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!

Lot of stitching!

I am moving along and am working on the 3rd and final zig-zag border today.  A decision has also been made to add some circles to my zig-zags to bring some of the fabrics in the body of the quilt out to the border.  It also gives me more hand stitching to do, a win-win!

For those of you wondering how my hourglass medallion quilt is coming along. I have reached 700 blocks.  I still need approximately 150 more before I can start laying out the blocks and sewing them together.  I have decided building sections of hourglass blocks is probably the best way to approach this one.  I know I still have a lot of work to do to finish both of these quilts, I am creeping closer to at least having the tops finished. 

The weather today, a high in the 80's reminds me that fall is coming and I need to get a couple of quilts basted so my winter hand quilting can begin.  Never a dull moment here

Do you save and stitch up those little corners that are cut off when you are trimming.  It's something I learned from following Bonnie Hunter.  I never have, but when I started making my medallion quilt out of these reproduction fabrics I just felt I couldn't throw those pieces away so I have been sewing, pressing and trimming them up.  Yesterday, there were getting to be so many I decided to count them up and put them in a little tin I had, so they would stay safe till I decided what to do with them.  They sure are cute!

Progress

Saturday I started hand piecing border #1 and I think I have made great progress. This is my evening sewing as I relax in front of the tv. I try not to push myself too hard and when my hands get tired I stop stitching.   

I also spent some time cutting out and sewing some more hourglass blocks. My post last week had me at 636 hourglass blocks and I need close to 850 I think the exact number is 840something.  I figure a few extras in case my count is off or a block won't work for some reason, is not a bad idea.  I've started thinking about how I will stitch all those little 3 1/2 inches blocks together. Do you do sections, or are you a row by row person?  Here's a few of the 43 I completed so far this week. That brings me to 679, I am hoping I can reach 700 by the weekend.

Border or no Border????????????????

I know I posted that my Texas Star quilt is completed!  Well, not so fast.  I have debated back and forth on this quilt whether I would add a border. Saturday morning, I was cleaning some of my fabric drawers and I came across some solid green fabric left over from a project of long ago.  It's a nice shade of green and it looked really nice next to my star quilt.  So, I got to thinking and spent some time on Pinterest and found this vintage quilt which has become my inspiration.

So, I got out some paper and did some drawing.  I decided from my rough drawing that I would cut 3-inch long parallelograms.  After cutting a couple out I stitched them together to figure out what size square I would need to cut and then cut diagonally to make the triangles to fit. These sewn together makes for about a 5-inch zig-zag border.  Since my star quilt is hand pieced I felt I had to continue.  Most modern patterns would have a seam in the cream triangle but when you hand piece a Y seam is easy, means fewer seams and less cutting. All wins in my book!

I am not sure if I will add a narrow border between the zig-zags and the quilt, time will answer that question. For now, this is filling my desire to stitch in the evenings.  I started watching the Netflix series Ozark Saturday afternoon and was able to get a good start on the first border! So, I guess the answer is yes add a border, well at least on this quilt!

Lots of stars in my future!

I finished assembling my Texas Star quilt on Wednesday.  I still need to trim up the edges before basting.  That will happen as soon as I get some fabric for the backing.   Texas Star will be the first quilt to go in the hoop this fall.

Since she is a baby quilt only measuring 46x58 it shouldn't take too long to quilt.  The star quilt pictured below will be the next candidate.   It would be great if I can get them both quilted before winter ends.

In the meantime, I will continue to work on my hourglass blocks and think about how I will quilt these two quilts.  I am really excited thinking about having a finish again, it has been a while.

Do you treadle?

This summer I came across a good deal on a Singer 66 1910 Redeye  treadle.  I have always loved old sewing machines.  They were built to last and also are quite pretty.  In fact, my mom gave me a New Home but it had a motor attached and the motor was no longer working.  So when we moved to Arkansas in 2007 my husband sold it at a moving sale.  I always regretted that sale but such is life.  So I when I came across this Singer she just had to come home with me.  She came from a home where she had been used as a prop in a wedding that had a vintage theme.  When I went to pick it up I took some time to check that the bobbin parts were intact and that the wheel turned and it wasn't completely rusted up.  Well, everything seemed to be in working order, except that the belt was missing.  The owner seemed dumbfounded that I was going to try and get it to sew again. I guess she only saw her as a prop.

Well, I had Tom look it over and clean the machine and he also tweaked the timing a bit. I am so lucky that he is talented.Then it was my turn to try and get her to stitch. Well, it took me about a half an hour of tinkering to get the tension fine-tuned enough for me to sew two pieces of fabric together.  I thought it was going to be a lot more challenging.  Her decals are very worn, but that's ok with me.  She shows her years, but still is in decent shape and the best part is, she sews.  It has taken several sessions of me playing around and getting the hang of this treadling thing.  The first thing you learn is the wheel needs to move forward or your most likely going to break the thread in the needle.  Well, let's just say I have plenty of practice rethreading her.

 I decided it was time for me to take her on a real training session.  I had that stack of quarter square triangles to turn into hourglass blocks. Well, I will admit that the first half an hour or so was hectic.  I was very tempted to just turn my chair around and turn on the Viking with the sensor foot, needle down and speed control. But, if there is one thing I have learned in life is if you really want to learn something it takes perseverance, so I mustered up the tenacity and kept going.  First I  learned to start the machine moving forward without using my hand on the wheel. After all, I need my hands to guide and feed my triangles.  There is still plenty of improvement to be made, but I think I got this treadle thing.  The sound she makes is wonderful!  Considering she is 108 years old, her stitching is perfect! My husband keeps saying we can double our money by selling her. "What are you crazy!!!!!" is my reply.  I think he finally gets it that she is here to stay. She's a workhorse and my hourglass blocks turned out great.

This brings me to 636 hourglass blocks, I am getting closer to my goal of 850!

I Chose the Crooked Path

We all know that life has its ups and downs.  It's what makes life interesting and sometimes challenging. When I was in grade school many years ago, we had to memorize the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. It still comes to mind every once in a while.  Today is one of those days. As I neared the end of my Texas Star quilt, I decided to make the last two rows separate from the quilt.  So tonight, I have a very crooked path as I stitch that seam.

It also made me realize that the edges of this quilt are very crooked and I knew from the beginning I would be whacking off some of those outside stars to make a straight edge to attach the binding.  I guess I could have just left it as is and bind that crooked edge but that makes the binding complicated.

Well, this morning, as I straightened my sewing room I came across the diamonds I had cut and marked when I first started this quilt.  If you remember I was going to use diamonds instead of the hexagons.  So I decided, why not stitch the diamonds along the outside edges so I wouldn't have to whack as much of the stars off.

 

Two sides are missing star points where the next stars would have been added had I made the quilt larger. So I will add some diamonds there also.   I can hardly wait to turn on the sewing light and settle in and start stitching!  The quilting road has many paths and I really enjoy that!  The challenges and decisions we make on every quilt we make keep the craft interesting.