In from the cold is my first favourite and basic grey is second.
August 29, 2013 at 12:03 PM
I feel like my posts (Heather) have been slacking a bit around here. Summer was a bit nuts and I didn't get to sew much, therefore I didn't offer that much in way of posts. If you follow me on Instagram (Quiltstory) Megan is (Quiltstorymeg) you can see more of the day to day of my creations. But I do have a few blocks to show off...
I like this block. Megan and I had Dalmatians growing up. Cookie, Penny and Trixie. And I have 2 beagles. So I like the beagle butt in the corner :)
I have more than I remembered done, but have a few I want to get to. I am using all Heather Ross charms. I was able to buy a Heather Ross charm pack from a friend on Instagram. It was a nice sampling of a lot of her fabrics.
Darling finish from Marianne of Sew Paint It. Marianne does a little bit of everything, sewing, decorating, renovating, painting, you name it. Our kind of lady! We got this submission, and Megan and I both have a soft spot for Sarah Jane fabric. Just looking at this quilt makes me want to go play with my stash. Anyhow, Marianne did a little bit of everything on this quilt, applique, hand stitching, machine quilting etc. We love it all! I finished a quilt! It is my boys quilt using children at play fabric by Sarah Jane and I am really, really, really pleased with it!
I finished it today.
The backing was a sheet I found and I love it. It is so soft and lovely. Love the design for my little boy too.
Diggers and tractors - just what little boys like!
I did machine quilting on this quilt and then hand quilted around the stars.
I love hand quilting because it is so soft and specially for someone. It shows you care.
The machine quilting is 0.25" from each seam.
The binding is also a sheet, a plain blue one which was worn out in areas. It is really soft. I hate doing the corners! I must find some tutorials on doing that better because there is definitely room for improvement there!
Kris from Duke Say's Sew What? is a very talented quilter, no doubt. We've featured her many times on Fabric Tuesday, she always has a great project going! But this string quilt we're featuring today that she made for her mom has a lot more meaning. Kris' family has been through a lot lately and this quilt will serve as comfort for her mom. After you read the story stop by Duke Says Sew What? and see some of her great projects!
If you're a regular here, you know that I have been working on finishing a string quilt to send off to my Mom. They say a quilt is a hug - and this is a hug for my Mom, who had a stroke recently.
There have been a few health issues around here recently. It started with my oldest son getting gasoline in his eyes. We called my Mom, who works for an eye doctor and she recommended immediate medical care so off we went to the ER. (He's fine now.) I had already been experiencing a tightness in my chest, but the day after his ER visit, I started having electrifying zaps of pain from under my arm across my breast. I called my Mom, who of course always has a way of calming me down when I get rather anxious about things. I thought I had the symptoms of breast cancer - I really didn't know what those are, I just knew I had a pain like no other. My Mom talked me through what I think was an anxiety attack over the chest pain - I was pacing the house in circles, mainly because I couldn't sit down since sitting down made it worse. I could only sit on a hard chair.
After a trip to urgent care I was diagnosed with a pinched nerve and given pain and anti-inflammatory medications. Good thing I went in because it only got worse before it got better. By the next day I could hardly sit in the car to drive. The pain came in waves and I couldn't help but gasp or sometimes scream! What a nutcase I had become! Just ask my husband!
That's when my Dad called to say my Mom was in the hospital and they were running tests to see if it was anxiety or a stroke. She was feeling odd and couldn't speak in a normal manner. When the doctors asked her if she was worried about anything in particular, she said "my daughter is having pain in her chest". OH NO! Now SHE was worried about ME! I was very worried for her - but did my best not to cry because crying uses your chest muscles and mine were on fire! What a mess this had become! The thought of sitting for a 3.5 hour plane ride to go be with her was out of the question.
Test showed a blood clot in her brain but it was small, and physically she was not experiencing any problems. The only challenge for her was her words. As it turned out, this was not an anxiety attack but I still felt badly for any part I played in it.
That night I got a call from my Mom. She was in the hospital room by herself - Dad had just gone home. She wanted to let me know that she was okay and for me not to worry. She told me this in words that I completely understood, but some of them weren't quite right.
We've since been told that Mom was extremely fortunate to have had so little problems following this mini stroke. She's home and doing much better. She still gets a tad frustrated when speaking or writing, but is expected to fully recover. She sounds better and better.
We are all so relieved that she is doing so well. The only thing that has us all a bit sad is my parents have had to cancel their trip to come stay with us and attend Mitch's High School Graduation. There's no where my Mom would rather be - she adores her grandchildren, but she's not ready to travel this far in a plane.
We will be glad to have them come visit us and enjoy themselves fully when Mom is 100%.
Until then, I made this quilt for Mom. She loves pink so this quilt is filled with it! Mom had a great support group of my friends praying for her and I can't thank them enough. I'm also thankful for all of the medical staff that treated her and of course, my Dad, who is her rock! My Dad provides a comfort to the family like no other.
As Heather and I have mentioned before, our dad grew up in England and we both have had the chance to visit the other side of the pond a few times, so England is close to our hearts! In fact we have an awesome quilt we just made for our dad that we'll be sharing sometime after Father's Day. This month the Queen of England celebrated her jubilee and Liz from Dandelion Daydreams was kind enough to fill us in on the events and share her Union Jack Tutorial! YAY! Thanks so much Liz! Make sure to see Dandelion Daydreams, her WIPs/projects and a great gallery!
At the start of June 2012, the Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee. Coupled with the fact that we are also hosting the Olympics this year, Twenty Twelve is set to put Great Britain on the map! We certainly all fell in love with the Royal Wedding last year. The pageantry and pomp and circumstance was such a wonderful spectacle. And, quite frankly, any occasion that enables me to hang out the bunting, eat Victoria Sponge, drink Pimms and enjoy afternoon tea, is one that I intend to fully embrace.
I am more of a visual learner and love all the wonderful free tutorials online. I have learnt nearly everything about sewing from an online tutorial somehow or another. So this is my chance to give something back to the wonderful sewing community in blogger blogland.
I couldn't find a free online block, so this is how I made my Jubilee inspired in mostly pictures and a few words...
Materials Needed
To make a finished block size 9 inches by 14 inches approximately
1 rectangle of fabric for the base of the block (mine is blue) measuring 9" x 14";
2 different colour strips of fabric measuring 2" x 42" (approx 2" by the width of fabric)**;
8 white 1" x 42" strips of fabric
sewing machine
thread
iron
** alternatively, if you want to use a FQ or scraps for these pieces, you need two 2"x20" strips (of same fabric); and one 2"x18" and one 2"x11" (both of same fabric). The white 1" strips need to match these lengths as well.
How to:
1. Start by cutting your fabric to the sizes listed above. Here is my main blue rectangle which measures 9 inches by 14 inches.
2. Next up take your two long coloured strips (these will make up the crosses on our Union Jack) and sew a white 1 inch strip down either long side. It makes it faster if you chain piece these.
3. Press the seams open and you will end up two strips with white borders on all their long sides.
4. Next cut your rectangle in half diagonally.
5. Now you are going to take whichever strip you want to make your St Andrews' cross (mine is the solid pink strip) and sew it right sides together along the diagonal cut.
Repeat for the other side of the rectangle.
Lining up tip: When you sew the second side of the strip into the diagonal, I found it helpful to line the rectangle up face up, then slide the rectangle side over so that its in the right place before flipping it over so that right sides are together.
This is what you are aiming for:
6. Now measure your strip, it should measure 2 1/4". We need to know this measurement for our next series of cuts.
7. Now cut your rectangle in half on the other diagonal.
8. From each diagonal edge, cut a strip off measuring 1 1/8" (One and One Eighth inch) off. Thus making room for your strip which you know will end up with a width of two and a quarter inch.
You should have now cut each of your triangles down by 1 1/8" each along the diagonal.
9. Sew in your next strip as before in step 5, aligning carefully on your second side. The picture below shows how the stitching line for the second side of the strip.
10. Trim the ends of the strips so that you have a perfect rectangle again.
11. Now we are going to start on our St George's cross part of the flag. Cut your block in half on the longest side so that you end up with two long thin rectangles. To find my middle, I just fold my block in half and crease the middle with my finger.
12. Once again, you need to trim 1 1/8" (One and One Eighth inch) off either side of the middle of your block.
13. Sew your other strip onto each side of the rectangle, ensuring that you line up accurately on the second side.
14. Now for our final set of cuts! Bet you feel like a seasoned pro at it already!!
Cut your block in half again this time so that you end up with two short fat rectangles. Then cut 1 1/8" (One and One Eighth inch) from each side.
15. Sew your last strip into the middle gap and voila...
Your Union Jack block is complete!
I hope that all these instructions make sense. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. If you make one, please link back to this tutorial if posting pics online and I would love it if you would add your pic to my Flikr group.
I have also made a tutorial showing how to sew a more representative Union Jack flag block which you can find here.
Val from Pink Please! is quite the talented quilter and has been showcasing her talents on Moda Bake Shop with her darling Floor Pillows and Play Mat. So cute! Today she's sharing a quilt with a lot more meaning and purpose, and it was a collaborative effort. I so admire Val (and all of you) who take your talents and do so much good with them. It is something I am striving to do more of myself. Anyway I will let Val tell you about the quilt and Heroes Foundation. Also, she posted HERE how well the quilt did (!!!!!) so check that out when you're done!! Also make sure to stop by Pink Please! and her shop with darling custom tooth fairy pillows.
What started out as one quilt block made from scraps and a plea to have some friends help make a few more, has turned into one incredible quilt, full of stories, that is ready to be auctioned off at The Night Under the Stars Gala benefiting the Heroes Foundation on Feb. 25th.
I dragged my Dad (and his camera) over to the railroad tracks by his house to take some fun shots.
(Thanks, Big John!)
Ok, the quilting on this is just amazing!!!! Tammy Lawson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Super Bowl, what what, offered to donate her time (4 hours!), her batting, her thread, her long arm quilting machine, and her skills to put this quilt together. Watching her free motion quilt this was mesmerizing! I can not comprehend how she quilts this without drawing the pattern on the fabric. If anyone in the Indy area needs long arm quilting services, contact me to get Tammy's info. You will not be disappointed! She even let me sew on her machine while I waited. We called it a Sewing Play Date!
Check out this video I took of Tammy in action....
I LOVE the little ribbon block that Charlotte of Lawson and Lotti made.
It makes a statement without saying a word!
If you made a block(s) on this quilt will head over to Flickr and tag it here? It should be fun to see everyone on there.
My friends in charge of the auction thought a throw pillow would be a nice addition to the quilt. I chose 4 blocks that were extras sent in that I thought went nicely together and made this pillow. I put pink pom poms around the edges and now I don't think I'll ever be able to make another pillow without them.
The silent auction committee thought it would be nice if I would write up a little somethin' somethin' about this quilt to put in the brochure that everyone will receive the night of the Gala. Here is what is submitted:
When I first became involved with the Heroes Foundation Silent Auction Committee, I knew I wanted to make something special to donate to such a wonderful cause. Modern Quilting is a passion of mine and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use my art to raise money for others. I posted a request on my blog asking my sewing bloggie friends if anyone would be interested in helping me make this quilt. Each person could make one quilt block using their scrap fabric and send it to me with a note telling who their block was in honor of. I was very nervous that no one would want to help me. To my surprise, within 48 hours, 45 women had responded that they would like to contribute. Not only did these women send one block each, but many sent two! Coming from as far as Australia, the stories behind each block will tug at your heart strings! Some blocks are in honor of lost parents and spouses, some are in honor of those currently fighting, and one is even in honor of herself, a woman currently going through chemo and radiation. This quilt has helped me see that cancer does not discriminate. Everyone all over the world is fighting this ugly disease and the 46 of us hope that we can use this disease as an opportunity to make something beautiful, that will hopefully raise money for those who need it.
~Val Campbell
Blocks have come from: England, Australia, and The United States (Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.)
***Thank you all that contributed. I am honored to have put this together. The quilt earned $1000 at the auction!***
