Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[koshergrl]

The green is sooo beautiful.

 

[freedombecki]

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]

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]

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]

<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.

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]

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.]

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]

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.

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: