The Carpenter's Apprentice

 Dear Readers,

I had another finish this week.  I had a vision to make three quilts for our pastors and have them ready by October for pastor appreciation month.  So I have finished the first one.  I had ideas for our youth minister and our music minister, but more about those when I finish them.  About that time, a class was offered by Jackson Quilters taught by Jonce' Smith on using a Studio 180 Design ruler, the Tucker Trimmer I, to create a carpenter wheel patterned quilt.  I decided that would be the pastor's quilt.  

The quilt went together like a dream.  All my points matched up and I had decided to only put one matching border to float the wheel and not put the points on the edge.  I also had this idea to quilt it with each corner having one of the pastor's favorite verses and each diamond color having the same quilting pattern.  I had decided to put a border about a 1/4 inch in from each seam and quilt a different pattern in each blade.  There were some large squares set on point and some small squares that were straight set.  I also decided each of the large squares would be quilted alike and each of the small squares would also get the their own design.  Each of the setting triangles on the edge would get a different design.  I also decided to try a bit a ruler work on this one as I wanted to build that skill.  That was a bit of a mistake as I really struggle with ruler work.  I have a hard time holding the machine against the ruler or letting the ruler slip a bit.  I was not liking the way some of the "diamond" patterns were coming out as they are not true diamonds.  I decided the center star would have a different pattern.  So once that was decided it went a bit better but still was a struggle.  

So here are a few close ups of the quilting. 

I must at admit the quilting on this was a challenge and it lived on the long arm machine for over a month.  I eventually finished it, and decided that the bobbles with the ruler did not hurt too bad.  I am going to have the church members sign this.  So I haven't written out the label yet.  

Sew on,

Terry

Teamwork is the Dreamwork

 Hi Readers,  

Had a quick quilt turn around.  About two months ago, my son Will gave me a sack of his bowling team tee shirts.  He said he wanted to make a quilt out of them and he wanted us to do it together.  I glanced at it and realized there were not many shirts in there, so I told him it would be a small quilt but sure I was down for that.  So on closer inspection all the shirts have the same logo, but in different colors and the design was more like a wide stripe rather than a square.  

So when Will came for his birthday celebration weekend, I suggested we work on the quilt.  We already had a number of things scheduled...a family get together with my brother and his wife, church, and a dear friend was coming for Sunday dinner and to hang out in the afternoon.  He also helped me repair a part on my long arm, tighten a fixture on my kitchen sink, cleaned my dryer vent and flushed the water heater.  That last one is so important as our water in Winona has a lot of sediment in it.  So we had finished all our jobs and got the shirts out, we pulled my box of solids out and realized we didn't have large enough pieces in the colors he liked to do the quilt.  So we made a quick run to Main Street Fabrics and checked out their solids.  We found two we liked and purchased them then Will took me to get some ice cream and ran back home. 

We cut the shirts open then stabilized the shirts and we had decided to cut them in equal rectangles of 7 x 14 inches.  We were going to do a shadow look to the quilt.  The ones with dark print were going to get dark blue background and the ones with the light print would be put on a light blue back ground.  So we decided to divide and conquer.  I sewed the light background blocks and Will sewed the dark background blocks.  I did the one at the bottom that was half and half.  Since I sew faster,  I assemble rows while he was finishing up.  Saturday we finished the top about 11.  

The label

 In the morning, we prepped the birthday cake and fruit for the get together with my brother and his wife, and did a little bit of cleaning to get ready for our company.  Then off to their house, church and back home to prep Sunday dinner.  About 6 after our friend left, we put the quilt on the long arm and I quilted it with a very open quilting pattern, that we found on urban element that quilts up very quickly.  While I was doing that, Will ironed the binding and got it prepped to go on the quilt.  I finished the quilting about 10 or 10:30, so we decided it was time to call it a night and start fresh in the morning.  Will was planning to leave at 9 so he said don't worry about putting the binding on before he left.  So the next morning I woke up about 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up and put the binding on.  I also pulled some fabrics for a pillow slip.  So after we finished loading his car, we realized I had enough time to make the pillow slip too!  So he was able to take them both home!  

It is going to be a busy week.  So I am headed to bed to start fresh tomorrow.  

Sew on,

Terry