May 2015 – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

May 31, 2015

A Love Affair With Fabric and Australian Quilt Patterns

OK – how many Quilters out there REALLY need more fabric. Why is it that we do not run to our “stash” to make all the new projects even when fabric is so expensive now? My excuse is that I am still building on my stash. (Hum – after 15 years of starting this Hobby – still building?) When I received my Stonefields Quilt Pattern, I knew that I would try to use my stash, but not sure on the background fabric. I had purchased Prairie Rose last year while I was building my Reproduction Stash. Now I have decided to use that fabric line to make Stonefields. About 2 weeks ago on a quick outing to a local quilt store I found some P&B Apple Cider 13 fabrics that was the perfect background for Stonefields. I purchased what they had and then went cruising on the Internet. First stop was Web Fabrics (Carly) (www.webfabrics.net) in Purcellville, VA. I decided that I wanted the same design but a lighter color to add to the background to prevent it from becoming “boring”. Here are the two colorways of the Apple Cider 13.

I have been purchasing fabric from Carly since the early 2000 when she first started her on-line business. She is wonderful to do business with. (At that time I was in love with Patrick Lose’s Moda Marbles and Marble Mates.) Last week Carly sent out a newsletter offering some Dutch fabrics at a great price. The fabric line is Dutch Heritage by Petra Prins and Nel Kooiman Well, the temptation was too great – I just could not help myself. I ordered a yard each of 3 pieces of the line. I received that fabric within a few days and I really like it because it can be washed as it does not have the “glazed” look of the Den Haan & Wagenmakers BeHeer Dutch Chintz from Happiness is Quilting in Plano, Texas. I was really good to me last year because I purchased a nice stash of the Den Haan and Wagemakers for the Di Ford Mystery Quilt of 2014. Here is a picture of the fabrics:

Dutch Chintz Happiness is Quilting — Dutch Chintz (from Happiness is Quilting)

The Dutch Chintz is a glazed cotton (polished cotton) and sells for $39.00 a yard. The Dutch fabric from Web Fabrics sells for $21.00 a yard and is not glazed (or polished cotton). I have really loved myself this past year haven’t I? I blame Quiltmania, Australian Quilt Patterns, and getting hooked on Reproduction Fabrics!

I am now preparing to really dig in and catch up on my quilting. I plan on working on Dear Jane, Stonefields, Dutch Treat, Di Ford’s project, and probably 2 other projects when we travel to Arizona this winter. Of course, I need to get out of the “planning” stage and get into the “working stage”! I have now finished ironing my additional Enduring Legacy, Prairie Rose, and P&B Apple Cider and hoping that I quit purchasing and start quilting! Poor Capt Aust is still hanging around and am sure he will go with me to Arizona (LOL).

Have a great day and enjoy your quilting projects. I hope that I have added something to your quilting world and inspired a Quilter. Quilting keeps Quilters sane – I am convinced!

May 31, 2015

Stars Across Texas Pattern

Here is a picture of the Pattern for Stars Across Texas. It was designed by Diana Pelton Wisteria Quilting Designs in 2005.

I found this shop that carries the patterns. http://www.acowgirlquiltshop.com/shop/Patterns/p/Stars-Across-Texas–by-Wisteria-Quilting-Designs-x2455845.htm

stars_across_texas_pattern_20140625081558 — Stars Across Texas Quilt Pattern

Enjoy and have a great Sunday.

May 30, 2015

Stars Across Texas

I thought that I would post something positive that I am experiencing in my quilting life. I have found that when a Quilter is under stress it is so difficult to find creativity and certainly expecting to have things turn out perfect will not happen! I am sure that this is why I did not take up quilting until I retired!

The motto for the San Antonio Area Quilt Guild is “Well Done is Well Done”. The statement has been made many times over within the Guild regarding the judging of the show quilts and the first time I heard it I really had to ponder over its’ meaning. It is a statement that should apply to almost anything we do in life. While I really made a lot of “dumb” errors in making my Enduring Love quilt (see previous post), I have found that embroidery work in the evenings is so relaxing and calming. It is almost mistake proof (unless one messes up tracing the pattern).

So while the world has been crashing down on Clay and I for the past 14 months, I have been able to complete 8 of the 12 blocks for my Stars Across Texas. Here they are:

Boot Scootin' Across Texas — Boot Scootin’ Across Texas

I have 4 more blocks to finish and then I will design the setting. I have a lot of ideas on how I want the finished quilt to look. I used Presencia Embroidery thread for this project. I wanted a different look for this quilt so I chose a light and a dark variegated gold/brown color for the embroidery. Presencia thread is wonderful to work with – not sure what I will do with the tons of the other embroidery thread that I have stashed away. I purchased the thread from Rosie deLeon-McGrady who has a great website – check it out – http://www.redworkplus.com.

It appears that we are in for more heavy rains tonight. We have received almost 30 inches of rain where we live. I believe that San Antonio has received over 20″. The normal rain fall for South Texas (prior to the drought) would be on the average of 30 inches. So you can see we are way above that in our area which is Southeast of San Antonio.

Have a great week-end. I hope to be able to post more and more this summer.

May 26, 2015May 30, 2015

A Quilters Story – Enduring Legacy or Enduring Mistakes

Greetings from the State of Texas where our 5 year plus Drought is OVER! We are officially drought free. This is the way it goes here in South Texas and what a relief that we are in El Nino weather pattern. Our grass is growing back and our 95 pine trees are looking so pretty. I feel for the families who have lost loved ones and their homes. Mother Nature can provide blessings, but at the same time heartache.

The last time I posted I believe I was working on a quilt by Carol Hopkins Designs. The pattern is from Civil War Legacies – Quilts for Reproduction Fabrics. I keep calling my quilt Enduring Legacy – well….. DUH that is the fabric line by Judi Rothermel. This pattern is Enduring Love #270. I love the quilt and the fabric line and it was coming together so pretty. I knew that when putting the Medallion together that a few of the star points were “cut off”, but decided that this would be a “utility” quilt and not one to show. The pattern calls for 8 borders. The Medallion has a serpentine 2″ border strip mitered, a 2″ border not mitered, and then another 2″ serpentine border mitered! So in my stressed stupor from the last 15 months, I followed the pattern. Moving right along I finished the first 3 borders and attempted to start the 40 stars for the next border. Here is a picture of my progress about 3 weeks ago. I was fairly pleased with myself for getting this much done even after Clay’s neck surgery in April!

Enduring Legacy with 3 Borders — Absolutely Beautiful – Looking Perfect?

The next border consisted of 40 Squares in a Square Block. I was very careful to measure and make sure that each 4 1/2″ block would be perfect and not have issues like I did with a few of the star points! Quilting right along, Ms Perfectionist put the entire border on ONLY to find out that I was off 3/8 of an inch when I put the top border on! LOVELY!

I kept telling myself and hubby, oh well, this will not be a quilt for Show….. After ripping the entire border off, redoing the side borders and thinking, ahhhh now it should be OK (yes I checked to see if all corners were squared) I still had a problem. I decided to walk away and “think about it”. But I do believe that this one put me over the edge (Type A’s have this problem – LOL).

Sunday morning I made up my mind that I would take the quilt apart to find my mistakes. Boy did I find some, and the worst was in the very first Serpentine border. I continued on searching out the problems and found out that they began when I put the 2nd border on – which was NOT mitered, and of course made it really bad with the 3rd border! One would think that I would have listened to 3 friends who kept reminding me to not start any quilts that would require concentration while I was under stress. As I ripped all borders off and reached the “stars with cut off points” I decided that I needed to continue ripping and start this quilt over. Good thing I did as I quickly found out that my center block (Birds) was 1/4″ off.

When I am in the process of working on a quilt and have “issues” (nice word for mistakes) I back into the problem and try to find out exactly what I did to get to the point where I am now. Well, one major mistake was this. I pre-wash all my fabrics and immediately iron them. Guess what! I forgot that I had set them aside and did not press. I guess I thought that I would “press as I go”, but even forgot that. So my mistakes really started before I started cutting. LESSON LEARNED!

Then if was off to the computer hoping to find some more fabric just in case and Whittles saved me. The background fabric was more difficult to find. Although I have plenty, I love the fabric and found it at The Hen House (www.thehenhousemi.com). So that was pure dumb luck. This quilt will now become a Show quilt for next year. I will correct all mistakes and make sure that it is of Show quality, even if it never receives a Ribbon, it is a quilt that will be worth all the work. MORAL OF THE STORY – Do not expect anything to go right when under stress! Won’t Happen!

So here I am on 30 May 2015 “starting over” with Enduring Love #270. I have the Center Medallion corrected, 4 of the 12 Center Stars have been re-made, and the Square in a Square Border has been checked and appears to be “OK” (fingers crossed) as I do not want to have to re-make them. All fabric has been received, washed and YES, I just finished ironing the first set of fabrics and will iron the additional ones tomorrow. Quilting is sooooo much fun!

Border Fabrics — Border Fabric – Judi Rothermel Sturbridge Collection II – Enduring Legacy

Enduring Legacy Fabics — Judy Rothermel Sturbridge Collection II – Enduring Legacy Fabrics

Center Medallion 30 May 15 — Center Medallion – 30 May 2015

I tried to salvage all of the 12 Stars that circle the birds, but quickly found that I was sloppy (probably not concentrating) and did not square the star points or the center of the star as I made them. Therefore in the end – a total remake of all 12 stars! They are all cut out and ready to be sewn together. Let’s hope I am more careful when putting them together and not forgetting to square each section!

Have a great week-end and updates coming down the pike on my Texas Quilt!