Blue and White Antique Quilt

I showed you a photo of the antique quilt I picked up at Fence Row Antiques in New Bedford, Ohio a week ago (was it already a week ago? Seems like just yesterday in some ways, and seems like last month in others, sniff...).

At first I thought those were faded areas, but upon closer inspection, I'm not so sure.  The blue fabrics look like shirting, and the paler blues are not the same pattern as the darker ones.

Maybe this quilt was made from old shirts or dresses? Maybe the quiltmaker bought or was given some fabric but there wasn't enough to make her queen sized quilt?  It is big, measuring 75X90"!

The block is new to me; I've never seen this.

It isn't square, as I'd first thought; it's a hexagon with triangles and diamonds pieced in along the sides, and lots of Y-seams.

Look what appears when they are placed together!

MacGyver saw it with the blue ones; said it reminds him of a Maltese cross.  I saw a white 'star' where the blocks come together.  It has a 3D effect to me here!

I just love the scalloped edge.

Yep, you see that some edges are fraying.  I'm okay with a well-used quilt!  The texture is just incredible:

It is hand-quilted, 10 stitches to the inch.  Do you count the top and bottom stitches?  I presume you do not; I counted 10 stitches on the top per inch, 19-20 if you count the gaps where those on the bottom layer show.  Way better than this girl's handquilting! 

There are wreaths in the large white areas...

...and straight lines of echo-quilting in the other parts of the blocks.

Here is a better photo showing the overlapping wavy lines quilted in the borders.  I think this is called a cable design.  It's one of my favourite quilting motifs.  In fact, on my Stars Christmas runner, I did this very one along the edges. :-)  Well, not as many lines; there are 8 altogether here!

I am so pleased that with all this white there is barely a mark on it.  I did wash it after talking to Julie of Pink Doxies, on the delicate cycle in my tumbling washing machine.   I laid it flat to dry, easing the scallops into place.  It didn't come out as soft because of air-drying, so right near the end when it was barely damp, I put it in the dryer for 10 minutes.  It softened up a bit, but not like it was originally.  So I'm a bit sad I did wash it after all.

A cotton batting was used, but it has let go in most places except around the quilting lines.  I'm guessing it to be from the 1930s/1940s.  Any thoughts on that?  It came from New York State.

This brings my antique quilt collection to a total of three!

No sombrero needed on MacGyver's head this time; he used his head and both arms spread wide but still couldn't hold out straight the entire quilt!

I plan to recreate this in smaller form; I'm curious to figure out the block construction.  I will keep you posted on that development.  Always more projects right?!  Quick note: if you would like to create your own version of an antique quilt, I got an email this morning showing a new Craftsy fabric collection just out, a Civil War reproduction line by Boundless Fabrics, that happens to be on sale this weekend.  It's not just on kits (but all kits are on sale, even the newest as this antique-inspired one), but all supplies, and fabrics.  Debbie Caffrey, a well-known designer, has created an Ocean Waves quilt measuring 69X89", that is gorgeous, and mimics the original Civil War quilt that inspired the collection.  That kit is also on sale, for a great price, $99!  (Note: these are affiliate links, that I think/hope will work with the new website, which I really like btw!)

Linking up with some favourite parties on my sidebar and in the Linky Parties tab up top.

Q4 FAL List

First of all, how did I do from Q3?
The first goal was finishing Dayna's grad quilt.  Done!

The second was finishing the Rainbow Rose QAL which I named Rainbow Kitty Rows.  Done!

Third was a half hexagon quilt which I called Fall Resplendence.  Done!

Fourth was making a walleye potholder/hot mat/mini quilt for MacGyver.  Done!

The next five did not happen.
4/9 is not so good.  However I am still very very pleased with these four.  Let's not forget I finished my mini round robin which wasn't on the list, although it was on OMG for September.  I finished it Oct 1 LOL.  I also made a few little fabric baskets, another rounded edge bag, a mini, and two pairs of pj bottoms.

Q4List

Here is what I hope to accomplish by the end of 2016!
1.  A secret project for a blog hop sponsored by Paintbrush Studio.

2.  A second small giveaway project with the above fabric leftovers.

3.  Radiance

4. Midnight Mystery - the top is done and I have the backing; just need to throw it on Avril and quilt it up fast.

5.  This other secret project

And I will stop there.  I know!  I always have 8-10 items (in reality there's about 20 probably; who am I kidding).  This next one is not going to count, as in order to qualify for the prizes, the item has to be a finished, usable project.

Finish the flimsy by the end of 2016 for the Cows quilt, but this one won't count for the Q4 FAL.

Ten done! An eleventh is 3/4 done! Getting close...

Linking up with
She Can Quilt for the Q4 FAL

Quilt Bloggers' International Retreat

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen photos of the glorious fun-, friends- and fabrication-filled three days I had recently.  You've probably read posts from some of the other bloggers who gathered at Julie's.  I haven't read any of their posts yet; I wanted my take on the retreat to be authentic and mine, you know?  So if I'm repeating stuff you've already seen and read about, this would be why.  Notice I make no apologies!  Nor do I for the many photos. I'm still soaking it all in.

You may recall from this post, this post, and this post, that I'd been down to visit Julie last summer. I was so excited to be going back!

So you see where I live in relation to Julie, about 300 km south of me as the crow flies.  We didn't take the ferry across Lake Erie, but drove around the west end of the lake and on down, about 4.5-5 hours.

Shoot For the Moon

Well this has been a LONG time coming.  Three, maybe four times on goals -alongs, both OMG and the 2016 Finish Along.  She's finally done!  This is the first goal on my Q3FAL List.

It was a hot 80-degree day here in Ohio (yes you read that right)  when I took these photos.

Tish took a bunch too.  Yep you read that right too!

What is going on?

We are here:

At the very first Quilt Bloggers International Retreat in Gnadenhutten Ohio!  It was a wonderful first day. :-)  But that's another post or two.  This one is to show you Dayna's quilt.  Hold onto your Olfa rotary cutters, there's several pics coming up:

Judy at Quilt Paradigm gave me the idea for most of the centres of the stars, a Spirograph type design with such movement! Swoops in the star points, swirls and pebbles and then some dot to dot in the star shadows completed the lightest blocks.

These got a Judi Madsen design in the stars, Matrix by Leah Day and the dot to dot.

More of the spirograph (Angela Walters does a similar one), and dot to dot.  So glad I used Quilter's Dream Wool batting!

The quilt surprised me when I was drawing it out on clear vinyl (at full size), trying out various designs.  It was no surprise to see how much negative space there was to fill; the surprise was realizing the centre was not a square, and it was offset.

It's rectangular! A checkerboard design and dot to dot and feathers designs both of Kathleen Riggins' (Kathleen Quilts) filled in this area

There is quite the story to go with this quilt, but I will write it all another time, when I can devote my all to the telling.  I want to post this by the deadline (tomorrow) for the Q3FAL, and as I will be cruising around Amish country, shopping and lunching and wining and dining and soaking up every fabulous minutes with blogger girlfriends like Tish, Julie, Beth, Jennifer, and don't forget Dave the Quilt Engineer, I won't have time...

I hope to get some better photos (Tish has some with her good camera I'm sure) for that post.  Here are a few more from this afternoon:

The lower left corner so you can see the designs I did in the chevron border and the final two borders, which I treated as one, doing a fancy feather design of Angela's she teaches in her borders class on Craftsy. The brackets border highlighted with matchstick quilting is also Angela's as is the "windy" (my term) swirls border between the star blocks.

The block is designed by Judy Martin but the quilt is my own design.  I may be writing up the pattern...

I got the white wide backing, as well as the medium purple in the second last border, last summer at Zinck's when I was here visiting Julie! You can read about that trip here and here.  Because Dayna said, "You are going to make it bigger right?" when I gave it to her as a flimsy, on her grad in May 2015 from Wayne State University, (and I did make it bigger), I didn't have enough of the backing.  Inspiration struck when I had various pieces left from making the stars, and a strip insert was concocted and inserted.  I love the effect.

Stylized moon in the upper left corner, kind of a henna swirls design - more on that in the full story post

Julie and I held onto the quilt while Tish snapped a few pics from below.  Julie has a great hillside bungalow with a perfect wall from which to hang large quilts such as this one which measures somewhere around 94" square!

We'd stood on a bench in order to reach up and hang onto the quilt, and when Tish joined us up there, she saw a perfect setup for a final shot or two:

I am so happy with how this turned out!

Linking up with:

She Can Quilt

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF at Georgia Girl Quilts

Walter 2

Always a favourite fish to eat when we were in our camping/fishing days as a family, a favourite to catch (they fight hard!) and a favourite to look at, marvel over...those EYES, this fish ranks #1 in my MacGyver's mind.  This was another goal on my Q3 FAL list.

So of course I had to make him one.  We have Walter #1, who measures just over 25" long, weighed between 8-9 pounds, and whom we got mounted many years ago.  He lived in Jackson Lake in northern central Alberta when my husband caught him.  He is a big fish for an Alberta lake.

I made this mainly using Henry Glass fabrics from the Desire to Inspire Challenge I did in June.

This was another idea I'd had to do using the fabrics, make a hotpad/potholder but I ran out of time.  The backing which you see above is one of the squares in the panel I received.

I used a double layer of Warm 'n Natural batting because I didn't have any Insul-Bright left.  The water fabric is an old one out of my stash that I do not know whose it is; only a "Y" and the colour circles are left on the selvage.  That fabulous black I used for binding (of which I had a 3" strip left, that's all) is a Michael Miller.

I cannot for the life of me recall where I used this fabric, something that is not like me; I can usually place every piece!

Walter 2 is not exactly true to colour, but pretty darn close. That dark green Henry Glass fabric for his main body is really perfect for walleye skin/scales.  Love the random placement of a gold star near his tail.  Speaking of his tail, MacGyver it was who told me I had to make that white 'chunk' on the lower fin.  I didn't know they had that!  The gold Henry Glass fabric worked well for his fins.  For the fish shape/outline, I used a line drawing I got off a free online colouring book.

You know me with my quilts in trees pics so just had to do one, trying to get the lake in the far background.  It blends into the sky though.  I see our clematis is trying to climb up the Nootka Cypress! Better get it back on track on its trellis.

This potholder that could actually double as a mini, was all done with Lara's Crafted Appliqué method.  Love it for no fraying crisp edges.  For those that like to zoom in on photos, you may notice a teensy bit of fraying on one of the brown reeds I freehand cut.  Guess I missed getting the fabric treated right up to the edge, doh!

For quilting I just followed random lines in the water fabric and outlined all the fish parts as well as stitched in some gills detail.  Most of it was stitched with Exquisite thread in green with the white and grey stitched in Madeira Polyneon in silver.  Both of these threads have a lovely glint to them when the light catches them.

Speaking of getting back on track, the quarterly Finish Alongs really do help me, cough, try to stay focussed.  I have Dayna's quilt to blog about yet this week for another from that list!

Quilt Stats:
Pattern:  Original Design
Size: 10.25" square
Fabric: scraps and stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural 100% cotton
Quilted: on my Bernina 180 Artista
Threads: appliquéd with Exquisite 100% polyester in olive green, and Madeira Polyneon in silver.

Linking up with
Connie at Free Motion by the River
Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts
Leanne at She Can Quilt for the Q3FAL
Nicky at Mrs. Sew & Sow for Scraptastic Tuesday

Quilter's Retreat

As the upcoming Bloggers' Retreat approaches, it is rather fitting that I have my Mini Round Robin finished this week!  This was my OMG for September, and sadly, I missed another deadline, finishing it less than 24 hours after said deadline.  All four of us who participated in this summer-long project had planned to be together at the retreat, and unveil our finishes in person, but unfortunately, one of us is unable to.  :-(

At the time I made the centre block, I had no idea that I would, in fact, be heading to Ohio for a Quilt Bloggers' Retreat in October!  Funny how the Universe lines things up, isn't it? So many times in my life I experience this.

Sunday Stretch for Sewists #13 Eye of the Needle

This is the September stretch, a couple days into October.  :-)   This is the second day of Navratri, a festival brought to my attention by my dear friend Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts.  One of my favourite Krishna Das songs is Ma Durga, and the festival celebrates this Hindu deity, the Divine Mother of the Universe.  Although you may not follow the Hindu religion, please always remember respect, and tolerance for those who do.  I am always fascinated by how many similarities there are between the many religions.... and hey, anything that encourages love, purity and acknowledges female power has gotta be good right?!

I love that the name of this month's pose is a sewing phrase!  This is a great alternative to poses like last month's, Swan, where you might experience too much knee pressure or knee pain.  It is a great hip opener, gently but firmly stressing the ligaments in the hip socket.  Because of not living on the floor, but sitting in chairs, we lose the natural rotation capability of our hips, and the ligaments shorten and tighten, creating the "tight hips" of the West.  Remember! Get down on the floor and watch 5 minutes of TV every single day sitting cross-legged, (or heck sit on your couch in cross-legged), remembering to alternate order of legs.  I am serious.  Your hips will thank you.

Eye of the Needle Pose

Lie down and place your right ankle just above your left knee, letting the ankle joint extend just past the knee.  Flex the right foot to help keep everything in line and to protect your knee.  Think about sending the right knee away from your torso.

If you'd like a little more sensation, then start to lift (go slowly) the left leg off the floor.  The tendency here is to let the right knee collapse towards the chest; try to keep it away.  Ensure your shoulders, neck and jaw are relaxed. We don't want to increase stress there!

Still keeping your shoulders, neck and jaw relaxed, see if you can reach through the triangle between your legs with your right hand and clasp hands just below the left knee.  It's okay to round the low back.  Gently and slowly, so you ease into the sensation and fully appreciate and notice it, draw your knee towards your chest.  Keep the left knee heading toward the left shoulder, and keep sending the right knee away from you.

For those that can do this and don't experience a lot of sensation, you may try this:  I like to use my right elbow to put a bit more pressure against the right knee.

Hard to tell, but my right elbow is pushing gently against the side of my right knee, creating a bit more resistance and sensation in the right hip joint.

This works into the outer hips, the low back, opens up the pelvic area and can help to work and loosen the hamstrings (I feel a good tug deep in the butt cheek).  Hold here for 2 - 5 full minutes, breathing slowly and deeply through your nose.  Then do the other side.  :-)  Rest between sides and at the end with both legs bent, foot soles on the floor so you enjoy the 'ahh!' feeling as the blood rushes and then flows through those compressed areas.

References:
The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark
Gaia
Yoga Journal (a note about the name Swan pose: Yin names for the 25 poses used from the many Hatha poses vary slightly, and are mostly from the animal world. In my teacher training, I was taught that Pigeon is where you sit on your foot, but there are pictures and reputable sources that call Full Swan Pigeon.  Either way the intent of doing Full Swan/Pigeon, or Sleeping Swan, or, for that matter, any of the yin poses, in the Yin fashion, is to relax the muscles, so we work into the connective tissues, the ligaments, tendons, joints, the very bones themselves, as Bernie likes to say.

Eeep!  Although I did not win in the ROYGBIV category for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, I came in 5th out of 24 quilts in that category, so that makes me very happy!  Oh man there were so many gorgeous quilts!!! The one that did win in this category was one I voted for! I'd love to make one...add it to the never-ending always-expanding list of quilts I want to make!