Red and white quilts

Oh my --- I love the comments!!! YES -- I can see some individualized sew-alongs happening!!! One for the Savannah quilt and one for the suitcases!!!! And that William Morris quote --- you bet -- we all need that one in our house, and I'm going to look at it every time I touch anything. Hmmm --- there might not be anything left. I'd better warn Lexi and Murphy!! Right now they are helpful, well, no, they are beautiful and always will be!!

I confess that I wasn't quite as productive as I would have liked yesterday, but then I went on an adventure. I knew that if I didn't, I would be very disappointed in myself, and I thoroughly enjoyed the side trip. But first, let's see what I did before I tell you about that. 

Here's the update on the puzzle. It's slow!!!! There are loads of pieces. Of course there are -- there are 1000 of them! It now seems that I have as many pieces in the active working area as there are in the inactive section! I'm working on the house, and well, the pieces are very wonky shaped, which should help, but I'm also trying to get some sewing done. But it's a fun diversion from sewing. I think I'll leave it for the next group. If the cleaners don't agree, they will put it away. 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

I got the border on the teal and white quilt. 

Another quilt top done

This started as a disappearing half-square triangle block. You make four giant half-square triangles, sew them together to get a pinwheel, cut them into nine parts, and then rearrange the pieces, and you get these churndahs with a pinwheel in the center. It was a tutorial from Missouri Star, but I was never a fan of it because the half-square triangles were made from two 10-inch squares (layer cakes, but I used yardage), and I was not a fan of their method, but I wanted to try it. I think I had done a workshop on disappearing blocks and had made some samples. Of course, you can't just make one block. So then I had several, and what to do with them? I had enough fabric that I decided to make a quilt, and the rest is history. It had come to several retreats, and now it's no longer a UFO. 

I had used a random teal fabric from my stash, and I had only enough for the blocks, so I had to buy the border. But it looks pretty good together. You can't really tell from that photo above. However, I also made the binding, and you can see the new and old versions a bit better. 

The top and the binding - DONE

The bottom line is that it works for me, and that's all that counts. So one more quilt top is done. While it's not one of the eight dog ones, it's number five for the retreat. 

I had also brought the roll of dog fabric that I was going to use for some of the quilt backings for the dog quilts. I took it out of the car yesterday because it would be easy to roll out the yardage on the cutting table. 

Measuring out the yardage

By cutting three pieces, I was able to get two quilt backs from it. So that also got done. Four dog quilt tops made, and three backings made!

Backing for two quilts

Then I had to sort the squares I cut on day one and lay them out. I got the first quilt laid out. There are 10 blocks across and 12 rows. I managed to get seven rows of the first one sewn together. YES -- It's a mishmash compared to the panel quilts, but all those fabrics are dogs or dog prints. So the theme is good and I'm OK with that. It's a great way to utilize the fabric. 

Partially completed dog quilt

I told the group that I would not go to bed until the quilt top was together. Hmmm -- that didn't happen because we sat at the dinner table last night and chatted and chatted until almost my bedtime. It was pretty late before we got up to do a bit more work, and then I was gone, although the others stayed later than I did. 

We solved the world's problems in that discussion. If only! But it was a great conversation and of course, you know how it goes -- what happens at retreat, stays at retreat!!

So where did I go yesterday? I wanted to go to the Waterford Heritage Museum in Waterford to see the red and white quilt display. I missed going to the red and white quilt display in New York in 2011, and I have regretted not going. So I wasn't going to miss this one. The display was nowhere near as large as the one in New York, but it was still fascinating. 

Red and white quilts

There were about 53 quilts that had been pulled from local museums/ It was fascinating to read the stories and see where they had come from. Some of the quilts dated back to the late 18000s. 

Red and white quilts on display

Some of them were hanging high from the ceiling, but you still could see them, and the information was in a small booklet. There were three main styles: signature quilts, pieced quilts, and appliqued quilts, which used paper (similar to Hawaiian quilts). There were quilts from the Centennial (1967) and from the war. It was fascinating. There was a jigsaw puzzle of red and white quilts that was tempting me, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time there, so I passed on that! 

It was an hour's drive from here, and the traffic and roads were quite fine, so it wasn't an issue, and I got to listen to more of my audiobook. But my Android Auto was struggling as I arrived at the Museum, and it gave me trouble timing out on the way back, so let's just hope that was a one-time thing. I enjoy using Google Maps on my phone and listening to audiobooks on the car's speakers. If you haven't seen the show, it's on until September 27th, but check the hours as the Museum is not open on Monday and Tuesday. 

So I showed you the bobbin situation the other day. I brought one of my two trays of bobbins with me. All of the bobbins had some thread on them. I'm using the thread for piecing my quilts and all is good., However, I had one bobbin that wasn't wound properly, but I persevered with it. That one slowed me down when piecing. So when I found another bobbin that was wound rather sketchily, I decided to ditch the thread. I only have one machine that uses this size of bobbin, and I want to get use them up. 

But here's the thing --- this style of bobbin has changed over the years. When the bobbins were initially produced, you would start by winding some thread onto the bobbin and then pressing the start button on the bobbin winder. That worked somewhat well, but it wasn't perfect and resulted in some badly wound bobbins. 

The new bobbins have a slot near the center through which you can pull the thread, and you hold that thread tail as you start the bobbin winder. That way, the thread is nicely wound, and you don't get any of that spin stuff happening at the beginning. 

The bobbin on the bottom has the slot. It's pointing toward the bottom right of the picture. 

An old and a new bobbin

So I decided that it's time to ditch all the old bobbins. I looked through the ones that I've already emptied, and this is what I found that doesn't have slots on them. 

Old-style bobbins

I give the empty bobbins (prewounds) to someone who is involved in making fidget quilts with them. They attach a ribbon through the center and firmly secure the ends into a seam, allowing the bobbin to slide back and forth. Or it's attached to a ribbon, and there's a pocket where it can be inserted. The bottom line is that the bobbins are gone! And I'm glad. I think I have three bobbins with slots, and for what I need them for, that works just fine. I'm sure I'll find enough of those new bobbins in my bobbin collections. 

I don't know what's going on, but I had another bad night. Awake for no reason, and it took a while to get back to sleep, so then I got up late, but still beat everyone else up!!!

It's been pretty quiet on the farm this week, but as I was making my breakfast, I saw the combine was sitting in the yard/ They are long gone to do some work in the field. It's pretty damp this morning, but I'm not a farmer, so what do I know? 

Well, it's time to get the day started!!!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Celebrating Canadian Quilt History!

I'll revisit the pricing issue later this week—there's no time this morning. I'm back home, and there is much to do this week. I must not let that wreak havoc with my schedule! 

The last day of the retreat is always bittersweet. I've been away long enough to create chaos in my work schedule and long enough to ignore it, but at the same time, I want to get home, sort things out, put things away, and give my girls a big hug! 

I'll share as much of that story as possible this morning before I go to spin class. I'm sorry, but the sorting story will happen tomorrow. 

But first, I promised to share two things with you, and here is the first one. Several years ago, I ran into Judy Lyons (Quilt Appraiser), who mentioned that she was writing a book about Canadian Centennial Quilts. I had forgotten that, but I spotted this at the desk when we were in the local quilt store at our retreat. 

Bookmark for a NEW Canadian Quilt History Book

OH MY --- Judy finished the book! I took the bookmark, and when I returned to the retreat house, I immediately emailed her! We arranged for me to pick up the book on my way home. 

And here I am with Judy, getting my copy! How exciting is that? It's autographed!!! Thanks, Judy!

Judy and I with her new book!

I'm so excited because we must celebrate our Canadian Quilt Heritage (or just our Canadian heritage—we're way too polite!). I sat down with it for a bit last night, but after the "ordeal" of getting home, unpacking the car, and trying to sort everything out, it erupted into another scenario I will tell you tomorrow. 

Here's the book's cover. It's big—269 pages. There are lots of pictures and lots of history about the 1967 Centennial. Where were you in 1967? 

The cover of Judy's book

And there's the flyer announcing the new book. 

ALERT - NEW BOOK!!!!

So, how do you get your copy? Judy is the only point of sale, so email her - at judy.lyons35@gmail.com.  

We had some interesting discussions about quilting at the retreat. I do not profess to know all the history, but I know what has happened in the quilting world since 1998 and who all the well-known quilters were then. But if you have recently started to quilt, you often do NOT know where some of these techniques came from. New designers frequently release a "new" technique, which has, in fact, been around for years! I think credit should be given to the original, but I bet the new designers don't even know, or maybe they don't care. Anyway - I'll leave it like that. 

But contact Judy. There was a limited production run, and you do not want to find out you can't get a copy. 

If you want to meet Judy and hear her speak about her book, there is an "official" book launch at Kindred Spirits Quilt Shop in St. Catherine's, Ontario, on February 14th. Check out the link for more details. 

Let's join Judy in celebrating Canada's Quilt Heritage. Thanks to Judy for all her hard work in preserving our Canadian history!

Speaking of quilt history, let's move on to one of my retreat projects. Jinny Beyer was one of the quilt gurus in her day. All her work was hand-pieced, and she designed many beautiful fabric collections. She is a legend in the quilt world, and I LOVE her stuff. 

OH - and she was FAMOUS for her border prints. Everything I learned about border p[rints, I learned from Jinny! She came to Canada (Alliston) and taught several classes, which I had the good fortune to attend. 

I even taught the border prints as a class, as I found this in the book. Did anyone attend that workshop?

Class requirements! 

This UFO consisted of one yard of the Christmas-themed border print, and I already had one placemat made. If I were doing this today, I would have cut the border print fabric into strips. I did not initially, but that's how I started yesterday. I aimed to make as many placemats as possible from the one-yard cut. 

After cutting the border print into strips, I used my templates to cut as many pieces as possible without having to piece anything. Jinny's concept was to match the principle design lines and the print within that wider strip. I soon abandoned that idea, as it would waste so much fabric. The placemats would be donated, and who would care? 

Laying out the placemat puzzle

So, it became a puzzle. How do I match up all these pieces to cut triangles? I needed six triangles, and none of my pieces were large enough. 

The puzzle pieces

With a bit of ingenuity in the piecing department, I managed to get all six triangles cut. 

Creative sewing to get a triangle

Some of them had a few seams, but all matched pretty well. 

Plan B - and it worked beautifully!

Here are the five placemats. The one in the back is completely finished, while the four in front are just tops. These have been on the UFO list for many years, and it feels great to have the fabric cut and the placemats together. If you look closely, two are the same, and the other three have different centers. That's how this border print worked to get the maximum from the yardage. 

The border print placemats

I might put this on my UFO list for February, and the job will be to finish them off completely. Then they can be donated, and they are gone! 

Speaking of things gone, well, that's a story for tomorrow. I'm almost ashamed to share it, but you will all be able to relate to it!

This is what greeted me when I opened the door. 

MOM - I got a big booboo on my nose!

I guess she's still trying to bury her bone in the frozen backyard. Sigh. Lexi does not want her bone, but Murphy is not listening! 

But yesterday, when I was on the phone with my parents several times and sitting at the table for snack and dinner, they entertained me! Those silly girls are so like little children. 

Mom's home - Mom's HOME!!!! 

Well, I'm off to spin class, and then it's a super busy day with the first of my online events for February, which is also National Embroidery Month!! 

Speaking of which, here is the FINAL QUILT social post. Check out what you can create with mySewnet Embroidery Software.

Oh, and now that I'm back on my big computer with a much larger screen and keyboard, I know why I have two computers. The laptop is excellent for travel, but I would hate to write on it daily! Yes, I could have external hook-ups, but this works for me!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!