Turkey Tracks: Sailing and Quilting

Turkey Tracks: October 5, 2015

Sailing and Quilting

I LOVED my September sailing on the J&E Riggin this year.

September is sailing supreme in Maine. The wind was so good on our first day that we sailed all the way to Blue Hill Harbor–after leaving Rockland Harbor mid-morning. Word was that we were going 10 knots for part of the sail. We were skimming across the water like a giant bird sailing across the sky.

I signed up for next September. Of course I did.

Rhea Butler of Alewives Quilting will be on board and will teach interested passengers English paper piecing, using Lucy Boston’s honeycomb template. (I’ve written about Lucy Boston and her work on this blog if you want to know more.)

Rhea’s use of fabric is stunning, interesting, and fun. Here are some samples of her and other staff members Lucy Boston blocks. You can see they really enjoyed “fussy cutting” contemporary fabric patterns–as did Lucy Boston, but Boston did not have access to today’s amazing colors and patterns.

These blocks can be combined with other templates to make a whole quilt or floated on background fabric and appliqued–either singly or together.

One can also make plainer blocks–as I did as I wanted to contrast red and green in this block:

I used the templates (as did Lucy Boston) to make a background.

But I am so looking forward to making blocks like Rhea and the Alewives staff do–and I want to applique them to background fabric in some way.

Plain or exotic, quilting or not, Jon Finger and Annie Mahle will be sailing the J&E Riggin with me on board September 21-24, 2016, boarding September 20th.

Come join us?

Turkey Tracks: Play Day

Turkey Tracks: April 39, 2015

Play Day

Last Tuesday was “play day”–with Megan Bruns, who had a day off before starting a new job.

We headed south to Alewives Quilting (Damariscotta Mills) to see the new Cotton + Steel white collection and Megan was looking for fabric for pillows.

Here’s the collection minus the typewriter fabric, which already sold out.

Next we went to Aboca Beads in Damariscotta to make some earrings. Here are mine:

It’s so fun to make earrings!

Lunch was at the River Grill in Damariscotta–they make the best mussels in the whole world.

Coffee for the road at the little bookstore across from the River Grill.

And a stop by Mainely Sewing to visit with Marge Hallowell on the way home.

It was a FUN play day!

Turkey Tracks: “Scrappy Scraps” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: January 31, 2015

Scrappy Scraps Quilt

Here is the second quilt in the scrappy series I have been making for my downstairs tv/sitting room–all made from the 2 1/2-inch bin of strips.

This quilt is based on Bonnie Hunter’s method in her “Scrappy Trip Around the World,” a free pattern on her quiltville.com web site and blog.

I had so much fun making this quilt! What a treat to experience!

Basically, one sews together six strips of fabric about 17 inches long, joins them into a tube, and then cuts them into 2 1/2-inch little tubes. Where you open the first tube determines the order of the block that develops as you open tubes and sew together the new strips. If you want a dark, definitive block to run up the middle (which really helps define the diamonds that form), you must include a dark strip in the mix of six AND begin opening the little tubes at that point, so that dark block is on the bottom. Bonnie has great pics on her blog of these steps.

Thanks to Megan Bruns and Matt who dropped in late yesterday with a warm latte and for a visit–for holding up the quilt. Megan showed me several projects she was working on–and I’m now kicking myself that I did not take pictures.

I am now wondering what would happen if one made this quilt all in one color family–like blue, or red, or green…using dark and light strips…

Here’s where the quilt is going to live–to prevent the dogs from marring the couch AND for folks to use for warmth and comfort.

Here’s a close-up:

I got the backing on sale at Alewives quilt shop in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, and you can see that it works well in this room.

Here are a few close-ups:

I quilted with a spring green thread–which also worked well with the backing. And, used the Acadia pantograph as I thought it’s swirls would work well with all these squares.

I actually think the 2 1/2-inch strips, which finish to 2-inch squares, work well in this quilt. I think I’d prefer 2-inch strips for the log cabin though…

My eye just loves smaller bits of fabric I guess…

Turkey Tracks: “Piecing Heaven” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: January 12, 2015

“Piecing Heaven” Quilt

My downstairs tv sitting room is a favorite place for the dogs.

And, for me.

An outside door sits at this room’s entryway, so the dogs tend to track in outside debris. (People in Maine don’t wear their outside shoes inside. Shoes are removed at the door.)

I have a doggie blanket on the couch–which just got recovered not too, too long ago. But though the blanket does the protection job, it looks so shabby–as you can see below.

So, I decided to use scrappy quilts all over this room instead. Not always spread out, but folded in key places.

Quilts that could be used, washed, and loved, loved to death.

Here’s the first one–made from my box of 2 1/2 inch strips: “Piecing Heaven”–because I had so much fun making it.

Here it is on the back of the couch. Reynolds Georgia hangs out here a lot. See how ratty the dog blanket looks?

Here it is from the back:

Grandson Kelly picked out the backing fabric last summer, and I can’t wait for him to see it in this quilt. Likely, if it holds up, this quilt will go to him at some point.

I used a Bishop’s Fan groovy board and an old gold colored thread–which works fine in the quilt. Love the Bishop’s Fan pattern.

The center:

A random piece…

Here’s Gail Nicholson’s quilt on the orange chair–another favorite spot of Reynold’s.

And, here’s the third quilt in this project–almost ready to come off the design wall. I love how this quilt is coming out. This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern, and the border idea is also on her blog: “Scrappy Trip Around the World.” Again, I’m using the 2 1/2=inch scrap strips to build this quilt.

I got this backing fabric–on the long arm–at the Alewives (quilt shop) sale last weekend–40% off. It will work fine, and the colors work in the big room. With all the seams on the front, I wanted a solid backing.

Turkey Tracks: “Grand Illusion” Quilt Revealed

Turkey Tracks: January 2, 2014

“Grand Illusion” Quilt Revealed

Well, I have my answer.

This

is going to turn into a version of THIS:

That’s Bonnie with her Dad at Thanksgiving.

And, here’s the computer version Bonnie Hunter posted:

Bonnie Hunter is ONE TALENTED WOMAN!!!

I can’t wait to sew my blocks together.

But I have to get THIS off the design wall first:

(Sorry, blurry photo, but you get the idea. This is a version of Bonnie Hunter’s Scrappy Trips…which is on her website.)

And THIS off the long arm so I can push it back against the wall:

Here’s a close-up:

Grandson Kelly fell in love with this backing fabric when we went to a sale at Alewives Quilt Shop in Nobleboro, Maine, last summer. Here’s a shot of it from the rear of the longarm:

I’m using the Bishop’s Fan Groovy Boards and an old gold colored thread that is puuuurfect.

Both of these quilts are being made from my 2 1/2-inch strips, a stash method taught by Bonnie Hunter. The bin is about halfway down now…Yeah!

I’m going to use them in my downstairs room rather than the blankets and dog-covers I have now. They’ll be loved and washed.

Turkey Tracks: April Update

Turkey Tracks: April 7, 2014

April Update

We are finally getting some warm weather, and near me, the Megunticook River is thawing out fast. I was a little shocked when I went by Megunticook Lake Sunday on my way to see Rose Thomas as the Lake is still pretty frozen. This view is from the top of Barrett Cove, looking north. (This lake is 15 miles around and filled with interesting islands and “necks” that jut out into the water.)

The ice looks bluer towards the middle though, suggesting thinness.

Chickie Diva Queenie has been healed up for some time. I have only been waiting for the night temps to get warm enough to risk her in the coop. She can’t take any more frostbite probably ever in her life.

She did not seem unhappy in her kitchen box, but on a bright sunny day last week, I put her outside. She prowled the yard, scratching and digging, but not getting near the other chickens, who did not seem to notice her. That night, she came to the back door and when I opened it, she came right in, and hopped in her box.

The next day, I put her out again, and she wanted to come right back inside. I had planned to clean out the coop, so I gathered up the buckets and the shovel and started to work.

What followed was shocking!

The chickens found her and immediately attacked her. Even the rooster. They weren’t trying to dominate her. They were trying to kill her.

I rescued her from where she had wedged herself behind the sandbox and the house wall. Her comb was torn again, and she had wounds on her feet again. She was dazed and stunned and so happy to be put back into her box.

I consulted with the chicken whisperer Rose Thomas, and we formulated a plan to integrate her into Rose’s flock, which is larger and far less territorial.

So, on Sunday, I took her to Rose.

Rose’s chicken house is a lot bigger than my little coop, and there are MANY egg boxes. Diva Queenie put herself into one and seemed quite happy.

Rose has three roosters at the moment–Guy, the father of my rooster Pumpkin; the brother of Pumpkin; and Merlin, a guina rooster who is ferocious.

Rose distracted her flock by throwing them some scratch feed to them while we put Queenie into the chicken house.

I called Rose this morning. Queenie is just fine and is out in the yard with the rest of the flock.

* * *

Look at these–I have 12 out of 15 done and have another one half done now.

Here’s a close-up of one:

This large “hexie” is made from the kite shape you can see with the dark blue. I first saw a quilt made with these medallions at Alewives, a quilt shop in Damariscotta Mills, Maine. The hexies get linked by big diamonds, and the pattern comes from the book Material Obsession 2 by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke. Other blog entries here show their TWO quilt versions using this block. Rhea Butler made the quilt at Alewives.

I’ve finished the red/green quilt, which remains nameless so far. It’s loaded on the long arm. It’s pretty big–I used 7 yards of fabric for the backing–a Kaffe Fasset I bought on sale about a year ago. And I had to piece a column of about 20 inches to get enough width for the long arm–which was fine as I used up a lot of orphan blocks. I really draw the line at buying 9 yards of fabric for a quilt backing when I’m only missing ten or so inches. With the long-arm, I need about 5 extra inches of width on the sides, but I could always put on a temporary outside border that would come off when the quilting was done as well.

I am going down to Manchester, New Hampshire, with Gail Galloway Nicholson this week to the big MQX show (Machine Quilters Expo)–where we will both take some classes. I am taking both pantograph and free-motion quilting classes for the long arm. So…it seems to make sense to wait until I get home to quilt this quilt. The pantograph class may change how I currently quilt with a pantograph. Also I ordered a different green quilting thread as I did not like the color I thought I would use. Funny how that happens…

So, here’s my current project:

I am sewing together colorful 5-inch blocks from my stash. I will put a 3-inch border on this grid and use it to cut out “Lil Twister” blocks. Here’s a clue of what I am talking about:

Lil Twister block images – Google Search.

Canton Village Quilt Works has a very nice tutorial on how to use the Lil Twister tool.

Turkey Tracks: Sun, Sea, Sand Quilt

Turkey Tracks: November 15, 2011

Sun, Sea, Sand Quilt

Well, here it is all finished–a La La Log Cabin method, as designed by Rhea Butler of Alewives Quilting in Damariscotta Mills, Maine.

Basically, you start with a funky center, build out, and trim up your blocks to a set size. I trimmed these at 12 inches.

This kind of quilt is a fabulous way to knock back your stash–and I’m on a mission to do that these days. For every quilt I plan and BUY, I’m trying to make–at least the tops–out of my stash–where many beautiful, beautiful fabrics reside.

This quilt is made entirely out of batiks. I did buy the backing, which I loved at first sight. But I got the fabric 20% off–thanks to a sale at Alewives!

Note, too, the light binding. I almost always finish with a dark binding, but this quilt seemed to want to just keep going and not be bound by a dark line… It’s certainly full of good, good energy, isn’t it?

Here’s a close up of the binding effect:

Here’s a close-up detail:

And, here’s what the long-arm looks like with a quilt loaded and being quilted:

One can quilt from the front of the machine–which one does if one is working with templates or one’s own designs. If one is working from a paper pattern–called a pantograph–the quilting is done from the back of the machine. One follows the pattern with a laser light beam.

I wanted a quilting pattern that was curvy, since there are so many straight lines in the quilt.

Lucy is a Handi-Quilter, Avante. She has an 18-inch throat, which gives me lots of room for big patterns. And, it means one doesn’t have to roll up the quilt so often.

I love this machine. The learning curve has been awesome–and I’m only now feeling like I’m getting some bit of competency. Working with a long-arm is very different from working with a domestic machine. I still struggle with getting the tension to behave–but that’s a learning curve, too. The bobbin adjustments are opposite a domestic machine, for one thing. But, I learn nothing more than learning all about something new–so I’m quite happy. And, of course, my ability to make LOTS of quilt tops–I LOVE TO PIECE–is getting fed every day.

	lynettecw on Muhly Grass
	jamitysmom on What Is This Bird?
	louisaenright on “Garnish” Table To…
	celiamalm on “Garnish” Table To…
	Marcia Strykowski on Four Days of Rain=Quilting…