Alaska

Measuring for the Outside Border

This is another quilt story that begins, “Several years ago I was given fabric.” Ann gave me 2 fabrics, 3-yard cuts, from her vacation to Alaska. One was a cream background with black and red printed “bear claws”. The other was a black background printed with red sea creatures (fish or whales; I lean towards whales). I bought a bright red to coordinate with the 2 original fabrics. This quilt turned out so pretty (It speaks to me!) I told Narinder if we had a second bed I’d keep it for myself. I’m sure some lucky person in a homeless shelter will like it and use it. And I have enough fabric remaining, I can make myself a tote bag as a consolation prize.

Donated to the Guild for CZU Fire victims.

I used the same pattern as “Mary’s Dinette Set” but because I had more fabric I only had to make 2 borders. The quilt is a stunner!

• 66" x 88" Twin bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a parallel wavy lines. Used bright red 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Neon Red").  Free form quilting. 7 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Black printed designs on a red background from fabric.com. Wide fabric for a quilt backing.
• Batting: 100% cotton “Warm and Natural”.
• Binding: Cream background print used in the quilt.
• Pattern: "Checkerboard" from a MSQC tutorial.  
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame August 11, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter August 18, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

Mary’s Dinette Set—Fabric a Gift from Aunt Lucy

Several years ago Aunt Lucy gave me three 1-yard cuts of coordinating fabrics. She picked them out from a special fabric store when she was traveling to visit us. I always wondered how to make these special fabrics. Recently MSQC had a video about making quilts using three 1-yard cuts of fabric. Voila! I knew what to do! I added the aqua blue, black borders, and brown corners to make the quilt twin-sized for donation, but the main idea came from the MSQC tutorial.  Donated to the Guild for CZU Fire victims. It’s been a bad year: pandemic, wildfires, plagues, murder hornets, disgusting politics. We have to help where we can.

When I sent a picture of the top to Aunt Lucy, she wrote back, “Nice. The colors remind me of my sister Mary’s kitchen table and chairs. She had worked as a bookkeeper at a local furniture store in Hartford (Szymanski’s) and when she and Ralph married in Nov 1955, they had a houseful of new furniture. The kitchen set was turquoise Formica (boomerang pattern) and black metal frame chairs. Living room was Danish modern. I have vivid memories of it all. I thought it was so pretty.” Hence, the name for the quilt, “Mary’s Dinette Set.”

• 66 1/2" x 82" Twin bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a parallel wavy lines. Used light gray 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Silver").  Free form quilting. 6 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Gray, black, and tan print wide back from a fabric.com sale. I love this fabric! I’d put the quilt upside down on my bed just to see the back.
• Batting: 100% cotton “Warm and Natural”.
• Binding: Aqua tonal used in the quilt.
• Pattern: "Checkerboard" from a MSQC tutorial.  
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame July 14, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter July 21, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

Vortex Quilt Top from Guild

I agreed to longarm a top for the guild. The quilt is pretty and has a lot of movement.  So, I decided not to interrupt the movement with too much quilting and just do widely (3 1/2”) spaced vertical and horizontal lines. This quilt contains so many different scraps. Suprisingly, I didn’t find any fabric that we have had in our inventory. How many different quilting fabrics must there be!

• 65" x 94" Twin bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in straight vertical and horizontal lines. After the vertical lines were completed, the quilt was remounted to do the horizontal lines. Used light gray 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Silver").  5 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Gold and light brown plain fabrics. Supplied by the guild.
• Batting: Supplied by the guild.
• Binding: Dark brown print from fabric.com
• Pattern: Strips of fabric on a diagonal. Center strip was white or light-colored to form the vortex design.
• Piecing by someone at the guild 
• Pinned into frame June 24, 2020. Vertical quilting on long arm quilter June 26-27, 2020. Remounted horizontally June 27. Horizontal quilting begun and finished July 1, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. Did second stitching by hand.
• QC by Patty to keep dog hair away from a guild quilt.

Dog Bed Stuffed with Scraps

With Sheltering in Place (SIP) and looking for projects to clean out my closet, I decided to pick up making a dog bed to use up boxes of small quilt scraps. The object initially was to keep fabric out of the landfill. I did use up a lot of scraps, but this project was not easy-o! First off, I made the bed too big, 40” x 45”. This size took a tremendous amount of scraps and weighed a ton when finished. Next time I’ll try a cat bed size, if there is a next time! After this all small scraps get thrown away! 

I first made a canvas sack to stuff the scraps inside. Then I made a washable cover with zipper. The cover was made out of old jeans (took 6 pairs!) also to keep fabric out of landfills. I need to practice inserting a zipper. It’s been too long. Stuffing the filled canvas “mattress” inside the cover was like wrestling a whale! Not easy-o!

The result was a very firm dog bed. One friend on FB said I should market it as, “a handmade, organic, meditation pillow stuffed with reclaimed fabric!”  Another FB friend said I should have made it in the shape of a punching bag and have a piece of gym equipment when finished. It’s almost firm enough to be a punching bag.

I am very glad to have finished this project and lessons learned! Scraps go into the landfill from now on!

SIP hair! Ugh!

Two Neonatal Quilts (Quilted on the Domestic Machine)

I started these quilts for something simple to do at the Tuesday sewing meetings in Belmont. Then Covid-19 struck and the meetings ended while we shelter in place. I finally decided to finish them at home. The pattern is a simple strips sewn together with an insert of blue and white checkerboard squares.

Pink and Blue Neonatal Quilt

• 40" x 43" Neonatal size
• Quilting: Quilted stitch in a ditch on the Janome Heavy Duty Machine. Used light gray 100% cotton thread (Coates Mercerized ELS Cotton). Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Light gray flannel print left from Tomiko’s T-shirt quilts.
• Batting: 80% cotton/ 20% polyester. Comfort Blend from Winline.
• Binding: Green print from Patty’s inventory. Fabric left from Thomas’s baby quilt.
• Pattern: 19 Strips sewed together with an insert of navy blue and white checkerboard.
• Piecing by Patty.
• Quilting on domestic machine May 15, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Patty to keep the dog away from a neonatal quilt.

Pink and Green Neonatal Quilt

• 40" x 44" Neonatal size
• Quilting: Quilted stitch in a ditch on the Janome Heavy Duty Machine. Used light gray 100% cotton thread (Coates Mercerized ELS Cotton). Quilting by Patty. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Light green flannel print left from Daddy’s t-shirt quilt.
• Batting: 80% cotton/ 20% polyester. comfort Blend from Winline.
• Binding: Green print from Patty’s inventory. Fabric left from Thomas’s baby quilt.
• Pattern: 19 Strips sewed together with an insert of navy blue and white checkerboard.  
• Piecing by Patty.
• Quilting on domestic machine May 16, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Patty to keep the dog away from a neonatal quilt.

T-Shirt Quilt for Mother Made from Daddy’s T-Shirts

I started this quilt last year. Before my eye problems I got the blocks cut out. Between eye surgeries I got the interfacing (featherweight) ironed on the blocks. Then I didn’t get back to it until I finished piecing Tomiko’s quilt. Finally it came together.

The Tom Short Reunion t-shirts have functioning pockets. For some ill planned reason, the T.A. Edison submarine shirt throwing torpedoes and shooting a missile, wound up next to the Peace Corps shirt. Not all of the shirts were Daddy’s. To round out the quilt I used a few shirts from my collection, but my shirts were ones he had a connection to or gave me as a souvenir from his travels. 

• 58 1/2" x 71" Lap size
• Quilting: Quilted around the designs on the t-shirt blocks. Used light turquoise 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Lt. Turquoise"). Free form quilting. 6 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Light green flannel print wide back from my inventory. Bought from a fabric.com sale.
• Batting: 100% polyester. Knowledgeable quilters recommend polyester for t-shirt quilts. Also recommended by Frances who pointed out that t-shirt quilts tend to be heavy so a lighter weight batting is better. 
• Binding: Turquoise print from fabric.com
• Pattern: T-shirts fit together 
• Piecing by Patty.
• Pinned into frame May 13, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter May 13-14, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

Tomiko’s T-Shirt Quilt

2020 has been a very different year for graduates, including my niece Tomiko. She graduates from high school this May, but there is not a traditional graduation ceremony, prom, or party during this year of social distancing. It’s as difficult for the families as the graduates! 

Monika gave me these t-shirts to make a graduation quilt for Tomiko sometime after my first eye surgery last year and before my second one. So, this quilt has been a long time in coming. Finally, it came together.  The hardest part was fitting shirts of different sizes collected over 18 years together. I chose black sashing to fit the shirts together and make their colors pop. I needed one more shirt, so I made an airplane block, like the baby quilt I made Tomiko over 18 years ago. Time flies like an an arrow; fruit flies like melon. Sigh!

Tomiko on the first quilt I made her, hand quilted!

The airplane block for the graduation quilt

The quilt I helped Tomiko make when she was in middle school

Quilting on the long arm with Tomiko. She is a natural longarmer! I wish I was as good!

• 60" x 85" Twin bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in a meandering very loose wave in the sashing and around the designs on the t-shirt blocks. Used gold 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Goldenrod").  I selected gold because her school colors are green and gold. Free form quilting. 7 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Light gray flannel print wide back from my inventory. Bought from a fabric.com sale.
• Batting: 100% polyester. Knowledgeable quilters recommend polyester for t-shirt quilts. Also recommended by Frances who pointed out that t-shirt quilts tend to be heavy so a lighter weight batting is better. 
• Binding: A green and gold print in Patty’s inventory, again to accent Tomiko’s high school colors.
• Pattern: T-shirts fit together with black sashing.  
• Piecing by Patty.
• Pinned into frame May 5, 2020. Quilting on long arm quilter May 6, 2020. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

Going to Michigan Tech in the fall. Hopefully, there will be school in the fall.

The rabbit runs from the hawk.

The hawk catches the unsuspecting rabbit.