Thursday, February 23, 2017

What's Up Now?

The strategy of Meredithe's
17 UFO's in 2017
has been a good one for me so far.
Progress, progress, progress.

So far
I worked on and finished two quilts that were 
"fast to finish" and the latest was 
one that had a "current deadline".

So what's up now?
Two quilts.


One is a "Long Term" project
and the other one is "something I love to work on". 

I've actually been hand quilting 
since the first of the year
 on
Noah and Matilda,
an antique reproduction applique 
pattern from 
 

Winter evenings are the perfect time
to get underneath the quilt and 
stitch.
I had my machine quilter baste 
it for me.  That is something
I would highly recommend especially for
big full size quilts.
It's been working perfectly. 

I've been quilting the feathered wreaths
before the light pencil markings disappear
and then around the appliques.

 It's starting to fill in.

My handquilting montra has
always been 
"just a hoop a day"
and to always finish the thread in my needle
before quitting for the day.

That's added up to a lot of stitches over time.
I'm far from done, but 
it's making progress!

***
The second quilt is the 
Dutch Medallion I started last year
which was the 2016 Mystery quilt  
found in Quiltmania and designed by


I had gotten this far last summer
with still two more pieced borders to go.
It's not a mystery anymore, and that's 
fine with me.

The next border was added on 
and a vine appliqued in place.


I was eager to try the newest Aurifil  thread,
the ultra thin #80 weight cotton.
It's marvelous.
It's melts into the fibers and completely 
disappears.  I've tried fine silk threads before and
it was continually slipping out of the eye of the needle.
This doesn't do that, at least, with my
sewing style.
I'm super pleased.

Now there's a lot of EPP
to work on.

But it's so fun working with the 
beautiful patterns on the Dutch fabrics
that I covet and use every little bit.
Maybe someday I'll be able to get more!

I love making progress on this quilt. 
It's exactly what quilting should be.

Until Next Time- 
Kyle



Thursday, February 16, 2017

Inspired By Many

The second 3 week period 
of working on a UFO is over.
And I have another finish.

You might remember the batik challenge
I wrote about 3 weeks ago. (here)
The members of my quilt group,
Quilt Therapy,
did a fabric exchange where we
each started with a yard of batik and ripped, kept half,
and passed.
Eventually ending up with 
7 different pieces,
7 different amounts of each.


The challenge I gave myself
was to try some of Gwen Marston's liberating tips
and techniques and see what happened.
It seemed only fitting.

I have watched many of you
from afar
working with an improv style
and knew it was time to step out,
just alittle.
I started with a few liberated stars


and kept sewing trying different blocks
until I put everything together in a simple nine patch.


I tried just about everything.


It was quite fun and I
even liked what I had created.

Having ventured out of my norm
I had to continue the same spirit with
the quilting.


Those of you who regularly break the barriers
in quiltmaking,
this may not seem too extraordinary,
but you have been an inspiration to me.


This was actually quite a freeing experience as
small as these baby steps were.

But wait there's more.

I used the "crumbs" for the back.

The edges were finished with a facing
rather than a binding,
another first.


This was a great experience,
trying lots of new techniques and ideas.

"Liberated Spirit"
"Sunflowers"
22 inches

Having been quilt making for over 40 years,
it just goes to prove there's always an opportunity
to try new things and see where it takes you.
Old quilters might be willing to try
new tricks.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Friday, February 10, 2017

Only Slightly Distracted

I did so well
during January,
but now...
 I've encountered a few
fun distractions.
Why not!

I said I wasn't going to do it,
is a medallion quilt designed
by Sue Garman.
I have always admired her work and
with her passing, I knew I wanted to make
probably one of the last patterns she designed.
  After choosing the the initial fabrics,
 

 then expanding the palette,

 and then doing some auditioning


it was time to 
 challenged myself to get down and
familiar once again with paper piecing.

It wasn't as complicated as I had remembered.
There were only a few do overs.
So I felt good and the results
were spot on!

16.5" center block

****
This week my email had the 
first clue of the Semi-Mystery Quilt 
I've done two of their mysteries before
and find them fun and challenging so...
the third one is the charm, right?


I've been hanging on to a layer cake
from Benartex and
a bright fat quarter packet from
Fat Quarter Shop

that I had planned to use in a quilt for my Florida
daughter.  With white backgrounds,
I think it has the feel
of hot tropical breezes.

8" finished blocks

 ****
Okay, I had resisted since January,
but I finally
started having fun with Lisa Bongean's
2017 Triangle Gatherings.

I spent last week making about 20 sets of HSTs.
Each block takes 16 pieces.
I decided to do
navy and cheddar and see what
happens.

 I've been using three different products to 
make my HSTs, Thangles,
Triangles on a Roll, and the PG Triangle Papers
designed by Lisa.
Thangles work great for strips,
the Triangles on a Roll works
well for larger pieces of fabrics,
and the PG Triangle papers work perfectly
with charm squares.

There's a place for everything.
Which one rips the easiest?
I'd vote for Triangles on a Roll.  The paper
is the thinnest. 
Patterns 1-5
6" finished blocks

****
Well, you can see that I have
branched out a little and 
have only become slightly distracted.
 It's funny what we can add in
and it just becomes part of the circle of  life. (quilting)
Have fun. I am.
Until Next Time-
Kyle



Thursday, February 2, 2017

Patriots

A few years ago my
daughter, who is a director of a museum 
in south Florida,
became interested in genealogy.
I've always had an interest too,
hoping to learn a little more 
of my family history.

With the previous work
from a cousin, and, of course, the internet, 
we discovered,
with much excitement, several direct
connections to Revolutionary War patriots.

This led me to do some
research into becoming a member 
of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution.
I saw this as a way to volunteer with a group
of women who were also interested in history, patriotism,
citizenship, genealogy, and contributing to service projects
in my community.  

Then came the hard part.
Finding the correct documentation
to link me to my patriot,
Simeon Wheelock of 
Uxbridge, Massachusetts,
my 5th Great Grandfather.

Simeon was a blacksmith and
had been a soldier in the French and Indian War
in 1760.
He married a young woman from
the same town, Deborah Thayer in 1763.
By the time the war started they had 5 children. 

 This is Simeon and Deborah's house
built circa 1765, which now serves as the
DAR headquarters for the 
Deborah Wheelock Chapter.

 Simeon along with his father,
Col. Silas Wheelock and his 4 brothers,
 answered the alarm of April 19, 1775
 and fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Skipping ahead many generation to me
I now find myself a member of the
Friday's Council Tree Chapter of
the DAR, in Windsor, Colorado.
The chapter was named after Chief Friday

 of the northern Arapaho tribe who lived
in this area.

One of the activities that I quickly
became involved with 
was making quilts for the VA hospital
in Cheyenne, WY.
These quilts are called
Final Salute Quilts.
They are given to a vet who enters
 hospice to use on their bed
and are then used to cover the body
as the veteran is given a
 final salute by their fellow vets.
The family is given the quilt.

Here is one of the quilts that
we recently made.

 48" x 96"

It truly is a group effort.
Once it is quilted
it will respectfully be passed on to a soldier
to honor them for serving
 our country
and risking their lives to
protect our freedoms.

A big thank you to all our patriots.

Until Next Time-
Kyle