Stars In Time Warp

Remember when I said I wasn't

on the slow boat to China anymore.

Well, this week,

I finally jumped off that boat

and jumped on the band wagon instead.

 

I started sewing 

Barbara Brackman's 

"Stars in Time Warp"

Quilt Along.

I know many of you are already

participating in this once a week lesson  

on historical fabrics.

 The 6" sawtooth block

 

 is easy to piece.

I just started sewing the blocks last week.

My plan is to do 2 blocks each week.

All along, though, I've been

 pulling the perfect fabrics to

represent the particular color or style or

 certain time period that
Barbara writes about.
 

We just finished week 18,
but here is week 17

with conversation prints.

These prints are always fun.

I decided to make all of my

blocks with different light shirting prints.

 I know that might seem a bit controlled and boring,

but that's just me.

Week 15 was all about

woven plaids, one of my favorites.

I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use

for one of the blocks.

When my daughter, Kate, was in 8th grade

one of her classes was called "Inquiry".

Each student was to study a topic of interest

and complete a project.

Her topic was historical costuming, women's clothing 

of the 1860's.

Her project was to sew a dress

based on the period.

With the help of a couple mentors

and her mom

 she completed her project.

Would you guess that Kate is

 a Museum Collections Manager?

 ***

 Hopefully,

 I'll be keeping up 

with Barbara's Time Warp Stars.

I'm learning so much.

It's a wonderful series.

Until Next Time-

I'm Not on the Slow Boat Anymore

 I think sometimes I must 

be on the slow boat to China.

It seems that I'm always

a step behind
 what everyone else has discovered and already made.

Recently, Sue, over at Cozy Little Quilts,

was sewing the cutest fabric baskets.

I know, I've seen these before, but either I didn't

have the time or the inkling to make one.

Well, that changed last week.

I had both the time and I had the inkling.

 Here is the link to the FREE pattern : 

  http://www.craftsy.com

If you haven't checked it out.

You'd better.

 Because you're going to want to make a 

pile of these.

They're easy,

fun and 

a great stashbuster.

Each one uses about 1/2 yd of fabric.

  2 Fat Quarters would work perfectly, especially if

 the handles are made from a third fabric.

The pattern is called the "1 Hour Basket".

The first one actually took me a bit longer, but

once I got going, they were pretty fast.

Instead of using a fusible fleece,

I was introduced to a new product,

as least to me, again that slow boat thing,

called Soft and Stable byannie's.

I can see by checking online that

it's been around for a while.

Toot, Toot, I'm still on the boat!

It's a sew-in, foam like product that

eliminates the "basket droop".

It's light weight,

soft,

 and  easy to sew.

I did use my walking foot and that 

accommodated the slight added thickness.

Using this sew-in interfacing, eliminated

any wrinkles that I've been known to 

create with a fusible product.

Gosh, I'm glad my boat

finally made it shore.

These baskets

are just to cute to miss.

 Until Next Time-

Contrasts

Happy and sad

Light and dark

Salty and sweet

Life is full of contrasts.
Maybe it's what adds to the beauty and
interest in our lives.

Quilting offers so many contrasts
in styles and techniques.

Maybe that's what adds to our continued interest
in making quilts.
Maybe that's why I work
on multiple projects at a time,
the need for contrast.


There's a time for simple and fast.
There's a  time for slow and intricate.

I recently found myself wanting to sew something fast and easy.
There's nothing much simpler than starting with a panel,
and a border fabric.

It was a kit purchased
from Fat Quarter Shop online.
How simple is that.
I knew it would be perfect as
a cot quilt for one of my grandsons.

All the fabric arrived in the mail,
and I was off and sewing,

 

 speeding down the track.


Okay, it did have a mitered border,

 but even this needed a tiny challenge along the way.

Machine quilting was a must,
a little bit here and

a little bit more over there.
Ready, Set, Go, All Done.


In contrast to one of my other
projects, Montmellick
designed by Di Ford.

This was a quilt that required lots of English paper pieces,
and lots of appliqueing.

I recently did some machine quilting to
hold the layers together,
but now I'm filling in and highlighting
areas with hand quilting.

This is a quilt that has been intricate
and challenging.

 The quilt will still take many more hours
to complete.


Because quilting is full of contrasts,
we embrace each project.
A single quilt can
brings us highs and lows,
a connection to the past,
 and as well, as a connection to the present.
It can create challenging creative moments or
help us find the soothing rhythms
of stitching with needle and thread.
I love it all.

Until Next Time-

My Travelin' Shoes

 Running Man and I have

been off discovering new and fun places.

Neither of us had been here before.

See if you can figure it out.

Dogwood 

Boots

Lots of Boots.

Some even came home with us.

Food

Lots of delicious food.

 Plantations

 

 And Civil War Battles

 

 President's Homes

  guitars

and Elvis

 Music

 

 Lots of Music

It's a certain sound

 and once you hear it 

you know where it comes from.

Maybe you'd prefer to see

who's sound we did hear.

Figure out where we went?

I'm sure you did.

 What a wonderful place to explore.

Until Next Time-