What inspires you??

What inspires you to quilt?? is it the fabric, the person you are creating for? a pattern seen ? a color desired? a need to be fulfilled?? for me I would say that all are true. This past weekend it was a pair of linen/cotton curtains. Strange but true.

On Friday I went yardsaling and for $3 I bought a pair of tan and white striped linen curtains. They were the launching point for me- backers for skirts that I wanted to repurpose into quilts. I loved the print on the fabric yet the skirts that they formed no longer fit. I have deconstructed the skirts and they were awaiting more linen to use to turn them into quilt. This weekend's find was the starting point.

The first quilt I began was made up as I went- I found co-ordinating fabric, measured the stripes, planning to match them front and back and began to cut. After all the wide stripes were cut out I randomly cut lengths and stitched them together. Only then did i realize that I failed to notice that the ruler i was using was a 5" not a6" ruler, so the stripes were 4 3/4 not 5 3/4. Oops. opportunity for design adaption- thus entered the green stripes- I think an improvement.

After finishing this top I thought about how the other linen fabric should be used. I have been enjoying creating geometic based quilts and then softening them with quilting lines, so I decided to do that again. This time I drew up my plan on paper with pencil and markers. Then detailed it on graph paper, measured out the pieces, made a cutting chart and began to construct the squares. In the midst of all this I realized that my main fabric is not of great quality and if I am going to do the work to make this a good quilt I needed to shop for another selection- today's task.

This weekend I was restitching my son's 17 yr old blanket. It has been covered once and is again threadbare- oh that I had vision 17 yrs ago of the love that would be attached to t his gift of love. NOTE- use the best fabric you can, because the quilts may get more attention than you ever can imagine. The difference in the fabric's ability to endure is the starting quality.

Here are some starter pictures of what is in the works.

The power of a quilt

Today a project I worked on brought a friend to tears. She cried as she looked at the quilted shirts that her son had worn, that she had moved time and time again. That she knew were always waiting in the box for the promise to be fulfilled, and yet never was. Today the dream and hope became reality and what a joy it was to be part of the fulfilling of the promise.

What started a few weeks ago as a box of shirts worn and stained yet filled with meaning and memories for this family today began their journey home. As I worked on the quilt I found my excitement grow as I watched it come together and be transformed from useless shirts into two 4 x 4 quilts. Each backed with flannel, soft and cuddly yet fine for display as well. Memories flood back as the family recalls the teams, the father son time spent together.

Today I saw the power of a quilt in action. It is more than fabric and stuffing, more than thread and batting. It is memories to be made or to be recalled. A quilt can tell a story, recall special times and bring comfort as you struggle through times. The fabric can soothe and can comfort. The patterns and color can decorate and enhance.

Today my quilting flame has been fanned, by the response of my friend, by recent affirmations of the skill I have acquired, by the realization of the power of encouragement a quilt can express. What a blessing to help have been part in lifting the burden of an unmet promise, what joy awaits this Mom as she surprises her son with his past, possibly forgotten for the moment, yet how many of them will flood back with the many patches of his quilt.

A quilt- a vehicle of love, caring and encouragement. A way to tell a story, bind memories and affirm another.

My first quilt swap

I have read about quilt swaps but have never found one to participate in. That has changed recently, I saw an announcement for a mini quilt swap. I kind of begged my way in and Recently received the information to begin. The theme is winter so I went to my stash to see what I had to work with and would inspire my cutting and stitching.

From the "striptease" bag that I bought recently I found the colors of a winter storm, snow and forest. It was fun to play with the fabrics and build a landscape. Then I dotted the landscape with trees... the pieces are beginning to come together. I think I originally thought that I would make a traditional quilt but that is not what the fabric spoke, rather it is an art quilt, a machine applique quilt.

As winter seems to wane here in Alabama, with the possibility of snow for the third time within a months' time the beauty of the snow within the house draws me to it. I am not sure that this piece of winter is one that I will rejoice when it passes from our sight. Other parts of the country are still very much in the midst of winter, we had a brief glimpse of spring so we know that soon it shall blow in and winter will be a season of the past.

The quilt is still in progress so the pictures are a bit of a tease of what is in progress.

Just what I needed to meet my need!

I was browsing favorite blogs (www.ohfransson.com) recently when I clicked on the "small projects" link. Up popped pictures and I found the answer to my gapping door issue.

We have an old jelly cupboard - found at a yard sale, lovingly moved and with its age, it has shifted out of square, or more out of square than origianlly. It may not help that my floor is not level or that it is loaded with books and games. It is the offical "school cupboard"- where all my homeschooling and games are held. Most often it has greeted any who enter the house with a wide open door, as it no longer latches.

My answer was found though in this post.
http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2007/10/my-first-tutori.html
A pattern for a quilted door stop- it was fun, functional and looked like it was within my skill set to construct. I started to gather materials and this weekend I made two! My door now has a helper to keep it closed, the world no longer has to look at the mess within.

Elizabeth Hartman does a great job walking folks through the process step by step in her tutorial. I was a bit concerned as I did not have heavy weight wool or denim for the backing/ trim but the quilted cotton seems to be strong enough for the weight of the beans within. I think I will be fine as long as a visiting child does ot decide to open the zipper that allows the beans to escape for a toss in the wash should the stop get dirty. One never knows with 2 or 3yr olds... will keep my eye out for that distraction!

So I am pleased with my newest creation- it has met my need and is pretty too!

Custom shelf cover

I lived with an ugly shelf top for a few years, then one day it occurred to me that I could cover it with a custom quit. It would be thin enough to not cause a problem with the tile, add color and interst and would be washable.

To make this I first took paper and traced the shape that the final quilt would need to be. I then considered what I wanted each side to have on them. The first one was the quilt block embeded in the field of green- I made the block and then added fabric all around, allowing lots of extra to allow for trimming back. the second one I took a cup and drew the circular base (green) for the half circle. I then cut it out of the planning sheet. I then folded the paper on itself until I could not fold it any longer. I then cut out one of the panels, added 1/2" to the sides and used that as a pattern for the design. After cutting out the fabric, I sewed them together and added the half circle (green).

After sandwiching the quilt tops and quilting I cut out the piece to final sizing, and then bound with bias cut binding. Once it was complete I sprayed it with Scottguard to protect its finish.

It now makes a pretty end to the countertop!

Modern Coins

This spring I received a wedding invitation from my daughters childhood friend. When did she grow up? How could she be ready to wed when my daughter is still in the midst of transitioning to womanhood? They are on different tracks, some meander down paths in life, others race and some start, stop, pause and then find their speed. Each is individual to the individual.

This quilt was inspired by a quilt along I stumbled upon while cruising the web. Most I saw posted had colorful borders and dividers. I did not know Alex well but I well remember her favorite teen color- Black. That quickly was chosen for the major color and all the other colors came by way of the scrap bins and what other fabric I had that I thought might suit them. Her family always has had animals so a few animal prints were included as well.

After cutting and piecing the coins I assembled the quilt and then decided to use specialty stitching from my new Pfaff machine to outline the coins. Across each was a fun stitch and around each row of coins I used a theme in keeping with thread color. For blue varigated thread I used snow pattern and waves like oceans. I used a pink varigated thread to stitch many different flower patterns. The blue/red thread was the nod to modern designs and the more linear side of life with geometric patterns. Green was used for branch and leaf patterns. yellow/brown thread was used in stitching sun patterns.

The quilt was backed with a modern black and white block fabric with a hint of gold. this was a good contrast when used in the binding and brought brightness amidst the dark colors.

This was an experimental kind of quilt but the end result was quite pleasing. It was fun to expore mixing many fabrics and seeing them blend together and top it all with fun little patterns that keep the user looking for changes and what comes next in the line of stitching. It is kind of a mix of crazy quilt and coin quilt, hmmm maybe it is a crazy coin quilt.

Hope you enjoy considering how you might add some "craziness" to one of your future quilts.

Potholders for Patriots

I recently visited an old friend, it was a last minute invitation to stay the night by her as we were on our way through her state.

As a quilter I find that I often study a home or person so that I might bless them with handcrafts in the future. That was my inspiration for this project as I was wanting to send a thank you note and gift for her gracious hospitality. She has among her decor many quilts and a framed picture of the White House, I had star fabric- this was the outcome.


These other potholder quilts were from other "scraps" that I played with. They are destined for reunited family and a wife supporting our nation. Ellen's husband has just deployed to Afghanistan, I am hoping that she will be blessed and that it will remind her to pray for him, as I have as I have finished these. Her sister will be happy for pretty quilting to cheer her kitchen.










If you have not made trivets or potholders they are a great way to use up scraps- sewing them together in random ways that suit you. I start with a few ideas, stitching two pieces together and build until I like the size and work. I then layer them with batting, Insul Bright, a heat resistant batting between the topping and backing fabric. After quilting I bind like a normal quilt. This time I got smart and they all received a few shots of scotchguard to give them longer life. They will soon surprise and brighten a few kitchens!

Tis the seaon to stitch

I have sewn for years. For years I said that one day I would quilt. One day... slowly life simplified or my interests changed. One day I realized that the season for beginning to quilt had arrived. I had margin in my life where I could pick up the dream of learning to quilt.

When I lived in North Carolina several years ago my friend Laura started me on my quiliting pathway. She took time to teach, and insist, on good technique and form. She introduced me to the ruler, rotary cutter and going slow. Slow is not my nature, so quilting has been an ongoing exercise in discipline, one that shows my failures in wonky seams and icky stitching. I begain a railfence pattern. Life kept interfering so we did not come to the end of the project when I left NC. She graciously mailed me the instructions and I finished it a year later, on my own.

Since that time I have worked my way through the book that she sent me, learning a few new patterns and experimenting with color and fabrics. I have found that I am in LOVE with color... the choosing, the mixing and the fun of selecting fabrics and surprising myself with the results. I guess I should not be surprised as I am one of a line of artists in the family tree and so it kind of makes sense... but it has been a delight to find such joy in the journey.

In the past few years I have taken over the dining room as my quilting/sewing headquarters and continue to create. I have figured out that to quilt well one must quilt... its an investment of time or $$. I think I have more time than $$ so I do alot of sewing, evaluating and climbing the learning curve. I have found that I can experiment and bless others with my pieces that I see the oops's in and they just see the beauty. A double blessing and it doesnt feel like i am just doing meaningless lesson work in the process.

As I began to need to 'qulit" the quilts I was working on I also found that it was another time vs money deal. For a mere 1K I could buy the wonderful Bernina attachment that would take all the work out of freemotion quilting, but I dont own a Bernina. So, I spent the time and now hours later my stitching seems to be regulating itself on its own. I think it was worth the time invested as I am continuing to be able to quilt my work as I go.

A friend once showed me her stash of tops... they filled a laundry basket and then some... all waiting for the final glory... the quilting. I decided then that i would need to discipline myself to not get too far ahead of my stitching... rather keep quiliting along with the stithcing so I did not end up with UFO's ... things I am well familiar with from sewing clothing that has been cut out but not stitched and is now out of fashion or outgrown.

As I have quilted there have been lessons learned, projects done and joy to be shared. Since I enjoy writing it seemed time to start this blog to share my journey and the creativity of it with others.