progress on the H quilts

I have the bodies of the H quilts put together and will think a bit about borders.
I am grateful for the high birth rate on this block that continues to provide me with quilt holders. Here are my adorable neighbor girls who did not whine a bit when I asked for their help.

wandering foot

This lovely quilt was given to me by my friend Evert Martin. He writes, "I'm so grateful to give this quilt to you! You asked about some history. I believe it to be as follows: I believe it was made by Ida Martin of Riverside and Coloma Michigan, my great-grandmother. She died at age 94 in the early 1950's in Coloma...Do enjoy it."
I will.

back to school

Paul has left for his fourth year at the University. I miss him!

the letter H

Over at her wonderful blog Exuberant Color, Wanda Hansen (from whom I took a workshop many years ago) shows how to make an "H" block. I also saw a more primitive blocky version in an old quilt. Which to use? Well, since I am blessed with both a mother Henrietta, and a niece Hannah, I decided to make two quilts using my scraps of solid Kona cottons and the thirties repros that don't ever seem to take less space, no matter how many quilts I make from them.

Wanda's H makes a 7 1/2 inch finished block with pieces cut from 2 inch strips--8 inch and 3 1/2 inch rectangles, 2 inch squares.
Primitive H makes a 6 inch finished block with pieces cut from 2 1/2 inch strips--6 1/2 inch rectangles, 2 1/2 inch squares.

the bordello bargello

Finished the top yesterday. I love how this looks.

off to school-- far, far away

Andy moved Eve out to Wellesley this past weekend. She is living in the same dorm Andy's mother lived in 60 years ago.
I am glad to know she has a quilt on her bed.

Texting, wearing purple nail polish (her class color), a locket from Andy and me, one of my bracelets, and Silly Bandz.

bordello bargello

So named because spell check doesn't like the word bargello and tries to change it to bordello.
I am making another version of Bonnie Hunter's bargello quilt. A lot of mindless sewing that I am fitting in here and there. My Bernina 1530 has major, as in mother board, problems so I am sewing on the Bernina 830 I got for $25 at a thrift shop. A beautiful stitch and I am getting used to there not being a needle down setting.
Making this pretty big using Bonnie's numbers of 6 panels of forty 2 1/2 strips; each strip cut 16" and each panel sliced into six 2 1/2 inch segments. I don't plan to put borders on it.
I really like how the panels look before cutting. Last time I made this pattern I left one panel whole. I think after this quilt I will make one with just panels.
The plaids continue to be what I want to work with.


AND, school has started.

block party 2010

We have a great band this year, Green Sugar. http://www.thegreensugar.com/
In true Chicago fashion, a neighbor "knew a guy" and we were able to book them.

Hung some of my quilts up again.

In the street is ping pong, corn toss, basketball, street hockey, jumping jack, and more. Tonight, dancing in the streets.

ill-gotten baseballs

When my father-in-law moved to Chicago from Connecticut, he came with about 30 large packing boxes that ended up in our living room. On her end of the move, my sister-in-law showed him every piece of paper in his apartment and got his ok to throw it away or mail it to Chicago. Most of it got mailed. He came in September and I asked that the boxes be dealt with by Thanksgiving. Every day he would tackle part of a box, again keeping nearly every piece of paper and repacking it, but in the midst of all the paper were baseballs. Each box had at least 5; some had a dozen. It turned out that Ed's apartment was across the street from the high school baseball field and he would go for a walk after their practices and pick up the baseballs and take them home. Ed was a true baseball lover, and I'm not sure what his motivation was, but those baseballs endeared him to me. I collected a bunch of them and put them in this egg basket I used to collect eggs as a child. Andy has given away a lot of the baseballs over the years since Ed's death, but I said these are mine.

"I think the quilt makers of the world need to rise up and start throwing elbows."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/garden/12qna.html?_r=1

Check out the great interview with Boo Davis in Thursday's New York Times. Click through the wonderful slide show.
Good comments about the terrible prices and respect for our work.

Of course, this comes just a few days after we are dissed in the Times by a comment about the struggling American Folk Art Museum where part of their mission is hoping "to show people that folk art 'isn’t just quilts and weathervanes.' "

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/arts/design/09folk.html?scp=7&sq=quilts&st=cse

water with staying power

You may recall my rant last year about our family vacation to Cape Cod. I have nothing against the cape, other than it being 1000 miles away and that the water is there only half the time, but that vacation took a lot out of me.
This year, we stayed closer to home, using a friend's house near Muskegon. Yes, just 200 miles to drive. 200 miles took us only to the first part of Ohio last year.
And, the water stuck around all day long.

he restoreth my soul

Made for friends who gave us their summer home for a week.
My mother and I worked on the binding together while sitting on the fabulous porch.
Churn Dash--finish 7 inches.
After looking at some older quilts, I used a wider sashing than I normally make. I like the strong grid.
Quilted by Suzette Fisher--I asked her to use yellow thread--I've been using yellow more and more; it looks great on many fabrics.

i want to be sedated

Shopping at the Jewel this morning, over the music system played the Ramones.
In 1978, two things never entered my mind--that one day I would be a middle aged woman shopping for groceries, and that I want to be Sedated would enter the Musak playlist.

nothing to do and nowhere to go...

birthday

Today is my birthday.
The photograph is me at age three with my sewing cards--I loved them.

cheap jerseys?

Amidst the sadness, I am hoping to score some reduced price jerseys for Christmas presents....

soft summer quilt

Made with a block I saw my friend Diana Burrows use--she is making hers from a wonderful collection of indigo Dutch Wax Batiks. I'm using light plaid pieces that are are 2 1/2 inches by 3 inches, with the sashing cut 1 inch by 5 1/2 inches. The sashing goes on just two sides and turns the block into a 5 inch finished square.
I used a medium green Kona Cotton solid. If I were to make it again, I think I would choose a persimmon color to stand out more against the light plaids. There is a soft summer look to this top.

a return to productivity

Make sure you visit more quilts in the Blogger Quilt Festival by clicking on the link.

Made from the Bonnie K Hunter block in this month's Quiltmaker. I used thrifted plaid shirts for the darks and lots of lights from the stash, including some thrifted. Pieces cut 2 inches and 2 by 3 1/2 inches


For Eve's high school graduation.
Squares are cut 2 1/2 inches.
Rectangles cut 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches.
I used up three different but very similar Kona Cotton greens.
Plaids, of course, are from thrifted shirts.

success!

Two years in a row now, our mother had a corsage for Mothers Day!
In our home town, the walk of shame is for mothers who do not have flowers to wear to church on Mothers Day.
Faithful readers can look to the link for the Henrietta Saga of years past.
Happy Mothers Day, Mom!
(and, anyone wanting a reliable florist in Northwest Iowa who can keep three Henrietta Dykstras straight, I can recommend Julie Mesman!)

around the block

Had this one quilted by Suzette Fisher and put into our church auction to raise money for a work trip.

children

This quilt was made for my guild raffle several years ago--coordinated by Melissa Kane.
I think if I fit a block or two into each week of this busy schedule, I could make my own in a couple of years.

twenty six years

St Patrick's Day is a fine day for a wedding.

red cross

This May I celebrate the 30th anniversary of my graduation and becoming a nurse.
I've always wanted to make a red cross quilt. As I researched it, I found there is some tension out there as to copyright of the symbol.
I went with a very primitive, utilitarian look--not sure how to quilt it yet. Probably very plainly.
I used Kona Cotton white and my crosses are from reclaimed plaid and striped shirts.
The blocks finish 4 1/2 inches, 3 inches wide finished sashings.
Top size 57 by 74.5 inches.
I love being a nurse. There is much in healthcare that leaves a lot to be desired, but when I am at the bedside, or preparing a student, I know this was the right calling for me.

cheddar top

I have the top put together from Lori's project. When I started it, I thought I might go on to make a larger quilt. Now, not so much.
I love it; if I do make a larger one I will bump up the size from 1 to 1 1/2 inch grid as it got more fiddly than I wanted with my odd pressing issues.
Also, vacillating between hand or machine quilting. Machine is winning at the moment.

houses

Over at Bumble Beans she is collecting house blocks for a homeless project. I made these with stuff that was already out--of course one is purple because we live in a purple house.
Check out her project and consider spending a few minutes making a couple of houses. (As you know, it is easier to make two blocks than it is to make one.)

cheddar

Lori over at Humble Quilts posted instructions to replicate an antique doll quilt.
What a delightful pattern.
Mine is still in pieces--I have run out of my background and have been having fun substituting other shirting fabrics, especially bits with animals in them.

my daughter the election judge

Eve served again as an election judge. The city has worked hard to have a high school student serve in each precinct. The goal is to have some technologically savvy people there along with the regulars, who in our precinct are the same ones I've seen since the late 1980s.
Eve learned all sorts of Chicago politics trivia at her training.
She asked if it was ok to accept free lunch (it is a 14-16 hour day) from the alderman. It is permitted, but she got a lot of envious comments from workers at other polling places who do not get lunch.
She also discovered our precinct used to be in a bar until too many elections had the judges getting drunk so they moved us to a church.
Also, they stressed that all election judges are equal as the long term ones try to bully the high school ones.
Her favorite instruction is that at 0700 they are to throw open the door, and even if no one is around, they are to loudly announce, "The Polls are Now Open!"
Kind of a great ritual.

it is growing!

I had it sewn together, measuring about 48 by 57, and Seth asked if it was going to be bigger. It did look ok, but now, as it is growing, it is looking great. I am running out of my blue striped shirt parts and may have to cross the street to my neighbor to ask for the sleeves back that I gave her.

a twelve year old depicts winter

stripes

Several sites have had variations on Kaffe's design. For what I am working on, I used thrifted shirts. The trimmed down size of the squares is 9 1/2, 6 1/2, and 3 1/2 inches, so they finish 9, 6, and 3. I make them oversized because they distort, especially the 9 inch ones. I'm at the point of setting them together, then deciding if it needs to be bigger.
Seth asked if I had a plan for this quilt as he kind of likes it.