It's growing!

Quilts go together so quickly when one has blocks already made LOL!

The Crumb Chaos quilt has doubled in size. Three more rows are needed at the bottom. They are stitched together and only need to be attached to this unit. Then a single row of blocks needs stitching together to go all the way from top to bottom on one side. Add borders and a quilt top is finished. I'm going to ask Rick and Rebecca if they want this one for a camping quilt. It will depend on whether or not Rebecca thinks it's too pink. If they don't want it then it's another for Hotel Hope.

Amazing what can be made with scraps many people throw out!

I like it!

I slapped a bunch of Crumb Chaos blocks on my design wall this morning before I went to work. (Do any of the rest of you feel a need to touch fabric just a little in the morning before heading out?) I even took them down in pairs for sewing together and stitch three of them. When I got home today I finished stitching together the rest of them, webbing them the way Bonnie describes here. I've never tried this before, but thought it sounded like a good idea. It didn't go perfectly - somehow I managed to get the top row twisted just a bit - but the rest were OK. Bonnie's right - this IS a great way to sew a quilt together. All the blocks land where you want them to, they are all going the right direction - presuming you laid them out that way - and it's much, much faster than any other method. I'm going to be sewing my tops together this way from now on. Thank you Bonnie!

I need 288 blocks for a quilt for our bed with a long drop. I need 117 blocks for a Hotel Hope quilt or a camper quilt. With 1016 blocks I think I'm going to be busy sewing tops for quite awhile!

Another finished flimsy

Tonight I finished the second string top. This is the first time I've made blocks with a specific color and width for the first diagonal string. I really like how it turned out! I like the first one I made too, but there's just something about the strong diagonal statement the red strings make. I know I'll make more tops similar to this as I have so many remaining strings. For now, however, the strings will be put away in favor of finishing more projects. I have 1016 mile-a-minute blocks that need to be sewn into quilt tops - that's the next thing on the menu.

This weekend we went out to Long Beach, Washington and spent time with Rick, Rebecca, Jeremy, Chelsea and Sophie. We stayed at Chelsea's mom's family place. I didn't take any pictures, but here is a picture of the view from the living room that I took there the first time we were all together. This time our weather was marvelous - high 80's with very little wind. Unusual for the beach! Unlike in the picture, the beach trail was dry so we took several walks to the ocean. Sophie got to play in the sand for the first time - she loved it! It was a wonderful relaxing weekend - so relaxing that I totally forgot to get out my camera! Chelsea and Jeremy were taking lots of pictures, so hopefully they will share. It was great having a weekend to watch Sophie play and cuddle her when she wasn't too busy exploring her world.

I spent a lot of time in a chair handquilting and just enjoying everyone's company. This is the first time in several years that I've done any handquilting - last time I tried the arthritis in my hands gave me a lot of trouble. Not a problem at all right now thanks to my copper rings, so I took full advantage of it. Here is a picture of the quilt I am working on. I finished quilting all the blocks, and started working on the sashing. I'd already quilted the sashing 1/4" from both long seams. I took out the two cables I'd quilted - I didn't like them from the minute I put them in because they looked funny in between the two rows of 1/4" stitching - and quilted a straight line down the middle of the sashing instead. Much better looking and much faster! I'm confident I can finish quilting this one by the end of the month - that will be such a good feeling! I think I started quilting it at least 5-6 years ago.

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Gratitudes:

1. Wonderful weekend with family

2. A beautiful, healthy granddaughter

3. A walk on the beach trail with all my girls

A Flimsy Discovery

Reducing the number of my UFO's has been a goal of mine for the past several years. I started keeping track of UFO's in 2003 - the list from that year began with 68. 2004 began with 65 - doesn't look like much difference until I take into consideration the fact that I started 8 new projects that year.

2005 began with 45 - better, especially considering that I started 9 new projects in 2004. I began to see a problem - the list was never going to go down much if I kept starting new projects. So I tried to be good, starting only 2 new projects in 2005. I thought I'd learned my lesson but I guess not. I began 2006 with 49 and added 7 more during the year.

This year I started with 58 UFO's. I guess I've been kidding myself. Yes, I've been finishing, tossing or giving away UFO's - a total of 54 that have been either completed or given away since January 2003. However, since I started tracking I've reduced the yearly starting number by only 10. And since I've added 5 that I can remember this year - and I'm sure others that I can't remember, I'm not sure I'm making much progress at all!

This discovery has called for drastic action - thus my participating in two different UFO challenges this year as well as putting my list out in public for you all to see. I thought I was being good this year - I told myself that I had really started only two new projects - Joseph's quilt and the mid-century album quilt. That the scrap tops didn't count. Hah! Of course they count! What difference does it make if I start new quilts from yardage off the shelves or scraps from all my baskets and bins - they are still new quilts!

I thought I was still in good shape, however, because almost all my flimsies were ready and waiting to be quilted - batting cut to size and backs constructed. Who was I kidding? I discovered this might not be the case when I was looking for a couple UFO's I could finish quickly last weekend. This afternoon I've pulled everything off the shelves and taken stock - was I ever fooling myself. You see on the shelf the sum total of tops with batting and backing ready and waiting to be put on the machine - 6! Two of those - the Burgoyne Surrounded quilts - are basted together with Quilt Taks that must be removed before I can put them on the machine. A third has thread basting that must be removed. That leaves three that are really ready for quilting, plus second Christmas table runner that is on the machine and that is it! So much for thinking most all my flimsies were completely ready for quilting!

On the family room table you see the true state of affairs. Stacks of flimsies with neither backing nor batting ready. A few flimsies with batting but no backing. And on the floor a Double Irish Chain with the hand quilting started - exactly 4 motifs in alternate blocks. This one needs to have the hand quilted motifs finished and then I'll put it on Gandalf to machine quilt the rest. I didn't even show you the hand quilting project in my basket.

I guess I have some serious work ahead of me before I can proceed much further. I see a time of piecing many, many backs in my immediate future! One good thing anyway - that should clear out a little space on my fabric shelves!

More information on the antique quilts

I emailed the curator of the Oregon City museum collection with questions about the quilts and other textiles. I got a response today about some of them, including the red and black woven coverlet. I thought you'd be interested in what I learned. I've copied her email below.

Here is the information for the red/black coverlet:

“This coverlet was made by Grandmother Melissa Mayfield LaCray, wife of George LaCray. Their Donation Land Claim was near Viola, OR. They sheared the sheep, she washed the wool, carded and spun the yarn, made the hanks and dyed it then hand wove it on the loom that Grandpa George LaCray made. Made in a special room outside because the loom was so large. Faded by the sun out under the cherry tree”. It does answer the question as to what type of loom the coverlet was made on.

The information on the blanket reads as follows:

“This was among the first virgin wool blankets manufactured by the Oregon City Woolen Mill. It was the property of John Bonnet who was superintendent of the OC Woolen Mill for 14 years, from 1868 to 1882. Thereafter, he gave this blanket to his son, Robert Bonnet, who was born in Oregon City in 1876. Before his death in 1954, Mr. Bonnet expressed a desire that it be preserved as one of the oldest pure woolen blankets ever manufactured in the West”.

The quilt with the love apple appliqué and the name CJS Green has the following info:

“This coverlet was mother’s when she went to housekeeping in 1832. She gave it to me in 1864 when I was married. I wish it given to Cornelia Jessie Spencer (CJS Green) July 15, 1906”. Unfortunately the donor’s name is not listed.

FYI- these were part of a donation of quilts, blankets and quilt blocks from the Clackamas County Pomona Grange #1 in 1994.

Tired but happy

It was way hotter today than it was supposed to be. The temperature reached 89 degrees, which is almost 10 degrees hotter than expected. I know that doesn't sound hot to most of you, but that's much hotter than comfortable for most of us around here. It's especially high for September. Thank goodness for the air conditioner in the longarm room!

Gandalf and I spent most of the day together. For those of you who are a bit mystified - no, Gandalf isn't my husband. My longarm is a Proto Stitch Wizard, so he had to have a name appropriate for a wizard. My goal was to quilt two flimsies today - and I made it! I chose two small ones that already had backs and batting prepared to size. By 2:30 I had them both quilted, so I took a break and went to Starbucks. The binding was already made for one of them, so I made binding for the other and by 5:00 the binding was machine stitched onto both of them. All that is left is the hand stitching on the back and the labels. I think I'll have three UFO's finished by guild on Thursday after all!

The first is a small table top quilt made from an orphan block. I stitched the block in the early 90's when I taught a class at Daisy Kingdom that covered half-square, quarter-square, and three-quarter square triangle squares. I used blocks from Marsha McCloskey's On to Square Two - a great old book for learning to piece complicated blocks from triangles. I think I turned the block into this little quilt around 2000 - I can't tell for sure because I guess I left this top off my UFO list! I just played with the quilting on this one and tried a bunch of new things. Some turned out better than others, and I'm happy with the results. It'll look just fine on one of my end tables in the dining room and it will be finished!

The second little quilt is made from the My House booklet by Little Quilts. I bought the kit for this quilt years and years ago at Stitchin' Post in Sisters Oregon. It sat around for 3-4 years before I made the top in 2001. I'm very happy to have it finished as I've always really liked it. It'll look great on the wall in the summer. This took three to four times as long as the other to quilt because it is primarily ruler work and stitch in the ditch. The only freehand quilting is around the flowers and the flower tendrils in the background of the flower basket.

I planned on oven roasted chicken breasts and baked potatoes for dinner tonight, but it was way too hot to turn on the oven. My husband - a prince among men - said to just make him a sandwich and he'd be fine. So tuna sandwiches were our dinner fare - and mighty tasty they were!

Happy Labor Day!

I wonder how many quilters will actually be "laboring" in their sewing rooms today - especially those of us who spend most Mondays "laboring" in a job to support our habit! Spending time in my sewing room can hardly be called labor - unless you are talking about a labor of love.

Last night I finished the rest of the blocks for the current string top but I didn't get them sewn together. There was only a short time left before I had to head to bed so I decided to start sewing the strings into strata to use in cutting out either Chinese Coins blocks or "rail fence" type string blocks. Being the anal person that I am I pressed seam before I added another strip. I decided VERY quickly that I agree wholeheartedly with Elaine Adair, another blogger who's was creatively stitching up strings last spring. Elaine does all her strings on a paper foundation because she decided it was easier to do it that way than having to measure all those string pieces. It's also MUCH easier to iron all those narrow little pieces when they are attached to a piece of paper to hold the narrow seams in place. Ripping off the paper does take time, but so done measuring the strings and pressing all those little hard-to-hold seams. So I've cut up the rest of the phone book pages into 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" strips, and I'm looking forward to sewing long lines of strings as shown on Elaines blog above. Check out several of her May posts to see all the wonderful things she's done with her strings.

Now on to something I've been meaning to blog about for awhile. My name was the last one that Finn drew out of the "hat" when she was giving away things to celebrate her 1000th post. I eagerly watched the mailbox to see just what Finn chose for me. What delightful fun to open the package after it arrived and pull out the treasures one by one! Some wonderful vintage fabrics from the 30's-50's, including a piece with delightful nursery animals. An old block from wonderful blue and red vintage fabric that will make a marvelous pillow. Some vintage "that green" from the 30's that someone marked with several kitties and one doggie. They are quite large, so I'm guessing the features are to be embroidered before cutting them out, backing them with another fabric, and stuffing them to make a large pillow toy. I'll probably to that to the dog and one of the kitties, and use the rest of the green in a quilt with my 30's reproductions. Once again, thank you so much Finn! You are a sweetheart!

Woven Coverlet

Both Jeanne and Finn have suggested that the red and black woven coverlet may have been woven on a narrow loom and then seamed together to make a larger bed covering. That is certainly possible - I'd not thought of that. Home looms were much narrower than commercial looms. I have no idea how much home weaving may have been done in this area in the past. I do know that the Oregon Woolen Mills were established in Oregon City in 1864, and that either the woven coverlet or the fuzzy blanket was woven by a commercial mill in Oregon City. At first I thought it was the blanket, but now I'm thinking it was more likely to be this woven coverlet. I'm looking forward to finding out the answer - I'll ask Rick to ask the collection curator when he goes to work next week.

A quiet Sunday

Just what I wanted. Except for the fact that the Mariners look like they are on their way to losing their 9th game in a row.

I'm stitching the sleeve on the last of the antique quilts. This is a log cabin in browns, creams and oranges. Rick said it's from the 1850's. It's a summer coverlet - no batting. Nevertheless it's "quilted" heavily in the ditch throughout. This one is in great shape - even the binding - except for a few logs in one part of the quilt. The repairs in this area are beautifully done but with fabric that was new at the time of the repair. I'm guessing that was the late 70's or early 80's because the fabrics are multicolored calicoes from that time. The repairs were done before the Center obtained the quilt; repair with these fabrics would never have been done by someone skilled restoring antique quilts.

I'm also moving full steam ahead on the string blocks. I've now completed 68, with 20 more to go. I'm hoping I can get the top together today - or at least finish all the blocks. I'm getting a bit tired of ripping off paper so I'm eager to try something else with the strings. Speaking of strings - I'm sure mine have been having reproductive orgies in the dark of the drawer - I know when I started that there weren't nearly this many. They won't even behave and stay in the drawers - they insist on spreading themselves all over my floor!

Gratitudes:
1. The gentle breeze blowing this morning
2. Chunky peanut butter on toast
3. Sleeping in
4. No end to quilty possibilities
5. Antique quilts

This and that

I've been looking forward to this holiday weekend for days now. I have at least three times as much planned as I'll have time to do I'm sure LOL! This is the first weekend I've had to sew since I completed the sewing room and the never ending stack of mile-a-minute blocks. I've sewn sleeves on two more quilts and have only two more to do. There are at least two others that are currently on display and won't come down until the middle of the month so will have to wait for them.

I had a surprise waiting for me when I unwrapped the third and fourth "quilts". They weren't quilts at all! I have no idea how to date either one of them, but since they belong to the Interpretive Center I'm guessing they are both from sometime in the 1800's.

The first "quilt" is a black and red plaid woven coverlet made of wool. The interesting thing about this textile is the fact that at some time it was sliced down the middle and then sewn back together. It also has a wide black binding made of heavy cotton. I'm guessing the binding was added later for some reason - I've never seen pictures of this type of woven coverlet with a binding. The edges along the one seam allowance look like they might have been the edges of the piece before it was sliced in half, so I'm guessing that the binding was put on after the pieces were seamed together because the outside edges were the cut edges and likely to fray. The top and bottom binding feels like the edge of the coverlet is inside, whereas there is no ridge to feel inside the side bindings. I'd love to know the story as to why it was cut in half and then later sewn back together.

The second "quilt" is a fuzzy wool blanket that was woven in the textile mill that was in Oregon City on the banks of the Willamette River. It is reversible in that one side is red with black and cream stripes while the other is cream with black and red stripes. It has obviously seen some hard use. I'm sure it was beautiful when it was new.

This morning I'll stitch the sleeve on the fifth quilt. It's an appliqué quilt that I'm guessing is from the 1840's or 50's. It was a red and green with touches of gold when it was new, which is very typical of that period. The applique is beautifully done, as is the quilting. The red fabric in the love apple appliqués is deteriorating rapidly. The fabric of the rest of the appliqué is in fine shape, but the color has all but gone. When I started to unroll it I thought it was a whole cloth quilt because of the lack of color. The green and gold can still be seen in places - very faded now. The very narrow binding is so thin it's almost worn away. "C.J.S. Green ?" is written on a back corner in black ink. The ink is dark and clear - it looks like it was written much later than the quilt was made - maybe by an owner who was guessing as to who made the quilt.

As far as my own projects go I have several things planned. I've brought out my string blocks again as I want to get this second quilt top finished. Right now I have 42 finished blocks. I'm going to need almost twice that many for another Hotel Hope top. Once I finish this one I want to try some other things with my strings. I want to do the String X quilt on Bonnie's website, as well as a Chinese Coins quilt. There are also several quilts in Gwen Marsden's Liberated Strings book that I want to do. Good thing, as somehow my strings now fill two drawers. And here I thought I had only a partial drawer left!

I also want to get upstairs and quilt a few of my own tops. I'm supposed to have 3 UFO's finished by guild on Thursday for our UFO challenge, and so far all I have is the one table runner. My stash won't miss the fabric if I have to pay two fat quarter penalties - it's just that I hate to admit that I couldn't get more than one UFO done over the entire summer. Maybe I should take my Mile-a-Minute blocks for show and tell LOL!

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Gratitudes:

1. Fall weather is here!

2. Pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks

3. A new haircut

4. Time to quilt my own flimsies

5. A bacon and scrambled egg breakfast