Turkey Tracks: Settings for String-quilt Blocks

Turkey Tracks: March 20, 2014

Settings for String-quilt Blocks

Remember my pile of 100 plus string-quilt blocks made during my quilting retreat?

I’ve been looking at different settings for these blocks. Here’s an interesting one from a quilter whose name I have totally lost on Bonnie Hunter’s Open Studio Facebook site–and I apologize for that as she designed this setting.

There’s a ton of work in this setting, but it’s making a terrific quilt. I think I’m going to do something a bit different though…. I’m playing around with some sort of double lattice with cornerstones made with very bright colors–like aqua, fern green, orange, red…

Rosie Pilkerton was working on a different version of a string quilt–one that makes it’s own lattice as you leave a set width of your underlying fabric foundation square (the pale yellow here) free and start your strings on either side of that central diagonal stripe:

VERY nice, Rosie.

Turkey Tracks: Quilting Retreat Project

Turkey Tracks: March 7, 2014

Quilting Retreat Project

I left my Virginia quilting friend today–and was so grateful for this time spent with them.

We have been sewing together for about eighteen years–not every year since I moved to Maine in 2004, but steadily all along.

I left with 98 string-pieced 6 1/2 inch blocks–made from the torn selvage edges of my quilting fabric. When I cut up my stash this past summer (all but pieces a yard or more long), I tore strips from the selvage edge with the little colored dots and/or writing. I tore at least 1 1/2 inches of the colored fabric–and some times two inches if I liked the color. One also needs some fatter pieces to use in corners I found–and fortunately I had included some when I put together what I was bringing to this year’s meeting.

So, I sewed on to pre-cut paper squares from an old drawing pad. And I brought along an old telephone book in case I needed more paper. Both mediums tore away easily after I had finished sewing and trimming my blocks.

I’ve had a long strip of green, pieced rectangles made a very long time ago–at least 12 years ago–thinking I’d use it some day for a border or binding–and I used that in some of the blocks. The effect was quite nice.

I pinned the blocks into piles of ten. I have some ideas for using these blocks, but no set plan yet. It will be fun devising a setting (or multiple settings) for these blocks.

98 blocks–and I have at least 13 at home:

I really like the way the words and the color dots on the selvages came out on these blocks.

Turkey Tracks: Quilting Retreat

Turkey Tracks: March 6, 2014

Quilting Retreat

I’m in Williamsburg, Virginia, with friends I’ve quilted with for about 18 years, save the past three. It’s good to see them again.

We hunker down and SEW! We eat when we want, leave to get out a bit when we want, sleep when we want, and so on. There is a lot of laughter, lots of catching up with everyone, some serious conversations and lots of good listening.

I’ve been ripping off selvages for the past year and leaving at least 1 1/2 inches of fabric. More is even better. And I’ve been saving all strips that are just under two inches, but uneven. So, I’m strip piecing 6 1/2 inch blocks–using scrap paper as a foundation. And piecing in all those words and little color dots that I can use. The blocks are coming out really fun and interesting and colorful.

I color sorted and ironed before I came–to help packing space and to get a jump start. And that has helped me get more done.

Over 60 blocks after three days of intensive sewing.

Here’s my workspace–and I’m sewing on friend Rosy Pilkerton’s “Black Beauty”–a vintage Singer machine.

And from another view:

And from the back view:

I have lots more pictures of the folks here with me AND of the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show, but they will have to wait until I get home Monday.

Turkey Tracks: “Celtic Solstice” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: February 13, 2014

Celtic Solstice Quilt

“Celtic Solstice” is Bonnie Hunter’s 2013 Mystery Quilt. Bonnie writes a few weeks before Thanksgiving about fabric choices and releases the first “clue”–which unit we will make first–the day after Thanksgiving. Then we are off and running–making hundreds of units each week until she reveals the finished quilt and how to put it together sometime before New Year’s. Some of us finish right away; others take longer as life circumstances are all different. We had the option to sign up for a Facebook “secret”/closed group to connect with other quilters making CS, and I have to say I have really enjoyed seeing their comments, their work, their different color choices, and the many different ways they put together the quilt. Some reversed the chevron unit, which made that block more like a star, for instance. And there were many, many different border treatments.

My CS has been finished for about two weeks now, and it’s been hard not to “share” it here until I could send it to DIL Tamara Kelly Enright for her February 12th birthday. Tami KELLY Enright is part of the amazing Kelly Clan of Charleston, SC–which has been a boon for all the Enrights.

Two of my friends held it upright at our last quilt meeting as I can rarely get this kind of a shot of a quilt.

Bonnie designed this quilt after a trip to Ireland last summer. You can see that it has the colors of the Irish Flag (green, orange, white) and that blue figures prominently.

Here’s what it looks like thrown over a queen-sized bed.

This is a two-block quilt. Each block is a nine-patch–and you can see them in this picture. The block with the green square on point is a Bonnie Hunter design and has appeared in a recent book from Quiltmaker magazine (I think that’s right) of 100 blocks. The star block–see the blue points with the orange and green four-patch in the middle–is made with Tri-Rec rulers and forms the blue circles.

Here is a close-up of the very interesting border–and you can see that I quilted with a medium green thread–using a pantograph called “Circle of Life” ordered from Urban Elementz. I specifically wanted a pantograph with this “New Grange” circle symbol for this quilt. (New Grange, in Ireland, is an ancient site where the solstice light figures prominently during the solstice.)

Here’s the backing, binding, and the quilt. I chose this bright orange backing because I know that Tami likes orange and bright colors AND BECAUSE IT HAS FAIRY BEES all over it. Tami is a bee keeper and Executive Director of The Bee Cause Project in Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA. See their url: http://www.thebeecause.org/home.html.

And, the other way:

Here’s a close-up of the fairy bees:

I knew very early that this quilt had to go to Tami. I could hear John whispering in my ears–she’s a Kelly for Heaven’s Sake. And while there are MANY of my quilts in Tami’s home, even one I made for her when she was pregnant with Bowen, there isn’t a big one that’s just for her. And I didn’t realize until recently that she likes BRIGHT quilts.

Tami was hard hit with the loss of John–they had a very special relationship, and I’m so glad she could come spend time with him not long before he died. I put this old Irish poem on the label for her:

And our loved ones do not totally disappear. We hear their voices inside ourselves all the time. They have just gone on before us, to prepare our way.

I have so enjoyed making this quilt and so look forward to next year’s Bonnie Hunter mystery. Meanwhile, Bonnie’s other mystery quilts are in her books, and there are many I would truly love to make.

Thanks, Bonnie!

Turkey Tracks: “Sails Up & Flys Flying” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: February 2, 2014

Sails Up and Flags Flying Quilt

This little beauty got mailed last Tuesday and is now in its new home–with a beautiful and healthy baby boy–Giovanna McCarthy’s first grandchild!

The parents wanted BRIGHT–and when I saw this bright boat sails fabric, I knew what I wanted to do with it.

And the parents didn’t want to know the sex, so I could not use pink in case the baby was a boy…

The neutral fabric with the flags begin to solidify the quilt in my mind.

Even though I grew up living land bound, we had sayings in the family about “flags flying”–to indicate excitement, anticipation, happiness…

Here’s a close-up of the blocks:

And, of the corner block–I like how this fabric is working in the quilt.

Here you can see the pantograph pattern and the yellow thread a bit better.

I was a bit stumped as to what color thread to use to quilt–and settled on this very nice yellow. I might have been able to make pale blue work, but what if the baby were a girl??

The pantograph is Denise’s Spirals, and I ordered it from Urban Elementz, which has the most amazing selection of pantos.

(I love the binding on this quilt–it’s just perfect.)

I had originally thought to use this muted blue stripe as the binding, but it found its way to the quilt’s back instead–interspersed with the sails fabric as I didn’t have enough of the blue. Again, the yellow thread is working just fine on the back of the quilt.

I think the backing works nicely with the front:

Finally, here’s where the quilt lived for the nights it took me to bind it. You can see how BRIGHT it is in contrast to its surroundings.

I had so much fun making this quilt, and you can expect to see more versions of it as it really lends itself to fun interpretations.

Indeed, I have two versions in mind already…

And it’s a good thing as I have THREE family babies coming into this world soon.

The idea for this kind of setting came, for me, from Bonnie Hunter’s first book, LEADERS AND ENDERS, and the first quilt in the book: “Sisters’ Nine Patch.” This setting is traditional, but it’s always good to be reminded how something will look. Bonnie used cheddar orange blocks with red and neutral nine patches.

Turkey Tracks: “Clamlicious” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: January 24, 2014

“Clamlicious” Quilt

This little quilt has been my hand project for months, over the course of, literally, hundreds of hours, so there is a bittersweetness to the moment of finishing it.

I started the quilt back in July. The clamshells were hand-sewn. And the quilt is hand-quilted (something I have not done for some years). I did put the borders and binding on with the machine.

I outlined each clam shell–and didn’t worry to much about the perfection of my quilting. This quilt is still meant to be used and loved.

The fabric was collected by Susan Barry, who was an amazing, wonderful quilter. When she died some years back now, her fabric stash was sold at Coastal Quilters and the money made was donated to our local hospital’s cancer wing. Susan, herself, put together this little collection of fabrics, and they drew my eye as being really nice for a baby quilt.

Here are the inner and outer borders. I got carried away with the pleasure of hand-sewing on the pink rose trellis border and quilted the whole grid. Mercy!

What to do for binding? I finally went back to the blue to bring the center of the quilt out to the edges…

The backing was from my stash and chosen to be forgiving to my quilting–you can’t see it at all on the backing unless you catch the backing in a certain light that shows the stitches. I might do the backing over in order to show the stitching as it turned out to be pretty good after so many years. It’s like riding a bicycle. And I use a quilting spoon and very short needles.

This quilt is as soft as butter to the touch.

It’s No. 93, so I am homing in on my 100th quilt.

Turkey Tracks: Quilt Projects

Turkey Tracks: January 19, 2014

QUILT PROJECTS

I promised you pictures of the blocks I’m (mostly) hand sewing for a quilt–from Material Obsession 2.

Here are two blocks finished:

And here’s one in progress:

They are so much fun to work on.

Here is what my design wall looks like at the moment–now that Celtic Solstice if down:

The red and green quilt and the brown quilt at the top are leader/ender projects. And, for play, I made a fish block yesterday and cut out a few more blocks…

When I finish quilting “Sails Up” and “Celtic Solstice,” the fish quilt will become a primary task.

The trip to Alewives’ BIG sale (quilt store) was fun yesterday. Lunch out was, too. We got home just as the snow started coming down in earnest.

I bought two greens and 7 yards of this ORANGE backing for Celtic Solstice. The dark green will be a border, and the light green the binding. The orange just seemed…to fit the quilt.

So…one more border for Celtic Solstice and then, quilting.

What a fun project this Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt has been.

Turkey Tracks: Friday Night Update

Turkey Tracks: January 17, 2014

Friday Night Update

It’s 4:04 p.m., and it is not pitch dark yet.

But, soon.

And, soon, spring will come, too, as the days are growing longer.

We have been having a January thaw for the past week. We can see green grass again, and there is still lettuce in my cold frame. Imagine that… Beneath all that snow…

I HAVE TO ORDER SEEDS!

The chickens are laying again. Rosie, the Copper Black Maran, laid her first egg since, I don’t know, October? The Americaunas molted in the fall and started laying again a few weeks ago. They are, once again, looking posh with all their new feathers. Beauty, who is so ugly I called her Beauty, laid all winter–though the shell to her eggs is very thin. She is so friendly and sweet.

The Diva, who I think is Queeny, is in the kitchen, resting, healing (one hopes). Her neck still looks pretty bad, but her eyes are bright, and she’s eating.

The brother of my friend Linda, who house sits for me and cleans, was standing beneath the edge of a roof with lots of ice on it. A slab broke loose and hurt his arm, side, and leg and broke his foot. Last Tuesday, in the middle of our January thaw, Linda went to get into her minivan, slipped on hidden ice next to the van. Her face is all bruised, and she broke her wrist. She drove herself to the emergency room.

Of course she was not looking for ice; everything had melted off. And that’s when the ice is the most treacherous. When you think it’s gone. Now she and her brother visit each other, each nursing a broken bone, and laugh wryly.

I talk to her every few days to see if she needs anything and to remind her to go slowly. The loss of income is very serious for her, of course, and I will pay her same as always, work or no work. She is so good to me in so many ways–I can’t even begin to tell you all she did for me when John was so sick and how she has cared for me this past year.

Today I went to Belfast (about 40 minutes north) to the big Coop for ground chicken for the dogs and green things for me. AND to pick up this amazing herbal powder from Dr. Herzig, a holistic vet, that keeps Miss Reynolds Georgia bright and busy tailed. She thinks she’s a puppy again, which is great since twice now I have been sure she was not going to live through the night. For about three months this summer I had to gently force feed her. Anyway, it was nice to get out a bit.

Celtic Solstice: I put on the white border yesterday. And got one triangle border on when I realized that I had TWO blocks with the orange going the wrong way. Mercy! I took the rows apart and turned the blocks, and the job was easier than I had expected. When I finish here, I’m going to make a cup of tea and put on the other three borders. Tomorrow I’m going to a big quilt fabric sale to get some green or blue to finish this amazing quilt. And, the backing and binding. There are so many seams that I do not want to piece blocks for the back. It will be so hard to quilt if I do.

“Sails Up and Flags Flying,” the bright orange quilt, is loaded onto Lucy the longarm, and the great yellow thread has come in the mail. So…. Tomorrow, maybe…

Here’s a block to remind you…

And one of the really fun things I’ve learned from Bonnie Hunter is to take the time to “swirl” your seams on the backside of a block as it cuts down on bulk when it’s time to quilt the layers. See the little tiny squares in the middle of each block–that “swirling” means two layers of bulk, not four. Bonnie has detailed instructions under the four-patch unit “clue” of Celtic Solstice on her quiltville.com blog. Look for the “Celtic Solstic” mystery information.

I have been hand-sewing blocks for this great quilt–pictures below–from Material Obsession 2 by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke, both from Australia. I have not decided which layout to use yet.

I am kind of leaning toward the second one, but maybe making it a bit bigger. I have almost finished two blocks and have cut out pieces for the third and chosen fabric for a bunch more. I am getting obsessed with the beauty of these blocks. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow.

BUT, if I do the first layout, it might make a great quilt for the red guest bedroom…

Who knows? It’s a work in progress… And I’m just having fun.

It’s dark now. I’m going now to lock up the chickens, fix dinner (stuffed green peppers and baked squash), make a cuppa, and sew. And to listen to what is likely the final part of P.D. James’ Devices and Desires, which has been wonderful, wonderful. James is a master of murder mysteries. This book is so full and rich and so full of depth.

Tonight after watching two Castle episodes from season 2–which is really all about watching Nathan Fillion whose Firefly series got cancelled way, way too soon (Josh Whedon, and the movie Serenity kind of finished off that series)–I’ll read another big chunk of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, which I’m really enjoying.

And, oh my gosh!, when checking spelling for Fillion, I realized he’s also in Buffy the Vampire Slayer just a bit, which Josh Wheden also did!!! I’ve always wanted to check out that tv series…ever since Julie Powell wrote Julie and Julia (from her blog about Julie cooking her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking) and spoke of her delight in Buffy…

If you don’t have dog-eared volumes of Child’s Mastering the Art of…, you might want to get at least the first one and cook around it a bit.

Life is so full of wonderful surprises some times…

Turkey Tracks: Dianne Hire: Master Quilter

Turkey Tracks: January 12, 2014

Dianne Hire: Master Quilter

Yesterday was a miserable, rainy, icy, threatening day.

BUT, the Coastal Quilters met, and many members managed to make it to the meeting–where we were treated to a history of Dianne Hire’s gorgeous quilts and books, and the story of her latest book, “APP is for Appliqué.”

Really, we all felt as if in the middle of this challenging day we were basking in so much warmth. Dianne’s gracious humor, her own color-drenched and amazing quilts, the quilts of so many local quilters made from Dianne’s new patterns and brought in to share up close and personal, and our being all together made for a wonderful morning. And by the time we left, the weather had warmed considerably and grass was appearing in the snow paths.

For this new book, her fourth, Dianne drew fourteen complex, amazing patterns, and quilters she knew, many of them local, some of them met while she taught around the country, each took a signature pattern for their personal quilt–which would be included in the planned and approved book. The quilters could also use the other patterns in their quilts. And if you know quilting and quilters at all, you can begin to imagine the diversity these quilts represent. No two are even remotely alike, and all are astonishing!

Here is a quote from Stevie Kumble, Coastal Quilter’s press person, describing the new book in our press release:

The book itself has received acclaim from the quilting world and beyond. According to one reviewer, “The result is a nicely disguised technical manual as a feast for the eyes and an exciting project book. Fourteen stylized floral pattern designs provide the reader with the right place to embark on a unique journey of creativity. Tips and techniques from each contributing quilter will advance the reader’s sewing expertise in multiple ways. This book will either set appliqué design on its ear, advance it for the ages, or both.”

Dianne is famous for her use of color, and she helped pioneer the use of curves, innovative piecing, and so on. Dianne was on the cusp of taking quilts out of the traditional and into the contemporary.

Here is a web site with a lot of her quilts pictured–just scroll down and enjoy: http://dhquiltsandclasses.blogspot.com.

As you perhaps know, I can applique, but I am very drawn to and happy with my ongoing scrappy piecing project and using up my stash. But Dianne swears that these complex designs are not hard to make. The results, I can tell you, are well worth the effort.

The quilts of Coastal Quilter’s members Gail Galloway Nicholson and Roxanne Wells appear in Dianne’s new book.

And, this program was arranged by Gail Galloway Nicholson. Thanks, Gail!

And Dianne’s information is as follows:

Dianne S. Hire

One Hundred Bayside Road, Northport, Maine 04849

207-338-4789

email: alternatives2@bluestreakme.com

Turkey Tracks: “Songbirds in My Grandmother’s Garden” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: January 6, 2014

“Songbirds in My Grandmother’s Garden” Quilt

I began to realize sometime during making this quilt that it reminded me of my grandmother Louise Phillips Bryan of Reynolds, Georgia.

Although she had fabulous gardens with flowers of all colors, Grandmother loved the color brown best. She had brown eyes and fine, curly dark hair. Her laugh was HUGE–a belly laugh from deep inside. And she knew how to have fun and to laugh. She loved life and loved her life. She sewed and she knitted. She gardened, as I said above. She put up food and set a nice table. She welcomed guests.

I am named for her, and I spent a lot of wonderful time with her at all stages of my life–especially as we were an Air Force family and moved a lot. When my father had an overseas deployment, mother took us back to Georgia, to Grandmother and Pop. And, as I make this description of her, I am realizing how much of her ways I have adopted and believe are good ways to be in this world.

I had a lot of fabric pieces left over from the “Earth” quilt–and I wanted to keep them together as I was enjoying how they played with each other. And, to tell the truth, I have enough for one more quilt besides “Songbirds,” especially as I have lots of fabrics that will work well with this bunch already cut up in my stash. I am working on Bonnie Hunter’s current “leader/ender” project with what’s left of these earthy fabrics–a block with light and dark sides–allowed by strategically placed half-square triangles. Here are four of these blocks–and they can be combined in countless ways.

(A leader/ender project lets you work on two quilts at once–the one you are piecing, and when you need to cut your thread, the one that’s your “leader/ender” project. You always have blocks for the second quilt ready to stitch so you do not break your thread but just keep on chain piecing. Sometimes I make the half-square triangles and when I have enough, I make a few blocks as I sew along.)

Well! here’s “Songbirds”:

It’s another “Dancing Nines” from Bonnie Hunter’s web site, quiltville.com, where she has tons of free patterns. I made this one with 2 1/2-inch squares though, as that was the size of the strips I had. Bonnie’s pattern starts with 2-inch squares. The piano keys border though is from 2-inch strips.

Here’s a close-up so you can see why Bonnie says these blocks “dance.” They are off-set. The pantograph is “Check and Chase” by Lorien Quilting. I ordered it from Urban Elementz which has a huge selection of pantographs.

I love the borders on this quilt. the binding is a very, very dark muddy red.

And, here’s where the “songbirds” came from. I fell in love with this very contemporary fabric–and think it works with the more traditional front of the quilt. These little guys make me want to cup them in my hand.

Here’s a block close-up:

I loved making this quilt–which reminds me so much of my grandmother.

	celiamalm on Happy Birthday Soup
	celiamalm on Spring Garden Time
	louisaenright on It’s A Sunny Sunday
	Tracy on It’s A Sunny Sunday
	Andrea R Huelsenbeck on Yeah! The Improv Quilt Is Off…

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