Winter Greetings

Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season!

Corduroy Quilt #2

I'm loving my corduroy quilt so much, I just had to make another one.  This one is for my son, who moved to his own place last month.  He's a guy who loves the forest, and he's lucky to have a job where he works there everyday.

So we'll need some tree trunks,

And some greens,

Some light shining through the trees, some more browns and greens, and some red maple leaves.  Wa-la!  It's 80 x 77 inches, nice and big.  I think I'll call it, "Corduroy Forest."

Now to tie it before Christmas!

Rocky Roads

Just last night, I was drooling over this "Rocky Road to Kansas" quilt, made in 1930, pictured in Gwen Marston's Liberated String Quilts book.

This book is one of my absolute favorites, for the amazing collection of old string quilts shown.

Grey shot cotton

Some months ago, I made about 150 kite shaped "string" pieces with Victoria's 15 minutes play method.  I was going to use them in a spider web quilt, but then changed my mind.  Ah-hah!  I could use them for a "Rocky Road to Kansas"quilt!  I looked up instructions for the block before I went to bed last night.  

This morning, I woke up to a beautiful "Rocky Road to Kansas" block on the NYC Metro Mod Quilter's blog!  Hmm.  Something must be in the air.   THEN, Nadia at Multicolored Pieces wrote about the "rocky road ahead" in Tunisia.

OK, I got it!  It's time to start this quilt!

They say, "Great minds think alike."  So I'd like some help choosing the setting fabric from your great minds.  Here are several auditions, none that I'm really thrilled with.  Any thoughts on these or other directions would be welcome.  Thank you!!

Kona "Cinnamon"

Olivey Shot Cotton

Vintage Turquoise

Kaffe Fasset Red Chard (generously gifted by Mary K.)

A Kona Green, not sure of the name.

Kaffe Fasset disappearing act

Ho Ho Ho!

Santa Claus has come to town!  I found him at Goodwill, and just couldn't resist.  I think he likes the orphan blocks surrounding him.  Maybe I'll name this quilt, "Santa and the orphan blocks."   Some of these are from my beginning quilt class, six years ago.

Kim got to be the first to tell him about her Christmas list a few weeks ago.  She came all the way from Pokeytown, New York!

Did you ever wonder how large the REAL Santa is?  According to this "life size" rendition, he's about 44" tall and 13" wide.  So THAT'S how he gets down all those chimneys!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who offered sweet comfort and great advice about hand pain.  I'm sorry to hear that so many suffer from the same thing, and glad to read there is help.  Quilt-makers really make a warm, helpful community!

Ouch!

Too much hand-quilting over the weekend.  Now I've got pain in my wrist, at the base of my thumb.  Does anyone have good tips about this?  I don't have numbness or tingling, thank goodness.  And I'm resting it.  Thank you!

Fun with Victoria

Victoria came to Seattle this week, and we got to spend a few days sewing together.  What could be more fun than sewing with friends?!  

On Monday, Buffy (Sally) and I picked her up from the airport and wisked her off to Goodwill for supplies.  Here's the loot, and Victoria and Sally with their purchases.  Sally took her purchases home, and Victoria and I got to work.

Mine on the left, Victoria's on the right.  Victoria had a Christmas quilt in mind, so she collected red and green.   I found two long, narrow curtains in black floral chintz.  I saw wonky Chinese Coins immediately.

54 x 80"

By Wednesday morning, here's what we had!  Then we quickly got dressed headed out to meet up with the Rebels.

The $21 Bathroom Redo

A special visitor is coming tomorrow.  Just the motivation I needed to redo the half-bathroom in my quilting space!   

Here are the "before" photos. 

I didn't want to get out the paint brushes and look for new wallpaper.  Who wants to take that much time away from playing with fabric?  Ah, FABRIC!  Why not?  I measured the upper wall and found I'd need 8 yards.  Hmm, what do I have 8 yards of?  Wa-la!

I stapled it to the walls, and then glued on ribbon to hide the staples.

I busted out the old plastic in these doors and used spring rods to install curtains.

It took me about a day and a half.  And the $21?  That was for the ribbon.

Betcha Can't Make Just One!

Thank you to everyone--quilt makers, historians, cheer leaders and viewers--for making Corduroy Appreciation Day so much fun!  I loved seeing the many creations in corduroy, from the old and well-loved to the new and innovative.

I was so inspired by you all, I couldn't wait to make another one!  My sister-in-law, Bonnie, visited this weekend.  We took one afternoon and built this quilt for her to take home.  Fast and fun!

We started with two blocks--one she had made, and one I had made--from the scraps of my 11-11-11 quilt. 

Then we just started adding strips, round and round.  

Three hours later... Ta-da!  The final piece is about 65" x 50".

  And only a handful of scraps leftover!

Happy Corduroy Appreciation Day!!

The date that most resembles corduroy, 11-11-11, is finally here!

To celebrate, the Corduroy Quilt Enthusiasts have prepared a show for you.  

Click on the links below to see over 30 quilts made from corduroy!   And while you're touring the show, you might like to celebrate the day by wearing corduroy, eating long skinny foods, or recalling your fondest corduroy moments.

 Remember to send your appreciation to our Veterans and their families too!

First, I'll show you my corduroy quilt.  I took the Rebels challenge with the gold and green floral corduroy, added some thrift store clothing and a few bits of yardage.

It's a nice, long size, perfect for a nap on the couch.

Here's a bit of the Rebels challenge fabric.

I used wool batting, tied it with wool yarn...

And backed it with a nice, cozy flannel. 

Now, enjoy the show!

Barbara Brackman's Material Culture

Deb Rowden's Thrift Shop Quilts

Rebels!

Bumblebeans

The Root Connection

Smazoochie

Blue Mountain Daisy

Miki's Fabric Creations

On the Way

Helen No Blog

Scraps and Threadtales

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Quiltdiva Julie

A Needle in a Haystack

Indigo Threads

MO, Broker, My Creative Side

Quilted Under the Influence

Pieced Goods

Good Earth Quilting

The Farmer's Dotter

Feather River Quilts

Jean's Quilting Page

From the Magpie's Nest

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

Save the wales!

Preparing for Corduroy Day!

The fuzz is flying all over the globe! From Australia to Canada, from Europe to all corners of the U.S., quilt makers are preparing their corduroy quilts to show on Corduroy Appreciation Day, 11-11-11.

Check back here on Friday for a list of links that will take you on a show of more than 30 corduroy quilts!

                                                     Save the wales!

The Corduroy Excitement is Building!

There's even a billboard Chattanooga, Tennessee!  Photo sent  by Mary.

The Corduroy Quilt Enthusiasts will be showing over 30 quilts on Corduroy Appreciation Day!  (Anybody got a better name for this group?)     Look for the links here on 11-11-11.

                                 Here's a sneak peek of what will be shown.

Part of Cindy's H quilt

Part of Buffy's Chinese Coins quilt

Part of Miki's pillow.

There's still time to join the party!  Just let me know if you're going to post a corduroy quilt or sewing project -- in any stage of construction -- on 11-11-11.   I'll post a link to your blog.

The Corduroy Appreciation Club has been celebrating since 11-1-11 with 11 days of events.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate than sewing something corduroy!

Corduroy Day is Coming!

Are you preparing a quilt for the big day?


If so, I'll post a link to your blog on 11-11-11, Corduroy Appreciation Day.

Here are the Corduroy Quilt Enthusiasts I've heard from so far:

Smazoochie
Lazy Gal Quilting
Yankee Quilter
HelenNoBlog
The Root Connection
Rebels
Inspired by Antique Quilts
Bumblebeans
Deb Rowden's Thrift Shop Quilts
Fiberliscious
Miki's Fabric Creations

If you plan to post a corduroy quilt--in any stage of construction--on 11-11-11, let me know!  The more the merrier!

Save the wales!  

Go Ahead, Use it!

Home decorator fabric, that is.  Pat Sloan and I talked about using unusual fabrics in quilts on her radio show recently.  Here are some quilts I've made using home dec fabrics.  I started using them because I just love the large prints and textures.  Mine come from thrift stores, but you could use new as well. 

This is the first time I used home dec fabric in a quilt.  The black is an old, faded piece and the border is a thick weave.

The border and sashing are some old curtains from the 1960's or 1970's.  I found them at Goodwill all dusty, but they washed up just fine.

Most of these houses are made of chintz upholstery samples.  The border is a thick brocade.

When I looked for a border for this quilt, this table cloth said, "pick me!"  I had to cut off the 4" long white fringe first. 

This border is another 1970's piece.  Ah, the good old days of "flower power!"

The red print was a large chintz sample, 52 x 52"

The white floral strips are from a remnant I found in Sweden.

Remember, Corduroy Appreciation Day is coming, 11-11-11!  If you plan to post anything corduroy on the big day, let me know.  I'll post links to all of you Corduroy Quilt Enthusiasts!