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Retire or Repair an Old Friend?

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My mother taught me to sew when I was seven and we made many of our clothes during the subsequent years. Mom especially liked to make pajamas for us kids, while I enjoyed making the outfits I would be seen in. A few years ago I put together a lecture comparing some of my quilts with garments from my youth (yes! I still have many of them  😀 ). The lecture is called “Gone to the Dark Side”  and you can find information about it at https://chrisquilts.net/?p=4370

When I graduated from high school my parents gave me a brand new Sears Kenmore sewing machine.

I was thrilled! I decided my first project should be a quilt for my “hope chest”. I cut a 6″ square from cardboard and dug out all of the scraps from our sewing projects. There were cottons, denims, flannels, crepe d’chine, seersucker and even some wool! I traced around the cardboard on the wrong side of each scrap and cut out all the squares with a scissors. Once the squares were cut I laid them out in 9-patches (I didn’t know that’s what they were called then) and sewed them together.

I assembled these blocks into a top and it ended up being king sized. I couldn’t wait to use some of the fancy stitches on my machine (my mom’s old Singer didn’t have any of those), so I did a line of decorative stitching over the seams of all the blocks.

Once the top was finished I layered it with a sheet, and a sheet blanket for the filling, and sewed all the way around the outside – leaving an opening for turning; only to find out I’d layered it incorrectly (the sheet was on the inside). So I ripped it apart, sewed around, and turned once again. To finish I tied it with knots of 4 ply polyester yarn at the block corners. What a delight for the eyes!

Even though it’s pretty ugly (don’t you love oxymorons?), it’s kept Mike and me warm for 42 years!

But lately it’s showing it’s age. Many of the fabrics are just plain disintegrating.

The green wool from a vest I made shrunk up years ago, but that didn’t keep me from tossing it into the washing machine many, many times.

Yet the fabrics are filled with memories. The pink denim with doves above was used in my favorite pair of hip hugger, bell bottom jeans (just picture that – it was the 70’s). In the following photo the brown floral was a sundress, the light blue flannel was a nightgown of mine, and the purple with flowers was from an apron I made for my German “mother” when I did a class trip to Germany my junior year.

So… do I retire it to the actual cedar chest Mike bought me as an engagement gift (at the foot of the bed)? or ???

While taking these pictures I realized the worn blocks are all around the outer edge. Perhaps I need to remove the last row of squares all the way around, add a binding and use it for another 42 years. What do you think?

Paducah 2018!

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Linda and I are driving home from another wonderful trip to Quilt Week in Paducah! As I mentioned last week – we had a snowy start, but it was all up hill from there. The sun shone almost the entire week and the tulips were blooming (although the dogwoods were only just beginning to bloom).

As I do every year, I’m going to share a few pictures of some of my favorite parts of the trip, and I need to begin with the sign that “we’d arrived” – the Flying Goose Bridge!

We got to the 1857 B&B in the heart of Paducah, unpacked and then put up a display of my Mariner’s Compass quilts in the front window of Tribeca restaurant, just downstairs from our living quarters.

What a blessing to be able to show my quilts during Quilt Week. We helped to hang the show on Tuesday and I couldn’t wait to see my friend Lori Schloesser’s quilt.

I’ve featured my friend Evelyn in quite a few of my posts and this year she was part of a new group slice quilt that was awarded a third place (Evelyn – tell me again – which of the 5 strips was yours 🙂 )?

There were so many incredible quilts and it was a privilege to see them all.

This year AQS hosted a special exhibit that I feel was one of the most interesting I’ve ever seen. It was called “Art in Denim” by Ian Berry. The pieces were not quilts, but they were fiber art. He uses only denim, scissors and glue to created portraits and landscapes that truly amaze.

My picture doesn’t do this piece justice. To really experience Ian’s work you need to visit his website at http://www.ianberry.org/. Linda and I had the chance to meet and talk with this endearing young man. His work is incredible and yet he is funny, soft spoken and very approachable.

We set up our kitchen studio and did some sewing, but our special playtime this year was with alcohol inks.

I’d taken a class at Sew Much More in Waukesha this winter. It was so much fun I bought the supplies and have been sharing them with my quilting friends. I’ll be doing a post on this in the near future, but I wanted to show you our Paducah creations – plates and trays!

We had to do our traditional bubble tea stop at Etcetera (actually we had to do that twice).

As we left this morning, I couldn’t resist just one more picture – the compass quilts are back in my suitcase and the rain is gently falling.

It was such fun to catch up with friends, find some new treasures at the vendors, eat fun food and escape the snow and “reality” for a week. Thanks, Linda, for a great time!

 

A New Trick for Attaching a Quilt Label

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I did a series of posts earlier this year on using Elmer’s School Glue™ to baste things together while quilting. I’ve discovered one more use that’s been a real help when stitching labels onto my quilts.

It’s really quite simple:

Create your label in any way you like. I usually design them on the computer and print them onto colorfast printer fabric.

Press under a 1/4″ hem all the way around.

Scribble a line of glue all over the wrong side of the label.

Place it on the back of the quilt and iron in place to dry the glue.

Now stitch it down without worrying about the label shifting, or the thread tangling around any pin heads! In the picture above I haven’t stitched it yet, and you will notice corners of the pressed hems peeking out along the edges. This is not a problem because I’m able to use my needle to tuck these corners under the label as I appliqué it in place.

I backed this quilt with a fabric I got in Alaska a few years ago. It was the perfect back.

I’m currently putting this label on my Winter Window quilt because I didn’t add a label when I finished it back in 2015. It hangs in our “master bath window towel rack” (to read my post about this quilt click here).

At the end of that post I stated that I already had an idea for my “Spring” quilt. The picture I used for this new quilt was the view from my kitchen window.

Working on a Spring quilt helped me to endure portions of this very cold winter, and this week I decided it was time to replace the winter quilt in my window (and finally add a label – two winters after it was completed).

Now if we could just warm up past 36 degrees!!!

Added Shadows

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A few years ago I made a quilt using an orange/yellow pointillism fabric, silhouetted with black.

I loved the way the pointillism fabric added depth. I loved the color, I loved the silhouette of the tree. I was pleased with the moon. It was exhibited in a number of shows and I shared it in many lectures.  It hangs in our home every Autumn. But something never seemed quite right.

Recently I pulled it off the shelf as I was packing up for a lecture in a nearby town. I got the feeling I should hang it on the design wall and stare at it for a bit (which was impractical – as Trey was napping and I really needed to use the time to prepare for the talk). All of a sudden it hit me –

Why hadn’t I noticed this before? Why hadn’t anyone mentioned it to me?

I threaded the machine with black and began rapidly free motion stitching horizontal “wavy” lines on the lake. A few moments later – SHADOWS!

Here’s the before and after, side-by-side pictures, for comparison:

I’m so glad that when a quilt is finished, one can always change their mind and add a bit more quilting!

Now I love it even more   😀 .

Have you ever added to a quilt long after it was “finished”? I’d love to hear your story. Please comment to this post or email me at .

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And here’s a little extra about last week’s post :-). You may remember I shared pictures and stories about Bears Paw quilts. I asked for readers to send me pictures of their bears paw quilts and Donna responded with this email:

“After reading your last blog entry about the bears paw quilt, I thought I’d send you a picture of my quilt.  It’s not really a bears paw quilt, it’s what I started in your “Scrap Happy” class at WCTC a while back, but it does sort of have giant bears paws in it.”

It definitely has bears paws on it and it’s wonderful! Thanks Donna!

To see the original post about the Scrap Happy class I taught at a retreat go to: https://chrisquilts.net/?p=7287

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And one last item for anyone who lives in the Milwaukee/Madison area. This coming week is a special one and my church, Calvary Baptist Church in Watertown, WI, will be presenting a “Walk Through Jerusalem” on the evening of Good Friday. It’s a wonderful family event! Come anytime between 5:30 and 8pm. The address is 792 Milford Street.

If you’d like more information, please watch this invitation from our Pastor!

https://www.facebook.com/calvarywatertown/videos/1574850162568361/?t=0

Maybe I’ll see you there  🙂

Facing a Quilt and With Great Corners!

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I think you’re going to love my technique for FACING A QUILT, but first let me tell you about the sample quilt I’ll be demonstrating on  😀 !

When Wendy and I lead quilting tours we come up with projects that can be created onboard the ship, and we like to include creative techniques. As I was contemplating what we could do to make a traditional Hawaiian appliqué style project that was fun and inventive, the Lord dropped this idea into my head! I’m so excited!

Each participant (the projects are always optional) will make their own unique pattern from their initials, and then “stencil” the pattern onto fabric using Shiva Paintstiks™. Here’s my first “Cruise Hawaii” quilt, using the initials for “Sew We Go” and palm trees:

Do you see the “SWG”s? I echo quilted this 25” wall quilt by machine and faced the edge.

Our Hawaiian cruise adventure will take place in January 2019. That may sound like a long way off, but this sailing on NCL’s American Pride will sell out.  We need to release cabins back to Norwegian if they are not spoken for soon so if you’ve been contemplating joining us, please let us know. Simply click here for a printable version of the cruise flyer!”

And now – on with this week’s post:

In my last post I shared a simple technique for finishing a quilt without the need for a traditional binding. There is another option for a “binding-less” finish and it’s called a facing. I’ve seen many faced quilts while judging quilt shows and, as with the turned quilts we talked about last week, the corners are always the problem area. They tend to be lumpy, and they’re often messy looking along the edge and the back.

BUT THEY DON’T NEED TO BE!

This really isn’t any harder than attaching a binding:

• Begin by squaring up your quilted quilt 1″ longer in each direction than you’d like it to finish, because the facing requires a 1/2″ turn under allowance all the way around (a binding fits over the cut edge of the quilt and thus no length is lost, but a facing does require this extra inch, so remember to allow for it).

•  Choose a facing fabric that is similar in color and value to the fabric along the outer edge of your quilt.  Measure the width and length of your squared quilt. Substract 4” from each measurement and cut (2) 1 ½” strips at both measurements (ie. a quilt measuring 30” x 40” would need 2 strips cut 26” and 2 strips cut 36”). Cut (4) 5″ squares also.

• Press the 5” squares in half diagonally, right side out. Trim about 1” from one corner as in the picture below.

• Place a folded square against the right side of the quilt, in one corner, raw edges even, with the trimmed corner facing up.

• Place all 4 corners on in this manner. Then place the long strips, right sides together with the quilt, along all 4 edges, and pin in place. The strips will overlap the corners.

• Using a 1/2″ seam allowance, stitch all 4 sides of the quilt, going off the edge on each end instead of pivoting at the corners (this portion is a repeat of last week’s instructions).

• Using a seam ripper, remove the last 1″ of stitches in both directions (if there is quilting in the seam allowance, that will need to be picked out too).

 

•Pull back the square and the quilt top from the batting in the corner, exposing the previous stitching holes.

• Trim the batting corner off just inside the crossed stitches. Make sure you trim the batting only!

 

• Put the layers back in place and repeat for all 4 corners. Re-stitch the corners, pivoting this time. Trim.

• Turn the quilt over to the back and pull all the side strips out along the edges.

• Beginning at the end of one strip, wrap the strip to the back tightly around the outer edge of the quilt.

• Then fold the facing to the back of the quilt leaving the seam at the quilts edge. Pin and continue along the entire length.

• Repeat for all four sides.

• Turn the corner pieces to the back of the quilt. Push out the corners so they lay flat and sharp. Pin in place.

view from the back
view from the edge
view from the front

• Hand-stitch the facing to the back of the quilt.

This technique isn’t for every quilt, but it’s a good one to have in your toolbox when you need it  😀 !

And here’s a quick peek at two other Hawaiian quilts I’ve made. The first includes pineapples and my initials (CLK):

And this one is a small hibiscus flower quilt – just because it’s pretty (no initials or repeated designs):

They’re like potato chips – I can’t stop making them!

And I discovered an added plus – it’s quite simple to use one of the corners on the back of the quilt as a label!

I apologize for this post being a bit lengthy, but I’m hoping you found it interesting and worthwhile.

“Binding-less” Flat Corners

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Currently it is very “trendy” to hang art on the wall without a frame. My daughter-in-law is a talented artist and often hangs her canvases in this manor:

This has become popular with fiber artists too. It is very “in” to hang wall quilts without borders or bindings.  I’ve made a number of wall quilts that I just didn’t think would look great with a binding.

I call this quilt “Interchange” and it is an example of one of my faced quilts. It was made for a challenge entitled “Colorwheel Opposites”. I chose pinks and greens and quilted it with “wheels”.

I love the visual “feeling” that the squares are about to tumble past the outer edge.

“The Narrow Gate” is another one of my faced quilts. It was made for a different challenge, this one entitled “Portals”, and it’s one of my spiritual journey quilts. The tree depicts the cross, and the portal is a sliver of the heaven we are promised when we are saved by Jesus. The leaves are 3-D and are printed with Scripture verses which tell about this amazing gift. Once again, I thought a binding would be too confining.

So, how does one get this look without a lot of effort? Well, I have two favorite techniques for accomplishing this quite easily. I’ll share the easiest in this week’s post and my favorite way next week.

The simple way is to “turn” small quilts (envelope style: layer batt, top and back; sew all the way around and leave an opening to turn right sides out) instead of binding them.

My least favorite part of turning a quilt is having an unsightly hand-stitched area along the quilt edge where it was turned. In a previous post I shared my favorite technique for eliminating that problem (click here for that post and scroll down about half way through the post for the turning trick).

My second frustration when turning a quilt is lumps at the corners. No matter how much I trim the batt and fabrics, there is always a lump… and worse – I sometimes trim it so close my turning tool pushes through the corner! UGH!

Well – I have a solution for that problem too. Here goes:

• Stitch all the way around the quilt, using a 1/4″ seam allowance, but don’t  pivot at the corners. Instead, stitch off the ends of each edge as in the picture, yielding crossed seams at the corners:

• Choose a corner and “unstitch” the last inch in both directions. You’ll be able to see the holes where the stitches were when you pull back the fabric:

• Pull the backing fabric out of the way too, and angle cut the batting away just inside the intersection:

• Lay everything back in place and resew the seam, pivoting at the corner this time.

• Trim the corners as usual for turning.

• Repeat for the remaining corners.

• Turn the quilt, right side out, and enjoy the “lumpless” results!

Do you turn your quilts? Do you have problems with lumps? If so, I hope you’ll give this a try, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about the technique.

Please return next week for step-by-step facing instructions. I think you’ll find it quite interesting!

A Sommer Quilt

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If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I love to teach others how to quilt, especially kids. When my eldest granddaughter, Hanna was 5, she made a quilt for her dolly – and sewed every stitch herself. It took her two hours and when she was done she said “can I make another one?” I love that girl  😀 !

Her little brother wanted to try it, but I made him wait until he was 6. On a visit here from Washington, Willy made a quilt for his bear. He worked on it over the course of 2 weeks and got it done. It’s not really his thing – but he stuck with it.

My great-niece Lily stayed overnight with us when she was 7. She knew her cousins had made quilts and she wanted to try it too.

Sommer (5) is my “nearby” granddaughter, and we care for her and her brother while mommy and daddy are at work every day. Last summer I said to her “Hanna was 5 when she made her first quilt. Would you like to learn how to make a quilt”. She thought for a few seconds and then replied “no thank-you”.

Well, this past Monday she was home from school with a cold. After breakfast she informed me she was ready to make a quilt.

She chose her favorite 12 squares from my charm square box and arranged them on the floor.

I set up my featherweight on the same bench the other kids used and sat her on a stool. She learned to press the pedal with her foot and quickly caught on to the idea of keeping the fabric edges along the “pad” of painter’s tape.

She kept everything in order on the floor as she sewed.

She sewed all the rows together, picked a backing, helped me pin the layers together and sewed all the way around. After turning it right side out, I marked the quilt with a sliver of soap, and she machine quilted it with a big “X”.

I knew she was enjoying herself when she exclaimed “We’re rocking this quilt grandma!”

She wrapped it around her daddy’s old Cabbage Patch Kid and gave it a hug.

And here’s one more picture of my proud little quilter.

At this point she reminded me that she won’t be 6 until March, so she made her quilt while she was 5, just like Hanna!

And here’s the other kids and their quilts. I think I’ve got this lesson down pat  🙂 .

To read Hanna’s post click here.
To read Willy’s post click here.
To read Lily’s post click here.

Before I end this week’s post, I need to add one more picture. Yesterday we had a party for Trey’s 3rd birthday. It’s a tradition in our family that I make the kid’s birthday cakes (I do prefer to make quilts – they last longer 🙂 ). So here’s our youngest with his PJ Mask cake.

I wonder when he’ll be ready to make a quilt  😛 !

Rusty Chicken Wire and a Rooster

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Hawaiian Cruise Update

Before I get to this week’s topic, I’d like to answer a question about Shore Excursions during our upcoming quilter’s cruise to Hawaii in January of 2019.

The price of our adventure includes a group excursion in each port on the cruise. Our number one priority in choosing these excursions is to make sure we see everything Hawaii has to offer! We plan to also include some stops especially of interest to quilters, when it won’t interfere with the exploration of our destination. We’ll have all the details available in mid-summer. At that time our travelers may choose to opt out of our shore excursion package, if they so desire, and the cost of their trip will be adjusted to reflect this. I hope this is helpful. We still have a few cabins available and you can read all the details, and sign up, by clicking on:

And now – a topic to crow about  😀 !

Last Fall Sue Schlobohm, a student in my Open Lab class, told me she wanted to make a quilt for a challenge at a local craft/quilt shop. She had purchased the packet of fabrics to be used in the challenge and had decided she wanted to make a quilted portrait of a well embellished rooster. To accomplish this she was wondering if I knew of anywhere to get “chicken wire” fabric for the background. Well, you might remember that in the Summer of 2016 I tried my hand at rust dyeing and created a piece of fabric with a very rusty hunk of chicken wire fencing (to read all about it click here).

I had folded 1 yard of fabric around a “1/2 yard” piece of fencing (that’s why the side on the right is a lighter version of the one on the left).

I immediately felt the need to share half of the fabric with Sue :-). And – Wow – did she put it to good use! Here is her wonderful quilt.

Sue makes decorator pillows professionally and deals with a lot of home dec fabric. Some of those scraps found their way into this regal rooster’s tail, along with her lovely hand stitching.

Her label is well done also:

The words in the picture are a bit difficult to read, so here’s what it says:

“The Funky Chicken

Was appliquéd, machine stitched, hand embroidered and quilted by Susan Jones Schlobohm for the Ben Franklin Quilt Challenge, Oconomowoc, WI – 2017

The theme was animals, and you had to include the 3 fabrics seen to the right. The background fabric was rust dyed by Chris Lynn Kirsch, teacher and inspiration.

The quilt is dedicated to all my friends at the WCTC Open Quilting Lab”

I was thrilled to be acknowledged by this talented lady and I hope all of her friends in Open Lab read that last part  😀 !

Thank you Sue, for letting me share the story of your delightful quilt. Congratulations on a job well done!

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And, since this post spoke of both a rooster and Hawaii, I thought you might find this interesting:

A few years ago Mike and I vacationed in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, and we were fascinated by the plethora of wild chickens and roosters running all over the island. Here’s the story:

“Most locals agree that wild chickens proliferated after Hurricane Iniki ripped across Kauai in 1992, destroying chicken coops and releasing domesticated hens, as well as roosters being bred for cockfighting. Now these brilliantly feathered fowl inhabit every part of this tropical paradise, crowing at all hours of the day and night to the delight or dismay of tourists and locals alike.”