Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[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.

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[Sunshine]

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

credits and signed copies

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]

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

credits and signed copies

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!

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]
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[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.
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[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]
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[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]
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[Eriksson]

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]

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.

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]

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.

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]

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.