Spontaneous Rejuvenation

I have finally picked the photo I want in my header.  It is not a usual photo for a quilting blog. My great-grandfather and his family were visiting California in the mid-1930s, somewhere near San Diego, I think.  He was on the coast, near the water, and my grandmother took this picture with her Brownie camera just as a wave came up.  He was jumping to try to stay away from the water.  It is amazing to me that a simple Brownie was able to catch him in this pose.  On the back of the picture were the words, "Spontaneous Rejuvenation". 

So I chose this picture because of the history behind it, as well as the caption.   It gives me a sense of well-being and enthusiasm for life. Perhaps one day I will create a quilt that is worthy of that name.

Crazy Quilt, Preview of Coming Attractions (???)

When I first bought my Janome a little over a year ago, my DH told me he wanted a crazy quilt made out of his old clothes. 

He said there was no hurry.  I was glad.  I never made a crazy quilt before...and still haven't.  

I have not been standing still, however.  I have organized (?) his stash. 

and made some blocks......

....almost a year ago, now. 

I have decided, after he calmly found and deposited said stash onto the floor next to my machine, that it is time to at least show some enthusiasm about the project.  So I have started cutting these garments down to size, try to find some order and maybe create some blocks the way the instructions say to.  These first 4 blocks deserve their name "crazy" because I just started sewing them together anywhichway. 

This is no way the end of the story....it will continue to crop up here every once in awhile...I need to make 40 or 50 of these blocks to satisfy DH with his large quilt.  

My motto is.....one block for DH, one quilt for me, one block for DH, etc., etc., etc.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I am still learning the basics of blogging.  As with quilting, there are things that go slow, and things that just seem to breeze along. 

Hopefully this will breeze along.  This was a few years back when we were moving into our Fifth Wheel.  We had just sold our house and wanted to keep the storage building.  So we temporarily moved it to another place, using a trailer that was slightly smaller than it was. Made me think of a traveling outhouse!

Fast forward a few years later, to a children's museum my GC went to while visiting us a couple of years ago.  They had a VW there that everyone was able to paint on.  So many layers of paint!

So my first post using the updated editor seems to be successful... Hope my quilting continues to be the same! 

New (Old) Member of my Sewing Circle out for an Airing

I have my MILs old Pfaff 230 that she used constantly. The other day I put sliders on the bottom of the cabinet legs and scooted it into an area where I could look at it. It is old and dusty, but I think I will be able to use it soon. I need one part that I know of (for now)...it is called the bed slide and goes to the right of the needle plate. I could also use a new needle plate...the one I have doesn't have any markings on it. I seem to remember that the remark was made that Mom had used the machine so much that she wore the markings off, but I can't be certain of that.

Anyway, this is the type of machine that will sew almost anything, as long as you set the hundreds of controls right. It even has a "drop stitch" lever. It says on the top that it is an "automatic dial a stitch". I think "automatic" in those days means something other than what it means today......

It may be awhile, I have to find somewhere to take it and get it adjusted and cleaned....and I don't have any idea where that could be.

Wish me luck.

Gone Fishin',,,for a pattern.

I bought these fish fabrics last October at Hancocks of Paducah on our long trip (another story). Since then they have been bugging me (mixed metaphore here).. I loved the neon bright of the material. I tried to think ahead for the sashing and borders.

I continue to look at these and realize that they can't ALL go into one quilt. The noise level would even echo through the Grand Canyon, which is far away from here!

So I am thinking.....what pattern could I use that would showcase these loud designs without being overbearing. So far I have come up with two general possibilities....

1) large, and they would have to be large, picture windows with fussy cuts of fish. I have never done windows before, so I would have to sew another quilt for practice before attacking this.

or

2) several horizonal panels, going from one side of quilt to the other, separated by sashing and the borders. Nothing fancy, just a ladder type.

Does anybody have any other ideas? I have to say now, that this is not my next quilt...it is down the list a bit, I don't want to rush myself. I only have about 3 yards of each , except for the solids shown below....which I bought to do who knows what.

Also, I feel as if I should add some neutral colors, or something, to calm it down...or would it calm it down too much?

By the way, I am trying to learn how to post pictures within the content of a post, not just at the top. I haven't figured it out yet,,,,be patient.

Caterpillar Quilt: Another Done

After careful planning regarding adding my binding(see Detours in the Round, 5/13), I did not run out of bobbin thread.. instead, I ran out of my top thread. Luckily it was at a corner and I had cut the thread anyway. This is a single cloth panel that I added the borders to. It is based on the children's book, The Hungry Caterpillar.

As I said earlier, I had to use both of my border colors for my binding to have enough. I like the way it turned out.....looks as if the caterpillar has been munching on the quilt!

Blue/White Top courtesy of Quilters Cache

I used all the thread on my volunteer bobbins to finish my top last night . It measures 54" x 54". I found the Sawtooth pattern at Quilter's Cache and needed some practice with HSTs. I got the practice, all right.

I learned to cut the original blocks a little bigger than called for and then cut them down to size when finished. I found my 1/4" pressure foot, which I didn't even realize I had, and have been using it faithfully.

Now to continue on track with the binding and label of the almost finished caterpillar quilt.

Detours in the Round

Here I was with my label and binding ready to go on my caterpiller quilt....the finish line in my sight......my adrenalin was flowing.

Then I noticed my bobbin......it would run out before I finished my binding...and I hate to stop and rewind bobbins on a long binding seam. Looking around for a full bobbin that I just knew I had, I found two more nearly empty ones. I couldn't make myself fill another white bobbin........ not with 3 just sitting there, calling to me that they are ready and willing to serve!

So what could I do? I sighed and started putting the blocks together for my other quilt. After these brave volunteers have done their duty, then I will refill and continue on with my original goal.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and mothers-to-be. Have a great day and enjoy the feeling all year long!

And thank you, my children, for letting me be your mother. It was and is an experience I would not trade for the world!

Scavenger Hunt

I finished handquilting my caterpillar quilt yesterday and for the last 2 days I have been looking for my binding fabric. I have a lot of my fabric separated out in "kits" so that I won't misplace them (har-de-har-har).

I am not that organized, but usually can find something if I set my mind to it and do not have a time limit. My problem is that I forget what I have and while I am looking for one thing, I keep finding projects that I forgot I had that I want to do. Also, I know that they are alive and moving around to try to confuse me.

After opening up every one of my kits and rummaging through them, I had given up and just started handquilting another WIP... Tonight, late, I went through the bins again and lo and behold, the green and gold had squiggled itself to the top of my "children box" and was waiting for me.

They really love me, they just are antsy to be used!

Humpty Dumpty this is not, Dominos it was

...or Why Pictures Are Necessary Right Away!

A little after I posted the last post, I started sewing blocks together. I reached for the first one, and almost the entire bottom two rows just fell off the wall. They were overlapping each other. Luckily I have pictures of what the finished quilt looks like so I can put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

Blue/White Quilt - WIP

I finally finished the last block for my blue/white quilt. The top two rows are put together, as well as most of the half squares. That may have been a mistake, because some of them run into two rows. Hopefully I can finish the rows without goofing up.

I got the block and quilt pattern from Quilters Cache, look for Sawtooth Square (12").

Anyway, here it is covering almost all of my wall, waiting to be sewn. As it stands now, it should measure about 54" x 54" (9" blocks). I don't know if I am going to put a border on it or not....I don't have enough of the blue and am hesitant adding another color/fabric to it at the end. Of course, I have to figure out the binding color also.

Well, I'll put it together and wait for inspiration.