July 8, 2018 by Texas Quilter

Nesting, and York Lodge!

Happy Sunday to all. The weather is hot and so humid, but we have been getting some rain for the last 4 days and then back to the horrible heat! I have been working on 2 projects, Nesting and York Lodge blocks. The border for Nesting is not complicated so I am pretty sure I can finish it by the end of the month or before! Tomorrow is Radio Frequency treatment for my back – they cauterize the nerves from the waist down and it really helps! So while ‘resting’ I will work on Nesting as soon as the twilight wears off!

Progress is being made on Nesting. The top border has 2 Red Birds, and each border side there is a Blue bird. On the bottom border there is a nest with eggs! Each corner has the 4 leaves. There is some embroidery left to complete, but I usually do this when all the applique is complete. This is going to be a striking quilt and will be hand quilted! Hummm maybe this will be one that is going to be loaded on that new Grace Z44 frame that I purchased over a year ago.

The other project I am working on is York Lodge. I have completed 10 of the 30 blocks that make up this quilt. I am excited because each time I make one it takes less and less time! Guess the saying ‘practice makes perfect’ still goes! I am thinking that Wednesday or Thursday I will begin to cut some HSTs and add them to each corner in order to square each block. The blocks will square to 10″ finished and 10 1/2″ unfinished so these are not large blocks I am making! A lot of work, but I do believe this will be a great Show Quilt next year. I have not seen anyone else making it. The pattern is neatly tucked away in a Quiltmania book!

I am not sure, but that orange star with that dark background may be the first to square – just in case there is a problem. It will not hurt my feelings if I have to make another orange as this background really sticks out like a sore thumb. But that was my mood for the day! LOL I am very happy that all my points are turning out perfect, and crossing my fingers that all works out when I square the block or I will be one upset puppy!

I am off to cut out 5 more blocks and then hopefully I will complete one more for today. the block on the bottom is the one I completed this morning. My goal is for 2 per day and hopefully 3 a day as I get closer to completion. Final goal would be end of July to have it completed. The quilt will be put together with a sashing and there will not be a need for a border as this would take away from the floating star effect. I am not sure which fabric I will use for the sashings, but thinking about the P&B white or a Batik white.

Have a great week and happy quilting!

Nanette

June 17, 2018 by Texas Quilter

York Lodge – A New Project

Greetings from South Texas where now that we have a scheduled date of tomorrow to have 2 new roofs installed, the weather forecast says that we have high chances of rain all week. Go figure!

I have not worked on any hand projects for the last 2 weeks – I had a pinched nerve that took a few days out of my life, then stupid Unforeseen Requirements (UFR’s) happened. But through that I have been working on a new quilt and a technique that I had never done before. I have been wanting a challenge and this was a big one!

Here is the book where I found the pattern:

The York Lodge Quilt:

I have the perfect fabric for this quilt and will change the fabric placement for all blocks. The block is made with 1 1/2” strips and then sewing 4 different strip sets together. Then cut them on a 45 degree at 1 1/2” strips – attention has to be paid to this cut or it is hair pulling time – which is why color placement is critical. This is definitely not for the faint of heart quilter as it takes 100% precision! As I made my practice block to see if I really wanted to do this quilt, I learned where I would have problems if I did not take my time. There are 30 blocks in this quilt and I will not be making all 30 at one time. It is just too taxing to work on it from start to finish each without stressing myself to the maximum!

My friend Gretchen gave me some valuable guidance on this project and that was to make a goal of making a block a week. Before I finished my practice block (which took about 5 days (not full-time) I almost gave up on making the quilt. One thing I figured out (Duh) was that each EACH seam has to be pressed open – no exceptions!

Now I feel so much more confident about the block and I know how much time is needed to achieve the desired result, I am going to begin my making either 1 or 2 blocks a week, or one block every other day. Then I will not suffer burnout. The other days will be devoted to other ongoing UFO’s.

Most magazines and books like Quiltmania ASSUME that the quilter knows all there is about quilting techniques. This particular quilt is marked as Intermediate. I do believe that this is an Advanced quilt, based on the precision that it requires for each strip piece, 45 degree cuts, pressing seams flat on EVERYTHING, and matching points precisely. No room for errors or points not matching! Ah my kind of “blowing the mind” time.

This is my practice block. The beige HST corners should be the same color as the crackle fabric, but I grabbed scraps for this one. There are a few slips in this one but I let them go. This block requires working with bias – no fun there – and care has to be taken when sewing the stars strips together. It is imperative to have that 1/4” when adding the corner HSTs and the other 4 points or the effect of the star will be lost!

These are the fabrics that I will be using. I had originally thought I would use them in Star Dancing, but have decided to go with batiks on that quilt.

I have some beautiful White P&B fabric called Grace II that I will use as a background. I do feel that the white will not overwhelm the quilt if it does then I will go to a light beige. The secret is going to be sure that the fabric is matched closely by thread count or there will be Heck to pay! Each block will be made with the same color – not like the pattern. There will be 2 each of the above colors!

I would love to have this one completed before Fall and if it turns out I will enter in the SA show next year. (Crossed fingers)

I am almost through with Nesting – a little embroidery on 2 blocks, and one more Blue Bird to applique. I am thinking that I can work on piecing one day and my hand work another day, but must be careful to not overwork my hands!

I have an update on one of the quilt tops I gave to my cousin Susan. This was my RSC 2017 Challenge quilt. She is a very talented seamstress and here is how she finished the quilt! So creative! Beautiful job Susan! She added the crosses in the middle of each block! This is a graduation present to Susan’s niece and my cousin Kay’s grand daughter who just graduated from high school!

Happy Father’s Day to all the quilter’s husbands and enjoy quilting!

Nanette

January 1, 2016 by Texas Quilter

Happy New Year – Still Working on the Old and Bringing in the New for 2016

Happy New Year! We arrived home in Texas on Christmas Day. We made a mad dash for home with the El Paso Blizzard following us. We left Whetstone, Arizona on Christmas Eve and spent the night in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was cold! We left at 8AM and we were scheduled to spend the night in Fort Stockton, Texas on Christmas night and head for home on Saturday. But when we realized that we would arrive by noon and just sit there until Saturday morning, we kept on going and arrived at home at 7:20PM – a 651 mile trip pulling a 36 foot 5th Wheel that was probably overloaded.

We were very blessed on this trip home because when we went to unload some things out of the 5th wheel on Saturday morning we had a flat on the Dually! No wonder the truck acted like it was dying on the last 50 miles! Now a week later, we are now back to our normal routine. The weather here in our area is dark and dreary and raining. For me I love the weather like this – Cold, Wet, and 100% quilting weather!

I have made myself a promise now that we are settled back into our normal life that I will Blog each week with updates on my projects. Since my last post I have finished Segment 2 of Stonefields and started a Christmas Table Runner and Placements – YUP – bought that pattern and fabric 2 years ago so now it will be ready for Christmas 2016…. why be in a hurry? If I finish this in the next 2 weeks it will be the first time I will have a nice table runner and place mats for Christmas!

We had a wonderful trip, but will not go back to Arizona for the winter again. We have been doing this trip for 15 years and it is time for a change. We have decided to do shorter trips during the year and stay put for winter time in Texas. I can hardly wait to go to Durant, OK for a good gambling trip!

Here are the blocks for Stonefields, Segment 2:

Segment 2 of Stonefields All in a Row!

The top two blocks were really difficult to achieve perfection – so I did them twice. The second time I used my EQ7 software and redid the block pattern. They came out perfect the second time. The original pattern was not drawn to scale and it caused the stars to be off-center. The lower left blocks with the little flowers were fun to make, although when I realized the hexies were 3/8″ I thought they would be the most difficult to do, but they turned out to be the most fun! Here are the blocks close up.

Blue Hexie 3/8″ Flower Block

Red Hexie Flower Block

Christmas Place Mat

I purchased the pattern in Durant, OK in 2013 on the way to Arizona. The Table Runner has 5 candles with the Christmas Balls and has a shadow fabric for the back of the candle which is really neat. When I finish that I will provide the pattern information. Fun and easy project for Christmas 2016!

I have an impossible list of projects for 2016 – none of which will be on-line BOMs. They served their purpose for me last year, but that was then and this is now! Here is my list (hum…..) wonder which one’s will be finished this year?

1. Civil War Bride (There are 3 (maybe 4) Ladies who will be doing 2 blocks a month starting in February or March and I will be posting the progress of all each month! If you have the pattern and would like to join, let me know). There are no set rules or time constraints with this project.

2. Brinton Hall (Quiltmania Project)
3. Flower Garden (Edyta Sitar’s Handfuls of Scraps Book)
4. Baskets of Scraps (Edyta Sitar’s Handfuls of Scraps Book)
5. Dear Jane (Brenda’s)
6. Stonefields
7. Stars and Sprigs (Kim McLean)
8. Sweet Surrender – Australian pattern (waiting for the mail impatiently)

There is a “maybe” project – 9. Farmers’ Wife 1930 (There is a BIG maybe on this one – there are issues with the .pdf files). As I previously posted, I purchased the book and all the fabric, so I have already invested a lot of $ for this project. My friend Cathy sent me 3 books on 1930’s fabrics for Christmas and they are great reads. They will be a great help if I decide to use the fabric on another quilt.

I also would love to start on Di Ford’s 2013 Mystery Quilt but of course who knows. I realize that there is no way to complete all, but I am going to at least get started on all of them and do not think I will get bored. This will be the first time I will run projects concurrently – should be fun or I will slide into oblivion world of “ex-quilters”.

My friend Jaydee, sent me a piece of fabric of Peacocks. She was working on The Morrell Quilt and had a couple of the birds left over. When I received them I immediately could see a Medallion coming down the road… The birds are so pretty.

Beautiful Peacocks

Have a wonderful 2016 and remember, Life is short, Friends are Few, and God loves us!

July 25, 2015 by Texas Quilter

Brinton Hall, Fabric, and Anna Brereton

Good Saturday morning from South Texas – where we love the 100+ degree weather and humidity….. OK – July Fool! They “say” we are sending the heat high to the Southwest next week – around 1 August! If that happens and we have rain in August we are in a new cycle of weather! Walking in this weather is great – allows me to take at least 2 showers a day! I will miss them when winter gets here (LOL).

Our lives have returned to normal (with a few sad moments) it is unbelievable what stress can do to the body and mind – it is a killer. I am so enjoying life again and my freedom from interruptions and other issues. Now the only interruptions are when Clay and I interrupt each other when we are working on our projects! Looking forward to the trek to Arizona more and more. So many things coming down the road that are exciting and so looking forward to the change in scenery. The word for August is “Concentration” because I am slowly getting it back!

Well, here is an update on the Brinton Hall quilt. When I received my Quiltmania, #108, and started reviewing Part 2 of the project, I decided to look further into this quilt. Evidently the quilt was inspired by an original piece made between 1803-05 by Anna Brereton who lived from 1756-1819! WOW! Can you imagine if the quilters of today will have their work copied, or new interpretations of them in the year 300? Wonder if anyone will still be on this old earth by then!

As I began to review Part 2, I wanted to learn more about the original quilt and quiltmaker. Here is a picture of the original quilt – it is absolutely beautiful – what a bed to die for! Janet Rae has a book that was published in 1987 on “The Quilts of the British Isles” where Leigh Latimore found this quilt and made her interpretation using Kaffe Fassett fabrics and Reproduction fabrics. (I found the book on Amazon and ordered it as it should be a good read). It is a pretty quilt, but of course we all are individuals in our color/fabric selections and that is what makes Quilters unique! They bring their own preferences in fabric and color when making a quilt. This is what makes our hobby unique! This quilt is an absolute work of art. If you wish to know more click on this link – Frayed Fabrics

Original Quilt by Anna Brereton

There are 2 other Bloggers (USA) who are working on the Brinton Hall quilt project – LuAnn and Karen H. PS – Thank you Karen for the tip on the ‘hyperlink’ you saved me some time in learning that one!

So on to my progress. I am currently working on cutting out a million hexagons (not really) for this quilt. I have all of the tone on tone fabric hexies cut and working on them in the evening. Now I need to cut more for the remainder of the Medallion. I love pulling fabrics and cutting them up into pieces – weird huh? When I saw this pattern I immediately went to my Asian fabric stash, that has been sitting patiently waiting for at least 7 years, and of course my batiks (they have missed me since I went back 200 years to Reproductions) to select my favorite colors that will blend nicely with the Asian.

After reviewing Part 1 and 2 of Brinton Hall from Leigh Latimore I have decided that I will continue on with the Medallion, but after that I have a new interpretation of Anna’s quilt. I used EQ7 yesterday and designed the quilt – at least I think I know where I am going with this. I should have better control over the outcome than I did on my previous disaster – Enduring Legacy!

Here are some of the fabrics (first pull) that I will be using! I am really excited about working on this and it seems I am developing a love for EPP – need to with all the money I have invested in Paper Pieces and Stamps by Kate products!

Asian Fabric for Brinton Hall (Upside down bird) Notice the hexies on the top fabric background!

Batiks for Brinton Hall

Test Hexie Flower

To shift gears…. I think it was during April that I went absolutely nuts on purchasing two (2) old Singer sewing machines – First I purchased this Singer 301 and then purchased the table that it sits on! Of course during the course of that purchase I heard about the Singer 401a and what a workhorse it was! So I purchased one of those. I will tell you that I have not taken the time to sew a lot on the 301, but I can attest to the soundness and what a workhorse the 401a is. I was blessed in purchasing to fantastic machines – both in perfect looks and perfection in performance.

Singer 301 sitting on a special made table made from a Singer Treadle Machine

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week-end of quilting while we are in the heat of Summer! Good time to work on UFO’s or new projects. Until next time – take care and have a blessed life. I do!

July 13, 2015 by Texas Quilter

Doing the Same Thing Over – Expecting Different Results!

Well, here it is 13 July 2014………..The time flies when one is having so much fun. The weather is definitely Summer Time in the South! We reached 99 degrees and 50% humidity yesterday – Lovely. This is a good time to stay indoors and work on quilt projects – just like the Cold Winters in the North!

If you follow my Blog you know that I had been working on a Quilt called Enduring Love #270 using Judi Rothermel fabrics from Old Sturbridge Collection called Enduring Legacy. Being a Type A Perfectionist and OK – Compulsive Obsessive Quilter, this project was doomed from the beginning – I just did not realize it! After working on it on and off since late April, stopping at one point and redoing the entire quilt, I arrived at the border of 6″ Stars.

I will not bore all with my lovely trip through the vicissitudes of the life of a perfectionist quilter, so here is the bottom line. Because I am chemically sensitive, all fabric is washed before bring it to the Studio. I NEVER once thought that by washing this fabric some of the dyed pieces would have faded and that the fabric would have stretching issues.

All I will say is that the left over fabric (and there is a lot) is put up so high on my shelves that I doubt I will ever see it again – maybe the dust will cause it to disintegrate someday and I will never have to “make myself use it”. Maybe I will give it to a quilter who needs some frustration in their lives! (LOL) Once the fabric is washed it turned into a thinner more stretchy fabric that I did not realize UNTIL I had made 36 – 6 inch stars for the next to the last border…….So here is what I came up with and I am not pleased with it at all. Without the Stars, the quilt does nothing for me and I am sure a Judge would run past it, therefore it is going to be a utility quilt. I think that if anyone has purchased this line of fabric and pre-washes they will have a mess on their hands. The fabric fades and becomes very thin and stretchy – a lot of work that will be in vain because the quilt will not last. Now needless to say, there were some errors I had made when making the quilt, but when I say it was doomed from the beginning it was and it was due to the pre-washing. Learned a BIG lesson on this one. (I wonder if I will ever get over the time I have lost in devoting to this quilt?)

Enduring Love #270 – Modified

Now on to more positive things. I have completed my Stars Across Texas embroidery project – I have decided to wait awhile before I design a setting. There is something to say about hand work and that is, “one can control the outcome”!

Texas Wreath

A Texas Armadilla

Last year I became interested in Reproduction fabric and Australian quilts. The Australian quilters love English Paper Piecing (EPP) and their quilts really pop and look great. There is a lot of intense hand work in their patterns and sooooo challenging! I cancelled all of my US magazines and only subscribe to Quiltmania. LuAnn of luannsloosethreads.blogspot.com blogged about a quilt that she was starting that is in Quiltmania Magazine Number 107. Be sure to go to her Blog – she does some great work. Here is a picture of the quilt called Brinton Hall by Leigh Latimore (http://leighquilts.blogspot.com) Check out her Blog also.

Brinton Hall Quilt

I immediately knew that this would be my next project. So off to the Stash to pull fabrics. I am working on the Center Medallion now doing the EPP rings around a “fussy” cut Center. I have missed working with my batiks this last year so I will be using them in this quilt. Hopefully it will not be a disaster.

LuAnn also blogged about a book that is absolutely great when developing an in-depth understanding of EPP. The book is called “all points patchwork” – English Paper Piecing Beyond the Hexagon for Quilts and Small Projects by Diane Gilleland. Amazon has it on their website for about $12.00. There are 220 pages of illustrations of “the many ways to use EPP as possible”. (a direct quote from her Idea Book versus Project Book). It is a great book!

I love the Blogging world – quilters share so many ideas and projects and they are all inspiring. So with that, I am now going to go and work on EPP Hexagons. I have covered up the sewing machine for at least 2 weeks and will be sitting here working on EPP watching some movies and resting my weary mind from the last quilt project that I want to forget. Doesn’t this look inviting?

My EPP Sewing Table and a TV – What more do I want?

Have a wonderful week, enjoy life, and always take time to take in some Sun (good Vitamin D).

September 18, 2014 by Texas Quilter

Sentimental Scraps Project – August 2014

I started a post on 11 August 2014 – Where has the time gone? I was under the weather (as they say) for about a month, then here came the Dentist and the 6 month checkup’s and the Austin Quilt Guild Show! WOW. I am so looking forward to next Tuesday (23 September) as I will be through with Doctor visits (not the Dentist yet). At least I will have an opportunity to become BORED? One thing I will not miss is all those wonderful trips to San Antonio and having to rush and leave by 8AM! Reminds me of going to work! The longer I am retired, the less I enjoy having to be somewhere at a certain time. Of course the exception to this rule is when there is a Quilt Show to attend!

So let me see if I can remember who I was, where I was and what I have accomplished. Until I read the draft of 11 August, I did not realize that 5 weeks since I finished putting 230 each – Three Inch (3″) 9 Patches for my Sentimental Scraps. At that time I put all in a box for a later date to finish. I will wait until things have settled down before I put the quilt together as it may end up in a Quilt Show and I do not want to mess it up! I still have quite a few of the 1 1/2″ x 5″ strips left over. Might make a scrappy rail fence – any ideas?

Bucket of Sentimental Scraps 9 Patches

Sentimental Scraps Alternating Blocks

Having a Blog is really neat as it is a great way to document and share our progress on projects. I enjoyed working on this project, although my friend Jaydee finished hers first and I hope mine is not still in the box at Christmas……Speaking of Christmas… I certainly hope I can make at least one Christmas project before December 25, 2014. This was a goal in January 2014, but things do happen that we cannot control, so maybe I will finish a Christmas project by January 2015 and say – “wow, am I ever ahead this year”. LOL

July 8, 2014 by Texas Quilter

Where Does the Time Go?

Anyone who is still in the active workforce knows that time passes so s-l-o-w… Well, let me tell you – Retirement times passes so FAST that even when one wakes up at 4:30 thinking that they will be in their Studio quilting by 9:30 AM has another thought coming! How can a quick run to the store, bank, and pick up tacos at a drive in window take over an hour and a half? Especially when one lives about 5 miles from a small town! Well believe me it does and it threw my schedule off about 3 hours. So my dream of being in the Studio cutting out a new quilt today has not really gone as planned. I guess I knew that it was not a “good brain day” after I had pressed my block for Baltimore Applique Society (BAS) donation, cut the batting and backing, then realized – OH do I have to add a BORDER???? Well, needless to say, back to the cutting table….. At least I did not mess up the block! Whew!

I did finish the border on my for the Baltimore Applique Society donation quilt without anymore stupid things happening and it is now ready for quilting. This particular block is from the Elizabeth MacCullough Hervey Quilt Pattern, Block D3. BAS is such a great group to be a part of. They are located in an area where they go to the Museums and actually copy the Baltimore quilt pattern from the original quilt. I really regret that when I lived in the Northern Virginia area that I was not a quilter. I had always wanted to learn how to quilt since the 1970’s, but there was not time with a full-time career. So I jumped into the quilting world two years after I retired. The first technique I tried was needleturn applique and I feel in love with the it! This was before glue! (I am a Traditional needle turn appliquer.)

BAS will be hosting a “Bits of Baltimore Online Auction” to be held October 1st through the 15th and October 20th – November 3rd. I will post more information on the Auction in another post. Now on to the hand quilting. I am pleased with the outcome. At first I had some issues with the fabric I had selected, but things began to take hold and now it is finished (oops except the quilting!)

BAS Hervey Block

I have decided that I will continue to save the Austen Family Quilt BOW, but will not be working on it this year. I am going to complete the Globetrotting, Threads of Memory, and Happy Scrappy Quilt. I have received my fabrics that I was lucky enough to find to add to my stash for Happy Scrappy. The fabric line is Ruby’s Flower Garden and Summers Basket of Flowers! So it is now time for me to get serious on getting things done. I have also decided to do Sentimental Scraps by Edyta Sitar for Laundry Basket Quilts. The pattern is in the Quiltmania magazine Number 99, page 81. My friend Jaydee has already completed her quilt and she did a wonderful job. I hope mine comes out as pretty. I purchased the border fabric along with some other pieces from the Hope Chest Collection. Here is a picture of Jaydee’s beautiful Sentimental Scraps quilt.

Jaydee’s Sentimental Scraps

I will be posting my progress as I go along with Happy Scrappy and Sentimental Scraps. SS has 130 3″ nine patches and I will have to make more as this will go on a California King Bed…… Oh boy – more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Have a blessed day – Enjoy!

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