Tag: quilting

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Log Cabin quilt class

It has been a week of struggles here in Tulsa at the Studio. My back is still giving me some problems. I am doing all the right things and it just takes time for it to heal.

The weather has been odd, somewhere between blizzard and Tahiti. Which is pretty typical for Oklahoma this time of year. I never know whether to take a coat or not. So, I end up over dressing and then leaving the coat in the car. I have some huge snowballs out in the front yard and more sleet is projected for this week. My college kids come home this weekend for Spring Break which starts a huge round of days offish.

I’m starting my quilting class this week and here are a few of the fabrics I have been considering.  I am trying to use my stash for the Use My Stash Challenge.

Log Cabin quilt class Log Cabin quilt class

 

It is a log cabin quilt. I am going to make a twin sized quilt instead of a lap quilt as I already have so many crochet afghans around. The last thing we need is another lap quilt. It has been really stressful to figure out how much fabric I am needing to take to class. I really didn’t want to take all of my stash fabrics with me. The ones I did take needed to be ironed! So I finally sat down and figured out what to do. After calling both my Mom and my good friend Dawn. She quilts, regularly… as in all the time and Mom has made a log cabin quilt before. I  knew that they would be able to help me or at least listen to me while I talked through  it.

I hope to show you some photos tonight after class. I hope we do more than cut strips out, tonight. My back is not going to like that.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Scrap Busting with Quilts

IMG_0994-001Quilts are a time honored way to use scraps. These quilts were made by the women in my family, Grandmothers and Great- Grandmothers and I think one Great-Great Grandmother.

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This sun bonnet sue is one of my favorites.

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My Grandma was a member of a quilting group. They would meet once a week or month and quilt the top of a member’s quilt.  It was a social time and also a time to get much needed work done. These quilts were made for use and they kept the family warm on the cold winter nights.  My Aunts can sit down and tell you where each piece of fabric came from. They came from a time when women made their own clothes and skill with a needle and thread was valued. My Mom taught me to sew and I am teaching my girls or at least making sure they learn the basics.  Sewing is expensive  these days unlike my Grandmothers’ days when everyone had to have some skill at sewing.

I have been thinking about sewing some quilts with my scraps. I have sewn one quilt top that is just strips of fabric but the more complicated patterns are calling to me. I need to baste all the layers together but I keep putting it off.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Love’s Labor

There are certain rules that should be followed when sewing a quilt.

1. Always use a quality cotton fabric as the backing, never a twin sheet.  A twin sheet might be cheaper but you get what you pay for.

2. Always use fabric of about the same quality.

3. Always quilt the quilt as close as the label says you should.

4. Do not use Rayon thread as any of the decorative stitching, because rayon deteriorates quickly when washed repeatedly.

How do I know all of these things, because I once did all of these on one quilt. It became THE quilt to my daughter and now all of my errors and tightwaded-ness are haunting me. I took it down out  of the top of her closet to repair it. When I  saw how much repairing it needed I almost gave up, but she loves it. So it is worth saving. I have given it a new backing, new batting, patched all the holes, and it is slowly coming together. Basting it all together on the floor about killed me but it is reconstructing slowly. That really does look beautiful from a photograph but is quite the nightmare to sew on. Some of the fabric wasn’t cut on the grain and stretched. Some of it was a good quality and some wasn’t and you can now tell. So, it is rather wibbly wobbly in places. I don’t think she will care, if it isn’t perfect.

2014-01-28 16.08.35I have been wrestling it for two days and I am no where close to being finished with it, to top it all off my sewing machine is acting up. I am taking a break right now. I have ordered a new bobbin case. I hope that solves the problem but this repair is taking longer than I thought it would!

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. This is #10

 

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My Grandma’s Quilts

My Grandma or Granny (Bethel) as we grand kids called her created quilts out of necessity. She had a large family and needed blankets. She was a part of a quilting group in her small town. I believe most of her quilts date from the 1940’s. Her quilts were made from the better parts of used clothing and some were quilts within a quilt in order to make use of all available materials. I believe that all of these quilts were sewn completely by hand. I know that they were quilted by hand. Having four kids myself, I am pretty sure that some of these were made in order to have something finished that she could look at everyday. Somehow that is important in the daily grind of dishes, meals, laundry and keeping a family running.

 

Should any of my family read this and want to add any information or if any information is wrong please send me an e-mail and I will fix it. She made many, many quilts and they were scattered among the 7 kids when she passed away so these are only the few that I was able to photograph.

Quilting was also a  chance for women to get out and see other women. These were often qulited as a group and offered a reason for the women to get out and socialize. It helped to build the community and fostered the friendships that women need. I am pretty sure that we need gatherings like this again. I am hearing about knitting groups and sewing groups and churches that have quilting groups. There are quilting guilds and sewing retreats and so women are reaching out again to build friendships.

Well, these are a just a few. I have others to share on another day.

Karen