Rescued Quilts!

My dear husband bought these quilts at a car swap meet yesterday..... and for $25.00!  They came with two other quilts, made of poly double knits... tied with  poly batting..... they will be used for protecting car fenders.... which sadly is probably where these two beauties were bound to go, if not spotted by one of the guys under a table.

 "I could be Denise's hero if we got those quilts", he told Mike later at breakfast.  "what quilts? he asked.  "in the horse arena, there were quilts...."   so after breakfast, these four men traipse back to the swap meet, to find the guy with the basket of quilts.  (oh, how I wish I could have been there to hear four men talking about the quilts under a table at the car swap meet....) 

So I get a phone call, "hey, there are some quilts here, how much are they worth?"   I asked.."can you take a pic with your phone and send it to me?"   (Well, that didn't happen...)  He did take the picture, but couldn't figure out how to send it via the droid.   He did manage to tell me in the phone conversation that the nice one, was a wedding ring quilt... and he thought it was hand quilted! 

The double wedding ring was probably made in the 1980's, judging by the fabrics.  The maker did a nice job with color placement, putting a lime green plaid fabric in the same place on each melon, creating a green wheel effect at each intersection.    She used tiny seams allowances though, so there is some mending to be done.... and it won't be the first round.  I see where it has been mended before.   It is 80" square.   It has a polyester batting and is stain free.  

 

This sweet baby quilt was in the bottom of the basket.  It is also hand quilted, and has been lovingly used.  In looking at it closely, the maker fussy cut the eyes out of a white with blue polka dot fabric, so that they are all looking in the same direction.

He is a keeper!  He not only knew the pattern name, he noticed that it was hand quilted, and he went back to find them.....  Maybe he is listening.....

Happy New Year

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season... I've spent a majority of mine, sitting at my sewing machine....My new sewing machine.....  Mike surprised me with the idea to buy a new machine..... (now really folks,  when your spouse asks you in a sewing machine store if you want a new machine, he better be serious, right?  LOL).   Actually, buying a new machine was nowhere on my radar, so when he asked that question and the sales clerk started showing me the newest and latest,  I was in shock. I took it for a test drive over sample after sample.... but before I actually took the plunge,  we came home and I did some research, reading blogs,  looking at the yahoo groups, just to make sure that I would be happy with the decision to get rid of my workhorse Juki 98 and my lower end Janome for the new Janome Horizon 7700.

Meet Ruby! She's beautiful, she's red,  and she's a gem! 

We've spent the better part of the last week, getting to know each other...  where is that  'scant 1/4 inch'
  on each foot?   what do all these buttons and dials do?  we did some piecing, actually lots of piecing as I worked on the 600 HST for Bonnie Hunters's mystery step 5... and then stiched them together into groups of 5 for step 6.   

Yesterday, I put my piecing aside and decided it was time for Ruby and I to do some quilting.  I have so many tops to get finished and out of here!  She quilted like a dream!  I love her three different FMQ feet.... the straight stitch automatic thing on the throat plate.... she is so smooth and quiet!   I learned that she is finicky about either bobbins, or the way thread comes off a cone... We had to have a little "meeting of the minds".  regarding some pink cone thread I was using for one section.  I had used some other cone thread earlier w/o any issues,  but I had also wound some bobbins on my sidewinder... so I haven't decided yet which was the bigger issue, but after going back to winding bobbins on the Janome,  a fresh needle and then winding some of the pink cone thread onto bobbins and using them like sideway spools, she was happy again... (maybe it was just new machine colic?)   We quilted happily along until 11 pm last night, when I ran out of the variegated thread I was using on the border, 1/2 way through the border!   Don't you just hate that?  The "target foot", allowed me to try echo quilting w/o doing any marking,  I think I'm going to like this feature, once I get my sideways straight motion going straighter...

Today, she and I effortlessly quilted for 3 hours w/o a single broken top thread, bumpy bottom tension, or needle mishap!   We'll put her through the binding test next.   I hear that some have had isssues going over bumpy seam intersections, so we'll test that.  I have the 1/4 "  auto feed foot, got it as a bonus with my machine.....  

Clue 5

OMG!
       Just when I thought I had a handle on 60 string blocks.... (actually I have 47 totally done, pressed, de-papered (is that a word?), pressed again, and squared.)  The last 13 blocks need fewer than 3 or 4 strips each, some are down to just a corner or single strip..... but my bobbins were empty when I stopped about 15 minutes ago.... the iron needed water again too, so it just seemed like a good stopping point for the night....
       I decided to check out Bonnie's blog for a peak at step 5.  (now, keep in mind, I haven't started step 4 yet.... but I couldn't resist.....
       Now I know why Bonnie says... NO WHINING!!!!   600  yes, I said 600  HST!!!!  these will finish at 1 1/2".... so I hope I have enough 2" strips.... I may end up having to cut some off of actual yardage in my stash.... I know I have that....
      This is also where I have to decide on my constant fabric choice.   Now Bonnie used a cute red that has a touch of green, pink, in it..   I don't have anything in my reds that looks like it will work....   I've thought about cheddar yellow... but I don't have a piece of that either....   She said that scrappy is ok if we stick with a single color,  like all reds....  I have several pieces of blue reproduction indigos..... but I'm not too keen on the blue with the rest of the colors.... I may just have to go hunting for the perfect piece tomorrow.... I promise to look deeper into the stash before going out to buy something..... I only need about 2 yards. 
   I need to take pics of some of my string blocks.....

more mysteries....

Well,  I started out my last post with the thought that I would share pics of some of the previous mysteries I've quilted up.... Many of them are Debbie Caffrey mysteries, so I will not call them by her name... only to protect the innocent....

     We did this Deb Caffrey mystery on a guild retreat.... I did purchase most of the fabric for this one, because I fell in love with the border fabric, but didn't have the right blues in my stash to pull it off.  This is one of the few mysteries that I have done that I haven't made changes to along the way.....
     I quilted it on my domestic Juki.... using a circular wedge design to help break up the squareness of the blocks.... I used a template that I quilted around,  in an attempt to not have to mark. the whole quilt.  If I recall correctly, I started this quilt spring of 2007.... and completed it in 2009.  (I'm always slow at getting the tops quilted.       I called it "Plenty of stars"....    It is a large lap, nearly twin size quilt.
      This quilt now resides with my little sister.....

     This one is called "Friends and Fellows".  It was a mystery at http://www.thequiltandneedle.com/  in 2008.   I have added borders to this one since this picture..... I made some changes,  by making 8 more of those corner triangles and tipping them out into the large outer border, and then appliqued some simple motifs as well. 
      This pattern is now for sale on Jess' website, so it is no longer a mystery.  It is queen size.
      This  is not yet quilted, nor do I have a plan for who it will belong to.... another UFO to complete... some day....

      Jess at the Quilt and needle  has 3 mysteries a year,   This one is called "Phire's Radiance" named for her baby girl.   We did this one Jan 2010.   This pattern is also for sale on  the sebsite above.
     This is still needing an outside border.  It is 60x60.  I'm trying to decide if I want the red for the outside border, or something more neutral..... decisions... decisions... decisions...   then it will get quilted to hang in my stairway.    This is a very interesting twist to a lone star type of look.

The fall mystery we did from the Quilt and Needle was this one  called "Annie's Fortune"   It is not available for sale yet, but I'm sure it will be soon.    I totally used stash for this one.... and all I have left of two of the fabrics is crumbs.....  I really do need to take a better picture..... this one is before I actually pieced all the elements together... and from the floor, just doens't do queen size quilts any justice. 
I especially liked the way that the star blocks seem to roll in the hexagons..... And floating on point, the center medallion is striking.  This one still needs to be quilted and bound as well.....  again, I don't have anyone specific in mind to receive this one....   I have a nephew who is engaged, it may become a gift for the young couple. 

     This next quilt is also a Debbie Caffrey mystery.... Done as a "Quilt till you Wilt" evening at a now gone 

local quilt shop.  We miss you Tina!   Tina at ScarboroughFlair would host about 2 of these each year.... lots of fun was had trying to guess what we were making as the night went along, and best of all, Tina did all our pressing for us!   This one is also a large lap / twin size.... being the perverbial pattern switcher,  I decided to do the quilt in scrappy mode rather than 4 fabrics as suggested.  This was a bold move, not knowing where anything was going to fall.   I call this one "Lilac Lattice".   I quilted it with a winding rose and  leaf type design that I free motioned rather than marking.    I gave this to my step daughter, so it now lives in Helena, Montana.  Lilacs are one of her favorite spring flowers.    We started this mystery in probably 2006 or 2007.  I got it quilted and bound in 2009.

I need to go dig into the  hard drive storage for pics of  the other mysteries... so will post them another time....  Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me...

Diamonds in the sky....a lesson on color value....

     I love doing mystery quilts....if I count up how many I have done over the years, it is at least a dozen! 
      Last weekend, I participated in the Dec. Mystery celebrating the 3rd Anniversay of the Quilt and Needle.com   Jess Smith has once again found an interesting way to keep us in suspense while building components for a quilt in 3 size options.  The pattern will soon be available on Jess' website store. Way to go Jess!   I have been a pattern tester for Jess on some of her mysteries... she asks a few people to pre-stitch the week prior to the actual weekend, to help troubleshoot any difficulties.
      During the actual mystery weekend,  participants pay for the pattern, and she sends it to us via email in installments during the mystery.  Pictures get posted, and we all share ideas and thoughts on color choices,  stitching techniques etc.  on a forum thread just for that purpose. 
     I try to use as much of my stash as possible on mystery quilts....

     I had a 5+ yard piece of 57" wide autumn leaves in my stash that has been raising it's hand to ge used in a quilt.... I thought I could make it work...... it was going to be close. ... here are my fabric choices before I started cutting.... (The cutting chart called for 7 yards of 40"... I did the calculations.... should work....

        I had a tiny pile of the leaf fabric left after cutting.... (I'm making the 100 x 100 size).  I'll have to add an additional border for our king size bed with deep 14" mattress).  Yeah!  I cut all the pieces!  

        Instructions for the first trial step arrive, and before I even started stitching, we found a cutting error.... I needed 4 more of a component.... and guess what... it was my focal fabric!   EEK!!!  Now this doesn't normally throw me too far, (I mean afterall, my name is scraphappydenise)  But being a mystery, how do I go about it?  Jess told me I could substitute by adding a 5th color... she even went into her EQ and did a color change in the area we were talking about....ooh, it opened up a new design option, and she is excited to see what a 5th color will add, so I chose a cream that was similar to the background in the focal fabric, and off I go... happily sewing along.... 

       When we got to the part of laying the pieces out for the center medallion.... this is what I got..... I love the overall look, and the way the two golds overlap and play together... I love the little stars that appear around the green squares.... The general color scheme is beautiful.... BUT...I really do not like the cream!  It seems to be sreaming at me.  NOT the feeling I wanted.   Another color would be great!

       I work best sometimes at 11:00 pm,  so with DH snoozing in his chair a few feet away... I went to my scrap bin looking for strips I could lay over the cream to do some testing.... after a dozen or so options, I think I like this one the best.   I found a rust that I have enough of in my stash to fix this...

      The little stars still show at the green squares... The rust highlights the flow around the design.... I think I am going to be happy with the results.  When I chose my replacement fabric I SHOULD have stood back and looked at the overall value of my leaves, not simply chosen the background color..... Lesson learned.....  This beauty is now on the back burner.... until I'm off work for the holidays.... I have enough of my two gold fabrics and the green to recut those 16 squares.... It will be easier than unstitching and replacing... there is bias in those blocks... and they laid nice and flat the first time, but I don't want to give them a reason to fight me later.... I'll simply use the original blocks in a charity quilt in the future. 
     I had originally intended to show you some of the previous mysteries I have done, but this post is long enough, so another time....

oh, no.... not again.....

I said it wasn't going to happen,  but I just can't stop myself..... I've started 3 new quilts this month.....  I'm participating in a quilt along challenge at thequiltandneedle.com  called "A touch of  Vegas"..... scrappy black and white prints, with a focal color....

These are my 3" finished stars.... there are 3", 6", 9" and 12" stars in this project.  It's all cut out, so I'm working on it in small segments..... as filler between other things.....                                                       

I am also testing for Jess' 3rd Anniversary Mystery at the quilt and needle.   My fabrics are all cut, and I'm waiting on sewing instructions.   I'll have to wait until after this weekend to post pics of that project....

I am also working on Bonnie Hunter's new mystery over at Quiltville.com  It's called... "Roll, roll, cotton boll".   lots of scrapiness in this quilt!   pinks, greens, browns, and a constant I haven't picked out yet.... thinking seriously about a cheddar yellow, but Bonnie is using red, so I don't know.   I am all caught up on this and awaiting step 3 this coming weekend.

My Favorite Block.... Dec 2010

I have completed my blocks for the Dec. draw at Block Central.   We do these every other month... and I have been lucky enough to win two times this year!  The green blocks in Feb.,   the Red blocks in August,   and this months are Red/ and Green!   I wonder if my luck will continue?  

These are Yankee Puzzle blocks.....  Carol, one of the winners last month chose this theme of cream background, with red and green.  A very fitting color combination for Dec., don't you think?

There will be two lucky winners of these blocks.... these are ready for the mail on Dec. 7.   (I can't believe I'm actually ahead of schedule on something!!!! )