It is Done!

April 26, 2011 12:30 am ⋅ Pam

But why?

The Kaw Valley Quilt Guild Quilt Show is this Saturday and Sunday, April 30th & May 1st 10, 10 AM – 5 PM in Lawrence, Kansas. More information can be found here.

As part of the mini-quilt silent auction, there is a category for recreations of a historic or family quilt.

Select any historic or family quilt and Re-Create it as a miniature quilt. Size should not exceed 24″ x 24″. The Re-Creatation should be a scaled-down version of the original and include most of the details of the original quilt.

Somewhere along the way I got the impression the quilt should be about 150 years old and I don’t have a family quilt that old. So, I searched The Quilt Index.

I found an Ohio Star dating from 1850 – 1875 (Quilt Index Record: 47-7B-3C7). It’s neither a Kansas or Missouri quilt, but one from Connecticut. What can I say, I was looking for something “easy”.

Back in October Sally Collins was the Guild guest speaker. She talked about making miniature quilts. When I got home, I attempted to make some tiny stars. I was able to make stars which finish at about 3/4″. You can see those here.

The only problem is instead of working on them back in October, I let the project slide. Making stars that small can’t be rushed and since I didn’t pull the project out until two weeks ago, I was rushed. Needless to say, I up-sized the stars to finish at 2″.

But what to do with those tiny stars? I used them on the quilt label. You can see here how they didn’t come out perfect. I’m using a quarter for size comparison — it was a quarter on yesterday’s post as well.

I think this quilt falls into the category of “I’m glad I’ve done it, but I don’t see me doing it again.”

This is quilt #2 of the ~~7 by June~~ 10 by June. More on that later.

The quilt, after washing measures 18 1/2″ square. I used Warm & Natural batting and quilted it with Coats Machine Quilting & Crafts Mercerized Cotton size 50 thread. It’s color # 309A Camel.

Posted in: miniature

What’s On My Design Wall

April 25, 2011 12:30 am ⋅ Pam

I’m in the process of stitching down the binding — by hand. That’s not something I normally do, but I wanted a narrower binding than I usually use. I hope to have the binding and label on later today, then into the wash so hopefully it crinkles up.

Check in with me tomorrow or Wednesday to see the completely finished quilt and to find out why I took on this challenge.

In the meantime, check out some more design walls by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: designwall, miniature

The Mini Star Top is Done!

April 24, 2011 3:19 pm ⋅ Pam

It measures 20 1/4″ square. Now off to quilt it.

Posted in: miniature

Stash Report

April 24, 2011 12:31 am ⋅ Pam

Forty-nine stars, 36 setting blocks, 24 side triangles, 4 corner triangles — but yet less than a yard used. That happens when you make a mini quilt. On the other hand, I stayed out of the quilt shops this past week, but have a trip planned Tuesday afternoon for backing for two more quilts and the crossword puzzle quilt.

Fabric Added the last week: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 46.269 yards

Fabric Used the last weeks: .93 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 54.271 yards

Net Used for 2011: 8.002 yards

Checkout the links over at Patchwork Times to see how others are doing.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

All Stars

April 23, 2011 10:30 pm ⋅ Pam

All of the mini Ohio Stars are made. Now it’s time to get this top completed.

Posted in: miniature

Seven More Stars

April 22, 2011 12:25 am ⋅ Pam

Instead of making the last seven stars, I played with the setting blocks. I’ve decided to go scrappy — not that its easy to tell in this slightly blurry cell phone picture.

Posted in: miniature

Two More Sets To Go

April 21, 2011 12:05 am ⋅ Pam

The next set is cut out.

Posted in: miniature

One More Set Done

April 20, 2011 5:39 pm ⋅ Pam

Three sets to go.

Posted in: miniature

Year of the Pig – Question #8

April 20, 2011 3:48 pm ⋅ Pam

Jill’s Year of the Pig Question #8 is —

What part (or parts) of the process of making a quilt are your least favorite? The part (or parts) that you just dread and that make you throw your projects back into the dark recesses of your stash closet? Have you found any tricks to break the cycle of being held up on the parts that aren’t your favorite?

This question got me thinking. Is there any part of making a quilt that I dread?

It’s not the binding. Once I get a quilt quilted, I want to get it bound. I don’t sew the binding down by hand, so that is probably why this doesn’t bother me.

I used to hate sandwiching the quilt. It’s hard on the knees crawling around on the floor. But I’ve figured out how to get it done on my big board ironing board (I generally make twin size quilts or smaller these days).

One could argue that I must not like the process of quilting itself. Putting stitches through the three layers which makes the quilt top a quilt. I say this because I have around 40 quilt tops waiting to be quilted – three from September of 2006.

It’s not that I don’t like this step, it’s more a case of not knowing what to quilt on a top. Until last fall, all of my quilting was done on my sewing machine. I’ve tried free motion quilting and I need more practice, but don’t want to do it on my “good” tops and mess them up. So, I’ve been limited to straight line quilting and soft curves — especially on anything bigger than about 40″ square.

But last fall I discovered Rocking Chair Quilts in Butler, Missouri rents time on their longarm. It’s an hours drive, but well worth the time. My oldest completed top was from 2005. I think it was 96″ square — no way for me to get it done on my sewing machine and not “good enough” to pay someone to quilt it. I took it down to Butler and quilted it in an afternoon. It won’t win awards, but that’s not why I quilt.

Hard and fast deadlines also get me going. I’ve got a stack of 5 quilts w/backing fabric which need to be quilted by the middle of June. All of them have been waiting to be quilted for at least a year or more. A couple I’ll quilt here at home and a couple I’ll take down to Butler. I have a rough idea of how I’m going to quilt at least 4 of them. The fifth one is giving me fits, but I’ll figure something out.

Click over to Jill’s to see how others get past their least favorite part of quilting.

Posted in: PIGS

Not Quite Halfway

April 19, 2011 12:15 pm ⋅ Pam

Small as they are, I can only fit a dozen stars on my scanner bed. Seven more done last night. I’m not planning on doing any yard work tonight, so maybe I can get two sets of 7 done tonight. Of course, I’m thinking about two other quilts and I’m itching to play in my fabric.

I’ve gotten the last name I need for the crossword puzzle quilt, which is really more of a Scrabble quilt, and now I need a “theme” for the rest of the fabric. I’m leaning toward red — which is probably the color I have the least of! I wonder if it’s an unconscious decision so I can go fabric shopping?

The second quilt is one more that needs to go on my 7 by June, which would make it 8 by June if we hadn’t already added another quilt which means the count is up to 9 now! At least the other quilt just needs quilting and I’ve been thinking about that as well. But back to the second quilt. I’m leaning toward using Bonnie Hunter’s Strip Twist and doing it in neutrals – scrappy of course.