Magic Stars Quilt, with Sarah Jane fabrics

January 15, 2017April 2, 2024 Elizabeth E.15 Comments

It begins here…

…with fabric by Sarah Jane. A relative of mine fell in love with her work and asked me to make her a quilt for her daughter, who has a name similar to mine.

(I couldn’t say no.)

I found the pattern on Michael Miller’s Website, and followed it exactly.

I made it over the break between Christmas and New Year’s. You can see my husband’s nutcracker collection on top of our hutch.

I trundled it off to my longarm quilter, and she did a quick turn-around. It’s always a happy day to pick up a quilt from Cathy. This fabric is very silky, and I enjoyed working with it.

And on my birthday, I declare it done! Happy New Year, Happy New Quilt. This is Quilt #176 on my list of 200 quilts. I never thought I’d reach 176 quilts. If you haven’t started your list, do so now.

We chose a pattern called “party ribbons” for the quilting, as it fit in with the theme of the fabric.

The backing has unicorns with touches of gilt bushes.

I packaged it up and sent it off, the people in the Post Office helping me find just the right box.

(I love my post office.)

I didn’t label it because it was going to live at someone else’s home, but if I could, it would look like the one above.

Rebecca sent me this photo of the quilt on her daughter’s bed. So glad they both like it!

200 Quilts · Oh Christmas Tree QAL · Quilt-A-Long

Oh! Christmas Tree Quilt

December 5, 2016April 30, 2017 Elizabeth E.21 Comments

Oh! Christmas Tree Quilt
Quilt #175
Began January 2016 • Finished December 2016

It’s finally finished. I started this once I saw the QuiltMania magazine it was featured in. It is a pattern from Wendy Williams of Flying Fish Kits. I had a companion in the making of this, in Wendy Welsh from New Zealand. She was about a month ahead of me in construction and was such a great help, especially in untangling the borders dilemma. All of the posts about the making of this quilt are referenced in the Quilt-A-Longs tab, up above.

I did finish it by my goal of December 1st, but had to find the right ~~locale~~ accessories, like the lumber-jack looking guy above. (By the way, the most important man in this photo is unseen, holding up the Christmas Tree quilt. Thanks, dear!)

I had written about how I quilted the center: a meander with tiny stars here and there.

As usual, I printed out my quilt with partial transparency and doodled and doodled, coming into a dead end always. But finally, inspired by an idea from *here,* I chose to do swirls around my stars with a spiral in the center, linking them all together.

I quilted the cream background fabric around the wool felt appliqués, then in around those red triangle points, leaving them unquilted. I did outline them in a straight stitch, helping them to stand out from the background.

My husband Dave and I went out for a photo shoot as the sun was dimming, first hitting the tree lot at Teen Challenge (below), a charity near our house.

And then we went looking for more evergreens for backdrops, a near herculean task in Southern California. We finally found these pines in the university parking lot. I told my husband that Marsha, in Vermont, could photograph hers out in the woods amid the snow, but that typical to our climate and locale, we have to pose in an asphalt parking lot.

The back is a series of panels and fabrics from Cori Dantini from her Merry Stitches line, purchased at Quilt Market this past May and available now. It’s fun to use them on the back.

This quilt (or parts of it) have gone to Spain, all around my town, and then finally tucked in at home to be finished with the quilting. I took inspiration from all of those who followed along on the Quilt-A-Long and on Instagram, but am indebted to my husband for his love of my quilting and constant support. Lastly, the design for Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus are found here on the blog. Uusually we say that what’s important about Christmas isn’t found under the tree.

But in this case, it is.

I hope your Christmas season is merry and bright and filled with the love of our Savior.

200 Quilts · Quilts · Something to Think About

Not Waving, but Drowning

December 1, 2016May 22, 2022 Elizabeth E.16 Comments

Not Waving, But Drowning
Quilt #173
39″ high by 43″ wide

This quilt began its life in a quilt block I designed, which I call Semaphore. My friend Cindy saw that and made a version for a fabric manufacturer, who then put it on a world tour (see a photo at the end). I saw it again at Quilt Market in May 2016, and decided I wanted one myself, only larger.

I purchased several charm packs of solids, and arrayed them all out by color family and from dark to light, using several color groupings. There were many duplicate squares, but after I felt I had a good amount, I went to work.

I titled the block Semaphore, but always in the back of my mind while I was working on this quilt was the poem titled “Not Waving, but Drowning,” by Stevie Smith, about a man who gets in trouble while out in the waves. He drowns because people think he was waving, but in reality, he was signaling for help.

I think the half-square triangles look like a series of nautical flags, waving in the wind. I decided to quilt it also in a wavy pattern, but didn’t want a tightly controlled wave.

I wanted those waves loose and lanky, wild and woolly, just like those ones that come up and splat you in the face when you are wave-jumping in summer.

I love the colors in this quilt, and the up and down fluid movement of the quilting. It calls me to remember that our lives, like the ocean, can lift us high, can hit us in the face, can overwhelm (as in Stevie Smith’s poem), yet also can bring a lovely memory of a summer’s day. In a nutshell, it reminds me that life is full of ups and downs, a blend of dark and light. It’s also a reminder that, in spite of what we post on Instagram and Facebook, we all aren’t having tons of fun and radiantly happy all day long. But we also don’t want to be drowning when we are in reality signaling for help. So, take care of your loved ones and friends, and please please…take care of yourself.

And keep quilting.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚

cindyquiltsemaphore — Cindy’s quilt at Quilt Market, using the Semaphore block.

(NOTE: This post has been updated with different content after original publication. It was originally about depression. Thank you all for your comments; I have them saved and will reread them often.)

200 Quilts · Quilts

Illusion of Colors, based on a design by Kevin Umaña

November 17, 2016 Elizabeth E.8 Comments

Illusion of Colors Quilt, #172
24″ square

This was the second of two designs I made using Uppercase Fabrics and designs from artist Kevin Umaña, who now lives in New York City. I first wrote about him when we started our collaboration, and he was a delight to work with and has great punchy graphic designs that translate well to quilts.

I had this pinned up and awaiting quilting for the longest time. You all know that my shoulder has been giving me trouble (wah wah wah) and last week when I went for a 3-month check-up, the doctor said don’t do anything that hurts. Well…sleep hurts. Getting dressed hurts. Sitting quietly can hurt. And then I thought if I can’t do anything that hurts, I may as well suspend myself in green Jello or something. Or, since everything hurts, I’m going to quilt. That night, I finished off Kevin’s great design.

Of course, sitting quietly, sewing on the label hurt my shoulder. (eye roll) So I apply a lot of this:

Brenda thinks I should get a real ice pack, but this seems to work okay. I’m on my second one. And yes, I’m still going through doctor hoops, hoping one day to do stuff without hurting too much. But I will keep quilting, because if I can’t quilt, what can I do? (No need to supply answers).

I’m just happy to have finished up Kevin’s quilt. I’m mailing off to him as a thank you for sharing his designs.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚
My blogging software puts ads here so I can use their site for free.
I do not know about, nor choose, the content, nor do I receive any money from these ads.
˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚