35 years

So glad to celebrate 35 years together.

With sadness this year with my mother's death.

Henrietta Scholten Dykstra 1929-2019

Pictured sewing my wedding dress 35 years ago this week.

evening star, top completed

Maybe I should rename this morning star.
I got up at 5 o'clock this morning to see the crescent moon with Venus and Jupiter. 
The air was so clear and it was -21 degrees when I stepped outside.
Here in the city we don't see many stars so I like to take advantage of the planets.

I did some work (we have an inclement weather day so campuses are closed) then finished putting together this top. It is with more lighter fabrics than what I have been working with lately and shows and feels lighter in reality--a winter quilt!

Block finishes 12"
Set 7 by 8 blocks
Top measures 84 by 96

Solids cut from 2 1/2 inch strips
Prints cut from 4 1/2 inch strips

My design, use at your pleasure.

at the dorm

After a semester abroad, Seth is back on campus. It is fun to see which quilt they choose to take to the dorm
This one was made for Seth's 7th birthday.

Be a good roommate, Seth.

dog!

This sweet dog is in our lives.

ladder

Ladder

Finishes 4 by 12 inches
A simple block

I will sew these into 4 block units of 12 by 16 inches finished.

4 block unit

I plan to set 7 by 24, (7 by 6 units)
168 blocks (42 units)
84 by 96 inches

Cutting:

Solid: four 1 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches cut

Print: four 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches cut

Pressing:
All pieces to the side that ends with the print rectangle.
Every other block will be flipped so the seams will nest.

Units will be pieced into columns, so all up or all down every other column, all units will nest.

My design. Use at your pleasure.

basket

Basket
Finishes 8 inches
A complicated block
Mainly in the pressing. I'll include my pressing plan at the end of this post.
Fabric choices easiest with non-directional unless you don't worry about such.
I will save most of my directional fabrics for the setting triangles.

The block is scaled up from the AQSblog 2017 Christmas Countdown. I also changed the body of the basket to a single piece.

Block finishes 8 inches (about 12 inches on point).
I don't know how big I will go with this quilt. I'll post about the setting pieces when I decide that. (This may be months away from now.)

Cutting:

Solid:
-four half square triangles cut from 2 1/2 inch strip with Easy Angle or Bonnie Hunter's triangle tool
-two shapes (some call it a chisel shape)  cut from 2 1/2 inch strips using a tool cut so they are finishing 4 inches; from the equivalent of a 4 1/2 inch piece. It will measure 4 1/2 inches from the blunted point along the long edge.
I will demonstrate below.
(If you don't want to cut the chisel shape, replace each with one square and one triangle.)

Print:
-three 2 1/2 inch squares
-four half square triangles cut from 2 1/2 inch strip with a tool
-one half square triangle from 4 1/2 inch strip; or from the corner of the yardage.
I will demonstrate below.

cutting chisel shape using Easy Angle

blunt point

cutting the bottom triangle from yardage corner

Pressing:
Chisel shape: press solid to the print.
Press chisel units to the print rectangles
Top triangles: press to the solid, then press to the print squares.
Press to the center so the print triangles of this unit and the chisel unit nest.

Base: press triangles to the square, press base to the print.
Quarter blocks: press towards the chisel units
Half block: along the equator, press half of your blocks north and half of them south so all blocks will nest.

batik

For Christmas my friend Sharon gave me three fat quarters of lovely Turtle Hand Batik. It has a different feel and look from most batiks on the market.
I have used it all up! It will show up in several quilts in progress.
There were a few scraps remaining to cut down for my squares bin, so there will be little jewels to come upon in the future.
These stars finish 12 inches.

tip #45, cut reverse side of fabric

I usually cut on the right side of the fabric so I can enjoy it while I work with it.
There are times though, to flip the fabric to the reverse for cutting.
It is easier to see green and purple fabrics when they are lighter as they are on the reverse. Also, when cutting down uneven edged garment making scraps, the grain lines are more evident on the reverse.

letterbox. top completed

This quilt is based on one my friend Erica made with all batiks.

A simple, quick, and fun sew.

Block finishes 6 by 12 inches.

Solid: one rectangle cut 8 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches

Print: two rectangles cut 8 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches, two rectangles cut 6 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches

Sew three blocks into a unit that finishes 12 inches by 18 inches.

Two 3-block units

I made 120 letterbox blocks, then put them into 40 three-block units, setting them 8 by 5.
Top finishes 90 by 96 inches.

Merry Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas 2018

evening star

I loved the open look with the solid used only for the star points of the friendship star quilt I made a few months ago and decided to keep that feel with an evening star.
I decided to make it a floating star with the triangles coming off squares rather than make from flying geese.

Block finishes 12 inches
I plan to make 56 blocks set 7 by 8
84 by 96 inches

You can use any folded triangle method. I wanted to conserve my solid fabrics so I cut them separately as triangles.

Solid: 8 star points, I used the EZ angle or Bonnie Hunter's triangle tool, cutting 8 from a 2 1/2 in strip
Print: 9 squares cut 4 1/2 inches. 4 of the squares have two corners cut off with Doug Leko's Folded Corners ruler.

I stack up 4 of the print squares and cut off the corners using Doug's ruler. Be careful to cut the correct ones if you are dealing with directional fabric.

Sew the triangles to the trimmed squares and press to the triangles. I placed the solid triangle point at the top of the block, using the blunted point to help position the triangle on the side.

Press pieced sections towards the unpieced print squares.

Press top and bottom row to the center row. Rotate every other block and the seams will nest.

My design. Use at your pleasure.

binding

Star

Flicker

Barn

It has been a busy fall semester and will be a busy spring semester too. Final grading is this coming week.
I have three more quilts ready for binding work. I try to do handwork every Sunday evening.
For the first in a very long time I have nothing at the quilter. Several projects started at LeClaire remain, and a few begun here. I will need to organize myself so that I have sewing ready to go when I can fit it in.

boat

If you have been a squirmy kid it the balcony at St Pauls in the past 30 years you most likely have received a bulletin paper boat. My new best friend Max got three of them this morning, up from two last week.
Davis kids would get enough to reenact the Spanish Armada.

letterbox

I have made a quilt before with a more complicated letter box block. I think it is still a top and somewhere in my boxes.
This is a simpler letterbox.
At my quilt group my friend Erica showed a lovely one she made all in batiks. It made me think it would work well for the solids on prints series.
Maybe I'll make a batik one too.
Isn't this fox fabric great? I should share some with my quilting DeVos cousins. (DeVos means The Fox in Dutch).

Block finishes 6 by 12 inches.
Solid: one rectangle cut 2 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches
Print: two rectangles cut 2 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches, two rectangles cut 2 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches.

Setting
Can do so randomly
or
Sew into blocks of three, with two side by side and add on one on the end. This larger block comes to 12 inches by 18 inches finished.

Sew together into rows.
Flip rows so every other row starts with the added on block.

WW I remembrance

Andy and  my grandfathers served in the Great War. Here are their photographs and stories.

WW I remembrance My grandfather, Jerry (Jurrien) Dykstra 
Born on a farm near Middleburg, Iowa.
Served in the Army during the Great War. Was put on a troop ship in New York Harbor having never fired a live round in training. They trained with wooden guns as ammunition was scarce. 
The ship never sailed because the armistice was signed.
He told his grandchildren that the Kaiser decided to surrender once he heard Jerry Dykstra was on his way.
Farmed with my grandmother, Cynthia Meerdink north of Hull.
Our son Paul Jurrien is named for my grandfather.

WW I remembrance 
Andy's grandfather, Andrew Cervasio. 
Born in Italy, emigrated to the United States at age seven and settled in New York. 
Served in the Navy during the Great War as a coal tender on troop ships crossing the Atlantic.
Attended the University of Michigan for engineering and became a construction estimator. 
Andy is named for his grandfather.

patience corner set

I really enjoyed this year's 4 inch block sew-a-long by Temecula Quilt Company.
I loosely followed her patterns, adding more of my own. A few are scaled down from the current Moda Blockheads sew-a-long. I have several blocks yet to make to get the quilt to the size I want.

I am using a Patience Corner set. Four little blocks come together to make one 12 inch finished block.
The setting pieces are cut 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches and 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches.