February Fun!

I finished up a couple things lately--Tara's 'Hearts' quilt that she handed to me with a "no hurry" deadline finally had its turn on the long arm.  I love working on her quilts--the seams are pressed, her measurements are accurate, the top is squared up, and the whole quilt lies flat.  Her tops are a dream to work on--she does great work!  If you are the kind of quilter who "quilts by check" (rather than by hand or by machine), these are things that your long arm professional LOVES to see!  Ask your quilter for other tips to make their job easier.  My regular customers have a large Ziplock bag to put their next project into--it holds the top, batting and backing in one bag that won't get wet or dirty in transit to and from the customer, it's transparent so you can see what's in the bag, and it's re-usable!

Next quilt up on the long arm is another one of Tara's for her son, Andy.  He likes unusual colors and patterns, and he lovingly selected these fabrics himself.  He's my nephew, so he felt obligated to pester Auntie Karen to get his quilt done already...which he did last week.  :)

After this one, I have another six quilt in line to work on, plus the Watermelon Weave for Juana.  I'm going to be busy!

I also started the anchors weave, but haven't had time to work on it much lately.  I hope that I can finish it up this week to I can send it off to the new owner.

Quilt happy!
Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter

Quilting and Weaving Works, Winter 2011-2012

I have been working on a few quilts this winter and also doing some more weaving, some of which I have sold to individuals either on commission or at events.  Here is my most recent experiment.  It was an exercise in Egyptian Diagonals, assigned by a weaving mentor, and I think I got the hang of it!  After figuring out how to do the basics, I experimented with turning and making different shapes and designs.

A few other things I've been working on include this Packers quilt for my sister's grandson.  It's late in arriving for Christmas, but this was due to a family emergency--her friend was very ill and passed away in December.  My sister went to be with her for her final days and Christmas was put on hold.  I finished this and handed it off to her in early January.

The second half of the antique quilt completion project has concluded as well.  These four quilts were tops originally hand-pieced by her grandmother, and were handed back to Tina this morning over coffee.  She was delighted to have the quilts completed and ready to be added to her cozy home.

This is the quilt that I added a different fabric on the back than what she had provided.  She had picked up antique bed sheets--mostly--for the backs, but this one had been paired up with a Made-in-China, 100% polyester bedsheet.  It was awful and I could not bear to sew this awful fabric to the back of this gorgeous hand-sewn quilt.  I wrote to her begging to allow me to find something more suitable, and made a deal with a Civil War reproduction that I had found on sale a couple years ago.  She loved it!

These are some fun quilts with space aliens on the tan fabric.

More of this alien fabric.  Too fun!

More weaving that I have done.  This one I thought the color combination was really striking!  It's just over 4 yards and I am selling it for $60.  I called it "Double Diamonds" since the pattern on the back also has diamonds.

This one took a lot more work, so I'd have to sell it for a bit more, but I'm not sure I'm ready to part with it...at least not yet.  I could make another one like it if someone was interested in owning one like it and would sell it for $75.  This one is also about 4 yards and is called "Ram's Horn."  I love this pattern...maybe because I'm an Aries...

This is a piece of weaving that I called "Barony of Aquaterra, Kingdom of An Tir" due to its color combinations.  Black, yellow & white are for the kingdom; blue, green & white are the Barony's.  It was donated as a prize to the Ursulmas Medieval Faire and was given to a lady by the name of Emma.

This one I called "Black and White and Red all over", for obvious reasons.  It was two yards and sold for $30.  It was an experimental weave of a pattern that I just made up.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I can reproduce it exactly...I was trying to create a pattern from a finished piece I saw in a book, but was unsuccessful.  It still looks interesting, but not what I was aiming for.

This is a commissioned piece for Molly.  I worked out a special deal with her for this 4 yard piece.  This was loosely based on a pattern I found online, but I did a different turning sequence to come up with this repeating pattern of diamonds.  

This is another 4 yard band that I called "Hugs and Kisses" (see the X and O?).  I sold this one for $60 also.  This was from an online pattern generator.

This is another favorite, the Aquaterra band.  A 4 yard piece for $60.   This is also the Double Diamond pattern, but obviously with different color placement. This is one of my favorites, I think!

What's next on my docket?  I've got a couple quilts for my sister--a pair of scrappy quilt tops--as well as a weaving band for a High School friend who wants a belt with Anchors on it.  Another commission from Juana for a woven piece that looks like watermelons...that'll be fun!  I also have a tunic to finish for Tyrssen, the 4th of 4 tunics he commissioned.  

Late Fall 2011

 Keeping quite busy this fall, leading into Christmas time.  My sister dropped off several quilt tops following a pre-holiday quilting frenzy.  First is a top designated for her grandson, a HUGE Packer fan.  Another Packer quilt is on the long arm now, but will be delivered some time later--a family emergency has put these on the back burner (she won't be able to bind them before Christmas, so she's going to deliver them sometime in the new year).

Next is a top for her granddaughter, a sweet pink dots quilt.  This one was super-easy to make, and just a ton of fun! I quilted it up with "3s and Es", which is pretty and fast to do, so it makes it one of my favorite all-over patterns to use.  I used the same pattern for the Packers quilt and again on another quilt for my sister's neighbor.

Then there was the emergency quilt for Linda, who is terminally ill.  At the time, we knew she was ill and my sister decided to go visit with her for a week, but the week has turned into a month as they make arrangements for her comfort in her final days.  The color on this photograph is not great, and it's hanging on another quilt on the wall, which makes it difficult to see where one quilt stops and another one starts.  I'm working on finding a new place to display finished quilts for photographing.  Hers has a black border, then a blue and purple checked border, then the black binding.  Tara picked up the quilt just before getting on the plane to fly out to be with her.

Just before Thanksgiving, I was given a stack of quilts to work on some antique quilts.  These were made by Tina's grandmother, all sewn by hand, all fabrics from her scrap bag.  There's a little bit of everything in these--dress materials, shirtings, kitchen towels, bedsheets, feed sacks...just everything.  It's like a "Kitchen Sink" quilt.  How's that for just coining a new phrase?  Two of the quilts look like this one--squares on point.

The third one is this much more complex hexagon pinwheels, again, all sewn by hand, all different fabrics.  Her plan is to have all these finished to be able to distribute to family members as completed heirlooms.  Tina does not sew except by hand, and completing seven of these quilt tops would be extraordinarily difficult to finish by the holidays, or any time next year.

At the last minute, I got a call from Margaret, a mom from my kids' school, who needed a quilt finished up for her sister ASAP.  She dropped it off on Thursday, I quilted up most of it that day then had to get a new spool of thread for the back (I was about 1 foot square short of completing it), and finished it up on Friday for her to pick up before the end of the school day.  Since this quilt was all green and leafy, she asked for a leaf pattern to be quilted all over the top.  I pulled the birch leaf pattern out of my repertoire and covered the surface with leaves.

The other thing I've starting doing is card weaving.  In the SCA, there is quite the demand for woven and embroidered trims. Although this may not be a documentable pattern (called "Ram's Horn"), it is plausibly period design using a period technique.  I don't have a plan for all these pieces, so I'm considering partnering up with a merchant to sell them on consignment.  I'm not a merchant and don't have enough wares to justify sitting at a table all day, but those who do and love it can earn a few bucks by having a few extra pieces in the shop...a little more variety.  I think of it as a win-win.

Here is my loom set up with a lovely piece that is also finished with a simple six forward-six back weave.  It created a gorgeous pattern on the top and an equally beautiful pattern on the back.  I'll have to do some more in different colorways.  I recently picked up some non-heraldic colors that I'm anxious to get into, although I need to replace a few of the colors I'm running low on, like red and green.

Right now I'm experimenting with a new weaving pattern that is documentable--a Saxon threaded-in pattern that alternates weaving the even and odd numbered cards, creating a narrower band, but is twice as thick.  This makes it a more complex pattern but it also is nice to have a documented design that I can put on a garment or enter into competition.

Hope you all have a great holiday--whatever you celebrate--and a fantastic new year!

K

Fall Season

I have not been as busy posting here as I have in the past.  Here are a few items I've worked on in recent months.

A quilt for American Heroes.  I have one more quilt left in the pile, and should probably do that today, being Veteran's Day.

Halloween costume for myself as Mrs. Annabelle Bransford (from the movie "Maverick").  I made it from a pattern that I bought at the local fabric store, although it wasn't technically finished when I wore it.  I ran out of fabric (and time) to make the bustle and couldn't find the boning for the back to add rigidity around the lacing, but it was wearable.  I loved the red taffeta--it sewed up really well and wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be.  I hope to finish up the costume so that all the seams are finished and it's fully wearable.  What you can't see is that I made the petticoat and under-trousers to go with it.  I'd like to make a Civil War Southern belle dress, too.  There are some really great patterns for those available, and I plan on picking one up soon. 

My darling husband's Halloween costume, Brett Maverick (from the movie, "Maverick").  I wanted to make it out of some kind of tapestry or decorator fabric, but had to settle for quilting cotton in a Civil War reproduction.  When it was lined with muslin, it worked just fine, although I think if I were to run it through the washer, it would probably not look quite as nice.  I will likely open up the sides and add some interfacing to stiffen it up.  Again, if I were to make this for something other than a Halloween costume, I would have put a little more effort into it.

I also made two vests for little girls to dress up as Medieval saints for All Saints Day.  They both dressed as St. Margaret Ward, a woman who smuggled a rope into a prison to help a priest escape.  They knew she had helped him (she was his only visitor).  She was tortured and killed for refusing to tell where he was and for not attending Protestant services.  The skirts were identical, made out of cotton broadcloth I had sitting in my stash, the undertunic is unbleached cotton muslin. 

My friend, Tyrssen, lives in the Midwest and commissioned some tunics from me.  I made three and have one more to finish.  This is the red one...

And the yellow one...

On the quilting end, I quilted up this baby quilt for Susie in July.

I quilted up this little thing for Donna's mom, who entered it in the fair as her First Quilt, and she won second place for her age category!  I think she just turned 82!

Next here is a little quilt I made for our guild's "Celebration" challenge.  I just used scraps to make these "presents" and made candles as the loops to hold it, and 3-D ribbons adorn the boxes.  I didn't win, but it was fun!

Val handed me this quilt top to quilt up for her.  She won the $50 gift certificate that I donated to the Christmas raffle.  This cute top of printed mooses among stars has echo quilting around the mooses and stars quilted in the yellow stars.

Violet brought over this giant quilt top that she is finishing for her daughter.  It measures 108" square!  My machine maxes out at about 110", so it was just big enough to fit on there.  If I had more room in my quilting space, I would get longer rods to put on my machine frame so I can quilt up even larger quilts (up to 120" with room on the sides to easily change bobbin thread, etc.).  Although I can put a top on there that is up to 120", I cannot quilt the five inches on either side and changing bobbins becomes quite difficult. 

 Michele gave me three quilt tops to finish for her for Christmas.  This is one of them.  It has holly leaves quilted across the green parts, and veins quilted into the leaves.  

There are several more quilts in line, including two Green Bay Packer quilts for my sister Tara, three other Friendship quilts she also finished recently, and the first three of seven antiques that Tina gave to me to finish that her Grandmother made.  She plans to distribute them to her family members as heirlooms.  I have a few things on the list now...it should make for a busy month!

Shop Hop!

I went on the Western Washington Shop Hop this weekend with my good friend "Chicken" Linda and my middle kid, Cammie.  Although she has not quite reached the double-digits, Cammie is already an accomplished quilt maker and pattern designer--at least, for her age, I think she's quite accomplished!  She has a talent for very creative designs that she draws out and reproduces in fabric, which I helped stitch down.  I hope that she learns even more this year and has samples to show next year when we go on the 2012 shop hop!  

Shop Hop is a great time for the camaraderie of quilting friends, exploration of new ideas and techniques, and of course, supporting your local quilt shops!  I filled my mental files with lots of new and interesting ideas, took lots of pictures, and purchased some patterns and books for future projects.  I'm inspired and can't wait to start on some new projects...or finishing some old ones!

Just before I headed out to do the Shop Hop, I finished this American Heroes quilt.  The pattern is an all-over loops and stars pattern (not sure what the white dot is to the far left--I think it was lint on the camera lens--it certainly wasn't something on the quilt).  I have three more to go in the pile of quilts for this great organization!

Stay Merrie!

Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter

A few more projects from recent weeks

As I was going through the old photos, I found a few that I didn't post.  Here are a few from as far back as January that I worked on.  Of course, not everything that I've worked on was photographed--chronic problems with a camera or simply forgetting has resulted in a few missed works.

This is actually just a bunch of blocks pinned to the "design wall" (aka a quilt hanging in my dining room) that I later sewed into a quilt top.  It still needs a border and then it will be quilted up and given to the guild for its community service committee.  

This is a quilt that I finished for a school auction for a friend.  Sharon did the top with the kids in the class who drew self-portraits with fabric markers.  She then pieced up the top, handed it to me, and I quilted in the blue areas.  We both agreed that we shouldn't quilt over the kids' faces, so I filled the blue areas with loose curly-cues that I call "Dr. Seuss Feathers".  Sorry it's upside down.  

This quilt was a love gift for a guild member who lost a family member.  We made these log cabin blocks and Donna arranged them, put the border on, and handed it to me to quilt up.  It turned out beautifully!  I quilted loops and hearts all over the top.

This was a quilt made for Lauri's brand-new niece!  I love the brights and the contrast with the black and whites, like those early visual stimulus toys but with pink instead of red.  It's big enough and mature enough to grow into it.  I'm sure she'll treasure it for years! 

Late June Update

I've been working on a few projects this past couple of weeks.  Besides the yurt, which is a personal project, I've had time to finish a few jobs in the world of softer fibers.

This tunic was made for a friend of mine on commission.  He joined the SCA just a couple years ago and needs some good period tunics, and I am thrilled that he chose me to get him suited up!  The tricky part is that he lives in the Midwest and I'm on the coast.  Thank goodness for email and the USPS!

All the seams are finished to prevent unraveling and increase the life of the garment.  As long as he doesn't change sizes, this should fit him for a long time.  I was really happy to find that I already had a spool of thread in my stash that matched the tunic perfectly!  The fabric is 100% linen and was pre-washed to prevent further shrinkage and warping later.

Since it's officially summertime--according to the calendar, anyway--it's time to start knitting Turkish socks!  I don't know why, but last year about this time, I was motivated to make Turkish socks...and here we are again!  These are for myself, but this is a great period accessory to add you your ensemble!  This pair is being made from 100% alpaca yarns from Norway and the pattern is called "Mirrors" from the Fancy Feet book.

Here's a quilt that I finished for the American Heroes quilt project.  These tops were made by other quilters and volunteers, like myself, quilt up the tops up and hand them off to the next person for binding.  These quilts are given to the soldiers returning from war at Madigan Hospital in Tacoma.

Detail of the quilting and blocks.  I did a medium loop-de-loop all over the surface.  It went really well and things were stitched down  smoothly.  

Today started with a tune-up on the long arm frame.  Several of the fittings on the ends of the rods had wiggled loose over time, so a quick tightening with a wrench and we're ready to go!  A new quilt is up on the racks now, ready for quilting!

Have a great summer!

Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter