Dizzy Stripes

Dizzy Stripes.

It all started with a show & tell at my quilting group.

One of the group was making a reproduction Civil War quilt.

Interesting I thought - but not for me.

One block did appeal

and I went home with a photocopy of the block.

I was inspired enough to stop to look at striped fabrics on my way home.

I still needed to convince myself I wanted to make a block.

What did I need it for and I have sooo many other things to do!!

But a week or so later I came home with 1/4 yd of tiny black and white stripes.

It would be fun to show & tell I told myself.

TaDa....one block - painful to make, but so fun!

I took it to show & tell - the ladies all loved it. What was I going to do with it they asked.

Nothing,... but it would make a cute little pouch bag I thought.

But then a fateful thing happened. 

Another quilting friend saw the block on my work table and commented how cool it would be if it I made another and turned it into a wall hanging.....

                               That was enough motivation for me, so back to the shop for another 1/4 yd.
                            I made another, and then another, and needed to go shopping again.

                                                             and soon I had made six.
                                 But six didn't look right so I made a panel to fit between two rows.

                          The panel really helped, but I kept going - nine blocks and two panels later.
                                                                    I finally stopped.
                                                                 It looked right to me.

                                                  Now big enough to be a small lap quilt.  
                                              Back again to the shop for binding, batting and backing.
                                                    

                       I had had fun working with the stripes, so decided to add more fun with dots.
                                                   Quilting all done - in the ditch all over.

                                                    Backing, binding and a sleeve added.

                       The most fun was to surprise my friend by entering it in the local quilt show.
                                                     

Dizzy Stripes - 2015 Ithaca, NY

Summer projects - From The Unfinished Pile # 2 Striped Shirts & Pile #3

Pile # 2

This quilt I am calling "Father, Mother, Daughter"

The fabrics in the quilt top are all pulled from old shirts that belonged to my father.

The quilt top piecing and sewing...

all those hundreds of corners, points and stripes to match, were done by my mum.

And several years later,

I am the daughter that pulled it from my mothers UFO/never to see the light of day/reject pile and promised to do something with it one day...

It is now a finished quilt. 

A family heirloom.

                                                           All I needed to do was iron.

                                                                             and tack

and quilt.

 I decided to go with wavy lines. They would alternate in direction and I left a few small squares which I would only stitch across in the ditch for a bit of contrast.
                                                           

                                                  I had a fun time designing the label

and then proudly holding up the finished quilt.

wait...it needed a sleeve for hanging....so I added one.

                                              And hanging......in our local quilt show :)

A keepsake label for each quilt in the show.

Finished!!

Pile #3

The 25 Year Irish Chain.

Another summer project. It was time to 

 finish the very first quilt I ever started...

While we were living in VA Beach, VA I took a quilting class.

I arrived at the class with enthusiasm, and as you do for your very first quilt,

with enough fabric to sink a ship make a king sized bed quilt!

We used the cutting mat and blade for the first time, we stitched and cut and pressed and stitched some more. Most of class went home with a finished quilt top...but not me, I still had that king size looming over me and had more stitching to do. After a few more hours at the machine I was finally done. We went back to class to learn how to piece the backing, and sandwich the batting and baste the three layers together. 

A quick lesson on hand quilting and we were sent away....good luck ladies!!, 

Maybe we were introduced to binding, but I don't remember that, 

maybe we had moved again by then. 

I do know that the quilt was put in a box. 

That box was moved from house to house for 25 years.

This Spring I pulled it out -first step was to finish the white areas. With only half of the white areas already hand quilted (some of the marking pen was still visible - I sure hope it washes out one day) 

I set to work to complete the rest.   

Done!

The original plan was to use this stencil, and hand quilt the next area with the design.... 

                                                              But I wanted this done,
                                so I was soon on the machine, fighting with the bulk, but stitching away.

It was all straight lines.

25 years ago I had added a 15 inch border.

 25 years later I was quick to think it looked ugly, and quickly chopped it off, 

wishing I had done so before I did all the quilting, all that bulk was suddenly removed. 

I must not have planned beyond that as there was no binding fabric anywhere in my stash. 

That old border was useful after all, and I used bits of the blue and the red for the binding, 

quickly stitched up a label, and voila, it was done!

                                                              It's finished, and I like it!!

                                            Folded near the sofa it is frequently being used, finally!!

Pumpkin Time Again

It's fall again....boo....summer is over.

The autumn plants compete with the pumpkins.

signs of pumpkin season start creeping into the stores.

                                        the ice cream stands too. Do I dare try pumpkin ice cream?

                                                       let's go on a little pumpkin tour.....

                           I am tempted...the donuts, once is enough, but would go back for the coffee.

but I couldn't bring myself to try it and only watch my friend eat the pumpkin cheesecake slice

apples try to compete

                                                  squirrels or maybe deer get a free meal

                                temptation got the better of me - I tried the ice cream - yuck!