Aunt Lucy’s T-Shirt Quilt

Mother QC’ing the Bunny

I had trouble with the longarm after the quilt was mounted but before I started quilting. I futzed around with it all day and finally gave up and called the factory. Dan had me reprogram the machine and in short order it was working fine! Geez! I learned my lesson: call the factory sooner, not later! 

This is a very heavy quilt. Aunt Lucy used heavy-weight stabilizer instead of light- or feather-weight. Therefore, she opted for a thin flannel batting. Even with a light batting the quilt could be used as a weighted therapy blanket. It didn’t have the nice puff of a polyester batting, but it quilted nicely. Aunt Lucy requested that the top be quilted loosely, not closely. 

• 66" x 89" Single bed size
• Quilting: Quilted around the designs in the t-shirts and made wavy lines in the borders. Used light gray 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Silver") for the top and dark blue 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Navy Blue") for the bobbins. 6 bobbins. Quilting by Patty. 
• Backing: Navy blue cotton printed with bright, different color circles supplied by Aunt Lucy
• Batting: 100% flannel supplied by Aunt Lucy
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Lucy.
• Pattern: Uncle Bruce’s t-shirts arranged artistically
• Piecing by Aunt Lucy
• Pinned into frame October 5, 2021. Quilting on long arm quilter October 11-13, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Lucy. 
• QC by Mother

Top Before Quilting (Picture from Aunt Lucy)

After Quilting

Burying Thread Ends

Aunt Lucy at the Tucson Quilt Show with her quilt

Dancing Shoos

I made this as a “for fun” project. I saw the picture on the cover of a magazine, realized I had the right fabric in fat quarter assortments, and decided it looked like a fun quilt. I made it slightly bigger than the magazine’s instructions so it would be the suggested size for donation quilts. The guild is currently giving quilts to the homeless shelters and Dixie Fire victims. I hope this one goes to fire victims as it looks cheerful. Turns out that the guild liked the quilt so much, they decided to donate it to Nurses’ Appreciation Day at Mills Peninsula Hospital. I am happy that the quilt was admired and elevated in status, that’s never happened to one of my quilts, ever!

The name of the traditional block is shoo-fly, and the pattern calls the quilt “New Shoos,” so I changed it slightly to “Dancing Shoos.”

• 63 1/2” x 81 1/2" single bed size
• Quilted in parallel, slightly wavy lines at a slight downward angle across width of quilt. Occasionally quilted a slightly wavy line at a slight upward angle that crossed some of the downward lines.  Used bright orange thread “Orange Glow” Omni brand 100% polyester from Superior Threads for the top thread and medium aqua thread “Treasure Isle” Omni brand 100% polyester from Superior Threads for the bobbin thread.  Free form quilting. 8 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Green and turquoise vine print, wide fabric for quilt backs. Fabric came from a Connecting Threads sale and I have had it in my stash for some time.
• Batting: 80% cotton/20% polyester bleached, Comfort Blend by Winline.
• Binding: Dark turquoise batik print from Connecting Threads, bought as an alternative fabric for Dogs and Sea Otters quilt and not used for that, but looks perfect for the binding of this quilt.
• Pattern: "New Shoos” from Fons and Porter Love of Quilting Mar/Apr 2021. Pattern by Jenny Kae Parks. It’s the Shoo-Fly block made with bold, colorful fabrics and no sashing between the blocks.
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame September 21, 2021. Quilting on long arm quilter September 21-24, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

Picture from the Guild.

Aunt Linda’s Brown Spice Market

Aunt Linda made another quilt like Mother enjoys making. See Aunt Linda’s Mountain Quilt from October 2020 and Mother and Sally’s Quid Pro Quo from March 2020 and the earlier quilts that Mother made. This time Aunt Linda used a brown rather than black accent strip in the blocks, hence “brown” in the quilt’s title.

• 69" x 80" Single bed size
• Quilting: Quilted in slightly wavy, unevenly spaced, mostly parallel but crossed at random points lines. Free form quilting. This is a quilting pattern I recently saw in a magazine and have wanted to try ever since I saw it. The quilting represents scent wafting off the brown spices. That’s my story and I’m sticking too it. Used medium brown 100% polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Allspice". Even the name of the thread is appropriate for this quilt.) 7 bobbins. Quilting by Patty. 
• Backing: Pieced back from brown and gold fabric with stripes of various prints, very pretty!
• Batting: 80% cotton/20% polyester “Comfort Blend” from Winline
• Binding: To be done by Aunt Linda.
• Pattern: Inspired by “Spice Market" by Vicky Wozniak from a McCall's advertisement.  
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Pinned into frame September 14, 2021. Quilting on long arm quilter September 14-16, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Sally

Front of quilt

Back of quilt

Aunt Linda’s Block of the Month

Aunt Linda sent 2 tops for me to quilt. This is the first. Aunt Linda made the top, Cousin Tim, driving his new Miata, delivered it, I quilted it on the longarm, and Mother QC’d it. It takes a village to make a quilt!

• 59” x 72" single bed size
• Quilted in a loop-de-loop meander, medium sized loops. Used medium blue thread “Tidal Pool” Omni brand 100% polyester from Superior Threads for the bobbins and off-white thread “Cream” Omni brand 100% polyester for the top. Free form quilting. 7 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Blue print cotton. Backing supplied by Aunt Linda
• Batting: 80% cotton/20% polyester. Comfort Blend from Winline.
• Binding: To be supplied by Aunt Linda
• Pattern: A block of the month pattern from Aunt Linda’s quilting guild. To me it looks like a flower.
• Piecing by Aunt Linda
• Pinned into frame August 31, 2021. Quilting on longarm quilter September 3, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Aunt Linda. 
• QC by Charlotte—Mother

Aunt Joyce’s Found in a Box

Aunt Joyce found a quilt top in a box she was cleaning out. She thinks Nana made it, but isn’t sure. She wants to give it to a great grandchild expected later this year. Twins actually, but this will be for one of them when they move into a big bed in a few years. That time lag will give her enough time to lose it in another box.

• 65” x 84 1/2" single bed size
• Quilted in a loose stipple, overall meander. Used light blue thread “Blue Ice” Omni brand 100% polyester from Superior Threads. Free form quilting. 8 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Blue print cotton extra wide backing. Printed with circle figures. Fabric came from fabric.com.
• Batting: 80% cotton/20% polyester. Comfort Blend from Winline.
• Binding: Light blue cotton print.
• Pattern: Scrappy strips on a foundation made from an old sheet. Light blue sashing and light yellow corner stones. Light blue and light yellow borders.
• Piecing by Nana, Aunt Joyce’s mother-in-law Mrs. Howard
• Pinned into frame August 3, 2021. Quilting on long arm quilter August 6, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Charlotte—Mother

Dogs and Sea Otters

My ex-colleague Grace Hill asked me to make a quilt for her soon to be daughter-in-law. I resisted at first but gave in finally. Her soon to be daughter-in-law asked for dogs and sea otters in colors of aqua and turquoise! Luckily I found dog and sea otter fabrics that fit the bill. She also wanted queen bed size! Because of the size, I selected an easy pattern with simple rectangles that would feature the dog and sea otter fabrics. The pattern is called “Kyoto Steps.” I don’t know why and the artist’s website gave no reason for the name. Maybe the pattern is named after a site in Kyoto, Japan or maybe a jazz music group? I like the way the rectangles are more dense in the center and space out at the edges. However, the asymmetrical placement and spacing meant I had to keep the pattern close by and piecing proceeded slowly, but easily. The good news (if you can call it that!) about this assignment is that Covid postponed the wedding, so I wasn’t rushed to finish the quilt.

The pattern called for pressing the seams open. I used the seam roll Mother made for a class around the time I was born. It worked like a charm. If the seam roll was opened you’d find a magazine my age (70 years) inside. That’s pretty good longevity for a homemade sewing tool. 

For the quilting I used my new side edge clamps. They worked beautifully. This was also the first test drive of my new Towa bobbin tension gauge. I loved the gauge and it made adjusting the quilting tension much easier and more accurate. I was also impressed that the Towa box prominently features the “Deming Award” given to the manufacturer. Deming was the person whose methods created the Japanese auto industry’s reputation for quality. Deming’s “quality circles” used to be a big deal and made their way into lots of industries, including pharmaceutical manufacturing where I worked for many years. Seeing the picture of the “Deming Award” on the box was a blast from the past! 

• 97” x 94 1/4" queen-sized bed (slightly wider than long, but essentially square)
• Quilted in parallel wavy lines across width of quilt. Used “Pearl White” Omni brand 100% polyester from Superior Threads. Free form quilting. 9 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Tonal turquoise vine print with a center panel printed with dogs looking over a fence. Fabrics came from fabric.com.
• Batting: 80% cotton/20% polyester bleached, Hobbs Heirloom.
• Binding: Plain turquoise cotton used in the quilt.
• Pattern: "Kyoto Steps” by Robin Pickens
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame June 22, 2021. Quilting on long arm quilter June 23-25, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

à la Great-Great Grandma Short (Quilt for Cameron) #2

How to Make Waves

See the previous quilt for most of the notes about this second version. The above picture illustrates how to tilt the block to make waves. I call this a “dappled” tropical sky. The internet says that skies can be “dabbled”. The contrast of the darker, brighter blue sky with the sails looks better than the pale sky in the first quilt. Pressing the seams open that meet on the sides worked really well for sewing the acute-angled seams together. 

• 68 1/2" x 80 1/4" Single bed size
• Quilted in wavy lines and clouds; loop-de-loops in outside border; spirals in inside border. Both threads were Omni brand 100% polyester from Superior Threads. Used medium blue “Tidal Pool” for top; light turquoise blue “Light Turquoise ” for bobbins.  Free form quilting. 8 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
• Backing: Light turquoise with white spirals cotton print. Fabric came from Connecting Threads.
• Batting: 100% cotton Warm and Natural.
• Binding: Navy blue tonal cotton print used for the bottom part of the ocean and the inner border.
• Pattern: "Rock the Boat” by Karen Bialik from easyQuilts, Summer 2019.  
• Piecing by Patty
• Pinned into frame April 13, 2021. Quilting on long arm quilter April 13-14, 2021. (Patty). 
• Binding by Patty. 
• QC by Spencer

QC by Spencer

I see a bunny in the cloud!

Fancy Waves in the Ocean

Grandpa and Grandma Short and Some of the Grandkids 

QC by Cameron