A Call to Action

What a two weeks....Hurricane Sandy, a presidential election (and an end to political ads) that reminds us of the privilege of being able to "vote", and now a nor'easter to complete the trifecta!  I suspect all of us know many people in the northeast who have been without power, had damage to their homes, have been inconvenienced by mass transit issues, or maybe even lost all their possessions.  This time 18 months ago, I was traveling to NYC and the financial district on a fairly regular basis.  Coverage of the storm from Battery Park was particularly fascinating to me.

If there is one thing I know -- it's that quilters have kind and giving hearts.  I think it is in our DNA.  We've seen it disaster after disaster -- Katrina, Japan's earthquake, Australia's fires, and now Sandy to name just a few.As you would expect, the troops are rallying and there is a need for warmth.  Are we up for it?  OF COURSE we are.  So far, I've seen these two calls for action and places where quilts can be sent to aid the victims of Sandy.

American Quilter had this information about sending quilts to the Project Linus coordinator who will distribute.  If you read this, you will see that this not your typical PL quilt for a child.  Instead, they should be twin to queen size.  All the info you need is included as well as contact information should you have a question.

Victoria Findley, who many of you may know as BumbleBeans, has been active in NYC with an organization she helped establish that provides quilts to people in shelters.  They have expanded their outreach to include those impacted by Sandy.  Her information is here and you will note they are asking for store bought quilts or blankets, as well.  Contact information is also provided for questions.

I was captivated by early coverage of the storm and then slipped away to Houston for the International Quilt Festival (oh, my!) and didn't have the TV on the entire three days of 80+ temps.  So easy to forget the suffering and cold of others when you are out of the fray!

I suspect many of you are like me -- extremely grateful for all you have as we go into the Thanksgiving season -- and acutely aware that there are people suffering physically and emotionally that we can help. I'll be getting my Orca Bay ready to ship -- I knew it was a donation quilt when I made it and now I know it needs a home with someone who will not care about a few missed points!

As other means of getting quilts come to light, I'll be updating this post to include them.  BUT, don't forget that the most immediate thing we can all do is donate to American Red Cross.  It's so easy and provides much needed resources instantaneously.  I do feel blessed to live in a country where generosity and caring are basic traits of most -- we just hear about them less than the slugs that are out there creating problems.

I hope you and your quilting are blessings to someone that needs it this week!

Jan

UPDATE -- here is additional information about another outlet for donating quilts to help out.
Long Island Chapter for Quilts for Kids.org.  They are working with the local schools in Long Beach, pediatricians in the Rockaways, and the Community Outreach Center of Nassau Community Hospital and Winthrop Hospital.  In addition, they are going straight to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Vehicles to give to people in need. They are asking for child sized quilts.

Quilts can be sent to Carrie Crowley Davis, Long Island Quilts for Kids, 304 North Ocean Avenue, Patchogue, NY  11772.  You can also reach out to Carrie at ccrowleycsw@aol.com

NEW UPDATE -- Michele at The Quilting Gallery is matching up people who can't quite make a quilt but are willing to make quilt block(s) and others who will assemble and quilt.  If time keeps you from making a quilt (or if you don't have one in inventory), this might be the way to help.  Just check out the link and see what you might be able to do.  Thanks.

Finally Finished -- Hurray!

I am so so happy to say that I finally forced myself to put everything up and get out my Orca Bay (Bonnie Hunter mystery from last winter) and sew down the binding.

Because I have fallen out of love with this quilt, I had the binding sewn on and just decided to sew it down on my machine rather than by hand.  I want it over and put up.

I'm hoping I will love it more one of these days.  That's what happened with this quilt -- it was also a mystery and I got weary of it, didn't like my color choices, and put it up.  I later needed a quilt for a friend, pulled it out, and decided it wasn't half bad.  I'm hoping for the same thing with Orca.  Time will tell -- literally.

In addition to finishing this, I finally started the MacQuilt challenge with fabric that was gifted in honor of Mom22SmartChix's birthday challenge.  We are to have our tops done by October (next month!).  I have 56 blocks made, on the floor for final adjusting, and should be able to meet the deadline if I keep paying attention.

Details about the challenge fabrics was in this post -- there are 9.5 yards (I miscounted originally) -- and I hope to make two lap sized quilts with different patterns.  Interestingly, this is a fabric line that reads as solids but is a directional print!  That means I would be itchy if I tried to do triangles.  Would have made me nuts to have lines going different directions -- I had enough problem keeping the directions straight with squares.

I also finished two charity quilts and they are quilted, bound and ready to be delivered next week.  That is always a relief as I try to make two each month (other than a one month sabbatical in August).  I did free motion stippling on these which makes me tense beyond words.  I kept having a bit of drag on my lucite/plastic quilting table that fits my machine.  I was hesitant to wax or polish it -- any advice from anyone out there on what to put on there to give me as much 'glide' as possible?  I'm happy the backs (flannel) don't show the herky-jerky stitching in a few places.  I know these are the perfect size to practice on in order to improve my free motion quilting.  You can only do so much on a practice sandwich.

The icing on the cake is we have four men working diligently digging up our back yard for a new patio.  This will be great eventually.  It is not great now.

I hope you are loving whatever project you are working on!  Jan

Eat, Quilt, and Be Merry!

I can't wait.  This time next week I will be knee deep in quilting some tops that are way overdue for attention.  I'm heading back to Chicago on Monday to enjoy the generosity of my friend, MacQuilt, and spend a few days playing with Sadie, her Gammill.

I currently have seven tops (actually I have more than that but let's be realistic -- how much can I really get done) that are stacked with batting and backing and waiting to be pushed in the car bright and early on Monday.  With a little luck, I'll get six of them quilted and one will stay in Chicago for Mom22smartchix to quilt for me.  It needs a bit more than I can give it.

In addition, I will be meeting up with friends to catch up (one of whom I haven't seen since I retired in early Sept).  I needed more social time but I am keenly aware of the fish analogy about company and the G8 Summit coming to Chicago at the end of my visit seems like a good time to head home with tops to bind. Hopefully, lots of tops to bind.

Going with me are:

 Orca Bay -- which is heavy and I'll be glad to get turned into a quilt and off the floor.

Paperweight -- which will have a few challenges -- not the least of which is almost every seam is bias to bias and no border to control it.

 

Oak Park Beauty -- which is done in very non-traditional NY Beauty colors.  They are normally lots of mediums and darks or more recently, incredible brights and batiks.  Not this one.  It's a Moda top all the way and mostly from the same line.  I love it.  The feel is very different.  The plan with the huge borders is to end up with scallops.  We'll see.  This is the one that I'd like some custom quilting on and it will be staying for a longer visit.  Otherwise, it's all over pattern by me. The teal strip you see is a flange which complicates all over quilting as you can't (shouldn't) quilt over it.  Not my problem!  Ha!

Dollies are done and ready to be quilted.  I fell in love with this border fabric and went back and bought the rest of the bolt at $3.50 a yard (Benartex).  It will make a great backing or go in a quilt (or two).  It goes with almost everything.  We'll see how it quilts up.

The easiest/fastest baby quilt in the world got done this weekend and I'm hoping to get some stippling done on it and have it ready soon.  Baby JM is here so it's time.  I have enough fabric left over to do a duplicate for a soon-to-be-baby in Montana and that one will have to be quilted on my Bernina.  I could get the second one done before I go and I have the backing -- just not sure if I have the mojo.

There are two more quilts going (Village and Waffle) which I haven't posted about.  We'll see how they look when the quilting is done.

Wish me luck (I'll be taking lots of Diet Coke and Advil to supplement my activities!).  I hope you're finding time to finish a few things along the way!  Jan

Yippee - Skippee!

I am thrilled to say that Orca Bay (Quiltville Mystery Quilt from November/December) is a complete top and put up -- waiting for a trip to Chicago to quilt it.

There are lots of pieces and I'm glad to have the top done.  I don't love it -- but I do like it.  I've mentioned before that I'm tickled to have been able to use only precut scraps or strings for all but the black (not enough scraps) and the white borders.  In the end, there were too many strings for my personal preference. I love the way they look -- but I am not a big fan of "bumps" and where the strings come together -- there are definitely bumps.  I prefer to press seams open these days and that's just not possible in some places with this quilt.

I am pleased that the instructions included pieces for the border so that was done (altho I did put the hourglass block in differently than the instructions -- seems less intrusive to me).  The border went on effortlessly.  When it's not included in the initial cutting/sewing, I'm usually so tired of the quilt that I just don't do it.  So, thank you, Bonnie for slipping the border in!

The pictures are not great -- it's a tad windy here but I wanted to get it in the closet so I could start to focus on something else.  It's so freeing to finish a top and then wonder what to do next.  So -- the "next" for me (at least for the moment) is to sort through my 2" strips, cut the ones I'm not overly fond of down to 13" and make some Scrappy Trip Around the World from the Quiltville site.  This will make a fine charity quilt if I decide to keep working on it...and if I don't, I don't have a lot invested in it as far as favorite fabrics or cutting time.  I just needed to sew and listen to the football game (tennis was pre-empted, alas).  If I keep up the Scrappy TATW, I'll get some on the design wall for a later post.

I hope you are enjoying the satisfaction of a finish or the joy of just sewing to sew!  Jan

Uncensored

What happened?  Or better phrased, what didn't happen?  We're a third of the way through January and a tornado has hit my sewing room.  This is what I walk into -- and it's all my doing and I sort of like it (actually, I love it!).

 Disarray everywhere.  

 What have I been doing?  Throwing stuff in the floor to see how much it will hold.

 My Kaffe stash that I'm using to pull fabrics for a Lollypop that I hope to finish (the block -- not the quilt!) by the end of the month.

My Orca Bay that I'm a bit tired of. I like it but I don't love it and it's bulky with so many strings.  I'm thrilled that it's from my stash and most of this did not have to be cut at all as I already had strings, blocks, and strips in the right size/color.  I'll get it done....the borders are already finished and hanging in the closet.

 My little alcove.  Books, scraps, magazines, chair (not for sitting but for stacking more stuff on), a previous Lollypop that was a learning experience and will become a pillow, I think.  Strings/crumbs sorted by color in plastic drapery bags (unzipped). 

 Cutting table with Lollypop in process.  I'm trying the gluing down method that many wax eloquently about. Slower but may be more accurate.  Will know soon enough.

 My throne!  Two little charity quilts to be basted, quilted, and bound.  

Last year's mystery (Roll Roll Cotton Boll) that is staring at me from under the table.  One long day and it will be finished.  Just have to finish the border strips and sew strings.   Someday.  Not today.

My little stash -- paltry by the standards of most of you but I love every inch and scrap.

So what have I been doing besides flinging quilty things all over my little room...why, I've been sitting in my chair reading quilt magazines, making lists, dreaming, reading blogs on my laptop or iPad, looking at my fabric and planning....just not doing.

I hope you have had a more productive week and if not, I hope you've enjoyed not having anything to show for it as much as I have.  I'm sure I'm poised to get my act in gear.....

Keep piecing (or flinging!).  Jan

Ohio Stars

Ohio stars!  Do you love them?  I do -- they are my very favorite stars in the quilting world.  These are some that will finish at 6" that I've been working on periodically.  They are all cut (72 I believe) and are pieced with 1.5" scrap strips and real muslin that I have starched within an inch of its life to keep it from raveling.  I think I plan to set them with plain muslin squares -- I need to check before I start working on them again.

These little cuties are from the Orca Bay mystery quilt that Bonnie Hunter is sponsoring.  Same block and will finish at 6".  I have 13 more black stars to go.  I have always made Ohio stars with light background but I have fallen in love with the dark ones!  Aren't they cool?  One more thing to put on my "to do" list at some point. 

When it comes to mysteries -- I don't try to figure them out.  I just do what I'm told and don't spend a lot of energy or valuable piecing time trying to layout the quilt.  I'd be wrong anyway.  There are three components left -- and I am not going to be surprised if we don't see those red strings around the stars before it's all over.   The other two components are stumpers -- particularly the black triangles (that look like a whale's eye to me).  The fabric requirements called for a lot of red and the strips is all we have done thus far -- so I'm curious to see if that's border or if these "whale eyes" end up in the border.  More will be revealed on Friday and in the meantime -- 13 stars are calling my name!

If you're interested in the progress of other quilters on this journey, click on this link and you'll see all kinds of great layouts.....and beautiful star blocks.

As an aside -- our backyard is full of robins. I'm not sure what they are thinking but I'm concerned they are going to have to work pretty hard to find food on frozen ground.  I'm not talking just a few -- I'm talking 20+.  Maybe they're passing through but watching them forage on the frosty lawn is a bit concerning!

I hope you all are finding some time to piece while you clean up the leftover from yesterday's joy!  Jan

Red Letter Days

This particular quilt is entitled "Red Letter Days" and was made for our son and daughter-in-law to commemorate their wedding in 2008.  It is made from "leftover" napkin fabric!

Late in 2007 (with a Derby Day wedding in early May the following year), I was asked if I'd be willing to make napkins for the rehearsal dinner as well as napkins for the reception dinner.  And the answer was "I'd be honored".  That was an uninformed response because I had no idea I would have to quit quilting for three months to order, wash, cut, and sew napkins (unlined!).

From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the bride looked at fabric and I calculated yardage.  By the end of the year, we had ordered enough Kaffe Fassett fabrics to make 96 napkins for the rehearsal dinner as well as various manufacturers (Kona Bay, SSI, Marcus, Kaufman, etc.) to make about 200 napkins for the reception.  In the process, she determined that Hancocks of Paducah had the best selection and created a "wish list" on their site.  If you've ever shopped at Hancock's of Paducah, you know they present pricing in 1/2 yard increments.  She hadn't and didn't notice.  In her mind, she was selecting all half price fabric!  Not so much but this didn't seem to be the time to pinch pennies so I kept that little tidbit to myself, shopped online, and looked for sale prices at various shops where I could find them.  In the end, we had 4 Kaffes in greens/blues and about 20 different reds.

After playing around and making some samples from my stash to get this down right, I cut squares at 21" and did a double roll of about 1/4" all the way around.  I started mitering corners and decided that was nuts.  I referred to the method as "turn and burn" -- my fingertips got singed/steamed plenty of times!  Napkins finished at 20" square -- +/- a bit.

They were beautiful on the tables and the bride and groom were happy.  And I had lots of scraps -- lots and lots of red scraps and intended to use every single one up -- down to the selvage.  Hence, "red letter days" is made from leftover fabric and was intended to be a memory quilt of all of the different fabrics.  The label commemorates various special days in their relationship -- first date, engagement date, wedding date, among others.

I also washed all the napkins after the events.  We wanted to make sure we got them back from the various sites and I surely didn't want them to mildew.  Let's just say it was the right thing to do but was disgusting.  We also found that some napkins disappeared as mementos of the wedding.  Who can blame anyone for that.

The bride and groom were then able to bundle the napkins and give them as gifts to various friends and family members at Christmas that year.  Everyone loved them as you might imagine....and the newlyweds were able to save a bit of money on gifts.

I have used red in just about every quilt I could -- certainly in some Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts.  I am down to just a few 1.5" and 2.0" strips and STRINGS!  Fast forward to Orca Bay at Quiltville where today's clue is 5.5" red string blocks.  I am all in.  I don't have enough strings to make 64 blocks -- but with my 1.5" strips, I'm pretty close and shouldn't have to cut from my stash too much.

It is my hope that I will be able to use every single piece of the creepy bird wing fabric that I used on the back of "red letter days" -- I will be very happy to see it go!

I hope you're finding time to piece!  Jan

Postscript:

They are done!  64 5.5" string blocks -- pieced, trimmed, and un-papered.  I have never ever stayed up with the steps in a mystery (of course I've never been retired when one was being offered either).  I am happy to say the napkin selvages are GONE.  The creepy bird wing fabric is ALMOST gone.  All my red strings are gone.  The basket is empty!  So, as far as I'm concerned -- these are free blocks!    But these are just the tip of the iceberg for reds, I think -- based on yardage.  I hope you all are stringing away -- I love looking at the blocks on Bonnie's mystery link up -- so many red fabrics I'd love to have in my stash!

A week with Bonnie

Orca Bay Mystery by Bonnie Hunter.  Clue 3.  350 half square triangles.  Really?  After Roll Roll Cotton Boll and having to make 600 HSTs one week (month), this sounded manageable.   Not necessarily a walk in the park -- but not too bad.

And it was manageable.  After cutting the black strips, all the neutrals were already in my overflowing 2" tote and we were off and running.  At the end of the day (before sunset even), they were done, pressed, and double counted to make sure I really had them all.

So, what to do with the rest of the week?  I had expected a clue of epic proportion after getting by with the little 3.5" strings the week of Thanksgiving.  So -- maybe I should pull out my other mystery quilts from Bonnie and get them back on the front burner while waiting for the next clue?

The easiest was to get the binding on Carolina Christmas from two years ago.  We've actually been sleeping under it without binding once it got chilly before our furniture got here and one quilt wasn't enough.  I had been to Iowa to quilt this during a summer visit to a friend and hadn't even gotten it trimmed a before we started sleeping under it.  Once our island was installed, I could at least trim off the extra batting and backing. So Saturday was the day to get the binding on and get it washed.  It's back on the bed in proper order and I can mark it as COMPLETE!  Another finish before the end of the year!

Now what?  Oh dear....I know.  Roll Roll Cotton Boll.   Since I was sure I was pretty far along with the various steps, this should be a piece of cake.  Alas.  I am SO wrong.  I have two blocks done, all the strings complete and cut in half and most of the border pieces partially sewn into little strips but not even finished, much less assembled.  Basically, the quilt is cut out and each step has some work done on it.  Without instructions -- what was I thinking? Oh, yeah, I know -- that I was farther along than I was.

Last year at this time I was knee deep in the holiday stuff that we're all involved in but was also managing the acquisition and integration of a competitor and all the "people stuff" associated with it. A 12 hour day was a short day and a 15 hour day (with some weekends included) was more in order.  It was tough and they were cranky about all the changes. I was cranky too! Quilting was not on the front burner and staying up with the clues was impossible.  Apparently printing instructions was something I didn't think I needed..... we'll see about that in a few days.

So, I'll be spending the week with Bonnie after all.  Working on RRCB, sorting out where I am, and seeing what all needs to be done to get this top completed at the same time Orca Bay is looming.  I suspect there is a doozy of a clue coming since we haven't even gotten to touch the "red" or primary fabric and so much is needed.  I should put a new blade in my rotary cutter while I'm thinking about it and change my needle now!

I hope you're getting time to sew and making progress with whatever you're working on!  Jan

Postscript:  After putting 8 of the blocks together, I remain amazed at how well they go together and match -- so long as I pay attention to the 1/4".  Such a pleasure.  If you want to see what's going on with Orca Bay,  you can link to her post today and see everyone's progress.

What was I thinking?

Is it Thanksgiving weekend?  Yep.
Is Christmas coming?  Yep.
Have we just moved into a new house and can only get in half the garage?  Yep.
Do I have way more stuff to put up than I have places to put it?  Yep.
Did I succumb to the Orca Bay Mystery quilt on Bonnie Hunter's website, Quiltville?  Yep!!!

So, what's a quilter to do?  Why, dig through strips and cut some fabric!  And sew and sew and sew.  Starting with 448 quarter square triangles.  I'm happy to be able to use from my 1.5" strips that have been cut over the years.  I did have to dig into my stash for the 1.5" strips of black since I used most (or all) of them when I made two quilts this summer.  So - instead of going to all my blacks, I decided to just cut all the black strips from the same fabric.

And then what to do with all those?  Why make 224 cute little hourglass blocks of course.  They will finish at 2" when the top is done.   Step one...and I'm about 40% done.

But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't spend a few minutes while family was visiting someone else over the weekend to pull out my garbage bag of strings and pull out all the blue strings for Step 2.  It's only 72 string blocks at 3.5" square -- in blue.  It's actually a pretty easy step but after making some practice blocks last nite after delivering son and his family to the airport 2 hours away -- I ran upstairs to see how this would work.  I'm using stationery from my father's business which is old and perfect for this.  It's 25 years old but I couldn't throw it out -- I knew there would be a use for it!  Was I right or what?

So -- I need to get my act together, get the house back in order, take care of leftovers, pick up the toys -- but I'm not gonna!  After church today, I'm going upstairs and sew because the house can wait.  At least for another day....

Did you see the new button on the right of my blog?  Quilter Blogs.com is a great service where almost 1800 quilting blogs are screened and published in one place as thumbnails and you can scroll through them to see what appeals to you.  It's great and worth an icon on your PC, iPhone or iPad so you can peruse all those blogs when the mood strikes!

I hope you're finding time to piece and surf Quilters Blog.com!  Jan