First Finish of 2014 - January

There's a cute little raglan sweater that goes with the booties and cap, but I haven't put it together yet.  The booties will get a white ribbon at the ankles after I find the ribbon.  What do you think; is this cap too small for an infant girl?

Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day to all my blogging buddies down under!

I hope y'all have a lovely day filled with fun, food, and no worries of drought, wildfires, floods, ridiculously hot weather or inland tsunamis to trouble you.

Enjoy!

With love from Texas. 

Pebbles and Leaves and a Jelly Roll Race

I made some progress quilting my bunny quilt.  I'm pleased with the way the pebbles turned out.  I had never done pebbles before.  They were time-consuming, but fairly easy.  I'm happy enough with the leaf shapes.  I got the effect I was going for, and it was fast.  

The parts I'm really not sure of are the straight lines on the multi-colored fabric.  I wanted to keep it simple, but I'm not sure blue was the best choice thread color.  And the straight lines aren't working out the way I thought they would.  I'll probably add additional elements between the lines, but I'm not sure what yet.  I swear, the most difficult part of free-motion quilting is all the decision-making!

The Blanketeers had a Project Day last Friday where everyone worked on her own Jelly Roll Race quilt.  You start with a jelly roll and sew all the strips end to end.  Takes forever.  Then you divide the long strip in two slightly offset pieces and sew them together lengthwise.  Really takes forever!  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Eventually you have something resembling a quilt top.  It is definitely not my favorite technique. I'll probably never make another, but it did completely use up an old jelly roll that was gathering dust in a drawer for the last 5 years.

Actually, this one isn't too bad.  I've seen some really butt-ugly jelly roll race quilts, and I feared the worst for this one, but it's not too awful.  I have a cool idea for quilting it, but that will have to take a back-burner to the bunny quilt.

Free Motion Quilting - The Bunny Quilt

I've just fallen in love with the free motion quilting of Angela Walters, Leah Day and Judi Madsen. They have taken quilting to a level that is very inspirational to me.  I find I really want to do it too!  As a result, I have renamed my colorful "Carnival Quilt" to the "Bunny Quilt", and have decided to take it in a fully quilted, free motion direction.

I started with this sweet bunny template from Electric Quilt's "Quiltmaker V2" collection for the central motif.  My plan is to pebble the lower half of the diamond shape so it looks like the bunnies are sitting on the ground.  I have a leaf shape in mind for the upper half, so it looks like the bunnies are hiding in a leafy grotto.  I haven't decided how to quilt the multi-colored fabric yet, but I plan to quilt lots and lots of leafy carrots in the yellow and green.  I look forward to sharing the process.  I hope it comes out OK!

And the name of the quilt is... Oak Leaf and Acorn Variation

I got many interesting leads to help identify the pattern of Great Great Grandma Dunn's antique quilt. I gave them all serious consideration.

Many people thought the yellow in the quilt was originally green, because the green of that era is notoriously fugitive.  Apparently the Prussian blue and yellow dyes that were mixed to make the greens in the Victorian era, faded to poison greens, then yellow, as the Prussian blue fled the fabric. On the advice of my fabric savvy fashion designer niece, I peered behind seams and pushed aside threads, only to determine that there is no evidence the yellow fabric was ever anything but yellow.  Also, yellow is Grandma Vivian's favorite color, so it seems possible that yellow could have been her Grandma's favorite color as well.

I was also encouraged to consider the idea that the acorns were actually rosebuds.  It seems to me, though, that if the leaves were originally the more autumnal yellow, then the rosebuds were more likely meant to be acorns.  In all likelihood, however, the pattern probably never have had any name at all, but I'm calling it "Oak Leaf and Acorn Variation".

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and insights.

Does Anyone Know the Name of this Applique Quilt?

As family historian, I have taken on the task of properly labeling the antique quilts in my husband's family.  This one was made by his great great grandmother, Anna Alice Hite Dunn, 1862-1921.  I'm guessing it was made around 1900, but I have no idea what the pattern is called.  I would really like to find out the name of the pattern, if one exists, so I could add it to the label I'm making for the quilt.

The red and yellow motifs are appliqued on the muslin; however, the red border and the nine-patch corners are pieced.

The red eight-pointed star appliques are made from a single piece of red fabric, as are all the other appliqued pieces.  All applique was sewn with white thread, with tiny, but visible, stitches.

The muslin on the back matches the muslin on the front, and it is heavily quilted in white thread, which is probably why it is in such good shape for a quilt that obviously got used.   I would say Great Great Grandma Dunn was an excellent quilter; her stitches are tiny - there are no "toe-catchers" on this quilt.

If anyone knows the name of this quilt pattern, please either email me or leave a comment.  Thanks for all your help!

Blanketeers Raise over $200 for Alzheimer's Research!!!

Remember these six little beauties?  The Blanketeers donated these mini quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative earlier this year, and five of them sold for over $200!  That's right, $207.43 was raised for Alzheimer's research, in the hopes of finding a cure for that horrible disease, which has devastated so many of our families.

The only remaining available quilt is Waltz of the Flowers (lower right) which can be purchased for $7.50 from AAQI.  Sadly the AAQI program is ending on 12/31/13, so act quickly if you want to make a donation to Alzheimer's research, and own this lovely hand-appliqued wall hanging.

Crocheted Baby Layette Completed

I started crocheting with Grandma Vivian this past year, and this baby jacket was the first thing I completed.  Grandma helped me get started and showed me a few tricks, since she has made this pattern dozens of times.

I used one of her vintage patterns from 1950.  The jacket was supposed to have long sleeves.  I was short on yarn and wanted to save some to accent the bonnet and booties, so I shortened the sleeves.  I actually like the shorter sleeves better than the long "angel" sleeves called for by the pattern. I think they look more modern. :)

The pattern only specified one size, but the "poke" bonnet and the booties seem like they're intended for a much larger baby than the jacket.  I loved the jacket pattern, but I think I'll select a different pattern for the rest.

I finished the bonnet and booties while we were in Green Bay for Thanksgiving.  My sister held a baby shower at her home for her niece, Nellie.  I've known Nellie forever, so I had my present all ready.  Nellie was thrilled by the gift.  She safely delivered a beautiful baby boy just last week, so it's all good!  

Christmas with Grandma 2013

We just got back from spending Christmas with Larry's Grandma in Shreveport.  Vivian is still doing very well at 102.  Santa brought her favorite "White Shoulders" cologne for Christmas.  Her mother, Dollie Henderson, made the Santa doll for Larry's Mom in the 1950s.  Santa is still in excellent shape too for being 60+ years old.

Larry & I had decorated the tree earlier, and Grandma enjoyed pointing out all the ornaments she had made over the years.  Here is some of her tatting; she still likes to tat.

I asked her for a tatted ornament of my own. (She wanted me to take one off the tree lol.)  Her tatting is still very fine, but it is getting more challenging for her to do.

She really enjoys doing bead work too, though she prefers hobbies she can do from her recliner these days.  :)

The three of us enjoyed a very nice quiet Christmas; her friends Edie & Tom dropped by for a visit after the smooching was over.  Tom is excited to be retiring tomorrow.  Edie was so excited she forgot her purse when they left.  I called her on her cell and her purse rang.  Whoops!  Fortunately she remembered right away and came back to get it.

Larry was complaining on the ride home that his glasses were covered in fingerprints.  Um, Larry, I think I know how that happened.  My two favorite Christmas clowns.  :O

Scrap Busting - There's No Such Thing as Ugly Fabric...

Just fabric you haven't  cut small enough yet!

I found Bonnie Hunter's method of organizing scraps, 

then I started this project two weeks ago.  

I had a Huge basket of scraps.  

It took me about 20 hours to organize it into this:

She recommends cutting strips in 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3" and 3.5" widths.

I cut the largest width whenever possible,

unless it made a leftover just shy of 1.5",

in which case I cut a 3" and a 1.5" strip instead.

I did not cut up yardage, just scraps.  

Some largish scraps, but mostly not too big.  

What I had most of was leftover backing fabric - 

many very long strips.  I cut lots of 3.5" strips. 

I didn't have any set length for the strip, but

very few are selvage to selvage.

Bonnie also recommends making 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3" and 3.5" blocks when there isn't enough length for a strip.

I always cut the largest block possible;

for some reason, 1.5", 2" and 3" blocks were very common, and

2.5" and 3.5" were not.

And yes, I do have plans for making quilts from all this!

For me, there is nothing like doing a boring, repetitive task to get the creative juices really flowing;

plus, now I can easily see what I have.