Ready for Hand Quilting

I was amazed that this quilt top went together so fast. With careful directional pressing, the seams locked together and lined up perfectly. I can now take my time hand quilting a grid diagonally across squares and add a motif in the open white spaces.

Postage Stamp, I am really quilt crazy

I saw this quilt in an antique store and I knew that I had found my next wedding quilt pattern. So....

I gathered scraps, asked friends and went through my stash. I cut 2" squares so my finished square is larger than the standard postage stamp of 1".  I cut 2 of each which I didn't realized would be very helpful in assembling the blocks later. I used all kinds of prints, some being fussy cut, and then stored them by color totaling 4000 squares.

I arranged the layout (2 squares together) on felt, covered them with a sheet square. I was able to fold and transport this sandwich and they stayed put until I was ready to sew.

I could sew one block at a time and still have the second layout in place to refer to. The decision to cut 2 turned out to be a great accident. Here's the project in progress. Only 13 more blocks to make a king size. I am quilt crazy.

"HEXAGON JEWELS" Wedding Quilt #7

This quilt will be set aside for Lauren's wedding day, age 10, my sister's granddaughter.

On my bucket list was to make a kaleidoscope quilt. I found this book, Precision Patchwork for Scrap Quilts by Jeannette Muir, in a used book store with 8 different hexagon designs.

 I had already purchased (on sale) these coordinating fabrics with stripes, repetitive prints and large focus designs. It took larger amounts of fabric because they needed to be fussy cut. The finishing touch that tied it all together were the triangles, an idea that came from Eleanor Burns. 

My goal is to make all of these wedding quilts queen or king size and to hand quilt them. So far so good. 

There was only 6 yards of the perfect backing fabric so "killed 2 birds with one stone";  I was able to use up left overs and add to the width of the backing. 

"IRORI" Wedding Quilt #6

"IRORI", Japanese for the recessed hearth in traditional homes. These open fire pits are surrounded by tatami mats, arranged in auspicious pattern. This modified Log Cabin pattern came from one of my favorite books EAST QUILTS WEST, by Kumiko Sudo. I was able to use the last of my vintage and modern fabrics from Japan mixed with US fabrics that resemble Japanese style prints.

This wedding quilt is for my grandnephew, Adam, age 10. 

I am working on quilts for my sister's 7 and my 3 grandchildren. I've been making them now while my health is good and my hands still work. They are stored in breathable bags and marked with each child's name. Each one is meant to be an heirloom therefore I have chosen traditional designs. I know they will be appreciated because each of these children have received multiple quilts from me and they are used, loved and new ones requested as they have grown into their next stage of childhood.

Like the others, this quilt is King size, machine pieced and hand quilted. The border is quilted with pearl cotton in Sashiko style and designs.

"FANCY DISH"

A friend of mine found this pattern in a book (Fancy to Frugal), by Kay Connors and Karen Earlywine) and showed it to our teacher. She was able to contact the designer and was given permission to reproduce just this part of the book. Instead of costing $28 each, we only paid $5 and Mount San Antonio College printed, laminated and spiral bound this pattern.

More than 25 students purchased this pattern. The wedges and points are machine pieced and then hand appliquéd along with the center football pieces. I chose to make it king size so I increased the number of dishes from 16 to 25.

I have made great progress over the past year. I just finished hand quilting the main surface including 25 dishes. 






I'm ready to quilt the border and finish the edge. With all those curves and points, the binding will be quite a challenge. I believe I will be the first to finish. Two of my friends are ready to start the hand quilting.

"Journey to Japan"

On my trip to Japan with my sister last September, I collected fabrics to make a quilt. You may remember that one of our hosts offered me cuttings from "old clothes" (her aunt's old kimonos). I also bought old indigo cottons in antique shops plus some new contemporary prints. On a previous trip I had also bought some remnants that are probably rayon. I decided that I would go ahead and mix the cottons with the possible silks and rayons since this quilt would seldom need cleaning.

The fun part of designing a quilt is using what you have on hand to its best advantage and putting together all the various sizes, like solving a puzzle. The finished size turned out to be 58"x80".

It's now ready for hand quilting in traditional patterns and sashiko. The 60" denim blue Chambray was the perfect color and width for the backing.

Quilt On-the-Go, Finished MARY MANNAKEE, wedding quilt #2

We've been traveling again (big surprise). Our month long trip to
New Zealand,

Australia

and Indonesia

took me away from blogging but not quilting. Days at sea were spent hand quilting Kathi's bed runner which she now has on her bed in Arizonia.

After a week of taking care of the grandsons, we were off again up the
West Coast.

We returned home to the exciting news that our oldest son and DIL are expecting their first (It may curb our travels a bit after November). Another baby quilt to design! Boy or Girl?

On to San Diego to spent 3 days with our younger son, DIL, and boys.
Oh what fun.

Next, Jack was sent to lobby for special education in Washington DC. My week was spent visiting museums (found only one quilt shop). I went to the DAR but still didn't get to see the Mary Manakee (You'd think that they would display a quilt that they sell the pattern for in the gift shop?!)

My biggest news (next to my new grandchild) . . . in between travels I managed to finish Mary Mannakee.

I washed it with just clear laundry detergent, Zout on minor bleeding from some of the reds and several Ritz grabber sheets. ALL markings and bleeding came out! Its gorgeous. 
This quilt will be put away for my Grandson, Noah, as you can see above, he is only 3.  DID YOU KNOW? I was told to fold a quilt on the bias to prevent permanent creases.

Seeing Double?

(30x38)
I finished the wall hanging to send to our hostess in Japan. I chose an American theme representing traditional blocks.

Using my miniature American Heritage quilt design as the template, I enlarged the blocks, simplified my choices and machine pieced rather than by hand. I densely quilted it by hand.

Since Mrs. Motani has featured fabric wall hangings from Japan and far abroad in their home, it is my hope that this quilt will find a place as well.