A Show of My Mother's Projects - Quilting

Today I haven't had much time for quilting - even though I would love to quilt right now.

After my physical therapy, mom asked me to take some pictures of her projects to put on Facebook. So, I figured that would be even better to show you the work my mother does as well as what I do.

This is a quilt that she used to teach a class for applique. I will look and see who made the pattern and post it when I get the chance. This was not designed by my mother, but it was all hand done by her.

A closer photo of this quilt so you can see her quilting.

This next set of blocks is from P3 Designs, and is the Baltimore Christmas blocks. The funny story behind this, is that I bought the BOM to work on. When a friend asked to see the blocks, mom decided she wanted to do ONE block from the patterns.

This is the block she liked and wanted to make. I told her she could do ONE block and no more. Well, that didn't happen. She got the patterns from our friend who was giving them to mom to give back to me. Guess who DIDN'T get the patterns?!?

So, for the past year she has been working on this quilt. She was showing off the patterns, and now more people are working on this quilt! She told me I couldn't get my patterns back till she was done.

The more she worked on it, the more she finished the blocks. Now all the blocks are done and she's getting ready to put them all together.

As you can tell, she still has her basting threads on the blocks.

This is the end result. She's done an awesome job on this quilt!

The best part - I took her Baltimore Liberty BOM, and I'm working on that quilt. She's not getting them till I'm done! lol - Problem is it, I don't work as fast as mom does. lol So, she may not get them for a few years. lol

Now she's working on P3 Designs quilt blocks that is the new BOM. She started this in January, and she's got February's block ready to go. Since she's going to visit my brother and his family in Oklahoma, she has it all ready to go.

So, now you can see what I have to live up to. My mother, Shirley A. Taylor, is a teacher, judge, and at least a 4th generation quilter. She has finished a couple quilt tops that her great grandmother made in the 1800's. She has also taught me that quilts are made to be used. So, I have no problem with doing a quilt and putting it on a bed to be used. My mother has made 8 whole cloth quilts that she is making for each member of the family. She has 9 grandchildren, with 4 of those quilts going to them. My son has received one. My husband and I have received one. We do keep those as special quilts.

That being said, Charlie wasn't happy with me last night when I wouldn't let her come on my lap! Attitude is her middle name.

I would like to thank all of you that have sent me a message thanking me for showing my "problems" and how I work them out. I believe in showing everyone that there are problems in quilting that we all deal with. Hiding them won't help anyone. I believe in sharing and showing how easy it can be when you step back and fix any problems you have.

Now that I have shared my family "history" with you, I hope you will be inspired to be Happy Quilting!

Moving Along with Quilting!

I'm back to quilting the edge of the Hawaiian quilt!

Last night, the corner was driving me crazy. It wasn't working out right, so I decided to rip out all the quilting on that corner. I also decided to resew the edge of the quilt or "sandwich." It wasn't laying right, and it was driving me crazy. At least I grew up ripping out mistakes, no matter what I made. It had to be done right, or not at all.

I was able to quilt it a whole lot better! It went easier and the buckling didn't happen. I was able to sew the sandwich without any problems.

So, today I was able to get moving along the side of the quilt. I'm working in this area. Taking it one step at a time. I'm sewing the sandwich as I go, and I need to get a good part of this area done before working in the "peak" areas. Since I have this twice on each side, I need to working it out the best I can. This one is going pretty good - but then, I said that about the corner and that didn't happen.

At least I have the corner done and it looks great. It lays the way it's supposed to.

Things are moving along. Had bowling tonight, so didn't get very far with quilting other than what I did this afternoon. Hopefully I'll have more going on tomorrow. Looking forward to being Happy Quilting!

Like a Frog - Rip, Rip, Rip!

Today was one of those days that I wanted to get around the corner of my Hawaiian quilt. I spent part of the afternoon working on it.

The more I quilted, the more I noticed the buckling. I started to see more problems than I wanted to see. SOOOO, I decided I needed to fix the problem!

That meant ripping out the quilting stitches and trying again. I started with the center area that was buckling and cut the stitches so it would be easier to pull the thread out with. The move I pulled out, the more I noticed I needed to go farther than I thought. I also decided I would change the way I wanted to quilt the corner in. I brought the lines around the the designed area instead of working from the edge up to the other designs.

It's like what we were taught in the beginning - start in the middle and work your way out! I was trying to bring the "out" to the "center."

This give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I pinned the edge because I believe I may have to take part of that out, and then resew it. The background fabric has more fabric then the front, which has the sandwich off. I'm going to quilt it to the edge and see what I need to do. I will have some stitches that will be the corner, but it won't be as much as I had before I started ripping

Once gal on Facebook talked about how we are like frogs - rip, rip, rip. So, I guess you can say I was rip, rip, ripping more than I wanted to. I've been working on this corner way too long.I seriously need to figure this corner out and move on.

I'm looking forward to doing some applique. This week my folks will be leaving for Oklahoma and I'll be at their house over night one night. I am hoping to work on a lot of stuff.

So, at this rate, I'll be working on the corner tonight. May you all be Happy Quilting!

When "Life" Gets in the Way - Quilting Gets Missed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!

Myron Taylor, Jr & brother Bob

The last couple days have been so busy, even I don't know what's what.

I wanted to post last night, but again, Life got in the way!

Wednesday night was a pretty good night. I was able to get more quilting done on the Hawaiian and that is one of my priorities right now. I'm also trying to figure out how I'm going to do my Celtic block for Deanna. On top of that, I have three other blocks that are ready to be appliqued and/or embroidered on.

Thankfully, working the corner of the quilt wasn't as hard as it looks. I know the photo looks like it's buckling but the good news is, it didn't. I did have to take out part of the quilting stitches (at the top of the photo) because it wasn't laying right. I don't mind taking stitches out as I'm going. It's after I've already had them in that isn't fun!

I worked on this again last night, but that photo will come later.

Yesterday, well, that was another one of those busy days. Life is getting to be way to busy for my liking. Almost like having my kids in the house - "Hey, mom, we need to go to soccer practice," and "Hey, mom, did your remember we have a meeting tonight?"

We had our "Haven't Missed A Stitch" TAS group potluck yesterday. So, I was running around getting ready. We have the potluck, do the auctions, and then most everyone left! I at least had a couple people stick around to help me clean up. I was really surprised at how many just up and left all at once. That did help me yesterday, because I was able to get home, make chocolate strawberries, and do some laundry before Patrick came home. Had him pick up chicken. Oh, and before that I had to go back to Safeway and pick up milk and eggs. Afterwards I played on the computer for about 2 hours and then started working on the quilt.

Today is going to be busy, so don't know if I will be able to get anything done or not. I've got physical therapy on my back this morning, and since it's dad's Birthday today, I'm baking him a cake. My dad will be 81 today! I'm thankful for every day I have him around. We are going out to eat at Falls Terrace in Tumwater, WA. It's a great place to eat.

May you all be Happy Quilting!!

First Corner of Four!

Today was a sore day for me. I didn't get anything done yesterday, because of physical therapy and spending time with dad. Had a great visit with dad talking about his mother's family. We reviewed photos and made comments on the page set up on Facebook.

I'm pretty sure my bowling 9 games on Sunday and the "lunges" with therapy, has me paying for it! It was so funny how hard it was for me to get up let alone sit down! Patrick didn't believe me when I told him I was sore - till he saw me trying to get out of my chair. Guess we are getting old - was one of his comments. lol

So, I decided to spend the afternoon watching Castle, The Blacklist, and NCIS that I had recorded.

I spend most of my time putting in and ripping out my seams. I kept having one side buckle on me. I couldn't figure out how when I had the board behind as I pinned it to stay in place. Then I realized I was doing it all on one side.

After three tries, I found that if I pinned it one one side, then check the other side, and pinned on that side, it would stay in place. I kept from buckling. It made it easier to quilt once I had that done. I did get around the first corner of the four corners on this quilt The best part is that the fourth corner will be the end of the quilt.

I was able to get five rows of quilting in and this is getting me that much closer to the corner. I need to figure out how many of those will go on the bottom and work the way up to the center.

It's going faster now that I have figured out what will work best. I'm lucky enough to have tomorrow to myself and can work on laundry while I get around the corner. Hopefully this corner will be done tonight. That is if Charlie will let me.

I do realized a few quilters have a "thing" about pets on their quilts. I guess that is a matter of choice. My cat has been with me from the beginning of this quilt, and she thinks it's her quilt. I grew up with pets and they have always been a part of my life. So, I'm sorry if I offend anyone with seeing my cat on my quilts. She has her own quilt, but she would rather be in my lap then on her quilt, so I allow her time on my lap while I quilt. Pets can be fun! I don't know what I would do without them.

My mother finished her white on white quilt that I posted a photo of earlier (with her working on it). She's got that ready to go to Oklahoma to give to my nephew and his new bride. She has completed seven white on white quilts so far. All handmade. Including the binding.

I've been working on my genealogy lately, and my quilting is not getting as much attention as it should be. My soon to be daughter-in-law has been finding out more about my family then I could. I have been posting photos and newspaper clippings in hopes that helps. I need to do more letters in my blog "Letters of the Past."

As time goes along, I'm planning to be Happy Quilting!

Quilting & Bowling!

Today was a really busy day! The day started with me getting up early.

After spending about an hour on the computer, I decided to go downstairs and work on the Butterfly quilt downstairs. I went down and started the stove, so it would be warm by the time I got down there.

I started out taking photos of what was done, so I could get an idea of what I was ale to finish today before lunch time.

Then I turned the TV on, and got to work on the center piece of the quilt. I'm not happy with the way it was put together, but I'm thankful to have the quilt. This quilt was a gift to me for putting in two years a President of the quilt guild here in town. That was in 2002. So, that tells you how long it's taking me to finish this quilt.

The cross hatching in one of the borders that is the center piece is going really fast, and is really fun to do. The problem I'm having is in the flower. As you can see, I'm left handed. I love the "tailor" thimble for when I'm having to quilt upward. It comes in handy pushing the needle. I've mastered it pretty good. As you can see, I also have several needles going at once. I find it easier to have more than one needle going. I can keep the needle in the area that I'm working in, and move to another area without having to cut the thread.

I've been "outlining" the flower petals, but not outlining the light purple area. I want to make it look more like a flower than it does. But I can't think of how I'm going to do that yet. I really need to get this done, and I'm finding it a lot harder to come up with a way to do that. Since it's paper pieced, there are a LOT of small pieces that are sewn together. It makes it that much harder to quilt through.

So, while I think about that part of the center, I moved over to the flower in the corner. That on is "dirty" and I can see the blue marking pen that was used. I'm afraid I might have ironed this top before I set it up for quilting - which might have set the marker. Not thrilled about that. There are even more small pieces in this flower! So, I'm trying to make it look like a flower with the quilting. Quilting stitches get bigger because of the seams underneath. It's becoming a big challenge for me to get this center pieced. I haven't even decided how I'm going to quilt the "background" of the center piece. May just leave it alone.

If you look at the first photo, that area is easy and quick to quilt. I do like quilting in those areas, because I'm meandering with my quilting. I did get a lot done, and hope to get over to the side of the center piece to work on the butterflies again.

This afternoon, I had to go to the bowling alley for a tournament. I was bowling for singles and doubles. I did come in 4th place with the singles. We didn't get doubles because my partner (as well as myself) didn't do that great. After six games, I had to wait about two hours before we started bowling in our league. So, while I waited, I pulled out the Carolina Lily block to work on the leaves and berries.

My needle isn't sharp - and it really needs to be - that the berries are not as full as I would like. This quilt block hides the berries as well as the stem, so I really don't think it's going to matter to much. I will pay better attention to the one I do for my quilt.

I'm happy to say, two of the corners are done, and I was able to get the other two leaves done on the other corners. My next move is to do the berries on the corners, and then this block is finished. My block will be next.

I then bowled another three games. When we bowled doubles, I did bowl a 228, so it wasn't all that bad. When we bowled in our league, I bowled a 179, 194, 191, so I guess nine games didn't kill me after all. It's been  long time since I bowled nine or twelve games.

I'm now ready to call it a day, and happy to say I was able to get some quilting in. I've been doing pretty good staying Happy Quilting.

Quilting!

Yesterday, I baked 3 small loaves of bread. I took on over to our neighbors house as a Birthday Gift. She loved my gift!

Today was another one of those days that little quilting got done. That doesn't mean it was a "lazy" day or a bad day. It was actually a great day for me.

I stated out with sleeping in a little longer than usual. That made my day! lol - I haven't been able to sleep in in a very long time.

I then played games, but that didn't last long. I actually went to the computer room and started going through my drawer of genealogy. Problem is my genealogy papers are boxes and boxes full. So, while chatting with my future daughter-in-law, we have been finding out more about my family that I haven't been able to figure out in 30 years. I also found a "treasure!" I opened an envelope that was bigger than the average size. To my surprise I found a photo of my great grandmother and her family! Not my grandparents but my great-great grandparents with all there children! My great grandmother and her brothers!! I never knew I had this photo! It's one of the only photos of my Civil War grandfather and his family. Talk about excited!! The photo is huge! and it's in really good condition!! While I was finding my treasures. Patrick was putting our stove in!!

I really am happy with this! It's so cool!

The window in the oven is a heck of a lot bigger than what I had. It took Patrick about 2 hours to get this in, but he had to cut some of the top to get it in. Patrick was a sweetheart today - he took me out to dinner! lol

Now to my quilting! I'm happy to say after all the taking out and putting back in, I was able to finish the one area that was giving me a "headache." I "quilted it out."

The best part is - you can't tell  was having problems with "buckling." Now it should be really easy to go around the corner. Once I get around the boarder, I'll have pretty close to one side done. I'm getting excited with the way this is coming!  I have been taking out the edge and re-sewing it back, because I have been getting the front side showing more than the back, and I need them to be even. I'm working harder at getting it going.

So, as you can see, I'm still Happy Quilting!

Working on BOM blocks

After doing my usual, I headed over to my mom's for our Friday quilt group.

Here's mom binding her latest "white on white" quilt. This one goes to my nephew and his bride. They are going back to Oklahoma to deliver the quilt and attend the wedding ceremony for family - they were married in December.

While at quilting, I was able to get some embroidery done. I have embroidery on all the blocks that I marked yesterday, as well as the two Baltimore Liberty quilt blocks I finished. Yes, I finished the second block of the Baltimore Liberty.

The next step is the embroidery. I'll do the crack with embroidery.

If you look really closely, you will see my stems that were done in embroidery. Those are in all four corners. Because the background is so busy, it's very hard to see. The funny part about that was when I was looking for my last corner, I pulled up a corner I already did. I was looking for my markings and couldn't find them. I asked Nancy where my marking were, and she couldn't see it. Guess what?! I did that stem and it blinded in where neither one of us could tell. Figured it out when I turned the block over. lol

Each corner has "berries" so I decided to do them with embroidery. It will show up better on my set of blocks. I have one more berry to do on this corner and then I will work on the other three. I'm happy to say, this is block #6. So, I'm getting closer to getting these BOM's done. These blocks were started back in 2002. So, that should tell you how long I have been working on my "guilt wall."

Came home to Charlie's welcome on the back deck. It was so cool to see her out there!

I was able to get more quilting done on the Hawaiian quilt last night. I'm getting close to being done with the one area that has been a "problem." I'm almost past it, and once I do, it should be easier the rest of the way around. I was surprised a little at how much hand quilting I've had to remove and redo. That idea of "quilting it out" is harder than it looks. But it's working, so that's a good thing.

Best wishes, and Happy Quilting!

A Day of Marking!

Yesterday was one of those days that I couldn't get any quilt related projects done.

Today, thankfully was another day! After doing my daily walking, and loosing two games of cribbage, I decided today was going to be a quilt day!

So, what is it about a quilt room that we pile everything up on the table we need to work on? I went downstairs and took a deep breath, it was time to clear up some of my mess. - And yes, it's a mess! I did get a few more fabrics on the boards. I know you getting tired of seeing all my fabrics, so saved you having to see another pile of fabric that I rolled. I would never have believed I had that much fabric! Guess what - I DO!! I'm still cutting the smaller pieces, putting the greens in a box, and working on rolling my fabrics. I have almost as much in solids as I have in prints. UGH!!

I received the "tape" for the 3/8" bias tape. So today, I decided to iron the strips and get ready to do the Celtic block for Deanna B.

It was easier than I thought it would be. I did three strips. I have them ready to do on the block, and have a feeling I many need to do another strip, but I'll wait and see how this goes. It's a different technique than I'm used to, but I'm always ready and willing to try something new.

After all that, I pulled out the Carolina Lilly block that is part of the two quilts on my "guilt" wall. So, it was time to finish this block since it has only been 9 months since I did the other one!

I had to take out the bottom green from these blocks because one of the "base" greens was too small and why I even sewed them on, I have no clue. I looked for the same green but didn't have any. I then replaced all three bases with a different green that is in the same color. I decided I didn't want to have to replace the stem, so it's staying with the green I started with. I now need to do the applique on the leaves.

I have a feeling it's a little smaller than it's supposed to be.

At this point, I don't really worry about it, as the blocks are all different sizes and I just need to be able to get them all together in one quilt. This is my quilt - Katt's is the orange one.

This is the next blog in the BOM that mom and her late friend, Vicki Parypa designed. This is block #7, I believe. All the ones before this one are on my "guilt wall."

At this point - 2 hours later - I decide I need to get some applique blocks ready, as well as getting this block ready to applique.

Before I get started on marking the blocks, I cleaned up my table - now lets see how long this stays half way cleaned up!

I decided I wanted a brown basket for the pattern. So, I made three or four "ropes" of 1/4" bias for the baskets. I'm going to have to weave them and then applique them down. Should be fun, but it's going to be a tacking day, when I do. The two blocks in this photo are the two blocks that I need to make. The brown background is Katt's quilt and the light green is my quilt. It's been interesting doing two at the same time.

I then heading upstairs to the dinning room ad started marking my blocks. I marked the corners of Katt's quilt so I could get the embroidery and applique work done. I'm getting a little excited, as I'm going to be doing a lot of embroidery again!

I then put the basket pattern up and marked both quilt blocks for this. Then after finishing marking those two blocks, I marked the Celtic block as well as another Baltimore Liberty quilt block. All in al I have 5 or 6 blocks all marked and ready to go. I'm planning on doing a few of them with the "back basting" method. I find I like that method over most of them . I don't care if it's "perfect" because I just want to be in the right place. Not that I've got a "policeman" here telling me I'm doing things wrong.

It interesting to me how some people think there are rules and regulations to quilting. Quilting is what each person - you and I - want to do. It's not what rules you follow. I quit entering my quilts in shows because a couple of my things were judged and I was "disqualified" or passed over because the judge felt I used the wrong colors. That is a personal choice and not what I should have been judged on. There are also judges out there that think as long as it's a friends quilt, then it deserves the highest award. I'm not too found of judges (even though my mother is a judge), because they have become "personal" judges and not "technical" judges.

After spending a good six hours on quilt blocks, I feel I've come a long way. I was thrilled that I didn't spend as much time on the computer as I normally do, and I'm inspired to get this stuff done! The more quilt blocks I can work on, the sooner I can get them done!

Tonight is going to be a great night, sitting here quilting on my Hawaiian, and then I can call it a great day! So, today I can say - I've been Happy Quilting!!


I am a QUILTER - What is your SUPERPOWER?