Slow Stitching Binding

Well, I looked at the date of my last  blog post and it was Oct 30 of last year. Oh my how time flies!  For the last couple of months I have had the urge to continue my blog but I just haven't taken the time.  I can start by saying our move from Arkansas to Texas altered my routine and kept me pretty busy. But, I started my blog years ago to document all the quilts that I make and hopefully to inspire others to enjoy hand quilting. So, I really need to get it caught up and current.

While still in Arkansas, I made a log cabin quilt top.  It was such a joy to make. I love the simpicity of the pattern and there are so many way to lay out the blocks.  Well, I pulled it out in late spring in hopes of getting it hand quilted.  It has taken me all summer to get the quilting done.  The quilt measures 90X108 inches.  Today, I will work on stitching down the binding and I will be linking to Slow Stitching Sunday's.  I really miss following fellow bloggers and especially Kathy's Slow Stitching Sundays.  Her post this morning reminded me
not to worry about time but to enjoy the process.  In today's world its very easy to get caught up in the rat race.

I really missed the peaceful time behind the hoop. This last month I probably spent an hour a day. Oh that precious hour how I missed you!  It feels so good to enjoy that hour in my sewing room doing what makes me happy. So I hope if you have the need to be creative or just make something that you take a bit of time to do just that!

So what's next?

Since I just finished a quilt I am looking forward to what is next.  I remember a time when I just couldn't wait to start the next project.  It seems now a days I like to put a bit more thought into what I want to spend my time making.  I have wrestled with what to do with a bolt of solid red fabric I bought several years ago. I really love two color quilts and know that is the direction I want to move.  So I narrowed down my choices for a red and white quilt to an ocean waves, lady of the lake, or broken dishes.  Well, I have made my choice Lady of the Lake.  Not quite as many of those HST's as Ocean Waves which is helping me with the decision.  Piecing has alway been a challenge for me!  So to encourage me to start I ordered Bonnie Hunter's essential triangle ruler and I hope with her experienced advice I can become a more accurate piecer.  I need to dig out my white bolt of fabric and see if I have enough to start but hopefully that will happen over the next few weeks.

As for today, I really need to relax.  It has been a crazy week here.  I spent a  lot to time working on the lawn.  The previous owner did nothing to control the weeds.  I had some weed with a purple daisy looking flower that are actually winning the war between it and the burmuda.  I also have been tilling organic matter into the soil that will be my little kitchen garden.  We will see??  It has come along way this summer at least all the rocks have been removed and the sod has been busted. Now to let the organic matter and worms do their magic over the winter.  So it feels good to take the afternoon off and add some leaves to my trailing vine quilt.  It's my go to project in between any others.  So glad it is there.

Pieced and prepped leaves for Trailing Vines

My granddaughter Aria put in a request for a quilt for her doll Leah.  She told me Leah would love to have a quilt just like the one that I made for her. So this is what I cameup with this week.

Aria'a Wonky Star Quilt

Leah's wonky star doll quilt

Hopefully, this will work! 

Finally Finished!

It seems like the final steps have taken forever, but Baltimore Garden is now happily hanging in our front room.  I wish I had a better camera and had some knowledge when it comes to photography, but it is what it is.  I am very pleased with the hang it dang it quilt hanger that I purchased to hang this quilt.  I have several quilts that I would like to hang in on this wall as the seasons change and this hanger allows you to adjust the rod to fit your quilt. Hope you enjoy the pics.

What a journey this quilt has been. I learned so much about applique and I love that the hand quilting and added trapunto balance well with the beautiful applique blocks.  I really enjoyed working on this, often thinking back to the originial quilter or quilters who made this quilt.  What it must have been like in 1848 when the originial was made.  I love that it isn't perfect but that it is unique!  When I first fell in love with antique quilts over 40 years ago, I just couldn't fathom having the tanacity to make a quilt.  But, now having several large quilts under my belt I can't imagine spending the time any other way, as I now know there are so many rewards to stitching and I enjoyed the challenge of learning the techniques needed to make a quilt!  Plus the final bonus of having this beauty hanging in my house to enjoy for years to come!

Fall color

For those of you that follow along on my blog I have finished  Baltimore Garden and photos will be posted when I get it hung.  I still need to attach a sleeve but I am waiting for the hang it dang it to arrive.  So this week I did pull out the trailing vines panel that I prepped several weeks ago.  It's fall afterall and the north wind came down this week and cooled us off here in north Texas.   It sure feels good and although we don't have much fall color down here with our live oaks  I did plant a Natchez crepe myrtle that is showing some burgundy color and there is also plenty of color as I add each leaf to the prepped vine on my version of Trailing Vines. A quilt first made by Susan McCord.  Here is a link to some info about the quilt.  I love how they described the quilting 9-10 stitches per inch, outline or self quilting.  That tells me she just enjoyed her stitching and didn't get hung up about perfection.   She made some remarkable quilts out of tiny pieces of scraps. I am including pics of a couple of photos I found on line.  She really was talented don't you think?

Susan McCord's Trailing Vine

My version

Susan McCords Ocean Waves

Trapunto

Last Sunday I finished stitching down the binding on Baltimore Garden.  What a joy to finally see those edges bound.  It makes such a difference!  But the quilt is still not completed at this point.  From the beginning I wanted to add trapunto to this quilt.  It is an easy process and very appropriate to use on a reproduction quilt.  I use yarn as my filler and add it by working from the back of the quilt.  Tim over at Tim Quilts has a great video that shows how it is done.  It's important to use a dull pointed needle so the holes made are made by pushing the threads of the fabric apart and not piercing them.  The holes made will quickly disappear by running the needle over the threads, but I don't even bother doing that as I will wash the quilt when it is completely done and those threads will fall back in line than.  Here are some before and after pics of Amish Ice Cream Social to show you the difference it can make in a quilt.

Prior to trapunto

one wreath with trapunto

four wreaths with trapunto

After finishing the binding last weekend, I just had to sit for a bit and add some stuffing to Baltimore Garden.  I hope you can see in the pic below the difference it makes!

Left side has tranpunto right does not.

 So today as the rain falls I will join the other slow stitchers over at Slow Stitching Sundays.  Although my slow stitches will involve a darning needle and some yarn, they will still be relaxing.  Hopefully they will get me thru the Cowboys/Bears match up that will happen later today. A bittersweet game for me as I grew up near Chicago as a Bear fan but now I am in Texas where you really need to be a  Cowboy fan!

A fun filled week!

I am looking forward to my slow stitches today, as I will hopefully finish stitching the binding down on Baltimore Garden.  It has been a long week and  my anxiety levels were high, as I thought about trimming and squaring up a quilt that I have so much time vested in.  So much can go wrong with a rotary cutter in my hand !  But, I decided  to just take a deep breath and measure carefully.  I guess the care I took squaring up blocks and the border while assembling the quilt paid off.  I had very little to trim off of the top and loved how it looked once I gave it that much needed haircut.  Over the hump, now to just enjoy the binding process.  I know many quilters don't like binding but I love doing the math to figure out what size square I need to make the binding.  Cutting the bias binding, pressing the seams open, pressing it in half and then stitching it to the quilt top. It makes such a difference to finally see your quilt bound.  What's not to like?

Moving along, I  have been wanting a table topper to go on the kitchen table since we moved this summer.  I finally decided after seeing Cathy over Sane, Crazy,Crumby Quilting working on her triangle star blocks that I thought that block would be perfect for my table. I think the vibrant colors Cathy is using in her blocks are probably better suited to showing off this block, but the fabrics I chose really look nice in my kitchen.  The plaid and muted cream fabric don't have as much contrast as I usually use, but they really worked well in my kitchen.  I pulled out some black solid for the background as I believe that every room needs a touch of black.  Ok the truth is  I am obsessed with black painted furniture. I am still trying to figure out how to break the news to my husband I plan on painting our oak chairs.  Anyway back to the table topper,  I was really surprised at how well it went together.  Of course my seams are not all perfect, I say they are just right.  I have it layered and basted and started hand quilting it.  Maybe, I can sneak in a few more stitches today.

While I was downloading these photos for the blog, I kind of chuckled at the difference of these two projects. The possibilities are endless and I guess that keeps us moving from one project to the next!

More Slow Stitches

It was a great week here.  I finished the hand quilting on the border of Baltimore Garden.  A bittersweet moment.  I do love finishes, so I must move forward.  I discovered I didn't have enough red fabric left to make the binding so I placed an order for more.  So while I wait for that to arrive, I decided to work on the label. Today I will add some embroidery stitches to my label.  I an using prescentia 16 perle cotton that I had left over from another project.  The label will pay homage to the original quilt, to Barbara Burnham for her wonderful pattern and then to myself as the maker of this quilt.

Next I will begin the  trapunto process.  If you have never added trapunto to a piece you really should try it sometime. It is quite easy to do.  I  use my mother's old darning needle. It is a large needle with a large eye so I can thread the yarn quite easily.  I work from the back side of the quilt and add just enough yarn to each area that I want to trapumto, until I feel it looks the way I want. I love the thought of using a needle that my mom used for so many years to darn socks. The process is very relaxing much like hand quilting. I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts to share and see what others are slow stitching today!

It's all down hill from here

Well I turned the final corner on Wednesday as I finished the third border and started to head down the last one.  My hoop in the corner of the breakfast nook seemed to keep calling to me.  As I stitched, I thought yes this is the real reason you were hesitate to stitching.  I knew it wouldn't  take me long and I would be wishing that the chores around the house didn't need to be done.  Maybe the best word to use is: addiction.  Just one more line of stitches. Oh I have four needles threaded I will stop when I need to rethread.  I get into such a rhythm that I don't want to stop. Then I realize the end to this project is getting closer and closer. NO, please don't end!!!!!    So, I have decided to concentrate on those ragged edges.  Do you get sick of seeing them?  I know I can't wait to slice them off!

Since it's a holiday weekend, I put the hoop in the sewing room so I wouldn't be tempted to stitch. Now that we live closer to family, it's important to make some family time.  Saturday was spent looking at homes with my son and daughter in law.  They have a big decision ahead of them, so glad it is their's and not mine. But I did find a bit of time to pull out some clamshells I played with about a year ago.  So I worked on making a few more, soon I hope to have enough for a table mat.  Having another project to look forward to should help with dealing to end of Baltimore Garden.