewn in the time it took to make the above small quilts. I cut cross sections of the 45" pairs the same size, to save time in the long run as I made a number of scrap postage stamp quilts. I have two queen sized tops ready to quilt, but left my quilt machine back in Wyo, thinking I would just have it mailed to here. To do that, they have to take out part of the wall in the office to get the large pieces out of my small upstairs quilt room. I just didn't have the heart to do it without supervising the removal, myself.

From time to time here, I've bought light and dark fabrics for other quilts, always buying an extra few inches for a couple of strips for postage stamp quilts and my other love--log cabin quilts. I've also sewn another few hundred pairs and added them to the little projects I do. some of the twosie strips get sewn together to make 4, and I join them so that there is as distinct as possible light and dark separations, but since there are so many values in fabrics, they are affected so that the quilts have sometimes an area that is just a little darker than any other area, no two pieces being alike. Here's a small sample of a swatch of my work before it is added to a larger piece:




​
I love quilting! You can see the pieces don'[t always line up perfectly. I fixed the problem, and now I just use pins and remove them before the needle gets to the intersection of 4 pieces. It takes longer, but my work looks better than it did 3 or 4 years ago when this piece was completed.


----------



## AllieBaba

So cool...

I am having a hard time figuring out how to do the rocking horse quilting stitch. I am hand quilting, but I've never had anyone show me how to do that particular stitch, and when I read it, it doesn't make any sense. I've watched youtube on it, and I still can't figure it out. So I just dive down and up and don't do multiple stitches on my needle cuz I don't get it.

It irritates the heck out of me.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> So cool...
> 
> I am having a hard time figuring out how to do the rocking horse quilting stitch. I am hand quilting, but I've never had anyone show me how to do that particular stitch, and when I read it, it doesn't make any sense. I've watched youtube on it, and I still can't figure it out. So I just dive down and up and don't do multiple stitches on my needle cuz I don't get it.
> 
> It irritates the heck out of me.



A few years back, I had a lady walk into my store, and she said her work was in a book. I had the book, went to it, and sure enough, there was her hand-worked totally amazing quilt, hand-stitched. She asked if I had the old style of Mountain Mist quilt batts. I said, yes, I did (my fave for machine quilting, and I usually bought 4 boxes at a time, reordered when I was down to the last dozen, so I had both new and old types. Needless to mention, the new battings manufactured by Stearns and Foster Co. (Mountain Mist Batting co.) were not white, were not glazene-finished, and do not separate into more than one batts. :|

She took all I had. Then she patiently showed me how she did what she did (19 to the inch) in the manner that you described. She took the batting by the edge, gently pulled it apart, and came up with two thin queen-sized thin battings for two of her inimitable works.

Then she lit into a demo showing me how she did it, rocking the needle up and down through cotton top, the corrected batt, and cotton backing. I don't usually do hand quilting, but even 10 thumbs me did it.

I'd give anything if I could remember her name. Seems the quilt showed up in the good old book, "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" by Diana McClun and Laura Knownes. It was so beautifully done. She had the quilt with her, same as was in the book. I was totally astonished. Not sure I could do it again, but keep in mind, there's more going there than just technique. Those materials used by authors who do these amazing feats are often not just the frosting on the cake, but the main body of their success at what they do that looks like magic to us less enlightened beings. i.e., are you using the same JJames size 11 quilt between needle the author promotes? Yes or no, answer to yourself. 

Uh, that's the last time I did hand quilting, I'm pretty sure. But those who love hand quilting, try a thinner batting. I do machine quilt sometimes using thinner batting called "cotton flannel." Now that I've moved to the subtropics by comparison to overfrozen Wyoming, not only is flannel great for making southern quilts, it works well in miniature doll quilts, wallhangings, quilted mug mats and quilted placemats. The upside of using a thin batting on the table is that the goblets are less likely to topple over as they often do with a thick, frost-free batt made for 60-degrees-below-zero weather. 

Hope that helps. The other day at charity bees, one of our hand-quilters said something to the effect "I hand-quilted that thing, and I used the stick-and-stick-and-stick method to get through that batting!"

I knew exactly and precisely what she meant.


----------



## AllieBaba

I think I'm using an 11...it's a short little thing. I sort of have it but no way can I do that many stitches an inch. It's more like 3 an inch, grrrr...


----------



## AllieBaba

Stick and stick and stick, lol...exactly.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Stick and stick and stick, lol...exactly.


Have you ever heard of Jinny Beyer, AllieBaba? She claims she can hand quilt a quilt faster than most people machine quilt theirs. She probably really rocks, and I wonder if she has a website that shows her actually hand quilting her fast method.

Be back asap.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I found Jinny Beyer everything else _EXCEPT_ hand quilting,, but here's a rocking method video in which the quilter works from the top like the lady who came to my shop did:


----------



## freedombecki

During the Civil War, quilts were made for soldiers by their mothers, sisters, girlfriends, and even the church quilt circle where they'd worshipped before the fray. When I started reading about the egregious wounds of our soldiers in Iraq, I felt a calling to gather ladies at my quilt store in Wyoming to make quilts for our wounded. I had dropped quilting machine efforts on account of having fibromyalgia, which had reduced my quiltmaking from 60 a year down to 1 quilt every other year. I don't know why, I just started calling friends who'd quilted for our hospice a few years earlier, and some said they were thinking the same thing. Online, I found a quilt group sponsoring quilts for all wounded soldiers, and they posted their pictures on their joint effort website. Before I got my first top sewn together, the website had already begun to become a political football, and I didn't feel like dividing my helpers up as to political party since we were just sending quilts to soldiers, so we just worked independently through our state's US Senators and Representatives who fairly represented the people of the state who traditionally frowned upon too much taking of sides, and encouraged voting for the best qualified person, regardless of party. It worked pretty good in our area, and at the end of the rainbow, we had made, and I had quilted over 30 quilts and sent them to soldiers through our own state channels (Wyoming, the Equality State). Somehow, God gave me the strength to quilt 36 large quilts (our boys tended to be over 6 footers, and winters are particularly rough on people healing because it is so cold there for such an extended winter). Toward the end, I started getting inspired to make a flag quilt. Only problem was, there were no patterns I liked that I felt were worthy of our soldiers' gift of themselves to us, the people. So I got out the drawing board, some engineering paper, and started to draft a pattern I could be proud to send to one of our boys. Here's how my "stars and strips" quilt turned out:






I saved a picture, reduced it in size, and it's now my avatar. This quilt went to a special friend of mine in Colorado who told his mom something like, "Hey, mom. I'm ok. Really. I don't even know why they sent me home." THUMP. When his mom turned around, he'd fainted due to his head injury, and of course, she rushed him to the hospital. I love our troops. They don't want mom to worry, so they act like everything's just fine and ok... *sigh* when the opposite might be more like it.​


----------



## freedombecki

I'm working on a charity quilt that more or less resembles a top won on ebay the other day. (Edit) Think I got a bigger pic now:



 Finally got it!

This may require an edit because right now, the image is in png, and it needs to be in a compatible with this board's stuff. So I'm not expecting much in the way of image to start with. Patience, please. Well, first go round, the attached thumbnail worked anyway, after I clicked "jpeg" except nothing seemed to happen (no bells, whistles or clicks). It just accepted it, but did not accept the direct link which should have shown up above.

The quilt I'm working on is from scraps given me by a community person who knew I made charity quilts and brought them to my shop some time back. I put some navy hearts around the 16-patch squares, which yielded a 16 1/2 inch block, so then I cut 8 more 16.5-inch squares from some old 36" material that you know was printed before 1960, but again, I made a bid on and won a 40-pound moving box full of quilter's fabrics from an estate, which I then spent a week washing and folding and putting away. *sigh* such is a quilter's life... The butterflies I designed are like one I made years ago and sold for $300. that fit a big bed and was red and white (some collectors just love red and white quilts). They have roundish upper and lower wings and only resemble nature's masterwork butterflies in a cartoonish kind of way. I'm using hues from the rainbow, and so far have completed red, pink, and yellow squares. The next one will be a lime green color, if I can remember where my box of lime green scraps is. Otherwise, I have to go to town... I waste more time getting the colors right than anybody else I know. I know the greens are around someplace. Then it's on to purple, blue, turquoise, and maybe another green--like the one you see on cheap St. Patrick's day green wigs, t-shirts, and shamrocks, aka bright green. I love making quilts kids might just take a cotton to...


----------



## AllieBaba

Oh those are beautiful...
I'm still working on the rocking stitch and getting a little better, but I'm still not good with the thimble, I end up doing it horizontally, without a thimble, so far. I can do about 3-4 stitches at a time, it looks pretty good...my quilting has lots of curves and I'm not good on the curves or with changes of direction. 

I honestly don't understand how the rockers can get through all the layers and back up with so little movement, I have to really move my needle.

I have a picture somewhere of a quilt the ladies in my sister's husband's family did by hand many, many years ago..it's gorgeous.

My grandma used to make immense tied quilts..she had a big frame, and she and her in laws and relatives would meet up a couple of times a year to throw them together. She used wool scraps and cotton ticking backing, and cotton batting (the old buff colored type with specs in it). We had about 3 of those quilts growing up; they were heavy and tough. Mom wouldn't wash them and they got fairly gross over time, but the wool and ticking meant they held up well anyway. When I was young but grown I washed mine and it did ruin it   the wool shrank, pulled, and came unsewn in places and at that time I had no clue how to make it better. I wish I had them now!

I'll see if I can find my pic...


----------



## AllieBaba

Found the pics!
On the back they have written who worked on the quilt "prior to 1920"


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Oh those are beautiful...
> I'm still working on the rocking stitch and getting a little better, but I'm still not good with the thimble, I end up doing it horizontally, without a thimble, so far. I can do about 3-4 stitches at a time, it looks pretty good...my quilting has lots of curves and I'm not good on the curves or with changes of direction.
> 
> I honestly don't understand how the rockers can get through all the layers and back up with so little movement, I have to really move my needle.
> 
> I have a picture somewhere of a quilt the ladies in my sister's husband's family did by hand many, many years ago..it's gorgeous.
> 
> My grandma used to make immense tied quilts..she had a big frame, and she and her in laws and relatives would meet up a couple of times a year to throw them together. She used wool scraps and cotton ticking backing, and cotton batting (the old buff colored type with specs in it). We had about 3 of those quilts growing up; they were heavy and tough. Mom wouldn't wash them and they got fairly gross over time, but the wool and ticking meant they held up well anyway. When I was young but grown I washed mine and it did ruin it   the wool shrank, pulled, and came unsewn in places and at that time I had no clue how to make it better. I wish I had them now!
> 
> I'll see if I can find my pic...


Allie, I spent all afternoon looking up arthritis. About all I can come up with is people raving about krill oil and a bevy of herbals from the natural cures world and NSAIDs from the medical world. One thing I heard consistently and even carried in my shop years ago were these wrist-and-hand-supportive gloves afflicted quilters use to ease some of the rough days. The only other consistent thing I read about was consistent exercise. You probably already do that by walking your dogs. You are on my prayer list with love while you try to get that quilt completed. I hope you space your timing with not too many hours invested all at once without a little hand-limbering exercise or a brisk walk interspersing at hourly intervals. I recommend using a timer and paying close attention to when things don't feel exactly right with your quilting hand. Put a soothing powder in your thimble, and go to leather if itching is caused by any metal or plastic thimble device you may need to use to ameliorate any pain your needle could cause your skin.

Also, if it becomes clear you cannot make the goal of completing by the wedding on account of this issue, get a set of affordable towels in colors the bride likes, and save the quilt for a first or even fifth anniversary.

Quilts are, after all, a process, not a destination. The more power to you, though, if you are able to persevere.

I love what you would have your neice to have by her wedding. You're a very special aunt, just for wanting her to have something you made yourself. I'm a machine quilter, it's true, but I have nothing but respect for hand quilters and needleworkers. 

It's just that I use a home sewingmachine as a paintbrush and strongarm quilter after making 600 quilts for other people and probably half again as many machine embroidered items for my home and those of my loved ones. Most were quilted on my longarm at work, but my first quilt was hand quilted, and yep, I started out not knowing how big to make my stitches. My grandmother was still alive at the time, and I asked her what size the stitches should be. She put her head to the side and her finger on her jaw, then she said slowly (she was 95 years old at the time) "Well, you should be sure the stitches are small enough so that toenails can't get under them and rip them out."

I really valued her words. She knew everything.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Found the pics!
> On the back they have written who worked on the quilt "prior to 1920"


Wow, AllieBaba. Your grandma's red and white pineapple quilt rocks!!! The last quilt I made in Wyoming of interest was a pineapple quilt top with a tiny 9-patch in the middle square. It gave it a chained look I'd never seen in any pineapple quilt before, nor could I find anything like it anyone else had done after searching online for 6-8 weeks. I like to improve old master works. I hate to sound so smug, but I was totally pleased with the outcome.


----------



## AllieBaba

My arthritis is very mild so far...I have twinges and my thumbs have the psoriatic thing going but it's nothing compared to what other people have to live with. My discomfort the other night was quite possibly nothing more than muscle pain...it's not bothering me now.

I love the red & white quilt...it wasn't one that my gramma did though, it's one that my sister's husband's family made, and was all hand quilted. And DENSELY quilted, every inch is quilted to the nines. My granny did the big wool tied quilts. I imagine the image I have of them in my mind will be one that will flash before my eyes when I die, it's that strong an image and feeling...which is aok since we have no pics and I ruined mine (and the others are long gone as well).

I'm working on my niece's quilt...


----------



## AllieBaba

When I'm finished with this quilt, I'm starting the next for my oldest son and his family...I think it's called Blue Willow. I bought the material a year ago (for a pretty penny) and I have the pattern...and it will be machine quilted. We have a lady here in town who heads up a quilting club and she has a machine quilter and she quilts everybody's quilts for them and does a beautiful job. This next quilt is challenging enough I doubt I'll be up for hand quilting it after I get it put together.

I'll see if I can find an image of it online...


----------



## AllieBaba

Here it is, I think.


----------



## AllieBaba

freedombecki said:


> I'm working on a charity quilt that more or less resembles a top won on ebay the other day. (Edit) Think I got a bigger pic now:
> 
> 
> 
> Finally got it!
> 
> This may require an edit because right now, the image is in png, and it needs to be in a compatible with this board's stuff. So I'm not expecting much in the way of image to start with. Patience, please. Well, first go round, the attached thumbnail worked anyway, after I clicked "jpeg" except nothing seemed to happen (no bells, whistles or clicks). It just accepted it, but did not accept the direct link which should have shown up above.
> 
> The quilt I'm working on is from scraps given me by a community person who knew I made charity quilts and brought them to my shop some time back. I put some navy hearts around the 16-patch squares, which yielded a 16 1/2 inch block, so then I cut 8 more 16.5-inch squares from some old 36" material that you know was printed before 1960, but again, I made a bid on and won a 40-pound moving box full of quilter's fabrics from an estate, which I then spent a week washing and folding and putting away. *sigh* such is a quilter's life... The butterflies I designed are like one I made years ago and sold for $300. that fit a big bed and was red and white (some collectors just love red and white quilts). They have roundish upper and lower wings and only resemble nature's masterwork butterflies in a cartoonish kind of way. I'm using hues from the rainbow, and so far have completed red, pink, and yellow squares. The next one will be a lime green color, if I can remember where my box of lime green scraps is. Otherwise, I have to go to town... I waste more time getting the colors right than anybody else I know. I know the greens are around someplace. Then it's on to purple, blue, turquoise, and maybe another green--like the one you see on cheap St. Patrick's day green wigs, t-shirts, and shamrocks, aka bright green. I love making quilts kids might just take a cotton to...


 
Lol..

Is that green called Kelly green??


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm working on a charity quilt that more or less resembles a top won on ebay the other day. (Edit) Think I got a bigger pic now:
> 
> 
> 
> Finally got it!
> 
> This may require an edit because right now, the image is in png, and it needs to be in a compatible with this board's stuff. So I'm not expecting much in the way of image to start with. Patience, please. Well, first go round, the attached thumbnail worked anyway, after I clicked "jpeg" except nothing seemed to happen (no bells, whistles or clicks). It just accepted it, but did not accept the direct link which should have shown up above.
> 
> The quilt I'm working on is from scraps given me by a community person who knew I made charity quilts and brought them to my shop some time back. I put some navy hearts around the 16-patch squares, which yielded a 16 1/2 inch block, so then I cut 8 more 16.5-inch squares from some old 36" material that you know was printed before 1960, but again, I made a bid on and won a 40-pound moving box full of quilter's fabrics from an estate, which I then spent a week washing and folding and putting away. *sigh* such is a quilter's life... The butterflies I designed are like one I made years ago and sold for $300. that fit a big bed and was red and white (some collectors just love red and white quilts). They have roundish upper and lower wings and only resemble nature's masterwork butterflies in a cartoonish kind of way. I'm using hues from the rainbow, and so far have completed red, pink, and yellow squares. The next one will be a lime green color, if I can remember where my box of lime green scraps is. Otherwise, I have to go to town... I waste more time getting the colors right than anybody else I know. I know the greens are around someplace. Then it's on to purple, blue, turquoise, and maybe another green--like the one you see on cheap St. Patrick's day green wigs, t-shirts, and shamrocks, aka bright green. I love making quilts kids might just take a cotton to...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lol..
> 
> Is that green called Kelly green??
Click to expand...

'']

*Ya got me*!!!


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> Here it is, I think.


That's really pretty, Allie. It's really good that you're getting it professionally quilted. Do you machine or hand piece your tops?


----------



## freedombecki

Attention, AlliBaba! Here's the *KELLY GREEN* butterfly  and one of the rag squares, thanks to my Quilt Guild sister JM sending it to me over her iphone. I finished it about an hour and a half ago. To see the full quilt, go here. The 16" blocks made the whole quilt into a twin-sized quilt. If only I were more of a geek, I could use the digital camera I got a few months back, and the printer/scanner I got a month ago. *fizzle* It's hard...




​


----------



## AllieBaba

Gorgeous!

I use a machine to piece, I can't imagine hand sewing all THAT...I would have to be shut up away from the world with zero distractions for a really long time to ever, ever accomplish it...


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the butterfly quilt came about in two ways--first, the piecing was easy. Several years ago, a lady brought a box of fabric into the store and asked if we'd like to use it in any community quilts (we had done quilts for hospice, quilts for the College Day Care, quilts for Squad Cars, quilts for the Fire Department to distribute to people whose houses had burned down and had to start over, and of course, quilts for wounded soldiers.) I said yes and thanked her, wondering how we'd get through sorting through someone's sewing leftovers for 10 years, put it in the back room and since the quilt kits I made for participants were usually from new bolts, didn't use them. 

Then when I retired, I started looking through donations. Most of them were not conventionally usable for traditional quilters who use cotton woven broadcloth and percales. However, she'd cut a lot of 3 1/2" squares and placed them in a baggie and tossed them in with her other leftovers (some usable for quilts). I separated them, woven from knits, and quilt-weight wovens from sailcloths and heavy wovens. There weren't enough for a quilt, but I figured I could do some squares and combine them with an easy applique in between the 16-patch squares. The 16-patch squares were not the same size, because I added some 3 1/2 inch squares from my stash to add a little color to the quilt. After starting the Lepidoptera thread, I had gotten so inspired by the pretty butterflies USMB members added in so many, many beautiful colors, I decided to make the squares between simple "lepidoptera" family members--each a different color in the rainbow. I figured some kid living at the family shelter for abused family members might like it, so I got busy.

The machine pieced squares took a day or so (I have a lot of other things to do every day), and the butterflies took a day to design and make a couple of squares, I fit one butterfly construction into a day I was sure there would be no time to work on it, and then the last 5 butterflies, I cut out fabrics, then basted them onto 16.5" background squares this morning before our quilt guild "Friday Cut Ups" started. From 10 to 4 today, I appliqued the remaining butterflies with a satin stitch in dark blue to pick up the dark blue around the 16-patch squares. Actually, those squares were different sizes, because the donor lady used the trace method around a cereal-box template, and mine were cut to a precise 3.5" on a mat with a rotary cutter. For whatever reason (it could be getting used to a new sewing machine), the squares didn't all measure exactly 12.5" but were sized from 12.25-12.7". To even everything out, I cut the dark blue fabric three inches, cutting enough to surround all those pieced squares. Then, I took my 16.5" quilt square and squared them to the same size as the 16.5" butterfly background light blue fabric.

It took as much time to design as it did to sew the butterflies. Huge roundish shapes are simple simon to baste down and satin stitch around. A half hour apiece, tops, some of the last ones only took 15 minutes, because by then, I sorta knew what I was doing. Of course the first one took a couple of hours of hemming and hawing around, which is common for someone doing a quilt they haven't done before.

So from the inspiration of a scrap donor and several USMB posters who found my "Lepidoptera lovers--butterfly kisses" thread, this quilt top is a done deal for a needful family or child sometime during the upcoming year. A few ladies have quilt machines and donate their time and skill, so hopefully it will be a quilt soon.

I love the inspiration of other people.

I'm especially grateful to you, AllieBaba, for sharing your wonderful gift for your niece that you are quilting under the duress of pain from arthritis, another of those mean autoimmune issues that seem to just randomly show up. I have a family member who's "always mad" and I had to deal with her today as gracefully and as carefully as I could, and my heart was a little weary. Your post reminded me of all the good people there are out there, so here I am smiling again, knowing that my family member may someday come around when she figures out that happiness is not won on the misery of others, and that she can be a positive influence when she resolves that riddle that has chased her through her life, it seems. *sigh*




​


----------



## AllieBaba

I have put aside just a few items of clothing that I mean to cut and use....a vest of my son's, the dress my daughter wore for her first day of school...I think I would like to make a vest out of knit sweater fabric some day. But to make that work I really need my machine set up all the time, so I can cut and piece as I go.

I quilted 4 hoops of my quilt yesterday, I hope to have it done in no time at all. Then I have to quilt the border...and that is going to take some time. I think I'm going to waffle quilt it....and I think I'm going to do it by hand after all. I wasn't going to, but what I'm doing is going so quickly, and I do want to master the rocking stitch. I'm getting better but still inconsistent. I'm wearing my thimble now but because I don't rely heavily on it to make the stitch (just to push the needle through at the end) my thumb is getting sore. Sooo...I'm going a little more slowly and trying to get used to using my thimble to move the needle, not just push it though. But it's slow going and I get impatient and revert to my old way...I need a thimble for my thumb!


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba said:


> I have put aside just a few items of clothing that I mean to cut and use....a vest of my son's, the dress my daughter wore for her first day of school...I think I would like to make a vest out of knit sweater fabric some day. But to make that work I really need my machine set up all the time, so I can cut and piece as I go.
> 
> I quilted 4 hoops of my quilt yesterday, I hope to have it done in no time at all. Then I have to quilt the border...and that is going to take some time. I think I'm going to waffle quilt it....and I think I'm going to do it by hand after all. I wasn't going to, but what I'm doing is going so quickly, and I do want to master the rocking stitch. I'm getting better but still inconsistent. I'm wearing my thimble now but because I don't rely heavily on it to make the stitch (just to push the needle through at the end) my thumb is getting sore. Sooo...I'm going a little more slowly and trying to get used to using my thimble to move the needle, not just push it though. But it's slow going and I get impatient and revert to my old way...I need a thimble for my thumb!



Google "Thumble," AllieBaba. I used to sell them in my store, don't know if they're still around, but one sounds perfect for you. 

Also, if you have a local quilt store in your area that carries Moda Fabrics, they can order you a pair of quilter's gloves that people really love. they come in 2 sizes--small/medium, and medium/large. The cost of the gloves used to be around eight dollars, but now, they're probably ten to twelve, considering how expensive stuff has gotten lately. Take care of those dear hands that do so much for others.


----------



## freedombecki

AllieBaba, I "Bing'd" thumbles and found a

Leather Thumble here

Ted's Thumb Thimble in brass or silver here

Jelly Thimbles for fingers or thumb here

Some thimbles are more comfortable than others, but I always liked the metal ones because they absolutely guaranteed no puncture wounds ever.

I have a good story about someone who decided she would never ever use a thimble because they were uncomfortable. After a week of quilting her first quilt, the tip of her finger went numb. After two weeks of quilting, her whole finger and thumb went numb. Still, she persisted in eschewing the thimble. After a month of quilting, she lost all feeling up to her elbows.  That's when....


....

...

....
...

....

...


....

...

....
...

....

...


....

...

....
...

....

...

....

...

....
...

....

...

I bought my first doggone thimble. The numbness was gone in 3 days. I've been using thimbles for handwork ever since. I won't even hem a pair of pants without one or handstitch a tape to a miniature quilt that measures 8x11" for that matter.


----------



## freedombecki

Missing a check in from AllieBaba about progress on her niece's quilt...  *sigh*

Though I know that quilting is a long, drawn-out process and not a destination so very, very well....


----------



## AllieBaba

The thimble story is hilarious...

I haven't had much energy over the last couple of weeks. I've done a little work on the quilt but not much...but I HAVE improved my rocking stitch! I picked it up for a little bit yesterday, and was booking right along!

I feel better today; my energy level usually goes hand in hand with how much I hate my work, lol. Work has been a pain over the last few weeks and when I go home, I don't want to do anything (and haven't been to my kids' chagrin). 

I'm thinking hard about how I'm going to quilt the border....I'm really leaning toward waffle quilting, but I haven't made a decision yet. I still have a little time as I complete the quilting on the blocks...


----------



## freedombecki

A waffle border? Allie, you've been around internet wafflers toooooooo long!!! hehehe

But it would enhance either 90 and 180-degree angles of the squarish windmills if you position your waffles at 45 degrees to the interior of the quilt. 45 degree waffles would also enhance feathers in the interiors of your windmill motifs, or if you used any kind of curves in either the cogs or background space around the windmills. 

When I think about it, "Cog Wheel" would be a good name for that motif. I made half a dozen cog wheel quilts last year, but our camera was out, so I didn't get a photo of any of them. They've already been distributed to charity. I did quilt one for use at the church on the 4th of July--with the "windmills" fashioned into a cross in the center. I used blue sky, a red cross, and a touch of white around the border with a larger blue cogged border. Unfortunately, they took it down after the 4th of July, and it will rest a year before it's up again. People are truly tired of politics nowadays, and I don't blame them for getting patriotic colors out for a while as everyone clears their heads and moves toward a more loving future in our nation.

On that note, I'm going to add a pic of my not-red-white-n-blue Purple Heart Quilt that was designed and done my my group of Purple Heart Quilters before I left Wyoming to come to a warmer climate:





I Designed, long-arm quilted, bound, provided materials, and embroidered credits on the back of this quilt, but senior citizens, Judy, Jo, Ruth, and Kelly, did the sewing work to join and applique the blocks. Without their love, this quilt never would have been, and it was distributed to a wounded soldier at then-Walter Reed Hospital, by our local Senator-physician, JB. The Purple Heart was the child of General-and-later-President George Washington who had little money but wanted the Continental Congress to recognize his barefoot band of patriots who suffered harsh conditions that cold winter at Valley Forge to win freedom for all Americans with medals fashioned into hearts and painted purple for their Christian values (purple is the color of the Christian church) not to mention their earnest valor in the face of untenable physical conditions of weather and often punitive, military readiness of King George's far better-dressed Redcoat troops.​


----------



## AllieBaba

freedombecki said:


> A waffle border? Allie, you've been around internet wafflers toooooooo long!!! hehehe
> 
> But it would enhance either 90 and 180-degree angles of the squarish windmills if you position your waffles at 45 degrees to the interior of the quilt. 45 degree waffles would also enhance feathers in the interiors of your windmill motifs, or if you used any kind of curves in either the cogs or background space around the windmills.
> 
> When I think about it, "Cog Wheel" would be a good name for that motif. I made half a dozen cog wheel quilts last year, but our camera was out, so I didn't get a photo of any of them. They've already been distributed to charity. I did quilt one for use at the church on the 4th of July--with the "windmills" fashioned into a cross in the center. I used blue sky, a red cross, and a touch of white around the border with a larger blue cogged border. Unfortunately, they took it down after the 4th of July, and it will rest a year before it's up again. People are truly tired of politics nowadays, and I don't blame them for getting patriotic colors out for a while as everyone clears their heads and moves toward a more loving future in our nation.
> 
> On that note, I'm going to add a pic of my not-red-white-n-blue Purple Heart Quilt that was designed and done my my group of Purple Heart Quilters before I left Wyoming to come to a warmer climate:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I Designed, long-arm quilted, bound, provided materials, and embroidered credits on the back of this quilt, but senior citizens, Judy, Jo, Ruth, and Kelly, did the sewing work to join and applique the blocks. Without their love, this quilt never would have been, and it was distributed to a wounded soldier at then-Walter Reed Hospital, by our local Senator-physician, JB. The Purple Heart was the child of General-and-later-President George Washington who had little money but wanted the Continental Congress to recognize his barefoot band of patriots who suffered harsh conditions that cold winter at Valley Forge to win freedom for all Americans with medals fashioned into hearts and painted purple for their Christian values (purple is the color of the Christian church) not to mention their earnest valor in the face of untenable physical conditions of weather and often punitive, military readiness of King George's far better-dressed Redcoat troops.​


 
Beautiful!


----------



## freedombecki

The beautiful-est part is any wounded soldier who served his/or her country with such valor as to put life and limb on the line for his or her fellow Americans, not to mention those who were set free on account of our kids' willingness to give it all up for freedom. Faithful military service is beauty, and though you can't see it, you know it's there by the gift that was sacrificed for their fellow men. As far as I'm concerned, from the time they enter their first line waiting to sign up for boot camp until they walk in the front door of their home following an honorable discharge, all that rot they went through is the fire that forged beauty into their souls of willingness to die to save many others grief.

Thanks for the kind words, though. 

Before all was said and done, we'd distributed more than 30 quilts over a 3 year time. I'll never know how I mustered the strength to quilt all of them except 2 that one of the gals donated already finished by her. With fibromyalgia, I'd gone from almost zero quilting to quilting and binding all those quilts. Sometimes I'd have to wait for 2 weeks or more to do another one. Once during that time, I had a cold that went on and on and on (fibromyalgia conveniently removes your immune system to enhance its pain effect and teach you who's boss, grrrrrrrrr), and I was forced into a winter's hiatus of over 6 months in which nothing at all was quilted, but I did create more tops. Long-arm quilting is a total fitness issue because it's long, uses many muscles, and unlike a home sewing machine that moves the work forward through its feed dog system to quilt, your arms and all your upper body muscles have to move the heavy long arm machine gracefully and fluidly over the top layer surface of the quilt while you either free motion the machine by its horns or you guide a needle along a path designated by long sheets of continuous-line curves and corners in a designated pattern, i.e. clamshell or vine. I think the prayers of my church friends carried me. I bless them.


----------



## freedombecki

This sewing day was wonderful. I finished one charity quilt in brick and mortar format a couple of months ago and started a second before realizing I might not have enough "mortar" fabric because I was working with 30s reproduction prints and selected a white-grounded, pale tan leaf pattern. So I ran back to the store and got another yard, or so I thought. When I got home, it was a little to the gold of ecru instead of 30s white, and the leaf was a bolder golden tan than the first. So it was back to the store, where things had been replaced pell mell as though the store were looking to rearrange fabrics. I found three of the same print in different shades of pale. I bought another yard of the one I'd just purchased (sample in hand of both fabrics), and enough of the first fabric to combine with leftovers to get 2 yards, which was ample to do one quilt. Then I promptly put them somewhere, who knows where, I don't know where.... although, fortunately, I cut enough mortar strips from the palest fabric that matched the first quilt to complete the quilt, or so I thought. 

Today, I had to substitute yet another light print for the one that sprouted legs and walked away from my notice. Of that one, I bought it a week later and bought 5 yards all the same thing. this one had stars, not leaves, so I can make a light grounded patriotic quilt if I like (I love working with flag colors. I think of President George Washington the entire time, as he and Martha Washington are my favorite couple of all time.) A few years back, I went on an ebay buying binge and bought Martha Washington patterns, Martha Washington cups, Martha Washington's cookbook, etc., etc. I even made a Martha Washington charity quilt, and it brought me total joy just making it. I love those two people, never met them, I just feel love for them in my heart. 

Anyway, I finished the second top before high noon today. I don't have my new camera working yet, 6 months later, hedge, hedge, hedge... but I'll try to find a 30s brick quilt if one is pictured somewhere online that allows sharing images.

Didn't find it. I did find a couple of examples of other types of quilts with mortar, but most people don't want to fool with the mortar, yet I think it truly defines the quilt and makes it have that very, very special look.












*sigh* wouldn't you know, my 30s repro quilt doesn't look anywhere near one of these. I guess I'll have to find the camera and instruction booklet and get busy.​


----------



## freedombecki

One of my passions in quilting in addition to creating colorful quilts is Redwork Quilts. A show was held this past year in New York of a lady whose main passion was redwork quilts, and she provided one of the most cheerful quilt shows made memorable by redwork quilts, and I was so inspired by getting to see it virtually.

I will try and remember to add a redwork quilt now and then from my saved archives of quilts so any passerby here can enjoy it also.

Visual Arts Rule!!!! ... quote by freedombecki.


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt was machine embroidered, pieced, and quilted by me, then donated as a fund-raiser to the Casper, Wyoming Symphony several years ago​





I remember it being a joy to work on as the lovely musical instruments were sewing out on my Pfaff computer embroidery machine, my excitement of sewing on the zany notes of a Timeless Treasures fabric print and many colorful fabrics from Hoffman batik group and Moda marbles. Even stitching the bias binding was fun. The hardest part was parting with this one. I'm sorry I can't transfer the details better, but this quilt has sat in photobucket a long time now. Hope you enjoy what little that can be seen. The embroidery was designed by Pfaff's staff of artists, but so much time has passed, I'm not sure if it was during the 1990's or the early part of the twenty-first century.

I loved the quilt so much, I made another in slightly different fabrics for a wounded soldier and sent it through sources to Walter Reed's for a chaplain to give to a soldier or his bereaved family. They are not allowed to tell us our gift's recipients.




​


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c235/bmarsh/StarsandStripsFlag-2.jpg
> 
> I saved a picture, reduced it in size, and it's now my avatar. This quilt went to a special friend of mine in Colorado who told his mom something like, "Hey, mom. I'm ok. Really. I don't even know why they sent me home." THUMP. When his mom turned around, he'd fainted due to his head injury, and of course, she rushed him to the hospital. I love our troops. They don't want mom to worry, so they act like everything's just fine and ok... *sigh* when the opposite might be more like it.



You do beautiful work, Becki, but you have an even more beautiful heart.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for kind words, DW. I loved doing every one of those soldier quilts, and I regularly give tops to a group here that ties tops for soldiers. My fibromyalgia case makes me so undependable I can start quilting, finish it 2 years later sometimes. So now, it's just working on designs.

Today, I took the multi-toned mortar/brick quilt to WalMart and showed the fabric area ladies the quilt top I made using their mortar and 30s reproduction fabrics from 20 different sources. They liked it. Here in Texas, everyone remembers an aunt or grandmother who had an old 30's apron or tea towels, a 30s sunbonnet quilt, or a Dresden plate quilt with 30s fabrics on it. That's why I think it's not just a passing fad. True, they're simple fabrics with objective themes--cleaning, household pets, children playing, Scottie dogs, seasons of the year, and a myriad of other pictorial themes and of course florals. They're pretty, they're prettier than they were, and people simply love 30s reproduction quilts because they're like a traditional home.


----------



## Divine Wind

Sorry to hear of your fibromyalgia.  My cousin has the same ailment and know it can be very painful.  It's inspiration to see you do as you do in spite of it.

What part of Texas are you living?  I'm north of Ft. Worth, a little south of Decatur.


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> Sorry to hear of your fibromyalgia.  My cousin has the same ailment and know it can be very painful.  It's inspiration to see you do as you do in spite of it.
> 
> What part of Texas are you living?  I'm north of Ft. Worth, a little south of Decatur.



Walker County, off a farm road, on a small acreage that has a lot of wild birds, two creeks and a manmade lake that was designed to look like a natural lake, and it is fed by the spring creek. The other creek, which usually has water in it year round, seems to be dry as well this awful drought year.

I love birds and animals of all kinds, even the pesky Chinese deer that do not associate with the smaller Texas native deer or vice-versa. No wonder, because they're twice the size in height.

I love dogs. Below is a Scottie dog quilt designed by me and quilted by somebody else to be given to a child in a homeless or other shelter.


----------



## Divine Wind

Not many deer up where I live, but not much water either these days.  Yes, the drought is bad and not expected to get better this summer.  

Nice design on the quilt!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks. It was my pick of about 15 different renditions on engineering paper, most of which were truly and thoroughly BAD. A couple were so bad they were shocking.

IOW, it wasn't hard to pick the good one out of the bunch. The truly horrid ones were erased to start working on the next postage stamp critter--a bird. I finally got one, but it is so short and wide, I'd have to stack 4 of them on top of each other to do a quilt that would fit over a child's feet, top to bottom. Postage stamp quilts (of which the scottie is a good example) not only take ten times as long on the drawing board, they take weeks instead of days like most simple appliques.

However, I have a love for postage stamp quilts, no, that would be addiction. Or as one friend so kindly put it, as _positive_ addiction. 

Smarter people do the Burnsian scottie  from Eleanor's book, Victory Quilts (below)

She has the slickest applique method out there using a fusible sheer product to make the appliques a snap. Unless she used a curved piecing method, that is.


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> Thanks. It was my pick of about 15 different renditions on engineering paper, most of which were truly and thoroughly BAD. A couple were so bad they were shocking.



Judging by your other fine works, Becki, I think only _you_ would think they are "shocking" bad. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Your hard work is well matched to your kind heart.  Good job on the designs.  Do you ever scan them and put them on the web as .pdf files or sell them?


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. It was my pick of about 15 different renditions on engineering paper, most of which were truly and thoroughly BAD. A couple were so bad they were shocking.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Judging by your other fine works, Becki, I think only _you_ would think they are "shocking" bad.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your hard work is well matched to your kind heart.  Good job on the designs.  Do you ever scan them and put them on the web as .pdf files or sell them?
Click to expand...

Thanks, DW, but to explain it a different way, saying "quilts" is like saying "painting." You can paint a house or an object, or you can use the word to describe all the 2-D surface objects you saw at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg on your cruise of the Baltic. That would mean you took in an indescribably rare painting of DaVinci or Russia's collection of Rembrandt paintings, of which there are only one less in number than in all of Amsterdam. 

The term "quilt" encompasses a lot of different techniques--piecing, applique, making a comforter, or simply quilting two pieces of solid color cloth to make a statement in shadows created by the slight gathering of hand stitching through 3 layers of cloth. If you break down applique, you can include different fields of endeavor--hand dyed, printed, or percale cloths needle-turned delicately into shapes of tradition, your own designs, or a likeness of a Rembrandt painting. You can use a machine or hand satin stitch, blanket stitch, or any of a myriad of traditional or cutting edge, self-designed embroidery master stitches to attach the applique to a background. You can make or embellish another kind of quilt with embroidery as in a redwork. The list of methods, products, and know-how of appliquing one fabric to another is endless, just like the different types of other fine art media.

In piecing, the same is true, and if he were still here, M.C.Escher might be pleased to know his paintings have inspired quilters to do changeling one-patch shapes that fly across the quilt like his pen-and-ink look black and whites did on canvas, unmarred by anything except perfect junctures in which fabrics may have been machine or hand-stitched together with precision quarter inch seam allowances. There are star pieced quilts, album block pieced quilts, bargello pieced quilts, hexagonal grandmother's flower garden pieced, curved 2-patch pieced, wedding ring, half-square triangular-pieced, quarter-squares, if you get my drift.

The dog quilt is a simple example of a postage stamp effort that resulted in a square block. When I charted out my graphs, I'd never tried to create a simply-shaped dog before, so naturally, I started out as though I were going to do a painting. To do justice to a Scottie, I'd have to create a quilt top with 20,000 half-inch squares and spend the next 2 years scouring the world for preprinted cotton fabric or dye my own, which I refuse to do. I thought about size, and of course, it was to be a little hugs quilt, so the parameter would naturally be a 40x60 inch work, give or take a dozen inches either way. Scotties, like daschunds, are visually wider than long, and I needed a way to fit over a child's body on a charity quilt. Knowing the child's mother would either not use the quilt if it were too elaborate, the 20,000 piece idea was thrown under the bus. The 40x60 idea would result in 2,400 pieces, and that would have taken a minimum of 6 months after two months of designing someone else's photograph, which would be dishonest artistically. My other recourse would be to design a square and repeat it a few times to come out well, with not too many squares on the design. The first design was taller than it was wide, and after doing a 30 hour search online, I found someone else had used what I thought I'd just "created," which told me to get back to the drawing board and do a simple square that would fit a 12-inch block perfectly, which means the user of my pattern could take her square and combine it with a world of 12" finished squares that are out there in traditional quilt land. So I went back to the drawing board with that in the back of my mind, and proceeded to go off topic, seeing if a decent Scotty could be done with just one large square. ((((((gong!!!)))))) If that were ever to be, I realized, I was not the artist to meet a challenge half way. My filled-in squares ranged from ugly to terrible to a remote likeness of a godzilla-like creature, not from Scotland, either. I remembered about the goal of the 12" square after realizing nothing was working after dozens of tries on the mid-range square idea. I sketched one out. Too tall. Another. Too long. Another, then decided to downsize. The first time I drew the final choice, I kind of liked it, but was on an improvement tear, so I kept on going. I continued my obsession for a long time, but nothing panned out that convinced me other people might like this one too. I kept looking back over at the other little dog that seemed moderately ok. Then I realized what was wrong. The squares I'd filled in were confused on account of value issues. On that particular shape, you needed dark values to define what you would like to bring out in the scottie. I took the same squares, took it to a blank page, and did two more mock ups, each with a little different values on defining squares. I took it to cloth using 1.75" unfinished squares and strips of 1.75" in the backgrounds in various links to make the 12.5" unfinished (which finishes to exactly 12.0" when joined to sash pieces). I sewed it out. It looked like it had no chin, but it did resemble a Scotty. I took out some of the browns and put black prints in the chin and other defined areas. It wasn't my usual arrangement for placing darks strategically, but it worked for that block.

I made chinless scotty into a senior pillow and donated it to Barb the go-to-senior-home gal to give to someone who'd like it. I worked hard selecting pretty sash fabrics so that at least it would be a pleasure to someone's eye. I was really pleased, even though only I knew the flaw which was less distinguished after setting it as described, but the earlier apparition was still a flagman stopping traffic to my eye. 

After refining and doing more Scotty blocks, I had 4 to go. I'd chewed up a couple of weeks just getting it acceptable. The blocks just looked better if the fabrics in key areas of definition were blacker than the other prints. Only one of the blocks wasn't entirely as pleasing as the others. I left it to be my obvious flaw. Traditionally, quilters always made on square wrong on purpose in order to show their belief that God alone is perfect, and we should not go overboard on perfection, but be the imperfect beings we are, so the obvious flaw can be seen in many an early American quilt top pieced or applique. In my tradition of working on a quilt, this conservative's attitude is progressive. I just keep "progressing" until it's finished, and the imperfection stays.  A great artist of impeccable taste would see what I did, but he would also know of the tradition of the obvious flaw in quilting if he were that well-read. Others might not see my obvious flaw, but someone someday will notice and hopefully, forgive it in honor of our mothers who believed in being human and not worrying so much about being perfect is a good rule of thumb to live by.

And that's how the quilt top came about. I did not see the finished quilt, do not know what the charity bees did with the top, the recipient, or whether they elected to sell it to purchase battings for other charity quilts, and I don't want to know. I made it for a poor child. Others are in charge of seeing to it that child gets a nice work for the problems he or she has seen in her or his young life. My dear husband has dementia and cannot remember how to take pictures any more, so one of my sewing sisters unbeknownst to me, took a pic of two ladies hanging it up on the bulletin board so several ladies could copy the pattern when it showed up on the bees memo to members. That's how I got a copy of the pic to send here. It's all I have except for the scraps and extra fabric I had left over to make another, possibly for a relative. Since the photograph is not all that clear in discerning dark colors from black, I will have to place squares on a cloth board, leave the room for a day, and come back the next day to figure out if it will be clear enough to have the same impact as the first quilt had.

In the meantime, I have some other charity quilt projects going, and it may be a year before I get back to the Scottie project. The fabrics are safe in clear plastic storage containers with hopefully leak-proof lids until that time comes around. Next time I will make an effort to find and use the digital camera I bought but am frightened of. My last effort to take a picture was when we visited the Golden Gate Bridge at San Fran Bay. The clouds were hugging the bridge like Carl Sandberg's poem like "little cat's feet." The brilliant orange posts were beautifully surrounded by the wisps, so beautiful and present "snap" when the clicker. When the picture came back, I had two ugly poles sticking out of a white mass. It couldn't have been less aesthetic. I haven't done photography since. So camera's are objects of yuk to me now and likely forever.

If you're still reading, at least one of us is awake. It's nite nite time for me.

Best wishes, everyone & have a lovely evening.

My heart goes out to the families of those dear Navy Seals who gave their lives for country by trying to find and rescue a fellow Seal who was trapped somewhere in Afghanistan's mountain terrain. May God himself comfort the families of the 38 soldiers, from here and abroad, who died in the attack. And may he comfort all the loved ones of American soldiers who have passed in the line of or as a result of their duty to this country.


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> If you're still reading, at least one of us is awake. It's nite nite time for me.
> 
> Best wishes, everyone & have a lovely evening.
> 
> My heart goes out to the families of those dear Navy Seals who gave their lives for country by trying to find and rescue a fellow Seal who was trapped somewhere in Afghanistan's mountain terrain. May God himself comfort the families of the 38 soldiers, from here and abroad, who died in the attack. And may he comfort all the loved ones of American soldiers who have passed in the line of or as a result of their duty to this country.



Yes, Becki.  I read it all.  You obviously put a lot of effort into your work.  I tried quilting once when visiting my sister in Colorado, but it was a lot more work than I wanted to spend on the machine.  That was just trying to sew it, not design it.  You are light years ahead of me in both skill and expertise on that scale.

Agreed about the families of our troops.  They are the ones who truly suffer.  I know for a fact every warrior in the service of our nation _wants_ to be there.   No one wants to die, but we all know the risks.   We also know that everybody dies, so the choice is quality of life vs. quantity of life.  Those men died busting their asses to make a difference.  To make the world a better place.  That's a very noble cause indeed and well worth dying for.  I just wish our elected lawyers and businessmen sitting in Congress understood that difference a little better.


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you're still reading, at least one of us is awake. It's nite nite time for me.
> 
> Best wishes, everyone & have a lovely evening.
> 
> My heart goes out to the families of those dear Navy Seals who gave their lives for country by trying to find and rescue a fellow Seal who was trapped somewhere in Afghanistan's mountain terrain. May God himself comfort the families of the 38 soldiers, from here and abroad, who died in the attack. And may he comfort all the loved ones of American soldiers who have passed in the line of or as a result of their duty to this country.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, Becki.  I read it all.  You obviously put a lot of effort into your work.  I tried quilting once when visiting my sister in Colorado, but it was a lot more work than I wanted to spend on the machine.  That was just trying to sew it, not design it.  You are light years ahead of me in both skill and expertise on that scale.
> 
> Agreed about the families of our troops.  They are the ones who truly suffer.  I know for a fact every warrior in the service of our nation _wants_ to be there.   No one wants to die, but we all know the risks.   We also know that everybody dies, so the choice is quality of life vs. quantity of life.  Those men died busting their asses to make a difference.  To make the world a better place.  That's a very noble cause indeed and well worth dying for.  I just wish our elected lawyers and businessmen sitting in Congress understood that difference a little better.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way about your projects on the welding thread. The great thing about researching other artistic and practical works media is it's ok to be vicarious in enjoying someone else's good accomplishments. I couldn't carry a piece of equipment to make a park bench, much less a wheeled Kayak carrier, and holding a screwdriver makes my hand shake. (true) But a threaded needle, scissors and some fabric, on the other hand--smooth sailing.


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> I feel the same way about your projects on the welding thread. The great thing about researching other artistic and practical works media is it's ok to be vicarious in enjoying someone else's good accomplishments. I couldn't carry a piece of equipment to make a park bench, much less a wheeled Kayak carrier, and holding a screwdriver makes my hand shake. (true) But a threaded needle, scissors and some fabric, on the other hand--smooth sailing.



We all have our skills, talents and interests.  You are right about being  able to take vicarious enjoyment out of other's accomplishments.  There's no way I'll ever be able to sew or design as well as you, but I can certainly admire the work.


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I feel the same way about your projects on the welding thread. The great thing about researching other artistic and practical works media is it's ok to be vicarious in enjoying someone else's good accomplishments. I couldn't carry a piece of equipment to make a park bench, much less a wheeled Kayak carrier, and holding a screwdriver makes my hand shake. (true) But a threaded needle, scissors and some fabric, on the other hand--smooth sailing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We all have our skills, talents and interests.  You are right about being  able to take vicarious enjoyment out of other's accomplishments.  There's no way I'll ever be able to sew or design as well as you, but I can certainly admire the work.
Click to expand...

You, sir, design in three dimensions. That requires spacial awareness, awareness of negative and positive space in all 3 dimensions. I took note of the symmetry you use in order to create a work that will roll on wheels without going cattywumpus.  You have the same bases in your media as any sculptor needs to complete his construction. So don't sell yourself short. 

I've done simple ART I sculptures in wood, stone, and clay. Most of them were small but had relief texture as detail sometimes (and sometimes not). I had trouble with big stuff before fibromyalgia took its toll. Sewing has always been my friendly media, especially free motion threadpainting. Lately, though, it's just been to construct little quilts for those in the community who need one. 

Our quilt guild sends out a block in the newsletter each month. I made one and took it to the meeting for a raffle. The person who made a block puts her name in the hat, someone draws a name, and that person takes all the blocks home with them. We did patriotic star. Today, I finished 6 of them for another quilt, but this one will go to Barb the go-to-gal for seniors and soldiers. She recruited ladies at a senior home who are still able to sew to tie quilts for soldiers. They've done several of the patriotic tops I contributed. The patriotic star pattern is below. It was easy and fast. I completed 3-stripe sashes that will join the blocks with 9-patch squares of the same fabric as the sashes (not shown on pattern below that came from this source. The picture is a little larger if you click on it.


----------



## freedombecki

About the Patriotic Star quilt (see thumbnail above), it has stars, stripes, red, white, blue, and boucoup patriotic prints. It's just right for a wounded warrior's wheelchair, but I am at a crossroads on what to do and would like suggestions. One of the prints is a print of some truly pretty apples. The quilt measures approximately 41x62 inches. The colors are red, off-white, blue, and has a narrow border of the royal blue with white dots that compose two sides the sashes that bring out an inner border of flag blue stars on white. The sets between the sashes are small 9-patch squares with  red-and-off-white stripes around the blue dot and the flag star center.

My dilemma is this: should I call the quilt "Patriotic Star?" Or should I add a larger border of the apples (I have plenty of the apples print) and call it "American As Apple Pie?" The one advantage of the Pie quilt would be if the soldier had one leg that was spared, it could keep it warm, too, on a cold winter's day plus double as a tablecloth when not in use.

I need some 2 cents. What say you?


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> My dilemma is this: should I call the quilt "Patriotic Star?" Or should I add a larger border of the apples (I have plenty of the apples print) and call it "American As Apple Pie?" The one advantage of the Pie quilt would be if the soldier had one leg that was spared, it could keep it warm, too, on a cold winter's day plus double as a tablecloth when not in use.
> 
> I need some 2 cents. What say you?



I'm big on the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Silly, meaning I'd do whatever was easiest.  Two easy quilts for two soldiers is better than one complicated quilt for one soldier.  I know either way it's going to take hard work, time, effort and expense, so going for efficiency would be better in the long run, IMHO.

BTW, as I'm writing this I'm sitting in the DFW USO: USO | Dallas / Fort Worth Homepage

Do you work with veteran organizations or VA hospitals down there?


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> My dilemma is this: should I call the quilt "Patriotic Star?" Or should I add a larger border of the apples (I have plenty of the apples print) and call it "American As Apple Pie?" The one advantage of the Pie quilt would be if the soldier had one leg that was spared, it could keep it warm, too, on a cold winter's day plus double as a tablecloth when not in use.
> 
> I need some 2 cents. What say you?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm big on the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Silly, meaning I'd do whatever was easiest.  Two easy quilts for two soldiers is better than one complicated quilt for one soldier.  I know either way it's going to take hard work, time, effort and expense, so going for efficiency would be better in the long run, IMHO.
> 
> BTW, as I'm writing this I'm sitting in the DFW USO: USO | Dallas / Fort Worth Homepage
> 
> Do you work with veteran organizations or VA hospitals down there?
Click to expand...

No. I work at home where it's quiet.

Anything and everything associated with the business world sets off my case of fibromyalgia. 

I go by the John Wesley saying "Do all the good you can by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, as long as ever you can."

I truly loved my business, the customers, helping people pick their fabrics, and the rest, but fibro limited my window to pretty narrow parameters. Here, I can get the charity work I love done, and I have fewer pain episodes when I'm working on a quilt for someone else.

Ok. Simple it is. 

*
*


----------



## freedombecki

Memorial Quilts

Something American women did historically was to make quilts of mourning when someone died. On the trails west, death was ever-present as wagons pushed west in groups, some broke down, and people had hardships when things didn't go well. A wagon master knew he had x amount of days before the Rocky Mountain snows began, although to this day, surprise snowstorms come both early and late even to this day.
Below are a few examples.

A Template for a traditional mourning quilt is Coffin template, available here:






The quilt is traditionally done in vey dull ot cool colors.


At womenfolk, there is a good historical account of mourning quilts. Memorial & Mourning Quilts Throughout American History

Before modern medicine the loss of beloved friends and family members  was all too familiar.  Childbirth was dangerous and it was a rare  mother who didn't lose one or more children. Husbands were lost through  war or accident. Bereavement was a part of everyday life.

   Ways Quilts Were a Comfort in Grief 
   There was little that could be done in the face of many diseases.  We  tend to hope that families were able to cope with these losses better  than we do today.  After all, families of the past would have been so  much more familiar with losing loved ones.  But old letters and diaries  tell that the pain of grief is timeless.
     Quilts could offer some small comfort in these times of grief.  One  elderly woman remembers her mother getting some precious blue silk out  of her own hope chest when a neighbor's baby died.  _"Mama and three  other women set up the frame and quilted all day.  First they quilted  the lining for the casket, and then they made a tiny little quilt out of  the blue to cover the baby." _1  If there was no wood for  a coffin as occurred at times when pioneers were traveling west, the  deceased might have been wrapped in a quilt replacing the coffin. 
   Quilts have also been used in the laying out of the deceased for  viewing. Other times quilts were used to drape the coffin during the  funeral service.  The quilt used might have been a lovely family quilt  or a special quilt owned by the church. In all these situations quilts  served to convey a sense of comfort and when family quilts were used a  sense of connection to the deceased's beloved family.​


----------



## freedombecki

[FONT=verdana, Arial, Helvetica]*Mourning and       Victorian Quilts

*The 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia,       PA had a pronounced influence on American quilts. Traditional Colonial       style quilting designs were reintroduced after 1876 and in memory of       fallen Civil War soldiers, many quilts were produced in black and white,       gray on gray, burgundy and deep purple from madder brown, copper brown,       cocoa, and chrome dyes. These dark colors were enhanced by the period that       marks the first of reliable, colorfast synthetic dyes. These dyes made       fabrics easier to wash.

An example of a mourning quilt is also at womenfolk:





If she left a diary, a woman might be able to tell of her life, but back then, life was all work--from sunup to sundown to have a family, to feed, to clothe, and to warm them with the love in her heart every minute of every day. All was done by hand--there were few boxes from the store--just places to put butter, wheat to grind, and other staples of life.
[/FONT]


----------



## freedombecki

A Civil War Mourning Quilt



> Mourning (or memory) quilts from back in the day were part remembrance,  part necessity - clothing material was scarcer than it is now, and so  reuse was almost a given when someone passed away. There weren't exactly  Salvation Armies to receive the clothes, and there weren't Gaps and Bed  Bath & Beyonds to replenish our closets. Today, with a renewed  interest in upcycling, memory quilts are both a way to remember our  loved ones as well as find a meaningful reuse for their clothing​


The Modern Mourner: Civil War Era Mourning Quilt

Some time ago in our travels across America (when we could afford the gas) we visited a Civil War cemetary in Raleigh, North Carolina. There was information on the ages of the soldiers buried there. They were so young, I actually cried when I found that out. They thought they were defending their way of life that was being eroded by being forced to sell cotton to mills in the north rather than to a free and open world market. Now, the only "fact" presented in a lot of history books is an astonishing racist claim that the only reason for the war was to keep people indentured in an ownership/slave system.

I wonder what the 14-to-17-year old men were thinking as they were being picked off in battle? I truly do not think they were thinking about overlording slaves. That would not motivate anyone to shoot a bullet at one's former allies. Removal of earnings from their farms might motivate them to fight.

However, the first shots were fired at Fort Sumpter. That didn't end the tug-of-war, however, and I wish it had. In the end, graveyards were filled from parts of the great southwest to Maine with young men of similar ages not to mention adult family men with many children.

All had one thing in common, however: profound mourning and not-well-disguised anger that was ill-managed in its best light.

The women of the era made and sent quilts to the soldiers on their side of the future surveyed Mason/Dixon line.

​


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> I wonder what the 14-to-17-year old men were thinking as they were being picked off in battle? I truly do not think they were thinking about overlording slaves.


Agreed.  I'm sure most thought they were defending their "country" from the northern invaders since the vast majority of the battles were fought in the South:






Even President Lincoln knew the Civil War wasn't "about slavery" as some modern revisionists try to assist.  It was about "preserving the Union". 

Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley


> As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.
> 
> I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.* My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it,* and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I'm glad the Union was saved, that American blacks are free people, and that we came back together to eventually keep our European family free from sundry dictatorships in the twentieth century. Growing up in postWWII America has been a privilege for me, and the older I get, the more I appreciate what my parents went through--times of worry and separation due to military tours of Europe, Japan, Australia, North Africa, South America, and Alaska. Dad was a Marine and sharpshooter specialist and was always getting records lost and recalled to duty (his & mom's story) when I was growing up. I got to see my first snow and Yellowstone bears when I was 7 years old on the way to Seattle, where we spent my birthday before hopping a plane to Ft. Richardson. We were back in Texas 2 years later, and Dad spent the rest of his life superintending, coaching and teaching mathematics at various high schools until he died in 1991. He served as a Marine in WWII, a POW at a very bad Japanese camp, and by the time we got to Alaska, he was a Lieutenant in the Army. He had a drawer full of purple hearts, sharpshooter medals, and I don't know what all, that my youngest brother proudly owns.


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> Well, I'm glad the Union was saved, that American blacks are free people, and that we came back together to eventually keep our European family free from sundry dictatorships in the twentieth century. Growing up in postWWII America has been a privilege for me, and the older I get, the more I appreciate what my parents went through--times of worry and separation due to military tours of Europe, Japan, Australia, North Africa, South America, and Alaska. Dad was a Marine and sharpshooter specialist and was always getting records lost and recalled to duty (his & mom's story) when I was growing up. I got to see my first snow and Yellowstone bears when I was 7 years old on the way to Seattle, where we spent my birthday before hopping a plane to Ft. Richardson. We were back in Texas 2 years later, and Dad spent the rest of his life superintending, coaching and teaching mathematics at various high schools until he died in 1991. He served as a Marine in WWII, a POW at a very bad Japanese camp, and by the time we got to Alaska, he was a Lieutenant in the Army. He had a drawer full of purple hearts, sharpshooter medals, and I don't know what all, that my youngest brother proudly owns.



Thanks for story of growing up and your Dad, Becki.  Yes, completely agreed on how the Civil War turned out.  The die-hard, blue-blood Yankee Liberals don't seem to understand how I can support the right of the States to secede and the fact most Southerners were fighting for their country yet be happy that the Union was preserved and we are now  united Superpower instead of a mix of middlin' American states.  Not just a superpower militarily, but economically.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, DW. Hope ya'll's flight is going well.

This may be an antebellum Civil War quilt from one of our Texas mothers (my copy of Karen Breshnehan's book on Texas Quilts may be somewhere in a moving box from 2 years back):

​


----------



## freedombecki

Quilts of Valor gallery of quilts made for soldiers by quilters from all over:  Photos


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> Thanks, DW. Hope ya'll's flight is going well.
> 
> This may be an antebellum Civil War quilt from one of our Texas mothers (my copy of Karen Breshnehan's book on Texas Quilts may be somewhere in a moving box from 2 years back):



I love the quilts and the links.  Never made it to Ft. Walton Beach due to a misconnected flight so was sent home for the night.  Tonight I'm in Lafayette, LA, but not long enough to eat a good Cajun meal.


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, DW. Hope ya'll's flight is going well.
> 
> This may be an antebellum Civil War quilt from one of our Texas mothers (my copy of Karen Breshnehan's book on Texas Quilts may be somewhere in a moving box from 2 years back):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love the quilts and the links.  Never made it to Ft. Walton Beach due to a misconnected flight so was sent home for the night.  Tonight I'm in Lafayette, LA, but not long enough to eat a good Cajun meal.
Click to expand...

Glad you like the links. Quilters are funny people. I was scrambling to find all the quilts I'd made this year and last. I've lost my husband's help with photographing my quilts due to his early dementia that just got diagnosed a couple of months backs, and me being the world's absolutely worst photographer, I just don't know how I'm going to do that.  If I record stuff, the day gets blasted away, and nothing happens in the sewing room, like this morning. All I got done was the tops to 14 soldier Christmas stockings, and only finished 2 at Charity bees yesterday since the first time completion takes the longest, and other people make demands of my time when I'm in a group. 

It simply ticks me off when others decide to sell my quilts for less than I spent on materials, instead of giving the quilts to the shelters I designated. This time I'm not going to look for a new group. I'm going to write a contract that the receiving organization will give the quilt to a poor child, an abused mom, or a senior with Alzheimer's or worse, or I am going to find my own sources. One of the leaders suggested her husband would like to buy a quilt I spent hours making for a homeless child. I answered her that would be better put in the hands of a child who needed a quilt who didn't have a mother who could furnish one for him or her. She didn't give me the satisfaction of an answer, and the following meeting, the cochair made a statement they would designate whether the quilts were sold to people who wanted one so they could purchase batting, and that was final. My response was that I would buy batting for them if they needed it that much. Yesterday was a fizzle, and the chairwoman who wanted the little red quilt her husband liked left before other people did when I showed up. I just don't know what to do, but I'm not taking part in the good ol' gals clubs of seeing to it poor kids get only ugly quilts.

Think I'll finish up the stockings, then look up where they're made and give them there.

My work may be good, but I started dedicating my quilts to God years ago, and his poor, as is described in the book of Deuteronomy and numerous other places in Proverbs and the New Testament. That's how it has to be, and I'm not making more quilts for rich people to give to their choice grandchild who already has a silver spoon in its mouth upon birth.

Their family has plenty of talent in it to make or provide beautiful things with which to surround it. My family is that of the poor.

Am I going wrong somewhere, DW?


----------



## freedombecki

Quilts, quilts, quilts, and more redwork quilts....


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> It simply ticks me off when others decide to sell my quilts for less than I spent on materials, instead of giving the quilts to the shelters I designated. This time I'm not going to look for a new group. I'm going to write a contract that the receiving organization will give the quilt to a poor child, an abused mom, or a senior with Alzheimer's or worse, or I am going to find my own sources. One of the leaders suggested her husband would like to buy a quilt I spent hours making for a homeless child. I answered her that would be better put in the hands of a child who needed a quilt who didn't have a mother who could furnish one for him or her. She didn't give me the satisfaction of an answer, and the following meeting, the cochair made a statement they would designate whether the quilts were sold to people who wanted one so they could purchase batting, and that was final. My response was that I would buy batting for them if they needed it that much. Yesterday was a fizzle, and the chairwoman who wanted the little red quilt her husband liked left before other people did when I showed up. I just don't know what to do, but I'm not taking part in the good ol' gals clubs of seeing to it poor kids get only ugly quilts.
> 
> Think I'll finish up the stockings, then look up where they're made and give them there.
> 
> My work may be good, but I started dedicating my quilts to God years ago, and his poor, as is described in the book of Deuteronomy and numerous other places in Proverbs and the New Testament. That's how it has to be, and I'm not making more quilts for rich people to give to their choice grandchild who already has a silver spoon in its mouth upon birth.
> 
> Their family has plenty of talent in it to make or provide beautiful things with which to surround it. My family is that of the poor.
> 
> Am I going wrong somewhere, DW?



Hmmmm, that's a tough dilemma, Becki.   Several thoughts here; one is that some people don't respect quality.  There's so much cheap crap around, many wouldn't recognize a quality product if it bit them in the keister. 

Another is that a gift is a gift.  Once given, it is up to the receiver's discretion on what to do with it.  Hence, I'm careful on how expensive, either financially or time spent, a gift I give to certain people.  

With that in mind, mediocre quality quilt provides as much warmth as a top-notch quality quilt.  If two mediocre quilts can be provided for the cost in time and money of one high quality quilt, it shouldn't automatically be ruled out to go with the lesser quality in favor of higher production quantity.  Especially if those receiving it don't appreciate the quality in the first place.   Just guessing here, but if a poor family knew they had a quilt valued at $100-300 dollars, they'd probably sell it to pay toward the month's rent and buy some used airline blankets at the Good Will.

Lastly, there is a lot to be said for the maxim, if you want something done right, do it yourself.  If you aren't comfortable with how a group is distributing your efforts, either find another outlet or do it yourself.  My recommendation would be to find a retirement home or VA home/hospital and find a worthy person for your donation.  That can be a bit time consuming, but I'm sure other's who make quilts in your group can work together to find a worthy place for your efforts.


Sorry to hear about your husband, Becki.  It's a tough road sometimes.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, DW. You know, I think I probably had a run of 4 hours of sleep nights, which doesn't do much for waking up refreshed. Most of the time I have enough brainpower not to bite my nails out loud over something so petty. From their view point, it could most likely be frustrating to be a chairperson of a committee of picky, self-righteous saints, when they could be doing their own quilts, and I should have taken the red quilt offer as a compliment and made another one just as nice. It would have only taken a couple of days, and nobody would have had to listen to my little caterwaul. Also, I truly need to accept other people for where they live, not where I live. Thanks for taking a minute, though; I'll try to do better in the future.

Guess I'm feeling my oats because I finished the machine sewing part of the soldier stockings, (except for one that got misplaced with a pair of scissors around here someplace). I was so happy to have the task behind me instead ahead of me. It's tedious to make 16 of one item at one time, especially when I'm crocheting different green or red laces to match the stocking fabric to sew onto the stocking cuffs, and that takes a couple of hours apiece. However, the effect and the feel of the thin little stockings is so improved by the handmade lace, I'm going to put them by the tv and crochet the remainder while watching the news.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! My pal JM took a pic of my Charity bee stockings with her Iphone at sewing class today, so I can finally share them. We'll see how this goes. Otherwise, when I get home, I'll send them to photobucket where nice things happen to yer pics. As it were, when I made them larger, my usually clear pictures became a little muddy.

So far, I have 17 sewn, 15 have crocheted borders, two also lack hangers. I'll fix that tonight or later tomorrow, Lord willing and the Creeks don't rise.


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> Finally! My pal JM took a pic of my Charity bee stockings with her Iphone at sewing class today, so I can finally share them. We'll see how this goes. Otherwise, when I get home, I'll send them to photobucket where nice things happen to yer pics. As it were, when I made them larger, my usually clear pictures became a little muddy.
> 
> So far, I have 17 sewn, 15 have crocheted borders, two also lack hangers. I'll fix that tonight or later tomorrow, Lord willing and the Creeks don't rise.



Great job, Becki.  That's a lot of work.  Yes, cellphone photos are convenient, but lack the resolution to enlarge for detail.  Photobucket would work better.


----------



## freedombecki

We put the Soldier Christmas Stockings on the flannel board, pinned them on, then JM photographed them with her iphone. Technology is so wonderful.

The stockings are about ten inches (25 cm) high. Sorry you can't see all that slave labor of detail on the crocheted border. Each is a different pattern, no two are alike, and these differ from regular crocheted lace in that I crocheted a tape base with single and double crochet to later add  picots, rolled edge laces, and scalloped lace of a variety of ways. (huff puff, huff puff) Each lace is made to be about 12 inches long so it will go all the way around the cuff of the Soldier Stocking.

I'm so pleased to get it done, and at the computer machine embroidery class in the quilt store, I bought some more pieces to make different stockings and cut 9 of them out before class.

The new fabric is totally wonderful. Sorry I can't get the wireless thing to work. It says I can get a USB cable to attach the computer to the printer, will have to figure out where to go to get that. Bye for now.

Time to go home. Have a loverly day!


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, hi, Divine Wind. Thanks. I have to leave the shop and go home for now. BBL


----------



## freedombecki

This week, I made and embellished 2 more soldier stockings at our Quilt Guild's Charity Bees. I got to wondering what people put in these stockings, and looked online and found a shopping list for soldier stockings. Their list included, (and if anyone near you does soldier stockings, I found a shopping list online for soldier stockings, and it was pretty specific): 


> Christmas candy,
> gum,
> fruit roll-ups & gushers,
> cracker jacks,
> Beef Slim Jims,
> pretzels,
> lemonade & flavored drink mixes
> coffee
> individual flavored teas
> hot drink mixes,
> commercially packaged Trail Mix,
> nuts,
> oreo or other commercial cookies, (Sorry, no home-baked items),
> Ramen soup,
> chips,
> small cans of tuna,
> lasagna,
> Beefaroni,
> canned fruit,
> any small size of
> anything to eat.
> Pocket games & puzzles,
> DVD movies,
> music CD's,
> current magazines,
> Beanie Babies,
> AT&T phone cards,
> paperback books (no romance novels please),
> dominos,
> disposable cameras.
> Lip balm,
> foot powder,
> small sizes of toiletries & lotions,
> crew socks,
> hand & foot warmers,
> fly swatters
> & a Holiday Greeting Card with your messages of Support &
> Friendship. If you include your return address, (email or snail) you might hear back from the soldier who receives your card. http://stockingsforsoldiers.org/PDF/Stocking%20Shopping%20List.pdf


hmm,  Now that I see that list, I may want to redesign the tops of our stockings to make them  wide enough to hold a cd, plus 2 or 3 inches for bulkier items like food  packets, etc. I bet a small pencil with a decent eraser, a ballpoint  pen, and a writing pad (small) would be useful, or a mini pack of  stationery for them to write home on would be good for some. My favorite  game is Free Cell, and you used to see hand-held Free Cell games in the  kids' sections at toy departments, but they were so expensive. I wonder  if I wrote the Free Cell co. if they have developed a less expensive  version that is wafer-thin plastic that could be sent to soldiers. I  guess a pack of cards would get them a way to play solitaire, but it  could also get them in a mighty amount of trouble if they lost their  paycheck playing poker, not to mention the fights it could  cause...scratch playing cards... 

I had written a little self-memo last week, wonder where I put it. Well if I can find it I can put it together with this list and maybe come up with a better way of making stockings, to be sure they are full of treats that can be eaten and done away with (except for the movies and music, that is).

My notes of last week sometime:  


> They can hold playing cards, simple shaver, folding  knife, candy, nuts, handkerchief, small game or radio, maybe more. I  think there's a list somewhere. The army sent a suggested size, and I  used the master pattern first, then redesigned it (see the dark red  stocking lower left on picture. I redesigned the cuff to be separate  from the stocking, so it could be used as a fold-in-and-over item to  keep stuff inside the sock at some other time. Some of the stockings  I've seen are in Army camouflage, which might be smart to make some for  giving to those stuck out in surreptitious terrain in which bright reds,  etc. would show up on enemy sights. It wouldn't matter if someone was  doing desk duty where expected. OTOH, if florals were sent to troops in  jungle areas, they might fit right in with the flowers on the shadowed  floor of tall trees, where troops might be walking. That's why I want to  get the project done by Oct 31--so they can be sent to a  center where determinations can be made where they go. It may or may  not matter all that much, I'm not sure.


Wonder if I can print this up and take it to the store with me today when I go shopping, get the stuff for one stocking, and see what fits in it. 

Well, my new printer still isn't cooperating, so I will just have to go get some paper and do some copying. *sigh* Life is hard when you grow older and can't figure out where you put the disk to the printer and the computer at different times...


----------



## freedombecki

Today went well. While I was redesigning the soldier stocking to accommodate movies and music CDs, I began thinking of other things that seamstresses could do to help save lives besides just send little gifties during the holiday season for our boys and girls. I wrote down some things and sent it to my Senator to present to the department of the Army. It would incorporate two different things--soldier education, and soldier wearables. If they institute my ideas, it has the potential of saving 50% of lives and 50% wounds that would land a soldier in a wheelchair, plus it would make more comfortable wear for soldiers who have to endure the heat of jungle or desert. I was really excited about this, hope my suggestions would be taken to heart and instituted where it could do the most good. One good thing about devoting all my spare time to sewing since 1966, when I sewed garments in a factory, sewed all my kids' clothes, husbands shirts, pants, etc. through the years, one gets a feel for what makes people comfortable. My studies in human health brought further attention to tried-and-true methods for avoiding disease, and the research was a good exercise to do this undertaking.

I pray for our kids over there.

In the meantime, it's sew up the new stockings that hold movies and music for our front line people. I love them so. The years I spent making quilts for them made me think of them and pray for their betterment on a daily basis. It'd take a couple of weeks to work out a new plan for my gals in the purple heart quilters group, but when all was said and done, I used my color knowledge to make as pretty of quilts as I could, and I tried to make each quilt as though I were making them for my own child, because soldiers are most special people.

The minute they stand in line for duty, their lives take a turn few of us ever think about. But they do. There's hard work ahead for them in boot camp that not everyone can complete. The majority do get through, under duress of someone carping at them morning noon and night like they've never been carped at before. It must feel like dying to get chewed out for the tenth time to keep his butt down when he's crawling on the ground, but that's a hail of bullets that will miss him if he knows what the sarge said and does it.

I love our troops. I just hope the little I do lets the few who receive a gift from back home helps them to get through a few minutes of lonesomeness at holiday time when they're saving our lives, and some upper level officer is praying for his men and women who've served us all so faithfully.


----------



## freedombecki

Worked on four more small soldier Christmas stockings today. It was good to put thoughts and heart into a remembrance for the soldiers who may be away from home for the first time or separated from family after his new baby is born thousands of miles and several months away from home, especially if winter communications are down at due to storming in his hometown.

They're America's finest. It's an honor to think about them.


----------



## freedombecki

God bless our troops for all they do. Still working on Christmas stockings for them.

Took 5 to Charity Bee closet, made 5 on the 1st, Made 5 on the 2nd, Crocheted 4 baubles for future ones. Total currently at 30, that I can remember. 
Here's the ones ready to go, not counting starts:


----------



## freedombecki

Red stocking with gold/green band shows crocheted bauble/hanger. We have to get them ready by the end of this month so those who fill the stockings have a chance to have enough to put out the word to the community to provide money or goods for filling the stockings. Above, I mentioned doing the work of redesigning the stockings to accommodate putting a cd in. Well, doh, the first two I made, I already did the work, then realized, the pocket goes on the front.  They will go to the regular group who doesn't want too big of stockings on account of low budgets among their senior group. *sigh*

I'm gonna persevere, till I can remember: MAKE THE POCKETS FIRST. Guess I need to make a calligraphy of that and tape it to the front of my sewing machine.


----------



## Divine Wind

They'll love the stockings, Becki!  Great job.


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> They'll love the stockings, Becki!  Great  job.


Thanks, Divine.Wind. I finally remembered to make the  Soldier Stockings to include a large enough pocket to fit a cd inside  it. I noticed my cds for machine embroidery patterns came in varying  sizes, so I took the largest cd jacket and worked with that as a size.  Unfortunately, it takes two times on the scanner per sock. Not to worry,  it's all for our soldiers' afar to know we are looking out for them at  home, where someone cares. 

Also, it takes twice as long to make one Soldier Stocking. This stocking was made the other day:


----------



## freedombecki

And this stocking was made this morning before 8 am. It took some time to load the update to my printer today, for some reason. At any rate, it is always fun to make a Soldier Stocking. I am of the Viet Nam generation, where our soldiers in addition to being not quite accepted as soldiers of WWII were, I'm not sure handmade items were on the list of things you sent groups of soldiers. 

God bless our dear, dear soldiers this Christmas season. This is my second Soldier Stocking that has a pocket for a CD on it:


----------



## freedombecki

Today, my heart and mind goes out to all who died 10 years ago today, and to our military, whose tasks were to neutralize those with similar intentions against our Homeland which is still the bastion of freedom and human rights that stands against dictators, murderous control freaks, and those who would harm our citizens through hidden agendas, omission of the truth, and hatred of free people. Sometimes prayer takes the form of action. My ministry is in sewing remembrances for better people than myself for their courage, tenacity, and service in ways that threaten their lives to save ours. I dedicate this day of making small amenities for some of them to all of them that have served our nation.

Love,

Freedombecki

9/11/2011


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, goodness. Time to go finish up a little autumn leaf quilt top. Will post more later. It takes a lot of time to complete a medallion into a little quilt top for the shelter. We'll see how it goes. I love USMB. Magic! You can do anything that you desire...


----------



## Divine Wind

freedombecki said:


> Sometimes prayer takes the form of action. My ministry is in sewing remembrances for better people than myself for their courage, tenacity, and service in ways that threaten their lives to save ours. I dedicate this day of making small amenities for some of them to all of them that have served our nation.
> 
> Love,
> 
> Freedombecki
> 
> 9/11/2011



I doubt there are many better than you, Becki.  Some may be bigger, stronger, faster, but not "better".  Thanks for the work you do and the sentiments you express.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, DW. Kind words always welcome.


----------



## freedombecki

Pure waste of time, don't read, 
​Today, two more Christmas stockings went into the quilter's closet for our dear soldiers who are trying to keep the peace in that Middle East tender box. *sigh* I just can't let a day pass when I think of them and send up a little prayer. I was there for a class using software to design machine embroideries on my sewing machine, and while I'm versed in one brand we sold in our quilt store for 20 + years, here, I'm working on an entirely new make of machine. The software is so similar to my old software that commands a standard sewing machine tweaked to do machine embroidery do amazing things at the touch of a button or so. The trouble with the new software is, I did all the stuff I'm relearning in the language of the other machine, which is as different in characteristics and placement of icons and commands as the Chinese language, say, is from our own English. The plants in Europe where these two competitors are located probably within 200 miles or less of each other, yet, their software commands are mapped so unlike.

Anyway, I was hoping to learn to use the new machine to make the cd pockets on some of these soldier stockings. I bought a whole entire yard of this cute little gingerbread girl-and-boy fabric, but the only trouble is, when you put it next to some of the exquisite or even modern fabrics, it kind of kills the Hansel-and-Gretel of the fabric as designed. It could be that pale blue snowy ground just clashes with the cranberry red and sparkling gold of the exquisite Hoffman prints I'm making for the stocking bodies. Well, 'scuse my aesthetics, but bleh! It looks bad, and I'll just leave it at that. One or two are okay, and as usual, I put on some saving graces--hand crocheted edges that even a soldier's rough hand might be reluctant to toss in the trash can, at least, I hope he saves it and remembers we over here do not forget our dear, beloved soldiers who spend endless lonely hours patrolling the dark in a strange land filled with terrorists who have been trained to kill them any which way they can. They say it's hardest on those long lonely watches when several days pass. I hope a lot of time passes and that peace sets in, and that no more anger will ever cause another soldier to die. So I pray, and tomorrow when I get up, I'll see if I can connect my machine up and sew a cd pocket for another larger stocking. The big ones I designed are ok, until you quilt them. Then the takeup is such that it seems to reduce the overall size, so I have to make them one more inch wider. One of the things I bought today was some more template plastic, large enough to redesign this time the RIGHT SIZE soldier stocking. Yeah right... By the time I don't have to do any more designing, I will have made 50 wrong ones. Grrr 

Oh, yeah, and as long as I'm on this silly soliliquy, when we got home today, a little package of 5 quilt books from the Goodwill store in wherever, Amazon, USA it came from, I pulled out my 5 treasures, well, almost treasures as one wreaks in cigarette smoke of someone who smoked 99 packs of cigarettes a day since 2003, the copyright date on the offending book. Well, when you buy a book for 61 cents and it says it's in average condition and is a hardback, there's gotta be some kinda rub, and beggars can't be choosers. The info inside the book is amazing, and a little sponge with some rose water to clean off the outside jacket might help a big.  It's called "1000 Great Quilt Blocks" by Maggi McCormick Gorden, and measures 5 by 6 inches and is about an inch and a quarter thick, sporting 512 pages packed with designs I can almost do without much measuring for the most part, since years of quilting tends to put information in your head that stays if you're as addicted to the sport of quilting as I am.

Well, I have just given myself a little cleaning job, so I'll submit this reply, go baptize the book cover, and send up a little prayer for the troops over there watching a bare, darkened landscape near daybreak, possibly. Hope you send up a prayer for them, too, if you made it past the do not read warning to right here! lol!


----------



## freedombecki

Wow. Back from cleaning up the cover, and just cleaning the outside with a dab of Clorox II on the slightly damp white cotton wash towel reduced the dead tobacco smoke smell by about 85%. I'm going to like the book, that's a certainty. It's smalll enough to fit by the machine for inspiration while quilting, too. 

The other 4 treasures are called "The Ultimate Book of Quilting Cross Stitch & Needlecraft," 512 pages of quilts and their associated embroidery crafts; "Quick-Method Clasic Blue Quilts" in my fondest color; "Quilter's Complete Guide" by Fons and Porter; and oh, yes, "65 Drunkard's Path Quilt Designs" by Pepper Cory, who spoke at our Quilter's Guild meeting last winter sometime, and whose specialty seems to be forever curved piecing, most people's virulent anathema, since it's hard to follow written instructions even though they say pretty plainly what one needs to do in order to successfully piece a concave piece of fabric 1/4" in to a concurve piece also 1/4" and have nothing left over.


----------



## freedombecki

I miss Alliebaba. Where's a smiley with a big lower lip and a frown when you need one? *sigh* I really loved Alliebaba. Oh, well.


----------



## freedombecki

Time to visit the sewing machine. I've been writing toooo mucccchh haiku lately.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's one of the first purple heart quilts I made. It was very complex and not suitable for a group project, which later ensued. I'm pretty sure I sent this one to late Senator Thomas Craig of Wyoming to distribute to a wounded soldier either in Washington or at the VA Hospital in Wyoming. They are not allowed to tell the maker who the recipient is, so I never found out who received it. It took me 3 months to construct and machine quilt it. I really loved this quilt, and hope someone got to enjoy it who did a good job for the people of the United States.





The quilt was likely made sometime between 2003-2007. Sorry, I can't remember when we started and finished the project that eventually sent 36 quilts to our soldiers.​


----------



## naomibee

freedombecki said:


> Here's one of the first purple heart quilts I made. It was very complex and not suitable for a group project, which later ensued. I'm pretty sure I sent this one to late Senator Thomas Craig of Wyoming to distribute to a wounded soldier either in Washington or at the VA Hospital in Wyoming. They are not allowed to tell the maker who the recipient is, so I never found out who received it. It took me 3 months to construct and machine quilt it. I really loved this quilt, and hope someone got to enjoy it who did a good job for the people of the United States.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The quilt was likely made sometime between 2003-2007. Sorry, I can't remember when we started and finished the project that eventually sent 36 quilts to our soldiers.​



thats very nice.


----------



## editec

I own a family heirloom quilt.

Made by three generations of woman in my mother's family.

My GGM, GM and my mother's generation all worked on it in a quilting bee when I was a kid.

How I ended up with it I do not know.

I must have stolen it from my sister decades ago.


----------



## freedombecki

editec said:


> I own a family heirloom quilt.
> 
> Made by three generations of woman in my mother's family.
> 
> My GGM, GM and my mother's generation all worked on it in a quilting bee when I was a kid.
> 
> How I ended up with it I do not know.
> 
> I must have stolen it from my sister decades ago.


Lucky you, ddictec. You're fortunate to own a quilt of several generations, and I hope you're storing it in either a 100% cotton pillowcase or acid-free paper. You're always welcome to post a picture of an heirloom here!


----------



## freedombecki

There was another one-of-a-kind purple heart quilt I made after the first one, but I really got into the design of this one and hopefully made a better quilt. It was constructed a year or two after the first one, and was sent either to Walter Reid Hospital (which was still open at the time) or one of the congresscritters or senators to hand out in Washington or Cheyenne, where Wyoming's VA hospital was (I think) There may have been another one in the state, I just can't remember. I really loved this quilt and used it for a couple of months before sending off to recruit quilters for the Purple Heart Quilters group that met at my quilt store back when. The George Washington-purple heart copy translated into an applique design by me was shared with a friend named Louise, who wanted to use it in her church's group, if memory serves me right. Some of my designs, I just didn't copyright so people wherever they were coule freely use the designs to honor a wounded soldier. I really loved this one more than any of the other 12 purple heart ones I designed for group quiltmaking. By donating the fabric, batting, backing and binding, it was one of the happiest times for me as a quilt shop owner because it gave me time to reflect on all the sacrifices our soldiers have made for spreading freedom and its caring around the globe, not to mention settling representation issues in the Revolutionary War, but also the anti-slave and internal business loyalty issues in the Civil War. The Purple Heart medal (top row, middle block) idea and where to find one was given to me by a veteran on a board I posted on about 7 or 8 years ago. He has one of the sharpest military minds I ever ran across. He may have been in special services, but he was knowledgable on terrorist issues, military hardware, and grew fond of countries his service took him to during his career. You meet some amazing people online. Some of them will bend over backward to give you advice when you are helping one of their brothers who was wounded in battle and ask for help. What wonderful Americans we have online.




​


----------



## freedombecki

If you are interested in what your state's quilt block is, Quilt Historian Judie Bellingham has created a site that would be of great interest to you: United States, State Quilt Blocks. An also lovely source would be Barbara Brackman's book, "Create Your Family Quilt Using State Blocks and Symbols." Currently out of print, you can still get them reasonably priced for a short time at Amazon.com. The deal about Barbara Brackman's books is they can cost $250. when the economy versions are gone. And there's no guarantee the book will be crisp and brand new after a few years. She's one of the best.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's Julie Bellingham's State Quilt block for Alabama:





And the instructions are here: Quilt Blocks of the States - Alabama


----------



## freedombecki

Here's Julie Bellingham's State Quilt Block, "Alaska Homestead" 






All the states are here.


----------



## freedombecki

This could go faster if I did 4 states at a time.







Arizona Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Arizona




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.







Arkansas Crossroads Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Arkansas Crossroads




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.







California Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - California




An 18" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.









Colorado Beauty Instrustions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Colorado Beauty




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.


----------



## freedombecki

Connecticut Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Connecticut




12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.







Delaware Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Delaware




A 10" quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.







Florida Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Florida




12" paper pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" Series.







Georgia Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Georgia




A 12" pieced quilt block from the Quilt Block of the States Series







Hawaii Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Hawaii




12" pieced quilt block pattern from our "Quilt Blocks of the States Series".







Idaho Beauty Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Idaho Beauty




A 16" pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States Series.


----------



## freedombecki

Illinois Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Illinois




12" pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.





Indiana Puzzle Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Indiana Puzzle




A 12" pieced quilt block from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.





Iowa Star Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Iowa Star




An 8" paper pieced quilt block pattern from our "Quilt Blocks of the States" series. 





Kansas Troubles Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Kansas Troubles




A 16" pieced quilt block pattern from our "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.





Kentucky Patch Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Kentucky Patch




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from our "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.





Louisiana 12 Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Louisiana  12




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from our "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.

I think it would be fun to make the 50 states quilt. You could use an embroidery sewing machine to put your USMB friends names on the states where they were born and/or live now.


----------



## freedombecki

Maine Lobster Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Maine Lobster




An installment in our Quilt Blocks of the States series.  This block finishes to 9" square and is paper-pieced.







Maryland Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Maryland




A 15 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.







Massachusetts Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Massachusetts




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States Series.







Michigan Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Michigan




A 9 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States Series.







Minnesota Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Minnesota




A 10 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Mississippi Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Mississippi




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern.  Part of our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Missouri Daisy Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Missouri Daisy




A 12 inch partially paper-pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Montana Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Montana




A 9 inch partially paper-pieced quilt block pattern for the state of Montana.  Part of our Quilt Blocks of the States series.


That finishes off A- M of the States. If I have missed any, please advise.  Thx.


----------



## freedombecki

Nebraska Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Nebraska




A 12" paper-pieced quilt block pattern.  Part of our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Nevada Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Nevada




A 9 inch partially paper-pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







New Hampshire Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - New Hampshire




A 12 inch paper-pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







New Jersey Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - New Jersey




Here is the 12" finished block for the state of New Jersey.






New Mexico Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - New Mexico




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States Series.







New York Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - New York




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







North Carolina Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - North Carolina




A 12 inch paper pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







North Dakota Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - North Dakota




A 12 inch paper pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.

There are a lot of states that begins with "N". whew!


----------



## freedombecki

Ohio Star Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Ohio Star




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Oklahoma Boomer Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Oklahoma Boomer




A 9 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Oregon Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Oregon




A ten-inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.







Pennsylvania Parade Instructions: 

Quilt Blocks of the States - Pennsylvania Parade




A twelve inch quilt block pattern from the Quilt Blocks of the States Series.







Rhode Island Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Rhode Island




A 12 1/2" pieced block for the state of Rhode Island


I made the Ohio Star quilt some time back, just because I think it looks beautiful. It is light turquoise on white, very simple, sawtooth border, it looks like someone painted some jewelry on the back bed. It's just a beautifully constructed design and a joy to work on.


----------



## freedombecki

South Carolina Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - South Carolina




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States series.





South Dakoita Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - South Dakota




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern from our Quilt Blocks of the States Series.


No Picture, Corrections under construction, so from another source, someone showed their block of "Tennessee Waltz" as follows:



source
Also, there is a very good book by Eleanor Burns of Quilt-in-a-Day fame on the quilt, "Tennessee Waltz." I've made the quilt, taught the class, forgot what happened to the top, etc, maybe 15 years ago?  I'll have to make a charity quilt of Tennessee Waltz soon. It's fun & really cute.

Tennessee Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Tennessee




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.










Texas Instructions:

Quilt Blocks of the States - Texas




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.





Utah, Stained Glass (to replace x-lg image) from Edie Martin's Stained Glass webpage. Some stained glass artists make beautifully-rendered quilt squares in their craft.
Utah Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Utah




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the "Quilt Blocks of the States" series.

Well, I really don't know why Utah showed up so ungainly looking and large, but it's Jan Bellingham's website, maybe someone needed it to be big to copy for a certain project, or it is under construction, too. Not sure.


----------



## freedombecki

Vermont Instructions: 
Quilt Blocks of the States - Vermont




A 12" finished pieced quilt block for the state of Vermont.





Virginia Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Virginia




12" pieced block of Virginia, part of the Quilt Blocks of the States series.





Quilt Blocks of the States- Washington




Quilt Blocks of the United States of America - Washington - 12" Block






West Virginia Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - West Virginia




Quilt Blocks of the United States of America. West Virginia 12" Block





Wisconsin Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Wisconsin




A 12" pieced quilt block pattern from the Quilt Blocks of the States series





Wyoming Instructions:
Quilt Blocks of the States - Wyoming




A 12 inch pieced quilt block pattern. Part of our Quilt Blocks of the States series.

Some of these blocks are new to me. I lived in Wyoming 35 years and don't remember the above Wyoming block. We did a lot of a block called "Wyoming Valley". That may be the name of a land formation in PA. Oh, well. I do like the arrowheads pointing in the 4 directions, important to Indian tribes in general, whose reservations take up around ten percent of the state's lands.


----------



## freedombecki

Whew! A chore, but if it helps anyone out there who wants to make a gift  for a friend from another state, it's just a little idea from me to  you. If you do other crafts and not quilting, see the square for Utah. It was the Utah quilt square, executed beautifully in stained glass. It could be a sponge-painted stencil on paper, ceramic or wood tiled, crocheted, cross-stitched, or crafted in some way to make someone from that state a gift.

Today I completed a square large enough to be a medallion on its own or combined with other squares to become another charity or baby quilt. I visited a quilt store in another town to add more colors to my huge stash, like where will I put this group? 

Anyway, each square has 72 half-square triangles to make a 6-patch, 36 square design that I found a picture in a book that I got on ebay last week. 4 of the patches would make a nice 48" square crib quilt, except I think I'd add a 4-inch border, which would make it 56" square for a growing child. I could make it 8" longer than wide by putting a row of lights at the top and bottom, which would make the ultimate quilt 56x64". That could really work for me.  We'll see how it goes.  I got a lot of fabric pieces today at the other quilt store. They will contribute a certain texture and color to my scrap quilts for literally years to come. I cut a bunch out when I got home. I'm making 5" squares, sewing them with other colors to get two half square triangle squares out of each square  pair. OK, I know that's not clearer than mud to anyone who's never sewn two pieces of fabric together, so I'll see if I can find an illustration to add to this post. If you see a pic below, I found one. 

Better yet, go to this link to see the procedure for making two half-square triangles into a square of light and dark.

Each of my squares takes 3 light_+ med, 3 Light+dark, and 3 dark+med squares to get the desired result.

Also, a quilt similar to the one I am making is found on page 136 of the book, "Best-Selling Bazaar Patchwork," Compiled and Edited by Barbara Abralat, Oxmoor House, 1992. I found my copy on Amazon, and there are quite a few still for sale. The book is crammed full of fun things to quilt and make. A lot of the projects take two hours. Of course, quilts like the one I'm making require 100 hours of time in a diversity of quilt stores before ever you cut a piece... unless you made a square up to show shopkeepers what you are doing and why you need 1,959 half-yards of fabric, totalling her last months' total sales.  

Just kidding. You now can purchase 5" squares of every fabric in a collection for under $10. if you don't want to spend three hundred dollars making 200 of the same quilt. Heavens, you'd run out of people to give them to. Actually, this one will not be the pictured one below, but tailored down to give a single mother's baby or an abused child in a crisis housing center. Our guild has many who love to distribute our works to those who need them the most, and some of the quilts are sold to support the cabin on the square, with our part going to buying expensive battings that have to be constantly bought to keep up with 120 quilters in our guild who do nice things for other people.


----------



## freedombecki

Spent all of yesterday doing the quilt, and another friend took the picture and tried to email it to me, but it never arrived in my mailbox. I left the quilt top in the charity bee closet. When it was done it measured about 50x64" and should work for an elementery-age school child or younger. I loved working on it.


----------



## freedombecki

My apologies, but I'm going to ask my friend what kind of phone she used, then I'm not going to get one of those. The picture is faded next to the real mccoy, plus is totally lacking in details. I need a smarter phone that takes sharp picture without having to know what a pro photographer knows. I want the phone to already know what it looks like and to convey what is seen by the human eye, not through the eyes of someone who would not be eligible to serve in the military. lol. What looks like a light pink border is actually a bright, bold fabric, not a pastel. The outside blue has a pink floral border on cerulean blue, not a pale yellow on dust blue print.


----------



## freedombecki

Finished another half-square diamond quilt, with more squares, so it's bigger.  Also, started on a new pattern called square in a square and worked most of the squares to a completion in the last 3 days. It's from a different quilt book, and I like each and every one of the quilts in the book, so may just try a few of the quilts for fun. I was going to make one square of each quilt, decide which one I liked the best, which didn't work out too well. I liked the square in a square block so much, I just kept on keeping on until I know I have more than enough squares to do a charity quilt for a child.


----------



## freedombecki

Thirty more squares completed this morning, now there's a lot of clipping threads and pressing to do. There are enough for 2 small child quilts--30 squares, oh, maybe I'll go 35 squares. Some of my colors are maudlin as in antebellum reproduction fabrics, and some aren't. Children quilts should be a bit brighter, well, we'll see. In the meantime, I pulled up a fine example of what can be done with a square in a square:


----------



## freedombecki

The fun thing about doing smaller quilts is that you can do a couple of child-sized tops in less than a week, not counting quilting time. I liked the one above, and if you click on the thumbnail, you can see the black sashing and colorful sets add to the intrigue more so than if you hadn't, and the squares in the border add a nice feeling, I think, so the one I'm working on will do likewise. The good thing about the black around the square-in-squares is that it pops the colors whether they are light or dark. Hope to get some pictures of these, but I'm such a bad photographer, and my dear one isn't taking pictures any more. *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

This is a great thread!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, koshergrl. I try to keep my motivation in the quilt room going by listing progress. Today, all I got done on quilting was to clip and press the 30 squares I finished sewing yesterday. I cut out a lot of the little black sashes and used some postage stamp squares for sets between the sashed blocks. Tomorrow, I hope I can get to the machine and get down to some serious completion. It's good luck to finish what you started in the sewing room on a Friday. Today I had a doctor's appointment (all good) and bought some patriotic fabrics. When I finish a dozen of the little children for the shelter quilts, I'm going to make some more wheelchair soldier quilts. You just have to have red and blue fabrics for that. It's best to buy them every couple of weeks before you start if you do scrap quilts. Every quilt lately has a minimum of 100 fabrics and an average of 2- or 300 different fabrics, with some up to 3,000 different ones. My stash room is so out of control. It was nice when my husband was well enough to make shelves for our business. Those were the best days.


----------



## Divine Wind

Glad to see you still going strong, FreedomBecki!


----------



## freedombecki

Divine.Wind said:


> Glad to see you still going strong, FreedomBecki!


Thanks, DW. The encouragement of others dropping by to say hello is truly good for me. This morning, after koshergrl dropped by the other day, I was inspired to get up and actually get the rest of the rows on the child-sized shelter quilt. 

I got the first (black) border and 50 or so squares done to make the bottom and left rows on this little task, though it only shows a part of 1 block, not the 30 (5 wide x 6 long) square-in-a-square blocks that make up the main part of the quilt. Before adding any borders, it was 36" x 46" more or less. I still have another day of work before the other 2.5" square borders can be cut and added. The two I worked on today seemed to take hours from the time I started accumulating and cutting 2.5" strips (the leftovers of which can be used on other quilt borders) If it's too small, I may have to add more borders or  more time-consuming squares. 

The problem with charm quilts is that all the fabrics have to be different and used only once (the 4 pieces around the blue square-in-a-square are considered 1 by this quilter) though if you really got technical, I might not win the argument. I still think I captured the spirit of the charm quilt, though, if you know the quilter's definition of charm being, "each fabric is used only once." Since 4 like fabrics form the outer square of square-in-a-square, I'm considering them like 1 piece. Someday when I really have zip to do, I'll make one that has every single little fabric different. (yeah, right)

That said, it's time to pull up the pic I took on my printer a while ago and show the one corner. (it doesn't look much like the quilt above, but it's such a small bit of the quilt, and I still don't know how to use the camera I got to download quilt blocks and the works). In fact, I haven't seen it since I straightened the computer area out a few weeks back, so I must have put it somewhere....


----------



## freedombecki

My monitor shows the pictures pretty much the way they are here. Tomorrow, I hope to do the remainder of the 2.5" squares all aroound the quilt. Before starting the first black border, the quilt measured approximately 36 x 46. I hope it is around 42x 54 when it is finished. I wouldn't even mind it being 42x60", but that could take another day of cutting and sewing 2.5" squares, to make it 5" longer than it would be otherwise. 

The upside of the extra day is that a 5-foot long quilt might be big enough to last the child till he or she is 12 years old. A 72" quilt might last another year or two, but a dorm quilt should be at least 90" long, probably, and a little wider than 42"--maybe 62", because they'd be an adult by then. If there are really cold winters where the quilt goes, it should be a twin sized quilt which measures 72" wide and 96" long, although I've seen cot-sized quilts referred to as "twin sized." Yeah, right, if you don't mind frostbitten toes in cold country. 

I like looking at the quilt, the sample blocks just don't show it in its best light. I'll try and get a picture one of these days if I can con one of my friends into taking and emailing it to me on their i-phone. I guess I'm an official phone moocher, since I can't figure out how to take a picture on the digital camera I got last year and have already misplaced. lol


----------



## koshergrl

I made my son a little quilt when he was about 4-5 years old; we use that thing every day, lol.


----------



## freedombecki

That's great, koshergrl. Old kids' quilts have lots of uses. We used to visit a park ampitheatre for summer concerts as the children grew up and used ours to cover the grass where we sat. Looking at them brings up a lot of happy memories of them, now that they're grown and gone. Some of them have been recovered after years of use. 

Oh, yeah, and today, I was putting the last squares border on when the machine's inner repairman slowed it to a crawl, and it was taken into the repair shop for readjusting. I may have to go to WalMart and get a cheapy to keep going. All I need is a good straight stitch for this project.

I'm pleased with the quilt, though, and took last week's completed quilt top to the charity bees closet while I was out taking my machine in for TLC.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, darn it. I didn't get a single picture of the quilt top I turned in today. It looked so much like the first one I got it confused. Now, I'll have to make another one of those just to get a picture.   The first one is pictured above and had a soft blue border. The second one sported one of the prettiest little rose-and-green florals on a super dark green border I've ever seen. I bought it last year at a shop I've visited a few times in the last 3 years. It got back to me the shopkeeper passed away (she was 96), so now the few little scraps I have left of the yard will become so preciously dear as I think of this kindly lady and her wonderful quilt shop on Sawdust Road.

Nobody offered fabrics like hers. I heard her son sold off all the inventory, instead of selling the store to someone else. Well, nobody had her eye for fabrics and the variety she offered.

Some people are one-of-a-kind.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning was fun. I worked on turning point blocks last year. here's one completed:

And well, it's plain to see, my work today is cut out for me.


----------



## freedombecki

Turning point blocks look like little propellers all lined out. I worked  some yesterday and some today. There are now at least 40 completed  propellers, and I've been trying to square them up into 8" squares as I  go. Here's another couple of pics of turning point. Do you think they  look like little toy propellers, too? I've been looking everywhere for a  name for these. I used to know it, too. *sigh.*


----------



## freedombecki

More of this and yesterday's blocks, turning propellers


----------



## freedombecki

More thinking about sashes. Maybe some of the trillion little squares I  have cut out in a box would be a good way of getting rid of them and  making an unusual quilt, too. I just kept stacking up the cuts of  propeller squares like the above in every color plus neutrals, brown and  black. I'm starting to love this quilt. By doing only 10 squares a day  earlier this week, it still racked up a goodly amount, and this morning,  I made the triangles around a huge pile of propeller squares (for lack  of a better name). I really do need to find Barbara Brackman's book and  figure out what she named it or found in a resource at her disposal. I  did not find the squares in Jinny Beyer's encyclopedia nor British  author, Maggie Malone (2 of my favorites).The works today were fun!


----------



## freedombecki

And some more...


----------



## freedombecki

And some more I enjoyed the outcomes more than others:


----------



## koshergrl

I am digging out the quilt I've been working on tonight and I'm going to finish it...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I am digging out the quilt I've been working on tonight and I'm going to finish it...



That's so cool, koshergrl. I worked 10 hours and got 12 of the squares sashed with 1.25" squares. I was up at 4 am and worked on it until just a few minutes ago, stuck it on the printer, and came up with some pics to share


----------



## freedombecki

Sorry for the not-the-best show-n-tell. It so far measures about 28x38" give or take an inch or two, and it looks like an ok scrap quilt. It can be made at this point for a larger child, as it only has 12 blocks, each being almost 10." I can either add more rows for a taller child or just leave it as is, adding a couple of borders for a truly small child. Two borders 3 + 5 inches are 8" per side so it would add 16" to the width and 16" to the length, which would be about 42 x 52". hm  If I added one more row of 3 blocks and the borders, it'd be the same approximate width but 60" in length. That might be a good compromise, considering the time investment being made in this silly little quilt. 

If I leave it as is and settle for just the two borders, I know I have enough leftover blocks to make 4 small quilts, and at least 3 the same size. When you compare the propeller squares to the sashing squares, that's where the time is, in the sashing on this quilt. It likely overrides the propeller pattern, which is so simplistic, it doesn't matter. I love this little quilt & am pleased with the way it turned out overall. When I'm not so sore (sewing in the same position for numerous hours + fibromyalgia = achey) even though I have great supplements that knock out the big stuff. I can't think when I'm like this, so will wait till tomorrow to make a decision. I could quilt it if it were small enough, but if it gets much bigger, someone else will have to do that.


----------



## Sunshine

Should you ever find yourself in this area, don't pass up the National Quilt Museum.

The National Quilt Museum


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Should you ever find yourself in this area, don't pass up the National Quilt Museum.
> 
> The National Quilt Museum


Thank you, Sunshine. I'd love to get to see that museum every day of the week! A few years back, we represented our little quilt store at a national convention in Knoxville and rented a car to go to Paducah. What a joy to see all that quality, excellent work of other quilters. The day we went, Caryl Bryer Fallert had half a dozen or so of her dazzling works of art hanging that were pure eye candy. There was also a very unique display, doh, can't remember the exact reason, but there was a group of extra-charged quality quilts made by women from around the country. We're talking half-inch postage stamp work akin to counted cross stitch and many other types of precision work you don't see in every quarter.

You have a treasure there, and I'm honored you'd like for me to see it. It's one of America's proudest museums anywhere, I only wish it had as many square feet as the Hermitage museum near St. Petersburg, Russia. There's a lot of talent in this land, and Paducah Ky's National Quilt Museum takes the cake imho. Their staff must be wizards of dedication and strongly wise persons.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Should you ever find yourself in this area, don't pass up the National Quilt Museum.
> 
> The National Quilt Museum
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you, Sunshine. I'd love to get to see that museum every day of the week! A few years back, we represented our little quilt store at a national convention in Knoxville and rented a car to go to Paducah. What a joy to see all that quality, excellent work of other quilters. The day we went, Caryl Bryer Fallert had half a dozen or so of her dazzling works of art hanging that were pure eye candy. There was also a very unique display, doh, can't remember the exact reason, but there was a group of extra-charged quality quilts made by women from around the country. We're talking half-inch postage stamp work akin to counted cross stitch and many other types of precision work you don't see in every quarter.
> 
> You have a treasure there, and I'm honored you'd like for me to see it. It's one of America's proudest museums anywhere, I only wish it had as many square feet as the Hermitage museum near St. Petersburg, Russia. There's a lot of talent in this land, and Paducah Ky's National Quilt Museum takes the cake imho. Their staff must be wizards of dedication and strongly wise persons.
Click to expand...


Ah, so it seems we are better known that I realized!


----------



## freedombecki

My shop's in the least populated state. I'm next to anonymous, therefore.  I had to leave the state due to my health a couple of years back. I left it in capable hands, told helplers to continue doing all the good in the community they could. They've hosted educational classes in quilting and start up a charity quilting event any time there's a need. Last I heard, they'd sent a dozen quilts to earthquake-stricken Japan and probably twice that many locally per year. They're the best women I know. One spent years making quilts for the new baby in her Church, the other spent years in her church serving elderly members who couldn't do for themselves any more. They also do so many things for the community, I couldn't start to count their commitment to do good things for everyone they meet. Makes me feel good to think about them.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I played around with some postage stamp squares of which I have one bazillion sewn into "twosies" (a light and dark strip of 1.75" quilter's cotton fabric) and then sliced the same width (1.75") which finishes into a 1.25" postage stamp. Not sure where I'm going with this, but it is a beginning spiral. The last row was by far the most challenging. I made so many truly space cadet errors, and had to rip out squares by the twelves, then sewed the last row on upside down, ripped, redid, and proceeded to sew the squares weirdfully, somehow, sewed them all back on. I thought I saw an easy fix whereby one square could be removed, carefully sewn back in ( a real pain considering how small they are and how small the stitches had to be to make them "stay" at the edges. So after that was done, one of the pieces was a light instead of a dark, and oh, after sewing several pieces together over and over, I was really not pleased, considered daubing dark fingernail polish over the bloody yellow carnations, except I'm allergic to nail polish, too, so I no longer stock nail polish among my souvenirs. Finally, got it sewed back on with a dark replacing the yellow carnation to continue the maze-like spiral it turned out to be. Also, the many resewn and trimmed and retrimmed piece didn't fit very well, but I was beyond caring. Maybe tomorrow I'll do better than today. Smarter quilters than me use 4" squares, and they have a quilt after a few hundred squares are sewn together (390). If this one becomes a couch-potato sized quilt, (60x80")  it will have over 3000 squares in it (they finish to be 1 1/4" across) *sigh* 

Below is my current nemesis fun Sundays project (measures 8x10.5" so far):


----------



## freedombecki

I completed borders on 8 more of the little blocks, so now, it's sew them together, tack on a couple of borders and try to find a way to get a picture of them onto the computer to share here and with a couple of pals of mine.


----------



## freedombecki

After sleeping on it, I decided that children need quilts to keep them warm in the wintertime until they leave home. I decided the quilt I was working on while precious in every way at 12 squares was too small to help the child through the later years of his or her childhood, and added 8 squares yesterday and completed three this morning. It now has 24 squares. I took it upstairs to the guest room where there is a full-sized bed. the small quilt without sashing covers the upper half of a double bed.

As it is it would take a small child to somewhere between 12-14 years old, depending on how tall. The quilt could be expanded by putting a 3-inch, a 1-inch, and a 5-inch border to add a couple of years to the child's age. 3 + 1 + 5 = 9. 9x2=18" all the way around so it would be 18 inches longer than it is now and 18 inches wider. The charity quilt people will be greatly nonplussed since I have requested my quilts go to a child whose family is on hard times. With thousands of state prisoners residing in cells in the county, there are probably families who have moved here to be near their incarcerated loved one. Some people are innocent of the crimes for which they were incarcerated as was found by Professor David Protess at Illinois Northwestern University. SteveLendmanBlog: Wrongfully Banishing Professor David Protess

The quilt is going to be 50% bigger than it was on Tuesday. 

Time for a nice walk around the lake out back. We had an egret and a heron there already today. I'm not seeing a lot of ducks this year. Maybe they are shy of the huge great white egret and great blue heron.


----------



## afraidcrrazy

Some tips for creating handmade quilts fascinating home
If you know how to make beautiful handmade quilts, then you will not find any need to buy quilts in shops. Homemade quilts are wonderful and make you love yourself. To measure the degree of ease of doing a quilt handmade quilt is advisable to make a beautiful baby at first. This will help provide comfort to make a handmade quilt complete and attractive without any stains. 

It is easy to make a homemade quilt will be very easy and comfortable if you make one or two baby quilts. You must select some old sheets that are no longer in use or lost its luster. Use this bed sheet or Turkish bath towels or to make a baby quilt. However, do not forget to join the courts if there is any order that gives strength to the subject. 

The next step is to decide the size of the quilt that you will do and cut the bedding accordingly. Trying to cut the leaves as minimal as possible and verify if it do not need to cut the bed sheet or a sheet of extra long bed. If too long, just fold and cut the one hand, while spreading the linen on the floor. 

With simple tools, you can make great homemade quilts in different patterns. You can use any type of tissue or a cloth to pad if it is strong enough to adjust for wear. You will be able to transform different types of fabrics in stylish handmade quilts. However, georgette or satin is more suitable for the manufacture of homemade quilts. It's good to do a bit of embroidery if you are skilled with needle and thread to increase the sale value of homemade quilts. 

The best feature homemade quilts is that you can fully customize. If you make the quilt at home gives you the freedom to decide the thickness of your handmade quilt, plus the choice of size and design. Once you decide the size and design, you can join the leaves with long diagonal stitches and borders. You must repeat the points leaving enough gaps based on the outline and the total size of your quilt. You can search the Internet to find some famous and attractive patterns. 

To make beautiful quilt designs, instructions and the basic steps are almost same in all cases. There are different types of patterns to make your quilt more attractive. If you apply the technique of quilting, you can create stunning plaid patterns. Checks can use different sizes and color according to your taste. Floral designs are common in quilts and bed sheets and it is good to make a flannel quilt. The borders are very simple and easy patterns for quilting. With one color, you can make wonderful quilts with patterns of the border. Kids love the colorful designs and embroidery and much can be used in baby quilts. It is interesting to make your quilt attractive patch work. You can use this pattern implemented through the use of cutting pieces of fabric itself.


----------



## freedombecki

Welcome to USMB, afraidcrazy. So glad you dropped down here to talk about your quilts, and it sounds like you love quilting so much you want to share your techniques with others. There are so many ways to use things one already has or procure for free (such as everyone in the family and neighborhood's old turkish towels for batting.) Back when I found a sale on hand rags of towelling, I got 18 for $3.00 somewhere, and am still using them for layering with other cotton materials for making stay-cool potholders for the kitchen. I've also used towelling as batting for pillows with pieced orphan blocks to cheer up a senior nursing home resident or two. It's all good and fun!

Please feel free to share pictures here on this thread of your work/process/finished quilted items. I've posted a lot throughout the thread, and hope you will, too.

I'm right happy you showed up here! Welcome, I'm sending you a rep and hope you come back many, many days.

Do you like crazy quilts? I had a crazy block around my stuff somewhere, and am sure it will turn up in the next week or so, especially if I go on a much-needed kick of sorting my sewing areas in the house out and recategorize colors after cutting a bazillion strips for my never-ending postage stamp projects.

Again, welcome!


----------



## freedombecki

The little start before I finished the last one is now growing, row by row, and it's grown now to be about 30" wide and 40" long, which would be approximately 25 by 33 rows wide and long or about 825 postage stamp squares. I like them to be a little longer and a little wider than that, but it's a lot of work to attach a row of light and darks all the way around a center, and I must've ripped out every corner twice until I finally caught on that you have to have 3 darks on the outside of each 4-square corner. That way it looks like a big maze, with a light trail to the center after going around and around the rectangular area. (Putting the center block back up that shows the start. The lights keep going, and the darks keep going to the outside row. Yesterday, I did the dark and light rows around the world, and this morning, I almost finished the same. It'd be a real feather in the cap to do another full round by nightfall. After a couple of more rounds (or just the next complete round, I can decide if that will work for a small child's quilt. I don't mind going to 1,000 squares, but it would take 2,000 squares to approach the size of the last "older child" quilt I did, and a couple of more weeks. Not sure I want to go there.


----------



## freedombecki

Think this current project will never get big enough. I added another couple of rows, and it just is too much work. The trouble with donating to good causes is management. They see a treasure, and it is decided it would be a good seller in a gift shop. So they put a price on it that does not begin to approach the amount you spent on getting enough different pieces of fabric together to make a charm postage stamp quilt. 

Definition of charm quilt is the crux of the issue. A charm quilt never replicates the same fabric twice, unless it is composed of 9 or 10 different prints to make a cheater quilt. Then you have to cut the 9 or 10 pieces out, leaving your original quarter of a yard looking like someone's target practice, not flattering to the amount of money you spent now that quilt fabrics are $10 a yard plus shipping. lol

So, what I think I'll do is save up my postage stamp efforts for a one-woman quilt show some day and use them to pattern larger quilts after I go through the agony of piecing the first 4 rows by ripping and redoing.

That will hopefully save me from overzealous managers who "wisely" make money with your travail, a rich person gets a huge bargain, and the poor kid you were hoping would get a treasure from an artist gets a cheater cloth polymonster someone could buy at a junk store for a song, wash, and ship off to the nearest orphan or shelter service on -barf- a polyester batting. barf-barf-barf.

So you didn't improve the poor child with your two months' agony and ecstacy of creating a quilt due to middle managers set between giver and recipient.

I worked on a foundation for my church once. They taught that if the giver put a limitation on the gift, it was to be respected. If he gave $1,000 to be sent to tsunami victims when they had the great earthquake, the church is to find the appropriate receiver to go towards its designation--say, digging a new well where people can get uncontaminated well water rather than salt-water savaged wells near the coast that got ruined in the disaster.

In the 23 years I ran a quilt store, 2 times I was approached by various charitible organizations--one a museum, and one a retirement home for the disadvantages about showing a quilt that would be returned. Both times my quilts were "lost" and the people asking for the donation left within the 6 months I was to allow my quilts to be used for aesthetic enjoyment of their visitors.

If you spent 6 months making 3 quilts, you'd be pissed off, too, since somebody relieved the agency of the responsibility of returning my quilts, and the paperwork got convenient lost.

So, I guess I will now focus on replicating the quilt in larger squares that will result in a quilt that looks ok but not so ok a middle manager of gifts would like it for herself or one of the people she owes a favor to, to be purchased for 40 bucks in the charity quilt store by someone looking to pay nothing for something another person spent several months making and over a thousand dollars at various quilt sales, shops, and wherever she could find the right print for a certain hub in the charm quilt that would define a corner or prevent a visual blob from appearing where a blob was not wanted.

One thing's for sure, I sure got a lot of leftover fabric to make big squares with, having to buy a half yard for every little square represented in the quilt. Since 800x $5. for a typical half yard of quilter's cotton is there, I spent $4,000 getting there, and the work is not done yet. Last month, I had the misery of seeing one of my quilts donated for the benefit of a shelter child being sold in the local artist's gallery for $40. It consists of a matched collection of Maywood studio Western prints from a collection of about 14 years ago that cost my shop $3,000 to carry the complete collection of 40 fabrics for customers who didn't have the slightest inkling that matched collection quilts sell for ten times what a regular quilt sells for, provide the quilt collector knows the collection.

But I'm not going to let my anger grow, I'm just going to do some not-so-hot quilts that still look pretty good but do not have collector features I was hoping would benefit a child. The real problem is nobody donates money for batting for these projects, and batting costs have gone through the roof in the last 3 years, and we're talking 75% inflation for pure cotton, well-behaved battings that do not separate during the heavy-duty wash cycle of an article that was urped on, either.

*sigh*

Well, I have to go plan the new quilt and try to get the other one into a semblance of art form for a 1-man show. If it makes any money whatever, maybe I can become a donor to the batting project, and they won't have to sell someone else's treasures to raise enough money for 3 quilts by selling a masterpiece quilt for nothin'. 

/whiney rant


----------



## freedombecki

From the XXX Arts thread, I quickly did this one:

It later occurred to me, it would make a good "sampler" work to make a small sample of my work in order to gauge the time it takes to do a small quilt, and on that basis, calculate a minimum wage + social security benefit I would have to use as an asking price to sell this particular size of  postage stamp quilt work. I used uneven numbers in the makeup on purpose because to get a point, you have to have one square. If the piece were symetric and you tried to use an even number, you would be headed for trouble or a nonpoint work, or one so large, you'd have to make it the size of a football field to get the point effect. Honest.

uneven number to center postage stamp object:

X
XXX
XXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXX
XXX
X

Even numbers have their place, too, particularly when you are trying to make your square conform to the quilter's 12" finished square idea for group project items whereby the newest quilter is required to put the blocks together, since she doesn't know that not every quilter will produce a square that measures an exact twelve inches when she is done. 

OK, just for illustrative purposes, here's a square that under the right given measurement might equal twelve inches finished at the end of the day:

XX
XXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXX
XX

See? You may get 12" if you play your cards right, but akkkk! There's no sharp point in the second figure. And even in the second figure, you're using flattened squares if you even come close to 12 inches finished, which would exacerbate any thought of having a point, except perhaps horizontally 

Now, I'm gonna go try and eke out the first illustration in postage stamps, to see if it comes out okay on the printer to get the visualization out to the people who read this thread occasionally but do not say anything. 

Ok, the first one is 7 high and 7 wide. So let me do a little math on my 'puter's calculator to get answers for 
a 1.25" x 7 (width) = 8.75 inches
b 1.25" x 7 (heighth) = also 8.75 inches.

12 - 8.75 = 3.25 inches
So I will need 3.25 + .5 = 3.75" strips to accommodate a seam allowance all the way around the 8.75 + .5 = 9.25 theoretical unfinished size
This makes it a perfect unfinished 12.5" size to finish out at 12" in an overall quilt. 

I'll try to make a sample that measures the 9.25" size. Hey, that's a potholder or a miniature wallhanging! ​


----------



## freedombecki

In review, the "square" I said was 7x7 but looked like a 60-degree diamond, more or less? )

X
XXX
XXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXX
XXX
X

It' looks longer than it is tall, because as shown in the XXX Art thread, the X's require 5 Xs to equal in size horizontally 9 "."s. Vertically, space is added between already-not-square Xs, which if blown up, you could see they are based point-by-point on a rectangle that is taller than it is wide. That said, see the square below which corresponds (with a lot of textures of quilt fabrics thrown in, roughly to the "graph" above:​


----------



## freedombecki

In Log Cabin form, light and dark rows around a center square are called the "Courthouse Steps" block. A similar block is called "Steps to the White House." In the square below, I have taken the steps using postage stamps. Ergo, I'm calling it "Steps to the Post Office." in honor of those who have worked hard through over two centuries delivering mail for not only the colonies, but for our beautiful America:


----------



## freedombecki

Here are back and front versions of the 7-patch postage stamp quilt square in potholder form. This morning, I gathered batting, backings, and old washed turkish towel center layer for making my 7-layer potholders that are as close to impervious to heat as I can get from using all-cotton materials.


----------



## freedombecki

This week, it's log cabins. They're lots of fun. Just cut center squares, and work your way around using strips. Try to make them all the same size or not.


----------



## Samson

I hope s'bones posted in this thread: Practically the entire income of Appalachia depends on the patchwork quilt and rusty clothes dryer industries.


----------



## freedombecki

This week, it's log cabins. They're lots of fun. Just cut center squares, and work your way around using strips. Try to make them all the same size or not. 

The pictures are from a good online tutorial, the cover of an antique quilt book cover, "In Love With Log Cabin Quilts" by Linda Baltzell, and an antique quilt from ebay that was selling in 2009(?) or something.


----------



## freedombecki

Anyway, the one I'm working on is a quickie with strips that are 1.75" and are 1.25" when done. The strips were leftover from all my postage stamp projects. I just kept cutting them, and they kept accumulating in bags. Monday morning seemed to be a good day to do something with the strips. lol! I'm going to finish some more this morning, so I probably will be cutting and sewing today.

Yesterday was a disaster. After sewing all morning, we hopped into the car to find a suitable border. We drove for 2 hours to a quilt store where I thought I saw some pretty stuff, only to find the door locked saying "closed Mondays." lol. So we drove another hour to Bryan, TX, where I went to JoAnne's and found one and only one fabric that would "do. It's a pretty blue contemporary leaf with electric blue leaves on navy ground, arranged like table settings in a posh store (far from the antebellum reproduction navy fabric with little florets on it I'd put off buying). Oh, well, the blocks are so huge, I'll have to put one on the printer that doesn't have the outer row on it. (the blocks measure 11" when sewn, showing 6 lights and 6 darks around the red centers.

The red is the color quilters used in the nineteenth century to tell their friends their life was happy. Black in the center told their friends "the fire has gone out." I just like the red centers. They say "happiness here."


----------



## freedombecki

Since the completed raw-edge squares don't exactly fit my printer in their big size, I am showing a small raw-edge square that doesn't have the outside strips sewn on (2 light and 2 dark need to be added). The larger square is placed on point to show all outer strips, which don't look right when you put them on the standard paper printer. 

As you can see, my work is cut out for me today.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally found the image of George Washington on one of the Purple Heart Quilts. A friend of mine who served as a frogman in special services sent me the purple heart website. From there, I could see the beautiful purple heart medals and designed this block. My Dad won two of them in WWII and Korea, not sure which or where since he didn't talk about it much, but anyway, it took a long time to locate it. The quilt is at the bottom of page 4, post 115 as of 11/24/2011.





I can't remember whether the quilt went to Senator Craig Thomas, a year before he passed on, Rep. Barbara Cubin, or Senator John Barasso, all of Wyoming, for distribution when the Purple Heart Quilters were going at my shop. A couple of boxes went directly to the Chaplain at Walter Reed Hospital, back when it was still there.

I so love our troops. They're the finest in the hearts of their fellow countrymen!

Just like George Washington who was described as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow countrymen." What a wonderful man to take a request for tokens to the Continental Congress for their sacrifices in the Revolutionary War where a wound could take you out or cause you an amputation if things got ugly. I'm so sorry our troops were so terribly wounded recently, and I'm so grateful for the ones who get on those prosthetics and wheelchairs and inspire others to stay in life by running races, just like people with everything intact do.

God bless our dear troops.


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes, I find a fabric company that brought a beautiful new fabric in for quilters to make into their quilts. I'm especially pleased when I find one like that of Windham Fabrics in their "Heart of a Nation" collection. I had to blow theirs up to show it better. I'm so inspired. And it's what America needs now, as we get into the upcoming political season where hot and cold air can crack pavements. Just look at the balm for us all:


If you can't read it, the inscription says:
 "Love Unites Us"





The rest of the collection can be seen at the link.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes, since I forgot to bring the single motif here, the "blowup" (you will have to click on the thumbnail to see it in the bigger size I blew it up into), and it is credited to Windham Fabric Heart of a Nation collection:

​


----------



## freedombecki

Samson said:


> I hope s'bones posted in this thread: Practically the entire income of Appalachia depends on the patchwork quilt and rusty clothes dryer industries.


Well, you _could_ use your charms as a forum hunk to tell her to come on over, then, Samson. Strollingbones may have a good story or two about quilts everybody would enjoy. 

Today's progress (mundane as it is):

Leftover twosies from sacks of strips I sewed together at some point long ago to make postage stamp quilts are put in a sack and used for various quilt projects for charity. I have over 40 sacks, each filled with way more than 1,000 sewn twosies (2 thousand pieces)

Some of these leftovers are usually scattered around my sewing area because they were set aside for one reason or another: some are 2 lights that have no contrast and upset the vital light-dark properties of a traditional 4-patch, which look more like puss in the corner if you use them with other balanced-looking 4-patches.

I sewed twosies with annoying mid-tone strips, well sometimes, (too dark to be light, and too light to be dark) for a border to make the quilt a little longer to cover sweet little  toes in cold weather an extra year tacked on to childhood use, hopefully, and will probably put a  corresponding one on the other end. That will add 5 inches with two  borders of small squares with strips between. I scooched 2 ends onto the  screen of my printer/scanner and here's the result, along with a piece from the middle of the border and the log cabin square (in case the page gets changed): 

​


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes, this is going onto the log cabin quilt. I only used 12 of the 48 squares mentioned in an earlier post somewhere, adding 4 squares of all-light squares sewn around a 4-patch squares that had, somehow, no contrast as planned. Instead of tearing them up once I realized how bad they were contrast wise, I just saved them for other purposes.

Anyhow, using them in the scrap border along with other unused strips, also remind us of our mothers and grandmothers, who used everything up making utility quilts when times were tough. It's like everything else in history that gets forgotten.

Our society became successful on the backs of now-nearly-anonymous mothers and homemakers who cooked, cleaned, swept, and did all the thankless jobs that make a house a home for others to have the time to learn to read, write, do homework, paint, grow up, and learn from their mothers the give-and-take of family and friends, good manners, speech courtesies, and social interactions.

Without them we couldn't have come to be a society that could determine winners in WWI, WWII, etc. where men knew obedience accomplishes objectives.

It's no wonder we are losing and will continue to lose world prestige by displacing child bearers into other fields of interest in which children are considered a burden. In 20 years, people treated like burdens in youth continue to think that's what life is--being a burden, so they live down to the low expectations their upbringing required, with everybody being away and too busy to answer their need for appreciation that home-bound mothers gave Americans through the 60s. Then women began getting college degrees or doing office work, sometimes part-time and sometimes, full-time, to meet economic demands children learned on tv sponsorships as "needs" they were told would make them more important among their admiring friends. 

Now our lives are practically ordered by commercials that teach young, gullible children what their parents must provide for them to make them American kids. And when older, they learned signals from admired television and theater icons who used their beauty and the artifices of thespians to convince people to dress this way or that way using "in" colors of this year and throwing the lime green wardrobe of last year away in favor of wearing the pink wardrobe of this as shown by the icons of the screen, paid to wear what the wardrobe department was given by manufacturers in return for showing off their artists' tastes in clothing and having millions of similar items for sale across the land.

So that's why I try to add leftovers--in honor of a time when our nation's mothers, facing tough economic times, used up everything they could lay their hands on to make warm blankets for cold winter nights when fuel could be scarce for one reason or another.

Somehow, our nations bumbles along trying this and that out, but we're here because in the building phase of our country, people used what they had. In the 30s, they had a little saying everyone knew (and my mother taught it to me when I was young and expected me to respect it):

"Use it up,
wear it out,
make it do,
and do without.​


----------



## freedombecki

And here some of it is:
Also, in the first picture, you can see the tip of the star that is formed by the log cabin dark and light blocks one of which is shown above.


----------



## freedombecki

On the log cabin top of this child-sized-to-be quilt, I made additionally 4 light squares to be used between the star points at the corners. I've made over 50 log cabin quilts, and I got to liking the star format that uses 16 squares. I might see if I can find one again on my computer in case it's on the preceding page and add it below with the light square. Sorry I don't seem to have one of the pictures. I have to do that one of these days--get my quilt album out and show you some of my real life's work. Tonight, though, I'll just make do with what is already saved in my pictures and downloads files. And also found an antique fan quilt in one of my searches a year or so ago. Below, the light log cabin square has an orange center, and in my kitchen the orange competed with an adjacent blue square:


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I ran into a really pretty patriotic 4-patch assembled from leftovers in the last couple of days (I hoard rw&b prints like a miser hoards money). heh.

Anyhow, I started looking through stuff and started sewing some more last night and this morning. I had quite a pile of fabrics next to the sewing machine in the kitchen, so it took some serious hunting and searching, but I have some squares I wanted to record while I was saying my prayers for American and allied troops everywhere this morning. They faithfully discourage monsters from wiping out whole villages of people who are citizens of their own country. The monsters use toxins which if unleashed on the world, would only leave a few thousand souls scattered to the 4 corners. Thank God for American and Allied troops who eliminate that kinda stuff. Here's the menagerie of squares arranged onto the screen first with spaces, second on point, and third scooched together to get all 9 4-patches on the scanner glass:


----------



## strollingbones

you do beautiful work......i love quilts .....i would love an amish quilt...but cant afford it.....quilts are time consuming and you never get paid for the time


----------



## freedombecki

strollingbones said:


> you do beautiful work......i love quilts .....i would love an amish quilt...but cant afford it.....quilts are time consuming and you never get paid for the time


Thank you, Ms strollingbones. I've made a few Amish style quilts--can't remember exactly what I did with the one resembling a centennial quilt someone put on the cover of a quilt book (or something), and I loved it. Not sure the outcome of the quilt except to say it was one of my favorite pieced quilts, though I am an applique artist in general. I only became a proficient piecer to help other quilters who needed to learn to deal with accuracy which helps the overall look of a quilt.

I'm pleased you showed up, Ms. strollingbones. Mr. Samson was pretty sure your part of the world has a love for quilts like no one else's. 

I had such a good time playing with the red white and blue squares this morning, I decided I'd better knuckle down and finish up the top border at least, so I did two photographs on the copier of the lower border which wasn't even started this morning, and the outer red was just a plus. Proportioning out an inch here and an inch there to lengthen the quilt paid off by the addition of the top and bottom 2-patch 1-strip pieced border, and the second shot is of the funky colors in the center. It doesn't take much to do a scrappy quilt that's a little funky and fun when it's done.


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes, it seems like no progress is made although you cut as many strips and sewed as many things together as ever, or you just tackled an in-your-face unfinished project to the point where it looks like something that's hurrying you on to the finish line by saying, "finish me!" Well, all that happened this morning between 4:15 am and 9:15 (or within a quarter hours' range), which is pushing 5 hours. I'm having to mop the kitchen tiles down every day to insure that when I place the quilt down as a final check to make sure the pieces are facing the correct way, they can be immediately pinned and sewn with more ease than sewing them on the wrong way, and losing half an hour to rip 24" of 2 mm stitches. Such is the life of a quilter, oh, yes, and pinning when piecing is as essential as taking a vitamin daily to help you resist bugs and vermin. (Thiamine makes you untasty to mosquitos and they will eschew your flesh if you take it). If you hear someone say "the mosquitoes love me," you're talking to a B1-vitamin deficit person, most likely.

What was the subject? Oh yea, I worked me little buns off this morning, and all I have to show for it are these 4 tiny, begging to be added to the pile four-patches, which I sewed in honor of the founders and Declaration of Independence signers, whose families were made to suffer harsh consequences by the bloody Brits of 1776. 

God bless them and us all.


----------



## freedombecki

Sewed some more and put the little squares on top of the others. The four-patches only measure 3" in the unfinished state. I cut a lot of sewn strips sidewise today. Well, back to it.  Oh, and I found a little purple flower out in the field today. You have to get away from the sewing machine sometimes and just go out and take a little walk to keep your back straight.  Have a lovely day, all. I might just go back and work on a couple of outer borders on quilts I've discussed above. Then, I'll just take them down and donate them to children's needs in the community nearby.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I want to talk about mistakes in quilting. Just sharing some samples sewn from my table today. I may  have at least one repeat, which brings me to 2 little problems--there are  two things I'd have preferred not to have done. A charm quilt is one  that has no duplications of cloth patterns in any 2 pieces (except the  background, if a background is used, i.e. muslin). The pictured squares below have at least one  duplication--the what-do-I-do-with-this-darn-piece-of-pink-polka-dotted-fabric that shows on the two upper 4-patch squares. That tells me that this  will never be a perfect charm quilt, because I'm sewing the same strips  together and finding the same patterns sewn together in the last 3 years  from my 40 bags of squares. I'm a little older now, and I sometimes  find myself using a piece I forgot I used yesterday, a week ago, a month  ago, years ago, etc. My sharp memory has retired along with me. *sigh*

I'm going to let it  happen. I once went to a critique of quilts the year my southwest quilt  got Best of Show at the Wyoming State Fair. It was the product of  classes for ladies in my community who wanted to do a southwest quilt,  so every week, I designed a new square for their delight, to construct  like a Baltimore album quilt--with certain little twists. A sashing that  rocked but literally ate hours up off the face of the earth. 

Pardon  my going off the subject.  The second anomaly this grouping shows is  that little piece of fabric that shrunk and shrunk also showed up in the  scrap 4-patch square that shows up in the middle row on the right side.  The little wispy light blue fabric with royal blue flowers with bright  green leaves, so demure? You can really see the far distance it was off  (the full quarter of an inch), which precludes the piece from wise use.  You would have to either sew more of the fabric on it, which I may not  have since I purged my quilt fabric collection of questionably-contented  materials last year, and gave the scraps away to people who do artsy-crafty projects, such as sachets and other throw-away items, and  not fine quilting. The more I think about it, the more I realize how  badly that fabric shrunk. It's almost like someone printed up a finely  woven garbage bag, the way it shrinks, except not really that bad, it's  just that it shrunk a little the first time, more the second time, and a  n egregious amount the last time it was pressed. Cotton does not usually do any  shrinking under the iron. Fine quilter's cottons do not shrink nor  bleed into fabrics when they are washed. If they do, go back and look at  the bolt at the store. Write the name of the manufacturer off the bolt.  The next time you buy fabrics, do not buy that particular  manufacturer's products again. You don't want your work destroyed by a  company that does not do quality control to protect the serious quilter from bleeding fabrics which can and does affect other pieces by dying them in the bleeding process. Ergo otherwise your work today will  shriek like a freak in 20 years after washing and using and running  colors everywhere that manufacturer put purple, red, orange, turquoise,  and anything mixed with those 3 colors to arrive at another color. You  do not want trouble in your quilt. When you have purple, red, orange,  turquoise or teal in the quilt, you might consider first sewing a small  swatch to each piece onto a background of white muslin, wash and dry it  in your regular wash, and see if there is any stain near the stitching  lines made by your sewing machine. Splotches? I cannot say if  manufacturers of the first decade of this century and the 1990s fixed  the problem, but there was one offender I kept buying anyway, because my  favorite quilt artist designs for them, so I would do the fix:

1/2  cup vinegar mixed with 1 gallon of water in the bottom of the washing  machine basin OR 1 cup salt mixed with the same and dissolved before adding washable  cotton quilt fabric. Put on cycle you would use if you were getting catchup, dog hair, and grass stains in your regular wash. 

Some quilters wash everything. Some quilters wash nothing.

I  can't tell you which school you are or should be from, wash or sew new, but whichever you prefer,  just follow this rule of thumb: either wash all of them or wash none of  them. If you mix washed fabrics with not washed fabrics, you are asking  for big trouble. That's why it is important to check fabrics for bleeding PRIOR TO THE TIME YOU START CUTTING.

Take your large piece of fabric back to the shop where you purchased it along with your small swatch sewn onto white muslin, at which time it bled into the white fabric as your proof that the fabric really is a dog, if you do not care to vinegar or salt wash it to end the bleeding. I forgot to mention, after the wash, you need to rinse the vinegar out or it will eat your fabric up. Use cold water to set the color.

If you really, really love the offending fabric, get another piece of white muslin and sew a small swatch from the newly-set fabric, and run it back through the wash to see if the setting process fixed the problem (there are times nothing will fix the problem.) I've washed one fabric 30 times and it still bled. I just changed the background color to a light tealy-blue to avoid serious appearance issues after washing the quilt. The fabric was one of the most beautiful cerise rose print onto a dark teal background, and I just couldn't give up using it. The 30th final rinse water turned a little blue, but not a lot. Still, that's bleeding and can ruin a white-on-white fabric you just paid $11.00 a yard for. So you can still get a contrast from dark to light by doing that if you just HAVE TO have that one-of-a-kind bleeders in your quilt.

I have no bleeders to show, but after my grandma passed, a Betsy-Ross and Uncle Sam wallhanging I had made for her American Legion Auxiliary service for 50 years had gotten wet and the navy flag blue background had dyed the pale gray liberty bells a splotchity blue, along with the white stripes in the red-and-white border I had so painstakingly pieced. I felt sorry I had failed to wash a suspect blue fabric. Flag blue is so very dark, it has to be overprocessed on the dye tables, and I had just up and ignored the fact in my haste to get her present to her.

Grandma was a washer, and I just didn't realize it. My wallhangings didn't get yukky in Wyoming due to thin air. In muggy Houston Texas where my grandmother lived, Things get grimy just from the enzymes in humid air, I guess, and they need a good washing and airing frequently. So many of the quilters here are wash-firsters. Almost all the quilters I knew in Wyoming used crisp new fabrics.


----------



## freedombecki

Oops! had a phone call and got interrupted before posting that last one sans a picture. Here's some stuff I did this week. Note that the "propellers" are now "down under propellers" because they're going the other way. hahahahaha. I've had a three day binge of quilting errors. Here goes the damages:

Picture 1: repeat polkadot print and in middle row, you can see the light blue fabric on the piece on the right has shrunk. Panacae: rip and redo, remove shrinky-dink blue small print and toss. add reverse red and white dot for light value side to replace dorky fabric AND QUIT BUYING THE $1.00/YARD STUFF AT ...........'s junk fabric store. (note to myself) 

Picture 2: Same fabric, bigger problems with shrinkage of "Unknown fiber content" fabric. (I even read the end of the bolt before having it cut and taking it home. Doh.)

Picture 3: The six itty bitty pieces? Rotary cutter blade error. The nice thing about rotary cutters is that you can cut up to 24 layers of fabric with a new blade on one. The downside is that you can cut up to 24 layers of fabric wrongfully, and the 6 pieces came from such an error. I took a break to go get donuts for breakfast, came back, forgot I'd cut a 3" piece for propellers, and proceeded to cut a 1.75" piece for the little squares...lol. Rotary blades are like computers--it's human to err, but you can really screw them up with rotary blades and computers.

Also in picture 3, I have a dangling piece. What happened to the missing side of the "down under propeller?" No clue, but it was there yesterday, I swear.

Panacae: pay attention before cutting. Also, sort pieces from scraps on a regular basis in and around the sewing machine or you will spend a lot of time digging through masses of strips and stuff to find your piece you need to finish something. Hmm, that happened last month in another sewing area, I could put the two lost mates together for a truly scrap horrible square, or could clean up both areas and find where each missing piece went. Oh, I couldn't any way. The first piece is from a politically correct propeller square. hahahahahaha!


----------



## freedombecki

Down-under propeller squares, and I'm not sayin' nothin except, what was I thinking????? 
And the moral to this story is: "As ye sew, also shall ye rip."


----------



## freedombecki

I did fix that navy dot and aqua square. It was a special square in which I had a thin gauzy fabric (the aqua) that had been attached over a piece of light blue oxford cloth shirting material to give it support and endurance. Oxford cloth chafes , but underneath a smooth piece of batiste that has been printed, it ups the lightweight fabric to suitability of use with other prints, and that's why I like it. I'm saving those squares to do another on-point propeller quilt, except this one will be a down-under propeller quilt because it goes down the drain the opposite way.  

In order to cover a lightweight solid fabric with broadcloth, basting needs to be done. In our mother's day, basting was all done by hand. In today's quilt-in-a-day climate of nearly instant gratification, a long machine stitch of 4mm or more does just fine. That way, if gathering or puckering is the result, it is easy to get a 1.5mm seam ripper blade under the stitch, whereas a 20-to-the-inch machine stitch is out of the question because the ripper finds its way into the two layers of fabrics at the seam line and could damage them beyond repair.

My projects since I got home have been to do quilt-as-you-go Chinese coins in a double border of fabrics in which the doner cut umpteen 3-yard-long 1.5" strips that I tried to launder, but which ended up in a tangle. I decided to dry and press the mass that was soaped up pretty good before I left last week, so decided to use them all up on a quilt-as-you-go style quilt panel situation that can be washed and any issues that arose from earlier efforts to clean (which resulted in a mass of fibers tangled in the most confused way) the fabric that may not have been effective due to their condition when removed from the washing machine early. It took two hours to sort and all day long yesterday to press and use as many of the strips as I could. The pot at the end of the rainbow is that the quilt will be ready to give to a homeless or abuse-sheltered child.


----------



## freedombecki

*repairs* 

The navy dotted down under propeller has been ripped and resewn. If you click on the image, you can vaguely see a stitch line attaching the oxford cloth shirting to the gauzy little aqua with bows and roses print. You have to be so totally careful when working with fabrics that have been basted together. It is better now than it was. The floralesque mod royal blue print was totally taken apart, and the shrunken disaster fabric put in the stuffing bin for charity pillows. I mean, really there, you can use useless stuff for something, and it will stuff nicely in a well-made pillow that doesn't show lumps and bumps when you quilt 3 layers and make it a quilted pillow throw in sham form so that you can remove it from the pillow, launder it well, and then slip it back over the preformed or stuffed pillow. These will be stuff. I talked everyone for miles around for their sewing room leavings, and I have two huge boxes full of the acquiescence of many quilters to my request.


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday's progress was to sew and quilt an approximately 20x60" piece, of which I copied a portion that shows embellishment quilt stitches through the adjacent pieces seams. I'm really quite thrilled with this project because it's fun and done all at the same time. If you click on the first photo, you can see my machine feather stitches in dusty pink threads. 

Oh, yes, and I think I will add a couple of other peoples' Chinese coin quilts I found here there and everywhere. The first is Amish, the second is just good and scrappy on a black border which pardons all quilt errors:


----------



## freedombecki

There are other examples of chinese coin quilts I found:

Chinese Coin Quilt, Framed all Around


----------



## freedombecki

More tours of ebay. If you're looking for a pretty quilt, or if you collect quilts you ought to give them a try. I've had pretty good luck with a shoestring budget and buying quilts and quilt fabrics there.

umm a pineapple. 

image 2, sailboats, cheap

image 3, pine tree detail.


----------



## freedombecki

This 1918 Red Cross quilt is commemorated as follows:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OVp3vEgpKM"]Red and White: 1918 American Red Cross Quilt - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Red and White Quilt Show Infinite Variety Extravaganza of Joanna S. Rose's Quilt Collection

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0e7HfB_yo"]Red & White Last Day - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Closeups of Red Works (shows quilting details, trapunto work on some of the quilts that makes them terrifically special):

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJn0B7yLBGI]Red and White - Infinite Variety: Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

I've been trying to post parts 2 and then 3, but the 2 file is nearly twice too large to allow here. However, if you follow You Tube, go to the website and search for Red and White Infinite Variety Part 2. When you get there, you should be able to access Part 3. The music is rather beautiful, some harps, harpsichord, and other instruments that make you feel you are back in time to a day when there was no mass marketing of cds and downloads of mp3s. The quilts are visually dazzling, there are a total of 651 very, very fine redwork and red and white quilts spanning 3 centuries. If you have ever picked up a needle and thread and felt annoyed it took you an hour to hem a pair of trousers, consider that the women who made some of these quilts put over a million stitches in some of them--all by hand over months and years of perseverance to the cause of completing a master quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Curator speech on Red and White Exhibit of Joanna S. Rose's collection

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc009Mo5uXY]Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts - YouTube[/ame]
​


----------



## freedombecki

I finished one of the star shaped from log cabin blocks today. It had a bluebonnet border. I would love to make all those red and white quilts, but there were 651 quilts, some taking quite some time, and the hand quilting was exquisite. What a total inspiration that show must have been. New York City has all the fun.


----------



## Sunshine

This weekend I'm going to take the time to look at this entire thread.  I love quilts.  My mother was an avid quilter.  I only made one in my home and that was for my sister when she married.  My plan was to do some quilting when I retire, but I also plan to paint, do photography, knit, and travel the US.  It has occurred to me that I need 2 or 3 more lives to do all the stuff I want.  And that just isn't happening.  I will buy that good set of Isabey brushes while I still work, though!  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> This weekend I'm going to take the time to look at this entire thread.  I love quilts.  My mother was an avid quilter.  I only made one in my home and that was for my sister when she married.  My plan was to do some quilting when I retire, but I also plan to paint, do photography, knit, and travel the US.  It has occurred to me that I need 2 or 3 more lives to do all the stuff I want.  And that just isn't happening.  I will buy that good set of Isabey brushes while I still work, though!  LOL


lol. I know how sisters go. I delivered a quilt top to my sister on her birthday (Dec. 7) and another for her best friend, and 5 yards to back each one with fabric each of them love. Today, I took two of the charity quilts I completed to the Charity Bees quilt closet and finished one at the shop who is kind enough to host Charity bees, so all toll, 3 to the good today. They will go to the local shelter for abused families, who usually are sheltering there also. Hope you enjoy the thread, Sunshine if you get a chance and have a lovely holiday season yourself. I love sitting in front of the sewing machine and just plowing through stacks of strips. One of my friends took a picture and was going to email it to me asap, but so far it hasn't happened. It usually shows up in my mailbox within 3 or 4 days. She's a busy quilt artist herself, and is quilting one of the charity quilts I made last summer. It's bricks in mortar. Oh, how I hope she will send me a picture of it. It's one of the truly prettiest 30s quilts I ever made. Except they really liked the log cabin 30s quilt that was quilted by anoter quilter last year in the summer. So there are 3 quilts with no pictures. Darn. I not only can't afford a cell phone that takes pictures, I wouldn't know how to use it if I got one. So, I just depend on friends to snap and send them. Think I'll check the box anyway. bbl.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, nothing in my mailbox, but I was looking at Christmas quilts to share here, and lo and behold, someone out there made a log cabin star almoooooooooooost like two I turned in today (though not in Christmas colors and very scrappy):






Credits at Sew-many-stitches blogspot

The difference is that the maker of the above quilt cleverly arranged the dark pieces and white pieces so that there are definite points N, S, E, & W on the quilt's map surface. Also, the blocks are arranged so that there are 8 star points around the center. Her last two rows on the outside of each block is a green holly print that define the points well and forms almost a cross in the center. One of the red and white quilts was actually a red cross quilt. That was one of the most popular patterns of the early 19th century with the familiar red cross help with wounded soldiers in times of world war, and many who volunteered during the war stayed on afterword and did charity work. See if I can dig one up someplace. Joanna S. Rose truly picked out quilts for her collection that had the most fabulous quilting on them, even the plain red striped ones.

The Red Cross Quilt






credits and history of the Red Cross Quilt with Pattern Page

Darn, I got the bug. I have to have one of those quilts!! I guess I will just have to wash up some muslim off the big roll I keep in one of my sewing areas, launder the turkey red fabric I've been saving for a couple of years... and get busy!  Oh, wait. I have to finish two more log cabins. This morning, before I was fully awake, I made 8 light squares to complete two more star quilts (with dark star points rather than light as the ones above) and when I sewed them to the light star points on my quilt, hahahahahahaha the star points disappeared heheh. 

So that's what I get for getting up at 4:30 am to sew. So, I made four dark corners, ripped the light ones off (I'd sewn 4 10-inch seams before I caught the glaring error). My repair came to 3 hours. What a silly ditz I can be some mornings. It threw me an hour late to go to Friday sewing day at the quilt shop to put 4 borders all the way around. Oh, yes, I bought more fabric (like I need more) and made the quilt into a fisherman's quilt with one of the prints being tiny named fishing hooks and flies printed on it plus a marine blue fantastic ocean swirls print designed by none other than Caryl Bryer Fallert who is a regular contributor at the Paducah Kentucky National Quilt Gallery.

The small cross at the page above: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 is made of 2 1/2" strips of red and 2 1/2" squares of white.

Also, an idea for a smaller quilt:





If it were enlongated a few rows, it'd make a great quilt for a shelter child. I really loved that redwork quilt show (above). It takes too long to watch them, but it's worth it if you realize how much time each quilt took.​
​


----------



## freedombecki

The first is an 8-row unique spruce tree that I designed in or around 1991-1995 when I gave free senior classes at my fledgling quilt store in Casper Wyoming. I've searched the world over and never found one single example of its pattern anywhere except among my souvenirs. The quilt was donated to the Artist's Guild of Casper for a raffle drawing fund raiser.

The second Christmas quilt is a log cabin Courthouse Steps arranged so that pinwheels form between 4 courthouse steps squares in a most tessellated manner. I saved it back, and when our favorite waitress at a local hotel restaurant got married, it got wrapped and given.

The third quilt is the first in a series of quilt squares I designed between 1991-1995 of young couples from around the world. The ones on this quilt are called "Children of the World" and have couples in folk costume of the cultures they are from around the turn of the 19th century in most cases, but not all. The quilt was done quilt-as-you-go-on-the-sewing-machine method and was the first all-machine made quilt to win the blue ribbon for applique quilts at the Wyoming State Fair in 1992. I kept accurate records of my time and clocked 600 hours in research in 3 local libraries to find a record of every shirt, skirt, cap, hat, and shoes worn by people on the quilt. Before I could complete the quilt, 7 of my completed and quilted squares disappeared from my shop. I was so sick over it, I couldn't look at one of those squares. It was a broken commandment of someone stealing, and I mourned for their fate and could not shake my sorrow for the plight they would someday have for stealing work a starving artist did to teach classes to make ends meet. My shop never did much financially, but I bided my time by writing 4 books on quilting, 11 manuscripts on embroidery and applique; dozens of pieced designs for quilts, of things I designed but could not find in any references, which hopefully are original; a few dozen original applique patterns to sell in the shop to help ends meet; etc. I quilted other people's tops when we invested in a Nolting's long arm quilter, but I was not very good at it. Even so, I finally figured out to look at the bottom of the work to ensure the stitches were even and not loose. The delivery man broke the quilt machine on delivery, but I just thought the bad stitches were my fault. My husband finally called the company, and they sent him repair instructions on timing the machine, replacing a couple of parts, and fixing it good enough so the bad stitches would not ever come back. That truly helped me do better work. I made an average of 40 quilts a year that were donated to one charity group or another until I contracted a disease called fibromyalgia, which took me from making 70 quilts a year down to 1 or 2 quilts every other year, with monumental pain that could not be controlled very well. That's now past, and I put up with some loss of mathematical ability with the pain control drugs of the pharmacology of this heinous condition.

I can still make quilt tops, though, and I love every second spent in the front of my sewing machine, even if I'm using a ripper, as I so often must do lately.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.

When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt. 

​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.
> 
> When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.
> 
> ​



I have started a Kelley green cross stitch quilt.  Am about half done with the cross stitch part.  Put it down when I got sick, but will pick it back up after New Year's.  Then I have another I want to do in a pinkish lavender, a colonial design.  Hope to get them both quilted, but if I don't, my kids can have it done.  

When I was a teen my mother quilted a Kelley green for a woman who had done the corss stitch but didn't know how to quilt.  I always wanted one like it.  The backing was green so the white quilting stitches made a design on the back of the quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.
> 
> When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have started a Kelley green cross stitch quilt.  Am about half done with the cross stitch part.  Put it down when I got sick, but will pick it back up after New Year's.  Then I have another I want to do in a pinkish lavender, a colonial design.  Hope to get them both quilted, but if I don't, my kids can have it done.
> 
> When I was a teen my mother quilted a Kelley green for a woman who had done the corss stitch but didn't know how to quilt.  I always wanted one like it.  The backing was green so the white quilting stitches made a design on the back of the quilt.
Click to expand...

Oh, Sunshine, I'm sorry you weren't feeling well, and hope you're doing a whole lot better from now on. I love cross stitch quilts, and am planning to work some of my postage stamp quilts as to cross stitch designs. I keep notebooks of grid paper to plot out a course. The best postage stamp quilts come from such preplanning. I had a very good friend of mine entrust 30 of her beautiful cross stitches to be put on a wounded soldier quilt back when our boys were getting damaged with IEDs that penetrated their super reinforced humvees. I sent hers directly to the chaplain at Walter Reeds (that was back when.) along with some others I had made. I got the kindest message back from him. They can't tell us the details, but he said something to the effect he particularly enjoyed giving one particular quilt to a soldier, and that it was especially meaningful to the wounded  soldier it was given to.(I knew which one he probably meant.) That letter just made me cry. I think I still have a pic of her quilt at my photobucket pic palace.

I found it! Here's Mrs. Spider's beautiful quilt. She did all SouthWest designs, and I had a bolt of the most beautiful Guatemalan rainbow sarape-look fabric in my shop, to go with her many beautiful colors:







Here's one of her designs. I only had one up-close in photobucket--oh, and I know why. I love ornithology:






It takes ever so much more hard work to do a quilt in cross stitch. I hope that you will get a pic of your top when it's done and share it. That one you better insure for five figures. Because that's how much you'd have to pay in labor to have one done by hand even if you were paying minimum wage. When I appraised quilts for insurance purposes, I included what it would cost me to replicate the quilt in skilled labor and unskilled labor costs plus materials at current market. Some didn't like me valuing people's work. Tough bananas. If they wanted my appraisal, it had to be fair my way of looking at it. Some people thought if grandma did it for free, it must not cost anything or be worth as much. That thought if expressed to me brought my primal survival urges to the surface. /end confession. ​​


----------



## freedombecki

freedombecki said:


> This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.
> 
> When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.


I get really confused when putting similar parts together. One gets turned and escapes my notice. seams are sewn. The error points to itself. The seam ripper comes out, and I get busy. The problem I had (above) in the quilt I worked on all morning (and finished the top) would still be in the confusion/rip/sew process had I not made a plan. They are below, with strips of the darks I used to go along with my quilt. It's not a perfect quilt--I had the wrong quantities of the right fabrics, so I just had to ooch and scooch them wherever. If you put lights in the middle and build your value scale appropriately, you get a radiant look. I was just glad to get a pink quilt outta my hair. For some reason, as pretty a color as pink is, I do very few pink quilts, and finding pink in one of my 600 quilt repertoire is not a common occurrence unless it is a scrap quilt in which anything goes, including pink. Here are photos of my Plan AB to firm plan B. (go figger); also, I placed a few of the beautiful pink fabrics used behind the plans on the screen of the scanner. One of the plan enlargements needs adjustments, so I just put a picture of some of the central area of the pink Fields and Furrows quilt on the scanner to show the pretty pink original fabric I thought I had enough of, but it only allowed me to cut 45, not 48 side strips. That made me go all over the house looking for a similar pink, but the nearest thing I could find was totally unlike the little shell borderesque print, it was too dark, a different color family, and the texture is an eyelash print, light on dark pink. Here's the solution I came up with to resolve the issue of not enough of either fabric to do the outside dark elbows of the log quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

3 Corners of the pink Fields and Furrows arrangement of my log cabin quilt:

Oh, not much else to say, except when you complete a quilt top, sometimes you get this happy feeling. I have that happy feeling.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.
> 
> When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have started a Kelley green cross stitch quilt.  Am about half done with the cross stitch part.  Put it down when I got sick, but will pick it back up after New Year's.  Then I have another I want to do in a pinkish lavender, a colonial design.  Hope to get them both quilted, but if I don't, my kids can have it done.
> 
> When I was a teen my mother quilted a Kelley green for a woman who had done the corss stitch but didn't know how to quilt.  I always wanted one like it.  The backing was green so the white quilting stitches made a design on the back of the quilt.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Oh, Sunshine, I'm sorry you weren't feeling well, and hope you're doing a whole lot better from now on. I love cross stitch quilts, and am planning to work some of my postage stamp quilts as to cross stitch designs. I keep notebooks of grid paper to plot out a course. The best postage stamp quilts come from such preplanning. I had a very good friend of mine entrust 30 of her beautiful cross stitches to be put on a wounded soldier quilt back when our boys were getting damaged with IEDs that penetrated their super reinforced humvees. I sent hers directly to the chaplain at Walter Reeds (that was back when.) along with some others I had made. I got the kindest message back from him. They can't tell us the details, but he said something to the effect he particularly enjoyed giving one particular quilt to a soldier, and that it was especially meaningful to the wounded  soldier it was given to.(I knew which one he probably meant.) That letter just made me cry. I think I still have a pic of her quilt at my photobucket pic palace.
> 
> I found it! Here's Mrs. Spider's beautiful quilt. She did all SouthWest designs, and I had a bolt of the most beautiful Guatemalan rainbow sarape-look fabric in my shop, to go with her many beautiful colors:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's one of her designs. I only had one up-close in photobucket--oh, and I know why. I love ornithology:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It takes ever so much more hard work to do a quilt in cross stitch. I hope that you will get a pic of your top when it's done and share it. That one you better insure for five figures. Because that's how much you'd have to pay in labor to have one done by hand even if you were paying minimum wage. When I appraised quilts for insurance purposes, I included what it would cost me to replicate the quilt in skilled labor and unskilled labor costs plus materials at current market. Some didn't like me valuing people's work. Tough bananas. If they wanted my appraisal, it had to be fair my way of looking at it. Some people thought if grandma did it for free, it must not cost anything or be worth as much. That thought if expressed to me brought my primal survival urges to the surface. /end confession. ​​
Click to expand...


5 figures?????   You can't be serious!

Edited to add:  That's a great quilt!  I was so shocked I forgot~!


----------



## Sunshine

Above is one block of my Kelley green.  It is just a stamped pattern.
  There are two shades of green working there, but it 's hard to tell in the pic.  I'm about half finished, I do recall that, but I don't recall exactly how many blocks it takes.  I also have to do the border around all the blocks.  Spare time...I can do one block a week.  And it's not a productivity thing, it's more of a Zen thing.  I just work real slow and zone out when I do this.  It's escape.  I'm not an expert stitcher by any stretch, but I think my work is decent.

When my mother took the one in to quilt the first thing she said was, 'Oh look at all that pretty cross stitch.'  She charged $15, but the woman gave her $20.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Above is one block of my Kelley green.  It is just a stamped pattern.
> There are two shades of green working there, but it 's hard to tell in the pic.  I'm about half finished, I do recall that, but I don't recall exactly how many blocks it takes.  I also have to do the border around all the blocks.  Spare time...I can do one block a week.  And it's not a productivity thing, it's more of a Zen thing.  I just work real slow and zone out when I do this.  It's escape.  I'm not an expert stitcher by any stretch, but I think my work is decent.
> 
> When my mother took the one in to quilt the first thing she said was, 'Oh look at all that pretty cross stitch.'  She charged $15, but the woman gave her $20.


Decent? Your work is beautiful Sunshine. My daughter is into green, and she wanted me to make her a green quilt. At first, I thought, "oh, help me." But as I got into doing green scrappy log cabins in 1" strips for her king sized bed, I got to liking green. Now, I'm hooked. Green seems to be a color that once I start doing a green quilt, I just can't burn enough candles, can't get up early enough to get back to working on it. I barely got it finished before we went to visit her, so I don't have any pictures of it. I did, however, talk my husband into taking pictures of my quilts at one of 6 or 7 "Jewels of the Platte" one-woman quilt shows, and I'll try and look it up to share.

I can't get over how beautiful your quilt square is. It's really something.


----------



## freedombecki

I showed my quilts between 1996 and 2003, when my fibro got so bad, I  couldn't hang any more shows. The year this one was done, I made 25  quilts to go into Casper's squad cars to give to children a cop might  notice was down on his luck or to wrap a victim of shock up in following  an automobile accident. Quilts work like magic to comfort shock  victims, and failure to wrap someone in shock and care for them can  result in a needless death. Never heard back because their rules  precluded officers from speaking about any of their work. They're like  the military in that regard, but I didn't care. The look on their faces  when I was around patrol officers to donate another batch of quilts was  all I needed to continue the project until I couldn't quilt as much any  more due to fibro.

Well, what do you know. While looking for a green quilt, I found two Fields and furrows quilts I had made over the years. The green one was donated to the squad car quilt project sometime in the above years, and the patriotic one below was sent to wounded soldiers via Walter Reid hospital, I'm pretty sure, if not a Wyoming Veteran's Hosital in Cheyenne. I never knew where the Senator or Representative who distributed them would take the quilts. They were pretty good about letting me know they spent time at the VA Hospital and were happy to have a quilt to give the soldier they visited. One Senator put his visit to a wounded soldier at his website for several years of one of the purple heart quilts me and my group of Purple Heart quilters made from my designs and shop fabric. I quilted and bound all but 3 or 4 of them. It took me 4 years, but of the 36 we distributed through channels, I quilted all but 4 of them. Three ladies flat out donated quilts finished, and one brought one a friend had completed to the quilt meeting we had every week for several years of working on these quilts. It seems like a million years ago, but my records show quilts made between early 2004-2008.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Decent? Your work is beautiful Sunshine. My daughter is into green, and she wanted me to make her a green quilt. At first, I thought, "oh, help me." But as I got into doing green scrappy log cabins in 1" strips for her king sized bed, I got to liking green. Now, I'm hooked. Green seems to be a color that once I start doing a green quilt, I just can't burn enough candles, can't get up early enough to get back to working on it. I barely got it finished before we went to visit her, so I don't have any pictures of it. I did, however, talk my husband into taking pictures of my quilts at one of 6 or 7 "Jewels of the Platte" one-woman quilt shows, and I'll try and look it up to share.
> 
> I can't get over how beautiful your quilt square is. It's really something.



Thanks.  I'm flattered!  I like green, but really don't have a place to use this if I ever finish it.  I do want to make the other one as well, so each of my kiddos will have one.  

I do a little counted cross stitch.  But have never done anything really ambitious.  I will post my Celtic knots I did in a bit.  They are all small projects, most of which I did while I was flying.  I used to have a horrible fear of flying and doing a little stitching kept my mind off it.  The knots are simple, but they are absolutely maddening to do.  I also did a Chinese symbol and as easy as it looks it about drove me up the wall!


----------



## Sunshine

*Here is some of my Celtic cross stitch.  And that Chinese thing!  (Once again, strictly amateur, but being from KY, there is some comfort in stitching for a lot of us.)*


----------



## freedombecki

Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.

When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.

I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.

China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.
> 
> When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.
> 
> I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.
> 
> China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):



Those are great!  The thing about Chinese culture, and I was privileged to go there, is that it LOOKS quite simple to us, but it is not.  I get smacked in the head when I say that Communism was a step forward for the Chinese. Always by someone who hasn't been there.  But those people don't know the Chinese.  The Chinese have a plan.  A CHINESE plan.  We don't understand that.  Communism there is already crumbling and will be gone before my children are.  They are not invested in being Communist.  They are invested in being CHINESE!  And they are using Communism to that end.  Their culture was NOT destroyed by the Cultural Revolution nor will it EVER be destroyed!  They will never be converted to Christianity and there is a reason for that as well.  Oh, well, back to stitching.

I threw that Chinese thing away twice and started over, it was that bad.  It is a mirror image in all 4 directions.  That is what the problem was.   I thought copping the illusion with the Celtic knots was a pain, but that Chinese thing beat anything I've ever done!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.
> 
> When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.
> 
> I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.
> 
> China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Note" The color wasn't perfect on the picture. The centers are actually a shade of light red like fire, and not gum pink. The overall look of the actual quilt was RED. I highlighted the contrasts on this quilt without realizing it would make it look red and pink. No way. It was totally a red work. Totally red. *sigh*
> 
> Those are great!  The thing about Chinese culture, and I was privileged to go there, is that it LOOKS quite simple to us, but it is not.  I get smacked in the head when I say that Communism was a step forward for the Chinese. Always by someone who hasn't been there.  But those people don't know the Chinese.  The Chinese have a plan.  A CHINESE plan.  We don't understand that.  Communism there is already crumbling and will be gone before my children are.  They are not invested in being Communist.  They are invested in being CHINESE!  And they are using Communism to that end.  Their culture was NOT destroyed by the Cultural Revolution nor will it EVER be destroyed!  They will never be converted to Christianity and there is a reason for that as well.  Oh, well, back to stitching.
> 
> I threw that Chinese thing away twice and started over, it was that bad.  It is a mirror image in all 4 directions.  That is what the problem was.   I thought copping the illusion with the Celtic knots was a pain, but that Chinese thing beat anything I've ever done!
Click to expand...

Well, you nailed it, Sunshine. I figured it in part by tearing my hair out with a design that didn't happen until I realized westernizing the Chinese does not improve the situation. You were able to take your experience and your travels and apply it as a political kinship, and I think I will never worry about the Chinese again, except accept them on the terms you came to understand that their investment is in themselves. That really rings true.



Well, not much new today, except after posting YouTubes on the red and white quilt show that was held in New York City in March of this year, I looked back through photographs my husband took of the wounded soldier quilts, and found this red one. I absolutely loved this quilt, and it was the hardest quilt I had to part with... *sigh* But I did, sometime before 2009, it got reluctantly given to either Rep. Barbary Cubin or new Senator John Barrasso, to hand to a soldier, when we moved to Texas to retire near my family. I did send a couple of boxes to Walter Reid when it was still there, but I can't remember which quilt got sent via whom anymore.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.
> 
> When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.
> 
> I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.
> 
> China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Note" The color wasn't perfect on the picture. The centers are actually a shade of light red like fire, and not gum pink. The overall look of the actual quilt was RED. I highlighted the contrasts on this quilt without realizing it would make it look red and pink. No way. It was totally a red work. Totally red. *sigh*
> 
> Those are great!  The thing about Chinese culture, and I was privileged to go there, is that it LOOKS quite simple to us, but it is not.  I get smacked in the head when I say that Communism was a step forward for the Chinese. Always by someone who hasn't been there.  But those people don't know the Chinese.  The Chinese have a plan.  A CHINESE plan.  We don't understand that.  Communism there is already crumbling and will be gone before my children are.  They are not invested in being Communist.  They are invested in being CHINESE!  And they are using Communism to that end.  Their culture was NOT destroyed by the Cultural Revolution nor will it EVER be destroyed!  They will never be converted to Christianity and there is a reason for that as well.  Oh, well, back to stitching.
> 
> I threw that Chinese thing away twice and started over, it was that bad.  It is a mirror image in all 4 directions.  That is what the problem was.   I thought copping the illusion with the Celtic knots was a pain, but that Chinese thing beat anything I've ever done!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Well, you nailed it, Sunshine. I figured it in part by tearing my hair out with a design that didn't happen until I realized westernizing the Chinese does not improve the situation. You were able to take your experience and your travels and apply it as a political kinship, and I think I will never worry about the Chinese again, except accept them on the terms you came to understand that their investment is in themselves. That really rings true.
> 
> 
> 
> Well, not much new today, except after posting YouTubes on the red and white quilt show that was held in New York City in March of this year, I looked back through photographs my husband took of the wounded soldier quilts, and found this red one. I absolutely loved this quilt, and it was the hardest quilt I had to part with... *sigh* But I did, sometime before 2009, it got reluctantly given to either Rep. Barbary Cubin or new Senator John Barrasso, to hand to a soldier, when we moved to Texas to retire near my family. I did send a couple of boxes to Walter Reid when it was still there, but I can't remember which quilt got sent via whom anymore.
Click to expand...


That is a very pretty one as well.  You do know that in the military hospitals and clinics Friday is 'red day.'  They all wear red until the soldiers all come home.


----------



## freedombecki

> That is a very pretty one as well.  You do know that in the military  hospitals and clinics Friday is 'red day.'  They all wear red until the  soldiers all come home.


Thanks, Sunshine. I didn't know about Friday being "Red day." It must be disheartening to see America's best always coming to them, having spilled or sweated blood to protect people. The wearing of red seems a fitting reminder we are still engaged.

Edit: Oh, I found this:

US Military Families Red Fridays

RED  FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red  every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be  called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing  our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

 We  are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media  coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans,  like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast  majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity  and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts Friday -and  continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a  deafening message that..

 Every  red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear  something red. By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United  States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game  in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share  this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be  long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know  the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly  more than the media lets on.

 The  first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things  better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers. Let's get  the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear  something red every Friday.
*
*​ ​ 
​ ​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> That is a very pretty one as well.  You do know that in the military  hospitals and clinics Friday is 'red day.'  They all wear red until the  soldiers all come home.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I didn't know about Friday being "Red day." It must be disheartening to see America's best always coming to them, having spilled or sweated blood to protect people. The wearing of red seems a fitting reminder we are still engaged.
> 
> Edit: Oh, I found this:
> 
> US Military Families Red Fridays
> 
> RED  FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red  every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be  called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing  our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.
> 
> We  are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media  coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans,  like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast  majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity  and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts Friday -and  continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a  deafening message that..
> 
> Every  red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear  something red. By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United  States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game  in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share  this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be  long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know  the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly  more than the media lets on.
> 
> The  first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things  better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers. Let's get  the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear  something red every Friday.
> *
> *​ ​
> ​ ​
Click to expand...


Yes, that's it!  Red Friday!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Yes, that's it!  Red Friday!


Just out of curiosity, Sunshine, how long would it take you to do one of the outside borders on the green quilt? Not meaning to pry, but I'm just dying to see it.


----------



## freedombecki

On December 26, 2004, the Sumatra earthquake hit the Indian Ocean, bringing flooding and devastation to every coastline, reef, and island in that unfortunate area. The Senior High group at our church in Wyoming decided to send care packages to the victims, and asked everybody to bring stuff. We did, but I had an ace up my sleeve. On their handout of items needed, "baby blankets" was on the list. I thought of the little tops I'd made for class projects, shop decorations, etc. that might be used. Our display boxes were just about the right size for receiving blankets, albeit slightly longer, but about the right width. With no further adieu, I climbed the latter and pulled out all the little quilt tops I'd made and found a few more retired ones upstairs. None had ever been used, of course, and I had a stack of 6 or 7 quilts. We actually took 9 tops to the Senior Highs for distribution in the Indian Ocean to babies whose worldly goods had all washed out to sea. It's a miracle there were survivors, but I remember reading how after 2 or 3 months, a parent would be reunited with a baby or child washed out to sea, but rescued by some good samaritan or another, if it was lucky enough to cling to something or find an adult clinging to something that floated. Those stories just lit my fire. I worked nonstop for 2 weeks readying the quilts in time for the seniors to ship them to the greater mission center that took that sort of thing over there on designated boats to help survivors of the tidal wave and floods they caused that washed away hundreds of thousands of homes, shelters, and people. anyway, the map is courtesy of this link, and the photos were taken by my dear husband.


----------



## freedombecki

More of my December 26, 2004 Tsunami quilts completed by January (?) 2005 for the Senior High Mission to send child care packages to victims of the disaster. The tree quilt was made from leftover from my designed tree quilt shown somewhere above and had been donated to the Westwind Gallery's Artist Guild a year or so earlier (?) Not sure of dates that long ago anymore:


----------



## freedombecki

And one more page that includes a square of one of the quilts that had not been completed, but I dug into extra blocks to make just one more tsunami quilt on such short notice. When I do quilts for disaster situations, I often recall Emily Dickinson's famous quote, "If I can ease one heart the aching, I shall not have lived in vain." Emily's words still inspire a lot of people like me to send things like the ones below.

To note: we took these pictures the day before we took them to church. I finished two more that may never have gotten photographed or we lost the photos, I can't remember which. I had to take a break from the soldier quilts to complete the little quilts as I recollect.


----------



## strollingbones

so how does one buy a quilt from ya? or do you just do it for charity and all.....


----------



## freedombecki

Strollingbones, thanks for the kind compliment. Early in around 2000-1 I succumbed to a terrible disease called Fibromyalgia. I went from making 50 large quilts a year (probably more) to one or two a year, some years, to completing 36 soldier quilts over the next 5 years, 30 of which I designed, quilted, and bound, 4 that were donated already quilted, 2 tops, oh, I don't know. Sometimes I'd have a stack of quilts wondering, "How am I going to do this?" In the 8 months of cold weather in Wyoming, I only finished 1 or 2 quilts, sometimes less. In the warmer months, I could eke out one every other week in good times if motivated by less pain. My disease started destroying my business, so I'd only go to work on days in which pain was controlled. I've lost muscle tone, much to my dismay, but I'm still able to make small tops for the quilter's closet. I don't know anyone who could keep up with my prolific output of quilts back in my good days, because I had factory experience, excellent classes in tailoring and quilting by world-famous quilters, and I wrote the manuscripts for 11 books and copyrighted 4 of those and created a number of patterns for selling in the shop. Fibro took all that away from me. I was sure coming back to Texas would eliminate a lot of problems, but I didn't realize the hot weather can also be tiring, but not in the same way as cold weather. I had other health problems too, that evaporated when my doctor caught 2 bad parathyroids on a scan and sent me to an endocrinologist and surgeon. I'm ok now, but pain control medicine often makes me make mistakes, and some days 3/4ths of my time is spent ripping out mindless mistakes, junctures that didn't jive, and small quilt halves sewn upside down to each other.

The only reason I got to posting quilt parts I did online was so it would make mrs freedom zombie clean up her error act.  It worked.

You always have to play an angle when you have this fibro crud and its ugly sister syndromes, of which I acquired 11 unwelcome accompaniants that appear sometimes in marching order--when one leaves, another one pops to the surface. None of my friends "get it," one family member isn't speaking to me because she knows someone who has a less aggressive case, possibly less sidekicks, so I bumble and stumble around, hermiting myself to the house and trying to do one community service that in turn makes me forget about pain in the best way I know. I don't know why it is, but in the last 15 years, I had to cancel more quiltmaking offers than I care to think about, sometimes after I started but could not carry the project to completion after fixing the top for free. I finally gave up on trying to do other people's paid work, since I can't carry it to a completed work. The only thing I can really finish lately is potholders and pillows for nursing homes. I tried to do bibs, but my practice really is limited to doing little things at this point. I used to not take so much medicine so I could have my mind as clear as a bell, but it resulted in me complaining out loud too much. My case forces me to deal an equal measure of medicine in a nonexcessive but adequate amount to prevent the pain from reaching the medulla. Once pain starts, my day is over, because fibro pain is like a fire. Once it starts, no amount of medicine taken that day quells it. The panacea is to get the pain before it spreads like a wildfire. Also, if I stay away from groups, restaurants, traffic hours in discount houses, etc, I don't get one of fibro's worst sisters: a failed immune system. If I go somewhere and I pick up any amount of germs, I have a raging case of whatever is going around. If it's a 3-day cold, my fibro takes it under her wing and invites her to stay a fortnight or longer. Flu is a half-a-year ordeal, so I take the shot and am only tormented for a week. I'm allergic to tapwater, lemon juice, and raw pineapple. All 3 cause a bleeding blister on touch throughout my gi tract. It isn't pretty when I am eating a fresh fruit salad and run into an unseen bit of raw pineapple. I can't eat mashed potatoes, cake, or pastas made with tap water. I'm a friggin mess.

But I have a happy heart because I can do one thing for my fellows upon this earth--make quilt tops for needy kids at the abuse shelter, and still make a couple of soldier wheelchair quilt tops if someone else ties or quilts them. If I try to do that task, I'm in bed for 2 weeks after 4 hours of work. It takes 8 hours to machine quilt a small quilt. I had to quit that with the onset of parathyroidism, and since then, I have one more hurdle--balancing calcium out when I'm allergic to every known calcium supplement out there, and I've tried them all. Ptooey. No wonder my cousin won't speak to me, It's all I can do to "get it." Why would any intellectual perons believe such a yarn as you just heard? lol That's what I get for only showing my face when I feel like it which is less occasionally with each passing year.

In summary, I don't dare do quilting commercially anymore. It fries my electrodes.


----------



## strollingbones

i am sorry you have such a burden to carry....

the quilts are beautiful...


----------



## koshergrl

So is the stitching. My mother taught me to embroider when I was 7, I've been doing it off and on ever since. I started (and still have) a quilt top somewhere with panels stamped and stitched in blue...I can't remember the pattern, either butterflies or roses, but I've moved so many times since starting it I can't remember the last I saw it. 

I just finished a big comforter for my granddaughter, done in shades of brown, queen sized with four 23x23" blocks across and down, not very complicated and only took a couple of days, so she'll have it for Christmas. I love the complicated quilts, I love to work them (I'm working on one now I've been working a couple of years) but I'd really like the kids to get them sometime before they've got grandkids of their own, and with two little ones and work I just don't have time. So now I'm into the big block comforters. As soon as I'm done channel stitching the horse one, I'm onto another one for my daughter.


----------



## freedombecki

strollingbones said:


> i am sorry you have such a burden to carry....
> 
> the quilts are beautiful...


Thanks, strollingbones. By keeping my life on the upbeat, it helps what medicine I am forced to take work more efficiently. And I used to not be able to tolerate errors, so I made few mistakes. Now that it's hand-over-fist error, the meds make it not bother me to spend an hour with the ripper now and then. Also, it seems I am more willing to postpone the hurry-up stuff and accept the drudgery as a more acceptable fate than it used to seem. It also makes me a better driver than I used to be. If I fail to take my medicine at night, it feels like my muscles are being torn out one by one all over my back. But if I do, I sleep like a baby and get a full night's sleep and am refreshed in the morning. Untreated fibromyalgia sufferers tend to have what is called "unrefreshing sleep." Which means a lot of tossing and turning, and when the alarm tolls, you feel like you haven't had sleep for a week. 80% of us have moderate to harsh sleep issues. I don't know why a small percentage get a free ticket on sleep. Maybe they're the ones with the light cases. Research seems to verify that the amount of sleep bears directly on how well your body recuperates for the day ahead. No sleep is intolerable and brings out the worst in your apothecary issues. 

Right now, my happy heart makes dealing with this stuff not so bad. Hope you will drop by with a picture of any quilts you see you like. Also, I'm still a good trouble shooter for the time being. If there's something you don't understand in quilt construction, chances are I can give you three ways to shatter the problem and make it right and when I tell people why, it sticks to their memories. I don't know why, I just have that effect on my students from the get go. Must be my schoolmarm blood. Lot of those in my family line.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> So is the stitching. My mother taught me to embroider when I was 7, I've been doing it off and on ever since. I started (and still have) a quilt top somewhere with panels stamped and stitched in blue...I can't remember the pattern, either butterflies or roses, but I've moved so many times since starting it I can't remember the last I saw it.
> 
> I just finished a big comforter for my granddaughter, done in shades of brown, queen sized with four 23x23" blocks across and down, not very complicated and only took a couple of days, so she'll have it for Christmas. I love the complicated quilts, I love to work them (I'm working on one now I've been working a couple of years) but I'd really like the kids to get them sometime before they've got grandkids of their own, and with two little ones and work I just don't have time. So now I'm into the big block comforters. As soon as I'm done channel stitching the horse one, I'm onto another one for my daughter.


Wow, a queen sized comforter is a huge job and requires a very strong person to make. What an amazing Christmas present you are giving. Hope if it is possible you will share a picture of your quilts and comforters as you do them. Then you will have in addition to your files at home, an online proof.

More often than I care to remember, I'd be contacted by local insurance companies of some person who had such-and-such a quilt, not sure of the name, not sure of the size, no pictoral proof, the store receipt burned in the house fire for which someone didn't put their house pictures in a safe deposit box somewhere or left a copy with their will attorneys. There are few people who are qualified to do a professional appraisals, but the EGA (Embroidery Guild of America) certifies quilt appraisers through their educational program, and I'm wondering if the American Quilter's Society trains or has a list of the EGA-trained appraisers. Who knows? They may have their own appraisal school in Paducah, Kentucky. If not, there are two other contacts I know of who would know appraisers--The American Folk Museum (of which I posted the several YouTube of their recent Red and White Quilt show of Joanna's 191-quilt collection) in New York City and the Shelburne Museum of Folk Art in Shelburne, Vermont. There's one other museum in the state of Massachusetts, and possibly one in Virginia, though I'm not really sure about the second one being a large enough entity to have much to do with quilt appraisers. You should have your quilts appraised if they are complex ones and you spent a year of after hours work on them. There is also a Quilt Registry of American Quilts through the above-mentioned EGA, and their absolute dedication to excellence in the needle arts is peerless. Unfortunately, becoming a certified appraiser is quite an expensive ordeal that requires travel to their offices (wherever that is), so we wound up having no appraisers in Wyoming, but one Guild member who had credits and could help certified appraisers. I'm not sure exactly what her credentials were, but she was the best crewel embroiderer in the state, of that I'm certain. She did 5 of the 24 dining chair in the governor's mansion in a matter of a year. She flat out got to it and finished whatever she was working on as if her life depended on it. That's the kind of dedication those EGA women have. They're something else twice. Seeing Sunshine's lovely miniatures reminded me of them. 

If you have a home scanner, please place your blue embroidery (when you find it) on a screen and show us, won't you? Be sure you save copies of your work in a bank safe deposit box so you will have proof of your labor and the work itself, no matter how little you think it worth, it could be a lot more valuable if you took the time to buy from a seller who kept a collection of the fabrics either in charm square manufacturer's packs, half-yard or quarter-yard packs, or if you just picked from fresh bolts of a collection. Those quilts become sought-after by mavens that some collectors are who know the textile industry inside and out. Just trying to quadruple the value of your quilts, not trying to lecture already-smart people. I go way back to the 60s in my quilting and textile experience. And I'm no Barbara Brackman, much less a Jinny Beyer, but I knows me threads. And I know what makes a quilt steal people's hearts straight out of their chests. I had the unique experience of the state fair superintendent telling me that my Southwest Quilt, (which won the Best of Show award in 1993 at the Wyoming State fair) brought the men in to see the quilt. She said that the cowboys had never to her knowledge ever come in to see a quilt on purpose, but all of them did on that count. I almost fainted, and my knees went weak when she told me that.

My secret? Well, one day a salesman brought in a bunch of samples, and I was interested in making a southwest quilt, I said, I did. After looking at his samples of gaudy reds and blatant yellows, I wanted to throw up right there on the spot. I politely thanked him and told him that was not exactly what I remembered as a young girl who actually lived in the southwest for a year, not much more than 40 miles from the border of Mexico.

I recalled the spacious atmospheric effect of colors caused by dusty hazes on the desert, and how every day you needed a clothes change because the dust collected on your clothing, too. After a while of living there, I just got used to seeing atmospheric effects everywhere. I knew that's what I saw, and it was true. You saw a lot of that when you were in the mountains in Wyoming if you travelled through them from one town to the next (which were 20 miles apart or more in most places in the state). So I went about finding my dusty rainbow colors, and I found them in the fabric samples of Jinny Beyer's collection of basics. I accumulated all of them, then parsed out the dusty ones, which she is a master of making them so beautiful they're still as relevant to nature today as they were when they first came out in the 1980s through a company named RJR. I picked 2 shades of each color of the rainbow in her collection--a deep dark and a near-hue shade. I picked her cream-colored marble as a background, and I just couldn't find the right shade to separate the cool from the warm colors, so I had no choice but to break the romance and add a cool fawn brown mottled leaf print by Hoffman of California fabrics. Then I proceded through the next year to design, hold classes, and build my southwest quilt and write a little notebook for other quilters who I was teaching, so they wouldn't miss anything. To my shock and horror, a couple of them picked stuff just like that salesman sample book. I big my lower lip and watched my designs come off the assembly lines looking almost as dismal as those heinous fabrics, and others were well-stated. A couple of the artists I was teaching used some of my techniques, but not all my patterns, but it was fun having the privilege of their association throughout the process. I was still sewing the last binding in place on our way to the state fair that summer on the day you brought your quilt entries. I put the last stitch on as we drove into Douglas, WY. I was hoping I would at least get an honorable mention placard if it didn't win a ribbon. But I was walking on air because after one long year, it was actually done. I dropped it off, and we turned around and went back home. We drove back the next day for the judging, and I got to hear the judge critique 200 quilts and wallhangings, and her words could've curled anyone's toenails, because back then, people brought whatever they did, with or without teaching, and some of it was well, er, ah, ahem, well, they coulda been better. The judge took one look at my quilt, and she started testing the stitches, and when they proved true, set it aside with 2 other quilts. By the time they got through announcing white, yellow, green, pink, red, and blue ribbons for all 12 categories of quilts (embroidered, appliqued, mixed, pieced, etc.) my quilt didn't win anything. I thought, "oh, well, I tried." Then they announced there was one other quilt--Best of Show, and when they showed my quilt, people cheered. I had tears rolling down both sides of my face. Then the lecture. The judge justified their decision by saying how much they liked the idea someone did all the designs from scratch, as did many of our mothers from the east, the unusual approach to sets and sashings, yada yada... But the best words came from the Superintendent when she told me how much the cowboys liked the quilt, because a lot of them were from that part of the world that extends from hundreds of miles of America's southern border to the  Yellowstone Park. It was those atmospheric colors I knew to be true to the southwest that gave that quilt its soul. It also felt pretty good, because it gave me a credential I wouldn't have otherwise had in writing my little obscure applque books, books that hardly ever crossed state lines, but often did. Unfortunately, quilters tend to buy more books than they ever finish the quilts therein, but that book took 100 pages or more due to the need to put applique patterns over a light box due to my techniques, plus the second edition had separate instructions for wallhangings to king-sized quilts. I spent all my time that year doing patterns, teaching people how to, making corrections and refinements in the procedures part, but the patterns remained pretty much the same.

What's my point? I don't know. My fibro is having a field day today getting off on a tangent. Sorry for so much yakking today. I was late taking my medicine last night, and I'm usually over the silly stuff by breakfast.


----------



## freedombecki

My aunt drove a 55 'Chevy back when I was growing up, and I loved going for a ride in that pretty pink and gray car of hers with my cousins and brother. One of the Tsunami quilts was made from a quilt top I made celebrating that nifty car color scheme. I just wanted to add my little two cents' worth before leaving. You can get color schemes from everywhere. This one came from the love my aunt had for her extended family and my mother and she grew closer as they grew older:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> My aunt drove a 55 'Chevy back when I was growing up, and I loved going for a ride in that pretty pink and gray car of hers with my cousins and brother. One of the Tsunami quilts was made from a quilt top I made celebrating that nifty car color scheme. I just wanted to add my little two cents' worth before leaving. You can get color schemes from everywhere. This one came from the love my aunt had for her extended family and my mother and she grew closer as they grew older:



I used to date a guy who drove one that color, except his was a 57 Chevy!


----------



## Sunshine

I have a maple leaf quilt top my mother put together from my dress scraps.  I've never quilted it, but since my SIL is from Canada would really like to get it done for him and my daughter.  Right now, it's really hard to know if I will have the time to finish any of my projects or not as the doctors painted such a grim picture of my illness.  Also, have to keep working as long as possible to keep the insurance going, so time is an issue on two fronts.  On a positive note, I have reread the only two novels I had planned on rereading before I die.  Now, if I can just get the updates finished on my house, I can settle into doing some quilting and writing and hopefully some painting as well.  After Christmas when I am off for a little vacation, I will see if I can locate that top and post a picture.  I will also look for the only one I have that my grandmother made.  I think it is ugly and no one else wanted it, but at least I got one.  Also, my mother made me a 'drunkard's path' quilt when I was in high school.   I wore that one out.  May still have it just because, but it isn't usable any longer as it would disintegrate when washed it is so worn.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Strollingbones, thanks for the kind compliment. Early in around 2000-1 I succumbed to a terrible disease called Fibromyalgia. I went from making 50 large quilts a year (probably more) to one or two a year, some years, to completing 36 soldier quilts over the next 5 years, 30 of which I designed, quilted, and bound, 4 that were donated already quilted, 2 tops, oh, I don't know. Sometimes I'd have a stack of quilts wondering, "How am I going to do this?" In the 8 months of cold weather in Wyoming, I only finished 1 or 2 quilts, sometimes less. In the warmer months, I could eke out one every other week in good times if motivated by less pain. My disease started destroying my business, so I'd only go to work on days in which pain was controlled. I've lost muscle tone, much to my dismay, but I'm still able to make small tops for the quilter's closet. I don't know anyone who could keep up with my prolific output of quilts back in my good days, because I had factory experience, excellent classes in tailoring and quilting by world-famous quilters, and I wrote the manuscripts for 11 books and copyrighted 4 of those and created a number of patterns for selling in the shop. Fibro took all that away from me. I was sure coming back to Texas would eliminate a lot of problems, but I didn't realize the hot weather can also be tiring, but not in the same way as cold weather. I had other health problems too, that evaporated when my doctor caught 2 bad parathyroids on a scan and sent me to an endocrinologist and surgeon. I'm ok now, but pain control medicine often makes me make mistakes, and some days 3/4ths of my time is spent ripping out mindless mistakes, junctures that didn't jive, and small quilt halves sewn upside down to each other.
> 
> The only reason I got to posting quilt parts I did online was so it would make mrs freedom zombie clean up her error act.  It worked.
> 
> You always have to play an angle when you have this fibro crud and its ugly sister syndromes, of which I acquired 11 unwelcome accompaniants that appear sometimes in marching order--when one leaves, another one pops to the surface. None of my friends "get it," one family member isn't speaking to me because she knows someone who has a less aggressive case, possibly less sidekicks, so I bumble and stumble around, hermiting myself to the house and trying to do one community service that in turn makes me forget about pain in the best way I know. I don't know why it is, but in the last 15 years, I had to cancel more quiltmaking offers than I care to think about, sometimes after I started but could not carry the project to completion after fixing the top for free. I finally gave up on trying to do other people's paid work, since I can't carry it to a completed work. The only thing I can really finish lately is potholders and pillows for nursing homes. I tried to do bibs, but my practice really is limited to doing little things at this point. I used to not take so much medicine so I could have my mind as clear as a bell, but it resulted in me complaining out loud too much. My case forces me to deal an equal measure of medicine in a nonexcessive but adequate amount to prevent the pain from reaching the medulla. Once pain starts, my day is over, because fibro pain is like a fire. Once it starts, no amount of medicine taken that day quells it. The panacea is to get the pain before it spreads like a wildfire. Also, if I stay away from groups, restaurants, traffic hours in discount houses, etc, I don't get one of fibro's worst sisters: a failed immune system. If I go somewhere and I pick up any amount of germs, I have a raging case of whatever is going around. If it's a 3-day cold, my fibro takes it under her wing and invites her to stay a fortnight or longer. Flu is a half-a-year ordeal, so I take the shot and am only tormented for a week. I'm allergic to tapwater, lemon juice, and raw pineapple. All 3 cause a bleeding blister on touch throughout my gi tract. It isn't pretty when I am eating a fresh fruit salad and run into an unseen bit of raw pineapple. I can't eat mashed potatoes, cake, or pastas made with tap water. I'm a friggin mess.
> 
> But I have a happy heart because I can do one thing for my fellows upon this earth--make quilt tops for needy kids at the abuse shelter, and still make a couple of soldier wheelchair quilt tops if someone else ties or quilts them. If I try to do that task, I'm in bed for 2 weeks after 4 hours of work. It takes 8 hours to machine quilt a small quilt. I had to quit that with the onset of parathyroidism, and since then, I have one more hurdle--balancing calcium out when I'm allergic to every known calcium supplement out there, and I've tried them all. Ptooey. No wonder my cousin won't speak to me, It's all I can do to "get it." Why would any intellectual perons believe such a yarn as you just heard? lol That's what I get for only showing my face when I feel like it which is less occasionally with each passing year.
> 
> In summary, I don't dare do quilting commercially anymore. It fries my electrodes.



I'm sure you have tried everything, but I will throw this out anyway.  When I get the fibro patient who is depressed, I always use Effexor to treat the depression.  For some odd reason, it seems to help the fibro.   Also, you may have tried Cymbalta.  I have a lot of chronic pain patients on that.  Sometimes they get irritated and stop taking it because they say it isn't working.  But after a few weeks they are in such torment they are begging me to help them get back on it.  Perception can be a weird thing.  

There are some theories about fibro that are interesting.  One is that the spinal colum lumen where the spinal cord resides is too small, causing pressure on the spinal cord itself.  This would explain the generalized pain syndrome.  I know it is treated by rheumatologists, but I personally think it is a central nervous system problem particularly since the antidepressants help with the pain.  BUT, it's still a mystery.  Some doctors I've worked with say it sounds like 'somatoform pain disorder' from the DSM-IV and due entirely to psychological stress.  Those doctors won't even try to work with the patient.  But there are several psych meds that actually are healing to the nerves themselves and those particular drugs do give some relief, which IMO, indicates it ismore than just a neurosis.  I have had osteo arthritis in my spine since I was 40 which causes the same kind of pain syndrome as fibro.  But I know it isn't fibro.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> I have a maple leaf quilt top my mother put together from my dress scraps.  I've never quilted it, but since my SIL is from Canada would really like to get it done for him and my daughter.  Right now, it's really hard to know if I will have the time to finish any of my projects or not as the doctors painted such a grim picture of my illness.  Also, have to keep working as long as possible to keep the insurance going, so time is an issue on two fronts.  On a positive note, I have reread the only two novels I had planned on rereading before I die.  Now, if I can just get the updates finished on my house, I can settle into doing some quilting and writing and hopefully some painting as well.  After Christmas when I am off for a little vacation, I will see if I can locate that top and post a picture.  I will also look for the only one I have that my grandmother made.  I think it is ugly and no one else wanted it, but at least I got one.  Also, my mother made me a 'drunkard's path' quilt when I was in high school.   I wore that one out.  May still have it just because, but it isn't usable any longer as it would disintegrate when washed it is so worn.


Sunshine, that is exactly the picture my baby sister's doctors painted for her 5 years ago. She had smoked for 30 years or more and had a kind of thyroid cancer that's tough to get at. He sent her home with a warning to get her affairs in order and pick out a plot because she had 2 to 6 months. I don't know which was worse, her sickness or her worried state. Her father-in-law insisted that she be treated by the #1 cancer curers in America. When she went there, they told her forget about her other doctor's dire predictions, sent her to Galveston for chemo, rest on the beach, where she went to classes on nutrition and creating new health. She renewed her faith, too. Right now, she still has COPD and allergies, but I came home to Texas to be with her in her last years. It looks like That is not the case. She lives a reasonably good life at this time, and we're working through her arthritic issues this month. She's following doctor's orders, and she makes time for making things for her church bazaar. I am now confident she will continue to get better with me here to give her a hug now and then. Here's a hug for you <<<hug>>> and the address of onr og America's top successful fighters: Cancer Treatment and Cancer Research - MD Anderson Cancer Center Of course, I may be stupid and that may not be your problem, but if it is, do not put off making an appointment. They've pulled thousands of people back who thought their life was nearly over, just like my sister who was starting to resign herself to an ultimate fate 5 years ago. I really don't do that much for her, I'm just a lot closer, and I'm usually feeling ten times better than I was back in really cold country with help I've gotten from good old country style doctors here. Well, she's not a good old boy, but my physician really helped me out with pain management for my little problem that's not near as bad as yours sounds.

Regardless, you have my prayers for recuperation and time and good feelings enough to make as many quilts and objects d'art as pleases you. 

<<< more hugs >>>

Make that appointment for the center nearest you right away, okay?
​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have a maple leaf quilt top my mother put together from my dress scraps.  I've never quilted it, but since my SIL is from Canada would really like to get it done for him and my daughter.  Right now, it's really hard to know if I will have the time to finish any of my projects or not as the doctors painted such a grim picture of my illness.  Also, have to keep working as long as possible to keep the insurance going, so time is an issue on two fronts.  On a positive note, I have reread the only two novels I had planned on rereading before I die.  Now, if I can just get the updates finished on my house, I can settle into doing some quilting and writing and hopefully some painting as well.  After Christmas when I am off for a little vacation, I will see if I can locate that top and post a picture.  I will also look for the only one I have that my grandmother made.  I think it is ugly and no one else wanted it, but at least I got one.  Also, my mother made me a 'drunkard's path' quilt when I was in high school.   I wore that one out.  May still have it just because, but it isn't usable any longer as it would disintegrate when washed it is so worn.
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine, that is exactly the picture my baby sister's doctors painted for her 5 years ago. She had smoked for 30 years or more and had a kind of thyroid cancer that's tough to get at. He sent her home with a warning to get her affairs in order and pick out a plot because she had 2 to 6 months. I don't know which was worse, her sickness or her worried state. Her father-in-law insisted that she be treated by the #1 cancer curers in America. When she went there, they told her forget about her other doctor's dire predictions, sent her to Galveston for chemo, rest on the beach, where she went to classes on nutrition and creating new health. She renewed her faith, too. Right now, she still has COPD and allergies, but I came home to Texas to be with her in her last years. It looks like That is not the case. She lives a reasonably good life at this time, and we're working through her arthritic issues this month. She's following doctor's orders, and she makes time for making things for her church bazaar. I am now confident she will continue to get better with me here to give her a hug now and then. Here's a hug for you <<<hug>>> and the address of onr og America's top successful fighters: Cancer Treatment and Cancer Research - MD Anderson Cancer Center Of course, I may be stupid and that may not be your problem, but if it is, do not put off making an appointment. They've pulled thousands of people back who thought their life was nearly over, just like my sister who was starting to resign herself to an ultimate fate 5 years ago. I really don't do that much for her, I'm just a lot closer, and I'm usually feeling ten times better than I was back in really cold country with help I've gotten from good old country style doctors here. Well, she's not a good old boy, but my physician really helped me out with pain management for my little problem that's not near as bad as yours sounds.
> 
> Regardless, you have my prayers for recuperation and time and good feelings enough to make as many quilts as pleases you.
> 
> <<< more hugs >>>
> 
> Make that appointment for the center nearest you right away, okay?
> ​
Click to expand...


Thanks.  Mine isn't cancer.  Mine is pulmonary hypertension which is fatal after 6 months of no treatment.  I had already been 6 months without treatment when I went to Vanderbilt.  The MD told me I would never work again.  Two weeks later, I was back at work with a medication pump in tow.  I can't deny that first week back was a rough rough week.   But the strength has increase and I think it is because I make myself get up every day and hump it on in to work.  I would like to retire in order to finish my projects.  My friends have told me to take up writing for pay.  And I am seriously considering doing that, but would have to have gotten paid for some things before I had the confidence to quit work.  I've had publications in newspapers and professional journals, but those were sans pay.  LOL.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have a maple leaf quilt top my mother put together from my dress scraps.  I've never quilted it, but since my SIL is from Canada would really like to get it done for him and my daughter.  Right now, it's really hard to know if I will have the time to finish any of my projects or not as the doctors painted such a grim picture of my illness.  Also, have to keep working as long as possible to keep the insurance going, so time is an issue on two fronts.  On a positive note, I have reread the only two novels I had planned on rereading before I die.  Now, if I can just get the updates finished on my house, I can settle into doing some quilting and writing and hopefully some painting as well.  After Christmas when I am off for a little vacation, I will see if I can locate that top and post a picture.  I will also look for the only one I have that my grandmother made.  I think it is ugly and no one else wanted it, but at least I got one.  Also, my mother made me a 'drunkard's path' quilt when I was in high school.   I wore that one out.  May still have it just because, but it isn't usable any longer as it would disintegrate when washed it is so worn.
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine, that is exactly the picture my baby sister's doctors painted for her 5 years ago. She had smoked for 30 years or more and had a kind of thyroid cancer that's tough to get at. He sent her home with a warning to get her affairs in order and pick out a plot because she had 2 to 6 months. I don't know which was worse, her sickness or her worried state. Her father-in-law insisted that she be treated by the #1 cancer curers in America. When she went there, they told her forget about her other doctor's dire predictions, sent her to Galveston for chemo, rest on the beach, where she went to classes on nutrition and creating new health. She renewed her faith, too. Right now, she still has COPD and allergies, but I came home to Texas to be with her in her last years. It looks like That is not the case. She lives a reasonably good life at this time, and we're working through her arthritic issues this month. She's following doctor's orders, and she makes time for making things for her church bazaar. I am now confident she will continue to get better with me here to give her a hug now and then. Here's a hug for you <<<hug>>> and the address of onr og America's top successful fighters: Cancer Treatment and Cancer Research - MD Anderson Cancer Center Of course, I may be stupid and that may not be your problem, but if it is, do not put off making an appointment. They've pulled thousands of people back who thought their life was nearly over, just like my sister who was starting to resign herself to an ultimate fate 5 years ago. I really don't do that much for her, I'm just a lot closer, and I'm usually feeling ten times better than I was back in really cold country with help I've gotten from good old country style doctors here. Well, she's not a good old boy, but my physician really helped me out with pain management for my little problem that's not near as bad as yours sounds.
> 
> Regardless, you have my prayers for recuperation and time and good feelings enough to make as many quilts as pleases you.
> 
> <<< more hugs >>>
> 
> Make that appointment for the center nearest you right away, okay?
> ​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thanks.  Mine isn't cancer.  Mine is pulmonary hypertension which is fatal after 6 months of no treatment.  I had already been 6 months without treatment when I went to Vanderbilt.  The MD told me I would never work again.  Two weeks later, I was back at work with a medication pump in tow.  I can't deny that first week back was a rough rough week.   But the strength has increase and I think it is because I make myself get up every day and hump it on in to work.  I would like to retire in order to finish my projects.  My friends have told me to take up writing for pay.  And I am seriously considering doing that, but would have to have gotten paid for some things before I had the confidence to quit work.  I've had publications in newspapers and professional journals, but those were sans pay.  LOL.
Click to expand...

Your writing here is excellent, your thoughts a model. Sending healing thoughts and prayers your way.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine, that is exactly the picture my baby sister's doctors painted for her 5 years ago. She had smoked for 30 years or more and had a kind of thyroid cancer that's tough to get at. He sent her home with a warning to get her affairs in order and pick out a plot because she had 2 to 6 months. I don't know which was worse, her sickness or her worried state. Her father-in-law insisted that she be treated by the #1 cancer curers in America. When she went there, they told her forget about her other doctor's dire predictions, sent her to Galveston for chemo, rest on the beach, where she went to classes on nutrition and creating new health. She renewed her faith, too. Right now, she still has COPD and allergies, but I came home to Texas to be with her in her last years. It looks like That is not the case. She lives a reasonably good life at this time, and we're working through her arthritic issues this month. She's following doctor's orders, and she makes time for making things for her church bazaar. I am now confident she will continue to get better with me here to give her a hug now and then. Here's a hug for you <<<hug>>> and the address of onr og America's top successful fighters: Cancer Treatment and Cancer Research - MD Anderson Cancer Center Of course, I may be stupid and that may not be your problem, but if it is, do not put off making an appointment. They've pulled thousands of people back who thought their life was nearly over, just like my sister who was starting to resign herself to an ultimate fate 5 years ago. I really don't do that much for her, I'm just a lot closer, and I'm usually feeling ten times better than I was back in really cold country with help I've gotten from good old country style doctors here. Well, she's not a good old boy, but my physician really helped me out with pain management for my little problem that's not near as bad as yours sounds.
> 
> Regardless, you have my prayers for recuperation and time and good feelings enough to make as many quilts as pleases you.
> 
> <<< more hugs >>>
> 
> Make that appointment for the center nearest you right away, okay?
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks.  Mine isn't cancer.  Mine is pulmonary hypertension which is fatal after 6 months of no treatment.  I had already been 6 months without treatment when I went to Vanderbilt.  The MD told me I would never work again.  Two weeks later, I was back at work with a medication pump in tow.  I can't deny that first week back was a rough rough week.   But the strength has increase and I think it is because I make myself get up every day and hump it on in to work.  I would like to retire in order to finish my projects.  My friends have told me to take up writing for pay.  And I am seriously considering doing that, but would have to have gotten paid for some things before I had the confidence to quit work.  I've had publications in newspapers and professional journals, but those were sans pay.  LOL.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Your writing here is excellent, your thoughts a model. Sending healing thoughts and prayers your way.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the compliment.  Have you thought of doing a quilt book? How to?  Or pattern book?   Or maybe a cross stitch pattern book.  I have two classmates who have published quilt books.  Those books do real well around here.  Probably other places as well as the baby boomer women are aging and needing a hobby when they retire.

While I work, I'm thinking of getting a state of the art sewing machine.  Don't know if I will ever use it.  But my daughter has taken up sewing and with no instruction has done really well.  I'd like for her to inherit a good machine.  Its in her genes, though, from her father's side.  My mother sewed, but the gene skippid over me!  LOL.  I can't make clothes.  My daughter has spent the last 10 years doing drafting in architectural firms.  The first pattern she saw she said, 'it's just a blueprint.'  LOL.  I would have never thought of it that way.  Her stuff is really good, too!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks.  Mine isn't cancer.  Mine is pulmonary hypertension which is fatal after 6 months of no treatment.  I had already been 6 months without treatment when I went to Vanderbilt.  The MD told me I would never work again.  Two weeks later, I was back at work with a medication pump in tow.  I can't deny that first week back was a rough rough week.   But the strength has increase and I think it is because I make myself get up every day and hump it on in to work.  I would like to retire in order to finish my projects.  My friends have told me to take up writing for pay.  And I am seriously considering doing that, but would have to have gotten paid for some things before I had the confidence to quit work.  I've had publications in newspapers and professional journals, but those were sans pay.  LOL.
> 
> 
> 
> Your writing here is excellent, your thoughts a model. Sending healing thoughts and prayers your way.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thanks for the compliment.  Have you thought of doing a quilt book? How to?  Or pattern book?   Or maybe a cross stitch pattern book.  I have two classmates who have published quilt books.  Those books do real well around here.  Probably other places as well as the baby boomer women are aging and needing a hobby when they retire.
> 
> While I work, I'm thinking of getting a state of the art sewing machine.  Don't know if I will ever use it.  But my daughter has taken up sewing and with no instruction has done really well.  I'd like for her to inherit a good machine.  Its in her genes, though, from her father's side.  My mother sewed, but the gene skippid over me!  LOL.  I can't make clothes.  My daughter has spent the last 10 years doing drafting in architectural firms.  The first pattern she saw she said, 'it's just a blueprint.'  LOL.  I would have never thought of it that way.  Her stuff is really good, too!
Click to expand...

I'm reviewing in my mind your beautiful stitchery pictures. I am not seeing any gene skips in the creative sewing area. I am seeing the highest level of needle arts in your genes with not only stitchery, but a beautifully embroidered quilt as well that I am dying to see a border on. I'm usually not very psychic since my mom passed in 1973, but the needle arts are my harbor, and I've made a small sea of quilts in my lifetime (over 600 by my last count). In case you didn't know it, the skillful quilting of 3 layers of fabric into a quilt is truly the highest form of needle artistry. Add counted cross stitch and other embellishment, and you are strictly in the aesthetics of sewing realm. /tapping toe and ending lecture


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Your writing here is excellent, your thoughts a model. Sending healing thoughts and prayers your way.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the compliment.  Have you thought of doing a quilt book? How to?  Or pattern book?   Or maybe a cross stitch pattern book.  I have two classmates who have published quilt books.  Those books do real well around here.  Probably other places as well as the baby boomer women are aging and needing a hobby when they retire.
> 
> While I work, I'm thinking of getting a state of the art sewing machine.  Don't know if I will ever use it.  But my daughter has taken up sewing and with no instruction has done really well.  I'd like for her to inherit a good machine.  Its in her genes, though, from her father's side.  My mother sewed, but the gene skippid over me!  LOL.  I can't make clothes.  My daughter has spent the last 10 years doing drafting in architectural firms.  The first pattern she saw she said, 'it's just a blueprint.'  LOL.  I would have never thought of it that way.  Her stuff is really good, too!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm reviewing in my mind your beautiful stitchery pictures. I am not seeing any gene skips in the creative sewing area. I am seeing the highest level of needle arts in your genes with not only stitchery, but a beautifully embroidered quilt as well that I am dying to see a border on. I'm usually not very psychic since my mom passed in 1973, but the needle arts are my harbor, and I've made a small sea of quilts in my lifetime (over 600 by my last count). In case you didn't know it, the skillful quilting of 3 layers of fabric into a quilt is truly the highest form of needle artistry. Add counted cross stitch and other embellishment, and you are strictly in the aesthetics of sewing realm. /tapping toe and ending lecture
Click to expand...


LOL.  I stand corrected!  After I take the week off to do a little cleaning, I'm going to pick the cross stitch quilt blocks back up.  Should I not live to get them quilted, I at least want to have a top each for my kids.  So that means I will try get both tops done, the green and the pink one, before I actually quilt them.  The kids can have them quilted if I can't do it.  I learned how to hand quilt from my mother.  She didn't make a lot of quilts, but she was still somthing of a quilt snob!  LOL  The smaller the stitch the better you were at it!  LOL.  She used to see quilts others had done and say, 'you would hang your toenails in those stitches.'  LOL.  

If I do get to quilt them, I may have to get someone from a local place, or one of my classmates who did a book,  to help me get the batting in, the back on, and get it set up because I don't recall that step quite so well.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the compliment.*  Have you thought of doing a quilt book? How to?  Or pattern book?   Or maybe a cross stitch pattern book.*  I have two classmates who have published quilt books.  Those books do real well around here.  Probably other places as well as the baby boomer women are aging and needing a hobby when they retire.
> 
> While I work, I'm thinking of getting a state of the art sewing machine.  Don't know if I will ever use it.  But my daughter has taken up sewing and with no instruction has done really well.  I'd like for her to inherit a good machine.  Its in her genes, though, from her father's side.  My mother sewed, but the gene skippid over me!  LOL.  I can't make clothes.  My daughter has spent the last 10 years doing drafting in architectural firms.  The first pattern she saw she said, 'it's just a blueprint.'  LOL.  I would have never thought of it that way.  Her stuff is really good, too!
> 
> 
> 
> I'm reviewing in my mind your beautiful stitchery pictures. I am not seeing any gene skips in the creative sewing area. I am seeing the highest level of needle arts in your genes with not only stitchery, but a beautifully embroidered quilt as well that I am dying to see a border on. I'm usually not very psychic since my mom passed in 1973, but the needle arts are my harbor, and I've made a small sea of quilts in my lifetime (over 600 by my last count). In case you didn't know it, the skillful quilting of 3 layers of fabric into a quilt is truly the highest form of needle artistry. Add counted cross stitch and other embellishment, and you are strictly in the aesthetics of sewing realm. /tapping toe and ending lecture
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> LOL.  I stand corrected!  After I take the week off to do a little cleaning, I'm going to pick the cross stitch quilt blocks back up.  Should I not live to get them quilted, I at least want to have a top each for my kids.  So that means I will try get both tops done, the green and the pink one, before I actually quilt them.  The kids can have them quilted if I can't do it.  I learned how to hand quilt from my mother.  She didn't make a lot of quilts, but she was still something of a quilt snob!  LOL  The smaller the stitch the better you were at it!  LOL.  She used to see quilts others had done and say, 'you would hang your toenails in those stitches.'  LOL.
> 
> If I do get to quilt them, I may have to get someone from a local place, or one of my classmates who did a book,  to help me get the batting in, the back on, and get it set up because I don't recall that step quite so well.
Click to expand...

If you baste the quilt or quilts, it's a good idea to tape the 100% cotton quilt back to a linoleum or wood floor, pat the batting over it (both backing and batting should be 8" longer and 6" wider than the actual top. (use a 120-inch Quilter's tape measure, available at most quilt stores or from a quilter's mail order supply)  Be certain the backing and the quilt top have been carefully pressed before placing together. Use a backing that is similar in quality to the top. Some quilters do not know that the cheapest muslin on the market is also known as "burn away muslin" and will destroy the work put into the quilt. For embroidered quilts, I'd use Kona cotton if you can find it. It's thick yet pliable enough to quilt when prepared by washing and a quick press. If you take it directly out of the dryer, sew it up on the spot, press the seam allowance open, you can go ahead and tape it down to your freshly-swiffered floor. Otherwise, I'd truly recommend the consideration of 3.5 or 4 yards of 110" wide backing, up to 120" wide, depending on the size of your completed top. I always take three measurements - 3 inches from the top, dead center, 3 inches from the bottom on a large quilt. You need 3 horizontal and 3 vertical measurements done the same way. Trust me, it will save you some major grief. Sometimes, quilt tops are not pressed properly before quilting, and when the indentations improperly pressed at seam areas are pressed out, the quilt can grow a great deal. Embroidered quilts should be pressed on top using a good pressing cloth so that the beautiful embroidery threads will retain their sheen and color through the years.

I've self-published 3 or 4 books and also copyrighted at least 3 of them through the Library of Congress. I wouldn't recommend writing, proofing, copyrighting, marketing, and selling the book to anyone in their right mind. I did all that, and we had almost no social life for 3 years while I was rewriting the Aesthetics of Southwest Album Applique Quilt. It was my best of show at the state fair as well as my local best-seller. Not enough quilters to have an applique group, but we got by with anywhere from 3 to 6 quilters each of the 4 years I taught the quilt. After that, I just wrote a second edition and expanded the book to accommodate wallhangings, a preferred sashing, and multiple sizes, also 12 more patterns. Some of the last designs were done due to student suggestions on what they wanted me to design for their southwest quilt, and others were the product of my continuing education and recollections of living in the Southwest at two different locations when my father took on administrative duties for 2 different 12-grade schools.

I'm so glad you got back to me on the cross-stitched quilt border and hope it goes quickly for you so we can see even a full corner, since your quilt looks symmetric both north to south and east to west.

I knocked out a child-sized friendship star quilt all except the last border. It's already 40 inches wide and nearly 5 feet long. I just started piddling at the machine for the first time in 2 or 3 days, and the first thing you know, I had a 28" medallion log cabin with blocks shaped into a friendship star. I'm not sure I've ever seen one just like it, but on one of the earlier quilts in November, I made one of the quilts with a light-colored star and had scads of squares left. I will have some to take up to the quilter's closet next week. Don't know why, but having people to chat with about quilts is really great for stocking the quilter's closet with well-worked (though a little scrappy) child-sized quilts. I'm trying to make them with a young adult-sized child's quilt that can keep a child warm through his childhood and through college dormer days. for girls, that would be a 72" quilt, and for boys, about 80". Of course, a young Wilt Chamberlain would just have to wear wool socks.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm reviewing in my mind your beautiful stitchery pictures. I am not seeing any gene skips in the creative sewing area. I am seeing the highest level of needle arts in your genes with not only stitchery, but a beautifully embroidered quilt as well that I am dying to see a border on. I'm usually not very psychic since my mom passed in 1973, but the needle arts are my harbor, and I've made a small sea of quilts in my lifetime (over 600 by my last count). In case you didn't know it, the skillful quilting of 3 layers of fabric into a quilt is truly the highest form of needle artistry. Add counted cross stitch and other embellishment, and you are strictly in the aesthetics of sewing realm. /tapping toe and ending lecture
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL.  I stand corrected!  After I take the week off to do a little cleaning, I'm going to pick the cross stitch quilt blocks back up.  Should I not live to get them quilted, I at least want to have a top each for my kids.  So that means I will try get both tops done, the green and the pink one, before I actually quilt them.  The kids can have them quilted if I can't do it.  I learned how to hand quilt from my mother.  She didn't make a lot of quilts, but she was still something of a quilt snob!  LOL  The smaller the stitch the better you were at it!  LOL.  She used to see quilts others had done and say, 'you would hang your toenails in those stitches.'  LOL.
> 
> If I do get to quilt them, I may have to get someone from a local place, or one of my classmates who did a book,  to help me get the batting in, the back on, and get it set up because I don't recall that step quite so well.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> If you baste the quilt or quilts, it's a good idea to tape the 100% cotton quilt back to a linoleum or wood floor, pat the batting over it (both backing and batting should be 8" longer and 6" wider than the actual top. (use a 120-inch Quilter's tape measure, available at most quilt stores or from a quilter's mail order supply)  Be certain the backing and the quilt top have been carefully pressed before placing together. Use a backing that is similar in quality to the top. Some quilters do not know that the cheapest muslin on the market is also known as "burn away muslin" and will destroy the work put into the quilt. For embroidered quilts, I'd use Kona cotton if you can find it. It's thick yet pliable enough to quilt when prepared by washing and a quick press. If you take it directly out of the dryer, sew it up on the spot, press the seam allowance open, you can go ahead and tape it down to your freshly-swiffered floor. Otherwise, I'd truly recommend the consideration of 3.5 or 4 yards of 110" wide backing, up to 120" wide, depending on the size of your completed top. I always take three measurements - 3 inches from the top, dead center, 3 inches from the bottom on a large quilt. You need 3 horizontal and 3 vertical measurements done the same way. Trust me, it will save you some major grief. Sometimes, quilt tops are not pressed properly before quilting, and when the indentations improperly pressed at seam areas are pressed out, the quilt can grow a great deal. Embroidered quilts should be pressed on top using a good pressing cloth so that the beautiful embroidery threads will retain their sheen and color through the years.
> 
> I've self-published 3 or 4 books and also copyrighted at least 3 of them through the Library of Congress. I wouldn't recommend writing, proofing, copyrighting, marketing, and selling the book to anyone in their right mind. I did all that, and we had almost no social life for 3 years while I was rewriting the Aesthetics of Southwest Album Applique Quilt. It was my best of show at the state fair as well as my local best-seller. Not enough quilters to have an applique group, but we got by with anywhere from 3 to 6 quilters each of the 4 years I taught the quilt. After that, I just wrote a second edition and expanded the book to accommodate wallhangings, a preferred sashing, and multiple sizes, also 12 more patterns. Some of the last designs were done due to student suggestions on what they wanted me to design for their southwest quilt, and others were the product of my continuing education and recollections of living in the Southwest at two different locations when my father took on administrative duties for 2 different 12-grade schools.
> 
> I'm so glad you got back to me on the cross-stitched quilt border and hope it goes quickly for you so we can see even a full corner, since your quilt looks symmetric both north to south and east to west.
> 
> I knocked out a child-sized friendship star quilt all except the last border. It's already 40 inches wide and nearly 5 feet long. I just started piddling at the machine for the first time in 2 or 3 days, and the first thing you know, I had a 28" medallion log cabin with blocks shaped into a friendship star. I'm not sure I've ever seen one just like it, but on one of the earlier quilts in November, I made one of the quilts with a light-colored star and had scads of squares left. I will have some to take up to the quilter's closet next week. Don't know why, but having people to chat with about quilts is really great for stocking the quilter's closet with well-worked (though a little scrappy) child-sized quilts. I'm trying to make them with a young adult-sized child's quilt that can keep a child warm through his childhood and through college dormer days. for girls, that would be a 72" quilt, and for boys, about 80". Of course, a young Wilt Chamberlain would just have to wear wool socks.
Click to expand...


I have just saved those instructions on my computer.


----------



## freedombecki

Yay! 

Thanks, Sunshine. I hope my little bit helped. Trust me, every instruction came from me making a gross error such as having the dubious distinction of having to find the same fabric and piece a strip to a back that was only 3 or 4 " wider or longer, then the top was catywumpus due to failure to measure more than one area of the quilt or noticing the design creeping right or left at the bottom due to a series of mistakes and thinking "1/64 inch is so small, that little mistake won't matter. Multiply that out 32 pieces across the quilt, and your neck will strain looking at blocks 1/2" off the mark. I quilted so many "beginner" quilts as a professional, I can tell you if the quilt was not measured properly, the top could go all over the map. I sent more than one quilts back home with its owner before accepting it after measurements were made. Some of them thought me charging them 5 hours of labor for 5 hours of fixing the too-small back was expensive, but sometimes they'd have a yard or two they had at home and would take it back home and fix it until the back met my specifications. Professional quilt machines demand even more fabric than hand-quilted one due to the rolling process. Invariably, more backing is necessary to accommodate rolling. If the professional machine quilter pulls the top too tightly, stitching errors pop out of their seam allowances leaving batting to spill out if not corrected right away. It takes several hours to dismount and remount a quilt onto the old style of professional longarm I had at the shop. By the time you get it all done, you're licked and might wish to wait until the following day to finish what should already be done if the seams had been sewn more sturdily. Sometimes, the piecer makes an error near the outer edge of a square, the phone rings, she forgets about it, so the quilter has this curious little open area that wasn't noticed until time to mount the quilt. It's nice to know you can utilize the tailor's blind stitch in a topical way if you are resourceful when that happens.

Today was good. I finished the Friendship Star Cabin with 7 borders done steps to log cabin fashion by adding the last border. I was pleased by how the randomly-selected light strips luminesced around the dark Friendship star in the middle. My husband's camera did not send pictures he took to the computer I had repaired. Apparently, they were somehow cleaned off the computer at some point, and some repairs require erasing a lot of memory. It's also a Vista, which I never cared much for, so the information for his camera may be there, I just don't know how to access it. The other alternative could be it was on a different computer or something. 

Oh, I won a redwork quilt on ebay last night. I thought of Sunshine when I bid on it, because it had hand cross stitches. I am going to try to collect one red quilt a month and make one and host a local redwork show, perhaps some far time into the future.

The quilt and a closeup of the hand quilting. The third picture is just a reminder of that absolutely amazing red and white collection shown in NYC last March:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Yay!
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I hope my little bit helped. Trust me, every instruction came from me making a gross error such as having the dubious distinction of having to find the same fabric and piece a strip to a back that was only 3 or 4 " wider or longer, then the top was catywumpus due to failure to measure more than one area of the quilt or noticing the design creeping right or left at the bottom due to a series of mistakes and thinking "1/64 inch is so small, that little mistake won't matter. Multiply that out 32 pieces across the quilt, and your neck will strain looking at blocks 1/2" off the mark. I quilted so many "beginner" quilts as a professional, I can tell you if the quilt was not measured properly, the top could go all over the map. I sent more than one quilts back home with its owner before accepting it after measurements were made. Some of them thought me charging them 5 hours of labor for 5 hours of fixing the too-small back was expensive, but sometimes they'd have a yard or two they had at home and would take it back home and fix it until the back met my specifications. Professional quilt machines demand even more fabric than hand-quilted one due to the rolling process. Invariably, more backing is necessary to accommodate rolling. If the professional machine quilter pulls the top too tightly, stitching errors pop out of their seam allowances leaving batting to spill out if not corrected right away. It takes several hours to dismount and remount a quilt onto the old style of professional longarm I had at the shop. By the time you get it all done, you're licked and might wish to wait until the following day to finish what should already be done if the seams had been sewn more sturdily. Sometimes, the piecer makes an error near the outer edge of a square, the phone rings, she forgets about it, so the quilter has this curious little open area that wasn't noticed until time to mount the quilt. It's nice to know you can utilize the tailor's blind stitch in a topical way if you are resourceful when that happens.
> 
> Today was good. I finished the Friendship Star Cabin with 7 borders done steps to log cabin fashion by adding the last border. I was pleased by how the randomly-selected light strips luminesced around the dark Friendship star in the middle. My husband's camera did not send pictures he took to the computer I had repaired. Apparently, they were somehow cleaned off the computer at some point, and some repairs require erasing a lot of memory. It's also a Vista, which I never cared much for, so the information for his camera may be there, I just don't know how to access it. The other alternative could be it was on a different computer or something.
> 
> Oh, I won a redwork quilt on ebay last night. I thought of Sunshine when I bid on it, because it had hand cross stitches. I am going to try to collect one red quilt a month and make one and host a local redwork show, perhaps some far time into the future.
> 
> The quilt and a closeup of the hand quilting. The third picture is just a reminder of that absolutely amazing red and white collection shown in NYC last March:



Wow!  Those are some talented quilters.  I really like that red.  The importance of keeping things straight is not lost here.  I have hung wallpaper in 4 houses.  You can't get off even one millimeter or you pay at the corners.  And sometime the house isn't plumb, so you have to pick your spot to even it out, usually in a short piece over a door or windown, or behind where a curtain will hang.  Plumb is more than just a state of mind.  (Whatever that means, I'm really tired tonight! LOL)


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yay!
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I hope my little bit helped. Trust me, every instruction came from me making a gross error such as having the dubious distinction of having to find the same fabric and piece a strip to a back that was only 3 or 4 " wider or longer, then the top was catywumpus due to failure to measure more than one area of the quilt or noticing the design creeping right or left at the bottom due to a series of mistakes and thinking "1/64 inch is so small, that little mistake won't matter." Multiply that out 32 pieces across the quilt, and your neck will strain looking at blocks 1/2" off the mark. I quilted so many "beginner" quilts as a professional, I can tell you if the quilt was not measured properly, the top could go all over the map. I sent more than one quilts back home with its owner before accepting it after measurements were made. Some of them thought me charging them 5 hours of labor for 5 hours of fixing the too-small back was expensive, but sometimes they'd have a yard or two they had at home and would take it back home and fix it until the back met my specifications. Professional quilt machines demand even more fabric than a hand-quilted one due to the rolling process. Invariably, more backing is necessary to accommodate rolling. If the professional machine quilter pulls the top too tightly, stitching errors pop out of their seam allowances leaving batting to spill out if not corrected right away. It takes several hours to dismount and remount a quilt onto the old style of professional longarm I had at the shop. By the time you get it all done, you're licked and might wish to wait until the following day to finish what should already be done if the seams had been sewn more sturdily. Sometimes, the piecer makes an error near the outer edge of a square, the phone rings, she forgets about it, so the quilter has this curious little open area that wasn't noticed until time to mount the quilt. It's nice to know you can utilize the tailor's blind stitch in a topical way if you are resourceful when that happens.
> 
> Today was good. I finished the Friendship Star Cabin with 7 borders done steps to log cabin fashion by adding the last border. I was pleased by how the randomly-selected light strips luminesced around the dark log cabin Friendship star in the middle. My husband's camera did not send pictures he took to the computer I had repaired. Apparently, they were somehow cleaned off the computer at some point, and some repairs require erasing a lot of memory. It's also a Vista, which I never cared much for, so the information for his camera may be there, I just don't know how to access it. The other alternative could be it was on a different computer or something.
> 
> Oh, I won a redwork quilt on ebay last night. I thought of Sunshine when I bid on it, because it had hand cross stitches. I am going to try to collect one red quilt a month and make one and host a local redwork show, perhaps some far time into the future.
> 
> The quilt and a closeup of the hand quilting is below. The third picture is just a reminder of that absolutely amazing red and white collection shown in NYC last March:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow!  Those are some talented quilters.  I really like that red.  The importance of keeping things straight is not lost here.  I have hung wallpaper in 4 houses.  You can't get off even one millimeter or you pay at the corners.  And sometime the house isn't plumb, so you have to pick your spot to even it out, usually in a short piece over a door or window, or behind where a curtain will hang.  Plumb is more than just a state of mind.  (Whatever that means, I'm really tired tonight! LOL)
Click to expand...


I posted a really cool pair of videos on that show with closeups of the most spectacular quilts a page or so back. It is definitely worth the 8 to 15 minutes the videos take to see samplings of the 191 red and white quilts at close range if you haven't already seen them. Enjoy!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yay!
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I hope my little bit helped. Trust me, every instruction came from me making a gross error such as having the dubious distinction of having to find the same fabric and piece a strip to a back that was only 3 or 4 " wider or longer, then the top was catywumpus due to failure to measure more than one area of the quilt or noticing the design creeping right or left at the bottom due to a series of mistakes and thinking "1/64 inch is so small, that little mistake won't matter." Multiply that out 32 pieces across the quilt, and your neck will strain looking at blocks 1/2" off the mark. I quilted so many "beginner" quilts as a professional, I can tell you if the quilt was not measured properly, the top could go all over the map. I sent more than one quilts back home with its owner before accepting it after measurements were made. Some of them thought me charging them 5 hours of labor for 5 hours of fixing the too-small back was expensive, but sometimes they'd have a yard or two they had at home and would take it back home and fix it until the back met my specifications. Professional quilt machines demand even more fabric than a hand-quilted one due to the rolling process. Invariably, more backing is necessary to accommodate rolling. If the professional machine quilter pulls the top too tightly, stitching errors pop out of their seam allowances leaving batting to spill out if not corrected right away. It takes several hours to dismount and remount a quilt onto the old style of professional longarm I had at the shop. By the time you get it all done, you're licked and might wish to wait until the following day to finish what should already be done if the seams had been sewn more sturdily. Sometimes, the piecer makes an error near the outer edge of a square, the phone rings, she forgets about it, so the quilter has this curious little open area that wasn't noticed until time to mount the quilt. It's nice to know you can utilize the tailor's blind stitch in a topical way if you are resourceful when that happens.
> 
> Today was good. I finished the Friendship Star Cabin with 7 borders done steps to log cabin fashion by adding the last border. I was pleased by how the randomly-selected light strips luminesced around the dark log cabin Friendship star in the middle. My husband's camera did not send pictures he took to the computer I had repaired. Apparently, they were somehow cleaned off the computer at some point, and some repairs require erasing a lot of memory. It's also a Vista, which I never cared much for, so the information for his camera may be there, I just don't know how to access it. The other alternative could be it was on a different computer or something.
> 
> Oh, I won a redwork quilt on ebay last night. I thought of Sunshine when I bid on it, because it had hand cross stitches. I am going to try to collect one red quilt a month and make one and host a local redwork show, perhaps some far time into the future.
> 
> The quilt and a closeup of the hand quilting is below. The third picture is just a reminder of that absolutely amazing red and white collection shown in NYC last March:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow!  Those are some talented quilters.  I really like that red.  The importance of keeping things straight is not lost here.  I have hung wallpaper in 4 houses.  You can't get off even one millimeter or you pay at the corners.  And sometime the house isn't plumb, so you have to pick your spot to even it out, usually in a short piece over a door or window, or behind where a curtain will hang.  Plumb is more than just a state of mind.  (Whatever that means, I'm really tired tonight! LOL)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I posted a really cool pair of videos on that show with closeups of the most spectacular quilts a page or so back. It is definitely worth the 8 to 15 minutes the videos take to see samplings of the 191 red and white quilts at close range if you haven't already seen them. Enjoy!
Click to expand...


I will be sure to catch it.  Have to get off tonight, but leave the link intact!


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, we took care of the business of taking my dear one to the doctor and then drove 61 miles to a Stitch in Time to add some quarter yards of lights to my stash to alliterate that little luminescent quality the light areas in a log cabin my quilts have been showing lately. It started when I noticed mediums do not do well in the longest position on a star fashioned from log cabin blocks. The best contrast would be a sparkling white against double-dyed (darkest) black. 

I cut 1.75" strips all morning along until I couldn't stand another minute of it. I also found some other lights I had never cut into at home, which is not unusual, except, I'm not sure where all the lights are. Since my husband came down with dementia, he has been unable to make shelving as he did when we had our store. And plastic containers weren't made to carry the weight of fabrics or books when they are piled full of either one. Our move 2 2/3 years ago proved that to me. Oh, well. I now buy smaller containers that are clear, so I can tell generally which color is stored where, and can easily moved them even when they are packed. The large ones are just too heavy when they're full.

I also found four truly beautiful red and white materials that will go in some future red and white quilt, possibly. 

I look forward to tomorrow, when I will be able to start sewing again.

Hope everyone who makes quilts for others has a good time this season being with family or stitching projects. Just 5 more days to go.


----------



## freedombecki

Santa's Workshop: I was playing around with scrap nine patches and wondered whether they'd work for windows in an echo log cabin. I'd have to take a plain 4-patch square (3") and border it with very light squares to make the window portion (5.5" unfinished square), then border two sides with three strips each to echo the window. (The strips go onto the sides with 2 seam allowances first, then that gives the adjacent one 2 seam allowances also, if you play your cards right.) Anyhoo, this is a kind of fun one to do for the quilter's closet, so Santa's Workshop continues all year long. I took some pictures on the printer today, so I can share some of the squares. I've put 26 to a completion point, and more in the ready to hopefully use 40 of the squares that have 4-patch windows echoed by dark and bright colors


----------



## freedombecki

Santa's Workshop II


----------



## freedombecki

Santa's Workshop III. The windows finish at 5" and when the echo portion at the side and bottom is added, the square is about 9.25 unfinished and will finish at 8.75". Five across will be 44" give or take a quarter inch. Eight down will make the quilt 40 blocks, and the length before a border is added would be 70 inches. If I placed the squares in a black sash, same width as the logs, the quilt width before border would be a quarter inch short of 52 inches and the length would be 81.75" before sashes. So therefore, to get an overall length of 72" with a border included, I'd only need 6 rows. 6 rows down would be about 53", but with a black window sash and set, would come to the 62" range. Then, borders of 6" would make the quilt be 64x74".Since it only needs to be about 60" wide and 72" long, I could get by with 4" vertical strips along the sides and 5" horizontal strips. (I just figured the dimensions of the child-sized quilt based on the request by the charities foundation to please make the quilts larger than infant size due to having older children. 72" is 6 feet long, long enough to really cover most 12 year olds, who are 60" tall or less. The quilt in later childhood could be converted to either a couch potato cover or be handed down to the smaller children in the family or a niece, nephew, or friend, provided reasonable care was given the quilt during washing and drying.

So Santa's workshop is a little messy right now, but Mrs. Santa is happy.


----------



## freedombecki

So the quilt, will be 5 blocks across by 6 blocks down with black window sashes all around a 4" vertical border on each side and a 5" horizontal border top and bottom. So glad I put squares on the copier and decided to do the Santa's workshop series this evening, and later, I'll go hunt up window log cabins set on point and set block style, if I can find one. There are other windows, but I've never seen the kind I'm showing here, with a 4-patch for a window around light borders to contrast with dark scrappy echo logs. Don't worry if all this sounds like gibberish. An advanced or intermediate quilter will understand perfectly, and a carpenter might get it, too, or at least 80% of it.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, and one other thing about the quilts above. I went shopping yesterday at a quilt store that does a stellar job of stocking packed small prints. If you click on any of the thumbnails in the above 12 blocks, you will see many contemporary cottons, some of which are hot off this year's press. The rest of the strips come from my ridiculously huge stash as well as quilt fabrics I've found in the last 2.5 years since we moved. A few strips came from the church closet, which means I cannot have this quilt, it already belongs to God's children who are fatherless or in abuse shelters.

I found instructions for a beginner to make what I learned was an "echo log cabin" pattern back when. Today people may not know the name, so they use the same principle and give it another name, or they just come up with an idea so unique, they rename it after making it into a reverse giant 4-patch as was done where I found the instructions to make the echo log cabin. The Fat Quarter shop has a fantastic quilt they made that uses the echo log to make a Kite Quilt. 

The second image is one I picked up at a knitter's site who was mimicking a log cabin square in her craft. She had a good graphic of an echo log cabin square she showed as an example, but she called it "half" or "quarter" square log cabin. The books in the 80s were calling the same square "echo log cabin," so I stand me ground in calling the square "echo," even if I can't find a darn thing on it online anymore.

It took half an hour and the decision to load "Chevron log cabin quilt" in my search engine when all else failed. It turned up several echo log cabin quilts like the second picture below, but I only found one that will be set like my first "echo the 4-patch window log cabin" quilt. All credits to Wordpress, and the pattern for this quilt exactly is at the link and refers to the pattern being from a book "Log Cabins Today" from the House of White Birches.


----------



## freedombecki

Found around the web:

"CHEVRON LOG CABIN"





The pattern is available here at PATCHWORKS​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Santa's Workshop III. The windows finish at 5" and when the echo portion at the side and bottom is added, the square is about 9.25 unfinished and will finish at 8.75". Five across will be 44" give or take a quarter inch. Eight down will make the quilt 40 blocks, and the length before a border is added would be 70 inches. If I placed the squares in a black sash, same width as the logs, the quilt width before border would be a quarter inch short of 52 inches and the length would be 81.75" before sashes. So therefore, to get an overall length of 72" with a border included, I'd only need 6 rows. 6 rows down would be about 53", but with a black window sash and set, would come to the 62" range. Then, borders of 6" would make the quilt be 64x74".Since it only needs to be about 60" wide and 72" long, I could get by with 4" vertical strips along the sides and 5" horizontal strips. (I just figured the dimensions of the child-sized quilt based on the request by the charities foundation to please make the quilts larger than infant size due to having older children. 72" is 6 feet long, long enough to really cover most 12 year olds, who are 60" tall or less. The quilt in later childhood could be converted to either a couch potato cover or be handed down to the smaller children in the family or a niece, nephew, or friend, provided reasonable care was given the quilt during washing and drying.
> 
> So Santa's workshop is a little messy right now, but Mrs. Santa is happy.



That makes me think of my mother's nine patch quilts!


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, Hahahaha All that time I spent last week looking for a Fields and Furrows Log Cabin quilt to show? Now I find a really pretty one with a "chevron" border, aka known as "French Braid" by some. The credits are to okckwilter at home and garden webshots link


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Santa's Workshop III. The windows finish at 5" and when the echo portion at the side and bottom is added, the square is about 9.25 unfinished and will finish at 8.75". Five across will be 44" give or take a quarter inch. Eight down will make the quilt 40 blocks, and the length before a border is added would be 70 inches. If I placed the squares in a black sash, same width as the logs, the quilt width before border would be a quarter inch short of 52 inches and the length would be 81.75" before sashes. So therefore, to get an overall length of 72" with a border included, I'd only need 6 rows. 6 rows down would be about 53", but with a black window sash and set, would come to the 62" range. Then, borders of 6" would make the quilt be 64x74".Since it only needs to be about 60" wide and 72" long, I could get by with 4" vertical strips along the sides and 5" horizontal strips. (I just figured the dimensions of the child-sized quilt based on the request by the charities foundation to please make the quilts larger than infant size due to having older children. 72" is 6 feet long, long enough to really cover most 12 year olds, who are 60" tall or less. The quilt in later childhood could be converted to either a couch potato cover or be handed down to the smaller children in the family or a niece, nephew, or friend, provided reasonable care was given the quilt during washing and drying.
> 
> So Santa's workshop is a little messy right now, but Mrs. Santa is happy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That makes me think of my mother's nine patch quilts!
Click to expand...

I made so many nine patch quilts, I got right burned out on them. I think it was my primary square for wedding quilts, baby quilts, and the handicapped daycare that started in our church in or around 1970, until they chartered with federal funding to build their own facility, in or around 1990. Handicapped day care enabled single parents with children with severe disabilities to work. Some of the children need one on one supervision, others can function in small groups with one to four other children, and others look normal, but still have severe enough problems to require special caregivers to look after them when a single parent home needs a paycheck coming in every month. It was so good to be a part of a church that really got out there in the community and found where the real needs were, and helped people with lives made impossible by demands made by special childrens' needs. Also, a lot of baby sitters will not take special needs children. The lady who ran that day care center was one of the dearest, most selfless people I have ever met, and it was an honor to make 50 quilts for them. 

Even so, the 9 patch quilt was overdone. I've done a few through the years after that , but that's generally when someone brings me a sack of someone else's quilt and sewing scraps that have invariably a few nine-patch squares, none of which is the same size of all the others.  Every sash must be sewn to accommodate squares that don't match, and some squares are so much smaller than the others they need extra strips sewn on them to get a uniform size going. Plus, most of them look, well, "utilitarian."

I have a hunch your mother's were not like that, but master works. There are 9-patch quilts in museums that truly are eye candy, but the one's I've inherited were end of the line squares. I'd make a utility quilt just to get them out of my sight. lol. They're warm, and you needed warm stuff where we used to live (the Equality State).


----------



## freedombecki

I was still looking for echo log cabin quilts, when I found this one that is made by varying the size of the logs. The Pattern is available from Quiltology link.






I've made uneven log cabin quilts before, and they truly take a lot of time and precision, but oh, how beautiful they can be when you complete one.​


----------



## freedombecki

Sheeze! This is my day to find cute quilts. This one is a beautifully-done collector's piece of silks. I don't collect silk quilts, but this one has a true charm and could be very valuable someday due to its extremely well-done embroidery not to mention its dogtooth border:

Located at ebay thru Dec. 22-23​


----------



## Sarah G

Truthmatters said:


> I like them best made from scraps of old clothing that people have actually worn and or used.
> 
> They mean so much more.
> 
> Grandmas tablecoth that got torn, aunt Margrets sunday dress, brother Bobs summer shorts and the like.
> 
> Every little corner has a memory



I know a kid that got a quilt for a graduation gift.  It was made from all of his sports jerseys from childhood.  

I like them but they get really expensive.


----------



## freedombecki

Sarah G said:


> Truthmatters said:
> 
> 
> 
> I like them best made from scraps of old clothing that people have actually worn and or used.
> 
> They mean so much more.
> 
> Grandmas tablecoth that got torn, aunt Margrets sunday dress, brother Bobs summer shorts and the like.
> 
> Every little corner has a memory
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know a kid that got a quilt for a graduation gift.  It was made from all of his sports jerseys from childhood.
> 
> I like them but they get really expensive.
Click to expand...

Hi, Sarah G. You can say that again! When I was a young girl, my mother went into an old dimestore not far from here and found some fabric being closed out for ten cents a yard. She had 5 children, so she went for it. She didn't seem to mind the ironing all of that would take. Mothers back then were truly such beautiful people.

I finally found a picture of the butterfly quilt I designed some years back. It hung in my shop by the door for just the enjoyment of seeing a red and white quilt. Those were the days.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Santa's Workshop III. The windows finish at 5" and when the echo portion at the side and bottom is added, the square is about 9.25 unfinished and will finish at 8.75". Five across will be 44" give or take a quarter inch. Eight down will make the quilt 40 blocks, and the length before a border is added would be 70 inches. If I placed the squares in a black sash, same width as the logs, the quilt width before border would be a quarter inch short of 52 inches and the length would be 81.75" before sashes. So therefore, to get an overall length of 72" with a border included, I'd only need 6 rows. 6 rows down would be about 53", but with a black window sash and set, would come to the 62" range. Then, borders of 6" would make the quilt be 64x74".Since it only needs to be about 60" wide and 72" long, I could get by with 4" vertical strips along the sides and 5" horizontal strips. (I just figured the dimensions of the child-sized quilt based on the request by the charities foundation to please make the quilts larger than infant size due to having older children. 72" is 6 feet long, long enough to really cover most 12 year olds, who are 60" tall or less. The quilt in later childhood could be converted to either a couch potato cover or be handed down to the smaller children in the family or a niece, nephew, or friend, provided reasonable care was given the quilt during washing and drying.
> 
> So Santa's workshop is a little messy right now, but Mrs. Santa is happy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That makes me think of my mother's nine patch quilts!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I made so many nine patch quilts, I got right burned out on them. I think it was my primary square for wedding quilts, baby quilts, and the handicapped daycare that started in our church in or around 1970, until they chartered with federal funding to build their own facility, in or around 1990. Handicapped day care enabled single parents with children with severe disabilities to work. Some of the children need one on one supervision, others can function in small groups with one to four other children, and others look normal, but still have severe enough problems to require special caregivers to look after them when a single parent home needs a paycheck coming in every month. It was so good to be a part of a church that really got out there in the community and found where the real needs were, and helped people with lives made impossible by demands made by special childrens' needs. Also, a lot of baby sitters will not take special needs children. The lady who ran that day care center was one of the dearest, most selfless people I have ever met, and it was an honor to make 50 quilts for them.
> 
> Even so, the 9 patch quilt was overdone. I've done a few through the years after that , but that's generally when someone brings me a sack of someone else's quilt and sewing scraps that have invariably a few nine-patch squares, none of which is the same size of all the others.  Every sash must be sewn to accommodate squares that don't match, and some squares are so much smaller than the others they need extra strips sewn on them to get a uniform size going. Plus, most of them look, well, "utilitarian."
> 
> I have a hunch your mother's were not like that, but master works. There are 9-patch quilts in museums that truly are eye candy, but the one's I've inherited were end of the line squares. I'd make a utility quilt just to get them out of my sight. lol. They're warm, and you needed warm stuff where we used to live (the Equality State).
Click to expand...


I think that was my mother's way of using little bits of fabric she had.  That way she didn't have to waste it.  Her squares were uniform though.  But they were good warm quilts.  I always loved sleeping under them.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> That makes me think of my mother's nine patch quilts!
> 
> 
> 
> I made so many nine patch quilts, I got right burned out on them. I think it was my primary square for wedding quilts, baby quilts, and the handicapped daycare that started in our church in or around 1970, until they chartered with federal funding to build their own facility, in or around 1990. Handicapped day care enabled single parents with children with severe disabilities to work. Some of the children need one on one supervision, others can function in small groups with one to four other children, and others look normal, but still have severe enough problems to require special caregivers to look after them when a single parent home needs a paycheck coming in every month. It was so good to be a part of a church that really got out there in the community and found where the real needs were, and helped people with lives made impossible by demands made by special childrens' needs. Also, a lot of baby sitters will not take special needs children. The lady who ran that day care center was one of the dearest, most selfless people I have ever met, and it was an honor to make 50 quilts for them.
> 
> Even so, the 9 patch quilt was overdone. I've done a few through the years after that , but that's generally when someone brings me a sack of someone else's quilt and sewing scraps that have invariably a few nine-patch squares, none of which is the same size of all the others.  Every sash must be sewn to accommodate squares that don't match, and some squares are so much smaller than the others they need extra strips sewn on them to get a uniform size going. Plus, most of them look, well, "utilitarian."
> 
> I have a hunch your mother's were not like that, but master works. There are 9-patch quilts in museums that truly are eye candy, but the one's I've inherited were end of the line squares. I'd make a utility quilt just to get them out of my sight. lol. They're warm, and you needed warm stuff where we used to live (the Equality State).
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I think that was my mother's way of using little bits of fabric she had.  That way she didn't have to waste it.  Her squares were uniform though.  But they were good warm quilts.  I always loved sleeping under them.
Click to expand...

The other day when you were describing your mother's 9-patch quilts, I was thinking about a quilt I saw a few years back at the Shelburne Museum. It was made by a museum contributor named Florence Peto who made a masterwork 9-patch floral quilt aptly named "Calico Garden Quilt." I did a little searching and found it. It, too, of course, is precision, no larger than a wallhanging, but it just stayed in my mind long after we visited there one beautiful October day, 2003.





photo credits​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I made so many nine patch quilts, I got right burned out on them. I think it was my primary square for wedding quilts, baby quilts, and the handicapped daycare that started in our church in or around 1970, until they chartered with federal funding to build their own facility, in or around 1990. Handicapped day care enabled single parents with children with severe disabilities to work. Some of the children need one on one supervision, others can function in small groups with one to four other children, and others look normal, but still have severe enough problems to require special caregivers to look after them when a single parent home needs a paycheck coming in every month. It was so good to be a part of a church that really got out there in the community and found where the real needs were, and helped people with lives made impossible by demands made by special childrens' needs. Also, a lot of baby sitters will not take special needs children. The lady who ran that day care center was one of the dearest, most selfless people I have ever met, and it was an honor to make 50 quilts for them.
> 
> Even so, the 9 patch quilt was overdone. I've done a few through the years after that , but that's generally when someone brings me a sack of someone else's quilt and sewing scraps that have invariably a few nine-patch squares, none of which is the same size of all the others.  Every sash must be sewn to accommodate squares that don't match, and some squares are so much smaller than the others they need extra strips sewn on them to get a uniform size going. Plus, most of them look, well, "utilitarian."
> 
> I have a hunch your mother's were not like that, but master works. There are 9-patch quilts in museums that truly are eye candy, but the one's I've inherited were end of the line squares. I'd make a utility quilt just to get them out of my sight. lol. They're warm, and you needed warm stuff where we used to live (the Equality State).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think that was my mother's way of using little bits of fabric she had.  That way she didn't have to waste it.  Her squares were uniform though.  But they were good warm quilts.  I always loved sleeping under them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The other day when you were describing your mother's 9-patch quilts, I was thinking about a quilt I saw a few years back at the Shelburne Museum. It was made by a museum contributor named Florence Peto who made a masterwork 9-patch floral quilt aptly named "Calico Garden Quilt." I did a little searching and found it. It, too, of course, is precision, no larger than a wallhanging, but it just stayed in my mind long after we visited there one beautiful October day, 2003.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> photo credits​
Click to expand...


Wow!  That is sensational!  You are certainly well versed in the world of quilting.  When I was in college, I was required to take Speech.  One of the speeches we had to do was a 'demonstration.'  I was quilting on a quilt for my sister at the time - the one I mentioned that was the only one I have done largely on my own.  I did my demonstration on quilting.  It went over pretty well.  At least I got the A.


----------



## freedombecki

You did a quilt for your sister while talking a college load and getting A grades? Yikes!!!! I'm glad you gave a demo on quilting in college. No wonder you can do such challenging embroideries and apparently design them too like your Celtic of Chinese symbols. 

I never thought to show any sewing projects when I took persuasive speech as my speaking elective in college. But I do remember a Consumer health course at Oregon State University in which we were required to give a 5 minute speech on a Consumer measurement issue (count to make sure there were 100 aspirins in an aspirin bottle, or make sense of federal consumer requirements.) I elected to make fun of the consumer health-paper industry. It was a pretty darn dull speech until I held up the yardstick with a square yard of t. paper taped onto it to show how "useful" knowing how much a square yard of toilet paper was (which was the standard info used to tell consumers how much t-paper they were getting back then). The professor doctor said she was giving me an A for the whole course because that was the funniest student speech/demo she'd ever seen. It's kinda fun to see a room full of 300 of your fellow students rolling in the aisles. I felt like a Carol Burnett that day.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> You did a quilt for your sister while talking a college load and getting A grades? Yikes!!!! I'm glad you gave a demo on quilting in college. No wonder you can do such challenging embroideries and apparently design them too like your Celtic of Chinese symbols.
> 
> I never thought to show any sewing projects when I took persuasive speech as my speaking elective in college. But I do remember a Consumer health course at Oregon State University in which we were required to give a 5 minute speech on a Consumer measurement issue (count to make sure there were 100 aspirins in an aspirin bottle, or make sense of federal consumer requirements.) I elected to make fun of the consumer health-paper industry. It was a pretty darn dull speech until I held up the yardstick with a square yard of t. paper taped onto it to show how "useful" knowing how much a square yard of toilet paper was (which was the standard info used to tell consumers how much t-paper they were getting back then). The professor doctor said she was giving me an A for the whole course because that was the funniest student speech/demo she'd ever seen. It's kinda fun to see a room full of 300 of your fellow students rolling in the aisles. I felt like a Carol Burnett that day.



Oh, that's funny!  Yeah, my sister who was a lot older than I was getting married.  We set the quilt up at my house.  It is amazing how much you get done if you just sit down and work on one every day. It just has to be a daily thing.  Do a lot. Do a little.  But working every day it finishes up real fast.  In those days, I was just picking up some night classes.  But I was also working.  That was long before the days I went to nursing school.  I never got to finish back then due to not having the money.  But when my husband died leaving me with two little mouths to feed, I had no choice.  Chose nursing and things like that Speech class counted as that was required for my BSN.  So I was a little ahead of the game.  Not much.  Just a little.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> You did a quilt for your sister while talking a college load and getting A grades? Yikes!!!! I'm glad you gave a demo on quilting in college. No wonder you can do such challenging embroideries and apparently design them too like your Celtic of Chinese symbols.
> 
> I never thought to show any sewing projects when I took persuasive speech as my speaking elective in college. But I do remember a Consumer health course at Oregon State University in which we were required to give a 5 minute speech on a Consumer measurement issue (count to make sure there were 100 aspirins in an aspirin bottle, or make sense of federal consumer requirements.) I elected to make fun of the consumer health-paper industry. It was a pretty darn dull speech until I held up the yardstick with a square yard of t. paper taped onto it to show how "useful" knowing how much a square yard of toilet paper was (which was the standard info used to tell consumers how much t-paper they were getting back then). The professor doctor said she was giving me an A for the whole course because that was the funniest student speech/demo she'd ever seen. It's kinda fun to see a room full of 300 of your fellow students rolling in the aisles. I felt like a Carol Burnett that day.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, that's funny!  Yeah, my sister who was a lot older than I was getting married.  We set the quilt up at my house.  It is amazing how much you get done if you just sit down and work on one every day. It just has to be a daily thing.  Do a lot. Do a little.  But working every day it finishes up real fast.  In those days, I was just picking up some night classes.  But I was also working.  That was long before the days I went to nursing school.  I never got to finish back then due to not having the money.  But when my husband died leaving me with two little mouths to feed, I had no choice.  Chose nursing and things like that Speech class counted as that was required for my BSN.  So I was a little ahead of the game.  Not much.  Just a little.
Click to expand...

Goodness, that's a lot. My kudos to a life well-lived, Sunshine. And a little American Quilter's Society Christmas greeting for you:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKMGDld1NS8]AQS Member Quilts - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Leaving some Eggnog coffee today...






​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> You did a quilt for your sister while talking a college load and getting A grades? Yikes!!!! I'm glad you gave a demo on quilting in college. No wonder you can do such challenging embroideries and apparently design them too like your Celtic of Chinese symbols.
> 
> I never thought to show any sewing projects when I took persuasive speech as my speaking elective in college. But I do remember a Consumer health course at Oregon State University in which we were required to give a 5 minute speech on a Consumer measurement issue (count to make sure there were 100 aspirins in an aspirin bottle, or make sense of federal consumer requirements.) I elected to make fun of the consumer health-paper industry. It was a pretty darn dull speech until I held up the yardstick with a square yard of t. paper taped onto it to show how "useful" knowing how much a square yard of toilet paper was (which was the standard info used to tell consumers how much t-paper they were getting back then). The professor doctor said she was giving me an A for the whole course because that was the funniest student speech/demo she'd ever seen. It's kinda fun to see a room full of 300 of your fellow students rolling in the aisles. I felt like a Carol Burnett that day.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, that's funny!  Yeah, my sister who was a lot older than I was getting married.  We set the quilt up at my house.  It is amazing how much you get done if you just sit down and work on one every day. It just has to be a daily thing.  Do a lot. Do a little.  But working every day it finishes up real fast.  In those days, I was just picking up some night classes.  But I was also working.  That was long before the days I went to nursing school.  I never got to finish back then due to not having the money.  But when my husband died leaving me with two little mouths to feed, I had no choice.  Chose nursing and things like that Speech class counted as that was required for my BSN.  So I was a little ahead of the game.  Not much.  Just a little.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Goodness, that's a lot. My kudos to a life well-lived, Sunshine. And a little American Quilter's Society Christmas greeting for you:
> 
> [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKMGDld1NS8]AQS Member Quilts - YouTube[/ame]​
Click to expand...



Thanks! Those are some remarkable quilts.  Quilters are right up there with oil painters when it comes to copping those illusions!  I paint a little bit, and honestly, this it is probably easier with paint even though I have never tried one of those hard hard quilts.  

I like the ones with the stars, and I really like that one near the start that looks like two quilts on top of one another.  

Speaking of stars, there is a superstition in these parts:  People here believe if you make a 'Lone Star' quilt someone in your family will die.  Now, never mind that people die every day everywhere it will be the Lone Star quilt that will bring on death!.  LOL.  Don't see many Lone Start quilts around here.  LOL

Speaking of dying.  In Frankfort KY there is a 'Graveyard Quilt.'  You may have heard about it or seen it.  It used to be house in the Old Statehouse, but last time I was there in the 80s had been moved to a museim.  I kind of think I know where the pic is. I'm off all except for the 27th next week.  I will look for it if you haven't seen it or a photo.  

It IS a graveyard.  Quilted.  Fence, coffins, the whole nine yards. (No pun intended)  Coffins line the outer edge of the quilt, but when one of the family dies, his/her coffin is removed and stitched inside the fence.

Well this is the information age, so I decided to Google before digging.  

Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell&#8217;s Graveyard Quilt: An American Pioneer Saga | Highlands Museum | Ashland, KY

Well chit.  I find the story but not a picture.  If you haven't seen it, I will definitely find it and post it for you.

And speaking of the live 'well lived.'  Some days I would have disagreed.  But when I got this disease and was told I wouldn't likely still be living by now, I thought back and couldn't think of anything, really, that I wanted but didn't have.  I've had it all.  Just not all at once.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. I found it and saved it. The book is said to have actual pictures of the quilt itself, but the cover is a sienna color that represents old photographs at or before the turn of the 19th to 20th century.


----------



## freedombecki

I have a number of unpacked books on the Civil war era, and also antebellum quilts of which our shop teacher (after I got fibromyalgia) is very fond. I love her work so, and her quilts garner many blue ribbons wherever she goes. I guess I really need to plan time with a carpenter to convert my fabric storage room and another back bedroom into shelving for plastic containers and the quilting library, respectively. I have enough books in this house to start a nonfiction library and reference resource for artists who love nature, birds, natural plant tribal remedies and all things North America.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I have a number of unpacked books on the Civil war era, and also antebellum quilts of which our shop teacher (after I got fibromyalgia) is very fond. I love her work so, and her quilts garner many blue ribbons wherever she goes. I guess I really need to plan time with a carpenter to convert my fabric storage room and another back bedroom into shelving for plastic containers and the quilting library, respectively. I have enough books in this house to start a nonfiction library and reference resource for artists who love nature, birds, natural plant tribal remedies and all things North America.



Yes, you should put all those quilting books together.  I have a friend who is an avid cook.  She keeps ALL her cookbooks together in a very special place.


----------



## freedombecki

That'd be just great, but my quilt book collection is a growing organism, especially since I discovered goodwill books at amazon ... I've found OOP treasures for a song... I have to stop. I mean, 8 masterwork books for 8 cents and shipping? 

 Even I feel guilty.


----------



## freedombecki

Given as fundraiser for an artist's guild...
Merry Christmas, everyone.
May you have warm thoughts and be wrapped in love all year. 




​


----------



## freedombecki

Finished the 4-patch window child's quilt except for two 1/25" black borders on the sides and determining an outside border. It's looking like it would work on a twin bed. I need to check with my charity sewing group to find out if that's too big for them to quilt. I spent a mountain of time on it.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying time off at the holidays. I'm hovering close to the bed after getting sick on food at a relatives house on Christmas day. He was really sick and had thrown up earlier before we got there. Now, all the other relatives are throwing up too.  I can't imagine throwing up and failing to cancel a family dinner, especially when throwing up is a sign of food contamination. I guess we're lucky. If it had been botulinum, we'd all be dead. That's my last family dinner.


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday was good for completion of projects, and I added a piano key border at the top and bottom of the multi-bordered log cabin frienship star quilt.

Piano key borders can get even the most experienced quilter into trouble, and finally, I wiped out my problem by 2 ways: perfecting the 1/4" seam allowance to measure exactly what the outcome is supposed to be with zero tolerance for even the slightest error Even more important helps on this are to press the seams open with a little moisture to assure that they stay open and totally, totally, totally flat. I've quilted dozens of customer quilts who bring in a piano key bordered quilt that measures 3 or 4 inches longer on one side than the other, which is where I learned to measure quilts extra times in 3 places, plus in trouble areas.

The beauty and exquisite touch of a well-sewn and pressed paino key border evades any words I could say, but as I looked at the friendship star's negative space (which were light colored strips in sundry tints of the rainbow that had a startling effervescent effect. I decided that that was this poor little quilt's strong point, so after trying to pep up the darks a little with bright colored scraps in narrow borders arranged in rainbow order (pale outline green, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, and avocado, it was still too short by a huge measure, although the width was okay. The border had two scrap criteria: enough to paste a 1.25" finished sides and 3" finished top and bottoms to make the medallion square start long enough to cover youthful toes on cold winter nights. Most of the pieces used under 1/3 yard. I had a lot of the avocado, which was only used because I had to have a light first border and started with a spring pale green print to b ring out the edges of the stars. Well, the avocado border was larger, because I wanted to use it all up. I have fabric stacked to the wazoo ceilings in 3 rooms, and decided if I am gonna do all these quilts in my lifetime, I have to let them go. And the Avocado kinda put the kabosh on a bright, cheerful quilt, so it sat there for a week with me looking at it. It finally hit me to use the cheerful tints used in the light areas around the deep friendship star log cabin. They truly brought out something in a quilt I've rarely seen. So I went back to the cutting table, cut some more strips and sewed 38 strips to the top and 38 to the bottom. They came out as planned, but the brought out an error on the top and bottom--I didn't square them up well, so that had to be taken apart and made the same measurement. AS I said, I learned a lot from this humble little quilt. And with no other way to show it than a sketch, I'm going to load a diagram I drew out this morning.

After sewing on the piano keys, I was pleased like never before. They had no stretch left in them from bad pressing, and both measured precisely the same. So I had to have a border to attach all the way around to add just a little more length to make the quilt 2 yards long (72"). I found a piece of blue forget-me-not cloth I'd bought some time ago because my mother, just a couple of years before she died was out planting her forget-me-nots. When I was young, she took some forget-me-not seed pods that had already ripened while others were still blooming. She touched one of them, and POW! Itsy bitsy black seeds went everywhere! That's how they propagate with proper spacing. The year my dad was ordered to Alaska to serve a year following WWII and the Korean War, I was 8. We got there during the time of the midnight sun, and on a knoll at Fort Richardson they labeled a park, we played in a meadow and collected little flowers, and mom showed us how to split the clover stems open like a needle eye and thread the next stem through them to make a flower wreath to wear in your hair. Growing in between the clover were the most beautiful little blue flowers I remembered having seen (having grown up in a big city this was fun). Mom said those were "forget-me-nots" and showed me the popping trick of the forget-me-not flower, which may be as I now know, the Alaska State Flower. When we were there, it was 1954, and Alaska was a "United States Territory" people still sourly referred to as "Seward's Ice Box." Well, anyhow, I'm off topic, but  the beautiful forget-me-not flower thereafter was always a part of my mother's flower bed additions. I'll see if I can find a scrap of the fabric that shows you how very beautiful the forget-me-nots are when I copy the notes I made this am. I actually cried when I was sewing the forget-me-nots on the border. They didn't exactly make the rest of the quilt bat a home run, but my mother is in that quilt, somewhere.

Oh, yes, I added 2 pictures for one of my Jewels of the Platte quilt shows at City Hall, Casper, Wyoming, sometime between 1996-2004. The miniatures are collected together. There are 25 or 30 huge quilts hanging all round. I made most all you see. I did quilts for 8 shows maybe.


----------



## freedombecki

When working on the quilt above with my mother's favorite flower printed on the border, I couldn't help but think of Dabs who said last week sometime how she misses her mother at Christmas. I have a dear friend who lost her brother a few months before Christmas last year. This year, she found and copied 5 or 6 of his pictures, plasticized and made them into ornaments (some kind of craft kit?) on her tree. She said it brought his memories back to her in a good way and comforted her some this year. although she said she is still adjusting. She moved 1000 miles to Wyoming to live near him some time back and got into quilting for the fun of it. We became fast friends, and she is a true friend indeed.


----------



## freedombecki

Now to find some of my quilts from those Jewels of the Platte shows past. 

Well, doh, I found that Christmas quilt I was looking for 2 weeks ago.!!


----------



## Dabs

Becki......I read the above post and I am so sorry I haven't been visiting this thread more often.
The quilts here are awesome!!!!
I had tons of my Mother's clothing after she passed away....packed in totes, and they were taking up so much room....but I didn't want to part with any of her clothes, or anything!
I have an Aunt in Pennsylvania who is an excellent quilter, so I wrote and asked her if I sent all my Mother's clothes to her, could she please make me a quilt.
That way, I wouldn't have to get rid of Mother's clothes, and I feel the quilts would be worthwhile because I could use them if needed.
She said yes, I sent her all the clothes and I ended up with 3 BEAUTIFUL quilts, made from my Mother's clothing!!!!
I have one hanging in my bedroom, and no....I don't use them.....they are displayed, but I feel wonderful about having them, because I still have part of my Mother in these quilts 
Maybe I could add photos of them in this thread??
*smiles*


----------



## freedombecki

Could you, Dabs? I would love to see your mother's quilts, and if you could post them here it would be so special. Quilts have a story. Be sure you type a short paper on how the 3 quilts came about, sew a small pocket at the bottom on back of the quilt and tuck the folded note in a sealed baggie and keep it there for the next generation. If a collector finds the note, the quilt increases in value threefold. Be sure your mother's name, date of birth and death & town, your aunt, the maker's name and birth info & town, and your own & town. A maker can make the most beautiful quilt in the world, but it can be diminished severely after one trip to the washer with harsh chemicals such as clorox, detergent that is not a neutral ph balance, etc. Ivory soap flakes used to be the standard, but nowadays, people just buy quilt soap for quilts at a quilt store. We're so careful these days. 

Quilts are all about love. Even if you never met the maker, if you wrap up in a hand-made cotton quilt, or a stack of them, quilts can chase chill and give a refreshing sleep on cold nights. Wrapped in a loved one's clothing?--much more than that. You will feel the love, I promise, even if you put it on top of the others to keep it a little nicer.

I love your quilt story Dabs. It's one of the best ones I've heard. 

Well, I'm still needing rest from my little food poisoning episode on christmas day. We are just finishing up the 6th day of Christmas on the 12-day calendar.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Could you, Dabs? I would love to see your mother's quilts, and if you could post them here it would be so special. *Quilts have a story. Be sure you type a short paper on how the 3 quilts came about, sew a small pocket at the bottom on back of the quilt and tuck the folded note in a sealed baggie and keep it there for the next generation. If a collector finds the note, the quilt increases in value threefold. Be sure your mother's name, date of birth and death & town, your aunt, the maker's name and birth info & town, and your own & town. *A maker can make the most beautiful quilt in the world, but it can be diminished severely after one trip to the washer with harsh chemicals such as clorox, detergent that is not a neutral ph balance, etc. Ivory soap flakes used to be the standard, but nowadays, people just buy quilt soap for quilts at a quilt store. We're so careful these days.
> 
> Quilts are all about love. Even if you never met the maker, if you wrap up in a hand-made cotton quilt, or a stack of them, quilts can chase chill and give a refreshing sleep on cold nights. Wrapped in a loved one's clothing?--much more than that. You will feel the love, I promise, even if you put it on top of the others to keep it a little nicer.
> 
> I love your quilt story Dabs. It's one of the best ones I've heard.
> 
> Well, I'm still needing rest from my little food poisoning episode on christmas day. We are just finishing up the 6th day of Christmas on the 12-day calendar.



Oh Becki....I did not know this about tucking notes and things into quilts for future generations! What a great idea.....thank you for sharing, I will definitely do this!
I will try to post pictures in a day or two *smiles*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Could you, Dabs? I would love to see your mother's quilts, and if you could post them here it would be so special. Quilts have a story. Be sure you type a short paper on how the 3 quilts came about, sew a small pocket at the bottom on back of the quilt and tuck the folded note in a sealed baggie and keep it there for the next generation. If a collector finds the note, the quilt increases in value threefold. Be sure your mother's name, date of birth and death & town, your aunt, the maker's name and birth info & town, and your own & town. A maker can make the most beautiful quilt in the world, but it can be diminished severely after one trip to the washer with harsh chemicals such as clorox, detergent that is not a neutral ph balance, etc. Ivory soap flakes used to be the standard, but nowadays, people just buy quilt soap for quilts at a quilt store. We're so careful these days.
> 
> Quilts are all about love. Even if you never met the maker, if you wrap up in a hand-made cotton quilt, or a stack of them, quilts can chase chill and give a refreshing sleep on cold nights. Wrapped in a loved one's clothing?--much more than that. You will feel the love, I promise, even if you put it on top of the others to keep it a little nicer.
> 
> I love your quilt story Dabs. It's one of the best ones I've heard.
> 
> Well, I'm still needing rest from my little food poisoning episode on christmas day. We are just finishing up the 6th day of Christmas on the 12-day calendar.



When I paint, I sign and date my paintings right on the front.  Quilts have become such a work of art, I am baffled as to why the maker doesn't stitch their signature and date in one corner.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Could you, Dabs? I would love to see your mother's quilts, and if you could post them here it would be so special. Quilts have a story. Be sure you type a short paper on how the 3 quilts came about, sew a small pocket at the bottom on back of the quilt and tuck the folded note in a sealed baggie and keep it there for the next generation. If a collector finds the note, the quilt increases in value threefold. Be sure your mother's name, date of birth and death & town, your aunt, the maker's name and birth info & town, and your own & town. A maker can make the most beautiful quilt in the world, but it can be diminished severely after one trip to the washer with harsh chemicals such as clorox, detergent that is not a neutral ph balance, etc. Ivory soap flakes used to be the standard, but nowadays, people just buy quilt soap for quilts at a quilt store. We're so careful these days.
> 
> Quilts are all about love. Even if you never met the maker, if you wrap up in a hand-made cotton quilt, or a stack of them, quilts can chase chill and give a refreshing sleep on cold nights. Wrapped in a loved one's clothing?--much more than that. You will feel the love, I promise, even if you put it on top of the others to keep it a little nicer.
> 
> I love your quilt story Dabs. It's one of the best ones I've heard.
> 
> Well, I'm still needing rest from my little food poisoning episode on christmas day. We are just finishing up the 6th day of Christmas on the 12-day calendar.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When I paint, I sign and date my paintings right on the front.  Quilts have become such a work of art, I am baffled as to why the maker doesn't stitch their signature and date in one corner.
Click to expand...

Traditions in America always started quilt bees with a prayer and a scripture, if there was a woman around lucky enough to know how to read. Many families did not allow womenfolk to read much until the second half of the seventeenth century for practical and utilitarian purposes only. Women were chided to endure humility and secondary service only, due to the puritanical beliefs that her husband's name was the only ones to use name as an influence of the family, and anonymity became a desired quality for picking a wife if one wanted peace in his lifetime to go toe to toe with the male society, blah, blah, blah, I'm really on a tear today.  I'm not sure where the tradition of placing treasured information stitched into a pocket on the lower left bottom of the quilt, I just know it fit in with my understanding of the desired behavior of a wife bit back when.

Edit: Also, after reading a number of tomes on quilts, a number of authors in the industry note collecters will pay triple for just a bit of information on the makers, and how enchanted one of them was to find a quilt at a bedrock price in a flea market with a tag on it that made it such a meaningful experience to have the quilt, knowing who made the quilt. It wouldn't bother me to find a handwritten note by Martha Washington (my personal heroine) sewn inside a hidden pocket on the back of a quilted purchase.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I was going through some quilt books I already had shelved, filling one library full of quilt books between the kitchen and the back door, and found the book, "Ontario's Heritage Quilts" by Marilyn Walker, 1992. It is filled with some of the prettiest quilts known, and well I know it, because on our trip across Canada in fall of 2006, we stopped in a large town (not sure which one) and visited a huge mansion that was converted to public use and was showing an amazing array of quilts made by Canadians, and they were hanging throughout the mansion/castle. Though the quilt below was not at the show, it made me think of Sunshine's lovely Celtic embroidery work, and I thought she'd enjoy seeing this particular quilt. The picture is on page 106, and I checked and there are copies of the book at Amazon, including hardcover books. The book is worth ten times its cost. Those Canadian ladies ain't no slouches when it comes to excellence. I should know. I had to force my lower jaw from dropping for two hours when seeing the amazing quilt show in their historic mansion/castle. Seems maybe it was in Ontario. 

Also, for the first day of the year, I thought it'd be nice to do a little red and white quilt start for a show in a couple of years, so I quilted-as-you-go and cut bazillions of strips. I'll need 63 eight-inch squares to make a quilt 56x72". It's a small start, but the cutting is mainly behind me  ~ or is it?  

To see the details of this quilt, please click on the thumbnail, which makes it a much clearer picture to see (I hope)!


----------



## freedombecki

Just another couple of squares. I found 3 more red and white and 6 more dark red and white fabrics by doing a little more digging. I can't find the white fabric with the tiny red dots, though, which I found sometime last fall for a red and white quilt-to-be or just stash stuff when I needed a light color with a little red in it. 

One other thing I did, do though, I went through a box where I found another quilter had given up on some red and white fabrics for the church closet and found some backs. Most of her cloth, though, was blended. From the 60s when "Dacron polyester" came out to the present, blouses and shirts could now be easy-care, although you had to remove the fabric from the dryer immediately after drying or else you'd have permanent-press wrinkles that were next to impossible to iron out. I'm not overly fond of them, but they at this time can save a little money, still make a good child quilt, and have them wear for years. I cut and resewed a dozen backs today, although the two I'm showing today were made sometime after I should have been in bed last night. I just felt like sewing. 

Another thing I found while digging was another quilt top for a small child another lady at church had made from some squares she hand-picked from my stack of squares I took to one of our group meetings. She attached a note that said she was still experiencing some problems of aging, and how sorry was she couldn't finish the quilting. How well I understand that, not old enough to be disabled, but just not doing well at quilting big tops any more. I am feeling pretty good, and this quilt-as-you-sew method that has been around for years now, is truly helping me get quilts together without having to beg someone else to quilt it. Yay!

My blocks of last night below, plus a quilt I found from down under (Australia) in which the women did a light-hearted, fun red and white quilt, log cabin style, recently. Credit at Red Pepper quilts website.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Today, I was going through some quilt books I already had shelved, filling one library full of quilt books between the kitchen and the back door, and found the book, "Ontario's Heritage Quilts" by Marilyn Walker, 1992. It is filled with some of the prettiest quilts known, and well I know it, because on our trip across Canada in fall of 2006, we stopped in a large town (not sure which one) and visited a huge mansion that was converted to public use and was showing an amazing array of quilts made by Canadians, and they were hanging throughout the mansion/castle. Though the quilt below was not at the show, it made me think of Sunshine's lovely Celtic embroidery work, and I thought she'd enjoy seeing this particular quilt. The picture is on page 106, and I checked and there are copies of the book at Amazon, including hardcover books. The book is worth ten times its cost. Those Canadian ladies ain't no slouches when it comes to excellence. I should know. I had to force my lower jaw from dropping for two hours when seeing the amazing quilt show in their historic mansion/castle. Seems maybe it was in Ontario.
> 
> Also, for the first day of the year, I thought it'd be nice to do a little red and white quilt start for a show in a couple of years, so I quilted-as-you-go and cut bazillions of strips. I'll need 63 eight-inch squares to make a quilt 56x72". It's a small start, but the cutting is mainly behind me  ~ or is it?
> 
> To see the details of this quilt, please click on the thumbnail, which makes it a much clearer picture to see (I hope)!



Thanks, becki!  I do like that quilt.  You do know that a lot of Canadians are of Celtic descent?  My SIL is from Canada.  He and my daughter had their wedding there, and she was formally welcomed into the two 'clans.'  That Celtic influence in some parts of Canada is still very strong.  I suspect this quilt may have been influenced by that.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Today, I was going through some quilt books I already had shelved, filling one library full of quilt books between the kitchen and the back door, and found the book, "Ontario's Heritage Quilts" by Marilyn Walker, 1992. It is filled with some of the prettiest quilts known, and well I know it, because on our trip across Canada in fall of 2006, we stopped in a large town (not sure which one) and visited a huge mansion that was converted to public use and was showing an amazing array of quilts made by Canadians, and they were hanging throughout the mansion/castle. Though the quilt below was not at the show, it made me think of Sunshine's lovely Celtic embroidery work, and I thought she'd enjoy seeing this particular quilt. The picture is on page 106, and I checked and there are copies of the book at Amazon, including hardcover books. The book is worth ten times its cost. Those Canadian ladies ain't no slouches when it comes to excellence. I should know. I had to force my lower jaw from dropping for two hours when seeing the amazing quilt show in their historic mansion/castle. Seems maybe it was in Ontario.
> 
> Also, for the first day of the year, I thought it'd be nice to do a little red and white quilt start for a show in a couple of years, so I quilted-as-you-go and cut bazillions of strips. I'll need 63 eight-inch squares to make a quilt 56x72". It's a small start, but the cutting is mainly behind me  ~ or is it?
> 
> To see the details of this quilt, please click on the thumbnail, which makes it a much clearer picture to see (I hope)!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, becki!  I do like that quilt.  You do know that a lot of Canadians are of Celtic descent?  My SIL is from Canada.  He and my daughter had their wedding there, and she was formally welcomed into the two 'clans.'  That Celtic influence in some parts of Canada is still very strong.  I suspect this quilt may have been influenced by that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the "why"--our trip, while oriented around history fell on deaf ears when I was around that quilt castle. I'm a very visual person, as you may have guessed by now, and their quilts are not only fascinating, the ones in that show were mesmerizing.

I apologize for my bad picture that looks like there is wallpaper all over everything. The printer cover did not shut, so I darkened the room The blurred repeat just wallpapered the pic. I saw two hardback copies at Amazon yesterday for under $5. It's a small book but so well done it would grace any den or parlor table in America, or the world, for that matter. It is an exquisite book in every way, and I hope the author repeats another book as a decade has passed since its first printing. Her selections and the way they are presented are an inspiration. Her American rival wrote "At Home With Quilts" which is a good book too, sans the influences of Canadian culture. What am I saying? There are a lot of good books out there, I just liked the Canadian book because I lived in cold country for so long! The one I shared is not near as beautiful as the one in the book. The flounce at the bottom of the white and red Celtic quilt is one of the most difficult but rewarding edge treatments one can use on a quilt. That was one of the most exquisite quilt edges I've seen ever. My bad copy obfuscated it. I hope you get the book. If you didn't care for it yourself, your daughter's son's family would love it being in their home. 

I'm pleased with my red and white quilting project started yesterday. No matter what I do, I'm always needing more lights when I quilt log cabins. I hate repetitions of the same fabric, so I fight back now and then by just buying quarter yards when visiting quilt stores. The net result of that folly is I run out of the prettiest ones first. *sigh* And this is a terrible time to be looking for red and white. Seems this year, the designers aren't into red and white just because I am. Also, there won't be anything but red hearts for the next 6 weeks due to Valentine's Day, and most of those are doused with one shade of pink or another.

I'm following the red-and-white-only rule, and red on white is a lot harder to locate than white on red this year. You'd think they'd learn as a no-brainer that when they run out of the red-and-whites, people just go elsewhere and seek it out if they're doing a red and white only work. That New York American Folk Art Museum showing should have taught them a lesson--do red this year, *people want it*.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Today, I was going through some quilt books I already had shelved, filling one library full of quilt books between the kitchen and the back door, and found the book, "Ontario's Heritage Quilts" by Marilyn Walker, 1992. It is filled with some of the prettiest quilts known, and well I know it, because on our trip across Canada in fall of 2006, we stopped in a large town (not sure which one) and visited a huge mansion that was converted to public use and was showing an amazing array of quilts made by Canadians, and they were hanging throughout the mansion/castle. Though the quilt below was not at the show, it made me think of Sunshine's lovely Celtic embroidery work, and I thought she'd enjoy seeing this particular quilt. The picture is on page 106, and I checked and there are copies of the book at Amazon, including hardcover books. The book is worth ten times its cost. Those Canadian ladies ain't no slouches when it comes to excellence. I should know. I had to force my lower jaw from dropping for two hours when seeing the amazing quilt show in their historic mansion/castle. Seems maybe it was in Ontario.
> 
> Also, for the first day of the year, I thought it'd be nice to do a little red and white quilt start for a show in a couple of years, so I quilted-as-you-go and cut bazillions of strips. I'll need 63 eight-inch squares to make a quilt 56x72". It's a small start, but the cutting is mainly behind me  ~ or is it?
> 
> To see the details of this quilt, please click on the thumbnail, which makes it a much clearer picture to see (I hope)!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, becki!  I do like that quilt.  You do know that a lot of Canadians are of Celtic descent?  My SIL is from Canada.  He and my daughter had their wedding there, and she was formally welcomed into the two 'clans.'  That Celtic influence in some parts of Canada is still very strong.  I suspect this quilt may have been influenced by that.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks for the "why"--our trip, while oriented around history fell on deaf ears when I was around that quilt castle. I'm a very visual person, as you may have guessed by now, and their quilts are not only fascinating, the ones in that show were mesmerizing.
> 
> I apologize for my bad picture that looks like there is wallpaper all over everything. The printer cover did not shut, so I darkened the room The blurred repeat just wallpapered the pic. I saw two hardback copies at Amazon yesterday for under $5. It's a small book but so well done it would grace any den or parlor table in America, or the world, for that matter. It is an exquisite book in every way, and I hope the author repeats another book as a decade has passed since its first printing. Her selections and the way they are presented are an inspiration. Her American rival wrote "At Home With Quilts" which is a good book too, sans the influences of Canadian culture. What am I saying? There are a lot of good books out there, I just liked the Canadian book because I lived in cold country for so long! The one I shared is not near as beautiful as the one in the book. The flounce at the bottom of the white and red Celtic quilt is one of the most difficult but rewarding edge treatments one can use on a quilt. That was one of the most exquisite quilt edges I've seen ever. My bad copy obfuscated it. I hope you get the book. If you didn't care for it yourself, your daughter's son's family would love it being in their home.
> 
> I'm pleased with my red and white quilting project started yesterday. No matter what I do, I'm always needing more lights when I quilt log cabins. I hate repetitions of the same fabric, so I fight back now and then by just buying quarter yards when visiting quilt stores. The net result of that folly is I run out of the prettiest ones first. *sigh* And this is a terrible time to be looking for red and white. Seems this year, the designers aren't into red and white just because I am. Also, there won't be anything but red hearts for the next 6 weeks due to Valentine's Day, and most of those are doused with one shade of pink or another.
> 
> I'm following the red-and-white-only rule, and red on white is a lot harder to locate than white on red this year. You'd think they'd learn as a no-brainer that when they run out of the red-and-whites, people just go elsewhere and seek it out if they're doing a red and white only work. That New York American Folk Art Museum showing should have taught them a lesson--do red this year, *people want it*.
Click to expand...


Well, one thing about it super markets have learned to keep items on hand that are featured on The Food Network!!!  

The quilt hanging on the end of the bed looks like it is an interesting one a well.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, becki!  I do like that quilt.  You do know that a lot of Canadians are of Celtic descent?  My SIL is from Canada.  He and my daughter had their wedding there, and she was formally welcomed into the two 'clans.'  That Celtic influence in some parts of Canada is still very strong.  I suspect this quilt may have been influenced by that.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the "why"--our trip, while oriented around history fell on deaf ears when I was around that quilt castle. I'm a very visual person, as you may have guessed by now, and their quilts are not only fascinating, the ones in that show were mesmerizing.
> 
> I apologize for my bad picture that looks like there is wallpaper all over everything. The printer cover did not shut, so I darkened the room The blurred repeat just wallpapered the pic. I saw two hardback copies at Amazon yesterday for under $5. It's a small book but so well done it would grace any den or parlor table in America, or the world, for that matter. It is an exquisite book in every way, and I hope the author repeats another book as a decade has passed since its first printing. Her selections and the way they are presented are an inspiration. Her American rival wrote "At Home With Quilts" which is a good book too, sans the influences of Canadian culture. What am I saying? There are a lot of good books out there, I just liked the Canadian book because I lived in cold country for so long! The one I shared is not near as beautiful as the one in the book. The flounce at the bottom of the white and red Celtic quilt is one of the most difficult but rewarding edge treatments one can use on a quilt. That was one of the most exquisite quilt edges I've seen ever. My bad copy obfuscated it. I hope you get the book. If you didn't care for it yourself, your daughter's son's family would love it being in their home.
> 
> I'm pleased with my red and white quilting project started yesterday. No matter what I do, I'm always needing more lights when I quilt log cabins. I hate repetitions of the same fabric, so I fight back now and then by just buying quarter yards when visiting quilt stores. The net result of that folly is I run out of the prettiest ones first. *sigh* And this is a terrible time to be looking for red and white. Seems this year, the designers aren't into red and white just because I am. Also, there won't be anything but red hearts for the next 6 weeks due to Valentine's Day, and most of those are doused with one shade of pink or another.
> 
> I'm following the red-and-white-only rule, and red on white is a lot harder to locate than white on red this year. You'd think they'd learn as a no-brainer that when they run out of the red-and-whites, people just go elsewhere and seek it out if they're doing a red and white only work. That New York American Folk Art Museum showing should have taught them a lesson--do red this year, *people want it*.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well, one thing about it super markets have learned to keep items on hand that are featured on The Food Network!!!
> 
> The quilt hanging on the end of the bed looks like it is an interesting one a well.
Click to expand...

You never know what motivates a small quilt store owner to buy certain types of fabric.

The author said this about the quilt hanging at the foot of the bed: "Draped over the foot-rail is another appliqued tulip variation. Unfortunately, as the fabric is layered, it is the top applique layer that gets the most wear and therefore deteriorates first. Like all young women of her era, Amelia Eskritt made a number of quilts for her hope chest. In 1883 she married Brewin "Roadhouse, and she lived in Essex County until her death in 1948. Amelia scaled down the central pattern and created a complementary border design to frame the central four-block medallion design.  She quilted a clamshell design across the surface of the quilt, which gives texture without creating a secondary design." ~ _Ontario's Heritage Quilts_ by Marilyn I. Walker, 1992, Toronto. Well, back to the copier and see if I can get you a closer shot of the applique at the foot of the bed. At first glance, I thought it reminded me of a Hawaiian quilt, but now that I look at it more closely, it's full of Heraldry.

My copier added its own little print to the top of this picture, too. Sorry. The book is so beautiful. My pictures are such nonsense representatives of the beautiful photography. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

This morning went well, and 12 squares cut out were quilted in more red and white logs separated as to light and dark. Recapping:

Jan 1, 2012, 2 redwork quilted 8" log cabin squares
Jan 2 - 2
Jan 3 - 12
Total to 9 am = 16 squares, need 63 so, I can get there in 4 days staying with 12 per diem; 3 days with 16, 2 days with 24 each, or one final day of 47 squares. 

Square #5, 6 and 7 pictured


----------



## freedombecki

Squares 8, 9, and 10:


----------



## freedombecki

Squares 11, 12, and 13:


----------



## freedombecki

Squares 14, 15, and 16:


----------



## Dabs

The red is very pretty!
I am still working on getting pictures posted of my quilts Becki.....it's finding time, and my good camera


----------



## freedombecki

Hope you get some good shots, Dabs. I'd love to see the quilts your auntie made from your mom's clothes. That's really something.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, we used the fish house gift cards my husband's mom sent for Christmas. He just got his hands spanked at the doctor's for high cholesterol, so I'm trying to get him away from fried fish n' chips and into the omega-3 fatty acids found in broiled fish (not much, but it has a cholesterol-inhibiting effect in people with that problem. The rest will be lowered by his prescription, if after a month of taking it he's getting along okay. After my hour-long sermon all the way there (the nearest one is 45 miles away through highway construction), he preferred the lobster and shrimp linguini. 

On the way back, I stopped by JoAnne's and HobbyLobby's to scarf up on what few different reds they offer for my scrap quilts. Together, I came home with 8 new prints, one of which was a huge white dot on red material that will either make a good back or the dark for a grossly large pattern made into a quilt. Well, there were over 6 yards, the quality was ok, and the price was right and included a discount. I'd like to have 30 really, really nice red quilts if I do a show. And picking out only red and white prints in a market that is not offering many redwork groupings lately can be a challenge. You're definitely getting what was left over from last year, and the choices are not small packed prints that are desirable for the 1.25" strip size on the above red log cabin squares. Packing a print means putting small objects closer together with less negative spaces between them so they will present well in a small space. They are sought-after by the miniature quilters, log cabin enthusiasts, and the postage stamp posse girls. Oh, yes, and I still haven't found the 2 yards of white with red dotted material that is a Moda essential. I just had my hands on it a couple of weeks back. I must've found the best storage place in the world for it, at least. I know wherever it is, there are possibly 20 more red and white prints I can't find and forgot about. My digging did come up with another dozen red-and-white quilt fabrics, though, that's a good thing. But the essential dots? They're not ready for me to find them, that's all. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

On the way there, I completed a crocheted dishrag and half another one. I use them for family and close friends gifts. They're all cotton and are good for scrubbing. Though I try to match the kitchens as well as I can. Putting a half double-crochet simple border around the green dominant one gave the edge a nice resilient touch, whereas sometimes the single crochet borders I'd used in the past had a tendency to make the outside very tight. It's funny what one yarn over can do in resilience.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I took some red thread and program 19 on my little Bro sewing machine and sewed all around the square seams. I sewed 6 squares together, and they were fun. I really love the look of the feather stitches. Most sewing machines that have 20 stitches or more have at least one version of the feather stitch. This sample shows the feather stitch (leftest in photo) and many variations hand stitchers have used historically on crazy quilts for embellishment purposes.

Samples of the feather stitch and many variations enjoyed by crazy-stitch quilters:






photo credits 

I processed 6 of the squares. It took 2 bobbins of red thread to embroider the feather stitches onto the log cabin squares, but oh, the refined look was well worth a day's time, imho.​


----------



## freedombecki

I hope the pics come out okay of the feather stitches. I only had a 40 weight cotton thread. I probably should have run 2 threads through the needle. That is a lot more effective in a feather stitch on the machine. But, I just did a plain job, I guess.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I hope the pics come out okay of the feather stitches. I only had a 40 weight cotton thread. I probably should have run 2 threads through the needle. That is a lot more effective in a feather stitch on the machine. But, I just did a plain job, I guess.



I would go crazy trying to get my head around that!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I hope the pics come out okay of the feather stitches. I only had a 40 weight cotton thread. I probably should have run 2 threads through the needle. That is a lot more effective in a feather stitch on the machine. But, I just did a plain job, I guess.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would go crazy trying to get my head around that!!!
Click to expand...

Most newer (and some older) sewing machines have unwinding discs or prongs for 2 threads. In order to use certain embroidery stitches to full advantage, you just put on a topstitching needle size 90 (14, American), place 2 spools of thread on the 2 prongs, put them together like 1 thread and run them through the threading process as if they were 1 thread. If your thread is 50 weight or smaller, you just use the same needle you use for regular sewing which is size 75 (11) or 80 (12). Threads used to be 40 weight. Now, they're all into less materials, same yardage, so they're making stronger threads that use less fiber and are therefore 50 weight category.

Your stitch is more defined, and if your machine is perfectly timed and synchronized, a stitch programmed to look like hand embroidery will in every way resemble a beautiful, perfectly-done embroidery stitch. If you have a cross stitch program, the 2mm length and width size will embroider 14 count Aida cloth exactly, and the 3mm length and width size will embroider 11 count. If you have a machine that is programmable, you can even cause your machine to cross stitch over 2 threads for petit-point work or even gros-point for working on gingham.

I have a lot more fun with simple stuff anymore. The machine I bought at WalMart a few months ago for under $200 serves all my quilting needs. It's not as quiet as my Pfaff machines were, but it was cheaper to get an inexpensive machine to do straight stitches than it was to hire someone to repair the old top-of-the-line computer machine. Of all the things I enjoyed about sewing in the past, it was using my sewing machine to do pen-and-ink style blackwork. If I can ever get to the bottom of my pile of twosie strips (you don't want to know) I might draw some things out on this machine. It is equipped to do free motion work, and I love to draw using the sewing machine. Unlike real ink and real paint, thread has no noticeable smells, and with the correct backing, your work is just like pen and ink, except it is done in stitches that your hands motion it to do.

I only wish I had about 10 more lifetimes to do all the stuff I'd like to do.


----------



## freedombecki

Georgetown Quilt Show!
It's always fun to go someplace else and see what's happening in the quilt world. Grab a cuppa and take a vicarious tour...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MgBlIIx4as]Georgetown Quilt & Stitchery Show - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

If abstract art is your passion, the Houston SAQA show gets into that which is painterly... enjoy!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viAde4IhJwE]Houston Quilt Festival - SAQA Exhibit Highlights with Luana Rubin - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Above is one block of my Kelley green.  It is just a stamped pattern.
> There are two shades of green working there, but it 's hard to tell in the pic.  I'm about half finished, I do recall that, but I don't recall exactly how many blocks it takes.  I also have to do the border around all the blocks.  Spare time...I can do one block a week.  And it's not a productivity thing, it's more of a Zen thing.  I just work real slow and zone out when I do this.  It's escape.  I'm not an expert stitcher by any stretch, but I think my work is decent.
> 
> When my mother took the one in to quilt the first thing she said was, 'Oh look at all that pretty cross stitch.'  She charged $15, but the woman gave her $20.


Oh, I can't wait to see a touch of the border done on one of your blocks, Sunshine. Today I opened the quilt I spoke of a few pages back that I'd found a quilt on ebay. Well, it is no less a precious quilt, but the embroidery has washed out of some of the blocks, which will have to be repaired, and it has more white space than stitches, whereas yours has a strong and pleasing symmetry about it. Even so, the quilt I bought will be a nice layer on top. It was well-used, and I can guesstimate where the stitches were and try to fix the errors as best I can. I could get my programmable computer machine fixed, and just do a make-do completion, although I'd have to stray from the original maker's handwork. I don't think I could put such a quilt to a machine unless I were a lot more desperate.

*sigh*

Oh, I have to say this, that I love your quilt work.


----------



## freedombecki

I've been noticing some truly pretty quilts online lately. This one is called the "French Braid," and it looks like it starts out with an on-point square in the center of a background length, joined picturesquely to other French braid lengths, then pleasingly bordered. It looks easy, but I'm not so certain...

Anyway, it looks like a whole lot of fun, and something you could quilt in lengthwise panels and join the quilt-as-you-sew method.





credits and kit info​


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, and I found a book on French Braid quilts:






credits and signed copies


----------



## freedombecki

Timeless Treasures Fabrics' designer, Karen Montgomery made this French Braid for their website. It's a little different than the ones with the little black squares in the middle. It seems to me the quilt would be harder to do than the ones with the anchoring square. Maybe I will add the web page for their instructions, just in case. *back* Nope. That one is a pattern distributed only to participating shops that provide Tonga Batiks, a trademark of the TT Fabric co. Trust me, I've done braids before. They're tricky if you're trying them with no instructions. I have to say, if you live in an area that has such a shop, it'd be well worth contacting the quilt store about how to get or make that particular rainbow-colored quilt. And I know from years of dealing with the company that their fabrics are first-rate, they're honest folks, and they are all-star top ten quilt fabric manufacturers in the world. The TT cloth I have used is peerless. It had body and a good feel, and the colors last through many washings. 

​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Oh, and I found a book on French Braid quilts:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> credits and signed copies





freedombecki said:


> Timeless Treasures Fabrics' designer, Karen Montgomery made this French Braid for their website. It's a little different than the ones with the little black squares in the middle.
> 
> ​



WOW!  Just WOW!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, and I found a book on French Braid quilts:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> credits and signed copies
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Timeless Treasures Fabrics' designer, Karen Montgomery made this French Braid for their website. It's a little different than the ones with the little black squares in the middle.
> 
> ​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> WOW!  Just WOW!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sunshine. I did find a source that teaches how to start off, but it doesn't do much about how to finish more than a tablerunner. For some reason, the Youtube website wasn't letting me link their stuff this morning, but I did find a page you can go to see how simple this quilt seems to be. I said "seems, because if you look closely, the demonstrator is showing a gridded cutting mat in inch measurements. That tells me, the quilt requires astute measuring, cutting, and consistent seam allowance. Most quilters use 1/4", but measuring/sewing consistency is better than all the shibboleths in the quilt world placed in one basket. Oh, and FWIW, here's the link. I'll try to link it like a video, but I'm pretty sure if you just went to You Tube and loaded in "French braid quilt," you'd find this video.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjrF-O95Cc]Polly Quilt Directions - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## Sunshine

I am still working on getting that quilt block scanned. The scanner was never connected to the computer as I never scan anything to the computer.  Now I can't find the cable.  I will come up with something.  Give me a day or two.


----------



## freedombecki

We had the same problem a while back. We used to keep all cables in a blue trunk by the front door. It was still in the blue trunk. I doubt that helps you much, sunshine. Silly me.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I got 16 of the squares and arranged them into a star, just for fun. I bumbled and stumbled along, which I hope nobody else has to do, although I have just barely enough skill to make it all come out reasonably well. After I got it all done, I found the perfect method on Youtube. It is called "Fun and Done" technique. I also found a great video by Mary Fons on uneven log cabins. Both of them take some time, but I think the "Fun and Done" one is highly valuable to the person who has a stack of quilt blocks but is uncertain on how to make them right. Here is "Fun and Done" and the lady who made it easy for average quilters:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCcfgYQ5YMI]Fun & Done - YouTube[/ame]

I hope this helps someone quilt her own projects who is sewing many quilts for family or friends. You can also use a larger and a smaller template that don't have to be their product, although that would sure help those who can't do a little math and figure out the precise centering techniques a more experienced quilter would know. I recommend this video to be used, and you can click on the right hand corner and see details better by using the full screen. You get back here by pushing the return icon again, on the lower right hand corner.​


----------



## freedombecki

Mary Fons: "Curved Log Cabins" (aka uneven log cabin)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ree9P2-A5o]Quilty: Blocks-A-Go-Go: Curved Log Cabin - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

And I found one other approach to doing a quilt-as-you-sew method of doing log cabins that have a very firm foundation but is criticized by less skillful quilters who never cut into a block by being careless and uncued into the nuances of the teacher and her experiences. So such as it is, the warts of editing et cetera, here it is. You need ample, and I mean ample fabric around the design to do this method. Not for first-timers unless they are astute instruction-followers, such as nurses following unfamiliar orders to a t in life-and-death situations.

And yeah, I personally know how to screw up a piece of work and go back to the store, hoping there is a piece or a match of the fabric I just destroyed with inattention to detail and instruction that would have prevented the fiasco. 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_qyb7XxY4k]Quilt As You Go - Joining Un-sashed Quilt Blocks, Part 2 of 3 - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## Eriksson

freedombecki said:


> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:




I quilt because I can't paint pictures.  God gave me so much appreciation for art and very little artistic talent.  I'm a pretty good craftsman, but I'm not an artist.  If I could draw and paint, I would be doing that all the time. 

That said, I really love fabric, so that might very well have been my medium. As it is, I must have direction in my art.  A pattern, printed fabrics and detailed instructions and I can do ok.  I can copy someone else's work.  An artist can look at a piece of fabric (just like a solid piece of marble or a blank canvas) and see a finished project from the vision in her head.  I don't have that "vision" gene.


----------



## freedombecki

Eriksson said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I quilt because I can't paint pictures.  God gave me so much appreciation for art and very little artistic talent.  I'm a pretty good craftsman, but I'm not an artist.  If I could draw and paint, I would be doing that all the time.
> 
> That said, I really love fabric, so that might very well have been my medium. As it is, I must have direction in my art.  A pattern, printed fabrics and detailed instructions and I can do ok.  I can copy someone else's work.  An artist can look at a piece of fabric (just like a solid piece of marble or a blank canvas) and see a finished project from the vision in her head.  I don't have that "vision" gene.
Click to expand...

Well, welcome to USMB, Eriksson! Hope you like the boards, and our quilt thread. I just cut another 2 or 300 red and white pieces to finish up a project started last week or begin another. I finally got all 16 pieces done for the log cabin star of last week and everything prequilted except the border, which is next. I also found one of those templates for the "Fun and Done" squares. I did them the hard way last week. I think I'll just bind and make a receiving blanket out of that first one. I made a million mistakes without a pattern, which is exhausting. Now, with the inspiration of the video above, and a thorough distaste for the wrong way of doing quilt-as-you-sew block by block, it should be all smooth sailing from here. 

My mockups of this am and "effort" of last week: picture (1) is the 8" square with a potential back, (2) is the mockup onto a background 8" block of warm and natural batting and (3) is where I joined 2 of the squares and stitched over with a machine embroidery stitch.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, it's off to the quilt store in Trinity to see if I can find some more of that red with white star material. I got a "let's go to Trinity restaurant" invitation about an hour ago. There's this really, really great place to eat, not to mention Thread Heaven store.


----------



## Sunshine

Eriksson said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I quilt because I can't paint pictures.  God gave me so much appreciation for art and very little artistic talent.  I'm a pretty good craftsman, but I'm not an artist.  If I could draw and paint, I would be doing that all the time.
> 
> That said, I really love fabric, so that might very well have been my medium. As it is, I must have direction in my art.  A pattern, printed fabrics and detailed instructions and I can do ok.  I can copy someone else's work.  An artist can look at a piece of fabric (just like a solid piece of marble or a blank canvas) and see a finished project from the vision in her head.  I don't have that "vision" gene.
Click to expand...


I always thought I couldn't paint.  So I didn't try until I was 46.  Someone told me the desire indicated the talent.  So, I took classes for a few years.  Early on, I couldn't do 'perspective' for the world.  But you LEARN!  And the more great art you see, the more you learn.  I went to the Frist Center exhibit of the paintings from the Louvre in Paris.   They were on tour while the Louvre was being renovated.  OMG!  They were absolutely exquisite!  And the National Museum of Art in DC is a place I could get lost in for about 3 months!  

I took classes starting in the fall of 94.  Time didn't fly.  I didn't have fun.  So I didn't go back in the spring.  Went back the next fall.  Time still didn't fly.  I still didn't have fun.  But I came out with something I liked.  Here is one I did in about 96 or 97.  Sorry, it's cropped to get my siggy off it.  But you get the idea.






I have a seascape started.  I can't seem to finish it.  But when I take and set up by the sea, I will finish it.  I just know I will then.


----------



## Sunshine

Here's another.  My self portrait!  
It is cropped as well for the same reason.


----------



## Sunshine

This is what was left of the weekend's full moon.  Took this on the way to work on Monday morning.  Maybe I'll paint this one day.  Without the wires of course.  There are lots of good shots in KY, but not lots of good places to pull of the road to get the shot!  LOL

It is not composed well due to not having a good spot.  Painting would require some 'artistic liberty' to make the composition better.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for sharing your beautiful paintings and photography here, Sunshine. I agree. There's something about that photograph that you could develop into a smashing painting. 

I love the water reflection on the painting. It's good.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks for sharing your beautiful paintings and photography here, Sunshine. I agree. There's something about that photograph that you could develop into a smashing painting.
> 
> I love the water reflection on the painting. It's good.



Painting is a skill you learn just like anything else.  I knew the shot of the mood sucked as to composition, but the colors were so muted and awesome that morning.  I had to take it and two others just to make sure I got it.  Of course SOME talented person could make a quilt out of it!


----------



## freedombecki

Went to cutups today, and my friend took some pics with her I-phone of some of the quilts I've been talking about and snapping small squares.

The first is one of the 2 friendship star quilts I turned in to the charity closet today. (the other did not make it to the internet.)

The second is the 4-patch window log cabin.

The third is a square from the postage stamp Scotty dog quilt I designed last year sometime.


----------



## freedombecki

Back and front of the unfinished hero star red log cabin quilt


----------



## freedombecki

When I started cleaning off my kitchen table of the foot-high stack of 1.75" strips to separate them from all the new red and white projects I'm dreaming of,  I found what may be the last of the other four friendship star quilt log cabin star points (four complete squares) and starts on the light areas when you do stars in the deeper colors. I finished the 4 today, and yesterday, I found a potholder start with the state of Texas map outline on it, added a border, and it is exactly the same size as the outer squares. So I have another friendship star one on the way, which is appropriate, since Texas is known as the Friendship State. It's special to me, because I was away from here for 45 years, from 1965-2009, when my family moved. I returned when I couldn't stand the cold winters any more on account of fibromyalgia pain. I'll see if I can get the center square over here on the printer to add at the bottom of this post. Back in a minute. It's still sitting on a chair by my sewing machine downstairs.


----------



## freedombecki

Completed the friendship star log cabin and worked on cutting more red and white strips yesterday.

One of my talented artist friends and I drove our machine up to Tyler to have them repaired by one of the nearest dealers. We stopped at 3 quilt shops. I have about 70 new red and white fabrics (half light and half dark) to work on scrap red and whites. Not sure If I will be able to do a one-woman quilt show again. Eight really was enough, but if I limit the size of the works, the galleries may be large enough to accommodate my shows. I'm so excited. I spent at least 2 hours already cutting red and whites. I have several hours ahead to do cuttings for several of my little works. I'm truly happy with the way things are going lately.

If anyone here drops by, and likes anything you saw on the thread, and say so, it's a springboard for the person who is finishing projects. Just sayin'. 

Oh, yes, I put a frield of Texas flowers fabric as the border to the Texas Friendship Star and map quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm saving pieces of the reds from the half-yards I've been accumulating to make another red and white butterfly quilt. I really should be doing this while I have all those hundreds of red and white fabrics out of the boxes their leftovers will return to. *sigh* If you're new and see a thumbnail below, click it and it gets bigger, hopefully.


----------



## freedombecki

Probably cut 600 red and white quilt strips 1.75" and assorted other sizes in the last 4 days, possibly more, from at least 200 fabrics and maybe more.

I also perused the red and white quilt coffers of America...

(1) A String-Heart quilt
(2) A Mariner's Compass quilt
(3) White Schoolhouse on Red (reversed) quilt


----------



## freedombecki

Today's progress: a quilted pillow top in reds for a senior who needs support.

It was fun!


----------



## freedombecki

Working on Double Four-Patch quilt squares, lately. The small squares measure 1.25" and the regular squares measure 2.5." The ones below are joined squares that measure 5.5" unfinished and will finish measuring 5" across the quilt width and length, provided all goes well. The squares pictures need "squaring up." To square up a quilt square that has uneven edges, you would simply use a 5 1/2" cutting template. Because of their smaller size, I was able to get 2 squares per picture on the scanner as shown below in pictures 1, 2, and 3 Double Four-Patches:

As a little misplaced footnote, if you click on one of the pictures, you can see what beautiful fabrics are out there these days for quilters to pick from in doing quiltmaking.

I found another 4 quilt tops that I finished last year to take down to the quilter's closet. I don't know how they got overlooked, but I just need to get them out of the house and to the quilter's closet so someone can quilt them.


----------



## freedombecki

Below are Double Four-Patch pictures of 2 squares each: 4, 5, and 6:


----------



## freedombecki

In calculating a width of 50 and a length of 70, one would need 10x14 5" squares or 140 squares. With there being a mere 12 squares above, I really have my work cut out for me getting 128 more squares done before my patriotic charity quilt mission is accomplished. Fortunately, every minute I spend in front of the sewing machine is pure joy, so it will make for a few very happy hours of my life to do this work.


----------



## freedombecki

Whew! A hundred red and white log cabin blocks -- done! 

Now, for deciding how to place them. Above are examples of fields and furrows log cabin, hero star log cabin, and several others. More below:

(1) Uneven Heart Log Cabin Picture Credits and How-Tos

(2) Barn Raising Log Cabin Picture Credits

(3) Red Log Cabin Chinese lanterns or Courthouse Steps Picture Credits



​


----------



## freedombecki

While out scavenging the web in hopeless pursuit of all the named log cabin variations there are, I ran into a quilt that might interest sunshine. I know she's busy doing crafts, but fwiw, here is an example of a simple celtic design for a quilt that I would love to do in red and white, if I ever do a quilt show, that is. The page I found the celtic quilt on has full illustrated construction methods on how to get the complex block to work.






Photo Credits: How to make a simple Celtic knot quilt block 


​


----------



## Sunshine

Here you go, becki:






Forgive me for being so technologically challenged.  You have forced me to learn something.

It seems the stamp isn't getting picked up well along with the color.  What do you need?  Would you like just the stamped pattern?   Better placement?  The whole thing in 4 sections? Just tell me what to do.


----------



## Dabs

Ok Becki....sorry it has taken me so long, time isn't on my side.......this is just one of the quilts that my Aunt made for me, made from my Mother's clothing.
She asked me what color background I wanted, and I said white....because I love the color white.....and the quilt hangs in my bedroom, which is decorated in pink and white......so it was a great match.
All of the heart shapes are pieces of my Mother's shirts and blouses. And I have never washed it.....so it still carries the scent of my Mother, to this day.......cause her clothing had her scent..she wore an awesome perfume and it just lingers there on the quilt.
I have never wrapped myself in this particular quilt, because I don't want to get it dirty, so it hangs for display only. But she made me one with a burgundy background and it's on the back of my sofa, I'll try and get a pic of it on here too.
I love this quilt.....I think my Aunt did a great job. I couldn't bare to part with my Mother's clothes, so this way.....I was able to save them....and yet, they weren't packed away in totes, taking up space *smiles*


----------



## Sunshine

Dabs said:


> Ok Becki....sorry it has taken me so long, time isn't on my side.......this is just one of the quilts that my Aunt made for me, made from my Mother's clothing.
> She asked me what color background I wanted, and I said white....because I love the color white.....and the quilt hangs in my bedroom, which is decorated in pink and white......so it was a great match.
> All of the heart shapes are pieces of my Mother's shirts and blouses. And I have never washed it.....so it still carries the scent of my Mother, to this day.......cause her clothing had her scent..she wore an awesome perfume and it just lingers there on the quilt.
> I have never wrapped myself in this particular quilt, because I don't want to get it dirty, so it hangs for display only. But she made me one with a burgundy background and it's on the back of my sofa, I'll try and get a pic of it on here too.
> I love this quilt.....I think my Aunt did a great job. I couldn't bare to part with my Mother's clothes, so this way.....I was able to save them....and yet, they weren't packed away in totes, taking up space *smiles*



What perfume did she wear?


----------



## Dabs

Sunshine said:


> Dabs said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ok Becki....sorry it has taken me so long, time isn't on my side.......this is just one of the quilts that my Aunt made for me, made from my Mother's clothing.
> She asked me what color background I wanted, and I said white....because I love the color white.....and the quilt hangs in my bedroom, which is decorated in pink and white......so it was a great match.
> All of the heart shapes are pieces of my Mother's shirts and blouses. And I have never washed it.....so it still carries the scent of my Mother, to this day.......cause her clothing had her scent..she wore an awesome perfume and it just lingers there on the quilt.
> I have never wrapped myself in this particular quilt, because I don't want to get it dirty, so it hangs for display only. But she made me one with a burgundy background and it's on the back of my sofa, I'll try and get a pic of it on here too.
> I love this quilt.....I think my Aunt did a great job. I couldn't bare to part with my Mother's clothes, so this way.....I was able to save them....and yet, they weren't packed away in totes, taking up space *smiles*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What perfume did she wear?
Click to expand...


Charley.

She sometimes wore some fragrances from Avon, but Charley was her all time favorite


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here you go, becki:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Forgive me for being so technologically challenged.  You have forced me to learn something.
> 
> It seems the stamp isn't getting picked up well along with the color.  What do you need?  Would you like just the stamped pattern?   Better placement?  The whole thing in 4 sections? Just tell me what to do.


Please forgive the long delay, Sunshine. I didn't know you'd posted here in a while, and I've been sewing like mad on sundry red quilt tops, having left 10 at the quilter's closet since Jan. 1. 

Oh, I was just curious what the outer corner would look like, Sunshine. Your work is so exquisite. I've seen a lot of cross-stitched quilts, but your work is a lovely expression of what good work is. I already saw a completed inside, but this closeup shows two distinct greens I didn't quite pick up in the first one. As I recollect, the pattern appeared symmetric east and west and symmetric north and south. Therefore, seeing one corner completed with some of the center in it would be sufficient to satisfy my silly curiousity. I've quilted in one way or another since 1966, and I love just about every type of quilting except those types that do serious damage to a quilt machine. *sigh*

Thanks! Again, I apologize for not seeing your post for 3 days. My eyes are not as smart as they used to be this year. My doctor told me to use drops, but I keep forgetting to lube, so I'm not picking up details when I scroll down the USMB menu as well lately.


----------



## freedombecki

* Up at the yellow and black quilt, it appears I forgot to link the free instruction page. Sorry.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here you go, becki:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Forgive me for being so technologically challenged.  You have forced me to learn something.
> 
> It seems the stamp isn't getting picked up well along with the color.  What do you need?  Would you like just the stamped pattern?   Better placement?  The whole thing in 4 sections? Just tell me what to do.
> 
> 
> 
> Please forgive the long delay, Sunshine. I didn't know you'd posted here in a while, and I've been sewing like mad on sundry red quilt tops, having left 10 at the quilter's closet since Jan. 1.
> 
> Oh, I was just curious what the outer corner would look like, Sunshine. Your work is so exquisite. I've seen a lot of cross-stitched quilts, but your work is a lovely expression of what good work is. I already saw a completed inside, but this closeup shows two distinct greens I didn't quite pick up in the first one. As I recollect, the pattern appeared symmetric east and west and symmetric north and south. Therefore, seeing one corner completed with some of the center in it would be sufficient to satisfy my silly curiousity. I've quilted in one way or another since 1966, and I love just about every type of quilting except those types that do serious damage to a quilt machine. *sigh*
> 
> Thanks! Again, I apologize for not seeing your post for 3 days. My eyes are not as smart as they used to be this year. My doctor told me to use drops, but I keep forgetting to lube, so I'm not picking up details when I scroll down the USMB menu as well lately.
Click to expand...


Yes, it is a symmetrical pattern.  And there ARE two shades of green.  I thought using two shades would give more depth.

Take care of those eyes.  If you use the drops two times a day, put the next to something else you do two times a day.  That way you won't forget.  My patients forget their medicine.  So  I tell them to put their morning and night medicine by their toothbrush and they noon medicine where they prepare their lunch.  That works for many of them.


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> Ok Becki....sorry it has taken me so long, time isn't on my side.......this is just one of the quilts that my Aunt made for me, made from my Mother's clothing.
> She asked me what color background I wanted, and I said white....because I love the color white.....and the quilt hangs in my bedroom, which is decorated in pink and white......so it was a great match.
> All of the heart shapes are pieces of my Mother's shirts and blouses. And I have never washed it.....so it still carries the scent of my Mother, to this day.......cause her clothing had her scent..she wore an awesome perfume and it just lingers there on the quilt.
> I have never wrapped myself in this particular quilt, because I don't want to get it dirty, so it hangs for display only. But she made me one with a burgundy background and it's on the back of my sofa, I'll try and get a pic of it on here too.
> I love this quilt.....I think my Aunt did a great job. I couldn't bare to part with my Mother's clothes, so this way.....I was able to save them....and yet, they weren't packed away in totes, taking up space *smiles*


Dabs, I'm so amazed at how beautiful your aunt's tribute to your mother is. Not only is it a beloved piece for you, it's a quite beautiful and unique piece of work in and of itself. What a special valentine your big-hearted aunt is.


----------



## Sunshine

Dabs said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dabs said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ok Becki....sorry it has taken me so long, time isn't on my side.......this is just one of the quilts that my Aunt made for me, made from my Mother's clothing.
> She asked me what color background I wanted, and I said white....because I love the color white.....and the quilt hangs in my bedroom, which is decorated in pink and white......so it was a great match.
> All of the heart shapes are pieces of my Mother's shirts and blouses. And I have never washed it.....so it still carries the scent of my Mother, to this day.......cause her clothing had her scent..she wore an awesome perfume and it just lingers there on the quilt.
> I have never wrapped myself in this particular quilt, because I don't want to get it dirty, so it hangs for display only. But she made me one with a burgundy background and it's on the back of my sofa, I'll try and get a pic of it on here too.
> I love this quilt.....I think my Aunt did a great job. I couldn't bare to part with my Mother's clothes, so this way.....I was able to save them....and yet, they weren't packed away in totes, taking up space *smiles*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What perfume did she wear?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Charley.
> 
> She sometimes wore some fragrances from Avon, but Charley was her all time favorite
Click to expand...


I remember Charley well.  They still make it.  You can get it on Amazon if they ever need a touch up!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the tip on the eye drops, Sunshine. I'll put them on the 'puter table with my other two taken that has really helped my fibro issues, especially its discordant accompaniments.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow. Having the eyedrops by the computer is a good deal. I put them in half an hour ago, and my eyes are a lot more comfortable. I've been sewing 4-patches and windmill patches today. They come from the same light and dark sewn strip pairs, so I make some in 4-patches which finish 1.25" and others into the windmill blades that are 1.25x2.5" strips

The 4-patch block I found online this morning has free instructions and how-tos at this link. I made 4 of the blocks below and arranged them to form a sort of chain ring:




​


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yeah, and in the last four days, I've made 99 four-patches and it seems like as many windmills. It's like the old song, "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer; ya take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beeeeeer..."


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I'd like to quilt this into a pillow top with some bluebonnet fabric around. It cheers up the seniors in nursing homes to see bluebonnets around here. 

Also, the Tall Pines Quilt Guild is sponsoring a craft table sale on the square in May, so I crocheted a denim-blue dish rag with hopes I can finish a dozen. They use money for education and charity quilt battings to go in the tops we make for the shelter, seniors, veterans, and other causes.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Wow. Having the eyedrops by the computer is a good deal. I put them in half an hour ago, and my eyes are a lot more comfortable. I've been sewing 4-patches and windmill patches today. They come from the same light and dark sewn strip pairs, so I make some in 4-patches which finish 1.25" and others into the windmill blades that are 1.25x2.5" strips
> 
> The 4-patch block I found online this morning has free instructions and how-tos at this link. I made 4 of the blocks below and arranged them to form a sort of chain ring:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​



If you have glaucoma you need to use those drops.  It's not like cataracts that can be fixed.  The damage from glaucoma is permanent.


----------



## freedombecki

I have dry eye syndrome on top of fibromyalgia which exacerbates "minor complaints".


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I have dry eye syndrome on top of fibromyalgia which exacerbates "minor complaints".



I had that a few years back, but it miraculously went away.  They were going to plug my tear ducts, but there was a glitch with my insurance and the procedure got postponed.  In the meantime, it got much better!  Now, I even wear contacts with no problem at all.


----------



## freedombecki

Glad yours went away. Good tip keeping eyedrops nearby. 

Sewed most of the morning a ton of small squares. Most of my time was spent leaning on the iron, though. Oh, and I finished the outside of the above square with this new Moda bluebonnet blender fabric. It really sets off everything--red, white and blue--in the block. Plus I added a tomato soup zinger between block and border.


----------



## Mad Scientist

freedombecki said:


> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:


I didn't see this thread until now. My Great Grandmother used to make quilts but she used to call them Afghans(?) Or as she pronounced it "Af-Uh-Gans". 

When I was a kid I'd sometimes get handmade things from my relatives for Christmas or Birthdays, not anymore. I kinda' miss those days.


----------



## freedombecki

Mad Scientist said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't see this thread until now. My Great Grandmother used to make quilts but she used to call them Afghans(?) Or as she pronounced it "Af-Uh-Gans".
> 
> When I was a kid I'd sometimes get handmade things from my relatives for Christmas or Birthdays, not anymore. I kinda' miss those days.
Click to expand...

We did too, except with 5 kids, the older kids' things got handed down to the younger, so I decided if beautiful quilts were to be had, I'd better get busy and learn how to make them. That was hundreds of quilts ago. I already completed 5 quilt tops this year, added them to some on hand, and put them in the quilting bee closet for our quilt guild's charities and fund raisers. 

Just doing crafts is fun, Mad Scientist. You might consider a hobby in woodworking, oils, or fiber.


----------



## Mad Scientist

freedombecki said:


> We did too, except with 5 kids, the older kids' things got handed down to the younger, so I decided if beautiful quilts were to be had, I'd better get busy and learn how to make them. That was hundreds of quilts ago. I already completed 5 quilt tops this year, added them to some on hand, and put them in the quilting bee closet for our quilt guild's charities and fund raisers.
> 
> Just doing crafts is fun, Mad Scientist. You might consider a hobby in woodworking, oils, or fiber.


I've been building and flying model airplanes since I was five years old. I have enough projects in the garage to last me a few years!
Since I also play guitar I've been looking into building a kit guitar. I *also* have my eye on this Les Paul guitar that has had it's headstock broken off. If I can get it for half price or less I'll do it because it's an *easy* repair.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread!


----------



## freedombecki

Mad Scientist said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> We did too, except with 5 kids, the older kids' things got handed down to the younger, so I decided if beautiful quilts were to be had, I'd better get busy and learn how to make them. That was hundreds of quilts ago. I already completed 5 quilt tops this year, added them to some on hand, and put them in the quilting bee closet for our quilt guild's charities and fund raisers.
> 
> Just doing crafts is fun, Mad Scientist. You might consider a hobby in woodworking, oils, or fiber.
> 
> 
> 
> I've been building and flying model airplanes since I was five years old. I have enough projects in the garage to last me a few years!
> Since I also play guitar I've been looking into building a kit guitar. I *also* have my eye on this Les Paul guitar that has had it's headstock broken off. If I can get it for half price or less I'll do it because it's an *easy* repair.
> 
> Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread!
Click to expand...

You hadn't heard?...

There is such a thing as quilted guitars. I've seen them. 





photo credits etc
​


----------



## freedombecki

There's also a free guitar quilt pattern for this paper-pieced guitar:





link to free pattern PDF file​


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!


----------



## freedombecki

I know it's just a plain o' plain o' quilt arrangement, the double 4-patch completed last week, but I really dig it in bluebonnet border fabric I found in Tyler, Texas last month, and the border put it in one of my most favorite quilted pillow-tops ever done. (before and after border added pics)

​


----------



## Dabs

OK....here is another one of the quilts my Aunt made from my Mother's clothing.
This one isn't as elaborate to me.....she didn't cut and size and make hearts with this one, she simply used the fronts of shirts my Mother wore a lot. Some of her favorite shirts.
But, I still like it...this one rests on the back of my sofa, and the background is in burgundy....seems to be a main color theme in my home.
It's quite large, fits all the way across my sofa, and I have to fold it twice.
I can touch each square, and remember my Mother wearing that particular shirt


----------



## Dabs

This smaller quilt my Aunt made for me before I lost my Mother.
She knew I like the color purple, so this was just a gift to me~


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!



These are awesome too Becki!!!
I have been doing some crocheting myself.......my Mother taught me, and I used to buy all this yarn and try and sit down long enough to make an afghan, but I never could.
Till now......a few months back, I made myself a promise, to crochet an afghan/blanket for each of my children and for each of my grandchildren before I die. (well, maybe just the granddaughters, the grandsons might not care for one)
So far, I have 4 afghans completely finished!!!
I am so proud, for I have never finished any crochet project before....and I am working on my 5th one, it's is almost done.
I may post pictures of the ones I have done.
They are big enough for a Queen or King size bed........I can't believe I actually have them done ~LoL~


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, Dabs. Just getting a quilt together with different parts and then putting them altogether with a batting is a huge job. Your aunt does them well, it appears, and you have some great quilts. The purple quilt is beautiful, too. Thanks for sharing that.

And afghans for all? What a girl! I did that 30 years ago for everyone in the family. I crocheted my way into the carpel-tunnel syndrome club one year finishing 14 of them. After that, I realized quilting didn't cause those kinds of problems, and you could work a long time completing them. Plus it was a lot of fun, and other people encouraged me to write out patterns and directions so they could do the same appliques. When all was said and done, I'd completed 11 manuscripts and copyrighted some of them to sell. The others didn't make the cut into the popular pattern arena, sometimes, because I tended to use fabrics no one else noticed that for one reason or another, I thought was a nice background, blender, or foreground color/texture/size. 

Now, I just play around doing charity quilts. So sleepy after our long trip to the sewing machine repair shop.

Thanks again for sharing all your lovely quilts, Dabs. I think you have an amazing family of women who love and care for each other when the chips are down. That's as good as it gets.


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These are awesome too Becki!!!
> I have been doing some crocheting myself.......my Mother taught me, and I used to buy all this yarn and try and sit down long enough to make an afghan, but I never could.
> Till now......a few months back, I made myself a promise, to crochet an afghan/blanket for each of my children and for each of my grandchildren before I die. (well, maybe just the granddaughters, the grandsons might not care for one)
> So far, I have 4 afghans completely finished!!!
> I am so proud, for I have never finished any crochet project before....and I am working on my 5th one, it's is almost done.
> I may post pictures of the ones I have done.
> They are big enough for a Queen or King size bed........I can't believe I actually have them done ~LoL~
Click to expand...

Oh, the dishrags? I just crochet a double crochet, chain, double crochet every other starting chain (starting with about 50 chains) and use sugar-and-cream cotton for the thread with a size G aluminum crochet hook. It takes 2 to 3 hours to square one up to about 10x12 inches, give or take an inch. When it's big enough to scrub a dish with, I half double crochet twice into each space all the way around mitering corners with two or three chains, depending on which makes the dishrag a little square-er than it would have been otherwise. Some of my first ones were a little irregular until I figured out how to use 2 dcs at the end of each row, 3 chains and double crochet into the first space on the wrong side, repita, repita, repita. Nothing is faster than the mesh stitch, and it washes dishes pretty well, cleans counters, or whatever needs to be done.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!



I've gotten a lot of those for Christmas gifts.  They are good dish rags, IMO.  I knit.  But I've never made any.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!


 
I LOVE crocheted dishrags.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've gotten a lot of those for Christmas gifts.  They are good dish rags, IMO.  I knit.  But I've never made any.
Click to expand...

I bought some knitted dishrags at the Cabin on the Square one day last year. They're excellent. But I just cotton to crochet for some reason. OK, habit. but I like my crocheted disrags, too.

On our trip to the repair shop yesterday, the red one got finished, but I ran out of the variegated thread too soon, so I added a fancy edge and some solid stitching all the way around.


----------



## koshergrl

I prefer to crochet...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Finally! I've been crocheting dishrags every time we go for a ride in the car and try to do a few rows on one every night before retiring. Below are three of them done for the upcoming quilt bazaar booth that will help us buy batting for charity quilts. Trust me. I'd rather be quilting!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I LOVE crocheted dishrags.
Click to expand...

Yes, but mine are so plain. My sister gave me one of hers that was shaped into a cute little white hen. I love that one.  Mine are square, but I try to use 2 cotton yarns. I wish they'd carry all of the cotton 4-ply yarns in the world somewhere close, but every time I go there, nothing matches.  It takes 5 or 10 shopping places to get enough of the right colors to do a set that would appeal to many shopping at a craft bazaar. Fortunately, it's a good destination to get out of the house to now and then.


----------



## freedombecki

I've been away due to my good computer lost its power supply. On one of our great rains, we had a lightning strike probably on a nearby pole and probably had a power surge. The next day, the microwave started arcing, and the spare microwave is making funny noises.

I am doing a lot of croheted dishrag, but I can't show them until we get the problem fixed on the other computer that links to the printer. This ocomputer is an old one and hasn't been used since 2007. excep I had it repaired abot 6 months ago. Pardon my typos, but this one skips letters and spaces just about every 3 or 4 words. Some I catch, not all. Sorry.

Will get back to the quilting one of these days. Hope everyone is spending a few minutes looking at some of the quilt we have posted, and those who haven't posted, hope you find those pictures of you family quilts or ones you love and share them here.

Have to go now. My screen is bobbing up and down.


----------



## freedombecki

Some crocheted dishrags done while the big puter was on the fritz.


----------



## freedombecki

And some more dishrags:


----------



## freedombecki

Purple lime confetti dishrag


----------



## freedombecki

Finished another purple confetti dishrag last night (simple type), an ocean blue, lime confetti one this morning, and on the way home from the Hobby Lobby in College Station, which is quite a long way from here, I did one in neutrals, salmon, and royal blue in the car, finishing just before we turned off to head north to our gentleman's farm. Oh, and my gosh, there is hardly a snippet of evidence the pond was ever half gone in the drought, except for the beautiful pine tree that turned red in the drought and will fall to the earth in about 2 years from now. 

Tonight, I'm going to try to work on and finish the lime green one. I don't know why it is, but for some reason I like lime green all of a sudden. It must be all those red and white blocks of every kind I'm working on on the sewing machine every morning.



​


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, and I found a Praying Hands to die for in cross stitch at JoAnn's  Fabrics at Bryan or College Station (not sure where the boundary is). I bought a 20 dollar book just to get the pattern. It is going  to be my next challenging postage stamp quilt. The only trouble is, I  will have to cut everything in the quilt to finish to 1 inch squares or redesign the picture so I won't be covering a football field, but a bed.  

I  love the story of Drurer drawing the praying hands of his dear friend  who worked hard so Drurer could go to art school. Then, When Drurer  graduated and was planning to take on the world with his painting to pay for his friend's painting instructions at art school university also, his  friend grew very ill. Just before he died, Drurer tearfully drew his  friend's praying hands, and today, we have a most beautiful work of  Drurer's hands, immortalized wherever believers gather together to ask  God to comfort those who are suffering. (that is my recollection of the story)

This is from Albrecht Drurer's Credits and Complete Works Website:


----------



## freedombecki

_*GO, DISHRAGS!!!!*_



I just felt like saying that.


----------



## freedombecki

I honestly sat in front of the sewing machine yesterday before tearing myself away to do more dishrags. So for the last couple-and-a-half days, I've done a stack of quilt squares and 6 more dishrags. 

1) lime sherbet dishrag

2) country pink and blue dishrag

3) U of TX (Austin) dishrag


----------



## freedombecki

To show how addictive crochet is, I decided to start several dishrags this morning, but as I got into the 6th row (usually when the last color is crocheted in) I wouldn't be able to stop. Thrice. The ones in the post above and this one that are not in plastic bags yet are the ones I did today. I actually brought the packages in here to do after they came off the scanning screen of my Kodak printer. I'm sorry some of the colors are not as bright as they actually are, but the rags are of 4-ply cotton, which is rather thick which makes a poor seal when you shut the lid on the scanner, and light filters in. Today, it is a diffuse gray light on account of rain plus humidity at 99% when it isn't raining. 
This group is:

1) red thirties

2) Swedish Flag colors 1

3) Swedish Flag colors 2


----------



## freedombecki

For those here who are knitters, here's someone else's really pretty dishrag, and I've bought several like it at the Cabin in the Square in a nearby city. Ok, I bought a passel of 'em. I love pretty colors everywhere in the house. 

The picture credits and her free set of how-tos (which I cannot decipher) are at the link below the picture.






picture credits and instructions​


----------



## freedombecki

Saturday night, before retiring, I crocheted a series of 6-row centers I will just call "Garden" for the charity table. The first one (shown below), however, will be given as a gift to a friend who helped me by taking pictures of quilts so I could share them here earlier. Friends who encourage us in our projects by doing stuff we can't do contribute greatly to our productivity in charitable giving. This lady did a special thing for me, and I'm indebted to her even after my small token of reciprocity. She's getting The Yellow Rose of Texas for her gift! I appreciate all the help I can get.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are others I am considering packaging one for each day of the week for dishrags. I will redo a yellow one with the same lace border, hoping I have enough green tweed yarn to do so.

29. Garden Roses (pink)
30. Garden Roses (peach)
31. Garden (Bells of Ireland green)


----------



## freedombecki

Y tres mas dishrags. 

1) Garden bluebells
2) Garden orchids
3) Garden burgundy roses


----------



## freedombecki

I am eager to get back to quilting after all that crochet dishrag bit, and I really like this quilt:





photo credits Delightful thumbnail gallery at link, too.​


----------



## freedombecki

However, the double four-patch I'm going to do one except in my fabrics is below. You must click on it to appreciate it.


----------



## freedombecki

^Didn't anyone see the argyle sock the quilter stitched into her squares?^

I'm telling you, that lady who did the above quilt is brilliant. I've been working with 4-patch squares for several weeks now, doing a variety of perfectly-matched squares, scrap but matched squares, nonsensical squares, and everything-you-wanted-to-know-but-didn't-ask 4-patch squares, but what the lady above did is take conflicting (scrap) squares, followed a general plot for making a quilt that looks exactly like an argyle sock, oozed in some variety, and produced that very hard-won quilt top that is a winner in every way. In its small form, you cannot see the work and thinking that went into her arrangement. If someone told me that was her first quilt, I'd fall right over and !faint! Right on the spot. I'm betting she either bought a cloth board to arrange her scraps meticulously to make a clear statement OR she just good ol' American finagled a way to make her scraps look every bit as beautiful as someone who could afford the yardage to buy four just-so fabrics, following a prescribed EASY pattern, following monkey-see, monkey-do instructions (which, by the way, some people can't do).

Instead, that quilter took the road less traveled and made her scraps into a stunning master work that resembles a Scottish plaid when you back off from it. She even built in a quality of radiance by using reds of differing values. God, it's a stunning thing she did. Not one person here commented on it.

No wonder people contemplate their navels after a while of living on this mudball of a silly planet we somehow occupy together. Nobody gets it what they did to do a good thing.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Y tres mas dishrags.
> 
> 1) Garden bluebells
> 2) Garden orchids
> 3) Garden burgundy roses





These are gorgeous!!
Too pretty to use 

I finally uploaded some of the pics of the afghans I have crocheted


----------



## Dabs

The first one is called Sherbert, it's for one of my granddaughters.

The second one is called Ocean....for another granddaughter.

The third photo is called Surprise, it's for one of my sons and his wife.


----------



## Dabs

The first one here is called Pink Camo.....for another granddaughter....and the second one is called Peacock....for a son and his wife.

I have completed 5 so far....something I have never done before!

But I can't do anything fancy in crocheting, like my Mother could. I simply do a double crochet~


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Y tres mas dishrags.
> 
> 1) Garden bluebells
> 2) Garden orchids
> 3) Garden burgundy roses
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These are gorgeous!!
> Too pretty to use
> 
> I finally uploaded some of the pics of the afghans I have crocheted
Click to expand...

Aw, thanks, Dabs. I took all 31 of them down to the drop off station for our quilt guild's table in May today, so the chairman will be encouraged and encourage others to do more crafts for their table. They do so much for people in the community. I'm just glad to lend a hand while I still have enough good health to be on the giving side.


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> The first one here is called Pink Camo.....for another granddaughter....and the second one is called Peacock....for a son and his wife.
> 
> I have completed 5 so far....something I have never done before!
> 
> But I can't do anything fancy in crocheting, like my Mother could. I simply do a double crochet~


Dabs, they're beautiful. Hey, my granny square and mesh rectangular dishrags were basically all double crochet except for a couple of outside borders in half-double crochet, and a couple of single crochet to make a stay between the scallops on the border dishrags. You do 3 chains at the corners of your granny squares, the same as your chain you do to double crochet onto your long strips of those beautiful afghans.

Also, finishing an object as large as a bedspread on a big bed? You did ten times the work of doing one quilt, if that's any encouragement.

You go girl! Those are fabulous spreads and those you gave away will always be proud possessions to someone. I love your colors and strip arrangements.

An eye-candy rep coming your way for sharing your artful accomplishment with those of us on the board who are lucky enough to have dropped by. 

Thank you so much.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Dabs said:
> 
> 
> 
> The first one here is called Pink Camo.....for another granddaughter....and the second one is called Peacock....for a son and his wife.
> 
> I have completed 5 so far....something I have never done before!
> 
> But I can't do anything fancy in crocheting, like my Mother could. I simply do a double crochet~
> 
> 
> 
> Dabs, they're beautiful. Hey, my granny square and mesh rectangular dishrags were basically all double crochet except for a couple of outside borders in half-double crochet, and a couple of single crochet to make a stay between the scallops on the border dishrags. You do 3 chains at the corners of your granny squares, the same as your chain you do to double crochet onto your long strips of those beautiful afghans.
> 
> Also, finishing an object as large as a bedspread on a big bed? You did ten times the work of doing one quilt, if that's any encouragement.
> 
> You go girl! Those are fabulous spreads and those you gave away will always be proud possessions to someone. I love your colors and strip arrangements.
> 
> An eye-candy rep coming your way for sharing your artful accomplishment with those of us on the board who are lucky enough to have dropped by.
> 
> Thank you so much.
Click to expand...




Thank you so much Becki!!!
I enjoy doing them...altho they are time consuming.
They cover a queen size bed....so I usually put 12 to 14 skeins of yarn in to each one.
My Mother could do some fancy stuff.....woo........she could make up her own designs.....I have about 7 afghans here, that she made for me.
I do feel a bit proud of the ones I have crocheted so far......but I have  a
few more to go


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dabs said:
> 
> 
> 
> The first one here is called Pink Camo.....for another granddaughter....and the second one is called Peacock....for a son and his wife.
> 
> I have completed 5 so far....something I have never done before!
> 
> But I can't do anything fancy in crocheting, like my Mother could. I simply do a double crochet~
> 
> 
> 
> Dabs, they're beautiful. Hey, my granny square and mesh rectangular dishrags were basically all double crochet except for a couple of outside borders in half-double crochet, and a couple of single crochet to make a stay between the scallops on the border dishrags. You do 3 chains at the corners of your granny squares, the same as your chain you do to double crochet onto your long strips of those beautiful afghans.
> 
> Also, finishing an object as large as a bedspread on a big bed? You did ten times the work of doing one quilt, if that's any encouragement.
> 
> You go girl! Those are fabulous spreads and those you gave away will always be proud possessions to someone. I love your colors and strip arrangements.
> 
> An eye-candy rep coming your way for sharing your artful accomplishment with those of us on the board who are lucky enough to have dropped by.
> 
> Thank you so much.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you so much Becki!!!
> I enjoy doing them...altho they are time consuming.
> They cover a queen size bed....so I usually put 12 to 14 skeins of yarn in to each one.
> My Mother could do some fancy stuff.....woo........she could make up her own designs.....I have about 7 afghans here, that she made for me.
> I do feel a bit proud of the ones I have crocheted so far......but I have  a
> few more to go
Click to expand...

Your pink and black one reminds me of one of my log cabin quilts in the same colors. I call it "the 56 Chevy quilt" because I was thinking of doing a log cabin in the colors of my dear departed aunt's 56 Chevrolet--pink and dark gray with light gray seat covers (I think)... I had so much fun with it. I made so many blocks, I still have 60 of them to do another charity quilt if I like. 

I really like the way your afghan turned out in that particular color group, just because.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, my stack of red, white, and blue windmills grew to almost 9 inches tall. I've been whittling away at the 4-patch pile, too, by making 10x10" squares from 4 each of the 5" squares. I'm really pleased, except for one thing. That is, I need to start putting a plan together to join the squares and make them into a top. I finally settled on a setting for the red, white, and blue 4-patch squares to place light small rows going southwest to northeast, with the larger red and blue squares going northwest to southeast. Hm. I guess I need to go get a square and post a pic. The words accurately state it, I think, but I don't think you can picture it unless you see it unless you've put about 20 double 4-patch quilts together in different ways to make a statement in cloth. *sigh*. BBL.


----------



## freedombecki

There, that didn't take long to go get and scan 3 squares--2 as described above, and 1 that has been bordered and will become a pillow if I will just get around to it soon. 

1.a Light diagonals going SW to NE and darks going NW to SE
1.b Same as 1.a, different fabrics
The third picture is one in which the lights border into a diamond, kinda-sorta.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I think I failed to put together a single square, because I was still increasing the stacks of squares to do a couple of charity quilts. In the meantime, I noticed my red and white windmill log cabin quilt still only had its first border, I'd stacked it to "do later" so I found this truly median red-and-white checkered stuff I'd bought ONLY because it was on sale for half off. On the way home, I thought now, why did I buy that stupid fabric.

Doh! the fabric was perfect, and I was able to match it at the corners (with a little stretch to the weft, that is. Sometimes "square" checks look square, but when you turn them 90 degrees, the truth is the horizontal measurement is not the same as the vertical measurement. On a weave, I would expect it, because warp and weft threads have a tendency to never be a perfect square when 60 warp threads and 60 weft threads combine to make a rectangle. lol. 

The very best weavers (I miss Dan River!) know this and compensate percentage wise to turn out perfectly square gingham checks.

THIS WAS A PRINT CHECK - NO EXCUSES!!!! They flat out made the same kind of rectangle you would expect to find on a tall check where oblivious weavers  crank out flat squares or too tall squares, depending on their bent with an "it's only a job" excuse type. Some art prefers a modicum of math skills. I'm done caterwauling this crazy-maker.

Anyway, I did something I've actually taught others never to do--stretched a weft to match a warp. lol Well, the squares were only 3/4 of an inch by 13/16ths of an inch, but in 5 inches, that's several differing rows, and without stretching it would have been over a quarter of an inch off to matching on the other side of the 5". The kicker is, it did not gather, because the cotton fabric was of good enough quality to behave anyway. I actually have quilts made back in the 20s and 30s with gathered squares. Some ladies didn't know how to make squares of different sizes match, so they just gathered the long sides, and taught others to do so as well. And that produced what can only be kiddiingly called plisse quilts. 

Now, we have precision rotary cutting blades, special mats with gridded squares marked to 1/8 of an inch. Some of them actually are precise, and others have the same problem the gingham weavers on steroids have. I kid you not. Go through the house. Gather up all your rulers and anything that has one-inch markings. I'll bet you a dime to a doughnut you will find some of them measure each other, and some of them well, have, ahem, an anomaly or two of space....

That's why it's best to buy one kind of rulers, and one kind of mat. Since a good mat is 4 times the price of a good ruler, take your ruler with you on mat-buying day. Make sure all 24 inches on the cutting ruler are precise matches at each point (look at all 24 inch demarcations). If all 24 match, your mat and ruler coordination have passed becki's bs test and should serve you well, once you learn to control the ruler or purchase a ruler with a non-slip grid or etched-in slip guard circles on it.

After you cut out squares, you need to measure a few of them at random to see if their size agrees with the ruler you are using. You just can't make amends for a square that is 1/64th of an inch off. If you have 30 pieces average across the quilt, you have 32 junctures that are hustling error zones, especially if you aren't minding your warp-weft stretch attitudes. The weft is the term given to the stretchier width of the material, and the warp by the same token is the firmer, sterner length, which runs parallel to the selvage of the fabric. You can eliminate the problem entirely if you spray starch the material so that the stretch tendency of the weft sewn against a warp side takes a hike.

Oh, yeah, and if you wisely cut off the selvage to wash and dry it first, and you can't figure out the warp and the weft (some are harder to determine than others, oddly), hold one width with a hand on each side of the width, about 6 inches apart. Relax the fabric by pushing your hands an inch or two in toward each other, then jerk the fabric to make a sound. It will make a little sound. Remember the pitch. then go to the perpendicular grain (which is 90 degrees and shows straight threads also). Do the same trick and listen for the sound when it stretches to its max. One pitch will be just a little higher, and its perpendicular sound will be just a little bit lower (and vice-versa). The high pitch sound is the tell-tale of the warp. The lower pitch sound is the tell-tale of the weft and will stretch more than the warp.

Sheeze. I'm Seinfed today, and this is a story--strike that--soliloquy about absolutely nothing anyone would care to know, except a quilter tearing her hair out, trying to make the squares match, but they refuse and look like naughty children act.

Oh, yeah, when I finished the red and white quilt top, I noticed the windmills looked a lot more like broken dishes (Bing windmill quilt square. Bing broken dishes quilt square. Then you'll know what I'm saying)

It didn't matter. I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat when I cribbed those little squares to matched corners AND I finished the bloody top. I was having MY Kodak moment! 

Here's the fabric I have a new respect for. I'm sorry, I don't know how to do photography, or I'd show the quilt, but I can use the scanner to show the fabric came out reasonably okay when it was sewn together (with gentle tugging)


----------



## Sunshine

When I went with my son to enroll at Georgia Tech, I saw they had a degree for Textile Engineering.  The courses really looked fascinating, like The Science of  Color.  If I had another life, I think I would try to be a textile engineer.  You have to take a lot of sciences, but those were always good for me.


----------



## freedombecki

You already do very well with color, Sunshine. And your works have a lot of history and appreciation of good design behind them. I've taught a lot of people how to quilt. Some are quick studies, others have to work hard, but with a little repetition become master quilters. The best quilters are the ones who didn't get many quilts growing up and catch the "I want another quilt" virus. Unfortunately the disease is incurable, and the only antidote that works is making and having the luxury of your own hand-made quilt. The lady who allowed her quilts to be shown at NYC Folk MUseum that we brought videos to a few pages back? She had a passion for quilts, and in particular, redwork quilts. I'm glad she shared them and that so many people put their favorite redwork quilt at the show online and at blogs everywhere.

Anyway, FWIW, my bet is you'd be good at quilting if you didn't have to work al the time and deal with certain issues.

Sending bright cheery thoughts your way. did you see Dab's adorable blankets from crochet thread? That pink and black one is a knockout! I thought about that bedcover all day one day. That does it. My next dishrag will be pink and black and gray. 

For me, it's good night, all.

<hugs> 

freedombecki

Oh, yeah, Ladies of the Sea Baltimore Album Quilt from Quakertown Quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes making a decision can change the way you were going. Last week, I was lost in a morass of too many small quilt squares piling up by the machine. Sometime, I made the decision to soon start joining the squares into 10 inch blocks, which will in turn, quickly go into a quilt. So, in addition to the two squares I posted a page or two back, here are 3 more to bring the # of finished ten inch squares to 5. It will take 5x7 = 35 quilt squares to make a 50x70" top, and in adding a border group, that can grow large as desired, and tomorrow is our charity quilt work day, so I can get a feel for the need for larger or smaller quilts in the community.

Below are my 3 for the morning, and I plan on trying really hard to get 5 more done today. I love the feeling of putting that final border on, like the red one yesterday morning. It was especially meaningful to me to finish it on my Lord's Day, and hope it goes, when finished to cheering up someone, keeping someone warm at night, and to let someone know God cares for them when they smile at having a pretty and useful quilt. Of course, that's silly, because it could wind up being given to someone who's color blind. Hahahaha! I know how the system works! Never, never what you expect! 

Anyway, I really enjoyed looking at the prints in these 3 squares. I throw in a real leftover once in a while, and sometimes it's the bits and pieces of liberty bells or a patriot's face or a mother's flower garden, or a bit as in life of something we can't quite make out because we only see a part of the picture--that makes me remember why America and our life here is great.


----------



## freedombecki

Among the fabrics I took with me yesterday to Charity Bees quilt day, there were 8 blocks that just didn't work with the other red white and blue squares since instead of being red or blue, the 3" squares were all lights. But the red and blue were true, so I couldn't dump them either. One of the girls was asking for help with pillowcases (I've made a hundred of them), so after having realized my mistake in bringing the nixie blocks with me, instead of left at home, I thought, though paler than the others, a bright red border and sashings between the blocks would make an attractive pillowcase border. So I spent the 4 hours there putting two pillowcases together and handed them over to the friend. She does double duty between sewing for veterans and sewing for senior homes. I truly hate sewing bags, but love doing pillowcases. Don't ask me why, I just hate sewing the bags because they're not complex enough, but complex enough to move you out of your zone... ok, that's why I don't like sewing the #@&!* bags. and have notoriously taken back 4 kits but delivered a passel of quilt tops. However, I love doing the quilts, which reminds me, that'd be a fun way to spend the rest of my day. I cut and sewed about 60 small squares today, which I wasn't going to do, but the blocks are only 10", so you have to sew a lot of small blocks together to make a quilt,and I was short of the small 4-patch nuisance squares. So, I'm off to make them into 5" squares, then into 10" squares. The goal of 5 blocks wasn't met yesterday, because of going to quilting Bees. With my fibro, 4 hours of sewing means I have to take a 2-hour nap and sleep off the pain if I can. So I've been sitting here this afternoon, having a few online issues, so I played a few hands of FreeCell till I could get back online. I don't know why I was bounced off. It happened twice yesterday and once today already. It's never happened before.  Off to target practice--the target of getting the little 4-patch squares ironed and ready to be joined to the 3" squares.

I believe what is a mistake in one quilt is a success story in another. My blocks were set in expensive red designer quilt bali cotton, and they were anything but fail in the patriotic pillowcases made for a hospitalized wounded warrior through our quilt guild's outreach.


----------



## freedombecki

The problem with those 8 squares is the small 4-patches had lights and darks running the wrong way, and I was delaying "repairing" them, which takes about two hours, and they were perfectly okay together, just not with blocks of another arrangement. The good thing about the wrongful squares is they're right in another quilt. 

Thought I'd make a block this morning to illustrate what is needed as a schema for the next quilt I'm doing in these blocks, except I'm now convinced that I need to increase the size of the blocks to 20" instead of 10", which the pictured one below is in 2 views (the second view is referred to by the quilting community as being "on point." In mathematical terms, "on point" is simply rotating the square 90 degrees to look similar to a diamond, except it has equal sides.  The third one is a resemblance of what the next quilt is hoped to look like.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! I got to the doctor's yesterday, and she gave me a shot of antibiotics for an infection, and I'm almost back today. Just before retiring, I put the last 2 rows on to finish the disrag KIND OF LIKE Dabs beautiful bedspread, except for one thing. The back bedroom, where I have a crochet shop set up along with a comfortable chair, was getting darker and darker as the lights burnt out, one by one. Finally! I was complaining to the disbursement department how I am colorblind in the dark, and can't tell yellow from cream or white in the dark. So I got a couple of lights installed where the old bulbs had run their history out. Unfortunately, I need one more light bulb to have all the colors fully restored. It's a big room, and fan lights just aren't bright enough if all 4 of them are not installed. I so hate being a nag about things the handyman doesn't know, like some of us who are very good at color can't see some colors in twilight settings. 

Anyway, my dishrag is not near as pretty as Dabs' bedspread, because in the twilight of the crochet room, the middle pink row is carnival pink, ORANGE and YELLOW! Yuk! Not pretty! But it's just a dishrag, so I put a little scallop lace around the outside like all the others, except for one thing, It sat there for a week until I just decided. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, and a dishrag is a practical item and usually hangs out after use in a hamper to go into the washing machine promptly, so maybe it won't matter as an unchary husband buys it for his wife's pink kitchen with shiny gray appliances. She won't tell him yellow just doesn't go with her. Instead, she fixes him a meal fit for a king and tells him she loves him.  So it all works out for the best, and the rag at least gets used and isn't just an ornament that hangs there with someone scowling at the guest who dares to pick it up and use it--THAT'S NOT FOR USING, IT'S PART OF THE SCENERY--so she will never have to say that about this dishrag. *sigh* I guess hanging around a political forum has made me RATIONALIZE everything, including leaving the obvious flaw in the item I spent hours on fashioning. 

A toast to Dabs, a cheery day
May good things ever go her way
May every stitch she's ever sewn
Make all her love for fam'ly known.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Finally! I got to the doctor's yesterday, and she gave me a shot of antibiotics for an infection, and I'm almost back today. Just before retiring, I put the last 2 rows on to finish the disrag KIND OF LIKE Dabs beautiful bedspread, except for one thing. The back bedroom, where I have a crochet shop set up along with a comfortable chair, was getting darker and darker as the lights burnt out, one by one. Finally! I was complaining to the disbursement department how I am colorblind in the dark, and can't tell yellow from cream or white in the dark. So I got a couple of lights installed where the old bulbs had run their history out. Unfortunately, I need one more light bulb to have all the colors fully restored. It's a big room, and fan lights just aren't bright enough if all 4 of them are not installed. I so hate being a nag about things the handyman doesn't know, like some of us who are very good at color can't see some colors in twilight settings.
> 
> Anyway, my dishrag is not near as pretty as Dabs' bedspread, because in the twilight of the crochet room, the middle pink row is carnival pink, ORANGE and YELLOW! Yuk! Not pretty! But it's just a dishrag, so I put a little scallop lace around the outside like all the others, except for one thing, It sat there for a week until I just decided. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, and a dishrag is a practical item and usually hangs out after use in a hamper to go into the washing machine promptly, so maybe it won't matter as an unchary husband buys it for his wife's pink kitchen with shiny gray appliances. She won't tell him yellow just doesn't go with her. Instead, she fixes him a meal fit for a king and tells him she loves him.  So it all works out for the best, and the rag at least gets used and isn't just an ornament that hangs there with someone scowling at the guest who dares to pick it up and use it--THAT'S NOT FOR USING, IT'S PART OF THE SCENERY--so she will never have to say that about this dishrag. *sigh* I guess hanging around a political forum has made me RATIONALIZE everything, including leaving the obvious flaw in the item I spent hours on fashioning.
> 
> A toast to Dabs, a cheery day
> May good things ever go her way
> May every stitch she's ever sewn
> Make all her love for fam'ly known.



Try full spectrum lighting.  Full spectrum lights do not distort colors like other indoor lights do. And they are good for your mood as well.  I've seen some at Home Depot and Wal Mart from time to time.  But you can get regular flourescent type bulbs from 1-800-BUY DURO.  Just like natural sunlight.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Finally! I got to the doctor's yesterday, and she gave me a shot of antibiotics for an infection, and I'm almost back today. Just before retiring, I put the last 2 rows on to finish the disrag KIND OF LIKE Dabs beautiful bedspread, except for one thing. The back bedroom, where I have a crochet shop set up along with a comfortable chair, was getting darker and darker as the lights burnt out, one by one. Finally! I was complaining to the disbursement department how I am colorblind in the dark, and can't tell yellow from cream or white in the dark. So I got a couple of lights installed where the old bulbs had run their history out. Unfortunately, I need one more light bulb to have all the colors fully restored. It's a big room, and fan lights just aren't bright enough if all 4 of them are not installed. I so hate being a nag about things the handyman doesn't know, like some of us who are very good at color can't see some colors in twilight settings.
> 
> Anyway, my dishrag is not near as pretty as Dabs' bedspread, because in the twilight of the crochet room, the middle pink row is carnival pink, ORANGE and YELLOW! Yuk! Not pretty! But it's just a dishrag, so I put a little scallop lace around the outside like all the others, except for one thing, It sat there for a week until I just decided. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, and a dishrag is a practical item and usually hangs out after use in a hamper to go into the washing machine promptly, so maybe it won't matter as an unchary husband buys it for his wife's pink kitchen with shiny gray appliances. She won't tell him yellow just doesn't go with her. Instead, she fixes him a meal fit for a king and tells him she loves him.  So it all works out for the best, and the rag at least gets used and isn't just an ornament that hangs there with someone scowling at the guest who dares to pick it up and use it--THAT'S NOT FOR USING, IT'S PART OF THE SCENERY--so she will never have to say that about this dishrag. *sigh* I guess hanging around a political forum has made me RATIONALIZE everything, including leaving the obvious flaw in the item I spent hours on fashioning.
> 
> A toast to Dabs, a cheery day
> May good things ever go her way
> May every stitch she's ever sewn
> Make all her love for fam'ly known.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Try full spectrum lighting.  Full spectrum lights do not distort colors like other indoor lights do. And they are good for your mood as well.  I've seen some at Home Depot and Wal Mart from time to time.  But you can get regular flourescent type bulbs from 1-800-BUY DURO.  Just like natural sunlight.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Sunshine. I whined considerably about the lighting, in high decibels, and he went and got bulbs. Then I whined some more, and he finally put in enough of them so I could see a lot better. But I'm going to look into a full spectrum lamp. Thanks. The lights on the fans take special bulbs that cost a lot and don't last very long. 

And I'm feeling a lot better after the doctor gave me an antibiotic shot for an infection in my toe that caused edema. The next day, I could stand in front of the ironing board and do quilt work. I was in 7th heaven, so I worked all day 2 days in a row and did a red white and blue coin quilt (below) and umpteen bazillion 4-patch miniature squares. 

Feelin' good is great. Sorry I can't show the whole 2 rows I finished. No 2 pieces are alike, it's a charm coin quilt, and I pieced the arabesque red and indigo borders. I'm adding a coin quilt I found someplace also.


----------



## freedombecki

Don't worry, your quilt is good enough to show here.

None of this here:






credits

Just thought you'd like to know. ​


----------



## freedombecki

I happen to like butterfly quilts, found a really pretty one and on the same page found one made by the same maker that is a perfect example of Celtic work in quilting:





credits and other really pretty quilt photos "Busy Hands"​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I happen to like butterfly quilts, found a really pretty one and on the same page found one made by the same maker that is a perfect example of Celtic work in quilting:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> credits and other really pretty quilt photos "Busy Hands"​



WOW!  That's cool!   I like the Celtic crosses.  I did one in cross stitch, but gave it away.  When my daughter married I stayed at the groom's parents house.  I gave it to his mother as a hostess gift.  It was small, but fit in the suitcase on the plane!  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I happen to like butterfly quilts, found a really pretty one and on the same page found one made by the same maker that is a perfect example of Celtic work in quilting:
> 
> credits and other really pretty quilt photos "Busy Hands"​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WOW!  That's cool!   I like the Celtic crosses.  I did one in cross stitch, but gave it away.  When my daughter married I stayed at the groom's parents house.  I gave it to his mother as a hostess gift.  It was small, but fit in the suitcase on the plane!  LOL
Click to expand...

I hope you got a picture of it before you gave your lovely work away!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I happen to like butterfly quilts, found a really pretty one and on the same page found one made by the same maker that is a perfect example of Celtic work in quilting:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> credits and other really pretty quilt photos "Busy Hands"​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WOW!  That's cool!   I like the Celtic crosses.  I did one in cross stitch, but gave it away.  When my daughter married I stayed at the groom's parents house.  I gave it to his mother as a hostess gift.  It was small, but fit in the suitcase on the plane!  LOL
Click to expand...

I hope you got a picture of it before you gave your lovely work away!


----------



## freedombecki

There is a quilt show going on nearby entitled "Deep Spaces" showing 50 quilts at the Sam Houston Museum, Huntsville, TX, through March 12, which will then be taken to the LaConner Quilt and Textile Museum in La Conner, Washington from March 28-June 24, 2012. It was shown from Sept. 5- November 6, 2011 at Latimer Textile Center in Tillamook, Oregon and then was shown at Edmonds Conference Center in Edmonds, Washington before coming to Huntsville. There is a lovely catalog offered showing all the pieces that were part of the show. It is provided by Larkin Jean Van Horn, Curator of the exhibit. here are a cover of the catalog and though I liked all of them, I'm just showing the green one by Lisa Flowers Ross of Boise Idaho because I know that Sunshine is partial to green lately.  All of the quilts juried into the Huntsville show are masterworks by skilled fiber artists. So many of them deserved a "best of show" award. Well done!

As an edit, I forgot the exhibit has a website. deep spaces


----------



## freedombecki

Finally got the child's quilt I made in the past week upstairs to the printer and took some scans. I love the quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

It'd sure be nice if I worked on and completed the one with a blue border today. Only, I haven't cut a border for it yet. But the every-other-windmill-is-red-or-blue strips are laying on the ironing board, waiting to be pressed before proceding. Well, better log off and do the do. 

Quilting is procedure, procedure, procedure.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! Something to show! But I had to work into the wee hours last night and get up this morning and put in another 3. This one I call the boy quilt, because it's bordered in a more masculine fabric than the red white and blue quilt with red ladybug fabric two posts above. ^ ^ ^ ^

I love the blue stripes. They just came in the mail yesterday from a truly great vendor. The stripes are made by Timeless Treasures (registered trademark) and I really can't believe nobody outbid me. Thanks to ebay, I was able to make the boy quilt 6" longer and 4" wider than the girl's quilt. No matter how politically correct one is, human boys are still taller and have bigger frames than most girls. So, why should they suffer? I try to make a good quilt for youngsters whose families may be on hard times. They may need one to last through their teen years. Then, when they're old enough, they can find a job and buy their own blankets and quilts. The boy's quilt is an inch taller than me, and the girl's quilt is about 5 inches shorter than me. 

If you make them too much bigger, my concern is the kids won't get to use the quilts. I really should have probably used a Bucky Beaver print or something... but I don't think people know who Bucky Beaver was anymore.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I happen to like butterfly quilts, found a really pretty one and on the same page found one made by the same maker that is a perfect example of Celtic work in quilting:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> credits and other really pretty quilt photos "Busy Hands"​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WOW!  That's cool!   I like the Celtic crosses.  I did one in cross stitch, but gave it away.  When my daughter married I stayed at the groom's parents house.  I gave it to his mother as a hostess gift.  It was small, but fit in the suitcase on the plane!  LOL
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I hope you got a picture of it before you gave your lovely work away!
Click to expand...


No, I didn't.  But thought I would just make another.  Haven't gotten to it yet!


----------



## freedombecki

Hope you get to do another for yourself. It will be nice.​ 
I'm doing one more windmill-style quilt with a bit different arrangement of blocks this time. The last two had every other red and blue windmills/propellers. It was a lot of work. First I spent the better part of 2 weeks doing countless windmills. Each quilt had 63 blocks on it. I have a lot left. 

If red = 0 and blue = X, this is what the quilt will be arranged as:

XXXXXXXXX
XO00O00OX
XOXXXXXOX
XOX0O0XOX
XOXOXOXOX
XOXOXOXOX
XOXOXOXOX
XOXOXOXOX
XOX0O0XOX
XOXXXXXOX
XO00O00OX
XXXXXXXXX

Kinda Sorta. I know it looks funny, but it will be 9 wide by about 12 long. It's already on the second blue row, They're pressed and ready to sew the two long blue sides on, and the quilt will look a lot more proportional than the above schema, which will not square up as I alternated using capital "O" and zero (0) to try to make it come out evenly. Didn't happen. 

Well, have to go back to the hockey game in Minnesota. ​


----------



## freedombecki

The quilt went reasonably well for today being a Sunday, and I'm inclined to just rest. Even so, some things aren't clear until you actually get in there and work up to a point. For example, the enlongate barrel above, does not come out that way. It looks like a well-proportioned quilt, and with 5 rows done and I'm in the middle of the sixth row, which is red around the outside, it's becoming clear to me that 7 5" squares is going to be ample, and 9 will be too large for a child. Also, the 10x5" squares length is also okay, considering that instead of being 35 x 50", when a light and then a dark border all around, it will be more like 50x64" which will do just fine. I find when the squares are under three inches, a border isn't a requirement, it's best for the quilt because small pieces can split and be a repair problem after just a few washes. With a long warp-edged border all around, the quilt has a firm outside, and the multiple pieces are much likelier to stay intact for many, many years. Others have made quilts like this, and I found one early this morning I'd like to find again and share here. The first quilt is similar to, except would have been a lot easier to construct than the one Im working on in which all the patches have windmills on them.





And who hasn't seen one like the one below?
It reminds me of latice boards people use in their gardens and around house foundations or in place of a fence.






This one is but a four-patch encased in log cabin borders:






There is a metric ton or two of ideas of ways to join four patch blocks. When I get over my current love affair with red-white-and-blue windmills, I am halfway home and then some on the original double four-patch quilt with little white squares going one way and red and blue squares going the opposite with a net effect of a scotch plaid, kind of. Everything's kind of like this or that with scrap quilting, and red white and blue are so fascinating when you get down to the brass tacks of sorting and cutting fabrics for that one-of-a-kind look on a quilt. When I get the border on the trips around the field windmill quilt, I'll post it. I could have it done in two hours if I put my nose to the grindstone, but I probably  won't since this is Sunday.

Photo Credits for Four-Patch Frolic​


----------



## freedombecki

Pinning - Two more rows pinned to the never-ending windmills around the rectangle with rounds of red windmills and rounds of blue ones. Why I haven't sewn them beats me. 

Oh, yeah, I got this idea for doing an Americana-style patriotic flag using a white windmill for a single star surrounded by 2.5" squares of different blues. It was just so addictive. I indulged in a shameless love-affair with blue calicoes and worked all morning getting it done. Then, of course, I had to cut more red squares and a lot of the lights I had left over from all the other double four-patch squares and windmills for the stripes.

Here are two shots of the center of what I am calling "flag, child quilt" I just scanned from this morning's labor:


----------



## freedombecki

The stripes are not pressed yet, because there was a little 3-hour wait for prescriptions at CVS today. They bumbled around, and finally called the doctor as I waited for 2.5 hours. Then they said the doctor was not responding and told me they just would have to wait, and that it was time for me to leave. I did, I went to the doctor's and her computer system showed only 1 request for my medicine around the time I was told I should go. We drove back to the pharmacy, and waited some more while they bumbled around after I told them the doctor responded before I left. They told me to sit down, and I said, no thanks, I'd had enough sitting around for one day, and I stood right there and hogged the service aisle.

Anyhow, here is this morning's dubious progress, but at least, I'll have a very pleasant task ahead of completing and assembling the 13 stripes I need to make a quilt that is 42 x 63" for a child or wheelchair soldier, whatever the Bees decide. The stripes show a cat and some ladybugs. It's a kid quilt, but I guess a soldier could have it if the need is there. My hope is they get well and back on their feet, and give the quilts to a child they love when it goes to a soldier. That is why I work so hard on quilts. I just love doing for people when I can push and shove and be the boss of fabrics, working in my clandestine style of ignoring some rules and clinging to others, depending on my mood... the star blue area is surrounded by charm squares (no two alike--I hope no two alike!) The stripes--eh! I just used a pile of them that I didn't care about since they've been stashed forever, and cut a whole lot more, some of which I just found at a fabric shop or on ebay. Sometimes ebay has the perfect patriotic fabric. It comes in and you think hmmm.. and the wheels start turning, and the fabric eventually becomes a part of your quilt.

Here are my strips, such as they are, one is still pinned:


----------



## Dabs

I have a million....(a whole bunch)...of circles of fabric I have cut into the right perfect circle, for I have been trying for the past 10 years to start a yo-yo quilt.
I think they are awesome....and so I have literally been collecting fabrics for the past 10 years, and I have them all cut into the circles, ready to start....I just can't seem....to....get started *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Put some of your favorite color in a paper bag with sturdy thread, a needle and clippers. Con someone else into driving. You can knot (or not) and pull thread through seam allowances while they are driving. Or you can put a little jar by your stitching area at night. Give yourself a dollar from your wallet every time you finish one. 

The reward system works.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! Not only did the outer red rows of windmills get sewn on the unfinished child quilt, the two outer borders got attached as well. I'm free! 

Two pictures are below--one of the schema that is a little more clear than the XXXOOO one above that looks like an enlongate barrel. It's so good to finish things.

The outer border is the only way I can represent the quilt, showing just a couple of blocks and the light and dark blue borders. One of the borders came in from an ebay seller who'd separated all the blues into a group, set her price, and sold it to me. Doing the math, I saved a considerable amount, considering that there were 22 yards of good usable quilter's fabric in the stash, and the current going price for fabrics printed overseas now is about $11 dollars a yard. I was very pleased, because if nothing else, you can always take less glamorous fabrics, and piece them together for a back. I think I will be getting nice borders from a lot of these pieces. The dark blue is a batik purchased yesterday at the closest quilt store to my house from an angel who owns the shop.

The completed block had 7 x 10 5" windmills or 70 windmills, joined according to the small graph below. The light blue stripey fabric finished measurement is 1 1/4'. The outer border shows 3 1/4" because I cut the strips 3 1/2" and the quilt is neither quilted nor bound yet. When it is bound properly, it will show 3" or slightly less if the binding laps extra. On my quilts it usually does, because I double bias bind them. I'm not sure what the Charity Bees do, but I come from the old school that shows a bias binding has more give and will outlast a straight grain binding by ten times if the quilt is used heavily. 

Each of the 70 squares has 8 pieces, so there are 560 pieces just in the windmill part of this small quilt and ten pieces on the 2 borders, bringing this quilt to having 570 pieces that had to be sewn together first before saying it is a finished top. However, the truth about a quilt? "It's not a quilt until it's quilted."


----------



## freedombecki

For those who don't know what a yo-yo quilt is that Dab has worked so hard in cutting out, here's an example:





Great page on yoyos, credits, and more yo yo pictures

Good luck, dabs! ​


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> For those who don't know what a yo-yo quilt is that Dab has worked so hard in cutting out, here's an example:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great page on yoyos, credits, and more yo yo pictures
> 
> Good luck, dabs! ​



Thank you Becki!!!!
Isn't it pretty??
All of my fabric colors tho are in pinks and mauves and rose colors.....some with flower patterns, some with stripes, some with swirl designs......they will make a pretty quilt someday..........one of these days ~LoL~


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> For those who don't know what a yo-yo quilt is that Dab has worked so hard in cutting out, here's an example:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great page on yoyos, credits, and more yo yo pictures
> 
> Good luck, dabs! ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you Becki!!!!
> Isn't it pretty??
> All of my fabric colors tho are in pinks and mauves and rose colors.....some with flower patterns, some with stripes, some with swirl designs......they will make a pretty quilt someday..........one of these days ~LoL~
Click to expand...

Tell me! I've done just enough yo-yo projects to know how much work they are. I've done miniature yo-yos and a vest, plus somewhere in a box somewhere, I have a few yo-yos cut out in Deep dark green batik and ruby tones. I was just going to do a small sampler for the Christmas window, and it got to be about 12" before I decided to move on to other things. When you work full-time and have to make all the displays plus run the store, your 80 hour week doesn't give you much time to think about last month's demos that had to be set aside while you helped a lady learn how to use her sewing machine because her stroke caused her a disability from learning in a classroom situation. Stuff comes up in business, and you just do what has to be done, and my precious little work may never get finished by me in this life, because I am determined to see how many kid quilts I can make every month. If I get a dollar for every one for March, my pile after today has 6 child or wheelchair sized quilts in it. 

Dabs. put a couple of finished yo yos on your scanner and pick them up in "managed attachments" from your "my pictures" or "download" folder, as you do them, can you please? I love to see work in progress!

And it could give the maker an incentive to stitch a couple of yo-yos every night. In 365 days, if you stay with the program, you'll have well over 700 yo yos. If they're two inches across, that's a 52 inch square or better. If you did 5 a night 300 days of the year, you'd have 1500. The square root of 1500 (plus a few extra) would then be about 39 times 2 inches = 78 inch square of work. That's wide enough to be a queen sized coverlet.

If you are making bigger or smaller yo-yos, your work situation to cover a particular bed would change. Some like their yo-yos to the floor for a bedspread, and they can be stunning. Others realize they're only willing to spend x amount of their lives making yo-yos, stitching them on 4 sides, etc, so they settle for a coverlet that over a white or black sheet is total eye candy.

I even saw one pattern in a magazine recently that makes a 4 inch square by modifying the circle to look something like a Maltese cross that is sewn together in such a fashion you put a 4" piece of batting covered with a slice of muslin on top and pull the center together to look like a yo-yo, except it is completely stitched on 4 straight sides to make a rather toasty quilt. It may have even had sewing machine instructions, which might help a person who has arthritic hands and can no longer pull threads hard enough to close the yo-yo circle. 

I can't wait to see a couple of your yo-yos, Dabs.


----------



## freedombecki

I've been hobnobbing the net, and found some really fun ideas for yo-yos that could be translated into quilts using quilt fabrics and standard quilt procedures (not circles):

This yo-yo quilt came when its maker decided
her child would benefit by learning colors with this quilt




​


----------



## freedombecki

My visit to the doctor went semi-well yesterday, but I wasn't feeling my best, so some of the quilts I wanted to share with Dabs to get her fires burning on picking up that first circle and stabbing little stitches, then bunching them around might get going. Dabs, just tell me to shush, but I've long been and admirer of well-done traditional and innovative yo-yo quilts, and they really add charm if you set them around linen under a favorite lamp in pretty colors. I found a plethora of beautiful works with yo-yos, and will start out with some traditional favorites like the basket quilt, diamond sets, and grandmother's flower garden...






Credits to the University of Michigan and their Quilt Index

The Flower Basket Quilt was constructed by one woman, who is estimated to have made it between 1950 and 1975. I'm sure she started with graph paper or something. I love this beauty.​


----------



## freedombecki

Seems I always go for the charted works... 

But here's a Yo-yo quilt from the Shelburne Museum in which the maker managed many colors into schoolbus orange diamonds, and it is quite a collage of fun:





Credits at Shelburne Museum Quilts​


----------



## freedombecki

I found a website last night by a lady who does nothing but arranged yo-yo quilts, and they are truly beautiful. Here they are:

​


----------



## freedombecki

1) "Not your mother's flower garden" Quilt made by same person who made 3 managed yo-yo quilts (above)

2) Yo-yo coverlet, "Hugs and Kisses," same.

3) Yo-yo coverlet, Purple Passion, same.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I found a website last night by a lady who does nothing but arranged yo-yo quilts, and they are truly beautiful. Here they are:
> 
> ​




That star yo yo is sensational!  I so want to retire when I turn 65 and just do things like that all day, and maybe take a nap.  But my patients are getting nervous that I might and the therapist said she would quit if I did!   ~sigh~


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found a website last night by a lady who does nothing but arranged yo-yo quilts, and they are truly beautiful. Here they are:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That star yo yo is sensational!  I so want to retire when I turn 65 and just do things like that all day, and maybe take a nap.  But my patients are getting nervous that I might and the therapist said she would quit if I did!   ~sigh~
Click to expand...

When you do retire, I pray it is in the best of health and that you can play and create in your sewing room as much as your heart desires, sunshine. 

Green Yo-yo quilt with ruffle




Yo-yo coverlet (above) and closeup (below) from Wallflower Vintage ​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found a website last night by a lady who does nothing but arranged yo-yo quilts, and they are truly beautiful. Here they are:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That star yo yo is sensational!  I so want to retire when I turn 65 and just do things like that all day, and maybe take a nap.  But my patients are getting nervous that I might and the therapist said she would quit if I did!   ~sigh~
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> When you do retire, I pray it is in the best of health and that you can play and create in your sewing room as much as your heart desires, sunshine.
> 
> Green Yo-yo quilt with ruffle
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yo-yo coverlet (above) and closeup (below) from Wallflower Vintage ​
Click to expand...


It took me years to discover the 'Zen' of stitching.  But now that I have, I can sit and stitch all day.  I want to make a yo yo quilt at some point.  

As to health. For me good health will be breathing!  Anything else is gravy!


----------



## freedombecki

Different methods of yo-yo making and construction for coverlet or quilt

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9B6Yf47uUc]How to make a quilting yo-yo - YouTube[/ame]

​


----------



## freedombecki

Continued methods on how tos of making yo yos ...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zur9gThp-EU]Pat Sloan&#39;s Tip #5 Yo-Yo Maker - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

And yet another more down-home way to make yo-yos. 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyDmp23M7kA]Sew a Yo-Yo, yoyo, make a quilt or other great project out of yo-yos - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine's Creations and free pattern for making yo-yo dolls


​


----------



## freedombecki

True story. First, I wasn't paying attention to math, just toying with a lot of stripes, when I somehow got a VERY LONG (not to mention rather silly-looking) long, narrow child flagette. To ameliorate the situation, first, I just slept on it. Then I got serious the next morning and got the ripper out and removed the extra 12 rows of 3" squares from the quilt. I resewed removed pieces to the unfinished area under the big blue square with the white pinwheel in it substituting for the 50 states. (artistic license). Below and in the next post are some show-and-tells from the scanner.


----------



## freedombecki

I drew out a schema of what the 120 pieces of the quilt would look like if I had a camera. Also, a couple more of the unfinished small top. Oh, and the schema is imprecise due to the nature of having an uneven # of squares. It's complex. But it gives a general idea that the windmill is not centered. <gong, wrong> The windmill is in the very center of the blue portion.


----------



## freedombecki

It was still a little skimpy, so I cut some gold "fringe" out of a likely antebellum repro fabric and attached it all the way around. It presently measures about 35" x 46" with "fringe" attached. I haven't decided whether to add another print around the "fringe" to make it just a little bit bigger, or leave it at that.

I pinned it to my great big cork bulletin board. It would be on the wall, but my sweet one can't remember how to hammer a nail in the wall sans constant supervision.


----------



## freedombecki

Want to have a quilt to give someone by tomorrow? This video shows how. lol

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbTHlGGKMPM]10 - Minute Blocks - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

In a hurry for a quick Christmas table topper?

Sew 10 strips of 1.5" strips (or a honey bun) using 1/4" seam allowance,  and cut into a 10" square
Do a second set for an alternate adjacent set of squares, and follow the instructions

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OAOM5YgQPA"]The Lovely Honey Bun Circle Quilt - YouTube[/ame]

Two sets give you the above, plus you have leftover strips for a festive piano key border.
Very fast, very pretty, and it looks like you spent a lot more time than you actually spent doing the work.

Oh, yeah. Instead of buying the expensive circle cutter? Use an old 6" Pyrex bowl, lip side down and use to draw a line and cut by hand or use a rotary cutter along the outside rim.
​


----------



## copsnrobbers

I've never quit hunted.


----------



## freedombecki

copsnrobbers said:


> I've never quit hunted.


If the local thrift stores cannot provide a decent quilt, you can always find quilts at ebay in every price bracket. I once got a quilt top for $10, but failed to notice in the description "in shreds."

GREAT reading lesson for me.    

Someday I'm gonna get that sucker out and repair it. Only trouble is, I  can make 10 tops in the 6 weeks of full time work it would take to  repair this homely-lookin' thing.

Speaking of which, since January 31, I have completed a pile of 7 of my best-ever child and red-white-and-blue quilts. Three more to go, and they're going to the Charity Bees closet. Guess I better get to hemming and hawing in front of the sewing machine, so I can have my February quota done by March 31. lol. and lol.


----------



## freedombecki

Show n' tell time! That 1-foot stack of double four-patch squares! Down to the wire! And got the first border on too, but I had to stop and thank many friends today for being such good Americans, so I took pictures before my 3-hour thank-fest, saving this little sharing for last.

I'm very fond of the small first border. I first saw it in blue at the local quilt shop, who seems to get the best of this and the best of that at all times. Even so, I use the entire spectrum of colors in the prism, not to mention tones, tints, shades, and particulates (my best description of Southwest color approach as one is looking out toward the sweeping horizon on a mesa that may be bedecked with soft-colored cactus flowers to the remarkable neutral patterns on rattlesnake and their assorted coldblooded desert brethren, iguanas and geckos.) I think I just outdid my worst highschool runon sentence. <blinking and blinking>

Anyhow, here are some border and corner scans:


----------



## freedombecki

And a second corner shot, plus two more of more centrally-located squares on the small quilt top (might fit a 12-year old now, and a 16-year-old by the time the second border (always wider on my quilts) is added hopefully first thing in the morning.

My apologies that some are sideways. I had to rotate them to give the correct impression of the top--that the light colored squares form a diagonal. They measure only 1 and a quarter inches square, and the larger squares are a finished 2.5 inches.

There are over  500 squares on this charity quilt, and I've worked on it between the completion of 3 other quilts, because it was so tedious, to put it rather mildly. The windmill quilts above? They are half the work of this one quilt, and it's the first of 3. The only trouble is, I have to make another 500 squares twice, and I will do them over the next 2 or 3 months, working steadily and faithfully of several hours at a time, when I can stand it.

God bless all you who do so much better things than what I do for charitable purposes, such as send food packages to the troops at Christmas. If you backtrack halfway through this forum of pictures, I left up some of the stockings I made for troops for our local auxiliary to fill with treats for the soldiers. I did only the easy part. The heavy hitters are the ones who buy good stuff for our beloved troops, so that they will know they are not forgotten at the holidays.

Regards,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

So happy to put the finishing borders on 2 quilts. 

The first was the never-ending Double 4-patch quilt to which I added my favorite 30s reproduction fabric. Hahahaha It was the darkest red this side of maroon when it came down to picking a border fabric, which forced me to v-room through stashes in 3 rooms to find a dark red with a watercolor gelatinous-looking design to work with the hapless dark red in my little 30s repro. So today, after weeks and weeks, I finished the top of this time-usurper of a quilt, but not to worry, it's for the charity bees to distribute to whoever or whatever has the greatest need. What tears my heart about it is the little white squares (discussed above) gave the overall quilt a very, very definitive postage stamp quilt effect, considering how frenetic the alternating red and blue patches acted. Voila, the final border:


----------



## freedombecki

There's a piece of my heart in that quilt. ^^^ Hope it goes to a really good cause. I recounted the squares and realized I'd made a math error. The quilt now has 812 pieces, not counting pieces I occasionally sew together of the same print to get a small square. And, FWIW, when I review older quilts, I consider it serendipity to run across that odd place one of our pioneer or turn-of-the century mothers joined two like fabrics to get a full piece from her dwindling stash of the print. 

A case in point was some years ago, maybe 1989 or thereabouts, my first shop was struggling, so I took in quilt work to make things go right. A woman who lived right next door, but across the fence from our little rented building brought me 4 tops to do that her family had found in the bottom drawer of her long-passed mother's dresser. She'd made 4 tops in secret from her children, whom she planned to quilt each a quilt, but died sometime after the 4th top was completed and before she could set to quilt. I protested with Dorothy about me machine quilting her dear departed mother's quilt and tried to talk her into quilting them herself. Dorothy wouldn't be moved, "I'm too tired lately to do this, and I have to have these done by Christmas of next year to give to four of my mother's family children." So, reluctantly, I agreed to machine quilt her masterpieces. 

One of the tops had Colonial Ladies with beautiful embroidered touches on it--a basket of flowers carried by a colonial lady here, a nosegay, there, so I quietly refolded the top and called Dorothy. I begged her to reconsider maybe just hand quilting this one. But Dorothy persisted and repeated that she was tired, and besides a little arthritic in her fingers, would I please just quilt the quilt. I knew I was defeated, and I agreed anew that I would close my eyes to her mother's lovely work and quilt the quilt (I'd already completed the other 3 and she had picked them up.) My shop business began to pick up, so I didn't get to it right away. But in a few weeks, I decided Christmas was still coming, and if I finished 2 months before, no matter where her children were, she'd get the quilts to them. 

As I was spreading the Colonial Lady quilt out the second time, I noticed one other thing I'd missed about Dorothy's mom's quilts; half the Colonial Ladies had nearly imperceptible join lines where Dorothy's mom had pieced 2 small scraps or more together to form enough fabric for a dress. I was literally floored. Then I recalled a little ditty my mother once told me about the 30s and the Depression (fabrics in Dorothy's mother's quilts were 20s and 30s, this one almost all 30s.) Mothers often chanted in the 30s to eager young ears:

"Use it up.
Wear it out.
Make it do.
And do without."

So, I finished Dorothy's mother's fourth and last quilt and called Dorothy's phone number that I kept on her receipt in my "work" file. Dorothy's husband of many years answered. I asked to talk to Dorothy. "You can't, he said. We buried her yesterday." Little in this world shocks me, but that day, I'm certain my jaw dropped.

It made me realize what a stellar person Dorothy was. She entrusted me with her mother's best work and refused to listen to my protests about aesthetics of machine quilting hand work. Dorothy didn't care about that. She cared about her children each getting one of their grandma's, her mother's, quilts.

I shed tears that day, and I'm a little misty now, thinking how Dorothy kept her secret of having incurable cancer from other people, and how lucky I was that she picked me (her new neighbor) to quilt her mother's treasures, so her children could sleep under them. Her husband picked up his wife's last treasure, and insisted Dorothy insisted I finish the quilts because she knew I would finish them, and that her children would have them--something of their grandmother's life--to warm themselves in the bitter cold of Wyoming winters.

Somehow, that made quilts with little pieces of the same fabric sewn together discreetly to form a piece or a part the best thing I could give back to Dorothy's mother for her thrift, and the gift I got for having Dorothy's confidence placed in me and completed for someone who died years before and for Dorothy, who knew she was dying, but didn't darken anyone's day by letting any more out than that she "was a little tired."

When I am running low on a print, I'm so happy now to sew slivers even to a corner of the same fabric to make it a 90-degree square, a Sunbonnet Sue skirt, or even a longer log for a log cabin. It's a gift that is seen in many of the 500 quilts I've made since Dorothy passed, knowing with a passionate faith her children would get the quilts from her mother's secret drawer.

ps. The quilt above is the 8th and the one below is the 9th of my March goal of taking 10 quilts to the Charity Bees closet for quilting. Just one more to go, and I may have already posted pictures of one of the on-point windmill squares that are ready to go into another quilt for the abuse shelter for children nearby. This is a good day for me, and life is good when you have a friend like Dorothy living in your heart. Seeing pieces joined of the same fabric for frugal purposes always and never fails to put a smile on my face that I had the loving trust of a good person placed in me that was returned to her loved ones.​


----------



## freedombecki

I confess. I made a dozen "hero star" patches for us to have a huge quilt, and then my fibromyalgia stole my willingness to quilt larger works in the past 3 years. The patches are 18" squares that contain over 300 log squares apiece that measure 1/2" in width and have varying lengths. I call them "hero stars" because one year, I made 24 log cabin star quilts (and other variations) and donated them to the Casper police department to distribute to needy families they may have run across on the beat or use to take in their squad cars and use as wrappings for victims of shock, one of the largest claimants of lives of people who've been in a traffic wreck. So because of the brave police, I got a lot of practice, and the first thing I thought of when it was time to make wounded warrior quilts for our troops, who were getting hurt with vicious IEDs in Afghanistan and Iraq, I used the star as my basis mainly because there was no need to train on how to do a different type of quilt, and besides, I love log cabins and realized they really could look cool. So my very first wounded soldier quilts bore "hero stars" on them, now named after the heroes in the US military.

That said, here's glimpses from the scanner of parts of this little quilt. I call it "Hero Star and Liberty Rose" and it is small for a child, probably 45 x 55 give or take an inch (I'm estimating). Here's a glimpse or two:


----------



## freedombecki

3 more scans of "Hero star and liberty rose" child quilt to show borders added to one of the 12 squares completed 2 years ago or longer:

The light blue first border, if you click on the image, you can see the "liberty rose" for which I partially named the quilt. 
It may be a P & B print, but I'm not sure. The red stripe came from our local quilt shop.


----------



## Sunshine

Becki, last night I watched the George Clooney movie, The Descendants.  There was a gold and white quilt on the bed of the dying woman throughout the show.  At the end the rest of the family crawls up under it to watch TV.  In the special features, they said that Hawiian quilts have special significance as objects of healting, that not everyone is qualified to make one.  Do you know anything about this?


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Becki, last night I watched the George Clooney movie, The Descendants.  There was a gold and white quilt on the bed of the dying woman throughout the show.  At the end the rest of the family crawls up under it to watch TV.  In the special features, they said that Hawiian quilts have special significance as objects of healting, that not everyone is qualified to make one.  Do you know anything about this?


I plead "Doh," and it's true. I walked through the entire National Museum in Honolulu, 1998, saw dozens of masterworks that were cared for through the years and even centuries of humid climate of Hawaii, my jaw likely close to the ground. After leaving, my head was filled with images that were so inspiring. It probably blocked out any history or lore I may have read about them. While I appreciate them, have designed and taught others to design them, I devised machine methods of making them, not the tried-and-true handmade. Through it all, I missed the legend you heard, Sunshine. Somewhere in my souvenirs is my gold ground, forest green designed Hawaiian quilt sample for classroom teaching, but it is a small wallhanging. I designed it from my memories of the pineapple plantation we visited there and added hearts to remember our wedding anniversary there, a couple of months after we got home, and it was hanging on the wall at the shop less than a week later. I retired it to the employee coffeeshop, a short time afterward, where its deep colors would be protected from front window light. I'll see if I can find a picture of my standard teaching design. I am waiving my copyright on this piece for anyone to use as they wish. The corners and border remind me of the ocean surface and tidal surf because Hawaii is our island state so far away over the great Pacific Ocean. But what a great place for our enjoyment to go and bask in its beauty on special occasions!

Found!

I'm waiving my copyright on this piece so anyone who comes here can click on the thumbnail, print out, trace, increase size, and make a Hawaiian quilt or use it as it is. My hope was that it was detailed and aesthetic enough to fit in with a Baltimore Album Quilt, which is my idea of quilt perfection. I've only shown it in public at the city hall shows I did at Casper Wyoming years ago. The oddity is that I am virulently allergic to raw pineapple. I can eat it if it is cooked with no after effects, but its chemistry when raw melts my oral tissue down to blood vessels, and one little acerbic touch, and there's blood everywhere. Weird reaction, hm. Just sayin'


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, the Hawaiian pineapple small quilt has green area in one whole piece, through thick and thin, and the gold area is also one whole piece.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Becki, last night I watched the George Clooney movie, The Descendants.  There was a gold and white quilt on the bed of the dying woman throughout the show.  At the end the rest of the family crawls up under it to watch TV.  In the special features, they said that Hawiian quilts have special significance as objects of healting, that not everyone is qualified to make one.  Do you know anything about this?
> 
> 
> 
> I plead "Doh," and it's true. I walked through the entire National Museum in Honolulu, 1998, saw dozens of masterworks that were cared for through the years and even centuries of humid climate of Hawaii, my jaw likely close to the ground. After leaving, my head was filled with images that were so inspiring. It probably blocked out any history or lore I may have read about them. While I appreciate them, have designed and taught others to design them, I devised machine methods of making them, not the tried-and-true handmade. Through it all, I missed the legend you heard, Sunshine. Somewhere in my souvenirs is my gold ground, forest green designed Hawaiian quilt sample for classroom teaching, but it is a small wallhanging. I designed it from my memories of the pineapple plantation we visited there and added hearts to remember our wedding anniversary there, a couple of months after we got home, and it was hanging on the wall at the shop less than a week later. I retired it to the employee coffeeshop, a short time afterward, where its deep colors would be protected from front window light. I'll see if I can find a picture of my standard teaching design. I am waiving my copyright on this piece for anyone to use as they wish. The corners and border remind me of the ocean surface and tidal surf because Hawaii is our island state so far away over the great Pacific Ocean. But what a great place for our enjoyment to go and bask in its beauty on special occasions!
> 
> Found!
> 
> I'm waiving my copyright on this piece so anyone who comes here can click on the thumbnail, print out, trace, increase size, and make a Hawaiian quilt or use it as it is. My hope was that it was detailed and aesthetic enough to fit in with a Baltimore Album Quilt, which is my idea of quilt perfection. I've only shown it in public at the city hall shows I did at Casper Wyoming years ago. The oddity is that I am virulently allergic to raw pineapple. I can eat it if it is cooked with no after effects, but its chemistry when raw melts my oral tissue down to blood vessels, and one little acerbic touch, and there's blood everywhere. Weird reaction, hm. Just sayin'
Click to expand...



That's georgeous.  I tried to find a picture of the one in the movie, but couldn't.  The woman who wrote the book is the one who told the story in one of the extra features they have after the movie on CD.  From when I was traveling, I saved up enough hotel points for 10 nights there.  I've got to get enough leave time.  Was going last year but got sick and used all my time, and now I'm planning a trip with some friends in a bit.  But when I go, I want to take enough money to buy two and have them shipped back.  That way each one of my children will have one.  I expect it will take a pretty penny.  The ones they claim are real are not chap on eBay.  

Funny thing.  My grandmother was an avid quilter.  She quilted her whole life.  Died at 96.  When she died the ones who lived nearby swooped in and got all the pretty quilts.  I got one that was not at all lacking in workmanship, but which I didn't think was very pretty.  But, it looks a lot like those Hawiian ones.  How funny is that.  LOL.  Even though I got hind tit, I got the really 'spiritual' one!  Life's funny that way.  Sometime this weekend I will pull it out and send you a pic.

I doubt you actually missed anything, though.  That story is likely not one they share with 'haolies.'


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Becki, last night I watched the George Clooney movie, The Descendants.  There was a gold and white quilt on the bed of the dying woman throughout the show.  At the end the rest of the family crawls up under it to watch TV.  In the special features, they said that Hawiian quilts have special significance as objects of healting, that not everyone is qualified to make one.  Do you know anything about this?
> 
> 
> 
> I plead "Doh," and it's true. I walked through the entire National Museum in Honolulu, 1998, saw dozens of masterworks that were cared for through the years and even centuries of humid climate of Hawaii, my jaw likely close to the ground. After leaving, my head was filled with images that were so inspiring. It probably blocked out any history or lore I may have read about them. While I appreciate them, have designed and taught others to design them, I devised machine methods of making them, not the tried-and-true handmade. Through it all, I missed the legend you heard, Sunshine. Somewhere in my souvenirs is my gold ground, forest green designed Hawaiian quilt sample for classroom teaching, but it is a small wallhanging. I designed it from my memories of the pineapple plantation we visited there and added hearts to remember our wedding anniversary there, a couple of months after we got home, and it was hanging on the wall at the shop less than a week later. I retired it to the employee coffeeshop, a short time afterward, where its deep colors would be protected from front window light. I'll see if I can find a picture of my standard teaching design. I am waiving my copyright on this piece for anyone to use as they wish. The corners and border remind me of the ocean surface and tidal surf because Hawaii is our island state so far away over the great Pacific Ocean. But what a great place for our enjoyment to go and bask in its beauty on special occasions!
> 
> Found!
> 
> I'm waiving my copyright on this piece so anyone who comes here can click on the thumbnail, print out, trace, increase size, and make a Hawaiian quilt or use it as it is. My hope was that it was detailed and aesthetic enough to fit in with a Baltimore Album Quilt, which is my idea of quilt perfection. I've only shown it in public at the city hall shows I did at Casper Wyoming years ago. The oddity is that I am virulently allergic to raw pineapple. I can eat it if it is cooked with no after effects, but its chemistry when raw melts my oral tissue down to blood vessels, and one little acerbic touch, and there's blood everywhere. Weird reaction, hm. Just sayin'
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> That's georgeous.  I tried to find a picture of the one in the movie, but couldn't.  The woman who wrote the book is the one who told the story in one of the extra features they have after the movie on CD.  From when I was traveling, I saved up enough hotel points for 10 nights there.  I've got to get enough leave time.  Was going last year but got sick and used all my time, and now I'm planning a trip with some friends in a bit.  But when I go, I want to take enough money to buy two and have them shipped back.  That way each one of my children will have one.  I expect it will take a pretty penny.  The ones they claim are real are not chap on eBay.
> 
> Funny thing.  My grandmother was an avid quilter.  She quilted her whole life.  Died at 96.  When she died the ones who lived nearby swooped in and got all the pretty quilts.  I got one that was not at all lacking in workmanship, but which I didn't think was very pretty.  But, it looks a lot like those Hawiian ones.  How funny is that.  LOL.  Even though I got hind tit, I got the really 'spiritual' one!  Life's funny that way.  Sometime this weekend I will pull it out and send you a pic.
> 
> I doubt you actually missed anything, though.  That story is likely not one they share with 'haolies.'
Click to expand...

You never know. I view films and judge based on character portrayal after taking an elective theatre class in college. So far, from what I've viewed of him (which honestly, probably isn't much) George Clooney has done a remarkable job of character creation and executes its eccentricities in minutia. 

The quilt, i found and will describe as best i can in my next post.


----------



## freedombecki

Its care would shame its maker. It is unkempt and holy, frayed, and if a true antique, saw use but no care.  The location of the holes where batting peeps through along the edges echo its dismal care, which may have stupidly included vinegar baths to "set" the nile green that faded to bile green by exposure to harsh cleaning agents. The willy-nilly quilting tells me it was not quilted by the same person as the maker, who was a fastidious perfectionist to put it mildly. The recipients of quilt often bear grudges against the maker for real or imagined slights and take it out on the quilt. Other care failures come from sheer ignorance of the year or decade the hand-stitched top may have taken to produce, not to mention the hundreds to thousands of hours engaged in quilting the top to a batting and backing without getting willy-nilly stitches. That's why I know the quilt was not quilted by the maker of the top, unless she suffered a stroke between the time she put her last needle-turn stitch in until she clamped the quilt sandwich onto her frame or moved it through a lap hoop. If she was just not very bright or just didn't have a hoop, it could account for the unseemly quilting job done on that puppy, or the maker's stitches rotted out from using inferior thread and were replaced by someone else a hundred years later.

This is all speculation on my part. There are set directors who study quilts and could have used a new quilt and aged it without losing a mordant dye to sunlight. I aged a quilt on my front porch once to see what an antique quilt would look like if it aged for a month in bright sunlight. My husband wouldn't let me take it down (for his reason,) so 3 years later, it looked like the ghost of the pretty quilt it once had been. We're still married, too.

Eh, all that and I'm betting they found that one in a flea market. 

Rule of thumb for collectors: do not let an inexperienced dullard or the village idiot wash the quilt that got a blue ribbon at the state fair in detergent, bleach, or vinegar.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Its care would shame its maker. It is unkempt and holy, frayed, and if a true antique, saw use but no care.  The location of the holes where batting peeps through along the edges echo its dismal care, which may have stupidly included vinegar baths to "set" the nile green that faded to bile green by exposure to harsh cleaning agents. The willy-nilly quilting tells me it was not quilted by the same person as the maker, who was a fastidious perfectionist to put it mildly. The recipients of quilt often bear grudges against the maker for real or imagined slights and take it out on the quilt. Other care failures come from sheer ignorance of the year or decade the hand-stitched top may have taken to produce, not to mention the hundreds to thousands of hours engaged in quilting the top to a batting and backing without getting willy-nilly stitches. That's why I know the quilt was not quilted by the maker of the top, unless she suffered a stroke between the time she put her last needle-turn stitch in until she clamped the quilt sandwich onto her frame or moved it through a lap hoop. If she was just not very bright or just didn't have a hoop, it could account for the unseemly quilting job done on that puppy, or the maker's stitches rotted out from using inferior thread and were replaced by someone else a hundred years later.
> 
> This is all speculation on my part. There are set directors who study quilts and could have used a new quilt and aged it without losing a mordant dye to sunlight. I aged a quilt on my front porch once to see what an antique quilt would look like if it aged for a month in bright sunlight. My husband wouldn't let me take it down (for his reason,) so 3 years later, it looked like the ghost of the pretty quilt it once had been. We're still married, too.
> 
> Eh, all that and I'm betting they found that one in a flea market.
> 
> Rule of thumb for collectors: do not let an inexperienced dullard or the village idiot wash the quilt that got a blue ribbon at the state fair in detergent, bleach, or vinegar.



Likely they did get it at a flea market and wanted it to be worn for effect.

You sound like my mother on quilts.  She woud look at them and say the stitches were so big you would hang your toenails in them!  LOL. According to her and my grandmother the stitches were supposed to be so small you couldn't see them.  That is what has stopped me from buying some really pretty quilts - big stitches!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Its care would shame its maker. It is unkempt and holy, frayed, and if a true antique, saw use but no care.  The location of the holes where batting peeps through along the edges echo its dismal care, which may have stupidly included vinegar baths to "set" the nile green that faded to bile green by exposure to harsh cleaning agents. The willy-nilly quilting tells me it was not quilted by the same person as the maker, who was a fastidious perfectionist to put it mildly. The recipients of quilt often bear grudges against the maker for real or imagined slights and take it out on the quilt. Other care failures come from sheer ignorance of the year or decade the hand-stitched top may have taken to produce, not to mention the hundreds to thousands of hours engaged in quilting the top to a batting and backing without getting willy-nilly stitches. That's why I know the quilt was not quilted by the maker of the top, unless she suffered a stroke between the time she put her last needle-turn stitch in until she clamped the quilt sandwich onto her frame or moved it through a lap hoop. If she was just not very bright or just didn't have a hoop, it could account for the unseemly quilting job done on that puppy, or the maker's stitches rotted out from using inferior thread and were replaced by someone else a hundred years later.
> 
> This is all speculation on my part. There are set directors who study quilts and could have used a new quilt and aged it without losing a mordant dye to sunlight. I aged a quilt on my front porch once to see what an antique quilt would look like if it aged for a month in bright sunlight. My husband wouldn't let me take it down (for his reason,) so 3 years later, it looked like the ghost of the pretty quilt it once had been. We're still married, too.
> 
> Eh, all that and I'm betting they found that one in a flea market.
> 
> Rule of thumb for collectors: do not let an inexperienced dullard or the village idiot wash the quilt that got a blue ribbon at the state fair in detergent, bleach, or vinegar.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Likely they did get it at a flea market and wanted it to be worn for effect.
> 
> You sound like my mother on quilts.  She woud look at them and say the stitches were so big you would hang your toenails in them!  LOL. According to her and my grandmother the stitches were supposed to be so small you couldn't see them.  That is that has stopped me from buying some really pretty quilts - big stitches!
Click to expand...

Your good teaching likely saved you a lot of tears. When I made my first hand-stitched large quilt, that's what my grandmother told me, too. It's still in the family 25 years after completion.


----------



## freedombecki

One other thought I had. In Hollywood, props are kept at various locations, and it doesn't rain in California, man it pours is a fact. It could've been an old quilt used in a covered wagon flick or one in one of the actors' family's attics that arrived on a covered wagon. Those people used everything they had. The quilt could have been used as stuffing in a log cabin when it lost its charm, or was just considered the everyday quilt after so many years of being the Sunday fold-up-and-put-away-before-retiring quilt when a better quilt was acquired.

It could've gotten some beating up at a summer picnic, a pillow fight and quilt tug-of-war while mommie was outside hanging the laundry and talking to the neighbor over the fence.

Maybe an actor who owed his fame to a film company left his possessions to the stage set department to be remembered by.

Who knows? Maybe George Clooney or a director ran into a quilt auction that was selling the quilt used by Benjamin Franklin or his favorite historic figure, and wanted it shown in the film.

Every quilt has a story. The only one we really know about that quilt is that it gave an endearing touch to a setting in an act that otherwise could've seemed cold or uncaring. Even a dilapidated quilt says "I care" when you wrap yourself in one on a frigid night, plus 3 under the quilt suggests family closeness.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally. The four-patch I've been wanting to make with light squares. My cutting room is on top of itself in red, white, and blue fabrics, but I ran into a half dozen 40% and 50% off sales recently, and bought several 3-yard clips of stuff I may never had touched otherwise than getting a really nice quilter's cotton for a song. Following weeks of augmenting my red and blue stash, I've had time to sit and sew some now, after doing massive cuttings in the last 6 or 8 weeks. So, I'm working toward that fantastic quilt that reminds me of a scotch plaid (next post). Below is some of my join efforts from recent days, although I cut all the 3" white squares this morning, to the tune of about 200 squares, from some nicer bleached muslin.


----------



## freedombecki

My quilt is showing a different path than the one I liked so well, and it's not clear to me what I'll be getting. The piece so far measures 20x60", and I hope to have a 50x70" quilt when all is said and done, though I would settle for smaller, but not too much smaller than that.


----------



## Sunshine

Not going to be able to get the quilt out tonight.  Too much stuff in front.  Will work on it next weekend.  I won't forget.  I will get you a pic of it.


----------



## Emma

Wish I could make a quilt. I'm no good at stuff like that.


----------



## freedombecki

That's what I said until a friend had a baby. I thought it would be easy, so out came the sewing machine. 3 days later, I had a small primitive-looking thing, but it had bright colors & she loved it. 

My workmanship was uh, bad, to put it mildly. But babies burp on quilts anyhow, so nobody really cares. I couldn't afford the one in the catalog, and you could make a quilt for a song back then.


----------



## freedombecki

Log Cabin in the Round by June Ryker. This dear lady came to a shop in Wyoming years ago to teach classes, of which I took two--flying geese and a round log cabin. June went on to write several books and patterns, but she used bias strips, not straight-grained ones, to make the curves come out right. She is/was a master at her art. I've never seen another person take a stab at her technique, but her quilts are truly remarkable in that there was nothing like them before nor after her gift of the round (really rondelay) Log Cabin.





The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, June Ryker, Logs in Flight​


----------



## freedombecki

This was my best quilt. It won Best of Show at the State Fair in WY beloved Equality State in 1993, and the superintendent of the arts and crafts competition said the cowboys at the fair paid me a special tribute. For the first time ever, all of them came to see this quilt. Pardon its precocious name, "Aesthetics of Southwestern Applique Album Quilt," but people liked it so much, I drafted my rough drafts as best I could into a makeshift instruction book and self-published it for those who couldn't make it to classes. Wyoming is a one-community state, the 7th largest, it's just that roads between our houses were just longer, that's all. My little publishing enterprise was not a very good success because my phone kept ringing off the wall with thousands of questions about this or that instruction. I finally decided to take a couple of weeks off from work and rewrite the instructions and expand the patterns to accommodate those who wished enough patterns for a king sized bed. Happily, there was only 1 error when I finished the second edition--ten months, not two weeks later, of gross slave labor and parried consternation. Even so, it gave people a way to enjoy my patterns, gleaned from my second lugubrious effort. To add weight to my misery, I wasn't happy with the 2 years in which an attorney did not get my copyright to the Library of Congress, so I cancelled and did the work myself. Fortunately, people at the Library of Congress were kind enough to help me through the process, and 4 months later, my copyright was granted. In the 23 years I owned a quilt shop, the book was its only profitable venture, since we did 100% of the publishing ourselves after 1 printer charged me more to print 20 copies than I ever charged students who took classes and received the patterns, divided by 20. On our final day of negotiations, I told the gentleman, "Congratulations. You just forced the public to pay the highest price ever paid for a hand-written, all hand-done publication." WE both laughed, but I never again went to anyone else for help after that due to I am very hard-headed about some things, especially when it comes to giving people a good product as I possibly can do all by myself.

Here's the cowboy-loved quilt and best seller. It sold 80 copies, and after that, I lost count, and when my husband retired, he just made 20 copies here and 20 copies there as requests arose. That said, here are some of my personally made samples from my book, "Aesthetics of Southwestern Applique Album Quilt" book

1) The quilt that got best of show at WY State fair, 1993
2) A Four-seasons Wallhanging I made from the "Live Oak" design
3) The Eagle Wallhanging that got the best wallhanging award at the same state fair the same year My husband omitted the fancy border when he photographed it. I'm sorry, we're just not professionals.


----------



## freedombecki

Hating days I wake up and have used up all my rep the late night before, I'm going to go to my sewing machine and finish up that quilt. It now is a right half and a left half and is about 60 inches long, and each piece is 20" wide. It already has 960 pieces in it, and will have a couple of borders, probably not much over 975 pieces when done. Hopefully it will go to a needy child or be a prize for a wounded soldier. I don't know who's picking what at Charity bees this year, because I've been in all winter, avoiding colds and illnesses. A bad immune system means if you go out, you will get sick, 99% of the time, no backs. 

However, I love quilting, and the birds are singing spring love songs this morning. 

Have a great day. I think I posted some of the squares the other day, I'll try to get one shot of the border when it's all done. Oh, I love this quilt. The arrangement of the double four-patches is such that it truly does look like a scotch plaid, and I will love seeing the full effect. Sorry about being the world's worst photographer and being too nervous about camera instructions to take very bad pictures. My dear one has dementia and can't remember how to use a camera. Woe is me.


----------



## freedombecki

This is a picture I found somewhere, and loved its scotch-plaid effect so much, I had to make one as part of my never-ending, ongoing Charity Bees quilt effort. Hopefully, the one I made like this one (discussed below) is a little different, of course, as I have a whole different set of color groupings than the lady above, who may have made the quilt some time in the past or even earlier this year, I'm not sure when I latched onto the pic, but it wasn't distant past: Her quilt:




​
The difference in the quilt above and the one I finished today is that I used blue and red squares where the large red squares are, then let the red tiny squares (rather that the above blue and multicolors) dominate and red and white postage-stamp sized squares on light grounds dominate the other way. I delivered 9 quilts in postage stamp-sized squares here and there to the Charity bees yesterday afternoon. 

I've discussed most of them since my last delivery on January 30, where I delivered a total of quilts between the first and last day of January. These are time-consuming what I've been doing, but I have gotten in front of the sewing machine most days for at least two hours, and often all day to finish one or more items. I forgot about the pillowcase, so it will have to be given some time later. I think it's important to keep the group supplied with quilt tops, because that's what I'm best at and it aggravates my sneaky little fibromyalgia disease the least because it is restful to piece squares and strips by machine, At least, it's comfortable to me, because I've done it for so many years. 

I dedicate all I did to the purposes of almighty God (with gratitude) to whom I can only give what he gave me first--a good life and the realization his purposes are for our betterment as men and women and never our falling. Amen 

Here's a shot of the border of the quilt I just finished an hour ago:


----------



## freedombecki

The above quilt was the best of all the double four-patch quilts I have ever made, which is probably more than 20 since 1965, when my mom gave me her old Domestic sewing machine when she got a new Singer "slant-o-matic?" or something. I was already hogging her machine sewing a wardrobe for my college attendance anyway, and she needed something to sew the younger siblings' clothes with. A family of 5 that lived on a shoestring back then required a sewing machine in the household. Today's households often do not have sewing machines because factories in China produce clothing with Americana names on them cheaper than we can buy the fabric over here in the USA. So people ask themselves, "Why buy a sewing machine for $4,000 when I can spend $400 a year per child (or less) for the school year?

It's such a different world than the 50s world of my elementary school years. They came out with two-piece bathing suits most people in the south would not let their daughters wear except in circles where wealth was in the part of town whose greatest traffic was maids, cooks, lawn maintenance hands, and butlers going to work.

To make a long soliloquy short, I delivered the quilt and one I found that was missing from my stack yesterday when I took 9 quilts. So my March goals were met--11 quilts to the Quilter's closet. I also took 10 more crocheted dishrags sewn at sundry times since my crochet pics were added 3 or 4 pages ago here before I got going on my quilt goals for March. And 2 more homemade pillowcases got taken, too. I really need to hit that stack of pillows. Yesterday, one of the gals said she had enough stuffing to stuff 10 of my quilted pillows if I just brought them. Sounded GREAT to me.  

Stuffing pillows is a lot of work. It's as hard as quilting, except you can hold one in your lap while you stuff. Quilting takes large muscle work all over the place, and you have to be in top physical shape practically, to machine quilt a quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's sewing goal of completing a stack of 30 on-point Texas windmills was met. Now I just have to join them with some kind of sashing and a set. I'm thinking Bubble gum pink with a blue and red/pink rose print that came from a shirt factory. I have a stack of at least 60 rectangularish pieces that coulc be cut down to 3" squares for 3" sashes, more or less. It's hard to say until I get my cutting ruler and equipment out and put my money where my mouth is. 

I made a list of quilt starts I never quite got around to doing. Some of them could be quilts in a couple of hours if I'd just get my darn act together and focus on it.

When you make 199 same squares, and you only used 120 to make a quilt, a lot of times, you're just sick of the entire color schema, set leftovers aside in a polybag and move on to another project to teach a class people are asking about. That was the story of my life for 23 years. So I really should go through my 200 boxes of stuff, pull out the starts, and do some quick time quilts. Some day, I'll challenge myself to a contest to see if I can finish 30 quilts in 30 days. First, I'd have to get all my boxes in the same room. I tried, but it ended up with a narrow path between two doors, and when we put shelves up, there were 2 paths, but you could access all the boxes, well, almost all the boxes. I'm laughing to keep from crying.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, when I got up, I placed the new squares against the older squares and noticed they were smaller. Sure enough, I had cut 4.5" squares when I should have cut 5" squares. I have to rip and redo 36 seams and cut and prep 9 fabrics to make 4 triangles each from 2 5" squares per fabric. 

So, I picked up the remainder of the 4 patch squares and decided that'd help me make my goal of doing 3 quilt tops this week. Sure enough, after 8 hours of trucking, I had that 40x50" square that needs now 2 borders, saving that for tomorrow.

Something happened on this 4-patch not seen on the other--a perfect set of small white and light red and light blue diamonds forming around each of the squares placed on the quilt. I felt like I had flown when I saw it after the last square was added. I'm not sure my scanner picked up the whole effect, but on a small scale... 

Good night and say a prayer for our troops, all. They still need our help and good thoughts.

Love,

freedombecki


----------



## freedombecki

When I was looking through a box underneath the ironing board by the bird feeder window out front, I ran across a small green quilt started who knows when? Anyway, it needed a border, so I added 3" of piano keys in different greens to the top and 4" of green textures in the same manner to the lower edge. It's a small piece of high contrasts, but with a few streaks of lime to add interest. I thought, well, the outer border would have to be such a special green, it would have to be a one-of-a-kind, off-the-wall knockout to improve my mundane little horror of contrasts (although neat in arrangement, too). So, I went to the quilt store, and I couldn't believe my eyes--there it was, in the front window. Then I thought, nah, it's never the first thing you see that is best. I traipsed all over the store--nothing, nada. The perfect fabric was in the window, and when I arrived home, there was no time to do anything. So now, I think I'll just go back down to the sewing machine and see if I can do anything with this magnificent fabric. The scale is terribly large, and the logs are only one inch wide. Also, the spaces between the jaded florals are gross, so I won't know if I did ok or not until the right pieces are in the right places. Back in a bit.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, first thing, I attached the borders, after spending a couple of hours picking up around my sewing machine and sewing odd bits together. One of them was a partial 3-inch square of a little girl sitting on a bench enjoying childhood. When I added little squares all around, I had to laugh. The little sitting girl's head was too close to the edge of the material, so all that's showing of her head is her jaw. I just said to myself, well, life ain't always fair. So I think I'm going to go through my character fabrics that have whole birds, people, or creatures cut out for other projects--there's always a top or a bottom on the cut edge of the fabric, and I will make them into 3" squares that look like well, not good.  and then make the "life isn't fair" quilt as a tag along project. Who said quilts can't be humorous? Life certainly is!

So, here's what the quilt parts look like from the scanner:


----------



## freedombecki

Border makes this sad little green quilt effort sing. The remainder of the scans from the quilt top ready to go to the charity bee closet:


----------



## freedombecki

So it's Wednesday here, and I'm 1/3 of my goal toward finishing 3 little tops this week. 

Here's someone elses' green quilt top that is fashioned log cabin style:





credits​


----------



## freedombecki

Another green log cabin:





Credits​


----------



## freedombecki

I looked everywhere for a green star log cabin quilt. I just couldn't find one today. I did, however, find my quilt brag book that has about 300 pictures of my earlier quilts prior to 2009, and I didn't find a green one, but did find a blue Squad Car Quilt I had donated to the city police department as part of my annual show called Jewels of the Platte. It seems like forever ago, but I think I did 6 or 7 shows sometime between 1996-2003. After I got fibromyalgia, the simple task of hanging a quilt show became a nightmare of pain, cramps and rawboned annoyance, so probably to everyone's relief, I never did another one after that. The year this one was done, I offered one as a silent auction bid to help pay for costs. The people could bid on any one, but the highest bid took their own choice. It was won by Mayor Kathleen, and she took one that had sunflowers on every piece in the blue and yellow quilt. She was born in Kansas before coming to Wyoming, and she still loved sunflowers, the Kansas State Flower. The money went to good charitable causes. 

But for example's sake, I just picked one of the star quilts most like the green one I could just show bits and pieces of with the great difference, I don't think I was putting piano key borders on my charity quilts back then. The quilts were saved for putting one in each squad car, so the police could give a poor child a quilt if they stumbled onto freezing newcomers their first winter, or if not, could be used to wrap a person suffering from shock at the scene of a terrible car wreck. They are not allowed to tell donors anything about how the quilts wound up, but it makes me happy just knowing what great people cops are, at least that our cops were in Casper, Wyoming for all those years. Between them and the Firemen collecting money at stoplights for Jerry's kids every year, I don't think I've ever met a better group of men and women in my life than our community's long line of blue.

Anyhow, here's what log star quilts I make look like, I'm just sorry I don't have a green one to share and that I'm too much of a dullard to run a decent camera to take pics since my dear one got dementia, he doesn't either, bless his sweet head:


----------



## freedombecki

Where are my manners? I should have just gotten the picture of Mayor Dixon's win, but didn't think to do it until after the fact. Anyhow, from that same Jewels of the Platte Show, the one that had all log cabin quilts made for squad cars of the police department, except for the one that placed the highest bid for a quilt to go to a charitable cause.

Seems either the pictures turned out a little dark or darkened with age.  But it's all I have left of the show, because I took nothing home with me that year, since the rest of the 24 quilts that weren't friend contributions, went to the police for their squad cars.

Mayor Kathleen's high-bid quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, that little quilt center I finished April 2nd? See here

Now has a border, and it's finished measuring about 54x69.  Yea, I'm free. I'm calling it the Minnie Mouse quilt, because Minnie always used to wear red and white polka dot dresses in Walt Disney's cartoons from many years before Disneyland or Disney World opened their doors. 

The Minnie Mouse quilt border


----------



## freedombecki

That's an officially finished 2 out of 3 for this week's goal, and it's only Wednesday. Well, doh, it usually takes me a couple of days to take quilt parts started earlier to get them out. All truth be known, when I was working on the Squad Car Jewels of the Platte Quilt show for City hall, I made 24 bed quilts for squad cars in 6 months of 80-hour-a-weeks at my business. I used a dilapidated, makeshift mezzanine floor in the back upstairs of the shop to quilt while helpers dealt with customers. I was working before employees showed up and after they closed the doors and went home. Now, I can still do tops, I just can't quilt them on any consistent basis. The good thing about our charity bees, is that we have many kindly ladies who have quilt machines and the goodness to use them toward charitable ends. They're such a gift from God. And I love 'em.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Log Cabin in the Round by June Ryker. This dear lady came to a shop in Wyoming years ago to teach classes, of which I took two--flying geese and a round log cabin. June went on to write several books and patterns, but she used bias strips, not straight-grained ones, to make the curves come out right. She is/was a master at her art. I've never seen another person take a stab at her technique, but her quilts are truly remarkable in that there was nothing like them before nor after her gift of the round (really rondelay) Log Cabin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, June Ryker, Logs in Flight​



This is very pretty.......but I am partial to blues/teal......nice *smiles*


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I was digging in my stuff underneath the dining room table and fell into 32 frame-and-patch rectangles that would make 16 squares for a small quilt. Then, as I was assembling them together, it struck me that 4 on each side and 4 at top and bottom (16 in all) was exactly the numbers of squares I had and would make a good child's frame, although the squares are generally darker than I care for most children's quilt. Opposite the dining room table is an encased french library shelf I found at a going-out-of-business used furniture company in a nearby town. It is some kind of yellow hardwood that grows in Europe, I was guessing, and likely was a very old antique, sturdy, well-made, perfection, and ten times what I could afford at its original tag. Somehow we got it on the back of our new truck and got it home. My nephews came the next day and lifted it into the dining room. Whew, what a job! Anyway, there on one of the shelves (the china never made it to the shelves because my fabrics got there first) was a little pony I had designed for a child's quilt years before in my shop, and I'd made and given 5 or 6 of them to various charities that needed childrens' quilts. Anyhow, I still had one sewn at least 5 years ago, and may have been leftover from another project, though I saved a yard or so of the calico the pony's body was made of. I decided I could do something with it, it's very childlike, even though it incorporates the color black, that I seldom use when doing children works. The dull frame, the little pony, and a few things between will make a quilt that measures about 38x57" prior to putting a border on, which is just perfect size for our shelter children. anyhow, I sewed a couple of hours but only have this to show thus far, and you can see there are some edge issues. That's why I decided to do a frame--it's easier to conceal errors by way of the addition of another border to double-stitch underneath (see middle construction photo)


----------



## freedombecki

And the rest so far. There is a busy afternoon ahead, imho. I't almost noon on Thursday here, and my goal was 3 quilts by the end of the week. Oh, I love this little silly quilt, but measuring odd things to go here there and everywhere inside the frame will take a ruler, a measuring tape, and a lot of parsing and piecing. I'm excited about the project. Didn't expect in a million years that I'd be getting 2 UFOs out of the way instead of one. Hallelujah! (A UFO in quilter talk = *U*n*F*inished *O*bject.


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs, I just ran across a picture of one of my 24 squad car quilts used in one of my Jewels of the Platte quilt shows at City Hall, which was donated to the purpose of going in one of our polices' squad cars, and got it put in my pictures just now. This teals-and-turquoises one has touches of hot pink and dominant aqua light blues in the light areas. I've made two others in teals--one is on my fibromyalgia (soft) bed I use when I can't stand the pain, and I sold another to an online friend once. He insisted, and I was still quilting back then, and he was generous. At least, I can sleep at night on a soft conforming bed with a comforting mattress. Here's the picture of the donated one. I think I made another zig-zag log cabin quilt, but think it got donated to our wounded soldier project, and I think it may have been in reds and pastels, or was it blue..? Doh, no picture, no memory. I'm so screwed. lol


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! After promising a dozen times to get them going to my sisters at the charity bees, I worked some pillows up, and they're ready to stuff. I quilt the shells so the bits of fabric and soft leftovers our mothers (and I) used and use to make pillows is not disclosed as lumps poking through the smooth surface of the quilt. In the next 4 posts, there are parts of 6 pillows. It would be so much easier if I had a lick of photographic talent and a decent camera to show the whole project in a setting. They're six works I'm proud to give to people who gave good lives to this nation for all of us, but are now encumbered in a care facility that deals with the ravages of aging or war wounds so severe, we can't wrap our minds around them.

Today's pillow stuffing is poly fibre, which if ignited in a housefire, creates toxic fumes that cause people to die of smoke inhalation. I've come to the conclusion that our cotton scraps leftover from quilting make better stuffing materials as a consequence, at least they're not so fatal as poly resin ignited poison gives people exactly 20 seconds to live before being poisoned to death, from what I've read in old firemens' manuals back in the 90s, when I first started wondering just how safe polyester is ignited in a house fire. People who make and manufacture goods for home use should FIRST check things out to see what their products would do in someone's house if it burned up. When you hear of firemen saying "...died of smoke inhalation..." my personal interpretation is "hmmm, somebody figured out a cheapie way to makje houses at the expense of anyone who dies in a fire. Are the objects I am putting in my home objects, that when ignited, would or would not give my family and pets extra time to get the hell outta there?"

Later on the fire marshall told me that people die anyway in fires, that even age-old materials that ignite can cause smoke inhalation issues. Even so, the stuff I was reading on polyresins was speaking in seconds, not "a few minutes" before death on the ignition toxicity of such products. It doesn't hurt businesses serving homes to read a fire marshall manuals to determine what materials will be used in the business serving other people's home interiors, and how fire safe is it?  Just sayin 

Here are my goods for the past week, Since putting a stuffed pillow into the scanner is out of the question, I scanned the outer quilted cases that will be the outsides of the pillows to show here:


----------



## freedombecki

*More yet:
*


----------



## freedombecki

I liked doing the next two pillows, but when I looked, I noticed how badly I screwed up on placement of stripes. It was made by a figuring math error that I made all by myself, and I'm sorry, but I had already finished BOTH pillow tops when I noticed that the top 7 stripes were not coming from the stars area, and instead of having red-white-red-white-red-white (6) stripes at the bottom I had 7. I was so annoyed by my mistake, I placed them aside overnight. This morning, when I made a decision to go ahead, I decided it was a good teacher for me to count first and be sure rather that  start the fun of sewing before engaging the cerebellum material. 

So, here is my first goofy flaglike quilted pillow top. It measures more or less 20 by 23 inches, give or take a couple of inches. 

I just can't believe I didn't count the 7 stripes up top before deciding the size of the blue star material. I just can't believe it. *sigh*

Oh, thanks to the mods who developed usage pixels, if you place your arrow or other pointer atop any of the images below, I have left a summarized description of what you are looking at in my constructions.


----------



## freedombecki

And I hope this is the last flaglike quilt I ever do weirdfully:

At least there ARE 13 stripes.


----------



## freedombecki

This is one of my most favorite quilts, and was done with my beloved stash of Hoffman, RJR, SSI, and Kaufman fabrics, to name a few. It was made and donated for a raffle for the West Wind Art Gallery, sometime between 1997-2005. I'm thinking 1999, but am not sure. It does not appear in my Jewels of the Platte show before 1998, and I'm not sure it ever was shown in public. If it was, I'll eat cabbage. 
If you have never seen a tree quilt quite like this one, it's because I designed it on graph paper and calculated the cutting it would take prior to making it, and I looked through all the references available to me including 3 books on tree quilts in my personal collection. I did teach a free quilt class on the block, however, for the Silver Fox Quilters, a senior class I taught as a gift to the community.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> This is one of my most favorite quilts, and was done with my beloved stash of Hoffman, RJR, SSI, and Kaufman fabrics, to name a few. It was made and donated for a raffle for the West Wind Art Gallery, sometime between 1997-2005. I'm thinking 1999, but am not sure. It does not appear in my Jewels of the Platte show before 1998, and I'm not sure it ever was shown in public. If it was, I'll eat cabbage.
> If you have never seen a tree quilt quite like this one, it's because I designed it on graph paper and calculated the cutting it would take prior to making it, and I looked through all the references available to me including 3 books on tree quilts in my personal collection. I did teach a free quilt class on the block, however, for the Silver Fox Quilters, a senior class I taught as a gift to the community.



Tis very very pretty!!
Has a Christmasy look to it


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> This is one of my most favorite quilts, and was done with my beloved stash of Hoffman, RJR, SSI, and Kaufman fabrics, to name a few. It was made and donated for a raffle for the West Wind Art Gallery, sometime between 1997-2005. I'm thinking 1999, but am not sure. It does not appear in my Jewels of the Platte show before 1998, and I'm not sure it ever was shown in public. If it was, I'll eat cabbage.
> If you have never seen a tree quilt quite like this one, it's because I designed it on graph paper and calculated the cutting it would take prior to making it, and I looked through all the references available to me including 3 books on tree quilts in my personal collection. I did teach a free quilt class on the block, however, for the Silver Fox Quilters, a senior class I taught as a gift to the community.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tis very very pretty!!
> Has a Christmasy look to it
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dabs. I made the pattern as a Christmas treat for my Silver Foxes quilters free quilt society, and its "original" name was "O Tannenbaum". I backed it with one of the most beautiful Alexander Henry Christmas fabrics ever printed because in my remote shop, many local quilters were still preferring cutsie calicoes rather than art-inspired prints. The local jet set quickly traded in all prints for the new tie-dyes and balis when they began being printed. So my art prints went unused, but I loved them and used them every time a fabric went for more than 2 years with no takers. I can't believe what people passed up, but then, I had great art teachers in jr & high school and electives in junior college days. No middle schools existed back then in our area.

Oh, yes, and there's a reason for that. I took a psychology class one time that mentioned it's good for people's minds to change the decorations around the house frequently. By making a quilt with an enchanting fabric on the back, it gives your mind that needed break, as we tire from looking at the samo-samo all the time. No matter how pretty a quilt is, it becomes old hat in 6 months. That's when you turn it over for as different a look as you can possibly have.


----------



## freedombecki

After I finished the 6 pillow tops for seniors or veterans last week, I kind of took a break. This morning, I got back in the groove with quilting more large squares for support pillows that help those with physical problems support a part.

Of course, a mere pillow will never, never take the place of a good caregiver who moves the supports around as needed and provides a kind word for someone who is unable to do for themselves any more. That's the most important thing. If someone in your life is in a care facility, your presence could be like the highlight of a boring experience for them, and never underestimate what good it will do for them, please.

Anyhow, here's a quilted pillow sans the stuffing and in the next post, I will show the top that took another hour to quilt. It's ok. It was bluebonnets and red white and blue, done in honor of our veterans everywhere. I'm not sure who the charity bees will give it to when I turn it over. I try to give in lots of 10 or close to it, so I can make notes in my work journal that looks like a nutty artists' scratch pad sometimes. Hey! It IS a nutty artists' ... oh, never mind.  Just sorry you can't see the whole top. All I have is an 8.5x11" scanner and shyness around a complex digital camera with a disc that is like a nightmare sales routine and a few helps that are so confusing my husband had to figure it out back when. He can't do that any more, even, and I'm still shy of cameras. *sigh*

The pillow that you can't see in its entireity is a red and white pinwheel on one side, and some sturdy printed cotton upholstery satin on top of a piece of striped mattress covering material (popular in the style industry about 10 years ago,, or was it 20?)


----------



## freedombecki

I totally love this bluebonnet pillow top. After you spend x amount of hours piecing (which I did sometime back), You get to sandwich, baste and quilt it before adding it to a back you also quilted, and then to get a pillow, stuff. The pillow is not stuffed yet. One of my fellow bees asked me to make a few pillows, that she had tons of stuffing that would make good support pillows. So, hopefully it's all to a good cause.  If you put your arrow cursor over the images below, you will see a little explanation of what you are seeing in work detail..If you click on them, a larger image pops up (for anyone who's a newbie here and is not acquainted with transferring pictures from your own collection in "My pictures" on your computer)

For those who like thrift and duribility, a good batting for the sturdiest quilted pillow tops will always be a good old, clean turkish towel whose threadbare and holey areas have been trimmed away, and the thick parts are left to lend an extra lush layer for a pillow.


----------



## freedombecki

Took 2 finished quilt tops, 6 quilted pillow front and back, sewn together with small openings for Charity bees to stuff with firm stuffing, small bits and batting excesses, soft but firmly wadded into shells as they work. Every work day, one support pillow gets stuffed with things that would normally be tossed away or needlessly stored, and one more pillow case for Tall Pine charity giving. I hope the girls who do quilting and tying enjoy the tops, made with love.


----------



## freedombecki

I have to admit something. I was wondering why I had a slight obsession about completing the double four-patch quilts and pillow tops. Of course! My only quilt I ever owned and didn't have to hand down to somebody else is probably in a box around here someplace, I just haven't found it since we moved. We finally did unpack the pictures, and my husband went through them and found pictures of my quilts and separated them out so they could go in my little book. I had forgotten, Grandma's quilt was shown in one of my shows in which we had an extra space for one more quilt.

And it was a double four-patch!  No wonder I worked hard doing those double 4-patch charity quilts, it's been a part of our family's warmth and grass-cover-for-Washington-Park-Casper-Muncie-Band concerts programs for over 30 years!

Grandma made the quilt of left overs from her and all her sewing bee friends' polyester pant suits that were the rage in the 70s, but the patterns always had leftovers because ponte di roma knits are 60" wide, not 45" wide, which all the patterns may have been calling for. She and Aunt Janice worked for weeks hand quilting that quilt for me. Years later, when I quilted my first quilt, it was a one-patch and took 4 months to quilt. Whew! After that, it was strictly machine quilting, I'm telling you!


----------



## freedombecki

And I found one of my pals having his own flame thread, and I knew he was USAF. I promised myself I'd make a charity quilt in his honor, and this morning, I cut quite a few strips and sewed a light and center blue strips together for log cabin centers, which will in the next step, be sliced and have the second light added to an adjacent side to the first light. The 6th photo shows that the seam is pressed away from the center. It makes the lay of the finished product easier to place on a cutting mat and square up with a large square ruler. It takes 24 squares to make a nicely-sized child quilt that will carry the child to his 18th birthday unless he has giantism. My efforts this morning will be the basis hopefully for several, and I have chosen Air Force Blue as the color theme, naturally. That will become more obvious when I start adding the dark fabrics. I like to have a fabric different in shade and pow-power at the center, so I usually do red centers. But in deference to the USAF hero who got himself flamed it's all gonna be blue.  Here are the strips that came from sewing 2 1.75" strips together 20 times or more.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are the others plus the blowup of one that is turned to its reverse side, showing how to press away from the center color. After this, I'm going to have to do some tasks around the house and run some errands. 

Anyone who likes is welcome to show a picture of a family quilt at any time. I'd just forgotten all about my grandma's quilt because I haven't seen it for a while, and it's possible it got stored at my shop in Wyoming. lol


----------



## daveman

freedombecki said:


> And I found one of my pals having his own flame thread, and I knew he was USAF. I promised myself I'd make a charity quilt in his honor, and this morning, I cut quite a few strips and sewed a light and center blue strips together for log cabin centers, which will in the next step, be sliced and have the second light added to an adjacent side to the first light. The 6th photo shows that the seam is pressed away from the center. It makes the lay of the finished product easier to place on a cutting mat and square up with a large square ruler. It takes 24 squares to make a nicely-sized child quilt that will carry the child to his 18th birthday unless he has giantism. My efforts this morning will be the basis hopefully for several, and I have chosen Air Force Blue as the color theme, naturally. That will become more obvious when I start adding the dark fabrics. I like to have a fabric different in shade and pow-power at the center, so I usually do red centers. But in deference to the USAF hero who got himself flamed it's all gonna be blue.  Here are the strips that came from sewing 2 1.75" strips together 20 times or more.


(((hugs)))

Just lovely.


----------



## Dabs

You have so many beautiful patterns Becki.
Have you ever made one with the fleur di le design??
It's a symbol......it's French...meaning French Lily.
I have many things in my living room with that design....I love it


----------



## Dabs

My bad on spelling...it's Fleur De Lis


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> You have so many beautiful patterns Becki.
> Have you ever made one with the fleur di le design??
> It's a symbol......it's French...meaning French Lily.
> I have many things in my living room with that design....I love it


Yes, somewhere, I've made up a fleur de lis, but where? I wrote a lot of book manuscripts of designs and designed at least 100 applique designs, and I do remember doing fleur de lis's, but I can't put it together with any of the hundreds of pages and thousands of designs in my manuscripts. I'll try and think back to when that was, or if I'm confusing that with someone else's design. Nope. I always start with graph paper on my appliques. hmmm.

Let's leave it at this: I don't know. I may recall by tomorrow what the deal was. And I love fleur de lis, the story of one of France's Louie kings who was dying, saw the beautiful lily near a stream, where the water revived him. After that he decided he would be a good boy in honor of God who saved him, and the fleur de lis was named in his honor which is loosely transcribed to "the flower of Louis." But where  did I design one for a quilt applique? <still drawing a blank>


----------



## freedombecki

daveman said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> And I found one of my  pals having his own flame thread, and I knew he was USAF. I promised  myself I'd make a charity quilt in his honor, and this morning, I cut  quite a few strips and sewed a light and center blue strips together for  log cabin centers, which will in the next step, be sliced and have the  second light added to an adjacent side to the first light. The 6th photo  shows that the seam is pressed away from the center. It makes the lay  of the finished product easier to place on a cutting mat and square up  with a large square ruler. It takes 24 squares to make a nicely-sized  child quilt that will carry the child to his 18th birthday unless he has  giantism. My efforts this morning will be the basis hopefully for  several, and I have chosen Air Force Blue as the color theme, naturally.  That will become more obvious when I start adding the dark fabrics. I  like to have a fabric different in shade and pow-power at the center, so  I usually do red centers. But in deference to the USAF hero who got  himself flamed it's all gonna be blue.  Here are the strips that came from sewing 2 1.75" strips together 20 times or more.
> 
> 
> 
> (((hugs)))
> 
> Just lovely.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Daveman. Today I worked on cutting the strips into twosies, and  got enough for 20 squares to the second light color. The smallest  squares will measure 1.25" after being sewn down from 1.75" cuts. Also,  the strips finish close to 1.25" also. Quilters use quarter-inch seams  (on a good day...) In pictures, here goes from my computer and scanner  to here:


----------



## freedombecki

This second group of pictures shows something I always do early on in making a Log Cabin Style quilt. Although the squares will later be arranged into a "Hero Star" arrangement due to the nature of this particular project, it is wise to follow the panacea of caution when you're really excited about a quilting project for as good a cause as one of our wounded warriors is.

Do a couple of practice squares after you get all your strips cut. Then measure it when it is done and answer to yourself: Are all of the squares square? Is each of the 4 sides of the square the same length? All of these should measure 9.25 inches, which is why on an 8.5"x11" scanner screen, you cannot see the entire square.

I just wanted to show on the first day of actually starting the real work of the log cabin-arranged hero star quilt, what one of the 24 segments would look like. The star itself will use 20 light and dark log cabins, but the 4 that separate the star points on the upper and lower corners need to be a light color all the way around, so I have already cut centers lighter than the center on the two squares, I just haven't sewn a stitch on the light ones. Since it is an annoyance once you have the 12 light-and-dark center and star points made, I think that will be the first thing on my agenda tomorrow morning or whenever. I greatly prefer having the 4 light squares done before going forward. Also, there will be 8 points attached to the top and bottom in sawtooth quilt arrangement in order to accomplish the task of making the quilt longer than it is wide. I generally add 2 borders, and have already cut out the first border of the same fabric the centers are made of. It's just not quite dark enough to be a dark on the outside nor light enough to be a light in most instances. That makes it perfect for being a border strip, because not only does it separate well, it also pops the centers. On my quilts they're usually red, but for an Air Force blue quilt, sorry, no red. I make plenty of flaglike quilts etc. to make up for one Air Force blue quilt, believe me!

One of the fabrics on the second block is 70 years old and possibly more. It came from a little piece of fabric, and I ooched and scooched it to get the dark parts of the fabric in one piece or else I was going to start sewing dark pieces together to ensure it shows as a dark. It came from a shirt factory of miscut collars "from the 30s or 40s" according to the antique store owner. Nobody else wanted them, and she handed me a huge, huge sack of them. I try to use one of the pieces every time I do a project, to honor our mothers who lived through the war time, saving a scrap here and there. This one's owner passed before she got to finish it. I thought, perhaps one of her sons died in WWII (we lost hundreds of thousands of America's best), and she lost her love for quilting. Silly me for speculating! It just makes me think of American women through the years who spent their time and effort doing for others always, never flagging in their enthusiasm to go a good deed for someone who needed a good deed done them.

So, here's my second day of real work, and tomorrow, I have a lot of dark strip cutting that needs to be done:

Have a happy and good day, everyone.


----------



## freedombecki

Afternoon results, 3" light added, 3" dark added, 4.25" strips dark added! And I found a scrap no longer available--just a little piece, and it will be the only like it on the first picture that has a 4.25" light color strip to help tomorrow get started.  I used to count 30 hours in doing a small quilt like this one, but now, who knows? I'm more organized because I now cut all the strips at the same time before I sit down to sew, except for the 2 I did in the above posts. I like to make samples just to be sure I'm staying true to the 1/4" seam allowances standard in the quilt world right now. If the price of quilt fabric keeps climbing, that seam allowance could drop, but that's not a good thing when stitches are too large to accommodate or a machine that stretches fabrics is used.

The afternoon works on the USAF Blue charity quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, BTW, thanks for dropping by, Daveman, USAF, Ret. 

Two more pictures of the afternoon's progress and a trip down memory lane to a show I did for city hall entitled "Jewels of the Platte II" probably 1997 or 1998. It was a few weeks before a house burned down in Natrona County, and the "Tell Them I'm a Child of God" quilt (furthest right, small boys and girls in applique) was given to the family. I heard they had 3 small children, all survived the fire, but the house was totaled by it. I took it down to the Fire Station and told them to give it to the family, who'd be needing stuff. Think I took two other quilts, too, but it's not clear to me which ones, and I may not even have pictures of them. If I do, they're not known to me. I have a hunch which ones, but it's only a hunch, and I have no pictures, but I do have a pattern that I developed when I saw a quilt made that with a little thinking could have been a lot more organized-looking.. Anyway, 4 of the 5 quilts hanging have blue in them, and to that time I hadn't made many blue quilts. That changed later.

The afternoon & nostalgia...

I am editing this because I forgot to name the quilts below:

1. Aesthetics of Victorian Applique Album Quilt, a blue Victorian era quilt I made with designs probably circa the early 20th century, with a primitive phone, a couple wearing turn-of-the-century Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, etc. There's even a Carousel Horse, and it's part of a book I wrote for my student called "Aesthetics of Victorian Applique Album Quilt." (hahahaha try saying that after eating a couple of crackers.)

2. Color Wheel. It is of 100% Jinny Beyer designed fabric from her first "Jinny Beyers Basics" fabric, and the background is also from the same collection, pale taupe-etched cool whitish colored material, then reused in the first border with staggered rows of squares top and bottom.

3. JoAnn's Dutch Doll quilt. Actually, it's my design, but a lady named JoAnn came into my shop one day and saw my teensie weensie little embroidered doll work, done in machine embroidery for classes, and demanded that I make a big one so she could applique it onto a quilt. I assured her it was dubious that it would look as nice as the little ones, bad idea, etc. After she left, I sat down and drew one up. By nightfall, I'd done one square, and by the next day, I had done and sewed a dozen dolls and made a large, child-sized quilt with it. I improved the square, made some copies, and called JoAnn to tell her I had done a square, named for her insistent saying I could do the design, and she'd like it. She came in the next morning, and I had the small quilt top done and was working on another. She bought the first pattern for $1.00. In the upcoming few weeks, I had designed a modern dutchman in a suit, made 10 charity quilts and given all of them to the handicapped day care center in town. That's why I made the dutchman. My Grandpa was dutch, and it is a gentle reminder of him, but was only used when the Dutch Girl was his partner. She was the best seller. I hardly ever sold any of the Dutchman, don't know why. In that part of the country, people like Cowboys and Cowgirls, so they would buy the Western couple every time, except some people just liked the Dutch Girl. She was done Sunbonnet style, and now I think I know why I got that silly pm from one of the mods. This must be boring as hell to someone who has to read it.  

4. The 4th quilt was the first serious pieced quilt I designed, and I named it after a song I love called "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" because the tan planks surround the blue pools of water. I decided not to sell the pattern, because it had a fitting problem at each and every stinkin' corner. I had to ooch and scooch for weeks to make it right. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. 

5. "Tell Them I'm A Child Of God" is the name of the little quilt nearest the wall. Think I explained that one somewhere today.


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> My bad on spelling...it's Fleur De Lis



Dabs, I'm thinking I may have designed a Fleur de lis for a class to do  blackwork machine embroidery my first or second year in business... I  made a 50- or 60- page booklet for students of all kinds of small decorations, and am  thinking that MAY have been (also may not have been) when I did a Fleur  de lis. That was 20 to 25 years ago. I think I kept copies of all my  designs, only trouble is *if* I didn't bring a complete copy of the  machine embroidery book here when we moved, all that stuff is up in a  file somewhere in the office of my business 1300+ miles from here.

Rep coming your way. That's a great picture.


----------



## freedombecki

Sharing pictures of pieced corners--for the USAF blue charity quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

Each square has 3 more rows to go, I just did all I could in one day.


----------



## freedombecki

The first two are like the ones above, the third is an 8 inch square right now. They don't show well here when all the rows are added, because then, they measure about 9.25 inches. I have to cut some more different blues. I found 14 more in my old stash, and I haven't even looked in the garage, and somewhere, there are 32 more, not sure where.


----------



## Sunshine

I don't know how you do that Becki.  Your spatial reasoning must be off the charts!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. Today, I completed the blocks I worked on all week last week (or so it seems). I didn't join them, yet, thought it would be nice to show a few of them off. Sometime today, I'll try and join them into a schema. Oh, where's my little schematics pad when I need it? 

Here are some of the large white squares completed:


----------



## freedombecki

Finally, here are some more USAF blue squares and the last corner (light)


----------



## freedombecki

I only photocopied 5 of the 20 dark and light squares. there will be 4 of them arranged as per sawtooth at top and 4 at bottom, sawtooth. There will be 8 of them used as star points (I usually pick the darkest ones, because then the point is set apart from the background in higher contrast than light ones, which can and have disappeared into a dark-dominant "light" background. 

The three dark/light points:


----------



## freedombecki

I finished the entire Air Force Blue quilt today. Finishing the quilt is the happiest thing about quilting. I named this one "On Wings of Blue Angels," because the USAF task well done saves thousands of our troops who'd otherwise have a very frightening task to do.

Thumbnail 1: The upper right corner of this quilt, affectionately referred to as "On wings of blue angels" due to the matching butterfly fabric I found, is shown in thumbnail. I'm sorry I can't show more due to my all-thumbs approach to photography. 

Thumbnail 2: The center of "On Wings of Blue Angels" is shown in the second thumbnail. If the entire quilt were visible, you'd see top and bottom rows of sawtooth log cabins and a log cabin hero star with a diagonal log diamond in the middle.  All told, there are 20 squares.

Thumbnail 3: It's just one of 8 star points around the center diamond.

This quilt is made in honor of Daveman, a veteran of the USAF, and it's all in Air Force blue. It will be given to the local H.E.A.R.T.S. quilting group who does good things for veterans from all military groups and services. They will know the airman who deserves this one the most.

When I bought the butterfly print around the quilt several weeks ago, I just took the rest of the bolt since it was on sale and so beautiful. They seem to be blue angels...


----------



## freedombecki

I have a lot of blue strips cut to continue working on blue quilts, and I started and finished 24 blocks this morning for another quilt. This one has some very bright and beautiful blues. Since Army is green and Navy is dark green, I guess this bright blue one will be for the rmembarnce to marines.

Center shot and two star points.

My eyes are really dry today, and one eye is twitching, sign of a virus. Think I'm gonna head for the showers and go home when this is posted.

Have a lovely day everyone.

And God bless our men and women serving and fighting for freedom and liberty.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I worked on completing joining the 24 blocks, adding a separating sash between 2 sawtooth borders and the hero star formed at center of the quilt. It's in the neighborhood of 50x 72" give or take an inch due to calculations in my head rather than on paper. 

The first border was a beautiful light blue rose that set off the star points and the sawtooth border points. Unfortunately, nothing I could find in my stash set my soul on fire, so I went to the quilt store, and Eureka! For the second time in as many weeks, Fabric Carousel had the absolutely most perfect fabric. It is a small-textured blue, and in vitro, the colors make the light blue roses sing Hallelujah. (In my very humble, subjective opinion).

Only one picture today. I have to say this in color is a quilt that makes me fall in love with blue all over again. Sorry I don't use a camera so well. The pic below was placed on humble scanner, so 8.5x11" is all we get here. Next to the border is one of the sawtooth log cabin "points."

I would like to honor all those who have served America's people as US Marines with this quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

I have to postpone my Special forces quilt because of talking to my friend who was an Army Frogman, who I once made the mistake of calling "swabbie." Big mistake. 



For some reason, we continued to talk at a former Worldcrossing website called "American West." And we still stay in touch. Anyway I asked him for some ideas. I was in for a shock. Their colors are basically black wet suits, teal special forces dress uniforms, and camo. Their badges are all a pewter color, and their insignias are gold and black. 

I'm working in royal and navy blue right now for the next 3 quilts not including this third quilt I'm working on right now.

Anyhow, I ordered fabrics I hope will work in conjunction with certain pieces in my current stash, and I can't start till all the fabrics are in. I did find a huge piece of camo for $3.00 yard, and it's not bad quality cotton, either, considering quilter's fabrics are up to a low of $10. per yard, many are up to $14, which is where quilters in Great Britain have been for years. Well, we caught up here in America due to factory shut downs and our short staple cottons available for our shorter growing seasons out of vogue. That makes us dependent on foreign countries for just one more commodity we ought to be making for ourselves, especially in the manufacture of materials for the safety and protection of our own troops.

So the spec forces quilt, I'm not gonna start for awhile due to it will be different than what you have seen from the above quilts, and for which I cut enough strips in the past two weeks to make the 6 quilts I set out clear plastic bags to hold.

So nothing to show today, I'm on the last 4 rows (out of 13) as of a couple of hours ago from completing enough blocks to do a quilt for the Navy friends here. I'd like to make it look like waves, but then, I'd have to cut tiny strips, make more and smaller squares, and do time and a half extra work, not to mention design time, because I've already looked online for an appropriate waves quilt for the Navy. Guess I'm going to have to hit the graph paper, if I can find them underneath all the red and blue strips I've cut lately. 

If I really got my act together, I could complete the squares tonight and do another hero star quilt for the Navy and have it done by 5 pm tomorrow. lol


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the 16-log square "hero star" center of Quilt 3 honoring members of the U. S. Navy has been completed. I have to find the blue and white boating flags that I found on ebay in quilter's fabric to do the next border, because white separates the dark points. I think the 4th quilt will just be a blue log cabin quilt, something simple, made for the abuse shelter or a handicapped child. The special forces fabric is not here yet, so it's going to bide my time city until it gets here, and I can set out for a long cutting day, then tear into the project. Can't wait. I love our special forces guys. They do scary stuff, and their commanders try to get them all back safely. That reminds me, some Seals got sabotaged in a helicopter crash in the past year and we lost a bunch all on the same day. My heart goes out to their families. Yep. That tells me the Seals will be honored in one of the blue quilts. So they will be next.


----------



## freedombecki

Talk about fabric dictating an outcome! This one possibly caused the quilt to be larger than the others, just because to show enough of the fabric round insignias of the Navy, the fabric had to be cut wider to do the fabric justice. Top and bottom borders generally have a more aesthetic look when taller, but in order to get an outcome that would fit a human body, both side pieces of the blue stripe and the navy seals are wider than the strips at top and bottom. The overall size of the quilt is 55 inches by 70 inches. I think one earlier military services quilts may have been 72 inches, but it may have had 3 borders if memory serves me right. Hopefully it will be a good quilt for a brave man or woman to use when convalescing, or given to a son or daughter. The blue hero star also has log star points at top and bottom to give the quilt too much elongation, thus the effort to compensate for a more standard overall quilt. This time, the points are arranged from the top and bottom centers out, to repeat the idea of star points emanating from a center. 

I probably ought to design log cabin stars that with 16 pieces just leave enough to put a small border. I leave that to tomorrow's guru of making thanks to wounded soldiers quilts. 

Again, I apologize for not knowing how to take pictures due to past failures, and I'm so grateful to the Kodak printer people for making this nice scanner I could afford to show some of the end product so well.

This quilt was made with love for our dear fellow Americans who served in the Navy (as well as all other branches). This past year we had a big sad. We lost Navy Seals to an enemy that was watching their every move and betraying their liberating efforts to those in such repressive regimes they hate free people. If God made all of them angels, I hope they will be guardians of safe waters, land, and skies, for American servicemen engaged in protecting freedom and human rights.

Love,

freedombecki


----------



## freedombecki

I've been browsing the web rather heavily today, looking for someone else making personal-sized log cabin quilts, and I found something I had never heard before, along with proofs. Here's the scoop:




​


> Would you believeone of the oldest examples of the log cabin pattern  was found on cat mummies from Egypt?  Other examples of this light and  dark purposeful layering can be seen in ancient Roman tile works and  17th Century perfume bags.  How this pattern made it to quilts is  anyones guess.  One theory is that the unearthed Egyptian cat mummies  were so plentiful they were given to English farmers to scatter in their  fields as fertilizer.  The farmers wives, cloth artists at the ready,   copied the interesting pattern for their next quilt project. Whats in a name?  Known as the _English Roof Pattern,  Egyptian, _and _Mummy Pattern _in England_, _when takento Canada the name became _Canadian Logwork_.  Quilters in Gees Bend, Alabama called it _Housetop_.   Regardless of the block name, the design was most popular during the  mid to late 1800s.  During the Civil War, many log cabin style raffle  quilts were made to raise funds for the Union Army.  It has been  suggested that the Log Cabin square was a tribute to former log cabin  resident, Abraham Lincoln.  His supporters work had been nicknamed The  Log Cabin Campaign.  Also during this time, the Homestead Act spurred  the migration westward where people were actually building lots of log  cabins.  The layout of the log cabin squares for quilts took on the  names of things common to real life, such as Barn Raising, Straight  Furrows, Courthouse Steps, Chimneys and Cornerstones, Broken Dishes,  Streak of Lightening, and Sunshine & Shadows.



Ellen Lee at Patchwork Chronicles
​Learn something new every day. ​

​


----------



## freedombecki

Today's goal: I have 50 or 60 small pink and gray squares that would make a nice quilt top for the charity bees closet, and since you're supposed to finish what you start on a Friday (darn, I'm going to miss the flame fest thread), I'm going to see what I can do about putting them into pinwheels and finding a pretty mauve pink fabric to frame them. They may have been finished sometime between 1996-1999, and working with 1 square this morning, I was disappointed to realize I started them prior to my decision to precut strips before using them. That way, if the longest strip is 6.5", the square is likely to be 6.5" on all 4 sides. I took the first two and laid them together, and they're so not square. The best thing you can do is put them into a square setting and try to toss out squares that just don't make it. If I use 48 to make 12 pinwheels (it takes 4 courthouse step squares to make 1 pinwheel), I can do that. The last time I used from the taller pile, the quilt got sent to Indonesia as a baby quilt for a victim of the tsunami, whenever that was. It's time to bite the bullet and get rid of that pile of squares. Hope everyone else has a wonderful day.  I hope Sunshine drops by and notices the Egyptian vases.  Off to the sewing machine!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I've been browsing the web rather heavily today, looking for someone else making personal-sized log cabin quilts, and I found something I had never heard before, along with proofs. Here's the scoop:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> Would you believeone of the oldest examples of the log cabin pattern  was found on cat mummies from Egypt?  Other examples of this light and  dark purposeful layering can be seen in ancient Roman tile works and  17th Century perfume bags.  How this pattern made it to quilts is  anyones guess.  One theory is that the unearthed Egyptian cat mummies  were so plentiful they were given to English farmers to scatter in their  fields as fertilizer.  The farmers wives, cloth artists at the ready,   copied the interesting pattern for their next quilt project. Whats in a name?  Known as the _English Roof Pattern,  Egyptian, _and _Mummy Pattern _in England_, _when takento Canada the name became _Canadian Logwork_.  Quilters in Gees Bend, Alabama called it _Housetop_.   Regardless of the block name, the design was most popular during the  mid to late 1800s.  During the Civil War, many log cabin style raffle  quilts were made to raise funds for the Union Army.  It has been  suggested that the Log Cabin square was a tribute to former log cabin  resident, Abraham Lincoln.  His supporters work had been nicknamed The  Log Cabin Campaign.  Also during this time, the Homestead Act spurred  the migration westward where people were actually building lots of log  cabins.  The layout of the log cabin squares for quilts took on the  names of things common to real life, such as Barn Raising, Straight  Furrows, Courthouse Steps, Chimneys and Cornerstones, Broken Dishes,  Streak of Lightening, and Sunshine & Shadows.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ellen Lee at Patchwork Chronicles
> ​Learn something new every day. ​
> 
> ​
Click to expand...


King Tut's thing sandles would be stylish on the street today.  

I've seen cat mummies!~


----------



## daveman

freedombecki said:


> I finished the entire Air Force Blue quilt today. Finishing the quilt is the happiest thing about quilting. I named this one "On Wings of Blue Angels," because the USAF task well done saves thousands of our troops who'd otherwise have a very frightening task to do.
> 
> Thumbnail 1: The upper right corner of this quilt, affectionately referred to as "On wings of blue angels" due to the matching butterfly fabric I found, is shown in thumbnail. I'm sorry I can't show more due to my all-thumbs approach to photography.
> 
> Thumbnail 2: The center of "On Wings of Blue Angels" is shown in the second thumbnail. If the entire quilt were visible, you'd see top and bottom rows of sawtooth log cabins and a log cabin hero star with a diagonal log diamond in the middle.  All told, there are 20 squares.
> 
> Thumbnail 3: It's just one of 8 star points around the center diamond.
> 
> This quilt is made in honor of Daveman, a veteran of the USAF, and it's all in Air Force blue. It will be given to the local H.E.A.R.T.S. quilting group who does good things for veterans from all military groups and services. They will know the airman who deserves this one the most.
> 
> When I bought the butterfly print around the quilt several weeks ago, I just took the rest of the bolt since it was on sale and so beautiful. They seem to be blue angels...


Absolutely lovely, my dear.  Thank you so much for your art and the people you help with it.


----------



## Sunshine

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've been browsing the web rather heavily today, looking for someone else making personal-sized log cabin quilts, and I found something I had never heard before, along with proofs. Here's the scoop:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> Would you believeone of the oldest examples of the log cabin pattern  was found on cat mummies from Egypt?  Other examples of this light and  dark purposeful layering can be seen in ancient Roman tile works and  17th Century perfume bags.  How this pattern made it to quilts is  anyones guess.  One theory is that the unearthed Egyptian cat mummies  were so plentiful they were given to English farmers to scatter in their  fields as fertilizer.  The farmers wives, cloth artists at the ready,   copied the interesting pattern for their next quilt project. Whats in a name?  Known as the _English Roof Pattern,  Egyptian, _and _Mummy Pattern _in England_, _when takento Canada the name became _Canadian Logwork_.  Quilters in Gees Bend, Alabama called it _Housetop_.   Regardless of the block name, the design was most popular during the  mid to late 1800s.  During the Civil War, many log cabin style raffle  quilts were made to raise funds for the Union Army.  It has been  suggested that the Log Cabin square was a tribute to former log cabin  resident, Abraham Lincoln.  His supporters work had been nicknamed The  Log Cabin Campaign.  Also during this time, the Homestead Act spurred  the migration westward where people were actually building lots of log  cabins.  The layout of the log cabin squares for quilts took on the  names of things common to real life, such as Barn Raising, Straight  Furrows, Courthouse Steps, Chimneys and Cornerstones, Broken Dishes,  Streak of Lightening, and Sunshine & Shadows.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ellen Lee at Patchwork Chronicles
> ​Learn something new every day. ​
> 
> ​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> King Tut's thing sandles would be stylish on the street today.
> 
> I've seen cat mummies!~
Click to expand...


OMG, that was supposed to say 'thong sandles.'  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've been browsing the web rather heavily today, looking for someone else making personal-sized log cabin quilts, and I found something I had never heard before, along with proofs. Here's the scoop:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> Would you believe&#8230;one of the oldest examples of the log cabin pattern  was found on cat mummies from Egypt?  Other examples of this light and  dark purposeful layering can be seen in ancient Roman tile works and  17th Century perfume bags.  How this pattern made it to quilts is  anyone&#8217;s guess.  One theory is that the unearthed Egyptian cat mummies  were so plentiful they were given to English farmers to scatter in their  fields as fertilizer.  The farmers&#8217; wives, cloth artists at the ready,   copied the interesting pattern for their next quilt project. What&#8217;s in a name?  Known as the _English Roof Pattern,  Egyptian, _and _Mummy Pattern _in England_, _when takento Canada the name became _Canadian Logwork_.  Quilters in Gee&#8217;s Bend, Alabama called it _Housetop_.   Regardless of the block name, the design was most popular during the  mid to late 1800s.  During the Civil War, many log cabin style raffle  quilts were made to raise funds for the Union Army.  It has been  suggested that the Log Cabin square was a tribute to former log cabin  resident, Abraham Lincoln.  His supporters&#8217; work had been nicknamed The  Log Cabin Campaign.  Also during this time, the Homestead Act spurred  the migration westward where people were actually building lots of log  cabins.  The layout of the log cabin squares for quilts took on the  names of things common to real life, such as Barn Raising, Straight  Furrows, Courthouse Steps, Chimneys and Cornerstones, Broken Dishes,  Streak of Lightening, and Sunshine & Shadows.
> 
> 
> 
> Ellen Lee at Patchwork Chronicles
> ​Learn something new every day. ​
> 
> ​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> King Tut's thing sandles would be stylish on the street today.
> 
> I've seen cat mummies!~
Click to expand...

Yes, thong sandals have been around a long time. They worry me to death between the toes, though, so I either have to wear huarache woven leather sandals or open toe leather ones. Around here there are so many bugs, spiders, wasps, ants, wingless wasps, and snakes, my preference is a good old fashion pair of S.A.S. leathers.


----------



## freedombecki

Friday, I decided to get the quilts made in April down and I looked through my stuff and found two more quilts I'd done and just forgotten about, always meaning to have quilted them, but never got around to it. So with the 3 blue hero star soldier quilts, an original mustang quilt I designed, and an orange embroidered blackwork maple leaf quilt done 3 or 4 years ago and stashed away, also made some more crocheted dishrags. Boy, they won't ever ask me to do any more dishrags! lol! I think that brings the total to around 50 or 60, I just lost count. 

Anyhow, after thinking it over, I had hoped to complete 10 quilts, but all toll, there were only 7 delivered, and 3 of those were for wounded soldiers, not shelter kids. So this month, since things didn't go well on delivery of the teal colors, I think I will just work on finishing up a bunch of old star quilt blocks that turned out a little too big, by adding fancy borders and dolling them up for kids. 

Got one done by about one o'clock today:


----------



## freedombecki

Here's the center of the bluebird quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I ran across some butterfly fabric I found that only cost $2.00 a yard for reasons unbeknownst to me, since I love the order of Lepidoptera. So, last night, while I was making squares out of twosie postage stamp pieces, I just left a pile high enough to complete another quilt like I did yesterday, only in a lot less time. (yay!) It was a snap for this former swimsuit factory worker of many years ago. Shown are the (1) right side, (2) center and (3) 2 of the 8 star points. I'll show 3 more shots below.


----------



## freedombecki

More shots of the child's Monarch butterfly quilt top that is going to the charity bees closet soon
1. Along top border
2. 2 more points
3. top and side left. 

I felt that not meeting my goal of 10 quilt tops last month for charities was a little silly on my part, although I truly loved every waking minute of working on the 3 blue military quilts. I just hope they will bring a wounded vet or his family a measure of peace and thanks for the job they did serving this country. We send men and women out to the field, and they are ready to die for us at any given moment in their service. Those who have served their country as best they could deserve the best of everything, imho.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I knocked out a project I must have started 10 years ago, when this gorgeous piece of Hoffman fabric came into the shop that I had ordered, because it totally amused me that someone could print something fabulously beautiful that reminded me of my Aunt Janice's 56 Chevy. It had a black ground, enigmatic florals scaled a couple of inches in size and totally and altogether pleasing. I was thinking of doing this one for charity, but the gals would just end up selling it for a quarter of its worth or less to buy a bolt of batting or something. My sister was named for my aunt, and she likes pink. I don't have the heart to do anything to give it to her when I find the pretty piece of Hoffman, which has eluded my search for the last 3 or 4 weeks while the 5-6" pile of log cabin blocks were sitting around, as I shifted them from kitchen table to computer, to a chair, and back to the kitchen table until they got sewn together as windmill blocks.

So here are some glimpses of the Aunt's 56 Chevy quilt in that 50s pink and charcoal combo that you could only appreciate if you had one or someone in your family or friend circle did. I really can't remember the year, but it was before the fins (57) came out, so it really might have been an earlier year. Right or wrong, I just made an executive decision and called it the 56 Chevy quilt. If Aunt Janice is looking down from up there, she won't mind. She was a delightful person.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> This morning, I knocked out a project I must have started 10 years ago, when this gorgeous piece of Hoffman fabric came into the shop that I had ordered, because it totally amused me that someone could print something fabulously beautiful that reminded me of my Aunt Janice's 56 Chevy. It had a black ground, enigmatic florals scaled a couple of inches in size and totally and altogether pleasing. I was thinking of doing this one for charity, but the gals would just end up selling it for a quarter of its worth or less to buy a bolt of batting or something. My sister was named for my aunt, and she likes pink. I don't have the heart to do anything to give it to her when I find the pretty piece of Hoffman, which has eluded my search for the last 3 or 4 weeks while the 5-6" pile of log cabin blocks were sitting around, as I shifted them from kitchen table to computer, to a chair, and back to the kitchen table until they got sewn together as windmill blocks.
> 
> So here are some glimpses of the Aunt's 56 Chevy quilt in that 50s pink and charcoal combo that you could only appreciate if you had one or someone in your family or friend circle did. I really can't remember the year, but it was before the fins (57) came out, so it really might have been an earlier year. Right or wrong, I just made an executive decision and called it the 56 Chevy quilt. If Aunt Janice is looking down from up there, she won't mind. She was a delightful person.



I used to date a guy who had a 57 Chevy that color.    My brother had a 56 that was chartreuse and black!


----------



## freedombecki

Yep, Sunshine. Pink and charcoal, chartreuse and black--definite retro! Of course, back then, it was the latest modern thing that smart people had to have! Dinah Shore said so! 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhR8GZ_WWMM]See the USA in Your Chevrolet by Dinah Shore - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

The Seahorse fabric was too puerile for special forces frogman, ok for needy child....


----------



## freedombecki

I'm a little bone tired after doing all that work, but I'm happy with the outcome. If only I had full pictures to show. *sigh* Can't have everything, but you can have a good time!  Here are 3 more shots of the seahorse fabric that should just been more grown up for my special services frogman friends. Hopefully, some child will not care. Real seahorses are one of God's most beautiful creatures. imho


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, before I retire I plan to get another sewing machine.  I let mine go before I moved back here, so have been without one for some time now.  What is a good moderately priced machine?  I don't want the cheapest thing going.  I do want to be able to do a few 'fancy' things, but don't plan on making a career of it.  Any suggestions?


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, before I retire I plan to get another sewing machine.  I let mine go before I moved back here, so have been without one for some time now.  What is a good moderately priced machine?  I don't want the cheapest thing going.  I do want to be able to do a few 'fancy' things, but don't plan on making a career of it.  Any suggestions?


When both my Bernina and Pfaff (two best brands on the market were out, the day I went to buy a backup Bernina for around $2200, (my biggie was $9,600 on sale), the dealer was out of town for the week, so desperate, I made my way to the nearest Wal Mart and picked up a Brother machine that had seems like maybe 120 stitches (I forget), and that was 8 months ago. I'm still sewing on it like a demon. It has a graduated slow, medium, fast rabbit on the front (symbol for speed), and when I sew it on max, it does all the speed I need, and when I'm not certain and taking things stitch by stitch for one reason or another, you can move the rabbit dial down to turtle warp, slow as you care to go. On the Pfaff that is totally determined by the pressure you put on your foot control, and partially the same with the Brother. The Bernina, has a really nice feel, but if you have to move it often to go to class, you better get a hydraulic lift! (I mean that in a good way). Some people give up on a machine because of one reason or another, my reason was because the local man was tied up with 100 other machines and just got a promotion at his day job, so he was out of town on and off for 3 months, so it was 5 months later when I picked it up. That wasn't sufficient. I have 4 Pfaffs at home, but as careful as I am, they eventually go out of time, faster if you use pins under the foot (not necessary, but habitues of pin use do not realize their capability, so they screw up and use pins anyway when carriage use is a learned skill, and Pfaff is designed for factories in which people learn this skill, and learn to hate pins since some factories don't use pins because of the time and destruction of profit extra time use is. The particular factory I worked in in 1966 had zero pins around except in the designer's studio to fit models. On the floor, pins had the status of purulent zits, so nobody bothered to bring them to work to "help" them screw up their machines, designed for no-nonsense control and speed with savvy operators who learned the skill by doing.

I'll go look on the Brother box. I'm still using it after bringing the two big girls back home. They both are top-of-line embroidery machines which with their units can do embroideries with literally hundreds of thousands of stitches per embroidery, and they are out of this world. *OK, I looked at the box, and my brother is model # SQ9050*, and they're exclusive to Wall Mart stores, from what my gal at the shop told me. They're under $220.00 total, and worth more than the cost if you want a good machine that will work when you have to hustle. I don't know if it has a pin walk feed, but I remove pins if I need to match squares before it goes under the needle. I can remember back 30 years ago when I had a Kenmore pin-walker machines. About every 4 months it would hit a pin such that it would have to be taken in for repair when the noise from the motor got so loud I couldn't stand it, plus the stitches were "meh" too.

I've changed needles on the Brother 3 times. That's all you need to do even if you sew as if the banshee is calling, in front of a good, fast hard-working machine. Speed is a skill that is learned by a willingness to make mistakes until you accustom yourself to sewing that can partly keep up with your thoughts.  You don't get fast by ditzing at the wheel, although sometimes, slowing down to savor pleasant thoughts can be the springboard for getting up enough excitement to finish something else well or quickly.


----------



## freedombecki

If you are buying a new machine and you haven't had one for 40 years, here's what you might look for:

(1) needle down
(2) low to high speed lever
(3) includes instruction manual
(4) has mounting table to support work
(5) has plastic cover for when machine is not in use
(6) has free-motion quilting or darning foot
(7) has 80-700 stitches, some for utility sewing, some for embroidering edges of tea towels, etc. Companies that provide the maximum amount are there for the person who is not satisfied with mediocre stitches
(8) top speed minimum of 800 - 1200 spms on home sewing machine, unless you are purchasing a quilt head machine in which you want a top speed of 2500-5000 spms, and you better know what you're doing, too. spm = stitches per minute
(9) if you have ever been described by your best friend as having an artistic bent, get a machine with software or from the machine screen will allow you to create your own stitches. If so, throw away the damn book and create stitches that will knock your friends' socks off. Keep a good record of the stitches backed up on a disc, in case you want to write a disc to sell to other people when people start noticing your work looks like nobody else's. 
(10) Get the best machine you can afford. Take the lessons offered with the machine or pay for lessons by whoever is teaching machine or software use. There are a few people who made videos and sell them apart from the machine, but they're not useful to you unless you have their specific daily-use machine, and I'm not just whistling Dixie, either. Machines have unique languages, and once you learn one, that becomes your birthright practically. Your lessons will expire after 1 year along with your electronics warantee unless you have the exceptional dealer. For 23 years I watched people blaming their machine for difficulties caused by their ignorance. Don't be one of them. Take the course offered by the dealer, and be sure the entire book is covered so you'll know how to do things you didn't think you'd be using your machine for, but suddenly, someone wants you to fix a buttonhole, and you don't know whether your machine has a buttonholer, if its built in or if you have to go purchase a 10-pound generic apparatus that nobody in her right mind would warantee.

I require speed and maximum performance when I sew. It annoys me when seam allowances vary and I know I'm doing my job of straight feeding at a high speed. That means I spend a full 1/3 of my time ripping, and 200% of my time with a machine that is not performing to my expectation.

If you are purchasing an embroidery machine, I'm here to tell you professionals in the industry follow a strict panacea of product + machine. If you have the machine but think you don't have to know anything about product, I'm here to tell you you are wasting your money. You have to know about backing materials, iron on backing materials for twills (of which denim is only 1), which differ from backing materials for knits, which differ from backing and topping for velvets, which differ from light wovens, which differ from heavy wovens, which differ from Irish linen, which will ruin if placed in a tightened hoop, and must be placed on top of backing that is hooped that is correct for the weight of linen or velvet or whatever it is you are using. Velvets almost always require aqua-solve, which help stabilize the top area of towels and napped fabrics that tend to go up into the needle area and ball up the machine if you fail to use the wash-away topping but once.

/end lecture on embroidery machine use.

To me heaven would be doing nothing but designing and sewing out counted cross stitches on my Pfaff.  I'm sorry, but my Bernina dealer's instructor gave me a blank stare when I asked her how to design my own dross stitch samplers. If you live anywhere near Paducah, there is a Pfaff dealer who certainly knows experts in doing 150,000-stitch counted cross stitches that look like designer work, and most likely are. The Pfaff software is the best on counted cross-stitches to date, imho. I don't care for work that looks slaphazard unless I'm doing a scrap quilt. Then, it's slaphazard all the way around, which makes it charming. 

I found a slaphazard log cabin, Amish style, example in my stack of quilt tops I still cannot quilt until I am stronger:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> If you are buying a new machine and you haven't had one for 40 years, here's what you might look for:
> 
> (1) needle down
> (2) low to high speed lever
> (3) includes instruction manual
> (4) has mounting table to support work
> (5) has plastic cover for when machine is not in use
> (6) has free-motion quilting or darning foot
> (7) has 80-700 stitches, some for utility sewing, some for embroidering edges of tea towels, etc. Companies that provide the maximum amount are there for the person who is not satisfied with mediocre stitches
> (8) top speed minimum of 800 - 1200 spms on home sewing machine, unless you are purchasing a quilt head machine in which you want a top speed of 2500-5000 spms, and you better know what you're doing, too. spm = stitches per minute
> (9) if you have ever been described by your best friend as having an artistic bent, get a machine with software or from the machine screen will allow you to create your own stitches. If so, throw away the damn book and create stitches that will knock your friends' socks off. Keep a good record of the stitches backed up on a disc, in case you want to write a disc to sell to other people when people start noticing your work looks like nobody else's.
> (10) Get the best machine you can afford. Take the lessons offered with the machine or pay for lessons by whoever is teaching machine or software use. There are a few people who made videos and sell them apart from the machine, but they're not useful to you unless you have their specific daily-use machine, and I'm not just whistling Dixie, either. Machines have unique languages, and once you learn one, that becomes your birthright practically. Your lessons will expire after 1 year along with your electronics warantee unless you have the exceptional dealer. For 23 years I watched people blaming their machine for difficulties caused by their ignorance. Don't be one of them. Take the course offered by the dealer, and be sure the entire book is covered so you'll know how to do things you didn't think you'd be using your machine for, but suddenly, someone wants you to fix a buttonhole, and you don't know whether your machine has a buttonholer, if its built in or if you have to go purchase a 10-pound generic apparatus that nobody in her right mind would warantee.
> 
> I require speed and maximum performance when I sew. It annoys me when seam allowances vary and I know I'm doing my job of straight feeding at a high speed. That means I spend a full 1/3 of my time ripping, and 200% of my time with a machine that is not performing to my expectation.
> 
> If you are purchasing an embroidery machine, I'm here to tell you professionals in the industry follow a strict panacea of product + machine. If you have the machine but think you don't have to know anything about product, I'm here to tell you you are wasting your money. You have to know about backing materials, iron on backing materials for twills (of which denim is only 1), which differ from backing materials for knits, which differ from backing and topping for velvets, which differ from light wovens, which differ from heavy wovens, which differ from Irish linen, which will ruin if placed in a tightened hoop, and must be placed on top of backing that is hooped that is correct for the weight of linen or velvet or whatever it is you are using. Velvets almost always require aqua-solve, which help stabilize the top area of towels and napped fabrics that tend to go up into the needle area and ball up the machine if you fail to use the wash-away topping but once.
> 
> /end lecture on embroidery machine use.
> 
> To me heaven would be doing nothing but designing and sewing out counted cross stitches on my Pfaff.  I'm sorry, but my Bernina dealer's instructor gave me a blank stare when I asked her how to design my own dross stitch samplers. If you live anywhere near Paducah, there is a Pfaff dealer who certainly knows experts in doing 150,000-stitch counted cross stitches that look like designer work, and most likely are. The Pfaff software is the best on counted cross-stitches to date, imho. I don't care for work that looks slaphazard unless I'm doing a scrap quilt. Then, it's slaphazard all the way around, which makes it charming.
> 
> I found a slaphazard log cabin, Amish style, example in my stack of quilt tops I still cannot quilt until I am stronger:



I'll print that off.  One of my coworkers has a Pfaff she got in Paducah.  Doubt I will use it much or long, but it wouldbe nice for my daughter to inherit.  She sews like a pro!  She took some lessons and then taught herself from there.


----------



## freedombecki

I met the dealer in Paducah at a convention ages ago. He's a real professional, and it's a family-run operation as near as I could tell. He was always among the top dealers across the country, I'm thinking. It's been a while ago since I went to a convention.

Hope you get a machine that is everything you need it to be, and that you get a breakthrough that will pull your health up. You are loved, and I am pretty sure Si feels the same way.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow!
Things couldn't have gone better this morning. I waltzed into the dining room where I used to sew and ran across the start of a quilt I started not long after Eleanor Burns' book, "Egg Money Quilts:1930s Vintage Samplers" appeared in 2005. I always got her books because they contained quick projects for women who work, and Eleanor Burns is the Queen of Quick Quilts.  I'm not sure I even read her instructions, but what I found today was 20 squares done and in various stages of completion with no rows sewn together and half the blocks setting in a pile on top of a row of sewn-together blocks that for some reason got set aside all this time. lol Anyway, I got a decent hugs quilt top, about 44 inches x 54 inches, give or take a few, ready to go for the charity bees quilters. It's nice to have a pile or 4 or 5 quilts to go, and it's only May 11. 

I really am trying to make up for last month. I made a lot of dishrags for the annual sale at night. Now, there's no pressure, and that's a good thing.

Just showing 3 shots of the quilt. It has 20 completed 5-patch squares. Maybe I can find a picture of one of her friends who made this quilt, it's so easy I can't imagine why I didn't get it done years ago.​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I met the dealer in Paducah at a convention ages ago. He's a real professional, and it's a family-run operation as near as I could tell. He was always among the top dealers across the country, I'm thinking. It's been a while ago since I went to a convention.
> 
> Hope you get a machine that is everything you need it to be, and that you get a breakthrough that will pull your health up. You are loved, and I am pretty sure Si feels the same way.



Thanks Beckums, you and Si are loved as well!  Likely I will wait until just before I retire to get a machine.  If I get one now, it will just sit.  But, even though my talent does not justify it I have decided to get a Pfaff.  My daughter can inherit it.  I know she would never go out and spend that much on a machine so it will be a gift to her.  I know that dealer.  Yes, it's a family business and has been in business a long time.  

I always wanted a baby grand piano even though I have no talent to justify that either.  But never got one.  I gave away my upright piano to a friend, and after she died I got it back.  It's pretty, but I will always wish I had gotten the baby grand.  I would now, but neither of my children plays.  At least my daughter sews.

I posted cross stitch lined up on the piano I have now, so this is it, at least part of it!  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

The wood relief is a nice backdrop for your stunning work, Sunshine.

I've been working on a quilt this morning, another of the small log cabin stars squares. I still have 6 or 7 star quilts to go before the pile disappears. This one is lavender blue with scraps all around, and the reason I chose it was because last year, I found a truly cute child print on a purple windowpane print that some child might enjoy. I had to go back to the same quilt store to buy a match (shop buyers tend to favor the same color shades year after year, and I like lavender blue better than grapey purples). It's not perfect, but it adds a really good touch to welcome the outer print, imho. It may backfire, because the windowpane child print has brilliant hues in it--yellow, hot pink, green, etc. The scraps aren't particularly geared to the brilliant colors, but they don't shy away from them, either. They reflect a glimpse of the collections I offered in my store. That's a little bit of everything that a small shop in a small town in a remote state could offer. It falls way short of what is offered in large metropolises and suburbia where sales at least partially meet public demands, and merchandise turnover happens. In the meantime, sewing little quilts is fun. It only takes a day or two to complete one if you really put your mind to it, or you can extend the process over a couple of weeks if other things seem to be demanding time.


----------



## Foxfyre

Truthmatters said:


> I like them best made from scraps of old clothing that people have actually worn and or used.
> 
> They mean so much more.
> 
> Grandmas tablecoth that got torn, aunt Margrets sunday dress, brother Bobs summer shorts and the like.
> 
> Every little corner has a memory



I have two patchwork quilts, handed down now for generations, that have that kind of history.  My great grandparents and grandparents used whatever was salvagable from worn out clothing, dish towels, table clothes, etc. etc. etc., and so like you say, a lot of family history was incorporated into the quilts.  No discernible pattern, but beautiful in their own way.  They will be passed on to my daughter.  (My son isn't into that kind of thng.)


----------



## Foxfyre

And wow Becki.  How have I missed this thread all this time?  Thanks to Sunshine for mentioning it in the Coffee Shop.


----------



## freedombecki

Hi, Mama Foxy! Glad you found your way to humble quilt thread. I probably could have been posting these at the coffee shop, but after being in the industry for 23 years, then retiring to full-time quilting (it seems), I knew it could have the tendency to run them off. The men with artistic talent can stay an additional 10 minutes, but most of them were halfway between their wife/galpal and the door in--what was the name of that movie?--less than 60 seconds. You'da thought we sold elephantine lingerie or somethin'. Once in a while, a couple would come through the door where he would actually engage in helping her decide what colors to use, patterns to buy, yardage needed, etc., but not often. I once actually had a man waiting in line for 15 minutes to buy his wife a Christmas gift certificate...that does stand out in my mind due to its unique occurrence.


----------



## Foxfyre

freedombecki said:


> Hi, Mama Foxy! Glad you found your way to humble quilt thread. I probably could have been posting these at the coffee shop, but after being in the industry for 23 years, then retiring to full-time quilting (it seems), I knew it could have the tendency to run them off. The men with artistic talent can stay an additional 10 minutes, but most of them were halfway between their wife/galpal and the door in--what was the name of that movie?--less than 60 seconds. You'da thought we sold elephantine lingerie or somethin'. Once in a while, a couple would come through the door where he would actually engage in helping her decide what colors to use, patterns to buy, yardage needed, etc., but not often. I once actually had a man waiting in line for 15 minutes to buy his wife a Christmas gift certificate...that does stand out in my mind due to its unique occurrence.



Back during my insurance adjusting days, I sometimes had to price out the value of a quilt that had been stolen or damaged in a fire or some such.  The one person I tried to go to for a value I could trust was a guy.  He not only knew his stuff re quilts, but he was a master quilter.  So ya never know.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I finished a charity quilt in memory of my mother, the best mother who ever lived. 

It's another log cabin star quilt, decorated with postage stamp border and the color purple.


----------



## freedombecki

I bless and thank God for all mothers who love their families.

Other shots of the Child's log star postage stamp and purple quilt are below:


----------



## freedombecki

This morning it was a blitz. No 3-hour postage stamp borders to do with a preprint "squares" in red and white footballs and helmets. It was considerably faster, and some shelter kid who loves the grid iron will hopefully enjoy it.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, the Sunflower child's log cabin star was begun with cutting an inner border of a sweet yellow flower fabric, plus I found my old stash which I had taken a couple of yards of sunflower fabric that I really loved when collecting my items from my store last trip 3 years back. The Sunflower material is not on it yet, but there was also a situation in the entrance to our home, where I had about 8,000 1.75-inch squares cut. They filled a box that was about 12" x 15" x 8"high. I found the box soaking in water that for some unknown reason, comes up through the tiles in the entrance to our new home. I guess that goes with the territory of being 500 feet from a floodplain, and this has been a very wet year. All of the fabric was damp to wet, depending on its proximity to the bottom of the cardboard box that had been reinforced with clear tape. 

Anyway, I spent the morning drying out the squares by taking 10 minute turns in the oven after getting rid of the soaked box. I had forgotten all about the water issue since it never arose again after the first year, and none of last year with the drought we had. Thank heaven, no mold! (whew.)

And I decided I'd better find a way to use every single square, so I started on making 4-patch, 16 square blocks, and needed 24 to do around the yellow sunflower quilt.

I'm not going to talk about that any more, but all the squares are now dry and on baking sheets after spending tours of ten minutes in the oven. I'm just going to show pictures of the Sunflower child's log cabin quilt and its postage stamp border so far (it's not finished, too much work!)

First picture is two of the 24 4-patch, 16-square blocks. Then I'm showing the inner border around the ends that now have the inner border of postage stamps (of which there will be 384 squares when done) around a 24-inch center of the hero log cabin star I've done so many of lately.


----------



## freedombecki

More from the ends of the Sunflower log cabin star quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Yet one more end area, the center of the log cabin star, and one of the pairs of star points (there are 8 in all on each log cabin star 24" center)


----------



## freedombecki

Though my stars that are 24" have 5 rounds of logs on them, I did find online someone's larger log cabin star that has 4 rounds of huge logs on them (see below) going around a huge center, and I was enchanted by her colors and the fact that she can use larger textures and get a striking look by using the wider cut strips. However, once you start making those 1/2" strips, it's like a fever that doesn't go away, you just have to finish it out. 

From Bury the Knot Gallery






And her whole quilt is stunning in and of itself.




​


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, what a lot of work, but how much fun. It's like putting a puzzle together, then when it's time to join sides to the ends, it's like putting a second puzzle together, and the 4 rows of postage stamps instead of 2 takes an extra 3 or 4 hours. This quilt may have 20 or even 30 hours in it. The logs are a challenge all their own, but I did them 2 years ago, at least, so the further away you get from the time you did, the less you think of it. I've put less time in queen-sized quilts than this one. Here are the side shots showing the lovely sunflower print I put onto the outside after all the postage stamps were in place. I hope a poor child gets this quilt and remembers he or she is just as good as everyone else, because he has a decent-looking quilt with sunflowers on it. 

Shots of the right side of the quilt (depending on which way it is turned):


----------



## freedombecki

Right and left sides


----------



## freedombecki

A final 2 shots, then I'm going to hunt something else for the last shot. Think I'll show the Eagle done from my book, Aesthetics of a Southwestern Applique Album Quilt, a book of patterns I made up for my students back around 1992-1995, this one came from the second edition, because people wanted more than 30 patterns, so the second edition contains at least 42 patterns, plus a dozen wallhangings. My purpose was to try to help people get creative with their use of someone else's patterns.


----------



## Truthmatters

You do beautiful work girlfriend


----------



## freedombecki

Woo hoo! My May pile of quilts may hit 10 unless I hit the wall. Sometimes that happens. Right now, I'm thinking about a quilt that is still in parts from a couple of years back. A lick and a promise plus a border, it will be a nice child's quilt. It's the windmill pattern, except this one is all crazy and mixed up colors, as I recollect from the other day.  (8 am this morning left computer to find and work on quilt. It's huge compared to the star quilts of late.)

...

Well, back from the fabric room, spent an hour and a half ripping stuff off and rearranging it, then found a spritely little border left over from the seahorse and blue quilt made a couple of pages back. I may add a border, "froggies" if I can talk a certain someone into having it quilted and distributed to a frogman hero. They are another one of our special forces I gather. If not, it goes to the HEARTS museum quilters, their choice.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the kind words, Truthmatters.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's quilt is called "Baby Pastel 5-patch Quilt."

Yesterday, water came up through the floor in the entrance, where I had stored thousands of small squares, and everything was from wet to damp, so I baked them for 10 minutes on 3 trays to dry them out. It worked, with no damage or smells in the fabrics! Yea!

Today, did what I had to do--cut white strips into small squares and divide out the pile of 600 different prints in just one of the stacks into color groups, then divide those out into pastels suitable for a baby quilt.

I didn't quite finish 6 squares like I'd hoped, but in 7 hours, three of the pastel squares sewn into 12.5" blocks and 3 didn't quite get to that point before one o'clock. *sigh*  It was total fun, though. Each block is like putting together a puzzle. It didn't start that way, but in the green fabrics, I noticed there was an Irish derby right dead center on in the square, so I decided to place it in the center and the rest just came together. Nothing much special about the lilac and yellow bordered squares, except that I had a lot of "unsewing" that needed to be done when squares didn't match up just so. That went on until I finally got the hang of doing a better job.

It always pays to do one sample block first if you haven't done a certain square for a long time or if it's your first time with a certain pattern. It gives you a ballpark idea of what to expect, and the mistakes you make are ones you will surely avoid thereafter. Quilting is good for your math. It makes you a mathematician, whether you wish to be one or not. That seems to me to be why a lot of quilters who visit quilt stores are mathematicians and women in the sciences--math teachers, lab technicians, physicians, and nurses, not to mention rancher women who have to prepare formulas for sick animals, measuring exactly; cooks, statisticians, and bookkeepers. It's all math sometimes. It just is. Of course, some people like color so much and are so right brained it's "hooch and scooch city" to make blocks match. This crowd is the one that jumps in the water first without looking, and winds up in a cast all summer, the one who runs the fastest around the track first day out, then doesn't want to do track anymore, because she busted her buns, and the artist that hates math, just wants to do their own thing, oh, well, if things don't match, do a picasso with the damn thing and turn it into a canvas.

People quilt for a lot of reasons, but those who piece and try to match corners, they are the faithful of the math community, and their quilts generally take "judge's choice" for excellence, when a frivolous artist who breaks all the rules and comes up with the most unique quilt anyone ever saw, does not enter for some reason. 

Oh, yeah. The "I haz a happy" Baby pastel 5-patch Quilt, blocks 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## freedombecki

It took so long to get my act together, the fastest ones were the last 3, but they didn't get any sashes on them yet. This is going to be a quickie quilt to help me finish 10 quilts in May. So far, there are only 7 tops in the pile, and I was shy by 3 last month, so I may use any time I save on making up for April's dismal turnout. I crocheted 60 washrags for the charity bazaar, and that took most of my zip out of my quilt progress in April, I think. If it weren't for the sheer joy of doing the 3 military blue quilts, There would have been less yet, so God bless Daveman for giving me a reason to start some wounded warrior wheelchair quilts.

Oh, yeah. the sashless blocks. 

The blue one has a cupcake in the center. 

Blocks 4, 5, and 6


----------



## freedombecki

It took almost as much time digging around looking for the right fabrics in my fabric-filled storage room as it did sewing, but I found also some fabrics when they asked me to take home stuff from the Church closet that was perfect for going around it. I don't do pastels very often, but it was lovely to see the different squares of fabric I've cut through the years going into the quilt, then getting it finished. The quilt has 86 fabrics in it, and it measures about 30 by 50 inches, which I think looks too narrow. I just hate to put too much more fabric around it for fear no one will want to quilt it if I do. I sewed 6 more squares to be used in a darker hue-colored quilt. The tints were fun, but it's the variety of it all that makes quilting a great visual art.

A leftover sash strip (from fabric from church cupboard a few months back)
It seems old could date back from the 60s when they first started making cottons 45" wide. It's thin, too, but not quite sheer, so the fabric was probably made for a cool summer cotton dress or baby clothing item:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, yesterday I got six more blocks done. I have no idea (yet) what the sashing will be or if I just make more squares (shudder) I think I'll work on a border or something. This one needs to be a little wider and a tad longer than the baby quilt for growing room for a child, plus the colors demand a different border situation, likely. I have a lot of rainbow pieces in my stash, but the reason I won't use them is because none of them ever include brown, which tends to change the overall appearance. One of my tricks is to either use what God did in nature--green, or use the rainbow color omitted, which in this case is yellow, and , yes, green. Not sure yet what I will do. ~mulling~

Hues 1 - block, and block sashed in red


----------



## freedombecki

Hues child's quilt, block 2 - brilliant oranges


----------



## freedombecki

Hues child's quilt, block 3 - neutral browns


----------



## freedombecki

Hues child's quilt, block 4 - in turquoise


----------



## freedombecki

Hues child's quilt, block 5 - the blues


----------



## freedombecki

Hues child's quilt, block 6 - purples


----------



## freedombecki

That mulling like hot apple cider, was good. Sometimes when you have too much going? It's good to throw in a black and white check or M.C. Escher-style print, but due to selection is probably more repetitive than not. Escher is that Holland-Dutch artist from Amsterdam that created black and white art in which one object morphed across the canvas or rag into something else. For example, the fish that becomes a bird. That gives room to variation in overall width of quilt, or you can add a piano key border that deals with the narrow width issue if longer keys are used at either end, or if you avoid piano keys entirely at the top. Slight variations in vertical and horizontal sashes can also help avoid the "didn't plan it this way, but there ya are with a quick fix wide side" deal and still give a quilt that looks and feels like true planning went into its makeup. Consistency in repair is the key. OR you can just make 12 time-consuming blocks instead of 6 and cut the s.o.s border think bit out entirely. If you have a limited stash and are working on a charm quilt, the 12 block deal could stretch your stash too thin and wind up in unwitting repeats everywhere. Note: a true charm quilt has no repeats, although traditionally 1 repeat is allowed. If you have 10,000 postage stamps in a quilt, you could do it, but you'd first have to line out every single square into dozens of color and value groupings to ensure no repeats, and keep them in 10 clearview plastic sacks of 1,000 different fabrics entirely, plus another sack of new accumulations as you work and shop for fat quarters or acquire postage stamps from the stashes of friends that you know were not in your own stash to start with. A good rule of thumb if you get pieces from a friend, she needs to know you used her pieces. It's complex. 

Images for understanding:

1. Escher Morph of fish to bird






2. Escher Tessellation of bird by way of mastery of positive/negative spacing





3. Timeless Treasures, a Traditional black and white print:


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Yet one more end area, the center of the log cabin star, and one of the pairs of star points (there are 8 in all on each log cabin star 24" center)



I really like the blended colors here......gorgeous!!


----------



## freedombecki

Hi, Dabs. I'm so pleased you like it. I had made a dozen of the 24" blocks, but can't quilt anymore, so I made up 5 or 6 of them this month to send to the Bees closet.

Thanks for your thoughtful and kind words.


----------



## freedombecki

This one was more fun than a basketful of kittens. I was in the local quilt shop buying yard pieces for this that and the other, and I picked this one. The shopkeeper is a merciful lady, and she noticed I'd picked up a bolt she said she was "tired of looking at." (Yeah, right. It's the cutest little redwork cats I ever saw in a print, but I could only afford 1 yard.) She said "if you take all of it you can have it for half price." Wow! That was too good to pass up, so thanks to Doris, I have plenty to do a couple or 4 of charity quilts, so I am presenting, "Cats, A Blankie." Click on image 3 to see why it was named for cats.


----------



## freedombecki

freedombecki said:


> Woo hoo! My May pile of quilts may hit 10 unless I hit the wall. Sometimes that happens. Right now, I'm thinking about a quilt that is still in parts from a couple of years back. A lick and a promise plus a border, it will be a nice child's quilt. It's the windmill pattern, except this one is all crazy and mixed up colors, as I recollect from the other day.  (8 am this morning left computer to find and work on quilt. It's huge compared to the star quilts of late.)
> Well, back from the fabric room, spent an hour and a half ripping stuff off and rearranging it, then found a spritely little border left over from the seahorse and blue quilt made a couple of pages back. I may add a border, "froggies" if I can talk a certain someone into having it quilted and distributed to a frogman hero. They are another one of our special forces I gather. If not, it goes to the HEARTS museum quilters, their choice.



Just getting back to this quilt with a completion (YAY!!!) and pictures taken this morning of the 12-block quilt that turned out very close to the size of a twin bed, but not quite. It will hopefully go with a child who is either taller or will have a quilt to grow into and maybe even take to a college dorm someday. I honor Frogmen and all Special Services for this quilt, and am donating it to a shelter because the only fabrics I could find were juvenile, so I had to kind of scrap plans for a patriotic work. Something will come along one of these days, just not yet. I renamed the quilt "Whirlpool of Fun."


----------



## freedombecki

Whirlpool of Fun II


----------



## freedombecki

Whirlpool of Fun post 3


----------



## freedombecki

Whirlpools of Fun IV


----------



## freedombecki

I was just browsing the net, when I ran into this beautiful postage stamp quilt a lady is doing somewhere in the US of A... To me, it is pure eye candy. I know how much work she put into it!




​


----------



## Amelia

That is so bright and cheery!

Postage stamp?  Does that mean tiny blocks?  Or something about the layout?  Or?


----------



## freedombecki

Same blog, I think... and an amazing first quilt out of fabric yo-yos!

credits



​


----------



## freedombecki

Amelia said:


> That is so bright and cheery!
> 
> Postage stamp?  Does that mean tiny blocks?  Or something about the layout?  Or?


Yes. Our grandmothers, who never threw anything away, cut tiny squares left over from dresses and shirts they made from 36" wide cotton materials, sewed them together as best they could, and made "postage stamp" quilts--some only made it to doll bed quilts, others went into making little hot pads for their kitchens or gifts. They've even made toys for children with them.
​


----------



## freedombecki

Amelia said:


> That is so bright and cheery!
> 
> Postage stamp?  Does that mean tiny blocks?  Or something about the layout?  Or?


That reminds me...


----------



## freedombecki

Last Tuesday, I took 10 quilts down to the Charity Bees closet, so I got to give my friends a small quilt show of the 10 quilts I finished for May. They liked Cats A Blankie so well, I think I'd better make several of them If I have the supplies, that is. Last week, as I was lamenting at the USMB Coffee Shop, I sewed everything together upside down or attached parts to the wrong parts to get such gibberish, I ripped and redid a whole lot of stupid.  Then, I had a 2 day lag of confusion when 2 of the squares didn't do right, and the white fabric used went the wrong way on two out of 9 16-patch squares. Naturally, you couldn't fix it because of the arrangement selection I used of lights and darks and every-other. So overnight, in my mind's eye I kept trying to figure out what to do. Well, Eureka, they'd all be going the same way if I made the 16-patches into 5-patch, 25 square blocks and made sure strong reds were in all 4 corners. That way, no prob!!! It didn't take long to get the 9 squares right, and I thought that if I did 4 more blocks, I could do a 3x5 block (15 blocks) quilt for an older child that would be a good deal for a kid temporarily held in an abuse shelter. With adequate borders, etc, it might even cover his or her toes through the first year of college or so. I now do not know which of the 13 squares are the 2 that went the wrong way, because now, all of them now can easily be interchanged and still be stacked with the white-on-white slubbed stripes consistent with either latitude or longitude.  I didn't photograph them on the scanner that way, however, so you will see a little bit of who knows what if you click on the thumbnails.
Block 1
Block 2
Block 3


----------



## freedombecki

Block 4
Block 5
Block 6


----------



## freedombecki

Block 7
Block 8
Block 9


----------



## freedombecki

Block 10
Block 11
Block 12


----------



## freedombecki

I had a lot of red squares left over (on purpose) since I may visit this agenda again. I sewed 64 different (well, I thought) squares. Guess which one is duplicated. I only used 63 fabrics. I will rep the first person who can tell within 24 hours unless I really, really run out of rep. hahaha. This is an easy one to describe, so it will probably be the first person who gets here who posts. 

Block 13
Red Square with 63 fabrics (not all of the blocks are on the screen because it's 8.5x11 inches, and my blocks are 10.5" squares. However, enough is visible to see a double.

If nobody guesses right in 24 hours, I get to choose who gets the rep. Deal? OK! Oh, yes. Please post your rep below. Guesses pm'd will not count.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Same blog, I think... and an amazing first quilt out of fabric yo-yos!
> 
> credits
> 
> 
> 
> ​



This is awesome!!
So gorgeous....breath-taking...it's beautimus!!!
I love it


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Same blog, I think... and an amazing first quilt out of fabric yo-yos!
> 
> credits
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is awesome!!
> So gorgeous....breath-taking...it's beautimus!!!
> I love it
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dabs! I had a stellar past several days in front of the sewing machine lately, and as I was piddling around trying to organize the sewing table, I found the new gadget I got from an ebay seller last time we were talking about yo-yo quilts around here a few weeks back. I got the biggest one to make big yoyos. I have two tons plus of quilt fabric in my stash, and that'd be a great way to get rid of some of it sometime. It's really neat. It has little holes in it and it snaps your fabric into place and you trim later instead of before. I've made a lot of yoyos in the past, and wouldn't a vest be so cute out of yoyos?


----------



## freedombecki

I was so inspired by the girls' reaction to that quilt "Cats a Blankie" last week (the red one with red and white cat border that looks upside-down when it's rightside-up). Yeah! Anyhow, I thumbed through a 6-inch stack of mixed postage stamp squares I have cut out, no two alike, and found a bazillion more red postage stamps I don't even have to cut out! Put them in a dozen plus squares, then used 12 of the squares in the quilt so a child at the shelter can have his or her own quilt.

I had some peppermint red and white stripe stuff left over, and found some red filigree Jacobean butterfly and flower fabric to border the quilt among my souvenirs. It doesn't have the kick the Cats-a-blankie had because I accepted other colors like pink, a black outline or dot here and there, green leaves, etc., rather than the start red-and-white that went into Cats-a-blankie. Here's what came off the scanner:

 I'm done with another red 5-patch quilt for charity!


----------



## freedombecki

On Memorial Day, I finished 20 green squares, hit a really fantastic sale at Wallyworld, and bought a bright lime green to cut and place around the squares. This morning, I took the green squares, framed by the lime green, and placed them next to my stacks of green fabric. It really said come hither to of all things a plain solid green, and this set of pictures doesn't really do the zing it has any justice, it's all I have, considering my dismal luck with a camera and recourse of laying stuff on a scanner screen and risking it looking cattywumpus...


----------



## freedombecki

A USMB member, SFC Ollie, had two unknown soldiers buried in 2 unmarked graves in the cemetery near where he lives. This bothered this extraordinary gentleman, so he researched through ages-old data and found the two plots' deeds. Now, a Shipley family and a Mendel family have been notified, and the appropriate service for the two soldiers was held posthumous, who knows how many decades later on Memorial Day with both families represented. The above link is to the local news station's news of the service.

This morning, when I got up to do quilts, I found some pretty blue squares left over from earlier military projects and a yard and a half of Army Medallion fabric I found a few months back, just sitting there, and me thinking, I'll use that someday... (not even a vague plan in mind). So I am dedicating this quilt to a wounded veteran at the H.E.A.R.T.S. museum in the name and honor of SFC Ollie. How blessed we are to have him among us here at USMB reminding us gently of the Constitution and Military laws men must obey in their service to the people of the United States when they enter the armed services.

My hat tips to USF Ollie, and anyone who reads this is welcome to go over to the USMB Coffee Shop where Ollie is to be seen occasionally serving up a remembrance, a good laugh, an American Legion meeting, or visitation to a family of a soldier who has passed, who served in any branch of the service in his community of veterans. In this post, I am showing bits and pieces of the quilt I made and completed this morning, to be handed to the ladies who quilt and tie quilts for the H.E.A.R.T.S.(Helping Every American Remember Through Service) museum which is located off I-45 and is in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, and is not too far away from my little great egret sanctuary and farm (also possums, crows, redhead woodpeckers, cardinals, jays, scarlet tanagers, mockingbirds, and every warbler specie in the USA, it seems.) God sure did bless America when he gave us SFC Ollie.

Picture 1 Top of quilt showing ARMY border
Picture 2 Light blue dorner between dark blue Hero Star points
Picture 3 One of 8 hero star points


----------



## freedombecki

Picture 4 Part of Center of Hero Star Army Quilt
Picture 5 Another Part of Center of Hero Star Army Quilt
Picture 6 Portion of side of Hero Star Army Quilt to give to wounded soldier in SFC Ollie's honor.

God bless our dear troops, every one of them.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's some pics of a quilt I made recently but think, I finished several in a 3-day block and just forgot to include this one. It's really pale, like for a baby. Hopefully, It will go with my 10 quilt tops for June to the quilter's closet for Charity Bees soon.

Time for Stories Quilt scans:


----------



## freedombecki

Time for Stories Scans II


----------



## freedombecki

Even more Time for Stories...

The last frame is a pair of joined Windmills I'm adding to my current work in progress--a "Patriotic Windmills" quilt. I worked 8 hours on it yesterday, then found the pair of red windmills the same size that were left over from a project last year, I think. If I run out of squares, I can gently rip the joining seams out and alternate these with the blue windmills, too. If not... pillow top!


----------



## freedombecki

After working on this 3 days, I did all I could in 5 hours. I have a lot of blocks, but only sewed a dozen before I got too tired to work. I think I have a virus coming on. For fibromyalgiacs like me, that means to take it easy or else. So here I be, to at least show some progress for today. There are enough to make 2 hugs quilts or one college dorm quilt. 

I've done the pinwheel in quilts before, just not in this format of red white and blue. I did a dominant blue background of them three or four years ago for our church for Fourth of July. The cross was red.

This one is dispersive red and blue, every other, throughout. After I rest for a couple of days, I'll get back to it. It would take a day apiece if I made red pinwheels all around the two small quilts, and at least, they'd be a little bigger. That is a lot of work, just sayin'.


----------



## freedombecki

RWB (red, white, blue) Pinwheel Quilt, 4, 5, & 6:


----------



## freedombecki

I hurt so went to bed early last night, and it always follows to get up early and sit in front of my sewing machine. I got all the loose ends together, used up half the blocks I'd been sewing for the last few days, and finished up yesterday's start, that I just had to set aside due to aching. It's nothing to worry about, and not near as bad as years past when doing nothing was the only option (ugh!)

My husband reminded me the garage was full of fabric boxes from the Church closet, so I used a fabric from one of the boxes to add to the quilt. I had to really piece the oddball shapes together to get the first border, then there was almost (but not quite) half a yard to the other 3 sides of the quilt. It now measures by my guess, 41 or 42 by about 54 inches, give or take an inch. It was a windowpane background with little rockets in red blue and green on white. I hated to add green to a red white and blue quilt, but I wanted to let my husband know his wishes are still more important than anything else I do. And it finished all that work up okay, hopefully, although I hate working with blends when they take on a smell under the iron, and they have practically zero give, unlike my dear cottons. What I do for love. 

Now, I have to go assemble the remaining squares and see what is left to do to get another similar quilt finished, although it may be larger than this one is.

Here's the border, and that's a wrap:


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, I've been at the machine sewing up a storm and completed another windmills quilt, this time I used two borders. It's so much easier when you did all your homework in the last two days to get things to a point where you can just quickly join and border the work and call it a <hugs> quilt for a poor baby.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, I've been at the machine sewing up a storm and completed another windmills quilt, this time I used two borders. It's so much easier when you did all your homework in the last two days to get things to a point where you can just quickly join and border the work and call it a <hugs> quilt for a poor baby. 

Sometimes the red white and blue ones are routed to veterans who were wounded or suffered egregious loss of limb(s) in an IED. The Charity Bees just give to whoever has the greatest need in the community.

One other item is our friend SFC Ollie has been MIA around the coffee shop, and we don't know what happened. His wife has been so ill he remodeled his house so she could be nearer the kitchen. Since it is not like him not to show up in the am and pm, I am hoping for word from him soon. It could be one of them had to go to the hospital for more treatments, or he just needed some down time from hosting the entire city on Memorial Day at the cemetary to honor the two veterans whose unmarked graves were recovered and families were located. One veteran's grave held a soldier from WWI, and the other buried who served in WWII, forgotten and now found. Both families are thankful for this wonderful kindly act by SFC Ollie, and here's the tv announcement from the festivities on Memorial Day:

Video Landing Page - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -​


----------



## freedombecki

Continuation of 590 ~

I hadn't seen this fabric for at least 2years, when I was looking for something else. It was one of my favorite all-time patriotic border fabrics for just about every other soldier quilt I made after our war conflict began after 9/11/2001. It reminded me of Colonial times and what America is all about since George Washington asked Betsy Ross to complete a 13-star flag with her renowned sewing skills as well as her love for America. Anyway, I realized it would bring a little class back to my tacky-bordered pinwheel quilt with goofy rockets that can look either upside down, right side up and a little cockeyed, too, on that dark blue windowpane plaid on white. So, for what it's worth, Here's the fabric that fixed everything, I just hadn't seen it for so long, I'd forgotten about it. I had a yard and a half to work with, and enough left over to border one more quilt. It took exactly half of the fabric, as the end of the bolt had a white sticker on it that I never could get off, so I had to cut around it first to make things right. So I have some more of my favorite-all time Colonial fabric to play with this year, then it will be gone. I'll have to host a wake when that happens. (joke, to non-quilters). 

I just had to fix it. It just wasn't right.

Anyway, here it is:


----------



## freedombecki

Fixing the insufferably-bordered quilt wasn't all for the day. I may have posted a blurb of red patches left over from those last two or three red quilts made for shelter/troops, etc. and realized it would be the perfect center for a quilt I had logs left over from yet other charity quilts. I aligned the extra-large log cabin squares (sewed an extra set of logs to all 4 sides) to form a friendship star, but had used all the "dark" squares on a light-dark star quilt either last year or very early this year. So here are bits and pieces of the quilt I completed by adding another row of red squares to the center block to make it fit the log cabin star points. What a joy to clear half a pound of fabric off my sewing table that was sewn into this quilt, too. The red Minnie Mouse dot you've seen before if you have been following this thread was used on this quilt, because after I slept on it, I knew it wasn't right for the tacky rocket border on that quilt I finally DID find the right piece of cloth to border. Someday, I'm just going to throw quilts together and ignore all rules and smarts. But until that day, I'll slog on through my little retentive stage of perfection according to my subjectivity of the minute. 

The 81 - 1.25" small squares in the center begged for red on the outside border, so conveniently, I used the minnie mouse dress polka dot that was all ready to put on the other tacky quilt.

Here's my big-hearted Friendship Star quilt, fragmented but scanned true:


----------



## freedombecki

Four-pointed Big-hearted Friendship Star Log Cabin, Second group of scans.

Thanks to USMB for letting me post progress on my Charity Bees work here. It will help to have a record somewhere of them when the government will invariably someday ditch all benefits we paid into Social Security, and hopefully someone will know that even though I can't work and do a lot of land maintenance on account of fibromyalgia, I did for society what I could--make tops for others to quilt and give to shelter kids, wounded warriors, and sell for the guild's educational purposes for better ways of quilting for those who didn't get fixed into correct sewing in any home economics classes and are remedied by those our guild brings to meetings to teach her specialty.

Seem to have a headache along with my other virus symptoms, so I'm out today. God bless and keep SFC Ollie as he works through his operation and for all other USMB members who have troubles they can't even speak, all God's strength and goodness to help us respect each other, our cities, counties, states, nation, and greater humanity of the world, not to mention all the good stuff--fish in the sea, birds in the air, soft, warm fuzzy little mammals, pets, and terrifying wild creatures we may get a glimpse of in a zoo or Safari park somewhere, safe behind iron bars or giant aquarium walls..


----------



## Foxfyre

Becki do you realize this thread is closing in on 31000 looks?  That's close to 90 looks per post?  That's absolutely phenomenal!!   I am guessing that there are hundreds and hundreds who are learning and appreciating much here,.   Kudos!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Foxfyre said:


> Becki do you realize this thread is closing in on 31000 looks?  That's close to 90 looks per post?  That's absolutely phenomenal!!   I am guessing that there are hundreds and hundreds who are learning and appreciating much here,.   Kudos!!!!


Thanks, Foxfyre. No, I didn't know, but thanks for the thumbs up. It's especially nice when someone drops by and say hello.


----------



## freedombecki

Hues of the Open Road quilt- 5-patch postage stamp squares surrounded by same color, bright when possible, from stash. I have around 10,000 1.25" postage square stamps cut out between 1995-today and placed in 1-of-each-print-only stacks to make several postage stamp charm quilts. From one of the stacks, I divided the stamps into color groups (which I should have done from the start) and used over a dozen on each of the 5-patch, 25-square blocks, then sashed them with 3" hues/colors. I had to wait 2 weeks until my racing-flag print got here, which I thought would be nice with hues. Then I got lucky and found a piece of fabric of antique cars from America's past, when each car was made by our own citizens, typical of post war year camaraderie for all that was suffered and understood between states. It will be the outside border, if I can find it this week, that is. 

Tomorrow, I'm gong to cut and attach an outer border. I had to wait 2 weeks on the black and white race-flag check fabric, and it took me a week to locate some. Apparently, it's just not "in" any more. The last time I looked, they're still racing cars, though. 

Here are 3 of the hues of the open squares:


----------



## freedombecki

And here are 3 more:


----------



## freedombecki

Finally finished! Hues of the Open Road for the Charity Bees Closet! 

Bottom and top borders, and a sashing junction I just didn't do yesterday when showing the blocks. I just attached the Route 66 fabric and cars of yesteryear fabrics that are in hues of bright colors!


----------



## freedombecki

The car material on the above quilt didn't come out as pretty as it is in real life on my monitor. Oh, well. Today, I finally got all the squares completed for the next windmill quilt that I am calling Birds of Summer Windmill quilt. I had put together a lot of squares yesterday, but today, I joined the squares on the last row and added a light colored stripey border and some red, blue, and yellow songbird material on light blue clouds as the border. Yay! That's 9 of 10 quilt tops for June all done!!! 

Last month, it seems log cabins took all my time. This month, it's Windmill/Twister block quilts doing that. I already have at least 35 or 36 of the multi-colored windmills for the next quilt, and wouldn't it be loverly to finish tomorrow. Then I can clean house and do some living for a week before hitting the sewing machine trail again. Oh, I do need to complete a few pillows this month. I've got stuffing coming out the wazoo, and I need to put it in several pillow tops that are already quilted, just need backs.


----------



## freedombecki

Birds of Summer blocks and border II


----------



## koshergrl

I love the windmills.

I have a quilt I still haven't finished that's windmills.....


----------



## freedombecki

Hi, Koshergrl. I worked on another windmill top and got 7 rows by 8 rows. I'm plum tuckered out. For some reason, I got up at 4:30 am and couldn't wait to get started, and realizing I'd need more than 50 blocks, (had 36 blocks stashed away), I'd have to sew. So I sewed red, orange, and lime green windmills because I figured I'd run short of those colors. Well, it was a scrap quilt anyway, and it's pretty scrappy, except it is sewn with colors cascading down from NW to SE kind of in rainbow order, except I got creative with pink by using slightly tinted peaches and light reds here and there, and even a tinted redwood fabric.

I'm so glad the hard part is done. I have the easy part to go. A couple of borders is all it needs. I'm thinking of doing music notes on the two outer  borders--a black on white music notes, and then last year someone printed rainbow colored music notes onto a black background, and I have a yard and a half, which is plenty for a border on a 36x 41" start. That was about 8 hours. I'm so tired of windmills. Since January, I've done about 6 or 7 of them. The good side of them is they are faster than 4-patchs. Think I'll run down and get the quilt. It's truly scrappy, and that property causes the rainbow effect to lessen as do the values of the backgrounds. A truly good rainbos is best with all white in-between or all black, usually. Mine is so bizarro world, I'm thinking I could probably call it planet earth if I bordered it with some bluegreen tinted swirl fabric.


----------



## freedombecki

Scrap windmills 6.8.12. There are 56 blocks. They cascade as per color order in a prism. You won't see it here until I do something about learning to use the new camera in the unopened box (secret dread).

So FWIW, here are the block sewn together:


----------



## freedombecki

Just to say, all that work had a great outcome. I kept noticing of the 56 windmills, a lot of them had a light or yellow background. Then, as I was sorting through fabrics, looking for a white with notes to do the prosaic border, I found this fun yellow print with music notes and staff lines on it, so... it really looked good with the dark multicolor note fabric I was considering for a border. Sometimes things just go well in the sewing room, and it's like lightning falling in your lap when that happens. I'm happy with the outcome, and I didn't notice any untoward harping of yellow fabrics in competition with other colors.

Ezekiel "The presence of the Lord is found in the colors of the bow of the sky." He may have been harking back to the story of Noah, when God promised man he would never send another flood like the one of biblical proportions. Ezekiel may have seen a lot of trouble in his day. He spoke of his vision or dream of a time in mankind's future when God could make dry bones would raise up and praise the Him should men ever forget him again. Ezekiel's wheel was multicolored. So is this small quilt, to honor the immortal, invisible God who gives me no such insight but much joy in his presence, though I am so often blind to what is standing right in front of me in the form of his gifts. Scuse my maudlin moment. 

The quilt is renamed for it's pretty fabric border. Here are some scans of the Musical windmills of prism quilt I had so much fun making for the last 3 days:


----------



## freedombecki

Musical windmills of prism quilt II


----------



## freedombecki

Musical windmils of prism quilt III


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday was spent packing up the Brother sewing machine I bought at Wally World until my 2 good machines came back from 2 different repair places, one a Bernina, and one a Pfaff. I moved the sewing area upstairs and now have my little Pfaff sewing machine, its table, a small but adequate cutting table and travel iron and small board that probably is now an antique. Anyway, in the shuffle I found 2 red log cabin stars, an experiment in using 1/8" seam allowances by the second or third block, I decided I didn't care for 1/8" seam allowances, so tossed the squares aside and forgot all about them. They're 20 inches square, so I thought would make a good medallion center for a baby quilt in red and white. I still had some of the Cats-a-Blankie (a few pages back) fabric left over, so put a small border at the sides top and bottom of that along with 3 other borders. If you take a small square and use only one fabric, unless it is a show stopper, you have a quilt that looks like you weren't willing to spend the time to make it look like a handmade quilt. Anyway, I have 6 pics, so will show 3 scans below and 3 scans in the next post.


----------



## freedombecki

And the other three shots of the red lolcats log cabin star quilt:

4, 5, and 6

I don't know if she checks this thread out ever, but I was thinking of Amelia when I did the border!


----------



## freedombecki

Several years ago, I made up a pattern for my friends on ranches who had daughters or sons who were horse-crazy by the time they were 2 years old, and I set aside my tendency to like fine art in place of doing a naive horse pattern that would appeal to these wonderful ranch people who had so little time to quilt due to taking care of horses, cattle, and fences. Fences always seem to need attention. lol

The name of the pattern was "Horsey Run" I made large versions for the quilt, but liked it so well, simplified it here and there to make do for a quilt using many horses in blocks. This was one made up to help sell the pattern. People kept buying the other horsey run quilts I made, plus some were given to the local handicapped children day care in the town where I lived.

I started this a couple of months ago, but until I got other projects unloaded, this one just got put at the bottom of the stack. I deserve the time it took me to reiron the oddball pieces, too. The fabric in the patched pastures came from some store samples sent to the local quilt shop here in Walker County, but were outdated and given to people in Charity Bees group as a routine our that  ourquilt store owner does. So here's the finished top a year later. I hope they find a good quilter to make this little quilt rock.


----------



## freedombecki

Horsey Run in Patched Pastures II


----------



## freedombecki

Horsey Run in Patched Pastures III

Some of the rough edges had to be carefully sewn over with the pink solid I picked to border them. It was a task and a half with multiple double seams to make things right. That's because the smaller four-patch squares still weren't large enough to measure up to the framed squares of a different size of square. lol Same fabric manufacturer, pieces didn't fit together right, but they were samples that were just large enough to show what needed to be shown to sell the bolt, I suppose. Anyway, here are the last scans I took

and "The End"


----------



## freedombecki

This is just for me. 

It's a log of quilts that I have been piling up since a few days before the end of May. I found 4 finished tops, outright. They still keep popping up 3 years later, but that's because I made them as displays in my quilt store to sell fabric, and when it sold, they were neatly tucked away, unfinished, some not even in one piece, etc. I worked 80 hour weeks for 23 years up until the last couple of years when my fibromyalgia got so bad, I had to pretty much turn things over to others while I tried to find ways to beat the disease. I eventually got a special supplement (called Vital Factors) to take away pain, which felt like I got my life back, but other "sistie-ugliers" that go along with Fibro can do you in, for all practical purposes. There are times of "fibro-fog" CHF, IBS, overdoing, forgetting to take medicine and being back at step 1 in 3 short days of forgetting (due to fibro-fog and the cheerful delusion you are somehow "over it.") I had 11 syndromes when I retired 3 years ago and moved home to Texas. Here, the doctor diagnosed yet another--2 bad parathyroids that screwed up my calcium, put spurs all over my feet bones, crippling me, etc. A surgery squared that problem away, but it took a year to get rid of the bony protruberances everywhere except my hands (thank heavens!) that built up the years nobody knew what was making it more and more difficult to stand on my feet. Anyway, to make a long story short, even on my worst days, I can still usually sit and sew in front of the sewing machine, or I can still sit on the tractor stool and mow 10 of the acres that are not taken up by buildings or house, barn, arena cover, etc. There are days I should just stay in bed all day, with no more rhyme or reason than fibro kicking my butt for 5 years before I found Vital Factors. And winters are sheer hell, due to the affectation of cold on muscle/tendon synapses contractions. hahaha what a mess. Nonetheless, I have fashioned an active life around sitting, and try to spend a little time outside each day walking without getting too tired. It's about 400 steps to the back fence and almost 400 steps to the front. 800 steps is about all I can do, without CFS setting up housekeeping in my beat up body. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). In winter, it changes to "do nothing to get chilled." So I wear thermal underwear from a month before first frost until 2 months after the last one. Hats and gloves, too.

I'm challenging myself this month to make as many quilt tops as I can to keep up my goal of 10 per month for the charity bees closet. I know they will get good and sick of me by December 31, but that's tough. It's my goal, and they can take 3 years to quilt them, until I learn how to quilt the "Fun and Done" method. My muscles do not cooperate with standing before the quilt machine any more, although I have 2, one of which is of professional quality and I probably made 600 quilts on before all was said and done over 20 of the years when I could still quilt. Oh, how I loved to quilt. It is the song of my soul, and so is designing, drawing out designs, refining them until they look right, and then doing the quilt. One of my quilts took 600 hours of library work to find every hat, glove, apron, man's hat, bodices, shirts, pants, skirts of child couples from 50 countries. One other problem was the Chinese couple. I spent 6 weeks until I got the Chinese couple right. Finally, I went to the library (oh, no, here comes the costume lady looking for another book!) and selected a book on Chinese legends and stories from the Chinese culture. I read the whole book. Finally, after thinking about it, it sunk in what I was doing on the drawing board. I was trying to conform the Chinese culture into my little Western World think box. Doh! No wonder a good design didn't happen. Once I cut the crap and began thinking what it was like to be a Chinese person who was right with the world, every puzzle part fell into place, and the design was done in a single afternoon after 6 weeks of unenlightment. The Chinese people have their way of thinking, and it is unlike Western thought and perceptions as it can be. I will just say this. I learned to think of the Chinese people as a gift as deep as the sea and as wide as the world.

Oh, yes, today's list of quilties so far. I went back through the pictures back to the end of May, where this stack of quilt starts, keeping in mind I had found several tops as I was still going through the leftovers of display quilt tops I made over 23 years in business. There are yet more, but I'm not going to worry about that right now. I'm just going to keep on keeping on doing Charity bee tops, and they're not large quilts. I'm still going to keep sending a large quilt now and then for when someone's house burns down and needs a cover, or the Patriotic ones for a Wounded Warrior. I try to give them one big top a year, which they raffle to a soldier who presents his old service card to the commander at the Hearts museum a few miles from here.

Here are my quilts already done to take to the charity b's closet for June, 2012:
1. Patriotic Pumpkin Seed/Football Top - King Size top - 2010
2. School Days and Paper Dolls Top - 2010, but bordered last week.
3. 5-Patch Postage Stamp and Paper Dolls top - 2010
4. Kalahari Puzzle blue border - 2008 or 2009 before May, when we moved to TX
5.Horsey Run in Patched Pastures - 6.12.12
6. Red and White lolcats 8-point log cabin star, started 2009, finished 6.12.12
7. Musical Windmills of Prism - 6.11.12
8. Birds of Summer Windmills 6.07.12
9. Hues of the Open Road (cars border) 6.05.12
10. 4-point Big Hearted Friendship Star quilt, red dot border, 6/03.12
11. RWB Windmill I Quilt Williamsburg navy/red floral border, 6.03.12
12. Blue and White U.S.Army Hero Star quilt, 6.02.12
13. RWB Windmills II Quilt top, Star and Red/blue blossoms border, 6.02.12
14. Green Postage Stamp Quilt 6.01.12
15. Red Filigree Jacobean Postage Stamp quilt 5.29.12
16. Time for Stories Postage Stamp Quilt with child stories, songs, and poetry figures in border, 5.27.12

Some days you just need to make a list. I'm glad I did. I have another red white and blue quilt, somewhere, but I may save that for a different time.

There are 2 weeks and 2 days left in June. I wonder how many quilts I could just keep on keeping on making? I'm having myself a little quilt-off.

Thanks for not looking.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning I got up and realized the quilt I worked on yesterday was not one that would have good proportions, so the first thing I did was rip two seams out. Then did dishes, came here for a spell, and spent the whole afternoon making the list above that nobody looked at. It took 2 hours to get it all written down in my little pink notebook used to record quilts done. I was confused over March, but that may have been the month I crocheted dishrags for the local quilt guild's annual show. I don't get out much, so don't know whether they sold them or not. I hope they put the right price on them so all 50 or 60 of them sold for use in people's kitchens or I've noticed they're pretty good washrags, too, even if they're not turkish towels. They weigh about the same and are 100% cotton, so they can be boiled if not dried properly and left to mold spores. Now, it's time to go put the first border on the 6 squares of the funky monkey quilt. There are enough squares to possibly do 2 quilts and a pillow. 
Later, gaters. I have to take that nap first.


----------



## freedombecki

Not finished, but making progress...


----------



## freedombecki

From this morning's workday: from graphs done in my purse notebook, usually made when waiting for food in restaurants. They may be a year, two, or three years old. Anyway, my baby sister always referred to turtles as "Terkels" much to everyone's amusement...

So, I'm showing a couple of drawings. One would have resulted in 1/2" squares to get a 12" block, which was decided against since I've been there, done that, couldn't stand the t-shirt.  The other was done, and we left the restaurant before I could redraw into not sure what else, so I just sat down to my machine, started sewing using 2 colors of green and 2 prints of glacier blue water. They're just test runs. The second one looks more like a horned toad reject, but I am posting it all anyhow, so people can understand the creative process postage stamp quilters go through to get a 12" (or close to it) square from their effort. 

this one is eleven inches, because it's symmetric from a center vertical  row. but asymmetric horizontally since there is a head and tail. The second square was done not according to plan, and it totally sucks imho. With a couple of changes though would make a schema like a horned toad. With this few squares in a design, nothing approaches a complex design or arrangement, reality averaged off in gross squares. About all you can say for it is that it may be construed as graphic. I have 6 scans in this and the next post.


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 4, 5, and 6. 6 is the one that looks like a horned toad with an inverted tail rather than a turtle.

I used a smaller 1-inch block than my usual postage stamps that are 1.25". I thought I could get the whole design on the scanner. I may have to do mockups in 3/4-inch rather than 1-inch if the design is to show on the scanner. I do not care in the least for the size of 1/2" because the 1/4" seam allowances do not sew accurately.


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes things change when you sleep on it.

This morning I got up, and decided "Oops! The Funky Monkey Quilt needs to be finished." I did, sewing another hundred or so postage stamps for the bottom border and completed going around in the rest of the green border, too. It's done! Yea!


----------



## freedombecki

I also thought long and hard about the turtle quilt, even did a mock up for a child sized quilt using larger squares. That would take a lot of time, which I'm willing to spend, but when you have goal-setting and you're feeling okay, it's nice to quilt ahead. I figured out a way to do some much faster quilts, and I did no quilts to speak of in March, when I was crocheting dish rags for the women's bazaar. They said they had trouble selling them, because they didn't do a "Quilting in the Pines" which they have done as a tradition for 10 years. It's a lot of work and takes very healthy and determined people to do that. All those in that category are looking for ways to work outside their homes and try to help pay the increasing costs of living, pay for kids' college tuition, which seems to be up, and try to do Charity Bee quilting as well. Younger women are not quilting, but working, trying to keep clothes on their childrens' backs as prices spiral upward. Eh, things go up and down, people worry, and their goals change too.

So I drew up a plan and made the first block this morning.

For my series on Checkerboard bi-color quilts. Of course, nobody else is doing what I'm doing right now, but I did find a cute multicolored checkerboard someone made up recently and posted somewhere online... so I'm showing a finished "checkerboard" that probably will not resemble my little simple 2-color checkerboards.


----------



## Dabs

Becki.....I love love love the colorful pattern above!!!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Dabs. I like it too, not sure who the maker is, I was just surfing quilt images on Bing! and it was the only checkerboard close to the ones I have planned that are really quick and easy to make. You just sew a dark to a light, ten 4.5" strips each, and you have a crib or couch-potato sized top in no time. After you sew them, you just press them open, cut at 4.5" the opposite way, and sew pairs of them light to dark and dark to light after pinning at the center seam allowance. The colorful scrap one looks very easy to make and I agree, it is an eyeful of fun.


----------



## freedombecki

The purple Hugs-for-babies top was fun and is done. It measures about 42x52 give or take an inch.


----------



## Samson

Just thought I'd post here to let you ladies know that I'm aware of this refuge, and if I ever become really bored then I'm posting some great pictures of Quilt Erotica.


----------



## freedombecki

Still recuperating surgery on my foot from the past week and am doing okay. Bad news is, I still can't wear a shoe on my foot, the good news is, I can still work on quilt tops. My June project was interrupted, but that's okay, because while looking for some blue fabric, I found the blocks for 3 good Hugs quilts for children in crisis, sashed and bordered two of them today, and cut some green strips to sash a 3rd one for a local needy child.

First, the red one...


----------



## freedombecki

And more red scrap quilt for a Hugs child


----------



## freedombecki

And here is the blue one that was completed just before I got here today.


----------



## freedombecki

And the rest of the blue-bordered Hugs quilt finished just an hour ago...


----------



## freedombecki

One more for the gipper...


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes, and I ran across the most unique "checkerboard" quilts browsing on Bing! today...






That is truly nice work!

And the one below is done in antebellum fabrics:






Oh, my goodness, someone made Checkerboard Cookies even! 





Checkerboard cookies recipe in grams​


----------



## Sunni Man

5 Pillars of Islam quilt pattern.

Quilts with Style - Five Pillars of Islam


----------



## freedombecki

Quite pretty quilt, SunniMan.


----------



## freedombecki

Last night, I went to bed early, but couldn't sleep, so I got up and put the finishing touches on the quilt I started yesterday. There was this little piece of airplane fabric I found at the local quilt store, and it was so cute, I just had to have a yard in my collection for when I needed one more little boy hugs quilt for the shelter. I was missing one of the 1-patch, 16-square quilts as my stack had 23 squares, not 24, and there were 4 quilt potentials, now all done. Yay.

I saved strips left over from all the above quilts. I used 12 of them in making up the last quilt, that had 3.5" squares. Most of the borders are either larger than 3.5" OR have a scrap that size out of what is left when I pieced them together. I try to save as many large pieces as possible for times like this when a colorful scrap or two is needed to cheer up a child's quilt. 

Anyhooo, here's the last 1-patch, 16-square quilt called Airplane.


----------



## freedombecki

Now, I can get back to my pile of sale fabric. I hope I don't run into any more of that yukky gauze stuff. If I do, I'm going to have to back it with some cotton percale. That can get tricky.


----------



## freedombecki

It was not a very productive sewing day. I was just sitting there, sewing, and suddenly a storm came up, thunder, lightning, and the lights went out. We were out about 2 or 3 hours. I used what heat there was left in the iron to open some freshly-sewn seams, and pinned a row of red and white checkerboards together. I now have a 10x12 block piece of 4" blocks, so it's about 40x48" without the border yet. I did have some leftover blocks, so I made them into a matching 10" piece with smaller squares:

So much for not getting my project finished before noon, and now, I'm just sleepy. I'm still taking antibiotics for the toe surgery and regular medicine to deal with fibromyalgia and wonky parathyroid issues after parathyroid surgery 2 years ago. My foot is sure feeling a lot better, and all the swelling from the infection is gone, and not missed one little bit.

The purple checkerboard was so pleasing (last week) I did this one in  red and white. I'm just fascinated with red and white quilts lately. The bigger one is going to make a nice crib blanket for a hugs child, I hope.


----------



## freedombecki

Darn it, I miss Sunshine.


----------



## Dabs

These aren't quilts Becki, but they are some beautiful crochet work my Mother did, I wanted to share...hope you don't mind 
These 3 are patterns she either made up or followed........she could do the most fancy stuff.....all of the afghans I am showing here, I have in my home...she made for me~


----------



## Dabs

The blue and yellow one is a baby blanket and the pastel colored one is a story......it was originally a baby blanket pattern...but I fell in love with it and I asked Mom if she could use thicker yarn and make it bigger...for me...and she did


----------



## Dabs

This last one is awesome.
It is so colorful and so huge...it fits a king size bed.
Mother crocheted it for me when I was 8 months pregnant with my first child....and that child will turn 34 years old on July 3rd....so this afghan is 34 years old!!!
It still looks just as great as the day she gave it to me...I toss it into the washer and dryer


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> These aren't quilts Becki, but they are some beautiful crochet work my Mother did, I wanted to share...hope you don't mind
> These 3 are patterns she either made up or followed........she could do the most fancy stuff.....all of the afghans I am showing here, I have in my home...she made for me~


That's nice, Dabs. They're out of this world. I think I still like the pink and gray one you showed some time ago. Although the little square ruffled one next to the sheep looks like something out of a really, really better crochet magazine. Fabulous!


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> This last one is awesome.
> It is so colorful and so huge...it fits a king size bed.
> Mother crocheted it for me when I was 8 months pregnant with my first child....and that child will turn 34 years old on July 3rd....so this afghan is 34 years old!!!
> It still looks just as great as the day she gave it to me...I toss it into the washer and dryer


I think your mother was a master craftsman crocheter, Dabs. She did right by closings if you've washed it for 34 years and it still looks brand new. That's the hardest thing to do--conceal threads and have them stay that way through washings.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, Dabs. I've made the ruffles on a few handmade potholders in the past. They take a ton of time, but they're really fantastic. When I do ruffled work, it's usually done in in a number 10 crochet yarn, though I've seen beautiful articles made with finer yarns. Talk about gorgeous! They're just the thickest, most beautiful works in the world. I really love this one, and if you can double crochet three or four times into the same space, you can do that kind of work, too, because that's all it is, over and over and over. I really go crazy for lace. Ruffled crochet over a surface is well worth whatever time you put into it, it's just absolutely dazzling if you ever get anything like that. That is just so fabulous, Dabs. I bet she put a thousand hours in it.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Wow, Dabs. I've made the ruffles on a few handmade potholders in the past. They take a ton of time, but they're really fantastic. When I do ruffled work, it's usually done in in a number 10 crochet yarn, though I've seen beautiful articles made with finer yarns. Talk about gorgeous! They're just the thickest, most beautiful works in the world. I really love this one, and if you can double crochet three or four times into the same space, you can do that kind of work, too, because that's all it is, over and over and over. I really go crazy for lace. Ruffled crochet over a surface is well worth whatever time you put into it, it's just absolutely dazzling if you ever get anything like that. That is just so fabulous, Dabs. I bet she put a thousand hours in it.



Thanks Becki.....this is the one that I saw in a pattern book...it was a baby afghan....but I loved the ruffled pattern and the pastel colors....so Mother used thicker yarn and made it much bigger...it's one of my favorites *smiles*


----------



## freedombecki

After seeing all that awesome needlework, I'm so revved again, Dabs. Thanks again for sharing it. I had a little surgery on an ingrown toenail, and now I can stand for longer times than just a minute or two without all that pain. I didn't realize how debilitating it was until 4 days after the surgery I could stand up for a couple of hours without having to sit down every two or 3 minutes due to horrible pain. For the first time in 3 years, I finished quilting that little red checkerboard quilt top, in a day and had it bound too. Unfortunately, my machine overheated after 8 hours, and I was still raring to go. So I just got another machine out of the closet and finished it up. It also got bound, but the only shot I got of it before putting it away until I have a stack quilted is here, before binding: 

The smaller pic is of the little samplet I made the other day which I thought might photograph better under the copier's hood, since it was smaller and gave more of the checkerboard "feel." I'd like to make a pillow top of the sample piece. It's about 10" square and with 2.5" border like the quilt's side, it would then be 15", the perfect pillow size.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I just did grunt work--I have a huge box of long strips I sewed together thinking "I'll get around to it"=--and have been cutting them into 3" and 1.75" slices to make into squarish windmills and 4-patch pieces for future quilts. I probably sewed 30 or 40 pieces the equivalent of 5" patches, I wasn't counting. They all got pressed, every inch cut, and patches completed. I'm determined to finish off that barrel of twosie strips someday, and a lot of my quilts show those squares lately.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I did a few more blocks in the morning. One I finally found the right two fabrics to sew together, made a long strip, which made 2 pinwheels and 4 4-patch squares, which will likely wind up part or parts of 3 or 4 quilts in the future. The trouble with doing several quilts at a time is that you spend a lot of time making small parts to be used in larger parts, then a quilt, and another, and another, etc. But you first spend several days sewing the different parts together. From patriotic fabrics, I am saving a 6.5" strip of twosies from all the red with a light and blue strip with a light color to sew the logs into a "Chinese coins" style quilt someday. I already had sewn enough logs to do two rows, which is half of the wheelchair-sized quilt (or child's quilt.) The nice thing about red and blue is they are such pretty quilts when you're done, they can be used for quilts for kids, too, if the need is there.

The darker blue with its pretty light was one that came about, when I ran into the cutest strip I'd cut from fabric that perished under heavy use into so many quilts over the past 6 months. so it may be the last piece, unless I have the good fortune of finding some more of the fabric if I simply set it aside to squeeze and feel once in a while. It's the first square.

The second square is nostalgic, because it not only reminds me of the quilt shop keeper here who picks the prettiest fabrics available - she bought a few bird fabrics after I told her how much I loved birds, so I was thrilled to see it when it showed up a couple of months later, as did other bird prints she picked. The light yellow with little grey hearts and gold branch of leaves is dear to me, because it was one of the first partial collection from the RJR fabric company my quilt fabric store business I bought to sell at my shop 25 years ago when it opened up. I had two pieces that had to be sewn together, because that's all I had left. It will be given away to a hugs child who needs a warm winter quilt when the weather turns chilly and damp. I hope the quilter does a good job, because I'm making tops for the quilt guild's charity bees who do quilts for all kinds of community purposes nearby.

The reason I sew strips together and let the seam show with imperfectly-matched pieces of the same fabric, is because one of my first projects was for a dear woman whose mother had made 4 tops, placed them in her wardrobe box to "quilt later" for her 4 children. Two of the children died before her, and the lady who brought it to me was dying of cancer, though I didn't know it, and tried to get her to quilt them herself, but she kept telling me, no, that she was just too tired from her cancer most days to do detailed crafts like quilting. Her mother, the quilt maker, had sewn pieces of odds and ends together on the Colonial Lady pattern that has been popular since who knows when and inhabits a page or two in pattern books in the twentieth century for sure, and I don't even know who the designer is. I saw one of my relatives sewing embroidery details on a Colonial Lady square when I was growing up. Sometimes it took someone 20 years between other chores and raising children to finish one, and sometimes, they were just doing the detailed embroidery for a neighbor's quilt, who was able to parse squares amongst several friends, so she could finish it in a year for a beloved young woman in the family. I don't remember exactly who was working on that square, but I remember it, and I thought how fun it was to do colorbook stuff using fabric. 

Pardon the ramblings of a quilt enthusiast.  Here are the squares I enjoyed the most in the last couple of days since I posted a pic (you can see the faint outline of a seam line on the upper right hand block in light yellow calico, in memory of Dorothy's mother, who made the Colonial Lady quilt I wound up machine quilting on my longarm of yesteryear. From a distance, you couldn't tell some of the ladies' long hoop skirts were pieced together from strips that were probably leftover from somebody's dressmaking task sometime between the turn of the century and 1939):


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, I took 8 small quilt tops, a large batik quilt top I made before leaving Wyoming a few years back, and the red quilted checkerboard small quilt to the Charity Bees sewing day. There were a lot of people there that day, more than I've ever seen at a meeting, and 3 of them were quilting small quilts I made earlier (bless 'em!) I worked on but didn't finish a country lanes-type of stripey quilt, left over from flag quilts I had made for veterans. In the picture below, I haven't added an outer border, but when I do it will be of stars on dark blue. That will hopefully compliment the gross red stripes against the light. I'm adding a slightly blurred picture (it's all I have of part of my avatar flag from which I had a lot of extra stripes to make this little charity quilt. Whether they give this to a wounded soldier or a child, I don't know for certain. All I know is the guild I belong to is strong on quilter education to anyone in the community, generous in its doing for and giving to the poor, the lonely, the suffering, and soldiers who were hurt badly in the war. They also give a scholarship to a person at the local university who is getting an education in home economics.

I'm tired tonight, so the blue border will just have to be done tomorrow.

Please pray for techeiny who underwent surgery on his eyes yesterday. Thanks. <hugs>

becki

Oh, yes. I kept getting customer requests for how-tos on the quilt, so I wrote my last little pamphlet with how-tos, and it was badly written because at the time my fibromyalgia was horrible.  There was a silver lining to my little cloud, though. I had wonderful customers, some of whom knew someone else whose life-as-they-knew-it was shattered by this nutty syndrome. They bought the book and made their own flag quilt. I was so tickled when we sold 20 copies (self-published). In a small and remote town, that's a *best seller*.


----------



## freedombecki

It's a good day when things get done well. It didn't take long to just put a border on this little quilt, so it's now done! Yay!


----------



## freedombecki

Today, a quilt was completed that was started last year in the quilt-as-you-go (recently aka fun and done) method. We actually got a picture of the square quilt before I deep sixed it in my UFO pile (UnFinished Objects). So here goes, start to finish (may take a couple of more posts).

Red Log Star:


----------



## freedombecki

More Red Log Star: last picture shows back of the quilted, assembled quilt main section:


----------



## freedombecki

Even more, finished front showing side and top borders, plus a picture of the unfinished and unbordered quilt-as-you-go-on-the-sewing-machine progress - either last year or early this year.


----------



## freedombecki

The quilt must have been started last year. I just turned in 10 more quilts on Tuesday. I think when I started counting in January, that red and white quilt was sitting on my stack of UFOs. This is the second quilt completed since Tuesday, and happily, this one was quilted. It took 8 hours to quilt the borders and add the bright red binding. Whew! I'm glad that one's out of my hair now. I do love this quilt.

No, she does not intentionally start things and let them pile up a year to feel great when it finally is done!


----------



## freedombecki

For the past few days, I've been developing a new pattern. Today, there were enough squares to do a child quilt that turned out to be 43x64 when finished, including borders. The pattern seems like a puzzle, so I just played around and left one obvious flaw in the layout. To make matters worse, somewhere in the middle of the quiltmaking process, I noticed an off-smell when ironing that comes when dacron makes up part of the fiber. So that pure white Swiss pima cotton I thought I was working with is actually nothing more than cheap dimestore percale, the kind you can see through. lol Not a saver quilt, except I loved the boho colors in the border I picked after the top was done. I made a special trip to the quilt shop to get it, too. 

Here are excerpts from the finished top, which reminds me of bird feeders, in a way, so its name is the Boho Bird Feeder Quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

More Boho Birdfeeder quilt top scans:


----------



## freedombecki

the design process is not complete on the boho birdfeeder pattern. It has a lot of possibilities. The squares turned out to be future 9 inch blocks, so I had a really nice 9.5" square grid ruler from creative grid ruler company. They have them in all sizes, but it's so nice when something you're working on fits one of their amazing pieces of equipment. They're clearview. They're accurate. They have self-grids you can see through, so you have nothing extra to buy and paste on, trying to get it straight. I love it! 

I guess it's back to the drawing board time. This square is kind of like the old cracker box quilt square that is traditionally about 6" square, at least from recent findings. 

From About Quilt Block Patterns, free pattern Cracker Box Block






There's also a link on the page to the Cracker Box Pattern:






I'll come back to this sometime soon, I hope. It looks like a fun quilt, and it can even be done in scraps,  and not solely matched collections of stuff.​


----------



## freedombecki

The Cracker Box quilt has little representation online, considering that it looks and indeed is a simple square that is easy to construct, easy to sew, and makes up quickly into a quilt in less than 8 hours, using 9" squares. The square in the center should finish at around 6.25 inches. Cut a square of the light that is 6" on the diagonal to make triangles for the 2 light sides and a square of the dark that is 6" square and is sewn to the top and bottom of the strips.


----------



## freedombecki

It's been a good day. One quilt more for the Charity closet, more in the works, and it's time to say good night, hope each child in america has a warm blanket in the wintertime. We can only do one at a time, and pray for those who distribute our little efforts to those children who have little going for them, are in abuse shelters, or for reasons I cannot fathom, are abused so horrifically they are removed from a home that should love and welcome children and train them to be good influences in their society.

Bless the beasts and the children. I have a special love for birds. They bring so much music and character into our yards, thoughts, and images of them that honor their beauty grace walls across America.


----------



## copsnrobbers

Hi Becki... 

cops


----------



## freedombecki

Cops? Well, I donated about 25 quilts a year for 5 years to Squad Car Quilts in Wyoming. It's cold in the winter, and people who've been in wrecks that caused them to go into a fatal shock situation,, so I donated quilts to give as the policeman saw fit--to someone in shock who only needed to be wrapped up in a blanket to help them through their angst to survive long enough till a medic arrived, or to a newcomer family not acquainted with the deadly and debilitating diseases of pneumonia and rheumatic fever, prevalent in the area of our city. Ancient tribes were said to have entirely avoided the area to keep away from the sore throats caused by the 20 streptococcus bacteria that for some reason thrive in the climate of that area's soil, water, and wildlife. That could be death or severe disability for many who did not have penicillin to battle it. In fact, a large group of Mormons passing through the area had to stop their covered wagon journey west to deal with "fever." When all was said and done, I think about 95% of them died at one of the most beautiful mountainside areas in the world, near Independence Rock, Wyoming. One of the fevers of the 20 strep bugs is scarlet fever. Sore throats in cold weather can quickly turn into pneumonia, which if untreated has a large percentage of death associated with the disease, now called "Scarletina." Another species of the strep family prevalent in the area is known as the cause of Rheumatic Fever, which can permanently damage the victim's heart valves and cause an early fatal heart attack. The Oregon Trail, the Mormon's Trail, and 8 or 10 other westward trails pass within 30 miles of the vicinity, so going west trails were littered with graves of people who died of "hardships" along the way. Poor folks often do not seek medical help when they have a "mere" sore throat and can die of complications that could be quickly and effectively remedied by simply visiting the county health department and requesting a throat swab. The community doctors for years donated time and antibiotics to the program to keep people from dying off, and for years, they and their spouses held a throat swab program for schools, where a lot of strep is passed from person to person when kids slobber over the same baloney sandwich or cookie sharing.

Eventually, the police department secretary said the city had decided to put standard blankets in the squad cars. Seems there were 35 squad cars, and I couldn't do that many in a year. Besides, the cops were to distribute them. Their gifts were anonymous, so I never heard even so much as one story about who received one of the quilts. I got over it, though. One group we donated quilts to said their need was for larger quilts, not baby-sized (which are easy, fast, and can be made on a prolific basis), so I started making them 60x80 minimum and threw in a few larger quilts to adequately cover family needs. I made a point of reading the weekly fire reports to see if there were local families who needed quilts when they lost all their belongings to a fire.

The best place to put your charity is where there is trouble, and I loved the squad car quilt program, because cops always seem to find themselves in the middle of trouble. I'm glad the city got in the habit of furnishing blankets to the police department. There are people far wealthier than someone who runs a marginally-profitable business that a quilt store is, and they must have provided the funds if the cops ever mentioned fewer deaths occurred from shock when victims were wrapped in blankets.

Cops are super stars, people just don't know it until they've gotten involved in their communities and discover where people are helped right and left by cops and firefighters, usually on the job (or not).

Well, time to go.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yeah, and by the way, my little flunkie "crackerbox" quilt is gonna look more like "chain links." I decided they had to be 6" finished, so with the centers I picked, it called for smaller triangles than I used outside the slanted bars centers. I went for the 6 inch finishe. All I'd have to do is add a ball here and there...hahahaha...

Here are a couple of my wannabe cracker box "chains" with uncut border fabric to show the why of my bizarro-world color choices. The quilt shop lady had a better fiscal week because of my off-the-wall choices there last week.  

I'm throwing in an illustrative chain block to illustrate what a real cracker box square looks like by comparison to the elongated look my chain links will have.


----------



## freedombecki

I sewed two dozen chains today. Love the colors, though. 

*yawn* Nite all!


----------



## freedombecki

It took several days to get a system down pat to quickly put together the chains. I found it. Hopefully, the next one will not take a calendar week from the time the square is designed and a mockup made.

I finally ended up calling it the "Chain Link Quilt" after putting little square sets between the sashes that kind of link the chains. The monkey fabric is one of the favorite children's fabrics I've ever worked with, although there was a truly astonishing one about 10 years ago of little wild cats in a brilliant shade of paprika. I'm not even sure I got to save a square of that one anywhere. I used it like it was going out of style. And when I re-ordered there was no more to be had anywhere. lol

Anyway, here's the squares of links and the final scan shows how they "link."

The quilt measured 44x68" when I finished. There are 60 chain link squares.


----------



## freedombecki

I designed a less artistic tall pine tree that will fit perfectly on a child's quilt. I'm torn about whether to go ahead and do the natural-looking one or just do the easy one. I guess I could go get my artwork books and show them here. Back in a bit.

Ok, I was scribbling and did the ascending tree today. The more natural-looking tree was done sometime in the last few days. The tile twosie quilt had been gelling in my mind after I saw a pioneer quilt with a truly ungracious center. We don't tear old quilts apart and remake them. We go to the drawing board and fix the problem. I guess that's the sum of my endeavor. I try to fix problems in old designs. The quilt I saw in a museum reminds me of the song from Paint Your Wagon... "Where am I goin', I don't know, when will I be there I ain't certain..."  (Which is also exactly how I felt at first.) Fortunately, I found my pencil collection and instead of penning it, I was able to do it in spite of at least 20 erasures from taking the wrong way. I know it can be further honed, but that's for another quilter, maybe one who sees this quilt (if I ever get around to it) and decides it too should be "fixed." 

The more power to 'em!


----------



## freedombecki

I really have been wanting to do that tree quilt, but I remembered after posting that last night, this morning when I got up, and went for completing the little windmills I made from each corresponding chainlink at the time I finished the same link. Instead of wasting thread, if you just have another couple of pieces to sew instead of taking the whole piece off the machine leaving a 5" tail of thread on each change, you can get an additional quilt from the continuous feeding of pieces on the tailgate of the last one, wasting very little thread between "changes". Anyway, this quilt is the "Boho Birds Quilt." I worked on it 10 hours from start to finish. Here are 3 scans from the completed top:


----------



## freedombecki

I just noticed something. On my monitor, the colors aren't nearly as bright as the actual quilt, and I'm not sure why. The completed top measures around 42x56 or 58 inches, give or take an inch. When I had it laid out, it was well over 60" long, but on-point bias edges have a tendency to eat a little more fabric than if you work on the weave. Not only that, but you have to figure in a cutting measurement of 7/8" v. 1/2" when you are sewing half squares, and it could be the same for on-point sewing as the windmill quilt above is. Before the borders were added, it was 37x50" or thereabouts.


----------



## freedombecki

There are already 4 quilts in the July stack, and it's only July 6. Yay!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Took the Mosaic quilt designed sometime this past month and am putting it into pink. I couldn't believe how quickly the little center section went together last night. Today's only progress was to sew all 23 strips of the quilt (930/42), iron, and lay them on the cutting table to be cut into 3" squares tomorrow morning. I'm beat because we walked around the lake a few times when my brother came for a visit. He fixed the lawn mower, fixed the old car, and we went shopping looking for him a banjo. I don't know why, he just wants one. He didn't want to pay for a new one though. I ought to go back and get it, have it forwarded to his house for him. I couldn't even begin to pay him back for all the stuff he did for us in the past year. He's the best brother in the world.

So here's the Pink Mosaic center (see design 4 or 5 posts above in pencil):


----------



## freedombecki

As I'm working on the pink Ziggurat mosaic, I wasn't feeling well, and kept piecing things badly and using the seam ripper a half dozen times, and at least 3 times where four or more squares had to be taken off four other squares due to being upside down.

This type of quilt would be better with less frenetic fabric choices, but oh, well, that never occurred to me after I got started. I love the material, but it's just so confusing. I didn't sleep well, seem to have a virus and am running on empty.

Well, tomorrow has got to be a better day. I love this little quilt. I stuck myself enough times with the seam ripper, but didn't break the skin.

Just sayin.' 

I'm so tired it feels like a train is on top of my shoulders. Some of it is just fibromyalgia talking.

Good evening, and God bless.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, thank you kindly for the rep. I so wasn't expecting it. The ziggurat is done, and has 672 pieces in the symmetric "staircases" placed around the center (shown above). I'm so pleased with it, I truly regret not being able to photograph it, and it does need a border. It has been eating the majority of my waking hours for the last 4 days and nights, and it will be another hour and a half placing the border around. 

It's just going to be a simple border. I shot my time wad on the puzzle the quilt tended to be around the middle horizontal squares area. It was total confusion in certain areas. I will have to clean up my act, divide the quilt into 5 sections, isolating the confusion area as the east-west line between two unfriendly and contentions rivals. There really was no need to take 4 days to do a 1.5 day job. None: but I did it all by myself!

Here are some scans of finished areas on the quilt, starting with a corner.


----------



## freedombecki

Other views and the center:


----------



## freedombecki

Today is a happy day. The final 2 borders (though small) were added this morning, and I'm so happy to be done. I'm free!!! 

Ziggurat quilt border:


----------



## freedombecki

I just saw the best quilt show since the NY red and white show I saw online that was held in NYC in March this or last year, and you would have to see this gifted man's work to appreciate what art quilts can be. His name is Luke Haynes, he is an architect from Seattle WA and he is making some of the most gorgeous stuff you ever saw. Please visit his blog if you want to do yourself a favor. I briefly glanced at it for the past 2 hours, hardly opened more than a few pages, and he has archives back I would like to go back and visit sometime. He has done endless amazing works of art, you just need to set yourself some time and see more than I did in a couple of hours it seems. He's just amazing. I invited him to come here and share whatever he'd like to, but he probably has a lot better things to do. As I said, do yourself a favor--go here and explore:

Luke Haynes blog​


----------



## freedombecki

Today was spent vacuuming under the sewing machine, and while I was down there, I looked under my bed, took out last winter's leftover thread boxes, vacuumed and wiped them down, then moved about 15 boxes with leftovers in them & reviewed their content. Tomorrow, I hit the other side of the room, move that bunch of boxes (they're bigger) and will try to sort into color groups. That means no sewing. 

But you have to regroup now and then. So regroup it is.

In the meantime, here's a quilt by she who could not wait for her mama to finish the quilt so she could claim it (a find at quiltingboard.com):



































That's one of the reasons why my quilt tops go into sealed plastic bags.​


----------



## freedombecki

^^^That said, I think I will go reward myself by making a crazy quilted square from some scraps I found on the floor and washed up.

​


----------



## Amelia

freedombecki said:


> Today was spent vacuuming under the sewing machine, and while I was down there, I looked under my bed, took out last winter's leftover thread boxes, vacuumed and wiped them down, then moved about 15 boxes with leftovers in them & reviewed their content. Tomorrow, I hit the other side of the room, move that bunch of boxes (they're bigger) and will try to sort into color groups. That means no sewing.
> 
> But you have to regroup now and then. So regroup it is.
> 
> In the meantime, here's a quilt by she who could not wait for her mama to finish the quilt so she could claim it (a find at quiltingboard.com):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's one of the reasons why my quilt tops go into sealed plastic bags.​








awwwwwww


----------



## freedombecki

Amelia said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Today was spent vacuuming under the sewing machine, and while I was down there, I looked under my bed, took out last winter's leftover thread boxes, vacuumed and wiped them down, then moved about 15 boxes with leftovers in them & reviewed their content. Tomorrow, I hit the other side of the room, move that bunch of boxes (they're bigger) and will try to sort into color groups. That means no sewing.
> 
> But you have to regroup now and then. So regroup it is.
> 
> In the meantime, here's a quilt by she who could not wait for her mama to finish the quilt so she could claim it (a find at quiltingboard.com):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's one of the reasons why my quilt tops go into sealed plastic bags.​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> awwwwwww
Click to expand...

Thanks, amelia. I have to be a little calloused. I have two of the most precious animals anywhere in the world--Touch the boy cat, and Music the girl dog. I'm allergic to both of them. I have to sleep with 2 closed doors between me and my 2 sweeties. They have to sleep with 2 closed doors between each other or there would be 2 pet cemetary spots filled right away. I can hug and cuddle them for less than a minute, when I have to go wash everywhere I touched them or suffer the consequences. And I take an allergy pill just so I can touch them a couple of times a day and wash the touching off. 

So, my quilt tops go into plastic baggies. They go to needy kids, and one things kids do not need is a blanket covered with allergens that would make the 1 in 10 kids ill due to allergies. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Working on another star quilt, nothing to show, however. on this one, I grouped a very cheerful pale teal with a brilliant modern hot orange and some light green old-fashioned printed flowers that are tiny, packed and show pumpkin-orange aster blossoms, pine green leaves, and some darkish teal buds. The light green cut into small squares that measure 1.25" when finished. I cut a hundred browns to mix in (or more since I really didn't count) with greens, reds, blues, and turquoise/teals plus what few thirties fabrics that were darker than the light green tiny print (possibly a 20s print or 70s replication of 20s print). The light green material arrived in an e-bay bid sale in which only 2 or 3 greens were in the 150 estate fabrics that came in a 40-pound box. I couldn't believe how fantastic those fabrics were. All the fabrics had been washed, pressed, measured, and tagged with tape as to size of the piece. The seller did a lot of homework, and for $96, I got the same # of yards I would have paid around $1200 at today's prices of $11 per yard. I'm now starting to understand why we pay what Europe was paying 25 years ago--our transportation costs went through the roof when the price of gasoline practically matched prices Great Britain and France were paying 25 years ago. From what I've seen online of Great Britain's and Dutch's cottons, they are selling fabrics that cost over $20 per yard, and many extra-fine prints are already knocking on the door of $30 per yard. Of course, they are paying for the long-staple traditional silk-like Egyptian cottons that route through the Middle East to reach their European destinations. Our fine cotton, just as beautiful, was manufactured at Kobe, Japan, until a huge temblor levelled Kobe about 6 or 7 years ago (maybe longer, maybe not, I can't remember exactly when now, having retired 3 years ago).

Anyway, I did a lot of digging through at least one cache of brown fabrics in a huge bin in one of the bedrooms I converted into my fabric storage area for often-used fabrics that are graded as to color. I still have more browns I haven't cut yet, if I care to cut more, and I'm pretty sure somewhere, there is another group of browns. Who knows! I still have 9 bins of fabric from the Church closet that was cleaned out a year or so ago, and have used from only one of the bins to make a charity quilt. I gathered all the red scraps and did a star like the one I'm doing now with browns and assorted colors all around, except the earlier one dominated in reds and was so fun. 

I'm including a picture of one of the log cabin star quilts I did earlier this year or late last year, one, I'm not sure when, but in the last year, for sure. Instead of yellow, the one I'm doing for the past few days had a light blue print around the log cabin star, followed by orange and white modern square rounds and the 1.25" squares in border, except this time all the lights are the light green print described above. When and if I get it done soon, the outside border will be composed of the remainder of the pleasant bright orange modern print. I so love this quilt.

Oh, yes. The second picture is of the quilt I finished (finally!) last week. Since something has malfunctioned between my printer and computer, I have no way of showing the finished quilt tops now, so sorry. Thanks to those who drop by and say hello. It has a positive effect on my production of quilt tops for the charity closet the local quilt guild has.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, and I just have to do this one when I'm done with this last star quilt. It's the tree up above that I charted somewhere one day and was reasonably pleased with the outcome. I'll have to cut more greens, but not more browns, since they're all cut and raring to go. Ok, not so raring to go. I did cut an extra set of the + or - 100 browns, but I have 8 hours of intesive sewing just to get the 3-400 squares border completed. I finished 48 squares last night, but won't have enough to attach to the top and bottom edge until I have the first 100 sewn. The vertical area is already longer than the horizontal areas, so by the time I'm done, there well may be closer to over 400 squares because the number of squares on the sides will require an additional 100 squares since I've been doubling borders by adding larger ones top and bottom than side to side. That's too complex unless you're into postage stamp quiltmaking. Tawwy.

Here's my heart's desire for this upcoming week: to complete this quilt top, designed who knows when earlier this year: (I have to start dating my schemas!)

I think the sky will be done in a diamond pattern made from turquoise fabrics I have on hand.


----------



## freedombecki

Time to sew and sew. This is the boring part. The good part is when the small parts do something that adds sparkle to the rest of the quilt. The postage stamps on the first row, though, take such a long time. The green fabric will make this different from the totally scrappy ones. Not sure what it will look like yet. Signing off. Hope everyone has a totally wonderful weekend, what is left of it, that is.

See if there's a picture somewhere online to get the juices flowing again...
here we go: a controlled postage stamp small quilt with a diamond in the center--in some neutral colors:




quilts of Shady Maple​


----------



## freedombecki

This one, too is a controlled postage stamp quilt both as a top and in quilt sections (quilt as you go, sort of):

credits to soft expressions
I recommend the book. This is just one of the howtos inside:




​


----------



## freedombecki

They're wonderful. I love what we refer to as "Controlled" Postage stamp quilts. Unlike the lacksadaisical (but absolutely wonderful) one-patch quilt that looks like someone blindfolded theselves and started reaching into the bucket of tiny squares, sewing together in the order they randomly picked squares, the controlled postage stamp goes by a pattern. I'm showing three below for the edification of those who are interested in learning some of the peculiarities of our mothers' (and some fathers') astonishing combinations. One of the prettiest ones you'll ever see is on Georgia Bonesteel's cover (and how tos inside) of a controlled postage stamp quilt. Sometime this week, I'll try to locate one with its cover intact.The nae of her book is "Bright Ideas for Lap Quilting." (if memory serves me right). Mine may still be packed away somewhere, and my printer is still on the bum, so I couldn't show you even if I had it in my quilt-loving little hands. 

Anyway, here are three examples of controlled postage stamp quilts I found on ebay this morning. If you are a collecter, you just can't go wrong on this type of quilt. In the first place, the only way people can appreciate a postage stamp quilt is to take 1296 different small squares of 1.5" cloth, sew them together 36x36, and you will have a square yard of fabric if your quilter's quarter inch is true on your sewing machine. If it isn't, you need to clean up your act by measuring 9 pieces sewn together in a small square. That will tell you what kind of alteration you need to make on your quarter inch seam allowance. Also, if you worked in a factory ever, you may have a real bee up your butt about not using pins, since almost every factory has gotten away from pinning. Sorry, you just need pins to do tiny squares unless you have 95 years of experience in sewing and wisdom from on high. Use Swiss silk pins. I forgot the name of the company (INOX?), but a good quilt store worth its salt will carry them if the company is still in business.

I just love controlled postage stamp quilts. Here are some below:


----------



## freedombecki

OK, I couldn't resist. I went and found Georgia Bonesteel's book, Bright Ideas for Lap Quilting at Georgia Bonesteel dot com. If you want one of the best quilting books of all time, one in the top 100 this is one of them. I have at least 2 copies, and I just linked to where you can get one of the last new copies for less than half price sale today (I don't know who sells what or how long it lasts. I gathered it ends when the last copy is outta there). No telling how many printings she did. When I was in business, the cover of this book just sold itself. Not everyone will try a postage stamp quilt, but if you could do just one Gone With the Wind, this would be a good one. The one on her cover may have been done by a large group of her students/aficionados. It's been a while since I browsed through the book. In fact, if of the thousands of books I have on quilting, and I could only keep 10 of them, I'd want this one just for the joy and pleasure of looking at this exquisite quilt. I'm sorry the picture transferred so poorly. If you want to see how truly beautiful it is, get the book. Of course, if you want to have some serious fun under the quilt, you'll have to make your own quilt. 

On second thought, that could take a couple of years if you're a dedicated procrastinator.


----------



## freedombecki

Choosing what quilt you like is truly a subjective sport. I have to say of all the quilts I perused online looking for something good to show this am, I just kind of fell in love with this quilt that I found someone selling at ebay. She (or he) was good enough to show a lot of closeups, which include a collector's nirvana of a quilt having a Prairie Point border. Also someone from Massachusetts would truly love the name of the controlled arrangement it was designed to be, a "Boston Commons" quilt. It is furthermore made valuable because it is a quilt constructed in the 1940s, and those prints will never again be available unless a fabric company takes the quilt, and does a 1,000 piece line of the fabrics in it, which could sink a company or set its sails for a very profitable life if others went apes over 40s, particularly key teachers. Nah, ain't gonna happen. Those were war years. Maybe that's why women did complex quilts then, to get them through the long, lonely nights while their man was at war.  There were some pretty fabrics printed in the 40s. The only trouble was, most of the nation's focus was going into making uniforms for soldiers, and unlike today, you couldn't have 99k choices as you do when you go on ebay and load "red quilt fabric" into the browser there to make that gorgeous work.

Oh, yeah. Boston Commons. There are a lot more closeups , I only saved a few of them. This quilt is to be totally enjoyed. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

More closeups of the Boston Commons Postage Stamp quilt:
(I had a space left over in Managed Attachments, so the last one is just one I whipped up for the center of an otherwise bland little charity quilt a few months back, already delivered)


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes Credits: Trocadero Antiques Sorry it was sold already if you're a collector. You'll have to make your own. 
Really pretty 1880s Lancaster, PA postage stamp quilt. Unique property: lattice center on point.

Just browsing this evening. I decided to mow the field today, so not much got done on the little other quilt, except I cut the final strips to get one 1.75" square from each one that finishes to 1.25"


----------



## freedombecki

It was cheaper to buy a new printer than to fix the old one. I got a Canon PIXMA mg 2120 for $29 at Wallyworld, and guess what! You don't have to fiddle with "refining" and you just push a button and save your scan. It doesn't take 95 seconds to load, either. 

I be show-and-telling soon. 

Test:


----------



## freedombecki

This top is by no means finished. Each side of 16x8=128 squares is taking several hours to assemble and attach. I haven't been able to work much when I can't sleep, due to economy worries and losing my allergy medicine and itching all the time. I just got my medicine refilled today, so tonight I will be sawing logs. Hopefully, this one will be finished sometime before midnight!


----------



## Foxfyre

Your knowledge of quilts is amazing Becki, and you demonstrate what a good person you are by all the quilts you make for the benefit of others.

It has probably already been posted, but are you aware of the national quilt project for HIV/AIDS?






yes, the lady in the photo is Laura Bush who continues to actively work in the fight against AIDS.  She writes in reference to the quilt:



> Today I visited the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was started to honor the 600,000 Americans who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. The Quilt now 48,000 panels, representing more than 94,000 individuals who lost their lives to AIDS.








As you can see there are many panels that will be added to the ones already on the fence.  Laura further writes today:



> In 1988, a lone panel was delivered quietly to the NAMES Project Foundation. Unlike any other panel submitted before or since, it arrived simply with a handwritten note that read: &#8220;I hope this quilt will find a permanent place and help mark the end of this devastating disease.&#8221; The panel itself simply said &#8220;The Last One&#8221;...


----------



## freedombecki

Thank you for sharing the HIV quilt that raised so much awareness about the AIDs/HIV virus which took the world by horrific surprise and America appeared as an unknown infection that destroyed the immunity systems of people in 2 communities--the Gay community, and the drug community that used shoot-up needles for quick delivery, and any babies born to mothers who tested positive for HIV. I have shared the quilt many times, but it was such a long time ago, I haven't kept up with it a lot in recent years. Seems last time I read on it it was the size of several football fields, in who know how many divisions. 

When people began to delve into the problems of the disease, and in trying to combat it, they found close cures to several types of cancers, so we owe a lot to those who died before the panaceas for living with the disease a near-normal life were found.

May someday there be a total cure to rid humanity (and Rhesus monkeys) of this and related diseases that kill people in less than 90 days sometimes.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally, here's the last border on the quilt I was working on above. It measures 47 x 63" and will fit a cot. Another goodly border could kick up the size to a twin bed if the Charity bees so choose. 

Oh, my, I've lost a couple of days. I just wrote the 28th on the label when today may be a different date than that. My computer says it is the 26th. Who knows?


----------



## freedombecki

I can't believe I did all that work on that quilt for the last week, when I got up and finished a similar one in 5 hours this morning. Fortunately, I found a long string of pieces from a quilt I had made years before in a sealed box. I just took the long string, made a top and bottom row of scrappy rectangles aorund one of the stars I made last year, and a few borders. First thing you know, it was a finished quilt. I guess the problem with the other quilt was the light green fabric I was just dying to use. I had to piece each square and attach it to a 42" length strip of the green, cut apart, press open, and sew. There were over 500 pieces when all was said and done, and they took 4 days, period. Oh, well, I've never made a flatter quilt that pressed out so nicely as that quilt, and it was pleasing to work with. This one was pleasing because it took a fraction of the time I spent on the other and it measures 42x56, which is a perfect size for a toddler to about a fifth grader. That's good for 8 years, 10 years if you count from birth.

I had the most beautiful piece of yellows in the recent box that had a hundred yards of cotton quilter's materials in it, and it had little peach-colored roses and buds on it with limey green leaves and stems. When you touched the cotton, it felt so good and sturdy. It was only about 40" wide, however, but who cares when a fabric is beautiful, good, AND sturdy to boot. I paired it with the scrappy border surrounded on each side by limey green material with a tiny aqua motif closely packed that popped the leaves on the roses and a golden yellow scroll material designed by Basic Grey designers, famed for their calligraphy papers, now designing for Moda Fabrics, Inc. I absolutely love this little quilt and will share pictures below. It was a stroke of luck I found those old leftover scraps that were sewn together all around. It's so nice to sandwich unknowns together in a border and not have to worry about matching everything, because since it's been at least 5 years since all those scraps were put together, it's integrity is history! hahaha! So here's the Golden Oldie:


----------



## freedombecki

And the irregular scraps from a scrappy Irish chain quilt sewn together in a long chain then bordered, the star center, and a side shot of 2 star points with borders:


----------



## freedombecki

This morning's work was completing the never-finished American coins quilt. It was originally called Chinese Coins, but in red white and blue, and a border that pops with firecrackers stars and hearts, it's American as apple pie, thus the name, "American Coins."

Sew happy to present it, too:


----------



## freedombecki

Not much news. I finished 40 squares for a small quilt for the shelter yesterday, but haven't sewn them together. 5x8, the squares are 8", so the size before sashing would be 5x8= 40 - seam allowances (2.5", to make 37.5") and length 8x8=64 - 3.5 = 60.5" length. before seam allowances. I should just do it! 

I did finish a Senior pillow sham but ran out of stuffing for the support pillow. I have more if I can find it. 

Win some, lose some. 

And the Senior pillow (a churn dash) shown partially below, front and back:


----------



## freedombecki

The pink and jade (turquoise a little to the green) quilt had such hot colors, I thought it might be nice to pick a couple of pretty fabrics to match.

All the pinks brought from Wyoming were either already used up or more bubblegum pink than raspberry pink like the fabric used.

So here's the Charm Windmill Quilt in pink and jade collaboration of colors. I bought a backup sash-and-set fabric, but I already had the awesome dark green modern mistletoe fabric and found a few colors to use as sets and the two borders:


----------



## freedombecki

Some more charm windmill squares to go into this quilt top:


----------



## freedombecki

Two of the fabrics weren't shown above, and they're the ones that made the final cut for the border, so with not much ado, Here are the results of this finished work. I have been working away at this each day and it was painstaking, yes, but ever so pleasant to one who likes a little busy in quilts that would otherwise be mundane to do. Here's what two zany border fabrics (scans 1 and 2) can do to lift rather mundane small blocks into a quilt for a one of God's own shelter kids.


----------



## freedombecki

The reason a change had to be made was because the brilliant lime and yellow stripe did not rock any foundations when bordering the green; there was a dearth of the raspberry bubble-stripe, so it couldn't be laid lengthwise and used with the brilliant lime and yellow stripe. The raspberry picked up well between differing lifesaver circles on the white ground, and its selfsame print on black just made me smile. That's how subjective visuals may be gauged--do they draw a response of cheer, shock, grief, opposition, or agreement? The more yes checks, chances are your subjective choices were good for you. My grandfather said, "If you try something, just remember, your judgment is every bit as good as someone elses' so go with it." He accepted no excuses for lack of vision, although he had this giant charming heart in him--always encouraging a leap and bound rather than a timidly executed tiptoe. 

One afterthought--no expenditure of 80 hours on this little top was ever planned, it just happened. It measures about 58 by 72" give or take a couple of inches. Hopefully, the quilt would get a young person from 5th grade through 4 years of college. With care, it could be saved for a future child, but chances are, it'd be pretty worn by then, because kids do not know quilt care unless taught respect at an early age and expected to take care of their own property.


----------



## freedombecki

Brick red quilt day. These bricks have been cut out for several months now. The ebay fabrics that arrived a couple of weeks ago had this odd little beige fabric with blue ditzies all over it. There were 2 yards, which seemed to be perfect as mortar between the red bricks. 

So far, so good:


----------



## freedombecki

Brick red quilt finished at 11 am! Yay! I'm free!


----------



## freedombecki

The brick red quilt was fun. Sometimes when making brick quilts, tinier strips for mortar than one inch are used. The time seems to triple and drag, not sure why. It just does. 1" strips had already been cut from late in last winter when the strips for brick red were cut, and there are enough bricks (different, too) to make another small quilt. This one measured around 50x74" according to the measurements I made. That could go an inch either way, since the quilt was folded when it was measured. One little tuck can be a half inch in error, so it is smart to add an inch when preparing  to quilt such a quilt. Also, the mortar leaves error margin, too, so pressing seams open lessens the issue. Otherwise=, the quilt crumples up a bit, leaving egregious areas that when compounded, can cause issues at final press or even at quilting time, when the batting is sandwiched between the back and front of the quilt. If the front is a mess, the quilting will be, too, as a given.

Here's a brick quilt from browsing:

A pattern with quilt kit is available at quilt photo credit page here for anyone who hates shopping and spending a lot more than is needed for any given quilt. Buying a kit can cut costs by over 50% sometimes if overestimation is made. Also, kits often use less than given yardages in quilt instruction books, with many a quilt writer adding 1/8 extra fabric in case a newbie miscuts a fabric or an experienced quilter dips into her quilt kit to make another project in a pinch before starting the quilt from which the quilt kit is cut. Only when pillows or shams to match are desired, purchasing more fabric is wise.





​


----------



## freedombecki

Was slummin th' net for something fun for August, and what's more fun than ripe watermelons, remembered in December on a quilt? Here are some and the blogs they were found on:





Quilt Cove Class Blog MN





The House Mouse Quilt Gallery





Hand-made Quilts by Peggy, who wins blue ribbons at fairs. 

I think we're limited to three pictures. ​


----------



## freedombecki

Slummin' on ebay for a watermelon quilt was fun, too. Here are some results:





Watermelon Shuffle Kit
Probably made like my Chinese coins quilts, except this one is a kit, and aren't the batiks luscious! 

Also, some more ebay finds:​


----------



## freedombecki

Unusual 30s watermelon postage stamp Antique Quilt

My grandma made these way back when church bazaars were the rage ...










Cute Stuff, From My Heritage

​


----------



## freedombecki

This is from Free Patterns Dot Com. 






Cute Coaster, Free Pattern dot com, only you have to sign up to get the pattern for size 10 crochet cotton (fine cotton thread, as for potholders, too)

And for Dabs, who likes to double crochet:






Free Patterns Dot Com Placemat set​


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes a pattern is so precious, you can't link their picture, and this one is worth looking at if you are into quiltmaking, and even if you're not. 

Link to Cabbage Rose Watermelon Quilt

Another really, really gorgeous pattern is here: Incredibly talented, Leslie Beck dot com






I love the way her quilt has black sets in the sashing to give the impression of watermelon seeds. Talk about thinking outside the box... ​


----------



## freedombecki

My niece, Rosa is here. She would like to see how we scan a picture of a quilt into the files from the scanner screen. I have an old quilt top I sit on that was made like a quilt made in the thirties that was used on a quilt magazine cover, except I used my own solid color fabric in Amish technique. 

Rosa says "hello, everyone." 

She got to see the process of taking a quilt, placing it on the scanner, filing the scan, and pulling the file up through on USMB's Manage attachment area that is below your message screen when you are posting your reply on a thread here.


----------



## freedombecki

A Show from the Grand Canyon State

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce15B9203QU]"100 Years, 100 Quilts" Arizona Centennial show opens - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I uncovered from my little EBAY estate fabric stash purchase last month a very old piece of blended dacron/cotton that, from the yellowing in the white areas of the fabric tell me it's at least 25 years old, and possibly older than that by another 25 years. I compared it to my contemporary blues, and I have absolutely nothing in the time slot that fabric was printed, made more confusing by the fact that I only purchased 100% cottons for my quilt store of 25 years, and never blends, which are outside my area of expertise. The fabric smells old, quite frankly, so I have no idea how old. My nose came without an objective dater in its makeup. 

When looking for matches, there were none in the 44 yards of blues that came in one of the four packages that matched either the yellow/grayed white nor the dusty blues. Additionally, there was a crank color that I missed the first time that I perceived to be a very dark jade green at first. 

So I thought, what the heck, let's take one of the 9 blocks down to the quilt store to see what sets it off better than my little boxed pickings. The white was difficult, but the blue was impossible. However, fortunately there was just a small amount of dark blue, and one of the blues at the store while not an exact match was so in character with the dark blue on the print I brought 1.5 yards home with 1.25 yards of the off-white that while not perfect, fit the family color brought on by aged fabric. A batik (which normally is never an option with me since I like prints) caught my eye, and it had that green in the melee of its color spread, so in it went, also. I now think I can make a garden-maze style border with 3 strips to sash and set with those, and one dusty blue I picked out that was eh-close-but-not-exactly-matching in the box. That gives me four Crayons to play with, and I can surely pull another dark forest green (that my trip to the store with its daylight lights) revealed. Jade green actually knocks on the door of turquoise, but the green I have to work with was a definite forest color when I compared it to the few dark greens I found today.

Here's part of one of the squares, today's boughten fabrics, and some "maybes" from the stash:


----------



## freedombecki

Overnight, I re-evaluated the 9 squares. They're poly cottons, and I trimmed them by hand, ready to go into a small top. My thought was, "Why mix a $4 / yard blend with new $11 / yard cotton quilter's fabrics? It just didn't computer. So I went back to the Ebay "find" and found fabris, while too heavy or too light, were still within the range of what one may use in a quilt, and found similar tones in blues, whites, and that tacky dark green to make a small quilt with. I had to scrimp, but got enough to do 16 elongated quilt patches to go around 9 blocks, which I finished last night before retiring.


----------



## freedombecki

I found a pretty royal blue blend that will go well between long sashes--just enough to frame 9 squares if all goes well at cutting time and all the printed squares are the same size. Unfortunately, the squares are grossly offgrain, which makes them lopsided. Pairing them with 100% cotton quilter's fabric would have been a sure-fire way of getting a quilt top shaped like a parallelogram, which would not fit someone's standard quilt machine or even a hand-quilter's frame without severe modification of the frame to also be a parallelogram.  Or setting the entire quilt catywumpus on elongated triangles over a yard as to length and width. Think I'm thinking up nightmares? Nope. In my 25 years of owning a quilt shop, 17 of them were spent quilting people's quilt tops. Some were beautiful, but shaped like trapezoids. You can't fix stupid. If you try, the maker will think YOU messed up HER beautiful quilt top. Best thing to do is to hand it back to her with an estimate of your skilled labor and 85 hours of unripping, resizing squares, and sewing them into proper squares, how much smaller the resultant work would be. Some people don't like your frank discussion, either, but you have to do it or you could be legally liable to compensate the quilter for your turning her quilt top into the nightmare that it actually is. Your best strategy is to take pictures of the top with its measurements disclosed by laying a tape measure over the horizontal area that measures five feet, and the horizontal area that measures four feet; the vertical area that shows a length of 8 feet, and the vertical area of the opposite side that measures 9 feet.

That's a pretty messed-up scenario, but sometimes new quilters hear their friends' well-meaning but naughty little fibbie, "Oh, that little problem? It'll all come out in the _quilting_!"

And I have seen proportional nightmares so horrifying it made me pull out the tape measure and measure every single quilt top I quilted after that.

I have no idea of how many quilts I quilted for the public and for charities over the years, but they numbered well over 600 quilts in the 17 years of quilting prior to me getting fibromyalgia and being unable to do the physical part of machine quilting which could include standing over the quilt machine for 3 days while you pinned the quilt top, bottom, and batting to the frame, fighting weight, pull, and cutting errors made by other people or even your own mistakes until you learned exactly what you needed to do to get the quilting done properly--use good, flat, pressed cotton materials, a sharp needle, a clean machine and work area, and a dozen prewound machine bobbins in the same cotton thread as used on top. The good part was seeing people's faces who received the quilts for their handicapped day-care center, squad-car police secretary putting them in the closet for pickup by traffic cops who often are at the scene of traffic accidents where fatalities can be reduced by treatment for shock by wrapping victims in a blanket or quilt. Shock is this weird condition of the human mind that has a body suffering a harsh crash or blow that panics if no one is nearby and the shock victim perishes. A little word of comfort or just the words "You're going to be okay. Help is on the way, and wrapping him in a blanket" will save his life. I don't know why that is. I just know comforting victims of a car accident reduces casualties, and the truth be known, cops probably save as many lives as doctors do by knowing the basic tenets of shock victim treatment and use reassurance of well-being as a weapon against that person's panic.

Oh, I took the 10 finished quilts of July down to the Charity Bees closet yesterday. Some guild members were having a class on Sunbonnet Sue. A couple of the girls went out of their way to tell me how much they appreciated the quilt tops I brought to the closet. I guess I've turned in 60 or 70 tops since January. I missed March doing crocheted dishrags for the Guild garage sale of crafts, but seems I spent April through June making up for lost time. So no prizes for me on accounting this year. I just try to knock off 10 tops in 30 days, which takes a lot of each day/morning. Speaking of that, it's time to go hit the sewing machine and try to make this little polycotton nightmare into a sweetie pie quilt top for some child who will need a blankie this winter.

If you read through all my blather on this bloggy post, I hope you have yourself a beautiful rest of the day for your trouble, and possibly a determination to get out the old First Aid book and read or review the part about the phenomena of human shock in traffic accidents. 

And here is the above-mentioned elongated 9-patch square and a couple of more of the blocks cut yesterday. If you click on the thumbnail, the first thing you might notice is using the sides for a straight-edge, that they do not fit a square paradigm but are slightly skewed. In a blend, that property does not iron out as it might on a cotton, seeming slight as 3/8 of an inch. But on a blend, It's a top disaster waiting to happen and will take all the skill I have to overcome it in piecing the sashing and borders from similarly-aberrant fabrics due to a polyester content that smart quilters avoid when possible. I grew up hating to throw anything away from my mother's stories about living through the Great Depression of the 1930s.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally. I can do anything else. The polymonster quilt is done! I'm free again! I don't know when I've ever drug my heels in like on this quilt. I finally just finished it in frustration. There isn't a snowball's chance you can match corners on so many different blends of polyester and cotton. The light blue polished cotton was throughout the quilt, though, and the outer border is all cotton. Those were the only two that worked out reasonably well. Everything else smacked. 

To do this, I stayed up late last night until I dropped, then got up at 3 am with energy to spare to finishe it, which took 4 more hours. I have  no idea how I could have sunk 20 whole hours into one quilt with cheater squares, and it hasn't even been turned over to the charity quilt girls yet. 

I did grow fond of country blue mixed with forest green, however, although it has been a long time since these prints were made--70s or 80s, and possibly earlier. It's hard to tell. The forest green is almost to the jade side, and there was just enough of everything in the box to finish it. It came out about 58 inches wide and 71" long. It has over 3 square yards of surface, more than usual for my little shelter quilts.

Hopefully the girls will quilt and get it out to a needy person by the time it gets cold this winter.

Here's the final scan of the outer upper border:


----------



## freedombecki

​On my way to the sewing machine to see how long it would take to get this baby going and done... Sew much to do!  It's around 2:15pm. 24 hours?


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the last three hours were spent cutting 2.5" strips (to make 2" squares), cutting squares, and making this square. Also, I copied the above square onto the scanner and printed out a copy, since I wish to leave the original alone and as is. I divided the squares into 5-patch, 25 square groups so there will be 24 squares, and they are labeled A-X just because. Square in is lightly penciled in with two shades of green, indicating the attempt to keep it simple by dividing the darker greens from the lighter greens. This may or may not be a good thing, but it's a place to start.

The light aqua blue corner is a part of the sky, and I draped another piece of slightly deeper blue fabric (still pretty light) to be the dark part of the light and medium light schema carried through into the naive quilt sky. I can't find my pin cushion, and the squares are soooo not perfectly aligned this time. *sigh* Perfection is always going to be on the NEXT quilt with me.


----------



## freedombecki

We used to have a wonderful poster here named Sunshine, but she had some health issues and eventually just left. Earlier on this thread, when she started sharing her wonderful counted cross stitch work, I became inspired to see if I couldn't someday channel charted work into some of the 1.25" postage stamp quilts. One day I was doodling on a little pad I always take to Daisy's Diner at lunch and saw a tree form onto a small sheet of paper that looked just like my favorite tall pine tree that stood directly outside the huge window. When I got home, I got out the engineering paper (gridded) and staying as true as possible to shape, replicated the tall pine that is now just a skeletal remain that will fall by this time in the next year or two as nature takes her down. I posted it here at least 3 times in the last 6 months, hoping Sunshine might come back and make some suggestions or just show something she might be working on, if her disease process allows it and she feels like doing things she's always loved to do.

That said, the quilt I'm working on is being done in the 5-patch, 25 square method I've used before (there are 10 grids to the inch on graph papers I used to work on, and I still think in "tensies" - haha this is make-your-own-word day!) In the future, I might consider either making more squares and making them smaller to fit on the scanner or work in 4x5 blocks, which fit the scanner that has an 8.5x11" surface, and 4x5 unfinished rectangles would appear as 8.5x10.5 pieces that would actually make sense. Yep. That's probably what I'll do next time. I'll demarcate the dark lines at 4x5 squares, sew out 20 squares rather than 25 squares, and that'll be a lot easier to show gridded work. 

Well, until the next quilt, here are some of the squares, minus 2 inches of work on one side. Also, I'll see if I can find the instructive square where I've added more color while trying to determine if the leftmost square is a dark or a light. In quilting, that's how we get contrast. In fine work like Sunshine's charted work, you can change colors of thread. Textures in quilting are such a genius task, I don't go there. I prefer getting the tops made, and now I've lost count whether I took 60 or 70 quilts to the bees closet. I should read way back and count pictures, although some aren't posted because they were found in boxes from window samples I'd made in the 23 years of owning my own store and trying to show people fabric use ideas. A bolt would just sit there for 6 months radiating beauty, but until I lopped off a yard and made a sampler, it'd keep sitting there. By showing how to use the fabric in any number of ways, those samples sold fabric that should have sold itself if people ever made enough quilts to get an idea the next quilt is the one you challenge yourself to making a better quilt than you did this time. *sigh*

here go the squares I did today for the tall pine tree quilt. They correspond with the alphabets I drew in the 5-patch schema:


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, I still haven't found my pincushion yet. With all this fabric I will have to cut 2.5" squares from over 170 pieces of cloth. I think I can come up with most of it, too, as I have at least 80 huge bins of cloths, some are color-coordinated, and some are quilt starts with enough of the same fabric to complete the start. I found another start just the other day. It's hard to part with, though. I loved the clown print in it. I have a collection of clowns. I just love clowns to death. *sigh*

Here's the changes done to the schema today. Oh, my goodness, I didn't cut much as I should've today. And company is coming next week, too.

I was just thinking this morning when adding lights and darks, this quilt is acting like a huge puzzle, but maybe using a different fabric in each square will make this quilt like no other. It still isn't a masterwork of shading a much smarter quilter would plan, but hopefully the use of alternating light and dark with plane surfaces showing an explosion of visual textures will help this little quilt along. I did a tree in Irish chain style back when, thinking the Irish chain would disguise the yukky fabric I used in the quilt. <<<<gong>>>> Didn't happen. Fortunately, people just ignore ugly stuff. But for some reason the ugly fabric disappeared off the bolt. Maybe someone found the fabric a better home between prettier fabrics... sometimes people will just subliminally figure out a good plan for a fabric hanging on the wall in some obscure place in a quilt store. The fabric was a ditzy floral, brownish greens dominated. It really would have been a great fabric to use as a path, but it went into the experimental leaf area of the tree instead. Sheeze, my tall pine skeleton tree, as sad as it makes me to see it, is prettier than that darn tree quilt done all those years ago. It's infant sized and quilted, but I just didn't have the heart to give it to some poor kid as it really is that ugly.

I'm gonna faint. The Great white egret who hangs here just flew across the larger part of the lake. He seems to know when I need some eye candy.


----------



## freedombecki

1/2 inch graph paper, 16x21

If you make 2 copies of this schema by hitting "fit to page", you have a half inch grid to chart the tree (above), keeping in mind you have 2 squares of sky above the topnotch green square of the tall pine and 2 squares of grass below the brown trunk square, with 16 squares above the centerline and 16 squares below the center line.

That's all I did yesterday between bouts to the bathroom with a slight case of summer flu or something. I really wanted to cut and sew, but it didn't happen. *sigh* I'm feeling a little better today, my throat is a little less sore aches in my back. Got up early this morning and cut enough new greens to do another square or two, I think, and I was working on the sky day before yesterday which is simple. I took two tones of pale aqua blue for the sky, which looks great with the scattering of green fabrics in the tall pine tree. But I'm skeptical because that last tree quilt I made was so ugly, I may quilt something else over the top of it some time or cut it up and line a bag. lol


----------



## freedombecki

(This was written to a friend who told me he couldn't see a pattern on the page above.) hahahaha

I forgot to say some things about using the paper as foundation piecing. Reverse side foundation piecing can be done using one inch squares of fabric onto a paper ground. Our mothers used paper to piece difficult-to-handle works like "world without end" (a star pieced with little bitty strips) and "spider web" (a circle divided into 8 equal parts with straight lines, separated, and strip pieced. You then cut or just sewed under the curved outside piece and either added made-up pieces to make a square or appliqued the spider web onto a black, white, or other color background.

Today, we just draw lines on paper, put a couple of pieces of fabric together along a seam line, turn the paper over, sew the quarter inch seam, turn it over and press each piece out going the opposite way from one anther, rinse, repeat, all the way across. On a machine you put your stitch length at one millimeter or one-and-a-half, and that way, after the whole thing is done, the paper pops off easy. Otherwise, if the stitch is too long, it could take 3 hours to remove all the paper fragments from a 12-inch square area. That's a true pain, so the small perforations made by the machine needle if close enough together, just pop apart with little residue left behind. The other use for the paper is to transfer the design on an earlier page, which they also copy out, by charting rows 1 and 2 in alternating light and dark sky colors The next row, place tree top center square at center; Row 4, count 9 spaces, place one square in 10, 11, and 12, count 9 spaces. And so forth. It's easier to chart it visually for others. Once the spaces are marked either with a washout pencil our counted and sewn, counted, sewn, counted, sewn, etc--any method the person doing the piecing likes, it becomes a tiny postage stamp quilt of the tree in the pattern on the page preceding this one.

For this quilt, which is 21 by 64, the empty page turned sideways and used as a foundation gives you one half of the tree, say the top, and the second page, you just chart everything in the lower half of the tree picture. I left space to put two sky or grass rows both at either side and top and bottom, to center the tree, because when you bind the miniature work, it looks more like a real picture if you have a little empty space around your object. Too many things can go wrong when an inexperienced quilter does stuff. If one row was a little off, and there was no ground or sky around, you could get odd looking rectangles along the binding line and not squares. Adding space around a picture makes the binding not an issue. Who cares if a dispersive sky or grass area is a little weird? Not so if it's a picture part. Some things the eye does not forgive, and that is a bad binding on a quilt, a quilt that is six inches wider at the top than the bottom, whing-whang quilts, unquilted quilts, on and on.

When the two halves are completed, the squares will all match if you use the reverse method unless the office fairy made the squares enlarged or reduced (which my cheapy printer will not do). hahahaha, so you just match them up, sew through paper and fabric to get a whole picture.

To get finished half inch squares of fabric, you have to use 1 inch pieces of fabric, sew small stitches, and have the finished seams going all one way on the other side than you sew on lines. People who do foundation quilting could if desired do it that way. A beginner is going to tell herself, oh, why go to all that trouble, then set about to start the flawed work that only a miracle could help them finish. How do I know all this? Because I too was once a beginner, and everything that could be done wrong, I have done it, and sometimes done it repeatedly until I figured out a better way, which I teach, but which people like me, the near-unteachable artist, had to go through the rebellion process and destroy quite a little bit of fabric before learning the lessons of accuracy that smarter people just accept when told without pushing the envelope to the max.

The only other thing I can say is that the page was left blank on purpose. If you set your printer to "color" it will pick up both the blue and the dark lines, so you will have a superior separation of 1/4" squares from 1/2" squares. If you have no graph paper at home, printing the page will give you a piece to play with to chart your own design. I'll try and chart a little design now and then and sew it out from time to time, but right now, I have to keep that 30 more charity quilts before the end of the year, and it may be a cold day next January when I finally get back here to print out paper.

If you're a new quilter and didn't understand a word I said, get a good book on foundation piecing that covers at least 5 or 6 techniques, or just one on reverse foundation piecing, if you can find one. If you just hate foundation piecing, go ahead, just sew the parts together. I'm doing the 2.5" squares that way, and I still haven't found my @$%*# pin cushion yet. I have no idea, but I'm resolved this charity quilt will just have to be not too perfect. I did 4 squares and only resewed 5 or 6 pieces to fit. I'm not doing any more of that. It's ridiculous. It's only a quilt, will probably be dragged over a floor or <gulp> used once and then thrown away and burned at the dump. 

See what risks we quilters take? The nicest young people in the world can take clorox to a master work quilt that took 1900 hours to make and decimate it in 6 months of use by washing bedding twice a week. Another will be handing it down with instructions to a child who preserves her quilts well, for 200 years or more. Care is everything to the quilter who did her best. OTOH, people get tired of seeing the same quilt forever, so they do tend to get rid of them after a few years, usually after a picnic they accidentally spread the quilt over ground that had a car sitting there that leaked oil all over the ground, and it wasn't discovered until somebody set a hot bowl of baked beans over the spot and set the oil color forever onto the back and into the batting of the quilt. That's why when I give a quilt away, I talk to God and ask him to take it off my hands when it is given into the possession of someone else. That way I have no emotional tie to the quilt, it's not mine any more. Yep.


----------



## freedombecki

Cut fabrics till midnight last night before vespers. It's good to remember family and friends and pray for people who need God's strength and love to get by. 

The tall pine quilt has an ordered space of charm in the tree's greenery and trunk base. Each square of a charm quilt is different from any other in the quilt. While the sky background is done in a light and medium light aqua, and the grass is two shades of light green, I'm bolding the tree in as bright and dark greens as I can that still resembles a pine tree if you back off a little from it. I'm not sure how fading the background will work, but it's got to be better than the first tree quilt I made several years ago that was so bad, sometimes I turned it to its back, which was equally ugly, and pinned any number of unquilted pretty quilt squares on it for display in my shop for 20 years, maybe. Actually, a cork board is prettier than that quilt, hahahaha. Oh, "ve grow too soon aldt und too late schmardt." as the PA Dutch saying goes.


----------



## freedombecki

It was truly great to have those little stacks of bright/light green and dark greens to do squares M and P today. Also, I finished sewing up two long strips of five pieces in the two light blues picked for the sky to make squares Q, R, and T and the tops and bottoms of U, V, and X. All the grass squares and the lower portion of the sky are all done. I scanned 4 images and the tree so far. Exactly half the quilt is done, although I'm seriously considering adding two rows above the top of the schema in sky, if I have enough fabric cut.

Picture 1, Schema so far with bottom half completed in vitro

Picture 2, Square M

Picture 3, Square P


----------



## freedombecki

The final two pictures of today's work are 

Picture 1, Square Q which is also exactly like R and T, except T adds one more vertical row of sky.

Picture 2, Square U which is also exactly like V and X, except X adds 2 pieces vertically for sky and 4 pieces vertically for grass.

Picture 3, Schema again because the page turned.


----------



## freedombecki

Four more this morning, and company's coming. 

Picture 14.......Section I

Picture 15.......Section J

Picture 16.......Section K


----------



## freedombecki

Pine Tree Quilt

Picture 17....... Section J

Section E

Section F

I'm so ready for a nap. Been sewing since 5:15 this morning. *whew*

Just 8 more sections to go! That's a good thought. That means 3/4ths of the squares on the Pine Tree quilt are done.


----------



## freedombecki

Completed 2 more sections, G and H, while company is here...

And it's off to one more day of museums and Lake Livingston!

Picture 1 Section G 

Picture 2 Section H


----------



## freedombecki

Sections A, B, C, and D Done! All the 24 squares are done, but to center the tree and make it look right, I had to have a minimum of 2 sky blues all the way around, and the same for the green grass below.

Today, I had to sew about 6 different rows back together after sewing them together wrong and having to rip and redo. It cost about 3 hours in goofups. Oh, yes. I forgot to take my medicine last night for fibromyalgia and was having merry cramps in shoulders and calves by 4 am, so I took it 8 hours later than usual and paid the price in concentration issues this morning.

Picture 1, Section A

Picture 2, Section B

Picture 3, Section C


----------



## freedombecki

Picture 4, Section D (top right of quilt)

I had enough greens to do a really huge row I'm adding in the middle. It will add another 12" to help the child who gets the quilt have another year or two to grow, so instead of 64" that will make it 76" long before borders are added. I sure had no intention of makin it this tall, but I just can't stand to see all these nice green pieces going to waste. I was thrilled to find another 50 pieces of green in one of the boxes, and I know there's another 100 somewhere... but not sure where that somewhere is. So, here's row XY&Z as Picture 5:


----------



## freedombecki

Because 6 horizontal rows of 2.5" squares were added (.5" taken in seams), one more horizontal row may be necessary to answer any light or dark discrepancies that sometimes appear when the initial diagram gets smattered. Seems I had to add a 7th row at the bottom to fix the light-dark propensity to look correct. Sometimes quilters don't fix the problems as they come and leave a quilt that looks like the plan didn't work, to heck with it. I do try to avoid that impropriety when I can. Our mothers called any such effort their "obvious flaw." I already pushed that one to the max by losing my pin cushion and every corner is a thread off as a consequence. I mean, 819 obvious flaws? Nobody can top that, and I do not wish to exacerbate that with a flaw so bad it would give someone else a big headache. Not gonna do it. The quilt is 21 squares wide and 39 squares long. 21 x 39 = 819 total squares, unless I miscounted somehow. Best to get back to the machine and start sewing blocks together. I already sewed about 14 blocks together already. It's a good day. 

Row XYZ

Picture 27 The left side of XYZ

Picture 28 The right side of XYZ

Picture 30 The right center of XYZ


----------



## freedombecki

The bazillions of squares are all together in a tree quilt top. 

I'm very happy about it. Thanks to blu for putting a blurb in for charities which reminded me to complete the top. Now, all it lacks is a border, which I'll do tomorrow. It's late, and I'm adjusting to not using the medicine I used for leg cramps with fibromyalgia. I'm praying and am on a couple of people's prayer lists. When I feel leg cramps starting, I just stretch out on the orthopedic bed, send up a little prayer, and the comfort starts flooding in. I'm sure it was there because others are praying for me.

The quilt got a little too long because of me having extra greens. I started them into a pillow sham to go with the tree, but after reviewing my options, decided it would make a nice little center addition. The 6 rows didn't match the bottom, so I had to sew a row at the bottom to match them to the trunk half of the quilt. Then when I was getting ready to sew the top part to the upper half, that one didn't match either, so I had to sew another row, which made it 2 extra 2" rows. It's now 21x41, and a whole lot longer than I thought.

Maybe the angels knew there's a tall kid out there who will be with his mother in the shelter and needs a longer quilt due to his height. I do not know, I'm just gonna turn this in with the infant and toddler quilt and let the girls decide. If there's been a house fire in the community, someone might need the quilt.

My work is cut out for me tomorrow morning, and I will try to at least show the border. It's a monster quilt next to the smaller ones. The middle didn't come out as well as I'd have liked. Oh, well, if you look out at nature, not every tree you see will be the model for a painting or a quilt. This one is no exception, it just happened to go into a quilt top.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Love to all who need a hug.

becki


----------



## freedombecki

It's a happy day. Decided to do something productive with what was left of my birthday this morning and completed the top. I had to dig through a 3-foot stack of leftover green pieces to find the stripe, and I ran across an old outer fabric that is a dull ocher green in the medium light range. The reason for picking mid-range colors in the border for some of is their propensity to not show lint or dirt, and the likeliest place on the quilt to drag the floor is of course, the border edge. Mid-range colors are the secret to at least having the quilt look clean longer, and the edges usually do not touch the body and lap over the edge of the bed to keep a thermal warmth on the body. So if the floors are reasonably clean, absolute sanitation for the edge of the quilt is not as much an issue as is the interior that touches our skin. That should be quite clean and nice, too.


----------



## freedombecki

Picture 1: Border on completed pine tree quilt

Picture 2: New C-Clamp square


----------



## freedombecki

Found some pictures of C-clamp quilts online. They look like the one in the book I didn't change. 

Quilt 1 from Smoky Mountain Quilters







It's so far the only one I found. It differs from my C quilt square in that it has 3 night-and-day rows, the large outside is made of 2 diferent fabrics (or not).The 2.5" strips measure 2" and the center is a 4.5" square that when bordered, measures 4". The reason I didn't add the 3rd row is because then, it would not fit the scanner. I may have to look through some of my several quilt encyclopedia books and see what square I really did make. Mine looks harlequin next to their multi-fabric c-clamp square which is exactly like the one I found in my new quilt book from That Patchwork Place by Nancy Martin.​


----------



## freedombecki

There is a fix for this. I could make the squares using all those 1.5" strips I have. I'll have to think on it.


----------



## freedombecki

I think this quilt was made by Nancy Martin of Patchwork Place, and I may review her book, "A Treasury of Scrap Quilts" (I think that's the name) and make a second quilt using smaller strips of green. When I cut last week, I cut all day for four days after making two shopping trips to quilt stores for greens. I found a trove of lime greens I've been short of, since I can't find my own bucket of lime green fabrics and/or used them up some time in the past.  

The red one is the inspiration for my doing this green quilt.

The green square is someone's pink and green thing (My first quilt was pink and green)

And the on-point squares were the same as the above quilt, except set in a way that will add sideways stretch to the top of the quilt. Sometimes that's good, but it's not so good if you fail to baste and stabilize the three layers of your quilt properly in its completion. I found that if I made quilts on my Nolting's Longarm, the bias from on point quilts that were not properly warped and wefted (few quilters know how to do that, with the exception of Ms. Martin who wrote books on bias strip quilting into her instructions) anyway, if they were biased to stretch N S E & W, you needed to add 8" to the 5" you usually need extra on the back of the quilt, which generally is on the weft. 

C-Clamp Quilts:


----------



## freedombecki

After putting a group of 4 C squares together, I decided they looked like C's. I looked at several encyclopedias and could not find the same square. There are still a couple I may have missed, and at least one square I found was very similar except in the same area it had 2 extra squares. That put me in the position of temporarily renaming the square. I thought "C, Double." Then I thought "Seeing Double," <gong2> Maybe I should have just described it as "C-ing Double," because whichever way you put the square, you have 2 Cs. One seems forward and one seems backward, but when you turn the square upside-down, the one that was a backward C is a regular C,m and the one that was a C is a backward C upside-down. So C-ing Double would be a good name, and so might Seeing Double. The only trouble with Seeing Double, is it winds up in the "S" category of quilts, when it really is all about being a "C." I think I just about talked myself into calling it "C-ing Double." Any input from anyone out there? If not, it's a go until I find the same four-patch square in this peculiar alignment in or among quilting books I have not perused yet. There are much more learned quilters than me. Some have an absolute memory of quilt squares. I have a good memory, but I still look things up, and find that 80% of the time, I just got a close but no cigar name, or even a better name, but nobody else would know it, because they are steeped in the correct historical name our mothers used (for their reasons), and in quilting we make every effort to respect our mothers. Someday, someone may produce a 200-year-old piece of paper describing that square that someone did and called it after a soldier who died, in his honor or something. When that is the case, you can see why it's best to more thoroughly research names and things. But, for lack of my finding anything, I'm settling on "C-ing Double."

Here is the first 4-block, then I'm going to add the remaining 20 squares. One has a reverse picture, so it can be seen that this quilter opens seams. A lot of present-day quilters lay seams to one side, and they match well. Mine must be pinned, but I hate the way 4 layers of quality quilt fabric layers sound when crunched under the needle of a 2200 spm quilter's machine (or more stitches per inch in some cases). If the quilter uses a pair of old jeans to put under there, the poor quilter with a Long arm gets to spend upwards of $200 to have a repairman come to her house and fix her 14-foot ton of equipment. A lot of ladies are sending out their quilt machines or just aren't as sensitive to their machine's struggle to do the greatest task in sewing--sewing through 3 layers plus more layers in the case of seams. That extra layer of seam is trouble to mine ear. 

Same 16" block of 4, 3 turns:


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double, Square 5

C-ing Double, Square 6

C-ing Double, Square 8


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double, Square 7 reverse side

C-ing Double, Square 7

C-ing Double, Square 9


----------



## freedombecki

The reason I'm showing a lot of squares is for the benefit of people learning to quilt who may be visiting. I do my best to select a variety of visual textures, and while the ninnyhammer of too much of the same size of prints with pizazz elsewhere is going on, some of us like a dispersed feeling of "hey, what's going on here?" and that is achieved nicely by using a balance of large, small, and medium sized quilts. I have to say, though, this won't be the best example, because I stepped out of my 1.25" square box of width and moved up to two inches on this quilt. The fabrics I had generally chosen were perfect for the 1.25" strip width, so it is not known to me at this point how things will look occupying two inches instead of 5/8 of that.

I pledged 28 more charity quilts before the end of the year, and in August I only finished 2 on account of perfection and getting used to 2.5". Now that I'm over that, I can continue with larger pieces comfortably, outside my little box, and get a whirlwind going to meet my little self-imposed goal. I'm pretty happy the 72 quilts were taken by an average of 10, except for March, when all I did was crochet dishrags for the Quilter's bazaar and other fundraisers. They did not sell well because it rained the day of the sale, which was supposed to be conducted out on the sunny street. heheh! Well, that's how the mop flops. 

C-ing Double, Square 10

C-ing Double, Square 11

C-ing Double, Square 12


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double, Square 13

C-ing Double, Square 14

C-ing Double, Square 15


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double, Square 16

C-ing Double, Square 17

C-ing Double, Square 18


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double, Square 19

C-ing Double, Square 20

C-ing Double, Square 21


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double, Square 22

C-ing Double, Square 23

C-ing Double, Square 24

I may do more to get a decent sized child's shelter quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

C-ing Double Border.

Burnt a little midnight oil and got the C-ing Double quilt done.


----------



## freedombecki

Planning to do 12 squares using Mockingbirds from an old cotton quilt print by Northcott Fabrics of Canada. Before leaving for Texas, I took the rest of the bolt to make Texas quilts with when I got here. To my joy, surprise and delight there are gazillions of mockingbirds that visit our acreage every day fo the summer. They're real characters and it's a trip to watch their crazy antics, and just as delightful hear a male trill out a hundred calls. I found the fabric after 3 years that we've been here. It just showed up in one of my green fabric trunks. My sister threw a birthday party for me last week, and I noticed somehow, she'd gotten her hands on a yard or so of the fabric to do her kitchen curtains with. Que coincidence!​
Crazy Quilt square, 10"
Mockingbird



​


----------



## koshergrl

This thread always trips me out and gets me all worked up!

Then I collapse.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> This thread always trips me out and gets me all worked up!
> 
> Then I collapse.


It's okay. Having kids under the roof and a day job does that. I started quilting early on, but didn't really get into nonstop quilting until I started a quilt store from a trunkful of threads I bought at a going-out-of-business sale 200 miles down the road from where we lived. It took a few years to get going, but I spent the years making and designing quilts and learning how to write books to help students understand what I did. I was getting best of shows. These days, I'm playing toward the goal of doing 100 small quilts in a year. I just completed #73 yesterday and am working on a little crazy mocking bird work. Not sure it will be much of anything people outside the 5 states that have the Mockingbird for their state's bird, though--Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas. They're such personalities with attitude. 

Back to your "progress." Don't worry. I started a counted cross stitch and picked it up from time to time for 10 years while my kids were growing up. When the last one left the nest, the first thing I found was that cross stitch, and completed it. I hated doing it, but it's one of the prettiest pieces in my dining room now, and I had it professionally framed in glass. It was from a Paragon cross stitch linen and had several alphabets, deers, early Americana motifs, and a 2-story house I made the same colors as our house in Wyoming--blue trimmed with blue and orange for my husband's college--University of Illinois at Champaign.


----------



## freedombecki

The morning's doings: Square 2. With the larger pictures of whole birds, I'm using up the scraps and partial birds on alternative squares that are basically just strip squares starting with a pretty little birdie print by Deb Strain, a designer for Moda fabrics.


----------



## freedombecki

Some of the squares in the Crazy Mockingbird/strips:


----------



## freedombecki

And some more I did this morning:


----------



## freedombecki

Instead of 12, there were so many mockingbirds in a row, 15 total squares for the shelter quilt resulted. It was a lot of work, but it was fun doing it.

Here are some more, The gray one has two shots. One of the pretty borders that took a lot of work didn't shoe up on the first scan, so it was redone.


----------



## freedombecki

Three more...


----------



## freedombecki

The next step is to decide what to do , if anything about sashing and borders. Each of the squares is affixed to a background and the work is sewn on one piece at a time. That's why this is taking more than 3 days.

If sashes and sets are made, they will need also to be affixed to a background to make a uniform weight. I was thinking about doing something really far out in the sashes, such as also foundation piecing, but on my quilts, something that calms down and manages the crazy parts has beneficial effect on the balance of the quilt. I've done one other bird crazy quilt, but it had a lot of appliqued and machine embroidered birds. Also, it had no sets or sashes, just squares with a royal blue dominant theme but also many many colors, not just green and its color-wheel opposite.

Even more squares today...


----------



## koshergrl

As soon as I have a spare room, I will have a sewing/quilting room. It will have a table, and my sewing machine, and everything where I can get to it.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> As soon as I have a spare room, I will have a sewing/quilting room. It will have a table, and my sewing machine, and everything where I can get to it.


You go, girl.


----------



## freedombecki

15 blocks are done on the Mockingbird quilt, but there was a slight glitch when done. There are two types of blocks, those with the large mockingbirds framed in the center and strip blocks, which were to have all pointed northwest. Unfortunately, the last strip block that was sewn had a baby's bird nest on it that was unwittingly sewn such that when placed with the left corner at northwest as planned, the bird's nest was either upside down or on its side. This is a problem when one-way fabrics are used, and the decision was made to place the baby birds' nest rightside up, with the right corner showing a northeasterly direction of the slant, in order to have the babies right in their nest. This had a serendipity to it--as the blocks were laid, they caused a "friendship star" effect, and the Texas state motto is "friendship" as is the Texas state bird, the Mockingbird. I was so happy to see this occur as the result of what seemed to be an error, but when "fixed" produced a serendipity moment. *sigh*

Here's the row that determined the direction. Also, crazy blocks were fashioned onto white Kona percale (my favorite) and sewn as per foundation method. If you've ever sashed a foundation block, the outcome is not consistent unless you also place the same weight foundation onto the back of the sashing strips that divide blocks into an album fashion of arrangement. It's a bit of a pain in the butt, a huge use of extra time, but the results bring consistency, strength, and an extra layer of warmth to your family heriloom.


----------



## freedombecki

This afternoon, work resumed on this quilt. 5 rows are now joined horizontally, and the bottom sashing and set row was placed on row 5.

The sashing is the long piece between squares, and sets are the small square pieces used to ensure an even measurement around the rows. If there is a problem, the use of sets is a way to reduce them, identify where the squares or pieces are uneven, and then sew together pleasingly.

First the front in the first picture, to note the square set and long horizontal sashes joined to the square to even things up.

Then the back to show the extra work of placing backing on the sashes and sets. Flexibility in sewing sinks to about zero when the pieces are basted together, so the use of a tape measure or better yet, plexiglass ruler with accurate markings is a huge assist to ensuring that the sash length and square length are even. Takeup varies on foundation blocks, and those that have few pieces generally are wider than those with many sewn strip areas, which adds to the confusion of basting, which becomes stay-stitching. Seldom do pieces match when you actually get to sewing them, so patience and a 2mm seam ripper are your best friend.


----------



## freedombecki

Found some pictures of quilts I made in years past from one of the little books I wrote. This one was called Aesthetics of ABC Animals and was assembled from some sketches and drawings. The pattern is available to USMB Members only when I get all of the designs together into a special Album in my profile. If you're a member, just send me a friendship request, and you can view it. All I ask in return if you use the patterns is to please send a picture of the item you made using any or all of the 44 patterns (when they're up, which will take a couple of more days of cleanup. Details in the album itself. There are no how-to instructions, the book was the result of a classroom teaching experience for beginning quilters and machine embroiderers, both of which I am certified to teach since 1987, and taught in my shop in the Equality State for many years. I've made machine embroidered quilts, a large punchwork embroidery quilt, and a smaller quilt for a baby, two of which are shown in color in the USMB Album (as well as below).

I am showing the hummingbird because people would ask for that one, would I please sell just one pattern instead of the whole book? hahahaha. There's just one other thing--the little broken lines that appear on these designs are shading for 1-color rayon machine embroidery thread guidelines and are not quilting stitches, just to let you know. If you do free motion machine embroidery thread and have since the 80s, you probably already knew that.


----------



## freedombecki

For the past couple of days, I've been working on another star quilt, this one in green colors. I really loved everything about this little quilt. It was a total joy to do. I have 9 scans, still no camera or way of getting it here except to ask friends to photo it with their cell phones when I see them. It's 3 weeks to a meeting, and by then, the quilts are already taken to the Charity bees closet and farmed out to different people for quilting.

a, Monkey Lime Star Center
b, Monkey Lime Star Corner Points
c, Monkey Lime Star Points


----------



## freedombecki

d. Monkey Lime Star Postage Stamp Border Top

e. Monkey Lime Star Postage Stamp Border, Bottom

f. Monkey Lime Star Postage Stamp Border, Side


----------



## freedombecki

g. Monkey Lime Star Top Corner Border

h. Monkey Lime Star Opposite side Border

i. Monkey Lime Star Bottom Corner Border


----------



## freedombecki

Finished a quilt top started around 1996. I needed a start to bring up the total of charity quilts given, and this one only needed a green border to go with my other green quilts in this lot. This makes 3 greens. The mockingbird sits, unfinished. All those layers...

Anyway, "Red Sky at Summer Night," scans 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## freedombecki

"Red Sky at Summer Night," scans 4, 5, and 6:


----------



## freedombecki

"Red Sky at Summer Night," scans 7, 8, and 9


----------



## copsnrobbers

Becki, You may want to consider sending our new President a quilt. That would be a nice welcome or house warming gift to President Romney and our First Lady Ann.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, copsnrobbers. My quilts all go to Charity Bees quilt closet for distribution to shelter children whose worlds are often turned upside-down by family strife; senior and veteran care centers; and purple heart wounded soldiers who gave up the good life to take shrapnel, chemical contamination, and such stuff. Any quilts the Bees consider good enough, they sell them to purchase batting for more quilts for those who need support.

Your generous and kindly words are appreciated though. It supports my determined belief that we should give to those who meet with misfortune as good as what we'd give our own child, and the book of Deuteronomy is clear; widows, orphaned, and those whom society shuns are clearly God's most beloved children, and he smiles when we show love and respect for them in spite of what life has handed them in the way of sorrow, poverty, and loss.

I wouldn't be opposed to give a shelter quilt in celebration of his winning the U.S. presidency, however. And he will be barraged with quilts from the good ladies of the Mormon church, some of whom are America's finest quilters, though not as well known as famous quilter/artists due to their anonymity in giving and adherence to traditional quilting. I had the treasured experience of being a friend of one of the Mormon ladies during my years living in the Equality State and owning a quilt store. She loved my books and classes. I loved her allegiance to community and family. I never had a better friend, and was sorry when she passed away after a long, fruitful life of devotion to family, career, and making a beautiful quilt every time I wrote a pattern book while she was alive. I owe her for inspiration and encouragement.


----------



## copsnrobbers

You're welcome.. Nice follow up story.


cops


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, copsnrobbers.


----------



## freedombecki

Too much green fabric around here! So decided to do all green quilts for the Bee closet in September. The little stack is growing, and recent browsing helped find a number of great green quilts that would be easy to do and fun to get for a child or wheelchair recipient (hopefully!) There was a trip around the world quilt which at one point was a little overdone by me, but still, it's nice to start a quilt and not have to look through a book and say, "What do I do next," since you already know after making a half dozen of the same quilt and teaching at least a dozen people to do likewise. So here's the quilt that was found, it had a center that was different and thought would be a good challenge, so it was finished first today and resulted in a 5x7 rectangle of 3" unfinished squares sewn together. The last quilt had lime green in it, and it was so much greener than what was shown, the decision was made to use in the light and dark areas fabrics using lime green. Total fun this afternoon!

a. Green Trip Around the World quilts

b. Lime green center


----------



## freedombecki

That center didn't work out. It was far wider than I thought and would've resulted in a quilt to fit a queen-sized bed.

I just wanted a quilt for a shelter child, which is what is being requested right now, so took a new tack, revising and changing the center. Today, I have half the quilt done, the other half is still in strips not quite all sewn together again. This quilt needed 3 strips cut per color, three inches by three inches to make 2.5" finished squares. With an appropriate border, Hopefully it will work for a child.

1. Center area
2. Along Center at midline
3. Center edge area


----------



## freedombecki

4. Green Trip around the World outer edge at corner of side
5. Green Trip Around the World Quilt outer edge at side, midline
6. Darkest fabric apex at side center area of quilt


----------



## freedombecki

Spent a happy few hours this afternoon finishing the Green Trip Around the World quilt top for Charity Bees to quilt into a warm covering this winter for a shelter kid, and here are the final border scans.

I cannot emphasize how wonderful those who do the work of helping victims of abuse are to take torn lives and put them back into mainstream society after a lot of counsel and pointers on not making disaster repetitive, and I thank God for their counselors. 

I also pray for those families who can heal together through anger management correction. That isn't always possible when a traumatized victim has been slapped or punched around until there is a detached retina, a broken jaw, or lost a baby due to being punched intentionally in a pregnant belly, or must deal with untreated spousal schizophrenia, stubborn living under the influence, or asocial disorder for which a victim decides not to seek medical help that when treated, could and might end the need for separation. There is a cure for stupid. It's called change, and the first step is making an appointment with a psychologist if counsel can cure; or psychiatrist if brain chemistry is at fault.

The quilt measures 43x60." It was a happy task.


----------



## freedombecki

There was worlds of 3" strips left over from the Green Trip Around the World Quilt, so not one to run for an easy go of it, I decided the 3" strips would make an easy and quick start for another brick quilt (did a red one a couple of months back), and since the strips are a little wider, that means it takes fewer rows to make the same sized quilt. Unfortunately, when I get a pile of 10 quilts, I take them down to the Charity Bees closet, and I can smell the finish line! 

Bricks are cut 3x7.5." Mortar except for outer row are 1" strips cut as needed; outer mortar strips are cut 1.5" and double as the first border; the outer border will be determined when 21 to 23 rows of bricklaying are done. The top and bottom rows as well as all odd rows will have 5 bricks across, and the even rows will have 3x4" half bricks on either end with 4 full 3x7.5" bricks. Somewhere in either calculation, seam allowance or cutting, there seems to be a slight error that causes the 5 brick rows to differ with the 4 + 2 half brick rows. It could be using the weft of the lime mortar fabric I picked is too stretchy and is resulting in a stretched side. Because of that, the next rows I sew will be on the warp, you can take that to the bank, because I can't stand it when my math doesn't match a perfect outcome. It has to be the weft if my math was true. I can't say it with certainty, but it won't be the first time an extra stretchy weft fabric caused a quilter to be an inch per yard off at the joining of rows. A lot of quilters don't mess with weft, they just cut everything vertically. I do all I can to work with wefts going side to side, because if you observe the warp top to bottom rule combined with the weft side to side rule, you get a quilt that stretches from side to side. This may not seem important, but actually, when a quilt is shared, somehow one partner becomes the one who jerks the quilt from side to side, while the other just sizzles upon waking up in the cold of a winter's night after weeks of deprivation of warmth may get irate to hostile. And that's why I like to warp quilts side to side. The mortar lime is a best-manufacturer type fabric and expensive. I'm sewing all kinds of fabric bricks--old, new, expensive, cheap, glazed, etc. When you are doing a charm quilt, some grim discoveries are made--that perfect fabric of scale and texture difference may also be sized to death or even a blend that got mislabeled as a cotton, or even linen or bamboo. Different fabrics have different characteristics. We are seeing manufacturers of quilt fabrics getting into lines of glazed cottons that really have as little give on the weft as the warp. I try to avoid those when picking fabrics for quilts, but church closet offerings can be just about anything.

So here are 3 pictures of the 5 rows I completed before coming here today:

Picture 1 - side shot of Lime Mortar, Green Brick Quilt

Picture 2 - probably willl end up being the bottom portion of the quilt, considering the sunflower print on green seems to have a certain upright appeal.

Picture 3 - the upper part of the 5 bottom rows, if that's what they are. (if a more blatant right-side-up one-way fabric appears, and it gets placed upside-down, that may mean I'm dealing with a top row. Once in a blue moon, I tear out a whole section to right the dominant one-way fabric that got loaded in sidewise or upside-down in a space-cadet moment. It doesn't matter that I have a thousand completed quilt works. The adage "everyone makes a mistake now and then" doesn't seem to apply because I make a lot more than my fair share of errors. That last quilt, the trip around the world? I can't even remember how many pieces got sewn in wrong and had to be ripped and redone (affectionately known as r&r to quilters) due to my ditzing at the wheel.


----------



## freedombecki

Three more rows.

"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer..."


----------



## freedombecki

Oops! Correction!


----------



## freedombecki

Burnt a little midnight oil to come up with 3 more completed rows and have 6 or 7 rows ready to sew later. It appears there are 11 of the total rows sewn horizontally starting from the bottom and going up. I also cut at least 40 more bricks from different materials between last night and this morning. There will be many happy leftovers for other projects. 

Last night's progress, Pictures 7, 8, and 9:


----------



## freedombecki

Correction of Post 771 - Lime Mortar Green Brick Quilt

I need to post a correction on the half bricks that I cut 3x4" and  mentioned for some reason they weren't going together right with the  next row.

The problem was the size measurement* should have been 3 x 3.75 inches*,  and not 4 inches. I was forgetting about the side piece needing to match  the outlying seam, and somehow added in a quarter inch error through  oversight. Sorry. *If you are making the quilt, please cut the 4" piece  3.75"!* That way, with a consistent seam allowance of 1/4" throughout,  both pieces will line up exactly. The weft on the fabric for the strips  was NOT to blame. My FUZZY MATH was to blame. I am so 'Tawwy.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are 4 more rows ready to sew on to the rest of the quilt. All rows are complete. They just have to be sewn into the quilt at this point. Today was spent doing a lot of sewing. The good thing was, not having to cut any more pieces gave me more time in front of my sewing machine. I'm lucky enough to have a top of the line machine that has a stitch speed of 1000 spms, more or less. That makes short work of a long task. If done by hand, this quilt could easily take a year.

The next 4 rows, pictures 10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

It's so much fun to get to the end of a delightful project, and last  night, I stayed up sewing to complete the brick portion. Yes, I slept  in, but it was totally worth it. Now, all that needs doing is completion  of the side mortar, add a border, and feel good and happy about  completing this work. The only trouble is, I made yet another math  error. When calculating a length of around 64", I completely forgot to  add in the 1/2 inch of mortar between the bricks! Doh. This is a monster  baby quilt. It's over 6 feet long, and I haven't done the border yet.  

I have so loved this project. Each brick is a different material. I  think that would be around 23x4+14=106 different fabrics. All the half  bricks were the same print not used elsewhere, so all 24 of them were  counted as 1 fabric, so I picked one of my prettiest fabrics, cut 2  strips of 3"x45" fabric, into 3x4" strips which I later had to correct  to 3 x 3.75-inch (3 1/4") strips because I forgot one 1/4" seam  allowance when measuring the 7" finished squares. Along the edges, there  is a 1/4" seam allowance, and I was basing the first and last bricks of  the 5-brick rows the same as the 3 7" finished ones. Big mistake! So I  found out why the strips weren't coming out quite right.

This Baby Huey reaches from near the floor to as high as I can reach up  and hold it so that it doesn't touch the carpet. That will teach me to  forget to add the mortar to the overall height! 

Here are 3 more scans, and I have to get busy today and find the cute  frog material for a border, unless something else just pops up and says  "I'm here!" You know you're in trouble when your stash fabrics start  talkin'! I'm so far past that. 

Scan 13, Top Left

Scan 14, Top at central area of quilt

Scan 15, Top Right


----------



## freedombecki

Finished the first border. Whew! I only had about 5 inches left over after joining 2 44" strips of first border along the side. That quilt may be 85 inches or greater long. You have to cut off the white selvage strips and bulk, too. I couldn't find cute froggy fabric. It would have helped to look in the CORRECT place. I apparently looked everywhere else. Got tired of looking, found a start to a green log cabin quilt and spent the afternoon making another top. It went together really quick, considering all the log cabin blocks were about 2/3rds done. In no time, it was 36x43, and tomorrow, when I'm in the mood, I'll have 2 quilts to border. 

It would have been my mother's birthday today. She knew I'd be happy to finish 2 quilts in one day, so I think she whispered in God's ear. 

The green log star quilt has light green points and a light green diamond center with dark green everywhere else.


----------



## freedombecki

More scans of parts of the blocks and first border (dark solid green)


----------



## freedombecki

Edit Sept 21. Some shots of the border on the Light Green Log Cabin Star's new sidewalk border that was added this morning. I had to cut a lot of fabric, which is why it probably took a total of 6 hours. What a fun way to use a sewing machine.  And one more for the stack. 

And it measures about 44x52."


----------



## freedombecki

The Froggie Fabric was found, and the Lime Mortar Green Brick and Froggies Quilt is done. Yay!


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, two more yards came from an ebay supplier of the monkey fabric. It's going to be so much fun to plan a quilt around it, I spread oranges, golds, greens, and bought a bevy of deep turquoise fabrics the last visit to Bryan's Lone Star Quilt shop. I'm not sure what to do with it yet, but oh, it's so much fun to put bits of color together to round out a main fabric for a child, and I've loved every millisecond of working with the colors on Anne Kelle's gorgeous fabric. (pictured below as on p. 38 on this thread)






There's a Biography on Ann Kelle at the Robert Kaufman's website, and a page on Ann's Urban Zoologie fabrics, almost any of which would be a totally awesome enhancement of any child quilt or naive work. I hope you visit both links. She is a young artist, but imho, her work is phenomenal to put it mildly.

​


----------



## freedombecki

Ever get on a street going the wrong way and wish you hadn't? Well, I picked up this quilt brochure from a second-hand place, and found a quilt that looked easy enough, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I thought, "what a great way to use up a little of this and that I have left over in greens."

Well, the jury is out as to whether I did okay or not, but here is the quilt, and I thought, "Oh, my goodness. there are puffies along the stitch lines or something. What did she do to her quilt to get that?" Then I read it was in flannel, (my least favorite cotton to work with by itself) and thought that that must be it. 

Even so, it nagged at me I should do a sample row, so I did. <<<<gong>>>>

I should have known there was a reason for that puffy look, too, except my puffy look was in spades because I was using regular quilter's cottons and not flanellette plaids. It could be my machine has a funny stitch, but I had to actually stretch one piece over another to make them match. The angles are on a 45 degree bias, but with warp very tight and weft loose, that may be the rub. This quilt did not cotton to being sewn together after the strips were sewn together, and I have 16x16=246 to go. And the foundation pieces? There a lesson in fabric that does not play well together due tome cutting them as to warp and weft, while the rest of the warp-weft ratios are lulu.

See ya in a year or a couple of agonizing days. Here is the fiasco below, with a picture of how cute the quilt is in plaid flannels and my sad little effort that looks almost as horrible as it was under the needle. 

There really is an easier way to get this quilt to lie flat: half square triangles, but it would take 492 pieces to do that. Maybe that would be smarter, and it's not yet out of the question, although it will not look quite the same. I hate sewing work that puckers.


----------



## freedombecki

Think I'm going to fill in the blank triangles and make the above "quilt" into a pillow for a senior. I really can't take it, all that puckering, and the model showed puckering, too, in the book. The way to go on triangles like that one are to use the reverse freezer paper applique method, which requires hand stitching. I don't do hand stitching unless I have to do it. Just saying


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, I just needed a break from green and have sewn the 8 strips of 6 pieces to make a "Country Charm Rail Fence" Sorry the squares are 12 inches, but here's as much as I could cram under the scanner. Also, the pink whited out for some reason, so I just filled it in with pink in paint, and of course, got out of line because my picture paint is so primitive it doesn't do all it could if I would shell out the big bucks for more options. That's what I get for pinching pennies. 

This time, I went to an "old favorites book" which is "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, their 1988 smash best seller on the Complete Guide to Quiltmaking that I have loved since then. Gosh, I went into business in 1987, the book was printed in 1988, 24 years ago. It has gotten to be a real classic! 

So here's a picture of their quilt, and one of my blocks. I used fabric that arrived in the mail two or three months ago that had really pretty fabrics from back in the mid 80s up to last year sometime. The lady said it was the family stash, so I don't know if that means the fabrics were turned loose because of someone having to move to a retirement home or if she herself got arthritis and can no longer do sewing. For whatever reason, I was thrilled. I even found a classic Benartex fabric, but it doesn't show well on the print due to my lousy scan job and not being able to darken anything. Well, at least, I was able to make do by scribbling some pink stuff over the general area of the pink strip that turned out very blotchy. Pastels do that sometimes. Although the pale pink was scribbled over just to help it show up, it actually has little white bows on it. 

Scan 1: McClun and Nownes' Rail Fence picture:

Scan 2:  Country Charm Rail Fence block completed this morning after all strip sets were sewn:


----------



## freedombecki

Worked all day and got it done! 

This time, for some reason, I didn't have to fix the pink. It just picked it up. I still can't see the little white bows on it though. Well, I needed a printer, didn't have much money to invest in one. So I just made do.

Country Charm quilt border. Size is around 45 by 57 inches. I always say it's larger, because the new gal at the closet doesn't cut her backs big enough yet. They have to be bigger or you end up doing a lot of unnecessary work on some quilts. She will learn. Someday.


----------



## freedombecki

The other day when I was looking for something else, I ran across little windmill/propeller squares that had been left over from a quilt sometime last winter, and from time to time this year, I'd added a square now and then. Three of them were so horrible and squelched, because I forgot about using 5" squares cut on the diagonal to make the body between the propellers and the outside border (which had not been thought of yet). So I have one bazillion green strips cut and decided to use some of the inch and a half ones for borders, and as of a couple of hours ago, 20 blocks were done.

I will publish them below, but I promise you, I am nodding off as we speak and may have to continue this little transfer from my scanner to here until tomorrow, though I will try to finish most of them.


----------



## freedombecki

Those were squares 4, 5, and 6. I posted squares 1, 2, and 3 at the coffee shop a few minutes ago, I like to say hello to pals on days like this when my fibro symptoms are acting up.


----------



## freedombecki

10, 11, and 12


----------



## freedombecki

Propellers 13, 14, and 15


----------



## freedombecki

Props 16, 17, and 18.


----------



## copsnrobbers

The world needs more Becki's!


cops


----------



## freedombecki

Green sashed scrap propeller quilt

19 and 20. 

I'll see if I can find a similar quilt online, only I already know I'm likely not to find it. *sigh* But if you see a picture at the end, well, I found one somewhere...
 I did find one by "Rose Marie" and the credits are here. And the blogger added this paragraph:



> Rose Marie, after her big display last month,  even toned it down a little. But here she is with her Propeller Quilt.  She says shes going to finish it and use it in her kitchen, maybe as a  table topper, because she says its nice kitchen colors. It IS nice  kitchen colors. Im busting to make a quilt like this. Must . . . Resist  . . . Urge . . .



It's simple, it's not on point, her squares are large, and it makes me wonder, why do I work my butt off making these itsy bitsy complex quilts? Ah, dunno, don't care. I just know when I'm sitting in front of my Bernina, Pfaff, or Brother machines, I'm in seventh heaven. 

Although, a little too much of heaven lately, darn that chronic fatigue syndrome that came with my fibromyalgia autoimmune stuff.


----------



## freedombecki

copsnrobbers said:


> The world needs more Becki's!
> 
> 
> cops


Aw, thanks, copsnrobbers.


----------



## copsnrobbers

freedombecki said:


> copsnrobbers said:
> 
> 
> 
> The world needs more Becki's!
> 
> 
> cops
> 
> 
> 
> Aw, thanks, copsnrobbers.
Click to expand...


----------



## freedombecki

The Green Sashed Propeller Quilt

Today, this top is finished! It's goin' to the pile. This morning, all 20 squares were joined, a white with sage stippled floral border, then 2" squares were used all around edged by plan darkest forest green Kona solid cotton. I spent 7 hours doing it. Miss Music got most of my breakfast, because I just didn't want to eat till it was done, not knowing how much work was ahead. (Ignorance _is_ bliss!) For some reason, 5 am was when it was started, and it was finished around 20 minutes ago. 

It's always a great day when you finish a quilt top. 

I have 9 pictures, 4 corners, 2 sides, top, bottom, and a scan of one of the junctions of the 20 propeller blocks shown yesterday. I loved every minute of working on this quilt, except I did have to add 1 inch pieces at the edges of the fourpatch block upper rows. I was short a whole inch, and a 1 inch piece with 1/4" seam allowances on both sides show as 1/2" finished pieces. So it has a little wonk about it, but scrap quilts are all about wonk. One of the pictures has possibly the oldest piece of fabric used on this quilt which appears to me to be 50s-ish. It's hard to tell, but I was young in the 50s, and the piece could've come right out of Aunt Emma's apron.

 I'll let you guess which is which, or you can scroll your mouse over, look in the lower address bar, and there's a pretty good description there. You can see some but not all of the prints. The very light ones are the most disappointing because I used truly fabulous prints, but my $29 scanner doesn't pick them up well in the morning light. Oh, my gosh, there went the blue heron, flying to the shallow end of the lake where he can fish for yummies. I have no idea what draws them out there. It's ten times more fun sitting at the computer by the bay window overlooking the lake than the sewing machine overlooking the front yard and field out front, just for the bird show.


----------



## freedombecki

More pictures of 4th corner and 2 sides


----------



## freedombecki

Top, bottom, and a junction of 4 of the propeller squares, just shoved under the scanner lid without paying much attention:


----------



## freedombecki

I'm soooooo done with The Green Sashed Propeller Quilt!


----------



## freedombecki

In order to make a new design, an exact copy of something I've seen or know about doesn't hurt the process. Our internet is a marvelous item, and just in an example, here's something that flits about a lot in the spring here and elsewhere--sulphur-winged butterflies. So from:

Picture 1, a picture of a sulphur winged butterfly

You may get a love for the way they flit about willy-nilly, over the grass tops, find a specie with wings the size of your little pinkie fingernail, recall seeing your dog as a puppy being fascinated and zeroing in on chasing one across the field, only to be eluded and confused as to what happened to the little creature you saw dart upward and away from puppykin's freaky little cold wet nose, or just anything that jazzes you about seeing a small but precious little creature, the sulphur wing butterfly of which there must be a bazillion different types, most of them a couple of inches across, but such a hot color of yellow, chromium yellow or cadmium yellow they stand out like a lightening bolt against the spring's field floor in your memory.

Artistic license is knowing the subject and making subtle (or not so subtle) changes. There is one thing that nagged me about the sulphur wing. That is, how can such a joyous gadabout have such a plain shape of wings that in no way reflect the creature's attributes--curiosity, _joie de vivre_, and happy willy-nilly-ness? In my view, its dull roundish shape doesn't reflect anything about its light-hearted soulfulness, so this morning, I worked on shapes with my favorite paintbrush--a pair of scissors. That's right, from a small sketch slathered over notes I wrote to myself last week or last month, I often pencil- or pen- out a shape, then just cut it out. When I finally come up with something that's perceptually pleasing, I pull out the scissors, trace, and clip the tracing out. Then I place the cuttings onto a piece of cardstock--in this case yellow, and without using a pencil, cut a larger shape in the size that will become my applique pattern. So here's all that:

Picture II Process of getting from subjective shapes to subjective enjoyment of new shape. Note the bright Yellow picked for the inspiration that was before my scissors went about their dervish revisionism.

And finally, a rough shape.

Picture III Rough-out of design onto 8.5" background. 

You May note there is an issue with placement onto the background, which is why I do rough-outs. It showed me my propensity to misplace items according to the contest of any given-sized background is alive and present. To compensate for placement oversights, I have learned to get a ruler and fix things that merely creasing the paper down the center didn't do. In this case, it was a top-to-bottom disaster, which means I will have to find a center line, crease and gently press crease marks into my square background blocks, then place Revised Sulphur onto it. Nothing looks worse than an applique block finished without paying attention to centering, from one who has a knack for it. 

So to fix the problem on my rough-out, I actually traced a line with a straight-edged ruler, marked 1-6 inches, on both east and west sides of the drawing. Where the 3 is is close to center. One side top to bottom measures six inches, the other five and a half. It is easy to place the asymmetrical templates in an oddball fashion. In this case, that's not really all that bad in one view--you can't teach a sulphurwing to be still when you are trying to catch him.


----------



## freedombecki

The next step is to actually go cut out 30 8.5" squares of a fabric that likes butterflies, and in particular, bright yellow or chromium yellow (to the green bright) of the common sulphurwing. The butterfly shown above is the orange-barred sulphur, so he is to the Cadmium yellow in overall appearance, which may be why someone would create a website called "20 most beautiful butterflies in the world" and include the lowly sulphur wing and in particular, that cadmium yellow color that shouts "I'm here!"

So, It's off to see the stash wizard and try to come up with a pleasing remedy to the next issue: picking fabrics for the quilt. I have so many, I'm going to limit it to what I have on hand. This was gonna be "turquoise" month, and I even bought the fabrics. But along flits a sulphurwing, and what can I do but have my eyes follow him?  Be back hopefully within an hour with an 8" mockup of this revised Yellow Butterfly idea.

Edit: Oh, we just turned a page, so I'm adding the pics to be on the same page:
















​


----------



## freedombecki

Second trials are good. They show you things you missed the first time. I still cannot get much into fabrics until you see the problem. I placed the templates on a page (Scan 1, Orig 1 and Rev. 2) Something wasn't right.

So, I promptly touched the bottom and top and got yet a gaggier outcome (Scan 2). Call it subjective, but everything in me said "I can't stand this layout." So, I changed Orig 1 into Rev. 2, which placated the wider look (7 inches, total). That means my Yellow Butterfly will have to be wider than taller. I didn't even bother to measure the outlay on Scan 2.

Scan 3 is the new yellow template placed on cutout graph paper under fabric that is green-blue-green. It may or may not be the final choice. I have a yard of several other greens, but thought the greater contrast would be this one. Contrast is not all, however. Color choices go through the same process as the placement choice. One panacea works for me: if you don't like it, do something else that you do like. Hopefully, this will work!

I checked out the scan. I actually like picture 3 in the negative of green-blue-green of this beautiful Benartex watercolor fabric that has been around for at least 10 years, I think.

And I have been invited out to lunch, so my plan of having a finished square in an hour goes out the door. Life is what happens between hours of having fun.  I'm convinced God has a sense of humor.


----------



## freedombecki

I have a huge pile of 10 quilts just sitting here and it's time to take them to the Charity Bees Closet. I wish I had a picture of the tree one. It took 3 weeks in August, and I want a memory of it. 

Well, not to worry. Things will work out. I need to measure and label each quilt now.

I was thinking of how to make labels:

Name of quilt_________________________
___________________________________
Pattern_____________________________
Color(s)_____________________________
___________________________________
Details______________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
Width_________________________Inches 
Length________________________Inches
Quiltmaker__________________________
Quilter______________________________
Date top done________________________
Date quilting done_____________________
Date bound__________________________
City or County________________________
State____________________Zip_________

Just getting ideas. If quilts come with maker, date, city and state, the discriminating collector believes it is worth double to know that. If you are making, quilting and binding the quilt, Date Done is all you need. The more that is known about the quilt, the better the savvy collector likes it. Today's machines with letters and embroidering capacity give machine owners a lot of options for quickly embroidering name, date, and location. Or all the details above.  Otherwise, some quilters sew a small pocket at the lower edge of the quilt, place vital information about "Aunt Oma Janice Rawlinson Bender" on a piece of paper, slip it into the pocket in a waterproof, sealed bag, and hope it enlightens future family members who inherit the quilt. Collectors look for this rare advantage, and it's pay dirt for the resale of the quilt. Just sayin'.


----------



## freedombecki

Huff-puff, huff-puff. Worked on that all afternoon! Got to the end of the stack, too, after agonizing over measuring the longer ones that I neglected to do when finished. Half of the quilts were marked, it was a chore.

I found in a box a quilt I got on ebay, but it was so not clean I needed to launder it and repair the seams that were falling apart. To my glee, I found some of the star centers look like spiderwebs when scanned on an 8.5x11" scanner bed. So below are results of the only part of the last 5 hours I really enjoyed. 

1 center web, really old quilt (70 or 80 years old, maybe?) Older? later? 
2 star points
3 my border added in 2010, then the quilt was boxed off the table for when company came. What a deal!


----------



## freedombecki

Randomly chosen centers from the middle of the quilt, placed on scanner, and scanned:

Scan 1: Random Scrap Star spider web center

Scan 2: Another random Scrap Star spider web center

Scan 3: Yet another random Scrap Star spider web center


----------



## Mr. H.

Here's a recent story about a gal that used to live down the street from us. I remember 25 years ago she started out by dying fabrics in her kitchen sink.

Episode #16 - Deborah Fell | City of Urbana


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Mr. H. I took a half hour off and watched Deborah Fell's interview. She's really gotten off into the art sector. I'm going there when I get this year's 100 charity quilts done. I was going to turn them in this afternoon, but I worked to past 5 pm cataloguing and unfolding, measuring, refolding. What a chore it was. I took the labels above and printed a slew of them off on the printer. Six of the quilts had to be looked up for the names I gave them here, so I'm glad they let me keep using this little thread to keep track of loose ends. It seemed to be an endless boring bunch of stuff if you get my drift.

I'm going about it in a different way, though. There's a product out that is stiffening for hats but easier to quilt than buckrum, which has been the stuff of women's hat brims forever. Anyway, I'm going to do pen and ink on the sewing machine using thread instead of ink. I really love that media. I was doing that kind of work before I opened my shop and had to do things normal ladies like to do--applique, and <ugh> piecing! I've done my time doing traditional. It will be heaven getting back to the mind meld with a machine again. I've even done portraits with thread. However, I always loved pen and ink, blackwork, any kind of work where the background is still a little visible and the threads make glory.


----------



## Mr. H.

Wow. Good luck with all that. 

Yeah Deborah is a hoot, especially when she gets a few beers in her LOL.
Her son and my son have been in the same band since high school.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Wow. Good luck with all that.
> 
> Yeah Deborah is a hoot, especially when she gets a few beers in her LOL.
> Her son and my son have been in the same band since high school.


I'm over 80 right now. I want them done before the middle of November. I want to play again! Soon. 

Oh, wait. My work is play!


----------



## freedombecki

freedombecki said:


> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow. Good luck with all that.
> 
> Yeah Deborah is a hoot, especially when she gets a few beers in her LOL.
> Her son and my son have been in the same band since high school.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm over 80 right now. I want them done before the middle of November. I want to play again! Soon.
> 
> Oh, wait. My work is play!
Click to expand...

"I'm over 80 right now," means my goal of 100 quilts this year is over 80. I am not an octoagenarian! lol!!!

I've been cutting 2.5" strips for a Pink and Green Ladybug Quilt and finished 20 of them an hour before I got here. It takes some time to scan and reduce the size of the scan to fitting our board requirements.

Scan 1: Ladybug fabric designed by Anne Kelle for her collection Urban Zoologie at Kaurman Fabrics.

Scan 2: Block 1

Scan 3: Block 2


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1: Block 3

Scan 2: Block 4

Scan 3: Block 5


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1: Block 6

Scan 2: Block 7

Scan 3: Block 8


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1: Block 9

Scan 2: Block 10

Scan 3: Block 11


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1: Block 14

Scan 2: Block 15

Scan 3: Block 16


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1: Block 12

Scan 2: Block 13

Scan 3: Block 17


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1: Block 18

Scan 2: Block 19

Scan 3: Block 20


----------



## Amelia

lady bugs!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Amelia said:


> lady bugs!!!!


Do you like Ladybugs, Amelia?

Ms. Kelle did some in red, too. But I did red ladybugs on a quilt last year. Besides, I have a lot of green fabric I need to get rid of, and her green and pink ladybug fabric was the best coordinate.


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt is a great deal of fun. With all 20 of the 4-patch, 16-square blocks done, it's time to do the black-and-white windmill block that goes between each one. A sample square was made of 2 of the windmill blocks and 2 of the 4-patch, 16-square blocks. Both should measure 8.5." Unfortunately, I've only had my new Bernina a year and am not getting a scant quarter of an inch seam allowance. The 2.5" squares, 4 across and 4 down, should have sides that are exactly 8.5" Instead, they measure a little less, and they do so consistently. I should be using the single-hole plate, I guess. If that is the issue, it will fix the problem, because I hold the fabric exactly at the edge of the foot, and I'm still getting imprecise finished blocks. It could be that the 10 or 12mm hole is tugging a smidgen or two of fabric downward, creating a large quarter-inch seam allowance. I'll have to change the plate and see if the squares come out better.

In the meantime, here are the four blocks that were sewn together as best I could, ooching and scooching that 1/8" shortage, more and less, to come out to finish at roughly, eight inches. I despise imprecise work, but I am getting used to working around it. I've even considered cutting strips a smidgen wider, because I don't hate the large 1/4" seam allowance, it's just unfortunate they don't finish like my old Pfaff sewing machine did. If it's just a matter of meeting a specification by using a different plate, I will. The only trouble is, using a single hole plate is terrible if you switch from a straight stitch to a zig-zag stitch of any width whatever. 

Scan 1 windmill on one side

Scan 2 4 blocks at center point between 4 squares

Scan 3 windmill on other side


----------



## Amelia

I liked all the images in those blocks -- the frogs, the Route 66, the geometrical designs ...  

Lady bugs do add a touch of whimsy


----------



## strollingbones

ladybugs are neat.....

is the ladybug one for sale?


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the kind compliment, strollingbones. I prefer to not sell work I've already dedicated to God through charitable work. You couldn't have said a sweeter or a kinder request.


----------



## pbel

freedombecki said:


> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:



LUV the Colors!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, pbel.


----------



## freedombecki

Finished the last of 20 black and white windmills for the (5x8=40) Ladybug Charity quilt. The completion task now must begin by sewing eight rows of 5 alternating squares to get the resultant hurricane look.

The next time this quilt is done, I'm going to zero in on the "Hurricane Isolation" either by sashing or by setting the hurricane area into corner triangles in order to get the feeling of a lot of objects in the eye of the storm that could get carried away--or not.

I was thinking of how to show the severity of a hurricane. That would be isolating the square and adding pointed pieces that would show the twirling wind aspect of the air around the storm. We'll see how that goes. I have many more ideas than I could ever sew into a quilt. I have notebooks filled with ideas of all kinds of quilts. I should have stuck with acrylics for fast drying projects that end quickly. I've extended at least one quilt out to the 3-year bracket. 

Pictures of the work in progress and the isolation of an area of my model quilt circled with black:

1. scanned black and white pinwheel (8.5" approx)

2. scanned model quilt with area circled using Paint

3. Scan of isolated hurricane-like block by tracing and cutting out diamond on page of white paper to cover everything else to show future block


----------



## freedombecki

All done! 

Here are a couple of shots of the border of the Ladybug Quilt.

It's so good to get things done on Friday and not have to do it when you get up.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm giving this quilt to charity when it's finished in favor of a special friend of mine who posts here who is a total inspiration. Her name is Foxfyre. 

I completed 12 squares, which when turned 90 degrees will become the top and bottom of lanterns, the fabric of which will be a bright color such as a soft yellow.

They're done in a sort of Courthouse Steps arrangement of the ever-popular log cabin quilt pattern. This got started when I cleared the table downstairs off and found a ton of warm and cool colored strips of every description messing up my table. They were folded, pressed, and quickly sewn into the little squares I'm calling "glad rags" because I'm so glad I got that chore done and I'm also glad I'm on Foxfyre's prayer list for God's help for my chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia syndromes which debilitate me from having a normal life. Thank God sewing is a therapy and for sending us therapeutic friends in life in times when we are home-bound! I hope if anyone has one of those awful sister diseases--arthritis, diabetes, MS, cancer, and other autoimmune diseases too numerous to mention, drops by, I've asked God to help them cope and build a life around what they can do, which is a lot when you start making a list of what you still can do when a symptom just totally annoys you for some reason. We all have bad days, but we have great help at the tip of folded hands and a believing heart.

Love, becki.

Now, Glad Rags!!!

Scan 1 Square 1

Scan 2 Ditto 2

Scan 3 Samo-samo 3


----------



## freedombecki

Yep, you saw right if you noticed some of those squares were pieced together from itsy-bitsy leftovers. The purpose of the quilt is only to divide warm and cool colors on opposite sides of the courthouse steps! And to cheer up and make them colorful and happy. Nothing else! When you're cleaning up a mess, and you can use the stuff you cleared, hhooo-aaahhh! As our military guys say. It's all good!

Scan 4

Scan 5

Scan 6 Squares all


----------



## freedombecki

More Glad Rags to Lanterns squares:

Scan 7

Scan 8

Scan 9


----------



## freedombecki

And 

Scan 10

Scan 11

Scan 12

On Scan 11, (the middle one) I broke my colorful rule when I found there was one strip of the coffee cup fabric from Moda Designer Deb Strain from a few years back when I was ordering fabrics for my quilt shop.


----------



## daveman

Becki, I took my mom and my daughters to the National Quilt Museum this afternoon.

Absolutely stunning.  It truly is an art form.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, instead of going to the yellow pile, I decided I needed to get serious about working the turquoise group I'd intended, so I dug through the turquoise bin and found some sweet little old butterflies  on some turquoise fabric. I thought "blue light lanterns?" Oh, well! But first, I needed to set them off and thought maybe colonial lanterns could have been glass bordered with wood (doh, wood is flammable, of course that probably wasn't done...) Anyway, I did add brown 1/2" borders dutifully and blissfully placing tiny dark dotted brown calico at top and bottom of each "lantern," then just as dutifully made sure all the top wings were on top of the one-way fabric. I wasn't terribly thrilled with the effect the brown had on the somewhat hot colors in my pile (ok, I dug some more brights to add to the panoply on top of my kitchen table until yesterday) The brown did nothing to brighten the light turquoise background butterflies. Absolutely nothing, but I wasn't pulling off 24 strips, nosiree. So I thought, "Well, maybe the side borders should be a little wider, after all the strips are each 53" long (stretched to 55") So wider brown strips were cut and just as dutifully sewn to the sides. The brown really killed the joie de vivre I had seen in the 12 litle blocks earlier. Har de har har har. Well, it's ok. Some people like the subdued look I fibbed to myself.... but I set to kill the idea of putting brown log cabin strips between the lantern strips, which do not look like lanterns and do not look like the blue light special at K-Mart. At this point, I'm just going to show the scans I made before starting this tale o' woe:

But I'm seriously not sewing any more on this quilt until tomorrow. I'm tired after the day's doings. Never mind the sorry details. 

Glad Rags showing turquoise lanterns and brown strips


----------



## freedombecki

daveman said:


> Becki, I took my mom and my daughters to the National Quilt Museum this afternoon.
> 
> Absolutely stunning.  It truly is an art form.


Yes it can be, and your link shows a room I've been to before. Some years ago, we sold Pfaff sewing machines, and one year we had a dealer's convention in Nashville, TN, and I wanted to see the museum on quilts at Paducah, so my husband rented a car, and off we went. I loved every minute of it.

The memories of those quilts will shine in your daughters' minds, so hope everyone had a wonderful time as we did when we visited. Women do an art form now. I used to, but now, I just make charity quilt tops and someone else quilts them for those who are in need in this community.


----------



## freedombecki

Put in a full day on the quilt, decided there was a problem. the lantern areas are huge and the wrong color, do not resemble in the slightest a lantern, but they're a good 5x10" framed area, so decided to use them as a backdrop for a butterfly. The butterfly designed last week does not work there, so made a simpler one that can be cut into one piece and machine stitched in place.

Here are the new design, the sashing that sets the blocks together, etc in picture:


----------



## freedombecki

The butterfly designed early this morning, then put onto a square scrap of gold fabric flecked with lime, teal, red, orange, and salmon pink, that was pinned to the front, right side out, then turned over and sewn on the traced lines I put onto the wrong side of the lantern glow area and straight stitched the fabric and background together. I turned it to the right side and trimmed away th eexcess gold fabric, then using a 2mm zigzag at .5mm, covered the raw edge of the butterfly. The butterfly is the symbol of Christ's resurrection, and many quilters love doing butterfly quilts. Glad rags didn't start outwith any particular purpose, it's just that I'd been reading about these lovely flat-type butterflies, and thought the shape would be good to stylize and place in the 5 by 10 inchtoo-big spaces in the lantern glow area. Th fun thing about quilting are the serendipity things that happen when you're in the process of the work. An oversight can be remedied with applique, and this was a good time to combine 2 loves of mine--mindless, fun quilting and butterflies.

so here's my butterfly in fabric and a couple of butterflies to illustrate why I used that particular shape:


----------



## freedombecki

Preplanning is everything. I found an example of lanterns in a quilt I made some time ago, just to put a warm cover on the bed (it was pretty fast). I made rows of large lanterns on a quilt some years back, and ran across it in some wood shelves the other day. The lantern light portion was proportional to the courthouse steps logs, and it looks like a lantern.

When I was adding length to the rows of this quilt, it really needed to be considerably longer, over 12 inches. I just decided 5 inches was good, because I have a growing pile of 5" squares from extra fabrics to match the 2.5" rolls and 5" charm packs you now get at the quilt store that has a piece of each of the collection fabrics if you just want to make a small quilt that has all the collection represented to work with. The good deal is, you do not have to buy a quarter of a yard of each of 42 pieces in the group, which would run over $100 at today's $10 a yard for better quilt fabrics. For under $10., you can buy a charm pak and save a mint. The 5" squares can be sliced in half to get 2 2.5" strips or cut in half perpendicularly to get 4 2.5" squares. Either way, the second step makes a 4" square when combined with other charm squares.

Anyway, I just decided to cut 5" lanterns, without thinking and did. Then, when all was sewn together, it looked like fabric setting was placed between the lanterns, and not that the 5" was the lantern light. So I came up with the flat butterfly idea and hurried to make such a butterfly applique that would fit well within the rectangular lanterns. It's starting to look a lot better than when the lantern lights wee easy. 

I improved the gold butterfly and used a white backing fabric to fix the fabric so it could be embellished by machine better. Here are some of the butterfly squares now (there will be 9):

First, the added background with butterfly penciled onto the white percale groound

And other squares which took all morning

3rd.,


----------



## freedombecki

And the other two butterflies:

As of now there are 5 more to do. I developed a different process to do appliques from the reverse side of the quilt without using noxious or polyethelyne stickem. I also learned that you get a very professional satin stitch without a lot of backing other than additional layers of percale or muslim (broadcloth) all cotton. I did not have to use any kind of backing, and found it pleasing. Anyway, here's the two other "experiments" and I may try different things as I work. Each of the first 4 squares has a different technique. This one may get washed before donating, just to see what happens to the different techniques in the washing machine. If I don't like it, I won't have to use that particular technique again. I loved the sheen of the threads as they were laying down while using a plain zig-zag stitch.​


----------



## freedombecki

I worked from memory and the need to fill a 5 x 10" quilt square with butterflies I have noticed from time to time in looking up members of _Lepidoptera_. Of course, for children, I always go a bit naive, because basic shapes is what children understand the best, the simpler and more colorful, the better they seem to like it. And in America, women have a fondness for making their children special, one-of-a-kind quilts. Hopefully, this design is, and I can always refine it to its more natural look when I have time. But it would be a good opportunity to teach basic applique curves on, and a little simple embellishment ways in stitching details if one wants to go to the trouble.

The first time I noticed one of these enlongated eliptical wings was in a butterfly garden in Victoria, on Vancouver island in Canada a few years back on our way to see the Buchart Gardens when we were in Seattle, WA on a business trip in the quilt fabric industry. It gives the feeling I wanted of these butterflies, but I looked them up just to see how close the overall shape is to the real deal by browsing my computer.

The order of Lepidoptera this butterfly falls in is Heliconiinae, commonly known as simply "longwings" At Wikipedia, I found there are many types and colorations:






And below are some of the pieces of paper I saved that are part of my design process. The first pictures I do are usually so ungainly I don't save them. The best I can do is with scissors, so I do several rough drafts (from memory), then pick shapes I like or prefer due to their fitting the space that needs filling, which was sure the case here! So the naming process goes on, but now that I've located the specie type of Lepidoptera I wanted, they're in a family of longwing butterflies, and they were in my mind (though obviously not clearly) in the design of this quilt. Memory is tricky. It's not what you see at all. It's what you remember about what you saw. Even when you see again the same picture, you're aware you took "artistic license" when you drew it from what bits of memory you could muster.

Process is not always the same on each design. In quilting it is determined by a lot of subjective factors: How much time out of my life do I want to put into this quilt? What kind of visual textured fabrics will go well with this shape, or would solid colors be better? How will this design go with what I'm working on? Who am I making this quilt for? (Adult, Teen, Child, Infant). Sometimes you think: if the quilt is given to someone other than the intended recipient, how many age gaps may be bridged by this shape, and last but far from least, "Are the negative shapes surrounding the (positive) object pleasing to the eye?"​


----------



## freedombecki

I realize the above looks like a silly name, but as I've worked through this quilt of no pattern, and trying to bring out its best, the addition of light aquablue lantern light in a tiny butterfly print caused a visual issue on account of the size I picked. It just didn't look like a lantern quilt after putting the vertical rows. The lantern "light" areas were 2 inches longer than I'd ever used before, exaggerated by their slighter width. Also, the brown frames disappointed the glad feeling of bright colors used in the courthouse steps block. So I tried to make the best use of what was left to at least use the large light blue areas, already framed in brown, to show off longwing butterflies--and I didn't even know how to locate them online, and it took 2 days of reviewing butterfly pictures to find what I had remembered seeing and had already made a plastic template from after drawing it out. The first one I showed wasn't the one I remembered, but was the only one I could find that first day that showed shorter wings, and they're at least in a related family of longwings, but not the kind that were the shaep I recollected. I found them later, with scientific names by looking through bing images with such names as "skinny wings, butterflies" "Lepidoptera, narrow wings," etc. Somehow I finally saw one that was the right shape, so it's hit and miss, find what you can.

I've shown some processes, but some are easier than others. I finally settled on one process, that will change the next time I attempt this type of quilt, and that is, it's a lot easier to do an applique block one at a time, not after they're framed!!! So here is (after the design phase was completed) how to do it the easy and fast way. Do the squares first, and cut them larger than you need to. When you embroider satin stitch details, there is takeup evidenced by the way things may gather up to make parts of the outside border not straight, imperfect, or gathered. A good iron helps get rid of some of the problem as would a good spray starch placed on sewing materials before tracing the template around. A good recipe for starch is to use a tablespoon of cornstarch for 1 pint of warm water, stirred and placed into an empty new spray bottle container. Mark the spray bottle "starch" to keep it separate from spray bottles filled with water or other substances, which also should be labeled and color-coded so you do not make bad mistakes.

I didn't use starch, because I have an advanced Bernina that is so efficient the satin stitch I picked was correctable with a good pressing with a hot iron and two layers of fabric underneath the fabric reverse appliqued to the right side of the little blue butterfly backgrounds.

Here's the underlay:  using oversized white muslin or percale, *trace the butterfly at center of the fabric* with washable marker or pencil.

(2) - scan 1 with the white traced pattern showing, place the fabric with its right side to the opposite of the percale pattern. Stitch along the lines with a 2mm stitch (small)

(3) - scan 2 Turn over to right side. (if you enlarge the picture, you can barely see the turquoise basting thread on the bright red happy dots fabric)

(4) - scan 3 Trim away red fabric, leaving a quarter of an inch, more or less, according to your liking. (you will satin stitch through 3 layers when placed on back of the background, secured with tiny brass safety pins).


----------



## freedombecki

(4) *Scan 4* Press the fabric flat (showing 2 other longwings that are pressed)

(5) Pin oversized white backgrounds with right side of butterflies facing the wrong side of the quilt background piece that would be 5.5" x 10.5"

(6) Stitch through the small stitch around the wings

(7) trim away the right side background, letting the wings show(7.a) *Scan 5* Turquoise

(7.b) *Scan 6* WWII Red, white blue, print found in factory lot of collar miscuts and factory scraps from the 40s grab bag at antique store in 1998 and cut out this morning)
​On Scan 6, the fabric came from this huge bag of 30s and 40s prints I acquired at an antique store. Every once in a while I like to imagine that the woman who miscut the fabrics on an accident may have worked like a man as best she could in the 40s when sons and husbands were uniformed soldiers in the Pacific or European theaters. I thought maybe the miscuts may have happened the week she got a telegram from the department of defense that she lost her beloved husband or son or boyfriend. Or maybe it was someone who bought or picked up freebie factory scraps left at the back door for employees to take home and sew into quilts or something. Maybe the quilt never got made due to losing the loved one she was thinking of when she took the scraps home with her, and couldn't give them up during her lifetime. 50 years later, she died, and someone found this odd bag of scraps from her past. They didn't sew, so they took it down to a second hand store and just left the bag on the doorstep or got a couple of dollars for a huge sack full of the factory cuts and some quilt parts sewn together. The second hand store dealer didn't know what to do with them either, and didn't have closet space after so many years of not doing anything with them either. Somehow, I landed there on the right day, and they came into my possession as I made wounded soldier quilts in another war for servicemen severely wounded. I tried to put a piece of that mother's quilt scraps into every red-white-and-blue quilt I could. This morning, I found one of the 5x6" with a slash pieces in the stack of 30 had gotten folded. It was just the right size for one of my longwing butterflies.

With it, I pay homage to a mother from another time who experienced a loss so heartbreaking she couldn't even look at the scraps she took home from that factory, now maybe 70 years ago or thereabout. She lost a beloved one in her life. She wanted something good to be done with her scraps, and somehow, a piece I'd never noticed before because it was crunched up between two awfully cut pieces in a stack of 22 that may have been 30 to 50 at one time (I've used from the stack several quilts before), and I had a real time of dipping it in water and reironing it. It still had sizing from back then to make the fabric stiff, but rinsing it softened it a little, but because it never had seen the light of day in 70 years, its colors were as pretty as the day it was printed and dried in a USA factory back east somewhere, made with old southern cottons, a grade up from homespun, but a grade down from broadcloth. (When you hold it to the light, you can see the uneven threads compared to today's cloths that are all maddeningly even), so characteristic of products our mothers produced, not ever having had experience working outside of the home in the world they grew up in the 20s and 30s). I have a little misty in my eyes.

God bless our dear mothers and grandmothers, even great-grandmothers, who lost loved ones in WWII. Their lives were made so much poorer by fighting, but our lives were made richer by having the threat of murdering groups of people whose Jewish faith in God made them the objects of Nazi/Muslim hatred, all 6 million of them. mass killed in 'the showers' in that terrible war in Germany alone. So many died. How many more were saved?

Our lost men prevented further Holocaust in the world. That's what they lived and died for. How can we honor those who lost them? Crying? Or living so that we support those who stand up to bullies with a "No, you're not going to kill people because YOU hate people who Hitler and his axis friends hated."

I love that sack of scraps more than all my beautiful, new, modern gorgeous yardages, dammit.


----------



## freedombecki

This one was hard to finish. I haven't designed and completed an applique quilt in a long time...maybe a year?

So, it's a nice-sized little quilt for a child at the shelter. It's a lot wider than anticipated, although it really hasn't been measured. I may add two 6" strips at top and bottom to give the kid who gets this quilt another couple of years use. All that would have to be done is cut it horizontally instead of vertically, and it would look right, imho. 

This and the next posts will be the final 6 scans. The 9th square is the very old fabric, embroidered with details like the others, for Patriots, to whom this quilt is in honor of.


----------



## freedombecki

I like to save warm colors on the colorwheel for last. They're just more fun, as was the fabric that was printed before anyone here was born.


----------



## freedombecki

After figuring a panacea for completion of the gladrags longwings quilt, dutifulness to preparing a quilt for the quilting phase facilitates a far more desirable outcome than neglecting this duty. That means getting the surface to a consistency when layering techniques are being effected. IOW, it helps if to have but 1 layer of quilt top, even when one fabric is appliqued over the top of another when you can. Skillful quilters know this and remove the layer underneath large appliqued areas by using stitches that will keep things tucked nicely away or under thread where it will not be poking through after a dozen washes. If one is using a stick-on product behind the applique, believe it or not, a 2 millimeter blanket stitch in width and length on the sewing machine accomplishes just that. Also, a 2 or 3mm by 1 mm zig-zag stitch will do almost as nicely as the machine blanket stitch. A hand buttonhole stitch was used by our mothers when appliqueing raw edges before stick-on products were made nationally available to quilt specialty stores by the late 1980s. 

Sheeze. This was just gonna be about a quickie little quilt that was finished last night after the other one got finished. Well, almost finished except for adding additional length to top and bottom rows of Glad Rags/Longwing quilt using the usual feminine devices for lengthening a child's quilt. 

Here's the turquoise and lime checkerboard quilt parts (it may have been shown the checkerboard squares a couple of weeks back) All said, careful cutting behind the longwing butterflies on the last quilt resulted in having several butterfly backgrounds left over, and the two butterflies in the sky area on top of the quilt were such cutaway leftovers. It would have saved a double sewing over if the edges had been secured better with a 1-thread whip stitch over the outer edges, then zigzagged them. Hindsight has 20-20 vision, doesn't it. Well, too late! It's done. 

The fish was designed last night to counter-balance the top row of butterflies with a bottom row of fishes. Overall measurement of quilt is 40x46".

Below there are 6 scans to show for this quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

The Gladrags and Longwings quilt DID get a final border this morning. Quilts that are too wide and not long enough just look frumpy. The fabric that was picked was less than half a yard. It took some creative cutting to go all the way around the 52x67" quilt. It's still wide, but its overall appearance was made better by adding the 8" top and bottom.

The good thing about passage of days after making the ultimate quilt information document is thinking up about what was left out. Below have all the details one really needs to know except one: certification that the quilt's designation is charity by the disbursement organization so the quilt you made for a child with no quilt does not go to the organization's secretary's new grand-baby, a wealthy donor who supported the organization, for sale at the local log cabin for batting in which less was collected for the quilt than went into materials. 

At $11 a yard if good quilt shop fabrics are used, the investment in a quilt with a surface area of 3000" takes 5 yards or $55, another 2/3 yard for binding; batting costs for a small quilt are now up to around $25, and thread is now $7 a spool. A small quilt can take 2 spools average, unless the quilter goes all out and uses a lot of thread to strengthen the quilt for its intended recipient.  All that adds up. Enough said on subject.


----------



## Dabs

Very nice Becki....I really like the butterfly ones.
I think butterflies are such pretty creatures......I like to think they can fly up to the Heavens....they are so delicate, so wonderful to watch


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs, I've probably designed half a dozen butterfly, but as I was sketching out the longwings butterfly, I had forgotten their name, forgotten they were the Florida state butterfly, etc. I just remembered how beautiful they were, and simplifying God's magnificent perfection is not an easy task. Without looking at a model, though, it helped me not to think about all those details on the real mcCoy and come up with a shape a small child might perceive before he is out of the cradle. If parents have enough models around the house for children to learn the names of from nursery days until the first words are uttered, it so greatly helps them when they start their school years. Early learning what simple shapes represent is the best gift a parent can give her child. That's why I wrote a book 20-something years ago "Aesthetics ABC Animals" in which use of them for crafters is available in my album by clicking on my profile. It's here for anyone who'd like to use the designs and would like to save themselves the 6 months it took me to make them for a child's quilt I wanted to make for nieces and nephews. Since selling the book in my quilt shop for years always drizzled in a little more stay-in-business money, now that I've retired, I'd like friends that USMB members are to have access to them with any credit going to USMB.




​
To use the designs at the link, USMB members may click on one of the black-and-white designs and send the result to the copier, "fit the page." If you have paint in your Windows or other program, you can resize these little critters from jewelry size for enameling all the way up to any size you can make your printer work for you. Enjoy! 

If you don't know the name of the creature, go to the album, and click on the X creature to find out its name. If you don't believe it, scoop it up and put it into your Bing! or other search engine, and you will know right away on which continent it resides, hopefully, that is.

Yes, the stripes on the zebra are cotton fabric appliqued to a cotton base and machine blanket-stitched onto whatever background fabric you use. A savannah grass print would be nice, if you can find a quilt store with a specialty in landscaping prints. If not, go to Ebay or etsy, search for "grass, cotton quilt fabric." If you don't find any, try again a few days later. You will eventually find the right fabric if you play your cards right.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are images of a make-it-today quilt designed over lunch at Daisy's Diner yesterday, came home and got busy with cutting. Didn't sleep a wink last night, so it was up and at 'em when it was too tiresome to be annoyed about not sleeping. 

This is the third in a sequence of turquoise quilts planned for the charity bees to add to the patriot butterfly and the lime-and-turquoise butterfly and pondscum work, simplified into naive style for a child and both finished earlier this week.

The quilt will be before adding border about 30" x 57" 

This took 1 1/8  yards of light shade of turquoise cut into 
4 strips, 7 1/2" by the width of the light cotton check material (aka weft)
6 strips 2" light for first border​This took 1 1/2 yards of the dark cotton calico floral print cut as follows:
4 strips, 7 1/2" by the width of the dark cotton calico floral print (on the weft also)
6 strips 3 1/2" by the width of the dark cotton calico floral print (on the weft also)
1 strip 4" by the width of the dark Cotton Calico floral print (weft or stretch width of cotton calico)​Sew and press open all seams as follows: 4" dark strip, 4(7 1/2" light strip, 7 1/2" dark strip) Beginning with the 4" dark strip and ending with the 7.5" dark strip, you should sew until you have a dark4", light7.5", dark7.5", light7.5", dark7.5", light7.5", dark7.5", light7.5", dark7.5", ( 9 rows beginning and ending with darks, and seams pressed down center or all the same way if you prefer. I figured 15 strips, but when I actually cut, I got 17 strips, which will add 5 inches to the width schema using 1/4" seam allowance. Cut all the rows 2.5" (2 1/2") or two and one half inches all the way down the line on the warp (same as the selvage) or length, that starts and ends with a 4" dark and a 7.5" dark, made a little shorter by virtue of the seam allowance of .25" (1/4") or one quarter of an inch.

Sew your 15 rows with the 7" dark strip top piece with a second strip turned opposite, with the 4" dark strip on top. That causes the basic bonehead bargello appearance as your quilt goes together. 

Pin only if your machine does not have a built in walking foot such as upper end Pfaffs and the #8 super duper Bernina.  Treat yourself to swiss pins--glasshead tops with fine shafts. Using humongous pins results in small tear holes. Sorry, I didn't write the rule book, I just know what the rules are, and the right equipment helps you wind up with a product that will outlast the holey ones by decades of use and neutral-Ph soap care. I didn't write that rule either, but I have a couple of detergent-faded quilts that I let the male of the house throw into the laundry without telling him to set the machine at gentle motion wash and use neutral-Ph quilt soap. If you don't have a quilt store, go to a feed store in a farm community and ask for udder soap. Yes, cow udder soap. It's neutral-Ph, probably reasonably priced too, if you don't mind buying a gallon of the stuff. You only use 2 tablespoons with enough water to fill the gentle cycle wash that will clean your quilt top nicely.

If you are using such a sewing machine, be certainly sure you are using the upper dual feed or walking foot by raising the presser foot lifter, and pulling the built-in walker out-down-forward to engage it or whatever your machine instruction manual says. Otherwise, pin opposite ends face together and sew all the same way. If you do not sew all the same way you will be most sorry to be spending the time you saved doing a quickie quilt ripping and redoing, but not to worry.

Ripping out a seam you just sewed improperly is an exercise in developing a sense of humor quilters need and acquire as error appears. And if you sew it wrong the second or even third time wrong, welcome to the club. This stuff goes away after about your 600th quilt and you go into it armed with a determination you will be paying attention THIS TIME. 

Square the edges with a rotary cutter and rotary cutting ruler. I like to use a rotary cutting 12.5" square on the corner edges because that's absolutely the best corner you will ever get on a quilt, and nothing else works as well, sorry.

Sew the six light 2" border strips together using 5 seams. Sew onto the squared quilt top.

Sew the six dark 3.5" border strips together using 5 seams also. Sew them onto the squared quilt top.

If you want more instructions, leave a message here within a day of now, and I'll try to remember what I did to get the 30x57" size. Keep in mind if you want this baby twice as wide and twice as long you need four times the above, and four times the fabric amount, almost exactly.


Scan 1
VERY ROUGH DRAFT to give you the idea of what works in this top. Beware: only the top row resembles the correct alignment of 4" and 7.5" strips, which will be OPPOSITE AND NOT THE SAME at the bottom

Scan 2
An end (both ends will be opposite because you reversed where the short 4" end was every other row--doh, it's not rocket science)

Scan 3
Somewhere in the middle showing a dark set of bricks alternated.

If I screw up and told you wrong or was unclear, I apologize. For me, this quilt is like falling off a log and takes a total of 5 hours from cut to starting the border. It's a great quilt for a toddler or baby, because you didn't donate 1,000 hours of your life to doing a cutesy quilt, unless you had to unsew the whole thing 10 or 20 times, that is. Surely, you will be looking alive if you attempt it and not doing silly stuff. I have 2 other advantages--factory experience in getting sewing things done assembly line style and a choice of the two best sewing machines in the world with 10 and 11" work area between the needle and the right side of the machine where the flywheel is usually located. Both my machines have built-in walking feet, too. When one is being serviced, I can use the other. I have a backup brother I got at Walmart for $200 that has around 200 stitches, but no attached walking foot. However, the feed system is so advanced even on this modest machine it feeds right on layers. The bad thing? Instead of 10" to have fabric lay flat, I may have less than 7" or 6". I don't know. The strategy of having a backup top of the line machine is great when service time requires you to wait 2 to 6 weeks until they repair/and/or clean the 30 or 40 machines ahead of yours.

Also, you can stop that frequency thingy by simply oiling the hook and keeping the bobbin and top areas clean of cotton lint. You have to use cotton thread. Trust me, you have to use cotton thread. Otherwise, pulling on the quilt top over time puts big holes where each stitch is. Instead of lasting for 400 to 600 years, your quilt gets under 10 years of heavy use, and less than that - as in the very first time - if dear darling uses bleach to really clean the quilt you sent him downstairs with, with the prayer he didn't leave a red sock in the machine to dye your loverly werk. It takes all our exercise of a sense of humor we developed over time making ripout mistakes to forgive such a deed and say, "Oh, thank you, thank you, Rhett Butler dearest." 

See? That's why we quilt. It gives us perspective and a sense of humor that you CAN spend a thousand hours and still get a disaster at a later moment.


----------



## freedombecki

Finished inner quilt and outer border. Yea! One more down, 13 to go, plus 10. It's really nagging me that I may have overestimated, so I'm going to do as much quickly quickly tops similar in time allotment as this one for the next few days if my health holds up. That way, I can rest assured that If I screwed up, I made it up, and if I didn't there will be 10 more tops to go for charity bees closet for the shelter kids. Go kids! 

Several years ago, I made a quilt I just couldn't part with. It was a heavenly light turquoise blue on white, and I love it so it always manages to find its way to the top of the quilt stack on the bed. it is just a favorite. Working with this turquoise in a slightly darker quilt will be good for a family because medium colors do not show dirt the way light, white, and pastel quilts do. Also, while you're working on a color and your heart is all aflutter because it seems to be beautiful really makes those hours (short as they were on this particular top) pass quickly.

This quilt measures a width of 43" and a length of 78."

Here's the border, and it's so good to be done   :


----------



## freedombecki

Spent many an hour today on quilts. Here's the result--More windmills, of which I still have a 6-inch stack in the green basket, but this time placed in blue-green planet sashings and stuff. There are 20 windmills set on point (the hard way), but these went in better than the one done about a month ago or so. There was very little ripping to do on this one, although it had its moments where that's all one could do to make things right and lay flat too. The quilt measures 56 x 68." If it had 24 windmills on it, it would have measured 78" long, plenty long enough for an adult cot quilt. That will be a consideration the next time this one is done, except there are a lot easier ways of setting them without setting them on point. It was fun to play with the stripes on the orange block below. A lot of people hate stripes because they don't play with them enough, and instead of being a nuisance, they become enough of an enigma to be conversation pieces. Stripes also make a challenge that is fun to work. Cutting is the key, but not always. In this case due to the nature of the stripe looking like a quilt was enhanced by cutting the two squares that made the point set triangles stripe run counter to the clockwise flow of the windmill since the two squares were cut using a half inch measure so that the stripes would show best. The outcome was totally serendipity. 56x68 is not a usual size lately, but will be a good wrap for a child, hopefully.


----------



## freedombecki

It's big enough for up to a 5' child. It was fun to do!


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I was gonna start and finish another bi-color quilt in nothing flat.

My husband accidentally locked me out of the house by forgetting I was in the car reading the mail. He always locks the house up. When we bought the house, every lock worked except the garage door one. We dead bolted everything else, so you can only open them from the inside on the other 3, all of which have security alarms if breached. lol Nobody answered when I yelled and again, when I honked the horn. He forgot he locked the only door I don't have a key to, and I couldn't get in any of the 3 deadbolted doors, either. He decided panicky wife was funny, so he didn't respond to the honking in 5 minutes. When I got back 3 hours later loaded for bear, he said he saw me leaving. 

Dealing with early dementia is not darn funny sometimes. 

So when the going gets tough the tough go shopping, and so did I. One of the pieces of mail I was reading was Hancock's half off quilt fabric sale, and their stuff is pretty good weight fabric and washes nice, so I bought a barrel of it in truly gorgeous colors. I have enough turquoise different pieces to make charm quilts into forever, I think, like I needed more fabric. And you should not shop when you are in high dudgeon about getting locked out of the house because you buy more fabric. Well, in its best light, dementia is good for the economy. 

I did 2 blocks on the next quilt, which is called Roman Stripe. There will be a lot of different prints on it, and forty blocks like the 2 below, except different shades of turquoise and complementary shades to give it some character. Your quilting should never have a dull moment. After reviewing the last few pages of this thread, I have a facepalm moment, and I don't know what to do about it except well, facepalm, and add one more quilt to the 100 to make up for my space cadet moment which I am not revealing for any reason. 

Scan 1 Roman Stripes in turquoise 1

Scan 2 Roman Stripes in turquoise 2

Scan 3 A Roman Stripe traditional quilt from out there in cyberspace made by someone who has the same book as me--Quilts, Quilts, Quilts. 

This one will take gargantuan amounts of time cutting, sewing, then cross cutting, sorting, and trying to make a decent quilt with it. I may save the blocks for another day and just make one in 2 colors in order to complete the goal of 100 quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

There are two quilts named "Roman Stripes" One is in square form, and the other is on the diagonal and is seen a lot in Amish country.

Below are some ideas for people who like easy quilts online, one is the inspiration for making the Roman Square Stripe in 2 colors (wrong # of stripes, but for some reason, the image came up when googled)

Scan 1 Red Stripes like basketweave

Scan 2 Roman Stripes sashed in tan

Scan 3 Roman Stripes the other kind of Roman Stripe on diagonal (aka Sunshine and Shadows by some)


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 Roman Stripe Baby Quilt, hand quilted

Scan 2 Vintage squares found at a website specializing in antique quilt squares saying these were 30s. I'm thinking they're older than that, but not certain

Scan 3 Contemporary interpretation of Roman Stripes in autumn-feeling cotton fabrics


----------



## freedombecki

Getting so inspired by internet pretty Roman Stripe ideas...

Scan 1 Traditional Amish Roman Stripe on Diagonal

Scan 2 Roman Stripe in Teals 

Scan 3 Roman Stripe arranged to look like Staircase, someone's first quilt, too. It's an easy and beautiful effort!


----------



## freedombecki

Now it's decision time--put the two slavemaker squares aside and make a 2-tone stripe quickie quilt or bite the bullet and sweat them for the next 3 weeks like the tree quilt about a month ago (seems like a year)...

...too much think....ing...

And whoever made the graphics bigger. a huge big hug plus a huge big wet,  sloppy kiss from Ms. Music.


----------



## freedombecki

Three more blocks were made this morning. They just got slid under the lid and scanned...

Now, it's back to the machine to cut out fabrics for another row. This one is the last easy one because there was a cache of fat quarters found on the internet at a bargain price. When the packet was undone, the bargain price was due to light damage on some areas of a few of the pieces, noticed during the pressing creases out phase. Those must have been bundled together for 5 years. Oh, well, the choices change every 6 months, it's fun to see what was being used years ago. It adds a character of antiquity to the quilt when some of the strips are from 100 years old up to the present. It's time to visit the 30's pail and see if there's a good turquoise, aqua, or lake colored print. 

Scan 1 one side
Scan 2 other side
Scan 3 somewhere in middle of 3 joined squares.


----------



## freedombecki

One more square to show, and have 8 more than this ready to cut and sew. This quilt is a LOT OF WORK. It took me a whole day and almost all of it until tonight, plus I worked on it yesterday to 2 am. 

There were 8 rows planned, but if this one is gonna get done, I could cut it from 5x8 down to 4x6, and just add borders to make up for some of the difference.

I'm just so tired. Hope everyone is doing ok and enjoying the quilts I found above.

Goodnight everybody.


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt reminds me of the army. If there's nothing to do they think of something to do, no matter how useless, no matter how boring, ya just do what ya gotta do... In 4 or 5 hours in front of the machine, there's so little to show, so much more to do...

*sigh*

Only one scan. I'm pretty sure strips have been cut, possibly sewn (?) for four more squares. 

Some days, it is just a matter of reconnoitering. The great days are when you finish the work. This one is coming along as slow as the 3-week tree, and weeks are running down. I keep forgetting to write down all the quilts that have been made in the notebook. lol Accounting is no fun and takes time away from sewing. 

And it's raining cats and dogs here.


----------



## freedombecki

Turquoise blue is such a good color. Wasn't I carrying on about glacier blue a bit back ago? Oh, yes, the tree sky was glacier. 

Maybe it is just a stunning color. There are already two rows sewn together. My heart leaps when I look at it. It's almost like being in love. Really.

Wasn't there a really pretty quilt from search a few days ago that was put in the Pictures file--going to look. BRB.

Well, here are two and Drurer's Praying Hands asking God to bless our dear troops:


----------



## freedombecki

Turquoise Roman Stripes Charity Quilt

The scans are just of new blocks done this morning through late this evening.


----------



## freedombecki

Just 2 more. These little puppies take 2 hours apiece, cutting, sewing long strips, cutting strips into 8 sections, and using one section as the 3 piece smaller quadrant of these 9" unfinished squares (sorry they lap off the coputer but whatcha gonna do? 

Last scans of the day: 2 blocks, and a roman stripe in blues I found online the other day.


----------



## freedombecki

Seven hours of beautiful turquoise blue yesterday morning, and another  couple of hours of blue in the afternoon and after retiring. This work  is so simple, but its color is far better than its maker. I woke up  thinking "How beautiful is blue," and thought of this song that was  played like any other popular song in the 60s, it was ubiquitous, it was played not only on FM Stations that never played advertisements - even  being played on pop culture stations sandwiched between "My Boyfriend's Back" and  "Light My Fire." This is my all-time favorite to get through the  day--how love for everybody in your heart can light your path even when bringing  you a little pain at the same time, how God weeps for us when we don't get along  with our neighbors, and when the sun sets, how beautiful are the  spheres, even when you're playing solitaire. Love has to be turquoise blue. It hugs and soothes you at the same time. Some of my recent favorite blue scans below..

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6cPXvTqasg]Paul Mauriat - "Love Is Blue" (1968) - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Since yesterday, 60 units of Roman Stripes are now in a 6x10 piece (measuring about 28x45.5" (inches). Two more squares of 4 Roman Stripes apiece have been sewn today. This is a time consuming work, and there's no other way to describe it. *sigh*

Scan 1 leftest side

Scan 2 rightest side


----------



## freedombecki

Good progress early this morning on the Turquoise Roman Stripe Charity quilt with 2 more blocks of 4 Roman stripe sections each. One more group like that, it's a complete row.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally. A whole 4th row after 2 days more. This is starting to be like the 99 bottles of beer song (again)...

But I love the textures of the old and new fabrics on this quilt. I'm noticing on fabric that came from a shop bolt purchased the first year I was in business. It is a fine-grilled turquoise-and-white small floral from the RJR Fabric company in Los Angeles, California back when. I'm not in touch with the day-to-day stuff anymore at my shop, but they celebrated our 25th year anniversary on May 4. It's still too cold to go up there in May as I recollect from years past, and my fibromyalgia goes into orbit in cold weather. At least here, it's over in a couple of months, and the critical pain goes away. 

I've so loved the turquoise blues in this quilt. My mother loved blues. If she were here today, she'd love this one, too. Some mothers are just so wonderful, their memory is always with you, like a little number you can call to hear someone tell you they love you. *sigh*

Here's the last square, sewn into the row. There are 80 small Roman  stripe units so far. The size is good, but I'd like it to be a little  longer.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally. A whole 4th row after 2 days more. This is starting to be like the 99 bottles of beer song (again)...

But I love the textures of the old and new fabrics on this quilt. I'm noticing on fabric that came from a shop bolt purchased the first year I was in business. It is a fine-grilled turquoise-and-white small floral from the RJR Fabric company in Los Angeles, California back when. I'm not in touch with the day-to-day stuff anymore at my shop, but they celebrated our 25th year anniversary on May 4. It's still too cold to go up there in May as I recollect from years past, and my fibromyalgia goes into orbit in cold weather. At least here, it's over in a couple of months, and the critical pain goes away. 

I've so loved the turquoise blues in this quilt. My mother loved blues. If she were here today, she'd love this one, too. Some mothers are just so wonderful, their memory is always with you, like a little number you can call to hear someone tell you they love you. *sigh*

Here's the last square, sewn into the row. There are 80 small Roman  stripe units so far. The size is good, but I'd like it to be a little  longer.


----------



## freedombecki

Another day, 40 more pieces of turquoise fabrics, another row. There are 20 3-stripe units in this Roman Stripe quilt, and each piece has a little or a lot of turquoise in it. It's a charm scrap quilt, although in its accepted form as having 2 alike pieces of the same fabric in each individual unit, they are not repeated anywhere else on my quilt. That causes the "charm" designation, and not the beauty of working with turquoise blue colors and loving every little second of it. 

Scrap quilts usually repeat the fabric over and over until the maker runs out of it. That can get pretty weird, and if it is not an artistic effect, I don't know what is, as I believe in a measure of consistency with what little I can remember from art class days so many years ago is that art is an everyday experience. And our mothers who made scrappy quilts to keep their families covered in winter were resourceful souls who made do with what resources fell their way in good times and in bad.

The 40 fabrics of 20 units were sewn into a row, Row 5, and it took 4 scans to get all the squares in, hopefully the pictures are turned so that it flows into the next piece, since I don't take pictures with a camera. The last scan will have to be in the next post. 

Scan 1, 2, and 3 from left to right:


----------



## freedombecki

The 4th scan: the rightest edge of row 5. 

Now, I have to run and listen to debate summaries.


----------



## freedombecki

Cut and sewed 10 strips for Roman Stripes found another cache of turquoise fabrics from long ago, plus a bag of leftover strips that were too small from a couple of turquoise log cabin quilts back in my shop days. I sewed until I was good and tired of it, then came here. 10 more strips, it will be a row. Will publish scans when they're done. Made some sketches of butterflies onto graph paper at our usual restaurant. Someday, I'm gonna finish one and take it to Daisy's diner for them to show on the wall. It has to be really nice. They're great cooks and make a living from it in a small Texas town a few miles up a farm to market road, then onto a state highway. 

It's been a beautiful day. I got to work with some really pretty turquoise fabrics and it just sets my soul on fire. 

10.24.2012 Edit note: just adding a picture of one of the scans to save a post. There were 4 scans instead of the 3 that fit in when we add thumbnails. Speaking of thumbnails, to see the beautiful fabric surface textures, just click on the thumbnail. Pardon my clippings. This quilt will have a total of 120 Roman stripe units, and I try to remove as many as possible before the quilting process starts. I forget to as showing the scans takes a lot of time, and my habit is to remove strings and thread after it's done. That way, if it has to be postponed, the quilt top can be placed in a plastic bag. This is a lot more time than usually spent on a charity quilt, but in the process, I made strips and cut roman stripes 5" square for 6 or 7  more quilts, or a mountain of frames for other quilts. Turquoise blue is so like glacier blue, which I fell in love with in the Canadian rockies in 2006 on the last Orient Express trip by Luxor Lines of America, in coordination with the Canadian government railroads. It stimulated me to collect that glacier blue glass, and I have a big collection of it now, including several coffee cups that are glacier blue glass. They're not as pretty with coffee in them since the facets on the cups reflect brown.

Here's scan 29:.


----------



## freedombecki

Turquoise Roman Stripe Quilt

Click on the thumbnail to make it large to see the fabric surface textures. Some of the ones in this quilt are simply out of this world to people who love the color of glaciers, summer skies, and Caribbean waters. This color rocks when you are sewing it. It's not even like work at all, although  this quilt has taken a long time due to sewing 45" strips of 3, cutting them into 8 parts, and setting aside 7 for future quilting projects--pillows, aprons, pockets, more quilts, quilt borders, sashes and the like. You can even make a piano key border around the quilt with other 5" strips of lights between two triad roman stripe squares going the same direction. Or just alternate them 90 degrees. It's all good. I pinned each individual color of 7 leftovers together. This quilt could be replicated in a lot less than 2 weeks! It seems I've been sewing forever at this point, but I could go for another 20 sets of 3, which would take 40 more fabrics. I have about 20 left, and the fun part of quilting is often shopping for the last pieces to make the quilt or a zinger border, for that matter.


----------



## freedombecki

The quilt now has 5 x 6 rows of 4 blocks and is roughly, give or take an inch, 46x55." I seem to have enough to make another row of the Roman stripes. There are now about 120 4.5" squares and there will be 140 if 5 x 7 is its final size. I'm estimating it will be 46x64 by then. I measured earlier, and can't remember anything except the approximates. I have to go get some more light aqua blue thread now. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Getting so inspired by internet pretty Roman Stripe ideas...
> 
> Scan 1 Traditional Amish Roman Stripe on Diagonal
> 
> Scan 2 Roman Stripe in Teals
> 
> Scan 3 Roman Stripe arranged to look like Staircase, someone's first quilt, too. It's an easy and beautiful effort!



I absolutely adore the one on the far left!!!
The colors are awesome.......man, you stay super busy I bet!!
It's fun to look at others' crafts....get new ideas *smiles*


----------



## freedombecki

You're right. That one's a beaut. And yep, I almost finished another row when I came to dinner and stayed in front of the computer. lol! I would love to get back to the machine and crank out that last row, get busy on the border and finish it before midnight. I dropped in the quilt shop today, oh, my goodness the pretty fabric and stuff, some of which I dragged back to the truck & headed home with wondering "Why are you doing this!!!!" lol! I guess i'll have to make 100 more quilts next year. I swear I could make 50 teal/turquoise/jade quilts without leaving my house if I had to.

So glad you dropped by and cheeered the place up with your sunshine lipstick and cute butterfly eyes avie, Dabs. 

11:06 pm.
Well, row 7 didn't get sewn on, but it did get sewn together for a first-thing-in-the-morning fix. 

Some scans of Row 6:


----------



## freedombecki

It was so much fun to see fabrics I'd never seen before today get sewn into this marathon quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

There were 11 strips unused left over. The small strip border had the right side sewn on. Who could waste all that work? So it was cut, set, figure they looked best along the top, add a piece for the side and sew it as perfectly as a hit-and-miss artist could, and add the half-row. The quilt is now 10x15 Roman Stripe squares that are close to 4.5x4.5 inches apiece. The other 3 strips were added, and the total size of it is 48.5 x 70.5 inches. The colors just make my heart sing. 

Here's the added top row:


----------



## freedombecki

The added strip has been saved for probably 15-20 years. It is probably the most beautiful turquoise print ever and was designed by Jinny Beyer and sold by the RJR Fabric Company since the early 1990s. At one time, my shop in Wyoming had every single piece of her basic collection, which I figured was the best thing I could offer Wyoming quilters, living in the central part of a state where there weren't a lot of quilt stores that lasted more than 3 or 4 years in the state. I left it open and in the care of 2 very devout Christian women and told them when I left, "Please use the business to serve God." They have a charity quilt group that meets there frequently, and from what I hear, they put out a lot of quilts for those who need blankets. In that part of the world, warmth in winter is critical.

It's been an arduous couple of weeks work on this quilt and trips to 3 different fabric stores, one of them twice. I love to visit our local store the best. She has threads compatible with the sewing machine's likes, which is lint-free cotton. Even so, it creates a little lint, so it's frequent cleanings!

I need a long nap. It's going to be 45 degrees here tonight, our first visitation of cold weather, and the sky is marbled with clouds.

Here's the last part of that top row added just a half hour ago, and dragged in her to scan le finale! 

Finishing a top makes me feel like the scene from Home Alone with Macauley Culkin waving his arms in the air and running around saying, "I'm free!!!!"


----------



## freedombecki

In the quilt completed yesterday, there were 7 squares left in the row cut and placed into a big box, but it grew heavy and is now overflowing. Since it's just a cardboard mailer that was still in pretty good condition after receiving some yardage from ebay in it, it fit 2 rows 5-inch squares by two rows. The pieces of 7 were pinned together in the same color lots and saved for future quilts. There are probably 150 different pinnings with only a handful having fewer than 7 leftovers from when I first started, using fabrics that were sewn together in some instances, the cut in 2" strips, and just using whatever showed up and wondering what happened to the bigger pieces of six inch strips to half yard pieces of everything. Well, the box turned up the last day the blocks were made. hahahaha. There must be 40 or 50 pieces of fabrics from 1987 on in the found box, although I couldn't remember exactly, having made two beautiful teal quilts and having strips left over in or around the year 2003, which unfortunately were too small to even attempt to substitute for 2 inch strips.

That said, early this morning the box was opened, and pieces were separated into piles of chromatic (for a later quilt using warm sashing) and monochromatic, for the quilt below that is sashed in a glacier blue fabric found among souvenir fabrics found the last day after most all the Roman stripe strips were cut and sewn. Finding unique quilts online to show here online to augment the fractured picture presented by scans has had an upside--finding a wealth of new and innovative way people have used to make quilts totally in a different-than-traditionally-steeped methods that are so fun just by the variety of fun the nontraditionals bring to the world of quilting. 

So, since there are 8 blocks only to show this morning, I'd like to show the quilt that inspired the Glacier-sashed quilt presently in the works, that could be finished by tonight unless my better half needs a weekend outing.

Frame 1 - A sashed Roman Stripe quilt, the likes of which I'd never seen before looking for other people's 3-strip Roman Stripes to show.
2 - Top row of this morning's Glacier-sashed monochromatic turquoise Roman Stripes quilt effort, scan 1
3 - Second scan of Glacier-slashed Roman Stripe.


----------



## freedombecki

Yet more of what was sewn together this morning from that heavy, heavy box of roman stripe squares made in the past 3 weeks for the first quilt (above)


----------



## freedombecki

That's all the sewing that came out of my sewing room from 4 am to 7:30 am this morning. 

This is so much faster than the first sans having to sew strips together. That takes time just in changing the bobbins 4 times per sitting.


----------



## freedombecki

Spent the evening hours completing the quilt. The first turquoise quilt was a starter quilt in a series of Roman Stripe usage quilts. It was plain roman stripes done in a way where two outside pieces were the same around a center one. In this quilt, I am considering blue-green planet colors as a family because as beautiful a color as turquoise is, when you go to a quilt store to search out aquas and turquoise, you won't find as many hot turquoises unless you're in the shop of someone who worships turquoise and has money to burn on something that may be a long time in selling. (25 years of quilt shop ownership taught me that). So in my shop, when I was doing the picking, there were a myriad of turquoises, goofed up a little by the fact that when you're picking from fabrics, a turquoise material placed by a lime green fabric may obfuscate the fact that it's really a sprightly brightly royal blue and not that color midway between jade (blue-green) and royal blue, and not 2 degrees this side of royal like what you're observing in a setting most likely to make you buy the fabric that may have been cheaper to print in a different color than THAT peerless color that by itself can set the soul on fire. 

That said, if you look at the quilt, it sorta falls short of ideal turquoises, due to the nature of my collection that spans 3 decades and 8 if you count thirties reproductions as prints of 80 years ago. The dead giveaway of today's reproduction materials, however is their hand. There's no stiffening (called sizing back when) of sheer material that shrinks as oddly as someone who marches to his own drumbeat which seems out of step with others yet is in the charming character of a 1-of-a-kind person. Today's fabrics are soft, thick, and pleasant to the touch if you shop where excellence in quilting fabric is offered to the public.

There's no sense in showing every one of the 63 blocks, but the final scan is below, showing the tag at the uppre right corner and has a size of 46x60", nearly a perfect crib size and works well until the child is about 4 feet tall. Twelve inches added would make this a couch potato cover, and any larger than that should consider adding more pieces around the outer border and then an additional outer border. Just sayin'.


----------



## freedombecki

The leftover Roman Stripe squares had roughly half in all-blue, to do the smaller quilt above with sashing, but the other striped squares had a strong propensity to have warm color motifs contrasting with their turquoises and aqua backgrounds. There was a hodgepodge of colors, but I just arbitrarily picked a fabric from the huge stash of cottons received a few weeks back that were filled with quality cottons from back whenever, and were either from an estate or someone who developed carpal tunnel or arthritis (she didn't say). The fabrics were well-taken care of, each piece was measured and an approximate width and length to give the next person an idea of what was in the piece, with some of them having curved cuts, straight cuts, square cuts, etc. at any given border. All the fabrics except for a few choice character prints were tiny and packed (close together) which interpreted, means they could have been used on anything from a miniature quilts that benefit from close small motifs to strip-pieced log cabin quilts that also bear tiny prints well.

Anyway, the rust was a polished 100% cotton that had some body, which is not easy to find. One run of polished cottons in the 90s were so thin and flimsy I actually hated them. This one was as polished as some of the polycottons that I also hated that came out a few years before the annoying thin polishes. So I'm just amazed at the collection's owner who was picky and collected a stash of peerless cottons that I am enjoying using from time to time with my stash, also fine cottons, but of another era in which fineness was desirable due to the high costs of transport since the 1990s and continuing higher with exponential gas prices.

The rust polished cotton is fun to work with, and glossy only on the top. I've already sewn two pieces on backward due to sharp sewing machine light obfuscating sheen of the right side from the dull side of the same color. Also, it's easy to put a fabric onto another when you're doing rows of alternate blocks. Unfortunately, my stash is run of the mill using dispersive prints, prints that are 2-way, and prints that are 1-way. Some dispersive prints aren't very dispersive on a small scale strip, so you have to pay attention to which way they're sewn and placed, too. A little caution can make or break a quilt in aesthetic pleasure of noticing that when the top is at the top, everything is rightside up. I did not take it as a sign of early dementia the first time my husband turned one of my quilts upside down. After I told him, it was like it didn't matter. I couldn't understand it. Now I understand. Some battles are unwinnable, but you just try to develop the best sense of humor you can about it and let it go at that. Around the same time, he started driving like Mr. Magoo. He wouldn't turn around for a mile after you told him to turn around he missed his turn. He would only turn around when you raised your voice in panic. Then he would turn around, but not right away in particular, but soon. He likes to drive, but he prefers driving along the beaten path, so I drive to a new place 2 or 3 times until he gets his bearings. Then the first 3 or 4 times, it's "Is this where I turn?" "Yes." or "Not yet, it's the third right, not the first."

Here's the first row (the quilt will be 6x9 squares wide and long, and the inner width with sashing is 38" with 6 Roman Stripes across.


----------



## freedombecki

The sprinkling of various and sundry colors throughout most of these blocks made them not suitable to the glacier family monochrome quilt which was second in this series. This is the third. Together, a quarter of all the strips cut haven't been completely used up yet. Turquoise is pretty. The rust color is so deep it reminds me of the dirt you see in Nacogdoches county, where my grandma grew up. The stone-faced texas rocks there are deep reddish rust, too. Such delightful memories the few times grandpa took us up to the families that now populated the towns in and around Nacogdoches. And the red dirt grew the sweetest melons and canteloupes I ever tasted. They were sweeter and juicier than sugar cane. the watermelons were so sweet, I thought all the melons would be when I started shopping. Not a chance! The stuff in the store tastes like cardboard by comparison. There isn't any sweetness or goodness in some of the fruits shipped up to the USA from south of the border when they're still green. Even if you let them ripen on the counter, at best, store boughten canteloupe is mealy-mouthed. There's nothing like picking perfectly ripe canteloupes like walking over to a ripe group, thumping a few, and picking the one that resonates well.

As far as the reddish rust color is concerned, next to the blue lake color of the turquoise, the only thing missing is some grass. 

Well, the hard part of this quilt is 4/9ths done. 

And here's row 2:


----------



## freedombecki

Yippee! It's done!!!! Yay!


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, while something else was being sought, another 24" hero star log cabin square was found for the turquoise group. So yesterday, it received intermittent attention between the goings on of the household. Then, at 2 am, it was time to stop tossing and turning and put the border on that puppy! Four of the turquoise quilts have butterflies either appliqued or in the largest border. Here are the visual results of this one (see next 2 posts as well):

Scan 1 - center of hero star and quilt
Scan 2 - star points
Scan 3 - corner of star


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 4 - Bottom edge of outer border
Scan 5 - Bottom corner
Scan 6 - Top addition (one is at bottom, also) to keep tiny toes warm 7 inches more on the quilt gives the toddler an extra year, but they do grow so fast.

Bless the child O Lord, who receives this quilt, and keep him safe, warm, and wise as he grows up and learns to be a good citizen in the world in spite of its troubles. Amen.


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 7 - Top of quilt with info useful to quilter (another Charity Bee does the quilting for this 100-quilt project)
Scan 8 - A corner turned on point to show hero star points as well as possible
Scan 9 - Another of the 4 corners


----------



## freedombecki

All morning till noon was spent working up the elephant design that started in my little pocket notebook always present in the purse, along with ruler and sharpened pencils, and making it into a quilt-sized "postage stamp" type quilt. 

Scan 1 - 3-inch strips to cut (the cross cut by 3 inches to make the quilt large enough for a young child who might like baby elephants when he sees one at the zoo.

Scan 2 - 3 color groups of light and dark strips to cut in 3" crosswise cuts later- grays (elephant) turquoises (sky) and green/lime (grass). The border is begging for schoolbus and fuchsia already, I swear! But first, it's do the do, and this will take a long day tomorrow. Also, with no sleep last night due to forgetting to turn on the heater, the chill took hours for the heater to knock out. By that time, it was time to get up and finish the butterfly-bordered hero star quilt just above.

Scan 3 - the Graph. (the quilt started as 11x11 and is now 17 x 19.

This morning in the groggy hours, it occurred to me how much I love the little animals that have been designed for going on a year, and I only did a samplette of turtles, nothing fancy and too little to be more than a little part of a greater work.

This one can be made into any size, from the size of a piece of typing paper, but I'm enlarging the squares to 3" cuts because I had a feeling somehow I struck a good design on this one. That doesn't happen every day. I love the serendipity when something better than okay jumps out from the sketchpad.

The scans as described above:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I do see a necessary change. the hump on the elephant's back is offcenter. I'd prefer it to be a tad more ahem, symmetric. It was the head I liked. It just looks like a baby elephant. It's truly hard to get a feeling from such a small grid as 50, much less 15 to 20, that when something good happens that you like, you just want to see it to the end.

The other two scans were taken of something I rarely do--go to a smaller square, but I did not wish to applique on this particular quilt, so I fashioned the round eye into a small square, plus the tail just had to be there at the side view, imho, so the parts are 1x2 rectangles, proportionally, cut 1.75" strips into 3" strips and sewn together in the rhythm created by the use of light and dark squares. That reminds me, the width will have to come out 5 more inches (3" - 1/2" = 2 1/2" finished, x 2 = 5". That will make the quilt 50" wide before adding the border, which will be needed to even up warp and weft cuts that will likely be inconsistent due to the nature of the design.

The rough sketch done at Daisy's Diner last summer sometime, well, the ear just didn't work, so it's not in the semifinal version in the previous post which must now be amended, lol *sigh* Changes, changes.


----------



## freedombecki

All morning to sewing strips into squares. This quilt is like a crossword puzzle. Occasionally a piece gets sewn on the wrong side, because it's puzzling. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

Scan 1 The sky

Scan 2 The elephant's eye

Scan 3 Elephant leg showing pink toes


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 Elephant's crown

Scan 2 Elephant's lower trunk

Scan 3 Elephant's tail hitch


----------



## freedombecki

The Postage Stamp Baby Elephant Quilt is coming along nicely. The little illustration of the other day was divided into 20 parts and stitched, except the tail was separated and sewn early in order to facilitate a straight line. When a long straight line of many parts is desired, it takes all I got to keep them looking as if they were one fabric, plus the challenge of light and dark checkerboards throughout the quilt meant paying attention or paying the price of ripping and redoing, which was done a NUMBER of times in this quilt to make it come out okay. It was a puzzle. In a few hours, the puzzle will be solved, hopefully.

Below is a quilt or quilts done in past years, since there will be nothing to show for a few hours, until Mr. Elephant is one. 

Scan 1 Sugarloaf Mountain, given to Sister & her Husband on their wedding.

Scan 2 Tell Them I'm A Child of God Quilt given to Casper Fire Department for Children of Family that suffered House Fire, total loss of home a dozen years ago. Our community was so sad for them.

Scan 3 Typing Paper-sized Squares for Wounded Soldier with tiny blue sashing and red square sets. God bless all our troops who suffered wounds, loss of friends in battle, and loss of their own life. That can never be made up for, but we can reach out with a tender word or deed.


----------



## freedombecki

The "Grass" at the bottom of the quilt, as shown plus one extra row of green to balance the 4 blue skies above the elephant's crown with 4 green spaces below the elephant's pink toes. 

Scan 1 - Grass panel showing 4 greens below feet

Scan 2 - Plan showing 3 below toes of feet

Scan 3 - Trip Around the World Quilt, extra fine 1.5" squares, made sometime between 1996-2008 and sold to customer for purchasing batting for wounded soldier quilts made after 2003-2008. Americans are so supportive of our troops in some places. I'm so grateful to people who just walked off the street, willing to give what was needed for our work in helping wounded soldiers. Cotton batting is quite expensive, so the help was appreciated! God bless our troops.


----------



## freedombecki

The elephant quilt is done! I'm free! yayayayayay!!!


----------



## freedombecki

This morning's work was all in log cabin sewing compositions. 

When cutting the 2" Roman stripes quilt,  1.75" strips for other projects were sewn, too. By the time 2 Roman Stripe quilts were finished, there were 8 log cabin blocks that are about 9.25 inches square, and these were set aside in a gallon sized plastic sealed bag. This morning, remembering the start, I added enough squares to have completed half for a quilt--15 of 30 for a child-sized quilt that will measure around 42x52" after seam allowances are taken and before borders added. It was easier to sew each square in 2 colors--a light and a dark, and none re repeated, they're just singles. Thus the name "Singles Field and Furrows Log Cabin" (Fields and Furrows has to do with the arrangement of blocks per light and dark.)

So, there you have it--the Turquoise Singles Log Cabin Fields and Furrows Charity Quilt. Here's the work so far (except for a few more starts from this morning):


----------



## freedombecki

Turquoise Singles Log Cabin Fields and Furrows
Scans 4, 5, and 6:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 7, 8, and 9


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 13, 14, and 15:


----------



## freedombecki

The turquoise fields and furrows quilt is done, has 30 squares now, and a little border of some modern batik I had no earthly purpose for other than to get rid of it somehow. 

Scan 1 Log cabin border
Scan 2 Made a Senior Pillow top and quilted it
Scan 3 Found a Sampler Quilt start and put a border on it (will show more in next frame)


----------



## freedombecki

Everyone seems to have something negative to say about the sampler who's seen it, but I think it was made and designed with someone who believes in the Lord so much with all her heart it was a good thing for her to write it down in her own words... I don't know. It was part of an estate sale I found on Ebay and luckily, picked it up, not knowing what I'd do with it. I collect samplers, but this one is not one I'd care to hear 55 sermons about if I hung it on my wall. It took me two years of thinking what she could have meant to realize not everyone thinks like me. Duh! 

Oh, and in vitro, it's truly pretty, it's just beautiful in every other way that what it says, imho. And to her, it said something that meant a lot to her faithfulness and expression of satisfaction in color and beauty of project.

I'm putting the two scans close together so you can see the message. The scan did not come out a fraction as beautiful as it is due to too much light, so I apologize for my equipment deficiencies of this scanner that does well sometimes, not well others. I did my best to pick colors that would go well with her work, but her work is just too pretty, and nobody bid against it but me, because I thought I could ignore the message for something that precious as her cross stitching work. It took me a long time to see what she meant. It's all good. To say that one would have to have total faith and a totally devoted heart to God.


----------



## freedombecki

Found 2 more quilt starts, that I'd held back, thinking I would get a picture or something of them, but that is not to be. My dear husband loses a little more ability every week, and he's not going to magically turn back into a master of all trades just because I need his steady hand with the camera for recording my work, and I'm being a real baby about not taking that job over. I hate doing bad camera work, no patience, would rather be sketching or sewing. 

So, scan city it is. 

Here's the Purple Fire Bean Pot Quiltette. It's about 38x56", guestimating

It looks like some I saw growing up in West Texas, where Latin American citizens made cooking the old way. We lived there in 1959-61 in two different towns in 2 different school years when Dad worked in school administration.


----------



## freedombecki

The other "find" was one I know I held back. I loved this cinquefoil blossom, designed it with a pair of scissors. For some reason, cutting paper for me comes out better than scribbling with a pencil for an hour. Other times, the pencil does the job in under 30 seconds. (rarely). Scissors, one or two clips, it's better than expected. Although there have been days when the floor looked like a threshing floor with all the paper scraps that just weren't good enough get scattered about. I guess I hated cleaning so much, it taught my eye to project a finished product right on, and the scissors obeyed the vision. lol 

I have no idea if any flower ever looked like this one or not. I just know, I fell in love with the shapes that my scissors cut and the resultant blossom. Sometimes I work from nature, sometimes not. This one was a whole top when we moved here in 2009. At the first sewing group meeting, a lady needed a piece of some fabric in it, so I took it apart and gave her what she needed. It slimmed the quilt and made it prettier anyway. She felt so embarrassed, I just laughed. It really improved the quilt, but she wasn't on my page, I guess. She was able to finish her quilt with just the one strip piece.


----------



## freedombecki

The Senior Citizens support pillow was finished this morning.  It was a lot of quilting for a small object as a 16" pillow, but it took only about 7 hours to do all of it. The pillow itself was quilted to an old sheet that had torn and was washed to line pillow fabrics for a little additional layer between the stuffing scraps, and then the front of the pillow slip was quilted and the back slips for placing the pillow inside the sham-like pillow outer cover were all quilted at 1" intervals.

Here are the parts before placing the dark-marine blue pilow inside the slip that was so well-quilted. If you quilt things finely enough, they outlast poorly quilted items. They also look nice longer and are sturdier under the heaviest use if you take a little extra time with fine-quilting an article. Well I scanned the dark blue pillow, but had to crop most of the picture off just to show the quilted stitches.


----------



## freedombecki

When doing a different pattern that no other quilter has done, it's nice to make a record and save samples and pictures of the first quilt. That didn't happen with the pink quilt, although there were a lot of scans. It may happen soon, however, the minute I can reach as high as the sole of Ansel Adams' loafers, that is. I have to open the camera box that's been sitting on the dresser since it arrived from an ebay seller last year... 

Here's the inspiration for "Ziggurat Quilt"--our visit to Chichen Itza the beautiful Ziggurat located on the Yucatan peninsula.  

One mirrored square has already been completed it will have to be scanned at another time.

Happy trails, everyone.


----------



## freedombecki

This is the second Ziggurat quilt and has been approached from a do-the-borders-first approach. Sorry, by the time the borders are reached and they are complex, the thrill is gone as time is marked through the finishing process, and it takes longer than expected. So by doing the dirty work first, through fastidious plan, it's a lot nicer. I scrapped yesterday's plan and will share the newer approach at a later time, unless more time-savers are discovered in making this quilt doable in 2 days to persons who've never done it before. That takes a lot of reviewing the schema and seeing a faster way to do something, seams to eliminate, and the like. Here are the 3 most important panels--including the vertical center that is now Part H as well as Parts A and B quadrupled and this shows the central upper area of the quilt. The hard work starts tomorrow. Today was a day the hedges out front needed to be trimmed, and a bug didn't like it and bit me.  Anyhow:

Scan 1 Panel A (4 needed)
Scan 2 Panel H (center)
Scan 3 Panel B (4 needed)


----------



## Mr. H.

Quilt, becki, quilt!


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Quilt, becki, quilt!


Oh, yeah. Love that work. 

The Ziggurat started out in the Sam Houston Memorial Museum office area between the museum grounds and gallery area that is reserved for travelling art shows. Last winter sometime, they had a quilt artist's show, which was the first time I went into the gallery building of the museum complex. Upon the wall was a beautiful pioneer quilt, but in the center, I noticed some confusion, and it just didn't work right, but the quilter, just to cover her family, just sewed stuff together for a charming quilt. I took it home in my mind and tried to figure a better way. It was so confusing, I went back, sketched what she'd done, and went home and thought about it some more. I forgot it for a few weeks, then, got out a pencil and some graph paper one day and designed (without looking at hers) a center that would serve as an interest center, not a collision center. 

It was fun. Here's the result, and I will be the first to say, I just wanted a nice center, and that's about all I got. 

This time I'm working on expediency of the same design, just fewer seams in areas that could be whole, not divided by seams every which way. It's been a few months since the pink one was made, shown in posts around July 7-10:






The turquoise version takes a totally different tack. Insted of making 4 quadrants, two on either side of the horizontal row, this one has a simpler vertical center of two blocks in width done as one row. It went together in no time compared to the ziggurat zig rows. The zig squares on both quilts are in vitro the same size of 5" when they are finished.


----------



## freedombecki

A couple of years ago, I made a quilt for charity, but couldn't find it the day I was delivering quilts to the Charity Bees closet. Yesterday, I found it between a couple of boxes of cut strips waiting to be sewn just as long.

This quilt came about after I made a purchase of hand-printed bird squares an ebay vendor made and sold. An elderly couple was making all kinds of good things and selling them on ebay, I don't know how or why, I just know I made several purchases of their items because they were so unique. I bought enough birds to make 2 quilts, and this may either be the second one or the other case, there's a stack of printed birds among my souvenirs, somewhere... I have one and one-half bazillion fabric scraps everywhere, and putting them away just means I can't remember where i put them, so my dining room table is stacked. Soon as #100 quilt goes to the Charity bees, I'm going to disappear into my scrappy house and do some major sorting. It should be under control if I deal with a few thousands of pieces to storage areas in 30 days. That's an optimistic hope, I know, but true.

Here are the first 3 prints of "Birds and Pastels 16-patch quilt:"


----------



## freedombecki

More scans of the "Birds and Pastels 16-patch quilt"


----------



## freedombecki

Yet more scans of Birds and Pastels:


----------



## freedombecki

This is the last page of scans on the birds and pastels quilt, so now, I can get back to the turquoise ziggurat quilt. Hopefully, I can complete it before sunset. Oh, that would be so loverly. 

Final scans:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, work isn't going so well. I worked some time this morning on the two quilts, 99 & 100, then realized clothes needed laundering. When I got to the back door, I remembered the willow tree that I chopped down last week needed to be dragged to the pile, and the rest of the growth and seedling trees by the tractor garage needed to be removed from the area of the slab, so woo hoo, that got done, plus, I asked my sweetie to help mow, so he gassed up the mower, and I mowed the rest of the weeds down where you can't get at them with the tractor. Then when I got back inside, it was work city on doing my husband's neglected laundry. So sorry, no report on progress today, except I did a couple of more colors on the fall colors quilt and stitched  a large part of one quadrant on the turquoise ziggurat quilt. That just wasn't enough to call it any kind of accomplishment. Time to go spend an hour or so before bedtime doing a little more work.

Thanks to everyone who drops by and says hello or leaves a little thanks. It truly helps me get through this task, I can't tell you how grateful those of you who've stopped have been in encouraging me to complete these tasks with no final results except what little I can scan with me being so paranoid about cameras. 

Love,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Every time I see enlongated objects or emaciated people, I think of Giacometti's peculiar sculptures of soldered metal or whatever, that I saw in a Los Angeles Metropolitan style museum back in the middle 60s. I fell in love with the style. This quilt was adapted from someone's quickie idea, except I just went for longer, slimmer like Giacometti's model people, thus the name above, "Giacometti Autumn quilt" The colors--obvious. 

The quilt will be 63" give or take an inch by 36 to 45" wide, depending on when I've had enough. 

Scans 1, 2, and 3, are continuous parts of strips 1 & 2. Two strips almost fills the screens, but 3 would've been impossible to scan:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 4, 5, and 6:

That's all folks!


----------



## Mr. H.

You should compile these thread posts and publish a book.


----------



## Mr. H.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

_Some people are so inspired by solar eclipses that they quilt. Pictured above is a resulting textile from one such inspiration. The 38x38 inch quilt offers impressions of a total annular eclipse, when the Moon is too far from the Earth to cover the entire Sun, witnessed in Spain in October of 2005._


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Astronomy Picture of the Day
> 
> _Some people are so inspired by solar eclipses that they quilt. Pictured above is a resulting textile from one such inspiration. The 38x38 inch quilt offers impressions of a total annular eclipse, when the Moon is too far from the Earth to cover the entire Sun, witnessed in Spain in October of 2005._


Thanks for the link to APOD, Mr. H. I'm no stranger there, followed them daily for the first 10 years till we moved 3 years ago. Your link is to "today's page" which has changed. I sewed all evening and was unable to get here sooner. Susan Winkelman's beautiful quilt is here: APOD: 2012 November 13 - A Solar Eclipse Quilt  . You have to wait a day, go back to yesterday's post, which is then archived, and people can ever after go there and see what you saw when you link the archived APOD. I learned that as a long-time admirer of the website and love for stars. They have one lady who makes a quilt a year of the stars. I'm not her, it's just not my thing. I've only brought one of my books to my Albums page. It's the one on the baby animal alphabet quilt I designed, made, and copyrighted all by myself. (chore city). I decided to share it with USMB members only fi they would like to make the quilt or use the animal designs. My other books are too long and far too complex to post in 30 pictures. Most of them have over 100 pages, all black and white instructions, with only one or two pictures. The quilts have been given to  my children, one of whom uses my smaller art pieces for tablecloths, although his quilt took a calendar year to design and construct. What mothers do for their children. "I don't want to know the quilt's fate." 

The other one takes care of them although she carefully uses them. It's fun to go to her house and see the different ways she hangs them. She should have gone into interior decoration, but nope! Gotta be a cop, ma. ok, dear, but you know people go to your town for the distinct purpose of getting in trouble. Job security, ma...


----------



## Mr. H.

Wow. 

BTW there's an APOD app. Got it on the iPhone.


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 7 is a back and front of one of the pieces of this quilt, the fabric of which was a bad purchase. It was a "find" at a discount house that packages fat quarters in plastic containers, and gauge quality through cellophane that is suitable for a well-made piece is impossible. When removed from its mooring, the fabric was so thin and loose woven it was most translucent (not good), and its mate, the leaf print in the center, was not much better as it too was thin though a little closer woven. 

When that happens, it is a good thing to have a few yards of bleached muslin or cotton batiste on hand, as the problem arises oftener than one would like if collecting hues, shades, tints, atmospherics, and batiks are one's range, not even going there with visual textures (also a passion).

First, a finished rectangle was taken, and one side basted to batiste (my definite preference, since it adds little weight but firms up the worst threadbare freaky piece with substance that makes it wear as long as the better fabrics you buy. It also wrecks your sale of the cheap fabric you thought you were getting a deal on by adding $6 per yard for the batiste of fine muslin backing to upgrade the piece to a better quality. I made 6 of these, and affixed 3 of them by stitching in the ditch around the center, then pressing and finishing the other three sides. Now the sheer piece is not sheer and is similar in weight and fineness with other fabrics in the work, all of which are now priced at around $11 per yard. The white area doesn't show the back side of the piece well, maybe if it is enlarged you can at least see the stitching (I won't know till I post this) I could barely make out a dark center, but that was on my computer, and I'm not sure how slight transfers online. The secret to getting it to lie flat is an iron set to cotton at all times through the process.

Scans 8 and 9 show the first two 11" lengths, starting at the top and descending.


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 10, 11, and 12, the remainder of rows 3 and 4:

Hopefully you will notice one of the backed pieces fits into my schema of using a large range of values, scattered throughout the quilt, and that one was a hard-to-find overall pale orange. Fabrics can be too cutesy for an art quilt, which I hope this one is. Cutesy fabrics would be the cliche hearts we love on baby quilts, but if a little boy gets the quilt, he may not cotton to that if he has a dad. I so am not going there.


----------



## freedombecki

It was a sewing party this morning in the sewing room! 

Rows 5 & 6 are done. There will be 11 rows when complete, and the inner quilt will measure 41 inches wide, give or take a half inch, and before borders it will also be 63" long. Hopefully it will measure 45x72 or better when bordered. 


Scans 13, 14, and 15--all parts of rows 5 & 6.


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 16, 17, and 18.

These tall rectangular blocks constitute Rows 5 and 6 of what will hopefully be 11 vertical rows with a border. 

It's taking between 8 and 12 hours to do a pair of rows. 

That's way too long for something that looks so simple, but making 6 squares where one is used means saving squares back to coast at a later time, doing 5 or 6 more quilts. I'm so loving this autumn-colors work. The china berry trees turn red at different rates, and they're just now looking like rusty nails from a difference. If all the leaves were red at the same time, they would look like Japanese maple color. 

And the egret was back on the lake early this morning after having disappeared from view for a couple of weeks. It's a beautiful day, but we're still seeing a lot of green on the trees.


----------



## freedombecki

Only finished one row yesterday, will post pictures when both 7 and 8 are done.  The Giacometti Autumn quilt is very labor intensive due to making 6 rectangles for every 1 that goes in the quilt. That way, I'm building a ready reserve for nonstop sewing another year on Charity quilts or whatever.


----------



## freedombecki

Rows 7 and 8 will be going where rows 1 and 2 are now. I've been affected by putting the cart before the horse twice today already, might as well... 

Fave: camo in #3.


----------



## freedombecki

The rest of rows 7 and 8

Now, off to do rows 9, 10, and 11. It took all night last night to cut and all day today to do two rows. <huff, puff, huff, puff>

There are enough warm colors in stash to make it 8 long instead of 7, but that would require ripping and redoing.. Nope. The next one will be longer and have more textures and fabrics.


----------



## freedombecki

99 bottles of beeronthewall, 99 bottles of bieeeeer... Yep, It took a day of work, and a day of face-palming to keep going on this little project. Thanks to pbel for the day-brightener the other day, or I'd still be hitting the wall ...

I only sewed rows 7 and 8 upside down for sheer meanness, too... 

I'm considering blindfolding mesel' for Row 11, the LAST ROW OF THIS FRICKING BRICKING QUILT. <empty threat> *sigh* Actually, I've loved every minute of this quilt, good and bad. (lots of bad, finally just decided to go with the flow, like a prisoner who didn't commit the crime for which her heart is incarcerated) ...  ... all for the children in the shelter who need a little blanket to keep them warm at night.

Scans 25, 26, and 27 of rows 9 and 10:​


----------



## freedombecki

Also, Rows 28, 29, and 30.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, this is the 5th day in the last 7 days I worked to past midnight the night before. What a chore. But there is a reward for hard work--the joy of getting something finished and giving it to a child in a shelter who needs a quilt and affirming love from at least one parent who cares about them from sunup to sundown till they're out of the nest. We're not so different from birds who care for their young and teach them to fly, how and where to get food, and how by example to build a home away from predators who would eat them. Wrapping a child in a pretty blanket to keep them warm at night is how a parent conveys approbation of that child's existence, the most important gift one can give. The child remembers the look of love on the parent's face and nighttime prayers said that unify the family in love and acceptance.

Praying for the children of the world to have loving parents who shelter them from the cold of winter.

The last row was done yesterday, the borders were a happy accident. The green 2" strips were cut so long ago, I have no idea what they were to have been used for, except they could have gotten stashed in a place as we were moving that escaped my notice in the 200 boxes and 150 tubs of fabrics I brought to sew charity quilts for the rest of my life from Wyoming, where I left the care of it in Christian hands and told the girls to use the business to draw a paycheck and to serve God as best they could from works done in the store and bringing beauty to women of good imagination and pluck. From what I hear, they've made a lot of quilts locally for hospice and those in need, and I'm at rest with that decision. 

Am including my own notes on the Ziggurat quilt of divisions in which to complete it. not quite but almost all the strips are done, they just have to be cut into 3 inch segments. I just guess I had turquoise overload and just set it aside. That happened with the pink ziggurat quilt several months back. That's too much of one color for too many days is not necessarily a good thing...fatigue of color sets in, and you need to replenish your juices with another color splash. A better plan might be to use the color wheel to go around, that goes on a continuum in magenta, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and purple doing one in each color with every other phase throwing in a brown quilt alternated with a white-to-black values quilt or even - horrors - a black and white optical art quilt that makes people dizzy. 

Oh, it's all good.


----------



## freedombecki

I've been tossing scraps around for a few days, and the pile of scraps is 36x12x10" and needs to be 0x0x0. I'm thinking there's a couple of quilts there, and am busily working on a way to use some of the 1.75" strips up. It started off with using the smallest 1.75" bits to make squares, coupled with lights and darks and other "twosies" reversed and sewn together as light and dark centers and made into light chambers with a log cabin row of lights all the way around the 4 patches. All the squares are 1.75" as are the strips, left over from the Giacometti autumn and many other quilts I have made using 1.75" strips that finish out to 1 1/4" strips, which has a pretty look to my eye since I've made so many postage stamp quilts from that size after purchasing an inexpensive postage stamp quilt at an antique store for a song one day in Casper, Wyoming. She was going out of business, and just wanted to get rid of stuff she couldn't sell. The reason she couldn't sell it is that it was 6' long (which is ok) but it was only about 26" wide, and used something other than batting in the middle, maybe gauze? Anyway, in cold country, thin quilts aren't warm, and the fabrics were definitely late 30s or early 40s, as was the backing. It could have been made from clothing scraps, they're all cotton, so it was prior to the late 50s and early 60s when dacron polyester was all the rage. There isn't a drop of polyester in any of the fabrics on the little quilt I purchased. Also, it's not a master work with centers being up to 1/3" off here and there, oh, and did I mention it? Not all the squares are exactly the same size, but the average of them is a finished 1.25" (1 1/4").

Anyhow, I have 30 center 4-patches done and worked 3 of the squares up this morning while cleaning up the last row of the Giacometti Autumn quilt's extra rectangles for future quilts. So work never seems to end after one is done, work is the energizer bunny of quilting it seems.

To all a good morning. I'm have a touch of stomach flu or something after going out once this past week. You catch whatever is even thinking about going around with the damage fibro does to your immune system. Bless all those who are getting over something, and a reminder to you to get your flu shot if you do such things.

Here's the start of the Echo Chamber Quilt. I have a plan forming in my mind already about setting these squares, but it may not come to fruition due to this quilt needs to have a finish point somewhere in the next few weeks. I just wanted to see what a quilt of these squares would look like. I've never seen one done like this, and as I said, there's more to this than I have completed yet.

Stay well everybody. 

Love,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

How tos of working on the Echo Chamber Quilt. All strips are cut 1 3/4" wide. When quarter inch seam allowances are used, the ending width of the strip should be consistent in size, and the recommended size using a 1/4" seam allowance is 1 1/4 inches. 

You start with a basic 4-patch with darks and lights alternated (Scan 1)

Then you build a strip around the essentially resultant three-inch four-patch using light strips cut 3 inches, 4 1/4", 4 1/4", and 5 1/2" that encases your basic 4-patch. It should measure 5 1/2" square at this point. (Scan 2)

Then you echo the chamber on the two lower edges, leaving the 5 1/2" light and its 4 1/4" neighbor, open. the first edge dark measures 5 1/2", second and third measure 6 3/4" fourth and fifth measures 8", and the final outside sixth dark strip is cut 9 1/4", then sewn. If you cut exact measurements using a consistent 1/4" seam allowance your square will be right and you'll wonder why you ever did log cabin sewing any other way if you have done hit-and-miss all your life on them like I did before I wised up to "Oh! It's less trouble and saves you half your time if you precut strips before you start sewing!!!!!!!"  I swear, I have made 100 of these log cabin quilts, and I didn't really figure it out until about quilt #55. I've made 10 log cabin quilts just this year, tucking in one here and there every time I take 10 quilts down to the Charity bees, I like one or two of them to be log cabins, just because they're so wonderfully homey and cuddly to the person who gets one. It looks like someone worked their butts off making it too, because they did. After the 6th echo log, the square now measures 9 1/4".

Sew one square first and see to it that it measures out okay. The final square is 9 1/4" exactly, on all 4 sides. If not, your quarter-inch seam allowance needs work. Even when you have a 1/4" foot, sometimes your sewing is not consistent with the designer's 1/4", and you need to do something about it. 

May I make a suggestion? First, be patient and be certain you have a seam ripper that can go under a two-millimeter stitch without ripping the cotton fabric. Press the seams outward before adding the next strip. It pays to do only one square first and waste a little thread, to get your measurement down pat. If you're still not sure, do another independent square. You'll know right away if you are measuring your strips first before adding them to your square. If the three-inch piece on the chamber is added to a side, and it's longer than the four-patch side, your seams in the 4-patch are likely too large. Aren't you glad you only did one instead of all 32?  I know how to rip 32 consecutive squares apart! I probably should have just put them in the senior-pillow stuffing bin for support quilts (all your strips and cotton threads are the best fillers for a tough-support pillow that a senior can use to elevate his or her feet and not go mushy on them. It really means a lot to those who have swollen feet at the end of the day to have a pillow that can be placed on the foot of the bed and will reliably elevate the foot 4 or 5 inches. It takes me 3 months of steady sewing to accumulate enough of that kind of scraps to stuff the pillows with. In a pinch, if the senior center is begging for sturdy pillows once the seniors tell them how good they make their feet feel at night, you can fill the demand by standing up at announcement time at church and requesting clean, used bath towels you can cut up and put in your pillows. The ones that don't have holes in them make good "batting" for the outside of the pillow that prevents pokies from protruding here and there making uncomfortable welts. Don't forget to tell them your pillow does not replace the wonderful care of nurses and their aides to change positions on the more indigent of the people in their care that prevents bedsores. All your hard work is for naught if that isn't done. Let them know their nursing care is more important than an old pillow, and you can bet your seniors will get the best tlc in the world. We mustn't forget to thank and promote the care giver when we can. They're the solid gold of good health for seniors, and that's not a statement, it's a fact. On I go  

Oh, if  you read the link description, it tells you the measurements or vague description of what to do. Just put your mouse arrow over the thumbnail, and the description will pop up in a short moment or two. Click on the thumbnail, and you can see the fabric surface textures better. Half the fun of picking the right strip to go here or there is varying the size of the patterns in a random way. For girls it's more fun than dressing a baby doll when you're 5 or 6. For guys, it would be a challenge to using everything you thought you learned in art school and opening a new world into management of surface texture. And if you never went to art school, well, just go right ahead. Just one thing: no ripping out bad decisions. Once you make the decision, that's where your skill is in time and space. It won't even hit you until after the quilt is done. Then you learn to be wiser on the next quilt. I always told my students, it's better if you make mistakes. You can correct mistakes next quilt. If you never made any quilt errors, you'd never learn what you should not have done and build a better construct the next time. Never hurts to get a tablet of quadrille paper in the office section where papers are purchased. It can make the difference in hating a design and loving it because you followed the plan and stuck to it with skill and assurance.


----------



## freedombecki

On the edges of the echo logs, on this quilt are squares, just because. Attaching the wrong kind of lace onto a quilt edge can be a miserable experience before or after the quilt is laundered the first time. So build in lace by adding stuff! That's why this one has squares at the edge. I'd never done  one in all those 100 other log cabin quilts made like this one, although I'd chambered a few 40-patches on one and I've made echo log cabins before that emanate from a single square at the corner to the bottomest rung. 

Make a row of 7 joined 1.75" squares as follows beginning and ending with light squares:
light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light

For the outer row, make a row of 8 joined 1.75" squares, placing the very darkest at the right side of the row to anchor the "lace" squares as follows:

light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark

Sew edges on joining 7 first, then joining 8. Your square now measures 10 1/2" (10.5 inches) on all 4 sides See why you must have a true 1/4" allowance in your seam area? Without that consistent seam, things don't match up well. If you are patient, you will master the 1/4" seam before you finish this quilt.​


----------



## freedombecki

The Echo Chamber blocks are:

Scan 1 - block 4

scan 2 - block 5

scan 3 - block 6

32 blocks placed 4 x 8 would give you a cot sized covering that measures 40" by 80" before adding borders.

If you do 40 blocks, 5 x 8, your couch potato cover will measure 50 by 80 inches, more or less, prior to a 2 and a 4 inch border addition which would increase the size to 62 by 92. If that's too large, you can use it on a bunk bed. Great for growing kids.


----------



## freedombecki

Feeling a lot better today! Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving Holiday!

Thumbnail credits

​


----------



## freedombecki

Just sharing some happy pics of Thanksgiving, hope it's a glowing good day for one and all.


----------



## Trajan

freedombecki said:


> Just sharing some happy pics of Thanksgiving, hope it's a glowing good day for one and all.



thx for that Becki Happy Thanksgiving to you...


----------



## freedombecki

Thank you, Trajan.


----------



## freedombecki

The Echo Chambers Quilt is in the messy morass stage.

The quilt room is a mess,

The floor's a mess,

The sewing table is snowed under with bits of cloth from stashes here and there.

This morning's progress was to get about 40 squares having little chambers around the light-and-dark four-patches, so they all go the same way at the end of the day. Building in unity to scrap quilts is a challenge, but by making 3 or 4 squares, it's easier to avoid error traps that bring a confused look to the work.  While sitting around gadding about USMB today, I just got up and went back to the sewing machine and tapped out another bunch of logs onto the incompleted remainder until I'm pretty much up to the 8-inch strips. After that, it's 9 1/4" strips and one final 10 1/2" strip before adding the squares "lace" half round. 

Cheers to a unified quilt that is so together, nobody notices the work, they just love sleeping under it "for some reason" that may not penetrate the conscious mind.

I found a dull black moda marble that was probably printed to go along with vintage prints of the antebellum era. It resembles old-time hand dye, except is more gently marbled than hand-done stuff was.

Only one square was finished with little squares at the half round area at the bottom. That's the most time-consuming row, and there are probably 35 left to do, although I have not counted the squares yet, though I suspect it's somewhere between 35-45. When I do complete and count, that will help me  determine the size I want to cut the setting dull black marble fabric. Assessing the amount of material you have to set and how much it will take with 1/4 yard left to spare is a good rule of thumb.

Sew, it's back to the machine!


----------



## freedombecki

No kidding, the work has been 8 to 10 hours a day on this marathon quilt. Why me? Why do all these quilts lately gobble time like a drunken sailor swizzles down more suds? Today was to have been the day 40 blocks were neatly done and would neatly make this neat little 5x8 quilt, when much to the horror of my sensibilities, on counting, there were 44 squares. 
So now, it's "How do we get 2 or more quilts out of all these squares? Well, I could make 4 more squares for a total of 48, make 2 4x6 block quilts (24 each) with wider sashes and settings OR heck with settings, just cut big 10.5 blocks of interesting cloths children might like and set them alternatively with 8 blocks on point for 6 very nice-sized crib quilts... on and on with silly ideas. Or I could go ahead and make it 5x8 and use the 4 leftover squares to start another series in which I could use them like the 10 or 12 hero stars quilt I made from narrow-logged (1/2" logs) during this year's series of quilts for the shelter, only use these hobo lace squares as the starting point for medallion quilts of that order (a medallion quilt is one with a large focal center that is embellished with in-the-round style borders, say one as bricks, another 4-sided border of cute appliques, another of half square triangles as a sawtooth border, a row of geese for fun, etc. You can do anything with a good medallion center, and it might be fun to make a series of them like the hero star 1/2" log stars that would have gone into a large quilt if I hadn't been so ill prior to parathyroid surgery 2 years ago and thought I was a goner for sure. Well, demise didn't happen, and God has blessed me with another life like Job after all those troublesome pain years.  Sorry, I just got wound up. 

here are 3 of the 44 Echo Chambers with their silly Hobo Lace squares at the bottom of the echo logs:

I know what. I'll write a book called "Hobo Lace," and make a passel of quilt tops and pay someone else to quilt them for my book. Who will quilt them? *sigh*

Again, 3 of the blocks just finished this morning:


----------



## freedombecki

Almost done with sb's little mushrooms. Pbel and I are trying to inspire her to complete her stained glass mushroom that will be so beautiful and add so much to wherever it hangs. We hope she bites the bullet, pays for the darn copper, and finishes her work. It's truly too cute for words, and we other artists think she should just do it.  Pushy, aren't we. 

Well, I'm having my own problems with equipment. I decided yesterday, I couldn't live with this awful canon printer because it's too small to show stuff and I don't do cameras, and my husband's dementia prevents him from doing cameras since we moved 3 years ago, so I have absolutely no record of the full quilt tops I do around here. 

So yesterday I went to two discount places to get one that copies 11x17" papers. Did I get one? nooooooooooooo. The discount houses don't want to sell 11x17" copiers any more, so they keep them in warehouses two states away if they have them at all!  So, I guess I will have to bite the bullet and buy one online or drive to Houston. Haven't decided yet, but there isn't one for sale around here, period. Sorry for showing partial photos, but I'm stuck with my $29 canon bought on sale last summer. So, fiddlesticks, here's a partial picture of bones' dancin' mushrooms with the hopes she will finish her project and take a picture like normal people do and show it at her thread (That's a reflection on my laconic approach to learning to use and operate a camera again after being spoiled for 20 years, and not on strollingbones):

(the back is 2/3's done. It takes a couple of hours to tailor's blindstitch the binding to the back of the miniature quilt once it's pinned on)​


----------



## freedombecki

Oops! Wrong picture (above) That one shows the unfinished work.

The satin stitch is showing here:

Scan 1 front

Scan 2 back


----------



## freedombecki

OK, I got 15 of the 44 Echo Chambers With Hobo Lace out and cut blue sets and sashings last night, and sewed them at the crack of dawn this morning (5 am), then when that was done, I found, cut and sewed a simple blue border. I didn't want to use such fancy fabrics the gals would pick them off for christmas gifts instead of going to poor families, so I found some plain, old-fashioned pindots that were printed about 10-15 years back, some contemporary baby-quilt fabric store light blue hearts for sets, and a pretty blue snowflake I picked up last winter or spring from somewhere, not sure where it was, but it's quilt-store quality, and brings a little brightness to the outside border, hopefully not too much.

So this post and the next will show 6 scans of the nearly-finished quilt top. I have to make a mad dash to the sewing room to complete the bottom and 2 sides outside border, which are just waiting for my return. 

Mouse over thumbnails for scans; click on thumbnail for a popup into another window of a closer view if that interests you. Some of the visual textures are kind of fun to see up close. They soft grey-blue truly makes this quilt not stand out, (I hope) for reasons stated above.


----------



## freedombecki

The final scan for this quilt, which should be finished within the hour, and I'll try to return with its measurements as well.


----------



## freedombecki

The Echo Chambers With Hobo Lace Quilt Top measures 50x78" and is ready to go to the Charity Bees for quilting and binding. There are enough blocks left to make another quilt and the majority of a third top. This one has 15 Echo Chambers and Hobo Lace blocks (Hobo Lace is an additional row of postage stamp squares added to the bottom or around traditional squares to make it just a bit bigger for covering toesies at night.) 

Free after a week of furious sewing!


----------



## freedombecki

The blue pindot (above) came from one of my last online fabric purchases from an estate, when we're paying $11 for cottons per yard now, who can resist a $1.25/per yard bargain, which fortunately for me, nobody bid against, and I got some of the thickest, thirstiest, best quilter's cottons ever, but they're dated 80's-90's, back when blues and pinks were muted much like they were in the 50s. (every 30 years we have a relapse of the insanity, likely), but anyway, if it makes one of my postage stamp quilts go directly to a needy child, at least a shelter kid will be warm at night. /complicated social antics of a wizened fool

Anyway, in the same monster box weighing in at 55 pounds (4-5oz per yard), there was this yard of dusty pink cotton percale and a half of a bright pink quilter's small dots (not pindots) that will be a better contrast than the above blue pindot and its contemporary white hearts on light blue. So I cut it into 3x10.5" sashes and the dots into 3" set squares to do the next quilt and got the warp pieces sewn to the sides of three rows of echo chamber with hobo lace squares. A couple of hours from now, that could be a whole second quilt top, and surely there will be SOMETHING that will make as nice a border as the squarish royal blue and white snowflake geometric used all around the blue quilt. Also, I noticed again some gold for a third quilt (and I already sewed the extra echo chamber square) that has bright cadmium yellow apples on a darker gold background that will make the third quilt. Nice--softened primary colors in quilts for children that maybe nobody will notice, and the kids will then get the quilt. 

Well, it's off to the sewing room. Can't wait to see what this one is like when it's done!

Oh, yeah, make me a cake, someone. That blue one is quilt #100. Yea! Mission accomplished! And More -


----------



## freedombecki

Complete! It's a lot easier to do a second similar quilt when (1) you have the squares made up already and (2) All the measurements for sets and sashes are fresh on your mind for completion.

Here's the second quilt's outer border and tag instructions for the quilter at Charity Bees. I designated this and the last one to the local Shelter for Abused Families. I have a special love for those kids whose home experience is one of terror over personal safety issues. I pray that after their parent learns to deal with single parenting and shelter for children from imminent harm, they can feel safe and loved again. Some aren't so lucky and wind up either in the hospital from their neglect/abuse or morgue.

If your prayer list is short, please add abused families to your list. Prayer works sometimes when nothing else does. Thanks.


----------



## Mr. H.

This thread is a rare yet comforting oasis in a sea of insanity.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> This thread is a rare yet comforting oasis in a sea of insanity.


Thank you, Mr. H. Robert Burns may have said it best, "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us, To see oursels as others see us, It wad frae monie a blunder free us..." (Writ in or about 1785.)

You've no idea how much it means to me for someone to say a kindly word here sans any agenda or artifice. Thank you.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's progress: well, ideas danced through me small brain this morning about finishing up that pile of 125 windmill squares, the crib-sized quilt rectangles for which there may be 6 future quilts ahead, etc., and the 6 or 7 strie red and pastels quilts that are in block format so far, etcetera. It's just a matter of organization at this point, and my sewing room is deep-sixed in cloth cuts right now, so a couple of cleaning and organizing days should be explored. Hopefully, by this evening, I'll have a little something to show if I can get everything else going on in my life resolved right now. 

Hope everyone is having a grand time prepping for christmas and family right now.

Love,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Saw this quilt in a book, which I bought. It was a log cabin, but the colors were so appealing to me, I though what a sweetie pie quilt it would make for a homeless shelter child, so ... all night sewing party at becki's house tonight, and all she got were these dumb 4 squares that are only partially visible due to placing them on point as they will be in the quilt and only having 8.5 inches to work with on width. 

Scan 1 New Book, A Second Helping of Desserts by Edie McGinnis, Kansas City Star Publications, Inc., 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64108. 2010, available at PickleDish | Home of Kansas City Star QUILTS

Scan 2 The author, Edie McGinnis' beautiful quilt

Scan 3 One of my first trial-run blocks made this evening. <huff puff, huff puff>


----------



## freedombecki

More Chocolate Covered Cherries Echo Log Cabin Quilt squares made this evening:

Scans 4, 5, and 6.

This is an easy fun, no-brainer quilt if you follow the instructions in Edie McGinnis' book, A Second Helping of Desserts (see above for publisher address). Yardages and things you will need to make the quilt are all outlined for you. My quilt will not look like theirs because my main fabric has the dullest purple one can use in home dec, and was given to me by the quilt shop owner who received it from someone requesting that a charity quilt be made of it. I have a responsibility to show it to our dear shop owner, and let her know how much it is appreciated.

Charity sewing and quilting is so much more than one person! And with me waking up this morning screaming with a cramp in my leg tells me I probably won't be able to quilt again this upcoming year unless a miracle happens to take the agony my combination fibromyalgia and calcium blood levels from parathyroid surgery a couple of years ago have left in their wake.

It's not always this bad. The cold weather set in this week, and my sweetie accidentally forgot how harsh it is on me when he conservatively turns down the heat. It has to be around 74 or 75, which is a little sweaty for most people, but it keeps the cramps at bay if I take what supplements I can that don't trigger allergies. Being a bubble lady is hard when it separates you from people you used to associate freely with.

Well, hopefully my industrious effort will result in some good things for shelter kids and others who need a warm blanket in the winter. Children are not at fault for what grievous things come to bear upon their parents. May God himself bless the beasts and the children, and all of you who wade through information that could be a tad boring. 

Love,

becki


----------



## techieny

freedombecki said:


> More Chocolate Covered Cherries Echo Log Cabin Quilt squares made this evening:
> 
> Scans 4, 5, and 6.
> 
> This is an easy fun, no-brainer quilt if you follow the instructions in Edie McGinnis' book, A Second Helping of Desserts (see above for publisher address). Yardages and things you will need to make the quilt are all outlined for you. My quilt will not look like theirs because my main fabric has the dullest purple one can use in home dec, and was given to me by the quilt shop owner who received it from someone requesting that a charity quilt be made of it. I have a responsibility to show it to our dear shop owner, and let her know how much it is appreciated.
> 
> Charity sewing and quilting is so much more than one person! And with me waking up this morning screaming with a cramp in my leg tells me I probably won't be able to quilt again this upcoming year unless a miracle happens to take the agony my combination fibromyalgia and calcium blood levels from parathyroid surgery a couple of years ago have left in their wake.
> 
> It's not always this bad. The cold weather set in this week, and my sweetie accidentally forgot how harsh it is on me when he conservatively turns down the heat. It has to be around 74 or 75, which is a little sweaty for most people, but it keeps the cramps at bay if I take what supplements I can that don't trigger allergies. Being a bubble lady is hard when it separates you from people you used to associate freely with.
> 
> Well, hopefully my industrious effort will result in some good things for shelter kids and others who need a warm blanket in the winter. Children are not at fault for what grievous things come to bear upon their parents. May God himself bless the beasts and the children, and all of you who wade through information that could be a tad boring.
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki



Love it!


----------



## freedombecki

techieny said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> More Chocolate Covered Cherries Echo Log Cabin Quilt squares made this evening:
> 
> Scans 4, 5, and 6.
> 
> This is an easy fun, no-brainer quilt if you follow the instructions in Edie McGinnis' book, A Second Helping of Desserts (see above for publisher address). Yardages and things you will need to make the quilt are all outlined for you. My quilt will not look like theirs because my main fabric has the dullest purple one can use in home dec, and was given to me by the quilt shop owner who received it from someone requesting that a charity quilt be made of it. I have a responsibility to show it to our dear shop owner, and let her know how much it is appreciated.
> 
> Charity sewing and quilting is so much more than one person! And with me waking up this morning screaming with a cramp in my leg tells me I probably won't be able to quilt again this upcoming year unless a miracle happens to take the agony my combination fibromyalgia and calcium blood levels from parathyroid surgery a couple of years ago have left in their wake.
> 
> It's not always this bad. The cold weather set in this week, and my sweetie accidentally forgot how harsh it is on me when he conservatively turns down the heat. It has to be around 74 or 75, which is a little sweaty for most people, but it keeps the cramps at bay if I take what supplements I can that don't trigger allergies. Being a bubble lady is hard when it separates you from people you used to associate freely with.
> 
> Well, hopefully my industrious effort will result in some good things for shelter kids and others who need a warm blanket in the winter. Children are not at fault for what grievous things come to bear upon their parents. May God himself bless the beasts and the children, and all of you who wade through information that could be a tad boring.
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Love it!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've been working on it in sets of 4 using at least a dozen or more different fabrics on each group, which have either a light or a dark in common for a layered effect, very popular in early American Log Cabin Quilts. I only have 8 more started to make the 24 squares in this little quilt. 

For each of the ones shown below, 3 others were made in the last couple of days, for a total of 16 squares:


----------



## freedombecki

I'm happy to say, all 100 quilts have been turned in to the Charity Bee Quilter's closet as of Saturday. I took 6 more tops down (found another 3 in boxes from my years in business on Friday) for a total of 104 quilts to Charity Bees Quilter's closet. I was told they have quilted many of the quilts and been able to in turn be generous to the local needs of our community, and enabled them to do many charity projects. The three quilts I found that haven't been shown here were the result of selling sewing machines for 23 years, and the 2 had examples of machine embroidery that has been all the rage in the home sewing industry for the last 10 years--if people can afford the machines, that is. There is a way to do machine embroidery without the fancy trappings of a new machine, but people who took my classes wound up buying the machines anyway in more prosperous times.

The 3 quilts were a huge red-white-and-blue patriot's log cabin quilt made about the time we moved here. I added a piece of light colored patriotic shirting from the local shop here after either making the quilt here or bringing the squares here and joining them. The more I think about it, the more I think I may have made and assembled all the squares here. The centers seem to be a fabric I bought at the local shop my first week here. It was a red-dominated daisy 30s print, that's what I remember.

The second quilt had a lot of gold, green, and brown colors including several sunflowers, a scarecrow in a corn patch, pumpkins, etc., and the back fabric was a schoolbus golden yellow with pretty browns, sunflower yellows, and garden greens. I just ran into it and decided to let it go. I had a series of full-body cramps the other day from my fibromyalgia, and it was clear to me at that moment I probably won't be quilting any more large quilts.

The third quilt found was the cutest little redwork embroidered sunbonnet and southern girls with redwork lace and ruffles all over on white linen with red prints all over in a reasonably large enough quilt for a double bed. Maybe they will give it to a young girl in a shelter to comfort her or sell it to buy batting for a dozen quilts. And I hope whoever quilts it for someone else is blessed for taking on the project, and that the quilt does good in the community one way or another, even if it gives someone a little happiness that a pretty little redwork quilt can be. I went all out to make it that way when I pieced all the parts together.

Now, I can sew quilts for the rest of the year without having to be under the gun to get them all done. The year passed so quickly, it hardly seems like a year since I decided to go for the 100 quilts. Well, it may have been February while I was crocheting the bevy of dishrags to sell at the Charity Bees Bazaar in April. I did 60, with an average of 2 a day for 30 days. I figured they might be selling them all year long. hehehe


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! 24 squares are ready to put into a quilt! 

Here we go with scans of the latest ones done:


----------



## freedombecki

And more scans ...


----------



## freedombecki

And this ought to do until the sashing and sets are done... hopefully by tomorrow. I have to get outside and enjoy a little sun today...


----------



## pbel

Funny you post cabin quilts and I posted Bunnyhop&#8217;s cabin LOL Your work and color schemes are right on...


----------



## freedombecki

Hi, pbel. I'll have to go take a look!


----------



## freedombecki

Lovely quilt pattern found at Canada Goose Designs this morning...






Time to bite the bullet and get back to finishing the Chocolate Cherries quilt... 

Hope everyone has a wonderful day! ​


----------



## freedombecki

Joined 2 rows on the cherries chocolate quilt after making 2 more squares. Something just wasn't right about repeating squares that had repetitive rows. I'm really just too into charm quilts. (every fabric must be different) It's crazy because speed becomes nigh onto impossible until you've done a week's worth of cutting, separating, sorting, stacking, and finding one more clear plastic box to put stuff in that you cut. Then there's so much light and dark not to mention visual textures dyslexia the seam ripper becomes your constant personal buddy.    

Oh, and with all that uber thinking, you can forget about doing things upside down, rinsed and repeated a couple of times in the week ahead. 

God bless our dear country. 

I spent the day finding American spiritual songs today. Our younger generation is leaving the churches sought by our founders, thinking they know a better way by not adopting puritan and family values, which will take society off a cliff one of these days when a childless America decimates itself through an absence of heirs and a proliferation of immigration equal to rescinded human babies to take up their empty chairs.


----------



## freedombecki

Today I found that piece of Red Cherries fabric I brought from my shop in Wyoming when I retired early 3 years ago. I never dreamed it would wind up in the Black Forest chocolate cake quilt! 

Scans 1-3 Top row


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 4 Top Row
Scans 5 & 6 New Squares on Second Row (the others just didn't look right, so I made 2 new squares with 7 different strips each).

Finally got SOMETHING finished on this never-ending quilt.

Actually, the work is a lot of fun to see the different combinations of brown, cream, red, and assorted matching prints go together.


----------



## freedombecki

For anyone who hasn't had a Black Forest Cake, I found a picture of one that looks like one a bakery shop on the way to Neuschwanstein Castle was the day I got to see it in then-West Germany (1989).




​


----------



## freedombecki

Mission accomplished! 

Finished the quilt by working on and off all day yesterday joining rows. Then I wanted a piece of brown color in the border so went to the quilt store and plucked a few more reds, browns, and lights off the shelves and a darker deeper red to go around the outside, I splurged on 2.25 yards fo that.

When I got home, the brown didn't do it. It was too like the brown sashing, and I noticed. It was too much chocolate. 

So, I bought a red fabric like the brown one in the sashing, and the same amount in case another quilt came into being like this one. I really couldn't stand the brown, though, so the red had it, and was perfect between the deeper red outside border and the inner cherry sets and chocolate-froth sashes.

Here's a thumbnail (click it and it will produce a new tab with a larger image so you can see it better):


----------



## freedombecki

Made a web for a senior pillow today. I have enough scraps after cutting a bazillion pieces for the chocolate cherries quilt to fill the large pillow.  

Now to quilt it and get it ready for one of our community's seniors who needs a hefty support pillow to prop up feet that have swollen and need relief. It's a senior problem. The pillows I make are made with 100% cotton fabric scraps. They are dense and heavy and don't mash around, but keep whatever you put on them lifted up.

Nothing replaces good quality nursing care--caregivers who shift patients often prevent bedsores that can become lethal following weeks or even months of misery. 

God bless all good caregivers and Avg-Joe for his "Along Came a Spider" thread that inspired this pillow top, and who knows, a shelter kid quilt someday, maybe.


----------



## freedombecki

Today was a happy day, because after a week of buying, cutting sorting, and finding older pieces to go in a red-and-cream color quilt, the work is done on completion of the top. "Cherries and Cream Log Cabin Quilt" measures 40"x52". All the blocks were completed by Friday or Saturday (can't remember which), and another day was spent going to Bryan, Texas, to pick out some more "Chocolate-Covered Cherries" colors for more quilts in this group. A friend of mine where I'm a mod, said he really liked the unusual colors of the quilt done before this one, so I thought a series in the same color schema might be a fun thing to do, like September, when I was doing summer greens, having been so happy our drought was broken, and things were so green through August, when we began having another mini-drought. We had furious rain yesterday evening, the first real rain I have seen in 3 months, so hopefully, we will see some mercy from the sky this season.

From my house to yours, God bless the children

Scan 1 - Row 1
Scan 2 - Row 1 
Scan 3 - Row 2


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 Row 3
Scan 2 Two squares, joined
Scan 3 One of 24 squares


----------



## freedombecki

Here are the outer borders with their bright modern pink and red small windmill print and brilliant red cherry outer border. 41x52" (approx.) finished size

Scan 1 - Top left corner
Scan 2 - Side borders
Scan 3 - Either end borders

Quilt Top 1 for 2013 is done!


----------



## freedombecki

Just a morning of cutting light-colored fabrics continued from last night. Sometimes no news is good news. At least a stack of fabric is being reduced to the size of one of those clear-plastic containers. 

So life is good, it just feels more productive on days all the cutting is done and you get to sew. *sigh*


----------



## Mr. H.

Even hung over, this is a fun thread to visit.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Even hung over, this is a fun thread to visit.


So yer sayin' I'm a cut-up?

Ya got me!


----------



## freedombecki

Sheeze! Cut all night, got up this morning and cut, and all I have to show for it is this darn t-shirt... (just kidding) It's much worse--24 tiny center block square starts. However, I used some time to place and color in blocks if this becomes a 2-color schema on account of grabbing some brown fabric to make a mockup of the first square. All that cutting red and cream colors, now I'm going to have to cut more browns, too. *sigh* Well, if there's a harder way to do something, I'm right there in the front of the line saying "me first!" 

Scan 1 Schema for Fields and Furrows type log cabin
Scan 2 Schema for this quilt
Scan 3 a sampling of center square starts...

There can now be no more goofing off and playing today. It's _entre dans le sewing room_!

C-yas!


----------



## freedombecki

So, having divided the red centers with light tans, pinks, and red-on-white all 'round into two piles, I decided to skip the browns chore for now and go ahead and sew onto the red side. This row is the ugly duckling stage, but oh, well, six of them fit on the scanner screen if you ooch and scooch them a little, overlapping the light colors:

Scan 1: 6 of the red starts
Scan 2: 6 more of the log cabin red central logs

Now, I have to get up tomorrow morning and cut 50 or 60 browns. I put the browns from the other quilt someplace, but wherever that was, they're not gettin' up and waving any red flags saying "here I am!" Nope. Hard way, step right up.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! A show-n-tell with ONE block completed to size (11.5" square) and 23 others in various stages of mid-way construction, which took all afternoon. Getting the corner foundation square block done portends the idea of completion, soon, Lord willing and the Creek don't rise. I'm about two bobbins away from a completed top, with a little bit o' luck. 

A couple of unfinished placement rows and The chocolate corner:


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I was cutting and almost cut my left index finger off. Fortunately, I have good bones, which stopped the blade. I have no idea what idle-brained thing I was thinking when it occurred. Rotary blades are sharp as scalpels, and this one plowed into a bone joint. Fortunately, I've had first aid and used pressure for 5 minutes. Standard bandaids didn't work, and the butterfly bandaids box was empty, and the wound was oozing an hour later, so it was a trip to the pharma to get a new box of butterfly bandages. 2 of them stopped the oozing of blood, and it was immediately washed with hydrogen peroxide, which I keep in every bathroom in the house, and Neosporin is always around, too, It will need to be dressed 2 or 3 times a day initially, then will hopefully be ok.

That said, it slowed my work down on the chocolate cherries quilt, but I did get all the brown blocks done and one mockup red one. They have a lot of logs per block, so thread use has been extravagant with all that sewing.

Here are some blocks completed today:


----------



## freedombecki

On the light side, I wanted to show this one off after I was so fascinated by a piece of fabric that came from an estate sale that may date back to the 50s or 60s. It's the outer pink and brown fabric in the lights on this block, lower right:


----------



## Mr. H.

You best get that finger looked at.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Mr. H. i cleaned it up immediately with hydrogen peroxide, watched it ooze for a couple of hours, then placed some butterfly bandages on it and redressed it once with neosporin, took my usual vitamin at night and gently exercised the other 9 digits twice for 5 minutes each to keep the blood flowing right. This morning there is zero swelling, so it looks like if there were any microbes hanging around, they were zapped. Three days of that, and the wound will be a memory. I promise if there are any problems the ER is a destination.

My college work in microbiology, nutrition, and First Aid is still with me. You get rid of the bugs, be sure your body has the nutritional backup to engage in healing, don't overdo anything for a couple of days, keep the wound covered until the skin re-knits itself, and you're generally good to go. The absence of rubor and calor today is a good thing. 

Since I went to bed early last night, I was wide awake by three and worked a couple of hours to finish the red squares, too, so there are 12 finished brown and 12 finished red squares to complete the quilt. I'm taking one more nap this morning before heading back to join the squares, and will loaf as needed. I'll probably take a low-dose aspirin to make sure no clots form and any resultant aches are relieved. I didn't take aspirin last night so that any thought of oozing more would go away. Time for more neosporin. 

This is a great day for finishing the quilt. Seems like it took a week to do all that cutting, but there are plenty of strips cut into the right lengths for more log- or courthouse-steps log cabin squares in the future. This makes the third quilt done in cherries and chocolate colors. I'm starting to like the combination.


----------



## Mr. H.

Well that beats a $300 doc visit for stitches LOL. 

Nurse beckers.


----------



## freedombecki

Yay! Just added the last border and took a scan of the Cherry Chocolate Furrows quilt that measures 58x88" which is a twin coverlet size for a shelter kid. So Glad to be done! 

Why some quilts take longer than others is a mystery to me, but there are 17x24 pieces in this quilt, which makes 408 pieces in the log cabin blocks alone, and there are 3 1/2 borders. I added an inch at the top and bottom, then couldn't find the rest of the plaid I'd used, and I did want to finish this today... it did give the recipient of this quilt an extra two inches to grow, though, so that is a good thing in the case of a child. The cherry reds and chocolate  browns are an eyeful of color when you look at it. I'm just so happy it's done. This page may appear on another page, so I'm just going to add the scans of the plan, a block, and the finished border as a reminder to me of how this quilt panned out.


----------



## freedombecki

To all who visit here: "Hope your holidays are the best."









​


----------



## freedombecki

Sewed up the top of a 14" pillow for a senior recently and need to make a sham cover to make it presentable.


----------



## freedombecki

Red Hot with White Star Points Quilt

This one has almost all the work done on the squares. They've been going together nicely after a day of cutting and organizing pieces into wide, flat plastic cake takers (for lack of better description) that measure about 12x16x3" and give an opportunity for placing 1.5" strips cut to 1.5," 2.5," 3.5," 4.5," 5.5," 6.5," 7.5," 8.5," and 9.5." That makes it a bazillion times easier to quickly grab a stack, and add it to the string of pieces going under the presser foot of the sewing machine asap.

The first two are little squares, one to show starts on the 16 all-red squares that will cause this quilt to dominate red. The second shows a lights to reds triangular shape with stairsteps between the reds and lights. 

The third is a quilt I found online that shows a red and white log cabin quilt with 224 log cabin blocks in its makeup and will fit a king bed found in Bing on a blog's pictures page. 

The blocks below are a start on a crib-sized quilt that will measure before borders 36" by 54" (more or less) and ideally, 42x60" when complete. (That is not known at this time).


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt will dominate with reds, because 16 of the blocks will contain all medium to dark reds in their log rondelays.


----------



## freedombecki

The 8 star points will go around 4 squaes of solid red, cornered by a red square on 4 corners, then for good measure, will have a top and bottom border row of 4 red squares apiece. the squares have 17 pieces each and points are laying in a stack of four by the sewing machine in the sewing machine, along with bright red 9" squares of red logs sewn at random as shown above.

The scans below show two of the star points and a junction between two log cabin blocks.


----------



## Mr. H.

I'm curious what do your quilts smell like?


----------



## freedombecki

New fabric.


----------



## freedombecki

The light eight points is all you see on this quilt, and when I beheld it for the first time after it had all its squares put on yesterday morning, what stood out were the eight star points around the center square. I just thought the name of the quilt, unlike other log cabin stars should be therefore, "Points of Light Log Cabin." So here's the border in "Points of Light Log Cabin in Red:"

Sorry I don't know how to use a camera very well. I love the way it looks. It measures 41.5" x 59.5" more or less.


----------



## Mr. H.

Just 11 shy of a 1,000 post thread!


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Just 11 shy of a 1,000 post thread!


I'll have to do a detailed quilt. Too tired to think of it right now. One of my albums is of a child's abc animal quilt, and has 44 blocks. Link: Aesthetics of ABC Animals. That'd make 3 quilts of 12 squares each, and I'd only have to design 4 more to have 4 quilts of all different silly animals. Writing that book really got tiresome after a while. It took 4 months. But seeing what students did with their animals really made me happy. One lady did all 44 animals in long rows and decorated a school library where she volunteered with her work of my designed. I was so thrilled she did that. She taught school for 40 years, then volunteered at the library in her spare time.

'Night. It's only seven here, but I'm falling asleep at the monitor. Happy trails, Mr. H.


----------



## Foxfyre

Mr. H. said:


> Just 11 shy of a 1,000 post thread!



And getting 70+ looks per post.  That is awesome!


----------



## freedombecki

Wish I could describe this quilt better with a picture, but I'm limited, so this morning I drew up the general schema of the quilt that would convey the idea of the points that are a contrast to the overall reds in the blocks. The first is the little schema, and a couple of block items to show the true colors of this little gem of a quilt. It just makes me so happy to look at it. Red is a good color to have in your fabric playbox!


----------



## freedombecki

This was one of the pleasantest songs to listen to in recent memory. It speaks for itself:

[ame=http://youtu.be/6CR71QwLjSM]Randy Travis - Point Of Light - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## Mr. H.

I've always liked that guy's voice.


----------



## freedombecki

"O Tannenbaum" Quilt: Donated to West Wind Art Gallery in or around 1999 as a
fundraiser raffle. ​


----------



## Mad Scientist

Hey everybody! Make sure you go and rate this thread as "excellent"!


----------



## Mr. H.

Duely rated. 

Let us stand aside and permit Ms. b to make the 1,000th post...


----------



## Sunshine

Hi, Beckums.  Well, I see I do have some catching up to do.  Am back working on my cross stitch quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Hi, Beckums.  Well, I see I do have some catching up to do.  Am back working on my cross stitch quilt.


Yea!!! I love it!!! Can you post a scan of one of your newer squares so everyone can see? And -  

Allie Baba also told me the other day she was thinking about pulling her long-set-aside quilt and might be finishing it over the holidays, or at least getting back into it. 

_notica importante!_

Don't forget, these are the shortest days of the year due to the proximity of the winter solstice, and it's Seasonal Affective Disorder time. (SAD) Fight it tooth and nail by turning on double the light around your work station the month before and the month after Dec.22. (or whenever solstice is, which is the shortest day of the year). Also, if entertaining, provide plenty of light and only reduce the lights shortly to enjoy tree lights. 

I can't believe how good it is to have Sunshine back with us for a little while!


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Duely rated.
> 
> Let us stand aside and permit Ms. b to make the 1,000th post...


Here goes - a 12 Days of Christmas quilt! Thanks to the Dorchester Library:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Beckums.  Well, I see I do have some catching up to do.  Am back working on my cross stitch quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> Yea!!! I love it!!! Can you post a scan of one of your newer squares so everyone can see? And -
> 
> Allie Baba also told me the other day she was thinking about pulling her long-set-aside quilt and might be finishing it over the holidays, or at least getting back into it.
> 
> _notica importante!_
> 
> Don't forget, these are the shortest days of the year due to the proximity of the winter solstice, and it's Seasonal Affective Disorder time. (SAD) Fight it tooth and nail by turning on double the light around your work station the month before and the month after Dec.22. (or whenever solstice is, which is the shortest day of the year). Also, if entertaining, provide plenty of light and only reduce the lights shortly to enjoy tree lights.
> 
> I can't believe how good it is to have Sunshine back with us for a little while!
Click to expand...


Sure.  I'll try to get that done today.  If not, tomorrow.  I've already called in at work for tomorrow.  I managed to get a cold and my doctor's office was closed Christmas Eve.  So, I have to deal with that tomorrow.  This year, kids went to the other inlaws, and I guess with me getting the crud it was a good year to do that!  LOL.

I may be able to resurrect that maple leaf quilt top as well.


----------



## freedombecki

High winds making lights flicker today. Thanks Sunshine! Whenever you feel like posting your stuff is great! Just take it easy I'm trying to visualize you as over that cold and me like twiggy minus the anorexia. Unfortunately, I think Twiggy was taller than 5'1."


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> High winds making lights flicker today. Thanks Sunshine! Whenever you feel like posting your stuff is great! Just take it easy I'm trying to visualize you as over that cold and me like twiggy minus the anorexia. Unfortunately, I think Twiggy was taller than 5'1."



LMAO!  I believe in that vizualization stuff.


----------



## Sunshine

Here go go Beckums:  Here is an almost finished block.  There is a row that edges all of them that I haven't done on any.  My hoop is round and I want t get an oval one which will make doing the edges a bit easier, I hope. (This is a photo.  I can't get my scanner to scan.  And it won't do a whole block anyway.)  





I have the blocks for another one after this.  I want to do one in a lavendar, or orchid color, and a different design. I'd like to have one finished for each of my kids.  I chose green for this one because when I was a teen my mother did the quilting on one for a woman abd all the cross stitch was green.  I think hers was all the same shade.  Mine is n DMC thread 700 and 702.  The design was so large I thought doing two shades would give a bit more variety.  The one my mother quilted had green backing, so her white stitches showed when you turned it over. It was really pretty.  I always wanted one like it.

I can't find the maple leaf top.  I think it may be with the one my grandmother did that I couldn't find last year.  I've some time off in April and I need to do some reorganizing.  Maybe I'll run across it then.


----------



## freedombecki

Ooooo That green is gorgeous, Sunshine! I'm going back to green when the red blocks on my quilts for the next 2 or 3 weeks are done. I was going to do yellow, then orange, then purple, but that green is gorgeous. I went through a green phase here and did 10 green quilts then a turquoise stage and did 10 of those. It's a new year. I can do colors in any order. It's just a lot more convenient to have a ton of reds handy instead of having to put them up and drag a ton of the next color out. A lot more gets done if you work through a color group and use up all you can.

Your quilt is going to be a knockout! I love it!


----------



## freedombecki

For the last few days, cutting reds and lights has been the inspiration in the Chocolate-covered Cherries series, and so many reds are just shouting "take me, take me!" 

So here is a scan of the 7 inch finished log cabin-style block in fabrics that are just a joy to sew all day on. Also, there is a blank square barn-raising log cabin schema that you can click on and print out if you are planning a 36-block square log cabin. The filled-in areas on a copy show how the log cabin blocks will be placed. It saves a lot of time and effort to make a schema. Otherwise, blocks can and do get put up wrong, which makes for a quirky effect. People used to leave something called the "obvious flaw" in order to show that only the Lord is perfect. Some quilters never made a quilt without an obvious flaw to show their faith, others to show they were not perfections, thank you very much. That's why you will see so many older quilts that are a little ringy here and there.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Ooooo That green is gorgeous, Sunshine! I'm going back to green when the red blocks on my quilts for the next 2 or 3 weeks are done. I was going to do yellow, then orange, then purple, but that green is gorgeous. I went through a green phase here and did 10 green quilts then a turquoise stage and did 10 of those. It's a new year. I can do colors in any order. It's just a lot more convenient to have a ton of reds handy instead of having to put them up and drag a ton of the next color out. A lot more gets done if you work through a color group and use up all you can.
> 
> Your quilt is going to be a knockout! I love it!



Yeah, I like the monocrhomatic look.  A while back I posted several Celtic knots I did.  They can be a booger.  They are counted cross stitch.  I used to take them with me when I had to fly.  I made sure the knot and various sections were outlined and shaded where the lines crossed according to the pattern.  Then while I was on the plane, all I had to do was the single and predominant color to fill it all in.  No thinkig required. It has helped me overcome my fear of flying.  Funny thing, there is one, and I may have posted it, I don't recall, but when the plane took off I got the direction of the thread in one row backward.  It shows, but I have not changed it because it makes me think of my trip.  

This quilt is really more of a Zen activity for me than something to be accomplished.  It is repetitive, little thinking involved, and I can zone out for a while at the end of a long hard day.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ooooo That green is gorgeous, Sunshine! I'm going back to green when the red blocks on my quilts for the next 2 or 3 weeks are done. I was going to do yellow, then orange, then purple, but that green is gorgeous. I went through a green phase here and did 10 green quilts then a turquoise stage and did 10 of those. It's a new year. I can do colors in any order. It's just a lot more convenient to have a ton of reds handy instead of having to put them up and drag a ton of the next color out. A lot more gets done if you work through a color group and use up all you can.
> 
> Your quilt is going to be a knockout! I love it!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, I like the monocrhomatic look.  A while back I posted several Celtic knots I did.  They can be a booger.  They are counted cross stitch.  I used to take them with me when I had to fly.  I made sure the knot and various sections were outlined and shaded where the lines crossed according to the pattern.  Then while I was on the plane, all I had to do was the single and predominant color to fill it all in.  No thinkig required. It has helped me overcome my fear of flying.  Funny thing, there is one, and I may have posted it, I don't recall, but when the plane took off I got the direction of the thread in one row backward.  It shows, but I have not changed it because it makes me think of my trip.
> 
> This quilt is really more of a Zen activity for me than something to be accomplished.  It is repetitive, little thinking involved, and I can zone out for a while at the end of a long hard day.
Click to expand...

That must take a lot of skill and planning to outline an area to be embroidered with cross stitch. I'd like to remember that if I ever do any again. The log cabin block is a zen for me. Years ago, I made 23 log cabins for the annual "Jewels of the Platte" show I conducted for 6 or 7 years, I'm thinking there were 7 shows. The last show, I had fibromyalgia so bad, and it was such a harsh thing to put up and remove large quilts, I decided not to do that again. Not only that, but I couldn't stand to quilt any more either, and was sitting a lot just making new fabric quilt tops for the windows for many moons.

Anyway, back to "zen" and techniques, I've learned to make a block (to ensure it looks like it's supposed to look), then measure the lengths, calculate in the seam allowance (1/4") then cut all strips prior to beginning even the center to its same size contrast square. I love it best when all the strips are added in a clockwise order, so you learn to turn the raw edge of the unfinished block and figure out a way to sew logs on so that when you look at the right side, the pieces fall continuously into a clockwise fashion.
It's easy, and I spent much of today doing just that on the last 24 blocks of the 36-block log cabin work. Just the 2 last rows x 24 = 48 more strips. It seems like so few, but I have to stop working occasionally and do something else due to muscle contractions in this chilly weather.

It's so good to hear you're getting a little therapy from your beautiful work, and I appreciate seeing people's own projects from time to time, as I love all kinds of traditional handwork and have had classes in many of them. It's just that when Pfaff granted my shop a dealership, I'd already trained at Theta's School of Sewing at Oklahoma City on my 1471 back when it was "top of the line." In the years we were dealers, I totally loved all the things you could get a sewing machine to do, especially the "pen and ink" look of free motion machine embroidery. Some day when I get all these little charity quilt tops done, I'd like to do a year of machine drawing from my old college sketch book which eventually got filled up. Well, have to get going, Sunshine. Keep us posted when you work on anything. 

1) A Barn Raising Scrappy quilt from Big Horn Quilts dot com:


----------



## freedombecki

Here's an old-fashioned type Barn Raising Log Cabin Quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

I'm fond of this one I found on Bing. It mentions a JW Quilt source:


----------



## Sunshine

Wow, those are all sensational.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Wow, those are all sensational.


Thank you, Sunshine. There are never enough pretty quilts, so people just make them.

I have files stuffed with pictures and links to the best of the best, yet still, someone comes up with a new and revolutionary looking quilt in every state of this great country every day of the year. A year of factory experience years ago gave me an ease with machine speed techniques.

Quilters love log cabin for the possibilities its many arrangements provide. And chain sewing the logs together with precuts speeds the process and eases the "it doesn't fit" issue with accuracy and ease. 



Edit: add strips and log quilts from stuffed files:


----------



## freedombecki

All 36 squares are done. They just need to be sewn together into the 36-square schema added somewhere above this post. 

Squares completed late last night:


----------



## freedombecki

3 more scans of blocks finished last night:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans of Blocks 9, 10, and 11:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans of blocks 12, 13, and 14, finished last night:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans of blocks 15, 16, and 17, finished last night:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans of blocks 18, 19, and 20, finished last night:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans of blocks 21, 22, and 23 finished last night:


----------



## freedombecki

10 or 11 blocks may not have been shown on the first dozen blocks that were completed a few days ago. It's time to go sew them all together and do what it takes to complete the quilt top for a child at the shelter or for whatever purpose my sisters at Charity Bees pick for the quilt.

Scans of blocks 24, 25, and 26 finished last night:


----------



## pbel

luv the color of your Avatar.


----------



## freedombecki

Why thank you, pbel.


----------



## freedombecki

The square measures 44 inches each way, which means 1.25 yards of batting (45" square) will fill a completed crib quilt for the shelter. O Happy Day! 

Here are 3 of 4 corners:


----------



## freedombecki

Note the border fabric--it has to be used sparingly if a  light on the blocks, and sometimes when one of these irresistible  fabrics winds up in the stash and are just a little to dark even for the  light side, they're great around the quilt. In order to get the  advantages of a warp border, I cut it top to bottom, although there was  only an irregular half yard piece that was used on the strips. I sewed  12 strips around to make sure I had enough, but there was a 45" piece  left over at the end of the day. That's why eyeballing a piece of fabric  is not always exactly correct, but there was more than 9 inches left  over from the first side, so I just sewed all the warped strips end to  end, and didn't have to worry a bit. Better safe than sorry. The strips  work reasonably well if they are premeasured and not cut short when  making stacks of log strips to meet the measurement of the log in its  order around the light and dark block. 
Scans: 4th corner, Middle of quilt, 1st point
​


----------



## freedombecki

After completing this little square quilt for giving in 2013, I thought of the next holiday--Valentine's day, and designed a heart on paper. However, having seen Sunshine's green cross stitch, I want to make a green quilt more. I may just redo the red in greens, just for fun.

You must have a little fun along the way, and the unexpected pleasure of seeing Sunshine's progress on her green embroideries has me thinking more of green than Valentines. I have green strips cut.... somewhere, and a ton of green 1.5" strips in no less than 3 or 4 bags ... somewhere. So, it's in the bag, I'm heading off to do some tearin' of the green. Actually, cutting strips that may need pressing first. 

 

It's a green attack! 

36 centers... that's 2 strips and 2 more for the next one. Using 3" lights, stitched on top of the solid green, it will be a quilt in no time.

So, it's off to the quilt room! Time to toss the reds and go for the green!


----------



## freedombecki

Echo Log Cabin Hobo Lace Curtain was finished this morning that measures 44x56." It has green diagonally striped sashes with assorted dark green print sets. Like Echo Chambers quilt of a few weeks ago, the blocks are exactly the same, with a 4-patch in a chamber of light prints echoed by log strips on the south and west corners with hobo lace at the outer borders of the two log sides. 11 of the 12 squares were already done at the making of the echo chambers quilt
scan 1, upper left corner showing rust and oak borders
scan 2, upper right
scan 3, a green set at the junction of 4 squares


----------



## freedombecki

Echo Log Cabin Hobo Lace Curtain 44x56"

scan 4, lower right corner
scan 5, lower left corner
scan 6, another junction set square between 4 echo chamber log cabin blocks with hobo lace


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> After completing this little square quilt for giving in 2013, I thought of the next holiday--Valentine's day, and designed a heart on paper. However, having seen Sunshine's green cross stitch, I want to make a green quilt more. I may just redo the red in greens, just for fun.
> 
> You must have a little fun along the way, and the unexpected pleasure of seeing Sunshine's progress on her green embroideries has me thinking more of green than Valentines. I have green strips cut.... somewhere, and a ton of green 1.5" strips in no less than 3 or 4 bags ... somewhere. So, it's in the bag, I'm heading off to do some tearin' of the green. Actually, cutting strips that may need pressing first.
> 
> 
> 
> It's a green attack!
> 
> 36 centers... that's 2 strips and 2 more for the next one. Using 3" lights, stitched on top of the solid green, it will be a quilt in no time.
> 
> So, it's off to the quilt room! Time to toss the reds and go for the green!



Today, I will try to lay all the blocks out that I have done and take a pic so you can see what the whole thing will lookl like, although you probably can anyway being an experienced qilter.  I'm getting about 1 block a week done workng in spare time and making myself quit before I get tired of it.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm still not working on my niece's quilt but I DID get a bunch of stuff out of my closet...I found I had about half a dozen packages of flour sack dish towels that I bought when I was on a kick a couple of years ago, along with the transfers and embroidery floss. I gave my sis the biggest package of plain towels for Christmas; she'd specifically asked for some and I didn't have time to embroider them. But I'm going to embroider mom's before I go...


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I'm still not working on my niece's quilt but I DID get a bunch of stuff out of my closet...I found I had about half a dozen packages of flour sack dish towels that I bought when I was on a kick a couple of years ago, along with the transfers and embroidery floss. I gave my sis the biggest package of plain towels for Christmas; she'd specifically asked for some and I didn't have time to embroider them. But I'm going to embroider mom's before I go...



I very much admire someone who can do traditional embroidery.  I'm just not good at it.  I get to wanting it finished and my stitches just get longer and longer.  I never get a good result on something like this.  Yours looks really good.  I'm envious.


----------



## Sunshine

OK Beckums, here you go:











I have to say that doing this has jump started my motivation.  But I know better than to make a strong final push.  I will get tired before I'm done and quit.  Need to just keep working the same pace.  

Also, I see that I did get the outline row on some of them.  I had forgotten that.  I quit doing it in favor of getting a hoop later on that would make it more convenient to do, but as of yet I have not done that.

Finished it will be 5 blocks wide and 6 blocks long.  It will be large, but I wanted it to be useable as a coverlet.


----------



## Sunshine

Here is a counted cross stitch I did several years back.  It's one of my favorite pieces.  I did a nursing diploma as well.  If I can get the name obscured I will post that as well.  






It is a bit dim because it is behind glass.  I had to put it where I wouldn't get a glare.  Right now, I just can't entertain the idea of counted cross stitch.  I need something for relaxation and counted just isn't relaxing to me.  I am so OCD about every stitch being right, that I have ripped out and thrown away more work than is in any finished product.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, here's the nursing diploma.  I was just out of nursing school when I made it so I was seriously motivated!






The inner border is hard to see in a photo.  That tiny inside border is all medical formulas and abbreviations.  The work isn't great on it, and the back of it is horrible.  I didn't really know how to do counted cross stitch and this may actually have been only my first or second ever.


----------



## Sunshine

Here is a counted one I did from a kit shortly after my husband died.  Now, I think about it, this was my second one ever and the diploma was the third.  I did a kit first that was a white sheep and a black sheep and a caption that said, 'Be reasonable.  Do it my way.'  But I gave that one to a friend who was really stubborn!  

In this one, I did the hair colors like ours.  I wasn't a redhead then.  Shhhhh....


----------



## Sunshine

Here is the pattern for the next one I plan to do.  I already have the blocks.  It is shown in a red, but I want an orchid or lavendar, maybe.  Not sure what will strike me when the time comes.

http://www.123stitch.com/pictures/JD-731282.jpg






I can't locate a pic of it finished, but I have seen them.  Maybe on the package,  LOL.  Mine is white.  The one shown is ecru.  At the time I bought the blocks, they only had white.


----------



## Sunshine

Here are some other blocks I've got on my Amazon Wish List:

















These don't look to have the huge amount of work like in the one I'm doing and the one that is next.  I am thinking of doing that star one for the grandson.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm still not working on my niece's quilt but I DID get a bunch of stuff out of my closet...I found I had about half a dozen packages of flour sack dish towels that I bought when I was on a kick a couple of years ago, along with the transfers and embroidery floss. I gave my sis the biggest package of plain towels for Christmas; she'd specifically asked for some and I didn't have time to embroider them. But I'm going to embroider mom's before I go...


Oh, that is way too cute, Koshergrl! And you can put updates on that avie! A+ for AWESOME!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK Beckums, here you go:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have to say that doing this has jump started my motivation.  But I know better than to make a strong final push.  I will get tired before I'm done and quit.  Need to just keep working the same pace.
> 
> Also, I see that I did get the outline row on some of them.  I had forgotten that.  I quit doing it in favor of getting a hoop later on that would make it more convenient to do, but as of yet I have not done that.
> 
> Finished it will be 5 blocks wide and 6 blocks long.  It will be large, but I wanted it to be useable as a coverlet.


All your squares are beginning to look like a quilt! Kudos, Sunshine! Those are absolutely _wonderful_!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here are some other blocks I've got on my Amazon Wish List:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These don't look to have the huge amount of work like in the one I'm doing and the one that is next.  I am thinking of doing that star one for the grandson.


Wow, everything is so out of this world, Sunshine. You've made a lot of progress on the green cross stitch quilt top. Those are a lot of work, and with your pacing yourself, the time will quickly pass and you'll be in touch with a quilter soon, I hope. I love the crosss-stitched chickens, too. You picked a beautiful work to do on just about all counts. The lavender or mauve will be very unique. I've done purple and lavender quilts, and people love the color because they're not used to seeing that end of the color wheel represented as a quilt very often. Lavender rocks. :thup.

I'm also fond of the 8-pointed star idea for your son. It's outta sight.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here are some other blocks I've got on my Amazon Wish List:
> 
> These don't look to have the huge amount of work like in the one I'm doing and the one that is next.  I am thinking of doing that star one for the grandson.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, everything is so out of this world, Sunshine. You've made a lot of progress on the green cross stitch quilt top. Those are a lot of work, and with your pacing yourself, the time will quickly pass and you'll be in touch with a quilter soon, I hope. I love the crosss-stitched chickens, too. You picked a beautiful work to do on just about all counts. The lavender or mauve will be very unique. I've done purple and lavender quilts, and people love the color because they're not used to seeing that end of the color wheel represented as a quilt very often. Lavender rocks. :thup.
> 
> I'm also fond of the 8-pointed star idea for your son. It's outta sight.
Click to expand...


When I was a teen, my bedroom was lavendar.  My mother made curtains for it out of unbleached muslin and they were trimmed with lavendar piping.  So, like the green which is a knock off if one my mother quilted, the lavendar will be getting me back in touch with the past as well.  The star is just a new idea.  It looks like it will be easy and go fast.

Two of my high school girlfriends are quilters and they have both written books about it.  I will likely turn to one of them.  Machine quilting is not out of the question, but whatever gets done I want it to be good.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here  are some other blocks I've got on my Amazon Wish List:
> 
> These don't look to have the huge amount of work like in the one I'm  doing and the one that is next.  I am thinking of doing that star one  for the grandson.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, everything is so out of this world, Sunshine. You've made a lot of  progress on the green cross stitch quilt top. Those are a lot of work,  and with your pacing yourself, the time will quickly pass and you'll be  in touch with a quilter soon, I hope. I love the crosss-stitched  chickens, too. You picked a beautiful work to do on just about all  counts. The lavender or mauve will be very unique. I've done purple and  lavender quilts, and people love the color because they're not used to  seeing that end of the color wheel represented as a quilt very often.  Lavender rocks. :thup.
> 
> I'm also fond of the 8-pointed star idea for your son. It's outta sight.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> When I was a teen, my bedroom was lavendar.  My mother made curtains for  it out of unbleached muslin and they were trimmed with lavendar piping.   So, like the green which is a knock off if one my mother quilted, the  lavendar will be getting me back in touch with the past as well.  The  star is just a new idea.  It looks like it will be easy and go fast.
> 
> Two of my high school girlfriends are quilters and they have both  written books about it.  I will likely turn to one of them.  Machine  quilting is not out of the question, but whatever gets done I want it to  be good.
Click to expand...

That sounds so beautiful, Sunshine. 

Done right, lavender can be quite exquisite...







​


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, here's the nursing diploma.  I was just out of nursing school when I made it so I was seriously motivated!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The inner border is hard to see in a photo.  That tiny inside border is all medical formulas and abbreviations.  The work isn't great on it, and the back of it is horrible.  I didn't really know how to do counted cross stitch and this may actually have been only my first or second ever.


It's totally wonderful, Sunshine. You started on an advanced design--few people put their knowledge into stitches, and I love it when I see it. I've thought about doing one on microbes, but there are just too many charity quilts to do right now. I just took 6 more tops down to the Charity Bees closet and left one for the shopkeeper for letting the bees use her facility for their meeting and storage place.

And of course, left with a batch of pretty new fabrics for borders and a propeller quilt I'm thinking about doing. She had red fabrics with blue print that will surround the propellers for half price. I got enough to do at least 3 quilts or more. Red is such a good color for kids and also for wounded soldiers when added to blue.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, everything is so out of this world, Sunshine. You've made a lot of  progress on the green cross stitch quilt top. Those are a lot of work,  and with your pacing yourself, the time will quickly pass and you'll be  in touch with a quilter soon, I hope. I love the crosss-stitched  chickens, too. You picked a beautiful work to do on just about all  counts. The lavender or mauve will be very unique. I've done purple and  lavender quilts, and people love the color because they're not used to  seeing that end of the color wheel represented as a quilt very often.  Lavender rocks. :thup.
> 
> I'm also fond of the 8-pointed star idea for your son. It's outta sight.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When I was a teen, my bedroom was lavendar.  My mother made curtains for  it out of unbleached muslin and they were trimmed with lavendar piping.   So, like the green which is a knock off if one my mother quilted, the  lavendar will be getting me back in touch with the past as well.  The  star is just a new idea.  It looks like it will be easy and go fast.
> 
> Two of my high school girlfriends are quilters and they have both  written books about it.  I will likely turn to one of them.  Machine  quilting is not out of the question, but whatever gets done I want it to  be good.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> That sounds so beautiful, Sunshine.
> 
> Done right, lavender can be quite exquisite...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
Click to expand...


Now I'm motivated to get that lavenadar one going!~


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here's the nursing diploma.  I was just out of nursing school when I made it so I was seriously motivated!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The inner border is hard to see in a photo.  That tiny inside border is all medical formulas and abbreviations.  The work isn't great on it, and the back of it is horrible.  I didn't really know how to do counted cross stitch and this may actually have been only my first or second ever.
> 
> 
> 
> It's totally wonderful, Sunshine. You started on an advanced design--few people put their knowledge into stitches, and I love it when I see it. I've thought about doing one on microbes, but there are just too many charity quilts to do right now. I just took 6 more tops down to the Charity Bees closet and left one for the shopkeeper for letting the bees use her facility for their meeting and storage place.
> 
> And of course, left with a batch of pretty new fabrics for borders and a propeller quilt I'm thinking about doing. She had red fabrics with blue print that will surround the propellers for half price. I got enough to do at least 3 quilts or more. Red is such a good color for kids and also for wounded soldiers when added to blue.
Click to expand...


Thanks.  That pattern was floating around  amongs the students when I was in school, but who has time to stitch when you are in nursing school!   LOL.  I 've kept it in my office for several years but recently rearranged some things here at home so I brought it home.  My patients always have liked it.

At the pace you are going with quilts you will soon have made a quilt for everyone in the lower 48!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here's the nursing diploma.  I was just out of nursing school when I made it so I was seriously motivated!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The inner border is hard to see in a photo.  That tiny inside border is all medical formulas and abbreviations.  The work isn't great on it, and the back of it is horrible.  I didn't really know how to do counted cross stitch and this may actually have been only my first or second ever.
> 
> 
> 
> It's totally wonderful, Sunshine. You started on an advanced design--few people put their knowledge into stitches, and I love it when I see it. I've thought about doing one on microbes, but there are just too many charity quilts to do right now. I just took 6 more tops down to the Charity Bees closet and left one for the shopkeeper for letting the bees use her facility for their meeting and storage place.
> 
> And of course, left with a batch of pretty new fabrics for borders and a propeller quilt I'm thinking about doing. She had red fabrics with blue print that will surround the propellers for half price. I got enough to do at least 3 quilts or more. Red is such a good color for kids and also for wounded soldiers when added to blue.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thanks.  That pattern was floating around  amongs the students when I was in school, but who has time to stitch when you are in nursing school!   LOL.  I 've kept it in my office for several years but recently rearranged some things here at home so I brought it home.  My patients always have liked it.
> 
> At the pace you are going with quilts you will soon have made a quilt for everyone in the lower 48!
Click to expand...

There were some organizations online back during the time of Afghanistan/Iraq soldiers coming home with wounded whose goal was to make 70,000 quilts (everyone who did lots of quilts usually knew about it). They were too partisan, so I started making quilts for our state's people. In 3 years (my worst having fibromyalgia) my group made 36, of which I quilted all of them and did no other quilting due to difficulties with standing longer than 15 minutes at a time. We didn't do all we could, but we made our quilts larger because it was so cold up there in Wyoming where I lived at the time. After that, I didn't quilt another quilt for 2 or 3 years, except one more maybe, with difficulty. Quilting is still too hard, but I do the tops and send them to the Charity Bees closet, where small works get quilted and given to those in shelters, with a few quilted and sold at the Cabin to help raise money for batting so they can do that. Our outings are planned around quilt store visits to keep up the stash. I really should be using totally from the stash. 

That owning the quilt store was fun. I could cut from the bolt and not have to worry about having leftovers. I'd be in trouble if we still lived near the store. I let the girls run it at their leisure. Both are dedicated to making quilts for charity, and I told them to put that work ahead of profits. I've always thought there truth in the adage of "to whom much is given, much is expected." One of them sends me pictures every year of the beautiful things her students make in her classes and notes from their group. She is an award-winning quilter, many times over, and her love is for quilts of the eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries, especially antebellum and prairie eras. The other is Miss ****-and-span who keeps things clean and running smoothly, is teaching modern quilting techniques and repairing sewing machines. They're a dynamic duo, and I'm just glad they're deep into community service. Together, they're "Jewels of the Platte."

I love your counted cross stitch works, and the Diploma is a design I'd never seen anything like. Thanks again for sharing it!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> It's totally wonderful, Sunshine. You started on an advanced design--few people put their knowledge into stitches, and I love it when I see it. I've thought about doing one on microbes, but there are just too many charity quilts to do right now. I just took 6 more tops down to the Charity Bees closet and left one for the shopkeeper for letting the bees use her facility for their meeting and storage place.
> 
> And of course, left with a batch of pretty new fabrics for borders and a propeller quilt I'm thinking about doing. She had red fabrics with blue print that will surround the propellers for half price. I got enough to do at least 3 quilts or more. Red is such a good color for kids and also for wounded soldiers when added to blue.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks.  That pattern was floating around  amongs the students when I was in school, but who has time to stitch when you are in nursing school!   LOL.  I 've kept it in my office for several years but recently rearranged some things here at home so I brought it home.  My patients always have liked it.
> 
> At the pace you are going with quilts you will soon have made a quilt for everyone in the lower 48!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> There were some organizations online back during the time of Afghanistan/Iraq soldiers coming home with wounded whose goal was to make 70,000 quilts (everyone who did lots of quilts usually knew about it). They were too partisan, so I started making quilts for our state's people. In 3 years (my worst having fibromyalgia) my group made 36, of which I quilted all of them and did no other quilting due to difficulties with standing longer than 15 minutes at a time. We didn't do all we could, but we made our quilts larger because it was so cold up there in Wyoming where I lived at the time. After that, I didn't quilt another quilt for 2 or 3 years, except one more maybe, with difficulty. Quilting is still too hard, but I do the tops and send them to the Charity Bees closet, where small works get quilted and given to those in shelters, with a few quilted and sold at the Cabin to help raise money for batting so they can do that. Our outings are planned around quilt store visits to keep up the stash. I really should be using totally from the stash.
> 
> That owning the quilt store was fun. I could cut from the bolt and not have to worry about having leftovers. I'd be in trouble if we still lived near the store. I let the girls run it at their leisure. Both are dedicated to making quilts for charity, and I told them to put that work ahead of profits. I've always thought there truth in the adage of "to whom much is given, much is expected." One of them sends me pictures every year of the beautiful things her students make in her classes and notes from their group. She is an award-winning quilter, many times over, and her love is for quilts of the eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries, especially antebellum and prairie eras. The other is Miss ****-and-span who keeps things clean and running smoothly, is teaching modern quilting techniques and repairing sewing machines. They're a dynamic duo, and I'm just glad they're deep into community service. Together, they're "Jewels of the Platte."
> 
> I love your counted cross stitch works, and the Diploma is a design I'd never seen anything like. Thanks again for sharing it!
Click to expand...


Wow.  That's really an amazing amount of work.  I will finish a block today and I've started my countdown!  I'll never forget my mother unfolding that quilt top and saying "Oh, look at all that pretty cross stitch."  She was just in awe of it.  I never saw her do that kind of work, but she did teach me how.  I have a dresser scarf my sister made when  was a girl that was a kitten design.  I did a couple of dresser scarfs while I was engaged.  I found the (real) linen scarfs with the design stamped on.  I do know where those are and will try to pull them out and post a pic.  I don't think they are great work, but they have semtimental value.  I did use them for several years.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Wow.  That's really an amazing amount of work.  I will finish a block today and I've started my countdown!  I'll never forget my mother unfolding that quilt top and saying "Oh, look at all that pretty cross stitch."  She was just in awe of it.  I never saw her do that kind of work, but she did teach me how.  I have a dresser scarf my sister made when  was a girl that was a kitten design.  I did a couple of dresser scarfs while I was engaged.  I found the (real) linen scarfs with the design stamped on.  I do know where those are and will try to pull them out and post a pic.  I don't think they are great work, but they have semtimental value.  I did use them for several years.


I look forward to seeing them, Sunshine. Today, I took a long winter's nap. It's so good to be finished with the year's work, I just needed a little extra sleep. 

Tomorrow, it's a new day, and the year ahead will be filled with a lot of fun projects. I found my green 1.5" strips over the last few days. There are a pile of more of them somewhere, but that's yet to find. I've also got a slight stash of green precuts but couldn't find the organizer. It's around somewhere.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow.  That's really an amazing amount of work.  I will finish a block today and I've started my countdown!  I'll never forget my mother unfolding that quilt top and saying "Oh, look at all that pretty cross stitch."  She was just in awe of it.  I never saw her do that kind of work, but she did teach me how.  I have a dresser scarf my sister made when  was a girl that was a kitten design.  I did a couple of dresser scarfs while I was engaged.  I found the (real) linen scarfs with the design stamped on.  I do know where those are and will try to pull them out and post a pic.  I don't think they are great work, but they have semtimental value.  I did use them for several years.
> 
> 
> 
> I look forward to seeing them, Sunshine. Today, I took a long winter's nap. It's so good to be finished with the year's work, I just needed a little extra sleep.
> 
> Tomorrow, it's a new day, and the year ahead will be filled with a lot of fun projects. I found my green 1.5" strips over the last few days. There are a pile of more of them somewhere, but that's yet to find. I've also got a slight stash of green precuts but couldn't find the organizer. It's around somewhere.
Click to expand...


Well, that makes me feel better about not being able to find half the stuff I look for!  LOL

Yes, tomorrow is a new year.  2012 is the year the cardiologist told me I wouldn't have.  But thanks to Vanderbilt I did have.  It is strange what kind of things facilitate tracking progress with what I have.  With my insurance I get 90 days of medication and supplies at a very economical rate, for me if not for the insurance company.  But when you get 4 huge boxes of stuff there has to be some organization in order to know if you got it all.  And you have to know because if you didn't then you try to get the rest of it in 2 months it's a new charge.  So, I take 1 gallon plastic bags and organize each pump change per bag, number them, and store them downstairs.  At first, it would take me 3 hitches, I mean 3 different weekends, to get 45 bags counted out.  Now, I do that in just about an hour with no fatigue and wonder why it was so hard at first.  This next year will be my last at 'public' work.  I started my own business about 3 years ago, but haven't done anything with it, so I would like to pick that up, as I now have it sorted out in my mind exactly what I want to do.

Anyway, happy new year, and I hope 2013 is happy, healthy, and prosperous for your and yours!  In my own case, I will just be happay to stay alive!  LOL

Those quilts are sensational.  Since my husband's untimely death several years ago, I have slept under and electric blanket year round.  But I remember when I was a girl I had to have 1 blanket and 2 quilts.  Not that I was actually cold with only one quilt, but I just didn't think I was warm without the added weight of the second quilt!  LOL.  Now, I'm still weird about my bed as  flannel sheets are a MUST have in the winter.  I just can't sleep on regular sheets in winter even with the electric blanket.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow.  That's really an amazing amount of work.  I will finish a block today and I've started my countdown!  I'll never forget my mother unfolding that quilt top and saying "Oh, look at all that pretty cross stitch."  She was just in awe of it.  I never saw her do that kind of work, but she did teach me how.  I have a dresser scarf my sister made when  was a girl that was a kitten design.  I did a couple of dresser scarfs while I was engaged.  I found the (real) linen scarfs with the design stamped on.  I do know where those are and will try to pull them out and post a pic.  I don't think they are great work, but they have semtimental value.  I did use them for several years.
> 
> 
> 
> I look forward to seeing them, Sunshine. Today, I took a long winter's nap. It's so good to be finished with the year's work, I just needed a little extra sleep.
> 
> Tomorrow, it's a new day, and the year ahead will be filled with a lot of fun projects. I found my green 1.5" strips over the last few days. There are a pile of more of them somewhere, but that's yet to find. I've also got a slight stash of green precuts but couldn't find the organizer. It's around somewhere.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well, that makes me feel better about not being able to find half the stuff I look for!  LOL
> 
> Yes, tomorrow is a new year.  2012 is the year the cardiologist told me I wouldn't have.  But thanks to Vanderbilt I did have.  It is strange what kind of things facilitate tracking progress with what I have.  With my insurance I get 90 days of medication and supplies at a very economical rate, for me if not for the insurance company.  But when you get 4 huge boxes of stuff there has to be some organization in order to know if you got it all.  And you have to know because if you didn't then you try to get the rest of it in 2 months it's a new charge.  So, I take 1 gallon plastic bags and organize each pump change per bag, number them, and store them downstairs.  At first, it would take me 3 hitches, I mean 3 different weekends, to get 45 bags counted out.  Now, I do that in just about an hour with no fatigue and wonder why it was so hard at first.  This next year will be my last at 'public' work.  I started my own business about 3 years ago, but haven't done anything with it, so I would like to pick that up, as I now have it sorted out in my mind exactly what I want to do.
> 
> Anyway, happy new year, and I hope 2013 is happy, healthy, and prosperous for your and yours!  In my own case, I will just be happay to stay alive!  LOL
> 
> Those quilts are sensational.  Since my husband's untimely death several years ago, I have slept under and electric blanket year round.  But I remember when I was a girl I had to have 1 blanket and 2 quilts.  Not that I was actually cold with only one quilt, but I just didn't think I was warm without the added weight of the second quilt!  LOL.  Now, I'm still weird about my bed as  flannel sheets are a MUST have in the winter.  I just can't sleep on regular sheets in winter even with the electric blanket.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sunshine. I love flannel, but flannel doesn't love me. It takes the modicum of moisture from feet and hands, which itch, so I just use regular sheets. And I'm happy you made it through the year, and hope you continue defying the odds with visualization and the knowledge that if anybody can beat a condition, it's you! 

Not only did I sleep a lot of yesterday away, I got a great night's sleep too, getting up bright and early to start and finish another points of light quilt. Some of the time spent on the last one was constructing over a hundred centers of red and light, then another 25 all-red centers for a couple more of points of light quilts. The last one had 17 logs, this one only has 13 including the center, so it only took until around noon from really early this morning. Since I posted the bigger one a couple of pages back, here are 3 scans showing border, points, and description label for this one:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I look forward to seeing them, Sunshine. Today, I took a long winter's nap. It's so good to be finished with the year's work, I just needed a little extra sleep.
> 
> Tomorrow, it's a new day, and the year ahead will be filled with a lot of fun projects. I found my green 1.5" strips over the last few days. There are a pile of more of them somewhere, but that's yet to find. I've also got a slight stash of green precuts but couldn't find the organizer. It's around somewhere.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well, that makes me feel better about not being able to find half the stuff I look for!  LOL
> 
> Yes, tomorrow is a new year.  2012 is the year the cardiologist told me I wouldn't have.  But thanks to Vanderbilt I did have.  It is strange what kind of things facilitate tracking progress with what I have.  With my insurance I get 90 days of medication and supplies at a very economical rate, for me if not for the insurance company.  But when you get 4 huge boxes of stuff there has to be some organization in order to know if you got it all.  And you have to know because if you didn't then you try to get the rest of it in 2 months it's a new charge.  So, I take 1 gallon plastic bags and organize each pump change per bag, number them, and store them downstairs.  At first, it would take me 3 hitches, I mean 3 different weekends, to get 45 bags counted out.  Now, I do that in just about an hour with no fatigue and wonder why it was so hard at first.  This next year will be my last at 'public' work.  I started my own business about 3 years ago, but haven't done anything with it, so I would like to pick that up, as I now have it sorted out in my mind exactly what I want to do.
> 
> Anyway, happy new year, and I hope 2013 is happy, healthy, and prosperous for your and yours!  In my own case, I will just be happay to stay alive!  LOL
> 
> Those quilts are sensational.  Since my husband's untimely death several years ago, I have slept under and electric blanket year round.  But I remember when I was a girl I had to have 1 blanket and 2 quilts.  Not that I was actually cold with only one quilt, but I just didn't think I was warm without the added weight of the second quilt!  LOL.  Now, I'm still weird about my bed as  flannel sheets are a MUST have in the winter.  I just can't sleep on regular sheets in winter even with the electric blanket.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I love flannel, but flannel doesn't love me. It takes the modicum of moisture from feet and hands, which itch, so I just use regular sheets. And I'm happy you made it through the year, and hope you continue defying the odds with visualization and the knowledge that if anybody can beat a condition, it's you!
> 
> Not only did I sleep a lot of yesterday away, I got a great night's sleep too, getting up bright and early to start and finish another points of light quilt. Some of the time spent on the last one was constructing over a hundred centers of red and light, then another 25 all-red centers for a couple more of points of light quilts. The last one had 17 logs, this one only has 13 including the center, so it only took until around noon from really early this morning. Since I posted the bigger one a couple of pages back, here are 3 scans showing border, points, and description label for this one:
Click to expand...


Wow!  You are truly an artist.  And your spatial reasoning must be off the map!

Sometimes one just has to stay in bed all day.  When my kids were in college and I work working 3 jobs, I did that when I could.  One day my boss asked me what I had done the day before.  When I told him I had just stayed in bed all day he said 'why.'  I said, 'because I was tired!'  In those days the goal was to just get enough rest so I can work.  Now, while I might enjoy staying in bed and I might want to, the goal is to get everything done that I had planned to do.  People have always told me that I work too hard, and my response has been 'I can rest when I'm dead.'  Well that's still true.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, that makes me feel better about not being able to find half the stuff I look for!  LOL
> 
> Yes, tomorrow is a new year.  2012 is the year the cardiologist told me I wouldn't have.  But thanks to Vanderbilt I did have.  It is strange what kind of things facilitate tracking progress with what I have.  With my insurance I get 90 days of medication and supplies at a very economical rate, for me if not for the insurance company.  But when you get 4 huge boxes of stuff there has to be some organization in order to know if you got it all.  And you have to know because if you didn't then you try to get the rest of it in 2 months it's a new charge.  So, I take 1 gallon plastic bags and organize each pump change per bag, number them, and store them downstairs.  At first, it would take me 3 hitches, I mean 3 different weekends, to get 45 bags counted out.  Now, I do that in just about an hour with no fatigue and wonder why it was so hard at first.  This next year will be my last at 'public' work.  I started my own business about 3 years ago, but haven't done anything with it, so I would like to pick that up, as I now have it sorted out in my mind exactly what I want to do.
> 
> Anyway, happy new year, and I hope 2013 is happy, healthy, and prosperous for your and yours!  In my own case, I will just be happay to stay alive!  LOL
> 
> Those quilts are sensational.  Since my husband's untimely death several years ago, I have slept under and electric blanket year round.  But I remember when I was a girl I had to have 1 blanket and 2 quilts.  Not that I was actually cold with only one quilt, but I just didn't think I was warm without the added weight of the second quilt!  LOL.  Now, I'm still weird about my bed as  flannel sheets are a MUST have in the winter.  I just can't sleep on regular sheets in winter even with the electric blanket.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I love flannel, but flannel doesn't love me. It takes the modicum of moisture from feet and hands, which itch, so I just use regular sheets. And I'm happy you made it through the year, and hope you continue defying the odds with visualization and the knowledge that if anybody can beat a condition, it's you!
> 
> Not only did I sleep a lot of yesterday away, I got a great night's sleep too, getting up bright and early to start and finish another points of light quilt. Some of the time spent on the last one was constructing over a hundred centers of red and light, then another 25 all-red centers for a couple more of points of light quilts. The last one had 17 logs, this one only has 13 including the center, so it only took until around noon from really early this morning. Since I posted the bigger one a couple of pages back, here are 3 scans showing border, points, and description label for this one:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Wow!  You are truly an artist.  And your spatial reasoning must be off the map!
> 
> Sometimes one just has to stay in bed all day.  When my kids were in college and I work working 3 jobs, I did that when I could.  One day my boss asked me what I had done the day before.  When I told him I had just stayed in bed all day he said 'why.'  I said, 'because I was tired!'  In those days the goal was to just get enough rest so I can work.  Now, while I might enjoy staying in bed and I might want to, the goal is to get everything done that I had planned to do.  People have always told me that I work too hard, and my response has been 'I can rest when I'm dead.'  Well that's still true.
Click to expand...

Prayers up!  I know you're going to be heading off to work really soon, so I wanted to get something up in green to let you know how inspired I am over your lovely work, Sunshine! The first green one will be super simple--only the darks will vary and the lights will be from a fabric purchased by my business from the RJR Company sometime during the shop's first 3 or 4 years, and possibly the second. It's been over 25 years since I opened, and I saved 2 or 3 yards of this precious green fabric (probably 3). I made window displays at the old place, and it took exactly 3 yards to cover the shelf space just below it. The windows were changed on an average of once per month, and this fabric may have been used for an Easter window or something. I was surprised to find it this morning, and decided to do one easy green points of light quilt. It's not much of a start but 8 of these will be the points, and the left over one will just go into the next quilt, maybe. I always like an extra one in case I go to the store to find fabrics that look good with some of the other fabrics in the quilt, and what better than one of the blocks. Anyway, I hate that this is the ugly duckling stage, but I wanted to post progress on the green points of light right away before you hustle back to work and can't post for awhile as you balance life with work.

Here goes (and I have a lot of green squares to make tomorrow that are full of darker green prints, of which not one of the 16 blocks has been started yet except to cut a long green center strip):


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. I love flannel, but flannel doesn't love me. It takes the modicum of moisture from feet and hands, which itch, so I just use regular sheets. And I'm happy you made it through the year, and hope you continue defying the odds with visualization and the knowledge that if anybody can beat a condition, it's you!
> 
> Not only did I sleep a lot of yesterday away, I got a great night's sleep too, getting up bright and early to start and finish another points of light quilt. Some of the time spent on the last one was constructing over a hundred centers of red and light, then another 25 all-red centers for a couple more of points of light quilts. The last one had 17 logs, this one only has 13 including the center, so it only took until around noon from really early this morning. Since I posted the bigger one a couple of pages back, here are 3 scans showing border, points, and description label for this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow!  You are truly an artist.  And your spatial reasoning must be off the map!
> 
> Sometimes one just has to stay in bed all day.  When my kids were in college and I work working 3 jobs, I did that when I could.  One day my boss asked me what I had done the day before.  When I told him I had just stayed in bed all day he said 'why.'  I said, 'because I was tired!'  In those days the goal was to just get enough rest so I can work.  Now, while I might enjoy staying in bed and I might want to, the goal is to get everything done that I had planned to do.  People have always told me that I work too hard, and my response has been 'I can rest when I'm dead.'  Well that's still true.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Prayers up!  I know you're going to be heading off to work really soon, so I wanted to get something up in green to let you know how inspired I am over your lovely work, Sunshine! The first green one will be super simple--only the darks will vary and the lights will be from a fabric purchased by my business from the RJR Company sometime during the shop's first 3 or 4 years, and possibly the second. It's been over 25 years since I opened, and I saved 2 or 3 yards of this precious green fabric (probably 3). I made window displays at the old place, and it took exactly 3 yards to cover the shelf space just below it. The windows were changed on an average of once per month, and this fabric may have been used for an Easter window or something. I was surprised to find it this morning, and decided to do one easy green points of light quilt. It's not much of a start but 8 of these will be the points, and the left over one will just go into the next quilt, maybe. I always like an extra one in case I go to the store to find fabrics that look good with some of the other fabrics in the quilt, and what better than one of the blocks. Anyway, I hate that this is the ugly duckling stage, but I wanted to post progress on the green points of light right away before you hustle back to work and can't post for awhile as you balance life with work.
> 
> Here goes (and I have a lot of green squares to make tomorrow that are full of darker green prints, of which not one of the 16 blocks has been started yet except to cut a long green center strip):
Click to expand...


I'm off today, for the NY holiday and I'm really glad!  

That is beautiful, it will make a very pretty quilt. Now, I think about it, I don't recall seeing any quilts in green.  My friend I went to visit in DC in the spring had her bedroom painted a pale green and she put her white bed and white drapes in it.  It is beautiful and is just dreamy looking with only the street lights shining in the window.  The rest of her condo is the same pale green, but this one room has such a surreal look to it.  

Many years ago my husband and I did a  house in pale green on the inside.  I always liked the colors. I know a guy who has his den painted a green that is a bitl lighter than hunter green. It is a strong, remarkable color.  And one of our clerks at work did her son's room in hunter green.  Green is a wonderful color.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. I agree. But I didn't use to like green. My daughter put me on it when she asked me to make her a green quilt. I really didn't think I could do it, because it was for years the only color not in my wardrobe. So I made the quilt, and I could stick with it to the finish in spite of having 4,000 pieces. It was an uneven log cabin that from a distance looked like giant green scallops and was one of the prettiest quilts I ever did. Then I made another. Same deal. No problem finishing it, and I enjoyed it as much as the first one. Then I really got into it. I loved the friggen color. I made Irish chain quilts out the wazoo, a leprechaun quilt, three or four shamrock quilts, an Irish history of sayings quilt, and a green map of Ireland. Last year, I did more than 20 green quilts of the 100 charity ones. It's just a very, very pleasant color and a joy to work on.

I'm like the convert smoker who hated nonsmoking when it comes to green. EVERYBODY SHOULD LOVE GREEN, AND THEY SHOULD LOVE IT RIGHT NOW, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Was my conversion complete?

  
  
  
  
  
​


----------



## koshergrl

Green is my girl's favorite color.

Happy New Year, all. We're whipping out the embroidered dish towels for my mom; we came to my sister's for New Year's and discovered that my  nephew's niece is a cross stitcher, so she grabbed a towel and has been working on it, and my daughter is also working on hers, so we have 3 people stitching away. The little cross stitcher works fast, too. I have 3 completed and two more will be finished today. My daughter's work is beautiful; the wonderful thing about these towels is the patterns are largely one stitch and just a few colors; great for beginners. She's working on a towel with the word 'SUNDAY' and a rose printed...3 colors, one stitch.


----------



## Sunshine

Here you go, Beckums.  This is one end.  They are identical on both ends and I made two.  It just struck me that I made these almost half a century ago.  It seems like just yesterday.  It was just a stamped pattern but it was on linen.


----------



## Sunshine

My son started to Georgia Tech while I was in graduate school.  If I had not been in grad school and half way through on scholarship, I think I would have just enrolled at Tech with him and taken Textile Engineering.  Textiles fascinate me.  I love those shows where they have dug up people and the textiles are still intact.  I love color theory, dyes, etc.  Did you know that there is a national color council that decides what colors will be 'in' each year.  That's why something you buy this year won't work with something you buy next year.  

I didn't know there was such a thing as Textile Engineering until I went with my son to enroll in an engineering program.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Green is my girl's favorite color.
> 
> Happy New Year, all. We're whipping out the embroidered dish towels for my mom; we came to my sister's for New Year's and discovered that my  nephew's niece is a cross stitcher, so she grabbed a towel and has been working on it, and my daughter is also working on hers, so we have 3 people stitching away. The little cross stitcher works fast, too. I have 3 completed and two more will be finished today. My daughter's work is beautiful; the wonderful thing about these towels is the patterns are largely one stitch and just a few colors; great for beginners. She's working on a towel with the word 'SUNDAY' and a rose printed...3 colors, one stitch.


My daughter loved lavender. By the time I assembled her bedroom suite, and had it ready for her, she had lost interest after a couple of months.  I really got to liking it. Later on, she started loving green. If I wasn't crazy about it, she had to be, I think. 

After all those years running the quilt store and helping people get in touch with colors they and their loved ones liked, I got to be a fan of just about every color, hue, tint, shade and neutral known to paintbrush.

Every season seems to have its own colors.

Your girls sound like accomplished needlewomen! Their mom and aunt, too! Hope we see some pictures.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here you go, Beckums.  This is one end.  They are identical on both ends and I made two.  It just struck me that I made these almost half a century ago.  It seems like just yesterday.  It was just a stamped pattern but it was on linen.


I love it! Counted cross stitch just talks to me. *sigh*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here you go, Beckums.  This is one end.  They are identical on both ends and I made two.  It just struck me that I made these almost half a century ago.  It seems like just yesterday.  It was just a stamped pattern but it was on linen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love it! Counted cross stitch just talks to me. *sigh*
Click to expand...


I remember my mother thinking those colors were stupid.  But' I've always liked those hues on the linen.  In fact, I've been looking for more stamped linen.  I found a 'vintage' one on eBay for 30 bucks.  Would buy it and stitch it if I could be sure it didn't smell bad.  I did order some stamps and thought maybe I might just buy some linen.


----------



## freedombecki

After living in the Equality State for 35 years, those colors are like home to me. In Laramie there is this school...


----------



## freedombecki

All 24 blocks are done for the Green points of Light Quilt:

Scan 1 - Block 1

Scan 2 - Block 2

Scan 3 - Block 3


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 4

Scan 2 - Block 5

Scan 3 - Block 6


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 7

Scan 2 - Block 8

Scan 3 - Block 9


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 10

Scan 2 - Block 11

Scan 3 - Block 12


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 13

Scan 2 - Block 14

Scan 3 - Block 15


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 16

Scan 2 - Block 17

Scan 3 - Block 18


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 19

Scan 2 - Block 20

Scan 3 - Block 21


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Block 22

Scan 2 - Block 23

Scan 3 - Block 24


----------



## freedombecki

Now all that needs to be done is sew squares together, add border. Simple! 

And I have no way of showing what it will be like except to show a few log cabins that were out there online this morning with light-colored points (and there weren't many and NO points of lights quilt like the diagram):


----------



## freedombecki

The center is now almost ready to have dark log squares put at top and bottom to make this the start for a child-sized quilt. borders help make the quilt larger, the more logs, the merrier. The last red Points of Light Log Cabin Star done just a couple of days ago was about 38 to 40" wide and only 54 - 56" long. It's a great hugs crib quilt, but a child-sized one should be a little larger. So the border is a challenge to be considered, whether to do a little more slave labor or just make large strippy borders.

An attempt was made in scanning to put them in the order they will be in on the quilt for the top row and the center so the large dark center can be seen. So far, I love this one, and the use of only one light fabric doesn't bother me a bit and adds to the lightness of the star points, as they are almost like a corolla of the sun in full eclipse on this one. 

Not sure if it's left to right or right to left, but these 3 scans are hopefully in a row:


----------



## freedombecki

This one hopefully shows the center dark area okay.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> After living in the Equality State for 35 years, those colors are like home to me. In Laramie there is this school...



Cool.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> This one hopefully shows the center dark area okay.



I would be drunk at the end of the day after doing something like that!


----------



## koshergrl

Got the chickens done:


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> After living in the Equality State for 35 years, those colors are like home to me. In Laramie there is this school...



Change it to red, brown and black and it is the Pendleton Round-Up logo...


----------



## koshergrl

Pendleton Woolen mills did a commemorative blanket for the 100 year anniversary...I have see the real ones but here is a weirdly skewed pic:


----------



## koshergrl

Flower towel that my 10 year old daughter is working on; she did the last few stitches with too many threads so that will probably come out and be re-done, but she has done a remarkable job. I love towels and pillowcases because they are often quite simple, with only one or two stitches and a couple of colors. I started my first piece at the age of 7; a simple cross-stitch dresser scarf that had a heart pattern; red and black. I don't think I ever finished it! But I learned cross stitch, lazy dazy and outline stitching.






This is the one I worked on a day or so ago; then my nephew's girlfriend picked it up and it's almost finished. She's a needle-pointer:






Haha I did the "saturday" stitching...at Mom's, in dim light, as is apparent.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Got the chickens done:


Oh, Koshergrl, isn't that just too darn cute! My sister has chickens in her kitchen. I oughta do something like that using my sewing machine, which has a stem stitch and a triple straight stitch, both of which look great with size thirty cotton DMC machine embroidery thread (and several others in recent years). I'm glad you followed up a start with a picture. Your mother will be thrilled if they're for her. In one of my books on victorian applique, I designed a Rhode Island Red rooster, which would look good in sewing machine blackwork. I may drag out my stuff and do that sometime soon!

I love your inspiring work and so glad you shared it.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> This one hopefully shows the center dark area okay.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would be drunk at the end of the day after doing something like that!
Click to expand...

Well, what I didn't show last night was my lil mistakie. I sewed the 4th row on upside down. Before I hit the pillow last night, I had to rip and redo.

It doesn't matter how long you've been quilting, you still have to pay attention or get in touch with your @#&!#* 1.5mm seam ripper, if you can find it. Nature has its own way of dealing with space cadetism in the sewing room. 

This morning I got up and added the dark top and bottom rows, and selected some fabrics to do borders. I found some cute frogies, but they're not wonderful with the pale light green points. The reason I am likely to use it is to remind the next crew that indeed, it is a child's shelter quilt, because the froggies were found hopping among bolts of baby fabrics when I grabbed it off the shelf at Lone Star Quilts in Bryan/College Station last year sometime. Don't know why I love froggies so, but all the green quilts always have at least one of the little amphibians peeking out of a log or square somewhere in the quilt. These froggies are packed so well, they'll be seen as an army on any strip larger than 2.5 inches. They're less than an inch across. I haven't cut the fabric yet, so what the heck, I might as well get the fabric and scan it along with the repaired and added rows, or whatever parts get scanned (you can only see the squarish tips of the star points):


----------



## koshergrl

I





freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Got the chickens done:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, Koshergrl, isn't that just too darn cute! My sister has chickens in her kitchen. I oughta do something like that using my sewing machine, which has a stem stitch and a triple straight stitch, both of which look great with size thirty cotton DMC machine embroidery thread (and several others in recent years). I'm glad you followed up a start with a picture. Your mother will be thrilled if they're for her. In one of my books on victorian applique, I designed a Rhode Island Red rooster, which would look good in sewing machine blackwork. I may drag out my stuff and do that sometime soon!
> 
> I love your inspiring work and so glad you shared it.
Click to expand...


They're just the commercial transfers, but they are so much fun; simple enough and inexpensive enough that I can finish them quickly and move on to the next; and people do love them. I love them...I always need more because I end up giving them all away. I made another, very simple one that was just a pot of basil, for my sister but didn't get a picture. I used much larger stitches as I was busier that day and wanted to make sure it was completely done before the end. It was a large transfer though; her towels are very sheer gauze flour sacks 28 x 29, I think; not the heavy ones like I found for mom. They were the only ones I could find though so we went with them, and she likes them; she's a cook too and likes any form of flour sack..the secret is quantity. The embroidery adds some substance to them.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Got the chickens done:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, Koshergrl, isn't that just too darn cute! My sister has chickens in her kitchen. I oughta do something like that using my sewing machine, which has a stem stitch and a triple straight stitch, both of which look great with size thirty cotton DMC machine embroidery thread (and several others in recent years). I'm glad you followed up a start with a picture. Your mother will be thrilled if they're for her. In one of my books on victorian applique, I designed a Rhode Island Red rooster, which would look good in sewing machine blackwork. I may drag out my stuff and do that sometime soon!
> 
> I love your inspiring work and so glad you shared it.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> They're just the commercial transfers, but they are so much fun; simple enough and inexpensive enough that I can finish them quickly and move on to the next; and people do love them. I love them...I always need more because I end up giving them all away. I made another, very simple one that was just a pot of basil, for my sister but didn't get a picture. I used much larger stitches as I was busier that day and wanted to make sure it was completely done before the end. It was a large transfer though; her towels are very sheer gauze flour sacks 28 x 29, I think; not the heavy ones like I found for mom. They were the only ones I could find though so we went with them, and she likes them; she's a cook too and likes any form of flour sack..the secret is quantity. The embroidery adds some substance to them.
Click to expand...

My mother had all kinds of embroideries she'd do, throughout the house and kitchen. When my children were small, I made half a dozen heavy gauze embroidered towels with handwork and fancy machine stitched around them with double needles and 28 cams on an old Kenmore sewing machine. I loved drying dishes with those. So when I saw yours, I instantly loved them. Except for the borders, they were spaced well and the designs you picked were truly pretty. Mine were teapots and flowers, for some reason, made in every color. They lasted for years and were the best. Yours will, too. I still have a couple I save for when company comes.


----------



## freedombecki

Today went ok, but 4 of the squares still need to be finished on Green Wide fields Log Cabin Quilt for a shelter child or wheelchair senior or soldier, depending on the community need here in Walker County. As I left for a quick supper, 20 of the 24 eight-inch squares had been completed.

Scan 1 - Gross General Schema, 4 x 6 blocks = 24 blocks

Scan 2 - Dark Square, one of eight

Scan 2 - Half-and-half Square, one of sixteen


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, Koshergrl, isn't that just too darn cute! My sister has chickens in her kitchen. I oughta do something like that using my sewing machine, which has a stem stitch and a triple straight stitch, both of which look great with size thirty cotton DMC machine embroidery thread (and several others in recent years). I'm glad you followed up a start with a picture. Your mother will be thrilled if they're for her. In one of my books on victorian applique, I designed a Rhode Island Red rooster, which would look good in sewing machine blackwork. I may drag out my stuff and do that sometime soon!
> 
> I love your inspiring work and so glad you shared it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They're just the commercial transfers, but they are so much fun; simple enough and inexpensive enough that I can finish them quickly and move on to the next; and people do love them. I love them...I always need more because I end up giving them all away. I made another, very simple one that was just a pot of basil, for my sister but didn't get a picture. I used much larger stitches as I was busier that day and wanted to make sure it was completely done before the end. It was a large transfer though; her towels are very sheer gauze flour sacks 28 x 29, I think; not the heavy ones like I found for mom. They were the only ones I could find though so we went with them, and she likes them; she's a cook too and likes any form of flour sack..the secret is quantity. The embroidery adds some substance to them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> My mother had all kinds of embroideries she'd do, throughout the house and kitchen. When my children were small, I made half a dozen heavy gauze embroidered towels with handwork and fancy machine stitched around them with double needles and 28 cams on an old Kenmore sewing machine. I loved drying dishes with those. So when I saw yours, I instantly loved them. Except for the borders, they were spaced well and the designs you picked were truly pretty. Mine were teapots and flowers, for some reason, made in every color. They lasted for years and were the best. Yours will, too. I still have a couple I save for when company comes.
Click to expand...


Yes the way to do it is the way you do your quilts; you just always work on them. You always have either towels, pillow cases, or something that you're working on.

I need to get my crochet thread out and start making edging for everything.


----------



## koshergrl

I went to the Walla Walla Fort museum; they had an awesome quilt exhibit; I'll post pics as soon as they download.


----------



## koshergrl

My grandma used to make those ^^^, a couple each year; usually made of wool (and later polyester) scraps. They were beautiful. She used heavy flannel for the backing, and cotton, unbleached batting in between. She'd work on them all year, then when they were ready to assemble she'd call her relatives & inlaws and 3-4 ladies would converge on the house. They'd put the quilt in a big frame, and everyone would tie it.


----------



## koshergrl

^^quilted silk smoking jacket.






^^silk.


----------



## freedombecki

Koshergrl, those quilts you photographed are awesome. Back when I was in the quilt services business, a lady brought me a quilt top made by her grandmother of the polyester type, which was in tatters, except the squares were intact. Her deceased grandmother had used cotton thread, and the squares were just barely hanging onto each other. I told her the repair would not look pretty because the only way I could salvage it economically was to put it back together with polyester thread and zigzag over the top, and how I would hate to do it. She insisted, so I did it, worrying what the outcome would be when she saw it. She loved it, because I didn't make any drastic changes, and it looked like new. I'm pretty certain that if she washed it every day for 20 years, it would still be in a totally repaired state, because I used the best polyester thread.

It's just that I think there's nothing like handwork, after all these years of making machine-made quilts that are measured, cut right, and assembled as well as I can. Cotton does not outlast polyester, except in cases of high heat. That can cause polyester fibers to undergo a chemical change in which they meld and turn hard to the touch.

Also, polyester, upon ignition releases toxic gas, and probably enough to cause someone to die of toxic fumes inhalation. I had quite a discussion with the Police Chief in my town about toxic fumes. His opinion was that home construction is such that toxic fumes would be unavoidable. He said that to avoid fatal home incidents in a house fire would be to insure that all the fire alarms have new batteries placed in them the first of the year, every year.

He said that would save more lives than any other thing in the world.

So if anyone has snored their way to this paragraph, do yourself and your family a life-saving favor and put new batteries in your house fire alarms; and if you don't have them, go get them today and install them near the stove, fireplace, heater, and water heater. Keep in mind that 2% of American familiess have a house fire. That may not mean much unless you realize that there is no determining factor as to who will and who will not have a house fire, except for those who smoke in bed regularly. (today a very small percent). All other house fires are completely random in all population groups in times of peace.


----------



## freedombecki

Adding the border was done earlier this morning. The body of the quilt was completed before bedtime into the wee hours. 

You just sleep better if things are at a completable stage, that's all, imho.

This is completion #3 for 2013 Charity Bees closet, and the designation of "any" - Well, sometimes they need a wheelchair quilt here and there for someone who has lost their mobility. Maybe it will perk someone up to take up their mat and rejoin the human race in better health that mobility gives them. Sometimes therapy and a thumbs up is all it takes. There is no substitute for a good nurse or caregiver in helping someone restore their get-up-and-go.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Got the chickens done:



Those are just super cute~!  I love flower sack dish cloths.  They are my favorite over everything else out there!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> My grandma used to make those ^^^, a couple each year; usually made of wool (and later polyester) scraps. They were beautiful. She used heavy flannel for the backing, and cotton, unbleached batting in between. She'd work on them all year, then when they were ready to assemble she'd call her relatives & inlaws and 3-4 ladies would converge on the house. They'd put the quilt in a big frame, and everyone would tie it.



Those are fabulous!  While my mother taught me how to do a lot of things like quilting, embroidery, and Swedish weaving, I just didn't get into it like most of the women in my family did at the time.  LOL.  One day I will try to find the crocheted bath mat and toilet bowl cover that my aunt made for my wedding shower.  My husband always said it made you ashamed to shit!  LOL.  That set is truly gorgeous!  I don't crochet though.  I knit.  

Now, with such stress of many kinds, I find that the cross stitch allowed me to detach from everything.  It is repetitive and much like the Zen mantra takes me to a place of peace.  I have come to realize that the stresses women of my mother's, grandmothers', and great grandmothers' day must have been incredible.  My grandmother died at 96 and she didn't stop quilting until she got so sick at the end of her life she just couldn't do it.  Needlework is about the things.  It is a way to have beautiful things that you don't have to pay a lot for.  But it is about so much more than just that!  I didn't really teach any of that stuff to my daughter because I had to work after my husband died, and always regretted it.  But when my daughter went away to college she shared a dorm room with a girl from Harrodsburg KY who taught her how to crocket and cross stitch.


----------



## freedombecki

Last year, there was this quilt entitled "Giacometti's rectangles" or some such, and to make 1 square, it took just a few minutes to make 5 more. So with 60 to 72 different rectangles, there was a surplus of at least 300 squares, all stacked in a tall, thin 5x12" clear plastic file found at Wally World or some such, and so handy with a portable handle, too. Anyway, it will take less than 40 to alternate with a great fabric found in scan 2 below.

Scan 1 Schema

Scan 2 Giacometti (enlongate) block and same-sized "Golden Apples fabric to alternate

Scan 3 Sample of rows 1 and 2 (already assembled) Now, just 4 rows of 11 enlongate blocks to go! Simple Simon quilting is fun.


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1, 2, & 3 - Row 1


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 1, 2, and 3: Row 2


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> ]
> 
> My grandma used to make those ^^^, a couple each year; usually made of wool (and later polyester) scraps. They were beautiful. She used heavy flannel for the backing, and cotton, unbleached batting in between. She'd work on them all year, then when they were ready to assemble she'd call her relatives & inlaws and 3-4 ladies would converge on the house. They'd put the quilt in a big frame, and everyone would tie it.



I know I've already answered this post once, but that top quilt is an absolute masterpiece of workmanship.


----------



## freedombecki

The top to Giacometti's Golden Apples Quilt is all done! 

Nothing like having squares presewn! And set squares all cut out! Nothing!!!

Scan 1: Upper Left Corner with Border

Scan 2: Lower Border

Scan 3: Central Area


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ]
> 
> My grandma used to make those ^^^, a couple each year; usually made of wool (and later polyester) scraps. They were beautiful. She used heavy flannel for the backing, and cotton, unbleached batting in between. She'd work on them all year, then when they were ready to assemble she'd call her relatives & inlaws and 3-4 ladies would converge on the house. They'd put the quilt in a big frame, and everyone would tie it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know I've already answered this post once, but that top quilt is an absolute masterpiece of workmanship.
Click to expand...


I agree, Sunshine. The Trapunto leaves, stems, and figures are totally outstanding when you realize that in that era, the women separated fibers carefully to stuff the tiniest bits of cotton batting into the highlighted areas through the pores, and when done, carefully moved the warp and weft threads back into their original woven positions. The women of Washington State have truly some of the best quilters who learned hand-me-down from mothers and their friends the most advanced techniques in the western world from pioneer times on. A publishing business named That Patchwork Place in Belleview, Washington, has one such descendant as its owner and author of many books on quilts, their care, and how to use them in decorations. Her name is Nancy Martin, and if you ever had just one of her quilts-for-the-home books, you'd know how rich her knowledge.

Not to take anything away from the American Quilter's Society! Paducah, KY is home to that wonderful group that publishes The American Quilter and a plethora of the most advanced techniques, improved by contemporary quilt technicians and artists.


----------



## koshergrl

I love freedombecki!!!!

Now I'm going to read up on trapunto.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ]
> 
> My grandma used to make those ^^^, a couple each year; usually made of wool (and later polyester) scraps. They were beautiful. She used heavy flannel for the backing, and cotton, unbleached batting in between. She'd work on them all year, then when they were ready to assemble she'd call her relatives & inlaws and 3-4 ladies would converge on the house. They'd put the quilt in a big frame, and everyone would tie it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know I've already answered this post once, but that top quilt is an absolute masterpiece of workmanship.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I agree, Sunshine. The Trapunto leaves, stems, and figures are totally outstanding when you realize that in that era, the women separated fibers carefully to stuff the tiniest bits of cotton batting into the highlighted areas through the pores, and when done, carefully moved the warp and weft threads back into their original woven positions. The women of Washington State have truly some of the best quilters who learned hand-me-down from mothers and their friends the most advanced techniques in the western world from pioneer times on. A publishing business named That Patchwork Place in Belleview, Washington, has one such descendant as its owner and author of many books on quilts, their care, and how to use them in decorations. Her name is Nancy Martin, and if you ever had just one of her quilts-for-the-home books, you'd know how rich her knowledge.
> 
> Not to take anything away from the American Quilter's Society! Paducah, KY is home to that wonderful group that publishes The American Quilter and a plethora of the most advanced techniques, improved by contemporary quilt technicians and artists.
Click to expand...


My grandmother made quilts that had designes 'stuffed.'  She had her own little patterns she had cut out by hand that she traced with a pencil on the quilt.  I don't think she every did anything as complex as the one pictured though.  On this one, there are designed within designs which you can hardly see in the photo.  Each cluster of grapes is framed, and the border seems to have a minimal amount of stuff in it as well, but I'm not sure.  I would not finish a quilt like that if I lived to be 100!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I love freedombecki!!!!
> 
> Now I'm going to read up on trapunto.



Quilting - Trapunto






I can't even fathom it.!

I think this is how my grandmother did it:

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/techniques/specialty/trapunto-quilting_1.html


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 4 Lower Left Medallion Flower

Scan 5 Lower Right Butterfly (turned to show whole design)

Scan 6 Top Right Border (the bottom border is the exact inverse of the top)

The approximate size of the Second Round measures 21 by 34" at the outside, give or take an inch. The two side borders are just 1.5" strips attached after the stripped borders were added, top and bottom.

Orange is a very warming color to work with, and it has been time happily spent.


----------



## freedombecki

In 2009, this quilt medallion was designed and ironed onto a dotted background for who knows what purpose? 2 years ago, the appliques were stitched in black with a machine blanket stitch. It kept getting moved back up to the top of the pile every three or four months, but this morning, it seemed a good time to at least assemble enough pieces around to frame the medallion and begin deciding what to do next as time goes on. A saw-tooth, pyramid, checker-pieced, or Dresden border could be selected for the next phase, or any of 10,000 other border ideas. I'm loving the contrast after doing monochrome quilts, but this one has a limited palette with an emphasis on the color orange. It is presently about 22x34" in size, which means that until the width reaches 40", if all things go well, this quilt will be proportional to fit a small child by then, being as it is 12" longer now, and could be evenly-spaced around. Now, it's just a matter of what to do on the next round. I'm favoring checkerboard or postage stamp effort, which means back to the drawing board in the case of the latter.

Scan 1 Top left Border
Scan 2 Top left Flower
Scan 3 Top right Flower


----------



## freedombecki

If anything ever can go wrong it did go wrong! Scans 4, 5, and 6 should have succeeded Scans 1 2 and 3, and not divided by a page flip. 

One of these mornings, I'm going to be perfect and not get the cart before the horse, but not yet. 
particip
The quilt was actually being a lot of fun before it was time to scan.

On a Round Robin Quilt, friends of equal skill often pass around the quilt in a group until there are 3, 4, or 5 rounds, with each participant doing a center medallion and passing it every week to the next person. If you're ever involved in a Round Robin, plan to be very busy doing your best work for your friends every week. The friend may designate piecing, applique, or whatever but may not see her quilt until the last participant finishes her round 3, 4, or 5 weeks later or longer if extreme skills are required (depending on the group's tastes).


----------



## freedombecki

Round Robin Quilts are quilts made by individuals taking turns on each other's medallions by adding rows to the outside, or in some cases, just adding horizontal rows. They're all good fun.  I've been looking around the web today to show examples some of our quilt friends are doing. A Medallion Quilt made by one person may be called a Round Robin Quilt if she waits until one section is done before planning another. It can be a fun game of solitaire, or one can join only a group that decides on a plan. For example, a group of quilters who are new to quilting would be wise to stick to tried and true methods, whereas a group of artists might specify that round one is piecing, round 2 is applique, colors used are (fill in the blank), or no rules at all if the quilters are on a par with oneself. Advanced quilters are likely to feel disgusted when they spent 40 hours doing their rounds, and the next quilter sewed 4 solid pieces of unadorned fabric, slightly off from the rest of the quilt as her "contribution" which took all of 20 minutes. 

Here are some I found that are similar to what a group of round robin quilters in my quilt shop's area did in years past:


----------



## freedombecki

More Round Robin Quilts from around the net:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Round Robin Quilts are quilts made by individuals taking turns on each other's medallions by adding rows to the outside, or in some cases, just adding horizontal rows. They're all good fun.  I've been looking around the web today to show examples some of our quilt friends are doing. A Medallion Quilt made by one person may be called a Round Robin Quilt if she waits until one section is done before planning another. It can be a fun game of solitaire, or one can join only a group that decides on a plan. For example, a group of quilters who are new to quilting would be wise to stick to tried and true methods, whereas a group of artists might specify that round one is piecing, round 2 is applique, colors used are (fill in the blank), or no rules at all if the quilters are on a par with oneself. Advanced quilters are likely to feel disgusted when they spent 40 hours doing their rounds, and the next quilter sewed 4 solid pieces of unadorned fabric, slightly off from the rest of the quilt as her "contribution" which took all of 20 minutes.
> 
> Here are some I found that are similar to what a group of round robin quilters in my quilt shop's area did in years past:



So you don't really know what the end result will be until it is finished?


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Round Robin Quilts are quilts made by individuals taking turns on each other's medallions by adding rows to the outside, or in some cases, just adding horizontal rows. They're all good fun.  I've been looking around the web today to show examples some of our quilt friends are doing. A Medallion Quilt made by one person may be called a Round Robin Quilt if she waits until one section is done before planning another. It can be a fun game of solitaire, or one can join only a group that decides on a plan. For example, a group of quilters who are new to quilting would be wise to stick to tried and true methods, whereas a group of artists might specify that round one is piecing, round 2 is applique, colors used are (fill in the blank), or no rules at all if the quilters are on a par with oneself. Advanced quilters are likely to feel disgusted when they spent 40 hours doing their rounds, and the next quilter sewed 4 solid pieces of unadorned fabric, slightly off from the rest of the quilt as her "contribution" which took all of 20 minutes.
> 
> Here are some I found that are similar to what a group of round robin quilters in my quilt shop's area did in years past:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So you don't really know what the end result will be until it is finished?
Click to expand...

If you are working in a group and you have good partners, you're going to like it. If you do it on your own, you're likely to like it. If you're working with a group of beginners, buy an extra ripper. 

I'm not sure that exactly answers your question, but honestly, I only worked with one group who only worked with me because I had the best selection in the state, being an artist devoted to having a plethora of hues, shades, tints, southwestern atmospherics, character, birds, western, and nature choices from the best suppliers. They were jet setters, and their works were astonishing. Each one made certain after her round was done, it was a master work. They stayed together for years and were devoted to each other's families as well as each other's artistic likes and charitable activities. Any of them could have been CEOs, but they chose domesticity over careers. Their common ground was aesthetic excellence.

Last night, a small stack of oranges and a yellow that looked ok with the yellow already on the quilt (of which none could be found), plus a black and white print that halfway reflected the black and white dot around the butterfly, too. This morning, the quilt was remeasured and measured a little over 21.5 by 33". 21 and 33 are both divisible by 3, and a little trimming or ooching and scooching (which can be done with cotton with no ill result) could make a rather nice 3" border, but there was only enough black and white to cut 1.5" strips from two pieces, enough to make 48 Roman stripe squares all the way around, with black and white being on either side and the main contrast to the solid light bright orange on the outer row.

Starting with a finite, squared center is not always what it's cracked up to be. One may not remember the measurement from 3 years ago that it took to attain a pleasing balance of positive and negative spaces, which are best ordered, plus a quilter always has to have a little bit more with the 1/4" seam allowances that must be taken away. 

This is a case for not getting too wrapped up in preplanning, because different quilt artists have different requirements, and often those requirements change from work to work. It's a lot of math.

So it was math that basically drove the choice for the roman stripe idea--the number of inches of 45" fabric that could be parsed into something that would come out 3x3 all the way around the quilt, in odd numbers (which couldn't have been better). It was the good fortune of having black and whites separated from other fabrics that presented two of the same print purchased at different times, and used along the way for creating other stripped projects. The piece picked would never have been my choice consciously, because it splits black and white evenly, which places it in the "average" value category. But its use of an unusual-looking dispersive background along with a vining floral throughout was frenetic enough to satisfy a subjectively pleasing diversity, imho.

This was what it looked like, and when placed next to the quilt had the unexpected fun look of huge running stitches all around. It just jazzed me, that's all. 

Scan 1 - Strip to go along sides

Scan 2 - Strip to go along top and bottom

Scan 3 - Strips overlapped to show juncture (sorry one of them slipped a little)


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Round Robin Quilts are quilts made by individuals taking turns on each other's medallions by adding rows to the outside, or in some cases, just adding horizontal rows. They're all good fun.  I've been looking around the web today to show examples some of our quilt friends are doing. A Medallion Quilt made by one person may be called a Round Robin Quilt if she waits until one section is done before planning another. It can be a fun game of solitaire, or one can join only a group that decides on a plan. For example, a group of quilters who are new to quilting would be wise to stick to tried and true methods, whereas a group of artists might specify that round one is piecing, round 2 is applique, colors used are (fill in the blank), or no rules at all if the quilters are on a par with oneself. Advanced quilters are likely to feel disgusted when they spent 40 hours doing their rounds, and the next quilter sewed 4 solid pieces of unadorned fabric, slightly off from the rest of the quilt as her "contribution" which took all of 20 minutes.
> 
> Here are some I found that are similar to what a group of round robin quilters in my quilt shop's area did in years past:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So you don't really know what the end result will be until it is finished?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> If you are working in a group and you have good partners, you're going to like it. If you do it on your own, you're likely to like it. If you're working with a group of beginners, buy an extra ripper.
> 
> I'm not sure that exactly answers your question, but honestly, I only worked with one group who only worked with me because I had the best selection in the state, being an artist devoted to having a plethora of hues, shades, tints, southwestern atmospherics, character, birds, western, and nature choices from the best suppliers. They were jet setters, and their works were astonishing. Each one made certain after her round was done, it was a master work. They stayed together for years and were devoted to each other's families as well as each other's artistic likes and charitable activities. Any of them could have been CEOs, but they chose domesticity over careers. Their common ground was aesthetic excellence.
> 
> Last night, a small stack of oranges and a yellow that looked ok with the yellow already on the quilt (of which none could be found), plus a black and white print that halfway reflected the black and white dot around the butterfly, too. This morning, the quilt was remeasured and measured a little over 21.5 by 33". 21 and 33 are both divisible by 3, and a little trimming or ooching and scooching (which can be done with cotton with no ill result) could make a rather nice 3" border, but there was only enough black and white to cut 1.5" strips from two pieces, enough to make 48 Roman stripe squares all the way around, with black and white being on either side and the main contrast to the solid light bright orange on the outer row.
> 
> Starting with a finite, squared center is not always what it's cracked up to be. One may not remember the measurement from 3 years ago that it took to attain a pleasing balance of positive and negative spaces, which are best ordered, plus a quilter always has to have a little bit more with the 1/4" seam allowances that must be taken away.
> 
> This is a case for not getting too wrapped up in preplanning, because different quilt artists have different requirements, and often those requirements change from work to work. It's a lot of math.
> 
> So it was math that basically drove the choice for the roman stripe idea--the number of inches of 45" fabric that could be parsed into something that would come out 3x3 all the way around the quilt, in odd numbers (which couldn't have been better). It was the good fortune of having black and whites separated from other fabrics that presented two of the same print purchased at different times, and used along the way for creating other stripped projects. The piece picked would never have been my choice consciously, because it splits black and white evenly, which places it in the "average" value category. But its use of an unusual-looking dispersive background along with a vining floral throughout was frenetic enough to satisfy a subjectively pleasing diversity, imho.
> 
> This was what it looked like, and when placed next to the quilt had the unexpected fun look of huge running stitches all around. It just jazzed me, that's all.
> 
> Scan 1 - Strip to go along sides
> 
> Scan 2 - Strip to go along top and bottom
> 
> Scan 3 - Strips overlapped to show juncture (sorry one of them slipped a little)
Click to expand...




My most admired list often surprises people.  When I hear someone talking about them in disgust I generally make my assertion as to why I admire that person.  Two of my most admired people are Paula Deen and Martha Stewart.  They both became 'moguls' doing something ordinary.

Paula Deen overcame a major mental illness, one that I've seen very few people ever get through with much success.  And Martha Stewart was made an example of over something that men do with impunity every day.  When she came out of that jail she was wearng a poncho that her cell mate had knitted for her...and it looked good.  

I also admire Suzanne Somers.  She is not your 'dumb blonde.'  The thing that first caught my eye was her book of poems called Touch Me.  After that she did a lot of codependency work.  And Angelina Jolie who, with Brad Pitt, learned so early in life that it's not just all about themselves.   My list is often surprising.  

Your thread makes me feel like I am in the presence of greatness!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for kind words, Sunshine. It has been a path with fibromyalgia. What I do is left over from what is spared. My work is therapy that keeps my mind off pain and praying for the person who gets the quilt I'm working on. I planned to quilt the small quilts this year. The first day of that, I had a body cramp from head to toe, so I informed my friends at the Charity Bees my option might still be limited to doing tops again, and without a lot of starts, there probably won't be 100 this year. They said not to worry about the quilting, they'd do it.  So I'm going to do all I can. I'm not great, I'm just beating pain back and trying to make myself useful as best I can to others in the community. I can't pay my mother back for being the wonderful mother she was, because she's gone, nor can I pay back people from church who supplied food when there were deaths in the family, nor any of a thousand kindnesses I witnessed growing up and having a shop for 23 years with a front row seat to people doing kind things for their loved ones and charities. And I never taught a quilt class in which I didn't learn more from students than any one of them learned from me. I'm just paying back what was given to me often by unseen hands, that's all. 

I can't believe how much I like this Roman Stripe Border, which is now attached, with the serendipity of it looks like huge hand stitches of the running stitch that quilters use to join fabrics with a needle and thimble. So guess it's back to the sewing room and over to the county registration office to transfer a title to a little gal who needs our old car we don't use any more. See ya!

Thanks, Sunshine for your inspiration of beating your health demons back. It's very uplifting when I think of how you also have to balance it with working for very exacting employers, who are patients that need intelligent care strategies to help them.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Flower towel that my 10 year old daughter is working on; she did the last few stitches with too many threads so that will probably come out and be re-done, but she has done a remarkable job. I love towels and pillowcases because they are often quite simple, with only one or two stitches and a couple of colors. I started my first piece at the age of 7; a simple cross-stitch dresser scarf that had a heart pattern; red and black. I don't think I ever finished it! But I learned cross stitch, lazy dazy and outline stitching.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the one I worked on a day or so ago; then my nephew's girlfriend picked it up and it's almost finished. She's a needle-pointer:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haha I did the "saturday" stitching...at Mom's, in dim light, as is apparent.


You need a lighted magnifier that straps around the neck to put in your embroidery bag like this one:






Source

They're pretty reasonable considering they're LED and they're portable.

Another route is a portable clip on light:

If you wear spectacles...






Source

And if you only need a light, no magnifier, a clip on for the hoop:

Mighty Bright Craft Light Page with every imaginable craft use lights and magnifiers, very reasonable.

Just toss the smallest one in your embroidery go-bag, and it'll always be with you for those dark places. The nice thing about LED lights is some light systems have an option for plug-ins, others are battery-operated.

_Este paratus_!


----------



## koshergrl

Then my transformation from sex goddess to hilarious granny will be complete.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Then my transformation from sex goddess to hilarious granny will be complete.


Yep! That's whatcha get for embroidering in dim light (oh, and growing children who may (or may not) make you a grandma eventually).


----------



## freedombecki

Tonight was spent surfing for orange quilts. Didn't find one like the above one being worked on before hitting the wall on the next round. Any takers? 

Seriously though, there are some great orange quilts out there:

Scan 1 - Crazy pieces

Scan 2 - Bargello

Scan 3 - Flying Geese


----------



## Mr. H.

Orange you glad those aren't banana quilts?


----------



## freedombecki

Must one comet when banana sky glows?


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks for kind words, Sunshine. It has been a path with fibromyalgia. What I do is left over from what is spared. My work is therapy that keeps my mind off pain and praying for the person who gets the quilt I'm working on. I planned to quilt the small quilts this year. The first day of that, I had a body cramp from head to toe, so I informed my friends at the Charity Bees my option might still be limited to doing tops again, and without a lot of starts, there probably won't be 100 this year. They said not to worry about the quilting, they'd do it.  So I'm going to do all I can. I'm not great, I'm just beating pain back and trying to make myself useful as best I can to others in the community. I can't pay my mother back for being the wonderful mother she was, because she's gone, nor can I pay back people from church who supplied food when there were deaths in the family, nor any of a thousand kindnesses I witnessed growing up and having a shop for 23 years with a front row seat to people doing kind things for their loved ones and charities. And I never taught a quilt class in which I didn't learn more from students than any one of them learned from me. I'm just paying back what was given to me often by unseen hands, that's all.
> 
> I can't believe how much I like this Roman Stripe Border, which is now attached, with the serendipity of it looks like huge hand stitches of the running stitch that quilters use to join fabrics with a needle and thimble. So guess it's back to the sewing room and over to the county registration office to transfer a title to a little gal who needs our old car we don't use any more. See ya!
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine for your inspiration of beating your health demons back. It's very uplifting when I think of how you also have to balance it with working for very exacting employers, who are patients that need intelligent care strategies to help them.



Thanks, Beckums.  I appreciate your kind words.  I do understand why you work.  I, too, feel much better when I work.  There is no time to feel sorry for myself and I see someone worse off than myself on pretty much a daily basis.  My patients worry about me when I have to call in, as I did Friday when my Hickman catheter broke and I had to make a mad dash to Vanderbilt to get a new one put in.  Last year when I was there for a week one of the tracked me down, but just to see if I was OK, not in a stalking or dangerous way.  I can't say the word retire in front of them.  The only thing there is to do here much is to hunt and fish so we don't attract many doctors.  The provider before me was a 92 year old locum who used to fall asleep while he was in with the patients.  No one would come to this clinic.  They were doubtful there would be enough work to keep me busy but I am so overwhelmed with work that they are hiring me a nurse.  I am so behind on things right now that I don't know if I will ever get caught up.  I told my doctor I would retire this month.  I guess I lied.  He always asks.  I have to say something.  Right now, the plan is to work until I start feeling like I just can't get up in the morning and do it.  Or until 2014, whichever comes last.

I'm down to the last 10 blocks on this quilt.  Before I start the next, I'm going to do a holiday red tablecloth I found online during my lunch break one day.  I don't have the link here and don't have time to look.  Will try to think to email it to myself today and post tonight or in the morning.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Flower towel that my 10 year old daughter is working on; she did the last few stitches with too many threads so that will probably come out and be re-done, but she has done a remarkable job. I love towels and pillowcases because they are often quite simple, with only one or two stitches and a couple of colors. I started my first piece at the age of 7; a simple cross-stitch dresser scarf that had a heart pattern; red and black. I don't think I ever finished it! But I learned cross stitch, lazy dazy and outline stitching.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the one I worked on a day or so ago; then my nephew's girlfriend picked it up and it's almost finished. She's a needle-pointer:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haha I did the "saturday" stitching...at Mom's, in dim light, as is apparent.



The Nashville flea market is a good place to run into vintage linens.  Occasonally you wil find something that you know was done by a little girl just learning.  Those are great.  I wish I could do just regular embroidery, but I learned a long time ago that I will just end up frustrated and aggravated at myself!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for kind words, Sunshine. It has been a path with fibromyalgia. What I do is left over from what is spared. My work is therapy that keeps my mind off pain and praying for the person who gets the quilt I'm working on. I planned to quilt the small quilts this year. The first day of that, I had a body cramp from head to toe, so I informed my friends at the Charity Bees my option might still be limited to doing tops again, and without a lot of starts, there probably won't be 100 this year. They said not to worry about the quilting, they'd do it.  So I'm going to do all I can. I'm not great, I'm just beating pain back and trying to make myself useful as best I can to others in the community. I can't pay my mother back for being the wonderful mother she was, because she's gone, nor can I pay back people from church who supplied food when there were deaths in the family, nor any of a thousand kindnesses I witnessed growing up and having a shop for 23 years with a front row seat to people doing kind things for their loved ones and charities. And I never taught a quilt class in which I didn't learn more from students than any one of them learned from me. I'm just paying back what was given to me often by unseen hands, that's all.
> 
> I can't believe how much I like this Roman Stripe Border, which is now attached, with the serendipity of it looks like huge hand stitches of the running stitch that quilters use to join fabrics with a needle and thimble. So guess it's back to the sewing room and over to the county registration office to transfer a title to a little gal who needs our old car we don't use any more. See ya!
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine for your inspiration of beating your health demons back. It's very uplifting when I think of how you also have to balance it with working for very exacting employers, who are patients that need intelligent care strategies to help them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Beckums.  I appreciate your kind words.  I do understand why you work.  I, too, feel much better when I work.  There is no time to feel sorry for myself and I see someone worse off than myself on pretty much a daily basis.  My patients worry about me when I have to call in, as I did Friday when my Hickman catheter broke and I had to make a mad dash to Vanderbilt to get a new one put in.  Last year when I was there for a week one of the tracked me down, but just to see if I was OK, not in a stalking or dangerous way.  I can't say the word retire in front of them.  The only thing there is to do here much is to hunt and fish so we don't attract many doctors.  The provider before me was a 92 year old locum who used to fall asleep while he was in with the patients.  No one would come to this clinic.  They were doubtful there would be enough work to keep me busy but I am so overwhelmed with work that they are hiring me a nurse.  I am so behind on things right now that I don't know if I will ever get caught up.  I told my doctor I would retire this month.  I guess I lied.  He always asks.  I have to say something.  Right now, the plan is to work until I start feeling like I just can't get up in the morning and do it.  Or until 2014, whichever comes last.
> 
> I'm down to the last 10 blocks on this quilt.  Before I start the next, I'm going to do a holiday red tablecloth I found online during my lunch break one day.  I don't have the link here and don't have time to look.  Will try to think to email it to myself today and post tonight or in the morning.
Click to expand...

That's wonderful, Sunshine! 2014--only 357 days to sleeping in, total freedom, and no hassles. Think you can adjust?


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Flower towel that my 10 year old daughter is working on; she did the last few stitches with too many threads so that will probably come out and be re-done, but she has done a remarkable job. I love towels and pillowcases because they are often quite simple, with only one or two stitches and a couple of colors. I started my first piece at the age of 7; a simple cross-stitch dresser scarf that had a heart pattern; red and black. I don't think I ever finished it! But I learned cross stitch, lazy dazy and outline stitching.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the one I worked on a day or so ago; then my nephew's girlfriend picked it up and it's almost finished. She's a needle-pointer:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haha I did the "saturday" stitching...at Mom's, in dim light, as is apparent.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Nashville flea market is a good place to run into vintage linens.  Occasonally you wil find something that you know was done by a little girl just learning.  Those are great.  I wish I could do just regular embroidery, but I learned a long time ago that I will just end up frustrated and aggravated at myself!
Click to expand...


I started when I was seven...I love embroidery. It's very soothing for me. It is getting harder to see where to stitch, though; I imagine i will use the tools becki put up sooner, rather than later.


----------



## freedombecki

Eat carrots. They're the best medicine for eyes.


----------



## koshergrl

My folks used to tell us that! And they meant it, lol.

I'm working on an old stamped accent pillow I started a couple of years ago now. I think I'll get it done by the end of the week!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> My folks used to tell us that! And they meant it, lol.
> 
> I'm working on an old stamped accent pillow I started a couple of years ago now. I think I'll get it done by the end of the week!


Awwwwl-right!!! 

I'm procrastinating today. It's raining water that just barely isn't ice. I'm counting down the minutes to warm weather and heading for the closet to get a sweater. All I did was put two more straight-line borders around the outside of the quilt. Sometimes you just hit the wall. I had the cutest little frog fabric that matches the greens in this 48 hours ago. Now, I can't figure out where it was put. It'd be easier than a sawtooth or pyramid border. Well, out of here for the moment. Maybe it will turn up. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

*Orange Blossom and Butterfly Round Robin Quilt-- Finished! *Scans of a corner and borders at top and side:


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Flower towel that my 10 year old daughter is working on; she did the last few stitches with too many threads so that will probably come out and be re-done, but she has done a remarkable job. I love towels and pillowcases because they are often quite simple, with only one or two stitches and a couple of colors. I started my first piece at the age of 7; a simple cross-stitch dresser scarf that had a heart pattern; red and black. I don't think I ever finished it! But I learned cross stitch, lazy dazy and outline stitching.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the one I worked on a day or so ago; then my nephew's girlfriend picked it up and it's almost finished. She's a needle-pointer:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haha I did the "saturday" stitching...at Mom's, in dim light, as is apparent.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Nashville flea market is a good place to run into vintage linens.  Occasonally you wil find something that you know was done by a little girl just learning.  Those are great.  I wish I could do just regular embroidery, but I learned a long time ago that I will just end up frustrated and aggravated at myself!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I started when I was seven...I love embroidery. It's very soothing for me. It is getting harder to see where to stitch, though; I imagine i will use the tools becki put up sooner, rather than later.
Click to expand...


Soothng, yes. That's why I do it.  It's better t han a valium, and it doesn't make you stupid like valium does.  LOL  Bifocals are the order of the day for me!  LOL

I know that's a dish cloth, but when I look at it I expect to see little sequins in the roses.  They are in everything these days. I wonder if anyone is adding them to their embroidery.  ??


----------



## Sunshine

OK, here's the cross stitch tablecloth I want to do. I'm likely going to order it today.  Once done with the quilt I should have this done by Christmass.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, here's the cross stitch tablecloth I want to do. I'm likely going to order it today.  Once done with the quilt I should have this done by Christmass.


After the quilt that will be cake, Sunshine! 

I think I found what I'm going to do next with all those brown, gold, and orange strips I've been accumulating from recent quilts that I doublecut strips so as to save time later... A string quilt, "Autumn Equinox," available from a newer book called "String Quilts Today." I found a picture someone had done of the quilt in the book, which I also found online.







Source for book, classes, etc.​


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Nashville flea market is a good place to run into vintage linens.  Occasonally you wil find something that you know was done by a little girl just learning.  Those are great.  I wish I could do just regular embroidery, but I learned a long time ago that I will just end up frustrated and aggravated at myself!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I started when I was seven...I love embroidery. It's very soothing for me. It is getting harder to see where to stitch, though; I imagine i will use the tools becki put up sooner, rather than later.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Soothng, yes. That's why I do it.  It's better t han a valium, and it doesn't make you stupid like valium does.  LOL  Bifocals are the order of the day for me!  LOL
> 
> I know that's a dish cloth, but when I look at it I expect to see little sequins in the roses.  They are in everything these days. I wonder if anyone is adding them to their embroidery.  ??
Click to expand...


There's a lot of beading these days but I haven't run across any information about embroidering with sequins.

But you're right, they are everywhere...most of my daughter's clothes have at least one, and sometimes many, sequins on it.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here's the cross stitch tablecloth I want to do. I'm likely going to order it today.  Once done with the quilt I should have this done by Christmass.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After the quilt that will be cake, Sunshine!
> 
> I think I found what I'm going to do next with all those brown, gold, and orange strips I've been accumulating from recent quilts that I doublecut strips so as to save time later... A string quilt, "Autumn Equinox," available from a newer book called "String Quilts Today." I found a picture someone had done of the quilt in the book, which I also found online.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source for book, classes, etc.​
Click to expand...


Wow, that will be sensational!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here's the cross stitch tablecloth I want to do. I'm likely going to order it today.  Once done with the quilt I should have this done by Christmass.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After the quilt that will be cake, Sunshine!
> 
> I think I found what I'm going to do next with all those brown, gold, and orange strips I've been accumulating from recent quilts that I doublecut strips so as to save time later... A string quilt, "Autumn Equinox," available from a newer book called "String Quilts Today." I found a picture someone had done of the quilt in the book, which I also found online.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source for book, classes, etc.​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Wow, that will be sensational!
Click to expand...

I worked up a sample for a quilt today, but as a charity quilt, a completion date of sooner than 2 weeks is best--like a couple of days, maybe or even 3 days. lol The sample is only 8" square and uses flannel, which is fine for summer picnic mats, but this could be a child's only blanket, so it should exemplify every warmth for which a January-March cold spell could put out a need.

Such as it is, though it's all that was accomplished today.


----------



## freedombecki

OTOH, if you make enough 8" squares, 8"x4 +10 = 40" and 8"x6 +14 = 62," so if you have 4 diagonal blocks across and 6 down with 2" sashes, you will get a quilt of 40x62" before outer border is added, if you decide on one. That's a hugs wrap.  

So if I make 23 more, that's 24, all that has to be done then is the sashes of a beige or light autumnal print. to get a similar result. I may choose to avoid black and substitute a dark brown in its place to give it more a feeling of autumn. But one or two similar prints in 3 or 4 places in the quilt will add a little diversity and give it its own character, not like any other. Ok. Talked myself into it. Time to go to my little quilt haven and get busy. Hope everyone else has an absolutely stellar day.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, 4 squares are completed now. Here are the other three:

(and what a slow project this quilt already is.)


----------



## freedombecki

These are taking over a half hour apiece. This quilt will take about 24 hours when all is said and done, not to mention the put away time. The sets and sashing are a quilt unto themselves.

scans 5, 6, and 7...


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> These are taking over a half hour apiece. This quilt will take about 24 hours when all is said and done, not to mention the put away time. The sets and sashing are a quilt unto themselves.
> 
> scans 5, 6, and 7...



But they are gorgeous!

I remember my mother hand piecing that 'drunkard's path' quilt I loved so much.  It took her weeks and weeks.  She didn't hand piece everything, but I guess it was best with the curves involved in that one. I still have it and it is worn to shreds I used it for so many years! 

This is off the web.  One day if I ever do spring cleaning again, I'll run across and post it for you.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> These are taking  over a half hour apiece. This quilt will take about 24 hours when all is  said and done, not to mention the put away time. The sets and sashing  are a quilt unto themselves.
> 
> scans 5, 6, and 7...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But they are gorgeous!
> 
> I remember my mother hand piecing that 'drunkard's path' quilt I loved  so much.  It took her weeks and weeks.  She didn't hand piece  everything, but I guess it was best with the curves involved in that  one. I still have it and it is worn to shreds I used it for so many  years!
> 
> This is off the web.  One day if I ever do spring cleaning again, I'll run across and post it for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting a picture of a drunkard's path. I did a scrap one for my sister once. It's a little small, though, so she uses it in the convertible-couch library/guest bedroom in her farmstead home. 

Those curved-pieced quilts are a huge lot of work, and I look forward to seeing yours, Sunshine, when and if you find time to take a snap. 

I've had an earache, so only did a couple of squares in the last 2 days. I need to get back to the strip quilt. It's gotten to be so boring I could cry. As much as I love fall colors, I can't stick with them like the color green for some reason. Well, my butt's dragging, I better get a move on to the sewing room and try, try again. Thanks again for showing a curved pieced quilt. I'll have to do another again sometime. I bought a huge curved template that will mean less work and improved accuracy (it's easier to sew a large curve than a small one). It has to do with more threads in the bias edge or something and results in fewer "pinches" in sewing the seam.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> These are taking  over a half hour apiece. This quilt will take about 24 hours when all is  said and done, not to mention the put away time. The sets and sashing  are a quilt unto themselves.
> 
> scans 5, 6, and 7...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But they are gorgeous!
> 
> I remember my mother hand piecing that 'drunkard's path' quilt I loved  so much.  It took her weeks and weeks.  She didn't hand piece  everything, but I guess it was best with the curves involved in that  one. I still have it and it is worn to shreds I used it for so many  years!
> 
> This is off the web.  One day if I ever do spring cleaning again, I'll run across and post it for you.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks for posting a picture of a drunkard's path. I did a scrap one for my sister once. It's a little small, though, so she uses it in the convertible-couch library/guest bedroom in her farmstead home.
> 
> Those curved-pieced quilts are a huge lot of work, and I look forward to seeing yours, Sunshine, when and if you find time to take a snap.
> 
> I've had an earache, so only did a couple of squares in the last 2 days. I need to get back to the strip quilt. It's gotten to be so boring I could cry. As much as I love fall colors, I can't stick with them like the color green for some reason. Well, my butt's dragging, I better get a move on to the sewing room and try, try again. Thanks again for showing a curved pieced quilt. I'll have to do another again sometime. I bought a huge curved template that will mean less work and improved accuracy (it's easier to sew a large curve than a small one). It has to do with more threads in the bias edge or something and results in fewer "pinches" in sewing the seam.
Click to expand...


Get feeling better!

There is so much to know about textiles. I wonder when we become antiquity and they dig us if if they will be impressed!

I should qualify that the only time my mother pieced on a quilt was at the end of the day when everything else was done and the  TV was going.  Usually what she did was crochet and I have several afghans she did.  Funny story, before I moved here I had downsized and lived in a house where I knew I wasn't going to stay.  I had my quilt and afghan box in the garage.  A mouse got into it and cut up one of the afghans.  It was a green and orange one she had made back in the 60s.  I can't say I blame him, though, it was excruciatingly ugly and saved me from having to decide on my own discard it.  It was a piece of Americana that should never have been!   My mother could be the travel agent for guilt trips, so I was glad to have an excuse.


----------



## freedombecki

Your mom was just trying to get through the most intelligent time of your life, Sunshine. At least you're not spoiled rotten like me. Count your blessings! I thought when my mom said "you better have a maid when you grow up" it was a compliment! Hahahaha! It was her sense of humor trying to get through a cement block! And it didn't happen! 

That darn fibromyalgia makes a liar outta me every time. Just when I think I couldn't feel worse and say something, it goes into hiding. I felt good enough to finish the third strip block, and I wasn't a bit bored. Maybe bored has more to do with feeling crummy than with actual ho-hum stuff. Anyway, I could tame tigers right now! Three are done, and hopefully, I'll cut the other 14 backing squares and their corresponding 8.5" pieces of single-face flannel (the thinnest kind). How THAT got started, no telling. Oh, yes. Lighter weight quilts. In fall? Well, it really didn't get cold here till the week before Christmas and usually holds out to the first of the year at least before the really cool weather sets in.

Hoped-for look, except mine will not be as brunette with all the orange:





​Here the long-suffering blocks are:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Your mom was just trying to get through the most intelligent time of your life, Sunshine. At least you're not spoiled rotten like me. Count your blessings! I thought when my mom said "you better have a maid when you grow up" it was a compliment! Hahahaha! It was her sense of humor trying to get through a cement block! And it didn't happen!
> 
> That darn fibromyalgia makes a liar outta me every time. Just when I think I couldn't feel worse and say something, it goes into hiding. I felt good enough to finish the third strip block, and I wasn't a bit bored. Maybe bored has more to do with feeling crummy than with actual ho-hum stuff. Anyway, I could tame tigers right now! Three are done, and hopefully, I'll cut the other 14 backing squares and their corresponding 8.5" pieces of single-face flannel (the thinnest kind). How THAT got started, no telling. Oh, yes. Lighter weight quilts. In fall? Well, it really didn't get cold here till the week before Christmas and usually holds out to the first of the year at least before the really cool weather sets in.
> 
> Hoped-for look, except mine will not be as brunette with all the orange:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​Here the long-suffering blocks are:



Pain is worse when you are bored and stressed.


----------



## freedombecki

Yeah, stress and boredom are the pits. It's almost like running out of rep and being too tired to wait several hour till you get some more. 

Scans 1, 2, and 3 are strip blocks 11, 12, and 13. Finished 2 but didn't trim them late yesterday, got up and pinned 12 blocks and finished one of the new group of 12. It's a great way to start Monday off. Since the remainder are pinned, It'd be a gift to get them all done by five o'clock this afternoon.

When the blocks are done, 30 similar sashes need to be done. Getting finished will be so fun! 

Here's to progress on quilts for shelter kids:


----------



## freedombecki

Seems the blocks are getting brighter and brighter. It will take all my focus to intersperse the less bright blocks between the hotter than hot ones when the 24 needed blocks are complete.

Blocks 14, 15, and 16:


----------



## freedombecki

It took just under 4 hours to do 6 blocks. Seems they went faster than on days I had the earache. My medicine worked okay.  Now, it's back to the sewing room after this post. 
Wouldn't it be lovely to get all the blocks finished, sashing cut and sewn, and this puppy finished by nightfall! 

Blocks 17, 18, and 19:


----------



## Mr. H.

Oooh that's colorful.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Oooh that's colorful.


Mr. H., the colors aren't quite the same brilliance on the computer as they are in real life. Soon I will be adding my new copier, but not until I get my January quilts done. So far, I have 5 or 6 tops stacked up and hope to work this one to some semblance of completion by the day's end or tomorrow. I'm doing it quilt as you go style. that just takes longer.

It's no quite 2pm yet, and all 24 squares were done an hour ago. The antibiotics really worked! No more tail-dragging today. 

Autumn Quilt Blocks #'s 21, 22, and 20. They're a bit out of order, but oh, well. I'm excited about getting back in the sewing room and working up the sashes and joining everyhthing. that's the best case scenario, really it is.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are blocks 23 and 24 plus as close a color as I could do to the  Khaki-toned sash fabric, which is a solid. the fabric came out so light onscreen, I  colorized it, which eliminated the weave, which is nothing out of the  ordinary, it's just Kona cotton (tm Robert Kaufman fabrics), my very favorite for its sturdiness and  all-cotton strength. I love everything about it.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> It took just under 4 hours to do 6 blocks. Seems they went faster than on days I had the earache. My medicine worked okay.  Now, it's back to the sewing room after this post.
> Wouldn't it be lovely to get all the blocks finished, sashing cut and sewn, and this puppy finished by nightfall!
> 
> Blocks 17, 18, and 19:



I couldn't imagine.  Quilts are so labor intensive.


----------



## Sunshine

Well I did it.  I got up this morning and found a body on the floor.  I rolled it over and it was my job!  LOL.  I gave my retirement notice today for mid May.  They wanted 6 months notice, but the decision is mine.  I decided 2014 is just too far away.  

1 in 2 to 3 million people get this disease.  3 years after diagnosis 20% of us are still alive.  May will be about 2 years post diagnosis.  The temperature here dropped 50 degrees in 24
hours.  My body just told me that it doesn't want to work another summer or another winter.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> It took just under 4 hours to do 6 blocks. Seems they went faster than on days I had the earache. My medicine worked okay.  Now, it's back to the sewing room after this post.
> Wouldn't it be lovely to get all the blocks finished, sashing cut and sewn, and this puppy finished by nightfall!
> 
> Blocks 17, 18, and 19:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I couldn't imagine.  Quilts are so labor intensive.
Click to expand...

Well, the day didn't go as planned. My husband, who was requested to load the clothes "forgot" after 3 trips downstairs, so it was just time to follow him downstairs, reminding him what he was told to do. lol It's easier to do some things yourself, but I try to keep him engaged in life as best I can. He does just fine if you shadow him along with a couple of prompts. He's a wonderful guy and deserves to be walked through his dementia. It's all I can do for him some days. Stuff has been going on for 20 years, when I sat down and thought about it one day. His doctor's diagnosis a couple of years back helped me a lot. At least I know why some things now.

Anyway, tomorrow is the quilt's day, if all goes well. I'll have to give him extra attention early.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Well I did it.  I got up this morning and found a body on the floor.  I rolled it over and it was my job!  LOL.  I gave my retirement notice today for mid May.  They wanted 6 months notice, but the decision is mine.  I decided 2014 is just too far away.
> 
> 1 in 2 to 3 million people get this disease.  3 years after diagnosis 20% of us are still alive.  May will be about 2 years post diagnosis.  The temperature here dropped 50 degrees in 24
> hours.  My body just told me that it doesn't want to work another summer or another winter.


Sunshine, I hope all goes well, and your condition and progress are on my prayer list. Things may go better for you when the pressure cooker is taken off the burner. When you retire, you may be able to zero in on things that help you.

If you want to beat the cold, purchase 3 or 4 pairs of long handles for ladies. Wear them under nightgowns a night and suits during the day. You won't believe the difference in your comfort level if your disease is autoimmune in nature, or even if it brings you enough comfort to make it livable. tops should go all the way to the wrists, bottoms should fit like skin all he way to the ankles. They're the equivalent of getting the best massage you ever had in your life in cold weather. Just sayin.


----------



## freedombecki

Today was spent embroidering all 24 squares through 3 quilted layers. It was fun! 

The thread is a variegated lime on a huge spool. It will do many quilts. 

The squares are not joined yet, that's probably going to take 2 days and locating some more flannel.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, the idea it might be easier to complete Autumn equinox with 6 more blocks rather than sashing, so instead of proceeding, more time to think it over is needed, so planning "Tootsie Pops Quilt" in bright 30s prints around chocolate centers became today's focus. Below are he start of the plan and one corner block done. It sure looks little, but there was only a yard and a half of the white material, which will make a 35x55" quilt before borders. There isn't a smidge left over of the white fabric, which was purchased last year. That means it would be a great good fortune to find it, or to find something that is complementary to it. I'm outta here to the quilt store as soon as this is posted.


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday at sewout time, there was a slight problem. The worksheet said "4 pinks," so I did 4 pink squares. I can't even blame not having enough fingers, but it took 5 blocks of pink. Reviewing the picture, yep, that's right, there are 5 blocks, not 4. Doing a rough draft is supposed to prevent fuzzy math, not promote it! Doh!

To do penance, yesterday I did another pink one under duress, all the red blocks and this morning, all the orange blocks. This afternoon it will be yellow and possibly green. There were 13 orange blocks, and it seems they went fast. Hopefully, that is the correct number of blocks. If not, that individual block sewing is a waste of time and thread. 

There will be a lot of strips to cut for the yellow quilt. I had enough orange strips in the sewing room to not repeat any orange prints, and there are twice that many in the storage room. The green one will be cake unless I go lime. I have a ton of green strips already cut to size. Hopefully, a ton. 

Oh, and the first 4 blocks comprising the upper left corner (as shown on worksheet with error) are stitched together. It really is time to get out the new bigger printer screen and give it a whirl. At least you could see all the blocks shaping up. Here they are for now off the 8.5x11" scanner/printer already set up:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> This morning, the idea it might be easier to complete Autumn equinox with 6 more blocks rather than sashing, so instead of proceeding, more time to think it over is needed, so planning "Tootsie Pops Quilt" in bright 30s prints around chocolate centers became today's focus. Below are he start of the plan and one corner block done. It sure looks little, but there was only a yard and a half of the white material, which will make a 35x55" quilt before borders. There isn't a smidge left over of the white fabric, which was purchased last year. That means it would be a great good fortune to find it, or to find something that is complementary to it. I'm outta here to the quilt store as soon as this is posted.



Yum!


----------



## freedombecki

Hi, Sunshine girl! 

Didn't find the exact same print, and will probably stick with the original plan after all. I did manage to find the most exquisite tiny floral that will be perfect for an aqua and salmon log cabin quilt locally for our shelter children, on another day.

Today we visited Trinity, TX quilt store--"thread haven" and saw a fabulous flock of Great White Egrets up in the sky. They must have been having a rendezvous--there were hundreds of the elegant ballerinas up there flying around, showing off their grace and beauty, while my heart did flip flops. 

I stocked up on a few pieces of unique lime greens for the little white quilt that had just enough to do the inner part of the quilt. I decided to use a narrow strip of brown as the outside border rather than white. It's the same as the brown centers, and I have a 3-yard bolt end left if I ever need a good chocolate brown on something else. Now, I'm going to try to sew a little more tomorrow if possible.

We also stopped at the feed store in Trinity and got 25 pounds of birdseed. I need a place to store them away from the moths. We have to put everything in sealed glass jars out here in the country. the beasties are smarter than me! So all the fabrics are promptly sealed in clear plastic tubs.  Tomorrow will have to be the yellows and greens. Shopping wears me out. Time to get some sleep. I was up early doing orange squares to complete a 4x4 section, which didn't happen. Will post pictures tomorrow am if all goes well.

Be well!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Hi, Sunshine girl!
> 
> Didn't find the exact same print, and will probably stick with the original plan after all. I did manage to find the most exquisite tiny floral that will be perfect for an aqua and salmon log cabin quilt locally for our shelter children, on another day.
> 
> Today we visited Trinity, TX quilt store--"thread haven" and saw a fabulous flock of Great White Egrets up in the sky. They must have been having a rendezvous--there were hundreds of the elegant ballerinas up there flying around, showing off their grace and beauty, while my heart did flip flops.
> 
> I stocked up on a few pieces of unique lime greens for the little white quilt that had just enough to do the inner part of the quilt. I decided to use a narrow strip of brown as the outside border rather than white. It's the same as the brown centers, and I have a 3-yard bolt end left if I ever need a good chocolate brown on something else. Now, I'm going to try to sew a little more tomorrow if possible.
> 
> We also stopped at the feed store in Trinity and got 25 pounds of birdseed. I need a place to store them away from the moths. We have to put everything in sealed glass jars out here in the country. the beasties are smarter than me! So all the fabrics are promptly sealed in clear plastic tubs.  Tomorrow will have to be the yellows and greens. Shopping wears me out. Time to get some sleep. I was up early doing orange squares to complete a 4x4 section, which didn't happen. Will post pictures tomorrow am if all goes well.
> 
> Be well!



When I was traveling I worked in 2 prisons in TN.  The trip down was through a kind of swampy area.  There were big white egrets there, gazillions of them.  You could stop to look all you wanted.  But the minute you hauled up your camera to snap a pic they were off.  I never got more than 2 or 3 in a shot.  Smart creatures.  There is also a flock of pelicans on KY lake.  They blew  here in a hurricane.  Most don't recall hurricane Ike.  But when Ike made landfall he upgraded and about blew us out of the trees up here.  I can't recall what cat it was, but it was significant.  

Did you know that those large popcorn tins they sell around Christmas are really good to keep things like bird seed, dry dog food, and dry cat food in?  I live in the woods.  I know bugs!  LOL.

Well I'm getting stoked about retirement.  I worked in offices a few years after high school, then stayed home with the kids for about 10 years before I went back to school.  The hubby died when I was in college at age 38.  From that day to this I haven' t known a time I didn't have to get up and get out to work and I can't even exclude the year I was off going to Vanderbilt for the master's because it was so much work.  So, I'm looking forward to it.  I chuckle when I think that I could have spent my entire life as a housewife then when retirement came, nothing would really change.  This will be a big change in my life.  My retired patients complain of boredom.  But I still have a lot of things to keep me busy and to finish up while I still can.  

I had to put the cross stitch down for a week.  My shoulder caught fire! LOL.  Can't think of a better way to describe it.  I think it must be tendonitis.  But I'm picking it back up tomorrow.  I got a massage and let it rest a while so it's better.

When I think of the places in the US I still want to go, I realize that with the exception of a couple of places most are on or near the perimeter of the US.  So, I think I am going to plan a 'perimeter tour' of the US.  Just drive the perimeter of the country and see the sights.  Have a trip to Hawaii in the plans as well.  I have enough hotel points for 10 free nights.  Picked most of those up while I was traveling for work.  One of my nurses at Vandy the other day was a travel nurse.  I'm still on with the travel agency, so if they come up with a good travel location, I might go for 3 months or so after I turn 66 when I can make all I want.   Regardless, it will be a BIG change.   I also am CEO of my own company with which I have done nothing for too many years.  I need to pick that back up.  Oh dear.  It does seem that my time is going to be filled to overflowing!!!  (When I do the perimeter tour,  or IF I do it, I will have to make a point to stop and visit you.  You shouldn't be too far out of the way!)

Was going to give you some rep, but I have to spread it around.  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the tip on dry birdseed, etc. I have two such tins, and that will be a big help.

Sorry you got tendonitis. I once got carpal tunnel before fibromyalgia set in. We went to Hawaii right after my sweetie retired, and while we were there, his father began the process of dying. He died while we were in the air between Honolulu and Atlanta, not sure where. We did get to see the entire island of Oahu, Waikiki, a glass-bottomed boat to see exotic fish, the highlands, and a drive around to see all the beaches. I hope you get to do all that and more with no trouble like we had. After the funeral, I had to come home and take care of pets, while my sweetie spent a month helping his mother with getting established on her own. 

When he got back, he was showing a lot of signs of dementia that made me wonder what was wrong with him. (I was not acquainted with dementia).  He couldn't keep his mind on a completion of almost everything he otherwise would have, and just a lot of little seemingly meaningless little things. His handwriting grew erratic for the first time. He was preoccupied with toy cars and erector sets like those he had growing up. He fell in love with an online porn star, and he visited her on my computer, leaving a trail. He said she didn't mean anything to him, but he couldn't stop visiting her. I had to tell him he couldn't do that at work in front of the employees and women customers. I might have well been talking to a rebellious teenager. I wasn't seeing the big picture due to working 80 hours a week, trying to keep a business viable and my wounded pride under control. It worked. I told him I was moving to Texas to be near my sister 15 years later, and that he was invited to come if he liked or or stay if he didn't. He decided he would come. (I still did not know).

We got a diagnosis on his dementia a year later, 20 years after he started showing small signs of dementia about 3 years before he retired. I'm glad I was able to get over my angst, forgiving daily the things I did not understand, and keeping my doctor's phoneline handy to help me deal with whatever he brought home. After I told him it was wrong to bring diseases home, he lost interest at home. My faith helped me adjust and forgive without retaliation whatever. It's clear his care for the duration will take away all our wealth. I don't care. My Christian duty is to him, his well-being, and his care, and nobody else. My adult children grew up to be independent and are not affected. I have a full and rich life and can usually shut out loneliness for companionship by keeping my mind occupied with quilting projects. I'm just grateful his dementia has not gone toward Alzheimer's yet. He can still do a few things, but I am preparing myself to do more as the demand arises. I worry that he spends too much time napping, though, and make efforts to keep him engaged with some outside tasks. He couldn't chop a tree down a few monhs ago that was threatening the garage foundation, so I had to do it. He was afraid of swinging the axe. I can imagine his confusion had to do with coordination efforts not coming together that most of us take for granted. Me chopping down the tree didn't add any hair to my chest, so I guess it's okay if a girl does some things. <giggle>


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks for the tip on dry birdseed, etc. I have two such tins, and that will be a big help.
> 
> Sorry you got tendonitis. I once got carpal tunnel before fibromyalgia set in. We went to Hawaii right after my sweetie retired, and while we were there, his father began the process of dying. He died while we were in the air between Honolulu and Atlanta, not sure where. We did get to see the entire island of Oahu, Waikiki, a glass-bottomed boat to see exotic fish, the highlands, and a drive around to see all the beaches. I hope you get to do all that and more with no trouble like we had. After the funeral, I had to come home and take care of pets, while my sweetie spent a month helping his mother with getting established on her own.
> 
> When he got back, he was showing a lot of signs of dementia that made me wonder what was wrong with him. (I was not acquainted with dementia).  He couldn't keep his mind on a completion of almost everything he otherwise would have, and just a lot of little seemingly meaningless little things. His handwriting grew erratic for the first time. He was preoccupied with toy cars and erector sets like those he had growing up. He fell in love with an online porn star, and he visited her on my computer, leaving a trail. He said she didn't mean anything to him, but he couldn't stop visiting her. I had to tell him he couldn't do that at work in front of the employees and women customers. I might have well been talking to a rebellious teenager. I wasn't seeing the big picture due to working 80 hours a week, trying to keep a business viable and my wounded pride under control. It worked. I told him I was moving to Texas to be near my sister 15 years later, and that he was invited to come if he liked or or stay if he didn't. He decided he would come. (I still did not know).
> 
> We got a diagnosis on his dementia a year later, 20 years after he started showing small signs of dementia about 3 years before he retired. I'm glad I was able to get over my angst, forgiving daily the things I did not understand, and keeping my doctor's phoneline handy to help me deal with whatever he brought home. After I told him it was wrong to bring diseases home, he lost interest at home. My faith helped me adjust and forgive without retaliation whatever. It's clear his care for the duration will take away all our wealth. I don't care. My Christian duty is to him, his well-being, and his care, and nobody else. My adult children grew up to be independent and are not affected. I have a full and rich life and can usually shut out loneliness for companionship by keeping my mind occupied with quilting projects. I'm just grateful his dementia has not gone toward Alzheimer's yet. He can still do a few things, but I am preparing myself to do more as the demand arises. I worry that he spends too much time napping, though, and make efforts to keep him engaged with some outside tasks. He couldn't chop a tree down a few monhs ago that was threatening the garage foundation, so I had to do it. He was afraid of swinging the axe. I can imagine his confusion had to do with coordination efforts not coming together that most of us take for granted. Me chopping down the tree didn't add any hair to my chest, so I guess it's okay if a girl does some things. <giggle>



The number if dementia diagnoses I have made in my age group is staggering.  First they come in complaining of depression.   So I treat their depression to no avail.  They also have a lot of anxiety which doesn't respond to anything.  So, I do a series of labs and a CT scan.  Usually the CT scan shows the cerebral cortex is shrinking.  Sometimes the labs are a bit off and correcting folate and B12 helps.  But usually the intractable anxiety and depression are due to dementia.  Meds like Abilify, Galantamine, and Exelon help considerably.  They don't bring anything back, but they slow the downhill slide.  Sometimes the dementia is due to Parkinson's.  That is a tough one to treat.


----------



## freedombecki

The doctor said his type may have come from a severe blow at an earlier time in his life. He was hit by a car twice while he was growing up and was severely beaten in the head when he was a teen. Not sure what started it off. It doesn't matter to me. I will care for him as long as I am able. I miss his old self, though. He was a great husband and father to my two children for 42 years.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> The doctor said his type may have come from a severe blow at an earlier time in his life. He was hit by a car twice while he was growing up and was severely beaten in the head when he was a teen. Not sure what started it off. It doesn't matter to me. I will care for him as long as I am able. I miss his old self, though. He was a great husband and father to my two children for 42 years.



There are several types of dementia.  Some come from injuries like you describe, some from alcohol use, some from stroke or 'mini stroke', some from tumors or other lesions, some from things like Parkinson's or MS, some from virions - mad cow, etc., some for no apparent reason at all.  Medical science figured out how to prolong the life of our bodies but not the life of our minds.  That is sad, really.  I see people every day who make me glad that I will not live to see the day they are seeing.


----------



## freedombecki

He's had a very good life until his issues started, as near as I know, 20 years ago, but they didn't make sense until the diagnosis. Then things started fitting together as to why this little thing and why that one. The first thing I noticed going was focusing on a destination. The other problem was loss of certain inhibitions. I'm glad I didn't go judgmental when upsetting things happened. Keeping my head saved us both a world of grief. Now I understand what I didn't fully understand back then. Our physician in Wyoming never had a clue. When my sweetie is hurting, he tells the doctor he's "okay" when asked. lol I finally had to just barge in to his appointments to let the doctor know what he issue was to prevent wasting a trip! He's so believable. Everybody buys it. Except me. I also have to know what is prescribed so he will not omit medicines he doesn't want to take (for unknown reasons). then I have to make sure he takes the medicines. Nagging doesn't work. turning the tv set off works but not consistently. Marching him downstairs to the medicine works if I make sure he takes and swallows the pills and is 100% effective, because he knows what "good boy." means.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> He's had a very good life until his issues started, as near as I know, 20 years ago, but they didn't make sense until the diagnosis. Then things started fitting together as to why this little thing and why that one. The first thing I noticed going was focusing on a destination. The other problem was loss of certain inhibitions. I'm glad I didn't go judgmental when upsetting things happened. Keeping my head saved us both a world of grief. Now I understand what I didn't fully understand back then. Our physician in Wyoming never had a clue. When my sweetie is hurting, he tells the doctor he's "okay" when asked. lol I finally had to just barge in to his appointments to let the doctor know what he issue was to prevent wasting a trip! He's so believable. Everybody buys it. Except me. I also have to know what is prescribed so he will not omit medicines he doesn't want to take (for unknown reasons). then I have to make sure he takes the medicines. Nagging doesn't work. turning the tv set off works but not consistently. Marching him downstairs to the medicine works if I make sure he takes and swallows the pills and is 100% effective, because he knows what "good boy." means.




LOL.  When a spouse shows up to my office with a patient, I just look at them and say 'I take it I'm not getting the big picture.'  It usually gets a laugh, but it is dead on!


----------



## freedombecki

Here are some of the squares done over the last 4 or 5 days. Progress has been disappointing, but there is a lot to do in making a quilt that repeats none of the fabrics (except all the lights are the same piece of white I nearly ran out of).


----------



## freedombecki

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go... The 13 yellow blocks have one more 5.5" log apiece and they're done! Just have to go sew now. <hugs> & good night!


----------



## Mr. H.

Follow the yellow block road!


----------



## Delia

freedombecki said:


> Yeah, stress and boredom are the pits. It's almost like running out of rep and being too tired to wait several hour till you get some more.
> 
> Scans 1, 2, and 3 are strip blocks 11, 12, and 13. Finished 2 but didn't trim them late yesterday, got up and pinned 12 blocks and finished one of the new group of 12. It's a great way to start Monday off. Since the remainder are pinned, It'd be a gift to get them all done by five o'clock this afternoon.
> 
> When the blocks are done, 30 similar sashes need to be done. Getting finished will be so fun!
> 
> Here's to progress on quilts for shelter kids:



Such beautiful workmanship!


----------



## freedombecki

All the yellow blocks were finished last night. It's too early to turn the light on and waken house sleepers, will show later. Hope everyone has a beautiful day today! We had rain for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping for a couple of dry days so I can start the tractor to keep its moving parts working. It helps to ride around the fence areas, but the area behind the lake is some kind of seasonal wash area, and last year we got the tractor stuck there not once, butt twice. All my sister's men friends came and helped. She makes them dinner several times a year, and there's nothing they wouldn't do for her, me included. Have to go make coffee n donuts at the USMB Coffee Shop. Y'all come.


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt is plenty wide for its purpose, and will have a small border when done, likely in brown that is the same fabric as the centers.  So the width will be less one and the length may or may not be two longer than planned. All is moot at this point. It's eating time, so January may not see 10 quilts, unless I do a couple prestarts in haste closer to the end of this month, unless this project keeps on going that far, and it could. Lime proved too hard to find all at once, which would require a complete overhaul of the sewing room. In fact, it needs a complete overhaul. 

Anyhoo, Here's the new layout 8 squares wide and 10 or 12 squares long, likely 12. That way, it can be completed in blocks, come what may. I only sewed 4 of the greens and will likely spend the duration of today completing the other green squares. You have to cut 4 different fabrics per block. 13x4 being 52 different pieces. And that's why this quilt is a time gobbler. It was supposed to be faster, but then I got picky about color choices. Brought it on myself. 

Row 1 is actually 2 rows of squares, but a block has 4 squares, so it's row one of blocks. Here are the last 3 squares in row 2:


----------



## Sunshine

Went to Murray Sewing Center today.  They do machine quilting.  But the First Methodist Church does hand quilting.  Not sure which way to go.  I'm picky about the hand quilting and if it's not up to snuff would rather have machine.  (OTOH:  I wouldn't want really great hand quilting to upstage all my fine cross stitch now would i?   )  But I have a few weeks to think it over.


----------



## freedombecki

> The Tootsie Roll story began in 1896, when Austrian-born Leo Hirshfield opened a tiny candy shop  in New York City. Taking full advantage of his confectioners  background, Hirshfield hand-crafted a variety of products, including an  individually wrapped, oblong, chewy, chocolate candy that quickly became  a customer favorite. Sold at a penny apiece and affectionately named  after Hirshfields five-year old daughter, Clara, whose nickname was  Tootsie, Tootsie Rolls propelled Hirshfields modest corner store into  burgeoning candy enterprise that has evolved in little more than a  century into the multinational corporation, Tootsie Roll Industries.
> 
> Strongly adhering to Hirshfields original recipe,  Tootsie Roll Industries today produces more than 62 million Tootsie  Roll candies each day, the majority from its *Chicago* headquarters.  Building on the success of Tootsie Roll and its early offspring (the  company launched Tootsie Pops, the worlds number one-selling lollipop,  in 1931), the company has expanded over the years and now includes 22 of  the worlds favorite candy brands within its confectionery lineup.



Tootsie dot com History

Here's some pictures of their Tootsie Roll Pops to show the bright candy outsides and the inner chocolate centers as well as one of the squares that hasn't been sewn into a 4-square block yet in the Tootsie Pop charity quilt I'm making:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Went to Murray Sewing Center today.  They do machine quilting.  But the First Methodist Church does hand quilting.  Not sure which way to go.  I'm picky about the hand quilting and if it's not up to snuff would rather have machine.  (OTOH:  I wouldn't want really great hand quilting to upstage all my fine cross stitch now would i?   )  But I have a few weeks to think it over.


Sunshine, on the quilt you're making, the hand quilting would be the nicest compliment, especially if the ladies use the same color quilting thread as the background--white or off-white. Usually, quilters will show you a sample of their work if you request it. that will give you an idea. I did a few hand embroidered quilts by machine. One lady liked it so well, she came back again and again every 6 months when she finished a top. She had 4 children. I kept the needle away from her precious stitches and did all my work free motion serpentine quilting. It stood down so people could admire her work.


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> The Tootsie Roll story began in 1896, when Austrian-born Leo Hirshfield opened a tiny candy shop  in New York City. Taking full advantage of his confectioners  background, Hirshfield hand-crafted a variety of products, including an  individually wrapped, oblong, chewy, chocolate candy that quickly became  a customer favorite. Sold at a penny apiece and affectionately named  after Hirshfields five-year old daughter, Clara, whose nickname was  Tootsie, Tootsie Rolls propelled Hirshfields modest corner store into  burgeoning candy enterprise that has evolved in little more than a  century into the multinational corporation, Tootsie Roll Industries.
> 
> Strongly adhering to Hirshfields original recipe,  Tootsie Roll Industries today produces more than 62 million Tootsie  Roll candies each day, the majority from its *Chicago* headquarters.  Building on the success of Tootsie Roll and its early offspring (the  company launched Tootsie Pops, the worlds number one-selling lollipop,  in 1931), the company has expanded over the years and now includes 22 of  the worlds favorite candy brands within its confectionery lineup.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tootsie dot com History
> 
> Here's some pictures of their Tootsie Roll Pops to show the bright candy outsides and the inner chocolate centers as well as one of the squares that hasn't been sewn into a 4-square block yet in the Tootsie Pop charity quilt I'm making:
Click to expand...


Interesting Becky!!!!
Btw, I am starting to crochet another afghan...I thought I was finished...I made one for each child and each grandchild....but I saw this beautiful bright colorful yarn, it's called Bikini...*haha*...and I thought to myself...man I really want to see what that would look like all finished!
So I am going to make another, and hopefully by the time it gets done, I will have decided who will get it


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Tootsie Roll story began in 1896, when Austrian-born Leo Hirshfield opened a tiny candy shop  in New York City. Taking full advantage of his confectioner&#8217;s  background, Hirshfield hand-crafted a variety of products, including an  individually wrapped, oblong, chewy, chocolate candy that quickly became  a customer favorite. Sold at a penny apiece and affectionately named  after Hirshfield&#8217;s five-year old daughter, Clara, whose nickname was  &#8220;Tootsie,&#8221; Tootsie Rolls propelled Hirshfield&#8217;s modest corner store into  burgeoning candy enterprise that has evolved in little more than a  century into the multinational corporation, Tootsie Roll Industries.
> 
> Strongly adhering to Hirshfield&#8217;s original recipe,  Tootsie Roll Industries today produces more than 62 million Tootsie  Roll candies each day, the majority from its *Chicago* headquarters.  Building on the success of Tootsie Roll and its early offspring (the  company launched Tootsie Pops, the world&#8217;s number one-selling lollipop,  in 1931), the company has expanded over the years and now includes 22 of  the world&#8217;s favorite candy brands within its confectionery lineup.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tootsie dot com History
> 
> Here's some pictures of their Tootsie Roll Pops to show the bright candy outsides and the inner chocolate centers as well as one of the squares that hasn't been sewn into a 4-square block yet in the Tootsie Pop charity quilt I'm making:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Interesting Becky!!!!
> Btw, I am starting to crochet another afghan...I thought I was finished...I made one for each child and each grandchild....but I saw this beautiful bright colorful yarn, it's called Bikini...*haha*...and I thought to myself...man I really want to see what that would look like all finished!
> So I am going to make another, and hopefully by the time it gets done, I will have decided who will get it
Click to expand...

Wow, Dabs, it's out of this world. I looked it up & that has to be one of the most beautiful yarn combos I've ever seen! It's hawt! ​


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> Dabs said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tootsie dot com History
> 
> Here's some pictures of their Tootsie Roll Pops to show the bright candy outsides and the inner chocolate centers as well as one of the squares that hasn't been sewn into a 4-square block yet in the Tootsie Pop charity quilt I'm making:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting Becky!!!!
> Btw, I am starting to crochet another afghan...I thought I was finished...I made one for each child and each grandchild....but I saw this beautiful bright colorful yarn, it's called Bikini...*haha*...and I thought to myself...man I really want to see what that would look like all finished!
> So I am going to make another, and hopefully by the time it gets done, I will have decided who will get it
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Wow, Dabs, it's out of this world. I looked it up & that has to be one of the most beautiful yarn combos I've ever seen! It's hawt! ​
Click to expand...


Ouuuuu...wow Becky, that does look pretty!!!!
I took a picture too, of my skeins I just got.....cause the ones I saw online, didn't look as bright as the ones I got.
But I never saw the photo you posted....it's gonna be a happy one for sure


----------



## freedombecki

I looked and found a skein of "bikini" yarn in Wally World today. Have no idea what I'll do with it, but maybe a pair of crocheted slippers like my mom used to make. I made a bazillion pairs of them for family after she passed on, then got too busy with raising a family. I think I can remember how to do it, though. Who needs a pattern when you've made a bazillion pairs! Good times! <trying hard not to panic> 

Speaking of colors, I was searching the net and found the new colors of Tootsie pops, and also found a package at Wally World, since I had to go there anyway, though why I bought them I don't know. I'm not much of a candy-eating person.

The New Colors of Tootsie Pops:  
(credits: Tootsie Product Information Page):


----------



## freedombecki

Today was a really good day with the tootsie pop quilt. It's 7 across and 8 down at this point. There are only 8 squares left to sew, and it will done!

Here are parts of horizontal squares that haven't been added to the larger (and growing) main body:

Scan 1, turquoise and a royal blue square

Scan 2, some lime and yellows

Scan 3, the lone purple square that represents grape Tootsie pops


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Here are some of the squares done over the last 4 or 5 days. Progress has been disappointing, but there is a lot to do in making a quilt that repeats none of the fabrics (except all the lights are the same piece of white I nearly ran out of).


 
Wow that is absolutely stunning!

I'm working on my little projects...mom loved her little fabric birds. I made my granddaughter a sock monkey last Friday...I'd never made one before, and she LOVES it!! I have dug out an old "project" which is a needlework ornament kit that I picked up at Goodwill months and months ago and haven't started on yet. Everything is there, I'm going to work on them during my daughter's play practices this winter/spring, I think. I should be able to get them done and have them for next Christmas.

I'm making a concerted effort to plug away on my projects, none of which are as detailed or vast as Becki's quilts. My objective is to have a stash of hand-made gifts on hand at all times, so I can always pull something out when the kids have a birthday or I want to give a hostess gift, and so I have some things I can give out at Christmastime. I am absolutely committed to working on something a little each day and keeping it going through the year. 

I was going to make some more sock monkeys on Monday, but as it turns out the socks I had on hand for the job were just a little TOO worn, they wouldn't work. But it's a great project and the kids can help; we're going to make some for the bassinet at church, I think (we always have a bassinet that we fill with baby stuff...when it's full it goes to the local pregnancy crisis center and we start a new one...and then they give that stuff out to families they counsel). 

I'll get a picture of my sock monkey! He didn't have the red heel, but he looks cute anyway. And I haven't finished his little hat...the dog keeps stealing it and I haven't run across my red yarn for the pom pom it needs before I affix it to the little guy....

Love you guys.


----------



## koshergrl

Sock monkey time!

First, socks..yes, for those sock monkey makers who are rolling in dough, you MAY opt to use the cool, brand new, red-heeled, red-toed work socks...but for the rest of us peons, any old socks will do...






And here's the precious darling granddaughter doing her bit to stuff that fella:






Halfway there:






Sheesh this was the hardest part:






Poor blind, deaf, and featureless little guy:






With the princess:






Hanging on his own between shifts:


----------



## koshergrl

Someone asked me..."why blue eyes".

My witty response:

"Because I had blue buttons."


----------



## freedombecki

Koshergrl, that's just a riot. What a beautiful granddaughter, too! 

Call this subjective, but I see red white and blue all over that cute sock monkey! 

You deserve two reps today, but I'm not a mod. 

 I was so lazy today. I walked back and forth from front to back along the fence of our farm, for the first time since my antibiotic therapy started a few days ago, which induced a sleep-all-afternoon nap. So the quilt got set aside for another day (again.) 

Oh, well, it's great to see the sock monkey. My grandmother made me one, but our family moved once a year every year, so he must've gotten lost or left behind somewhere.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Koshergrl, that's just a riot. What a beautiful granddaughter, too!
> 
> Call this subjective, but I see red white and blue all over that cute sock monkey!


 
Haha I think he's a patriotic fellow...

I actually have some over the top patriotic print material that I'll have to use to make him some dungarees and a vest, lol...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Koshergrl, that's just a riot. What a beautiful granddaughter, too!
> 
> Call this subjective, but I see red white and blue all over that cute sock monkey!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haha I think he's a patriotic fellow...
> 
> I actually have some over the top patriotic print material that I'll have to use to make him some dungarees and a vest, lol...
Click to expand...

Way too cute 'twill be...

.... Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni... 
Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind your music and your step, and will the girls be handy!


----------



## Dabs

freedombecki said:


> *I looked and found a skein of "bikini" yarn in Wally World today. Have no idea what I'll do with it, but maybe a pair of crocheted slippers like my mom used to make.* I made a bazillion pairs of them for family after she passed on, then got too busy with raising a family. I think I can remember how to do it, though. Who needs a pattern when you've made a bazillion pairs! Good times! <trying hard not to panic>
> 
> Speaking of colors, I was searching the net and found the new colors of Tootsie pops, and also found a package at Wally World, since I had to go there anyway, though why I bought them I don't know. I'm not much of a candy-eating person.
> 
> The New Colors of Tootsie Pops:
> (credits: Tootsie Product Information Page):



Awesome......looking forward to pictures!!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> *I looked and found a skein of "bikini" yarn in Wally World today. Have no idea what I'll do with it, but maybe a pair of crocheted slippers like my mom used to make.* I made a bazillion pairs of them for family after she passed on, then got too busy with raising a family. I think I can remember how to do it, though. Who needs a pattern when you've made a bazillion pairs! Good times! <trying hard not to panic>
> 
> Speaking of colors, I was searching the net and found the new colors of Tootsie pops, and also found a package at Wally World, since I had to go there anyway, though why I bought them I don't know. I'm not much of a candy-eating person.
> 
> The New Colors of Tootsie Pops:
> (credits: Tootsie Product Information Page):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome......looking forward to pictures!!!!!
Click to expand...

Well, I have to find where I put the size G crochet hook first. That could take some time...and I've already looked in all the old familiar places.


----------



## freedombecki

She's done! 

There are 70 squares, a white border and a blue Forget-me-nots border.
the small quilt measures 43x57". there are 630 logs. The 280 logs of color are each a different fabric. That's what ate time, when you're picky, picky, picky, picky, picky. 

Some shots of the border:


----------



## freedombecki

Couldn't find one even remotely like this one. Guess I MUST learn to use a camera. I'm afraid to open the box, though. 

Here's a masterpiece quilt a lady named Lolo made that rocks with optical illusions:





And below, a copy of a corner with the tag on it to give to charity bees so they will know what size backing to use. It's 43x57".


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt went together exactly as below (some of the squares above are turned sideways, etc. to get the best scan), except as you can see from the above, the actual colors are much brighter. I love this quilt. It took a lot of time to cut a strip for each colored piece, then lay the entire strip aside. There are probably enough cuttings for 4 or 5 more quilts like this one if I could get a couple of yards of white here and there for the same look. The next one is not going to take weeks! (famous last words...)

The schema, completed today, sans border:


----------



## Delia

freedombecki said:


> Couldn't find one even remotely like this one. Guess I MUST learn to use a camera. I'm afraid to open the box, though.
> 
> Here's a masterpiece quilt a lady named Lolo made that rocks with optical illusions:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And below, a copy of a corner with the tag on it to give to charity bees so they will know what size backing to use. It's 43x57".



That is so very beautiful. I would want to hang it on the wall of a log home.


----------



## freedombecki

Delia said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Couldn't find one even remotely like this one. Guess I MUST learn to use a camera. I'm afraid to open the box, though.
> 
> Here's a masterpiece quilt a lady named Lolo made that rocks with optical illusions:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And below, a copy of a corner with the tag on it to give to charity bees so they will know what size backing to use. It's 43x57".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is so very beautiful. I would want to hang it on the wall of a log home.
Click to expand...

Isn't she amazing, Delia!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> couldn't find one even remotely like this one. Guess i must learn to use a camera. I'm afraid to open the box, though.
> 
> Here's a masterpiece quilt a lady named lolo made that rocks with optical illusions:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and below, a copy of a corner with the tag on it to give to charity bees so they will know what size backing to use. It's 43x57".



wow


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> couldn't find one even remotely like this one. Guess i must learn to use a camera. I'm afraid to open the box, though.
> 
> Here's a masterpiece quilt a lady named lolo made that rocks with optical illusions:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and below, a copy of a corner with the tag on it to give to charity bees so they will know what size backing to use. It's 43x57".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> wow
Click to expand...

Her quilt reminds me of probably the most well-remembered quilt of the red and white show we talked about sometime last year (It's the first quilt shown):

[ame=http://youtu.be/iu6_nCjgtR8]Red and White - Infinite Variety: Part 3 - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## lizzie

I'm not a quilter by any stretch of the imagination, but I wanted to show you a quilt project that my mom, my sisters, and I did last summer. The background story is that we lost my dad in the summer of '11, and my dad was a man who always wore a western-cut shirt with the sleeves rolled up two turns, jeans, and boots. No matter where he went, or what the occasion was, this was how my dad dressed. Even for weddings and funerals. After he died, my mom couldn't bring herself to part with his many plaid western shirts, so she and my sister (who is into quilting), decided we should all make a quilt out of his old shirts. We spent last summer putting it together, with my mom doing most of the work, and my sister who spent alot of lunch hours from work over there, and when I would go for our every-other-Thursday visits, we would spend the day quilting, rather than going on our resale shopping sprees. My sister entered the quilt in a quilting show which will be in Dallas in a couple of months. We had alot of fun doing it, and it has so much sentimental value, because several of those shirts were gifts from me over the years.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Koshergrl, that's just a riot. What a beautiful granddaughter, too!
> 
> Call this subjective, but I see red white and blue all over that cute sock monkey!
> 
> You deserve two reps today, but I'm not a mod.
> 
> I was so lazy today. I walked back and forth from front to back along the fence of our farm, for the first time since my antibiotic therapy started a few days ago, which induced a sleep-all-afternoon nap. So the quilt got set aside for another day (again.)
> 
> Oh, well, it's great to see the sock monkey. My grandmother made me one, but our family moved once a year every year, so he must've gotten lost or left behind somewhere.



It is a very kid-friendly project. I was home the day we made it, and my kids were off somewhere...all of them...so it was just me and the girl. We went to pick out the socks, and had to get some stuffing...she was with me the whole time and was able to do whatever she wanted to put her hand to. It isn't like you can hurt them or get them wrong. Our problem in this household is klaus...he's obsessed with socks like some dogs are obsessed with balls. He hunts for them and carries the around in his mouth...clean or dirty, he doesn't care. Then he shreds holes in them. So the sock monkey had better be pretty careful, or he's gonna get it. Klaus has already seen him and shown a LOT of interest.


----------



## freedombecki

lizzie said:


> I'm not a quilter by any stretch of the imagination, but I wanted to show you a quilt project that my mom, my sisters, and I did last summer. The background story is that we lost my dad in the summer of '11, and my dad was a man who always wore a western-cut shirt with the sleeves rolled up two turns, jeans, and boots. No matter where he went, or what the occasion was, this was how my dad dressed. Even for weddings and funerals. After he died, my mom couldn't bring herself to part with his many plaid western shirts, so she and my sister (who is into quilting), decided we should all make a quilt out of his old shirts. We spent last summer putting it together, with my mom doing most of the work, and my sister who spent alot of lunch hours from work over there, and when I would go for our every-other-Thursday visits, we would spend the day quilting, rather than going on our resale shopping sprees. My sister entered the quilt in a quilting show which will be in Dallas in a couple of months. We had alot of fun doing it, and it has so much sentimental value, because several of those shirts were gifts from me over the years.


 Oh, Lizzie. Your dad's memorial quilt just totally rocks. Thanks for sharing such a precious family item.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Koshergrl, that's just a riot. What a beautiful granddaughter, too!
> 
> Call this subjective, but I see red white and blue all over that cute sock monkey!
> 
> You deserve two reps today, but I'm not a mod.
> 
> I was so lazy today. I walked back and forth from front to back along the fence of our farm, for the first time since my antibiotic therapy started a few days ago, which induced a sleep-all-afternoon nap. So the quilt got set aside for another day (again.)
> 
> Oh, well, it's great to see the sock monkey. My grandmother made me one, but our family moved once a year every year, so he must've gotten lost or left behind somewhere.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is a very kid-friendly project. I was home the day we made it, and my kids were off somewhere...all of them...so it was just me and the girl. We went to pick out the socks, and had to get some stuffing...she was with me the whole time and was able to do whatever she wanted to put her hand to. It isn't like you can hurt them or get them wrong. Our problem in this household is klaus...he's obsessed with socks like some dogs are obsessed with balls. He hunts for them and carries the around in his mouth...clean or dirty, he doesn't care. Then he shreds holes in them. So the sock monkey had better be pretty careful, or he's gonna get it. Klaus has already seen him and shown a LOT of interest.
Click to expand...

So Klaus wants his own sock monkey too, hm? lolol! 

Miss Music, our precious black labrador also has a fetish for socks. I don't think there's a sock in our house hat doesn't have a couple of her toothing holes on them somewhere.  And the little rascal has lots of her playthings scattered over 14 acres, too.  Fortunately for her, it's her only fault, and she looks so cute when she's naughty.

Oh, well,


----------



## freedombecki

Last year, many squares more than went into the quilts were intentionally made for another year, when I wasn't so tired of the projects. Here's leftover squares hastily put into sets and sashes this morning. These squares take almost the same amount of time as the Tootsie Pop quilt logs, except they're presewn, plus sashes are twice as wide as the logs were, so from 4 am to around 7 or 8 am, the 30 squares went quickly into the little quilt for which some of the blocks were sewn. The Tootsie Pops border was so pretty, I decided to pair the blue Forget-me-nots with some bright yellow bumble bee fabrics for sashes and sets on this quilt. Ugh! The blue really did look a lot better near white. A bubblegum pink would have been a much better choice for this quilt, so I'll have to try it on the next one. Heheh, I need a pink quilt to go along with the others anyway. Maybe the next time blue is selected, it will be a monochromatic schema. Anachromatic quilts are just really at home between bubblegum pink. No one knows why, but our mothers' quilts often sparkled when they used the gum pinks available to them in the antebellum years. they may have made a comeback prior to the recent urge to make pink-backgrounded or sashed quilts, I'm thinking 1880s also enjoyed some pink quilts, and there were a lot of pinks in the 1930s as memory serves me. Oh heck, it's subjective. I jus like blue quilts, just not this one. The sooner I get it bordered and outta my hair the better.

Here are some scans of the Forget-me-not quilt-from-hell (snicker):


----------



## Sunshine

So beckums, I went back to Murray Sewing Center today to see if they had the DMC 702 thread.  Not sure why I'm having trouble finding it.  May have to go online.  But this is BFE.

Anyway there was a woman in there doing some machine quilting and beautifully I might add.  I just think I'm going to have to spring for a sewing machine, though, not to quilt but to do embroidery and other fancy stuff.  I am really not good at things like sewing clothes.  That requires a certain mental capacity that I don't really have.  Now, my daughter who is an architectural designer and construction manager took one look at a pattern and said, 'Its nothing but a blueprint!'  Go figure.  She  has made various things that really look great.  The first thing she did was a diaper bag from a pattern she found online.  No one could believe she actually made it herself.  

I'm back in the swing on the blocks and trying to be careful with the arm and shoulder.  I did the first number of blocks before I moved back from TN and just after my rotator cuff surgery.  The doctor had cleaned out all the arthritis, and I'm sure it is now back and really angry.  So, I have to watch it.  

I was looking at lavendar thread for the next one and it wasn't doing anything for me, but I found a lovely deep rose.  I may switch to that for the next one.  They have a lot of cross stitch and embroidery quilt blocks at that store.  Also, lots of material and various and sundry clothing and quilt patterns.  Not a bad store for a little one horse town.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> couldn't find one even remotely like this one. Guess i must learn to use a camera. I'm afraid to open the box, though.
> 
> Here's a masterpiece quilt a lady named lolo made that rocks with optical illusions:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and below, a copy of a corner with the tag on it to give to charity bees so they will know what size backing to use. It's 43x57".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> wow
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Her quilt reminds me of probably the most well-remembered quilt of the red and white show we talked about sometime last year (It's the first quilt shown):
> 
> [ame=http://youtu.be/iu6_nCjgtR8]Red and White - Infinite Variety: Part 3 - YouTube[/ame]
Click to expand...



WOW!  Again.

What keeps those things from making you crazy.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Sock monkey time!
> 
> First, socks..yes, for those sock monkey makers who are rolling in dough, you MAY opt to use the cool, brand new, red-heeled, red-toed work socks...but for the rest of us peons, any old socks will do...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And here's the precious darling granddaughter doing her bit to stuff that fella:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Halfway there:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sheesh this was the hardest part:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Poor blind, deaf, and featureless little guy:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With the princess:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hanging on his own between shifts:



Beautiful girl.  Cute sock monkeys!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, we drove to the quilt store, found some assorted matching fabrics in childrens' prints, so hopefully, by tomorrow, the quilt done to a point today will be made to come together with a matching print to the blues--I found a beautiful fish print, the prettiest royal bright blue ever that is a 2-dimensional takeoff on fancy leather tooling, white doves on a really pretty blue, and 3 different light prints to offset the sets and sashing. By the morning, hopefully I'll pick one of them. Sometimes a good border can make all the difference in a quilt you threw your hands up on. It helps to have choices, sleep on it, then figure out what you really want the quilt to say. I want this one to say to a shelter child--may happiness replace all your sorrows, dear one.

Oh, and that reminds me! I found my file on a quilt I did for a fire victim child 15 or so years ago. It's called "Tell them I'm a Child of God." I designed the children. It was such a happy quilt to do:


----------



## koshergrl

That is beautiful.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the kind words, Koshergrl.

After all that quilt fabric shopping yesterday afternoon 60 miles from here, and being too tired after getting home to do much of anything except read posts, sleeping on it worked out well. In the morning, I reviewed my new pieces purchases, and decided on using a between fabric I found the other day around the house as the inner border and the new deep sea fish fabric on the outside. The blue Gypsy collection fabric from Hoffman has light and dark splotches with some metallic light blue "kelp" weblike fabric that joined the well-matched light Forget-me-not flowers in the sashes, lowered the impact of the yellow fabric by increasing the # of square inches in blues, plus the blue Enchanted Oceans fabric by South Sea Islands (SSI) had so many beautiful fish and colors, it actually enhanced the frenetic look of placed "windmills" or "propellers" so I changed the name to reflect the new look-- "The Blue Submarine Propellers Forget-me-not" quilt top. What a mouthful of words! Probably would be more understandable to call it "Fishes." 

Scan 1 - Top and info card
Scan 2 - side
Scan 3 - bottom corner


----------



## Mr. H.

Do you see what I see...?
(Do you see what I see....)

Artful homemade quilts  have a way....

A little out of season, but the cadence is there.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks for the kind words, Koshergrl.
> 
> After all that quilt fabric shopping yesterday afternoon 60 miles from here, and being too tired after getting home to do much of anything except read posts, sleeping on it worked out well. In the morning, I reviewed my new pieces purchases, and decided on using a between fabric I found the other day around the house as the inner border and the new deep sea fish fabric on the outside. The blue Gypsy collection fabric from Hoffman has light and dark splotches with some metallic light blue "kelp" weblike fabric that joined the well-matched light Forget-me-not flowers in the sashes, lowered the impact of the yellow fabric by increasing the # of square inches in blues, plus the blue Enchanted Oceans fabric by South Sea Islands (SSI) had so many beautiful fish and colors, it actually enhanced the frenetic look of placed "windmills" or "propellers" so I changed the name to reflect the new look-- "The Blue Submarine Propellers Forget-me-not" quilt top. What a mouthful of words! Probably would be more understandable to call it "Fishes."
> 
> Scan 1 - Top and info card
> Scan 2 - side
> Scan 3 - bottom corner



I like that fish design.  Don't think I've ever seen it in a quilt before.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the kind words, Koshergrl.
> 
> After all that quilt fabric shopping yesterday afternoon 60 miles from here, and being too tired after getting home to do much of anything except read posts, sleeping on it worked out well. In the morning, I reviewed my new pieces purchases, and decided on using a between fabric I found the other day around the house as the inner border and the new deep sea fish fabric on the outside. The blue Gypsy collection fabric from Hoffman has light and dark splotches with some metallic light blue "kelp" weblike fabric that joined the well-matched light Forget-me-not flowers in the sashes, lowered the impact of the yellow fabric by increasing the # of square inches in blues, plus the blue Enchanted Oceans fabric by South Sea Islands (SSI) had so many beautiful fish and colors, it actually enhanced the frenetic look of placed "windmills" or "propellers" so I changed the name to reflect the new look-- "The Blue Submarine Propellers Forget-me-not" quilt top. What a mouthful of words! Probably would be more understandable to call it "Fishes."
> 
> Scan 1 - Top and info card
> Scan 2 - side
> Scan 3 - bottom corner
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I like that fish design.  Don't think I've ever seen it in a quilt before.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sunshine.

When I was picking fabrics for my shop, I learned to pick a lot of ocean fabrics, because they turned in a year in Wyoming. We lived at an altitude of a mile high and were 1500 miles from one coast and over 2000 to the other. Few people were able to maintain an ocean aquarium for more than a year due to the failure of the animals to survive. I'm not sure exactly why that was, except it could be a full-time job, most likely, to get hostile creatures to thrive. One thing I never did see was a fabric that was as well done as that one with well-defined fish in such a small scale overall with the very largest fish being 2" and many well under one inch. The blue background shows ambiguously-shaped outlines of reef life and adds enchantment in the prettiest royal blues to the bright-colored reef fish. The metallic fabric is so subtle, but it had its charm. As far as the "propeller" design, it's a windmill usually, but on point really looks like a propeller. (or windmill blades turning). I made 5 or 6 quilts using the windmill/propeller square in the last 3 years that went to the Charity bees, the most recent of which was in the green phase (3 or 4 months ago) while you were absent. Green is a good sashing when rainbow windmill/propellers are used, because of the tendency to resemble flowers in a garden. Green is just a good color that loves and enhances warm tones, even in a neutral setting in which it brings a new view of caramel tans v pumpkin-toned tans. Green makes other colors talk, while green just sits there and just listens.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the kind words, Koshergrl.
> 
> After all that quilt fabric shopping yesterday afternoon 60 miles from here, and being too tired after getting home to do much of anything except read posts, sleeping on it worked out well. In the morning, I reviewed my new pieces purchases, and decided on using a between fabric I found the other day around the house as the inner border and the new deep sea fish fabric on the outside. The blue Gypsy collection fabric from Hoffman has light and dark splotches with some metallic light blue "kelp" weblike fabric that joined the well-matched light Forget-me-not flowers in the sashes, lowered the impact of the yellow fabric by increasing the # of square inches in blues, plus the blue Enchanted Oceans fabric by South Sea Islands (SSI) had so many beautiful fish and colors, it actually enhanced the frenetic look of placed "windmills" or "propellers" so I changed the name to reflect the new look-- "The Blue Submarine Propellers Forget-me-not" quilt top. What a mouthful of words! Probably would be more understandable to call it "Fishes."
> 
> Scan 1 - Top and info card
> Scan 2 - side
> Scan 3 - bottom corner
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I like that fish design.  Don't think I've ever seen it in a quilt before.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine.
> 
> When I was picking fabrics for my shop, I learned to pick a lot of ocean fabrics, because they turned in a year in Wyoming. We lived at an altitude of a mile high and were 1500 miles from one coast and over 2000 to the other. Few people were able to maintain an ocean aquarium for more than a year due to the failure of the animals to survive. I'm not sure exactly why that was, except it could be a full-time job, most likely, to get hostile creatures to thrive. One thing I never did see was a fabric that was as well done as that one with well-defined fish in such a small scale overall with the very largest fish being 2" and many well under one inch. The blue background shows ambiguously-shaped outlines of reef life and adds enchantment in the prettiest royal blues to the bright-colored reef fish. The metallic fabric is so subtle, but it had its charm. As far as the "propeller" design, it's a windmill usually, but on point really looks like a propeller. (or windmill blades turning). I made 5 or 6 quilts using the windmill/propeller square in the last 3 years that went to the Charity bees, the most recent of which was in the green phase (3 or 4 months ago) while you were absent. Green is a good sashing when rainbow windmill/propellers are used, because of the tendency to resemble flowers in a garden. Green is just a good color that loves and enhances warm tones, even in a neutral setting in which it brings a new view of caramel tans v pumpkin-toned tans. Green makes other colors talk, while green just sits there and just listens.
Click to expand...


That's interesting.  Most people in the US, I suppose, are not 'coastal.'   Which is likely why the 'nautical look' comes around every other year or so.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I like that fish design.  Don't think I've ever seen it in a quilt before.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine.
> 
> When I was picking fabrics for my shop, I learned to pick a lot of ocean fabrics, because they turned in a year in Wyoming. We lived at an altitude of a mile high and were 1500 miles from one coast and over 2000 to the other. Few people were able to maintain an ocean aquarium for more than a year due to the failure of the animals to survive. I'm not sure exactly why that was, except it could be a full-time job, most likely, to get hostile creatures to thrive. One thing I never did see was a fabric that was as well done as that one with well-defined fish in such a small scale overall with the very largest fish being 2" and many well under one inch. The blue background shows ambiguously-shaped outlines of reef life and adds enchantment in the prettiest royal blues to the bright-colored reef fish. The metallic fabric is so subtle, but it had its charm. As far as the "propeller" design, it's a windmill usually, but on point really looks like a propeller. (or windmill blades turning). I made 5 or 6 quilts using the windmill/propeller square in the last 3 years that went to the Charity bees, the most recent of which was in the green phase (3 or 4 months ago) while you were absent. Green is a good sashing when rainbow windmill/propellers are used, because of the tendency to resemble flowers in a garden. Green is just a good color that loves and enhances warm tones, even in a neutral setting in which it brings a new view of caramel tans v pumpkin-toned tans. Green makes other colors talk, while green just sits there and just listens.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That's interesting.  Most people in the US, I suppose, are not 'coastal.'   Which is likely why the 'nautical look' comes around every other year or so.
Click to expand...

It was loved by me, just because. When one of my uncles got back from WWII, having served on a ship ouside Sydney, Australia, he filled his home with tanks of colorful fish. They were wall-to-wall everywhere. He knew all their names, and it was just awesome to go over to his house to see his inimitable collection. Then, I was too young to know the difference between marine sea life and guppies, but I'm sure he did. It was a lot more fun to play with all the cousins who gathered there for whatever occasion that brought us together.


----------



## koshergrl

I have some pics of the little pillow I'm working for my daughter...I think the finished pillow will be around 10 inches across (sans ruffle)..with a ruffle. My plan is to crochet blue edging on the ruffle, too.

Not as skilled as Becki's quilts or as painstaking. You can see where I used the wrong yellow on the big butterfly; I might pick that out but the more I look the more I realize I could pick and repick and still it wouldn't be perfect. There are sections where I reversed the cross stitches; i can't always see such small work up close, especially if I'm working at night or looking at dark colors.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I have some pics of the little pillow I'm working for my daughter...I think the finished pillow will be around 10 inches across (sans ruffle)..with a ruffle. My plan is to crochet blue edging on the ruffle, too.
> 
> Not as skilled as Becki's quilts or as painstaking. You can see where I used the wrong yellow on the big butterfly; I might pick that out but the more I look the more I realize I could pick and repick and still it wouldn't be perfect. There are sections where I reversed the cross stitches; i can't always see such small work up close, especially if I'm working at night or looking at dark colors.


My opinion. Koshergrl, you have no idea how complex it is to take a pattern like your butterfly and make it into a postage stamp quilt. And your use of yellow as the 'wrong' color? Your "different" use of thread made it all the more luminous to this artist's eye. And your refusal to take it out and do the mundane monkey-see, monkey-do bit only shows your adventuresome spirit. I say, _"Vive la differance!"_ and let it go at that. 

^^Pos repped for breaking the mold^^

I just love it!!!!


----------



## koshergrl

I like the yellow...but I used the *wrong* one in that I was supposed to be using one but grabbed the wrong skein and did a few sections in that...so I have random different shades of yellow where there shouldn't be a different shade, lol.

I've seen old embroidery and tapestries where you can see where a different dye batch was used; it's a common enough thing but irritates me because in my case, I had plenty of the right color, I just didn't check my lot/color numbers.

I still haven't decided...I finished the blue border, now i just have to do the French knots and that part is finished. I found a tiny stain on the bottom....i'll wash and see if it comes out...if not, I may embroider another tiny butterfly down there to cover it. That the problem with having a piece of cloth you work on for weeks and drag to different places. I think klaus did it when he put his chin on it last night. Anyhoo, he can't talk so I'll blame him.


----------



## koshergrl

1456 attachments in this thread, Becki, congrats!

I'm currently making little applique flowers, using up ugly yarn I have laying around, and for a break from my pillow before I embark on the French knots. 

Each of the knots stands alone, so I knot, knot, knot, snip, then onto the next. Tiresome, no possibility of cadence but it's all good.

So I'm making these:





Haha aren't they cute...I'm using a size J hook (they used an F for that one). I don't know where my dozens of crochet hooks go..I have, literally, dozens, but I can NEVER FIND ONE when I want it. Not one. I dug in my bedroom and came up with a massive wooden handled hook, and the J. I bought SETS of them over Christmas vacation, not to mention the dozens I know I already have. I buy them the same way I buy butter, milk and mayo..if I'm in the store, I assume I need it, so I buy it. 

Except I never have it when I want it.

Anyway. Having just established my "space" in the living room, with a table and eternacuppacoffee when I'm there, I actually find myself in the interesting position of needing coasters.

Usually, you know, you have coasters coming out of your ears and nobody ever uses them. Well now I need some and I don't have any.

So I have hopes that I can sew a few of these together for that. And maybe make the monkey a blanket or something, lol..


----------



## freedombecki

ummm, pretty in blue!


----------



## koshergrl

Yeah, the yarn I'm using right now is blue. It's nice blue, too...I think it's wool, but maybe it's just a good polyester. I think I got it at a thrift store.


----------



## Delia

Do you ladies notice the different colors you work with having an affect on your state of mind?

Blue and green are really soothing for me. Brown bores me.


----------



## koshergrl

I love blue and green..

But I do like brown, and orange, too. 

I dunno, when I'm crocheting, I get pretty sick of whatever color it is I'm using. That's why I have 1500 unfinished afghans laying around, and skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn that at one time I liked, but now thoroughly detest.


----------



## Delia

koshergrl said:


> I love blue and green..
> 
> But I do like brown, and orange, too.
> 
> I dunno, when I'm crocheting, I get pretty sick of whatever color it is I'm using. That's why I have 1500 unfinished afghans laying around, and skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn that at one time I liked, but now thoroughly detest.



Do you have to keep your eyes on your work? I just do simple crocheting, so am watching TV at the same time. But peripherally, I can see what I'm working on. I do like orange and red as well. So far, it's only brown that has me going meh.


----------



## freedombecki

Delia said:


> Do you ladies notice the different colors you work with having an affect on your state of mind?
> 
> Blue and green are really soothing for me. Brown bores me.


 I like all the colors in the rainbow, Southwest rainbow atmospheric colors, neutrals, colorwheel adjacent warms; CA cools...a huge variety. It's especially easy for me to work with green. Those bright colors Dabs brought in last week with her crochet project? I bought a skein, and I just keep it by the computer. It's a truly happy eyeful of cheer, kind of like Disneyland or Walt Disney World. I love black and white, all neutrals, and brown, too. I love the colors of nature. The Great White Egrets are back, and one floated (airborne) past the window a few minutes back. Noticing the small lake out back, it's refracting a perfect sky blue color, and the wind is whipping ripples on its surface, causing there to be areas of darker blues.

I just know there's a lot of joy in changing colors 2 or 3 times a week when working on quilts. It was a joy to see the counted cross stitches that Sunshine and Koshergrl have been doing.

I just have a special affinity for well-done needleworks, whether traditional or on the experimental cutting edge of hobo lace. 

But quilting is my obsession, it seems.


----------



## koshergrl

Delia said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I love blue and green..
> 
> But I do like brown, and orange, too.
> 
> I dunno, when I'm crocheting, I get pretty sick of whatever color it is I'm using. That's why I have 1500 unfinished afghans laying around, and skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn that at one time I liked, but now thoroughly detest.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have to keep your eyes on your work? I just do simple crocheting, so am watching TV at the same time. But peripherally, I can see what I'm working on. I do like orange and red as well. So far, it's only brown that has me going meh.
Click to expand...

 
Yes, I usually need to watch it...


----------



## freedombecki

Delia said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I love blue and green..
> 
> But I do like brown, and orange, too.
> 
> I dunno, when I'm crocheting, I get pretty sick of whatever color it is I'm using. That's why I have 1500 unfinished afghans laying around, and skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn that at one time I liked, but now thoroughly detest.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have to keep your eyes on your work? I just do simple crocheting, so am watching TV at the same time. But peripherally, I can see what I'm working on. I do like orange and red as well. So far, it's only brown that has me going meh.
Click to expand...

 Hope you put some of your work on the scanner or take a picture of one and bring it here, Delia. We love all kinds of needle crafts here.


----------



## Delia

freedombecki said:


> Delia said:
> 
> 
> 
> Do you ladies notice the different colors you work with having an affect on your state of mind?
> 
> Blue and green are really soothing for me. Brown bores me.
> 
> 
> 
> I like all the colors in the rainbow, Southwest rainbow atmospheric colors, neutrals, colorwheel adjacent warms; CA cools...a huge variety. It's especially easy for me to work with green. Those bright colors Dabs brought in last week with her crochet project? I bought a skein, and I just keep it by the computer. It's a truly happy eyeful of cheer, kind of like Disneyland or Walt Disney World. I love black and white, all neutrals, and brown, too. I love the colors of nature. The Great White Egrets are back, and one floated (airborne) past the window a few minutes back. Noticing the small lake out back, it's refracting a perfect sky blue color, and the wind is whipping ripples on its surface, causing there to be areas of darker blues.
> 
> I just know there's a lot of joy in changing colors 2 or 3 times a week when working on quilts. It was a joy to see the counted cross stitches that Sunshine and Koshergrl have been doing.
> 
> I just have a special affinity for well-done needleworks, whether traditional or on the experimental cutting edge of hobo lace.
> 
> But quilting is my obsession, it seems.
Click to expand...


You have a MAJOR eye for color. Have you ever painted?


----------



## freedombecki

Delia said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Delia said:
> 
> 
> 
> Do you ladies notice the different colors you work with having an affect on your state of mind?
> 
> Blue and green are really soothing for me. Brown bores me.
> 
> 
> 
> I like all the colors in the rainbow, Southwest rainbow atmospheric colors, neutrals, colorwheel adjacent warms; CA cools...a huge variety. It's especially easy for me to work with green. Those bright colors Dabs brought in last week with her crochet project? I bought a skein, and I just keep it by the computer. It's a truly happy eyeful of cheer, kind of like Disneyland or Walt Disney World. I love black and white, all neutrals, and brown, too. I love the colors of nature. The Great White Egrets are back, and one floated (airborne) past the window a few minutes back. Noticing the small lake out back, it's refracting a perfect sky blue color, and the wind is whipping ripples on its surface, causing there to be areas of darker blues.
> 
> I just know there's a lot of joy in changing colors 2 or 3 times a week when working on quilts. It was a joy to see the counted cross stitches that Sunshine and Koshergrl have been doing.
> 
> I just have a special affinity for well-done needleworks, whether traditional or on the experimental cutting edge of hobo lace.
> 
> But quilting is my obsession, it seems.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You have a MAJOR eye for color. Have you ever painted?
Click to expand...

 Yep. Unfortunately, many years ago, my son got into my oil paints and painted himself all over twice, ruining 2 of his 3 shirts. At that point, young me is given her mother's old sewing machine, and starts making his clothes. It got to be an unappreciated fetish when daughter was born... and as soon as she was old enough to speak, I asked her to come try this new dress on, "little lady." She puts her 18-months-old hands on her hips, scowls and tells her mother, "I ain't no lady!!!!"  

Anyway, eventually she and my husband agreed she would spend the duration of her childhood wearing her brother's hand-me-downs!  (There is a God!) However, she was dead serious all her life. She grew up and became a really, reallly good cop on the beat and a beauty queen at home--on her own terms, of course. /proud mom

My oils were traded in for a sewing machine, which became my new paintbrush after so many years. (literally) I taught machine embroidery before home embroidery machines came out, and you just used the thread as your paint and did free motion sketches like pen and inks, did portraits on the machine (one of a Wyoming governor), a landscape painting of a view of the Snake River twisting under the shadows of the Grand Tetons, etc. I designed many quilts and self-published applique books for people who liked my work, some of which are shown on my Album page, which includes 44 animal characters for making appliqued baby quilts for children or babies. 

The problem quilters have is color choice. I made a business of providing all that an artist who can mix paints--fabric color choices so our remote quilt artists in Wyoing could have their exact shade needed for whatever they were making. Some found it terribly confusing, but the artists in the quilt world locally knew they'd likely find the correct shade that exactly matched what they needed for their interior decorating with quilts. I worked at it for 23 years until my fibromyalgia caused such pain we had to move to a warmer climate. I still have that love for color, but I'm so picky about texture and value, I still have to make runs to local quilt stores for that right piece for whatever I'm doing. I love quilt stores and the different people who start them for their own purposes, none quite like mine, but very, very worthy contributors to the greater good of their communities. I left the store to the care of two very devoted ladies and told them "use the store to serve the Lord and the community, as long as you can have a good time doing it and draw a paycheck." 

They're the best.


----------



## Delia

freedombecki said:


> Delia said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I like all the colors in the rainbow, Southwest rainbow atmospheric colors, neutrals, colorwheel adjacent warms; CA cools...a huge variety. It's especially easy for me to work with green. Those bright colors Dabs brought in last week with her crochet project? I bought a skein, and I just keep it by the computer. It's a truly happy eyeful of cheer, kind of like Disneyland or Walt Disney World. I love black and white, all neutrals, and brown, too. I love the colors of nature. The Great White Egrets are back, and one floated (airborne) past the window a few minutes back. Noticing the small lake out back, it's refracting a perfect sky blue color, and the wind is whipping ripples on its surface, causing there to be areas of darker blues.
> 
> I just know there's a lot of joy in changing colors 2 or 3 times a week when working on quilts. It was a joy to see the counted cross stitches that Sunshine and Koshergrl have been doing.
> 
> I just have a special affinity for well-done needleworks, whether traditional or on the experimental cutting edge of hobo lace.
> 
> But quilting is my obsession, it seems.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You have a MAJOR eye for color. Have you ever painted?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Yep. Unfortunately, many years ago, my son got into my oil paints and painted himself all over twice, ruining 2 of his 3 shirts. At that point, young me is given her mother's old sewing machine, and starts making his clothes. It got to be an unappreciated fetish when daughter was born... and as soon as she was old enough to speak, I asked her to come try this new dress on, "little lady." She puts her 18-months-old hands on her hips, scowls and tells her mother, "I ain't no lady!!!!"
> 
> Anyway, eventually she and my husband agreed she would spend the duration of her childhood wearing her brother's hand-me-downs!  (There is a God!) However, she was dead serious all her life. She grew up and became a really, reallly good cop on the beat and a beauty queen at home--on her own terms, of course. /proud mom
> 
> My oils were traded in for a sewing machine, which became my new paintbrush after so many years. (literally) I taught machine embroidery before home embroidery machines came out, and you just used the thread as your paint and did free motion sketches like pen and inks, did portraits on the machine (one of a Wyoming governor), a landscape painting of a view of the Snake River twisting under the shadows of the Grand Tetons, etc. I designed many quilts and self-published applique books for people who liked my work, some of which are shown on my Album page, which includes 44 animal characters for making appliqued baby quilts for children or babies.
> 
> The problem quilters have is color choice. I made a business of providing all that an artist who can mix paints--fabric color choices so our remote quilt artists in Wyoing could have their exact shade needed for whatever they were making. Some found it terribly confusing, but the artists in the quilt world locally knew they'd likely find the correct shade that exactly matched what they needed for their interior decorating with quilts. I worked at it for 23 years until my fibromyalgia caused such pain we had to move to a warmer climate. I still have that love for color, but I'm so picky about texture and value, I still have to make runs to local quilt stores for that right piece for whatever I'm doing. I love quilt stores and the different people who start them for their own purposes, none quite like mine, but very, very worthy contributors to the greater good of their communities. I left the store to the care of two very devoted ladies and told them "use the store to serve the Lord and the community, as long as you can have a good time doing it and draw a paycheck."
> 
> They're the best.
Click to expand...


Do you miss having your own shop?


----------



## Care4all

koshergrl said:


> I love blue and green..
> 
> But I do like brown, and orange, too.
> 
> I dunno, when I'm crocheting, I get pretty sick of whatever color it is I'm using. That's why I have 1500 unfinished afghans laying around, and skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn that at one time I liked, but now thoroughly detest.


like the teal blues?  






















I love the blues right now too....and I love to crochet...I too have a gazillion unfinished projects....so we actually have something in common!!!!!!!


----------



## koshergrl

I was watching some videos on tapestry crochet...that's what your basket/bag work looks like. Fascinating.


----------



## Care4all

koshergrl said:


> I was watching some videos on tapestry crochet...that's what your basket/bag work looks like. Fascinating.


no, it's not tapestry crochet nor Tunisian crochet...it's just regular ole crochet worked in rounds, not rows....so there is no turning at the end of a row....  

basically, make a flat place mat the diameter you want your basket by increasing a few stitches in each round until it's the right size.

Then to bring the sides upwards, on the first round of the sides SC in the back loop only, all the way around...

NOTE!  you need an odd number of stitches in the round to do the next round and all rounds afterwards.  So what I do is on the last round of the place mat like bottom round.... is leave out an increase stitch to make certain the stitches in that round end up being an odd number.

this next round, the stitch you see on the sides is single crochet (SC) and Long Single crochet (LSC)....

what you do for the LSC is instead of single crocheting in to the next SC loop, you single crochet  in to the bottom of the next SC....making it a long stitch....

What this does is make the basket sides much stronger and thicker because it is doubling up over, every other stitch....

Also, I use 3 -4 strands of yarn combined together when crocheting them...

that, with the LSC stitch makes the baskets sturdy and durable and they will last a lifetime!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Delia said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Delia said:
> 
> 
> 
> You have a MAJOR eye for color. Have you ever painted?
> 
> 
> 
> Yep. Unfortunately, many years ago, my son got into my oil paints and painted himself all over twice, ruining 2 of his 3 shirts. At that point, young me is given her mother's old sewing machine, and starts making his clothes. It got to be an unappreciated fetish when daughter was born... and as soon as she was old enough to speak, I asked her to come try this new dress on, "little lady." She puts her 18-months-old hands on her hips, scowls and tells her mother, "I ain't no lady!!!!"
> 
> Anyway, eventually she and my husband agreed she would spend the duration of her childhood wearing her brother's hand-me-downs!  (There is a God!) However, she was dead serious all her life. She grew up and became a really, reallly good cop on the beat and a beauty queen at home--on her own terms, of course. /proud mom
> 
> My oils were traded in for a sewing machine, which became my new paintbrush after so many years. (literally) I taught machine embroidery before home embroidery machines came out, and you just used the thread as your paint and did free motion sketches like pen and inks, did portraits on the machine (one of a Wyoming governor), a landscape painting of a view of the Snake River twisting under the shadows of the Grand Tetons, etc. I designed many quilts and self-published applique books for people who liked my work, some of which are shown on my Album page, which includes 44 animal characters for making appliqued baby quilts for children or babies.
> 
> The problem quilters have is color choice. I made a business of providing all that an artist who can mix paints--fabric color choices so our remote quilt artists in Wyoing could have their exact shade needed for whatever they were making. Some found it terribly confusing, but the artists in the quilt world locally knew they'd likely find the correct shade that exactly matched what they needed for their interior decorating with quilts. I worked at it for 23 years until my fibromyalgia caused such pain we had to move to a warmer climate. I still have that love for color, but I'm so picky about texture and value, I still have to make runs to local quilt stores for that right piece for whatever I'm doing. I love quilt stores and the different people who start them for their own purposes, none quite like mine, but very, very worthy contributors to the greater good of their communities. I left the store to the care of two very devoted ladies and told them "use the store to serve the Lord and the community, as long as you can have a good time doing it and draw a paycheck."
> 
> They're the best.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Do you miss having your own shop?
Click to expand...

 I own the shop. My pain was so severe I could not serve the public, and fibrofog is a side effect of the disease that destroyed my acuity in math. I hated all the math mistakes. Nobody likes to be cheated nor get home and find out the undercharge cheated their favorite quilt shop. People like accuracy, and I built a reputation on honesty in business. So no, I don't miss my beautiful shop. No matter how good something is, if you aren't up to it, you have to draw a line someday and say, "No more." I had no choice to do anything else due to my heinous disease. You may look and sound like a million, but underneath it all is pain that eats away at all that's good in people, while the actress above pretenses that all is well, and her math bears it out in so many mistakes at the bottom line. It was insidious. I couldn't serve the public and I couldn't live with the shabby service they got from me in my illness. I got some precious notes from people I used to serve who thanked me for leaving the shop open and in the care of my two good helpers. When I was there, they were the people you could count on to help construct a soldier or a hospice quilt, be on the cleanup committee after classes, and invite their friends to pick fabrics at our shop when they were making quilts. Already indebted to these angels, they keep showing their kindness to the community by supporting the shop helpers. The Equality State is rich in caring and compassion, charity and excellence. I have nothing but gratitude for the 23 years I could serve, and the happiness of having such wonderful helpers who've used the shop to serve these dear angels and those who are in need of warm winter quilts or an acknowledgment of someone's caring that the gift of a quilt is.


----------



## freedombecki

I began some more purple windmills today, when I realized no purples were in the stacks of quilts I made for the Charity bees in the last few months. I'm not ready to show the blocks yet, but I found a small online work someone had done to show the kind of windmills I'm doing (like the last one, heh). It has nothing to do with anything except to say while working to get a new computre all set up, I still love to quilt more... Here's the one I found:







The one I'm working on will alternate with a purple/yellow/pink/lime bird print, no blue whatever. 

Have a wonderful day, everyone! I'm off to the sewing machine.


----------



## freedombecki

Care4all said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I love blue and green..
> 
> But I do like brown, and orange, too.
> 
> I dunno, when I'm crocheting, I get pretty sick of whatever color it is I'm using. That's why I have 1500 unfinished afghans laying around, and skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn that at one time I liked, but now thoroughly detest.
> 
> 
> 
> like the teal blues?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love the blues right now too....and I love to crochet...I too have a gazillion unfinished projects....so we actually have something in common!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Very beautiful, Care4all! I love your work. I love your blues!

What an awful time for the forum nanny to tell me I'm all out of rep for the morning. Well, I have a sewing room that is waiting for my entrance anyway. See you all later, I hope.


----------



## Delia

freedombecki said:


> Delia said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yep. Unfortunately, many years ago, my son got into my oil paints and painted himself all over twice, ruining 2 of his 3 shirts. At that point, young me is given her mother's old sewing machine, and starts making his clothes. It got to be an unappreciated fetish when daughter was born... and as soon as she was old enough to speak, I asked her to come try this new dress on, "little lady." She puts her 18-months-old hands on her hips, scowls and tells her mother, "I ain't no lady!!!!"
> 
> Anyway, eventually she and my husband agreed she would spend the duration of her childhood wearing her brother's hand-me-downs!  (There is a God!) However, she was dead serious all her life. She grew up and became a really, reallly good cop on the beat and a beauty queen at home--on her own terms, of course. /proud mom
> 
> My oils were traded in for a sewing machine, which became my new paintbrush after so many years. (literally) I taught machine embroidery before home embroidery machines came out, and you just used the thread as your paint and did free motion sketches like pen and inks, did portraits on the machine (one of a Wyoming governor), a landscape painting of a view of the Snake River twisting under the shadows of the Grand Tetons, etc. I designed many quilts and self-published applique books for people who liked my work, some of which are shown on my Album page, which includes 44 animal characters for making appliqued baby quilts for children or babies.
> 
> The problem quilters have is color choice. I made a business of providing all that an artist who can mix paints--fabric color choices so our remote quilt artists in Wyoing could have their exact shade needed for whatever they were making. Some found it terribly confusing, but the artists in the quilt world locally knew they'd likely find the correct shade that exactly matched what they needed for their interior decorating with quilts. I worked at it for 23 years until my fibromyalgia caused such pain we had to move to a warmer climate. I still have that love for color, but I'm so picky about texture and value, I still have to make runs to local quilt stores for that right piece for whatever I'm doing. I love quilt stores and the different people who start them for their own purposes, none quite like mine, but very, very worthy contributors to the greater good of their communities. I left the store to the care of two very devoted ladies and told them "use the store to serve the Lord and the community, as long as you can have a good time doing it and draw a paycheck."
> 
> They're the best.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you miss having your own shop?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I own the shop. My pain was so severe I could not serve the public, and fibrofog is a side effect of the disease that destroyed my acuity in math. I hated all the math mistakes. Nobody likes to be cheated nor get home and find out the undercharge cheated their favorite quilt shop. People like accuracy, and I built a reputation on honesty in business. So no, I don't miss my beautiful shop. No matter how good something is, if you aren't up to it, you have to draw a line someday and say, "No more." I had no choice to do anything else due to my heinous disease. You may look and sound like a million, but underneath it all is pain that eats away at all that's good in people, while the actress above pretenses that all is well, and her math bears it out in so many mistakes at the bottom line. It was insidious. I couldn't serve the public and I couldn't live with the shabby service they got from me in my illness. I got some precious notes from people I used to serve who thanked me for leaving the shop open and in the care of my two good helpers. When I was there, they were the people you could count on to help construct a soldier or a hospice quilt, be on the cleanup committee after classes, and invite their friends to pick fabrics at our shop when they were making quilts. Already indebted to these angels, they keep showing their kindness to the community by supporting the shop helpers. The Equality State is rich in caring and compassion, charity and excellence. I have nothing but gratitude for the 23 years I could serve, and the happiness of having such wonderful helpers who've used the shop to serve these dear angels and those who are in need of warm winter quilts or an acknowledgment of someone's caring that the gift of a quilt is.
Click to expand...


Oh, I thought you had a shop, sold it and moved ... etc. Because I have fibro, and the fog is part of why I just work on good days, odd jobs and errands for a few from church who are happy to accommodate my issues.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> I began some more purple windmills today, when I realized no purples were in the stacks of quilts I made for the Charity bees in the last few months. I'm not ready to show the blocks yet, but I found a small online work someone had done to show the kind of windmills I'm doing (like the last one, heh). It has nothing to do with anything except to say while working to get a new computre all set up, I still love to quilt more... Here's the one I found:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The one I'm working on will alternate with a purple/yellow/pink/lime bird print, no blue whatever.
> 
> Have a wonderful day, everyone! I'm off to the sewing machine.



hey, the same pattern I used for the eterna-quilt that I haven't finished for my niece!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I began some more purple windmills today, when I realized no purples were in the stacks of quilts I made for the Charity bees in the last few months. I'm not ready to show the blocks yet, but I found a small online work someone had done to show the kind of windmills I'm doing (like the last one, heh). It has nothing to do with anything except to say while working to get a new computre all set up, I still love to quilt more... Here's the one I found:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The one I'm working on will alternate with a purple/yellow/pink/lime bird print, no blue whatever.
> 
> Have a wonderful day, everyone! I'm off to the sewing machine.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> hey, the same pattern I used for the eterna-quilt that I haven't finished for my niece!
Click to expand...

 Oh yes. I think when I started here, I'd already made a couple like that to augment our traditionalist teacher's class on the pattern. Since seeing your neice's quilt, I've made probably around 5 or 6 of the same pattern tops for charity quilts. My blocks are small by comparison, though, because I already had one gazillion paired strips of lights and darks cut 1.75" to make small windmills/propellers that measure windmill/propeller blocks being 5" when finished. The nice thing about your block is it's kind when it comes to sewing it together--the center meets with dark blades (most often) in which it is not totally critical if they don't match up 100% unless you're doing 4 different-prints or colors of blades. Then, you simply make sure all of them are 5.5" unfinished, sew 5.5" sashing stripx between windmills, or set them next to 5.5" squares of fun prints for kids, and it's only about 8 hours of sewing to get a 50x64" child's quilt (give or take a few inches), and you can make it bigger by adding borders with interesting textures or character designs for children. A review of this thread would tell. I recorded them all here in thumbnails. My old computer lost all its marbles last week, and I'm breaking in a new computer now. I love this one. There's no hair-trigger shooting off, it's smaller, etc.  

I didn't spend enough time in the quilt room yesterday. My husband's issues required some time, and I couldn't concentrate after that. He's okay, but it rained yesterday, and I couldn't send him out to play.


----------



## koshergrl

How depressing. It is still sitting, unfinished, in my bedroom.

How many years has it been? 4????? I think so, lol. Well when I finish my daughter's pillow, and the sock monkeys at the beginning of Feb, then that is my next project, and I will not stop until it's finished.

I think I will probably take it to one of our local quilt shops to quilt the border. Because  the measurements are sort of weird (I think it's sort of long and skinny) the border is quite large and weird...so I want it to be tightly quilted to give it some interest...and i think, just to get it done and out of the way, I will pay someone to use a machine quilter to do it, so i can get it done and send it off. 

I think for my next project, I'm going to enroll in a class so I'm forced to actually work on it, and so at least once a week or whatever i can take my project somewhere where there is the surface and tools to get something done. I don't have a work table at my house, or a sewing room, or any place for my sewing maching to stay...I have to clear the kitchen table and use that, then put it all away when I'm done, and it hampers progress when it comes to quilting.


----------



## Mr. H.

Oh becki-o...
We stopped at an antique store yesterday and this was hanging on the wall. Doubt it's "antique" but thought you'd appreciate it.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Oh becki-o...
> We stopped at an antique store yesterday and this was hanging on the wall. Doubt it's "antique" but thought you'd appreciate it.


 It's a beautiful barnraising log cabin quilt, Mr. H. Someone used a lot of everything on the top, and it is likely to be valuable someday due to the stunning variety of fabrics that document a certain era of time during the quilter's life. Some of the more comprehensive quilt museums catalog all the fabrics that are printed and sold nationally and internationally. The most recent fabric often nails the time the quilt was completed, unless the quilter signed her work, embroidered a year, and her location. If those inscriptions are there the value of the piece triples or even goes through the roof. Can you imagine finding a quilt at a rummage sale with Martha Washington's name embroidered on it, and historians finding that the latest fabric added was 10 years prior to her demise, and that stitches and thread were from the same spool as one of her known works?

See what I mean?


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> How depressing. It is still sitting, unfinished, in my bedroom.
> 
> How many years has it been? 4????? I think so, lol. Well when I finish my daughter's pillow, and the sock monkeys at the beginning of Feb, then that is my next project, and I will not stop until it's finished.
> 
> I think I will probably take it to one of our local quilt shops to quilt the border. Because the measurements are sort of weird (I think it's sort of long and skinny) the border is quite large and weird...so I want it to be tightly quilted to give it some interest...and i think, just to get it done and out of the way, I will pay someone to use a machine quilter to do it, so i can get it done and send it off.
> 
> I think for my next project, I'm going to enroll in a class so I'm forced to actually work on it, and so at least once a week or whatever i can take my project somewhere where there is the surface and tools to get something done. I don't have a work table at my house, or a sewing room, or any place for my sewing maching to stay...I have to clear the kitchen table and use that, then put it all away when I'm done, and it hampers progress when it comes to quilting.


"If you finish the quilt now, it won't have to be her coffin quilt" is the phrase I use to prompt myself to finish a quilt, Koshergrl. Hope that helps.


----------



## freedombecki

Which reminds me...the quilt I didn't finish yesterday didn't get finished today, because I had nothing matching to put in the borders. So I had to make yet another trip to the quilt store. This time I was good. I spent less than $20 and only bought one fabric for something else. That's a huge improvement over my last 4 trips of stash-building. (don't ask, because I'm not telling).


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh becki-o...
> We stopped at an antique store yesterday and this was hanging on the wall. Doubt it's "antique" but thought you'd appreciate it.
> 
> 
> 
> It's a beautiful barnraising log cabin quilt, Mr. H. Someone used a lot of everything on the top, and it is likely to be valuable someday due to the stunning variety of fabrics that document a certain era of time during the quilter's life. Some of the more comprehensive quilt museums catalog all the fabrics that are printed and sold nationally and internationally. The most recent fabric often nails the time the quilt was completed, unless the quilter signed her work, embroidered a year, and her location. If those inscriptions are there the value of the piece triples or even goes through the roof. Can you imagine finding a quilt at a rummage sale with Martha Washington's name embroidered on it, and historians finding that the latest fabric added was 10 years prior to her demise, and that stitches and thread were from the same spool as one of her known works?
> 
> See what I mean?
Click to expand...

Hmmm... just looked like a big ol' quilt to me. 
Out of curiosity, I'll go back and check the price. Maybe take some close up shots.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh becki-o...
> We stopped at an antique store yesterday and this was hanging on the wall. Doubt it's "antique" but thought you'd appreciate it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​It's a beautiful barnraising log cabin quilt, Mr. H. Someone used a lot of everything on the top, and it is likely to be valuable someday due to the stunning variety of fabrics that document a certain era of time during the quilter's life. Some of the more comprehensive quilt museums catalog all the fabrics that are printed and sold nationally and internationally. The most recent fabric often nails the time the quilt was completed, unless the quilter signed her work, embroidered a year, and her location. If those inscriptions are there the value of the piece triples or even goes through the roof. Can you imagine finding a quilt at a rummage sale with Martha Washington's name embroidered on it, and historians finding that the latest fabric added was 10 years prior to her demise, and that stitches and thread were from the same spool as one of her known works?
> 
> See what I mean?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Hmmm... just looked like a big ol' quilt to me. I
> Out of curiosity, I'll go back and check the price. Maybe take some close up shots.
Click to expand...

 In the upper right corner, one down and one to the left is a square with green strips in the light area. On the dark area is a plaid that looks like the ones Roberta Horton designed and was woven for sale in or around 1994-1998. Also, her use of "that green" and "30s green" here there and everywhere tells me some of her stash dates back to the late 80s and also that she visited not only quillt stores, but outlet stores for bargain fabric. Her tissue-thin fabrics tell me she may have had access to a large collective quilt closet shared  by a guild and/or she had a half-dozen tubs of fabric from an estate in her stash. The use of folded quilt squares around the outside borders are also indicative of a huge stash at her access, and I'm (right or wrong) going to put a completion date at or around the mid to late 1990s or up to 10 years later, although she used from a stash that could have gone back to the 60s or even a little earlier, though not much, and I'm seeing almost no retro that started being popular around 2005 and later. Perhaps she started off with some inherited squares or belonged to a coop? These things are not known about the quilt unless there is a name tag and either she or her friends survive and could tell you about her quilt, her habits, etc. Sometimes groups of women will each buy a half yard of 10 fabrics, cut them into fat eighths and passed them around in a group of 4 to have 40 more choices to add to a personal stash. There are a myriad of ways to come up with all her variety, but just based on what I see in that quilt, you had a free-spirited and industrious woman undertaking a huge project and seeing it through until the last prairie point was attached to the quilted work's outside. (the folded fabric outer border is known as a "prairie points" finish and adds to the intrigue of the quilt since it is 9 times more work than a regular double bias-bound border edging.


----------



## freedombecki

The purple quilt was finished last night around 11 pm. It's a happy day.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> How depressing. It is still sitting, unfinished, in my bedroom.
> 
> How many years has it been? 4????? I think so, lol. Well when I finish my daughter's pillow, and the sock monkeys at the beginning of Feb, then that is my next project, and I will not stop until it's finished.
> 
> I think I will probably take it to one of our local quilt shops to quilt the border. Because the measurements are sort of weird (I think it's sort of long and skinny) the border is quite large and weird...so I want it to be tightly quilted to give it some interest...and i think, just to get it done and out of the way, I will pay someone to use a machine quilter to do it, so i can get it done and send it off.
> 
> I think for my next project, I'm going to enroll in a class so I'm forced to actually work on it, and so at least once a week or whatever i can take my project somewhere where there is the surface and tools to get something done. I don't have a work table at my house, or a sewing room, or any place for my sewing maching to stay...I have to clear the kitchen table and use that, then put it all away when I'm done, and it hampers progress when it comes to quilting.
> 
> 
> 
> "If you finish the quilt now, it won't have to be her coffin quilt" is the phrase I use to prompt myself to finish a quilt, Koshergrl. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...


I have a project that I started over 40 years ago.  My grandmother looked at it back then and said,  'they will sell that unfinished at your sale when you die.'  I think she may have been right.


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> How depressing. It is still sitting, unfinished, in my bedroom.
> 
> How many years has it been? 4????? I think so, lol. Well when I finish my daughter's pillow, and the sock monkeys at the beginning of Feb, then that is my next project, and I will not stop until it's finished.
> 
> I think I will probably take it to one of our local quilt shops to quilt the border. Because the measurements are sort of weird (I think it's sort of long and skinny) the border is quite large and weird...so I want it to be tightly quilted to give it some interest...and i think, just to get it done and out of the way, I will pay someone to use a machine quilter to do it, so i can get it done and send it off.
> 
> I think for my next project, I'm going to enroll in a class so I'm forced to actually work on it, and so at least once a week or whatever i can take my project somewhere where there is the surface and tools to get something done. I don't have a work table at my house, or a sewing room, or any place for my sewing maching to stay...I have to clear the kitchen table and use that, then put it all away when I'm done, and it hampers progress when it comes to quilting.
> 
> 
> 
> "If you finish the quilt now, it won't have to be her coffin quilt" is the phrase I use to prompt myself to finish a quilt, Koshergrl. Hope that helps.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I have a project that I started over 40 years ago. My grandmother looked at it back then and said, 'they will sell that unfinished at your sale when you die.' I think she may have been right.
Click to expand...

 
hahahahahahaha...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> "If you finish the quilt now, it won't have to be her coffin quilt" is the phrase I use to prompt myself to finish a quilt, Koshergrl. Hope that helps.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have a project that I started over 40 years ago. My grandmother looked at it back then and said, 'they will sell that unfinished at your sale when you die.' I think she may have been right.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> hahahahahahaha...
Click to expand...

 Actually, I really do have a project like that somewhere.... *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

I'm ridiculously excited about this weekend...I'm going to make 3 more sock puppets..one for the church bassinette and 2 more for my own kids...and if I can find them, I'm using NEW RED HEELED WORKSOCKS! Yes, isn't that awesome? This is a logging community, I don't foresee any problem in locating some, somewhere. Probably right next to the suspenders, thermal underwear and flannel shirts.

I also hope to finish up the girl's little pillow....and I intend to start the two little girls (9 and 5) on embroider projects of their own. I think samplers, that we can put in a frame and hang in the bedroom!

Does that sound like a plan, or what?

Notice I'm not mentioning the quilt yet. Well until I did, right there....<<<<


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm ridiculously excited about this weekend...I'm going to make 3 more sock puppets..one for the church bassinette and 2 more for my own kids...and if I can find them, I'm using NEW RED HEELED WORKSOCKS! Yes, isn't that awesome? This is a logging community, I don't foresee any problem in locating some, somewhere. Probably right next to the suspenders, thermal underwear and flannel shirts.
> 
> I also hope to finish up the girl's little pillow....and I intend to start the two little girls (9 and 5) on embroider projects of their own. I think samplers, that we can put in a frame and hang in the bedroom!
> 
> Does that sound like a plan, or what?
> 
> Notice I'm not mentioning the quilt yet. Well until I did, right there....<<<<


 Hurry, Koshergrl! Gotta see that Lumberjack sock monkey.  Will he have the red and black check vest/shirt regional lumberjacks wear? (or was that color just from the Willamette Valley where we lived?) We lived there from 78-83. I loved the place.


----------



## koshergrl

Just a few more minutes and it will be sock monkey shopping time! Woo hoo!!!!


----------



## Sunshine

My green blocks aren't going as fast as they were in TN - 1 a week.  I just realized that I was teaching and off during the summer then.  Now I'm working full time and driving an hour one way every work day.  DUH.  Going to have to slow down a bit, but I still don't have many to do.  Should still be done before summer gets here.  Maybe even before I retire.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> My green blocks aren't going as fast as they were in TN - 1 a week. I just realized that I was teaching and off during the summer then. Now I'm working full time and driving an hour one way every work day. DUH. Going to have to slow down a bit, but I still don't have many to do. Should still be done before summer gets here. Maybe even before I retire.


 I think a slower pace is a good idea, especially if you have experienced pain in hands, arms, or shoulders after embroidering by hand nonstop for 3 days. Carpal tunnel is often caused by overuse when doing hobbies doing the same motion repeatedly. Overuse can cause problems in any joint or muscle, depending on your body's propensities. I just hope you can stitch in comfort and keep muscles and joints covered by layering so you can remain comfortable when stitching. I got carpal tunnel once, years ago when cross stitching a sampler. Boy, was I mad I couldn't finish it. Now, if aches start, I just lay off a little while, grab a mug of hot steamy red raspberry bigelow tea (tm), relax, warm up, do something else for a while, then go back when I'm rested. Crochet could have the same effect, but I've learned just when to stop and change focus for a little while, or even until the next day sometimes. When you're working, I know you don't have that luxury. It won't be long to May!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I got all the log cabin squares doen for another red log cabin quilt. Now, it's just a matter of finishing the star-shaped center and adding corners. I took down my old printer, got the new one set up, but it malfunctioned. When I called up hp, they located the problem being inside the computer, and are sending a new one out which will take about 10 days. Oh, well. I hate to put a printer on my new computer, so I have to wait a few days before posting pictures again. I completed 24 blocks just before lunch today.


----------



## koshergrl

Ok, I bought stuff for the sock monkeys but went to the beach instead with my oldest son, lol.

I'm working on the french knots on the little pillow....


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Ok, I bought stuff for the sock monkeys but went to the beach instead with my oldest son, lol.
> 
> I'm working on the french knots on the little pillow....


 It's going to be a masterpiece. koshergrl.

My new large printer didn't work, so they're going to replace it. I disconnected my other small printer, now I can't show progress.

I finished 24 squares on the red log cabin and joined them to be a large log cabin star with sawtooth borders at top and bottom to make it 36x56 so far. When all the borders are added, I hope it measures around 42x60". That's the plan, anyway. 

So it's off to the sewing room to put on the last borders, then I'm turning in my aches for a good night's rest.

God bless our troops


----------



## freedombecki

Last night, I just crawled under the covers & slept, got up bright and early and completed the red log cabin quilt later in the morning. Anyway, it measures 42.5" x 62.5". 

Sorry, no picture.

...waiting for printer...


----------



## freedombecki

Today was spent making another red log cabin series of squares, which are as yet incomplete. The 10 January quilts were taken down to the quilter's closet, six miles from our farm. I pray that they will cheer up the children who find themselves in the shelter for abused families.  

The only other thing I did was to do a sample of a square for another small quilt, after the second red one, which was a double-strip log cabin that was so cute I did it from memory, having seen a quilt like it online before my old computer crashed last week. I can hardly wait to get started! 

Hope everyone here is doing well and enjoying pages past on this thread. It's off to the sewing machine, so see you later.


----------



## freedombecki

The February red log cabin quilt has 4 red blocks in the center. All 24 blocks are ready to set in place around the center. 3 hours of work later, it might be another quilt in the area of 42x60" (give or take a few inches, depending on what the border begs).

The next quilt is a double-strip log cabin, which, the way I've joined the first 6 or 7 prototype blocks resemble water wheels. Someone in Australia had given it a name, though her blocks look totally different from mine, which are distinct-centered squares with light color legs next to the center and darker ones to the outside. The lady from Australia (au address) made some practice squares that employ a random character print appearance. Aussies must have other sources for quilt fabrics than the USA, because I wasn't recognizing so much as a modicum of her prints. I'm rather impressed, and saved it on my new computer. See if it can be pulled up.

Well for what it's worth, her centers are 4-patches. Mine are solid centers 3" before sewing and 2.5" squares when finished. The double strips (aka twosies) finish at 1.25" per strip and the pair finishes at 2.5" like the center. The light strips, place at center, form legs like waterwheels, sorta. Her double strips are far more dispersive in their appearance's approach. Oh, I also just noticed: hers are set like log cabins. Mine are not. The strips are all cut 5.5" and sewn in a special way that causes them to look like I did a lot more work than was actually done.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, not too much progress, but the star is assembled.


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful, Becki. 

I still haven't done my monkeys but I think I'm very close, lol. I went into Fred Meyer's today and they had sock monkey basket thingies! I about died! I should have looked at the price, darnit...

The ones I do this time will have red lips. I have some red felt (I haven't been able to find any red-toed/red-heeled socks!).

So I'm really bummed because I finished the embroidery on the little pillow...and went to start on the ruffle and half of it is missing! At some point, it got separated from the rest of the stuff and it's gone. So I have to think of what to do for a ruffle. I can either try to find some material that perfectly matches...or just use a different fabric. I'm bummed, but will forge ahead. It's not like I don't have scads of material...but it will not be the same color as the body of the pillow. Still I think if I used green for the ruffle, my daughter would love it, as she loves green...I think that is what I will probably do.

As I stew on that, I've started a couple of sets of pillow cases. A couple of years ago my daughter and I embroidered a couple of pillow cases, and we gave those as gifts (with new pillows stuffed in them, of course!) to the kids' nana. I think that's a pretty good, inexpensive gift to have hanging around. The ones I'm working on now are a pair of swans, probably take up 1/4-1/3 of the length of the pillow case...pretty big but very cool. Unfortunately, I can't find any place here that sells floss, and my supply is getting low!!!!!


----------



## koshergrl

I have scoped out a print shop though...I'm about ready to start creating some of my own transfers for embroidery, and my understanding is the way to do it is draw it out and take it to a print shop and they put it on the right kind of paper...


----------



## freedombecki

Are you designing your own? If so, write a book, koshergrl!


----------



## freedombecki

The red points-of-light log cabin quilt for Tall Pines Charity Bees is done. It measures 43 1/2 x 66", give or take an inch either way. Morning is a good time to work on a quilt. It was completed before making raisin spice oatmeal for the freedom family.  

Here it is the 8th of February, and only one quilt is done. Too much red! Time to move on, except I cut enough more red strips to make 3 more quilts the same size. I keep the pieces in stacks, and one of the stacks was 3" high. Some were non-existent or had less than 5 pieces left. Now, they're all 4" high. lol! I haven't made a firm decision on the next one, except that little double-strip log cabin has 8 blocks already.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Are you designing your own? If so, write a book, koshergrl!


 
Not yet, but I'm going to. 

I want to make the girls samplers, and I want to make boy-themed pillow cases for my son. For him I want to do something with a  Minecraft (online game) theme. I'm a fair hand at sketching and I can figure it out...and my granddaughter wants to do something horsey for her little sampler....so I'm going to make a horse sampler with the alphabet, numbers and her name on it.


----------



## koshergrl

Here are some minecraft images; I'm sure I could turn them into an easy enough pattern:


----------



## freedombecki

That's something, koshergrl. I'd not seen those before. Apparently other quilters have, because when I loaded "minecraft quilt" there were dozens of items, this pillow being just one of them:


----------



## freedombecki

...and another that someone made ...


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, my goodness--cross stitches are everywhere with this idea! ​ 












My goodness, they're everywhere.


----------



## koshergrl

Ohmigosh! Those are great!!! I think we could throw one of those pillows together quickly!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Ohmigosh! Those are great!!! I think we could throw one of those pillows together quickly!


They'd sure be cute. Even so, I hope you load the information into your browser and see the alternatives you could use for making your son's pillow cases. It's great to have the internet to see what other people are doing so you can have a springboard for ideas. 

Today, I found a video on making crocheted crocodile lace. I bet Dabs could do that if she kept the video handy. She had that Hawt beautiful new colored crochet thread she was going to make a bedspread with. I bet she could make a scarf out of this technique:

[ame="http://youtu.be/RUNtrp_Vj4o"]Crocodile Stitch - How To Crochet - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## Bigfoot

freedombecki said:


> That's something, koshergrl. I'd not seen those before. Apparently other quilters have, because when I loaded "minecraft quilt" there were dozens of items, this pillow being just one of them:



Very nice.


----------



## Dabs

Becki...speaking of that new bright color yarn I bought to start a new afghan.....I have gotten a good portion done on it!
Here is how it looks so far


----------



## freedombecki

Dabs said:


> Becki...speaking of that new bright color yarn I bought to start a new afghan.....I have gotten a good portion done on it!
> Here is how it looks so far


 So that's where you've been keeping yourself, Dabs. You go girl!


----------



## freedombecki

...trying to envision tropical colored crocodile stitch... But I can't find my G hook! ​


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! I got my old printer hitched up to the new computer for temporary purposes until the other one gets sent off and returned. 

This morning, I was so inspired by everyone's politeness wherever I went, that I finished this little quilt started anywhere between ten and six years ago, but for one reason another, got constantly set aside. When we moved back to Texas 3 years ago, I found it in one of my fabric totes, and saw that it had one row short of a star, and that I'd either have to find enough self-same fabric to complete it or else cut it back two rows. It got put back. In the meantime, I used almost all the blue, having put it out of sight and out of mind. It popped up again last week around Thursday or Friday, when I found the bin, dusted it off well, and brought it up to my sewing room. I decided, forget about making it the largest child quilt ever, just get the seam ripper out and make it look like it was planned to be either a child-sized quilt for the local shelter or a wheelchair veterans' quilt. I put a "Forget me Nots border along with a little of the back ground material, of which I had a little less than a quarter of a yard, so cut 4 strips that would finish out to one inch. It needed a darker blue, but I found the blue highlight in a marble fabric by Moda fabrics and had just enough to cut 2" strips to go around it. It went nicely between the tricolor quilt squares and the Forget-me-nots flowers I bought a bolt of in honor of my mother, who always had Forget-me-nots in her amazing garden, wherever she went. We'd lived in Alaska when I was young, and saw them growing out near a baseball field one of the first nights we were in Alaska's Fort Richardson, where Dad had been called for whatever they needed him for on the base there at that time of Cold War Troop training maneuvers. One of his old CO's remembered him and wanted his skill. His cover story was they wanted a top baseball player to coach the base team, but he was one of the top marksmen in WWII and Korea. He never missed what he shot at. Like you could teach that to someone else by osmosis. 

Anyhow, here's this quilt top that has set too long in a plastic tub with other UFOs (UnFinished Objects):

Scan 1: Top Border with designation tag
Scan 2: Partial Star showing the blue 9-patch square
Scan 2: Partial Star showing the Snowball/Kansas Dugout square


----------



## freedombecki

Here are some scans from that quilt I dragged my heiny on for a whole week while it was being completed at the slowest pace imaginable. All the squares got completed in one day's time. I guess some art comes out in artistic spurts of completion.

OMG I just saw the most beautiful dark blue with almost-red chested bluebird hopping across the lawn. I don't know if his deep coloration is due to contrast on the grub-infested or winter straw-brown of St. Augustine grass or if he was just dining on the local deep red berries of the Holly and Yupon tree/shrubs on and near our acreage out here in beautiful rusticated Walker County. None of the pictures you see show them this deep coloration in any of the magazines or online, but that's what he was. A beautiful Eastern Bluebird!

Back to the subject at hand, here are scans of quilt #11 for 2013, the Red Points of Light, Sawtoothed-Border Quilt top completed on February 8. One good thing about taking one's time--I had a lot of time to think about using this fabulous piece of Hoffman Red Maple leaf print that I got for the shop and held back a 3-yard piece for my personal stash. We'd visited New Hampshire 10 years ago, where I saw the most dazzling array of red maples you could imagine. The locals said it was the best color year they could recall in 15 years. What a privilege to see the red maple trees of New Hampshire that fall.

Back to the Red Maple-Bordered Points of Light Quilt Top!

Scan 1 - Showing the Red Maple Hoffman border print and quilt description
Scan 2 - One of 16 points of light--8 of them are in the star portion, and 8 of them are sawtooth borders at top and bottom to make room for a young child's growth spurts until he reaches the quilt's measurement, which is around 66" in length. (5 feet, 6 inches)
Scan 3 - Solid red logs in the log cabin centers. (4 solid reds in center and 4 solid reds in corners of 8-point stars to square the quilt off and make it look right)


----------



## freedombecki

This afternoon, I needed an easy project to do. Thinking that checkerboard was probably the quickest, I had these two pieces of orange print fabrics--one a white dot on bright orange background and one a large orange dot on a white background and decided 4" squares sewn together would make the perfect clown-dot checkerboard quilt. So far, it is half done. 

Orange is a very interesting color. They say it's the color that is most attractive to the mind. It's one of the school colors of the University of Illinois Illini, Sam Houston State University Bearcats, Oregon State University Beavers, University of Texas Longhorns, and of course the Denver Broncos aka the Orange Crush. Orange is the color of some very good fruits and vegetables, all of which have unique antioxidant properties, not to mention great vitamin contents that boost the immune system and sharpen the eyesight. Orange is the picture of health, enagmatic sunsets and sunrises, and it's playful as a bikini, a clown outfit, a race car, or in neon lights. I totally love the color orange. And Eastern Bluebirds wear it proudly on their sweet little chests. 

So I like to do an orange quilt now and then just because. It can turn a gray day into a day that has a charge. And if a reasonably good looking guy wears a California orange shirt, all the girls just swoon and might likely fall in love!

Anyway, children look great in orange, too. It's youthful, it's vibrant, it's healthy, and it's happy. Orange is all things merry and good. Making a perfectly orange quilt will hopefully bring some joy into a little life somewhere where a little joy would be welcome!

Scan 1 - one of the 40 4-patch squares that will measure 7" when finished
Scan 2 - a part of the half of the quilt cut, started, and partly finished this afternoon
Scan 3 - this determined woman's beautiful red and white checkerboard quilt from solid colors. I found it here, where this lady has seen the red and white show in NYC a year ago March and decided to go for making her own collection that is shown at her blogspot LINK, cupcakes and daisies. You have to really scroll down on this extra-long page to find it, that's why I'm putting it in a thumbnail. If you just click on it, you won't have to do all that scrolling at the LINK, but then you'd miss her blow-by-blow progress on her personal red and white quilts she's doing. They're definitely worth a look!


----------



## freedombecki

Whilst looking for border material, a solid color orange appeared, and it looked llike there was plenty of it! After inspecting it closer, it was in two pieces, one of which appeared slightly darker than the other. The "brighter" orange solid was selected, and the appropriate strips cut, and the Orange polkadot quilt became a reality this morning around 6 am after another 2 hours of finishing it up, that is. 

Upon examination of the "darker" piece, which was being readied for re-storage, a quilt was found put together that had an orange backing cut for it, and was neatly folded together and forgotten while another 3 or 4 similar quilts were constructed using many other colors than orange as borders! That was at least 2 years, maybe three years ago. Somehow, it stayed there until early this morning, when a bleary-eyed quilter picked it up and received the joyous shock of finding a charity quilt good to go, after last week's butt-dragging and seemingly getting nowhere with a quilt that's been done a dozen times before in just a couple of days. lololol! So this morning, quilts 13 and 14 for the year 2013 are done! Woohoo! Yea! and all that jazz. 

And for February, that means 4 quilts are in the neat little pile where quilts ready to go to the Charity Bees closet accumulate until there are 10 in number. Surely one quilt can be done between now and the 14th, which is approximately half of February. Guess a heart template should be cut and assembled into some kind of a valentine quilt. It would be so nice if the one I designed a couple of weeks ago would magically appear. All the pictures taken for all of last year's quilts are gone with my computer that went out a couple of weeks back. It has no desktop, no access to anywhere including internal files. 

Even so, it's a happy day! 2 more quilts across the goalpost!


----------



## freedombecki

Here are a couple more shots of the Echo Frames quilt top found this morning.

And Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Oh, and it's almost Valentine's day and this didn't get done (maybe today?):


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes, a holiday is upon us, and the project for that time cannot possibly get done within a 48 hour time parameter. That's time to put it to rest, and a good plan is to place a Valentine's quilt's start 6 months before February 14. That would be around the middle of August. Of course, by then, you'd be wise to be finishing up your Christmas gift sewing. Maybe starting a Valentine's day quilt around the middle of September would be better. Yes, it would take a couple of months to make a detailed top, call the quilter to see if her calendar will allow her to quilt yours by the first of February if you are giving it locally, and by the middle of January if you need to mail the quilt off across country. If you are working with hand quilters, depending on their work load, you should get advice from them now about what their schedule will allow. If they say, "first come, first served," that means they are fair, but you need a couple of months sooner to turn it in to them, because it takes longer, and their Christmas quilting might give you a run for your money. Quilting takes time. Good quilting takes much longer. Ask the quilters. They may tell you a year and a half due to a backlog of quilts. But that is the way of quilts. If you really wish to truly understand how long it takes to machine or handquilt a quilt, it pays to do one yourself first, when there are no time constraints. That will tell you the commitment and time others have to complete a quilt.

I well knew that when I posted the heart quilt (above) I just wasn't facing the fact that it likely wouldl not happen. What did happen in my quilt room that day was an assessment and some logic going on upstairs. The assessment showed I had a gross surplus of logs cut for green log cabin quilts. The logic said "St. Patrick's day is 30 days away" That's plenty of time for me to finish a couple of green log cabin quilts, if other things don't get pushed in the way first. So for the last couple of days, I dutifully cut green lights to go with the surplus of dark precut greens and have sewn some together. I will post the progress report below in a few minutes, just not right now. It takes a half hour to warm up the printer and get it rolling. My progress is not significant, but getting started to the 4th row in 2 days is ok. There are at least 200 green centers 
now cut as well. Back in a bit.

After returning...

Scans 1, 2 and 3 each have 6 of the 24 log cabin 2-color quilt in case I decide to just do a plain log cabin and get it over with. In front of the sewing machine are 24 more dark squares, 8 of which are required to do a points of light quilt, which reduces the need for 24 star points to 8 star points and 8 sawtooth border points for lengthening the quilt to a child's size.The 8 leftover half-light and half-dark log cabin squares will be a nice start on the next quilt. That's why making 2 of the same quilt back-to-back makes good sense. There are now plenty of strips cut for one quilt of the lights, and enough for 2 or 3, maybe even 4 of precut darks that were cut in the past 2 or 3 years. Back to the 3 scans, here's what took all morning today. The afternoon was spent driving to and from a quilt store 60 miles away to get matches for a quilt I will be doing soon plus a couple of light greens.


----------



## freedombecki

The solid blocks of log cabins that are dark greens will be the center base for making the star points stand out, along with four more separate the points of light at the corners of the star. the last 8 blocks are points that when aligned just so are called sawtooth points--4 at top, and 4 at bottom. Here are the dark blocks at stage 5 logs, and a couple scans of light and dark log cabin squares that are at stage 9 logs (of either 13 or 17, probably will go to 17. 17 just look nicer when doing points.)

That just about ends my day.

God bless the beasts and the children.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning progress saw all 8 of the darks to go out to the 9th row of logs (including the log center) and the remainder of the light and dark squares to also be as the ones on the right above. I worked from about 4 am on. Some of the greens may be bigger than the above... It's not rocket science, so you don't have to do much except stop after the first row of 9.5" strips. Then you are done with both light and dark squares as well as dark ones.

More lights need to be cut. The repeats are getting under my nails. I just came in the computer area to pick up the fabrics I bought yesterday. It was fun to see someone had read this thread. Thanks, Mr. H. You're the best.


----------



## freedombecki

My dear mother advised about making mistakes on sewing days, that if you make a mistake or two, it could be time for a break. So after sewing two different pieces on wrong on the same log cabin block, I decided she was right. So after replacing the strip by ripping and redoing TWICE, I just left the sewing room, two blocks in hand to scan and show. I'm on row 14 on both the darks and the light and dark squares and will have 8 dark and light squares left to start the next green quilt when done. In the meantime, I must either cut 40 more dark strips or find all the dark green strips I didn't find when starting this quilt. Somewhere in my stacks of fabric, bins, and/or boxes, there are 6 or 7 dark green 1.5" strip bags that have about 100 strips apiece in them, some are doubled, some tripled, and some are singles, not to mention a lot of strips rolled in sweet bun rolls after cutting a strip or two for "later" over the last 3 years of cutting and sewing strips with which to make log cabin quilts. There are likely over 200 dark-to-medium green yardages in stash bins as well, not counting lights and medium lights. Well, I organized all of them once, and they're in a box all together somewhere...

Here are the two scans--one is a completed light and dark log cabin square, the other an all-dark one to the fourteenth row, ready to start row 15 and 16, both of which will be 8.5" cuts, and 17, which will be 9.5" cuts. The squares will all finish out around 9", and potentially slightly less since I still haven't mastered the bernina scant quarter inch yet. I sewed on pfaffs since 1966, got my first quilt foot in 1985 or '86, and at the edge, the Pfaff foot sews a scant quarter inch, which translates to a perfect 1" size every time if you cut your strips exactly 1.5." Not sure what the problem is, but the foot from center needle position measures at 1/4" exactly, which is not a scant, and this machine does not allow a slight needle position change when using the single stitch plate and the 1/4" foot. It's all electronically digitized, so I'm stuck with what I get, which is 1/4" plus the thickness of the thread, which comes out about 1/8" shy after sewing on 17 pieces together to form the 9" square. I just can't see to sew two fabric threads under 1/4" edge of the bernina foot. It could have been that my foot got placed a millimeter to the right, because you can see the split in the foot seems to make the needle appear closer to the left side of the slit than the right. When you remove the foot, the needle is perfectly in the center of the plate hole right to left and front to back. The problem has to be that the foot somehow melted and pushed a tad to the right at the same time. That has to be the problem. A lot of the better quilt fabrics have a high thread count, so 2 threads is the equivalent of old fabrics that had the low count of 60 threads per inch, although if the threads were fatter, the quilt fabric was sturdy. Quilt fabric threads are not that thick.

I just prefer my squares to come out uniformly without having to think about 2 threads going to the left and under the side of the foot, where you cannot see them. 

So such as they are, here are my two blocks. All the other blocks are finished to row 14 of the 17 logs.


----------



## freedombecki

All the blocks are done! The 16 central blocks are sewn together to form the points of light star, and the two sawtooth top and lower borders are stitched together, waiting to be put together to form a quilt.

Then, it's just a matter of cutting borders from two dark green fabric, which seems to heighten the effect of the points.

I'm loving this quilt now. 

It was true worth getting up at 5 am to sew the last 2 or 3 dark rows on the squares and get it together!

And in a couple of hours or less, it could be a done deal. Will save the celebratory remarks for when there's something to celebrate, though, and finishing the quilt top is a truly good reward for hard work. Can't wait to show the scan of the border when it's done.


----------



## Mr. H.

You deserve a day off. Monday is President's day, y'know.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Mr. H.


----------



## freedombecki

It's done, here are some glimpses:

Scan 1 a corner

Scan 2 A sawtooth point 

Scan 3 Left top of quilt with designation details.

It was fun.


----------



## freedombecki

More pictures--the center of the Points of Light quilts that I do are always the dark color in log art form.

It goes fast when you're paying attention. 

Scan 1 is the center 4 blocks, all dark

Scan 2 shows a star point

Scan 3 shows the dark corner between two star points

The quilt top measures 44.5" x ~ 65." I like to keep the east-west measurement of the child's quilt under 45" in case they use batting by the bolt that measures 45" in width. It's just more efficient.


----------



## Bigfoot

Those are very nice looking. Sophisticated.


----------



## koshergrl

The green is sooo beautiful.


----------



## freedombecki

Bigfoot said:


> Those are very nice looking. Sophisticated.


 Thanks, Bigfoot. I'm a fabriholic frequently seen at quilt habitues' merchant paradises finding jewel fabrics that make a textural statement to be exploited. Intentionally placing fabrics with differences in scale, texture, focal point, value, and color types (hues, tints, shades, atmmospherics, etc.) and arranging them where they make a statement in monochrome is my idea of a challenge, and I love every minute before an 1100spm sewing machine that performs well. Of course, if you make a mistake, you better be quick about laying off the pressure foot! hahaha


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> The green is sooo beautiful.


 Thanks, koshergrl. My love affair with green was hereditary--I got it from my daughter who thinks it is by far the best color in the rainbow. She gave it a lot more imortance in my little paradigm of primary colors. After making her first green quilt, I learned it was a color you can stay with and for some reason, I am likelier to finish a green quilt than any other color.


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes digging in an old fabric scraps box can bring up something forgotten for more than 10 years. That happened sometime yesterday when green strips were the pursuant end. During a very busy time of quilt store business in the mid to late nineties (1996-1998, give or take a year), over a hundred pink, green and ruby-colored courthouse steps were pieced together in slaphazard style as suggested by the quilted sweatshirt pattern. So this really wasn't intended to be a quilt, but it will make 2 or 3 courthouse steps child-or-wheelchair senior quilts that will warm someone at night in the wintertime here. Most of the pieces are in 7" courthouse steps blocks, but the defining piece was a 3x8 (24 blocks) segment that if widened with more blocks, will make a just dandy child's quilt. Initially, it was not well-pressed and shabby-chic looking, but after readying it, pressing it, and opening the windows to the beautiful sunny day outside, it has a rather sprightly appearance. If you are wondering what UFO1 is, it stands for "UnFinished Object" 1 = 1st quilt of the group. When done it will have 35 or 42 squares, most likely 35, and the large side strips that were attached to either side and took a painstaking 2 hours to remove, due to the 1.5mm stitches (20 to the inch, at least, probably more) being so difficult to see and rip out without damaging the beautiful fabric of both squares and "border" which may become the outside border of the finished work.

Here are 3 scans, 1 and 3 from the 3x8 rectangle of 24 blocks, and 2 from just one of at least 50, probably more, single blocks found with the sewn rectangle. There could be more, the original sweatshirt planned took 120 blocks. I made 2 other sweatshirts from the pattern earlier. I hate to do anything twice, even more so when the 3rd time comes up, which may have been the straw that broke the camel's back as to why this did not see completion years ago. Oh, yes, It was an exceptionally busy time at the business in which I was working over 80 hours a week at the shop and singing in the choir. Whew! I was so tired at night, I just dropped and slept like a log for 7 hours before jumping up and getting back up to the shop to do the day. That's probably why---all personal items got set aside, and it was going to be a really cute quilted sweatshirt, too. It's fun to make quilted wearables--people see what you're wearing and want one, too. 

So glad this piece of wannabe vanity will be a warm quilt for some little guy out there who needs one.


----------



## freedombecki

She's done!! 

And here are the scans. After spending the 2 hours disconnecting the sides (that later became the outer border) from the 3x8 (24 blocks) rectangle, the backside of the rectangle was a total mess, due to my not very admirable techniques of 15 years ago. Stuff was pressed wrong, and buildups of edges were everywhere. After fixing it, keeping in mind most of the fabrics used in the quilt are not on hand to work with if there is a problem, three more hours passed ripping open 24 junctures, opening seams, pressing fabric that had been sewn together all those years, restitching so that the other way could also be pressed open, etc. The hard work paid off. When the top is flat, the quilt takes on a lovely, organized persona, and pressing will brighten colors obfuscated by the just-washed look of fabrics that have set through more than a dozen winters in a box, warm in summer, cold in winter, etc. The good thing is that the fabrics were always well-preserved in high-cool-dry Wyoming and kept in the dark of old-style recycled plastic containers. That is most preservative, particularly the 20-50% less oxygen in mile-high high altitude as is in Central Wyoming, not to mention a closer to neutral pH of the whole place.

There were only 2 pieces, 3.5x 4" of the outer border after the 7" strips were removed. 12" less would have meant a gap in the outer border. Everything went well. Plus there are still a lot and lot of courthouse steps blocks left over, and possibly enough for 2 more quilts similar to this one. 
This one measures about 45x64."

Here are the border scans for the 6th charity quilt completed in February:


----------



## freedombecki

I has a sad and I need some sunshine. So, I went picking through the yellows and golds bin and found some fabrics filled with daylight. 

Scans of stash that could work:

Scan one, bright and deep golds

Scan two, gold heart

Scan three, light sunny floral for contrast

Will try to be back a little later with a mock-up block. I may have to make a change or two, we'll see how she goes.


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Row 1 is changed to use a new fabric (called fossil fern) that was found this morning after doing the first 3 logs. The next color had not been cut yet, so it worked out just fine.

Scan 2 - All 51 blocks started are out to stage 5 log rows. Only 48 will be used in the quilt. That way, if something comes up cattywumpus in one of the blocks, it can be removed, the top finished, then can be repaired and made into the back of a potholder or hot mat. The Ruby-spruce quilt taught that lesson. It had pods of matted fabric all over the place on the back which took 3 hours to rip out, smooth out, resew, and clip. Fabric technique has come a long way in the probably 15 years since that top of 24 squares was done. After quilting other people's errors hundreds of times, losing a needle here and having an additional machine repair there, it becomes clearer and clearer that a quilt back with threads snipped, removed, and seams opened gives the most pleasant machine experience possible. Needless to mention, the quilt looks 150% better.

Scan 3 - The sunshine boquet print (small flowers) above does not show the cheddar aspect of the yellow flowers. It is a deep gold-yellow, and not a bit paler. It looks so light in the scan above this post, but that's how it goes. Anyway, another fabric was located that duplicates the shade, but it is unknown whether there is enough fabric to do the next row. If this fabric is used, some *serious* calculating will have to be done or a golder print found somewhere. It is shown with 2 partially-done blocks finished to the 7th row of logs.

Picking out fabrics early has had a good effect of the yellow flower print sinking in. The color comes alive when it goes under the iron. There is much to do before the sun sets tonight.


----------



## Delia

freedombecki said:


> Scan 1 - Row 1 is changed to use a new fabric (called fossil fern) that was found this morning after doing the first 3 logs. The next color had not been cut yet, so it worked out just fine.
> 
> Scan 2 - All 51 blocks started are out to stage 5 log rows. Only 48 will be used in the quilt. That way, if something comes up cattywumpus in one of the blocks, it can be removed, the top finished, then can be repaired and made into the back of a potholder or hot mat. The Ruby-spruce quilt taught that lesson. It had pods of matted fabric all over the place on the back which took 3 hours to rip out, smooth out, resew, and clip. Fabric technique has come a long way in the probably 15 years since that top of 24 squares was done. After quilting other people's errors hundreds of times, losing a needle here and having an additional machine repair there, it becomes clearer and clearer that a quilt back with threads snipped, removed, and seams opened gives the most pleasant machine experience possible. Needless to mention, the quilt looks 150% better.
> 
> Scan 3 - The sunshine boquet print (small flowers) above does not show the cheddar aspect of the yellow flowers. It is a deep gold-yellow, and not a bit paler. It looks so light in the scan above this post, but that's how it goes. Anyway, another fabric was located that duplicates the shade, but it is unknown whether there is enough fabric to do the next row. If this fabric is used, some *serious* calculating will have to be done or a golder print found somewhere. It is shown with 2 partially-done blocks finished to the 7th row of logs.
> 
> Picking out fabrics early has had a good effect of the yellow flower print sinking in. The color comes alive when it goes under the iron. There is much to do before the sun sets tonight.



Those colors just lifted my spirits.


----------



## freedombecki

Delia said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> <omitted most of scan info--see above>
> 
> Picking out fabrics early has had a good effect of the yellow flower print sinking in. The color comes alive when it goes under the iron. There is much to do before the sun sets tonight.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those colors just lifted my spirits.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Delia. Color has a really good effect on my full-body-cramp fibromyalgia days. I also had parathyroid surgery a couple of years back that took some of the pain away except during weather changes. If I get chilled, I have full-body cramps, probably related to not enough calcium, which is what the parathyroid does. I'm allergic to all calcium supplements. I have to drink milk 4 times a day or else. And let me tell you. Those full-body cramps are accompanied by screaming. I've learned to just go take a nap, think mellow thoughts, relax, and try to fall asleep until the pain passes. lol

On a happier note, I spent the afternoon sewing like a woman possessed but didn't quite get all done. After it became rather clear tomorrow would also be spent sewing, I completed a couple of blocks and decided on a setting and selected streak of lightning log cabin setting, which may be called zigzag going horizontal (or the two names may be interchangable)

I haven't done a zigzag log cabinarrangement in a couple of years, probably, so it was time, considering I did about 20 log cabins last year for charity, of the 110 quilts completed. It's so second nature to me, I can often crank out a 600-piece one in a day. This one will have 624 logs when the 48 blocks are done. 

Scan 1 Layout sheet found online for vertical streak of lightning using 48 blocks (this one will be horizontal)

Scan 2 Chain Sewing logs onto a log cabin block (saves time)

Scan 3 One finished sunshine log cabin block

The fabric in the floral is homespunish. Also the color of the yellow rose is actually the same cheddar color one finds in quilts of the antebellum era. So, considering the antique delicate feel of this fabric, and its colors, it may be way older than I estimated yesterday before I actually got the strips cut and did sewing. The fabric is "spongy" feeling like truly antique fabrics are. When you hold the fabric up to the light, the threads in the fabric are anything but even bits of cotton. The milling process dates way back in time, it seems to me. Even so, antebellum was before 1860, of course. Cheddar as a dye may have had a comeback in the 1880s. Today, we get every color, but our fabrics have absolutely even threads for the most part unless you are buying linen. This fabric has woven threads that are all over the map. It was like sewing silly putty sometimes, the weight of the machine pressure foot actually exacerbated the spongy quality of the fabric. I may have been sewing on a fabric over 100 years old (though not sure). Also, it had the texture of feed sacks. That could explain the odd tatters along the selvage every 15 or 20 inches. That could also explain why a 3-yard piece would have an edge like that when all else was perfect. It could have gotten gnarled in machinery, carefully removed, and set aside and restarted with another start along the reel of the same fabric, or it could have been at the end, where stuff happens on older manufacturing equipment. Back then, companies knew they were going to lose a couple of yards at the beginning and end of any sacking project. 

/speculation only.

I just don't know. I've never seen another print like it. When it started acting silly under the needle, I got all excited about the age of the fabric and began examining it a little closer. If you click on the one below, you can see the most beautiful hue of pure turquoise in the forget-me-not flowers near the yellow roses. Also, you'll notice there are two different looks. I don't know why my scanner makes some bright and others dull. It's a mystery of God.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I surfed using Bing and Google search engines and found a myriad of beautiful quilts people have made using every quilt technique imaginable to make a Streak O' Lightning Quilt. They used bricks, 4-patches, squares, drunkard's path, log cabins, triangles, you name it they did it. I think I'll take up some space showing some of what was found:

Scan 1 - Patriotic Log Cabin Child's quilt (QID, likely)

Scan 2 - Streak O' Lightning using Delectable Mountains Template--also likely, QID (quilt in a day, TM)

Scan 3 - Antique Streak O' Lightning using an original American Flag at the turn of the 19th to 20th century


----------



## freedombecki

More Streak O' Lightning Quilts using various techniques

1 - Color wheel opposites Streak O' Lightning log cabin, purple and yellow

2 - Baby Blocks Hexagonal shapes Streak O' Lightning

3 - 4-patch Streak O' Lightning


----------



## freedombecki

1 - Triangles

2 - Twosie Squares

3 - Bricks, Contemporary


----------



## freedombecki

1 - Unique Streak

2 - Streaks of Selvages

3 - Streaks using Country Charm squares


----------



## Mr. H.

Damn girl. You a quilt-makin' foo'.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Damn girl. You a quilt-makin' foo'.


 Guilty as charged.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I had to live up to Mr. H's teasing, so I finished the yellow quilt this morning. I used all my wiles learned the year I worked in a sewing factory, and cranked it out faster than ever before. Anyone who could sew 500 zippers into a stretchy swimsuit back when womens' suits covered more and they were absolutely a necessity, could sew 624 pieces in a day, surely, since they are a bazillion times easier. Anyway, it was done by 11:30am this morning.

scan 1 tag

scan 2 top outer border

scan 3 next yellow quilt inspiration? (found online)


----------



## freedombecki

I'm thinking about doing a pink quilt. I found scads of a light. It could be like the yellow one. But there will be a lot of cutting of hot pinks to go with it for a more or less monochromatic log quilt, if that's the route I go. I'll sleep on it tonight. In the meantime, I did a lot of looking at pink quilts today, online ...



















​That's enough for now! ​


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> Well, I had to live up to Mr. H's teasing, so I finished the yellow quilt this morning. I used all my wiles learned the year I worked in a sewing factory, and cranked it out faster than ever before. Anyone who could sew 500 zippers into a stretchy swimsuit back when womens' suits covered more and they were absolutely a necessity, could sew 624 pieces in a day, surely, since they are a bazillion times easier. Anyway, it was done by 11:30am this morning.
> 
> scan 1 tag
> 
> scan 2 top outer border
> 
> scan 3 next yellow quilt inspiration? (found online)



These appear to have a Southwestern motif.


----------



## freedombecki

OK, maybe that wasn't enough pink. I forgot about doing log cabins...
























Just trying to think of the last one with pink where the white is...​


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I had to live up to Mr. H's teasing, so I finished the yellow quilt this morning. I used all my wiles learned the year I worked in a sewing factory, and cranked it out faster than ever before. Anyone who could sew 500 zippers into a stretchy swimsuit back when womens' suits covered more and they were absolutely a necessity, could sew 624 pieces in a day, surely, since they are a bazillion times easier. Anyway, it was done by 11:30am this morning.
> 
> scan 1 tag
> 
> scan 2 top outer border
> 
> scan 3 next yellow quilt inspiration? (found online)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These appear to have a Southwestern motif.
Click to expand...

 
Hi, Mr. H. 

I've made zig-zag/streak of lightning log cabins in the past, just couldn't find one to my liking. I'll try again, but I may not find a yellow one. My scanner does not reduce size nor have a large enough field to give a very good idea of what it looks like. It might look more like this, except all yellow:






or this:


----------



## Mr. H.

Coolvy.


----------



## freedombecki

Thinking Pink! It's that everything's coming up roses color that glorifies spring in tulips, English daisies, buttercups, and plum trees, and it's time to make a pink quilt. So, in addition to my stash, off I go to the quilt store this morning to find some small bits of pretty pinks. And the light print is a perfect backdrop, so it will not have to be the 300 different light pinks search, because the lucky fabric find is going to be IT on the light side. That should be interesting, considering that there are large areas of colors in the light. That's what makes log quilts fun--the unpredictability of a print that's slightly a little too large. So this may never happen again at this address, but now, it is. here's the fabrics and some online spring to early summer flowers:

The light fabric is "Floral Whimsy" 2760 by Northcott Fabrics of Canada.


----------



## freedombecki

Koshergrl, if you're around these parts in the next 3 days or so, I found a sock monkey embroidered baby quilt squares on ebay and thought you would enjoy seeing them:






credits


----------



## freedombecki

Today all I did was fight foot cramps and sew two mockups from stash materials to see how pinks would go along with the pretty fabric purchased at the quilt store. Darn that fibro. Just glad I was able to feed the birds and make a little comeback to make the mockups. Now, tomorrow, the huge task of cutting pieces into 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, and 9.5" stacks of 50 apiece is ahead. That's a chore and an all-day job that often gets pushed over 2 or 3 days due to standing and dealing with fibro's plans for my day.


----------



## Mr. H.

Foot cramps?

Time to upgrade, Ms. b.


----------



## freedombecki

If I had one of those, Mr. H, I'd prolly get more foot exercise, but... it only hurts when the temperature drops. Lately that's about 5 times a day. Fibromyalgia is not for whining sissies like me. 

In the meantime, I saw this way too cute another sock monkey quilt, just couldn't resist. I'll post credits. The closeups on these cute little embroidered guys is just over the top cute, and you now scroll over the pictures at the credits link to see closeups.






hehe, all you can post is the thumbnail. lol!

The link: Sock Monkey Quilt


----------



## freedombecki

Nice morning today, no rain, lake is full, heron visits daily, blablablah, and life is good.
This morning, 24 blocks are being prepped for the Pretty in Pink Flow'rs of Spring quilt. The squares are out to stage 5 going on 6 as the 6 plus parts of 6 blocks in progress below:

Edit: Had one more scan to add to the pictures below, so instead of making another post, thought it would save a little space by putting it here (scan 2)


----------



## koshergrl

I put the arms on sock monkey #2 yesterday....


----------



## freedombecki

Since this morning, 4 more rows were added to the 24 squares to put squares at stage 9 in log addition:


----------



## freedombecki

And some more:


----------



## freedombecki

And more:


----------



## freedombecki

Though only 9 logs are on the blocks now, there will be 17 when the blocks are ready to join. 24x17 = 408 logs. 

Even more:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I put the arms on sock monkey #2 yesterday....


 That's something. Work all day, work all night..


----------



## freedombecki

When they're done, the Pretty in Pink Flow'rs of Spring Log Cabin squares will be arranged into pyramids that look  like this:





There will be four squares or two pyramids across, and 6 down for 24 squares on the pink quilt. Fortunately, I found only one quilter who does one of the same things I do with log cabin squares, with one minor difference: mine are offset to avoid the "flying geese look. Every other row is offset by one, which gives it the look of points. On this quilt, I may not do that because when it has been done by me in the past, the squares are smaller and there are 3 across on the odd rows and 1/2, 2, and 1/2 on even rows, which makes perfect offset pyramids.


----------



## freedombecki

Work went nicely this morning. I'm loving the colors. Will post only 6 of the blocks that are in the log stage of 13. When they are at log stage 17, they do not fit well across my scanning screen.


----------



## freedombecki

Hope to get this done today. 

My real dream would to get 24 more hot pink prints, but nobody's open this early in the morning, especially on Saturdays. Oh, well. I'll just have to make do.


----------



## freedombecki

Hmm, I just spent 20 minutes writing a post here that disappeared. Well, to make a long story short, it just said I'm making good progress on the pink quilt, found a couple more pinks at the quilt store and another pile of about 30 pinks I'd overlooked, and that everyone has a lovely weekend.

I'll be in my quilt room, praying for peace.

Love and joy to all,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt was finished about a half an hour ago. I've been scanning and reducing the size to bring it here.

I love the pyramid shapes. I added a little extra sky at the top and a floor below, resulting in 2 inches six times or 12" in extra length. Rather than burden the Quilting Bees with a huge quilt, I simply omitted a row. that way, it started and ended with 2 full pyramids on the first, third, and fifth rows, and had the half-full-half arrangement to offset the pyramids which makes a good format. The gray one above somewhere is (1) upside down, and (2) arranged in flying geese format with all the pyramids in a couple of tall rows.

Sorry for not having a whole picture true to colors. It's a little darker than shown, so the shades are not true on the picture scanner here. Oh well...


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 26, 27, and 28


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 29, 30, and 31

 She's done!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Today, all 24 squares of A Clockwise double strip log cabin quilt top were completed, and the sashing color will be turquoise.

Here are 3 of the clockwise double log cabin squares:


----------



## freedombecki

Three more of the 24:


----------



## freedombecki

And three more of the 24 squares completed today:

Now all that has to be done is sashings and borders.


----------



## freedombecki

Quilt #19 for 2013 is done!


----------



## freedombecki

Disclaimer: These quilts are from the web. I did not make any of them, I'm just wishful thinking this morning, planning to do something in purples...

One more quilt for February--thinking purple...


----------



## freedombecki

Disclaimer: these are not quilts made by me. I've made quilts like them, just not in purple. I'm trying to think of an easy quilt to do that can be done by the end of February. I am doing 10 tops per month for the Charity Bees of Tall Pines Quilt Guild, who raise funds for education, the shelter, and give quilts to the shelter, hospice, veterans, elder care centers, and hugs project. They quilt the tops and it is quite a task, I know. But after a lifetime of quilting, I can no longer stand at the machine and quilt due to issues associated with fibromyalgia that cause full-body cramps and acuity issues that are not in accordance with the operation of high-speed quilting machines. I'm happy, however, to make tops. That way, I can sew, rest, sew, take a nap, sew, etc. I know that sounds terrible, but it's better than the alternative of being useless.  So I still need inspiration and thank God for the internet for that purpose. I just need a quick-start purple quilt to fill out the color wheel for February and was looking.

Um, Purple Mountain's Majesty..with white mountains on top, must be the wintertime!






This one just caught my eye, but the last 3 quilt-as you go ideas wound up undone. 




um, Lavender blue star. Well, it doesn't have to be on the blue side if you make it from scratch with purple...


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a one-patch purple postage stamp quilt:






And another that really gets the purple idea out there with strong purple border sets:






Handled right, this one would be quick and easy to do:


----------



## freedombecki

Today did not go as planned. 

The Charity Bees meeting was well underway, and a great class was offered by one of the local celebrity quilters on machine quilting with a walking foot. The Charity Bee girls had basted boucoup quilt tops for the occasion, and 25 ladies showed up to quilt mine and some of their own quilt tops. Tops 10-19 were delivered, 3 labels sewn to backs of quilts were done, and the sack in the back of the truck had a lovely piece of light purple quilt fabric in it to do a quick quilt.

The first thing done when home was to miscut 2 strips, which called to mind the need for a hearty nap. Four hours later, it was 4:30pm. And that's how the day went. 

*sigh* Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully something can be done about a quick fix to making a purple quilt. Sorry, no pictures of progress this day. 

There is, however, the possibility a quilt like this one may somehow be done as it seems to rock my soul:


----------



## Mr. H.

Here's to 4-hour afternoon naps! 

Very cool to see the complete finished products.


----------



## Mr. H.

This is cute. Sis in law made it for our daughter. The kid really likes owls so she incorporated some in the squares. I don't know how she did it, but she was able to transfer one of our daughter's owl drawings to fabric.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Here's a one-patch purple postage stamp quilt:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And another that really gets the purple idea out there with strong purple border sets:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Handled right, this one would be quick and easy to do:


 
So is the first one the postage stamp quilt? That's one of the ones that I remember my gramma always having...hers were made of true scraps...bits of wool and polyester clear from the 20s throught the 60s....with unbleached muslin batting and ticking for the backing. And that is the quilt that I want to build with my daughter, starting very soon...I plan on going through all my material shortly, start cutting the squares and putting her to work on 9-blocks.


----------



## freedombecki

Your sister-in-law is a keeper, Mr. H! Wonderful quilt! We had a quilter who worked with children in a school and each year would transfer their art to a quilt. I bet your daughter loves it!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's a one-patch purple postage stamp quilt:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And another that really gets the purple idea out there with strong purple border sets:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Handled right, this one would be quick and easy to do:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So is the first one the postage stamp quilt? That's one of the ones that I remember my gramma always having...hers were made of true scraps...bits of wool and polyester clear from the 20s throught the 60s....with unbleached muslin batting and ticking for the backing. And that is the quilt that I want to build with my daughter, starting very soon...I plan on going through all my material shortly, start cutting the squares and putting her to work on 9-blocks.
Click to expand...

 It is if the squares are approximately the size of a postage stamp. That would be 1.25" or smaller, imho. If it's finished 2" or more, we call it a 1-patch quit if blocks are assembled as above.

I collect cross stitch samplers, hoping to find one some day that I can do my 1.25" postage stamps into. My Texas map quilt is still unfinished because I lost my instruction book, which got buried downstairs in a fabric pile and I just didn't have a clue for a year since the stack got moved en masse, and I was none the wiser. Finally one day, I got serious about filing fabrics back to their bins, and it reappeared. By then, my zest for the quilt had vanished, and it sits there taking up space on my bulletin board. When I get back to it, I hope the book stays on my bed's bookshelf where it is now, so I will be able to find my chart. I did it all by division and transferrence of a regular state map proportionally to 1.25" squares to be 90x90 and figured out a border that might look halfway decent to make the quilt 90x108 with the state map showing on top. That was my hope. There just aren't good accurate charts out there that fit my particular postage stamp quilt size, and it's true, they won't be 100%, but they'll be representational of the approximate size of the state. I hope I never have someone walk up to me and say, "Hey, lady, my ranch is on the Red River, and you gave it to Oklahoma!" 

That would be terrible.


----------



## koshergrl

My mind boggles at the idea of piecing 1.25" squares of fabric. 

I'm thinking 2-1/2" or mebbe even...dare I say it....4-1/2". I know, that's so depraved, but I know my limitations.


----------



## koshergrl

The director of my daughter's play found out that I sew and now I have been recruited to convert the pants of the telegrammers into knickerbockers....that should be interesting, lol. 

Thank goodness there are only 5 of them.


----------



## Mr. H.

5 Knickerbockers. Makes sense...

Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe.....


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> My mind boggles at the idea of piecing 1.25" squares of fabric.
> 
> I'm thinking 2-1/2" or mebbe even...dare I say it....4-1/2". I know, that's so depraved, but I know my limitations.


That is all some folks do, tiny pieces. They're very special people. I've only made about 4 or 5 of the large sized postage stamps, all 1.25". The really great ones are the ones that follow counted cross stitch patterns. See if I can locate one for a show and tell.

Here's one on ebay right now:






Credits


----------



## freedombecki

Today's progress was small, but fun. The gals at the meeting yesterday saw the double log cabin, and one of them made a big fuss about wanting to do one, so I gave her instructions, sort of, but you know, some quilters are bright people and catch on just by listening a little and taking notes. 

So she got the important block dimensions, and hope the sky is the limit for her!

Here is the purple quilt I finally came up with to hopefully finish it before too much of March has passed.  

Only did 4 blocks... but here they are.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> My mind boggles at the idea of piecing 1.25" squares of fabric.
> 
> I'm thinking 2-1/2" or mebbe even...dare I say it....4-1/2". I know, that's so depraved, but I know my limitations.
> 
> 
> 
> That is all some folks do, tiny pieces. They're very special people. I've only made about 4 or 5 of the large sized postage stamps, all 1.25". The really great ones are the ones that follow counted cross stitch patterns. See if I can locate one for a show and tell.
> 
> Here's one on ebay right now:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Credits
Click to expand...



Oh my!!!!!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

I was hoping you'd like that koshergrl. They're some of my favorite quilts. 

Oh, and the purple fabrics are calling! I got 7 of them cut, now it's time to sew.

Another thing the great white egrets returned today. The holly tree has grown, and their favorite place is hiding behind it. They usually leave about the time the sun is setting, anyway. I found another cache of purple fabrics today. Tomorrow will be an endless day of cutting, and my goal of 10 amounted only to 9 this time. I really dawdled along on a couple of quilt tops for some reason. Oh, yes. Cutting. It's such a pain in the butt.


----------



## freedombecki

Progress yesterday was dismal. I looked at my little pile of ready-to-sew cuttings and decided to cut a few more strips. The last day of February was truly a day of underachievement in the face of a deadline unmet. *sigh*

Tax season sucks. 

Random thoughts only deserve 3 words in a paragraph! Well, it's time to forget about it and look at something pretty and purple. I'll share what the internet search engine finds below:

The purple rose that is indicative of love at first sight, thanks to stupid cupid:







Purple Tulips..






Purple hydrangeas






That's enough. Hopefully it will be enough to get my engines fired up again and producing a purple quilt for a child who needs a pretty something to comfort him while he is in the abused family shelter locally. Why do I go for days without keeping my eye on the ball? *sigh* No telling. I'm blaming tax season. ​


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the thanks, Mr. H. It's so nice to be appreciated. 

Well, the purple quilt now has 2 rows of 5, and 5x7.5 = a width of almost 37.5 inches, as my 1/4" is consistently just a thread over for some reason on my Bernina 8 machine that has a big bobbin (yea!), a built-in walking foot, and does 1200 spms if sewing slow gets boring. When straight stitching, the single-hole needleplate comes out along with the 1/4" foot.

Oh, and that 1200 spms reminds me of a saying you hear a lot these days, It drills, baby, drills. :

And here are some of the gushes from that drilling:


----------



## freedombecki

And there was one orphan block left over that needs some sisters and brothers to make another row:


----------



## freedombecki

If that was an orphan block, I now have an orphanage! lol!

It was a lot of cutting and sticking to the program, between naps. I'm running a little temperature and have been a little tired lately. Oh, well. Here are what were sewn. I only had to take one pair of logs off, turn it around, and resew. I need to sew one more, and I can add 3 more rows of 5:

More double strip log cabin blocks:


----------



## freedombecki

Three more:


----------



## freedombecki

3 more ladies dancing...


----------



## freedombecki

Make that 3 french hens:


----------



## freedombecki

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree:


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt should challenge the most mathematical among us, Geese in a Gordian Knot by Barb Vlack:






Nice work, Barb! credits


​


----------



## Foxfyre

freedombecki said:


> Progress yesterday was dismal. I looked at my little pile of ready-to-sew cuttings and decided to cut a few more strips. The last day of February was truly a day of underachievement in the face of a deadline unmet. *sigh*
> 
> Tax season sucks.
> 
> Random thoughts only deserve 3 words in a paragraph! Well, it's time to forget about it and look at something pretty and purple. I'll share what the internet search engine finds below:
> 
> The purple rose that is indicative of love at first sight, thanks to stupid cupid:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Purple Tulips..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Purple hydrangeas
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's enough. Hopefully it will be enough to get my engines fired up again and producing a purple quilt for a child who needs a pretty something to comfort him while he is in the abused family shelter locally. Why do I go for days without keeping my eye on the ball? *sigh* No telling. I'm blaming tax season. ​


----------



## Sunshine

Well, Beckums, I'm back.  After I finish the current quilt block, I have 3 to go.  During my bancation, I booked a condo at the beach for next winter, ordered a beach chair and beach umbrella, got a new desk chair and a Persian rug for my office.  It's getting harder to work, and 2 years ago when I defied my doctor and went back to work my body was telling me I needed to go back to work.  Now it is telling me I need to quit.  So, I'm retiring in May.  A lot of my neighbors go south for the winter.  Why should I be any exception?  LOL.  There is still a lot of work to be done on my house, but after I quit I can work at my own pace.  
And not have to worry about it.  I will get it all done.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for kindly words, Foxfyre. 

It's fun how when you go back to the bing! images search how you come up with new purple quilts in less than a week. I found 3 to die for...

First, "Purple Passion." Every life needs a little passion.... oh, my...






And this Purple Bargello quilt is definitely top drawer...






And making this Stained Glass Quilt or one like it would rate a "deep and abiding satisfaction" feeling for the passion of making and completing it to the last piece of mortar joining odd bits of sparkling fabrics:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Well, Beckums, I'm back. After I finish the current quilt block, I have 3 to go. During my bancation, I booked a condo at the beach for next winter, ordered a beach chair and beach umbrella, got a new desk chair and a Persian rug for my office. It's getting harder to work, and 2 years ago when I defied my doctor and went back to work my body was telling me I needed to go back to work. Now it is telling me I need to quit. So, I'm retiring in May. A lot of my neighbors go south for the winter. Why should I be any exception? LOL. There is still a lot of work to be done on my house, but after I quit I can work at my own pace.
> And not have to worry about it. I will get it all done.


Quit? Retiring is not quitting! It's passing the bar to the next generation of care givers! And life starts afresh when you retire and can decide what you want to do and when you want to do it. For the last couple of days with a little winter fever, that's been between long naps.  

That's wonderful that you'll be enjoying the beach in your condo! That salt water is a well, a day at the beach! I love it!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, between naps today, I got the rest of the strips cut for the 10 remaining squares, and between naps this evening, they were all sewn up. I'm now sweating, so I think that's a good sign with a fever and it may be on its way out. It's been 4 days and interrupted progress on the purple quilt. To whoever sent up a little prayer thanks.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning the quilt got finished early. 

Here are some things that got finished up:


----------



## freedombecki

Seems some of the prettiest fabrics were last. That's not usual.


----------



## freedombecki

More blocks:


----------



## freedombecki

The borders were a breeze. And  Quilt #20 for 2013 is done!!!

(and I have no idea how I will do 10 quilts between March 5 and March 31. 

Sometimes things go quickly, and sometimes they just drag on for over a week. It just doesn't look like there is much of a chance of doing the 10 March quilts in so short a time. *sigh*

If you click on one with borders, you can see little dragonflies.


----------



## freedombecki

While making the purple quilt, there were a stack of postage stamp twosies to sew up, so they were sewn between segments of the purple quilt. As the stack grew, there were about 21 or 22 16-patch postage stamp squares for "a future quilt start." Believe it or not, you use less thread when sewing into something, whether it's a useless half-inch piece of two selvages sewn together that winds up in a pillow someday or actual pieces to the next or a future quilt. Postage stamp twosies are made from sewing 2 strips together, then cutting them at a 90 degree angle to make two postage stamps apiece, then placed into about 20 different sacks, one per each sack. Then when you have a thousand pieces in 20 sacks, you have 20 postage stamp quilts or enough pieces to do sashes, sets, borders, and things that show you worked your fingers to the bone at one time or another doing the heavy-duty job of sewing a bazillion squares. You may not have any replications of fabric if you play your cards right, which results in the rare quilt known as the "charm quilt" which can boast having no two pieces alike. Not important? A textile afficianado who knows how valuable having a cross section of a person's lifetime made into a quilt knows that it is. Lay people would not know this. But the quilt could someday be worth its weight in gold bars. Of course, it might take ten quilts to weigh the same as a gold bar... but I'll leave that to the textile specialists of 100 years from now of any of my quilts that are rescued before destruction and saved because someone had a collector's head for what is and is not valuable. I could be mistaken, but the work of 50 factories around the world between 1930 to 2030 in one quilt could be the apple of a collector's eye in 2230, who was researching the last homemade quilts of olden days.

Well, didn't mean to get into THAT, but anyway, I found a piece of fabric a child might like of big cats and notice the male lion's mane was the color of an old rusty nail, and there was a lot of black in the quilt. So for some reason, my box of rust evaded me, but I did find one solid rust that seemed about right, and certainly right on a galloping horse. Also, found some spotted dark material that could pass as a panther or dark spotted big cat somewhere on the globe. Then, while looking for rusts, I found a bit of something that reminded me of a savannah, and the color of it was right for the quilt, maybe. Unfortunately it only contained a half yard which means it will have to be cut into 5 strips to go around to barely be 3 inches, the quilt better not be too big, plus, no mistakes allowed. Can it be done?  We'll see. Seems the fabric travelled with me, but it also is torn, which my local shop did up until about 6 months ago, when they started cutting due to the shop owner's torn ligament in her wrist. So not sure where the piece is from. And where are all those pesky rusts that used to be always underfoot? They're somewhere, but my fibrofog is not helping find them. Oh, well, you can't have everything.

Two fabrics and the first square that started out as purple thread-saving go-betweens:


----------



## UKRider

freedombecki said:


>



That's some very lovely work indeed becki.  I can see why you design, you've got a good eye.


----------



## freedombecki

UKRider said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's some very lovely work indeed becki. I can see why you design, you've got a good eye.
Click to expand...

 Thannks, UKRider. It's fun to see what other people are doing and how much harder their choices must be. I know what gets done here has to get done in 3 to 4 days, so I try to remember the marching rule of thumb: straight lines can be impressive to a judges' eye. So although simple, the charity quilts made at factory speed can be a joy to the eye if you keep your lines straight and true. When my charity works are done, someday, I'd like to just do the designs I've started. Fortunately, I lost about 100 of them when I lost my little graph notebook last year. Hahaha! I lost all that work I did in restaurants waiting for a meal, so took the minutes and used them to design small animal quilts. I keep hoping it will turn up around here some day, and that keeps not happening, so no telling where it got left, or fell to the floorboard in the car and got kicked out somewhere along the line, me nonthewiser. At least, now I don't have to feel bad, when I thumbed through that book, I was disappointed that doing something else made me not able to get back to the little animals. Somewhere a few dozen pages back, there is the design of a little elephant. That one was so much fun to do. No telling what the Bees decided to do with it, but I just hope it got a good home with a needy child. They need cute stuff in their lives, too, just like the cute things mothers provide them when possible. Enough of my prattle. The squares are almost done, then the animal squares have to be cut the same size and joined together. Hoping the borders will make the quilt. Everything's a square except for the designer cute big cat fabric found in a closet in a quilt shop where a lady put her frenetics in the closet and her color pallets on the shelves in the rooms of a house she turned into her quilt shop.

Thanks for kind words. I'll have to make a bicycle wheel quilt some time for a needy child one of these mornings and tell them an unknown rider inspired it!


----------



## UKRider

freedombecki said:


> UKRider said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's some very lovely work indeed becki. I can see why you design, you've got a good eye.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thannks, UKRider. It's fun to see what other people are doing and how much harder their choices must be. I know what gets done here has to get done in 3 to 4 days, so I try to remember the marching rule of thumb: straight lines can be impressive to a judges' eye. So although simple, the charity quilts made at factory speed can be a joy to the eye if you keep your lines straight and true. When my charity works are done, someday, I'd like to just do the designs I've started. Fortunately, I lost about 100 of them when I lost my little graph notebook last year. Hahaha! I lost all that work I did in restaurants waiting for a meal, so took the minutes and used them to design small animal quilts. I keep hoping it will turn up around here some day, and that keeps not happening, so no telling where it got left, or fell to the floorboard in the car and got kicked out somewhere along the line, me nonthewiser. At least, now I don't have to feel bad, when I thumbed through that book, I was disappointed that doing something else made me not able to get back to the little animals. Somewhere a few dozen pages back, there is the design of a little elephant. That one was so much fun to do. No telling what the Bees decided to do with it, but I just hope it got a good home with a needy child. They need cute stuff in their lives, too, just like the cute things mothers provide them when possible. Enough of my prattle. The squares are almost done, then the animal squares have to be cut the same size and joined together. Hoping the borders will make the quilt. Everything's a square except for the designer cute big cat fabric found in a closet in a quilt shop where a lady put her frenetics in the closet and her color pallets on the shelves in the rooms of a house she turned into her quilt shop.
> 
> Thanks for kind words. I'll have to make a bicycle wheel quilt some time for a needy child one of these mornings and tell them an unknown rider inspired it!
Click to expand...


I think you've got your donating figured out just right. It's a straight line


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, UKR! 

The "straight line" Safari Quilt is done! It's the 21st quilt since January 1, 2013. So good to be finished.  

1/5 of last years goal would be done. The only goal this year is just to do a good job on whatever is done.

The border scans of the 44x64" kid-sized quilt top are below:


----------



## pbel

freedombecki said:


> Thanks for kindly words, Foxfyre.
> 
> It's fun how when you go back to the bing! images search how you come up with new purple quilts in less than a week. I found 3 to die for...
> 
> First, "Purple Passion." Every life needs a little passion.... oh, my...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And this Purple Bargello quilt is definitely top drawer...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And making this Stained Glass Quilt or one like it would rate a "deep and abiding satisfaction" feeling for the passion of making and completing it to the last piece of mortar joining odd bits of sparkling fabrics:



You really are magnificent in you designs...you really should pick up a brush and do some Abstract paintings...Did I ever tell you, how much I love those Blues?


----------



## freedombecki

pbel said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for kindly words, Foxfyre.
> 
> It's fun how when you go back to the bing! images search how you come up with new purple quilts in less than a week. I found 3 to die for...
> 
> First, "Purple Passion." Every life needs a little passion.... oh, my...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And this Purple Bargello quilt is definitely top drawer...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And making this Stained Glass Quilt or one like it would rate a "deep and abiding satisfaction" feeling for the passion of making and completing it to the last piece of mortar joining odd bits of sparkling fabrics:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You really are magnificent in you designs...you really should pick up a brush and do some Abstract paintings...Did I ever tell you, how much I love those Blues?
Click to expand...

 Thanks, pbel, but those three are from Bing! (a search engine of the internetnet.)
I've done Abstract paintings, but gave it up when oldest son was 18 months old. He used my oils to paint two of his three shirts. At that time, my mother sent me her old sewing machine, and I started sewing him clothes.

The oils got shelved and I tossed them 20 years later when they turned to brick. I never stopped sewing and can use a sewing machine as a thread painting device that appears as stitched pen-and-ink, and just about anything you could do with a brush.

My items are not shown here in the whole because I can't stand to take photographs. I bought a camera last year, but it's still in the mailing package from some ebay seller. My dearest husband has had dementia for 3 years and can't remember how to operate a camera. He used to take all my pictures. Friends can view some of my personal quilts from his better days in one of two albums on my public profile page. 

Since this thread is for everyone to share their needlecrafts, I often bring quilts from other quilt artists online and show them here, often with links if they offer a free pattern.

Free motion embroidery and quilting are truly no different than operating a piece of art equipment such as an electric pottery wheel or an airbrush for some types of art. A skilled machine embroiderer can paint anything one who paints with watercolors, acrylics, or oils can. The only difference is, we can't "mix" paints to get the right color. We can align threads in such a way, though as to give off a color created by looking at the work from a greater distance than 6 feet. Unfortunately, people like to get up close and personal with embroideries, touch, feel, and scrutinize the stitches. I can't spend time doing that on the present course though. In order to do 100-120 quilt tops a year, it's a lot of hours. Today I already put in 10 hours before 4 in the afternoon. What I thought would only take a couple of hours took most of the morning, and all of my usual nap. Fortunately, my fever broke a couple of days ago, and every day I'm getting a little better. 

Glad to see you here, pbel. Quilting is kind of the joy of my soul, whether it's simple naive work for shelter kids or making museum masterpieces that I leave in the hands of my children, who were grown and gone long ago.


----------



## Gracie

What is the term  for art-like quilts that each piece is hand sewn to make a scene. Like an ocean scene but each piece from the waves to the palm fronds to the sand to the pebbles to the birds in the sky...all are individually hand sewn on? Not for a bed either. They hang on a wall, like a tapestry but they are not loomed. All hand cut and hand sewn.

I find them fascinating and would like to google some images but when I type in quilt patterns or quilt designs...I mostly get bed quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

Gracie said:


> What is the term for art-like quilts that each piece is hand sewn to make a scene. Like an ocean scene but each piece from the waves to the palm fronds to the sand to the pebbles to the birds in the sky...all are individually hand sewn on? Not for a bed either. They hang on a wall, like a tapestry but they are not loomed. All hand cut and hand sewn.
> 
> I find them fascinating and would like to google some images but when I type in quilt patterns or quilt designs...I mostly get bed quilts.


 If the objects are sewn on from cotton percales, it could be called applique, of which there are a few dozen methods of applying fabric to a background.

If the objects are printed onto the fabric first (such as a peacock or a horse) then cut out a little larger than the printed animal, flower, tree, basket, etc. it is called "broderie perse." Some companies have made a living from creating picture fabrics that can be broderie persed, and occasionally, today's fabric makers will have designers make paneled fabrics or even objectify different species of flowers to be broderie persed into a floral arrangement of one's choosing.


----------



## freedombecki

This applique quilt by Claire D. was found at aboutdotcom:






Tranquility Quilt by Claire D​


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a part of a 1767 quilt that shows a broderie perse bird:






Rocky Mountain Quilts Antique Quilt File

Betsey Tedford-Goodwin's Rocky Mountain American Antique Quilts


----------



## koshergrl

So is that also trapunto?

I love this thread, it's so beautiful. 

Happy  news, my older kids got their apartment so my house is MUCH quieter these days...I'm digging out the projects (again haha)...


----------



## koshergrl

I'm going to have my daughter hel9p me put together basic  4-1/2 inch square 9-blocks. I chose that size because I think we'll progress faster...I have a lot of different materials, so it won't have a particular pattern, I'm not there yet, I just want to use up the material and make her a quilt as painlessly as possible.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> So is that also trapunto?
> 
> I love this thread, it's so beautiful.
> 
> Happy news, my older kids got their apartment so my house is MUCH quieter these days...I'm digging out the projects (again haha)...


 It's not trapunto. What you're seeing that looks "puffy" is a quilt that wasn't quilted enough for the type of batting they had in the eighteenth century when it was constructed. Back then, the furthest away quilting lines should be would have been under half an inch. However, it may have been a wedding quilt, made within a time parameter of a date, hastily with the thought a bride might destroy her first quilt through ignorance anyway. 

Although some may dispute it, but quilters are not stupid people, having learned through experience you cannot judge how a person is going to take care of a quilt until they have had 10 years to use it. A thousand hours into a quilt that gets bleached once a week to "sanitize" it when it was likely misused carelessly anyway is not fun to see as the rag it became 2 years later.

/soap box


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm going to have my daughter hel9p me put together basic 4-1/2 inch square 9-blocks. I chose that size because I think we'll progress faster...I have a lot of different materials, so it won't have a particular pattern, I'm not there yet, I just want to use up the material and make her a quilt as painlessly as possible.


Coincidence! I started a 9-patch this morning in festive Irish Stonehenge (TM, Northcott Fabrics) to be put with Stonehenge pink 9-patch shamrock blooms! 8 of the blocks were finished before 9 am this morning. 

One 9-patch Stonehenge shamrock square (It's a little too large for the scanner screen):


----------



## Gracie

Years ago, there was a gal that ran the candy shop down from my store and it was a pretty good size piece, too. Each article in the "picture" she cut from a different piece of cloth. It was like an oil painting but instead of paint...it was fabric. It was amazing, and she worked on it every day for months. I never did see the finished results.


----------



## Gracie




----------



## Gracie




----------



## koshergrl

Growing up, my mother would not allow us to wash any of our quilts. In the old days, they would get laid out in the sun during the summer to kill dust mites, and then folded up into cedar chests until winter..


----------



## freedombecki

Gracie said:


>


The lady who designs this type of applique owns Piece O' Cake trademark and spoke at our guild a couple of years back. Her work is twice as amazing if you see it in person at one of her lectures or classes. Phenomenon, these color-bright inspirers are!  I'm not sure if it's her or a student, or another quilter who loves color as much as she.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Growing up, my mother would not allow us to wash any of our quilts. In the old days, they would get laid out in the sun during the summer to kill dust mites, and then folded up into cedar chests until winter..


 She sounds like a very wise woman who taught her daughter some cool tricks about the care of quilts.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm going to have my daughter hel9p me put together basic 4-1/2 inch square 9-blocks. I chose that size because I think we'll progress faster...I have a lot of different materials, so it won't have a particular pattern, I'm not there yet, I just want to use up the material and make her a quilt as painlessly as possible.
> 
> 
> 
> Coincidence! I started a 9-patch this morning in festive Irish Stonehenge (TM, Northcott Fabrics) to be put with Stonehenge pink 9-patch shamrock blooms! 8 of the blocks were finished before 9 am this morning.
> 
> One 9-patch Stonehenge shamrock square (It's a little too large for the scanner screen):
Click to expand...


You're killing me.  I think I may just have to go take some lessons and see if I can do a few things like this.  I don't have a sewing machine, though.  Still thinking of buying one, but am waiting until I get all this retirement stuff worked out.  If it is meant to be it will come.  Of course, I can always just piece them by hand the way my mother did.  

I have some material put back to do a colorful 'yo yo' quilt.  Was waiting until retirement on tha tone as well.  May take that with me to the Gulf next winter.  It can't be all sun and sand!  LOL

PS  I don't have enough rep spread around to give you more.  But I'm trying!


----------



## freedombecki

Ms. Sunshine, I commission thee to having fun when you're here. I'm retired and have all day between sewing stints to nap and use up my daily limit of reps. On bad days, everything hurts, and I have to quit doing even that. Your time is limited. Don't worry about repping me, enjoy what little time you have here and play. You can catch up when you retire and get all that go-around-the-world-in-80-months stuff out of your system. After that, you can catch up if you want to. In the meantime, please play and have fun when you're not yoked into the responsibilities of uber 9-to-5 world medical tasking. Now, go forth and enjoy! 

I got a second sewing machine yesterday. The last time I took mine in, it took 6 weeks to wait on a part to fix it. This time I have a suitable backup that will stand up to making 30 quilt tops in that short time in case it ever happens again. It is small and light enough that I can carry it, and is the same make as my embroidery machine that weighs 60 pounds and did not travel well when attending workshops and Bees sew-ins. This one will do fine at piecing 1/4" seams, but would only quilt the smallest of quilts with a 6" space between center needle position and the machine housing area to the right. It has a lot of really cute stitches, too, but I got it because it has several of my favorite quilt stitches on it. This afternoon, I have to put it through its paces before I forget everything the shop owner taught me yesterday morning. You know how memory is--you're lucky if you remember 1/4 of what you learned yesterday. It's a nice little machine, and I'm thrilled to have it as a backup and a straight stitcher. I might even consider using the embroidery machine for embroidering one of these days.

Stay well! And be good to yourself. You were plenty good to me when I was new here!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Ms. Sunshine, I commission thee to having fun when you're here. I'm retired and have all day between sewing stints to nap and use up my daily limit of reps. On bad days, everything hurts, and I have to quit doing even that. Your time is limited. Don't worry about repping me, enjoy what little time you have here and play. You can catch up when you retire and get all that go-around-the-world-in-80-months stuff out of your system. After that, you can catch up if you want to. In the meantime, please play and have fun when you're not yoked into the responsibilities of uber 9-to-5 world medical tasking. Now, go forth and enjoy!
> 
> I got a second sewing machine yesterday. The last time I took mine in, it took 6 weeks to wait on a part to fix it. This time I have a suitable backup that will stand up to making 30 quilt tops in that short time in case it ever happens again. It is small and light enough that I can carry it, and is the same make as my embroidery machine that weighs 60 pounds and did not travel well when attending workshops and Bees sew-ins. This one will do fine at piecing 1/4" seams, but would only quilt the smallest of quilts with a 6" space between center needle position and the machine housing area to the right. It has a lot of really cute stitches, too, but I got it because it has several of my favorite quilt stitches on it. This afternoon, I have to put it through its paces before I forget everything the shop owner taught me yesterday morning. You know how memory is--you're lucky if you remember 1/4 of what you learned yesterday. It's a nice little machine, and I'm thrilled to have it as a backup and a straight stitcher. I might even consider using the embroidery machine for embroidering one of these days.
> 
> Stay well! And be good to yourself. You were plenty good to me when I was new here!





Have you had your vitamin D level checked?  I did for the first time a couple weeks ago.  It was 13 on a reference range of 30 - 96.  The sun is at the wrong angle to work for us, but we didn't really ever know that.  And it isn't possible to eat enough dairy to make it up.  My doctor started me on 50,000IU once a week for 8 weeks then we will recheck.  After the first dose all my aches and pains went away. One of the docs at work said, 'so this means you're not retiring?'  I told him to dream on! ~~  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

My doctor told me to do vitaminD, and every other week, I forgetaboutit. I'm headed to the hypochondriac counter for D3! Thanks for the reminder.  I had an episode of swelling and am taking extra K too because the diuretic flushes potassium. It may be taking other minerals too, so I need to clean up my act prolly on Magnesium, too. Fibromyalgiacs are recommended that before it was known about D3. Me feeling better tomorrow is worth a hundred reps. Thanks!


----------



## freedombecki

Found some pretty blue quilts made by other quilters and saved them to my pictures.

Blue is a color that I just love.


----------



## Gracie

Pretty quilts, but blue is not my fav color. To wear, yes. For home decor, no.


----------



## freedombecki

Gracie said:


> Pretty quilts, but blue is not my fav color. To wear, yes. For home decor, no.


Blue seems to be our family color. It was my mother's favorite color, mine, both brothers, and one of two sisters. The other decided to go pink. She was the rebel. And oh how I love that rebel sister of mine. Moved back to Texas soon as I could when she got cancer. That was almost 4 years ago now. She went from having 6 weeks to live to ... well, here it is 6 years from the date of her diagnosis. It took me a couple of years to conclude our business and retire to the state of our high school graduations and my native state. 

My one project got put aside. I can't figure out what happened to all the parts of the quilt... they'll hopefully show up soon.

So, I found a whole lot of log cabin squares put in a plastic bag entitled "pine tree," and began working the tops of 3 pine trees that will be the width, and they're so far 5 blocks tall plus a 9" base for the Tall pine trunks, then will add grass below, a lake if it isn't tall enough for a 12-to 14-year-old kid. Here are some of the parts I just scanned:


----------



## freedombecki

All that's left to do is to create two more tree trunk parts that measure 9x14", put some earth/grass below, put a border on it, and it will be ready for the Charity Bees closet. This one I'd like to go to a shelter kid, but if they decide to use it to raise money for batting, sobeit. I love our charity bees! They're the best ladies in the whole world.


----------



## Sunshine

Gracie said:


> Pretty quilts, but blue is not my fav color. To wear, yes. For home decor, no.



I can wear blue as well.  But I can't really live with it on the walls, etc.  I need warmer colors around me.  I can live with a blue that is warm like aqua and green that is warm, but th cooler shades make me want to slit my throat.


----------



## freedombecki

The Tall Pines top is done. There are 3 tall pines that run the length of the quilt using 2 back-to-back log cabin squares in a panoply of deep greens and a similar amount of light blues in the upper sky area. In the sky below the fifth and lower tier of back to back log squares is a slightly deeper bluebonnet print, since bluebonnets grace the roadsides all over Texas in the very near spring that's right around the corner.  We have had 2 years of severe drought, June of 2009 took out 5 pines on our property, and 120 rainless days in the summer of 2011. We only lost 2 more because I watered the ones nearest the house that my hose could reach. Since then, we had a dry fall in 2012, but not as severe as 2011 when half our pond dried up, and you could walk on it.

These 3 trees will be in honor of Texas loss of 5-10% of its Tall Pines. The city of Huntsville, in spite of parsing water, maintained most of its urban forest and is a joy to see the lovely green trees there. I had no idea we'd ever have to water wild trees that were established for a century, but we did lose 7 trees in the over-100 foot category, I think. They may not be centennial trees, but I could just cry to think of how if I had just bought a few dozen more hoses, we could have spared a little of the well water giving each tree 4 or 5 gallons a day. 

Now I know; if it gets dry for more than 15 days, I will carry water out there if I have to, cup at a time if I can't carry a bucket. Watering after 8 pm would probably be smartest, even when it's very hot weather. That way, the water has plenty of time to soak in and takes less since there isn't the evaporation at night there is during the relentless daytime in hot dry weather here.

That will cost me 20 quilts due to the time and resources it will take to tend the trees we have left. We lost almost every tree in the back pasture. They were oaks, and only one or two branches is still alive on 2 of the trees. The rest of the tree on each of those is dead, and most of the branches have fallen down 1.5 years later. 

However this quilt was therapeutic. Doing the quilt helped me recollect a plan for the future of caring for a large piece of land in marginal weather. It could be marginal for the duration, or it could return to its normal cycle of being home to the great piney woods. That summer was like nature's fire. It just burned trees up that were at risk by being in areas that couldn't bear them and only hosted them in times of rain, or smarter landowners than me who being seasoned Texans, knew when to water. My hiatus for 45 years to the Western USA took a toll in know-how my grandmother and grandfather, the horticulturalists, had in their lifetime spent solely in East Texas and Houston's semitropical plant heaven. 2011 was the worst year in the record books for Texas' driest. Nothing else was ever like it.

Oh, off on a tangent again! This and the next are two posts' worth of scans from the completed Tall Pines quilt top:

Scan 7 - Top and id placard of the 52x58" Tall Pine quilt top

Scan 8 - Lower First border, an avocado Jeff Gutcheon floral print and outer Hoffman gymnosperms print of green with gold spatter on golden tan

Scan 9 - Middle Tree trunk and weeds


----------



## freedombecki

And 3 more scans:

10 - another tall pine tree trunk and "weeds:"

11 - 5th tier just above the trunk of a tall pine tree

12 - 5th tier just above the trunk of another tall pine tree


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Gracie said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pretty quilts, but blue is not my fav color. To wear, yes. For home decor, no.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I can wear blue as well. But I can't really live with it on the walls, etc. I need warmer colors around me. I can live with a blue that is warm like aqua and green that is warm, but th cooler shades make me want to slit my throat.
Click to expand...

 I was trying to get up some steam for a blue quilt. A lot of people here love blue--it must be all our lakes, flat lands with lots of sky, denim ranchwear, etc.--not sure why, but everybody wants something blue who lives out in the country where blue abounds in nature. We have blue buntings, bluebirds, blue grosbeaks, and those all-colored birds (painted buntings, maybe) that have some blue on them. It's also so blooming hot in the summer, blue makes you think of those dips in the lake or pool, shade, respite of the day with shaded colors of eventide, of which blue is a major player, etc. needless to mention, our hunger for blue likely led to the choice of bluebonnets for the State Flower.


----------



## Mr. H.

Gee you even have nice handwriting.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Growing up, my mother would not allow us to wash any of our quilts. In the old days, they would get laid out in the sun during the summer to kill dust mites, and then folded up into cedar chests until winter..
> 
> 
> 
> She sounds like a very wise woman who taught her daughter some cool tricks about the care of quilts.
Click to expand...

 
I thought she was crazy so I washed my quilt.

And it fell apart.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Gee you even have nice handwriting.


 That's my homespun calligraphy, but thanks, Mr. H for kind words.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Growing up, my mother would not allow us to wash any of our quilts. In the old days, they would get laid out in the sun during the summer to kill dust mites, and then folded up into cedar chests until winter..
> 
> 
> 
> She sounds like a very wise woman who taught her daughter some cool tricks about the care of quilts.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I thought she was crazy so I washed my quilt.
> 
> And it fell apart.
Click to expand...

Yep, I knew more than my mother too, so I didn't pay any attention to her expert sewing advice. Could've saved myself 20 years of learning to sew all by myself if I had given my dear, sainted mother and closet genius so much as a few minutes of attention instead of being such a contentious little army brat. Where are these moist eyes coming from? lol

Y'all have a nice evening. I have to think up another crazymaker quilt effort tonight. I truly need to get stuff done. I was a quilt behind in February, and now it's already the 12th, and there are only 3 quilts of the 11 that will make 30 by this month's end. Well, we'll see but now, I need to rest my tired brain.

3 yards of Northcott's Stonehenge (tm) material I can't get locally arrived today. 

Edit: oh, and yes, I keep thinking about these Scrap quilts (added after fabric):


----------



## freedombecki

Here's about 5 hours of work from this early morning (This and next post):


----------



## freedombecki

It was a lot of work, a lot of fun. 

3 more blocks. The finished postage stamps measure about 1.25" square.​


----------



## Sunshine

Well, Beckums, tonight I start my second to the last quilt block.  The tablecloth has been on back order for a while, but scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.  I'm ready for a little something different.  It has, however, not ever been about the finished product, only about the one stitch I am doing in the 'now.'  So utterly Zen.


----------



## freedombecki

Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.

All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.

Happy stitches everyone.


----------



## freedombecki

Many Trips went better in 2 hours this morning than all day yesterday. 

Here are some of the junctures that come when you sew 8 blocks together. In the next couple of posts there will be some individual new blocks. There are the balance of the blocks cut out and waiting for their turn in the sun, at least until 24. Then there are set out colors for 3 more blocks. Next quilt? Who knows!


----------



## freedombecki

The above pics are a bit frenetic, but that's par for the course.

Today 4 blocks were done, and last night, a couple so here are the first 3 blocks (which measure 7.5" when finished, by the way, and possibly less due to seam allowance seems to be larger than usual. Don't know what gets into this perspection, but at least they're constant when you don't change machines mid-trip.


----------



## freedombecki

Three more of the Many trips Postage Stamp quilt top blocks


----------



## freedombecki

Made and joined two more blocks with those made this morning for another 8-block1/3 of the quilt. Now the two will be joined to have 2/3rds done. 

What a day. I thought it was going to be a good day after yesterday's fiasco, and it was till I began trying to cut weeds with the tractor and used muscles not used for a while. It cost a three hour nap that was supposed to be used against finishing 8 more blocks to finish this quilt. Fibromyalgia--the game changing malady. 

The first two scans encapsulate the 2 new blocks, and the third is just another mugshot of the conjunction of 4 blocks of the 8 that form a diamond-shaped frame with dark squares, more or less.


----------



## Gracie

Very nice!!

I've been tinkering around with the idea of taking a pillow case and using it as a base background, then little by little...hand sewing some kind of scene on it. Not sure what scene, not sure if I can even do the stitches with these fingers of mine, but I have a HUGE needle so...it might look dumb but it will give me something to play with.


----------



## freedombecki

Grace, that will be absolutely wonderful. Please share bits and pieces of your finished block as you go, won't you? Do you like floral or garden scenes? Fauna? Heirloom stitches?

Some ideas found around the net (not knowing your color or tastes):


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes, it's just nice to look at places you've been that inspired you...or loved things from tourist stores along the way to brighten the china cupboard.


----------



## freedombecki

17c, 18c, and 19c


----------



## freedombecki

Scan of 20 C

A border idea 

Another border idea


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.
> 
> All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.
> 
> Happy stitches everyone.



Those quilts are all fantastic.  If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it.   I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work.  So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game.  Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff. 

Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation.  But somehow I've dodged that bullet.  It's the shoulder that bothers me.  I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery.  The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then.  I let it lay while I did projects on the house.  I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem.  I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER! 

The table cloth arrived Friday.  It is going to be really pretty.  Better than I had imagined.  I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries.  I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200.  But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this.  I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today.  Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.

My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating.  Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce.  I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole.  I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible.  I will just make my own scalloped potatoes.  That is actually something I can look forward to.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm on my last block and just came up for some air. After that It's time to do a decent border treatment, but I'm still exhausted from firing up the tractor yesterday, running the wheeled weed eater out by the arena and storage bldg., pushing the mower, and wheeling all over the south pasture. <huff, puff just thinking about it> I'll do scans later. I'm going to frolic out on the board and do some serious reading.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.
> 
> All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.
> 
> Happy stitches everyone.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.
> 
> Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!
> 
> The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.
> 
> My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.
Click to expand...

A formal sewing center? hm, hope your next shopping day goes well. When you retire, you'll enjoy it a lot more. I just hope you break all the records and have a pleasant and comfortable retirement with no worries or pain. You worked hard all these last few years and deserve the best, Sunshine. 

And oh, yes, I found more people doing the same kind of quilt I'm doing-- "Many Trips Around the World" -- except they're smarter by using larger squares. It increases the number and kind of fabrics you can use when you do larger squares, and you don't have to do so many of them. Think I will add some I found. Maybe someone will enjoy the colors! But I promise, it's a wacky, fun quilt, nothing serious, just play and guess, then live with the results! (that's my motto) Whatever you didn't like about the last one does not ever have to be repeated again, plus when you compare squares, you get to liking the way the colors play together when you get consistent on the value scale (light to dark) A consistent placement will bring out something, call it luminescence, or whatever, and if you make notes on which values played nicest together, sometimes you can come up with a whole new approach. I've seen evidence of that in other's works, and am sure some people do as many "many trips, scrappy" as I do log cabin quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

Okay, so I went overboard. There were more Trips around the World and Many Trips Around the same that quilters everywhere are doing.


----------



## Mr. H.

Wow the one in the middle kicks ass.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.
> 
> All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.
> 
> Happy stitches everyone.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.
> 
> Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!
> 
> The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.
> 
> My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> A formal sewing center? hm, hope your next shopping day goes well. When you retire, you'll enjoy it a lot more. I just hope you break all the records and have a pleasant and comfortable retirement with no worries or pain. You worked hard all these last few years and deserve the best, Sunshine.
> 
> And oh, yes, I found more people doing the same kind of quilt I'm doing-- "Many Trips Around the World" -- except they're smarter by using larger squares. It increases the number and kind of fabrics you can use when you do larger squares, and you don't have to do so many of them. Think I will add some I found. Maybe someone will enjoy the colors! But I promise, it's a wacky, fun quilt, nothing serious, just play and guess, then live with the results! (that's my motto) Whatever you didn't like about the last one does not ever have to be repeated again, plus when you compare squares, you get to liking the way the colors play together when you get consistent on the value scale (light to dark) A consistent placement will bring out something, call it luminescence, or whatever, and if you make notes on which values played nicest together, sometimes you can come up with a whole new approach. I've seen evidence of that in other's works, and am sure some people do as many "many trips, scrappy" as I do log cabin quilts.
Click to expand...


You've posted many that I've never seen before.  I have a friend who retired recently and she took up quiltng.  She was the valdictorian of our graduating class.  Like me she grew up poor and her mother made quilts out of the girls' dress scraps, but unlike me, she never really got the chance to go to school, so she was a medical transcriptionist all her life.  She raised smart well educated children though.  As to the quilting, she came out of the chute making the hardest things you've ever seen.  She posts them on facebook.  

They have classes at Murray Sewing Center.  I know they teach quilting and it is chock full of nice quilting fabircs, precut pieces, stamped blocks, quilt patterns  etc.  They have sewing supplies, thread, and they eve do machine quiltng there.  That is where I asked about someone to quilt it.  They said the ladies at First Methodist Church do hand quilting, but they only do machine quilting.  I'm just not sure how I will have it quilted.  A patient's wife this week told me I should have it hand done.  I'll know when the time comes, I guess.

As to the retirement, I've learned from my patients that those who stay busy love it and those who don't hate it.  And you have to have things to live for.  If you have nothing to live for your life is shorter.


----------



## Foxfyre

Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts.  One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge.   I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:


----------



## Sunshine

Foxfyre said:


> Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts.  One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge.   I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:



Wow!  I love blue and brown together.  I know a lot of people hate that combination, but I really like it.


----------



## freedombecki

Foxfyre said:


> Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:


 Sorry for the loss of a great quilting woman, Foxfyre. Even combined with someone else, that is a most advanced quilt, like a faceted Mariner's Compass, and thier value and chromatic choices are astonishing. I've done blue and brown quilts. They're most beautiful, and deliver a great deal of satisfaction when completed. Mine was called "Bridge over Troubled Waters." I'll look it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a huge photo book filled with pictures of my quilts from doing 7 "Jewels of the Platte" quilt shows at City Hall of Casper Wyoming from 1996-2006 or 7. The first year of my fibromyalgia was my last show. I sweated blood getting those quilts hung and taken down again a month later. Bridge Over Troubled Waters not only took a lot of time over the drawing board, it was tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky, so I never published the pattern in any serious kind of way. going from warp and weft to diagonal and back again is a challenge, even to an advanced quilter, and I did it early on in my career of designing quilts. I loved the quilt and gave it to my son, who loves blue.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Wow the one in the middle kicks ass.


 Thank you, Mr. H. (and also Foxfyre). The quilt was a tribute to Times square, "Trip around Times Square" or something to that effect, so I'm assuming the maker loved New York City for some reason or another.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.
> 
> Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!
> 
> The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.
> 
> My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.
> 
> 
> 
> A formal sewing center? hm, hope your next shopping day goes well. When you retire, you'll enjoy it a lot more. I just hope you break all the records and have a pleasant and comfortable retirement with no worries or pain. You worked hard all these last few years and deserve the best, Sunshine.
> 
> And oh, yes, I found more people doing the same kind of quilt I'm doing-- "Many Trips Around the World" -- except they're smarter by using larger squares. It increases the number and kind of fabrics you can use when you do larger squares, and you don't have to do so many of them. Think I will add some I found. Maybe someone will enjoy the colors! But I promise, it's a wacky, fun quilt, nothing serious, just play and guess, then live with the results! (that's my motto) Whatever you didn't like about the last one does not ever have to be repeated again, plus when you compare squares, you get to liking the way the colors play together when you get consistent on the value scale (light to dark) A consistent placement will bring out something, call it luminescence, or whatever, and if you make notes on which values played nicest together, sometimes you can come up with a whole new approach. I've seen evidence of that in other's works, and am sure some people do as many "many trips, scrappy" as I do log cabin quilts.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You've posted many that I've never seen before. I have a friend who retired recently and she took up quiltng. She was the valdictorian of our graduating class. Like me she grew up poor and her mother made quilts out of the girls' dress scraps, but unlike me, she never really got the chance to go to school, so she was a medical transcriptionist all her life. She raised smart well educated children though. As to the quilting, she came out of the chute making the hardest things you've ever seen. She posts them on facebook.
> 
> They have classes at Murray Sewing Center. I know they teach quilting and it is chock full of nice quilting fabircs, precut pieces, stamped blocks, quilt patterns etc. They have sewing supplies, thread, and they eve do machine quiltng there. That is where I asked about someone to quilt it. They said the ladies at First Methodist Church do hand quilting, but they only do machine quilting. I'm just not sure how I will have it quilted. A patient's wife this week told me I should have it hand done. I'll know when the time comes, I guess.
> 
> As to the retirement, I've learned from my patients that those who stay busy love it and those who don't hate it. And you have to have things to live for. If you have nothing to live for your life is shorter.
Click to expand...

 I think that's true, Sunshine. I think John Wesley put that thought into these words (and one of my favorite quotes):
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means that you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."​Hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day! 

Designed by me around 1996-7 in Wyoming in honor of our many Irish-American residents:
​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Foxfyre said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for the loss of a great quilting woman, Foxfyre. Even combined with someone else, that is a most advanced quilt, like a faceted Mariner's Compass, and thier value and chromatic choices are astonishing. I've done blue and brown quilts. They're most beautiful, and deliver a great deal of satisfaction when completed. Mine was called "Bridge over Troubled Waters." I'll look it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a huge photo book filled with pictures of my quilts from doing 7 "Jewels of the Platte" quilt shows at City Hall of Casper Wyoming from 1996-2006 or 7. The first year of my fibromyalgia was my last show. I sweated blood getting those quilts hung and taken down again a month later. Bridge Over Troubled Waters not only took a lot of time over the drawing board, it was tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky, so I never published the pattern in any serious kind of way. going from warp and weft to diagonal and back again is a challenge, even to an advanced quilter, and I did it early on in my career of designing quilts. I loved the quilt and gave it to my son, who loves blue.
Click to expand...


How does one get a quilt appraised?  I have a feeling that my friend, even though a beginner, is under valuing hers.  I think she just gives them away.  I did that with several of my paintings as well, but my art teacher said we should never do that.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Foxfyre said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for the loss of a great quilting woman, Foxfyre. Even combined with someone else, that is a most advanced quilt, like a faceted Mariner's Compass, and thier value and chromatic choices are astonishing. I've done blue and brown quilts. They're most beautiful, and deliver a great deal of satisfaction when completed. Mine was called "Bridge over Troubled Waters." I'll look it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a huge photo book filled with pictures of my quilts from doing 7 "Jewels of the Platte" quilt shows at City Hall of Casper Wyoming from 1996-2006 or 7. The first year of my fibromyalgia was my last show. I sweated blood getting those quilts hung and taken down again a month later. Bridge Over Troubled Waters not only took a lot of time over the drawing board, it was tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky, so I never published the pattern in any serious kind of way. going from warp and weft to diagonal and back again is a challenge, even to an advanced quilter, and I did it early on in my career of designing quilts. I loved the quilt and gave it to my son, who loves blue.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> How does one get a quilt appraised? I have a feeling that my friend, even though a beginner, is under valuing hers. I think she just gives them away. I did that with several of my paintings as well, but my art teacher said we should never do that.
Click to expand...

The best appraiser-locators are probably in Paducah, Kentucky, at the wonderful American Quilt Society Museum there. They might even have a resident appraiser or a list of certified American quilt appraisers on hand. 

Another group that could be near and dear to your heart is the American Embroiderers' Guild of America, (aka EGA) which sponsors educational opportunities for certifying highly skilled individuals to become quilt and needlework appraisers. As I recollect from years ago, the quilt appraisers are educated and certified separately from other needlecrafts. Quilting is a multi-faceted institution with so many, many different styles and types of quilted works that have been done. A joint venture between quilting and embroidering is the crazy quilt, which requires advanced skills in both endeavors, not to mention textile savvy.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for the loss of a great quilting woman, Foxfyre. Even combined with someone else, that is a most advanced quilt, like a faceted Mariner's Compass, and thier value and chromatic choices are astonishing. I've done blue and brown quilts. They're most beautiful, and deliver a great deal of satisfaction when completed. Mine was called "Bridge over Troubled Waters." I'll look it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a huge photo book filled with pictures of my quilts from doing 7 "Jewels of the Platte" quilt shows at City Hall of Casper Wyoming from 1996-2006 or 7. The first year of my fibromyalgia was my last show. I sweated blood getting those quilts hung and taken down again a month later. Bridge Over Troubled Waters not only took a lot of time over the drawing board, it was tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky, so I never published the pattern in any serious kind of way. going from warp and weft to diagonal and back again is a challenge, even to an advanced quilter, and I did it early on in my career of designing quilts. I loved the quilt and gave it to my son, who loves blue.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How does one get a quilt appraised? I have a feeling that my friend, even though a beginner, is under valuing hers. I think she just gives them away. I did that with several of my paintings as well, but my art teacher said we should never do that.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The best appraiser-locators are probably in Paducah, Kentucky, at the wonderful American Quilt Society Museum there. They might even have a resident appraiser or a list of certified American quilt appraisers on hand.
Click to expand...


I'll tell her that.  She lives in Missouri, but not that far away.


----------



## Sunshine

Oh, and Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans along with my scalloped potatoes were excellent. I had a most excellent supper last night and most excellent leftovers for lunch today along with a glass of wine both times.  And now, I really must get cracking and start getting ready to work this week.  Not long until I don't have to think about getting ready for work!


----------



## Foxfyre

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> How does one get a quilt appraised? I have a feeling that my friend, even though a beginner, is under valuing hers. I think she just gives them away. I did that with several of my paintings as well, but my art teacher said we should never do that.
> 
> 
> 
> The best appraiser-locators are probably in Paducah, Kentucky, at the wonderful American Quilt Society Museum there. They might even have a resident appraiser or a list of certified American quilt appraisers on hand.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I'll tell her that.  She lives in Missouri, but not that far away.
Click to expand...


When I was still working claims, I sometimes had to price out a quilt that was damaged or stolen or otherwise covered by insurance.  And that certainly was not an area of my expertise.  There are at least five stores in our area that specialize in quilt supplies and at least two of those owners are sufficiently expert to appraise the value of a quilt.  So I would go to one of them.

You might check in your area for such stores and the owners will likely have the expertise or will know where to refer you.


----------



## Sunshine

Foxfyre said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The best appraiser-locators are probably in Paducah, Kentucky, at the wonderful American Quilt Society Museum there. They might even have a resident appraiser or a list of certified American quilt appraisers on hand.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll tell her that.  She lives in Missouri, but not that far away.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> When I was still working claims, I sometimes had to price out a quilt that was damaged or stolen or otherwise covered by insurance.  And that certainly was not an area of my expertise.  There are at least five stores in our area that specialize in quilt supplies and at least two of those owners are sufficiently expert to appraise the value of a quilt.  So I would go to one of them.
> 
> You might check in your area for such stores and the owners will likely have the expertise or will know where to refer you.
Click to expand...


Thanks.


----------



## freedombecki

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, Everybody! 

I liked the yellow border best of all (see a couple of pages back), put on a yellow spool of thread and even ran a yellow bobbin, picked a pretty Stonehenge yellow (tm), and then thought, what's wrong with you, girl? This is St. Patrick's Day and half the Christian world or better celebrates it and everyone has fun no matter what! 

So I dutifully filed through greens in ye trusty stash and found the cutest one--a shamrock bright Kelly green fabric that may be the plant for which Ireland received its nickname, "The Emerald Isle." 

So these postage stamps went to Ireland, so to speak, and not quite all the way around the world many times. 

What else would one do on Saint Patrick's Day when finishing a quilt!


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I retrieved the old bag of country charm red and white strips six-inch squares for a quick quilt. The last two quilts were time-eating handfuls, which ate two weeks of time off March. With 10 quilts as a deadline but only 3 quilts to show for it, I have 3 or 4 areas of extra blocks that can be quick starts to the process. One month last year, I did 5 quilts in one week because of having stashed away leftover blocks, making duplicate blocks and separating them into 4 or 5 piles for 4 or 5 future quilts. It'd be nice to have 10 quilts ready in 10 favored color paths for next year, (dream on), but at least for a few months, I have some socked away to do day-or-two quilts. I researched why I have been so tired this year. In addition to lower levels of Vitamin D and potassium, people taking my kind of meds for fibromyalgia issues also get depleted in magnesium. So I found a bottle of magnesium I quit using during my surgery two years ago, when I was told to knock off the OTC regimen for 2 weeks, and already, my eyelids don't weigh a pound apiece.  That said, here are blocks and joined blocks for the Country Charm Red and White Woven Checkerboard Quilt Tops. The inch-wide strips are 6 inches long when finished into a 6-inch square.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's the other side of one of the 6-square parts made so far and a couple of shots of Penny Halgram's diagrams of a charm square that has 5 strips  per block and a "rail fence" that has seven strips:


----------



## freedombecki

I was just looking for a sample of someone's traditional Country Charm strip quilt, when I ran into a master scrapper's beautiful quilt:



 
She wasn't counting strips, just a certain sized square, and joined them in rows around a middle. What a great idea for that foot-high pile of scraps I have on my cutting table right now!​ 
Well, after I finish the checkerboard, I'm gonna hit that darn pile of scraps that's 5 feet long and one foot high, at least. 

Oh, yes, and she calls her quilt "Over the Rainbow".​


----------



## freedombecki

Checkerboard done! 

Free at last! This morning just went on forever sewing vertical red stripes against horizontal lights! 7x9 = 63x6 = 378 1x6" finished strips in the Country charm that I made with 6 strips and not 5 or 7 strips in the ONLY samples I could find online.

There's so much creativity going on out there that designers are naming newly developed quilts they've made, so instead of having from 600,0 - 10,000 quilt names to remember, our daughters will have twice that many, at least.

Oh, yes the scans of the border I finished adding a half hour ago:


----------



## freedombecki

Gonna do a seal quilt. I saw some pictures.. Then I worked from a couple of pictures and came up with a seal baby.

Seal1 - (Attached image) Someone's circus seal from the net. Okay for someone else... This seal will have to be a lot simpler for a small child quilt.

Seal2 - The cutest face on a baby seal I could bing quickly. I saw a lot of other seals for anatomical ideas, too. This one was cut off, but that face...

Seal3 - This was the result, and will be refined by my scissors when I cut out a template to transfer the design. Oh, I gotta go get black ink for my copier.  I'll have to use the old fashioned graph method, I guess for the time being. No big deal.

Think it will work?


----------



## freedombecki

I need a small size to transfer to another area, so pardon any duplication!


----------



## Foxfyre

Looks to me like it will work.

And if you need more ideas try these:






Along with step by step instructions of how to draw it:

Drawing baby seal face - Bing Images


----------



## freedombecki

Foxfyre said:


> Looks to me like it will work.
> 
> And if you need more ideas try these:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Along with step by step instructions of how to draw it:
> 
> Drawing baby seal face - Bing Images


 
Thanks, Foxfyre. The design you found is beautiful.

Applique artists do their own designs, for good or for bad. This one still isn't perfect--the right eye is wrong, but I will fix it and redesign after getting my scissors out and cutting until it's right. My scissors are smarter than my pencil, and so is my free motion sewing. I know that sounds silly, but I stick with one media--fabrics, thread, reliable sewing machines, and a willingness to make enough mistakes so I can see the right one when it happens.

It took me six weeks to do one of the drawings in my copyrighted and self-published applique book called "Aesthetics of All God's Children." Most of them only took hours. The Japanese costumed children did not take well to Westernization. It took me 6 weeks to figure that out and reading a book on Japanese folklore. I finally got it. After that, I just tried to get into the cultural mode when doing foreign designs, and of 50, 49 of them were other countries. That one design made the words "culture shock" mean something to me and improved my refinements on other things by paying absolute attention to lines.

For what it's worth, here's an enlarged copy, not the same as the first drawings, but I need to see it here to get a final perspective when I go to put it with fabrics and on a ground of contrast. Hopefully I can find the right materials and get with the program tonight.

Before I reduced the size to compatibility, my size is about 8x9.5 inches, not ideal for quilts in which humans are taller , so that determines that I will probably go for splitting the background into 3 parallels--sky to horizon, horizon sea to shore, shore to front. Ideally, Mr. Seal would be partly in the water or very close to the edge. Unfortunately, in the artistic world we have something called negative spaces, so a lot of license is needed to procure an effect. Negative space can make or break the positive space that the object is.

We'll see if I can do it or not. If not, I will go back to the drawing board a little smarter, and that does happen to me in designing on account of my scissors being far smarter than the pencil. Wasted fabrics go into a big pot with scraps from the cutting table and threads trimmed off seams. Those items make the best pillows for putting under seniors' feet in nursing homes. The pillows are heavy, but tired feet are lifted by them, and they don't disappear like that puffy stuff people buy to stuff teddy bears and other pillows with.

Here's the Seal named after a USMB Poster who stepped up to the plate supporting cereal killer's chat area this morning.


----------



## cereal_killer

very cool what you are doing in his "name" Big props to you!!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for dropping in, cereal killer. Thanks for the kind words. I haven't been very articulate in the sewing room today, though. We're having the usual weather changes, and with fibromyalgia one minute you feel great, the next minute you're doubled over, and when that pain stops and you can breathe normally, chronic fatigue sets in. It gets a lot better in the warmer weather.

I shot my wad of up and at 'em by picking the 24 fabrics, climbing ladders to this box and that one, unstacking boxes to check on a certain texture for another, and finally, I told my sweetie we didn't need to go to the quilt store after all. I found enough similar textures and versatile prints to work ok on pastel colors for the seals. Also, I redesigned them to fit a certain size of block that makes a perfect sized quilt for a small child until a 5-ft quilt is too small, whenever that is. Children seem to me to be so much bigger than they were in the last generation. Tomorrow, I'll try and show samples of the fabrics I picked if there's time. Y'all have a great evening.


----------



## freedombecki

"If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring..."​


----------



## Mr. H.

_That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You will think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could, change the world_


----------



## freedombecki

Nice song, Mr. H.


----------



## freedombecki

The spring sky is ambivalent today about whether it will just shade things a little this afternoon or give us a little sprinkle as the day goes in a westerly direction...

Sewing progress has not been stellar this week due to a little pain. I started taking some magnesium, essential in pain fighting, and that helped a little. It takes a few days to get back into the groove, that's all, but I did what I could by napping as necessary. I may have overdone it in the yard. My sweetie is trying, really he is, but he has to be monitored constantly to keep him going on any given activity, except watching tv. lol Well, we do the best we can.  

Tomorrow, I'm going to try another friend's recommendation and see how it comes out. I did some scavenging in boxes for other fabrics for the pink kaleidoscope quilt I found last week (well, 4 12" blocks joined together, anyway) that was likely assembled in the late eighties after 1987, but probably before 1996. The fabrics are late 80s prints, but one was a Jinny Beyer deep dark magenta/red with tiny black vining pinnate leaves all over.

I also found a fabric for a 2-dimensional "frame" that will make a nice backdrop for a sample seal quilt that has northern lights. Well almost, but the "northern lights" are red and purple. Heheh! 

I'm gathering fabrics to do the Kaleidoscope border in, hopefully it will make sense, but that's never guaranteed in quiltmaking. I put a dark contemporary red to match the other red around as the first border, and the next one I'd like to do in 1.5" small squares all around in pinks, greens, beige, and a touch of country blue to match one of the prints around the pink kaleidoscopes. That doesn't always work in the favor of the quilt, but sometimes it exceeds itself in working. The important thing at this point is to keep going. That wasn't easy on days I wasn't fighting my pain well. Probably a simple dose of aspirin would have helped. That's all I have for now. Hopefully sometime today I will get something to a point where it will be interesting enough to show to put under the lid of the scanner.

I'm sleepy, out of rep and need a little nap. Also would like to get up and sew when the rest is done. Lately, it's like going to kindergarten. You need a nap after lunch every day.


----------



## freedombecki

Thought for the day: Working on 2 quilts at the same time is harder than working on one.


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt began as a Silver fox quilt project 20 or more years ago that I taught to seniors in our community for free. One of the classes was a Kaleidoscope square that measured 12" square, finished. The center of this quilt was made before that class opened and had 4 squares in it, recolored and joined to make the parts look as if they'd been jiggled around in a real Kaleidoscope and mirrored to show opposites all around.
The scans are not in any particular order, but if you see a part that has rosewood-colored narrow borders around rosewood and pink waves bordered by gilt edges, all the tops of the wave tell the direction of the top of the quilt. For some reason, there was no tearing out a mistake for that reason. That's called a lucky day in the sewing room.


----------



## freedombecki

3 more scans of the Kaleidoscope Medallion Rosewood quilt top


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 7, 8, and 9


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - quilt description for Kaleidoscope Medallion Rosewood quilt

Scan 2 - 1st step Seal Quilt reverse applique

Scan 3 - Medallion around Northern Lights


----------



## freedombecki

seal thumbnail.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> "If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring..."​



Here it was 31F on the first day of spring!  LOL


----------



## Sunshine

Well, Beckums, this week I put my last quilt block in the hoop.  But I'm not starting it this weekend.  I've got to do a little home straighteng up first.  After the design is done, I have to do the border on most of the blocks.  I now have an oval hoop to make that a little easier and faster.  It just wan't going with the round hoop.  Then I will be done with the cross stitich.


----------



## Sunshine

Stir fry steak for lunch. Then I'm cooking ham, baked beans, and potato salad to eat on the rest of the weekend.  YUM


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Well, Beckums, this week I put my last quilt block in the hoop. But I'm not starting it this weekend. I've got to do a little home straighteng up first. After the design is done, I have to do the border on most of the blocks. I now have an oval hoop to make that a little easier and faster. It just wan't going with the round hoop. Then I will be done with the cross stitich.


That's a total joy to hear, Sunshine. You've come a long way toward your completion goal, and I think it took getting that next couple of projects lined up to light that fire.  

Kudos!

I just piddled around and thought it'd be fun to experiment with opposite color wheel complements and began a quilt I am now calling "Mexican Marketplace White House Steps." The parents took the kids in our family across the border a few times when Dad was Superintendent of schools in Bruni, and in Nuevo Laredo back in then, there was this colorful, bright, amazing marketplace with cheap merchandise that was pretty cool since things were hand-made, tooled leather, embroidered wearables, brightly-dyed feathers and flower ornaments, pots, and great things to give for Christmas. Anyway, on the $.25 allowance we got, you could get a couple of things, so it felt like the big time.

Actually, this project started out with me digging through a box of church closet fabrics they were cleaning out and invited me to take all, so I did. I found 3 suitable for quilting, although a couple may have been blends. So the purple centers were this sturdy kind of heavy sheet material someone had leftovers after whacking out a quilt back from it, probably. I made 4 each of the 3 blocks below (chain sewing), and found fabrics for another 5 or 6 blocks which will be shown soon as I can sew some. It took 6 hours to do 4 sets of 3 different blocks

The seal will get done when I decide whether to hand or machine embroider his details. I want him to be really nice, but either method done well can achieve that.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, it was fun, but doing 4 at once feels like an exercise in underachievement unless you are a very stealthy soul and ran marathons when you were younger or maybe a triathalon. 

The peacock feather reminded me of feathers I saw at the Mexican Market that were dyed bright colors like scarlet, hot pink, froufrou purple, cadmium yellow, cerise, etc. So I used it, not having used it since it arrived last year.  Sorry the colors from my computer just don't reach out and grab you like the ones I put on the scanner, but the blocks just sizzle together and are a totally fun group. I'm alternating the placement of rows to make the values more outstanding if someone put them all to gray on their HP scanners. If you ensure the values are contrasting, that gives this type of a log cabin square, originally called "white house steps" some zing.

So here are the peacock feather square and four of the 16 squares sewn today at the junction point:


----------



## freedombecki

This historic quilt was made by Bannie Parker in 1919, and is part and parcel of the North Carolina Museum of history and is found at their Log Cabin style White House Steps Quilts page.




 
I just love this quilt!​ 
Another one that caught my eye was this Eunice Gillikin's White House Steps quilt made sometime between 1930-1940:​


----------



## freedombecki

Just a little  blog touring found this hand-quilted one at brown dog prims blogspot. The artist used what is also known as "back art to back the quilt, plus took a shot of her quilting work at an angle to show how puffy it is. If you look at the top picture, that quilting made her wonky blocks absolutely rock, well, imho:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Just a little  blog touring found this hand-quilted one at brown dog prims blogspot. The artist used what is also known as "back art to back the quilt, plus took a shot of her quilting work at an angle to show how puffy it is. If you look at the top picture, that quilting made her wonky blocks absolutely rock, well, imho:



WOW.  That would make you stagger when you get up at night to go to the bathroom.

The ham and beans are in the oven.  Just have to put the potato salad together.  Going to have a wonderful old fashion lunch today, with some left over for sandwiches.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, think I'm going to skip today working on the last block.  I'm working on a migraine for some reason.  I did get the chores done.  I told my neighbor that my house is kee deep.  He told me not to worry with it, that I will have plenty of time to get into my life when I retire.  But some things you just can't sit down next to forever.


----------



## freedombecki

I've been having this quirky love affair with op art, Sunshine, since I read the book "Masters of Deception--Escher, Dali and the Artists of Optical Illusion."



​ 
In my shop were all the latest optical art fabrics, which went over like a lead balloon in the West, where people are still trying to eke a living out of a hostile arctic desert--one of the drawbacks of being raised in the city but spending one's adult years on the literal frontier of America's badlands, which became a most fond place in my heart forever.

I had lots of customers with your exact feeling on the subject, until I started making wall-hangings that made the fabrics viable as borders, frames, and a little something to add pizzazz to a humdrum theme. Then they got it, and whatever fabric I displayed as such was sold quickly. Only trouble was, I had thousands of bolts I couldn't possibly show each and every delicious opportunity but just hoped for good teachers to drop by and make some good waves with our offerings. Didn't happen. As a consequence, that's why I came home to TX when I retired with at least a hundred unfinished projects, with me hopping between teaching machine instructions, free classes, charity sewing sessions with free instructions and materials, etc., to make quilts for soldiers, the homeless, those whose homes burned, the hospice, squad car quilts for cops, and 2 day care centers--one at a junior college for student moms, and one handicapped day care center that had been started in our church and grew into a full-child care facility for working families who had a severely disabled child and couldn't leave them to support the family. We just did what we could for whoever needed it. People moved to Wyoming who had no idea what 40 degrees below zero is in high winds that send the chill factor down 60 more degrees or more. Some came to the state in summertime with no more than sweaters to keep warm with. <gong!> One cold night cured them of that nonsense.


----------



## freedombecki

Two x 4 = 8 blocks finished today, this one is a time eater.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, think I'm going to skip today working on the last block. I'm working on a migraine for some reason. I did get the chores done. I told my neighbor that my house is kee deep. He told me not to worry with it, that I will have plenty of time to get into my life when I retire. But some things you just can't sit down next to forever.


 Hope and pray your migraine is better today, Sunshine. 

I had a little one yesterday, so I spent the day wishing it would go away. I cratered last night and just went to bed, before I got to read everything I wanted to. Today, I just planted myself in front of the sewing machine after taking a lovely walk. It was cool and sunny, and spring flowers are just everywhere here.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, 24 blocks of 6 different pairs of Mexican marketplace colors were done, and sewed one each into the little quilt start from the other day.

Here are 3 of the new blocks:


----------



## freedombecki

And Blocks 10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

Today I havta clean up the sewing room and put different colors of fabrics back in their respective bins. 

I hate work. It's zero fun.


----------



## freedombecki

Found a nice braided quilt with instructions entitled "Narrabeen Braid" by Marianne Roberts:





The instructions are falling-off-a-log easy, and were found right here: Into Craft - share with the craft community Website.

You just use 2" strips cut to 6.5" lengths, put them in light and dark stacks, and sew them end to side until you have a long row the desired size:





I'm going to go to the quilt room soon and start sewing! 

I hope someone else finds the instruction page as wonderful as I did. I've been thinking about making a braid quilt for ages. I can't wait to get started!


----------



## Mr. H.

Interesting that the front and back are so different.
Is that often the case?


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Interesting that the front and back are so different.
> Is that often the case?


 It is often since a famous quilter wrote a book called "back art" describing quilt backs made from the scraps left over from the front of the quilt by some quilters arranged as the pieces fit best, and many of them look like a piece of modern art. The title of this conservative technique became "Back Art" after the book which I have somewhere. I want to say that Barbara Brackman wrote it, but I can't find it in my search engine today or on amazon. I hope I find it soon, because it's a wonderful quilt book and no other book deals with it as comprehensively as the book "Back Art"


----------



## freedombecki

Until I'm sure I can finish this one in under a week, It's going to be called an "experiment." Today, I'm really tired for some reason (again) and am needing more rest than usual. Here's the paltry offering from my spacey couple of hours spent at the sewing machine this morning.

I'll just show one of the untrimmed and both of the trimmed scans, because I'm about to drop I'm so tired today:

And I'm headed to my therapy bed for a nap!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, a few more strips were sewn on to make one 42x6" strip. There are 5 strips cut out. At least 6 will be needed, maybe 7 or 8. This quilt is not as expected, but it's ok. I knew it was going to be work when I declared it an experiment, which it still is.

3 more scans of what was done this morning:


----------



## freedombecki

There was this really gorgeous green braid quilt with a start of these strips, which at first were thought to be a GORGEOUS braid quilt, all-over green scraps:






However, later on the scraps were used to create quite another very pretty quilt:






Wow, it took her a whole month. I don't want to spend a whole month on a charity quilt. I just want to spend a couple of days. !yikes!

Her blog is here and her instructional page is here for braids.  You'll love it. It's ten times easier than sewing onto a foundation, which I chose for my first braid "experiment". I'm still not sure If I want to do this yet. Nothing like being consistent, is there!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I've been having this quirky love affair with op art, Sunshine, since I read the book "Masters of Deception--Escher, Dali and the Artists of Optical Illusion."
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> In my shop were all the latest optical art fabrics, which went over like a lead balloon in the West, where people are still trying to eke a living out of a hostile arctic desert--one of the drawbacks of being raised in the city but spending one's adult years on the literal frontier of America's badlands, which became a most fond place in my heart forever.
> 
> I had lots of customers with your exact feeling on the subject, until I started making wall-hangings that made the fabrics viable as borders, frames, and a little something to add pizzazz to a humdrum theme. Then they got it, and whatever fabric I displayed as such was sold quickly. Only trouble was, I had thousands of bolts I couldn't possibly show each and every delicious opportunity but just hoped for good teachers to drop by and make some good waves with our offerings. Didn't happen. As a consequence, that's why I came home to TX when I retired with at least a hundred unfinished projects, with me hopping between teaching machine instructions, free classes, charity sewing sessions with free instructions and materials, etc., to make quilts for soldiers, the homeless, those whose homes burned, the hospice, squad car quilts for cops, and 2 day care centers--one at a junior college for student moms, and one handicapped day care center that had been started in our church and grew into a full-child care facility for working families who had a severely disabled child and couldn't leave them to support the family. We just did what we could for whoever needed it. People moved to Wyoming who had no idea what 40 degrees below zero is in high winds that send the chill factor down 60 more degrees or more. Some came to the state in summertime with no more than sweaters to keep warm with. <gong!> One cold night cured them of that nonsense.



Have never been to Wyoming.  It's still on my Bucket List.  

When we were kids we used to write to the Chamber of Commerce in the state capitols asking for brochures.  They always sent them.  Wyoming is one place I wrote to.


----------



## freedombecki

When you go to Wyoming, you'll see a whole lot of nothing nestled between bits of heaven. When you live there, a 1/4" desert weed in bloom becomes a small luxury of beauty when it's in bloom. You learn appreciation for the little things there. But if you'd rather be overwhelmed, go to Jackson Hole, rent a car there, and drive up to the south entrance of Yellowstone Park. You'll pass Mt. Moran and the majestic Tetons, Jenny Lake where you'll want to stop, and scenery that seems too good to be true in the summer. Hopefully, you'll stop a few places where there are overlooks to the Snake River and Belle Fouche (sp?) If you drive up from Casper, it's a 5 hour drive or so, and you'll see the continental divide in 5 places, the favored of which could be the fabulous Togwatee Pass. (Toe-giddy, 3 syllables) Not far from the Eastern entrance is Two-Ocean lake, once thought to empty into tributaries going to both the Pacific and the Atlantic, but now that's not known for sure. Sometimes, the old-time trappers knew more about where the water went than seismologists, and it could be there was a swelling over the years in a critical place that changed things, I don't know. Anyway, it's pretty, but wear bells on your toes to alert the bears of your presence so they can hustle their cubs out of there before you become a surprise target. Always make noise in bear country, even if you only have a key chain on you. Rattle it when you are on the move. You may not get to see a moose, but you will be safer from the bears than if you do nothing and frighten a new bear mommy.

You will see elk, deer, moose, antelopes, etc., though, and if you go through buffalo country do not approach a buffalo for any reason whatever, and avoid any idiot who does. Just sayin'. 

Flowers at floor of Teton range:


----------



## freedombecki

The Green Braid experiment just got joined. A discovery was that the tree tops point up at the bottom.  Fortunately, the dark fabric COULD BE a night sky. 

Scan 7 (now the top), Scan 8, and Scan 9:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 10 and 11, Rows 1 and 2 of the Green Braid Experiment that just keeps getting weirder and weirder. At the bottom (formerly the top) where row 1 and 2 were joined, there are 2 common fabrics that appear on both row 1 and row 2, except they are reversed on the dark fabrics. That was not supposed to happen. In the middle, I had ripped out several pieces that went curving off the runner's path so to speak, and one just didn't fit anymore, so had to be replaced by a new one in the stack. When I got to the last piece, the weird piece fit just right. Well, it was already in row 1 at the old top, now the bottom, plus I found a piece that had fallen on the floor I didn't realize I'd used in row 1 two days before (no photographic memory here). Those are the two pieces that are perfect reverses, which is something I generally avoid. I am so amused at my silly mistakes, though, I have to leave them, because it was SUCH A FLUKE it would never happen again in a million years. 

Following scans 10 and 11, is a picture showing the clever organization of strips for the autumn quilt (a few posts earlier).

It has fully sunk in that the advantages of not using a foundation of percale is ten times faster, and I will be doing this one for another few days, unless I get persistent. That would take a miracle lately.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, I finished all the design on the quilt blocks.  27 of them still need the borders done but it is not as labor intensive as the design.  It is just a little awkward due to being so close to the edge of the blocks.  I don't know how long this will take.  But one a night would still have it all done before I retire.

I'm studying that tablecloth.  That is going to be a smaller project, but definitely different.  The design is more precise than the quilt design and smaller too.   I learned a lot from doing the quilt, and yes, there are things to be learned from 6 months of stitching Xs on blocks of cloth.  LOL.  No doubt I will learn from the table cloth as well.  Sometimes the main thing I learn from a project is not to try somthing that stupid again!  LOL


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> When you go to Wyoming, you'll see a whole lot of nothing nestled between bits of heaven. When you live there, a 1/4" desert weed in bloom becomes a small luxury of beauty when it's in bloom. You learn appreciation for the little things there. But if you'd rather be overwhelmed, go to Jackson Hole, rent a car there, and drive up to the south entrance of Yellowstone Park. You'll pass Mt. Moran and the majestic Tetons, Jenny Lake where you'll want to stop, and scenery that seems too good to be true in the summer. Hopefully, you'll stop a few places where there are overlooks to the Snake River and Belle Fouche (sp?) If you drive up from Casper, it's a 5 hour drive or so, and you'll see the continental divide in 5 places, the favored of which could be the fabulous Togwatee Pass. (Toe-giddy, 3 syllables) Not far from the Eastern entrance is Two-Ocean lake, once thought to empty into tributaries going to both the Pacific and the Atlantic, but now that's not known for sure. Sometimes, the old-time trappers knew more about where the water went than seismologists, and it could be there was a swelling over the years in a critical place that changed things, I don't know. Anyway, it's pretty, but wear bells on your toes to alert the bears of your presence so they can hustle their cubs out of there before you become a surprise target. Always make noise in bear country, even if you only have a key chain on you. Rattle it when you are on the move. You may not get to see a moose, but you will be safer from the bears than if you do nothing and frighten a new bear mommy.
> 
> You will see elk, deer, moose, antelopes, etc., though, and if you go through buffalo country do not approach a buffalo for any reason whatever, and avoid any idiot who does. Just sayin'.
> 
> Flowers at floor of Teton range:



Yellowstone and the Tetons are on my list.  One day I'm going to just take out in the car and go where I go.  

I'll heed the warnings.  We don't have bear and moose here, but we do have elk.  I've seen them in the wild, but not many times.  Still we have several places with 'elk 'in the name, Elk Creek, etc.  We have bobcats and panthers, which could just be black bobcats, but we call them panthers.  My grandfather called them 'pant'ers.'  Long A.  Like painter.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, I finished all the design on the quilt blocks. 27 of them still need the borders done but it is not as labor intensive as the design. It is just a little awkward due to being so close to the edge of the blocks. I don't know how long this will take. But one a night would still have it all done before I retire.
> 
> I'm studying that tablecloth. That is going to be a smaller project, but definitely different. The design is more precise than the quilt design and smaller too. I learned a lot from doing the quilt, and yes, there are things to be learned from 6 months of stitching Xs on blocks of cloth. LOL. No doubt I will learn from the table cloth as well. Sometimes the main thing I learn from a project is not to try somthing that stupid again! LOL


 Oh, Sunshine, you have done wonderful work and now the heavy lifting is behind you.


----------



## freedombecki

Last night, I got trapped on a thread and handed out all reps and stayed up past the midnight hour cutting long rectangles for the experimental green braid quilt. (sounds like an army hero, no? - "Greed Brrraids") Well, it's great thinking of all our American heroes now and then even if it is while sewing a green quilt for a shelter child to its completion. This had to have been started a week ago, seems like a month, and it is not half finished yet. There are 3 braids of 6 sewn and 2 founded sashings sewn this morning to separate the foundation braided strips that are quite the anathema. It takes a quilter awhile to go from one type of piecing to another or even to foundation work from simply sewing pieces together freely.

Here are some of the results:

Scans 12, 13, and 14:


----------



## freedombecki

It's been difficult making the transition to foundation work, but half way through this I'm finding it's a lot of work, but it's fun work, and at the end of the quilting process, it will be just a little bit warmer than otherwise it might have been. Anyway, here's some more progress, and it's been hard getting to the sewing room over the Easter weekend for some reason.

It was fun. It's time to get back in the groove, though, and for the first time in several weeks, my medicines are acting like they're supposed to act.

Scans 15, 16, and 17:

The bright green floral sashing has added some fun to this little project, too. Just saw it this morning and something said, "Eureka! That's the one!" 

Hope a special kid at the shelter gets this one.


----------



## freedombecki

You have to click the two foundation thumbnails to see the thread that attaches the strips that make up the braids. One shows that the long sashes between braids have also been placed on a foundation so that all the parts come out equally sturdy. A sturdy quilt feels so good to touch or to hold.

This quilt has a loving feel of strength and durability, and it's not even finished much less quilted yet.


----------



## freedombecki

Finished one more row, just one to go on the mean, lean, green, braid quilt, and then a small border, backed with percale. <huff, puff>


----------



## freedombecki

The green quilt inspired by Alan1 who loves greens of the Redwood forest is done. It's small, 42x48", but is possibly the sturdiest quilt I've ever made due to putting the foundation behind even the separator sashes and borders of the quilt, not to mention the diagonal "redwood branches" and background lights, all sewn to a foundation, piece by overlapped piece. 

I'd like to thank Alan for his skeletal knowledge found often at the coffee shop and his choice of green like one sees on redwoods when he guessed my bones were those of a hammerhead shark. 

It's all good fun, and the Charity Bees get a quilt to give someone who needs it the most!


----------



## Sunshine

OK, I am still working the border around my quilt blocks.  I have new insight as to why I postponed it.  It is annoying.  That's why.  Even with the oblong hoop, it is still annoying.  It doesn't have the same Zen quality that working the pattern has.  When I started it I had 2 1/2 blocks with the border.  Now I have 7.  There are 30 blocks total, so this is going to be along period of aggravtion, but I won't put it down.  The pattern was never about the finished product.  It was about the joy of stitching.  THIS is about the finished product.  I'm just not enjoying doing that border, so I have to make myself keep trudging on.  Glad I gave myself tentatively until I am officially retired to get it done.  That means I have 7 weeks to do the remaining 23.


----------



## freedombecki

Baste flags of old rags around the edges, sunshine. Then hoop it. I embroidered a lot before going full-bore into quilting. Those "flags" will keep the work firm in the hoop and your patience intact. I prefer zigzagging flags on, but if I didn't have a sewing machine, basting is not a bad way to go.


----------



## freedombecki

It's time to get back to the sewing room today.

I'm thinking of doing a quilt entitled "Red Sky at Night, Happy Delight" with log cabins in "tall ships" format.

I haven't done many "boy" quilts this year... and I'm sure the Charity Bees would like to see some for their recipients at the shelter.

I'm showing the format below, but the sky will be red, not the ship, which would naturally, have to be black to show nightfall.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Baste flags of old rags around the edges, sunshine. Then hoop it. I embroidered a lot before going full-bore into quilting. Those "flags" will keep the work firm in the hoop and your patience intact. I prefer zigzagging flags on, but if I didn't have a sewing machine, basting is not a bad way to go.



I"ll give it a try.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Baste flags of old rags around the edges, sunshine. Then hoop it. I embroidered a lot before going full-bore into quilting. Those "flags" will keep the work firm in the hoop and your patience intact. I prefer zigzagging flags on, but if I didn't have a sewing machine, basting is not a bad way to go.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I"ll give it a try.
Click to expand...

 It put the smile back on my face a lot of times. If it's sewn on well, it's like your linen doesn't have a break and you have all the space in the world. I learned it from a very wizened embroiderer and French hand-seamstress, Theta Happ. There's nothing she didn't know about excellence in embroidery techniques. Her lectures were like being in machine embroidery heaven. She could help you do things in minutes that used to take hours and do them better under more difficult circumstances that are presented to people who embroider with 2000+ spm (stitches per minute)sewing machines. I loved every minute spent at Theta's School of Sewing back in the 1980s, may God rest her dear, sweet soul. She was the teacher of teacher's teachers, if you can imagine. 

On the basting, if you use a machine, you can run a bobbin of wash-away thread these days. Then just spray the bottom of the embroidered work and flag connection, and it comes right off. No seam ripper necessary. If you wash your hands just before running a bobbin of wash away thread, dry thoroughly, even under the fingernails and keep drinks away from the embroidery or sewing area. Any liquid will melt the thread away as well as a spray bottle of distilled water.


----------



## Sunshine

Well, I guess I'm doing better than I thought.  I counted last night and I have 10 completed blocks.  I've only had one that was so close to the edge it was difficult to do.  The pattern was stamped a little crooked on that one.  That one will definitely have to be an outside block.  I tried to pinpoint the issue last night and I think it is because that line goes faster than the design and I'm always having to move the hoop and get more thread.  With the pattern I could stay in one place for well over an hour.  Not so with the edge.  It doesn't give me the time to get into dissociation mode like the design does.  But I want it done, so I'll keep on keeping on.   And I'll store that tip away in my brain!


----------



## freedombecki

So glad to hear of your progress, Sunshine! That's wonderful!


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 - Plan

Scan 2 - Bow

Scan 3 - Stern


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 4 - Sky and Sail

Scan 5 - Sails

Scan 6 - red sky log cabin starts (all the logs will be red)

The paln was changed to accommodate strips I found that measure 1" when finished and not 3/4" as the plan says. A small red border will have to be placed around the blocks, and I found 8 or 9 solid red strips that will do just fine. Already the width measures 42", and with the addition of the red strip on top of the ship's hull, 1.25" will have to be added to the 49" result, so it will be 50 plus the narrow outer border, or about 52" long and 44.5" wide. It's always best to add an inch to the measurement for seasoned quilters because a hair error on one side vs. another multiplied by 6 or 8 can be up to an inch. On unseasoned quilters, it can be ok, but in my experience, first timer log cabin quilters have a 4" difference if you measure two sides and the middle. Sometimes if you are a professional quilter, you have to contact the maker and tell her the bad news, that she will have to redo her top if you feel you cannot frame and even it out. (you can't do much for a quilt that is 2" odd, much less for one that is 4 or more inches weird. I've had worse, believe it or not, in quilting people's quilts for a dozen years before I had to give up professional work with fibromyalgia issues. Back then, people didn't know much about the disease, and it was too frustrating to not be able to do the work that had been easy the year before I succumbed. People found that kind of problem incredulous unless they had a sister, best friend, cousin, or parent with fibro or MS. They also are not aware fibrofog can cause quite a bit of problems running equipment that does 2500 spms (stitches per minute) that go out of control with muscular issues chiming in with drawbacks and other ugly stuff they do involuntarily in some of us.

I'm just grateful I can still do a top now and then, with a little more ripping and redoing than usual, you still make progress and can complete things, and you can still improve your technique and learn new approaches in spite of "fog."


----------



## cereal_killer

freedombecki said:


> Scan 4 - Sky and Sail
> 
> Scan 5 - Sails
> 
> Scan 6 - red sky log cabin starts (all the logs will be red)
> 
> The paln was changed to accommodate strips I found that measure 1" when finished and not 3/4" as the plan says. A small red border will have to be placed around the blocks, and I found 8 or 9 solid red strips that will do just fine. Already the width measures 42", and with the addition of the red strip on top of the ship's hull, 1.25" will have to be added to the 49" result, so it will be 50 plus the narrow outer border, or about 52" long and 44.5" wide. It's always best to add an inch to the measurement for seasoned quilters because a hair error on one side vs. another multiplied by 6 or 8 can be up to an inch. On unseasoned quilters, it can be ok, but in my experience, first timer log cabin quilters have a 4" difference if you measure two sides and the middle. Sometimes if you are a professional quilter, you have to contact the maker and tell her the bad news, that she will have to redo her top if you feel you cannot frame and even it out. (you can't do much for a quilt that is 2" odd, much less for one that is 4 or more inches weird. I've had worse, believe it or not, in quilting people's quilts for a dozen years before I had to give up professional work with fibromyalgia issues. Back then, people didn't know much about the disease, and it was too frustrating to not be able to do the work that had been easy the year before I succumbed. People found that kind of problem incredulous unless they had a sister, best friend, cousin, or parent with fibro or MS. They also are not aware fibrofog can cause quite a bit of problems running equipment that does 2500 spms (stitches per minute) that go out of control with muscular issues chiming in with drawbacks and other ugly stuff they do involuntarily in some of us.
> 
> I'm just grateful I can still do a top now and then, with a little more ripping and redoing than usual, you still make progress and can complete things, and you can still improve your technique and learn new approaches in spite of "fog."


This is VERY VERY nice!!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, cereal--but so is your "My posts, threads & quotes" & all kinds of ideas around here.  It's really great to know if someone quoted you & you need to answer them (when there's time!) The quilt is half done. I'd never seen one done, plus I added masts below the sails. I might do them differently next time, but designing quilts is a process, not a destination.  

I'd like to do one in blue before June. People driving out to the lake see sailboats then. Unfortunately, it can take the quilters a long time to get around to quilting the tops I make. Last month they did 35 by meeting for an all-day machine quilting session. I made it up there to thank them and spend an hour. I'm limited in having enough strength to attend a workshop, and a couple of hours later, it takes a 4-hour nap to recuperate. At least I can do a small part in the participation in spite of my illness.  That gives me a very happy heart every day. 

Thanks for your inspiration, Mr. Cereal.


----------



## freedombecki

The morning's progress was great! All blocks are finished!  The bottom 4 rows are together. Doing the masts was not as hard as anticipated, and four of the all-red "ocean" squares had waves or water or watercolor fabric on one edge and were used beneath the hull of the tall ship. 

The scan shows the masts beneath the sails. It was easy to place them.


----------



## freedombecki

These scans show the fabric just beneath the black hull to be either waves, water, or Quilter's "watercolor" fabrics. 

Thanks again to cereal killer for his inspiration and support of USMB and this charity quilt in his honor.

And it's back to the sewing room to do the sky and upper sails. Enough blocks were made to add another horizontal row which would give the recipient seven inches more of growing room (the present plan is 51". An extra horizontal row of 7" log cabin squares would yield a 58" long quilt, more or less. ...Thinking it over and will be back, hopefully with a completed top for a shelter kid before the sun sets. It's already two o'clock here in the great piney woods.


----------



## koshergrl

Over the top beautiful.

I finally got my sewing machine up and running..currently putting the elastic on 7 prs of telegrammer knickerbockers (5-8 year old kids who perform before the acts of the show my daughter is participating in)...can't wait to start some strip piecing, after this week...


----------



## freedombecki

That's great, Koshergrl. This must be a good day for sewing. The quilt that kept growing had an extra row added to make it longer for a growing child. The new schema was done as soon as it was finished so people here could see the overall plan, although with log cabin blocks on every square, this is just that: a schema. Actually, the blocks have a total of 624 separate pieces, all cut before sewing. <huff, puff, huff, puff> Actually most of them were cut the last time a red log cabin quilt was made, just to clean up the strips off the cutting table. It still has over a foot of strip litter, and a large piece already started of a strip quilt with some of the stuff that was there last week, now into a started quilt top. When cereal killer said he'd like a red and black quilt when asked, it just hit me as something so fun to do it would be worth setting the boring choring yukky strip quilt aside another week. It didn't take a week!

Scan 1: new schema with 48 blocks
Scan 2: corner and border
Scan 2: another corner, border area


----------



## koshergrl

Telegrammers' pants done and delivered, whew.

That stupid task has been weighing on me. Mostly because I put it off until the very, very, very last millisecond.


----------



## freedombecki

So glad to hear it, koshergrl. I get asked to do a lot of freebies, but I did my share back when. So now, I just issue them a blank stare and say, "Aw, I'm sorry, but my practice is limited to piecing quilt tops."

And piecing tops is a discipline. In order to get anything done you really have to put your nose to the grindstone and carry the ball by yourself over the goal line, hoping it's done before the buzzer sounds or you just drop from exhaustion till the next day.

But finishing a task like yours? I'd give myself a  for that!


----------



## koshergrl

It ended up taking MAYBE two hours all told, but it was just one of those things...there was easter, and I couldn't find black thread, and then I needed to load the bobbin..and I needed to clean the guts of my sewing machine because it hasn't been used much and needed it...then I realized I could't see the markings on about half the pants, then I didn't have elastic, and could't lay hands on safety pins...you know just one thing after another, like always. It seems sort of silly in retrospect, but it all has to be wove around mine and the kids' schedules...and I'm hardly disciplined...I have the ability to be disciplined about 1-2 things at a time...right now it's work, kids' activities, and feeding the dogs. That doesn't leave me a lot of room when push comes to shove.

BUT I did it!!!! 

I have started digging around to see what kinds of material I have that I can use for strip piecing. What I have is too diverse in types and color to make anything super cohesive, but I think I'm just going to go with what I have and pull one together.


----------



## Mr. H.

Did you know that "quilt" is one of 350 Scrabble words that begins with the letter Q?


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> It ended up taking MAYBE two hours all told, but it was just one of those things...there was easter, and I couldn't find black thread, and then I needed to load the bobbin..and I needed to clean the guts of my sewing machine because it hasn't been used much and needed it...then I realized I could't see the markings on about half the pants, then I didn't have elastic, and could't lay hands on safety pins...you know just one thing after another, like always. It seems sort of silly in retrospect, but it all has to be wove around mine and the kids' schedules...and I'm hardly disciplined...I have the ability to be disciplined about 1-2 things at a time...right now it's work, kids' activities, and feeding the dogs. That doesn't leave me a lot of room when push comes to shove.
> 
> BUT I did it!!!!
> 
> I have started digging around to see what kinds of material I have that I can use for strip piecing. What I have is too diverse in types and color to make anything super cohesive, but I think I'm just going to go with what I have and pull one together.


 I saw the simpleist quilt strip video the other day. See if I can find it again. BRB.

Back...There are more. brb!

[ame=http://youtu.be/2bEJLnaZQOU]Jelly Roll Race! A Quilt Top in Less Than an Hour! - YouTube[/ame]​


----------



## freedombecki

Here's one one of our ladies at Charity bees specializes in, and her scraps are all sizes--one inch, 1 3/8 inches, 2 inches, even 3/4 of an inch (leaves only a 1/4" piece at the end using a 1/4" seam allowance). Hers go from straight strip pieces to angled pieces, and they're always just beautiful. The other thing I wanted to say is that you can make these using typing paper, which works as well as specialty papers if you use a teeny-tiny machine straight stitch 20 to the inch (that's a lot of stitches on one end.) Then when you get ready to remove the paper from behind, they pop right off if they haven't already done so from handling! I like the quilt behind her that uses 1.5" strips, but again, you just use what looks good to your eye and that's a good answer for a scrap quilt. This video is pretty good except for omitting the use of tiny stitches to pop the paper off the back best. That way, you can do it yourself in seconds rather than hours it takes if you forget to set your stitch super short to perforate the paper.

[ame=http://youtu.be/iZ02NM9-USw]Quilting with scraps - Foundation Piecing to make the String Quilt! - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Finally got the information shot done on the red and black tall ships to be given to a shelter child after quilting by the Charity bees. Thanks to cereal killer for the color choice & I know some little boy or girl will love the warm quilt other people contributed to comfort in cold weather. 

And if they sell it for buying batting for other quilts, I'm just gonna make another one. 

Oh, yes, this is quilt #28 for the year of 2013 so far. This year my goal is to make every quilt one a child would like to have and not 100 quilts like last year. It's been a merry chase so far. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

I enjoyed the Tall Ships in red and black so much, I've decided to make another while I've still got so many red strips cut to size for the project.

However, because I want this one to show mainly red with white with red print "sails," about 200 more strips were cut this morning before sunrise. It will be a daylight quilt. I'm just playing with theme.

I'm sorry I couldn't show it due to being 10 thumbs with a camera, but the quilt is a knockout. I hope the white sails day ship is a brighter color for a younger child or even a toddler.

The sails presented a different problem to me, after making probably well over 70 log cabin quilts, I tend to get in a groove and stay there--6 lights and 7 darks. On the sails, 7 of the fabrics have to be sail positives, and 6 are whatever the sky is--and in both cases, red on this quilt.

Anyway, I had so much trouble sewing strips on wrongfully on both light and dark sails, I decided to show my work so if anyone here wants to make sails on a ship and liked the way mine looked on the mockup sheet placed on an above post a couple of days back, if they, too, were in a log cabin groove of any kind, my primer study would help them not screw up and spend half their time in front of the machine taking stitches out and re-sewing logs back on the right way.

I'm seeing that we have a few visitors here, and I'm thinking some of them are quilters. Well, I'm retired, so people are encouraged to use them to teach their students if they would like. You can isolate a post on USMB by clicking on the Post number (i.e., #1512 or whatever you'd like,) and have just one post on your page. Then when you print, just click on your printer's icon for "fit on one page" and that should help you print what you'd like.

Also, if you join USMB and friend me, you can access my Albums. One of them has a copy of ABC Animals to free motion machine embroider, applique, paint by number, (hahaha), stencil, copper stenciling etc. you are welcome to use. There are 42 animals, plus I think I posted another animal back a few pages--a seal, which has the outline for applique, but not the machine embroidery lines that show you how to do satinesque side-stitch, free motion style as on the ABC Animals. All I ask is that you credit me with their use, since I spent quite some time designing them a dozen or so years back when there just wasn't an ABC Animals quilt book out there, and I wanted to make one. It is copyrighted for my lifetime with the Library of Congress, which I did myself. Back then they were really nice to tell you if you made a mistake or had questions about why it took you a year to make the quilt and another year to write the book as you taught classes that date back a couple of years. They liked stuff nice-and-tidy back then, and that's just not my style. I have to mull and move slow and wait for inspiration when I design. I love people whose style is swift, but I have to mull and think too much, which is really silly to people who are time misers (also wiser than me, I think). 

Here's my primer for making a sail block for the ship at sea from the standard log cabin square. You will need to make 19 half blocks for the quilt--17 for the sails, 1 for the bow and 1 for the stern. If you differentiate sky and water, the 17 for the sails should probably be sky, and the 2 blocks attached to the back and front of the sailing ship could be water. Of course, if you're making a horizon to be further back, you could also put water fabric as part of the lower sails to where you choose to have the horizon line.

This will probably take 4 posts, hope it all gets on the same page. 

If you pose your mouserly arrow over the thumbnail, you will see a number at the beginning. The strips are 1 1/2 inches (1.5"), and cross cuts are listed as the first number (i.e. 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, and 7.5" respectively.

Scan 1 - picture of strip of light and dark; a cross cut that measures 1.5" x 2.5" after pressing out the quarter inch seam.

Scan 2 - Add the 2.5" dark log

Scan 3 - Add the 2.5" light log


----------



## freedombecki

All strips are 1.5" and all seam allowances are 1/4" (a quarter of an inch)

Scan 4 Add 3.5" Light Log

Scan 5 Add 3.5" Dark Log

Scan 6 Add 4.5" Light Log


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 7 - Add 4.5" dark log

Scan 8 - Add 5.5" Dark log

Scan 9 - Add 5.5" Light log


----------



## freedombecki

The Schema -- each "triangle" is actually a log cabin square like the one in Scan 12 below. I'm putting this here, so anyone who'd like to make one of the quilts can see the exact placement of the log cabin squares. I apologize for the too-light-red color, but had to use a colored pencil that just didn't bring out a dark, deep red like the log cabin square in Scan 12.



 
Scan 10 - Add 6.5" dark log

Scan 11 - Add 6.5" light log

Scan 12 - Add 7.5" light log

Again, all strips are cut 1.5" and the seam allowance is exactly 1/4".


----------



## freedombecki

Got a design done on the waves that swell in a storm at sea, often preceded by a red sky at morning. They're done in log cabin style piecing:


----------



## freedombecki

This morning went well. Water, sails, and sky blocks were sewn into rows to go around the hull, which was done an earlier day. So far, 4 complete horizontal rows are assembled with the 4 upper ones needing about 16 more sky (all red) blocks to frame the sail areas. It would take quite a bit of good luck to complete this quilt top today, but it's sure make for a good Friday to see it to its completion!

My mother said it was bad luck to start something new on a Friday and good luck to finish all the week's progress by the end of the day. I guess that probably fits somewhere between old wives tales and common sense. That way, you can put your workweek behind you and enjoy the leisure weekend unless you are retired, in which case most every day is the same as the one before.

This quilt is 6 blocks wide (which measure 7" each when done), and 8 blocks long to equal 48 total 7" blocks.

Here are some scans of the joined blocks:


----------



## freedombecki

Three more scans before going back to being before the mast of my good sewing ship to make the rest of the sailing ship. 

Poise mouse arrow over thumbnail to read a brief description of the thumbnails below:


----------



## Spoonman

freedombecki said:


> This morning went well. Water, sails, and sky blocks were sewn into rows to go around the hull, which was done an earlier day. So far, 4 complete horizontal rows are assembled with the 4 upper ones needing about 16 more sky (all red) blocks to frame the sail areas. It would take quite a bit of good luck to complete this quilt top today, but it's sure make for a good Friday to see it to its completion!
> 
> My mother said it was bad luck to start something new on a Friday and good luck to finish all the week's progress by the end of the day. I guess that probably fits somewhere between old wives tales and common sense. That way, you can put your workweek behind you and enjoy the leisure weekend unless you are retired, in which case most every day is the same as the one before.
> 
> This quilt is 6 blocks wide (which measure 7" each when done), and 8 blocks long to equal 48 total 7" blocks.
> 
> Here are some scans of the joined blocks:



i love the tall ships.  as a kid, i always loved any movies that featured them.  I loved to build models of them. the were always so hard to do with all of the rigging and inticate little parts, but so rewarding when they were done.  In my 20's I always took these windjammer cruises where part of the cruising experience was helping sale the ships. you were actually part of the crew.     one of the most beautiful sights I ever saw was mystic port with the sune rising up over the ocean behind the tall ships.  we were returning home from a friends house in weekapaug RI. on our motorcycles.  we were passing through mystic seaport just as the sun was rising.  the ships masts and sails where silhouetted against the sky.  it was a breath taking sight


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Spoonman! I read your post, and hit the ground running to see if the top could get finished. The 48 squares are all joined now. 

It took a couple of hours to find red and white fabrics--I found red waves on white for one border and a redwork galaxy, enough to do the outer border. Where the ships end, red is needed, and I found this ancient bright red that is 36" wide (last made in the late 50s or early 60s, when all the manufacturers of fabrics went to 45". I wish they'd kick it up another 9". People are bigger now than they were a generation ago, and we were bigger than mom and dad's generation.

It won't take much longer to get the border pressed, cut, sewn and finished--maybe 2 or 3 hours. It will be done tomorrow, because 10 hours before the sewing machine is about as much as I can do with fibromi-oucho. 
'


----------



## freedombecki

It's done & I love this quilt! 

Scan 13 ~ Lower Corner and Borders of small roses and seafoam waves in red on white

Scan 14 ~ Upper Left Corner of Tall Ships, Red Sky Morning. 


The quilt top is #29 for the year 2013 and measures 48 by 64 inches, more or less. It is designated to Charity Bees of the Tall Pines Guild, Walker County. It will be remembered by me as such a happy little quilt top. 

I hope it brings a measure of warmth and love to a small child who needs a warm wrap at night.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> It's done & I love this quilt!
> 
> Scan 13 ~ Lower Corner and Borders of small roses and seafoam waves in red on white
> 
> Scan 14 ~ Upper Left Corner of Tall Ships, Red Sky Morning.
> 
> 
> The quilt top is #29 for the year 2013 and measures 48 by 64 inches, more or less. It is designated to Charity Bees of the Tall Pines Guild, Walker County. It will be remembered by me as such a happy little quilt top.
> 
> I hope it brings a measure of warmth and love to a small child who needs a warm wrap at night.



Still pluggig along on the cross stitch one.  Almost half done with those edges.  Still plan to finish before I retire.


----------



## Sunshine

I just replaced my Premax Optima blue stork embroidery scissors.  Lost them last week.  I really think I bumped them off the night table into the waste basket even though I went through the trash and didn't find them.  Replacement pair was $21.95.  Dang.  You shouldn't like something so much.  

My grandson gave me some little plate thingies that I decided to use as coasters on my night table.  A couple nights ago I heard one hit the floor and knew I had accidentally bumped it off.  Now, how it got on the floor on the other side of the bed, I couldn't say.

Anyway, I feel like I will find the scissors and feel really stupid about it.  But those things were hard to find and replace.  I have a gold pair which you can even get locally, but for some reason even though I'm not wild about blue, the blue ones speak to me.  (Not literally, LOL)


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> I just replaced my Premax Optima blue stork embroidery scissors. Lost them last week. I really think I bumped them off the night table into the waste basket even though I went through the trash and didn't find them. Replacement pair was $21.95. Dang. You shouldn't like something so much.
> 
> My grandson gave me some little plate thingies that I decided to use as coasters on my night table. A couple nights ago I heard one hit the floor and knew I had accidentally bumped it off. Now, how it got on the floor on the other side of the bed, I couldn't say.
> 
> Anyway, I feel like I will find the scissors and feel really stupid about it. But those things were hard to find and replace. I have a gold pair which you can even get locally, but for some reason even though I'm not wild about blue, the blue ones speak to me. (Not literally, LOL)


 Those are beautiful, Sunshine. I had a pair of those once, but I may have left them at the shop OR they're in one of my old sewing machine catch-all trays. I'll have to look them up. I think if I hand embroidered as much as you do, I'd have to have a pair of those. I have another few years of quilts to make, though. My stash is likely top ten in the nation, and I need a warehouse. 

Oh, and that's absolutely _nothing_ to brag about. It comes in handy, however, when I'm doing a landscape fiber collage or a monochromatic log cabin work in any specific given color range.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I just replaced my Premax Optima blue stork embroidery scissors. Lost them last week. I really think I bumped them off the night table into the waste basket even though I went through the trash and didn't find them. Replacement pair was $21.95. Dang. You shouldn't like something so much.
> 
> My grandson gave me some little plate thingies that I decided to use as coasters on my night table. A couple nights ago I heard one hit the floor and knew I had accidentally bumped it off. Now, how it got on the floor on the other side of the bed, I couldn't say.
> 
> Anyway, I feel like I will find the scissors and feel really stupid about it. But those things were hard to find and replace. I have a gold pair which you can even get locally, but for some reason even though I'm not wild about blue, the blue ones speak to me. (Not literally, LOL)
> 
> 
> 
> Those are beautiful, Sunshine. I had a pair of those once, but I may have left them at the shop OR they're in one of my old sewing machine catch-all trays. I'll have to look them up. I think if I hand embroidered as much as you do, I'd have to have a pair of those. I have another few years of quilts to make, though. My stash is likely top ten in the nation, and I need a warehouse.
> 
> Oh, and that's absolutely _nothing_ to brag about. It comes in handy, however, when I'm doing a landscape fiber collage or a monochromatic log cabin work in any specific given color range.
Click to expand...


Before I moved away from here and went to Nashville, th church had a 'living nativity scene.'  There was a woman who owned a fabric store, decided to close, and to get rid of her stock really fast, she donated it all to the church.  It was quite a production.  There were enough costumes for two complete casts.  They rotated out one at a time about every 30 minutes so as not to disrupt the look of it.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I just replaced my Premax Optima blue stork embroidery scissors. Lost them last week. I really think I bumped them off the night table into the waste basket even though I went through the trash and didn't find them. Replacement pair was $21.95. Dang. You shouldn't like something so much.
> 
> My grandson gave me some little plate thingies that I decided to use as coasters on my night table. A couple nights ago I heard one hit the floor and knew I had accidentally bumped it off. Now, how it got on the floor on the other side of the bed, I couldn't say.
> 
> Anyway, I feel like I will find the scissors and feel really stupid about it. But those things were hard to find and replace. I have a gold pair which you can even get locally, but for some reason even though I'm not wild about blue, the blue ones speak to me. (Not literally, LOL)
> 
> 
> 
> Those are beautiful, Sunshine. I had a pair of those once, but I may have left them at the shop OR they're in one of my old sewing machine catch-all trays. I'll have to look them up. I think if I hand embroidered as much as you do, I'd have to have a pair of those. I have another few years of quilts to make, though. My stash is likely top ten in the nation, and I need a warehouse.
> 
> Oh, and that's absolutely _nothing_ to brag about. It comes in handy, however, when I'm doing a landscape fiber collage or a monochromatic log cabin work in any specific given color range.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Before I moved away from here and went to Nashville, the church had a 'living nativity scene.' There was a woman who owned a fabric store, decided to close, and to get rid of her stock really fast, she donated it all to the church. It was quite a production. There were enough costumes for two complete casts. They rotated out one at a time about every 30 minutes so as not to disrupt the look of it.
Click to expand...

That was cool.


----------



## freedombecki

Spoonman said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> This morning went well. Water, sails, and sky blocks were sewn into rows to go around the hull, which was done an earlier day. So far, 4 complete horizontal rows are assembled with the 4 upper ones needing about 16 more sky (all red) blocks to frame the sail areas. It would take quite a bit of good luck to complete this quilt top today, but it's sure make for a good Friday to see it to its completion!
> 
> My mother said it was bad luck to start something new on a Friday and good luck to finish all the week's progress by the end of the day. I guess that probably fits somewhere between old wives tales and common sense. That way, you can put your workweek behind you and enjoy the leisure weekend unless you are retired, in which case most every day is the same as the one before.
> 
> This quilt is 6 blocks wide (which measure 7" each when done), and 8 blocks long to equal 48 total 7" blocks.
> 
> Here are some scans of the joined blocks:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i love the tall ships. as a kid, i always loved any movies that featured them. I loved to build models of them. the were always so hard to do with all of the rigging and inticate little parts, but so rewarding when they were done. In my 20's I always took these windjammer cruises where part of the cruising experience was helping sale the ships. you were actually part of the crew. one of the most beautiful sights I ever saw was mystic port with the sune rising up over the ocean behind the tall ships. we were returning home from a friends house in weekapaug RI. on our motorcycles. we were passing through mystic seaport just as the sun was rising. the ships masts and sails where silhouetted against the sky. it was a breath taking sight
Click to expand...

 What color stood out most to you about the sky that day, Spoonman?


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> The Schema -- each "triangle" is actually a log cabin square like the one in Scan 12 below. I'm putting this here, so anyone who'd like to make one of the quilts can see the exact placement of the log cabin squares. I apologize for the too-light-red color, but had to use a colored pencil that just didn't bring out a dark, deep red like the log cabin square in Scan 12.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Scan 10 - Add 6.5" dark log
> 
> Scan 11 - Add 6.5" light log
> 
> Scan 12 - Add 7.5" light log
> 
> Again, all strips are cut 1.5" and the seam allowance is exactly 1/4".



On the lake we used to say, 'red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.'  I recall one day when I was in high school, a friend and I were (foolishly) swimming in the *middle* of the lake, which is really a river with rough currents, and a storm came up.  It was blowing the boat away.  There were white caps on the water, and we couldn't swim fast enough to catch it.  The adults in the boat were trying to get it close enough for us to get on, but were fearful of the wind blowing it so the propellor would get into us, cutting us up.  We learned a lesson that day!


----------



## Sunshine

Here is a pic of them.  I think it's just awful to like something so much you feel lost without it.  Things aren't supposed to be that important!  






Here are the gold which I have and know where they are~! LOL.  I should be happy with just these, but I want the blue as well:






In the process of searching for these, I found some very interesting little embroidery scissors.  I may start watching for them and start a little 'collection.'  My intention to collect nursing pins never really panned out!  LOL.


----------



## freedombecki

Mine are/were exactly like the gold one you pictured. They keep that fantastic blade on them through the years, millions of snips later.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm about halfway through the cutting of strips for another Tall Ships quilt. This one will feature the "pink ribbon" fabric that was printed by Robert Kaufman a few years back, of which I carried in my shop back when, then just found a few scraps of to do "something" with later. It will be the hull and outer parameter of the sail unless I can't come up with enough pieces to do the hull. I sure will be upset for having a lot of pink strips cut if that happens. I knew it was going to be close, just not how close, and haven't gotten to the end of the cutting to find out, either. :rolleyes.

I'm loving it. Sweet pinks for sails and a tiny light blue with pink roses miniature print for the sky. The only thing I've sewn so  far is the mast strip that will have a pieced mast. The striped red and black piece just didn't do it for me in the red and white quilt. I really got off on the yin-yang waves, though. Now we'll see how a consistent 1-inch square will do for the mast. The worst thing that could happen is I wouldn't like it, and would have to make yet another quilt. 

This quilt is getting to be fun. Will have to do more silly stuff and have a good time doing it with this pattern before I get tired of it. There's so many ideas to try out on it. 

Well, it's back to the cutting table. Hope everyone is having a great time this weekend.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I'm about halfway through the cutting of strips for another Tall Ships quilt. This one will feature the "pink ribbon" fabric that was printed by Robert Kaufman a few years back, of which I carried in my shop back when, then just found a few scraps of to do "something" with later. It will be the hull and outer parameter of the sail unless I can't come up with enough pieces to do the hull. I sure will be upset for having a lot of pink strips cut if that happens. I knew it was going to be close, just not how close, and haven't gotten to the end of the cutting to find out, either. :rolleyes.
> 
> I'm loving it. Sweet pinks for sails and a tiny light blue with pink roses miniature print for the sky. The only thing I've sewn so  far is the mast strip that will have a pieced mast. The striped red and black piece just didn't do it for me in the red and white quilt. I really got off on the yin-yang waves, though. Now we'll see how a consistent 1-inch square will do for the mast. The worst thing that could happen is I wouldn't like it, and would have to make yet another quilt.
> 
> This quilt is getting to be fun. Will have to do more silly stuff and have a good time doing it with this pattern before I get tired of it. There's so many ideas to try out on it.
> 
> Well, it's back to the cutting table. Hope everyone is having a great time this weekend.



I really like the tall ships one.  Maybe cuz I live near the water.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. Saturday, when I took the quilts down to the store, the girls really fussed over the quilts. If only I were a good photographer and could take pictures like my husband used to. One of these days! I got nothing done today while going on a mission to find out the scientific or any name, for that matter of the blue butterfly that intrigued me so much I decided to put it in place of the red and black one. Ultimately, I'm going to do a tall sailing ships quilt in the colors of this butterfly. Think it's a blue clipper, but not sure. I'm going to search. That was two hours of intensive work in which there are a lot of blue butterflies out there in the world of all kinds, if they haven't been killed off by us.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks, Sunshine. Saturday, when I took the quilts down to the store, the girls really fussed over the quilts. If only I were a good photographer and could take pictures like my husband used to. One of these days! I got nothing done today while going on a mission to find out the scientific or any name, for that matter of the blue butterfly that intrigued me so much I decided to put it in place of the red and black one. Ultimately, I'm going to do a tall sailing ships quilt in the colors of this butterfly. Think it's a blue clipper, but not sure. I'm going to search. That was two hours of intensive work in which there are a lot of blue butterflies out there in the world of all kinds, if they haven't been killed off by us.



They make me think of the song Red Sails in the Sunset.  This is the version I 

remember:[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwOpwhxn1wE]"Red Sails in the Sunset" The Platters - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Oh how that song has been on my mind, too, Sunshine. I'll have to do a red sails one in your honor after this one and the blue one are done. I'm really into tall ships right now. They're totally fun.


----------



## freedombecki

(oh no not another pink and blue quilt!) 

Yep, and I did mockups of the blue skies and sails early today, after cutting all afternoon and evening to get the majority of the squares cut. The only thing not cut at this point is half the hull and the yin yang waves.

Scan 1 is Sky, for which 19 blocks are needed for this version of the quilt

Scan 2 is a Sail, for which 17 blocks are needed on my schema (above or on preceding page as the case may be)

I already joined the mast row, and this time they were pieced. They will be shown as part of the whole, as they are just a 1.5" snake the horizontal width of the quilt top so far.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Oh how that song has been on my mind, too, Sunshine. I'll have to do a red sails one in your honor after this one and the blue one are done. I'm really into tall ships right now. They're totally fun.



I would like that.  You never see any sailboats on the lake here where I live.  I'm pretty far south, on the main channel, and the currents are rough.  But up near the dam you will see sailboats out most every day.  I see a lot of barges and tug boats - it is a commercial river, and occasionally I see a paddle wheeler.  The leaves are coming on and the water will be mostly hidden but I'm just a few yards from it and can wade every day in the summer if I like!


----------



## freedombecki

I'm getting fabric ideas for red sails. It should be a lot of fun, sunshine. Earlier, I thought a week ago of just doing one in sunny colors in your honor, but red sails is going to be a pure pleasure. 

Our oak tree out front had bare branches one day, and a flourish of lime green leaves the next! One of our oak trees here never loses its leaves, but they say it's a kind of oak that grows here, and that's what it does. 

Scan 3 - Hull squares, make 4

Scan 4 - Bow or stern block, make 2

Scan 5 - Front sail with mast below

Make 4 masts and join by sewing four 6.5"x1.5" sky strips and joining to 1.5" squares of the hot pink Join 4 deep with "masts" at back and two 7.5" strips located one over bow and one over stern.

If anyone is serious about making one of the tall ships for a beloved child or wheelchair soldier or senior, place your mouse's arrow over the thumbnail for information on what you are looking at. I could do a dozen of these and not be tired of them, and do a dozen more. They're flat out fun to do.


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 6 - Bow sewn to sky block and front hull square

Scan 7 - Stern sewn to sky block and back hull square

Scan 8 - The two centrally-located sails, their masts, and hull blocks below

My afternoon is all sewn up. /shameless pun


----------



## Sunshine

Hey Beckums, check out my LOL cat thread.  You are on it.  Now, I've gotta hit the hay. I got a good report from Vanderbilt, but it's been a loooooooooooong day~


----------



## Sunshine

Syrenn:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Hey Beckums, check out my LOL cat thread. You are on it. Now, I've gotta hit the hay. I got a good report from Vanderbilt, but it's been a loooooooooooong day~


First, lol! & pretty.

Glad the report came back good. May it stay good a long time.  

I just went around the squares a few times with logs sewn on. This one doesn't do itself, but I forgot my medicine this morning, then just got too busy sewing one block after the other & forgot all about it. Then Boston's bombing consumed me for several hours until my symptoms took over, and I had to get with the program or else suffer the dismal consequences.

So there's no horizontal rows to show, and I already showed similar squares to the ones I worked on in utter fascination for this quilt's properties of just being a fun thing to do.

Tomorrow, the waves need to be cut out, and blocks completed. Wouldn't that be a lovely thing! 

Good night, all. Love to all our American brothers ad sisters in Boston as the nation tastes the salt from their tears.

Love,

becki


----------



## Sunshine

Becums, I've asked to have the cat removed.  I managed to get the wrong thread.   Sorry.  

The scissors came today.  They are very pretty and I'm glad to have blue ones again  Now it's time to find the ones I lost.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Beckums, check out my LOL cat thread. You are on it. Now, I've gotta hit the hay. I got a good report from Vanderbilt, but it's been a loooooooooooong day~
> 
> 
> 
> First, lol! & pretty.
> 
> Glad the report came back good. May it stay good a long time.
> 
> I just went around the squares a few times with logs sewn on. This one doesn't do itself, but I forgot my medicine this morning, then just got too busy sewing one block after the other & forgot all about it. Then Boston's bombing consumed me for several hours until my symptoms took over, and I had to get with the program or else suffer the dismal consequences.
> 
> So there's no horizontal rows to show, and I already showed similar squares to the ones I worked on in utter fascination for this quilt's properties of just being a fun thing to do.
> 
> Tomorrow, the waves need to be cut out, and blocks completed. Wouldn't that be a lovely thing!
> 
> Good night, all. Love to all our American brothers ad sisters in Boston as the nation tastes the salt from their tears.
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki
Click to expand...


How am I getting these cats on your thread?  LOL.


----------



## freedombecki

It's okay, sunshine. My computer does strange stuff too sometimes. 

Finished all the squares except the six squares for water on the pink and blue sailing ship thing.

Continuing prayers for all those in Boston who lost a loved one or was injured. Prayers especially for all who are on life support and fighting the good fight, and will through many months of rehabilitation. May God guide the hands of healers to use all their skills and imagination to get the right prosthetics for those who lost limbs outright, and may some of them get reattached, healing to the correct length needed to prevent other issues. Prayers up for all who need them but cannot speak about it. 

Love,

becki


----------



## koshergrl

Pic of the girl's play...this is Iowa Stubborn, she's center girl on the left..


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Pic of the girl's play...this is Iowa Stubborn, she's center girl on the left..


 That looks so very professional, koshergrl, and the costumes are fabulous.


----------



## koshergrl

We have a marvelous seamstress...I think the costumes come when they purchase the play etc...but she customizes/tailors them to the kids. My daughter is the only little girl with a hat in this scene...she got a hat because the director and the seamstress (costume person) were so pleased with her and wanted her to know it. So they made her the beautiful hat.


----------



## freedombecki

After days of frittering time away, this morning saw 2 horizontal rows joined, with only 3 left to go, including the water, which I'm gonna go cut right now and try to remember what I did on the last one which has already been taken to the Charity Bees closet. I don't know why I get draggy sometimes. A good walk out in the sunshine in my fields oughta do it, except I'll pay for it in bug bites.  But maybe I'll see some pretty buttercups when the sun gets a little higher in the sky this beautiful day, following a very rainy one yesterday.

So happy to get going on the pink and blue tall sailing ship quilt again.


----------



## koshergrl

Burt's bees natural insect repellent. I swear by it. All my kids (and the dog too) are mosquito magnets, but can't stand regular bug repellent; it burns their skin. I ran across this stuff a few years ago and it works!

We lived in a house where my son's bedroom looked out with a big window right under a huge fir tree....and earwigs were a problem. I remember pulling back the sheet of his bed at bedtime and finding a half dozen earwigs in there. I started spraying him and the bed with burt's bees and those things stayed away completely. 

Also works great for mosquitoes, though. Lemon grass oil and eucalyptus and I'm not sure what else.


----------



## pbel

freedombecki said:


> After days of frittering time away, this morning saw 2 horizontal rows joined, with only 3 left to go, including the water, which I'm gonna go cut right now and try to remember what I did on the last one which has already been taken to the Charity Bees closet. I don't know why I get draggy sometimes. A good walk out in the sunshine in my fields oughta do it, except I'll pay for it in bug bites.  But maybe I'll see some pretty buttercups when the sun gets a little higher in the sky this beautiful day, following a very rainy one yesterday.
> 
> So happy to get going on the pink and blue tall sailing ship quilt again.


Busy Becki...you are a wonder! Where is it possible to view your quilts for sale?

Phil


----------



## freedombecki

pbel, I don't know. I just make tops. Someone else quilts them now. I'm disabled and not able to do quilting on even the small quilts I make. The charity bees do occasionally sell a quilt we make to help pay for scholarships they grant and batting and backing needed to do the work of quilting or using what someone donates. I can't take pictures, either, and I didn't get any pictures back since my friend Judy just kind of isn't around any more when I'm there, which isn't very often due to my health issues. Judy took pictures up until about a year ago. I heard her husband passed on, and I just don't know what happened to her. So all I have is excerpts taken on a little scanner I have that ran out of ink 3 or 4 months ago. 

That said, today, I started the 6 blocks of the waves on the pink and blue ship. Is that hitting the wall or what when your project sits around for a few days, or what, while you take 3 naps a day to keep going? 

On the next ship quilt, the waves row will be done first. It's confusing because the color changes are not like doing the sails on the ship, which are conventional in log cabin light and dark schemas in which our mothers built quilts called "barn raising" in which lights and darks seem to go around, leaving a dark center and having light and dark alternate around the square diamond shape of the center illusion, or straight rows of lights and darks seeming to run diagonally and named "fields and furrows" by farm women echoing the appearance of their fields of beans or what have you. 

Anyway, the waves take concentration. I probably should do waves rows for 3 quilts planned when this one is done. I'm growing a little weary of ships, although I've loved every minute of working on them when to busy to think about it. 

Good luck on your paintings, pbel. I've been a little distracted by the sad affairs of the 2013 Boston Marathon. I pray a lot lately.


----------



## freedombecki

Tall Pines Quilt Guild: Tall Pines Quilt Guild Home

The Charity Bees is the giving arm of the guild. There is a contact page, for inquiries on finished Bee quilts, tops, etc., but how the quilts are dispersed is not known to me, unless I make a specific request for which charity the top goes to. I try not to be to preferential. They have a handle on where the quilts are needed the most, and which ones they could earn money to pay for materials to complete the quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Burt's bees natural insect repellent. I swear by it. All my kids (and the dog too) are mosquito magnets, but can't stand regular bug repellent; it burns their skin. I ran across this stuff a few years ago and it works!
> 
> We lived in a house where my son's bedroom looked out with a big window right under a huge fir tree....and earwigs were a problem. I remember pulling back the sheet of his bed at bedtime and finding a half dozen earwigs in there. I started spraying him and the bed with burt's bees and those things stayed away completely.
> 
> Also works great for mosquitoes, though. Lemon grass oil and eucalyptus and I'm not sure what else.


 If you take a supplement of B1 vitamin (thiamine) I guarantee you that you will not need anything else to repel mosquitoes. They hate you when you take thiamine all summer. I didn't have a single incident of biting last summer nor the summer before. It's like a miracle of God.


----------



## Sunshine

Here, Beckums.  I've been meaning to post this for you for a while now.  My MIL made it back in the 1960s, so, of course, it has all those 60s colors.  I still think it is pretty.  I got it after she died.  She didn't leave it to me in her Will.  I didn't get one of the things she did leave me.  Mistake?  I dunno.  But this is so much prettier, I just kept my mouth shut!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. It's a beautiful if not stunning afghan. That stitch is a lot of work and requires total concentration to put it mildly.


----------



## freedombecki

At long last, the Good Ship Lollipop in pink and blue is done. I was going to add another row, but as it is it measures 45x60" which is a perfect crib size. I have material for a 3- or 4-inch border, but that takes it up a level to being sized for an older child. I'm not sure what the girls want, oh, I may use some of that fabric after all. I'll sleep on it first, though. I'm too tired to think right now.

Here are some scans of the water I just couldn't make myself cut into for several days for some reason. I flat out hit the wall. Use your arrow over a thumbnail to read the description.


----------



## freedombecki

And here are some scans of sails and the top border area.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks, Sunshine. It's a beautiful if not stunning afghan. That stitch is a lot of work and requires total concentration to put it mildly.



Yeah, it's the only afghan, or anything that even resembles knit or crochet, she ever made. It wasn't really knit or crochet per se.  I don't know what it is.  It was done in strips.  All the stitches were on the needle like knit, but the needle had a hook on the end like crocket. It is VERY heavy as the each stitch is kind of square and has a lot of yarn in it.  Not at all like traditional knit or crochet.  My husbands father was in the hospital after a coronary and she would sit and work on it.  It used to drive him nuts.  He would say, 'well, stitch, stitch, stitch.'  She would have to put it down when he was awake.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, she used the sturdiest crochet stitch known--what my generation of crocheters call the Afghan stitch, which is made with a long size g crochet hook (average) that has an end that stops stitches from slipping off like a knitting needle, except it has the crochet hook rather than the sliding tip of a knitting needle. It's arduous work and reminds me of _ponte di roma_, a sturdy type of knit material that is thick enough for suiting due to its property of being a special double knit, made popular in the 70s in finer clothing stores. 

The afghan stitch (also called Tunisian work recently) is very square, with a finished stitch that is the same width and height, and is ideal for doing counted cross stitch because it has a definite 4 corner areas easily plied open with a tapestry needle and doubled sport weight yarn that is ideal for covering 4- or 5-to the inch squares. This is small enough to do beautiful work as is on your true Afghan coverlet.






Tunisian work credits: Sunday Snapshot: Tunisian Crochet Colorwork | The Zen of Making


----------



## freedombecki

The Good and Tall Ship Lollipop now measures approximately 54x70, give or take an inch.

The outer border was attached and finished about an hour ago, and here are some shots:


----------



## freedombecki

Having a pleasant day in the sewing room, cleaning off some scraps from the cutting table that was 20" high. I have a crazy-strip group started last week, and today I got the few strips until a piece about 30x42" has formed. A small dint has been made in the 40x20" stack.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine, she used the sturdiest crochet stitch known--what my generation of crocheters call the Afghan stitch, which is made with a long size g crochet hook (average) that has an end that stops stitches from slipping off like a knitting needle, except it has the crochet hook rather than the sliding tip of a knitting needle. It's arduous work and reminds me of _ponte di roma_, a sturdy type of knit material that is thick enough for suiting due to its property of being a special double knit, made popular in the 70s in finer clothing stores.
> 
> The afghan stitch (also called Tunisian work recently) is very square, with a finished stitch that is the same width and height, and is ideal for doing counted cross stitch because it has a definite 4 corner areas easily plied open with a tapestry needle and doubled sport weight yarn that is ideal for covering 4- or 5-to the inch squares. This is small enough to do beautiful work as is on your true Afghan coverlet.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tunisian work credits: Sunday Snapshot: Tunisian Crochet Colorwork | The Zen of Making



Yep, that's it. Just exactly as I described.   I should have known you would know what this afghan was all about.  I don't have any idea how much yarn she used, but it is SO heavy.  Maybe I will weigh it just out of curiosity.


----------



## freedombecki

Afghan stitch work is extremely tedious. I did 6 inches once, thought it was going to kill me. I really hated doing it. It makes what I do in crochet seem apple-pie easy. I also hated doing macramé.

Your MIL had patience and endurance to do all that afghan stitchery plus a bit of pluck since it had to be finished before going back and cross stitching over all that work a complex counted work. I'm glad you have it and that such a treasure is being well taken care of.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Afghan stitch work is extremely tedious. I did 6 inches once, thought it was going to kill me. I really hated doing it. It makes what I do in crochet seem apple-pie easy. I also hated doing macramé.
> 
> Your MIL had patience and endurance to do all that afghan stitchery plus a bit of pluck since it had to be finished before going back and cross stitching over all that work a complex counted work. I'm glad you have it and that such a treasure is being well taken care of.



Yeah, me too.  No one else in the family would have cared for it.  They would alreayd have it dirty and stretched.


----------



## freedombecki

Last night saw the completion of a scrap quilt from leftover strips, scraps, and twosies piling up on the cutting table by the sewing machine. A dent was made in the 40x20x12" pile that has accumulated in the last few weeks of sewing quilts for one reason or another. The goal is to find ground zero for the purpose of replacing the cutting mat, which is so full of long lines cut out of it, it's nearly useless at this time, and it is needed every single day quilts are made, measured, and worked on. 

The question is, will the surface of the present tattered mat ever bee seen again? Keep in mind, the strip is not permanently off the table until it is used up in a charity bees quilt top.



Yeah. Kidding aside, here are a few scans in the next 3 or 4 posts of this morning's completion:


----------



## freedombecki

Three more scans:


----------



## freedombecki

And the final three scans.  The quilt is approximately 48 x 68".

This completed quilt top is number 31 this year of our Lord, 2013.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Last night saw the completion of a scrap quilt from leftover strips, scraps, and twosies piling up on the cutting table by the sewing machine. A dent was made in the 40x20x12" pile that has accumulated in the last few weeks of sewing quilts for one reason or another. The goal is to find ground zero for the purpose of replacing the cutting mat, which is so full of long lines cut out of it, it's nearly useless at this time, and it is needed every single day quilts are made, measured, and worked on.
> 
> The question is, will the surface of the present tattered mat ever bee seen again? Keep in mind, the strip is not permanently off the table until it is used up in a charity bees quilt top.
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah. Kidding aside, here are a few scans in the next 3 or 4 posts of this morning's completion:


 
What sort/brand mat do you use?

I didn't have much choice when I got mine, and I don't like it much. It's useable...but I just don't like it.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, have you ever made a 'crazy quilt?'  I always liked them, but my mother never did.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Last night saw the completion of a scrap quilt from leftover strips, scraps, and twosies piling up on the cutting table by the sewing machine. A dent was made in the 40x20x12" pile that has accumulated in the last few weeks of sewing quilts for one reason or another. The goal is to find ground zero for the purpose of replacing the cutting mat, which is so full of long lines cut out of it, it's nearly useless at this time, and it is needed every single day quilts are made, measured, and worked on.
> 
> The question is, will the surface of the present tattered mat ever bee seen again? Keep in mind, the strip is not permanently off the table until it is used up in a charity bees quilt top.
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah. Kidding aside, here are a few scans in the next 3 or 4 posts of this morning's completion:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What sort/brand mat do you use?
> 
> I didn't have much choice when I got mine, and I don't like it much. It's useable...but I just don't like it.
Click to expand...

Olfa is the best. Your blades stay sharp longer. The olfa mat I've destroyed in the last 3 years is pathetic. A hundred thousand cuts will do it, and I did it. Most people use their mats to make 3 or 4 quilts, 10 if they're a maven. I have a mat I don't use too often in the dining room. It got buried under fabrics which protected it from my wiles!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, have you ever made a 'crazy quilt?' I always liked them, but my mother never did.


 Yes, but not by hand. Since I was in charge of teaching locals how to get the full use out of their 500+ embroidery stitches on their Pfaffs back when, I made sure they could use them to make their work look like hand work. Some of my friends here ask me if my latest crazy quilt was by hand. I did 3 years of handwork in 3 days on my Pfaff. Which reminds me, I probably ought to put my new Bernina through its paces. Unfortunately, it's still waiting to be repaired. In the 2 years I've owned it, it produced over 150 quilts tops, maybe more. If it has issues, the repairman will never have seen a stitch count like mine on any machine he ever worked on that wasn't 30 years old, I'm sure. He will probably wonder why he isn't tapped every 2 months for fixing. That's because I clean and oil my machine every day. On my desk at the shop was a little sign I made that said: "She who has a clean machine usually has one that works."


----------



## Mr. H.

Why is the P in Pfaff silent?

It has puzzled me for years.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Why is the P in Pfaff silent?
> 
> It has puzzled me for years.


It's silent in Germany. Over here, it  sometimes depends on European exposure.


----------



## freedombecki

Today was spent sorting strips from the cutting table. The 20" stack is now at about 14". It is no fun city to sort stupid strips. *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

I went home and made a potholder on my lunch!

I have some old linen or muslin material from one of my very first sewing projects, a few sun suits for my daughter...I cut 8-1/2" squares and an old bathtowel, sandwiched them and voila. I'm always looking for potholders, and the ones I have just aren't cutting it. 

So i'm going to have my daughter quilt them on the machine, I think. And I'll have my son quilt one, too. That will give them something to do. 

And I think I have enough of that material to make some fancy guest towels! You know, hemmed and with a pretty border...

Right now I'm working on this border:







 <<the one on the left

I'm working it in green for a set of pillowcases. But I'm going to work it for the towels and the color and scheme should be pretty much exactly what is shown in that image.

I haven't done small crochet in a really, really long time. Boy it's intense, too. I can't do it for very long at a time or I seriously get sore and start spasming and my eyes hurt and everything, lol. I have to work furiously in little short bursts.

Fun stuff!


----------



## Sunshine

Stitch Like an Egyptian Headlining Event at AQS QuiltWeek? ? Paducah

Stitch Like an Egyptian: The tentmakers of Cairo!  Don't know if I will go to the last day of it or not.  Thinking about it.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl, your example is beautiful.

Sunshine, thanks for the link. I followed it and the show looks totally inviting. I hope you get to go to it.


----------



## freedombecki

And my 20" pile is half what it was. I put all my time yesterday into controlling it. Now, if only I could see the top of the table and all 4 corners, too. This month has almost gone, and I only have 2 quilts to show after taking the pile of 10 down in the middle of the month.

I'm longing to get back to the production line. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

I'm outta here to go inna that darn quilt room studio that's upside-down with stuff. When I get done with the table, I have another 15" pile on the first ironing board and fabrics that need to be stored in the other bedrooms that also need shelving.  

becki


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl, your example is beautiful.
> 
> Sunshine, thanks for the link. I followed it and the show looks totally inviting. I hope you get to go to it.



Since a cold rain has set in, I doubt I will go.  But may change my mind before day is over.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, sorry to hear of rain, sunshine. We had some last night, and the grass is growing like crazy. I sewed 2 rows of a little yellow quilt. I have to do yellow, it's a sunny color and was once thought to be gender-neutral. It's all bricks, but not a road. It's more like a yellow brick wall. Two rows isn't much, but it's better than I've done in a few days. The handful of scraps I picked up after leaving here this morning all had to be ironed. That takes so much time to do 100 tiny little strips that aren't 2 inches high in a small area of the pile, but that's what I found that got covered up by the next quilt scraps.  With all the procrastination done in the last six months, I can't even brag that I have standards.


----------



## Sunshine

Well, by the time I got gussied up for the grocery the rain had slacked off, so I kept driving and went to the quilt show.  I did manage to find a close parking place, but I was amazed at the number of tour buses, trams, cars, etc there.  I left at 3:30 and people were still coming in.  

The Egyptian tent makers were in the free section with the vendors, the woman at the door said the main show wasn't worth fourteen dollars, so then I was curious so I paid the fourteen dollars, and I agree with her it wasn't.  LOL.  But I took several pics, got most of the winners I think.  I took pics of the Egyptian guys and the Egyptian quilts. I ate a funnel cake that gave me indigestion and paid 2 dollars for the worst cup of coffee I've ever had.  But on the way home I stopped at Bob's and got a festa burger.  Decided I didn't want to buy groceries, but by the time I got back to Murray, decided I didn't want to haul my butt back out to town tomorrow so I stopped at the grocery.  

So now, I'm just eating some celery and jalapeno pomento cheese.  

I will get the pics down loaded and post them for you tomorrow or next week.


----------



## Sunshine

Something I learned today:  The AQS is going to have shows in Chattanooga, Phoenix, and Charleston.  They are changing the categories.  Things like stitching a photo will be in a different category than things like log cabin quilts.  Makes sense, I guess.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Well, by the time I got gussied up for the grocery the rain had slacked off, so I kept driving and went to the quilt show. I did manage to find a close parking place, but I was amazed at the number of tour buses, trams, cars, etc there. I left at 3:30 and people were still coming in.
> 
> The Egyptian tent makers were in the free section with the vendors, the woman at the door said the main show wasn't worth fourteen dollars, so then I was curious so I paid the fourteen dollars, and I agree with her it wasn't. LOL. But I took several pics, got most of the winners I think. I took pics of the Egyptian guys and the Egyptian quilts. I ate a funnel cake that gave me indigestion and paid 2 dollars for the worst cup of coffee I've ever had. But on the way home I stopped at Bob's and got a festa burger. Decided I didn't want to buy groceries, but by the time I got back to Murray, decided I didn't want to haul my butt back out to town tomorrow so I stopped at the grocery.
> 
> So now, I'm just eating some celery and jalapeno pomento cheese.
> 
> I will get the pics down loaded and post them for you tomorrow or next week.


 That would be most appreciated, Sunshine. Sorry your empty calorie funnel cake was disagreeable. I can't stand them. I'm so glad you got to go on to the quilt show, even if it wasn't all you'd like for it to have been.

I loved Paducah, KY. Seems there was a park there we visited that had a river, and a really pleasant restaurant nearby where we lunched the day we got to see the museum 5 or 6 years ago. It was like visiting a treasure house with some of the prettiest, most intricate works I've seen. It's a world class quilt museum if ever there was one, although the New England Quilt Museum we visited was a lot of fun, too. The one in Paducah is so modern. The curator is a genius, I think.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Something I learned today: The AQS is going to have shows in Chattanooga, Phoenix, and Charleston. They are changing the categories. Things like stitching a photo will be in a different category than things like log cabin quilts. Makes sense, I guess.


I loved stitching photographs on my computer machine back when I was making samples, and did one of both children and husband. The stitchouts take at least an hour with thousands of digitized stitch locations.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, by the time I got gussied up for the grocery the rain had slacked off, so I kept driving and went to the quilt show. I did manage to find a close parking place, but I was amazed at the number of tour buses, trams, cars, etc there. I left at 3:30 and people were still coming in.
> 
> The Egyptian tent makers were in the free section with the vendors, the woman at the door said the main show wasn't worth fourteen dollars, so then I was curious so I paid the fourteen dollars, and I agree with her it wasn't. LOL. But I took several pics, got most of the winners I think. I took pics of the Egyptian guys and the Egyptian quilts. I ate a funnel cake that gave me indigestion and paid 2 dollars for the worst cup of coffee I've ever had. But on the way home I stopped at Bob's and got a festa burger. Decided I didn't want to buy groceries, but by the time I got back to Murray, decided I didn't want to haul my butt back out to town tomorrow so I stopped at the grocery.
> 
> So now, I'm just eating some celery and jalapeno pomento cheese.
> 
> I will get the pics down loaded and post them for you tomorrow or next week.
> 
> 
> 
> That would be most appreciated, Sunshine. Sorry your empty calorie funnel cake was disagreeable. I can't stand them. I'm so glad you got to go on to the quilt show, even if it wasn't all you'd like for it to have been.
> 
> I loved Paducah, KY. Seems there was a park there we visited that had a river, and a really pleasant restaurant nearby where we lunched the day we got to see the museum 5 or 6 years ago. It was like visiting a treasure house with some of the prettiest, most intricate works I've seen. It's a world class quilt museum if ever there was one, although the New England Quilt Museum we visited was a lot of fun, too. The one in Paducah is so modern. The curator is a genius, I think.
Click to expand...


A lot of folks around here make fun of the big quilt show.  But there really were people from all over the world there.  I think it closed at 5, but when I left at 3:30 people were still streaming in.  At least I have been, which is more than I could say before!


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums, I think I have most of the middle eastern ones that I took pictures of uploaded.  I'll get you some of those, and will have to take a second hitch to get the others I took.  I didn't get them all, but did try to get the ones that had ribbons on them.  

First, here are the Tentmakers of Old Cairo:


----------



## Sunshine

Here is a row of the middle eastern quilts:


----------



## Sunshine

This was my favorite.  It is a caligraphy.  No idea what it says, but it makes me think of a round caligraphy I did a few years back on parchment that said, 'Love Makes the World Go 'Round.'  I thought about asking, but they were very busy the whole time.  It is likely something religious.  When I was there, I bought a wall hanging made of copper and leather that was the 99 names of God.  I might go in a bit and see if any of the things on my wall hanging look like this.


----------



## Sunshine

Wait, maybe this is my favorite:


----------



## Sunshine

Hold on.  Maybe THIS was my favorite:


----------



## Sunshine

Oh dear, I'm not very good at this picking my favorite thing!





I liked the one next to it with the birds.  Not sure I got a good shot of it, but the ones that I liked the most were the ones that just jumped up and said "Middle East!"


----------



## Sunshine

Two more.  They were ALL true works or art.  I guess the draw for me was these guys.  This is all so like things I saw in Egypt.  I'm sure I'll never go back since the world has lost its senses.  They were very cordial and did talk to me about Egypt.


----------



## Sunshine

They even had the story of Mohammed, and none of us bigoted right wing western Kentuckians made them take it down.  Or even seemed to take much notice, actually.  LOL


----------



## Sunshine

Did I get these?  Maybe some.  Not all.


----------



## Sunshine

That's all the photos I got of the Middle Eastern ones.  I will post some of the others, but I have to get them uploaded.  This one wasn't a prize winner but it was one of my favorites.  It is called 'Over the Rainbow' and I think it really captures the black and white world or Kansas and the colorful world over the rainbow where you see things for what they really are.


----------



## Sunshine

I'll take another hitch at it in a bit and get you some more uploaed.  In all, I'm glad I went.  I had never been to one.   One of my FB friends posted this.  I think it conveys the mass inferiority complex people in this area have, which is sad, really.  People from here are very skilled and competent people.  It never hurt me any to be from here or to have a degree from Murray State.  I have been around the block, and the world.  There are far worse places to be and to be from.


----------



## Sunshine

Before I go, I'll post this, it was 'Best of Show.'


----------



## Sunshine

If I had to pick a favorite of all, I think this would be it.  It was much more impressive in person, as most were.  The wings looked like satin stitch embroidery and were just gorgeous.   They had many quilts that had shiny things like sequins and sparkly cloth and thread. I don't think the camera picked up any of the sparkles.   I looked closely at the hand quilted ones and my mother would give her not of approval.  Tiny, tiny stitches, all. The vendors had some cool stuff too.  I bought a pattern from one for a little evening bag, actually, but it looked like something I could enlarge a bit and have a more comfortable pack for my medicine pump.  I also bought another pair of embroidery scissors, and some chiffon ribbon to knit me a scarf with.  I suppose I should be laying in some things to do against the day I will not be able to do anything but sit around.  LOL  They had some fabulous yarns, unlike any I had ever seen. English Sewing even had their Pfaff machines there.  This was the sewing woman's (and man's too it would seem) Mecca.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here is a row of the middle eastern quilts:


 Wow, Sunshine. I can't even imagine the work that far left one was, and needless to mention is beautiful. Those are complex! Amazing! And every one has a well-done border.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> This was my favorite. It is a caligraphy. No idea what it says, but it makes me think of a round caligraphy I did a few years back on parchment that said, 'Love Makes the World Go 'Round.' I thought about asking, but they were very busy the whole time. It is likely something religious. When I was there, I bought a wall hanging made of copper and leather that was the 99 names of God. I might go in a bit and see if any of the things on my wall hanging look like this.


 It almost looks Celtic, Sunshine. No wonder you like it. Just sayin'...


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, just from what you posted in photographs from the quilt show leaves me in awe. That was an excellent and inspiring show from Cairo, and many people will be inspired by these amazing craftsmen. I was very taken by the picture you took of the man appliqueing by hand with his entire concentration going into the work of his hands. You could feel his reverence for excellence, and their borders are so excellent it tells me we have a lot of room for improvement, with a few notable exceptions in the field, of course.

Often when cultures clash, the first outreach is through the arts. In that spirit, I hope the Middle Easterners will heal their anger with each other as neighbors, as well as the eastern and western worlds.

Thank you so much for going to the show in your amazing region of the world and for sharing it here.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine, just from what you posted in photographs from the quilt show leaves me in awe. That was an excellent and inspiring show from Cairo, and many people will be inspired by these amazing craftsmen. I was very taken by the picture you took of the man appliqueing by hand with his entire concentration going into the work of his hands. You could feel his reverence for excellence, and their borders are so excellent it tells me we have a lot of room for improvement, with a few notable exceptions in the field, of course.
> 
> Often when cultures clash, the first outreach is through the arts. In that spirit, I hope the Middle Easterners will heal their anger with each other as neighbors, as well as the eastern and western worlds.
> 
> Thank you so much for going to the show in your amazing region of the world and for sharing it here.



There's more. I got most that had ribbons.  Will get those up for you when I can.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> This was my favorite. It is a caligraphy. No idea what it says, but it makes me think of a round caligraphy I did a few years back on parchment that said, 'Love Makes the World Go 'Round.' I thought about asking, but they were very busy the whole time. It is likely something religious. When I was there, I bought a wall hanging made of copper and leather that was the 99 names of God. I might go in a bit and see if any of the things on my wall hanging look like this.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It almost looks Celtic, Sunshine. No wonder you like it. Just sayin'...
Click to expand...

 
Probably arabic:


----------



## koshergrl

After seeing what you guys do and look at I feel such a plebe, lol...

But hey, I finished two lengths of the thread crochet in dark green....it's enough for 2 pillow cases. I dug out a couple of finished ones that my daughter worked on...they are the same pattern (a simple butterflies pattern good for beginners to learn cross, outline and satin stiches on) with different stitches and thread...I'm going to slap that lace on there and give them to her. I need to wash and iron the edging first, then pin it on, then hand stitch it. I thought of using the machine but I think it will be better to hand stitch it.

I finished the little pillow that I worked on this winter, with the cross stiched butterflies and pansies...I threw away half of the cloth ruffle that was supposed to edge it, and hadn't decided what to use...I was thinking of using some green fabric...but I think I'm going to crochet a ruffle for it. A wide ruffle, dark green..it will match her pillow cases. 

Also I bought some very fine pale green linen for her this winter; my intent is to make hankies out of it, and I'm going to edge those with dark green thread edging as well. So I'm going to be crocheting up a storn for a while, and sort of pulling little projects together that have been sitting around.

I made one of my potholders (and it turned out really cool) but my bobbin ran out on the second and I haven't reloaded yet.

I also started my daughter on a crochet potholder, so she can perfect her single crochet technique. She wants to do it and if I don't teach her now she's never going to get it. She took it to school with her to work on between activities in the classroom. 

I'm going nuts because I don't have my crocheting with me right now. Crazy.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> After seeing what you guys do and look at I feel such a plebe, lol...
> 
> But hey, I finished two lengths of the thread crochet in dark green....it's enough for 2 pillow cases. I dug out a couple of finished ones that my daughter worked on...they are the same pattern (a simple butterflies pattern good for beginners to learn cross, outline and satin stiches on) with different stitches and thread...I'm going to slap that lace on there and give them to her. I need to wash and iron the edging first, then pin it on, then hand stitch it. I thought of using the machine but I think it will be better to hand stitch it.
> 
> I finished the little pillow that I worked on this winter, with the cross stiched butterflies and pansies...I threw away half of the cloth ruffle that was supposed to edge it, and hadn't decided what to use...I was thinking of using some green fabric...but I think I'm going to crochet a ruffle for it. A wide ruffle, dark green..it will match her pillow cases.
> 
> Also I bought some very fine pale green linen for her this winter; my intent is to make hankies out of it, and I'm going to edge those with dark green thread edging as well. So I'm going to be crocheting up a storn for a while, and sort of pulling little projects together that have been sitting around.
> 
> I made one of my potholders (and it turned out really cool) but my bobbin ran out on the second and I haven't reloaded yet.
> 
> I also started my daughter on a crochet potholder, so she can perfect her single crochet technique. She wants to do it and if I don't teach her now she's never going to get it. She took it to school with her to work on between activities in the classroom.
> 
> I'm going nuts because I don't have my crocheting with me right now. Crazy.


You're doing what I did when I had children at home, koshergrl. I had to set aside a sampler for 10 years. I pulled it out the week after my daughter graduated from high school and left home. It was done in less than a month. It made me realize that the happy time of raising a family, while it ends too soon, well, it just ends. Time to do the things you set aside while you baked bread, taught Church school classes, cooked, cleaned, shopped, chauffeured, supervised, and made cookies for fundraisers and social hours. 

I'm thrilled to see you teaching girls in your family and friends circle to embroider, along with your own embroideries and crocheted items when you can. Even if it's only a couple of inches crocheted, hope you lay your work on top of your scanner and bring it here through the "managed attachment feature of the advanced posting box. Also you all do pictures that are out of my league. I'm pleased to see them.


----------



## freedombecki

5 rows of the yellow brick quilt are done. I keep needing a nap today. So much for the new improved generic medicine I started yesterday. 

BBL Time for my 4th nap.


----------



## koshergrl

My camera is still working, barely, but right now I'm computerless at home, so pics probably won't happen for a bit but they will eventually!

I'm going to wash the lace edging tonight, and iron it probably tomorrow...then attach it the next day.

I'm looking for a good pattern for the decorative pillow. I also need to embroider over a little stain on the back side of it...one of the hazards of taking forever to finish this sort of handwork. I think I'll embroider her initials.


----------



## Sunshine

KG, I didn't do anything like this when the kids were home.  I had to work to support the family.  But it comes back around because they were going to take me in when it looked like I wouldn't be able to do for myself.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm a working mom. My mom was a working mom, too. My mom taught me to embroider. An elderly neighbor lady taught me to crochet, and eventually  my mother learned as well (in the late 70s). I taught myself to sew a half dozen years ago when I got a job in the hinterlands, where there were no clothing stores but there was a big general mercantile/quilt shop that sold beautiful cloth and sewing supplies, lol.

Some of my fondest memories are of crocheting and embroidering with my mom. We went through a doily phase when I was pregnant with my first child. I still occasionally see the pillow cases we did when I was young. 

I want it to be a constant thing with me, like reading my bible, so that I just keep producing stuff year round. I'm working on it.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I'm a working mom. My mom was a working mom, too. My mom taught me to embroider. An elderly neighbor lady taught me to crochet, and eventually  my mother learned as well (in the late 70s). I taught myself to sew a half dozen years ago when I got a job in the hinterlands, where there were no clothing stores but there was a big general mercantile/quilt shop that sold beautiful cloth and sewing supplies, lol.
> 
> Some of my fondest memories are of crocheting and embroidering with my mom. We went through a doily phase when I was pregnant with my first child. I still occasionally see the pillow cases we did when I was young.
> 
> I want it to be a constant thing with me, like reading my bible, so that I just keep producing stuff year round. I'm working on it.



Right now, I just want to finish up everything before I kick the bucket.


----------



## Sunshine

My daughter took up sewing when the recession hit.  Her stuff looked expert from day one.  I could never sew and resented that I had to even try.  She was an architectural designer, then got her master's to be a construction manager. She bought a pattern for something and when she took it out she said, 'It's just a blueprint.'  OMG.  How easy things are for some people.  She is back to work now, and I doubt she is sewing much.  But I know one day she will.

'It's just a blueprint.'  Holy Cow!


----------



## koshergrl

I've always associated wealth with handwork.

I don't know why. But I feel like if we have a lot of crocheted/embroidered/quilted things around, it means we're successful!


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> My daughter took up sewing when the recession hit. Her stuff looked expert from day one. I could never sew and resented that I had to even try. She was an architectural designer, then got her master's to be a construction manager. She bought a pattern for something and when she took it out she said, 'It's just a blueprint.' OMG. How easy things are for some people. She is back to work now, and I doubt she is sewing much. But I know one day she will.
> 
> 'It's just a blueprint.' Holy Cow!


 
I got patterns from Salvation Army and didn't realize that they were in different sizes and probably missing bits.

I just dove in. My first project was  nightgown with beautiful long sleeves and a button closure and a ruffle, lol. The arms were size 8, I think the yoke was a size 12 haha but my daughter wore it for years!

I went from that to shorts and shirts...I made fourth of july sets for the kids, my son had a red, white and blue short sleeved, collared shirt with a pocket and everything...and I made the girly some little culottes or cropped pants and sun shirts....all that was a breeze after The Nightgown...

But finally had to face the fact that it's cheaper, and the fit and much of the quality, is usually better storebought. I used LINEN to make my daughter's sun sets, though which I loved but which she hated, hahaha and they lasted forever, but she was finally able to ditch them around 2nd grade. She said she didn't want to wear them because a boy at school or daycare had told her they looked like *clown pants* hahahahahahahaha. 

The little sun shirts were adorable, though, and so were the shorts I made for the boy...now THOSE were good quality, and had pockets and the whole shebang. 

Then I got stalled making a really pretty dress of yellow gingham (only not cotton, but rayon) with a white duster...I never did finish it, though I got really close. 

I'm just starting to think about organizing all my material and yarn and thread so I can just sit down whenever and work, without having to conduct a 3-day search. I know I have bought dozens of spools of crochet thread and all sorts of hooks...but I can NEVER find them. Makes me crazy.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> My daughter took up sewing when the recession hit. Her stuff looked expert from day one. I could never sew and resented that I had to even try. She was an architectural designer, then got her master's to be a construction manager. She bought a pattern for something and when she took it out she said, 'It's just a blueprint.' OMG. How easy things are for some people. She is back to work now, and I doubt she is sewing much. But I know one day she will.
> 
> 'It's just a blueprint.' Holy Cow!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I got patterns from Salvation Army and didn't realize that they were in different sizes and probably missing bits.
> 
> I just dove in. My first project was  nightgown with beautiful long sleeves and a button closure and a ruffle, lol. The arms were size 8, I think the yoke was a size 12 haha but my daughter wore it for years!
> 
> I went from that to shorts and shirts...I made fourth of july sets for the kids, my son had a red, white and blue short sleeved, collared shirt with a pocket and everything...and I made the girly some little culottes or cropped pants and sun shirts....all that was a breeze after The Nightgown...
> 
> But finally had to face the fact that it's cheaper, and the fit and much of the quality, is usually better storebought. I used LINEN to make my daughter's sun sets, though which I loved but which she hated, hahaha and they lasted forever, but she was finally able to ditch them around 2nd grade. She said she didn't want to wear them because a boy at school or daycare had told her they looked like *clown pants* hahahahahahahaha.
> 
> The little sun shirts were adorable, though, and so were the shorts I made for the boy...now THOSE were good quality, and had pockets and the whole shebang.
> 
> Then I got stalled making a really pretty dress of yellow gingham (only not cotton, but rayon) with a white duster...I never did finish it, though I got really close.
> 
> I'm just starting to think about organizing all my material and yarn and thread so I can just sit down whenever and work, without having to conduct a 3-day search. I know I have bought dozens of spools of crochet thread and all sorts of hooks...but I can NEVER find them. Makes me crazy.
Click to expand...


I ran across my mother's old mu mu pattern the other day.  I've lost enough weight being sick, I could probably wear it.  Maybe when I retire, I will get a machine and try  my hand.  I don't want to do practical things, although I would enjoy duplicating an old mu mu I had as a girl.  I still haven't been to Hawaii, but when I was traveling I got enough hotel points to go for 2 weeks.  I asked my SIL if she would like to go.  The mu mu and my mother's flowers strung on thread were part of that fantasy from the time I was 9.  

Today, was such a bad day I left work thinking it would serve the bastards right if I just up and died on them.  I've never been passive aggressive before.  Don't know what came over me.  That will happen soon enough.  I have plenty of things to keep living for!


----------



## Sunshine

And I've got to get Beckums' quilt pics  uploaded this week.  Not a good week to die!


----------



## koshergrl

No dying allowed!


----------



## koshergrl

I love mumus. I tried to find one a couple of years ago but the ones I got weren't right somehow...I want COTTON ones, not rayon or whatever the ones I had were, that got all staticky.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I love mumus. I tried to find one a couple of years ago but the ones I got weren't right somehow...I want COTTON ones, not rayon or whatever the ones I had were, that got all staticky.



I have found them on line at Hawiian stores.  But never ordered any. So, I can't vouch for them.  I like cotton too.  My favorite I wore until it was thin.  I loved it.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> No dying allowed!



LOL.  I'll bear that in mind!

If' I were a cheerleader I would be saying 'rah rah ree, kick em in the knee, rah rah rass, kick em in the ass!'


----------



## koshergrl

I just think muumuus look comfy...like a nightgown that isn't a nightgown. And I'm all about nightgowns. I'd wear mine out and about, if I could.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I just think muumuus look comfy...like a nightgown that isn't a nightgown. And I'm all about nightgowns. I'd wear mine out and about, if I could.



When I had my knee replacements they wanted everyone to bring sweats to the hospital and wear them during the day.  But sweats make me too warm.  So, I bought some PJs that didn't look like PJs, they had soft pants and   tank tops.  That is what I wore and I wore them out at home.  I still buy PJs that don't look that much like PJs for working around here on the weekends. At my age, the joints are kind of constricting, the clothes  don't need to be too!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> My daughter took up sewing when the recession hit. Her stuff looked expert from day one. I could never sew and resented that I had to even try. She was an architectural designer, then got her master's to be a construction manager. She bought a pattern for something and when she took it out she said, 'It's just a blueprint.' OMG. How easy things are for some people. She is back to work now, and I doubt she is sewing much. But I know one day she will.
> 
> 'It's just a blueprint.' Holy Cow!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I got patterns from Salvation Army and didn't realize that they were in different sizes and probably missing bits.
> 
> I just dove in. My first project was nightgown with beautiful long sleeves and a button closure and a ruffle, lol. The arms were size 8, I think the yoke was a size 12 haha but my daughter wore it for years!
> 
> I went from that to shorts and shirts...I made fourth of july sets for the kids, my son had a red, white and blue short sleeved, collared shirt with a pocket and everything...and I made the girly some little culottes or cropped pants and sun shirts....all that was a breeze after The Nightgown...
> 
> But finally had to face the fact that it's cheaper, and the fit and much of the quality, is usually better storebought. I used LINEN to make my daughter's sun sets, though which I loved but which she hated, hahaha and they lasted forever, but she was finally able to ditch them around 2nd grade. She said she didn't want to wear them because a boy at school or daycare had told her they looked like *clown pants* hahahahahahahaha.
> 
> The little sun shirts were adorable, though, and so were the shorts I made for the boy...now THOSE were good quality, and had pockets and the whole shebang.
> 
> Then I got stalled making a really pretty dress of yellow gingham (only not cotton, but rayon) with a white duster...I never did finish it, though I got really close.
> 
> I'm just starting to think about organizing all my material and yarn and thread so I can just sit down whenever and work, without having to conduct a 3-day search. I know I have bought dozens of spools of crochet thread and all sorts of hooks...but I can NEVER find them. Makes me crazy.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I ran across my mother's old mu mu pattern the other day. I've lost enough weight being sick, I could probably wear it. Maybe when I retire, I will get a machine and try my hand. I don't want to do practical things, although I would enjoy duplicating an old mu mu I had as a girl. I still haven't been to Hawaii, but when I was traveling I got enough hotel points to go for 2 weeks. I asked my SIL if she would like to go. The mu mu and my mother's flowers strung on thread were part of that fantasy from the time I was 9.
> 
> Today, was such a bad day I left work thinking it would serve the bastards right if I just up and died on them. I've never been passive aggressive before. Don't know what came over me. That will happen soon enough. I have plenty of things to keep living for!
Click to expand...


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> No dying allowed!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL. I'll bear that in mind!
> 
> If' I were a cheerleader I would be saying 'rah rah ree, kick em in the knee, rah rah rass, kick em in the ass!'
Click to expand...

 The knee? 

That little condition better behave itself!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I've always associated wealth with handwork.
> 
> I don't know why. But I feel like if we have a lot of crocheted/embroidered/quilted things around, it means we're successful!


 There's only one thing better than an embroidered pillowcase...

An embroidered pillowcase bordered with a luxurious cotton crocheted lace.

I have a couple of pairs from ebay, because when mom passed, Dad kept all the linens. The ones I found on ebay were so well-embroidered, I wondered how I acquired them with no competitive bids. Angels on high were watching over me that day. They still look fresh and new each time I take one out of the linen closet to hug before slipping over my pillow. Mom would have loved them. There's a lot of blue on them with little pink, yellow, and green accents. One pair is floral, the other, bluebirds. She just loved blue and so do I.


----------



## freedombecki

The best way to describe this design is just to show the pictures. I felt disappointment when I first saw it on my screen, but by laying the screen back a little, the full color can be seen. I just hope the brightness of the colors comes across on your monitor. 

There are 9 scans. It will take 3 posts to show the 9 scans as we are limited to 3 scans/pictures per frame if they're not too large. Before I can show any of the hundreds of scans shown, I have to reduce the size to 20% of the size the scanner throws into my pictures. You can see a slightly larger version of the thumbnail by clicking on it, and a brief description (if necessary) can be seen by mousing over the top of the thumbnail. Here are the first 3:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 4-6


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 7, 8, and 9:


----------



## freedombecki

The mortar is a Michael Miller stripe called "Clown Stripes." I had cut 3/4ths of the prints out when I realized I had a huge mix--light, bright, deep yellow, and similar gold prints. I bought a bunch of the stripes at a very good price of someone trying to clear merchandise from their store, so there's plenty to make other things with when I need it. I loved the way it set off every print in the entire batch, and I even compared the yardage with the stack of yellows I had stacked up to complete cutting in a few days. Seems best to not cut more than 20, and to try to cut 8 or 9 at a time mostly to prevent sore feet. The plantar padding on the sole of the foot is a muscle, and that's what fibromyalgia hassles the most--muscles. So, standing a long time or walking are not much fun anymore. To think I trained for distance running several years ago and continued for nearly 8 years. Those were the days!

I'm getting the nanny-yap sign that says I have to spread rep before I can give any more to Sunshine or koshergrl. Sorry I was lazy last night, but I just ran out of gas and got an upper shoulder cramp at the same time and left the boards abruptly sans explanation.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> My daughter took up sewing when the recession hit. Her stuff looked expert from day one. I could never sew and resented that I had to even try. She was an architectural designer, then got her master's to be a construction manager. She bought a pattern for something and when she took it out she said, 'It's just a blueprint.' OMG. How easy things are for some people. She is back to work now, and I doubt she is sewing much. But I know one day she will.
> 
> 'It's just a blueprint.' Holy Cow!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I got patterns from Salvation Army and didn't realize that they were in different sizes and probably missing bits.
> 
> I just dove in. My first project was nightgown with beautiful long sleeves and a button closure and a ruffle, lol. The arms were size 8, I think the yoke was a size 12 haha but my daughter wore it for years!
> 
> I went from that to shorts and shirts...I made fourth of july sets for the kids, my son had a red, white and blue short sleeved, collared shirt with a pocket and everything...and I made the girly some little culottes or cropped pants and sun shirts....all that was a breeze after The Nightgown...
> 
> But finally had to face the fact that it's cheaper, and the fit and much of the quality, is usually better storebought. I used LINEN to make my daughter's sun sets, though which I loved but which she hated, hahaha and they lasted forever, but she was finally able to ditch them around 2nd grade. She said she didn't want to wear them because a boy at school or daycare had told her they looked like *clown pants* hahahahahahahaha.
> 
> The little sun shirts were adorable, though, and so were the shorts I made for the boy...now THOSE were good quality, and had pockets and the whole shebang.
> 
> Then I got stalled making a really pretty dress of yellow gingham (only not cotton, but rayon) with a white duster...I never did finish it, though I got really close.
> 
> I'm just starting to think about organizing all my material and yarn and thread so I can just sit down whenever and work, without having to conduct a 3-day search. I know I have bought dozens of spools of crochet thread and all sorts of hooks...but I can NEVER find them. Makes me crazy.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I ran across my mother's old mu mu pattern the other day. I've lost enough weight being sick, I could probably wear it. Maybe when I retire, I will get a machine and try my hand. I don't want to do practical things, although I would enjoy duplicating an old mu mu I had as a girl. I still haven't been to Hawaii, but when I was traveling I got enough hotel points to go for 2 weeks. I asked my SIL if she would like to go. The mu mu and my mother's flowers strung on thread were part of that fantasy from the time I was 9.
> 
> Today, was such a bad day I left work thinking it would serve the bastards right if I just up and died on them. I've never been passive aggressive before. Don't know what came over me. That will happen soon enough. I have plenty of things to keep living for!
Click to expand...

 I made row 7 on account of this post, Sunshine. I want you to know that we all love and appreciate you at USMB. This block is dedicated to you with the hopes you will keep kicking one symptom at a time and beating that sucka:


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I just think muumuus look comfy...like a nightgown that isn't a nightgown. And I'm all about nightgowns. I'd wear mine out and about, if I could.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When I had my knee replacements they wanted everyone to bring sweats to the hospital and wear them during the day. But sweats make me too warm. So, I bought some PJs that didn't look like PJs, they had soft pants and tank tops. That is what I wore and I wore them out at home. I still buy PJs that don't look that much like PJs for working around here on the weekends. At my age, the joints are kind of constricting, the clothes don't need to be too!
Click to expand...

 
Remember about, oh, maybe 15-20 years ago when everybody was wearing SLICKIES? You know, sweats made out of slick windbreaker material?

I loved them! I wish they were still de rigeur, I'd wear them every single day and night!

They're like sweats, only NOT hot!

If you work in a hospital, you should be able to get away with wearing scrubs 24/7...they are as comfy as sweats and are cool.

Which makes me think I should make myself some of those instead of the muu muu......

I ran across a really cool blog devoted to re-structuring of muu muus. Seriously, these women pick up old muu muus and then make them into new dresses, very cool, but I figure, why mess with success? 

I'll have to find the link. I enjoyed checking it out.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I just think muumuus look comfy...like a nightgown that isn't a nightgown. And I'm all about nightgowns. I'd wear mine out and about, if I could.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When I had my knee replacements they wanted everyone to bring sweats to the hospital and wear them during the day. But sweats make me too warm. So, I bought some PJs that didn't look like PJs, they had soft pants and tank tops. That is what I wore and I wore them out at home. I still buy PJs that don't look that much like PJs for working around here on the weekends. At my age, the joints are kind of constricting, the clothes don't need to be too!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Remember about, oh, maybe 15-20 years ago when everybody was wearing SLICKIES? You know, sweats made out of slick windbreaker material?
> 
> I loved them! I wish they were still de rigeur, I'd wear them every single day and night!
> 
> They're like sweats, only NOT hot!
> 
> If you work in a hospital, you should be able to get away with wearing scrubs 24/7...they are as comfy as sweats and are cool.
> 
> Which makes me think I should make myself some of those instead of the muu muu......
> 
> I ran across a really cool blog devoted to re-structuring of muu muus. Seriously, these women pick up old muu muus and then make them into new dresses, very cool, but I figure, why mess with success?
> 
> I'll have to find the link. I enjoyed checking it out.
Click to expand...


Yes, I do.  And then they kind of turned into 'granny' attire.


----------



## koshergrl

How'd that happen! Lol!


----------



## koshergrl

Muumuu | New Dress A Day


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Muumuu | New Dress A Day



Hawaiian Dresses - Hawaiian Dresses | AlohaOutlet SelectShop


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> How'd that happen! Lol!



It always does when something is comfortable!  But now I'm a granny so I don't really care.


----------



## Sunshine

As soon as I retire, I'm dressing in the coolest most comfortable rags I can conjure up!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I got patterns from Salvation Army and didn't realize that they were in different sizes and probably missing bits.
> 
> I just dove in. My first project was nightgown with beautiful long sleeves and a button closure and a ruffle, lol. The arms were size 8, I think the yoke was a size 12 haha but my daughter wore it for years!
> 
> I went from that to shorts and shirts...I made fourth of july sets for the kids, my son had a red, white and blue short sleeved, collared shirt with a pocket and everything...and I made the girly some little culottes or cropped pants and sun shirts....all that was a breeze after The Nightgown...
> 
> But finally had to face the fact that it's cheaper, and the fit and much of the quality, is usually better storebought. I used LINEN to make my daughter's sun sets, though which I loved but which she hated, hahaha and they lasted forever, but she was finally able to ditch them around 2nd grade. She said she didn't want to wear them because a boy at school or daycare had told her they looked like *clown pants* hahahahahahahaha.
> 
> The little sun shirts were adorable, though, and so were the shorts I made for the boy...now THOSE were good quality, and had pockets and the whole shebang.
> 
> Then I got stalled making a really pretty dress of yellow gingham (only not cotton, but rayon) with a white duster...I never did finish it, though I got really close.
> 
> I'm just starting to think about organizing all my material and yarn and thread so I can just sit down whenever and work, without having to conduct a 3-day search. I know I have bought dozens of spools of crochet thread and all sorts of hooks...but I can NEVER find them. Makes me crazy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I ran across my mother's old mu mu pattern the other day. I've lost enough weight being sick, I could probably wear it. Maybe when I retire, I will get a machine and try my hand. I don't want to do practical things, although I would enjoy duplicating an old mu mu I had as a girl. I still haven't been to Hawaii, but when I was traveling I got enough hotel points to go for 2 weeks. I asked my SIL if she would like to go. The mu mu and my mother's flowers strung on thread were part of that fantasy from the time I was 9.
> 
> Today, was such a bad day I left work thinking it would serve the bastards right if I just up and died on them. I've never been passive aggressive before. Don't know what came over me. That will happen soon enough. I have plenty of things to keep living for!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I made row 7 on account of this post, Sunshine. I want you to know that we all love and appreciate you at USMB. This block is dedicated to you with the hopes you will keep kicking one symptom at a time and beating that sucka:
Click to expand...


Fabulous!  

I have always loved yellow.  When I was a little girl it was may favorite color.  Even now, yellow makes me happy!  But my mother would never let me wear it because she said it made my eyes look green.  I don't really ever buy yellow, guess I just never developed the practice.  But my eyes look VERY blue when I wear certain colors and VERY green when I wear others.  I don't mind either way, really.


----------



## koshergrl

My eyes are the same! 

I used to say that when I cried I looked like a dragon because next to the red my eyes looked very, very, VERY green! Scary!


----------



## koshergrl

I fantasize about the kids going to college. I think, hmmmm...what will I do with all that time?

I'll walk my dog all day long, and never have to be home to meet the kids, or to take them anywhere, or pick them up!

If I wake up at 3 am and want to go to the beach or for a walk, I'll be able to do it!

If I don't get the house dirty, nobody will!

It will be heavenly. Only 8/9 years left.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I ran across my mother's old mu mu pattern the other day. I've lost enough weight being sick, I could probably wear it. Maybe when I retire, I will get a machine and try my hand. I don't want to do practical things, although I would enjoy duplicating an old mu mu I had as a girl. I still haven't been to Hawaii, but when I was traveling I got enough hotel points to go for 2 weeks. I asked my SIL if she would like to go. The mu mu and my mother's flowers strung on thread were part of that fantasy from the time I was 9.
> 
> Today, was such a bad day I left work thinking it would serve the bastards right if I just up and died on them. I've never been passive aggressive before. Don't know what came over me. That will happen soon enough. I have plenty of things to keep living for!
> 
> 
> 
> I made row 7 on account of this post, Sunshine. I want you to know that we all love and appreciate you at USMB. This block is dedicated to you with the hopes you will keep kicking one symptom at a time and beating that sucka:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Fabulous!
> 
> I have always loved yellow. When I was a little girl it was may favorite color. Even now, yellow makes me happy! But my mother would never let me wear it because she said it made my eyes look green. I don't really ever buy yellow, guess I just never developed the practice. But my eyes look VERY blue when I wear certain colors and VERY green when I wear others. I don't mind either way, really.
Click to expand...

 Thanks! After I read your post and went dutifully back to my sewing room, for some reason the sunshine faced fabric was near the top of the stack of uncut yardage fractions. So I cut a 4" slice, and hustled it into the quilt. I was surprised that a light fabric, even with bright yellow on it popped everything around it. So far, it's the prettiest row, including the row that didn't fit, and I spent my lunch hour unsewing the stitches to press and trim the row of blocks that just were longer than the others, causing a ridiculous mismatch situation when partially sewn on. Some mistakes have a really happy outcome. We had lunch with friends, and the ripping went fast. My catnap turned into the rest of the day, almost. That doggone new medicine is giving me plenty of rest. It's awful when you're on fire to finish something you love working on. Well, tomorrow is another day. Maybe I can leave here an hour early and sew a couple of more rows. Two rows are assembled, and the row that is now in 5 pieces needs to be re-measured, pressed, and trimmed to the correct length of bricks that are EXACTLY 7.5" including selvages.

Yellow quilts make me happy, too. I tried to distribute color choices as best I can when choosing fabric. The estate fabric I won on EBay had some great pieces, except everything is pastel in the lady's collection. The little pink and blue sailboat quilt done a week or so back was largely composed of the light blue sky from the same estate collection. I haven't dipped into the yellow. The pieces were ultra nice cottons that quilters love for the most part, and instead of dividing everything down, the family sold everything all at once, and there were over 100 yards of the best cottons from great quilt stores. I couldn't believe my good luck for charity sewing. The feel of nice cottons is the best part of constructing simple quilts like the ones I do for charity. The yellow one has that Michael Miller narrow mortar stripping, and it's so thick and wonderful to work with, too.

Few quilters ever make a yellow quilt. Too bad. I have all the fun!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I made row 7 on account of this post, Sunshine. I want you to know that we all love and appreciate you at USMB. This block is dedicated to you with the hopes you will keep kicking one symptom at a time and beating that sucka:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fabulous!
> 
> I have always loved yellow. When I was a little girl it was may favorite color. Even now, yellow makes me happy! But my mother would never let me wear it because she said it made my eyes look green. I don't really ever buy yellow, guess I just never developed the practice. But my eyes look VERY blue when I wear certain colors and VERY green when I wear others. I don't mind either way, really.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks! After I read your post and went dutifully back to my sewing room, for some reason the sunshine faced fabric was near the top of the stack of uncut yardage fractions. So I cut a 4" slice, and hustled it into the quilt. I was surprised that a light fabric, even with bright yellow on it popped everything around it. So far, it's the prettiest row, including the row that didn't fit, and I spent my lunch hour unsewing the stitches to press and trim the row of blocks that just were longer than the others, causing a ridiculous mismatch situation when partially sewn on. Some mistakes have a really happy outcome. We had lunch with friends, and the ripping went fast. My catnap turned into the rest of the day, almost. That doggone new medicine is giving me plenty of rest. It's awful when you're on fire to finish something you love working on. Well, tomorrow is another day. Maybe I can leave here an hour early and sew a couple of more rows. Two rows are assembled, and the row that is now in 5 pieces needs to be re-measured, pressed, and trimmed to the correct length of bricks that are EXACTLY 7.5" including selvages.
> 
> Yellow quilts make me happy, too. I tried to distribute color choices as best I can when choosing fabric. The estate fabric I won on EBay had some great pieces, except everything is pastel in the lady's collection. The little pink and blue sailboat quilt done a week or so back was largely composed of the light blue sky from the same estate collection. I haven't dipped into the yellow. The pieces were ultra nice cottons that quilters love for the most part, and instead of dividing everything down, the family sold everything all at once, and there were over 100 yards of the best cottons from great quilt stores. I couldn't believe my good luck for charity sewing. The feel of nice cottons is the best part of constructing simple quilts like the ones I do for charity. The yellow one has that Michael Miller narrow mortar stripping, and it's so thick and wonderful to work with, too.
> 
> Few quilters ever make a yellow quilt. Too bad. I have all the fun!
Click to expand...


I think not many people use  yellow in decorating and that may be the reason.  We go through phases with color.  The 60s was that gold and green thing, then came earth tones,  then mauve, etc.  There is a 'national color council' that chooses the colors for any given season.  That is why the blouse you buy this year won't go with the pants you bought last year.  I really believe they try to keep colors sophisticated.  A simple color like yellow falls by the wayide.  

I enjoyed the textiles at the quilt show.  When they dig up a thousand year old corpse, the textiles always interest me.  I'm not sure why they don't use that to some extent to judge how advanced the civilization was.  I think textiles are interesting.  I don't see how they take fibers from a plant, straightent them out into thread, then weave it together to make cloth.  Who would have even thought to do such a thing.  

When I took my son to Georgia Tech I learned of the degree called Textile Engineering.  If I had the resources, I would have dropped everything and enrolled.  But I had a new master's and two children to get through college.  The degree requires a lot of organic chemistry, my favorite science subject.  If you work in the field, most textile mills are in small towns.  It would have required a move, so not feasable on many levels.  But something I learned before I got to go to college is that you can study and learn a lot on your own, it's all there whether you take formal study  or not.  So, I have saved that as an area to look into when I retire.  I'd really like to know the history of textiles.  

As to the yellow, I've never done a room in yellow.  I saw in a magazine where a woman painted her kitchen 'mustard.'  That was a good color.  If you go yellow in decorating you can get a good one or a bad one.  So, no yellow, but I have a luminous color from the pale gold family  picked out for my bedroom.  I'll post what it is when I think to look at the chip.  

When it comes to textiles, I like things like beaded and sequined cloth.  I bought a scarf in Egypt that had sequins hand sewn on.  I thought about getting it out for the quilt show since the guys there were from Egypt, but it was raining and I didn't want to get it wet!  If you want to buy a pretty scarf an islamic country is the place to do it because so many women wear them all the time.  They aren't mennonites and they aren't trying to be 'plain' so the fabrics there are just fabulous beyond belief.


----------



## freedombecki

This is the Yellow Brick with mortar quilt top outer border:

And  I'm done!


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes, about the gold border--True, it's duller than the rest, darker also. A medium light color is what it actually is, which does good things for a quilt:

(1) Doesn't show dirt as much as a very dark fabric or a very light one.

(2) Backs off and lets the quilt colors shine.

(3) Gets along with wood tones in the furniture.

Many truly good quilters select dull borders for all the above reasons, but mainly to let people fully appreciate the visual aspects of the quilt's work by buffering colors from the outside in the same way that a frame separates a two-dimensional work of art from reality.


----------



## freedombecki

Red hull completed for a tall ships weathering storm. One horizontal row down, seven to go. This time, the sea row will be done next.

The fabric for the sky was a dark blue clouds quilter's cotton with lightning bolts all over. I couldn't resist it at half price & bought a bunch. Already cut the strips for the churning sea, but the pieces are close in shade, so I'm not sure what's going to happen. I try to pick fabrics that have motion in them to enhance the effect. The lighter of the two is a wavy blue floral tooled leather-look fabric that is popular for Western-themed quilts lately. Only this one has a definite flow that could be construed as churning water that would result when sailing the ocean with a tall-sails ship.

It's too early! For some reason, Miss Music came and said good night to me in her puppy way at 3 am this morning.

Hope everyone has a beautiful day this Second of May that it is today.


----------



## Mr. H.

I never knew there was so much terminology describing quilting elements. 
Always thought a quilt was just... a quilt. 

Wasn't it Freud that said sometimes a quilt is just a quilt?


----------



## koshergrl

Quilts are fabric fractal representation....


----------



## koshergrl

I used to have a crazy quilt my grandma made...it was mostly wool and flannel scraps...

But I ran across this in Walla Walla this winter:


----------



## freedombecki

Crazies are fun! Thanks for sharing a find, Koshergrl!

Finally settled on a name for the current quilt--Storm at Sea Tall Ship. Here are the horizontal Hull row and the Masts row, the only row that is only 1 log high.


----------



## freedombecki

And here are the Yin-Yang turbulent sea squares, sewn into the  row beneath the hull:

(and it's back to the sewing machine.) Yesterday, after mowing the second time for a hour out in the nearest field south of the house, I experienced sever leg cramps. It's going to be artichokes at lunch today and tomorrow. They're supposed to help reduce leg and foot pain. 

Hope everyone has a great day.

<hugs>


----------



## koshergrl

Thank you for using red for the ship; I find my palatte always ends up running to browns lol...I have to battle the impulse and it just sort of sneaks up on me. I have a lot of really ugly brown and red material in my stash right now that I'm trying to figure out what to do with and wondering WHY THE HECK DID I BUY THAT? Who wants brown quilts or blankets? Besides me, I mean.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Crazies are fun! Thanks for sharing a find, Koshergrl!
> 
> Finally settled on a name for the current quilt--Storm at Sea Tall Ship. Here are the horizontal Hull row and the Masts row, the only row that is only 1 log high.



Gorgeous!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Crazies are fun! Thanks for sharing a find, Koshergrl!
> 
> Finally settled on a name for the current quilt--Storm at Sea Tall Ship. Here are the horizontal Hull row and the Masts row, the only row that is only 1 log high.



Fabulous.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, sunshine! I took the morning off to mow half the strip up to the front entrance at the farm. I got about half of it done (pushing a mower) in 1.5 hours, and after a brief lunch and online visit, decided to take ten before getting back to the sails, which are going to be a blue print on white for Storm at Sea. Unfortunately, 10 minutes turned into a full-recuperative sleep in which I awoke refreshed from the morning assault on my muscles that pushing a lawn more is for a fibromyalgiac.  I'll be lucky to get the sails' strips cut out and ready to go by tomorrow. I could sew the 3 horizontal rows together before doing that. I'm glad they showed up well here. I managed to space completion of the two rows over 2 days between other household duties. For 2 nights I had screaming out loud leg cramps, but today, I feel like a new person. I reread my Centrum vitamin instructions and found that I should have been taking one in the morning and one at night. It seems to bring the extra B vitamins that people like me need, plus magnesium that squares a lot of my pain away. That may have been why the leg cramps ceased. I'm glad, because they drain you of your blood's vitality, it seems. 

My doctor actually prescribed special potassium chloride to prevent the diuretic for swollen feet that started last year from depleting my body of potassium, which prevents problems associated with my autoimmune pain syndrome. She reminds me of a good Sherlock-Holmes type person who tracks down all possible ills before they start. I'm really glad to have her when I can't help myself, and I came really close to calling her after yesterday's egregious full-body, neck to toe cramp series. Then I reread my Centrum Cardio label. No wonder I was in pain. The diuretic probably takes out more than just potassium, and it was my fault because I know better. If I'm late taking the diuretic, my feet swell and a day later going downstairs is not an option. 

So any progress on the Storm at Sea Tall Ship will have to wait till the morning. Oh, heavens, it's almost 8:30pm right now, and tomorrow the tall grass from farm-to-market road to my front lawn awaits completion. That's just on the north side. The South Side of the little extended drive awaits after that! I must be bad, there's no rest for the wicked. My sweetie is to the point now, where he can't remember why I sent him outside to mow the lawn. Some days he can, some days, I have to follow him around like a mama duck follows her little chicks. Other days, he actually seems to be able to follow through with a plan. The neurologist who treated him said his dementia was likely caused from a blow to the head in his youth from the separation that was seen on the scan. He can still do higher math, is starting to read his alumni news again, and likes action movies especially on DTV. Somewhere, he forgot about his lifelong love of watching sports. I have to stay on him about taking his medicine, though. He never was much of a morning person, and following him downstairs and making sure the medicine is gone and a full cup of water is drained before leaving him to his devices is something that just has to be done. Otherwise, He could become dehydrated, or worse, confused if he is thinking about anything else, which does not take much. He's still a big sweetie, though, his lifelong trademark in business. When I met him his friends described him as "a nice guy." He still is from inside to out.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Thank you for using red for the ship; I find my palatte always ends up running to browns lol...I have to battle the impulse and it just sort of sneaks up on me. I have a lot of really ugly brown and red material in my stash right now that I'm trying to figure out what to do with and wondering WHY THE HECK DID I BUY THAT? Who wants brown quilts or blankets? Besides me, I mean.


I came very close to using brown in this one, but decided Spoonman's quilt should be RW&B since the sky was a storm, it needed perking up anyway. Sunshine's red sails is in the planning stage, and your daughter's pink and blue quilt is neatly folded with the 2 other quilts. You love boating so much, I was wanting to do a ship with rainbow sails after that, which was my first choice anyway because I was so fascinated with Ezekiel's scripture that said "The Lord God's presence is as the colors of the bow in the sky." Mariners have always had a fondness for rainbows in their world, and I think that's pretty much why when you see sailing ships, many of their sails are rainbow-striped, and so pretty teamed with Caribbean waters. So since that one follows Sunshine's, let me know if you want a repeat red color. If I dedicate them to a person here in their moniker name, they know that quilt is designated for a child at the shelter and won't sell it to the public for scholarships and batting. So the more I can dedicate in people's names, the more that people who need a little something pretty in their life who wouldn't otherwise have it get it through the hard work of quilting that Charity Bees do after I complete the tops. I'm so grateful for them. Someday, they will likely be good and tired of me and my little doings, though. It won't be the first time. My dear friend at the Handicapped Day Care Center finally told me (after 6 years of donating 60 quilts a year for their naptime program) that OSHA moved in and forced them to bleach the quilts once a week. We're talking chlorine bleach here, and that it truly made her feel bad to mistreat the quilts when Orvus neutral-pH soap and water is all other people use to clean their quilts. 

So after that, I started making squad car quilts for the cops to carry around in their cruisers for when they needed to wrap a shock victim in a blanket. The secretary of the police chief really loved them and started making her own quilts from getting a good sewing machine to make them with and then a professional quilting machine to quilt them with. In return, I got so much experience making log cabin quilts, I know every little trick in the book for making the work go fast. Back then, I could make a queen-sized quilt top in 1" log cabins in 3 days and quilt it on my quilter in 1 day, we're talking 10 and 8 hour days, of course. But when you're working to complete a charity quilt show, you have like zero social life, so my husband and I learned to fit our schedules around him doing church business and business books at night and me working in front of the sewing machine for quite a few years after the kids grew up and taking on school and careers.

I went online after Clinton was re-elected to find out why the American people voted that way. Since our lives were church-centered, we weren't prepared for all that Washington stuff on television 24-7 and the war that's now being leveled on church folk like us whose lives were devoted to community. I well know I spent many hours doing all I could for homeless shelters, supporting the art guild and symphony, sewing for the community college daycare and handicapped center, squad car quilts, and for victims of fire through our city's fire marshall, hospice, etc. That's been my whole life, and online, people call you names you may never have ever spoken to anyone else because your opinion challenges theirs. It takes a few years to develop thick skin and fire back with  and 

Oh, yes, koshergrl: tell me what color scheme the quilt in your honor is to be. It has to follow the rainbow sails, quilt, though, before I lose my verve, keeping in mind it's probably 4 or 5 quilts away. Once in a while, I have to clear the table and make a quilt from a melee hill of scraps, just to get rid of them. My tall pile is now around 10" where it was about 4 months ago. I did some sorting on days I did nothing else.


----------



## freedombecki

Where were we? Oh, yes, the Storm at Sea Ship:

Stern



​Scans below:

1. Vague piecing sequence for the sail block that starts with a 1.5x1.5" light color sail material "log" in the center at ends with a 7.5" piece log at the 13th log slot (not shown due to space).

2. The finished sail that does show the 7.5" log, and it is 7.5" square. Make 17 of the sail for the half-square schema, several pages back at the beginning of the redwork sail boats.

3. The finished Stormy Sky block that also measures 7.5x7.5."


----------



## freedombecki

Today is Airing of the Quilts Day at Walker County Courthouse in Huntsville, Texas. If you live in the vicinity, take the Eleventh Street Exit and head East toward Old Downtown Huntsville. If you go west, you will be in Bryan, Texas, in about an hour and some change.  The next airing will be in two years.

This is a picture of a previous year:






Oh, yes,, and quilts now are everywhere. This must've been one of the first years. You'll probably see a couple of hundred quilts hanging all over the Square.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you for using red for the ship; I find my palatte always ends up running to browns lol...I have to battle the impulse and it just sort of sneaks up on me. I have a lot of really ugly brown and red material in my stash right now that I'm trying to figure out what to do with and wondering WHY THE HECK DID I BUY THAT? Who wants brown quilts or blankets? Besides me, I mean.
> 
> 
> 
> I came very close to using brown in this one, but decided Spoonman's quilt should be RW&B since the sky was a storm, it needed perking up anyway. Sunshine's red sails is in the planning stage, and your daughter's pink and blue quilt is neatly folded with the 2 other quilts. You love boating so much, I was wanting to do a ship with rainbow sails after that, which was my first choice anyway because I was so fascinated with Ezekiel's scripture that said "The Lord God's presence is as the colors of the bow in the sky." Mariners have always had a fondness for rainbows in their world, and I think that's pretty much why when you see sailing ships, many of their sails are rainbow-striped, and so pretty teamed with Caribbean waters. So since that one follows Sunshine's, let me know if you want a repeat red color. If I dedicate them to a person here in their moniker name, they know that quilt is designated for a child at the shelter and won't sell it to the public for scholarships and batting. So the more I can dedicate in people's names, the more that people who need a little something pretty in their life who wouldn't otherwise have it get it through the hard work of quilting that Charity Bees do after I complete the tops. I'm so grateful for them. Someday, they will likely be good and tired of me and my little doings, though. It won't be the first time. My dear friend at the Handicapped Day Care Center finally told me (after 6 years of donating 60 quilts a year for their naptime program) that OSHA moved in and forced them to bleach the quilts once a week. We're talking chlorine bleach here, and that it truly made her feel bad to mistreat the quilts when Orvus neutral-pH soap and water is all other people use to clean their quilts.
> 
> So after that, I started making squad car quilts for the cops to carry around in their cruisers for when they needed to wrap a shock victim in a blanket. The secretary of the police chief really loved them and started making her own quilts from getting a good sewing machine to make them with and then a professional quilting machine to quilt them with. In return, I got so much experience making log cabin quilts, I know every little trick in the book for making the work go fast. Back then, I could make a queen-sized quilt top in 1" log cabins in 3 days and quilt it on my quilter in 1 day, we're talking 10 and 8 hour days, of course. But when you're working to complete a charity quilt show, you have like zero social life, so my husband and I learned to fit our schedules around him doing church business and business books at night and me working in front of the sewing machine for quite a few years after the kids grew up and taking on school and careers.
> 
> I went online after Clinton was re-elected to find out why the American people voted that way. Since our lives were church-centered, we weren't prepared for all that Washington stuff on television 24-7 and the war that's now being leveled on church folk like us whose lives were devoted to community. I well know I spent many hours doing all I could for homeless shelters, supporting the art guild and symphony, sewing for the community college daycare and handicapped center, squad car quilts, and for victims of fire through our city's fire marshall, hospice, etc. That's been my whole life, and online, people call you names you may never have ever spoken to anyone else because your opinion challenges theirs. It takes a few years to develop thick skin and fire back with  and
> 
> Oh, yes, koshergrl: tell me what color scheme the quilt in your honor is to be. It has to follow the rainbow sails, quilt, though, before I lose my verve, keeping in mind it's probably 4 or 5 quilts away. Once in a while, I have to clear the table and make a quilt from a melee hill of scraps, just to get rid of them. My tall pile is now around 10" where it was about 4 months ago. I did some sorting on days I did nothing else.
Click to expand...


A funny story about rainbows:  When I travel, I always put rainbow luggage straps on my luggage, you know, just in case someone else has neon green luggage, so they won't get it mixed up!  Well, when I went to DC last year, my friend didn't like them.  She said people would say we were gay! LOL.  I've always used rainbow luggage straps.  I can always spot when they put my luggage on the plane and when it comes around the carousel.


----------



## freedombecki

I keep making striped rainbow stuff, and they still look like baby quilts. To me, anyway.


----------



## freedombecki

Worked on sail-making (Heheh) and still have to cut more strips. About 6 more strips ought to do it. I'm on the 5" group, and I did a couple of rows on the all-blue squares too. Oops! eyes are twitching. Time for a low-dose aspirin.


----------



## Sunshine

I'll get you some more quilts up tomorrow Beckums.  Promise!


----------



## freedombecki

That'll be fun, Sunshine, and that's a great idea about the rainbow colored bands on your suitcase for quick identification. 

Well, I wanted to work on the quilt all day, but it was so gorgeous, and while mowing a little I noticed one patch of blackberries up front by the garden plot actually showing quite a few blackberries. But they're so tiny, I only collected enough to put in a couple of small bowls, which is all the 2 of us need. Didn't have any ice cream, so a teaspoon of sugar and a few tablespoons of milk made it a treat. They're still a little tart because they're first crop, but I noticed we have scarlet and summer tanagers about, mockingbirds, bluebirds, trillers and singers, probably eating ten times as many as I harvested this afternoon. Oh, well, we love the music.


----------



## freedombecki

About the sum total of my accomplishment last night was affixing a couple of logs each to the 36 squares left to finish AND CUTTING TWICE AS MANY 4 AND 5" STRIPS as needed by having buried the ones I cut earlier but lost track of due to not having finished clearing the cutting table of all its clutter. On the plane of the cutting mat, a 10x12x40 takes up exactly as much room as a 20x12x40" long snake of leftovers, and when you push the bottom of the pile back a little, the top pieces fall forward, covering whatever also got pushed back, such as a pile of 4.5 and 5.5" stack of 50 logs that are only 7/8" tall.   
One of these days when I don't have anything to do....


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> That'll be fun, Sunshine, and that's a great idea about the rainbow colored bands on your suitcase for quick identification.
> 
> Well, I wanted to work on the quilt all day, but it was so gorgeous, and while mowing a little I noticed one patch of blackberries up front by the garden plot actually showing quite a few blackberries. But they're so tiny, I only collected enough to put in a couple of small bowls, which is all the 2 of us need. Didn't have any ice cream, so a teaspoon of sugar and a few tablespoons of milk made it a treat. They're still a little tart because they're first crop, but I noticed we have scarlet and summer tanagers about, mockingbirds, bluebirds, trillers and singers, probably eating ten times as many as I harvested this afternoon. Oh, well, we love the music.



I like the wild ones best.  The seeds are too big in the tame ones.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Here you go.  I'll do these in 3 or 4 different hitches today.  This one got some kind of 'mention'.  It is 'The Hobbit.'  The docent said that last year the person who made this had won best of show for 'Lord of the Rings.'  The rest, except for a couple,  I really don't know what they were called.  I didn't make the effor to retain it.






[/URL][/IMG]

This one was involved and had a lot of work, but I couldn't call it 'pretty.'


----------



## Sunshine

This one seemed to be moving:






[/URL][/IMG]


----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine

This was one of my personal favorites due to the tiny size of the blocks.


----------



## Sunshine

I liked this one.  It reminded me of those Queen Ann bedspreads:





You can't see it because I got close to get the pattern, but it had a red ribbon.


----------



## Sunshine

Here's another one that moved!


----------



## Sunshine

I liked this one.  It had sparklies in it, but I don't think the camera got them.






Not sure if I did a complete pic of the one next to it, but that one was quite busy.


----------



## Sunshine

I'll do some more in a bit.  Some were so complex and involved, that I have to wonder if the people who made them just spent the entire year working on the one quilt.  I wouldn't have been able to finish one in 10 years.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> I'll do some more in a bit. Some were so complex and involved, that I have to wonder if the people who made them just spent the entire year working on the one quilt. I wouldn't have been able to finish one in 10 years.


 Some people spend a lot time on those quilts. One that caught my eye had a simple color schema, but the work on her border gave it the overall look of a well-done piece of lace. All of the quilts you took were amazing, including the wonky wild color one next to one you liked. I know I've never seen as wonky a schema that looked so intentional. 

I'm on the tail end of this quilt, I just have to join the 3 pieces into one, then do a border for the Storm at Sea Tall Ships Quilt done to honor Mr. and Mrs. [MENTION=24208]Spoonman[/MENTION], she having fibromyalgia, and Mr. so supportive of those of us who have the same nemesis by active encouragement for sticking with the quilt program and the help it gives me to ignore pain while I am happily at work on the next quilt. 

Might as well save a frame and show the progress this morning. First, all squares were completed. Then all horizontal rows were completed, and all four rows on the yin-yang sea waves were joined, and three of the upper sail rows were joined as was the sky row. What is left is to join the two horizontal areas needing to make the 3 pieces 1 and do the border. That could dig into the lunch hour, we'll see. 

Scan 10 is of the sky row which awaits joining to the topsail row.

Scan 11 is of the topsail row

Scan 12 is of the middle sail row

And it's time to sign off and finish this lil seafaring project!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'll do some more in a bit. Some were so complex and involved, that I have to wonder if the people who made them just spent the entire year working on the one quilt. I wouldn't have been able to finish one in 10 years.
> 
> 
> 
> Some people spend a lot time on those quilts. One that caught my eye had a simple color schema, but the work on her border gave it the overall look of a well-done piece of lace. All of the quilts you took were amazing, including the wonky wild color one next to one you liked. I know I've never seen as wonky a schema that looked so intentional.
> 
> I'm on the tail end of this quilt, I just have to join the 3 pieces into one, then do a border for the Storm at Sea Tall Ships Quilt done to honor Mr. and Mrs. [MENTION=24208]Spoonman[/MENTION], she having fibromyalgia, and Mr. so supportive of those of us who have the same nemesis by active encouragement for sticking with the quilt program and the help it gives me to ignore pain while I am happily at work on the next quilt.
> 
> Might as well save a frame and show the progress this morning. First, all squares were completed. Then all horizontal rows were completed, and all four rows on the yin-yang sea waves were joined, and three of the upper sail rows were joined as was the sky row. What is left is to join the two horizontal areas needing to make the 3 pieces 1 and do the border. That could dig into the lunch hour, we'll see.
> 
> Scan 10 is of the sky row which awaits joining to the topsail row.
> 
> Scan 11 is of the topsail row
> 
> Scan 12 is of the middle sail row
> 
> And it's time to sign off and finish this lil seafaring project!
Click to expand...


Here come a few more.


----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine

This one is a waterfall.  Not sure that I really 'get' a quilt being a waterfall, though.






There's more.  I'll do more in a bit.


----------



## Sunshine

I put lace curtains over the triple pane sliding door in my bedroom today.  They arrived yesterday, but I didn't get them up.  I had put up some faux slik drapes that make me feel like I was smothering.  These preserve my view.  I think I need 2 more panels but the 4 swags are just right.  I used the gold and sorry this pic isn't very big.  But you can get a larger one from Touch of Class.  I just can't post the bigger one because it is set to let you zoom in.  







I wasn't sure how they would look over that glass door, but I really love it.  My view is back and they are really pretty.  When I paint that room the walls are going to be Valspar Sunset Nude.  A nice light color but warm and I expect the room will feel luminous.  I thought the faux silk drapes would facilitate that, but they were just too much FAUX.  I'm taking them back.  I really love these lace ones.


----------



## Sunshine

Here come a few more:





This one had sparklies on it.

I have a pic of the one next to it.  Will post it in a bit.


----------



## Sunshine




----------



## Sunshine

Sunshine said:


>





All those teenie weenie little blocks make me dizzy!

The half one showing was cool too.  I had to pick and choose because my camera batteries were about to crap out on me.


----------



## Sunshine

I have a few more left.  Will try to get them before day is over.  And I will try to go back through and see if I missed any of what I got pics of.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All those teenie weenie little blocks make me dizzy!
> 
> The half one showing was cool too. I had to pick and choose because my camera batteries were about to crap out on me.
Click to expand...

I love the postage stamp chain quilt with floral applique on it. It's someone's master work. Thanks for sharing, Sunshine! I'm so glad you went anyway even though you weren't sure you were up to it the day you talked about going or not. You saw and shared some great quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

<you must spread some reputation around before giving some to Sunshine again>

Wonderful pictures, Sunshine. I love the quilts you're sharing!


----------



## freedombecki

All 8 rows are joined. Then, I mowed some more. The grass is growing. It's hard to push a push mower in waist-high grass and weeds. <huff, puff, huff, puff> I can't move yet. 

Before going out, however, that quilt did get joined but not bordered._ Hasta manana!_

Edit: Thanks for your support, Sunshine. On May 1, this quilt was finished in honor of your support of the quilting thread, your tireless work on your family heirloom quilt top, and winning precious years against a disease that is seldom challenged so successfully by one who has it. All our prayers go for your continued successful fight and comfort in place of pain. 

Credits page for Sunshine's Yellow Brick Quilt Top designated for a child with another kind of pain in a shelter for abused families in the Friendship State. It is my 32nd quilt top for 2013 Tall Pines Quilt Guild Charity Bees, and imagine my cheerfulness when Sunshine said she liked the quilt in her childhood favorite color for which she takes as her moniker name--Sunshine.


----------



## freedombecki

The Storm at Sea Tall Ship Quilt Top is now done. It is being dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. @Spoonman for his consistent support of both this quilting project that has produced as of this morning 33 quilt tops for local charities of the Tall Pines Quilt Guild and sharing Mrs. Spoonman's mutual remedies for fibromyalgia. The sharing has meant a lot to me, and every trick you learn about what helps someone else who has the disease brings one more symptom under control sometimes. And you can hope that what you share that has calmed a couple of demons inside yourself helps them, too.

I still owe dedicating several tops to USMB friends who've either dropped a line here or in my pm box about this work or been supportive in other ways that bring comfort and peace to me and others. So please be patient if your name hasn't been called yet. Don't forget to tell me your favorite color or liking, or artistic license may take over.

One of my friends in the guild also does Veterans' needs quilts from time to time, and occasionally, she will expropriate a red, white, and blue quilt for one of our nation's wounded veterans who may never have known anyone cared, so if you don't tell me, the quilt is likely to be red, white and blue, and expropriated by sweet friend, Helen, all for a wounded vet. 

OH, yes, here are the pictures of the 33rd quilt for the year, completed this morning by me with a blue metallic border and measuring ~47x63:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> <you must spread some reputation around before giving some to Sunshine again>
> 
> Wonderful pictures, Sunshine. I love the quilts you're sharing!



There will be a few more next weekend.  I have trouble accomplishing anything during the week.  But I didn't get them all posted.  Most had ribbons, I believe, but mostly I took the ones I really liked.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> <you must spread some reputation around before giving some to Sunshine again>
> 
> Wonderful pictures, Sunshine. I love the quilts you're sharing!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There will be a few more next weekend. I have trouble accomplishing anything during the week. But I didn't get them all posted. Most had ribbons, I believe, but mostly I took the ones I really liked.
Click to expand...

 It's okay, Sunshine. You're likely to have a very unique week ahead, and I pray you have an easy transition to retiring after many, many years in the medical professional arena. Sending prayers and thoughts of strength and happy celebration your way. 

Just do things as they come and no worries about anything here, because it's all good.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm looking at a day spent relaxing after completing a long task this past week with a happy outcome--a quilt top to share with my community's needs.


----------



## freedombecki

Fabrics were accumulated over the past couple of months from mainly Ebay, and a 2.5" stripe was used to make stripes sandwiched between a white-on-white confetti print also recently found as part of a 4-to-6 yard piece group of 50 white on white or off-white print. It was a nice break from the shipbuilding process and hope it will be a great quilt for a hugs baby. In addition to bright colors, there is also a rust bandana piece and chocolate, too. Yum! 

Before getting back to the ships, one quilt is going to be made from those darn scraps. At least it's now half-size, but oh, there's enough there for 5 or 6 quilts, surely. It would be a brag to say no scraps were ever picked up, but that would not be true, but the pile is easily left over from bits and pieces of at least 50 small quilt tops. True story.   

This scan series goes across an end one side to the other:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> <you must spread some reputation around before giving some to Sunshine again>
> 
> Wonderful pictures, Sunshine. I love the quilts you're sharing!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There will be a few more next weekend. I have trouble accomplishing anything during the week. But I didn't get them all posted. Most had ribbons, I believe, but mostly I took the ones I really liked.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It's okay, Sunshine. You're likely to have a very unique week ahead, and I pray you have an easy transition to retiring after many, many years in the medical professional arena. Sending prayers and thoughts of strength and happy celebration your way.
> 
> Just do things as they come and no worries about anything here, because it's all good.
Click to expand...


To say the least!


----------



## freedombecki

Last year a shopping trip produced a half-price offer on some red white and blue charm squares that needed to be cleared so space could be given to newer merchandise. They wound up on my pile, and one of them ALMOST had enough to do a simple sashed square quilt, with adding a few 5" squares cut from my mammoth stash. (  ) I ran across the cutest square sash treatment that involved sewing on a 45-degree angled frame that could be fun to do since there are now 20 lights and 20 darks separated into two piles on the cutting table. Think the picture was saved, and it has NOTHIN' to do with red white and blue, it's just an idea for setting squares in a different way, and could add just enough intrigue to keep a waning attention span at alert (that quilt done this morning being a perfect example!) 

When alertness fails, it's ripper thread city on the offending seam that went awry. Hm... Red white and blue with neutrals... eh, have to sleep on it. 

Good night, everyone!


----------



## Mr. H.

Those look 3 dimensional.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Those look 3 dimensional.


That's what gets me, too, Mr. H. Although the real dimensionalists are quilters who do something called "baby blocks." Some have carried the dimension angle to an extreme. 60-degree angles are not my forte, though. They're slow, painstaking, easy to mess up due to the odd bias that 60- and 120-degree stitching can be, made yet more difficult by warp and weft being most uncooperative. It's smarter to cut 1/3" seam allowances or 3/8" since few rulers have a marker for 1/3". That way, a wider foot can be used and there is slightly better control on angles with a wide base to work with, although not much, but even a slight improvement is better than nothing.  Jinny Beyer masters those blocks, however, since she stitches as quickly by hand as average sewing machine people stitch on the machine. She doesn't waste time, and she's the best there is out there on account of her affinity for mathematics, of which her wonderful books approach plane geometry in a most intriguing way including simply folding paper to get a correct angle. She's a whiz in geometric shapes and shading. For years, her quilts dominated the best of show category nationally and internationally, then she began designing her own fabric lines to achieve the correct shading and color by establishing a long-running "Jinny Beyer Basics" with RJR Fabrics, a Los Angeles, California company. Her fabrics are internationally famous and most precious once they are no longer in print.

Here's one of her building blocks quilt capitalizing on dimensional properties for effect:


----------



## freedombecki

Jinny Beyer eye candy is at her website Quilt Gallery: Quilt Gallery

She is very Rembrandt about shading.


----------



## Mr. H.

Earlier, I gave you a link to my friend's quilting website. She is quite into the abstract. 
You however are an artist's artist.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Mr. H. Today, I'm just a flubug with a headache though. I have no idea how I got the flu. I haven't been out of the house in a week. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Earlier, I gave you a link to my friend's quilting website. She is quite into the abstract.
> You however are an artist's artist.


 Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. H. My little quilts don't hold a candle to your friend who is an artist in every good way there is. She gets out there, breaks rules having fun at it and forges a path for others to follow if they can keep up. 

Art doesn't get better than that. I'm just having fun breaking a few little bitty rules. Soon as this flu goes away, I'm gonna have some more fun, too, because today we aren't having any fun yet.


----------



## freedombecki

I ran into a blog in which a lady truly had a lot of fun with the theme by pushing a button on her software, she said.

Credits: Quilts + Color: March 2011


----------



## freedombecki

Same blogger Quilts + Color: March 2011 said it was easy to do. My favorite is the royal blue color, though I like others, too. It's fun changing color schemes around to match a loved one's favorite color or just because you're tired of a color you spent the last 2 weeks slaving over to complete the top. Each one of her choices, if people truly had made quilts in white and that color, would have been a knockout. It's just that more people stick with red to the bitter end for some reason.

More:


----------



## Sunshine

OK.  My NEW blue Premax Optima embroidery scissors are missing.  Now, I am a reasonable person.  So, I know that no one is coming in my house with the alarm system set and making off with a set of embroider scissors while leaving jewelry and antiques.  The cat is jealous when I stitch and I am now sure she has drug them off somewhere.  She used to do that with my jewlelry I left lying on the counter.  Now, two sets of scissors have vanished.   SO, when I clean house after retirement I will be looking under everything in thi house that she can get under.  She likes to slink into the closet a lot, so I have a suspicion I will find the 2 sets of scissors back in my closet.  Sheesh!  Now I'm using the gold ones and hey go in the drawer when I'm at work.

She also has figured out how to get the floss out from where I keep it.  I find clumps of it that she has drug out and chewed.  I know she thinks she can keep me from stitching if she can drag off all the stuff~


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK. My NEW blue Premax Optima embroidery scissors are missing. Now, I am a reasonable person. So, I know that no one is coming in my house with the alarm system set and making off with a set of embroider scissors while leaving jewelry and antiques. The cat is jealous when I stitch and I am now sure she has drug them off somewhere. She used to do that with my jewlelry I left lying on the counter. Now, two sets of scissors have vanished. SO, when I clean house after retirement I will be looking under everything in thi house that she can get under. She likes to slink into the closet a lot, so I have a suspicion I will find the 2 sets of scissors back in my closet. Sheesh! Now I'm using the gold ones and hey go in the drawer when I'm at work.
> 
> She also has figured out how to get the floss out from where I keep it. I find clumps of it that she has drug out and chewed. I know she thinks she can keep me from stitching if she can drag off all the stuff~


Mix a small amount of rosemary in a teaspoon of lemon. Daub the solution on the object cat needs to avoid. 

Ginger works 90% of the time but 10% of the time, the cat will like it.

Pepper is also effective. I'm thinking liquid pepper.

If none of the above works, girl you need a metal detector for the duration of that cat's life!!!! 

Thanks for the story. 

My cat now enjoys his own room, the conservatory. I told my husband if he doesn't keep two doors between me and the cat closed at all times, the potty machine, I mean, cat, would wind up at the shelter with a "barn cat" note stapled to his ear.

<giggle>


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK. My NEW blue Premax Optima embroidery scissors are missing. Now, I am a reasonable person. So, I know that no one is coming in my house with the alarm system set and making off with a set of embroider scissors while leaving jewelry and antiques. The cat is jealous when I stitch and I am now sure she has drug them off somewhere. She used to do that with my jewlelry I left lying on the counter. Now, two sets of scissors have vanished. SO, when I clean house after retirement I will be looking under everything in thi house that she can get under. She likes to slink into the closet a lot, so I have a suspicion I will find the 2 sets of scissors back in my closet. Sheesh! Now I'm using the gold ones and hey go in the drawer when I'm at work.
> 
> She also has figured out how to get the floss out from where I keep it. I find clumps of it that she has drug out and chewed. I know she thinks she can keep me from stitching if she can drag off all the stuff~
> 
> 
> 
> Mix a small amount of rosemary in a teaspoon of lemon. Daub the solution on the object cat needs to avoid.
> 
> Ginger works 90% of the time but 10% of the time, the cat will like it.
> 
> Pepper is also effective. I'm thinking liquid pepper.
> 
> If none of the above works, girl you need a metal detector for the duration of that cat's life!!!!
> 
> Thanks for the story.
> 
> My cat now enjoys his own room, the conservatory. I told my husband if he doesn't keep two doors between me and the cat closed at all times, the potty machine, I mean, cat, would wind up at the shelter with a "barn cat" note stapled to his ear.
> 
> <giggle>
Click to expand...


I have rosemary in my herb garden.  Sometimes I feel like killing that cat!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, I sure hope you find your scissors. Wonder where the cat is secreting away the loot
.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine, I sure hope you find your scissors. Wonder where the cat is secreting away the loot
> .



No idea.  I will be emptying closets and giving the house a good going over.  She used to take my jewelry under the bed.  But the scissors are not under the bed.  I sit in my bedroom chair or bed to stitch.  That would be too easy fo rme to find.  I'm told that a jealous cat can think of ways to prevent you from doing the thing it is jealous of, even to the extent of making you trip and fall down the stairs so you will have to stay home from work.  I have no idea how many close calls I've had on the stairs because of her.  I'm beginning to believe it.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK. My NEW blue Premax Optima embroidery scissors are missing. Now, I am a reasonable person. So, I know that no one is coming in my house with the alarm system set and making off with a set of embroider scissors while leaving jewelry and antiques. The cat is jealous when I stitch and I am now sure she has drug them off somewhere. She used to do that with my jewlelry I left lying on the counter. Now, two sets of scissors have vanished. SO, when I clean house after retirement I will be looking under everything in thi house that she can get under. She likes to slink into the closet a lot, so I have a suspicion I will find the 2 sets of scissors back in my closet. Sheesh! Now I'm using the gold ones and hey go in the drawer when I'm at work.
> 
> She also has figured out how to get the floss out from where I keep it. I find clumps of it that she has drug out and chewed. I know she thinks she can keep me from stitching if she can drag off all the stuff~
> 
> 
> 
> Mix a small amount of rosemary in a teaspoon of lemon. Daub the solution on the object cat needs to avoid.
> 
> Ginger works 90% of the time but 10% of the time, the cat will like it.
> 
> Pepper is also effective. I'm thinking liquid pepper.
> 
> If none of the above works, girl you need a metal detector for the duration of that cat's life!!!!
> 
> Thanks for the story.
> 
> My cat now enjoys his own room, the conservatory. I told my husband if he doesn't keep two doors between me and the cat closed at all times, the potty machine, I mean, cat, would wind up at the shelter with a "barn cat" note stapled to his ear.
> 
> <giggle>
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I have rosemary in my herb garden. Sometimes I feel like killing that cat!
Click to expand...

 The cat has it figured it out: negative attention is better than nothing. There doesn't seem to be a smiley that laughs and cries at the same time. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes, plan b is much more beautiful than plan a, but for some reason, it just never works out. The two plan B colors just sat there for days. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

plan b






No doubt, plan b is a beautiful quilt. No doubts whatever.
But it just isn't right. Plan a was right for my simple 5" squares, and not plan b, which looks magnificent with 16-patch soft colors.​plan a

'Tis a gift to be simple. Sounds like a good name for the quiltette, too. Plan a it is.​​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sometimes, plan b is much more beautiful than plan a, but for some reason, it just never works out. The two plan B colors just sat there for days. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
> 
> plan b
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No doubt, plan b is a beautiful quilt. No doubts whatever.
> But it just isn't right. Plan a was right for my simple 5" squares, and not plan b, which looks magnificent with 16-patch soft colors.​plan a
> 
> 'Tis a gift to be simple. Sounds like a good name for the quiltette, too. Plan a it is.​​



Wow.  You are making me want to buy frames and quilt my cross stitched quilt myself by hand.  I think if this disease were farther along with regard to my having to be on oxygen and curtail physical activity I would.  But I know how fast you can quilt a quilt if you work on it every day.


----------



## freedombecki

Uh oh! Some say quilting is a true addiction, with no known cure. Others just say "oh, but quilting is a _*positive*_ dependency!" 

There are medicines for quilting addiction though--shopping for quilt fabric, building a stash, going to a quilt show, collecting a few quilt books, making a pictorial quilt album of past quilts. But you don't have to worry until you're at the stage of making "future quilts," and you have 1000 pictures or more in your collection. 

Unfortunately, medicines seem to exacerbate and not reduce the symptoms of quilt addiction.


----------



## freedombecki

This is kind of a monochromatic version of the "Sea, America" quilt top I just made that measures ~42x54, give or take a couple of inches.

There are 12 scans, which will take 4 messages. The colors are very bright and true. Hope they come out well below:


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for the service of all you USMB sailor guys!


----------



## freedombecki

More scans of the 42x54" quilt top being donated to Charity Bees, and it's the #35th one of 2013 for this girl who presently has a case of cabin fever. Fortunately, nice hot weather is ahead:


----------



## freedombecki

And scans 10, 11, and 12 of Sea, America!


----------



## freedombecki

Woo hoo! I'm free!!! Time to go mow my little 14 acres of weeds!!!


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, another quick quilt idea came that I've done before: a checkerboard quilt. I found a yard of this and a yard of that, which I joined as the width of a checkerboard crib-sized quilt, plus mulled some border choices that I'm laying out in no particular order.

Checkerboard quilt and potential border fabrics of which one, all , or none may appear:


----------



## Mr. H.

Hey, beckers. I finally got around to revisiting that antique store. Took some close-up pix of a quilt for sale. Anyhow they're asking $125. Probably would take $100. Am considering it, but would appreciate your input. 


















And here's the stand-off shot I posted earlier:


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Hey, beckers. I finally got around to revisiting that antique store. Took some close-up pix of a quilt for sale. Anyhow they're asking $125. Probably would take $100. Am considering it, but would appreciate your input.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And here's the stand-off shot I posted earlier:


You don't want my input, Mr. H. Once in my business, I hired a gal to quilt for a a lady who refused to pay $1200 for the labor as agreed, after she piled on one after another after another quality expectations into the work for which we complied. It took my hiree 12 months of skilled labor working in shop to complete it, $5400 of which went to her wages for the time she spent on that quilt. That taught me to write labor contracts and never do something for nothing at my own expense again. It's not much fun to go to sleep at night and think about stuff like that. I only asked her for the agreed amount, not my loss. That wasn't good enough, and I wondered how I was going to get through the next 6 months with that kind of a loss against a 3-year-old business....

I think the fabulous work is a steal at $125, unless it smells perfectly horrible. I'd know more if I saw the back of the quilt stitches, in which no secrets are hidden if it is on a solid color back. 

Thanks for sharing the gorgeous picture, Mr. H. Your quilt rocks. I hope it's still there when you go back.


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> I think the fabulous work is a steal at $125, unless it smells perfectly horrible. I'd know more if I saw the back of the quilt stitches, in which no secrets are hidden if it is on a solid color back.
> 
> Thanks for sharing the gorgeous picture, Mr. H. Your quilt rocks. I hope it's still there when you go back.



Thanks, b. The third picture above is actually of the quilt back. 'Cause I knew you'd bring that up. 

I'm surprised I didn't take a big nose hit, because I usually smell everything LOL. 
But thanks for your input, I appreciate it. 

Oh and that story is a nightmare. Yeah I learned the hard way too regarding some business deals. Oofah.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, work produced an extension of the checkerboard to 11 rows, plus most of the long strips got sewn to finish tomorrow, and hopefully, some will be done tonight. The work is a little boring, so please pass the smelling salt for times when Morpheus creeps up as yawning increases. 

The funny part is, all the squares look alike... but here are the latest rows anyway...



Oh yes. One of the border fabrics was lighter, which caused it to look faded when the piece got larger and the bright rust came through. A quickie trip to the quilt store produced 3 new choices, which will be used up with the 10 yards of the rusty color on a bolt in ye stash.

Our local shop rocks.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think the fabulous work is a steal at $125, unless it smells perfectly horrible. I'd know more if I saw the back of the quilt stitches, in which no secrets are hidden if it is on a solid color back.
> 
> Thanks for sharing the gorgeous picture, Mr. H. Your quilt rocks. I hope it's still there when you go back.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, b. The third picture above is actually of the quilt back. 'Cause I knew you'd bring that up.
> 
> I'm surprised I didn't take a big nose hit, because I usually smell everything LOL.
> But thanks for your input, I appreciate it.
> 
> Oh and that story is a nightmare. Yeah I learned the hard way too regarding some business deals. Oofah.
Click to expand...

The third picture above is actually of the quilt back.​ 
 Thanks, Mr. H. I'm not surprised I missed it since I'm seeing checkerboards in my sleep, and I must have been sleeping through the frames although my impression of the quilt you liked is a very favorable one. Now that I noticed, the quilt stitches are even on the back and quite wonderful. If you can find out who made the quilt and the state in which it was made, that would be a hole in one, but don't tell the dealer. Just try to get accurate information if possible. If it was part of an estate, find out whose estate, and whether the person made, inherited, or was given the quilt. It is beneficial when collecting quilts to know the person who made it and where they're from, and if there is a quilt registration service in your state, a picture sent to them could come up with the name of the maker if it was somehow registered. My guess is it may not have been, but then, you never know until you research the quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

As of last night, the 23-squares wide checkerboard (35") has 6 more rows down, bringing the current length to 17-squares. If I posted "proof", it would just look like the last one. 

Maybe this morning, I can get back to it. I have a nice bright red sunburn from not wearing a hat on mowing part of the front field all day long. The field grass is 30" high in some places. The flood plain out back had a look I've not seen since we've lived her (4 years). The tall grass was all on its side from where the seasonal creeks communicated after our three-day monsoon. (well, it rained pretty hard, but 160 miles inland is not generally considered monsoon country)


----------



## freedombecki

I'm blaming the sun and my burned face and forearms. Yesterday, I jumped in front of the sewing machine and sewed 4 rows before discovering the stitchline was off 2 mm. Across the row of 23 postage stamp squares, that netted the error exactly one square short, and of course none of the smaller results matched any of the larger results.  It took all day to get off the orbit such a blatant error (23x4= 92) of seamlines that had to be ripped out. The squares could have been sewn into something else that accommodated rectangles, but alas, the red berry print was in such short supply, the only recourse was to rip all 92 seams and sew them back together with the needle set at 4 and not at 3 which caused the misfit 4 rows. 

For some reason, this morning, I faced my demons and did in what time it takes to do a quarter of a fine quilt to take all that apart and fix it.

Note to self: Buy huge red fat marker and make huge placard saying "set machine straight stitch at 4 for a quarter inch allowance." Place in front of machine at night to warn oneself to wake up and do right every day!

Well, spent the rest of the day making up for lost time. Now, there's just one more small border to add, and #36 is done. Will bbl to post a picture. of the borderlands. 

Wow, anger sure had its positive effect today! Getting mad must raise the level of adrenalin for getting-up-and-going around here.


----------



## koshergrl

I have to shorten and hem my son's suit pants tonight, or he's going to outgrow the jacket before he ever wears it!

And it's so spiffy!


----------



## freedombecki

Good luck with the haberdashery, Koshergrl.


----------



## koshergrl

AllieBaba said:


> Found the pics!
> On the back they have written who worked on the quilt "prior to 1920"


 
Oh wow, I accidentally went to page one and saw this.....I was wondering where I had stashed those pics.


----------



## freedombecki

Its been a long day, but it's finished. There are 23 horizontal rows (width) of solid rusty red postage stamp squares alternating with an off-white rusty red berry print by 31 squares in length, which means there are 713 total postage stamps. Each one is 1.25" square. 

I really love this little quilt. It was a lot of ripping today, but a good lesson learned.

My mama told me there'd be days like this!


----------



## freedombecki

Koshergrl, it's still a treasure! Thanks for bringing it up again. The quilt makes the eye happy.


----------



## koshergrl

I think so too!


----------



## freedombecki

A few years back, I had the privilege of touring New Hampshire in peak season, along with several other New England states. What stood out in my mind about New Hampshire were the lovely reds of the maples. Natives there said it was the best and most colorful year they could remember, but all I can say is that around every corner, the next link of roads was prettier by far than the one before, and so it went all through the Granite State. It cast such a spell on me, when I got home, I immediately dove into my stash of reds and made a lovely autumn leaf quilt top that is still somewhere(?) unless I gave it away *sigh* can't remember, but red is one of the hardest colors for me to give up until I realize, "hey, kid, you can't quilt anymore, remember?"  Well, anyway, I made four extra "autumn leaves" and put them into squares for a set of placemats, put them away a few years, pulled them out one day, added a row of squares along each side, then tucked them away and forgot about them. When we moved 4 years ago, one day I got a bee in my bonnet, pulled them out again, and put "finishing" borders on all four of the leaves, and even quilted one of them, tucked them away when I had to go out of town for a month, and that's the last I remember of them until this morning. I was feeling a bit blue, and decided that red would be just the ticket since red is such a pick-me-up color, and it got me through my day until I remembered to take the fibromyalgia medicine for muscle spasms, listened to some Richard Clayderman piano, and whistled a reasonably happy tune for the rest of the afternoon. It will take a bit of work, but it is now just the medallion center for another charity bees quilt, and 3 rows are around. More rows need to be added top and bottom to make this quilt work for a child. My stack has 8 quilts on it, and none of the dominate in red. Last year's shopping spree spread over 4 months left me with enough red fabric to quilt probably all 100 quilts for 1 year of charity donations, but, I can only take monochrome colors for so long except for turquoise and hot pink, it seems. 

With no more ado, here's what has been done around the outside borders of the placemat that will become center of a little quilt for a sweet baboo born with a birth defect that the gals donate generously to each year from our mutual quilting efforts. I think they call them "hugs" quilts. I tried to line them up, but had them twisted every which way to get the best scan details I could, which reversed the numbers, so instead of 1-2-3-4, it's gonna be 4-3-2-1 scans if you mouse over the thumbnails to read whatever details were written, if any this time.


----------



## freedombecki

And the last one:

Got a lot more work to do on this one. I'm looking forward to it tomorrow. It'd be a great weekend if it got finished somehow. It's really detailed, and not sure where this little scrapper is going yet. Was thinking about making some half-square triangle "maple leaves" to go around, unless I could actually find some little log cabin half squares already done somewhere...


----------



## freedombecki

Today, the lower row of small squares was attached, and borders were added. I noticed it would look better 90 degrees turned, so I set it aside to think about today. It means it would have to be trimmed from its present square shape of about 30 inches to something like 20x30, and then four rows of small squares attached all the way around...That'd be a lot of work. In the beginning, I envisioned making smaller different-type squares to fashion small "maple leaf" traditional half square blocks, and may yet return to that, but oh, the math.  Well, think I'll sleep on it and decide mañana.


----------



## freedombecki

Was not in the mood for making red squares today.

It's Spring of the wafting winds, field flowers have all but faded, it's time for warm-weather fun, and what better way to celebrate favorable winds than to go fly a kite?

Here's the first one, and I was so excited about peeling the paper off the new shiny templates and starting to cut kites out of some old striped materials, and from one of the church bins, someone had cut a huge circle from a 1.5 yard piece of cream on cream print, which had scads of leftover room to cut the smaller templates into negative kite spaces:

(This was really fun.) 

Edit: Adding Block A2 and A2back.


----------



## freedombecki

Three more kites.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, finally! It's been a struggle lately to deal with senior issues around the house plus FMS. Even so, I eked out 12 red blocks for the Red Maple Leaf of New Hampshire quilt top, to go around the red border added, which still has not been appropriately trimmed yet, and may or may not ever be. I just can't make a decision lately with stress from my sweetie's increasing confusion in spite of taking his medicines every day.

Here's the last few days of work, and it is tedious, although hopefully will be a pretty little quilt when it is finished.

Scans 5-7, six four-patch, 16-square blocks:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 8, 9, and 10 - Six more four-patch, 16 square blocks.


----------



## Mr. H.

Just stopping by to see what Becki's been up to today.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Just stopping by to see what Becki's been up to today.


Oh she's up to about 5 foot one, and wondering how she can stand two more days of making 24 more of the above red 4-patch, 16 square quilts. Other than that, looking forward to getting back to the kite template quilt. it's a lot easier than it looks when you have a bazillion pieces of strips sewn together in a box somewhere!

Well, back to the sewing room!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, 10 down. *whew!*


----------



## freedombecki

Unfortunately, the rest of them don't have a single seam on them. When I started early this morning, most of the squares were in various stages of completion, but I had machine issues until I cleaned the whole table off, threw the machine on its back, got down and dirty cleaning the bobbin case, twice, then replaced the race after thorough brushing, oiling and rubbing. It was so good when it started acting like a new machine again, and all the pieces went together like magic, and they were straight and true. I also had to "unsew" and put back together an entire block, which ate away at the clock. 

The upside is, bad problems usually result in at least 2 days where things go well because the machine works best after cleaning and oiling and when your mind is keen on doing everything right, at the same time.

The last 4 blocks:

Oh, yes, and the last one is one I found online that someone had .made with regard to maple leaves, quite a bit different but similarly fun


----------



## freedombecki

And another lovely effort from someone who said a lady in her community taught her how to do this one:






Red Maples and checkerboards! ​


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, beautiful for flying kites...


----------



## freedombecki

Kites on different backgrounds...


----------



## Sunshine

Found my new Primax Optima embroidery scissors.  The cat had them behind a chair licking on them.  Now, to find the first set that disappearred!


----------



## freedombecki

So glad you found the embroidery scissors, Sunshine!  Wonder if you put a rosemary sashet attached to one of the rings with a silk ribbon, kitty would be nonplussed enough to leave them alone? 

How to make homemade cat repellent


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> So glad you found the embroidery scissors, Sunshine!  Wonder if you put a rosemary sashet attached to one of the rings with a silk ribbon, kitty would be nonplussed enough to leave them alone?
> 
> How to make homemade cat repellent



I could try.  I have rosemary growing in my herb garden. It wouldn't offend me at all, I LOVE the smell.   I think I'm just going to keep them in the drawer.  It will be a day or two before the cat learns to open that!


----------



## freedombecki

From time to time, I sew with a charity group and have little identification embroideries attached to them like a ribbon. It wouldn't take all that much to sew a little one-inch square filled with rosemary leaves, ginger, lavender (there's a much longer list on the above link). The cat will learn to associate the smell with the scissors and perhaps make the educated decision that it is not desirable for him to practice selective larcenies against your scissors. Just sayin,' so it doesn't happen to you again. 

I don't know why, but I CARE!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, it's time to get ready for another day. I just couldn't find the red and white kite quilt I saw the other day but did not save.  My bad.

I did find this, however, to prep me for the little red squares sitting on the sewing machine desk:







What the rest of the quilt looks like surprised even me, and it's artfully here: kite quilt | Fallingforpieces' Blog

See you in a dozen or so squares later... *sigh!!!*​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> From time to time, I sew with a charity group and have little identification embroideries attached to them like a ribbon. It wouldn't take all that much to sew a little one-inch square filled with rosemary leaves, ginger, lavender (there's a much longer list on the above link). The cat will learn to associate the smell with the scissors and perhaps make the educated decision that it is not desirable for him to practice selective larcenies against your scissors. Just sayin,' so it doesn't happen to you again.
> 
> I don't know why, but I CARE!!!!



You see how nuts it drives me.  That's why.  LOL.  I will definitely get some rosemary onto those scissors and the gold ones too.  I knew when the second pair disappeared she was going to take whatever had the most scent on it the way she did my jewelry.  It is pretty freaky to see a cat running across the floor with a gold necklace in its mouth!  If she could get that, I knew she could get the scissors.  I love the scent of rosemary anyway.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> From time to time, I sew with a charity group and have little identification embroideries attached to them like a ribbon. It wouldn't take all that much to sew a little one-inch square filled with rosemary leaves, ginger, lavender (there's a much longer list on the above link). The cat will learn to associate the smell with the scissors and perhaps make the educated decision that it is not desirable for him to practice selective larcenies against your scissors. Just sayin,' so it doesn't happen to you again.
> 
> I don't know why, but I CARE!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You see how nuts it drives me. That's why. LOL. I will definitely get some rosemary onto those scissors and the gold ones too. I knew when the second pair disappeared she was going to take whatever had the most scent on it the way she did my jewelry. It is pretty freaky to see a cat running across the floor with a gold necklace in its mouth! If she could get that, I knew she could get the scissors. I love the scent of rosemary anyway.
Click to expand...

 Our rosemary was the only plant that bloomed all winter long here. It's huge. I think it really benefitted from all the rain.

Well, the frogs are singing a really loud chorus out the back window. My bedroom is on the opposite side, so if the cicadas haven't started their din, I might get some decent sleep. I noticed when I take one melatonin, I sleep all night. If I take two, I wake up four hours early. Only a few red squares got sewn together today. We got 5 huge monster trees removed that were threatening fences today. A man just drove up and offered my sweetie a good deal last week. For some reason, he came back today and did the deed. That's one less worry. I have prayers of thanks tonight, so I better go.

Hope Ms. Cat gets the picture about leaving your scissors alone and learns to settle for a little scratch behind the ears now and then as you do tasks you have to do. 

'Nite.


----------



## freedombecki

500 postage stamp quilts later, sewn individually...

Took 4 pics. There are also already 4 inner borders and 123 logs in the center "maple leaf." This is such a little quilt (still have to do borders), and it's been nothing but work, fret, work, fret, work ... But! I love it because I just love making red quilts. Red quilts turn a room into a rose garden it seems, this one is just so lovely to work with, although it has been painstaking.


----------



## freedombecki

One more picture, see if I can get a clearer one of the leaf in the center, too, BRB.

Done! I just laid it on the scanner at a 45 degree angle (scan 20) There is sometimes a description of the block scanned if you mouse over the top of any of the thumbnails, and if you click on it, the thumbnail opens in another window to show details of the work. There are over 500 squares and over 100 logs in this work, and the border will be worked tomorrow, more days if I decide to do more squares.

Good night, everyone. Praying for all the Americans who were made homeless by tornados and disasters, and hope all are safe tonight.


----------



## freedombecki

Found this pink doll quilt online this afternoon:





The maker made a matching pillow:






For a lucky little girl, I bet! 





Credits: BLONDE DESIGN: Postage Stamp Doll Quilt​


----------



## freedombecki

Same designer has posted several free tutorials for people who need to make quilted gifts fast:





Go back to the link and click on the tissues (or any gift-ette that appeals to you, and you can make quickie gifts to please friends and loved ones. 

Here's the location again: BLONDE DESIGN: Postage Stamp Doll Quilt

Her whole blog is way wonderful!


----------



## freedombecki

This morning: Done! 

It's small, measuring only about 38x48"- 40x50" (always a little extra due to stretching during basting and quilting).

But hopefully, the reds will cheer its recipient up for the Charity Bees quilt group that distributes small quilts for hugs babies, small and large children at the shelter, seniors, veterans, and wherever the community has a need.

Here are 3 border scans--two of corners, and one along one of the long sides:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> From time to time, I sew with a charity group and have little identification embroideries attached to them like a ribbon. It wouldn't take all that much to sew a little one-inch square filled with rosemary leaves, ginger, lavender (there's a much longer list on the above link). The cat will learn to associate the smell with the scissors and perhaps make the educated decision that it is not desirable for him to practice selective larcenies against your scissors. Just sayin,' so it doesn't happen to you again.
> 
> I don't know why, but I CARE!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You see how nuts it drives me. That's why. LOL. I will definitely get some rosemary onto those scissors and the gold ones too. I knew when the second pair disappeared she was going to take whatever had the most scent on it the way she did my jewelry. It is pretty freaky to see a cat running across the floor with a gold necklace in its mouth! If she could get that, I knew she could get the scissors. I love the scent of rosemary anyway.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Our rosemary was the only plant that bloomed all winter long here. It's huge. I think it really benefitted from all the rain.
> 
> Well, the frogs are singing a really loud chorus out the back window. My bedroom is on the opposite side, so if the cicadas haven't started their din, I might get some decent sleep. I noticed when I take one melatonin, I sleep all night. If I take two, I wake up four hours early. Only a few red squares got sewn together today. We got 5 huge monster trees removed that were threatening fences today. A man just drove up and offered my sweetie a good deal last week. For some reason, he came back today and did the deed. That's one less worry. I have prayers of thanks tonight, so I better go.
> 
> Hope Ms. Cat gets the picture about leaving your scissors alone and learns to settle for a little scratch behind the ears now and then as you do tasks you have to do.
> 
> 'Nite.
Click to expand...


LOL.  The rosemary, the sage, and the parsley both come back after the winter.  Everything else has to be planted fresh each year.  I expected to lose everything last year, what with the drought.  Every plant I owned suffered last year.  But I kept 23 hydrangeas, 3 boxwoods, and 1 blue spruce alive.  One blue spruce is all that perished.  Our water system, really a community well, just sucks so people go nuts when they see you water your lawn.  I don't water the grass, but I'm not letting hundreds of dollars worth of bushes die.  This year, I got some 'soaker hoses' so I can water them on the sly.  I usually wait until evening, that way people aren't doing laundry etc.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> You see how nuts it drives me. That's why. LOL. I will definitely get some rosemary onto those scissors and the gold ones too. I knew when the second pair disappeared she was going to take whatever had the most scent on it the way she did my jewelry. It is pretty freaky to see a cat running across the floor with a gold necklace in its mouth! If she could get that, I knew she could get the scissors. I love the scent of rosemary anyway.
> 
> 
> 
> Our rosemary was the only plant that bloomed all winter long here. It's huge. I think it really benefitted from all the rain.
> 
> Well, the frogs are singing a really loud chorus out the back window. My bedroom is on the opposite side, so if the cicadas haven't started their din, I might get some decent sleep. I noticed when I take one melatonin, I sleep all night. If I take two, I wake up four hours early. Only a few red squares got sewn together today. We got 5 huge monster trees removed that were threatening fences today. A man just drove up and offered my sweetie a good deal last week. For some reason, he came back today and did the deed. That's one less worry. I have prayers of thanks tonight, so I better go.
> 
> Hope Ms. Cat gets the picture about leaving your scissors alone and learns to settle for a little scratch behind the ears now and then as you do tasks you have to do.
> 
> 'Nite.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> LOL. The rosemary, the sage, and the parsley both come back after the winter. Everything else has to be planted fresh each year. I expected to lose everything last year, what with the drought. Every plant I owned suffered last year. But I kept 23 hydrangeas, 3 boxwoods, and 1 blue spruce alive. One blue spruce is all that perished. Our water system, really a community well, just sucks so people go nuts when they see you water your lawn. I don't water the grass, but I'm not letting hundreds of dollars worth of bushes die. This year, I got some 'soaker hoses' so I can water them on the sly. I usually wait until evening, that way people aren't doing laundry etc.
Click to expand...

 Soaker hoses make really good sense. It's too bad you don't have a timer. Then you could start watering at 3 am and finish by 4:30, before most people wake up to start their showers for work, etc. Some areas of the country are susceptible to fungal plant diseases if certain plants are watered at night, so the panacea is to water early in the morning, so the plants get a nice long drink to withstand the heat of summer days.

Soaker hoses were a brilliant choice, Sunshine. Kudos. I'm sure they prevent 90% of the evaporation squirting hoses lose, probably more. A few plants in the botanical kingdom like water on their leaves, like ferns, et al, but other than that most plants get all they need through root systems, unless they have multiple means of obtaining water when nature is putting all of life to the test. The bark of some trees are patterned to bring the flow of even scant precipitation into channels where the roots can benefit the best collection of precious water for sustenance.

Calling someone a vegetating plant in frustration isn't cognizant that actually, plants are smarter than we give them credit when it comes to preservation of themselves. Well, enough of my  prattle. The best time to start another quilt is when you're high from completing the last one. It's true. When you complete the long task of devoted work it requires to complete a quilt, I think the brain gives you a few extra endorphins for your trouble, and you feel a little high, even more so when you complete the quilting and binding, which I did for years before becoming such a recluse due to the misfortune of fibromyalgia's ranting pains through your body when you least appreciate it.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Our rosemary was the only plant that bloomed all winter long here. It's huge. I think it really benefitted from all the rain.
> 
> Well, the frogs are singing a really loud chorus out the back window. My bedroom is on the opposite side, so if the cicadas haven't started their din, I might get some decent sleep. I noticed when I take one melatonin, I sleep all night. If I take two, I wake up four hours early. Only a few red squares got sewn together today. We got 5 huge monster trees removed that were threatening fences today. A man just drove up and offered my sweetie a good deal last week. For some reason, he came back today and did the deed. That's one less worry. I have prayers of thanks tonight, so I better go.
> 
> Hope Ms. Cat gets the picture about leaving your scissors alone and learns to settle for a little scratch behind the ears now and then as you do tasks you have to do.
> 
> 'Nite.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL. The rosemary, the sage, and the parsley both come back after the winter. Everything else has to be planted fresh each year. I expected to lose everything last year, what with the drought. Every plant I owned suffered last year. But I kept 23 hydrangeas, 3 boxwoods, and 1 blue spruce alive. One blue spruce is all that perished. Our water system, really a community well, just sucks so people go nuts when they see you water your lawn. I don't water the grass, but I'm not letting hundreds of dollars worth of bushes die. This year, I got some 'soaker hoses' so I can water them on the sly. I usually wait until evening, that way people aren't doing laundry etc.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Soaker hoses make really good sense. It's too bad you don't have a timer. Then you could start watering at 3 am and finish by 4:30, before most people wake up to start their showers for work, etc. Some areas of the country are susceptible to fungal plant diseases if certain plants are watered at night, so the panacea is to water early in the morning, so the plants get a nice long drink to withstand the heat of summer days.
> 
> Soaker hoses were a brilliant choice, Sunshine. Kudos. I'm sure they prevent 90% of the evaporation squirting hoses lose, probably more. A few plants in the botanical kingdom like water on their leaves, like ferns, et al, but other than that most plants get all they need through root systems, unless they have multiple means of obtaining water when nature is putting all of life to the test. The bark of some trees are patterned to bring the flow of even scant precipitation into channels where the roots can benefit the best collection of precious water for sustenance.
> 
> Calling someone a vegetating plant in frustration isn't cognizant that actually, plants are smarter than we give them credit when it comes to preservation of themselves. Well, enough of my  prattle. The best time to start another quilt is when you're high from completing the last one. It's true. When you complete the long task of devoted work it requires to complete a quilt, I think the brain gives you a few extra endorphins for your trouble, and you feel a little high, even more so when you complete the quilting and binding, which I did for years before becoming such a recluse due to the misfortune of fibromyalgia's ranting pains through your body when you least appreciate it.
Click to expand...


Yes, plants are good at self preservation. I'm always kind of amazed at how twining plants go for the exact thing that will allow them to grow in height.   It is through plants that you can see how self affirming life really is.  Example:  My mother had the entire perimeter of our house edged in what she called 'tame violets.'  They were not the white or light color you see growing wild, but were a very deep purple.  I went back to that house 4 or 5 years ago and all I found still there were 3 little ones growing in the yard.   I dug them up and planted them by my back step off the deck.  The three always came back year to year, but only produced one additional that somehow got into my herb garden.  It is off those that were my mother's, so it gets to live.  LAST year, was the worst drought this part of the country has seen in many a year.  Amazingly, in addition to the original 3 and 1 offspring, there is now a patch of them coming up that is a little more than a foot square.  I will soon have plenty for transplant purposes.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> LOL. The rosemary, the sage, and the parsley both come back after the winter. Everything else has to be planted fresh each year. I expected to lose everything last year, what with the drought. Every plant I owned suffered last year. But I kept 23 hydrangeas, 3 boxwoods, and 1 blue spruce alive. One blue spruce is all that perished. Our water system, really a community well, just sucks so people go nuts when they see you water your lawn. I don't water the grass, but I'm not letting hundreds of dollars worth of bushes die. This year, I got some 'soaker hoses' so I can water them on the sly. I usually wait until evening, that way people aren't doing laundry etc.
> 
> 
> 
> Soaker hoses make really good sense. It's too bad you don't have a timer. Then you could start watering at 3 am and finish by 4:30, before most people wake up to start their showers for work, etc. Some areas of the country are susceptible to fungal plant diseases if certain plants are watered at night, so the panacea is to water early in the morning, so the plants get a nice long drink to withstand the heat of summer days.
> 
> Soaker hoses were a brilliant choice, Sunshine. Kudos. I'm sure they prevent 90% of the evaporation squirting hoses lose, probably more. A few plants in the botanical kingdom like water on their leaves, like ferns, et al, but other than that most plants get all they need through root systems, unless they have multiple means of obtaining water when nature is putting all of life to the test. The bark of some trees are patterned to bring the flow of even scant precipitation into channels where the roots can benefit the best collection of precious water for sustenance.
> 
> Calling someone a vegetating plant in frustration isn't cognizant that actually, plants are smarter than we give them credit when it comes to preservation of themselves. Well, enough of my  prattle. The best time to start another quilt is when you're high from completing the last one. It's true. When you complete the long task of devoted work it requires to complete a quilt, I think the brain gives you a few extra endorphins for your trouble, and you feel a little high, even more so when you complete the quilting and binding, which I did for years before becoming such a recluse due to the misfortune of fibromyalgia's ranting pains through your body when you least appreciate it.
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes, plants are good at self preservation. I'm always kind of amazed at how twining plants go for the exact thing that will allow them to grow in height. It is through plants that you can see how self affirming life really is. Example: My mother had the entire perimeter of our house edged in what she called 'tame violets.' They were not the white or light color you see growing wild, but were a very deep purple. I went back to that house 4 or 5 years ago and all I found still there were 3 little ones growing in the yard. I dug them up and planted them by my back step off the deck. The three always came back year to year, but only produced one additional that somehow got into my herb garden. It is off those that were my mother's, so it gets to live. LAST year, was the worst drought this part of the country has seen in many a year. Amazingly, in addition to the original 3 and 1 offspring, there is now a patch of them coming up that is a little more than a foot square. I will soon have plenty for transplant purposes.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you got survivors of your mother's violets, and hope you get to see them surround your home if that's what you want. I understand that they are biannuals, and you must have a very special breed that replicates the same color which makes them some kind of a specie category, which they may have been when she planted them. Because by now, you are seeing seeded ones, unless your region has a way of causing those to be perennials. I had bought some light blue ones that came up for about 5 years in my yard in a garden area, but they disappeared after I went into business, and my 80-hour a week tasks kept me out of the garden and gave me a proverbial brown thumb.  I hope somehow, and some way you can get a picture of your mother's purple violets. I love them so, and it would mean a lot if you could do that. I even designed a pansy quilt (big relative to violets) and gave it to my sister in the hopes I'd one day get to see it again. Unfortunately, by the time I had half the blocks done, I noticed a total anomaly in the design and dubbed the quilt "The Anatomically Incorrect Pansy Quilt" and to make matters worse than ever, it turned out to be a King sized quilt. Oh, bwahahahahaha!!!!!

  

Nobody failed to identify my idiot block as a pansy, though. /whew! OR they were just too polite to say anything.


----------



## freedombecki

I thought this subject was finished for life, until I went back to the quilt room and noticed how very, very small the quilt seemed. So when I cut fabric for a back and some flannel for batting, I was subconsciously giving plenty of room to make the quilt a little larger, I guess. Talk about fuzzy math! I do it well lately.  Anyway, I added yet one more border to take up some of the space on the backing and add another year or so to the child's use, unless it goes to a baby huey or something.

I had some Hoffman red maple gilded from my shop in Wyoming, brought when I went back to pick up paperwork and stuff from my quilt room at the shop. It's one of the most beautiful red maple fabric ever printed by anyone anywhere, but it fell flat in gold-aspen-leaf-loving Wyoming since only prairie fire bush is red in the fall and not considered very beautiful, although it is to the artist painting a Wyoming fall if they're lucky enough to find a hill it's growing on for a subject. Furthermore, it snows on top of a lot of fall color if it is silly enough to turn following fluffy precipitation in a year of early snows. Well, anyway, I added the sum total of 5 inches to the horizontal measurement and 6.5 inches to the vertical length. Oh, my gracious goodness. The little 4' pecan seedling I had planted in the back yard is now up to about 6' tall, and almost twice the diameter with little or no care given it. We also had 2 of 6 pecans in the orchard that leafed out, but one is not as healthy as the other, and neither are as leafy as the one in the back yard because they're a year younger.

Pardon the off topic stuff, I just opened the back window to let some sunshine in.  Good reason to talk about nothing in particular, prolly! 

Might as well post the 3 thumbnails of the extra border on this never-ending little quilt which now has a total of 7 borders--4 inner ones and 3 outer ones.

bright red maple leaves
covering New Hampshire's woods
prettiest of all​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Soaker hoses make really good sense. It's too bad you don't have a timer. Then you could start watering at 3 am and finish by 4:30, before most people wake up to start their showers for work, etc. Some areas of the country are susceptible to fungal plant diseases if certain plants are watered at night, so the panacea is to water early in the morning, so the plants get a nice long drink to withstand the heat of summer days.
> 
> Soaker hoses were a brilliant choice, Sunshine. Kudos. I'm sure they prevent 90% of the evaporation squirting hoses lose, probably more. A few plants in the botanical kingdom like water on their leaves, like ferns, et al, but other than that most plants get all they need through root systems, unless they have multiple means of obtaining water when nature is putting all of life to the test. The bark of some trees are patterned to bring the flow of even scant precipitation into channels where the roots can benefit the best collection of precious water for sustenance.
> 
> Calling someone a vegetating plant in frustration isn't cognizant that actually, plants are smarter than we give them credit when it comes to preservation of themselves. Well, enough of my  prattle. The best time to start another quilt is when you're high from completing the last one. It's true. When you complete the long task of devoted work it requires to complete a quilt, I think the brain gives you a few extra endorphins for your trouble, and you feel a little high, even more so when you complete the quilting and binding, which I did for years before becoming such a recluse due to the misfortune of fibromyalgia's ranting pains through your body when you least appreciate it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, plants are good at self preservation. I'm always kind of amazed at how twining plants go for the exact thing that will allow them to grow in height. It is through plants that you can see how self affirming life really is. Example: My mother had the entire perimeter of our house edged in what she called 'tame violets.' They were not the white or light color you see growing wild, but were a very deep purple. I went back to that house 4 or 5 years ago and all I found still there were 3 little ones growing in the yard. I dug them up and planted them by my back step off the deck. The three always came back year to year, but only produced one additional that somehow got into my herb garden. It is off those that were my mother's, so it gets to live. LAST year, was the worst drought this part of the country has seen in many a year. Amazingly, in addition to the original 3 and 1 offspring, there is now a patch of them coming up that is a little more than a foot square. I will soon have plenty for transplant purposes.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm glad you got survivors of your mother's violets, and hope you get to see them surround your home if that's what you want. I understand that they are biannuals, and you must have a very special breed that replicates the same color which makes them some kind of a specie category, which they may have been when she planted them. Because by now, you are seeing seeded ones, unless your region has a way of causing those to be perennials. I had bought some light blue ones that came up for about 5 years in my yard in a garden area, but they disappeared after I went into business, and my 80-hour a week tasks kept me out of the garden and gave me a proverbial brown thumb.  I hope somehow, and some way you can get a picture of your mother's purple violets. I love them so, and it would mean a lot if you could do that. I even designed a pansy quilt (big relative to violets) and gave it to my sister in the hopes I'd one day get to see it again. Unfortunately, by the time I had half the blocks done, I noticed a total anomaly in the design and dubbed the quilt "The Anatomically Incorrect Pansy Quilt" and to make matters worse than ever, it turned out to be a King sized quilt. Oh, bwahahahahaha!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Nobody failed to identify my idiot block as a pansy, though. /whew! OR they were just too polite to say anything.
Click to expand...


OMG, that's funny.  These bloomed every year when I was growing up and they have bloomed every year here at this place.  I don't know why they are as thick as hops now, when all I've had since 2007 have been the original plants.  I got some rose of sharon (althea) from her place too, but it didn't make it.  Not a problem I didn't realy like those anyway.  The blooms look a bit like hybiscus and they draw bees.  When I was a girl a neighbor girl and I used to watch for a bee to go in one that wasn't fully opened.  Then we would trap the bee and throw it into my dad's workshop.  How we are still alive beats the heck out of me.  My friends and I ran the hills and woods and rivers like wild wolf children!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, plants are good at self preservation. I'm always kind of amazed at how twining plants go for the exact thing that will allow them to grow in height. It is through plants that you can see how self affirming life really is. Example: My mother had the entire perimeter of our house edged in what she called 'tame violets.' They were not the white or light color you see growing wild, but were a very deep purple. I went back to that house 4 or 5 years ago and all I found still there were 3 little ones growing in the yard. I dug them up and planted them by my back step off the deck. The three always came back year to year, but only produced one additional that somehow got into my herb garden. It is off those that were my mother's, so it gets to live. LAST year, was the worst drought this part of the country has seen in many a year. Amazingly, in addition to the original 3 and 1 offspring, there is now a patch of them coming up that is a little more than a foot square. I will soon have plenty for transplant purposes.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm glad you got survivors of your mother's violets, and hope you get to see them surround your home if that's what you want. I understand that they are biannuals, and you must have a very special breed that replicates the same color which makes them some kind of a specie category, which they may have been when she planted them. Because by now, you are seeing seeded ones, unless your region has a way of causing those to be perennials. I had bought some light blue ones that came up for about 5 years in my yard in a garden area, but they disappeared after I went into business, and my 80-hour a week tasks kept me out of the garden and gave me a proverbial brown thumb.  I hope somehow, and some way you can get a picture of your mother's purple violets. I love them so, and it would mean a lot if you could do that. I even designed a pansy quilt (big relative to violets) and gave it to my sister in the hopes I'd one day get to see it again. Unfortunately, by the time I had half the blocks done, I noticed a total anomaly in the design and dubbed the quilt "The Anatomically Incorrect Pansy Quilt" and to make matters worse than ever, it turned out to be a King sized quilt. Oh, bwahahahahaha!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Nobody failed to identify my idiot block as a pansy, though. /whew! OR they were just too polite to say anything.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> OMG, that's funny. These bloomed every year when I was growing up and they have bloomed every year here at this place. I don't know why they are as thick as hops now, when all I've had since 2007 have been the original plants. I got some rose of sharon (althea) from her place too, but it didn't make it. Not a problem I didn't realy like those anyway. The blooms look a bit like hybiscus and they draw bees. When I was a girl a neighbor girl and I used to watch for a bee to go in one that wasn't fully opened. Then we would trap the bee and throw it into my dad's workshop. How we are still alive beats the heck out of me. My friends and I ran the hills and woods and rivers like wild wolf children!
Click to expand...

Why they are thick as hops? Well, I'm not a great believer in ghosts, but maybe your mother is sending you her retirement gift to you to let you know how totally proud she is of all the good you did with your career and taking care of your family. A mother's love knows no bounds.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm glad you got survivors of your mother's violets, and hope you get to see them surround your home if that's what you want. I understand that they are biannuals, and you must have a very special breed that replicates the same color which makes them some kind of a specie category, which they may have been when she planted them. Because by now, you are seeing seeded ones, unless your region has a way of causing those to be perennials. I had bought some light blue ones that came up for about 5 years in my yard in a garden area, but they disappeared after I went into business, and my 80-hour a week tasks kept me out of the garden and gave me a proverbial brown thumb.  I hope somehow, and some way you can get a picture of your mother's purple violets. I love them so, and it would mean a lot if you could do that. I even designed a pansy quilt (big relative to violets) and gave it to my sister in the hopes I'd one day get to see it again. Unfortunately, by the time I had half the blocks done, I noticed a total anomaly in the design and dubbed the quilt "The Anatomically Incorrect Pansy Quilt" and to make matters worse than ever, it turned out to be a King sized quilt. Oh, bwahahahahaha!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Nobody failed to identify my idiot block as a pansy, though. /whew! OR they were just too polite to say anything.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OMG, that's funny. These bloomed every year when I was growing up and they have bloomed every year here at this place. I don't know why they are as thick as hops now, when all I've had since 2007 have been the original plants. I got some rose of sharon (althea) from her place too, but it didn't make it. Not a problem I didn't realy like those anyway. The blooms look a bit like hybiscus and they draw bees. When I was a girl a neighbor girl and I used to watch for a bee to go in one that wasn't fully opened. Then we would trap the bee and throw it into my dad's workshop. How we are still alive beats the heck out of me. My friends and I ran the hills and woods and rivers like wild wolf children!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Why they are thick as hops? Well, I'm not a great believer in ghosts, but maybe your mother is sending you her retirement gift to you to let you know how totally proud she is of all the good you did with your career and taking care of your family. A mother's love knows no bounds.
Click to expand...


  Thanks.  I cleared the PM box out now.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh to see your purple violets, Sunshine! *sigh*

I did find a "Grandmother's Violets" quilt that reminds me of a Pam Bono design, just because of her technique of making what looks like applique actually being pieced together geometrically into a quilt, which is her style, if this is not a virtual copy... I only have 15 of her books, a couple of duplicates in soft-bound volumes just in case I want to tear a book up for artistic purposes, which I can't bring myself to do.

Grandmother's Garden
Raffled for Charity or Sold...
"81x110 - purple, white, green - machine pieced by Jeanette Harder, beautifully hand quilted by MCC Volunteers in Newton, Kansas - sold at the MCC Sale in Houston, Texas, November, 2001 "





Source: Jeanette's 2001 Quilt Page​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Oh to see your purple violets, Sunshine! *sigh*
> 
> I did find a "Grandmother's Violets" quilt that reminds me of a Pam Bono design, just because of her technique of making what looks like applique actually being pieced together geometrically into a quilt, which is her style, if this is not a virtual copy... I only have 15 of her books, a couple of duplicates in soft-bound volumes just in case I want to tear a book up for artistic purposes, which I can't bring myself to do.
> 
> Grandmother's Garden
> Raffled for Charity or Sold...
> "81x110 - purple, white, green - machine pieced by Jeanette Harder, beautifully hand quilted by MCC Volunteers in Newton, Kansas - sold at the MCC Sale in Houston, Texas, November, 2001 "
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source: Jeanette's 2001 Quilt Page​



Rep for that, but I've gotta spread it around first.  What kind of pink bug is that in your avatar?


----------



## freedombecki

The pretty in pink bug is found in Ireland and Great Britain, and it is commonly called the Elephant Hawk-Moth. Its Latin name _is Deilephila elpenor_, which likely means the same thing. I have a few more pictures that show other angles--it's a kind of gold and pink creature.


----------



## freedombecki

One guy who loves them has a whole page full of their pictures, upclose and personal, but they are copyrighted, so I'm not transferring them, but will send you to Joseph Hasleck's page. The pictures are huge closeups if you click on the thumbs. He's truly a good photographer. It's well worth your time to see them.


----------



## Mr. H.

Eek! Close-up bug pictures. 
I'd rather enjoy them from a distance LOL.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> The pretty in pink bug is found in Ireland and Great Britain, and it is commonly called the Elephant Hawk-Moth. Its Latin name _is Deilephila elpenor_, which likely means the same thing. I have a few more pictures that show other angles--it's a kind of gold and pink creature.



They put me in mind of the willow flies we get here on the lake only they are generally green.  We are not good at predicting when they will come, but you can count on them covering everything in sight for a few days each year.  I'm told they make good fish bait.  But since I don't fish, they can't claim that redeeming quality with me.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The pretty in pink bug is found in Ireland and Great Britain, and it is commonly called the Elephant Hawk-Moth. Its Latin name _is Deilephila elpenor_, which likely means the same thing. I have a few more pictures that show other angles--it's a kind of gold and pink creature.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They put me in mind of the willow flies we get here on the lake only they are generally green. We are not good at predicting when they will come, but you can count on them covering everything in sight for a few days each year. I'm told they make good fish bait. But since I don't fish, they can't claim that redeeming quality with me.
Click to expand...

 What an enchanting name. I binged them, and realized they're the same beastie we call mayflies. We used to see them in the summertime at Lake Houston when we went camping the minute school was out. They were everywhere one year.


----------



## pbel

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh to see your purple violets, Sunshine! *sigh*
> 
> I did find a "Grandmother's Violets" quilt that reminds me of a Pam Bono design, just because of her technique of making what looks like applique actually being pieced together geometrically into a quilt, which is her style, if this is not a virtual copy... I only have 15 of her books, a couple of duplicates in soft-bound volumes just in case I want to tear a book up for artistic purposes, which I can't bring myself to do.
> 
> Grandmother's Garden
> Raffled for Charity or Sold...
> "81x110 - purple, white, green - machine pieced by Jeanette Harder, beautifully hand quilted by MCC Volunteers in Newton, Kansas - sold at the MCC Sale in Houston, Texas, November, 2001 "
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source: Jeanette's 2001 Quilt Page​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rep for that, but I've gotta spread it around first.  What kind of pink bug is that in your avatar?
Click to expand...

Love Lavender!!!!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Just a little progress yesterday, but not on kites. I had more DLC blocks and made 10 more. I had so much outside work to do, that's all that's been done for a couple of days. That sun is good for what ails you. 

Turning Colors, Double Log Cabin blocks made yesterday:


----------



## freedombecki

Three more of 10:


----------



## freedombecki

The last three, and it's off to bed. I'm so tired after using muscles not used since last summer yesterday. Hope everybody has a great day. When I get up, I have 2 more blocks and sashings to do.

Oh, yes, I did find my Pam Bono book, "Big Book of Quick Rotary Cutter Quilts," and the pattern for the violets quilt is on page 100 of the 320-page tome. Pam Bono is a prolific designer, and the ideas in her book are just out of this world, imho. I got a hard cover and a soft cover book. She does all the layout work, cutting instructions, and yardage figuring for you, and has a regular school approach to her wonderful original designs, which you won't find anywhere else.


----------



## freedombecki

pbel said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh to see your purple violets, Sunshine! *sigh*
> 
> I did find a "Grandmother's Violets" quilt that reminds me of a Pam Bono design, just because of her technique of making what looks like applique actually being pieced together geometrically into a quilt, which is her style, if this is not a virtual copy... I only have 15 of her books, a couple of duplicates in soft-bound volumes just in case I want to tear a book up for artistic purposes, which I can't bring myself to do.
> 
> Grandmother's Garden
> Raffled for Charity or Sold...
> "81x110 - purple, white, green - machine pieced by Jeanette Harder, beautifully hand quilted by MCC Volunteers in Newton, Kansas - sold at the MCC Sale in Houston, Texas, November, 2001 "​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source: Jeanette's 2001 Quilt Page​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rep for that, but I've gotta spread it around first. What kind of pink bug is that in your avatar?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Love Lavender!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

 oooo, I feel another Pbel masterpiece in the works--in lilting shades of light purple...


----------



## catfish88

These are gorgeous inspiration! I'm delving into the art of quilting and I absolutely love all of these patterns! ( That moth in your avatar is gorgeous too! )


----------



## freedombecki

catfish88 said:


> These are gorgeous inspiration! I'm delving into the art of quilting and I absolutely love all of these patterns! ( That moth in your avatar is gorgeous too! )


 Thanks, catfish88. Welcome to USMB, and I hope you enjoy the boards.


----------



## freedombecki

Unfinished quilt top purchase

I made a bid on an ebay quilt on an old quilt from an estate that had never been finished. It came the other day:

She only had one area left to complete. The top is sunny, cheerful, very old, and was hand stitched. I will have to make at least 2 charity quilts with it, and will probably just add simple borders after unsewing boundaries and stitching borders on the resultant rectangles. We'll see how that turns out. I will also have large pieces leftover at one end, I think.

Well, it's far, far past my bedtime.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make his face to shine upon you
And give you peace.
The Lord lift his countenance upon you
And be gracious unto you.
Amen.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! 3 more done, and I'm on the joining of vertical sashes for the Turning colors, Double Log Cabin quilt top with blocks of 8" squares. There will be 4 across and 6 down with 2.5" sets and sashes that finish to 2" each. The 8" squares will finish to approximately 7.5" I have a rose-print made by Rose and Hubble when I was running my shop, and nobody bought this adorable print, so I preserved it carefully and it's ready to be the outer border and main part of the back, hopefully, depending on how much fabric is left following the border.  

I have 2 horizontal rows of 4 squares done so far, but haven't done horizontal rows of sets and sashes in pink and jade green to match the pink and jade of the Rose and Hubble Print. I just dropped in to show the three of the last 5 double log cabin blocks. Scrolling over the thumbnails with the mouse pointer will bring up details about the turning colors of the block. Clicking the thumbnails will pull up a larger image to a new window, which is worth it if you are into detailed 2-dimensional textures created with fabrics. Quilters will know what that means as will mathematically-minded and other visual discriminators, whoever they might be.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Eek! Close-up bug pictures.
> I'd rather enjoy them from a distance LOL.


Well, when I went to 9th grade science class in SW TX town of Tilden, Mr. Ackerman gave incentives for students to collect one specimen from each of the phylums of bugs (seems there were 22), evidenced by our collections, so we spent weekends hunting and searching for different and sundry species of bugs. I liked the butterfly and moth group best, but we could only collect one. All I remember was the ugh factor, but it truly got me over my youthful fear and disgust of bugs. Some of them had metallic coloring, but most were different types of beetles, as I recall. My brother helped me because he knew girls were like me--hated bugs. I still didn't like them, but got over the fear and hatred of them on account of Mr. Ackerman's biology class. I love the visual aspects of butterflies in their winged stage, and their (order?) Lepidoptera includes moths, which sometimes appear in some of my avatars. I'm getting ready to change to an owl moth, but they are very neutral in color, but their markings are my idea of amazing textural interest.  See ya! I gotta go get after the vertical sashes on the horizontal rows of the quilt I've just got to get done. Happy June!


----------



## freedombecki

All six of the vertical sashes on horizontal rows are complete! <huff, puff, huff, puff>

Here's a couple of scans of the six horizontal rows and a 2.5" unfinished set square that will go between the hot pink sashes.


----------



## freedombecki

The day the above quilt was to have been finished, a 4-inch stack of red squares left over from the preceding quilt were noticed on the back of the sewing table. Therefore, the following 192-postage stamp piece was made, 12 rows by 16. (To have shown it right, I 4 scans should have been done, but only 3 slots for pictures here, so only 3 scans were made):

Oh, yes, and today, I'm still shaking grass off myself from mowing the grass. It rained early and hard last night, and by 2 pm, the grass had grown quite a lot in a week, so it was hard going on the small mower. I'd love to spend some time in front of the sewing machine, though. There's a quilter's meeting tonight... I'll have to ask myself the fibromyalgiac's question: "Do I want to catch a cold and spend the next 2 weeks in bed or not if I go out?"  I miss my friends. I haven't been to a meeting in over a year.


----------



## koshergrl

The colors here make me happy.

I haven't done anything re: sewing or quilting...but I have been CANNING! It's a hoot! I want everybody to can! 

I made tons of orange marmalade (maybe I already shared that...oh wait, no, I got banned the first time right before I did it), and I canned CHICKEN...yes, it's true. And I smoked a big old pork shoulder and it was the best smoked stuff I've ever eaten, I think!

I have not let my time-out go to waste...good to see you!


----------



## freedombecki

Welcome back, koshergrl. The canning sounds just wonderful! We've been eating out all winter due to my issues. I have to learn how to cook all over again, as the warm weather has been so good to my muscles for the last one day. I swear, this is the kind of spring I remember as a child--chilly and long, and the first of four years that I recall lasting through the first of June. Last three years, we were deep into different types of drought by June, and one year, there were 100 days of 100 degree weather here. We lost 50-year old trees that stand over 100 feet tall on our acreage, maybe 10 trees in all, and we didn't harvest much out of the garden in spite of watering like crazy. You just can't get good crops when the mercury stubbornly clings to over 100 degrees even in the darkest part of the night.

I'm hoping for a pleasant summer this year, with some good old-fashioned rainfall now and then to keep the well water high. 

And don't worry about the quilt. There will be time for that when the kids fly the coop.


----------



## koshergrl

:d


----------



## Mr. H.

Ms. becki hasn't post in like the last 30 hours.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Mr. H. I've been having dry eye syndrome and keep forgetting to take my lutein until my eyes feel like raw hamburger sometimes. Not much done in sewing room either.


----------



## Mr. H.

So, there IS a dry eye in the house!

G'luck with that, b.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Mr. H. They're out of the hamburger category and into the wasp sting arena today. I have about 10 minutes left to post a few pics of finally finishing the turning colors log quilt.

I sewed sashes and sets, joined horizontal rows with them, and added an inner and an outer border and wrote up a slip on them and another

This quilt top is about #38 for the year, hopefully. If my count is strange, sobeit, but that's what I get when I reviewed my quilt log, although something is nagging me about having missed one somewhere a couple of times ago. Well, I get them out of order, so it's confusing sometimes.

Here are the first 3 pictures of the jade green sets between the pink borders (sorry they're cockelmainey, but this quilt was a little larger and hard to keep straight on my copier top.)

1, 2, and 3 scans


----------



## freedombecki

4, 5, and 6


----------



## Book of Jeremiah

freedombecki said:


> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:



I love handmade quilts.  You did a mangificent job, Becki!


----------



## freedombecki

7, 8, and 9


----------



## freedombecki

Jeremiah said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love handmade quilts. You did a mangificent job, Becki!
Click to expand...

 Thanks, Jeri. I was helping myself to my grandmother's fascinating sewing box by the time I was 4 and designing and sewing doll dresses by 8.


----------



## freedombecki

Did credits for this quilt, credits for one done in the middle of May, and if I can find the inspiration for this quilt among my souvenirs, I will post it as well as scan #3. #3 isn't exactly like the one I did, but inspiration is inspiration,


----------



## freedombecki

Last year, I made 100 small windmill squares (5") and set them aside to make quick quilts. Every month or so, that happens. This is this season's crop of easy quilts. I'm calling it Windmill Scrap Quilt Top because it is. 

The last square (#15) is left over from a quilt I made last year, because it already had the square-up triangles attached. The squares will all be cut down to 8." I'm plenty generous with size because things can go really whacko when you're sewing on the bias. A couple of the next 15 pictures look puckered due to the sewing, but it will press out when I cut them down to 8 inches. They will finish at 7.5" and I liked the last group of 8" squares so much, I'm going to use 2.5" sashes from three-inch strips. I realize they looked funny above on the last quilt, but overall, I was very pleased with the way things worked out on that one, especially the slightly larger size for children who will grow and still have their toes warm on cold winter nights due to them being long enough for a child.

Scans 1, 2, and 3


----------



## freedombecki

On-point windmill squares 4, 5, and 6


----------



## freedombecki

On-point windmill squares 7, 8, and 9:


----------



## freedombecki

On-point squares 10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

On-point windmill squares, 13, 14, and 15.

#15 was a square left over from last year, when I made a similar quilt (but not the same). I have already picked, but need to cut out the larger triangles for squares 16-24, so there are 9 left to complete before the setting and sashing processes begin. I bought so much sea-faring fabric to border more log-cabin tall ships, I ought to pick one of those.


----------



## freedombecki

Still trying to clean the red postage stamps off the cutting table so it will be easier to move in the sewing room!

Here's today's progress on the red stamp project with an updated approach to postage stamp containment going on in the current world of postage-stamp quilters:

On one of the long ends, the second contained area of postage stamps has been added, but not on the other end nor sides (as not shown, of course.) Go figger.


----------



## freedombecki

Four more squares were done today, and one row of red around the side of the red postage stamp quilt was done.


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> On-point windmill squares, 13, 14, and 15.
> 
> #15 was a square left over from last year, when I made a similar quilt (but not the same). I have already picked, but need to cut out the larger triangles for squares 16-24, so there are 9 left to complete before the setting and sashing processes begin. I bought so much sea-faring fabric to border more log-cabin tall ships, I ought to pick one of those.



Just my goofy thought process - but these images remind me of the opening credits to that old TV show Combat!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qQGS4fXSY]COMBAT TV Show Intro - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Must be all the dots, Mr. H.

My quilts have their fair share of stripes, too.


----------



## koshergrl

Glad you're back, becki!


----------



## freedombecki

This morning I got a couple of more Windmill Squares completed and only need a handful more to begin the final cut-down of squares to 8 inches and the same with cutting out sashes and sets after deciding what color to do. Then I can get back to the kite quilt and a couple of more sailboat quilts for our shelter kids' charity work. Also, I got the last two sides of the quilt finished between a little work last night and a lot of work this morning already. I was drinking coffee and on my way at 4 am today. Thank heaven for melatonin, which helps me sleep at night, and it seems the lutein has finally kicked in for my eyes, too. I've been staying offline a lot more to get the eyes back to normal.

Well, here's to progress:


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 19 and 20 of the Windmill, and another scan of progress on the Red Postage Stamp Quilt. I really love the way the red one is shaping up with postage stamps in controlled areas. It's an awful lot of work.

And whoever is out there praying for my husband's dementia situation, thanks. He isn't improving, but in spite of the heinous things he does that are so out of kilter with who he has been in his life, I am accepting the horror of it a little better. The neurologist thought he may have had some kind of early head trauma. Thinking back, his mother told me he was hit by cars twice when he was in elementary school, and he told me that in high school in Chicago, he and a friend were jumped by some neighborhood bullies when I asked him where he got the lump on his head. Other things could have happened to him, too, as he was roughed up by a crazy union man at work one day when he was a young engineer. It did not completely cure him of being a practical joker, however, and his propensity to crack a dozen different jokes in succession, which made other people absolutely holler with laughter. Now, he just stares into space, and every day, he loses a little more touch with the real world. It's hard to watch a friend slip away like quick silver. He forgot we were married years ago. Now all else is going away, too, and isolation of the caregiver is a hard role to play, although soon, I will have more to do. His medicine is not stopping the free fall in which he is victim, to my sad horrification.

Well, pardon my yakkety yak, :blabla: but I can't work at the same pace with the last couple of weeks changes, and I'm sorry that dividing the work has furthered the slow down, but this red quilt would be impossible to do all at once without a break to look at other colors between fits of sheer boredom that a postage stamp monochromatic work is to my mind.


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 8, 9, and 10. And it's back to the sewing room for me. Hope everyone has a truly wonderful day. Be thankful for your sanity and mental health if you have it. I'm going to try to show a lot of attention that one would give to a dear child. Showing irritation does not have a good effect on one who has dementia. It makes them turn you off and disassociate. What keeps them here a little longer is a soothing word, biting the lower lip when things go downhill for them, and just not speaking of your frustrations if you have them as their caregiver. I've been reading up on dementia care giving and making the changes as I can. This wonderful human being was a titan of goodness and giving when he was himself.

Love and prayers up for those who are confused by misfiring neurons as they age or somehow, acquire that awful disease aka dementia.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Koshergrl. Must've been bleary eyed and gung ho to get back to the sewing room this morning.

Even got an hour of mowing the 5 acres around the orchard with my Kubota! (sit and sew, sit and mow!)

Somewhere, in the stack, there's a square that didn't get scanned. So if all 24 don't show up... Here's a couple plus the fabric with which this quilt will be sashed and possibly, bordered. Today went well in the sewing room, with a stack ready to go and the sashing fabric pressed for cutting. 

3 scans, coming up!


----------



## koshergrl

So becki, my plan for this summer....

Quilting project with the kids. 

I haven't worked it out in my head yet, but I'm going to use them as slave labor to cut & sew strips and blocks. It will save my back, and be fun for them. 

I think we will work on a quilt together, instead of separate quilts; we'll have a better chance of getting it finished.


----------



## freedombecki

Good plan, koshergrl. I am so delighted and hope you show the kids' progress as you go. It could start a wave!


----------



## koshergrl

I think we're going with this: *Easy Log Cabin Quilt Block Pattern - easy for beginner's project

If there are three of us, we each need to make 10 or so blocks...I think we can do that.


----------



## freedombecki

That's a good place to start, koshergrl.


----------



## koshergrl

If I really push them maybe we can squeeze out more than one quilt, lol!

It would be nice for them to each have their own..we'll see what comes of it!


----------



## koshergrl

I'll get my dil and granddaughter and her sister to participate one day a week, I'll bet we can get something done.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, so y'all are contagious.  Maybe I'll do a quilt this winter.  But not the cross stitch one.  I want an expert doing that one.  But I have a maple leaf top my mother made and which has been in a drawer since I married.  If it isn't dry rotted, I may get some frames and do that one. 

Was talking to my brother yesterday and he said I need to go to English's Sewing to get a machine.  LOL.  That is the one Beckums found and recommended.  So, I may drop by there the next time I go out with my girlfriends, which will be next month.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm looking for another machine, so I can put two minions to work at once.


----------



## boedicca

Sunshine said:


> OK, so y'all are contagious.  Maybe I'll do a quilt this winter.  But not the cross stitch one.  I want an expert doing that one.  But I have a maple leaf top my mother made and which has been in a drawer since I married.  If it isn't dry rotted, I may get some frames and do that one.
> 
> Was talking to my brother yesterday and he said I need to go to English's Sewing to get a machine.  LOL.  That is the one Beckums found and recommended.  So, I may drop by there the next time I go out with my girlfriends, which will be next month.




Indeed.  I used to sew, quilt, and embroider when I was a girl...I miss that creative project concentration.   You all are inspiring me!

I'm thinking of learning how to knit - something that is portable given work schedule.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, so y'all are contagious. Maybe I'll do a quilt this winter. But not the cross stitch one. I want an expert doing that one. But I have a maple leaf top my mother made and which has been in a drawer since I married. If it isn't dry rotted, I may get some frames and do that one.
> 
> Was talking to my brother yesterday and he said I need to go to English's Sewing to get a machine. LOL. That is the one Beckums found and recommended. So, I may drop by there the next time I go out with my girlfriends, which will be next month.


 Good luck, Sunshine. If you're learning a new machine, it doesn't hurt to purchase a used one first and do all your learning and goofing on that machine. If you like the system, stay with the brand. OTOH, if you get a new Pfaff or Bernina, you're getting the quietest and most obedient machine on the market, dealers are required to offer classes and learning opportunities with trained providers, plus they make it fun. If you see gorgeous quilts hanging around, that's likely a great place that encourage people to be the best they can.

If I were Sunshine, I'd be looking for a machine that has both stitch-by-stitch cross stitches on it as well as software to execute complex patterns that are topically identical to counted cross stitch. That way, when and if arthritis knocks out handwork ability, you are backed up by a smart machine that in 8 hours can do the work of one of us in 8,000 hours. It requires a challenging amount of coursework to learn expert machine cross stitch ins and outs, but there are motivated people in that part of the world who do just that. You may have to cross state lines for how-tos, but it's worth the scouting effort to get trained in that kind of work.

Smart machines today extend your life of sewing when and if you want them to. Top of the line machines may also be placed on frames to do quilting, but again, be sure your dealer is available to set up your quilt frame and has both regular and computer classes in embroidery and in quilting. Also tops-of-line quilting and embroidery machines have "go" buttons, so you don't have to hug your foot to the foot pedal any more. If you have these on your list, however, expect to pay what you'd pay for a new car. What they do is stellar, and I can't even describe how much fascination and fun it is to watch the design you just programmed into your computer spit it out in gorgeous stitches onto a piece of prepared linen. There are even ways to embroider satin roses onto voile if you're willing to travel to classes of dealers that specialize in French hand sewing, needlework bargello, counted cross stitch, and even silk roses and Brazillian work. What top of the line machines do is endless including detailed quilt stitches.

If you just want to put two pieces of fabric together, though, Walmart sells basic Brother and Singer machines that you can buy a 1/4" stitch foot for unless it includes quilt feet or sells them nearby. The Brother 9500 has 200 stitches, a simple alphabet, and 3 memories, as I recollect from buying one for sewing on when my machine was out for repairs. Top of the lines take extra time, and I'd sewn 60 quilts on it already when it needed servicing, not to mention household mending. The brother sewed 30 quilts before it needed a service, but I only paid $199 for it and had a 3-month blast, because it had a lot of spoiler features on it I was already accustomed to by having several tops of line machines.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes, and I finished another quilt top last night. I will take scans later. I'm so totally pleased with the last one--sunny, rainbows, and blue sky were the borders.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, so y'all are contagious. Maybe I'll do a quilt this winter. But not the cross stitch one. I want an expert doing that one. But I have a maple leaf top my mother made and which has been in a drawer since I married. If it isn't dry rotted, I may get some frames and do that one.
> 
> Was talking to my brother yesterday and he said I need to go to English's Sewing to get a machine. LOL. That is the one Beckums found and recommended. So, I may drop by there the next time I go out with my girlfriends, which will be next month.
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck, Sunshine. If you're learning a new machine, it doesn't hurt to purchase a used one first and do all your learning and goofing on that machine. If you like the system, stay with the brand. OTOH, if you get a new Pfaff or Bernina, you're getting the quietest and most obedient machine on the market, dealers are required to offer classes and learning opportunities with trained providers, plus they make it fun. If you see gorgeous quilts hanging around, that's likely a great place that encourage people to be the best they can.
> 
> If I were Sunshine, I'd be looking for a machine that has both stitch-by-stitch cross stitches on it as well as software to execute complex patterns that are topically identical to counted cross stitch. That way, when and if arthritis knocks out handwork ability, you are backed up by a smart machine that in 8 hours can do the work of one of us in 8,000 hours. It requires a challenging amount of coursework to learn expert machine cross stitch ins and outs, but there are motivated people in that part of the world who do just that. You may have to cross state lines for how-tos, but it's worth the scouting effort to get trained in that kind of work.
> 
> Smart machines today extend your life of sewing when and if you want them to. Top of the line machines may also be placed on frames to do quilting, but again, be sure your dealer is available to set up your quilt frame and has both regular and computer classes in embroidery and in quilting. Also tops-of-line quilting and embroidery machines have "go" buttons, so you don't have to hug your foot to the foot pedal any more. If you have these on your list, however, expect to pay what you'd pay for a new car. What they do is stellar, and I can't even describe how much fascination and fun it is to watch the design you just programmed into your computer spit it out in gorgeous stitches onto a piece of prepared linen. There are even ways to embroider satin roses onto voile if you're willing to travel to classes of dealers that specialize in French hand sewing, needlework bargello, counted cross stitch, and even silk roses and Brazillian work. What top of the line machines do is endless including detailed quilt stitches.
> 
> If you just want to put two pieces of fabric together, though, Walmart sells basic Brother and Singer machines that you can buy a 1/4" stitch foot for unless it includes quilt feet or sells them nearby. The Brother 9500 has 200 stitches, a simple alphabet, and 3 memories, as I recollect from buying one for sewing on when my machine was out for repairs. Top of the lines take extra time, and I'd sewn 60 quilts on it already when it needed servicing, not to mention household mending. The brother sewed 30 quilts before it needed a service, but I only paid $199 for it and had a 3-month blast, because it had a lot of spoiler features on it I was already accustomed to by having several tops of line machines.
Click to expand...


I want the fancy one for my daughter to inherit.  I may have told you that when she was out of work before and after they baby was born, she started sewing.  An ex BF had bought her a machine which she had never used, so she got it out and made several things.  I don't think she's really had time to do any sewing since she went back to work, but she mentioned wanting to learn to use patterns.  I told her I could help her......only a little there.  She looked at me like I had three heads and said, 'it's just a blueprint.'  LOL.  She is a designer, draftsman, and construction manager.  LOL.  Who knew sewing was so much like building.


----------



## Sunshine

Hey Beckums.  I'm down to my 4th to last block with the edging thing.  I should have it finished soon.  When I went to Atlanta I got an audio book that ran longer than the trip, so I have been listening and stitching some.  I had put it down for a while, so  I could get a few other things done around here.  But it will be FINISHED soon.  Maybe when I take this book back I'll get another.  THEN I can stat the Christmas table cloth.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Hey Beckums. I'm down to my 4th to last block with the edging thing. I should have it finished soon. When I went to Atlanta I got an audio book that ran longer than the trip, so I have been listening and stitching some. I had put it down for a while, so I could get a few other things done around here. But it will be FINISHED soon. Maybe when I take this book back I'll get another. THEN I can stat the Christmas table cloth.


Sunshine, I'm so happy to hear you've been listening while working. Don't forget, if that is your favorite modus operandi, I have able to find a video for almost every single technique I needed a refresher on, except the teachers are younger. My teachers from the 50s to the 80s were old school, which made new school all the more meaningful with their time-saving tips and design school color savvy, which is somehow, just catching up to me, but it's fun to hear someone else's voice saying things I have found to be tried-and-true. 

I sewed a little this morning, plus mowed the orchard until a scissor-tailed flycatcher came out to let me know he or she might have a next in an area next to where I was mowing. I appreciate the warning. I love the scissor tails, and want their next generation to be a prosperous one. I think they may lay their eggs in the grasses that include a lot of sunshine every day and may depend on being left alone to bring into the world chicklets of that feathered tribe of friends who eat mosquitos, gnats, and annoying flies. I'm just honored they still visit our pastures when for four years no stock other than wild deer nibbling my poor little orchard trees to death have been the only visitors, except for armadillos and skunks. The birds probably have a few predatory problems with possums and raccoons, not to mention wild domestic cats that people dumped out in the country years ago and have become bird predators rather than to be taken in by humans they no longer trust. And I'm here to tell you, though I was one of the fastest women on the track once, with fibromyalgia, I can't catch those wiley little varmints. Fortunately, a tribe of coyotes and wild dogs visit every few weeks to keep varmint populations down. I hope they have enough smarts to leave alone the lovely and fastidious scissor-tailed flycatchers who only want their nests untouched by people on two-ton tractor mowers that Kubotas can be.

I am so thrilled your daughter views garment construction as "just a blueprint." If she ever got into quilting, I think she might consider landscape painting with the sewing machine. Both machines I mentioned have a propensity and good enough motors to withstand the harshest, hardest 12-hour-a-day running for weeks on end with no problem in the hands of someone who respects machinery and is willing to read the ins and outs of its care which basically boils down to my little panacea that I typed up and glued to the front desk. It said "She who has a clean machine usually has one that works!" That is with the understanding that right after brushing out the bobbin area, the machine is oiled if oil comes with the machine. If no oil comes with the machine, read the instruction manual to see if your unit is a self-oiling type machine that has a warrantee of at least 20 years, which means for 20 years you won't have to oil it ever.

I have to "spread" before repping Sunshine again.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm now going to add photos of completed, on-point windmills. I did not use sets between sashes, because of working so hard to insure that all the squares measured exactly 8 inches all 4 ways, and that all the sashes were consistently cut 2.5 inches and were cut according to warps going north and south and wefts going east and west. I had no choice but to cut the stripe going with the weft, so the warp border shows a little natural gathering, but in the end with a decent batting, which I feel I might have to provide, it will even out.

Scans 25, 26, and 27, credit corner and sashes:


----------



## freedombecki

Corner scans 28, 29, and 30:

 Quilt #38 (or 39?) is Done!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Beckums. I'm down to my 4th to last block with the edging thing. I should have it finished soon. When I went to Atlanta I got an audio book that ran longer than the trip, so I have been listening and stitching some. I had put it down for a while, so I could get a few other things done around here. But it will be FINISHED soon. Maybe when I take this book back I'll get another. THEN I can stat the Christmas table cloth.
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine, I'm so happy to hear you've been listening while working. Don't forget, if that is your favorite modus operandi, I have able to find a video for almost every single technique I needed a refresher on, except the teachers are younger. My teachers from the 50s to the 80s were old school, which made new school all the more meaningful with their time-saving tips and design school color savvy, which is somehow, just catching up to me, but it's fun to hear someone else's voice saying things I have found to be tried-and-true.
> 
> I sewed a little this morning, plus mowed the orchard until a scissor-tailed flycatcher came out to let me know he or she might have a next in an area next to where I was mowing. I appreciate the warning. I love the scissor tails, and want their next generation to be a prosperous one. I think they may lay their eggs in the grasses that include a lot of sunshine every day and may depend on being left alone to bring into the world chicklets of that feathered tribe of friends who eat mosquitos, gnats, and annoying flies. I'm just honored they still visit our pastures when for four years no stock other than wild deer nibbling my poor little orchard trees to death have been the only visitors, except for armadillos and skunks. The birds probably have a few predatory problems with possums and raccoons, not to mention wild domestic cats that people dumped out in the country years ago and have become bird predators rather than to be taken in by humans they no longer trust. And I'm here to tell you, though I was one of the fastest women on the track once, with fibromyalgia, I can't catch those wiley little varmints. Fortunately, a tribe of coyotes and wild dogs visit every few weeks to keep varmint populations down. I hope they have enough smarts to leave alone the lovely and fastidious scissor-tailed flycatchers who only want their nests untouched by people on two-ton tractor mowers that Kubotas can be.
> 
> I am so thrilled your daughter views garment construction as "just a blueprint." If she ever got into quilting, I think she might consider landscape painting with the sewing machine. Both machines I mentioned have a propensity and good enough motors to withstand the harshest, hardest 12-hour-a-day running for weeks on end with no problem in the hands of someone who respects machinery and is willing to read the ins and outs of its care which basically boils down to my little panacea that I typed up and glued to the front desk. It said "She who has a clean machine usually has one that works!" That is with the understanding that right after brushing out the bobbin area, the machine is oiled if oil comes with the machine. If no oil comes with the machine, read the instruction manual to see if your unit is a self-oiling type machine that has a warrantee of at least 20 years, which means for 20 years you won't have to oil it ever.
> 
> I have to "spread" before repping Sunshine again.
Click to expand...


I do hope that one day she will be able to be creative in her sewing.  She has to work now, but after she got her master's hubby went back to school to study computers.  So, she may be able to quit at some point in the future.


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of bumping into the Tall Pines Guild and other friends CutUps at the local quilt shop, and showing them 9 of the 10 quilts I made in the last couple of months. They're so sweet, and one of the girls said that the group was organizing to make quilts for the Oklahoma City Tornado victims, and I let them know a couple of the quilts were oversized and intended for children up to the age of about 14 (70" in length) I probably should extend that to 75-80" and let it go at that.

In the afternoon, I found a lot of red and light log cabin squares completed to the third to the last row, finished a bunch, and now have a 36-block quilt that is approximately 42" square. another row top and bottom would make it 56", and one more top and bottom, and it would be 70" long. With two borders measuring 4", it would be 50x80". That might be a good size to shoot for. I will need 24 more squares, and only have 12 done. So just by making another dozen, the quilt would be rather nice. We'll see how the day goes.

They have been requested to make 5 or 6 ice cream cone quilts for the children in the second grade who were totally traumatized by the situation in which they lost half a dozen classmates and were threatened themselves with drowning or building materials falling everywhere. Some were injured, all were shocked by knowing their dead classmates weren't coming back. So today, I'm getting out my kite quilt caboodle, when the red quilt is done. Sometimes I wish I were two people and could make more quilts faster. We'll see what I can come up with in a pinch, tomorrow, if I make good progress today. 

So sorry if I'm not around much, I have a field to remow, because lately, the grass is just growing like crazy. It from all appearances is going to be another gorgeous day here. I thrive when the mercury hits 80 - 100 and have taken my medicine that controls swelling.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day, and can turn it into a masterpiece. 

Best regards,

becki


----------



## Sunshine

Good morning Beckums~!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Good morning Beckums~!


 Yo, Sunshine!

Right after I hit post, I hit the dust for the sewing room to complete the 48-block log cabin in reds. I really had all done but the outside logs on most of the blocks, and only had to make one up from scratch. I probably set the 48th original block in my spare blocks pile unwittingly, which shows up from time to time between two pieces of fabric. hahahaha So much for my disorganization, but when you do 100 quilt tops in a year, and you're not Wonder Woman, stuff happens.

I made this red one a little bit larger than normal--it measures 58x72" more or less, because of the awful tornado that plowed a 2-mile strip through the heart of some Oklahoma City suburbs and destroyed two schools there. 

Yesterday at cut ups group, our Guild president said there was a call for our guild to furnish some ice cream cone quilts, so I realized my kite project, with its super 1/8" thick Plexiglas  forms would be perfect for the waffle cones, and I always keep basketweave-look fabrics around, many of which are the same color as the waffle cones you see at Baskins-Robbins Ice Cream Stores. It should be nothing to transform a kite bottom into a cone and with a modicum of figuring, make rows and rows of ice cream cones for a child's quilt to help the children deal with their traumas. I'm also going to designate and hope the girls find it in their hearts to quilt some of the tops I make larger for families who lost all their furnishings to the tornados a couple of weeks back.

I'm so revved, I may just leave here and go back to the machine and set to it, but not before I post a couple of scans of this quilt. I posted so many log cabin blocks during this thread's start till now, I hate to take up more bandwidth, but will show some as soon as I get back from scanning. 

In the meantime, please keep praying for the people in Oklahoma who lost all in that mean old storm, and I think the Red Cross still has some kind of a website up for those who can volunteer help if they're in the vicinity. I'm going to try to make 5 ice cream cone quilts. I don't know what they're going to look like yet. It's like Paint Your Wagon, "Where am I goin' I don't know, when will I be there, I ain't certain, all I know is I am on my wayyyyyy-aayyy" 

[ame=http://youtu.be/c5_57PF7HwM]Paint Your Wagon Soundtrack - I'm On My Way - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Finally got the scans made. 

I didn't like the templates used for the kite as a cone. Not sure what to do next... except, go back to the drawing board! *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the ice cream cone quilt is not happening with me sticking around here. I guess just doing something that looks remotely like an ice cream cone is an option If I have to do it. 

Not thinking about it and just doing it is probably the best of all worlds. Be back in a few minutes to an hour with anything. 

I really don't want to do a @#*!$% ice cream cone quilt....

<whine> I want to make a _kite_ quilt. </whine>


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Well, the ice cream cone quilt is not happening with me sticking around here. I guess just doing something that looks remotely like an ice cream cone is an option If I have to do it.
> 
> Not thinking about it and just doing it is probably the best of all worlds. Be back in a few minutes to an hour with anything.
> 
> I really don't want to do a @#*!$% ice cream cone quilt....
> 
> <whine> I want to make a _kite_ quilt. </whine>



Just don't turn it upside down and let it morph into a dunce hat quilt!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good morning Beckums~!
> 
> 
> 
> Yo, Sunshine!
> 
> Right after I hit post, I hit the dust for the sewing room to complete the 48-block log cabin in reds. I really had all done but the outside logs on most of the blocks, and only had to make one up from scratch. I probably set the 48th original block in my spare blocks pile unwittingly, which shows up from time to time between two pieces of fabric. hahahaha So much for my disorganization, but when you do 100 quilt tops in a year, and you're not Wonder Woman, stuff happens.
> 
> I made this red one a little bit larger than normal--it measures 58x72" more or less, because of the awful tornado that plowed a 2-mile strip through the heart of some Oklahoma City suburbs and destroyed two schools there.
> 
> Yesterday at cut ups group, our Guild president said there was a call for our guild to furnish some ice cream cone quilts, so I realized my kite project, with its super 1/8" thick Plexiglas  forms would be perfect for the waffle cones, and I always keep basketweave-look fabrics around, many of which are the same color as the waffle cones you see at Baskins-Robbins Ice Cream Stores. It should be nothing to transform a kite bottom into a cone and with a modicum of figuring, make rows and rows of ice cream cones for a child's quilt to help the children deal with their traumas. I'm also going to designate and hope the girls find it in their hearts to quilt some of the tops I make larger for families who lost all their furnishings to the tornados a couple of weeks back.
> 
> I'm so revved, I may just leave here and go back to the machine and set to it, but not before I post a couple of scans of this quilt. I posted so many log cabin blocks during this thread's start till now, I hate to take up more bandwidth, but will show some as soon as I get back from scanning.
> 
> In the meantime, please keep praying for the people in Oklahoma who lost all in that mean old storm, and I think the Red Cross still has some kind of a website up for those who can volunteer help if they're in the vicinity. I'm going to try to make 5 ice cream cone quilts. I don't know what they're going to look like yet. It's like Paint Your Wagon, "Where am I goin' I don't know, when will I be there, I ain't certain, all I know is I am on my wayyyyyy-aayyy"
> 
> [ame=http://youtu.be/c5_57PF7HwM]Paint Your Wagon Soundtrack - I'm On My Way - YouTube[/ame]
Click to expand...


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, the ice cream cone quilt is not happening with me sticking around here. I guess just doing something that looks remotely like an ice cream cone is an option If I have to do it.
> 
> Not thinking about it and just doing it is probably the best of all worlds. Be back in a few minutes to an hour with anything.
> 
> I really don't want to do a @#*!$% ice cream cone quilt....
> 
> <whine> I want to make a _kite_ quilt. </whine>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just don't turn it upside down and let it morph into a dunce hat quilt!
Click to expand...

I love clowns! Just love 'em! 

Eureka! You found it. I'll do the ice cream quilts in pastels with the cones below, but will put little nondescript clown faces in the "shadows"... upside down and at least get some pleasure out of the next 35 hours of my life devoted to charity quilting. 

/dervish grin


----------



## freedombecki

Well, just surfing the net and found some cute ice cream quilts around here and there:

This one came from someone in the Villages, Florida, and it more than passes muster:






Quilting Guild of the Villages


This one is from a grandmotherly blogger who made her grandbaby an ice cream cone quilt that is coordinated in colors:






Step-by-step ice cream cone quilt for Rosa

Wow, this one has a plan you can color in by Elsie Marley:






Credits Elsie Marley​That's enough for now... Hope everyone has a wonderful Father's Day, especially all our fathers. ​


----------



## Mr. H.

Hey Ms. b. we saw a quilt exhibit that was part of a larger festival. 
yesterday
yesh


----------



## koshergrl

I found the red material I'm going to use for the middle block of our log cabin...and I may use it for the border, too. There's quite a bit of it, a red small print calico. Very nice.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Hey Ms. b. we saw a quilt exhibit that was part of a larger festival.
> yesterday
> yesh


 Mmmmm-mmmm! Look at all those pretty quilts. Thanks, Mr. H! 

Have you been warned about quilt fever yet? The only cure is seeing more quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I found the red material I'm going to use for the middle block of our log cabin...and I may use it for the border, too. There's quite a bit of it, a red small print calico. Very nice.


 Sounds cute, koshergrl. Slap a scrap of it on the scanner if one is available. If it lands in "my pictures," go into "paint" edit and reduce the size to 20% which will bring it here in a thumbnail under manage attachments below the Reply to Thread box. (Not quick reply). Just click any one of 3 browse buttons, go to "my pictures" and pull it up from your quilt file or general file, depending on your system. You can also store quilt pictures you find on the web for later perusal of color, pattern, and just wow power if you like a jolt of color now and then. 

And good luck with the kids on that project. I know a lot of our teachers in Wyoming went all out in various curriculum activities to let their children add a quilt block they painted or heat-crayola'd with wax paper, or even used heavy threads with a running stitch to make a one-of-a-kind picture about their study. They even had one that was hand prints in one class with splashy paint. All were really cute. 

Your kids piecing a log cabin, however, will give them reverence for math, hopefully. Watch their grades go up when they get to geometry and think to themselves "If I'd only known that when mom was trying to get me to sew that quilt!"


----------



## koshergrl

I think we may start tonight, cutting strips. And I will post pics, never fear.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I think we may start tonight, cutting strips. And I will post pics, never fear.


 Goody!


----------



## freedombecki

My only progress today was cutting strips. Hundreds of them, it seemed.  <huff, puff, huff, puff>


----------



## koshergrl

We're cutting strips tonight.


----------



## freedombecki

What a dear person, Koshergrl. You work all day, fight as best you can for your country and beliefs at USMB, then make sure your children have some sewing fun on summer evenings, which improves their math skills ten ways. 

/doffing cap


----------



## koshergrl

Stop, you'll make me blush, lol.

Well you know I still haven't finished the eternaquilt I started some years ago for my niece...she is finishing up her..internship? Residency? and is moving to Washington this summer. So it has been years, lol. But I will finish it.

Meanwhile, I cut the 30 center 3.5" red squares, and yrds of 2" blue print strips...tomorrow we will sew the squares to the blue, and cut some more, different color/print blue strips.....I think this is going to go quickly. 

I decided against allowing the kids to cut strips...the rotary is potentially dangerous and I already had a run to the ER this year when my daughter sliced her index finger trying to cut cheese. But they will be using the sewing machine...it's not going to destroy fingers or hands if they pull or push carelessly...and it's not such an expensive one that I will be bankrupt if they break it.

I'm not worried about it, though. If I haven't broken it, I doubt they will be able to, lol. My funny little Walmart Sewing Machine has been a trooper! 

No pics yet because I did something with my camera...I'm not sure where it is.


----------



## Sunshine

Today, well tonight, I start on the edging of the second to last block of that cross stitch quilt.  No heavy work today.  When I do heavy work outside, my fingers just don't work to do the stitching, but it should be finished SOON!  Then I can start something else you will have to hear about for 6 months while you make 900 quilts.


----------



## Sunshine

I have material to make a 'yo yo' quilt.  I guess I need a circle cutter.  I passed one up at a going out of business sale a few years back because I had children in college and was strapped for both money and time.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Stop, you'll make me blush, lol.
> 
> Well you know I still haven't finished the eternaquilt I started some years ago for my niece...she is finishing up her..internship? Residency? and is moving to Washington this summer. So it has been years, lol. But I will finish it.
> 
> Meanwhile, I cut the 30 center 3.5" red squares, and yrds of 2" blue print strips...tomorrow we will sew the squares to the blue, and cut some more, different color/print blue strips.....I think this is going to go quickly.
> 
> I decided against allowing the kids to cut strips...the rotary is potentially dangerous and I already had a run to the ER this year when my daughter sliced her index finger trying to cut cheese. But they will be using the sewing machine...it's not going to destroy fingers or hands if they pull or push carelessly...and it's not such an expensive one that I will be bankrupt if they break it.
> 
> I'm not worried about it, though. If I haven't broken it, I doubt they will be able to, lol. My funny little Walmart Sewing Machine has been a trooper!
> 
> No pics yet because I did something with my camera...I'm not sure where it is.



I lost my camera a couple weeks ago.  That forced me to clean up my bedroom, and I found it.  LOL.


----------



## koshergrl

I found my cameral last night...then put it down and lost it again, haha!

I have sort of a lot of the red material; enough for the center blocks x 30 and border and lots left over after that.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Stop, you'll make me blush, lol.
> 
> Well you know I still haven't finished the eternaquilt I started some years ago for my niece...she is finishing up her..internship? Residency? and is moving to Washington this summer. So it has been years, lol. But I will finish it.
> 
> Meanwhile, I cut the 30 center 3.5" red squares, and yrds of 2" blue print strips...tomorrow we will sew the squares to the blue, and cut some more, different color/print blue strips.....I think this is going to go quickly.
> 
> I decided against allowing the kids to cut strips...the rotary is potentially dangerous and I already had a run to the ER this year when my daughter sliced her index finger trying to cut cheese. But they will be using the sewing machine...it's not going to destroy fingers or hands if they pull or push carelessly...and it's not such an expensive one that I will be bankrupt if they break it.
> 
> I'm not worried about it, though. If I haven't broken it, I doubt they will be able to, lol. My funny little Walmart Sewing Machine has been a trooper!
> 
> No pics yet because I did something with my camera...I'm not sure where it is.


 I had to train my blood to be drill sergeant stuff in the shop. When I had a new helper, I told them once, "You need to be sure and close the rotary cutter to its safety setting before it touches the cutting table after a cut. The person most likely to get cut from an open cutter is the one who just set it down open." The second time it was "CLOSE THE ROTARY CUTTER TO SAFETY *BEFORE* IT TOUCHES THE CUTTING TABLE." 

The final time, it was "You have to use scissors for the rest of the day. You are not paying attention to safety today, and I can't afford the lawsuit if a 3-year old finds the cutter open and slits hand before I find that you failed to care about other people's safety."

People just don't remember to close it their first day. Times 3-5, they got to hear me speak dentriloquist style with teeth clenched. I can be not nice when anyone put my customers, stray kids, and themselves at risk. _Very_ not nice.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I found my cameral last night...then put it down and lost it again, haha!
> 
> I have sort of a lot of the red material; enough for the center blocks x 30 and border and lots left over after that.


Absent mindedness in women means a high IQ.


----------



## koshergrl

I worry more about one of them slipping while they're using it, and slicing a finger off, or cutting tendons. I'm very conscious of what I'm doing when I use it, and that's my fear for me...only many times more for them because, as children, they are silly, weak, and comparatively small...it could do a lot of permanent damage. 
The rotary cutters are so innocuous looking that it's easy to sort of forget how dangerous they can be.  

So I'll do the rotary cutting for now. But I'm super excited, can't wait to do some more work on it tonight! I'm going to load my bobbins at lunch!


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found my cameral last night...then put it down and lost it again, haha!
> 
> I have sort of a lot of the red material; enough for the center blocks x 30 and border and lots left over after that.
> 
> 
> 
> Absent mindedness in women means a high IQ.
Click to expand...

 
Oh my goodness! I'll have to try hard to remember THAT, at least...


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found my cameral last night...then put it down and lost it again, haha!
> 
> I have sort of a lot of the red material; enough for the center blocks x 30 and border and lots left over after that.
> 
> 
> 
> Absent mindedness in women means a high IQ.
Click to expand...


I do occasionally forget something, but the somethings I forget seem to always be the same kind of things.  So, after seeing a few demonstrations of hypnosis, I decided that, without hypnosis, I would give myself 'post hypnotic suggestions.'  Example:  I would have trouble remembering to get things I had cooked for pot lucks at work because going to the fridge wasn't in my pre flight plans.  But I would tell myself when I saw my purse, or keys, or something I couldn't leave without, that I would immediately remember the food in the fridge.  This I would repeat it a 2 or 3 times, purse - fridge, purse -fridge.  You get the idea.  I forget far fewer things since I started doing that.


----------



## koshergrl

There's three of the darks/blues...I think my lights will be whites....I have a lot of one very nice white...I purchased around $200 in materials for a quilt I never put together, and I'm tucking into those. 

I'm going to stick with red, white, and blue.

Gotta run! Loves ya!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> There's three of the darks/blues...I think my lights will be whites....I have a lot of one very nice white...I purchased around $200 in materials for a quilt I never put together, and I'm tucking into those.
> 
> I'm going to stick with red, white, and blue.
> 
> Gotta run! Loves ya!



That will be very nice.....and patriotic~!


----------



## koshergrl

I'm thinking about using a courthouse step pattern, and giving to my sis, the judge!


----------



## koshergrl

I even like those colors, lol. I have to fight my affection for the browns...I made my g-daughter a very nice comforter...with a nice horsey pattern and coordinating blocks of horse poop brown!!!

She loves it but we all look at it and think...what the HECK was gramma thinking? Blocks of brown the same hue..and size...of horse poop, on a blanket with a horsey motif...


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I'm thinking about using a courthouse step pattern, and giving to my sis, the judge!



Whoa!  That definitely has 'motion' and most appropriate for one who either sustains or overrules them!  LOL


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I even like those colors, lol. I have to fight my affection for the browns...I made my g-daughter a very nice comforter...with a nice horsey pattern and coordinating blocks of horse poop brown!!!
> 
> She loves it but we all look at it and think...what the HECK was gramma thinking? Blocks of brown the same hue..and size...of horse poop, on a blanket with a horsey motif...



I'm not a 'brown' person.  It always made me look drab.  Now I've colored my hair strawberry blonde/red, it is OK to wear.  But I have traumatic memories of having to always have a brown coat so it 'wouldn't show dirt.'  LOL.


----------



## koshergrl

Haha look there's even brown in my red block center material..how'd that get there???


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm thinking about using a courthouse step pattern, and giving to my sis, the judge!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Whoa! That definitely has 'motion' and most appropriate for one who either sustains or overrules them! LOL
Click to expand...

 
It also has the feel of Indian blanket patterns..which is very appropriate as she has strong tribal connections as well.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found my cameral last night...then put it down and lost it again, haha!
> 
> I have sort of a lot of the red material; enough for the center blocks x 30 and border and lots left over after that.
> 
> 
> 
> Absent mindedness in women means a high IQ.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I do occasionally forget something, but the somethings I forget seem to always be the same kind of things. So, after seeing a few demonstrations of hypnosis, I decided that, without hypnosis, I would give myself 'post hypnotic suggestions.' Example: I would have trouble remembering to get things I had cooked for pot lucks at work because going to the fridge wasn't in my pre flight plans. But I would tell myself when I saw my purse, or keys, or something I couldn't leave without, that I would immediately remember the food in the fridge. This I would repeat it a 2 or 3 times, purse - fridge, purse -fridge. You get the idea. I forget far fewer things since I started doing that.
Click to expand...

I confess that on a good day, I repeat stuff a lot too. And when I get to the store, I frequently remember that I should have written a list down. Which reminds me. I need to buy another grocery shopping list pad because the other one ran out a few months back and I've been so lost on shopping day.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> There's three of the darks/blues...I think my lights will be whites....I have a lot of one very nice white...I purchased around $200 in materials for a quilt I never put together, and I'm tucking into those.
> 
> I'm going to stick with red, white, and blue.
> 
> Gotta run! Loves ya!


 I love your beautiful fabrics, koshergrl! Nice job!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found my cameral last night...then put it down and lost it again, haha!
> 
> I have sort of a lot of the red material; enough for the center blocks x 30 and border and lots left over after that.
> 
> 
> 
> Absent mindedness in women means a high IQ.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I do occasionally forget something, but the somethings I forget seem to always be the same kind of things. So, after seeing a few demonstrations of hypnosis, I decided that, without hypnosis, I would give myself 'post hypnotic suggestions.' Example: I would have trouble remembering to get things I had cooked for pot lucks at work because going to the fridge wasn't in my pre flight plans. But I would tell myself when I saw my purse, or keys, or something I couldn't leave without, that I would immediately remember the food in the fridge. This I would repeat it a 2 or 3 times, purse - fridge, purse -fridge. You get the idea. I forget far fewer things since I started doing that.
Click to expand...

 I've got to try that!


----------



## freedombecki

This reminded me of my downstairs studio before I moved the embroidery machine upstairs:






This woman's blog is just great! Not only that but she's bilingual and names her quilts in Spanish names, plus some of her archives are labeled and discussed in Spanish, although her blog is in mainly English. She has made a beautiful wedding gift of a red and white quilt plus made pillow shams that just rock, possibly using some of the fabrics above:  Tricks and Treats dot com

Oh, I'm looking at "red quilts" in Bing! 

The picture above reminded me of the dining room table that had so many leaves in it, I thought it would make a good cutting table, since it was a little higher than most dining tables, may have been hand-made, and was just cute as a button. My table is square that came from the antique store, but it's fantastic when it is cleared and the wood surface shows.


----------



## freedombecki

More surfing found "Mike's Quilt."






It was found at a blog called "The Quilt Show dot com" and was on their current "newsletter" page. There are a lot more truly well-made quilts there, and a picture of a "Quilter's Hall of Fame" that is just a precious Victorian era house converted into a quilt gallery of sorts.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, my I've searched everywhere to find a red and white little red schoolhouse quilt. Most of them are pure scraps and plaids to boot. This one came from an Australian website called "the Quilt Station Dot Com AU"






I just love it. Of course, having worked for 3 hours this morning and only getting 3/4 of the way around my little postage stamp quilt that done in all reds, seeing a white dominant red and white quilt was just a pure sight for sore eyes. 

Of course, the quiltmaker may have been making a star quilt at the same time, so she cut points out and used some (above) and saved others for her next quilt like I do:





Oh, my goodness. I noticed she uses Glad bags too. They're my favorite unless of course, I find zipper lock bags on sale. Anything to keep the moisture and stuff out of the cut fabrics is a good idea. If they are stacked properly, it cuts down on repressing time.

And how different this quilt will look from the schoolhouse quilt:





I just love researching what other people are doing in quilts online. It's a worldwide quilt party going on all the time.


----------



## freedombecki

And the cure is seeing more red quilts, of course! Don't worry! It's a positive addiction. For every 1,000 quilts I see, I make one! 







Tim Russell Quilts 

This one was found at Big Rig Quilts blogspot and was used to show a vendor's specialty fabrics, and oh, it makes me want some:







So lighthearted and fun!

Also, Mr. Russell has some very unique pictures he took of last year's Infinite red and white quilt show  I've seen a lot of people's pictures and you tubes of this show, but I don't remember anything that makes you feel so there as at the link! It captures the details and beauty of some of the quilts. When you see the stitches, it's like OMG, Americans have truly done some beautiful things in their homes by firelight, lamplight, early Edison, and by the front window from morning to dusk...

Red is a totally wonderful color in my book. OK. I've been under-achieving my head off lately, I'll go get my first row half-done and dutifully put it on the scanner for the next post. *sigh* One of these days, that darn postage stamp quilt is gonna be done! and I'll be free, free, FREE!!!


----------



## freedombecki

The first two scans show corner edges of the unfinished round, and the third scan shows one of two finished corners on the contained Red postage stamp quilt. I've seen others online, but none like this one.  there was a red one, but it was crazy because they used velvets and a gold lame whereas this one is all quilt-weight cottons, except for one piece that was a sheer fabric, so I backed it with white cotton batiste I found on a sale table somewhere.

I really ought to take this little 30x40" (guessing) piece back to the sewing room and do the 4th side and put on the next row of white on white scattered triangles quilt cotton fabric on. the next row will be the white containment fabric cut into 1.75" squares alternated with red. Wish me luck! and then another white strip, which will result in a kind of ladder look when the outside print in red is put around that. It should be lots of fun. 

Today little barn swallows came and watched me at the computer window, where I was playing hooky all day instead of sitting in front of the sewing machine. They had bright gold chests and chins and dark tops. The orange trumpet vine grew back up to the second floor again, and I can't wait till it blossoms and the little hummingbirds are back. Oh, they are so precious, but the barn swallows were amazing, and just looking in the window intermittently with flying out over the lake. I was wondering if they were fishing or eating dragonflies or something over there. More than a dozen flew away from the window, but only 2 or 3 of them peered in from the 2 dead vines. I just wondered how such large birds (5-6") could light and stay on 1/8" dead vines which died when workmen accidentally cut them off at the base a couple of weeks ago.

Here are the red scans:


----------



## koshergrl

Ok I'm not doing courthouse steps this time around...I've already cut the center squares, and the courthouse goes together at first as strips...so I shall move ahead with the log cabin plan and courthouse steps can be next.

I needed more light color fabric, and I picked up some...I dunno, muslin or linen like stuff at St. Vinnie's...for $1. And there's a lot. So I grabbed it. It will be a little different cloth but in keeping with true scrap quilts, I feel okay about it. It's a tan color.

And I have a LOT of white...possibly enough to back the quilt, we'll see.

I hope to be able to start the blocks tomorrow...and probably cut strips tonight.


----------



## freedombecki

Nifty red quilt found through Bing! at Nifty Quilts blogspot dot com:





This one knocked my socks off--not all red and white, but oh, so red and mixed with a touch of color here and there in such a nice way.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Ok I'm not doing courthouse steps this time around...I've already cut the center squares, and the courthouse goes together at first as strips...so I shall move ahead with the log cabin plan and courthouse steps can be next.
> 
> I needed more light color fabric, and I picked up some...I dunno, muslin or linen like stuff at St. Vinnie's...for $1. And there's a lot. So I grabbed it. It will be a little different cloth but in keeping with true scrap quilts, I feel okay about it. It's a tan color.
> 
> And I have a LOT of white...possibly enough to back the quilt, we'll see.
> 
> I hope to be able to start the blocks tomorrow...and probably cut strips tonight.


You go, girl! Log cabins are a lot of fun, and you have the right stuff to cut strips and measure lengths that will help you get started. If you have a guide, they work with PRECISE 1/4" selvages. Also, I'm glad you're doing larger strips on your first log cabin.

When you showed that beautiful courthouse steps in neutrals, those were one inch finished strips, which takes either precutting your strips exactly, sewing and trimming after each log is sewn on, or settling for a whopsy-flopsy conglomerate that sets your teeth on edge, and may or may not measure a couple of inches or more on ends than in the middle.  When I was professionally quilting, a young lady brought in her first complex quilt to quilt. Holy cow, it was 7" longer on one side than the other. I called her and said she would hate the result, and that it couldn't look worse when the quilting on the back looked like a terror plot scribbled in thread. She said go ahead and do it. I refused, so she picked up, but bless her heart, she brought it back a few weeks later, and it was only 2" off, so I told her yes, I could make up that quilt, but it still wouldn't be perfect. When I was done, the quilting was okay, but it was 2 inches longer on the right than on the left side. 

It really didn't matter. Her color choices were so excellent, the quilt was stunning. Some first-timers on complex quilts have their heart in the right place, but technique takes another dimension to master.

I did learn something from her that day. though. I learned I was right to tell people the first four laws of quilting are similar. they are: (1) measure, (2) measure, (3) measure, and (4) measure! It couldn't be a truer axiom.

Just sayin'


----------



## koshergrl

I have the directions committed to memory, and when I realized that the courthouse steps would require a completely different strategy, uh, no, we'll just stick with the original. When we get through this one, then we'll move on....


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I have the directions committed to memory, and when I realized that the courthouse steps would require a completely different strategy, uh, no, we'll just stick with the original. When we get through this one, then we'll move on....


When you do the courthouse steps, step 1 has a shortcut. Cut three 1.5"x42" strips of white, center brown, pale tan. Sew them together with the brown in the center. Cut the now- 3.5" strip of 3 strips at 90-degree cross cuts of exactly 1.5" to make the first 3 rows of each of your 28 blocks. Make 2 such blocks if you need more centers (42 would make a nice quilt) or if you miscut a couple. for rows 4 and 5, cut 3.5" browns/tans and sew them to the 3.5" row of 3 squares. Then on the 2 ends, which now measure 3.5" sew light tans/white strips at both ends which are rows 6 and 7. Cut two 5.5" browns for each square to make rows 8 and 9 and two lights (rows 10 and 11), ecru, whites, or pale tans Keep going until the square looks like your picture, adding 2" each time you change the alternating light and dark rows. That's courthouse steps--much easier than log cabin, which can get confusing at first.

You're smart to start with a simple log cabin. Then you can appreciate the rapidity with which you can make courthouse steps, and you'll feel like you've got wings on your feet. However, if you want the priceless designs you can do with log cabins, you'll truly put up with the confusion until you have the technique down pat. Maybe it was just me that was confused, but my first 10 log cabins annoyed the pie out of me as I did everything one could possibly do wrong to get one done. And No, I didn't learn from my mistakes until I was sick of looking at ugly corners. That was the cure. I learned to cut strips accurately and first. Then, just stack 'em up and sew them in a long chain until a row was done. You can play beat the clock if you use all the same colors when they're all the same size. If the first quilt takes an hour a block because things got sewn on backward or upside down, wrong side out, etc. I'm here to tell you while you're ripping, no, you're not the first person to do the same mistake twice (Like me). You might also get a corkboard for when you do fussy cut squares or strips. Nothing like a little scotty dog running upside down on one of the strips adjacent to children sitting under a 30s tree reading a book, if you're into 30s or character fabrics for kids.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, I owe everybody reps tonight, and it's past my bedtime. Well, as Miss Scarlett said in Gone with the Wind, "Tomorrow is another day."

Sweet dreams, everyone!







And don't let the bedbugs bite!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I was going to make one more try to find a contained postage stamp quilt (and found 100 I love) but found a pillow to match my quilt, although I love the lights this quilt artist brought to her lovely work:






Plus hers has some nice quilting on it. I'm so jealous. 

Her lovely blog is at : Busy Hands quilts​


----------



## freedombecki

Boston commons "postage stamp" Well, they're a little large...






This is really an amazing quilt:






A Work of art postage stamp quilt!






Inspiration postage stamp quilt:


----------



## Sunshine

OK Beckums, my LAST block of that quilt is in the hoop for completion of the border.  I believe I will run out of thread, but not going to town until Tuesday.  So, it will likely be Tuesday or later before it is done!  

Can't wait to start the table cloth.


----------



## freedombecki

Good luck, sunshine. That's going to be the most wonderful quilt. I hope you register it through the local quilt/embroiderers' association of American quilts. You put some serious time under difficult circumstances, and people ought to know about it so they will be inspired when their chips are down. 

[ame=http://youtu.be/eJJ1TwC-upE]This Little Light of Mine - YouTube[/ame]

You go girl!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Good luck, sunshine. That's going to be the most wonderful quilt. I hope you register it through the local quilt/embroiderers' association of American quilts. You put some serious time under difficult circumstances, and people ought to know about it so they will be inspired when their chips are down.
> 
> This Little Light of Mine - YouTube
> 
> You go girl!



Wow, I didn't know you could do that.  Can you register an old one like the one my grandmother made?  What about a damaged one like my little red schoolhouse quit?  I mean, my kids are getting ready to inherit a butt load of stuff, I want them to come out on top with it all.


----------



## Surfer

Some of those quilts are very beautiful.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck, sunshine. That's going to be the most wonderful quilt. I hope you register it through the local quilt/embroiderers' association of American quilts. You put some serious time under difficult circumstances, and people ought to know about it so they will be inspired when their chips are down.
> 
> This Little Light of Mine - YouTube
> 
> You go girl!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, I didn't know you could do that. Can you register an old one like the one my grandmother made? What about a damaged one like my little red schoolhouse quit? I mean, my kids are getting ready to inherit a butt load of stuff, I want them to come out on top with it all.
Click to expand...

 Absolutely, Sunshine.


----------



## freedombecki

Surfer said:


> Some of those quilts are very beautiful.


 Thank you, Surfer. Welcome!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck, sunshine. That's going to be the most wonderful quilt. I hope you register it through the local quilt/embroiderers' association of American quilts. You put some serious time under difficult circumstances, and people ought to know about it so they will be inspired when their chips are down.
> 
> This Little Light of Mine - YouTube
> 
> You go girl!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, I didn't know you could do that. Can you register an old one like the one my grandmother made? What about a damaged one like my little red schoolhouse quit? I mean, my kids are getting ready to inherit a butt load of stuff, I want them to come out on top with it all.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Absolutely, Sunshine.
Click to expand...


What is the process?  I hate to be so dense.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Oh, my I've searched everywhere to find a red and white little red schoolhouse quilt. Most of them are pure scraps and plaids to boot. This one came from an Australian website called "the Quilt Station Dot Com AU"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just love it. Of course, having worked for 3 hours this morning and only getting 3/4 of the way around my little postage stamp quilt that done in all reds, seeing a white dominant red and white quilt was just a pure sight for sore eyes.
> 
> Of course, the quiltmaker may have been making a star quilt at the same time, so she cut points out and used some (above) and saved others for her next quilt like I do:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, my goodness. I noticed she uses Glad bags too. They're my favorite unless of course, I find zipper lock bags on sale. Anything to keep the moisture and stuff out of the cut fabrics is a good idea. If they are stacked properly, it cuts down on repressing time.
> 
> And how different this quilt will look from the schoolhouse quilt:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just love researching what other people are doing in quilts online. It's a worldwide quilt party going on all the time.



Wow.  When I get to the room it is in, I will post the one my MIL made.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums.  The last block is finished!  Gotta change the cassette to my med pump and came downstairs to get a packet of supplies.  Thought I would log on and let you know.  I will get my friend to sew it together in the next little bit, then start looking for someone to quilt it.  Not sure what the wait time is, so I'll have to check.  

Last year for Christmas, my daughter wanted a quilt, but not for the bed.  She had used the quilts that were in her room as a girl for throws in the den and they were about worn out.  She wanted a new one that the whole family could sit under on the sofa.  I bought her one from Overstock.com.  There is only so much one can do with 2 weeks notice.  Anyways, it is very pretty and has held up really well.  It's a good quilt.  I look it up and down every time I visit.  

I'll likely sit out a week or so because I have to get some floss.  But will be starting the table cloth soon.  I hope it is as satisfying to do as the quilt was.  The quilt was really a Zen kind of thing when I needed a Zen kind of thing.  Worked on it the summer after law school while my house was on the market, put it down in 2007, and just picked it back up a few months ago.  Not sure how many months it represents, 8 or 9, likely.  I didn't keep up.  I just knew when I put it away the time would come when I would pick it back up.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow! Done! 

Congratulations, Sunshine! It's always such a wonderful day when that last stitch goes into making a top! Hope the resulting quilt will always be cherished by you and your children, it will be a lasting legacy like your career. All the good you did will just incorporate into people's improved lives with less pain and suffering, but your quilt will go on for generations with people knowing a woman full of patience and love for her family benefited them.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, I didn't know you could do that. Can you register an old one like the one my grandmother made? What about a damaged one like my little red schoolhouse quit? I mean, my kids are getting ready to inherit a butt load of stuff, I want them to come out on top with it all.
> 
> 
> 
> Absolutely, Sunshine.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> What is the process? I hate to be so dense.
Click to expand...

Contact the National Quilting Association. Ask them who in your state does quilt documentation and registration in your state. Their online address is: The National Quilting Association

The American Quilter's Society might also give you better information than I could, and their address is: American Quilter's Society - Home - Quilt Shows & Contests, Workshops, Books & Magazines

It's not clear to me who does historical registry of quilts, but either or both could set you in the right direction for having your family quilts identified, photographed, and listed into a national registry of American quilts. You will need to supply the person's name who made the quilt, where she made it, the approximate time she finished the quilt. These facts should be embroidered onto the quilts you are making:

Your name
Date of completion
Name of town and state
Name of quilter if other than yourself

That also doubles or quadruples the value to a collector. An academic title the maker earned should be included on modern quilts, such as MA, PhD or nurse practitioner, etc. wouldn't hurt anything, and would be a special treat for your posterity. 

One other thing--please take a picture of your completed embroidered top or have a professional do it before and after you ship it off to the quilter. That will help if it is lost in the mail or stolen. 

I hope koshergrl is paying attention to this post as well, as well as anyone else who has or makes quilts.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Absolutely, Sunshine.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is the process? I hate to be so dense.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Contact the National Quilting Association. Ask them who in your state does quilt documentation and registration in your state. Their online address is: The National Quilting Association
> 
> The American Quilter's Society might also give you better information than I could, and their address is: American Quilter's Society - Home - Quilt Shows & Contests, Workshops, Books & Magazines
> 
> It's not clear to me who does historical registry of quilts, but either or both could set you in the right direction for having your family quilts identified, photographed, and listed into a national registry of American quilts. You will need to supply the person's name who made the quilt, where she made it, the approximate time she finished the quilt. These facts should be embroidered onto the quilts you are making:
> 
> Your name
> Date of completion
> Name of town and state
> Name of quilter if other than yourself
> 
> That also doubles or quadruples the value to a collector. An academic title the maker earned should be included on modern quilts, such as MA, PhD or nurse practitioner, etc. wouldn't hurt anything, and would be a special treat for your posterity.
> 
> One other thing--please take a picture of your completed embroidered top or have a professional do it before and after you ship it off to the quilter. That will help if it is lost in the mail or stolen.
> 
> I hope koshergrl is paying attention to this post as well, as well as anyone else who has or makes quilts.
Click to expand...


Thanks a million.  I'll definitely take the pic, but it will by driven there my me.  I forgot about putting my name, etc. on it. White or off white thread for that?  There is plenty of green, believe me! 

That's just how much I like green, I didn't get tired of it the entire time I was stitching it.

Last week there was a piece of embroidery on Antiques Roadshow that they valued at $60,000 - $80,000.  It was a picture and they said the work showed it was done by someone who had graduated from a particular school that taught embroidery in the 1700s or 1800s, I don't recall which.  Nothing I do though, even paintings will ever be worth that.  I think I've posted some pics of the paintings before.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Wow! Done!
> 
> Congratulations, Sunshine! It's always such a wonderful day when that last stitch goes into making a top! Hope the resulting quilt will always be cherished by you and your children, it will be a lasting legacy like your career. All the good you did will just incorporate into people's improved lives with less pain and suffering, but your quilt will go on for generations with people knowing a woman full of patience and love for her family benefited them.



I will never use it on a bed.  It doesn't go with my décor.  But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, regardless which child ends up with it, it will be used until it is threadbare.  They don't believe in sticking things back in a closet. LOL 

I do have a wall downstairs in the room where my computer is that I can't come up with anything to use on.  I thought mural, TV, etc. but nix everything.  I may have the quilt mounted to hang and put it on that wall, it's not really the right color for that décor either, but I know a designer that says every room needs something in it that doesn't 'go' so it will look homey and used. It's the room my books are in and they are all colors.  I have one of those electronic filters on my furnace that takes the dust, pollen, and mold out of the air, so it shouldn't collect much stuff hanging out like that.


----------



## Sunshine

The tablecloth is in the hoop and ready to start.  But no floss until tomorrow.  With this, the big problem will be keeping the volume of material out of the way.  I have it kind of all folded up and secured with clothes pins.  Seems it will work, but I have to come up with something else for the clips.


----------



## koshergrl

What tablecloth?

Are you embroidering a tablecloth?

Have we pictures?


----------



## koshergrl

I have serious tablecloth envy.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> What tablecloth?
> 
> Are you embroidering a tablecloth?
> 
> Have we pictures?



Hang on, let me find the place I bought it from and I'll post it up.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, here you go.  Red snow scene Christmas tablecloth:







The material is very pretty.  Far more than I expected.  It took weeks and weeks for it to ship.

I got a catalog from Herrschner's last week.  They have so many pretty things on sale.

I like stitching in only one color.  I also like doing monochromatic paintings.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I have serious tablecloth envy.


 I have the desire to see your first block. You know, if you make block one in which your block is a similar size to your pattern, consistency after that is important. You'll know if it's too far off or close enough by measuring all four sides, which should be the same all the way around. The math does  not lie. I'm hoping you have a scanner. I picked one up after Christmas from Wally World for $29, which promised quality ink cartridges that are cheap. Now that that has changed, it doesn't matter. I only use it for scanning where ink is irrelevant to the purpose for which I purchased it. 

I hope you will show us one finished block sometime this week. That first one, if all are identical, is a good blueprint for what you can expect. Your fabrics rock.

koshergrl's beautiful fabrics brought forward:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, here you go. Red snow scene Christmas tablecloth:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The material is very pretty. Far more than I expected. It took weeks and weeks for it to ship.
> 
> I got a catalog from Herrschner's last week. They have so many pretty things on sale.
> 
> I like stitching in only one color. I also like doing monochromatic paintings.


 That's totally fabulous, Sunshine.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here you go. Red snow scene Christmas tablecloth:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The material is very pretty. Far more than I expected. It took weeks and weeks for it to ship.
> 
> I got a catalog from Herrschner's last week. They have so many pretty things on sale.
> 
> I like stitching in only one color. I also like doing monochromatic paintings.
> 
> 
> 
> That's totally fabulous, Sunshine.
Click to expand...


I hope the one I do comes out that well.  Gotta get thread tomorrow.


----------



## Sunshine

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here you go. Red snow scene Christmas tablecloth:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The material is very pretty. Far more than I expected. It took weeks and weeks for it to ship.
> 
> I got a catalog from Herrschner's last week. They have so many pretty things on sale.
> 
> I like stitching in only one color. I also like doing monochromatic paintings.
> 
> 
> 
> That's totally fabulous, Sunshine.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I hope the one I do comes out that well.  Gotta get thread tomorrow.
Click to expand...


That's the catalog pic.  I haven't started it yet.  I got the white thread today.  So, will be starting it soon.  And Sarah G gets me banned, I may finish it before I get back!  I do so love Pink.  I mean Red.   LOL


----------



## koshergrl

It looks like fun to stitch....I'll bet it goes fast.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, here you go. Red snow scene Christmas tablecloth:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The material is very pretty. Far more than I expected. It took weeks and weeks for it to ship.
> 
> I got a catalog from Herrschner's last week. They have so many pretty things on sale.
> 
> I like stitching in only one color. I also like doing monochromatic paintings.
> 
> 
> 
> That's totally fabulous, Sunshine.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I hope the one I do comes out that well. Gotta get thread tomorrow.
Click to expand...

 It will be a master work, Sunshine, and you won't even have to quilt it. *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

I still have strips to cut. But I need more light colored material, and I can't get any until the first...


----------



## koshergrl

I have to share this little thing...I can't share it on facebook, because it involves my son and his family peripherally, and they would see it as a criticism (which it is not).

I am an early riser. I get up before my family does and not just on weekdays, but on weekends too. My younger children are early risers too, but I generally beat them to it. On weekends, I am often up for hours before everybody is up and stirring...but I like that, it's my alone time. I hit the hay early.

My youngsters went and spent a few days with their brother and his family...he works a hard job (and lots of over time) as a diesel mechanic during the week; on the weekends he often doesn't come home until 4-5 am on Friday night, and he sleeps often until noon on Saturday. My daughter in law also does...they stay up late, and they sleep late.

I picked up the kids and asked them if they enjoyed themselves...and they did...BUT...

"They sleep so late! At home when we get up, you're already up!"

Lol. It's the little things. I think my kids do take a lot of things for granted, which is okay, I want them to feel secure...but it's nice when they notice some of what's going on for their sakes.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I still have strips to cut. But I need more light colored material, and I can't get any until the first...


 What yardage of light colored fabric does your pattern suggest?


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I have to share this little thing...I can't share it on facebook, because it involves my son and his family peripherally, and they would see it as a criticism (which it is not).
> 
> I am an early riser. I get up before my family does and not just on weekdays, but on weekends too. My younger children are early risers too, but I generally beat them to it. On weekends, I am often up for hours before everybody is up and stirring...but I like that, it's my alone time. I hit the hay early.
> 
> My youngsters went and spent a few days with their brother and his family...he works a hard job (and lots of over time) as a diesel mechanic during the week; on the weekends he often doesn't come home until 4-5 am on Friday night, and he sleeps often until noon on Saturday. My daughter in law also does...they stay up late, and they sleep late.
> 
> I picked up the kids and asked them if they enjoyed themselves...and they did...BUT...
> 
> "They sleep so late! At home when we get up, you're already up!"
> 
> Lol. It's the little things. I think my kids do take a lot of things for granted, which is okay, I want them to feel secure...but it's nice when they notice some of what's going on for their sakes.



Sometimes they don't notice those things until they have children of their own!


----------



## koshergrl

I certainly didn't haha.


----------



## koshergrl

My mom was different though...she wasn't gracious or loving about it. She did it because she had to, and she let us know. Most of my adult life started mornings with my mom at the door saying "For God's sakes, are you going to lay around all day?"


----------



## koshergrl

So naturally, I did.


----------



## freedombecki

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." ~ Poor Richard's Almanac, Benjamin Franklin.

Edit: Oops! This was regarding the post where you get up way early & the kids were glad to get home where you were up when they got up! That was part of our family life too, and I remember spending the night with friends whose parents were not up with the sun, whereas, my mother was up long before the roosters crow.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> My mom was different though...she wasn't gracious or loving about it. She did it because she had to, and she let us know. Most of my adult life started mornings with my mom at the door saying "For God's sakes, are you going to lay around all day?"



LOL.  When it all got dumped on me through no fault of my own, I am sure after that time, my own will remember me 'having' to do a lot of things.  Man, now, though I can't look back and see anything much I would change.  We all enjoy different things, and some of us are better at those menial things than others.  There were many days I sat and read before my husband died.  I don't remember my mother EVER not being up at 6 a.m. at least.  She cooked EVERY day.  The beds were made EVERY day.  She read.  But other things came first.


----------



## freedombecki

Mc7donald said:


> It made my shop an assistant to those of an artistic demand to have the correct color available immediately.


 Welcome to USMB and the Quilter's thread, Mc7donald. Hope you enjoy the boards. Tell us about your shop!


----------



## koshergrl

Whoops I meant most of my YOUNG life, not adult life, lol.


----------



## freedombecki

Today was a good-bad-good day. Started off going to the charity bees club, where I just decided to try my hand at quilting a small quilt I had donated earlier in the year. I worked from around 10 to 1 o'clock, and during a lunch break noticed bad foot pain. By the time I got most of the work done on the quilt, I had to leave. At home, I just fell asleep and recuperated as well as possible. If I quilt, it needs to be in a quiet corner of home. I haven't had severe fibro pain issues for some time, but when your quiet routine gets jilted and you throw in the lot of physical activity that machine quilting is, along with sitting next to a compulsive talker who if ignored, speaks louder, *louder* and *LOUDER*! 

It's nobody's fault that fibromyalgia is a thief of all that's good about your life, but sometimes I'd like to be free of its stranglehold. It's like all your wires are picking up and amplifying everything. I was better off in the winter when I stayed home. Cabin fever is better than pain. You can kick pain, and you can put a pretty good dent in cabin fever, too, with a Spartan approach to defeating your anathema, if you have one. I'm tired and going to bed. Every muscle in my back and neck are threatening pain. I can back them off if I just fall asleep and don't have to look at them in the eye for a few hours. Have a lovely evening, everyone. Don't worry about me. I just need to go climb on my therapy mattress and rest for the night. I don't see the supermoon in the eastern sky tonight. Maybe it's cloudy or something... so different from the last couple of nights.

May God watch over everyone who drops by.


----------



## Sunshine

Hope this find you feeling better Bekcums.  I looked at the work from last night, and I believe it looks better than I thought when I put it down.  I had considered ripping every stitch out and starting again.  But don't think I'll do that.


----------



## Sunshine

You told me the quilt would be a walk in the park compared to the quilt.  I believe you are right.  It is going well.  I don't get in a hurry because the stitching is my zen meditation thingy.  But there are six major areas of design which will take the longest.  A gazillion little snowflakes which are FUN to do, and a border all around the bottom not unlike the one around each quilt block!  It won't take a year.  I always worked on the quilt about 2 hours a day.  I haven't worked on the table cloth even an hour a day yet and it is going fairly well.  I learned from the quilt.  I'm sure I'll learn from this.  And I have another quilt waiting in the wings.  

Herrschner's has so many pretty things on sale.  But I'm waiting to get my credit card that gives air miles before I buy anything else.


----------



## Sunshine

Here is what I got done last night.  More done today.  When I finish one of the major areas of pattern, I will post again.  I'm thinking I may work on that border as I go along so it won't be there to annoy me at the end.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here is what I got done last night. More done today. When I finish one of the major areas of pattern, I will post again. I'm thinking I may work on that border as I go along so it won't be there to annoy me at the end.


 You have a beautiful hand, Sunshine. I so owe you a rep for sharing and hope we see progress picturess often! If only we didn't stumble into the "out for 24" popup too often! 

/pouting


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here is what I got done last night. More done today. When I finish one of the major areas of pattern, I will post again. I'm thinking I may work on that border as I go along so it won't be there to annoy me at the end.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You have a beautiful hand, Sunshine. I so owe you a rep for sharing and hope we see progress picturess often! If only we didn't stumble into the "out for 24" popup too often!
> 
> /pouting
Click to expand...


Got some of the church done tonight.  Not sure how long it will take to have the first scene done, but it's not hard stitching.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm glad to hear the tablecloth is going well. 

I should have been sewing my quilt all day today. I got the outer white and red borders done, but got interrupted at noon and never got back to it. If mornings were only a little longer. *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

I love cross stitch embroidery! It's my favorite of all the stitches, I think..


----------



## koshergrl

I'm glad to see you posting Becki...I was worried!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm glad to see you posting Becki...I was worried!


I'm okay, koshergrl. The other night it was like my first 5 years of fibromyalgia, except not nearly as awful. And it went away because I learned to take melatonin at night to get a full night's sleep, which reduces pain when rest is procured. It took 9 or 10 years to run across other people who use melatonin to get sleep who were reporting full nights' sleep and a 10% reduction in pain. I wonder if people with related diseases such as adult-onset diabetes and arthritis suffer from insomnia some nights or every night. The melatonin takes 2 weeks to kick in. I started sleeping a little more in 3 days and by 2 weeks, was sleeping 7 hours a night, which I was getting before fibro set in. Coupled with CoQ10 supplements, womens +50 multivitamins and Vital Factors (TM) I can get through the pain pretty well by ignoring the pain around my ribcage. One press on the ribcage or in a bundle area where muscles meet nerves, and it all comes back requiring a 3-hour nap to make it go away. 20 minutes helps, but is a temporary fix.

Sleep is an important component of fighting pain. Ignore it, and the pain multiplies. Take Neurontin, buh-bye whatever reasoning you had in your frazzled brain, particularly noted in number sense. I probably at one time couldn't have reasoned my way out of a paper bag. It was horrible. I still lack confidence in math, even though I don't make as many mistakes. I went from making an average of 70 quilts and window-decorations a year to quilting one quilt in 3 years in severe pain. The year I started Vital Factors, I was able to organize the Purple Heart Quilt Club to make, quilt and bind over 30 full quilts for wounded soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq. I quilted all but two, who were anonymously sent through various members by friends in their circle of loved ones and likely quilted and bound by them. When I had a dozen finished quilts, I'd take them to church prior to distribution to have them blessed. One time, a lady who attended church the day of one of the blessings said she had bought a cute quilt, but when she brought it home, it didn't match her house, so she asked me to wait after church for 15 minutes while she went home and got it. She brought back the cutest bird quilt I ever saw that someone had made, and she claimed she found it in brand new condition at a garage sale or something, and the owner said the quilt had never been used or washed (and that was true.) It had been stored in a clean poly bag, and the sizing was still in the fabrics, which had beautiful colors due to its being stored properly at high altitude. (good for quilts). Some wounded soldier got that quilt for himself (or herself) and family. What a sorrowful pleasure it was to send it to Walter Reid hospital. I remember waving goodbye to the package at the post office.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning, 5am - finished ladder border Oh, what a difference it makes!

This morning, sometime later - 9:40, completed outside border to quilt, making it measure a total of 48x58", give or take an inch.

Tuesday morning, I learned something: When you affix them to the top of batting with a backing, they may draw in after sitting in a pile from February-June and need to be repressed. I cut the top I thought 4 inches longer, but accidentally pulled the top in a little, so it was only 2 inches longer. By the time the top was smoothed out, it was half an inch short on the back. I should have done 2 things: (1) Cut the quilt out 6 inches all the way around like I did when I did professional quilting. That way, no matter what else, the quilt would have had a backing that was large enough. (2) I should have pressed the top of the quilt I was working on, because it had a gap of about 3/4 of an inch on the front at a seamline, which had to be lapped on the 4th border quilted, in order to quilt straight stitches after the first row of quilting was laid down on the 4th border near the center.

With pressing just before pinning, plus proper pinning AFTER pressing, few gaps if any ever show up. It's been about 2 or 3 years since I even attempted to quilt a small top, and not only was I exhausted when done, that gap followed me home and made me sorry I forgot to do the basics of doing a little more professional job like I used to do when my quilting paid the utilities for our business, which always was a little marginal.

Oh, yes, 'scuse the sideways shots on the first two scans, but the quilt's bulk under the scanner didn't help keep it straight! I'm always trying to devise a new way to make them straight, and that always brings another fly into the ointment of my crazymaker copier and photography results. Really, folks, there's no hope for my situation. 

But on the happier side, I'm done with quilt number 40!!!!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I'm glad to see you posting Becki...I was worried!



I was too!


----------



## koshergrl

Becki, you need a camera!


----------



## Sunshine

OK, I have officially ripped out a row of stitching.  There are two rows together that I am considering.  On those two rows the stitches aren't going the same way as all the others.  But they aren't right next to them, and every work needs some imperfection because only God is perfect.  Doing a bit of stitching while I watch the big trial.


----------



## koshergrl

I have done quite a bit of that. And even then, when I got to the end of my little pillow, I saw huge glaring differences in colors that I didn't catch when I was working it....where I mismatched the threads.


----------



## freedombecki

Decided to get some fresh air this morning and mowed quite a bit. Got a flat. Came in house and foot cramps started. Drank some milk and grape juice. Cramps in foot eased slightly. Likely it was too much hitting the gas.  I worked hard, finishing quilt this morning, riding herd on uncooperative de,emted sweetie, mowed 2.5 hours, it's nap time! I found two "postage-stamp-sized" pieced quilts made in the 1860-1870s, and a contemporary really pretty poppies pillow. Oh, how I love poppies!

The quilts were from Maine, the poppies may have been from someone who made it in the UK on her blog, but it's been a few weeks:


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I have done quite a bit of that. And even then, when I got to the end of my little pillow, I saw huge glaring differences in colors that I didn't catch when I was working it....where I mismatched the threads.



I used to do Celtic knots when I had to fly somewhere. I have one that has almost an entire row of backward stitches.  That occurred during take off!  I was still in my fear of flying years them.  I have a trip planned later this year.  I think I'm going to work on the next quilt I have ready to start even if I'm not finished with the tablecloth.  It is just too big to take on a plane.  Quilt blocks, not so much.


----------



## freedombecki

Organizing squares:




She just divided her postage stamp squares stacks with cardboard strips scotch taped in place! Not a bit expensive!





Copious surface space





My favorite of her 4 quilts, each of which  has over 4,000 squares on them

blog link

​


----------



## freedombecki

Museum piece alert!!!​ 





The Quilt Index​


----------



## freedombecki

The last quilt had a border that wound up having a lot of leftovers since there was no bother in counting. Sometimes the temptation to just sew and have fun obfuscates the need to count carefully to prevent wasting of resources for the next quilt. It usually has a great advantage, but sometimes ends up with a lot of stuff piling up in clearview plastic storage containers, shoeboxes, ziplock (tm) bags, etcetera.

Here's a piece of the red and white border of the last quilt completed the other morning:




​You may not be able to see the triangle shapes on the above white-on-white print due to the lack of acuity on cheap printers.  But this isn't really about thrift, it's about what could be, and I saw a pillow at first and have made enough squares to make a pillow top to match the quilt. Haven't decided yet.

Votes:

Make the quilt, then do another quilt:

Make another quilt now:

Please, just say below. This isn't a real contest, and if you're here viewing quilts, welcome, sign in and vote now! It's a great site and a lot of fun people post here. 

Oh, here's a little explanation of how I work, now that we've seen other people's methodologies. Picking up 20,000 postage stamps and restacking them into another container really isn't much fun, especially if 52 pickup your older brother pulled on you once (after you agreed with a cross my heart to the consequences) gave you feelings of impatience. It was about as much fun as having a pigtail pulled on at school by the smartass behind you.

So, I purchased some of those plasticized drawers that are 2 or 3" high per drawer and 16 inches by 14 inches or there around to stack and store postage stamps cut out for later use. Each has about 3 drawers, and the first one has mainly 30s fabrics in it, but the second one was just for red and red and white postage stamp pieces. They all measure 1.75" (1 and 3/4 inches) and finish 1.25 (1 1/4) inches. I like them because you can get a few more details in the square if you are fussy cutting a 30s reproduction print, and a lot of other quilter fabrics. The large splashy prints are harder to categorize, so if you have those, you can always just make a couple of stacks for bizarre-world color schemas and make a quilt of them someday, or throw one in here and there for a little annoyance.

Methodology in Scan 1: white print shown with red behind it, hoping that the triangle chips can be seen that cannot be seen in the other white-on-white squares of the chip fabric. Scan 1 also shows a wafer-thin piece of red picked up cheap somewhere that you can see through, so it was backed with white batiste that brings it up to snuff with the 200-count quilter's cottons that are far more opaque. Also if the sheer was a polycotton (which most are) it reduces the smell if you press on the back piece of 100% cotton batiste which does not smell like a chemical plant, at least. I pinned the red, white and green print back so you could see the batiste backing. The others are 1.75" strips cut to be cross cut into 1.75" squares in the near future. A lot of my time lately has been spent trying to cut squares from strips made for the last quilt that just never got crosscut. 

Scan 2 shows work progression from sewing the red 1.75" squares onto a white chip 1.75" strip, back to back, to be cut when the entire strip is adorned by 20 or more squares. One end was imperfectly printed, so I started where the perfect white triangular chips start. 6 white 2-patch rectangles are pictured then the red-white-red-white lengths of 4 pieces; then 8 piece patch, and finally, the 16-patch red and white checkerboard with charm pieces on it.

Scan 3 shows 32 patch rectangles in which two 16-patch checkerboard squares were shown together, and in the next post, there will be 3 more 32-patch rectangles. I'm going to leave them that way until I decide whether to just make the pillow sham to match the quilt, or go ahead and go for another baby quilt. I'm reluctant to do that with only a yard of white left, if that much.​


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 4, 5, and 6


----------



## koshergrl

That is so beautiful.

I have always loved red, especially in fabric. 

I love orange, too, but when a person loves brown and orange, they don't like to admit it, lol. Thanksgiving colors hahaha


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, koshergrl! 

Here's a pillow I found online that is the most like my red and whites, except hers is on point:


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums, I only lack 4 snowflakes having one full pattern done.  I'll try to get it posted sometime today.


----------



## Sunshine

Here you go Beckums.  My progress so far:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here you go Beckums. My progress so far:


 
Very beautiful, Sunshine! You're fast!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here you go Beckums. My progress so far:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Very beautiful, Sunshine! You're fast!
Click to expand...


Not sure what day I started.  But this design didn't take a full week at 2 hours/day like that quilt did.  There are only 5 more of those design sections to do, then there are the borders and snowflakes which I want to try to keep up with as I go if it isn't too annoying.  And I'm still stopping  while I still want to be stitching.  That assures that I will return!


----------



## Sunshine

One day soon, I need to find my round crocheted tablecloth that my grandmother made.  I don't know if things like that have any monetary value or not.  But it is way old, and last I saw it was in perfect condition.


----------



## Sunshine

When I went upstairs a bit ago, the scissors were in the drawer where I put them.  But the cat was sleeping on the tablecloth!


----------



## freedombecki

Miss Kitty? She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah! 

[ame=http://youtu.be/T0YifXhm-Zc]Beatles - She Loves You - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Well, nobody voted, so I just got tired of it all and decided to make a pillow to match the other quilt and call it a wrap. I can't do too well quilting even a baby sized quilt, but I can still do 15" pillow tops, which this one measured. I will need to make a 14" pillow, finished, to go in it because of takeup around the edges. We'll see.

Here are some scans of the pillow. There will be a few center squares in every scan, as my copier didn't include instructions for splicing together edges, at least, I don't think so.


----------



## freedombecki

Red and white quilted pillow top, the third side of four:






The quilting stitch is #112 on a Bernina 380. A lot of machines with stitches do this stitch, which is called the "feather" stitch, popular with and known to people who embroider fancy stitches on crazy quilts. 

Didn't sleep a wink last night, with visions of sugar plum quilts dancing in my head and a little night music. 

So since this task is completed, I just gotta get some shut-eye now!

Love to all for a beautiful new week. May it be filled with joy, good weather, fun things to see and do, and a renewed interest in all those new year's resolutions that need to be back in our faces. 

Of course, I already have a pretty good idea of who's naughty and who's nice. (no I don't).


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Miss Kitty? She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!
> 
> Beatles - She Loves You - YouTube



Well, I can't take her with me when I go to Gulf Shores for 2 months.  My daughter is going to cat sit.  I think I'm going to wear a gown around here for a day or two before and leave it with her at my daughter's house for her to sleep on.

Talked to my brother last night.  He is one of the funniest people I've ever known.  As irreverent and I am, he is far more so and 100 times funnier.  I told him about how the cat is jealous of the stitching and will watch me for 2 hours at a time.   His comment:  "She's just trying to learn how."


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Well, nobody voted, so I just got tired of it all and decided to make a pillow to match the other quilt and call it a wrap. I can't do too well quilting even a baby sized quilt, but I can still do 15" pillow tops, which this one measured. I will need to make a 14" pillow, finished, to go in it because of takeup around the edges. We'll see.
> 
> Here are some scans of the pillow. There will be a few center squares in every scan, as my copier didn't include instructions for splicing together edges, at least, I don't think so.



I'm sorry becki, lol...


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Miss Kitty? She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!
> 
> Beatles - She Loves You - YouTube
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I can't take her with me when I go to Gulf Shores for 2 months.  My daughter is going to cat sit.  I think I'm going to wear a gown around here for a day or two before and leave it with her at my daughter's house for her to sleep on.
> 
> Talked to my brother last night.  He is one of the funniest people I've ever known.  As irreverent and I am, he is far more so and 100 times funnier.  I told him about how the cat is jealous of the stitching and will watch me for 2 hours at a time.   His comment:  "She's just trying to learn how."
Click to expand...


I have a hilarious brother too. 

We were very, very close growing up but now we rarely speak and haven't seen each other for years. He married a rabid Canadian leftie who has no interest in fostering ties with his family, and he certainly isn't.

But that's okay, we have our own families now. I love him and think of him often.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Miss Kitty? She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!
> 
> Beatles - She Loves You - YouTube
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I can't take her with me when I go to Gulf Shores for 2 months.  My daughter is going to cat sit.  I think I'm going to wear a gown around here for a day or two before and leave it with her at my daughter's house for her to sleep on.
> 
> Talked to my brother last night.  He is one of the funniest people I've ever known.  As irreverent and I am, he is far more so and 100 times funnier.  I told him about how the cat is jealous of the stitching and will watch me for 2 hours at a time.   His comment:  "She's just trying to learn how."
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I have a hilarious brother too.
> 
> We were very, very close growing up but now we rarely speak and haven't seen each other for years. He married a rabid Canadian leftie who has no interest in fostering ties with his family, and he certainly isn't.
> 
> But that's okay, we have our own families now. I love him and think of him often.
Click to expand...


In psych  we say the term 'dysfunctional family' is redundant.  LOL.  We have had our issues, but they have been resolved for years.  My daughter married a Canuck, but he isn't a leftie.  He is rock solid, and I can die knowing she and my grandson are in good hands.  His family is also wealthy.  

He has a daughter who is just like him.  And her poor husband just can't seem to catch a break.  He says she and I were 'separated at birth' because the things we say are so much alike.  He says that my brother, her dad, 'saves up' his irreverence but she and I don't, and he thinks we should!  LOL.  

Anyway, I've gotta run to town for a bit.  I'll catch y'all later.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Well, nobody voted, so I just got tired of it all and decided to make a pillow to match the other quilt and call it a wrap. I can't do too well quilting even a baby sized quilt, but I can still do 15" pillow tops, which this one measured. I will need to make a 14" pillow, finished, to go in it because of takeup around the edges. We'll see.
> 
> Here are some scans of the pillow. There will be a few center squares in every scan, as my copier didn't include instructions for splicing together edges, at least, I don't think so.



My vote goes to whatever you want to do!


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I found a zig-zag quilt that in 5-inch squares would be a bit of fun today:







A few weeks back, I found 6 yards of every color in the rainbow for $249. When I did the math for 102 yards, it turned out to be the best bargain in the world plus I got free shipping and only had to pay state sales tax. The fabrics are a soft, small floral that has a luminescent quality because of the lights and darks. If I find it has a medium gray in it, I will be thrilled. Otherwise, I'm sure there's a country blue that would be suitable. If not, I can find something, I know it. 5-inch squares in charm packets at any quilt store would be nice with the above color schema of a medium slate color...whether blue or gray. 160 squares would make a quilt about 45x60 or thereabout, plus you could always do a dynamite border of one kind or another.


----------



## Sunshine

I just discovered that Singer has a shop in Murray.  I thought they were gone.


----------



## freedombecki

Hopefully, it will be a good shop for you, Sunshine. 

Happy blueberry 4th of July!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Hopefully, it will be a good shop for you, Sunshine.
> 
> Happy blueberry 4th of July!



Going to check it out next trip to town.


----------



## Sunshine

I kinda want that Pfaff, but being retired now, money may be the issue.  I need to check both places out.  Singer is closer, not sure if they give any classes, or what their machines do these days.  I have a new credit card that awards air miles  so I need to use it for something so I can get the 35,000 bonus miles.  But I want to be able to pay it off.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, I'd really try the Brother at WalMart. Get one that does 100-250 stitches. They even have one that both embroiders and sews that is a Brother. See if you even like to sew at first. Why spend thousands of dollars to find out you need 85 training classes just to understand the machine's basic works? First, find out if you like sewing with a half-way decent machine that won't break the bank. 

When you start out, keep tabs of your expenditures. What does it cost to make a $50 dress for summer casual wear, to do mending, to put on a button, or to monogram a pocket and then sew it back on? What are you going to do if you make a mistake and the monogram is at a 15 degree angle you hate? *sigh*

I'd really go slow to start. Even if all you do is sew your quilt squares together or hem your red tablecloth with a neatly-sewn hem. Some machines even have a basting stitch, especially if you get one with 200 stitches. 90% of them will have a basting stitch, so you can firm up your hem, take it quickly out if it's wrong, and when everything is correct, you can sew even a straight stitch hem that looks nice, because if you get the one with the needle-down function, the fabric will stay in place while you straighten the fabric out so it will sew right.

I can't emphasize too much how nice it is to have a little experience before you dive into a thousands-of-dollars purchase. Give yourself 3 months with this assessment: (1) How many times did I use the machine? (2) Did I go through the instruction manual and do a sample of each stitch and learn to use the buttonholer, button attachment foot, zipper foot, overedge foot, rolled hem foot, etc. Was it too hard? (3) Is the machine safe (didn't sew a finger up, etc.) (4) How easy was the machine to thread after 7 days? 14 days? a month? two months? (5) Is there any attachment I am not comfortable using after 90 days? (6) Did the manufacturer include or have a way to purchase a how-to video/cd or did I find one on YouTube?

Please, go slow. You may learn some things about yourself you don't know yet.

My favorite people to deal with as a dealer was medical professional women. Man oh man, were they ever clued in to doing exactly what the manual taught or the instructor did. What a bright bunch! And one school librarian was the same way.

You might talk to a dealer and ask if he or she has a trade-up program, where you have 6 months to a year trade-up to a better model. That way, you have a trained professional who can show you things he learned at the dealer's convention nobody else would know, including the manual, which only lightly touches all the machine capabilities. I didn't know too many of my other Pfaff dealers well, but I gave a year's option. One lady was a widow, and she enjoyed the option through 5 move-ups, until she was truly enjoying a very sophisticated machine, because every time she did, the sticker or price she paid came off the price of the next new machine she got. That way, she didn't get clobbered with thousands of dollars when she moved up to the top of the line machine. I didn't make a nickel, but I've never been so happy that a customer who didn't have an instant cash payment to plunk down on a top of the line got so well trained. She really appreciated the build-skill approach.

The worst things that happened would happen when somebody would want to have the ability to do everything, but didn't have the patience to learn basic tasks in order to be able to use the machine in as versatile a way as possible.

I'm just throwing ideas out, Sunshine. You know yourself best. I do notice you are a very adventurous person and put your whole heart into whatever you think is best. You might be like the 5 top users who were so thrilled to have a Pfaff they wanted to do everything it would do, because they had a comparison base of a 2-ton monstrosity that made noise boucoup, sewed worse after repairs than before, and was the stuff of hair-tearing experiences. For that reason they loved the quiet Pfaffs, and once I showed them how trust the machine to do the work of sewing and not to do damage the machine by trying to force it to do something like machine horrible habituated them into doing by nonperformance, they had real fun. They loved the built-in walking foot with perfect reverse stitching, and Pfaff was 20 years ahead of everyone else in that field. I haven't assessed any other machines as to that much capability, but I know I love the Bernina and Brother machines I've sat in front of. I'm not worried about threading because in my factory experience in the 60s, I was competent on at least 5 different types of machines after 3 months, because I kept asking if I could fill in for anyone in a different part of the factory in which there was a demand for production. I spent one day on an overlock machine one day when the process ahead of me had no zippers to sew one day. It was fun.


----------



## koshergrl

i bought my little sewing machine at Walmart some 6 or 7 years ago. Works great for everything i've tried it on..except sock monkey sewing, and that's understandable. it's light enough it's easy to move, and tough enough to take it...and simple enough that even when i haven't done anything in ages, when i sit down it comes back to me...and there's zero 'programming' to figure out.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine, I'd really try the Brother at WalMart. Get one that does 100-250 stitches. They even have one that both embroiders and sews that is a Brother. See if you even like to sew at first. Why spend thousands of dollars to find out you need 85 training classes just to understand the machine's basic works? First, find out if you like sewing with a half-way decent machine that won't break the bank.
> 
> When you start out, keep tabs of your expenditures. What does it cost to make a $50 dress for summer casual wear, to do mending, to put on a button, or to monogram a pocket and then sew it back on? What are you going to do if you make a mistake and the monogram is at a 15 degree angle you hate? *sigh*
> 
> I'd really go slow to start. Even if all you do is sew your quilt squares together or hem your red tablecloth with a neatly-sewn hem. Some machines even have a basting stitch, especially if you get one with 200 stitches. 90% of them will have a basting stitch, so you can firm up your hem, take it quickly out if it's wrong, and when everything is correct, you can sew even a straight stitch hem that looks nice, because if you get the one with the needle-down function, the fabric will stay in place while you straighten the fabric out so it will sew right.
> 
> I can't emphasize too much how nice it is to have a little experience before you dive into a thousands-of-dollars purchase. Give yourself 3 months with this assessment: (1) How many times did I use the machine? (2) Did I go through the instruction manual and do a sample of each stitch and learn to use the buttonholer, button attachment foot, zipper foot, overedge foot, rolled hem foot, etc. Was it too hard? (3) Is the machine safe (didn't sew a finger up, etc.) (4) How easy was the machine to thread after 7 days? 14 days? a month? two months? (5) Is there any attachment I am not comfortable using after 90 days? (6) Did the manufacturer include or have a way to purchase a how-to video/cd or did I find one on YouTube?
> 
> Please, go slow. You may learn some things about yourself you don't know yet.
> 
> My favorite people to deal with as a dealer was medical professional women. Man oh man, were they ever clued in to doing exactly what the manual taught or the instructor did. What a bright bunch! And one school librarian was the same way.
> 
> You might talk to a dealer and ask if he or she has a trade-up program, where you have 6 months to a year trade-up to a better model. That way, you have a trained professional who can show you things he learned at the dealer's convention nobody else would know, including the manual, which only lightly touches all the machine capabilities. I didn't know too many of my other Pfaff dealers well, but I gave a year's option. One lady was a widow, and she enjoyed the option through 5 move-ups, until she was truly enjoying a very sophisticated machine, because every time she did, the sticker or price she paid came off the price of the next new machine she got. That way, she didn't get clobbered with thousands of dollars when she moved up to the top of the line machine. I didn't make a nickel, but I've never been so happy that a customer who didn't have an instant cash payment to plunk down on a top of the line got so well trained. She really appreciated the build-skill approach.
> 
> The worst things that happened would happen when somebody would want to have the ability to do everything, but didn't have the patience to learn basic tasks in order to be able to use the machine in as versatile a way as possible.
> 
> I'm just throwing ideas out, Sunshine. You know yourself best. I do notice you are a very adventurous person and put your whole heart into whatever you think is best. You might be like the 5 top users who were so thrilled to have a Pfaff they wanted to do everything it would do, because they had a comparison base of a 2-ton monstrosity that made noise boucoup, sewed worse after repairs than before, and was the stuff of hair-tearing experiences. For that reason they loved the quiet Pfaffs, and once I showed them how trust the machine to do the work of sewing and not to do damage the machine by trying to force it to do something like machine horrible habituated them into doing by nonperformance, they had real fun. They loved the built-in walking foot with perfect reverse stitching, and Pfaff was 20 years ahead of everyone else in that field. I haven't assessed any other machines as to that much capability, but I know I love the Bernina and Brother machines I've sat in front of. I'm not worried about threading because in my factory experience in the 60s, I was competent on at least 5 different types of machines after 3 months, because I kept asking if I could fill in for anyone in a different part of the factory in which there was a demand for production. I spent one day on an overlock machine one day when the process ahead of me had no zippers to sew one day. It was fun.



All good ideas, Beckums.  Already know I don't like to sew clothes to wear.  Tried that years ago.  I just want to be able to do really pretty things like embroidery, and maybe make doll clothes to hawk on eBay to the doll hoarders.  LOL.  This disease is progressive even in the face of treatment, and I will eventually get where I can't do anything but sit.  I have 'furnished' the outside of my house, the upper front deck, the lower front deck, the back yard, the side deck so that when that day comes there will be a lot of places to sit.  Law school pretty much robbed me of my reading.  Like most people who get doctorates I don't really want to read, I want to _do_ things.  So, if I can't actually do anything that is physical, and I'm going to be sitting and panting for air (which I was doing before the pump), I want to have something that will satisfy that need to do something and that will be gratifying.  

I'm not worried about the money since I'm not going to be around to need it. (Believe me, I wish my friends and family would not be in such denial about that.  I have seen many come to terms with their own mortality when their families could not.  Never thought it would happen to me.)   

My daughter has done well with her little Sears machine that her ex BF bought her several years ago.  She made a lot of things for the baby, cut  up soft jeans and made little baby blue jeans, made a butt kicking diaper bag.  So, I know it doesn't take much to do some really cool things.  I don't plan on doing anything rash, but I want that 35,000 air miles  so I'm putting $1500 on that card to get them.  (I have enough hotel points for 10 nights in Hawaii.)  I go to Paducah on the 22nd, and will look at English's.   I may have already looked at the Singer place first.  I don't have a cabinet for it, and it seems that I had one several years ago and sold it.  But I want some type of permanent place for it as lifting will eventually be out of the question.  Sewing machine cabinets are looking a lot like computer desks these days.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> i bought my little sewing machine at Walmart some 6 or 7 years ago. Works great for everything i've tried it on..except sock monkey sewing, and that's understandable. it's light enough it's easy to move, and tough enough to take it...and simple enough that even when i haven't done anything in ages, when i sit down it comes back to me...and there's zero 'programming' to figure out.


 Next time you do a sock monkey, take the zig zag stitch, make it 3mm long (9 to the inch, more or less) and half a millimeter wide instead of 3mm that is standard set. You will get what is called a "stretch straight stitch." Of course, it isn't a straight stitch. It is a zig-zag that is modified to accommodate knit fabrics with a stitch that *almost *looks like a straight stitch. Your stitch is a lot less likely to break that way. I promise, it works.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, I see what you mean. Go for the gusto. I hate to disappoint you about an early demise, but I have actually seen a few people add years to their life because a new Pfaff sewing machine brought them so much joy they couldn't wait until tomorrow to see what they could do with it. My shop door was always open a little wider for them. I couldn't wait to see what they did tomorrow, either.


----------



## freedombecki

But Joen Wolfrom found it first as it made its way to Bing! The quilt was made by Lois Podolny of Tucson, AZ, made from a pattern designed by Mary Sorenson, a friend of Joen's. For anyone who doesn't know who Joen Wolfrom is, I'll tell you: she is one of the premier masters of color combos in the quilt world and is up there with the likes of Jinny Beyer and Caryl Bryer Fallert. Joen's quilt page of master works of friends


----------



## freedombecki

While on the subject of Joen Wolfrom's page, I found a treatise she wrote as a prologue to her book on the uses of color here: Playing with Color | JWD Publishing Blog

She makes the aesthetics of taking tips from nature on color decisions in making a quilt (or taking a picture) to a new level.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine, I see what you mean. Go for the gusto. I hate to disappoint you about an early demise, but I have actually seen a few people add years to their life because a new Pfaff sewing machine brought them so much joy they couldn't wait until tomorrow to see what they could do with it. My shop door was always open a little wider for them. I couldn't wait to see what they did tomorrow, either.



LOL.  People DO need a reason to keep living, that's for sure.  I think what's happening to me goes into the 'be careful what you wish for' category.  I had to work so hard raising the children alone that I was frequently heard to say, I wish my life was a 'being' model and not a 'doing' model.  Well, this disease has me headed straight for the 'being' model, and whaddaya know, I am looking for things to DO when it gets there.  Isn't that hilarious.  I think without some things to do that I can do, I won't be able to handle the end stage of this disease very well.  

Singer looks to have a model that does embroidery.  I'm going to check out both options before I buy.  I've got a little more time before the time is up for me to get that 35,000 air miles!


----------



## Sunshine

Here is my NEXT zen project:






Ordered it today.  When I finish the tablecloth, I'm doing this.  I may do another Celtic knot to take on the plane with me when I go on the trip with the kids.  I've going back and forth between that and starting the next quilt blocks.  But I don't want too many projects going at once. I outline the Celtic knots and then fill them in on the plane.  They are perfect in size and it keeps your mind off the fact that you are thousands of miles high.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine, I see what you mean. Go for the gusto. I hate to disappoint you about an early demise, but I have actually seen a few people add years to their life because a new Pfaff sewing machine brought them so much joy they couldn't wait until tomorrow to see what they could do with it. My shop door was always open a little wider for them. I couldn't wait to see what they did tomorrow, either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL. People DO need a reason to keep living, that's for sure. I think what's happening to me goes into the 'be careful what you wish for' category. I had to work so hard raising the children alone that I was frequently heard to say, I wish my life was a 'being' model and not a 'doing' model. Well, this disease has me headed straight for the 'being' model, and whaddaya know, I am looking for things to DO when it gets there. Isn't that hilarious. I think without some things to do that I can do, I won't be able to handle the end stage of this disease very well.
> 
> Singer looks to have a model that does embroidery. I'm going to check out both options before I buy. I've got a little more time before the time is up for me to get that 35,000 air miles!
Click to expand...

 The very best of luck, Sunshine! Singer and Pfaff were together when I was still a dealer in the shop. Now, I don't know who cooperates with whom anymore. 

I've been thinking about doing something super simple--a pieced stained glass window quilt, and downloaded to "my pictures" dozens of them last night. Will see if I can find some that will fit the "Manage Attachment" frames below.


----------



## freedombecki

More Stained Glass Quilt ideas...


----------



## freedombecki

And the first one is the _piece de la resistance, _because of the border, the inner parts could be simplified way down to look like a good little charity quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, I used the word "beautiful" when I Bing!d these stained glass quilts:






Sweet!






Oh, my another braided quilt done in stained glass!






Woven too? Well, kinda-sorta...






Love this one, though:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunflowers are so... exquisite, imho:







And found about 15 different pictures of people who did this "poppies" one:
















And almost bought this book on Amazon today...






Brenda Hennings is associated with Bearpaw Productions, Inc., I think. I'm pretty sure some of her patterns on stained glass sold in my shop.


----------



## freedombecki

More Stained Glass roses from the internet Bing'd!


----------



## freedombecki

In the wee hours of this morning, I ordered 3 stained glass quilt books, used:






Thought this one was lovely, too:







This one, too:






I love used books! They're wonderful!


----------



## freedombecki

Something tells me this one was ordered, too, but not certain. It's good for the future, maybe if not ordered:






Think I'll do something simple from each of the book if time permits, then design my own quilt. I'm really doing more pieced than other kinds of quilts these days.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, those don't look all that simple.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> More Stained Glass roses from the internet Bing'd!



I really like this one.  It puts me in mind of the chapel window at the old state hospital in Nashville.  Well, I've looked for a pic online, but don't find one.  I kinda think it was designed by a patient. (Just because they are crazy doesn't mean they are stupid.)


----------



## Sunshine

Progrress:





Almost half way through the actual design part.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Progrress:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Almost half way through the actual design part.


 *Wow!!! *
Too cool, Sunshine! Congratulations on your progress!


----------



## freedombecki

Sewed all morning a lot of strips to cross cut and divide into squares for the border on one of the quilts shown above as a little practice quit before working on this, unless I decide to do a trip around the stained glass world, which at this point, anything can go. 

I'm placing them in rainbow order:


----------



## freedombecki

The rest of the strips before cross-cutting:


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, those don't look all that simple.


If you've seen my album, you'll know they are reasonably simple: Children of the World ~






This was one of the Soldier quilts called Purple Heart II--one of the squares on Row 4 is actually a stained glass sample & I'm tempted to use it as the first block in colors:






A Music Quilt (machine embroidered) Sorry the details are so poor. It's truly one of Pfaff's Masterwork embroidery discs that made the majority of the squares:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Progrress:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Almost half way through the actual design part.
> 
> 
> 
> *Wow!!! *
> Too cool, Sunshine! Congratulations on your progress!
Click to expand...


It feels so slow, but each pattern is taking less than a week.  There are 6 of the little church and tree scenes and I'm about middle way of the 3rd one.  I have to admit, I'm stitching more while watching 'thu' trial.  Ordinarily it would be only a couple hours a day.  I was just reading the washing directions for it.  LOL.  Holy Moly!


----------



## freedombecki

Yes, washing and pressing a treasure like the one you are making, Sunshine is quite a process. I'm guessing neutral pH soap (Orvus type), pressing carefully with down side resting in the thickest Turkish towel in your repertoire, pressing up and down (not side to side), etc., etc, etc. Trust me, it's a lot easier to care for them than to make them, and be sure to make notes or type up "care for linens" and repeat the details. You could probably just place the instructions on the scanner, and put them in your Office software, print out, and place in a poly bag pinned to the back of the treasured table cloth for future generations. People forget details, such as when to use cold water to rinse, etc. It helps to have them in a poly bag, safe from grubby hands, soap suds, etc.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Yes, washing and pressing a treasure like the one you are making, Sunshine is quite a process. I'm guessing neutral pH soap (Orvus type), pressing carefully with down side resting in the thickest Turkish towel in your repertoire, pressing up and down (not side to side), etc., etc, etc. Trust me, it's a lot easier to care for them than to make them, and be sure to make notes or type up "care for linens" and repeat the details. You could probably just place the instructions on the scanner, and put them in your Office software, print out, and place in a poly bag pinned to the back of the treasured table cloth for future generations. People forget details, such as when to use cold water to rinse, etc. It helps to have them in a poly bag, safe from grubby hands, soap suds, etc.



Fortunately for me, I have a Singer Magic Press.  Only presses down.  I do plan to put the directions with it.  I'm also considering getting some kind of white beaded fringe to sew on the bottom of it.  That could be a mistake, though.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, washing and pressing a treasure like the one you are making, Sunshine is quite a process. I'm guessing neutral pH soap (Orvus type), pressing carefully with down side resting in the thickest Turkish towel in your repertoire, pressing up and down (not side to side), etc., etc, etc. Trust me, it's a lot easier to care for them than to make them, and be sure to make notes or type up "care for linens" and repeat the details. You could probably just place the instructions on the scanner, and put them in your Office software, print out, and place in a poly bag pinned to the back of the treasured table cloth for future generations. People forget details, such as when to use cold water to rinse, etc. It helps to have them in a poly bag, safe from grubby hands, soap suds, etc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fortunately for me, I have a Singer Magic Press. Only presses down. I do plan to put the directions with it. I'm also considering getting some kind of white beaded fringe to sew on the bottom of it. That could be a mistake, though.
Click to expand...

 Your work is so beautiful that tablecloth doesn't need a single other thing. Beads of plastic might be unfortunate considering that most linen takes the highest heat, and beads melt at moderate heat. Also, 99% of the fringes out there are rayon. They too melt under pressing and instantly loose their sheen among other things.

Trust me, your work will speak for itself. Just sayin'.


----------



## freedombecki

A little crazy quilt to think about tonight from Craftsydotcom as thoughts come together, because the idea of using the strips already sewn is becoming an elixir... 








This quilt came from a contest in Queensland, Down Under:







The grout can be other than black, as this Asian Turning Twenty Quilt was quilted by Shirley Brabson shown at Quiltworks at Albuquerque Gallery online:






This quilt inspired my work today on account of the small squares border and was shown by Fern Martin:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, washing and pressing a treasure like the one you are making, Sunshine is quite a process. I'm guessing neutral pH soap (Orvus type), pressing carefully with down side resting in the thickest Turkish towel in your repertoire, pressing up and down (not side to side), etc., etc, etc. Trust me, it's a lot easier to care for them than to make them, and be sure to make notes or type up "care for linens" and repeat the details. You could probably just place the instructions on the scanner, and put them in your Office software, print out, and place in a poly bag pinned to the back of the treasured table cloth for future generations. People forget details, such as when to use cold water to rinse, etc. It helps to have them in a poly bag, safe from grubby hands, soap suds, etc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fortunately for me, I have a Singer Magic Press. Only presses down. I do plan to put the directions with it. I'm also considering getting some kind of white beaded fringe to sew on the bottom of it. That could be a mistake, though.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Your work is so beautiful that tablecloth doesn't need a single other thing. Beads of plastic might be unfortunate considering that most linen takes the highest heat, and beads melt at moderate heat. Also, 99% of the fringes out there are rayon. They too melt under pressing and instantly loose their sheen among other things.
> 
> Trust me, your work will speak for itself. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...


Thanks a million, Beckums.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, one length row is begun. Seems nice and long for a child's quilt, but will measure to make sure. I decided to perhaps do a zigzag encasing each square in the dark gray floral print that mottles the grout. And I noticed I had not used a single light value, which is what makes the above quilt have an enchanting illumination about it. So I added a hazy pink in a fabric called "Rain," but it's not enough to have the same feel--it will just remind me to pay attention next time instead of inserting all brilliant values into the quilt. I think every quilter at times has the feeling "What am I doing?" and "What are the textures and illusory effects to be with these fabrics?" "How can I make these simple parts come together by placing this color group here or that color group there?"

We won't know till we're finished sometimes.

Well, I'm calling it a day. Stayed up too late twice in a row, and got interrupted every time I started making progress. *sigh*

Some more quilts using black to set off bright colors:





















Thanks, Bing!

May everyone have a blessed week, free of pain, and full of happiness in the heart.

Best regards,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> More Stained Glass roses from the internet Bing'd!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really like this one. It puts me in mind of the chapel window at the old state hospital in Nashville. Well, I've looked for a pic online, but don't find one. I kinda think it was designed by a patient. (Just because they are crazy doesn't mean they are stupid.)
Click to expand...

I spent a couple of hours looking for the Old State Hospital in Nashville, also, but couldn't find anything like what you are describing. I did find some beautiful stained glass work in the Getty Collection (Nashville?) and was wondering if it's possible the glass was taken down and auctioned, dismantled to use in other works of art, presented to someone or even donated to a local museum with a pledge of careful moving and restoration in a prominent place for the public to see it. Or perhaps, somehow I saw it but didn't connect it right with your description. Nashville has a wealth of Church stained glass, and seems to be loved by many people there. Sometimes what meant everything to one generation doesn't have the same effect on another. I hope it didn't get shellacked over with putty or something in a cost-saving construction maneuver.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> More Stained Glass roses from the internet Bing'd!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really like this one. It puts me in mind of the chapel window at the old state hospital in Nashville. Well, I've looked for a pic online, but don't find one. I kinda think it was designed by a patient. (Just because they are crazy doesn't mean they are stupid.)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I spent a couple of hours looking for the Old State Hospital in Nashville, also, but couldn't find anything like what you are describing. I did find some beautiful stained glass work in the Getty Collection (Nashville?) and was wondering if it's possible the glass was taken down and auctioned, dismantled to use in other works of art, presented to someone or even donated to a local museum with a pledge of careful moving and restoration in a prominent place for the public to see it. Or perhaps, somehow I saw it but didn't connect it right with your description. Nashville has a wealth of Church stained glass, and seems to be loved by many people there. Sometimes what meant everything to one generation doesn't have the same effect on another. I hope it didn't get shellacked over with putty or something in a cost-saving construction maneuver.
Click to expand...


The window is still in existence.  When they moved to the new facility, they took it out of the chapel in the old place and moved it to the new.  I had a coworker who committed suicide when I worked there, and I stood in front of it and gave one of the memorial speeches for him.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, I have chosen the Celtic knot to do on the plane on my trip.  I had a skein of thread, but it needs two colors.  I thought and thought about it without any conclusion.  This morning, my cat  had found somewhere, and drug up, a skein of thread that is the perfect color to go with the one I had.  I don't even remember having that color.  I know she didn't run out and buy it, but now I think I know why the Egyptians thought cats had special powers!  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, sorry to hear of the loss of your coworker and speaking in his behalf in front of the window. Surely someone knows what happened to it who used to work there. I hope you find out what happened to it, and whether it still exists somewhere in your state.

What a cat! No wonder you love her so. She has your number.


----------



## freedombecki

There's some good news and bad news on progress on the stained glass work. The bad news is, there was no progress today because of the good news. I found a top made by somebody else that I must've completely forgotten about--or someone else <ahem> opened the box, put it in a stack with fabrics and failed to tell me my eBay quilt arrived. Well, it was pretty sad. It had an abundance of yellow in it, and worse, most of the fabrics were either such thin polycottons you could get eye damage by holding it up to the sun and looking at it OR coarsely woven canvas and blend material linen-like prints people made into napkins in the 70s when polyester was all the rage--until they discovered that polys of the day held moisture down onto the skin that caused microbial issues and multiplied skin issues in general. Fashion accepted crinkle cottons after that, and industry came up with a panacea of 65% cotton, 35% poly with good looks and breathability, sort of. Not perfect but good enough to reduce the incidence of integument issues that were seen in the age of polyesters when men looked like fashion plates in woven, permanent-press houndstooth and wild colors. 

The quilt top took a lot of pressing, and the permanently-pressed wrinkles did not come out readily! I tried to get the feeling of the piecer's jolly but limited color palette on the scanner, but a utility quilt is just that--an attempt to use up every little bit of everything laying around the sewing room, no matter what the outcome. I did the best I could of picking fabrics that would set off or "pop" certain colors, but it wasn't easy picking, so I just finished it off with the fabric I had that looked the best with what was on the surface of the quilt. I just hope it will please the child who gets the quilt. Aside from the awful fabric content of polys in the top, I put borders on of quilting weight cottons sans blends. Here are "impressions" of the brick quilt and some shots of the borders, too to make the quilt measure 58x68" for a child.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are scans 4, 5, and 6:

And that's all, folks!


----------



## Sunshine

Tomorrow I got the get my hair dyed....er uh... washed.   Think I will run by the Singer place.


----------



## freedombecki

Sounds like fun, Sunshine! My mom loved her Singer back in the late 60s-early 70s. Good luck!


----------



## freedombecki

Made some real progress since the last post, and have about 2x as much work as below to finish the top, more or less, which generally means "more."

Here are some from top in descending order, and the next post will continue these three:


----------



## freedombecki

Here are the rest of the squares:

Now just 2 more days to go!


----------



## boedicca

That quilt is going to be gorgeous!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, boedicca! I have to say, that it is a little work.


----------



## Sunshine

Went to the Singer store.  Woman who could demonstrate machines not there.  Salesman recommended a Janome over a Singer.  Janome machine sews and embroiders.  It has a gazillion stitches and you can download a gazillion more from the internet.  The singer has far fewer stitches and you have to download on a laptop and then interface the laptop with the machine.  Singer machine around $600.   Janomie can be had for $1400. Has a 25  year warranty. Whatever I get, I need to finagle it so that my daughter can get lessons when I croak and so the warranty will transfer.   It looks groovy.  I'm going back for a demo.  What say you Beckums?  If my Japanese car is any indication............


----------



## Sunshine

He had machines that sew and machines that embroider and suggested getting one of each.  I just don't think I can have that large of a set up.  I'm thinking of my Japanese car, Yamaha pianos, etc. etc. etc.


He also had the sewing, embroider, quilting ones.  Price too high.


----------



## freedombecki

I don't know, Sunshine. I've never even set down in front of a Janome, and I was never once approached by the Janome company in 23 years I was in the quilt business. I liked Pfaff because I sewed on a Pfaff in a factory in 1960s. At that time, they were the top performer in the world and were manufactured only in Germany. It was a joy for me to work with their company up to the day I had to retire due to pain and cold weather's effect on my little case of fibromyalgia, and set aside all business and social pursuits. I'm sorry I can't help you where Janomes are concerned.

Best wishes whatever you decide, Sunshine.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I don't know, Sunshine. I've never even set down in front of a Janome, and I was never once approached by the Janome company in 23 years I was in the quilt business. I liked Pfaff because I sewed on a Pfaff in a factory in 1960s. At that time, they were the top performer in the world and were manufactured only in Germany. It was a joy for me to work with their company up to the day I had to retire due to pain and cold weather's effect on my little case of fibromyalgia, and set aside all business and social pursuits. I'm sorry I can't help you where Janomes are concerned.
> 
> Best wishes whatever you decide, Sunshine.



Going to Paducah on the 23.  Will go to the Pfaff place on that day.  I am going to see if they have the Janome as well.  I would be interested to know.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine, sorry to hear of the loss of your coworker and speaking in his behalf in front of the window. Surely someone knows what happened to it who used to work there. I hope you find out what happened to it, and whether it still exists somewhere in your state.
> 
> What a cat! No wonder you love her so. She has your number.



Oh boy!  That was a long time ago.  I was new to psych and not very confident.  A tech came to me and told me that the man had told her he was going to kill himself if he got fired.  He had been in trouble and did something that was a firing offense.  My first instinct was to have the new mobile crisis team go to his house and check on him, but instead I decided to call management.  They cogitated on it and decided not to intervene as they believed he was just being manipulative.  That night he suicided.  That was the last decision I ever called upon someone else to make.  That was the day I became a psych nurse.  I didn't know the person very well, he wasn't a personal friend, just a coworker, but I carried a lot of pain for a LONG time after that.


----------



## Smilebong

freedombecki said:


> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:



Ok. I will have to get it out. My grandmother made me one when she was 78 years old. We were amazed at how beautiful and well done it was.  Then she told us she had made her first one in 1924.  She had been a maid for a fairly wealthy family and the head housekeeper taught her and she started making them for people and developed quite a little business, then her kids came along in 1933 and 1935 and she stopped. Then she started again in the late 40's and continued making them. She said they were not very profitable, but she enjoyed it and it was easy.  I will post a picture.  It was made in 1988.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I don't know, Sunshine. I've never even set down in front of a Janome, and I was never once approached by the Janome company in 23 years I was in the quilt business. I liked Pfaff because I sewed on a Pfaff in a factory in 1960s. At that time, they were the top performer in the world and were manufactured only in Germany. It was a joy for me to work with their company up to the day I had to retire due to pain and cold weather's effect on my little case of fibromyalgia, and set aside all business and social pursuits. I'm sorry I can't help you where Janomes are concerned.
> 
> Best wishes whatever you decide, Sunshine.



I looked at the card again and the Janome is not $1400 it is $2400.  Everyone I know who has a Pfaff likes it.  I go to Paducah once a month, so if I can get one for around $1500 and they will be flexible on the lesson times.

The guy at Singer wanted to know how much I wanted to spend.  I told him that I didn't have a set amount and I wanted to consider all options.  Then he picked one and started selling.  I then told him that I didn't want him to pick one and sell it to me, that I want to consider all options. I think he was glad when I left.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know, Sunshine. I've never even set down in front of a Janome, and I was never once approached by the Janome company in 23 years I was in the quilt business. I liked Pfaff because I sewed on a Pfaff in a factory in 1960s. At that time, they were the top performer in the world and were manufactured only in Germany. It was a joy for me to work with their company up to the day I had to retire due to pain and cold weather's effect on my little case of fibromyalgia, and set aside all business and social pursuits. I'm sorry I can't help you where Janomes are concerned.
> 
> Best wishes whatever you decide, Sunshine.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Going to Paducah on the 23. Will go to the Pfaff place on that day. I am going to see if they have the Janome as well. I would be interested to know.
Click to expand...

 I have to say, Sunshine. All Pfaff dealers know who the Pfaff dealer in Paducah was up to the time I retired. He was always in the top 10, which tells me he (1) knows his Pfaffs, (2) Has plenty of educational opportunities available (3) Will see to it you get the machine of your dreams with the best instructors in the region and (4) is backed up with all the software and actual materials you will need to create and execute any counted cross stitch pattern in the world. I've been to his store twice. It's amazing. All I can say is just, wow. 

Even so, you may not decide on a Pfaff. Their cost for being on the cutting edge of technology may be competitive with Viking and Bernina, but it's over the top. To cut to the chase, only people who are totally nuts for sewing and computer technology like me would pay the price and scrimp on everything else in life. *sigh* I brought 3 machines with me, but I'm tough on sewing machines because I sew sometimes 12 hours a day, and they're heavily used. I need a backup because I don't like down time just because the machine needs a repair or tune-up, and already have to take 2 days off to transport a machine to a decent authorized repair shop since my husband/repairman lost his abilities due to dementia.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know, Sunshine. I've never even set down in front of a Janome, and I was never once approached by the Janome company in 23 years I was in the quilt business. I liked Pfaff because I sewed on a Pfaff in a factory in 1960s. At that time, they were the top performer in the world and were manufactured only in Germany. It was a joy for me to work with their company up to the day I had to retire due to pain and cold weather's effect on my little case of fibromyalgia, and set aside all business and social pursuits. I'm sorry I can't help you where Janomes are concerned.
> 
> Best wishes whatever you decide, Sunshine.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Going to Paducah on the 23. Will go to the Pfaff place on that day. I am going to see if they have the Janome as well. I would be interested to know.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I have to say, Sunshine. All Pfaff dealers know who the Pfaff dealer in Paducah was up to the time I retired. He was always in the top 10, which tells me he (1) knows his Pfaffs, (2) Has plenty of educational opportunities available (3) Will see to it you get the machine of your dreams with the best instructors in the region and (4) is backed up with all the software and actual materials you will need to create and execute any counted cross stitch pattern in the world. I've been to his store twice. It's amazing. All I can say is just, wow.
> 
> Even so, you may not decide on a Pfaff. Their cost for being on the cutting edge of technology may be competitive with Viking and Bernina, but it's over the top. To cut to the chase, only people who are totally nuts for sewing and computer technology like me would pay the price and scrimp on everything else in life. *sigh* I brought 3 machines with me, but I'm tough on sewing machines because I sew sometimes 12 hours a day, and they're heavily used. I need a backup because I don't like down time just because the machine needs a repair or tune-up, and already have to take 2 days off to transport a machine to a decent authorized repair shop since my husband/repairman lost his abilities due to dementia.
Click to expand...


Maybe he will have one in my price range.  I won't have to buy a cabinet as I have something that will suffice, so that is good.


----------



## freedombecki

Hope so, Sunshine!


----------



## freedombecki

Found this cute quilt show at a place called "Mariposa" put on by the "Mariposa Quilters," of their show in 2010. Just thought it was a beautiful thing to do for their community. Quilt shows add a touch of class to small towns.


----------



## freedombecki

and 

Inspired by Egypt






Kevin the Quilter, credits


----------



## freedombecki

Just did a little surfing to see if anyone posted pictures of the Stafford, Texas quilt show for yesterday and today. Surprise, not all of the quilts are in the show, and are not well captioned. Even so, I'm bringing what I found forward:






 Birds!!!! 






This has to be the biggest Mariner's Compass square ever:






And another...






Details, details:


----------



## freedombecki

This one looks like railroad tracks all around the blocks:





This shot is a little clearer, but doesn't show the whole quilt:






Someone took a closeup of the bird (above post)






I love seeing a picture with good details on tiny-printed calicos that add so much texture and vitality to a quilt:






Well, someone DID do a periwinkle background on something I can almost stand:






ummm Slice of cake:






​


----------



## freedombecki

Quite fun amplification of the ordinary Dresden Plate:






Centering around the stars here:






Another cutie that took probably a year:






And here's the cake:





​


----------



## freedombecki

You could make this one any size! Also, it only uses 7 fabrics, and not 90 million itty bitty pieces like my usual quilts, and it looks very interesting at least to this eye:






I really need to do more sewing and less surfing.

Hope everybody has a great and wonderful day today! ​


----------



## freedombecki

She calls this one "shattered." I call it _gorgeous_.​ 


 
This one has quilt blocks on it I've not seen and some old faves:​ 


 
Like a church window...​ 


 
Every day denims were used in some of the blocks of this one:​ 


 
I may have seen this one years ago, or was it a fabric:​


----------



## Sunshine

Wow~!


----------



## freedombecki

More assorted quilts and wallhangings around the net ...


Found! Another very pleasing Stained Glass quilt done in album style:








> This queen-size bed quilt is a stained-glass sampler quilt done in vibrant jewel tones with black "leading". The top was donated. Quilted and bound by Blanche Dunn, President of Victoria's Quilts Canada. This quilt has been appraised at $2,980. Victoria's Quilts Canada


 
This Stained glass quilt was made for a son by Frances and posted before 2007:






This one by Jeanne Wright was posted at Town of Dexter, Maine News where her prize-winning quilts were shown:






Yet another French Braid Stained Glass Quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, someone got creative with her French Braid stained glass quilt and set it on point:






Hahaha! This isn't stained glass, it's a beaded curtain, and you can get the free pattern at Timeless Treasures:




​Well, it's early but I'm sleepy and will be signing off now. Hope everyone has a blessed Sunday and a great week ahead! ​


----------



## freedombecki

The stained glass quilt has been renamed "Ezekiel's Bow in the Sky Stained Glass" quilt top. It measures 48x64" and was finished in the last half-hour, with time just for scanning and reducing to bring it here. It's about #42 for the year, I'm thinking. 

I'm recalling the scans which were done a couple of days ago for two posts and the right-side border which took 6 scans which also take up two posts. If you've never used USMB's "Manage Attachments" in the advanced message box, (instruction below,) I recommend it the next time you have 3 pictures to show in a post from your computer's "my pictures." It's a really fun feature of USMB, and I love it very much.

Scans 6, 7, and 8


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 9, 10, and 11


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 12. 13, and 14


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 15, 16 and 17


----------



## freedombecki

Well, it took some doing, but I finally got measurements made and descriptions made up for the two quilts #40 and 41, and brought cake!


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful as always. And the cake looks yummy. I had all sorts of plans for the day..I ended up making a loaf of sourdough bread (it finally turned out!) and that was pretty much it.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Beautiful as always. And the cake looks yummy. I had all sorts of plans for the day..I ended up making a loaf of sourdough bread (it finally turned out!) and that was pretty much it.


Thanks, koshergrl.  Love that sourdough bread! Used to make it in Oregon when we lived there. Perfect bread baking place--never too hot or cold where we lived, and the kids loved it!  

Believe it or not, I finished another quilt today. This one was started in Wyoming in 2008 or 2009, and I had made it to augment our teacher's never-ending historic quilting class. A fabric and quilt designer/historian named Terry Clothier Thompson designed a quilt in honor of Louisa May Alcott entitled simply, "Louisa" and my Wyoming shop had the entire collection from Moda fabrics. This quilt is based on her pattern, though you may not be able to see it clearly, I'll go online later and see if I can find a square. The squares are 18" and my sashes are a little wide in black and white of 3" total, which makes two across plenty big for a child's width, and 3 long, well the quilt is longer than all but one or two quilts I've made this year.

So here are the first 3 scans, and there will be 3 more in the next message.


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 4, 5, and 6.

All I had to do was remove 2 squares, use the 6 remaining joined squares and add a border! It took only a couple of hours! 

This is a 2-quilt top day!  

And after posting these two posts, I'll go hunt and seek someone who finished their Terry Clothier Thompson quilt, "Louisa."


----------



## freedombecki

To give you an idea here's what it looks like:



 
At least if you can envision 6 of them making a quilt 58x70 inches, and there being 3 borders plus double borders around each square, that added a lot of extra space without looking too egregious, I hope.  It was a joy to finish two tops today.​ 
Oh, here's another Louisa quilt with some details of the GORGEOUS fabrics that were in the Louisa collection. I had all forty something of the pieces, or however many there were, and I had to reorder in 2 weeks, a first for my shop. When you see the details, you'll surely know why people went for "Louisa" fabrics. They were way, way too cute!​ 





This came from luciethehappyquilter blog link

Her larger quilt:





If you go to the link, Lucie's quilt doubles in size if you double click it, and in the new window it doubles again if you click it again.​


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a book I own and love:


----------



## freedombecki

Sewing room accomplishments were cancelled by a bout of screaming out loud foot and whole-body cramps. Got my husband to the doctor's, and he got new meds. Maybe once he gets his problems squared away and gets his life back, I will also return to health. 

Sew tired tonight.

My best thoughts to all.


----------



## freedombecki

With so little progress yesterday, except for a modicum of cutting, I got up in the wee hours and sewed stripes for a new quilt that is to be multicolored with gold. This is the fabric that will go in the outer border from a P&B Textiles group called "Love Lives Here."

Scan 1 is of the Fabric, and Scan 2 will be stripes from my stash sewed together in the reds and pink group. I love the fabrics I picked for this to go with another fabric from the "Love Lives Here" Collection that looks like multicolored oval bubbles on gold from a broad range. I did as much matching as I could and threw in a couple of extra favorites of mine to make the stripes. Scan 3 is the multicolored pebbles.

Still having some pains in my legs for some reason. They said it would take 2 days and evaluation time to figure out what's wrong or run more tests.


----------



## freedombecki

Just did another group before tiring out, and will show older to show the chromatic scale being used of the coordinates I found to go with the first fabric. 

Earthsong Bird Stripes so far:


----------



## Sunshine

Wow.  Those are sensational, as usual.

Today, I had to order another fanny pack for my  med pump.  This one is worn and is damaging my clothes.  I picked up a pattern at the quilt show for a texturized satin evening bag, which if measurements are adjusted, will be much more comfortable and easier on the clothes.  I didn't realize I would have to texturize the satin though.  ~sigh~  It will be a while until I can get a machine.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Wow. Those are sensational, as usual.
> 
> Today, I had to order another fanny pack for my med pump. This one is worn and is damaging my clothes. I picked up a pattern at the quilt show for a texturized satin evening bag, which if measurements are adjusted, will be much more comfortable and easier on the clothes. I didn't realize I would have to texturize the satin though. ~sigh~ It will be a while until I can get a machine.


 On our trip to New York City years ago, we happened into a fabric store where the people had every fabric on rolls. I never saw so much beautiful stuff in my whole life. Too bad you can't just pick another type of fabric and use the pattern on it, unless it requires quilting. Seems the Paducah, KY Pfaff man had his shop in association with a Hancock's fabric we visited once. They, too, had more choices in one place than the NY place had. When I want a potholder that lasts under heavy use, I'll use the better part of an old Turkish towel in addition to batting on both sides of it covered by the outside layer. That makes it very resistant to heavy use. I wonder if the method would work to make you a holder that wouldn't wear down to the point of the equipment hurting you or your clothing. 

Well, whatever. I carried some fabric at my store by Minnetonka mills they called "Elephant Hide." and was guaranteed tough. I'm not sure you could even quilt it. It was a double-thick high-gauge nylon that was heat-pressed to a near-waterproof substance that increased it's already stellar strength.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow. Those are sensational, as usual.
> 
> Today, I had to order another fanny pack for my med pump. This one is worn and is damaging my clothes. I picked up a pattern at the quilt show for a texturized satin evening bag, which if measurements are adjusted, will be much more comfortable and easier on the clothes. I didn't realize I would have to texturize the satin though. ~sigh~ It will be a while until I can get a machine.
> 
> 
> 
> On our trip to New York City years ago, we happened into a fabric store where the people had every fabric on rolls. I never saw so much beautiful stuff in my whole life. Too bad you can't just pick another type of fabric and use the pattern on it, unless it requires quilting. Seems the Paducah, KY Pfaff man had his shop in association with a Hancock's fabric we visited once. They, too, had more choices in one place than the NY place had. When I want a potholder that lasts under heavy use, I'll use the better part of an old Turkish towel in addition to batting on both sides of it covered by the outside layer. That makes it very resistant to heavy use. I wonder if the method would work to make you a holder that wouldn't wear down to the point of the equipment hurting you or your clothing.
> 
> Well, whatever. I carried some fabric at my store by Minnetonka mills they called "Elephant Hide." and was guaranteed tough. I'm not sure you could even quilt it. It was a double-thick high-gauge nylon that was heat-pressed to a near-waterproof substance that increased it's already stellar strength.
Click to expand...


There are a couple of problems.  The specialty pharmacy gives you a holder but it is an under the arm thing, and has a pouch for a sandwich.  WTF?  A SANDWICH?  For real?  Anyway the butt packs are the right size.  They are just heavy material and have those horrible buckles.  I wear mine UNDER my clothes, so I have to wear a camisole so it doesn't eat me alive.  The one I have ordered, well both, look a bit softer.  But I still want one made of something else.  I thought when I go to Paducah, I would sashay through a fabric store and see what kind of things they have that would work.  Something heavy but not rough like the fanny packs.  Upholstery?  Drapery?  All I need is just a little oblong bag about the size of an evening bag with a belt to go around my waist that fastens with something OTHER than those horrible plastic buckles.  I can do this.  WHEN I get a machine.


----------



## freedombecki

Cotton quilting with cotton or 100% Turkish cotton toweling for a batt is what I recommend. Cotton is the belle of millenniae of human comfort. Its cellular structure seems to have developed around bringing comfort to human skin. It absorbs the baddies, can be sanitized with boiling, washed and cleaned, and if need be, bleached again. It also allows breathing and protection. Cotton springs back after being hot whereas polyresins melt releasing a poisonous gas that kills people in house fires as a worst case scenario. Cotton lacks that much toxicity, but when vegetable matter burns, it's about like tobacco you don't want constant exposure to vegetable smoke. (Over years) I had a long conversation with the Chief of Fire in Casper one day years ago, and he surprised me. He agreed that polyresins are a threat, but he said when it comes to saving lives, the biggest one thing people can do to save themselves was to keep their batteries fresh in their fire alarms. He said they wear out every year, and need replacement. People forget to do that, he said, and even though they have the fire alarms, they don't go off after the batteries die, and do not hear any alarm to let them know smoke inhalation can get them before the fire does.



> Fire Deaths and Injuries: Fact Sheet
> 
> Overview
> 
> Deaths from fires and burns are the third leading cause of fatal home injury (Runyan 2004). The United States mortality rate from fires ranks eighth among the 25 developed countries for which statistics are available (International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics 2009).
> Although the number of fatalities and injuries caused by residential fires has declined gradually over the past several decades, many residential fire-related deaths remain preventable and continue to pose a significant public health problem.
> 
> Occurrence and Consequences
> 
> 
> On average in the United States in 2010, someone died in a fire every 169 minutes, and someone was injured every 30 minutes (Karter 2011).
> About 85% of all U.S. fire deaths in 2009 occurred in homes (Karter 2011).
> In 2010, fire departments responded to 384,000 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,640 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 13,350, not including firefighters (Karter 2011).
> Most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases and not from burns (Hall 2001).
> Smoking is the leading cause of fire-related deaths (Ahrens 2011).
> Cooking is the primary cause of residential fires (Ahrens 2011).



cdc Fire Deaths and Injuries (long page, good read)


----------



## freedombecki

All three strip panels are done as of about 5 am this morning. Now all that has to be done is a series of about 4 borders, which I will show when done today or tomorrow.

Am putting the three panels in the order in which they will be joined to each other as soon as I get back to the sewing room this morning. 

Edit: I'm adding this border fabric to the quilt, and chose pieces around it and a companion fabric that looks like pval bubbles or pebbles, and was manufactured by P and B Textiles, designed by P. Carter Carpin in collection with other fabrics called "Love Lives Here." They're all just gorgeous, imho, especially the big piece I'm adding now:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, Did two sets of inner borders and small headers and footers to make the quilt long enough for a child. It was already about 41 inches long, and the header and footer added 3" apiece, plus the planned inner border is an additional inch and a half all the way around. the large print required a large outer border, so I had to keep the sides a little narrower. Otherwise, the gals who'd normally be willing might not be able to get a wider quilt underneath their machines rolled up with 3 layers to quilt it. I'd really love to quilt this one if I thought I could hold out to do it.


----------



## freedombecki

The top is done!

Scans 9, 10, bottom row, left and right
Scan 11, top, left


----------



## freedombecki

Scans 12, 13, and 14

12, top right corner borders
13 and 14, side borders


----------



## Sunshine

OK, I got the fanny pack for the med pump.  It is by far the best so far, and I'm going to order another one just to have a second one.  Should I ever decide to make one, this one will be the pattern.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, I got the fanny pack for the med pump. It is by far the best so far, and I'm going to order another one just to have a second one. Should I ever decide to make one, this one will be the pattern.


 So glad you got your med pump carrier worked out, Sunshine. 

I'm working on a little quilt started from one of the log cabins made in the past year. I had 9 squares left and fashioned them into a friendship star, and it has been sitting in a pile for several weeks or even months. Time passes so quickly lately. Anyway, the little quilt is so far about 22" across and 25" high, after the first border. I pinned it to the center of some batting, and will try to see if I can make a decent quilted work. I hope it's not too hard, but I'm feeling better than this whole past week. Only trouble is, there's a lot to do outside lately with re to cleaning up the horrendous mess left by the fence builders knocking down the old fence and leaving boards with nails in them all over the place, not to mention fiberglass ribbons all over the ground that held the fencing materials together. They charged an arm and a leg but felt no compunctions about leaving a ton of heavy boards left over from their willy-nilly method of getting rid of the old fence and using it to welch other jobs out of two handicapped seniors to the tune of thousands of dollars. I canned them day before yesterday. We're out of home improvement money for life. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'm going to just bite the bullet, get out there, and do the cleanup. The doctor didn't find anything wrong with my tests they gave for the screaming out loud cramps I had this past week, but they found an infection in my husband's blood, so now he's on 4 medicines instead of 2. I'm praying he will be okay. 

Guess I better do what I can--it's looking like rain out there, so it could be a short mowing day.

Love and health to all !!!

becki


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt block is like log cabin, and may be sewn log cabin OR courthouse steps style. I've done both, and am currently engrossed in one like it, except no white spaces. Hopefully, it will be a good size for a toddler-to-teen age person who may show up at the local families in need shelter.
A Steps to the White House-style quilt top found online called "Charles Quilt":






And another view:






Well, ok, mine's not exactly like that, but it's close enough.


----------



## koshergrl

Here's our little birthday present...pre-stamped pillow cases, I got a lot of them on sale, they're easy for novice stitchers:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Here's our little birthday present...pre-stamped pillow cases, I got a lot of them on sale, they're easy for novice stitchers:


 Koshergrl! They're wonderful! And that handmade crocheted lace! It rocks!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Here's our little birthday present...pre-stamped pillow cases, I got a lot of them on sale, they're easy for novice stitchers:



Very pretty KG.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's our little birthday present...pre-stamped pillow cases, I got a lot of them on sale, they're easy for novice stitchers:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Koshergrl! They're wonderful! And that handmade crocheted lace! It rocks!
Click to expand...

 
Lol..pretty standard fare, pre-stamps and you can see the line of thread between the antennae; that's the girl's work and I didn't make her re-work it at the time, so I didn't go back and rework it on Saturday...no time! I literally finished whipping that edging on 1 minute before her birthday party ride arrived at the door, lol.

No wrapping paper, so we threw them into a tin heart shaped candy box left over from Valentine's Day (ghiradelli!) lol...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's our little birthday present...pre-stamped pillow cases, I got a lot of them on sale, they're easy for novice stitchers:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Koshergrl! They're wonderful! And that handmade crocheted lace! It rocks!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Lol..pretty standard fare, pre-stamps and you can see the line of thread between the antennae; that's the girl's work and I didn't make her re-work it at the time, so I didn't go back and rework it on Saturday...no time! I literally finished whipping that edging on 1 minute before her birthday party ride arrived at the door, lol.
> 
> No wrapping paper, so we threw them into a tin heart shaped candy box left over from Valentine's Day (ghiradelli!) lol...
Click to expand...

 Wow, a beautiful recycled box, too. That's pretty cool!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Koshergrl! They're wonderful! And that handmade crocheted lace! It rocks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lol..pretty standard fare, pre-stamps and you can see the line of thread between the antennae; that's the girl's work and I didn't make her re-work it at the time, so I didn't go back and rework it on Saturday...no time! I literally finished whipping that edging on 1 minute before her birthday party ride arrived at the door, lol.
> 
> No wrapping paper, so we threw them into a tin heart shaped candy box left over from Valentine's Day (ghiradelli!) lol...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Wow, a beautiful recycled box, too. That's pretty cool!
Click to expand...


There was a second hand place in TN that had a lot of tin boxes.  I had several and still do, that I store things in.  But when I moved, I let a lot of them go.  Too much stuff.


----------



## koshergrl

Green is my girl's fave color, so I'm working a lot of edging in that color for her to put on whatever....I think we'll probably attach it to some towels...and her pillow cases...and who knows what else. It takes me a couple of hours to work enough for a pillow case, and I really like the way it looks and feels.


----------



## koshergrl

You know, I recollect wonderful pillowcases with elaborate lace edgings on them...a couple of inches and more....my auntie had a whole pile of some nice old ones adn teh last time I saw those was at our family reunion where they were being used for the SACK RACE! AAARRRGG! I told Aunt shirley "Oh my gosh, the pillow cases!" and she said "What those old things" lolol....


----------



## koshergrl

Oh well, I can think of worse ends for linen, lol. The kids' sack races are legend...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Green is my girl's fave color, so I'm working a lot of edging in that color for her to put on whatever....I think we'll probably attach it to some towels...and her pillow cases...and who knows what else. It takes me a couple of hours to work enough for a pillow case, and I really like the way it looks and feels.


It looked wonderful to me, koshergrl.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> You know, I recollect wonderful pillowcases with elaborate lace edgings on them...a couple of inches and more....my auntie had a whole pile of some nice old ones adn teh last time I saw those was at our family reunion where they were being used for the SACK RACE! AAARRRGG! I told Aunt shirley "Oh my gosh, the pillow cases!" and she said "What those old things" lolol....


I'd check auntie's valium use ...


----------



## koshergrl

I have my basket with me and am back on the needlework/crochet express...

I am committed to completing a quilt in August. We will start on the first, I hope to have it done by the end of the month. Wish me luck. I gear up slowly....but I am going to put the minions to work. I have slowly but inexorably been working towards that end...


----------



## freedombecki

I wish you luck on your quilt, koshergrl. Quilts are a lot of work! Best wishes, but the good thing is the wonderful feeling you get when one is done and ready to cover a loved one up with all the love you poured into the long task.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums.  I went to English's.  Their cheapest Pfaff is $3,000 and used.  Their cheapest new Pfaff was $6,000.  If I already WERE where I couldn't do anything else, it might seem a bargain.  But I'm just not there yet.  They have a Brother Innov-is 1500 for $2500.  Didn't buy today.  Haven't gotten a real demo on the Singer one, but I did like what she showed me on the Brother.  I chose a design and she did it with my name over it on a little linen mat. I go back to that town on August 10, so I should have my mind made up by them and the place made for whatever I get.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, Beckums. I went to English's. Their cheapest Pfaff is $3,000 and used. Their cheapest new Pfaff was $6,000. If I already WERE where I couldn't do anything else, it might seem a bargain. But I'm just not there yet. They have a Brother Innov-is 1500 for $2500. Didn't buy today. Haven't gotten a real demo on the Singer one, but I did like what she showed me on the Brother. I chose a design and she did it with my name over it on a little linen mat. I go back to that town on August 10, so I should have my mind made up by them and the place made for whatever I get.


Only the best good luck when you make your decision, Sunshine. 5 years of technology since my last dealer's convention. It's a lifetime of innovations, which is how quickly technology is moving these days. Back then the software was so confusing it sucked, although I got through it enough to teach other people how to use it proficiently without being a complete geek. It was nice when the larger hoops came in. There was a lot less placement and plane geometrical math. Some of it is so complex, few dealers have instructors who know all of it. They're far more complex than a digitized race car. I never figured out how they could make money at the prices charged, when the same technology in medicine brings equipment prices to six or even seven figures.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums. I went to English's. Their cheapest Pfaff is $3,000 and used. Their cheapest new Pfaff was $6,000. If I already WERE where I couldn't do anything else, it might seem a bargain. But I'm just not there yet. They have a Brother Innov-is 1500 for $2500. Didn't buy today. Haven't gotten a real demo on the Singer one, but I did like what she showed me on the Brother. I chose a design and she did it with my name over it on a little linen mat. I go back to that town on August 10, so I should have my mind made up by them and the place made for whatever I get.
> 
> 
> 
> Only the best good luck when you make your decision, Sunshine. 5 years of technology since my last dealer's convention. It's a lifetime of innovations, which is how quickly technology is moving these days. Back then the software was so confusing it sucked, although I got through it enough to teach other people how to use it proficiently without being a complete geek. It was nice when the larger hoops came in. There was a lot less placement and plane geometrical math. Some of it is so complex, few dealers have instructors who know all of it. They're far more complex than a digitized race car. I never figured out how they could make money at the prices charged, when the same technology in medicine brings equipment prices to six or even seven figures.
Click to expand...


Everything medicine is grossly over inflated.


----------



## Sunshine

I'm looking at the brochure on the Brother.  It says, 'designed for those who love to quilt and embroider.'  When I went to Singer, they told me there was no machine that sewed, quilted, and embroidered.  It would seem this one does all three.  Am going to look farther into it online.  I like the English's store better.  They have a lot of things to sell, and I'm not sure why the Singer store doesn't as many Mennonites as there are around here.  

The next most expensive is $1000 more.  I asked for the money what was the difference.  Answer was color screen, uses flash drive and doesn't require computer to download stitches, remembers where you were if the lights go off.  Well, it will be in close proximity to my computer, and I can lose a couple of cocktail napkins way cheaper than $1,000.

They all seem to try to sell you two machines and I just have to tell them I don't have the space for that.  I'm taking the mirror off my mother's old dresser and using that and a chair the seat of which I did in Hong Kong grass 45 years ago.  It will go in my 'office' room in the basement, where I also have a rocker, overstuffed chair, all my books, and daybed.  Now, I need a TV down here.  LOL.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> I'm looking at the brochure on the Brother. It says, 'designed for those who love to quilt and embroider.' When I went to Singer, they told me there was no machine that sewed, quilted, and embroidered. It would seem this one does all three. Am going to look farther into it online. I like the English's store better. They have a lot of things to sell, and I'm not sure why the Singer store doesn't as many Mennonites as there are around here.
> 
> The next most expensive is $1000 more. I asked for the money what was the difference. Answer was color screen, uses flash drive and doesn't require computer to download stitches, remembers where you were if the lights go off. Well, it will be in close proximity to my computer, and I can lose a couple of cocktail napkins way cheaper than $1,000.
> 
> They all seem to try to sell you two machines and I just have to tell them I don't have the space for that. I'm taking the mirror off my mother's old dresser and using that and a chair the seat of which I did in Hong Kong grass 45 years ago. It will go in my 'office' room in the basement, where I also have a rocker, overstuffed chair, all my books, and daybed. Now, I need a TV down here. LOL.


 It's common for dealers to be misinformed about other dealers' machines unless they are dealers for both and attend certification classes. They also glean info from customers who come through their doors. Customers have this habit of asking to have the cheapest machine demonstrated, so they communicate to the next dealer how crummy the machine was that they just looked at. I've been on both sides of the aisle. Finally, the Pfaff company brought in competitive machines to a convention and good operators. We finally had a handle on how good our machines were that year. Not to be outdone, Bernina got wind of it and cleaned up their 'who needs all those stitches and all that technoyap anyway' line. So did Brother. Singer was sold 10 times over to different corporations in the 23 years I was in business. It was musical chairs ownership there for awhile. Even so, businesses get over it, and eventually check out what their competitors are doing and for how much. One thing I loved about Singer though, was their online free patterns. They were boss, and I could sew them using my Pfaff converter software. Their color coordinator agreed with me, and could they ever make something they gave away free look like a million bucks on a sweatshirt or pillow!

Pfaff, not to be outdone, found the best embroidery software folks in the EU and put together the most exquisite line of traditional folk and fine art embroideries on the continent. They also had a direct line to the special embroiderers of Australia as well as the finest traditional Austrian embroiderers. Add that to their Hummel embroideries on my watch, and we had the best of the best, except for one thing: Bernina found a few dynamite American instructors who schooled with Theta Happ, so the competition for most beautiful embroideries from around 1996 to the present day has been astonishing. Even so, there's nothing like those Danish-style cross stitch work Pfaff brought to the fray. Nobody could touch them on that. Unfortunately, 3 computer upgrades later, and I haven't been able to read my prettiest Pfaff designs. I'm wishing I were more of a computer geek. Oh, well!

Oh, I was going to say, Pfaff, Viking, Brother, and Bernina all 4 have machines that will set up embroideries with computer software, translate patterns from one machine language to their own machines, hook up to their own specialized quilting frames, and one touch, footless nonstop sew feature, which means you will get anywhere from 800 spm - 2000 stitches per minute, depending on where you set the machine's stitch speed button. If Singer was a little late to the party, they excelled some places in which upgrades remained through different ownership ebbs and high tides.


----------



## freedombecki

Pardon my top of the line shop talk, Sunshine. After thinking it over, maybe Singer is presently the only one as they claimed. Sometimes last decade's loser is this decades winner in the competition struggle.

As I said, 4 or 5 years can bring about changes good and bad. The Germans sold Pfaff to the Swedes who control Viking, and as I was retiring, it got back to me that an oriental man and his wife had purchased the company from the Swedes and planned on moving top of line production to Asia rather than Europe. Selling two machines is likely a more competitive angle than selling a one-machine-that-does-it-all scenario, and when I bought a top-of-the-line Bernina a couple of years ago, the dealer was fuzzy about its capabilities, and the instructor even more so. Not everybody runs their business like me. I had to know everything the machine would do or else! So there I was, running from table to table asking experts questions only engineers could answer, and I would often fine one of them to explain the ins and outs of whether something could be done or not. The dealer conventions at Pfaff rocked that way. The German engineers always knew the language and exactly what the specifications and parameters were as they worked with designers and all their issues ahead of time in creating best ways of doing artistic needle crafts that looked deliciously hand-done they were so beautiful and perfection was the orientation of a lot of the better designers who agreed to work with developing machines for Pfaff. I don't mean to sound like a sales person, because I know all the machines are very versatile. It was just so much fun, though to get ahold of an engineer who'd investigated the needs of designers and desired the company standard of being as perfect as could be achieved with a history of outdoing everyone else from 1862 ad on.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Pardon my top of the line shop talk, Sunshine. After thinking it over, maybe Singer is presently the only one as they claimed. Sometimes last decade's loser is this decades winner in the competition struggle.
> 
> As I said, 4 or 5 years can bring about changes good and bad. The Germans sold Pfaff to the Swedes who control Viking, and as I was retiring, it got back to me that an oriental man and his wife had purchased the company from the Swedes and planned on moving top of line production to Asia rather than Europe. Selling two machines is likely a more competitive angle than selling a one-machine-that-does-it-all scenario, and when I bought a top-of-the-line Bernina a couple of years ago, the dealer was fuzzy about its capabilities, and the instructor even more so. Not everybody runs their business like me. I had to know everything the machine would do or else! So there I was, running from table to table asking experts questions only engineers could answer, and I would often fine one of them to explain the ins and outs of whether something could be done or not. The dealer conventions at Pfaff rocked that way. The German engineers always knew the language and exactly what the specifications and parameters were as they worked with designers and all their issues ahead of time in creating best ways of doing artistic needle crafts that looked deliciously hand-done they were so beautiful and perfection was the orientation of a lot of the better designers who agreed to work with developing machines for Pfaff. I don't mean to sound like a sales person, because I know all the machines are very versatile. It was just so much fun, though to get ahold of an engineer who'd investigated the needs of designers and desired the company standard of being as perfect as could be achieved with a history of outdoing everyone else from 1862 ad on.



A few years back one of the drug companies tried to recruit me to be their rep for the Vanderbilt territory.  Seems that their reps who were not licensed people got eaten alive.  They felt I could hold my own with the Vandy doctors.  I probably could have.  But they only offered me 10K more than I made and a car, and a lot more stress.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pardon my top of the line shop talk, Sunshine. After thinking it over, maybe Singer is presently the only one as they claimed. Sometimes last decade's loser is this decades winner in the competition struggle.
> 
> As I said, 4 or 5 years can bring about changes good and bad. The Germans sold Pfaff to the Swedes who control Viking, and as I was retiring, it got back to me that an oriental man and his wife had purchased the company from the Swedes and planned on moving top of line production to Asia rather than Europe. Selling two machines is likely a more competitive angle than selling a one-machine-that-does-it-all scenario, and when I bought a top-of-the-line Bernina a couple of years ago, the dealer was fuzzy about its capabilities, and the instructor even more so. Not everybody runs their business like me. I had to know everything the machine would do or else! So there I was, running from table to table asking experts questions only engineers could answer, and I would often fine one of them to explain the ins and outs of whether something could be done or not. The dealer conventions at Pfaff rocked that way. The German engineers always knew the language and exactly what the specifications and parameters were as they worked with designers and all their issues ahead of time in creating best ways of doing artistic needle crafts that looked deliciously hand-done they were so beautiful and perfection was the orientation of a lot of the better designers who agreed to work with developing machines for Pfaff. I don't mean to sound like a sales person, because I know all the machines are very versatile. It was just so much fun, though to get ahold of an engineer who'd investigated the needs of designers and desired the company standard of being as perfect as could be achieved with a history of outdoing everyone else from 1862 ad on.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A few years back one of the drug companies tried to recruit me to be their rep for the Vanderbilt territory. Seems that their reps who were not licensed people got eaten alive. They felt I could hold my own with the Vandy doctors. I probably could have. But they only offered me 10K more than I made and a car, and a lot more stress.
Click to expand...

Yep. I'm glad you stuck with your academic best, Sunshine. You likely benefitted a lot of people by saving them a lot of grief with your professional knowledge and its application to the very best care.


----------



## freedombecki

Today the last of 24 blocks was finished around 5 am, and now they are  scanned. Sorry the blocks are  about 11 inches square, and the scanner is only 8.5x11 so some will not show.

The quilt will alternate bright and dark steps-to-the-whitehouse block, and not sure how they will look. I've missed doing log cabin work since the 4 or 5 tall ships quilt series was done earlier this year. Everybody who saw them loved them.

Another quilt like this one was named Mexican Fiesta or something like that earlier, but the blocks were only about 9" when finished, and lights touched the deeper colors in alternates, so this one will have greater contrasts. You never know what it's going to look like till it's completed, because just one block can change the feeling of the work, and colors do interact. That's what makes quilting fun. That most beautiful quilt you're working on can fizzle, and the hopeless one can ring bells sometimes, just by the way you place the blocks. Aesthetic comes in a thousand ways...

So here are some glimpses of "Steps" and like "first, the good news," some of the 12 brights:


----------



## freedombecki

More brights:


----------



## freedombecki

Even more brights:


----------



## freedombecki

And last but not least, the blue brights:


----------



## freedombecki

In the sewn stack there are 19 dark squares, because initially there were just going to be 6 types of 2 each. After shopping that the local quilt shop the other day, so many blacks and dark gray prints were found, that it was clear to not disappoint the quilt shop owner, it'd be nice to show all her pretties in the quilt, so here are just some of them:


----------



## freedombecki

Ok, here are 3 more, the center one of which is colorful if you double-click the thumbnail:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, there were a couple of pretty ones more after the shop hop:


----------



## freedombecki

Now, all that has to be done is to choose which colors go where color squares play against the values presented in the black-dominant squares with visual textures in the mix. 

Might as well post 3 more:


----------



## boedicca

I remain in awe of your talent, sweetie.


----------



## freedombecki

boedicca said:


> I remain in awe of your talent, sweetie.


 Thanks, boedicca. Right now, I still have the above 24 building blocks pending the reduction of my little case of CFS. When it goes away, it takes the fibrofog out and I can get back to work! For some reason, coffee seems to ward it off and I forgot my morning cuppa today. 

Not all medicine comes in pill form.


----------



## boedicca

If we were neighbors, I'd bring you over a homemade cappuccino or latte right now!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, boedicca. I toast thee with a cuppa!






And all I managed to underachieve in the last 24 hours was joining 24 of the Steps log cabin squares into 6 pieces, three are below:


----------



## freedombecki

And 3 more joined squares:


----------



## freedombecki

And Whitehouse Steps Log Cabin is done! 

I'm free! This is gift# 46 and measures 50x70, more or less.

The upper left credits with small red batik border:


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, spent all morning on the tractor, then went back to it later after lunch. <huff, puff, huff, puff> The residue from dry grass that gets hashed up in the Kubota blade works its way under the collar and cuffs! If it weren't for the moccasins, copperheads, and other snakes that hang around the pond, I'd tell the egrets to move over. Fortunately for them, they have beaks that look like snake-efficient eliminators. Their only fear is us. Silly birds! 

Actually, I'm totally fond of the gracious great egrets when they elect to visit. They are regal and well aware of their strength and power against all other pond visitors. They're so huge and beautiful.


----------



## koshergrl

Ok I'm back, lol. Sooooo...

We are working on getting a couple more pillow cases for another friend of my daughter's, who is having a birthday party on the 4th. By the time she goes into highschool, all the girls in her class will have matching pillow cases!

I told you, becki, that I was slowly working on getting more organized for sewing, with the objective of creating a quilt in August. So towards that end, I have acquired another dining room table, which is right in the middle of my kitchen. My other table set up was not conducive to setting up my sewing machine; the table rocks, it's a bench/corner set unit, and there are no handy plug ins for my machine and iron.

Plus if I'm there, I have to clear everythign away every time I cook a meal...

My cousin gifted me with a round oak dining table...it's more stable, and it is right in the middle of my kitchen, but handy to an outlet, so I can be in my kitchen, cooking, but still have a place for people to eat, and I can leave my stuff out at least for a little bit. It's also nice because it means that even when I have company, I can seat everybody for meals. Kids at one table, adults at another! 

Tonight, I'm canning beans...and I'm going to get the machine revved up. Thursday is payday, and I'll be able to get the material (I need some whites for my log cabin blocks) and we'll be on our way.

Also tonight I'm going to put together a sewing basket for my daughter, with her own stuff in it, so she can be organized and help with the pillow cases. I have one that's almost finished, we need to whip out another one and I need to crochet the edgings (which are fast). 

That's what's cooking here.


----------



## freedombecki

So happy to hear things are going well with sewing and to have you back here, koshergrl. In the meantime, I bought some pillowcases on eBay--old, but pretty nonetheless, but not near as pretty as the ones you've complained about not "being perfect" in some way. It would take me the time it takes to make 5 of my little quilt tops to do one set of pillowcases, and the lovely members of the Tall Pines Quilt Guild like the "salability" of my little quilts when they quilt them. Someone put a 167-year-old log cabin in the local town square, and let local artisans sell their crafts there by letting people volunteer to work there during peak hours for 3 or 4 days a week, one being Saturday. The Guild is one of their best sellers, and a percentage of the sales go to maintaining the historic cabin, and the Guild gave out several $500 scholarships at Sam Houston State University, bought batting and backings for quilts and pillows distributed to shelter families, Hugs babies, Senior and Hospice homes, etc. The women are selfless, and I love every one of them for all the good they do for the community and county. I can't even fathom the time they have to take to do my quilts last year.

So looking forward to seeing you show the girls' and your embroideries, koshergrl. And the quilt too. 

Hang in there!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here you go Beckums. My progress so far:


 OK, Ms. Sunshine, I know you're working on finding the right machine, getting the yard right, and getting the house in shape, but was wondering if you are still doing stitch or two now and then on the tablecloth...


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here you go Beckums. My progress so far:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Ms. Sunshine, I know you're working on finding the right machine, getting the yard right, and getting the house in shape, but was wondering if you are still doing stitch or two now and then on the tablecloth...
Click to expand...


As I told you it has 6 of the church motifs around the center.  Last night I started number 5.  I put it down for a few days.  After not playing piano for years, I picked up a piece that was too technically difficult and my knuckles got really sore.  Hands are better now, and I picked it back up last night.  Two more church motifs to do then I'll start the border, which no doubt will be as thrilling as the borders on all those quilt blocks!  LOL.

But great minds are alike, I was going to post the above and found you had asked.

(I'm waiting on the piano tuner to come do a little work on it, then it will be easier to play.  I let it set for too long in between times.)

(I was determined to play that piece that Bryce Dallas Howard played in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond - Liebestraum or Dream of Love by Liszt.   I have two versions and even the easy version is hard when you haven't kept your hands limbered up!  Lizat did a book of technical exercises to help make playing his music easier.  I'm thinking of getting it.  After so long not playing my hands are very tense and my right pinky finger has gotten a mind of its own and is staying up in the air which makes it really hard to play. That is hand tension.)


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here you go Beckums. My progress so far:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Ms. Sunshine, I know you're working on finding the right machine, getting the yard right, and getting the house in shape, but was wondering if you are still doing stitch or two now and then on the tablecloth...
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> As I told you it has 6 of the church motifs around the center. Last night I started number 5. I put it down for a few days. After not playing piano for years, I picked up a piece that was too technically difficult and my knuckles got really sore. Hands are better now, and I picked it back up last night. Two more church motifs to do then I'll start the border, which no doubt will be as thrilling as the borders on all those quilt blocks! LOL.
> 
> But great minds are alike, I was going to post the above and found you had asked.
> 
> (I'm waiting on the piano tuner to come do a little work on it, then it will be easier to play. I let it set for too long in between times.)
> 
> (I was determined to play that piece that Bryce Dallas Howard played in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond - Liebestraum or Dream of Love by Liszt. I have two versions and even the easy version is hard when you haven't kept your hands limbered up! Lizat did a book of technical exercises to help make playing his music easier. I'm thinking of getting it. After so long not playing my hands are very tense and my right pinky finger has gotten a mind of its own and is staying up in the air which makes it really hard to play. That is hand tension.)
Click to expand...

 I think that it's wonderful you're playing music again after a long career away from the fine arts. Hope your hands heal and strengthen!

And thanks for letting us know how the tablecloth is coming. I hadn't heard, and knew you were doing what everybody does after retiring--getting involved in too many things at first! It'll all settle down in a few weeks, and you can learn how to moderate time into parcels that will be conducive to good health and a broad range of activities--some for nutrition, others for large muscle exercise, some medium and others for fun. Walking your dog, stitching, playing music, reading, and doing the things you just have to do to live rotated for optimal joy in your life.  I'm so grateful you share your sewing thoughts and other finer things of life here, Sunshine. And you know how I love red and white from last year's quilt show and my silly little tall ships quilts that I hope are going to children in need, or other community benefit.


----------



## freedombecki

Since the last top, I found some left over from a fiesta top I'd made earlier this year and decided to shoot for a top about the same size as the last Whitehouse Steps quilt most recently completed. A best case scenario would be for people to stop the physical abuse, which would mean we wouldn't have to worry about children and other adults being frightened of others by an abuser who has never received counseling for his or her management of anger. Until that day, I'm still going to make quilt tops that will last from childhood through young adulthood, and hope that some time, someone in the guild will take pity and make it up with batting, backing and bind them into a useful article that will give warmth in winter and comfort always that a quilt is to its owner.

For this quilt, I've been piecing away little by little for the past several days, fashioning the light squares rimmed by dark red and the dark squares rimmed by a lighter print. Also, an inner and outer border have been cut, and here are the brown small inner print and the brown and red large outer print, along with scan 1 of one of the squares:


----------



## freedombecki

Some more light and dark red-bordered blocks:


----------



## freedombecki

S'mores:


----------



## freedombecki

Yet more:


----------



## freedombecki

Two more blocks, and think I will follow my own advice and do something outside while there's still not as much heat as there will be this afternoon! August is our steamiest month here...

It would be so lovely, however, if I could spend the hot hours of the day doing the rest of the joining and border-adding tasks to complete the top before sunset.

I know that's asking too much. But some days just go well. Others, well, life happens.

The quilt will have 24 squares. I made up two sets of each of the 12 blocks shown, to have the same size as the preceding Whitehouse Steps quilt.


----------



## koshergrl

My next project is going to be courthouse steps for my sis.

Ok I moved my sewing machine out into the kitchen....I hope to start moving a bit on our log cabin tonight, as I'm canning chicken broth. I may or may not actually get to moving material around...my primary objective tonight is to load up bobbins, get some sewing machine oil (I haven't been able to find any in my town! It makes the little birds cry!) and maybe just sew a little..the first step of the blocks...strip piece the red centers to the first log. 

I'm excited! But I always am in the morning. By 6 pm, when I have a chance to get started, I'll be dragging. But I'll be stuck in the kitchen anyway, so I'm hoping that works for me.

Going to have the girl do the strip piecing..at least some of it.


----------



## koshergrl

Or maybe the boy, that would be right up his alley, too. I just don't know if I can keep him from tinkering from the machine's guts!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Ms. Sunshine, I know you're working on finding the right machine, getting the yard right, and getting the house in shape, but was wondering if you are still doing stitch or two now and then on the tablecloth...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As I told you it has 6 of the church motifs around the center. Last night I started number 5. I put it down for a few days. After not playing piano for years, I picked up a piece that was too technically difficult and my knuckles got really sore. Hands are better now, and I picked it back up last night. Two more church motifs to do then I'll start the border, which no doubt will be as thrilling as the borders on all those quilt blocks! LOL.
> 
> But great minds are alike, I was going to post the above and found you had asked.
> 
> (I'm waiting on the piano tuner to come do a little work on it, then it will be easier to play. I let it set for too long in between times.)
> 
> (I was determined to play that piece that Bryce Dallas Howard played in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond - Liebestraum or Dream of Love by Liszt. I have two versions and even the easy version is hard when you haven't kept your hands limbered up! Lizat did a book of technical exercises to help make playing his music easier. I'm thinking of getting it. After so long not playing my hands are very tense and my right pinky finger has gotten a mind of its own and is staying up in the air which makes it really hard to play. That is hand tension.)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I think that it's wonderful you're playing music again after a long career away from the fine arts. Hope your hands heal and strengthen!
> 
> And thanks for letting us know how the tablecloth is coming. I hadn't heard, and knew you were doing what everybody does after retiring--getting involved in too many things at first! It'll all settle down in a few weeks, and you can learn how to moderate time into parcels that will be conducive to good health and a broad range of activities--some for nutrition, others for large muscle exercise, some medium and others for fun. Walking your dog, stitching, playing music, reading, and doing the things you just have to do to live rotated for optimal joy in your life.  I'm so grateful you share your sewing thoughts and other finer things of life here, Sunshine. And you know how I love red and white from last year's quilt show and my silly little tall ships quilts that I hope are going to children in need, or other community benefit.
Click to expand...


You are right, I likely am trying to get too much done too fast.  I know that my days of being able to do that stuff are quickly coming to an end.  So, I'm trying to get the house where the kids don't have to do things to it when I croak.  I want it to be in good condition to sell or if they want to keep as a vacation house.  They may do that, cuz even though they spent a large part of their lives in Nashville, they both still have friends here.

Anyway, I'm doing the piano like the cross stitch.  I'm stopping while I still want to be playing.  The hands have relaxed now, no straight up pinky finger, no sore knuckles.  I didn't stitch yesterday because I was just tired.  But will be doing some stitching later today.


----------



## koshergrl

So are you enjoying your retirement? I never thought I'd even think seriously of retirement, and I'm at least 20 years away...

But it's like a beautiful glowing ball in front of me. I can't wait!


----------



## koshergrl

The kids' graduation and migration to college is in less than 10 years...that is a lot closer, and I get freaking CHILLS thinking about it! I do love the kids and am enjoying the time I have with them...but I'm going to enjoy having my life back, too. True, I will be 60 years old...it's not quite the same as getting your kids out of the house by the time you're 40...but I'll take it


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> As I told you it has 6 of the church motifs around the center. Last night I started number 5. I put it down for a few days. After not playing piano for years, I picked up a piece that was too technically difficult and my knuckles got really sore. Hands are better now, and I picked it back up last night. Two more church motifs to do then I'll start the border, which no doubt will be as thrilling as the borders on all those quilt blocks! LOL.
> 
> But great minds are alike, I was going to post the above and found you had asked.
> 
> (I'm waiting on the piano tuner to come do a little work on it, then it will be easier to play. I let it set for too long in between times.)
> 
> (I was determined to play that piece that Bryce Dallas Howard played in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond - Liebestraum or Dream of Love by Liszt. I have two versions and even the easy version is hard when you haven't kept your hands limbered up! Lizat did a book of technical exercises to help make playing his music easier. I'm thinking of getting it. After so long not playing my hands are very tense and my right pinky finger has gotten a mind of its own and is staying up in the air which makes it really hard to play. That is hand tension.)
> 
> 
> 
> I think that it's wonderful you're playing music again after a long career away from the fine arts. Hope your hands heal and strengthen!
> 
> And thanks for letting us know how the tablecloth is coming. I hadn't heard, and knew you were doing what everybody does after retiring--getting involved in too many things at first! It'll all settle down in a few weeks, and you can learn how to moderate time into parcels that will be conducive to good health and a broad range of activities--some for nutrition, others for large muscle exercise, some medium and others for fun. Walking your dog, stitching, playing music, reading, and doing the things you just have to do to live rotated for optimal joy in your life.  I'm so grateful you share your sewing thoughts and other finer things of life here, Sunshine. And you know how I love red and white from last year's quilt show and my silly little tall ships quilts that I hope are going to children in need, or other community benefit.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You are right, I likely am trying to get too much done too fast. I know that my days of being able to do that stuff are quickly coming to an end. So, I'm trying to get the house where the kids don't have to do things to it when I croak. I want it to be in good condition to sell or if they want to keep as a vacation house. They may do that, cuz even though they spent a large part of their lives in Nashville, they both still have friends here.
> 
> Anyway, I'm doing the piano like the cross stitch. I'm stopping while I still want to be playing. The hands have relaxed now, no straight up pinky finger, no sore knuckles. I didn't stitch yesterday because I was just tired. But will be doing some stitching later today.
Click to expand...

Your little pinky is acting just like my whole left leg acts when I get a full body cramp that starts there and goes up to my neck, except I'm such a baby I yell, as it's pretty shocking when it happens all of a sudden. Fortunately, I don't forget the muscle relaxant 3 days in a row more than a couple of times a year. I sound like the kid in Home Alone. I knew there was a reason we moved out to the country out of hearing range of the neighbors.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> The kids' graduation and migration to college is in less than 10 years...that is a lot closer, and I get freaking CHILLS thinking about it! I do love the kids and am enjoying the time I have with them...but I'm going to enjoy having my life back, too. True, I will be 60 years old...it's not quite the same as getting your kids out of the house by the time you're 40...but I'll take it



I was the 'older' room mother when mine were in school.  And my sister a lot older than I.  We used to needle her and tell her and her husband they were the only ones in the PTA on Social Security. 

But you can do a lot once you have the time.  So much time is taken up with the children that you tend to forget how long the days really are.  I realized when my daughter graduated in 1999 and went to Atlanta that they were never coming back to Nashville.  Law school as my empty nest remedy.  Now I just chill here at the lake.  Decided not to follow them to Atlanta.  I know to many parents who have done that only to get left high and dry.

I am prepping for the time when I can't do anything but sit around.  With all the things I'm lining up it will about be my luck that I will keel over before I do any of it!  LOL


----------



## koshergrl

I really do enjoy being alone and doing my own thing. I'm looking forward to it. I even like loong walks just by myself, just tooling around. My cousin lives close by...I could board a horse with hers and do the horse thing if I get REALLY bored.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think that it's wonderful you're playing music again after a long career away from the fine arts. Hope your hands heal and strengthen!
> 
> And thanks for letting us know how the tablecloth is coming. I hadn't heard, and knew you were doing what everybody does after retiring--getting involved in too many things at first! It'll all settle down in a few weeks, and you can learn how to moderate time into parcels that will be conducive to good health and a broad range of activities--some for nutrition, others for large muscle exercise, some medium and others for fun. Walking your dog, stitching, playing music, reading, and doing the things you just have to do to live rotated for optimal joy in your life.  I'm so grateful you share your sewing thoughts and other finer things of life here, Sunshine. And you know how I love red and white from last year's quilt show and my silly little tall ships quilts that I hope are going to children in need, or other community benefit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are right, I likely am trying to get too much done too fast. I know that my days of being able to do that stuff are quickly coming to an end. So, I'm trying to get the house where the kids don't have to do things to it when I croak. I want it to be in good condition to sell or if they want to keep as a vacation house. They may do that, cuz even though they spent a large part of their lives in Nashville, they both still have friends here.
> 
> Anyway, I'm doing the piano like the cross stitch. I'm stopping while I still want to be playing. The hands have relaxed now, no straight up pinky finger, no sore knuckles. I didn't stitch yesterday because I was just tired. But will be doing some stitching later today.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Your little pinky is acting just like my whole left leg acts when I get a full body cramp that starts there and goes up to my neck, except I'm such a baby I yell, as it's pretty shocking when it happens all of a sudden. Fortunately, I don't forget the muscle relaxant 3 days in a row more than a couple of times a year. I sound like the kid in Home Alone. I knew there was a reason we moved out to the country out of hearing range of the neighbors.
Click to expand...


I have traumatic memories of my music teacher saying 'curve your fingers! arms quiet!' (And she had horrible breath.)  At least she didn't take a stick and hit my knuckles the way my sister's piano teacher did!  That pinky popping up there is a real no no and is really the result of tension in your hand.  It makes you miss the key you are aiming for.  And the tension in my right hand was most painful.  I would hate to have that much in other, larger places!  

Check out a Liberace performance on youtube.  His hands are in the exactly perfect alignment and position.  Now that I'm trying to get that pinky under control, I have a tendency to curl it under.  Not optimal, but not as bad as it sticking straight up!  

OK, today I bought paint and supplies.  Tomorrow, I finish jobs around the house.  The weekend I rest.  Monday, I start prep work for painting LR, DR, Kit.  Tuesday, I start painting.  My girlfriends told me if it was difficult, to just do one wall a day.  But my ceiling is the mastodon I have to deal with.   The walls will be a walk in the park.


----------



## Sunshine

Thinking back to my piano teacher, oh my!  She had a tiny little house.  Her piano was in the DR and her organ in the LR.  She had _gone to college _and studied music, something noteworthy in rural KY.  She called her back yard her 'garden.'  She had 4 HUGE ferns on her front porch.  I complimented them one day, and for several years after, they were in my classroom at school during winters where I was charged with watering and caring for them.  She lived in a tiny little house, but she had beautiful oriental rugs, beautiful light fixtures, and a lace table cloth.  Over the piano was a lovely painting, I'm sure it was a print, of a beautiful young woman in a red dress playing the piano or harpsichord or something.   It looked nothing like her. It think I owe a lot of my taste in home furnishing to her.  I certainly learned little enough music!  LOL   She had busts of famous composers all over the place and she taught me the correct way to say their names, something most folks rarely do.  I was a nail biter.  She even cured me from that.  One day she took my chewed fingers into her hand and said, 'Sunshine, people pick their noses, then they come here and play my piano.  You come here, play  my piano right behind them and then bite your nails.'  She was a mighty healer of nervous habits, IMO!  LOL  I never bit my nails again after that day.

I think this was the painting:







She was so plain and homely and wore those horrible Wibur Khun shoes, I often wonder what that painting should have told me about who she really was.

OMG, and she would sing along with you when you played, but she couldn't carry a tune in a sponge~!


----------



## Sunshine

Oh Lord!  The walk down Memory Lane.  I may have night terrors tonight!  LOL


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> My next project is going to be courthouse steps for my sis.
> 
> Ok I moved my sewing machine out into the kitchen....I hope to start moving a bit on our log cabin tonight, as I'm canning chicken broth. I may or may not actually get to moving material around...my primary objective tonight is to load up bobbins, get some sewing machine oil (I haven't been able to find any in my town! It makes the little birds cry!) and maybe just sew a little..the first step of the blocks...strip piece the red centers to the first log.
> 
> I'm excited! But I always am in the morning. By 6 pm, when I have a chance to get started, I'll be dragging. But I'll be stuck in the kitchen anyway, so I'm hoping that works for me.
> 
> Going to have the girl do the strip piecing..at least some of it.


I'm excited for you, koshergrl. I really love courthouse steps. 
Book I liked: Courthouse Steps, Quilt in a Day (source: Amazon)


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Oh Lord! The walk down Memory Lane. I may have night terrors tonight! LOL


 A little prayer up for a good night's sleep, Sunshine.

I just hope I can get back to my quilt. I got the last part done on picking up the mess on the south side of the center fence that was built today.

What a chore! I slept all afternoon just to get back to normal.


----------



## koshergrl

Ugh..this is what I hate about working..I come home...I vacuum, wash dishes, get dinner ready, start my broth for canning...and I'm beat and it's 8 and I haven't done a thing with the sewing machine. My girl isn't here tonight, though, so I can't get her started anyway.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh Lord! The walk down Memory Lane. I may have night terrors tonight! LOL
> 
> 
> 
> A little prayer up for a good night's sleep, Sunshine.
> 
> I just hope I can get back to my quilt. I got the last part done on picking up the mess on the south side of the center fence that was built today.
> 
> What a chore! I slept all afternoon just to get back to normal.
Click to expand...


Fatigue just goes with some things, I am learning.  I sleep 10 hours a night, and  usually have to lie down around 2 in the afternoon.  Thank haven my daughter is planning 'nap time' for the grandbaby when we go on our trip.  It will be nap time for me too!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Ugh..this is what I hate about working..I come home...I vacuum, wash dishes, get dinner ready, start my broth for canning...and I'm beat and it's 8 and I haven't done a thing with the sewing machine. My girl isn't here tonight, though, so I can't get her started anyway.



Working is hard.  So far retirement is much better!


----------



## Sunshine

Now my left pinky is acting up.  LOL!  WTF?


----------



## koshergrl

My thumb and middle finger (different hands) are giving me fits.

Psoriasis...I've eaten complete garbage all week, and this is what it gets me.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPsbDUZvfFo]my fingers hurt - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Now my left pinky is acting up. LOL! WTF?


If you make oatmeal for breakfast, add 1/4 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. ginger, and if you have ANY cardamom, add half a pinch or grind one single cardamom seed. Add 2 Tbsp. raisins and 2 Tbsp molasses for a serving. You can get extra calcium if you make it with milk. If protein is needed at breakfast, eat a couple of tablespoons (about 10 raw almonds). That should settle the nerves in hands and feet down some. We know spices used to be medicines in Medieval times. They can still soothe and comfort. The only other thing I can think of is if you are using air conditioner and cooling to under 76 degrees, set the temperature a little higher than you've been setting it and sleep in 100% cotton sheets to remove cold sweat off if it's too cool. Oh, except for the milk, the above has zero cholesterol in it. I have to have it because I'm allergic to calcium supplements. Tailor it to your needs. If that doesn't suit your tastes, you can get cinnamon in pill form at discount stores pretty cheap. Cinnamon deals with a lot of hand and foot problems. Ginger is wonderful for aches, and cardamom, well, it just makes me happy to smell it, and I've grown attached to it as the flavoring for breads I made when the children were small. I sorta quit using it after they left home and there was too much bread around. I take it in with the other spices when I make oatmeal. Oatmeal is comfort food, but with the above spices, etc., it's an energy-maker without the caffeine.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> My thumb and middle finger (different hands) are giving me fits.
> 
> Psoriasis...I've eaten complete garbage all week, and this is what it gets me.
> 
> my fingers hurt - YouTube


 Are you using T-Gel shampoo in your hair? If you shampoo with it, and you rub it in with your hands, the psoriasis for some reason takes a hike. I couldn't tell you why, I just know I've never had a recurrence since using that type of shampoo for another type of breakout due to allergy to a medicine. My old country doctor told me about it for the rash, but I noticed my dry skin patched up too.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, and I'm sorry for being a ditz today. I haven't done my fair share of repping, and I can't rep anyone here until I get off my duff and do the rounds. I had to nap today. I don't know why I'm cross about that quilt I'm working on. I have it almost done, and it's like I've got writer's block, except it's block block. Only a quilter...

Before I go out and start the repfest, though, I have to share something very precious I found online as I was researching other people's brick quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

The last quilt I thought was pretty enough to save was a brick quilt made by "The Girl Who Quilts" blogger. Here it is:







She tells the story of this quilt that her neighbor's 16-year-old daughter was in a terrible car accident and would have a long recovery, so she cut some 5x10 bricks and used those little 5x5 "Charm" pack squares for the odd rows. I just thought that was such a wonderful thing to do for a neighbor, and the quilt is simple, but totally cute, and she used her scraps for the back, I think. The full story of her work is here. She calls her minor masterpiece the "Quick Trick Brick Quilt." A really sweet thing to do by a busy mom for a next door neighbor! imho...

The Girl Who Quilts: Quick Trick Brick Quilt

The back is just as cute as a button and equally as fun as the front of the quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

This one's for Koshergrl:. I found it the other day when I was reviewing a blogger's pictures on a quilt show she'd gone to. The zany lady who thought this one up must absolutely love embroideries as much as anyone!



It's Heather Bailey's booth and is a wall art entitled "Put a Bird on It." You have to double click or click on the thumbnail to appreciate it.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> This one's for Koshergrl:. I found it the other day when I was reviewing a blogger's pictures on a quilt show she'd gone to. The zany lady who thought this one up must absolutely love embroideries as much as anyone!
> 
> 
> 
> It's Heather Bailey's booth and is a wall art entitled "Put a Bird on It." You have to double click or click on the thumbnail to appreciate it.



Wow.  What is the 'embroidery' done with?


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, do you know of any myths and legends surrounding quilting?  Some folks around here are adamant that if you make a 'Lone Star' quilt someone in your family dies.  Well, people are always dying so I guess there is some basis for it. Ever heard of that?


----------



## freedombecki

No, Sunshine. I did 14 lone star quilts the year I taught the class on how-tos, and nobody died, but everybody got a lone star quilt for Christmas!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> No, Sunshine. I did 14 lone star quilts the year I taught the class on how-tos, and nobody died, but everybody got a lone star quilt for Christmas!



LOL.  Superstitions defy logic!  If I made a lone star quilt I would be accused of killing the next family member who died!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, do you know of any myths and legends surrounding quilting? Some folks around here are adamant that if you make a 'Lone Star' quilt someone in your family dies. Well, people are always dying so I guess there is some basis for it. Ever heard of that?


1) Well one I can think of is if the center of her log cabin is red, there is love in the home. If it is black, the flame has gone out. IOW, he beats her every night, he died, or she needs a hug from friends for one reason or another. *sigh*

2) You just don't make a quilt with black in it for a child.

3) The maker of an all-blue quilt is always faithful. (true blue)

4) Quilters are the absolute sexiest women on earth, and their friendly company is to be desired by the worthy one of the opposite sex.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, do you know of any myths and legends surrounding quilting? Some folks around here are adamant that if you make a 'Lone Star' quilt someone in your family dies. Well, people are always dying so I guess there is some basis for it. Ever heard of that?
> 
> 
> 
> 1) Well one I can think of is if the center of her log cabin is red, there is love in the home. If it is black, the flame has gone out. IOW, he beats her every night, he died, or she needs a hug from friends for one reason or another. *sigh*
> 
> 2) You just don't make a quilt with black in it for a child.
> 
> 3) The maker of an all-blue quilt is always faithful. (true blue)
> 
> 4) Quilters are the absolute sexiest women on earth, and their friendly company is to be desired by the worthy one of the opposite sex.
Click to expand...


Well a quilter does have a large degree of stick-to-it-iveness.  I marveled at those complex quilts in the quilt show and wondered how someone could work on something like that for a year or more and then go on the road with it.  It seemed that none of them were quickies, but rather required a lot of dedication to come out with the finished product.   I just had to wonder also what it would feel like to work so long on something then come out disappointed with the result.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, do you know of any myths and legends surrounding quilting? Some folks around here are adamant that if you make a 'Lone Star' quilt someone in your family dies. Well, people are always dying so I guess there is some basis for it. Ever heard of that?
> 
> 
> 
> 1) Well one I can think of is if the center of her log cabin is red, there is love in the home. If it is black, the flame has gone out. IOW, he beats her every night, he died, or she needs a hug from friends for one reason or another. *sigh*
> 
> 2) You just don't make a quilt with black in it for a child.
> 
> 3) The maker of an all-blue quilt is always faithful. (true blue)
> 
> 4) Quilters are the absolute sexiest women on earth, and their friendly company is to be desired by the worthy one of the opposite sex.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well a quilter does have a large degree of stick-to-it-iveness. I marveled at those complex quilts in the quilt show and wondered how someone could work on something like that for a year or more and then go on the road with it. It seemed that none of them were quickies, but rather required a lot of dedication to come out with the finished product. I just had to wonder also what it would feel like to work so long on something then come out disappointed with the result.
Click to expand...

I used to tell my quilt students that the quilt was a point along the journey. If the quilt was not liked when done, it could point to being hypercritical, the lesson being to lighten up. Furthermore, completing a bad quilt often was the fuel for never doing that bad again, so the next one would definitely be an improvement since that error would not be made again, as experience is the best teacher of all. If enough bad quilts are made there is the eventual turning point of accepting that the learning from already-good quilters is good and the learning from truly forgettable mistakes is also good. The passion for excellence is a good trait, but letting an error stand harks back to the quilters of yesteryear who if all was too perfect would put in a truly badly-turned block to show imperfection in honor of he that is all-perfection. 

Every quilt that warms a cold person at night is a + in someone's life, and how it look fades in comparison with that one special thing it does for its recipient.

So much for the spiritual aspect of a quilt, here's the final border on that quilt. I took 4 naps yesterday, and finally got enough gumption to complete the quilt when I got up at 3 am this morning due to sleeping so much yesterday. It was done by 4:30 am.

I'm free to do something else!!!


----------



## freedombecki

This morning I goofed off looking at orange quilts. It was fun. I'll see if any fit here and post them below. I must've saved 50 quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

Okay, maybe more than 50 orange quilts were saved (I'm gonna run out of room one of these days)

How about some brighter specimens?


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> This one's for Koshergrl:. I found it the other day when I was reviewing a blogger's pictures on a quilt show she'd gone to. The zany lady who thought this one up must absolutely love embroideries as much as anyone!
> 
> 
> 
> It's Heather Bailey's booth and is a wall art entitled "Put a Bird on It." You have to double click or click on the thumbnail to appreciate it.


 
I need one of those!!! That is so cool!

I put my sewing machine away last night. It has been sitting on my table for around a week, and I had company last night so I went ahead and moved it back to my bedroom  

Yesterday was a wonderful day, but it was full from beginning to end. We had church and then our yearly church picnic and a very dear friend's of my daughter's birthday party (at the same time, that was tricky). I went out on the lake on a paddleboat with the children, and then they went swimming. We came home around 5:30 or 6 and I gave the kids the talk on the way home...nobody is going anywhere/doing anything/coming over for the rest of the evening, I am canning some chicken broth/chicken and sewing or at least loading bobbins...I got the chicken in and my son and his family showed up...

So that was it. People were in the kitchen rousting around and sitting at the table, so I cleared it. We ate pulled Boston butt sandwiches and coleslaw for dinner, with peach iced tea that I made and canned the day I did the peaches. 

I'm kind of ready for winter...early  nights and lots of down time...


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 1) Well one I can think of is if the center of her log cabin is red, there is love in the home. If it is black, the flame has gone out. IOW, he beats her every night, he died, or she needs a hug from friends for one reason or another. *sigh*
> 
> 2) You just don't make a quilt with black in it for a child.
> 
> 3) The maker of an all-blue quilt is always faithful. (true blue)
> 
> 4) Quilters are the absolute sexiest women on earth, and their friendly company is to be desired by the worthy one of the opposite sex.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well a quilter does have a large degree of stick-to-it-iveness. I marveled at those complex quilts in the quilt show and wondered how someone could work on something like that for a year or more and then go on the road with it. It seemed that none of them were quickies, but rather required a lot of dedication to come out with the finished product. I just had to wonder also what it would feel like to work so long on something then come out disappointed with the result.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I used to tell my quilt students that the quilt was a point along the journey. If the quilt was not liked when done, it could point to being hypercritical, the lesson being to lighten up. Furthermore, completing a bad quilt often was the fuel for never doing that bad again, so the next one would definitely be an improvement since that error would not be made again, as experience is the best teacher of all. If enough bad quilts are made there is the eventual turning point of accepting that the learning from already-good quilters is good and the learning from truly forgettable mistakes is also good. The passion for excellence is a good trait, but letting an error stand harks back to the quilters of yesteryear who if all was too perfect would put in a truly badly-turned block to show imperfection in honor of he that is all-perfection.
> 
> Every quilt that warms a cold person at night is a + in someone's life, and how it look fades in comparison with that one special thing it does for its recipient.
> 
> So much for the spiritual aspect of a quilt, here's the final border on that quilt. I took 4 naps yesterday, and finally got enough gumption to complete the quilt when I got up at 3 am this morning due to sleeping so much yesterday. It was done by 4:30 am.
> 
> I'm free to do something else!!!
Click to expand...


Groovy!  Well, when I did some oil painting last year in Gulf Shores, I realized that I had forgotten how much I loathe a painting before it is finished~!  I always have to put them away for a while because I genuinely hate them.


----------



## freedombecki

Ummm, peach tea and I'm out of rep. 

My heart lept when I read about the annoying paintings. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I once did one but gave it away thinking it was not good enough. I found a picture of it hanging on the wall, and I realized that although small it was one of my best paintings, and one of few modern subjects I ever painted--and I rejected it because it took less than 10 minutes to create. Long after given away, I realized it had everything--movement, rhythm, and more although it was in black and white. It was one of those oil well needle-nosed hammer-like things that swing up and down. The person I gave it to probably tossed it.


----------



## koshergrl

Omigosh becki, the peach tea is so good! Snapple has NOTHING on me!

I was so discouraged by my latest attempt canning peaches...soooo much work, and I ended up with 4 measly pints of irregular pieces (no beautiful slices or halves for me, I don't think that's ever going to happen) and I must have had a gallon of leftover syrup...I canned half of it just straight before it occurred to me to throw a little more water and sugar in there, and some of the peach pits and skins, and then several tea bags...heated it up, put it through a strainer and OH MY! I almost like that use better than just canning peaches themselves. 

It turned out great...then the kids came last night and we went through three quarts! I'm going to make more as soon as possible!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Ummm, peach tea and I'm out of rep.
> 
> My heart lept when I read about the annoying paintings. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I once did one but gave it away thinking it was not good enough. I found a picture of it hanging on the wall, and I realized that although small it was one of my best paintings, and one of few modern subjects I ever painted--and I rejected it because it took less than 10 minutes to create. Long after given away, I realized it had everything--movement, rhythm, and more although it was in black and white. It was one of those oil well needle-nosed hammer-like things that swing up and down. The person I gave it to probably tossed it.



I did one in my art class that I threw in the ditch for the city to haul off with the rest of the junk before I moved here.   My realtor pulled it out and took it home with her!  I think she hung it in her house!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ummm, peach tea and I'm out of rep.
> 
> My heart lept when I read about the annoying paintings. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I once did one but gave it away thinking it was not good enough. I found a picture of it hanging on the wall, and I realized that although small it was one of my best paintings, and one of few modern subjects I ever painted--and I rejected it because it took less than 10 minutes to create. Long after given away, I realized it had everything--movement, rhythm, and more although it was in black and white. It was one of those oil well needle-nosed hammer-like things that swing up and down. The person I gave it to probably tossed it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I did one in my art class that I threw in the ditch for the city to haul off with the rest of the junk before I moved here. My realtor pulled it out and took it home with her! I think she hung it in her house!
Click to expand...

I have a feeling it was a bonus commission for her. Glad it has a good home and is appreciated.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Omigosh becki, the peach tea is so good! Snapple has NOTHING on me!
> 
> I was so discouraged by my latest attempt canning peaches...soooo much work, and I ended up with 4 measly pints of irregular pieces (no beautiful slices or halves for me, I don't think that's ever going to happen) and I must have had a gallon of leftover syrup...I canned half of it just straight before it occurred to me to throw a little more water and sugar in there, and some of the peach pits and skins, and then several tea bags...heated it up, put it through a strainer and OH MY! I almost like that use better than just canning peaches themselves.
> 
> It turned out great...then the kids came last night and we went through three quarts! I'm going to make more as soon as possible!


I only have 2 peach trees left in the orchard I planted 2 years ago. They produced 10 small peaches, all of which disappeared except one. I gave it to my husband. He discarded it by laying it on the counter and forgetting it. I'm not about to eat it. Oh, well.

Well, it's time to cut out and see what the next quilt is going to be. I have a hundred ideas, but must settle on one. I saw this one truly cute idea, but it's another postage stamp quilt. Maybe I could upscale it a little to larger squares and just pick some pretty colors... Decisions, decisions... The other thought was to get out my old "How to make a Postage Stamp Quilt Book" and ditz my way through someone else's design. At least it would give me some experience in "paint-by-number-with small squares" before jumping into a design I would hate finishing. Well, I did design the scotty dogs a few hundred posts ago... There were six of them on a child's quilt as I recollect. 

Found and resized:


----------



## freedombecki

I keep going back to this and was thinking of doing something like it in the true blues in honor of all the faithful people here who post in accordance with their beliefs. Actually, that would be 4 days of cutting out blue fabrics. Maybe sticking with things I could do would be smarter. Well, here are some ideas if I go the postage stamp route:


----------



## freedombecki

The other way would be I've been wanting to do a spools quilt, too, even drafted a pattern that suits me, kind of on this order:

My spools would be taller like real spools of thread:


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I couldn't shake this idea, but it was too large, so I downsized the block for a child or crib quilt.






I love her colors, they're so like mine you'd think she might have seen one of my quilts sometime in the past 30 years. Or maybe the proverb that there's nothing new under the sun is true. 

Here are my starter blocks:


----------



## koshergrl

Nothing new under the sun...fractals. Patterns that repeat themselves infinitely over space, time and substance.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## Sunshine

I love fractals.  I used to have a program for a fractal screensaver.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, I'm not working on the tablecloth until the paint job is done.  Don't want to risk picking it up with even the possibility of having paint on me I don't know about.


----------



## Sunshine

I think I'm going to paint my back bedroom lavender.  I have pink curtains and a coverlet on the bed that has some pink and lavender in it.  I had a lavender BR when I was in high school.  I've been pining for it.  

But I won't do it until I've finished current project and done the room I sleep in.  The front BR is next, THEN I'll look about the lavender for the back bedroom.  When I go through Murray Saturday, I may stop and pick up some paint chips.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, I'm not working on the tablecloth until the paint job is done. Don't want to risk picking it up with even the possibility of having paint on me I don't know about.


 That's why I don't dye fabrics. It makes a huge mess and puts anything near it at risk. And fibro makes me a little clumsy for some reason.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, mission accomplished on one goal today--the white first borders on all of the 5-patch, 25-square blocks are completely done. I can't put my hands on the blocks I scanned last night. Guess I better go count stacks and see if they're somewhere. I'm starting to really love this little quilt. It's a cheerful task to work with bright colors and somber ones, all mixed together just like life. 

May God watch over all who arrive on our little thread here, especially those who have lost jobs or had their hours cut back to the point where it almost doesn't pay for their gas to get there. 

May God bring peace to our troubled world and an abiding passion for helping others when and where we can.



Love,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I havta sew a buncha twosie 1" strip squares. *sigh*



Spoiler: Yo!



Can you say boring, boring, boring, boring?


----------



## freedombecki

I have to make a quilt out of this, I just have to do it next. *sigh*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I have to make a quilt out of this, I just have to do it next. *sigh*



Cool


----------



## koshergrl

Hey I went to the quilt show here over lunch...and I took a LOT of pics! I tried to load them earlier but didn't have time to sit and wait for my computer...I'll get them on here tonight.

AND...guess what my mom sent us? ANOTHER SEWING MACHINE! It's a little portable Sunbeam for the kids!! I'm super excited about it. My dream of my own sweatshop is finally coming to fruition!!


----------



## koshergrl

I will be a lot more tolerant of girls in the kitchen if they're sewing, instead of cooking. When they cook they make an UNHOLY mess.


----------



## koshergrl

^^ Remember the old quilt of my sister's that I've posted pics of? Here's it's twin!


----------



## koshergrl

Sorry, they need to be turned...


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

Joseph's technicolor dream coat...from last year's local production:


----------



## koshergrl

Look at his feathery throat...


----------



## koshergrl

But really I liked this one better for some reason:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> But really I liked this one better for some reason:


Great blue herons aren't very blue, but are grayer. The maker of this version fixes the problem and puts the blue back in. 

Enjoyed the show at your link! Photobucket is my choice of places to store pictures.


----------



## freedombecki

Pardon my threds! A lot of cutting and sewing, unsewing, and resewing has gone on on these blocks in the past week. I did 3 more blocks, then put the white border on all the blocks (this quilt will have 24 unless I lose one or something.)

Sorry, all I have to show is 3 right now. It's been a day with fighting dementia. I see him getting worse, and it kills my day kind of. 

Well, here are 3 more blocks:


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Pardon my threds! A lot of cutting and sewing, unsewing, and resewing has gone on on these blocks in the past week. I did 3 more blocks, then put the white border on all the blocks (this quilt will have 24 unless I lose one or something.)
> 
> Sorry, all I have to show is 3 right now. It's been a day with fighting dementia. I see him getting worse, and it kills my day kind of.
> 
> Well, here are 3 more blocks:



*Oh how beautiful! Reminds me of when I was a kid. The ladies in my area would come together and have quilting parties. Do they still do that I wonder?*


----------



## koshergrl

Quilting bees. My gramma used to do that too... they'd get out this massive quilting frame, put it on the table, and 3=4 aunties would come over and they'd put the quilts together and tie them.


----------



## Bloodrock44

koshergrl said:


> Quilting bees. My gramma used to do that too... they'd get out this massive quilting frame, put it on the table, and 3=4 aunties would come over and they'd put the quilts together and tie them.



*Yes. Quilting bees. That's what they called them. I would sit on the floor and play with my cars and such. The ladies would soon forget I was there and I learned every juicy tidbit about everyone in the community!*


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Pardon my threds! A lot of cutting and sewing, unsewing, and resewing has gone on on these blocks in the past week. I did 3 more blocks, then put the white border on all the blocks (this quilt will have 24 unless I lose one or something.)
> 
> Sorry, all I have to show is 3 right now. It's been a day with fighting dementia. I see him getting worse, and it kills my day kind of.
> 
> Well, here are 3 more blocks:



*Thank you Becki and Koshergrl for bringing back good memories. Seems the world was much more peaceful then. At least my world was.*


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pardon my threds! A lot of cutting and sewing, unsewing, and resewing has gone on on these blocks in the past week. I did 3 more blocks, then put the white border on all the blocks (this quilt will have 24 unless I lose one or something.)
> 
> Sorry, all I have to show is 3 right now. It's been a day with fighting dementia. I see him getting worse, and it kills my day kind of.
> 
> Well, here are 3 more blocks:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Oh how beautiful! Reminds me of when I was a kid. The ladies in my area would come together and have quilting parties. Do they still do that I wonder?*
Click to expand...

I go to Charity Bees about two or three times a year. I have health issues that keeps me indoors a lot although I enjoy an occasional fence walk around my small farm. Most days I can sit and sew or sit and mow. It's a slow trip downstairs, and sometimes I don't go there on account of my trick knee. Other days, there are no problems. Last year, I donated somewhere between 100-110 quilts. This year I'm concentrating on quality over quantity and have done about 48 quilts to date if I finish the one I'm working on today. The ladies at Charity Bees do the quilting and/or tying, and either put them up for sale or give them to the local shelters or senior citizens living centers or hospices in the locale. I love to do ones for children, but people don't like to do the quilting on the larger ones and prefer sewing for the Hugs groups, I think. The ones they sell go to scholarships for the local university students who have a need for support. I pray for the recipients of the quilt, hoping that we can support a special needs child with warmth in cool winter and spring nights that we have here.

Glad you dropped by the quilt thread, Bloodrock44. Glad we brought a good memory back, and I celebrate the love and work of those who gathered together in love to make quilts for beloved family members and community needs in your memory.

The above blocks, well, all I finished after a week were 12, and separated by 2" white sashes, they were large enough for a hugs quilt, so the other 12 will be sashed with a different color when I put the final two 1" lengths with 9 squares each on the next 12 blocks. I'd planned just 1 quilt, but it got into too much perfection work, which comes from using more than 1 cutting mat, more than 1 rotary cutter, and more than 1 different sewing machines. Different manufacturers have their own version of what one inch is, and sometimes a machine is manufactured with a needle position that is one hair off. Multiplied by 64, that's one inch, time to get out the seam ripper to make things right as you can.

I guess that's why I am truly tired of this time-consuming project and decided to make it into two reasonably nice baby quilts. The quilt that was my model is a couple of pages or so back, and it is by far my idea of fabulous. Something happened in the makeup of my blocks that isn't as pleasing as that quilt, and it likely was because I had planned something entirely different with the 5-patch blocks with corner squares of lights. I usually  have dark squares, but I made them last year and forgot what the plan was, except possibly to have star points of a darker color. The white just didn't do what darks in the corners would have done for zing! and definition like the model had an abundance of. So much for perfection. It is very elusive to me lately!


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pardon my threds! A lot of cutting and sewing, unsewing, and resewing has gone on on these blocks in the past week. I did 3 more blocks, then put the white border on all the blocks (this quilt will have 24 unless I lose one or something.)
> 
> Sorry, all I have to show is 3 right now. It's been a day with fighting dementia. I see him getting worse, and it kills my day kind of.
> 
> Well, here are 3 more blocks:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Oh how beautiful! Reminds me of when I was a kid. The ladies in my area would come together and have quilting parties. Do they still do that I wonder?*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I go to Charity Bees about two or three times a year. I have health issues that keeps me indoors a lot although I enjoy an occasional fence walk around my small farm. Most days I can sit and sew or sit and mow. It's a slow trip downstairs, and sometimes I don't go there on account of my trick knee. Other days, there are no problems. Last year, I donated somewhere between 100-110 quilts. This year I'm concentrating on quality over quantity and have done about 48 quilts to date if I finish the one I'm working on today. The ladies at Charity Bees do the quilting and/or tying, and either put them up for sale or give them to the local shelters or senior citizens living centers or hospices in the locale. I love to do ones for children, but people don't like to do the quilting on the larger ones and prefer sewing for the Hugs groups, I think. The ones they sell go to scholarships for the local university students who have a need for support. I pray for the recipients of the quilt, hoping that we can support a special needs child with warmth in cool winter and spring nights that we have here.
> 
> Glad you dropped by the quilt thread, Bloodrock44. Glad we brought a good memory back, and I celebrate the love and work of those who gathered together in love to make quilts for beloved family members and community needs in your memory.
> 
> The above blocks, well, all I finished after a week were 12, and separated by 2" white sashes, they were large enough for a hugs quilt, so the other 12 will be sashed with a different color when I put the final two 1" lengths with 9 squares each on the next 12 blocks. I'd planned just 1 quilt, but it got into too much perfection work, which comes from using more than 1 cutting mat, more than 1 rotary cutter, and more than 1 different sewing machines. Different manufacturers have their own version of what one inch is, and sometimes a machine is manufactured with a needle position that is one hair off. Multiplied by 64, that's one inch, time to get out the seam ripper to make things right as you can.
> 
> I guess that's why I am truly tired of this time-consuming project and decided to make it into two reasonably nice baby quilts. The quilt that was my model is a couple of pages or so back, and it is by far my idea of fabulous. Something happened in the makeup of my blocks that isn't as pleasing as that quilt, and it likely was because I had planned something entirely different with the 5-patch blocks with corner squares of lights. I usually  have dark squares, but I made them last year and forgot what the plan was, except possibly to have star points of a darker color. The white just didn't do what darks in the corners would have done for zing! and definition like the model had an abundance of. So much for perfection. It is very elusive to me lately!
Click to expand...


*I'm glad I dropped by too. I have a cousin who does a lot of quilting and I can appreciate the tedious and tireless work it takes. I don't think I could ever muster the patience for something like that. My wife used to make dollhouse furniture. I would watch her work on something for a month and then tear it apart and start all over if she wasn't satisfied. *


----------



## freedombecki

12 squares were enough. I'll do the others in another quilt, and at least the major work is done. I've just had so much chronic fatigue and naps day and night (a couple of days I counted 4 naps in which I fell into a deep sleep each time.) So sorry the progress has been slow. I just can't stay awake. 

Think this is # 48. It measures 42x54" and here's the outer border. Sorry for the overexposure and getting it crosswise, but that's what the scans do from time to time:






It's naptime today! ​


----------



## freedombecki

My sewing "studio" is right by my orthopedic bed. So instead of napping, I looked at the squares left that didn't have the worrisome 9 inches of resew city strips sewn on. There were 12 of them. I thought, "Oh, how lovely it would be if I just cut 1.5x9.5" strips instead of fooling with those nine misfit postage stamps!!! Then I thought, "The last quilt was a little shorter than I cared it to be even with only 12 blocks as a baby quilt. Therefore this quilt could be made 8 inches longer just by making the 7 group of postage stamps edged with 2.5" strips instead of 1.5" strips!"

And in my mind, I saw: A Magic Carpet Quilt for a kid who really could use a Magic carpet out of an abusive family situation now and then. So I started with the rotary cutter making 1.5"x9.5" sides and 2.5"x9.5" tops and bottoms.

The happy little results are low. I had to really control myself to keep the colors soft, just in case it works better for an under 2 year-old child. I envisioned making pretty embroideries like the exquisite ones [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION] and girls have made in the last several months. I got so excited, I forgot about being licked. The magic carpets are pastels on this first quilt, preferably church closet stuff. Oh, wait! That'd be bizarro world. Will stick with pastels. 

Into each older life reliving one's childhood starting with puberty and going backward does happen, like the first snow of winter. If my dearly demented sweetie can return to his bachelor freewheeling days, I guess I can return to the point in time when young girls are too tired to do the dishes and do so only under duress, but all revved up when her best friend says "party tonight."   

The scans are below and sorry they're a little off-center, but they do look like baby magic carpets and are symmetric, okay, a little symmetric in real life. But the 8x11" screen is unforgiving to 9.5x12" blocks :


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> My sewing "studio" is right by my orthopedic bed. So instead of napping, I looked at the squares left that didn't have the worrisome 9 inches of resew city strips sewn on. There were 12 of them. I thought, "Oh, how lovely it would be if I just cut 1.5x9.5" strips instead of fooling with those nine misfit postage stamps!!! Then I thought, "The last quilt was a little shorter than I cared it to be even with only 12 blocks as a baby quilt. Therefore this quilt could be made 8 inches longer just by making the 7 group of postage stamps edged with 2.5" strips instead of 1.5" strips!"
> 
> And in my mind, I saw: A Magic Carpet Quilt for a kid who really could use a Magic carpet out of an abusive family situation now and then. So I started with the rotary cutter making 1.5"x9.5" sides and 2.5"x9.5" tops and bottoms.
> 
> The happy little results are low. I had to really control myself to keep the colors soft, just in case it works better for an under 2 year-old child. I envisioned making pretty embroideries like the exquisite ones [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION] and girls have made in the last several months. I got so excited, I forgot about being licked. The magic carpets are pastels on this first quilt, preferably church closet stuff. Oh, wait! That'd be bizarro world. Will stick with pastels.
> 
> Into each older life reliving one's childhood starting with puberty and going backward does happen, like the first snow of winter. If my dearly demented sweetie can return to his bachelor freewheeling days, I guess I can return to the point in time when young girls are too tired to do the dishes and do so only under duress, but all revved up when her best friend says "party tonight."
> 
> The scans are below and sorry they're a little off-center, but they do look like baby magic carpets and are symmetric, okay, a little symmetric in real life. But the 8x11" screen is unforgiving to 9.5x12" blocks :



*Now do you do these by yourself or is it a team thing? If I'm not mistaken my cousin does hers alone. I'm not familiar with that method. I just remember the neighborhood ladies getting together for their bees. And when I say neighborhood, I mean I grew up in the mountains in the sticks and our closest neighbor lived a half mile from us. Sometimes it was quite a walk to get to a quilting bee or canning party. We canned a lot of food too.*


----------



## freedombecki

[MENTION=36767]Bloodrock44[/MENTION] - "*Now do you do these by yourself or is it a team thing? If I'm not mistaken my cousin does hers alone. I'm not familiar with that method. I just remember the neighborhood ladies getting together for their bees. And when I say neighborhood, I mean I grew up in the mountains in the sticks and our closest neighbor lived a half mile from us. Sometimes it was quite a walk to get to a quilting bee or canning party. We canned a lot of food too.*"

Due to my illness I quilt alone. I never know when screaming pain is going to hit. I moved to a place in the country 4 years ago so nobody would have to listen to it. Fibromyalgia breaks down its victim's immune systems and the sufferer gets sick a lot when exposed to public germs. 

After 12 years of fibromyalgia troubles, I just don't go out any more. A cold that used to be gone in 3 or 4 days can hang on several weeks, or even all winter in cold country. By isolating away from the public, a person is not exposed as much. My husband can still go and get fast foods, but soon, he will not be able to do that any more. He will tell me when that is. I try to shop at 5 am twice a month to get foods high in antioxidants that help, such as fruit, vegetables, etc. He needed quite a bit of supervision 2 years ago. We're down to almost constant supervision now. He can't carry a thought to its conclusion unless you're right there cheering him on through his shaving routine or brushing his teeth. It's very hard to get him to do anything outside, except once in a while he breaks through with mowing the lawn, even if it takes him 2 days and some prompting to do it. That's because he enjoys being outdoors now and then.

There are a couple of other things he does voluntarily, but some things are best left unsaid.


----------



## freedombecki

12 magic carpets finished this morning due to doing a little cutting last night. 

#4, 5, and 6:


----------



## freedombecki

Magic Carpets #s 7, 8, and 9:


----------



## freedombecki

Magic Carpets #s 10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

A few months back, this gorgeous blue star material by Michael Miller went on sale at the local quilt store. Two yards were cut and came home in the truck. 

When those pasty pastels were being done, the big question was "what will show them to best advantage?" 

Sleeping on it, this fabric was in my mind when I woke up and was finishing the magic carpets before the sun rose. 

The fabric was found on top of the blue bin, under other blue fabrics. It's truly fabulous. Can't wait to get back to the sewing room, so it's off to the races now... 

Soon, it will be fun and done! 

The "grey" is actually a kind of printed silvery glitter. The fabric sparkles!


----------



## freedombecki

Half of the horizontal sashes are done! 

Scans 15, 16 and 17:


----------



## freedombecki

In honor of Allie, I found some some dynamite bird items of embroidery and quilting today. (instead of finishing quilt)


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> In honor of Allie, I found some some dynamite bird items of embroidery and quilting today. (instead of finishing quilt)



*You are really talented Becki. Where do you get the patience to do this? And do you sell your quilts?*


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> In honor of Allie, I found some some dynamite bird items of embroidery and quilting today. (instead of finishing quilt)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *You are really talented Becki. Where do you get the patience to do this? And do you sell your quilts?*
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bloodrock. My fibromyalgia ties me to a chair. I sit and sew and sit and mow. 

edit: Oh, Bloodrock, I realized your question went unanswered. Sorry. No. I spent a career trying to sell my quilts at a profit in a small town, and I'm an introvert, not a salesperson, and I got fed up with everything about sales that is grievous to the spirit. I set myself free from that bondage by deciding to offer my quilts to God's purpose as a ministry of faith. Now, I'm free.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> In honor of Allie, I found some some dynamite bird items of embroidery and quilting today. (instead of finishing quilt)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *You are really talented Becki. Where do you get the patience to do this? And do you sell your quilts?*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks, Bloodrock. My fibromyalgia ties me to a chair. I sit and sew and sit and mow.
> 
> edit: Oh, Bloodrock, I realized your question went unanswered. Sorry. No. I spent a career trying to sell my quilts at a profit in a small town, and I'm an introvert, not a salesperson, and I got fed up with everything about sales that is grievous to the spirit. I set myself free from that bondage by deciding to offer my quilts to God's purpose as a ministry of faith. Now, I'm free.
Click to expand...


*That is sweet Becki. May God bless you and the work of your hands!*


----------



## freedombecki

I stayed up late and finished the work on the Magic Carpet Postage Stamp Quilt Top. I think it's about Quilt #49. 

It measures approximately 40 x 68".

Here are the final border scans:


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> *You are really talented Becki. Where do you get the patience to do this? And do you sell your quilts?*
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Bloodrock. My fibromyalgia ties me to a chair. I sit and sew and sit and mow.
> 
> edit: Oh, Bloodrock, I realized your question went unanswered. Sorry. No. I spent a career trying to sell my quilts at a profit in a small town, and I'm an introvert, not a salesperson, and I got fed up with everything about sales that is grievous to the spirit. I set myself free from that bondage by deciding to offer my quilts to God's purpose as a ministry of faith. Now, I'm free.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> *That is sweet Becki. May God bless you and the work of your hands!*
Click to expand...

 Thanks for kind words, Bloodrock. The Lord is my hope and my song. Because I sure know how to mess things up.


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, I noticed my quilt files had one on red and a file on blue. No file on yellow, so I went searching. At first, it wasn't much fun because not everyone ever makes a yellow quilt. In some households, yellow is banned because if a person is called "yellow" in our culture, it means he is a coward. That's hardly fitting for the color of sunshine, the color of butter which makes cookies taste like nothing else on this planet, and just as people believe in living on the sunny side of life, which means happiness and laughter. I love yellow! It's gorgeous if you let it do its thing in a quilt, yet there is a whole group of quilters who a couple of decades ago were complaining how one little piece of yellow could make people's attention turn to that..... one little piece of yellow. 

WELL, *YEA-AH!*
​ 
So I'm putting some yellow quilts here for everyone's perusal into how much fun this color can be.​ 


I found someone's start on a mosaic quilt when I placed "yellow" into the search engine. I fell in love with just a glimpse of it. It has other colors than yellow, but the maker cleverly disguised them in the style of mosaic and distributed them randomly even throughout, and it's such an engaging piece, I just have to share it:​


----------



## freedombecki

And more from my little vicarious tour of blogger's cheerful sewing room displays and museums:

1. Hearts o' Gold

2. Here comes the sun

3. Lemoyne Stars with zigzag gold sashing


----------



## freedombecki

Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life. 

Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States. 

In honor of [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]:


----------



## freedombecki

I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this lady's pleasing to the point of amazing mosaic quilt start that does such a beautiful management job of placing yellows with love and skill:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]:



Those are fantastic!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of @Sunshine:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are fantastic!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sunshine. There were a lot more, but they were not allowed to be transferred as some quilters make very beautiful things that get published somewhere else, which makes them copyrighted. So in our little USMB gallery of gorgeous quilts, we just work with quilt artists whose main goal is making a loved one a pretty quilt, or has some fabric she thought she could put to good use in the house, like the cigar ribbon quilt above. You can't tell much about it anyway, as it sits in a museum somewhere likely, so I'll show the larger version if I can:



 
I won't have the "commercial mfg. markings," but the color schema is not one I've ever seen in anyone elses' except maybe one of mine back when I was making quilts for one show a year where my quilt shop was in central Wyoming. *sigh* Those were the days! I could just run over to where the yellow fabrics were upright on bolts, grab a couple I liked, put them to the cutting table and back on the shelves in less than an hour. I'd take them home and sew like a wild woman for 3 or 4 evenings, then show up to work with a new display for the front window. I tried to change them every couple of weeks to keep people from getting bored. Once in a while someone would come in and ask to see the ones we just took down, because someone called and told her about a quilt she should look at if she was going to make one for them. Small towns are like that.​


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful! I'm getting  a Dyson vacuum cleaner! I can't control my joy!


----------



## freedombecki

That's wonderful, koshergrl!


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]:



*@freedombecki...I am amazed at the beauty your hands create. Knowing your situation you could easily sit back and let people do for you, but instead you go all out to bring joy to others. You will be rewarded. BTW...my wife is a teacher but she could have been an interior decorator. When she said she was going to paint our living room yellow I thought OMG. But it turned out to be beautiful. Yellow is such a cheerful color.*


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of @Sunshine:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *@freedombecki...I am amazed at the beauty your hands create. Knowing your situation you could easily sit back and let people do for you, but instead you go all out to bring joy to others. You will be rewarded. BTW...my wife is a teacher but she could have been an interior decorator. When she said she was going to paint our living room yellow I thought OMG. But it turned out to be beautiful. Yellow is such a cheerful color.*
Click to expand...

 Mrs. Bloodrock sounds like a keeper!


----------



## freedombecki

Here's how I spent my morning--doing a mockup and getting as far as I could on getting the 24 blocks of this quilt with 9-inch squares (4x6=24) done. My quilt will not be quite at all like the gorgeous, irreplaceable cigar-strips quilt, but it is to honor those who love history and none other than Ms. Sunshine who every day fights the good fight and is loved for her spunk!

Scan #1 is what I remember of the beautiful square that is formed that looks like what quilters have traditionally called "Steps to the White House." It's not clear to me if that was the intention of the quilter who was wondering what to do with her strips or not, but to me, that effort is completely as breath-taking as any quilt has ever been, and endearing because it used something that to my knowledge is not used any more due to alleged improvements in packaging using cheaper materials.

Scan #2 is what I realized would have to go with square #1 in order to avoid a huge 2" zone of dark gold, and lend a give-and-take effect as the two blocks alternate.

Scan #3 (and part of Scan #1) are just successive steps I used when starting the quilt.

For the rest of the day, I'll be seeing if I can beat the clock on this quilt top. 

Love to all on this beautiful Friday morning. Hope all good things come your way.



becki


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of @Sunshine:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *@freedombecki...I am amazed at the beauty your hands create. Knowing your situation you could easily sit back and let people do for you, but instead you go all out to bring joy to others. You will be rewarded. BTW...my wife is a teacher but she could have been an interior decorator. When she said she was going to paint our living room yellow I thought OMG. But it turned out to be beautiful. Yellow is such a cheerful color.*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Mrs. Bloodrock sounds like a keeper!
Click to expand...


*Yes she is. Not long ago we were talking decorating with some friends. Someone asked me what color our living room was. I said yellow. My wife corrected me and said it hadn't been yellow for 2 years. Oh well. Must be my age.*


----------



## freedombecki

To the good times and sunny yellow rooms!


----------



## freedombecki

The Sunshine Steps to the White House quilt is now in only 6 parts. It is coming together nicely, and I love it.

All I can show is one of the 6 junctions of four squares. They're all alike this one:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> The Sunshine Steps to the White House quilt is now in only 6 parts. It is coming together nicely, and I love it.
> 
> All I can show is one of the 6 junctions of four squares. They're all alike this one:



WOW!  That's sensational.  Yellow makes me happy!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Sunshine Steps to the White House quilt is now in only 6 parts. It is coming together nicely, and I love it.
> 
> All I can show is one of the 6 junctions of four squares. They're all alike this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WOW! That's sensational. Yellow makes me happy!
Click to expand...

I'm so glad, sunshine. I showed the antique quilt to my fellow moderator at another forum, and he noticed the antique quilt had a touch of red in the gold. I looked again, and he was right, it did, but it was too late. I'd already cut the light and dark yellow and gold strips. I did, however slightly remedy it by adding a definite schoolbus bright red-gold print as the inner border and a sunflower border with its own propensity toward a redder sun yellow (although not red in the true sense, but leaning that way just ever so slightly) I'm not sure the scanner did it justice, but for what it's worth, I am dedicating the quilt to you, Sunshine, for a child in our rural county whose lot it was to land with at least one parent in the local shelter for abused families. It's to honor your long career in patient care and fighting disease with all your might and helping people like me who are fighting mere pain and lethargy from fibromyalgia (and other autoimmune type diseases) to keep fighting and beating back our diseases, one symptom at a time, and winning against the odds.

Maybe the best cure is just that--lick the symptom and feel your heart saying "hip hip hooray" for the joy of victory over physical pain and other annoyances.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Sunshine Steps to the White House quilt is now in only 6 parts. It is coming together nicely, and I love it.
> 
> All I can show is one of the 6 junctions of four squares. They're all alike this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WOW! That's sensational. Yellow makes me happy!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm so glad, sunshine. I showed the antique quilt to my fellow moderator at another forum, and he noticed the antique quilt had a touch of red in the gold. I looked again, and he was right, it did, but it was too late. I'd already cut the light and dark yellow and gold strips. I did, however slightly remedy it by adding a definite schoolbus bright red-gold print as the inner border and a sunflower border with its own propensity toward a redder sun yellow (although not red in the true sense, but leaning that way just ever so slightly) I'm not sure the scanner did it justice, but for what it's worth, *I am dedicating the quilt to you, Sunshine, for a child in our rural county whose lot it was to land with at least one parent in the local shelter for abused families. It's to honor your long career in patient care and fighting disease with all your might and helping people like me who are fighting mere pain and lethargy from fibromyalgia (and other autoimmune type diseases) to keep fighting and beating back our diseases, one symptom at a time, and winning against the odds.
> *
> Maybe the best cure is just that--lick the symptom and feel your heart saying "hip hip hooray" for the joy of victory over physical pain and other annoyances.
Click to expand...


WOW!  I'm truly honored~!  

The red just makes it 'feel' warmer!  I like it.

(My old high school friends don't understand why I like it out here in the boonies all alone except for my cat and visits to the kids.  I just tell them, 'I've seen a lot.')


----------



## freedombecki

Living out in the sticks has been heaven for me, too, Sunshine. I love the solitude, the twittering birds, the awesome great white egrets on our own lake, as well as the herons, and the green all year around, being around one hundred miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and enjoying more rain in the Great Piney Woods than they have west of here. It was a little dry, but for the last 2 days, we've had a little rain to maintain the fish in the pond for the dear fisherman birds who occasionally visit for the rewards, if the egrets are elsewhere for a bit. Great egrets are not great sharers of their "finds." I saw a pair of great egrets banish 5 much larger Flamingos a couple of years back. While it looked comical, I loved seeing the beautiful pink color of the flamingos around here. The egrets let them alone a day or so, but they must have gotten into the wrong food source, as soon, they let them have it with their well-equipped stiletto beaks. 

You have to let the wild birds duke it out, but the egrets won handily, after a long day of in-your-face wordless discussions as to which pair of monarchs would rule the lake for the duration of the summer.


----------



## freedombecki

I was looking around to see if anyone else was doing a green White House quilt. since mine went so quickly once I got going, I'd like a repeat experience only all in one day, thank you. I did find one at Marcia's Sewing Blogspot, and she too was making a charity quilt for someone along with the assistance of her mother. Hers is very scrappy, and I have some of the same fabric she and her mom have in my stash, at least, I used to. 

Here's her beautiful layout:



​My green stash is getting out of control lately, and I do like what she did in textures and types of fabrics. I'd prefer doing two colors, naturally, like I did on the Sunshine Steps to the Whitehouse quilt, but it takes a minimum of 2 yards each of two colors. All you need for the above quilt is her measurement, which she has shared at her link, which I advise you to visit for her cheerful statement and many more pictures of her work and amazing system of operations. Her squares come out 10" square, whereas mine will be 9" again. It's much easier to repeat than change course mid stream into someone else's amazing world, a world that is super-organized, though, and most admirable.​ 
Well, it's off to the resource room to look for 2 greens. 
And if none are found, you know what that means
A trip to the quilt store for way too much fabric
To hopefully work for a poor child some magic.​ 
​


----------



## freedombecki

This was shown at the Law building at the University of Wyoming in 2009. They call it "Courthouse Steps Star," which it well may be, but it also has the shared center of White House Steps. I agree with its maker and namer, too, however, as technically, White House Steps can be courthouse steps if it is arranged in opposite likes, size-wise. It also, however, can be arranged log cabin style to look like concentric squares. I'm fascinated.


----------



## freedombecki

Found two very sturdy green cottons among my souvenirs. One came from an estate purchase, the other from somewhere that had a bolt of green camouflage fabric from years gone by.

I am naming this quilt, "You're In the Army Now!" for all our dear men and women who served in Viet Nam as well as at other times. 

I am not designating an assignment, which means either the H.E.A.R.T.S. Museum quilters will nab it or an Army mom for her soldier boy who worries her months at a stretch while he is serving his tour overseas.

Not what I expected to come up with after finding the above GORGEOUS green scrap quilt someone made for charitable purposes, but okay, I guess. It all goes to a good cause for our service men who gave us every freedom in the Bill of Rights that we ever had and has freed people across the globe who would otherwise be ruled by tyrants.

I have cut most of the strips, not all, but have completed all 24 blocks to the 5-piece stage (small blocks, scan 3) and two mockups of the full blocks and two mockups of the 9-piece stage. So tomorrow, I will have my busy hands working if all goes well.

I know this is no holiday in particular, but I would like to end tonight with a prayer for all our servicemen to be alert, serve safely, and come home to bless our nation with wisdom and peace that comes from knowing war is bad, but not so bad we accept the garbage of societies who threaten us by any means they can. Bless our troops, oh Lord I pray. Bring each one of them home in honor and victory. Amen. 

Also, please add one of our members' sister to your prayer list. She is battling liver cancer and needs help from on high. Thank you.

Love,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Time to wish everyone a great week. Hope Sunshine takes a couple of days to enjoy life after completing some painting tasks, and when refreshed gets back to the next one in the warm yellow colors described.

I have a camo quilt to get back to, so again, will post little green tidbits when the time rolls around and some squares are finished. I did 3/4 of the work on the yellow quilt the last day. Sometimes, after a long fight, it seems I can fly right through the work. Here's hoping I can do one White HOuse Steps quilts for every color in the rainbow in a week. I already have the yellow one out of the way and the hard part of the green quilt top out of the way (though it's not completely true to the true hue rainbow color, it's a shade!

A coffee toast to all who work hard to make life good for others! So many here do just that too.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Time to wish everyone a great week. Hope Sunshine takes a couple of days to enjoy life after completing some painting tasks, and when refreshed gets back to the next one in the warm yellow colors described.
> 
> I have a camo quilt to get back to, so again, will post little green tidbits when the time rolls around and some squares are finished. I did 3/4 of the work on the yellow quilt the last day. Sometimes, after a long fight, it seems I can fly right through the work. Here's hoping I can do one White HOuse Steps quilts for every color in the rainbow in a week. I already have the yellow one out of the way and the hard part of the green quilt top out of the way (though it's not completely true to the true hue rainbow color, it's a shade!
> 
> A coffee toast to all who work hard to make life good for others! So many here do just that too.



I have pushed this week's start off until Wednesday.  I have to go to the eye doctor for glasses Tuesday.  The front BR is a large BR, but much smaller and only about half as tedious as the first area I covered.


----------



## freedombecki

Good luck at the eye doctor's tomorrow, Sunshine. I posted a little but not much today. I had foot cramps all day today. Sitting in front of the sewing machine, there is a button on my little Bernina 380, near the reverse key that allows you to straight sew constantly by pushing the button. That eased my uptight foot cramps nicely, and I was able to keep on for a while.

Finished all 24 squares, and they're in two piles, one with the army green percale, and one with the jungle camouflage at the outside. I thought "this quilt is a little confusing." And then I realized, that's the point of camo fabric. it blends in with the jungle or landscaping and is intended to confuse whoever is looking out for troops who for one reason or another are right there.

Well, hopefully, all the drab, confusing stuff will soon be behind me, and I can work on two pieces of the glorious blue forget-me-not flowers I have on hand.

Well, I'm falling asleep on the keyboard. 'niters. 

Prayers up for all our loved ones and friends.

Love,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Truly got carried away with the London Stairs bit. The one row has grown to a 256-piece work of 40 inches wide and 20 inches long. A sampling is below.

Yes, the 24 camouflage squares are waiting in the same pile, and I'd planned on getting them together this afternoon. I was only going to do one square of the London Stairs...


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Yesterday, I noticed my quilt files had one on red and a file on blue. No file on yellow, so I went searching. At first, it wasn't much fun because not everyone ever makes a yellow quilt. In some households, yellow is banned because if a person is called "yellow" in our culture, it means he is a coward. That's hardly fitting for the color of sunshine, the color of butter which makes cookies taste like nothing else on this planet, and just as people believe in living on the sunny side of life, which means happiness and laughter. I love yellow! It's gorgeous if you let it do its thing in a quilt, yet there is a whole group of quilters who a couple of decades ago were complaining how one little piece of yellow could make people's attention turn to that..... one little piece of yellow.
> 
> WELL, *YEA-AH!*
> ​
> So I'm putting some yellow quilts here for everyone's perusal into how much fun this color can be.​
> 
> 
> I found someone's start on a mosaic quilt when I placed "yellow" into the search engine. I fell in love with just a glimpse of it. It has other colors than yellow, but the maker cleverly disguised them in the style of mosaic and distributed them randomly even throughout, and it's such an engaging piece, I just have to share it:​





freedombecki said:


> And more from my little vicarious tour of blogger's cheerful sewing room displays and museums:
> 
> 1. Hearts o' Gold
> 
> 2. Here comes the sun
> 
> 3. Lemoyne Stars with zigzag gold sashing





freedombecki said:


> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]:





freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the mosaic enlarged. I just want to see it so I can refer back to it when I want some sunshine in my life.
> 
> Speaking of Sunshine, I found some particularly fun quilt depictions of suns on my quest for making a file in my pictures of yellow quilts that I love so and want to make charity quilts of. I have a couple of barrels of yellow fabric around here, and they are overflowing with textures and types from the forties (or earlier) on up through the recent months of printing and fabric distribution in the United States.
> 
> In honor of @Sunshine:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are fantastic!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine. There were a lot more, but they were not allowed to be transferred as some quilters make very beautiful things that get published somewhere else, which makes them copyrighted. So in our little USMB gallery of gorgeous quilts, we just work with quilt artists whose main goal is making a loved one a pretty quilt, or has some fabric she thought she could put to good use in the house, like the cigar ribbon quilt above. You can't tell much about it anyway, as it sits in a museum somewhere likely, so I'll show the larger version if I can:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I won't have the "commercial mfg. markings," but the color schema is not one I've ever seen in anyone elses' except maybe one of mine back when I was making quilts for one show a year where my quilt shop was in central Wyoming. *sigh* Those were the days! I could just run over to where the yellow fabrics were upright on bolts, grab a couple I liked, put them to the cutting table and back on the shelves in less than an hour. I'd take them home and sew like a wild woman for 3 or 4 evenings, then show up to work with a new display for the front window. I tried to change them every couple of weeks to keep people from getting bored. Once in a while someone would come in and ask to see the ones we just took down, because someone called and told her about a quilt she should look at if she was going to make one for them. Small towns are like that.​
Click to expand...


Those are fabulous Beckums.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Sunshine Steps to the White House quilt is now in only 6 parts. It is coming together nicely, and I love it.
> 
> All I can show is one of the 6 junctions of four squares. They're all alike this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WOW! That's sensational. Yellow makes me happy!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm so glad, sunshine. I showed the antique quilt to my fellow moderator at another forum, and he noticed the antique quilt had a touch of red in the gold. I looked again, and he was right, it did, but it was too late. I'd already cut the light and dark yellow and gold strips. I did, however slightly remedy it by adding a definite schoolbus bright red-gold print as the inner border and a sunflower border with its own propensity toward a redder sun yellow (although not red in the true sense, but leaning that way just ever so slightly) I'm not sure the scanner did it justice, but for what it's worth, I am dedicating the quilt to you, Sunshine, for a child in our rural county whose lot it was to land with at least one parent in the local shelter for abused families. It's to honor your long career in patient care and fighting disease with all your might and helping people like me who are fighting mere pain and lethargy from fibromyalgia (and other autoimmune type diseases) to keep fighting and beating back our diseases, one symptom at a time, and winning against the odds.
> 
> Maybe the best cure is just that--lick the symptom and feel your heart saying "hip hip hooray" for the joy of victory over physical pain and other annoyances.
Click to expand...


Okay, why am I crying? just ... So much beauty, you touched my heart.

Bless you.

/hugs


----------



## koshergrl

Yellow is a beautiful color for a quilt, in any of it's shades. Looks wonderful. My best friend loves yellow, that quilt would make her sing!


----------



## koshergrl

Becki who quilts your quilts? Do you quilt them?


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Becki who quilts your quilts? Do you quilt them?


 Koshergrl, thanks for asking. I'd love to quilt my quilts, but to tell the truth, my disease keeps me from doing things I used to do with ease. Sometimes, I do not leave the house for two weeks at a time, and when I do, I risk having full body cramps just from the stress of noise, lights, and too much chatter, which triggers pain, cramps, and a myriad of symptoms from any of the 11 syndromes I know I have. I'd die a thousand deaths if I screamed in public. I went out to meetings 3 times in the past calendar year, and the result is always the same--1 hour at church, screaming pain before the sermon was complete. 2 hours at charity bees sewing meeting, screaming pain by noon along with a head spinning from well-wishers and people thanking me for making the 110 quilt tops last year. I spent one useless hour at the special charity bees quilting event in which 35 ladies showed up to quilt or tie 1 of the charity quilt tops I made. I quilted the smallest one I had made. The price tag was a 5 hour nap when I got home, a full night of sleep, and 4 naps the next day of 2 hours each before I finally got back to normal.

Sorry to share a day in my boring little life, but I'm so grateful to a merciful God I'm not in too much pain during most days, but being 2 hours late on the muscle relaxant can result in a full-body cramp if the air conditioner is one degree too cool, complete with screaming out loud. 

The stomach problems were reduced to nothing when I faced the demon: I'm allergic or have an instant bad reaction to any muncie or country water that runs through pipes, except for distilled water, which runs through either stainless steel or glass pipes before it goes in its container. That includes eating anything that is cooked in municipal water--rice, pasta, veggies, everything except for 1 item. Pinto beans have something in them that allows them to be cooked in regular tap water and doesn't upset my system, but only one serving. (1/2 c. cooked). If I have those items, I have to cook it in distilled water. Period.

So much for my bubble-girl life. The country suits me because it's quiet. On coyote-wild dog howling nights, I just turn on the fan to drown them out. For some reason, fan noise and car trips are soothing.

I beg your forgiveness for my confession. If it weren't for my good doctor, I'd have constant screaming pain with or without medication. She skillfully diagnosed the worst of all my problems by noticing a too-much-calcium in bloodstream, and scanning parathyroids for bad cells. Two of the 4 were taken out in surgery 2 years ago and restored my feet after a few months to where I can walk unaided by canes, and in that way, I walk when I can. The pain didn't disappear immediately, but was half in a couple of months and almost all gone after 6 months. Pressing on the rib cage tells me I still have the fibromyalgia. It just isn't eruptive in solitude that I will enjoy until the tax people evict me from my little bubble. I have enough savings to fight them off for 10 years more, if nothing goes seriously wrong in the meantime and we can avoid country solicitors.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> WOW! That's sensational. Yellow makes me happy!
> 
> 
> 
> I'm so glad, sunshine. I showed the antique quilt to my fellow moderator at another forum, and he noticed the antique quilt had a touch of red in the gold. I looked again, and he was right, it did, but it was too late. I'd already cut the light and dark yellow and gold strips. I did, however slightly remedy it by adding a definite schoolbus bright red-gold print as the inner border and a sunflower border with its own propensity toward a redder sun yellow (although not red in the true sense, but leaning that way just ever so slightly) I'm not sure the scanner did it justice, but for what it's worth, I am dedicating the quilt to you, Sunshine, for a child in our rural county whose lot it was to land with at least one parent in the local shelter for abused families. It's to honor your long career in patient care and fighting disease with all your might and helping people like me who are fighting mere pain and lethargy from fibromyalgia (and other autoimmune type diseases) to keep fighting and beating back our diseases, one symptom at a time, and winning against the odds.
> 
> Maybe the best cure is just that--lick the symptom and feel your heart saying "hip hip hooray" for the joy of victory over physical pain and other annoyances.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Okay, why am I crying? just ... So much beauty, you touched my heart.
> 
> Bless you.
> 
> /hugs
Click to expand...

 Thanks, BDBoop. Quilting has always drawn women together, and one of my favorite quilt designers calls her designer business "Heart to Heart" because quilts just do that to people. We're also seeing quite a few men--whether artists or engineers taking up the needle either to help their wife with designs, who just got hooked on quilting, and we even have a couple of guys who mention to me they've been around and liked the quilting thread as a sanctuary from some of the other areas of the boards.

I had just learned to use my sewing machine as a free-motion pen-and-ink sort of artistic media and had always liked quilts, though I only had one since my mother's quilt she made for me, she requested I leave it for my sister's only warmth when I got married, so I did, and now, no telling what happened to it. She made me a friendship star quilt, because we had an truly different relationship of being best of friends (although she did the majority of the giving!) Because my terminally shell-shocked dad had a habit of beating the children for no reason that was known to anyone, that we had to have a friend in our mother to keep from getting whacked into the next world.  Just kidding. But she really was the diplomat in the family and kept communication channels open with him and others while she was alive. That was her lifelong task, and she did it well.

Grandma and my mother's sisters, however, were the dedicated quilters in the family and saw to it I got my own quilt in the late 70s. They made from their polyester pantsuit and dresses a four-patch quilt attached to some red and green men's cotton pajama fabric, a warm quilt for Wyoming winters. I was so happy to have it.

if you ever get the yen to make a quilt or do handwork, you're cordially invited to scan or take a picture of it and bring it here. I can't believe the beautiful things people have shared here that a mother or grandmother did and gifted to them, things they saw in a store, exquisite celtic work, and to-die-for tea towels used as a tutorial for the family girls. If you backtrack, you'll find out who did what and who brought what. I actually love their projects as much as if not more than my own.


----------



## Mr. H.

Hey- I'M drawn to this thread. 

I don't quilt, of course, but some men do...

ManQuilters - An Online Community for Man Quilters


----------



## Mr. H.

...or maybe that's a link to women making quilts of men?


----------



## Mr. H.

I better quilt while I'm behind LOL.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Hey- I'M drawn to this thread.
> 
> I don't quilt, of course, but some men do...
> 
> ManQuilters - An Online Community for Man Quilters


 
Don't know when I've enjoyed a quilt link more, Mr. H. I'm going to spend more time in there when I'm  not doing so much work on quilts. 

In the meantime, I got some blocks joined on the army quilt. Since they're all so similar, I'm just going to post one.

Also, I had to visit the quilt shop. I only have one bazillion greens in my stash, but I decided to do the first border in a match to the lightest green on the camouflage fabric, and guess which color I couldn't match.  Yep. The light green. I now have a match, but haven't gotten to the outside border yet. I'm too busy dreading the boredom of only 2 fabrics. If they were red or blue, though... well, who knows. You never know what's going to put you to sleep until you get there. I'm there, but it may have nothing to do with the colors. I usually charge right through greens.

Here is the junction, like all the others that will appear on the 24-block quilt top:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey- I'M drawn to this thread.
> 
> I don't quilt, of course, but some men do...
> 
> ManQuilters - An Online Community for Man Quilters
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Don't know when I've enjoyed a quilt link more, Mr. H. I'm going to spend more time in there when I'm  not doing so much work on quilts.
> 
> In the meantime, I got some blocks joined on the army quilt. Since they're all so similar, I'm just going to post one.
> 
> Also, I had to visit the quilt shop. I only have one bazillion greens in my stash, but I decided to do the first border in a match to the lightest green on the camouflage fabric, and guess which color I couldn't match.  Yep. The light green. I now have a match, but haven't gotten to the outside border yet. I'm too busy dreading the boredom of only 2 fabrics. If they were red or blue, though... well, who knows. You never know what's going to put you to sleep until you get there. I'm there, but it may have nothing to do with the colors. I usually charge right through greens.
> 
> Here is the junction, like all the others that will appear on the 24-block quilt top:
Click to expand...


The Egyptian quilters are men.  They started as tent makers.  I posted their pic a while back.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey- I'M drawn to this thread.
> 
> I don't quilt, of course, but some men do...
> 
> ManQuilters - An Online Community for Man Quilters
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Don't know when I've enjoyed a quilt link more, Mr. H. I'm going to spend more time in there when I'm not doing so much work on quilts.
> 
> In the meantime, I got some blocks joined on the army quilt. Since they're all so similar, I'm just going to post one.
> 
> Also, I had to visit the quilt shop. I only have one bazillion greens in my stash, but I decided to do the first border in a match to the lightest green on the camouflage fabric, and guess which color I couldn't match.  Yep. The light green. I now have a match, but haven't gotten to the outside border yet. I'm too busy dreading the boredom of only 2 fabrics. If they were red or blue, though... well, who knows. You never know what's going to put you to sleep until you get there. I'm there, but it may have nothing to do with the colors. I usually charge right through greens.
> 
> Here is the junction, like all the others that will appear on the 24-block quilt top:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Egyptian quilters are men. They started as tent makers. I posted their pic a while back.
Click to expand...

Those quilts and tapestries were icons of workmanship!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> The Egyptian quilters are men. They started as tent makers. I posted their pic a while back.


 
<You must spread some reputation around before giving to Sunshine again>

*sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

And for guests staying over the night in the coffee shop for the all-night card party, cots are in the closet, and you can pick a cover...







Good night, all. ​


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> And for guests staying over the night in the coffee shop for the all-night card party, cots are in the closet, and you can pick a cover...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good night, all. ​



*Wow Becki! You are awesome! You made all of those? I might need one soon. It was 59 overnight here. I have been in North Carolina for 25 years. It hardly EVER gets below 70 overnight in August. Global warming? I don't think so.*


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> And for guests staying over the night in the coffee shop for the all-night card party, cots are in the closet, and you can pick a cover...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good night, all. ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Wow Becki! You are awesome! You made all of those? I might need one soon. It was 59 overnight here. I have been in North Carolina for 25 years. It hardly EVER gets below 70 overnight in August. Global warming? I don't think so.*
Click to expand...

 No, but thanks for the thought, Bloodrock. I gave 110 quilts to charity last year, but the above picture came from surfing the net and joking around. I don't take pictures with anything but my little Canon scanner that was likely some kind of Wallyworld overstock item last year after Christmas.


----------



## freedombecki

Quilt Top mission, Check! 

She's all done, thanks to getting up long before the rooster and finishing in my sleep. This little top measures a little under 48x68" but is bigger than the last couple of quilts, I think.

Ones like this often will go to the H.E.A.R.T.S. Museum Quilters group that meets on Tuesdays, and they quilt all day for U.S. Veterans here and everywhere.

The tops are given to Charity Bees division of the Tall Pines Quilt Guild group who quilt the tops for local needs and distribute where the need is the greatest. I'm so grateful they find my little tops useful, somehow, to those who need them.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, me being out of rep after last night, guess I will go take a nap, having gotten up 6 hours ago to complete my top. *yawn*

Have a lovely day, everyone.


----------



## BDBoop

I slept in shifts last night. 12-4, 8-3.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> I slept in shifts last night. 12-4, 8-3.


 Goodness, BDBoop. Hope you're getting the right amount of rest at the right times.


----------



## freedombecki

Forever blues:


----------



## freedombecki

Some circular blue quilts for those of us enamored by blue:


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> I slept in shifts last night. 12-4, 8-3.
> 
> 
> 
> Goodness, BDBoop. Hope you're getting the right amount of rest at the right times.
Click to expand...


I'm on graveyard, working my way toward sleeping 7-3 or 8-4.


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> I slept in shifts last night. 12-4, 8-3.



 [MENTION=31258]BDBoop[/MENTION]

Have you ever been tested for a sleep disorder?  A sleep disorder like sleep apnea can shorten your life.  Your primary care MD can order the test for you.


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> I slept in shifts last night. 12-4, 8-3.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [MENTION=31258]BDBoop[/MENTION]
> 
> Have you ever been tested for a sleep disorder?  A sleep disorder like sleep apnea can shorten your life.  Your primary care MD can order the test for you.
Click to expand...


Thank you for caring enough to ask.  No, I have not. I usually sleep very well, except my twice-a-year-or-so insomnia. But switching to graveyard is a major spanner to normal sleep patterns.


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> I slept in shifts last night. 12-4, 8-3.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [MENTION=31258]BDBoop[/MENTION]
> 
> Have you ever been tested for a sleep disorder?  A sleep disorder like sleep apnea can shorten your life.  Your primary care MD can order the test for you.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thank you for caring enough to ask.  No, I have not. I usually sleep very well, except my twice-a-year-or-so insomnia. But switching to graveyard is a major spanner to normal sleep patterns.
Click to expand...


Yes the switch is rough.  I used to do two graveyard shifts every other week, moonlighting.  My blood pressure was off the chart.   The folks I know who consistently do graveyard and cope well with it do it just like they had moved to the China.  They do EVERYTHING they can around that schedule and only occasionally break that rule.


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> [MENTION=31258]BDBoop[/MENTION]
> 
> Have you ever been tested for a sleep disorder?  A sleep disorder like sleep apnea can shorten your life.  Your primary care MD can order the test for you.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you for caring enough to ask.  No, I have not. I usually sleep very well, except my twice-a-year-or-so insomnia. But switching to graveyard is a major spanner to normal sleep patterns.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes the switch is rough.  I used to do two graveyard shifts every other week, moonlighting.  My blood pressure was off the chart.   The folks I know who consistently do graveyard and cope well with it do it just like they had moved to the China.  They do EVERYTHING they can around that schedule and only occasionally break that rule.
Click to expand...


I did graveyard for eight years. Several times my mom called and asked if I wanted to do lunch. Most times, I burst into tears. The last time I snapped "SURE! And I'll call you Tuesday at 2:00 a.m. and see if you want to go to Perkins!"


----------



## freedombecki

Wow. What you girls did to raise your children. My hat's off to Sunshine. And my hat's off to B.D.Boop. May God hold in his hands all the moms who worked the night shift while rearing a family. 



I ran out of medicine Sunday. Forgot to pick up prescription Monday. Slept all day today due to having to take the one that stops cramps early in the day instead of at night. Otherwise it would have been screaming pain until I took it anyway. It'll take a couple of days. I couldn't even stay awake at the sewing machine after taking it. zzzzzz

My problems seem so small.


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt was so restorative in coloration, I sent it to "my pictures" and selected it for desktop for preferences from my pictures. It truly stops the pain from my dry-eye syndrome problem. Just sharing:




​I like it because most of the light blues have little white in them. The blue quilts I've made in the past dance with a contrast of textures from my blue-on-white stash collection. So for this week's project, I'm making a far simpler charity bees quilt, but incorporating a light blue fabric 2-yards I picked up on ebay for a song. It takes one and a quarter yard to do 48 blocks if I use only one light fabric, more or less. It pays to buy 2 yards in case I screw up on cutting. I can't count the number of times I've miscounted on the cutting table. When my feet hurt, I can't think straight, and standing for over an hour cutting strips does it every time. So I'm still learning to parse cutting into 3 or 4 sessions if possible.

If my little panaceas for sticking with the program help anyone here who quilts but choses to just surf, I'd be so pleased to know it. As we get older, we can't stand as long, body parts hurt, medicines detract us from sticking with projects, etc. I just try to make graphic what anyone can do to bypass nature by amending old habits to aid in the completion of a quilt. I thank the maker of the above jeans quilt for her unique inspiration to me on the comfort her quilt brings to my eyes without sacrificing its total beauty. 

I'd like to credit the source: it's an etsy shop named Milkweed Quilts. The quilt may be for or had been for sale sometime this year. It's truly easy on the eyes.​


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Wow. What you girls did to raise your children. My hat's off to Sunshine. And my hat's off to B.D.Boop. May God hold in his hands all the moms who worked the night shift while rearing a family.
> 
> 
> 
> I ran out of medicine Sunday. Forgot to pick up prescription Monday. Slept all day today due to having to take the one that stops cramps early in the day instead of at night. Otherwise it would have been screaming pain until I took it anyway. It'll take a couple of days. I couldn't even stay awake at the sewing machine after taking it. zzzzzz
> 
> My problems seem so small.



(((((  B  ))))) <---- gentle hugs


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, BDB!


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you for caring enough to ask.  No, I have not. I usually sleep very well, except my twice-a-year-or-so insomnia. But switching to graveyard is a major spanner to normal sleep patterns.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes the switch is rough.  I used to do two graveyard shifts every other week, moonlighting.  My blood pressure was off the chart.   The folks I know who consistently do graveyard and cope well with it do it just like they had moved to the China.  They do EVERYTHING they can around that schedule and only occasionally break that rule.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I did graveyard for eight years. Several times my mom called and asked if I wanted to do lunch. Most times, I burst into tears. The last time I snapped "SURE! And I'll call you Tuesday at 2:00 a.m. and see if you want to go to Perkins!"
Click to expand...


That's about how it goes.  Nobody gets that their noon is your midnight.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, this is my version of a far better quilt. I just hope it is as quieting to someone with dry eye syndrome as the Log Cabin quilt someone made of blue jeans. Mine is just composed of quilt cottons, in contrast, and may seem lighter since I favored royal blues, which I collected for months this and last year to do such quilts. Unfortunately, I tended to invest in light blues that were blue with white or ecru grounds, and that is not as comforting as the all-light blues.

I recently bought a two-yard swath of light blue, which I've not used until last night, so here's what I have to show for the 48 centers and 8 squares done to rows 9 of 13 so far (which isn't much and does not show my usual mockup, which screws up the counting process in my fibrofog case!  )

Here are two scans and a brick top I found a bit of online that looks like a very restful sight for the sore eyes:


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums, here is the knot I'm going to fill in on my trip:





It is fairly small, not sure if it will keep me busy the entire flight.  It is actually on white, I took it without a flash, so it looks dark, but it isn't.

And here is one I want to do.  Maybe for a longer trip. Like Hawaii?  And AFTER the tablecloth is finished.  Sorry for the bad photography on both.  When I get it done I will take a better pic.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, Beckums, here is the knot I'm going to fill in on my trip:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is fairly small, not sure if it will keep me busy the entire flight. It is actually on white, I took it without a flash, so it looks dark, but it isn't.
> 
> And here is one I want to do. Maybe for a longer trip. Like Hawaii? And AFTER the tablecloth is finished. Sorry for the bad photography on both. When I get it done I will take a better pic.


I think that's absolutely beautiful, Sunshine. I love red and gold together. It sounds like you're leaving soon. Gonna miss you around here.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums, here is the knot I'm going to fill in on my trip:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is fairly small, not sure if it will keep me busy the entire flight. It is actually on white, I took it without a flash, so it looks dark, but it isn't.
> 
> And here is one I want to do. Maybe for a longer trip. Like Hawaii? And AFTER the tablecloth is finished. Sorry for the bad photography on both. When I get it done I will take a better pic.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think that's absolutely beautiful, Sunshine. I love red and gold together. It sounds like you're leaving soon. Gonna miss you around here.
Click to expand...


Actually that's a mauvie pink.  It just looks gold because of my bad photography.  But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold.  I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums, here is the knot I'm going to fill in on my trip:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is fairly small, not sure if it will keep me busy the entire flight. It is actually on white, I took it without a flash, so it looks dark, but it isn't.
> 
> And here is one I want to do. Maybe for a longer trip. Like Hawaii? And AFTER the tablecloth is finished. Sorry for the bad photography on both. When I get it done I will take a better pic.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think that's absolutely beautiful, Sunshine. I love red and gold together. It sounds like you're leaving soon. Gonna miss you around here.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Actually that's a mauvie pink. It just looks gold because of my bad photography. But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold. I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center.
Click to expand...

 Now that you mention it, it is a muted mauve pink. Funny how perception can make you see something that may not exactly be there as you think!  I actually use that thesis to make something appear it's a different color than it actually is. You're likely more sophisticated in your use of color than you know, Sunshine. Good job!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums, here is the knot I'm going to fill in on my trip:
> 
> It is fairly small, not sure if it will keep me busy the entire flight. It is actually on white, I took it without a flash, so it looks dark, but it isn't.
> 
> And here is one I want to do. Maybe for a longer trip. Like Hawaii? And AFTER the tablecloth is finished. Sorry for the bad photography on both. When I get it done I will take a better pic.
> 
> 
> 
> I think that's absolutely beautiful, Sunshine. I love red and gold together. It sounds like you're leaving soon. Gonna miss you around here.
Click to expand...


Actually that's a mauvie pink.  It just looks gold because of my bad photography.  But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold.  I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center.  Here it is.  I think this is a pattern someone gave me. Maybe one of the nurses at Vanderbilt.  I don't recall it being in either one of my Celtic cross stitch books.  It wasn't such a ball buster.  Generally those knots are not easy to work out.  I started one that was quite complex and realized about 3/4 of the way through that it was wrong. I should have done something to just work around my mistake, but I am pretty sure in a fit of frustration, I threw it away.  I may try it again one day.  To top it off, the one I was doing last night had a mistake in he_ pattern_.  Fortunately, it was a symmetrical design so all I had to do was flip the pattern 180 degrees and it was OK.





I rarely use the size Aida cloth called for and I just thought this one would have more punch if I did it on really large Aida.  But I don't recall what the size actually is.  It is framed in an 8 x 10 frame.  A square would be better, but when I did this one, I was in law school and teaching and wasn't inclined to scour the internet for things.  Just found a red frame and brought it home from  K Mart or some such.


----------



## freedombecki

Could it be 11 count Aida? That's usually about the biggest one I saw when ordering Aida fabric for those who do counted cross stitch on the machine which is a 3mm cross stitch on a Pfaff. 14 Count Aida has 14 squares to the inch and works well with a 2mm machine cross stitch. On a Pfaff, with the walking foot engaged, if you start in the corner of an Aida square, exactly, you can go for 6 or 8 squares quite accurately on account of its versatile multi-directional feed that is computer coordinated with upper and lower feed system. If you're working on 11-to-the-inch Aida cloth, using the 3mm cross stitch, you get the same precision. Every few stitches, you just need to make sure you're still in the corner. On my old Pfaff, if you hit "finish pattern" button, it would stop on the last stitch, and you could hand flywheel the needle to the corner, turning the wheel over the top toward yourself in keeping with the machine's correct timing.

I took a couple of classes on counted cross stitch at Dealer's Convention because I was so fascinated with machine cross stitch. When they brought in a floral card that cross stitched some truly beautiful florals in no time flat, I fell in love with machine cross stitch. And if you use a fine linen, you don't even have to worry about getting the cross stitch into the hole. You just pick a card you like the looks of, and it's all over except for changing the color you want to do. I had cross charts on DNC with everything we sold so I could use my precious DMC Article 237 # 50 thread on the Pfaff Machine Cross stitches. The computer card had pictures with 150,000 stitches on them. It took 8 hours sometimes, but that's a far cry from a month or so of doing the same thing by hand. OK, I'm a crafty person.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, here I am yakkety yakking when I have to finish this beautiful blue quilt, and have to cut about 30 pieces of darks to do rows 12 and 13, after I finish 48 rows 10 and 11, that is! I'm 200 pieces away from completion, plus whatever the border takes. 

Hope everybody has a wonderful day! Will somebody please rep Bloodrock for me? I ran out of reps last night, and he was on my list to thank. Oh, gosh, and there's Mr. H. who I haven't seen lately. hmmmm. Gotta keep our guys who love quilts enough to say "hi hello" now and then rewarded, you know.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Could it be 11 count Aida? That's usually about the biggest one I saw when ordering Aida fabric for those who do counted cross stitch on the machine which is a 3mm cross stitch on a Pfaff. 14 Count Aida has 14 squares to the inch and works well with a 2mm machine cross stitch. On a Pfaff, with the walking foot engaged, if you start in the corner of an Aida square, exactly, you can go for 6 or 8 squares quite accurately on account of its versatile multi-directional feed that is computer coordinated with upper and lower feed system. If you're working on 11-to-the-inch Aida cloth, using the 3mm cross stitch, you get the same precision. Every few stitches, you just need to make sure you're still in the corner. On my old Pfaff, if you hit "finish pattern" button, it would stop on the last stitch, and you could hand flywheel the needle to the corner, turning the wheel over the top toward yourself in keeping with the machine's correct timing.
> 
> I took a couple of classes on counted cross stitch at Dealer's Convention because I was so fascinated with machine cross stitch. When they brought in a floral card that cross stitched some truly beautiful florals in no time flat, I fell in love with machine cross stitch. And if you use a fine linen, you don't even have to worry about getting the cross stitch into the hole. You just pick a card you like the looks of, and it's all over except for changing the color you want to do. I had cross charts on DNC with everything we sold so I could use my precious DMC Article 237 # 50 thread on the Pfaff Machine Cross stitches. The computer card had pictures with 150,000 stitches on them. It took 8 hours sometimes, but that's a far cry from a month or so of doing the same thing by hand. OK, I'm a crafty person.



Not sure.  I'll get a ruler and measure in a bit.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums,

That piece of Aida only has 6 squares to the inch.  Not sure what store I got it from, but I know it was in Nashville.  There were a couple I used to shop at, one in Harding Place Mall and one in the Hillwood community.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Oh, here I am yakkety yakking when I have to finish this beautiful blue quilt, and have to cut about 30 pieces of darks to do rows 12 and 13, after I finish 48 rows 10 and 11, that is! I'm 200 pieces away from completion, plus whatever the border takes.
> 
> Hope everybody has a wonderful day! Will somebody please rep Bloodrock for me? I ran out of reps last night, and he was on my list to thank. Oh, gosh, and there's Mr. H. who I haven't seen lately. hmmmm. Gotta keep our guys who love quilts enough to say "hi hello" now and then rewarded, you know.



I covered him for you.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally got some blocks done on the My Blue Heaven quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

And some more...


----------



## freedombecki

And finally, the last three that are completely ready to sew into their respective sunshine and shadows blocks.


----------



## freedombecki

About half of the blocks were finished this morning and were put into sunshine and shadow blocks of blue. I'm going to show 3 of them as 1a and 1b, 2a and 2b, and 3a and 3b. They will be turned, not expertly, but as best as I could do. If I can find it will put the original quilt. Hers has an impact I just can't match, but I love this one, too. I noticed she altered her sunshine and shadow blocks by having darks with the outside next to blocks with lights on the outside and decided that since it was so easy on the eye, (imho) I'd do likewise.

The third scan shows the picture cropped to show alternated blocks of sunshine and shadows. 

Hope everybody has a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. 

Milkweed Quilts at Etsy


----------



## freedombecki

Here's block 2 with a and b sides showing. I'm going to also place her lovely quilt as I found it online, same link as the one above, Milkweed Quilts at Etsy.


----------



## Bloodrock44

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums, here is the knot I'm going to fill in on my trip:
> 
> It is fairly small, not sure if it will keep me busy the entire flight. It is actually on white, I took it without a flash, so it looks dark, but it isn't.
> 
> And here is one I want to do. Maybe for a longer trip. Like Hawaii? And AFTER the tablecloth is finished. Sorry for the bad photography on both. When I get it done I will take a better pic.
> 
> 
> 
> I think that's absolutely beautiful, Sunshine. I love red and gold together. It sounds like you're leaving soon. Gonna miss you around here.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Actually that's a mauvie pink.  It just looks gold because of my bad photography.  But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold.  I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center.  Here it is.  I think this is a pattern someone gave me. Maybe one of the nurses at Vanderbilt.  I don't recall it being in either one of my Celtic cross stitch books.  It wasn't such a ball buster.  Generally those knots are not easy to work out.  I started one that was quite complex and realized about 3/4 of the way through that it was wrong. I should have done something to just work around my mistake, but I am pretty sure in a fit of frustration, I threw it away.  I may try it again one day.  To top it off, the one I was doing last night had a mistake in he_ pattern_.  Fortunately, it was a symmetrical design so all I had to do was flip the pattern 180 degrees and it was OK.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I rarely use the size Aida cloth called for and I just thought this one would have more punch if I did it on really large Aida.  But I don't recall what the size actually is.  It is framed in an 8 x 10 frame.  A square would be better, but when I did this one, I was in law school and teaching and wasn't inclined to scour the internet for things.  Just found a red frame and brought it home from  K Mart or some such.
Click to expand...


*@freedombecki Now this one is absolutely beautiful. I'm trying to wrap my mind around how you get the design in though. Can you explain a little how you do it? Do you sew it yourself?*


----------



## freedombecki

Block 3 a and b sides (finished 6 blocks this morning, and have to add the last side on the 24 blocks that will do the next 6 blocks which measure about 14 inches when in the quilt.

Oh, and I may just pick out another pretty quilt if I can find one this easy on the eyes. Or just whatever, really. 

Well, I found many worthy examples but I love mosaic quilts lately for some reason... I made one this past year that was a lot of work! 

The quilt is by Fransson dot com.


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think that's absolutely beautiful, Sunshine. I love red and gold together. It sounds like you're leaving soon. Gonna miss you around here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Actually that's a mauvie pink. It just looks gold because of my bad photography. But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold. I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center. Here it is. I think this is a pattern someone gave me. Maybe one of the nurses at Vanderbilt. I don't recall it being in either one of my Celtic cross stitch books. It wasn't such a ball buster. Generally those knots are not easy to work out. I started one that was quite complex and realized about 3/4 of the way through that it was wrong. I should have done something to just work around my mistake, but I am pretty sure in a fit of frustration, I threw it away. I may try it again one day. To top it off, the one I was doing last night had a mistake in he_ pattern_. Fortunately, it was a symmetrical design so all I had to do was flip the pattern 180 degrees and it was OK.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I rarely use the size Aida cloth called for and I just thought this one would have more punch if I did it on really large Aida. But I don't recall what the size actually is. It is framed in an 8 x 10 frame. A square would be better, but when I did this one, I was in law school and teaching and wasn't inclined to scour the internet for things. Just found a red frame and brought it home from K Mart or some such.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> *@freedombecki Now this one is absolutely beautiful. I'm trying to wrap my mind around how you get the design in though. Can you explain a little how you do it? Do you sew it yourself?*
Click to expand...

Those pictures were posted by Sunshine who does amazing Celtic embroidery in counted cross work, and sometimes she designs them all by herself. I almost fainted for happy last year when she posted several of her works. Sunshine is also working on a white on red tablecloth, and just completed a green one at or around her time of retirement. Seems like it was after. My memory is not perfect, but I love her cross stitch. I hope koshergrls comes back soon. She not only does counted work, her hand embroidered pillowcases are second to none, although she claims her unique color combos aren't. I'm here to tell you if you look back a few dozen pages, you will see how accomplished Sunshine is and how accomplished koshergrl is, each in their own specialty. Koshergrl also posts soft sculptured birds she has made in a thread she started in Arts and Crafts a few months back. She does all this and raises children, too. Girls who do counted work have a lot in common with quilters, and one of my specialties when I'm not doing charity quilts is doing postage stamp quilts, which are my love and heart's desire. 

Thanks everyone for kind wishes and prayers. I'm feeling a lot better today than yesterday!


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, and I found a quilt that made me think of [MENTION=31258]BDBoop[/MENTION], who seems to like blue and green, although these are pretty bold:








This one was found at nhquiltarts at etsy.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Actually that's a mauvie pink. It just looks gold because of my bad photography. But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold. I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center. Here it is. I think this is a pattern someone gave me. Maybe one of the nurses at Vanderbilt. I don't recall it being in either one of my Celtic cross stitch books. It wasn't such a ball buster. Generally those knots are not easy to work out. I started one that was quite complex and realized about 3/4 of the way through that it was wrong. I should have done something to just work around my mistake, but I am pretty sure in a fit of frustration, I threw it away. I may try it again one day. To top it off, the one I was doing last night had a mistake in he_ pattern_. Fortunately, it was a symmetrical design so all I had to do was flip the pattern 180 degrees and it was OK.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I rarely use the size Aida cloth called for and I just thought this one would have more punch if I did it on really large Aida. But I don't recall what the size actually is. It is framed in an 8 x 10 frame. A square would be better, but when I did this one, I was in law school and teaching and wasn't inclined to scour the internet for things. Just found a red frame and brought it home from K Mart or some such.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *@freedombecki Now this one is absolutely beautiful. I'm trying to wrap my mind around how you get the design in though. Can you explain a little how you do it? Do you sew it yourself?*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Those pictures were posted by Sunshine who does amazing Celtic embroidery in counted cross work, and sometimes she designs them all by herself. I almost fainted for happy last year when she posted several of her works. Sunshine is also working on a white on red tablecloth, and just completed a green one at or around her time of retirement. Seems like it was after. My memory is not perfect, but I love her cross stitch. I hope koshergrls comes back soon. She not only does counted work, her hand embroidered pillowcases are second to none, although she claims her unique color combos aren't. I'm here to tell you if you look back a few dozen pages, you will see how accomplished Sunshine is and how accomplished koshergrl is, each in their own specialty. Koshergrl also posts soft sculptured birds she has made in a thread she started in Arts and Crafts a few months back. She does all this and raises children, too. Girls who do counted work have a lot in common with quilters, and one of my specialties when I'm not doing charity quilts is doing postage stamp quilts, which are my love and heart's desire.
> 
> Thanks everyone for kind wishes and prayers. I'm feeling a lot better today than yesterday!
Click to expand...


* Oh wow...Sunshine is very talented. It's refreshing to know that there are such innovative ladies who have the patience to create such beautiful art!*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Actually that's a mauvie pink. It just looks gold because of my bad photography. But you have given me the idea to do one in red and gold. I did one that is a red square and a green square interlaced in Celtic fashion with a gold cross in the center. Here it is. I think this is a pattern someone gave me. Maybe one of the nurses at Vanderbilt. I don't recall it being in either one of my Celtic cross stitch books. It wasn't such a ball buster. Generally those knots are not easy to work out. I started one that was quite complex and realized about 3/4 of the way through that it was wrong. I should have done something to just work around my mistake, but I am pretty sure in a fit of frustration, I threw it away. I may try it again one day. To top it off, the one I was doing last night had a mistake in he_ pattern_. Fortunately, it was a symmetrical design so all I had to do was flip the pattern 180 degrees and it was OK.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I rarely use the size Aida cloth called for and I just thought this one would have more punch if I did it on really large Aida. But I don't recall what the size actually is. It is framed in an 8 x 10 frame. A square would be better, but when I did this one, I was in law school and teaching and wasn't inclined to scour the internet for things. Just found a red frame and brought it home from K Mart or some such.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *@freedombecki Now this one is absolutely beautiful. I'm trying to wrap my mind around how you get the design in though. Can you explain a little how you do it? Do you sew it yourself?*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Those pictures were posted by Sunshine who does amazing Celtic embroidery in counted cross work, and sometimes she designs them all by herself. I almost fainted for happy last year when she posted several of her works. Sunshine is also working on a white on red tablecloth, and just completed a green one at or around her time of retirement. Seems like it was after. My memory is not perfect, but I love her cross stitch. I hope koshergrls comes back soon. She not only does counted work, her hand embroidered pillowcases are second to none, although she claims her unique color combos aren't. I'm here to tell you if you look back a few dozen pages, you will see how accomplished Sunshine is and how accomplished koshergrl is, each in their own specialty. Koshergrl also posts soft sculptured birds she has made in a thread she started in Arts and Crafts a few months back. She does all this and raises children, too. Girls who do counted work have a lot in common with quilters, and one of my specialties when I'm not doing charity quilts is doing postage stamp quilts, which are my love and heart's desire.
> 
> Thanks everyone for kind wishes and prayers. I'm feeling a lot better today than yesterday!
Click to expand...


Becki, you give me too much credit.  I just use patterns for my cross stitch.  I couldn't design one myself to save my neck.  The green cross stitch quilt is still in the plastic bags not sewn together yet.  A friend offered to do it for me, but she is an hour away and I haven't gotten there yet.  Still contemplating the sewing machine.  If I buy a baby grand piano, I will get a lesser machine.  Or maybe not, depending on what I ostensibly pay for the piano.  Who said having a deadly illness is bad?  At least you know you can spend your own money.  Yea, I know, black humor!  

KG does do great stitching.  And she is working on a quilt too.  

I look back at how poor we were, and realize what sacrifice it took for my mother to get me piano lessons.  I wish I had done more with that.  The grandbaby seems to have the 'gift.'  When his parents figure out he is better at music than hockey, he may do great things.  He will get the baby grand should I buy one.  I'm going to look at some on Saturday in Nashville.

Oh, I forgot.  Bloodrock, that is just cross stitch on really big Aida cloth. I had a pattern when I did that.  You put the stitches on the squares of the cloth.  It is like graph paper only it is cloth.   I think I chose the colors myself, though.  That one is actually one of the easier ones I have done.  When I travel I stitch a Celtic knot.  It helps me tolerate the flying part.  I didn't stitch when I went to China and Egypt.  I just slipped myself a nice little mickey fin on those trips!


----------



## Sunshine

Sunshine said:


> *Here is some of my Celtic cross stitch.  And that Chinese thing!  (Once again, strictly amateur, but being from KY, there is some comfort in stitching for a lot of us.)*




Bloodrock, here are a few of the Celtic crosses, and some other things I have done.  They can seriously wig you out.  They are deceptively simple.  When I travel, I outline one, working out the pattern, then all I have to do on the plane is sit and fill it in.  The green and blue one up in the corner I did on a trip to Philly.  When the plane took off, I did half a row of backward stitches and it shows.  I left it that way as a memory of the trip.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Oh, and I found a quilt that made me think of [MENTION=31258]BDBoop[/MENTION], who seems to like blue and green, although these are pretty bold:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This one was found at nhquiltarts at etsy.



Boop also loves stained glass, so yeah! It works for me.


----------



## freedombecki

My Blue Heaven quilt top is done and is designated for a shelter child in honor of a friend of mine who was a Army Frogman in years gone by, who hosted a forum of the same name that was all about modern music, of which I know so little. 

What can I say but "God bless our troops!" 

The quilt measures around 54x70" give or take an inch or two. It's perfect for a child to grow from early childhood to young adulthood, the good Lord willing.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums,
> 
> That piece of Aida only has 6 squares to the inch. Not sure what store I got it from, but I know it was in Nashville. There were a couple I used to shop at, one in Harding Place Mall and one in the Hillwood community.


 Hmm, 6 to the inch Aida cloth. I guess they had to do something for people who work and would still like to make a cross stitch picture. Even simple shapes are beautiful worked in counted cross stitches and on Aida cloth. I just don't remember that being around the last time I ordered Aida cloth for the shop around 10 years ago. (we still had some left when I retired. lol) Actually, quilters were who came to our store. We always carried around 4 thousand choices on bolts. The newer stores are selling precut charm squares and 10 inch stacks for people who can't afford to buy a half yard of everything in a 40-bolt collection. That really became important to people who loved antebellum, feedsack, and other era reproduction fabrics, plus a few bolts for backgrounds, borders, and sashings. Collections are limited in manufacture, and a quilt made from a collection just 10 years later can be quite valuable if people remember the designer or the look of that specially nice collection. I always liked to keep about 200 bolts of bird fabrics on hand, but sometimes, nobody would print a hummingbird fabric, just not out there, when 3 people walk through the door missing the hummingbirds up on the mountain. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Looking at blue quilts, I ran across one that reminded me of all Sunshine's work!


----------



## freedombecki

And this one reminds me of Koshergrl's work, except this one looks like it has been washed ... and isn't a pillowcase... am I grabbing at straws or what?


----------



## freedombecki

And all my mother's dogs were Dashunds. 






Is that too cute or what?


----------



## freedombecki

[MENTION=20545]Mr. H.[/MENTION] was asking what a good antique or older quilt might be worth? Well, this one is a well-cared-for-antique quilt that recently sold for $675.






Details:​


----------



## freedombecki

Also, this little gem has been "gently used and washed" from West Virginia, and is for sale as well to anyone who wonders what a good-looking baby quilt might be worth. This one is 45 inches square:






Since it may or may not be for sale still, you can find her price here if you're curious as to what one might be asked of a collector of quilts: Carpenter's Wheel Quilt

The quilter's name rings a bell as a famous teacher, but could be a relative. That could make the value go up (or not). I don't know. Collectors are always interested in people who are good at their craft. This lady is whether she is famous or not. And it could have been made by a friend anyway, but there are some very good quilters in West Virginia who are well-taught by one of the most famous quilters in America, Ms. Jinny Beyer.


----------



## freedombecki

Ever get disgusted at having to buy napkins to put your snacks and coffee on? This lady solved the throw-away problem with a little quilt mat that's thick enough to absorb spills yet big enough to be a mat underneath both her coffee mug and a burger or burrito:






Her specialty is using "jelly rolls" and "charm packs" in her quilts (precut fabrics that make piecing a lot quicker than having to cut and figure, figure and cut, _ad nauseum_...

This is one of the most wonderful production websites I've see to date: TUTORIALS | Wedding Dress Blue

Just on one page, are whopping gorgeous quilts like her hundred hugs quilts:






And her square-centered (I think) "fading charms" postage stamp work:






Plus she has made a really cute little girls' skirt (she must be a mommy or grandma) and all sorts of little things one might find at a sidewalk sale--quilted key chains, needles and pin books, etc.


----------



## freedombecki

Another quilt that would be a good koshergrl project was this one:





Credit goes to its maker, Martha Gray as she finished it in or around 2009: Q is for Quilter » Blog Archive » Embroidered Basket Quilt

If you look at her patterns page, Martha Gray also has a free patterns link, which if you love embroidery, it's a lot of free patterns if you don't mind tracing them: 

Q is for Quilter » Patterns

*Downloads* lower right on page*


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> And all my mother's dogs were Dashunds.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is that too cute or what?



Cute!!

I love doxies, did you ever see this video?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09hLxQE5Zuo]Iso In Slow Motion - Bath Time! (music by Ingrid Michaelson) - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> [MENTION=20545]Mr. H.[/MENTION] was asking what a good antique or older quilt might be worth? Well, this one is a well-cared-for-antique quilt that recently sold for $675.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Details:​



Wowzers. 

Thanks, b.


----------



## freedombecki

This one is so very simple. It's just stripes and probably took under 3 hours. I piddled around since Saturday, but decided not to work on Sunday, but to rest and review blue quilts (as seen above). It was a great day. I finished Deep Purple Dreams this morning. I'm spending a lot of time trying to encourage my sweetie to do for himself this week. I may be short hours here this week. He needs attention and my time. I know he can still learn by his behaviors, and I think he can sort things out in his cerebellum, as he can still do math. I think I will approach him by encouraging him to relearn good habits such as shaving, brushing teeth, showering, taking out trash, etc. through his cerebellum. Not sure it will work, but I know he appreciates it when I stop and spend time with him while he is executing these tasks. I know I can fight pain of fibromyalgia. Maybe together, we can help him defeat forgetfulness by using other parts of his brain than those that no longer have open pathways to recollection. I know it's eventually a losing battle, but a battle means you fight it and help others on your team win, no matter how bizarro world stuff gets sometimes, and it does. 

Well, here's #53 for the year: deep purple dreams quilt upper left corner. It's just skinny and fat stripes all the way across with a dark purple upper and lower border:


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Looking at blue quilts, I ran across one that reminded me of all Sunshine's work!



Did you make this one [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] ? It is so beautiful. I am going to visit my cousin soon. She does her own quilts and posts pictures of them on Facebook. She is very talented. Almost as good as yours.


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looking at blue quilts, I ran across one that reminded me of all Sunshine's work!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you make this one @freedombecki ? It is so beautiful. I am going to visit my cousin soon. She does her own quilts and posts pictures of them on Facebook. She is very talented. Almost as good as yours.
Click to expand...

 No, I didn't make that one. It came from the quilting board dot com by one of their members. I do not do hand embroidery any more, Bloodrock, but when I'm not making a charity quilt top, I am keeping up on what others do by surfing the net by Bing. This one was from a kit likely and was done exceptionally well. Also, our friend on this thread, Sunshine, embroiders quilt squares from time to time, and I thought it would inspire her to complete her green one sometime soon, as I'm just dying to see it after she gets it quilted by someone else. She spent the better part of a year when she was working on breaks and after hours working on her beauty and wants to complete it for her children. I'd love to help, but I'm not in good enough health to do the actual hard job of quilting any more, but I can make charity tops and take them to the charity bees closet, where eventually, someone will quilt or tie it with 120 members in their group when I joined a few years back. I know a lot of them have busy lives and their own quilts to do, but occasionally, someone loves to at least tie a quilt in the afternoon or so that it takes if they are able to. So I keep going. All I have is a scanner to work with, so the little thumbnails of parts of the quilts I do are all that can be shown.


----------



## freedombecki

My present quilt is from an old start of red and light colors with red or pink in the center form of a willow tree log cabin-like block. It presently measures about 28" square and hopefully soon it will be longer than it is wide. I'd like to finish it fast, but I'm doing an envelope square to extend the top and bottom row, so I'm not sure where this one is going to go yet. It is a lot of work--it took all day yesterday to do the 28 half-square triangles on the top, and all of this morning to doing part of the squares, but they're not even pressed yet to join. Manana!


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looking at blue quilts, I ran across one that reminded me of all Sunshine's work!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you make this one @freedombecki ? It is so beautiful. I am going to visit my cousin soon. She does her own quilts and posts pictures of them on Facebook. She is very talented. Almost as good as yours.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No, I didn't make that one. It came from the quilting board dot com by one of their members. I do not do hand embroidery any more, Bloodrock, but when I'm not making a charity quilt top, I am keeping up on what others do by surfing the net by Bing. This one was from a kit likely and was done exceptionally well. Also, our friend on this thread, Sunshine, embroiders quilt squares from time to time, and I thought it would inspire her to complete her green one sometime soon, as I'm just dying to see it after she gets it quilted by someone else. She spent the better part of a year when she was working on breaks and after hours working on her beauty and wants to complete it for her children. I'd love to help, but I'm not in good enough health to do the actual hard job of quilting any more, but I can make charity tops and take them to the charity bees closet, where eventually, someone will quilt or tie it with 120 members in their group when I joined a few years back. I know a lot of them have busy lives and their own quilts to do, but occasionally, someone loves to at least tie a quilt in the afternoon or so that it takes if they are able to. So I keep going. All I have is a scanner to work with, so the little thumbnails of parts of the quilts I do are all that can be shown.
Click to expand...


*I don't know what it is that fascinates me so with quilting. I guess maybe because when I was growing up all our quilts were handmade and I can remember one quilt that all the ladies who made it stitched their names in it. Have you ever done that?*


----------



## freedombecki

Yes. That's a friendship quilt that women in a community gather together, each makes and signs a square, turns it in to someone who sews squares together, then invites everyone to a quilting bee to quilt the quilt for their friend. They call them "signature" or "album" quilts, maybe both. Sometimes it's a surprise, and sometimes it's not, because some communities are so small everyone is needed to work on the quilt, including she who receives it. It's also common in community or church fundraisers to make such a quilt and raffle it for something like fixtures for a city park, a baptismal font or altar fund for a church, etc.

One of my quilts earned $1900 to keep open an art gallery for the summer years ago. They gave me a "lifetime membership." to their art guild, which was a total surprise.  I loved doing it. The downside is hearing it about not winning the quilt from members who bought lots and lots of tickets.  Oh, well. They were very loving people to tease and josh me. AND you know the drill--no good deed ever goes unpunished.


----------



## freedombecki

The Center of this quilt was started about 5 or 6 years ago in Wyoming and was moved to our home in Walker County, TX, when we retired. I added borders to the center at or around the time we moved, from fabrics in my shop. The envelope squares around the top of the 28" square were added yesterday, and the lower envelope squares will be added hopefully soon. I'd truly like to get this quilt out of the way, but needed a red one in the stack. It's a cheerful color, and like blue monochromatic quilts, all-red quilts are loved by children and adults. My philosophy comes from the religious learnings of my youth--give your best, not your worst. So the bottom line for me is to make something for needy causes as good as if they were for my own family, and don't hold back. To me, it's not a gift unless you put your best into it, whether it's an idea, a dazzling array of color, or a simple, comforting dash of color to cradle someone who needs warmth and love. And I believe that's only something God can do, so I pray constantly for mercy upon us in my vespers at night, because I believe he listens and as he listened to Jacob who wrestled with the angel of the Lord, he lets us win small favors because he is always a caring entity who loves his creation, which is us, imho. 

/philosophical binge, pardon me. 

Here's the Willow Tree scans, at least 3 here and 3 in the next frame:


----------



## freedombecki

The top border of envelopes and squares:


----------



## freedombecki

Also, found other artists' envelope squares and quilts (not made by me) just for examples of the different looks you can get from this fun square which is quite traditional:


----------



## freedombecki

Envelope squares I found made by bloggers around the net (not made by me):


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> The Center of this quilt was started about 5 or 6 years ago in Wyoming and was moved to our home in Walker County, TX, when we retired. I added borders to the center at or around the time we moved, from fabrics in my shop. The envelope squares around the top of the 28" square were added yesterday, and the lower envelope squares will be added hopefully soon. I'd truly like to get this quilt out of the way, but needed a red one in the stack. It's a cheerful color, and like blue monochromatic quilts, all-red quilts are loved by children and adults. My philosophy comes from the religious learnings of my youth--give your best, not your worst. So the bottom line for me is to make something for needy causes as good as if they were for my own family, and don't hold back. To me, it's not a gift unless you put your best into it, whether it's an idea, a dazzling array of color, or a simple, comforting dash of color to cradle someone who needs warmth and love. And I believe that's only something God can do, so I pray constantly for mercy upon us in my vespers at night, because I believe he listens and as he listened to Jacob who wrestled with the angel of the Lord, he lets us win small favors because he is always a caring entity who loves his creation, which is us, imho.
> 
> /philosophical binge, pardon me.
> 
> Here's the Willow Tree scans, at least 3 here and 3 in the next frame:



Very nice. This link to the "Quilting Club" just happened to pop up on my Facebook page this morning. If you have FB you can check it out. https://www.facebook.com/quiltingclub?ref=stream&hc_location=stream


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Bloodrock! I'll look into it!


----------



## freedombecki

It's done! I'm free!


----------



## koshergrl

Woo hooooooo!


----------



## freedombecki

I'm having a hard time getting started on the final quilt of this group. There are 9 quilts sitting on the chest of drawers, and I have all the orange fabrics in the world out. I just can't make up my mind what to do yet. Too many ideas!


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> I'm having a hard time getting started on the final quilt of this group. There are 9 quilts sitting on the chest of drawers, and I have all the orange fabrics in the world out. I just can't make up my mind what to do yet. Too many ideas!



*Get to work young lady. I want pictures!*


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> I'm having a hard time getting started on the final quilt of this group. There are 9 quilts sitting on the chest of drawers, and I have all the orange fabrics in the world out. I just can't make up my mind what to do yet. Too many ideas!



It'll come to you once it gets sorted out in your mind.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm having a hard time getting started on the final quilt of this group. There are 9 quilts sitting on the chest of drawers, and I have all the orange fabrics in the world out. I just can't make up my mind what to do yet. Too many ideas!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It'll come to you once it gets sorted out in your mind.
Click to expand...

Lol! I just thought about it this morning, and decided I really had enjoyed doing the log cabin style. and that the courthouse steps version was fine. So. rather than mull about it might as well go for the gold, even if it meant 3 days. Well that didn't happen I was done by 1 o'clock. All the squares are the same. so not sure how they will be sewn together. think I'll blindfold myself and count by a large whole number divisible only by itself. 

Well, really not likely, but this one comes in Horizontal and Vertical, depending on how you turn them

Here's the block (x 30. Each has 19 pieces in it, so there are going to be at least 570 log pieces in the quilt). 

This is the approximate color of the orange that looks red orange in my printer's version


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yes, it's a lot brighter orange than pictured. Today, my bargain basement printer was in a red-orange mood. This one is a sunny Sunkist orange. The yellows are a little subdued, so I guess printer decided it should all be subdued.   

I pursued "how tos" in Bing! by researching what others had done with their courthouse steps. First of all, they planned something. Didn't happen here!  ~   

Edit: of all the quilts, the third one looks like one that would work with my particular blocks, although a 5x6 arrangement could get tricky. Except instead of using red, that would likely be either a very bright yellow or white. (Yes, white it may have to be).


----------



## freedombecki

And some more courthouse steps ~ coulda, woulda, shoulda planned it...


----------



## freedombecki

The orange quilt is done, took all day, but I'm so tired from pushing the envelope around, I'm just gonna hit the sack and will measure and post pictures tomorrow, hopefully. This will be the tenth quilt for the last 30 days, it's a happy time to get back into the groove of sewing. We've also had some dear little puffy clouds above, so the temperature is not as outrageous as usual for September, which often sizzles. We could use a little more rain, though. 

We have a number of posters at USMB who have sons who are either in basic training, the Navy, or other services. Please add them and their families to your prayer list for strength, courage, and safety, if you do that kind of a thing. Thanks.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, I forgot to take a picture of the little white detail on the quilt that separates the blocks. It's somewhat bigger than the quilts that have 24 blocks. This one had 30 blocks, plus the little  1/2" stripe of white to give it a little character.

Today, I needed some light pink fabric, so I went to the fabric shop which houses the charity bees quilt closet and delivered 10 quilt tops. All but 3 of them were log cabin style quilts, each having 4 or 500 pieces, some more. Oh, yes, the little postage stamp quilts had a lot more pieces than planned, but they were fun. I seem to be feeling my oats and happier now that my quilting routine is back down pat. I need to make a couple of quilts that are completely quilted. One of the guild members said they were having problems recruiting people to do quilting. If I could just do a couple that turned out well, that'd be a really good thing. I've really enjoyed making tops when I was feeling so bad, it was like a light in a dark room being able to do anything that would benefit a poor child, or at least, just thinking about it. Now, I'll just try to make and complete a quilt by starting off with a quilt-as-you-go simple quilt, maybe. Yep. That will be dandy.


----------



## freedombecki

I couldn't get my act together on the pink quilt after coming home from the quilt store. Too many sugar plums dancing through the head?   

Yep, prolly.  Anyway, I got some ideas off the web...

So here are think pink 1, 2, and 3. 

Tomorrow's gotta be in the pink if this quilt is ever going to get off the ground!


----------



## Sunshine

Finished the Celtic knot on the plane.  Going to stop at Hobby Lobby and see if I can find a frame today.  But square ones are hard to find.  When I was painting a lot, I always ordered from Graphik Dimensions which is now pictureframes.com.  If I can't find one at HL, I will order one from there.  Will post today or tomorrow.  Today is doctor day in Nashville.


----------



## Sunshine

Got a frame and a mounting board. They had a frame on sale at Hobby Lobby.  When I washed the piece, I noticed two missed 'cross' stitches.  I'll fix that before I frame it.  Will frame tomorrow and post pic.


----------



## freedombecki

I am really looking forward to seeing your picture, Sunshine!


----------



## Bloodrock44

quilt store. Too many sugar plums dancing through the head? :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Yep said:


> *Is it off the ground yet Becki? Hope you have a wonderful day!*


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Bloodrock. I actually had to put all the residue from the cutting table into a box. It gave me a guilt trip every time I looked at it, so I picked up the first red I came across, cut 12 rectangles, and began sewing strips from the block around the red "doors." Yesterday I found 3 potential fabrics for "roofs" to the crazy-patch log cabin house fronts to make a silly fun scrap quilt. It will not be beautiful, I'm afraid, but it will have used up a couple of yards of fabric by the time I get the housefronts quilt done. 

I wish I could empty the box. I'd probably have 6 scrap quilt tops, good-sized if I did. *sigh* Here are 3 of the housefronts with red doors:


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Thanks, Bloodrock. I actually had to put all the residue from the cutting table into a box. It gave me a guilt trip every time I looked at it, so I picked up the first red I came across, cut 12 rectangles, and began sewing strips from the block around the red "doors." Yesterday I found 3 potential fabrics for "roofs" to the crazy-patch log cabin house fronts to make a silly fun scrap quilt. It will not be beautiful, I'm afraid, but it will have used up a couple of yards of fabric by the time I get the housefronts quilt done.
> 
> I wish I could empty the box. I'd probably have 6 scrap quilt tops, good-sized if I did. *sigh* Here are 3 of the housefronts with red doors:



*Beautiful! I'll need 3 or 4 for this winter. Then you can teach me how to quilt my own, Now that I'm a full time house husband I have the time! *


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Thanks, Bloodrock. I actually had to put all the residue from the cutting table into a box. It gave me a guilt trip every time I looked at it, so I picked up the first red I came across, cut 12 rectangles, and began sewing strips from the block around the red "doors." Yesterday I found 3 potential fabrics for "roofs" to the crazy-patch log cabin house fronts to make a silly fun scrap quilt. It will not be beautiful, I'm afraid, but it will have used up a couple of yards of fabric by the time I get the housefronts quilt done.
> 
> I wish I could empty the box. I'd probably have 6 scrap quilt tops, good-sized if I did. *sigh* Here are 3 of the housefronts with red doors:



Oh, these would be lovely in a really bland room, just totally POP! right out and grab some major attention.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.

He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement of getting me back to the sewing machine and designing and adding some roofs and landscaping on mismatched house blocks to try to make something a child would like who has experienced some kind of abuse and has wound up at the family abuse center locally, and may never have owned so much as his own quilt or was uprooted suddenly and suddenly doesn't have  a home any more. Maybe all those silly houses will remind him someday, he or she can pick their own house out when they've gone through the nation's education mill. At least, I hope that's an option when they get there. 

Love to all,

becki


----------



## freedombecki

Started and forgot about a mega-king sized quilt I was making about the time we moved. I saw a box with what looked like red log cabins, and there sure were at least 100 or more of them, plus it looks like I finished a quarter of the quilt in an 8x9 block section of 72 squares at an angle that was to have been obviously a barn-raising quilt. Well, as it were, it was only at one angle, which is also called "fields and furrows" So thus the name, "Fields and Furrows, Red Log Cabin quilt top"

All I did was to cut 8 2" strips and went around the quilt. It was larger than most of my smaller quilts by a few inches, so instead of cutting 6 strips, I cut 8 for safety's sake and used all but 3" of 7 45" strips cut and sewn together. An hour's worth of work was all it took, and it would have been less if I'd have cleaned my machine first. You know that adage I mentioned a few months back of the little sign in my sewing machine "She who has a clean machine usually has one that works?" Well, it's still true. After 2 issues, I opened up the bobbin case and removed the plate. It was like fuzz city on steroids down there. I whisked it all away with a well-oiled brush and oiled the race. It now sounds and sews like a dream.

You really have to have a clean machine, and I usually do that on Monday. Instead, I stayed up late Sunday, slept in Monday, crashed a little after ten last night, got up and had a cup of coffee right away since I skipped one yesterday. My rockets just don't fire unless I get that cuppa caffeine demons lighting my sleepy little fires. I have to take a muscle relaxant at night, and if I forget coffee, it keeps on working...working...working 

OK, here's the fastest quilt ever (not really, just divided up over a few years, that's all):

Also, I have probably 150 or more squares left over, maybe even 200. I used none of the 6- to 8-inch stack, and didn't make this one smaller which was my inclination yesterday. I hope it's a good little quilt for a poor child or senior who needs a little cheerful red in their lives.


----------



## freedombecki

Quilt #57 may take a few days. Today, I tried to get them a little closer to size so the 4 smallest ones got extra logs.

Then, I fished out 12 tiny little gold buttons from my bargain buttons bag and some 1 x 1.5" leftover yellow gold squares, folded over and zigazagged onto the red doors. Then I used the buttonhole stitch on the little Bernina 380 that is still running like a champ after 9 months of abusively long days of sewing and centered them carefully under the regular sewing foot so that the 4 mm button holes matched the 4mm industry standard the machines are set to if they're worth their salt (Pfaff and Bernina definitely are, seems that went for the Brother I used to death last year. It cost less to buy it than the repair I knew would inevitably cost if it broke down. And it had needle down and all the spoiler features I could use except for continuous sew which all my other top-of-the-line Pfaffs and Berninas have (on purpose). It did about 50 or 60 quilts, zero headaches until the last day I used it. I'd feel real silly if I took it out and found out it only needed a new needle, since I really can't remember why it was irritating me so.

Well, sorry for being Chatty Kathy, here are the scans of three housing project blocks from quilt top wannabe #57 after the doorknobs were attached:


----------



## freedombecki

And on the housing project, you can do trees, sidewalks, streets, sky, and of course, I'd love a second story on these little houses so I can put a window SOMEWHERE without too much hassle. And I'm still tossing around appliqued roofs. I found some really cute scalloped roofs done by the lady from Finland the other day and may have shared a page or so back (or not). She had one of the cutest series of pages of her works she apparently sells. They had such a wonderful, unified look in dull but soft colors, almost like southwest colors, except more muted and pastel than what our southwest appears to be with atmospherics of distant vistas...


----------



## freedombecki

What's a dollar at worst and free at best? Old Holey sheets, that's what, and two or three of them will make a rag rug. Here's how:

[ame=http://youtu.be/aMCi6IKAWNM]Rag Rug From Yucky Old Bed Sheets - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Started and forgot about a mega-king sized quilt I was making about the time we moved. I saw a box with what looked like red log cabins, and there sure were at least 100 or more of them, plus it looks like I finished a quarter of the quilt in an 8x9 block section of 72 squares at an angle that was to have been obviously a barn-raising quilt. Well, as it were, it was only at one angle, which is also called "fields and furrows" So thus the name, "Fields and Furrows, Red Log Cabin quilt top"
> 
> All I did was to cut 8 2" strips and went around the quilt. It was larger than most of my smaller quilts by a few inches, so instead of cutting 6 strips, I cut 8 for safety's sake and used all but 3" of 7 45" strips cut and sewn together. An hour's worth of work was all it took, and it would have been less if I'd have cleaned my machine first. You know that adage I mentioned a few months back of the little sign in my sewing machine "She who has a clean machine usually has one that works?" Well, it's still true. After 2 issues, I opened up the bobbin case and removed the plate. It was like fuzz city on steroids down there. I whisked it all away with a well-oiled brush and oiled the race. It now sounds and sews like a dream.
> 
> You really have to have a clean machine, and I usually do that on Monday. Instead, I stayed up late Sunday, slept in Monday, crashed a little after ten last night, got up and had a cup of coffee right away since I skipped one yesterday. My rockets just don't fire unless I get that cuppa caffeine demons lighting my sleepy little fires. I have to take a muscle relaxant at night, and if I forget coffee, it keeps on working...working...working
> 
> OK, here's the fastest quilt ever (not really, just divided up over a few years, that's all):
> 
> Also, I have probably 150 or more squares left over, maybe even 200. I used none of the 6- to 8-inch stack, and didn't make this one smaller which was my inclination yesterday. I hope it's a good little quilt for a poor child or senior who needs a little cheerful red in their lives.



Now these are really nice. And I like the ones two posts up also. Can't figure which I like best. Still can't get over how talented you are. And don't come back with it's really easy. I know how much talent and patience it takes. Watched my mom, aunts and grandma do this and I know it isn't easy!


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums.  Here's the Orlando knot.  It has its issues as do most that are done when I fly.  The dark red faded a bit onto the Aida cloth when I washed it, but I left it.  Gives it character.


----------



## Bloodrock44

Sunshine said:


> OK, Beckums.  Here's the Orlando knot.  It has its issues as do most that are done when I fly.  The dark red faded a bit onto the Aida cloth when I washed it, but I left it.  Gives it character.



Wow! Did you make that?


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Started and forgot about a mega-king sized quilt I was making about the time we moved. I saw a box with what looked like red log cabins, and there sure were at least 100 or more of them, plus it looks like I finished a quarter of the quilt in an 8x9 block section of 72 squares at an angle that was to have been obviously a barn-raising quilt. Well, as it were, it was only at one angle, which is also called "fields and furrows" So thus the name, "Fields and Furrows, Red Log Cabin quilt top"
> 
> All I did was to cut 8 2" strips and went around the quilt. It was larger than most of my smaller quilts by a few inches, so instead of cutting 6 strips, I cut 8 for safety's sake and used all but 3" of 7 45" strips cut and sewn together. An hour's worth of work was all it took, and it would have been less if I'd have cleaned my machine first. You know that adage I mentioned a few months back of the little sign in my sewing machine "She who has a clean machine usually has one that works?" Well, it's still true. After 2 issues, I opened up the bobbin case and removed the plate. It was like fuzz city on steroids down there. I whisked it all away with a well-oiled brush and oiled the race. It now sounds and sews like a dream.
> 
> You really have to have a clean machine, and I usually do that on Monday. Instead, I stayed up late Sunday, slept in Monday, crashed a little after ten last night, got up and had a cup of coffee right away since I skipped one yesterday. My rockets just don't fire unless I get that cuppa caffeine demons lighting my sleepy little fires. I have to take a muscle relaxant at night, and if I forget coffee, it keeps on working...working...working
> 
> OK, here's the fastest quilt ever (not really, just divided up over a few years, that's all):
> 
> Also, I have probably 150 or more squares left over, maybe even 200. I used none of the 6- to 8-inch stack, and didn't make this one smaller which was my inclination yesterday. I hope it's a good little quilt for a poor child or senior who needs a little cheerful red in their lives.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now these are really nice. And I like the ones two posts up also. Can't figure which I like best. Still can't get over how talented you are. And don't come back with it's really easy. I know how much talent and patience it takes. Watched my mom, aunts and grandma do this and I know it isn't easy!
Click to expand...

 Thanks, Bloodrock. I have factory experience from my early years and waste zero time when I sew. I've written manuscript books for 11 quilts and literally hundreds of patterns for classes I taught in the last 25 years, 4 of them were copyrighted. I'm not known because of having lived in the remotest population wise area of the American West, but wouldn't trade my experience for the world. One of my self-published books is in album form now on my public profile page. It's my Animal ABC Book written because I couldn't find any ABC Animal books that included all 26 alphabets, so I wrote one myself, and it's here at USMB as described. Some people use them for coloring books, others for machine embroidery. They're free to use by members of USMB for personal and family uses. Everyone here is welcome to use them. I only had one criteria for each of the little animals--they had to make me laugh when they were done. It was a project that kept me in stitches for the 5 or 6 months it took to get all the designs done and in book form. I've made at least 3 quilts from the designs which went to children in the family. It was just a pattern booklet for students in a class I taught. Others who saw my quilt did applique wanted the pattern, so that's how it came to be a book. When I loaded the book, the patterns were loaded in backward, so the color pictures are on page 2 or 3 in the album unless a mod alphabetized it. It took a few days to load all those drawings in there.


----------



## Sunshine

Bloodrock44 said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums.  Here's the Orlando knot.  It has its issues as do most that are done when I fly.  The dark red faded a bit onto the Aida cloth when I washed it, but I left it.  Gives it character.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow! Did you make that?
Click to expand...


*Yes.  I always do one when I fly.  It has helped me overcome my fear of flying.  Below is a detail from the one I did when I went to Philly.  You can see the row of backward stitches done on take off.  LOL.  This time on take off, I actually had forgotten to fasten my seat belt.  These little projects have a calming Zen like effect.*


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, Beckums. Here's the Orlando knot. It has its issues as do most that are done when I fly. The dark red faded a bit onto the Aida cloth when I washed it, but I left it. Gives it character.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow! Did you make that?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> *Yes. I always do one when I fly. It has helped me overcome my fear of flying. Below is a detail from the one I did when I went to Philly. You can see the row of backward stitches done on take off. LOL. This time on take off, I actually had forgotten to fasten my seat belt. These little projects have a calming Zen like effect.*
Click to expand...

 Even the bejeweled frame looks Celtic in its design. You couldn't have picked a more beautiful way to display your beautiful work, Sunshine.  It's just pleasing in every way.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow! Did you make that?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Yes. I always do one when I fly. It has helped me overcome my fear of flying. Below is a detail from the one I did when I went to Philly. You can see the row of backward stitches done on take off. LOL. This time on take off, I actually had forgotten to fasten my seat belt. These little projects have a calming Zen like effect.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Even the bejeweled frame looks Celtic in its design. You couldn't have picked a more beautiful way to display your beautiful work, Sunshine.  It's just pleasing in every way.
Click to expand...


There was no design to the frame, Bechums.  It was just one I found for half price at Hobby Lobby.  Up to now my frames have all been rather plain.  So, this is out of the norm.  If I go to Hawaii in this coming year, I want to do that more complicated one I posted from a pic earlier.  

I had planned to use this red thread for my next cross stitch quilt.  But after it ran onto the white,  I'm having second thoughts about it.  Any advice would be appreciated.  I want a strong color because it is a colonial design.


----------



## koshergrl

I think I would soak/wash the thread prior to using it. Maybe in a vinegar solution..doesn't vinegar help set dye?

And do some research into color fastness of various threads before you choose.

Maybe contact a redwork/handwork group and ask for their input. I have found facebook is a wonderful way to network with hobbyists and artisans! See if there's a facebook group and ask to join, then pose the dilemma.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I think I would soak/wash the thread prior to using it. Maybe in a vinegar solution..doesn't vinegar help set dye?
> 
> And do some research into color fastness of various threads before you choose.
> 
> Maybe contact a redwork/handwork group and ask for their input. I have found facebook is a wonderful way to network with hobbyists and artisans! See if there's a facebook group and ask to join, then pose the dilemma.



Good suggestion!  I didn't even think of that.  I have some left over thread.  Maybe I'll do some experimenting, soaking, putting it on some white cloth after it dries, then washing.  I would really like to have that dark red cross stitch quilt.  That red is the only one I have ever had to run.  I have used strong colors on others, so not sure why the red does that.


----------



## Sunshine

I really liked the Asia section of Disney and those little square market umbrellas with fringe sewn on them.  I have finally found one and I am going to get it and put that heavy Victorian fringe on it like they had on theirs.  All of their little market umbrellas had it in the Asia section.  







Here is the one I found online that I plan to buy:

Outdoor Square Market Umbrella in Sunbrella® Celadon - Frontgate

Had to post the link, I can't get the pic to take.  I was going to paint my wicker this shade of green, but it has rained every day this summer so I haven't been able to do that.  I plan to clean it before winter sets in and maybe I can get it painted next summer.  We are sure to have a dry summer at some point.

Those little square umbrellas are expensive.


----------



## Sunshine

I remember my mother and mother in law doing 'soaks' of things that were not color fast.  Was it salt? Vinegar?  Both?  One after the other.  I don't recall, but likely washing the thread in warm water until it no longer fades, then doing a soak would do the trick.


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> I remember my mother and mother in law doing 'soaks' of things that were not color fast.  Was it salt? Vinegar?  Both?  One after the other.  I don't recall, but likely washing the thread in warm water until it no longer fades, then doing a soak would do the trick.



Well, first I read 





> In home-ec (30 years ago and then some) we were taught to use salt and vinegar in a cold rinse cycle then lay flat to dry after dying. After than, always wash in cold.



Okay, but then I found 

FAQ: Is there any way to "set" dye in purchased clothing?

Which was moreso related to clothing.

So further search regarding thread specifically led me here

Stitchers' Paradise: Bleeding Thread Colors Article


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wow! Did you make that?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Yes. I always do one when I fly. It has helped me overcome my fear of flying. Below is a detail from the one I did when I went to Philly. You can see the row of backward stitches done on take off. LOL. This time on take off, I actually had forgotten to fasten my seat belt. These little projects have a calming Zen like effect.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Even the bejeweled frame looks Celtic in its design. You couldn't have picked a more beautiful way to display your beautiful work, Sunshine.  It's just pleasing in every way.
Click to expand...


OK...where is [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] I'm getting worried here!


----------



## freedombecki

Sans warning, computer and phone server went down since around Friday. I've been sweating blood for an hour trying to get it back online. Computers are not my forte! 

I found out when we called the mother-in-law who just turned 93 September 12. I finally went to my sister's house and called her to let her know we were okay yesterday, and a belated happy birthday. We made 5 trips to town to try to get service restored, hearing one bit o' blarney after another. Don't ask. 

All is well. Finished the red fields and furrows quilt (thought I posted it) and finished a red log cabin geese in formation today while the computer was out. 

I have two hours' worth of mail I have to read and respond.

~ Love and apologies to all.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> I really liked the Asia section of Disney and those little square market umbrellas with fringe sewn on them. I have finally found one and I am going to get it and put that heavy Victorian fringe on it like they had on theirs. All of their little market umbrellas had it in the Asia section.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the one I found online that I plan to buy:
> 
> Outdoor Square Market Umbrella in Sunbrella® Celadon - Frontgate
> 
> Had to post the link, I can't get the pic to take. I was going to paint my wicker this shade of green, but it has rained every day this summer so I haven't been able to do that. I plan to clean it before winter sets in and maybe I can get it painted next summer. We are sure to have a dry summer at some point.
> 
> Those little square umbrellas are expensive.


 That's a fab example, and I love the picture.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! Scans have been done. 

On this quilt top, the geese were paired seven deep to make a quilt top for anyone from toddler age through college dorm or pup tent cot. It measures 42x70, give or take a couple of inches.

And the top is ready to go to the quilters of my dear Charity Bee sisters, who have so kindly accepted my tops to quilt for their charitable purposes. 

Below are scans of the upper left corner with credits and a couple of the geese, which really are larger than the scanner bed:


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.
> 
> He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)



Bless you. My parents made a promise to care for each other, regardless. My mom was the one that went down that dark path, and it took her from a rageful, unforgiving shrew back to a time when she loved the man, lived and died for him.

One Friday before her mind was mostly gone, she thought it was their wedding day. She was so happy and excited. She couldn't sleep until he hugged and kissed her good  night - and she had despised him for the better part of the last forty years. He remains grateful that they had those last few years of mutual love before she disappeared into silence.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.
> 
> He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bless you. My parents made a promise to care for each other, regardless. My mom was the one that went down that dark path, and it took her from a rageful, unforgiving shrew back to a time when she loved the man, lived and died for him.
> 
> One Friday before her mind was mostly gone, she thought it was their wedding day. She was so happy and excited. She couldn't sleep until he hugged and kissed her good night - and she had despised him for the better part of the last forty years. He remains grateful that they had those last few years of mutual love before she disappeared into silence.
Click to expand...

 I'm so sorry for the loss. Dementia can start and go on for a long time before people around the sufferer are aware what is causing their unfathomable meanness. A lot of war survivors may have received concussions that were not detectable by field medics, and they may have passed off their subsequent headaches as something other than what was hidden beneath. It can start innocently by a parent throwing a baby up into the air and catching it, or by shaking a child for misbehavior (shaken baby syndrome). Some kids are hit by cars and their symptoms go unnoticed for decades or passed off as something else by friends and loved ones until their normal life is cut short by such egregious behaviors they could get arrested for them if done in a public place. A large percentage of prisoners have head injury in their past, prior to when arrest records began.

The brain is fragile. It pays to protect children from stupidity by taking a parenting class which hopefully addresses the issue of when discipline becomes abuse. If that became part of junior high school curriculum through high school, people in the next generation might have fewer prisoners to support, fewer criminally insane, and healthier aging parents than we have today. Just sayin'.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.
> 
> He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bless you. My parents made a promise to care for each other, regardless. My mom was the one that went down that dark path, and it took her from a rageful, unforgiving shrew back to a time when she loved the man, lived and died for him.
> 
> One Friday before her mind was mostly gone, she thought it was their wedding day. She was so happy and excited. She couldn't sleep until he hugged and kissed her good night - and she had despised him for the better part of the last forty years. He remains grateful that they had those last few years of mutual love before she disappeared into silence.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm so sorry for the loss. Dementia can start and go on for a long time before people around the sufferer are aware what is causing their unfathomable meanness. A lot of war survivors may have received concussions that were not detectable by field medics, and they may have passed off their subsequent headaches as something other than what was hidden beneath. It can start innocently by a parent throwing a baby up into the air and catching it, or by shaking a child for misbehavior (shaken baby syndrome). Some kids are hit by cars and their symptoms go unnoticed for decades or passed off as something else by friends and loved ones until their normal life is cut short by such egregious behaviors they could get arrested for them if done in a public place. A large percentage of prisoners have head injury in their past, prior to when arrest records began.
> 
> The brain is fragile. It pays to protect children from stupidity by taking a parenting class which hopefully addresses the issue of when discipline becomes abuse. If that became part of junior high school curriculum through high school, people in the next generation might have fewer prisoners to support, fewer criminally insane, and healthier aging parents than we have today. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...


My mom was mentally ill, always. Undiagnosed, untreated. Lots and lots of ... abuse, bordering on torture. So - yeah. Can't blame the disease.

When my daughter saw her nana for the first time since the disease took hold, she started crying because it was the first time she could remember my mom looking at her without hate, censure, disappointment, or any of a number of negative emotions being involved.

My daughter is second-generation scapegoat.


----------



## freedombecki

And I found an example of a Geese formation quilt, although a much larger size than my humble cot-sized Geese pair formation red log cabin quilt in which the wingtips touch. The wing tips in this quilt, found at Michigan State University's museum collection of pioneer quilts, did not touch each other but are separated by a light-colored sashing print instead:


----------



## freedombecki

I'm sorry for your harrowing experience growing up in the household of a mentally ill person, BDBoop.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> And I found an example of a Geese formation quilt, although a much larger size than my humble cot-sized Geese pair formation red log cabin quilt in which the wingtips touch. The wing tips in this quilt, found at Michigan State University's museum collection of pioneer quilts, did not touch each other but are separated by a light-colored sashing print instead:



It's very Christmasy-looking to me.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.
> 
> He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)



Becky, is your husband a veteran?  The VA has what is called 'aid and attendance' for veterans like him.  They will pay someone to come into the home and help you.  They also have a new benefit and I can't recall the name of it.  They will actually pay a family member to care for the incapacitated veteran in the home.  My nephew quit his job 3 years ago to care for his elderly mother and father, and I have helped him get connected up for that one.  It will be hard for him to get back in the work force, so the money will really help out in that house.


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.
> 
> He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bless you. My parents made a promise to care for each other, regardless. My mom was the one that went down that dark path, and it took her from a rageful, unforgiving shrew back to a time when she loved the man, lived and died for him.
> 
> One Friday before her mind was mostly gone, she thought it was their wedding day. She was so happy and excited. She couldn't sleep until he hugged and kissed her good  night - and she had despised him for the better part of the last forty years. He remains grateful that they had those last few years of mutual love before she disappeared into silence.
Click to expand...


When I was in nursing school, my advisor was a psych nurse.  She volunteered in a nursing home one day a week to keep her med surg skills up.  She said there is always something comical happening.  Well, as fate would have it when I became an NP, I tested in adult and geriatric.  I always found work in that area, and not having the skills other than basic in child and adolescent was never a problem.  When I was at the VA I had some few remaining WWII vets.  One came in with his wife and daughter.  He sat there hugging his wife saying, 'this is my sweetheart.'  The daughter was standing behind them laughing her head off and mouthed, 'they fought like cats and dogs.' LOL

When I went to work there as an NP, I had to sign a paper that said, 'I understand that the majority of my caseload with be geriatric.'  (A lot of people just don't like working with the elderly, I guess.)  After several weeks, I still couldn't figure that out.  Where were all those 'geriatric' patients?  Then it came to me in a flash!:  OMG!  They are MY age!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, we'll see how the day goes. I'm having to split my attention between working on this top for charity and elder care of my sweet husband who has dementia that is worse this year than last year. I'm having to do 3 or 4 loads of sheets every week now, even with his Depends. It has to be done, and there's no getting around that aspect of sanitation.
> 
> He deserves whatever it takes to keep him at home as long as I can. He gave up everything to help me start a business years ago, and I owe him back all I have. He never quit believing in me as long as he had his apples all in a row. Now that he's failing, I've got to pull his weight, and mind you it's tough being spoiled for 40 years before being called on, but he's overdue for some major effort on my part. I've beat back pain to almost nothing to selfishly contribute things to our community--selfish because of pride--but I can't stop the process he is going through but I can strive to make it more pleasant than he would have with paid caregivers who have been known to come to work mad at the world, willing to make somebody pay the price for their anger and misery compared to others. As long as I have health and breath, their whipping boy is not gonna be him. When he wasn't doing his best at work, he was at home planning good things for Math Counts Engineering Society work and served as a ruling elder in Presbyterian churches for 40 years, doing whatever nobody else wanted to do and pinch hitting for volunteers who didn't show up for one reason or another. He was there for a lot of people, and he was there for me. It's his turn to be served, and since he also moved away from all his friends so I wouldn't have to suffer pain in a cold climate, he came with love and willingness to start over. It's not his fault that he was injured some time in the past to cause his type of dementia. He is a thoroughly blameless man (when he isn't teasing the dog.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Becky, is your husband a veteran? The VA has what is called 'aid and attendance' for veterans like him. They will pay someone to come into the home and help you. They also have a new benefit and I can't recall the name of it. They will actually pay a family member to care for the incapacitated veteran in the home. My nephew quit his job 3 years ago to care for his elderly mother and father, and I have helped him get connected up for that one. It will be hard for him to get back in the work force, so the money will really help out in that house.
Click to expand...

 No, he had polio as a child, and when he went to enlist, they turned him away. So no service for him, although he wanted to serve. So he went to engineering school and served his country in other ways.


----------



## freedombecki

Completed the block areas of a Dirty Windows Log Cabin quilt early this morning. Time to do the borders. C ya with a scan later. 

It's sure nice having all those completed squares. It only takes a day if I stick with it. I've managed to spread this one over about 3.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow! the outer border picked was a lightweight blend (bleh!) so I had to line it with a cotton percale to make it technically good to work with. It was too pretty to throw away, and I used some of it up on another quilt, also by lining. Somehow, I managed to make this into a real hard job by not thinking ahead.  It took 3 hours. It should have taken 45 minutes.

It measures around 42x62" give or take an inch. The extra work was worth it even if done time-ineffectively. The outer border feels like a million bucks. Also, I didn't like the title "dirty" windows. I did a little quilt-turning and noticed the light side resembled "snowy" windows of winter if one lives in country where one sees moisture snow days (aka blue snow). The moister snow clings to glass windows and melts its way down to the bottom before nature stabilizes it with below 32. At that point, the blue disappears, and it's a white color again. Man, if you live there snowy windows tell their own story about the weather outside. I guess that could be good if you like to ski and live near a good skiing slope.


----------



## freedombecki

Here are a couple of examples of small log cabin worked as:

Managed attachment1: "Dirty Windows" Log Cabin arrangement

Managed attachment2: "Snowy windows" Log Cabin arrangement

They were found when I loaded the two names in what I remembered as being named that, from who knows when in the past in separate searches. Note: if you are new to USMB, by clicking "Attached Thumbnails," the managed attachments saved in a "My Pictures" file come up in another tab in a large enough form in which you can see either prints or batiks more clearly than in the thumbnail versions. If you would like to post something at USMB by using the "Managed Attachments" button in the advanced reply block, you can practice in the "XXX File in Arts and crafts that I initially set up for practicing silly arts without using any pictures, just centering and XXX for cross stitches. The only downside to that little schema was that the width and heighth of the "X" in the alphabet is not square and will result in an image such that you will have to view your bed quilt from a side angle on the bed, since the image is distorted 20% using the Verdana font. 

You can access "XXX Arts" practice thread by clicking here: http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-and-crafts/194513-xxx-arts.html


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Here are a couple of examples of small log cabin worked as:
> 
> Managed attachment1: "Dirty Windows" Log Cabin arrangement
> 
> Managed attachment2: "Snowy windows" Log Cabin arrangement
> 
> They were found when I loaded the two names in what I remembered as being named that, from who knows when in the past in separate searches. Note: if you are new to USMB, by clicking "Attached Thumbnails," the managed attachments saved in a "My Pictures" file come up in another tab in a large enough form in which you can see either prints or batiks more clearly than in the thumbnail versions. If you would like to post something at USMB by using the "Managed Attachments" button in the advanced reply block, you can practice in the "XXX File in Arts and crafts that I initially set up for practicing silly arts without using any pictures, just centering and XXX for cross stitches. The only downside to that little schema was that the width and heighth of the "X" in the alphabet is not square and will result in an image such that you will have to view your bed quilt from a side angle on the bed, since the image is distorted 20% using the Verdana font.
> 
> You can access "XXX Arts" practice thread by clicking here: http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-and-crafts/194513-xxx-arts.html



xoxo the one on the left. <3


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here are a couple of examples of small log cabin worked as:
> 
> Managed attachment1: "Dirty Windows" Log Cabin arrangement
> 
> Managed attachment2: "Snowy windows" Log Cabin arrangement
> 
> They were found when I loaded the two names in what I remembered as being named that, from who knows when in the past in separate searches. Note: if you are new to USMB, by clicking "Attached Thumbnails," the managed attachments saved in a "My Pictures" file come up in another tab in a large enough form in which you can see either prints or batiks more clearly than in the thumbnail versions. If you would like to post something at USMB by using the "Managed Attachments" button in the advanced reply block, you can practice in the "XXX File in Arts and crafts that I initially set up for practicing silly arts without using any pictures, just centering and XXX for cross stitches. The only downside to that little schema was that the width and heighth of the "X" in the alphabet is not square and will result in an image such that you will have to view your bed quilt from a side angle on the bed, since the image is distorted 20% using the Verdana font.
> 
> You can access "XXX Arts" practice thread by clicking here: http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-and-crafts/194513-xxx-arts.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> xoxo the one on the left. <3
Click to expand...

I liked that one, too, but haven't done one in greens and blues for some reason. I'll have to get back to that one once I use up the red log cabin blocks, the houses, the kites, and 3 others I have partially done left in various containers that are starting to stack up the sewing room into pathways. 

It's awful to have a long list and forget what you did with the box you had the turquoise quilt stock in...  ... then run across it 3 months later on a super cleaning binge, which comes to an abrupt halt when you find it and get glassy-eyed about the turquoise quilt you will make next. The trouble with having monochromatic quilts as your favorites is missing the fun of doing chromatic ones.

Since work didn't go as well as I wanted due to having to do too many other things, I can only report a little progress on the house quilt which I brought out this morning. Some other things around here need attention, and that stops progress dead in its tracks! Oh, well. A woman's work is never done!

I lost one of the house fronts in a stack somewhere.  I guess I'll have to replace it with a city park scene, and when I do find it, will have to surround one house by a lot of park scenes. That's how it goes! I'm thinking of making the 11 houses Shakespearean style with dark brown slats over beige outer walls with windows upstairs. For some reason, when we toured Germany in the 80s and 90s, twice, when we won trips there for sewing sales, we saw a lot of amazing Shakespearean Houses along the road to Neuschwanstein Castle from the tour bus our group went on. I want all the houses to have those kinds of tops. They're kind of enchanting in my memory, as the hallmarks of everything lovely we saw there on our two trips.

Well, bless all the beasts and the children. We've had lovely rains almost daily for the past week, and it's been a little cooler, thankfully. The pines were starting to show a little red for the 100-mile round trip to and all the way around Lake Livingston the other day. We only hit ferocious rains for 15 minutes near a precious little town East of Lake Livingston called Coldspring, TX. It really looked like a place where you could set down roots if you decided to move to the perfect small town that still has Victorian houses that could have been built 100 years ago, and a little bit of everything else. The population there was around 840, if memory serves me right from reading the official city sign which tells population.  Didn't notice any Shakespearean tops on any houses, though. I was too busy looking at the greenery and wonderful trees and tall pines in the area.


----------



## BDBoop

I don't know where you live, but do your leaves change in the fall? Because if you look at for instance upstate NY - that would be one beautiful quilt.





Green side borders, blue top and bottom for lake and sky.


----------



## freedombecki

oh, I just had a thought on "of making the 11 houses Shakespearean style with dark brown slats over beige outer walls with windows upstairs," with re to the park square I'll have to substitute for the missing house--I could put a pond with a swan in it to commemorate Shakespeare and "Neuschwanstein" Castle. In Ashland, Oregon, there is this amazing Shakespearean festival that goes on for most of the year and attracts visitors worldwide. They have Shakespearean and Elizabethan theaters, and near the Shakespearean theater there used to be a pond that supported Swans year-round. It was so beautiful, too. No, my quilt square will probably not be beautiful, but I'll see what I can do about finding a swan fabric or other image, if I have to piece it from scratch for the block that has a park in it. I went to school in Ashland Oregon just before we moved back to Oregon, 1982/83. What a beautiful gem of a small city in the foothills of the Oregon coastal range, probably near the Siskiyous.

Oh, I found a couple of pictures of Ashland--here's Lithia Park in the Shakespearean area:







Credits: Lithia Park, Ashland Oregon | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

And here's one of Ashland, nestled in the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains (click on thumbnail to enlarge):


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> I don't know where you live, but do your leaves change in the fall? Because if you look at for instance upstate NY - that would be one beautiful quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Green side borders, blue top and bottom for lake and sky.


 That is so beautiful, and I've been through the state when the leaves were turning. I did two or three sugar maple leaf trees when I got back home! However, I love your photograph, and it adds the sky to the mix. I'll see what I can drum up one of these days, BDB! Thanks!


----------



## koshergrl

Inertia has taken ahold of me...I didn't do the august quilt, and I have food that I need to can, but I'm not canning it....Love you becki & sunshine though and I am looking forward to starting some projects. I can't believe Christmas is just 3 months away!!! I'm thinking little fabric birds for all...may manage to get a few pillow cases. I also have a grandson coming in February, so I have to get off my ass (pardon) and at least make the little fellow a blanket!!!


----------



## koshergrl

Ohmigosh Beckums! 10,000 rep!!! AMAYZING!


----------



## freedombecki

Yes, thanks to everyone who participated. Spoonman put the finishing touch on it--on purpose. I was just trying to catch up on repping the people who've been so good to me along the way today. I had no idea the scales would tip. I'm gonna faint! 

Everybody here made that possible. I am humbled because every one of my friends here likely deserves to have a lot more rep than me and I'll do what I can to make that happen! 

So everyone do your part and avoid th' pink thingy, okay?


----------



## Mr. H.

Y'know, I pop in from time to time not only to see the amazing work you do but to learn a little bit more about The b. You're some kinda gal. You too, Boops and Ms. S. (with your newly-attendant shade o' pink ). WTF with that?

Hey- my quilting friend recently had a pro revamp of her website and it's pretty dang cool. 

Deborah Fell Art Quilts

I might have mentioned that I visited her at a gallery she shares. She gave me insights into the "why" of her work - inspirations and interpretations. I like that because that's where it all starts- in the mind and in the heart. Then bam! It's transformed into physical form. 

Some years ago I bought a 3-panel painting done by an Aboriginal artist. Saw his works in a gallery in St. Louis. I had missed the guy by a few hours, so I asked for his card and by golly I eventually called him and picked his brain regarding my purchase. It was a trip learning about what was going through his noggin' when the brush was strokin'. Here's a pic of them...


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know where you live, but do your leaves change in the fall? Because if you look at for instance upstate NY - that would be one beautiful quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Green side borders, blue top and bottom for lake and sky.
> 
> 
> 
> That is so beautiful, and I've been through the state when the leaves were turning. I did two or three sugar maple leaf trees when I got back home! However, I love your photograph, and it adds the sky to the mix. I'll see what I can drum up one of these days, BDB! Thanks!
Click to expand...


You know. Like you don't have enough to do.


----------



## freedombecki

Yep, BDB, and today, very little was done except me sniffing about @koshergrl being so busy these last few weeks. 

I got to missing her beautiful embroideries, and after today's trial-by-error, I miss her pretty stuff even more! At Walmart, when I was buying brown for the slats on the houses, I noticed they sell embroidery floss, so I bought some, put some colors back, bought some more, and in general, wasted an hour piddling around. I couldn't find a hoop at home, so I had to go back, buy a plastic hoop and some real embroidery needles. On the way to lunch, I embroidered away. By the time we got out of the small restaurant we visit, I'd done a little more, and did a little more on the way home. 

Then I was going to come here, but instead went to ebay to look to see if I could find some of the pretty colors koshergrl used! I hated the royal blue. It looks blackish on this fabric that came in another pack from ebay the other day of assorted childrens embroideries I found. For about $6 I got quilt top embroidered part, and can decorate them with postage stamp borders if I'm feeling frisky when the embroideries are done! I'm like sunshine and her embroideries--except I really bit off more than I could chew!!! I have got to erase ebay out of my mind for a while. I found an estate sale of all DMC cotton thread and got a whole bunch, because I think I gave away my stash a couple of years ago to someone who was doing a lot of charity embroideries. 

I have no idea where any of my embroidery supplies are, because I did machine embroidery for so many years. And I really loved all the little line embroideries koshergrl did that remind me of my mother's life's work when she wasn't sewing or ironing our school clothes for us.

Here it is, and my lack of progress was aggravated by my little mini shopping spree in the bargain estate bins that had a smaller hoop. Today I sewed some of the other squares onto the back of my work. I haven't hand embroidered in so long, I'm making all the beginner mistakes again. I bet koshergrl doesn't ever do that. Fortunately, I caught it after one stitch. 



 
Paint samples--the blue on the left is what the royal blue thread looks like _en masse_. Unfortunately it looks too dark against the white, and you'd have to put it in the noon sunshine to see blue. I don't know why it did that.​ 


 
I'm pretty certain this one will wind up in the car, because at the rate of one quilt every 10 years, I don't think I can keep up with last year's quota of 110 charity quilt tops to the charity bees club. I'll have to embroider in the car and waiting for food at the restaurant we visit. It will be a different break from the sewing machine, anyway!​


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Y'know, I pop in from time to time not only to see the amazing work you do but to learn a little bit more about The b. You're some kinda gal. You too, Boops and Ms. S. (with your newly-attendant shade o' pink ). WTF with that?
> 
> Hey- my quilting friend recently had a pro revamp of her website and it's pretty dang cool.
> 
> Deborah Fell Art Quilts
> 
> I might have mentioned that I visited her at a gallery she shares. She gave me insights into the "why" of her work - inspirations and interpretations. I like that because that's where it all starts- in the mind and in the heart. Then bam! It's transformed into physical form.
> 
> Some years ago I bought a 3-panel painting done by an Aboriginal artist. Saw his works in a gallery in St. Louis. I had missed the guy by a few hours, so I asked for his card and by golly I eventually called him and picked his brain regarding my purchase. It was a trip learning about what was going through his noggin' when the brush was strokin'. Here's a pic of them...


 You have an eye for artistic work, Mr. H. Great cartoons, other artists, and Deborah Fell. I visited her work at your link and went to the gallery. She has grown a foot taller this past year since you shared her stuff before. I kind of thought she was ready to put traditional behind and reach for the stars. She certainly did. I love her new stuff! I'm indebted to you for sharing her link. She's a total aesthetic in the modern field, and does amazing things.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Yep, BDB, and today, very little was done except me sniffing about @koshergrl being so busy these last few weeks.
> 
> I got to missing her beautiful embroideries, and after today's trial-by-error, I miss her pretty stuff even more! At Walmart, when I was buying brown for the slats on the houses, I noticed they sell embroidery floss, so I bought some, put some colors back, bought some more, and in general, wasted an hour piddling around. I couldn't find a hoop at home, so I had to go back, buy a plastic hoop and some real embroidery needles. On the way to lunch, I embroidered away. By the time we got out of the small restaurant we visit, I'd done a little more, and did a little more on the way home.
> 
> Then I was going to come here, but instead went to ebay to look to see if I could find some of the pretty colors koshergrl used! I hated the royal blue. It looks blackish on this fabric that came in another pack from ebay the other day of assorted childrens embroideries I found. For about $6 I got quilt top embroidered part, and can decorate them with postage stamp borders if I'm feeling frisky when the embroideries are done! I'm like sunshine and her embroideries--except I really bit off more than I could chew!!! I have got to erase ebay out of my mind for a while. I found an estate sale of all DMC cotton thread and got a whole bunch, because I think I gave away my stash a couple of years ago to someone who was doing a lot of charity embroideries.
> 
> I have no idea where any of my embroidery supplies are, because I did machine embroidery for so many years. And I really loved all the little line embroideries koshergrl did that remind me of my mother's life's work when she wasn't sewing or ironing our school clothes for us.
> 
> Here it is, and my lack of progress was aggravated by my little mini shopping spree in the bargain estate bins that had a smaller hoop. Today I sewed some of the other squares onto the back of my work. I haven't hand embroidered in so long, I'm making all the beginner mistakes again. I bet koshergrl doesn't ever do that. Fortunately, I caught it after one stitch.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Paint samples--the blue on the left is what the royal blue thread looks like _en masse_. Unfortunately it looks too dark against the white, and you'd have to put it in the noon sunshine to see blue. I don't know why it did that.​
> 
> 
> 
> I'm pretty certain this one will wind up in the car, because at the rate of one quilt every 10 years, I don't think I can keep up with last year's quota of 110 charity quilt tops to the charity bees club. I'll have to embroider in the car and waiting for food at the restaurant we visit. It will be a different break from the sewing machine, anyway!​



I've always wanted to embroider, but the tremors preclude it.


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful, Becki! I was looking wistfully at my unfinished sock monkey, and my basket of pillowcases today. I make all sorts of beginner mistakes, lol. Those little line embroideries were so much fun, talk about whipping out some work fast...so gratifying and fun. That's probably what I will end up doing this year for Christmas for everyone again, since my plan to have quilts and monkeys and fabric birds and pillows and pillow cases didn't exactly come to fruition, lol. What can I say...I spent like 4 hours cleaning huckleberries last night. Love you!


----------



## freedombecki

Fast? 

Well, no excuses. 

Here's the slight amount of progress:


----------



## freedombecki

In quilting, there is quite a bit of difference between royal blue and Copen blue. I don't know why but both of the two shades look too similar against white.

Here's (1) Copen and (2) Royal according to Kaufman's Kona Cottons:
........(1)....................(2)





.....
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





The DNC Colors 796 and 798 do not show up. Chart is here: http://www.camelia.sk/dmc_3.htm

But on white, I can't tell them apart even close-up:



 
So I bought more colors. The next one will hopefully not have this little problem.

I also have the option to finish out this with the lighter colors I bought. I just feel like I have to do something. I did get the edges overcast with a zigzag so the little white feathery edges don't get bound up into the back. I'm not used to working on blends, but nobody would put their prints onto Kona cotton because of the cost.

I'll be glad when this square is done. Hopefully I learned a lesson that what works in pieced quilting does not result in a mastery of color that an experienced embroiderer like koshergrl has.

BDB, sorry to hear about tremors. A lot of my sewing machine customers in years past resolved that issue by getting an embroidery machine that does the work of months in just a couple of hours, depending on the number of stitches. Seems I had a couple of counted cross stitch works that put over 100,000 stitches down, but it took all day unless you were really on top of the color changes (i.e. 32 color changes). It didn't help when DMC shut down their line of 250 machine embroidery colors to 100, but OTOH, you have to have tremendous sales to make things right. Unfortunately, doing things well is also expensive, and when laborers cannot own their own homes for under $400,000, there's no cheap labor in France, where the company used to do all the work. That changed in the last 20 years, when they farmed out work to places in South America. However, they still maintain hundreds of embroidery colors but have raised the prices from $.29 per skein to about $1.00, I think. Nobody puts a price on their tables containing the DNC any more, so I'm not sure the price I paid yesterday. Duh. I didn't look at the receipt.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> In quilting, there is quite a bit of difference between royal blue and Copen blue. I don't know why but both of the two shades look too similar against white.
> 
> Here's (1) Copen and (2) Royal according to Kaufman's Kona Cottons:
> ........(1)....................(2)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The DNC Colors 796 and 798 do not show up. Chart is here: DMC Color Chart
> 
> But on white, I can't tell them apart even close-up:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So I bought more colors. The next one will hopefully not have this little problem.
> 
> I also have the option to finish out this with the lighter colors I bought. I just feel like I have to do something. I did get the edges overcast with a zigzag so the little white feathery edges don't get bound up into the back. I'm not used to working on blends, but nobody would put their prints onto Kona cotton because of the cost.
> 
> I'll be glad when this square is done. Hopefully I learned a lesson that what works in pieced quilting does not result in a mastery of color that an experienced embroiderer like koshergrl has.
> 
> BDB, sorry to hear about tremors. A lot of my sewing machine customers in years past resolved that issue by getting an embroidery machine that does the work of months in just a couple of hours, depending on the number of stitches. Seems I had a couple of counted cross stitch works that put over 100,000 stitches down, but it took all day unless you were really on top of the color changes (i.e. 32 color changes). It didn't help when DMC shut down their line of 250 machine embroidery colors to 100, but OTOH, you have to have tremendous sales to make things right. Unfortunately, doing things well is also expensive, and when laborers cannot own their own homes for under $400,000, there's no cheap labor in France, where the company used to do all the work. That changed in the last 20 years, when they farmed out work to places in South America. However, they still maintain hundreds of embroidery colors but have raised the prices from $.29 per skein to about $1.00, I think. Nobody puts a price on their tables containing the DNC any more, so I'm not sure the price I paid yesterday. Duh. I didn't look at the receipt.



Am I looking at a quilt and a plate with the same pattern? Oh cracky...I see you are embroidering. Goodness...my eyes deceived me. Did I tell you my wife is German? She was a school trained men's tailor. But she can sew, knit and embroider. She also does silk scarves. She is so talented. She never worked a day in tailoring. She came to America, got her degree and is a 1st grade public school teacher.


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> Am I looking at a quilt and a plate with the same pattern? Oh cracky...I see you are embroidering. Goodness...my eyes deceived me. Did I tell you my wife is German? She was a school trained men's tailor. But she can sew, knit and embroider. She also does silk scarves. She is so talented. She never worked a day in tailoring. She came to America, got her degree and is a 1st grade public school teacher.


Mrs. BR44 may have done her embroideries in a more professional-looking, beautiful, hardwood German hardwood frame or hoop, Bloodrock. She sounds delightfully pragmatic as well as artistic, too.

My hoop is inexpensive, clumsy, plastic. I didn't know if I would get through the first square. I still haven't, but made a little progress last night:


----------



## koshergrl

Pretty pretty pretty....
Ok I have dug out some of my handwork to work on. It's dirty and rumpled, but I think I'm going to start hitting it tonight.

My huckleberry jam didn't set and I'm pissed.


----------



## freedombecki

I'm sorry about the huckleberry jam, koshergrl. That's a lot of work to do to have it not perfect. Keep in mind nothing better than soupy huckleberry jam on Swedish pancakes. If you take a teaspoon of the soupy jam and mash it up with a fork with a teaspoon of real butter, the spread is better than good. 

I've been playing DJ in oldies tonight. I need to get the threads out and get busy. 

This morning I had to face the music and contact the Sheriff's office about a dishonest handy man/con artist who stole equipment from our garage and pawned it. He also "borrowed" our trailer and hasn't returned it. That leaves us with no way to get our equipment to the repair shop, which is why we bought the trailer a couple of years ago.

I'm so heart broken. I don't like trouble, but criminals take advantage of seniors when the man has dementia. My medicine dulls fibromyalgia pain, and I'm getting forgetful lately. *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

I have bee carting this everywhere with me since last year; I have gotten stumped on colors, and whether I REALLY want to satin stitch everything, and exactly how I want to stitch it.. So far I've used a little of everything. I think I will find a different color for the swans but I think I'm going to satin stitch them, too. I might as well, I've gone this far....


----------



## koshergrl

I will just re-do the jam...I'll dump it into a pan, add a few more berries and another packet of pectin, and some more sugar. Or I'll do what syrenn keeps telling me to do, put it in a big enough pot and bring it up to a boil @ 240 or 210 or whatever it is for a full 10 minutes. It won't go to waste, I'll just end up with a lot more of it. I did the same thing with marmalade last year, ended up with a lot and it was yummy. Berries are still coming on, I was checking tonight...it was pouring yesterday. And I'm tired tonight, but I think I will probably get serious about it this weekend, might be the last weekend we have....


----------



## koshergrl

I might even make the swans...black! Or pink! forgive dirty spots, the basket has been abused for some months....


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I might even make the swans...black! Or pink! forgive dirty spots, the basket has been abused for some months....


 
It's pretty, koshergrl!

If you worked the palest blue shadow under the white stitches, you wouldn't have to do all that work! (Leisure expert speaking) I mean, what can you expect from someone who does mainly machine work day in and day out. I'm truly tempted to do the next 11 butterflies in machine cotty thread with a sewing machine... no, I'm going to slug it out with errors of having to think while stitching and make the moaning into a comedy act! 

Really pretty swans, koshergrl. Seems I've seen them even stitched in black or ash grey, but they come across as white because of the background ... or do they? This technique has not been done by me for years, and I'm not good at it yet. My favorite machine embroideries on white always were the light, pretty pastels. I can't imagine why I expected that royal blue to come across as a lake. 

So glad you know what to do about the huckleberry jam. I'd still save a jar back for syrup on Swedish pancakes, though.


----------



## freedombecki

The first butterfly is finished but the block needs 3 more flowers done. I was hoping the tiny hoops I ordered would be here by now.  *sigh* Oh, well.

Here's Day 4 on block 1 (all the block blue designs are the same.) I noticed my question on whether the blue would come out or not was answered today when I set aside the butterfly to eat lunch, and it somehow got moist in one area. The blue ran like a Turk, so I'm sure it will wash out now, if some food chemistry didn't set the color. 

Progress so far (huff, puff, huff, puff)

All I can say is koshergrl, it takes true grit to do what you do. 

And Sunshine has true grit, too. She does cross stitch quilts and has completed one recently and plans on finishing her Christmas table cloth of red. I hope she has taken a picture for when she gets back and can show progress, if she's doing okay that is. She's on my perpetual prayer list, and she is so missed.

I have to admit, this finger jabber stuff is kind of fun for a change, but I'll never do too many of them by hand if I can find a machine way to do one. (I already have, just kidding!) I've just not shown my machine redwork here, I don't believe, and am not sure which box it's even in any more. I really need to organize my act. Oh, my goodness I see something pretty blooming out by the fence that looks like pale mauve roses. Probably just jimson weed, or something, and the hummingbird girl is outside the window eyeballing the orange trumpet flowers above. Sh'es adorable (girls in the bird world are on the dull side featherwise, but quite striking otherwise).

Back to square one:


Earlier progress on square one:​


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> The first butterfly is finished but the block needs 3 more flowers done. I was hoping the tiny hoops I ordered would be here by now.  *sigh* Oh, well.
> 
> Here's Day 4 on block 1 (all the block blue designs are the same.) I noticed my question on whether the blue would come out or not was answered today when I set aside the butterfly to eat lunch, and it somehow got moist in one area. The blue ran like a Turk, so I'm sure it will wash out now, if some food chemistry didn't set the color.
> 
> Progress so far (huff, puff, huff, puff)
> 
> All I can say is koshergrl, it takes true grit to do what you do.
> 
> And Sunshine has true grit, too. She does cross stitch quilts and has completed one recently and plans on finishing her Christmas table cloth of red. I hope she has taken a picture for when she gets back and can show progress, if she's doing okay that is. She's on my perpetual prayer list, and she is so missed.
> 
> I have to admit, this finger jabber stuff is kind of fun for a change, but I'll never do too many of them by hand if I can find a machine way to do one. (I already have, just kidding!) I've just not shown my machine redwork here, I don't believe, and am not sure which box it's even in any more. I really need to organize my act. Oh, my goodness I see something pretty blooming out by the fence that looks like pale mauve roses. Probably just jimson weed, or something, and the hummingbird girl is outside the window eyeballing the orange trumpet flowers above. Sh'es adorable (girls in the bird world are on the dull side featherwise, but quite striking otherwise).
> 
> Back to square one:
> 
> 
> 
> Earlier progress on square one:​


 
Pretty pretty!


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> The first butterfly is finished but the block needs 3 more flowers done. I was hoping the tiny hoops I ordered would be here by now.  *sigh* Oh, well.
> 
> Here's Day 4 on block 1 (all the block blue designs are the same.) I noticed my question on whether the blue would come out or not was answered today when I set aside the butterfly to eat lunch, and it somehow got moist in one area. The blue ran like a Turk, so I'm sure it will wash out now, if some food chemistry didn't set the color.
> 
> Progress so far (huff, puff, huff, puff)
> 
> All I can say is koshergrl, it takes true grit to do what you do.
> 
> And Sunshine has true grit, too. She does cross stitch quilts and has completed one recently and plans on finishing her Christmas table cloth of red. I hope she has taken a picture for when she gets back and can show progress, if she's doing okay that is. She's on my perpetual prayer list, and she is so missed.
> 
> I have to admit, this finger jabber stuff is kind of fun for a change, but I'll never do too many of them by hand if I can find a machine way to do one. (I already have, just kidding!) I've just not shown my machine redwork here, I don't believe, and am not sure which box it's even in any more. I really need to organize my act. Oh, my goodness I see something pretty blooming out by the fence that looks like pale mauve roses. Probably just jimson weed, or something, and the hummingbird girl is outside the window eyeballing the orange trumpet flowers above. Sh'es adorable (girls in the bird world are on the dull side featherwise, but quite striking otherwise).
> 
> Back to square one:
> 
> 
> Earlier progress on square one:​



My mom did embroidery. I like the look of monochromatic coming to life as the thread is added.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The first butterfly is finished but the block needs 3 more flowers done. I was hoping the tiny hoops I ordered would be here by now.  *sigh* Oh, well.
> 
> Here's Day 4 on block 1 (all the block blue designs are the same.) I noticed my question on whether the blue would come out or not was answered today when I set aside the butterfly to eat lunch, and it somehow got moist in one area. The blue ran like a Turk, so I'm sure it will wash out now, if some food chemistry didn't set the color.
> 
> Progress so far (huff, puff, huff, puff)
> 
> All I can say is koshergrl, it takes true grit to do what you do.
> 
> And Sunshine has true grit, too. She does cross stitch quilts and has completed one recently and plans on finishing her Christmas table cloth of red. I hope she has taken a picture for when she gets back and can show progress, if she's doing okay that is. She's on my perpetual prayer list, and she is so missed.
> 
> I have to admit, this finger jabber stuff is kind of fun for a change, but I'll never do too many of them by hand if I can find a machine way to do one. (I already have, just kidding!) I've just not shown my machine redwork here, I don't believe, and am not sure which box it's even in any more. I really need to organize my act. Oh, my goodness I see something pretty blooming out by the fence that looks like pale mauve roses. Probably just jimson weed, or something, and the hummingbird girl is outside the window eyeballing the orange trumpet flowers above. Sh'es adorable (girls in the bird world are on the dull side featherwise, but quite striking otherwise).
> 
> Back to square one:
> 
> 
> 
> Earlier progress on square one:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pretty pretty!
Click to expand...

I like yours better, koshergrl. You mix colors so very, very well. The next one I do may be closer to the one that is pictured on the outside of the package of one square. Nowhere does it show a finished quilt from this pattern in the instructions, but it does show a beginner a stretch-corrected to the pattern warp and weft cutting system. The only trouble with that is, from experience, people stretch the quilt from side to side and top to bottom. I may affix the blends on top of another piece and then just do it the right way to start off with. This top is going to have to be washed after embroidering to get the blue out. That is something I had not anticipated originally. I thought maybe the blue was permanent, but today's experience tells me I will have to be careful not to take it back to the restaurant unprotected by plastic while I am eating and a waitress is serving. The table may have been wet, as I think I remember sitting down to a table where someone else had just eaten and left. We sit with a group, and often, it's musical chairs as one couple leaves and another shows up who likes the group. The waitress brought her wet rag and cleared off the crumbs after we'd already sat down to be with another pal.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The first butterfly is finished but the block needs 3 more flowers done. I was hoping the tiny hoops I ordered would be here by now.  *sigh* Oh, well.
> 
> Here's Day 4 on block 1 (all the block blue designs are the same.) I noticed my question on whether the blue would come out or not was answered today when I set aside the butterfly to eat lunch, and it somehow got moist in one area. The blue ran like a Turk, so I'm sure it will wash out now, if some food chemistry didn't set the color.
> 
> Progress so far (huff, puff, huff, puff)
> 
> All I can say is koshergrl, it takes true grit to do what you do.
> 
> And Sunshine has true grit, too. She does cross stitch quilts and has completed one recently and plans on finishing her Christmas table cloth of red. I hope she has taken a picture for when she gets back and can show progress, if she's doing okay that is. She's on my perpetual prayer list, and she is so missed.
> 
> I have to admit, this finger jabber stuff is kind of fun for a change, but I'll never do too many of them by hand if I can find a machine way to do one. (I already have, just kidding!) I've just not shown my machine redwork here, I don't believe, and am not sure which box it's even in any more. I really need to organize my act. Oh, my goodness I see something pretty blooming out by the fence that looks like pale mauve roses. Probably just jimson weed, or something, and the hummingbird girl is outside the window eyeballing the orange trumpet flowers above. Sh'es adorable (girls in the bird world are on the dull side featherwise, but quite striking otherwise).
> 
> Back to square one:
> 
> 
> 
> Earlier progress on square one:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My mom did embroidery. I like the look of monochromatic coming to life as the thread is added.
Click to expand...

Thanks, BDB. You're always welcome to scan any embroidery or other handwork or quilting here that a loved one did, if you were lucky enough to get any. I think a couple of guys from the coffee shop have shared their stuff, and @Mr. H. has been a guardian angel and brought us the website of his family's lady friend who is an amazing fiber artist who uses all sorts of wonderful techniques to show her modernistic work. A year or so ago, he brought her "old" website that showed her quasi-traditional stuff and traditional past works in quilting. Right now, she's up there with Picasso, and I bet her pieces if not already will be worth a mint in no time.

We used to have 3 men come to the shop regularly. One was a bronze sculptor and fine artist, name of Navarro, whose wife was a quilter, another man brought his out-of-town wife in, and he actually helped her with cutting, mapping out a design, and helped her with coloration when she wanted it. They were truly a team, and I loved to watch them create together when it was picking fabrics time at my shop. Another was just a guy who liked to do his own pillows, and he chose modern art at its simplest, and about colors he was picky, picky, picky, picky like me. I enjoyed his trips. He liked freedom of movement (another of my traits), so I let him roam to his hearts content, and he was thrifty, too, another... so it was fun to see if he could pick it all out for a pillow top for under $4 which was quite a lot less than the ladies. We always pick out a little more fabric for some reason to be sure the stash doesn't go away, or to share with friends who drop by and can't live without that little out-of-print remnant we can't remember what we were saving it for after 10 or 15 years.   

/memory lane. Pardon my trip down there.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Am I looking at a quilt and a plate with the same pattern? Oh cracky...I see you are embroidering. Goodness...my eyes deceived me. Did I tell you my wife is German? She was a school trained men's tailor. But she can sew, knit and embroider. She also does silk scarves. She is so talented. She never worked a day in tailoring. She came to America, got her degree and is a 1st grade public school teacher.
> 
> 
> 
> Mrs. BR44 may have done her embroideries in a more professional-looking, beautiful, hardwood German hardwood frame or hoop, Bloodrock. She sounds delightfully pragmatic as well as artistic, too.
> 
> My hoop is inexpensive, clumsy, plastic. I didn't know if I would get through the first square. I still haven't, but made a little progress last night:
Click to expand...


She's a lot like you Becki. Very meticulous. She also made dollhouse furniture. I watched her work on a tiny grandfather clock (about 3 inches high) for about a month. She wasn't satisfied with the way it was going and started all over. I thought it was fine. She is quite the perfectionist. I don't have nearly that much patience.


----------



## freedombecki

QUOTE=Bloodrock44;7895104]





freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Am I looking at a quilt and a plate with the same pattern? Oh cracky...I see you are embroidering. Goodness...my eyes deceived me. Did I tell you my wife is German? She was a school trained men's tailor. But she can sew, knit and embroider. She also does silk scarves. She is so talented. She never worked a day in tailoring. She came to America, got her degree and is a 1st grade public school teacher.
> 
> 
> 
> Mrs. BR44 may have done her embroideries in a more professional-looking, beautiful, hardwood German hardwood frame or hoop, Bloodrock. She sounds delightfully pragmatic as well as artistic, too.
> 
> My hoop is inexpensive, clumsy, plastic. I didn't know if I would get through the first square. I still haven't, but made a little progress last night:
Click to expand...



She's a lot like you Becki. Very meticulous. She also made dollhouse furniture. I watched her work on a tiny grandfather clock (about 3 inches high) for about a month. She wasn't satisfied with the way it was going and started all over. I thought it was fine. She is quite the perfectionist. I don't have nearly that much patience.[/QUOTE]

She had the benefits of generations of excellence in the visual arts, Bloodrock.

I had the privilege of working with natives of Germany when my shop took on the local Pfaff dealership. They are wonderful people. Everything has to be perfect and precise. That is reflected in their amazing craftsmanship that centuries-old churches still make available by opening their doors to the public during tourist times. When we visited Germany, I couldn't believe the beautiful wood carvings decorating the shells of organs worthy of Mozart at the keyboard. The traditions are kept alive if one visits woodworking shops of Bavarian townships where people keep busy during long winters doing fabulous clocks and furniture. They're bright, intelligent folk, and I enjoyed the privilege of getting two trips to Germany in 1989 and later, around 1997. They provided trips to people for doing well selling their machines. I picked Pfaff because in the 60s, I worked in a garment factory, where they put me to setting zippers in swimsuits back when womens' swimwear had enough fabric in them to justify zippers. The German repairman would not tolerate machine abuse, and always visited newcomers to the factory their very first week for a lesson in keeping the machine clean and well-oiled for fewer trips to the repairs department. He expected strict adherence to his dear demands, and he had a way of getting it.  The company I worked for wanted top performance and no wasted time talking while working. That's why I can produce a ton of work in a shorter time than most seamstresses do. I had the benefit of the world's best teachers.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> The first butterfly is finished but the block needs 3 more flowers done. I was hoping the tiny hoops I ordered would be here by now.  *sigh* Oh, well.
> 
> Here's Day 4 on block 1 (all the block blue designs are the same.) I noticed my question on whether the blue would come out or not was answered today when I set aside the butterfly to eat lunch, and it somehow got moist in one area. The blue ran like a Turk, so I'm sure it will wash out now, if some food chemistry didn't set the color.
> 
> Progress so far (huff, puff, huff, puff)
> 
> All I can say is koshergrl, it takes true grit to do what you do.
> 
> And Sunshine has true grit, too. She does cross stitch quilts and has completed one recently and plans on finishing her Christmas table cloth of red. I hope she has taken a picture for when she gets back and can show progress, if she's doing okay that is. She's on my perpetual prayer list, and she is so missed.
> 
> I have to admit, this finger jabber stuff is kind of fun for a change, but I'll never do too many of them by hand if I can find a machine way to do one. (I already have, just kidding!) I've just not shown my machine redwork here, I don't believe, and am not sure which box it's even in any more. I really need to organize my act. Oh, my goodness I see something pretty blooming out by the fence that looks like pale mauve roses. Probably just jimson weed, or something, and the hummingbird girl is outside the window eyeballing the orange trumpet flowers above. Sh'es adorable (girls in the bird world are on the dull side featherwise, but quite striking otherwise).
> 
> Back to square one:
> 
> 
> 
> Earlier progress on square one:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pretty pretty!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I like yours better, koshergrl. You mix colors so very, very well. The next one I do may be closer to the one that is pictured on the outside of the package of one square. Nowhere does it show a finished quilt from this pattern in the instructions, but it does show a beginner a stretch-corrected to the pattern warp and weft cutting system. The only trouble with that is, from experience, people stretch the quilt from side to side and top to bottom. I may affix the blends on top of another piece and then just do it the right way to start off with. This top is going to have to be washed after embroidering to get the blue out. That is something I had not anticipated originally. I thought maybe the blue was permanent, but today's experience tells me I will have to be careful not to take it back to the restaurant unprotected by plastic while I am eating and a waitress is serving. The table may have been wet, as I think I remember sitting down to a table where someone else had just eaten and left. We sit with a group, and often, it's musical chairs as one couple leaves and another shows up who likes the group. The waitress brought her wet rag and cleared off the crumbs after we'd already sat down to be with another pal.
Click to expand...


That's one thing I don't understand. I thought there were kits,essentially, and you used the colors assigned (sort of like paint-by-number). But from what you said about KG - you all get to choose what colors will work best?


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pretty pretty!
> 
> 
> 
> I like yours better, koshergrl. You mix colors so very, very well. The next one I do may be closer to the one that is pictured on the outside of the package of one square. Nowhere does it show a finished quilt from this pattern in the instructions, but it does show a beginner a stretch-corrected to the pattern warp and weft cutting system. The only trouble with that is, from experience, people stretch the quilt from side to side and top to bottom. I may affix the blends on top of another piece and then just do it the right way to start off with. This top is going to have to be washed after embroidering to get the blue out. That is something I had not anticipated originally. I thought maybe the blue was permanent, but today's experience tells me I will have to be careful not to take it back to the restaurant unprotected by plastic while I am eating and a waitress is serving. The table may have been wet, as I think I remember sitting down to a table where someone else had just eaten and left. We sit with a group, and often, it's musical chairs as one couple leaves and another shows up who likes the group. The waitress brought her wet rag and cleared off the crumbs after we'd already sat down to be with another pal.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That's one thing I don't understand. I thought there were kits,essentially, and you used the colors assigned (sort of like paint-by-number). But from what you said about KG - you all get to choose what colors will work best?
Click to expand...

 In the embroiderer's shopping world, there are packages that contained finished pillowcases with pictures of birds, flowers, wreaths, seasonal motifs, etc., and they provide a list usually of a couple of famous makers' embroidery thread color numbers if you want to make one like their illustration. That gives the embroiderer the opportunity to go to the store and buy those colors OR use from her stash of threads whatever colors match her décor. Often the color schemas are so appealing people will go buy the same colors. Others already know the colors they like to use and keep extra skeins around in their embroidery stash box, so they won't have to go buy more threads when they want to do something. I'm doing this one entirely for practicing the art of hand embroidery. Likely, I will go back to machine work, where I have stitches programmed into the machine that already do sophisticated stem stitches and a plethora of other types of stitches for specialized embroidery effects both embroidery and crazy-quilting stitches. One of my computer programs does exquisite blackwork patterns. A single-stitch redwork program is one where you can guide an applique foot over the stitches stamped on to embroidery products, and you can give a handwork seed-stitch look, stem-stitch look, a blanket stitch in all sizes and thread repeats, plus you can program in hokey, handmade-looking stitches if you want to make people think you slaved over an embroidery hoop by lantern light since you produced it a couple of days after the last "master" work. 

But doing hand embroidery now and then also brings me to a certain appreciation for sophisticated machine stitches at my disposal. I love it all, whether by hand or machine. It's just that I haven't done my fair share of embroidery with doing 2 straight years of charity quilts, mainly chain-sewed pieced creations and a few left=over applique works that didn't quite get finished but made bright and pretty window dressing details at my shop for 23 years, to sell fabrics and machines.

Later, good friends.


----------



## koshergrl

So are the dotted lines around the outside...french knots?

I LOVE french knots....if this is for a quilt, I would do them in french knots. Because they're so close together, you won't have to snip every single one....


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> So are the dotted lines around the outside...french knots?
> 
> I LOVE french knots....if this is for a quilt, I would do them in french knots. Because they're so close together, you won't have to snip every single one....


I think they were intended to be quilt lines, but I thought they'd make a nice frame. I don't know how I managed to kill 9 hours with this little finger-jabbing idea of mine, but I got two tiny dots of blood on it from my failure to use a thimble. I have to have something comfortable and may have to take a trip out of town tomorrow. There's a great shop in Brennan, one in Bryan, and our own shop who may or may not have a leather ringlet that has a small metal circle on the tip where you can meet the needle with something other than your sore finger. To finish this up to show Day 5 progress, I spent all afternoon up to ten minutes ago working on the first Butterfly, but I'm done with it, (at least I hope so,) and am ready to do another. Since these are nonsensical anyway, a red or ruby one would be fun to do, and I've been thinking about doing one the same color schema as the pink moths that are so lovely in coloration with a cream color on pleasant shades of bubblegum pink. I may have to take a day off until my bleeding fingers heal, and just do the darn roofs on those houses without the Shakespearean upper story.

Here's the embroidered block that is now done. I used a stem stitch all the way around the quilting lines:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> So are the dotted lines around the outside...french knots?
> 
> I LOVE french knots....if this is for a quilt, I would do them in french knots. Because they're so close together, you won't have to snip every single one....


 
I'm not fond of doing French knots. But instead  of doing one in the center of the lazy daisies, I did 3 for the color. No one local has color 444 which is my favorite yellow, it's yellow like the brightest of sunflowers, so to achieve a reasonable yellow, I had to use color number 743, which the two closest shops both carry as their brightest yellow. I had everything at the shop, except picky customers, that is. 

In Wyoming, the chain stores sold 100 most popular DMC colors at below cost, so I lowered my price too and never ever sold the 500 or so colors in the complete collection. They filled a dozen DMC wooden boxes from france, although I bought more to accommodate article 237 #50 DMC cotton machine embroidery threads. Then DMC closed the door on machine embroiderers to bring their 300 color group down to about 130 including variegated thread.  I really hated that, because their thread is so perfect for Pfaff cross stitch programs of the prettiest flowers I ever saw in cross stitch. Oh well, that's water under the bridge. The new computers do not accept the European style software we had from the mid-90s until 4 years ago. So I have several thousand dollars worth of software I bought while a dealer that is useless for all practical purposes, and the computer repair shop doesn't know how to "fix" crashed computers without destroying all the programs you once had. Gosh, I miss the gal in Wyoming who could find and fix anything. She was a real genie and saved my computer twice. After she fixed it the last time, it didn't crash until after I moved four years ago.

Well, good night one and all. Humans crash too, and I'm about to fall asleep, sore-fingered, but happy to get block one out of my hair.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> QUOTE=Bloodrock44;7895104]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Am I looking at a quilt and a plate with the same pattern? Oh cracky...I see you are embroidering. Goodness...my eyes deceived me. Did I tell you my wife is German? She was a school trained men's tailor. But she can sew, knit and embroider. She also does silk scarves. She is so talented. She never worked a day in tailoring. She came to America, got her degree and is a 1st grade public school teacher.
> 
> 
> 
> Mrs. BR44 may have done her embroideries in a more professional-looking, beautiful, hardwood German hardwood frame or hoop, Bloodrock. She sounds delightfully pragmatic as well as artistic, too.
> 
> My hoop is inexpensive, clumsy, plastic. I didn't know if I would get through the first square. I still haven't, but made a little progress last night:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> She's a lot like you Becki. Very meticulous. She also made dollhouse furniture. I watched her work on a tiny grandfather clock (about 3 inches high) for about a month. She wasn't satisfied with the way it was going and started all over. I thought it was fine. She is quite the perfectionist. I don't have nearly that much patience.
Click to expand...

 
She had the benefits of generations of excellence in the visual arts, Bloodrock.

*Yes she did have the benefit of generations of excellence. As you know, in Germany one cannot just pick a profession and go work in it. You have to go to school for whatever profession you choose. Then you must serve an apprenticeship and then take a final exam which is administered by the guild of your profession. The final exam consists of a written and a hands on portion. If you fail the exam, you have to wait a year before retaking it. When my wife and I were dating, she was in her apprenticeship at a tailor shop and her exam was coming up. She was sleepless for days. Her hands on test was to make a 3 piece suit. Well she passed. Her father owned a car dealership and her sister was going into that business. She failed her hands on and had to wait a year before she passed. They don't fool around over there. That's why German workmanship is so good. Wish they had a system like that here.*


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful, becki. I have to make many loaves of bread today for breakfast tomorrow (baked french toast) and I have to make cakes for the kids...and my oldest and his family are coming but I intend to devote some time to embroidery tonight and MAYBE get thew sewing machines out tomorrow night and start on the quilts that i haven't started on from this summer. I'm also going to give the niece's unfinished quilt to my daughter and let her finish it. It's a perfect project for her, and she will get it done, I know. 

So that's the plan. I will keep you posted! I'm coming out of my fall slump...got to the doc and got my thyroid meds re-upped, so don't feel quite so much like sleeping and eating. Constantly. Thank goodness. Next month, we start on my teeth...need some major work done (crowns and bridges, ikes) and the girl has to have a mole dealt with on her head, poor little podling (our nickname for her). TtYL & love to all...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Beautiful, becki. I have to make many loaves of bread today for breakfast tomorrow (baked french toast) and I have to make cakes for the kids...and my oldest and his family are coming but I intend to devote some time to embroidery tonight and MAYBE get thew sewing machines out tomorrow night and start on the quilts that i haven't started on from this summer. I'm also going to give the niece's unfinished quilt to my daughter and let her finish it. It's a perfect project for her, and she will get it done, I know.
> 
> So that's the plan. I will keep you posted! I'm coming out of my fall slump...got to the doc and got my thyroid meds re-upped, so don't feel quite so much like sleeping and eating. Constantly. Thank goodness. Next month, we start on my teeth...need some major work done (crowns and bridges, ikes) and the girl has to have a mole dealt with on her head, poor little podling (our nickname for her). TtYL & love to all...


 Baked French Toast from homemade bread! Ummmm!  Hope you have a wonderful time with the family, koshergrl!


----------



## freedombecki

Found a couple of the thimbles! No expensive trips to the store!


----------



## freedombecki

Found a truly gorgeous quilt to use as wallpaper on the Desktop this morning. 

Click on the thumbnail! That makes it bigger.

What did we do before computers?


----------



## BDBoop

Suhweet!


----------



## freedombecki

Prayers for all who have family gatherings today and tomorrow for safety and the kindest understanding with loved ones.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Prayers for all who have family gatherings today and tomorrow for safety and the kindest understanding with loved ones.



 I was up for like 27 hours straight, in a car for at least seven of that, and most of me hurts. Kind thoughts and prayers are definitely appreciated.


----------



## Mr. H.

Hey, b... we visited a state historic site today and here are some of the quilts that were on display:


----------



## freedombecki

Those truly are beautiful quilts, Mr. H. I'm glad you went to the show and brought back pictures of beautiful quilts!


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Prayers for all who have family gatherings today and tomorrow for safety and the kindest understanding with loved ones.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was up for like 27 hours straight, in a car for at least seven of that, and most of me hurts. Kind thoughts and prayers are definitely appreciated.
Click to expand...

 Wow, BDB. Glad you got home safe and sound, and hope the week ahead goes well after plenty of rest.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, my fingers are almost healed well enough to hold a thimble on them. Hope to get back to my embroidery some time this afternoon.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Well, my fingers are almost healed well enough to hold a thimble on them. Hope to get back to my embroidery some time this afternoon.



I looked up thimbles, just out of curiosity because I have no idea what they cost these days.

Have you ever tried these?

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Colonial-leather-thimble-self-adhesive-fingertip/dp/B001J5JN7G/ref=sr_1_2?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1380542481&sr=1-2]Amazon.com: Colonial brand leather thimble self-adhesive fingertip pads: Arts, Crafts & Sewing[/ame]


----------



## koshergrl

I have been drooling after standing embroidering frames for some time now. My arms and hands go  numb quickly when I'm crocheting and embroidering these days. The frame won't help with crochet but I think it would be wonderful for needlework. They have all sorts of cool ones..stand along ones, and ones that you sit on to hold in place...


----------



## koshergrl

I use a leather thimble that my mother got me. Love it. My fingertips sweat in metal ones, and I have a hard time finding  ones that fit right and don't feel all clunky.


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> Those truly are beautiful quilts, Mr. H. I'm glad you went to the show and brought back pictures of beautiful quilts!



Yup. 
In that last photo, I can't believe they leaned a stack of chairs against the quilt. 
Mrs. H. was chiding me "you're not supposed to touch the quilts".
There wasn't a "do not touch" sign, so I took that as an invitation.


----------



## koshergrl

I noticed that too! how dare they! probably someone's kid or husband, or employee of the building....


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Those truly are beautiful quilts, Mr. H. I'm glad you went to the show and brought back pictures of beautiful quilts!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yup.
> In that last photo, I can't believe they leaned a stack of chairs against the quilt.
> Mrs. H. was chiding me "you're not supposed to touch the quilts".
> There wasn't a "do not touch" sign, so I took that as an invitation.
Click to expand...

Men at church didn't realize you shouldn't touch the quilts (they're bedding), and I noticed they and their children were always using the quilt to protect the social hall walls by letting the quilt be their setting place for the folded chairs. I call it "logic" with a bwahaha! after it. Roosters always know how to make the hens run around in circles without really trying by using "logic."


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I have been drooling after standing embroidering frames for some time now. My arms and hands go numb quickly when I'm crocheting and embroidering these days. The frame won't help with crochet but I think it would be wonderful for needlework. They have all sorts of cool ones..stand along ones, and ones that you sit on to hold in place...


 
Let's see if I have this right. You can't stand thimbles, and your arms and hands go numb these days with putting a lot of time into those fabulous embroideries. 

In a nutshell, that's: Acupuncture!   

You probably feel pretty happy after a finger-jabbing session, too. I gave my fingers one more day of break. I think what did it was doing a dozen lazy daisies, a dozen leaves, and 3 dozen French knots plus the remainder of the blue butterfly all in one day. To get my thoughts reordered to do the next butterfly, I kept thinking how much this butterfly has so little resemblance to a sulfur butterfly, but I love them anyway in spite of their tiny size (1/2 inch to 2 inches, and they're either all yellow or lime green or somewhere in between, so I went online to get inspired. I didn't start embroidering until after noon, and got one more floral corner done in yellow, then worked my way up to the inner parts of the wing, also in yellow. But the pictures of the sulphurs ranged from lime green to yellow and even orange, almost, so I'm doing one in a mix of yellow and hot lime. Here are a couple of pictures of sulphur butterflies. I had literally dozens of sulphurs on my old computer that ate its desktop away.


----------



## freedombecki

I thought of koshergrl when I was working on this today... I'm just about 3 or 4 inches from the last stitch around the border, but today it's raining and I'm just stiff all over. My fibromyalgia is acting like it's having  a bipolar swing into the negative quadrant, so I will be taking a nap as soon as this gets posted. Sorry it's so near yet so far from completion... I gave it the color of the Southern Dogface Sulphur, _Zerene cessonia_ well, reasonably close, anyway.


----------



## freedombecki

Butterfly 2. Found some pictures of a Southern Dogface Sulphur butterfly and liked its coloration, so adapted that to the antennae area of block 2's sulphur-colored butterfly to reflect Southern Dogface's antennae and outer touch of woodrose colorations. Here's the Southern Dogface _Zerene cessonia _and (finally) completed block as well:

Thank heavens for EBay. I got over 100 skeins of DMC cotton in a lot someone was selling, for the price of about 15 new skeins, and the colors included 3 acceptable colors, but I liked the woodrose color best. Most of the lot were unopened skeins. Lucky me. Every trip you can save to town is gasoline you don't have to spend. Gas is a fortune these days for those of us on a fixed income.


----------



## freedombecki

Oops! Forgot a detail! [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION], sos! How do I make a superlarge French knot that looks like a solid ball? Maybe Brazilian work? The eye of the dogface is a large green mass on either side. Well, on the other hand, only the males have "dogfaces." But if you have a panacea, please state it. I'm only twisting the thread around the needle 3 times and just discovered that if you work slowly and loosely, the knots appear larger, but mine are a bit gangly when I do that. /fret, fret


----------



## koshergrl

hmmm...you can try more twists, or use more floss. Instead of using 2 strands, or three, use the whole thing. I think if you use more than two wraps, the knots are going to be loppy.

I'll see what I can find. I have run across some really cool sites on embroidery stitches in the past! But i dont see any directions on how to make them bigger, other than one vs. 2 wraps around the thread. But I think using more floss would probably do the trick.


----------



## koshergrl

Also, padded satin stitch is a good way to create a round ball effect...






  Obviously you could make it round instead of oval...

Embroidery Stitches


----------



## Sunshine

Good morning, fellow artistes.  Nice to see you all again.  I would have been gone anyway.  My big sis died and was buried on Sunday after about a week in the hospital.


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> Good morning, fellow artistes.  Nice to see you all again.  I would have been gone anyway.  My big sis died and was buried on Sunday after about a week in the hospital.



OMG, no. I am so, so sorry to read of your loss. Was this completely unexpected?


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good morning, fellow artistes.  Nice to see you all again.  I would have been gone anyway.  My big sis died and was buried on Sunday after about a week in the hospital.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OMG, no. I am so, so sorry to read of your loss. Was this completely unexpected?
Click to expand...


Actually, no.  She was a lot older than me.  It seems in the 30s my folks adopted this little 2 year old girl, my big sister.  She was the cutest little thing in the pics.  But she wasn't smiling in pics at first.  There is no telling what she had gone through before my parents got her.  She may not even have known how to smile.  She had Alzheimer's for several years, and had been end stage for the last months. She lost mobility about 3 or 4 months ago, so we knew the end was near.   Not unexpected at all.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Butterfly 2. Found some pictures of a Southern Dogface Sulphur butterfly and liked its coloration, so adapted that to the antennae area of block 2's sulphur-colored butterfly to reflect Southern Dogface's antennae and outer touch of woodrose colorations. Here's the Southern Dogface _Zerene cessonia _and (finally) completed block as well:
> 
> Thank heavens for EBay. I got over 100 skeins of DMC cotton in a lot someone was selling, for the price of about 15 new skeins, and the colors included 3 acceptable colors, but I liked the woodrose color best. Most of the lot were unopened skeins. Lucky me. Every trip you can save to town is gasoline you don't have to spend. Gas is a fortune these days for those of us on a fixed income.



Is that butterfly yellow or green?  I helped my nephew make the funeral arrangements for his mother, my sister.  When I got home there was a yellow butter flitting about in my yard.  Once it even flew over to my car and touched it, but did not lite.  The yellow butterfly is supposed to be a sign from the spirit world that the person is OK.  

After Death Communications: Look For the Yellow Butterfly by Patricia Oglesby

Always look for the yellow butterfly.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have been drooling after standing embroidering frames for some time now. My arms and hands go numb quickly when I'm crocheting and embroidering these days. The frame won't help with crochet but I think it would be wonderful for needlework. They have all sorts of cool ones..stand along ones, and ones that you sit on to hold in place...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Let's see if I have this right. You can't stand thimbles, and your arms and hands go numb these days with putting a lot of time into those fabulous embroideries.
> 
> In a nutshell, that's: Acupuncture!
> 
> You probably feel pretty happy after a finger-jabbing session, too. I gave my fingers one more day of break. I think what did it was doing a dozen lazy daisies, a dozen leaves, and 3 dozen French knots plus the remainder of the blue butterfly all in one day. To get my thoughts reordered to do the next butterfly, I kept thinking how much this butterfly has so little resemblance to a sulfur butterfly, but I love them anyway in spite of their tiny size (1/2 inch to 2 inches, and they're either all yellow or lime green or somewhere in between, so I went online to get inspired. I didn't start embroidering until after noon, and got one more floral corner done in yellow, then worked my way up to the inner parts of the wing, also in yellow. But the pictures of the sulphurs ranged from lime green to yellow and even orange, almost, so I'm doing one in a mix of yellow and hot lime. Here are a couple of pictures of sulphur butterflies. I had literally dozens of sulphurs on my old computer that ate its desktop away.
Click to expand...


I'm not believing all these yellow butterfly pics.  What synchronicity!


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I use a leather thimble that my mother got me. Love it. My fingertips sweat in metal ones, and I have a hard time finding  ones that fit right and don't feel all clunky.



Never heard of a leather thimble.  Got one bookmarked on Amazon.  I have the thimble my mother used.  She collected and I have some of her collection.


----------



## Sunshine

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Butterfly 2. Found some pictures of a Southern Dogface Sulphur butterfly and liked its coloration, so adapted that to the antennae area of block 2's sulphur-colored butterfly to reflect Southern Dogface's antennae and outer touch of woodrose colorations. Here's the Southern Dogface _Zerene cessonia _and (finally) completed block as well:
> 
> Thank heavens for EBay. I got over 100 skeins of DMC cotton in a lot someone was selling, for the price of about 15 new skeins, and the colors included 3 acceptable colors, but I liked the woodrose color best. Most of the lot were unopened skeins. Lucky me. Every trip you can save to town is gasoline you don't have to spend. Gas is a fortune these days for those of us on a fixed income.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is that butterfly yellow or green?  I helped my nephew make the funeral arrangements for his mother, my sister.  When I got home there was a yellow butter flitting about in my yard.  Once it even flew over to my car and touched it, but did not lite.  The yellow butterfly is supposed to be a sign from the spirit world that the person is OK.
> 
> After Death Communications: Look For the Yellow Butterfly by Patricia Oglesby
> 
> Always look for the yellow butterfly.
Click to expand...


And another:

Comfort Comes on the Wings of a Butterfly - Guideposts


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> hmmm...you can try more twists, or use more floss. Instead of using 2 strands, or three, use the whole thing. I think if you use more than two wraps, the knots are going to be loppy.
> 
> I'll see what I can find. I have run across some really cool sites on embroidery stitches in the past! But i dont see any directions on how to make them bigger, other than one vs. 2 wraps around the thread. But I think using more floss would probably do the trick.


 [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION] 
So that's what I'm doing wrong! I've been wrapping thrice, thinking it was less than my mother must've used. Now that you said that, that's why my French knots are irregular, and I can barely manage the three loops. So what did I do? I tried four loops! <gong> I went back to 3 loops and snorted my way through 72 knots that one day. Gr-r-r-r!

A friend put me on her and her husband's prayer list this morning, and after I took a nap, a lot of my pain was absent. Thanks to all who helped me get through this past week. My husband is truly having problems with his dementia and personal grooming, and I don't know how to make it better, except to keep up the drill sergeant routine, although I hate it worse than anything I ever had to do. He is not seeing a need to answer, unless I get in his face. He is not reserving this behavior just for me, either. Thanks for the prayers, everyone.

And right now, prayers up for Sunshine for losing her sister, and for her sister's family who've likely had better days.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Butterfly 2. Found some pictures of a Southern Dogface Sulphur butterfly and liked its coloration, so adapted that to the antennae area of block 2's sulphur-colored butterfly to reflect Southern Dogface's antennae and outer touch of woodrose colorations. Here's the Southern Dogface _Zerene cessonia _and (finally) completed block as well:
> 
> Thank heavens for EBay. I got over 100 skeins of DMC cotton in a lot someone was selling, for the price of about 15 new skeins, and the colors included 3 acceptable colors, but I liked the woodrose color best. Most of the lot were unopened skeins. Lucky me. Every trip you can save to town is gasoline you don't have to spend. Gas is a fortune these days for those of us on a fixed income.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is that butterfly yellow or green? I helped my nephew make the funeral arrangements for his mother, my sister. When I got home there was a yellow butter flitting about in my yard. Once it even flew over to my car and touched it, but did not lite. The yellow butterfly is supposed to be a sign from the spirit world that the person is OK.
> 
> After Death Communications: Look For the Yellow Butterfly by Patricia Oglesby
> 
> Always look for the yellow butterfly.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> And another:
> 
> Comfort Comes on the Wings of a Butterfly - Guideposts
Click to expand...

Most sulphur butterflies have yellow somewhere on them, but I love the lime color ones. After the pink butterfly block I'm working on right now, I promise the next one will be a bright yellow one in honor of your love for your sister, Sunshine. 

Day before yesterday, I was out on the back 40 (square yards, Heheh) and the only butterflies I've seen in a month had to fly quickly while joined to get out of the path of the behemoth my Kubota tractor must seem to them. I'm glad they escaped. They were gorgeous Gulf coast fritillaries.

The pink "butterfly" colorations I have lined out for this block are from a pink moth found in the south named the Virginia rosy maple leaf moth, or _Hyperpax aurora_, and east that looks like these below ones. I'm locked into the pink one because I decided to do the matching border, or at least part of it first, because it's so boring to have to do the whole thing all at once after you've finished the butterfly. I have to say, though, it's fun thumbing through my pictures files where I've saved the truly prettiest butterflies I could find on the internet. Here's Hyperpax aurora and my pitiful start earlier today:


----------



## freedombecki

[MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION], thanks for the inspiring read about the yellow butterfly.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION], thanks for the inspiring read about the yellow butterfly.



Fabulous.  IOU rep!


----------



## freedombecki

Aw, shucks, Sunshine. You know we're happy to see you. Having you back at USMB is many IOUs paid back in advance, you know.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Aw, shucks, Sunshine. You know we're happy to see you. Having you back at USMB is many IOUs paid back in advance, you know.



Agreed. I hate when they toss people out the door, and we don't know what happened, or when we can expect to see them again.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> hmmm...you can try more twists, or use more floss. Instead of using 2 strands, or three, use the whole thing. I think if you use more than two wraps, the knots are going to be loppy.
> 
> I'll see what I can find. I have run across some really cool sites on embroidery stitches in the past! But i dont see any directions on how to make them bigger, other than one vs. 2 wraps around the thread. But I think using more floss would probably do the trick.


 Last night, [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION], I tried the 2 wraps, and it made beautiful French Knots like my mother used to make. I'm glad you mentioned that. Using two wraps (with 3 threads,) now I won't have to dread doing the flower centers on this quilt. I still haven't gone for the Dogface suphur Butterfly's eyes yet, but I was so thrilled last night when I did 12 knots in 3 hours with no shoulder pain whatever. And this morning, no back pain. (upper, in tissue, typical of fibromyalgia.) I appreciate the help so much, koshergrl. Good quilters are not always good embroiderers. I haven't embroidered by hand very much in years, and have forgotten stuff I haven't dealt with in 3 or 4 decades like simple, pretty embroidery stitches. Thanks!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Also, padded satin stitch is a good way to create a round ball effect...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Obviously you could make it round instead of oval...
> 
> Embroidery Stitches


 That is rather pretty. Thanks.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks again to koshergrl for her kindly instructions when I was getting awful French knots that took forever and made my shoulders hurt all week in the past week. Today--no pain!  

Day two, block three, the pink and creamy Virginia rosy maple moth (_Dryocampa rubicunda_) coloration of stamped butterfly:

_Dryocampa rubicunda _




For some reason, when I used the correct Latin name, this butterfly had almost exclusively yellow bodies. I will show another case in which an even yellower appearance was captured on camera--so much so it looks more like a plush toy for a child, not to mention it's a cutie pie:​



And below is my progress, which consists of 8 flowers all around. The two on the bottom are from when I used two wraps of the needle rather than the three and four I was trying before, which were very difficult physically compared to the two wrap method. The two wraps made doing the knots much more of a joy. I'm glad I did the search and found the correct latin name, too. It made all the difference in looking up the Rosy maple moth. And it's ever so late. Have a great evening, everyone. ​​


----------



## freedombecki

Heh! I missed the leaves in the lower left hand corner.


----------



## koshergrl

Lol..the beauty of handwork....

It really is beautiful.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION], thanks for the inspiring read about the yellow butterfly.



Isn't it amazing how much is there that we don't see until someone opens our eyes to it!  Years ago, a college professor I knew said that words are like that.  We tend to work around words we don't know the meaning of and miss a lot.  That was in a night class at the local junior college.  The next week a classmate told of a new word he had discovered that week, 'tomes.'  And he noted how frequently it had been used without h is understanding.  From that day on I started looking up every single word I didn't know.  

The story of the yellow butterfly was not new to me, I just didn't believe it until I saw the one after my sister's death.  I Googled 'death and yellow butterfly' and found 'tomes' of information on it.


----------



## freedombecki

Goodness, I got bumped off here right in the middle of a post, and scanning the page, saw some Chinese lettering everywhere. I'll try again, although starting over a long post sucks! LOL! 

Will explain later, got a set of 18 embroidered blocks on ebay auction, 3 to the inch stitches  etc., but great to practice on for when the butterfly quilt is done. Here's a fraction of what arrived and my attempt to quilt a block with children on it, including the back, if it will only show up now. I don't know what went wrong, but had to clean scan my computer just now. I guess I'll show thumbnails. The picture from photobucket may have been just too much.

Note one of the unfinished blocks has a YELLOW BUTTERFLY!!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Finally! Managed attachments is working again.


----------



## freedombecki

The back of the quilt square I quilted this morning is thumbnail, beneath the front. At USMB, you can click the thumbnail and it appears in another window which just opens on my computer:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Goodness, I got bumped off here right in the middle of a post, and scanning the page, saw some Chinese lettering everywhere. I'll try again, although starting over a long post sucks! LOL!
> 
> Will explain later, got a set of 18 embroidered blocks on ebay auction, 3 to the inch stitches  etc., but great to practice on for when the butterfly quilt is done. Here's a fraction of what arrived and my attempt to quilt a block with children on it, including the back, if it will only show up now. I don't know what went wrong, but had to clean scan my computer just now. I guess I'll show thumbnails. The picture from photobucket may have been just too much.
> 
> Note one of the unfinished blocks has a YELLOW BUTTERFLY!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Finally! Managed attachments is working again.



I get that Chinese lettering on the ads, but I haven't been kicked off.  (Except officially, that is.) I have reported it to staff.  But no response.  I'm thinking there may be a virus on here.  You should report it.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. I just ran my shredder, turned the computer off, embroidered awhile, ran a cleaning scan, off, on, back.

Didn't get much embroider done, but got a little bit done on one lower wing of the pink...


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I was marking the bluebirds and yellow butterfly ebay quilt square with a circle around the picture, and trying to organize the new "used" threads found on ebay. Then my sweetie got a yen to go for a drive to Brennan, Texas, late in the morning, so out the window went my plans, but I packed the pink butterfly square to embroider in the car. The parts of the road that weren't under construction were so bumpy, I couldn't even crochet, much less embroider! I had to put it all away. On the way to Brennan, we stopped and ate at a mom n pop combo saddle shop/eatery for ranchers in Shilo. It was late for lunch, but they had the cutest little 8-week old dog. I'd never heard of the breed, but she said he was a "hanging tree dog,"  He had a great little personality and was teething and full of play. He especially liked me pulling a piece of turkey meat and provolone off the sandwich and giving him a little taste, and relished the little puddle of milk I poured onto my Styrofoam plate after clearing it with a redneck napkin. (on a roll) Baby dogs are so cute.

Then we turned at Roan's Prairie and drove all the way to Navasota where I said "There's an antique store let's see what I can get there instead of on ebay." Wow. I found a real silver thimble for $5 and two books chocked full of crocheted bazaar gifts to make for people's kitchens and homes. So maybe the next cold spell, I can whip up some goodies for the girls to sell at their fall bazaar. This year, my contribution was nothing but quilt tops, and very little was finished.

So there was another day, no progress on the pink butterfly. I had to drive home, although I have to say, my sweetie may not know exactly who he used to be, but he's a better driver than me!

Well, I'm tired and need a little nap. I'd like to attack the pink butterfly square and finish it and the other quilt square, too. We drove back from the little gift store in Navasota, no longer interested in continuing on another long stretch to Brennan and took Highway 6 up to Bryan instead, where I found more embroidery needles at a quilt store. I saw some John James embroidery needles and they interested me because the needles are finer, shorter, and had gold eyes. They were all priced the same--$3.99 a package, plus I found another bluebonnet print in darker blue that will be perfect for the backs of the sashing I will do between the children blocks. I won the ABC Children blocks on ebay today, my gosh, I'm getting to be like a gambler over there! I need to quilt buying stuff. The bad deal about the ABC blocks is that all 26 blocks will have to go into the same quilt, so I can't get 3 quilts out of the deal at all. The other bad deal is I spent too much money, which will be about $3 per square when postage is added, which beats sewing all day and all day tomorrow doing 1 square the way I work. The good deal, is the blocks were well-pictured, and a reasonable job was done on the embroidery. I hope they are as beautiful as they looked in their pictures as far as workmanship is concerned. The animal/child's quilt I got was 3 to the inch, not a really secure stitch for a quilt, but if well-quilted, I am hoping the integrity of the quilt will be high. Time will surely tell.

Pardon my yakkety yak post, I tend to do that when tired. Love to all, have a great evening if I just crater till the morning, but that's the first long trip we've taken in months, and my first time out of the house in at least a week. I am feeling better and am grateful to everyone for their prayers for my fibromyalgia's remission. They're working.


----------



## koshergrl

Let's hope a hanging tree dog isn't the north american equivalent of a *pariah* dog..you know, the dogs that eat the corpses out of the river in India....ewwwwwww...

Just kidding, all dogs are awesomeness. My klauster has really been a love bug lately...


----------



## koshergrl

Hanging tree cowdogs are what we just used to call *dingos* or *heelers*...kind of a generic cow dog...tough and with strong instinct to herd and the ability to bite if they need to. They now have all these custom breeds and names, but they're all cow dogs. You get different *types* in different areas, then they become popular and everybody has them...

Cowdogs are just great working dogs. I had a couple of nice cowdogs growing up..well one ended up actually being a real working sheep dog, the last time my mom saw him he was running along the backs of a herd of sheep, going down the road, happy as a clam doing his thing. We also had a heeler/coyote mix that was a really nice dog. And an Australian shepherd/sheltie who was so beautiful...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Hanging tree cowdogs are what we just used to call *dingos* or *heelers*...kind of a generic cow dog...tough and with strong instinct to herd and the ability to bite if they need to. They now have all these custom breeds and names, but they're all cow dogs. You get different *types* in different areas, then they become popular and everybody has them...
> 
> Cowdogs are just great working dogs. I had a couple of nice cowdogs growing up..well one ended up actually being a real working sheep dog, the last time my mom saw him he was running along the backs of a herd of sheep, going down the road, happy as a clam doing his thing. We also had a heeler/coyote mix that was a really nice dog. And an Australian shepherd/sheltie who was so beautiful...


This one _had_ to be a "hanging tree cowdog," because the shop in which he was taming humans by melting hearts with his cute little antics was also a tack/saddle/outfitters shop with a couple of tables in the back for the sandwich shop part. The entertainment was just as good as the food, and there was no fee for petting and fussing over the cute puppy.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, what is this pattern called?  I had a purple pillow for my purple room that my grandmother made when I was a teenager.  I never knew what this was called, nor how to do it.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, what is this pattern called? I had a purple pillow for my purple room that my grandmother made when I was a teenager. I never knew what this was called, nor how to do it.


It's a summer throw known to quilters as "Cathedral Windows," and it is never quilted due to uneven depths; Cathedral Windows takes forever to work by hand, but it is prized nonetheless for its beauty and affinity for showing off one's skill if using the tailor's blind stitch.

Quilting is an amalgam of hundreds of crafts, each of which can be varied to make yet more interesting articles for the bedrooms, walls, and tables of our American heritage.


----------



## freedombecki

The pink and yellow butterfly is done. At last! 

Scan 1 Dryocampa Rosy Maple moth example

Scan 2 The finished block

Scan 3 A Yellow butterfly of comfort--the Cloudless sulphur _Phoebis sennae_

_And another cloudless sulphur, Phoebis sennae: _


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, what is this pattern called? I had a purple pillow for my purple room that my grandmother made when I was a teenager. I never knew what this was called, nor how to do it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a summer throw known to quilters as "Cathedral Windows," and it is never quilted due to uneven depths; Cathedral Windows takes forever to work by hand, but it is prized nonetheless for its beauty and affinity for showing off one's skill if using the tailor's blind stitch.
> 
> Quilting is an amalgam of hundreds of crafts, each of which can be varied to make yet more interesting articles for the bedrooms, walls, and tables of our American heritage.
> 
> [ame=http://youtu.be/R7XnwJyaBlw]Cathedral Quilt - YouTube[/ame]
Click to expand...


Thanks.  I just never knew what it was called.  It gets quilted as you go along.  That's kinda neat.


----------



## freedombecki

Did a lot of details... The last one, I did all the flowers first. This one, they'll have to just be last. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Burned a little midnight oil in hopes Sunshine will see her spiritual contribution to this quilt. Thanks for the inspiration, Sunshine. I'll have to do the flowers later, but I just could hardly wait to get the pink one done so I could do a yellow butterfly. It felt so comforting to do it, too. Tomorrow: flowers that will be right for this butterfly (I hope)! 

Sweet dreams, everyone. '

"Cloudless Sulphur"


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, what is this pattern called? I had a purple pillow for my purple room that my grandmother made when I was a teenager. I never knew what this was called, nor how to do it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a summer throw known to quilters as "Cathedral Windows," and it is never quilted due to uneven depths; Cathedral Windows takes forever to work by hand, but it is prized nonetheless for its beauty and affinity for showing off one's skill if using the tailor's blind stitch.
> 
> Quilting is an amalgam of hundreds of crafts, each of which can be varied to make yet more interesting articles for the bedrooms, walls, and tables of our American heritage.
> 
> [ame=http://youtu.be/R7XnwJyaBlw]Cathedral Quilt - YouTube[/ame]
Click to expand...


That is so beautiful, and definitely one of my favorites.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the four flowers are done. Then, I noticed the package with a certain yellow tone was missing--the tone I'm half way around on the yellow butterfly, so I decided since I was getting nowhere, to wait until tomorrow and see if I can't do a better job of finding things when I'm fresh and the sun is shining. I love the yellow butterfly to honor Sunshine and her sister and her sharing of that special snippet about it symbolizing peace in heaven of a loved one who passed. 

And I'm truly beginning to appreciate the speed and beauty of @koshergrl's beautiful embroidered items that she and the young women in the family worked on this past summer. And the swans were beautiful. I hope they are left white if removal hasn't already occurred. If an obvious distinction is desired, an echo row of palest blue or palest grey might serve that purpose, and no removal of stitches would be required. Just sayin'. Actually, they're a master work just as they are. Why experiment on something that already looks perfect?

The butterflies are eating up days, and the 4th is near completion. That little envelope with the certain sunshine yellow has to be somewhere around here. I hope Miss Music didn't do as Sunshine's cat does, smelled a hint of my fingerjabbing droplets on the package, and took it somewhere. I set out a clean quilt and folded in fours for softness for her bed, and what does she do? She grabs dirty clothes out of the bin and nests in them and gives the folded quilt the heave ho. .....Lil twit.

A portion of a little poem I wrote in or around the years between 1987 - 1995:

May peace walk before you
May heaven adore you
May all kindness warm you
May no evil harm you

May good health be given you
May justice live in you
So sat.an shall fear you
When you keep God near you. 

Love,

becki


----------



## koshergrl

thanks Becki, I'm thinking the same thing on the swans...I think i probably will satin stitch them, just for fun....


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> thanks Becki, I'm thinking the same thing on the swans...I think i probably will satin stitch them, just for fun....


 
j.u.s.t.....f.o.r.....f.u.n.....

While clumsy becki sits here and stabs her fingers to death, hoping she can find her sewing machine software that does wonderful things....   

The last couple of weeks have been a wakeup call for this machine embroiderer... but I'm determined to finish it to set in my wee little mind how blessed I am to have good sewing and embroidery machines and know how to use them. 

I kid you not, the finger jabber stuff seems to be accompanying a feel-good time for fibromyalgia garbage that charge pain chemicals in the muscle-to-nerve connections as a body pandemic. 









Acupuncture?


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, what is this pattern called? I had a purple pillow for my purple room that my grandmother made when I was a teenager. I never knew what this was called, nor how to do it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a summer throw known to quilters as "Cathedral Windows," and it is never quilted due to uneven depths; Cathedral Windows takes forever to work by hand, but it is prized nonetheless for its beauty and affinity for showing off one's skill if using the tailor's blind stitch.
> 
> Quilting is an amalgam of hundreds of crafts, each of which can be varied to make yet more interesting articles for the bedrooms, walls, and tables of our American heritage.
> 
> [ame=http://youtu.be/R7XnwJyaBlw]Cathedral Quilt - YouTube[/ame]
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That is so beautiful, and definitely one of my favorites.
Click to expand...


It doesn't look difficult and since it doesn't require setting up a quilting frame, I may do one if I live long enough!


----------



## freedombecki

It was finished by hook or by crook--I went ahead and just used the closest color to the 926 yellow, which was color #743 or something. You may be able to see the near-half of the yellow border if you are extremely sensitive to coloration, and if my little copier didn't blend the two shades (it often does).

Cloudless Sulphur butterfly coloration on Jack Dempsy butterfly stamped design:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> It was finished by hook or by crook--I went ahead and just used the closest color to the 926 yellow, which was color #743 or something. You may be able to see the near-half of the yellow border if you are extremely sensitive to coloration, and if my little copier didn't blend the two shades (it often does).
> 
> Cloudless Sulphur butterfly coloration on Jack Dempsy butterfly stamped design:



That's really lovely.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine.

Finally got around to doing a butterfly with similar colors to the package.

The first scan is the work I did today, and its package is the second scan. I just ordered another package yesterday or the day before to do on the machine. For that reason, the back of #5 is scan 3:


----------



## freedombecki

Backs of blocks 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## freedombecki

Back of block 4, the Sunshine yellow butterfly. And a couple of inspirational butterflies that would make good projects.

Scan 2 is a Green-banded butterfly

Scan 3 is a Comet Moth


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Backs of blocks 1, 2, and 3:



Beautiful Becki!  [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] My wife is knitting ruffled scarves. Takes her about 4 hours to knit one. She knitted some last year and wore them to work and church. Of course all the ladies demanded she make them one. They gladly pay $35 a piece. They are beautiful. The one she is knitting now is black and silver with silver sequins. I will post a picture when she is finished. Have you ever knitted any of them?


----------



## freedombecki

Will be looking forward to seeing pics of her work, Bloodrock!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Thanks, Sunshine.
> 
> Finally got around to doing a butterfly with similar colors to the package.
> 
> The first scan is the work I did today, and its package is the second scan. I just ordered another package yesterday or the day before to do on the machine. For that reason, the back of #5 is scan 3:



Great colors.  Really lovely blocks.


----------



## BDBoop

Saw this on FB and thought of y'all.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Sunshine.
> 
> Finally got around to doing a butterfly with similar colors to the package.
> 
> The first scan is the work I did today, and its package is the second scan. I just ordered another package yesterday or the day before to do on the machine. For that reason, the back of #5 is scan 3:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great colors. Really lovely blocks.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sunshine. The second package of butterflies arrived today, so I ordered some appropriate stabilizer to do them with machine embroidery. I found 50 years of 10" stabilizer, which should do all the quilt for children stamped cloths I bought about a month ago. Some will take longer since I will have to adjust my machine to do an identically sized cross stitch, which means I'll have to fish out one of my old Pfaff sewing machines and go for the gold!  I'm still recuperating from yesterday's finger-jab-fest. I did find an armful of red and light 1.5" strips out in a bin in the garage that were cut prior to leaving Wyoming. We had 300 bolts of reds in our store's color wheel, and maybe more, not counting fabrics with red touches here and there.

Oh, and I got the nicest note from the Charity Bees chairwoman today. She said the every one of the tops got oohs and ahs from everyone at the Tall Pines meeting, where they take them to show what Charity Bees are doing. I sure hope they get some volunteers to quilt them. I put my heart and soul into them, but not for praise, they were for the Lord who has enough troubles with the way humans treat each other, me being no exception. I really chewed out the repairman who borrowed my husband's chain saw, then when I reported him to the Sheriff, he said there was a long rap sheet, and they verified that my chain saw had been put in a pawn shop by the same fella. It went something like "Get away from my family and get out of my sight!"  I'll never see the chain saw again. I told him never to set foot on our place again. 

*sigh* When he was not afflicted with dementia, he had a way of making people want to do the right thing around him, and he never said a harsh word to anybody. He'd make requests and people would do anything for him. OK He's handsome as God. That's in his corner. But now, he has trouble talking, and I have to check his underwear before he leaves the house to make sure he hasn't had an accident. I'd die if someone asked him to leave their establishment on account of his dementia and associated problems.

I miss my husband, and he's right here. Oh, well, we'll cross tomorrow's bridges tomorrow, not today. 

I'd love to do a couple of flowers on the purple butterfly, but I'm 2 days away from having skin regrow over the jabbed areas on a couple of fingers. Oh, I can't wait till the machine embroidery backing gets here and I can do 3 or 4 blocks in a day instead of one in 3 days. Guess I better double up on the vitamin D. I had foot cramps today. That usually tells me the Vitamin D3 should be taken and not avoided. I also forgot extra B6 and B12. Those are supposed to be helpful to some of my plethora of fibromyalgia's friends welcomed into my body without my permission. 

I'm hitting the sack. I did a ton of bedding today. My poor sweetie keeps having accidents doing the same thing all the time, namely forgetting his changing schedules. I have to spend more time with him, but this morning, I had to give the cat a bath. He's pure white, but he wasn't before he went into the tub. His room got an airing too. He decided he was a barn cat when we moved here. So he has to stay outside in the sun room. My husband was taking care of him, but now, I have to do it. One good thing my husband did today though, was finish up the front lawn. The new mower got busted tires because the repairman who demolished the old fence and didn't clean it up left boards with nails in them sticking up everywhere. We spent a week trying to pick them up, but were unsuccessful in moving piles. I got tired of chasing my husband back who'd migrate toward the house the minute I got busy doing something. He just doesn't want to do much. It's really appreciated when he does, though. Him finishing the front lawn today by putting air in the tractor tire and finishing up was wonderful. And he did it in the time it took me to walk out to the mailbox and find the second butterfly stamped set in there. 

Vitamin D, here I come!

Y'all have a great evening. <hugs>


----------



## BDBoop

Do you ladies Pinterest? I think I'm going to start a board for beautiful embroidery, and beautiful quilts.

I typed "beautiful embroidery" in the search, and this is the first one I liked. Of course, green is my favorite color.


----------



## freedombecki

Yep. That's beautiful all right, BDB. Thanks for sharing! 

And for my penance of clumsily jabbing my little fingers, those strips I found yesterday cut prior to 4 years ago? I'm going to make a little red quilt from them since it's at least 2 days till I will pick up the butterflies again. Here's the start: (I painted in the red around the outsides to reduce the glare of white background in big areas) I'm a couple of centers short of a 20-block quilt and 5 or 6 short of a 24-block quilt, so will also try and sew 5 or 6 more centers before going too much further. This one will be an eye full of red:


----------



## freedombecki

Hate to post and run, but I have to (1) Make a man take his medicine (2) Take my medicine (3) Machine piece red quilt if man is not too obstinate today. 

<hugs>


----------



## Sunshine

My BIL is now in a nursing home.  I'm thinking I may make him a cathedral windows lap rug.  What size should I make it?  I'm not sure what size they generally are.  I remember my grandmother at age 95 crocheting lap rugs for the people in the nursing home where she lived.  LOL.  But I don't recall what size they were.


----------



## koshergrl

I have dug out my embroidery basket...I am hopeful that I will get something done today. I'm getting closer to christmas and need to generate some stuff.

I hope everybody is doing well. I've been battling some sort of bug for roughly a month now...I'll feel better, then I'll have a bad day..it floats between my head and my lungs primarily. Get your flu shots asap.


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> My BIL is now in a nursing home.  I'm thinking I may make him a cathedral windows lap rug.  What size should I make it?  I'm not sure what size they generally are.  I remember my grandmother at age 95 crocheting lap rugs for the people in the nursing home where she lived.  LOL.  But I don't recall what size they were.



Bout 4x3 sounds right.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> My BIL is now in a nursing home. I'm thinking I may make him a cathedral windows lap rug. What size should I make it? I'm not sure what size they generally are. I remember my grandmother at age 95 crocheting lap rugs for the people in the nursing home where she lived. LOL. But I don't recall what size they were.


Unless he's a man mountain, 48x72", and if in a wheelchair, 44x64". Give or take a couple of inches. It helps to take a soft tape measure. If his hands and feet are perpetually cold, 6" bigger both ways. When people get into nursing care, the lack of exercise wreaks havoc on the body's thermometer. If he is a chilblain, put an extra single layer of white flannel beneath the colored small squares that give the quilt its jeweled effect. Also, contact a nursing assistant who gives him care most often and ask if he has cold hands or not when he is helped up and down. Men just don't tell you what's going on sometimes. But their caregivers will know. You're an angel, Sunshine.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I have dug out my embroidery basket...I am hopeful that I will get something done today. I'm getting closer to christmas and need to generate some stuff.
> 
> I hope everybody is doing well. I've been battling some sort of bug for roughly a month now...I'll feel better, then I'll have a bad day..it floats between my head and my lungs primarily. Get your flu shots asap.


Prayers up, koshergrl. Hope you're drinking plenty of citrus beverages if you can tolerate them.


----------



## koshergrl

Well.....

I haven't. I should. I'm going to the store tonight.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Well.....
> 
> I haven't. I should. I'm going to the store tonight.


 Hope you felt up to it. 

I need to tack my "foods for immunity" poster in my wallet for when I got to the store (this is from "Basic Holistic Nutrition--wisdom and power in eating whole foods...."


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> My BIL is now in a nursing home. I'm thinking I may make him a cathedral windows lap rug. What size should I make it? I'm not sure what size they generally are. I remember my grandmother at age 95 crocheting lap rugs for the people in the nursing home where she lived. LOL. But I don't recall what size they were.
> 
> 
> 
> Unless he's a man mountain, 48x72", and if in a wheelchair, 44x64". Give or take a couple of inches. It helps to take a soft tape measure. If his hands and feet are perpetually cold, 6" bigger both ways. When people get into nursing care, the lack of exercise wreaks havoc on the body's thermometer. If he is a chilblain, put an extra single layer of white flannel beneath the colored small squares that give the quilt its jeweled effect. Also, contact a nursing assistant who gives him care most often and ask if he has cold hands or not when he is helped up and down. Men just don't tell you what's going on sometimes. But their caregivers will know. You're an angel, Sunshine.
Click to expand...


Thanks.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, yep. Almost forgot why I came here--to show evidence that I am doing penance for jabbing fingers by filling in healing days for sore fingers with simple but hopefully cheerful projects--like finishing row 1 on the little squares I started the other day (I finally got 20 started blocks going & finished the four below):

The other 16 squares now measure 5.5" each. The pictured ones may be close to measuring 9.5".

Well, back to my sewing digs.

Everybody have a happy day & hug somebody who needs one.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the other 16 squares are now out to about 7.5." That's still quite a lot of sewing left, plus joining the squares when they are done. This seems to be our 5th or 6th consecutive day of rain. When it's not pouring cats and dogs, the air is packed with little droplets. It seems more than 99% humidity, really.


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, you are always pulling out this cloth or that cloth.  You remind me of my mother and her closet.  One would swear it terminated in infinity.  She could pull more stuff out of that closet than was in the entire rest of the house all put together.  And it did NOT look like Fibber McGee's closet either.  It was most unassuming.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine, making store quilts that grew into a 5,000+ square foot facility on two floors for 23 years, being an artist and a packrat, which you have to be to have the right color when you want it requires a lot more space than my whole huge farmhouse would ever hold. I didn't even bring half my stuff, and I have to sew every day for the rest of my life just to do justice to the stacks of boxes. To make matters worse, the church asked me to come and take all the fabrics in the quilter's room when the new pastor decided the closet would serve a better purpose than the only 2 quilters that were left. It was 4'x18'x14' with shelves to the high ceiling. I bought a dozen pink boxes on sale at a discount house, and it still didn't all fit in, so I just brought what was in cardboard boxes along too. I pretty much cleaned out everything except what one lady said she'd like to keep for the Sunday School department. Three months later, I poked my nose in the quilter's closet, and someone had filled it up again with more fabrics and stuff!  So much for the pastoral request! I decided I'd have to dedicate the rest of my years to sewing for the Lord. I almost wish I had left the stuff, because by the time I got there other church quilters had taken most of the cotton fabrics and left poly cottons which are no fun city to work with if you are a professional quilter and demand a good outcome for your time. However, there are ways to get around that... if you don't mind spending extra time doing quilting and using purchased products to stabilize the stuff. blech.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Well, the other 16 squares are now out to about 7.5." That's still quite a lot of sewing left, plus joining the squares when they are done. This seems to be our 5th or 6th consecutive day of rain. When it's not pouring cats and dogs, the air is packed with little droplets. It seems more than 99% humidity, really.



  [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION] [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION] here are 2 of the ruffled scarves (boas)? that my wife knitted. The one I told you about is already gone. The concept of knitting is mind boggling to me.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks for sharing, Bloodrock.


----------



## koshergrl

Are they knitted or crocheted? I'm familiar with the ruffly crocheted scarves...


----------



## koshergrl

I'm still around...very sick with flu but I think I might feel better tonight than I did this morning. Everybody take care of yourselves...


----------



## freedombecki

Prayers up that your flu bug takes a hike and leaves you alone, koshergrl.  
Also Hope BDB's bad week last week stays in the past and things to a lot better.
Things okay here, too. I'm learning to get over anxieties associated with the confusion people have with a loved one who has dementia. There is a 50-50 chance he will not get Alzheimer's due to his diagnosis, means he will have other issues as well, and some of them are in full swing now. And prayers up for Sunshine to have respite and relaxation that is so healing she can life a reasonably normal life. We all have issues that are human, and require extra reading into the issues. I thank God for friends here at USMB who put laughter and joy in my heart. Amen.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Prayers up that your flu bug takes a hike and leaves you alone, koshergrl.
> Also Hope BDB's bad week last week stays in the past and things to a lot better.
> Things okay here, too. I'm learning to get over anxieties associated with the confusion people have with a loved one who has dementia. There is a 50-50 chance he will not get Alzheimer's due to his diagnosis, means he will have other issues as well, and some of them are in full swing now. And prayers up for Sunshine to have respite and relaxation that is so healing she can life a reasonably normal life. We all have issues that are human, and require extra reading into the issues. I thank God for friends here at USMB who put laughter and joy in my heart. Amen.



Thank you. 

And amen.


----------



## Bloodrock44

koshergrl said:


> Are they knitted or crocheted? I'm familiar with the ruffly crocheted scarves...



They are knitted.


----------



## Sunshine

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, the other 16 squares are now out to about 7.5." That's still quite a lot of sewing left, plus joining the squares when they are done. This seems to be our 5th or 6th consecutive day of rain. When it's not pouring cats and dogs, the air is packed with little droplets. It seems more than 99% humidity, really.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION] [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION] here are 2 of the ruffled scarves (boas)? that my wife knitted. The one I told you about is already gone. The concept of knitting is mind boggling to me.
> 
> View attachment 27981
> 
> View attachment 27982
> 
> View attachment 27983
Click to expand...


I bought one to be knitted at the quilt show, but haven't done it yet.


----------



## freedombecki

I finished another red row on the quilt today and a small border around 3 embroidered squares purchased on Ebay this past month. At first I took them to be very bad embroideries, but the problem was they looked too "perfect" and a bit skewed. What I missed was the ultra-fine workmanship I noticed while sewing borders on, plus a distinctive geometric quality that told me these were one-of-a-kind articles by a very gifted and talented embroiderer. I really should run back into the sewing room and bring them forward. It takes 2 hours to answer mail, and I'm not half through it yet. *sigh* Well, to the advanced screen from quick reply while I run and find the bordered floral items! 

I'm guessing these were embroidered before my mother was born, which means they could be a century old. The stitches are ultra fine, and not as I first perceived, which is likely why I got them for a song on ebay. The color of the muslin prior to my little hand wash was a very dark color of beige. When I washed them, they brightened considerably, but the threads were totally colorfast. I'm just stumped as to their age, though, and I'm glad I washed them before aging deteriorated the fabric, which it would have in another 45 or 50 years, which would be a loss. I hope I can do them justice. I really didn't think much of them when I first saw them on ebay, and thought they could be combined with other older things I found. It's just that they're designed by the same person for one thing, and for another, they are the hand of one person with their teensy tiny stitches.

Some things are mysteries to me, and I realize how limited we are when one generation passes and then another, then someone finds a few completed squares in the bottom of an old box or sewing basket. No name, no date, nothing. The kicker of this one is that it just looks like long stitch due to the designer's bent. I've never seen it before, either. It's possible a set is catalogued somewhere in an old newspaper or ladies magazine of yesteryear, or just was sketched out by someone who was fascinated by what she saw in a summer garden or on a trip to another country. I only know what I at first didn't quite understand grew on me till I love it now, after working an hour on it this morning.

Oh, and I did finish all 20 blocks, including one in which I had to turn a fabric upside down to use in the center which looks enough like the color of the other squares' centers, but lacks the quality of that Kona solid in the other 19 squares, all done. I pinned the two rows together before we left for lunch, and then drove to a nearby Walmart for more embroidery floss and orange juice to help us ward off colds and the flu.

I fight back with nutrition! Don't mind me! 

Hugs everyone. It's ten o'clock, and I'm just too tired to read any more mail. Manana! are the mysterious little floral blocks, combined with the best contemporary florals I could find in my stashes of reds and pinks--and don't be fooled. There's not a stitch anywhere on this work that is larger than 20 to the inch:


----------



## BDBoop

Just reading, hope all are doing well.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, BDB! Friends make it _all_ worthwhile. 

Finished the solid red log cabin which only measures 40x50, but will be a jolly way to greet a Christmas baby or wheelchair vet who needs a little wrapping. 

Embroidered leaves on two lazy daisies yesterday, so only 2 are left to go on the purple butterfly #5, then I can go on to my red morpho on #6. Wow, saving that outer embroidered frame for the purple one sure extended the agony. 

And I'm going to do something like this around all 3 of the micro embroidered florals that fell into my lap from an ebay purchase. They may be old as Methusela, but man, are they well-embroidered!

Here's the (1) Solid Red Log cabin, FWIW, and the second is the inspiration for finishing the floral framed so far (2, shown above somewhere). Oh, yes, and I found what I am going to call a (3) "Beltbuckle" courthouse steps log cabin for future inspiration because that's what it looks like to me.


----------



## Sunshine

Bloodrock44 said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are they knitted or crocheted? I'm familiar with the ruffly crocheted scarves...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They are knitted.
Click to expand...


I need to find mine and get it knitted.  It's the season for the color I bought.


----------



## freedombecki

It was sure nice to get the log cabin quilt knocked out this morning, and I persevered for the rest of the morning to get rid of the flowers on the purple butterfly square and start the Red morpho butterfly (hopefully or something like it. I really need to do research on the one red butterfly I found that was all red)

Here is completed block #5 (purple butterfly like the cover of the packet

Started block #6, Red Butterfly


----------



## BDBoop

Three years now, I have a half-finished scarf for my son-in-law for Christmas.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> Three years now, I have a half-finished scarf for my son-in-law for Christmas.


I have a few things on the UFO pile here, too. One of these days, we'll get around to them! 

I rested the most part of this Sunday, but got a corner of flowers done on the red butterfly. It's pretty much where it was yesterday except for the border' partial stem stitching around and floral corner. Need to do more. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> Three years now, I have a half-finished scarf for my son-in-law for Christmas.
> 
> 
> 
> I have a few things on the UFO pile here, too. One of these days, we'll get around to them!
> 
> I rested the most part of this Sunday, but got a corner of flowers done on the red butterfly. It's pretty much where it was yesterday except for the border' partial stem stitching around and floral corner. Need to do more.
> 
> Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.
Click to expand...


Maybe if we traded, we'd commit to finishing!


----------



## freedombecki

This one's almost half done! It's been a nice break of pace, though. I have a fondness for butterflies, and this one's fun, because I'm not deciding on the color until I figure out where it is and what would look best to the last one. That's why I'm hooked on doing this work. It's my media and comfort zone. I tried quilting and crochet. If I did either, it'd be crochet. So, I'm sticking with quilts. I already have the sashes figured out. This won't be like any other quilt ever made. I can't stop it now!!

The trouble with quilting is that it's a positive addiction. That's an addiction with a bonus at the end. You get a quilt out of the deal. Other addictions don't give back. Quilting does.


----------



## naomibee

freedombecki said:


> It was sure nice to get the log cabin quilt knocked out this morning, and I persevered for the rest of the morning to get rid of the flowers on the purple butterfly square and start the Red morpho butterfly (hopefully or something like it. I really need to do research on the one red butterfly I found that was all red)
> 
> Here is completed block #5 (purple butterfly like the cover of the packet
> 
> Started block #6, Red Butterfly



I have some pillow cases am working on.


----------



## freedombecki

naomibee said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> It was sure nice to get the log cabin quilt knocked out this morning, and I persevered for the rest of the morning to get rid of the flowers on the purple butterfly square and start the Red morpho butterfly (hopefully or something like it. I really need to do research on the one red butterfly I found that was all red)
> 
> Here is completed block #5 (purple butterfly like the cover of the packet
> 
> Started block #6, Red Butterfly
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have some pillow cases am working on.
Click to expand...

 Well, scan them up! We'd love to see them, [MENTION=19754]naomibee[/MENTION]!

Today this should have been finished, but my dear one locked himself out of the truck twice, so I had to go arovin' around with a backup key. Poor guy.

Instead, I'm tired to my bones, but wanted to at least show I have been steadily stitching away at this. Some days only one or two flowers got done, but finally today, all 4 of them are totally done.  The bad deal was, I just ran out of gas physically and emotionally dealing with my dear one's dementia, and one more skill down the tubes. It's rough. He went for over 40 years without ever locking himself out of a car due to his exceptional memory, and now, it's something every day. Hopefully, it was just a full moon or something, when everybody has a screw up or two. I don't know...


----------



## freedombecki

A good night's sleep helps. The red square is done. That's six, and the temptation to turn them into a hugs baby quilt at this point is strong. The cut-away backing came in for any size of quilt square that is desired yesterday, so the other six could be machine done if I can coax one of my better machines to work. 

So here's the 6th square, more fun when done:


----------



## koshergrl

I love redwork. LOVE it.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I love redwork. LOVE it.


 

Thanks, koshergrl. I used 3 shades of red, and in front of the computer, I have to keep the bright light off, which makes me colorblind to close shades of red for some reason. So if it's looked at critically, it gets really bright and really dark, and neither light nor dark here and there around the outside. I also noticed later that the regular red was sometimes switched with the dark red and the light red on the chain stitches. In fact there are so many screw ups on it I'm not going to worry about it. It's bright and cheerful, that's what I was going for, but exact? Nope--not even close! Progress on it was so chopped up I was convinced it would take a year at one point.  It may, too, if I make 2 small quilt out of the 12 squares!


----------



## koshergrl

The variations are what distinguish it from machine work. It's beautiful.


----------



## naomibee

freedombecki said:


> naomibee said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> It was sure nice to get the log cabin quilt knocked out this morning, and I persevered for the rest of the morning to get rid of the flowers on the purple butterfly square and start the Red morpho butterfly (hopefully or something like it. I really need to do research on the one red butterfly I found that was all red)
> 
> Here is completed block #5 (purple butterfly like the cover of the packet
> 
> Started block #6, Red Butterfly
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have some pillow cases am working on.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Well, scan them up! We'd love to see them, [MENTION=19754]naomibee[/MENTION]!
> 
> Today this should have been finished, but my dear one locked himself out of the truck twice, so I had to go arovin' around with a backup key. Poor guy.
> 
> Instead, I'm tired to my bones, but wanted to at least show I have been steadily stitching away at this. Some days only one or two flowers got done, but finally today, all 4 of them are totally done.  The bad deal was, I just ran out of gas physically and emotionally dealing with my dear one's dementia, and one more skill down the tubes. It's rough. He went for over 40 years without ever locking himself out of a car due to his exceptional memory, and now, it's something every day. Hopefully, it was just a full moon or something, when everybody has a screw up or two. I don't know...
Click to expand...


i will when i get it done.not much more to go.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> A good night's sleep helps. The red square is done. That's six, and the temptation to turn them into a hugs baby quilt at this point is strong. The cut-away backing came in for any size of quilt square that is desired yesterday, so the other six could be machine done if I can coax one of my better machines to work.
> 
> So here's the 6th square, more fun when done:



I love the deep colors!


----------



## freedombecki

naomibee said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> naomibee said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have some pillow cases am working on.
> 
> 
> 
> Well, scan them up! We'd love to see them, @naomibee!
> 
> Today this should have been finished, but my dear one locked himself out of the truck twice, so I had to go arovin' around with a backup key. Poor guy.
> 
> Instead, I'm tired to my bones, but wanted to at least show I have been steadily stitching away at this. Some days only one or two flowers got done, but finally today, all 4 of them are totally done.  The bad deal was, I just ran out of gas physically and emotionally dealing with my dear one's dementia, and one more skill down the tubes. It's rough. He went for over 40 years without ever locking himself out of a car due to his exceptional memory, and now, it's something every day. Hopefully, it was just a full moon or something, when everybody has a screw up or two. I don't know...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> i will when i get it done.not much more to go.
Click to expand...

 That will be fun to see.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> The variations are what distinguish it from machine work. It's beautiful.


My Pfaff sews what I tell it to sew. You can program imperfect-looking blanket stitches, for example, up to 120 different ones, just by copying the last thing you did that looked truly imperfect (speaking for myself, that is.  ) 

I'll have to get my machine out and see if I can still remember how to do that. I've done straight stitching for almost 2 years now with those charity quilts I churned out. It's been enjoyable though.   

Added some rows around the pink and red quilt started with 3 embroidered quilt squares someone found in the family trunk in an estate. It will be a nice little quilt when done if it looks half as good as my model. Of all things, I tracked the model down online the other day, and it was actually the back of the quilt. ROAR!!! That has to be the best back art I've ever seen! 

And all I did today was pull out another group of squares I found on ebay, where someone had done the flowers on this panel, but not the children blocks. I finished up her duckie block by using the same colors one would expect to see on a mallard duck--green head, white ring neck, grayish tan body and blue on the wing, although it may not look much like a wing any more after I sewed stuff all cocklemaimie. Poor lady who sewed the flowers probably expected a more conventional approach to embroidery that my free style. I grow more and more convinced the lack of a dahlia-like flower at the top to correspond with the one at the lower left is why this group of 3 repetitions may have been a factory leftover, with someone just too disgusted to wash & repeat and put 3 blocks with the deficient blocks on a separate pile for factory workers to buy for 2 cents or just take home free, sometimes stuff the factory rejects. That's why there are 3 panels of 4 alike and one unalike, just maybe (not sure). I try to look for clues why I'd get a steal on ebay, and it's fun to figure out why this and why that. I worked in a really picky factory when I was young for one year. Those swimsuits didn't say "Catalina" until supervisor Angie said they could say "Catalina" on them. And there was some truly nice items in the company store of something that may have had such a minor flaw you'd have to be a total expert to figure out why it was there for sale cheap to workers. Their approach to excellence, though never once bothered me. I loved being shown how to make money doing perfect work 500 times a day. I made a game of it most days. They passed quickly. Only one day, I was really bored. I almost left the factory. Glad I didn't. Most days were a lot of fun because you could challenge yourself to a duel, and sometimes that landed you a supervisor visit to put you somewhere else while others caught up with you. 

So much for my year in the sewing factory. Oh, yes, I made my first quilt top there. They had a ton of 40s' old swimwear material roughly the size of one foot by two foot "bricks" and I sewed them into a colossal, homey-looking stage curtain for the Christmas melodrama in which employee actors and actresses made fun of the bosses and supervisors with characters in the melodrama being named for this one and that.

The only thing consistent on the block are the previous embroiderer's lovely flowers in pink and purple.Here's my silly mallard ducky who should have been yellow, most likely, to fit in with forties toddlers expectations back then. I really don't know when it was printed, I'm just guessing from the colors the lady did 8 squares with as looking 40s-ish, though I really am just guessing:

[edit --adding 2 more blocks the way they arrived, completely finished.]

[scan 2 is the dog clown block that is finished]

[scan 3 is the elephant block. The elephant is a very pale gray, and it is almost indistinguishable from the somewhat aged percale that has mellowed to a similar color to unbleached muslin. It likely was pure white when new, and it takes about 70 years to age like these squares, another reason I though maybe 40s on these squares. This work may have been left unfinished before I was born. Or was picked up and given to a great grandmother who for some reason couldn't finish it, or a busy mom whose baby was born before the quilt was completed, so with her extra demands, she just put it away until "later," which never came...

It's easy to start a quilt thinking it wouldn't take much more time than a school art project.

   .   
   .   
   .   
   .   
   .   
   .   ​


----------



## Mr. H.

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> A good night's sleep helps. The red square is done. That's six, and the temptation to turn them into a hugs baby quilt at this point is strong. The cut-away backing came in for any size of quilt square that is desired yesterday, so the other six could be machine done if I can coax one of my better machines to work.
> 
> So here's the 6th square, more fun when done:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love the deep colors!
Click to expand...


I love a good night's sleep.


----------



## freedombecki

It's only fair to show a few of the blocks that are already embroidered on this quilt. Ther are four more to do , but will do those tomorrow, because it's so late right now.

Scan 1 This block was received, like the mallard ducky, with some work done.

Scan 2 This is what the instructions probably told what colors to do the ducky in, and/or the embroider favored pink and purple fabrics and used light yellow, due to preference or instructions. There were no instructions when I received the blocks in various stages of completion and incompletion

Scan 3 This is the "Block" block which were toys many American children had when they were growing up, or played with blocks at Kindergarten or Sunday schools back in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and just whenever. I'll have to look up the history of children's playing blocks before I finish this one if possible.


----------



## BDBoop

Mr. H. said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> A good night's sleep helps. The red square is done. That's six, and the temptation to turn them into a hugs baby quilt at this point is strong. The cut-away backing came in for any size of quilt square that is desired yesterday, so the other six could be machine done if I can coax one of my better machines to work.
> 
> So here's the 6th square, more fun when done:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love the deep colors!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I love a good night's sleep.
Click to expand...


I sympathize - with the new parents in your life.


----------



## BDBoop

Happy weekend! Mine started when I got off work at 4:00 a.m.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, BDBoop! You, too!


----------



## freedombecki

http://www.usmessageboard.com/8040317-post2472.html - Back to the 4 blocks finished. We spent time yesterday with the two wonderful angels who run the shop back in Wyoming, who are visiting the Houston Fall Quilt Show an hour and a half south of here, to see what's happening in new ideas in quilting for 2014. So I dropped when they left due to this awful junk that Fibromyalgia & its various accomplices, such as CFS, are.

This is 3 of the 4 more blocks of the 16 that were completed on receipt of the package (3 were partly worked on, and 5 had little to nothing embroidered on them.) These were done in varying pinks and colors. She used purple in every block and very little blue. My preference is a balance throughout the color wheel for a child's quilt, but well, it's a happycircumstance to have a lot of the blocks embroidered before starting the work.


----------



## freedombecki

The last one that was found by the estate owner's agents before her passing and sold to me on ebay not to long ago for addition to charity quilts they would be:


----------



## BDBoop

So much pretty!


----------



## freedombecki

Working on another quilt... the 3 vintage green and floral colors that were so finely embroidered probably 70 years ago due to the aging color of the white percale. It's not the first time I've dealt with fabrics that may have been done before my mother was born. Here are some borders I am now sewing around the strip made of the blocks to eventually be a good-sized child or senior quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Currently on the machine (continued) 3 vintage embroidered florals...


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Currently on the machine (continued) 3 vintage embroidered florals...



Your quilt is playing my song. 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pFAFsTFTI]The Beatles - All You Need Is Love-HQ - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Currently on the machine (continued) 3 vintage embroidered florals...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your quilt is playing my song.
> 
> [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pFAFsTFTI"]The Beatles - All You Need Is Love-HQ - YouTube[/ame]
Click to expand...

 
I'm so glad it strikes a good cord with you, BDB. 

Scan 1 - last night's slight progress showing the words "LOVE" on fabric

Scan 2 - Another view of love

Scan 3 - View at bottom of progress.

It seems I worked an hour, but I can't remember where I stopped and started now. The quilt is getting big enough just to put an outer border. I'm looking at greens that may compliment the green on the floral embroideries. There may be two greens, but they're close in value, just a slight difference on rose-leaf green and food color green frosting, sort of. I also noticed that after washing in the sink, one block is several shades lighter than the other two. The off-white windowpane plaid next to the rec floral border framing the 3 embroidered floral blocks was placed there to show the difference between a 10-year-old muslin color from blocks that were once pure white, but aged over a long period of time. I can't tell the difference between a well-preserved muslin that is 70 to 150 years old. It was rumored that in the 70s or 80s, people were making old-patterned quilts, burying them in the yard for a few months, carefully laundering the result, then selling them as "antiques" for a pretty penny. The duplicity was known by comparing the size of the prints and carbon-testing the thread. If they'd spent the same amount of time on improving their technique, people have been known to earn as much as a good antique with just good technique even on up-to-the-minute design and contemporary fabrics. Some people just insist on cutting off their nose to spite their face.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Working on another quilt... the 3 vintage green and floral colors that were so finely embroidered probably 70 years ago due to the aging color of the white percale. It's not the first time I've dealt with fabrics that may have been done before my mother was born. Here are some borders I am now sewing around the strip made of the blocks to eventually be a good-sized child or senior quilt.



Beckums, do you remember those cloth calendars they sold back in the 60s and 70s.  The year I married, 1967,  my mother gave me one with my wedding day colored red with food dye.  (Red letter day)  Every year after for several years, she bought me one.  I am not sure I still have them all, but I think I may.  At one time I thought I would put them all together and make a quilt.  I know I did a lot of cleaning out when I moved back here and I may have ditched them.  Not sure when I will get to it, but I really must look for them. 

What do you think of the quilt idea?  Is it stupid?  It would be a hanging one, rather than for the bed.  I guess you could call it a Father Time quilt for lack of a better title!  LOL

Here is an old one for sale on eBay:






I have been cleaning closets and taking a lot of stuff to the consignment store.  When I do the floor of my closet, hopefully today, I may go through my cedar chest and see if I still have them.  If they are not there, they would be in a trunk in the basement.  If not there, I chucked them.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Working on another quilt... the 3 vintage green and floral colors that were so finely embroidered probably 70 years ago due to the aging color of the white percale. It's not the first time I've dealt with fabrics that may have been done before my mother was born. Here are some borders I am now sewing around the strip made of the blocks to eventually be a good-sized child or senior quilt.


Are those bleeding hearts?


----------



## freedombecki

As in "My love lies bleeding..." Yes, it's Bleeding hearts, the tropical plant. And my respect for this wonderful embroiderer grows every time I turn it over and see the teeny, tiny stitches she patiently made until it was done. When I first saw it, the style reminded me of carelessly-left threads in geometric angels, especially on the Chinese Lanterns. Also, I just now noticed how exact these squares were when I sewed them to the 1" pink rose and tulip print. Even though I was sewing 90 miles an hour (learned in the factory), the blocks are perfectly even from side to side as evidenced by the zero trouble I had making them look orderly. I now think this bright embroiderer probably counted threads across 8 or 9 inches, clipped and tore the fabrics precisely, and somehow when they got passed down to me in a lot of 3 on ebay, they were still perfectly uniform top to bottom and side to side. I missed that before this post, as it's sitting next to me laying over the printer.

Oh, it's so close to completion, I must take it back to the sewing room and sew 4 more rounds, the last being a composite green. In the morning sun, what I thought might have been my eyes playing tricks on me, the colors in one of the squares is made up of several different greens, another has 2 or 3 greens, but the Heart-lies-bleeding or "bleeding hearts" one is a consistent blue green not seen in the other squares. Oh, my goodness. I'm just now noticing the squares are muslin, and not percale as I notice in this good light the tiniest flecks characteristic of all natural muslins, but the weave is charmingly old, but I do not know how old. Things got more consistent with the industrial revolution bringing in improved weaving machines by the decade, and I wish I had taken a textile course sometime during the past or at least purchased one of Barbara Brackman's or historic fabric identification guides.


----------



## freedombecki

Pardon my mistakie, "My love lies bleeding" is another plant that has blossoms like:




​Another shows both Bleeding Hearts and Love lies bleeding in the same photograph:​


​Bleeding hearts have a different leaf, however:​


​Sunshine, my hat's off to you. Bleeding hearts is the correct name for the embroidery I showed the other day.​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> As in "My love lies bleeding..." Yes, it's Bleeding hearts, the tropical plant. And my respect for this wonderful embroiderer grows every time I turn it over and see the teeny, tiny stitches she patiently made until it was done. When I first saw it, the style reminded me of carelessly-left threads in geometric angels, especially on the Chinese Lanterns. Also, I just now noticed how exact these squares were when I sewed them to the 1" pink rose and tulip print. Even though I was sewing 90 miles an hour (learned in the factory), the blocks are perfectly even from side to side as evidenced by the zero trouble I had making them look orderly. I now think this bright embroiderer probably counted threads across 8 or 9 inches, clipped and tore the fabrics precisely, and somehow when they got passed down to me in a lot of 3 on ebay, they were still perfectly uniform top to bottom and side to side. I missed that before this post, as it's sitting next to me laying over the printer.
> 
> Oh, it's so close to completion, I must take it back to the sewing room and sew 4 more rounds, the last being a composite green. In the morning sun, what I thought might have been my eyes playing tricks on me, the colors in one of the squares is made up of several different greens, another has 2 or 3 greens, but the Heart-lies-bleeding or "bleeding hearts" one is a consistent blue green not seen in the other squares. Oh, my goodness. I'm just now noticing the squares are muslin, and not percale as I notice in this good light the tiniest flecks characteristic of all natural muslins, but the weave is charmingly old, but I do not know how old. Things got more consistent with the industrial revolution bringing in improved weaving machines by the decade, and I wish I had taken a textile course sometime during the past or at least purchased one of Barbara Brackman's or historic fabric identification guides.



I like the textiles old dead bodies have on when they get dug up by archeologists.   I really think ancient textiles could be an area of study in and of itself.  When my son went away to Georgia Tech, I saw their Textile Engineering degree and was just green with envy.  But I was in the middle of my master's program and in no position to switch.


----------



## freedombecki

I just have to do another couple of rounds on the outside of this quilt and finish her up! 

The way I go it will take a minimum of an hour. Thanks, everyone for the inspirations you have gifted me with.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Pardon my mistakie, "My love lies bleeding" is another plant that has blossoms like:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​Another shows both Bleeding Hearts and Love lies bleeding in the same photograph:​
> 
> 
> ​Bleeding hearts have a different leaf, however:​
> 
> 
> ​Sunshine, my hat's off to you. Bleeding hearts is the correct name for the embroidery I showed the other day.​



I really like bleeding hearts.  I should plant more, I only have one plant.  I don't really care for the white ones, though.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Pardon my mistakie, "My love lies bleeding" is another plant that has blossoms like:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another shows both Bleeding Hearts and Love lies bleeding in the same photograph:​
> 
> 
> 
> Bleeding hearts have a different leaf, however:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine, my hat's off to you. Bleeding hearts is the correct name for the embroidery I showed the other day.​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really like bleeding hearts. I should plant more, I only have one plant. I don't really care for the white ones, though.
Click to expand...

 The quilt square one (still on the machine) has pink and red. I only found one like it in images, and wouldn't you know it, it didn't show the drooping quality of the florets in a line draping gracefully like one sees from the side. Bad reason not to use it, prolly. Oh, well, That was yesterday. Every day flower pictures change because millions of people tag to Bing! and other browsers.

Oh, I was thrilled that the children squares don't seem to eat time like the butterflies do, so I spent the day embroidering the second elephant block that had not even one stitch on it. I made it in a darker gray color to distinguish it from its yellowed percale background. (not muslin).

FWIW, here's the new elephant. I loved doing the flowers. Thanks to koshergrl who talked me through doing the French knots. Pardon the wrinkles, but I didn't want to further set the ink in the squares, and am not sure if the red/orange and blue/green colors will ever wash out. This was one in which I enjoyed doing every stitch. Total and complete fun!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Working on another quilt... the 3 vintage green and floral colors that were so finely embroidered probably 70 years ago due to the aging color of the white percale. It's not the first time I've dealt with fabrics that may have been done before my mother was born. Here are some borders I am now sewing around the strip made of the blocks to eventually be a good-sized child or senior quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, do you remember those cloth calendars they sold back in the 60s and 70s. The year I married, 1967, my mother gave me one with my wedding day colored red with food dye. (Red letter day) Every year after for several years, she bought me one. I am not sure I still have them all, but I think I may. At one time I thought I would put them all together and make a quilt. I know I did a lot of cleaning out when I moved back here and I may have ditched them. Not sure when I will get to it, but I really must look for them.
> 
> What do you think of the quilt idea? Is it stupid? It would be a hanging one, rather than for the bed. I guess you could call it a Father Time quilt for lack of a better title! LOL
> 
> Here is an old one for sale on eBay:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have been cleaning closets and taking a lot of stuff to the consignment store. When I do the floor of my closet, hopefully today, I may go through my cedar chest and see if I still have them. If they are not there, they would be in a trunk in the basement. If not there, I chucked them.
Click to expand...

 If you had consecutive years, you could be looking at a very, very valuable quilt someday. Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. Not enough coffee yesterday, and forgot my meds until 10 hours later. I seem reasonably ok this morning, though. I guess the body gets used to its owner's proclivities of occasional forgetfulness. Have a dynamite day!


----------



## freedombecki

*Happy *
*Sunday*​ 
*Everybody!*​


----------



## freedombecki

Flitting around the internet like a butterfly today...


----------



## freedombecki

~~~~ flitting around ~~~~​~~~~ 'n' flitting around ~~~~​~~~~ and flitting some more ~~~~​


----------



## koshergrl

Bootiful!

I'm all motivated now. My thyroid level is back up, and my internet is down so I am much more domestic and nowhere near as tired as I have been since this summer.

Love you all tata for now


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Working on another quilt... the 3 vintage green and floral colors that were so finely embroidered probably 70 years ago due to the aging color of the white percale. It's not the first time I've dealt with fabrics that may have been done before my mother was born. Here are some borders I am now sewing around the strip made of the blocks to eventually be a good-sized child or senior quilt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, do you remember those cloth calendars they sold back in the 60s and 70s. The year I married, 1967, my mother gave me one with my wedding day colored red with food dye. (Red letter day) Every year after for several years, she bought me one. I am not sure I still have them all, but I think I may. At one time I thought I would put them all together and make a quilt. I know I did a lot of cleaning out when I moved back here and I may have ditched them. Not sure when I will get to it, but I really must look for them.
> 
> What do you think of the quilt idea? Is it stupid? It would be a hanging one, rather than for the bed. I guess you could call it a Father Time quilt for lack of a better title! LOL
> 
> Here is an old one for sale on eBay:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have been cleaning closets and taking a lot of stuff to the consignment store. When I do the floor of my closet, hopefully today, I may go through my cedar chest and see if I still have them. If they are not there, they would be in a trunk in the basement. If not there, I chucked them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> If you had consecutive years, you could be looking at a very, very valuable quilt someday. Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. Not enough coffee yesterday, and forgot my meds until 10 hours later. I seem reasonably ok this morning, though. I guess the body gets used to its owner's proclivities of occasional forgetfulness. Have a dynamite day!
Click to expand...


Yes, they were consecutive for several years in a row, maybe 10 or so.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, do you remember those cloth calendars they sold back in the 60s and 70s. The year I married, 1967, my mother gave me one with my wedding day colored red with food dye. (Red letter day) Every year after for several years, she bought me one. I am not sure I still have them all, but I think I may. At one time I thought I would put them all together and make a quilt. I know I did a lot of cleaning out when I moved back here and I may have ditched them. Not sure when I will get to it, but I really must look for them.
> 
> What do you think of the quilt idea? Is it stupid? It would be a hanging one, rather than for the bed. I guess you could call it a Father Time quilt for lack of a better title! LOL
> 
> Here is an old one for sale on eBay:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have been cleaning closets and taking a lot of stuff to the consignment store. When I do the floor of my closet, hopefully today, I may go through my cedar chest and see if I still have them. If they are not there, they would be in a trunk in the basement. If not there, I chucked them.
> 
> 
> 
> If you had consecutive years, you could be looking at a very, very valuable quilt someday. Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. Not enough coffee yesterday, and forgot my meds until 10 hours later. I seem reasonably ok this morning, though. I guess the body gets used to its owner's proclivities of occasional forgetfulness. Have a dynamite day!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes, they were consecutive for several years in a row, maybe 10 or so.
Click to expand...

 Join them with your favorite or a favorite color! The quilt is novel and will be a collector's jewel someday, and you will be named Protector of Womens' Homemaking Traditions at some future time. You could make it more valuable by embroidering little microscopic medical things in the sashes or something. Or garden seeds. Or blossoms. Or yellow butterflies...


----------



## koshergrl

I have seen quilts made out of county fair ribbons, and quilts that are made with the..oh, the bias ends of material...and they were EXTREMELY valuable, so I believe that the calendars would be as well.

I forgot to share that my auntie gave me a hand crocheted pineapple motif tablecloth that one of my now-deceased aunties had made for her. She had it cleaned and blocked, and gave it to me on Friday, I think.

I'm so excited! It's going to be on the table for Thanksgiving!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I have seen quilts made out of county fair ribbons, and quilts that are made with the..oh, the bias ends of material...and they were EXTREMELY valuable, so I believe that the calendars would be as well.
> 
> I forgot to share that my auntie gave me a hand crocheted pineapple motif tablecloth that one of my now-deceased aunties had made for her. She had it cleaned and blocked, and gave it to me on Friday, I think.
> 
> I'm so excited! It's going to be on the table for Thanksgiving!


 ...Under a 10-mil clear plastic cover, I hope (found at stores that cell plastics on rolls) It doesn't have to be that thick but you can always wipe it off after special occasions, let it dry, and roll them up together till next time. 

I'm so glad your family treasure is going to you. I bet your auntie is impressed with your amazing embroideries and crocheted edgings and knew you would give it better care than anyone else in the family. For whatever reason, I'm so glad you are getting it, koshergrl! Giving up a precious heirloom before you apply for assisted care is a good idea and prevents the heirloom from going to an uncaring family member who will squander it by nonuse, abuse, or selling it for nothing the first time they move. Your aunt gets my thumbs up in agreement, koshergrl! 

I'm going to use this post to show you some samplers I bought for a song this past month on ebay. You'd be shocked if you knew how very little I paid for something No one could afford for the level of skill that went into the making of these and several other treasures I made off with. At first, I was going to simply use them as a medallion center for charity quilts, but the colors and variation of techniques and color choices are so wonderful, it'd be a good museum start like the one in Bennington, VT. that houses many of Grandma Moses' items.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you had consecutive years, you could be looking at a very, very valuable quilt someday. Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. Not enough coffee yesterday, and forgot my meds until 10 hours later. I seem reasonably ok this morning, though. I guess the body gets used to its owner's proclivities of occasional forgetfulness. Have a dynamite day!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, they were consecutive for several years in a row, maybe 10 or so.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Join them with your favorite or a favorite color! The quilt is novel and will be a collector's jewel someday, and you will be named Protector of Womens' Homemaking Traditions at some future time. You could make it more valuable by embroidering little microscopic medical things in the sashes or something. Or garden seeds. Or blossoms. Or yellow butterflies...
Click to expand...


OH my!  Now I have to look for them.  I really hope I didn't get rid of them.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, they were consecutive for several years in a row, maybe 10 or so.
> 
> 
> 
> Join them with your favorite or a favorite color! The quilt is novel and will be a collector's jewel someday, and you will be named Protector of Womens' Homemaking Traditions at some future time. You could make it more valuable by embroidering little microscopic medical things in the sashes or something. Or garden seeds. Or blossoms. Or yellow butterflies...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> OH my! Now I have to look for them. I really hope I didn't get rid of them.
Click to expand...

 I hope so, too, Sunshine. Prayers up for all issues, peace, comfort, loving friends and family, and prosperity. <hugs>


----------



## freedombecki

Today's progress was small, but at least a lot of the square is now done. The rabbit isn't embroidered yet, and I was falling asleep over doing the tan on the wood block. Even so, a lot of the flowers and greenery got done. It's the last block that the previous owner of the blocks started, and only had two flowers done in pink at the top. Nothing else was done, so there was a whole lot to do! Will try and finish it tomorrow or the next day.

Hope everyone had a great day and have a better one tomorrow. 

May love and joy abide in your spirits! 

Here's my small bit of progress (and it's not much, btw).


----------



## koshergrl

I haven't spread it out yet, but as far as I can tell, it's along these lines:


----------



## freedombecki

Totally fabulous, koshergrl.


----------



## freedombecki

And one more...

I just looked at some sulphurs on line and added the yellow butterfly for our dear friend @Sunshine.

I liked the way this one was sitting on a plant:






But I liked the brightness of this "Cloudless Sulphur" one:


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> And one more...
> 
> I just looked at some sulphurs on line and added the yellow butterfly for our dear friend @Sunshine.
> 
> I liked the way this one was sitting on a plant:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I liked the brightness of this "Cloudless Sulphur" one:



Wow. Some cool butterflies. Do you have Butterfly Bushes where you live? I have two of them and they draw some beautiful butterflies. It's cool to go out in the morning and see 20 to 30 butterflies fluttering around each one. Nature has a way.


----------



## Sunshine

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> And one more...
> 
> I just looked at some sulphurs on line and added the yellow butterfly for our dear friend @Sunshine.
> 
> I liked the way this one was sitting on a plant:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I liked the brightness of this "Cloudless Sulphur" one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow. Some cool butterflies. Do you have Butterfly Bushes where you live? I have two of them and they draw some beautiful butterflies. It's cool to go out in the morning and see 20 to 30 butterflies fluttering around each one. Nature has a way.
Click to expand...


Yes, they are around and there is a butterfly weed as well.  A lot of people dig it up off the side of the road and grow it in their yards.


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> And one more...
> 
> I just looked at some sulphurs on line and added the yellow butterfly for our dear friend @Sunshine.
> 
> I liked the way this one was sitting on a plant:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I liked the brightness of this "Cloudless Sulphur" one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow. Some cool butterflies. Do you have Butterfly Bushes where you live? I have two of them and they draw some beautiful butterflies. It's cool to go out in the morning and see 20 to 30 butterflies fluttering around each one. Nature has a way.
Click to expand...

That's wonderful, Bloodrock. There's some kind of weed that is a host plant for the most beautiful caterpillars, so I never cut it down by the back door, for it hosts some really beautiful caterpillars, though I don't know what specie--maybe swallowtails? There's another growing in an area in the back 10 acres 40 feet in from the fence, but I haven't checked it for caterpillars lately. I grew up in the city of Houston, and visited relatives in the country. Guess somehow I got the idea country living was the thing to do. Wrong! 

I prolly have the worst-run farm in Walker County, because the wild birds own it, and what they say goes, which is kind of the law of the jungle--the great white egrets are undauntedly the boss when they are around. Other birds do not speak to them unless spoken to, including a pack of 5 flamingos that alighted here a couple of years back. Their 3 days here was too much for the pair of great egrets, and it was comical to see them elegantly peck their targets to the point of leaving. Five of them couldn't stand up to two great egrets, one of whom did nothing but preen the entire time the other one did the pecking. They may look like lace, but they have a way of capsulizing an inner strength if any other bird annoys them. The funny part was, the flamingos actually held council after being pecked good. It took them about 2 hours after their chastisement to decide to leave, and they never came back. They do best in flocks of no less than 200, and our 2.5 acre man-made lake would not support them since they'd clean out the fish in a couple of days, likely. They may have been a scouting team for a larger flock. I just don't have country smarts to know the ways of big birds, but the two most elegant egrets won their engagement in determining pecking order of large-bird ownership. There is a reward, though. I have the distinctive pleasure of watching the egrets preen all day for at least half the year, as the computer sits in my little upstairs window that has as good a view as any blind.

[ame="http://youtu.be/8BhGOZcGc6Y"]Great Egret Flying - YouTube[/ame]​ 
Notice the dark legs of the great egret as he flies away. That's one of the best ways to distinguish the egret from his cousin, the great white heron morph of great blue herons, which has a glint of yellow in its legs, often mixed with a little gray. Both species are shy of humans, and it's not often you see them up close unless you have the animal magnetism of someone like Spoonman, who occasionally visits the Wild Pecker's ornithology thread at USMB "Hobbies" "Outdoors" thread grouping.​ 
Notice the yellow legs of the Great White Heron:​ 
 
Edit: I'm going over to the Outdoors boards where I am posting BTO's excellent tube video of egret identification.​


----------



## freedombecki

Today, my patchwork contribution is something furnished by Bing's! daily beautiful picture. It showed a tile walk painted by the artists who participate in the Spanish Village Art project in San Diego, CA's Balboa Park:

(And if you go to Bing , you can right click it and put it on your Desktop.) I think it's fun to change desktops about 3 times a week! 

​


----------



## BDBoop

I have to look up mosaic kids. I made one when I was a kid, I enjoyed working on it.

This isn't the same concept at all, but apparently the kits they made when I was a kid lo these many decades ago no longer exist. 

How to Make a Mosaic Picture With HobbyWare PixelHobby Art Kits


----------



## Sunshine

Beckums, I found the tablecloth my grandmother crocheted.   It has turned a bit yellow.  I don't want to bleach it.  But I would like to make it a bit whiter.  Do you have any suggestion on how to whiten something that old.  It is older than me.  Which is pretty damn old.

I'm not afraid to put it in my washer because I have a front loader.  Can wash the most delicate things with no worry.


BTW, my yellow butterfly came back today, but my camera was in the car!  Sheesh.


----------



## Sunshine

Here is crocheted tablecloth mentioned in previous post.  I spread it out on the hardwood so there would be some contrast.

I don't know if a work like this is worth anything.  As stated it is a little yellow, likely from gas heat over the years.  There is one tiny stain on it that I'm sure I could get using some bleach on a Q tip.  Otherwise, it is in mint condition.  She used it on a 48 inch round table.


----------



## Sunshine

I also have a spin on where the quilt the other granny made that puts me in mind of the Hawaiian quilts.  It is in view but not reachable right now.  

I am cleaning out closets, so will be able to photograph it in a few days.  I have to get some stuff out of my BR before I try to paint it.  Assuming the doctor lets me do that!  LOL. 

I have another bag of stuff to go to the consignment store, purses, shoes, etc. etc.   But my BR closet is good now.  The quilt is in the spare BR closet.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> I have to look up mosaic kids. I made one when I was a kid, I enjoyed working on it.
> 
> This isn't the same concept at all, but apparently the kits they made when I was a kid lo these many decades ago no longer exist.
> 
> How to Make a Mosaic Picture With HobbyWare PixelHobby Art Kits


 That's beautiful, BDB! We have a similar software on our computer sewing machines for Pfaff back when. You just scanned your picture in, chose the # of colors of thread you wanted, pressed a button, and voila! It made a picture. Sometimes you had to increase the # of colors to make it truly right, but you could also do less if you had fewer threads. There's nothing like the human touch though, to decide what to do. The raccoon pictured at your link was fab. I had to limit media in my artwork due to my many allergies, so turpentine anything and a lot of dyes were out. Dry fabric has never caused any rashes, so I stayed with quilting, embroidery, and cotton crochet arts.

It's getting a media that's right that can light your fire in the art world.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here is crocheted tablecloth mentioned in previous post. I spread it out on the hardwood so there would be some contrast.
> 
> I don't know if a work like this is worth anything. As stated it is a little yellow, likely from gas heat over the years. There is one tiny stain on it that I'm sure I could get using some bleach on a Q tip. Otherwise, it is in mint condition. She used it on a 48 inch round table.


 
Wow, Sunshine. I see two years of a woman's spare time in that tablecloth. It's alive!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is crocheted tablecloth mentioned in previous post. I spread it out on the hardwood so there would be some contrast.
> 
> I don't know if a work like this is worth anything. As stated it is a little yellow, likely from gas heat over the years. There is one tiny stain on it that I'm sure I could get using some bleach on a Q tip. Otherwise, it is in mint condition. She used it on a 48 inch round table.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, Sunshine. I see two years of a woman's spare time in that tablecloth. It's alive!
Click to expand...


In the days of no TV, I'm guessing it took a lot less time than that.  She could whip something up faster than anyone I ever saw.


----------



## koshergrl

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, I found the tablecloth my grandmother crocheted. It has turned a bit yellow. I don't want to bleach it. But I would like to make it a bit whiter. Do you have any suggestion on how to whiten something that old. It is older than me. Which is pretty damn old.
> 
> I'm not afraid to put it in my washer because I have a front loader. Can wash the most delicate things with no worry.
> 
> 
> BTW, my yellow butterfly came back today, but my camera was in the car! Sheesh.


 
Lay it out in the sun, that's the way people used to bleach things in the old days.

Probably will have to wait until summer to do it.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> And one more...
> 
> I just looked at some sulphurs on line and added the yellow butterfly for our dear friend @Sunshine.
> 
> I liked the way this one was sitting on a plant:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I liked the brightness of this "Cloudless Sulphur" one:


 
Your little butterfly is on clover.

Precious.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Beckums, I found the tablecloth my grandmother crocheted. It has turned a bit yellow. I don't want to bleach it. But I would like to make it a bit whiter. Do you have any suggestion on how to whiten something that old. It is older than me. Which is pretty damn old.
> 
> I'm not afraid to put it in my washer because I have a front loader. Can wash the most delicate things with no worry.
> 
> 
> BTW, my yellow butterfly came back today, but my camera was in the car! Sheesh.


Butterflies are like that. They are momentary visitors, and that's all you get. 

We used to sell a kit that had 4 of the major different types of stains, but I think they quit making it after a while. There may be an advanced type of stain remover, Tide makes a stick rub-on and has a general stain remover that I don't like in one of its products showing a dark orange and dark blue liquid sealed away from concentrated detergent. My husband's white towels come out dingy when I use the product, and I don't know if it's them or the well. Sometimes the water looks a little cloudy lately. We've had an awful lot of rain.

I've been happy with soaking things in Oxy Clean, but after a while in our washroom, it caked, then turned so hard it's like a brick, so I have to chip it away with an ice pick and pour really hot water over it to get it to a smooth consistency. When I get it there, it whitens very well. Just sayin'. I don't know how I missed that earlier. I'm worried I will lose my doctor, and she's the best there is. Oh, well, nothing you can do about stuff that hasn't happened. Silly me.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> And one more...
> 
> I just looked at some sulphurs on line and added the yellow butterfly for our dear friend @Sunshine.
> 
> I liked the way this one was sitting on a plant:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I liked the brightness of this "Cloudless Sulphur" one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your little butterfly is on clover.
> 
> Precious.
Click to expand...

So that's what that was. Thanks, koshergrl. My mother braided my hair with clover when I was 8 years old. mmm Smelled good. 

 About 2 years ago, I was out in the northwest pasture, was admiring little spring flowers (and little they are), when I noticed they had teeny weeny little yellow butterflies like sulphurs, looked them up, and yes, Texas does have something very small and precious on the prairie floor--miniature sulphurs. They're about as big as my thumbnail from tip to tip of their wings or the width of a man's fingernail on his forefinger. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Even tiny flowers need tiny pollinators, and do we ever have the tiny flowers often hidden in the grass, ignored on account of their size, but often very fragrant as they blanket a few square yards in the grass, quite unnoticed otherwise.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Beckums, I found the tablecloth my grandmother crocheted. It has turned a bit yellow. I don't want to bleach it. But I would like to make it a bit whiter. Do you have any suggestion on how to whiten something that old. It is older than me. Which is pretty damn old.
> 
> I'm not afraid to put it in my washer because I have a front loader. Can wash the most delicate things with no worry.
> 
> 
> BTW, my yellow butterfly came back today, but my camera was in the car! Sheesh.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lay it out in the sun, that's the way people used to bleach things in the old days.
> 
> Probably will have to wait until summer to do it.
Click to expand...


For sure here!  It's rainy today.  I've been entering photos in a contest and they can't be enhanced or have anything done other than cropping.  Color saturation is better when the sun is not out.  So, I'm taking a stab at it today.  Prolly won't see any wildlife, though.


----------



## koshergrl

I live in a place where clover, buttercups, daisies, lillies and even tiny orchids grow wild. 

Clover, I learned this year when I purchased a community garden spot that I have yet to touch, is a great winter cover for raised beds as it enriches the soil with nitrogen! Who knew!


----------



## koshergrl

Ladyslipper:






Native Orchids of the Pacific Northwest and the Canadian Rockies: Three Native Orchids in the Northern California Siskiyous


----------



## freedombecki

Another year, no trick or treaters. We're just too far out in the sticks and live too far off the road. This is our 5th Halloween, not one.

Well, this year, we didn't buy candy, either. 

Today was spent shopping for soup. We're going to start eating soup at lunch instead of going out.

Also, a new Hobby Lobby opened, so I went to check out its embroidery department to see what was new. They had a nice quilt department, but there's no need for fabric in this household! 

I bought plastic flat bobbins for winding embroidery thread on loosely. I purchased some on ebay that were already on bobbins. They were wound so tightly, they made little angles at 1.25" intevals, so I was careful to wind stuff this morning very loosely so that won't happen, and Hobby Lobby had very reasonably priced box containers to put my collection in.

Well, Good night to all. Hope everybody had a fun Halloween!




​May God's angels watch over the children, and may everyone's loved ones be well and have a safe and happy winter as Old Man Winter visits the USA. Be careful on ice if you live in cold country!

​


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Another year, no trick or treaters. We're just too far out in the sticks and live too far off the road. This is our 5th Halloween, not one.
> 
> Well, this year, we didn't buy candy, either.
> 
> Today was spent shopping for soup. We're going to start eating soup at lunch instead of going out.
> 
> Also, a new Hobby Lobby opened, so I went to check out its embroidery department to see what was new. They had a nice quilt department, but there's no need for fabric in this household!
> 
> I bought plastic flat bobbins for winding embroidery thread on loosely. I purchased some on ebay that were already on bobbins. They were wound so tightly, they made little angles at 1.25" intevals, so I was careful to wind stuff this morning very loosely so that won't happen, and Hobby Lobby had very reasonably priced box containers to put my collection in.
> 
> Well, Good night to all. Hope everybody had a fun Halloween!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​May God's angels watch over the children, and may everyone's loved ones be well and have a safe and happy winter as Old Man Winter visits the USA. Be careful on ice if you live in cold country!
> 
> ​



My best friend can't go anywhere near those places. She says there's some vacuum thing that sucks her in the door and all the money out of her pockets. Then it throws her out on the sidewalk with two bags, and no recollection of the past three hours.

She believes they are alien in origin.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I usually have a list that serves as "shopper's blinders" if used well. The bad deal about that was that instead of getting to see the whole store, I only got to see the small areas they avail to the art of embroidery. I did find a dozen Jack Dempsy quilt squares of sunbonnet girls, but don't know when I'll have the time to do them. The reason I will never go back to this particular Hobby Lobby is because they don't give you the discount their signs say, and I didn't find it out until I left. If it happens on your first experience, that's all you'll ever get out of those people. Their thread prices on DMC thread is noncompetitive as well. Too bad!  The exercise was good. I slept like a rock last night. I'm cured of shopping, though. It's flu season, and restaurants and big stores are where you get it after your children are grown and gone.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Ladyslipper:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Native Orchids of the Pacific Northwest and the Canadian Rockies: Three Native Orchids in the Northern California Siskiyous


 Those are totally fabulous, koshergrl! What fun it must be to walk in the places where wildflowers grow and get to see things few people ever get to see. Thanks for sharing. 

I have to confess, though--being able to do those French knots right with your instruction has helped me not dread doing Lazy Daisies. My own mistakes taught me not to add extras, either, but I have to throughout the next 6 butterfly blocks I will be doing in the near future. I'm almost done with the squares for the weird little quilt that arrived with miscellaneous blocks repeated 3 times, and one set of only one kind. There will be twelve, but they won't make sense. The lady either used pastel embroidery thread provided for her or by instructions that were separated from her work before she gave it up. While I love pastels, working them drives me up a wall. I have to have a few hues thrown in. Color should be a celebration, and it's fun to make it that way with quilts. 

Hope everyone has a blessed day as Nov. 1 is All Saints' Day (aka All Hallows).


----------



## freedombecki

Today was a boring day. I filled the remainder of the box of embroidery bobbins with more winding for the whole day. It probably took all day just to wind 30 or so bobbins, too tired to go back and count. Tomorrow, will start on another box. Ho hummity hum! I have to do this. It's just crazy trying to keep threads in order if you have no system, and up until yesterday it wasn't an issue. Today, I can actually see my makeshift serger-table-converted-to-computer-table top. It's brown woodgrain, even!   





Prayers up for Sunshine for getting through her medical stuff today. It takes a lot of rest afterwards, I know. My sweetie helped do dishes today. He works well under constant supervision, but if I had his problems, I probably would too. He helps me not pity him sometimes by maintaining a brave front. If I forget to persuade him to help, life isn't very much fun at our house, so I try to find reasons to get him to do anything at all, even if I have to stop everything and just work him through every move, and reminding him what he's doing about 4 times a minute, and that is no exaggeration. Dementia is a cruel partner for a man to have strapped on him. I pray for all those who have gone through this with any of their loved ones.

I would like to wind up my winding bee tomorrow, but from the look at that pile of threads, I'm looking at probably 3 days of full-time winding plus another day to sort out and deal with at least a hundred loose threads from the butterflies project and this children's one I'm on the 12th square. There will be 4 squares left, and I think I will use those squares to remind myself how to do embroidery with the sewing machine. My Pfaff had basic and elaborate stitches. I loved doing redwork on it with a double Holbein stitch, or a machine-made stem stitch that looks like hand done. That's why I loved that machine so. If you didn't like the way perfect looked, you could program in human short and long stitches that make you look like a novice, but a determined novice, and it really does look hand-done.

Winding down for the evening. God bless you every one.


----------



## freedombecki

No winding yet today, although I was readying when I noticed the one block that had been sitting there, the doggie's clown hat unfinished for 2 or 3 days. The work took the lion's share of time today, and it is yet to be finished. So here's the block that someone else did (first, and below is the progress made on the clown doggie square. 

Also, the day after Sunshine said she saw a yellow butterfly flitting about, one flew by the fence here so all that was to be had was a glimpse. Ours seemed even more bright than this one (3rd picture):


----------



## freedombecki

Thinking of @*Mr. H.* ~
















I wonder, Mr. H. Did you ever go after that quilt at the antique place? ~ Not a clairvoyant here ~


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, it's a soft sunrise this morning, and a small lake cloud is edging its way north on something like Carl Sandburg's little cat's feet. Very lovely. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

I now have in my possession 12 completed children squares, even though 4 of them are repetitions, to make a toddler quilt. I will have to intersperse my dark ones between the original pink-and-purple-pastel embroideries and try to separate the same blocks. Not sure what this will look like, maybe just little colorful 1.25" finished postage stamps would look best to decorate the sash areas of the quilt to make it slightly larger so it will last through the child's toddler years. This may not be the best child's embroidered quilt ever made...   

But I learned a few things about embroidering, although that may not show up for a couple of quilts.

Here's the final square:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> No winding yet today, although I was readying when I noticed the one block that had been sitting there, the doggie's clown hat unfinished for 2 or 3 days. The work took the lion's share of time today, and it is yet to be finished. So here's the block that someone else did (first, and below is the progress made on the clown doggie square.
> 
> Also, the day after Sunshine said she saw a yellow butterfly flitting about, one flew by the fence here so all that was to be had was a glimpse. Ours seemed even more bright than this one (3rd picture):



Thanks.  The yellow butterfly came back and I tried to get a pic.  But never really got a new one.  I do have some of those geese I will post for you later.  One of them may inspire you for a quilt.


----------



## Sunshine

Here you go as promised:


The baby geese were all over the lake where I was shooting.  I could only get them in 'clumps.'





And here are the grown ones.  The dock is only about half mile away, I may go back 
this evening.


----------



## BDBoop

You're both hovering at ending in '98.' This irks me.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here you go as promised:
> 
> 
> The baby geese were all over the lake where I was shooting. I could only get them in 'clumps.'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And here are the grown ones. The dock is only about half mile away, I may go back
> this evening.


 Oh, my goodness are those cute babies or what? 

The parents are nice, too! No wonder they're so demanding! They know they're movie star material and deserve obeisance!


----------



## Sunshine

BDBoop said:


> You're both hovering at ending in '98.' This irks me.



Someone bumped me up.  But I can't bump becki up because I'm shut down for the day, I think.


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> You're both hovering at ending in '98.' This irks me.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Someone bumped me up.  But I can't bump becki up because I'm shut down for the day, I think.
Click to expand...


Same. Oh well. I'm half relieved.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> You're both hovering at ending in '98.' This irks me.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Someone bumped me up. But I can't bump becki up because I'm shut down for the day, I think.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Same. Oh well. I'm half relieved.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, girls. A real dreamboat guy just bumped me.

Uh, that didn't sound just right... I meant, hmm...


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Someone bumped me up. But I can't bump becki up because I'm shut down for the day, I think.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Same. Oh well. I'm half relieved.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Don't worry, girls. A real dreamboat guy just bumped me.
> 
> Uh, that didn't sound just right... I meant, hmm...
Click to expand...


Uh-huh.


----------



## freedombecki

I know what it is. I went stir crazy today winding another bunch of bobbins for my embroidery box. All that's left to do on this box are 5 yellows, 5 oranges, 5 Delft blues, 5 turquoises/aqua and 5 reds. Oh, yes, and 5 more lime greens, since I did the medium greens already. I'm putting a little bit different color groups in each box, but I want enough colors that if I grab and go, there will be enough colors to do whatever is to be embroidered. One box is going to be just southwest colors. That's truly a fun palette, because you pick colors that look like they have to be dusted off a little to be hues. But when you put them together on a beige or neutral ground, their appearance is that of hues if you do not break down and put a hue in the mix, just staying with the dusties. It's a trick I learned when I wrote my Southwest Album Quilt Book. I thought it through and determined that mixed in with the sand is a lot of dust, which the wind picks up and throws around into the air, yielding a very atmospheric schema on the horizon of the wide open spaces in the southwest, from Mexico to the mountains of Wyoming. The colors also correspond in a way with the dyes native Americans made woven rugs, mats, and serapes. When I started writing my book, I did so because I T-totally hated the "southwestern" samples the salesmen were bringing around for quilters. A-r-r-g-h!!! Everything had devil red, horrid orange, angry ochre, and this gaudy tealy turquoise, outlined in pitch black. It was nothing like I recollected from the trip my family took to Nueva Laredo, nothing like the bright and beautiful market place there back in the early 60s, nothing like the desert, and nothing at all like the atmospheric mountains. I decided my quilt would be atmospheric and softly southwestern, but also with the dusted colors one would see at day's end, just before twilight as the cool for the evening set in, and it was time to light the campfire to tell sibling rugrats scary stories. <giggle>

*sigh*

Oh, anyway, the quilt won the best of show at the Wyoming State Fair in 1993, and when I went to pick it up, the superintendent said for the first time in forever, the cowboys actually came in from their rodeo to see the quilt one of their buds was so excited about, and that it looked exactly like a western quilt, and he'd never seen anyone do that before. So my hunch hit a cord with the guys who hit the dusty trail, feel the lone prairie, see and hear coyotes, cacti, and all the things my little quilt had on it. They saw the same thing I saw is all, and they liked it. Wow, my head is still swollen from that experience and honor of 20 years ago.

This was supposed to be about embroidery, too. Oh, well, the campfire has potluck on it sometimes.


----------



## koshergrl

Ok I have finally got my embroidery straightened out and have started stitching on the pillow cases. I think I have enough around to gift all the family, whew. I can't believe Christmas is almost here.

Next step is to wind bobbins for piecing a quilt top. My daughter finished up her volleyball last week, and now it gets dark so early we just might be able to get a little accomplished. Here's to hoping.


----------



## freedombecki

Good to hear, koshergrl. Hope you get some good stuff done. You are going to be a busy girl.

I've been up since a little before twilight winding bobbins for embroidery floss so that I can pick and choose projects without having to do it again. I still have 4 more boxes to go, and I can't find my DMC embroidery floss chart anywhere. Now, I'm not sure where it is. It's really helpful to me to see the colors, and that makes me able to pick the colors I want to use on certain projects, say for example, if I should take my Southwestern Album Applique Quilt book written sometime around 1992-1995 when I revised it to include a dozen more patterns for king sized southwestern quilts. They'd make pretty good embroidery patterns, I think.

Anyhow, here is the product of my last several days winding through the bottom of the boxes placed on the scanner.

DMC Color Chart: http://www.yarntree.com/075dmcolors.jpg


----------



## freedombecki

Filled another one today. The project was started at 4:30 am and done by around 7:30 pm. <huff, puff, huff, puff> The winding may be boring, but it gives me time to think, which is refreshing. Here's #3 box, full:


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Good to hear, koshergrl. Hope you get some good stuff done. You are going to be a busy girl.
> 
> I've been up since a little before twilight winding bobbins for embroidery floss so that I can pick and choose projects without having to do it again. I still have 4 more boxes to go, and I can't find my DMC embroidery floss chart anywhere. Now, I'm not sure where it is. It's really helpful to me to see the colors, and that makes me able to pick the colors I want to use on certain projects, say for example, if I should take my Southwestern Album Applique Quilt book written sometime around 1992-1995 when I revised it to include a dozen more patterns for king sized southwestern quilts. They'd make pretty good embroidery patterns, I think.
> 
> Anyhow, here is the product of my last several days winding through the bottom of the boxes placed on the scanner.
> 
> DMC Color Chart: http://www.yarntree.com/075dmcolors.jpg



Wow! Just wow!


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Filled another one today. The project was started at 4:30 am and done by around 7:30 pm. <huff, puff, huff, puff> The winding may be boring, but it gives me time to think, which is refreshing. Here's #3 box, full:



I'd be all kinds of sore, I think!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, BDB.


----------



## freedombecki

With several groups of embroidered blocks purchased for less than pattern, fabric, and thread, I've been thinking about putting them together with all those itsy bitsy postage stamp squares that are ready to go into anything! Somebody else had the same idea at "Q is for quilter" blog:






Wow, she even uses stripes like I used to do on her quilt binding! Well, there's nothing new under the sun, I guess. 

I also have a passel of propeller/windmill squares left over from a quilt top I brought here from Wyoming and was thinking how fun it would be to use with some of the squares purchased for the purpose of making more charity quilts. Same dear person has also done that, and here's proof it makes a stunning sashing for an embroidered top:






Of course, here's a farm lady who was doing beautiful embroidered squares in the past century, showing her 48-state quilt:






So many ideas, so little time!


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, my there are more!
















The possibilities are endless!

Even a wedding ring quilt is a good place to put embroidery as did this example on ebay from Down Under:


----------



## BDBoop

So much beauty, it's hard to pick a favorite!


----------



## freedombecki

I love them all, but I think my favorites were posted by koshergrl a few months back when she was doing a lot of embroidery with her girls on vacation. Her colors were top notch. Her stuff is eye candy, imho.


----------



## freedombecki

Finished another box today. It took almost a week. Will post pics tomorrow. I'm sleepy now. 

Hope everyone is doing well these days.


----------



## freedombecki

Pictures:

(1) Box finished late yesterday sometime

(2) EBay purchase, a partly-finished block showing lack of details, but pretty colors

(3) Flag sewn at lower side of square to accommodate small hoop to complete cross stitch embroidery at corner, with cut side showing from where flag piece was taken to assure a similar weight, hand stitched by me with long basting/running stitch to accommodate quick removal when done. The little flag and another will be necessary on the opposite corners. Just sayin'...

This square may have been someone's learner project in which flowers were given no centers, and some of the "leaves" got sewn into the blue iris in the center. I'm not fixing that! Also, the x's go everywhichaway except on the rose pink ribbon. I'm finishing the corners the same was as the ribbon goes. This was probably a kit of 6 blocks, the instructions probably got lost or tossed. I bought it because the center size seemed good enough to build a baby quilt around each square, which will yield 4 medallion baby quilts with the 4 that were sold as was for a song. With no chart, the next 3 will all be guesswork. 

In the completion/restorations of other people's work, the cardinal rule is to *not* change the first person's errors. Just finish it with love and patience, and let her expression be heard. Her colors sing in spite of the floral anomalies, it's a pretty little thing and shows much labor in spite of a lack of attention to details.  The person who did this could have been under 5 years old, you never know, or older than 80 with poor vision on interpreting chart instruction motifs. She definitely was better than me about staying on the pattern right. Who cares if it's not perfect? The colors are way too cute!

And babies just burp on baby quilts anyhow.   So why get into perfection to have bodily fluids regularly seeping out onto the finished product! Not going there! And when they get a little older, they just drag it around, their security blankie sweeping the floor haphazardly and getting soiled anyways. 

Three of the squares, which are mainly cross stitches, have not one stitch on them. If I want perfection, I can strive for it using different colors in an experimental way for a variety of different centers, and I may just tea dye one when it is done anyway, just to see what happens to a blend. I'm guessing it's a 50-50 blend of polyester and cotton, or even 65% poly-35 cotton. There were absolutely no instructions, not even a pattern name given on the 4 squares. LOL Well, when you shop at ebay and fail to read the fine print, you have to get a little creative to make things right. It will be fun to see if I can do half a good of a job on selecting a pretty arrangement of postage stamps around someone else's pretty color schema.


----------



## freedombecki

(1) hoop fitting over flag sewn to edge

(2) finished corner with flag portion removed.


----------



## freedombecki

Wasn't someone wanting to see a cathedral window quilt? The one I just looked at at ebay was what the quilt would look like in a few years, but it's a look... Was it [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION] ? Think it was, but not too sure. 






Cathedral Window Quilt


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Wasn't someone wanting to see a cathedral window quilt? The one I just looked at at ebay was what the quilt would look like in a few years, but it's a look... Was it [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION] ? Think it was, but not too sure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cathedral Window Quilt



Yes, it was me.  I have a pillow made of purple and white that my grandmother made me when I had that lavender room.  But I never knew what it was called./


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful as usual becki...I'm plugging away at my little embroidery projects. Got some blocks for the new baby that's coming in February...little boy..the embroidery quilt blocks are little boys with straw hat/fishing..very cute.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, this is make-work day again. Additions to corners below. A child's quilt should have lots and lots and lots of color! 

Scan 1, Quilt stitches turned into heart border similar color to bow around corner 1 buds

Scan 2, Same as Scan 1 on corner 2 buds

Scan 3, removed and resewed the 2 flags made from border excess fabric no longer needed.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Beautiful as usual becki...I'm plugging away at my little embroidery projects. Got some blocks for the new baby that's coming in February...little boy..the embroidery quilt blocks are little boys with straw hat/fishing..very cute.


 Oh, gotta see one, koshergrl! 

I love fisherman sam quilts. The one I made in years past was appliqued and machine stitched, though.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wasn't someone wanting to see a cathedral window quilt? The one I just looked at at ebay was what the quilt would look like in a few years, but it's a look... Was it @Sunshine ? Think it was, but not too sure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cathedral Window Quilt
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, it was me. I have a pillow made of purple and white that my grandmother made me when I had that lavender room. But I never knew what it was called./
Click to expand...

Wow, your grandmother was quite a refined artisan in the gentle needle arts! I posted a link to the above quilt because it had a couple of other pictures that showed what the back looks like. It is only up for another couple of days, but that one will get sold and already has people bidding on it. It was clever to take a picture to show the textural shadows that show the work done by the artist who made it. 

Hope you put a bit of that pillow on the scanner so we can oo and ah over it.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## freedombecki

That's going to be so beautiful, koshergrl.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wasn't someone wanting to see a cathedral window quilt? The one I just looked at at ebay was what the quilt would look like in a few years, but it's a look... Was it @Sunshine ? Think it was, but not too sure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cathedral Window Quilt
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, it was me. I have a pillow made of purple and white that my grandmother made me when I had that lavender room. But I never knew what it was called./
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Wow, your grandmother was quite a refined artisan in the gentle needle arts! I posted a link to the above quilt because it had a couple of other pictures that showed what the back looks like. It is only up for another couple of days, but that one will get sold and already has people bidding on it. It was clever to take a picture to show the textural shadows that show the work done by the artist who made it.
> 
> Hope you put a bit of that pillow on the scanner so we can oo and ah over it.
Click to expand...


The pillow is paced away in a trunk.  One day, maybe I'll run across it.  My grandmother WAS an artisan.  She made some masterful quilts.  But they were just quilts to us.  LOL.  She never sat idle.  Ever.  If she was sitting she was either quilting or piecing.  She did some other remarkable pieces.  If I run across those I will post them.  She was a different granny than the one who did the table cloth.  I'm sure she must have quilted when she was young, but when I knew here, I'm sure her hands weren't able to.  I do remember her old Singer treadle sewing machine, though.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


>


Oh, to see just one of those blocks!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> The pillow is paced away in a trunk. One day, maybe I'll run across it. My grandmother WAS an artisan. She made some masterful quilts. But they were just quilts to us. LOL. She never sat idle. Ever. If she was sitting she was either quilting or piecing. She did some other remarkable pieces. If I run across those I will post them. She was a different granny than the one who did the table cloth. I'm sure she must have quilted when she was young, but when I knew here, I'm sure her hands weren't able to. I do remember her old Singer treadle sewing machine, though.


 That would be so nice, if we even have to wait till spring cleaning time.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, I did it.

I bought more blocks on eBay to make a quickie child's quilt...


----------



## freedombecki

Koshergrl's swan was ever so much more beautiful than this one, but after washing and setting into a little frame in this quilt, maybe a kid will enjoy it. It'd be a lot more fun if it was half as beautiful as koshergrl's, though. I think children appreciate beauty more than we give the credit for, but babies do learn from simple objects best at first, so I've heard. I guess the real reason I got this group was because of the pitcher on the right... it is identical to one I made for our kitchen the first year we were married, except mine was blue. That goes way, way back.  My gosh, it seemed like that pitcher and the matching carafe took me forever to complete from an Aunt Martha's iron on transfer pattern applied to washed muslin. Forever!!! I'm telling you, it took a long, long time. Maybe a week? By comparison, I got these 14 squares (some are not pictured) for a song. The description of the items said none of them were the same size. That may take a forever of its own to place them into a pleasing enough arrangement for God's beloved, who are children not wanted by society, according to what I once read in the book of Deuteronomy in so many words. 

Edit. ~ Oh, my. I just noticed the rooster is off center! I hate doing teensy, tiny seams, but I may have to in this case. Well, a quilter's gotta do what a quilter's gotta do.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, my, is this a yellow butterfly? It's too small to see well at eBay. Our picture specialist here at USMB makes them bigger.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, my! Wittle kitties in a wittle woven wicker basket. And another yellow butterfly?

This one did have its subliminal appeal for me, now I'm starting to appreciate the song the group was offered at. I just hope it's okay for a quilt. She said there were pin holes in them and that washing would probably put the fibers back together... That is a lot of zigzagging borders to do before putting them in the wash, but I'll happily do it. 

To yellow butterflies and quilts...


----------



## freedombecki

Goodness! The coffee pot is here, too. I wore the tails off those two tea towels finished at least 40 years ago.
And I may add a yellow butterfly on top of that flower cart if there isn't one hidden by the other squares, or under the back side of these folds.


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> The pillow is paced away in a trunk. One day, maybe I'll run across it. My grandmother WAS an artisan. She made some masterful quilts. But they were just quilts to us. LOL. She never sat idle. Ever. If she was sitting she was either quilting or piecing. She did some other remarkable pieces. If I run across those I will post them. She was a different granny than the one who did the table cloth. I'm sure she must have quilted when she was young, but when I knew here, I'm sure her hands weren't able to. I do remember her old Singer treadle sewing machine, though.
> 
> 
> 
> That would be so nice, if we even have to wait till spring cleaning time.
Click to expand...


As promised, here are 3 of the fluff scarves Mrs. Blood knitted.   [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION]   [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]
   [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION]. I don't know how to enlarge the pics. Mrs. Blood has a Christmas bazaar at her school next month and has committed to knitting 40. Most of them are already at school. Oh...you just click the pic and it enlarges. Still learning.


----------



## koshergrl

I really, super like the idea of using embroidered blocks to make quicky quilts. 

My swans aren't all that great, seriously. I find I have trouble seeing the lines, lol..and my stitches are a little uneven but I'm working on it...

Eventually, I'm going to draw my own patterns on exceptional cloth....


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> The pillow is paced away in a trunk. One day, maybe I'll run across it. My grandmother WAS an artisan. She made some masterful quilts. But they were just quilts to us. LOL. She never sat idle. Ever. If she was sitting she was either quilting or piecing. She did some other remarkable pieces. If I run across those I will post them. She was a different granny than the one who did the table cloth. I'm sure she must have quilted when she was young, but when I knew here, I'm sure her hands weren't able to. I do remember her old Singer treadle sewing machine, though.
> 
> 
> 
> That would be so nice, if we even have to wait till spring cleaning time.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> As promised, here are 3 of the fluff scarves Mrs. Blood knitted. @freedombecki @Sunshine
> @koshergrl. I don't know how to enlarge the pics. Mrs. Blood has a Christmas bazaar at her school next month and has committed to knitting 40. Most of them are already at school. Oh...you just click the pic and it enlarges. Still learning.
> 
> View attachment 28370
Click to expand...

 Totally beautiful, Bloodrock! Give Mrs. Blood a hug from all of us here! 

Hope she makes a mint for a good cause!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I really, super like the idea of using embroidered blocks to make quicky quilts.
> 
> My swans aren't all that great, seriously. I find I have trouble seeing the lines, lol..and my stitches are a little uneven but I'm working on it...
> 
> Eventually, I'm going to draw my own patterns on exceptional cloth....


There's a sturdy muslim called ecology cloth. You can ask for it at most quilt stores. The only downside is it's not pure white. It looks like muslin, but it's totally sturdy 100% cotton that takes embroidery ultra well. If you like a good cotton, I have been very pleased with Kona Cotton in white and the color "snow," which is the color you would expect a 40s quilt to be right now if it were sitting in a drawer and never used since it was a "Sunday only" quilt, the original color being pure white. True to form, cotton yellows with age. Faster if you live near water. Slower if you live at high altitude, arctic desert conditions. 

And my little bit for the day, which took all morning was two more corners with attention to the direction of the cross stitches and a yellow butterfly, pretty much free handed since I couldn't see, didn't like the shape of the grey lines I traced with an inappropriate marker in lieu of going to find my blue washout pencil that was so handy last week.  The butterfly appears between the orange and yellow corners, and I did a blue one, except I misassigned the wrong blue to the mix when I ran out of the 995 blue for DMC, which is a deep turquoise. I think I picked up a spool of electric turquoise, and ignored the inscription, which I spent hours writing on the fronts and backs of 400 plastic winding bobbins for 4 boxes of embroidery thread wound so far. Did I get carried away, or what? After I did all that buying, I found three boxes on eBay for $9.99 that contained another 300 bobbins, figuring I'd never win them. They came last week, but I was too embarrassed to mention it...  At least she had some really good color groups assembled in color groups I've never bought. *sigh* I'm so picky, picky, picky picky I miss a lot of good things, in my little rut.  Wonder what happened to all those gals who drove up the prices on some of the stuff I bid on until I wouldn't buy them? Well,  I now have more thread than you can shake a stick at. *sigh*

Plus I have more thread left over than will fill the two empty boxes I still have waiting for my attention. I really need to do the browns. I've been putting them off, now they're all collected. You could do a tree trunk that would make a leprechaun sing "Danny Boy" with all those brown thread I have. 

OH, yes, and why I dropped by here--the corners and butterflies on this quilt makes it FINISHED!!!! 

Well, except for figuring out how to make this into a trip around the yellow butterfly world of colorful flowers quilt, that is... Notice how the names of the quilts get longer the last day of real work? Nice people call it "Serendipity!"


----------



## Sunshine

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> The pillow is paced away in a trunk. One day, maybe I'll run across it. My grandmother WAS an artisan. She made some masterful quilts. But they were just quilts to us. LOL. She never sat idle. Ever. If she was sitting she was either quilting or piecing. She did some other remarkable pieces. If I run across those I will post them. She was a different granny than the one who did the table cloth. I'm sure she must have quilted when she was young, but when I knew here, I'm sure her hands weren't able to. I do remember her old Singer treadle sewing machine, though.
> 
> 
> 
> That would be so nice, if we even have to wait till spring cleaning time.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> As promised, here are 3 of the fluff scarves Mrs. Blood knitted.   [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION]   [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]
> [MENTION=31640]koshergrl[/MENTION]. I don't know how to enlarge the pics. Mrs. Blood has a Christmas bazaar at her school next month and has committed to knitting 40. Most of them are already at school. Oh...you just click the pic and it enlarges. Still learning.
> 
> View attachment 28370
Click to expand...


Cool!


----------



## freedombecki

Ran across the cutest butterfly embroidery the other day, an old pattern but just as pretty today as it was back when it was first published ages ago.


----------



## freedombecki

More butterflies by hand:


















Butterflies are so much fun. There must be a gazillion different butterflies and butterfly quilts and tapestries out there in cyberland... I just was playing today. Ok. I confess. I had to pick up another practice square to see if I could get the stitches right on the ribbon floral. This one is bright yellow with gold shadows. I wish I had the original instructions. I'd like to see how the designer did her colors.  I made so little progress.

Sunshine, how did you get through your cross stitch quilt? This one has many less stitches.

Don't mind me. I had foot cramps and hand cramps all day today. It's really not always this bad, and I took my medicine, too. 

But there's a modicum of happiness doing what you like to do and looking out onto the autumn landscape. All of a suddeen, it's orange world with the oaks out back, and a squirrel is running along the wood fence, the great egret flew by an hour ago, and the sky is so beautifully blue they look like Grandpa Shurtleff's eyes. *sigh* So life has more good than bad, as always.  

Thanks again to Bloodrock for bringing pictures of his wife's scarves around! Washed some pillowcases and got them on the pillows this morning. Did two loads of clothes, then POW! The foot cramps set in with a vengeance. I was going to get so much done today, too.

May have to rethink the sit and sew and sit and mow routine of last year. ​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> More butterflies by hand:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Butterflies are so much fun. There must be a gazillion different butterflies and butterfly quilts and tapestries out there in cyberland... I just was playing today. Ok. I confess. I had to pick up another practice square to see if I could get the stitches right on the ribbon floral. This one is bright yellow with gold shadows. I wish I had the original instructions. I'd like to see how the designer did her colors.  I made so little progress.
> 
> Sunshine, how did you get through your cross stitch quilt? This one has many less stitches.
> 
> Don't mind me. I had foot cramps and hand cramps all day today. It's really not always this bad, and I took my medicine, too.
> 
> But there's a modicum of happiness doing what you like to do and looking out onto the autumn landscape. All of a suddeen, it's orange world with the oaks out back, and a squirrel is running along the wood fence, the great egret flew by an hour ago, and the sky is so beautifully blue they look like Grandpa Shurtleff's eyes. *sigh* So life has more good than bad, as always.
> 
> Thanks again to Bloodrock for bringing pictures of his wife's scarves around! Washed some pillowcases and got them on the pillows this morning. Did two loads of clothes, then POW! The foot cramps set in with a vengeance. I was going to get so much done today, too.
> 
> May have to rethink the sit and sew and sit and mow routine of last year. ​



Just kept stitching and stitching!  LOL.  Zone out and stitch.


----------



## freedombecki

That would be loverly. Fibro makes you feel like you're wearing field gloves, only on the inside, and they're like clumsy. It takes about three tries to get the needle in the pattern at the right point, sometimes more. Oh, yeah. I stopped the Vital Factors for a week due to my aches in a couple of different places on my back. The hurting there stopped, but now the hands and feet are acting up. I guess tomorrow morning, it's back to the old grind of mixing Vital elixir that stops the fibro syndrome. Fiddlesticks. I'll do it.


----------



## flacaltenn

Becki --- 

I'm a dude.. You know that. But I'm quilt crazy.. As art objects, there IS NO PARALLEL.. 

Big fan of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.. Go OUT OF YOUR WAY to see it.
It's worth it.. 






About 90 minutes from my home... I take MANY visitors there every year and never tire of going.

Quilt museum Kentucky, Paducah Kentucky Tourism, Quilting Kentucky

Any USMB members that want to visit flacaltenn while you're "in the neighborhood" --- ring me up --- I'll meet ya there...


----------



## freedombecki

flacaltenn said:


> Becki ---
> 
> I'm a dude.. You know that. But I'm quilt crazy.. As art objects, there IS NO PARALLEL..
> 
> Big fan of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.. Go OUT OF YOUR WAY to see it.
> It's worth it..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> About 90 minutes from my home... I take MANY visitors there every year and never tire of going.
> 
> Quilt museum Kentucky, Paducah Kentucky Tourism, Quilting Kentucky
> 
> Any USMB members that want to visit flacaltenn while you're "in the neighborhood" --- ring me up --- I'll meet ya there...


 
Thanks, Flacaltenn! I've been there and thoroughly recommend it too! Sunshine visited there several months ago. The year I went, I had a business meeting in Knoxville, and we took a day off and drove to Paducah where I got to see all the wonderful quilts on exhibit at the time. It may have been 2007, give or take a year. We lived in Wyoming at the time, so it was before 2009 and after 2006, the year we went across Canada and got to see everything fun between Toronto and Vancouver including Lake Louise and the glaciers. Seems like Paducah had some really beautiful places along the river, too. However, the quilt museum was our object of going there, and I spent hours taking it all in! It was the first time I had seen Caryl Bryer Fallert's work up close and personal, so I had a blast. Needless to mention, they had brought in a showing of traditional quilt miniatures that were fabulous, and too many other wonderful works to keep tabs on. Sunshine brought this thread pictures of the show she saw there, seems there were Egyptian rugmakers who specialized in making quilts that were eye candy and most exotic. Really sorry to hear their country was torn by war recently.  But that's the way the mop flops, isn't it!

Thanks for sharing the new look. That picture is top drawer!


----------



## flacaltenn

freedombecki said:


> flacaltenn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Becki ---
> 
> I'm a dude.. You know that. But I'm quilt crazy.. As art objects, there IS NO PARALLEL..
> 
> Big fan of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.. Go OUT OF YOUR WAY to see it.
> It's worth it..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> About 90 minutes from my home... I take MANY visitors there every year and never tire of going.
> 
> Quilt museum Kentucky, Paducah Kentucky Tourism, Quilting Kentucky
> 
> Any USMB members that want to visit flacaltenn while you're "in the neighborhood" --- ring me up --- I'll meet ya there...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Flacaltenn! I've been there and thoroughly recommend it too! Sunshine visited there several months ago. The year I went, I had a business meeting in Knoxville, and we took a day off and drove to Paducah where I got to see all the wonderful quilts on exhibit at the time. It may have been 2007, give or take a year. We lived in Wyoming at the time, so it was before 2009 and after 2006, the year we went across Canada and got to see everything fun between Toronto and Vancouver including Lake Louise and the glaciers. Seems like Paducah had some really beautiful places along the river, too. However, the quilt museum was our object of going there, and I spent hours taking it all in! It was the first time I had seen Caryl Bryer Fallert's work up close and personal, so I had a blast. Needless to mention, they had brought in a showing of traditional quilt miniatures that were fabulous, and too many other wonderful works to keep tabs on. Sunshine brought this thread pictures of the show she saw there, seems there were Egyptian rugmakers who specialized in making quilts that were eye candy and most exotic. Really sorry to hear their country was torn by war recently.  But that's the way the mop flops, isn't it!
> 
> Thanks for sharing the new look. That picture is top drawer!
Click to expand...


So how much did ya blow in gift shop? There have been visits where my guests spend 45 min.just in the gift shop. Good for gifts.. Love the historical quilts there,


----------



## freedombecki

I gave at the office, flacaltenn. I own a quilt store in Wyoming, and when actively running it for 23 years, gave them all the sales business I could by offering their publications in my shop, many of which I bought and have in my personal library and many of which went to the EGA Library that was housed at the Presbyterian Church for all members to read.  It probably wasn't enough, though. Their museum is just the best in the world.


----------



## freedombecki

This morning has been dedicated to cross stitching the yellow ribbon on the next square. At the pace I'm going, it will take 6 or 7 days just to do the ribbon. Nothing at all fast about my needle in needle out approach to cross stitch embroidery. Frozen molasses in January is faster than me.


----------



## freedombecki

flacaltenn said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> flacaltenn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Becki ---
> 
> I'm a dude.. You know that. But I'm quilt crazy.. As art objects, there IS NO PARALLEL..
> 
> Big fan of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.. Go OUT OF YOUR WAY to see it.
> It's worth it..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> About 90 minutes from my home... I take MANY visitors there every year and never tire of going.
> 
> Quilt museum Kentucky, Paducah Kentucky Tourism, Quilting Kentucky
> 
> Any USMB members that want to visit flacaltenn while you're "in the neighborhood" --- ring me up --- I'll meet ya there...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Flacaltenn! I've been there and thoroughly recommend it too! Sunshine visited there several months ago. The year I went, I had a business meeting in Knoxville, and we took a day off and drove to Paducah where I got to see all the wonderful quilts on exhibit at the time. It may have been 2007, give or take a year. We lived in Wyoming at the time, so it was before 2009 and after 2006, the year we went across Canada and got to see everything fun between Toronto and Vancouver including Lake Louise and the glaciers. Seems like Paducah had some really beautiful places along the river, too. However, the quilt museum was our object of going there, and I spent hours taking it all in! It was the first time I had seen Caryl Bryer Fallert's work up close and personal, so I had a blast. Needless to mention, they had brought in a showing of traditional quilt miniatures that were fabulous, and too many other wonderful works to keep tabs on. Sunshine brought this thread pictures of the show she saw there, seems there were Egyptian rugmakers who specialized in making quilts that were eye candy and most exotic. Really sorry to hear their country was torn by war recently.  But that's the way the mop flops, isn't it!
> 
> Thanks for sharing the new look. That picture is top drawer!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> So how much did ya blow in gift shop? There have been visits where my guests spend 45 min.just in the gift shop. Good for gifts.. Love the historical quilts there,
Click to expand...

OK, I did a little searching, and Sunshine's pictures, which she so generously shared on this thread start on this page and go on for a couple of pages while we discussed the Egyptian TENT makers (not rug makers like I wrongfully said earlier and apologize for) ~ http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-...omemade-quilts-have-a-way-79.html#post7153880

Maybe you got to see it (or not). Thanks to Sunshine, I got to see it quite vicariously but for me, it was a trip, because of the details and fine appearance of the work shown. The quilts are still drop-dead gorgeous to me! 

Small sample of Sunshine's thoroughly delightful picture story:


----------



## flacaltenn

How silly am I feeling.. 

Should have read the 173 pages and the OP back on page 1.. 
One of the more PRODUCTIVE threads of all time on USMB. 
Seeing as how real goods are produced here.. 

I'll drop by *quietly* from time to time to enjoy the art..


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> flacaltenn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Flacaltenn! I've been there and thoroughly recommend it too! Sunshine visited there several months ago. The year I went, I had a business meeting in Knoxville, and we took a day off and drove to Paducah where I got to see all the wonderful quilts on exhibit at the time. It may have been 2007, give or take a year. We lived in Wyoming at the time, so it was before 2009 and after 2006, the year we went across Canada and got to see everything fun between Toronto and Vancouver including Lake Louise and the glaciers. Seems like Paducah had some really beautiful places along the river, too. However, the quilt museum was our object of going there, and I spent hours taking it all in! It was the first time I had seen Caryl Bryer Fallert's work up close and personal, so I had a blast. Needless to mention, they had brought in a showing of traditional quilt miniatures that were fabulous, and too many other wonderful works to keep tabs on. Sunshine brought this thread pictures of the show she saw there, seems there were Egyptian rugmakers who specialized in making quilts that were eye candy and most exotic. Really sorry to hear their country was torn by war recently.  But that's the way the mop flops, isn't it!
> 
> Thanks for sharing the new look. That picture is top drawer!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So how much did ya blow in gift shop? There have been visits where my guests spend 45 min.just in the gift shop. Good for gifts.. Love the historical quilts there,
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> OK, I did a little searching, and Sunshine's pictures, which she so generously shared on this thread start on this page and go on for a couple of pages while we discussed the Egyptian TENT makers (not rug makers like I wrongfully said earlier and apologize for) ~ http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-...omemade-quilts-have-a-way-79.html#post7153880
> 
> Maybe you got to see it (or not). Thanks to Sunshine, I got to see it quite vicariously but for me, it was a trip, because of the details and fine appearance of the work shown. The quilts are still drop-dead gorgeous to me!
> 
> Small sample of Sunshine's thoroughly delightful picture story:
Click to expand...


I am originally from just outside Paducah.  That quilt convention has really done a lot for that little river town.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> flacaltenn said:
> 
> 
> 
> So how much did ya blow in gift shop? There have been visits where my guests spend 45 min.just in the gift shop. Good for gifts.. Love the historical quilts there,
> 
> 
> 
> OK, I did a little searching, and Sunshine's pictures, which she so generously shared on this thread start on this page and go on for a couple of pages while we discussed the Egyptian TENT makers (not rug makers like I wrongfully said earlier and apologize for) ~ http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-...omemade-quilts-have-a-way-79.html#post7153880
> 
> Maybe you got to see it (or not). Thanks to Sunshine, I got to see it quite vicariously but for me, it was a trip, because of the details and fine appearance of the work shown. The quilts are still drop-dead gorgeous to me!
> 
> Small sample of Sunshine's thoroughly delightful picture story:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I am originally from just outside Paducah. That quilt convention has really done a lot for that little river town.
Click to expand...

I am just so thankful you went to the show that day and shared it with us, after being a little tired after a long week of work, Sunshine. It was truly a visual treat and a real springboard for the little dab of work I do in my ministry of quilts to people I may not ever meet due to me being a hermit due to my propensity to take ill when I go to meetings where people gather. *sigh* From time to time I think of that and go back to see the quilts you shared. It's always an upper, and for this Michael Jordan fan, it was such a perfect shot it hit "nothin' but net!"


----------



## BDBoop

I feel like combining the Enya music thread with this one. I should attain zen in no time.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, we'll see how the needle and thread bit and a yellow ribbon go today.  

Have a great day, everybody!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK, I did a little searching, and Sunshine's pictures, which she so generously shared on this thread start on this page and go on for a couple of pages while we discussed the Egyptian TENT makers (not rug makers like I wrongfully said earlier and apologize for) ~ http://www.usmessageboard.com/arts-...omemade-quilts-have-a-way-79.html#post7153880
> 
> Maybe you got to see it (or not). Thanks to Sunshine, I got to see it quite vicariously but for me, it was a trip, because of the details and fine appearance of the work shown. The quilts are still drop-dead gorgeous to me!
> 
> Small sample of Sunshine's thoroughly delightful picture story:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am originally from just outside Paducah. That quilt convention has really done a lot for that little river town.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I am just so thankful you went to the show that day and shared it with us, after being a little tired after a long week of work, Sunshine. It was truly a visual treat and a real springboard for the little dab of work I do in my ministry of quilts to people I may not ever meet due to me being a hermit due to my propensity to take ill when I go to meetings where people gather. *sigh* From time to time I think of that and go back to see the quilts you shared. It's always an upper, and for this Michael Jordan fan, it was such a perfect shot it hit "nothin' but net!"
Click to expand...


Thanks.  It was well worth the trip.  And I got to eat a funnel cake.  It's not every day you get to stuff your veins with fat!


----------



## BDBoop

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am originally from just outside Paducah. That quilt convention has really done a lot for that little river town.
> 
> 
> 
> I am just so thankful you went to the show that day and shared it with us, after being a little tired after a long week of work, Sunshine. It was truly a visual treat and a real springboard for the little dab of work I do in my ministry of quilts to people I may not ever meet due to me being a hermit due to my propensity to take ill when I go to meetings where people gather. *sigh* From time to time I think of that and go back to see the quilts you shared. It's always an upper, and for this Michael Jordan fan, it was such a perfect shot it hit "nothin' but net!"
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thanks.  It was well worth the trip.  And I got to eat a funnel cake.  It's not every day you get to stuff your veins with fat!
Click to expand...


Jellus! More like 'never' for me, since I am so very adverse to crowds.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am just so thankful you went to the show that day and shared it with us, after being a little tired after a long week of work, Sunshine. It was truly a visual treat and a real springboard for the little dab of work I do in my ministry of quilts to people I may not ever meet due to me being a hermit due to my propensity to take ill when I go to meetings where people gather. *sigh* From time to time I think of that and go back to see the quilts you shared. It's always an upper, and for this Michael Jordan fan, it was such a perfect shot it hit "nothin' but net!"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. It was well worth the trip. And I got to eat a funnel cake. It's not every day you get to stuff your veins with fat!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Jellus! More like 'never' for me, since I am so very adverse to crowds.
Click to expand...

The day we went, we had the whole place to ourselves.  

Here is the progress on the yellow ribbon quilt block and a comparison to the pink ribbon one, which also seemed to have been sewn without instructions. I tried to visualize what the leaves would look like by the designer, and am not certain I guessed correctly (on the yellow ribbon one.) Also, I added a very unlikely square center in the dark pink floral center that appears on the other quilt as an all-lilac flower with no center at all. Again, not sure what the original instructions would have done, plus, I unwittingly emphasized its "squareness" with a gold square straight stitch around the yellow center cross stitches.

It was a challenge. It's nice to just have the pretty pink ribbon square done, right or wrong, because at least it isolates the flowers, and I can just guess the shapes and leaf areas better than I could have with nothing, which I am betting the other embroiderer had. On the light blue iris-like flower, the areas that look suspiciously like leaves probably are. It's just getting the shapes right that is the challenge, and since irises I've grown in the past had spiked leaves like a yucca plant, the leaves surrounding the blue iris are slightly weird as they appear to look like leaves one would find embellishing a rosebush. 

Oh, well, right or wrong, it will be fun trying to guess another fiber artist's intentions.


----------



## Bloodrock44

Ok guys. My wife has threatened to teach me how to knit. I think I am a lost cause!


----------



## koshergrl

I have started filling in my swans in a lovely lilac color. 

Sadly, the light and my eyes are pretty bad, lol. I took what I have done so far to a different locale and there, could see all the gaps in my stitching that I absolutely didn't see when I was sewing.

But that's okay, it's pretty. Hopefully will get pics up this weekend. The case is getting kinda dingy but that's okay, it will wash.

I'm going to put a lacy crocheted border on it too...I have it picked out.


----------



## BDBoop

New word.


----------



## freedombecki

Before 9/11, we called ourselves the "Quilter's terrorist society." For some reason, it stopped being funny after the WTC destruction by the world's most horrible men.


----------



## freedombecki

Every once in a while, I indulge in a trek through a branch of the quilt world, and this time, I loaded "Tree Quilts" into the search engine. I was hooked. Some of my finds from around the net (I did not make any of these quilts, just saved them into my "tree quilts" file created for the search. It was mesmerizing.

You'll see:


----------



## freedombecki

Vicarious trip through the web's forest of quilt trees ~


----------



## freedombecki

More trekking through the quilted trees of the web's forest:


----------



## freedombecki

More.... *Bing!*


----------



## freedombecki

Some are so very pretty...


----------



## BDBoop

They are! Makes me want to decorate a log cabin with them!


----------



## freedombecki

A Festive Christmas Whim...​ 


 
Made for a quilt showing ...​ 


 
And one made to sell to someone who also
loves beautiful trees...​ 




From marshamade.com​


----------



## freedombecki

Some are made just for the fun of it:






The Lollipop Tree:


----------



## freedombecki

Let's not get too serious, now...


----------



## freedombecki

Some might make a little Tree House for the young ...






Tarzan's





Tree house quilt studio ...






Wouldn't it be loverly over the lake? You'd have to be a sew and sew. 
​


----------



## freedombecki

This quilt effort has a lovely story at Terry Sargeant Peart's blog:

She starts with some quilt blocks made by herself and quilt sisters, which she pinned to her planning board:





Then rearranged using some Jinny Beyer fabric to make one of the most unique pine tree arrangement of quilts I have seen:




​What a fun blog. Just thought you'd like to see why some of us take so long to finish a quilt after we have all the blocks sewn. The idea just has to jell. ​


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Let's not get too serious, now...



The second is reminiscent of Van Gogh. Very evocative.


----------



## koshergrl

Testing;


----------



## koshergrl

Love you Becki;










  Beautiful day. hope you are all enjoying your sunday.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> Love you Becki;
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beautiful day. hope you are all enjoying your sunday.



Didn't come through.


----------



## koshergrl

Dammit!
Ok, I will try again lolol...


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

This is just the beginning of the edging, it will be deeper...


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> This is just the beginning of the edging, it will be deeper...



WOW.  Just wow.


----------



## koshergrl

That's the first few rows...there are a few more. Then when I'm done, it gets washed and pressed, should look more like something then, I hope.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

I could have just done the swans in white after all, and gone over the details with lavender or the dark purple, I suppose. I never think of these things until later....I was thinking that the white details would show against the lavender or lilac color, but they didn't. So I had to re-do them anyway...could have just done it in white...ah well.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


>


 


koshergrl said:


> This is just the beginning of the edging, it will be deeper...


 


koshergrl said:


>


 


koshergrl said:


>


 Koshergrl, I'm so totally enchanted by this lovely work of swans you are doing. They're totally beautiful.


----------



## freedombecki

Embroidery takes a lot of time! And I'm learning day by day. the first thing I noticed about having no color instructions to go by is that it's a guessing game out there sometimes when you have no model to show what's what in cross stitch. Also, as I was finding things like leaves hiding here, there, and everywhere in the empty blobs that didn't mean anything at first, so I started coloring the leaves green. The first one, I decided, had 2 leaves, so each guess leaf was colored a different green, and I went my merry way. The next day, I thought, some embroideries show one-source lighting, and some show two. Very naïve childrens' embroideries often use one and only one color, with divisions made with a dark umber or black thread. When I opened some floral embroidery books, their embroideries were so complex, there was no way I could relay any of the awesome and multiple feelings they emitted with their sensitive design and color treatments, so I went to more basic embroidery motif books, one just on flower. Do you think I could find anything remotely like the ribbon nosegay floral this one is? Nope! Nothing doing!

So here's my stab in the dark. I am not going to tear out any more stitches, but I am going to use the piece as an as-you-go learning experience on what not to do, most likely  Hopefully there will be a good one or two , but the more I go, the less I realize I understand about counted work. It's awful to go through kindergarten every time you d.o a different kind of quilt, but last time I looked, that's the general rule and frustration of quilting. Some ruts you like, like the one I earned making 24 log cabin quilts in 6 months for a quilt show for charity around 1998-2001 sometime. In 7 years I did 7 shows, but all of those went to the squad car quilt program so that if a cop ran across a crash victim, it could be used if that victim were in shock, and that happens in cold country.

Anyhow, here's the work, not even sure my colors have enough contrast to be considered contrasts.  It's getting close to bedtime...

The second is a butterfly I spent the last two days on to salve my ego a little over the super slow progress of the yellow ribbon floral block, and my tough job of learning shading the hard way, which is guessing, not knowing, and having no pattern or chart to consult.

That said, Goodnight with love, all. My knee hurts so bad... It's ok, just fibromyalgia with a little touch of arthritis and an adversity to 2 weeks of cold rains lately. My meds will help a lot, and they're just a step away. 

Oops! The shading is the 3rd picture. When I really looked, I realized I'd put it on the scanner, but had failed to copy... 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Ewww. It doesn't look like what it looks like here. *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

yes indeed it's time consuming. And a lot depends on the floss you use. I'm sort of limited when it comes to floss, as i've said before, there's only one place that sells it. They sell matte cotton floss, and not that many colors, only one brand. 

I don't often pull out my work either Becki. After Christmas, i'm going to work on making my own designs and find some original uses for it. i think quilt blocks might suit me..maybe i'll get a quilt done if i embroider it, you never know. I still have that pillow to assemble for my daughter...i lost half of the ruffle and haven't found one to replace it. i think i will crochet one instead.


----------



## koshergrl

Sorry my keyboard shift keys are sticking, lolol...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> yes indeed it's time consuming. And a lot depends on the floss you use. I'm sort of limited when it comes to floss, as i've said before, there's only one place that sells it. They sell matte cotton floss, and not that many colors, only one brand.
> 
> I don't often pull out my work either Becki. After Christmas, i'm going to work on making my own designs and find some original uses for it. i think quilt blocks might suit me..maybe i'll get a quilt done if i embroider it, you never know. I still have that pillow to assemble for my daughter...i lost half of the ruffle and haven't found one to replace it. i think i will crochet one instead.


The more I look at your swans the more I love the way you did the feathers. They're absolutely stunning.

I love crochet work. I got some beauties on ebay, and the vintage ones are so sturdy, I got a group of three that look like they not only were never used, they were of the sturdiest embroidery cotton, yet are wonderful out of the washer to the touch. I hustled them onto a pair of pillows and slept like the queen of Sheba last night. Ahhh.. total comfort of cotton pillowcases. And I got one pair of do-it-yourself cross stitch butterflies in a poly cotton. By the time they're done (someone had already started the border in blue), I will have expended more for the pair I'm going to do someday than on all three of the vintage master works that you really couldn't tell how wonderful they were by their pictures, which were pretty enough, but golden orange crocheted butterflies--definite queen of Sheba stuff!  I've seen a pattern for a crocheted basket full of embroidered flowers, but what's the matter with me? $35 didn't seem like a bargain when my average output is 7 dollars per pair if nobody else is looking. You just insert the word "lot of" in front of whatever it is you want to save money on, and you'll get several where somebody put zero value on them because they were made by grandma for free, and nobody wanted them after the silver was divided... /shameless pirate.


----------



## freedombecki

Minimal progress on next butterfly, but the border and 4 floral corners are done. It dragged on for 2 days it seems. *sigh* This one will have colorations akin to the Blue Morpho. I'll see if I can find one to show here.






Credits: Wordpress

And another:






Credits: http://animalku.com/2011/08/02/blue-morpho-butterfly/​


----------



## Sunshine

I had a coupon for laundry detergent, so I bought a small bottle with Oxyclean in it.  I washed my grandmother's table cloth in it and it came out noticeably whiter.  I may run it again a time or two just to see what happens.  

Do you remember 'bluing'?  I remember when my mother put that in all her whites.  Don't know if they still make it or not.  I thought about that.


----------



## Sunshine

Looked on Amazon and they DO still make fabric bluing!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> I had a coupon for laundry detergent, so I bought a small bottle with Oxyclean in it. I washed my grandmother's table cloth in it and it came out noticeably whiter. I may run it again a time or two just to see what happens.
> 
> Do you remember 'bluing'? I remember when my mother put that in all her whites. Don't know if they still make it or not. I thought about that.


 Yes, but for some reason, I am associating "bluing" with an ironing product. Don't know why. Oh, maybe she used it in some kind of starch or something. She ironed everything except nylon underwear. My dear, wonderful mother, God rest her sweet and kindly soul. *sigh*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I had a coupon for laundry detergent, so I bought a small bottle with Oxyclean in it. I washed my grandmother's table cloth in it and it came out noticeably whiter. I may run it again a time or two just to see what happens.
> 
> Do you remember 'bluing'? I remember when my mother put that in all her whites. Don't know if they still make it or not. I thought about that.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but for some reason, I am associating "bluing" with an ironing product. Don't know why. Oh, maybe she used it in some kind of starch or something. She ironed everything except nylon underwear. My dear, wonderful mother, God rest her sweet and kindly soul. *sigh*
Click to expand...


Not an ironing product.  It came in little blue balls that you put in the rinse water.  They have it on Amazon, and it is in liquid.  Bluing is kind of interesting.  I never knew what it was made of:



> Laundry bluing is made of a very fine blue iron powder suspended in water (a "colloidal suspension").



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(fabric)


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Looked on Amazon and they DO still make fabric bluing!


Please test it on a scrap or something first with a few strands of your embroidery floss being used. Modern products may be more potent than what our moms used. I know in my shop, I sold a rit dye product that removes all color from anything, and I do mean all color as in white-out. You just added it to your wash with anything with a dingy tinge, and it came out whiter than a dry snowdrift on a January midday sun.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looked on Amazon and they DO still make fabric bluing!
> 
> 
> 
> Please test it on a scrap or something first with a few strands of your embroidery floss being used. Modern products may be more potent than what our moms used. I know in my shop, I sold a rit dye product that removes all color from anything, and I do mean all color as in white-out. You just added it to your wash with anything with a dingy tinge, and it came out whiter than a dry snowdrift on a January midday sun.
Click to expand...


I didn't even think of that color remover.  I may go that route first.  I would definitely test any product I used on it.  I'm looking for something that doesn't have chlorine. I don't really have need of much in the way of whitening products.  I only do one 'bleach load' a week and I NEVEER buy white sheets.  I do use white towels a lot.  My bathroom is largely white to include the floor and I really like the cool clean look.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looked on Amazon and they DO still make fabric bluing!
> 
> 
> 
> Please test it on a scrap or something first with a few strands of your embroidery floss being used. Modern products may be more potent than what our moms used. I know in my shop, I sold a rit dye product that removes all color from anything, and I do mean all color as in white-out. You just added it to your wash with anything with a dingy tinge, and it came out whiter than a dry snowdrift on a January midday sun.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I didn't even think of that color remover. I may go that route first. I would definitely test any product I used on it. I'm looking for something that doesn't have chlorine. I don't really have need of much in the way of whitening products. I only do one 'bleach load' a week and I NEVEER buy white sheets. I do use white towels a lot. My bathroom is largely white to include the floor and I really like the cool clean look.
Click to expand...

 Speaking of blue, when assessing the already-completed butterflies, there was not a turquoise one. They must be rare, but when I loaded "turquoise butterfly," sometimes between the girls' hairpins with turquoise butterflies and wedding cake ones, a blue Morpho butterfly would appear. About half of the ones you see online appear turquoise, and the others a light, bright blue color So I picked the turquoise ones and decided to make a new color schema using all blue along with an extremely dark marine blue that would reflect the turquoise nature of the lighter color thread, #996 DMC in this case. The dark marine is color 824, I think. If I don't like it, I may have to use 939. 

Oh, my goodness. There are boy cardinals out there. I've been seeing tannish birds on the now-spent orange trumpet vine that grew up over the upstairs bedroom windows. On closer look, after noticing a few female cardinals eating grubs on the grass, I thought to look harder on the noisy birds outside the window. Sure enough, girl cardinals. I thought it odd for not seeing male cardinals, but finally this afternoon they showed up. Of course, they were just doing guy things, I guess. Watching the Green Bay Packers play the Lions? Well, probably not, they just weren't around at first, but sure enough, there are four or five of them out there now playing gotcha last and I quit. 

Blue morpho--my notes and a sample one from somewhere in my pictures.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Please test it on a scrap or something first with a few strands of your embroidery floss being used. Modern products may be more potent than what our moms used. I know in my shop, I sold a rit dye product that removes all color from anything, and I do mean all color as in white-out. You just added it to your wash with anything with a dingy tinge, and it came out whiter than a dry snowdrift on a January midday sun.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't even think of that color remover. I may go that route first. I would definitely test any product I used on it. I'm looking for something that doesn't have chlorine. I don't really have need of much in the way of whitening products. I only do one 'bleach load' a week and I NEVEER buy white sheets. I do use white towels a lot. My bathroom is largely white to include the floor and I really like the cool clean look.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Speaking of blue, when assessing the already-completed butterflies, there was not a turquoise one. They must be rare, but when I loaded "turquoise butterfly," sometimes between the girls' hairpins with turquoise butterflies and wedding cake ones, a blue Morpho butterfly would appear. About half of the ones you see online appear turquoise, and the others a light, bright blue color So I picked the turquoise ones and decided to make a new color schema using all blue along with an extremely dark marine blue that would reflect the turquoise nature of the lighter color thread, #996 DMC in this case. The dark marine is color 824, I think. If I don't like it, I may have to use 939.
> 
> Oh, my goodness. There are boy cardinals out there. I've been seeing tannish birds on the now-spent orange trumpet vine that grew up over the upstairs bedroom windows. On closer look, after noticing a few female cardinals eating grubs on the grass, I thought to look harder on the noisy birds outside the window. Sure enough, girl cardinals. I thought it odd for not seeing male cardinals, but finally this afternoon they showed up. Of course, they were just doing guy things, I guess. Watching the Green Bay Packers play the Lions? Well, probably not, they just weren't around at first, but sure enough, there are four or five of them out there now playing gotcha last and I quit.
> 
> Blue morpho--my notes and a sample one from somewhere in my pictures.
Click to expand...


LOL.  I have a lot of cardinals around here.  They are the KY state bird.


----------



## freedombecki

Eh, good enough for government work! We'll see how it goes. _*Not*_ ripping it out, no matter how bad it looks, not ripping it out...





​ 
See you in a couple of light years...


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't even think of that color remover. I may go that route first. I would definitely test any product I used on it. I'm looking for something that doesn't have chlorine. I don't really have need of much in the way of whitening products. I only do one 'bleach load' a week and I NEVEER buy white sheets. I do use white towels a lot. My bathroom is largely white to include the floor and I really like the cool clean look.
> 
> 
> 
> Speaking of blue, when assessing the already-completed butterflies, there was not a turquoise one. They must be rare, but when I loaded "turquoise butterfly," sometimes between the girls' hairpins with turquoise butterflies and wedding cake ones, a blue Morpho butterfly would appear. About half of the ones you see online appear turquoise, and the others a light, bright blue color So I picked the turquoise ones and decided to make a new color schema using all blue along with an extremely dark marine blue that would reflect the turquoise nature of the lighter color thread, #996 DMC in this case. The dark marine is color 824, I think. If I don't like it, I may have to use 939.
> 
> Oh, my goodness. There are boy cardinals out there. I've been seeing tannish birds on the now-spent orange trumpet vine that grew up over the upstairs bedroom windows. On closer look, after noticing a few female cardinals eating grubs on the grass, I thought to look harder on the noisy birds outside the window. Sure enough, girl cardinals. I thought it odd for not seeing male cardinals, but finally this afternoon they showed up. Of course, they were just doing guy things, I guess. Watching the Green Bay Packers play the Lions? Well, probably not, they just weren't around at first, but sure enough, there are four or five of them out there now playing gotcha last and I quit.
> 
> Blue morpho--my notes and a sample one from somewhere in my pictures.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> LOL. I have a lot of cardinals around here. They are the KY state bird.
Click to expand...

They are such eye candy 7 States claim them as their State Bird: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia 

Six states love the Western Meadowlark: Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wyoming. 
And 5 states love the Mockingbird: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

I always thought each state should have a different mascot, but a lot of the states, when picking called upon the State's schoolchildren to choose them. I guess if you're teaching human children to vote, you have to let them know their majority counts. Otherwise, they'd have no faith in the system. 

/philosophic view


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I had a coupon for laundry detergent, so I bought a small bottle with Oxyclean in it. I washed my grandmother's table cloth in it and it came out noticeably whiter. I may run it again a time or two just to see what happens.
> 
> Do you remember 'bluing'? I remember when my mother put that in all her whites. Don't know if they still make it or not. I thought about that.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but for some reason, I am associating "bluing" with an ironing product. Don't know why. Oh, maybe she used it in some kind of starch or something. She ironed everything except nylon underwear. My dear, wonderful mother, God rest her sweet and kindly soul. *sigh*
Click to expand...


They used to put it in starch.  And when fabric softener was new on the scene they put it in that as well.  But it also came separate from any other product.  My mother bought it in little balls about half inch in diameter.  My mother ironed everything too.  And I still iron things that many others do not.  I have a Singer Magic Press. It is wonderful.  I remember telling my MIL when I bought my first one.  She told me that if you learn to use it, it will save you a LOT of work.  She was right.  It wasn't easy to learn, but I did learn and I can iron a shirt of blouse on it better than I can with an iron.  The first one died and I got another.  This one you can put water in and it has steam vents that blast the item with steam.  I love it.  It's great for heavy things like jeans, and things that don't respond well to an iron like sweaters.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> I had a coupon for laundry detergent, so I bought a small bottle with Oxyclean in it. I washed my grandmother's table cloth in it and it came out noticeably whiter. I may run it again a time or two just to see what happens.
> 
> Do you remember 'bluing'? I remember when my mother put that in all her whites. Don't know if they still make it or not. I thought about that.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but for some reason, I am associating "bluing" with an ironing product. Don't know why. Oh, maybe she used it in some kind of starch or something. She ironed everything except nylon underwear. My dear, wonderful mother, God rest her sweet and kindly soul. *sigh*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> They used to put it in starch. And when fabric softener was new on the scene they put it in that as well. But it also came separate from any other product. My mother bought it in little balls about half inch in diameter. My mother ironed everything too. And I still iron things that many others do not. I have a Singer Magic Press. It is wonderful. I remember telling my MIL when I bought my first one. She told me that if you learn to use it, it will save you a LOT of work. She was right. It wasn't easy to learn, but I did learn and I can iron a shirt of blouse on it better than I can with an iron. The first one died and I got another. This one you can put water in and it has steam vents that blast the item with steam. I love it. It's great for heavy things like jeans, and things that don't respond well to an iron like sweaters.
Click to expand...

 Your mother was right about the Press. It was probably a good investment in time to learn to use it.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but for some reason, I am associating "bluing" with an ironing product. Don't know why. Oh, maybe she used it in some kind of starch or something. She ironed everything except nylon underwear. My dear, wonderful mother, God rest her sweet and kindly soul. *sigh*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They used to put it in starch. And when fabric softener was new on the scene they put it in that as well. But it also came separate from any other product. My mother bought it in little balls about half inch in diameter. My mother ironed everything too. And I still iron things that many others do not. I have a Singer Magic Press. It is wonderful. I remember telling my MIL when I bought my first one. She told me that if you learn to use it, it will save you a LOT of work. She was right. It wasn't easy to learn, but I did learn and I can iron a shirt of blouse on it better than I can with an iron. The first one died and I got another. This one you can put water in and it has steam vents that blast the item with steam. I love it. It's great for heavy things like jeans, and things that don't respond well to an iron like sweaters.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Your mother was right about the Press. It was probably a good investment in time to learn to use it.
Click to expand...


It's really good for things like pillow cases.  I really never set up the ironing board and iron.  The magic press is all I ever use.  I can't honestly say it was easy  to learn to use it and there are times I will still use the squire bottle to make an unruly edge lie flat so I can press it.  But everything comes up very smooth looking.  I can't stand to be wrinkled.  I even run what I wear around the house through the Magic Press.  Clothes that have been ironed are just more comfortable.


----------



## freedombecki

Progress last night was pretty slow. That's what I get for being a Chatty Cathy doll on pms sometimes! Anyway, here's what little progress I made yesterday, front and back plus the comparison of the real butterfly in picture form:


----------



## koshergrl

Oooh....beautiful!


----------



## koshergrl

I'm still plodding away on the swan pillow cases...I have almost finished the edging on one...have started on the other one..but I still have 3+ swans to go...I need more time more time!!!

I am going to crochet a ruffle/edging for my daughter's pillow, the cross stitch that I finished..like...last year...lol. I have it figured out how...I'm going to crochet the edging, then sandwich it in and sew it just like I would have done the cloth ruffle...I should have that done for Christmas, and she should be surprised. 

Gotta get cracking on some fabric birds now...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm still plodding away on the swan pillow cases...I have almost finished the edging on one...have started on the other one..but I still have 3+ swans to go...I need more time more time!!!
> 
> I am going to crochet a ruffle/edging for my daughter's pillow, the cross stitch that I finished..like...last year...lol. I have it figured out how...I'm going to crochet the edging, then sandwich it in and sew it just like I would have done the cloth ruffle...I should have that done for Christmas, and she should be surprised.
> 
> Gotta get cracking on some fabric birds now...


 That's totally wonderful, koshergrl.


----------



## Bloodrock44

Mrs. Blood has been knitting like the energizer bunny every spare moment since she got home from school Tuesday (she's a first grade teacher). She bought another 20 skeins of yarn Wednesday. I'm treading lightly as she has threatened to teach me to knit. It would probably be easier for her to rebuild the great wall of China before Christmas.


----------



## freedombecki

Mrs. B is very dedicated! Hope she sells out at the school needs sale. 

Just came to post some progress photos. One yesterday morning, I picked up the cross stitch and did the blue flower and orange bud. Does it ever look different from the first one in which it was just x-stitched as a blob. I'm just now realizing that there are a couple of companies that just print out blocks, but they have zero instructions. It's a hard way to complete something, I'll tell you!






1. Progress on the Blue Morpho butterfly

2. Progress on the Yellow Ribbon boquet/nosegay

3. The block that wasn't completed and which had no instructions whatever​


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Mrs. B is very dedicated! Hope she sells out at the school needs sale.
> 
> Just came to post some progress photos. One yesterday morning, I picked up the cross stitch and did the blue flower and orange bud. Does it ever look different from the first one in which it was just x-stitched as a blob. I'm just now realizing that there are a couple of companies that just print out blocks, but they have zero instructions. It's a hard way to complete something, I'll tell you!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1. Progress on the Blue Morpho butterfly
> 
> 2. Progress on the Yellow Ribbon boquet/nosegay
> 
> 3. The block that wasn't completed and which had no instructions whatever​



You're right.  And when I get those, I do a monochromatic.  Or two colors, like on the dresser scarves I did in gold and brown.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Mrs. B is very dedicated! Hope she sells out at the school needs sale.
> 
> Just came to post some progress photos. One yesterday morning, I picked up the cross stitch and did the blue flower and orange bud. Does it ever look different from the first one in which it was just x-stitched as a blob. I'm just now realizing that there are a couple of companies that just print out blocks, but they have zero instructions. It's a hard way to complete something, I'll tell you!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1. Progress on the Blue Morpho butterfly
> 
> 2. Progress on the Yellow Ribbon boquet/nosegay
> 
> 3. The block that wasn't completed and which had no instructions whatever​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're right. And when I get those, I do a monochromatic. Or two colors, like on the dresser scarves I did in gold and brown.
Click to expand...

Simplification is sounding better and better!

 I've been checking eBay and Amazon for books titled "1001 embroidery patterns" and "550, 501, 500 (etc.) cross stitch embroidery" books. Counted cross stitch by far has the most tomes out there, and since last summer, I've accrued about a dozen or more dollar or two dollar books, some of which are nice, and a couple by men authors. I've been trolling their indexes for roses and florals, but I can't find a single rose exactly like the ones on the white fabric with blue X-stitches sans instruction. But I've been getting some good and different ideas from different authors. I swear, a few of them have such a style they're like painters, and you can tell their works from other authors. Well, thread is just an artistic media, so those who create stitches in their own school of mind can be quite specifically similar to others by the same person and completely different from others. So, I'm just trying to produce something that can get past my bad usage of printer, which yields too light or okay images for reasons I'm not too certain of. On the rose bud, (if that's what it is), the light green was way too light, so I added dark straight stitches outside which salvaged it as far as the printer is concerned. I wasn't planning on thinking so much. 






​


----------



## freedombecki

The eighth butterfly of a set of 12 I bought months ago is done. 

This is the last "coloration" I will do in the set. It takes three times as long plus down time!  Below the Blue morpho block is some that were done earlier. It takes quite a bit of time just to do one block--two days if I work 8 hours a day, and the Blue Morpho coloration block took several extra days, just because doing something new takes a little more thought, especially when adding design to someone else's design. The majority of the Blue Morpho Butterflies I've seen pictures of, there is some kind of black border all the way around. It is minimized on some of the butterflies, but usually, a little is still there. One butterfly can have 50 different looks, depending on whether in sunlight or shadow, and its angle. If it's flying, the brown underside interplays with the blue on top, and they say it's stunning to watch them flit about when seen. For anyone who loves butterflies, we have a Lepidoptera thread at USMB, and it can be visited by clicking on this link: http://www.usmessageboard.com/the-outdoors/175431-lepidoptera-lovers-butterfly-kisses.html

So the rest will be done as shown in different color schemas, hopefully.


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Beautiful!



Thanks, koshergrl! Glad it's done. Now I can move on and finish something else.


----------



## freedombecki

I thought it'd be fun to visit You Tube and look into some new embroidery stitches. I learned to do a raised stem stitch that is done around foundation stitches across a small space. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but I found a way to use the stitch, which was to perhaps do the center on a small sunflower made up of lazy daisy stitches that I saw some time ago on one of Koshergrl's stitcheries and decided to do. Here's the you tube if you want good instruction on how to do it (I wasn't sure of what I was doing the whole time, but I liked what resulted).

 [ame=http://youtu.be/7sn10YPHxRQ]Raised Stem Stitch Band - YouTube[/ame]

 I will show my work later. Managed attachments is not working right now for some reason. I better go clean house with my erasure software. BBL.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, hopefully it will work now! Here's my little bit of work done to use what I learned on the video about raised work in embroidery: The center of the sunflower is around the threads that are grouped in ladder formation, and only at the sides and bottom are the threads attached with one stitch around the outside, like what Mary Corbet did around the outside on one of her videos (I also watched others made by her on other types of raised work, raised buttonhole rings a bell, so I'm not sure what I'm doing, like I said above before edit or not. Anyway, fwiw, here's the experiment on the sunflower center, and I'm really loving it:



 ​ If that's not clear enough, I'll leave a version I enlarged at home on my Paint software that came with my computer, and it's below, Just click on the thumbnail, and it becomes a larger picture in a new tab on your computer if you have it set up that way:​


----------



## freedombecki

Scan one Two plans

 Scan 2 circle fail

 Scan 3 circle pass


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Well, hopefully it will work now! Here's my little bit of work done to use what I learned on the video about raised work in embroidery: The center of the sunflower is around the threads that are grouped in ladder formation, and only at the sides and bottom are the threads attached with one stitch around the outside, like what Mary Corbet did around the outside on one of her videos (I also watched others made by her on other types of raised work, raised buttonhole rings a bell, so I'm not sure what I'm doing, like I said above before edit or not. Anyway, fwiw, here's the experiment on the sunflower center, and I'm really loving it:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If that's not clear enough, I'll leave a version I enlarged at home on my Paint software that came with my computer, and it's below, Just click on the thumbnail, and it becomes a larger picture in a new tab on your computer if you have it set up that way:​


 
That is super cool..what is the stitch called?

I love watching embroidery youtube videos, how sick is that, lol!


----------



## koshergrl

and in fact I have a huge tome on the history of embroidery! AND I read it!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, hopefully it will work now! Here's my little bit of work done to use what I learned on the video about raised work in embroidery: The center of the sunflower is around the threads that are grouped in ladder formation, and only at the sides and bottom are the threads attached with one stitch around the outside, like what Mary Corbet did around the outside on one of her videos (I also watched others made by her on other types of raised work, raised buttonhole rings a bell, so I'm not sure what I'm doing, like I said above before edit or not. Anyway, fwiw, here's the experiment on the sunflower center, and I'm really loving it:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If that's not clear enough, I'll leave a version I enlarged at home on my Paint software that came with my computer, and it's below, Just click on the thumbnail, and it becomes a larger picture in a new tab on your computer if you have it set up that way:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is super cool..what is the stitch called?
> 
> I love watching embroidery youtube videos, how sick is that, lol!
Click to expand...


Oops! Took a stitch break! The video calls it the "Raised Stem Stitch. I noticed when I looped the loops with brown, they looked like little seeds. I just played on it, keeping the work a little looser than taught, but not too loose. I watched 3 or 4 videos on different kinds of raised work. I may have picked up a different kind of stitch from the one on the raised buttonhole stitch going in the opposite way. Also, I shaped the "ladder steps" to conform with the weirdo circle that came about when I did my inexacting lazy daisy stitches. I figure nature allows bugs to bite, causing little dips here and there on the finished flower, some missing petals, etc. So if your work on a flower is a tad inexact, you're doing exactly what nature does. Perfection is the plan. What we see when God makes a flower is what the imperfect world does to his perfect plan. We live in a not perfect world. 

 *sigh*

 /country philosopher

 Let's see if I can kind of replicate a little in center of what the plan may have been, enlarged an unknown amount of times:

_____​ _________​ A______________​ _______________​ _______________​ B______________​ ___________​ _____​ ​ I started wrapping 4 threads at points A to B first and went down and back up.​ Then I caught the thread above line A and worked my way to the thread below B and back up again., etc., as space allowed.​ The video didn't have to deal with changes in width. I just put stitches through the cloth at the points where necessity called for it to keep it round.​ ​


----------



## koshergrl

Awesome!

Raised Stem Stitch Video Tutorial ? Needle?nThread.com


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Awesome!
> 
> Raised Stem Stitch Video Tutorial ? Needle?nThread.com


 
 It looks like a caterpillar! And I figured out why mine look like seeds! Doh! I sewed the circles upside-down, putting the covered threads beneath the little circlets that appear like miniature brown sunflower seeds. 






But instead of a fail, I got a sunflower I truly loved, even though it is so miniature. It's serendipity I guess! 

 Oh, and I put the last stitch on the sunflower-centered color wheel lazy dazy corner on the corner of my bird-quilt-to-someday-be-when-I-have-time! The corner took well over 8 hours, though.

 Here's Sunflower Color Wheel: (pattern first scan, first trial, second scan)


----------



## Sunshine

An easier way to alter jeans:

DIY: Hem Jeans Fast & Easy |do it yourself divas

Unbelievable.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome!
> 
> Raised Stem Stitch Video Tutorial ? Needle?nThread.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It looks like a caterpillar! And I figured out why mine look like seeds! Doh! I sewed the circles upside-down, putting the covered threads beneath the little circlets that appear like miniature brown sunflower seeds.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But instead of a fail, I got a sunflower I truly loved, even though it is so miniature. It's serendipity I guess!
> 
> Oh, and I put the last stitch on the sunflower-centered color wheel lazy dazy corner on the corner of my bird-quilt-to-someday-be-when-I-have-time! The corner took well over 8 hours, though.
> 
> Here's Sunflower Color Wheel: (pattern first scan, first trial, second scan)
Click to expand...

 

Did you design that?

It's beautiful!


----------



## freedombecki

The flowers on the rest of the sunflower/colorwheel/cornered square were very large, much larger than mine, which were larger than ones I'd done previously, since they were the diameter of a nickel plus the width of a fat pencil mark all the way around. The square actually has a bird as the center of attention, and I truly have no idea what bird exactly it is, thrush? bluebird? sparrow? With no instructions, there's no telling! I looked at mountain bluebirds, though, but the eye will have to be made rounder since that's the decision I made. Unless a true ornithologist comes by here in the next hour or two (or before tomorrow) and recognizes it, it's a bluebird in the meantime. I really would like to know, because there are 12 squares like this one, and I wouldn't mind knowing for sure what it is.

 Oh, I saw strawflowers that would have plenty of color layers, so at least the first flower resembles one as it might a chrysanthemum or even a daisy. I have no idea what kind of plant has that little tiny round leaf, but a strawflower leaf is huge and has more separations that a beautiful maple or oak leaf has. That said, well, we're definitely taking some artistic license on this first square. Here's the day's work. I had to do constant supervision to get my husband to vacuum the staircase to remind him to NOT overfeed the dog, who threw up at least 3 meals on it before I went downstairs on that particular staircase, so he needed a certain experience to remind him to NOT feed the dog table scraps.

 After looking at thousands of asters, daisies, and strawflowers, I picked one and just happened to have the right colors, well ok, almost the right colors! 

 Also included the corner, which I cleaned up a little in Paint.


----------



## freedombecki

Found a lot of them online. This quilt will have a lot of strawflowers, after really enjoying the one above so much.


----------



## koshergrl

Becki, you are amazing.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Becki, you are amazing.



I have really inspiring teachers, like the one who gave me hints on how to do a simple French knot, which I just couldn't do in under 20 aggravating minutes after 40 years of doing absolutely nothing in hand embroidery. And what inspiring, pretty work you've shared here. Oh, was that good teacher you and Sunshine by sharing good stuff you did? ~~~ Yep!!! 

One day's progress going slowly... This one shows the birdy too. I noticed online, all the bluebirds and not one of the hundred DMC blues was quite like it, so I went to the store. Put some Bernat Crochet yarn and Sullivan's thread in my little checkout basket, but when I got home, The Bernat perfect match was acrylic.  I thought "yep, one trip under a hot iron, and it's toasty soup, not to mention toxic chemical air in the house from the resin at cotton temperature. 

Thanks, all the same for kind words, koshergrl.


----------



## koshergrl

Wow!


----------



## Bloodrock44

So proud of Mrs. Blood. They had the Christmas fair at her school today and she sold all 40 scarves she knitted and has orders for 10 more.


----------



## Sunshine

Bloodrock44 said:


> So proud of Mrs. Blood. They had the Christmas fair at her school today and she sold all 40 scarves she knitted and has orders for 10 more.



Wow!  That's impressive!


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> So proud of Mrs. Blood. They had the Christmas fair at her school today and she sold all 40 scarves she knitted and has orders for 10 more.


Wow, 18 days to Christmas, and it's going to be busy at the Bloodrock home!!! That's wonderful!


----------



## freedombecki

Today was my once-a-week day to sleep. That's unfortunately, all that got done, and now, I'm going to bed early. It seems to help me deal with pain from fibro and the odd behaviors of my dear husband who has dementia. Time to say a prayer for peace and this great country of ours. Thanks to koshergrl and Sunshine for dropping by with words of encouragement for me and Mrs. Bloodrock. I'm especially concerned for those worldwide who have trucks like the one in Mexico that got hijacked and had a lethal amount of nuclear product as 8 people were hospitalized and aren't expected to last very long. Nuclear products shouldn't be in transit in war zones, and the drug trafficking business must be one. So, my prayers up for places where there is no peace, places where there is no food for little children and families, and where stealing is the only way to put bread on the table. If our country fails, all those who depend on us will also fail, so I pray for prosperity and plenty for those who are born in this world but end up with no one to care for them due to drug use, mental failings, job losses, and malice toward others for their successes or failures. With God's help, everyone can have a place at the table, and none should be turned away.

 Love,

 becki


----------



## koshergrl

I've got the flu and it is nasty. I went to the doc and she gave me some cough syrup, because I thought I was on the mend...but in the days that have passed since, I have been coughing steady and I'm having difficulty getting my breath. I don't have the energy to do anything at all, it's awful. I'm going to call the doc Monday and tell her I'm getting worse again and see what she says....my ribs are killing me and I gurgle and wheeze!

Hope all is going well with all here...I'm taking some days of rest too...


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> So proud of Mrs. Blood. They had the Christmas fair at her school today and she sold all 40 scarves she knitted and has orders for 10 more.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, 18 days to Christmas, and it's going to be busy at the Bloodrock home!!! That's wonderful!
Click to expand...


No problem. She can knit one in 4 hours. She can do it in her sleep.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I've got the flu and it is nasty. I went to the doc and she gave me some cough syrup, because I thought I was on the mend...but in the days that have passed since, I have been coughing steady and I'm having difficulty getting my breath. I don't have the energy to do anything at all, it's awful. I'm going to call the doc Monday and tell her I'm getting worse again and see what she says....my ribs are killing me and I gurgle and wheeze!
> 
> Hope all is going well with all here...I'm taking some days of rest too...


Ribs? That almost sounds like pleurisy. You better not skip the doctor's appointment. Get well, please. 

 My embroidery hit the wall today, and it's already bedtime. To make a bad day worse, my sweetie locked the dog inside the car with the keys 13 miles from home in the dark. He called home. I told him to get a cab. Instead, he got someone to let him in the car for a lot less than a round-trip cab fare, too. I told him no more taking the dog when I wasn't there with my set of keys. It's hard sometimes.


----------



## freedombecki

Progress on bird: finished one wing and 1 small flower. 

 Not much, but something is better than nothing!


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bloodrock44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> So proud of Mrs. Blood. They had the Christmas fair at her school today and she sold all 40 scarves she knitted and has orders for 10 more.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, 18 days to Christmas, and it's going to be busy at the Bloodrock home!!! That's wonderful!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No problem. She can knit one in 4 hours. She can do it in her sleep.
Click to expand...

With her schedule she may have to! What a girl she must be!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I've got the flu and it is nasty. I went to the doc and she gave me some cough syrup, because I thought I was on the mend...but in the days that have passed since, I have been coughing steady and I'm having difficulty getting my breath. I don't have the energy to do anything at all, it's awful. I'm going to call the doc Monday and tell her I'm getting worse again and see what she says....my ribs are killing me and I gurgle and wheeze!
> 
> Hope all is going well with all here...I'm taking some days of rest too...


No posts today for Ms. koshergrl, I sure hope you got to see your physician
that you are on the best regimen for recuperation and getting lots of rest and plenty of fluids. Wishing koshergrl some chicken soup and wellness:



 ​ ​ ​


----------



## freedombecki

Well, put lower chin area on and finished wing yesterday... Scan 2 is the lower left corner. This is a 17- or 18-inch square to be made into something for a child or senior in the way of a lap or youth-bed quilt. I have 12 squares. A couple of years back, a series of 12 quilts was done from 12 log cabin star medallion in very small logs for a dozen "hugs" quilts that were most like baby quilts. All my pictures are either on earlier posts here or on my computer that crashed, I am thinking.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm still kicking!

My house is a health hazard because I have no energy to do anything, and have spent the majority of the last week or more rolling around in bed.

I did go to the doc, got antibiotics, but still as they say, it's the flu and you just have to wait it out and hope you survive. People think that flu is such a minor deal...but the truth of the matter is, it's freaking deadly and debilitating. I got my flu shot this year, but here I am anyway, with some other strain, and this strain is bad because it compromises the lungs. 

They nebulized me and sent me home with an inhaler, which helps a little, not much. I have good days, and bad days, and the cough is eternal. My poor kids have been so good! Here it is the Christmas season and mom can't even clear the table, let alone put up decorations or (*gasp*) cook dinner!!! They've been hanging at the library, and have been very sweet to me.

But the house is scary.

And I haven't accomplished anything.

But I am pretty sure I'm going to survive. Happy Hols, all. I miss Sunshine!


----------



## freedombecki

Get well, koshergrl! I love our sunny friend, too, but she told me ahead of time she isn't coming back, then came back, got herself pinked, etc. My concern is she's near death, didn't want to leave anyone mourning her, and left in a way we'd just think she was ...

Band Forever​ ​ [ame=http://youtu.be/a-7XWhyvIpE]John Philip Sousa's March, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" - YouTube[/ame]​ ​ Love to one of the best patriots I have ever known, wherever she may be. She is loved by us. ​


----------



## freedombecki

The birdy is all differing shades of blue now:


----------



## koshergrl

I love variegated floss!


----------



## freedombecki

I do, too, but I was just using up some of the odd lots I got on eBay last month. I really got lucky a few times by getting 3 or 4 different collections where people had rolled thread onto cards, then for some reason or another moved on to something else and/or left really nice sets in an estate. One set had 5 boxes of carded DMC floss. Sure some had been used, but I'm fascinated with shading in cross stitch, so it was just what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I'm experimenting around a lot, and have found I have to have absolutely all the lights on or I'm color blind because 10 shades of blue, some of the graduations are so similar, I pick up the wrong threads, or my color guide gets misplaced. Regardless, it's a learning project, but none of it was variegated. I have the thread, but it's so different from machine embroidery variegated, which changes shades or colors every inch, whereas, the hand variegated DMC stuff looks like you have a yard to embroider before it even graduates to the next shade, so that will require months of stem stitches to even come close to learning the tricks of the hand embroidery trade. I feel like a kindergartener when it comes to handwork.


----------



## freedombecki

It's growing slowly due to limited time I have to work on anything with extra care responsibilities as in constant supervision at home. 

 So I'll just let the pictures do the talking, I have to go fix something elsewhere today.


----------



## koshergrl

Omg, it's beautiful.

Those variations are exactly what make it so fascinating to me.

I find it fascinating in other people's work, too...even the ancient stuff. I love looking at the differences in each piece of work! Fascinating!


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, koshergrl. It's been a pleasure working on embroidery, and it was especially fun doing the color wheel lazy daisies with the sunflower in the center. Also, copying nature's strawflowers was fun, because I vaguely remember seeing them grown and dried by the church ladies for the church bazaar, which raised a ton of money for community outreach programs. I made 10 miniature Rag Dolls with orange hair and red and white stockings. They were 6-8" high, and I hand embroidered their faces, which I thought was hard. They sold before I got there the first day. I didn't know there would be doll fanatics showing up to collect such tiny treasures. I also hand made the wigs with bright orange and fire red hairs. There might have been a yellow-haired one, too. 

Love to Ms. Sunshine as she battles her deadly anathema all by herself, wherever she is.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's goal was to complete the green, which took under an hour so I did a couple of more strawflower-like blossoms. The red one reminded me more of a Zinnia, and the orange one was just plain fun to do and watch it grow from the outside to inner parts.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a bigger view:






 Now, there are just two strawflowers left, and I'll have to think about what if anything, should be going on to complete something like a border all the way around.

 Will be back tomorrow. My dry eye syndrome has my eyes burning, so it's time to rest them.

 Love to all,

 becki


----------



## koshergrl

How many strands are you using, becki?


----------



## koshergrl

It looks really good.


----------



## freedombecki

I use three strands unless instructions say otherwise. Since there are no instructions, 3 it is.  I've been trying to take pictures between thread changes to show how the strawflowers are done the way I do them. I realize there's too much texture, and I am not yet skilled at correct tension for hand embroidery, and am trying to improve my remembrance of tightening the hoop from time to time until it's quite tense. Unfortunately, once in a while things get scrunched which not only will not improve after washing, it will probably worsen. I have plenty of experience on the machine with tension, but it's important in handwork, too, and I'm learning as I go by reading a new book on embroidery that was put out by Reader's Digest in.... not sure, maybe 2002? My copy is brand new, and somebody dumped it on Amazon for $2.01. It has almost 200 pages and is full of good tips, which I much need, considering how I lack skill with general hand embroidery since I've worked with machine embroidery for 28 years. I just got some backing to go back to it, but I'm going to take my medicine and learn what hand embroiderers encounter when they struggle through learning to make something by hand that comes out well. My butterflies--no problem. The strawflowers? No instructions? I'm revisiting my void of knowledge as threads get denser than they were on simple outlines. This one is going in the washing machine when it's done. I have to zig zag the edges, then send it to a good stern washing!

Here are 3 rounds:

Scan 1, Turkey tracks sewn outside the flower petal row printed in light blue with DMC 600 

Scan 2, Outer Row of petals, DMC 601

Scan 3, Middle Row (added by me), DMC 602

They were a little weird so I had to add a couple of stitches here and there.


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful!!!!!!


----------



## koshergrl

You start from the outside and work in! I would have done just the opposite..is there a reason for that, or is it just your preference?


----------



## freedombecki

Yes, layering. I know you can't see the sheen, but the small red with carmine center one looks just like a zinnia due to layering. The other reason was one of the first ones. It just had too much white in the center, so I started adding a layer butted right up to it. when I got to the center, I started layering to give it the same look I was seeing from all the pictures. Of course, it wasn't exact, but it was fun. The straight stitches were all I had room for, and I staggered them like you would do in Machine embroidery to achieve the satin effect.

The bright reddish one has a center of not straight, but lazy daisy stitches also.

As I said, I may regret the whole thing after washing. 

 Experimentation of any kind takes risks.


----------



## freedombecki

If time permits, will be adding more to this scan:

Strawflower4 scan, color 603, covering holes...

Strawflowers5, 604 scab

Strawflowers6, 605 scan


----------



## freedombecki

Finally got the design's last flower done and have started drawing little odds and ends around the edges (not visible below).


----------



## koshergrl

Finally felt well enough this weekend to pick up my crochet needle..I'm making the cutest hat for my sister, who has an uncommonly large head. Which is good because this hat is sort of large and floppy, lol. I hope it doesn't blow off!

I'll take pics when I get it done...love you guys, glad to see Sunshine.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Finally felt well enough this weekend to pick up my crochet needle..I'm making the cutest hat for my sister, who has an uncommonly large head. Which is good because this hat is sort of large and floppy, lol. I hope it doesn't blow off!
> 
> I'll take pics when I get it done...love you guys, glad to see Sunshine.



So glad you're back on your feet, koshergrl! 

 I've been winding more threads onto little cards to fill 3 more empty boxes and make use of space in sundry unfilled thread boxes I won on ebay in the past couple of months. I wound bobbins till midnight last night after working on it almost all day. This morning, did some more then took a break and bought some more grays and lilacs. Those are two color groups I don't use a lot of, but love to work with from time to time when I go on a monochromatic kick, so I like to have color family groupings ready to roll when the opportunity to exploit a color arises.


----------



## freedombecki

The lady who started this box had incomplete color lines--lights, but no darks, too many darks separated from lights, etc. I tried to preserve some of her inspiration while adding just enough color to give future works done from threads in this box some zing! I needed the best and brightest colors I could find, but only a few here and a few there, because she was obviously a person of distinctive tastes who eschewed brights. I will enjoy using the threads now, knowing that while it now has brights that people love, it also keeps a hint of the inspiration of the woman who chose the threads she did, as in pastel rainbows and deep dark reds, green golds, and subtle marine blues. Going on that alone, I see Rembrandt in her choices when added to my opposite color tastes. and if you're ever in Amsterdam, go to the Rembrandt Van Rign Museum, don't miss it. The only place in the world where there are an equal number of Rembrandt paintings is at the Heritage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. But there's something very appealing about the Rembrandt museum. It enhances his work.

The Heritage Museum in St. Petersburgh takes his paintings, and they just get swallowed up by the number of other artists' fabulous works, as though a small part of the art world. That doesn't happen in Amsterdam. It's all about Rembrand's genius there, and it shows.

Just sayin'. 

 Oh, yes, the threads, the dark and light of them:


----------



## koshergrl

I made the hat! It looks a lot like a giant tea cozy, or perhaps a seat cushion or table cloth...it's ENORMOUS. lolol....I'm going to have to gather it in the back with a piece of ribbon or something..when it's finished I'll post a picture.

I have no idea how my poor sister is going to keep that thing on her head. And if it blows off and hits a moving car's windshield, it will completely block the view and a wreck may ensue....


----------



## freedombecki

Swimwear elastic would help if you don't want rip out the hat, go to a smaller hook size, etc. It has 3 times the stretch of regular elastic, comes in skin color, and doesn't ever bind the skin. There's also a shear elastic product that is unwoven, stretchy, and very comfortable. It's translucent and paper-think, that's the best description I can give, except that it's about 5/8" across, whereas swimwear elastic is just under 3/16 of an inch. If you make a covering for regular elastic, it would work in a pinch, but that's a lot of work to go to, but covering for comfort is something you want to do for your sister you care about. 

Swimwear elastic is more giving than lingerie elastic, but lingerie elastic comes in a plethora of colors if you find the right shop. Unfortunately, things change over time, and yesterday's wonder product finds itself in the trash when companies go under or change hands, or even when fashion changes.

Oh, well, that's life. I had foot cramps all afternoon so took a nap. I was late on my morning meds, just flat forgot to do it in order to continue my little tasks of trying to organize my embroidery stuff. A 2-hour nap cancelled the severe foot cramps, but now it's time for the night meds or else. So I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do today, or even to read posts. 

Tomorrow has got to be a better day, the Good Lord willing. *sigh*

Edit: something happened to the first part of my post. ??? Wonder why my computer is being so temperamental lately. Well, I don't know. It's bedtime for me.


----------



## koshergrl

I ended up weaving a couple of strands of yarn all around the hat, and gathered it a big and tied a bow in the back (inside). The flower is made, just have to attach it with a button...it resembles nothing so much as a 17th century mob cap, lol. I took some pics but haven't uploaded them yet. I'm working on a scarf to go with it now.


----------



## freedombecki

It sounds beautiful, koshergrl!


----------



## freedombecki

Today's work included talking to a nursing home recommended by a sister and a nursing care provider, making a doctor's appointment for tomorrow at the crack of dawn to talk about dementia issues that could cause serious sanitation and car accident issues, and how to approach it, to call attorneys who specialize in being able to pay for private care, etc., until I can get more advice on my dear sweetie's care, which I can likely no longer give, much to my sorrow. I don't look forward to the empty house, but I hope to take an active role in his future by giving him 2 or 3 outings a week, once his regular routine is established, if that is the decision the doctor and her fellows come up with. I will be there to remind her that how we came to look into his neurological problems started with him falling asleep at the wheel in 5 lanes of traffic each way from Hobby International Airport to Conroe, but me being quick to grab the wheel, wake him up and order him to the side of the road, carefully, without an accident, 2 years ago. We've battled the disease and each other, but the disease seems to be winning for now. If the doctor has an alternative plan, I'm going to be all ears. I really don't like the idea of being on 14 acres by myself. Tuesday, my sweetie shelled out $5800 to road gravellers for the second time this year, and they did the worst job of the 3 people he's paid to do the same job of ending our muddy road headache. I've decided it's a scam, because no matter what they do, the grass is more healthy in the road center than it was before the last scammer was about. *sigh* Since these people did it two hours before a drenching rain, the holes are back on steroids in the same places they were before. I've haddit with long driveway repairs, completed in 2 hours for thousands. I have to stop him from controlling the checkbook, because he can't say no to crooks. I can.

 Oh yes, and the embroidery on the other side got flowers placed  Plus, I researched hand embroidered ideas for the border, didn't like any of them, so may do my on free embroidered leaf border. I have enough color to knock the eyes out on the two sides, and some plain greenery may work wonders! 

 Hope everyone has a great evening and dynamite day tomorrow. Prayers up for those who need them.

 Love,

 becki


----------



## koshergrl

God bless you both, Becki. New and uncharted territory I'm sure, but it sounds like you're getting some support!

Today I was at the doc's (yay me, my Christmas this year is comprised of various and assorted medications lolol...) but then I had an hour so I used it to zip over to the store and pick up the kids' presents....a kindle fire and a Nintendo DDS, and a couple of accessories.

Now I just get the granddaughter's gifties and I'm pretty much good to go!


----------



## freedombecki

That's great, koshergrl. Merry Christmas!


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Today's work included talking to a nursing home recommended by a sister and a nursing care provider, making a doctor's appointment for tomorrow at the crack of dawn to talk about dementia issues that could cause serious sanitation and car accident issues, and how to approach it, to call attorneys who specialize in being able to pay for private care, etc., until I can get more advice on my dear sweetie's care, which I can likely no longer give, much to my sorrow. I don't look forward to the empty house, but I hope to take an active role in his future by giving him 2 or 3 outings a week, once his regular routine is established, if that is the decision the doctor and her fellows come up with. I will be there to remind her that how we came to look into his neurological problems started with him falling asleep at the wheel in 5 lanes of traffic each way from Hobby International Airport to Conroe, but me being quick to grab the wheel, wake him up and order him to the side of the road, carefully, without an accident, 2 years ago. We've battled the disease and each other, but the disease seems to be winning for now. If the doctor has an alternative plan, I'm going to be all ears. I really don't like the idea of being on 14 acres by myself. Tuesday, my sweetie shelled out $5800 to road gravellers for the second time this year, and they did the worst job of the 3 people he's paid to do the same job of ending our muddy road headache. I've decided it's a scam, because no matter what they do, the grass is more healthy in the road center than it was before the last scammer was about. *sigh* Since these people did it two hours before a drenching rain, the holes are back on steroids in the same places they were before. I've haddit with long driveway repairs, completed in 2 hours for thousands. I have to stop him from controlling the checkbook, because he can't say no to crooks. I can.
> 
> Oh yes, and the embroidery on the other side got flowers placed  Plus, I researched hand embroidered ideas for the border, didn't like any of them, so may do my on free embroidered leaf border. I have enough color to knock the eyes out on the two sides, and some plain greenery may work wonders!
> 
> Hope everyone has a great evening and dynamite day tomorrow. Prayers up for those who need them.
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki



Glad you aren't waiting until something tragic occurs.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Sunshine. 

 Merry Christmas!


----------



## freedombecki

Not very much eventful going on today, except I finished the last flowers and leaves on the upper right had corner of the bluebird square. That was a happy thing after catching up on the laundry for the last week. There was a lot of bedding and had to do quilts on the master bed twice in addition to bedding. <huff, puff, huff puff> On a good note, my sweetie is trying really hard to finish things he starts, he just has trouble remembering the things he's supposed to do while he's doing them. But he really was trying, I could tell. Most of us take initiating what needs to be done for granted. A person with dementia can't do that any more. I love that little flicker of him trying that I see when I see it, though. It's not seen very often, but is appreciated when it comes through, though.

 Here's Mr. Bluebird with the upper right hand corner done. A tree branch seems it would be nice, and was wondering if maybe they might like acorns on an oak tree? Guess it's time to pull out the website that discusses bird diet. Now which one was that? Each website seems to contribute a little something you didn't know before about each of our winged friends per specie, and their diets aren't all that competitive except for what's in the bird feeder. The bird feeder! Oh, my goodness. Here it is almost Christmas, and I saw that they were empty while I was doing something else. Better put my shoes on and go fill them up for breakfast for the little ones tomorrow! How could I be so forgetful! I was gonna be Ms. Faithful this week and remember our winged friends who eat bugs and slugs and those awful cutworms that are killing the St. Augustine grass, which you can tell by the large brown splotches around. I know they turn into a moth, but why couldn't they like weeds instead of St Augustine grass! 

 They say if you keep the feeder full the birds will go after the cutworms destroying your lawn. *sigh*

 Well, the pattern I drew on was symmetric on a 90 degree upper right corner on the light pencil marks that were made. All that experimenting around with different stitches and colorations and a flaw or two, and not so sure it looks so symmetric due to sundry anomalies, but some of the prettiest cottage gardens are fun because from year to year, different annuals colors are rotated if the designer takes into consideration the beneficence of rotation as augmenting the soil between nitrogen setters and plants that benefit from that the following year.

 Pardon my yada yada yadas. 

 Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday. I'm just gonna pray on Christmas day for my beloved husband and his attempt to hang on to reality to please me. And world peace. And health for America's birds, people, and so on.

 Love to you and your families, for healing miracles for our wounded soldiers, maybe someone will perfect growing replacement arms and legs for them from their bone marrow or special cells that could replace knee tissue for those with bad knees, a kidney, eardrums, or other parts and organs that got shot up by an IED or whatever. Wouldn't it be lovely if medicine could make them whole again so they could feel strong and able again? Oh, I have a long request list for our dear soldiers, whatever happened to them while they were fighting for America to be safe again. 

 Yes, It would be good to pray for the troops. I remember my mother once was talking about her friends who came back from WWII and their troubles, and she was fluffing the pillows saying something like "war takes our best men away from us," and I mean to tell you, those pillows took a licking and were never fluffier than they were that day after she took out her anger on her work.

 Anger isn't always a bad thing. She knew where to put it, too.

 becki


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a better view of the birdy:


----------



## freedombecki

This is one I just found and thought it lovely for Christmas Eve. 






 It looks kind of like Assissi work, except instead of background in cross stitches, the embroiderer chose a blackwork motif to grace her poinsettia. *sigh*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Not very much eventful going on today, except I finished the last flowers and leaves on the upper right had corner of the bluebird square. That was a happy thing after catching up on the laundry for the last week. There was a lot of bedding and had to do quilts on the master bed twice in addition to bedding. <huff, puff, huff puff> On a good note, my sweetie is trying really hard to finish things he starts, he just has trouble remembering the things he's supposed to do while he's doing them. But he really was trying, I could tell. Most of us take initiating what needs to be done for granted. A person with dementia can't do that any more. I love that little flicker of him trying that I see when I see it, though. It's not seen very often, but is appreciated when it comes through, though.
> 
> Here's Mr. Bluebird with the upper right hand corner done. A tree branch seems it would be nice, and was wondering if maybe they might like acorns on an oak tree? Guess it's time to pull out the website that discusses bird diet. Now which one was that? Each website seems to contribute a little something you didn't know before about each of our winged friends per specie, and their diets aren't all that competitive except for what's in the bird feeder. The bird feeder! Oh, my goodness. Here it is almost Christmas, and I saw that they were empty while I was doing something else. Better put my shoes on and go fill them up for breakfast for the little ones tomorrow! How could I be so forgetful! I was gonna be Ms. Faithful this week and remember our winged friends who eat bugs and slugs and those awful cutworms that are killing the St. Augustine grass, which you can tell by the large brown splotches around. I know they turn into a moth, but why couldn't they like weeds instead of St Augustine grass!
> 
> They say if you keep the feeder full the birds will go after the cutworms destroying your lawn. *sigh*
> 
> Well, the pattern I drew on was symmetric on a 90 degree upper right corner on the light pencil marks that were made. All that experimenting around with different stitches and colorations and a flaw or two, and not so sure it looks so symmetric due to sundry anomalies, but some of the prettiest cottage gardens are fun because from year to year, different annuals colors are rotated if the designer takes into consideration the beneficence of rotation as augmenting the soil between nitrogen setters and plants that benefit from that the following year.
> 
> Pardon my yada yada yadas.
> 
> Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday. I'm just gonna pray on Christmas day for my beloved husband and his attempt to hang on to reality to please me. And world peace. And health for America's birds, people, and so on.
> 
> Love to you and your families, for healing miracles for our wounded soldiers, maybe someone will perfect growing replacement arms and legs for them from their bone marrow or special cells that could replace knee tissue for those with bad knees, a kidney, eardrums, or other parts and organs that got shot up by an IED or whatever. Wouldn't it be lovely if medicine could make them whole again so they could feel strong and able again? Oh, I have a long request list for our dear soldiers, whatever happened to them while they were fighting for America to be safe again.
> 
> Yes, It would be good to pray for the troops. I remember my mother once was talking about her friends who came back from WWII and their troubles, and she was fluffing the pillows saying something like "war takes our best men away from us," and I mean to tell you, those pillows took a licking and were never fluffier than they were that day after she took out her anger on her work.
> 
> Anger isn't always a bad thing. She knew where to put it, too.
> 
> becki



I spent the first year on this med pump saying, 'I hate this pump, I hate this pump.'  Then I thought of my patients with their mechanical limbs.  The pump is just my mechanical lungs.  So now, I say 'I love this pump, I love this pump.'  If they can do it, I can do it.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not very much eventful going on today, except I finished the last flowers and leaves on the upper right had corner of the bluebird square. That was a happy thing after catching up on the laundry for the last week. There was a lot of bedding and had to do quilts on the master bed twice in addition to bedding. <huff, puff, huff puff> On a good note, my sweetie is trying really hard to finish things he starts, he just has trouble remembering the things he's supposed to do while he's doing them. But he really was trying, I could tell. Most of us take initiating what needs to be done for granted. A person with dementia can't do that any more. I love that little flicker of him trying that I see when I see it, though. It's not seen very often, but is appreciated when it comes through, though.
> 
> Here's Mr. Bluebird with the upper right hand corner done. A tree branch seems it would be nice, and was wondering if maybe they might like acorns on an oak tree? Guess it's time to pull out the website that discusses bird diet. Now which one was that? Each website seems to contribute a little something you didn't know before about each of our winged friends per specie, and their diets aren't all that competitive except for what's in the bird feeder. The bird feeder! Oh, my goodness. Here it is almost Christmas, and I saw that they were empty while I was doing something else. Better put my shoes on and go fill them up for breakfast for the little ones tomorrow! How could I be so forgetful! I was gonna be Ms. Faithful this week and remember our winged friends who eat bugs and slugs and those awful cutworms that are killing the St. Augustine grass, which you can tell by the large brown splotches around. I know they turn into a moth, but why couldn't they like weeds instead of St Augustine grass!
> 
> They say if you keep the feeder full the birds will go after the cutworms destroying your lawn. *sigh*
> 
> Well, the pattern I drew on was symmetric on a 90 degree upper right corner on the light pencil marks that were made. All that experimenting around with different stitches and colorations and a flaw or two, and not so sure it looks so symmetric due to sundry anomalies, but some of the prettiest cottage gardens are fun because from year to year, different annuals colors are rotated if the designer takes into consideration the beneficence of rotation as augmenting the soil between nitrogen setters and plants that benefit from that the following year.
> 
> Pardon my yada yada yadas.
> 
> Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday. I'm just gonna pray on Christmas day for my beloved husband and his attempt to hang on to reality to please me. And world peace. And health for America's birds, people, and so on.
> 
> Love to you and your families, for healing miracles for our wounded soldiers, maybe someone will perfect growing replacement arms and legs for them from their bone marrow or special cells that could replace knee tissue for those with bad knees, a kidney, eardrums, or other parts and organs that got shot up by an IED or whatever. Wouldn't it be lovely if medicine could make them whole again so they could feel strong and able again? Oh, I have a long request list for our dear soldiers, whatever happened to them while they were fighting for America to be safe again.
> 
> Yes, It would be good to pray for the troops. I remember my mother once was talking about her friends who came back from WWII and their troubles, and she was fluffing the pillows saying something like "war takes our best men away from us," and I mean to tell you, those pillows took a licking and were never fluffier than they were that day after she took out her anger on her work.
> 
> Anger isn't always a bad thing. She knew where to put it, too.
> 
> becki
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I spent the first year on this med pump saying, 'I hate this pump, I hate this pump.' Then I thought of my patients with their mechanical limbs. The pump is just my mechanical lungs. So now, I say 'I love this pump, I love this pump.' If they can do it, I can do it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for telling us this story about how troops have inspired you to do what you have to do to keep on keeping on. It's so special to me to hear that our troops keep giving back to us their best and their all. Thanks, Sunshine! You just gave meaning to the lives of thousands of American soldiers who suffered the worst and most punitive war to keep America safe from terrorists.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


>



Wow!


----------



## koshergrl

I'm picking it up again this weekend; had to put it aside to finish a hat/scarf combo that was initially planned for my sister, but ended up going to my dil's sister, who was at our house on Christmas. I was glad to have a gift for her, lol. My sis and I laughed about how we've bought gifts for one person, then ended up gifting them to someone else, we're both terrible lol. 

In fact, I talked her into buying a brass horse that I initially planned to give to my mother....but in the end, I gave it to my granddaughter who is (also) horse crazy...BECAUSE I had PLANNED to pick up something at Freddy's after work on Christmas Eve...legos....but when I got there, the store was closed! The only place open was Rite Aid so I got her like 3 super cheap gifts (though they were half off!)...so I gave her the brass horse...which is very cute (just a decoration, not a toy HA tell that to a 6 year old). 

She calls it...."My Weapon" HAHAHAHA

And actually, "Weapon" is an awesome name for a horse!

So funny, the brass horse thing came about because my MOTHER had a few brass horses from HER childhood...and I broke them all, playing with them. So the Weapon was going to be a much cheaper replacement of sorts.

Hers looked something like this, only much finer, nicer, and probably older. I remember red *jewels* imbedded here and there:


----------



## koshergrl

This one is very similar to...The Weapon:






The Weapons is actually much larger than that...that doesn't look very big, I don't know what sort of book that is, but our horse is as large as most of the hard covers I have in the house...


----------



## freedombecki

Not much going on, except I've worked for a couple of days on neutrals, which I'd put off indefinitely before. I didn't have all the colors, but I got enough to start collecting patterns for horses and stuff.



 ​ I also found a collection of somebody's roses in an unfinished set that are so different, I'm not sure what to think, except this group may have been handed down.. The pinks are pretty similar, though, but some things about the work is inconsistent--maybe done at different times, but never finished. There were under 20 squares, but only 10 are finished, 2 are in process of being almost finished, and the rest are grossly faded shades of red and blue into the muslin, which isn't all that great a quality, but beggars can't be choosers, and I got it for the price of a couple of yards of muslin, which is less probably the same amount of ruined squares. I'm not sure I want to put all that much work into the leftovers, because the color of the pencils ran, so the worker may have used an office pencil red instead of an embroidery washout pencil, which likely wasn't to be had at the time this quilt top was started. I will say this, though; someone put a lot of work in what is here, so hopefully I can get a couple of charity quilts from their effort, for some little girl who likes pink. ​ ​ One of the finished Ebay rose quilt block "finds" is below. It doesn't show the white areas in the 10- or 11-inch block (didn't measure) but here it is:​ ​ ​


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Not much going on, except I've worked for a couple of days on neutrals, which I'd put off indefinitely before. I didn't have all the colors, but I got enough to start collecting patterns for horses and stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> ​ I also found a collection of somebody's roses in an unfinished set that are so different, I'm not sure what to think, except this group may have been handed down.. The pinks are pretty similar, though, but some things about the work is inconsistent--maybe done at different times, but never finished. There were under 20 squares, but only 10 are finished, 2 are in process of being almost finished, and the rest are grossly faded shades of red and blue into the muslin, which isn't all that great a quality, but beggars can't be choosers, and I got it for the price of a couple of yards of muslin, which is less probably the same amount of ruined squares. I'm not sure I want to put all that much work into the leftovers, because the color of the pencils ran, so the worker may have used an office pencil red instead of an embroidery washout pencil, which likely wasn't to be had at the time this quilt top was started. I will say this, though; someone put a lot of work in what is here, so hopefully I can get a couple of charity quilts from their effort, for some little girl who likes pink. ​ ​ One of the finished Ebay rose quilt block "finds" is below. It doesn't show the white areas in the 10- or 11-inch block (didn't measure) but here it is:​ ​ ​



My mom made me a pillowcase with those roses and it was wavy at the end and had different shades of green embroidery at the end. I got it for my 8th birthday. My sister thought I was stupid because I thought it was the best present ever.


----------



## freedombecki

Two days working on neutrals, they have so many, I found about half of them among the gleanings from my ebay bargain stashes, winding and storing them. I also purchased a few of my favorite browns, but not all. Here goes the so-far of it. I have to wait till next week to make a list and go back to the store to complete this, so I will just go ahead and show it. Some of the threads here are just threads left on nearly-empty spools from some of the collected leftovers left in the boxes, so it will be the neutrals and leftovers box, maybe:


----------



## BDBoop

[MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION]

I can't send you a thank you - so thank you.

I kept it forever, it was in tatters but I kept it. Unfortunately, when I left my marriage so suddenly, it got left behind.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not much going on, except I've worked for a couple of days on neutrals, which I'd put off indefinitely before. I didn't have all the colors, but I got enough to start collecting patterns for horses and stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> I also found a collection of somebody's roses in an unfinished set that are so different, I'm not sure what to think, except this group may have been handed down.. The pinks are pretty similar, though, but some things about the work is inconsistent--maybe done at different times, but never finished. There were under 20 squares, but only 10 are finished, 2 are in process of being almost finished, and the rest are grossly faded shades of red and blue into the muslin, which isn't all that great a quality, but beggars can't be choosers, and I got it for the price of a couple of yards of muslin, which is less probably the same amount of ruined squares. I'm not sure I want to put all that much work into the leftovers, because the color of the pencils ran, so the worker may have used an office pencil red instead of an embroidery washout pencil, which likely wasn't to be had at the time this quilt top was started. I will say this, though; someone put a lot of work in what is here, so hopefully I can get a couple of charity quilts from their effort, for some little girl who likes pink. ​ One of the finished Ebay rose quilt block "finds" is below. It doesn't show the white areas in the 10- or 11-inch block (didn't measure) but here it is:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My mom made me a pillowcase with those roses and it was wavy at the end and had different shades of green embroidery at the end. I got it for my 8th birthday. My sister thought I was stupid because I thought it was the best present ever.
Click to expand...


Oh, my BDBoop. I have about 6 other sets I found on ebay at low bids. People must not be buying like usual lately to not be paying a hundred dollars per set. I'm getting some of them for the starting bid price, which I only bid on because of working for charity. Someone may have spent the better part of 10 years working an hour here, a half hour there, ten minutes at another time getting them all ready to put in a quilt, then somehow it got away from them by giving it a friend who lacked the enthusiasm to finish. If I can get my brother-in-law to take pictures of the roses when one of the tops is complete, I'll try to bring it here so you can see it. Our mothers bought the same patterns in national magazines, but these were worked in two colors only, which was popular with a lot of cross stitchers in years past, and still is. Some of us are a little nutty, and will actually bring a rose home from the flower shop, and actually turn all the lights off, turn a single lamp on to see what one-source light shading would require, or do two or even more light sources to get a more dispersive or do-able color agreement with what shades of pink we have or shades of rose-leaf green if we see something we like under lights with different sources of number, kind, and intensity. That's a lot of work, but we do it to get things right if we feel challenged to do it. At this point, the one pink and the one green idea, and heck, throw in another pink if ya run out of thread.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not much going on, except I've worked for a couple of days on neutrals, which I'd put off indefinitely before. I didn't have all the colors, but I got enough to start collecting patterns for horses and stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also found a collection of somebody's roses in an unfinished set that are so different, I'm not sure what to think, except this group may have been handed down.. The pinks are pretty similar, though, but some things about the work is inconsistent--maybe done at different times, but never finished. There were under 20 squares, but only 10 are finished, 2 are in process of being almost finished, and the rest are grossly faded shades of red and blue into the muslin, which isn't all that great a quality, but beggars can't be choosers, and I got it for the price of a couple of yards of muslin, which is less probably the same amount of ruined squares. I'm not sure I want to put all that much work into the leftovers, because the color of the pencils ran, so the worker may have used an office pencil red instead of an embroidery washout pencil, which likely wasn't to be had at the time this quilt top was started. I will say this, though; someone put a lot of work in what is here, so hopefully I can get a couple of charity quilts from their effort, for some little girl who likes pink. ​ One of the finished Ebay rose quilt block "finds" is below. It doesn't show the white areas in the 10- or 11-inch block (didn't measure) but here it is:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My mom made me a pillowcase with those roses and it was wavy at the end and had different shades of green embroidery at the end. I got it for my 8th birthday. My sister thought I was stupid because I thought it was the best present ever.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Oh, my BDBoop. I have about 6 other sets I found on ebay at low bids. People must not be buying like usual lately to not be paying a hundred dollars per set. I'm getting some of them for the starting bid price, which I only bid on because of working for charity. Someone may have spent the better part of 10 years working an hour here, a half hour there, ten minutes at another time getting them all ready to put in a quilt, then somehow it got away from them by giving it a friend who lacked the enthusiasm to finish. If I can get my brother-in-law to take pictures of the roses when one of the tops is complete, I'll try to bring it here so you can see it. Our mothers bought the same patterns in national magazines, but these were worked in two colors only, which was popular with a lot of cross stitchers in years past, and still is. Some of us are a little nutty, and will actually bring a rose home from the flower shop, and actually turn all the lights off, turn a single lamp on to see what one-source light shading would require, or do two or even more light sources to get a more dispersive or do-able color agreement with what shades of pink we have or shades of rose-leaf green if we see something we like under lights with different sources of number, kind, and intensity. That's a lot of work, but we do it to get things right if we feel challenged to do it. At this point, the one pink and the one green idea, and heck, throw in another pink if ya run out of thread.
Click to expand...


Wow. 

My mom - I'm surprised she could get any crafting done, but she sewed a LOT. Four daughters, no waiting. She loved to sew. She screamed one time, in the basement in Anoka. I ran downstairs and she was laughing too hard to talk. She'd been sewing merrily away, and a SQUIRREL ran across her sewing table!!!

She had no idea where it came from or where it went.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I drew a loblolly pine branch on the bottom of the birdy square in the leftover space and did a yellow butterfly and started its field of flowers in the sky to sip sweet nectar from as it flits about in the beautiful garb of reproduction in warmer months.

 This is not very fast, but I found a way to do daisies with a ring center instead of French knots. I haven't decided which I like the best, but I'm going to let them speak to others who are deciding whether to do French knots when they don't have a teacher as good as koshergrl. 

 Gettin' sleepy. Sweet dreams, everybody. Enjoyed your story, BDB! 

 And prayers up for Sunshine as she fights and slays her anathema. 

 Here's progress, wow, no wonder they make them so simple. Its hard to cover 17" square with lots of flowers and leaves, etc. But it's fun, and I'm reading stitch books like crazy at night just before vespers. Also including a couple of loblolly and longleaf pine examples that were helpful to my drawings, sort of. I should have just gone outside and looked up. We have some beautiful tall pines in the outskirts of the northwest pasture on our place.

 Love,

 becki


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Today, I drew a loblolly pine branch on the bottom of the birdy square in the leftover space and did a yellow butterfly and started its field of flowers in the sky to sip sweet nectar from as it flits about in the beautiful garb of reproduction in warmer months.
> 
> This is not very fast, but I found a way to do daisies with a ring center instead of French knots. I haven't decided which I like the best, but I'm going to let them speak to others who are deciding whether to do French knots when they don't have a teacher as good as koshergrl.
> 
> Gettin' sleepy. Sweet dreams, everybody. Enjoyed your story, BDB!
> 
> And prayers up for Sunshine as she fights and slays her anathema.
> 
> Here's progress, wow, no wonder they make them so simple. Its hard to cover 17" square with lots of flowers and leaves, etc. But it's fun, and I'm reading stitch books like crazy at night just before vespers. Also including a couple of loblolly and longleaf pine examples that were helpful to my drawings, sort of. I should have just gone outside and looked up. We have some beautiful tall pines in the outskirts of the northwest pasture on our place.
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki



Thanks! I should just 'go outside' more often as well.

I talked to my cousin in Alaska, I used to love taking pictures. I should go walk, and take pictures. Two birds and all that.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a closeup:



 Nite everybody.​ ​ Wonder if there's a way I could highlight [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION]'s yellow butterfly a little to make it more showy. Nah, they show up in God's world against green well. Too many stitches done by an inexperienced embroiderer could wind up in a work that is wrinkled. I have to get some religion about keeping my work drum tight. Maybe it would be smart to wrap the inner hoop with some old-fashioned cotton braiding or just a bias strip of muslin, folded and wrapped to conform to the inner hoop. It's a machine embroidery trick to keep the work taught when needed, at least back when the art of backing was not as good as it is now. I just have to make something on the machine to see if I still can. Oh, the yellow butterfly has "filling stitches"--running stitches on the lower wings, and a pyramid-of-sorts free stitch on the upper wings. I saw running stitches on parallels, but conformed them to the shape with the foci at the junction of the upper and lower wings. That is all. Really nite, now.​


----------



## BDBoop

Nite!


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Not much going on, except I've worked for a couple of days on neutrals, which I'd put off indefinitely before. I didn't have all the colors, but I got enough to start collecting patterns for horses and stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> I also found a collection of somebody's roses in an unfinished set that are so different, I'm not sure what to think, except this group may have been handed down.. The pinks are pretty similar, though, but some things about the work is inconsistent--maybe done at different times, but never finished. There were under 20 squares, but only 10 are finished, 2 are in process of being almost finished, and the rest are grossly faded shades of red and blue into the muslin, which isn't all that great a quality, but beggars can't be choosers, and I got it for the price of a couple of yards of muslin, which is less probably the same amount of ruined squares. I'm not sure I want to put all that much work into the leftovers, because the color of the pencils ran, so the worker may have used an office pencil red instead of an embroidery washout pencil, which likely wasn't to be had at the time this quilt top was started. I will say this, though; someone put a lot of work in what is here, so hopefully I can get a couple of charity quilts from their effort, for some little girl who likes pink. ​ One of the finished Ebay rose quilt block "finds" is below. It doesn't show the white areas in the 10- or 11-inch block (didn't measure) but here it is:​




I actually have that horse transfer packet...I think I'm going to make a pillow and maybe a comforter for my granddaughter with it......

I've picked up the swan pillow cases again..after making 3 hats and 2 scarves in the days around Christmas. I haven't been good about taking pics because I don't have internet right now, and I'm not as good about taking pictures of everything if I can't post the pics right away...I let the purple hat and scarf get away without taking a picture of the finished product (I gave it as a gift to my son's sister in law, who joined us for Christmas. It was supposed to be for my sister, but she wasn't there and I needed a gift, lol). I made a little pink hat for my granddaughter on Sunday when they were here...and then I made another hat and scarf for my daughter. I'll take a pic of those before too long. 

A friend's daughter wants a purple hat, too...I can make certain hats in about a day, they're awfully gratifying.

My grandson is due Feb. 5 though..I have to get out the little fisherman quilt blocks or they won't be ready!


----------



## koshergrl

Regarding keeping the drum tight, I don't worry so much about it any more...you can get it too tight, and end up with puckers as well, I think...and you can also stretch the cloth out of shape or so I have heard... (though I have never had that happen)

I still have some beautiful green linen I ordered in order to make my daughter hankies....she's 11 now, I think I may have them done by the time she walks down the aisle (after college!) 

I plan to hand hem them, embroider them, and put on crocheted edging as well. They will be fancy schmancy. Some day.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not much going on, except I've worked for a couple of days on neutrals, which I'd put off indefinitely before. I didn't have all the colors, but I got enough to start collecting patterns for horses and stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> I also found a collection of somebody's roses in an unfinished set that are so different, I'm not sure what to think, except this group may have been handed down.. The pinks are pretty similar, though, but some things about the work is inconsistent--maybe done at different times, but never finished. There were under 20 squares, but only 10 are finished, 2 are in process of being almost finished, and the rest are grossly faded shades of red and blue into the muslin, which isn't all that great a quality, but beggars can't be choosers, and I got it for the price of a couple of yards of muslin, which is less probably the same amount of ruined squares. I'm not sure I want to put all that much work into the leftovers, because the color of the pencils ran, so the worker may have used an office pencil red instead of an embroidery washout pencil, which likely wasn't to be had at the time this quilt top was started. I will say this, though; someone put a lot of work in what is here, so hopefully I can get a couple of charity quilts from their effort, for some little girl who likes pink. ​ One of the finished Ebay rose quilt block "finds" is below. It doesn't show the white areas in the 10- or 11-inch block (didn't measure) but here it is:​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I actually have that horse transfer packet...I think I'm going to make a pillow and maybe a comforter for my granddaughter with it......
> 
> I've picked up the swan pillow cases again..after making 3 hats and 2 scarves in the days around Christmas. I haven't been good about taking pics because I don't have internet right now, and I'm not as good about taking pictures of everything if I can't post the pics right away...I let the purple hat and scarf get away without taking a picture of the finished product (I gave it as a gift to my son's sister in law, who joined us for Christmas. It was supposed to be for my sister, but she wasn't there and I needed a gift, lol). I made a little pink hat for my granddaughter on Sunday when they were here...and then I made another hat and scarf for my daughter. I'll take a pic of those before too long.
> 
> A friend's daughter wants a purple hat, too...I can make certain hats in about a day, they're awfully gratifying.
> 
> My grandson is due Feb. 5 though..I have to get out the little fisherman quilt blocks or they won't be ready!
Click to expand...

By the time I get around to the horses, maybe we can both work on them at the same time! 

I had to try my hand at a really nice brown for the pine branches. We have tall pines that embellish the sky of the north center area between west pasture and east pond and pasture, not far from the house, but far enough so that if they fell, they would not reach the roof. We lost two of them in the three years of drought, and now the deluge has returned. 

So, here's the start on the pine branches. They take F...O...R...E...V...E...R....!!! I used 6 strands on all but one. I mindlessly was just stitching away when I separated the 6 strands into 3 as usual, and sewed one up, realizing it was not as lush looking as the others.


----------



## freedombecki

It was disappointing that my super-bright yellow did not show well on the super-bright white background, so I went ahead and put a dark green running stitch with a short under stitch to emphasize that (1) there is a butterfly there, and (2) It is a creature of natures green time.

I can't wait to get back to the pine tree part, but am running out of hours in the day. *sigh*

I have to tell you that @Ernie S. saw a bald eagle when he was out walking today. I hope our nation's mascot sighting by one of USMB fellow posters is a good omen, that God will continue to guide and bless the posterity of both Pilgrims and natives alike in this beautiful land we call America, that we prove to be good neighbors to both the country of Mexico and to Canada, not to mention each other's states. According to Ernie, the Eagle appeared after a couple of hawks were messing with his territory, but the Eagle prevailed.

May our nation, too, prevail in freedom, justice, and brotherly love for our fellow man.

Love to all ~

becki

 Oh, more flowers were added, too.


----------



## koshergrl

You might experiment with some gold thread...I have gone back over what was supposed to be finished work with different colors...you know, you really can't go wrong.....and maybe satin stitch the body of the butterfly to give it a little more presence?

I'm eternally satin stitching things lolol...then when I get a bit done I look at the rest of the piece and think it looks really bare...and think that maybe I should just satin stitch everything. That's what happened with the swans. I satin stitched the greenery...with no intention of doing the rest of it in satin stitch...then I had to do the water lilies...then of course I HAD to do the swans...and now I am eyeing the water underneath...in the end, the whole damn thing will be satin stitched.


----------



## koshergrl

Then I'll have to un-stitch the pillow cases and make it into a  family banner or something.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> You might experiment with some gold thread...I have gone back over what was supposed to be finished work with different colors...you know, you really can't go wrong.....and maybe satin stitch the body of the butterfly to give it a little more presence?
> 
> I'm eternally satin stitching things lolol...then when I get a bit done I look at the rest of the piece and think it looks really bare...and think that maybe I should just satin stitch everything. That's what happened with the swans. I satin stitched the greenery...with no intention of doing the rest of it in satin stitch...then I had to do the water lilies...then of course I HAD to do the swans...and now I am eyeing the water underneath...in the end, the whole damn thing will be satin stitched.



I prefer the challenges afforded by color blending and creating on a two-dimensional surface contrasts with available cotton fabrics and threads. If it has a polyethelyne base, I avoid it due to the toxic chemicals released in a house fire. Many of the usable gold threads are blended with nylon, polyethelene-based, or other synthetic fibers.

 Some people love gold. It lost its enchantment to me when my mother-in-law's gold jewelry was all taken from her jewelry box by house thieves.

 After that, I thought how horrible many thieves are, who will kill someone who is wearing a gold necklace for the paltry sum they will obtain from stolen merchandise removed from a still-warm corpse. I'm glad the thieves did their dirty deed while no one was at home, and she was so sad, because her parents had given her a couple of pieces. Not only that, there are too many news stories of men or women killed for the gold or jewels they were wearing by gangs or armed thieves. I know investors like gold, but it has no enchantment for me. The envy and dissociation it inflicts on people's minds makes it worthless to me. It's the principle. I look great wearing polished rocks and plastic beads, because my smile shows I don't care greatly if my dime store baubles get lost.


----------



## koshergrl

I learned that things are not so important when I had to pawn a $1500 saddle for $20 in order to buy diapers for the babies...their dad had gone through my savings and left us completely bereft and penniless.

It about killed me to do it, but once it was done, I realized that things are just things, and nothing is as important as the people in our lives. I had a hard time leaving him, because not only were my children involved, but he also had two young boys who thought of me as their mama...and it was very, very hard to leave them behind. I kept going back to help with them...until finally I left everything behind. I took my kids and essentially what I could carry and started over completely.

And I don't put much value on things anymore..haven't for more than 10 years. In fact, I'm just getting to the point where I think it might be nice to have matched glasses and maybe a set of china again, lolol...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Then I'll have to un-stitch the pillow cases and make it into a family banner or something.


If gold threads are on the edges of the pillowcase, people's faces usually don't come into contact with it anyway. I wouldn't worry! 

 And I actually used gold in one of the first blocks on my Children of the World quilt--the Egyptian one. Unfortunately, somebody stole a dozen of my blocks from my shop, and the Egyptians were one of them. I never remade the block. They stole the best blocks.  I lost my enthusiasm for the project, and never made the second quilt. Each quilt only took about 25 squares, and 50 countries had patterns when I got done with All God's Children. Kleptomania is a sickness, and I had several items stolen from shows, my shop, and display window. Unless I embroider them, I probably won't make another quilt from the patterns I self-published for students.


----------



## koshergrl

It's not so much that as just the fact they're too nice for pillow cases.

In theory, lol.

The work outclasses the media...

Internet returneth tomorrow, can't wait. 

I have been trying to get pics of sea birds at the marina when we're there, but haven't had any luck getting anything worth posting....looking forward to being able to put pics on my puter and mess around at home again.


----------



## freedombecki

Finally! The finishing touch on the pine branch is done. It took 9 yards of 6-strand floss and then some. I had no idea it would take so many hours. I spent another 4.5 hours on it today to get everything complete I've been working on all week. I have 1 more flower to add to the sparse corner, and if it looks right, I'll be done with birdy and can get back to other quilts again. What a ride this one square has been!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> It's not so much that as just the fact they're too nice for pillow cases.
> 
> In theory, lol.
> 
> The work outclasses the media...
> 
> Internet returneth tomorrow, can't wait.
> 
> I have been trying to get pics of sea birds at the marina when we're there, but haven't had any luck getting anything worth posting....looking forward to being able to put pics on my puter and mess around at home again.


There will be different sea birds as migrations begin sometime in the spring, and you never know what's going to be in the mix. I always loved spring in Wyoming, because loons would nest along the North Platte at a park near us, and it was total joy to see a pair of them winging their way parallel to the surface of the river, and they soared so close to the water, as if they were far, far above. Also, they flew in perfect synchronization as well as any army that ever marched. What a sight to see. That's the fun of visiting the water's edge. All the birds eventually show up there for healing and camaraderie with other equally graceful beings.


----------



## koshergrl

There are also seals that hang at the marina....


----------



## koshergrl

My internet hath been restored.

It's a Netflix nite tonight for sure! Netflix, take me away!!!!!

Oh and I'm going to start crocheting some little animals for my soon-to-be-born grandson!


----------



## freedombecki

So happy to see that your internet is back, koshergrl!


----------



## freedombecki

Today, it was winding a lot more neutrals than before, and two packages arrived--all the "new" colors from 3800-3844 DMC I don't have, which someone just sold, all prewound and ready to put to the needle! 

The other thing that came was a group of 6 Antebellum ladies that were said to be embroidered and ready to put into a quilt. April fool!!! The first one I picked up had no embroidered hands, so the 3779 color (flesh) I'd just bought was a perfect, plus the flower that dropped from her boquet wasn't done, so I had to scurry around and find colors to match her outfit, and I did. I was surprised that the colors were so close when they didn't look that way, but the 2 greens needed were 907 (bright hot lime) and 906 (bright medium light green). Just by looking I was guessing it was 911, but that color showed up too blue, so I tried, thinking better safe than sorry, and the 906 matched perfectly. The 415 dark ruby color was correct, so I was lucky it was in one of the collections of threads found on the internet last fall that came in a box, all wrapped and ready to cut and put to the needle.

I'm still checking colors against my color chart for accuracy (it's easy not to fix a wrapping error), but here's one of the Antebellum Boquet Lady, that I finished just a few minutes ago. It takes an hour to match, thread needles, and sew four colors, and I'm slow because this is still rather of a new craft to me. I noticed the back was a maplike network of an embroiderer who did not tie off, just went the distance to the next flower, so it is a scramble of wrong-side leaves, flowers, and what not with 1- to 3 1/2 inches of thread between flowers she did. It's a total mess, but the top looks nice. It's no wonder in that morass how one would miss the hands and a flower here and there! I know backs don't have to be pretty, but in the case of making a quilt, if the thread used is one that bleeds, the top is forever susceptible to fading at different washings, and it can get worse before it gets better. 
Edit 1: added scan of back to show worrisome dark threads
Edit 2: added scan of bow at top


----------



## freedombecki

What really made me go for this particular sunbonnet/colonial lady pattern was the beautiful train of the skirt, which was too wide to photograph well on the above pictures, so I scanned just one more scan of this one, which shows at least partly, why I picked this one over the thousands of different colonial ladies (yawn) out there. This one is worthy of a lovely bridesmaid dress at the finest wedding, and the frames just added to the beauty of this block. I only have 6 of the blocks, but my, oh, my some little girl is going to get a pretty all-girl look quilt when me and my quilt terrorist society partners are done doing good and completing the work. <giggle>


----------



## koshergrl

Oh becki, you're so organized and precise, you put me to shame!

As I go along, I get better, but it takes me a while. 

I'll take a pic of the swans tonight, I'm almost done with the second one and they are looking pretty awesome. I'm doing a much better job on the second one than the first..I suspect by the time I get to the fourth it won't look like the same person stitched it!

I've been watching Downton Abbey (I just started, watching it on Amazon Prime...) and I get a lot of stitching done while I'm watching it!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Oh becki, you're so organized and precise, you put me to shame!
> 
> As I go along, I get better, but it takes me a while.
> 
> I'll take a pic of the swans tonight, I'm almost done with the second one and they are looking pretty awesome. I'm doing a much better job on the second one than the first..I suspect by the time I get to the fourth it won't look like the same person stitched it!
> 
> I've been watching Downton Abbey (I just started, watching it on Amazon Prime...) and I get a lot of stitching done while I'm watching it!


Not hardly koshergrl. Keep in mind I've written about 11 volumes on applique and machine embroidered designs for other people to make quilts with. Right now, I'm just playing around, nothing too serious ever, try this, try that. But the nice thing about just plain embroidery on a background of white or muslin color, it's like drawing with a pencil, except one stitch follows the next. Also, I have been drawing from nature since the age of 4. My grandma was a teacher, and she kept our family together while Dad was in Korea. She loved my drawings and said mine looked better than children twice my age, because I drew things the way they looked. I think that is called precocious in children who can do stuff well at an early age. The only thing I didn't do was talk. But when I did start talking, it was in full sentences, but I don't remember that. I do remember my grandmother making a big fuss about my pictures, and everyone agreed, it was funny to hear a child who'd never spoken a word start speaking in full sentences just all of a sudden one day. 

 Oh, and I didn't think my china berry tree was nearly as pretty as the one out front of Grandma's house, but it was good to see my grandmother smile on account of my little scribblings.

 I loved the work you did on the swans, koshergrl. I'm the one who's in awe of you. I started a sampler when the kids were small. After the youngest graduated from high school, the sum total of my progress was 3 flowers on the border and the letters I did first because I hated embroidering letters. Maybe a motif or two had been embroidered, too, but it was less than 20%. A month after I picked it up again when the kids left me with an empty nest, the rest of it was done. That felt so good, because I had enjoyed doing every stitch. Very shortly after that, I took a class in machine embroidery and loved it so much, I demolished my 10-year-old sewing machine with work, so I bought a new Pfaff because I knew from my factory days, Pfaff was the world's best, and there was a dealer in our town. My daughter is still using the same machine, and she loves it and repairs her own socks and police uniforms with it, sews the appliqued badges on her blue shirts, etc.

 I think it takes a lot more together than I'll ever have to embroider early and late and raise children at the same time. My mother did it, but I couldn't do that. All my arts were put on the back burner until the kids were out of school, period. They got homemade bread only, however, which kept me out of mischief.


----------



## freedombecki

The lady who made the Christmas wreath below is not an extremist embroiderer-- noooooo-ooooo!






 But I do think she favors pinks.

Photo credits: http://www.embroidery-methods.com/embroidery-wreath.html


----------



## koshergrl

You know there are embroidery transfers for pillow cases that are antebellum ladies with skirts that expand to the wides of the entire pillow that would be tremendous with that quilt...


----------



## Sunshine

Got to catch up on this thread.  Knowing full well, every day won't be a 'walk on the beach day' I brought the tablecloth with me.  But Wally World doesn't have the right thread.  I may have to order it.  I have a little, but not much.


----------



## koshergrl

I've been looking at crochet patterns for the last hours. so much to do..so little time.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Got to catch up on this thread. Knowing full well, every day won't be a 'walk on the beach day' I brought the tablecloth with me. But Wally World doesn't have the right thread. I may have to order it. I have a little, but not much.


Try Hobby Lobby. Here, they have all 450 colors except for the new color variations, of which I'd like a bunch to experiment around with. I did order some in kits, but Ouch! No bargains there. I guess the process of putting half a dozen different colors onto a six-strand embroidery cotton must be a very expensive task and takes pinpoint accuracy to get it right. Knowing DMC company, they will be right when done. 

 Today, I wound four dozen bobbins in pumpkin pie shades from light to dark before taking sweetie to the doctor's office to retake a blood sugar test. He's not connecting sneaking the rest of the Christmas candy with the necessity of fasting before he gets his finger pricked, this time twice in one week. /stifling a giggle so as not to be thought of as a meanie. 

 Isn't it funny how when you try to stop laughing you wind up laughing harder?


----------



## koshergrl

Now that Christmas is past, I've been thinking about dusting off the two sewing machines. Pray for me, I still want to make quilts and I'm determined to make them before I die!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> You know there are embroidery transfers for pillow cases that are antebellum ladies with skirts that expand to the wides of the entire pillow that would be tremendous with that quilt...



My mother made a bunch of those for the adult women in the family for Christmas one year and kept one pair for the master bedroom. I used to love to walk past and see the variegated dresses puffed out with ruffles she had crocheted and then starched. They were beautiful. She embroidered the hands and faces, and flowers on the hats. Waking up every day in our home was to hear the sewing machine running by the time everyone else got up. She worked all day and got up at 4 in the morning to sew whatever was needed in the house or wardrobe of whoever needed it. What a power house of good deeds for family was my mother.

 The only way you could get me to do one of those ladies (after doing only one hand and a couple of leaves and flowers on that square) is to back fabric with cutaway and use my Pfaff machine-stitched stem stitch. Well, I did have software at one time, but that was about 4 computers ago, and the last one crashed and when it was repaired, the crazy guy who "fixed" it erased every single file I had--all my pictures, all my counted work for a dozen tapestries, and all my drawings for about two years.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Now that Christmas is past, I've been thinking about dusting off the two sewing machines. Pray for me, I still want to make quilts and I'm determined to make them before I die!



Done!


----------



## koshergrl

Thank you! I really want to do this...


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

Here's the hat/scarf I made the girl over the Christmas break:


----------



## koshergrl

This is one of many hats/scarves I made (all out of this highly visible red color hahaha) a year or so ago...I must have made a half dozen of them....never mind the pills if they show up, these were in my son's closet...


----------



## freedombecki

Beautiful, koshergrl! Positively out of this world work you shared. Thanks! 

Today, I'm in a hustle to go to the TX Quilt Museum in Lagrange, which is four hours of driving, so I'm going to have to just leave what I planned instead of spreading rep so I can rep koshergrl again! Too much travel this wk and too little time to spend sewing and giving great people reputation! <hugs>

 Before I got here to this unexpected show of beautiful handwork, I collected some fun owls from around the blogs that people have worked so hard on to show and share.


----------



## koshergrl

My dil saw that red hat on fb and now I'm making her one...

Except the one I'm making is purple, with a bit of a band, and a decrease at the crown to allow a little more feminine shape....it's still double yarn though, so it is going to be quite imposing and very warm.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm using a pattern based on this, but instead of using single-crochet for the crown decrease, I'm just using hdc (half double crochet) the same as the band...so it will more resemble the boys' hats, won't be so properly a "slouchy" like the one in the video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylbXCRLUeqo&hd=1]Easy Ribbed Hat Crochet Tutorial - Can be made into a slouch - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the trip to LaGrange TX quilt museum was postponed.

We have some bad people around lately who've been casing the neighborhood, and damage to our roof has suffered from this attention, and rocks disappeared from our road, placed there at a terrible expense. I took the dog out before we were to have left when our detractor was parked in his usual place.

Sometimes, you just have to stay home and mind the store when you live out in the country, and there have been a rash of slimebuckets preying on households with a member who have dementia.

I pray they will leave us alone, but I know where they park when watching our comings and goings. I'm done being their victim. He also takes one area of the fence and bashes it when he comes around. I'm very sick of his doings.


----------



## koshergrl

Good lord, file a small claims suit against him, if you know who it is, and you can't get a criminal charge filed.


----------



## freedombecki

File a claim against a worker as a small business owner?

 Ain't gonna do it. The Sheriff told me what to say when the occasion arises. My detractor fights with words. He will not beat me now that I am informed in specific language what to say and do. The past is over and gone. I learned from my mistakes, and I made a lot of them. Why I'm almost perfect now.


----------



## koshergrl

A woman with a plan!


----------



## koshergrl

I love those owls.

I realize now that i will have to start purchasing pillowcases that don't have the deep hem, as I'm looking at the swan cases....my next big pillowcase project will be the antebellum ladies! I believe I have some transfers!!!


----------



## koshergrl

Only mine will have a crocheted ruffle!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I love those owls.
> 
> I realize now that i will have to start purchasing pillowcases that don't have the deep hem, as I'm looking at the swan cases....my next big pillowcase project will be the antebellum ladies! I believe I have some transfers!!!


If you knew how easy it was to make a pillowcase with French seams, you'd never buy another. That's how you can govern the content of the fiber you prefer. 

 I love cotton. It is the worst nightmare of microorganisms on the planet due to it disintegrates their membranes by removing moisture from their cellular makeup, turning them into dust. It is also boilable, which can rid you of a resistant virus. Very few of them can make it through 170F for a few seconds much less 212F for 5 minutes. 

 It's also the kindest care for skin due to its removal of microbes from skin areas as well.

 And the soap and water you use in the washing machine on hot is quite effective on eliminating residue that would otherwise give rise to molds and mildew to which many people develop allergies.

 Oh, my, it's past my bedtime.

 May God bring us all to peace and understanding of the principles that made our nation great--love for God's principles, love for people, stewardship over God's gift of this beautiful world, strong families, and happy hearts.

 And may God bless America and be ever-present among us.


----------



## koshergrl

xoxoxoxoxoxox and sweet dreams.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, koshergrl. I slept well. My brother came today and set posts for the new gate that he will put in when the posts are set. What a wonderful brother I have. He also fixed the riding mower that got high-centered and would go neither forward nor backward. He located the dislocated band that makes the back wheels function, taking out and replacing the battery to do so. *sigh*

In lieu of winding another two dozen embroidery threads, today, the lure of viewing other people's use of embroideries to do horses was just too strong. HA!!! Well, plenty of horses people had embroidered were found, but a veritable treasure of an idea was also found on etsy, where two young women "up-cycled" old pillowcases to be something truly both lovely and nostalgic for the home, by recycling them into beautiful and colorful tea towels and aprons. Here are just three for starters, and I sorta forgot about the horses, because I was so fascinated by the beautiful crochet that adorned many of them in variegated or white colors in crochet edges I'd never seen before, so please bear with me, and I'll post thumbnails that can and should be perused by double-clicking them and seeing something old and something new turned into something just as gorgeous as they can be!


----------



## freedombecki

Group 2 of upcycled items:


----------



## freedombecki

7, 8, and 9:


----------



## freedombecki

10, 11, and 12:


----------



## freedombecki

13, 14, and 15:


----------



## freedombecki

16, 17, and 18:


----------



## freedombecki

The middle one is an apron "upcycled" from an old pillowcase that was hand-embroidered. 



 
 19, 20, and 21


----------



## freedombecki

22, 23, and 24

 Each of their works was so well done, I just couldn't believe it. Their background fabric choices for the tea towels was totally out of this world. I think I would say their craft borders on the aesthetic.


----------



## freedombecki

25, 26, and 27:


----------



## freedombecki

28, 29, and 30:


----------



## freedombecki

31, 32, 33


----------



## koshergrl

I love those!!!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I love those!!!


Thanks, koshergrl. There's a book on recycling pillowcases I noticed on Amazon on my last visit. It was on one of those pages that you can look inside for a table-of-contents read and a couple of pictures, usually on craft books. I never inherited any of my mother's lovely pillowcases, and after she passed, my father's new wife is said to have taken them to the dump or something. 

 Like your stuff, hers was always wonderful. *sigh* But hey, I got the best part. I got the memories of a perfect mother who showed her children unconditional love at all times. And her handwork will always be locked in my memory where love is. That's enough for me. I got to hold her hand when I was little and look up to her. 

 Well, finally got my husband diagnosed today. He has glucose intolerance. We will learn a new way of eating food at restaurants. No bread, no potatoes, no sweets, no pasta, just meat and green or yellow veggies, until his tests come out better. Hopefully he will lose the 60 pounds he's gained in the last 5 years. He also has to walk twice a day. Since he doesn't always do what he sets out to do, I will have to walk with him every step of the way. That's why I'm going early to bed tonight. I'm sorry to not be able to spend all night repping people I owe, but I'm dog tired, and can't gnaw any more bones today. 

 This is the first neutral I've done on the Butterflies. I've been working on it for 3 days off and on, mostly off, but little by little does they trick, they say...
/Head falling into keyboard with eyes wide shut...


----------



## freedombecki

We travelled to LaGrange, Texas, today, and visited the lovely Texas State Quilt Museum that was established 2 years ago, to my great joy when I discovered it online the other day. The quilts made by the Texas ladies were just as pretty as the ones by "Internationally known quilters" in another area of the museum. All were gorgeous, zany, and some were just plain fun. There was even a quilt made by Illinois quilter Jane Sassaman, and here it is:






Texas Quilt Museum Houston Quilts

 If you live near LaGrange, here's the map in LaGrange's downtown area, the museum being at 140 W Colorado St, La Grange · (979) 968-3104:





Texas Quilt Museum Houston Quilts


----------



## koshergrl

I finally finished the purple hat. It looks nothing like the tutorial hahha...and   the boy is goofing off in it:






Double yarn makes it very sturdy...this is not a hat for the lighthearted. It is more like head sculpture...


----------



## koshergrl

Today I crocheted my first pair of booties:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Today I crocheted my first pair of booties:



Those are cute and the hats are adorable! Congratulations on the booties! I must've made 100 pairs of house slippers for us in years past, but somehow, after the business got to going in full swing, I quit making them. Now, we need some more, but crocheting takes a lot of time like the embroidery does. I'm glad I have a lot of squares, but I'm going to finish the butterfly quilt if it's the last thing I do. I've been working on it, and haven't completed a quilt since starting it several months ago, it seems, with other training squares in between. The only sane way to do it is just to stick with the design printed on the material, and let it go at that. I learned that the  hard way from doing the nosegay cross stitch squares and the child quilt squares that were unfinished. All those have to be made into quilts, but the butterfly quilt is next, and there are still 3 to do. It's better than the first day, when I was looking at 12 blank butterfly squares with only the washable ink on them. I'm now working on a blue one.

 Here's the brown one. I have to finish the leaves around the last flower done, I just conveniently forgot to remember it or something. 

 Scan 1 the almost finished brown butterfly
 Scan 2 a picture of a Karner's blue endangered butterfly I'm thinking about using the color for on the blue block I'm working right now...
 Scan 3 the blue butterfly worked on after I thought I'd finished the brown square, but still have 4 leaves to do. We should have a smile with a little rain cloud above his head.  Oh, well!

 I have to take my little muscle relaxant pills or they act really strange at night.

 May God bring peace to this world and make us a better people.

 ~ Love to all, and good night. Thanks so much to those who support the work by dropping in to say hi. As you can tell, we don't just talk about quilts here, we love all hand crafts.

 As if there weren't enough to do, pretty soon it will be time to plant flower and then vegetable seeds. We've been back to Texas over 4 years now, going on 5, and I'm getting an almanac this year to cope with when to plant stuff. I think I have enough Coreopsis seeds to plant 12 acres. 

 And this year, I bought thousands of poppy seeds, but all of them would fill the tiniest bag you ever saw in your life. they are itsy!  I have to go. 

 Good night!


----------



## freedombecki

The family bid farewell to my eldest brother today in Corpus Christi at his funeral. My husband's issues require almost constant attention, and our trip to visit him last week did not go well due to health issues. It never occurred to me this could possibly happen. 

Well, fortunately I have a couple of friends whose kindness has touched me lately, and I spent time working on the butterfly. It rained all day, so there was no going out to check on yellow butterflies. I'm grateful my brother was released from his heinous suffering, though, about 7 years after his Alzheimer's was diagnosed. And my visit to his hospice room last week let me know how bad his suffering was. He fought it to the end.

This is far from finished. Love is blue, I guess:

 I also found a rather beautiful applique quilt someone made at Bing! search engine, so added a picture and detail picture.


----------



## koshergrl

God loves you, Becki, and so do I. My heart goes out to you and your family, even though it is a release for your brother, it is still a sad release. 

I am dealing with a big old abcessed tooth; my dentist appointment is tomorrow..I hope that the antbiotics will have kicked in by then, because I'm a mess today...the swelling has increased steadily throughout the day, along my jawline, down my neck...my ear sounds fuzzy, and I have a terrible headache as well. I called the office and they said just keep doing what I'm doing...and told me that they do deal with abcesses in the office (I was afraid I'd go in and be told "oh we can't do this here, you'll have to make an appointment somewhere else with an oral surgeon") HOWEVER she did tell me that they aren't able to numb when they drain abcesses.

I'm like HUH? what the HECK? What's that all about? 

She said sometimes, so let's hope this isn't one of those times. Oh well, millions of people down through the ages have survived dentistry, I guess I can make a decent showing, too. (That's also what I tell myself about dying. If so and so can do it, then by golly, so can I!)

But my thoughts are with you, Becki. Hope you are able to get some rest now, and gather your strength back to you.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Allie. Freezing rain, toothache, and an achy-breaky heart here, but I'm okay. In less than 2 weeks February will be here, and it looks like we'll have a warmer day Feb. 1 by looking at the 10-day forecast. Think I will turn in for the night.

 I sure hope all goes well with your dental appointment tomorrow, so will put you on my prayer list for total healing and restoration to a pain-free set of choppers in the future. <hugs>

 ~ becki


----------



## koshergrl

Thanks, I look forward to being on the mend tomorrow!


----------



## freedombecki

Wow! A blanket of snow is covering the edges of the pond and the whole yard! We almost never get snow this far south in Texas, but we got an abundance last night, and it's freezing. Oh, wait, I see drips coming off the orange trumpet vine I let grow outside my 2nd-story window for the sweet hummingbirds of warmer weather. *sigh*

 Hope koshergrl's dental procedure goes well and brings her relief today. My toothache seems to be on haitus for the moment.

 Bundle up everyone who got Old Man Winter's real fury up north, and hope everyone goes a little slower on the road and avoids any auto mishaps. Sometimes if you drive safely, others see it and remember to lighten up on the accelerator, too. I've seen it time and time again. Cars will pass you up when you are driving safe, realize they're going too fast, get in the slow land and drive like pros.

 You can save lives just by letting the world go by. It makes drivers going too fast smarter. Courtesy truly works.

 Well, I have a butterfly that needs rehooping and working. It's still on the scanner. I just tuckered out too quickly last night, that's all, and I was wrong about my brother's funeral. I called to check on my sister, and her husband told me the funeral is today, not yesterday. I still have a man on my hands who needs my loving care for the duration. I'm not sure how many years that will be, but I will do my best to give a man who dedicated his healthy years to other as good of care at home as long as I can still do it. He deserves all that I can give and more.


----------



## freedombecki

Worked a little more on the butterfly project, but didn't get the frame around the square or any flowers done yet.

The seed stitch was borrowed from an idea I found in a couple of hardback books I bought on ebay last year. When you need good, unused books, a good time to buy is toward the end of the year when booksellers are clearing their shelves due to taxes. I guess that's how I got several $30 books for a clearance price of $1 to $5. I try to keep my expenditures on books to a minimum, but end of year is a really good time to buy. I even picked up a rare book on blue and white oriental counted cross stitch that has a pattern perfect for putting into my silly little postage stamps, and will be a good size for a child's crib quilt. It will likely be most scrappy, but is a butterfly done in squares. 

Here's the progress so far on blue butterfly with seed stitch for coloration to upper wings:
 (Oh, yes, and if you click on the thumbnail you can see the light blue seed stitch application in a closed area better.)


----------



## koshergrl

Oooh...that's fancy!!!!!

I'm making another hat, lol. This one is for a co-worker/friend who picked up my prescription for me the other day. I'm trying to work through a lot of weird yarn I have stashed around from unfinished projects....


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, Koshergrl. Just trying to practice some of what the book is teaching. I'd like to do a series of basic projects with each of their suggested stitches. It's so much fun. 

 You're really going to town on those hats and accessories! I bet the girls love them!


----------



## freedombecki

In the wee hours of the morning, I got up and completed the last leaf group on the brown butterfly and the first two sets on the blue butterfly square plus two adjacent flower sets. If I have time leftover after planting the pansies I bought at home depot last week, and clearing a spot for other flower seeds to plant next week after all freezing cold is gone, I will try to embroider the last 2 flower sets on the blue butterfly square, which will complete it. Hopefully that will be the only blue on this so far sunny Monday morning.

 Hope everyone has a super week!

 Love to all,

 becki


----------



## freedombecki

Well, mowing the duration of the morning away and moving more piles of wood from the fence piles that should have been removed by the fencer but weren't didn't get the block done, but I worked on part of another flower set on butterfly blue.

 I want to thank those who drop in here with an encouraging word. It means a lot and keeps me going. When the butterflies are all done, and there are only two more blocks, it will take a couple of days to figure a plan to complete a small quilt top. The squares are only 9 inches now and will be smaller yet when takeup for sets and sashings has been done. If it just comforts a small child in a shelter or a senior who experiences loneliness in a nursing home with a touch of God's love, or is sold to give a college student the opportunity to buy a book for a class that helps him or her learn what must be known to launch a career, I will be so happy. It's taken so long I could have made two dozen really nice cotton quilts, but I just wanted to have the joy of making something half as pretty as koshergrl's pillowcases she shared last year or a quarter as masterful as Sunshine's truly pretty cross stitch quilt top, and it's been so much fun doing something a little off my little beaten rut of piecing log cabin tops I'm so addicted to. 

 Hope everyone has a great evening and sleeps well. I am experiencing a little caffeine-withdrawal headache from yesterday, when I flat forgot to drink a cup of coffee in the morning. That triggered an all-day nap. The coffee wakes me up from the sleep induced by the muscle relaxant, and Sunday afternoon, well, I had a true day of rest, to put it mildly.

 A prayer for peace, patience, prosperity, and prudence in the world of the future.






 ~ Love,

 becki


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Well, mowing the duration of the morning away and moving more piles of wood from the fence piles that should have been removed by the fencer but weren't didn't get the block done, but I worked on part of another flower set on butterfly blue.
> 
> I want to thank those who drop in here with an encouraging word. It means a lot and keeps me going. When the butterflies are all done, and there are only two more blocks, it will take a couple of days to figure a plan to complete a small quilt top. The squares are only 9 inches now and will be smaller yet when takeup for sets and sashings has been done. If it just comforts a small child in a shelter or a senior who experiences loneliness in a nursing home with a touch of God's love, or is sold to give a college student the opportunity to buy a book for a class that helps him or her learn what must be known to launch a career, I will be so happy. It's taken so long I could have made two dozen really nice cotton quilts, but I just wanted to have the joy of making something half as pretty as koshergrl's pillowcases she shared last year or a quarter as masterful as Sunshine's truly pretty cross stitch quilt top, and it's been so much fun doing something a little off my little beaten rut of piecing log cabin tops I'm so addicted to.
> 
> Hope everyone has a great evening and sleeps well. I am experiencing a little caffeine-withdrawal headache from yesterday, when I flat forgot to drink a cup of coffee in the morning. That triggered an all-day nap. The coffee wakes me up from the sleep induced by the muscle relaxant, and Sunday afternoon, well, I had a true day of rest, to put it mildly.
> 
> A prayer for peace, patience, prosperity, and prudence in the world of the future.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ~ Love,
> 
> becki



I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were a motor on your behalf. Keep posting! Even if I don't post, I'm still enjoying.


----------



## Gracie

freedombecki said:


> We travelled to LaGrange, Texas, today, and visited the lovely Texas State Quilt Museum that was established 2 years ago, to my great joy when I discovered it online the other day. The quilts made by the Texas ladies were just as pretty as the ones by "Internationally known quilters" in another area of the museum. All were gorgeous, zany, and some were just plain fun. There was even a quilt made by Illinois quilter Jane Sassaman, and here it is:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Texas Quilt Museum Houston Quilts
> 
> If you live near LaGrange, here's the map in LaGrange's downtown area, the museum being at 140 W Colorado St, La Grange · (979) 968-3104:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Texas Quilt Museum Houston Quilts




Oh wow. I LOVE that!


----------



## BDBoop

[MENTION=42649]Gracie[/MENTION] - the main quilt for Gallery III reminds me of you.

Hard to grab it, had to find the gallery and then save.


----------



## Gracie

I got a buttload of those sampler thingies at furniture stores...you know, those booklet thingies with upholstery samples. So...I took them all out, tried to peel the paper off the backs (all glued on) and decided to just toss the loose pieces in the washer. It all came off but left a mess in the washing machine. Dried them, then stitched them all together. Made a small couch throw with one, covered my footstool in the other one I made, then whipped together one big one but it still needs a backing. Took forever..my fingers and knuckles were on fire, but I did it. Here is the footstool I recovered:








I can't imagine the pain and patience of doing what you do, Becki. But it sure is pretty what you do!


----------



## Gracie

Oooh. I like that, Boop! I snagged it and have it in my massive Avie folder. Thank you!!


----------



## Gracie

btw...I stitched all those squares together without a sewing machine. Took forever. But they sure did turn out pretty.


----------



## Gracie

And this is why I covered the footstool...to match my bed (the recliner). I also painted the antique harp table. Good thing about my painting that is....it will all come off with warm water. So if I ever decide to sell it....I will be able to put it back in its original condition.






Scored a set of slipshades today too. CHEAP. I love slipshade chandeliers!


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> @Gracie - the main quilt for Gallery III reminds me of you.
> 
> Hard to grab it, had to find the gallery and then save.


So glad you posted that, BDB!

http://www.usmessageboard.com/8530233-post2798.html

 And thanks for chiming in, too! Appreciated.


----------



## BDBoop

Beautiful! So warm, and yet jewel-like.


----------



## freedombecki

Gracie said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> We travelled to LaGrange, Texas, today, and visited the lovely Texas State Quilt Museum that was established 2 years ago, to my great joy when I discovered it online the other day. The quilts made by the Texas ladies were just as pretty as the ones by "Internationally known quilters" in another area of the museum. All were gorgeous, zany, and some were just plain fun. There was even a quilt made by Illinois quilter Jane Sassaman, and here it is:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Texas Quilt Museum Houston Quilts
> 
> If you live near LaGrange, here's the map in LaGrange's downtown area, the museum being at 140 W Colorado St, La Grange · (979) 968-3104:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Texas Quilt Museum Houston Quilts
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh wow. I LOVE that!
Click to expand...

Thank you, Grace. It's minimal here, but it seems to me it was a large wallhanging or small quilt, and so very well-done by an artist, and was selected to represent all the wonderful hand creations of women artists both nationally and internationally. The local quilts while of a traditional bent, were nothing to sneeze at with astute color mastery and good needlework a given. I was totally enchanted the entire two hours spent there. (It's small but carries a huge impact by comparison to the quilt museum in Paducah that Miss Sunshine brought us pictures of last winter, and which I have visited at least once and many times in the memories it allowed to sparkle in my wee widdle head.)


 So happy you dropped in and shared your wonderful efforts that show great artistic simplicity while at the same time, with the loveliest sophistication.


----------



## BDBoop

Okay, well I can't PM OR visitor message my thanks for rep, so I'll just send it from it here. Also, your rep currently reads the same forwards as backwards.


----------



## freedombecki

Still struggling with a rag-tag finish of the blue butterfly and all those flowers, and what seems like a half-mile of thread on the frame, which takes me hours to go around and looks like next to nothing for all the time expended on it, but at least the designer gave it a pleasing shape, imvho. *sigh*

 Scan 1: the DMC 160 & 161 slate blues butterfly (the color comes across as faded jeans in vitro).

 Scan 2: the border to the butterfly that will be done in two high contrasts of green due to my butterfly model chosen for the project, I'll see if I can rustle up the name somewhere before the day's end.

 Scan 3: I found the Green longwing I was thinking of among my butterfly files. Its Latin designation is _Philaethria dido _for those who follow the Lepidoptera family. 

 I'd love to finish this project by the end of the week. Knocking the border and flowers out helps me not dread the time they will take when I'm working the butterflies, often thinking about a specific specie. Green used to be my anathema, until my daughter decided that was her favorite color, and I made an uneven log cabin quilt and sundry cabinesque wallhangings for her bedroom. That was happy and the first time I ever made anything that really, really pleased her. She has EC Escher prints everywhere in her home, which is just beautiful.


----------



## freedombecki

Thanks, BDB. I had to close my messages down due to the public due to having the task of dealing with my husband's sad auxiliary issues that go with the dementia package. He can't control certain aspects of his functions, and I absolutely have to spend hours a day cleaning up and keeping his life as pleasant as I can. He spent years working hard at a challenging middle management job in engineering so I could raise our kids and take a stab at finishing my college work. I can't even count the many lovely things he did for me, and I owe him big time when he's down on his health luck. I regret the inconvenience it is to such a wonderful person as yourself, who labors hard at split shift work and still finds time to post on a political board. My lack of incentive to correspond is my bad, not yours in the slightest, but I have my hands full at home trying to make his life worthwhile as he fights his issues. It's particularly hard on the mathematically- and man-for-all-seasons- gifted being that he is. We just buried my brother who died a heinous death of fighting Alzheimer's for the last 7 years. We have a chance with correct medication and exercise to fight my husband's Dementia and prevent Alzheimer's from setting in if possible. Fighting that disease process can put a family behind the 8-ball. My brother's care was so poor, he had bedsores over at least half of his body, because his caregiver did not know you have to turn the indigent on almost an hourly basis around the clock to prevent bedsores from forming. His suffering was intense, and the hospice he was in the last 2 weeks of his life at least provided him with enough drugs to let him go with dignity. My heart just breaks when I think of the day I got to visit him 3 days before he died. He weighed only 60 or 70 pounds, his head was half its original size, and he was just skin and bones, unable to speak, but he held my hand and squeezed to express his love.

'Scuse my wet eyes, BDB. /doffing cap

Well, lots to do today. I have to do a few things outside to burn the trash and some more of that fence the fence builder didn't remove. It's horrifying to see good wood laying on the ground that the builder said was "rotten. They're anything but rotten and could have been fixed and restored. We should have called a fencing expert to help us instead of letting a scheister with his eye on our farm tools (which wound up at a local pawn shop) do the work by lying about the condition of our posts, which he didn't want to work with.

At least I learned a valuable, albeit expensive lesson: put "No trespassing" signs up on the gate. That prevents criminal scheisters from coming onto your farm because here it is the state law they cannot trespass on your property if it is correctly posted. I am told the fees we were charged were largely misrepresentations and indefensible because there were no guarantees he would clean up his messes. The hardware from fences left askew where they lay punctured 4 tractor tires during this time parameter, and he earned more money than other repairmen charge from the tires his bad practice saboteured. The worst part about it was me being furious while this glib, innocent-faced cheater cheated my family out of a lot of money, charging us on 4 different occasions the same excessive fee for the same trees being removed, lying from the start and thinking we were too stupid to figure out what he was doing, using my husband's dementia for his plundering the family purse by saying he agreed to things he couldn't remember agreeing too and playing two ends against the middle.

/rant.

Might as well use the space below for a quilt show to salvage this post if possible. 

 1. This is the chain saw quilt, which reminds me of the repairman who stole a chain saw by telling my husband he was borrowing it, when he really took it to get money from a pawnshop owner, who registered its serial number with the sheriff's department in compliance with the office of parole for prisoners with a history of expropriating other people's property just like politicians expropriate money from the taxpayers to fund their kids's enterprises since they're too stingy to dip into their hundreds of millions of personal dollars:






 Oh, my goodness, rake quilts are about too. They're so useful in the fall to rake up tons of leaves if you have one. I don't, because the repairman took all 5 of our rakes and made them disappear into thin air. Five rake. Count 'em, one two three four five! <poof!> gone!


















 Oh, well. Who misses a rake until the leaves dropor the rain puts a hole in the river pebbles drive.


----------



## koshergrl

My sis, bro in law, niece will all be here mid-Feb so I've got to get busy and throw some hats together for them...Also should have a new baby by then, so excited!


----------



## BDBoop

[MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION]

I'm sorry. My life is obviously very easy by comparison. It was not my intent to kick off the rant - but it certainly looked necessary. I hope it alleviated some stress, though I doubt it since the stress is ongoing, and the grief so very new.

You must miss your PM friends very much. And time-wise or not, caregivers need as much emotional support as they can get.



Oh, never mind that last bit. We are no longer friended *as I just now found out* ... So I'm happy to see you do still have your PM support system in place.

You take care.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> My sis, bro in law, niece will all be here mid-Feb so I've got to get busy and throw some hats together for them...Also should have a new baby by then, so excited!


That sounds like good times, koshergrl!


----------



## koshergrl

BDBoop said:


> @freedombecki
> 
> I'm sorry. My life is obviously very easy by comparison. It was not my intent to kick off the rant - but it certainly looked necessary. I hope it alleviated some stress, though I doubt it since the stress is ongoing, and the grief so very new.
> 
> You must miss your PM friends very much. And time-wise or not, caregivers need as much emotional support as they can get.
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, never mind that last bit. We are no longer friended *as I just now found out* ... So I'm happy to see you do still have your PM support system in place.
> 
> You take care.


 
The only rant I see is yours, boop.


----------



## freedombecki

Was thinking about getting back to the log cabin quilts, finished or not finished butterfly quilt. Thought it would be fun to go through the colors of the rainbow for inspiration. Please bear with me, it takes a half an hour to find and resize photos to fit here, but I love sharing the beautiful things I find that other women around the net have made, especially log cabin traditional quilts (and some, not so traditional).

 Various red log cabin quilts, 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## freedombecki

Blue log cabin inspirations from around the net:

 Blue 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## koshergrl

I've been thinking of my log cabin quilt that I haven't even started lol.
But I have been starting to dig through my fabrics..I definitely have the fabric to do a nice one. I have many yards of a beautiful white..remember I was going to do red, white, blue...and I didn't have enough white. Well I found white. I bought it at huge expense some years ago when I was going to do a blue willow quilt, that I never did.


----------



## koshergrl

It's very high quality, very nice...I bought it for some of the blocks, I think..and for the backing.


----------



## freedombecki

Yellow Log cabin quilts 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> It's very high quality, very nice...I bought it for some of the blocks, I think..and for the backing.



It takes a lot of fabric for a log cabin quilt lights, so if there isn't enough, you might consider instead using the white high-quality fabric for an embroidered quilt. There are lots of options.  Then you can pick lights according to your pleasure for a log quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

Green log cabins, 1, 2, and 3:


----------



## Sarah G

I have a couple of quilts that I actually use on my bed that I bought many years ago.  It has been way below zero here lately and I was thinking the other morning what good purchases they were.  I love the feel and the look of them.

When I absolutely can't drag myself out of bed in the morning it's because of those quilts.


----------



## freedombecki

There is an angel's spirit in every quilt, Sarah. Their blessing comfort is unconditional, their legacy to the future of humanity. So happy they comfort you with blessed rest.


----------



## freedombecki

Purple log cabin quilts:


----------



## freedombecki

Orange log cabins from the internet:


----------



## freedombecki

Other priceless exhibits I just loved in turquoises:


----------



## freedombecki

Valentine Log Cabin quilts for the passion of one's hearts from online quilters:

















 Oh, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...


----------



## freedombecki

Pink is just totally fun in a log cabin:


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Other priceless exhibits I just loved in turquoises:



When I was about 7 years old, my mother bought a brand new 3 bedroom home. She was the breadwinner of the family, and there were four of us children...so we were 2 to a room. I shared with my older sister, who is 10 years older than I am.

My mother allowed the older kids to choose the bedroom colors...my wonderful sister chose a deep, dark, teal color. An auntie made matching curtains and a bedspread for us. I still love all teal and turquoises...I see those colors and I'm immediately my very young self.....


----------



## freedombecki




----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Other priceless exhibits I just loved in turquoises:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When I was about 7 years old, my mother bought a brand new 3 bedroom home. She was the breadwinner of the family, and there were four of us children...so we were 2 to a room. I shared with my older sister, who is 10 years older than I am.
> 
> My mother allowed the older kids to choose the bedroom colors...my wonderful sister chose a deep, dark, teal color. An auntie made matching curtains and a bedspread for us. I still love all teal and turquoises...I see those colors and I'm immediately my very young self.....
Click to expand...

I adore the turquoise area on the color wheel. My sewing room has teal quilts, wallhangings, and everything else in it. Most color wheels show 6 colors. My personal color wheel consists of ten--pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, royal blue, purple, black, and neutrals (brown). I incorporate pink with two other two entities--cerise and hot raspberry pinks, which are on either side of regular bright pinks. Between Orange and yellow, I totally love the schoolbus color in between the two, and a playful salmon on the red side of the orange. Jade is my pick that is found anywhere between green and Caribbean turquoise, there's a marine between turquoise and blue, and then there's periwinkle between blue and purple and a favorite of lavender blue between periwinkle and purple. Needless to mention, there is a shade of magenta I love and another that I hate unless it's skillfully interwoven with turquoise and lime green, another between color that is often used in my more naïve works.

Oh, colors are the joy of the eye like love is the joy of the heart! 

 Isn't it funny how someone else can influence us in color? 

 May we all live with beautiful colors and loved ones all around!


----------



## freedombecki

That does it. Tomorrow, that little embroidered flower I started before getting into embroidery is finished if it kills me. Seems like it's got a lot of logs and borders in it.  

And if not, it will by tomorrow night!

 May love and a handmade quilt surround all who enter here!

 Love, and sweet dreams, everybody,

 becki


----------



## koshergrl

I'm trying to finish a stupid hat for a friend who was very helpful to me when I was knocked off my feet last week by this tooth. I'm using a nubbly yarn that makes it hard to see what I'm doing, though it's very simple...and I keep having to rip it out and re-do it. I just want to finish the thing so I'm getting on it right now and finishing it tonight if it kills me. And it might, lol.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm trying to finish a stupid hat for a friend who was very helpful to me when I was knocked off my feet last week by this tooth. I'm using a nubbly yarn that makes it hard to see what I'm doing, though it's very simple...and I keep having to rip it out and re-do it. I just want to finish the thing so I'm getting on it right now and finishing it tonight if it kills me. And it might, lol.


Good luck, koshergrl. Please be sure to get some sleep now and then, and plant some carrots in the flower bed. They're good for the eyes, but they need good drainage or a raised bed unless you have the best earth around in the world, which is a possibility in your locale.

 All I had time to do this morning after caring for pets and a man was look online and do about 3 inches of stem stitch on the green butterfly I started that has the flowers already done. It's #11 of 12, and I will be so happy when the butterflies are all done. 

 Then, I'm gonna play log cabin quilts. One group I neglected yesterday was round log cabin efforts. I found some I was familiar with and others that were recent innovations by very clever ladies out there:
















 Way too cute, imho. The new ideas are always out there, and I just love the heart, the unique bear's paw log cabin, and the round background one with four-point novas at the top. 

 Have a great day everyone. I have to go get a small cat box for Mr. Touch. He's elderly now and has to be contained in the bathroom for the ease of cleaning the floors. He also needs frequent outings, but it's cold out there, in spite of his fur coat.

 Needless to mention, Miss Music the black lab is not thrilled with Mr. Touchie Boy, and vice-versa. They're zen and yap.


----------



## freedombecki

It's fun to work with red, brown, and cream, and this quilt from the Aspen Quilt Studio is fun start to finish, imho:



 ​ Found by Bing! Search engine​


----------



## Dot Com

not as difficult as a quilt but a good use for old shirts:


----------



## Dot Com

The Quilts of Gees Bend - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpYNsmRtLNE]Interview with the quilters of Gees Bend, visit Norfolk, VA - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## koshergrl

Dot Com said:


> not as difficult as a quilt but a good use for old shirts:



This is really cool.

We have a baby coming any day in my family...the buttons wouldn't work for a newborn, though. I always used the gowns that pulled closed at the bottom for my babies, and loved them....I need to see if I can find any. Usually made of a very soft cotton knit...


----------



## freedombecki




----------



## freedombecki

Love what other craftsmen and craftswomen do:






A Swedish Birdhouse Kit





 .
Remodeled Cuckoo Cottage for Bluebirds? 






Montauk Light Birdhouse



 Waterwheel Mansion Birdhouse with shaded porch​


----------



## koshergrl

I'm working like crazy on a baby coccoon and hat for our anticipated arrival, my grandson.







I'm using the light and lofty yarn, but the color I'm using is blue....kind of a medium blue...


----------



## koshergrl

I think coccoons are a great idea...eliminates wresting around with baby blankets.

Not really conducive to car seats, though.


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 has requested prayers for his sister Sandi, who is suffering greatly from cancer and back in the hospital. 

Thanks to anyone who is so inclined to ask God for her comfort and healing.

Progress on the green butterfly has been dismal. Sometimes it feels like my brain is asleep with my fibromyalgia medicine, but it beats pain. The cold weather conspires with the medicine to unmotivated me in just about everything except trying to do a better job of helping my husband with his dementia. I'm no doing about 67% of the driving, and as the weather warms, it will go to 100%, unless he gets a miracle. We're really trying, but I have limitations with pain-medicine-motivation-sleep-balancing medication issues. If I could just be totally self-sufficient from around the middle of this month when it starts warming up (I hope). The first thing I'd like to do is get this butterfly quilt top out of my hair. Really, that's a big goal. So here's my paltry effort for a week of trying to keep it together and do the lion's share of the driving, laundry, dishes, and sorting. Gosh, those things were so simple a few years ago. *sigh*

La Mariposa Verde
(I hope that means the green butterfly in Spanish). 

Best wishes to Koshergrl on her hat project and other crafts!


----------



## freedombecki

If I finish this quilt, like I finished this block today, I might get kicked out of the procrastination club... 

 Fin! 

 Thanks, Malachite Butterflies, _Siproeta stelenes_, everywhere, for the inspiration for this humble embroidery.


----------



## freedombecki

The last butterfly will be black and orange-yellow, or similar color to a Monarch butterfly. I sewed a little on it  today.  It looks like 4 more days if I can just get the 4 flowers done soon. I hate doing the leaves. They're all four different colors, and the thread scraps accumulate. 

 Oh, well, I made so little progress, it's really nothing to write home about.

 I hope Sunshine is doing well on the beach, away from the world of needles and threads. 

 Here, hope it warms up and is sunny soon. I don't think I remember the blue color of the sky. We've had gray ones for such a long time now. *sigh*

 And hope all is going well for Koshergrl on her sabbatical too. Maybe she is getting some more sewing done for her loved ones.

 I've been working on a plan for embroidering bird squares on a quilt. I'm selecting species now. I had 30 on a list. Should just finish the black and orange butterfly before doing too much else. I'll post the details later, if I can find the list among my souveirs.

 OH, yes, some inspiration for the Monarch Butterfly, _Danaus plexippus,_ quilt pictures. Will go to Bing! and get right back.


----------



## Mr. H.

I dig quilts.


----------



## Mr. H.

Sorry- that's the best I can do right now.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Sorry- that's the best I can do right now.


It's all good, Mr. H. A few weeks ago, I got to go to LaGrange, Texas to visit the (reasonably) new Texas State Quilt Museum. I'm still working on the embroidered butterfly. About a third of the outer butterfly is done, and about half of the orange border line have been sewn. As said above, nothing to write home about, except even the smallest progress adds a certain happiness to the heart. 

 And that's the best I can do right now, too.


----------



## freedombecki

It flutters by...












It sure catches the spirit when viewed from a distance, imho. 

Credits: http://www.thelindsleys.net/2009quilts.htm


----------



## freedombecki




----------



## freedombecki

She is a warrior for Christian charity, her charitable works:






 Carpenter's Wheel tells of Christ's humility:






 Crown of Thorns represent Christ's obedience to God to persevere through all and forgiving his attackers and killers:






 The butterfly of Christ's resurrection quilt at Easter:


----------



## freedombecki

Christ is the Lily of the Valley






 Christ is the bright and morning star






 He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul:





 (thousand pyramids quilt)


----------



## Mr. H.

I'm not very churchy-ish, but those are very nice works.


----------



## freedombecki

Oh, Mr. H. I haven't been to church in such a long time because I get sick if I go anywhere near a crowd with fibromyalgia's immune suppression issue. So I just read my bible and try to do the best I can. I even pray for people I used to rub elbows with at church. They don't even send out church bulletins any more, and I miss them.

But I try to spend a little time quilting for those in the community to need them as an outreach of my little faith compared to healthy people who can live and move about in society without fear of spending 6 weeks recuperating from a common cold, or acquire a rash that drives you crazy for a couple of weeks whereas healthy people can just sneeze it off if they have an allergic reaction to something like wool.

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement, Mr. H. I'm blessed to hear you appreciate the lovely things quilters do.

 Here's a friendship star in your honor:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I think coccoons are a great idea...eliminates wresting around with baby blankets.
> 
> Not really conducive to car seats, though.



Oh, Koshergrl, I tried to rep you for this post to welcome you back, and found out I'm out of rep for 24. 

 I'm so happy for you that you have a lovely grandson to sew for!


----------



## Bloodrock44

freedombecki said:


> Bloodrock44 has requested prayers for his sister Sandi, who is suffering greatly from cancer and back in the hospital.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who is so inclined to ask God for her comfort and healing.
> 
> Progress on the green butterfly has been dismal. Sometimes it feels like my brain is asleep with my fibromyalgia medicine, but it beats pain. The cold weather conspires with the medicine to unmotivated me in just about everything except trying to do a better job of helping my husband with his dementia. I'm no doing about 67% of the driving, and as the weather warms, it will go to 100%, unless he gets a miracle. We're really trying, but I have limitations with pain-medicine-motivation-sleep-balancing medication issues. If I could just be totally self-sufficient from around the middle of this month when it starts warming up (I hope). The first thing I'd like to do is get this butterfly quilt top out of my hair. Really, that's a big goal. So here's my paltry effort for a week of trying to keep it together and do the lion's share of the driving, laundry, dishes, and sorting. Gosh, those things were so simple a few years ago. *sigh*
> 
> La Mariposa Verde
> (I hope that means the green butterfly in Spanish).
> 
> Best wishes to Koshergrl on her hat project and other crafts!



Many thanks for your prayers [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] she is still not doing good. She gets test results tomorrow. I'm afraid to call.


----------



## freedombecki

Bloodrock44 said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Bloodrock44 has requested prayers for his sister Sandi, who is suffering greatly from cancer and back in the hospital.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who is so inclined to ask God for her comfort and healing.
> 
> Progress on the green butterfly has been dismal. Sometimes it feels like my brain is asleep with my fibromyalgia medicine, but it beats pain. The cold weather conspires with the medicine to unmotivated me in just about everything except trying to do a better job of helping my husband with his dementia. I'm no doing about 67% of the driving, and as the weather warms, it will go to 100%, unless he gets a miracle. We're really trying, but I have limitations with pain-medicine-motivation-sleep-balancing medication issues. If I could just be totally self-sufficient from around the middle of this month when it starts warming up (I hope). The first thing I'd like to do is get this butterfly quilt top out of my hair. Really, that's a big goal. So here's my paltry effort for a week of trying to keep it together and do the lion's share of the driving, laundry, dishes, and sorting. Gosh, those things were so simple a few years ago. *sigh*
> 
> La Mariposa Verde
> (I hope that means the green butterfly in Spanish).
> 
> Best wishes to Koshergrl on her hat project and other crafts!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Many thanks for your prayers @freedombecki she is still not doing good. She gets test results tomorrow. I'm afraid to call.
Click to expand...

But you will, because it shows her love, and you know she needs you when she is down, isn't that so. 

 See how you are!


----------



## freedombecki

I really hate this being out of rep stuff.


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> I really hate this being out of rep stuff.



I do too, and the day I was gone all day got me out until 7:30 p.m. or so.  But I'll be on the road again in a while so when I don't post for a day, it will turn back around.


----------



## koshergrl

Hi guys, good to see you and Becki the stuff you post is amazing as always.

I finished the cocoon and a hat for my friend but haven't taken pics yet. I was sick again over the weekend and the first half of this week (another virus lucky me) but happily I'm on the mend. 

Though for a couple of days there I couldn't talk. I'm telling you, people were DEVASTATED! They missed my dulcet tones.

My next crochet projects are a mermaid outfit for the daughter of the director of my daughter's play (Little Mermaid) and a simple cardigan for my grandson...who I still haven't seen because we're sick. His older sissy is also sick and has to wear a mask at home around him, poor babies.

He was 8 lbs 1 oz, 21 inches long. Dark hair and I think dark eyes, very adorable but his mom is being secretive with him, darn her lol. She says he eats every hour, and they are pretty much hanging out in bed to allow little sister the run of the house. The hospital was essentially in lockdown due to a terrible viral outbreak when they had him, and the doctor was adamant that she keep him away from people for now. I sort of pooh-poohed it and ran it by my niece the DOCTOR (woo hoo! Love to say it!) who said absolutely, for the first month, she should keep him under lock and key.

She said this year's viruses are really, really bad, that they are mutating extremely quickly, that the vaccination hasn't been very effective because of that. She said the season started really early and is lasting long...and that for the first month babies will easily if not usually turn septic if they get it. 

So the little family has barricaded themselves off from the world, getting used to baby brother and enjoying him by themselves, pretty much. My dil's sister lives there with them, so she is around to hang out a little with sissy, and dil says my son has been absolutely wonderful. He has always been wonderful with babies and children. Took us all by surprise because he swore he was never going to have any, haha. But when he met his baby sister, born when he was 17, he discovered he truly loved children.

The cocoon turned out really lovely, and the fabric of it feels amazing. I want one!


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> I really hate this being out of rep stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I do too, and the day I was gone all day got me out until 7:30 p.m. or so. But I'll be on the road again in a while so when I don't post for a day, it will turn back around.
Click to expand...


If you're on the road again, Sunshine, I hope it's in pursuit of happiness!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


>



He was born just in time to be a Grandma's best Valentine ever!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Hi guys, good to see you and Becki the stuff you post is amazing as always.
> 
> I finished the cocoon and a hat for my friend but haven't taken pics yet. I was sick again over the weekend and the first half of this week (another virus lucky me) but happily I'm on the mend.
> 
> Though for a couple of days there I couldn't talk. I'm telling you, people were DEVASTATED! They missed my dulcet tones.
> 
> My next crochet projects are a mermaid outfit for the daughter of the director of my daughter's play (Little Mermaid) and a simple cardigan for my grandson...who I still haven't seen because we're sick. His older sissy is also sick and has to wear a mask at home around him, poor babies.
> 
> He was 8 lbs 1 oz, 21 inches long. Dark hair and I think dark eyes, very adorable but his mom is being secretive with him, darn her lol. She says he eats every hour, and they are pretty much hanging out in bed to allow little sister the run of the house. The hospital was essentially in lockdown due to a terrible viral outbreak when they had him, and the doctor was adamant that she keep him away from people for now. I sort of pooh-poohed it and ran it by my niece the DOCTOR (woo hoo! Love to say it!) who said absolutely, for the first month, she should keep him under lock and key.
> 
> She said this year's viruses are really, really bad, that they are mutating extremely quickly, that the vaccination hasn't been very effective because of that. She said the season started really early and is lasting long...and that for the first month babies will easily if not usually turn septic if they get it.
> 
> So the little family has barricaded themselves off from the world, getting used to baby brother and enjoying him by themselves, pretty much. My dil's sister lives there with them, so she is around to hang out a little with sissy, and dil says my son has been absolutely wonderful. He has always been wonderful with babies and children. Took us all by surprise because he swore he was never going to have any, haha. But when he met his baby sister, born when he was 17, he discovered he truly loved children.
> 
> The cocoon turned out really lovely, and the fabric of it feels amazing. I want one!


So much for the newborns-are-immune old wive's tale. *sigh*

 Hope you get to see the little guy soon, koshergrl! It's good you are staying busy meanwhile.


----------



## freedombecki

*Happy Valentine's Day, Everybody!*​ ​ 

 ​


----------



## Bloodrock44

koshergrl said:


>



Oh my! Just look at that smile! Beautiful!


----------



## freedombecki

Happy President's Day!

 This quilt block is named after Martha Washington and is called "Martha Washington Star":






 And this is a Martha Washington Quilt:


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi guys, good to see you and Becki the stuff you post is amazing as always.
> 
> I finished the cocoon and a hat for my friend but haven't taken pics yet. I was sick again over the weekend and the first half of this week (another virus lucky me) but happily I'm on the mend.
> 
> Though for a couple of days there I couldn't talk. I'm telling you, people were DEVASTATED! They missed my dulcet tones.
> 
> My next crochet projects are a mermaid outfit for the daughter of the director of my daughter's play (Little Mermaid) and a simple cardigan for my grandson...who I still haven't seen because we're sick. His older sissy is also sick and has to wear a mask at home around him, poor babies.
> 
> He was 8 lbs 1 oz, 21 inches long. Dark hair and I think dark eyes, very adorable but his mom is being secretive with him, darn her lol. She says he eats every hour, and they are pretty much hanging out in bed to allow little sister the run of the house. The hospital was essentially in lockdown due to a terrible viral outbreak when they had him, and the doctor was adamant that she keep him away from people for now. I sort of pooh-poohed it and ran it by my niece the DOCTOR (woo hoo! Love to say it!) who said absolutely, for the first month, she should keep him under lock and key.
> 
> She said this year's viruses are really, really bad, that they are mutating extremely quickly, that the vaccination hasn't been very effective because of that. She said the season started really early and is lasting long...and that for the first month babies will easily if not usually turn septic if they get it.
> 
> So the little family has barricaded themselves off from the world, getting used to baby brother and enjoying him by themselves, pretty much. My dil's sister lives there with them, so she is around to hang out a little with sissy, and dil says my son has been absolutely wonderful. He has always been wonderful with babies and children. Took us all by surprise because he swore he was never going to have any, haha. But when he met his baby sister, born when he was 17, he discovered he truly loved children.
> 
> The cocoon turned out really lovely, and the fabric of it feels amazing. I want one!
> 
> 
> 
> So much for the newborns-are-immune old wive's tale. *sigh*
> 
> Hope you get to see the little guy soon, koshergrl! It's good you are staying busy meanwhile.
Click to expand...


They only inherit the immunity the mother has and then it is short lived.  I have spent the last 2 months running from the flu.  It called in the cards on this disease and could call them all in permanently.  I avoid crowds, shop at odd hours, stay away from places where there are a lot of children, refuse to go to the doctor's office.  I was 2 days late ordering the last refill of metformin and the doctor refused to fill it unless I come in.  I let him know that I have 3 months left of everything else. and will not come to the office during flu season, and if he insists that I do so, I just won't take the metformin.  My blood sugar has never been over 200.  I'll just suck it up until flu season is over.  So he refilled it.  Now I have an ear that is driving me nuts.  I think it was shower water in Gulf Shores that started it.  The outer part of the ear canal seems to be swelling a bit.  If it was the inner part, I would be in excruciating pain.  I'm caring for that myself as well.  NO primary care doctor's visit until flu season is over.  Have to see the PH doctor in March, but that place is usually fairly safe.  And they take a lot of precautions.  They put out pens for you to sign paperwork that have been gas sterilized and when one has been used, it is placed in a separate receptacle.


----------



## freedombecki

Two quilts were finished this past week while I was totally offline. One may have been mentioned earlier, the other not. But they're both done, and another one started.

 Here's the one that may have been mentioned since last October (not sure when I started the embroidered butterfly forever project, which is to the last square half done at this point):

 It started as a result of an Ebay purchase of 3 squares I didn't know what to do with, so decided to get them out of the way first!  Little did I know the butterfly embroideries would become all-consuming of little minutes of every day here and there. So thanks to someone's wonderful embroidery whose estate these came from that landed in my lap for a song compared to the intricate work that was done by her:


----------



## freedombecki

I may or may not have posted at least one of these pictures earlier, but that was several months ago. It's now folded in the complete file, stacked with the blarney stone border quilt that will be posted next.


----------



## freedombecki

Some call this strip arrangement "Chinese Coins." The quilt that inspired it called the same type "ladder." Since I made this for either children or wheelchair occupants (it measures ~42x56 inches), I chose the name "ladder" because a lot of my scraps have child themes, considering I live to make quilts for the local Charity Bees closet. They give to the abused-persons shelter, the Hugs Baby project, several local senior care facilities, wounded warriors, sell some for the five college scholarships they gave out last year. They do the quilting, and I make more than they can quilt, I think sometimes, but try to do an award-winning small quilt to the best of my propensities with color combinations from 23 years of running my own quilt store and being the community guru for people who were not confident about color choices. I did my best to do solid-gold advice on color wheel issues people relied on me for, to take or reject experienced advice. Oddly, some people asked for advice who simply didn't want it to satisfy the urge in themselves to trump authority. I let it go because I do that without being overtly crass enough to pretend I need help with knowing what I like.  I did learn my lesson, though, by putting askees through a series of questions:

 (1) Who is the planned recipient of the quilt you are putting weeks of your life into? What is (his, her, their, or your) favorite color?

 (2) Is there a particular color scheme in the room in which this quilt will be used? If so, bring a paint or wallpaper sample with you if you want a perfect match.

 (3) Can you live with the choice you are making to endure weeks of working with this color schema?

 (4) Is your recipient or are your recipients introverts or extroverts? (Yes, it really makes a difference).

 If I particularly liked the choices they made, I'd say, "Can I come over to your house to play in your sewing room?" That always got a laugh, which truly promotes people to finish what they start, especially if I asked to see the finished product. It also insured a constant stream of people bringing exquisite masterpieces back, since I worked so many hours I didn't get to go to museums and do stuff I really like to do, which is to see other artists' work on a regular basis. 

 So, Blarney is fun! Here's a quilt I had a couple of days of inner debate on how to finish the outside border, not liking the fabrics I'd visualized while making the quilt for some reason. Then the other day I woke up thinking "Oh, my goodness, it's going to be March soon, and I haven't done much in the way of green, and this quilt is all blarney anyway, so I'll add the green stone border I cut out for a quilt that got too big too fast, so it was set aside:


----------



## freedombecki

This includes some of the choice ladder areas on the green Blarney Stone Ladder quilt:

 Edit: the embroidery on the solid brown on the 3rd scan is a green "Irish Eyes" eye.


----------



## freedombecki

Even more Blarney:


----------



## freedombecki

My family is coming next week to help me make financial decisions for my husband, whose dementia is causing him so many issues, and with fibromyalgia, I have problems with utilizing physical things that used to come so easily since I was definitely in the upper echelons of physical fitness for my age, and now have difficulty with climbing a staircase. I may get pretty sparse here next week, which will not be like getting knocked offline by a lightning bolt, then staying offline because of my credit card was used to buy prescriptions at target, so my bank cancelled everyone's number who had a card that was used there, although it was not a Target card at all.  

We have a big job to do of going over stuff, but at least I got my husband to voluntarily give back his car keys. He would go to get dinner and show up 4 hours later having used half a tank of gas by driving half way to Dallas after getting dinner and snacks only for himself, and having to come back home to change his pants. 

It's not easy to break a co-dependency, but I have to get over it that my Knight in shining armor doesn't have a silver chalice to pursue any more, but has gone to pot which he can't find any more either. 

My love for him will never die, though. He always managed to pick me up when I was down, and you just can't forget the best-looking man you ever saw in your life being kind to someone so plain as me. *sigh*


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> My family is coming next week to help me make financial decisions for my husband, whose dementia is causing him so many issues, and with fibromyalgia, I have problems with utilizing physical things that used to come so easily since I was definitely in the upper echelons of physical fitness for my age, and now have difficulty with climbing a staircase. I may get pretty sparse here next week, which will not be like getting knocked offline by a lightning bolt, then staying offline because of my credit card was used to buy prescriptions at target, so my bank cancelled everyone's number who had a card that was used there, although it was not a Target card at all.
> 
> We have a big job to do of going over stuff, but at least I got my husband to voluntarily give back his car keys. He would go to get dinner and show up 4 hours later having used half a tank of gas by driving half way to Denver after getting dinner and snacks only for himself, and having to come back home to change his pants.
> 
> It's not easy to break a co-dependency, but I have to get over it that my Knight in shining armor doesn't have a silver chalice to pursue any more, but has gone to pot which he can't find any more either.
> 
> My love for him will never die, though. He always managed to pick me up when I was down, and you just can't forget the best-looking man you ever saw in your life being kind to someone so plain as me. *sigh*



Just be sure that those decisions are in YOUR best interest.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> My family is coming next week to help me make financial decisions for my husband, whose dementia is causing him so many issues, and with fibromyalgia, I have problems with utilizing physical things that used to come so easily since I was definitely in the upper echelons of physical fitness for my age, and now have difficulty with climbing a staircase. I may get pretty sparse here next week, which will not be like getting knocked offline by a lightning bolt, then staying offline because of my credit card was used to buy prescriptions at target, so my bank cancelled everyone's number who had a card that was used there, although it was not a Target card at all.
> 
> We have a big job to do of going over stuff, but at least I got my husband to voluntarily give back his car keys. He would go to get dinner and show up 4 hours later having used half a tank of gas by driving half way to Denver after getting dinner and snacks only for himself, and having to come back home to change his pants.
> 
> It's not easy to break a co-dependency, but I have to get over it that my Knight in shining armor doesn't have a silver chalice to pursue any more, but has gone to pot which he can't find any more either.
> 
> My love for him will never die, though. He always managed to pick me up when I was down, and you just can't forget the best-looking man you ever saw in your life being kind to someone so plain as me. *sigh*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just be sure that those decisions are in YOUR best interest.
Click to expand...

 If he is well-taken care of, that's my best interest, Sunshine. When I visited the nursing home a couple of months back, images of sad elderly people stuck in my mind. He deserves better than that. We have to work things out as a family that is divided by thousands of miles since one went southeast and one went southwest. We're half way in between the two.
After his last mini trip, he gave up his car keys for good. It's possible he did it on purpose, because he is smart, and it's possible he didn't because he has a human affliction. I'm not an expert in these matters, but now that I've accepted his issues, I'm a lot less angry about his lot in life and am determined to try to do as well as I can keeping him at home just as long as I can still trick him into doing whatever it is he doesn't want to do which seems to be nearly everything lately. My sure fire motivator is to tickle his feet. He will do anything to avoid that. I can't see a nurse threatening to tickle an uncooperative patient's feet if he doesn't get up, and getting him to rise and shine when he is feeling stubborn. I know he is happy when he comes inside from walking around the farmland and the pretty little lake on the property. The sun he gets from taking the dog for a little walk out there does him a world of good. For two days he quit being stubborn. I'm trying to remember what I did or said or didn't do or didn't say that got his day off to a good start.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's scan of green and beige log cabin quilts:

 Thinking beiges and greens on log cabin quilt, but more even, whereas this cutie just below is uneven log cabin, which takes 1/3 more time than regular log cabins, plus the maker did a wonderful job. I've done a few uneven ones, but have tried to be a good time manager with getting as many decent-looking but fast quilts done for charity-giving. OK, I sewed avocado green centers to strips of beige (32 different pieces) to make 192 squares, which will make boucoup small hugs or larger quilts.






 This quilt is someone else's too, but shows a lot of different fabrics and has a rather pleasing value ratio:






 My goodness, this uneven log cabin one has neato quilting on it:


----------



## freedombecki

Wonder if I can find a green and beige quilt in my immediate archives. BBL

 Back! 

 These also are museum collection quilts, and I did not make them.


----------



## freedombecki

Last night, I worked up, but apparently failed to post the squares I made. 

 Here is a partial yesterday's progress on the quilt, which took several hours:


----------



## freedombecki

And most of the rest of yesterday's work:


----------



## freedombecki

Added 38x4 more light and dark strip sizes this morning, but didn't quite make it to the bottom of the pile. It looks so easy when I post picture, but doesn't show the 99% perspiration nor the 1% inspiration that it took. Of course, my little traipsing all over the net looking for green log cabins and procuring ones  (a few of which are shown above) that are classier than this little humble quilt will ever be was totally fun for this quilter.


----------



## freedombecki

Some of today's went onto the scanner to show the reverse side. Not sure whether they'll be in this or the next message.

 OK, they're out of numeric order, but the first one may likely be the reverse side so anyone who quilts can see which way the pieces got pressed, always from inside the center avocado greensquare to its outside over both light and dark sides. Each square shown at this point has nine log pieces, and the finished square may have either 13 or 17 log pieces, depending on... what I decide to do next. Some artists have their whole completion written down in stone and ready to complete, but I am vaguely thinking that if 13 logs are done, I can use 35 of the 38 squares in an arrangement of 5 by 7 squares. This will likely confine the choices to being either a dirty windows arrangement or a fields and furrows. 

 Since it's St. Paddy's Day in March, eh, Fields and Furrows it will be. 
 OK, 35 of the squares must be pleasing. 5 x 7=*35* 13-log squares will be needed. I have a pile of leftover squares, and someday, I'm going to make a crazy log cabin quilt.  With 13 logs yielding a 7.5" square that finish to seven inches, the quilt will measure around 35 inches across (5x7) and down (7x7) will be a horizontal measurement of 49". Since I have batting for a 42x54" top, 3 inch strips when added will make the quilt 40x54", exactly, so that works for me.


----------



## freedombecki

And the final 3 squares that were ready to show when I started posting this afternoon are:


----------



## freedombecki

Sometimes I wonder if Sunshine ever finished her reds tablecloth or got to work on it in the bad weather that has been so prolific this year. I know health issues often require extra exertion that walking and exercise are, so often spare time becomes a toss up between keeping the hands busy or collapsing in exhaustion into the respite of a nap. Most people have the energy of kids until they're 60, but if autoimmune disorders are one's fate, it can be a life sentence of wheel chair living, the balancing act I do between nutrition, meds, and getting up and down the stairs, or CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) that spoils outings, parties, gatherings, and even attending church services when stress is present. Staying indoors a lot causes a deficiency of Vitamin D3, which can also bring on CFS or even a little depression in some people. CFS seems to be my anathema, and it's a real bully.  The only thing it beats is depression, but since I accepted my limitations, I find joy in beating the pain of fibromyalgia, and I find that joy every day. It's the only reason I can sit and enjoy sewing so much--the thought of the recipient not having to have cold toes on a cold winter's night keeps my spirits very, very bright. So the 98% perspiration has a joy effect, and sometimes I think that by giving them to someone who'll never know me, I get more out of it than the little warm toes a quilt bequeaths to its owner. 

 Well, it decided to rain today, but it's warm and dry, and I'm looking at the prettiest green square, which I placed on top, to remind me there's a lot more to do before I sleep.


----------



## freedombecki

The 9th log row was finished on all 38 squares, and log rows 10 and 11 were all sewn on asap after that. So below is just one of the 38 squares that are now 6.5" square each.



 

Off to take a long winter's nap because it sure isn't spring around here, and fibromyalgia has a way of acting up in chilly weather. It's gonna be 25 degrees tonight. I'm a little tired of it freezing in March after the hot summers we had two and four years ago, respectively. I'd rather be sweating, that's for sure.

Everybody wear long-legged jammies and snuggly slippers who was made to submit to Old Man Winter's last fist shake (I hope) until he goes back to his arctic circle in hopefully the near future. And don't let the bedbugs bite. ​


----------



## freedombecki

I thought of [MENTION=21954]Sunshine[/MENTION] when I saw this unbelievable but beautiful quilt online:



 ​ *Jour de Semaine Charges* by *Gyöngyi Váradi*​ *Shown at the Hungarian Patchwork Society.*​ ​ Seen at Jan Shultz's Quilt Chat blog.​ ​ What can I say, but 'oooo, ahhhhh! 'I love it! ​ ​


----------



## freedombecki

The Fields and Furrows Smoking Green Log Cabin is going into its completion stage of having three rows with five squares apiece joined with four left in the 7.5" unfinished stage.

 Let the pictures speak for themselves:


----------



## freedombecki

I love this quilt. The work was 10 times better all the way through than ever before, and I just love the way it looks. Sorry some of my pictures are a little light and others show darker. I have a mind-of-its-own scanner that cost under $30 when it was new. You get what you pay for, but that low price spurred me on to replace my 3rd HP that broke down after one year. This one is starting its second year, but after the ink ran out, I just use it to scan stuff now. Hope the next 4 rows come out well. the 5x7 arrangement will yield a 35x49 inch quilt, and a small border will widen it, but I can't make it too much longer. *sigh* Well, who knows! 

 The third picture is reversed to show the wrong side to those interested in how quilt blocks are pressed outward and the joining blocks, I always open to press on the reverse side. My old machine quilter at the shop was very picayune about going through extra layers of dense fabrics, and I hated to stop for threads that snapped because of a hefty seam allowance, so I learned the hard way to open seams and keep thicknesses to a minimum. It seemed it was more forgiving of log cabin quilts done that way, and I quilted probably a hundred log cabin quilts on that machine at one time or another of the hundreds I produced on it. Now, someone else has to quilt them, because I have difficulty standing in one place on bad fibromyalgia days.

 Have a great day, everyone! Every day I finish a quilt is a good one, and I  hope this may be that day!


----------



## freedombecki

Done! Finished up yesterday evening. 

 Will be gone for a few days. My grown son and daughter are getting here in an hour or so...



 Here are 3 pics of the corners. One really didn't come out well, no sense in posting it.  The Green Log Cabin is arranged into Fields and Furrows arrangement, and it measures about 42x54" give or take a couple of inches in any given direction. It misses being a perfect rectangle by 3/4" on one side. It's my fault for trying to make a slightly short border longer. I may yet fix it if I have time. Oh, wait, YIKES! I don't have time to do anything but run in circles!


----------



## freedombecki

It was a happy family day today. I'm so proud of my kids for coming to help when they were needed. They've been wonderful, and I'm so grateful they came.  

 Here are a few items found from surfing quilts the other day. Some of them weren't exactly log cabins.


----------



## freedombecki

While my son was at home, he fixed some computers that had stacked up, so reviewing quilts on the old computers was a lot of fun. Even so, it's never enough to just see quilts you'd forgotten about, it spurred an all-day lookup of log cabin quilts, and some just are so dear, so I saved them, rewrote titles to put them near the top of the heap (place a "!" with a space after it on this computer, and it comes up before "A" if things are alphabetized in your folders resulting from "My Pictures" files.

 Here some of them are, the best of the best, well, the ones I just couldn't get out of my head, anyway, showing how subjective loving quilts can be:


----------



## freedombecki

Also hard to scrub from the psyche today was this one from squiltz:










And the task she used to "bind" the quilt in hand crochet would prolly be liked by one of our contributors here of her lovely handwork:, and she said:



> In order to add crochet to the quilt edge I first machine top stitched around the perimeter of the quilt (stitch-length 5 and using strong thread). Then I was able to ease a *very small* crochet hook into the gap left by the stitches to make a foundation crochet row to work from. *This step is not for the faint-hearted.* The only reason I survived it was because I wanted to brag blog about! squiltz: Pastel Hand Quilted Log Cabin Edge


 








You should see her other quilts--they're each a master work in themselves, I kid you not. Her "blog" deserves a good inspection, imho!


----------



## freedombecki

It's hard to believe the trees are actually are log cabins, but they sure are! I bought a log cabin quilt book on account of this Bing! contribution, and all of them are awesome.

 The Strawberry-colored log cabin was just a pleasing color today as we anticipate strawberries coming into the market for the next few weeks. They're so good and have so few calories if you learn to eat them without sugar. We're having to learn to eat a new way since my husband's diagnosis of borderline diabetic. He's already trimming down. I couldn't believe it. Him. Watching it. 

 The Boardwalk-style quilt is similar to one of my designs of yesteryear that I named "Bridge over troubled water," and which may be owned by my son, seems to me.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, I've had this one saved for a year, and just found Dunster's Storm at Sea Quilt, at a best-ever quilting board. Recommend for those who truly love the art of beautiful quilts! 












 She arranged it as a Storm at Sea Quilt.

 I had seen another drawing someone named "Log Cabin Variation" (below)


----------



## Mr. H.

I really like this one...

http://www.usmessageboard.com/attac...e-quilts-have-a-way-streetboard-log-cabin.jpg


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> I really like this one...


Thanks, Mr. H. It reminded me of a quilt I designed called "Bridge Over Troubled Waters. All I have is a truly not very clear picture. I think I gave it to my son because he likes the color blue. The difference it is on point, was very difficult to make, harder to teach other people who liked the quilt and wanted to make one just like it. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

This Charity quilt was assembled to this point of being about 30x45" by last night and will hopefully have something green around it by nightfall:

 Downstairs 1
 Downstairs 2
 Downstairs 3

 (Downstairs 4 is at the USMB Coffee Shop)


----------



## freedombecki

Finished measurement was around 42x54, give or take a couple of inches. It was finished day before yesterday, maybe?


----------



## freedombecki

Scan 1 and 2, I made six 15-1/2" blocks for a toddler or crib quilt for Charity bees early this morning from some old red log cabin blocks I made for a giant quilt before I gave up machine quilting. I still have enough for another quilt. 

Wonder if a similar pinwheel quilt can be found anywhere. Found it on bing!






Mine is to be called "Paddy's Red pinwheel quilt"


----------



## freedombecki

Just before lunch, I got all jazzed about the next quilt, which will be a single Irish Chain using some cute froggie light background overall. Here are the 3 sample quilt squares that got completed before we left for nearby Denny's. I was proud of my husband for settling on a diabetic-friendly lunch of their avocado and chicken salad. We each saved little pieces of chicken for Miss Music the small black lab who is still our puppy after 5 years. 

 You probably will have to click on the thumbnails to see the little froggies.

 I'm only making mockup squares to keep the fever up to get quilts done. I have to do the Paddy's red pinwheel quilts tomorrow from getting into the Single Irish Chain, but I can't wait, I'm telling yas!


----------



## freedombecki

Sewed a lot of the 9-patch froggie squares for the second quilt, and am thinking about getting back to the first quilt now and nailing a completion this fine day. Oh, goodness, I forgot I have to go get bird feed. They ate 100 pounds in the last week, or better. They give us such beauty and song, and they're eager for spring, I think. 

 This better not turn into another butterfly project ...


----------



## Sunshine

freedombecki said:


> Just before lunch, I got all jazzed about the next quilt, which will be a single Irish Chain using some cute froggie light background overall. Here are the 3 sample quilt squares that got completed before we left for nearby Denny's. I was proud of my husband for settling on a diabetic-friendly lunch of their avocado and chicken salad. We each saved little pieces of chicken for Miss Music the small black lab who is still our puppy after 5 years.
> 
> You probably will have to click on the thumbnails to see the little froggies.
> 
> I'm only making mockup squares to keep the fever up to get quilts done. I have to do the Paddy's red pinwheel quilts tomorrow from getting into the Single Irish Chain, but I can't wait, I'm telling yas!



A couple years ago, I had a little frog that lived in the water in the plastic container under one of my massive ferns.  I took a pic of him, but I have no idea which folder that pic is in.  If I could find it I would post it for you.


----------



## Sunshine

Here you go.  Here's the little frog who escaped the hot dry weather of 2012 by living under my fern.  With the regular watering I did he was sitting pretty!  I won't have many plants this year.  I don't really feel much like caring for them.


----------



## koshergrl

I've been crocheting like crazy, working on a mermaid tail. I got the body of the tail done last night, tonight will start on the fins...

I'm also trying to bust out a granny square that I really like..but the pattern is cattywompus so I'm having difficulty with it. Finally got the third row to come out, but have no idea what to do for the fourth...

I've been running across crocheted afghans that look like QUILTS! They're amazing!


----------



## koshergrl

Granny square..I think I've finally got it figured out.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Here you go. Here's the little frog who escaped the hot dry weather of 2012 by living under my fern. With the regular watering I did he was sitting pretty! I won't have many plants this year. I don't really feel much like caring for them.



Thanks, Sunshine, he's a cutie.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I've been crocheting like crazy, working on a mermaid tail. I got the body of the tail done last night, tonight will start on the fins...
> 
> I'm also trying to bust out a granny square that I really like..but the pattern is cattywompus so I'm having difficulty with it. Finally got the third row to come out, but have no idea what to do for the fourth...
> 
> I've been running across crocheted afghans that look like QUILTS! They're amazing!


So glad you're back, koshergrl.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> I've been crocheting like crazy, working on a mermaid tail. I got the body of the tail done last night, tonight will start on the fins...
> 
> I'm also trying to bust out a granny square that I really like..but the pattern is cattywompus so I'm having difficulty with it. Finally got the third row to come out, but have no idea what to do for the fourth...
> 
> I've been running across crocheted afghans that look like QUILTS! They're amazing!



OK.  I'll bite.  Why do you need a mermaid's tail?


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


>


A delectable mountains quilt. Very interesting design, koshergrl. And it's complete with a tribute to early American mothers with obvious flaws. Totally awesome.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, we had to get stones to place on Touch's grave, heart worm pills for Miss Music, replacing a credit card that was cancelled just because I get my husband's prescription drugs at Target, etc. It's different when you have to really watch the family budget, which my husband had done for 42 years. I feel like such a novice, but maybe not having credit for a couple of months did me good, because when all your transactions are cash, you can really see the spill if the electricity bill comes out $100 for the well and $500 for the farmhouse in ultra cold weather. Hopefully, I will get used to it, but his dementia is getting more and more unpredictable. I finally had to hide his car keys when he was gone for 5 hours on a joy ride while I paced the floor, because he didn't tell me before he went wandering. He also misplaced $300. of the cash we were forced to use on account of the credit card. Even with that kind of a loss, it was a good experience to have to pay attention to the cash flow, because it gives me something to work on fixing. It's funny how when the responsibilities fall to you, you may flounder at first but you do get better at it. He seems to understand that I will be the driver, because he now automatically goes to the passenger side. He was giving some kind of a lecture while driving a few weeks ago. It's the first time he's ever showed evidence I can understand as well as his accurate math answers that are instant and on the money. The only trouble is, his whispering is unintelligible when he goes through the lecture routine, but he seems to enjoy it, so it's okay.

 Well, all that driving made me sleepy early, and I just ran out of rep a while ago anyway, so think I'll call it a day. Sorry there's nothing to report. Except my keys on the computer are sticking badly, so if there are errors, don't be surprised.

 Good night, and it's so good to see Sunshine and Koshergrl back at the quilt thread.

 Love to all. In your prayers, thank God that you can still think, that you can still reach out to others, that you are loved by Him every day you live. When you are tired, may you have refreshing sleep and a better day tomorrow. That's my prayer for everyone, except don't let the bedbugs bite! 
 becki


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've been crocheting like crazy, working on a mermaid tail. I got the body of the tail done last night, tonight will start on the fins...
> 
> I'm also trying to bust out a granny square that I really like..but the pattern is cattywompus so I'm having difficulty with it. Finally got the third row to come out, but have no idea what to do for the fourth...
> 
> I've been running across crocheted afghans that look like QUILTS! They're amazing!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OK. I'll bite. Why do you need a mermaid's tail?
Click to expand...

So glad you posted that, Sunshine, I wondered the same thing, but I'm half asleep tonight after losing a night's sleep day before yesterday. My husband roamed all night long around the house without his car keys.


----------



## koshergrl

My daughter is performing in "The Little mermaid Jr. ' musical this year...her director has a 7 month old daughter, and I'm crocheting her a mermaid costume....

I will post a pic later of a fiished one...

Have I not posted pics of the grandboy yet? I can't keep track...Here he is in the coccoon and hat I did, he hated the hat, which is immense. But I absolutely love the hand of this light and lofty stuff:






I'm also working on a houndstooth infinity scarf. I'm almost finished, but have had to put it aside so I can finish the mermaid costume before curtain time next month:


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> My daughter is performing in "The Little mermaid Jr. ' musical this year...her director has a 7 month old daughter, and I'm crocheting her a mermaid costume....
> 
> I will post a pic later of a fiished one...
> 
> Have I not posted pics of the grandboy yet? I can't keep track...Here he is in the coccoon and hat I did, he hated the hat, which is immense. But I absolutely love the hand of this light and lofty stuff:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm also working on a houndstooth infinity scarf. I'm almost finished, but have had to put it aside so I can finish the mermaid costume before curtain time next month:



So cute!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


>



Oh, koshergrl, bwahahaha! That's over the top cute!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Well guess who else in the family likes butterflies==my son.

 And he needs some TLC lately, having lost 2 jobs in the last year, so I'm sending the butterfly quilt top to him when it's finished. *sigh*

 Sometimes Our families are needy, too. Even though they may drive you crazy with their decisions, you still can't stop loving and caring for them, including my dear son.

 The wannabe Monarch butterfly was improperly designed, so I turned it into a fantasy black and orange mutant ninja butterfly. <giggle>

 Here's the "progress" if you want to call it that. I'm using a running stitch as a color filler that won't be too bad, I hope. I'm including a monarch, which shows the truth of the lines, which I failed to recall perfectly or even imperfectly...and an Australian Painted Lady butterfly to show diversity. I'm pretty sure the butterfly I came up with exists only in the threads I sewed.


----------



## freedombecki

The Irish Chain with froggies quilt was finished first this morning. I just couldn't put it down. I was in love with the silly cute froggie fabric, plus for some reason, it touched off an obsession factor in me I didn't know existed! 

 Hope the little child who gets this one likes it as much as I do. 

 I'm adding a couple more shots of the center areas. it's about 42x55-or something, give or take a couple of inches.


----------



## freedombecki

This shows the large light areas between the 9-patch squares that form the chain. Seems I may have posted a quilt that was neutrally similar to this one on the preceding page. 

 I salute the Irish and thank them for coming up with something as fun as Irish celebrations of St. Patrick's Day for everyone to enjoy!

 Erin go braugh!


----------



## freedombecki

Paddy's Red Pinwheel was also finished this morning, right after the Single Irish Chain Frog quilt.

 When the flowers bloom, they bloom! 

 There's another page to this quilt as well. I like to show all 4 corners when I finish a quilt. This one was longer than the Single Irish Chain because the blocks before setting sashes were 15.5 inches square, and there were 6 of them. It's just short of 60 inches long (58 or 59)


----------



## freedombecki

What I couldn't get over about Paddy's Red Pinwheel, is that I wasn't certain it would be Irish enough until the last piece was on it.

It's definitely one I would love to own, so hopefully, some needy child will get this childhood pinwheel quilt and enjoy it completely as I did making the top. 

 Edit-- oh, yes, it may be difficult to put this finished quilt with the earlier pictures of the pinwheels, which were incomplete, to put it mildly. The squares are 15 inches plus, and my little scanner only does 8.5x11" at best. Here's the earlier, blown up a little, one of six finished squares yesterday, today a top:


----------



## koshergrl

You are amazing, becki...I'm taking my mermaid outfit to the powwow with me tomorrow, and will probably finish it there. Then the infinity scarf....THEN I'm going to do some daisy granny squares...but the next real project over the summer is going to be regalia for the kids. Shiny shawls/vests/aprons/skirts/leggings/cuffs/goats....and the cloth is appliqued.. Satin.


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful!

I love green..and it is my daughter's favorite color. 

It's the color we will use for the primary color of her regalia...I think your next adventure should be BEADING, becki!

I've never beaded, but we're going to have to start...

I feel bad because where I come from, there are always beading classes and groups who are beading. It's a good sized reservation and pretty well funded by reservation standards...we have lots of artists and a cultural center...here the indigenous people of the area are very few, the reservation is small and poor and the culture is not only very different from the culture inland,it's been lost for the most part. There aren't many resources...the kids are already plugged into the primary one, the Indian Ed program. So beading is a little more complicated than back home, where you just join a class and go hang out on the rez once a week, with people who are very experienced and fabulous at creating regalia.

This is the first building block...the dress, the leggings, the vest, the shawl. 

No beading on the vest or shawl..they are applique. Beading makes them too heavy:






The beading is in the form of mocassins, hair pieces, chokers, earrings, head bands....


----------



## freedombecki

Started and finished yesterday morning through around 11 o'clock or noon. I never know what time it is. Every clock in the house has a different opinion, and some always have the same opinion.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Beautiful!
> 
> I love green..and it is my daughter's favorite color.
> 
> It's the color we will use for the primary color of her regalia...I think your next adventure should be BEADING, becki!
> 
> I've never beaded, but we're going to have to start...
> 
> I feel bad because where I come from, there are always beading classes and groups who are beading. It's a good sized reservation and pretty well funded by reservation standards...we have lots of artists and a cultural center...here the indigenous people of the area are very few, the reservation is small and poor and the culture is not only very different from the culture inland,it's been lost for the most part. There aren't many resources...the kids are already plugged into the primary one, the Indian Ed program. So beading is a little more complicated than back home, where you just join a class and go hang out on the rez once a week, with people who are very experienced and fabulous at creating regalia.
> 
> This is the first building block...the dress, the leggings, the vest, the shawl.
> 
> No beading on the vest or shawl..they are applique. Beading makes them too heavy:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The beading is in the form of mocassins, hair pieces, chokers, earrings, head bands....


 Way cute, koshergrl.

Think I'm gonna stick with quilts, koshergrl, and an occasional rug or pair of crocheted slippers, maybe some lace along the edge of a pillowcase now and then. If I had another hobby, it would be to carve alabaster for the rest of my life. I love sculpture. I'm starting row 16 on my sister's friend's rug for her kitchen in the colors of green and purple, which she loves. I'm using Sugar N Cream thread on a pound cone. When the work gets unwieldy, I change the stitches from 3 yos to 4 yos, which has a firming effect. Using this kind of variegation, I only know from counting where the thicker popcorns are. I figured I'd have to do the last rows in the heavier stitch, and saved yarn along the way. It may be more evident as the little rug is washed. Crochet cottons tend to shrink by 20% in the use of this delightful stitch, which I've also turned into my favorite method of crocheting potholders. 

Scan 1 Back of popcorn rug

Scan 2 Front

Scan 3 Center area


----------



## Sunshine

Well, Beckums, I'm back on the table cloth.  I took it to Gulf Shores, but didn't work on it there.  I have two of the church/tree patterns and then about half of the small border row, the entire long border row, and about half the snowflakes to do.  I hate working border rows.


----------



## koshergrl

I cart mystuff with me everywhere, and very seldom work on it.

Carted it to the pow wow, didn't touch it, lol.


----------



## Sunshine

I have to get my cross stitch quilt quilted.  I'm not going to do it myself but keep forgetting to call the people here who do hand quilting.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Well, Beckums, I'm back on the table cloth. I took it to Gulf Shores, but didn't work on it there. I have two of the church/tree patterns and then about half of the small border row, the entire long border row, and about half the snowflakes to do. I hate working border rows.



I'm so glad you got to spend time on the beach, Sunshine. It's hard to do embroidery when there's so much nature to enjoy. I watch birds on the porch when I can when crocheting and lately, finishing up my last butterfly. Son came around. left the story of my woe at the CS a few minutes ago. I have some real problems going on after a fall. I send up prayers of thanks for every day we still have on earth after yesterday's harsh fall.

 Love yas! 

 becki


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I cart mystuff with me everywhere, and very seldom work on it.
> 
> Carted it to the pow wow, didn't touch it, lol.



Little by little does the trick!

 I sat in the car and crocheted a whole row around the above rug for my sister's best friend. It's really comforting to work on something for someone who's been a sister's best friend for 45 years while I lived in another state. She was in good hands, and she knows that's what I think.


----------



## Mr. H.

Just a quick fly-by to catch up on the quilting gossip. 

Carry on, ladies. 

Keep up the good works.


----------



## koshergrl

Well my landlord/homeowner is wanting to crawl all over my house, which makes me over the top p.o'ed....I invited a walk through just this fall, and asked them to repair some things (little things, thought h dishwasher finally gave up the ghost altogether and that isn't fixed yet)...then they had a realtor do a walk through (no plans to sell, oh no! Just a routine thing...my EYE!) and then some electrician contractor dude who was an asshole...THEN they had someone come look at the roof and they were supposed to do some work on the roof (moss removal) but cancelled at the last minute....this is all since the end of November mind you.

So now the OWNER is making a special trip from wherever it is she lives because she wants to personally walk through my freaking house..sometime between last Thursday and a week from  now. WTH? Triggered a massive panic attack (sometimes, I've just had enough) and then my bedroom door got jammed Friday night, when I was in my buttonless nightgown (missing front buttons) and no shoes...and my house was an absolute disgusting mess because I'VE BEEN FREAKING SICK ALL WINTER and things are in a deplorable state...and my room is arguably the worst of the lot..though the rest of the house is pretty bad  (correction...WAS..guess what I've been doing for a week) and I had the property manager and his handyman crawling through my bedroom window...

omg it was a nightmare. I wanted to die and consume massive quantities of xanax (which of course I didn't have until MONDAY)

I think it's the first time I've taken xanax in a year or so.

Anyway I let the managers know that I'm about sick to death of this crap. I get that they can do walk throughs and all that, but I work, and I have dogs, and I have to be here...and that means i have to take work off and it's getting to be a real pain in the freaking ass. I pay primo dollar for rent (in this locale) and for that amount of money I expect them to show me some courtesy, and not treat me like I'm a felon that they're doing a huge favor for by allowing me to pay them a shitload of money for the privilege of having them crawl all over my house whenever they feel the urge.

I've lived here 3 years and we've never had to replace a window, patch a hole, change the locks (though their locks are and have been SHIT from the beginning). We haven't had to replace faucets or torn holes in the flooring..and our garage is the cleanest spot in the home!

Anyway. Grrrrrrr....

Oh and i finished the primary pieces of the mermaid outfit!













I will make a sea themed headband as well, with either a shell or sea anenome decoration but I have to find one first..and I want to find a magical shell pattern so I can place it between the halter strings of the bikini top..that may or may not happen....


----------



## koshergrl

Yeah my walls and baseboards are due for a scrub down. That's a saint bernard thing. Twice a year whether it needs it or not (it always needs it lol).


----------



## koshergrl

And get this, becki...I FOUND MY CAMERA! Guess where? UNDER MY DAUGHTER'S MATTRESS! She swore I had it last, I swore she did...GUESS who was right, lol. 

We rearranged her room (that scarred up chest of drawers is hers,she hates it so now it's in my room) and lifted the mattress to get the bedskirt on there and there the camera was!


----------



## koshergrl

I have no idea why she put it there, there was absolutely nothing questionable on it (she's not like that). She as undoubtedly hiding it from me so that she could use it at will, then forgot.


----------



## freedombecki

Quilt # 8 for 2014: Northwest Green Medallion Quilt


----------



## freedombecki

3 more scans for NW Green Mediallion quilt that measures ~=42x45"


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Well my landlord/homeowner is wanting to crawl all over my house, which makes me over the top p.o'ed....I invited a walk through just this fall, and asked them to repair some things (little things, thought h dishwasher finally gave up the ghost altogether and that isn't fixed yet)...then they had a realtor do a walk through (no plans to sell, oh no! Just a routine thing...my EYE!) and then some electrician contractor dude who was an asshole...THEN they had someone come look at the roof and they were supposed to do some work on the roof (moss removal) but cancelled at the last minute....this is all since the end of November mind you.
> 
> So now the OWNER is making a special trip from wherever it is she lives because she wants to personally walk through my freaking house..sometime between last Thursday and a week from now. WTH? Triggered a massive panic attack (sometimes, I've just had enough) and then my bedroom door got jammed Friday night, when I was in my buttonless nightgown (missing front buttons) and no shoes...and my house was an absolute disgusting mess because I'VE BEEN FREAKING SICK ALL WINTER and things are in a deplorable state...and my room is arguably the worst of the lot..though the rest of the house is pretty bad (correction...WAS..guess what I've been doing for a week) and I had the property manager and his handyman crawling through my bedroom window...
> 
> omg it was a nightmare. I wanted to die and consume massive quantities of xanax (which of course I didn't have until MONDAY)
> 
> I think it's the first time I've taken xanax in a year or so.
> 
> Anyway I let the managers know that I'm about sick to death of this crap. I get that they can do walk throughs and all that, but I work, and I have dogs, and I have to be here...and that means i have to take work off and it's getting to be a real pain in the freaking ass. I pay primo dollar for rent (in this locale) and for that amount of money I expect them to show me some courtesy, and not treat me like I'm a felon that they're doing a huge favor for by allowing me to pay them a shitload of money for the privilege of having them crawl all over my house whenever they feel the urge.
> 
> I've lived here 3 years and we've never had to replace a window, patch a hole, change the locks (though their locks are and have been SHIT from the beginning). We haven't had to replace faucets or torn holes in the flooring..and our garage is the cleanest spot in the home!
> 
> Anyway. Grrrrrrr....
> 
> Oh and i finished the primary pieces of the mermaid outfit!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will make a sea themed headband as well, with either a shell or sea anenome decoration but I have to find one first..and I want to find a magical shell pattern so I can place it between the halter strings of the bikini top..that may or may not happen....


That's beautiful, koshergrl. Best wishes on the housing.  Sending up a little prayer that things work out for your betterment.


----------



## freedombecki

We took my 8 little quilts from March up to the Charity Bees meeting today. All the girls were there. What angels they are. They were making senior support pillows from everybody's old fabric scraps. What a happy day they were having. 

Also went to Walgreen's to purchase preventative vitamins--Heart Specialist, D3, Vitamin C for immunity, and cranberry juice. It really helps out the kidneys when they become inflamed, so it is said.

It's evening here, and we have pondscum on the pond due to all the rains, prolly. We had it the one other wet year we had. It seems to go away in the summer. I'm not sure which insect, bird, or fish rids the pond of it, but it does go away. We've had cool air sustained this year. That is not quite like any year we've lived here. At least, it's not freezing, for which I gratefully think God for letting me live back here in this wonderland of birds. Oh, duh. I forgot birdseed. Between the squirrels and the birds, they ate a hundred pounds of seeds in less than 2 weeks, and it's been something else. I'm growing to love the bossy red Cardinals with their me-first-up-yours attitude, hahahahaha! 

 Just thank God when they marry, they marry each other.


----------



## koshergrl

Well I made (it's not quite finished needs ties or elastic in back) the mermaid outfit coronet...it's like a crocheted wonderwoman coronet with a starfish instead of whatever jewel wonderwoman has (if she evenn has a jewel)

Then between doing for kids and taking pics, i worked all day on a stupid seashell conch thing and I never have figured it out. It's starting to tick me off like the stupid daisy granny square where the math was off. C'MON, YOU'RE COUNTING STITCHES! Get it right, for pete's said. That's why we BUY those stupid patterns!!!!!

Anyway, that's my rant. Kids are doing great, grandbabies are beautiful...calling the baby "Little Brother" which is a pretty good name. oh my goodness he's cute! We made him model the mermaid outfit, looks pretty good to me! Might have to adjust the bikini top, lol... the baby is 8 months and he's only 6 weeks...

Dogs are going okay, and now it's time for bed for me. Klaus needs steroids but i don't dare until we get rid of the extra dogs in teh house...poor snoop is sort of being quarantined BUT in good news, my son is finally okay with me getting him neutered! Should make like at least a little easier....

Love to all and to all a good night.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Well I made (it's not quite finished needs ties or elastic in back) the mermaid outfit coronet...it's like a crocheted wonderwoman coronet with a starfish instead of whatever jewel wonderwoman has (if she evenn has a jewel)
> 
> Then between doing for kids and taking pics, i worked all day on a stupid seashell conch thing and I never have figured it out. It's starting to tick me off like the stupid daisy granny square where the math was off. C'MON, YOU'RE COUNTING STITCHES! Get it right, for pete's said. That's why we BUY those stupid patterns!!!!!
> 
> Anyway, that's my rant. Kids are doing great, grandbabies are beautiful...calling the baby "Little Brother" which is a pretty good name. oh my goodness he's cute! We made him model the mermaid outfit, looks pretty good to me! Might have to adjust the bikini top, lol... the baby is 8 months and he's only 6 weeks...
> 
> Dogs are going okay, and now it's time for bed for me. Klaus needs steroids but i don't dare until we get rid of the extra dogs in teh house...poor snoop is sort of being quarantined BUT in good news, my son is finally okay with me getting him neutered! Should make like at least a little easier....
> 
> Love to all and to all a good night.



Hope to see a picture of the coronet. Bet it's cute!


----------



## koshergrl

needs more seastars and perhaps shells but I CAN'T SEEM TO MASTER TEH STUPID SEASHELL PATTERN though I actually paid foR IT> Still working on that...


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

Sorry on this computer the edit function on photosucket takes FOREVER so I didn't rotate the images that are cattywampus.


----------



## Sunshine

Thought I would drop in and say hello to my friends.  Beckums, I've finished the pattern on the tablecloth and only have the border to do.  Will post a pick when I can.


----------



## koshergrl

Yes!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> needs more seastars and perhaps shells but I CAN'T SEEM TO MASTER TEH STUPID SEASHELL PATTERN though I actually paid foR IT> Still working on that...



Adorable!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Sorry on this computer the edit function on photosucket takes FOREVER so I didn't rotate the images that are cattywampus.



They're adorable, koshergrl. Right now, I've finished the center area of a quilt that I used Marti Michelle's tessellating windmills template on, except I had to sew strips of fabric to 4-inch leftovers for the first two and just continued on, trying to use fabrics with a similar scale.

 Unfortunately, my son unplugged and used my scanner on his visit here right after my accident, and somehow, I can't scan, and all my pictures disappeared. When he put the pictures back, his system messed up my ability to procure images from the net.

 So now, no pictures from anywhere and I can't even scan my blocks now until he fixes it or tells me what to do. He's so good with computers, he has a hard time communicating with monkey-see, monkey do users like me. 

 The 4 blocks I did are about 18"x18" and I'm contemplating doing 2 more. The last 4 took a week, and it's so silly, because from start to finish, the first two were done in short order. I'm so picky, I had to go to 3 different shops to try and find fabrics the same scale with light backgrounds, then I just sewed them together without thinking about anything but the windmill that formed at the junction of the 4 squares, so the 2 lightest are adjacent and the 2 dark grounds are adjacent instead of alternating...

 *sigh*

 So much for froggies and camels and elks and other juvenile prints with scales of about 7/8 of an inch, give or take a quarter inch.


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> Thought I would drop in and say hello to my friends. Beckums, I've finished the pattern on the tablecloth and only have the border to do. Will post a pick when I can.


Can't wait! Congratulations on getting the big part done! 

 And good luck finishing the border. It's gonna be a knockout!


----------



## freedombecki

Prayer list for Koshergrl finding a new home (from reading around here), continuing to pray for Sunshine for many more good days than bad; and for Mrs. Bloodrock44 to overcome her issues as she has been to the emergency room twice in the last month, and also for Bloodrock, who's been a great supporter of this thread in the past. Prayers up for all USMB members who need them.


----------



## freedombecki

My progress in the sewing room has been not very good. I'm spending almost all my time doing my husband's chores, poorly most likely, but trying the best I can. He told me he picked up his medicine when I sent him back in Target last week, and yesterday, they called me asking why I hadn't picked up his medicine. 

People with dementia have been known to deflect a little to avoid doing what has to be done, and this is not only silly, he gets combative about diaper changes when he doesn't take his medicine. I have to get dressed and go to the pharmacy now. When I get back, I have to finish working on the fence before I get back to my little quilt tops. Oh, I miss sewing so much. I'm trying to cut corners by cooking all our meals now, so when he doesn't take his meds, he also munches the sugars away, which isn't a good idea for borderline diabetics like him.

Oh, the chimes of time. 

Hope everyone is having a better week than me, that Kgrl gets situated in a veritable dream home, that Sunshine has sunny days, and that Mrs. B is diagnosed and fixed so she won't be hurting or suffering in any way. Might as well wish for Peace on Earth. We're long due for that thousand year millennium of peace everywhere.

 And a huge thanks to Mr. H. for his support of this thread in unseen ways.


----------



## koshergrl

I haven't found anything yet but this is play week, so we are consumed by THEATRE from morning to night.

Love you, Becki et al...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I haven't found anything yet but this is play week, so we are consumed by THEATRE from morning to night.
> 
> Love you, Becki et al...



 Thanks, kgrl. It's about that time for schools to culminate their language arts skills in plays the month before school is out so they can save the last couple of weeks for hopping on the bus and taking all the we-can't-wait-till-summer-vacation crowd to museums to let them enjoy the arts and crafts, nature's birds and butterflies, zoos, spring festivals, and sometimes, college stage productions. In the ninth grade, I attended a school in West Texas that had a sum total of 50 kids from 9th to 12th grade, and we went to a camp on the Guadalupe River they rented each year from the Presbyterian Church. I'm thinking it was Mo Ranch, but can't be for sure. Anyway, we learned water safety and sports, did nature hikes and learned about geological formations, and 101 things you'd never do in school. It was a blast, and especially we had a great fun time, even with chaperones everywhere. Back then, it was so different from today. We were more like third or forth graders than high-schoolers. I just remember having the time of my life, and it seemed like everyone else did, too.


----------



## freedombecki

It's been disappointing not to be able to work on a postage stamp quilt this year, but I still have the yen. I decided "Somewhere, someone loves postage stamp quilts as much as me, and I'm going to find their gallery. Well, there is a gallery at a place called "flickr", and here's their Postage Stamp Quilt Gallery: LINK

 And I thought this quilt was the living end for planning:





 Until I saw this quilt that I was certain took half a lifetime, at least:





 Not to mention several other master works. Even the totally scrappy and uneven ones were wonderful, and one lady did something I've only thought of doing (in a different way) by using tiny rectangles, which of course, most real postage stamps are rather than being square:





 Just a taste with thanks to the wonderful, prolific quilting people who use flickr to share their gorgeous creations with the rest of us.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I haven't found anything yet but this is play week, so we are consumed by THEATRE from morning to night.
> 
> Love you, Becki et al...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, kgrl. It's about that time for schools to culminate their language arts skills in plays the month before school is out so they can save the last couple of weeks for hopping on the bus and taking all the we-can't-wait-till-summer-vacation crowd to museums to let them enjoy the arts and crafts, nature's birds and butterflies, zoos, spring festivals, and sometimes, college stage productions. In the ninth grade, I attended a school in West Texas that had a sum total of 50 kids from 9th to 12th grade, and we went to a camp on the Guadalupe River they rented each year from the Presbyterian Church. I'm thinking it was Mo Ranch, but can't be for sure. Anyway, we learned water safety and sports, did nature hikes and learned about geological formations, and 101 things you'd never do in school. It was a blast, and especially we had a great fun time, even with chaperones everywhere. Back then, it was so different from today. We were more like third or forth graders than high-schoolers. I just remember having the time of my life, and it seemed like everyone else did, too.
Click to expand...

 
That sounds absolutely wonderful. We didn't do summer camp last year but this is going to be a year for it for my kids, too. I know the girl wants to return to a Christian horse camp that she went to a couple of years ago, and loved. My son has never gone to camp before, and we're still trying to find a good pick for him. He'd be perfect for day camps but the only day camps we have that are easily accessible for us are the theatre camps, and he's not that into theatre....

Newport has a wonderful day camp series out of the Oregon Coast Aquarium..but that is like 45 miles away...not doable for us, since you have to drop off/pick up.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I haven't found anything yet but this is play week, so we are consumed by THEATRE from morning to night.
> 
> Love you, Becki et al...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, kgrl. It's about that time for schools to culminate their language arts skills in plays the month before school is out so they can save the last couple of weeks for hopping on the bus and taking all the we-can't-wait-till-summer-vacation crowd to museums to let them enjoy the arts and crafts, nature's birds and butterflies, zoos, spring festivals, and sometimes, college stage productions. In the ninth grade, I attended a school in West Texas that had a sum total of 50 kids from 9th to 12th grade, and we went to a camp on the Guadalupe River they rented each year from the Presbyterian Church. I'm thinking it was Mo Ranch, but can't be for sure. Anyway, we learned water safety and sports, did nature hikes and learned about geological formations, and 101 things you'd never do in school. It was a blast, and especially we had a great fun time, even with chaperones everywhere. Back then, it was so different from today. We were more like third or forth graders than high-schoolers. I just remember having the time of my life, and it seemed like everyone else did, too.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That sounds absolutely wonderful. We didn't do summer camp last year but this is going to be a year for it for my kids, too. I know the girl wants to return to a Christian horse camp that she went to a couple of years ago, and loved. My son has never gone to camp before, and we're still trying to find a good pick for him. He'd be perfect for day camps but the only day camps we have that are easily accessible for us are the theatre camps, and he's not that into theatre....
> 
> Newport has a wonderful day camp series out of the Oregon Coast Aquarium..but that is like 45 miles away...not doable for us, since you have to drop off/pick up.
Click to expand...

There's a boy scout camp named Camp Strake my brother went to that is way north of Houston, and it's still there. I think (but am not certain) it is located near I-45 a little south of Conroe Texas, at the Camp Strake exit. Oh, yes, there are week-long camps in Oregon in the Cascades, where my son went the summer he was in the eighth or ninth grade. Oregon has the most beautiful mountains in the world, imho. They're full of springs, rivers, creeks, birds, berries, and just every delightful wildflower in the world. I hope you find a good one. Ours was church-related, and each year, the parents of the children in that church saw to it that at least 20 kids went to it. We had some very generous people for anyone who couldn't afford to send kids, and there was always a "scholarship" for anyone whose parents needed help sending them there. There's nothing like the Oregonian Cascades anywhere I've ever seen.


----------



## koshergrl

We are doubly blessed because even if we don't do camp, we have wonderful places to swim...within walking distance for the kids when they're a little older.

Starting younger than my daughter, when I was a girl, I used to swim in a seasonal dunes lake just a couple of blocks from my house. We didn't have a public pool, so on *hot* days I could grab my bestie and a couple of towels, and we had beautiful warm sand and water all to ourselves.

And when we got older, we'd camp in the woods around the lake. We'd pick a place, build a tiny fire, roll out our sleeping bags on the moss and sand, and we were set.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> We are doubly blessed because even if we don't do camp, we have wonderful places to swim...within walking distance for the kids when they're a little older.
> 
> Starting younger than my daughter, when I was a girl, I used to swim in a seasonal dunes lake just a couple of blocks from my house. We didn't have a public pool, so on *hot* days I could grab my bestie and a couple of towels, and we had beautiful warm sand and water all to ourselves.
> 
> And when we got older, we'd camp in the woods around the lake. We'd pick a place, build a tiny fire, roll out our sleeping bags on the moss and sand, and we were set.



Memory lane can be so warm...


----------



## koshergrl

Finally finished it. I was going to make some white sea shell adornments but the pattern I had was giving me fits so I just made do.....I see toes on that mermaid! Next time I make one, I'll make a liner to go with.

I just noticed..she has it on backwards so you can't see the detail of the fins, lol.


----------



## Mr. H.

This thread is where I retreat for a dose of temporal sanity around here.


----------



## koshergrl

This thread is the only reason I post at usmb.


----------



## koshergrl

One of my next projects...bun covers for ballet, using the little ribbons that came around the flowers that my daughter rec'd backstage. There's maybe 15 of them? Or so? 

Anyway, they're all sheer blue ribbon, perfect size for using as the draw string on bun covers.

http://www.mooglyblog.com/all-too-perfect-crocheted-bun-cover/


----------



## Mr. H.

10 best places to see amazing quilts

Well, besides here of course.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Finally finished it. I was going to make some white sea shell adornments but the pattern I had was giving me fits so I just made do.....I see toes on that mermaid! Next time I make one, I'll make a liner to go with.
> 
> I just noticed..she has it on backwards so you can't see the detail of the fins, lol.


Job well done, Koshergrl! She's adorable!


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> 10 best places to see amazing quilts
> 
> Well, besides here of course.



Mr. H, from your link was included a Museum we visited about 7 weeks ago, before I fell:



> *Texas Quilt Museum
> *La Grange, Texas
> This Lone Star quilt haven grew out of Houston's mammoth International Quilt Festival, which started in 1974 and now attracts more than 60,000 visitors a year. The museum's collection reflects just a sample of the extraordinary works displayed at the show. The holdings, Tims proudly notes, include his pieces. _979-968-3104; texasquiltmuseum.org_


 
 I bought a book there on Texas Quilts III, and it's really wonderful!


----------



## freedombecki

Day before yesterday, the entire day went to making a charity quilt, and it was a little larger than I planned because I added Row 7 to the bottom for a tall tyke expected to be taller yet! I just hope the girls in Charity Bees find the right recipient. It was another turning windmill top, inspired by koshergrl on one of her earlier posts here as an ongoing project she is quilting. I must've made ten of those by now, and they're so much fun to put together, and even the sashing is fun. I had so much fun making them, I must've made a couple of hundred 5.5" blocks into a single stack, and have been whitling on them ever since, adding a yellow block here and an orange block there. This latest one was done in greens, so I have only made 10 quilts so far this year, and it's April already.

We had some really tough days lately with my fall and all those facial fractures and double vision. I really didn't do much, until the day I just said to myself, "enough. It's time to complete something I started." *sigh* Then, having conveniently forgotten the curved circles quilt blocks, I tore into that windmill stack, picked 24 squares, and noticed I was shy of yellow and a good red, so I got busy and first thing you know had 27 squares. I just grabbed the 28th from the remaining pile and decided it would be 4x7 instead of 4x6. I used the bright green from the border of the froggie friend quilt as sashes and setting squares with a white with green print around the bright green. It was a lot of work, but it was different than any other quilt with windmills, and I loved doing it. I hope the Charity bees love it, too. Gosh, I made 10 consecutive quilts with green as borders and themes. 

I never made a green quilt in my life until Green became my daughter's love and passion. Then I made her two plus did wallhangings for her bedroom, which she really enjoyed. After that, I realized what a pleasing color she picked, and started just enjoying working with green. As much as I love blue, could I finish a blue quilt? Nope! It took 3 years to finish the blue Victorian quilt, which I never use, but her green quilt, which was equally hard to do due to it being an uneven log cabin circles quilt, was done in under two months and at the time was likely the most pieces in a log cabin quilt ever done by me. (or not). I made so many of them for the squad cars back in my years in Wyoming, that I know at least a couple of them would fit a queen bed, and one in particular would fit a dual king it was so huge. After that, I just made quilts in the 60x80" range, sometimes 96" long if it was for a wounded vet. Those pioneer Wyoming fellows were a tall rangy lot when I first arrived. They had to be big people to survive the 40 below winters that were so common in the 60s and 70s, and long before that!

Well, anyway, my face is itchy and horrid because nerves and muscles were rearranged poorly in the hardest fall I ever had, and needless to mention, you never saw a blacker eye nor one that extended all the way down to below the chin. It was half my face, and it was completely ash black from the bleeding from fractured bones all over. It's healed, thanks to being on people's prayer lists, but I still have a tad of double vision and am going to the specialist one more time with surgery being a possible outcome, and hopefully they will made a decision no later than next week as to whether or not my eye needs surgery's correction or if it is too risky.

Good night all. Please keep Mrs. Bloodrock on your prayer list. She's been in the hospital twice recently and while she seems to be better, she's had a diminished schedule due to her illness. Prayers up! 

 Oh, yes, and also Sunshine hasn't checked in too often lately. I can only hope she is taking it easy and having beautiful spring weather, colorful flowers, and surrounded by family and her circle of real world friends. Prayers up for comfort for all the suffering caused her by her illness with many good days ahead and good company.

 Love,

 becki


----------



## koshergrl

Wow becki you've had a time of it. Prayers for healing and alleviation of pain. So sorry about your face! Not a good place to land when falling, I know. I went to bed super early last night, the first night after my daughter's show closed on Sunday. It was glorious.


----------



## freedombecki

Good to hear koshergrl. The time that follows the ending of a production like that is a breath of fresh air after all that love and work goes into it. Hope a wonderful week follows of happiness and joy for a job well done.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm starting on my second bun warmer. I'm using a larger hook (I already was using a larger hook than the original pattern...and the bun warmer I made is almost too small for my girl's hair) and so far it looks really good! I think I messed up the 4th & 5th rows in the first one. The girl is wearing it at school today though, she likes it!

The one I'm doing now is in the same green as the baby's mermaid tail.


----------



## freedombecki

Start with a center piece and sew them together to a foundation:






Work the stitches in a hoop:






Here's an embroidered crazy quilt block:






Oh the work!

Here's a book that makes it foolproof I saw on Amazon and at Connecting threads:






More from "foolproof" crazies:











And Allie Aller's book on Crazy quilting looks fun:






She's doin' it the hard way, but the colors are so cute, I'd just die to look at 12 squares not yet embroidered and think of the months it would take to do it instead of doing a block every couple of days... 

I think crazy quilting would be fun, but right now, my better half is demanding lunch soon! C-yas!


----------



## koshergrl

I love crazy quilts. you don't see many anymore.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I love crazy quilts. you don't see many anymore.


They're a lot of fun. Our guild made one a few years back and used the raffle money to buy scholarships at Sam Houston State University. 

 I make a crazy quilt now and then. They're a whole lot of fun to use all those embroidery stitches on your sewing machine that never get used for anything else (well, for some.)


----------



## BDBoop

I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last time I visited, and hope I am okay to visit again (on my best behavior). I will understand if the answer is 'no.'


----------



## koshergrl

Yesterday, I finished the infinity houndstooth...today, I made skulls! I'm going to make the boy a scarf:


----------



## koshergrl

This was the first one, variegated worsted cotton, and an f hook (the white skull is acrylic worsted and a G hook):


----------



## freedombecki

Nice work, koshergrl.

Everyone has bad days, BDB.

And I have a headache. This morning instead of drinking coffee, I took a couple of naps because of facial itching on the injury. (indicates healing). Did dishes, cottled miss Music, coddled Mr. Freedom's hurt feelings, went back to bed and fell asleep. Woke up to take Mr. Freedom to lunch, so now, I have to go back to bed to escape the headache and facial itching. Tomorrow when I get up, I am definitely gonna have some coffee!






Love to all

Oh, and Mr. Freedom was so antsy to leave, I didn't get the last two borders on the little quilt I finished the middle of the other day. Hope I have progress to share tomorrow.

Love to all who enter here, with some saved especially our dear Sunshine, who hasn't checked in since 3/31 with a picture of her finished tablecloth. She's on my prayer list every night as are everyone here and our fellow Americans who seem to feel a little divided these days.


----------



## koshergrl

I missed the tablecloth!!!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I missed the tablecloth!!!


Oh, I knew that could be taken in more ways than one. She didn't show it and said she would wait till she did the rest of the outer rows first. What I meant to say was that I hope she will post it when she's ready, which would be nice if it were soon. But whether she feels like doing all that work or not, it'd sure be nice if she just dropped in to say hello now and then. Maybe she will, but it's been 3 weeks since I heard from her.  I just pray that she's comfortable and happy. She spent her entire life making sure other people were comfortable and happy enough to mend properly when devastated by illnesses. She mentioned some time back on one of the threads that she was tempted to go back and help fill in where she used to work. Well, I do miss Ms. Sunshine, but I know she has a lot of friends in her area. She's a credit to her community. Coouldn't possibly blame any of them if they wanted all her time spent in their associations.


----------



## koshergrl

I hope everybody had as nice an Easter as we did. We went to church, and my sweet son and his family joined us there. They had an Easter egg hunt after the service, then the kids went to the beach and I finished up dinner...ham, potato salad, regular salad, pears, sweet potatoes, bread sticks.....

wow but seriously, we are the Loud Family. My ears hurt.


----------



## freedombecki

A blessed Easter, everyone...


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I hope everybody had as nice an Easter as we did. We went to church, and my sweet son and his family joined us there. They had an Easter egg hunt after the service, then the kids went to the beach and I finished up dinner...ham, potato salad, regular salad, pears, sweet potatoes, bread sticks.....
> 
> wow but seriously, we are the Loud Family. My ears hurt.



Sounds wonderful.

 I finished one quilt and got another 2/3 finished. The other is called "Mulligan stew." The finished quilt was started 20 years ago at least, and the squares just sat in a pile until we moved, then got bunched together and has provided the works for 2 other quilts that were finished here for the Charity Bees ongoing community helping hands.  I don't know why I got everything so cart before the horse yesterday. I shed a little tear now and then with my husbands issues. Your eyes get blurry when there's too much sorrow.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's gleanings from the net:

This heart was just pleasing for some reason...






And this "spools Log Cabin" was intriguing because it was executed on point:





Actually, I just loaded "Spools Log Cabin" into Bing! And I liked the results:






This was a doll quilt someone made when they realized how much work pineapple quilt is by comparison to any other quilts:






What a planner or mathematician the lady was, who designed and made this spools and log cabin quilt:






And the colors on this one enchanted me:






There are so many things people do to make their quilts really fantastic. And the gallery is as close as Bing or Google. *sigh*


----------



## freedombecki

Yesterday, I finished 20 blocks for a Hugs Log Cabin quilt. It's in shades of turquoise and teal,


----------



## freedombecki

And some quilters say, "Aw, to heck with perfection and planning! Let's do fun today." 
See what I mean in this quilt's pure delight of delirious colors:






When I see a quilt like this apple core/hatchet (quilt that has 2 traditional names), my first thought is often "How'd she do that?






Of course, I'm itching to find out how my "apple core" acrylic template is going to work out. Other people's work is often my courage, and I'm so grateful for the advantages of having so much sharing done by people. Mine won't be this gracious. It's an 8-inch baby huey apple core.   

Love these two, and the "holders" look like children to me:






Oh, someone did a log cabin style crazy quilt and it rocks:






And adorning her sign that says "There is such a thing as having too much fabric" is this adorable spools scrap quilt:






Can you say the "workaholic quilt?" I can! The quilt below proves it. 






And every search lately finds at least ONE (or more) "Selvage" quilts made from the printed edge that tells manufacturing or care details from time to time...


----------



## freedombecki

Today's challenge will be 

1. Driving Mr. Daisy around without having foot cramps and malicious reaction syndrome to his dementia issues of conducting an orchestra from the passenger seat and whispering sweet nothings to complete a conversation he had with a business associate 40 years ago. 

2. Disengaging the tractor from the spring swamp area that Mr. Daisy drove the tractor into last week without recollecting the fact that he really didn't want to do it when I sent him out... 

3. Sweating buckets mowing the lawn while Mr. Daisy makes a beeline for the recliner where he will spend the rest of the day vegetating out in front of the same movies he always watches. I swear I will promise not to gag on seeing the same actress wearing the same gray outfit again nor her wedding planner sequel as my entertainment when reentering the residence for a drink of limeade. 

4. Acting nonchalant when holding my breath taking out the Mr. Daisy's Depends, and not devising plans to purchase a smell-proof oxygen tank (which may not exist) to do the task. 

5. Hoping I get an hour to put my 20 little log squares together this morning, and still able to satisfy Mr. Daisy's epicurean demands... which means thinking ahead to come up with a witticism when he demands a trip to the luncheon establishment 20 minutes after he ate a huge breakfast.  

If I made anybody laugh with the above nonsense, I shall be pleased as the Cheshire Cat. 

Have a lovely day all!

Love,

becki


----------



## koshergrl

Have a good day, becki...I love the selvage quilts...I've seen those before. I've also seen quilts made of county fair ribbons! I'm making the girl an infinity scarf...I finished the black and white one. Hers is green and a cream or tan color. I have discovered that green is not abundant in the yarn world...and the variations on the shades is insane...but you'll see lots of blues, and reds, and yellows on the shelves, just very few greens. I don't know if that is just a coinicidence I've stumbled on here, or if there's a reason for it.

Anyway, her scarf will be lovely on her.

I'm also making skulls for the boy....I'm going to make him a scarf. I'll have to post a couple.


----------



## koshergrl

Oh duh, I already did.

I'm using the purple one as a coaster for my water glass and/or sodas, btw.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Today's challenge will be
> 
> 1. Driving Mr. Daisy around without having foot cramps and malicious reaction syndrome to his dementia issues of conducting an orchestra from the passenger seat and whispering sweet nothings to complete a conversation he had with a business associate 40 years ago.
> 
> 2. Disengaging the tractor from the spring swamp area that Mr. Daisy drove the tractor into last week without recollecting the fact that he really didn't want to do it when I sent him out...
> 
> 3. Sweating buckets mowing the lawn while Mr. Daisy makes a beeline for the recliner where he will spend the rest of the day vegetating out in front of the same movies he always watches. I swear I will promise not to gag on seeing the same actress wearing the same gray outfit again nor her wedding planner sequel as my entertainment when reentering the residence for a drink of limeade.
> 
> 4. Acting nonchalant when holding my breath taking out the Mr. Daisy's Depends, and not devising plans to purchase a smell-proof oxygen tank (which may not exist) to do the task.
> 
> 5. Hoping I get an hour to put my 20 little log squares together this morning, and still able to satisfy Mr. Daisy's epicurean demands... which means thinking ahead to come up with a witticism when he demands a trip to the luncheon establishment 20 minutes after he ate a huge breakfast.
> 
> If I made anybody laugh with the above nonsense, I shall be pleased as the Cheshire Cat.
> 
> Have a lovely day all!
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki



You did. 

May the challenges fly by.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Today's challenge will be
> 
> 1. Driving Mr. Daisy around without having foot cramps and malicious reaction syndrome to his dementia issues of conducting an orchestra from the passenger seat and whispering sweet nothings to complete a conversation he had with a business associate 40 years ago.
> 
> 2. Disengaging the tractor from the spring swamp area that Mr. Daisy drove the tractor into last week without recollecting the fact that he really didn't want to do it when I sent him out...
> 
> 3. Sweating buckets mowing the lawn while Mr. Daisy makes a beeline for the recliner where he will spend the rest of the day vegetating out in front of the same movies he always watches. I swear I will promise not to gag on seeing the same actress wearing the same gray outfit again nor her wedding planner sequel as my entertainment when reentering the residence for a drink of limeade.
> 
> 4. Acting nonchalant when holding my breath taking out the Mr. Daisy's Depends, and not devising plans to purchase a smell-proof oxygen tank (which may not exist) to do the task.
> 
> 5. Hoping I get an hour to put my 20 little log squares together this morning, and still able to satisfy Mr. Daisy's epicurean demands... which means thinking ahead to come up with a witticism when he demands a trip to the luncheon establishment 20 minutes after he ate a huge breakfast.
> 
> If I made anybody laugh with the above nonsense, I shall be pleased as the Cheshire Cat.
> 
> Have a lovely day all!
> 
> Love,
> 
> becki
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You did.
> 
> May the challenges fly by.
Click to expand...

Like the arrow Cupid shot when I first saw my sweetie? Goner!

 Cupid conferred with the Angels who said, "He's perfect. She's an A-type and he's the perfect B-type which means she will always love him even when he someday will get Dementia..." 

 Angels do have a warped sense of humor, and Cupid was their accomplice! But it's ok. My A-type is becoming more subdued by the day lately.  So they did know what they were doing.


----------



## freedombecki

This lady did a cute butterfly design for a quilt from Down Under. Way cute. Linda Steele did this way cute butterfly:






 The shape is so intriguing to me. *sigh*


----------



## BDBoop

I like this.


----------



## BDBoop

Best of both worlds! Looks like stained glass, but it's a quilt.


----------



## BDBoop

Well, I can see I won't be going to sleep any time soon.

Fabric Affair on Pinterest


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> Well, I can see I won't be going to sleep any time soon.
> 
> Fabric Affair on Pinterest



I loved the page, BDB! Thanks! This is fabulous:

 Lisa Goreski's Zebra quilt from your link:






 She did a master think-out-of-the-box work of art, imho.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I can see I won't be going to sleep any time soon.
> 
> Fabric Affair on Pinterest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I loved the page, BDB! Thanks! This is fabulous:
> 
> Lisa Goreski's Zebra quilt from your link:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> She did a master think-out-of-the-box work of art, imho.
Click to expand...


Wow! Agreed.

I have to go to sleep for a time, but I know where I'm going to be when work is slow tonight.


----------



## Sunshine

OK, Beckums,

I managed to get a password that works, so disregard the email on that one.  Here are the tablecloth pics, not washed or ironed on the first ones:













Ironed and  ready to put away:





My new quilt project:





That is the first block.   The pattern called for that dark red, but as you know I had a bad experience with it fading.  I went to the fabric store looking for something that wouldn't fade.  The clerk told me to always look at the tiny label for the tiny words. 'color fast.'  Luckily the green on the other one is color fast.  I chose a nice deep color fast rose which gives the same effect as the dark red.  The pattern is a colonial design and I noticed in Colonial Williamsburg that all the colors there were very vibrant.  

I believe I learned a lot on the first quilt project, no doubt I will learn on this one as well.  The red on that tablecloth was hard to look at for more than a couple of hours at a time.  I know you thought I wouldn't pick it back up when I put it down for a time, but I knew I would.  I had put the green quilt down for 5 or 6 years.  The time became right to pick it back up.  The best thing about the new project:  No border row.  I go nuts having to do those. 

Either of my grandmothers would take that tablecloth and put white crochet around the edges.  But I'm not either of my grandmothers.  It will just have to stay like it is.

I told you about the yellow butterfly after my sister died.  Well I had her son take me by the cemetery to see her marker last week.   I took 3 color pics of it.  I love taking pics in cemeteries, I always get some unusual light effects.  Wellll,  when I got home, I noticed that all the pics except those of my sister's marker were black and white.  My cell camera takes a deliberate action to change venues.  I had done nothing to change it.  I took the last pick of her marker and then, without even putting the phone down, turned and took the other pics.  

Cheers, Beckums.


----------



## koshergrl

Omigosh love it!!!!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, Beckums,
> 
> I managed to get a password that works, so disregard the email on that one. Here are the tablecloth pics, not washed or ironed on the first ones:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ironed and ready to put away:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My new quilt project:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is the first block. The pattern called for that dark red, but as you know I had a bad experience with it fading. I went to the fabric store looking for something that wouldn't fade. The clerk told me to always look at the tiny label for the tiny words. 'color fast.' Luckily the green on the other one is color fast. I chose a nice deep color fast rose which gives the same effect as the dark red. The pattern is a colonial design and I noticed in Colonial Williamsburg that all the colors there were very vibrant.
> 
> I believe I learned a lot on the first quilt project, no doubt I will learn on this one as well. The red on that tablecloth was hard to look at for more than a couple of hours at a time. I know you thought I wouldn't pick it back up when I put it down for a time, but I knew I would. I had put the green quilt down for 5 or 6 years. The time became right to pick it back up. The best thing about the new project: No border row. I go nuts having to do those.
> 
> Either of my grandmothers would take that tablecloth and put white crochet around the edges. But I'm not either of my grandmothers. It will just have to stay like it is.
> 
> I told you about the yellow butterfly after my sister died. Well I had her son take me by the cemetery to see her marker last week. I took 3 color pics of it. I love taking pics in cemeteries, I always get some unusual light effects. Wellll, when I got home, I noticed that all the pics except those of my sister's marker were black and white. My cell camera takes a deliberate action to change venues. I had done nothing to change it. I took the last pick of her marker and then, without even putting the phone down, turned and took the other pics.
> 
> Cheers, Beckums.


Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful tablecloth with us, Sunshine. And your redwork cross stitch quilt is going to be another treasure. I'm still not done with the butterfly quilt, having decided to go back to doing more charity quilts. My son loved the butterfly quilt on his trip here last month. I guess he will have the top, although he won't ever get it quilted. He just doesn't ever get around to unfinished stuff. Even so, I will have to finish it sooner or later, but right now, everything is on hold while my husband is still alive and kicking. 

 Hope everybody has a lovely evening. That redwork quilt is going to be a sight to behold and a treasure to your children, Sunshine. Thanks so much for sharing it!


----------



## BDBoop

Sleep well! Found another beauty, same link.


----------



## BDBoop

Another major board with 6,246 pins on it!

Magnificiant Quilts on Pinterest






Some of what I'm seeing really doesn't seem like a quilt to me. Fabric art? I have to go define: quilt and see what qualifies.


----------



## freedombecki

Sea Fever, by John Masefield
98. *Sea-Fever* 
I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
. 
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
_5_
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
_10_
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
Bartleby​.





Quilt by Annette Ratzenberger​


----------



## koshergrl

I'm dyeing a round pineapple motif table cloth my auntie made....it had stains on the original ecru color...we're going for teal. I put it through with one packet of rit color, and it's a pretty color but I still see the stains. So now its soaking in a tub with two packets of color.

Along with some ripped sheets that I'm going to make into a rug.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> Sea Fever, by John Masefield​ 98. *Sea-Fever*​ I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,​ And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,​ And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,​ And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.​ .  ​ I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide​ _         5_​ Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;​ And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,​ And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.​ I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.​ To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;​ _  10_​ And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,​ And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.​ Bartleby​ .


When I was a little girl, my mother had an old beat up volume of poems that she would read to us from. Favorites were this poem, Daffodils, Lenore, and a few others. What a lovely memory...and what a gorgeous quilt!!!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm dyeing a round pineapple motif table cloth my auntie made....it had stains on the original ecru color...we're going for teal. I put it through with one packet of rit color, and it's a pretty color but I still see the stains. So now its soaking in a tub with two packets of color.
> 
> Along with some ripped sheets that I'm going to make into a rug.



If that doesn't do it, you have two recourses: (1) Start over using Rit Dye "Color Out" product which removes everything and is especially good on what seem to be permanent stains on light colors, since all the color is out.

 Another alternative is if the dye you used is firm (test by soaking in water overnight and testing to see if the teal color is running). If the water is clear in a glass next to a clear glass of distilled water, the dye is firm.

 If the dye is firm, embroider one of your most beautiful embroidery ideas over it to obfuscate the stain. It will take people's mind off the spot and show your fabulous work.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sea Fever, by John Masefield​
> 
> 98. *Sea-Fever*
> I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
> And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
> And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
> And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.​
> I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
> Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
> And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
> And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.​
> I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
> To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
> And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
> And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
> Bartleby​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When I was a little girl, my mother had an old beat up volume of poems that she would read to us from. Favorites were this poem, Daffodils, Lenore, and a few others. What a lovely memory...and what a gorgeous quilt!!!
Click to expand...

 
All I know is a man named John Ratzenberger shared it online and said it was made by his wife Annette on a British website: The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum ? View topic - Previously built and launched

Wow. Your mother read you poetry. My mother read stories to my brother and me, and all I remember is loving bedtime because I'd get to hear her read to us, and it was a fun time.


----------



## freedombecki

​ A mockup of Maritime Rows:​ ​ 

 ​ Who said the rows had to be planks? ​ ​ 

 ​ 

 ​ Odd, I was thinking of the Crossed canoes square, Tall Ships and Storm-at-Sea just this morning:​ ​ 

 ​ Mixed Mania:​ ​ 

 ​ Wouldn't you know it, a maritime row quilt book, "Quilts in a Row UNDER THE SEA" has been published by Billie Lander and Marilyn Mansker.​ ​


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> Sleep well! Found another beauty, same link.


Tula Pink's butterfly quilt is truly enchanting. I posted the quilt from her show a few months back. It's awesome at any angle. Thanks for sharing it again.


----------



## Mr. H.

Here's to quilts. 

Patchy and catchy.


----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> Another major board with 6,246 pins on it!
> 
> Magnificiant Quilts on Pinterest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Some of what I'm seeing really doesn't seem like a quilt to me. Fabric art? I have to go define: quilt and see what qualifies.


Quilt designers are aka fiber artists, which includes an entire spectrum of aesthetic fiber works. Yes, they're art. Yes, they are quilts. And no, fiber artists cannot tell if their art will wind up on a wall or bleached in a washer to clean them by a blunderbuss when they are sold or given. 

Another sea quilt I found online...​


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Here's to quilts.
> 
> Patchy and catchy.


 
 From end to end
 A nighttime friend!


----------



## freedombecki

​ 

 ​ 

 ​ 

 ​ 

 ​ 

 ​ ​ ​


----------



## freedombecki

Sew, sew, sew your quilt​ Gently down the seams​ Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,​ Made for happy dreams​ ​


----------



## BDBoop




----------



## BDBoop




----------



## koshergrl




----------



## freedombecki

Still working on the little row quilt and turned in 5 quilt tops to the charity bees yesterday. I had a lot of people to meet with in the last couple of days and still have more to go. <huff, puff!>

 The work I'm now doing is a floral row, and am working with simple floral shapes I charted on graph paper but cannot share yet due to not being able to scan now. I'm sorry. I finished all those quilts and didn't get to show the work. Oh, well. I used some really pretty contemporary fabrics from the quilt store on one of them. In fact, the border was much prettier than the quilt. I'm so tired of my old squares.

 I bought a used book on Amazon of simple postage pieced flowers called "Bloomin Beauties" by Billie Lauder. I really love this rose, and some of her other flowers that could be a nice idea for a row quilt. I saw this beautiful quilt in a frame at the Sam Houston Antique Mall or Store in beautiful downtown Huntsville, Texas, today. It was tiny, beautiful work, and only was asking $75 for it. Instead, I bought a chair that would help me rise from the chair by being exactly the right height for my bad knees that have been right crochety lately.

 A samplesfrom the book _Bloomin' Beauties_.






 Other pictures inside the book are here: Bloomin' Beauties Simple Pieced Florals by Billie Lauder

 I've already designed several flowers to work and more complex borders than appear in this book, but I will use easier borders if it helps crank out another Charity Bees quilt for giving in the local community.

 Well, I'm shot for the night. I'm battling my second case of Poison Ivy in a month, and a severe toothache on the same side of my face I fell on at my sister's oak root parking lot a few weeks back. My husband has decided not to go wandering after I gave him a few sermons about elderly people we knew over the years who had bad things happen as they approached their 70s and 80s. One ran over a child, one took a joyride to Lander, Wyoming, quite a few miles from central Wyoming where we lived, and died in a crash that took 2 other lives when she got confused and veered into an oncoming lane on a country freeway miles from anywhere. Her husband was just sick. He'd had problems with her disappearing and not coming back for hours before, but her last drive was the end of her life. From the evidence gathered at the accident scene, nobody knew what hit them, and it was all over in an instant for everyone in both vehicles.

 Well, 'scuse me for going off topic. I'm just achey, that's all, and it makes me ramble.

 Off to get some Orajel on this tooth one more time.

 Love to all, 

 becki


----------



## BDBoop

I found this to be beautiful.


----------



## BDBoop




----------



## BDBoop




----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> I found this to be beautiful.



Very beautiful, BDB. Thanks for sharing. It was created by a master embroiderer, probably a teacher or should be one.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> BDBoop said:
> 
> 
> 
> I found this to be beautiful.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Very beautiful, BDB. Thanks for sharing. It was created by a master embroiderer, probably a teacher or should be one.
Click to expand...


It is so evocative. I don't know that I could use it as bedding. It's too beautiful. Maybe a wall-hanging.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow. The post I worked on for some time explaining the quilt I finished today was just erased. That's really bad. 

I sewed a postage stamp row and placed it at the top of the work, called Mulligan Stew. So good to get a quilt finished early. We ran errands and had breakfast out this morning, and I'm still healing, which leaves me with little energy for anything else, so I had to take a nap this morning, and again all afternoon. 

So sorry my time posting has been limited, but facial healing of broken bones takes longer when you get older, plus there was a lot of neural breakup as the occipital area showed a shattering where the facial nerve goes from the eye area to the lips and nose. It all feels annoyingly tingly on the surface, but also leaves me just worn out all the time. I'm trying to keep up on vitamins and minerals that address pain and healing. 

Sorry all the work I did to illustrate the postage stamp flowe was erased, but not by me. I'm just too tired to rework it, and I'm already into the next quilt, but cannot show it either.

 This is not the same, but is similar if you isolate the flower and shrink the center:






Hope everyone is having a lovely spring.


----------



## BDBoop

freedombecki said:


> Wow. The post I worked on for some time explaining the quilt I finished today was just erased. That's really bad.
> 
> I sewed a postage stamp row and placed it at the top of the work, called Mulligan Stew. So good to get a quilt finished early. We ran errands and had breakfast out this morning, and I'm still healing, which leaves me with little energy for anything else, so I had to take a nap this morning, and again all afternoon.
> 
> So sorry my time posting has been limited, but facial healing of broken bones takes longer when you get older, plus there was a lot of neural breakup as the occipital area showed a shattering where the facial nerve goes from the eye area to the lips and nose. It all feels annoyingly tingly on the surface, but also leaves me just worn out all the time. I'm trying to keep up on vitamins and minerals that address pain and healing.
> 
> Sorry all the work I did to illustrate the postage stamp flower and show a similar quilt was erased, but not by me. I'm just too tired to rework it, and I'm already into the next quilt, but cannot show it either.
> 
> Hope everyone is having a lovely spring.



I hope whatever you are taking does help. Is this nerve-endings, regenerating?


----------



## BDBoop

You've probably already done the research, this is what I found in a cursory search.



> 9. Food and Supplements
> Antioxidants help encourage blood flow by helping to send more oxygen to veins; as a result they increase the circulation through the entire body.
> 
> A few glasses of water will also help with overall circulation. If you drink anything that dehydrates you like coffee or alcohol, you need to drink more than the standard amount of water for your body size.
> 
> Remember, all things should be taken in moderation.
> 
> Cayenne Pepper, Ginkgo Biloba, Garlic and Hawthorn Berry.



CN7 Facial Nerve Damage


----------



## koshergrl

Well I just followed your example Becki, and lost a whole detailed post! 

First let me tell you I'm sorry I've been distracted and didn't realize how badly you were hurt! I will pray for healing and all good things for you...I am so sorry! Take care of yourself, and yes it does take longer to heal as we get older..I learned that when I had the EternaFlu this winter. 

Love you and do get well! now I will submit this, and start on the second half before I lose this!


----------



## koshergrl

Second half is that I have a home to move into now, so I am pretty sure I won't be homeless when the tenancy is up (I'm kidding, I never thought I would be homeless, but it's still mighty unpleasant, not knowing where you'll land!) I have put my app in for an amazing 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 sq feet, huge linen closet, walk in closet in the master bathroom, sky light (I think plural) vaulted ceiling AND fenced back yard house in a tremendous neighborhood...Unfortunately, another couple got an interview first, so chances are that I won't be moving into there...

BUT...if not, I have been offered a lovely, small (1000 sq feet and only 1 bath. No walk in closet, lol) home just a few blocks over, in another very lovely neighborhood. Fenced back yard, adjacent to a little pocket park (on a cul de sac) and next door to one of my cousins! They will hold it for me to see if I get the bigger house...and if I don't get the big house, it's mine. 

I took the kids with me to look at it, and they fell 100 percent in love with it. The back yard is very kid and dog friendly. 

Oh and it's not carpeted! And has a washer and dryer (I'll send mine to my son's house, they can use it). And a big freezer in the garage...

So either way, I'm in good shape. Glory hallelujah pass the tylenol, lol.


----------



## koshergrl

Nerve tissue heals very, very, very slowly..but it does continue to improve. 

I think B vitamins are super helpful, too. Lots of lipids...fats...and rest.


----------



## BDBoop




----------



## freedombecki

BDBoop said:


> You've probably already done the research, this is what I found in a cursory search.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 9. Food and Supplements
> Antioxidants help encourage blood flow by helping to send more oxygen to veins; as a result they increase the circulation through the entire body.
> 
> A few glasses of water will also help with overall circulation. If you drink anything that dehydrates you like coffee or alcohol, you need to drink more than the standard amount of water for your body size.
> 
> Remember, all things should be taken in moderation.
> 
> Cayenne Pepper, Ginkgo Biloba, Garlic and Hawthorn Berry.
> 
> 
> 
> CN7 Facial Nerve Damage
Click to expand...

Thanks, BDB. I'm sticking with standard B vitamins and high-antioxidant juices like blueberries, raspberries, etc. Your link is consistent with what the maxilla-facial surgeon said. Healing may be slow in the 4-to-6 month category, and possibly a little longer than that. Oh, this was going to be a longer post, but I'm truly tired and have a few answers in my pms to go. Thanks so much for the research. That's one of the best articles I've read so far, on my limited energy frame of reference. <hugs>


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Well I just followed your example Becki, and lost a whole detailed post!
> 
> First let me tell you I'm sorry I've been distracted and didn't realize how badly you were hurt! I will pray for healing and all good things for you...I am so sorry! Take care of yourself, and yes it does take longer to heal as we get older..I learned that when I had the EternaFlu this winter.
> 
> Love you and do get well! now I will submit this, and start on the second half before I lose this!





koshergrl said:


> Second half is that I have a home to move into now, so I am pretty sure I won't be homeless when the tenancy is up (I'm kidding, I never thought I would be homeless, but it's still mighty unpleasant, not knowing where you'll land!) I have put my app in for an amazing 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 sq feet, huge linen closet, walk in closet in the master bathroom, sky light (I think plural) vaulted ceiling AND fenced back yard house in a tremendous neighborhood...Unfortunately, another couple got an interview first, so chances are that I won't be moving into there...
> 
> BUT...if not, I have been offered a lovely, small (1000 sq feet and only 1 bath. No walk in closet, lol) home just a few blocks over, in another very lovely neighborhood. Fenced back yard, adjacent to a little pocket park (on a cul de sac) and next door to one of my cousins! They will hold it for me to see if I get the bigger house...and if I don't get the big house, it's mine.
> 
> I took the kids with me to look at it, and they fell 100 percent in love with it. The back yard is very kid and dog friendly.
> 
> Oh and it's not carpeted! And has a washer and dryer (I'll send mine to my son's house, they can use it). And a big freezer in the garage...
> 
> So either way, I'm in good shape. Glory hallelujah pass the tylenol, lol.





koshergrl said:


> Nerve tissue heals very, very, very slowly..but it does continue to improve.
> 
> I think B vitamins are super helpful, too. Lots of lipids...fats...and rest.


Thanks, koshergrl. I've been taking a supr-B complex, Heart Specialist Vitamin by Centrum (best I've seen, imho), magnesium, D3, A, and Melatonin at night to get a full night's sleep guarantee.

 I'm so glad your housing prospects are looking up. I hope you get one that accommodates your family and hobbies very well, and that's easy to keep neat and clean for when company comes. <hugs>

 Please keep Sunshine on your prayer list, everyone. She has a lot on her plate with just staying alive and still benefitting the health community in her area. I'm betting they use her like a good reference book on health issues that baffle the pros. Sunshine has all her apples in a row on caring for other people's health. I hope she gets help from above with hers.

 Love to you all. It's 3 in the afternoon, my keys are sticking, and I had to go pick up lunch when I really needed a nap earlier. That whine being said, I cut 25 strips for the next quilt, which took 2 shopping trips and a shoveling through several  fabric storage bins esteray/


----------



## koshergrl

Prayers going up for healing, for strength and for Sunshine too...

My son and my granddaughter participated in a fund raising run in Newport this weekend...






That's a pretty good daddy, for a guy who didn't have a dad of his own. 

Here's one of the baby of the family now:


----------



## freedombecki

A million thanks koshergrl. Your son is a true keeper and a blessing to give you grandchildren and living a good life. Hats off to you for all you do!


----------



## BDBoop




----------



## BDBoop

I can't even imagine how much work went into this.


----------



## BDBoop

Love the autumn flair.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, the Checkerboard Quilt top, inspired by the Fast-Patch for Kids by a Mrs. Lauder was finished and folded to put in my small stack for April. 5 quilt tops were taken down last week, so that's now 17 quilts done.

Here is a similar quilt by Carrie:






The one I worked on has an owl print on white where her white squares are and pastel bright and dull teal, pink, lime green, yellow, and apricot elsewhere. The only repetitions were from this smokin' roses print on an aqua blue back ground print I bought at the local quilt shop. I went back today and got two more yards, plus found a child's sea life print that is very inspiring, imho.

 I'm considering taking a cross stitch pattern and making it into a quilt top for a child, if I can find one to measure 38x50" to 42x54". Our Charity Bees group gives quilts to children born with the AIDs virus or are living in an unstable family environment, who need a winter blanket when it chills down starting sometimes as early as November, and ending sometimes as late as May, but not often. The truly dismal chill is about here from mid December to the end of March, but cold days come when they come, and children need warmth at night.

Prayers up for Sunshine, BDBoop, and koshergrl in their absence, and may God fill them with joy as they go about their lives serving others and doing the best they can with what has been put on their plates, served up as life. Prayers up for my husband, too for losing his way with dementia, and for me to be a better caregiver for him. I didn't have to blow my stack when he returned home after lifting my car keys and going for an afternoon joyride while I took a nap to help heal my facial bones that broke a few weeks back. Another prayer up for Foxfyre who keeps a list of people requesting a prayer at the USMB Coffee Shop, and a prayer up for every one on her list of those who have pain, a loved one who is ill, have deadly diseases or are in hospice, and all those who suffer back pain.

Prayers up also for the children who feel disenfranchised by parents caught up in drugs or other pursuits that take them away from their sense of responsibility to those that need them the most sometimes. And prayers for those who have such issues they cannot discuss them with others, and may those who are sincere be given strength from above.  A prayer of thanks for moderators  at this board to keep the peace as best they can. 

_



Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light
Protect us by thy might,
Great God our king. Amen.

Click to expand...

_


----------



## freedombecki

Sunshine said:


> OK, Beckums,
> 
> I managed to get a password that works, so disregard the email on that one. Here are the tablecloth pics, not washed or ironed on the first ones:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ironed and ready to put away:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My new quilt project:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is the first block. The pattern called for that dark red, but as you know I had a bad experience with it fading. I went to the fabric store looking for something that wouldn't fade. The clerk told me to always look at the tiny label for the tiny words. 'color fast.' Luckily the green on the other one is color fast. I chose a nice deep color fast rose which gives the same effect as the dark red. The pattern is a colonial design and I noticed in Colonial Williamsburg that all the colors there were very vibrant.
> 
> I believe I learned a lot on the first quilt project, no doubt I will learn on this one as well. The red on that tablecloth was hard to look at for more than a couple of hours at a time. I know you thought I wouldn't pick it back up when I put it down for a time, but I knew I would. I had put the green quilt down for 5 or 6 years. The time became right to pick it back up. The best thing about the new project: No border row. I go nuts having to do those.
> 
> Either of my grandmothers would take that tablecloth and put white crochet around the edges. But I'm not either of my grandmothers. It will just have to stay like it is.
> 
> I told you about the yellow butterfly after my sister died. Well I had her son take me by the cemetery to see her marker last week. I took 3 color pics of it. I love taking pics in cemeteries, I always get some unusual light effects. Wellll, when I got home, I noticed that all the pics except those of my sister's marker were black and white. My cell camera takes a deliberate action to change venues. I had done nothing to change it. I took the last pick of her marker and then, without even putting the phone down, turned and took the other pics.
> 
> Cheers, Beckums.



I thought of your new project when I was looking at red and white quilts today, Sunshine:






Hope your project is coming along well and that the new medicine protocol is helping you.


----------



## freedombecki

A young woman posts her beautiful quilt online:






  love it. From Quilt Origineel 

 Would you believe the serch engine in which I was searching for "Eel Quilt" (I love the sea, and was looking for alternatives to postage stamp angel fish I designed in my engineering paper notebook over 3 or 4 trips to lunch, when I take my colored pencil and tablet with me and work on it while waiting for an order to be served. 

 I actually found one eel pattern when I loaded the word "Moray" before the word "eel." Here is that one result, but it is neither the full length of the eels nor is it a postage stamp pattern, but an applique pattern:






 Credits are here: Mora Pattern At pattern-metadotcom


----------



## freedombecki

Turtles:









Really pretty sea floor quilt found online:





Lovely pattern shown at new-threadsdotcom for those who love foundation work:





Found this one looking for pieced seaweeds like one I saw about a month ago or so:


----------



## freedombecki

Aw, some more turtles 

 Turtles in churning waters, no less. 



 ​ Nothing but--more seaweeds in thread on a crazy block:​ ​ 

 ​ A little light on the subject of sea:​ ​ 

 ​ 

 ​


----------



## freedombecki

Found some more! 






​ This one is not quite a postage stamp work, but looks similar to what's been going down on my graph paper lately, except for the fabrics, oh, aren't they nice:​ ​ 

 ​ This lady took art history and may have a fascination for Hans Holbein's structural content, imho:​ ​ 

 And I love it. ​ ...only guessing...​ ​ Nice-o-lini:​ ​ 

 ​ This is one from above, and now, I get it about her choices in placement, what an incredible floor to do a tribute to the ocean on:​ ​ 

 ​ There's an amazing seaside museum at Corpus Christi, and this quilt reminds me of it for some strange reason, though there is likely no connection other than I love both their museum and this quilt:​ ​ 

 ​


----------



## freedombecki

This is an ages-old fish block done in thirties reproduction quilt fabrics:






 This is really pretty at ebay when you look up "fish quilts" in their search engine:






 Just like this one, you could resize and do in a day for a charity quilt:






 Would this make a cute kid quilt or what:






 A little harder but fun for a child, anyway:


----------



## freedombecki

Optical art has been adapted to this School of fish--if this isn't like Escher's masterful Tesselation work, I don't know what is:
​ ​ 





 .
And a fish of another angle:


 ​ Escher would be pleased to see this quilt executed so well in his style:​ ​ 

 ​ There's a fish in here somewhere:​ ​ 

 And he's laughing! They're all laughing!​ .​ mmm, like this one:​ ​ 

 ​ Not exactly a work of tessellation, but a great idea for someone who has a stash of fish fabrics and doesn't want to get too serious about her work: (right up my ally  )​ ​ 

 ​ ​ ​ ​


----------



## freedombecki

Angels live in the sea, too:





 .
 Wow, this is glass, but it would be fun to do the tessellation fish in cotton quilter's fabric:






 Tessellated Fish border, perhaps?






 More angels?






 OH, my the work, but wouldn't it be a fascinating quilt:






 An Oberlin College using mathematics optimization techniques created this portrait using Escher-like fish Closeups and credits here: Bridges 2008 Exhibit - Robert Bosch, Robert Fathauer and Andrew Pike:






 Oh, my goodness. I wondered whether crochet or knit artists were getting in on the Escher fun. Of course, they are:






 fish using hexagons for a tessellated work:





 And yes, someone has done a crocheted afghan in Escher style:






 My daughter loves Escher and has his prints all through her contemporary house.


----------



## freedombecki

I found a similar quilt to the one I am working on--a spiral squares baby quilt that I am making in the pastels that thirties fabrics are from a distance. This one is similar in showing the white going around, but is more square than the rectangular one I created by using a strip of 4 pastels on the first and center row, so that the quilt will be exactly 8 inches taller than it is wide for a Hugs baby. 



 ​ My squares may be smaller (2" finished) than this one, because it is only 26 inches wide and is 3 squares wider so far, plus it will have at least one border of all white material. My white fabric has baby blue, pink, red, yellow, green, and blue primary dots on it. I also arranged scraps in rainbow order as I have since I read of Ezekiel's dream in the Bible, in which he described "the dazzling colors of the bow in the sky" to be like the dazzling presence of the Lord. I'm reluctant to use any border, because I'm just fond of the little quilt as it is. I am hoping it will approximate 36 inches in width and 45 inches in length, more or less. I still have a couple of rounds to go and more fabric than needed to finish two more. Always too much fabric and not enough time.​ ​ The hour grows late, and it's time for sleeping.​ ​ May God wrap all who come here in his presence and love.  ​ ​ Best regards,​ ​ becki​


----------



## freedombecki

*m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmmm*​ *m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm*​


----------



## freedombecki

I used a capital "M" to make the angelfish to look right, but the forum nanny took it out. It's not a pefect square, but it's the best I could do. The above design is close to my model square finished yesterday. I just wanted to share a slight visual since my copier still doesn't work. I can't find anything like what I'm doing online.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.


----------



## freedombecki

*mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**mm**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**mm**mm**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**mm**mm**mm**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**mm**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mm**m**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ .​ .​ Just thinking on a plane about an appropriate first border that will add 2.5" to the overall size of this little quilt (which actually is a couple of postage stamps wider and taller than this one)​ Also, this first one is miniature by comparison to the size it needs to be for a toddler. Another option is to make simple sea shapes from blocks that are also 1.25" squares to enlarge it. I was thinking about seaweeds and sand at the bottom of the blue depths.​ The other option is to complete this one as a model, and make the squares perhaps 2" or 2.5" fnished rather than the 1.25" finished postage stamps.​ I need to go back to the drawing board, which is not hard on account of the way I explore a media. Trust me, there is little out there except one book that dwells on the designs of a 19th century embroiderer in making postage stamp quilts. It's a really good book, and I may have 2 copies.​ 

 



​ 

 



​ More pictures are here: Ebay, search for Book: Postage Stamp quilts​__________________


----------



## freedombecki

While looking at some truly good Watercolor Postage Stamp Quilt technique stuff at a website called "Wayne's Quilts," I found the perfect fish quilt when I went looking for older posts:


.
His technique primer for advanced postage stamp quilt enthusiasts is here in which Wayne takes off on a Picasso painting: Wayne's Quilts

His fish and many other delightful quilts are here (not to mention all the goodies he has on the page above): Wayne's Quilts

It's a gallery of fun, and I recommend a visit to the referenced pages.


----------



## freedombecki

Wow, I was following the quilt below when ~ I found a sunflowers postage stamp block she made for an anniversary quilt for relatives!

 First, the quilt that caught my eye is a Row by Row quilt, and I liked her approach to filling in blank spaces around Rows that weren't the same size as the others, when heh! I realized it was the background, not part of the quilt. 



​ 
 her sunflower tribute.

.​ .​ 

​ ​ Another on my "sometime soon" list is a rwb Bear's Paw quilt, but her block is so fascinating, I just had to post it also with a big thanks to Gayle at her Garden of Daisies blog.​ ​ 

 

​ ​ And a chicken as a log cabin block:​ ​ 

​ ​ Be sure to visit her blog if you want to see all things bright and beautiful! ​ ​ ​


----------



## koshergrl

Beautiful as always Becki. 

I think this site is finally dying. It was a good run, but looks like it's over.

We're going to start moving into our new house sometime this next week. Much smaller, so my work is cut out for me...I'm going to be pretty ruthless about throwing stuff away.

Not carpeted, which will be nice!

Here was my first start on a rug..I yanked it out and started over because it wasn't even on the edges, so it looks much neater now:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Beautiful as always Becki.
> 
> I think this site is finally dying. It was a good run, but looks like it's over.
> 
> We're going to start moving into our new house sometime this next week. Much smaller, so my work is cut out for me...I'm going to be pretty ruthless about throwing stuff away.
> 
> Not carpeted, which will be nice!
> 
> Here was my first start on a rug..I yanked it out and started over because it wasn't even on the edges, so it looks much neater now:



Oh, my goodness, Koshergrl! What a beautiful rug. I just got a pattern on making things from fabric scraps the other day. What kind of fabric are you using?

 Please post progress as you can. Moving is a hard task. I wish you all the best in getting situated. It's so good to have you back on the quilter thread. You've been sorely missed by me.


----------



## koshergrl

I am using queen sized sheets, 100 percent cotton (good sheets, too). They ripped so I threw them in the dye with my tablecloth when I dyed that. Teal rit.

I tear them into approx 2" strips, I eyeball it and use scissors to nick...then I just rip them all the way. I pull off the strings and seams if necessary. And then I crochet single cr with a size N hook.

I'm just doing a rectangle, so I started with about a 2" chain, then it's just back and forth. 

I had to pull it out because the first three rows or so I was inadvertently increasing, and the result was an uneven edge. So I did go ahead and pull it out and then re-crocheted it correctly and I'm already further than what I have shown here. It goes really fast, but it takes some strength of the hands and shoulders. 

My hands and shoulders  ached for a while, but they don't anymore. Though I've taken a little break, I might feel it the first day I start back up again, which will probably be today. I need to tear more sheeting.

So when I run out of this color, I'm going to make a border using a different color. I am not sure what color yet..either another green or perhaps red, if I can find red dye. The sheets I will use for that step are also 100 percent cotton, but they are striped white and tan (now). These sheets were an Indian patchwork print, with reds and browns and even yellow, I think.

This is for my daughter's room.


----------



## koshergrl

My re-do is not quite so tight, though it's still fairly snug. Sometimes the ends stick out a little, but it gives it an interesting look. I tuck them in, but there are still little nubs here and there. 

I'll make one for the boy next. Blue.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I am using queen sized sheets, 100 percent cotton (good sheets, too). They ripped so I threw them in the dye with my tablecloth when I dyed that. Teal rit.
> 
> I tear them into approx 2" strips, I eyeball it and use scissors to nick...then I just rip them all the way. I pull off the strings and seams if necessary. And then I crochet single cr with a size N hook.
> 
> I'm just doing a rectangle, so I started with about a 2" chain, then it's just back and forth.
> 
> I had to pull it out because the first three rows or so I was inadvertently increasing, and the result was an uneven edge. So I did go ahead and pull it out and then re-crocheted it correctly and I'm already further than what I have shown here. It goes really fast, but it takes some strength of the hands and shoulders.
> 
> My hands and shoulders ached for a while, but they don't anymore. Though I've taken a little break, I might feel it the first day I start back up again, which will probably be today. I need to tear more sheeting.
> 
> So when I run out of this color, I'm going to make a border using a different color. I am not sure what color yet..either another green or perhaps red, if I can find red dye. The sheets I will use for that step are also 100 percent cotton, but they are striped white and tan (now). These sheets were an Indian patchwork print, with reds and browns and even yellow, I think.
> 
> This is for my daughter's room.



I love the color you achieved with the Rit dye, koshergrl. It's totally mellow and pleasing. Fabric that pleasing is often pushing about $14 a yard these days, and it's only 45" wide. I peeked the other day when I went to Bryan to a JoAnn's store on their sale day. Who'd a thunk it.

 Kudos on being a wise homemaker. Your daughter is going to have a beautiful quilt.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm finished with the first set of sheets. Tonight I dye the second...I think I'm going to dye them a different shade of green, instead of red. I have green dye on hand and I want to get it done. 

It looks pretty good...about 13 inches by 26? I haven't decided if I'm going to crochet the border in rounds, or if I'm going to work back and forth.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I'm finished with the first set of sheets. Tonight I dye the second...I think I'm going to dye them a different shade of green, instead of red. I have green dye on hand and I want to get it done.
> 
> It looks pretty good...about 13 inches by 26? I haven't decided if I'm going to crochet the border in rounds, or if I'm going to work back and forth.


Koshergrl, you're a great day-starter. Kudos on your progress for your daughter's beautiful new rug! I'm so tickled and want to see the border when you get there.



​


----------



## freedombecki

Wow. I just lost my plan. I worked half an hour on showing a new fish and yesterday's work on the sandy bottom. Oh, well, I have to hit the sewing machine. Another day, maybe. 

The reply box I was working on just *poof* disappeared.


----------



## koshergrl

I started the border late last night. My dye job turned out pink rather than red, but still looks good (the girl likes it). I may have to pull it out and start it over, I think it's too tight. But making progress, will take a picture tonight!


----------



## koshergrl

So the rit dye...I am finding it's very important to accurately weigh your fabric. It says 1 box per lb...I used 3 boxes for 3 sheets, and left it in a long time. So I think that I need to roughly double or triple the amount...I haven't used the liquid dye yet. It appears to be stronger...but you have to actually wash the material after you dye it. Anyway, it's coming along!


----------



## freedombecki

*mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**mm**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**mm**mm**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**mm**mm**mm**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**mm**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *m**m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mmm**m**m**m*​ *mmm**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**m**mm**m**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mm**mmmmmmmmmmmm**mmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ .​ To answer an @Bloodrock44 question, this is the one I'm working on now, and I'm getting good and sick of fish it's going so slowly. ​


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I started the border late last night. My dye job turned out pink rather than red, but still looks good (the girl likes it). I may have to pull it out and start it over, I think it's too tight. But making progress, will take a picture tonight!


I would love to see the pink rather than red border. Teal, pink, lime, black, and sunflower yellow are very hot right now. It's no wonder your dear daughter likes it.


----------



## koshergrl

The rug is getting bigger!

I took pics and I've been trying to get them onto my photobucket account, but there's something going on with it and I'm unable to upload images. I'm working on it.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

And a spring lady bug my son found and took a pic of:


----------



## koshergrl

So I had to check and see what rugs are going for...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/161342...cycled?ref=br_feed_20&br_feed_tlp=home-garden

$40 for one that's roughly 1/2 the size of what mine will be when it's finished.


----------



## koshergrl

Making progress! So I will get my keys for the new place tomorrow pm..I really hope to have the rug finished by then, and will start on the boy's. 

His room is a azure color...and his favorite color is purple. I'm thinking of purple and blue.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Making progress! So I will get my keys for the new place tomorrow pm..I really hope to have the rug finished by then, and will start on the boy's.
> 
> His room is a azure color...and his favorite color is purple. I'm thinking of purple and blue.


I hope the rug project goes well. Sending up a prayer for a move that is easy, neighbors that are helpful and kind, and happiness be your new walls, koshergrl!


----------



## freedombecki

Did a schema of a water plant for the fabric fish quilt top. It goes out 5 places:

*_M_*​ *_M_*​
 *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ *_M_*​ Well that's the center row or at least in part. The one I designed is a little more complex, but there's no easy way to express it, and even the one above will be changed from upper case to lower like the fish, I think. *sigh*​


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

It needs blocked, which I will do this week in the last days before the move is final. I will shape it (there is a lot of tugging and pulling to bring this into the correct shape...one its own, it's not even or flat. It has to be forced into submission). I will stretch it into a uniform shape and then pin to the carpet...and possibly dampen it just a little...and then let it sit for a while. Turn it after a bit and do the same thing to the other side.

Here's another pic after I straightened it a little more:


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


>


 
 Oh, that is so precious on so many levels, koshergrl!


----------



## koshergrl

I started a message to you but it's so ponderous using my laptop, I ended up losing it...

I do plan on putting a (or another) border on in the middle color. I have some scraps, I think I can put a uniform border on..if not I'll dye another sheet and use that. I really only intended it to be green with a contrasting border..but it has turned out somewhat different and I agree it should have another contrasting border to pull it together.

The sheets that I've used have been washed and dried hundreds of times...I think their days of shrinking are behind them.  Having said that, this thing is going to be too big for a regular washer. It might get a wash every year or two in an industrial landromat washer...but my plan is to beat it for the most part. 

The pink part looksa little dingy because the sheets have some dark print at the head end...where the folded back hem was. I ripped the seams and used that part of the hseets too, so the tufts at teh joins look darker because they have that print on them. Darnit stupid computer is lagging..going to post before I lose this too.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I started a message to you but it's so ponderous using my laptop, I ended up losing it...
> 
> I do plan on putting a (or another) border on in the middle color. I have some scraps, I think I can put a uniform border on..if not I'll dye another sheet and use that. I really only intended it to be green with a contrasting border..but it has turned out somewhat different and I agree it should have another contrasting border to pull it together.
> 
> The sheets that I've used have been washed and dried hundreds of times...I think their days of shrinking are behind them. Having said that, this thing is going to be too big for a regular washer. It might get a wash every year or two in an industrial landromat washer...but my plan is to beat it for the most part.
> 
> The pink part looksa little dingy because the sheets have some dark print at the head end...where the folded back hem was. I ripped the seams and used that part of the hseets too, so the tufts at teh joins look darker because they have that print on them. Darnit stupid computer is lagging..going to post before I lose this too.



I actually loved the pink as the outer border, but I've also noticed in past quilt work, bright hot colors as the outer binding or finishing edge of the quilt winds up the same color as housedust, so it's pretty rare for  me to put a hot color on the outside after seeing window displays suffer by showing dust before their time is up where bentonite residue blows through the air like crazy or dry days seem to invite dust as well at my quilt shop. So I just got in the habit of using dull colors on the outside border to minimize the problem. Here, we have muggy days alternating with dust devil dry ones, which amplifies the accumulation of border yukkies.  Our mothers would just take them outside, hang them on a clothesline, and beat the dust off with a large wooden spoon or even a flyswatter. Their secret was to not leave them out in the sun too long, 20 minutes being too long.


----------



## koshergrl

Yes and that's the thing..rag rugs, if they're being used, are going to end up looking like what they are...rag rugs, lol. All of them fade with time...

I haven't worked on it since last week because all my spare time is used either packing, cleaning or moving stuff from one house to the other. I'm looking forward to completing the move, completing the rug, and starting on the next one!

I will have enough of the teal to put a border on, so that's a good thing!


----------



## freedombecki

Hope the moving goes well, Koshergrl. I hit the wall on the fish quilt. So, I'm soothing my little ruffled feathers by doing another quilt as I realized I needed a break from itsy bitsy squares. 

It's Brick-a-Brac time! 

*mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mm**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmm**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​
So it looks like a brick quilt, except it's actually on an angle such that the bricks are true parallelograms. 

Can't wait till it's done! 

So far, it has 5 rows of 2.5x5.5" parallelorams. I'm loving it!


----------



## freedombecki

Spent the entire afternoon cutting a couple of hundred more parallelograms. I'm using a roof acrylic template from Marti Michell's cutting system, except I'm not making the houses. I've been fascinated lately by irregular shapes and curved ones that can be tessellated and played with as my contribution to the op art in the few who do their craft exclusively in the style of MC Escher.

 Today, what I thought was an acrylic template actually goes to a sizzix machine.  I thought there would be a template in there. Nope! You have to buy the Big Kick or Vagabond sizzix cutting machine. 

 But oh it looks so much fun!

 [ame=http://youtu.be/E36CqyqNVJo]From the Sizzix Quilting Workshop: Fabric Bottle - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

Another method in using the bottle die:

 [ame=http://youtu.be/34URJd_B3LA]Fabric Cutting Tips for the Sizzix Bottle Die - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## freedombecki

freedombecki said:


> Hope the moving goes well, Koshergrl. I hit the wall on the fish quilt. So, I'm soothing my little ruffled feathers by doing another quilt as I realized I needed a break from itsy bitsy squares.
> 
> It's Brick-a-Brac time!
> 
> *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *m**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mm**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmm**mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*​
> So it looks like a brick quilt, except it's actually on an angle such that the bricks are true parallelograms.
> 
> Can't wait till it's done!
> 
> So far, it has 5 rows of 2.5x5.5" parallelorams. I'm loving it!


Well, there is a time when a quilt is just too much. I was going to do 18 rows, but had so many parallelograms left over I did 19 rows with enough left over to make a pillow top. Having 4 strips left to do around the outside for a border, it already measures 40x59 inches. How I got such a dizzy number out of 19 3" rows, I must have taken mighty small seams, truly scant quarter inches (preferred by many quilters).

 So now, it's pick-an-outside-border red fabric that is perfectly fabulous (or not) and call it finished. Whew! I must've made 55 mistakes today that kept me in practice with ripping out machine stitches throughout my time before the mast, I mean, machine. <giggle>

 Never quite had such a dreadful run of silly mistakes. Except for the first time I had to do a blouse one semester in home economics in high school. One very lo-o-o-o-ong semester!


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Yes and that's the thing..rag rugs, if they're being used, are going to end up looking like what they are...rag rugs, lol. All of them fade with time...
> 
> I haven't worked on it since last week because all my spare time is used either packing, cleaning or moving stuff from one house to the other. I'm looking forward to completing the move, completing the rug, and starting on the next one!
> 
> I will have enough of the teal to put a border on, so that's a good thing!


Your post inspired me to look at my sister's best friend's rug that I am crochet (with cotton crochet yarn, worsted weight, not sure how many ply are in cotton sugar and cream yarns since they're not as twisted as woolen or acrylic, which are 4-ply). Well, I found the rug, was about to close the umpteenth row but hadn't, so I just looked at it, set it down and said "red parallelogram quilt top first!"
Now, I'm looking forward to completing the fish quilt again. I'm going to add some sea weeds and a border. It's going to be absolutely simple simon, though. I'd rather not get too deep into postage stamps or will get lost in the post office. 

Wow, that was a long day of making the same mistakes over and over and over today. It reminds me of running hurdles in high school. It sure cuts down your speed of completing the race.


----------



## koshergrl

We spent the second night in the new house, with the dogs...I replaced my old, horrible mattresses with new ones..got them home, and I seriously have never had such a hard bed hahaha. I was like what the heck! It didn't seem this hard when I tried it out! Oh well, I'll get used to it, and its still so much better than the old one. The dogs are loving it here. Complete mess/chaos.


----------



## freedombecki

The dogs love the place because you are there, koshergrl. May laughter, good health, and good times be your constant companions in the new place, along with kids who choose to do right and canine health and longevity.


----------



## freedombecki

The red terrorist quilt, I mean, the angled brick quilt done in reds is completed, and its measurement is in the area of 42x64 inches. Hopefully, the Charity Bees will quilt and distribute it to the best of their causes.  I still cannot find one anywhere close to it.

 I did find a few interesting quilt arrangements, hope they show up:







 ^^The plan appears to use a row of half-sized bricks alternated with full-sized bricks; followed by a row with full-sized bricks alternated with halves.^^ 

 This quilt is diagonal, all right, and technically 90-degree bricks are "parallelograms," but not the 60-degree angles with corresponding angled mortar, as well. Besides, I love the color separations: <huff puff, huff puff>






 This squarish parallelogram work is nothing like my 2.5x5.5" finished parallelograms in red with apricot-colored mortar. In fact, there is no mortar but it's all I could find with slanted sides, but it doesn't have a brick feeling. All I know is that the quilt maker of the parallelogram quilt below likely put a lot of work into figuring out how to make her quilt come out okay. Those angles are terroristic, to put it mildly. She did good.:


----------



## freedombecki

A company named accuquilt that I have all sizes of their squares and cutting equipment that is used with a rotary cutter also deals in dies, and this is the product of one of theirs:

The difference is no 1" strips were cut to show half-inch mortar separations in the rows and between the parallelograms which are smaller than the ones I cut.






I've been looking hard for a quilt like mine, I just can't find one. Sorry. It was a lot of work, and I worked my heart out to get it right and pleasing to look at. My son says he will help me with fixing the printer from afar. 

Oh, and I can't afford the $80 price of the die for the cutting necessary to make the accuquilt, plus you have to buy the cutting machine which runs into the hundreds of dollars. That's why I use a rotary cutter. It's a lot more economical.

 If you can afford the setup, here's what the Go! die from Accuquilt looks like: 






 It's truly amazing how these dies work.


----------



## freedombecki

Someone did use parallelograms and "mortar" to do a herringbone (not a brick) quilt, but her bricks are huge, and her mortar is larger as well (sometimes it's fun to change mortar size, I've done it myself on a brick quilt in the past 12 months, not a parallelogram, of course, since the reds in pale red-orange mortar is my first effort. Here's he parallelogram:





 I'd call that quilt adventurous! I love it. 

 Credits: Piece Garden: habitat quilt top


----------



## freedombecki

Credits: Pitter Putter Stitch: WIP Wednesday: 3/5/14


----------



## freedombecki

^^Techcnique shared here: How to Create a Kaleidoscope Quilt : Archive : Home & Garden Television






 Windblown square Parallelogram instruction shows an elementary student holding the square she made at link: Neighborhood Quilt Club


----------



## freedombecki

This quilter simply made her parallelogram by using centimeter/inches markers on her cutting mat and a simple rotary cutting ruler.











 Credits: Chevron Bee Quilt | The Mind of Melissa

 I followed a dated link to her finished work:


----------



## freedombecki

One more for the road. I sure hate being out of rep for 24. 

This one made a plan first. I love it: Credits






Then she followed through with a really lovely effort in her parallelogram chevron that she called "Daisy Chain" quilt:


----------



## freedombecki

Have been playing with postage stamps again. Can't wait to make it into a quilt:

*mmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmm**m**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmm**mm**m**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmm**mmmm**mm**mmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**m**mmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**mmm**m**mmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**m**mmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**mmm**m**mmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**m**mmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**mmm**m**mmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**m**mmmmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**mmm**m**m*​ *mmmmmmmmmm**mm**mm**mmm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmmm**m**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm**mm*​ *mmmmmmmmmmm*​ *mmmmmmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmm*​ *mmmm**m*​ *mm**mmmmmmm *​ ​


----------



## freedombecki

Love some of the row quilts I found today


----------



## freedombecki




----------



## freedombecki

Row quilts with black background


----------



## seeJudy

I like this thread. 
*marks*


----------



## koshergrl

Today I'm unpacking stuff...I put my daughter's rug on the floor but I'm going to pull it up and finish it shortly. The pups, especially Mylo, are a little intimidated by the non-carpeted floors. Mylo doesn't like to jump from it, so she has to be helped up on the couch and bed hehe. Snoop manages...he can just step up on the couch, but this morning, he's on the girl's bed for the first time in the week we've been here.


----------



## freedombecki

seeJudy said:


> I like this thread.
> *marks*


Welcome to our homemade quilts and other crafts, seeJudy. Have a wonderful weekend, too. 





 Tropical Rainbow Quilt by Judy Niemeyer Credits


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> Today I'm unpacking stuff...I put my daughter's rug on the floor but I'm going to pull it up and finish it shortly. The pups, especially Mylo, are a little intimidated by the non-carpeted floors. Mylo doesn't like to jump from it, so she has to be helped up on the couch and bed hehe. Snoop manages...he can just step up on the couch, but this morning, he's on the girl's bed for the first time in the week we've been here.



This quilt is called "Moving Day" by Bonnie Brewer and was found on a Contemporary quilt arts association blog: Credits






 Her perspective was this:



> The furniture is gone, the pictures are off the walls. Even the paint has been retouched and the place is spotless for the next occupants. Yet the rooms seem to be haunted by the ghost of the last family's comfortable furnishings. The house will be lonely until it is filled again with the clamor and bustle of a new family and their precious belongings.


 
 May your new home be filled with love, beauty, good times, friends, children, and an indefatigably spirited future.


----------



## freedombecki

Today's progress was making one square, 6.75 + .5 inches (7.25") unfinished shoo-fly square and one 3" 9-patch red and teadye beige mini square. They do not fit together very well, but at least I did SOMETHING!!! to break the ice on the next quilt. The fish is still swimming in water with no edges...    and may be for some time to forever. Some good ideas go by the wayside. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, though I had a good idea. It's a future bite-the-bullet quilt, but now, I'm just goofing off with other ideas Of quilts I haven't tried in a long, long time. I was in the local quilt store the other day, and a lady reminded me she liked all those log cabin quilts I made. hmmm. Nope. I'm gonna do _anything else_ for a bit longer. 






 Shoo Fly Quilt  . . . 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





And here's a double nine patch mixed with a block that's almost shoo fly:






The tiny size of the 9-patches ^^ is likely smaller than my 3" 9-patch block described above.


----------



## freedombecki

Double nine Patch quilts are done in many ways. Here's a simple one that is quite nice, imho:







Others darken the 5 spots and lighten the 4 spots, so it appears reversed:






Oops! Tree quilt alert! Tree quilt alert (I just have to post this one!) 






Too Cute!!!


----------



## freedombecki

Good night all. Thanks to all who visit and/or drop by to see quilts made by people the world over, a lot of them right here in the USA. 

 May beauty surround you
 May God stay and found you
 May peace walk before you
 May children adore you
 May all kindness warm you
 May no evil harm you
 May angels entwine you
 Your troubles refine you
 May good health be given you
 May justice live in you
 So Satan shall fear you
 When you keep God near you.

 Love,
 becki


----------



## Mr. H.

I went to a local quilt show today. A couple of them were made in the early 1900's. Still in lik-nu condition. Very cool. 

Will post pictures pending tomorrow's hangover.


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> I went to a local quilt show today. A couple of them were made in the early 1900's. Still in lik-nu condition. Very cool.
> 
> Will post pictures pending tomorrow's hangover.


 
 Oh, [MENTION=20545]Mr. H.[/MENTION], I'm so looking forward to view your pics.


----------



## freedombecki

Years ago, my mother made these little crocheted bags with turtle heads, feet, and tails crocheted on them. 
.
I was thinking that I would make one for my husband of my own design (which took 3 days  ) to prepare making soap chip turtles for the Quilter's Charity Bees' bazaars.
.
Since people really don't know what they are, I thought a good little "poem" attached to each one would tell the story so people would know what they're for. I found a Turtle soap chip pattern somewhere on line, but mine is far and away unlike it. Even so, I may have to resort to doing the smaller ones that don't have much to them due to the time they can take. 

Here's the effort:
Why hello friend, my name is Chip​ Just so you know, I can be hip.​ If you waste soap when it gets small​ Just hang me in your shower stall.​ By my long tail (also a rope);​ Place in my pouch, all chips of soap​ My shell and belly, made to scrub​ Assist in washing in the tub.​ *​ I'll also try and find the picture I was going to put here last night before I finished the turtle about an hour ago:​ .​ Oh, I found several:​ This one is most like my mother's cotton crocheted items, so coveted by us: ​ 

 Someone did away with the turtle and just makes soap saver bags, crocheted in cotton, of course. ​ 

 More:​


----------



## Mr. H.

freedombecki said:


> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> I went to a local quilt show today. A couple of them were made in the early 1900's. Still in lik-nu condition. Very cool.
> 
> Will post pictures pending tomorrow's hangover.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, [MENTION=20545]Mr. H.[/MENTION], I'm so looking forward to view your pics.
Click to expand...


Here yaz goes, ms. b....


----------



## Mr. H.

Well, those attachments aren't displaying correctly. Hmm...


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> Well, those attachments aren't displaying correctly. Hmm...


If you've named the attachment, scrolling over it will reveal the name.

Your attachments are fine. When you click on them, they pop up in a new window the original size you posted. 

And the three are fabulous, soft and pretty. I love 'em! 

 I'm sorry I got bored and dumped all my reps at the rep frog, although, it was a little fun.


----------



## Mr. H.

There were two really old ones (1900's ish). Not sure if they're pictured. 

I have to admit, I spent most my time there viewing an adjoining exhibit about the history of the local Marathon Oil tank farm.


----------



## freedombecki

Today was a Frogs and Turtles day...


----------



## freedombecki

Mr. H. said:


> There were two really old ones (1900's ish). Not sure if they're pictured.
> 
> I have to admit, I spent most my time there viewing an adjoining exhibit about the history of the local Marathon Oil tank farm.


My quilt shop is located in a Wyoming community that had a Marathon Oil Tank Farm...
 The center quilt (above) by Ellen May ??itheimer is dated 1955. Very nice. So is the broderie perse, not to mention the eight-pointed star quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

freedombecki said:


> Years ago, my mother made these little crocheted bags with turtle heads, feet, and tails crocheted on them.
> .
> I was thinking that I would make one for my husband of my own design (which took 3 days  ) to prepare making soap chip turtles for the Quilter's Charity Bees' bazaars.
> .
> Since people really don't know what they are, I thought a good little "poem" attached to each one would tell the story so people would know what they're for. I found a Turtle soap chip pattern somewhere on line, but mine is far and away unlike it. Even so, I may have to resort to doing the smaller ones that don't have much to them due to the time they can take.
> 
> Here's the effort:
> Why hello friend, my name is Chip​ Just so you know, I can be hip.​ If you waste soap when it gets small​ Just hang me in your shower stall.​ By my long tail (also a rope);​ Place in my pouch, all chips of soap​ My shell and belly, made to scrub​ Assist in washing in the tub.​ *​ I'll also try and find the picture I was going to put here last night before I finished the turtle about an hour ago:​ .​ Oh, I found several:​ This one is most like my mother's cotton crocheted items, so coveted by us: ​
> 
> Someone did away with the turtle and just makes soap saver bags, crocheted in cotton, of course. ​
> 
> More:​



.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I cut strips till my feet started cramping. My afternoon nap was 4 hours long. At least I got out of the foot cramps, and I dreamed a dream of God's messenger saying that to stay joyful in trying times is a good direction. I have to say it was a refreshing nap, no more foot cramps, too. 

 I guess it would be nice to sew some of the strips now, but I have a lot of pms to read before hitting the sewing room.


----------



## freedombecki

Today, I finished one of the shoo fly blocks that will finish to 6.75" and a double 9-patch block that also finishes to 6.75" although both of them currently measure 7.25" half an inch of which will be sewn to the inside all 4 ways, which takes half an inch off the vertical measurement, and half an inch off the horizontal measurement using a quarter inch seam allowance, which is standard in the quilter's realm. Cutting and pinning failures result in mismatched blocks, so to avoid it, you just cut correctly as well as pin with the joined areas matching. You can also choose a pattern that has no matching areas, but still, a modicum of accuracy is according to the care that is taken measuring the rows that are sewn together as being exactly the same as the row above. Pinning so that it comes out right is still beneficial and reduces garish errors.

 Oh, it's so late, I forgot why I came here. Today was a day to shop for quarter yard pieces, so this time, we didn't turn around going to Bryan. Not only was there no cloud in the sky, it was miraculously cool. Someone said yesterday's storm came down from the north, so we benefitted with the touch of arctic air it brought. It's a little gift of God I appreciate, considering we are currently without a working air conditioner, and we're headed into the hottest months. I have very powerful fans purchased a couple of years back when they were more affordable, and their equals now are well out of my retirement stipend. 

 The new fabrics were refolded by me on the way home, but the ones I bought at a fabric discount store were so mottled and crunched, I will have to rinse and press them while damp to get all the problems out before cutting them. Fabrics are said to have a good hand when they handle well under duress and still look elegant when treated well. The best place in the world seems to be the quilt shop right in the closest town. She cares about her fabrics and you never have to do a lot of ironing because she cuts fabric right, shelves them without cramping them, changes the fabrics frequently, and keeps a very good array of new fabrics for such a small shop. She's a wizard, kind, and good. Some people you just love for their excellence and attention to doing a good job and making sure people are treated well as she can.

 If I were really, really rich, she'd never have a money worry, because I'd buy a machine every year and never buy less than 3 yards of every fabric I love from her shop.

 Oh, my it's almost tomorrow here in central standard time zone! Good night & may God bless America and keep the world safe. I especially am saddened by people dumping their children in our border statements out of fear, poverty, hatred, and lies they've been told. I don't know how anyone could dump a child off like a throwaway cup. They're little humans. Help us, O Lord, we pray.


----------



## freedombecki

It's the day to cut and sew. So, I'm outta here!

 Have a great day all. One of these days, I'll try to see what I can do about getting a new printer hitched up to this rig. In the meantime, my work needs to be cut out for me. 

 Have a beautiful day, everybody!

 Shoo fly and ninepatch away!

 This easier version is somehow appealing...


----------



## freedombecki

Wow. Too many dark blues and not enough light blues. No light grays to speak of! So... off to the quilt store and home with a couple of dozen light blue and light gray prints. Sewed 1.25 x 12.5" strips morning, noon, and afternoon. Called the doctor to make an appointment for some wee little health problems. They will call me back tomorrow, because by the time I took a break from sewing itsy bitsy strips, it was after 5. Where'd the day go anyway? Oh, yes. And driving Mr. Daisy to breakfast. Driving Mr. Daisy's car to gas station and back home; to quilt store and back home, only to come home to Mr. Daisy didn't shave, shower, comb or brush again. Two hours later, driving Mr. Daisy to lunch where I killed my appetite by drinking a quart of milk.   

 All that sewing and nothing got finished, not a single 9-patch from which the strips are made following ambitious cross cutting at 1.25" intervals.

 The 9 little squares will measure a total of 2.25" because they finish at 3/4 of an inch apiece. Tomorrow is another day. I hope the doctor figures out what's wrong. I often prediagnose wrong, so this time, I'm letting her figure it out which will preclude tests that are unnecessary to rule out a faulty "what's wrong according to what I think" statement I've made. I'm just tired of my symptoms, and it's hot all the time since the air conditioner went on vacation.


----------



## freedombecki

Shoofly miniature quilt--this one was appealing, because I had already tried to visualize a shoofly with a smaller square at center (TOP VIEW) than traditional shoofly (2nd picture, below)






The tradictional schema is below, also a miniature, I think. Different photographers use different sizes of pictures, when I prefer seeing similar sizes. That's out since my copier can't transfer here any more since my son fixed my computer.


----------



## freedombecki

Hm, somehow the pictures are now the same. *sigh*

 Well, it's all good I guess, but they sure looked different when I was transferring from Bing to here.


----------



## freedombecki

And I found a miniature nine-patch, but there are white squares on this one, where as in the white areas, mine will have shoo-fly block in it.


----------



## freedombecki

Here's a diagonal nine-patch found at this blogger's place: Pastimes Quilts






 Closeup view:


----------



## freedombecki

This one is just too cute, imho:


----------



## freedombecki

So this is the crazy little "Shoo-fly" and "9-patches" quilt top I have slaved over for a couple of weeks while getting over an infection. I'm happy about my son calling up and saying "I'm ready to work on your computer" from half way across the United States and "ya got a minute or two, mom?"


----------



## freedombecki

And another group! Of Shoo-Fly and nine patches. Here are some ready to be sewn into double nine-patches, and even one from a square completed about a week or so ago:


----------



## freedombecki

Each of the parts will have 2 double nine patch squares and 2 shoo-fly squares. Since each measures around 8 inches in their not-finished state, when sewn together with other squares with a 1/4" seam allowance, the finished grouping will measure 15.5"

 Wow! It's been such a long time since I scanned and shared anything due to loading difficulties, I made a lot of mistakes on the first two sends. Also, the format is somewhat unfamiliar, but my son did his best, and it was kind of nice to figure out how the new versions work. I really was fond of the old one, though, what can I plead but stick in the mud? 

 Hope everyone has a nice evening. I was going to rep frog tonight, because I'm so far behind, but it never occurred that this process would eat up my evening hour here.

 Don't let the bedbugs bite!


----------



## koshergrl

I haven't been doing anything lately. We still have boxes all over but we're slowly getting through them.


----------



## freedombecki

Last time we moved we had 300 boxes. I swear half of them had fabrics I brought to make charity quilts with when I retired. I try to stay busy.

I hope your new home works well and brings you much happiness, koshergrl. 

Today, I just sewed strips and a dozen or so two and a quarter inch 9-patch squares, each square measuring a tiny 3/4 of an inch. 

I'm feeling so much better than I have in months. I'm on antibiotic therapy this week, and am feeling a lot like a new person. This has been going on since before my terrible fall in March, but every time I saw my doctor, I forgot about the infection with everything else that was going on. I'm glad she ran tests.

To everyone who comes, thanks, join in, tell us a story about a family or friend's quilt, show pictures if you have them. Quilt and craft talk are always appreciated!


becki

 Here's the eagle that appears in the Second edition of my book, "Aesthetics of Southwest Album Applique Quilt" copyrighted by me in or around 1993, the year the subject quilt of the book won Best of Show in the Wyoming State Fair. I'm not sure the second picture will be very clear, it's been transferred here and there so many times, but it's a small version of the quilt.


----------



## freedombecki

koshergrl said:


> I haven't been doing anything lately. We still have boxes all over but we're slowly getting through them.


Good luck with that!

 I haven't been doing anything lately, either, except trying to learn to pay bills and keep up the laundry. Dementia has been cruel to my dear man, who spoiled me rotten for 40 years. Now, I'm aware of his goodness, and I know, I can't touch him in that department, which tends to make me love him more and pining at the same time. Go figure. *sigh*

 I did manage to check into getting the air conditioning system in the house replaced. The expense seems phenomenal to me.

 It's like buying a new car. I almost fainted on reading the estimate.


----------



## freedombecki

Well, the 9-patch and shoo-fly quilt is almost done. It's 5 rows down and two to go, I'm just having trouble getting to the sewing machine with my dear husband's disabilities going downhill like a cannonball lately, plus I'm so not mechanically gifted where computers are concerned. My daughter nailed my mechanical problems by glibly noticing how my general problem-solving trait of making the same mistake again and again is not helpful. Ouch!


----------



## freedombecki

I'm hoping @koshergrl has conquered the moving demon and will be posting pictures of her current embroideries and crafts soon. I think I heard she might be making gifts, and I sure hope she takes pictures before they're shipped off to her lucky friend/family member. 

All are welcome to add sage advice, pictures, and beloved needlecrafts and assorted observations. Yes, I know I repeat errors, but it is because I'm a little absent-minded when engaging in tasks that require repetitive factory motions....   

 And as Tiny Tim once noted, God bless us everyone.

 Love in a mist... (It's a quilt square, of course).


----------



## koshergrl

my puter is broken so i can't post pics and i'm stuck using the boy's 3ds handheld device...loving  the new place, working sl9wly on my homely stuff...have to make some monkeys...two baby showers and a birthday coming up. started rug two...need more material but have to wait till payday. it's a green oval looks better than the first rug so far. my daughter wants it. the first rug will reside elsewhere...now it:s in the l8vingroom. snoop loves it. hang in there beckixoxoxo


----------



## boedicca

I think the quilters will get a kick out of the Lake County Quilt Trail.  One of my friends has a quilt square on her property.

Lake County Quilt Trail - Lake County, California


----------



## Mr. H.

Where's Ms. becki?


----------



## Marianne

I love quilts. I'm going to attempt to make an appliqué Halloween decoration for my living room. I'm hoping to be able to make it two sided, one for Halloween and the flip side Thanks giving. It was supposed to be a mantle cover but I don't have a mantle so I decided to make it a wall hanging for my closet door. The appliqué blocks will be removable so I can add over the years new designs. Think  a long runner on a door with pot holder size blocks of ghosts,pumpkins,black cats etc. hung on it. It's simple but I'm starting small. I'm also working on a strip quit for my living room.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> I'm hoping @koshergrl has conquered the moving demon and will be posting pictures of her current embroideries and crafts soon. I think I heard she might be making gifts, and I sure hope she takes pictures before they're shipped off to her lucky friend/family member.
> 
> All are welcome to add sage advice, pictures, and beloved needlecrafts and assorted observations. Yes, I know I repeat errors, but it is because I'm a little absent-minded when engaging in tasks that require repetitive factory motions....
> 
> And as Tiny Tim once noted, God bless us everyone.
> 
> Love in a mist... (It's a quilt square, of course).


Ok Becki, I have gotten unpacked (mostly). I have started another crocheted rag rug, this one oval...and I am ready to get the sewing machines out and start on some quilts now. I have a dining room/kitchen set up that will allow me to take over the kitchen table, but still have a breakfast counter for the kids to eat at. School starts Sept. 2 and it won't matter if I have my sewing stuff all over the dining room because the kids will be gone all day and into the night. 

I have quite a bit of material..some really really nice stuff that I picked up years ago, meaning to make a complicated and beautiful blue/white Blue Willow quilt...I have decided just to do some strip quilting and get the kids involved, then make either simple 9 square blocks and/or simple windmills, and churn out as many as my stash and my perseverence will allow. I have my sewing machine, and another, smaller, portable type one that mom got me last year, that I have never used, that I can set up for the kids to use (or whomever). I'm going to cut the strips and then just start sewing. I'm not going to mess with borders, it's going to be very much just make a quilt top and then slap batting and backing on and call it good. I could make probably 10 like that before I got to the end of my list of people who would love to have one. I'm going to make it fast and imperfect and get them done.


----------



## koshergrl

Miss you Becki. I'm starting a shawl for my mom.


----------



## AquaAthena

Becki, becki, becki.....you are missed.


----------



## PoliticalChic

AquaAthena said:


> Becki, becki, becki.....you are missed.




Seems a lot of fine posters are AWOL......

...could it be the new system?


I find it far less homey, less poster-friendly.....one used to be able to exchange and chat more easily with both friends and ...others.


----------



## AquaAthena

PoliticalChic said:


> AquaAthena said:
> 
> 
> 
> Becki, becki, becki.....you are missed.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seems a lot of fine posters are AWOL......
> 
> ...could it be the new system?
> 
> 
> I find it far less homey, less poster-friendly.....one used to be able to exchange and chat more easily with both friends and ...others.
Click to expand...

It _is_ far less _stimulating, _PC. Many posters who were only here for reps and negs, have departed, too.

But new ones are joining and some are sticking around. 

However, our freedombecki has been MIA long before the software change.


----------



## AquaAthena

AquaAthena said:


> PoliticalChic said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AquaAthena said:
> 
> 
> 
> Becki, becki, becki.....you are missed.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seems a lot of fine posters are AWOL......
> 
> ...could it be the new system?
> 
> 
> I find it far less homey, less poster-friendly.....one used to be able to exchange and chat more easily with both friends and ...others.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It _is_ far less _stimulating, _PC. Many posters who were only here for reps and negs, have departed, too.
> 
> But new ones are joining and some are sticking around.
> 
> However, our freedombecki has been MIA long before the software change.
Click to expand...


If anyone has heard from becki, please let the board know? It's been a long time and it isn't like her not to inform anyone of a change in her circumstances. 

Keep up the great work, PC.


----------



## koshergrl

Yeah, it's not just the software. This place has been dying for a long time, and the admin has effectively chased off the posters who have generated the most traffic. They hung in there for a long time but after a while, when the quality of the posting deteriorates and the people who are the ones who generate the real discussion have all left..well what's the point?


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I haven't been doing anything lately. We still have boxes all over but we're slowly getting through them.
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck with that!
> 
> I haven't been doing anything lately, either, except trying to learn to pay bills and keep up the laundry. Dementia has been cruel to my dear man, who spoiled me rotten for 40 years. Now, I'm aware of his goodness, and I know, I can't touch him in that department, which tends to make me love him more and pining at the same time. Go figure. *sigh*
> 
> I did manage to check into getting the air conditioning system in the house replaced. The expense seems phenomenal to me.
> 
> It's like buying a new car. I almost fainted on reading the estimate.
Click to expand...


Miss you Becki...


----------



## Dot Com

This bandwidth-sucking, thread needs to be axed since the OP bailed on it. 

babble can start a new thread, if thats an issue. This thread has gotten too onerous and gobbles- up valuable bandwidth. Kill it.


----------



## Dont Taz Me Bro

Dot Com said:


> This bandwidth-sucking, thread needs to be axed since the OP bailed on it.



Stop trolling this thread


----------



## koshergrl

So I dug out the niece's quilt:











That's hand quilting right there. When I'm finished with that I will use the machine to quilt the vast green border, but we are nearing the end of this project. I got it out this weekend, but was sidetracked by a little project I started with my daughter...a quilted tote bag. Plus I can't find my green thread...I've already used two different colors for the quilt, oh well, I guess a third won't be a deal breaker.


----------



## koshergrl

Here's the one I did years ago for my then-three year old boy:






I look at that now, though in many ways it's a good quilt in that it is square and even..but I see how the pattern of the red white and blue print isn't aligned...I wasn't even aware enough to know that back then. I quilted in the ditch on that one, which is why you don't see quilting.


----------



## koshergrl

I am still trying to decide what pattern to use for my son & daughter's quilt, my next project. I think I might go with the zig zag again....


----------



## koshergrl

STarted on a bag with my daughter:






  Please ignore the glob of whatever that is on the mat, I need a new mat. That glob is on there and has been for some time.


----------



## koshergrl

Finished the tote, see things I should have done different. Like I should have used the material I used for the handles in place of the darker squares, so the bag bottom and the patchwork contrasts and looks grounded...and then used the dark color for the handles are well...tonight we're starting on a bunch more, I'm very excited. I have some cool fabric for some of them. 





This is the way it looked before the quilting...^






Finished ^^^ My daughter helped with the stitching, what a fun project. Super gratifying. 






There's the base of it, see that should be a diff color...but this was a true "let's see how it goes" project with leftover scraps and stuff...seeing it put together I see all that I could do different. 






AND it has a LINING! How cool is that! Weird material that I picked up at a second hand store, thinking I would make a bedspread. HA!


----------



## koshergrl

And this is block one of my next quilt..only 44 or so more to go, the quilt is 42 but I cut for 45 or so blocks, so I'd have a couple leftover. 

When cutting this, I learned that my mat is warped and I need a new blade on my cutter...so the middle points are just a little off. I have taken steps to remedy the situation.

Now I'm waiting for a quilting attachment for my little sewing machine so I can finish quilting the green quilt. I'm so excited!

Oh her's the block. This is a disappearing hourglass:






 I actually thought that it was going to be a lot worse than this...I'm very happy with the fact that it is square. This will probably not go into the quilt, it will be my sample/master block that I keep by my sewing machine, may make it into a pillow when we're done. When it's quilted, the slight point discrepancies won't show so much. Hopefully.


----------



## koshergrl

I replaced my cutter blade last night, and a new mat and quilting foot thing are on the way, I should receive them by Friday (at the soonest) next week (latest). I am really, really excited about being able to quilt. I'm going to get my niece's quilt out of my house by Christmas, I hope.

She just bought a new house, so it can be her belated graduation (from college...before medical school, which is also years behind her, she is a couple of years into her residency now hahaha)/housewarming gift!

I'm thinking about scalloping the edges.


----------



## koshergrl

Oh and I cut material for 3 more bags last night and am well on the way to having them assembled. I expect to quilt them tonight.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm so excited, I have the hang of nesting my seams, and am learning little tricks to make everything line up so I don't have a nightmare like the baby blanket I did lol...and these bags are providing me with lots of quilting practice..by the time my foot gets here, I'll be ready to go!


----------



## koshergrl

I actually finished that one on the left..I took this pic before I had topstitched along the top so the pins are there. I've made another one, too. And I'm almost finished with yet another...4 down, about 10 to go.

I gave one as a white elephant gift today (we don't do mean gifts) and will give one at the church white elephant gift exchange on Saturday. Will also give a couple of hats and scarves.


----------



## koshergrl

Making a doggie bag for a friend: 






and another one too:






But this is the material I want for me (and my daughter):


----------



## koshergrl

^^^I got my quilting foot. I LOVE quilting!

Made a bag for a friend:






It's bigger than the others:






  Yes the girl really was THAT excited about this picture.


----------



## koshergrl

Made the girls horse bags...
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




   On the other side, there's a Quarter Horse trotting. My granddaughter's bag has an Arab and a racking Saddlebred. 

Also have started quilting my niece's quilt FINALLY and it's a freaking NIGHTMARE, lol. My brother machine is just a small beginner's machine. It's little to begin with, and I don't have a quilting table for it, and it doesn't set down in a stand....and also I can't get the tension right. So here's a close-up of that catastrophe, but I am soldiering on and will have it finished in not too many days:






 I started hand quilting it years ago, and actually completed a lot. But in the end, I decided to just finish it, so I'm machine quilting over my hand quilting. It won't hurt anything, it's not going to be a work of art anyway. I've made just about every single mistake known to quilters on this quilt. The batting and backing are cut smaller than the top, I'm not sure how that happened, but my borders are immense so I'll just cut it down. The pieced part isn't perfectly square, and my quilting has jiggles, jaggles, and the tension is wrong which is why it has that jerky appearance. And I used a dark thread when I should have matched the light green instead....

All in all, a good experience, though, I'm glad I have it to practice on. The next quilt has a lot of white, so hopefully I'll have the quilting part down by the time I move on to it...if not, I'll have it quilted professionally. I really do enjoy quilting. I think I'm going to invest in a long arm machine (not the ginormous ones that cost $7000, just the table top ones). At the very least, I'll get a quilting table to support the quilt as I'm quilting...it sucks to just have a tiny little area to work in. But I still love it. 

The quilt prior: 





A good lot of that border is going bye-bye when I square it up and bind it. 

I really want to try a scalloped edge! Might as well try out as many techniques as possible!


----------



## koshergrl

I miss Becki. She'd be so tickled, I've been on about quilting for years and finally I'm starting to make progress, and she's gone!


----------



## MeBelle

koshergrl said:


> I miss Becki. She'd be so tickled, I've been on about quilting for years and finally I'm starting to make progress, and she's gone!


I checked on the quilting forum and shs hasn't been there for awhile either.


----------



## koshergrl

I made the girl an asymmetrical, cowl-necked shawl (crochet) and she loves it:


----------



## koshergrl

So I made some zippered pouches..I actually have made two, but I gave one as a gift at a birthday party last weekend (also gave another bag...which was green and darnit I didn't get a picture of it, it was my best one so far!!!)


----------



## koshergrl

I got a new sewing machine, better for quilting...I'm still slaving away at the niece's quilt. I toyed with calling it "Springtime for Hitler" a play on the song from the spoof musical "The Producers" (Mel Brooks)....because the simple pinwheels look like swastikas...but I think I'm going to call it "The Scribble Quilt" which is a little better. Option three was "The Quilt that Wouldn't Die" or "Hell Quilt" but I'll just stick with scribble quilt because of my abysmal quilting. I have violated all the quilting rules on this puppy...I didn't make the backing and batting wider than the top, I did a terrible job of piecing the border, I think I actually left off a row of the top lol...I miscalculated and ran out of material or something, it's a weird shape...then the border omg...it's not squared up very nicely hence the intense quilting. The quilting should have been done in a light green, the same color as the back, so #1, you don't see all the hideous gobs and tangles on the back, and #2, so I could see what I was doing on the dark pinwheels, and #3 so my jerks and skips and cross overs (you're not supposed to cross lines when you quilt. Makes it look scribbly...).....but I'm making progress. When it's done, I'm scalloping the edges, that should be interesting, and putting a dark green binding on it and I am going to go on vacation when that day finally comes.







My new machine makes for MUCH nicer quilting lines...but wow it's hard on my old eyes, especially the eyebola eye that sent me to the hospital last week or so. I can't do a lot at one sitting. But I'm getting there.


----------



## koshergrl

These are my daughter's.


----------



## koshergrl

I have to share..I want to start sewing underwear (of all things lol). But gads it pisses me off that they're so expensive. The kids are not thrilled and probably will never get on board with this so it will probably go nowhere...but I made a bra!

Or rather, a bralette...

I did it with my old machine, and the stitches snarled up terribly on the elastic, nobody's ever going to wear this puppy, it's sort of a prototype...but check it out!






Haha! Fully lined, made of an old tee shirt and some elastic. Based on a Vera Wang pattern, no less, but that still didn't impress the girl. If I were to make it out of satin maybe and put a waist band around the bottom..well then it would be a halter top...But anyway. I did it. Next...UNDERPANTS. yes!


----------



## koshergrl

I'm making potholders:


----------



## Sunshine

Hi, KG and Becky

Just thought I would stop in and show you what I'm working on right now.  This is a block from the current cross stitch quilt.


----------



## koshergrl

It's wonderful to hear from you...you have been missed. I haven't heard from becki in a really long time, it breaks my heart. I hope all is well...with you and her.


----------



## Sunshine

koshergrl said:


> It's wonderful to hear from you...you have been missed. I haven't heard from becki in a really long time, it breaks my heart. I hope all is well...with you and her.



Thanks, KG.  Doing OK.  Still hanging in there.  I've gotten so busy since I retired, I think I worked less when I was employed.  LOL.  Never expected to be this busy. 

I have Becki's email, I'll send her one and see if I get a response.  I searched obituaries and didn't find anything.  I forgot where she lives. Texas?  Wyoming?


----------



## Sunshine

I found her store which has a phone number.  If I don't get a response to my email, I may call the number.


----------



## Sunshine

I sent an email to the store and it came back marked undeliverable.


----------



## Sunshine

Called the store and they told me where she lives.  I have found her phone number.  I'll give the email a bit and then I will call .


----------



## koshergrl

I emailed her too but got no response. Tell her I love her.


----------



## Foxfyre

Hi ladies and good to see you back Sunshine.  I have left Becki several PMs and sent several e-mails - no response.  Very concerned.


----------



## Sunshine

Thanks FF.  I'm not really back per se.  I was just working on my latest quilt and decided I would drop in and see what y'all are making these days.  I've gotten so busy.  Not really sure how that happened.  I have a kitchen makeover coming up in September and a trip to San Francisco in October.  I still volunteer at the performing arts center, do my own house and yard work.  I've done a little canning this summer just because... Have a condo booked again for Gulf Shores coming up in Feb and March.  The grandbaby loves to meet at the beach. 

I will try the phone number in a day or two. Based on some PMs from a while back, I have a feeling something has happened.  That's all I can really say.  I have looked for obituaries and that has drawn a blank, but that is encouraging.   I did find out where she lives, so I could be very specific on the searches.


----------



## Foxfyre

Sunshine said:


> Thanks FF.  I'm not really back per se.  I was just working on my latest quilt and decided I would drop in and see what y'all are making these days.  I've gotten so busy.  Not really sure how that happened.  I have a kitchen makeover coming up in September and a trip to San Francisco in October.  I still volunteer at the performing arts center, do my own house and yard work.  I've done a little canning this summer just because... Have a condo booked again for Gulf Shores coming up in Feb and March.  The grandbaby loves to meet at the beach.
> 
> 
> I will try the phone number in a day or two. Based on some PMs from a while back, I have a feeling something has happened.  That's all I can really say.  I have looked for obituaries and that has drawn a blank, but that is encouraging.   I did find out where she lives, so I could be very specific on the searches.



I understand how real life can intervene in  things.  But just know you were missed, I kept you on the vigil list in the Coffee Shop as a missing person for many months until somebody--I can't remember who--said you were well but just not participating here.  And that was cool.

But I agree, it was not at all like Becki to just abruptly drop off the face of the Earth without a word to anybody.   And I have been very concerned.  Will appreciate you letting us know if you do find out anything.


----------



## Sunshine

Foxfyre said:


> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks FF.  I'm not really back per se.  I was just working on my latest quilt and decided I would drop in and see what y'all are making these days.  I've gotten so busy.  Not really sure how that happened.  I have a kitchen makeover coming up in September and a trip to San Francisco in October.  I still volunteer at the performing arts center, do my own house and yard work.  I've done a little canning this summer just because... Have a condo booked again for Gulf Shores coming up in Feb and March.  The grandbaby loves to meet at the beach.
> 
> 
> I will try the phone number in a day or two. Based on some PMs from a while back, I have a feeling something has happened.  That's all I can really say.  I have looked for obituaries and that has drawn a blank, but that is encouraging.   I did find out where she lives, so I could be very specific on the searches.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I understand how real life can intervene in  things.  But just know you were missed, I kept you on the vigil list in the Coffee Shop as a missing person for many months until somebody--I can't remember who--said you were well but just not participating here.  And that was cool.
> 
> But I agree, it was not at all like Becki to just abruptly drop off the face of the Earth without a word to anybody.   And I have been very concerned.  Will appreciate you letting us know if you do find out anything.
Click to expand...



Thanks, FF.  I do appreciate that.  I went to Hawaii last October, but prior to that my doctor said he thought I was being optimistic to believe I could.  But I did.  AFTER he put me on a new medicine, and I believe that is what gave me the last year.  THIS October I have another trip planned. Life is strange. When I went to Hawaii, I told my kids, if I get somewhere and kick the bucket to just have me cremated where I drop.  It costs money to bring a body home from a long distance away, and I worked hard to have something to leave them.  I don't want it used in that manner.

I thought I would wait until after the weekend and try the number I found for Becki.  I have a strong gut feeling that a problem she and I had discussed in PMs came to fruition.  If that is the case, she will be gone a while maybe a long while, but likely not forever.  I hope folks keep her thread going.  I look in on it occasionally just to see what people are creating.


----------



## koshergrl

I made wrist warmers for a friend of mine who has moved to Eugina (Eugene) and is a Ducks fan. He attends home games when he can. I made him a hat last year but didn't get these finished in time for Christmas. Finally finished them, lol..but in time for this season! His hands are a lot bigger than mine, incidentally. And it was super hard to get a shot of those things with me in them. My forearm is not really the size of a normal person's thigh. It's all about perspective and funky phone cameras.


----------



## koshergrl

I'm working on two quilts now. I'm still quilting my niece's quilt...and I'm working on a disappearing hourglass quilt for my son.



We moved into a different house at the beginning of the month...a tiny house owned by my cousin. It has a large backyard and we are enjoying it. It's a three bedroom but its just my daughter and me...so I have a sewing room!!! I am able to leave all three sewing machines and the quilts on the table, it makes it so easy to work.

You can see the little stack of sewn squares to the right, it's slowly growing, managed to get 4 done at lunch, did a few yesterday. I think there are 42 in all.


----------



## Book of Jeremiah

Sunshine said:


> Foxfyre said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunshine said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks FF.  I'm not really back per se.  I was just working on my latest quilt and decided I would drop in and see what y'all are making these days.  I've gotten so busy.  Not really sure how that happened.  I have a kitchen makeover coming up in September and a trip to San Francisco in October.  I still volunteer at the performing arts center, do my own house and yard work.  I've done a little canning this summer just because... Have a condo booked again for Gulf Shores coming up in Feb and March.  The grandbaby loves to meet at the beach.
> 
> 
> I will try the phone number in a day or two. Based on some PMs from a while back, I have a feeling something has happened.  That's all I can really say.  I have looked for obituaries and that has drawn a blank, but that is encouraging.   I did find out where she lives, so I could be very specific on the searches.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I understand how real life can intervene in  things.  But just know you were missed, I kept you on the vigil list in the Coffee Shop as a missing person for many months until somebody--I can't remember who--said you were well but just not participating here.  And that was cool.
> 
> But I agree, it was not at all like Becki to just abruptly drop off the face of the Earth without a word to anybody.   And I have been very concerned.  Will appreciate you letting us know if you do find out anything.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, FF.  I do appreciate that.  I went to Hawaii last October, but prior to that my doctor said he thought I was being optimistic to believe I could.  But I did.  AFTER he put me on a new medicine, and I believe that is what gave me the last year.  THIS October I have another trip planned. Life is strange. When I went to Hawaii, I told my kids, if I get somewhere and kick the bucket to just have me cremated where I drop.  It costs money to bring a body home from a long distance away, and I worked hard to have something to leave them.  I don't want it used in that manner.
> 
> I thought I would wait until after the weekend and try the number I found for Becki.  I have a strong gut feeling that a problem she and I had discussed in PMs came to fruition.  If that is the case, she will be gone a while maybe a long while, but likely not forever.  I hope folks keep her thread going.  I look in on it occasionally just to see what people are creating.
Click to expand...


I miss Sunshine.  Becki too.


----------



## koshergrl

Me too.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## Gracie

Where did becki go? Anyone know?


----------



## koshergrl

Making presents this weekend for birthdays and Christmas 


  funky lap blanket, what can I say, quick and I have everything on hand.

 Minky for infinity scarves.  I have more lol


----------



## koshergrl

Good grief how do I take upside down pics...that's crazy.


----------



## koshergrl




----------



## koshergrl

I have to say, that's the best infinity scarf yet. That material is tricky.


----------



## koshergrl

making infinity scarves lol. I really need to get some of those styrofoam heads, poor girl gets drafted into modeling no matter what she's doing.


----------



## freedombecki2

Gracie said:


> Where did becki go? Anyone know?


Using the Public Library computer these days, Gracie. They were closed several days at Thanksgiving, and yesterday, I read and ran out of time before posting only one post on another thread. *sigh* Husband has dementia in later stages than before, plus we have paid helpers in most days, and my time gets more and more limited. I haven't done a whole lot of quilting lately, just crocheted potholders which I can't show.

Edit: oh, yes, and FWIW, the library opens at ten Central Time and closes by sundown. It is closed Sundays now as well. Soon, I will be joining an physical therapy class for knees and muscles, at their schedules. Life has had it's changes, but so far, so good: I'm still going, assisted only by chronic fatigue that is one of fibromyalgia's ugly sisters.


----------



## freedombecki2

koshergrl said:


> View attachment 55356 making infinity scarves lol. I really need to get some of those styrofoam heads, poor girl gets drafted into modeling no matter what she's doing.


Lovely work, drop dead gorgeous models. Girl, you have it all!


----------



## Gracie

I'm sorry Becki 

But I am glad to know you are still standin' and breathin'! I think that is what worried most folks...the not knowing where you were and why. Which is why I gave personal info to Foxfyre...cuz if I up and completely disappear...folks can at least post a send off or a good riddance .
Glad we don't have to do either with you.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 55356 making infinity scarves lol. I really need to get some of those styrofoam heads, poor girl gets drafted into modeling no matter what she's doing.
> 
> 
> 
> Lovely work, drop dead gorgeous models. Girl, you have it all!
Click to expand...

 Missed you SOOOO much!!!!


----------



## koshergrl

Omigosh I'm sooo excited we have our beckums back!!!

Becki becki I have a sewing room now! Though it may be repossessed by my youngest, if he returns home (he's at his brother's now). But for now, I have it. I have my brother quilting machine and my regular machine set up and all my fabric in there.

My table is long, albeit kinda bouncy, but I'm just so motivated now you're back. I need to finish quilting my niece's monster quilt, and finish my son's.

Yayayayayayayay....


----------



## Sarah G

freedombecki2 

Hi there.  You were missed, girl.  What's it been about a year?

Happy to see you, stop by when you can.


----------



## freedombecki2

koshergrl said:


> Omigosh I'm sooo excited we have our beckums back!!!
> 
> Becki becki I have a sewing room now! Though it may be repossessed by my youngest, if he returns home (he's at his brother's now). But for now, I have it. I have my brother quilting machine and my regular machine set up and all my fabric in there.
> 
> My table is long, albeit kinda bouncy, but I'm just so motivated now you're back. I need to finish quilting my niece's monster quilt, and finish my son's.
> 
> Yayayayayayayay....


Thanks, koshergrl! I'm happy to hear you have a * q u i l t i n g   m a c h i n e ! ! ! * That just rocks!!!


----------



## freedombecki2

Sarah G said:


> freedombecki2
> 
> Hi there.  You were missed, girl.  What's it been about a year?
> 
> Happy to see you, stop by when you can.


Thanks, Sarah G. Good to see you too!


----------



## freedombecki2

Saw some green quilts today: 
This one is from Australia at wombat quilts, Green & Grey finished


----------



## freedombecki2

Same Wombat quilt website, and another green masterwork in the making:


----------



## freedombecki2

Threadbender's Quilt shop is showing Denyse Schmidt's lovely quilt at December | 2013 | Threadbenders Quilt Shop

I like the way this one bends! 






Oh, my time's up at the library. Hugs to everyone!


----------



## koshergrl

They are amazing. I threw together and I do mean threw together a little blanket using some panels I bought last summer...


----------



## koshergrl

Not a true quilt, only rudimentary and uneven piecing, I just needed to get it thrown together for the grand girl lol.


----------



## koshergrl

And again Im reminded that it is more expensive and the product is nicer if I just buy it lol. Oh well the kids love it.


----------



## koshergrl

Ok I did a little border quilting on it which made it instantly nicer.


----------



## koshergrl

The grandgirl loves it. I did a little stitching in the ditch, it turned out nice.


----------



## freedombecki2

koshergrl said:


> Not a true quilt, only rudimentary and uneven piecing, I just needed to get it thrown together for the grand girl lol.


It's totally beautiful, koshergrl. You're doing something on the line of collage-style work, and it is imho a work of art to do putting things together in a way that makes people feel like they are loved. That's as best as can be in quilting. Just lovely. My words don't start to tell you how good that is... *sigh* /philosopher


----------



## freedombecki2

Opposite on the color wheel of green is red, so today's contribution, I'll try to find something red:

 From nifty quilts at nifty quilts: Red Quilt #8 and Some Fun News! :




It just dances, imho. ​


----------



## freedombecki2

This one comes from a spoonful of sugar dot com with credits at Crimson Coverlet - A Spoonful of Sugar

Red quilts are just so much fun in my book, and this is simply stated, top drawer:




​


----------



## freedombecki2

Here's a red quilt that intrigues me for which a PFD pattern may be given at McCall's quilting website,  :

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/mcca...d_White_Classic_Block_Variation_Quilt_Pattern




​Oh, yes, and that redwork quilt show at NYC we posted pictures of a couple of years back, from another view:


----------



## freedombecki2

One more for the road (library time almost up):





Visit this "blogspot from Germany on redwork quilts" to get the credits: Redwork in Germany

I rate this one in the winner's circle! Shoko Saki from Japan is the artist, according to the delightful discussion of one viewer there. *sigh*​


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> Opposite on the color wheel of green is red, so today's contribution, I'll try to find something red:
> 
> From nifty quilts at nifty quilts: Red Quilt #8 and Some Fun News! :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It just dances, imho. ​


 
Beautiful!!


----------



## freedombecki2

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki2 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Opposite on the color wheel of green is red, so today's contribution, I'll try to find something red:
> 
> From nifty quilts at nifty quilts: Red Quilt #8 and Some Fun News! :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It just dances, imho. ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beautiful!!
Click to expand...

Koshergrl!


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki2 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Opposite on the color wheel of green is red, so today's contribution, I'll try to find something red:
> 
> From nifty quilts at nifty quilts: Red Quilt #8 and Some Fun News! :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It just dances, imho. ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beautiful!!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Koshergrl!
Click to expand...


----------



## koshergrl

I have a sewing room now...I'm so pooped when I get home I haven't done much of anything though I did make the girl's blankie....and some other little stuff here and there. But it's soooo nice having a spot for sewing. I bought my boy a suit for Christmas..I only have him a few days so it was super nice to have the sewing machine all set up so I could hem his pants right then and there. Once the house clears out after New Year's, I'm going to set up my niece's quilt at the kitchen table so I can finish quilting it..and I'm working on piecing my son's quilt in the sewing room. I find I really need a table for each machine..though I have a long table in the sewing room, it isn't long enough for quilting AND piecing.


----------



## freedombecki2

Sewing room.... gooooood! 






This is the sewing room Ifound onloine. I hope to be organized someday!

Credits and more views are at:  MQG Member Spotlight: Erika Mulvenna​


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> Sewing room.... gooooood!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the sewing room Ifound onloine. I hope to be organized someday!
> 
> Credits and more views are at:  MQG Member Spotlight: Erika Mulvenna​


 Believe me when I say....my sewing room looks NOTHING like that hahahahahahaha....


----------



## koshergrl

But that does give me ideas.


----------



## freedombecki2

All I can say is that for my current fave color (it changes from time to time), all I can find is this Incredible Quilt at: Incrediblequilts's Picture Blog


----------



## koshergrl

Right now I'm looking at:

A quilting frame:






Amazon.com: Flynn Multi-Frame Quilting System


----------



## freedombecki2

Koshergrl, my whole house is this disorganized quilt area... *sigh* and that is from line item 100468 of my list of disorganization in life by me <giggle>

And one more quilt before my 4 remaining minutes run out...

This is fromThe Halfknits Charity Website at: Halfknits Charity Knitting and Crochet Group - photos of some of our projects - Blue Jean Rag Quilt


----------



## freedombecki2

There are a lot of good quilting machines for small spaces, koshergrl.

And sorry the image did not show for the above credited charity quilt. I'm sure the sponsors are good folk, and might like visitors to see their inspiring work, so at least the link seems to work. It was chosen by me for simplicity and beauty. The charity bit was a definite decider and :thumbsup: deal.


----------



## koshergrl

I have a brother quilting machine, but I need a frame. Wrestling with huge quilts on the little sewing machine table is a pain.


----------



## freedombecki2

Ok, here's one, with just a link,well worth the looking at, and it's blue for blue lovers, and it has the pattern here: 35 More Free Modern Quilt Patterns - wow i like that35 More Free Modern Quilt Patterns - wow i like that


----------



## freedombecki2

The quilt shows pennants. I was wondering if anyone ever did a pennant quilt pattern a few years back. You could actually take your favorite team's pennant in team colors with school name on one, mascot or your own design of a logo on another, mascot name on one, etc. If a University, better check with the University attorney for permission to do that for your personal purpose. Some Universitiesdonot cotton to that. Oops, sorry for the sticking keys, but my lastextension is over city. *hugs*


----------



## freedombecki2

Oh, yes, and good luck on finding a good quilting frame, koshergrl. John Flynn is a great guy, and so are all his quilts and products. He and his wife do a lot of quilting, books, templates, and really cool quilt accessories like frames etc. He gets a thumbs up from his old Wyoming neighbor who owns Prism Quilts in the Oil Capital of Casper, albeit from afar from my retirement in another state.


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> The quilt shows pennants. I was wondering if anyone ever did a pennant quilt pattern a few years back. You could actually take your favorite team's pennant in team colors with school name on one, mascot or your own design of a logo on another, mascot name on one, etc. If a University, better check with the University attorney for permission to do that for your personal purpose. Some Universitiesdonot cotton to that. Oops, sorry for the sticking keys, but my lastextension is over city. *hugs*


 Missouri Quilt Company did something with penants...


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> Oh, yes, and good luck on finding a good quilting frame, koshergrl. John Flynn is a great guy, and so are all his quilts and products. He and his wife do a lot of quilting, books, templates, and really cool quilt accessories like frames etc. He gets a thumbs up from his old Wyoming neighbor who owns Prism Quilts in the Oil Capital of Casper, albeit from afar from my retirement in another state.


 Awesome, that might be a gift for myself.


----------



## freedombecki2

I just finished a bunch of red and yellow log cabin quilt squares--63 or 64 of them, likely (give or take a block). The only thing I could find online like my blocks were these brighter ones at "Bee in My Bonnet Quilting" online. Hers are much brighter, because mine were scraps from my stash, which spans all available yellows and reds from 1967-2015, which dates back to my first and second to the last quilts. (I completed one on Jan. 2, 2016). Here's her much more joyous photo (and if it is not shared, I will leave the address, which means you will have to  scroll down umpteen photos to see it unless she removes it.) her blog is here: Bee In My Bonnet: Quilting Retreat at Aspen Grove...


----------



## freedombecki2

Here's a beautiful kinda log cabin quilt ( but also a work of art!):





Source: LOG CABINE QUILT PATTERN | CHOICE PATTERNS​


----------



## freedombecki2

Another flying geese quilt is on this page: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/185914290842191174/

My slightly duller red and yellow blocks may be arranged in this manner with yellow or something in between. It might be fun just to make the flying geese "float" on a buttermilk sky of yellow odds and ends collected over the years (we're talking 300 different bright to moderate yellow fabrics.) That does it. One of these days, I have to go back online.

/muttering to self under breath with a "yeah, right" being thought. I can only think, not speak at the library computer room. It's a nice place here. They eveh provide head sets if you want to listen to something. Haven't even thought of putting them on, though. With fibromyalgia, you have no immune system to speak of, and flu is going around...

Oh, I found a yellow and red pineapple quilt that goes back a couple of centuries. It's only 2 colors, and done in wool, and was in the RMSC Collection museum at [RMSC Collections & Research] Quilt Project - Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt (53.105.1) .  All their quilts are indexed and linked here: [RMSC Collections & Research] Quilt Project

They open with this information about their stuff: 
"The Rochester Museum & Science Center currently houses a remarkable collection of nearly 300 quilts, including complete quilts, quilt tops, and quilted household accessories. A small percentage of the quilts are non-local, but most are from Western New York and the Genesee Valley Region, rendering it one of the largest and most significant regional collections in the country.

All types and techniques are represented, the majority being handsewn piecework. The dates of manufacture of quilts in the collection range from before 1820 to the mid-twentieth century, with the largest percentage dating to between 1821 and 1900."


----------



## koshergrl

freedombecki2 said:


> Another flying geese quilt is on this page: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/185914290842191174/
> 
> My slightly duller red and yellow blocks may be arranged in this manner with yellow or something in between. It might be fun just to make the flying geese "float" on a buttermilk sky of yellow odds and ends collected over the years (we're talking 300 different bright to moderate yellow fabrics.) That does it. One of these days, I have to go back online.
> 
> /muttering to self under breath with a "yeah, right" being thought. I can only think, not speak at the library computer room. It's a nice place here. They eveh provide head sets if you want to listen to something. Haven't even thought of putting them on, though. With fibromyalgia, you have no immune system to speak of, and flu is going around...
> 
> Oh, I found a yellow and red pineapple quilt that goes back a couple of centuries. It's only 2 colors, and done in wool, and was in the RMSC Collection museum at [RMSC Collections & Research] Quilt Project - Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt (53.105.1) .  All their quilts are indexed and linked here: [RMSC Collections & Research] Quilt Project
> 
> They open with this information about their stuff:
> "The Rochester Museum & Science Center currently houses a remarkable collection of nearly 300 quilts, including complete quilts, quilt tops, and quilted household accessories. A small percentage of the quilts are non-local, but most are from Western New York and the Genesee Valley Region, rendering it one of the largest and most significant regional collections in the country.
> 
> All types and techniques are represented, the majority being handsewn piecework. The dates of manufacture of quilts in the collection range from before 1820 to the mid-twentieth century, with the largest percentage dating to between 1821 and 1900."


 My sister has an heirloom quilt, handstitched by her husband's great aunt and someone else in that pattern...I have posted pics of it before. It's lovely.


----------



## freedombecki2

Well, I finally found this sorta image of a flying geese done in log cabin blocks, but they're not in my colors nor alignment into rows like a flying geese quilt is.

It took all morning! lol






The lady who did this is here: Cut to Pieces: September 2013
She is adventurous does really cool stuff.​


----------



## freedombecki2

koshergrl said:


> freedombecki2 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Another flying geese quilt is on this page: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/185914290842191174/
> 
> My slightly duller red and yellow blocks may be arranged in this manner with yellow or something in between. It might be fun just to make the flying geese "float" on a buttermilk sky of yellow odds and ends collected over the years (we're talking 300 different bright to moderate yellow fabrics.) That does it. One of these days, I have to go back online.
> 
> /muttering to self under breath with a "yeah, right" being thought. I can only think, not speak at the library computer room. It's a nice place here. They eveh provide head sets if you want to listen to something. Haven't even thought of putting them on, though. With fibromyalgia, you have no immune system to speak of, and flu is going around...
> 
> Oh, I found a yellow and red pineapple quilt that goes back a couple of centuries. It's only 2 colors, and done in wool, and was in the RMSC Collection museum at [RMSC Collections & Research] Quilt Project - Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt (53.105.1) .  All their quilts are indexed and linked here: [RMSC Collections & Research] Quilt Project
> 
> They open with this information about their stuff:
> "The Rochester Museum & Science Center currently houses a remarkable collection of nearly 300 quilts, including complete quilts, quilt tops, and quilted household accessories. A small percentage of the quilts are non-local, but most are from Western New York and the Genesee Valley Region, rendering it one of the largest and most significant regional collections in the country.
> 
> All types and techniques are represented, the majority being handsewn piecework. The dates of manufacture of quilts in the collection range from before 1820 to the mid-twentieth century, with the largest percentage dating to between 1821 and 1900."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My sister has an heirloom quilt, handstitched by her husband's great aunt and someone else in that pattern...I have posted pics of it before. It's lovely.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Koshergrl. Glad to see you around this little block party.


----------



## freedombecki2

Have to go now and do that little quilt. I finished one Charity quilt Jan 2, and this one will get done when it gets done. I just wanted to make sure I had found SOMETHING like what I'm doing out there, but the one I found disappeared after I forgot to renew my minutes at the library computer. Maybe it's best this way. *sigh*

Love to all and wondering what happened to dear Mr. H. who used to visit us with his inspiration from time to time in past years... Well, a big hug to all.


----------



## freedombecki2

These are some of the blocks I made. After nearly a year and a half, I had to do some driven reeducation on my scanner, filing the scans, and uploading as all seems a bit different here and USMB still allows you to do fun stuff. I'm especially grateful that Koshergrl uploaded some pictures she just took. I started the red/yellow squares 2 days ago, and completed all 64 of the blocks that were started yesterday. This morning, I sewed 14 blocks for the first vertical row of flying geese, log cabin style. They will float on buttermilk skies... although some of the yellows are 30's "screamin' yellow" in brightness. 



Also, when the quilt top is completed, it will go to the Charity Bees chapter of the Tall Pines Quilt Guild here. At our library, I can download from my old computer from the Friends Internet Café herein. You can probably do it from equipment in the library's computer lab, which I usually use. Don't know how it happened, but I'm all by myself at the free use Friends Café area. It's real quiet.


----------



## freedombecki

The 84-block quilt is almost a top now. All that needs to be done is to make a decision on its border, and a label that states its silly name, "Red Log Cabin Flying Geese Floating on Buttermilk Skies." 

Also, I finally got around to copying back and front of several of the 16-hour potholders I make and sell for well under a dollar an hour for my time at the local quilt guild's annual fall fundraiser.


----------



## freedombecki

Some more potholders, some of which were made following last year's fall sale for giving scholarships to young ladies going to SHSU, a nearby University, and other community benefits. These will be given to the sale Fall, 2015, unless something comes up sooner. I worked on another purple one today and will post pictures of that one later on.


----------



## freedombecki

Might as well show off the backs, although I picked the "front" to be the one I liked best at the time. Our mothers always did their fancy potholders in white on the backs, or other solid color. The only trouble with the ones in our home was my mother was so artistic, she made them for show. How did she ever wind up with such a pragmatic daughter who thought potholders should protect the fingers first and be pretty second? *sigh*


----------



## koshergrl

I'm crocheting some homely edging onto dollar store kitchen towels now...my sis was here over Christmas and zi couldn't find any towels (we moved in November) so I pick up towels every time I'm out.

I haven't done any quilting recently and I feel bad...but I'm working on my sons quilt top and have about ten blocks to go out of 42. I was going to fancy them up and got and rearrange the blocks into a more comlicated one but I decided to just stick with the first hourglass block...it will be finished faster, and be a little bigger for their big bed..then I can move on.


----------



## koshergrl

Snoop loves my terribly cluttered sewing room, if there's a box he will sleep on whatever is in it or sometimes he rummages through everything and leaves everything strewn around. I splurged on nice batting, wool blend, for the kids's quilt. He tore the ends off of the bag and pulled out a few tufts. He does the same thing to poor teddy bears....chews their ears removes she's and nose and pulls some...not all...of the stuffing out


----------



## koshergrl

I'm a terrible protester. So a call went out for "we need flags at (such and such location)" and I naturally assumed they needed people to MAKE flags so they could carry them hahahahaha. When really they were calling for people WITH flags to show up and wave them.

I'm such a granny nerd. I learn fast, though.

I sort of want to try my hand at making a flag now.


----------



## koshergrl

Awesome granny square called a fisherman's ring...


----------



## koshergrl

Ok revving up the sewing machines again. 

I have two quilts I've been working on for years (one of them for about 10 years lolol) that I have to finish. I have a friend with a quilt shop, I'm giving those to her to finish...while I start on some baby blankets. My best friend's daughter is having a baby in July!


----------



## beautress

I love this quilt found at Etsy:





​


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> Ok revving up the sewing machines again.
> 
> I have two quilts I've been working on for years (one of them for about 10 years lolol) that I have to finish. I have a friend with a quilt shop, I'm giving those to her to finish...while I start on some baby blankets. My best friend's daughter is having a baby in July!


I'd love to see them, koshergrl. Hope you are forgiven, whatever it is you said, and will be back sometime soon. Matybe you'll finish those two quilts up and bring them back when that day comes. My prayers for whatever trouble you got into, and hope you avoid losing your posting privileges in those steamy situations every one of us has gotten into at one time or another.


----------



## beautress

Wow, I haven't looked up quilts online for years. Here's one I think is over-the-top wonderful:






I gotta have one like this. *sigh*​


----------



## beautress

Okay, okay, I got meself in a little trouble out their on Ms. Emily's thread. I pledged to do a little quilt top for a little immigrant border crossing baby. 'Cause though I hate it, I also love innocent babies who didn't do anything but be born when they got here, in spite of my politics. So I found a little quilt top in Mexican Flag colors for this little break with sanity of mine, and here's one I found: Hope someone out there can correct me if I'm wrong to say the Mexican Flag colors may be pink and green...






I pray I can finish the project before the cold weather sets in and the recipient gets one as close to this one as I can do. It will have to be a receiving blanket in side, so it looks like I will need 35 - 5.5" squares of foundation fabrics to lay the strips on before quilting. If I stick to the looks of the above quilt, I will  need a 25" by 35" batting, but that's awful small. a 4" outside border would make it need a 33 by 40" batt, but that's a little short. okay, I have to add 5 more squares to the 35 already thought of. That'd make it 40 inches long before the border and about 47" long, so there'd be a little room for growth. I have a lot of green and a lot of pink scraps. Cheery-o, I have a date with myself to go to quilter's hog heaven. ​


----------



## Natural Citizen

Why did koshergrl get banned?


----------



## beautress

Natural Citizen said:


> Why did koshergrl get banned?


I don't know, Natural Citizen.Welcome to humble quilt website. I started it some years back, long enough so a lot of the links no longer work for one reason or another. So, I just had a need for this thread again while I fulfill a promise to Ms. Emily that I would spend a little more time making quilts for refugees from Mexico, and all of them will be in Mexico flag colors so their parents will feel at home. I'm a conservative but I have a heart for the unborn and the courageous women who would break a law or two to bring one into the world of human beings, as deficient as it may be. I think God expects us to live and let live; and forgive offenses before the sun sets every day. It's complicated. In the meantime, I have become a senior citizen and I'm here to tell you it's not easy to live by yourself after 44 years of having the privilege of being married to such a wonderful guy as my dearly departed husband. *sigh*


----------



## beautress

ok, I found another pink and green quilt that might be easier to sew than the one a few posts above, but it is pleasing at least to my eye.
Found this in the search engine before I got here by loading "pink and green baby quilts" into the search box, and Bing! has a feature that you can look for images only, which I employed. So, _voila_:



​


----------



## beautress

beautress said:


> Okay, okay, I got meself in a little trouble out their on Ms. Emily's thread. I pledged to do a little quilt top for a little immigrant border crossing baby. 'Cause though I hate it, I also love innocent babies who didn't do anything but be born when they got here, in spite of my politics. So I found a little quilt top in Mexican Flag colors for this little break with sanity of mine, and here's one I found: Hope someone out there can correct me if I'm wrong to say the Mexican Flag colors may be pink and green...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I pray I can finish the project before the cold weather sets in and the recipient gets one as close to this one as I can do. It will have to be a receiving blanket in side, so it looks like I will need 35 - 5.5" squares of foundation fabrics to lay the strips on before quilting. If I stick to the looks of the above quilt, I will  need a 25" by 35" batting, but that's awful small. a 4" outside border would make it need a 33 by 40" batt, but that's a little short. okay, I have to add 5 more squares to the 35 already thought of. That'd make it 40 inches long before the border and about 47" long, so there'd be a little room for growth. I have a lot of green and a lot of pink scraps. Cheery-o, I have a date with myself to go to quilter's hog heaven. ​


I need to stay focused on the quilt above ^. Even so, I found other pink and green cuties, although I put the sewing machine in another room after getting a new computer and placing it where the sewing machine was. So many things to do. So little time and space. Here's today's online find. I really need to take a day off and have some sewing fun. 







Quilting is so much fun!





​


----------



## beautress

Well, darn it. I got an invite to breakfast by a friend who had chemo yesterday & wanted a ride and my company at IHOP. Then I had some needs for the car, so it was off to WalMart and the Dollar Tree. lol. That took up my whole morning, not to mention my visit to the Iron Works where I walked 3 miles on a machine and rowed for half an hour. When I got home, I noticed I had neglected to mow the back yard and out in the southwest pasture where the live oak tree spreads over half an acre, and it just looks prettier when it's cut. So here it is half past four o'clock, after mowing and cleaning up after, 4 hours past lunch time. Guess I will have to have my nap after lunch. When will I ever get started on the pink and green quilt? I have no excuses, really. I just chose to do other things, and now my old feet hurt, too, probably from my little overdoing it at the Iron Works. Well, I'm gonna at least go find one more pretty little baby quilt in pink and green and post it before eating. *sigh*









 











Ok, Which picture is not a quilt?  



​


----------



## beautress

This quilt is one for the road and was as close to pink and green as I could get  …




​


----------



## beautress

And another, and another...






Below: wayyyyy too much work, but cute nonetheless.





​


----------



## beautress

This one could be amenable to being pink and green...




​


----------



## beautress

ummmm, up close and personal showing the quilting background, but purdy.




​


----------



## beautress

I really was gonna hit the road and go to the exercise palace.. 




​


----------



## beautress

Completed a small log cabin quilt that was already started (with 28 log cabin starts). I made green rings around some pink centers and-multi fabric rows 2-5 then the greens, rows 6,7,8 and 9; then the outer rows 10, 11, 12, and 13. The number of pieces sewn is 13x28 or 84 + 280 =  364 pieces. After all that work, I sewed the squares together, 4 across and 7 down. Each square of 13 pieces is 7.5x7.5 inches square, and after taking away seam allowances the quilt currently measures 28.5" by 49.5". The borders will make it somewhat bigger. That's for another day. Wish I had a camera and the scanner set up. Oh, well next week, maybe. I had to go to the quilt store to retrieve some more greens, because the half yard I had of a cute green print would fall short of the 28 green rows 6, 7, 8 and 9. I'll see if I can find a like quilt square somewhere. I'm pretty certain nobody's done my little log quilt. The border will have to be pink, because ^ I've been thinking pink and green all week. Unfortunately, this one falls short because of the multiple colored fabrics used in rows 2,3,4, and 5 and rows 10,11,12,and 13. The cute pink and green print dominated in assorted lime greens to the dullish side, so I went with 2 more lime greenish prints, not near so interesting as the one that was started first from material I had on hand.

Here's a similar square, sort of, but not exactly, since the maker really went all-out with cute centers and a border that is dynamite.






Someone has cleverly taken a log cabin form called "Steps to the Whitehouse" and used the steps as a frame around cute little critters children will surely love forever.

This shows the 13 "rows" I mentioned above.






I work in numerical order just like the above, except 1-5 are scrap with 1 being hot pink.6,7,8 and 9 are light lime greens Outer rows are scrappy like 2-5. The only "row" consistently the same (pink, in my little whitehouse steps quilt) is row 1. 
​\


----------



## beautress

Some 'Splainin' about Courthouse Steps:
Example 1.​This is a very wonderful courthouse steps style done in the tiniest strips: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




   Notice that it divides into lights on the two sides and contrasts with darker strips on top and bottom. It has 29 pieces and if each strip row is made with 1/2 inch width strips that started out from one-inch strips that have a 1/4 inch seam allowance, thus all that shows is a half inch plus whatever the length is, row after row. 


This is another amazing work effort, except this time it is very scrappy and doesn't cotton to lights and darks being separated, but they are possibly stacked randomly and sewn the same way. Notice that each row that is opposite the same length piece, they are the same color. Back when, that's almost always the way courthouse steps were fashioned.

Example 2



​The squares below resemble my quilt's size and number of rows (13, including the center), and yes, I line my squares out to make sure they look okay. Placing squares till they look right took me about an hour with 28 squares. Mine doesn't look like this group because there is no light nor dark side, but mine are arranged "Steps-to-the Whitehouse" style, not courthouse steps

Example 3






Finally! A steps to the White House alignment (basic) is below:

Example 4a and 4b








And here's a Steps to the Whitehouse quilt:
Example 5





​


----------



## beautress

The difference in 13 rows and   rows is hard to explain. Here is another oversized example of a steps-to-the-whitehouse, except this one has only 5 rows

Example 6


​Well, guess I have to get a camera, but I have to wait. I am learning how to do everything by myself, since my husband's long illness and passing away 2 years ago. I must be the most spoiled, pampered wife who loved being spoiled. I'm beginning to understand the words, "It's a zoo out there." 

Here's a lifted glass to all those out there who was ever spoiled by one's spouse, unless I was the only one...


----------



## beautress

I just fell in love with another quilt. OK, I'm a quilt junky, but here it is, and it is called "lawn star.":




​


----------



## beautress

Finished my quilt borders. But I'm so spoiled. My dearly departed husband used to take pictures of my quilts, helped me set up the now-decrepit printer. I bought a new printer, but it's one of those wireless things, and so far, I have done everything wrong there is to be done wrong on my new computer except to come here...

It has a green stripett border, 1" and a deep-to-lights pink marbled vine print on the outer border. The "Steps to the "Whitehouse" blocks on my quilt are arranged in descending order. I didn't have enough of the one print to complete all the blocks the same, so I found 2 other chartrusey green prints that made do, which means I had to arrange the blocks into a different schema than total random. Now they're what we call random but controlled in quilterspeak. I love the quilt, though, especially when the pink and green popped the green log cabin centers and the chartruse-to-lime green steps in the 6, 7, 8, 9 rows (which circle the square into Whitehouse Steps mode).


----------



## beautress

Well, now that I got a little of that "pink and green thing" out of my system, moving on...




​


----------



## beautress

Here's a cutie bordered with golden colors:




​


----------



## beautress

I like this one, because its maker used EVERYTHING I would have tossed aside (5/8" strips that show 1/4" or less) to add to this masterful play with batik materials:



​


----------



## beautress

I'm guessing this quilter has a lot of quilter friends and may belong to a quilt guild. Just look at all these fabrics. Did they come from one and only one stash? As I said, I'm guessing she has generous friends who love her work and want her to have variety she needs to keep on making quilts like the one below....




​


----------



## beautress

In the past few years, some quilters have developed a love for using those colorful selvages that manufacturers use to show quilters the print colors that were used to create the fabric that was purchased, and they put them on the border edges of the fabric (selvages) to assist the quilter in purchasing other fabrics to complement the quilt, which a lot of people find is truly a good thing. Sometimes these last few years, the selvages are so attractive, people have decided to make quilts using the selvages they can find, and even decide on which fabrics to use based on how cute the colorful dots, stars, acorns, or whatever shape the designer affixes in to the selvage area. Below is a long-in-the-making quilt made from these narrow strips, which are transformed into much more as you can gauge for yourself with just one look sometimes:






I'm a widow, but I would love cuddling up under this quilt any long and lonely night, because it makes me smile to look at it and admire the unknown quilter for her amazing handiwork.​


----------



## beautress

Here's as close to a "Steps to the Whitehouse" block quilt as I've ever seen, except this one may have taken a quarter of the time that sewing one strip at a time takes going around the block in log cabin fashion. This one likely had a very bright maker who capitalized on sewing long strips together with a common light color, cut them into squares, and then proceeded to figure out a schema of on-point strip blocks aligned to look like an on-point Steps to the Whitehouse traditional block quilt. My kudos to this mathematically graced quilter. 



​


----------



## beautress

This quilt could be something you've never heard of. It's a "Pinecone" quilt that starts in the center with folded squares or folded narrow points directed toward a center and winding its folded pieces to cover the raw edges (or other method), around and around to the outside border of the foundation piece. Trust me, it takes 5 times as much fabric as a regular quilt, or yet more. You can easily sink 2 or 3 yards of squares folded every-which-way to go around and around to the outside. The quilts weigh a ton (not really) and are quite as warm as can be with all that trapped air in a well-made folded fabric quilt. Of course, if you've quilted for years or just had a penchant for folded quilts, you already knew this. I'm guessing this one took 3 years to a lifetime to accomplish. If someone would pay me $20 an hour to make one, they'd be having to spend a thousand dollars on fabric and whatever 3 years wages are for 40-hour weeks in one year. So you may understand if you look up quilts sold at Sotheby's why some quilts have sold for millions of dollars. That's because the quilt may have a 50-year range or even 150 years range if its maker's stash includes some of her great grand-mother's leftovers, a 30's barrel she picked up at a going-out-of-business antique shop that just wanted to get rid of everything so she could retire to Florida... (there goes the speculation ringer bell) …






Little pinecone quilt doth hide
Threads equaling many miles
Fabric stacked in many piles
All to cover one so dear
With all those miles and piles of cheer​


----------



## beautress

Oh, my goodness. I binged in images for pinecone quilt, and here's just a small sampling:


----------



## beautress

Oh, my goodness. This was found under "pinecone quilts" at Bing: Would you just look. lol


----------



## beautress

This one actually mimics the color of a pinecone:



​


----------



## beautress

Bless the bloggers! This one calls her page "Doin' the Pine Burr..." Here's the site: nifty quilts: Doin' the Pine Burr

If you've never quilted, but like the pine burrs, well, this proves that quilting is a craft as well as an art. So if this is what it takes to get you interested in making an amazing coverlet, remember that you're not really quilting, because quilting is sewing through 3 layers--backing layer, batting layer, and quilt top layer. The pineburr may or may not later be quilted, depending how much of a begger for punishment you are. 

Actually, squares sewn together and bound in the back would make an okay throw spread, sans any quilting. If you wanted it quilted, it would come in handy when finished in Nome, Alaska, I'm certain.

My opinion of the pine burr quilt is pretty much summed up in 2 words:


----------



## beautress

beautress said:


> Here's as close to a "Steps to the Whitehouse" block quilt as I've ever seen, except this one may have taken a quarter of the time that sewing one strip at a time takes going around the block in log cabin fashion. This one likely had a very bright maker who capitalized on sewing long strips together with a common light color, cut them into squares, and then proceeded to figure out a schema of on-point strip blocks aligned to look like an on-point Steps to the Whitehouse traditional block quilt. My kudos to this mathematically graced quilter.
> 
> 
> 
> ​


I'm working on a quilt similar, but not exactly the same as this one. All the lights are going to be in sundry beiges, if I can find all of the stacks of it around here. Worked on four squares for the quilt from before the sun rose till around 8:30 am. Quilting, forever; sleeping, whenever.


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> I'm crocheting some homely edging onto dollar store kitchen towels now...my sis was here over Christmas and zi couldn't find any towels (we moved in November) so I pick up towels every time I'm out.
> 
> I haven't done any quilting recently and I feel bad...but I'm working on my sons quilt top and have about ten blocks to go out of 42. I was going to fancy them up and got and rearrange the blocks into a more comlicated one but I decided to just stick with the first hourglass block...it will be finished faster, and be a little bigger for their big bed..then I can move on. View attachment 61762


koshergrl, I've forgotten a lot since my freedombecki days, so I can't reach you at your profile page because it seems to be locked up, but back here at the quilt thread I started way back when, I've been searching and finding new quilt ideas, but I really miss your contributions like the one above. I haven't done half square triangles in a long time, but I actually may just go through my scraps and see if I can come up with enough pieces to make an hour glass quilt after I finish the 3 I've started oh, yeah, and a baby quilt for a relative, maybe the other one will get the hour glass quilt. There have been two babies born to close relatives recently, a boy and a girl. I was right in the middle of a charity quilt when I found this out, plus I came back here as beautress since I couldn't access freedombecki due to forgetting my password after I left to take care of my husband's dementia issues which finally resulted in his passing on June 13, 2016. I just sort of didn't do much at first, then decided to try to get back to making charity quilts. I cleaned up my piecing act to get things to match up better by using pins. Long story short, I was devastated when I got back here and looked you up, finding the word "banned" under your name. I was hoping you'd be back soon, and just yesterday or the day before I noticed you back in full swing. My fingers are crossed that somehow you find this in your postings or whatever settings you have and find this again. That would make my day. Love to you and your family. And Happy Threads to you!


----------



## beautress

Postage stamp quilt idea for people who love butterflies. If you used 1" squares, the top butterfly would measure 64"x46", and the bottom one would measure 60x46" To make a quilt that fit a human being, you'd almost have to double the length, which I counted out to be around 46-47", and the outcome could be rather distorted, so some creative realigning would have to be done to make these images be good subject matter for a twin-sized bed, and do the finished inch, you'd have to be more mathematically adroit to do a full, queen, or king sized quilt. To even come close to matching the luster of a real butterfly, though, you would need a glossy satin or even a neon color schema or synthetic velvet with ultra shine to mimic God's wonderful world of living creatures in the order of Lepidoptera. *sigh*


----------



## beautress

Speaking of Lepidoptera and moths and stuff, I went exploring on bing and ran into this specie, Iotaphora admirabilis, who live in Siberia, Korea, Taiwan, etc., and fell in love with the aqua ones, though the green ones are beautiful in their own way, too:

first the green:





and the one that made my heart stand still for a couple of seconds:




ok, some pastellish ones, too:





Any of these would inspire an awesome quilt in the same color schema, imho. 
If only there weren't so many charity quilts to make. Oh, wait, that can be fun when you do a new and exciting color group that nobody else found first. 

​


----------



## beautress

Job's tears. I shouldn't have gone looking this morning, I have a few started quilts unfinished at this point. Yesterday, I got a small log cabin quilt top done in all purple. I'd go looking but know there isn't anything like it anywhere. It's simple, but it's alllllllll purple. I really need to get a camera. My husband used to take pictures of all my quilts, but he's now gone, *sigh* paradise lost. He was so good to me. Every single day for 44 years.  I'm so grateful to have just all good memories of him before his dementia set it. WEll, I found this on the web. It's a picture of job's tears quilt that I think was the idea of Georgia Bonesteel, at least, it seems so from the pattern format being identical to hers.






A quilt doesn't have to be totally beautiful. This one is to me, because losing someone like my husband is like having all the hurt that the Bible character named Job experienced when he was accused by the devil to God that he would be unfaithful if all he had was taken away. Job proved to God in subsequent years of pain and loss that he was true to his faith in God. He was so right about that. We should always believe in the goodness of God, no matter how great our loss, how many tears we shed over losing somebody we loved who was as good and perfect as my beloved man, who was given to me after I begged God to send me a truly good man to help me in my life.​


----------



## beautress

I just may redesign Job's tears into a format that will be fast to sew. Just as soon as I get that little purple quilt bordered! Got a busy day ahead. When I ain't cryin', I have all those silly things my husband did to make me laugh and look on the sunny side of life. My Job's tears will have to reflect at least as much joy as sorrow. Now, How am I gonna accomplish that? Tears and laughter. Heck, I ain't that smart unless you count smart-aleck in there somewhere.... Wait a minute, there is a sunshine and shadows quilt out there somewhere, so maybe I won't have to spend a year thinking up a way to do the impossible. Whew!

Looking up "sunshine and shadows" on bing…

It appears the Amish have a pattern repeated over and over called "Sunshine and Shadows." The last one on this row is a US postage stamp.














There was also another Sunshine and shadows quilt made of blocks with stripes on the diagonal and a lighter or darker in the opposite corner. I've made this quilt several times..long ago, but mine seemed to be a quilt-as-you-go block (as in 1.) repeated a few times.

In 2a, b, c, and d. there was also a log cabin version, and I've done at least 3 or 4 of these.

1.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 2a.   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  2b   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




   2c.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




2d.  

 





https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-3526-Am...=item546343a986:g:ZPIAAOSwWxNYzqfK:rk:30:pf:0


----------



## beautress

I think I have enough blocks to do this sunshine and shadows quilt....somewhere among my souvenirs. Ladies and Gentlemen:  Sunshine and Shadows!




​


----------



## beautress

The purple quilt top was completed, I attended today's Charity Bees workshop, sewed a bunch of old scraps of batting left over from the outsides of other quilts together to back the purple quilt top, and pin basted the whole thing. When I turned it over, much to my horror, I had pinned in so badly that if they don't fix the problem, it will be a mighty sorry quilt. I know better than to do that kind of heavy lifting, because my shoulders and back still hurt from it. From now on, I'm just going to do the tops. Well, tomorrow is another day. Sending up a prayer for all friends.


----------



## beautress

The image below shows six full squares of just purple, two of log cabin lights only and eight log cabin squares of lights and dark purples. 6 + 2 + 8 = 16 squares total.




​The all-purples quilt I completed for Charity bees (and did such a dismal job of pin-basting as described above) was all solid purples, except it was 3 across and 4 down (3x4=12)
Today, I'm going back up to the sewing room to do another purple from the 18 squares of all-purples I had when I sewed all the squares in a day, maybe Monday, I'm not sure. Anyway, it's like 100% of your concentration is in the joy of piecing together squares that are fun to look at and a challenge to put together without too many replications being so close together you'd notice. Most of my quilts have hundreds of pieces in them, but the small one I donated Tuesday had only 12x13=146+4 border pieces=total of 150 pieces on the front. Each square on my quilt had 13 log pieces, and there were 12 squares. When you account your quilting, you get an approximate of 150 on one with 12 squares and a border. Actually, mine was more, because when I held the quilt up to the sunlight, 3 of the pieces were damaged--one log had a hole in it, and 2 pieces had slits for reasons I don't know but missed when reviewing the square to make sure it was pressed ok. It wasn't until I held the small quilt up to the sunlight that I saw the flaws. One of the flaws was corrected by ripping out the center of the strip and replacing it, which made it grow in number from 1 to 3 pieces in that particular log-- one was reparable by removing half of the piece where it was slit, which resulted in 2 pieces in that strip after repair. The other was a small piece with an oddity of a hole right in the center, so I just took out the entire piece and replaced it with a strip cut 1.5x2.5" so it remained the same count of 1 piece when all was said and done. Another piece had been repaired prior to sewing by adding length, one used 2 1.5x1.5" pieces instead of the 2.5" piece that should have been used (if there is a 'should have' in a scrappy quilt--not! LOL Another looked better when I used 2 pieces I didn't use a ruler to measure, just cut it using a 3.5"x1.5" precut strip as my "ruler." Surprising that the top was so smooth, flat, and within 1/8" correct when it was measured. It is not unusual for quilters where the top and bottom are off more than an inch, and it still comes out perfectly quilted when batting and backing are added, pin-basted, then quilted and finally, bound with double bias binding that is folded and then sewn on either by machine, by hand, or both. 

Another day, and hopefully, another purple quilt top. I think this one will have 24 log cabins in it, because when I made the 13-piece log cabins on maybe middle-o9f-the-night Tuesday, when I finished with 36 squares having been sewn, and only 12 of them went into the receiving-blanket-sized quilt that resulted after sewing the blocks together and adding the outside border strips on Charity bees workshop after my morning nap. A little sleep is welcome after working all night. Theoretically, the width when finished should measure 2 border strip finished widths of 4.25" plus 3 seven-inch finished square widths of 7 inches or 8.5+21=29.5" width and a length of 36.5." Top and bottom width measurements showed a *.*25" discrepancy, and left and right lengths were about *.*125" difference. I credit the good machine I use for getting so close of measurements, and my failure to pin correctly or little cutting strip discrepancies for the error margin. Even with gripper ruler equipments, after cutting a dozen quilts with hundreds of pieces causes part of my cutting mat lines to become lost as lines disappear after hundreds of cuts. Therefore, it's easy to lay the stabilized ruler down and not see lines that were so narrow no errors happened to error when those perfectly painted-on lines disappear. If there are 30 seam allowances across, that's 30 potential mistakes if one fabric or another was off by so slight as 1/16th of an inch. With 16 errors, that's an inch either way. Fortunately, often a wide error is offset by a strip cut slightly narrower. Sometimes you can actually notice one strip seems narrow, place it on a clear portion of uncut mat with perfect lines still on it, then you can estimate putting a narrow slip on top to see the wider strip below by placing the left straight edges together and sewing your 1/4" with the short cut on top that shows the precise error on the left side where the 1/4" foot overcomes the error in fabric cutting. You just learn it as you go when you are a quilter who measures all finished blocks and makes a couple of blocks at the outset to see what problems may be ahead as you work on your ther 34 quilt blocks when making a lot of squares. Most of the time I do at least 50 squares to get the 48 blocks needed for a 6x8 block alignment quilt with six vertical rows and eight horizontal ones. Hopefully, this wasn't too much gobbledygook for a good mathematician of pragmatic mind or an average quilter who has done at least 20 quilts in her or his lifetime.

It's upstairs to the quilting tower of the castle.  If I don't have too many replies to answer at USMB, that is...


----------



## beautress

This is a purple mixture quilt, I don't know why I like it, I just do...




​


----------



## beautress

Finished a purple log cabin quilt--all in deep purples, too. I found this as something close to what I did, but this one is somewhat lighter.





​


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Finished a purple log cabin quilt--all in deep purples, too. I found this as something close to what I did, but this one is somewhat lighter.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​


Wow, that is beautiful.


----------



## beautress

Thanks, Erinwltr. I used to lay pieces on a copier and share them here, but now, I have a new computer and can't figure out how to set up stuff.


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Thanks, Erinwltr. I used to lay pieces on a copier and share them here, but now, I have a new computer and can't figure out how to set up stuff.


How about a webcam?


----------



## beautress

I'm so electronically challenged, Erinwltr. *sigh*


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> I'm so electronically challenged, Erinwltr. *sigh*


Yeah me too.  But these days.  Plug and play.


----------



## beautress

From bing this morning when I loaded in "beautiful quilts," just for a little Saturday morning fun:


----------



## beautress

Of course, beauty to me is a totally scrappy kind of a quilt...and another...



​


----------



## beautress

'N another...



​


----------



## beautress

And yet more...this one intrigues me, because instead of complete encirclement of a square, the sashing on this one is like one per square, offset:




_Vive le difference!_​The fun thing about creating a new quilt is that nothing has to matter all that much except perhaps a little inconsistency in its consistent path. ​​


----------



## Erinwltr

The last photo is DBue Ribbon. 


Did you  make that??


----------



## beautress

Nah, I was just trolling "beautiful quilts" on my bing search engine. Bing opens a lot of doors when you press "images" before you start your search for today's "beautiful quilts" or "purple quilts" or whatever. I really need to get my little new scanner/printer up and put some of my squares on it. I make 4 or 5 quilt tops every month for the charity bees. I've always used this thread at USMB to be my springboard for making scrap quilts some little recipient could cherish since many of them are fatherless children who are born to a single parent. I feel sad they did not have a large, loving family because many parents will disown a daughter who has a baby but whose boyfriend is disinterested in marriage or is already married to somebody else or has hatred for children and will never marry. Freedom has strange consequences, and fatherless kids pay the price of feeling rootless. No kid deserves that. People have thrown away their family ties and church or have been thrown away. The nation pays a price for this peculiar attempt to protect privacy, make one parent responsible, usually the female, who may harbor angst toward being jilted by a jerk who thinks only of his own pleasure and not its result. It's all I can do as a remedy which in no way alleviates the child's paradigm of the lovelessness of one or both natural parents who regard him so mercilessly. A quilt ain't much to hang onto, but it's better than nothing on a winter's night when the child lies there wondering who he is and why he's missing a parent who participated in his being. As Emily Dickenson wrote in her papers found after her death, "If I can heal one heart the aching, I shall not have lived in vain."


----------



## beautress

Yesterday, I really screwed up. I had this old partially-done quilt top in maritime fabrics so beautiful they could win a landlubber's heart. The center had a pale batik fabric that was longing to have a sailing ship of yore embroidered on it, so I spent weeks trolling ebay for an iron transfer pattern, and finally located one of a beautiful sailing ship, just about the right size for the center. With all the joy of a long wait come true, I proceeded to iron the transfer on, emphasis on the excitement of getting something done that had sat there on the table for a couple of years as I had mourned the death of my husband of 44 years. Well, when the last piece was pressed hard against the ironing board surface and completed, I picked it up to look at how wonderful it was going to be. Alas, I had ironed the permanent ink on sideways to the carefully pieced one-way fabric schemas that showed boats, sea fish, and boat equipment motifs that were 90 degrees off (sideways) from the permanent image I had so carefully and diligently spent half an hour fussing over and pressing to perfection. How do you say "boohoo?"   

Well, I will have to remove the center from its mooring in the middle of the one-way fabrics, turn it 90 degrees, cut it to fit the ship that was so blithely and carelessly pressed on looks centered, then find a contrast fabric from the light batik background that was so perfectly surrounded by north, south, east and west one-way fabrics. The new background will require more fabric that is a bridge between the most beautiful maritime fabrics I ever saw, spanning 30 years of collecting beautiful fabrics for the future when they would join forces to bring about the most unique sea quilt ever sewn, and this time, make sure the flag is at the top with sky above and sea critters below the surface of the water. *giggle*

And a note to myself that will soon be forgotten, "look before you leap, because eyes may be totally blinded by the joy of the doing of this project."


----------



## beautress

These ideas came from bing images "beautiful embroidered sailing ships quilt"


----------



## beautress

And from John Masefield's poem, "And a star to steer her by..."


----------



## beautress

This pattern is called "Ocean Waves."








​


----------



## beautress

This quilt is just one variation of many referred to as the "Mariner's Compass Quilt"






​


----------



## beautress

Here's a nice Maritimer's old ships quilt 




​


----------



## beautress

And of course, a pieced version




​


----------



## beautress

And the perfect baby ships, pieced, of course. 




​


----------



## beautress

And omigosh, a stuff that dreams are made of embroidered ship quilt:






Holy cow, the maker even named them!​


----------



## beautress

This week, it's the ordinary 9-patch quilt. Such a square looks like these two, one having 5 of dark at corner and center with 4 lights in between the corners:



​This is the first square many quilters find easy enough to make their first quilt top. I loved the one my mother made for my bed. It was pink and green with a back print of pink and green roses. But in families with several children like ours, quilts are domains of the same home, so when I left home to get married, my baby sister inherited the quilt I used and practically wore out. I didn't mind. I loved my pita sister in spite of her uncountable foibles! By the time I left home to marry, she was about twelve years old going on twenty. lol

Oh, and I have to complete my nine-patch charity quilt that was started about a week ago. It will be about 48 inches by about 60 inches to cover a baby mattress with a little room to tuck in the sides and foot and keep a baby warm at night after leaving the bassinet. The quilt below is like but different from the one I'm working on which has darks in the 4 corners and center, but all of my squares are prints. The lovely one below is a very appealing quilt in mostly solid colors. mine only uses one or two solid fabrics, if any at all. I made blocks for two crib-sized quilts before adding the sashes. This quilt has sets between the sashes which gives it an appeal all its own, not to mention a fantastic border in small squares. The maker of this quilt below makes her work come alive with rainbow colors and traditional white backgrounds. My quilt does not repeat the same fabric until it was time to sash and complete the work. Even so, it will keep a small child warm at night. Wish I had a picture. My late husband used to be so wonderful to take pictures of the hundreds of charity quilts made before we retired back home to Texas in 2009. This quilt, though, is the closest one to the bright colors of the one I'm putting the last two rows on today, even if the one below likely will fit a full sized bed for adults:





​


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> View attachment 54772


I really love this one, koshergrl. It shows truly wonderful workmanship, and I'm glad you shared it. I'm sorry I was gone for such a long time. Keeping track of a wandering man with dementia got to be a 24-7 kind of an ordeal, and being on the computer resulted in him finding keys and leaving the house without my knowledge, and an hour later, I got a come-get-your-husband-and-get-gas call from the sheriff in a nearby county, where he was on the side of the road, where he had turned in when the car had run out of gasoline. I'm sorry my departure from here was so abrupt. He died, and I was plumb lost for a year, and little by little started the ordeal of getting over the death of the dearest man in the world after 44 years of marriage. I had sorrow with both adult children who had left home thinking us fossils for our beliefs and loyalty to our faith and felt a lot of grief for his death and their refusal of moral support after they realized he left everything to me. His mother's nest egg was eaten up after she had lived in a nursing home 20 years. That's why our little nest egg got left to the survivor. We didn't want to be a burden on them if one should pass before the other. The last envelope I mailed to either one of them got sent back unopened with some choice words scribbled on the front.


----------



## beautress

Well, one more nine-patch before I hit the road for church:

People make large 9-patch blocks and cut to put back together in fun ways, here's just one of the ways:
REGULAR NINE PATCH BLOCK ………………………………………..…CREATIVE SYMMETRIC CUT OF NINE PATCH BLOCK 





After the cutting is done, there are a myriad of ways to join the asymmetric result to each other or same-sized blocks of different colors or solid squares. It can be a challenge!​


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 54772
> 
> 
> 
> I really love this one, koshergrl. It shows truly wonderful workmanship, and I'm glad you shared it. I'm sorry I was gone for such a long time. Keeping track of a wandering man with dementia got to be a 24-7 kind of an ordeal, and being on the computer resulted in him finding keys and leaving the house without my knowledge, and an hour later, I got a come-get-your-husband-and-get-gas call from the sheriff in a nearby county, where he was on the side of the road, where he had turned in when the car had run out of gasoline. I'm sorry my departure from here was so abrupt. He died, and I was plumb lost for a year, and little by little started the ordeal of getting over the death of the dearest man in the world after 44 years of marriage. I had sorrow with both adult children who had left home thinking us fossils for our beliefs and loyalty to our faith and felt a lot of grief for his death and their refusal of moral support after they realized he left everything to me. His mother's nest egg was eaten up after she had lived in a nursing home 20 years. That's why our little nest egg got left to the survivor. We didn't want to be a burden on them if one should pass before the other. The last envelope I mailed to either one of them got sent back unopened with some choice words scribbled on the front.
Click to expand...

I'm so glad you are back, I've missed you terribly!
I now have two quilts unfinished lolol. I'm so bad. My two remaining kids had left to attend school in Idaho, and I set up a sewing room out of one of the spare rooms. Then they came back and everything was put away and I haven't had a chance to do any sewing since.
I'm sorry about the loss of your husband and separation from the children, that is difficult...you aren't alone.

But I'm still so happy to see you again! I think of you often!

And I'm so ticked off..I started sewing that blue quilt together and forgot to put white or blue strips between the blocks, I'm so ticked.


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 54772
> 
> 
> 
> I really love this one, koshergrl. It shows truly wonderful workmanship, and I'm glad you shared it. I'm sorry I was gone for such a long time. Keeping track of a wandering man with dementia got to be a 24-7 kind of an ordeal, and being on the computer resulted in him finding keys and leaving the house without my knowledge, and an hour later, I got a come-get-your-husband-and-get-gas call from the sheriff in a nearby county, where he was on the side of the road, where he had turned in when the car had run out of gasoline. I'm sorry my departure from here was so abrupt. He died, and I was plumb lost for a year, and little by little started the ordeal of getting over the death of the dearest man in the world after 44 years of marriage. I had sorrow with both adult children who had left home thinking us fossils for our beliefs and loyalty to our faith and felt a lot of grief for his death and their refusal of moral support after they realized he left everything to me. His mother's nest egg was eaten up after she had lived in a nursing home 20 years. That's why our little nest egg got left to the survivor. We didn't want to be a burden on them if one should pass before the other. The last envelope I mailed to either one of them got sent back unopened with some choice words scribbled on the front.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I'm so glad you are back, I've missed you terribly!
> I now have two quilts unfinished lolol. I'm so bad. My two remaining kids had left to attend school in Idaho, and I set up a sewing room out of one of the spare rooms. Then they came back and everything was put away and I haven't had a chance to do any sewing since.
> I'm sorry about the loss of your husband and separation from the children, that is difficult...you aren't alone.
> 
> But I'm still so happy to see you again! I think of you often!
> 
> You have no idea how mutual that is, koshergrl. Thanks for dropping by!
> 
> And I'm so ticked off..I started sewing that blue quilt together and forgot to put white or blue strips between the blocks, I'm so ticked.
Click to expand...


You've no idea how mutual that is, my friend.

Smaller quilts are (1) faster to tie or quilt (2) good baby presents (3) good cot quilts if they're not long enough for a twin bed (4) great wheelchair quilts for someone in a nursing care facility or undergoing home care with motility limited to a wheelchair (5) terrific couch potato covers (6) good charity quilt for victims of a home fire, (7)a shock victim quilt to be placed by the first aid kit in an automobile or highway patrol car (8) good Christmas quilt for a soldier who can fit it into his or her duffel bag. OR you can (9) spend a couple of evenings un-sewing it, cut sashing and sets, and stitch with the ol' "I'll never make this mistake again" attitude for future quiltmaking and use it for the intended purpose you had for the bed you planned to use the quilt on, since the walls will still be the same color that enhances the quilt.

See an old quilter has a use for even big mistakes she makes. Hope any of the suggestions above will ease you into finishing the thing and getting it out of your hair. We won't even go into my set aside projects, although I develop instant myopia and proceed to quilt and bind a truly distasteful work from time to time. Most of the time I just pick it up a few weeks later and after half a dozen "oh, yeah," this and "oh, yeah," that, figure out a different modus operandi that's better than if I had done something more conventional with it. I had a win today, though. I put one more row on the nine patch quilt, and all I have to do is sash 5 more blocks, and then can put a couple of borders on the quilt to complete the work. Then headed out the door and sang in the choir at church this morning.


----------



## miketx

My wife is making me one.


----------



## beautress

miketx said:


> My wife is making me one.


Yea, mike! She loves ya!


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> miketx said:
> 
> 
> 
> My wife is making me one.
> 
> 
> 
> Yea, mike! She loves ya!
Click to expand...

How could she not?!


----------



## beautress

A Thanksgiving recipe showed up on my computer first thing this morning, and I thought about how beautiful wild turkeys are, and the cute turkey quilts people make...so, from bing:


----------



## beautress

The good news: Finished a top night before last. It has multicolor dots in the sashing area, blue butterfly border, and every 9-patch is different.
The bad news: No camera, no photographic talent, and consequently, not even a bad picture of a reasonably good quilt that took quite a lot of time. People do such
cute things with turkeys. I did one, too, but forgot who I gave it to, might have been the church, I'm just not sure.


----------



## beautress

Worked a week on this one. It's light squares with red sashing from some Waverly red and white print from Wally World.  I have so much fabric, I'm determined to work harder on completing future quilts of all kinds, whether personal or charitable. I have 3 or 4 tops sitting around the house, undelivered. One of them is going to my son's family sooner or later. The Post Office opens Monday, and I really need to be there when they open to deliver.  I don't know how to make my copier work yet. It's wireless, and I have this huge mental block about electronics. <giggle> (Although it's not very funny.) I buried the instructions, probably. Before this computer, all you had to do was take the plug in, put it where it fit, push a couple of buttons, done. All these waves in the air, I don't know what to do. I hope they don't have deleterious effects on bone marrow or something. What I can't see worries me, like germs, for example.


----------



## beautress

Worked on 40 blocks today. I think I will try to make 2 tiny blankets and quilt them, just for fun. I really love the way the light squares worked out, though. I may just have to start over and work on light squares. Today's were a mixture of light and dark. That takes a different approach altogether than monochromatic solid log cabin squares (which are totally fun) and totally chromatic light squares highlighted with a really pretty color wheel shade like the red color wheel sashed one above. The red centers just added a special touch to the red frames, and the multiple-colored light strips placed randomly was challenging and fun. The work included visualizing large and small textures, an occasional solid light color, and shades from pure white along a continuum of shades from white to almost medium lights. It's fun to use a light woven plaid now and then or piece of gingham that comes across as pale, but a subtle contrast in texture to a large, albeit pale, floral, small or large. Some of the pieces are geometric or striped, others can be fur, leaves, grass, 30's lights (most are on a white background or very pale shade of almost any color, too numerous to mention in a page here. We have star prints, paw prints, small and large butterflies, pointilist's pallet, dots of every size and type, field flowers or dainty quatrefoil geometric flowers that can form garlands, wreaths, used as dots, attached to plants going one-way, two-way, scattered, intervals, in lines, diagonally, tossed and even more ways to arrange flowers on a two dimensional surface. Some can be divided showing petals or furry centers, arranged in shapes such as clamshells, windowpanes, on vines. Just whatever thousands of artists can come up with, that's what shows up in our quilter's stashes from time to time, until the last bit of it is used up as appliques, pieced works, crazy quilts, changed by heat-applied Crayola wax, fabric pens or paints, threadpainting as embroidery applied by hand or machine in every imaginable way.

Too much lecture, too little time in front of the sewing machine. The joy of quilting is in the diversity, planning or serendipity of an idea that takes shape in so many ways. Someday I'll find that how-to on the printer and start showing blocks again like I used to. I probably ought to go to the local college and see what is offered in computer training for artists, seniors, etc. Any suggestions from some who stumbles past this thread are welcome. I'll try and show diversity as practiced by various techniques shared online.


----------



## beautress

Here's an idea you could use to just play with quilt fabrics (or similar weight) for ornaments:

Follow tab by pressing "you tube" and in a separate tab.
video is about 24-25 minutes.

This folded fabric art uses an egg-shaped styro and forms a pinecone:
Video takes about 15 minutes
​


----------



## beautress

Alison's bag by a UK artist:  Alison's bag





How to make the hexagon at you tube):

​


----------



## beautress

Robin's mini thread catcher instructions: gift for favorite quilter 
Follow to youtube.
: ​


----------



## beautress

Pin cushion thread catcher (good gift)


Follow video below to you tube.
​


----------



## beautress

Too Cute Tabletop Christmas tree
From Christmas fabrics (leftovers will do) Make Christmas tree! 
Just need a styro cone.
This no sew quilted fabric christmas tree is easy and is made for beginners. It makes the perfect christmas decor project. I'm sure you will love this DIY craft as much as I did. Homemade christmas gifts are the perfect give to give this holiday season!

Sizing / Finished Measurements:
12 inch X 5 inch

Materials:
scissors
rotary cutter
2.5 inch X 2.5 inch squares of fabric (127 total squares)
7.5 inch X 2.5 inch squares of fabric (3 total strips)
flat head straight pins (270 total)
Styrofoam cone (12 inch X 5 inch)

You Will Also Need:
ribbion or buttons or any type of garnish you would like to add for a topper to your tree.

~ Or use ribbons ~
She even tells you how to make the cone underneath from cardboard, etc.

​


----------



## beautress

Folded Star hot pads, Amish (solid fabric) style:
​


----------



## beautress

New attitude Folded Stars
​


----------



## beautress

Just look at the fun others have made with folded fabric!






Oh, this is going to take more than one frames!  I just love this one the most, first, due to the shadows it casts in neutrals!​


----------



## beautress

​


----------



## beautress

All things bright and beautiful...




​


----------



## beautress

Eight Minute Potholder

​


----------



## beautress

I'm feeling a little blue about the charity work I've been doing for several years. Some of the good things I do with the intention that someone who needs a pretty and warm quilt not just for utility but to lift their spirits, get sold for $20 to club members or nonworkers who just want a bargain. I say bargain, because skilled quilters earn $20 an hour and more if they wrote the book, designed the block, or did something no one else has done to beautify a poor child's world. I'm considering leaving the group and establishing my own distribution to charity machine that will ensure a poor child receives my work. Also, I still won't be able to do the work of quilting. Last year, surrounding areas flooded in a hurricane, and I understand that 600 people lost their lives, and tens of thousands either had no home to come back to at all or one that was so flood damaged, they had to rebuild after removing the debris their half-destroyed home left. Needless to mention, winter is coming and my group ho-hummed the whole idea of routing a few quilts to the areas that were devastated, and they're not the least bit interested in calling the fire department to rout quilts to community people who lost their home and/or most of their linens to mold which grows quickly in products filled with muddy water and left for several days until people could return to their homes. I'm pretty certain I will not go back to that kind of hard work. I hate to give up quilting. After losing my husband, all I have left is my charity work and enough stocks to keep me afloat till I die, if I live to be a hundred. I plan on using the years I have left to give out quilts if I can find an honest person to quilt them, someone who won't beg it away from the poor kid I made the quilt for.

/end of rant.

I guess I'll trudge back upstairs and try to sew one quilt square in the order of quilt-as-you go, so maybe I can quilt them if I do it one block at a time. It's the weight of the quilt that hurts, and standing up doing machine quilting over a frame is not likely, because one of my elder problems is swelling of the ankles and most everything else. I feel so sad about making this change, but I'm done being taken for granted and used by members who want something for nothing. I do my very best to make my quilts a small work of art so the recipient will have something just as nice as well-off kids they get to take condescension from at school when they're school-aged.

There was once a movie about an orphanage in which the childrens' food was taken and their gifts expropriated for profit to the orphanage head. Seems it was "Annie." based on the life of cartoon character, Orphan Annie. To me, what happened to some of my quilts was no different than the dishonest people in the movie who took from poor orphans to make their own life richer.


----------



## beautress

Got 10 yards of scrap quilt fabric around? Make a rug! 

​


----------



## beautress

Seen enough brown and white rag rugs? After that video, too! 

Here are some more I found, so you can see, you don't need 5 yards of this and 5 yards of that. You can work with what you have:












​

















​




























​


----------



## beautress

Oh, and I found a couple of more, some planned, others not:


----------



## beautress

Those rugs were fun sport for yesterday's thoughts, but I only got one seven inch log cabin square completed yesterday, the idea being to "quilt as you go" and I chose to go with log square-flannelette batting-backing. When I finished quilting the square to the flannelette, I noticed I forgot to put the back on one, but its was so late last night when I got around to it, I decided to just go to sleep, and get up in the morning for a fresh start. The oddball square can be used for a potholder or something else, but I decided the best approach would be to cut all 24 of the backgrounds and batting out, then pen the log tops to the batting and background, before quilting another one. It's just to easy to overlook what is obvious when you're not so dog-tired as I was last night. So it's back upstairs to see if I really can stick with the program, and accomplish the stated task of cutting out 8" squares of backing fabric, 7.5" squares of batting, and I already have all the logs I will need today.  Yea! 

All I cut this morning were more strips. I purchased about 25 or 30 quarter yards of material yesterday to cut strips out, and cut about 10 of them this morning for this and the next log cabin quilt. I also found a really pretty quilt for the next one and cut out enough squares for 3 baby quilts from the red dotted material.

So, fare-thee-well until I can come back here late tonight or tomorrow with the success story all the cutting has been done, and hopefully I will be able to embroider more machine fancy stitches over at least 2 or 3 more log squares. That's a lot on the plate for a quilter, especially when it's so easy to forget that yesterday I forgot to do this, that and the other. lol 

Life can be a swamp of senior moments when you have to remember what you already forgot yesterday.


----------



## beautress

Found some charity quilt images. Some of the people who make them worked hard making, quilting, and binding them. They're awesome.









 

 















It wasn't hard to find quilts made by people who work every bit as hard as I have to deliver works of art to those who need a little token that somebody cares.


----------



## beautress

After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.

Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.

And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though. 
Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​


----------



## beautress

Finished all the blocks on another quilt, and am halfway through joining them, and picked out the cutest Volkswagon lookalike car print on a heavenly light turquoise/aqua fabric to go around it, along with a black houndstooth-textured black and white print that matches the V-wagons. It, too, is a log cabin like the one I finished Saturday. 

I got up Sunday morning, found the red dot centers, and started cutting. Well, I cut the morning away and made nice little stacks of strips sized 1.5", 2.5", 3.5" ~~~ to 9.5" (the larger length is for a quilt I'm still designing in my head, and will reduce the number of squares while delivering a pretty result with the 1x9" outer logs that will complete the quilt. The trick is designing it so the darker side dominates, which is preferred by me, and I have to treat the groups I sew for equally, so I will be making 3 of everything. I thought it over for the past few days, and just because I got criticized for refusing to sell the charity quilts I make for next to nothing. I put between 20-30 (and sometimes more) hours per top, I worked from sunup till past dark, and I kept cutting in between same-size log completion for 28 blocks (I save out 4 blocks, just in case one or more of them "get lost" which happens in senior moments. Sometimes, when setting some of the blocks aside, they get forgotten with no total recall about anything. So I kept going after dark, not having eaten anything all day, so when I decided to bake a potato with salt, pepper, parsley, and a dab of butter for supper, I watched a movie, The Merchant of Venice, and it was really good. It had Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino(?), and Joseph Fiennes. The Merchant of Venice (2004) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb  It was nice to take a break, because I was sore in the shoulders and upper back due to cutting most of the day, and you use a lot of pressure when using a rotary mat, clear ruler with quarter inch markings and everything, on a gridded mat. Anyway, I worked from 8 am to midnight before eating. That was a 16-hour day, and I have at least another 5-20 hours working on the outer borders, depending on what different type of outer borders I decide on tomorrow. I was so tired at midnight, I just gave out. It's all for the little kids I will never see enjoying their quilts, and probably will never meet them. I nearly fainted once, when a recipient actually went to the quilt store to find out who made her child's quilt. They're not allowed (nor would we want it) to contact us, except to deliver a written message through our charity organization. Anyway, I received a nice note who loved her baby's quilt and said how happy she was to look at it, seeing how cheerful her baby was when covered with it. So I haven't slept now for 22 hours, and my feet were swollen, so I went on line to reorder some anti-inflammatory stuff for my problem. What a lot of yakkety yak! I just love quilting and lately want to finish asap, which means no exercise. I need to get back to my exercise project at the local workout place. Hope everyone has a happy week. I'm going to try to get a couple hour nap going and then, go buy blueberries. They're really good for helping reduce inflammatory issues. So good night, world and good morning.  Bless our vets!


----------



## beautress

"This is a really great how to on how to make postage stamp quilts:





​


----------



## beautress

Here are some more postage stamp quilts:

​









































































​


----------



## beautress

Jut love those postage stamp quilts. This one is intriguing, because it captures the fun, but has a breather in alternate white strips (less work than total solid 1" blocks. Then, the maker got all inspired and added a floral and sea shells border to make the quilt wider. I've made postage stamp quilts, and they're a handful of work, but how happy you feel when its done. .\





Postage Stamp Quilt​


----------



## beautress

Even More... The plan for a baby quilt using 2.5" strips cut by 2.5". A short cut on this one would be to sew 10 or 15 colored strips right by a white one, press open, reverse white and dark squares, cut 2.5" into double sqares with one being the white. If you used 10 squares, 2.5" cuts become 2" squares when finished, and 10 rows across would be only 20 inches, a tad small. the center panel of reversed white and color squares would have 15x2"=30" widths in the center plus what looks like 7" at the sides, top and bottom 7+30 +7 = 47 inches width, 19x2'=38 length plus 7 + 7" = 52" long, a goodly-sized crib quilt, which you can lengthen more for giraffes and shorten for teddy bears. 






Another style of postage stamp quilt is to make a pixelated cat..






You can also use cross stitch charts:






Any one of these would make an astonishing quilt!

​


----------



## beautress

Continued... soliloquy on pictorial quilts from postage stamp patterns

This one almost goes there if it were tenement-inspired:





One man (Donald Locke, DDS, I think) made a postage stamp quilt a few years from da Vinci's Last Supper painting:






Here's a closeup of details around some of the disciples:










​


----------



## beautress

I was hoping someone would someday post their work. When I ran my own quilt shop in Wyoming, one of my customers kept bringing in her postage stamp quilts that were like watercolor portraits--one in particular that I remember best was the year she drew out a young woman, back when women wore long dresses, and it was just so beautiful. She brought it in, from time to time, but we had to move south on account of my fibromyalgia and my husband's initial memory issues. 3 years later, he was diagnosed, and 7 years into our new home he didn't wake up from his nap one sad morning. What a stellar human being he was, even when he had dementia. I never met a more classy man than him, although he had some pretty classy pals in his professional engineering association. Their engineer plans always included safety built into each project they worked on. That's the trademark of Professional Engineers. They always do what's right and never do anything wrong. What joy that brought little old me.

Well anyhow, I lost track of that lovely artistic woman's postage stamp work. She started working in postage stamp quilting after seeing one of my more or less renditions of a small square of postage stamp--I think I drew out a likeness for a turtle and sewed it out into a small potholder sized block. I actually had a thread here on digital images using a grid something like this one below:

X
XX
XXX
XXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
XX​


----------



## beautress

This morning, I looked at International quilts galore, visiting the quilts of France, Germany, and Ireland. It was sweet. Then something reminded me of a lost love--Mosaic Quilts. So I looked some of them up. Here's what I found:











































I could design quilts in this technique forever. *sigh* 








​


----------



## beautress

Well, I found some more mosaic quilts by listing a specific type--tree mosaic quilts! 






Oops! On looking at this one a second time, I don't think that's a mosaic quilt... But, maybe it oughta be! ​


----------



## beautress

*sigh* I'm in love with this one too. /hopeless case​


----------



## beautress

More mosaic quilts, or quilt wannabes:



























 








































​


----------



## boedicca

These are so gorgeous!!!!!!

My plan when I retire is to get back to doing sewing projects - I'm inspired!


----------



## beautress

I may look up butterfly mosaic quilts, just because specie Lepidoptera amuse me when they flit about outdoors.
And searching along on bing did not disappoint.






























 

 















​


----------



## beautress

boedicca said:


> These are so gorgeous!!!!!!
> 
> My plan when I retire is to get back to doing sewing projects - I'm inspired!


Thanks, boedicca. I am such a quilt addict, I know many others who are too, and some of them work, but can't wait to get back to the sewing room when they get off. 




​


----------



## boedicca

beautress said:


> boedicca said:
> 
> 
> 
> These are so gorgeous!!!!!!
> 
> My plan when I retire is to get back to doing sewing projects - I'm inspired!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, boedicca. I am such a quilt addict, I know many others who are too, and some of them work, but can't wait to get back to the sewing room when they get off.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
Click to expand...



mr. boe's best friend's mom retired a few years ago. She is the Mad Quilter - and my role model.  Her town has a senior center with a quilting club - it sounds wonderful.  So many creative ladies.  I want to be part of something like that when I'm ready for a the big lifestyle switchover.


----------



## beautress

Ran across a Charlie Harper wall.....in Cincinatti. *sigh*












​


----------



## beautress

boedicca said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> boedicca said:
> 
> 
> 
> These are so gorgeous!!!!!!
> 
> My plan when I retire is to get back to doing sewing projects - I'm inspired!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, boedicca. I am such a quilt addict, I know many others who are too, and some of them work, but can't wait to get back to the sewing room when they get off.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> mr. boe's best friend's mom retired a few years ago. She is the Mad Quilter - and my role model.  Her town has a senior center with a quilting club - it sounds wonderful.  So many creative ladies.  I want to be part of something like that when I'm ready for a the big lifestyle switchover.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean. I didn't know what I wanted to be until I was about 41 years old. That's when I started a quilt store with stuff I bought from a quilt store going out of business 180 miles from Casper in 1987. I still own the store but live 1500 miles away now since I retired. My husband passed away 2.5 years ago. That's why I wasn't around for such a long time (I used to post as freedombecki). I just didn't have much direction after quilting my brains out all day every day instead of dealing with the pain of losing the best friend that I will ever hope to have when he died. Fortunately, he had such a good sense of humor, every time I thought of him, it was something he said or did that made me laugh. Now, I just miss him. Everything he ever did was for somebody else's good, but most of the time, they didn't know it.


----------



## boedicca

beautress said:


> boedicca said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> boedicca said:
> 
> 
> 
> These are so gorgeous!!!!!!
> 
> My plan when I retire is to get back to doing sewing projects - I'm inspired!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, boedicca. I am such a quilt addict, I know many others who are too, and some of them work, but can't wait to get back to the sewing room when they get off.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> mr. boe's best friend's mom retired a few years ago. She is the Mad Quilter - and my role model.  Her town has a senior center with a quilting club - it sounds wonderful.  So many creative ladies.  I want to be part of something like that when I'm ready for a the big lifestyle switchover.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I know exactly what you mean. I didn't know what I wanted to be until I was about 41 years old. That's when I started a quilt store with stuff I bought from a quilt store going out of business 180 miles from Casper in 1987. I still own the store but live 1500 miles away now since I retired. My husband passed away 2.5 years ago. That's why I wasn't around for such a long time (I used to post as freedombecki). I just didn't have much direction after quilting my brains out all day every day instead of dealing with the pain of losing the best friend that I will ever hope to have when he died. Fortunately, he had such a good sense of humor, every time I thought of him, it was something he said or did that made me laugh. Now, I just miss him. Everything he ever did was for somebody else's good, but most of the time, they didn't know it.
Click to expand...



I'm very sorry for your loss.  So hard to lose a loving spouse - he sounds like a wonderful man.   I'm glad you are able to remember the good things as you've moved through your grief.  Having an activity you love to do helps a lot.  And I'm glad to see you posting again.


----------



## beautress

Thanks for those kind words, boedicca.

Before leaving for tonight's karaoke meeting, I worked on my second quilt this week till dark. I got all but the sides of the outer border after sewing the remainder of the blocks together with tiny red sashes, the black and white houndstooth print for the small inner border, and the cutest little wannabe Volkswagen favbric imaginable on a light turquoise background. I may have to do some more cutting, because I came up short a couple of inches on the top and bottom, and the sides for a crib quilt are much longer, so fortunately, there is almost half a yard left, so cutting extra fabric will not phase.

I sang Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better," from Ian Fleming's 007 movie, "The Spy That Loved Me." I left early, because I had screaming out loud pain from cramps in my lower left leg last night, not realizing that swollen feet meant so much trouble. So I took my medicine, but left early just in case.

Montana Quilt Artist, McKenna Ryan's work,
"Bridge Over Troubled Water"





Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better"
Theme Song of 007 Movie, "The Spy That Loved Me"





​


----------



## beautress

The yellow tapes between crazy quilt squares is just zingy, and I just love it.




​


----------



## beautress

The other day, I finished the little nine-patch quilt I was working on, plus I quilted two a day log cabin quilt squares, quilted onto 7.5" flanellette squares. Today, I finished several more to make 16 total squares, which I sewed together and reinforced the joined squares with a feather stitch, just like the quilting on the squares. I was so pleased, I decided to take it and the two 4-row postage stamp squares the quilt's top and bottom will be made a total of 20 more inches, which when joined will make the quilt measure 36x 56 when done (more or less, because when I start sewing borders on, I can see a need for extra stuff and add more inches to both or either the top-bottom pair or the left-right pieces.

Then I went shopping and found several pieces of beige that will complete this one, not to mention a few others. And I was short of hot pink fabric, after looking at all those beautiful squares and quilts I've been adding to my idea collection of files for making charity quilts. I realized I had some, but not enough hot pinks to make the fabulous quilts that having a variety of pinks can make. Oh, yawn, it's past my bedtime again, and I took a melatonin to help me sleep hours ago. If I comeback here tomorrow and find blatant errors, it will be because of almost falling asleep here several times in the last 2 hours, having visited the Ornithology and Lepidoptera threads I started when I was using the freedombecki name I had forgotten the password to. hehehe Old age ain't fer sissies! 

Nighters, all.


----------



## beautress

Been quilting with machine feather stitch on a log cabin star quilt, and attached the squares to same-sized pieces of white flannel. After I finished quilting the logs, 100% in the ditch with little white stitches pointing up one way and down the other, well, I was awestruck by the effect white stitches had on joining light and dark logs on opposite sides of the other shade. The dark ones were dramatically charming, and the light ones were more subtle, but their side showed the shadows, and the dark fabrics obviated the dazzling effect only embroidery can add. Our mothers used to do this stitch by hand with awesome results. My machine only stitches to a width of about 6 millimeters ~ 3/8 inch, but the machine work has a beauty all its own in regular cadence that just made a statement. I couldn't wait till the next day to spend another 4 hours on 3 blocks, skipping a day now and then, until it was done. Oh, I already wrote about that above. Dah! Anyhow, today I took another trip looking for scattered zoo animals or anything that could be given to either a boy or girl baby, and had to go to two places before finding a bonanza of 5 fabrics. The one-inch scale means I only have to use 3" or less 5 times, so I can get two outside quilt from each  of the 5 prints. It's so easy in the past to take quilts I made for newborns and put them into a senior citizens home, which I prefer to make small quilts that will double-cover slippered feet on a cold day, and that have dignity to reward someone who spent a lifetime serving family and now just needs a warm wrapping that isn't half bad to look at. I try to make the senior ones dignified, and the baby ones baby-fied. We have a big university in our town, which means a lot of kids are born to single mommies with next to no funding. Since a lot of people are into waiting forever to start a family, somebody has to bring the future generation into the world, and the least I can do is provide a little blanket. I have absolutely nothin' else to do except miss my dear man who has definitely gone to heaven, just for putting up with me, <giggle> and he'd prefer me to be busy and happy, sobeit! He wins again. *sigh* That man never got into an argument with me that he didn't win fair and square. Professional engineers are bright fellas, and they simply hold back their bets until they're holding a royal flush. That's why you should never be daffy enough to challenge a professional electrical engineer to a verbal duel, because they don't engage until they know every little detail and facet of fact before chatting about anything... lolol No wonder he was ready with a joke for every occasion. That would give him a few extra crucial seconds to present his well-ordered case! Nope not many arguments are fun with someone else who always wins each and every time. hahahaha! Just made me love that man all the more.  A well-ordered argument augmented by fact beats iq hands down. Just sayin'.


----------



## beautress

Hand Feather Stitch Embroideries




















​


----------



## beautress

Machine feather stitch used to quilt around blocks





​








Mine were white on dark and light "logs" on 16 log cabin blocks. The Bernina (far right) quilt blocks
are not like other machines. The feather's shaft uses a straight stitch at center, which does perfect stitch in the ditch.
Other feather stitches (5th stitch on red and white machine sampler) have a zigzag appearance, not a straight line down the center.
I'll see if I can locate a log cabin quilt done like mine.

​


----------



## beautress

This scrappy and reversible log cabin quilt was a lot of work, but look at the pair of them admiring her handiwork! So good.




​


----------



## beautress

Another scrappy log cabin in its basting stage (top done, back taped to floor, batting between, stab fingers with sharp needle!!! (it happens!)




​


----------



## beautress

Well, didn't find another log cabin quilt like the one I'm working on with feather stitches on each and every top, bottom, and side seam on the entire quilt. I cannot tell you how long it takes, except I was at the machine before sunup till past two pm the other day. Oh, goodness, today I got up and sewed till noon between two loads of dishes and two loads of clothes. But I got those borders started with 1 1/4" squares, four deep at top and bottom, plus one narrow row of 1 1/4" squares along either side with a cute little coclique beige on off white fabric and went seeking tiny animals, found 5, bought a yard apiece and the rest of a bolt drastically reduced with child animal print for back of log cabin quilts using feather stitch to quilt. huff, puff, huff, puff. And delivered two large quilts (too big for me to quilt) to the Charity bees closet today. They're red, and I found a quilt like them online before starting, except instead of buying more fabrics, I'm pretty sure I had plenty enough of everything Oh, yeah, except the red dot fabric I found somewhere, just because it set off everything else really well. I'm doing a lot of repeating here for which I apologize, and instead of it being 9 pm, it's akkkk! 1 am. Oh, dear, goodnight all.


----------



## beautress

Took a lunch to a shut-in who is suffering from lung cancer chemotheraphy and all the associated side-effects, and sewed on the outer borders to the little log doozy I'm working on, but I keep making mistakes and need to focus more. *yawn* But it's fun trying new approaches to quilt as you go, and after I figure out how to back the 16 log cabin blocks with something warm, I need to attach the complex borders that have, basically postage-stamp squares 4 deep top and bottom, and 1 row of postage stamps on the much longer sides. I'm trying to keep it small so that it will be consistent, flat, sturdy, and has outer borders that reflect childhood things, like baby animals, toys, and stuff that makes kids smile. I think I'm looking at another week on this project. *more yawning* I have get that new printer up and running one of these days, so I can show and tell. You dont' have to talk so much if you show a picture, and in years past on this thread, I was able to show stuff from my old computer and old printer. I'm not sure what happened to that old printer, it doesn't seem to be around. It only cost about $29 five or six years ago when I bought it, so it may be a goner. I'll have to go through the office, which I haven't done well at, because it houses all my late husband's dear collections and business papers he thought were important to bring.

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. My cousin invited me to her house which is 40 miles away. I hope I'm well enough to go. I'll have to double down on focusing to be sure I take my supplements that reduce ankle swelling, bad knees, etc. Old age ain't fer sissies, and I'm a certified sissy! 

See if I can find a complex log cabin like the little one I'm working on. Otherwise, I'll just post the closest log one I can find and the closest postage stamp charm border as well..
I miss seeing koshergrls' cute stuff she makes. I guess she's got her hands full these days with one thing or another. 

Some images, nothing like what I'm doing, though, but add the parts together in your mind, and it will make sense.

a log cabin quilt with a border of squares larger than postage stamp, and on point, too:






This one is waaaaaay brighter than my dusty colors used, but lacks the 4 rows of postage stamp at top and bottom--the sides are similar if you substitute the reds with beige and brown child toy print. The star is a tad different here, too:






I like this one's similar quilting dimensionality, albiet it's done by hand:










​


----------



## beautress

Oh, my, look what quiltmekiwi did at the lower border--a kind of postage stamp, and the quilting is wondrously done:






More pictures of her work here: quiltmekiwi: Log Cabin​


----------



## beautress

Quiltmekiwi's darks would look like mine if I could have found my dark reds. Instead, I had to use the only reds I had which are too bright. I liked what she said about her quilts--that she likes to work from nature. That's me 100%. All her other colors are so close to what I do, except on the light side, this time I used my 10-colorwheel lights on white and beiges, which has a little different effect than quiltmekiwi's beautiful warm neutrals. I've done the warm neutrals and dark nature things in the past, so many quilts ago, I cannot recall them. Before I retired, I had made almost a thousand quilts, and I'm pretty sure that my average of 60 quilt tops for charity per annum is just about 600 since 2009. In 2013, I had a banner year and made 110 quilt tops. I made an extra 10 tops in case I miscounted, so I could claim a hundred, but I'm pretty sure I had it right. They all went to aids babies, wheelchair quilts for seniors, hugs babies, and as family needs demanded. A couple of years ago, I took about 4 months off and made 167 bibs for the pregnancy care center's new mommies. The last one I made, I accidentally spilled coffee on it, so I washed it. Ugh! I couldn't iron the wrinkles out. So I got discouraged and went back to doing what I do best--small quilts for babies, and big enough to get them through their 8th birthday, usually.  Back in or around 2010, one of my guild sisters' church was supporting babies in Russia. I have to admit, I'm all for international good feelings, so I made about 7 quilts to their specifications--they had to be big enough to get that child from early years all the way up to age 15 or 16, when they become adults in Russia. That means, about 80 inches long and 55" wide, by my guesswork. When I was back in Wyoming, I made and quilted 36 wounded soldiers quilts through a Purple Heart Quilters' group I organized at my shop in the evenings. I had just contracted fibromyalgia, so quilting was very, very hard, and the last real quilting I did before retiring. I mailed some of them to Walter Reid Hospital, and some to a Senator and one to my neighbor, who represented Wyoming in the House back when, for distribution to wounded warriors. Our senator showed the quilt on his website, and our girls were so proud of the work they had done to get them there. They did the tops, I did all the quilting, except I made about 12 of the tops because I designed and made templates for the girls to use showing a large purple heart on each square in the quilts that was just as close to the George Washington heart on a real purple heart medal given to wounded soldiers since colonial times through likely today, although, that was done three presidencies ago, likely.

Oh, goodness it's past my bedtime again. Happy Trails and good night!


----------



## beautress

Got hero star baby quilt to halfway point of quilting, which took 6 hours. I have the rest to quilt, then make binding and bind the quilt. I love the quilted embroidery I worked onto two layers, and now am affixing the back, row by row, with straight stitches over the centered feather stitches. I had to work slowly, so just cutting the backing from some fabric picked up at Hobby Lobby, a white material with charming small zoo animals and light brown dots to ensure it will be given to a baby. I spent the morning pinning each row, 4 rows on the far right side of the quilt, then from middle to top of the central section. Tomorrow, the bottom 7 rows will be quilted with stitch #110 on a Bernina 380, which is a centered feather embroiderer's stitch really set off the logs which were darker, but it looked rather pleasant on the postage stamp areas, too. I used stitch #4 which is an curved concave/convex combination that looks like half-inch smooth waves on the dark brown print animal front borders. Not any of the white and brown dot background animals were used on the front, because I hadn't bought it yet. But it came in handy as a whole-piece solution when I decided, Oh, yes, I can do this! The quilt only measures about 40 inches across (close to a meter) and seems to be in the neighborhood of 55-59 inches long, which should take the child from bassinet to 8 years old unless the child is truly tall. Anything goes in Texas, as per height. I just love the way this quilt is turning out. I'm a little rusty on my quilting, but I have two advantages of quilts I worked on 20 years ago--first, I am no longer in constant heinous pain from fibromyalgia, which disappeared within a year of a parathyroid surgery that was causing calcium and other neuron transmitter chemicals to go awry, that caused screaming out loud pain for 23 years. The other benefit of quilting now is that I am more focused, more patient, use pinning and an iron almost constantly. The only thing I had a problem with was running my finger through with the machine needle, on my left hand when I was adjusting and apparently forgot the foot pedal was being employed. Fortunately, it was a shallow pierce right by the nail of my finger on the left hand. I set the logs aside that day for a couple of hours to take a nap in case I was falling asleep at the wheel due to nonsleep the night before, and except for it bleeding now and then for a couple of days, the bandage helped heal the small but annoying needle cut. Put a new needle on, and I'm pretty happy it could be finished tomorrow. I can't wait until the last stitch of binding is done tomorrow or Monday. I had to visit my friend EJ, because he had a rough morning, that seems to always come on the second or third day after he gets his chemotherapy over with. I'm trying to get him to drink herbal tea, and the two best for cancer patients who want to get well are green tea and berry tea. I just happened to have some Celestial "True Blueberry" tea, took that, and had one unopened green tea box that has a month or so supply of green tea. Also looked up some vitamins that fight cancer and took him Vitamin A, Vitamin D, B100, and others. The only ones I had no extras of were the minerals zinc and selenium, Vitamin C and seems there was one other one...I'll just have to read my note which I left outside in the car, and it's too late right now to do anything but hit the sack.

Hope anyone who reads this learn that it's been more than a month this quilt has been worked on--I count the time to build a stash, work through the outer border challenge of always doing something different that I've never done, then make the actual quilting layering skill come back because except for the old right knee, I'm feeling better than I have for years, and the quilting is not really making my muscles sore. I've been walking a mile every other day, which is helping my swelling go down, even though it's scary seeing my heart rate go up higher than I care to see it a couple of times when my knee hurts the most. I bought a knee brace of nylon firmly-kint sheer that my cousin showed me that she used on her knee, Christmas Day when the family gathered at her home. So the lightweight but firm knee fabric brace should be here early next week to reduce that pain of that problem.

Good night, and God bless everybody on USMB, friend or foe in politics, but always friends, here at the quilt thread where love for the widows, wounded warriors, and fatherless children who need a little prayer and a warm blanket sent them now and then. I do not mind that I never get to see them receive a quilt and do not want thanks for what the Bible's words tell believers to do and who to do it for. Once I sent a wounded warrior to my friend and Senator, requesting that the quilt made that month be given to the most severely wounded sailor on a ship that had a terrible explosion years ago in honor of my brother, who served a lifetime in the Navy and retired 10 years before he died, may God rest his soul that served his country for all those many years of 20-hour days out to see from mostly Pacific Ocean duty, but now and then he went elsewhere on whatever ship needed his Naval aircraft-repair skills. Sorry for my lack of pictures, but they often disappear after I post them, so sorry, I don't know who wants the world to see their work and who doesn't. That information is never given online, it seems. Bless all those whose work was seen by others for the loveliness that blesses those who see such great talented people who could have been a Picasso, but wound up feeding and clothing a family of kids for a lifetime.

Love,

becki


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​


I am so happy you are here!

I have a spare room now that I am going to turn into a sewing room! I'm so excited. About a year ago or so I was just getting it set up and had spent about 2 or 3 days actually sewing...and then I had to give it up again lol. I had to pack everything back away and that was that for a while. 

My house was crowded and I was very very busy in my house with family until recently. But now I have the room back and I am going to work quick to get it done before anybody can move back! 

This coming week I'm pulling everything out and painting it. Not a small task, there is a book case unit and a daybed with a trundle in there. But it needs painted in the worst way..it is a hideous cross between spring green and flourescent green. 

xoxoxox


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​


Do you have a stool for your feet? Or some sort of riser under your table? Do you stand or sit to sew?


----------



## beautress

Well, I loaded "the prettiest American quilt ever made," into Bing! and this is the result (at least, temporarily.) Top 5:

#1, Maple Leaf quilt:






#2, Dresden Ties:





#3, Line Quilt celebrating Our Beautiful Country:





#4, The Bible, made by an American Slave back in the 1800s.



 

#5, the Forest





And that was the first 5 I found when I loaded in "the most Beautiful American Quilt ever made."

​


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​
> 
> 
> 
> I am so happy you are here!
> 
> I have a spare room now that I am going to turn into a sewing room! I'm so excited. About a year ago or so I was just getting it set up and had spent about 2 or 3 days actually sewing...and then I had to give it up again lol. I had to pack everything back away and that was that for a while.
> 
> My house was crowded and I was very very busy in my house with family until recently. But now I have the room back and I am going to work quick to get it done before anybody can move back!
> 
> This coming week I'm pulling everything out and painting it. Not a small task, there is a book case unit and a daybed with a trundle in there. But it needs painted in the worst way..it is a hideous cross between spring green and flourescent green.
> 
> xoxoxox
Click to expand...

Koshergrl! You're here, too! It's still dark here, and you already made my day!  

Good luck on that sewing room. I hope you have a camera. I'm allergic to cameras, but I sure love it when everybody else shares. I bought a camera about 4 years ago, and buried it somewhere, not sure where, maybe gave it to my brother when he came around to help out with some of the outdoor chores after my husband passed away... I'm a hopeless case with cameras, and the printer I bought still sits there, with unknown howtos buried somewhere under fabric, most likely /redface

Anyway, Just woohoo! I'm glad you're here.


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a stool for your feet? Or some sort of riser under your table? Do you stand or sit to sew?
Click to expand...

Well, my problem comes and goes with the feet. I've been going to the local workout house for the last week, sometimes about every other day (with holidays factored in and one really bad knee day). So I walk for 30 minutes, sometimes it's a mile, and on a bad knee day, just a really slow walk, under a half mile. This morning, my feet are a lot less swollen around the ankles, and I've been avoiding sugar, too, if that's possible around Christmas when candy and cookies are everywhere. I make an exception for real maple syrup, though. It has a chemical in it that seems to protect people my age from dementia, which is what caused my husband's early death, and forgetfulness of any kind worries me right now. I was born to be a shorty, so I'm closer to the earth than 99% of other American women at 5'1". My mother was 4'11". It runs in the family, it seems. Putting a stool on the floor in front of the sewing machine would be me resting my chin on me knees, hahahaha! So the 12-mile round trip to the gymn's walking machine in my Silverado truck will just have to do for the time being. I have so much fabric everywhere, you'd think I brought my quilt store in Wyoming with me. 

The sewing machine is next to my bed, so when my shoulders start hurting six hours into quilt work, I can walk around the bed and take a nap until the sun comes up. In the meantime, I'm just loving getting back into the quilting part of making tops. I'll take a few tops to the girls, but I'm going to quilt the smaller ones for the Care Center, and will deliver them in person when I accumulate a few of them to justify a trip to town. I think I will be doing some room rearranging and try to fix up the Master bedroom again for quilting, because I miss looking out on the backyard lake where the Great White Egrets play from time to time. I missed them this whole past year when I moved my sewing room to the guest room because the bed is orthopedic. When I get my act together on reclaiming my stock accounts after the probate was completed a couple of months ago, I may be looking for household help so I can not have to worry about all that work it takes to chase after dust bunnies in my little 4,000 square foot castle we bought to retire in. It's been over 2 and a half years, now, and it's time to start being alive again. I think I can face being in his office again without shedding tears and missing him when I'm surrounded by the stuff he loved--a car collection of 50s and 60s cars, his numismatics and engineering stuff, and his Reddi Killowatt statue, not to mention his file cabinets of the kind of math stuff electrical engineers understand, but the rest of the universe looks at and yawns. I'm still fond of the thought of him, though. He was good to everybody, but he was really good to lucky me.


----------



## beautress

Oh, yes, and Koshergrl, I love your doggie avatar. It just melts my heart. Lost my dog Music about 6 months ago. It broke my heart to have to take her to the vet for the only kind thing I could ever do for her suffering. It was hard. But it's good to see your doggie avie. Dogs are so precious.


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> Oh, yes, and Koshergrl, I love your doggie avatar. It just melts my heart. Lost my dog Music about 6 months ago. It broke my heart to have to take her to the vet for the only kind thing I could ever do for her suffering. It was hard. But it's good to see your doggie avie. Dogs are so precious.


That's our Snoop...my son had him for a couple of years before he had my granddaughter, who is now 11. I managed to incorporate snoop into my household some years ago when they came to stay with me for a while..and I wouldn't let them take him when they left  This picture is several years old...he's considerable more grizzled now though with his light coat it isn't super obvious.


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a stool for your feet? Or some sort of riser under your table? Do you stand or sit to sew?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Well, my problem comes and goes with the feet. I've been going to the local workout house for the last week, sometimes about every other day (with holidays factored in and one really bad knee day). So I walk for 30 minutes, sometimes it's a mile, and on a bad knee day, just a really slow walk, under a half mile. This morning, my feet are a lot less swollen around the ankles, and I've been avoiding sugar, too, if that's possible around Christmas when candy and cookies are everywhere. I make an exception for real maple syrup, though. It has a chemical in it that seems to protect people my age from dementia, which is what caused my husband's early death, and forgetfulness of any kind worries me right now. I was born to be a shorty, so I'm closer to the earth than 99% of other American women at 5'1". My mother was 4'11". It runs in the family, it seems. Putting a stool on the floor in front of the sewing machine would be me resting my chin on me knees, hahahaha! So the 12-mile round trip to the gymn's walking machine in my Silverado truck will just have to do for the time being. I have so much fabric everywhere, you'd think I brought my quilt store in Wyoming with me.
> 
> The sewing machine is next to my bed, so when my shoulders start hurting six hours into quilt work, I can walk around the bed and take a nap until the sun comes up. In the meantime, I'm just loving getting back into the quilting part of making tops. I'll take a few tops to the girls, but I'm going to quilt the smaller ones for the Care Center, and will deliver them in person when I accumulate a few of them to justify a trip to town. I think I will be doing some room rearranging and try to fix up the Master bedroom again for quilting, because I miss looking out on the backyard lake where the Great White Egrets play from time to time. I missed them this whole past year when I moved my sewing room to the guest room because the bed is orthopedic. When I get my act together on reclaiming my stock accounts after the probate was completed a couple of months ago, I may be looking for household help so I can not have to worry about all that work it takes to chase after dust bunnies in my little 4,000 square foot castle we bought to retire in. It's been over 2 and a half years, now, and it's time to start being alive again. I think I can face being in his office again without shedding tears and missing him when I'm surrounded by the stuff he loved--a car collection of 50s and 60s cars, his numismatics and engineering stuff, and his Reddi Killowatt statue, not to mention his file cabinets of the kind of math stuff electrical engineers understand, but the rest of the universe looks at and yawns. I'm still fond of the thought of him, though. He was good to everybody, but he was really good to lucky me.
Click to expand...

You can get tiny little risers, they really are helpful for swelling. I don't know why, it's only an inch or too..it might just be the support..or the angle. I have spent a lot of time sitting at desks and just having an inch or two to rest my feet on helps. 

So does cutting out sugar


----------



## beautress

And so does looking at that cute doggie avie of yours. And I'm replacing sugar with a 100-calorie pack of almonds now and then. I think that's about 16 almonds. 




​Time to get back to that quilt and complete the quilting and find just the right shade of blue to bind it with.
​


----------



## beautress

Fish and ocean quilts *sigh* so many pretty ones, too!



​


----------



## beautress

And another...



​


----------



## beautress

Somethin' more fishy... 
































And I couldn't see the details on the thumbnails of this one so here's the enlarged version:





I liked the virginia-reel type border, starfish corners and the little squares that match the fish parts as part of the outer border. What a great person who made this one!


----------



## koshergrl

beautiful.


----------



## beautress

This is a traditional "Storm at Sea" quilt, wow, just look at how wonderful the colors since I last taught the class way back after 1987-1996, maybe halfway in between there, somewhere maybe 1989-1991 - when I taught the Silver Fox free classes for senior women in the community of Casper Wyoming. Not sure when the pattern was invented by some bright lady, just that "storm at sea" was traditional by the time I taught the class by figuring out the math by looking at an older quilt, mapped it onto grid paper with pale blue lines that didn't show up when I photocopied them onto my printer, sans computer.






Credits here: Storm at Sea lap quilt
Its maker said she liked the fabrics. That's exactly what struck me about this quilt, her artful use of fabric.​


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> beautiful.


Just like you, kgrl! Thanks for the lift. I enjoy looking at other people's quilts when I'm not overusing my little 380 bernina.

That reminds me--I could be up in my sewing room right now working on another little kid's baby quilt for the care center near the college here. I hope it's pretty enough to bring a little joy into his family when they see how much more beautiful a real child is than even the best of good quilts. *sigh*

edit (addition): Oh, yes, koshergrl, I was paying attention to your tips on healing feet in trouble, and either somebody is sending up extra prayers in my behalf, or extra attention to making the old feet get elevated more often is working. I'm also taking three supplements more on schedule, and they seem to work best when I alternate them at intervals than when I take all 3 at the same time. Something is making my feet feel better, and my knee too. Thanks for the tips, and thanks to whoever sent up the prayers.


----------



## beautress

More quilts for young-at-heart sea lovers ~~~



​


----------



## beautress

More child-friendly quilts found! (I love America's and others who quilt cute stuff! It's truly universal! I don't know what its maker called it, but I call it a note-able quilt! 




​


----------



## beautress

This Amish-style quilt blesses our American military's trips around the world in the interests of world peace better than words, imho:




​


----------



## beautress

I love this Barn-Raising Log Cabin, even if it only shows only a fraction of it. May it raise our military's spirit in their task of keeping the peace in troubled areas:





​


----------



## beautress

God blesses America every day of our lives. This I believe.




​


----------



## beautress

This quilt is for our wounded Warriors who earned a purple heart the hard way in combat



​


----------



## beautress

The purple mountains majesty cames to mind when I saw this quilt: fabulous use of the color purple.




​


----------



## beautress

Oh, how sweet our wounded warriors have made America, and how much we owe them for our freedoms.



​


----------



## beautress

This is like the love I feel for the gifts we receive from freedom that was directly obtained from our soldiers winning independence for the USA.
President Washington had few resources, but he got enough funding to give each wounded man under his command a token of America's gratitude to them for their sacrifices:





​


----------



## beautress

Think I just talked myself into going back into my quilt room and making another quilt for the dearest men and women in the world who put their lives on the line for freedom, the American flag, the buddies who died for country and family, nobody knows sorrow the way they do, I'm sure:







​


----------



## beautress

mmmm, coffee's good this morning, dishwasher doin' my scrubbin' for me, bought the cutest baby animal print at WalMart yesterday evening, and 3 backings for my charity quilts of the most beautiful aqua-turquoise background and cheerful snowmen, and 3 half-yard pieces of colors my stash is low on..mainly rust. Orange is cheerful, but once in a while you need a shadow of orange that backs off and behaves to have a sunshine and shadow look. Some little mug rugsm to make for friends next Christmasm (a quilter has to plan ahead or do without):






































































​


----------



## beautress

Just found a perfect baby quilt to make by loading into Bing "baby with quilt" - well, no babies appeared, but this quilt did:




What a brilliant use of contrast and color, plus one of my favorite subjects--butterflies, thanks to Connie Kresin Campbell. ​


----------



## beautress

Oh, yes, and it is the twelfth day of Christmas on January 6!



​


----------



## beautress

Wow, I was looking at amazon.com's array of books with 5 inch and 6 inch finished blocks. Some come in page-a-day calendar form, some of them come in "The Farmer's Wife" book, one comes in 1,000 quilt blocks, etc., etc. All have over 100 blocks in them, and they're just too cute.





I know we now have sewing machines to do these kinds of quilts and a store full of products to help do one and another thing that makes our work accurate, but the time. oh, the time it takes to make stuff like the above one. *sigh* Endless!​


----------



## beautress

By comparison, this particular quilt would be easier to do for a person making lots and lots of charity quilts who can't spend all that time fussing over itsy bitsy pieces,( but they look oh, so wonderful) and if you sleep under one in your lifetime, lucky you. Somebody did a year's worth of work to bring you that pleasure. I know. I spent 4 years writing 4 applique and piecing workbooks, and I know what it is like to spend 5 years more doing the work to make the quilts, using a love for beauty, art, and other people. I love these books, and sorry mine were just how-tos, although I loved the sample quilts I made, and one won a state fair "Best of Show" in 1993. It was a southwestern very aesthetic quilt, and the needlecrafts superintendent in Wyoming said they'd never had cowboys come to look at quilts on account of my quilt, they all came in just to see what all the other cowboys were liking about my little work of art. It now belongs to my son, but in my shop, it became a best seller, because well, I have no idea, but it's the only time my shop sold over 200 of the same book, and Casper Wyoming is a pretty remote place. The years I wrote those 4 books, my husband and I had very little social life outside of our church and the wonderful homemakers who came into my shop seeking pretty enough fabrics to spend their lives fashioning quilts of them. Those were the days. Now, I just make little charity quilts and ask God in my prayers to bless the parents of the little newborn child to marry each other and try to give him or her the kind of good life that it takes more patience to carry through than spending one's time matching seams together and ripping and redoing when necessary. And at the end of the 18-years at home, the kid just leaves in a storm blaming you for the human foibles of you. hahahaha.

The SW Eagle I designed for the SW quilt book, this may have been a blue ribbon winner for wallhangings that was in the book, but not in the quilt. I kept on designing sw squares after the book with enough squares for the quilt was done, so it was done prior to the date I copyrighted all of it through the Library of Congress, thanks to my son, who now owns the quilt. I'm not sure what happened to the wallhanging.


----------



## beautress

Here's the SW quilt that got best of show:





Bless my dear late husband for taking pictures. I'm allergic to cameras. lol​


----------



## beautress

Well, I finished the center hero star of one and all the blocks for another charity quilt yesterday. Wouldn't it be loverly to complete them by the end of the day today. I lost the addresses of two quilt group ladies who guaranteed me the tops would get made up for poor kids, and I'm feeling so bad about it. I wrote it all down somewhere, and don't know what I did with the piece of paper or notebook that also disappeared under a stack of mail. I gotta start reading the mail... I'm so addicted to my work I forget to do important stuff. Love to all who work so hard to do good things for others that we don't know about. It seems to be the American way.


----------



## beautress

Some daily inspiration from the www a menu that has no calories and looks wonderful:


----------



## beautress

Redwork quilts are so amazing! I think we had posted pictures from a red quilt show in NYC a few years back. I still love the red and white ones. They're just a good thing!




​


----------



## beautress

It was a productive day, today. After shopping for some baseball fabric yesterday in Bryan, TX, I was too tuckered out to do much else, but his morning got up and finished not only the baseball themed quilt, also finished the hero-star hummingbird-themed small quilt, last stitch was done at 3pm. Between 5 am and all morning, I cut fabric strips from the light colors I had strips scattered everywhere. Now, if I can keep the Miss Piccolo out of the sewing room, they're ready to sew into log cabin blocks. 
It's a happy thing to get a quilt top done. Our next charity bee meeting is on the 19th, and hopefully, I can part with the quilts amicably. I'll see if I can find the prints somewhere, BRB.

The first one is the outer border sewn on this morning for the hero star hummingbird top.
The second one is the inner border material used on the baseball quilt.
The third fabric is the outer border of material used on the baseball quilt, too.

The first two fabrics I found in the local area quilt shop, and the second from a shop 50 miles from here. I drove there and back yesterday.
Wish I were more of a photographer and could show off the quilts. I have exactly no pictures of the last 400 quilts I made in the past 8 years. I have CDS (camera derangement syndrome.) I just hate to take pictures, spoils my day and the year for that matter when the pictures show how talentless I am with a camera.  I need a photographer in the family, lol.


----------



## beautress

The hummingbird fabric above went around a very scrappy Log Cabin Ohio star like this one, except no two logs are of the same fabric, which is known as pretty scrappy. Then it had a blue border, small light color bricks that measured 3x1.5" before sewing and 1x2.5" after seam allowances were sewn. The quilt I did measures about 42x60, give or take six inches, but the multi-bordered baseball quilt is huge enough for a "big brother" to receive a quilt. If you just make a quilt for the baby, other children in the family who don't have a quilt feel left out. My mother made me a quilt, but it got handed down to my little sister, Janice. In a family with 5 quilts, the quilts get used and washed a lot.:




​


----------



## beautress

In the log cabin arrangement for the baseball quilt, an arrangement known simply as "depression" was chosen because the squares looked like a baseball plate. That's why its name is "Baseball Diamond." I've found a few online, but they don't look like my scrappies, because I use very dark colors and light colors with perky prints. So I found a few online to show just the pattern. My colors are generally very deep dark shades of brown, blue, green, dull and bright reds, and just enough purple to be a little annoyingly conventional (depending on which log cabin quilt author you happen to be reading. Here are just some:

10 This book was written after I'd already finished half a dozen log cabins using every namable pattern I'd found by 1989. By that time I'd taught Eleanor Burns' log cabin quilts at least 3 or 4 times at the quilt shop I own in Wyoming, back when it was on Beverly Street's dead end. They widened the street in 1996, so we moved the shop to downtown Casper at 114 Second Street. It's still there and run by my dear friend I left in charge with the request that she use the shop to make a few charity quilts for the community now and then from the store's fabrics. It helps to show examples of how to use fabric, and sometimes a customer sees a sample quilt and wants to make one just like it for such-and-such a bedroom, the nursery, or a couch potato cover for a beloved one who comes home and needs to rest his bones after a hard day's work.

The second file (which you open by clicking on the thumbnail and get a larger version so you can see the details) uses very bright colors, whereas I prefer the lights to light up the quilt, and the darks to define it, so I get reasonably good (but seldom perfect) contrast. I used to throw in an obvious flaw now and then, but lately, if a dark and light get placed in an untoward way, we just call it "*the obvious flaw.*" Our mothers were very, very busy ladies working late into the evenings doing miracles for their family with a sewing machine, but today quilters take it a step further using the quiltmaking process as therapy. Completing a quilt after working on it for so long brings a total joy of longsuffering repetitions to produce an American pieced quilt.

The last quilt is called the pinwheel log cabin, and it is one of the most cheerful of all log cabin arrangements, recalling the childhood days of going to the local county fair or state fair, and paying a quarter for plastic spinners we called circus pinwheels. I love this arrangement very much


----------



## beautress

Well, I revisited my pile of finished quilts. I'm not sure about the passage of time, but I had 3 quilts stacked up, delivered one to charity bees, came home and worked on two at a time and somehow, now I have 6 completed tops and one unfinished one. I fussed around doing everything else but quilt yesterday. Think I'll go work on the little top that is still rather small at this point with no borders yet. it has little squarish windmill blades on it minus the windmill. See if I can fetch one off the internet to show:


----------



## beautress

Well, today the middle part got done of the above 8-rectangle, 4patch windmill, and it turned out to have 5x7=35 squares. An addition of 3 prints of pale greens to bring out the bright in the windmills for a child's enjoyment. Tomorrow, borders undetermined now will be added.


----------



## beautress

The pale greens were so appealing after sleeping on it last night. Not really sleeping on the unfinished quilt top, but just taking a fresh look on it this afternoon when I got around to it. So I started realizing the quilt wasn't demanding a huge outside, it was already plenty big and just needed a little something. So I took the fabric left over from the sets and cut 2.5" strips for the outer border, and found a small striped material for the inner border that looked like a rainbow, so cut those 1. and 3/8 inches wide, which finished to 7/8 of an inch because 7/8 + 7/8 = 1 3/4" which is the width of the strips in the windmill blades. It's now one of the most subtly pretty child's quilt top I've ever turned out, and I would hope I can quilt it to ensure its recipient will have a sturdy and a pretty quilt. We'll see how that goes, if possible. Not much else. I'll see if I can find another 4-blade windmill quilt on Bing! to share, if available. BRB

This quilt was found online and is nothing like my quilt, except for the 4-blade windmill.




Credits: Modern Quilting  by B: Single Block Quilt Tutorial Series - Windmill - Part 5, Finished!





​


----------



## beautress

Some finds on bing for windmill quilts (there are a lot more half-square triangle windmill blocks than the square type I'm doing in 1.25x2.5" finished rectangles, into 5" blocks of 8 rectangles each, 4 of which are the blades, and 4 of which are the background. Here goes some finds below


----------



## beautress

Oh, the funny men of the fifties...and a million laughs. Tipping hat to Laurel and Hardy, not to mention the Three Stooges, Moe Joe and Larry, et al.


----------



## beautress

Man, all I did yesterday was shuffle and press sewn strips for another windmill charity quilt, when I really want to make about 10 hero star log cabins--different strip sizes, different format, different everything. If you click on the first thumbnail, it's what a windmill quilt looks like sans sashing. If you click on the second thumbnail, you can envision what I call a hero star. The reason I call it that is because years ago, when our troops were coming home minus body parts from Afghanistan and Iraq, my shop in Wyoming held evening meetings/classes on making purple heart quilts from large hearts shaped like the one on George Washington's purple heart award begun back during Revolutionary War days for American soldiers who were killed or wounded in commission of their duties to protect civilians from the British forces who were killing our Colonial Americans after we declared our Independence on July 4, 1776. Then, I came across these re-arranged log cabin block into star format and liked it so well, when we got tired of doing purple hearts (about 20 quilts later, I started piecing together log cabin blocks to make hero star quilts that fit a lot better into their duffel bags due to the slight smaller size that a 1-man quilt is instead of the full-size quilts we had made. It was a long, arduous project, but after I got fibromyalgia, the quilting became very difficult for me to do, and the war ended close to the same time anyway, but I continued to make a few more smaller quilts for our police department squad cars because they seemed to be just the right size to cover a person who'd been in a car wreck that was attended by our cops in squad cars, so I used the hero star for at least 24 quilts I made and donated to the police department for letting me show quilts at city hall, which helped bring a few customers through my business doors in a small town when little else did. I just loved doing those hero stars. I didn't have to use all just one color, and it was a lot of challenging fun for me to see how many quilts I could turn out in 6 months. There were 24 quilts in the show one year, all squad car quilt-sized, and many of the log cabin quilts were hero stars, although a few of the log cabins were formatted into more traditional schemas like "fields and furrows," "barn raising," "zig-zag" and the like. Ah, memories...


----------



## beautress

I'm going to go look up the three format log cabin quilts I mentioned above, and put them here. Keep in mind, I still haven't set up my n ew Canon printer, can't locate the instructions, and there it sits gathering dust, so I have to find stuff somebody else sewed online, while I work to produce all kinds of quilts I can't show from my own scraps, and I'm putting out about 5 quilt tops a month for my sisters in the Tall Pines Quilt Guild's Charity Bees group, which I now just sew quilt tops for, missing most meetings due to eyesight that doesn't do well driving at night.

So here they are, "fields and furrows," "barn raising," "zig-zag" thanks to some wonderful ladies online who make quilts for loved ones, soldiers, and charitable clauses. I hope it inspires someone to do quilts for others. When I'm done here, I'm going upstairs and will try to make some blocks of some kind to make more quilt tops for the bees of at least 2 groups, hoping I can locate their addresses that I wrote down somewhere, not sure where... :eyeroll:


----------



## beautress

The Barn raising quilts I usually do are in the format below:




​


----------



## beautress

Every year, I pick a color. 2018, it was purple. 2019, it's blue.
2019, the Year of blue, and there are some beautiful quilts people have made that are blue. I'm still staring at my unused canon copier, darn.

So here's to the dears who have cameras and make pretty blue quilts! My mother loved blue...


----------



## beautress

Just goofed off all day today. *sigh* Time to go and find a really fantastic quilt. BRB. 20 minutes of fun later...
Ok, a pickle dish quit set my soul on fire tonight.  
Starting with the block below, I will upload files when I can, post quilts when they let me. 
Pickle Dish Blocks



​


----------



## beautress

New Attitude for Pickle Dish Quilts...



​


----------



## beautress

This quilt just has that art feeling to it.
All the ones I saw today were out of this world.




​


----------



## beautress

More pickle dishes... For some reason, I associate this pattern with something that starts with the word "Indian" though not sure why. I'll look it up one of these days and bring it back why. BTW growing older is not for sissies when it comes to remembering stuff right! 
Notice that there are several different but similar quilt types with the same name of "Pickle Dish."
That may be because our mothers saw a quilt back before the days of computers, but when they got home, the remembered what it looked like only in part, and just kept on working on the quilt till it was finished with the name of a quite different quilt than another quilter would have remembered.
More pickle dishes



​


----------



## beautress

​


----------



## beautress

This one is called by its smaller curved piece that reminds us of a "Clamshell" but it uses the Pickle dish format for interest.



​


----------



## beautress

This one seems to be a little of everything...and there's a kitchen sink in there somewhere. 



​


----------



## beautress

Does this pickle dish wannabe rock or what? 



​


----------



## beautress

Oh, my!  Recent net gatherings of quilts are reflecting my love for modern art quilts done in traditional patterns...such contrast. And here it is, Feb. 2nd, time getting close for Valentine's day! Did I see some cuties that could be quickly transformed into charity quilts for a beloved baby (aka child of God). *sigh* Some small gleanings from the net …





























Sew many quilts, so little time...




​


----------



## beautress

St. Paddy's Day is coming up soon, too!  It's all in good fun! ​





































​


----------



## beautress

Oh, my! It's Groundhog's day, Feb 2!!! Grandma's birthday. Unfortunately, she's gone. She was born Feb 2, 1898. I think that may have been 121 years ago. She lived to be 96. I loved her so. Happy birthday, Mattie Beautress Shurtleff!!! You were the best grandma anyone could ever have hoped for. Always busy cooking and making your home available for family and friends. Lucky me.

A Groundhog's Day Baby Quilt from the net: (lower left character, looking for his shadow...)




​


----------



## beautress

Oh, and here's the whole quilt:



​


----------



## beautress

Sewed for hours last night, made 4 master strip groups which took 4 hours and quilted 2 blocks. Sometimes you just don't see much progress, sometimes you do. Quilting takes the longest of everything else--finding an inspiration, finding fabrics to put together, endless sewing of strips together, cutting the groups into 6.5" squares, Sewing 4 of them in trailing square, backing, batting pinning, then quilting beyond when the sun goes down, and all you get is one or two little 12-inch squares. lol I'm not sure whether to do 6 or 12 squares, but think the 12 squares would be best. The good part is finishing the last inch of the double bias binding and celebrating the end of a long long quilt experience.  It's a moment of joy..


----------



## beautress

Been adding to the home collection ideas from every great quilter and needlewoman, which reminds me, Wherever is our dear friend koshergrl? I miss her so.
Well, here goes:


----------



## beautress

One day a month or two ago, I assembled together a file of award-winning quilts. Just thought I would share them this morning. Remember to tap on the smaller images below the pictured award-winner, and a nice sized picture pops up. I think I love this software at USMB. Nice feature after basically having been gone from here 3 or 4 years. It's so good to be back. Enjoy.


----------



## beautress

Pastel scrap quilts are truly fun to work with and a good way to use light colored prints that are pleasing to the eye when done. (Speaking from recent experience. I've made at least a dozen pastel string and log quilts since September of last year. They're so pretty, it gets addictive. Even so, I'd like to share some pastels from other quilt artists  who did a fine job.
This quilt was made by Quilter Mary from Florida
It must really light up a baby's room somewhere,
and notice that folded border. What a beautiful work!


----------



## beautress

Other Pastel quilts


----------



## beautress

More pastels


----------



## beautress

Some more lovely ones in the pastel range:


----------



## beautress

I love this quilt!



Its maker is listed here: The Signature of Jesus quilt series | debby quilts

I love it because it reverses the color of the cross to the outside world, and replaces the woodeness of the cross with the bright colors of the joy in the Holy Spirit, and the light rows around, the refracted light of that burning joy and happiness of living the way the Master wants us to, with the reminder that sometimes we err, fall short, but God is always there in his perfection to be our Father who forgives his children and loves them their whole life.. That special man of the spirit blessed us, teaching us the courage to love our enemies, even unto death, saying as they launched sword and spear to lance his side, "Father forgive them, for they know what they do." We have a hard time doing that, but even so, we know it is the right thing. Forgive them and move onward and upward to the principles of heaven that we know about and the humility to be sorry when we fall. This quilt top is precious to me, and it's so beautiful, too.​

​


----------



## beautress

Isaih 51 - Patchworks that Praise!
This awesome quilt comes from here: Patchworks that Praise!​


----------



## beautress

This, too comes from debby quilts:






Credits: The Signature of Jesus quilt series | debby quilts​


----------



## beautress

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work I go! (but not without a little reminder of how beautiful pastels can be in a quilt...




​


----------



## beautress

koshergrl said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a stool for your feet? Or some sort of riser under your table? Do you stand or sit to sew?
Click to expand...

You really know a lot about human health, koshergrl. I've been trying to use a little riser under the computer. It really helps.


----------



## koshergrl

beautress said:


> koshergrl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> After taking 5 quilt tops I'd already promised in prayer to donate locally, I have made 2 more tops for giving, and received requests from 2 groups who read my lament above. I hope to make as many as I can, but my health has deteriorated in the last week, so I hope my new medicine will make the swelling ankles go down. My feet look like grotesque little water balloons, but when I work on piecing a top, I don't think about the discomfort or pain, it's just happy time.  Finished the outer border of the 9-patch and completed a log cabin with butterflies at either end, all encased in red microdots, similar to one I found online and placed it on my computer opening screen. Only the butterfly border made it a piecer's best. Well, as best as I could do. I had to take 3 naps a day while making the last one. Swollen ankles extract a price, and feet must be elevated.
> 
> Thanks to the two women who responded. I'm waiting for an address on one. It really gives me pleasure to serve people who serve God and make quilts for those who'd never get a homemade quilt if it weren't for their charity.
> 
> And I have to do one for a family birth, but if I sew like I've been sewing this week, I can knock it out in 2 days, and get back to my charity tops. Getting tired of these swollen feet, though.
> Goodnight, everyone. Dreams are sweeter under a homemade quilt. ​
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a stool for your feet? Or some sort of riser under your table? Do you stand or sit to sew?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> You really know a lot about human health, koshergrl. I've been trying to use a little riser under the computer. It really helps.
Click to expand...

It really does! It helps when you're sitting anywhere. I don't know why, but it just is.


----------



## beautress

Well, I'm having less leg cramps by using that hint, plus I stacked a box of fabrics under several pillows at the foot of the bed, so if I do get these little leg cramps, that helps at night. It disappears by the afternoon, though, if I forget to use the foldup riser/footstool I found at a dollar store one day, but sat around the house behind a piece of furniture for a couple of years. lol

Thanks again. Hope you pulled out one of your UFOs since I was gone for several years it seems and got it done. Which reminds me, I delivered a little bunch of scraps sewn into strips to the grandma of the cutest little 2-year old imaginable. It was about 37x 50" long when all was said and done, but will probably be more like 35x45 after it is washed good. I use all kinds of cotton fabrics, some shrink more than others, but onto a cotton flannel base, it could be worse. I have 9 more to go to take care of this family of grandkids I have adopted due to my dying-or-being-cured-of-lung-cancer acquaintance who has helped me with auto, riding mowers, tractor, and tiller issues for the last 2 years in summers around my acres of wasted land.

At least my small lake houses a couple of families of great white egrets and herons that are fun to watch in better weather. I noticed some smaller egrets are already back about 10 miles from my place on another country road. I greatly miss the great whites during the colest months, although oddly, this winter saw a couple of sightings back there when I pulled out of the driveway  and saw them fleeing (a couple of hundred yards away is too close for great whites.) *sigh* And they did not return. Seems like this close to Lake Livingston, there aer multiple tiny lakes scattered throughout the Tall Pines region. And while Livingston township is 35 miles away, the Lake Livingston area must host several hundred smaller bodies of water that multiply by a huge factor in the rains that accompany cold weather here. The expression "House on a hill" was probably made popular in a 100-mile radius  all along the Trinity River that runs a course of several hundred miles of Texas' north to south route. I'm just complaining because it's been particularly wet and cold this year.


----------



## beautress

I finished a UFO that was started in or around 1995-2008. It's colors are rosewood, spruce, and a touch of rust. It's a courthouse step quilt measuring 1 yard by 2 yards, the perfect size for a child's cot. I found the quilt below, which is so not the same as the quilt I did. The one below has stars between the square courthouse strips, and the top I made has absolutely no tan on it either. The stars do give this quilt a special touch, but the beige makes this one a beautiful feeling of country quilts. Mine is more like the pink and green thing that first-time quilters tend to like. The only thing that makes my top different from that of other artists is well, I don't know how to say it, but it looks like one I made because I try to use a fabric sparingly which gives my quilts that charm quilt look. The one below looks more like sky jewels.  It is a very wonderful use of 2 types of squares put together that makes each a more beautiful rendition than it was before. Oh, if I only had time to do a quilt like this one, it'd sure be fun. 



​


----------



## beautress

This is a courthouse step block:








This is a Log Cabin block:








The quilt below is just building onto a log cabin quilt, one strip as time permits:




​


----------



## beautress

Delivered a very pastel baby quilt that measured 36x42" night before last.


----------



## beautress

Spent part of yesterday working on 60 log cabin blocks, totally random lights and totally random darks. Today, I'd like to get them closer to completion. How lovely that would be.

Here's the order of working on a block, from 1 to  13.      




Sometimes, when you have 60 blocks started, you can go out 4 or 8 more rows (here's the larger) and make 2 quilts instead of one. And you can also use sashing to enlarge it further from 1 to 20 or, you can classify the logs in the block in another way:

.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I haven't made up my mind exactly what to do with this group of squars. 

Here are some blocks started, but not quite yet complete:





​Oh, yes, and while my bunch uses darker colors, there are enough brights, hopefully, to make it an interesting quilt, so you can arrange squares variously:

.................Pyramids..........................................................zig-zag......................................









Traditionalists might call the "straight setting" below by other names, "dirty windows" "light and dark" etc.







More contemporarily, I call this one "Hero Star" after our veterans:








​


----------



## beautress

Last night, a couple more logs (60x2=120) were added. I got in bed by 9:30 and slept like a rock for a change.  Can't wait to get started again this morning.
Am so far working this block, and the two rows were 8 and 9 (4 1/2" and 5 1/2", respectively). Now, I have to do logs 10 and ll in lights, or 5 1/2" and 6 1/2" logs: 



​Mine may not be as pretty as the ones pictured above, because I added some blacks and browns to the mix, also navy on dark logs 8 and 9. I always like to do the last two darks really dark, so I have my rotary cutter handy to do all that today or tomorrow, depending on how much time I can spend on them providing I can control the swelling. My friendly certified homeopathic advisers said I might need to elevate my legs twice a day from now on, which means 2 short power naps, one in the am and one after noon. Darn it, I hate to nap all the time. The light at the end of the tunnel  is that this time, If I do take my meds 4 times a day, the adrenal issue will disappear after a couple of weeks. I didn't know that, and had only been taking the adrenal support tablets once a day here to fore. It sure beats surgery to the arteries if it works, and I think it likely will. I just went about doing it all wrong for several months. Doh! Better late than never, though. I've been elevating at night for several weeks and that really helps the morning be clear for working at my sewing desk. Old age is not for sissies! (And I seem to be quite a sissy! lol)

Have some blocks almost like these, which could be the NEXT log cabin (or courthouse steps)



(I love all the possibilities from others who are kind enough to show their stuff online)
This quilt was said to be a hundred years old. If that is accurate, you can bet it is all cotton.​


----------



## beautress

Oh, my goodness. I woke up thinking today was Friday. It's really Thursday! I get a free day this week! lolol Maybe there is an upside to old age I had not considered.


----------



## beautress

Found this one just now online. It looks like the maker had a lot of men's ties to work into the blades of the fan quilt:







I had a box of ties after my husband died a couple of years ago, but not sure where I put them. hmmm.
I just love this quilt's everything-about-it.​


----------



## beautress

beautress said:


> Last night, a couple more logs (60x2=120) were added. I got in bed by 9:30 and slept like a rock for a change.  Can't wait to get started again this morning.
> Am so far working this block, and the two rows were 8 and 9 (4 1/2" and 5 1/2", respectively). Now, I have to do logs 10 and ll in lights, or 5 1/2" and 6 1/2" logs:
> 
> 
> 
> ​Mine may not be as pretty as the ones pictured above, because I added some blacks and browns to the mix, also navy on dark logs 8 and 9. I always like to do the last two darks really dark, so I have my rotary cutter handy to do all that today or tomorrow, depending on how much time I can spend on them providing I can control the swelling. My friendly certified homeopathic advisers said I might need to elevate my legs twice a day from now on, which means 2 short power naps, one in the am and one after noon. Darn it, I hate to nap all the time. The light at the end of the tunnel  is that this time, If I do take my meds 4 times a day, the adrenal issue will disappear after a couple of weeks. I didn't know that, and had only been taking the adrenal support tablets once a day here to fore. It sure beats surgery to the arteries if it works, and I think it likely will. I just went about doing it all wrong for several months. Doh! Better late than never, though. I've been elevating at night for several weeks and that really helps the morning be clear for working at my sewing desk. Old age is not for sissies! (And I seem to be quite a sissy! lol)
> 
> Have some blocks almost like these, which could be the NEXT log cabin (or courthouse steps)
> 
> 
> 
> (I love all the possibilities from others who are kind enough to show their stuff online)
> This quilt was said to be a hundred years old. If that is accurate, you can bet it is all cotton.​


Well all 60 squares are done after putting the pedal to the metal on the sewing machine this morning! Also, got 2 windmill blocks by joining 4 blocks together in clockwise appearance. the 60 squares/4 = 15 windmill blocks. Four are below, but the colors here are black and white; mine are all colors, divided only by light and dark sides:




​


----------



## beautress

Kind of like the black and white one with red centers. One of these days....


----------



## beautress

Loaded purdy quilts into bing-o this morning... bless the overwhelming sisterhood for beautiful masterpieces.


































​


----------



## beautress

Subjective tastes made me prefer this to all the beautiful quilt this lovely day: And her blogspot is here: Kelly Girl Quilts: Hexie Quilt 



Additionally, Kelly Girl photographs her how-tos and progress at the above link.​


----------



## beautress

My internet search today took me to strip landscape quilts and found this how-to video--recommend!

​


----------



## beautress

inspirational landscape quilt at least partially based on strips:





June Jaeger, Artist



​


----------



## beautress

​


----------



## beautress

Landscape quilt books I found today..





Cathy Geier's Quilty Art Blog: Preview my Book - Lovely Landscape Quilts



































This is only one topic of thousands in the quiltmaker's world.
Some of these books are no longer in print, but you may try amazon, or ebay, or your favorite
online or used bookstore outlet. There are a lot more book sales online, I'm sure, but I truly never went anywhere except for Marti Michelle's page for great templates and quilts to make with them and through various sales sources available to me as a quilt store owner. anyway, the above books sure have pretty quilts in them as evidenced by their covers. Sometimes amazon has a "peek inside" feature on newer books such that you can see some of the ideas you will be enjoying in the book. A book fits by a sewing machine much easier than a computer, unless you're a smartie and have a wall-style monitor and a spare drawer to put the keyboard in. 



​


----------



## beautress

Sea Quilts... *sigh*







































​


----------



## beautress

I have to say, it's been a little while since I worked on a quilt, 2 days ago, maybe. Think I will see if I can find something pink, the lighter the better. 
Loaded "Pale pink quilt, found some pink quilts of lighter than the hot pink cuties, but they're brighter than my fabric choices:





^^^I see they used both log style and courthouse step style log cabins. too cute^^^

And here's one (*below)arranged as fields and furrows






 one I've done about 50 squares for so far is shaded like ^^^ but my colors are so dispersed you cannot see rows as above

Below is a quilt that has white areas, and the pink areas are far brighter than my pale pink collection
 although the solid squares are dispersive. I have quit using large squares in the center as below, also.





​


----------



## beautress

It was a pretty good day. I finished the little pink quilt and bordered it twice. It measures around 33"x41" and is ready to baste, quilt, and bind. I only produced 2 last Tuesday for the gals to quilt in my guild, so the third Tuesday next time, I'd like to have quite a few tops done up. Meanwhile, I'm quilting one the hard way, but put it aside to do some tops for others. It just takes a long time to quilt a quilt for a kid who is around 12 years old, and you want to make sure it's big enough to carry him through his college dorm years. The younger ones don't need big quilts, they just need something that will cover them with some lap room for when Mommy takes him or her shopping on a blustery, cool day. They also need to be absorbent and easy to clean, so I make them of all cotton, use cotton thread and cotton batting. You can boil an all-cotton quilt if it becomes contaminated with body products from both ends. That is why I make them all cotton. It can be sanitized. Polys, whether melting threads or quiltmaker thin can turn crisp under an iron and result in being an uncomfortable, often unsightly thing as it ages and is put through too hot of water or too high a dryer temp. Sometimes you have to be sure a quilt does not carry a childhood disease or worse. Exposure can demand a boiling of bedding. It's just that simple.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to have gotten one assembled from squares already done, and somewhere I have a stack of blue ones, too that can make a nice little boy's quilt, needless to mention, there's enough squares from the pink to make a dorm-sized child's quilt for a cot or bunk bed. Now, it just takes the staying-with-it courage to complete the items necessary for recruiting community quilters to get Aids baby Hugs quilts for newborns who are born with the disease, or just to give a mommy who doesn't have a man to care for her and the baby. It's sad that young men do not step up to the plate of their responsibilities, but they're often worried that their burger-flipping job won't be enough to raise a child on, or whatever makes them run the other way, leaving the girlfriend to make her own way in the world without his help. The consequences of living free are being certain ahead of time you're not creating an 18-year ball and chain to raise a kid who has both parents. The real headache for the child is when he or she has nobody and is placed in child protective services. Living in a college town means some of the adults have to double down to assist young parents who do care for their child. I just make them as good as I can, hoping that I've chosen good border colors to enhance all that work done to put a dozen or so log cabin quilt squares, each of which has 25 or more logs in it for a square that finishes 7".


----------



## beautress

Today, I felt a little sorry for our nation, prayers had gone unanswered for peace, plus, my cough, while better has been hanging on. So, to clear my mind, I went to the sewing room and found some red log cabin starts, but only two of them were completed 7" squares, six were at the 3-4" stage and were probably just sitting in the stack for a couple of years. There's been a lot of transferring fabric and unfinished starts back and forth lately, so I just took the red squares and went to the light colored box where strips of lights are kept, and there were also some red starts at the 3" stage, so I took just enough to make 24 squares and thought that would be fine to do a quilt with 16 squares like the pink one finished yesterday or the day before. So I started working and decided the last Tuesday meeting, our chairperson said we needed small hugs quilts big time. So, I thought I could make 12 of the squares into something for a newborn hugs baby. And it was time to make a boy quilt, so I decided I'd make them into a window pane with the yard of blue checkerboard that was kind of natty. It took only half a day, my outlook improved, and when I got back to the news, noticed there might be some mending of fences between the parties in our country, and one of the nuclear bad boys who decided to be uncooperative and left to get propped up by a country he figured we were not friendly with. Eggs in a basket sure do shift around. lol Anyway, at least the prayers helped me stay focused on a project for God's little children, and next month, I'll have a few tops to be finished again. I lost mailing addresses of other groups who might need quilts, so got frustrated and took all I had back down to the quilt closet without a word. I'll just have to hope the right thing is done to disperse the quilts to truly needy children. With a burgeoning university in our once small town, there seem to be a lot of fatherless babies who have only a mother who refused to abort her child. Bless the Lord for bringing children to us, and may he strengthen us to help them out as we are able.

Wonder if I can find a quilt moderately like the one I just found. It may be too big, too small, or too something else, but I'll try to find a patriotic one like this one. I can complain about the differences later.  

Oh, my. Nothing at all anything alike the one I made but a lot of inspirational things to share below:


























​


----------



## beautress

Some more log cabins not like the one I finished earlier this evening:

Well, what do you know this one is way too big (whine) has no sashing whatever,. (whine, whine) 
and it is not red and lights with dark blue pretty sashes that look like a windowpane, (whine, whine, whine) 




Even with all the differences, this one has 48 not 12 squares, and it is arranged like the one I made sans windowpanes.


















These quilts are greatly reduced in size by the photographs


​


----------



## beautress

Getting some good ideas for patriotic quilts ...


































​


----------



## beautress

Just red and light log cabin quilts...































May you have a blessed day if you dropped by... 




​


----------



## beautress

Today, I was improving my little wishful thinking pictures and found some really pretty hexagonal quilts made by other people online. So, I'll share a few that were just lucky finds. Enjoy! 
Hexagon-based quilts


----------



## beautress

The graphics of this quilt top are just fun. When we first started
making quilts, it was of necessity to help family members survive severe winters,
and every scrap of anything work-out (with good areas left, of course), old curtains,
unweathered shirt parts, blue jeans, the works were used front and back.
This one--dunno. It's stunning to me, and is called "mosaic".


----------



## beautress

Someone did hexagonal shapes into flowers:


----------



## beautress

Blue passion (very small hexagons, expert level)







Enlarged center​


----------



## beautress

The Blue Passion quilt, possibly on preceding page​That's not quite all of the blue quilt --one more enlargement to show nothing, since it's on the preceding page if you have 10 posts showing per page.


----------



## beautress

Finally, someone did it in another color schema as well:


----------



## beautress

This morning, I was doing laundry, when my eye caught a quilt square in a closed plastic box. When I opened the box, I noticed that it wasn't a square at all, it was the folded quilt top I lost about 3 months ago. lol Well, I took it out, and it was an 8-point "star" arranged from regular log cabin squares, and it was just multicolored with lights on one side and darks arranged to be the "points" on the small 16 - block small quilt start. So, I thought, hm. there seem to be a lot of red bundled in some of the points, , but not many reds on the longest logs (which touch the outside of the quilt. So instead of putting the usual light row around the edges, I put a red shoe and deer track print left over from a scrap of red I bought last year or the year before at the local quilt shop post-Christmas fabrics sale. Okay, I was a penny-pinching scrooge one January and was vulching on half-price pretty Christmas fabrics nobody bought the months before.  

That said, I cut two 1.25" strips for the sides and two 2" strips for top and bottom, just to give a little extra length. I had saved a stack of miscut logs 3" sometime last year and sewed them into a future quilt border. So voila! they were guilelessly stitched to the red foot-track material, all finishing a one-inch width, so no change to the length with that row. I knew I had to make up for it not being long enough, so I picked a bright yellow and a blue/grey/beige/yellow double-dot fabric, and saw the benefit of sewing on the bright yellow marbled fabric to the 3" pieced border that was attached to the bright red track fabric. b-z-z-z-z (my machine sewing the yellow pieces on). Then, I made sure the top and bottom were plenty longer by sewing on strips 3" top and bottom and 5/8" side by side. and measurements at that point said I needed to not use as much of the dots as I was thinking about, so I rotary cut two more 1.25" sides and a 2" top and bottom that would add an itsy-bitsy more to the length of the quilt. Finally, I found 15 inches of a cute outer-space characters on royal blue piece of quilt material, and decided 3.5"x4=14" which would give me some breathing room on the 15" strip with nothing to spare. So I blissfully cut 3.5" pieces and decided to sew the first two pieces to the sides to make sure everything worked out ok. Well, doh, I was so taken with the larger pieces of the dots, I started sewing the 3.5" royal blue outer space to the widest dots, and when done, I noticed I had sewn the top and bottom first, not the other way around. And due to unforeseen tragedy, it was 6" shy. I noticed a zoo fabric on light yellow that had gone to making a charity bib for the baby care center near the university, and that there were 4 animals that would fit onto the corners if cut 3.5" each, so I sewed them onto the corners with less than an inch to spare at either end of the outerspace borders. So a silly alligator, a leggy octopus, a squarish purple yak, and a white unicorn were sewn inbetween 2-eyed, 2-horn lime green aliens in itsy bitsy red and green flying saucers became watched over by cute and silly animals in the corners of this weirder and weirder scrap quilt. When done, there were 5 borders--red, little bricks, yellow, sanguine dots, and flying people eaters in various shades of lime, green, red, and all on a royal blue outer space fabric to go around the central star. It was fun and done from morning to just before I got here.

That's my quilt story, and I have another top to take to charity bees. Last week I got two or three small tops done, except I wanted to run into a couple of kid prints to liven up the dour greens of one quilt and a patriotic something to add to the red log and blue bordered windowpane quilt. And the yellow quilt start I found last week has faded somewhere into the abyss of my sewing stash in which room, I do not know. I was going to take the cat to the vet today, but I'll have to do that tomorrow or Wednesday. Decisions, decisions. It's hard to make them when my husband cheerfully made the decisions for the better part of 44 years together before he died. I've been missing him a lot lately, but after having had pneumonia nonstop for several months and this month's new case of bronchitis, the longing is nagging at my waning strength.


----------



## beautress

Completed a top earlier this morning, worked on red checkerboards some more, went out to mow. Session ended when the zero turn went over a hidden log and high centered, turning the little workhorse off for good.  Called brother to come and he will be here this weekend to help dislodge it. Everything is a little mucky. That's the long and short of my little quilt effort today, may do another couple of red and tan squares to keep up before retiring.
Here's a really pretty quilt I found a few weeks ago:


----------



## beautress

Today, I put a blue border around the checkerboard quilt, which makes it cot-sized. I also put hot pink polka dots around a hot pink and very bright yellow 4x5, 20 squares log cabin baby girl quilt, arranged in fields and furrows. Between the log cabin squares and the hot pink dotted fabric, I placed a cutsey dark green strip with yellow and pink blossoms packed, but scattered. The green beautifully separated the squares from the huge pink polka-dotted material. I was so pleased to have done 2 finish-ups today, that I thought "haven't used all those megabucks I spent on 1/8" thick templates, so found an "Elisa's circle," which divides the circle around a circle in four parts, so the template is a great big 8" block you can do two ways. I have several colors of quilts (8 in all) ready to go to Charity bees closet in 2 weeks from Tuesday, but orange, I hadn't done in a while. I had a solid bright orange and a multi-orange-yellow maple leaf print on white that I decided to cut out, so cut out I did. Then I took 4 of the Drunkard's path quarter circles, 2 with maple leafs on the concave and 2 with the bright orange concave. Each is paired with the opposite fabric on the outside and in, which gives each 4-block circle a kind of harlequin effect. The squares are 8", the squares form 16" blocks for a full circle in the middle. It took more time than I wanted to spend, but the overall effect was worth it. Now, just 5 more 16" blocks, and the inner part of the baby quilt will be 32x48 inches. It should be fun finding a woodgrain to go between the solid orange and maple leaf print, but no, that would lower the harlequin effect, so if I want it bigger, I'll deal with that when all 24 squares are joined into a 6-block baby quilt. I haven't worked with circles in ages, and found a smathering of all kinds of circles from teensy to large and picked the large one to get back in the swing of doing anything but the cabins and strings I've used for making quilts for the last few years, few exceptions, but occasional exceptions. Well, miles to go before I sleep today. Will leave some orange samples below.

cutting





Modern arrangement of quartered circles, Orange and Grey theme



​


----------



## beautress

Just some more fun ideas from my bing experience today...
























​


----------



## beautress

Been busy making quilt tops all week. Took 10 tops down to the Charity Bees closet yesterday so wouldn't have to cart them along with supplies, a sewing machine, iron and ironing board next week when we meet to sew for a day. I'm now working on a quilt that will look like this minus the white sashing and square solid sets below:



^^Found online by typing in the words 'pastel string quilt.'
I have 8 squares of 24 done so far and embroidered down the ditch area of each strip with
a machine stitch that replicates a herringbone stitch by hand. The embroidery thread is white.
I'm so pleased at the way the first 8 squares have turned out so far. It took 40 hours to 
do all that work. It's happy to make a quilt for a poor kid, even if you know you'll never meet them.
I'm just grateful to have 40 happy hours.
​


----------



## beautress

Well, my blocks are smaller, but the pastel quilt is on its way. I expanded it to five across, omitted the sets and sashes, and now I have to do 2 more double rows of 5 across for 30 squares. It's gonna take a lot of time, and I have to go to a birthday party tonight, which means2 hours of drying my long hair after washing it good. lol  Last Monday I took 10 small quilt tops to the Charity Bees closet that were completed in 4 weeks time, working nearly constantly. I haven't done much quilting since Tuesday, when I sewed together 20 squares. Oh, goodness. It's going to be 40 squares. They're only 7" across each, before stitching together, and every block has thousands of machine embroidery stitches to the ditch area between the strips. I may have to set this quilt top aside and get some quickie baby quilt tops done to show in June's 3rd Tuesday meeting, if everyone's not on vacation then.

Hm. If I just added one more strip of 5 inches, (5x5), my quilt could just be for a newborn like this one (similar structure, different fabrics)






Oh, my goodness. What a cute quilt template this quiltmaker has. I want one! 
She didn't sweat out embroidery, and it's just as cute as pie.​


----------



## beautress

And this has strips and squares! Too cute! It's fun to go online and see what everyone else is doing.



​


----------



## beautress

Oh, hay! This one's 2" strips probably, and didn't take too much thinking, just furious sewing with her petal to the metal kinda piecing and quilting straight lines.



​


----------



## beautress

Scrap quilties!


----------



## beautress

And another  you could do up for a baby in no time! Might as well since they just barf on them anyway ... (and worse) ...




​


----------



## beautress

Yo, baby! I already have enough 2-strip patches made to do a small version of this quilt, and it would only take a day or two to get them put together...





I will have to cut out some solid color strips to cut into white (or other color) squares. I see 4 identical rectangles, do you?
Quilters are mathematicians and geometric artists, you know. ​


----------



## beautress

I have the Tumbler Template! This Layout looks easy! You could just use a strip of 5" on a 5" tumbler template
The cutting is simplified if you know the length of your symmetric tumbler then it's just zip, zip zip with a rotary cutter!





And to make the border, you just take a sharpie, mark the center at top and bottom, put a ruler on and draw a straight line, and there's your outside border, simpler than pi. ​


----------



## beautress

Just using some other people's ideas on how to use the tumbler template:




















































Endless ways to tumble around!






​


----------



## Erinwltr

Top left is amazing.  I like how the tumbler effect goes into a straight border with matching colors.  Just me and thank you.


----------



## beautress

I cannot tell a lie! I love this lady's version of the Tumbler...






And this one..






And a few more...
*USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! *










*USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! *










*USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! *




​


----------



## beautress

Erinwltr said:


> Top left is amazing.  I like how the tumbler effect goes into a straight border with matching colors.  Just me and thank you.



You're right, Erinwltr. It's a strip quilt and right up my alley. I have strips these colors, working on a kite quilt (in some box, somewhere...), but I think I used the control system, which means I did each kite one at a time. They just need to be put together. If I'd had a brain, I would have made long strips of what I cut the kites from instead of the snail-paced one at a time method that leaves me with 30 kites, no quilt in sight, because putting it together is not only very challenging with sky blue between the kites, I selected rows that are very difficult to sew together considering all the tops and bottoms of the kites being sewn together leaving 90-degree angles at top, and 45-degree angles at the bottom. They then have to be sewn together to match to make the overall type quilt I started, then they have to be absolutely perfect with absolutely perfect sky pieces separately sewn. That means endless pinning, lol
But any way you cut it, this gal made an amazing piece of art! And I love it too!



​


----------



## beautress

Here are some Quilter's Tumbler Templates:















The good thing about a template: just cut a strip of fabric 6 1/2" if you're making 6" tumblers. The bad thing is, templates are a bit on the expensive side.

The other good thing about the acrylic templates show above, is that the symmetry of most professional acrylic templates is such that you just turn them a hundred and eighty degrees, and they line up straight on a straight-cut strip.

And another good thing about tumblers is that you can stack different fabric strips exactly on top of each other and move down the line cutting up to 20 layers thick if you have a 60 mm rotary cutter and a good cutting mat below with inches delineated. And the good thing about you tube, is you can probably see an expert making the kind of template quilt you want if you just load 3 words in "acrylic" "quilt" and "template" in that order, sans the quotation marks at you tube. I'll se if it works and post one below:

OK, I loaded in the phrase, "acrylic tumbler quilt template instructions" and got no less than a dozen how-tos from cutting to making and some complete from start to finish! I'm just picking the one I like. Remember, if you do this, your first quilt will likely take you a month. After that you can get larger templates and make a truly magnificent modern quilt top in a day. Don't buy the batting until you have square corners for your first attempt at quilting. Or you can go for the wavy-edge version ONLY IF YOU HAVE PERFECT INSTRUCTIONAL HOW-TOS on you tube or a quilt store that carries quilt videos and dvds.
​


​


----------



## beautress

This tipsy tumbler method is way cool, and first timers will enjoy it. Wow. I could make the blue sky on my kite quilt pretty much the same, except using 14" rather than 10" squares. :lala:





​























​


----------



## beautress

Half-square triangles Around the World!























​


----------



## beautress

Oh, the many ways to join half-square triangles after seeing the above video, here are some schemas from a lot of wonderful quilters around the cyber world!
































​


----------



## beautress

​


----------



## beautress

Quilting Dresden plate is like going around in circles, counting steps. I will try to elaborate for those who love Dresden quilts. First, I will show you a traditional Dresden, then others using the same three-hundred sixty degrees in a circle, divided down to know what template is best for purchase. I may have shown some of these earlier, but will try and show a template that will get you there to doing these things some of you luckier may have seen a quilter in the family do. Not everyone loves circles. When a person can't master her 1/4 inch seam allowance, and in some cases on the diagonal, 3/8 of an inch (no, I am not Pathagoreas nor know why the diagonal takes up 3/8", but a person who has used a slide rule might know. Unfortunately only people who loved math with all their heart, soul and mind, who are probably in the engineering or math teacher professions and some architects, could tell you without looking it up in old, dusty texts. And someone responsible for building a round-topped building might know. That's just my opinion. But a master quilter who has made ten or more Mariner's compass quilts has an inkling. Often this appeals to a woman engineer who grew fascinated with the design and construction of quilts and loved circles and its multitudinous dimensions might get it better than anyone. They need to be leary of quilting. It's a positive disease, but disease is what it is, and a quilt can make one focus on the oddest parts of mathematics you ever heard of. Plane geometry, trigonometry, and even calculus might provide inspiration for a quilt. Don't ask me why, but I recalled the Pythagorean theorem 20 years after I learned it from a patient schoolteacher named Mrs. Jones from Aldine High School before 1964. Going into her classroom was a delightful trip into the reality of mathematics and its applications to science. There I go again, on a trip down memory lane. 

This quilt is based on the quilter's old favorite, Dresden Quilt. It doesn't look like a Dresden, not exactly, but the circular measurements, the strips, etc., land it into what the quilter knows is a Dresden Plate style quilt. I love the modern feel, the rule-breaking, and the sheer fun of this new way of stitching an old favorite:



The quilter fashioned these circles into octagonal shapes, using 12 colored strips with black at either edge
and 12 white (background strips placed between them. Mrs. Jones said good mathematicians were generally
considered "lazy" persons figuring the easiest method possible, and this clever designer found that it's easier 
to sew a single layer underneath an open (or pressed one way) seam allowance, with the seam allowance showing
underneath the carefully guided open seam on top where you could see it being stitched open or pressed to a "correct" side.
When one divides the 360 degrees of a circle by 12 + 12 = 24 or 360/24 = 15 degrees, you need to purchase a 15-degree
wedge ruler to accommodate where to cut the white wedges as well as the colored + black inner or outer match heads,
you need to alternate the matchheads, large and small by rotating your wedge acrylic ruler up and down to get oh, say the 
aqua-turquoise wheels of matchsticks with heads to the center and heads to the outer rings on the two types of
circles the above show. You could also cut the same number of spokes of each type and make 2 different quilts,
one with matchneads on the outside which emphasizes the wheel appearance, or a quilt with the
matchneads on the inside with the appearance on its outer edge as an octagon with 8 sides and 4 corner wedges we
quilters call half-square triangles. With no knowledge of this quilt's size, I would have to sit myself down, get a protractor and a
circle calibrated with 360 degrees, decide what size of a bed this quilt would fit, how much lap I would want at the top, bottom, 
and sides to tuck under or not to tuck under, to figure the amount of fabric that would be needed to make the above quilt.
/end lecture about not much of anything. 
​


----------



## beautress

Traditional Dresden Plate Quilts:



























Pure traditional bliss!






​


----------



## beautress

Modern Dresdens: "Anything goes!!!!"






































​

​


----------



## beautress

Who'd a thunk that a quilt could be a delightful, modern work of art? The quilting through layers is a joyful sunburst, as are the modern debonaire look of playing with positive and negative spaces that are both straight and cylindrical at the same time. Go, Dresden Plate!






_Image credit thanks to The Girl Who Quilts_
Modern Dresden Plate Mini Quilt Challenge – Perth Modern Quilt Guild
Color wheel great page from Perth Modern Quilt Guild: Education challenge: Colour schemes – Perth Modern Quilt Guild​


----------



## beautress

This morning, I found some courthouse steps blocks and finished a 12-block (3x4) crib sized quilt that measures approximately 41x 52" It also has a 1-inch inner border in a 30s sailor print and a 3" outer border that is waves of black and colorful dots. It came out to my great liking, considering I wasn't sure where that quilt was going, because there are 8 more quilt blocks left. I just didn't want to make it too big, and 41x52" is workable for anyone who steps forward to quilt it. It alternates black and color squares with brilliant colors and lights around the center square. the squares measure eleven inches. I looked, and there isn't anything even closely resembling my simple, bright little work. I did, however find out there are some totally awesome quilts out there in the courthouse steps pattern, so I will first show blocks, then a few quilts I admire. I know how much work they are, it just seemed a good way to get a quilt top in a day, and it worked! 

Some blocks​


























​


----------



## beautress

Here's one in essence like the one I made because the squares are nested, but the arrangement of light and dark into checkerboards make mine completely unlike this, accented by the dark ones being alternated with light ones.




​


----------



## beautress

This one, hmmm....takes liberties with center rectangles that vary from square to rectangular. Nice border!



​


----------



## beautress

This small quilt is strips arranged around an enlongated rectangle, 
but is true to the Courthouse Steps construction method, though
the adjacent sides, tops and bottoms are not effectively ringed. My squares
first are square, not rectangles per se, and 4 white strips make one ring
and the next 4 dark strips make a second "ring" square as it might be.
This one's willy-nilly and very fun. 





​


----------



## beautress

This courthouse steps is made from jelly rolls (2.5" strips sewn together courthouse steps style & I love her colors:



​


----------



## beautress

This quilt reminds me of quilts I saw in people's home in Wyoming (lived there 35 years)



​


----------



## beautress

I've been thinking about jelly roll quilts lately. Jelly rolls for quilts are available at many quilt stores, and the other day I ran across this amazing quilt in a video taken by someone who went on a shop hop and took a picture of one near the front of a video at youtube on just "shop hops" in general. It's the strip one punctuated by a grouping of 5 colors on each horizontal strips, and it would take less time, of course than a log cabin quilt that finishes logs at one inch wide. Jelly Roll strips are cut two-and-one-half inches and leave a 2-inch finished strip, log, or cross-cut squares. For people into looking at quilts and have never seen the interior of a good classes-and-gallery store, this is a prime example of a walk-through.
The quilt I love is at 2:12 (time) on this video.
​This shop, "Oh, Susannah," was in Watkins Glen NY, but apparently the owner retired in 2016.
What an amazing place it must have been, so rich in handwork and a cornerstone of the quilters from many miles around. Hopefully, someone will take up the slack and establish another store in the vicinity. I can't get over how beautiful the jellyroll quilt is at 2:12 on the video timer. It is only there for a few seconds, so I just used the stop feature listed at the lower left hand side of the youtube frame. I bought a dozen pieces of cloth at my local store, but this particular earthy-colored quilt used batik fabrics which have a soft loveliness of atmospheric teals, glacier, cool grey beige, warm rusts, and rusty reds, not to mention several blender colors. Oh, heck, I was gonna do housework today. I'm going to Bryan where they've got the best collection anywhere of quilt fabrics.


----------



## beautress

What are jelly rolls? (Answer in pictures!)


----------



## beautress

If the double price annoys you, you can buy quarter yards of fabrics at today's going price of around $12.99 per yard (4 quarter yard pieces) to get 45" strips (3 per 9" with 1.5" strip left over, 9 inches being 1/4 of a yard which equals 36 inches; 36"/4=9") 2.5"x3=7.5"+1.5"=9". We quilters do math all the day long some days...which is serious after planning a trip to the quilt store. with needing 20 different 2.5" strips to make a jelly roll that sells for $62.00, you will have to spend 20x12.99 = $259.80 for 3 sets plus 20 1.5" strips to make part of one log cabin quilt or a small strip quilt. I'm here to tell you, it's fun having leftovers, but having a house full of strip boxes is not fun to upkeep until you get inspired to use those same colors once more. And once you start "borrowing" this color and that color, you are left with what amounts to making the "ugliest quilt in the world," which somehow never gets done. 

After you pay for gas to a quilt store that's a 100 mile round trip for the perfect selection, state tax, and expended time, you just spent $300 for two potential quilt and boucoup leftovers.

But oh, sometimes it's fun to go to a jelly roll swap if you belong to a guild. And whoever gets your homemade quilt strips is likely to be unhappy when you forgot to remove the strip you cut 2.5" on one end and 2.25" on the other end because you kept using the same mat year after year, and the lines became fuzzy, which produces gross errors in cutting from time to time. A mat in my home gets moved around, but fortunately, I seem to be able to gauge differences as small as 1/8" on a good day, but unless concentration is 100%, even my 50 years of quilting experience go out the door, same as a first-timer quilter who doesn't have any idea except for what's on the mat paired with what's on the cutting ruler, much less how to hold a rotary cutter. Of course, she can spend a couple of days cutting with scissors on a pencilled-in line, which teaches one very little about what 1/8" errors look like using the eyeballing checkpoint some of us truly right-brainer quilters depend on for accuracy.

The left-brain quilters (very rare women) happen to be very pragmatic and error-free due to their super-objective methods that go along with a mathematical mind. I met all kinds of quilters in the 23 years I ran my own shop plus years before just having fun quilting and the years after challenging myself to make 100 quilts a year like I did in 2013. Fortunately, my husband was still alive and supportive that last year of his good health. After that, he was overcome with worsening dementia which took him away 3 short years later of all kinds of problems that his type of dementia was (childhood brain injury due to 2 automobile accidents and later, high school bullies beating him up, taking advantage of his childhood polio disability). Never met a man as good-hearted and caring as him in the majority of his adult life. I never ever viewed him as disabled, because his strong left hand was as capable as 3 hands. There was very little the man could not do with 1 withered hand with only a pincher grip. All I saw in him were his beautiful caring eyes and his heartful of love and good humor towards everybody. I had 44 totally wonderful years with his good-spiritedness and totally kind consideration and thoughtfulness of his family.


----------



## beautress

Well I was going to show some of the glorious jelly roll quilts I found online, but that will have to be another day. I frittered the better part of this morning oogling quilts. Oh, I'll pick a few but just show the small versions from Bing.


----------



## beautress

Oh, hep me, I can't stop now!


----------



## beautress

Quilts with black backgrounds​Sometimes it's good to look at colors, and quilts that are colorful with colors separated by neutral black can give them an extraordinary punch that no other background cover delivers. I thought it'd be nice to show some of the lovliness of inspiration that the color black brings about as colors complement and contrast against the black ground. Often, if it is narrowly separated by black, a stained glass effect is achieved. So here goes:


----------



## beautress

Blue, blue my love is blue....


----------



## beautress

Blue Dear Jane quilt


----------



## beautress

What were the "Dear Jane" quilts? The image of the book below brings it to light:





If  you've ever seen one, you will see unbelievable details (or not)


----------



## beautress

All those loverly quilts ^^^ and all I've done lately is sew pink log cabin quilts. I must have 200 fabrics just pink to cut from. lol Some are growing smaller and smaller, though, and some after making 4 pink baby quilts, have yet to be cut. I keep finding more pink fabrics. hahaha I was buying but not using. Oh, I'm aching to make a blue quilt. In the meantime, I'll see if I can find ANYTHIING like my pinkies of late.
Too much yellow..





Right for all-pink, but I didn't make any pictures...It's a really good idea, though..but she made short work of the centers by using 2.5" squares if the strips are 1" That saves a lot of cutting, but well, I like all 1" squares and 1" strips when finished. The heart and pictoral aspect is way good, however. 






I counted 8 different fabrics, light and dark, which are separated into sides on this quilt. My scrappy style has about 200 different fabrics or more to make a quilt with 20 or 24 blocks, and the lights and light mediums do not take sides, because I mix 'em up. Once in a while, a log cabin square done scrappy is lighter or darker than the others, but if you "play cards" by putting blocks in an odd number of stacks, you will get a random setting, which adds to the curiosity of your scrappy style of construction. The heart quilt above uses this or a similar approach to mine, except for the lazy big centers. Just a little extra work makes the lazy go away, trust me. 
Again, this nice little fields and furrow arrangement cannot be made with my method, but a dime to a donut, it's a lot faster not to think when piecing, plus this method probably is cheaper to do, since you only have to buy the correct amount of 8 different fabrics, repeating 3 of the 8 in 3 borders. Also, all of the blocks are exactly the same, which lessens the pressure to make a square that LOOKS haphazardly random, but pretty at the same time. I have ripped things out that nobody else would dream of doing if it doesn't look random enough or if it looks the least bit contrived. How contriving is that??? lmao!!!





Only one other thing--I would proudly put any of the above super beautiful and also amazing quilts on any bed in my home at any time. I'm just being my usual picky, picky, picky self when it comes to making random scrap quilts. It's easy to make yourself misunderstood when you get too deep into scrappy. Hopefully there's a scrappy quilter or two who've visited here, caught me comparing easy with hard, and thinking I must not like easy quilts. Not true. I love the ones I post, because they are tried-and true good, and probably prettier than anything anyone could ever buy in a factory-produced quilt. And pink is one of the loveliest, most affirming colors in the whole world which makes pink quilts very special, and it's no wonder men like to see their girls wearing pink. It's a fabulous shade of a watered-down red, and it can go either to the yellow side, which I call cerise, or it can go to the blue side, which I call hot pink. Natural pink roses can be either pink to the yellow or pink to the blue, and when they fade... well, you'll just have to go visit an established Japanese rose garden sometime when the roses are waning and before they are lobbed off by caretakers of the garden. You'll see the fading follows the yellow pinks or the blue/lavender pinks.​


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Blue Dear Jane quilt


That top blue quilt is beautiful.


----------



## beautress

Erinwltr said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> Blue Dear Jane quilt
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That top blue quilt is beautiful.
Click to expand...

The Dear Jane Quilts were revived about 15 years ago when someone found the intricate original Dear Jane in a trunk or something, I think, Erinwltr. Thanks for stopping by! Quilting is my passion, hobby, and I even own a quilting store in Wyoming, but it's not a very profitable business. The business has costs of employees, notions, and thousands of fabric bolts, but needs a population base of about 300,000 people. The town my store is still in is more like 57,000 people, and in slim times when I ran the business myself, the town shrunk down to about 40,000 after a boom and bust situation in the oilfields. I'm fascinated with what dedicated quilters do. I'm pretty dedicated myself, started today off with organizing 15 log cabin squares and put together three rows of 6 log cabins in royal blue solid color fabric, narrow 1" finished strips. Have you ever been to a quilt show or worked on a quilt?


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Erinwltr said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> Blue Dear Jane quilt
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That top blue quilt is beautiful.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The Dear Jane Quilts were revived about 15 years ago when someone found the intricate original Dear Jane in a trunk or something, I think, Erinwltr. Thanks for stopping by! Quilting is my passion, hobby, and I even own a quilting store in Wyoming, but it's not a very profitable business. The business has costs of employees, notions, and thousands of fabric bolts, but needs a population base of about 300,000 people. The town my store is still in is more like 57,000 people, and in slim times when I ran the business myself, the town shrunk down to about 40,000 after a boom and bust situation in the oilfields. I'm fascinated with what dedicated quilters do. I'm pretty dedicated myself, started today off with organizing 15 log cabin squares and put together three rows of 6 log cabins in royal blue solid color fabric, narrow 1" finished strips. Have you ever been to a quilt show or worked on a quilt?
Click to expand...

No, never worked on a quilt, but my grandmother used to make them for the family.  I still have one to this day that I carefully use daily.  I have been to 4H displays at our local yearly fair and the quilts are just amazing.  I love them.  But never been to a quilt show, though.


----------



## beautress

Your grandmother's quilt sounds wonderful! 4H quilt displays can be pretty good for the young girls who are learning to make them.

Houston, Texas, has one of the largest quilt shows in the world in October every year. They show local, state, and quilts made half way around the world. International Quilt Festival There are literally thousands of quilts shown there.

I've been reviewing the 2018 Houston Quilt Show. Unfortunately, other shows get mixed in, so I tried but it's possible some of the quilts came from elsewhere, or even a different year than 2018.


----------



## beautress

Been churning away at log cabin, fireman quilts , and I have on my recent completion list 2 crib-7 years old quilts, pink for girls; 2 firemen log cabin quilts for great big boys, a baseball court-house steps, a fall-colored jelly roll long stripes quilt, and a red great-big girl's quilt, log cabin with a gorgeous red delicious apples border with a small tomato red wildflowers print. I've probably made a dozen red log cabin quilts (all red, no lights at all) This one is just the best one so far, that's all. It had to be the apple border. Well, back when there was a red one with a hoffman red rose border that was out of this world, but this one, it just says "Mommy, why is SHE getting the pretty one??? (Oh, no!) I think I'll make an all-purples one, an all-greens one, and an all-blues one, too. I'll make them all the same size, and let them all fight it out. /dervish grin. I'll see if I can find anything around like these all-one-color, all-different textures quilt.

Well I found a couple of monochromatic quilts, but they're still not all-darks like mine, which lets the textures do the talking. This is not quite monochromatic since it encompases blue and periwinkle or purple, and it's not all darks either, plus it's wonky in shapes, too:





This one comes close, except it uses light and dark to distinguish background from pointed figures:



​


----------



## beautress

AGain, close but no cigar...at least this is mostly a green-blue monochrome, except it still clings to a pattern sequence. Mine are totally random in placement but use the conventional log cabin square, 7" per square:


----------



## beautress

I guess I'm the only person in the world using all-one-color log cabins, randomly placed and close in shade, and the products play in medium lights, huges, and medium darks, and textures speak because they're all mixed up on purpose. They're like a symphony, they harmonize, but they don't overplay, and the randomness brings an occasional glint and shadow area in which textures play up and down games with the eye. *sigh.* I may be able to dig up one square as a picture, but it won't be easy to find.


----------



## beautress

Hero Star Quilt



​I completed the borders on a quilt I used to call "Hero Star", except the one I made this past week has 4 light-colored centers and 4 light-colored corner squares, with the red star points representing the solar flares around the star. In the light areas, instead of using exclusively red and white, I used blended pale pastels of every description on it, and put a 3" border of red 1x3" strips on top and bottom, with a cute pale zoo print around the outside edge to separate the tips of the star points from the red strips top and bottom. I found a huge red dot print, which reminded me of Minnie Mouse's favorite outfit, so I put that all the way around the outside border. I know I outdid myself on the one upstairs waiting to go to the charity bee's closet. It measures only 33" by 48" but that's a good size for a crib, and it's also a good size for a senior wheelchair quilt. Hopefully, it will be sent where it is needed the most when someone quilts the top. I like to make them pretty so the quilters will enjoy participating in completing a work of art for a poor kid or lonely shut-in.

Yesterday, I took 7 baby quilt tops to the recently retired fire chief, who is son of my friend EJ who died recently. EJ had been a volunteer fireman in the county for 44 years, so his step son took a liking for what firemen do, and in his time, the county was hiring firemen for real wages, and he was really good and knowledgable about fires and running a fire department for a huge Texas County that now hosts 17,000 university students. 120,000 prison inmates, and probably 60,000 county citizens. Most of them work for TDOC (Texas Department of Corrections), lots of farmers, ranchers, and tall pine tree growers, teachers for the university and all the children of this community 

I already have enough blocks for another quilt or two made up of red and pastel log cabins, a quilt or two in 6" sqares made of six 1x6.5" strips that will be arranged in North/South and East/West strips that yield a woven effect sometimes. One reason why my quilt won't quite go there is because no two squares are alike most of the time, and there are as many squares with light and dark values not to mention strip texture variations. So two quilts are done, And one is about 4 hours away from being a finished top.I wish I knew how to use the new desk copier, but it has been gathering dust for a year. I think I lost most of my ambition when my husband died June 13, 2016, and my friend EJ dying june 24 this year didn't improve anything here. The stack of quilts I just turned over to his step son the old fire chief, 4 of them had Fireman printed fabrics on them--red vintage fire truck fabric, safety caution signs, and three pieces of firefighters, firefighting insignias on red and firefighting insignias on blue. Two days ago, I finished a red quilt that went into the pile. Now my Charity pile has 3 quilts on it, with 2 more in the closely-finished category. I'm glad I found an old "Hero star" because I'm making another one that has all squares complete. Oh, wait. there's also another made up of all red-and-pastel mix light and dark colors in it.


Well, my allergy meds have me sleepy, so after my nap, I look forward to putting another quilt together, even if it gets put off till tomorrow. Hope drop ins will bring a picture of their family quilt and show it. WE love all kinds of quilt, and i have a library that allows me to name quit squares. So early nighters.  



​


----------



## beautress

I found a sample of a 1" strip quilt made the year I completed 110 tops for Charity bees. Maybe in 2020 I can manage to do that again, with 100 tops as my goal. It's hard when you're a widow, to stay inspired. My husband was an inspiration for 44 years of our marriage. He made life so easy I could do art quilts all day every day when I wanted to. He was also my photographer up until his dementia symptoms made handling a camera a trial by confusion for him, bless his sweet soul to heaven.​


----------



## beautress

Completed the purple-sashed charitybee quilt today. Finished two over the weekend. They're all light log cabins with blue centers and blue sashing, green sashing, and today's purple one. The stack now has 8 in it. 

Edit out: ~


----------



## beautress

Walked by the sewing desk this morning to see what I was working on, and nope! Nothing! 
As the artist stared at his blank piece of canvas, he thought, "today is the first day I can start painting the best picture ever painted!" ~~~ And sometimes that takes a day or two to figure out, So next time I go to the desk, hopefully it will be with a no-fail plan to make a fatherless child a small quilt he can cling to in his abandonment from an estranged being he may never meet, his real father. Sad, sad, is our contemporary life of people with no givens, no rules, no parameters, but still bound to animal behaviors established in our dna to recreate life when the opportunity presents itself, without thinking about the consequences of creating a home scenario for small ones who will love attention they are given and food, and warmth, and comforting arms, and a father to set the limits--or not. And when or not happens, you have a fatherless child, a kid placed into this world with no limits on his behaviors, so he gets the impression that no one is looking until vigilant eyes see that now-grown person taking away his possessions and deciding whether to do something about it. The rest is future--go to jail or get out of jail free cards, limited supply. 

So when we put 40 hours into making a child's quilt, we can ony pray, "Dear God, please let this quilt make up for this child's meager life in which he has no prospects for someone who cares enough for him to set limits so he can make something out of the rest of his life." We put an "amen" on the end, hope the recipient of the quilt will be placated for a while his mother tries to scare up options for him... or not. It's in God's hands, and the best we can do is to leave it there, while those who should have cared to know if his night of pleasure resulted in something he should take care of. The best hope we can have is that each child who has a mother can have a father who keeps tab on his own actions in the creation process. With no religious counselling, we are a lost people because when caring breaks down, so does a life of fulfillment. And a 40-hour task may bring only an hour of joy now and then and a little warmth in cool weather or a picnic cloth in warm weather, but a few minutes of possessing something all one's own may be all it takes for a small one to have something to defend so he can carry on his life to the next level. And my prayer is that it is a good thing for him.

Emily Dickinson said it so well: "If I can ease one heart the aching, I shall not have lived in vain."


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Walked by the sewing desk this morning to see what I was working on, and nope! Nothing!
> As the artist stared at his blank piece of canvas, he thought, "today is the first day I can start painting the best picture ever painted!" ~~~ And sometimes that takes a day or two to figure out, So next time I go to the desk, hopefully it will be with a no-fail plan to make a fatherless child a small quilt he can cling to in his abandonment from an estranged being he may never meet, his real father. Sad, sad, is our contemporary life of people with no givens, no rules, no parameters, but still bound to animal behaviors established in our dna to recreate life when the opportunity presents itself, without thinking about the consequences of creating a home scenario for small ones who will love attention they are given and food, and warmth, and comforting arms, and a father to set the limits--or not. And when or not happens, you have a fatherless child, a kid placed into this world with no limits on his behaviors, so he gets the impression that no one is looking until vigilant eyes see that now-grown person taking away his possessions and deciding whether to do something about it. The rest is future--go to jail or get out of jail free cards, limited supply.
> 
> So when we put 40 hours into making a child's quilt, we can ony pray, "Dear God, please let this quilt make up for this child's meager life in which he has no prospects for someone who cares enough for him to set limits so he can make something out of the rest of his life." We put an "amen" on the end, hope the recipient of the quilt will be placated for a while his mother tries to scare up options for him... or not. It's in God's hands, and the best we can do is to leave it there, while those who should have cared to know if his night of pleasure resulted in something he should take care of. The best hope we can have is that each child who has a mother can have a father who keeps tab on his own actions in the creation process. With no religious counselling, we are a lost people because when caring breaks down, so does a life of fulfillment. And a 40-hour task may bring only an hour of joy now and then and a little warmth in cool weather or a picnic cloth in warm weather, but a few minutes of possessing something all one's own may be all it takes for a small one to have something to defend so he can carry on his life to the next level. And my prayer is that it is a good thing for him.
> 
> Emily Dickinson said it so well: "If I can ease one heart the aching, I shall not have lived in vain."


 Did you write the first two paragraphs?


----------



## beautress

Erinwltr said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> Walked by the sewing desk this morning to see what I was working on, and nope! Nothing!
> As the artist stared at his blank piece of canvas, he thought, "today is the first day I can start painting the best picture ever painted!" ~~~ And sometimes that takes a day or two to figure out, So next time I go to the desk, hopefully it will be with a no-fail plan to make a fatherless child a small quilt he can cling to in his abandonment from an estranged being he may never meet, his real father. Sad, sad, is our contemporary life of people with no givens, no rules, no parameters, but still bound to animal behaviors established in our dna to recreate life when the opportunity presents itself, without thinking about the consequences of creating a home scenario for small ones who will love attention they are given and food, and warmth, and comforting arms, and a father to set the limits--or not. And when or not happens, you have a fatherless child, a kid placed into this world with no limits on his behaviors, so he gets the impression that no one is looking until vigilant eyes see that now-grown person taking away his possessions and deciding whether to do something about it. The rest is future--go to jail or get out of jail free cards, limited supply.
> 
> So when we put 40 hours into making a child's quilt, we can ony pray, "Dear God, please let this quilt make up for this child's meager life in which he has no prospects for someone who cares enough for him to set limits so he can make something out of the rest of his life." We put an "amen" on the end, hope the recipient of the quilt will be placated for a while his mother tries to scare up options for him... or not. It's in God's hands, and the best we can do is to leave it there, while those who should have cared to know if his night of pleasure resulted in something he should take care of. The best hope we can have is that each child who has a mother can have a father who keeps tab on his own actions in the creation process. With no religious counselling, we are a lost people because when caring breaks down, so does a life of fulfillment. And a 40-hour task may bring only an hour of joy now and then and a little warmth in cool weather or a picnic cloth in warm weather, but a few minutes of possessing something all one's own may be all it takes for a small one to have something to defend so he can carry on his life to the next level. And my prayer is that it is a good thing for him.
> 
> Emily Dickinson said it so well: "If I can ease one heart the aching, I shall not have lived in vain."
> 
> 
> 
> Did you write the first two paragraphs?
Click to expand...

Yes, I did, Erin. I wrote everything originally except for my quote of Emily Dickinson's amazing words which has inspired me since I first read it. Those words didn't do less than stun me, and I adopted them as a cause celebre for doing nonstop charity quilts. I see sad things in our society. I hope the way I expressed it was unoffensive to anyone, as it is just my take on the sadness of not living life according to the recommendations of the good book, which are unknown to children of atheists who for their reason hate religion, churches, Christians, and anyone else they blame for their hidden issue. I have a feeling there is considerable anger toward any church that produces a leader who molests a child, not to mention the child who was molested deciding that because an official of a church hurt him, that church and all churches, that priest, and all ministers, and what they taught other people is all bad.

That's why discipline of order should never go unnoticed, particularly, when two parents, armed with their child's testimony, bring their rage and fury to proprietary members of the church. If their issue goes unaddressed, the chips fall where they may. This makes everybody sad, but many more people are never molested, but instead are comforted when they have losses, loved when their good works are known, and treated with dignity and respect when they grow old and lose faculties of excellence formerly their light in the world.

Bad things happen to good people. The best way I should look at them was written in the good book many years before I came along. It says something like "The sun rises and the sun sets on the just and the unjust" and in another, I can't even quote it poorly, but it gets across the point that it rains on the rich and the poor alike. In more primitive times, wealth was a sign that God's favor rested on that person. Today, depending on the company one keeps, wealth makes someone like Donald Trump the worst person in the world, whereas it makes George Soros practically the giver of life in some circles.

I never view wealth as a character trait. How one uses one's wealth is seldom obvious, but it is easier for a person of extreme wealth to make an error that is immediately a reason to use a Marie Antoinette as a candidate for beheading via the guillotine. That's a bad way to deal with feelings, and so are kangaroo court decisions. Just my humble opinion.


----------



## beautress

Pretty!


----------



## beautress

As usual, I can't find a quilt that is like the one I finished yesterday for the stack--which was in yellow with aqua between the log cabin squares. I can't even find one in the simple 2 colors, because todays quilters love the royal blue an yellow effect, and aqua blue is so pretty with warm pinks-oranges-reds, that yellow hardly ever comes up when one does something to decorate a nursery with, which I try to keep in the forefront of my tasks. I found a light-aqua sky with yellow baby chicks for the sets on my yellow log cabin squares, that I make just for the joy of working with 2-dimensional textures in a monochromatic setting of one of the colors available in cotton quilt fabrics. So I'll just show some aqua and yellow log cabins, and if I could just find one like mine, I would show it, it's just that I do things so contrary to what other people do, they're just not very common to find another person who is challenged by the things never done before or not known. Someone out there does them, they probably just never put them online. I have this terrible history of never having made a decent photograph in my life, and can turn the prettiest thing I ever saw like fog coming in on little cat's feet over the Golden Gate Bridge into a blase dull gray mass with two sticks coming up out of it. Bleh! So I gave up on ever trying to be good at photography, because I'd rather be making a quilt top into a piece of unappreciated fiber art that only quilters understand, and we're what?--one one-thousandth of the population, and nearly all female, too. lol

What I found this morning online that is half there:

A yellow square with uneven logs unlikely measuring 7.5" unfinished.




Rare aqua log cabin but no yellow on opposite sides but made most interesting by a generous 4 dragonflies beautifully appliqued around the lights in the barnraising arrangement of log cabin squares:






Yo, Aqua like my chickie skies, but what is it with aqua and barnraising arrangement of the squares????   ...





This looks like cuts I did last week, except all my strips were 1.5" wide...





Well, I'm gonna faint. Somebody did ONE quilt in Aqua and yellow like some I've made in the past....the year I did Yellow and one color group on the opposite sides...
And here it is, scrappy yellows with scrappy aqua blues:


----------



## beautress

This mornings quilt was started couple of days ago, after I finished the yellow and aqua log cabin quilt. I found a whole box of red strips cut into the right size log cabin strips and another of mixed pastels.e was it ever fun to do red and pastels again. I arranged the pastel and reds in what in half-square triangles is called "broken dishes." BRB with a pic.
This broken dish quilt uses straight diagonal
half-squares, light plus dark:





My reds log cabin top look like this, kind of, except use
log cabin squares rather than half-square triangles.
Below, I found one albeit in different colors.
This one has a modern beat about it:




About 3 years ago, I did a yellow series log cabins combined with monochrome halves in 6 colors of the rainbow, at least. I have boucoup red strips in my cuttings from the past 3 weeks, and two boxes of yellow strips. I guess it follows, thatI should cut some aqua strips and fill a box, and make aqua and yellow quilts and red and yellow quilts now. I did two in purple in yellow last week, and with morning's and yesterday's completions, there have to be four or five in my charity pile now. I have till the third Tuesday to get ten done if I challenge myself good. Who knows? Ten a month could quickly become a total of 60 tops or more this year. We'll see how it goes. I was hoping to have a boyfriend right now, but the only guy I saw that I reallly liked never came back to karaoke night, so I was thinking maybe he just was a drop in and left for the winter. We live in an area near Lake Livingston that is famous for everybody in Texas going boating in during summer months. The shorebirds are prolific, and one year the pelicans from Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana visited Lake Livingston for a good old-fashioned rendezvous, I think. I sing on Friday nights if I'm up to going out. The trouble with being an old lady is that old men brag about their girlfriends who are 40 years younger than they. Us old gals have a hard time competing with beauty. It's too bad, because we're faithful, true, hard-working, charitable, and full of inner beauty and loving hearts. The bad thing is, men are dominated by visual images, not innate ones.  We have about a 3% chance of catching a guy's eyes if we lose weight, dye our hair with cancer-causing dyes, and spend a fortune on wrinkle-erasing creams. IOW, we have to be phoney. I hate it. /general complaints finé. Ah, bein' a girl sucks sometimes.​​


----------



## beautress

beautress said:


> This mornings quilt was started couple of days ago, after I finished the yellow and aqua log cabin quilt. I found a whole box of red strips cut into the right size log cabin strips and another of mixed pastels.e was it ever fun to do red and yellow again after 3 years ago yellow series log cabins. I arranged them in what in half-square triangles is called "broken dishes." BRB with a pic.
> This broken dish quilt uses straight diagonal
> half-squares, light plus dark:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My reds log cabin top look like this, kind of, except use
> log cabin squares rather than half-square triangles.
> Below, I found one albeit in different colors.
> This one has a modern beat about it:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​


Here's one that could be done quickly with the starts I have in a clear plastic box:




I love the brick border and the triangles formed in the rows.
It just couldn't get better, no?​


----------



## beautress

After doing purple and yellow, and then reds with pastels, this one is pure eye candy:






And a pile of cabin squares like this would get you on your way:


----------



## beautress

Finished an all-yellows random cabin squares quilt with a bright modern alphabet also randomly scattered on the yellow background last night, and made a 16-cabin sailing ship (small) usually made with half-square triangles, and set into a 12", more or less block for a multi-ship quilt for young child or seafarin' man, depending, but this one, I had a lot of purple and yellow half squares intended for a 12-block cabin quilt, but only used 6 of them--4 for sails, and 2 for the ship front and back.

I found this quilt lay out online of the usual 16-block layout that usually encompasses 2 rows of sails, a row for the ship, and a row for the ocean. It's always fun to use an ocean fish fabric to represent the row for the ocean or create Greek-frieze block for the square-rolling seas. (go figure!) On this quilt, the 16 blocks in cabin rather than half squares, like the ones below, the sky is just a row of yellow cabin quilt squares to represent the bright buttermilk skies of certain mornings and evening sunrises and sunsets. The sales and ship are squares of purple ship and purple sails. And in order to successfully make a cabin quilt, it's pretty given that a border with as few seams as possible all the way around are greatly helpful into keeping the top straight and true while basting, then quilting the whole thing with as few cupping issues as possible. Cups in any layer can result in an uneven top and a back that is full of totally horrible quilting folds, some of which can reach top and bottom or side to side of the quilt. (akk! To be avoided!!) So that's why I border my cabin quilt, because I'm dealing with people to quilt these cabin quilts who have little to no experience with that little problem, and I try to keep them out of the disaster of having to remove stitches from the entire back, rebaste, and resew, or heaven forbid, toss the whole thing to the bottom of the "to do" stacks in which the quilter dies before the top is quilted. lol

Anyhoo, there are six quilts in the stack because I think I completed at least 3 small tops since the last brag, because my pile has 6 complete infant tops, so that leaves 4 to go, and the little ship quilt that got assembled this morning may be #7 unless I added it to the count when I put last night's completion on the top of the stack.  Anyway, before the third Tuesday this month, I hope to have another 10 tops ready for the ladies to quilt. We may not meet in December due to Christmas, but then, we may, because our chairman likes to get those quilts to the various sources of our giving before Christmas is celebrated, in case one of the recipients at the shelter or home they live in doesn't get any other gifts. You just never know if it's an elderly person in a home, whether anybody even bothers to visit them, or if it's a fatherless child, no way is that kid getting anything from daddy dearest, and single mommie may have to spend all her earnings on heating, food and a roof.


Having seen the above color choices, yellow and purple doesn't seem tooo awful bad....she rationalizes to the moon and back....


----------



## beautress

Today, I finished the ninth quilt and finally did ONE that was not a log cabin!!

This one was from some green squares I was going to use on a tree quilt like one I made years ago, but decided that would be too boring. So I grabbed a couple of stacks of leftover squares (probably about 200 2.5" squares, found a light green solid color called mint, and got busy making 9-patch squares, each one with 5 different tree leaf and geometric, floral, etc green prints to put in the center and corner and got busy last night. This morning, I had 4 of 24 squares done, so I did 4 more when I got up, which was 8 out of 24. Well, later in the afternoon, I put the last ones together, but that totalled only 16 squares.  So I cut some more mint color for the 4 light areas and of course there were plenty and more than plenty of green squares left to complete the 24 squares, which was done about 20 minutes ago. I also set them with brown sets, and did a one-of-a-kind quilt with a bird fabric I bought a bolt of at wall mart years ago but never got to use. It was a really pretty fabric and had backyard songbirds on them of all kinds, yellow and dark like orioles, but yellow, Eastern bluebirds, a red bird like a tanager and a little sparrow-like dark brown bird. I had to make the borders large enough to encompass the birds which also had fruits around them--like pears, plums, small apples or peaches, etc. The brown material was a modern type of op-art with light and dark brown, and really worked up nice. I was too pleased when done. It's sure nice to finish a quilt like you've never seen before and feel you made an American original quilt top. This one, of course, is # 9 in my little stack of tops going to the charity bees next week, and I'm happy it's done! I put in a lot of hours in that quilt, not counting the hours 3 or 4 years back when I was making all those squares up from 2 1/2" strips cut all the way across which was probably 17 across and with the left overs (only 1 color per square, I had a lot of stacks of dark and medium greens in the tones of leaves you would see in nature. So 2 stacks easily had 200 squares in them. There were no more than 2 repetitions of each color, but some only had no repetitions. Now I can go sing tonight If I want, and I do want to. So it's off to the races! 

9 quilt tops sitting there, just one to go . Yay!!!


----------



## beautress

here's somebody else's green 9-patch, although this is more Irish green than leaf greens:




And here are some nine patches, but they only have 2 colors in them
but are more like tree leaf greens, mainly:



​


----------



## beautress

This is called (I forgot) nine-patch, but it's different due to the way it's set:




Ninepatch quilts make such perfect baby quilts:








​


----------



## Natural Citizen

Very nice work, beautress!


----------



## beautress

Everywhere, ninepatches! 




This one feels nineteenth century ~


----------



## beautress

Natural Citizen said:


> Very nice work, beautress!


Thank you, Natural Citizen! You found out my vice! <giggle>


----------



## beautress

I have 3 blue bobbins and would like to make 2 blue quilts, after finishing one up last night that was a simple blue stripes quilt. So I went to bing! to get some inspiration. Other people's quilts just are inspirational, even bits and pieces, too:




Just love it.​


----------



## beautress

This one looks simple enough...





This time I loaded Child's blue quilt in:







Blue dog quilt that should be blue:




I think the maker cut her own ears, because none of them look exactly alike.​


----------



## beautress

And I found more simple but also would take some time to do, some of them...


----------



## beautress

I did find a blue dog just by scrolling down... 




And a blue trip around the world, though way too big...


----------



## beautress

Well, mostly blue......................................Till there was blue








Till


----------



## beautress

Mermaid................................................Storm at Sea​







Sea Life...................................................Tides


----------



## beautress




----------



## beautress




----------



## beautress

Blue birds...


----------



## beautress




----------



## beautress

.....Row quilts can be blue................................................Or Not.................














The trouble with row quilts is that a row can take 2 days, which would mean
spending 14 days on any of the above quilts. With a 10-a-month goal, when would one sleep? ​


----------



## beautress

From a photograph to a postage stamp quilt...





Sea how rows work...


----------



## beautress

Sun over landscape mosaic found online...





We are Family


----------



## beautress

On the last page, I found a quilt and had forgotten temporarily this nine-patch is called "Improved Nine Patch," since forever. The name just slipped my mind. lol. So if you want to see a lot more of this quilt, just go to your images search engine and type in "Improved Nine Patch Quilt" or "Improved Nine Patch Quilt Square."





The reason I liked this one is because someone redesigned it good by putting it in a wedding ring type of setting, and also, it's just cute. 
I apologize for forgetting the name temporarily, then forgot to go research it. Today, It just came to me. lololol!!! Old age is not for sissies!  
Here are some improved nine-patch blocks I found:













​


----------



## beautress

And some improved nine-patch quilts:











And for anyone who hates drawing 99 paper templates, you can buy a thick acrylic template if this is your favorite quilt to make.




 It makes cutting accuracy a
near-certainty. Well, within bounds. 
And for curves you need a very small rotary cutter as 45 mm blades are unweildy, and the 28mm are a huge improvement. Elf accuracy on the teeny tiny rotaries, just buy plenty of blades and cut through no more than 2 layers of fabric. The templates may cost more than 30 dollars, but if you divide that by the # of quilts (30) you plan on making with these, it comes out to less than a pattern would cost ($1 dollar) unless you luck out on Ebay or Etsy and find a used set that never got used or was used so infrequently  the seller is trying to get her orphan improved nine-patch blocks sold too. 
I know you can't read who made the templates, but I think it's a lady I met at a Pfaff convention back when whose name is Marti Michell.
Her website is here: From Marti Michell: Perfect Patchwork Templates
I noticed her products are also sold on Amazon
Amazon.com: marti michell wedding plate templates
Also, ebay:
Marti Michell Quilt Templates & Stencils for sale | eBay

If memory serves me right, Marti also designs some of the most beautiful floralesque quilt fabric I have ever seen through a Seattle or Portland company, or somewhere -- Maywood Studios. The company may be separate from the wholesaler I used when I was active in my quilt store. I don't know if she is still doing that, but consider yourself lucky if you ever get enough of her luscious prints to make a quilt with. Just sayin'.​Your very best bet is to ask your fellow quilt guild members if they have a double wedding ring template set to beg, borrow, or buy. I found one new price included shipping but they were asking $68 for it, whereas her website sells for less than half of that, and you never know when you're going to run into an estate sale to find Marti Michell templates, hopefully a wedding ring one so you can make your improved nine patch with the wedding ring template set. Quilt stores often do not sell template sets because the inventory is very expensive to offer everything, and unless they offer classes, they might not carry the template set you long for to make cutting a lot easier.


----------



## beautress

Improved Nine Patch goes by other names, too - curved nine patch, glorified nine patch, etc., but I found a lot of how-tos at youtube just by inserting "improved nine patch" in the You Tube search engine. They use all kinds of methods, too.


And another by Charlene Jorgensen, whose templates I also sold at my quilt store back when I was running it.



​


----------



## beautress

Wow hearts.


----------



## beautress

Patriotic Heart


----------



## beautress

Cabin heart row


----------



## beautress

Log cabins over nine patch centers


----------



## beautress

Just finished a blue quilt today that is about 45" square. It's done in all cabin quilas, using differing shades of blue from very light to very dark colors, and worked the 7th quilt to completion except for the border. It's another sailing ship, which used up another 48 blocks. I just got rummy of working and up and left when too brain-drained to go on. That always passes by the next day, but I just spent too much time in front of the sewing machine today, but 2 quilts all but done. Yea!

I also located a really pretty quilt in blues, It's not of my making, but of my admiration:




The colors are close, but I don't see a single print on that quilt that's like my cabins, which date back 30 years for a few fabrics, and up to today when I went into the quilt store to look around the the other day. Came home and lit into the cutting stage for hours, then sat down and sewed out one small square. It was fun.​


----------



## beautress

This is another, all blue quilt, but it reminds me of the Baltimore Album quilts except for color.





Someone did a nice job, and I love her corners and everything else, too.​


----------



## beautress

Finally! Someone did a log cabin star quilt, of which I've made literally dozens.. However, this one is huge, shows the makings of "Carpenter's wheel" and is dazzling.


----------



## beautress

My Stars! This one is 1" strips made into a nicely sized quilt. The squares are said to be 4.5".




That is seriously some spiffy work.​


----------



## beautress

Red Quilt Log Cabin



​


----------



## beautress

Flag made with uneven Log Cabin squares.
Long may she wave!


----------



## beautress

An especially lovely poinsettia uneven log
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 cabin work


----------



## beautress

I worked on squares for two quilts today. Log cabin, I know, boring. But the 16-square will be shaped like this one but the already-stitched squares are all-blue and white-with-lt. blue background (no red at all) and the blue is royal blue variations, many different fabrics, all cotton.





I may have a harder time finding this one in blues and whites, which is usually done courthouse-step style, but I controlled the usual round-the-world sewing method of the simple log cabin quilts, whereas courthouse steps works in opposites to achieve the same effect:
(I just couldn't find a blue and white one)




This lower quilt is a definite courthouse-steps-done-right quilt, and I am liking the idea of the border, which appears here as un-grouted bricks. The one I'm working on will only have 15 squares, but I may break down and use 8 red-on-the-outside and 7 blue-on-the-outside squares ... or not. I've already done 11 blue quilts, although 2 of them have red-stripes in the outer borders to put a touch of patrioticness into the equation, for the all-American mom who chooses a baby quilt. I guess I'll have to do one more quilt, because that makes 13, and I'm not delivering 13 quilts in the same batch to a beloved charity, nosiree. ​


----------



## beautress

Well, my work is cut out for me. Just one more picture to get in teh mood for cutting 40 or 50 bricks for the border...


----------



## beautress

Some more little quilts I like from here: 116 Best becki loves quilts images in 2020 | Quilts, Quilt patterns, Quilting designs

















Have to run. Glasses pick up at the optometrists!


----------



## beautress

Today, I loaded "beautiful new quilts" into the search engine and had this fabulous result:








It takes a fine strength and good eye for design elements, color, and diversity to create a work like the above. The maker has my kudos.​


----------



## beautress

More "beautiful new quilts..."
As in "New York Beauty!"
It's those catch words we do not anticipate that brings on serendipity...


----------



## beautress

And the maker of the green quilt also does pink...









Oh, my, and not only the piecing she does, but also her use of everything good--value, organization, color, and immersion into a theme that is so awesome.
I am so inspired!
More here: Addicted To Quilts​


----------



## beautress

Oh, I'd like to replicate every quilt posted... so many truly wonderful things in the works of American, Australian, Canadian, British, French, Irish, German, Nederlander, Austrian, Swiss quilters... and so many more. So many unknowns doing such glamorous things these days! 













Whether simple or full of intrigue, Kudos to those who work in such beauty, even when monochromatic breaks out a new avenue of inspiration, simplicity, and sighs of beholders enjoying the eye candy of quilting shows, sharing and caring for recipients of these gems.​


----------



## beautress

This amazing quilt simply added a border that makes it a world all its own with opposites on the color wheel spinning a magic touch in beautyspeak of needlework taken to a new level


----------



## beautress

Shown at Houston annual show





Whimsical Bicycle
by Sally Manke
*****





Receiving Grace
by Elizabeth McDowell Heagy
*****





Just Around the Corner
by Beth Schillig
(Note how the quilting repeats the design!)
*****

Above quilts (and many more super beauties) shown here: Sew Fun 2 Quilt: More Beautiful Quilts
​


----------



## beautress

Loved this quilt from Kim Brackett Book, "Scrap Basket Beauties"


----------



## beautress

Scrap Happy Star Quilt:




I think this one is lovely in every way.


----------



## beautress

Crochet is #2 on this girl's agenda, and here's a new stitch called the braided puff stitch, and some how-to videos. The First, in English, Puff Stitches are in a Horizontal Row:

You have the above primer, this is one that can be done now, except since it's in a foreign language (Spanish), you can go back to count at any time to do vertical rows:

This Third one is a 6-point star repeated and starts with a puff stitch first row rather than using slip stitches and single crochet first row for firmness, it uses the puffs themselves. 
I bet  koshergrl could figure this one out! 
​


----------



## beautress

Here is another approach in English so we can understand it well. It will help you with video #2.

Zig zag puff stitches:
​


----------



## beautress

I was thinking about the outside border on this quilt and went to the source and found this picture, and it seems it may be somewhat textured by another kind of use with a sewing machinem which makes me realize her pattern is worth what is paid to do an exact replica of this lovely scrap happy star:




Scrap Happy Star  Quilt Pattern​


----------



## beautress

While rambling around you tube yesterday, I ran into this pattern and am about 3/4ths finished with this textured hats - I seem to be lost in a world of texture lately. Ho hum!

​If you crochet traditionally, this hat is a good way to introduce you to "front post" and "back post." I've seen patterns using front and back posts, but never did one, it was just not easy until I saw the above video, which made learning the process easy as pie. I recommend it!


----------



## beautress

^^found this quilt online some time ago^^
And was looking for another charity quilt to work on, and thought it would be nice to take this quilt and simplify it for making a baby quilt. I usually do not use too much black in my work, but I chose a piece of very dark fabric I thought was black, but in the light it takes on an indigo, well a bit darker than indigo look, but not quite charcoal, and as I work colors into it, it appears black. I have to admit that yesterday, I went looking for a blue as beautiful as the one above, but couldn't find that exact color except a close solid but not one with  lights and darks like the above one, which could be flower petals all tossed together. Anyhow, I did some measuring and looking at that quilt, and remembered that I had a tub full of 2.5" cotton quilt fabric cuts the width of materials, with the hopes that I'd quit doing logs and go for a 9-patch fling. Never happened. OK once I did a 9-patch, maybe twice, but it just doesn't light my fire the way working log cabin blocks does. But I like to do something like the above anyhow, so in the next frame, I will show how I arranged the lady's blocks. Oh, and I threw in a dark middle from 2" cuts for the centers, and the blocks had to be cut 6 inches after I measured  the width of the 3-block. I did 7 wide squares and 7 rows of the 11 rows I will be making for a small child or senior quilt. If a senior gets it they will be amused to see little prints of stuffed animals and toys and stuff. <giggle>
My "parts are below in thumbnails as I sliced and diced the picture all up to get an idea what a smaller quilt could be (using edit in pictures):



 

 

 
This last picture just shows I made the quilt smaller, but when I made such large squares, to make them toddler child sized or wheelchair, you have to downsize, and I didn't want them wider than say, 42" with border. I'll be fortunate to achieve that and will have to cut way down on the beautiful, elaborate border the unknown maker constructed to make her amazing quilt. Mine's not quite as breath taking, but I'm not even done with the middle. I have four more rows to make it 7 blocks by 11 blocks, and have the blocks all done, I just got tired after working the morning away, oh, and I forgot to eat and drink anything today.  I think I worked about 10 hours, and I really stuck to it. I tried to leave, but it was like I had to cut this strip, and while at it, sew 3 more blocks, etc. etc. etc. Sometimes I'm just glued to the sewing chair seat.​


----------



## beautress

I just fell in love with this quilt, and after I get done with the 2 I'm working on, this is it.
*sigh* Too little time, too many quilts! 



 
Can't wait to get started on this one. I just drew up a 3x5 card
I may not use the black, gray and whites. I have enough
mustards/yellows, hot pinks, limes, and aquas to do the 5-patch areas on point.​


----------



## beautress

Disappearing Nine Patch quilt: First make 5" squares nine-patch.





2. Cut the nine patch block into 4 blocks by disecting in the exact center north-south and again in the east-west directional center:





Then, you take the new blocks and set them in this fashion and sew together again as below:




The blocks will be about 12 or 13" square.

Arrange 12 squares 3 across and 4 down OR
Arrange 20 squares 4 across and 5 down.​
Video:
​


----------



## HannahBagrich

Give me two!  

Great job! Looks awesome!


----------



## beautress

HannahBagrich said:


> Give me two!
> 
> Great job! Looks awesome!


Thanks, Hannah, and welcome to USMB. I see you haven't been here long, so I hope you find things you enjoy about the board. When you get tired of duking it out on political junk, we have shelter places that are more resemblant to the real world than silly city politics in which we bash each other's brains out for the certainty we are correct, when actually, we have people willing to do anything to destroy the Constitution, because they can't feel what the founders felt when denied basic human acknowledgment from thousands of miles away. Sometimes the best we can do out there is to bite our nails, then try to leave enough for a nail file to smooth out the rough places. Charity quilting is my refuge from the fray that I cannot even influence on my best days. You get used to it. There's also threads on poetry, or you can start your own writing path  in the "Writing" under the "hobbies" forums, also share music you're listening to by transferring videos from youtube. I'm not sure that if music is your forte if you can transfer stuff you're singing, and you might not want to if you haven't copyrighted it at the Library of Congress, USA. I don't write books anymore, so I don't have the need any longer, and my 2-year-old, never been used copier sits there because the instructions are so tiny my old eyes cannot see the instructional print that was reduced to a smaller size than 3x5 cards. That's pinching the penny until the customer says "no more," imho, and I'm not buying any more dust-collectors from them. /flimsy excuses


----------



## beautress

My half-hex template for cutting jelly rolls (I hope!) arrived in the mail, and I just now opened it up and it looks like it finishes 2.5", not cuts that way, but where is a ruler when you need one? lol

I don't care. I'll do what I have to do in order to do some of the fun stuff I found to do with a half-hex template online. I'll show some pics below:


 

 


 ​


----------



## beautress

Half-Hexagon Quilts

















 ​


----------



## beautress

And even more stuff.








..
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	













Wowie and Zowie! Pictures, even!


----------



## beautress

Shades of Spirographology! It's sorta hexagonal....





Did I say hexagonal? Okay, times two... ​


----------



## beautress

Oh, this is good. It's a half-hex, tesselated pinwheel. I'd never have guessed it did I not see the picture below!





Now, we'll have to think up a way to make this snap, crackle, pop fast! hmmmm.​


----------



## HannahBagrich

beautress said:


> I just fell in love with this quilt, and after I get done with the 2 I'm working on, this is it.
> *sigh* Too little time, too many quilts!
> 
> View attachment 301383
> Can't wait to get started on this one. I just drew up a 3x5 card
> I may not use the black, gray and whites. I have enough
> mustards/yellows, hot pinks, limes, and aquas to do the 5-patch areas on point.​




This quilt is so beautiful. I absolutely love it! It's bright, cheerful and put together so nicely!

It would be so great to make something similar for my little one's playpen. We've got this one: Ingenuity Smart and Simple Playard Review (UPDATED) 2019 But I'm not sure if it is a proper fit.


----------



## beautress

HannahBagrich said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> I just fell in love with this quilt, and after I get done with the 2 I'm working on, this is it.
> *sigh* Too little time, too many quilts!
> 
> View attachment 301383
> Can't wait to get started on this one. I just drew up a 3x5 card
> I may not use the black, gray and whites. I have enough
> mustards/yellows, hot pinks, limes, and aquas to do the 5-patch areas on point.​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This quilt is so beautiful. I absolutely love it! It's bright, cheerful and put together so nicely!
> 
> It would be so great to make something similar for my little one's playpen. We've got this one: Ingenuity Smart and Simple Playard Review (UPDATED) 2019 But I'm not sure if it is a proper fit.
Click to expand...

Get a 3x5 card and a box in which to put information. Hopefully you have a measuring device or a yardstick and can measure it in inches or centimeters, whichever is your preference. Is your playpen a square meter or yard or other size? How old is the child? Will your 40 hours of work (more or less) Keep up with the child's size for 3 years after it is completed? How large an area do you wish to cover, and will the child be wrapped as swaddling or be on top of a comfy mattress? Do you wish it to lap over and tuck under the mattress or pad on the floor of the playpen, if there is one? Keep in mind your child is a 3-dimensional being and could be a kicker if the playpen is ever used to double as a bed for naps or overnight. Write the measurement of the floor of the mat at the bottom of the playpen. If you are wanting to tuck ends under, add 12" all the way around (or 24" + measurement top and bottom to lap edges of quilt under and still have room for the little 3-D bouncer kid.  If the mattress is square, side measurements should also be 24" wider than the mat or mattress cushion at bottom. If the quilt is to be a thin one with a flanellette batt, you may wish to double its size if you have very cold winters, and use all cotton batts, fronts and backs.

If you've ever read a fire marshall's manual, you will understand that polyester and synthetic materials used in any layer of your quilt can be quite lethal upon ignition and dispersion of poisons that are released before the poly molecules become flames, and your baby will die of inhalation if you fill you home with polyresins and a fire breaks out. Not to worry too much, though, because 2% of the population has a serious fire and 98% do not, and the 2% are mainly due to falling asleep while smoking in bed or leaving a burner on in the kitchen "for just a minute" and then forgetting it's on until you smell the curtains going up. *sigh* 

Better safe than sorry, I say. When the house is half burnt and there is still a person inside, he is probably dead from polyresin/manmade chemicals in paints, liquid cleaners, and aerosol poisons. If you have kept chemicals in explosion and fireproof containers sealed by precision of metals fit together, you have a better chance of survival of little ones and yourself, and chances are you've skirted your small one outside before things start exploding. Some polyresins are lethal within one minute of ignition; others, the time is a fraction of a minute, and we're speaking in seconds. If you read a fire marshall's manual on burning vegetable matter and burning chemical matter, you will "get it." I asked the fire marshall what is the safest thing you can do about a house fire, and he said there is something you can do. Be sure all your fire alarms have current batteries in them and you know where the fire extinguishers are in every floor of the house, condominium, or apartment, and that the extinguishers are checked out by the fire department every 3 years. They may refer you to a fire service if you ask them nicely. And no, it's not free. But if you smoke, you owe it to your child that in case you fall asleep with a non-extinguished cigarette burning, that is the biggest threat known to a child. Other threats could be old and faulty wiring near a heater, or use of gas in water heaters, stoves, fireplaces, etc.

Another 3x5 card might tell you where you put the fire extinguishers and what years in the future you need to take them to the fire checking service and make sure they still work, because they barely last their promises these days of what's written on the outside, which may not coincide with your purchase date.

The other way to protect your family from a house fire is to stop smoking while the children are still at home. My mother didn't stop smoking, so my baby brother and sister lost their mother when she was 47 years old and they were 11 and 12, respectively.  She died of an anurism broughton by chemicals in her cigarettes, not a house fire. Cigarettes can be a curse to a long enough life to see your kids graduate from high school. By the time she cut down her 3 packs a day down to 1 a day, her aneurism had already been diagnosed and burst the day she went swimming in the pool dad had built, and the pressure assisted its burst. She passed 3 days later in a small neighborhood hospital, but would have been a vegetable had she survived back in 1973 when they had no cure except prevention, which she refused due to her 30-year habit.

Just sayin'. If you wish to avoid a plastic container for your 3x5 cards, that will poison you upon ignition in an accidental house fire, invest a little more in a metal one at a business supply store, if they have one, or troll the antique stores till you find a metal one that will do no further damage in such a 2% chance situation for life. The percentage is somewhat lower if both parents neither smoke tobacco nor cannabis (equals in a fire risk) while raising a family.


----------



## beautress

Yellow quilts


----------



## beautress

A few yellow quilts I collected from others online who make quilts and tops...



Oh, my goodness. This quilt followed me to the sewing room, but all I had precut 2.5" were greens, so I went fornot the gold, but the green! lol And while I was sewing gree, I thought how lovely it would be if March and April would come sooner, so I could indulge in the beautiful spring Texas roadside flowers like bluebonnets, paintbrushes, etc., so after I finished piecing the green squares in the center, instead of using a white white, I found this absolutely yummy white background with roadside flowers we see--paintbrushes, bluebonnets, daisies, bluebonnets, and bluebonnets, and bluebonnets...  Ok, really there was a balance of all kinds of pretty bloomers, so the print was huge, so I cut huge strips! and by the time I got that done, well, there was another print that dominated with green and paintbrushes, pink lupines, bluebonnets, daisies, and bluebonnets...so by the time I got that piece around, it was more than big enough, but nope, I had already cut 5 pieces of dark green and darker green stripes for a lovely border, then added more regular green after that. It took an evening to put the squares together, and the next morning to do the borders before I went to the doctors for asthma treatment. She also noticed I wasbearing ldls and high cholesterol out the wazoo, and I'm allergic to all commercially available cholesterol-lowering drugs. Don't know why, so if I kick the can, they'll find me sleeping by the sewing machine, fabrics stacked everywhere...5 or 6 months later. I'm pretty shy, and only travel to the quilt store that hosts our guild's charity bees where I try to deliver as many quilts as I make in a month. I noticed they had basted and put batting in November's lot of 10 quilts, but the blue ones delivered early in January were still neatly folded for people to pick up and baste, or take the already-basted ones to quilt. I did 30 quilts in 4 months, and it looks like a dozen at least of that 3 groups were either done or went home with guild members at the last meeting. Sometimes they don't have enough quilters, but there are about 120 members in our guild, so hopefully a few of them will take pity on the little ones and do the quilting since I cannot without severe cramping and issues of advanced age.
The green quilt looks so lovely to me. I hope whoever gets to quilt that one gets a premonition of how beautiful I hope its going to be this year when the bluebonnets are in full blues and to die for. *sigh*

Oh, the center is 8x8 or about sixteen inches square, and mine turned out to be about 9 by 14, or eighteen by 28 inches, and about 1 out of 6 or 7 squares were zoo animals from a green background child's print that was just too cute. Whoever made those animals sure made them happy-looking, which is what children love. And sometimes you let the fabric talk. The only challenge I really had was to make the animals with heads directionally as if you were looking the animal straight on, head at top, feet at the ground. And both flower prints were one-ways, too, meaning they had stems that came from below to rise to the end of the stem that had a flower on top. For some reason, the flowers didn't have to be resewn, except once I started and had the wrong side up, so I only had to rip out half a seam due to sleeping at the wheel while piecing the quilt together. 

That yellow quilt with the squares. I just gotta cut some 2.5" yellow squares and put them somewhere and make a little quilt center with them. Not sure what to do around the outside, except I found this terrific yellow fabric with red floralesque butterflies on it that's really a dynamite piece of fabric. I guess I could always piano-key a red border.

Well all I found was this yellow quilt with green 9-patches, but *green piano key outside border!*



Goodness, I already have squares the right size for those 9-patch green squares, yellow bright fabric for outside the squares, and somewhere I have a lot of green 1.5" strips to more than make a border like the one above (we call it piano keys) in quilting.


----------



## beautress

I'm gonna try and find a red piano key border. 

This is all I could find, but there's more than red in the piano key outside border, here:





Also rans:
(not quite piano keys)





Well, this chinese coins quilt could have made a piano key border around a small quilt





Well, again, almost:




So much for ever finding an all-red piano key border, although I've made at lest 2 red piano key borders in the last 5 years. lol​


----------



## beautress

Now, I am just searching "quilts with a piano key border, and this is what shows up today:

Beautiful modern quilt with piano key border





A lot of work went into this little gem:





This quilt got a "best machine quilting" award:





Occasionally, if you like music quilts, piano key fabric can be found every couple of years or so:




They look like this when you make them:





I found a similar fabric that went around the... ?green quilt? Well, it's in the stack, No, it was the quilt that had the big black squares and black bars in it. That's the one I found a blue music fabric for and decided it also needed a piano key outside, so what's above is close to what my outside border looks like, except that I put something else outside of that. hmmm, I just finished it this morning, too, and made a red strip quilt top after it was done and a nap. lol

This pineapple quilt is so well bordered... I love it:





​


----------



## beautress

No words, just piano key borders...


----------



## beautress

Oh, Piano Key Borders, forever!


----------



## beautress

What a lovely Christmas quilt...Almost piano keys, but she used squares on the border. 





Stacks of chinese coins, and surprise! piano key border between the orange strips:













​


----------



## beautress

I Located and found the Christmas quilt, which she called "Christmas Strings:





 and its maker later made this quilt with the piano key border from her leftovers:




And one of the best borders of all is simply squares, but oh, how they sparkle...





These jewels were found here: Super Stash Bowl


----------



## beautress

Her man is a guitarist;





Oh, I gotta make this quilt:





This is the quilt I put the real piano key fabric around. I did not use the on point little squares. Mine came out pretty but wasn't quite the amount of work because of having three yards of rows and rows of black and white piano keys:


----------



## beautress

Speaking of music quilts...


----------



## beautress

Music themed quilts


----------



## beautress

Love the optical illusions in this quilt entitled "Mirror, Mirror"
It's a beautiful idea and looks so easy to do on youtube.


----------



## beautress

I spent all afternoon looking for small projects to help a friend with their Church-supporting fund raising with a crafts sale. Wow, got more than i bargained for! I will try to post some of the cute stuff here if anyone wants to see what bazaars are doing right now, if you have a fundraiser at your area. A lot of the buildings are old and need new roofs, and the population has gone from everyone to senior groups, it seems. Some pics the craft finding on the internet:

State maps are always good sellers. This one is way cute:


 
I also have a way to transfer small state shapes onto 8" potholders, etc.




I have some small map pictures, too such that when you use a fabric frame around the state, the work is about 8" square, just right for a potholder. I just add 8 more layers, and it's pretty sure to keep your hands from burning  when you pick out  a hot skillet from the oven.​

​


----------



## beautress

This folded fabric would make a great potholder or resting pad for placing on the table under a hot dish.


----------



## beautress

If the bazaar is in the early fall, this design would be cute as a placemat, tea towel decoration, or as a table topper:


----------



## beautress

fabric frames, zip bags with lace zips, tote bags, place mats with front pouches on front to hold sewing machine supplies,​She suggests make things people who come to the bazaar would like-- put doll clothes on a made up mini-clothes-line.


----------



## beautress

This one shows "ear bud pouches."






​


----------



## beautress

Sewing Machine Matt:









Other ideas:














​


----------



## beautress

Skinny  notepads (they're really pretty) from ONE dollar tree notebook:

Other paper craft note pads can be made to look like this:


----------



## beautress

At last! I found a brick quilt with blue mortar!  Unfortunately, not all its squares are red on white prints. *sigh* You can't have everything. Most mortar is the color white, grey, beige, or a light color:




















​


----------



## beautress

Finished the postage stamp with borders quilt this morning, I'll try and find a close one to what I did. Mine are just everything thrown into the center square/rectangle, then a fire border, then bricks all around the fire, and a water border on the outside, well, it wa supposed to be water, but all I found was a paintbrush cleaner print--really, it was. <giggle>
Bing postage stamp finds:]

(Oh, if I'd only done this it would have been done yesterday!)






(Oh, if I'd only done that, I'd have something to do for a couple of months, maybe three...)





Oh, my the artists have taken over the postage stamp quilt fad!!!






And those gals...giving away my construction secrets. lol


----------



## beautress

Well, finally! I found a baby quilt kind of like the one I completed today, except...




My postage stamps are smaller, and I have more squares in my quilt than that one, because instead of 1 row of squares in the second row, I have 4 rows on top and 4 rows on bottom, so as the child grows, it's toes will still be warm for several years. But this orange one is so compelling, I'm tempted to rummage through stuff and find all my orange scraps. that should take about a year of Sundays. I gotta reorganize my several rooms of stashes. Most of my postage stamps are whatever, whenever, are different colors, values, tones, hues, shades, neutrals, brights, and lights.​


----------



## beautress

This one is more representative of the kind of stash I have: lots of darks as well as lights, though:





And I love this quilt, which I just found:




I posted it while ago, but lost it in the shuffle. Sorry.​


----------



## beautress

More postage stamp quilts...


----------



## beautress

Some orange quilts...


----------



## beautress

I found some zig-zag placemats at Youtube today:
(notes)
2 3/4 yards of backing is needed.
You need 48 five-inch squares for tops of 4 mats.
(Or a 42-square 5" charm packs plus 6 more 5-inch squares from back)

Cut 18" squares for napkins. hem with 1/4"+1/4" folds
Quilter's pins, rotary cutter, 24 x 30" mat
matching or a neutral thread color, 40 or 50 weight
four 16"x 20" backs and batts (thin-nish, 80x20" or white flannel)
and thread to match, 1/4" sewing foot on machine helps.
​


----------



## beautress

Other zig-zag works (table runners, etc.) for color ideas for placemats:


----------



## beautress

I was still under the weather a little today, which is Sunday Feb. 16, so I just thought putting a couple of those adult bibs together would be a good thing to do, and one has cars on it and the other is a geological rock pattern that was in turquoise and lime colors. Also found the above zig-zag bordered placemats and napkin set, and I may make some with using all kinds of fabrics. I have enough 2.5" strips cut to make 12 scrap quilts and 50 placemats. lol But so does everyone else, I bet, soit would be a challenge to do all that. At one point after lunch, I got to thinking it was Monday because with running a slight fever, I don't dare go to church where most of the people are older, and could catch something, which I would hate if it was caught by shaking my hand. I counted 8 quilts to give to charity, and now I have to make two baby girl tops and one baby boy top for people in my family's kids' kids. 

And living alone, I'm hungry, so I'm going to make the steak I bought at the grocer's or else it's going to go bad. I also bought a few potatoes that I could make into potato salad, and some green veggies in the freezer to balance out the meat and potatoes. I'm a little worried about stuff, because once again, my lawyer dropped the ball of getting names changed on important papers and stock accounts. I am out of water at the house because I don't have funds to pay for a new pump, which takes workers all day to pull up the pipes and check out what's wrong. It was supposed to have been fixed 18 months ago when they replaced the pump, but this one went out. It feels like a horror show, because the money is there, but it's not accessable until the attorney gets things transfered from my husband's name to mine. He died almost four years ago, and I've been waiting a year for the lawyer's action. I just don't know what to do, because if a large bill is drafted against my account, it will bounce like a rubber ball. Social security isn't certain here, and during the Obama administration, twice they withheld our checks, but it wasn't too bad then because there was still money left in our account from when my husband socked it away while he was living. Apparently I have more bills than the social security pays for. And the powers that be raised school taxes from $2,000 to $4,000 in less than 5 years when illegals started crossing the borders and schools in border states had to come up with money from somewhere. So county taxes all toll are up 40% from when we purchased our American dream place 10 years ago. I swore off living in a neighborhood when our bird feeder started attracting pigeons and the neighbors were all up in arms about it because someone delivered a lecture to the rotary club on pigeon diseases, and you know, there hadn't been an outbreak of pigeon fever for over 50 years there, when records started being kept. Even so, they were certain those pigeons would bring disease to our remote location in Wyoming, so 2 of them landed on my husband like ugly on an ape, and I couldn't even look across the street at the mean neighbors after that, so I took down all the bird feeders and said farewell to the hobby that brought the joy of birdsong to my yard. And in spite of themselves, I loved the pigeons, too. They have such loving eyes, and they're not ever afraid of people and go about their business while being adored and admired by people like me. On 14 acres, nobody is even close enough to see you have bird feeders, and besides, they're too busy with thier own live stock to be outraged that the neighbor loves to watch colorful songbirds of the wild, because they do, too. Pigeons don't collect in the country, it seems, but cardinals and jays certainly do if you feed regularly the stuff they like. 
This takes 48 minutes +
​


----------



## beautress

Bird happy quilts... This one has a cardinal similar to the one in the video above.


----------



## beautress




----------



## beautress

This one's kinda nice...


----------



## beautress

This one is like the one above, I think.


----------



## beautress

I just love the little birdies...


----------



## beautress

Free paper pieced birds, online:











Other free piecing patterns, online: Free Paper Piecing Patterns Library


----------



## beautress

I gotta get back to that sewing room! Sew many quilts to make, so little time... *sigh*

Ok, I found a page with embroidered birds... I heart them. \






It has a printable pattern, too. "PDF"
Well it went from being "free" to being "pay." lol sorry. I found some printables, though.


----------



## beautress




----------



## beautress

Good busy morning, all.  Today is the day before our charity quilters meet. I'm going to deliver the 8 quilts and 2 senior bibs I finished this past month.  I have some senior issues, so please pray for me so I will still be able to deliver quilt tops to my guild sisters in a timely way, because I have a house full of fabrics and a couple of good sewing machines and thread coming out of the wazoo.  I love to piece the little tops and pray for the poor over them.I guess I definitely need prayer support to continue of those who believe in overcoming adversity.

There are 8 small quilt tops in the pile and 2 senior bibs in my pile, I'm shooting for 10 tops and 4 bibs by the end of the day. This afternoon, with a little bit of luck, I can finish 2 more I have started but haven't put the borders on yet. I also have 2 cheater quilts that I could ready for the taking to start off the March pile. If you're a praying person, please say a little prayer that things get squared away soon to prevent worries about my little senior shortcomings.  Well, Gotta get to the quilting room and leave a poem or two at Haiku. I pray for the nation today and hope you will too.

"Cheater quilts" are quilts that are printed, but you have to add a border and/or sashing depending on the cheater print you bought. One of them has silly cats on it and the other has pretty butterflies. I have yards and yards of bird print squares that could be worked, but they so don't look like something a little child would love.to have unless I beefed up the sashing with some hot little colors. Still, the somber nature tones might not ring anyone's bells. 

/solilquy finished
Patriotic bricks and mortar quilts:


















Some have no mortar:









​


----------



## beautress

And nobody's patriotic brick quilt looks like the red and white brick with royal blue mortar that is hanging unfinished on my design wall... *sigh* I have a hundred red on white background quilt scraps/stash, and some solid royal blue for sashing. The bricks are mostly sewn on, but it's not tall enough to be a crib-sized quilt yet (A crib quilt is 60x40, give or take a few inches either way.) Oh, I love the quilt so far, but finishing it will not be quick enough to do what I have to do to get these quilts to the charity bee closet this afternoon.


----------



## beautress

On Monday, I delivered 10 quilts and 2 senior bibs. I was hanging on to two beautiful quilts for family, but decided to make 2 more for my family and do what my goal was for the charity bees. Darn, they were cute. One was the third ship I was saving to look at next time I did a quit of a ship like the log ones I make, but I still have my original picture from a few years back when I did the first one. I ought to have worked just a little bit harder, and spent the last couple of days making futile posts after the President Trump was acquitted of impeachment charges, and I just wasted time. It's late Friday, I'm still under the weather, but I started another quilt because I haven't done a log quilt since the first 2 weeks in January? Is that right? I think it is. 

Well, I haven't made a green quilt in a while, and thought I'd try and get some blarney going for St. Patrick's day quilt fest of the charity bees. I started with three inch squares in the center and have already laid down the first two lights which are chartreuse to lime lights, and plan on pulling out some dark green strips for the next 2 dark sides. I found nothing like this, as usual, but just for the heck of it here are some close but no cigar green quilts of logs/strips and whatever.


----------



## beautress

Got that green quilt done. It doesn't look like anything above, and it's tiny enough to be a hugs quilt, probably about 28x40". It's just real simple, with a large bright green-green center and cute everything-but-the-kitchen-sink diverse prints in a green thema, surrounded by the same green-green on the first border and a beautiful pastel cheerful circular florals that would blend right in with a pastel nursery. It's kind of dispersively patterned, but the differences in visual texture of the samo-samo squares seem conversational without the speech, if you know what I mean. 

Anyway, it was fun and it's forming the base of the stack for the next 9 small hugs quilts for charity.

This is as close as I could come--big centers, 12 blocks 3x4, but mine is all greens, no blue. The quilt below, which I just found online uses 5 prints only, but the inner border is the same as the center, but no print outside the center is used more than once in the squares. I used 49 different fabrics, the one below 5. Even so, the total greens were fun to use and place here and there, and while I would love to use the one below, I have 2 objectives this month--to use some of the cheater quilt fabric I have accumulated, and in particular the animal life ones--birds, butterflies, cats, etc. One other similarity in this quilt and mine is the fields and furrows alignment of the 12 squares (diagonal row appearance). She used darker blues and in-your-face beautiful limes. I used light limes with diversity here and there, and very dark greens, alternating with some loden greens and deep dark shadowy sprucy greens to contrast with the green-green centers. I can't believe, however that I found a quilt with that many similarities to the one I actually finished that looks so different due to a closer to anachromatic, whereas the one below is quite bicolor.


I have a weird discipline. If I started another series of log cabin quilts, I'd make more quilts, but I'd spend a year making 100 quilts, which would contribute to my already atrocious housekeeping due to focusing on charity to the small babies in our community who are born into poverty of fatherless families, quite often, or student parents who have to scrimp, save, miss a semester here and there to fund each other, with only minimum wage jobs most likely. Bless the ones who keep carrying babies and having them. They're our nation's future, and they will have a life of hard work in the 20 years ahead until their little ones can fend for themselves as adults. That's why I pray over each and every quilt and for its recipient. Their parents need devotion to their children, determination to be parents to that or those children they make, and loyalty to each other for life. Lucky me, in spite of hardships, my parents were true to each other for life. And I was the second born and will likely outlive all the others in spite of my allergy issues, which I now control with diet and supplements that help that cause, based on studies of that particular nutrient that prove true to fight ordinary life-enders--such as cancer, COPD, RA (arthritis that is near unbearable) and tummy troubles that can be checked by an ordinary age-appropriate vitamin taken daily at the start of each day. Oh, that's so irrelevant to quilting, except to hope I can use up all that fabric in my house, of which I have enough to last for 30 years if I make 10 quilts a month which is 30x10x12 = whatever. Ok, I'll do the math: 3,600 quilts. (huff, puff, huff puff!) That means I have to take care of the eyes for vision, exercise to keep able, and vitamins that support immunity and life itself. Sewing quilts is very sedentery, so you have to take a walk and stretch for about a half hour a day at least. And I have to stay healthy past the age of 100 to do this. Plus, I won't have a boyfriend, because who would put up with a wife with a messy house, determination to spend 4 or 5 hours a day in front of the cutting table, sewing machine, etc? lol
Here's a toast to green quilts and not thinking about how nice it would be to have a caring man around the house who'd put up with my jazz:


----------



## beautress

Got the inner border done on the lime and blue quilt. I can't seem to locate that piece of bluebonnets fabric I was going to use on the border... another day, another day.

Oh, I found the cutest quilt this morning. I'm making a new file on quilts I see on the web, and this is the most creative fan quilt I've ever had the joy of running across.

I went to her website and she had instructions on this unique fan quilt: Twirling Fans QAL – Color Girl Quilts by Sharon McConnell

I just think it's an amazing work, look at that quilting!


----------



## beautress

I kept running into these amazing fan quilts this morning. I'll share some of them:


----------



## beautress

But I ran into another quilt in which the maker used the Stack n Whack method. I just couldn't figure it out until I ran into one calling it "Stack and Whack". I just never thought of using the stack and whack method on a fan quilt. Be blessed when you see them:


----------



## beautress

This fan quilt looks too easy, kind of like a paper fan, so I'm calling it the paper fan quilt:




It's made by a special ruler, and the above quilt is all out of Moda's fabrics. They're a quilt company in Texas, and I used to have the best choices from the Moda representative who visited my shop in Wyoming years ago. And that print tells me Moda is still putting out prettier fabrics this year than last year, when you didn't think anything could possibly be more beautiful. Those were the days! *sigh*
There's not only a picture of the ruler they used to make these "paper fans" but there's pictures of this and other quilts you can do with the dresden ruler. I've had a similar piece of equipment among my souvenirs, but never realized you could work such a cute and simple baby quilt out of just 3 pieces! How delightful!
Easy Dresden Ruler​


----------



## beautress

Sometimes you run into a quilting video that is just flat-out fun. This one qualifies. It has nothing to do with anything I have ever done with the exception of "back art" which I used to do with the small amount of fabrics I had leftover from any given project, and since I owned and operated my own store, I never had much left over since if I needed a 2x12" piece for 6 squares, I cut a 2" strip, which would leave about a 2x30" strip here and there from a few fabrics, and that usually would stretch into one diagonal 6" wide strip with backing cut on the diagonal to accommodate the backing needed. That often resulted in miscalculation and more leftovers! lol. So my scrap pile grew, but at least the scraps were 45" widths, most of the time, which were easy to cut into my log cabin stash of 1.5" strips and my "postage stamp" strips, which were generally 1.75" strips. Unfortunately, I have too many straps to coordinate and people who have "helped" me organize the strips cannot readily tell the difference between a one-and-a-half inch strip and a one-and-three-quarters-inch strip. lol. So, one "helper wound up with a bushel of mixed strips that I still haven't sorted out yet, and I can only blame myself for not writing out a pictorial diagram to show  a 1.5" length and a 1.75" length which would have resulted in 2 piles rather than a bushel of unmatched strips. 

Here's the delightful video, and she said something significant: "Done is better than perfect." Oh, how true that is! If you've never made a quilt before and are not aware that some "kits" have more leftovers than others, this inspirational video of a dream-come-true experienced quilter might leave you not getting it about the leftover issue from too many projects.
​


----------



## beautress

Wow, you get quilts no matter what you put in the search engine! Couldn't think of anything better, so I loaded "Wednesday Homemade Quilts" into Bing! and here's just a few of the different things pulled up. (Wednesday must be a pretty good day for quilting.)


----------



## beautress

More Wednesday homemade quilts...


----------



## beautress

Wow. This was like going to the Tall Pines quilt guild meeting and seeing all the lovely quilts at show and tell! Whoa!


----------



## beautress

Made some more bibs for the friend's church spring sale that's next month, I think, but am not sure... and got to thinking about older children and how they often become enchanted by one area or another of the zoo. So I looked up "zoo quilts" today, and the quilts are so precious, because I love the animals a lot for some strange reason, and always have since zoos became a place the kids liked when they were young.
So here's what some other people have done with quilts. (I wrote an ABC Animals book in or around 1988-89.) It has 44 animals in it, and I felt it never got quite finished since there are so many animals that are so different from any other creature in the world. Oh, well, it was what it was once upon a time.
"Zoo quilts"


----------



## beautress

zoo quilts from bing!


----------



## beautress

Almost St. Paddy's day--just 5 more days...

And other projects...


----------



## beautress

Oh, haven't been here for awhile. I am currently working on a red strip quilt, and my fiance has requested a new building to hold my massive supply of fabrics. It's going to be 24x30' and is scheduled to go up the week of 10/19/20. Half of my fabrics have been placed in clear bins, so I need to get the rest of them stored and ready to be put in my fabric barn. The next few weeks are going to be a challenge. But at least the downstairs is now well, nice.


----------



## daveman

beautress said:


> Oh, haven't been here for awhile. I am currently working on a red strip quilt, and my fiance has requested a new building to hold my massive supply of fabrics. It's going to be 24x30' and is scheduled to go up the week of 10/19/20. Half of my fabrics have been placed in clear bins, so I need to get the rest of them stored and ready to be put in my fabric barn. The next few weeks are going to be a challenge. But at least the downstairs is now well, nice.


A fabric barn.  A barn.  For fabric.

You, my dear, are hard core.


----------



## beautress

beautress said:


> daveman said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, haven't been here for awhile. I am currently working on a red strip quilt, and my fiance has requested a new building to hold my massive supply of fabrics. It's going to be 24x30' and is scheduled to go up the week of 10/19/20. Half of my fabrics have been placed in clear bins, so I need to get the rest of them stored and ready to be put in my fabric barn. The next few weeks are going to be a challenge. But at least the downstairs is now well, nice.
> 
> 
> 
> A fabric barn.  A barn.  For fabric.
> 
> You, my dear, are hard core.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Well, I confess that I own a quilt store in Wyoming, and left it in the care of a trusted employee with the hope it would keep people in a small town with a unique store that would advantage local quilters with art fabrics and choices. It never made much and still doesn't, but it was my gift to loving friends who deserved a quilt store with a broad range of colors hues, shades pastels, and dusty atmospheric colors of mountain and western feelings that make a quilt a celebration for its recipient.
> 
> I was weary of 15 + years of painful fibromyalgia exacerbated by below zero chill factors in the Rockies, and wanted to retire in my home state where all my brothers and sisters lived. My husband succumbed to issues of dementia 4.5 years ago, and our warm weather and a surgery took away fibro extreme pain. Yes, I have a lot of fabric, but have made several hundred quilt tops that my quilt sisters quilted for the care center that serves aids babies, children of single moms, and the more artistic ones are frequently sold for quilt educational for members in our 120 member Tall Pines Quilt Guild. Its a happy pastime, and with much of my supplies in storage, it is hard to get anything done, so there sit 5 rows of intricate red strip work to put together in vertical rows whenever I can find my rotary cutter and cutting mat simultaneously. <giggle>
Click to expand...


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Got the inner border done on the lime and blue quilt. I can't seem to locate that piece of bluebonnets fabric I was going to use on the border... another day, another day.
> 
> Oh, I found the cutest quilt this morning. I'm making a new file on quilts I see on the web, and this is the most creative fan quilt I've ever had the joy of running across.
> 
> I went to her website and she had instructions on this unique fan quilt: Twirling Fans QAL – Color Girl Quilts by Sharon McConnell
> 
> I just think it's an amazing work, look at that quilting!
> 
> View attachment 308659​


This really gets my attention.  I love the overlap of circles.  You get the color dancing, and the white stitched background pulls it all in.  Yes, this is amazing.  Thank you.


----------



## beautress

Finished the "Red Rain" quilt with a charming new floral red white and blue print that hopefully will cheer up a baby crib somewhere if I ever get it done.

My goal today is to fill 2 boxes from the room I sleep in since my husband died 4 and a half years ago on the 13th of this December. I can picture him in heaven cheering up the angels with his sense of humor in these times of what appears to be a stolen election all over the map. I need to quit thinking about it and get back to making a joyful series of child quilts from designs I made and published of 42 or 43 naive cartoons for people who wanted to make an animal quilt for a child. Except I have a few log cabin strips, enough to make at least a dozen quilts. So see ya later..


----------



## miketx

beautress said:


> Finished the "Red Rain" quilt with a charming new floral red white and blue print that hopefully will cheer up a baby crib somewhere if I ever get it done.
> 
> My goal today is to fill 2 boxes from the room I sleep in since my husband died 4 and a half years ago on the 13th of this December. I can picture him in heaven cheering up the angels with his sense of humor in these times of what appears to be a stolen election all over the map. I need to quit thinking about it and get back to making a joyful series of child quilts from designs I made and published of 42 or 43 naive cartoons for people who wanted to make an animal quilt for a child. Except I have a few log cabin strips, enough to make at least a dozen quilts. So see ya later..


My wife made me a really nice one that I use when I can. When I can is when the cat doesn't have it.


----------



## Erinwltr

Hi beautress,

Hope you are doing well.  What's the next quilt project?


----------



## beautress

miketx said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> Finished the "Red Rain" quilt with a charming new floral red white and blue print that hopefully will cheer up a baby crib somewhere if I ever get it done.
> 
> My goal today is to fill 2 boxes from the room I sleep in since my husband died 4 and a half years ago on the 13th of this December. I can picture him in heaven cheering up the angels with his sense of humor in these times of what appears to be a stolen election all over the map. I need to quit thinking about it and get back to making a joyful series of child quilts from designs I made and published of 42 or 43 naive cartoons for people who wanted to make an animal quilt for a child. Except I have a few log cabin strips, enough to make at least a dozen quilts. So see ya later..
> 
> 
> 
> My wife made me a really nice one that I use when I can. When I can is when the cat doesn't have it.
Click to expand...

Your cat and my Ms. Piccalo sound like close relatives. They own property right under our human noses. Lol!


----------



## beautress

Erinwltr said:


> Hi beautress,
> 
> Hope you are doing well.  What's the next quilt project?


Hi, Erinwltr. I was thinking about a green and yellow log cabin, but opened a drawer and found 17 seven inch squares with over a dozen logs each in them, but could add more squares to make it 4x6 (24) by adding 7 more or 5x7 (35) by adding 18 squares or make the 17 all green squares into a leafy tree and figure on paper the tree trunk, some blue sky squares, a green grass floor, toss in a brown log cabin in log cabin squares to make a house with a row of red squares for a roof....nah, what newborn needs a full size bed quilt...  Think I'll stick with the all green log cabin squares in a size that would be all green leafy. Somebody out there who needs a quilt for an Irish newborn might like the all leafy green one. I have plenty of green strips to make more than one quilt but will likely just make another quick one and have already sewn 18 q.5-inch pairs in the centers. Oh time flies and will go to the kitchen to make lunch. Happy weekend, all.


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Erinwltr said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi beautress,
> 
> Hope you are doing well.  What's the next quilt project?
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Erinwltr. I was thinking about a green and yellow log cabin, but opened a drawer and found 17 seven inch squares with over a dozen logs each in them, but could add more squares to make it 4x6 (24) by adding 7 more or 5x7 (35) by adding 18 squares or make the 17 all green squares into a leafy tree and figure on paper the tree trunk, some blue sky squares, a green grass floor, toss in a brown log cabin in log cabin squares to make a house with a row of red squares for a roof....nah, what newborn needs a full size bed quilt...  Think I'll stick with the all green log cabin squares in a size that would be all green leafy. Somebody out there who needs a quilt for an Irish newborn might like the all leafy green one. I have plenty of green strips to make more than one quilt but will likely just make another quick one and have already sewn 18 q.5-inch pairs in the centers. Oh time flies and will go to the kitchen to make lunch. Happy weekend, all.
Click to expand...

Wonderful.  Can you do a " green and yellow log cabin "  on the border and do an Impreissonist mosaic in the rest?


----------



## beautress

Erinwltr said:


> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Erinwltr said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi beautress,
> 
> Hope you are doing well.  What's the next quilt project?
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Erinwltr. I was thinking about a green and yellow log cabin, but opened a drawer and found 17 seven inch squares with over a dozen logs each in them, but could add more squares to make it 4x6 (24) by adding 7 more or 5x7 (35) by adding 18 squares or make the 17 all green squares into a leafy tree and figure on paper the tree trunk, some blue sky squares, a green grass floor, toss in a brown log cabin in log cabin squares to make a house with a row of red squares for a roof....nah, what newborn needs a full size bed quilt...  Think I'll stick with the all green log cabin squares in a size that would be all green leafy. Somebody out there who needs a quilt for an Irish newborn might like the all leafy green one. I have plenty of green strips to make more than one quilt but will likely just make another quick one and have already sewn 18 q.5-inch pairs in the centers. Oh time flies and will go to the kitchen to make lunch. Happy weekend, all.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Wonderful.  Can you do a " green and yellow log cabin "  on the border and do an Impreissonist mosaic in the rest?
Click to expand...

The first 2 pieces are green. The die is cast on this quilt. I did yellow lights on every other hue in the rainbow at some time past a few hundred posts ago (If the pictures are still up.) I'm using a phone cell now and don't know how to do things like when using a standard computer. A quick way would be to quick search this thread using the searc words, "yellow," "green" "log"...


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Erinwltr said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> beautress said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Erinwltr said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi beautress,
> 
> Hope you are doing well.  What's the next quilt project?
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Erinwltr. I was thinking about a green and yellow log cabin, but opened a drawer and found 17 seven inch squares with over a dozen logs each in them, but could add more squares to make it 4x6 (24) by adding 7 more or 5x7 (35) by adding 18 squares or make the 17 all green squares into a leafy tree and figure on paper the tree trunk, some blue sky squares, a green grass floor, toss in a brown log cabin in log cabin squares to make a house with a row of red squares for a roof....nah, what newborn needs a full size bed quilt...  Think I'll stick with the all green log cabin squares in a size that would be all green leafy. Somebody out there who needs a quilt for an Irish newborn might like the all leafy green one. I have plenty of green strips to make more than one quilt but will likely just make another quick one and have already sewn 18 q.5-inch pairs in the centers. Oh time flies and will go to the kitchen to make lunch. Happy weekend, all.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Wonderful.  Can you do a " green and yellow log cabin "  on the border and do an Impreissonist mosaic in the rest?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The first 2 pieces are green. The die is cast on this quilt. I did yellow lights on every other hue in the rainbow at some time past a few hundred posts ago (If the pictures are still up.) I'm using a phone cell now and don't know how to do things like when using a standard computer. A quick way would be to quick search this thread using the searc words, "yellow," "green" "log"...
Click to expand...

Okay, thank you , Mam.


----------



## beautress

Quilt finds on the net, 2022~~~~~
Not sure why I'm not making quilts anymore except I have been doing a lot of crochet. But back to quilting, I really need to use up a house full of quilt scraps and fabrics, so I'm going to try and find what other people are doing 


for awhile, hoping I'll catch the quilt bug again. Crochet takes a lot of time, and results in a lot of colorful fun stuff for the kitchen, my kitchen, my cousin Teresa's kitchen, brother Buddy's kitchen, and assorted community helpers, too. 
This past year I've made more than a dozen 2-sided, 35 hour, lace edged and burnless crocheted potholders. Nobody needs more potholders! But I got the nicest card from an old friend who lives on the opposite end of town which is about 8 or 9 miles from my farm. She chaired the local quilt club's Charity quilt club that meets once  a month, and I made about 500 or 600 tops for others to quilt for the 10 years I took my work and worked on some other things at monthly meetings at the local quilt store. See all the pages before this one, and you'll see many of the tops I made while my husband was still living. He really lit my charity fire, and I greatly miss his encouragement. *sigh* oh, well.

So I will find other people's work for awhile, and see if the top making can rekindle itself. My friend's card made all those months of work worthwhile.

OK, here goes some pretty quilts from other people who do quilts:

View attachment 672177
 Oh, my look at the pretty new fabrics. I haven't been in a quilt store in at least 3 or 4 years. I love the one above, but pretty flowers are a magnet for me.


----------



## beautress

Found another pretty one, vey scrappy, and the sashings are intriguing to me as they make a statement, while the joyful squares are so adorable.


----------



## beautress

Oh, my another astonishing pieced quilt



I love this quilt!​


----------



## beautress

Oh, and I found a crocheted design for edging pillowcases and sheets.








						Free Crochet Pattern: Wide Economy Lace Edging
					

Sometimes you just need to do something different. I've been cutting (….and cutting and cutting) denim for a king-sized quilt (more on this another day). My hands needed a break so I decided to…




					artemisnorth.com
				






This edging instructions here: MyPicot | Crochet Patterns





Bedford lace pattern: MyPicot | Crochet Patterns

Lots of pillowcase edging patterns here: MyPicot | Crochet Patterns
​


----------



## beautress

More quilts...


----------



## Ringo

Indian Arun Kumar Bajaj boasts a phenomenal skill in creating incredible embroidered paintings. I just can't believe that they are made with a conventional sewing machine: their level of detail is such that from a distance they look like hyperrealistic paintings.
Arun Kumar has been drawing well since childhood and dreamed of becoming a famous artist. But when he turned 15, the sudden death of his father canceled all plans. The boy had to drop out of school to do family business.

In many countries, there are long traditions of creating tapestries and embroidered paintings, but Arun Kumar became the first person to create embroidery of this level of detail on a conventional sewing machine.
"I've been writing on a typewriter for 23 years, since I was 12," the 35—year-old artist told Indian journalists. — My father, a tailor, died early, so I had to leave school to do his business. But I was able to combine these two arts."

One of the most impressive works of the Needle Man was an impressive embroidered canvas with the image of Krishna. It took the artist 3 years and approximately 2840 kilometers of threads to create this work measuring 183 by 122 cm. Also among his works is an embroidered painting of the court of Maharaja of Punjab Ranjit Singh, which depicts approximately 2,000 human figures. It took the artist about a year to create it.
"There is no room for error in my work: if the seam falls on the fabric, it can no longer be removed. I usually don't do embroidery in several layers, so it looks neater."

Arun Kumar continues to be engaged in the sewing business at the Adalat Bazaar in the city of Patiala in northern India, but also devotes a lot of time to art.

Another reminder that if you think you can do something well, you should remember that somewhere there is an Asian who does it better 








						World’s only sewing machine artist
					

Arun Kumar Bajaj has a very unusual skill – he can paint with a sewing machine. Technically, it’s embroidering, not painting, but his artworks are so incredibly detailed that they could pass as hyper-realistic paintings to the untrained eye. And the fact that he does it all with a sewing machine...




					dailynews.lk


----------



## beautress

Ringo said:


> Indian Arun Kumar Bajaj boasts a phenomenal skill in creating incredible embroidered paintings. I just can't believe that they are made with a conventional sewing machine: their level of detail is such that from a distance they look like hyperrealistic paintings.
> Arun Kumar has been drawing well since childhood and dreamed of becoming a famous artist. But when he turned 15, the sudden death of his father canceled all plans. The boy had to drop out of school to do family business.
> 
> In many countries, there are long traditions of creating tapestries and embroidered paintings, but Arun Kumar became the first person to create embroidery of this level of detail on a conventional sewing machine.
> "I've been writing on a typewriter for 23 years, since I was 12," the 35—year-old artist told Indian journalists. — My father, a tailor, died early, so I had to leave school to do his business. But I was able to combine these two arts."
> 
> One of the most impressive works of the Needle Man was an impressive embroidered canvas with the image of Krishna. It took the artist 3 years and approximately 2840 kilometers of threads to create this work measuring 183 by 122 cm. Also among his works is an embroidered painting of the court of Maharaja of Punjab Ranjit Singh, which depicts approximately 2,000 human figures. It took the artist about a year to create it.
> "There is no room for error in my work: if the seam falls on the fabric, it can no longer be removed. I usually don't do embroidery in several layers, so it looks neater."
> 
> Arun Kumar continues to be engaged in the sewing business at the Adalat Bazaar in the city of Patiala in northern India, but also devotes a lot of time to art.
> 
> Another reminder that if you think you can do something well, you should remember that somewhere there is an Asian who does it better
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> World’s only sewing machine artist
> 
> 
> Arun Kumar Bajaj has a very unusual skill – he can paint with a sewing machine. Technically, it’s embroidering, not painting, but his artworks are so incredibly detailed that they could pass as hyper-realistic paintings to the untrained eye. And the fact that he does it all with a sewing machine...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> dailynews.lk


Wow, he really was a fiber artist, extraordinaire! Thanks for sharing, Ringo.


----------



## beautress

Some days, we just collect color ideas where they may be found:


----------



## beautress

And some more color inspirations:


----------



## beautress

Some days, we just collect color ideas where they may be found:
View attachment 681163View attachment 681222View attachment 681225

View attachment 681164View attachment 681167View attachment 681227


----------



## beautress

more...


----------



## beautress

And some more stuff: These were listed with a farm sale, but then, they'd already been sold when I found them. I love them. It took a lifetime to make or collect them. Some I've never seen anything like, so I'm glad I kept the pictures.  Most of these little gems likely took 50 hours or more hours to complete. Oh, yes, at the bottom of this page, there is one made with multicolor pastels that are so beautiful, and I've never seen that many colors in one variegated threads, and their colors are still so pretty! Lucky whoever bought the lot of these potholders. It's a treasure.


----------



## beautress

Crochet Quilts are out there too. See if I can find some really pretty ones..


----------



## beautress

I've never seen crochet fashioned in a stained glass style like this one:


----------



## beautress

This one caught my eye, because every rectangle is a separate quilt, and it was attached to others the same size with a clever crochet lace in an unusual way:



The maker used a blanket stitch around each rectangle, then crocheted into the blanket stitch tops to lay a foundation for the lace you can see. It has not only simplicity, but beauty as well. I'm just blown away!​


----------



## InableShop

freedombecki said:


> Qults have a way of hugging their recipients with the maker's love, whether they are done by little hand stitches or stitched on a home sewing machine. I'm starting this thread so you can enjoy sharing your quilts and see some of mine, some I found on ebay, etc. If you have a traditional pieced quilt and want to know the name of the pattern, post a picture here, and I'll use all my resources to tell you the name of the block or blocks that were used to make your quilt. Just say the word. Here's a Postage Stamp Quilt I made for a beloved friend's grandson:


Hand craffted items always looks good.


----------



## beautress

InableShop said:


> Hand craffted items always looks good.


Thanks, InableShop. Welcome to USMB, hope you enjoy the boards! I used to be Freedombecki, but took some time off when my husband died, and when I got back, I had forgotten my password. I lost my photographer--he made all my stuff look good, and when I take pictures, it's tragic what I do to simple pictures. 

Oh, and now I just go to "images" and find quilts I'd like to make someday... and other people's quilts are so outstanding.


----------



## beautress

I think it would be fun to make a quilt with a yellow background after viewing this one:




So I went and found some more quilts with yellow backgrounds:











It's the sunshine that makes me love yellow, and the above quilters' works are a terrific celebration of the sun, imho.​


----------



## miketx

The missus made this...


----------



## Erinwltr

beautress said:


> Thanks, InableShop. Welcome to USMB, hope you enjoy the boards! I used to be Freedombecki, but took some time off when my husband died, and when I got back, I had forgotten my password. I lost my photographer--he made all my stuff look good, and when I take pictures, it's tragic what I do to simple pictures.
> 
> Oh, and now I just go to "images" and find quilts I'd like to make someday... and other people's quilts are so outstanding.


Is that not your quilt photo?


----------



## beautress

Erinwltr said:


> Is that not your quilt photo?


I made the postage stamp quilt with the turquoise border was one taken by my husband, years ago. The ones I found on the internet were from "images" because I no longer have a photographer, camera, printer, etc. 


miketx said:


> The missus made this...
> 
> View attachment 724615


Oh, Miketx, that's lovely! My Aunt Susie who lived on a farm half way between Teague and Waco had quilts like that on all her beds, except they wren't as pretty as your better half's.  Kudos to your creative lady of the house!


----------

