Quilting is in my Blood

When I visited California in June, I had the privilege of seeing some vintage quilts. My cousin, Sally, had a quilt that was made from a quilt top that was found in a trunk belonging to my great-grandmother, Eliza Hannamon Thompson, who may or may not have made the quilt top around 1890. My Aunt Lois Blakely Scott (Sally’s mother) was given the quilt named Signature or Album in 1999 by her cousin, Merle Jackson, who did not think Eliza made the quilt top “because she would have finished the quilt.” I’m thinking that Merle perhaps was NOT a quilter because I know from personal experience that not all quilt tops become finished quilts!

Lois removed the appliqued Rose of Sharon block from the center of the quilt top and placed it on the back of the quilt, and then she constructed another Signature block to replace the center block from an unfinished border. Finally Lois and other members of the Willamalane Senior Center hand-quilted the quilt.

Below is a close up of some of the blocks on the front. If you look carefully at the second block in the first column, you can see that this block was repaired, and the first block in the second column was also repaired. We are not sure when the repairs were made or by whom. There are a few other mended blocks throughout the quilt which just adds to its character. It’s also a good reminder to not worry so much about perfection.

 

Here is a close up of the quilt label that my Aunt Lois made and attached to the back of the quilt:

I also visited my friend, David, in Monterey. We hadn’t seen each other in 30 years since I moved to New Mexico to go to grad school. David has developed an interest in vintage quilts and I was able to see this lovely Yo-Yo quilt at his house:

He also shared photos of two other quilts with me. David is holding the Dresden Plate quilt in the pic below, and he also sent me a photo of a quilt with lovely embroidered holiday blocks.

When I visited my niece, Mary Frances, in Michigan in March, she brought out a quilt that my mom made for her in the 1980s. The binding is totally frayed, so I told her that I would re-bind it for her. The quilt measures 47″ x 62″.

The photo below shows a frayed edge and also two pink fabrics that I pulled from my mom’s stash to make new binding for this quilt that is special to my niece.

Even though I consider myself to be more of a modern quilter, I absolutely love all these traditional quilts. Quilting has such a rich history, and many of us are lucky enough to have some precious heirloom quilts. I hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing creations.

I am so happy to share that my Rainbow Cheetah Quilt is done! The finished quilt measures 70″ x 80″. I added extra background fabric to Violet Craft’s Cheetah Abstractions pattern to make this quilt fit on my bed. In Violet’s pattern, she gives options for both a traditionally colored cheetah in various shades of brown and also a rainbow version using 32 Kona colors. I used my Kona solids swatch cards and matched prints from my stash, and some were closer matches than others!

When I was at QuiltCon in February, I visited Violet’s booth and fell in love with her version on the rainbow cheetah quilt which measured 48″ x 60″. The photo below shows Violet in her booth with her amazing quilt behind her.

Rebecca Grace did the quilting for my rainbow cheetah using a variegated Cleopatra 40 weight thread with a Wildfire quilting pattern. I emailed Rebecca soon after I returned from QuiltCon, and she agreed to do the quilting for me after I pieced the cheetah pattern, and we set a tentative date in May for me to finish the quilt top and send it off to her. In the meantime, Rebecca made a big decision to do longarm quilting on a part-time basis for a store in Naples, Florida and to actually reclaim her evenings and weekends for herself! Please read the details about her big decision here. Even though I am sad that I won’t be able to send any more quilts to Rebecca for her to work her magic on them, I am totally supportive of her choice to have better work/home balance. Life is too short to spend far more time working than with her loved ones and her own creative ventures. And I’m thrilled that our final collaboration was on my rainbow cheetah quilt. If you can, please enlarge the photo below to see the beautiful thread and how it just glows with the Wildfire quilting pattern, bringing out all the rainbow colors in the quilt. Thank you, Rebecca, for all the amazing quilting you’ve done for me the past several years.

Here’s one more pic of the quilt. Literally one minute after I first put it on my bed, my cat, Sunny, had to jump on the bed and pose with the quilt! She obviously thinks she is the better looking feline!

Linking up to Quilting Jetgirl: Favorite Finish June 2024.

May was another productive month, and I accomplished most of my goals (see April 2024 Recap here). The secret sewing was for a trip to California 5/31/24-6/10/24 where I visited family and friends in Sacramento, the Bay Area, and in Monterey. I made four log cabin heart blocks and appliqued them on sweatshirts for my cousin McKenzie (seen below with her son while we were playing the dice game, Qwixx), her mom Sally, my friend, Jeanne (seen in second photo below), and my sister-in-law, Sharon.

The log cabin heart pattern is by Liza Taylor Handmade and was available to purchase as part of The Paper Piecers membership. Here is a link to the waiting list to the Paper Piecers Membership that will re-open in July.

Modern Star Swap

I finished making all the blocks for the  #modernstarswap hosted by @mashemodern on Instagram. The centers were fussy cut, and we were asked to used fabrics by popular designers. I made five sets of 10 blocks each (plus an extra block for me) and used fabrics by Alison Glass, Giucy Giuce, and Tula Pink. I look forward to receiving 50 fussy cut sawtooth blocks by other makers. It will be fun to see which blocks can be grouped for various projects. I have several ideas in mind that I will share down the road.

Rainbow Cheetah Quilt Top

I finished piecing  my version of Violet Craft’s Rainbow Cheetah quilt top and sent it off to Rebecca at Rebecca Grace Quilting. I’ve received it back and have finished the quilt but still need to take photos of it and write a blog post about it.

Star Pulse QAL

I was able to get my Star Pulse quilt finished and sent off to be a “Mercyful Quilt” for Mercy Hospital Hospice program in Sacramento, CA. Read more about this quilt here.

Fussy Fuel BOM and Scrappy Projects

I have decided to prioritize other quilting projects, so I have put my Fussy Fuel blocks and scrappy projects on hold for now.

What’s Up for June?

• Write a post about my Rainbow Cheetah finished quilt.
• Work on a baby quilt.
• Cut some more color gradient scraps.
• Start a Color Burst Wall Hanging.
• Work on a Sashiko project.

Linking up to Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday.

My favorite finish in May is my version of the Star Pulse quilt. Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl wrote the pattern and hosted the quilt along. I used all Alison Glass prints from her Crysanthemum collection and a charcoal cross-weave fabric to outline the stars. I made the lap size quilt which measures 60″ x 60″.

Here is a closer look at the center of the quilt:

The quilting was done by Cara at Sew Colorado Quilting. The simple edge-to-edge quilting pattern is Star Spangled Allover, and the thread is Desert Sunset. I love how the thread blends in with most of the quilt but shows up nicely in the purple triangles and corner squares. I used the same purple Canvas in Eggplant fabric for the binding.

I pieced the back with coordinating Kona solids.

Here’s a close-up of the purple Kona solid on the back that shows off the pretty quilting with the Desert Sunset thread.

April was another busy month. I’m super happy that I was able to finish paper piecing the units for Violet Craft’s Rainbow Cheetah and was able to get all the units sewn together for the head.

In contrast to the large scale paper piecing of the Cheetah Abstraction quilt, I decided to make a much smaller scale quilted Fairy Wren, pattern by The Tartankiwi. I downloaded this paper-pieced pattern several years ago, and decided to make one for my friend, Kelly, who lives in Kentucky, and one to keep. Below is the Fairy Wren that I kept for myself. The blocks were 6.5″ unfinished. After matchstick quilting, I cut them down to 5.75″ square. I wanted mitered corners, so I attached a one-inch binding strip referring to Twiggy and Opal’s mini mini binding tutorial, but rather binding the mini, I taped the binding strip to the back of a 6.25″ square of acid-free card stock using acid free masking tape. Then I inserted it into a trivet frame I had on hand when I used to make mosaics.

I actually took Kelly’s Fairy Wren with me for my trip to Kentucky, but I took a circuitous route to KY by way of Florida! My friend, Annette, who lives near Orlando, is originally from Kentucky, and was interested in going with me to her home state to show me around. We opted to drive her nice, very comfortable car from FL to KY rather than flying into Kentucky and getting a rental car. Anyway, when I was up at 4:00 am (after about five hours of sleep!) consolidating my luggage for the car trip to KY, I left both the Fairy Wren AND my appliqued hummingbird sweatshirt in the smaller suitcase that I left back in Florida. Ugh! Did I ever feel like a dork! It’s been too warm to wear the sweatshirt, so here’s a pic of it pinned to my design board. The pattern is by Liza Taylor Handmade and was available to purchase as part of The Paper Piecers membership. Here is a link to the waiting list to the Paper Piecers Membership that will re-open in July.

I had a great time in both Florida and Kentucky. I had a short-but-sweet visit with my friend, Kelly, who I hadn’t seen since we were in our twenties. Annette also took me on a tour to Mammoth Caves and drove me to Paducah for the American Quilter’s Society quilt show which was amazing. Annette’s nephew took us for a bourbon tour/tasting and also to watch some races at Churchill Downs which was gearing up for the Kentucky Derby on 5/4/24. Below is a pic of Annette and me at the American Quilter’s Society quilt show.

It was quite crowded at the quilt show and was difficult to get good photos of the amazing quilts. Cassandra Beaver with The Not So Dramatic Life recently wrote a post about some of the quilts that she liked which included two of my favorites: River/Rocks/Fire by Betsy Kulamer and Convergence by Barbara Triscari and Christine McCann. See Cassandra’s post below:

5+ Spectacular Can’t-Miss Quilts From the AQS Paducah Show

Modern Star Swap

I am participating in the “modernstarswap hosted by @mashemodern on Instagram. The centers are supposed to be fussy cut, and we have been asked to used fabrics by popular designers. I’m making five sets of 10 blocks each (plus an extra block for me) and am using fabrics by Alison Glass, Giucy Giuce, and Tula Pink. Below is a sample block I made to post on Instagram (@MRINGER58).

Fussy Fuel BOM

I decided not to redo my 6.5″ square Block Four for Geeky Bobbin’s Fussy Fuel 2024 Block of the Month. I am using Alison Glass fabrics for this BOM that is focused on learning new fussy cutting techniques.. The reason I wasn’t happy with it is because I had planned to also use the purple fabric as sashing between my blocks, and I don’t think I would’ve liked that look with block below. But I’ve decided to use the blocks in a table runner and won’t need to use sashing to separate the blocks. Overall I’m happy with the block and like how it looks like we’re looking out a window at the girl in the lower right corner.

Scrappy Projects

I did not work on any Modern Postage Stamp blocks nor my dryer sheet block. The designated color for April was yellow, and when I looked at my yellow fabric stash, I found it sorely lacking. However, that problem has been remedied with a Fat Quarter Shop order. They have an unbelievable selection of yellow fabrics. They also have a nice selection of Alison Glass fabrics that I may or may not have added to my stash 🙂

What’s Up for May?

• Finish my Star Pulse Quilt Along quilt top.
• Finish my Rainbow Cheetah quilt top.
• Make 54 more Modern Star Swap blocks.
• More secret sewing.
• Make a dryer sheet block with yellow fabrics for the April color for Rainbow Scrap Challenge .
• Make a dryer sheet block with pink fabrics for the May color for Rainbow Scrap Challenge .

My favorite finish in April is a quilted Fairy Wren, pattern by The Tartankiwi. I downloaded this paper-pieced pattern several years ago, and decided to make one for my friend, Kelly, who lives in Kentucky, and one to keep. Below is the Fairy Wren that I kept for myself. The blocks were 6.5″ unfinished. After matchstick quilting, I cut them down to 5.75″ square. I wanted mitered corners, so I attached a one-inch binding strip referring to Twiggy and Opal’s mini mini binding tutorial, but rather binding the mini, I taped the binding strip to the back of a 6.25″ square of acid-free card stock using acid free masking tape. Then I inserted it into a trivet frame I had on hand when I used to make mosaics.

I got a lot done in the first quarter of 2024 including participating in the Stay at Home Round Robin 2024 hosted by Quilting Gail, completing three Project Quilting Season 15 Challenges, attending QuiltCon 2024 and writing a post about a number of my favorite quilts, making some blocks for the Fussy Fuel 2024 Block of the Month, cutting up a boatload of scraps for future projects, making some modern postage stamp blocks and Rainbow Scrap Challenge dryer sheet blocks, making a Mod Modern Mosaic Covered in Love block, and making some Stitch-and-Flip units for the Star Pulse QAL hosted by Quilting Jetgirl. I also started paper piecing units for my rainbow version of Violet Craft’s Cheetah Abstractions Quilt. See my January, February, and March recap posts for more information about these projects.

What’s on Deck for Quarter Two of 2024

• Applique a paper pieced block to a grey sweatshirt and hopefully like it enough to wear to the American Quilter’s Society quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky, at the end of the month.
• Finish Quilting Jetgirl’s Star Plus Quilt Along quilt.
• Finish my Rainbow Cheetah Quilt.
• Make 50 sawtooth star blocks for a Modern Star block swap.
• Start a Baseball Star quilt for a friend who also loves baseball.
• Start a baby quilt for a friend’s baby due in August possibly using an Alison glass Postmark Panel.
• Work on some Geeky Bobbin Fussy Fuel 2024 Block of the Month blocks.
• Work on a Sashiko Japanese tea mat in different shades of purple.
• Make more modern postage stamp blocks.
• Make more Rainbow Scrap Challenge dryer sheet blocks.
• Make a couple paper pieced blocks from patterns through the Liza Taylor Handmade’s Paper Piecers Membership. I think I will use the two gardening blocks for a bag or a bucket pouch.
• Do some more secret sewing.

Linking up to #2024QuiltingQ1CheckIn.

I’ve had a productive month. Not in any particular order, here’s what I was able to get done in March:

I made one 12.5″ x 15.5″ Mod Modern Mosaic Covered in Love block. This block will be used in a Covered in Love donation quilt for hospice patients in Texas.

I finished my SAHRR 2024 quilt top in the time for the quilt parade. Read about it here.

I made 16 purple blocks for a Rainbow Modern Postage Stamp Quilt that will probably be bumped to 2025. I also made a purple dryer sheet block:

In March I participated in one Project Quilting challenge: Wearables.

I was really tempted to participate in the last 2024 Project Quilting challenge: Irish Chain. I found a You Tube video for an adorable Irish Chain block using Art Gallery Fabrics Lambkin fabric, but I used up that fabric for the back of Christmas placemats last year. I did, however, find a half yard on sale on Etsy for $6.00, so I think I will be be making a cover for the dorm refrigerator in my quilting space for this coming Christmas.

I got the HSTs sewn for my Star Pulse quilt-along project in earlier this month and then used them in the Stitch-and-Flip units pictured below:

I did make Block 4 for Geeky Bobbin’s Fussy Fuel 2024 Block of the Month. I haven’t taken a photo of it because I think I’m going to remake it.

The project that I’ve been working on that I am most excited about is the Violet Craft’s Rainbow Cheetah. I bought the pattern at QuiltCon and have already spent quite a few hours organizing and labeling templates, pulling fabrics, and starting to sew the paper-pieced units. Below is a pic of one of the charts I’m using to organize the fabrics that I’m using on a set of FPP units.

Lastly I wrote a QuiltCon 2024 Recap post that is linked here.

What’s Up for April?

• Make more progress on my Star Pulse Quilt Along project hosted by Quilting Jetgirl.
• Re-make Fussy Fuel block 4.
• Continue working on Rainbow Cheetah FPP units.
• Applique a Double Woven Star Quilt Block to a grey sweatshirt to wear at the AQS quilt show next month in Paducah, Kentucky.
• Do some secret sewing.
• Make a dryer sheet block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (color unknown at this time).
• Write a #2024QuiltingQ1CheckIn post for the linky party hosted by Quilting Jetgirl.

Linking up to:

Quilt Schmilt: To-Do Tuesday

When I was going to sew on my sixth border, it became obvious to me that the middle of the quilt was shorter (about 29″ long)  than the fifth borders (about 30″). And I’ll be honest, I knew exactly what had happened. In the very first quilt class I took in 2014, I was trained to calculate the correct length of a border by measuring the length of the two outside edges and the middle of the quilt, and using the average of the three measurements to figure out how long to cut the border strip. And this also applies to the horizontal borders too. See this post for a more detailed explanation of the process. But I was lazy and calculated my borders and sashing strips simply by measuring the previous border or sashing strip.

So I ripped out the white sashing strip between my fourth and fifth borders and correctly calculated the length of that sashing strip. I had to shorten the fifth border by trimming down some of the print fabric. After I added the sixth border (which believe it or not was too short and I had add one-inch coping strips at the top and bottom of each border), I calculated measurements for the outer borders. Because everything still wasn’t perfectly lined up, these borders were a pain to sew on. I had to pin the heck out of them and do a lot of easing of the fabric, but overall, I’m happy with this finished quilt top that measures 33.5″ x 57″. I will send it out for quilting which help it lay flatter, and I believe it will look nice on my pressing table (when I’m not pressing anything!) during the holiday season.

Here are the previous posts I wrote about this project:

Center Block

Border 1

Border 2

Border 3

Border 4

Border 5

Border 6

I absolutely enjoyed participating in the Stay at Home Round Robin for the third year in a row. See my finished SAHRR 2023 here and SAHRR 2022 here.

Linking up to Quilting Gail: SAHRR 2024 Quilt Parade.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at QuiltCon 2024 last month in Raleigh, NC. The quilts below all caught my eye for one reason or another. I will at least write a sentence about each one. I have the photo of the quilts on the left side and the artist’s statement on the right. Click on the images to enlarge them.

The Quilts of Jacquie Gering

I am a huge fan of Jacquie Gering and had the opportunity to take a walking foot class from Jacquie in 2017 at the Hip Stitch quilt store in Albuquerque. It was hands down the best quilting class I’ve ever taken. I’m only including two of her quilts in this post, but every single one was memorable and thought-provoking. I had a very personal connection to the Missing Pieces quilt below as I have a family member who is currently suffering from memory issues.

The quilt below beautifully depicts how the COVID19 pandemic affected all of us.

Windham Artisan Cotton 2024 Challenge

In this category, I was very taken with David Owen Hasting’s Azami Thistle quilt. The quilting is phenomenal, and I loved the message, “when in doubt, take something out.” That’s wisdom I can apply to many areas of my life.

I really liked the organic quality of this Oysters quilt:

The last quilt that popped for me in the this category, is Pop! (pun intended 🙂

Improvisation

The front of the quilt below is awesome, but I was also taken with the back of the quilt.

Use of Negative Space

This Enough quilt is so elegant in its simplicity.

MQM Maximalism Exhibit

In stark contrast to the category above, this quilt had the most brilliant use of fabric selvedges that I have ever seen!

Group & Bee Quilts

I would have loved to gone to that quilt retreat in the Montana mountains!

Applique

I don’t think I will ever forget the quilt below.

Best Machine Quilting

I knew that Yvonne with Quilting Jetgirl had submitted her Cloudy Night Sky quilt to the QuiltCon Quilt Show, but I had no idea that it had won the award for Best Machine Quilting. Read her post about this wonderful award here. Below are four photos of the quilt. The first is the quilt itself, the second is Yvonne’s Artist Statement, the third is a shot taken with Yvonne, her best friend, Cheryl, with Meadow Mists Designs, Yvonne’s mom, and me. The last pic is of my friend, Laura, and me with this lovely quilt. Laura is not a quilter (though she is an artist who uses a variety of mediums), but she decided to join me in Raleigh for a nice long weekend visit. She lives in Philadelphia, which isn’t all that far from Raleigh and is much closer than New Mexico! It was so great getting caught up with her and being able to visit in a leisurely manner.