Variety the spice of life!

Have you ever made the same quilt twice?  Something I have never done and have no desire to do. Not that anything is wrong with that, but there are so many other quilts that tempt me.  I really love it when a quilt teaches me something new, and none of my quilts have let me down.  I love finding an element in an antique or vintage quilt that really catches my eye or a quilting design that I keep in the back of my head, cause you just never know when you can try it out or it just may be what that next quilt needs.  These elements are usually what call me to make another quilt.  For my Texas star, it was about hand piecing and challenging myself to design a border.  When it comes to the quilting I like to challenge myself also.  So for my Texas star, I decided to use regular quilting with some big stitch.  I have done both before but never together in the same quilt.  I am also using several different shades of Perle cotton in one quilt.

After designing the whimsical border, it just called out for some whimsical quilting too so it could compete with those lovely stars. The pictures above show all the regular quilting completed on the borders.   I am not sure of the original use of perle cotton, but it works great for big stitching. The large visible stitches really add a lot to a quilt.  I also think it's a great way to try hand quilting if you have been tempted to do so.  I can't wait to get started!

I really like how it's turning out!

Progress Report

Hand quilting is often looked upon as an endless project.  I suppose in today's fast-paced world it is a slow process, but one I look forward to most days.  I have always quilted for enjoyment, making traditional quilts that have always inspired me.  My favorite part of making a quilt will continue to be the quilting, whether the design is fancy or simple.  Making those stitches and watching a quilt come alive is so satisfying.

It's my me time, my quiet time, a time for reflection!  A calming act, where all the cares of the day are put aside and I just enjoy the methodical stitching.  I especially love when all is quiet and I realize the old wall clock is still ticking away those seconds.  It has been in my husband's family for years.  It has outlived many a modern-day clock. 

I finished up quilting all the stars this week. Today I hope to start the border. First, I will stitch around the whole quilt to make the quilting on the border possible. I find my sewing machine fitted with a walking foot works best.  I suppose I could do this when I baste my quilt but I always wait till I get to the border so I can ease out any excess fabric.  I am not sure what others do but this seems to work for me!

Slow Stitching and Relaxing!

Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts reminds us today to add some slow stitches and to slow down take some deep breaths and relax.  I haven't been able to do that much lately.  I have been dealing with losing a pet that was very dear and he had been with me thru my quilting journey.  Not having him there at my feet under the hoop has been hard. But, I know I must move forward.  So instead of feeling sad, I am spending my time stitching remembering some of the great times and travels we had and the new friends we made.

I was able to sit out on the screened porch yesterday the weather was gorgeous and the natural light over my shoulder was so nice. It was great for stitching and warming my back and shoulders.

I am really liking the way this quilting design works well for working in a hoop.  I have done quite a few quilts with a crosshatch background which means several needles at once. This design is completed without moving the hoop and the parts of it are close enough together that I can move my needle thru the quilt to the next part.  Just what I need some relaxing stitching !!!!!!

Mr Max

I think I can finally sit down and write a post about my buddy Max.  When my kids left home he came to us thru a friend of mine.  Mr Max was just a year old and full of energy.  He was given to us by his former owner who loved him but just didn't have the time to give him.  He just wanted Max to find a home where he would have a yard to run in and someone to be his buddy.  I told him that was what I was looking for, a buddy.  Max really lived up to his end of the bargain. He was my daily walking companion until this last year when he was just too old to handle it.  But, he still took a trip with us out to Seattle to see my daughter and her family.  He loved to travel!

 In the spring of 2014 Max became very ill and it took a specialist to find that he had a Peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia.  It was a congenital condition that came to the point he could hardly breathe. So Dr. Hunter had to perform major surgery.  He pulled thru like a champ and we are thankful for the extra four years we had with him.




But this week Tom and I realized to ask him to keep trying was just becoming too difficult and the decision was made.  Wednesday morning the 7th of November we both looked at each other and knew.  Such a hard realization but, I know he will always in our hearts!

Still stitching!

Well with the cold blast we are getting I am so happy to have my Texas Star quilt in my hoop.  I find my favorite time to hand quilt is when I first get up in the morning.  It's a wonderful way to slowly start my day. Maybe I will sit behind the hoop this evening too, it would be nice to have my quilting to distract me from the Cowboys game.  Such a hard year to be a fan!

Me time!

 I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts today to join other hand stitchers as we add stitches to our projects. Kathy talked about the healing quality of stitching.  I  agree that putting in those hand stitches has a great calming effect.  I am currently hand quilting my Texas Star quilt.  I have it set up in the corner of the kitchen nook, so it is easy to go over during the day and sneak in a few stitches. I call that "me time".  For me, it's a time when all other thoughts go away and I just stitch.  It doesn't take long and I feel relaxed.  It's been a busy week here, but I was able to sneak in a few stitches!

Since this quilt is not made up of blocks it's hard to know how far I have come without laying it out.  Although, the quilting is nothing fancy I really like the way it softening the whole quilt and playing nicely with the stars.  It doesn't get better than that!

Marking with soap!

Well, no winners here!  Tom and I are not lottery players but with the big jackpot he picked up several tickets when he filled up with gas.  Of course, we had the typical discussion of what would you do if you won.  Of course, he said I would purchase a big long arm to quilt my quilts.  I am quite sure I would continue my hand work. Perhaps the scenery would change as I traveled around the world but yes those slow stitches would continue!  I haven't made a lot of progress to show you but this project is just there for "me time".  I did enjoy quilting that striped star. Not sure why I don't use more striped fabric in my quilts.

I had a question about marking with soap.  So, I thought I would include a picture of the soap sliver I use and what kind of line it makes.  I don't want to hear any comments about the oils and chemicals etc.  I really hate that part of the quilting community.  I am just sharing this cause I always seem to have a sliver of soap and I don't have to worry about not having something to mark my quilt. I simply use that last sliver of soap instead of throwing it out.  Simple!

Keeping it Simple!

 Sometimes keeping it simple is the solution!  I thought from the start that would be the best approach for my Texas Star Quilt.  But I had the idea that simple diagonal lines would be the way to go until I started marking.  So, I played around and soon came up with a new plan.  So happy, to now just enjoy putting in these simple stitches to turn this into a usable quilt.

I'm using a sliver of soap to mark my stitching line on the stars!

Love this striped star!

Weekly Update a little late!

Not a lot of time for blogging, but I thought I would do an update on my medallion and Texas star quilts.  I was able to finish piecing the eight sections of hourglass blocks to go with the center medallion.  I got into a rhythm and my eyes soon got very good at noticing when an hourglass block was turned the wrong way.  I still need to sew the sections together.  Right now they are waiting on the guest room bed. Safe and sound.  I need to do some math and shopping before I can go ahead with the border.  

This photo was taken before the last three sections were made.  It is a king size quilt which is hard to get into one pic, so this will have to do!

On Wednesday, I decided it was time to get my Texas Star quilt basted.  Basting is right up there with cutting as not one of my least favorite parts of quilt making.  But ironically, once I get started it really gets done quite quickly and I end up wondering why I kept putting it off.  I work on my kitchen island so putting in the pins is not back breaking.  I recently bought two wool batts, but I always check the tub of batting leftovers.  Yes, to my surprise there was enough Hobbs poly down to use for this quilt.  I had to sew the two pieces together but that is easily done.

Once basted a decision needs to be made about the quilting design.  I had seen an old Texas star that was quilted with double diagonal lines and I have always wanted to try that, but when I started with the hera marker I couldn't come up with anything that said yes this is it. I tried 1/2 inch to 1 inch space between the lines but nothing seemed right.  The nice thing about the hera is you just spritz with some water and all those attempts disappear. 

 So I tried the ever so boring quilting 1/4 inch from the seams but I didn't want to stitch around each star point.  So then I said why not sew around the whole star and then again around the hexagon in the center.  It still needed something.  Then I remembered the circles I had added to the border so I found a quarter and marked a quarter size circle in the cheddar center hexagon!  Perfect!!!!!! On the alternate blocks I am stitching 1/2 inch around the hexagon and adding a circle to the center!  I was pleased with both and it will be very easy to mark as I go!

My progress as of this morning!

I am loving all the circles!

I set my hoop and chair up in the corner of the kitchen eating area.  There is great light and I can watch tv or listen to podcasts with my earbuds.  I love having a quilt in my hoop for when I need a bit of zen time.

Progress Report

It's hard to blog about sewing together the same hourglass blocks. But, I do want to say of all the quilts I have made, this one is taking a lot longer to assemble into a top.  But the process has been going along smoothly and I am still enjoying watching each row come together. 

I have five of the eight sections completed so there is still a lot of stitching that needs to take place.  As I piece, I am thinking about the six-inch border that I need to attach to make this a king size quilt.  I have some ideas rolling around in my head and I am sure I will come up with something that will make me happy!

Smooth sailing for the most part!

Well, sewing this top together is going better than I imagined that it would.  I guess all the careful trimming and pressing has paid off.  I have really had to be careful with the layout however as it is easy to get one turned wrong and before you know it the whole row is wrong.  I am laying out each section on my kitchen island and then stacking each row on a cookie sheet pan.  So, as I stitch the rows I am constantly checking that the orientation of the little unit is right.    I had to unsew a couple of time because a seam flipped but for the most part, they are staying in the right direction as I feed them into the machine.

Section 1

I got a good start on Section 2 and I woke early this am to sew the last two single rows together.  When I opened them to press much to my surprise I found the lights together.  How did that happen?  It is early, and I did only have one cup of coffee.  LOL!  Well, I unstitched and carefully resewed so now I can move forward.  So here is what is completed so far.

The pic at the top is a more accurate interpretation of the true color. Taking pics before the sun comes up is never a good idea.  I think I will continue to sew this top together before basting my star quilt.  I don't want to lose my train of thought and I really need to clear the sewing table so I can press the top and backing before basting.

The assembly plan!

It's time to sew this king size medallion top together!  It's always a bit scary when we get to the next step. But, I have worked out a plan.  When I first started cutting hourglass blocks for this quilt I was using small scraps so I would only get 2-3 units that were made out of the same two fabrics. But towards the end, I started to use some fat quarters so I think there are a few units that may have six identical partners. To get them ready to be laid out I treated them like playing cards and dealt one unit into 8 piles till they were gone. The 8 comes from the number of subunits I need to make. Then I randomly cut each deck (pile).

876 hourglass blocks divided into eight piles

 I am treating this quilt like a giant 9 patch. The center square of the nine patch is the medallion block.  So I will start laying out everything above the medallion first. Section 1 will be 10 units X 9 units. The two sections on each side of it will be 10 units X 12  units.  I won't worry about each unit until I get to the row that will butt up to the next unit.  The only rule I have is I don't want two identical fabrics next to each other.
The next two units will be on each side of the medallion and be 12x9 units and so on.  I will then continue with the three units that will go under the medallion.  I won't sew the larger units together till all of them are made.  Anyway, that's the plan!  Since I used so many different fabrics and there are only one or two that have six identical units and there are eight sections, this should work!

I think a bigger concern I have is whether I can keep everything square. So, my plan is to press carefully, pin carefully, and stitch slowly using my stiletto to help with sewing over all those seams.  I have never worked with blocks that finish at 3 inches so I am looking forward to a new adventure. I don't think it will be as scary as white water river rafting but it could get scary.  I must say breaking the piecing into sections and thinking about the issues I will face does make this seem doable. I have no deadlines and will probably stitch on this project early in the am when I do my best sewing.  I will also be heading back my Viking Husqvarna that has speed control and needle down so that I sew as accurately as possible. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing!

 Photo by Keval Parekh 

Medallion quilt progress

Well, 852 hourglass blocks have been completed!  I am so glad that I pressed and trimmed them as I made them.  I can't imagine facing that task at this point.  However, I did the math again last night making sure I have enough made before I start assembly.  Well, I figured that 33 units wide by 29 units long should give me a king size quilt that measures 111X99 after I add a six-inch border around it.  I can deduct 81 units as the center medallion will fill that area. So, 33X29= 957 -81= 876.  So I am 24 short,  so this am I spent some time getting them cut!  There was a time that this would have frustrated me.  But at this point in my journey, I find as much joy in making another 24 units as I would moving to the next step on this quilt.  I guess I can say I am very content in my quilt making journey, even with  all the bumps in the road!





As I have said before, I started to blog to document my quiltmaking journey. When I first started blogging it seemed there were so many things to learn.  Then, I got to the point I felt less tied to patterns and confident that I would produce a quilt that made me happy!  But to this day, I am still learning from each quilt.  While making these hourglass blocks I realized it is much better to not press the two halves of the blocks before stitching them together.  I will admit I struggle with piecing.  I think it's because I was always in a hurry to get to the point that I could quilt the quilt.  But as the years went on, I learned that good piecing makes for easier quilting.    There are so many variables that we contend with as we learn a skill.  Each quilt has brought me closer to making the of quilts I always wanted to make.  In this fast-paced world, it's a wonderful place to be! 

Joyful Stars!

I put in the last stitches today on my Texas Star quilt. This quilt started out with my desire to hand piece and I have always wanted to make a Texas Star.  If your going to hand piece why not make a block that has some y-seams.  Once I got the body of the quilt together, I wasn't sure about adding a border. I'm a leave well enough alone kind of gal, usually, but after looking at it for a bit I came up with a zig-zag border I saw on an antique quilt.  To pull some of the colors out into the border, I added some circles.  I love the way the" make do" borders are so casual and playful.  But, once those three borders were added, it was still speaking to me, and one morning I decided triangles were needed to finish the final border. Working this way is such a joy, so I am naming this one Joyful Stars!

Ready to be basted into a quilt sandwich!

And now, to update the progress on the medallion quilt.   I reached 800  hourglass units this am and hopefully can stitch the last 50 I need this week.  If not, it shouldn't be too long.  I am aiming for a king size quilt so I will start by sewing the hourglass units into subunits that will be added around the medallion.  Assembling the parts into larger parts is tedious.  So, I will take it slow to keep it from becoming too arduous.  I am not setting a goal, but hopefully, it will become a quilt top by the time spring arrives.    It is definitely turning into a long journey quilt as hand quilting this winter will probably take center stage.

Midweek progress

I thought to myself yesterday, tomorrow is hump day and what do I have to show for it!  I did finish hand piecing my three zig-zag borders to my Texas Star quilt on Sunday.  I am in the midst of wondering how to handle the fourth side.  I have what I think I want to do in my head, now to just find the time to move forward and make it happen.

I'm not one to hurry thru a quilt, but I have been on such a roll lately it seemed that this week I haven't even given them a thought.  So this morning I woke up early, Max decided to sleep with us last night, and he was hogging my side of the bed. Once I am awake, I usually get up as falling back to sleep never seems to happen.   So, after morning coffee, off I  headed to the sewing room and stitched some of the hourglass blocks I had cut Tuesday evening.  I was able to get 30 more stitched, pressed and trimmed.  Now that was fun!  I am planning on spending a few more hours tomorrow. Do you ever get that feeling you just need to hide out and play?

The applique stitch

I have been doing some kind of needlework as long back as I can remember.  My mom started my sister and I embroidering on dish towels when we were about 5 or 6.   Later we learned to knit and crochet.  In high school, I learned to sew a garment in home economics.

All that practice, has helped me master the applique stitch. This week,  I used the applique stitch to stitch my circles to my zig-zag borders.  Applique is a scary word for some quilters.  I started thinking this morning when did I first learn the stitch.  After thinking about it,  I realized I learned it during my garment making years. It was the stitch I was taught to use when hemming.  Quilters also use it to hand stitch down bindings.  So much better than a whip stitch, as it's basically a whip stitch in reverse.  The trick is to make the stitch correctly so that no thread shows.

I really like the whimsy that my little circles are adding to the quilt. As the weather is starting to cool a bit here I think I will try sitting out today, as I start to add the borders to the body of my quilt.  It has me thinking about how to attach the binding.  I want this to be a hand-stitched quilt, so I guess I will hand stitch it on.  I have never hand stitched a binding on................................this is what keeps quilting so interesting.  Do you or have you hand-stitched a binding on your quilt? 

Nature is so inspiring!

This weekend we went on a hike at the Fort Worth Nature Center. I had it in my head to spend the day stitching, but I am glad Tom suggested the hike. We took Max even though he turns 15 this year and doesn't take very long walks anymore. But, as soon as we lifted him out of the back seat he was ready to go.  When we lived in Arkansas there were so many trees that summer hikes were doable and there are plenty of places to hike. But here in Texas, although we are on the outskirts of town there just aren't as many places to hike. 

Max along the trail, his sight is limited, but still gets along quite well.

 Funny how we quilters can find inspiration even out in nature! Aren't those little balls in the above picture just awesome?

I had to get a closeup of this leaf. The white flowers were pretty to see but the veins in this leaf were terrific. We have had a very dry summer so seeing the blooms and greenery were spectacular.

We don't have a lot of large trees here either and seeing this magnificent canopy of the mighty oak was spectacular!

 They also have a few buffalo. They are so majestic!  Max was such a trooper. I know he walked over a half mile.  I am so glad we went and brought Max along. We have logged many a mile together!