50th Anniversary Quilt

FINALLY I get to share with you a big project that's kept me busy over the last month or two. It's a quilt that I made for my husband's aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. They celebrated a week ago with their son and daughters, and lots of friends. Unfortunately, they live far away from us, in Arizona, so we weren't able to attend, but we were there in spirit!

One wonderful thing about marriage is that you gain a whole new family. I quickly fell in love with my husband's family soon after we all met. I first met this aunt and uncle a month or 2 after we first started dating, at their youngest daughter's wedding. At the time we were living in Medford, Oregon, and they were in Portland, about 5 hours north. Soon we began spending many week-ends and holidays at their house with their family.

Soon after I married my husband, I made the decision to go back to school to get a medical technology degree (think hospital lab, or "CSI"). The closest school was in Portland, and "our" aunt and uncle graciously offered to let me live with them during the final 12 month "internship" program at Oregon Health Sciences University. I'm really not sure how we could have done it without their help, and am eternally grateful for this gift. It was the road to a great career that I have had for many years, and hope to continue for many more.

When I found out they'd be celebrating their 50th anniversary this December, I knew right away that I wanted to make them a quilt. Our aunt has admired my quilts, and her daughter, my husband's cousin, soon called me to ask if I could make one for her to give as a gift. I fell in love with this pattern, and as soon as I knew I could get it finished by the party, I said "yes". She paid for all of the materials, and I did the sewing. She also helped me with descriptions of their home decor and what colors they liked. The ladies at our local quilt store helped me select the fabrics, and gave me some tips on how to free-motion quilt it. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I know they are too.

WIP Wed

Just a quick note to post a few pictures of my current work-in-progress's, for "Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday" link party. I have many more sitting on top of dressers, tucked away on shelves and piled onto bookshelves, but right now here's my ironing board in real time....
The main quilt I've been furiously working on is a very special gift that I don't want to show until after the recipient sees it first hand. I'm so happy with the way it's turned out so far, but still have a bit of work to do. I have the top all finished, and the colorful strips in front are part of the border. I hope I don't give away too much.

I've also got back on track with the quilt along I'm participating in. I'm doing 2 of them at once, to hopefully be finished my Christmas. Considering the time crunch and how many projects I have going right now, I made the decision to skip the "wonkification" of them, as this'll add an extra step, and right now I really need the time. Maybe I'll make a wonky quilt in 2011, but for now, I have enough tops to quilt, Christmas presents to finish, and other not-so-fun-household-things-to-do that I'm simplifying them.
As I was getting a bit overwhelmed with my things-to-do list, I took a time out to figure out what's up. I'm not usually so harried. I came to the realization that due to school vacations and sick kids, I've only had 3 out of 11 days that my kids have been in school (I honestly don't know how you quilters with little ones manage), and my husband has only been home 2 out of the last 7 weeks (this week is no exception... he's gone for work). No wonder I'm a bit stressed. Oh, and yes, blogging does take time too :-). SOOOoooo. I decided that once the holiday's are gone, I'm going to slow things down a bit... With maybe one exception, I'm also not going to take on any new projects until after that too.

So hopefully this blog will read "finished projects" very soon, and I'll have some fun stuff to show you!!

Spare your knees (an alternative way to "sandwich" your quilt)

When we moved from Michigan to Oregon a year ago, like so many families, we had to downsize. Not a bad thing, really (less house to clean), but I no longer have much space to quilt in. I quickly adapted in all ways except one. I have no floor space big enough to sandwich together a quilt any bigger than a crib (unless I move furniture). Necessity, though, is the mother of invention, and I experimented, and asked everyone I could think of for ideas, until I developed this method. Now that I do it this way, I don't think I want to ever go back! So I thought I'd share it with you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. This is what I did yesterday, as I got my niece's quilt ready to finish up.

All you need is a table and some large binding clips (thank you Colleen!). I bought the table at Jo-Anns, in Michigan a few years ago with a 50% off coupon, and it's been one of my best quilting purchases! It folds up compactly, and has wheels on it that can roll around to be moved from room to room. I also use it for cutting and all sorts of stuff. When the kids are in school, I bring it out and block all sorts of doors and hallways :-). But then I can move it back quickly.

I start by folding my quilt and quilt back into quarters and marking the center of each side with a safety pin. That way I can line these up as I layer them together. I can also use these as guides on the table to keep it pretty centered. Warning.... I am NOT a perfectionist...

I then unfold the quilt back (face down), and straighten it our and use the binder clips to secure the edges to the table. No tape, and I can WALK all around the table. No crawling on the floor, no need to vacuum first, or to keep the dog off (although the cat sometimes likes to jump up to "help").

Once the back is all smooth and tightly attached to the table, I lay the batting on top, then the quilt top. Once I make sure the centers are all lined up, and that I have all 3 layers in all spots, I start pinning the layers together.




I start at the center, and work my way out. Once the top is done, I take the clips off and work on each "corner". It's no perfect, but it works!!! Now my quilt is ready to "quilt" together!!!

Tip Toe, Through the Tulips...

I finished a quilt top today that will hopefully be a Christmas present (this year LOL), for my oldest niece. She was the recipient of my second or third quilt, a simple checker board quilt. At the time she was 3 or 4. We've been blessed with 5 nieces and a nephew (and 2 boys of our own). They all have at least a baby quilt that I made, and now that they're growing up so incredibly fast, I hope to start making them all bigger quilts to enjoy.

I was trying to figure out what to make for my niece. At the time, I really wanted to do a "bear paw" quilt as well. I was chatting with a quilting friend of mine about this, and joked that I should make her one, since she had been really scared of bears when she first visited our house in Northern Michigan. At the time, she was 5 or 6, and we lived deep in the woods, and yes, there were bears. Being the city girl that she was, her fear was understandable. But my suggestion was tongue and cheek at the time.

Well, no lie, the very next day, our family was out in the woods, and we saw a bear!! It wasn't a big one, and it was running down the gravel Forest Service road in front of our truck, but we followed it for several hundred yards, before it dove off into the woods! We all got to see it and were just amazed, as it's not a sight even people who've worked and lived in the woods for years see very often.

It was then that I knew I had to make this quilt! I hope she likes it!

My first quilt... completed 19 years later

My husband and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary yesterday, on 10-10-10! As a gift to him, I decided to finally finish a quilt that I started for him 19 years ago. It's the first quilt I'd ever made, and I dove into it knowing almost nothing about quilting. It would be 10 years later that I got introduced to rotary cutters, quilt stores, batting and binding. It remained unfinished mainly because after making the top, I didn't know how to bring the back, top and batting all together. I was also not too entirely happy with the result (just LOOK at that orange!), and I still wanted to make it bigger with borders.

So it remained tucked inside my fabric stash, moving from apartment to apartment, house to house. As I later learned more and more about quilting I became concerned about the open button holes, and as my quilting skills progressed this first quilt looked so homely and clumsy. But the sentiment behind it remained the same... a labor of love, made for a special person in my life.

My husband knew about it. He'd seen it move from place to place. Last week, as I pinned it all together, I hoped it would be a surprise gift. As usual, though, it took longer to quilt than I'd figured. I had to drag it out over the week-end in order to finish it on time. The look on his face when he saw me working on it was priceless! He, of all people, knows just how much time I spend quilting a single quilt.

When I first met him, he was a forester who's unofficial "uniform" was plaid flannel shirts. I love rainbows, so I went to the local Goodwill store and found as many colorful shirts as I could to make the quilt. I ended up buying some of the flannel at the fabric store, but could only find the solid blaze orange no matter how hard I looked. I thought it would be neat to leave the pockets and buttons on, and did. I bought a sheet for the back, and cut out the strips with scissors. I probably broke all of the "rules" of quilting all in this one quilt.

In order to finish it, I decided to forget the borders, keep it exactly the way it was, leave the button holes the way they were, use the sheet I still had for the back, and just do it. I started trying to stipple quilt it free-motion on my machine, but after a broken needle and some frustration, I decided to ditch that plan too, and just use my walking foot to make a grid pattern. To make things even easier, I just trimmed the back an inch all around the quilt, and brought it around to the top and sewed it to the front as a "mock binding". Quick, easy, cheap. And it's done!



Sometimes I think all the designer fabric, chic patterns and the long arm finishing does more to impede my quilting process than to help it. I want my quilts to be just like the beautiful ones in the quilt stores, shows, and blogs... But every time I see this once-closeted quilt I'll remember the couple who rented small apartments furnished with second-hand goods, and the time when I bought my quilting fabric from thrift stores. I'll also be reminded of how far I have come in my hobby. More importantly, I'll remember our new romance 19 years ago, and the true reason I love quilting. For me it's a way to show my love to family and friends.

9 patch quilt tip

Lately I've been spending a lot time on the computer exploring the quilt blog world. It's so much fun to see others' quilting projects, and there is so much inspiration out there. Many blogs are also very informative, as quilters are always eager to share their knowledge. For busy moms like me, it's a wonderful resource! With little (or big) kids in tow, it's almost impossible to take a class, or join a guild. Add to that the rural location that I've lived in for the last few years, and books and blogs, chat boards and magazines have become my main go-to when learning new things. My local quilt shops have been a great resource as well, and I try hard to support them as much as I can.

Even though I'm relatively new to the quilting world, I thought I'd return the favor and share a tip that I learned this summer about piecing 9-patch (or similar) quilt squares. 9 patches are like tic-tac-toe boards... 9 squares, 3x3. I'm working on a quilt that uses a 9-patch, so I took some pictures of my newly learned method.

Put simply, instead of strip-sewing all the same pieces in "like" batches, I take a little more time initially and sew them in the order of the finished patch. I sew all the "left" seams first:

Then the "right" seams:


I then cut the blocks apart, keeping the 2 middle threads still attached.

Now I just fold them over, and repeat the process, finishing the 3rd and 4th seams.



It uses less thread, and I believe that it also makes the process faster. Of course it does take some concentration, and if you're like me, it's hard to concentrate on sewing like this when the kids are home. Luckily mine are now in school several hours a day :-). But even with them gone, I still make mistakes....

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the best teacher (just ask my kids), so I hope this makes sense. Happy piecing everyone! Cant' wait to show you my latest quilt as it progresses.

Finished!!

I'm on a roll ("Let 'er roll!")! After finishing my last top, I finally drug out the quilt that's mostly been sitting on top of our piano since Spring. I pieced it last winter, and did all of the quilting myself, free-motion, after taking my class in late winter / early spring. The binding got cut, sewn together and ironed before the kids got out of school, but then... well, the kids got out of school.

Now that they're back, I finally got the binding sewn on! First though I had to get all the cat hair off of it. I don't know what it is about any type of fabric and cats, but mine finds it utterly irresistible to nap on top of any extra item of clothing or fabric laying around, including my almost-finished quilt. It was also on a piece of furniture that had an excellent view of the dining room, living room, and yard, AND it was out of reach from the dog! Put a soft quilt on top, and it was her spot, 23.5 / 7.

After getting all the hair and dust off, I put on my walking foot and started sewing the binding on. When I first started quilting, I'd never heard of a walking foot, or long-arm quilters who, for a price, do the quilting for you. After getting really exasperated with my first quilt, I went to the local sew and vac shop and explained my problems with tension, nests of thread on the back and just a general lack of ability for my machine to sew through 2 layers of fabric and a layer of batting. They sold me this walking foot, much to my delight!

A co-worker and fellow quilter told me about long arm quilters when I asked her how to do a queen-sized quilt on my home machine. This was a quilt I made for my parents, after they returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I just slept under it myself a few weeks ago when visiting my mom in Dallas.

After quitting my job to stay at home with the kids, and moving to Michigan, I suddenly couldn't afford to pay someone else to quilt it for me, and my friend Lois Gorton at Pine Tree Quilt Shop in Lewiston, Michigan sold me a darning foot and gave me a few pointers to get started.

But it wasn't until recently that I took a class from Collen Blackwood, and started reading Leah Day's blog, 365 day of free-style quilting that I got the confidence to tackle something bigger than a baby quilt or a place mat. I must admit that I feel like a klutz, but also realize that just like anything else, it's going to take some serious practice to get good at it. I'm also trying really hard not to get intimidated by the beautiful quilts that I see in quilt shows and shops.

Because I have felt discouraged from time to time when my hands and machine won't do what I want them to do, I thought I'd show my beginning projects in free-motion. Maybe some other free-motion novice will see this and feel a bit better! All in all though, I'm pretty proud and excited about this first big project. The pattern is "BQ" by Maple Island Quilt Patterns. It was perfect for showing off some of the Oriental fabric that I had in my stash.The kids have the next week off for the Pendleton Round Up Rodeo. This is the 100th anniversary of one of the largest rodeos in the country. Let 'er buck! It may be a week or more before I get another project finished!

Pathway to the Stars

Now that the kids are back in school, I've had a bit more time to sew! More importantly, I've been able to clean and it STAYS clean, at least for a few hours until the kids get home! Since my "quilt studio" is also our dining room table, that's really important. I can wipe up the sticky watermelon juice and odd bit of breakfast cereal that some how escaped the bowl, and it stays clean enough to sew on without being concerned that the fabric gets dirty.

I took a class back in June from Colleen Blackwood called "Pathway to the Stars". With the kids now back in school, I've been able to pull it out again. I finally got it to an "almost-finished-with-the-top" phase, and wanted to share! It's my 2nd class with Colleen (I also took a free-motion quilting class). Actually, it's only my 2nd class ever. But I have a feeling there may be more to come. Colleen is a very talented quilter / artist and has designed quite a few quilt patterns. She teaches these classes locally and not-so-locally. You can see some of her patterns at laughinglizzies.com. We're really lucky to have her here in our neck of the woods!

As usual, I learned a lot while making this quilt. I'm not sure I'd use the blue background again, but I already had a lot of this fabric and wanted to use it to save a bit of money. Colleen's patterns certainly are challenging for me as a beginner, but WOW, what an amazing result for my efforts! I really want to do her "salmon Run", but I think I need a quick and easy pattern to do next!

I also need to figure out a border. Her pattern uses a pieced border, which I may attempt, but I'm also thinking about a solid border. Here's a picture of the fabric I have a yard or more of that I'm auditioning. Tell me what you think!
Colleen works at the local quilt shop, Pendleton Quiltworks. I can't wait to show her my (almost) finished quilt!!

Quilting

Sometimes it's best to pick up where you are, rather than where you left off.

Such is the case with my blog!

It's been a while, but rather than trying to catch you up on all of our terrific travels, domestic disasters, dental deals and holiday happiness, I'll just wish you a Happy New Year, and pick up where I am...

I decided to show and tell my quilting today, since lately it has been consuming my free time! Recently, while visiting my friend, Jen, in Southern Oregon, I picked up a few new quilt patterns. Once I shared them with Jen, she brought out her stash and we busted it (or at least tried to). We spent a whole day together cutting, ironing, and sewing the fabrics together to make us each 2 separate, but very similar quilts, in almost half the time. I had so much fun stitching and bitching together. I finished the quilt top (and back) once I got home, and have already started another quilt, and have another all planned out. I had previously made "name pillows" for all of my nieces, nephew and my boys for Christmas.



I guess after having my sewing stuff all packed away for so long, once I got it out again, it was like opening Pandora's Box... Well, the cat's out of the bag, and there's no stopping me now.

It helps that it's winter. With the freezing rain we had over the week-end, and icy roads I just haven't felt much like doing anything that involves driving or being outside. So I sew!!

Sewing with Jen reminded me that women(and a few men) have been quilting together for many, many years. It's really a great way to share ideas, creativity, skills, and talent. It's easy to gab away while doing it, and best of all, you end up with a beautiful useful item that you made with your hands (and the hands of your friend, in this case). Unlike so much of the housework I do, quilting is a permanent testament to the work I do that doesn't get "undone" shortly after I do it, as dishes and laundry do. Working with another person's "stash" was really a fun way for me to get out of my "quilting comfort zone". I mean, with 2 boys, I probably have more pink in this quilt than I have in my entire stash!! But it was fun to play with flowers and pink. This quilt will also always be a reminder of a fun day spent with my friend. Here's a picture of my/our quilt all ready for its batting and pinning together.



Probably my favorite part of quilting is the planning. This involves everything from shopping for fabric to seeing how the fabric colors play with each other, trying to match that with a pattern and trying to imagine the outcome. Here's a quilt I have planned out to sew next:



Once the plan is made, the cutting and sewing begin. Rotary cutters and cutting mats have revolutionized this act, and made it so much easier. I can't even imagine not having my rotary cutter. Much like a pizza cutter, it makes cutting out fabric a breeze, and the rulers and grids make measuring a snap too! Once the pieces are cut out, you begin sewing the quilt blocks together. Here's a stack of quilt blocks waiting to be sewn together into a quilt top:



Many quilters choose to stop at that step and to send their tops off to a long-arm quilter who uses a special sewing machine to do the actual quilting together of the quilt top, batting and bottom. It's much easier for them to do a large quilt than it is to try to stuff extra fabric through a regular sewing machine's "neck", or "arm". But it costs money, and after we moved to Michigan, I decided to try to learn how to do the quilting myself to save that money. I've been trying out "free-motion quilting" on my own machine now for a little over a year. My on-line quilting buddies have helped a lot with words of encouragement and advice, and several quilt store owners have also helped instruct me and get me going. My quilting "buddy" in Michigan also encouraged me. Surprisingly, I found that I really like quilting my own quilts together. As with many things, often the intimidation of taking on a new skill is worse than the actual learning curve required. Here's a quilt I've started on, and hope to finish soon:



Lastly comes putting the binding onto the quilt to hide the raw edges. I'm afraid it's my least favorite part of quilting, not due to it's difficulty as much as its tedious factor. But once that's done, the quilt is ready to be used, or given away as a special gift. My nieces (and nephew) have all been recipients of my quilts, as I've learned, much by trial and error. My 2 sons also each have 2 quilts now. Other family members have also received quilts, and they're on our bed and walls too. I really admire those quilters who donate their labors of love to charitable causes. I have yet to do this!!

I hope to continue quilting for many years to come. That's another wonderful thing about this hobby.... it can be done over the course of a life time. The skills can also be passed along generation to generation. My grandma, aunt and mom all taught me, and I've helped my youngest son start and almost finish his first quilt. If I can only get myself to help him finish that binding on his, it'll be done!

So what about you? What is your favorite hobby?