Cornerstone

 Dear Readers,

I had another finish.  Will and I named it Cornerstone.  Jackson Quilters asks that each quilter create one quilt for charity or quilts of valor each year.  Our last meeting of the year is in less than two weeks and I finally got around to finishing my charity quilt.  I made one last year out of some 6 inch squares I had gotten in a civil war fabric block exchange years ago, but had forgotten about.  I had a bunch more of those left, so I decided to make another one out of those blocks.  I did them like a disappearing 9 patch but then decided to do a straight block setting.  So I made a finishing row of sashing and blocks for the top and bottom added a border and was done.  I did a simple swirl for the quilting.  I originally made some binding out of the cornerstone block fabric, but I hated it with the backings so I took it off and made a brown binding.  

Jackson Quilters donates a lot of charity and Quilts of Valor quilts.  They give to the children's hospital  

and other goups in the Jackson area. 

Sew on, 

Terry

van Dyke's Joyful, Joyful

 Hey Readers,

Another finish!!  This is the third one, it is for the minister of music.  The pattern is called Piano Quilt by WANAQLT I just want to Quilt!  Here is a link to her Etsy store.  My quilt is  62 x 70 because I added a border.  This quilt is for James and he loves a toe tapping tune so I thought the Name van Dyke's Joyful Joyful was the perfect name.  Decided on Psalms 100:2.  Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!  

I was using mostly blacks and if I could find it blacks with music prints.  Did the same with the lights.  I loved the look of it.  I really struggled with the quilting.  It was really hard to do a pantagraph with a long straight line.  Feel like it looks like it was done by a kindergartner!  

The back I used some of my leftover wide strips to go on either side of the signing bar.  Still have a lot left.  I am going to give some to Dorinda who tries to put a bit of music fabric in each of her quilts.  

Now to try to get everyone to sign them without the pastors finding out!!

Sew on,

Terry

Tool Tote

 Hey Readers,

Just before I went to my last quilt retreat, I made a tool tote.  I have decided I wanted to fix a bag, with all the tools I need at retreat, so I wouldn't get without something and then have to try to buy that tool.  

So I got out my basket of Tula Pink fabrics and picked out of them to make this bag.  

I made the seam at the top a little to tight to get the stays in, so I loaded it up and went on with it like that, but now that I am home, I removed that row of stitching and put in one at the appropriate distance and inserted the stays, once they were in, I added the tabs at the ends of the zippers to finish it off.  

Here is the finished tote.  It is designed by Penny Sturges and is published by Quilts Illustrated.  I purchased the pattern at Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborourgh, TN but it was a year ago, so I am not sure if they still have them.  

Here are the finished photos.

Sew on,

Terry

Ring True

 Hey Readers,

Hope all are well and particularly my readers that were in the path of Helene.  We are praying for you, I was in Augusta when the storm hit and the devastation is wide and heavy.  It will be a long recovery period.  I haven't been able to reach my brother, his wife or their (grown) kids.  Please pray that they are all OK.   

So, back to quilting...I made another cowbell quilt. Naming this one Ring True.  This is the second of the three I am making for our ministers.   I took Lauren's suggestion and made it with a khaki colored background.  I like it too.  Not sure which I like better.  

This one is for Charlie and Nancy Parkerson, as he is our youth minister.  That being said he has changed my life too.  He used to be the principal at Winona High and gave me a job, when I was ready to walk away from education.  I really enjoyed my 10 years at Winona High.  He was a wonderful principal.  He loved his students and staff.  I always felt supported and backed with Charlie in charge.  After his career in education he was called to be a youth minister.  He has been knocking it out of the park on that too.  He and Nancy are always opening their home to the kids and taking them on lots of trips.  They have definitely made a big impact on the students lives.  Charlie also took the old folks under his wing and has driven us to plays, luncheons and hosts an exercise group twice a week.  Also leads a bible study for adults to read the bible through in a year.  

I am going to have the youth the and church members sign the back.  The scripture is going to be Pslams 33:4 For the word of Lord is right and true, his faithful in all he does. I was going to put a second verse to that is 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 For you know how, like a father with his children, And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it.  

I quilted it with a baptist fan pattern, I thought that was fun to use for a baptist minister!

If you are interested in reading about how to make one these for yourself check out the instructions I wrote on the first one I made... it is called More Cowbells and was published August 2023.  Here is a link to that post.  

Be safe out there.

Sew on,

Terry 

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

The Lab

 Dear Readers,

A few years ago, I saw a pattern called Potions by Flying Parrot Quilts.  When I saw it, I immediately thought of my school bestie, Rochelle who taught Chemistry and Physics.  Well life went on and earlier this year, Rochelle was contemplating retirement, so I figured I better get it together and make that quilt, so I bought the background fabric and shelf fabric and kitted up all the test tubes, flasks and beakers.  When I went to Sue's for craft week in January,  I made about 6-8 test tubes.  When I got home, I quilted up the quilt top we had made for Sue's new grand and also finished a mini-quilt.  Once I got those done, I picked back up on The Lab.   I finished the top and got the back ready, but then was out of town for 3 different trips and I was having trouble wrapping my brain around how to quilt it.  

I knew immediately that I was going to do some kind of woodgrain on the shelves.  So then I watched how Angela Walters quilted Tula Pink's quilt where she did vials of potions in a more random design.  That gave me some inspiration to get started.  While I am no Angela Walters, her quilting was definitely the inspiration for what I did.  Here is a picture of Angela with Tula's quilt.  

I just used scrap fabrics for the contents of the vials and I tried to do something a little different on each of those.  Here are some close ups of the quilting.  

I really pushed myself on the quilting.  I see lots of places to improve, but it was definitely a step forward.  

I put Chemisty fabric on the back with green strips because I knew Rochelle was not afraid of color.  So here is a picture of the back and the label.

zoom in to see the quilting.  The vials were done in white thread and the background in a light orange.  

I gave it to her last week, she was thrilled!  So fun!

Sew on,

Terry