Party Animal

I was going to name the White Nightingale quilt "Mourning Dove" but I was talking to my friend  Susan and she said the quilt was way too happy and cheerful. "It's a party," she said. "It's a party animal."

I liked that idea, so the quilt is now named Party Animal.

I've told you that I plan to make this quilt the way my grandmother made us quilts, and that means no batting and no quilting. I will tie the quilt with white crochet cotton.

I used a needle with a big eye, and tied the quilt in the corners of each block. 

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It's a square knot. I thread the quilt in the corners, working from one block to the next, then I cut the ties in the middle, then tie the knots, gathering the excess to one side and move to the next knot. When I've got them all tied, I go back and trim the excess threads.

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There is no binding.I trim the backing to four inches wide, fold it to the edge of the quilt, and then fold it again. up to a predetermined width, then pin it in place.

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I mitered the corners.

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Then I machine sewed it in place. After that, I ironed the quilt. (What a concept!)

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Here is the finished quilt. Later I will run it through the washer and dryer. Since the ties are 100% cotton, they will shrink, making the knots permanent.

Later this weekend, when I change the sheets on my bed, I will put this quilt on the bed, on top of the top sheet and underneath the summer blanket, and the only person who will ever see it is me.

When I was growing up, we brought these quilts to the beach, to the lake, to the fireworks. They were great at the beach because they were so cool (literally) to lie upon. They were utilitarian quilts, and they were made from scraps. We never considered them fussy. If we spilled drinks or food on them nobody got upset. The quilt would just get tossed in the wash when we got home. 

So the Party Animal is going to live a pretty quiet life, in spite of the name. It will NOT be going to the beach, or to the lake or to the fireworks.

White Nightingale

 

The White Nightingale quilt is now a flimsy. Here it is on my front porch.  It's really pretty and cheerful.

There is a tutorial for the quilt here, on my Etsy shop. I've said it before, it's one of the easiest quilts you will ever make.

You can also see one of Chuck Hayes's flower sculptures. I got mine from Cherie last year. Her father makes sculptures using leftover scrap metal. You can read more about him here.

More White Blocks

 

After I made all the components I sewed the first batch of blocks together and threw them up on the design wall. It looks about like I thought it would. 

After another power sewing session I had enough blocks to cover the design wall. Again, these are not rearranged in any way.

I've decided I want this quilt to function exactly the same way the original black one does - tied but not filled with batting - and living above the top sheet on my bed and underneath the blanket. To that end it needs to be large enough to cover a double bed mattress and be long enough to tuck under the mattress at one end, so I'll be making this (and it's okay, you can laugh at me) 72" x 90".

When I made the original black quilt I made panels that were 24" wide by however tall I liked. Then I arranged them and sewed them into long columns. and then together into the quilt. Here I have decided to make them 18" square, or 3 x 3 blocks. That way I can arrange them in five rows by four to get the size I want. So I have been making these larger 3 x 3 "panels."

So far I have made nine of these, and again, here they are just on the design wall. I'll rearrange them later.

I think this will look really good with white sheets, and it will be summery.

The White Nightingale Begins

 

After I cut the strips for the White Nightingale quilt, I matched them into pairs and in a session of what my pal Julie calls "power sewing" I sewed all the pairs together, then I pressed the seams open.

Then I subcut the strips into smaller chunks.

This does not take long. In the tutorial I wrote that this is probably the easiest quilt ever to make, and I am not joking.

After another session of matching chunks, sewing and pressing, this is a selection of the blocks randomly arranged on my ironing table. This is all looking exactly like what I expected. A happy riot of color.

That's the good part.

In the middle of this - because I don't spend all day every day in my studio - I was working on the spring cleanup in my front yard. Experts suggest you do not rake up the leaves in the autumn but wait till spring to allow the good bugs a place to live, so I do that. Since I am not as young as I used to be, I tend to work out of doors in small bursts. I'll rake for about an hour one day, then bag the leaves another. Works just fine.

Except.

The other morning I woke up with what I thought was a bug bite on my forehead. When a couple of days later the itching went down into my eyelids I got a little nervous and contacted my pal Susan, a retired trauma nurse who also happens to be a quilting buddy. I took pictures (no I am not sharing them with you). She suggested I go to Urgent Care, because it was a Saturday.

Turns out it was Poison Ivy.

Good thing I wear gloves when I work out in the yard. Naturally I have taken all the precautions - discarded the gloves and washed all bedding, clothes and related items in hot water in the Sanitizer setting on my washer. I've also contacted the maintenance department in my development and they will spread weed killer to the area.

I was prescribed antibiotics and steroids, and told to avoid the pool and my swim class until it cleared up.

So that's that!