Strummin' Sons

I made baby blankets for each of my grandchildren. Most (all?) definitely looked like "loving hands at home" to put it nicely. Now that I am learning to quilt, my goal is to make a quilt for each of my adult children and their spouse.

These two quilts are for my two currently unattached sons who enjoy playing the guitar. It took several months of shopping to find all the fabrics with a guitar theme. Unfortunately, the fabrics available to me were not necessarily color-coordinated. So, these quilts are theme-coordinated. If they are hard on the eyes, blink twice and put on your shades to proceed.

 The quilt above I named "Rock Star." The son who received this knows why.

This quilt is named "Gee-tar Man." Unfortunately, I merrily cut out the outside sashing, sewed it on and quilted the thing before I realized I forgot the inside narrow sashing I wanted to use. Oh, well. It's still cute. 

This is the back of "Rock Star." Found lots of this gold and black guitar pattern at K-mart.

This back is for "Gee-tar Man." Since the front got a little short-changed, I made the back a little fancier.

And, since I advised my strummin' sons to store these quilts wrapped in a fabric pillowcase or a sheet rather than in plastic or particle board furniture, I made them each a pillowcase so they have no excuse--not that they would resort to one. However, if they USE the quilts as I intend, then they have a bonus pillowcase they can use on their pillows. (Where is a smiley-face emoton when you want one?)

Wounded Warrior Quilt

The Gateway Quilters' Guild sponsored quilts for the Blue Star Mothers of America "Quilts for Wounded" program. Here is the link that explains the purpose for these quilts:  http://www.bluestarsouthbayla.org/?q=node%2F254.

My quilt I named "Wounded Warrior" (not very original, I know) because not only is it destined for a service man or woman wounded in the line of duty, it has one block that is "wounded."

In other words, I messed up. And, unfortunately, I didn't catch it until after I took the picture.

Overall, except for that one little sign of individual "uniqueness," I was pleased with how my quilt blocks turned out.


I started with the fabric design I used as the backing. I also used it for the block centers and strips on either side of my blocks in front.




 

My original plan was to use this beautiful gold star on dark red fabric as the outside border with the inside border/sashing in the coordinating gold star on dark blue fabric. Then I realized the symbolism of the gold stars. Starting in World War II, women who had lost sons in combat were called "Gold Star Mothers" and displayed a gold star in their windows.

NO! NO! NO! That fabric would not do for quilts intended for wounded warriors. So, I searched for other patriotic fabric.

The quilts are 48" x 78" gurney quilts and designed to go with the wounded serviceman or servicewoman along with the coordinated pillowcase to the hospital bed.We were told to use bright, patriotic colors. No camouflage -- active service personnel get plenty of camouflage and tend to get sick of it.

This is my coordinating pillowcase. The body is of the same fabric as the quilt backing.

I quilted the layers together with white thread because I did not want to detract from the white star on white fabric in the squares. The rest of the quilt was so busy that I went with a plain navy blue binding. The following pictures show how I sewed on the binding. Even though I used a two-inch strip for my binding, I felt my machine finished binding turned out pretty well. A big part of the secret was that I used a quality cotton fabric.

First, I stitched the folded fabric to the front of the quilt using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

 I pressed the binding flat on the front, then turned the quilt over, folded over the binding and pressed it in place on the back.

Next I pinned the binding on the front of the quilt so that, looking from the back, the pins barely caught the folded outside edge of the binding.

From the front, the pins were about 1/16 to 1/32 inch from the seam of the binding. It was just wide enough for the machine needle to stitch between the pin and the binding. I used both ball-head pins and butterfly pins. One nice thing about butterfly pins is that I can sew up to the bottom of the pin-head and easily grasp the butterfly wing with my fingernail to pull the pin out.

I have this nifty little presser foot with a quarter inch seam guide. The prongs also extend out front longer than most quarter inch presser feet which helps "grab" the next block as well as holds the fabric to the bottom gripper teeth. I use it to assemble my quilt blocks. It also worked well to help keep the binding from slipping out from under the presser foot while stitching. It was a pricy little item, but well worth it to me.

My finished binding. I like a narrow binding on most quilts. I was very happy with the straight seam that finished it.

I understand the theme for the Gateway Quilt Guild's quilt show next year is going to be based on veterans. I look forward to doing another gurney quilt for the Blue Star Mothers of America program. I also hope to put together a Civil War theme quilt although we no longer have veterans from that war still living.

Sharon's Sweet Summer and Cheerful Quilts

My friend Sharon keeps busy taking care of her household as well as being involved in helping others. Although she is just barely on the south side of eighty years old, she goes to the rest home in Turlock once a week to sing for the old people. She had been doing this for forty odd years.

Sharon also makes lap quilts for the rest home residents. She uses fabric scraps of all kinds and stretches her quilting budget by buying cotton sheets to use as backing. She and another friend Celeste, who considers Sharon to be a second mom, get together once a week to pool resources and sew either baby quilts for the new mothers in Atwater First Ward or lap quilts for the rest home. I do not meet with them as often, but I occasionally offer fabric and batting. Now that I have the Brother on the quilt frame, using that to quilt the layers on some of the quilts is starting to be part of my contribution.

Sharon asked me to machine-stitch two quilts she has put together. We pinned them together two weeks ago and I brought them home. Friday I set up my two six foot tables, putting one table on risers to  turn it into a pressing table by covering it with an old mattress pad and a heavy beach towel. I pressed the quilt I have named Sweet Summer (blues & pinks, etc.) with the pins in, using the second table to hold the weight and keep it from sliding off the pressing surface.

 

Sweet Summer being pressed

The second quilt had a lot of uneven seams and puckers when Sharon and I pinned it together. I took it apart and pressed and trimmed the backing and top separately. It still is a little uneven, but was much easier to quilt with a minimum of puckers once I pressed the quilt top on the big table.

Sharon claims she deliberately does not make her quilts really pretty because the pretty ones often get stolen by the staff or family members. However, I think these two are beautiful scrap quilts. Sharon has an excellent eye for color and balances her light and dark blocks to be visually pleasing.

Cheerful

Sharon says she likes to use cheerful colors for the lap quilts intended for the rest home. The one quilt with a lot of yellows and pinks is definitely uplifting, which is why I named it Cheerful.

These two quilts are larger than lap quilts and are to go on twin beds. Sharon is making them ahead for Christmas. She knows there are always a few rest home residents who do not get a gift or a visit at Christmastime. She plans to present these quilts to some of those residents.

After pressing Cheerful, I removed the risers so the tabletops were even. I clamped the backing fabric to the two tables pushed together to keep the fabric from puckering and bunching up when I added the batting and the top. I used safety pins to baste the pieces together and to hold the edges in place. Then I used the flat butterfly pins to attach the top to the leader for the quilt frame.

Cheerful on the quilt frame

Since I had my smaller leader already in the quilt frame, I attached my lap quilt, "Dogs and Cats at the Beach" (more later on that quilt when I finish the binding) and stitched it first. After all, it was the first quilt in the queue to be stitched. Then I did three rows of Sweet Summer before calling it quits last Saturday.

This morning, starting at about 7:00a.m., I worked to finish Sweet Summer. Sharon gave me her pink thread -- cheap stuff from Walmart -- and never again. What a mess! I had at least one break each row, broke two needles and fought to remove at least two major rat's nests (and countless minor ones). Fortunately, I used light blue Gutermann's for the bobbin thread, so I was okay there.

Because Sharon used a 100% polyester batting, I used a loose freehand meandering pattern to help bring out the loft.

Sweet Summer with meandering quilt stitch

After a break, I put Cheerful on the quilt frame and  completed that. I used some of the Coats & Clark polyester wrapped polyester thread that I had left from an earlier project for both the top and bottom. I had a couple of breaks and one rat's nest, but much better. I used a combination of freehand meandering plus a lot of loop-de-loop on Cheerful.

When I use cotton batting, I do not usually need to secure the bottom edge until the very end. However, the polyester batting is not as heavy. In order to keep these quilts as straight and smooth as possible to avoid puckering, I used claw clamps (lined with strips of batting) to secure the fourth side.

I finished both quilts by 5:00p.m. Keep in mind the temperature rose to about 108 degrees today. Although I ran the air conditioning unit in the studio, it still was in the eighties inside most of the day. By 5:00 o'clock, I was hot and tired, but finished.

Cheerful finished with meandering loop-de-loop stitch

Okay, not quite. Later in the evening I tied off loose ends and clipped threads. But, now Sweet Summer and Cheerful can go back to Sharon so she can trim the edges and add the binding.

Christmas in August is always fun.

CaRLCA PAC Fundraising Quilt

I'm using an over-sized freehand pebble pattern.

 Except for a little practice quilt that I did for our Relief Society group that makes baby quilts for new moms and lap quilts for seniors in rest homes, this is my first serious attempt to use my new Brother sewing machine and quilt frame. (See post for 14 Jan 2012, "My Brother's Been Framed" )  It was a learning experience. For one thing, I thought we followed instructions correctly, but turned out we had the take-up pole on backwards. The fabric should have been rolling onto the pole from the underside so that the stitching area stayed flat. I had a lot of skipped stitches and tying off on the first half of the quilt because of the upward slope going over the pole.

The auto-stitcher on the arm is touchy, but worth it--a lot easier than using a foot pedal.

YES I am gritting my teeth! It took me at least half the quilt before I started to feel comfortable quilting on the frame.

I did this quilt in two halves, removing the take-up lead cloth from the one side and attaching it to the other side for the second half of the stitching. Buck and I also swapped the take-up pole around so that the quilt stayed flat. What a big difference! I have decided that this machine quilting, even without it being a long-arm, is the only way to go. I may never hand-quilt another piece again, except for my Civil War Sampler quilt that is still in the works. Even the blocks I have stitched together by hand, trying to keep it fairly authentic.

The finished quilt.

Fabric design has both a beach and stamp theme.

Miss Bootsie had to check it out.

 I hurriedly stitched on the binding Friday in an effort to get pictures of the quilt before I lost all my light. Unfortunately, it was still late enough there was quite a bit of shadow.

I liked my name label so well that I cut out a bunch of stamps from the scraps to make more to put on other quilting projects that I finish. They say every quilter should put something on with their name and the date finished so that generations down the line, people will know who created the quilt. I have been a little lax on that score. I even sent my sister's quilt to her without a name label. Either that, or a part of me is smart enough to know I am probably better off if no one can connect the quilts with me.

Primarily Blue

I'm through with you, Primarily Blue.

I like how it turned out.  I like how the colors balanced out.  I like the block design, as well as the corner and mid-way sashing blocks.  However, the overall craftsmanship is less than excellent. 

Maybe I can't have everything?????



I designed the stencil I used on the blocks.  The jury is still out as far as my Singer being a top-notch quilting machine, although I realize a lot of the problem is with the machine operator.  In fact, it is the machine quilting part of the project that moved my quilt from excellent to so-so.





This is the backing.  I ended up putting some flowers and hearts from one of my fabrics used on front to cover some rough spots where the thread bunched up.  I like the design of this fabric when it is not giving me an eye-strain headache.

Good News - Bad News

The good news on my jacket is that I got all the pieces quilted in place. The bad news is, the quilting took up so much of the body of the jacket it is a size too small for me. Oh, well, I will finish and embellish it and put it up for sale as a "wearable art" jacket. (That may be good news, but I love the colors and the primary fabric and need to make one for me!)


The bad news is there was a snafu on my pug puppy fabric order and the sender could not figure out who to send it to. The good news is, we got it straightened out, and I ordered directly from hotdiggitydog.com. (Well, I ended up ordering more than my pug puppy fabric, but that is another story.) So, now I am ready to figure out how I am going to combine it with my pink roses for my sister's hanging/lab quilt.

One of the other fabrics I got with my order was a blue with small doggie designs. The good news is it looks cute as lattice for my "Dogs and Cats at the Beach" blocks. The bad news, it clashes something terrible with my sashing, plus when I look at the quilt as a whole, my beach design is getting overwhelmed by so many bright colors. If I use this new fabric as the sashing, it will take away too much from the blocks on which I want my focus. I am going to use a solid fabric for the lattice to off-set all the busy-ness in the other prints. I think I will save my pretty new blue doggies fabric for another dog-themed quilt -- maybe use it for the sashing since I have two yards of it.

The other bad news is I am still plugging away at my Primarily Blue quilt. The good news is, I have learned a lot with this quilt, including how to design my own quilting template. However, the quilt is definitely destined for a family member, not for sale. I figure a family member will be more forgiving about any "irregularities".

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

I am making a quilt for my sister's birthday. She won't get it by then, because I would have had to mail it today for that to happen and the binding is not even cut yet. This project has had it ups and downs -- as in some parts I have loved, and some parts not so great.

Thumbs up - I found this beautiful navy with small yellow and red floral print on deep discount. I was not looking for anything like it, but fell in love with it. It was an end of bolt remnant - 49 inches when trimmed. So, what was I doing to do with with it? Make a quilt using it for the sashing and some of the blocks.

Thumbs down - It took longer than I thought to design the pattern and cut it out.

BIG thumbs up - Except for the backing I bought on sale, all of the rest of my fabric came from my stash!

Thumbs down - My Singer quilter machine is great except when doing free-hand stipple stitch. I tried the so-called quilt stitch that is supposed to look like hand-quilting. It looked okay on the sample I tried but looked awful on the quilt.  It took me about three feet of stitching to decide -- no way, it's got to go. That is the WORST stitch in the world to pick out. It is a wonder I did not ruin the fabric. 

Thumbs up - The cycling pant leg rings I bought from Nancy's Notions to hold the quilt roll in place while I machine-stitched in the middle worked great.

Thumbs down - Some of the fabric kept stretching and puckering while I stitched. Some of my lattice work is not the greatest, especially since I used navy blue thread instead of medium blue that would have blended better.

Thumbs up more than down - Even though I stitched two-thirds of the lattices before I remembered this trick, once I used the spray sizing and hot iron to tighten the weave of the fabric and add some body, the rest of the lattice stitched up a lot better -- not one hundred percent, but better.

PAC Contribs

Today they are on the way to the PAC chair for the California Rural Letter Carriers' Association. I have been meaning to do this for awhile. Finally did. Now that I have more time than money -- which is not necessarily saying much -- I am making things to be used as fund-raisers.

Things I learned making the snowman:
1. Invisible thread is hard to work with by hand.
2. Quilt the little pop-out pieces (Hard to see in the photo, but the cardinal, the hatband and the carrot nose are separate pieces that are stitched on to give a "built-up" look.) BEFORE you attach them to the quilt piece.

The other hanging quilt includes the block I needed to do for Sara's Second Saturday class. I got started and decided to finish the project. Since I need to get these items in the mail in time for the snowman to make the Fall Carrier Seminar Day, I decided to finish the other project and send it along with the snowman. So, Sara is going to have to settle for a picture of the completed block when I show up at class this coming Saturday.

This quilt also includes the design from a tee-shirt I don't believe I ever got around to wearing. The color is that florescent "safety green" that I thought was so great when my husband was still working construction and wearing a lot of that color. It was hard finding fabrics to match, or even blend, especially when I found the blue background with green, yellow and orange dots fabric I thought really set off the background color of the shirt and had to try to make it look decent with the strawberries on black fabric. This shirt design was from the state convention site in Oxnard, known for growing strawberries. That was the only strawberry pattern in the entire fabric store. So, there is a reason for the stretch in making these fabrics work together.

Things I learned doing this project:

1. Iron-on pellon stabilizes knits pretty well. I used a light-weight so that I could stitch through it easily.
2. Even with iron-on pellon, knits will still stretch if you are not careful.
3. Screen-print and sewing machines do not mix well. I had to free-hand the stitching on the design. The bottom teeth were not the problem. The pressure feet could not slide on the painted surface. I could not even use the pressure post without a pressure foot.
4. Do not, and I mean DO NOT iron over a screen-print surface with a hot iron. I almost messed up the design by accidentally getting the iron too close. Use a cover cloth or press on the opposite side of the fabric.

DUP Hellos and Good-bys

Daughters of Utah Pioneers started up again last week. Of course, I am referring to the general membership of our camp in Turlock. We officers and advisors had our training meeting a month ago, and our board meeting the week before to start planning for the coming year which ends in May.






Two long-time members are moving--probably gone as I write. As a board, because of their contributions over the years, wanted to give them a remembrance. I offered to make each a quilt square with a sego lily -- the association's official flower. I chose sage green and lavender, the official colors. The fabrics I chose looked great together on the cutting board. Unfortunately, they did not have as much contrast as I would have wanted once the block was stitched together. I added a decorative stitch around the green star.

I was happy with the final result. 

Another member lost her son in an auto accident over Labor Day weekend. I made her a square using the same pattern. His obituary picture was in the center square. I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but these are the colors I used.

One thing I realized is how much I depend on my big yarn needle. It helps me ease fabric that wants to pucker or I can use it to convince several layers of fabric to move smoothly through the pressure foot.

It is handier than a seam ripper -- I keep it in my pin cushion. It also is easier maneuvering in tight places, which is how it can get working around the sewing machine needle shaft and pressure foot.

Organizing Tips from the Clutter Queen-Week 2

Be Clear About Containerizing

It is time for a disclaimer, here. I am not writing this little series about organizing because I am an expert in the field and my belongings are always organized in show-room perfect style. I am writing this because:

(A) in spite of my ability to organize, I get going on my projects in full dove-tail mode, and I soon realize my home is the castle of the consummate clutter queen.

(B) Writing this is helping to motivate me to do what I know needs to be done if I am going to stay unburied by my "laundry room" organized piles long enough to do everything I want and need to do. In other words, by going public with my advice, I am drawing a line in the sand. If I do not follow through, someone is bound to notice and call me on it.

So, this week's tip on storage containers was learned through experience. I have used everything from an apple box for each child to store their childhood mementos, to detergent boxes for magazines to banana boxes or old dresser drawers to store fabric.

We live in the country, with its extra-abundance of dust, bugs and rodents. I have found rodent nests in my fabric, and black widow spiders in old receipt boxes (including the ones where the glue holding the cardboard together dissolved in our wonderful January foggy atmosphere and collapsed when a curious cat jumped on it, scattering the contents all over our shop building floor) Then there are the papers that have turned yellow and brittle due to the acid in either the cardboard box or wooden drawer in which they were stored.

But, the most common annoyance is that I sometimes seem to spend more time searching for things than getting things done.

So, here it is.....

Unless whatever being stored must be protected from exposure to light, I now get clear containers, or containers with color that are opaque enough that I can see the contents. If I have 3 peachy-colored totes, I can see which one has rolls of fabric, which one has yarn supplies and which one has last season's clothes. I do not need to fuss with labels or open the lids to dig around in the contents. Even with several totes stacked on top of each other or on a large shelf unit, I can tell at a glance which one has last year's tax receipts, which one has left-over Tupperware, which one has craft supplies, and which one has my Christmas-print quilting fabric. The totes themselves are light-weight, so I can usually move them around easily to get to the one that I can see at a glance holds the contents I want.

Along with the storage containers that have a capacity of several gallons, I have several medium-sized storage totes that are measured in quarts. Like portable office boxes (which I now always purchase with part of it clear) that I use for writing and research projects, I use these medium-size totes to organize craft and fabric projects. As I write this, one holds the makings of a full quilt top; one my purse fabric, pattern and accessories; one my vest-making fabrics and one my counted cross-stitch kits.

But, the real secret to my clear container organizational method is that I have a lot of those inexpensive clear shoeboxes. They are affordable (about a dollar each), lightweight, stack beautifully with their flat lids, and quickly organize and contain all manner of supplies and projects. Some of the things I store in my shoeboxes besides shoes are craft/jewelry-making supplies, sewing notions, note cards, family history memorabilia, cross-stitch supplies, extra office supplies, CDs, garden seeds and small tools, first-aid supplies, my first-day cover collection, packaged snacks for traveling, gift-wrap ribbon and tape, Christmas lights (wrapped around an old gift-wrap tube cut to size) and other small holiday decorations, cords and accessories for my computers/phones/cameras, bathroom supplies stored under the sink, scarves, and "junk drawer" stuff. I also have used about eight of them to organized my fat quarters of fabric for quilting by color or design type. Others I have used to keep together fabric and supplies for current or future projects. Oh, yes, then there are the shoeboxes that hold the UFOs--Unfinished Fabric Objects.

My parents gave me an overnight case when I was a teenager (We will not discuss how long ago that was.) When my children were little (we still will not discuss how long ago that was), I needed a place to put my sewing notions, such as bias tape, zippers, and fasteners. They ended up in that overnight case. For the last several years, I thought I had thrown out the case, because I could not find it anywhere.

Well, last winter when Buck cleaned out the shop in order to build his ham shack inside, the overnight case turned up. Last week, the contents were combined with the sewing notions I have acquired in the last decade. What I can tell you is, I will not need to purchase black or white bias tape for a very long time.

Wow! Amazing what getting everything together and organized in one place where I can see what I have can do!

These clear plastic containers protect my things from dust, pests and degrading chemicals such as the acid or formaldehyde in many cardboard or wood containers. I would love to keep them behind cabinet doors, but I do not have enough cabinets for everything. So, I use wire shelving (minimal dust collectors) to stack my clear storage boxes. I do make a point to protect the contents from direct sunlight.

I can keep my stuff better organized, see what I have, and find what I want without tearing the whole house apart looking.

Well, most of the time. I am still the clutter queen.

Grandson NASCAR Quilt

Okay, now that Christmas is over, I can post pictures of the quilt I made for our grandson back east. Well, I do not think he is east of the Mississippi River, but it is east compared to us in California.

I would not post a picture earlier, because, unlike my wonderful, artistic sister who gets along beautifully without a computer or cell phone, this kid is definitely tech-savvy. Although I doubt he or his parents live and breathe to see my blog posts, with my luck, if I had posted these pictures earlier, they might have seen them.

By now, the guy has the quilt and either likes it, loves it--or really, really hates it.

He probably does not realize my daughters and daughters-in-law will probably be in a collective snit when they realize that my first large quilt effort was for a teenage boy. So, why did I make it for him when I do not even know if he will like it or appreciate it?

Well, the short answer is, I found this NASCAR fabric in two related styles and thought of him. I worked out a pattern with the sashing to tie together the orange and red in the two different block pattern. I assembled it by machine, but quilted and finished the binding by hand. I added a hanger sleeve so he can use it as a wall hanging if he does not want to use it as a bed topper.

Although I know it would not command a price on eBay anywhere near what the Amish quilts go for, I was almost tempted to put it up for sale online and hope another NASCAR fan snapped it up for a good price. Then I would have sent him the gift card as usual. But, no, I decided to give the grandson a chance. If he is into NASCAR posters, this is one of a kind.

If he wishes I sent the gift card as usual, all I can say is, better luck next year.

Christmas House

It is Christmas Eve. One of the last gifts I made was a Christmas House hanging quilt for my sister. It was my own design based on the basic house pattern.

I had a lot of fun with it, and it stitched up faster than I thought. I still do not do machine quilting, so I assembled it by machine, but hand-quilted it freehand.

I do not need to worry that my sister will see the picture of her gift before she opens it. She does not have a computer or a cell phone, does not send or receive emails, does not surf the web or read blogs online. Her idea of high-tech is a pre-paid phone card.

Oh, and she does have a fax machine.