Art, Craft, Needlework - September, 2008

[Harriet]

Anybody else feel nervous with threads like "Holiday Grand Plan" and blessed's "Holiday planning thinking ahead" threads right here beside us in The Creative Home forum? Eeek! Is it that time of year already? Gives a sort of "mouse-underfoot feeling" doesn't it?

Our creativity can be the most forgiving and comforting aspect of our days (gotta love it!). But, in the autumn, maybe we WOULD do well to ask ourselves a few calendar questions sooner, rather than later. So... ...

Question of the month Are you going to have particular hopes for either handmade gift giving/decor, or meeting creative resolutions by year's end? For instance, anyone care to assess how well you've met goals so far this year, like whittling down your UFOs? Or would you like to have some accountability here and commit to getting a certain number of handmades ready for giftwrap or decorating. What would YOUR deadlines be?

Be sure to let us know how creativity is blessing your life this month! If you've taken a picture you'd like to share, check out the Tips Hints forum to find the different ways to do that. There you'll find Kathryn's "Posting Pictures" and Indiana's "Sizing Pictures Using MS Paint".

[Harriet]

BookSaver asked me to post pics of the 2 quilt tops made by my great uncle's wife's sister circa 1930s/1940s. They have been passed down through many households and eventually my cousin who recently passed away inherited them. Her mother wanted me to have them now.

I can see why they have been handed from household to household. They will both be very challenging to make into quilts, because they are not “square” (I’ve shown only some of the haphazard edge problems in the photos) and the patterned one doesn’t lie flat.

The Crazy Patch is about as plain and utilitarian as can be, though there are some sweet feed sack prints. It looks like she worked in strips and sewed five together vertically. Unfortunately, when she finished and the quilt didn't square up, she then sewed very long odd-shaped strips at what I've had to fold over as the "top" edge to photograph, so that don’t match the rest. It will be a challenge to figure out how to make these sides straight with each other without actually changing the quilt. I may just be forced to make it smaller.

There is a lot of mauve/lavender in it that struck me as I was photographing, and I was thinking that was the color it needed as a border to "corral" the craziness! But looking at the photo now, the old jade green, which is such a classic 1930s color, might be more calming and comforting, especially since this pattern says "man's quilt" to me! What do you think?

CrazyQuiltVintage.JPG

The other is one of all the many patterns that came out of the curved-corner-patch idea of the "Drunkard's Path" unit. But this is one of the variations that instead set two of the curved-corner-patch pieces at opposite corners of each square. (Can you see the individual blocks?) To make it even more of a variation, it's one of the ones that used a double curve. I believe the pattern was called "Bow Tie", later "Curved Bow Tie" to distinguish it from easier, more popular bow tie patterns. But this one is even more of a variation, because it's not the bow shape in the center that the maker used her fabrics to show, but the circle that was made by placing blocks side by side. So that when you look at the quilt you see wheel images, really, and it reminds you of patterns with "wheel" in their names. So maybe to be accurate I need to add the word "variation", like, "Curved Bow Tie Variation", or just give it it's own new name like "Bow Tie Wheel"!

It’s interesting she used red in the same place in each block. (So, do I have it upside-down?) If I ever get around to finishing it, with a dozen projects ahead of it for sure, I think it needs a red border, maybe?

[lucylee]

Thanks for posting the quilt pics, Harriet! That's so neat, that you have these that have been passed down through so many times. I love old quilts. I need a quilt stand.

[Indiana]

Great quilts Harriet. Thank you for posting them.

From the picture I was thinking the jade green would pull your eye over the whole quilt and red for the other would do the same thing to the edges. The red quilt is one of the cool ones where right side up can be either way.

Both are great quilts to look forward to finishing some day.

[Harriet]

SuzLew says she's making a Tennessee Waltz quilt! So of course I have this on the brain. I'm pretty sure that's the one that alternates the "54 40 or Fight" block

5440orFightBlockSmall.JPG

(pic is one "orphan" block I made that has never yet been put into a quilt!) with simple "snowball" blocks to give a curved appearance from a distance. SuzLew is that the one? I just think those are beautiful. They look like a Wedding Ring. When I taught quiltmaking we used 54 40 or Fight for two lessons, because the 4-patch unit was a good skill to start on, but then the triangles part became much more challenging! Plus there was some mental work in getting it all together correctly! We had lots of seams to take out! So everyone really felt they'd accomplished something when they learned how and actually assembled into their block.

By the way, time to admit again that my UFO list is overwhelming and I have several entire orphanages around here.

Oh, another btw - ds23 says the crazy quilt has now taken over the spot of "ugliest quilt top in the house". He really doesn't like it! LOL! He is my traditional child, my order-and-common-sense child, so he looks for symetry. Arguing with him that quilts had to be "make do" means nothing - he says a person who used to have to "make do" would now tell you, "throw out", because they'd be on the way to WalMart for something sensible to cover up with.

[Indiana]

Harriet your son has the best sense of humor.

[Harriet]

Waiting at dr's office for dh (sinus infection) I made out a partial UFO inventory of the 5 most obvious. I approximated what percentage of each is complete (95, 90, 25, 90 and 60, btw), and wrote bare-bones notes on what needs to be done for each. Below that, I noted one I'm considering allowing dd10 to enjoy piecing. Below that, I made notes that show me I have the makings for at least 3 different full-size sampler quilts.

Have been trying to do more organizing physically, as well. I always have to fight the tendency to have several projects out.

Now, those are just quilt UFOs.

That doesn't answer the question of whether I will do sewing for Christmas. If I could start early, I'd like to have a lot of potholder/hotpad/kitchen towel things ready and stashed, but if I can't and they are just going to be guilt-inducing I don't need the hassle, so we'll see. Here's anew-to-me type of kitchen towel topper, by the way, that seems as though it lends itself to gift-making. I've seen and really like the ones that look like a doll dress, but a quilted top would be a more substantial topper and would go with a homemade hotpad for a set. I probably don't have time for any, but nice to consider. One more thing -little girl in tutorial on making a more elaborate towel-dress - nice photos