Pinwheels

It is fall here in the Ozarks.  It is always such a treat to watch the leaves change.  Our family enjoys so many fall events every year.   However.... now that we have 3 kids in High School we have discovered that they have almost all been trumped by band and FFA trips.  Sigh!... The bright side is that the kids love what they are doing... Right?!
The one fall event that I look forward to MOST is our semi-annual Quilt retreat.  I LIVE for this!  I am quilt guild president again (a job I LOVE!) and so am in on the planning and execution of this event twice a year.  This time... my lovely committee took care of most of the details themselves and that meant I got to play!!! Thank you ladies!!!
I only participated in one class this time (I think I signed up for all of them but quickly amended my choices).  I took a mini twister class.  You take lots of little 2.5" squares, sew them together, and cut them up again and sew those together to make a tiny 10" or so quilt.  Here is what I finished on Saturday.

I made it with the Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels pattern and cutting ruler.  I have several more ideas to try this way... I might even post a tutorial.  I am in progress right now with a strawberry pattern I drew up... and I might make a tomato just for fun since I work in the shop at the Strawberry and Tomato farm during the growing season.

Blogger's Quit Festival - Fall 2009

I know I am getting in on the last day of this BUT I just found out about it this afternoon. So here I am entering and am so thrilled that something like this is going on. Park City Girl hostessing her second Blogger Quilt Festival and there are, currently, over six hundred folks participating. How it works is quilters all over the world post a blog post about a quilt or maybe two that they have. It can be a quilt you made or were given or even picked up somewhere. BUT you have to tell the story. So here is MY quilt and MY story and I have to tell you, I love it!

This is my wedding quilt.

It was made for me by my mother, and was quilted by my best friend Vea.

The quilt it self is full of stories.

The center panel is a representation of my family.

The seven stars in the sky are me a and my six sisters. It represents the constellation Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. We are seven sisters and if you will notice in the constellation, there are six of them bunched together and one a little way off but still part of the group. Well my six older sisters are much closer in age than I am but we are all still together.

The swans represent my six brothers. They also represent the six brothers from the fairy tale, The Six Swans. In the story six sons of a king are turned into swans by their evil step mother. They only way to break the spell is for their sister to to make them each a shirt from asters. You will have to go read the story to find out how it all works out. ☺ It was one of my favorite stories my mother told me when I was little. I loved the little sister and wanted to be as loving and giving as she was. (You will have to ask my brothers if I even remotely measure up.) I never made them shirts but I do remember making pants for one of them. I did make them all cookies though. The six swans with their heads held high represent my brothers and the six with their head bent are my brothers-in-law. Clever isn't it?

The row of girls around the outside edge represents the song "I dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls".

This song had special meaning for me. It was my favorite song growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, It was one of my mother's favorite songs in the 40's, and it was one of my grandmother's favorites in the 1910's. It is now my own daughters' favorite song today.

It is a pretty special song for me.

I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls

With vassals and serfs at my side,

And of all who assembled within those walls

That I was the hope and the pride.

I had riches all too great to count

And a high ancestral name.

But I also dreamt which pleased me most

That you loved me still the same,

That you loved me

You loved me still the same,

That you loved me

You loved me still the same.

I dreamt that suitors sought my hand,

That knights upon bended knee

And with vows no maidens heart could withstand,

They pledged their faith to me.

And I dreamt that one of that noble host

Came forth my hand to claim.

But I also dreamt which charmed me most

That you loved me still the same

That you loved me

You loved me still the same,

That you loved me

You loved me still the same.

The square blocks around the girls are actually a block called marble floor. I thought that was pretty cool. My mom made sure that each princess had her own spot on the dance floor.

I love the detail that the quilting added to the princesses. They are now Fairy Princesses.

Oh and for you Quilters out there these ladies are NOT paper pieced. She pieced every single girl. My mom really hates paper piecing.

In some of the "marble halls" she quilted castles. I love it!

The back of the quilt is even significant because I love hand dyed fabrics and have been dying them myself since I was in high school some 20 years ago.

So there you go. That is my quilt and my story. I hope if you have a quilt and a story you will share it too.

Rescued Orphan Blocks

My Little Byrd Nest

I have been "Rescuing" Orphaned quilt blocks and vintage fabrics for several years now from all over South West Missouri. I have to say I have a pretty descent collection now. I love seeing quilt blocks made by other women. It is interesting to see the ones that don't make the cut and end up in odd boxes and drawers because they just don't fit in. Some of these blocks are odd sizes, not square, won't lay flat, made with odd color combinations, have glaring mistakes, or are damaged in some way. I love the snap shot of human nature captured in their tiny stitches. I believe that these blocks should all be given a life and should be enjoyed. I have taken several orphaned blocks that I have found and even made myself and given them a home and a purpose in quited Handbags. Here are some of the bag collections I have finished.

These are made from vintage blocks and my collection of vintage fabrics. These fabrics date from the 1930's feed sacks to 1960's wild, bright, prints.

These are made from my hand dyed fabrics and some orphan blocks of my own that just didn't make it into a finished project.

These are a set of five chicken blocks that I made last year but never worked into a project. They are sashed and backed with fabrics from my 20 year stash of homespun fabrics gathered from many of my favorite quilt shops.

Bag backs.

This set was made from a couple of vintage table cloths in need of rescue and re-purpose. They are lined with 1930's reproduction fabrics.

I love these wild fabrics. The colors and patterns are fabulous!

**Sorry this one is Sold**

This poor block is made from lovely fabrics but the poor thing just wouldn't lay flat and didn't have a single straight edge. I love the prints I had to mix with it.

You can find these bags at my Etsy Shop

My Little Byrd Nest.

Lemons

I have been a member of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap for 5 rounds now and have loved it every time. I get so excited about the theme she picks and some up with a dozen or more quilts in my head. Then I get my partner's preferences and my mind goes blank. That happens to me with every apron swap too but I digress.
This round we had to do a monochromatic quilt in the color your partner chose and based on the season they picked. You also had to take into consideration their style preference. That got tricky. I was so excited about this theme and then got hung up with the season thing. It kept pointing me toward something representational. Her color was yellow, her season was summer and her style was NOT whimsical which means (in my mind) cutesy country stuff. Not my thing either so we were good there. Well the summer theme kept me trying to make a picture but to do that you need plenty of contrasts and that is hard to do with one color at least for me it is. So in the end I went with abstract squares, lemons and yellow black and white.

I am not much of a quilter but I really enjoyed this one and wished that I had made one for myself. I usually make two and sent the better one but I was out of time so I just made the one and hoped for the best.
You should go to the FSQS site and check out their flickr group. There are some fantastic quilts in it. Totally fabulous!

Oh My Moda

Yes I know I need to be posting pictures of my sewing room but I am up to my eyeballs painting my house. Every free minute of the day is spent painting and painting, papaya Orange, buttercup yellow, pear green, fiesta Chile pink, imperial plum, La Fonda turquoise, and on and on and on. My skin and hair are sporting a rainbow of spots. I have also been battling the worst flue and strep infection I have had in a long time. Thanks to Silver Shield I am back on the mend and painting like crazy to finish up this house.
I am going to post about the room as soon as I have free minute that I am not coughing, painting or swapping something.
In the mean time I wanted you to share a lovely site that I discovered recently and have to share with you. It is fabulous!!!

Go check out Moda Bake Shop.

It is loaded with projects that use their wonderful fabric packs. As some of you know, I occasionally work at my friend's quilt shop when she needs my help. When I first saw the charm packs, layer cakes, and jelly rolls and such I wasn't sure if I liked them but have found them to be more fun than I ever imagined. They give you a wonderfully coordinated scrap bag effect to your project. You can mix and match fabrics from a whole line of fabric without having to buy the whole line of fabric. The sizes are very usable too. Anyway, I am not paid to promote Moda's line or fabric bundles. What I love about these projects is their scrappiness and the ideas they offer to USE UP your fabric stash. (after all remember that when the stash is gone YOU CAN BUY MORE!) I am looking at ways to use up my stash this month to reduce the clutter in my sewing room and here is a quick way to get ideas. Every post is a tutorial or a recipe for something to sustain you while you sew. :o)

Retro Day

Our quilt guild, The Newtonia Battlefield Quilters held a mini retreat today. It was called Retro Day. The theme of the day was projects from the 1930's and 40's.
There was a gorgeous table runner with a wonderful vine and flowers made from 30's fabrics. There was a really fast and simple quilt made from 30's fabrics too. Of course I was too dumb to take pictures.
The other project just so happened to be an apron pattern made from vintage apron from the 1930's taught by yours truly. It was so cute and yes I took pictures. Each lady took her own spin on the apron.

These are four of the sweetest ladies I know. It was so much fun working with them today. There were several others there today too but they didn't get to making the apron.

We also had to bring our finished blocks for this year's raffle quilt that we sell chances for to make money for the guild to fund things like our Project Linus quilts and quilts we give to our community members when there is a need. (several went out with the tornado we had here and we will be making several more to donate.)

Aren't they gorgeous! I am so excited about this year's quilt. I love 30's fabrics.

Swapping Goodness!

I got really lucky this week with some pretty sweet swapping goodness.
First off, I got my quilt from the Four Season's Quilt Swap.
I was so surprised. I had been so worried about sending mine off that I forgot that I was getting one too.
Bryan is my mailman too and brought me a package from the post office and asked what in the heck I had ordered for Australia and did I know what the postage was on things from AU. I about died because I am usually very careful about where I order things from ebay and etsy but occasionally I will get carried away with the item I want and forget to check the shipping. (you know apron bidders can go a bit nuts sometimes.)
I opened the package and found this lovely quilt and about peed my pants!!
It is from Helen of Patch Work of Mini Grey.
It is so fantastic!

It has multiple layers and fabrics. The workmanship is simply wonderful. It is all Wonky and I LOVE that! The colors are so bright they just dance off the quilt. The flower and stem parts are made from string pieced bits. I love it!

Yes I am spoiled!

THEN......

I got my Summer Sassy Apron Swap Apron early. The aprons aren't due till June 1st. My partner gets a gold star! My partner was Paige from Paige's Page
The theme was summer and she took that plus my list of favorite things and came up with this.



Chickens, yellow, red, black polka dots, what's not to love!

Here is the back detail.

Also too stinking cute.
Then to top it off she finished the rest of requirements with style.

A chicken dishtowel and a sassy summer drink recipe (no alcohol thank you). To top it all off she made me a pair of chicken book ends. They are so darling. I will have to put them in my kitchen when I finish it. It will be so fun! I might just have to do a chicken kitchen.

Thank you Paige and Helen!!

Spring Quilt

Last week I made a quilt for the Four Season's Quilt Swap again. This is the spring round.
I hope it will do. It is simple but I thought it was fun.

I have sent it off to my swap partner. I hope she likes it.

happy bird detail

Winter Quilt Swap

I got this bunch of lovely stuff today from my Four Season's Quilt Swap Partner, Angela.
The box was full of lovely stuff and then the most marvelous quilt.

It has this poem on it
Dust of Snow by Robert Frost

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Winter Weather - Winter Quilt

We had another little ice storm yesterday.

It always makes the trees look so beautiful. The roads are incredibly dangerous though. Bryan had a small accident and ended up in the ditch while trying to deliver the mail (come rain, come sleet, come snow .... you know the mail must go on). We spent the rest of the day trying to get him out and then at the Auto repair shop trying to fix our car and my brother's car after trying to help him. Sam needed a new alternator and I needed my van's thermostat fixed.

I love how the branches look, covered all round with ice.

We even got icicles. We never get icicles here!
The poor animals didn't like it. Joe had to keep going out and breaking the ice in the goat water.

The chickens found the one warm place. They gathered around the front door. Jeddie figured this out and kept throwing them bits of his food all day. They love him! At least he didn't let them all in the house this time. (Another day another crazy story)


Today I finished and packaged up my Winter Quilt for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. I was delayed because of my father's death, then I picked a "simple" quilt design. It really was quite easy but VERY time consuming. I had no idea it would take that long. I though (as usual) that I could whip it out in one afternoon and send it off a day late. Four days later, I finally finished sewing all the blue strips together. Then it took me a few more days to even up the pieces, set them, and finally hand quilts it. (I did make two of the quilts just in case I messed up, that was good because I did and then I had a "better of the two" to send.)
Here is a close-up. The theme of the quilt had to be winter. The name of my quilt is Frosty Window. One of my favorite childhood memories of winter was the beautiful frost patterns I would find on my window in the morning. My house now doesn't have this due to double paned window, insulation, and central heat and air. Come to think of it, I don't see the patterns on the car windows here either. Hmmm, wonder why? It must have something to do with too much humidity or something.

Fall Quilt from Gracie

This is the Fall Quilt I received in the 4 Seasons Quilt Swap.
Grace hand pieced, hand quilted and hand bound the whole project. The fabrics are simple wonderful and the workmanship is exquisite. I am very impressed. Hand work is not my strong suit and I really appreciate it when I see it done well.
Here is the back of the quilt showing her clever label.


Here is the detail in the corner. I love it!

Thank you Gracie!

Fall Doll Quilt DONE!

I am so happy to say that this is done!


I was so excited at first. Then I was overwhelmed with coming up with an idea. Then I had a hard time choosing from all the ideas I found. Next I was seriously concerned about my ability. Scary. I saw what the other quilter's were doing and realized I just might be out of my league.
Finally I was pressed for time with all the demands of a busy household and multiple, self-inflicted deadlines.
All in all though, I have to say that I loved doing it and am so happy that I am done!
I can't wait until the next one is announced.

Here is the back.

My dear friend, Vea quilted it for me while I visited with her. She did a really great job.

Shadow Applique With Silk Flowers - Quilting Tutorial

My Fabulous sister Jeanne came for the weekend. She was our program at our quilt guild.

She taught us some really great quilting tips that I just might blog later.

One thing she showed us was Shadow Applique with silk flowers. It was gorgeous.

Here is a quick tutorial for how to do it.



Materials:

silk flowers

backing fabric

batting (something dense like cotton)

background fabric

rainbow organza

safety pins

daring foot on your sewing machine



Getting started:

1. Layer your quilt back, batting, and background fabric. Make sure that the backing and batting are slightly larger than the background piece.

2. Tear your silk flowers apart removing all plastic parts. Audition the flowers on your background. You can use leaves and fern bits, but be sure to remove and peel off any plastic.

(here is a larger one I did)

3. Now take a short break and rock your baby to sleep.

(I quilt in the real world which requires MANY interruptions from little ones and requires an occasional snuggle. You must be forgiving of my quilting later as my little prince charming was sitting on my lap as I quilting and we got a bit wobbly with the stitching.)

4. Now audition your organza and find the exact color pattern you want.

5. Now pin the layers in place, through the flower centers. Use safety pins. (the curved quilting pins are great).

6. Now you need to machine quilt your piece. Some tips here are to match the thread to the flower part you are quilting. Use a matching bobbin thread. This prevents any pop-ups from showing. Use a nondescript thread color for the background. I use a mossy green. Also, start in the center of your flower and work your way out. Do the centers of all your flowers first to help anchor your piece.

7. When machine quilting, you need a darning foot and you need to drop your feed dogs. To get started with a color, take one stitch and draw the thread to the top. This way you can be sure not to bunch up or bobbin thread on the back. When you are done you can neatly clip the threads. Remember to secure your stitching before ending too.

8. Free motion quilt around your flowers to add detail.

Here is the front and back of the small block. I don't' think it need more quilting as it is so small.

9. Fill in the background as you see fit. This adds great detail and texture to your piece. A safe way is to echo stitch around your flowers. This isn't too hard not too creative and it is easy to pull off without looking too bad.

I am going to have to practice more quilting. That was so much more fun then I though it would be. Hard but fun.