2015 New Year Resolution

Make Me Pretty!

Old quilt tops speak to me.  I buy them as easily as I buy fabric to sew my own quilt tops with.  The words that flow into my head when I see a top vary, but nonetheless I am compelled to buy it.  I feel they have the voices of the makers speaking through them.  Many of the tops I have gathered are from estate sales, the unfinished works of someone’s love of quilting sold on eBay or at antique shops.  Unfinished works from days gone by that say to me; Make me pretty!

I want to make them shine! I want to feel like the person who made this quilt is poking their best friend in the arm when I finish each one and say with clapping hands, “I knew someone would find that worth finishing.”  Over the years I have quilted a lot of quilts I endearingly call ‘rescues’.  I have many hanging in my studio.  4 tubs of them under a table that go on tour with me when someone wants a dog and pony show about quilts and many more have found homes with various people who love old things as much as I do.

My New Year’s resolution this year is to try to finish the tops I have in my showcase.  I also want to work in the tops of mine that I am constantly piecing.  I try to schedule time on my quilt calendar to do my own stuff, but things happen and I fall behind.  Last year was heath issues that made walking difficult and keeping up with my client’s quilts was my top priority.  I did a fine job getting everything done. The only glitch was the 2 week Christmas vacation I had scheduled for myself and intended to do my own quilting got sucked up by a customer quilt that the maker did not understand that a 100” x 100” custom quilt could not be done in 2 of 4 days she had scheduled to do 3 quilts in and I graciously said I would do it on my 2 weeks off, never realizing it would eat up 10 of my 14 days. Imagine a giant sigh escaping my lips.

Make me Pretty 

I finished her quilt and still had a few days to relax.  I opened up a box of tops I have waiting and pulled out this gem of a quilt.  It is 68” x 74” unbordered  9 -patch blocks set with squares of off white muslin. Some of the blocks are hand-pieced, all of the fabric is old, probably from the late 30’s. This is a charming quilt that spoke almost out loud Make Me Pretty! The muslin is coarsely woven but sturdy, perfect to showcase quilting stitches.

Someone besides me is happy about this outcome

even the back is pretty!

found perfect fabric for binding in stash!

In the back of my mind is more of a plan about what I want these quilts to do when finished, but I will save that plan for a day when I realize I can actually quilt for my clients, go to physical therapy twice a week to keep on walking AND finish up the ginormous number of quilts I have stashed in all the nooks and crannies.  I am not getting any younger!

sampling of feed sack, old 30's green and fabrics we see today as reproductions

Baby it's COLD outside!

The chill of winter is making a daily fire a necessity. If it isn’t too cold I can build a fire and begin to work.  If the temperature is hovering around 5° outside, I need to build the fire and walk away for an hour or two.  My machine is happy working in cold air, but she grumbles loudly if I accidently start her up before my wall thermometer reaches 52°. I did this one fine day thinking the thermometer was reading in the low 50’s (because I actually was trying to read it in the dark) and it was not that warm.  I started quilting and the groaning and griping from my sturdy Gammill surprised me. After a time she ran more smoothly and I quilted merrily for an hour.  When I stopped for a short break, and it was more daylight than dark, I glanced at the thermometer on my way out of the studio and saw it had reached 42°!  Oh my! No wonder I was hearing noises I had never heard before.

My latest project is already a quilt top waiting for time on the machine, but here is a picture of two of the columns before I assembled it.

Here is another column quilt that I finished in November. I like how the open spaces provide a place to have pretty quilting.

And then we have Toby, resigned to the stool because it is the only warm place in the house large enough to accommodate a cat. Hmph! Small cat lesson, ‘you take what you can get when you live in a house that stays at 59° until the family arrives after 4 pm and the furnace gets turned up to 66°’

I remember a winter that was so cold I was grateful to go to my horrible job at the factory because it was so much warmer there than at home. I’m so grateful now for the fireplace and all the effort that goes into the gathering, splitting, stacking and hauling of wood into the house when needed.  It is a comfort to be able to stay home and work and be warm.

More Rescued Tops

And so it goes…

Apparently I have also infected my best friend with the quilt rescue bug.  Until she sent me some pictures of the quilts I have quilted for her over the years, I had not realized just how many of hers are rescue quilts also.

Even though it is possibly a disease, it is not a bad one to have.  It is nice to share the desire to finish someone else’s work.

Simple blocks make a quick cover, like this brick quilt.  

The double wedding ring in orange was gifted to me by another quilter who did not particularly like orange, nor did she think she would have the time to quilt it.  It had issues in the piecing department, but still was made with love. Since I am a certified nut when it comes to orange quilts (every quilter should own at least ONE orange quilt) I took it.  Pattie was in the middle of making an orange quilt that was making her crazy and I decided to give her this double wedding ring as a birthday gift.  I begged her for the backing knowing I was going to give it back.  She was surprised alright. It actually quilted up with no problems that were insurmountable.

The lotus blossom is a beautiful rendition of a quilt my great grandmother made that ended up in my hope chest.  My quilt is a full sized quilt and has an extra set of petals.  The woman who did the hand work on this small quilt that Pattie rescued was as talented in the needle arts as my great grandma.  It is exquisite.

Another little gem Pattie found on eBay is this blue and red star.  It is not easy to piece something like this pattern and it was well done.

Ruby McKim Short blocks are a great find and these were in amazing condition.

The squares quilt is one that was mindless assembly.  There did not have to be any rhyme or reason for where the colors were placed.  It falls into my favorite category of “any color goes together” and this one was not tied together with sashing or border fabric!

And the little Dresden blocks she found unfinished are imagination at its best.  I look forward to seeing the project Pattie completes with these little gems.

Quilts Someone Loved

Rescuing quilts

Over the years since I have fallen in love with quilting and discovered the world of technology, I have bought more than my share of incomplete quilts. I have purchased blocks and tops from eBay and antique shops.  There is always something about the blocks or tops that speaks to me to make we want to take it home.

I still have blocks of my own making waiting for me to be inspired on a setting and I still have tops waiting for me to be inspired to quilt them.  Someday I will get to them.

Some day may have been the excuse of many of the people who did not finish the projects I have attracted to myself.  I feel most of the tops I have bought is the result of someone having projects left at the end of their life.  That reason above all other reasons is why I am compelled to gather them up.

I feel especially bad for the tops that go in estate sales.  They were unloved by the people who inherited the leftovers of the home.  Did they not see the love that went into each hand stitched seam?  Did they not feel the peace the person felt while sitting at rest working on something they had an idea for?  Maybe that particular quilt was for a special grand child or daughter getting married.  It just seems sad the pieces of someone’s life slipping out the door.

I have felt the presence of many such people as I take a finished piece off my quilt frame.  I know someone is up in heaven clapping her hands and feeling joy for her project finally being done, and being loved.

I am especially enamored by the tops that look ugly because the fabrics may be gaudy colors, but they have been put together with a plan.  You can see the design the maker had in mind and it all makes sense to me.  I have been inspired enough by a work I purchase that I will reproduce it myself from more current fabrics.