Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[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]

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:

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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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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]

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!

You hadn't heard?...

There is such a thing as quilted guitars. I've seen them.

photo credits etc

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[freedombecki]

There's also a free guitar quilt pattern for this paper-pieced guitar:

link to free pattern PDF file
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[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)

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[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]

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]

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~

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]

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]

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.