Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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.

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.

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!