String Ring Dresden Quilt

I am so happy to reveal the finished String Ring Dresden quilt today!  I received the package in the mail on Thursday from Elizabeth, who had done the wonderful quilting, and on her domestic machine, no less.  The quilting really takes it to a whole 'nother level of awesome!

I spent last evening attaching the binding and label, excited to see it all done.

This is a rather large quilt, and the challenge was going to be how to capture it in photos...with a rather dark house...with small rooms...in the winter...in Wisconsin...by myself with no assistant quilt holder-uppers.  
Fortunately, the weather cooperated with a clear and bright, windless, not-so-cold day.

I thought I might get a better perspective by laying it on the snow outside and shooting it from a higher vantage point, i.e., the upstairs bathroom window.

Well, uh, fail.  Even with zoom, it didn't look right.  Pretty view of the back yard, though.

So I tromped back outside and did the best I could on the level.  Of course, every time I walked near the quilt, I was making eight or ten-inch craters in the snow with my boots.

As I was leaving the back yard, it struck me to toss it up over the deck railing.  Smaller quilts typically slide down on one side or the other, but with this big-un, it actually stayed put.

Elizabeth really knocked it out of the park on the quilting.  I can't thank her enough for everything she did to get the quilting just right.  You can read more about that experience in her blog post here.  Great photos there too.

The label she hand embroidered is so very special.  I think she could have a niche business just hand embroidering quilt labels.  How often do we skip that important step?  Guilty, here.

By the way, the backing fabric is Robert Kaufman, A Pirate's Life for Me Pirate Booty.  Who doesn't love a little pirate booty?  Just adds to the whimsy.

More about the back story of this quilt can be found in these previous posts:

* how the idea came about
* significance of the color scheme
* tutorial for a string table mat (how the string rings are made)
* design decisions
* finished quilt top

Thanks for stopping by, and a very Happy New Year to you!

Linking to:

Progress Report

I'm happy with the progress that has been made on an impromptu quilt that's coming together.  It started with a challenge fabric (back one post) and the notion of incorporating that into a Dresden.

I sewed the pieces together in groups of five, or quarter Dresdens, then played around with them.  I liked the idea of doing diagonal squiggles instead of circles.

That morphed into a decision to transform them into grandmother's fan blocks.  First I had to to reverse engineer them to get the inner quarter circle and outer background piece (trace the curves and add seam allowances).

The little quarter circle turned out to be kind of a bugger to piece.  It became apparent that my usual method (involving pinning and sewing with the U-shaped piece on top) wasn't going to work in this tight space.  I recalled seeing a tutorial last year by someone demonstrating a no-pin method.  I tried that, and it worked well, but you have to sew vewey, vewey swowy (read that part in an Elmer Fudd voice), literally a stitch or two/three at a time, adjusting the layers as you go.  Like so:

Never mind the patina on my vintage machine.  She's got a lot of miles on her.  And a half century ago when she was new, Mom often parked an ashtray right there in the harp space while she sewed.  Miraculously, nothing went up in flames.

After piecing about a dozen or so blocks, I laid what I had out on the floor.  I'll need to trim them down along the white edges so they're a little smaller, since I want the red parts to tuck into the design a little more.

I tried setting them on point, too, just for kicks.  Not bad either.  Another time maybe.

After seeing them laid out, I decided to experiment with a different fabric in the small quarter circle for half of the blocks.  We'll see how that works out.  I've got another twenty-something to make.

I'll be linking up with the fun at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Have a great weekend!

Challenge Fabric and Quilting Along

My sister gave me yards of this navy and white print fabric a couple years ago to use as I saw fit.  She had bought it to make a dress (in the '80s, I think), which obviously never happened.  I, too, stashed it away so far back as to be off the radar.

Recently, I found it again and prewashed it.  As it lay on my cutting table waiting to be refolded, I contemplated whatever to do with it.  Perhaps a two-color quilt in flying geese, or maybe stars, or half-square triangles?  But I worried that all by itself, it might make a brand new quilt look instantly dated.  Maybe just use the yardage for a border, or a backing?

It's mostly cotton, from what I can tell.  It may have some poly, judging from how it didn't wrinkle in the dryer and from the feel of it.  But it is a nice weight and seems stable enough to quilt with, is the point.  The selvage says The Manes Corporation, which I believe is no longer in business since a couple decades ago.  I guess that makes it vintage.

Then I thought maybe combining it with other fabrics might be a better idea—you know, sort of losing it in the shuffle.  On a whim, I decided to make a trial Dresden block with it.

And I liked that.  However, maybe I wouldn't do a traditional Dresden but something else, like a diagonal squiggle with quarter blocks.

Still undecided about how to put it together, but I went ahead and cut more pieces, so we'll see how it evolves.  I'll still have loads the navy/white print left.  Any ideas?

* * * * * * *

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have seen this skirt I pinned from JCPenney recently.  I don't wear short (or any) skirts anymore, but I loved the design and thought it'd make a cool quilt.

JCP - $9.99 y'all!

So I experimented with a couple different methods for how to make the blocks, including a drunkard's path (which worked okay, but matching the arcs where a thick seam meets was a challenge).

I also tried a one-seam flying geese block and then folding the sides back, cathedral windows style.

I tossed these in the odd blocks bin for another time.  A couple days later, however, I saw a blurb about an upcoming quit-along hosted by Megan at City Stitches.  Serendipity!

I have downloaded the pattern, which is basically a modified drunkard's path block.  Now I need to get my fabric together.  Check out the post here for some cool variations.

* * * * * * *

Here's a tune from the vault, circa 1977, which I found myself singing along with the chorus ("no no no no nooo no no no...") in the car the other day.  Such a pretty song for the saga of a deadbeat (and only slightly remorseful) dad.

Memory Lane

I have an old quilt to show you below, but first I need to vent a little.  Not that there is anything anyone can do (except slip me a Xanax), but here goes.  

We live on a quiet street one block off the main drag in this city.  It's a bit of a winding street on a rolling hill, no curb, gutter or sidewalk.   The city just oils and pea gravels the street every few years to keep it relatively intact.  On my daily walks, I deal with an occasional car, which usually gives me generous berth (see: no sidewalk). 

Well, yesterday was the official beginning of road construction season.

Said main avenue is getting fixed for a several block stretch, which is all well and good in the end.  But traffic has been diverted and guess who doesn't live on a quiet street anymore?  There is a constant stream of vehicles out my front door.  And the background music to all this is made by some ginormous hammering machinery that is busting up the old concrete on the main thoroughfare.  It sounds like a marching band with a hung over drum section that can't get its stuff together.

There.  I feel a little better.  Then again, it may be because the drum section just went on break.  Maybe they'll find a rhythm and stick to it after knocking back some Joe and Krispy Kremes.

Moving on.  

Guess what my sister found last week while sorting through boxes, getting ready to move?  A quilt from our childhood!  I wish I could say "my old quilt," because I've been searching for it for a few decades, but I can't tell whether the one she found was mine or hers.  

We had matching quilts on our twin beds, made by Mom.  I used to be able to tell them apart because hers was a couple years older, a bit more worn, and had a slightly different red fabric in the sashing.  But after all these years and without the other for comparison, we don't rightly know.  I thought she had left hers behind when she moved from California back home, but she thinks this may be it, in which case mine is still MIA.

It is in totally "loved up" condition.  Weathered and worn, tattered and torn.  I've soaked and gently washed and dried it.  Some of the stains came out, not all.  But beyond that and the overall yellowing, the fabric is simply falling apart.  The funny thing is, this quilt (circa 1961) has a polyester batting that remains in excellent condition.

Still, I love looking at the fabrics in the dresdens (or sunflowers, as Mom called them) almost as much now as I did back when the quilt covered whichever one of us nightly.  

Each block is entirely pieced, not appliqued.  There are 20 "blades" per block—that's 20 Y-seams for the small white pieces that occupy the space between the pointed ends of each blade.  Then the whole circular plate is set into the outer part of the square, which is pieced in four segments.  It is hand quilted.

I found the pattern templates for this block a few years ago as I was going through Mom's things (blogged here).  I don't know why she didn't mail the letter, but it's nice to have that bit of provenance in her own words.

So this is one of the quilts that started my lifelong fascination with fabric.  In the early morning light, before the school day began, I'd study that quilt.  Something to keep in mind when you give someone one of your works.  You may be fostering a budding artist or sewist (or architect or math teacher...).

I'm happy to foster this old quilt for a while again as it has come back to roost.  Here's to a happy homecoming!

String Ring Quilt Top Finish

I met my goal of getting the scrappy string ring quilt top finished this week ~ woo-hoo!

Thanks to your helpful input as to how it might be finished, I went with a bit larger corner triangles (which form squares on point, in lieu of sashing), finished the outer squares into the border, did a scrappy string border, followed by more of the crosshatch fabric in an outer border. I did have just enough of the crosshatch fabric to squeak out the last border, with only inches to spare.

I am very happy with how it turned out!  As to the quilting of it, you know what?  I am not going to quilt this one myself.  Rather, it will be packed off on a fabulous quilting vacation somewhere, destination to be determined.

It feels like there's not much more to say that hasn't already been said since I started this project early in the year.  To briefly recap, the inspiration was a vintage quilt in a Gwen Marston book, noted here.  The scraps used were various blues, greens, creams, reds, and grays—colors I seem to gravitate toward instinctively, as they are all around me here in the Wisconsin countryside.

I enjoyed the stress-free piecing of the string "strata."  I usually made 4 different strata of strings and cut 5 wedges out of each one for a total of 20 wedges per ring.  Then the fun began when reassembling the wedges into rings (Dresdens).  It was always a cool surprise to see how they came back together!

It was so much fun to work with the beautiful and diverse scraps, many of them shared by friends from their stash.  That makes this quilt all the more special!

Linking up with Sarah today.  There's always lots of good stuff to see over there!

White Elephant

I passed up this vintage elephant teapot a week ago at Goodwill, even though I liked it a lot. When I saw it again yesterday, at 50 percent off, I liked it 100 percent more and bought it!

I wish I knew the maker, but the only identifying mark is what may be a mold number, 2104, at the base of it.  A bit of internet searching didn't turn up any further clues.

Also snagged a Missoni zigzag platter at Goodwill.  It seemed the perfect colors as summer heads toward fall in a month or two.

I'm just popping in here quickly today.  Posting may be light for awhile as I proofread my dad's book.

Meanwhile, work continues on the string ring quilt as time allows.  The black and white stop border just did not seem to work, so I went another direction, finishing the end black and white squares into the border.  Now I'm piecing a narrow mini-piano key (for lack of a better description) border from the dwindling string ring scraps I have left.  This will be followed by a final wider outer border of the crosshatch background fabric.  The binding will be in the black with white dots again.

I am using every last bit of the crosshatch fabric, which is why the outer border isn't any bigger, but I think it will fit my bed when all is said and done!

Interlude

It has been a blast reading all your comments and suggestions on the last post.  I'm so glad I asked!  Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment  thoughtfully.  There were so many wonderful ideas! 

I'm loving this coleus, a last minute random planting.

Now I'm pretty sure I know the direction I'll be going.  The corner squares will stay and be a bit larger.  I'll probably do a narrow border of the same dark fabric as the corners, and a wider outer border of the black and white crosshatch background fabric.  In between those two borders and/or at the very corners of the quilt, I may do something scrappy.  I'm leaving myself some "creative wiggle room," as Elizabeth called it, until I get to that point.

As far as "Failure to plan..." you had some thoughts on completing that sentence as well, such as "freedom to accept what comes along (Sandi) and "allows for spontaneity" (Pokey).  One offering, by the very funny ThreeOldKeys (who invites you to check out her melons), completely cracked me up.  I thought it deserved a special graphic, so I "MacGyvered" one together at lunch today:

Hee-hee!

I am looking forward to working on the string ring quilt again this weekend.  First I have to finish some deadline stuff in the meantime (which I am totally procrastinating on at the moment, I know). 

Until then, I leave you with this fine musical interlude.  My friend Kathy sent me a link to this video yesterday, thinking I might like it.  How right she was!  I like this instrumental better than the original song.  Fantastic fingerstyle guitar playing by Mike Dawes.  Enjoy!

Now What?

"Failure to plan is planning to fail."  Whenever that old adage comes to mind— usually when I'm waist deep in having not planned—it gives me a twinge for a moment or two.  But then I think:  Says who?

I'm pretty sure whoever came up with that one was not a quilter.  A quilter might say:

Failure to plan is...

• a design opportunity.
• a chance to try a new technique.
• an opportunity to use the stash.
• a time to reach out for ideas.
• an open door to a change of mind.

Those are a few that I came up with.  I'm sure you can probably think of more  (and please share them in the comments, if you do).

I have finished machine appliqueing the string rings, or Dresdens, onto the background squares.  I had intended to sash them together, but when it came time for auditions, I didn't particularly like how that looked.  A black print sashing, which I thought would be dramatic, was too harsh.  Red sashing seemed to steal the thunder from the string rings, which I would like to remain the focal point.

How about no sashing at all?  It has maybe a more modern feel, and I like that, but I'm worried it may be boring.  Perhaps an alternate layout (no idea what, though) would liven things up?

Without sashing it's smaller than I originally had in mind.  It would finish approximately 60 x 80, which is not the bed size I imagined.  I am willing to sacrifice the idea of a larger quilt, however, if it makes better sense for the overall design.

Then I had an idea.  What if I made corner triangles on the blocks, which would form squares on point when joining them together and thus a kind of divider?  It might give the eye a bit of a rest and add a secondary, but not too attention-grabbing, point of interest.  I tested the idea with some pieces laid at the corners to give a rough sense of how that might look.

Am I onto something?  Getting warmer?  Colder?  Should I experiment with scrappy corners using some of the scraps in the Dresdens, or would that compete too much with the Dresdens themselves?  And borders or no borders?  It would add to the size (+), but it might overpower the rest of the quilt (-).

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Solstice

Since we have now marked the summer solstice (and how can that be already?), I decided it was high time to put a summery looking quilt on my bed.

Why do I need a quilt on my bed in the summer?  Because I go to bed freezing, as the A/C is set to hubby the polar bear's preference.  But then, because I am of an age when all hormones break loose, I wake at 4:30 a.m. to throw ALL the covers off, sheet included, until the hotness passes.  Twenty or so minutes later, I pull at least the sheet and comforter back on.  Lather, rinse, and repeat for another couple hours, and you get my drift.  I love mornings.

Anyway, since there hasn't been a whole lot of work on quilts this week, at least I can look at a different one on my bed.

I did get all the center circles fused onto the string Dresdens, and tonight I machine stitched one down along the outer circle, as well as the inner centers. I've got another one ready to stitch down...whenever.

The progress on this quilt has been slow, and I think things will continue to move along on it incrementally for the foreseeable future.  Did I mention I'm helping my dad get a book written?  Yeah, so there's that.  Plus regular life, work, other things that need doing in the summer, etc.  Always something.

Norm went back to work half days this week (happy dance!), after three months off for his work injury.  It's nice to have a more of a normal routine again.  I have felt more focused and productive in those four, quiet hours between 8 and noon this past week than I have in a long time.  

So I guess I really do love mornings—after I am out of bed, that is.