Allietare Mystery Progress: Steps 2 & 3!

I hope you had a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate. I had a very nice time with family. And for those who know me in real life, I had some helpful conversations with friends and family, heard two sermons custom-tailored for me, and I'm doing alright.

Yesterday I got home and enjoyed spending most of the afternoon and evening with some serious quilting therapy on Bonnie Hunter's Allietare mystery! To see my colors and step 1, look here.

Check out what others have been getting up to on Bonnie's Mystery Monday Link-up here!

Here's step 2, which I finished a little while back, but hadn't taken the time to blog about. I also went ahead and redid my step 1 hst's that didn't have enough contrast.

When I was about halfway through step 3, I was getting bored with my neutrals already (yawn!) and realized I also wanted more variety in my lime greens (gold for Bonnie). Back to the stash I went, digging deeper and expanding my horizons. I wanted more prints to spice things up. Here's what I came up with to add to the mix:

This made me much happier. And yesterday I finished up step 3:

Step 4 is almost cut out. I just have some more hot pink (Bonnie's black) to finish cutting. I'm itching to start sewing on it! Mystery quilt time is so much fun. Thanks Bonnie! 

It's been rainy and unusually warm for awhile in Georgia. The poor trees are confused and think it's spring. Can you see the pink blossoms beside the Christmas decorations? I love spring in the South. I hope we'll still have a nice one!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!

Nan

It's Mystery Time!

It's my favorite time of the quilting year! Bonnie Hunter hosts a mystery quilt every year that starts Black Friday. This year it's called Allietare, which means "to gladden", or "rejoice" in Italian and is inspired by her trip to Italy last spring.

Bonnie's colors are red, black, gold, grey and neutrals. But I used red, black and gray (among other colors) in last year's mystery so my supply of those colors is lower in my stash. Plus, I decided I wanted a quilt for my bed for spring. So I went with pastels. A palette I don't usually work with.

Here are my fabrics:

After some thought, I decided my pinks were too flat, so have since added the ones from the hearts to the left to the mix. I'm happier now. I'd forgotten about some 5" charm squares, and I like what the white/creams with pink in them do for the pile.

Here's my "during" shot:

And now I'm done!!! :)

My constant is mottled, and I didn't realize the light parts of it were so light until I started pressing my hst's open. So I pulled some of them out and set them aside. Depending on how they get used, I'm thinking I'll probably need to remake these so they'll have enough contrast. But out of 294, 14 rejects isn't so bad. And I love the variation in the fabric, so this is a small price to pay.

And now I'm ready for Step 2! Just in time for it to be released tomorrow morning. See how others are coming along by checking out Bonnie's Linkup here. Thanks, Bonnie for this fun mystery!

Thanks for stopping by,

Nan

Bulldog with Tiger Stripes Quilt

Yesterday I finished the binding on this quilt, FINALLY!!! :)

It's Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery from this past winter (thanks, Bonnie!), made for my oldest sister, Gwynn. She's in the pic on the left and I'm on the right. She (like I) is a lifelong Georgia bulldog fan. She had been teaching at UGA, but a few years ago she returned to Clemson, where she got her PhD. So now she jokes that she's a bulldog with tiger stripes.

I'd been wanting to make a bed-size quilt for her combining red & black for UGA with orange & purple for Clemson. But how to do it? Yikes! Last fall Bonnie announced the colors for Grand Illusion and there were enough colors that I could sub out for Gwynn's colors, plus have a neutral and an extra color leftover (the green), so I knew I could do it. The "extra" green represents the football field for me. For Gwynn it represents camp (her professional field and true love). It's wild and we both love it. :)

Here's a close-up of one block with a little sashing showing, so you can make out the pattern a little better.

And here's the back so you can see the quilting. An easy allover design to keep the focus on the fabrics.

And one last picture. This morning I was up earlier than usual and caught this shot just before sunrise off my parents' dock at Lake Hartwell. Beautiful!

What are you up to this weekend?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nan

Quilt Ambassador

My oldest sister Gwynn goes to Russia every summer, leading a study abroad as part of her work as a Clemson professor (details here). This summer she also had the privilege of representing the U.S. at the 90th anniversary of another camp, Artek. I made this table runner for her to present as the gift from the U.S. to Artek. Pretty cool! I made it with leftover blocks from a quilt shown in this post.

Here are a few older finishes I thought I'd share. Last year I made two baby quilts for a cousin's new baby and my boyfriend's new baby niece. They're made from 30's bow tie swap blocks and I think they turned out really sweet. I haven't been able to stop making these cute blocks, so I still have lots more of them. The second one was quilted by Dianne Dye in Roberta, GA.

These cute little animal blocks are a combination of two different swaps, and went to another of my boyfriend's nieces for her birthday.

Now for my most recent project. Earlier this summer I got my Grand Illusion (Bonnie Hunter's-2014-15 mystery quilt) quilt top finished and have started quilting it. 

So that will be the next finish up, hopefully before too much longer.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nan

PSA: Please don't wash antique quilt tops!

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on antique quilts. The best I know is Barbara Brackman and there are many others that know more than me. Now here's my story:

Years ago (10?), my great-aunt gave me an antique quilt top made by someone in the family. She didn't remember anything about it. Most of the fabrics are from the 1930's, though some seem possibly older. It's a true scrap bag treasure. My great-grandmother was a quilter, so I'm hoping she was the quiltmaker, but there's really no way to know.

The pattern is Nosegay, and like most of the fabrics in it, is typical of the 1930's:

You can see that the edges are really wavy. All the patches on the edge of the quilt top are cut on the bias. There were no setting triangles or borders to contain the bias and they got really stretched out.

Here's a close-up of the bottom edge to show a little better how wavy it is, plus how the corners look like tear drops. 

Now here's a close up shot of the back. You can see that someone along the way washed it. The seams have raveled...a lot.

I repaired the open seams but you can see that the top is hand pieced and there is not a lot of seam allowance left in places because when the top was washed, so much of the seam allowance raveled up and went away.

Here's what I trimmed off the back. The pen is just to show you how big the wad of thread is. All of this should have been seam allowance helping hold the beautiful patchwork together.

It's understandable that old quilt tops are sometimes smelly and dirty, but if you're willing to go to the trouble to work on them and want to use them, then don't you want them to hold up as best as possible? Here's my advice: put them in a plastic bag with several dryer sheets and let them sit for a few days. This should take care of any smells. If it doesn't, put new dryer sheets in and give them a few more days. Please, please wait until after you have quilted and bound your treasure, then wash it.

I quilted this top in a simple but dense swirl pattern that gave me the flexibility to wander around as I needed to and reinforce trouble spots, and help hold everything together as well as possible. I don't personally feel that old quilts have to be either hand quilted, or quilted in motifs as they would have been in the era they were made. There are those who do feel that way, and that's fine, too.

After it was quilted, I trimmed off some of the wavy edges to try to make it a (little!) flatter but also try to preserve the half-block look of the design on the sides. I had some vintage 30's fabric a friend gave me that I used for the binding, and now instead of a top sitting in the closet, it's a full-grown quilt! And labeled with what little I know about it.

When it needs washing, I'll wash it by hand in the bath tub. It's too fragile to do anything else.

If you have an old family heirloom sitting around, why not pull it out and finish it up? There are some tops that may have been set aside because they had problems (like not laying flat! lol) or for any other number of reasons, but done is better than perfect, right? I'd like to think my great grandmother, or whoever set this aside way back when, is smiling right now.

Do you have an old top that's been passed down to you? Have you thought about finishing it?

Thanks for stopping by!
Nan

Do I Even Remember How To Blog?!?

Figure out what username I used for blogger, check. Reset my password, check. Find where to write posts, check. Remember how to insert a photo...next on the list. We'll see if I can figure this out, and if you're reading this, then yes, maybe I can remember how to blog! lol

If you know me in real life, then you know I've been through a divorce and a move back home to Georgia. After I moved, I spent almost exactly a year without any desire to quilt. I didn't freak out. I just waited patiently, knowing it would come back. And it did! Hooray! So here are a few highlights of what I've been up to lately:

First up is Sunburst. The quilt top was done as a round robin by several friends in an online quilt group a long time ago. I made the center Mariner's Compass block in a class with Judy Mathison, then the block got passed around and borders added as I added borders around blocks for them. The fabrics are hand dyed by my friend Susan and Dianne Dye in Roberta, GA did the beautiful machine quilting. I love how it turned out!

Next is this cute little Bunny sampler. I can't remember right now what I named it. I swapped these blocks with friends in an online quilt group several years ago and these are some of the blocks from the swap. Dianne Dye also quilted this one. There are carrots in the quilting! I got this done in time to hang for Easter this spring.

The last one for today is this Civil War Churn Dash quilt, also made from swap blocks with the same online quilt group. The setting is from Sharyn Craig's book "Great Sets" which is full of fun, creative ideas. I rented a longarm from Dianne to do the quilting on this one.

That's all for today's show and tell from me. What are you working on?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nan

Beach quilts finished

I love the beach any time of the year, but when it's winter in Kansas, day dreaming of the beach can keep me sane.  Spring has been slow arriving this year.  We've been warm the past couple days, but there is snow in the forecast for tonight. Yes, really. :( So I pulled out a couple beachy projects to cheer me up with warm thoughts.

First up is Beach Walk:

The patterns are by McKenna Ryan.  This was a BOM at the shop a few years ago and I made the sample blocks then.  I had the middle put together, but lost the border fabrics (twice! lol) and was afraid to quilt it anyway.  Last week I decided enough was enough...I had to quilt it and get it back to the shop. So with borders found (again!), I got the top finished.  I was nervous about the quilting because there are millions of tiny pieces just fused down.  The quilting needs to catch everything well enough for it to hold up as a wallhanging.  I decided to use clear thread, which can be tricky.  But I faced my fears and got it done!  I finished the binding and most of the embellishments yesterday, and got the last of the embellishments done this afternoon at the shop.  Now it's hanging at the shop DONE!!! :)

Here are a couple close-ups that show some of the embellishments...seed beads for the birds' eyes and rope for the boat and buoys.

I also pulled out a little kit from the shop that had been sitting on my shelf for a couple years.  The pattern is Sea Breeze Pillow by Chitter Chatter Designs. I decided I'd rather do mine as a wallhanging and am happy with how it turned out.  This one also has some embellishment: embroidery in the hair, scarf, jeans, grass and the sun's rays.  I finished it up last weekend.

I've got my fingers crossed that spring will get here and stay for good SOON. Has spring arrived where you are?

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan

Long time, no post.

"Real life" has demanded my attention in several areas lately.  Priorities dictated that quilting and blogging had to take a back seat for awhile. But I'm happy to have some time this morning to show you some quilting that I've been able to do here, lately. :)

First up is this baby quilt that will be a gift.  It's made from the Jelly Roll Race method, which has been popular in the last year or so.  My small group did this together maybe last year...maybe the year before?  I can't remember.  Anyway, I stopped just before the last seam was sewn, when the quilt "top" was long, skinny and cut in half.  Instead of sewing the two halves together for the last step to make it a throw size quilt, I kept it as two smaller quilt tops.  Borders were added to each half, and two Jelly Roll Race baby quilts were born! :)  One went to the charity group I work with, Pieces, which makes quilts for kids in the pediatric unit of the local hospital.  And the other is now finally quilted, bound and ready to give:

My next two finishes are even smaller...but are still finished UFO's! These daffodils are from a series of Patchabilities mini's that I did at the shop. I gave the March one away last spring, and started to make a replacement one. Last month I got it done, with time left in March to display it!

Finally, our guild quilt show is this weekend (if you're near Lawrence, check it out at our NEW LOCATION, Crown Toyota on S Iowa by Wal-Mart).  I have had this embroidered center for several years.  This last week I added the borders, did some simple quilting and got it bound and ready for the silent auction for charity at the show.

Even though none is very big, I'm happy to have these three finishes to report.  And there has been other progress!  My Minglewood top is now at Eula's for quilting (she's going to do fancier quilting than I have the inclination to do myself these days). For Easy Street (Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt - see badge on the right side of my blog), I have done the 16 Block A's and am ready to piece the Block B's. Here are the A's:

For handwork, besides binding, I've been keeping up with the shop samples for Vintage Tin. I see that my last progress report on it was way back here...so there's a lot you haven't seen yet!  Here's most of what's done so far on display at the shop:

And the April block is at the front of the shop:

So that's what's been happening on the quilting front around here.  What are you working on?

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan

Easy Street, step 5 and other show & tell

This past week brought some wonderful time to relax and also for part of the time, sew like a fiend!  I finished step 5 of Bonnie's Easy Street mystery:

And I also finished two quilts as gifts, which can now be shown because they've been given.  Both are made from blocks I swapped with SewManySwaps.  First up is batik Jacob's Ladder:

Next up are these fun pinwheels made out of Kaffe (Fassett) and friends. 

I also snapped these pics the other day of the Minglewood top that I finished just before Thanksgiving.  It's a shop sample, so is hanging there and waiting for it's turn for Eula to quilt it. I still couldn't get it all in even two pics, but when it's quilted, I'll find a way.

Finishing up the year on a quilting roll feels good!  Have you checked some things off your to-do list lately?  What's up for you next year?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!
Nan

Easy Street, parts 3 & 4

Merry Christmas!  I hope your holiday was wonderful. :)  Mine was!  And among the festivities I managed to squeeze in some sewing time.  Once all the have-to's were off my list, I was eager to get back to my big want-to: Bonnie's Easy Street mystery!  (Tab in side bar to right.)

All along I've stayed current on the cutting, but I finished sewing steps 3 and 4 over the weekend.  Here are my shaded four-patches from step 3.

And here are my flying geese from step 4, sewn together with some of the step 2 geese.

I've gotten a start on Step 5, and since Bonnie blessed us with a nice short step for this busy week, I shouldn't have any problem being caught up in time for the next installment, to be released this Friday.

Are you participating?  How are you coming with it?  I love all the parts, so it's hard to imagine that they won't look great in blocks.  I've done a little rearranging of parts to guess the layout, but who knows?  There are so many possible combinations.  Ooohhh, I love a good mystery!  Thanks, Bonnie! See how others are coming along with Bonnie's linky here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan

East Street, step 2

There hasn't been much sewing going on around here lately.  But today I was able to sit and sew for a little while...ahhhh!!!! :)  At the top of my sewing list is Bonnie's current mystery, Easy Street (badge in side bar to the right).  Step 5 was released today, but I've only stayed caught up with the cutting.  So today, I sewed!  And step 2 is now complete.  Woo hoo!

Here are my flying geese, along with parts 3 and 4 all kitted up and ready to sew.  Below is part 1, in case you haven't seen them. The hot pink is in place of Bonnie's gray.  Otherwise I'm using her colors.

Yes, it's a busy time of year for many folks, but I hope you're finding time to do something just for you!

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan

Bitten by the Bug

Many of my friends have antique sewing machines.  Some collect them and have "several".  I always thought that was cool, but never had any desire for one of my own.  I like my shiny new Bernina with it's smooth hum and all the modern conveniences.  Until I visited my great-aunt Millie and saw my great-grandmother, Granny Gwinn's, sewing machine!  I did some research and found out it's a Singer 15 clone made in Japan in the 50's or 60's.  The badge says "Dressmaker".  It sits in an old Singer treadle cabinet with the treadle cut out to make room for the foot pedal.  The chrome and shiny powder blue is sleek and reminiscent of cars from the 50's.  You can almost imagine fins!

We have one family quilt, which I am honored to be the custodian of and it was made by Granny Gwinn.  It's probably from the 30's, so not made on that machine, but the thrill of seeing her machine and picturing her sewing there led me to start looking at vintage machines on the market.  Craigslist led me to a machine a short drive away.  An experienced machine collector friend went with me to look at it.  It didn't run but I bought it for $45 and her husband re-wired it for me.  Mark and I cleaned it up, and it's good as new, with a wonderful hum all it's own!

Please meet Virgie (named after Granny Gwinn), a 1937 Singer 201.  Here are some before and after pics:

 Love that fancy scrollwork on the end!

  

She sits in a pretty art-deco style cabinet that looks great in our dining room/entry way.  I found an owner's manual online and got it threaded and sewing.  The tension isn't right yet, and I'm not sure I even have it threaded right.  But I'll have fun figuring it out and remembering Granny Gwinn. :)

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan