The Giants - Part One

When I talked about my stash the other day, I mentioned I use large prints on the back of my quilts. It's a funny thing, but when I take photos of my quilts I don't take photos of the backs, which is a bit of a shame because I choose the backings so carefully. I never just use what I have hanging around.

So last weekend I set up my quilt stand and remedied that situation. Some of the photos have a blue cast because they were taken in the shade on a sunny day, but you get the idea.

In 2009 I made this quilt, Letters From Home as a sample for Tonya Ricucci's book, Letter Play Quilts. Tonya had stipulated the quilts had to be quilted. I had never had one of my quilts quilted before and was wary to let somebody else loose with it. Fortunately Julie Sefton intervened and recommended Chris Ballard.

When I talked to Chris on the phone she said, in her inimitable Southern accent, "I don't know how I'm going to quilt your quilt. I'm going to hang it up on the wall. Your quilt will tell me how it wants to be quilted."

Right then and there I knew Chris was the one, and she has quilted all my quilts since. I let her do her thing and it is always perfect.

At that time I had been reading Julie's blog and saw how Julie used a lot of pieced backings for her quilt. So I assembled this out of a Kaffe and some leftover bits. As you can see I added a cat emoticon.

When the quilt arrived at Chris's house she gave me a call, "I like the way you didn't drop the ball on the backing."

I've never forgotten that, and make every effort to "not drop the ball" on every backing of every quilt I make.

 Here is The Quick Brown Fox, also made in 2009.

And here is the back. Generally I feel backings are a great big space, and need something equally big to fill it up so it doesn't look stupid. I guess I just don't like a lot of empty space.

 
In between "arty" quilts, I make "normal" ones, or my version thereof. I made this because I wanted to see how many so-called rules about placing fabrics next to each other that I could break. I was going for broke, and ended up with a jewel box. The result is my quilt "Laughing Out Loud."

Here's the fabric I chose for the backing. It's an eye-popping Philip Jacobs print I was lucky enough to get on sale. I figured if I was going for broke on the front, I had to go for broke on the back. I gave this quilt to my Mom, so I don't have a "proper" photograph of the back.

My son asked me to make him a yellow quilt.

 Really.

(An aside: The tutorial for this quilt, Slashed Squares, is here. It's an easy quilt to make, and has lots of possibilities. It is the single most popular page on my blog, having over 27,000 hits since I wrote it in 2008.)


He said he wanted a "Quilt of Sunshine" so when he took a girl to the fireworks they could lie on a nice quilt and he could make a good impression. You can read a bit more about it here. My son gave me all kinds of grief about the fabrics I selected, but I have "Mom Armor" and I ignored him.  He was, originally, quite dismayed at what I selected for the back.

Giant Magnolias.

I had asked him if I could make "to Paul from Mom with love" in free pieced letters on the back of the quilt. He said "NO WAY" so I just made "XXX..." which is the way we sign letters to each other. (Tell that story now, however, and he slaps his forehead and says, "I was WRONG! I should have LET YOU") This is the same son who's getting the Petals quilt. I only have one child.)

When I gave him the quilt, he carried it home and placed it on his bed. He's never once let it touch the ground on the beach or at the fireworks. It's on his and DIL's bed as we speak.

BTW, the other print on the back, a small Japanese design printed in metallic gold, was chosen by him against my advice. Gold sparkly stuff on quilts WILL wash off eventually. So now the back of the quilt is flowers, and gray.

He loves the flowers, and he's graceful enough to admit he was wrong about them.


More backings and more quilts later!

More Sunshine

Chris Ballard, the wonderfully talented longarm quilter who quilts my quilts (and lives about 1200 miles away from me, btw) posted a series of detail photographs of the Sunshine Quilt in her photo album pages on her blog.

As for the quilt, I have it on good authority that my son makes his bed every morning in order to display this beauty.

This is the same "Slashed Squares" design I have used before, as shown in this tutorial, as well as the quilt in yesterday's post.

Wrinkly Sunshine

I have washed Sunshine, and put it in the dryer. While it was still about 2/3 dry I took it outside and draped it over the fence. (I put a sheet down first.) So now it's appropriately "wrinkly."

Which reminds me of that car insurance ad with the gekko. The one where he's used the boss's "kind of old and wrinkly" dollar bill to buy a packet of "crisps."

Now it's all folded up and waiting for my son.

Sun Shines on Sunshine

Well, almost. It's all finished.
You can see my little "love note" (the xxx...), and the label in the opposite corner.Now to get up the courage to wash it and make it crinkly. You can click the photos to enlarge.

Sunny Day & Sunshine

I had a great day yesterday. I met Sara, a quilter who lives about 90 miles away. We met in Concord, and visited a couple of quilt shops together. First was Peggy Anne's, where my selvage tote bag immediately attracted attention. We had a terrific lunch, and then visited Golden Gese.

I had brought some quilts to show Sara. Actually, I brought a carful. I brought my Sunshine Quilt, the Laughing Out Loud Quilt, my Alphabet Sampler Quilt, my Blacque Quilt, the new Doll Quilt Swap 7 Selvage Quilt, a few Gizzy Quilts and some of my Quilted Chessboards. It was so nice to show them off to somebody who totally "gets it."

We had a great time, and we'll do this again soon!


At home, I sat down to work on the binding of the Sunshine Quilt and watch the tennis.I've finished two corners and one side.

Binding Sunshine

As you all know, I add the binding to the back of my quilts, and do my finish hand-sewing on the front. This picture shows off Chris's quilting. She used a mustard-colored thread for the quilting. It makes the back shimmer.
I cut my binding strips straight-of-the-grain, 3" wide, and join them at a 45-degree angle. I fold the binding in half lengthwise, wrong sides together and pin the raw edges to the edge of the quilt.

I sew the binding 3/8" away from the edge, and I miter all corners. When back at the beginning, I join the pieces at a 45-degree angle so the binding is continuous. Then I fold it over to the front, pin and blindstitch. It makes a 1/2" wide binding.

With my arthritis, I can't do hand sewing for any length of time. So I will work my way around the quilt very slowly, about 28" a day.

For those who asked, there are 19 different fabrics, and the quilt is made up of 36 blocks arranged in 6 rows of 6. The blocks are 14", so the quilt is about 84" square.

Sunshine! On His Shoulders!

My son came over for dinner tonight, and carried in the box containing his Sunshine Quilt. (I had sent it to Chris to quilt it.) It had been left in the hallway outside my door. I had been outside 20 minutes earlier, and the package wasn't there, so I didn't expect it.

All his talk about not wanting to see the quilt until it was completely finished went right out the window when I carried the box into the bedroom and spread the quilt out on the bed.

We brought it outside to take some pictures before the light faded.While we looked it over, I asked him, "Remember when I was buying fabrics? You didn't like the birds, and you thought the [Kaffe Fassett] fans had too much pink."

"And I hated the dragonflies," he added.

"You rolled your eyes when I picked those magnolias for the back."

"You didn't listen to me at all, did you?" he asked.

"Nope," I replied.

"Good thing."

Sunshine Sneak Preview

My son may be a Third Degree Black Belt, but I'm still the Mom, and if I want to show off a little bit of the Sunshine Quilt, then I'm gonna do it. I have Mom Armor!The quilt is at Chris's house, being quilted on Iris. I should have it back next week, when I am on vacation. I will add the binding and then it will go live with my son.It's looking good, and I am excited!

More Love and Flowers

I had a boss who teased me once by saying, "I give you an inch and you take a mile." My reply was, "You offer me the mile and get upset when I take it."

Which is why I always smile when folks tell me I can do what I want. My son, for instance, told me I could use whatever fabrics I wanted on the back of his quilt.
I bet he'll claim he didn't.

Love & Flowers

I asked my son if I could put a strip of free-pieced letters on the back of his quilt, saying something like, "made with love by Mom."

He didn't look all that excited about the idea.

He suggested I use "xxx..." which is the way I traditionally sign my emails to him. Everybody knows the X's mean kisses, and the 3 dots mean "et cetera." But in a Valentine's card my son gave me many many years ago, after his signature, he added the three x's, the three dots and then, "(infinity)". It's been sort of a tradition ever since.So I followed his suggestion. This -will- be on the back of the Sunshine Quilt I am not showing you.


In a totally non-quilt related area, this is a picture of the planter I have out on my porch. I positioned so I can see it when I sit at the dining room table

It gives me something nice to look at, instead of the blank wall of the building next door. I also have a nice big planter of purple wave petunias that I can't see from where I sit at the table. Out in the back, I have a container garden of thyme, oregano, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, mint, catnip, several kinds of basil, some peppers, a planter of arugula and a tomato plant.

A Sunshine-y Day

This is me NOT showing you my progress on the Sunshine Quilt I am making for my son. Remember he doesn't want to see it until he is finished. Here I have pinned two rows of blocks together.
In this next picture, I am not showing you four rows being ironed.In this picture, I am not showing you the finished top. {I can see my son rolling his eyes right about now!} Ha ha ha! Love you sweetie!

Tomorrow I will show you the 55 fat quarters I bought for a buck(1USD) each.

Here's Rusty!

The special Gizzy Quilt, "Where's Rusty?" has reached its intended destination, and its new owner is very pleased:

Within 10 seconds Rusty was off his chair and on the quilt. He sniffed it over and then made a face! I think he smelled a bit of Millie. He then rolled all over it and now it is his. I took some photos and will send them off this evening. From the first day we had Rusty, we have called him Houdini Kitty. He can be with you and then poof he is upstairs looking down at you. To see all the extra Rustys in the windows and the yard is our Houdini Kitty!

As you can see, I kept three of the four "Rustys" hidden until the quilt was received by its owner. Can you find all four? You can click the photo to enlarge. (sorry it's not as sharp as it could be.)

~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note, my son has changed his mind. Now he wants the Sunshine Quilt quilted. AND he doesn't want to see it until it is finished. Which means I can't post about it until it is done.

{Sigh}

A Little Sunshine

It's been raining the couple of days. Again, again, again! Really frustrating. We did have a perfect day on Sunday.

All this reminded me that the summer was fleeting by even if it didn't feel like it, and that I had better get going on the Sunshine Slashed Squares Quilt I am making for my son. I tried arranging the blocks a couple of months ago, and didn't get anywhere, so I set them aside. Now that I have all my "obligations" finished (placemat swap; apron; special Gizzy Quilt; curtain), and my sewing table is moderately clean (and I'm housed-out), I have a bit of time.

So I got out the blue tape and then played around with the blocks, and in no time I had a layout I liked. I photographed it, then stacked the blocks in rows. I'll probably get to them later this weekend.

My son has decided he doesn't want the quilt quilted. He wants to be able to use it at the beach, and on picnics and wash it with abandon.

I don't usually quilt my quilts. I've explained why in previous posts. You'll have to go back to the very beginning if you want to read why.

Basically, it's the way my grandmother made hers.

Sunshine - Ready, Set, Slash!

I've completed all the Sunshine blocks. Now I have to cut each one into four pieces, like the block above.First, line up the ruler to make the first cut.

Without moving the block, move the ruler 90 degrees, line up and make the second cut.

I place these blocks on the corner of my cutting table so I can cut easily from both sides. I don't move the block, I move myself around the corner to the other side of the table to make the second cut.

Now I'm really excited.

Sunshine Squares

I've sewn 30 of the Sunshine Squares together. I've got 8 left to do. Here are a few from the latest batch.

More Sunshine

It finally stopped snowing after leaving us with between 18 and 22 inches of the damn stuff. I've had enough already and it's only the second day of winter.

We had real sunshine today. It was sunny with clear blue skies. It was also about 15 degrees F and very windy. The snow crunched underfoot. Actually, it was a pretty nice day.

On Sunday I paired up the last of my strips and squares. Last night I started sewing them together. I tried very hard not to repeat any pairs, but look at the finished block on the right, and then the 5th pair down from the top on the left.
Drat! Oh well. Nobody else but me will probably notice anyway.

I buy fabric at a couple of quilt stores locally, but I order a lot from eQuilter. The fabric samples are large, and the inventory is arranged so it is easy to browse. Some sites have links with the names of the manufacturers, like Kona Bay, Hoffman, RJR, etc. I have no interest in going on a hunting expedition by manufacturer when I am looking for fabric. I don't know who manufactures what, and I don't care to learn. I find it very frustrating. So I buy a lot from eQuilter. Last year I bought about 200 yards of fabric. This year, not so much. But the folks at eQuilter must like me, because I found this book in my mailbox as a gift from them.
It's a lovely book. I will absolutely never make a quilt that looks like a picture. So sometime when the weather gets a lot warmer, and I am not feeling so frazzled, and the very special task I have set for myself in 2009 is well underway, I will offer this book as a giveaway.

Sunshine Squares

I've made 20 of these square-in-square blocks so far. Here are 5. I made these between shoveling, breadbaking and laundry. We had 12 inches of snow (was supposed to be 6-10") and more is forecast today (8 - 15") and tonight, and then more on Wednesday.

(sigh)

These blocks are currently 14-1/2" square.

Snowbound Sunshine

When making the square in square blocks for the slashed squares, I try to make two sets of blocks - half with "busy" inner squares and more calm outer squares, and half the other way around, with "calm" inner squares and bolder patterns on the outer squares. So the first step is matching up pairs of fabrics. Here are the first pairs. I worked on these yesterday while it snowed.

In this quilt, I am not interested in creating strong pattern, so the yellows are all fairly similar in hue and value. There are contrasts, the size of the birds and the colors in the Kaffe Fassett fans, and the large gold Japanese mums, but overall I am more interested in having a quilt that "reads" as one tone throughout, with any color "dancing" across the surface. Since the quilt is for my son, I also don't want it too girly or "pretty."

You can click the photo to enlarge.

Ready for Sunshine!

The first big snowstorm of the year is due today, and I am ready.All my pieces are cut for the Sunshine Slashed Squares Quilt, and I have the afternoon off.

Sunshine

The yellow quilt will be a scrappy quilt, "beach size", for a guy and his lady friend to lounge upon at the beach or at a picnic, or to watch fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Which guy, you might ask, wants a quilt of sunshine?

This one.



My son. He's a Second Degree Black Belt.