The Introverted Blogger

The Tula Pink Saltwater Quilt Is Quilted

This was the first jelly roll quilt I made before I gained the wisdom of why one should not skimp on seam allowances. Therefore, before I bind it, I have some minor repairs to make. I noticed a few seams that were too small for comfort, and did makeshift fixes while quilting. Some WonderUnder and embroidery stitches now will make certain the fabric holds for several years to come. Some people would be upset by that happening after all the beautiful quilting, but I see it as a sigh of growth. We live and learn. I doubt anyone else will notice.

Are you an introverted blogger?
Say hello to another one here.

My blogging mojo disappeared a few months ago when real life got intense. It happens to all of us, but more often to bloggers who are also introverts, I believe. We are the people that need to recharge our internal batteries with alone time. We need extra time to space out, sort, process, and recover. You might think it's different with just writing about something because there's no face-to-face encounter. Texting or email is easier? Not true. We can get pretty hung up on words of any kind. Writing a blog post takes a lot of social energy. So Instagram, Facebook, blogging, and answering comments all went on hold. I just couldn't. 

I even talked to my besties about taking a year off--a blogging sabbatical of sorts. I spent 2 weeks imagining I didn't blog anymore. I quit checking email. I told all my friends I was on a social media diet. I finally slept, but still those creative juices were hard to squeeze out if at all. 

So I quilted, and in many ways I meditated. 

Simple No Batting Quilts for Pets

8 Simple Quilts in 1 Day

Looking for a quick Christmas gift for a pet lover? 

Gift their fur babies, and they will love you!

We tend to celebrate Christmas with few presents if any, but this year I wanted something for all the kids to open on Christmas Eve when we get together. There are no grandkids in this family, but there are 11 spoiled dogs. We decided to exchange dog presents this year. In between my longarming work last month, I squeezed in a day for my own Christmas sewing. Yes, of course, I would make them all quilts.

Quilt Beautiful

Quilting Up Beautifully

Over 5 years ago I purchased my very first jelly roll. The Tula Pink Saltwater line jumped out at me as a had-to-have. You can find more information about the origin of this quilt in the posts below.

Making 2.5" Unfinished HST from a Jelly Roll

Saltwater Jelly Roll Quilt

Few words can describe the dismay I felt when the seams would not line up as hard as I tried. (My first hard lesson with inaccuracies of pre-cuts!) It is off in many places, but I trudged onward in spite of it. Sometime in the past year I turned the blocks into a quilt top, folded it neatly on my ready to quilt rack, and quilted many other quilts for customers. 

Last week I think the little eyes on the octopus were watching me--winking perhaps, and in spite of having half a dozen other quilts still hanging for friends, I bumped this to the front. I was itching to use some of my new rulers, and just cut loose on something of my own.

The BIG Quilting Catch Up

Resuscitated and Running 
(Whew!)

Are you ready for a montage catch up?
Oh, yeah, baby! Yesterday was a marathon!

Machine Down

I am a Pfaff Lover, and have 2 older machines I switch between. Sticking to one brand provides better accuracy, and they have always been dependable for me. But breakdowns do happen, and they are scary when we depend on our machines daily. This is a front loading bobbin, and the last time I opened it to load a fresh bobbin it would not click in. With closer examination, the bobbin case itself was spinning. I had not encountered this before on any machine, but was not keen on shelling out $80 to fix it. Could I fix something this complicated?

Cabin Under the Stars Mini

New Pattern Work

Goals for 2019 are forefront in my mind already. I have had requests for several patterns this past year, and am working toward publishing them. I have been rather quiet here on the blog front, but a busy gal behind the scenes as I work with an energetic graphics assistant. She is helping me through areas of technical spider webs I cannot get out of, and collaborating is fun with someone who has fresh ideas! Keep your eyes peeled for a fresh look coming soon.

One Patch Cross Baby Quilt

One Patch Cross Quilt

The one patch is my go-to method for creating anything quickly and accurately! I've found nothing to match the design potential with ease and speed of sewing. I spent more time selecting fabrics, cutting, and laying out this design than in quilt top construction. This baby-size top was sewn together in little more than an hour. A quick trip on my longarm with a medium, monster-y meander went quickly, and check out my 3 layer floating method with magnets to secure. (This time I meant to do it!)  Binding was cut from the leftover backing, and machine stitched. 

Three Naked Ladies Blooming Finish

Three Naked Ladies Blooming In the Moonlight Finish

Isn't that a grabby title? I thought so. (wink-wink)

Still dedicated to digging out my languishing UFO/WIP/PUPs, I pulled the Three Naked Ladies Blooming In the Moonlight last week. (This project is 2 1/2 years old.) I'm hoping most of you can't read that. 

Rose-Star Block

Rose-Star Hexagon Pattern 
Attributed to Alice Brooks, 1949

This was my post-retreat recovery project after everyone had packed up, and the studio was strangely silent without the hum of machines. I like to sew in complete quiet or with just a bit of low music playing. Sewing is my meditation.

The Rose-Star pattern was published in 1949 by Alice Brooks, but many designers have published patterns related to it since. Earlier this year I made a quilt for the MCC charity auction based on this one large block. Check out these posts below for more how-to information.

Giant Rose Star Quilt

Giant Rose Star Quilt Finish

QBIR III: Quilter Bloggers' Retreat 2018

QBIR 2018: Quilter Bloggers' Retreat

Left to right: Meta, Irene, Sarah, Tish, Beth

This past week I hosted the third annual Quilter Bloggers' (International) Retreat here in my studio. I hesitate to find the right words now. I don't want to tarnish the memory by defining it. It was like being wrapped up in my most favorite quilt! May I only say I felt warm, accepted, and inspired by this dynamic group of talented women. We rolled together in sync, and that's a rare thing. Each of us brought a unique skill set to the gathering, and shared openly. It was perfect!

Vintage Quilt Top: 9 Patch

I Spy with my little eye....a Nine Patch!

Can you see it?

Do you ever walk by old quilt tops for sale, wrinkled or balled up, and say, "Meh?" There is little interest in only a quilt top I've observed. Casual collectors around here want quilts even if they are what some call cutters. Cutter quilts have so much damage they might only have a small section usable for cutting down into a craft project. Quilt hunter and gatherers will pass these orphaned tops with little more than a second glance. Could that be a big mistake?

En Provence Mystery Quilt Finish

An Adaptation of 'En Provence'
A 2016 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Along

I choked a little when I had to type 2016 since 2019 is just around the corner, but the truth is simply the truth. Quilts aren't overnight sensations. Some have to age like fine wine.

The quick story of this quilt is it's one of two. It has a twin. I stopped the mystery quilt along before I had all the blocks made, and asked the question, "What can I make with what I have?" Ta-dah! Two quilts. This is the one with the little rogue triangle--upper left hand corner. I have zero idea how it happened, but it gives this one its own identity like most twins.

Cheddar & Mustard Vintage Quilts

Carpenter's Wheel
74" x 74"
Cheddar or Mustard Quilt

I wanted to show this newly acquired quilt even though I have much left to discover about it. The friend who found it for me asked, "Is it still called a quilt if it's tied?" And I replied without seeing it, in general, I would call that a comforter or comfort. "But it's thin not puffy," he said. "Hmmm. I don't know then," I replied. I thought, where do we draw the line exactly? I needed to see this quilt.

Vintage Double Wedding Ring: 1939

Magic Happens When You Hang a Quilt
and Stand Back

Perspective is everything. We can stick our nose in a quilt to look at the fabrics and stitching, but the wow factor is when we see it from across the room. This wows me.

I bought this quilt from a local dealer this week while cleaning out an old farmhouse. I did the nose thing looking at the surface close up, and also smelling it for signs of mildew or funk, but I didn't get to do an overall look until I got it home.

Sewing for Sanity: Cloth Baskets

Super Easy Sewing: Cloth Baskets

Have you ever thought, "I just need to sew something," while life was falling down around your ears? (Summer has been soooo hectic here!) I know for those of us who think this, it's truly a self-directed therapy. We sense that we need to go to a calm, safe place, and our sewing spaces are often just that. So I sewed five of these little cloth baskets for an upcoming swap at a retreat, and I felt like the weight had lifted. Sewing is my normal.

City Sampler Mini

 City Sampler Mini Finish

While I didn't lose interest, I lost time. This was never going to turn into a full quilt of any size, and no more UFO's for me. I put spare minutes together here and there to finish this up, and in a few days I'll even show you it's been hung. Amazing stuff, huh?

1940's Vintage Log Cabin Quilting Finish

1940's Scrappy Wonderful!

Some of you have watched the slow progression of my hand quilting project over the last year. Some months felt like a ship without wind. It went nowhere. I would like to believe it had something to do with my method of quilting.

Since the 1990's, I have always used a square or rectangular PVC type quilting frame with the snap on grips for hand quilting. My hand quilting projects have mainly been throw size or smaller, and it never occurred to me a twin size would be any different. I was wrong. I was wrestling a monster each time I had to move the frame. I was rolling and pinning huge sections to keep it manageable, and even then it was hard to keep the backing taut within the frame.

UFO Prevention Plan

Tula Pink's City Sampler
100 Modern Quilt Blocks

Gnome Angel is one talented gal at running quilt alongs, and currently hosting 100 Days 100 Blocks. (Dang, I love the hype of them, picking the fabric, etc.!) Adamant not to join yet another, I was on vacation, I had the book, and was sucked in. But quilt alongs for me are like ordering an ice cream cone, size X-large, please, and never finishing. Still I jumped in, and completed 11%, and those 11 blocks hung on my wall for weeks. Sigh. You know the pattern yourself. It happened again.

Cleaning the studio and design walls meant taking the blocks down. This time I decided I would change my habit of packing them away only to become another UFO. Nope, no more! I'm a changed woman after a long year of cleaning up past quilt along indiscretions. I doubted I'd ever finish all 100 blocks so I made a decision on the spot.

UFO Prevention Intervention Time!

Analyzing a String Block

Chevron Block: September 3

Are you following the Kathryn Kerr 365 Challenge? It's absolutely free so follow the link to learn more or sign up. My good friend, Penny, is doing this fabulous sampler so I signed up for email posts each day, too. I rarely make a block, but I can cheer her on as she sews them. Also, there is something fun about seeing a new block each day, and of course, I love to read the construction diagrams. Don't you? Curious quilters want to know this stuff!

Give Me a Season to Sew

Oh, my goodness, it's hot, hot, hot! Well, it's hot here, but I realize not all of you are feeling it. I have friends still freezing their knees off in the southern half of the world, and for you I say, "Send those cool temps our way. We are ready for Quilt Season!" The fall flowers are bursting into bloom so I know nature is ready for it too.

Digitally Printed Fabric/Multiple Madness Quilt

A Multiple Madness Block

A group of my quilty friends loves making Multiple Madness Quilts. When a beautiful line of fabric sporting peacocks came along, they were in in love! (Might I say like peahens?) One finished top turned up at my studio for quilting this summer, and I thought you might want to see how I went about it. Also, I had a major snag hold up the project, and would appreciate some advice from you.

Washing a Vintage Quilt Part II

How I wish there was Smell-o-vision.
You would say, "Oh, yeah!"

It's washed and dried. Let's look at what washing did both good and bad, and then how it was done.

FYI: I snapped these photos under a shady tree today. It's so bright and sunny that it washed out the colors taken in full sun. 

Pros 

• I can put my face up to this quilt, and it smells like fabric not dirt. 
• I've reduced the chance of introducing insects and spiders to my home.
• I'm free to add it to my collection shelving without fear of transferring a mildewy or a dirty odor. 
• It won't trigger an asthma attack. I have a problem with dust mites.
• It's far more pleasant to share at an event.

Note: There was no dye transfer visible anywhere.

Washing a Vintage Quilt Part I

Vintage Tumbling Blocks
About 74" x 90"

When I first set eyes on this beautiful quilt, I longed to take it home with me despite the condition. Today 60 degree pieces cut with an acrylic ruler and rotary cutter require attention to cut exactly.  The pieces in this quilt would have been cut with scissors and paper template. A one patch pattern, Tumbling Blocks is sewn with Y seams. It takes a good eye and practice to match Y seams. I know because I've sweated through it. From what I can see, the majority of this project was done without a sewing machine, but with hand piecing. It was a tremendous investment of time and energy for the maker.

Spiral Lone Star

Spiral Lone Star
at Block Stage

Family has taken priority this summer, but I've still tried to squeeze in some sewing each day. These blocks took a bit over a week to cut and assemble while I slipped in and out of the studio when I had time. While I might not have gotten to blog as much as I'd liked, process pictures were flying back and forth with close friends to get their thoughts. A few said a Lone Star quilt was a bucket list quilt for them, and wondered which method I used. I thought you'd be interested to know as well. All and none.

Vintage Lone Star Baby Quilt

Vintage Lone Star Baby Quilt

A local friend who deals in antiques calls me when she has quilts. I'm so grateful! This time I went through the pile of quilts and tops in her shop, and asked what else was she hiding. "Uh, just this little one," she said. It was a 35" baby quilt in a Lone Star pattern, worn, soft, and sweet as could be. Oh, it was going home with me!

I asked as many questions as I could about where this quilt was from, who she got it from, etc. Dating and placing a quilt where it was made or used are one of the most interesting parts of quilt hunting for me. I always gather as much information as I can before I leave the buyer, and write it down. I only knew it was sourced locally, likely in Coshocton county, Ohio.

Back at home, I went over the quilt in good light to find out what I could about the fabrics, construction, and any other little secrets it had to tell. Everyone wants to know, "How old is this quilt?" These clues can tell us a lot.

QST Second Chance Quilting Finish

Done Is Good.

First, some quick business to discuss. 

I've been "Out of the Office" or the summer equivalent of busier than you-know-what, and far removed from the Blogging World. We are a big family whose lives are very interwoven, and I've been needed elsewhere. Sorry to have abandoned you all, my bloggy and quilty friends, my email and comments. (Is this a form of ghosting? Trust me when I say I feel the guilt.) Summer duties spread us very thin. (Did I mention house guests for the next month?) But the leaves are starting to show signs of change already, the grass is drying, and talk of school starting came up last night. Summer has been a time warp!

Longarming a few minutes here and there has helped me whittle down my own WIP/UFO and PUPs. I've squeezed in a few customer quilts this summer, and have a line up coming next month. It feels good to help other quilters get caught up with their projects too. So, I may not be done with all of my own by the end of summer or even end of the year, but I'm committed to it. The downside is not having anything new and spectacular to show you as I work through old things. 

I'm Quilting as Fast as I Can!

Taking a Moment to Breathe

Yes, I know, I haven't been around much lately. I would say AWOL, but I've been making the best of these cool days, and marathon quilting. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, and when these are all bound will take some pictures of the whole quilts. This is all I have so it will have to do for now.

Quilter with Commitments

Yes, it's good.

Did you ever have to practice musical scales when all you wanted to do was play the new song? I feel a little like that with learning EQ8. I wasn't proficient with EQ7, and didn't get a lot out of the money I spent years ago. I think I believed that playing with the program would be enough to get it, and I was mistaken. I needed real lessons, and never got them. This time I prepared better, and bought the books. I'm roughly halfway through the Beginner Lessons, shout out to Anja, and this is definitely the way to go. I do not always feel like doing the lessons, but I am committed.

Things That Can Go Wrong Do

Quilted

No, I did not cut a hole in my quilt or spill coffee on it.
Almost anything other than those things can be fixed. Almost.
I'll show you another screw-up I worked through.
(I should be famous for this kind of post by now.)

Yellow & Black Baby Quilt

A Baby Quilt to Donate

My scraps are like rabbits. They have had offspring, and are on at least a third litter by the looks of it. I decided to squeeze one baby quilt for charity out of the lot of them before sorting. 

As the Trip Around the World Turns

Scrappy Trip Around the World 

This class surprised me by all bringing in their quilt tops from the month before. I have a few proud quilters to show you. All tops were close, a few were together, and this one was even quilted! Big, bright, and beautiful!

Hurricane Stars on the Long Arm

New Name to Be Announced Soon!

While summer officially blows in today with cooler air, I am still trying to beat the heat while working in my second story studio. The pale, blue setting triangles above are getting some free-handed, ferny feathers.

Blogging Zen. Not.

 Quilt Art: A Zen Hangout

It was time to hang something significant at the top of the long stairway to my studio. I think this star is so enticing. Does it say, "Good things lie beyond this step?

Is Blogging Zen?

Those who fantasize about writing a blog may be erroneously led to believe the blogging process is a zen moment in the blogger's day. Said blogger sits in the early dawn with coffee, sleeping babies or dogs, and pours out accumulated wisdom to readers that await every post. (Insert sinister laughter.) Perhaps it is not so, say I. 

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?

Half Hexie Flimsy & Backing

Whirligig Half Hexies

Such an interesting perspective of hexies taken at an angle. You can see it's a flimsy already. This is a quick quilt.

Whirligig Half Hexie Quilt

Half Hexie Whirligig

In the last post, Stolen Moments for Stitch & Play, I was playing with my scraps. Play is good. I traded the scraps for more moderate fabrics, and in a short afternoon put together the lower half of this sweet quilt. It's slightly under 45" from edge to edge here, and with a border/background will flesh out to a nice baby or toddler quilt a little larger.

Stolen Moments for Stitch & Play

Vintage Log Cabin...Again

I am still plugging away at this quilt. I have to be in a special frame of mind to work for long periods, but I've determined to finish it this summer. A little bit each day brings good progress, and maybe I'll have it done before I've had it a whole year.

When my husband needed to do some work far out in the country, I grabbed my project gear, and off we went. Cell phone service is good in town, but once you get into the hills around here it's hit or miss--mostly miss. I was the safety in case there was an accident. Poor me! I had to just sit there and quilt.

Kaleidoscope: Quilts at the Kentucky Museum

The Kentucky Sun Quilt

My husband and I made a whirlwind trip to the Kentucky Museum last weekend on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green, KY.  The Kaleidoscope exhibition opened earlier this year featuring 30 Kentucky quilts, and the first public viewing of the spectacular Kentucky Sun quilt. I had seen pictures of it before, but nothing could take the place of standing there in front of it. I was overwhelmed. This quilt was made nearly 140 years ago, and it was old yet so amazingly modern, and I couldn't stop staring. To put in in a chronological perspective, it was made 15 years after the Civil War ended in the time of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and the O.K. Corral. It's funny how it puts me in the mind of the western frontier, and I wonder if that had any influence.

The Kentucky Sun Quilt has a fascinating story behind it, and was on the cover of the Kentucky Quilt Project's publication. Read more about it through the link. The Kentucky Quilt Project was the first of all the quilt documentation projects in the U.S., and organized in 1981. 

Mermaid Baby One Patch Finish

Mermaid's Song

Song

Go and catch a falling star,

Get with child a mandrake root,

Tell me where all past years are,

Or who cleft the devil’s foot,

Teach me to hear mermaids singing,

Or to keep off envy’s stinging,

And find

What wind

Serves to advance an honest mind.

~John Donne, 1613

Check out the rest of the poem, and a brief analysis at Interesting Literature. If you've heard bits of this without knowing the rest, it will make much more sense.

Mermaid Baby One Patch Quilt

"Mermaids & Seahorses, Oh, My!"

Way back in January I ran a post called 27 Quilt Finishes in 2017. I spoke up for fewer commitments to free myself up. This has been good. I've really plowed through my Pile of Unloved Projects. I would say half are done. That gets a quiet little woohoo from me to myself. I'm staying on track with my goals. 

I also said, "Make what you love, and use what you have." So in the midst of pulling out fabric for my last class, Chain Piecing & Webbing, I happened upon this piece of mermaid fabric, and a bit of Mendocino seahorses. Not from the same designer or even stylized the same, but I still liked them together. Golly, I don't think any fabrics in this quilt came from the same company let alone designer, but the variety was interesting. 

Chain Piecing & Webbing Class Available

Trips Around the World

By the end of last week I had several quilts finished, and more pulled out to resume. There has been a good deal of pushing this year to finish up the old, but I've also dropped a few new projects into the line up when I could. I had The Sewing Group coming to the studio Monday for a class on my unique method of chain piecing to webbing to accurate block construction, and we were using the Trips Around the World quilt to learn the process. Many of these quilters had never made a TAtW so we had a lot of ground to cover in a short time. 

A Veteran's Quilt Finish & Panto Problems

Ready for Delivery

There are two things to talk about today. One is obviously a finished quilt already in the hands of its new owner, but the second is a big failure that forced me to grow. 

A Veteran's Quilt & Making Pantographs

Dave's Quilt

Several months ago I was asked to make a quilt for a friend of the family. We'll call him Dave. 

Dave's had two requests for his quilt. The first would have made the quilt non-washable so we scrapped it, but the second was for it to be big enough that his feet not hang out. Now that I could do!

The Farmer's Wife 1930s: Blocks 3 & 4

"Ann"
The Farmer's Wife 1930's Block No. 4

If you go missing too long around here, people will ask, "Did you fall in?" And my reply today would be, "A little bit." Busy has new meaning. The grass is growing by the minute. Three college diplomas were earned in the past months by a few of our children. Two of those were just this week, and were master's degrees. I am a proud mama! Kids have moved in, moved out, and buying a real moving van would have been a great investment years ago. My role as a member of a large family is changing, and there are daily adjustments. No worries. It's all good, but different. As spring settles herself down to a manageable pace, I'll be more regulated, and my posts as well.  Your comment went unanswered, you say? My deepest apologies. Just bare with me until I can catch up. I'll dig my way out of the email pile, and I'll have lots of goodies to show you, too! I keep sewing to stay sane through the chaos.

Change or Transformation: The Endeavourers

Id. Ego. Super Ego.

This month's challenge prompt for the Endeavourer's art quilt group is 
Change or Transformation. 

How do you interpret change or transformation with cloth and thread? 

Art is meant to appeal to your past experience, emotion, and senses. An art quilt is simply art made with fiber transformed into cloth and thread, and a batting sandwiched between the layers. How does one convey the meaning of something so abstract as change or transformation through fiber?

Modified En Provence

En Provence: Tweaked

Bonnie Hunter is a favorite of mine. I love her books, her blog, and when her En Provence quilt along came around a year ago, I convinced a friend to join me. It was a mystery quilt along, too. Ooo-o-o! Exciting! So off we went collecting our fabrics. I did not choose the suggested palette, but used what I had the most of in my stash and scraps. Lots and lots of warm colored pinks, oranges, and violets, low volume background in a wide range, and navy-like blue. We sewed our little hearts out each week with the new clue, and it was fun to feel the camaraderie of the big group. When the big reveal came out, I thought, "Meh. My values are completely reversed." A little broken hearted at that point, I packed my thousands of pieces away, and said I would figure it out another day. (I'm lying. It just felt like a thousand, but there were a lot of pieces!)

Giant Rose Star Quilt Finish

Good Kite Weather!

What a blustery week we've had! Snow, thunder, rain, and even barefoot days. The weather blew in with heavy winds each time, and I was lucky to have a day with both sun and calm skies to get a picture outside. I wanted you to see the true colors of this quilt at least once. I was shocked at how hard it was to photograph the color violet inside, and this quilt has the full range.