Anyone Else Here a QUILTer?

[luv2sparkle]

It took me a whole day to go through the vendor mall and look at the quilts- from 9-6 and I could have stayed longer or gone back another day. This year we added a few more days to our trip and I plan to hit the local shops too.

Here is a pic of one of my daughters quilts. It is pretty basic. It started out with her first marriage in 2006. It was going to be a keepsake quilt and I had everyone at the wedding sign a 5 inch block. It was going to be a heart with a signature square alternating and I was going to appliqué some roses and vines all around the edges. I kinda knew that marriage wasn't going to last right from the get go. Her DH had drug issues he hid from her until the honeymoon. So all the pieces just sat. In fact, I still have the signature squares. Some of them are really creative and cool and for the life of me I don't know why I can't let go of them. Fast forward to 2015. She starts dating the son of our good friends and they get married in August 2015. She wants a quilt with the old heart. Originally, they were the color of her wedding and her wedding is entirely different colors but she wants in anyway. UGH! So I sewed all the hearts together and quickly added borders. The border in the center encloses blocks that are 10 X 14. 1014 is her birthday and her favorite number. She always reminds me when it is her half birthday and often texts me at 10:14-plus her dad's fire union is 1014 and she is her Dad's girl. It is giant and I should have had someone else quilt it but I did it. It is not my finest work but it is done!

I have done many other wedding quilts that I liked better, but it is what she wanted. Oh well.

 

[monarch64]

Luv2sparkle, that is so beautiful. Your story of your daughter's quilt and the significance of 1014 has me verklempt. Just lovely, and what a gorgeous quilt.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Awww.. thank you Monarch! Have to show you what I got this year. The best prize ever. Forgive me, I am a new grammy, and I can't help myself... I only have one daughter, and she is the only kid married...and I am over the moon about this little guy.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Here are a couple wedding quilts I made a few years ago. I had a lot of extra fabric so I made a quilt for my counter at the shower I threw for her. I used my embroider machine to embroider little wedding motifs in the alternating squares

 

[monarch64]

AWwwwwww! Congrats, new Glamma! Your grandson is just adorable, really a good looking baby.

That wedding quilt is amazing! Your color choices/patterns/fabrics really remind me of my mom's work. Looking at those pics makes me feel like I'm in her house.

 

[luv2sparkle]

That is a wonderful compliment! Thank you Monnie! Your moms work is excellent!

 

[Calliecake]

Congratulations!!! What a beautiful baby and the best gift of all.

 

[AGBF]

I am a quilt lover. Before my daughter was born I bought some hand quilted baby quilts, hand quilted in Appalachia, for her room. When I was in Colombia (my daughter is adopted from there) I bought a huge arpillera, which is a different type of fabric work-not our type of quilting-but analogous to it as well as a red Christmas wreath with the same quilted fabric work. Since then I had three hand quilted baby quilts made by the same Amish woman for three newborn babies that were special to me.* I am not good with a needle and thread. I can knit squares and strips and sew them together, I have knit scarves and blankets and sewn together blankets of colored knit squares. I have also hooked rugs, some quite large, but I do not sew well.

Still, I appreciate quilts greatly.

Deb

*I had this quilt made for my godson's older son when he was first born as his baby gift...https://www.amishcountrylanes.com/Pages/wh7322.shtml

 

[AGBF]

luv2sparkle your quilts are beautiful and so is your grandson. Monnie, your mother's work is perfection. cozystitches, are you going to post any of your quilts in this thread? I want to see more of everyone's work. iLander, puppmom, and Monnie, I applaud you on your bravery. I don't think I will ever try quilting. And I know from seeing your work and hearing your stories that you are getting great rewards from trying it!

Deb

 

[Cozystitches]

Fun times! I finished the baby quilt and wanted to show pictures. Heres the quilt that I made for my friend. Her shower is next week. I stitched this with my machine, but hand quilted it. I used Pearl Cotton. I did cross hatching for the colored squares, using yellow going one way and blue going the other. Then I did hearts with lines coming out using white thread on the white squares. Here's the front:


And the back, showing the hearts. I used 2 blues and 2 yellows on the back to represent the ocean, which my friend loves.



And here is the quilt that I've started now for my younger daughter. She asked me for a quilt for Christmas one that's larger than the one I made for her a few years ago.



I like hand quilting because I can sit with the family and work on it. If I'm at the machine, I'm in a different room and hunched over a machine.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Cozystitches, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your trip around the world quilt. I love the colors and the size-it is perfect. I love your quilting stitches and that you are doing it heavier thread. All your quilts are beautiful. Did you machine piece all the hexies? That is a big trend right now. I have never had any patience to do the small ones. I would want to shoot myself in the head. It looks like that size is more manageable and like maybe it could be done by machine.

I love hand quilting too but can only do small pieces. I have one quilt that I hand embroidered a very long -I guess you would call it a poem-and it took me 10 years. There was a lot of stuff happening in those years-but still. If you like hand stitching you should try some of the new embroidery that is out. Look at Crabapple Hill studios if you have never seen them as well as Primitive Gatherings. Great stuff.

Awesome work! I am impressed!

 

[Cozystitches]

Cozystitches, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your trip around the world quilt. I love the colors and the size-it is perfect. I love your quilting stitches and that you are doing it heavier thread. All your quilts are beautiful. Did you machine piece all the hexies? That is a big trend right now. I have never had any patience to do the small ones. I would want to shoot myself in the head. It looks like that size is more manageable and like maybe it could be done by machine.

I love hand quilting too but can only do small pieces. I have one quilt that I hand embroidered a very long -I guess you would call it a poem-and it took me 10 years. There was a lot of stuff happening in those years-but still. If you like hand stitching you should try some of the new embroidery that is out. Look at Crabapple Hill studios if you have never seen them as well as Primitive Gatherings. Great stuff.

Awesome work! I am impressed!

Thanks! To your question about the hexies: they are HALF HEXIES!!! They are done all on the machine. I'm *still* piecing a whole hexie quilt (it's lap sized), and I started it like 3 years ago??? Yeah, it's a pain. I am sure I'll love it when its done, but right now...yeah, a pain!

On Rachel's quilt (it'll be twin bed sized) I have used a jelly roll and a template. This: http://www.fatquartershop.com/hexie-half-ruler-set is the template that I have, but I think next time if I do another, I'll get this ( https://www.missouriquiltco.com/sho...gon-template-for-5-charm-packs-25-jelly-rolls one as it's a bit larger and fills the entire 2.5" strip width. The one I have is a bit smaller (which would be great if I were using the 5" squares as I had originally planned), so I have extra work to cut.

I'm having fun so far and am thinking of quilting the individual hexies (can't think of a better way to quilt it, if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears!).

If you like hexies, try the half hexies. It take a bit to piece them, but no where near as long as hand piecing.

 

[AGBF]

I can't believe how beautiful the quilt for your friend is, Cozystitches! She is so lucky to be receiving it! Where did you learn to do that hand quilting? Should I just go back and reread this thread ? Maybe I didn't read your story carefully and you already explained it. All I can say is that you are fabulous! I can't wait to see your daughter's quilt finished.

Deb

 

[LadyMCh]

Wow, these are some amazing quilts! I am not a quilter, but I would love to learn. I feel like it's a lost art amongst my generation.
I do have two quilts that my great grandmother made. I never met her as she passed away before I was born. One quilt is elephants, and it is my favorite. It was used and washed a lot, so some spots are threadbare or in need of restitching, but I haven't found a trusted person to repair it yet. The other is of tulips; the front was pieced, and my grandmother had the backing added after finding the pieced front after her mom died. I usually keep them displayed on a quilt rack, kind of like a piece of art. My great grandmother was quite poor. Her husband passed away in his early 40s after his appendix burst, leaving her alone to raise their 7 kids. My grandma and her siblings were rented out to other farms (they grew up in a really rural area) to pick cotton on other people's farms to make extra money for the family. They really had to pinch pennies to get by, so my great grandmother quilted and made clothes as a hobby but also out of necessity. Both of her quilts that I have are roughly the size to cover a full size/double bed.

 

[iLander]

luv2sparkle ; No, I haven't been to a quilt show yet, I've only been at this for a couple of months now. I will look out for one. I loooove your quilts, they are amazing! I love the hearts one, so meaningful and cute. The wedding quilt is gorgeous too! I love the details.

AGBF: Yes, thank you for supporting quilters, the cost doesn't even begin to cover the time into a project. That is a fantastic quilt for your godson, really very elegant. A weird word for a quilt, but that one has an elegant restraint that is lovely. Would love to see your rugs!! Post them here!

Cozystitches; I adore that quilt, I would get tears in my eyes if someone made that for me, so thoughtful. Seriously, I would cry. And even half-hexies look difficult.

LadyMCh; I learned to quilt through various youtube videos. It's really not that hard to do with a machine, but it does take a lot of time. Today they have pre-coordinated fabric packs, all the colors go together. There are different shapes of the fabric packs, with funny names like a "jelly roll". Then you google "free jelly roll pattern" and then you get instructions. It's not as difficult as it once was. The nice part is that each little section is an accomplishment, and making something as big as a quilt is really very satisfying. Your great grandmother's quilts are so wonderful. I adore the elephants, and the tulips are so expertly done. I'm sorry she had such a hard life, bless her. Your quilts are true treasures.

 

[Cozystitches]

I can't believe how beautiful the quilt for your friend is, Cozystitches! She is so lucky to be receiving it! Where did you learn to do that hand quilting? Should I just go back and reread this thread ? Maybe I didn't read your story carefully and you already explained it. All I can say is that you are fabulous! I can't wait to see your daughter's quilt finished.

Deb

Thanks! I don't think I told my story. I first started years ago because my dad had said something about wanting a quilt. I think I'm a multi-crafter... So, I made his quilt, king sized, quilt as you go (did a 9 patch, but cut them in fourths, and twisted a few of the squares), then quilted it using the machine. I made several others but was not having fun quilting on the machine. It went quickly, but I was stuck at the machine. I like working on crafts with the family (watching tv. ), and I can't take the machine to the living room. Husband fusses on the noise of the machine. I saw a class offered at my local quilt store and decided to try it out. I learned some good information, however I picked up even more through pinterest and searching. If you google (or search pinterest) hand quilting you can find a ton of information.

I like to work with Pearl cotton as its thicker and I can use larger stitches, and I want to see all my hard work.