childhood dresser

When I was 10 years old, my mother bought this oak dresser at an auction and refinished it. I have used it ever since and love the familiar sound the handles make when they are released.

The bottom drawer needed to be lifted to close as the runners were broken.
Every time I closed it a bit of me would wonder why mom never got around to fixing that.
Until it dawned on me recently--this dresser was in her house for about 11 years.
I moved it with me to my first apartment at age 21.
Which means I have had possession of it for 36 years.
It long ago should have become why did I not fix it.

So, off this week to Time Treasures furniture restoration.
They repaired the runner and several drawer bottoms that needed work.

Mom's refinishing work is still in great shape so nothing to do there.

And, now it is off to Eve's apartment!

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

1984

32 years ago!

up on the roof--221 West Adams

Looking north.

Another in a series of rooftop garage views.

when buying flowers, and orange is a choice, your decision is already made.

Gerbers from the farmers market in Carpinteria, California.

circa 2016 sew-a-long

Temecula Quilt Company is having another sew-a-long and I decided to join in even though it has those ridiculous 2 1/4 inch finished blocks in the center. I have most of them done now and look forward to the much more reasonable 3 inch blocks on the next round.

I must say these little blocks are adorable.

shoo fly, top completed

82.5 by 95 inches
block finishes 7 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches

The background is cut four pieces 4 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, two pieces 2 by 3 1/2 inches, and 2 pieces 2 by 4 1/2 inches.
The shoo fly is cut from solids, one square 2 inches, and four squares 2 1/2 inches.
The larger squares are sewn onto the larger rectangles in the sew-and-flip method.
Block is sewn in three columns. All pressing is away from the triangles.

In sewing blocks together, I only matched the corners, not the internal block seams.

My design--use at your pleasure!

shoo fly

I have again been working with the wonderfully ugly fabric scraps from the home furnishings maker. She makes lots of kitchen curtains and napkins, and also sews for nursery decorating. The scraps are such fabrics I think I would not choose myself, but, I have been able to pull many to join them from my own stash, so I must have a tendency to buy wonderfully ugly fabrics.

I drafted a block that finishes 9 1/2 inches by 7 1/2 inches and has a floating shoo fly.

The background is cut four pieces 4 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, two pieces 2 by 3 1/2 inches, and 2 pieces 2 by 4 1/2 inches.
The shoo fly is cut from solids, one square 2 inches, and four squares 2 1/2 inches.
The larger squares are sewn onto the larger rectangles in the sew-and-flip method.

I am aiming big on this quilt--probably setting it 11 by 10 to finish 82.5 by 95 inches.

seeing stars sew-a-long, top completed

Seeing Stars sampler
80 by 99 inches

Turning Twenty had a sew-a-long Seeing Stars. I altered their set a bit, making extra blocks to make my version work. I used several yellow solids for the block backgrounds and found this fun yellow floral for the setting blocks and borders.
It was a fun sew--I look forward to seeing more versions.

visiting my quilts--tea at Sharon's edition

My neighbor Sharon and I try to meet for tea each a week. The sun in her house this morning was so lovely, and lead to me getting beautiful pictures of how she displays two of my quilts. 

Pepper the Dog approved.

stars sew-a-long

Turning Twenty had a sew-a-long and I kept up! I am now setting it together, playing with the setting a bit to make best use of my fabrics. I am making some extra blocks to make my adaptation work.

It really is a lovely pattern and is available:

https://www.turningtwenty.com/store-detail.php?cat=80&ID=15

red cross

57 inches by 70 inches
block measures 4 1/2 inches finished

I pieced this in 2010 in celebration of 30 years in nursing. And, finished it in 2015 in celebration of 35 years!
Crosses are made from deconstructed red plaid shirts

Crosses are cut from 2 inch strips to 2 inch squares and a 5 inch rectangle
Sashing is cut 3 1/2 inches, finishing 3 inches
Borders cut 4 inches, finishing 3 1/2 inches
Bound with red solid

And, faculty week is over, so I am back with students in the classroom, clinicals, and the lab.

visiting my quilts--a churn dash

We spent new year's eve with friends who several years ago gave us a beautiful week at their dacha when I was recovering from surgery. In thanks I gave them this churn dash quilt.

Blocks finish 7 inches, with the triangle squares finishing 2 inches and the center square finishes 3 inches, the strips finish 1 by 3 inches. (triangles cut from 2 1/2 inch strips with ez angle, center cut from 3 1/2 inch square, strips cut from 1 1/2 inch cut, then into 3 1/2 inch segments.)

jack and jill--a quilt for Beth

Jack and Jill. Measures 60 " by 78".

Made with rectangles cut 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches (finish at 2 by 4). I ran out of the teal and decided to keep going with the strong yellow. I debated what was the top of the quilt and the yellow kept saying it belonged on the bottom.
Backed with a delightful toys fabric given to me by a quilting friend--when I showed her how I used it she said she could not for the life of her figure out why she gave it away.

I usually don't like cute quilting patterns, but this tumbling boys and girls continuous line one seemed made for this set. Quilted in red.

For my sister Beth with whom I spent many times rolling down the hay and straw bales in the haymow.

rick rack--a quilt for Henrietta

Made with 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches cut (2 by 4 finished) rectangles. The construction left one side with more of the solid--I could have trimmed it to match the other, but I like this little quirk.

On the back I used a wonderful Jane Sassaman fabric from her first line for Free Spirit.

Mom had boxes full of trims in her sewing supplies--when we were little, Wrights had an offer on their labels for children to send in for bits and pieces of trims. Mom would do that with us and we had fun sorting them out into styles and colors. Mom would also order the Penny Packet of mixed seeds for us from the Gurney's seed catalog and give us a place in the garden to plant and see what would come up. She knew what each seed was and advised us how to plant them.

Mom celebrates her 86th birthday this week--Happy Birthday, Mom!

chickens--a quilt for Janna

Made from the 12 inch chicken block found in Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet book.

The back has actual chicken feed sacks, saved by my mother. I had to work around the holes left by the chain stitched closing. There are a few stains here and there, but that adds to the story!

Janna was my egg gathering partner. We were both terrified of the chickens. She would hit the outside of the nest boxes with a stick to shoo out the chickens so I could get to the eggs. I thought she was so brave!

My mother's sister recently moved to a nursing home and many of her photographs came to Mom who found this one of her mother, my Grandma Ella Scholten, with her chickens.

Merry Christmas 2015!

retreat

My mother and sisters and I spent a few days early this week at a parks department cabin in central Iowa. We ate Dutch food, had a business meeting, and sewed bindings onto quilts.
What a lovely time together.

tip # 30--spray in the waste basket

I make my labels by cutting a square, folding in in half, and placing the triangle on a lower corner of a quilt just before doing the machine work of binding. I give the prepared triangle a spritz of basting spray to help it stay in place before the machine work on the edges and the hand work across the hypotenuse. I still use a couple of pins, but the spray stabilizes the label.
I put the label in the waste basket to contain the over-spray.

I used to cut a triangle and fold over an edge but found too often the backing fabric would show through too much and there would be an odd place where the fold would block the show-through. The double layer of the label made with a folded square prevents this.

Size of label squares are anywhere from 3 1/2 inches to 8 inches depending on the size of the quilt and how much I want to write.

bindings!

I spent yesterday and today making bindings and doing the machine work for finishing 5 quilts, simplifying the task a bit by using the same Kona Rich Red fabric for 4 of the quilts. I've usually used prints for bindings, but have been drawn to solids lately. LOTS of handwork to do. My sisters and mother and I plan to gather at a cabin for a few days early Christmas week. I told them to bring their thimbles! (They don't know it yet, but each will go home with a quilt.)

cute enough

16 1/2 by 20 inches. Machine quilted.

Temecula Quilt Company's We Wish You a Mini Christmas sew-a-long was a fun diversion during end of semester grading. I posted my grades Saturday and finished the final blocks and put it together Sunday.

As I said in an earlier post, while Temecula's 2 1/4 inch blocks were cute, 3 inches was cute enough, so I redrafted each to that size.
I adapted one of their settings, cutting the sashing strips 1 3/4 inches, finishing 1 1/4 inches and the cut the borders 3 inches.

I used some of my late neighbor Lorraine's Smithsonian Rising Sun collection quilt fabric for the sashing and borders. It was a bit sun streaked from being on her shelves so I cut around those areas.

http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/2015/12/we-wish-you-mini-christmas-finishing.html

joy--third Sunday of advent

18 inches square. Made from cut 2 inch (finished 1 1/2 inches) squares of batik fabrics, quilted in a grid.

Last week I brokered a connection between one friend with a new daughter-in-law and a desire to have a hand-knit Christmas stocking to match the rest of her family's stockings, and a friend who is a master knitter who agreed to the task.
The first friend asked me why the second would do this, and I said, "She is a farm girl from South Dakota. She heard of a need and took care of it."

In gratitude to my knitting friend, I finished up this little quilt for her, made with leftovers from my niece's wedding quilt. Quite appropriately it is in the color of advent, purple, and today's third Sunday color of pink for joy.

It gives me joy to have these two friends who don't know each other. The first welcoming in the stranger to her family, the second sharing her gifts with a stranger. A lesson here.

mini sew-a-long

I am working on Temecula Quilt Company's sew-a-long We Wish You a Mini Christmas. Their blocks finish 2 1/4". 
I'm drafting mine up to finish 3" because while 2 1/4" is cute, 3" is cute enough. 

tip # 29--be an aunt

Of all my roles in life, one that brings much joy is being an aunt.
One way I've been celebrating this is by buying the weddings shoes for my nieces. It is a rather unobtrusive way to involve myself in the wedding planning, and it gives them room in their budget for something else.
I tell them to pick what they love, and I'll pick up the check.

Alexandra

Emilee

embellishments

I was to the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston today to see the exhibit Native Haute Couture. It will hang until January 2016.
What a lovely exhibit. It has early clothing, those influenced by European trade. and some contemporary fashions too.

My favorite was the early to mid 20th century wool woman's dress embellished with elk teeth.

The child's dress has imitation conch shells as decoration.