Throwback Thursday; Joy-Getch Sampler II

I posted a picture of this quilt a long time ago on here, but the photo wasn't very good, so here is a better shot. I completed the quilt in 2002, it was an ugly fabric block swap between Susan Getchell and myself. I hand quilted most of it, but then thought I'd never finish, so I machine quilted the rest. The quilt was dirty because I hand quilted it while we were camping, it needed to be washed after it was completed. Much to my dismay, the red colour ran out of one of the fabrics onto the light coloured background. I tried everything to get the colour out but nothing worked. I ended up doing some appliqué, embroidery and embellishments to disguise some of it. I guess it doesn't look too bad now. I'm trying to take better pictures of some of the quilts that I still have. I never used to have a photo backdrop frame to hang them up on, so they were draped over things or laid out on the floor. Also, I used to have a terrible Minolta film camera that had a wonky viewfinder. It was impossible to centre the image with that thing. I take pictures of my quilts so there is documentation- after I'm dead and gone, people will know what I did with my life. :)

Throwback Thursday; Hand Knit Mitts From Finland

Many years ago, some relatives on my dad's side of the family came from Finland to visit. They brought two pairs of hand knit mitts for a gift for my parents. I didn't know anything about these mitts, years later Mom pulled them out of her drawer, gave the black background ones to me and white background ones to my sister. I think they're too lovely to wear, I like to take them out and admire them once in awhile. A lot of skill went into knitting these mitts, I sure wouldn't be able to do it!

Just a Few More Rows to Go

I've been working on this quilt top for the past week. I started it in the spring and posted a picture after a few rows were together. The post was titled "Sidetracked Again". Now there are just a few more rows to go, then the top will be finished, I'm not going to put a border on it. I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt it yet, maybe diagonal lines? All over pattern? I'll have to think about it for awhile.

Throwback Thursday; The Tale of Two Bedspreads

In the early 80s, I was visiting someone and saw a nice crocheted bedspread that she had made from store string. I asked where she bought the string, she told me it was a little Mom and Pop grocery store named "Bill and Dell's". I went to that store and bought a big cone of the string, they said I order more if I needed to. I ended up making a different crocheted pattern than the one that was at my friend's house, I think I found it in a magazine. It took me a year to crochet the bedspread, then I put it on the spare bed. I went to visit my mom in Alberta and she showed me something that her older sister had given to her. It was a crocheted bedspread almost the same as the one I made. My grandmother died when my mom and her twin sister were only 11 years old. She intended to make a crocheted bedspread for each of the girls in the family, but became ill and couldn't make one for the youngest girls. Aunt Nelly gave the one she had to my mom. The two bedspreads are very similar, which is strange because I never met my grandmother and didn't know she crocheted. My mom passed away 5 years ago, I ended up with my grandmother's bedspread, which is now close to 100 years old. It has a little tear in it which can be repaired, otherwise it's in great shape. Hers has fringe on the edges and mine doesn't.

My popcorn stitch crocheted bedspread.

My grandmother's popcorn stitch crocheted bedspread

Finished in the Nick of Time

I just finished sewing the label on this quilt, the baby shower is tonight. The quilt top was made by Lynda Balas a long time ago when I had a quilt shop. I had ordered a whole line of fabrics that I liked, named Tiny Town, by Max and Nobie for Moda but they sat there in the shop and nobody bought them. Lynda was looking after the shop while I was on vacation one time and made this quilt top as a sample to show what could be done with these cute prints. The top sat in my stockpile until the past week, when I needed to make a gift. I quilted it, now it's done- yay! I kept all those bolts of fabric and continue to use them for baby quilts. I wasn't too excited about the free motion quilting design I did, but overall, I guess it looks ok.

Throwback Thursday; "Stained Glass"

In 1987 when I was first learning to quilt, I made this little wall quilt. A lady in our guild taught us how to do the technique. It's all sewn by hand, then hand quilted. At the time, there was no place to buy 100% cotton fabric around here, so I had to use polycotton.

Well, I Tried

You would think quilting random loops would be rather simple- wrong. I thought the design I noticed on a paper napkin would be so easy. Instead of doodling on a piece of paper first, I jumped right in and started quilting, fast and furiously. I found that there's no way that I can make nice big and even loops, mine are all different sizes. This baby quilt is definitely not going to be an heirloom, it'll be put on the floor for the baby to crawl on. I have to accept that whatever ideas I have in my head don't necessarily work when I try to apply them. The colour of this quilt backing is actually a light lime green, the lighting in my house tonight is dull. The good news is, I'll be able to get the quilt finished by Monday's deadline, it's about three quarters quilted.

OK, That'll Work

I have to come up with a gift in a hurry, I didn't know the baby shower was going to be so soon. There's a baby quilt top in my stockpile, so I got a backing ready, then I pin basted it last night. I was trying to think of a quilting design that would be simple so that it could be finished on time. I tend to do too much quilting and it ends up being very time consuming. I looked in a few books and online, but couldn't decide on a quilting design. When I was eating my supper tonight, I noticed the napkin that I used, there was a nice design on it- three loops this way,turn, three loops that way, etc. Thank you, napkin designer, those loops are going to go on the quilt. And no, I'm not going to fill in between with micro-stippling. :)