The Grand Finale!

So happy to report my Diamond Jubilee Quilt is finished!  Friday evening the final stitches were added to the binding, and that was that!  My hope was to finish this celebration quilt of my 75th year of life before year's end and as it turns out there's time to spare.  And it is aptly named "Stitched by an Aging Hand."  

The weather over the weekend was terrible with high winds and rain, though nowhere near what others in the south were experiencing.  We were fortunate not to suffer any wind damage beyond some branches down, closer to town there were huge old trees down along with power outages.  Anyway, though today is bright and sunny, it's still far too windy and muddy to attempt any outdoor photos, so these will have to do.

The only photo of (nearly) the entire quilt, taken before washing since I needed to use the small available floor space in our living room.  The day was dark and dismal, as reflected in the muted colors.

The next day was brighter, and after washing and a quick spin in the dryer I laid the quilt out on the guest bed to complete drying and more photos.

Three inches in both directions were lost in the quilting and initial washing process.  The final dimensions are 80x80 inches.

The hand quilting was pretty straightforward and simple.  I used a couple stencils in the blocks, some outlining and in the setting triangles and borders a simple 1-1/2 inch cross-hatch, using my favorite Aurifil 12 wt. thread.  

Tried marking the borders with Crayola washable markers though none showed up very well on that dark background, but I'm happy with the outcome.  And really pleased with how that vintage fabric brightened after washing. The next photo shows that fabric the closest to its true color.

The backing fabric is an older Edyta Sitar fabric, I think it is called Indian Summer.  It's been in my stash for several years and there was just barely enough to cover the back.  All the fabrics for this quilt came from stash or the scrap bins, and make-do was the order of the day when several of the block backgrounds required piecing smaller pieces to make the background square large enough.  

So happy to have this one finished!  My first post about making this was in May 2020 here.  I guess as larger quilts go, especially the hand quilted ones, this was finished fairly quickly.  Though it would have taken a week or two longer had I not come down with a cold and spent an entire week sitting in the recliner quilting the setting triangles/borders, since energy to do anything more strenuous was nonexistent.  I guess one can be thankful for a few sick days after all!

So there remains one quilt on my wish-list of finishes for the year - the Quilty 365.  Not going to happen, of course, though I've made considerable progress.  Next year for sure!  Still have the little Christmas table toppers to finish, and I really, REALLY want to have a mini ready this month for Janet's "baggie mini challenge."  

As far as Christmas goes, we pretty much realized a week ago that getting a full size tree this year was out of the question as hubby had a medical procedure coming up (which went well) and a general lethargy set in about any indoor decorating.  Still, while he was in the hospital I did get out a couple boxes and found these old calico Christmas trees.  The fabrics are all from 1982 or earlier, since my mom and I made these together while I was expecting my daughter and mom spent a couple weeks visiting us in Alaska that summer.  We ended up making five of these, and at least four of them are still around.  I have these two, and have used them every year since 1982. They've survived 8 moves, several of them cross country during that time!  

Til next time, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Pins and Needles

After taming pinning the beast on Monday,

Half at a time, two tables wide

and basting the backing over the edges on Tuesday evening, I couldn't resist tossing it onto the guest room bed where it will rest after quilting.  Sneak peek ...

And last evening I finally got it into the Grace 2 hoop and took the first stitches!

The first circle quilted had to be our Olie block, which is in the very center of the quilt top. I'm going to quilt this with big stitch quilting, and am using Aurifil 12 weight thread. I've tried big stitch quilting a couple times, and have had trouble finding the size/type needle that quilts easily yet has an eye large enough to get the 12 weight thread through without shredding.  Earlier yesterday I rummaged through several older sewing boxes, and look what I found.

Oh-my-gosh, these are just about perfect!  Anyone want to venture a guess how old these babies are? My guess is that I bought them well over 30 years ago, but it may be longer, or perhaps they even were picked up in some yard sale long ago. Whatever the case, they are not rusted, and glide through the fabric beautifully, much better than the chenille needles recommended by the nearest quilt shop for big stitching projects! I think the chenille needles will be great for wool or flannel quilting, but they seem to drag through the quilting cotton and really tire my fingers. I'm so happy most of the needles are still in the JCP packet, all shiny, sharp and ready to go.

So now there are two projects in hoops, Quilty 365 is in my sewing room where it won't need to be moved constantly, and the basket quilt is in the hand-held hoop on my recliner in the living room where I can work on it while watching tv.

making progress slowly - fourth basket underway

I'm hoping to put some stitches into each quilt every day so they can eventually crossed off that 17 in 2017 list. Hopefully while it's still 2017! Meanwhile, languishing in a corner of the sewing room

the king-size vintage rose applique, just where it was plopped sometime last year when I began quilting my husband's Astoria/Oregon Memories quilt.  Under the big rose quilt is a tote with yet another vintage quilt top remake awaiting its turn and surrounded by 4 more containers with quilts-in-the making, including the remainder of the Quilty 365 circles. Still don't have any grand ideas for those leftovers yet, but they can cool their heels for a few years months while the beast is finished!

Do you have multiple quilts in hoops at the same time?  Or is this insanity?

In the Hoop

So I got the king-size behemeth spread out on the floor and pin-basted yesterday morning. It actually went better than I had expected...notwithstanding the sore knees and shoulders today!  Only took about two hours to pin after all the layers were smoothed out.

All pinned

The nasty looking ripples in the pink border looked a lot less forbidding after being pinned into some form of submission, and I expect think hope will quilt out nicely.  This vintage top came from the same Ohio Mennonite estate sale as the Blockade quilt completed in December.

The backing fabric came from the bargain basement of a local quilt shop in Oregon a few years back, luckily just enough to back the entire quilt.

The top came to me with all the sashings and borders already lightly pencil marked for quilting.  The appliqued/embroidered blocks are also marked in blue ink, part of the original block pattern.  I suspect they may have been meant to be embroidered.  After all these years I'm not sure those blue markings will come out completely so I decided to use big stitch quilting and try to cover as much of the blue as possible with the green Presencia No. 8 pearl cotton. This is what it looked like after a little while quilting last evening.

No expectations about finishing this one very soon, in fact it will probably come out of the hoop several times as higher priority projects are ready ... or as I get bored with this one. Except for the green pearl cotton big stitch quilting in the blocks the remainder will be done with regular old-fashioned white thread quilting to outline the appliques and in the sashings and borders.  But it is nice to have a project back in the floor hoop again.

Out with the old ...

No, wait, I love old!  What's the hurry to begin another year anyway?  We're all just going to get another year older.  It's 3 a.m. and I think I'll just savor this very long sweet last day of 2015 since sleep seems to be eluding us yet again.

Many of my blogging friends have been considering their Word for 2016.  Something I've not done before, but considering it seems pretty harmless and doesn't require keeping up with a BOM or mystery quilt-along, I think we'll join in for 2016.  So, the word from here is Thankfulness - for each day of life, for our family, our church friends near and far, blogging buddies, for the luxury of being retired and (almost) able to have enough time to quilt to my heart's content.

So, the other night after our houseful of guests including four of the grandkids and two (large) grand-dogs had left, I found myself with nothing prepped for evening stitching!  Let me just say that was a most empty feeling - that needed immediate fixing.  So, by the next evening my recliner looked something like this.

Much better!

Current quilt in the hand-held hoop is my version of Country Roads from Lori's Humble Quilts fall quiltalong.  I've so enjoyed making this little quilt top and look forward to seeing it finished and gracing the antique table next to the recliner.  Though difficult to see in the next photo the central pieced block is now quilted with cross-hatching through the small four-patches and the setting squares are marked with a feathery stencil.

After a week of being way behind on stitching my Quilty 365 circles, they are finally caught up again!  This week after Christmas is a time of reflection and several of the circle fabrics have a softer, antique-y feel.  This next one was chosen for Christmas night, when we experienced a gorgeous full moon and starlit sky, so bright we could see the surrounding mountains clearly.

   Galaxy

See you next year!

Around and Around in Circles

Circles everywhere!  Four days into Quilty 365 and so far keeping up.

Quilty 365 - First Four!

Liking the pink and brown combos a lot, so there will be more of them scattered around this eventual quilt.  The pink and brown designs are from an old partial panel from a scrap bag of yard sale fabrics.
And, I know there will soon be days when no sewing is accomplished, so I've cut a few circles ahead from a couple different scraps and have them pinned on the design wall ready and waiting for any opportunity to work on them.

 Next batch of circles to be appliqued

The key to success in this project for me is going to be to not get very far behind.

And, I lied.  I said there would be no additional photos of The Blockade quilt until it is finished. After hand quilting on this queen size monster over the summer, the blocks are finally all quilted; and as I laid it out on the cutting table to repin the borders, couldn't resist a few photos.

My retro quilt - The Blockade

The quilt top was purchased several years ago on eBay, it came from the estate of an Ohio Mennonite lady who was a prolific quilter in her time.  This top came with the border quilting designs already pencilled onto the white muslin.  The blocks were made with a mix of mid-century fabrics, with a few older pieces likely from the 1930s or early 1940s.
I was able to complete one hoopful of the border design last evening.

Hoping I can get by with just quilting the border as drawn and that it won't demand additional background quilting.  I'm using Hobbs Polydown batting which according to one source can be quilted as far apart as six inches.  None of the spaces are that large, so we'll just have to make a judgment call after all the border design is quilted.  We're in need of an additional quilt on the guest bed for winter and I'd like to have this one completed before the Christmas holidays if possible.  And there's white stuff falling from the sky intermittently with possible accumulation later tonight, so an extra quilt is going to be very welcome, very soon!

An Old Quilt Revisited

Fourteen years ago, right after our cross-country move to Oregon, I made my daughter her college quilt.  From start to finish the quilt took eight weeks, including the (fairly sparse) hand quilting.  This is rephotographed from an old print of that quilt when it was newly completed, just before packing it in that small wooden trunk and mailing it off to her for Christmas that year.

Last week, while helping her clear out an apartment, I noticed the quilt's binding had become quite frayed along the edges, and offered to bring it home and rebind it for her.  She was a bit reluctant at first, saying this was her very favorite quilt and she wrapped up in it every night, but she finally relented and it came home with me for a few days.  So, this is what it looked like when I laid it out on the spare bed:

Faded - definitely, a lot!  Fourteen years of everyday use, countless washings in laundromats with Tide pods (yikes!) really takes a toll.

Fabric nearly threadbare and about worn out, but soft as a kitten!  Found about a dozen of those small tears on the front, no doubt from a few kitten and puppy claws through the years.   Now, this is one well-loved quilt!  I was happy to discover that the quilting threads had all held up to the wear and tear, and the poly batting, though a lot thinner than when it was new, had not bearded or lumped despite the sparse quilting.

A little patchwork ensued.

The original binding was that same dark blue solid used in the sashing, and had long disappeared from the stash.  I finally located a soft faded dusty rose fabric in a tiny print that looked like it would blend well with both the front and back of the quilt.

So, sporting some quilty band-aids and new binding, this one is ready to make the trip back to my daughter's place next week and will hopefully last a few more years.

Our spell of heat and humidity has finally broken, 44 degrees this morning when I turned on the coffee pot.  The garden is beginning to look like it is ready for fall to arrive.  I think we are too.

The Blockade Quilt

I love walking into my little sewing room and seeing a quilt in progress on the hoop stand, so right after finishing the pin basting of Campfire Memories for machine quilting (see my last post) I layered this queen size gem. This is a vintage top acquired from an online seller a couple years back.  It came from the estate of an Ohio Mennonite woman who was a prolific quilter in her day.  The seller called the pattern "The Blockade."

Several of the blocks were lightly penciled with the intended quilting design, and the white border was completely marked for quilting.

Fabrics making up the blocks are primarily mid-century prints, mostly floral with a few polka dots, stripes and geometrics thrown in.  I'm reminded of some of my mom's dresses and dad's pajamas when I look at these prints.

Here is the first day's quilting effort:

And progress as of this morning, after a couple weeks' work the central area is nearly half quilted:

The backing is a soft bleached muslin, in keeping with the era of the top, though the batting is a more modern Hobbs Polydown.  Thread is Coats 100% cotton 20 wt. hand quilting thread (pink spool). This will make a great summer quilt, and with luck it may be finished to go on the guest bed sometime this summer.
Summer seems a long way off, as we are still having snow showers every couple days, and there are forecasts for accumulating snow for Easter weekend.  On the bright side, there is a one-day warm up predicted for Thursday!    Hope springs eternal!

AMB Fabrics - Whole Cloth Hand Quilting - and the May NewFO

May has come and gone in a blur.  The Bloggers Quilt Festival is always such fun, seeing lots of new-to-me bloggers' creations, and the fun of friendly competition and the chance of winning some fab giveaways.  I know many folks are also following the AMB Farm to Fabric Blog Tour, featuring the new all-American made solid fabrics recently introduced by Clothworks.  I was immediately intrigued, both with the blog tour, and once again being able to buy cotton quilting fabric totally produced in the USA.  I've been wanting to try my hand at whole cloth hand quilting, and what better time than now.

The AMB solids will soon be available at my LQS, but in the meantime I ordered a couple yards from Pacific Fabrics & Crafts.  I've always loved yellow and have wanted to create a light yellow whole cloth quilt since seeing so many gorgeous whole cloth quilts on the Celebrate Hand Quilting Facebook group.  Also, being new to commercial stencils, I decided to start small with a pillow or sham sized piece. 

So, without further ado, here is my progress to date on said sample pillow/sham in AMB's light yellow - my NewFO for May:

The actual color of the fabric is much prettier than my amateurish efforts with the camera would show.  I tried photographing this piece in various rooms under different lighting conditions, and even outside on the deck, all with dismal results.  You'll just have to use your imagination and envision a gorgeous soft yellow here.

I've been hearing the praises of Aurifil 28 wt. cotton thread for hand quilting, and thought this would be a good project to give that a go.  I had one small spool of a light blue-green in that weight, and with the addition of some Thread Heaven, it is quilting beautifully.  

Batting for this project is a polyester remnant I had in the stash, and it is giving this some nice loft.  I think I would plan to use a Hobbs Polydown batting for a large bed-size whole cloth quilt. 

 

All in all, I am very pleased with the performance of the AMB Brand solids.  They have a nice hand, with a bit more texture and perhaps a little less sheen than some of the other solids currently available.  They needle beautifully for hand quilting, which is a big plus!  And, they come in 50 gorgeous colors.   One caveat for anyone planning to use these fabrics - there is a shrinkage factor to take into consideration!  My yellow fabric piece measured 44 1/2" wide by 37" long before washing.  I used cold water and the hand wash cycle in my front loading machine, and then dried the fabric on low heat.  The after-wash measurements were 44" wide by 35" long.  A fairly significant lengthwise shrinkage, which would affect the symmetry of a whole cloth design if the fabric were not prewashed.  But, the good news is, the fabric launders beautifully and any wrinkles iron right out without a problem. 

So, there you have it, my May NewFO.  Linking up with Barbara at Cat Patches for the May NewFO Linky Party where you can see lots of other newly started projects, and link up with one of your own new creations!

P.S.  I have absolutely no affiliation with AMB Brand or Clothworks - just a love of hand quilting and a desire to support Made in the USA products!

A Scrappy Handquilted Second Entry - Bloggers Quilt Festival!

My second entry in this spring's Bloggers Quilt Festival is in the Scrappy category since I've already entered little Zachary's quilt in the Hand Quilted category. 

I first saw this pattern in a post on Barbara Brackman's blog early in 2013, a small quilt she called Checkered Past 1862, and had accumulated several charm packs and a layer cake of Civil War and various other era reproduction prints that looked like they would make up into a nice rendition of this pattern.  Over the course of last summer I stitched the blocks between working on other projects.

I had help with the layout.

Paws of approval on the final(?) layout.  Now for a border fabric.

Where was my helper with those corner blocks when I stitched this together???  Hmm - too late since the borders were cut a bit too narrow to add the corner blocks back in.

Fast forward to early this year - the finished project:

The Stats:
Machine pieced and hand quilted by me
Finished size after washing:  51" x 67-1/2"  - perfect for snuggling or napping on the couch
Batting:  my favorite Hobbs 80/20 cotton (pre-rinsed and gently dried in the dryer before quilting)
Quilting threads:  Coats Dual Duty cotton/poly hand quilting thread (green spool) for grid quilting in the blocks in natural color 8030; Baptist Fan border quilted in Gutermann red color 2453.

Linking up with The Bloggers Quilt Festival Scrappy Category here, and you can visit all the quilts entered in each of the other categories by clicking on the Main Festival post here.   Please join the fun!!