Category: Quilting in South Carolina

I made this 32-inch wallhanging project–in the Maria Shell style–which the modern quilt group’s Cathy Beemer taught to us during our monthly morning Sit and Sew. I’ve long wanted to play around with this kind of “Maria Shell” project, but never had the mojo to…just start such a project. And Cathy is brilliant about figuring out so many ways to combine fabrics in super creative designs that go well beyond the basics of this method.

I started with the lower left quadrant, which is fairly tame as I felt my way. And then I…launched. I hand quilted it with 12-wt cotton–Big Stitch quilting–I have quite a collection of colors now. The white in this piece really lightens up everything, but I wanted to knock back some of the brilliance in the lower right hand quadrant, so I did that with thread color. And I wanted to make that starter lower left quadrant look a bit more…developed…so I quilted it heavily to make it more interesting.

I had enough of this Ruby Star fabric for the back–and I’m a fan of using a print on the back when handquilting. BUT, BUT, my stitches have gotten so much better in consistency after taking Tara Faughnan’ online class on Big Stitch hand quilting.

I hung “Beemer’s Block” in my sewing room–over my cutting table, and it makes me smile every time I look at it. I centered it, so maybe there will be some more small pieces to join it down the road.

That will be possible since I just got this book, which was shown at the Patchwork Gals meeting last Wednesday morning:

I’m intrigued by many of the blocks Kelly Young has created here–with SCRAPS! Many of her ideas are one-block small quilts, BUT each one could be expanded into a full quilt. And many of her small quilts do have multiple colored/scrappy blocks that make up her small project.

Also, several of the men in our neighborhood are going to build a little portable library kiosk that will go next to our big mail kiosk. You know what I mean–you see them everywhere now. So… Debbie Jeske, of the A Quilter’s Table blog recently posted about the little library kiosk near her (or her’s–I forget). She put one of her small quilts behind the display of books, and one day she noticed it was gone. So she put in another one. Hmmmm… Was it synchronicity that I got exposed to this book of small scrappy quilts this week???

Prickly Pear is off the longarm–I quilted it all yesterday afternoon. The new panto, New Wave, gave it awesome movement and texture. Thank you Wendy Curry (a longarm quilter who lives in Thunder Bay, Canada.)

I’ll use this same panto on the local modern group’s “Make the Churn Dash modern” challenge I’ve just finished–but more on that quilt later as it deserves its own post. I’m making a pieced backing for it now.

At our last Sit and Sew, Cathy Beemer shared this quilt top–made by cutting up a panel and adding her own, fabulous additions to the squares she chose to use from the panel. Wow! This top is a whole new way to think about using panels. She, too, was responding to a challenge–this one from the Cobblestone quilters.

Cassandra Beaver recently posted this quilt in her blog–The (not so) Dramatic Life–a blog which I highly recommend following as she teaches a lot of methods along the way. Isn’t it AWESOME. Note the mixture of machine and hand quilting. She has a whole post on how she made this quilt if you are interested.

Cassandra did a very recent blog post on the “Feed Sack” fabrics from back in the day, highlighted at the big quilt museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was fun for me as I spent a chunk of time this spring and summer making quilts using “feed sack” reproduction fabrics collected about 20 years ago.

Outstanding Upcycling: Vintage Feed Sacks That Made Sewing Affordable

It is very cool here these days–with days in the 70s and 80s. This coolness so didn’t happen last year, LOL. We’ll likely get an Indian Summer of hotter weather, but that is ok too. I have increased my walking now–2 miles the other day and more short walks too, off and on, around the neighborhood.

We do need rain, so I’ll water the new roses out front this morning. Maybe I’ll “jinx in” one of the thunderstorms that have been promised all week.

So, now, we’re off to a whole new week! Enjoy this day and this week to come!

It was 73 degrees here when I made my morning coffee. People are out walking–children going to school, dog walkers, and just people out and about. They are all wearing long sleeves this morning.

That coolness SO did not happen last summer. So a big welcome to La Niña and her cooler, dryer weather.

With the advent of “cool,” I am switching my walk to the mornings now, as it is getting darker earlier in the evening. I like to sew from mid-afternoon most days to just after 7 pm. And then I walk my mile and come home to the supper I usually prepped at the same time I cooked my noon dinner. But for the last week, I’ve been walking in the evening dusk, with the lights that line the big road I walk, on. It’s nice, but…

A few days back when I emerged from the house to walk, we had this amazing cloud highlighted by the sunset. It looked so fluffy that I felt that if I could reach up and touch it, it would feel like spun cotton candy. It looked good enough to eat.

Here’s a wider picture. All around it was clear sky. So, I think, this kind of cloud is probably due to living along the shore.

The next evening, the fluffy clouds entertained me again. This one probably held some rain, but we didn’t get any. And, again, the sky all around it was clear.

These clouds are a moment of gifted joy. And I loved taking the time to admire and contemplate them–rather than just barreling into my walk pace.

My monthly meeting at Patchwork Gals was this past Wednesday. A local quilter who belongs to both of my quilt groups (traditional and modern) demonstrated how he makes rope bowls. His bowls are gorgeous, and his presentation was first rate. Rick has a longarm business, is a terrific quilter, and is just the nicest person.

August 5, 2024youtu.be

Visit “Stitch with Rick” on YouTube!

Hit like and subscribe to receive notifications when new videos are posted 

I am going to Walmart today to get some rope…

Oh no!!! But I must try to make a rope bowl.

I’m out of handwork for the moment, so I found a knitting project that I left unfinished. My fingers like to be busy at night. The Prickly Pear quilt is on the longarm, waiting for me, so I’ll have that binding to sew down soon.

I promise to post quilty pics soon. There are several finished projects and a leader/ender that is almost done. It is taking up way too much room on the design wall now.

Meanwhile, I’ve been saying goodbye to the two grandsons–the oldest will be 21 in a few weeks. They are now both back at their universities. The five remaining grand girls are busy, busy with the start of school and their fall athletic endeavors which involve various mixtures of tennis, lacrosse, and volleyball.

It’s been a really good summer for everyone I think.

And we may get some rain today, which unless it is 24 inches in a week, is a good thing.

Tropical storm Debby is swirling to the north of us. Or what is left of her is doing…something. She seems to have broken apart more or less.

I woke to 77 degrees this morning. In August. In Charleston, SC. Wow!

I have not walked for 5 days, except for the tour around our neighborhood to see how our drainage was holding up. I was thinking to walk yesterday afternoon as the sun came out, but, this:

And when this cloud dumped its rain and moved north, the sun came out. But it was going to be followed shortly by another band of clouds like this one. So I just kept sewing as I was not going to risk walking a half-mile or more away from the house, only to get suddenly drenched.

It rained in the night too–and there was fierce lightening–so there is another 3 inches in the gauge out front this morning. Right now, the gauge has collected 23.25 inches of rain since Monday, but we got a bit more rain than that as the gauge overflowed in the night one night. And today we will have some thunder storms.

EVERYTHING is wet! I won’t even think about putting the back porch back together until all is dried out. And I miss my time out there during my noon dinner.

BUT, I’ve had some really fun sewing these past few days. Two new rulers came in the mail: Deb Heatherly’s Cat’s Claw ruler (thanks the demo shared by Rick Sanchez, local longarm quilter Stitch with Rick, at our last Sit and Sew) and Latifah Safari’s Hurty Ruler for half-square triangles. Both are so much fun.

I could EASILY go down a rabbit hole with the Hurty ruler. (This picture had to be taken on a slant due to where the blocks are on the very full design wall.) I pulled some fabrics at random and just played with no intention for anything. Just play. The “A” side of the ruler makes a LEFT side straight edge (these are 4 by 8 blocks). The B side makes a right side straight edge. I started with the A side, but realized I really like the look of the straight edge on the right AND that putting the two choices together makes a big triangle and a bigger diamond AND that putting blocks on their side is kind of fun–either in a quilt of half-square triangles or on a border.

I’m also obsessed with making blocks that are riffs on the Churn Dash block–so here are more half-square triangles–4 inches finished–that surround the center square.

You can see the Cat’s Claw blocks in the red Churn Dash on the bottom of the design wall below–at the corners. Making these Cat’s Claw blocks is so much fun as each effort makes TWO of them.

I made myself STOP playing with the Hurty ruler’s bigger blocks–that’s for another day. But I have 8 orange smaller blocks cut out for the next Churn Dash “riff.” That will happen today. (I have no idea how these blocks will work out–they are for a challenge in the modern group that is due at our November meeting.)

Prickly Pear only needs one more row–and I’m working on the triangle rings for that final row now. I have the backing and binding made and know what pantograph I’ll use to quilt this handsome and very modern quilt, thanks to a consult with master longarm quilter Wendie Currie, who lives in Thunder Bay, Canada. I also have enough fabric left (as I had to order more for the field fabric and for the triangles) to play with the alternative arrangement, which is also fun.

The scrappy leader/ender on the left is growing–it will be 7 blocks wide and 8 long, so will finish around 63 by 72–a good lap size. This kind of quilt is meant to be USED and to be cuddly. The two bins of 3.5 inch Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society squares ARE going down–but there are a lot left. Next I’ll try something like all one-color darks in a specific color (9-patch again) alternated with blocks of the light colors.

And today I have to…cook. Hamburger is defrosting–for air fryer patties likely. An easy meal that will product leftovers.

The second (and last for now) “Piece of My Heart” quilt is done, bound, and washed.

I’ve been looking for a long time for a quilt where this backing in my stash would work. It’s perfect for this quilt–with its letters and numbers printed on the dark blue.

And I love how the striped binding came out on this quilt–which is meant to be like the red-white stripe binding on the neutral version. I also like how some of these Cotton+Steel/Ruby Society squares jump out at a viewer with such cute prints.

To remind, here is the neutral version–also washed and ready to mail.

Both quilts are going to a niece who has two little ones–a boy and a girl.

To also remind: Cynthia Bruns designed this quilt and it can be found now on the AllPeopleQuilt.com web site. Or in the February 2024 American Patchwork and Quilting magazine, pages 57-62.

It is also quilted with the “Folk Heart” pantograph designed by Beany Girls.

What a fun little quilt this one is. And I am enjoying the attempt to empty the two bins of 3.5 inch squares from the Cotton+Steel Ruby Star fabrics I cut up about 4 or 5 years ago. I think those squares breed in the dark of the night though. LOL. They love to come out and play.

I love how the binding and the backing came out on this quilt too. Those sheep! Those red and dark grey yarn balls! I have Vermont friend Betsy Maislen to thank for finding this fabric. It is from Timeless Treasures, “Fabrics of SoHo,” FUN-C 3587. Of course it reminds me of my years in Maine, where I did knit rather a lot.

The “Folk Heart” pantograph is working well too–and seems a good choice. It’s from Beany Girls. The hearts kind of tumble across the quilt.

To recap information on this quilt, the pattern is “Piece of My Heart,” designed by Cynthia Bruns. It can be found at AllPeopleQuilt.com and I saw it in their magazine American Patchwork and Quilting, February 2024, pages 57-62.

This quilt’s “brother” is on the longarm as I write this morning. Yesterday I got all the parts together (backing made, batting cut) and loaded it AND got all the basting done. I’m really happy with that backing fabric from my stash–it has numbers and letters printed on it.

I’ve been spending time cutting and sewing units for Annabelle Wrigley’s pattern “Prickly Pears,” from the 4th season of Tara Faughnan’s The Color Collective. (There were 5 years, and I did 4.) I have one row of 4 finished, and the units for the second row almost done. It has taken…days to get this far. This pattern is difficult in that it is a complicated block and joining the blocks to get seams butted is a challenge. But it is a stunning pattern.

I’ve already ordered more fabric once (Ruby + Bee solids) and will need more of the background pink, which I’ll order today. And, no, the triangles that circle the center are easy using Tara Faughnan’s method for most foundation piecing projects. She uses plain paper and a bit of glue. AND, her templates can be used over and over with this method and do not have to be torn from the fabric. That’s a big YEAH for me.

The bins of C+S squares are still out, and this scrappy something is happening as a leader/ender project. It is the kind of quilt that just “is what it is.” The best kind for snuggling up in, actually.

And I have this tremendous sense of relief as a result, as if a boulder I’ve been carrying has been off-loaded.

“Happy” is the “36-Ring Circus” designed by Joanne Lewis. The pattern and template kit are at the Paper Pieces web site. Enough said with that information: I’m done whining.

I started this English Paper Piecing project in June of 2018. That’s SIX YEARS for heaven’s sake. There are SO MANY tiny pieces, and I spent COUNTLESS hours prepping all the templates. Plus, sewing all the curves was so, so hard. Most had to be done with a flat-back stitch, which is hard to do in an unwieldy big quilt. I used up a whole roll of artist tape along the way to get the curves to stay put properly while I sewed each block together and each row into the quilt.

The block centers are all fussy cut Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society. The rings are solid pastels, and the ring centers and the 4-patches between the rings are all dark solids. The outer border of dark fabrics squares this quilt off nicely.

Plus, this past year I decided to HAND QUILT it using lots of colors–dark colors in the dark fabrics and light colors in the light colors–and I’m actually not sorry about that decision as it has provided many hours in the last six or so months of contemplative stitching, though some of this work was also hard as when I made this quilt I didn’t trim back seams to a short 1/4-inch and that made the hand quilting near seam edges hard enough that I had to wander stitching lines away from them.

BUT, SHE IS DONE and has been washed and dried. Of course I washed her as her parts and her completed size have been dragged around of six years. Now she is no longer called “the quilt from hell.” Now she is called…DONE.

Here’s a close up of a border corner. The curve on the left binding is a camera distortion. The quilt is square.

The back is nicely textured, and I like the warmth of the ruby color.

Most of all, the task I set myself to make a hand-made quilt for each of my 7 grandchildren is now also complete. “Happy” is ALL made by hand except for sewing the binding on one side with my sewing machine–the other side is hand sewn. I always hand sew my bindings on the loose side.

DONE is a very nice word right now. I’m “Happy.”