A new Log Pincushion and Cross-Hatch finished!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I did not post,

but I have been very busy.  I meant

to post the photo's. Am

trying to get my home de-cluttered

as well as sewing.  I have some other

photos to show you of the progression

of my new sewing room. It is coming along.

 

It took me 3 days to sew the second half

of the cross - hatching. So all together it

has taken me 6 days to hand quilt the top

with the exception of the border. But I do

need to tell you that sometimes I quilt for

hours before I take a break. It will take you

longer to quilt, if you stop and start a lot.

When I hand quilt, I always listen

to music or watch a movie that I

have previously watched before. This

way I do not become engrossed in

a new movie where it steals my attention

away from my stitching.

 

My main goal was to see how long it

would take me to hand quilt a

quilt without a frame, if I needed

a quilt really fast! I am hoping to

spend only a total of 2 weeks on this

quilt. So I am pleased with my progress

at this point.

This quilt is a twin so I am sure it would

have taken me longer if the quilt was

much bigger.

 

However the more I plied the needle, the

straighter my lines got. You can see this

in some of the pixs.

 

After I finished hand quilting - I had to make

me a better needle holder. The tomato pincushion

did not work anymore. I tried a square pincushion,

but that did not work either. I needed a pincushion

that was long so I made a LOG PINCUSHION.

This log when not in use will be stored with

my quilting supplies. Now, I can

thread 20 or more needles and stick them in the

Log ready to be used. When you keep your needles

threaded - you can fly with that stitching!

At least I felt like I was! Perhaps my sewing machine

witch cover had something to do with it. She keeps

looking at me!! Hehehe

 

Anyway, the log is made from a quilted pillow sham.

I swear - I will cut up most anything. Nothing is

sacred around me!

The log pincushion is 3inches X 11 inches long. It

is stuffed very hard. I definitely did not want my

fingers to get pricked on the bottom side if I choose

to pick this log up. The log is almost 2 inches thick.

I am enjoying this blue log!

 

I believe that the more you stitch the straighter your

lines are. However do not take a break too long from your

stitching or you would have to start over again.

If you find yourself having to start over again after a

couple of days, then your stitches might not be as straight

as they were before.

 

I forgot to take photo's of the back, but it is

straight and even which pleases me.

It is getting time take the safety pins out so I can

stitch the borders. I guess I will cross hatch them

also. Hopefully that goes quickly.

 

At my home - we eat black eyed peas and ham hocks

all day on the 1st. Tradition is the more of them you

eat the more money you make! Of course we are

still looking for that money! Haven't seen it yet!

Perhaps we did not eat enough. Heheheh

 

Happy New Year!!

 

Thanks for visiting me!

Hopblogger

 



Half of the Cross-Hatch quilting finished!

Hello Ya'll

 

Hope your Christmas was a

Merry one!

 

Well, it took me 3 days to finish half of the

cross-hatch quilting design. I did not quilt

any on Christmas Day. As you can tell from

the photo's, I did not mark any of the quilt.

Some of my lines are a little wavy but it

is not a big deal. Vintage quilts show some

wavy lines also from their makers. The

quilting is half of the vintage quilts charm

appeal.

I think that I can safely say that some

quilts can take a while to hand quilt while

others do not.

 

I forgot to mention on the last post the

size of this quilt. The sheet says twin size.

72 inches X 104 inches. The vintage sheet

is Cannon's Monticello sheet. It is beautiful!

 

As I worked I stuck a safety pin on every

age spot that I saw. There are 5 squares

that have age spots on them.

 

I need to also mention that all of my blocks

are cotton. The large greenish squares are

half cotton and half poly.

The Vintage sheet is half cotton and half

poly.

After 20 years of storage there are

not any age spots on any of the fabric that is

half poly. I have found a new respect for

fabric being half poly.

I am hoping that once I wash this quilt that

the age spots will come out of the cotton.

 

I have not yet quilted the green borders or the

muslin borders.

 

I am estimating that it will probably take me

at least another 3 days to finish the second half of

this cross hatch design and perhaps another 2

or 3 days to finish the borders

before I can bind it.

 

 

One of the blocks with a safety pin showing an

age spot on the cotton. Where the safety pin is, can

you tell the blue square that has a joined seam. Many

of the blocks in this quilt has squares that have

seams. Not in this quilt but most of the time, when

I cut out a square from a shirt, I include darts or back

seams. It adds to the charm.

 

A beautiful vintage sheet - white and bright with no

 stains or age spots.

 

Well, I gotta go so I can quilt some more. Gotta

get busy!

 

Thank you for visiting me!

Take care and may

God keep you safe and out of harm's way!

 

Hopblogger

 

Started Back Quilting!

Hello Everyone! Christmas is soon

upon us - I hope you are ready!

 

While straightening up my garage a couple

of months ago - I came across 3 quilts tops

all ready to hand stitch. So I will be stitching them up!

I did not take the other 2 quilt tops out of

the bin so I do not know what condition

they are in. The first quilt I looked at

was this 9-Patch.

Believe me when I tell

you they had been in my garage for at least 13

years!  And stored an additional 7 years

before that!!! These quilts (not included

the quilts in my attic, were all

cut and sewed together back in

the early 90's when we were living in

Oklahoma.  I hope to get around to

hand stitching them as they have waited

long enough.

However, time sure does fly by fast! I sure did not realize

that it had been that long.

 

Anyway this 20 year old quilt top that you are about to

see is finally getting hand stitched. You will

see safety pins all in my quilt tops. I have never

basted a quilt to its backing. Not only have I been

lazy at that but I never wanted to waste thread.

 

With my quilts I never waste anything. When I get tired

of seeing the same ole piece of scrap around, then I

donate them to someone else. But I have not quilted in

a long time so I have not had anything to

donate. Last year I got tired of having so much

clutter so I donated to the Library 180 quilt books.

It took me many years to collect them. I only kept about

a shelf full for myself.

 

In my quilts I use anything that I can get my

hands on. The dust ruffles that you use on the beds

is one of my favorites to buy. I particularly look for

them at thrift stores. If the inside part that goes under the

mattresses is a little holy - it is okay with me!! Cause I use that

part for the foundations on all of my string quilts. On most of

these string quilts, I do not even put batting in between.

I just tie them.

Also I have always used sheets for my quilt backings.

 

Back then I was able to find sheets for 50 cents each.

It did not matter to me if it was fitted or flat. But I

did like to get as many flat sheets as possible. I always

used the fitted sheets for sashing's between blocks.

So in my attic I know there are at least a couple of big

bins full of white cotton sheets to be used as backings. 

I am what I call a 'thrifty quilter'. I have been

shopping at thrift stores since I was first married.

And I love it. I wash all the clothes very good

and the best part of this is - I do not have to

worry about anything shrinking!! Cause it has

already been shrunk by other good people.

 

I am a Traditional quilter, I think. I love the old patterns

and I never stray from white or cream colored quilting

thread. My tomato pincushion holds at least 8

threaded needles at one given time, ready for use. Time

to get the pincushion ready.

 

Anyway, as you can see my quilt top is full of safety pins. I

used to have quilting frames in the early years but the last time

that I owned a quilting frame was 1980. I got

tired of them breaking every time we moved.  So then I

decided that I should just stitch them the way women

back then stitched them. And I have hand quilted this

way ever since then. 

 

But what is new with me on this quilt that I will be

hand stitching is, this will be the first time that I have

not marked the quilt top. It has been 20 years since

I have quilted so I will be rusty!!

So I am not going to mark the top - just hand stitch!

I will be doing the cross-hatch.

 

When I checked this quilt top - I was amazed to see

that it was in surprisingly great shape!! The sheet

backing has not yellowed. The cream squares

look great! My pins did not rust or

leave any marks in my fabrics, however, there is an age

mark on one of the green squares. I will put a

safety pin here to help mark the spot to treat in

the washer once I finish quilting.  I am surprised

that there is not anything else wrong with it!!

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about women of long

ago that quilted. I am not an expert but I do

not believe that every woman owned a quilting frame.

Nor do I believe that every woman participated

in a quilting bee. I think that some women

sat in a rocker or at the kitchen table and quilted.

One of my grandmothers had 5 daughters. Her

daughters cleaned, washed clothes along with

other chores. My grandmother

cooked 3 meals a day. She also sewed clothes and

made quilts. She never had a quilting frame and with

10 children she never had time for a quilting bee.

 

I have spread this quilt out on a table. There are piles of sheets

and clothes at the back to help hold it up. I will be quilting

this way because I get hot very easy now and this way

it helps to keep the quilt off of me. For many

years I quilted while watching television on the

couch or a chair. This was when I was cold natured,

which that is not the case now.

 

I want to see how long it takes for me to hand stitch

this quilt top if I work on it every day without it being

marked. I want to see about how many weeks it

will take to stitch the entire top with the

exception of the binding.

 

 I am sure that my stitches will not all be

straight or even but this does not bother me. This will

be the first quilt that I have hand quilted that

will have cross hatch quilting on it. If cross hatch

quilting turns out to be fast then I will be stitching

many quilts with this pattern.

 

I will start my quilting tonight and take pictures

of my progress. Here is the 9-patch quilt that I

will be hand quilting.

 

A close up of one of the blocks.

 

The rose backing is already pinned to the top along the muslin

border. It was always easier for me to quilt like this.

I can tell that the batting is thin. It is still a crisp white!

How did I manage this?? It has been safety pinned

like this for 20 years.

 

I always loved this sheet that is why I pared these

two together.

 

 I know that I have another quilt top that has this

same sheet as a backing already pinned together

also. I do remember these sheets costing me 50 cents

each. Today if you can find this sheet, it will

probably cost you. But I think that I might look on the

net. Look how white it still is. The sheet has held

up better than the fabric when you think about it.

 

Thanks for visiting me!! Come again!

 

Hopblogger



What to do with Batterberg lace table runners!

Are you ready for Christmas!

I am still working on it. Also still

working on moving furniture.

Yes - we are slow, but the furniture

is heavy!

 

Anyway I feel like it is Christmas

already!!

 

I have been opening up boxes and going

through them. Time to purge some things.

When you sew and do a number of

different crafts, it gets hard to get

rid of anything cause you might need

it for something. Things such as

little hats or glasses that belongs

to dolls. Or crochet thread even

though I do not crochet - I do use

this thread to tie my quilts with.

The crochet thread also comes

in handy for making large

basting stitches on just

about anything. Well I have talked myself

into keeping the crochet thread.

Woe is me!

 

I did stop some to make these

sidelight curtains. I figured that

it is about time to make a pair.

 

I used 2 Battenberg lace table runners that

were just setting around in a box.

Truthfully I have had them for eons.

I also used a small amount of

white linen.

I hemmed the sides and the bottom

of both pieces of linen. I hemmed only

enough at the top to slip some wire

through.  Then I merely sewed the

Battenberg lace onto the linen.

The wire rests on 2 small

nails located at the top of the windows.

 

This was super fast and easy! And when
I no longer want to use these table
runners as curtains, then I can just
take the stitching out.

I guess they make some small curtain
rods for these sidelight windows, but
they would be bulky. I like the look
where you know something is holding
the curtains up - but you ask, how did
you do that!

 

Now, I really do like my window sidelights!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

Thank you for visiting me.

Hopblogger

 



TINY DiNiNG SPACE

Hello Everyone! I sure do hope

that you all had a wonderful

Thanksgiving!!

 

Thanksgiving  threw me behind on trying

to get our home back in order.

My house was

in shambles. It still is! The view is from my

front hall.

Here is my dining room table and chairs in my

breakfast area. I am surprised that it looks this

good. It is really big, perhaps too big for the

space. But I do love the look of using a

tablecloth in here. If the cramping

here gets to where I cannot stand it any longer,

then I will just have to swap with

my daughter Jan for a smaller table. The

only good thing about using a smaller table

in this space is there is not a cramped feeling.

The upsize of using a larger table is you

can seat more guest. Now 6 people can

dine with me. You know, I got tired of having

a room just sitting there empty all year only to be

used twice a year. Time to get

rid of the purple vase of flowers that

stayed on this table when it was in

the green room.

When my rooms get finished moving

around then I hope to take the

table cloth off and display the glass

table top like I have always done

with this set.

 

When I grew up we never

had any formal rooms. All of the rooms were

used and they had their functions. My

Mother had a large table in the dining space

right there in the kitchen. Of course

we had a lazy Susan on that table.

Back then, we did not  have any of the amenities

that we have today. There were not any

computers or un-necessary toys to add clutter.

Nothing was laying around. Her bedrooms

held the bed, night stand and only one dresser

that was shared by 2 children in each room.

My parents raised 7 children in her small

home. My Mother cleaned so much that

she cleaned the color right off of the tile.

Hehehe

My Mother did not sew or craft, so her home

was easy to clean and to keep clean. She was

an island girl and we lived by the beach.

Ahhhh memories!

 

Anyway someday I hope to be able to reduce the

clutter in my home. However majority of it is

in my sewing/craft room. In a few weeks I will

show you that room.

 

Okay back to the breakfast room.

Next year I hope

to re-paint the walls along with my cabinets

to a creamy white.  We need to lay down new

flooring, to a neutral color. Only cosmetics

need to be done in here. Nothing major.

By moving furniture around or getting rid of outdated

things - it kind of feels like you are getting something new!

I hope you like my tiny space!

 

Come back and visit me again

Hopblogger