Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Singing the Blues on Mardi Gras

 One of my favorite songs over the years has been Sing the Blues Mama Lou as sung by Rita Coolidge here.  

So when gathering up my blue scraps it seemed entirely appropriate that the resulting quilt should be named for this old favorite, newly finished as of last night!


Sing the Blues was the first to be started of the three quilts I've made for Lori's (Humble Quilts) Stringalong Challenge in 2019, but is the last to be finished.  All were hand quilted.  The other two were Joseph's Coat and Joseph's Coat II, both finished in 2020.

After my last post showing some of the hand quilting a couple commenters asked about the quilting design in the white areas.  The entire time I was quilting the blue string areas I'd planned to make some sort of fern-like template for the white parts, but in the end decided on this simple design, made with these two now-well-worn pieces of cardboard.
Thinking these might go into the cardboard template tin for possible future use in the event I ever decide to make another string quilt using Marit's Spiderweb tutorial.  



I'm really loving this quilt!  Many many hours stitching all the string blocks, and many more hours after the decision to hand quilt it.  And every time I look at the wide variety of scraps I'm reminded of the many quilters who contributed scraps over the years that ended up stitched together with love, including blogging friends Janet of Rogue Quilter, Lizzy at Gone to the Beach, Cynthia at Wabi-Sabi Quilts, quilting friends from our ministry group, and I'm sure there are others I've forgotten at the moment.
And this being Mardi Gras it seems perfect that Angie at Quilting on the Crescent contributed that wonderful electric blue binding fabric!  My thanks to all of you!


Backing fabric is a 2019 print from Connecting Threads.  Quilted with Aurifil 12 wt. in three shades of grayish-blue, silver, and a deeper blue in the string areas.

A few close-ups follow.  Our weather is just too awful to attempt an outdoor photo shoot.  I'd hoped for a bright blue sky on fresh-fallen snow to showcase the quilt.  Well, we have the falling snow but no bright blue skies and temperatures are falling fast.  








Moving Sing the Blues toward the finish line was my One Monthly Goal for February so I'll be linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts when her OMG progress post goes live toward the end of the month.

Some days we go out to the mailbox expecting bills or tax notices, but find unexpected treasures in the mailbox.  Last month one afternoon this arrived, a beautiful gift from a special friend, Debbie at Stitchin' Therapy, that now hangs in my bedroom.  


And a couple weeks later this rustic beauty, a suncatcher from Lizzy at Gone to the Beach, now patiently awaiting better weather so it can hang on my back porch catching the early morning light through the kitchen window on summer days.
Thank you both so much for brightening our home on these bleak midwinter days!

And now I'd best be posting this while it's still Mardi Gras and before the falling snow completely covers the satellite dish and obliterates our internet for the rest of the evening!

Til next time, happy stitching!

P.S.  Today (Wednesday) dawned bright and clear and -8 degrees.  But the sunny skies persisted and when the temps moderated a bit Gibbs and I headed out to attempt some snow pictures.  Yay! The snow was too deep and treacherous to risk standing on a stool to hang the quilt on the dog run, so some railing shots had to suffice.



Hoping the sun is shining in your neck of the woods!

29 comments:

The Tea Lady's Journal said...

Congratulations on the finish of your wonderful quilt. It is amazing.

Hill Top Post said...

What a beautiful quilt! It has been one of my favorites since its beginning. Stay warm and take care!

Kyle said...

Singing the Blues is a treasure of memories. The quilting is so lovely adding all that beautiful texture. You've worked a long time on this special quilt hope you're enjoying it even more on these very cold nights.

Debbie said...

Singing the Blues is a beauty! But more than anything I love the story that just pulls it all together. You have included memories and people and tales across the country in this so they will live on. As well as your wonderful quilting , a complete treasure. Glad to contributed the wall hanging for you to enjoy. Hugs.

FlourishingPalms said...

"Singing the Blues" is very beautiful, Pat! I have so much respect for you, taking the time to hand quilt this. Your designs and those lovely stitches with 12-weight thread make it a stunning quilt. I love that is represents friends too. I hope this is a quilt you're keeping for yourself, perhaps on that bed where it was photographed? You must feel great about having this finished, but knowing you, there's probably another quilt waiting to be hand-quilted. That set-in circles one, maybe? Sorry you're not having sunshine-y days, but I know you're not wasting time wishing for them. Enjoy keeping busy with your hands. Blessings.

Barbara said...

Your quilt turned out beautifully. Great way to name it too.

Janet O. said...

What a gorgeous quilt from strings of all sorts! And your hand quilting finished it off beautifully! Excellent job!
The wall hanging from Debbie is wonderful--what a treasure from that sweet woman.

Quilting Babcia said...

Thank you so much! (Your comment disappeared into cyberspace so I couldn't respond personally via email.)

Quilting Babcia said...

Thank you so much! -8 this morning but sunny with bright blue skies.

Chantal said...

Congratulations! This is the best scrappy Spider Web quilt I've ever seen. I'm so in love with it. The quilting is just perfect. Not to complicated but adding beauty to the quilt. Excellent job! Bravo! ;^)

Angie said...

Lovely finish and quilt name! I'm so happy you found a great use for some of the fabric I sent - yay! Reminiscing about fabrics in a quilt is one of my favorite things about scrap quilts!

Hill Top Post said...

Oh my, I love seeing this beautiful quilt in the snow. Wow! Are you really sleeping under it as someone suggested? I do hope so!

Quilting Babcia said...

Oh yes, sleeping under hand quilted quilts is always on the agenda, I even have a quilt on the bed in summer months and it's a rare night that I don't pull it over myself sometime during the night.

Sandy said...

Simply gorgeous!

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

This is absolutely beautiful - congratulations! What beautiful hand quilting! And so much connection with quilting friends in this quilt. One of the things I love about it is that yes it is a blue and white quilt, but there is other color in there too. A great variety of fabrics. I really think that gives it a spark. I hope you can enjoy it during these cold days, and beyond.

Nancy said...

Congratulations on your beautiful finish, Pat, and for meeting your One Monthly Goal. Well done! The quilting pattern is perfect.
I always admire these spiderweb quilts but could never figure out how to do them easily. The link to the tutorial explains it all. Maybe one of these will be in my future.

QuiltGranma said...

Nice finish! I hope to make one of these from my scraps too.

Quilting Babcia said...

Thank you! They are fun to make.

Paulette said...

Wow, what a gorgeous quilt! Beautiful quilting and a beautiful finish!

Kathy S. said...

Love the quilting on this. It's spectacular!

Quilting Babcia said...

Thank you so much!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A beautiful quilt! I love the colours and your quilting is amazing!

lil red hen said...

I'm new to your blog, coming from Hill Top Post. Your work is gorgeous, so precise and neat. Do you do all hand quilting? I also quilt, but my work is not so neat anymore due to tremors in my hands. As your quote says, "Stitched by aging hands" ~ what a difference a few years can make in the quality of one's work.

Quilting Babcia said...

Thank you for visiting and your kind comments. I hand quilt special quilts that stay in the family, but my donation quilts are machine quilted on my DSM. I think that quote may become the name of my diamond jubilee quilt now under construction.

Marly said...

A beautiful restful quilt. I love the coordinated scrappy look - wonderful!

Deb A said...

Your quilt is beautiful! I see some blue fabrics I have in my stash... always fun to see them in others quilts.

Patty said...

Lovely. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

Barbara said...

Congrats on a fantastic finish! That sure is a wonderful string pattern to showcase all those blues. Your hand quilting is lovely!
Great job!

Quilter Kathy said...

What a gorgeous quilt! I love how you hand quilted it!
The photos are lovely!