Finishes and Starts

I visited a new-to-me quilt store with my daughter recently called Blue Bar Quilts.  What a neat place!  So many beautiful fabrics, I was a bit overwhelmed by it all but in a really good way.  I should've taken more pictures of the store, but at least I got one right when we came in, before I went into full ooh-ahh mode as I wandered among the pretty bolts.

I can show you what I came home with, though.  Most of this is for Christmas and other secret sewing, so I won't be elaborating more until those projects are done and gifted.  Fun stuff, though!

What I am happy to reveal is that I finally quilted the redwork baskets quilt top that I had finished a few months back.  You can read more about that HERE.  Evie had sent me the beautiful embroidered blocks to put together into a quilt to be donated.  While I rehabbed from finger surgery (and then procrastinated some more), it patiently waited for me to figure out how to quilt it.

Ultimately, I decided that simple straight-line quilting inside the embroidered spaces was the way to go, but I didn't want to make tracks all over that pretty stitching.  Just enough to keep the layers together and not detract from the embroidery.

The baskets of flowers seemed to have a somewhat overall V shape, so I did some doodling on paper and finally went with a V overlaid with an inverted V within the embroidered blocks.  Above you can see the painter's tape, which I used as a quilting guide, marking some V's.  I'd quilt a couple areas at a time and then rotate the quilt 180 degrees and repeat the process.

I did end up going back and making a horizontal line through the center to make sure it didn't puff out too much in the resultant diamond shape.  Hence the V's turned into A's, but whatever, it worked.  You can see the quilting better in the back view.

Now it's been mailed off to Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo.  Yay, I'm doing the finished quilt happy dance!

While I was at it with the quilting foot yet on the machine, I quilted the streak-of-lightning baby quilt made with Star Wars fabric scraps.  

Both that and the "Little Farmer" baby quilt will be donated to Project Linus.  I'll drop them off this week at the local collection spot.

Here is what's currently on the design wall.  These are the scrappy string Hole in the Barn Door blocks to date.  I like them a lot!

I'm considering how (or whether) to sash and border them, and whether I want to make a few more blocks or call it quits with these.  I'm leaning toward just stopping with what I currently have done, but we'll see.

The weather has turned cold and we had our first snow of the season this weekend.  Our silver maple tree in the back yard is always the last to drop its leaves, and when it finally decides to do it, it's over in just a couple days.  It was beautiful to watch the snowflakes and the green-gold leaves swirling through the air at the same time in a race with each other to the ground.

String Diamonds Finish

The last time I talked about the String Diamonds quilt (post here), I was in the process of piecing it on foundations of telephone book paper.  I got them all done, trimmed, and papers removed.  They made such a pretty stack.

I played with the layout a bit on the design wall, as you do, and then gathered the pieces back up into stacks of labeled rows and put them aside while I made the wedding quilt.

When the wedding quilt was at the longarmer, I started putting the String Diamonds top together.  I quickly realized that where the narrow points came together, it was going to take some friendly coercion to get those seams to lie flat. 

I was reminded of a day in the 1970s when I heard a noise coming from my mother's sewing room, and I entered to find her standing over the ironing board wielding a thingamabob she'd had to purchase for the tailoring class she was taking.  

(Dritz point presser and pounding block)

Now being of the "spare the rod..." generation, my mom was no stranger to whacking things into submission, but what in the world did that polyester double-knit ever do to her?

That's when she explained that she was using her wood block to get a seam in her blazer to lie flat (I think it was a pocket detail), as she'd been taught in class.  Ah, so this was really a legit thing!

Back to my String Diamonds top, I probably still have my mom's old point presser and pounding block somewhere packed away, but I was too lazy to go looking.  So I grabbed the closest thing from the pegboard above the workbench a few feet away.  It worked, but...

It also dented my ironing board.  So after the first few blows, I grabbed a piece of scrap wood and put it between the underside of the quilt top and the ironing board.  That, and a hot steam iron, worked like a charm!

I've really been trying to use my stash as much as I can and avoid the stores.  I actually don't mind having some limitations; it gives me an opportunity to think more creatively and often leads to some interesting choices.  

Take, for instance, the backing I used on the String Diamonds.  I had a big old bunch of it (a thrift store find, I think...either that or among the things a friend gave me when she was helping her mother destash).  I thought I might use it for the back of a girl's quilt at some point.

Well, I'm a girl, and why not? I thought to myself as I was looking for backing options for String Diamonds.  It may be an older fabric, but it's fun looking and playful.  I'm all for that.

I quilted this one in a simple meander with multicolor thread.  That's something else I seemed to have plenty of, so why not use it.

This is my new TV-watching throw for winter.  Currently, we're watching The Crown (love!), but before that we binged The Queen's Gambit on Netflix (also very much enjoyed).  I highly recommend both.  As well, there's been The Voice on network TV.  There are some wonderful singers this season, as always.  Interesting how they've managed to make the show work within pandemic-required restrictions.

String Diamonds

Currently in the works is a string diamonds quilt based on the "Diamonds Are Forever" pattern from the book String Quilt Revival by Virginia Baker and Barbara Sanders.

I've had the book for a few years, and the instructions call for using a stabilizer called Sheer Delite to sew the string blocks onto.  It doesn't get removed, just becomes part of the quilt.

Well, try to find that stuff now.  After spending (too much) time searching the internet, it seems to me they may not make it anymore.  Or maybe it's sold under a different name.

So I figured I'd just use my trusty, old faithful phone book pages as foundations.  I have to remove the papers, of course, but I'm no stranger to that process and don't mind doing it.  It's a good thing to do while listening to an audiobook.  I just finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho through my local library, using the RB Digital app.

In searching for information on the stabilizer for the quilt, I happened upon a YouTube video tutorial by Tea Quilts. She was also using paper foundations to piece her "Diamonds Are Forever" quilt.  Excellent tutorial, by the way, and she includes instructions to make the kite-shaped template in the description box below the video (click on "Show More" to expand the box).

I use a diagonal line of Elmer's washable glue stick to secure the kite shaped piece to the diagonal of the paper, then just line up my strings along the straight edge and sew away.  No pinning required.  I work on about four blocks at a time, chain piecing them through the machine.  It hasn't been a problem to remove the paper where the glue was.  Even after pressing the block, the glue releases cleanly and there's no problem with tackiness on the fabric.

At first I was going to use black for the background fabric, i.e. the fabric you cut the kite-shaped pieces out of.  But after I made a few sample blocks, I wasn't in love with that color scheme.  Nothing else in the quilting fabric stash really grabbed my attention, but luckily I spotted a big piece of teal colored linen-like fabric that I'd bought to make a dress.  Well, the dress never happened and wasn't going to happen, so I tried making a few string blocks with the teal fabric and loved it!

I think it's cotton (or mostly, anyway).  I remember buying it at JOANN years ago from among the garment fabric bolts.  The weave is somewhat coarser in texture, but it drapes and presses well.  It seems to be doing very nicely in this quilt.

Man, there are some weird, wild, and wonderful fabrics in this baby!  I'm just grabbing from the scraps and strings buckets and bins as I go, trying not to overthink anything.  It's pretty amazing how little of a dent I've made in the strings so far.  Hopefully by the time I get done, I'll notice a reduction.

I've also prewashed and pressed fabric for another quilt that I need to get started on soon.  A whole lot of batik fat quarters here.  This quilt will need to be ready to gift in several weeks' time, so I may have to interrupt the string diamonds quilt to work on that.

I'm probably not going to be able to reveal much more about the batik project while I'm working on it in case the giftee reads this blog.  But I'll be sure to take lots of pictures that I can show after it's all done and delivered!

A Round-Up of Finishes

As I may have mentioned, I didn't make that many new quilts while I was on hiatus from blogging this past year, but I did finish up a few.  I'll show you those today.  And in a future post, I'll bring you up to speed on the couple of new quilts I've made since then.

Back in January 2019, I had gotten this small quilt to the flimsy stage.  I'm calling it Get Happy, because the hubs thought the colors and shapes were reminiscent of the Partridge Family television show intro from the 1970s.  Since it has a little bluebird (of happiness?) on the top, I thought why not.  So Get Happy it is.

I did some wavy quilting in the mostly white horizontal strips using one of the decorative stitches on the Brother.  Then I did a dense meander in the black areas...with black thread...which had me straining to see where I was going and where I had been with the quilting.  Had to take my glasses off and get real up close and personal with what was happening under the needle.  I am pleased to report no facial features were harmed in the process.  What a relief, because I would hate to have had to change the name of the quilt (Get Stitches just doesn't sound as nice)!

For the bluebird, I practiced doodling on paper a way to quilt the bird with a continuous stitch from eyeball to tail feather to wing.  It worked out pretty much like I'd planned, although not on the first attempt.  But that's why they make seam rippers. 

By the time I got to the leaves (or petals), my previously doodled idea for those went out the window and I did a more straightforward kind of thing in pastel multicolored thread and called it a day.

Late last fall, I finished up this plaid lattice quilt top with a simple meander.  

The top is from thrifted plaid shirts, and I pieced the backing out of a couple other fabrics I'd found on previous thrifting adventures.  It turned out pretty cozy.  I gifted it to a friend who was moving away. 

I've also gotten a couple of quilts back from my longarm quilter in the past few months. 

In February of this year, I finished up the Carolina Chain quilt and gifted it to my niece Krystal.  (My plan is to give each of my nieces and nephews a quilt, and I have several more to go.)

Last month, I got the Blooming String Baskets quilt back.  I put the binding on it right away so this one's officially done, too. 

Not sure if I will gift this one or keep it.  I'm leaning towards the latter, but we'll see.  I really like it!

I think that about brings things up to speed with the flimsies finished since 2019.  I've got one more quilt top at the longarmer, the Friendship 360 which began as a quilt-along in 2016.  I'm looking forward to getting that one wrapped up as well, hopefully soon!

Sunday Sundry 6-23-19

It's been awhile since I've done a post in the "Sunday Sundry" category, where I gather various odds and ends into a smorgasbord of sundry themes.  So let's do this thing.

Old Business

First, in the interest of closure, I did get the last Hands2Help flimsy quilted and sent off to Quilty Hugs earlier this month.  Norm took a couple minutes out of his yard work to hold the quilt up on the porch for a couple pictures of the front and back.  

Some close-ups. 

This was a great way to utilize 2.5-inch strips and went together fast.  Go back one post for the link to the tutorial, if you're interested in more details.  I'd definitely make one of these again.

Who Likes Leftovers?

I do, when it comes to both food and fabric.  Food-wise, it usually means I don't have to cook, which is a welcome change of pace.  Fabric-wise, it's a fun and creative challenge to make something on a smaller scale within the confines of the scraps from a bigger project.  I like the low pressure, who-cares-if-it-doesn't-work, but-it-might-be-awesome-if-it-does feeling of working with leftovers.

I had a couple orphan blocks left over from the Blooming String Baskets quilt, as well as some leftover triangle units in solid colors.  So I played around with positioning those this way and that, and came up with this table runner.

When it came to quilting it, I had no clear idea, so I started with just ditch quilting, and that led to a bunch of other straight lines.

Here's a fun, good to know tidbit:  Anybody who thinks straight-line quilting is taking the easy way out when it comes to finishing a project, has probably never buried three thousand thread ends!  Of course, I'm exaggerating the number (somewhat), but man oh man, the thread burying on this little ole thing! 

I'm happy with the end result, after all is said and done.  Yeah, so maybe it looks like the carnival has come to town, but it sure brightens up a room!  If it's too bright, I can always flip it over for a (kinda?) more subtle effect.

The next leftover project was with more solid scraps and remaining 2.5-inch strips from the quilt shown above.  I put together a few 16-patch blocks and came up with this little doll-size quilt.

My grand-niece has a birthday in a couple weeks, and I think she and her dollies might like this.

The back is from a vintage fitted crib sheet I found at a thrift store years ago.  It's so soft and sweet, and the perfect size to finish this little quilt.

Non-Sewing Related Gigs

I've been working on a different kind of project lately, and that is transcribing the many hours of conversations I recorded with my dad a year or so before he passed away.  

He's been gone a year and a half now, but I still think of him just about every day.  Sometimes it's just a passing thought.  Other times it's like a step back into a more painful kind of missing him all over again.  

(View from Dad's memorial bench overlooking the marsh near sunset.)

I think grief is like that.  It comes and goes, sometimes dull, sometimes sharp.  I'm no expert, but I think you just have to ride those waves, up and over, as many times as they roll in.  

When I've been out for my daily walks this summer, I've been relistening to those conversations.  Dad wanted to talk about his life, his stories from a young kid on.  When we covered most of that ground, we went through his photo albums and he talked about the people in the pictures.  I'd go over there once a week or so during 2016, with my digital recorder in hand, and hit the record button.

You might think relistening to those conversations would be painful, but I find they are anything but.  To hear his voice again, his stories, his laughter and mine co-mingling, is relaxing and comforting.

(Dad in 2014 - Quote by Scribbles & Crumbs/Lexi Behrndt)

My mom wrote down her stories about growing up and compiled them into a book that she then supplemented with pictures.  She gave each of us children a copy.  When she passed away unexpectedly, 10 years ago, we were all so glad she had done that.  

I think Dad wanted to do the same, but he didn't have the skills mom had when it came to typing it all into the computer and organizing it into a narrative.  I'd helped him edit the book he wrote in 2012 from his handwritten notes, so I think he wanted me to do something similar with his life story. He never asked me explicitly, but I got the drift that that's what he was wanting to do once we got started.  When I was working with him on his book writing project, it became obvious that "the rest of the story" was often in the details I teased out when seeking clarification of his written notes.  He was a great storyteller, and it seemed he recognized that his own story was going to have to come straight from the horse's mouth, as it were, with me asking questions along the way.

(Wild columbine along the bike trail, with "sparkles" of dandelion fluff.)

So now I'm starting to transcribe those long conversations.  I'm a transcriptionist by day, so it's not difficult work for me, just time-consuming.  And after hours of transcribing for my day job, I am usually pretty much over with sitting in front of a screen and typing any more than I have to.  However, last week I had a light workload for some reason, so I got started.

I tell you what, even though you may have heard your parents' or grandparents' stories being told time and time again, there's no way you're going to remember all the details.  And you may hear a snippet of a story here and there but never the whole thing.  In relistening and transcribing Dad's own words, I'm learning many "new" things, even though, technically, I've heard them before.  The overall scope of it is coming into better focus.

It is going to be wonderful to get this down in black and white for posterity, and to share it with the rest of the family.

Thrift Finds

So far this summer, there's been more going out of the house than coming in, which feels like a very good thing.  I've sold an old road bike, a camera, and an amplifier, among other things.  I've driven a couple trunk loads to Goodwill.  The circle of stuff, and all that.

But on Saturday, we happened by a nice thrift store where I sometimes find fabric, and once again, the trip did not disappoint.

That roll of pink fabric?  Five yards!  That'll make a nice backing some day.

Love the paisley print!  And that striped fabric may make a nice binding.

This gray (and black/white/red) fabric was definitely a vintage head-scratcher.  What is with those shapes, for one thing?  And feathers?  It was just too weird to pass up.  I tried Googling the name on the selvage but nothing came up.  Hmm...gotta love a good mystery!