My Favorite Quilt Blocks

I said I’d show close ups of some of the blocks when I shared the entire quilt. These are some of my favorite blocks. You also can see the quilting detail so much better on them.

I enjoyed doing a little embroidery on this block. Appliqueing the birds was a challenge as they were so tiny.

This beehive block also allowed me to do some hand embroidery.  There was just enough embroidery on this quilt to make it enjoyable.

This block had a lot of tiny applique pieces. By the time I got to this one my applique skills were back on track.
These are only 4 of the nine blocks in the quilt. They are also the most complex.
You can click on each block to see them enlarged. This will also allow you to see the quilting stitches better.

A Newly Finished Quilt

This started out trying to use some scraps of fabric I was not pleased with, yet not ready to throw away. They were odd shapes and sizes.
My friend Robbie Porter Payne had a Thermofax screen that was interesting and fit the size of my scraps so I printed 4 identical designs. I believe these are some sort of diagram from the auto industry.
Next was the challenge of trying to make something with them. I trimmed each of them to the same size and found the burgundy dyed fabric I had created earlier. The little circle design was also from one of her screens but I messed it up. No problem, cut out the good part and used it for the center.
It needed something more so I pulled out more of my dyed fabrics and added Thermofax printing from one of my original design screens to create the border fabric.
I had very little of the burgundy fabric left to bind it. I figured out mathematically how to get enough for a narrow binding. WHOOPS! I cut it a quarter inch too wide.I found some very small scraps of the fabric and was able to stretch it to fit.
What a relief to finish it and it only took about 2 years.
My journey from start to finish is never a straight line!

Double Ikat Textile

I received this as a gift from my friend Sita Rao.
I LOVE it. My first reaction was to use it as a scarf or shawl. I realized it needed to be displayed somewhere in my home to be truly appreciated. It now has a place of honor in my studio.
This is an art that almost died out until the the government in India stepped in. They designated 3 cities/regions in India to produce this type of weaving. Now I may not have all the details correct and I hope Sita will read this and clarify it. My information is in Florida I believe.
I love the colors, the pattern and the skill that went into weaving this with such fine cotton threads. And more so I love the fact that she would gift me something that would be so perfect for me.

My Eclipse Quilts

With all the interest in the eclipse several people posted eclipse quilts.
I didn’t think I had any.
Today a friend visited me and she said two of my quilts WERE eclipse quilts. I had to agree with her.

SECRET CIRCLES

Like the sun yesterday you can see the pictures of the sun and also can see when it is hidden or partially hidden. Most of the fabrics in this quilt are ones I painted, although there are a few hand dyed fabrics. If you have not seen this before you may have a hard time finding all the circles I pieced into this one.

AND THEN THE CENTERS FELL OUT

This quilt was made with some of the fabrics and pieces from the above quilt. It does relate to the movement of the eclipse even though that is not where I was heading on this either.

I find it interesting that another pair of eyes can see what we don’t see even though we are looking at the same thing.

So thanks Eileen for your observation!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!

COUNTRY APPLIQUE WALL QUILT

This is a very special hand appliqued and hand quilted quilt of mine that was just completed. This quilt is very different than any of the other 400 some quilts I have created.
It was designed as a block of the month quilt by Marion Vernon and Carlene Buck in 1986 for a quilt guild I belonged to..Even though applique was not my strong suit I found it very attractive and figured I could work on the applique blocks as I sat at our meetings. Of course over time they got more complex and were finished at home. I do have to say I did a fantastic job on all of the applique.
It took many more years for it to be assembled and then waited to be finished.
At one time all my quilts were hand quilted by me. Over time I started machine quilting.
The quilts that deserved hand quilting were put on the back burner.
Although hand quilting is not something I do anymore I was thrilled to find a hand quilter whose work was excellent and she has just finished quilting this one for me.
Not only did Robin Koehler quilt it she also bound it. I am thrilled with the quality of the work she did on this special quilt which now hangs in my breakfast room.
I have several others she will be quilting for me. I intend to keep her very busy.
On a future blog post I will share close ups of some of the blocks.

Heidi’s Millennium Quilt Goes Home With Her!

Tonight Heidi and Nate visited me. This is one of the 8 quilts I made for my grand children for the Millennium. Each quilt has 2000 different fabrics and was bordered and backed with Jinny Beyer’s Millennium fabric.
I had the quilts belonging to the local grandchildren here for safe keeping. Now that Heidi and Nate have their own house they have space to keep this quilt safe. It is King size.

I made a special label for the back of each quilt sharing information about it.
I also made a bag and drawstring from the Millennium fabric to match each quilt.
My hope is that each of the quilts will be an heirloom that will be passed down in each family.

My Artistic Heritage

I decided to see if I could find any photos of my maternal grandpa August G Wolff online this morning. I post often with pictures from the paternal ancestors.
I didn’t find any photos of him but I did find this photo of a house he designed in 1922. It is in the South Layton Boulevard Historic District. The address is 1959 S Layton Blvd. I t is a Milwaukee address. The original cost of the house was $5500 which I would think was a lot in 1922 shortly after the end of WW1.
I am impressed with the design and all the details of the house. I see more details each time I look like it. That is also a trait of a great quilt!
The historic name is:

FRANK J. SURGES HOUSE It was added to the historic records in 1996. I found this information on another site about the homes built on Layton Boulevard: The city's construction boom after World War I stimulated house building on Layton Boulevard, and between 1918 and 1928 some 107 buildings were erected with 32 of these constructed in 1921 and 19 in 1922 He lived with our family off and on when I was growing up but I wasn’t familiar with his work for the most part. One thing I do remember is that he drew his plans for his buildings on a stiff linen. When he was done with them he gave them to my mother and she washed out the stiffness in her Bendix front loading washing machine that she bought when I was born and made handkerchiefs with them.

I Have A New Room

Thanks to Kim’s furniture arranging skills and my finishing touches.

This is the sitting area/lounge for guests if I only have one room of guests.
So it you are coming you will have access to this area to relax or get some work done.
The colors are not true and that is because of my limited photography skills!

Glorious Felted Noro Scarf

Do you remember when I knit this scarf? I had several skeins of Noro yarn, each a different color combination. I was pleased with the finished piece, but it really needed to be slightly felted. Now that I know I could do it in my front loader washer it is done.

This is a closeup and you may be able to tell it is slightly felted….just enough to tighten up and even the stitches, but not enough to make it tight and stiff.

This is the picture I took right after I finished knitting it. The stitches are a little irregular, much as you would get before you block it.
The felting did what blocking would do and tightened up the stitches and made the scarf only slightly smaller.
AND …as with everything about me, it’s all about COLOR!