Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[freedombecki]

The above pics are a bit frenetic, but that's par for the course.

Today 4 blocks were done, and last night, a couple so here are the first 3 blocks (which measure 7.5" when finished, by the way, and possibly less due to seam allowance seems to be larger than usual. Don't know what gets into this perspection, but at least they're constant when you don't change machines mid-trip.

 

[freedombecki]

Three more of the Many trips Postage Stamp quilt top blocks

 

[freedombecki]

Made and joined two more blocks with those made this morning for another 8-block1/3 of the quilt. Now the two will be joined to have 2/3rds done.

What a day. I thought it was going to be a good day after yesterday's fiasco, and it was till I began trying to cut weeds with the tractor and used muscles not used for a while. It cost a three hour nap that was supposed to be used against finishing 8 more blocks to finish this quilt. Fibromyalgia--the game changing malady.

The first two scans encapsulate the 2 new blocks, and the third is just another mugshot of the conjunction of 4 blocks of the 8 that form a diamond-shaped frame with dark squares, more or less.

 

[Gracie]

Very nice!!

I've been tinkering around with the idea of taking a pillow case and using it as a base background, then little by little...hand sewing some kind of scene on it. Not sure what scene, not sure if I can even do the stitches with these fingers of mine, but I have a HUGE needle so...it might look dumb but it will give me something to play with.

 

[freedombecki]

Grace, that will be absolutely wonderful. Please share bits and pieces of your finished block as you go, won't you? Do you like floral or garden scenes? Fauna? Heirloom stitches?

Some ideas found around the net (not knowing your color or tastes):

 

[freedombecki]

Sometimes, it's just nice to look at places you've been that inspired you...or loved things from tourist stores along the way to brighten the china cupboard.

 

[freedombecki]

17c, 18c, and 19c

 

[freedombecki]

Scan of 20 C

A border idea

Another border idea

 

[Sunshine]

Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.

All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.

Happy stitches everyone.

Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.

Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!

The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.

My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.

 

[freedombecki]

I'm on my last block and just came up for some air. After that It's time to do a decent border treatment, but I'm still exhausted from firing up the tractor yesterday, running the wheeled weed eater out by the arena and storage bldg., pushing the mower, and wheeling all over the south pasture. <huff, puff just thinking about it> I'll do scans later. I'm going to frolic out on the board and do some serious reading.

 

[freedombecki]

Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.

All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.

Happy stitches everyone.

Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.

Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!

The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.

My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.

A formal sewing center? hm, hope your next shopping day goes well. When you retire, you'll enjoy it a lot more. I just hope you break all the records and have a pleasant and comfortable retirement with no worries or pain. You worked hard all these last few years and deserve the best, Sunshine.

And oh, yes, I found more people doing the same kind of quilt I'm doing-- "Many Trips Around the World" -- except they're smarter by using larger squares. It increases the number and kind of fabrics you can use when you do larger squares, and you don't have to do so many of them. Think I will add some I found. Maybe someone will enjoy the colors! But I promise, it's a wacky, fun quilt, nothing serious, just play and guess, then live with the results! (that's my motto) Whatever you didn't like about the last one does not ever have to be repeated again, plus when you compare squares, you get to liking the way the colors play together when you get consistent on the value scale (light to dark) A consistent placement will bring out something, call it luminescence, or whatever, and if you make notes on which values played nicest together, sometimes you can come up with a whole new approach. I've seen evidence of that in other's works, and am sure some people do as many "many trips, scrappy" as I do log cabin quilts.

 

[freedombecki]

Okay, so I went overboard. There were more Trips around the World and Many Trips Around the same that quilters everywhere are doing.

 

[Mr. H.]

Wow the one in the middle kicks ass.

 

[Sunshine]

Good luck on your completion, Sunshine.. Just hope you stop at intervals to rest and make sure no carpal tunnel issues hit you.

All I did today was cut 36x16=576 1.25" squares for quick sewing, then just kind of ran out of gas and only did a couple of squares of 36 blocks each. I was just zapped today with sleep issues. I have to constantly remind my husband to take his dementia meds, then I forget to take my prescriptions. Well, so much for my little footshoot. Think I will hit the sheets and wish everybody well for the evening. I haven't seen Dabs to check in on her progress, although she was nice enough to drop in a couple of weeks back with a picture of a lot of work she did with her beautiful bikini yarn.

Happy stitches everyone.

Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.

Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!

The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.

My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.

A formal sewing center? hm, hope your next shopping day goes well. When you retire, you'll enjoy it a lot more. I just hope you break all the records and have a pleasant and comfortable retirement with no worries or pain. You worked hard all these last few years and deserve the best, Sunshine.

And oh, yes, I found more people doing the same kind of quilt I'm doing-- "Many Trips Around the World" -- except they're smarter by using larger squares. It increases the number and kind of fabrics you can use when you do larger squares, and you don't have to do so many of them. Think I will add some I found. Maybe someone will enjoy the colors! But I promise, it's a wacky, fun quilt, nothing serious, just play and guess, then live with the results! (that's my motto) Whatever you didn't like about the last one does not ever have to be repeated again, plus when you compare squares, you get to liking the way the colors play together when you get consistent on the value scale (light to dark) A consistent placement will bring out something, call it luminescence, or whatever, and if you make notes on which values played nicest together, sometimes you can come up with a whole new approach. I've seen evidence of that in other's works, and am sure some people do as many "many trips, scrappy" as I do log cabin quilts.

You've posted many that I've never seen before. I have a friend who retired recently and she took up quiltng. She was the valdictorian of our graduating class. Like me she grew up poor and her mother made quilts out of the girls' dress scraps, but unlike me, she never really got the chance to go to school, so she was a medical transcriptionist all her life. She raised smart well educated children though. As to the quilting, she came out of the chute making the hardest things you've ever seen. She posts them on facebook.

They have classes at Murray Sewing Center. I know they teach quilting and it is chock full of nice quilting fabircs, precut pieces, stamped blocks, quilt patterns etc. They have sewing supplies, thread, and they eve do machine quiltng there. That is where I asked about someone to quilt it. They said the ladies at First Methodist Church do hand quilting, but they only do machine quilting. I'm just not sure how I will have it quilted. A patient's wife this week told me I should have it hand done. I'll know when the time comes, I guess.

As to the retirement, I've learned from my patients that those who stay busy love it and those who don't hate it. And you have to have things to live for. If you have nothing to live for your life is shorter.

 

[Foxfyre]

Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:

 

[Sunshine]

Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:

Wow! I love blue and brown together. I know a lot of people hate that combination, but I really like it.

 

[freedombecki]

Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:

Sorry for the loss of a great quilting woman, Foxfyre. Even combined with someone else, that is a most advanced quilt, like a faceted Mariner's Compass, and thier value and chromatic choices are astonishing. I've done blue and brown quilts. They're most beautiful, and deliver a great deal of satisfaction when completed. Mine was called "Bridge over Troubled Waters." I'll look it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a huge photo book filled with pictures of my quilts from doing 7 "Jewels of the Platte" quilt shows at City Hall of Casper Wyoming from 1996-2006 or 7. The first year of my fibromyalgia was my last show. I sweated blood getting those quilts hung and taken down again a month later. Bridge Over Troubled Waters not only took a lot of time over the drawing board, it was tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky, so I never published the pattern in any serious kind of way. going from warp and weft to diagonal and back again is a challenge, even to an advanced quilter, and I did it early on in my career of designing quilts. I loved the quilt and gave it to my son, who loves blue.

 

[freedombecki]

Wow the one in the middle kicks ass.

Thank you, Mr. H. (and also Foxfyre). The quilt was a tribute to Times square, "Trip around Times Square" or something to that effect, so I'm assuming the maker loved New York City for some reason or another.

 

[freedombecki]

Those quilts are all fantastic. If I had thought that quilting would ever leave the category of utilitarian and become art for art's sake, I might have spent some time on it. I do paint, though, and the cross stitch satisfies my need to do needle work. So, I don't think I'm going to take it up at this stage of the game. Depending on how the finances are after retirement, I still want that Pfaff.

Don't know how I've escaped carpel tunnel what with the years I've spent doing computer documentation. But somehow I've dodged that bullet. It's the shoulder that bothers me. I started this project back just after I had the rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon cleaned out all the arthritis so it was wonderfulback then. I let it lay while I did projects on the house. I think the arthritis is back which is likely what is giving me the problem. I won't say I'll never have that surgery again, but I really don't want to go through that again EVER!

The table cloth arrived Friday. It is going to be really pretty. Better than I had imagined. I had to go to Murray today to go to the post office so I ran by Wally World to pick up a few groceries. I'm fairly sure the thread recommended was DMC 200. But I didn't see that. All I saw was 'Blanc.' And, while I deviated from the blue recommended for the quilt in order to do the green, I'm generally a stickler for the directions on something like this. I didn't go my Murray Sewing Center because I wasn't exactly dressed for success today. Murray is kind of a snooty place when it comes to dress.

My stomach never feels like breakfast in the morning so I'm just now eating. Having steak and eggs topped with a little chopped green onion and picante sauce. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's pork chops and green beans for supper, but not her hash brown casserole. I have never been able to make a hash brown casserole that turned out to be edible. I will just make my own scalloped potatoes. That is actually something I can look forward to.

A formal sewing center? hm, hope your next shopping day goes well. When you retire, you'll enjoy it a lot more. I just hope you break all the records and have a pleasant and comfortable retirement with no worries or pain. You worked hard all these last few years and deserve the best, Sunshine.

And oh, yes, I found more people doing the same kind of quilt I'm doing-- "Many Trips Around the World" -- except they're smarter by using larger squares. It increases the number and kind of fabrics you can use when you do larger squares, and you don't have to do so many of them. Think I will add some I found. Maybe someone will enjoy the colors! But I promise, it's a wacky, fun quilt, nothing serious, just play and guess, then live with the results! (that's my motto) Whatever you didn't like about the last one does not ever have to be repeated again, plus when you compare squares, you get to liking the way the colors play together when you get consistent on the value scale (light to dark) A consistent placement will bring out something, call it luminescence, or whatever, and if you make notes on which values played nicest together, sometimes you can come up with a whole new approach. I've seen evidence of that in other's works, and am sure some people do as many "many trips, scrappy" as I do log cabin quilts.

You've posted many that I've never seen before. I have a friend who retired recently and she took up quiltng. She was the valdictorian of our graduating class. Like me she grew up poor and her mother made quilts out of the girls' dress scraps, but unlike me, she never really got the chance to go to school, so she was a medical transcriptionist all her life. She raised smart well educated children though. As to the quilting, she came out of the chute making the hardest things you've ever seen. She posts them on facebook.

They have classes at Murray Sewing Center. I know they teach quilting and it is chock full of nice quilting fabircs, precut pieces, stamped blocks, quilt patterns etc. They have sewing supplies, thread, and they eve do machine quiltng there. That is where I asked about someone to quilt it. They said the ladies at First Methodist Church do hand quilting, but they only do machine quilting. I'm just not sure how I will have it quilted. A patient's wife this week told me I should have it hand done. I'll know when the time comes, I guess.

As to the retirement, I've learned from my patients that those who stay busy love it and those who don't hate it. And you have to have things to live for. If you have nothing to live for your life is shorter.

I think that's true, Sunshine. I think John Wesley put that thought into these words (and one of my favorite quotes):

"Do all the good you can,
By all the means that you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."
​

Hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day!

Designed by me around 1996-7 in Wyoming in honor of our many Irish-American residents:

​

 

[Sunshine]

Just received word of the passing of one of my old HS classmates who was a lovely lady of many talents, but one of her claims to fame was designing and making prize winning quilts. One of her best friends, also a classmate of mine, still travels the country teaching quilting classes and as a judge. I believe this is one of their combined efforts that I thought ya'll might appreciate for the aesthetics:

Sorry for the loss of a great quilting woman, Foxfyre. Even combined with someone else, that is a most advanced quilt, like a faceted Mariner's Compass, and thier value and chromatic choices are astonishing. I've done blue and brown quilts. They're most beautiful, and deliver a great deal of satisfaction when completed. Mine was called "Bridge over Troubled Waters." I'll look it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a huge photo book filled with pictures of my quilts from doing 7 "Jewels of the Platte" quilt shows at City Hall of Casper Wyoming from 1996-2006 or 7. The first year of my fibromyalgia was my last show. I sweated blood getting those quilts hung and taken down again a month later. Bridge Over Troubled Waters not only took a lot of time over the drawing board, it was tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky, so I never published the pattern in any serious kind of way. going from warp and weft to diagonal and back again is a challenge, even to an advanced quilter, and I did it early on in my career of designing quilts. I loved the quilt and gave it to my son, who loves blue.

How does one get a quilt appraised? I have a feeling that my friend, even though a beginner, is under valuing hers. I think she just gives them away. I did that with several of my paintings as well, but my art teacher said we should never do that.