Getting the Lead Out

I sewed something!

I decided this would be the week I get back to sewing.  The new space in the bedroom is almost complete though I keep thinking of things for DH to bring up, like a rotary cutter or the machine extension table.  (Try telling a non-sewer what to look for in a 7-Y-O sewing "studio"!)

So I pulled a project box out of the 40+ UFO boxes in the cubes.  It was labeled "Bear Paw" and, indeed, the contents had 20+ finished bear paw blocks (some others cut, not stitched) ... but no pattern, no notes on the intended plan. 😏😕  When I recognized my collection of Asian fabrics in them, I had a vision of the classroom where I was making them -- Quilt Camp at Cedar Lakes in 2022.  The class was Shadow of the Bear, but what happened to the rest of the project ?

I found a picture on Pinterest of a finished quilt:

I also learned from the internet that the quilt pattern can be found in Log Cabin Quartet by Trudie Hughes; however, I don't have that book.  The quilt is lovely, but quite large by my standards (73" x 93")  so I think my plan was to take the three elements -- bear paws, shadows, and log cabins --  and develop a separate plan for each of them.  Indeed, I found project boxes labeled "Shadow of the Bear" 

and "Uneven Log Cabins."

There was photocopy of a pattern page in this box, but the directions differ from what I had already done (as well as what it appears past makers have done).  I made two sample blocks by the photocopied page today (no photo available) and was not happy.  So it looks like tomorrow will be spent making a dozen uneven log cabin blocks ...

Stay Tuned!

Happy Halloween!

 The firm where I met my husband really got into the Halloween spirit every year.  We'd have a costume reveal on the front steps of our building.  I don't remember what year this was, but Alex and I were Ghostbusters.

Our building was on Music Row where all the country music recording studios are and there was a lot of tourist traffic.  Our receptionist was a well-endowed blonde so one year she decided to be Dolly Parton.  Stopped tour buses dead in their tracks!

Cathedral Window

Kate/Life in Pieces recently blogged about her first experience with the Cathedral Window block.  And that got me thinking about the Cathedral Window quilt my mother (a/k/a The Momma) made for me in 1975.

If I remember correctly, the last bits of it were completed in South Africa while my folks were visiting a brother who was living there at the time.  It must have taken most of the year to make as it is queen size (80" x 104") with 475 "windows."  I don't have any place to photograph the entire quilt; here's a bit of it:

The miscellaneous scraps are all from garments she made for me throughout the years  This little pink print is from an early baby dress.

There are several other small prints that were probably baby dresses and one that was an Easter dress.  Some of my favorites are these crazy characters that I think were probably shorts outfits.

I found a good U-tube video tutorial for making the block(s).  I don't know if the dimensions are the same that The Momma used, but the technique seems to be the same with one exception.  She let her stitches go all the way through the back which is essentially the "quilting."

I recently came across this photograph from the local paper of The Momma showing my niece how it's done.

Making Headway

My scheme to move my sewing space to the master bedroom is slowly coming to fruition!  

As I was sitting in the recliner early this morning, working on a couple of jigsaw puzzles on the computer, my husband was quietly bringing cube after cube up the stairs, well within my hearing and vision, but apparently I was too preoccupied with the puzzles to notice.  When I went back to the bedroom to dress for the day, this is what greeted me:

All my UFOs!  Most of those boxes have all the pieces in them so I can pull out a box, finish (or nearly finish) a project without having to go downstairs to pull fabric or make decisions.

So, as long as he was in the mood/mode, he disassembled my Koala Outback sewing station. bundled it in foam, loaded it on a dolly, and hauled it up the (outside) hill.  A few more trips with the attachments and I now have a proper sewing setup (well, almost proper).

The only hiccup is the well for the machine needs adjustment since I am using a different machine than what I originally bought the table for.  Also, I need to order a clear acrylic insert to fill the gaps.  But I will manage without it.

I still need to figure out where I will cut and press, but I'm stoked to get started!

That's Billy

I was about 6, flipping through a family photo album when I came across a snapshot of my mom holding the hand of a little boy.

"Who's that?' I asked, expecting Mom to name one of my brothers, David or Jim.  "That's Billy," she said.  "Oh," said I, and continued flipping through the album.

I was probably in my teens when I learned that Billy was also my brother, my parents first-born son, named after my father William.  Billy sadly had a birth defect that took his life before he was three.

Family lore is that my maternal grandmother made this quilt for her first grandchild:

After Billy died, the quilt resided in a cedar chest in my parents bedroom until the 1970s when my second brother had his first son whom is also named William, so my mother sent them the quilt. I don't think it was ever used after that, just hung on display in their house. The second William isn't interested in keeping it so when I was at my brother's house after his funeral, my sister-in-law, knowing my interest in quilts, offered it to me.

The interesting thing about this quilt is that it is entirely appliqued, even the little squares!  I have learned from friends who know more than I do that it was a Bucilla kit #1148A.  I suspected it was a kit as I can see faint lines for placement of the pieces as well as lines for quilting.

It was just called "Child's Bed Applique Quilt" and appeared in Woman's World Book of Needlework in 1936 (Billy was born in 1937).  You could buy the complete kit for $2.25 in 1936!

Credit to my friends in the Midwest Fabric Study Group for confirming my suspicions.

My Hero

My husband has been a rock throughout my recent disability, doing the cooking and laundry in addition to general nurse-maid duties.  I'm not going to trade him in on a new model any time soon!

I have to ask, though, how many husbands would go above and beyond to this extent?

There he was several years ago digging through the fat quarter canoe at Lolly's in Shipshewana, Indiana, looking for yellow FQs!

As I've said before, I married a gem.

De-accessioning

The time has come for me to part with many of my completed tops.  So today I passed three on to our Devo and Sew group to be finished as comfort quilts.  These are some of my favorites; I don't remember exactly when they were made.

The first one is Granny's Stars, a pattern by Nancy Mahoney.  According to my paperwork, the pattern appeared in a 2009 issue of  Fons and Porter magazine.  I took this class with her in 2016.  I call it Baik Beauty.  I finished the top at our February Loucon retreat in 2023.  

Next is a Cynthia Brunz pattern she calls Geese Migration.  I saw it in a magazine and simply HAD to make it. I love the progression of value in the blocks, though I was not completely successful in all of them.

And, finally, this is another one I saw in a magazine.  I thought it was called Tumbling Triangles, but I can't find any documentation to support that.  What looks like black is a really dark green and I used all my pastel florals for the strips. 

I don't mind parting with my tops when I know they will go to a good cause.  To me, the pleasure is in the making!