lawn quilt ready for quilting

Last week's give-away winner is Hydeeann.  I'll be sending her this canvas Moda 30th anniversary bag.  Thank you for your comments.

I've had this varsity lawn quilt hanging on my banister for a while, waiting for a back.  I saw one like it at market in Houston last fall, and set out to shamelessly copy it.  It went pretty fast considering the size of these ginormous flying geese (measuring 12"x6").

  Both front and back are finally ready for basting . . . yay!!

Thread is ready and waiting (see this post about that)

I'm really excited to quilt this.  It has a lot of negative space to quilt and I've got some really cool designs to try to mimic from some pictures I took in Mexico City last week.

I had a few extra hours, and buzzed down to my favorite part of the city, San Angel.  It's a very old neighborhood with the charm of quaint cobblestone streets, meandering around stone walls, and old wood doors with deep red bougainvillea hanging over the walls.

I'm just going to mark my quilt with a disappearing pen, focusing a pattern to a small section.

This is the beginnings of a log cabin pattern.  I never thought of using the log cabin design for quilting.

I have tons of pictures of this metal graffiti, I think it will look really cool quilted.

Do you see any fun free motion quilting designs in these patterns?

See that open door down there?  I was walking down that street and saw that open door and saw someone else walk in, so I decided to do the same.  cool. stuff. inside.

you see a red car or two?  I see lines, arches, contrast, organized space, centuries old, unity, structure, symmetry, patterns, oh, and a red car (or two :)

another inviting "opened" gate :)

match stick lines

I must have taken 75 pictures, when all of a sudden I realized that I didn't even have enough battery left to order myself an uber (kind of like a taxi service) back to where my party was staying (note to self: taking lots of pictures with your phone drains your battery quickly).  I looked up and you'll never guess what I saw . . .

to be continued. . .

all linked up:
finish it friday
frenzied friday
fabric addict

amish circle quilt

The winner of last week's give-away is SarahZ from Montana.  Thank you everyone for your comments, I loved learning about your quilt top "holding areas".

A few weeks ago I went to visit my sister in Tucson on family business, and (don't tell her, but) the definite highlight of the trip for me was her antique amish quilt. And since I'm in a drunkard's path craze right now, I gasped and immediately fell. in. love. . . totally. mesmerized. by this quilt.


it's simply breath taking . . .  fascinating.  There are so many things to think about.  First, these old "modern" quilters totally got the negative space thing, and the "no border" thing.  This could totally be found in the "modernquilting" hashtag on IG.




Now, where exactly is the block?  Are they sewing the quarter circles into the corners first then sewing the rows together?  like I did in this quilt?

 They didn't have design boards on the walls . . .  did they?  It's just so fascinating.  And did they know about the stack and sew method that makes piecing so much faster?

I haven't done much research on old quilts.  But I'd say this is very old, all hand sewn, no rulers, templates, rotary cutters or spinning cutting mats  (and for that matter, no chocolate covered almonds or pita chips from Costco), and the fabric?  I'm assuming from the maker's scraps or maybe from old shirts or dresses or something, but not from a local quilt shop.  Could it be 100 years old?  probably more like 70 or 80 years.

simply beautiful.  I wonder if they had cotton quilt batting by the bolt back 100 years ago, cuz that shrunk up so nice.

The one thing I do know about old quilts, is that you should not fold them in 1/2 and then in 1/2 again, or the same way each time.  The fabrics and batting in those bends begin to break down after a few decades not to mention that the creases can become permanent.  (notice the above crease?)  You should occasionally rotate how you fold an old quilt. (sounds like I know what I'm talking about, huh?) 

 

I guess I should do a little research on quilt making from years past.

love. peace. beauty. color. contrast. old. art. creativity, work of love.


GIVEAWAY:  closed.  Hydeeannsews, I'll be contacting you.
I know, I know,  I'm getting a little carried away with the give-away thing, but with the purging I've been doing, I'd much rather ship "my excess" to new quilting friend then give it to an establishment that will store it in a big truck for months before the sorting process.  Besides, I can visit with and learn from all of you with out leaving home (in other words, I may or may not be in the same clothes I've worn for a few days).  

And, this is a fascinating topic for me.  Anything you can share would be fun.  I'd especially love to see links to places you've learned from.

I had to take an unexpected trip this week, so I don't have a picture of anything to give away, but I have tons at home and promise to have something good.

linked:
finish it up friday

gene pool & giveaway

washed, documented, shipped (well, I may be hanging on to it for a day or two for selfish purposes :)

 that was a BIG stack to keep track of!  I had to stack and sew it in 3 groupings.



Here's the first group







I made a wall-hanging with same pattern and fabric back here.  (more details in that post about the makings)


stats:
58 x 72 (washed)
fabric - Reel time by Zen Chic
squares are 3 1/2" square (8 squares per pool)
batting - 80/20 comfort by Winline
organic straight line quilted on the hq sweet sixteen
pattern - Jen Kingwell's Genepool.
bound with fabric from the big box sewing store (yip, I actually did that, only because of sheer desperation)


Bound with a new technique which I will be sharing with you shortly.  (you can read about my new modern binding here)


Here's a little hint (above).










Backed with flannel for extra warmth . . . I couldn't resist that little surprise.











GIVEAWAY:  closed



I have a banister just out side my sewing room, it's a dead space, and I can't put anything there that might say "climb me and jump over" to little grandchildren.  But it gives me a place to put tops in progress or freshly pressed needing to cool.

I'd love to hear what the rest of you use as a holding area while you're putting your tops together.  If you'd like a chance at this little mini pack of reel time from Zen Chic, leave me a comment.

linked:
finish it friday
fabric addict
frenzy friday

thread talk

I'm getting a good little collection of thread . . . maybe not as much as you . . . I've just discovered aurifil thread.

On this next quilt, I'm stepping out of my box, or maybe I should say, I'm going to take my time, make a plan, draw it out and use more than 1 color thread and enjoy the journey, not the race!

But I've discovered that my red is off.  This is the red from Fig Tree's Aurifil Thread collection. . . yea, way different then Sweetwater's fabric color-way . . .

So I need to order the right red . . .

#2260 looks about right

While researching thread, I found some good finds:

 I love this quilt by Alex Veronelli . . . I just may have to try one, with carolyn Friedlander's fabrics, of course.  (sorry I didn't take the time to crop my pictures)

 This was good to learn:
if you flip off the top, you'll find the end of your thread.

 #aurifilthread on IG has some fun "thread for thought":
(you think fabric's expensive?  that's about $300 worth of thread in that picture!!)

 This was a good find from christaquilts (great online store to purchase your aurifil thread).   Christa got almost 12 full bobbins with 1 spool of 50 wt. aurifil thread (she had already emptied 2 before taking this picture)

 My husband will be VERY happy to learn that:

 this was a nice find . . . with "Thread Mate" you can match your bobbin with your thread for storage.

Look at this fabulous thread art by Sophie Standing

 Aurifil Thread will soon show their logo at the top of the spool:

Do you have anything fun or interesting to share about your favorite thread?

happy quilting !!