morgenrot (red sky at morning) 2012

Morgenrot (Red Sky at Morning) is a quilt commemorating the Schuenemann family and their contributions to the City of Chicago and to St Pauls Church. They sailed the Christmas tree ship on Lake Michigan for many years. The Rouse Simmons went down in 1912 and all aboard were lost.

St Pauls is having a Shuenemann festival this month and asked me to make a quilt to help raise funds for a plaque honoring the family and the ship on the 100th anniversary of the loss. The plaque will be placed on the Clark Street bridge.

Quilt is about 82" by 82".  Block is 16 inches finished.
Quilted by Suzette Fisher.
It was a joy to make.
I'll post soon with block instructions.

sewing in church

I was asked to make a stole for the congregation to present to our new senior pastor upon his installation this afternoon.
I've been working a lot lately and did not budget enough time to finish it.
I got the machine work completed at about midnight and put out the call to several friends to sit with me in the balcony and work on the binding during this morning's service.
We sewed through the hymns.
We sewed through the sermon.
We sewed through the offertory.
(We put our needles down during the prayers.)
We sewed through the postlude and well after the service.
Finished it 28 minutes before the installation service.

Thank you to Bobbi, Nancy, and Jennifer for keeping me calm and getting it done!

pink spools

I needed some variety in my pinks for my spool quilt, and my small group came through with giving me a nice assortment of 10 inch strips to make these.

grandmother's choice--Alice's flag, Aunt Eliza's star, New Jersey

Getting caught up on Barbara Brackman's Grandmother Choice sampler with blocks celebrating votes for women. Still need to applique a star on the striped block.

Andy's grandmother, Catherine Sorace Cervasio, about 1930.
Born in New York City. She gave me Italian cooking lessons by mail when Andy and I were newlyweds.

tip # 24 threading the binding

When pressing binding, I thread it up through the grate at the end of my ironing board. This helps keep it untangled as I pull it up to press. On the other end, the pressed binding puddles on the floor.

hanging chads

Just back from my quilter, Suzette Fisher. The block is scaled down from one Judy Laquidara posted on her Patchwork Times blog.

Made from deconstructed shirt parts.
My blocks finish 4 inches square.
Darks, two 2 1/2 inch squares and two 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch rectangles.
Lights, two 1 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch rectangles. Named for the effect of the notorious ballots.

mood! swatch!!

Alas, no Tim Gunn.
I was in New York last week and made a stop at Mood.
It was fun to see the shopping haunts of Project Runway, and of course, the dog Swatch.

I picked up two pieces of fabric that I will share with my neighbor, Sharon.
I already used bits of them in these spool blocks.
Make it work!

tip #23 speed pressing

Along with chain piecing and cutting, there is also chain pressing.
I press patches one over the other,
I off set each patch by about 1/2 inches so the seams don't pile up.
Place patch and open with left hand, press with iron in right hand.
Pick up next patch, place about 1/2 inch to left, and press.
Over, and over, and over.
You get a motion and a rhythm going that makes the pressing go very quickly.

Think about what all happens with pressing.
The hot iron relaxes the fibers then dries them under pressure to smooth.
I usually set the seam, pressing the patch as it was sewn. This embeds the sewing thread into the fabric.
But, I find that when I speed or chain press, the warmth of the previous patch relaxes the next patch enough that I can press without setting the seam.

I also do a count as I press to give myself a running total.
In this photograph I was working in sets of 10 for the boatload of half square triangles I needed to make a bunch of trees.

The block (on point) is 16 inches finished. I use old flat plate (no steam) irons so there are no holes for the corners of the patches to catch in.

tip #22 cutting off dog ears while chain piecing

I use the Easy Angle for making half-square triangles. It makes one dog ear when you cut the triangles. You can cut it off by using the notched end of the ruler. But, I like to leave it on as it helps me in placing the triangles correctly under the presser foot.
So instead, I cut the dog ear at the same time I cut the pieces apart, either with a scissors or with a rotary cutter.
One motion to cut apart the chain and cut the dog ear off.
You can not only chain piece, but also chain cut, and chain press! (coming soon, a tip on chain pressing.)

Dykstra corn, 2012

The corn is ready for harvest. This is the first crop managed by my mom and we sisters. This week marked one year since my father's death. We are grateful for his guidance over the years, preparing us for all we had to do this past year.

some children come to play

Several quilters who have used my tutorials for the children blocks have sent me some of their blocks--THANK YOU!! They are a delight. I love the Olympian Bolt.

mom's scraps used again in spools

I am making the spools along with Bonnie Hunter as an ongoing project for the year.
Once again, I am using some of my mother's scraps. Each scrap is a wonderful memory.
Now that I have made many from her scraps, I will work from my own. This is an incentive to keep working on organizing my sewing room.
I am using Kona Cotton Rich Red for my constant.

grandmother's choice--Sunflower

Well, that wasn't going to happen.
Barbara's block for this week was an intricate sunflower.
I went my own way with a pieced one. Not really happy with the very narrow border I ended up with--may work with it later if it still bothers me.
Third in a series of 49 blocks shared by Barbara Brackman in her block-of-the-week history lesson recalling the fight for women's rights.

My Grandmother as a child in Northern Michigan, about 1890.
Hillegen (Ella), Graada (Carrie), John, Gerrit Jan, Edward

topolobampo

It was Eve's last day in town, so we took her to lunch at Topolobampo.
It helps to get a last minute reservation when you sit next to the maitre d' in the church choir.

Dessert--make sure you get dessert...

grandmothers choice--Union Square

Union Square, third in a series of 49 blocks shared by Barbara Brackman in her block-of-the-week history lesson recalling the fight for women's rights.
http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/

The Gerrit Jan and Graada (Carrie) Diekevers family, northern Michigan, McBain area.
back row: Cornelius, Edward, John, Hillegen (Ella)--my grandmother
front row: Gerrit Jan, Henry, Graada (Carrie Rabbers)
They later moved to Boyden, Iowa where Gerrit Jan was a carpenter.

grandmother's choice--Amethyst

Amethyst, second in a series of 49 blocks shared by Barbara Brackman in her block-of-the-week history lesson recalling the fight for women's rights.
http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/

My grandmother, Ella (Hillegen) Diekevers Scholten and her mother Carrie (Graada) Rabbers Diekevers. About 1910.

Carrie was born to Dutch immigrants who are commemorated on a monument in Holland, Michigan as being founding settlers. She married Gerrit Jan Diekevers and moved to northern Michigan. They later moved with their five children to Boyden, Iowa where he was a carpenter. Carrie lived with her daughter in her old age, and my mother remembers her living with them.

Ella worked as a housekeeper until her marriage at age 30. She and my grandfather had 6 children. She died of breast cancer on the day her second grandchild was born; eventually she would have 26 grandchildren (I am number 10).
She was lovingly remembered by her children as being a quiet, gentle woman, an excellent cook, and a phenomenal seamstress.

cute baby alert

We had a wonderful baby shower for my grandniece at my sister Janna's house. She decorated with dresses and outfits my mother sewed for us. I believe Janna had a new dress every week until I was born and diverted a bit of my mother's time and attention!
Last year Dad told me that he knew we kids were frustrated and embarrassed when we frequently arrived at church late (dairy farmers are on barn time) but he said he always took a bit of pride as we walked in because, due to my mother's sewing efforts, we always looked really good.

Meta Rose wearing my father's (her Great-Grandpa Dykstra's) hat.

The Baby-Tenda! And, three generations of toys. My mom made the quilt  for Janna's first birthday with scraps from clothes my mother made for her.

Four generations! Henrietta, Janna, Brahm, and Meta.

My mother's china and silver

 

Dresses and outfits made by my mother

Three of my favorite Iowa farm women.

grandmother's choice--with Barbara Brackman

I am joining Barbara Brackman's block-of-the-week history lesson recalling the fight for women's rights.
http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/
Her series is named Grandmother's Choice.
It is aptly named for my endeavor, as my two grandmothers were able to vote in the first election open to women in 1920.
Fabrics: I am using a great odd green to commemorate my grandmothers' work on their farms. I will be using recycled plaid shirts honoring their raising their families during the depression.
This week the block is Grandmother's Choice.

These are my grandparents' wedding pictures. Both couples were married in 1920, the year women were given the vote!
They were farmers in Sioux County, Iowa.

Ella (Hillegen) Diekevers and Jan Scholten

Cynthia (Gezena) Meerdink and Jerry (Jurrien) Dykstra