Rings, Petunias, and Rows

I have a bucket list.

At 53-years old, this is nothing unusual.  I  have a list of places I want to go and things I want to do before the children decide what home I need to go into before I spend what little inheritance they will inherit.  But aside from that bucket list, I also have a bucket list of quilts and other projects I want to make before I pass over to that great guild meeting in the sky.

For quilters like me who tend to be on the semi-professional end of the art (we quilt for ourselves and quilt demos for classes and stores), sometimes our projects tend to lean so much on the professional end that we forget to create just for fun or just because it's something we want to do. A double-wedding ring quilt has been on my list for years and I've never gotten around to making one.

Until now.

Several weeks ago I shared the fabric I had chosen.  I pieced the fabric into strips and then cross cut the strips so that all 416 strips looked like this....

 

I'm using the John Flynn method, so that meant that now I have to go back and take tiny "darts" into the squares.

 

 

I realize that for some "speed piecers" this may seem tedious.  For me, it's mindless sewing that allows me to listen to my audio books.  However, all those tiny, little darts and a freezer-paper pressing guide allow for beautiful arches.

 

 

And these arches snuggle right up to the "melons" and those concave and convex curves sew together easily with puckers or tucks.

 

 











It's a lot of work, but I do think that this bucket list quilt will be gorgeous when I get it finished.

 

I am really behind on my hand applique projects.  That little one-on-one experience between my thumb and the car door really slowed me down.  I sewed my bandage to fabric so many times I just gave up all handwork until I could take the Band-Aids off.  But I did manage to get my second block on the Country Inn finished this week - the Petunia Block.

 

 I was doing straight-up needle turn with this one, but the pieces are so big that I'm switching to freezer paper with the third one.  I really do enjoy these larger pieces of applique.

 

By the way, if you're interested in making the Country Inn Quilt or Quilting the Garden and you haven't purchased your book(s) yet, you may want to head on over to your local quilt store or Amazon.  I've heard through the grapevine that the publishing company that produced both books has been bought out and the new publisher has not committed to republishing either book.

 

Lastly, if you haven't heard, the Row-by-Row Experience has started!  I purchased my first row this week from Dragonfly in High Point.

 

This is a picture of what it will look like.  I hope to start on it this weekend.  I'm kind of proud of it...I had a little input with this row.  Patti Grubb did a marvelous job with this and I think it's really pretty. 

 

I also purchased my license plate.

 

At this point my plan was to list all the stores in North and South Carolina that are participating in the RBR.  However, this year there are so many!  In Guilford County, Calla Lilly, Ye Olde Forest, Studio Stitch, and Dragonfly are involved.  If you want to have the entire list, go to www.rowbyrowexperience.com/north-carolina and www.rowbyrowexperience.com/south-carolina.  There are also Facebook pages for the Row by Rows.  The experience lasts from June 21 through September 8, 2015.  There is a contest.  Create a quilt using at least 8 different rows, be the first person to bring the finished quilt to a participating quilt show and you win 25 fat quarters.  If you've used that shop's row in your quilt, you receive a bonus prize!

 

And let's face it...it's a wonderfully legitimate excuse to visit quilt shops.  Hope to see you at one!

 

Love and Stitches,

 

Sherri

 

 

 

Legacies and Legends

May 29 was my anniversary -- my 32nd wedding anniversary to be exact. 

Thirty-two years is a long time to be with one person.  I've lived with Bill 11 years longer than I lived with my parents and I've now lived longer in my adopted hometown of Jamestown longer than I lived in my actual hometown of Graham.

It doesn't seem possible.  These three decades and some have flown by. In that time we've had children and watched them grow up. In turn we have become grandparents of the two most adorable munchkins ever.  We've had careers of our own and now own our own business.

I guess life is what happens when you're busy...

So, to commemorate 32 years of marriage, I gave my husband this...

It's a lap quilt.  I wish I could say I spent months choosing the pattern and fabrics, but that would be an untruth.  I started this quilt as a charity quilt for my guild, but when Bill saw it, he loved the colors and commented that "I would like to have it.  It matches my den."

So there you have it.  By that point it was already quilted.  I put the binding on, put a label on the back, and gave it to him.  And he loves it.

Isn't that part of what your quilting legacy is?  People loving your quilts? I have written about your electronic quilting footprint and the importance of labeling your quilt, and I have mourned and griped about knowing nothing about the antique quilts in my possession. But that is just part of what you will be leaving behind as quilter.

The other part -- the "heart" part, if you will, is just how much people love the quilts you make and if you've passed the craft on to another generation. 

I've also written about the quilt that started me on this journey -- the simple utilitarian quilt my great-grandmother made.  From what my mom has told me, Grandma Perry would be appalled at my reverence for such a simple quilt.  It wasn't her best work.  But as I sleep under the quilt or refold it, there is a feeling I can't explain, a connection to my past and quilting history that is simply precious to me.

Whether Grandma Perry knows it or not, that is part of her quilting legacy to my generation and hopefully future quilters in our family.

Not every quilt you make will be perfect.  Not every quilt you make will be entered in a quilt show.  Not every quilt you make will win a fist full of ribbons.  But every quilt you make can be an expression of your love.  Quilts have a way of hanging around for decades after it's maker has gone to meet her Maker.  Every quilt can carry that legacy of care and concern and love. 

So yes, it is important who inherits your quilts.  I've always told my children that if my quilts ever end up in a thrift shop or antique store, I would come back and haunt them for the rest of their days in the worst way possible.  While some quilts are made to be used up and loved up, there are certain ones that are meant to be heirlooms and should be treated as such.  That is your right as a quilter to protect your legacy. 

And who knows?  Sometimes these legacies become legends.  Back in the 1800's when Jane Stickle began to make her quilt, I'm sure she had no idea how important that quilt would become to this quilting generation.  But that quilt with it's four-and-a-half inch blocks and kites and triangles has spawned quilt groups, Facebook pages, websites, blogs, books, and software.  In my guild alone there are at least five members who are making this quilt and three who have completed it. 

Dear Jane is a legacy and  a legend. 

Don't think that can't happen to one of your quilts.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

Quarter Inch Importance

Ahhhh the elusive quarter-inch seam. 

Every standard American quilt pattern calls for it, as well as most Australian and European patterns.  It's importance is imperative in order to make blocks consistently come out the correct size.  It's almost taken for granted by most quilters.

But actually achieving it takes some time, practice, and planning.  The right needle position, presser foot, and sewing machine can and will vary.  It's a fact of quilting life. 

There are different feet and tips that can help any quilter achieve a consistent quarter-inch seam allowance.

Let's deal with the feet first.

If you have purchased a machine that was designed with quilters in mind, you probably possess a quarter-inch foot, such as one of these:

My primary piecing sewing machine is my Janome 7700.  These are the O2 feet that come with them.  The black phalange on the right side lines up with the edge of the fabric and when my needle is in the first position, I get a consistent quarter-inch seam.

 

 

If your machine didn't come with a quarter-inch foot, consult your sewing machine dealership or search the internet to see if there is one available that fits your shank (high or low).  It will be money well spent, and they're not too expensive anyway.

 

There is another foot I use when I'm piecing a quilt that has lots of seam intersections, and that's my walking foot.

 

 

As you can see it's a bit larger than a typical foot.  It has a slot underneath the foot where the dual feed device fits in ...

 

This dual feed device literally helps "walk" the foot over the fabric (even thick fabric areas where several seams converge) so that the material doesn't slip and you end up with mismatched seams.  I have friends that only piece with their walking foot. 

 

The problem with this foot is that the quarter-inch mark is not clearly notated on the foot.  The best way to find this spot on any foot is to take a strip of fabric and accurately mark a quarter-inch line away from the edge.  Position this where your needle will intersect with it perfectly and use a Sharpie to mark that spot on your foot. 

 

If you have any doubt that any of your feet are hitting that quarter-inch seam allowance perfectly, there is a way to check it.  Cut three strips of fabric, two light and one dark, exactly an inch-and-a-half wide.

Sew them together with the dark strip in the middle.  Press the seams towards the dark strip.

Now measure the center strip.  At this point, the center strip should measure exactly one inch wide.

 

If it doesn't, you can play with your needle positions.  Even the most basic sewing machines should be able to move your needle position to the left.  My Janome can move my needle several different ways -- right, left, and center.

When you find that spot on your presser foot, be sure to mark it and make note of your needle position.

 

If your quilts contain lots and lots of pieces where seams have to match and  points can't be cut off, you may also want to invest in a walking foot.

 

There is another quarter-inch seam that is sometimes called for in some quilt patterns and that is the scant quarter-inch seam.  This means that it's not quite a whole quarter-inch seam.  It's a thread or two short of that amount. 

 

How do you know if you need to use a scant quarter-inch or a regular quarter-inch seam?  Sometimes the pattern will tell you.  If the fabric used is thick, a scant quarter-inch seam will probably be needed. And the more pieces a quilt block has, the better the chance that you need to use a scant quarter-inch seam.  But sometimes, you have to make the first block to find out.  If you make the block and it comes up short of the unfinished size required, make it again using a scant quarter-inch.  Press the block and re-measure.  If it's the exact unfinished size required (the size needed for each block before they're all sewn together in the quilt), then a scant quarter-inch is needed.  And you probably want to make a note of that on your quilt pattern for future reference. 

 

If you've done all this, and your block is still a smidge too small, try pressing all the seams open.  It will give you an additional 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch. 

 

All of this gives grounds to the argument that everyone should make a sample block out of scraps and measure it before proceeding to use the actual fabric intended for the quilt.

 

There is a scant quarter-inch foot.

 

This foot is called the "Little Foot." I don't think it comes with any sewing machine.  It can be ordered through the Big Foot website.  You have to know if your machine is a high shank or low shank and that information is usually found in your sewing machine manual.  Janomes and Pfaffs take a special type that is indicated as a low shank for Pfaffs, Janomes, and other machines that use snap-on feet. 

 

This foot is worth every penny.

 

And please remember, anything I promote in my blog, I do so because I use it and like it.  I am not recompensed in any way from any company.

 

Speaking of...Nancy's Notions has a really great seam guide out.

 

 It helps with all seam sizes and button holes.  You may want to grab one of these jewels.

Getting My Tops On....

For those of you who worked on At Piece with Time with me, I got my center together week before last...

I really like the way the teal setting triangles and squares made the blocks pop.  I am looking for a coral color for the inner border and already have my outer border fabric.  I'll go fabric shopping next week.  But I'm very pleased that this part is complete.

Now, those of you that know me or have followed my blog for awhile know that about three years ago, I undertook a Jane Journey.  Several of us at Dragonfly's Tuesday Night Sit and Sew decided to make a Dear Jane Quilt.  Of that group, two have completely finished and I'm coming in a distant third.  Every week, for at least one day a week, I would complete at least one Dear Jane block.  Some weeks I would do two or more if the blocks were easy.  When I would go on a trip, I would pack several of the blocks that required applique. 

So here it is, a good three years  and 169 4.5 x 4.5-inch blocks later, I have my center.

My Jane is made out of feedsack reproduction fabric.  I'm not hype on the Civil War reproduction fabric that is normally used.  It's a little too dark for my liking.  I have started working on the kites and triangles for the border, but that work, like the blocks will be slow and steady.

For those of you that have been so kind as to ask, my cold is better.  I'm still a little congested, but overall I feel much better.  And the thumb that had the up close and personal experience with my car door is better too.  It's just about completely healed.  I don't even wear the bandage any longer at home.  The nail has just got to grow out a little more.

Next week I hope to have a completed quilt to show you. 

Until then, Love and Stitches...

Sherri

Your Quilting Footprint

I caught a cold this week.

A terrible, awful, very bad cold from my granddarlings.

I'm on the mend today (Saturday), but I have not felt well since Tuesday.  Finally after gallons of chicken soup and tons of cold meds later, I am better.  However, since my days this week consisted of  just getting what work I needed to get done accomplished and face-planting into the bed, I haven't had time to take pictures and edit them.  I really am disappointed because I finished two tops that I would really like to show you.

Hopefully next week....fingers crossed.

Instead I'd like to talk about your quilting footprint. 

As quilters, we all know how important it is to document your quilt.  Labels are extremely important.  And if you're not labeling your quilts stop reading right now and get busy labeling. If you've read my blogs about my antique quilts, one of the issues that I lament over is that none of them have a label. 

None.

I purchased each of the quilts at consignment or thrift shops.  Before I handed over the cash, I always asked about the history of the quilt. One of the ladies at one of the consignment shop even called the current owner for me and put me on the phone with him.  Unfortunately, the only thing he remembered was that the quilt was made by a great-aunt from Northern Virginia and he couldn't even remember her full name.  All that quilting history -- lost.  It's just so sad.  Quilters put so much energy and heart into their quilts and for years never considered what they did significant enough to document it in any way.

So please, on that label, put your full name, your location, who the quilt is meant for, the date, and pattern used.  It will help so much in the future.  If you don't believe me, Google your state's quilt documentation.  Back in the 1970's and 1980's (and even beyond that in some states), groups of quilters got together with Quilt Symposiums and the National Associations and called for quilters and families to bring in their quilts.  They did this in order to assemble a quilt history for each state.  If you're into history, this is a fascinating study not only in quilts, but in textiles. 

But boy, was it challenging.  The internet was still in its infancy then, if it existed at all in some circumstances. 

And that's what I want to discuss today.  The internet.  Like it, love it, or hate it, it's here to stay.  All of us -- no matter how computer illiterate some folks are -- leave an electronic foot print.  Whether it's medical records, email, or Facebook, electronically we will live forever in cyberspace.

Some people think this is not the best thing -- that some folks are too attached to their cell phones and Ipads and now their Apple Watch.  Most days I honestly wish I could fling my cell phone off the highest cliff.  But then again, I don't miss those days when I would come home from work and would spend a half an hour wading through phone messages on my answering machine before I started dinner.  I figure that the internet is kind of like cable TV.  I'm just old enough to remember when cable TV first came out and everyone it seemed condemned it. From pastors in the pulpit to the guy that delivered your newspaper, it seemed everyone thought it would be the end of family time and decency.  I mean, you were going to be able to get those trashy movies that should be only shown at the theater beamed right into your den on your TV set!

Look how far we've come.  We're able to get classic old movies, cooking shows, do-it-yourself TV, and even quilting shows.  So cable wasn't all evil and neither is the internet. 

As far as quilting goes, I believe that the internet is a quilter's greatest tool.   Between YouTube and quilting forums, any question can be answered and  pattern or fabric can be found.  But it's also a great documentation tool.  And that's what I would love for every quilter with internet access to begin to think about. 

There's only so much information a quilter can put on a label, or your label gets to big.  If you're putting your quilts on your Facebook page or a quilting forum, you can add so much more  information.  You can tell where the fabrics are purchased, how much you paid for them, how long each step took, why you chose the pattern and the colors, what the quilt means to you and why you decided to give it to a certain person.

So much -- so very, very much -- quilting documentation that can live on forever in cyberspace.  Imagine what it would mean to your grandchildren and they're children if they can find your quilt on line in years to come and learn what that quilt meant to you.

What I wouldn't give if I could know these things about my great-grandmother's quilts. 

We use the internet for everything else, from recipes to real estate purchases.  There's no reason not to use it in quilt documentation. It's quick.  It's easy.  And it will last.

So have a Nike moment and  just do it.

The Trouble with Robins and Math

My guild hosts a Round Robin.

And it's awesome.  It's a fun thing and it's something that I firmly believe that every semi-serious quilter needs to do at least once during her quilting tenure.  It's challenging on several levels.  First, the design may not be one of your favorites.  But it's the other quilter's idea, not yours and you've got to contribute in some positive way to that design.  Second, you may not like the colors.  But it's not your quilt, and your preference doesn't matter.  Somehow you have to come up with a complementing design and work with what you're given.  The last three Round Robins I worked on had nary a scrap of purple, but hey, I made it work.  Third, and most challenging to a lot of folks, is that there is no pattern for a Round Robin, whether that Robin is a Row-by-Row or a Border Round Robin.  You have to study the overall design of the quilt and come up with a design idea that works with the theme of the quilt and then make sure it fits.

If the quilter has an Electronic Quilt program and knows how to work with it, a lot of the third challenge is dealt with.  You can put in the perimeters, search the border library, find it, and print out the rotary cutting, templates, or foundation piecing directions in a point-and-click minute. However, not all quilters have the software, so you have to learn to do the math.  I also firmly believe that even if you have an EQ program, you need to learn to do the math.

And here's where a good many quilters freeze up.  Either they aren't comfortable with the math or they're not sure about exactly how to do the math.  Let's look at the Round Robin I received for our June Guild Meeting:

This is my friend, Shelli's, quilt.  She did the medallion in the center and since our guild's is a Border Round Robin, each person put on a border.  Linda, the  Chief-Robin in charge of the Round Robin program, has rules for each border added on.  Each border has to be a specified width and each border must have certain blocks.  By the time I got Shelli's quilt, I had the last border, which had to be 7 1/2-inches wide and had to incorporate triangles and rectangles.

One of the rules that I have for myself, is that I have to begin working on the Robin the same week I get it -- that way I don't wait until the last minute and half-heartedly throw something together.  The owner deserves my best and I like to plan.  Seven-and-a-half inches is a wide border, so the first thing I did was try to divide it into portions that would please the eye and not overwhelm the fabrics.  So I decided to sew on 2-inch floaters and then the main portion of the borders would be 5 1/2-inches.  Shelli had put a lot of fabric in her box, but then again, I was the last Robin member who got her box.  I was down to scraps.  So my floaters became opposing colors and I had to piece them. 

The first Robin member who got Shelli's quilt used snowballs and squares to surround the center medallion.  Since the snowball block uses triangles, I decided to echo that again in off-set corners and to add rectangles. 

Now the fun part sets in.  I had to do the maths.

Math doesn't bother me too much.  I taught chemistry and physics to high school students at one point in my life.  Formulas and decimals don't fluster me too much. 

Converting them into fractions -- which is what quilters deal with -- does.  So let me introduce you to my little friend...

It's a Quilters FabriCalc.  It can figure wonderful things like how many half-square triangles you need for a quilt, how long your drop needs to be, how big your quilt needs to be for an odd-sized mattress.  It's about the neatest quilting tool I have.  But the thing I like the most....

See that little forward slash button?  That converts any number into a fraction.

Joy and rapture.

Now before you go Googling to see where you can purchase one of these little jewels, let me add something here.  If you have a Smart Phone, there is an app for this.  And it's far less expensive than what I paid for my FabriCalc in the days before Smart Phones.

Okay...so here we go with addition and division folks.  The quilt, when it came into my possession, measured 37 1/2" x  37 1/2" That. Was. Horrible.  See, 37 is a prime number -- a number divisible only by itself and the number one.  I hate primes in quilting because then you get funky numbers like 23 1/32 or 12 1/16.  Seriously?  My science background pushes me to be very precise and here's where I get into trouble -- you can't get real precise with 32nds and 16ths in quilting because they're not marked on the rulers or the cutting mats.  So you have to be comfortable rounding up.

I went ahead and made my 2-inch floaters, cutting them at 2 1/2 inches to allow for 1/4-inch seam allowances.  I added them and this brought the quilt to 41-inches square.  Again with the primes...oy-vey.

So I decided on making three 5 1/2-inch square snowball blocks, separating them by 5 1/2-inch blocks of fabric on the right and left sides.  I would then need to fill the rest of the 17-inch space with rectangles.  This is where I began to play with numbers as to what would look nice.  I finally decided that four 4 1/4 x 5-inch rectangles would work nicely.  This was a subjective decision.  I could have gone smaller or bigger, but I thought these measurements would like the best against a 5 1/2-inch square or snowball. 

Now, please remember this as you may be working with the maths on your quilt.  When you're figuring out what to do, do not figure the seam allowances until last. So the 4 1/4 x 5-inch rectangle is the finished measurements.  I had to add a half-inch to each measurement to allow for seam allowances before I cut them out.  So I had to cut out four 4 3/4 x 5 1/2-inch rectangles (4 1/4 + 1/2 = 4 3/4 and 5 + 1/2 = 5 1/2). 

Before I sewed the rectangles on to the snowball units, I sewed varying widths of rectangles onto them from the scraps in Shelli's box.  So the left and right sides ended up looking like this....

Now to work with the top and bottom borders.  Measuring the quilt one more time (and remember, you always measure across the middle  of your quilt to be the most accurate), I found out that it was now 51-inches across.

I swear I couldn't pay to escape prime numbers on this quilt.  Shelli better be glad I love her....

This time I did a six-unit fabric and snowball block, keeping with the 5 1/2-inch squares because they were going to join up in the opposing corner.  This unit finished at 26 3/8-inches, which left me an empty design space of 24 5/8-inches.  I needed to keep the rectangles in this area as close to the 4 1/4 x 5-inch rectangles as I could so that everything blended well together.  However the 4 1/4 x 5-inch rectangles would not work.  So instead of four rectangles, I decided to use six.  24 5/8 divided by 6 equals 4 1/8.  Add a half an inch for seam allowances and you come up with a 4 5/8 x 5 1/2-inch rectangle.  So I cut six of these, added the scrappy rectangles randomly and sewed them on the top and bottom.

Since the rectangles' measurements are a little different, this does mean that you have to learn to live with this:

The corners do not exactly meet in the opposing corner settings.  They're off slightly a little over 1/4-inch.  However, the background fabric (white) is the same in all the blocks, so unless you're looking right at it, it's not that noticeable.  Plus Shelly is fabulous on her long-arm and I'm sure she would be the first to tell you "That will quilt right out..."

So there is a moral or two to the blog this week.

1.  At some point, try a Round Robin.  Even if it's just a few of your quilting friends that do it informally, give it shot.  It will really help you grow as a quilter.

2.  Be considerate of your Round Robin members.  Don't wait until the last minute to work on their quilt.

3.  Be mindful of any Round Robin Rules.

4. Don't be afraid of the math.
As I always told my chemistry and physics students, numbers are your friends.  They don't lie and they don't bite. At least not hard.  Words have far more bite.

Love and Stitches my Robins,

Sherri

Getting There...

Just wanted to share a few pictures with you this week.  My new sewing room has been a loooonnngggggggggggg on-going transformation from a rec room to a quilt studio.  Well at least it used to be a rec room and then it transformed into a bedroom for my son.  When Matt moved out, Bill claimed it for his den.

When he offered it to me for a studio, he didn't have to ask twice.  It's the largest room in the house, as it is the full width of the house.  Actually getting my husband to vacate his den took a little longer than expected, but he has finally moved his golf and fishing and photography stuff out and we're now in the process of painting the ceiling and the walls.

I need to pick out lighting and a new floor.  I have some cabinets in mind, so if everyone can work with my deadlines, I hope to be in by the end of June.

I'll keep you posted.