Backwards Quilting...Adding the Quilt Borders First...hmmm

If you are not following a pattern, that closely, it makes sense to work within the borders of the projected finished quilt.  That way you have the outline and then you can fill in the middle.  Especially if you have a specific bed or wall hanging area you want to complete.  Food for thought...smile.   The thing you have to understand is you might have to cut somethings off to make them fit.  That's okay, you can use them elsewhere.  Like all things engineering, quilting has a certain method to it's madness.  You have a pattern, you cut the pieces you sew the blocks, attach in rows and then add the borders.  That's not how I'm doing my work on this particular pattern.  It's quilt is based on Karen Witt's pattern, Tillie's Mosaic.  If any of you have attempted any of Karen's patterns, you probably have discovered they are challenging, and I have to say, I like a good sewing/quilting brain stretch, every now and then.  It makes me appreciate the simple things like real patterns that you cut out and you get what you want.  If you buy the pattern, you'll notice it's unfinished on the front, so, I'm not without some leading indicators that, maybe this ain't the easiest thing to finish.  

The pattern as it is, makes a quilt about 60 inches square.  I wanted this for a king size bed quilt. So rather than lay it all out on paper, and I'm sure you can find a hexagon grid somewhere on the internet, I chose to begin making the hex blocks and then laying it out on the bed.  Next I cut my outer borders to fit my bed, thus, you can see by the pics the fill in areas that are yet to be complete.  Believe it or not, I find this to be an easier method for me.  

A quick note, DD #2 was home and she made a purse.  This is from a free tutorial on the internet, with very complete directions and easy to make.  This is Chelsea's second purse and as you can see she's embellished it with flower buttons...so cute!

Finished Machine Quilting My Sister's Quilt

This is my younger sister, Lisa's quilt.  She is just starting quilting and used a Jelly Roll to make this quilt.  The Jelly Roll bundles are very nice for beginning quilters.  They are already cut, lengthwise, so all you need to do is make short cuts or strip them all together and save yourself some time.  Lisa and I are as different as night and day.  She wound up being a single mom/career gal with 3 kids, working 60 to 80 hours to make ends meet.  I was the stay at home mom and 2 kids, but no career, other than my children, married now for 28 years to my nice man, Bob.  I suppose it was a natural that I should be involved in quilting long before my sister, because, frankly, I had the time.  Now my sister is an empty nester and has decided she's tired of bringing so much work home with her.  My mom and I started quilting together many years ago.  She taught me to sew when I was very young, helping me make a Neru shirt in the third grade.  Lisa spent most of her time fighting with my brother, while I happily sat in the middle of the backseat while they lunged at each other.  Lisa has no one at home to fight and quilting is the obsession one can get involved in.  

Young Buck in the Backyard..Run Away, Run Away

It's another beeeeautiful fall day here in the Ohio Valley.  Lest I speak too soon, I think my alergies have actually adapted and I'm able to spend the afternoon working in the yard.  We did get some pruning done.  I imagine some of you gardeners might cringe at the but there's been a plum tree in our front yard that is so heavy with leaves and limbs, that is droops so low it really bugs my husband while mowing.  So, off with her head.  I hope the tree doesn't die.  

On to my post today.  I'm still working on the machine quilting for my sister.  While walking into the kitchen I noticed a deer in the backyard.  Every time I've seen a deer in our yard, it's followed by one or two fawns.  There were no fawns with this one.  At first I felt a little sad, you know there's dogs around here and I thought that maybe Bambi was left for dead.  Then I looked a little closer.  Just above the ears you'll see the horns.  Oh my goodness, a buck on the run.  It's November and that means deer hunting season of some sort or other.  I don't think I've ever seen a buck around here....hmmm...now how can I get him in my garage for safety.  On second thought, he's probably pretty safe, as long as he stays in our neighborhood.  No hunter in his/her right mind would get a gun out in A NEIGHBORHOOD...or would they.  Yikes!

Machine Quilting My Sister's Quilt

This is my poor boy set up quilting machine, a mechanical Brother 1500.  I'm not in it for the money.  Thus, I quilt when I get around to it.  Like material on the shelf, it won't go bad.  My only motivator is that the quilting frame is set up in my dining room and as you can see it gets an evening intense sunlight.  Sunlight is not your material's friend.  So, when I get it loaded on the bars, then I shift into gear to finish.  Even though this is not my quilt, I still respect the work involved.  

My sister is new to quilting and this is her Jelly Roll quilt.  Happily new quilters get all excited about making quilts, then they realize you must quilt it.  When my Mom visited last April for the Paducah quilt show, she dropped off 2 quilts, this being one of them.  I think I must have delayed the finish too long for them, as they have found their cottage industry quilt lady in Oklahoma.  My mom and sister have to provide the backing and batting and the final cost is $50 for a lap size quilt.  This is a bargain to me and the beautiful thing is they don't have to wait for sister/daughter to do it for free.  The best things about quilts is the finishing.  Any quilt looks good on a bed and a finished quilt is always better than an unfinished UFO.  Whether it has loops or intricate designs, I think that getting it done is the most important thing.  Unless you want to enter the quilt into a competition, then it is necessary that you have great quilting done on your quilt.  

Quilting tip:  Just like piecing the back and using all your stash, you can piece your batting too.  Just butt it up to other small pieces of batting and make big zig zag stitches..tah..dah!!

Quilting again!

It was another beautiful day in Kentuckiana.  That's what they call us because we are so close to Southern Indiana, so people lump us all together.  That being said, our quilt group did a little exploring of the "iana" part of the lump.  So off our intrepid quilters went, money and anticipation in hand.  

First stop, The Quilting Bee in Georgetown, Indiana.  This shop is deceiving, definitely don't judge this book by it's cover.  Inside you'll find, this a lovely shop that offered everything, indcluding a find for me, all things Wizard of Oz.  I don't have any plans yet, I've always admired this material and thought, oh I better get it and I did.  

On to lunch at Magdelena's .  I can't say it was great, but, it was the only place on the small town square, that once was the state capital of Indiana.  

After our lunch on we traveled to the outskirts of town to a really cute quilt shop, The Holly Hock Quilt shop.    This was a delightfully decorated shop with many quilts hung up and down the stairs and everywhere.  The classroom was well lit and seemed a happy place to be with a variety of samples sure to entice you into one of their classes.  

Here are my purchases and the quilt that my pattern might look like, if I get to it.  Of course you must always get permission to take pictures in a shop, but, if you buy a pattern, I highly recommend you take a few pictures of the item that inspired you in the shop.  There's probably no better way to sell fabric than to make a cute sample.  

This was after my girls grew up...funny

Jennifer's Central Line is finally out!

This is Jennifer heading home, after a year of "what the hell happened?".  She was living her life and bam! a huge lump on the side of her face.  Turned out to be a 1 X 3 inch blue cell tumor called Ewing's Sarcoma.  Ah well, click on the label at right for all the updates on the soon to be forgotten best seller about the ways and delays of light never shining for a train gone terribly off track.  

The day begins at our home away from home, Kosair Children's Hospital, where the geriatric patient has an apprehensive look of the before photo.  Then the double lumen Broviac was removed in out patient surgery this morning around 10:00. Immediately (not really immediately, nothing in a hospital happens immediately) following registration, off she's sent to the bowels of the surgery center for general admitting information.  Attempts at decoration are only enhanced by Casper's warning-"Run Away, Run Away, No treats in here".  

This is a lovely picture, it means there's no more instant access to her blood and she must be accessed the old fashioned way.  Wake up Sleeping Beauty, all well.  Here she is with her cherry slush, starting to wake up and enjoying the only good part of the hospital, all the cherry slushes you can eat.  Oops, tachycardia, no go home yet till the heart rate lowers and it did.  After a few consultations by doctors off she was wheeled to have said pipe removed.  

"Oh, it'll be very fast, maybe 15:00 minutes".  Of course that means at least one thousand dollars per minute-you must, you must, you must carry insurance.