Learning to Hand Quilt

After having 2 herniated disks in May, being in pain for months, undergoing physical therapy and epidural steroid injections, I'm finally back to quilting.  Sitting at the machine for long hours, though, is not even possible!  I've tried all sorts of back pillows, raising the sewing table, lowering it, buying a drafting stool, etc.  I want to be able to quilt my quilts as well as piece the tops, and I'm determined to find a way to do this! 

After watching How to Hand Quilt: A Free Video Tip on Craftsy.com 5 times (yes 5 so far), I'm finally attempting to hand quilt around circles on a quilt made for my dear granddaughter.  I've marked this quilt, sprayed the marks away, stressed over it, taken machine quilting lessons (I'm horrible at it!), and finally decided to hand quilt around the circles first and then decide what to do with the rest of the quilt. In the video, quilter/designer/instructor Sarah Fielke shows how to use DMC thread with an embroidery needle and the clover open-sided thimble.  I love this method! 

Here are my sample shots: 

It's still a WIP (work in progress), and I need to try to quilt designs inside the larger circles plus will have to quilt something on the background fabric to anchor the batting.  But for now I'm happy the hand quilting around the circles is looking so good thanks to the easy instructions given by Sarah Fielke.  

And here's the link to Sarah's instructional video: http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/01/how-to-hand-quilt/

Getting Back to Blogging

Why the long break? 

There are so many reasons I stopped blogging--busy with family, guild events, retreats, and trying to start a small craft/quilt business (way more than I bargained for!). I have an Achilles tendon tear that made it hard to walk.  It was inoperable, so I went for physical therapy.  In the meantime, I had wrist surgery for the 3rd time on the same wrist.  I stopped quilting, stopped going to meetings, just basically stopped it all.  One quilting friend encouraged me to keep sewing, inviting me to her house, but I rarely made it there (an hour away!)

I filled my time by making new friends on the internet in other states and Canada.  Who knew friends in Canada and Pennsylvania would worry about you and call to check on you when they see tornadoes ripping through your city on the national/international news?!  Even our family members don't do that.

As for sewing, I haven't done much except applique a quilt for my newest granddaughter. The quilting part scared me because I wanted it to be circular.  I studied free motion quilting and practiced, but I just didn't like my attempts. They were ugly and spastic! .

Finding my way back...

I had a horrible case of the flu in December and saw my life flash before my eyes! I realized I had to finish the appliqued circle quilt. I also have other unfinished projects. I looked for a "support group" on the internet for quilters who have UFO's. There I found Pat Sloan--encouraging quilters to finish their UFO's! You can find her free quilt patterns, blog and forums here: http://www.patsloan.com/

I enrolled in the Building Blocks Quilt Along (BBQA) by Leah Day. I'm hoping her instructions for circle and spiral quilting will help me finish my granddaughter's quilt before her next birthday (June).

I also found my way back to the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild.  They are a very friendly and supportive group of quilters.  The last meeting with Jen Eskridge of ReannaLilyDesigns was fantastic!  I joined the Tula Pink's 100 Blocks City Sampler group from the guild who meet near my home.

I'm looking forward to learning new skills, finishing my projects, and entering challenges.

1. Pyramid, 2. 4wheeler, 3. Stacked, 4. TailSpin, 5. 4th Inning, 6. DiamondMine, 7. Biggest Fan, 8. Center Aisle, 9. album1

Here are my 9 completed blocks for the Patchwork Squared Modern Quilt-Along. I'm still debating what colors to use for borders, sashing and binding.

Art Quilts

I've always loved art. Once upon a time I envisioned myself possessing an art degree (and have the transcripts to prove it!) until I realized I had to waste time studying aspects I found extreeeemely boring. Over the years, I attempted various art forms including painting, stained glass, crafting and "altered art" using mixed-media techniques.

Fast forward many, many (many!) years to fall 2010. I met an artist online and purchased tiny crane origami earrings for my granddaughter for Christmas. Through my purchase, Sam, the artist/jewelrymaker, became a friend and somewhat of a mentor even though she lives far away in Pennsylvania. Recently we talked and she began to throw ideas out about items I could make and create that aren't as overwhelming and large as the quilts I make. Then she said "You need to join an art guild."

Her urging uncovered a memory I had filed away about the Dallas Area Fiber Artists organization. I once read about them in a magazine distributed in shops in NorthEast Dallas near White Rock Lake. I quickly found DAFA online and read they were having a workshop prior to their next meeting: "Quick & Easy Art Quilts" by Kathy Mayhew and Jules Rushing. I've been interested in art quilts for quite a few years and have a fused art quilt simply waiting to be quilted. Even though there were weather alerts for tornadoes the evening of the meeting, I drove 20 miles to get there. The weather goddess smiled upon me. Not a single drop of rain in spite of high winds and heavy storms in surrounding areas!

When I arrived, there were tables filled with mixed media for creating our own 9x12 art quilt. They had supplied background fabric, batting, backing, irons, parchment paper, paints, rubber stamps, adhesive, embellishments. You name it, they'd brought it. All of this for just a $5 workshop fee.

Following the workshop, Jules and Kathy presented the SAQA-Texas Mini Art Quilt Trunk Show of 9x12 art quilts exhibited at The International Quilt Festival in Houston last fall. This was followed by an overview of SAQA, its membership benefits, and their online website including SAQA University. http://www.saqa.com/

I'm still sewing quilts, and tonight finished the last block for a modern quilt-along I began a few weeks ago. I have several quilts in different stages of completion for family and friends. But since I made the art quilt in the workshop, I'm definitely looking forward to using mixed-media techniques. I've already come up with a plan and a theme for my first art quilt (or second if I ever quilt my fused one). I'll be blogging about the process once I get everything together.

My First Mini Quilt

I completed my first paper-pieced miniature quilt at the retreat last weekend. It's from the book Paper Pieced Mini Quilts by Wendy Vosters. The blue fabric I brought with me for the sky didn't work against the other colors, as the hue was off. So I had to go shopping in Melissa's store at The Compass Centre. She had the perfect batik for the sky, and of course, the name on the fabric bolt was "Sky." I had to quilt around the little red barn with black thread to make it pop and then made sure to quilt a door. It's not a barn without a door.

p.s. I got locked out of my bedroom again at The Compass Centre! It happened first in March, then it happened again this month! Are my roommates trying to tell me something? I know it isn't personal because another quilter was locked out with me this time. Thankfully I now know where Melissa hides keys, so my roommate was able to get the door unlocked. Those door locks have a hair trigger apparently and no one knows they've hit the lock button because they're so well placed behind the handles.

Blocks Finished for PS2 Quilt Along

Only 6 more blocks to go!

Quilt Retreat

Howdy from The Compass Centre at Mt. Calm, Texas. I downloaded an App that's supposed to make it easy to blog from my iPhone. I'll be here all weekend and might even finish a project or two. Hopefully I can even figure out how to upload photos to my blog and to my Flickr group.

UNDER THE DOME: It took me over a month to read this finely woven novel, but I finally have all the answers to what and who (but not why). I literally could not put it down for the last 400 pages. I gave it 5 stars on the survey! This is definitely a page turner if you have the time to devote to it. Synopsis: A small town is inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world. As the "dome" comes down, family members are separated from one another, planes crash, children are orphaned, cars explode on impact with the dome. No one understands what happened, but a few of the Chester's Mill citizens and one itinerant former Iraq vet try to band together to find out. Corrupt politicians, inept police, plus a cast of likeable characters make for a very interesting tale of life inside the dome. Stephen King is very good at making the readers intensely hate the villains and cheer for the good guys. Another great read by the master of supernatural storytelling. You won't put it down until you know what or who is behind the dome!

Tah Dah!

Here's my center block from the P2 Modern Solids Quilt-Along! This week, Ryan and Charlie challenged us to make the center block our own by finding inspiration from vintage quilts, websites, or books. I used Mary Ellen Hopkins' "The It's Okay To Sit on Your Quilt Book." I chose a 6-patch "Album" block, but modified it a little bit by making the center my cardinal focal color instead of a background color.

Thanks to Rhonda Hughes at Corner Square Quilts in Cedar Hill, Tx, I was fortunate enough to have purchased Brenda Henning's "Triangulations 2.0 Half Square and Quarter Square" software which made sewing the half-square triangles a breeze! I just chose the size of finished square I needed (2" finished in this instance), printed out that page of half-square triangles on vellum, placed the two fabrics (red and white) right sides together under the printed paper, added a couple of pins for stability, and followed the dotted lines for sewing. In just minutes, I was able to cut the triangles apart on the solid lines using my rotary cutter. The software is one of the best quilting purchases I've ever made.

Patchwork Squared Quilt-Along

I've joined the Flickr group for Ryan Walsh & Charlie Scott of Patchwork Squared Modern Quilt-Along starting March 28th using Kona solids! I've posted my photo of the Cardinal Banana kit I received in the mail and am anxiously awaiting the start of the quilt along. Thank you, Fat Quarter Shop, for the 20% coupon for the kit. This will be my first solid-colored quilt!

A quilting we will go!

I recently returned home from a quilting retreat at the Sunset Ranch in Godley, Texas. I finished a king-size batik quilt top (with help from other quilters on issues I was having with the pattern). The quilt is called Vertical Visions from Batik Gems by Laurie Shifrin and that's a picture of it on the cover. I've made mine out of greens and navy blue batiks. Mine has turned into a horizontal vision because the measurement is too long vertically for the length of the bed. Ah..trial and error. Now I'm waiting for the 108" batik backing to arrive so I can take it to a long-arm quilter. There's no way I could maneuver a king-size quilt on my sewing machine.

One of the fun events at the retreat is fat-quarter lotto every night where we each contribute a fat quarter. I won the batch the 2nd night! We brought our own breakfast, lunch was catered, and some of the quilters volunteered to cook our dinners. The last night we had a luscious pot-roast and vegetables and then celebrated the cook’s 60th birthday! None of this would be at all possible without the fun and fabulous "FiFi" LaFleur, our retreat coordinator .

The last night we also had an "incident" that can probably never be topped in the history of retreats, but for now my lips are sealed!!! We all certainly had a great time, well..except for maybe one person.

Hello and welcome!

Hi! My name is Mary Margaret. My oldest granddaughter is in a technology class in the 5th grade, and she helped me get started writing my first blog post. While trying to edit it, I somehow deleted it. I wish she was here to tell me what I did wrong, but she's not, so I'm on my own today. I hope I don't bore you.

My passion is quilting and heirloom sewing, so that's mostly what this blog will be about. I'm married to Steve who works tirelessly for the defense of our country and helps fund my sewing addiction. We have a grown son and daughter and have been given 8 adorable (soon to be 9) grandkids, ages 4 months, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11.

Our household also includes 3 goldfish and 2 dwarf African frogs, bought for my grandchildren but living under our roof for now. Our family wouldn't be complete without a canine, either. Our newest addition is Daphne, an adopted rescue basset hound who we think is 8 or 9 years old. She apparently was raised in a barn, but we love her anyway! She's the sweetest basset we've ever laid eyes on and she worships Steve.

Well that's our clan.