Symphony in Brown

I have dubbed this collection of charity quilts "A Symphony in Brown". My friend Nancy Cohen Tomases showed up one day with a huge box, a garbage bag, and a bolt of fabric for comfort quilts. Oh boy (not). As I went through and sorted, it was obvious she was getting rid of browns, which she HATES. She tells me it was not all hers, but there sure was a lot of brown in there! I decided the best plan of attack was to cut it all into strips of various widths and make different patterns using a second color. I did brown with peach, brown with aqua, and brown with yellow, and then at the end I did brown with all 3. After 4 months of pretty much only working with browns I've called it quits for now. Gotta get them quilted!(I still have a good size box full of brown strips left over}. Enjoy!

Binding--Ugh

Oh How I Hate Binding! I am really good at making tops, pretty good at getting them quilted and EXCEPTIONAL at putting off bindings! I have had a pile of 5 quilts that just need the binding sewn down by hand. They've been there almost a year! I'm down to the last one of mine which is a bed size. I use the excuse that I don't have a comforable place to sit with good light in my house. What I do enjoy is a nice day on my porch to sit and stitch. However, a big quilt is too much! Excuses excuses. This story begins with a quilt started by my ex's mom, Cindy. She has been my Massachusetts mom, quilting buddy, and friend for a very long time. When she died suddenly last June, I inherited her quilting stuff. One of the UFO's was a quilt she started for her daughter Priscilla. I said I would finish it, thinking "no problem". Well.... the 11 finished blocks ended up needing work and pressing. I needed to make 14 more blocks. Then there was the lack of fabric to finish it. Shopping! And the hundreds of 9-patch and 4-patch blocks I had to make. I have never had to rip out and resew so much in my life! Well, it went to the longarmer and finally came home on July 3rd. On the 4th I pressed all the binding, trimmed off the edge and got the binding sewn on. (Took all day to get around to it) Didn't hand sew a stitch till today, the 6th. Instead, I managed to make 25 bookmarks, a rope bowl to display them in, new signs for the new items for Market, pressed the entire pile of stuff on the pressing table, cut borders for 3 tops, worked on a scrappy top, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, and probably a few other things that didn't need to be done just to avoid the binding!

Did I mention this is a King Size? That's 40 feet of binding!!! So far I've done 2! I promise to post this with pictures when I am finished. People think I am so prolific!! Yeah, when I'm doing what I like!

Charity..It brings comfort to many

Since I retired in September of 21, I have struggled with finding a way to fill my days. Of course, quilting is on top of the list every day, but let's be honest--I can only have so many quilts sitting around and my entire familly has their share. I enjoy the creative process-choosing fabrics, deciding on a pattern, using up my stash, and watching the top come to life. But let's be real-the actual quilting and binding are not my favorites. I have a tote full of tops, a pile of tops/backs/battings to layer and quilt and quite a lot of boxes of cut pieces, not to mention all the UFO's and orphan blocks! Geez! It's overwhelming! For several months I was crazy making stuff for my Farmer's Market booth. Let's just say--I'm good for the next 2 seasons!

Then there were the 5 months spent working on the Viking Quilt, so that kept me busy.

But I needed more, a purpose again. I found my way to Yankee Quilters. Every Monday they meet to work on Comfort Quilts for Dana Farber chemo patients and a shelter for women and children. It is the perfect outlet for me! I can sew all day and try out new designs, and someone else quilts most of them. After a couple weeks i started being sent home with fabrics, UFO's, and boxes full of squares and strips. :( Lots and lots of squares! I've been working through my UFO bags and having fun coming up with ideas. Every week I have at lease one top and one quilted quilt (yes I am layering and quilting one a week, if possible) My machine binding game is improving and I am trying different stipple designs and playing with my rulers. Perfection is not important and as Emma used to say "Charity doesn't care".

Since September I have made new friends and am filling my days with lots and lots of creativity. Our group was just introduced to a group called "Wrap Ukraine with Quilts". They have expanded to the whole world, have delivered over 30,000 quilts, and are just amazing!Please check them out at hellocottons.com.

We coincidentally were just gifted a LOT of tops and are spending the summer tying them to send. It's exciting! Please check out this video. (I don't seem to be able to put in a link so here's the info. On IMDB the show is called Making Good and the episode is called Wrap Ukraine With Quilts. I dare you not to cry! I forgot to take pictures of my comfort quilts but am very thankful to my friend Lorri for her picture taking and here are a few. There was first the strip stage, then the square stage, and then all the florals! Enjoy the show!

Thoughts on Safety and Organizing (otherwise known as a confession of my faults!)

The other day while pressing it occurred to me that there are a lot of ways to hurt yourself while quilting. This epiphany came to me as I steamed my finger. I realized it is easy to burn yourself daily! I've been known to steam myself, burn myself on the iron, and my personal favorite is the 2nd degree burns from hitting the light bulb in the machine. I'd say to be careful, but I still keep doing it myself....so good luck out there. Another dangerous thing is the rotary cutter. Obviously it is VERY SHARP so getting cut is bound to happen. I can honestly say that I am so obsessively careful with mine that I have never had a bad cut. That is probably because I have only one strict rule of quilting--CLOSE THE DAMN ROTARY CUTTER EVERY TIME IT IS PUT DOWN!!!! Makes me nuts to see someone leave the cutter just sitting on the table. I've heard stories of stitches on the hand and feet. Yes, the feet. Probably a good idea to wear shoes in case you drop the cutter. But the most major injury is also caused by the rotary cutter. My ex was an ergonomics expert and he drilled ergonomics and tool safety into my head. It is very important to use the cutter properly. It is important to have a straight line from the fingertip to the shoulder. That means the perfect way to use the cutter is standing at the perfect height for a straight arm. (This one is the hardest one for me to follow. I have to sit down sometimes. Shame on me). Always hold the cutter as shown, with the finger on the finger rest and the wrist straight. Always cut straight away from yourself.

The day I thought about this blog post, I was working on proects that required a lot of pressing and squaring up scrappy, thick blocks. I managed to steam myself and actually had shoulder pain from all the cutting. The last thing I ever want is another frozen shoulder, or rotary cuff injury, so I had to follow the professional advice...REST! Shoulder was better in a day, thank goodness, but it was a good warning! I cringe any time I see someone gripping the cutter with a bent wrist, or cutting across the body. Why, you ask? Carpel tunnel and rotary cuff injuries are just waiting to happen. And no one wants those!!

If you see yourself in this picture, PLEASE make an adjustment! On a separate note, I just have to document the clean-up progress I made this week. I have been making charity quilts. I've been mostly using strips of fabrics. Talk about a mess. I had fabrics everywhere! I have also inherited a quilting room from a friend, and was overwhelmed with stuff--UFO's in bags and boxes, fabrics in bags and boxes, tools, etc. I consolidated fabrics into my stash, worked on UFO's of mine and hers, cut scraps into strips, and was finally able to stack up the totes. I documented my progress by taking a picture of all the empty ziploc bags, and boxes! And the tops that are in the first stage of construction.

So please .....Be Careful out there!

The Viking Quilts are Finished! Moving on!

I just finished printing my labels for the Viking quilts! Yes, that's quilts, plural. I got so many stars that I ended up making 2. More money for the cause! I have also finished a quilt for someone special in CdA so I finally finished 3 bindings! Only 5 more bindings ready to tack down! The Viking quilts are lucky to be done so soon. There was a bad period in the middle. My gas was turned off from Mar 10 to April 22 thanks to a carbon monoxide leak and a landlord that didn't appear to care one bit if we were ok. Don't get me started! I ended up on a hotel for 26 days. Every day I entered my apartment (illegally, since we'd been red tagged and forced to evacuate. I'm such a rebel). I wore layers of clothes (temps in the 40's to 50's) and sewed for a bit on the scrappy backgrounds and extra bitty stars. I took them back to the hotel, pressed, squared up, and repeated every day. It was quite a month!

The big thing now is the Farmer's Market. I am making pouches and tote bags. I have so many made now that I'm good for the rest of the season! Once I get set up it's a lot of fun (unless a storm hits and pours rain). I had quite a haartbreaker in the storm. I stood there and watched the red on the quilt spread all over the top of my quilt. 3 loads with 3 color catchers each and it's back to normal!

As you can see, I'm still alive and quilting. So many ufo's, so little time!

Viking Blue!

 

This blog is for my Class of 72 Vikings! Class reunion is coming up and I thought it would be easiest for me to post the info for the Viking Raffle Quilt this way. I am hoping any and all quilters/sewers/adventurist spirits will contribute to this project.

The vision is quite simple. White stars on a blue background. The rules are pretty simple, actually.

1. The white should be white white (no cream, no print, but white on white is fine

2. Viking Blue. Also may be called cobalt (Kona). Think the blue on the crayon that says Blue. Values can go up or down a bit but needs to stay in the blue range. Get as many prints as you can find.

3. Please use many different blue prints in each block. (Do not make the whole block with just one fabric. It will stick out amongst the scrappy). Try for 4 or more per block.

4. ANY STAR is ok. ANY SIZE  is ok. The more variety the better. (I'd say 12" would be the absolute largest, and as many little ones as possible, to add sparkle. Little pinwheels are also nice in the background)

5. Please send any leftover scraps/squares/strips of the blues so I can create the scrappy background.

I am hoping to get all blocks by April so I have time to make the top (or tops if we get a lot). 
Please message me on Messenger  with questions and for address to send. (I know not everyone has Messenger-I hear you Debbie-so I guess you're on your own to figure out how to reach me. I think Ann has the reunion mailing list)

I can't wait to get packages in the mail with beautiful white stars and  scraps of blues.

🌟* * * * * * * * * * * * * *🌟
Oh,,one more thing. Prewashing is not necessary UNLESS the fabric has been in contact with cats. Very allergic.

RETIREMENT: EVERY DAY IS THE WEEKEND!

        I am now officially retired! Not really sure what I should do now that I don't go to work every day. I have decided to make at least one tangible goal for each day. I have what seems like an unlimited number of UFO's so for now I am trying to accomplish SOMETHING every day.  I know I will never use up all this fabric but I plan to finish up all the UFO blocks and make tops. I figure if those are left behind someone will finish them and donate to charity. But a ziploc full of pieces will just get tossed. Note to self---good luck with that.  So for now I am reaching into the UFO tote and pulling out a bag and off I go. I am determined not to start anything brand new until each bag is used up. At this point they all seem like new projects. Some of them are years old! Off I go! So far I have 2 tops & backs on the pressing pile. Pretty good for a week!

    Well, I am now officially 2 weeks in and have managed to finish 2 bindings! This week has been probably the best weather week ever and I have discovered my front porch! I have never used it before because it was so nasty and the sun shines on it all day long. But my porch was recently replaced and the sun angle is better so I have loved sitting out there in my comfy chair with my bindings or my knitting. Pretty nice!