reunion!

Our Scholten family has had reunions periodically over the years. Last week we met at my sister Beth's house.

My mom found this photo of the first Scholten reunion, organized in 1915 by my great-grandfather Jan Scholten who came to America as a homesteader in 1870. Over 150 attended!
It pictures the young people who helped set it up--my three great-aunts, Hattie and Jo on the left and Beth on the right, and my grandfather Jan is somewhere in the back row. Note the flag of the Netherlands along side the American flag.

I took along a stack of quilts to give to my cousins.

Vern loved the turkeys

Lorelei chose a sampler

Neil came on his Harley Davidson so this Dragon Teeth was just the right size to fit into his pack

Mary gets two! 

Erica and Rachel chose some nice ones

I like this one that Helen selected

My brothers-in-law made some birdhouses for the cousins using license plates from my late brother Lee's collections.

tip # 44, buy the new tool

I am happy with how I cut with the tools I have.
But, it is good to be open to innovations. Some can make my job so much more pleasant.
Also, with aging, I find my eyes work better with different brands than I have been using. The only way to know is to try them out. For a period of time, not just for a cut or two. All tools feel clunky at first because they are different from our usual working. However, forcing myself to use them for a day or two can show me if I can increase my accuracy or make the job simpler.
Sticker price is high on some of them, but, face it. Most of us can do a month or two with no fabric purchases and put that money into trying a new tool.
I have links directly to Bonnie's and Doug's sites. I want to support these innovators.

This past year I have purchased several new tools.

Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangle Tool
https://quiltville.com/shop.html#!/Bonnie-K-Hunters-Essential-Triangle-Tool-List-$24-95/p/69971252/category=14176326
Replaces: traditional cutting with 7/8" or 1 1/4" added to strip, or the EZ angle and the Companion Angle
What I like: The quarter and half square triangles are on one tool.
Learning curve: You place the ruler at a different orientation than the EZ angle, but once that rhythm sets it it works. The color of the lines is unexpected, and work for me.
Verdict: I still use the EZ Angle and their Companion angles at times, but Bonnie's triangle tool is my go-to ruler most days.

Doug Leko's Simple Folded Corners Ruler
https://antlerquiltdesign.com/products/simple-folded-corners-ruler
Replaces:There are so many methods for making flip and sew corners and I have used them all effectively.
What I like: I like to cut then sew, not sew then cut so this works very well for that preference. It is more efficient for me moving to the next step rather than going back to trim.
I also like how the ruler size stabilizes the piece while making the cut.
Learning curve: I made one miss-cut before I got used to the placement lines
Verdict: When I heard of Doug's innovation I did not see it to be needed, but upon recommendations from others and with working on two quilts using this technique, I decided to try it. I love it. I sew up the waste triangles right away. I could trim them into exact sizes but for now am putting them into a free-form style piece so I am not doing any squaring up. Let's see how that goes!

KAI scissors 5045 rotary cutter
https://kaiscissors.com/kai-5045-rotary-cutter-45mm/
Replaces: Olfa cutter
What I like: Feels different in my hand. Great blades.
Learning curve: No lock so I have to be careful not to drop it. Has adjustable pressure to engage the blade.
Verdict: I am not throwing away my Olfas, but I do find I reach for the KAI more and more often. A good addition to my table.

Large squares
I own several squares and can use any one of which to cut down a piece or block but, in trimming down my hourglass blocks (A job I really hate to do), it was easier to purchase a new 8 inch square ruler than to keep rotating the blocks. I can center it on the block and make all four cuts.
Replaces: larger squares where I would have to rotate the block to make the third and fourth cuts
What I like: I can see right away if the block is square and that I have room to trim on all sides.
Verdict: This is the hardest purchase to justify but makes life so much easier. I have bought 4 and 6 inch squares for squaring up crumb piecing or string piecing. Even though it is hard to make these purchases, every time it has been worth it.

barn, top completed

Barn
Block finishes 8 by 6 inches

168 blocks set 14 by 12
84 by 96 inches

Cutting
Print:
one 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle
two 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch rectangles
One triangle cut from 3 1/2 inch strip with EZ angle's Companion Angle or Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangles Tool

Solid:
one 2 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch rectangle
two triangles cut from 4 inch strip with EZ angle or Bonnie's tool

Sewing
The roof section floats. See barn tutorial for details on how to make this
http://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com/2018/06/barn-tutorial.html

Piece Pressing
Left sky to roof, Right roof to sky, barn door to barn
Block pressing: half the blocks with horizontal seams up, rest with seams down

Assembly
Alternate the blocks
Press rows left or right, alternating rows
Press rows up

My design, use at your pleasure.

Really a fun quilt to make. I love the barn shape and the float on the roof construction makes assembly much easier because I did not have to keep watching the points.

what is is?

This wonderful nursery rhyme vintage fabric came my way from my friend Rebecca.
I've been trying to identify the rhymes depicted and have my 88 year old mother, my school librarian sister, and my children's literacy specialist sister arguing on the circled item.
The pictures seem to be close to scale in relationship to each other and are oriented the same direction.
I am really trying to see the Old Woman's shoe that Beth sees. She has sent this to her children's lit students and colleagues who are arguing about it!
Once this mystery is solved, what is the kid below the well doing? Drowning a cat?
And what nursery rhyme is where the woman hits a kid with a stick?

tip #43, take in a handful of scraps

Even though I am trying to get rid of much, I do continue to accept scrap offers from my friends. I am not committing to purchasing the minimum fat quarter and still get the benefit of bits of great fabrics.
I try to limit it to just a handful. Cutting them down and adding them to my scraps adds depth to what I have to work with.
Here is a delightful mix from my friend Donna this past week.

flicker, top completed

Flicker
Block finishes 9 1/2 inches

99 blocks
Set 9 by 11
85.5 inches by 104.5 inches

Cutting
Print: four 5 inch squares
Solid: two 3 inch squares

I used Doug Leko's Simple Folded Corner Ruler. You could use any sew and flip version.

Pressing:
To the solid triangles, to the print squares, to one side of the block

Assembly:
Rotate every other block and all seams will abut

This is a big quilt! I like the bits of color flickering over the prints.It is one of the simplest in the series and went together quickly.

That sort of figure 8 look in the middle of the quilt is irritating me, but it only is strong in photographs and is much less prominent in real life. I'll look at it under different light and see if I need to do some block moving.

living dangerously

I started this quilt long ago.
The earliest I find in in my blog is 2009 when the top was completed.
http://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com/2009/06/not-plaids-well-there-are-few.html

I used fabrics from many sources, including precious bits I purchased in 1989 in Japan at a department store. Paul was an adorable blonde toddler who got me access to many things, including a bride who let me watch her try on her wedding kimono.

It is made with Bonnie Hunter's pattern Chunky Churndash.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/chunky-churn-dash.html

I finally had it quilted and today made the binding. I had a piece of 1980's Hoffman woodblock collection and hoped it would be enough, and it was.
It was like when knitting faster and faster in hope there is enough yarn to finish the project.
All that remains is pictured here:

the sewing space comes together

barn--tutorial

Barn
finishes  by 6 by 8 inches

I designed this block to have a float at the top so I wouldn't have to watch the triangle points while sewing long rows.
I plan to make 143 blocks, set 13 by 11, 78 by 88 inches.
My design, use at your pleasure.

For this tutorial I feature a block made with a delightful vintage fabric depicting gold panning, pick axes, and bags of gold dust. My neighbor Sharon took in the sewing stash of a neighbor who died and I chose this. It was the cut aways from a shirt construction and there was just enough for this block. It is a rough weave cotton and I guess it is from the 1950s.

Cutting:
Solid
Cut one 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch rectangle and two triangles from a 4 inch strip using Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangle tool or the EZ angle
Print
Cut two 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch rectangles, one 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle, and one triangle from a 3 1/2 inch strip using Bonnie Hunter's tool or the EZ Companion Angle.

Trimming:
After sewing left sky to the roof and pressing to the roof, use ruler to trim away excess

Pressing:
Press left sky to the barn roof; press right roof to the sky
Press away from the door to the barn
Press the lintels up in half the blocks and down in the other half so every other block will nest into each other.

Press left sky to roof

Carefully trim excess sky to have a straight sewing line for right sky

Press roof to right sky piece. Trim dog ears.

Sew three sections together

Press horizontal seams up or down every other block so seams nest

tip #42, bundle your project for storage and travel

In preparing my projects for taking to the longarm quilter, I protect what is most fragile--the raw seams and the edges. (I always stay-stitch the edges of the top.)
I fold the top and the back with the right sides out, folding to keep the edges within the bundle.
I stack the top and back, and tie up the whole thing loosely with a length of selvedge.
This keeps it all tidy on the shelf and on the trip.

My longarm quilter and I unbundle and decide on the quilting plan. She stores them on hangers until they come up in her queue.

tip #41, make the sleeve and label while making the back

I am in backing production here, readying five tops for the longarm quilter.

One thing that trips me up when I receive a quilt back from my longarm quilter is all that is involved before attaching the binding.
-choose the fabrics for binding and sleeve
-make the binding
-make the sleeve
-make the label
I often make the bindings ahead of time, but just recently included making the sleeves and label at the same time as the back. I no longer have to hunt down the leftover or coordinating sleeve material.

I just finished piecing three backs and made the label and sleeve to set aside.
I pinned a piece of paper to each to remind me what goes with what.
The sleeves are hemmed on the edges and pressed and ready to go. If I find the quilt shrunk up a lot when quilted I can trim the sleeve down and quickly re-hem

star, top completed

Star
81 by 99 inches
99 blocks set 9 by 11

Block finishes 9 inches

Cutting
Solid: four triangles cut from 3 1/2 inch strips with EZ angle or Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangle Tool
Print: five 3 1/2 inch squares, four triangles cut form 3 1/2 inch strip with EZ angle or Bonnie's tool

Pressing
Points pressed to solids
Rows pressed to prints
Block pressed to center row

Assembly
Rotate every other block and all will nest

My design, use at your pleasure.

round-robins and reunions and rhubarb dessert

Rhubarb time bring memories of my mom's rhubarb dessert. We loved it. We never tired of it. It was so sad when the rhubarb bolted and we had to wait another year to have it again. It was rather recently when I discovered you could buy rhubarb, I thought it was only available in your own yards.
This dessert was a regular item mom would bring to pot lucks.

Mom received the recipe for her dessert from a friend at the annual Company K picnic. This was a reunion held at Terrace Park in Sioux Falls by the families of  men who were called up to the draft  and sent to serve from Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota in 1952. They were Company K at army boot camp. For decades we would gather for this.

Another army related group we had reunions with was a group that had gathered at the DeHamer home in South Carolina near Fort Jackson in 1952/53. Mr. and Mrs. DeHamer were Dutch-American transplants from Michigan who at church invited service members and spouses to come to their home on Sunday afternoons to eat and relax. Most who took them up on this were other Dutch-Americans, because, well, that is what we do.
This group would have reunions every 3 years and has (yes, continues to this day for 66 years) a round-robin letter. It is like a group-chat in letter form.  It arrived at my mother's when I was there last week.

A third reunion we had was annually with a group of my mother's childhood friends. They have been so for over 80 years and also have a round-robin letter.

I love these connections my parents made that continue for decades.

Round-robin letters

Rhubarb Dessert 

(adapted and annotated, because I cannot leave well enough alone)

Crust (use food processor, metal blade)

1 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pulse til coarse, press into ungreased glass 9 by 13 pan, bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Filling (use mixer, paddle)

7 egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pour over 5-6 cups of chopped rhubarb on top of crust, bake 1 hour

Meringue (use mixer, whisk)

7 egg whites beaten stiff

slowly add mixture of 6 Tablespoons sugar and 2 Tablespoons corn starch

Spread evenly and bake til brown, about 12-15 minutes.

Tastes best at room temperature, but we usually start on it while it is still hot.

olympic sew-a-long with Temecula Quilt Co., quilt completed

Temecula Quilt Co. had a sew-a-long during the 2016 Olympics.
I made two of them, one with all solids and this one in the suggested color way, with Civil War type fabrics.
I love how it turned out.
Thanks Temecula Quilt Co.!

48 by 56 inches

barn

The barn paintings in my sewing area inspired this simple block.
It could be done with a single piece for the roof and lintel, but that would involve several techniques I do not enjoy. I am using up some triangles left over from the hourglass blocks for these roofs. And, I kind of like the separate lintel! It gives a place to play with directional fabrics.
My first sample block used a flying goose for the roof. But, I realized that would be a lot of point watching in putting the quilt together so I decided to float the roof by over-cutting the sky pieces.

I'll prepare a tutorial soon.
My design, use at your pleasure.

Barn
Finishes 8 by 6 inches

Print: cut one 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle, two 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch rectangles, one triangle from a 3 1/2 inch strip using Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangle Ruler or the EZ Companion Angle ruler
Solid: cut one 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch rectangle, two triangles from a 4 inch strip using Bonnie's ruler or the EZ Angle Ruler

Trimming:
After sewing left sky to the roof and pressing to the roof, use ruler to trim away excess

Pressing:
Press left sky to the barn roof; press right roof to the sky
Press away from the door to the barn
Wait with pressing the lintel. Press half of the blocks going up and half going down. This will allow seams to nest.

The barn on the right looks like it may have a still...

keyhole, top completed

I was inspired by my friend Donna's quilt. I changed the proportions. There are quite a few variations of this out there.
This version is mine--use at your pleasure.

Keyhole
78 by 90 inches
99 blocks, 15 half blocks

Block finishes  6 by 12 inches
Solid: cut one 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle, three 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch rectangles
Print: cut one 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle, three 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch rectangles
Pressing:towards solid pieces, then to solid side of the block