Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!

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]

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?

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]

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?

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.

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]

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.

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.

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.