Tuesday's This and That: New Year's Eve 2024

 

Greetings and salutations!

My guess is that most of you are doing what I am tonight--staying home.  To be honest, I've never liked big shindigs on New Year's Eve...not even when I was young and single.  Now of course, I'll be asleep before midnight (as usual) and miss the whole thing unless neighbors let off fireworks.

But let's end this year focusing on good.  In Scotland, there was a 16 foot Christmas tree that was created to help folks who are lonely this time of year.  You can see the video here.

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As the days get colder, you might consider including a hand warmer in your gloves or mittens.  There is a tutorial on Amy Smart's blog that looks fun and easy!  You can check it out here.

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Wishing you a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Muscle Memory

Hello and how are you today?

Are you ready for the new year?  I sure am.  Do you have a list of  goals for the new year?  Do you have a list of projects you would like to complete?  

We are headed to the season of even colder weather.  I know I'll be hibernating in my sewing room for most of the year.  But the early part of the year usually means I get a lot of sewing done.  

I'm working on muscle memory these days.  I worked on small binding projects before the holiday (they were gifts) and eventually tackled binding a lap quilt.  It felt good!  Now I'm working on my embroidery skills.

I have to admit, I was shocked at how clumsy my fingers were when I first endeavored to embroider again.  I ended up repeatedly ripping stitches out and getting disgusted.  I'm over that.  I'm going to start from the beginning and just practice, practice, practice again.  It will come back, I know.

Getting adept at handwork again is about my only big goal for the new year.  Do you have a sewing goal?

Have a safe and happy day!

 

Merry Christmas 2024!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

 

Christmas Eve 2024

 

Wishing you a safe holiday eve.

First a lovely video about Norwegian mittens can be found here.  It's worth a look!

A few more Christmas quilts to start the holiday:

I have photos of the two below as quilt tops.  I know they were finished and I gave them away but I have no idea where the photos are of the finished quilts!

I'll be back next week!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Christmas Quilts (Some)

 

We had snow over the weekend.  

All we want these days is a warm cuppa and a nice quilt!

The next two quilts I kept for myself and are using these days.  The second one I'll use through the winter.

I've made and gifted so many Christmas quilts that I can't remember who I made what for anymore!

I gave the one below to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law this year:

Have a safe and happy day!

Stars 3

 

Hello stargazers! 

If you are back you must like star quilts!

Today I'm featuring a quilt top circa 1940.

I should really finish this one but haven't thought about it for a while.

Another quilt top is from a century earlier.  This top features madder fabrics (the rusty brick colored fabrics).

One of my favorite pieces is this one from circa 1840. 

This is a HEAVY quilt.  The more quilting on a piece the warmer and heavier it becomes.  

One of my friends is always telling me I should hang my quilts up in my house.  Unfortunately, we have plaster walls and I just don't want to put any more holes in the walls.  This is the one she always said I should have up this time of year:

I'll be back next week with some Christmas quilts!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

More Stars

 

How are you doing?  

Are you still rushing around for Christmas?

I shouldn't be but my mother is driving me a bit crazy right now so I'm out and about a lot more than necessary. 😒

Above is a photo of a Moravian Star, the symbol of Bethlehem and today I'm continuing to post photos of star quilts.

This one is a piece I made for the Civil War lecture Beth and I created.  It's adorned with some small buttons of my uncles and a ribbon from a convention for the Ladies of the G.A.R.  

My great-great grandfather and his two older son all fought in the war.  

I have many star of Bethlehem quilts.  This one was a flux--it was hidden in a box of vintage fabric that I bought at an auction.  No one knew the quilt was in there--not even me--until I got home and began to pull out the fabric.  Nice surprise!  This quilt is from the early part of the 20th century:

I may have given this quilt away but I still have a photo of it.  It's from the last quarter of the 19th century:

Have a safe and happy day!

Stars

 

Hello!

It's a busy week so I thought I would post some photos of star quilts in honor of the holiday.  I tend to do this every year.  Stars are important in our area and the Moravian star is the symbol of nearby Bethlehem, PA.  

Quilt top is circa 1840.  Although the piece was hand quilted, my appraiser thought it might have been quilted later because the backing was seamed together with a machine.  Machines weren't common in households until after the Civil War.  Still plenty of folks did have them and they were often used to make quilts for the Civil War soldiers.

An oldie but goodie.  One of my favorite quilts which is ironic because I usually don't like strip quilts.  But for whatever reason I love this one and usually pull it out this time of year because of the red/green.  It is well loved and very soft!

Finally, a star quilt I made for my daughter.  Her favorite color is red and she loved the quilt.  I can't find a full photo of the quilt but you get the idea.  I don't often make star quilts because I already own so many in my collection. 

More stars tomorrow!  

Have a safe and happy day!

 

Burrito Baby

 

Hello friends!

I had some issues last week with vertigo and didn't post that much.  Fortunately, I already had an appointment with the ENT for Friday of this week so I'm hoping to find some relief.

My puppy though has been keeping company with me.  He is still checking on me although I'm feeling better.

When the boy is not being a wild child, he's actually quite a snuggle bunny.  He's also the perfect dog for me as he likes fabric.  Especially when I'm ironing or sewing.

I'd love to get a photo of him at night when he is wrapped up in blankets with me but I know it would disturb him too much.  I tell my husband all the time that he is a burrito baby 😁

Winter is here with a vengeance and we are bundling him up when he goes for a walk.  I am always surprised that he doesn't seem to mind so much!

Hope you are all doing well during this crazy week before the holidays.

Stay safe and warm!

Tuesday's This and That: December 10, 2024

 

How are you today?

I'm fairly skeptical about using AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a quilting tool.  I'm enough of a traditionalist to be wary of any computer program creating a pattern, much less selling one.  

No, I don't have a problem with EQ and other computer programs that assist us.  However--we live in a time of scams and cons that are meant to rob and hurt people.  

I've gotten a few emails about this from designers lately and wanted to share a few articles with you.

Here is a great article about AI and quilting. 

I'm hearing a LOT from embroidery designers and another good article is here.

One of the things that bothers me is that I doubt that anyone selling an AI embroidery design markets it as such.  We work with our hands and have good reason to shun a computer design.

Helen from Bustle and Sew wrote in an email that these designs are squeezing out the human designers and are being sold very cheaply.  In addition, she is concerned about embroiderers having unrealistic expectations about the pattern they think they should complete.

I'd like to hear your thoughts!

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There is nothing to watch on tv.  By chance, I read that there was a Christmas movie on Amazon prime about a quilter.  It is called The Fabric of Christmas.  I watched it Sunday evening and it was much like a Hallmark movie.  The quilting in the movie is minimal (although a big part of the story) and unrealistic but whoever made the actual quilt that is shown later did a great job.  It wasn't spectacular but at least it wasn't a rerun.

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Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Do You EPP?

 

Hello and how was your weekend?

Today I'm wondering if you EPP.

English Paper Piecing has been around for ages but it's become really popular during the last decade.  If you don't know what the technique is, there is a good tutorial here.   

There's a lot of shapes that one can make with this technique but the most popular appear to be hexagons.  And this is ironic because hexagons are really popular these days on decorating shows.  We must be in a hexie phase.😃

Lucy Boston (1882-1990) was a pretty famous English writer who loved to EPP.  Her books were primary for children but quilters everywhere seem to be talking about her EPP quilts.

If you are interested in reading more about here, here is an article you might be interested in:

Lucy Boston--Her Life, Her Patchwork, and Her Legacy of Design.

I'd love to know how many of you are doing EPP.  I'm looking into it but I'm not sure if I want to pursue this or not.  I sure have a lot of other projects to complete.

Have a safe and happy day!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

 

Today is one of my favorite December holidays.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

In my family, children always put out their shoes for St. Nicholas.  

Even when my kids were teens, they loved finding treats and sweets in their shoes.  The grandkids hadn't left their shoes out at my house but I always put out some nice wooden shoes in case St. Nicholas came by!  

2009

I hope you have a wonderful day and a great weekend!

The December Dance

 

Greetings friends!

I may be battling a cold but I'm so glad it's not covid!  How are you doing?

Well here it is, the fourth of December and I wonder if you too are doing the December dance.  You know this little number.  Quilters everywhere are assessing what they completed the past year and imagining what they would like to do in the 2025.  

Some quilters are hurriedly finishing Christmas presents.  As the month progresses, more sewists will clean the sewing room, inventory the UFOs and study their fabric scraps.

My only goal for 2025 is to have fun!

Except for having to apply binding on two quilts, I'm pretty much finished with any projects for the month.  What I do want to do this month is try to make things easier for myself.  My brother is seeing a few specialists this week and I have a feeling 2025 will be focused on caring for him even more (I think he will need some surgeries).

I don't know about you but I can be lax about quilt tops.  I finish them off and then hang them in the sewing room.  Later I'm rushing around when I prepare to take things to Lizzie (my machine quilter).  

So this weekend I measured the tops and prepared quilt backings. 

One thing I like to do is put the top, batting, and backing in one of these garment bags to take to my machine quilter.  I try to do this when I'm not rushed or have a lot on my mind so I put things together properly.  Lizzie likes this as well as it keeps all my stuff together.

I'm also re-organizing my backing fabrics.  I seem to have a wide variety of sizes and although I usually do measure them, I'm trying to simplify that system.  I have piles for each of these categories:

Littles:  table runners, little wall hangings, mug rugs, etc.

Ladder quilts:  this comes in so handy because the width of the ladder is only 15 inches and yet vertically long.

Baby quilts:  I'll make some to fit the backings I have!

Regular size or backings that can be pieced together.

I may end up organizing my batting this way as well (we'll see).

Another task this month is to figure out my next leader and ender project.  I finished this top with the last batch of blocks a few weeks ago and need to figure out the next piece.

I just can't decide if I want to go scrappy or maybe do some 30s repro fabric.  I sure have enough of both. 

How are you ending the sewing year?  

I'd love to know!

Have a safe and happy day!