Glitter Top Done

Glitter Top Done

What a relief to finish this top last week! Okay, I may have been a little sad to see it end, but only for a moment. I've never done any quilt with so many of the same block, and likely won't again for a long while.

Vintage Drunkard's Path Finish

Combining the Old with New

Summer has been quick ins and outs at the studio with many little changes that mean more space for opportunities to come. Hours have been spent sifting, reorganizing, and happily rediscovering lost items. I am still sticking to working through the Pile of Unloved Projects, and it's getting sooooo small that I nearly lost it the other day. Okay, not really, but it's no longer as big as a piece of furniture, and easy to misplace. That's pretty amazing to me! There is officially light at the end of the tunnel.

So how about this quilt story now?

Drunkard's Path & High Water

Drunkard's Path
67" x 89.5"

These blocks were found in a little store miles out in the country, tucked into a basket under piles of other vintage textiles. You must dig for buried treasure, you know. They came home with me, were carefully washed and pressed, and sat in another box for about two years. As I systematically pull out unfinished projects, they have been brought to life.

Read A Sweetheart of a Quilt to see the original condition the blocks were in when I started, and how I trimmed them.

A Sweetheart of a Quilt

Vintage Drunkard's Path Blocks 
c. 1930-1940


Happy Valentine's Day to YOU!

Is this a big day at your house? Not for us either, if you said no. Our big event today was lunch out after an optometrist's appointment together. I am having problems seeing in the studio, and wanted to make sure nothing was wrong beside normally ageing eyes. Gratefully, everything is up to par, but I simply need more light. It's become a bit of a joke in our house.

Finding Your Sweet Spot In Quilting Pt. I

1930's & 40's Large Vintage 
Log Cabin Top--Hand Pieced

August 4, 2017 quietly marked Pink Doxies' 3 year blogiversary. I spent the day volunteering at the Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale in the Quilter's Corner. (Did you know this is an annual even happening the same weekend every year?)

Bordering On a Finish

I snapped this picture yesterday while the sun was setting. A few of the borders are partially sewn together, but I still haven't decided how to join them together at the corners. Maybe cross them like shown, but a set in corner piece would look wonderful, Y-seams and all! There is no more fear of inset piecing, thanks to Mary Huey's dvd, but I can't tell if it will work yet. Each border will need to be together before I can make a decision. Not everyone feels good working this way, but I do.

The catch in this process is when you design-as-you-go. The center blocks came from the book, Quilt Lovely, by Jen Kingwell, but she completed the project as a pillow. I wanted something else. Let's look at it.

I rearranged the blocks from the way they were initially on the design wall like this--

...to the picture below. Can you see the difference? 

It looked fine to me in person until I took a picture, and uploaded it to my phone and computer. I saw the 2 blocks on the right were deeper in color, and would look more balanced if they were opposite each other. Then I turned the fan points so they looked less matchy-matchy. 

The idea of a border stuck with me, and I found this Mona Luna in my stash. Very modern. The gold is a very traditional print with roses. Using a border at all was a more traditional layout.

The gold border was on, and I realized I had slightly less brown print than was needed. No worries. I slashed off an inch on each side of the gold, and came in just under the wire. There wasn't enough fabric left unless I wanted to piece the borders, and I thought it might ruin it with the big print. The problem I was encountering with it becoming a big square quilt was solved, too.

The dark border separates and frames the stars, and the border color unifies the yellows. It falls right in the middle of the yellows color-wise, and helps the bright yellow tone down while lifting the palest yellow. You might not see it yet, but the brown borders will be different widths. Yet another method to stretch the limited brown fabric.

The overall size was still too small, and begged for another border. I made a new template that somewhat followed the size and dimension of the fan blades, and started through this new stash another quilter had given me. New as in 'new to me'! These pieces are from the 70's back to some feedsack scraps. I pulled out parts of clothing with seams attached, and creatively cut some pieces from them. That gave me a real sense of how past quilters gathered their fabrics. Rarely did a quilt come from new fabric off a bolt. It was made from fabric that had lived another life before it was made into a quilt.

This isn't everyone's thing, I know, to go through old stacks of fabric. Some of them are bitty pieces, but I can see the potential here for beautiful things, and it lifts my heart. Can I let you in on a secret? Some of these belonged to my husband's grandmother, were passed through households, and found their way back to us. Isn't it romantic that my children and future generations will enjoy them?

Today I will simply sew, and live in the moment. The project is taking on a life all its own. Maybe the quilt will beg for another border when this one is on. Maybe it will be a fabric that begs to be given new life. Who knows, but this is why I am a quilter. It feeds my soul.The Pet Project Show opens tonight at midnight, and will feature some of the Doxie girls' and my favorite link ups from the past month. Look for it in the next post. 

Until then...

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Monday Makers
Show Off Saturday
Sew Stitching Cute
Crazy Mom Quilts
Quilt Shop Gal
A Quilting Reader's Garden
Quoka Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict


3 Day Weekend Sale!