The quilting thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, so who is a quilter out there? Who wants to try making a quilt, has an old one they love, or just likes them? Let’s hear about quilts, here. Or hey, just post about textiles you love. Whatever.

I have way too many quilts I want to make, and not enough time to do much of anything. I’m currently working on a blue and yellow sampler quilt for my SIL, who is having a baby in November. I’ve had a neat idea for the sashing and am pleased with it.

My brother is getting married in January, and I’m thinking of a chintzy, blended-type quilt in pastels for his wedding present. Maybe more blue and yellow… I"ve never really been a big floral person, so this will be a new direction for me.

And I need to finish tying my denim picnic quilt, which is made of squares from all our old jeans, and has a big panel with a big retro map of the US on top. It’s fun. And my mom gave me an ancient wool blanket for the middle, so it’s very heavy and warm (which is why I haven’t finished tying it–it’s too hot!).

2

I’m trying to get into it. Right now I’m trying to just clear a space for cutting and my sewing machine. Gah! I want to make a cathedral window quilt, and then maybe a Storm at Sea quilt. I’m thinking that it would be interesting to make the Storm at Sea quilt rag-style, to soften the edges a bit.

3

I’ve started about a dozen of them, but have only completed one (a baby-sized yellow and white checkerboard for my goddaughter). I love the planning and the sewing for the top, but the actual quilting bores me. So far all of my projects have ended up as something else–curtains, tableclothes, skirts…

But I do love the look and feel of a beautiful heavy quilt, and if I had the time, energy, and ambition I think a “crazy quilt” would be the most fun to complete and own. And I’m with you on not being a floral type. I tend to like colors in solid colors or geometric designs. The few florals I’ve used tend to be very small prints so that they look more textured than flowery. Your denim one sounds adorable. Are you leaving any back pockets intact on the squares for secret stast spots? Kids would get a kick out of that.

4

I’m a quilter. I really don’t do anything to difficult though. I tend to chose fairly easy patterns. It didn’t occur to me until about 10 years after I starting making them and giving them away to keep a pictoral record. So I don’t have photo’s of the ones I think are my “best”.

Link to see some I have given away Ok it worked on preview hope it works for y’all.

I six last year between September and Christmas and haven’t finished anything since.

I started a sampler in February (maybe?) because I needed samples in process for an enrichment class I was asked to teach so I have about 9 blocks done and about 4 in the some stage of partial completion.

I also have the blocks to a denim and flannel quilt in a box in the guest room. It’s for a friend with 7 kids, she saved all their jeans and she did the cutting and then pooped out on the project. It is probably the next one I will finish.

5

Oh yeah. There are a bunch of pockets, and I’m having fun imagining my girls hiding stuff in them! Belladonna, you should look into having your tops quilted for you. I’ve found it surprisingly inexpensive, even to have someone do a custom design instead of an allover pattern. When I was hugely pregnant and doing a queen-size quilt and a baby quilt for my friend, I sent them both out and was quite pleased with the results and the lack of labor for me.

It didn’t occur to me to take pictures for a long time, either, until I had to design a personal web page in library school. I asked a bunch of people to send pictures of quilts I’d given them, and I wish I’d thought to do it earlier. Here are the pictures, but it’s now several years old.

6

I have also made my fair share of quilts…

Cathedral window quilts are smashing, but don’t cut corners! My gran did that with a quilt she made back in the 30s or 40s, and after she died, my mum was going to give to my sister – but cos gran just ironed the squares into shape and then put in only one or 2 stitches to hold the squares in that folded shape, then sewed the blocks, then applied the coloured squares – the squares had ‘exploded’ when those teeny ‘holding stitches’ gave way, which meant my mum had to take apart & restitch a queen-sized quilt to restore it!

When I was small mum started one for me, and it was my job to turn the sewn squares inside out and iron them so she could do the final orgami step…tedious! The fun part is applying the wee coloured bits, of course! She used much fabric from clothing she’d made for me and herself & fabrics from my sister and gran, and it’s nice to look at it now…

I’ve made Cathedral pillows using Liberty prints I’ve brought back from London…

I don’t have a specific favourite type to make; I’ve made a Baltimore Album quilt, much patchwork, strip, appliqued…I tried trapunto only once – it was enough.

Once I actually had a few of my picture quilts in a show…got interviewed for a newspaper, too…my 15 minutes! My cousin on the other hand is the really talented one; she is a professional quilter, and I believe one of her quilts hangs in the governor’s house in Maryland.

You know, a nice project for kids is to take old jeans and cut 6 inch squares from the denim, and let them collect and sew patches to the squares – when they have enough, you machine quilt them onto a ‘bandana print’ top and then just tie the quilt…I did that when I was a child, and I collected patches from all over, and when people travelled they brought patches back for me. I still love looking at them, cos it’s like a scrapbook!

So sorry to natter – I come from a family of ‘textile artists’ and love talking shop…the only thing I’ve never tried is bobbin lace making…

7

Boy, proof that I’m Catholic. I thought this thread was titled The Guilting Thread.

~sigh~

E3

8

I grew up in a house that had an entire room devoted to sewing, but I just recently discovered that I too have a love of quilting. Today is my birthday (I’m 19!), and one present that I got was a decent sewing machine that I can take to college with me – I’m so excited!

I’ve been making a lot of things for my dorm room walls, since last year they were only filled by posters. My favorite so far is this fabulous mariner’s compass piece.