but wait, there's more

Today was the day to hand over the quilt (and a couple of other special items) to its rightful owner. I had one more item to add to it .... I wasn't sure if I should or not. I decided to.

Now, after hearing the story of The Bonnet, I am thankful that I did. Not wanting to cut the ties, just in case the family ever decides they want it off of the quilt, I couldn't figure out what to do with them. Then it dawned on me. The quilt is called "A Mother's Love", why not spell LOVE with the ties?

The story of The Bonnet (paraphrased - and I hope I remember the story correctly) as told to me by the sweet, young lady who is very happy to have gotten her quilt:

"When we were little, my sister and I had Cabbage Patch dolls. My parents were building a house on the lake, but we had a trailer to live in while it was being built. On Christmas day, the trailer caught on fire. My mom ran in and the only thing she grabbed was our dolls. This is the bonnet from my doll. The little marks are from that day."

a mother's love: complete

Well, the first quilt I was commissioned to do is complete. Whew! As I mentioned previously, it is made of squares from:

• an old, tattered double wedding ring quilt
• the wedding dress from the lady who sewed the double wedding ring quilt
• hospital gowns from the grandchildren of the above-mentioned lady
• fabric picked out by the daughter/grandchildren
• fabric from sentimental garments such as baby dresses
• misc. fabrics such as jeans

I embroidered a label to go on the back of the quilt. Before I went to that quilt show a couple of weekends back, I didn't know that quilts 'had to' have names.

Naturally, this quilt is called "A Mother's Love".

I stitched in the ditch around each square, first doing all the horizontal lines, starting from the middle, then stitching all the vertical lines in the same manner. Thank the good Lord nothing got messed up or wonky. In fact, the quilt sort of looks like a down comforter on the back. Very cool.

file under category: had to have

I only went into the fabric store for rotary cutter blades. But then I saw this vintage McCall pattern fabric. "What, oh, what could I make with this?" I kept asking myself. I don't want to cut it up, because it is so wonderful like it is. It will have to be a quilt. Not a piecework quilt, just a plain ol' blanket quilt. Piece on top, piece underneath, batting in the middle, and a border.

"Now, what fabric will go with it?"

go, enter this giveaway

I can't believe her generosity.

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Halloween Costume giveaway.

beauty

This is what I saw in the antique store those 7 or so years back.

I nearly fainted when I saw that it contained this black beauty.

Vintage.

Treadle.

My grandmother is the only person I know who can operate one of these.

How wonderful would it be for me to learn from her?!?!

the 12' square

Here is a close up from my favorite quilt from the quilt show. There were so many examples of this pattern, that my friend, Michele, decided that there had to have been a class and everyone entered their quilt. It looks easy enough.

Update: I found out when I went to visit a little quilting shop (oh yeah, baby, that was fun!) that this pattern is called "Turning Twenty". It is called such because it takes only 20 fat quarters to make the quilt. The woman said that she made one start to finish in a day.

a day of firsts

Today a friend and I went to a quilt show. I had never been to one before. Simply. Amazing. The photos I took will not do any of the quilts justice.

This is what we saw when we walked through the doors. It sort of made me gasp.

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Most of the quilts were "traditional" and had a "pattern" to them. Some were very non-traditional and had no rhyme nor reason to them. There were a couple that looked very much like a Georgia O'Keefe painting.

This one was HILARIOUS! It is titled "Road Kill". I guess it requires no explanation.

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I think the cubical look of these two is very cool.

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Although you can't see the detail in this picture, this quilt artist used "thread painting" techniques to achieve some pretty awesome details.

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This one was so bright and colorful and must have taken a million hours.

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Even though there are NO circles at all in this one, you still see them, don't you?

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This quilt is the reason I came home with a Moda "jelly roll" and a few matching fat quarters.

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This one, called Sunny Side Up, must have a billion little squares. I know she must know some major rotary cutting shortcuts.

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Though the red is a bit severe, I love the way this one looks like so many Victorian nosegays.

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All three of these quilts, plus a few more, must have been made in a class, as they are made with the same 12" square pattern. See if you can pick it out. The first one was my favorite.

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clever clever idea

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//////We have been getting a lot of rain lately. //////

//////This would be so cool to make./////

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latest project

(I wouldn't want anyone to think I was idle.)

I am making a quilt for a young woman who was given my name by a mutual friend. It will be crafted from various clothes that her daughters wore as toddlers, part of her mother's wedding gown, and part of a quilt that her mother made many years before she passed away.

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This was the quilt that her mother made.... after many years of being loved by her daughter and grandchildren. What a comfort it must have been to wrap up in its soft, Double Wedding Ringed beauty.

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I am being very careful to reinforce each 6x6" square I make from it.

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Here are a few of the 9 patch squares I've made. Thought about attempting the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern, but decided since there was such a difference in patterns/textures/types of material, that I'd better not.

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fun little denim pants

Well, the silhouette pants were so easy to put together, I decided to go ahead and make these out of 18 inches of denim I bought from the remnant rack at Joanne's.

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One of our sewing students in our first Thursday night "Moms' Night Out Sewing Class", Lisa, made a pair of pants VERY similar to these. Though envy is such a dark word, let's just say I really liked how hers turned out. We call the ruffle at the bottom of the pants the "Lisa Ruffle".

silhouette pants

I am having a hard time narrowing the field of options for a top to go with these pants I made today. The fabric is by Michael Miller. So incredibly cute. I have a complimentary fabric (white with black silhouettes) but need to make a decision soon.

a lovely giveaway

Giveaways just don't get any more lovely than this one. You should add Lila to your favorite sites to check while surfing the internet after the kids go off to school as your coffee gets colder and colder sitting there on your computer desk.