Off the Tin Lizzie

I'm not posting too often, I know, but I am getting a few things accomplished. You know, these last few days have just been so doggone perfect here that I have spent a couple of days poolside at my sister's house. What luxury!

On Thursday, I took this quilt off the long arm machine, and have spent a few hours stitching binding. I still have about half to go, and I will finish that off today or tomorrow.

You say you don't remember having seen this quilt? Correct. I have not shown it before. It is one of the Kay quilts I am quilting for her. The fabrics are by Amy Butler/Westminster. 

Just like the last quilt I had on the long arm, this time, too, I had an eyelash problem on the backing side of the quilt. I was alert this time, though, and did not have too terribly much stitching to remove.

I'm getting pretty good at partially removing a quilt from the frame and un-stitching. This was relatively straight forward, and I connected it back to the header when I was finished with removing the eyelashes.

As I am doing with all the remaining Kay quilts, I am holding onto them until all are ready to be handed off. At that time, I will post full photographs of them finished and on a bed.

I am prepping for a 4-day quilting retreat. Cutting fabric for 70 stars is on my current agenda. Yes, pictures will be forthcoming. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Finish For A Friend

Sometimes it becomes necessary to come to a friend's aid; to finish a quilt that a friend is unable to finish. Sharon and I find ourselves in this position with a mutual friend, and we have slowly worked our way through 2 quilts with approximately 5 more to do. Read about the first finish here. We - Sharon and I - have backings ready for two more, with plans to quilt soon.

The current finish is this beautiful Jacob's Ladder quilt, a pattern called James River Blues by Bonnie Blue Quilts  (now Red Crinoline Quilts). Our friend Kay made this at some point in recent years, but illness has prevented her from finishing it.

Just before going on retreat, I loaded it onto the long arm machine to quilt first thing after getting home. It took me longer to get to it than I'd planned, but finally on Thursday afternoon I quilted it. The quilting was simple enough; I had anticipated some difficulty, but nothing was too trying. The term "quilting out" really does apply when one has a quilt top containing a few imperfections with stretching or unevenness. 

Today, I have spent the morning applying the binding. This is a big quilt, 84" square, and quite bulky, but it is done, and it really looks pretty darn good. 

The backing is gorgeous. This was found in Kay's storage, all prepped and ready for this quilt. It has been a dream to work with, yet I do not know the name or the maker of the backing. It is a pretty unknown gem found among Kay's quilting treasures.

This coming week, a big outing is planned. Several of us are going to visit Kay, and we are taking this quilt to give to her. I hope she finds it a beautiful surprise, one that she looks on with pleasure. There sure was a lot of pleasure in finishing it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Summer Sewing With Friends

The sewing day with Sharon and Kay was a huge success! I doubt it is humanly possible for three women to have more fun playing with gorgeous fabric than we had yesterday.

We began the day with a simple goal in mind - make our own version of the Kaffe Fassett quilt called Floral Columns. The three resulting quilts all look so incredibly different, yet each one is absolutely spectacular.

Sharon's is predominantly soft blue and teal with splashes of color throughout. Two or three of these columns are fabrics donated by Kay or me.

Kay's is dark blue - not surprising since she loves blue quilts and has made many over the years. Kay has a couple of donated columns from Sharon.

Mine does not follow a color scheme - I preferred to use a little bit of everything. I had my columns cut out ahead of time and went with 10 columns, while Sharon has seven and Kay has eight.

I have to give DH kudos for helping me string up a clothesline so that I could photograph my quilt out in the backyard woods. Wouldn't it be pretty to have all three quilts hanging on the line?

While sewing on Tuesdays with Sharon is a regular feature of my week, I am really glad to have included Kay in the day's activites. She is the one who started all of our interest in KF fabrics. Each of us have amassed huge stashes of KF, and from the looks of what we worked on yesterday, we all have different favorites. The one constant, though, is the incredible intensity of color. We just cannot get enough of it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Addendum

In all that reviewing I did in yesterday's post, I forgot to include one very special quilt.

Kay is hand quilting this 9-patch quilt that has a very cool story. The woman who owned this fabric (and maybe made the 9-patch blocks) passed away several years ago. Kay was a good friend of this lady and her family. One daughter, Judy, wanted a quilt finished in honor of her mother. Kay made the quilt and promised to hand-quilt it, as well. She has been working on it for a good while. I remember her taking it to Hilton Head last September, as well as quilt camp in '14. She has to be near-finished by now, but I didn't think to ask. (I don't make a living as a reporter, obviously.)

Well, even with the sketchy details, it is worth taking time to recognize it. Kay's efforts on this quilt are in keeping with a theme that has been present in recent posts. How often we quilters do things in memory of lost loved ones. Two recent examples of my own are the work shirt quilts for Kathy and the t-shirt quilt for Debbie. Quilts continue to be more than just "blankets." Often they represent so very much more.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Little Mondo

Christmas is long past, but I have intended to write about a gift I received from my dear friend and former co-worker, Kay. She is a proud member of the Frienzies group, and while we don't get to visit as often as we used to, we still have our monthly Frienzies get-together. She is a real gem. I hope everyone has a friend like her. She is so giving, caring, thoughtful - well, I am grateful to call her friend!

Kay has been a quilter since way back, and we found our common interest early in our teaching careers. She has made many, many quilts - some have worn out, and she's made replacements! She is prolific! And the trips we have made together to various quilting-related destinations! Oh my gosh! The stories we do tell! From lost keys to lost quilters, we have definitely had some adventures. Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and of course Ohio. We have been to a lot of places for a lot of fun quilting experiences.

Oh, yes, the Christmas gift. Well, I want you to see what she made me for Christmas! A little Mondo bag!

Of course, it is made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Kay was the original KF girl in our group.

I have used this bag so much since receiving it. It is the perfect size for taking a project to Friday morning quilting with the Frankfort girls. I have taken it overnight both times I stayed with Mom when she had the cataracts removed. I just love it.

I'm holding the straps up here so you can see the shape better. The sunny window has distorted the color a bit, but you can still see its size.

Here is my original Mondo bag. I use it all the time, too. It has gone to the beach numerous times, and even just dashing over to my friend Cheryl's pool, it is handy to grab and go.

I made it with batiks - I had a package of Bali Pops, and just cut a gazillion 2.5" squares to make it. The pattern is offered in three sizes, I believe, and I have to think that it is popular with a lot of seamstresses. This post about my original Mondo bag gets the most frequent visits of any post I have ever done here on this blog. I think that when people do a search for 'Mondo Bag,' my blog post pops up.

Awhile back, Kay gave me another pattern for a big Mondo. I ought to get busy and make another one. She has a blue one in KF fabrics that looks very nice. But I can't do one, too, or we're likely to get them mixed up. Well, anyway, I just wanted to share my new little Mondo bag, and tell you a little about Kay.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Table Runners and Bursting Stars

Sharon and Kay came over yesterday for sewing. What a whirling dervish we have when Kay is involved! She gets more accomplished in a day than I do in a week, easily. She was on a tight budget, time-wise, as she was scheduled for 2 additional (or was it 3?) stops before the afternoon ended. Her plan for the few hours she had in the morning was to make a table runner, one of those made with the 60-degree angles. She had a kit, and since I'd made several a couple of years ago, I was "helping." Now, Kay is a veteran quilt maker and seamstress, so she needs no help. I offered some tips with the 60-degree ruler, she did the rest.

She wasn't able to have it completely finished, but she did get the top made. I had some extra flannel for her to use as a batting, her kit came with backing and binding fabric. She will be good to go for next Christmas!

Sharon has resurrected an old favorite.

Sharon has made two quilts from this book. Bursting Stars. One is an exact replica of this one, on the right.

She has decided to make yet another one, this time using toille. It is going to be a stunner!!

To get all these triangles done, Sharon is using a product designed for speed and accuracy.

Triangle Papers. I've never used them, but they sure seem to work miracles on the accuracy of triangles! And they go together fast, as advertised. Sharon did a bunch of them while she was here.

In other news and activities, I put the finishing touches on the binding of the flannel quilt for Alexis. It will be a comfy, cuddly source of comfort to her, I hope. I am going to get a label put on it and then arrange a time to deliver it. Alexis is having daily radiation treatments, now. Such an ordeal for her and her family. We are praying for her complete recovery.

Kay brought along another project, just in case she had time to work on it. Basically, she had time to press and fondle the fabric. :-)

The history on this bundle of beauty is about 2 years old. Kay bought the kit at a shop in Michigan, near where her daughter lives. The kit contains 10 gorgeous light blue batiks. Endless Summer - could it be any more aptly named??

And finally, this day wouldn't be complete without a show and tell. Kay used a lot of leftover pieces to make this lap quilt.

A year or two ago, Kay made a purple batik quilt for her granddaughter. This lap quilt came from all the scraps! She said it went together really fast, and isn't it a great quilt?! Really pretty.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Visit to Kay's House

ast Wednesday I stopped in at Kay's for a bit of quilting with friends. Just a bit, for me, actually, as I could not stay long. I will save the quilting details for another day.

First, I would like to show you the wonderful quilts that I saw everywhere I looked. I'd not been to Kay's in quite awhile, so there was a feast for the eyes! Enjoy these beauties!!

This is Kay's current project - a kit that she says is 11 years old! She's working on the borders. Looks great!

This beauty was on Kay's guest bed. Blue and white 9-patches on point.
Quilting doesn't get much lovlier than this!

This quilt was hanging from the banister of Kay's staircase. It was found in the belongings of her in-laws.
No one knows the origin of it, as her mother-in-law was not a quilter.

This is a batik quilt that Kay made with her granddaughter.

Take a look at the incredible quilting done on it; the thread is variegated. Awesome.

The pattern was featured on the cover of American Patchwork and Quilting by BH&G.
June 2007.

I'll tell you about our quilting work in an upcoming post.

Happy Quilting, Friends!