More of my older quilts . . . .

Going through all the quilts I've made starting with the first one (started in 1974) and moving forward is a great exercise.  I encourage all of you to do this, so you can see how you have grown as a quilter.  It also helps you realize just how many quilts you've made - probably more than you think you've made, unless you are a very new quilter.  I've shared the first quilt I ever made on the blog, and a few of my older quilts - until now.  I'm enjoying this memory exercise, and I hope you are also.

For lack of a better name, I call this "Marsha's Precision Piecing Sampler 2".  I completed the top in 1993.  I still was choosing a "focus fabric" and picking other fabrics to go along with it, but was willing to add quite a few more fabrics to the mix.  I'm sure there are at least 20 or more different fabrics in this quilt.  That was really pushing my comfort level at the time.  I taught a class called "Precision Machine Piecing" many times - the first several for Clark County Quilters and the last two for Daisy Kingdom.  For a "textbook" I used  Lessons in Machine Piecing by Marsha McCloskey.  It was published in 1990, and still is a fabulous resource to help you improve your piecing skills.  I believe it is long out of print  and I don't know whether or not it is available second hand.  This sampler is the second "class example" I made to advertise the class at Daisy Kingdom.  I still use it in my fall decorating.  Edited to add:  This book is still available from third party sellers on Amazon.  They have a used copy for $0.01 - wow!  I repeat - it is a great book if you want to improve your piecing.

This quilt was pieced, hand quilted and bound (by me) before I started tracking, which means it was finished no later than 2002.  Called "Mountain Pathways", it is from an early Quiltmaker magazine.  The pieces finish at 1" square.  The background fabric had a tiny print in pinks, purples, teals, and blues, which determined the colors I used.  ( I think the colors used in the magazine were the same - I wasn't confident enough at this time to change the colors.)  This has WAY more fabrics that I usually used, because I just followed the picture and instructions.  These were OLD fabrics even then.  I love how it turned out, but I don't have it any more.  I believe I remember selling it when I participated in a twice-a-year cooperative quilt sale in Portland, OR.  I may just make another one one of these days, as it is a fabulous pattern for using up narrow strips of older fabrics. 

This quilt was made from the blocks I pieced when teaching Precision Machine Piecing to Clark County Quilters.  These are REALLY old fabrics, calicoes from the early '80's.  Started in 1997, it was finished  in 2004.  The machine quilting was done by my friend Jo Stubing.  In order for the students to make as many blocks in class as possible, I made block kits with all pieces cut to size ahead of time.  It was a great way to use up a lot of the calicoes in my stash.  I still have this one, and display it on the back of the couch with the "Red, White, and Blue Summer" decorations.

This quilt was made in a class I took through Northwest Quilters (Portland, OR) in 1990 from Roberta Horton.  The class on using plaids and stripes in quilts used her new (at the time) book called "Plaids and Stripes" which is another great book if you can find it at a second-hand store.  My selection of plaid and striped fabric was very poor at the time - I probably have 10 times as many now.  I finished this one shortly after piecing it, with a utility stitch, "crow footing", which I talk about in this post.   Edited to add:  This book is still available at Amazon and other places.

I taught one class at Daisy Kingdom using the traditional pattern "Burgoyne Surrounded".  I wanted to make the quilt, so I asked to teach the class.  This sample that hung in the store was pieced in 1993 and completed in 2008 using my longarm.  I hang it in the front hall in January, when I decorate with blue, white, and snowmen.

The red Burgoyne Surrounded was pieced as I demonstrated during class.  One of my students completed a top with the fancy zigzag border; everyone else used a plain border.  I finished the piecing two years after the class was over, and machine quilted and bound the top in 2008.

 

Another Daisy Kingdom class sampler made using a pattern from their files.  Called "Pinwheel and Four-Patch", it was pieced in 1990, hand quilted in 2004, and sold through the quilt cooperative sale.

This "Twisted Star" baby quilt uses still more blocks pieced in several "Precision Machine Piecing" classes. The first blocks were pieced in 1992, and the quilt was hand quilted and bound in 2003.  This also sold through the quilt cooperative sale. 

"Fireworks" is the name of this pattern from an early Quiltmaker magazine.  Another Daisy Kingdom class sample, it was pieced in 1992.  I started hand quilting it shortly thereafter, and finished the quilting in 2007.  It covers our dining room table during our "Red, White, and Blue" summertime.

Finally I leave you with this quilt, which graced our bed for many years.  I first joined Clark County Quilters in June, 1989.  I wanted to participate in something right away, so I took the pattern for the "block drawing" and made 12 blocks.  I had so much fun, even though the block was what I'd now call "super simple".  12" square, the modified 9-patch was to use white muslin and a medium and dark blue.  I was so afraid to try mixing prints that I played it VERY safe.  I turned them in at the next meeting and was thrilled when my name was drawn to win the blocks.  I brought them home and discovered two things . . .  the blocks were VERY boring when set together, and almost half of them were too small!  Another beginner (besides me) thought that a 12" block should measure 12" exactly before sewing together.  I didn't know what to do.  I played with the blocks, thinking I could cut the others down to size.  No matter what I did, the blocks on the design wall looked REALLY BORING!  (And that's an understatement.)  So I left them there and contemplated them for awhile.  And one night when I lay in bed the solution jumped into my head.  I would edge the too-small blocks with a narrow red border to make them 12 1/2" unfinished.  Then I'd set all the blocks together with white muslin sashing and red cornerstones.  It was truly amazing what the addition of that red did for the quilt.  I became so thankful that almost half the blocks were too small.  I loved the top when it was finished about two months after I won the blocks.  Two years later I served as guild president.  The quilt "in the frame" at our quilt show each year was a quilt top belonging to the president.  I marked this one for quilting, using a rope cable in the sashing, an anchor in each cornerstone, and a wider rope cable around the outside border.  During the week long show only about 1/3 was quilted.  I love looking at all those stitches - some very small and some very large.  Each person who did some quilting signed their name on a big muslin square, which I used for the label on the back.  I finished the rest of the hand quilting myself, and the quilt began to grace our bed sometime before 2003 (the start of the UFO spreadsheet).  I still have this one - it is in a stack of quilts on top of the quilt cupboard in the living room.  I could look at the label for the finish date, but I can't reach it without a stool and it is too late for me to be doing that anyway LOL!

The three pieced pillows are from another beginning quilting class I taught to a group of ladies at work.  It made sense to make the blocks into pillows - I had enough red, white and blue quilts!

More early quilts - all donated to charity

This quilt was a very fast project using only two fabrics.  The pattern was from an old Quiltmaker magazine.  I hunted for a good long while before I found the perfect two fabrics.  Pieced in 1992, it wasn't finished until 2005 when I could quilt it on my longarm.  I know this one was sent to New Orleans for a hurricane victim.

A Double Irish Chain pieced for a class sample in 1992 and not finished until 2008.  I hand quilted the white spaces in this one.  I loved having the large white spaces for a fancy pattern I could do in a contrasting color (you can see this if you click on the first picture).  Then I loaded it onto the longarm to quilt through the chains by machine.  I no longer have this quilt.  I'm almost certain I donated it to the last Northwest Medical Teams quilt auction.

I made this quilt to donate to Quilt Pink in 2006.  All the fabrics in it were old - from the 1980's and early 1990's.  Every one in our small guild made blocks to donate to the effort.  I fell in love with piecing this "Disappearing Nine Patch" and pieced enough to make an entire quilt plus more.  While machine quilting I accidently tore a hole through the entire thing.  Thus a scattering of hearts on the front, and one lone heart on the back covering the back side of the hole.

This is another early effort, pieced in 1993.  Called "Road to California", it is from an old That Patchwork Place book -  I think it was called "Stars and Stepping Stones".  Finished in 2005, it was also sent to New Orleans for hurricane relief.

The last is called "Stars and Stepping Stones", and was made from a Pat Sloan pattern in 2004.  Finished in 2008, I donated it to charity, but I didn't record which one.  I'm showing a picture of the back, so you can see how I created many quilt backs by using fabrics that no longer fit my "style".

It is a lot of fun visiting these old quilts.  I can see how much my skills and fabric choices have grown over the years.  I cringe when I look at some of them now, but know each one served as a step in my development as a quilter.  I was happy to donate them to charity.  Each was donated the year it was finished.

Quilts In My Past - and Quilts In Your Past

Vicki posted a thank you for the UFO spreadsheet.  She also asked a lot of really great questions:

Have you taken photos of all those quilts/wallhangings? Did you record sizes, who quilted and how, who received the quilt, samples of fabrics used,notes on anything special going on at the time working on quilt etc?

I told her I had pictures of almost all of them, I know who quilted all of them,  I know who received most of the quilts, though I don't know which particular charities got which quilts.  I know which ones I sold, but not what I sold them for.  And I certainly didn't keep fabric samples or notes of anything going on while working on each quilt.

This got me thinking - why have I never kept a quilting journal?  I know many quilters do.  It would be such a great record of one's quilting progress year by year.  Looking back, I really wish I had.  I think that is the main reason I started blogging - so I would have a journal of quilting activities year by year.  And I think that's why I stopped for two years - I wasn't quilting.

How many of you have kept the kind of information and fabric samples Vicki talks about?  If you have, I'd love to hear about them and see pictures of journals.  

I'd also love to know what a true scrap quilter does - if anything - to keep samples of fabrics used.  This always mystifies me.  If I kept all the fabric samples, the journal entry would be almost as big as the quilt!

So I've decided to write a post each day about one or more of my quilts - including pictures.  It is mainly to expand my own record keeping, and I will enjoy the sharing also.

These two quilts, which I call "Around the Twist 1" and "Around the Twist 2", are from my Daisy Kingdom teaching days ( 1992-1994).  The one on top was the sample that hung in the store to advertise the class.  The second was the one I pieced while demonstrating as I taught the class.   If I remember correctly, I used a pattern handout from the Daisy Kingdom files.  This was the first class I ever taught for them.

Pieced in 1992, finished in December, 2005 - the first quilt I did freehand with my new longarm

Pieced in 1992, finished in January, 2006 - the second quilt I did freehand with my new longarm.

At the time I made these, I was still using a VERY limited number of fabrics in a quilt, because I was afraid to try more.  I picked a "theme" fabric, then chose a "go along with" fabric and a background fabric.  Picking fabrics to go together was still a big challenge.  I can't imagine piecing a quilt like this now - my tastes have changed and my courage to put fabrics together is hundreds of times stronger.

Both of these were given to charity, though I'm not sure which one.  I think they may have been sent to Hurricane Katrina victims.  Or I might have given them to the Northwest Medical Teams quilt auction committee.  I just can't remember - I wish I'd written it down.

The angels are dancing

As Joseph would say - "Wheeee!" I finished the appliqué on Angel Dance last night, and sewed on the borders this morning. I love how this turned out! And I love being able to cross another January goal off my list. I should have no problem finishing this in time to hang it over the piano for the coming Christmas season. This one is also destined to be big stitched - right now I'm thinking of doing an all over diamond grid. (This is a Linda Brannock design.)

I look at my January goals, and realize that I probably set my sights a little high. No matter - whatever isn't completed will move to the February list. Besides, I had a couple January goals that I forgot to list which were finished (more or less anyway) this weekend.

So - what's on tap for this week? Let's see . . . .

Today - walking to Starbucks, doing my business sales tax report, sewing whatever comes next
Tuesday - a Joseph day
Wednesday - Weight Watchers, turn of the century random sampler class
Thursday - another Joseph day
Friday - drive to the quilt show in Silverton, Oregon and visiting a few quilt shops on the way!

Guess it's going to be a busy week!

Thank you Suellen!

I received an email today from Suellen Wassem who lives in Ohio. Suellen is the designer of what I call my Star in a Circle quilt. The pattern disappeared long ago in the early 90's when the quilt was on display for over a year at the quilt shop where I worked. By the time I discovered it was missing it was no longer possible to get the pattern. I knew it was Kindred Spirits pattern, but that's all I remembered. I was so happy to hear from Suellen as I always give credit to a pattern designer. Now I can give proper credit to her. I'm going to add her name to the posts in which I picture this quilt, as well as on my sidebar.

Thank you Suellen!

My favorite quilt

Update: I've just found out that this pattern was designed by Suellen Wassem from Ohio.

The quilt in the header is my favorite of all the quilts I've made. I guess the stars were aligned properly during the days this was being pieced - everything seemed to go perfectly. The fabric choices, the fussy cutting of the pieces, the piecing - all came together to form a beautiful whole.

I used a Kindred Spirits pattern that had just arrived at Daisy Kingdom in Portland, Oregon, where I was working and teaching quilting classes. This was in 1992, so the pattern has long been out of print. I begged the manager of the quilting department to let me make it for a store sample. It hung there for over a year - basted together and bound, as there wasn't time to quilt it before she wanted it finished. Once it was returned to me I did the quilting - which literally covers the entire quilt.

The quilt is pieced by machine and quilted by hand. I display it on the dining room table in the winter - set crosswise, and on a quilt rack in the living room the rest of the year. I wish I had a wall space to hang it permanently, but I don't.

Now that I've written this post, I've discovered I posted about this quilt once before - back in 2007. If you are interested in reading more about it see this post. The pictures in that post enlarge if you click on them - I don't know why the same pictures in this post won't do that.

More than 2" squares!

Today I tried sewing more than 2" squares. It was so nice! My shoulder is definitely protesting so I need to stop for the day, but it was so great to work on a new project for awhile!

Since the Happy Jack pieces were all cut to size it was easy to sew them together. Once again I used Bonnie Hunter's webbing technique, which helped this go together really quickly! Then I cut out the stem and face - all ready for hand applique. I'll try doing that this afternoon. As long I use short threads I should be OK - I just can't pull through a long thread when my arm won't move above my waist.

I've really missed my sewing!

Good news

I got an email from my doctor this morning. Good news - the arm isn't broken. I'm to stay in the sling until my follow-up app't next Monday afternoon and cannot go to work. I'm going to take as much advantage of this unexpected "vacation" as I can considering I'm doing everything one handed. At least I'm getting caught up on everyones blogs - I'm starting the "Q" list right now, which as you can imagine is the largest list. I still don't have the OK to type two handed so comments will be at a minimum. It is so great to finally be catching up with everyone!

My doctor's nurse said I could try moving the arm a little bit now and then - while keeping it in the sling - so the joint doesn't freeze completely. That's great - that tells me that I should be able to start shoving pairs of 2" postage stamp pieces through my featherweight. I need to use my right fingertips only long enough to get each pair aligned. I can do that without moving the shoulder at all. Hooray! my fingers are just aching to touch fabric again!

This does mean that someone else will need to sew the sleeves on the remaining antique quilts. That makes me sad - I was so looking forward to doing that. Rick did bring four more home yesterday so I could give them any information I could by looking at the fabrics. I got to touch them a little, and Rebecca took lots of pictures of them for me. So I will be able to share a few more with you as soon as I can type better.

Since a post doesn't feel complete without pictures, I'm showing you a quilts I made years ago that I've not shared before. All three of these are class samples I made in the early 90's when teaching quilting at Daisy Kingdom. All three were sold when I was participating in the Quilters Market organization.

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Gratitudes:

1. Good news about the x-ray

2. Great books to read while I am housebound

3. Pull-top lids on soup cans - I can't work the can opener one handed

4. Get well messages from so many Internet friends

5. Lots of accumulated sick leave hours

Bits and pieces

Wow! Thanks so much for all the compliments, everyone! This orphan top sure was a lot of fun to do. I couldn't go to sleep last night because I was still fitting parts and pieces together in my head! So I slept in this morning and haven't made any progress on the second one yet.

Marcie wanted a closer look at the quilt on the bench - happy to oblige. This top was one I made years ago - I would have gone much scrappier now. I still like it, however. It is from a book I've had for years calls "Yeah, Yeah, USA!" It was one of the first quilts I finished after I got my longarm, and after I'd become acquainted with Bonnie's Quiltville site. I busted quite a bit of stash making that backing! There are several more projects in the book that I want to do, including a large - 36" I think - Uncle Sam doll that will look great on the rocker in the summer.

I'm happy to report that after a temporary loss of focus resulted in a couple pound weight gain last week, I'm now back in stride. This morning the scale showed a loss of another pound and a half, which makes a total of 11 1/2. Hooray! And I've even gotten back on my exercise cycle for three days in a row! My goal is to lose enough so when we go back to our "standard" dress code at work after Labor Day I'll be able to fit into all the work suits and dresses that have hung unworn in my closet for almost two years.

Speaking of work - it is now less than a year until I retire!!!!! 364 days - but whose counting?

My favorite quilt

Update: I've just found out that this pattern was designed by Suellen Wassem from Ohio.

The Stashbuster topic of the week is our favorite quilt - one we've made and/or own. This is an easy question for me - I know right away which one it is. I've shown it to you before but not for a LONG time. The hard question is why it's my favorite. I'm not really sure - I just know that it is.

In 1992 I started teaching quilting for Daisy Kingdom in Portland, Oregon. I also started working there in the Home Dec department. Very dangerous, as it was right next to the quilting department. When this pattern came in from Kindred Spirits I immediately fell in love. I asked them if I could make it up as a sample for the shop. They agreed - which meant that I picked the fabrics and they paid for them. I sure liked that! I thought I was picking fabrics similar to those in the picture on the pattern. The following year I got to see the original in the Kindred Spirits booth in Houston and theirs was nothing like mine!

I fussy cut some of the fabrics for the stars - you can see that if you enlarge the pictures. Elly Sienkiewicz had just come out with the first reproduction of the "fondue" fabric you see in Baltimore album quilts - fabric that shades from dark to light and/or from one color to another across the fabric. I used that in two of the stars - you can see it in the close-up of the blue star. On other stars I tried swirling the design or having it expand out from the center of the star. The colors of the quilt are very different from what most everyone was using in those days. I think that's one thing that appealed to me - I always liked to be a bit different from the crowd. This is a challenging block to piece, which I've always relished. It was pieced entirely by machine using my featherweight.

I love the quilting on this quilt also. I quilted it "to death" - probably about 1/2" apart all over the quilt. This was before the arthritis in my hands made hand quilting painful and difficult. The quilt talked to me as I went, telling me how it wanted to be quilted. I tried something new to me on the border, inspired by Gwen Marsden's book about hand quilting, and I liked it so well I've done it on several quilts since then.


I entered this in the only judged show I've ever entered and it won two ribbons! Two of the very few big ribbons I've ever won. It was judged first place in the small pieced category (though I don't think it's all that small!) and best pieced quilt in the show. You can't imagine how very excited I was when I turned the corner and saw those ribbons on my quilt!

The stitches are out

I got the stitches taken out of my finger today and all is well. Looks like I'll probably have a permanent dent in my finger now but if that's the only reminder I have I consider myself very lucky! Careful with those rotary cutters ladies!

Still stitching the binding on the postage stamp quilt - I have about 1/3 of the way around left to go. I'm happy to report I busted another piece of fabric from my stash when I made the binding - it took every scrap. I will finish stitching it on tomorrow for sure. I'll post a picture when it's done. It's been a challenge to wrap the binding around the edge with this 8 oz. batting inside, even though I cut the binding 1/8" wider than I normally do. I think I'll leave the rest of the 8 oz. batting rolls to the ladies who are tying their quilts, and will use some of my Quilters Dream poly roll int he rest of the donation quilts I do. The 8 oz. is much more suited to tying than to quilting.

The pictures today are two quilts I took out of storage for spring display. The Sunbonnet Sue was made in a class I took years and years ago on invisible machine appliqué. This was before there were any books showing how to do this. We used gluestick and freezer paper to prepare the pieces, then a blind hem stitch in invisible nylon thread for the appliqué. The green Sue in the close-up has a dress made from the scraps of a maternity smock I made myself. The finish date on the label says 1995, which is when I finished the quilting and binding. I'm guessing the top was finished at least 7-8 years before that. The Ohio star was made in 1992 for a class sample at Daisy Kingdom, and quilted in 2003. It's one of the first quilts I machine quilted using freemotion quilting on my Pfaff. The tension is far from great and the stitches are way too small, but since it's invisible thread you have to look really close to tell that. In spite of the quilting it's still one of my favorite quilts - I love the colors.

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Gratitudes:

1. Beautiful blue sky with white and gray clouds today

2. Daffodils everywhere

3. The first asparagus of spring

4. Daylight savings time - I love it!

5. Payday tomorrow!

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Spring is springing!

I love spring - it's my second most favorite season. Autumn is my favorite season - I guess I just like change. Seeing everything wake up - all the pale yellow-green new leaves and trees bursting into blossom everywhere. My front yard is now blooming with daffodils, grape hyacinth and windflowers. The tulips are ready to burst open any minute. Blossoms on our crab apple are just starting to open. Soon the cherry and apple trees will bear flowers in preparation for later fruit, and the pink dogwood will be a sight to behold. Spring colors always make me think of quilts. I want to dig out my spring colored fabrics and play to my heart's content. I need to do other things however, so I'll just leave you with pictures of two spring-like quilts I did years ago.

The other thing I love about spring is baseball! My Seattle Mariners play their first game today - I can hardly wait! I've been addicted to baseball since 1995 - before that I thought it was boring! Then the Mariners started to win. I'm not a fair weather fan - I still watch even though they aren't winning 116 games a year - but I sure hope they don't lose 90+ games like they have the last two years!

This and That

Reading Vicky's post about Mardi Gras reminded me I let the entire celebration pass without showing you my Mardi Gras quilt. One of the Tangled Threads returned from a visit to New Orleans a couple years ago with a panel and a couple matching fat quarters for each of us. She challenged us to do something with them by the beginning of Mardi Gras the next year. Here is my quilt. Not at all colors I usually work with, and I never make things asymmetrical, but this turned out to be lots of fun. I got the idea out of an old quilt design book by Judy Hopkins called "One of a Kind Quilts". We had pillows, a small wall hanging strewn with beads and feathers, a purse and other small quilts on revelation day. It was a lot of fun.

Somehow I managed to volunteer to co-chair the making of our little guild's 2006 contribution to the Northwest Medical Team Quilt Auction next November. Our community has been putting this on for several years, and the amount we raise gets bigger each year. Last year it was over $40,000. Northwest Medical Teams are made up of doctors, nurses, dentists, surgeons, etc. who volunteer their time to go anywhere in the world where they are needed to deal with either natural or man-made (read war) disasters. I know they were very active in the hurricane recovery efforts in Louisiana. Anyway, my co-chair chose the colors and patterns. Not at all what I usually work with, but it certainly helped me use up some stash. We're showing this to the guild tonight and scheduling work parties to get it finished. I was supposed to make blocks in the opposite colorway also - white center and white outside ring - but I didn't discover that until bedtime last night. I didn't look at the picture closely enough, and the second block layout was two pages farther into the article. I thought the blocks were set with white sashing. Oh well, we can pass around the magazine picture to give them the idea. This is from an AP&Q - last December's issue I think. I don't like the pink at all - I'm going to take it off that block and substitute another color.

It's been a very busy week had work - hence no posts since Sunday. Got to get in the shower now - duty calls!

A red and white month?

I can't believe Valentine's Day is in less than two weeks. Where is 2006 flying to? The older I get the faster time flies.

I have two quilts I put out for Valentine's Day. The first one is a class sample that seems so boring to me now because the fabrics are so limited. But it works for the holiday so I hang it up until I get around the make something better.
The second quilt is a nine patch with hearts appliquéd in the alternate blocks. I guess I'll need to take a picture of that one.

I fell in love with a red and white quilt at our guild's 2004 quilt show. I've been collecting red and white fabrics ever since so I could make one for myself. I have a big basket full now - maybe this month would be a good time to start it. I think I'll choose a different block - if I do baskets I know there are blocks I like better than this one. I think I'd set them on point also so the baskets aren't "tilted". I just love how fresh and crisp this looks - like redwork. It'll be a perfect Valentine's quilt someday.

It's late - I need to get to bed. 5:00 a.m. comes early!