The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[WVduckchick]

I found a quilt similar to that design in a trunk that I was storing for my mother. Before my mother died, I asked her about it and she said her grandmother had started it! My mother has since passed, and I would love to finish it. But my mother left many unfinished also, so I'll finish some of those first.

 

[Blooie]

Thank you, Nancy. I have to pick up some floss when we are in Cody this afternoon and then I hope to get started on my new tote! It was so nice of you to send that to me, and it will get used, believe me!

Funny thing, I never have to be asked twice to show off a quilt or two. It's always fun to share them. Oh, I know...people have this thing about showing stuff they've made or done because they think it's "bragging". Well, so what? What's wrong with being proud of a unique skill the Good Lord gave you and showing what you've accomplished using it? To me "bragging" is: "Well I made x amount of dollars this year, how'd you do?" or "See my shiny new car I can afford but you can't?" or even, "I can beat you at that any day of the week". That's bragging at least the way my dad always defined it. But he also used to tell us, "He who doth not tooteth his own horn oft doth not getteth his horn tootethed!" So that said, I present "The Albatross"!


The Albatross the day the final (or what I thought would be final) stitches went in. This is what it looked like before I added the doves and poinsettias - and yes, I was once a young redhead! This is the photo that appeared in Fon's and Porter's magazine.


These were taken after the doves and poinsettias, hanging in a quilt show after judging. I was so discouraged that day. I'd entered it in the "Hand Appliqued, Hand Quilted" category at the Quilting in the Tetons Show. The judge's critique read, "Visual Impact - Poor; Applique - Poor (this quilter needs more instruction in machine applique); Overall Hand Quilting - Excellent; Fabric selection - Good; Binding - Excellent" I spoke to her later to ask her about the "needing machine applique instruction" part and just could NOT convince her that I'd entered in the correct category for hand applique - that I hadn't machine appliqued it. Found out later during a chance meeting with Barbara Barber that this is not unusual at all when entering Broderie Perse in quilt shows.....she hears it all the time and she literally wrote a book on Broderie Perse. She sent me a copy of it after this show, and told me that mine was on an equal par with any of those in her book. So I felt better, but not much!




I'll let you judge the visual impact - I thought it was pretty good.


Closeup of what the judge called "machine applique". Those flowers are hand sewn with silk thread.


Closer you can see that each stitch follows the contours of the flowers I cut out, and touches the stitch next to it with no gaps.

Oh, well. It's where it should be now, in it's display case in my own home. It won enough shows to counter the Quilting in the Tetons show so as far as I'm concerned, it's a winner.

 

[Blooie]

I found a quilt similar to that design in a trunk that I was storing for my mother. Before my mother died, I asked her about it and she said her grandmother had started it! My mother has since passed, and I would love to finish it. But my mother left many unfinished also, so I'll finish some of those first.

It's always so much fun to finish someone else's UFOs! It's like being a kid in a candy store with all the stitching and the old fabrics! I love hand quilting old quilt tops that my sisters sometimes find. I would love to see it!

 

[N F C]

@Blooie "The Albatross" is gorgeous! I think I went blind just looking at your photos, how on earth did you manage to sew on all that black fabric with those teeny-tiny stitches? Amazing! I agree with your Dad's definition of bragging. You work hard on your quilts and they turn out so beautifully, it's sharing your gift so we can enjoy them too.

@WVduckchick you quilt too? Now you'll have to share some of your pictures!

Somewhere along the family line, I missed out on the quilting gene. I am fortunate to have quilts from each grandmother and 1 from my great-grandmother (plus a couple my mom picked up at the antique store she used to work in). They definitely qualify as family treasures to me.

As for UFO's, my mom has given me several of her 1/2 done needlepoint pictures to finish up. I've had them for a year now and they are still in the box. Some day...

 

[Blooie]

Thanks, Debby. Hey, I just looked on the calendar and guess what tomorrow is? It's the Somedayeth of January! Sneaked up on ya, didn't it?

 

[N F C]

Thanks, Debby. Hey, I just looked on the calendar and guess what tomorrow is? It's the Somedayeth of January! Sneaked up on ya, didn't it?

Nope, this one didn't sneak up on me. Tomorrow is my mother's b-day and it's also, hmmm, what else? Umm, let me think...oh yeah, I know! JK, knew all along so get that chislic and pig cheeks cooking and don't forget the beer!

I need to get going on some decorations or a cake or something!

 

[Blooie]

Nope, this one didn't sneak up on me. Tomorrow is my mother's b-day and it's also, hmmm, what else? Umm, let me think...oh yeah, I know! JK, knew all along so get that chislic and pig cheeks cooking and don't forget the beer!

I need to get going on some decorations or a cake or something!

But...but....but you sai-aid that you were gonna get those needlepoint pictures of your mom's do-o-one "someday"! Tomorrow is the Somedayth of January and I wanna see them!!

 

[WVduckchick]

I sorta quilt. My mother gave me a small part of that gene, none of my sisters got it. I have done a few for my own personal use, but not much to tooteth my own horneth about
Well, maybe.... I will get some pics.

Albatross is ammmmmAAAAAaaazing!!

 

[Blooie]

Thanks. I'm very proud of it and what it represents.

I didn't have any quilters in my family either. Not my grandmothers, my mom, not any of my aunts....I was deprived of that connection. <sigh, poor Blooie> But as I mentioned in my interview a long time ago, I decided to use every deployment when Ken was gone to learn how to do something I didn't know how to do before he left. Filled in the long hours between the time the kids went to bed and I went to bed, and kept my hands and mind busy. Of all the things I taught myself to do, quilting has remained the one constant.

My first quilt was made in 1970, before the "bicentennial all things Americana" craze hit. Trying to find any instruction books was impossible. I finally dug up a couple at the the third library I tried, all black and white drawings and both books reeked of mildew! They had that nasty, musty smell. But I plunged ahead anyway. Back then even finding 100% cotton was difficult - everything was a blend of cotton and some mystery chemical cloth. I broke every rule there is now - I used 1/2 inch seam allowances because more must be better, right? I used sheets for backing because they were already the size I needed. Talk about hard to sew through! Then I stumbled upon some old quilt magazines when a friend and I were cleaning out her aunt's house after she passed away, and I was off!

I've never looked back! There's something about the sound and tactile sensation of the needle pulling the thread through the fabric that instantly puts my mind at ease. I have several sewing machines and they come out once in awhile. A neighbor gave me a huge camper trailer that they used to use to house the hired hands during beet season, and it was sitting abandoned at the edge of her barley field. She and her husband hauled it over here and set it up behind my garage. Then I spent an entire month cleaning it out and getting it ready to use as my sewing trailer/retreat. I evicted dozens of mice (and got Hanta Virus in the process) and plugged up every nook and crevice with steel wool and 1/4 inch hardware cloth. I've never even seen a spider in there since! Ken hardwired it for power, bought me a portable swamp cooler for summer and put in a baseboard heater for winter. The heater just doesn't cut it in winter, so I usually spend spring, summer, and fall making quilt tops and then do my quilting in the house during winter - or at least that was the routine before Kendra came.

I'm tickled pink that Little Diane and Katie have been bitten by the quilting bug, and hope that I can encourage Kendra when she's finally at the point where she can understand instructions and has the dexterity to sew, even if she just makes little doll quilts.

 

[sunflour]

Thanks. I'm very proud of it and what it represents.

I didn't have any quilters in my family either. Not my grandmothers, my mom, not any of my aunts....I was deprived of that connection. <sigh, poor Blooie> But as I mentioned in my interview a long time ago, I decided to use every deployment when Ken was gone to learn how to do something I didn't know how to do before he left. Filled in the long hours between the time the kids went to bed and I went to bed, and kept my hands and mind busy. Of all the things I taught myself to do, quilting has remained the one constant.

My first quilt was made in 1970, before the "bicentennial all things Americana" craze hit. Trying to find any instruction books was impossible. I finally dug up a couple at the the third library I tried, all black and white drawings and both books reeked of mildew! They had that nasty, musty smell. But I plunged ahead anyway. Back then even finding 100% cotton was difficult - everything was a blend of cotton and some mystery chemical cloth. I broke every rule there is now - I used 1/2 inch seam allowances because more must be better, right? I used sheets for backing because they were already the size I needed. Talk about hard to sew through! Then I stumbled upon some old quilt magazines when a friend and I were cleaning out her aunt's house after she passed away, and I was off!

I've never looked back! There's something about the sound and tactile sensation of the needle pulling the thread through the fabric that instantly puts my mind at ease. I have several sewing machines and they come out once in awhile. A neighbor gave me a huge camper trailer that they used to use to house the hired hands during beet season, and it was sitting abandoned at the edge of her barley field. She and her husband hauled it over here and set it up behind my garage. Then I spent an entire month cleaning it out and getting it ready to use as my sewing trailer/retreat. I evicted dozens of mice (and got Hanta Virus in the process) and plugged up every nook and crevice with steel wool and 1/4 inch hardware cloth. I've never even seen a spider in there since! Ken hardwired it for power, bought me a portable swamp cooler for summer and put in a baseboard heater for winter. The heater just doesn't cut it in winter, so I usually spend spring, summer, and fall making quilt tops and then do my quilting in the house during winter - or at least that was the routine before Kendra came.

I'm tickled pink that Little Diane and Katie have been bitten by the quilting bug, and hope that I can encourage Kendra when she's finally at the point where she can understand instructions and has the dexterity to sew, even if she just makes little doll quilts.

You have so many talents. The quilt is beautiful. And so is the gorgeous "model" next to it

Personally, I love to quilt - but all only on machine and most quick small items. It takes a special temperament to do things slow and by hand..

Both my grandmothers made quilts and I feel so lucky to have a few still in use.

Hope Kendra does catch the quilt bug as she matures - doll quilts are precious.

Sewing is a dying art - most folks I meet cannot even sew on a button or hem a pair of pants.