2025 Finishes: The Year in Review

It's been a remarkably productive year!   Still many more WIPs to finish in the coming year ...

 

 

Stained Glass Quilt 

 

 

Blue Resistance Quilt - Tied with a wool batt

 

 Here's a "straight-on" view of this quilt top.

 

Double Wedding Ring Quilt Top

 

 

Cherokee Marsh Bargello Quilt Top

 

 

Deep Blue Log Cabin Quilt Top

 

 

 Nordic Star Table Runner in Blue

 

 

Koi Pond Mini Duckworth - Initials Challenge for the EAA Quilt Show

 

Koi Pond Duckworth Scrap Quilt Top

 

 

Disappearing Hour Glass Quilt Top No. 2

 

 

Wandering Vine Cotton Towels x3

 

 

Weaving -  Red Wandering Vine Coverlet (wool & cotton)

Anita's Arrow Block - The Easy Way

36 Anita's Arrow Blocks so far.  All done in colorful batik and print scraps.

Pat Saft from Quilt Guild was working on one of these at Quilt Camp a while back, and brought the finished quilt to guild not long after.  I was intrigued, and wanted to try it myself ...  

There are several tutorials out there showing how to make this block.  Some of them are kind of futsy with lots of little pieces to keep track of.  I found this one by Susie's Scraps that made it easier in my mind -- not so many little pieces.  I can deal with the diagonal seams and cuts.       With this method, you get 2 blocks out of 2 10-inch squares.

 

 Here is the block, complete with arrows shooting out of the corners, before it's trimmed.

  

Here is the tidy and trimmed block.

These are very satisfying to make.  I have 36 blocks done so far ...  Not sure how many more I'll need to fill out a quilt top ...  I may need to get more of the black background fabric. 

3 More Quilt Sandwiches: A Productive Day!

 

The Double Wedding Ring Quilt is sandwiched and ready for the next step in the quilting process.

1 step closer to finished!

Dream Wool Batt 

 

This is the one I want to work on first. 

 

  

Here is the Koi Pond scrappy Duckworth quilt also sandwiched and ready for quilting - Hobbs Wool Batt.

This will be quilted with a 2-inch grid.

I think I'm going to also embroider a big Koi fish in one of the corners. ;-) 

 

  

The Watermelon Quilt Sandwich

Hobbs Cotton Batt 

 

I am burning through my stash of batting and quilt backings.

Stained Glass Quilt is Complete!

 

The Stained Glass Quilt is done!

 

This one has been in the hopper for a long time.  It was the first one I made of this pattern, and I've done several other ones since.  Made with a jelly roll and an accent fabric. 

 

The quilting is a simple 2-inch grid using a Sulky Blendable 12-weight thread. 

Here is the label to prove that it really is done!

 Here are the other blog posts on this project:

Quilt Sandwiches

Revisiting the Stained Glass Window Quilt

Stained Glass Quilt Top is Done

Tossed Coins on the Design Wall

 

 

 

 

How to Tie a Quilt on a Not-So-Old Quilt Frame: Blue Resistance Quilt is Compete

I tied this quilt with a big fluffy wool batt from my friend Laura.  I got it done in record time -- I think it only took about 2 hours with the right equipment.  It will be a wonderfully warm comforter this winter!

This is the disappearing hour glass 2 pattern that was so much fun to make. 

Earlier in the summer, I was watching a quilt frame on FB Marketplace selling for about $25.  I was waiting until after July 4th to ask about it ...  But then it completely disappeared, not sold, just removed.  Perhaps the seller had an arbitrary date in mind to sell it, or they put it in a local rummage sale?  Or they trashed it, because no one appeared to be interested.  I'm not sure ...   

 

Then I remembered my friend Nancy had one like this in her basement that she said she would never use again.  It was made by her ex-husband.  She made 2 quilts on it and decided that was enough, so it's been sitting unused ever since.   She was willing to give it to me because she knew I'd actually use it.  ;-)

 

The design is very much like the one I was watching on Marketplace.  So I asked her if I could have it -- since I have about a dozen quilts waiting to be sandwiched and finished.  This will be good for tying quilts with too thick a batt to get under the sewing machine.  It will also help to pin baste other quilts.

I used to tie quilts sitting up in bed, but that was fraught because it was always hard to get the done parts out of the way.  This is a much better set-up for tying a quilt!

 

Bonus that you get to see some of my weaving samples hung up on the wall behind me! 

 

 

I used sturdy T-pins to attach the edges of the quilt to the rails.  Then it can be rolled on the rail as you progress through the quilt.  

 

 

I used wool yarn to tie this quilt.  Apparently, though, you can use just about anything -- acrylic, cotton, whatever you have.

 

I was remembering Oliver's Little Blankie baby quilt made by his Great Aunty Marge.   It had wool ties on it that would felt down ...  He used to work them off and chew on them.  I guess they had a nice mouth feel?  Better to go with natural fibers than plastic in that case!

 

 

Here are the basic tools:  

• Needle with a nice big eye to allow the yarn to be threaded.  Darning needles don't work so well for this as the points are unbelievably dull.  You need a point sharp enough to get through the cotton and wool batting layers.   I broke the eye off of 1 needle (I never even knew that was possible!) and had to run to town to buy some more suitable needles.  
• embroidery scissors
• Shelf liner for gription 
• pliers to pull the needle through when it gets tough 

 

It took me a little while to get started on this one, because I wasn't quite sure where in the pattern of blocks to place the ties, but it just took a little time studying the pattern to figure it out.

In the phot above, I am nearing the end of the quilt.  About 2/3 of it is rolled up on the rail, and still isn't too bulky -- even though it's a puffy wool batt. 

 

Still--as I got closer to the other end, it was easier to flip the rails so that the rail with the finished ties was on the far side from me.  

 

I tied them with a surgeon's knot, which is common in weaving, and famous for not easily coming undone -- until you want it to.  

 

Here's the back side, where you can see the puckers of the ties.

  

How to tie a quilt - I found this old video by Donna Jordan.  I kinda wish I'd done it this way, especially for closing the opening for turning.   The tying is easy enough.

The Double Wedding Ring Quilt Top is Done!

Done in record time!  Step-by-step I did this very challenging quilt top that has been on my bucket list ever since I started quilting in 2004 (or so). 

I used the Cut-Rite Template set and Donna Jordan's tutorial and that made it entirely do-able!

Donna Jordan's Easy Wedding Ring Quilt  

There were over 600 2-1/2 inch squares to make the chips of color.  I used a batik layer cake and still had a few left over.  I got this far using my little Singer Featherweight from 1941.  It worked like a champ!

Now to figure out how to quilt it! 

Will I do it again?  Maybe ...  Will I make a bigger bed-size quilt?  Maybe ... 

 

I love that creamy background batik.  It makes me think it's full of fossils, and sand dollars. ;-) 

Re-programming the Loom to Make a Different Pattern

Trying something new!

I finished the first waffle weave bath towel out of that kit.  And I have to say: I'm over it.  Overshot is so much more interesting!  I have enough warp left to weave 1 more bath towel, or 3/4 tea towels in some other pattern.  The heddles/shafts are threaded in a point twill pattern, which is basic and versatile.  If I use the same threading (the dots across the top of the diagram below) through the heddles and shafts, but change up the tie-ups (the upper right corner of the diagram below) for the treadles and the treadling, I can have a whole new pattern weave.  Add some color and voi la!

This is the first one I tried (actual woven fabric on the loom in the photo at the top of this post):  

 

The treadle order (the dots down the right side of the diagram) is almost the same -- just running up and down the 8 treadles. 

I think I am in love!  What an easy way to re-kindle my love for weaving. ;-) 

I am using some red Brassard cotton for the weft.  But I have other colors I can use, too.

It's pretty darn amazing that you can have such a completely different weaving pattern, just by changing the treadle tie ups -- which is easy enough.  I can't believe I didn't have to spend 2 months starting over with a new warp and threading all those heddles.   With a simple change in tie-ups (about 20 minutes), I can be weaving a whole new pattern!

There are lots of other possibilities with the same standard threading, just varying the treadle tie ups.  Here are some other possibilities I might try:

  

  

We are finally getting some nice fall color here.  Ahh! 

Progress on The Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Here it is laid out on the design wall.  It will stay here for a little while, until I determine that I like the placement for these blocks.

This one went pretty fast -- In part, because I did it in stages, and spent all of the Quilt Retreat working on this one project.  It wasn't really hard, just takes patience.  Also, the Cut Rite Template set worked really well for me, too!

Will I make another one?  Maybe ...   What colors?  Or do I make it entirely scrappy?  I'll have to start saving 2-1/2 squares again for the color patches.

Sandwiching Quilts

I had a very productive stay-cation this week in which I sandwiched 4 quilts over the course of 2 days.   I use 2 basting boards where I wind the top and the backing.  This keeps them nice and flat and straight and even as they are unwound over the batting.  It works very well!  The method is explained in this post:

From the Deli : Board Basting a Quilt Sandwich Revisited

 

 

 This is one of the Disappearing Hourglass 2 Quilts layered up with a Quilter's Dream Wool Batt.

 

 

 

 

I used this pretty sky print for the backing, but did not realize until I was almost done pinning that I'd wound it onto the basting board backwards or inside out.  You can't really tell from this picture, but the back of the quilt will be the lighter side of this print.  It still looks ok, just a bit fainter than I expected.  Oh well -- It will still work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is the Deep Blue Log Cabin Quilt layered up with a Hobbs 80/20 Cotton/Poly Batt.

Gorgeous, isn't it?

 

The Hobbs 80/20 batts get a nice antique-y crinkle to them once they are washed.   I thought that would be appropriate for this very classic quilt block.

 

Now I just have to figure out how to quilt it ...  Traditional Feathers? 

 

 

Here's a shot of the backing fabric.  A nice fresh green watercolor print. 

 

 

The Sunset at Cherokee Marsh Easy Bargello also got the Hobbs 80/20 batt. 

 

 

This is the Blue Resistance Quilt, in the Disappearing Hour Glass 2 pattern.

This one has a traditional wool batt from my friend Laura.  Since this will be a nice warm comforter-type quilt, it will be too thick to sew through, and requires a different treatment for sandwiching: The Envelope Method explained in this post:  Tying a Quilt

 

In the photo above, I am preparing the batt.  I had to take a slice off the side and add it to the bottom, so I am basting the Frankenstein-ed section to the larger batt.  It's pretty easy.

 

  

In this photo, you can barely see the big basting stitches used to hold the new chunk'o batting in place. 

 

 

  

 

And here it is: Pin-basted and ready to be tied.

Gorgeous Quilt! 

 

I have at least 4 more quilt tops to sandwich -- Maybe I'll get to that during the week of Thanksgiving?