Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Those of you who know me well know that I'm just not a beige kind of woman. I am not afraid to use red in my quilts.  I don't make many without a little red to liven things up. At antique auctions, I have noticed that the red quilts always sell first and are the most expensive. Apparently, I'm in good company. Yesterday, I finished machine quilting this string quilt with red fabric.  I made the quilt top a couple of years ago by piecing large string blocks, cutting them into half square triangles, and adding the red fabric to complete it. Can you see the windmills?  Which did you see first, the red ones or the scrappy ones? Just curious.  I always see the scrappy ones first.   I wash my red or any bold color fabric before I use it to see if it will fade;  a lesson I learned by experience from my early quilting days.  

Our quilting class met last night after being off last week for spring break.  We were ready to sew! After working for eight weeks making scrap squares, we started putting them together last night.  I love the look on their faces when the blocks start coming together, and their scrap squares start looking like a real quilt. Some will be ready to sash their blocks next week. This class is made possible by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.  Thanks!

We had some precipitation last night at class time, but thankfully, it was all liquid, and everyone was able to come to class. We had a good night of sewing. Our scrap pile in the middle of the table doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. There are so many things that can be made with scraps; never throw any scraps away! Pictured is a sampling of  scrap quilts, showing some different ways that scraps can be used. This class is made possible by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.  Thanks!

Our class did not meet last week.  We are all smart ladies, and when there is freezing rain, snow, and sleet falling and the wind is bitter, we go home after work and stay there, usually with some warm jammies on.  Being stuck inside last week turned out to be very productive for me.  I finished a crib quilt and a full size quilt top that I had been working on for a while. Last night, everyone came, and we sewed and pressed and trimmed happily for two hours.  We also talked about the next winter storm on the radar.  We are winter weary and will be thankful when spring gets here.  Spring always comes, but it is easy to forget that after last week's roller-coaster weather. Remember this scrap windmill quilt top I showed you a few weeks ago?  I finished another one this week using the same blocks and the same pattern.  I changed the fabric to a solid red.  Can you see a big difference?  In the meantime, our stacks of blocks...

We had a good night of making quilt blocks this week. Parsley wasn't able to come because of a meeting, but Sage, Rosemary,  Thyme, and I had a very productive and fun night. Every week we talk about different ways to use scrap blocks in quilts.  This quilt was planned around some fabulous batik fabric I found.  There is a batik scrap sewn across the middle of the block, with black and white scraps on both sides.  Then it is sashed with the same fabric, and it makes a good -looking quilt. It is backed with black and white polka-dot fabric. Cutting fabric into strings is a good way to use up some really ugly fabric.  I had some 3 Stooges fabric in black and white (what was I thinking?) that had been laying on the shelf a long time.  I cut it up to use in this quilt, and I think it looks just fine.  If you look closely, you might be able to see their heads. I don't throw any fabric away, not even the very ugly. This class is made poss...

 It was a cold, cold night, but we all came ready to sew some blocks!  It is such a pleasant sound to me, four sewing machines humming at the same time. The quilt above was made using 9 1/2 inch blocks, shown below.  One day last winter, I retreated to my sewing cave and made 84 of these blocks.  I used 42 of them in the quilt above. Has anyone noticed how much chicken fabric is in my blocks? I paired 24 of the remaining blocks with this blue and red fabric and made windmill blocks.  When you look at the quilt top, which windmill do you see first?  Is it the blue/red fabric, or the pieced block? It really doesn't matter, because both are pretty.  The blue/red windmills sorta jump out at me. We have completed three weeks and have lots of blocks made, but it seems to me this scrap pile hasn't changed any.  Actually, it seems a little bigger but we know that can't be possible.  Ah, so many potential quilts just layin...

I make more string quilts than anything else, and everyone asks how to do it.  Here goes: If you are a quilter or seamstress, you already have a tub of scraps.  If not, buy several quarter-yards of different fabrics and cut them in strips.  We called them strings; they were usually fabric scraps that were not big enough to use any other way. Cut squares of desired size from newspapers.  These are 6.5" squares, and I use 9.5" sometimes. Take a piece of fabric that is long enough to cover the center of the square diagonally.  Add another string, place right sides together, and sew.   Flip it around, and sew another piece of fabric on the other side of the center piece. Press.  Don't worry about trimming right now. Add two more pieces, one on each side.  Press.  As you can see, the paper square is covered on one side already. Add another piece, making sure it covers all the paper.  Press.  It...