A Finish - Quilts for Pulse

Stardate 2016.236.1

I finally finished my contribution for the Pulse victims.  It’s an unexpected journey for me.  It started with Spoonflower– the “print your own designs on fabric” website and a challenge by our local quilt museum about political quilts which I was going to try to make a quilt to enter.  The creative mind is an odd thing, though.  I stewed on an idea for the politically-themed quilt.  I even had some fabric printed to go into that politically-themed quilt.  Here it is – words of peace and harmony.  

 

The fabric I designed, originally for a politically-themed quilt...

While my brain came up with an idea, my creative mind just didn’t feel energized enough to actually start the quilt.  So, my idea lay dormant, and the fabric I’d printed up specifically for the politically-themed quilt went into the “stash”, to hang out with the other misfit toys. 

Maybe it’s my disdain for the political system these days that drove me to not want to make a quilt that reflected my political ideas, or maybe, I feel like showing support for those folks who lost loved ones in the Pulse shootings might have a bigger impact in someone’s life than a politically-themed quilt would. 

So, when the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild put out a call for quilts, I felt compelled to respond.  In part, I guess you could say making this quilt is a bit of a political quilt as it expresses my thoughts for the tragic and senseless violence which some folks in our country think is acceptable.  It’s not.  And, I think that kindness, love, and peace can prevail.  And it seems the outpouring of quilts from quilters (I heard there’s about 400+ quilts already) shows that others might think the same.  

 

Some of the words I quilted into the quilt...peace, love, & hope...

And, a lot of this quilt just came so easily – as if I was meant to make it – and someone was meant to receive it.  The pattern for the heart just came to me so quickly that I drafted the pattern in an evening. I quilted them all with modified feathers.

Seven hearts – one for each day of the week to let the recipient know he/she is surrounded by love and caring every day.  And the idea to surround the hearts with a string quilt pattern just seemed to make sense.  And the quilt squared so easily and quickly.  It’s the fastest I’ve ever made a quilt, too. The fact that this quilt came together so quickly leads me to believe there’s something else driving the process.  But, I digress…

 

So, the fabric I created to make a political quilt, still kind of did, but I think the quilt that came out of this will hopefully let one of the victims – or victims' family – know that love can prevail, and that there are good, caring people out there, and that we won’t forget what happened.

Some of the quilting I did in the border.  One side had these flourishes; the other side has words of encouragement.

So, off it goes to Orlando.  I wish it well, and hope the recipient will enjoy it and know that people do care.

 

Linking up with Lorna @ SewFreshQuilts...

Random Musings in the Summertime

Stardate 2016.203.1

Wow, has life been busy lately...  I don’t know where our summer is going, but it’s moving along very quickly.  The hot temperatures aren’t helping much but the tomatoes growing in the backyard.  I guess, though, I’ll take the thought of fresh tomatoes coming on soon over a snowy, blizzardy day.

I have managed to get some quilting time in, and am making some progress on a few items.  Luckily, the basement stays cooler and it’s a great place to hang out and work on quilting while the sun is beating down on the outside world.

The quilting is all done on the columbine quilt!  Hoo-rah!  I finally got the purple thread in that I was waiting for, and got the purple medallions quilted.  I love how this came out!  I think this really helps set off the quilt and adds interest to the outer fringes of the quilt. 

I did a lot of doodling to come up with the design.  I’m surprised how much doodling helps you contain your thoughts and think about the sewing pattern to get what you envision.  Now to stitching on the binding.  I sew the top by machine, then flip it to the back and stitch it by hand.

I know the faster way is to stitch by machine, but I’ve always liked this method – tedious as it is – because it just results in a cleaner look. That’s just my opinion.  We all do what works best for each of us, and that’s O.K.

I’ve made progress on my heart quilt.  I am trying to get this done to send to the Florida Modern Quilt Guild by their September 15^th deadline.  

I thought it’d be more fun to just do one heart in each color and then let the colors stand out for themselves amongst grays and whites.  It took me a while to figure out the math for the square blocks. Sure, I probably could have gone somewhere on the internet and found a cheat sheet, but I wanted to try to understand it for myself.  I knew I wanted a 12” finished square, but I wanted to create four triangles that would comprise the square.  Cut individually, then sewn back together, I needed the piece to finish at 12”.  So, off I went using Pythagorean’s Theorem and figured out the hypotenuse of the triangle, and then figured out the finished height of the strip set I’d be putting together to then cut the triangles.  After stewing on that for a few days, I finally figured it out and off I went.  

I like how the triangle blocks are interacting with the heart blocks and I’m starting to get excited to see the quilt come together. Still quite a bit of sewing to do, and trying to get the placement of the triangles right, but we all try to find even a precious few minutes to do some sewing or block rearranging.  And, those 15 minutes start adding up in progress.  Which reminds me, I think it’s Victoria Findlay Wolfe who challenges all of us to just spend 15 minutes free-piecing.  I’ve started to do that in order to get another quilt going made of scraps that I just can't decide to throw away.  I’ll get some pictures and start sharing that.  Right now, though, the heart quilt is taking priority.

I hope you’re all finding 15 minutes here and there to do some quilting.  Over even just a short time, you can sure see your progress emerge.  

A Finish, Two Hearts, and Progress.

Stardate 2016.182.1

It’s been hot here in Colorado, and with the heat comes the retreat to the basement where the air is cool.  Of course, all that hanging out in the cool air lends itself for some quilting time, until the sun starts retreating and we can pop our heads out of our prairie dog holes and be outside without crisping up like a strip of bacon.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been diligently trying to get at least one quilt finished for entry into one of our local county fairs.  Being part of 4-H as a kid, I still have an enjoyment for the county fairs and to see what others have been busy working on. Plus, you get comments back on your judged quilts, so you can continue to improve your quilting skills.

My finish is the quilt for a wedding, happening in late August.  All complete (well, except for a tag on the back), this one is ready to enter into the fair.  I really like how the border/edges came out in this quilt.  We’d gotten the invites for the wedding and the colors were pink and teal…so, I think the quilt colors will fit in nicely (whew!). 

Finally a finish!  The wedding quilt is ready to go...all it needs is a name and a label on the back.  

 

A close up of some of the quilting.  I was pretty happy with how the quilting turned out.

With the shooting in Orlando, I’d seen on others' blogs that the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild has an effort to collect either quilt squares or an entire quilt to give to victims & their families and possibly have enough to give to first responders.  The incident was a horrible event that we shouldn’t have to keep reliving in this country…so I was inspired to work on some heart blocks, and see if I could make enough to get a quilt made by their deadline of September 15, 2016.  If you’re interested, you can check them out at their website

Orlando Modern Quilt Guild

  

http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

So, here are two blocks I managed to get made.  They’re my own design, using my favorite quilter’s technique (Ruth B. McDowell).  I have to admit, when I made the first one (the red one), it put quite the smile on my face as it felt cheerful.  So, I’m trying to make one in each colorway (red, blue, green, purple, etc…).  Hopefully I can get enough made to get a quilt done for the guild.

And now for progress on the purple & green quilt…I’ve managed to make a fair amount of progress and with a deadline looming, some of the holiday weekend will surely be spent doing some quilting.  You know, some days when your heart just isn’t in it, you just shouldn’t force it.  I forced it not long ago – went down to quilt when my heart really wanted to something else, and the universe let me know it.  I had nothing but tension problems and issues.  Ripped a bunch out and decided to walk away.  After a break, I think I’ll be ready to tackle the rest.  Here’s my current progress…almost done…

Whatever your cause, or whatever your purpose, enjoy what you do and let the smiles warm your face and heart.  It really is amazing to see how much the quilting world puts forth their hearts to so many.  That alone gives me some renewed faith in mankind.  I'm linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts...Ciao!