Antique Quilt Photo Shoot

I had the pleasure of finishing another antique family quilt top for Mr. Landis.

The colors were so lovely, and the quilt so nicely designed and constructed that it deserved a photo shoot.  (OK, I'll admit it - I believe that every quilt deserves its own photo shoot!)

According to Mr. Landis's careful historical records, the quilt was stitched sometime around 1880.  He's right on the money as far as I'm concerned; his family records match my conclusions after I compared the fabrics in the quilt with the photos in my Dating Fabrics book: 

I debated and debated about how I should finish the quilt.  Since it is a c. 1880 quilt and was pieced by hand, machine quilting was out of the question.  I really wanted to do it justice and had planned to hand quilt it with a large utility stitch, 

but at the last minute I saw this quilt at an antique fair and concluded that simply knotting it might be be acceptable after all.

I used Hobb's 100% wool batting and knotted it with perle cotton #5.

As always, it's oh so important to document these antique quilts for future generations.

I thought this quilt was absolutely beautiful, so some of these pictures are for my own enjoyment and remembering.

:)

(Thanks, Linda, for suggesting this lovely spot at the college for photographing my quilts, and for tipping me off as to the perfect time of day when the lighting is best!)

Zip Pouch for a Project

In preparation for some vacation stitching next month, I made this zip pouch to hold my EPP stars as I work on them.  I figure I will be working on these for a loooong time, so it was worth making a pouch specifically for for the project!

Here's a view of the back.

I stitched the stars using the EPP method, appliqued them to the body of the pouch, then machine quilted it with my walking foot, spacing the lines 1/4" apart.  The body of the pouch is Essex linen - I do like that fabric!!  It makes me nervous to use it in an actual quilt because of its loose weave and its tendency to ravel, but it works nicely for it for a pouch.

A view of the inside.

And, a view of my thrift shop zipper.  :)

The size of the pouch is a bit odd, but I wanted it to easily accommodate the six-pointed stars as I complete them.

The pouch is done, but now the dilemma is to decide on which quilt design I want to do...

Since I can't decide, I may do two of them while I'm at it!  

This one by Crazy Mom Quilts, 

and one similar to this one by Shay of The Little White Farmhouse.

:)

Embroidery Love

I stitched these lovely embroidery squares a few years ago.  Aren't they dear?!

 These sweet designs by Rebekah Shucksmith were featured in the June 2011 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.  I love, love, love embroidery, but as an adult, hadn't come across any designs I liked until I saw these.  I immediately stitched them up, but then didn't know quite what to do with them.  They were intended to be sachets, but I hated to tuck such lovely stitching away in a drawer.

I revisited them today, wondering if I should stitch some more squares and incorporate them into a quilt at some point.  I may just do that, but in the meantime, I thought I'd go ahead and at least turn one of them into a pin cushion.

Some piping and vintage buttons complete the look.

Can't wait to stitch some more - I thoroughly enjoyed ever single moment of working on these.  I felt like a young girl again, stitching away!

A Pin Cushion Bites the Dust

I decided it was time to finally retire my beloved pincushion....

I stitched this pincushion back in the 70's when I was in middle school (remember when mushrooms were all the rage?!).  My mom gave me the crewel embroidery kit as a gift, and she helped me add the fringe and stuff it with old pantyhose (back when you did just things out of necessity, not because it was trendy to repurpose!).

I was recently remembering how good my mom was about making sure that I always had a needlework project to work on, whether it was a cross stitch sampler, or pillowcases, dresser scarves or tea towels to embroider.  Even though money was tight, I was always allowed to order a needlework kit from the Lee Wards catalog.

I stitched a few new pin cushions out of  scraps from the Roman Shade in my sewing room.

I like how they turned out!

But, I think I'm going to still hang on to my old pin cushion.  I may find a glass jar with a lid to house to store it and keep it for posterity's sake!

Quilt Retreating

I had a lovely two days of quilting with my quilt guild at a retreat center in nearby Carlisle.  It was so restorative for me....  Most of the time I carry a lot of shame and guilt re: my love of quilting.  None of my close friends or family members are quilters, so I feel like such an oddball.  I rarely share that piece of my life with them because many of them they just don't get it, and even if they can appreciate quilts, I still fear being viewed as what..., I don't know.  So often, I'd rather hole up and sew because of how beautifully it nurtures my soul and spirit, but then I feel guilty - guilty that I should be getting my wreck of a house in order, guilty for not keeping up with the outside work,  guilty for not putting more effort into meals, or guilty for not reaching out to someone who might exhaust me.  And then, there's always the guilt about the money this wonderful hobby sucks out of from my bank account.

But, after sewing for two days straight with these dear ladies who love and think about quilting as much as I do, I felt revived, restored, more normal, more OK with who I am and what I love.  I didn't feel an ounce of embarrassment for a change.  And, I felt God's pleasure as I did the "good works He prepared in advance for me to do."  

I came away with a renewed determination to shut down these feelings of guilt and shame related to my love of quilting, and to make this amazing process of creativity a higher priority in my life.  As I've attempted to get back to physical health over the last few years with little success and a lot of money getting flushed down the toilet along the way, I'm wondering if the answer has been lying right under my nose all this time.  Is is possible that the creative process is the very thing that will bring the most healing for my body, will bless others as they look on, and will most honor and glorify God as I savor and share my love of quilting?

I've also been contemplating Jen Kingwell's approach to quilting, and was again inspired to simply enjoy the process and not be embarrassed that I love to make quilts that tend to be more intricate and time consuming.

OK, Enough reflecting!!  Here's a few photos of what I accomplished:

I finished piecing the final 20 6" blocks of my Modern Building Blocks quilt - whoo hoo!  It was so nice to plug away at them while chatting with my quilting buddies.

I couldn't resist taking them outside for some photos since the weather was so lovely:

I also stitched the binding on my "Canning Jars" quilt:

And, I assembled the rest of my basket blocks:

A quick trip into town to the local quilt shop yielded this retro print from the sale table: 

It will make a great quilt backing!

(The fat quarters are compliments of Narda's stash.)

:)

Finally, I stitched away on some more "Ugly String" blocks that are hopefully destined to become this quilt.  

With Gloria's encouragement, I decided to forgo the foundation piecing.  (When I made string blocks for this quilt, I had stitched them onto paper.)  I simply used a paper template to gauge the length of the strings needed, stitched the strings, then trimmed the blocks down to 8 1/2" square.  Certainly beats picking all that paper out of the seams!

We're talking about a lot of strings!!

This was my Juki's first trip to a retreat, and she flew through these string blocks!

Thanks, ladies, for a wonderful time stitching together!

I even woke up and was motivated to do some Pilates this morning - who would have guessed?!!

:)