Neck tie quilts

I need to clear up a couple of misunderstandings about my blog posts. One is that I'm retiring from quilting as a business. I am not quitting quilting completely. My blogs are still going to be mostly about quilting; but, now I will have much more time to do (and show) the quilts I make myself. I have a whole bunch of finished charity tops I made myself and are waiting to get quilted. I have probably 40 or so ufo tops I plan to get finished and quilted too. I'll be posting about the quilts and quilting for a long time even after retiring. You will still be able to look at my posts for inspiration for your own customer quilts.

Retiring the business is simply giving me the feedom to live a more normal stree free life. It gives me the time to be with my family and friends without the worry of completing work by the deadlines. Retiring the business means I will have time for doing my other crafts too. I will have more time for making rugs and cardboard furniture. Hmm.... I might even find time for taking a drawing class or learn basket weaving. Who knows? Anything is possible when I have free time.

Next to clear up is about the comment I talked about yesterday. Well off course I knew she wasn't talking about me personally. I knew she was talking in general. I had been searching my brain for the right words to describe how I had been feeling the last couple of years. I couldn't put into words what I knew was happening to me any more than I could describe it when it happened to other machine quilters. As I read that comment, I thought... ah ha!.... that's what my brain wanted to say all this time. She gave me the words that my mind couldn't seem to form.


Ok, on to some quilty stuff to talk about. I have 30 ties to be made into 3 quilts. Wall size of aproximately 40 X 50 or 60. There is to be a big circle (daisy or sunflower shape) in the middle made from the ties. The circle will be 36 inches across on a background of 40 inches wide.

Yesterday I sat down and did the math. I really like to see a design in full size before cutting any pieces. I drew out a sketch. Didn't like it. Drew another one. Then another until I got something I liked.



Next I cut out the pieces of stabelizer to go on the ties. 180 of them. There will be 60 tie pieces in each circle so I cut 180. I didn't have a plastic template the correct size for rotary cutting. I made a cardboard template the right size and traced it onto the stabelizer. Then cut them out.

After all that was done, I hand washed the ties in hot water. Normally I would have put the ties in the washer but mine is broken. I haven't gotten a new one yet. So hand washing was all I could do. Why use hot water? If they are going to shrink it's done before I put all the work into the quilt.

Today I will be taking the ties apart, ironing on the stabelizer, and cutting all the pieces. I may get started on the sewing if the work goes smoothly enough. I want to do as much as I can so I will have all 3 ready for the customer to view next week. If they approve of the finished tops then I can quilt them.

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I may not get a chance to write a blog post tomorrow morning. I'm headed out to the fair for the kick off breakfast at 7 am. My brother is dropping me and my SIL off at the gate and picking us up tomorrow evening.

Vintage quilts often have issues

As you can see the next quilt has some issues. It's a hand made vintage quilt. Inherited. I can't be sure; but, many of the fabrics look like feed sack. Especially the background, the sashing, and the green stems.








I have my doubts about the other fabrics because of the vivid reds and some blue fabrics.

The original maker may have had some feed sack fabrics in her stash and combined them with newer fabrics? I know there were red (called turkey red) feed sack fabrics but I'm not sure this is one of them.

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I believe this quilt will be used as a post in my helpful hints blog about how to deal with the issue of extra fullness in quilts. It's the most common problem of working with vintage handmade quilts.

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As I was stabilizing the quilt I found traces of where someone had started hand quilting it then changed their mind and removed the stitching. The current owner just wants it finished so she can use and enjoy it instead of letting it sit in storage. I'm very happy I can help her with that.

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I sure wish I could figure out why blogger keeps changing the spacing in my posts? It's annoying!

Update on the lone star quilt

The owner came to pick it up today. She loved the quilt. She started crying.... then so did I. We wound up hugging each other and crying together. What I thought was a mean statement was in fact just her own frustrated feelings about things not done before her husband passed. I felt the same things when my husband passed. (years ago) When someone we care about passes..... we just naturally wish for "just one more day" to say the things we want to say and do the things we never got around to doing. Of course we can't get that one more day so we feel frustrated and sad.

This customer has decided to get some quilts made out of his clothing to be given to their kids. She says she will get back with me when things settle down.... for the both of us. Probably in the fall or next spring. It will give her time to grieve and time to pick out the favorite clothing. It will also give me time to finish up long past due quilts. She asked me if I thought I could make something out of baseball caps? Her husband collected them and had several hundred. Hmm.... I wonder? This really has me thinking. Maybe I can get three or four from a thrift store to experiment with them?

In the mean time the Derby party is in full swing here in the west end. People everywhere! Barbecue smoke so thick it looks like a fire someplace. Music of all kinds blasting while the young girls dance in the street and young boys play street ball. Adults sit around tables playing dominoes or cards while drinking and laughing. I'm a couple of blocks from Broadway so I'm not sure what's happening there.

Me? I have the next quilt on the machine. Although I do go outside several times to watch everyone and see some of the neighborhood kids that are all grown up and visiting home with their kids.




When I got near the end of stabilizing this quilt; this is what happened. The batting was too short.... huh? I used a king size which is 120 inches. But the intake sheet says the top is 104" so what happened? I rolled back to the beginning and remeasured..... you guess it.... the top is actually 134". It needed another 14" batting piece.

I did this while it stayed on the machine. I simply whip stitched the batting together. Taking large 1" stitches that would hold it together while I pressed the stabilizer using the belly bar as the pressing surface.

Now it's all stabilized and waiting for me to get back to it on Monday. Tonight I'm going to my daughter's to watch the baby tomorrow while Mommy and Daddy rest. Both are feeling terrible. While I'm there I'll make a big pot of chicken dumpling soup. It will help them and I can bring some home for me in case I catch it too.

I'm actually glad to be going away from home tonight. The noise of the motorcycles racing through the streets on Derby night get really loud! And the thump, thump, thump of the cars rattle the windows. It's hard to sleep with all the noise. Tomorrow morning it will all be over for another year..... whew.

It wasn't too bad

My doctor appointment was at 8:30. I was there at 8:15. I sat in the waiting room until 11:00. Was called to sit in the exam room. I sat there until 12:20. Doctor came in and was there for about 10 minutes. I was given some new prescriptions and sent to the lab. I was out of there by 12:50. Prescriptions are filled at the pharmacy in the building but wouldn't be ready until 2:00. I decided to visit the thrift store across the street while I waited.




I ended up getting two pairs of summer pants, two shirts, a roasting pot, and a set of coffee cups for my daughter. I realized when I was at my daughter's house last weekend that she didn't have any coffee cups for my coffee. It's just not right to drink coffee from a glass.... know what I mean? I had thought I might find a mug or two but this was a really lucky find. These match her dishes perfectly. I do love the blue enamel ware cooking pots. I wish I could find more of them at the thrift store but either people don't donate them or I'm just not there at the right time.

I realized a few weeks (or was it months) ago that my clothing was starting to look a bit ragged. I rarely think of buying myself clothes. As long as my clothes are clean and my body is covered, I don't pay much attention to what I'm wearing. Maybe because I'm not much for simply "looking" while shopping. I like to get in then get out of stores as quickly as possible. Unless of course I'm looking at fabrics or the latest quilting gadgets.

Another thing that bothers me is that when I buy brand new clothing they fit somewhat ok until I wash them. I don't like paying good money for something I will only get to wear once before it shrinks or goes wonky. At least by getting things from the thrift store they have already been washed. I don't have to worry about shrinking or wonky looking clothes. I do wash them again before I will wear them.

When I got home I found a message from Bethany (a blog reader) explaining how to fix this problem star quilt with the small center. Thank you Bethany! I can't work on it this weekend but hopefully I can get it done this coming week.

Some people would say.... why bother to fix it? Well it's like this. Memory quilts are especially dear to my heart. There is just something about them that compels me to finish them for the one who has passed away. I also enjoy the look on the face of the loved one when they see it finished for the first time. Many get tears in their eyes which really fills my heart with pride. Not for myself; but, for the one who didn't finish the quilt before it was too late. At last it is finished and there to be enjoyed by those left behind. This is when I can almost hear an angel whisper in my ear..... thank you.

My brother should be here pretty soon to pick me up. We are visiting cemetaries where my sons, my husband, and our father are buried. The first cemetary where one of my sons and my husband is buried is a little over two hours away so that's the first one we will go to. We will make a circle to the other cemetaries before heading back here. It should be a very pleasant, although sad, day.