Earth Day - April 22

It's nice to have a designated day to remind us of our imprint on the Earth.  Today people are more aware of caring for our surroundings than when I was a child.  With the creation of Earth Day in 1970 it has educated us to be better stewards.  But not just on Earth Day, we are reminded daily to recycle,  reuse and repurpose.

With recycle, reuse and repurpose in mind I have been aware to do my part.  I have made numerous blue jean quilts over the past 20 years.   I've lost count on how many blue jean quilts I have made for friends and family members.  Since friends and family know I recycle their cast off blue jeans into quilts I have gladly become the dumping ground for blue jeans that would have been tossed in the garbage.  Presently I have a couple large garbage bags full waiting for their new life.

Mostly I have made rag blue jean quilts, which are pretty simple to make.  It's a good beginner quilt project - denim squares and flannel squares sewn together and no is batting necessary.  Snipping the ends to help the denim to fray is time consuming, but to save time and to keep from getting "blisters on my fingers"  I've learned to snip the ends as they are sewn together.

Here is my first blue jean quilt made over 20 years ago.  It has been well used and broken in perfectly.  It's still a favorite.

I've made these quilts in several variations - single layer and double layer flannel backing, quilting each individual square, and cut out designs on some of the squares.  I pick a theme with the flannel backing to match the person receiving the quilt.   I've made a couple of these quilts with orange flannel backing for the Detroit Tigers fans.  My brother-in-law is a huge Michigan fan so of course his quilt was made in maize and blue.  I even went one step further and cut out "M"s throughout the front of the quilt.  When doing cutouts I sew around the area that I cut out.  Experimenting with cutouts on denim quilts I realized I needed an extra piece of denim behind where the flannel is exposed - otherwise it is very thin in the cutout area and can wear through the quilt quickly.

My first blue jean quilt with cutout squares showing the same flannel as the backing.  In the cutout square there is an extra piece of flannel facing the front.   If you sandwich a pice of denim between the flannel it keeps this area from being too thin.

My youngest son was into Guitar Hero, so when I found flannel that had skulls and guitars I knew it was  perfect for him.  The possibilities are unlimited.

This quilt I sewed and "X" through all the layers.  Adding an extra piece of flannel to each square adds more color in the frayed areas and makes it a little more puffy.

Everyone who has received one of these blue jean quilts loves the weight - they drape nicely over your body/lap and are nice and warm.  Unfortunately, I only have a couple pictures of blue jean quilts to share, but you can certainly get the main idea of how they have evolved.

Speaking of recycling blue jeans - in an earlier post I made beautiful denim pillows from old blue jeans.  I have other ideas for repurposing these jeans, but for now those garbage bags of jeans are part of my stash.

I love the quality of denim from blue jeans.  I've purchased some beautiful woven rugs from an elder couple who live in a nearby town.  This couple owns a wooden antique weaving loom that is over 100 years old to make these rugs.  I don't think you can ever wear these rugs out.    I love these rugs. I've done weaving before, possibly I'll start weaving my own blue jean rugs.  I'll jot this down on my to-do-list :)

Spring babies

Now that spring is finally here we will begin to see those darling little spotted fawns with their mothers and turkeys with their flock of chicks.  In fact, all around us we will see natures birth, from the trees and flowers to the animals and birds.  As wonderful as this season is the danger of wild animals and their offspring keep me on alert.   Just outside my family room window we have a mother and her three cubs eating our bird seed.  Those cubs are darling running around and wrestling, but the bird feeder will have to come down to discourage mom's return.

I was thinking back to all the baby quilts that I made and gave to welcome a new child.  My first baby quilt I made was in 1982 while waiting for the birth of my first child - David Michael Golnick.  He was born on February 9, 1983. Not knowing if I was having a boy or girl, I sewed away using colored fabric that could go either way.

The puppy dog pattern for this quilt came in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. That magazine always had great ideas and patterns for the do-it-yourselfer.  This was my first attempt at hand appliqué and took many months to finish before the baby was born.

This baby quilt fit perfectly on the crib

The quilt is still in good shape - no holes  or worn spots.  I'm hoping someday that David will be a father and I will hand this quilt over to his new family.

So some time went by until I made a gifted baby quilt.  In fact, over 20 years.

I was given many beautiful afghans and quilts with the birth of each of my children.  They stayed in pretty good shape because they were small and outgrown early.  When it came time for me to make a baby quilt, I decided that I wanted them to be big enough so that it could be dragged around and worn out by that child.  So begins my so called "baby quilts".  The ladies in my quilting guild laugh when they see I'm making another baby quilt - they are more like twin bed size.

As my children grew and graduated from high school and went off to college, their close friends started getting married and having babies.  Since I know their friends I decided that I would make a baby quilt for their first born.

Sarah's friend Cassie was the first to have a baby in 2013.  I bought a panel printed fabric with a tree and an owl designed by Sandy Gervais  (my mother's maiden last name is Gervais and I wonder if she is any relation).  I framed the panel with a coordinating stripe fabric and quilted it on my regular sewing machine making a leaf pattern on the tree and outlining the figures.  It came out cute.  Cassie had a boy, Hayzen Ross.  She loved the quilt so much that it was used as a wall hanging in the baby's bedroom.   She also had his first pictures taken with that quilt.   I forgot to take a photo of the quilt before I gave it to her, so here is the quilt in the photo of Hayzen.  Unfortunately, not all the quilt is in the picture, but this photo was taken of Hayden not my quilt :)

I have more baby quilts to share, but I'll include them in a future post.

Block of the Month

Lucky 13?  Well completing this UFO Block of the Month quilt, or in quilting lingo - BOM, had a challenge with every block.
A  few years back a local quilt shop offered this quilt as a kit.  Each month I received directions and the fabric to make two blocks.  I must say that they did a great job with the fabric coordination.  There are fabrics I would never have picked to coordinate with these blocks, but their selection blended beautifully.  I love the nice rich tones.
Some of the techniques for assembling these blocks were very different.  I remember one square called loosey goosey.   It was a technique for making a flying geese by folding fabric.  With crazy names like loosey goosey it made it even more fun.  I added the dark brown border to the quilt after it was done.  Remember I like my quilts bigger.
This week as I quilted this quilt I found that these folded fabrics were extremely hard to sew over without catching the fabric and curling it over.  I ended up using scotch tape to lay over the open folds of  fabric and my machine glided right over.  Afterward it was very easy just to pull the tape off.

Do you put your name on your quilts?  With all the great stitches that our sewing machines offer these days, mine also sew alphabet letters.   I do not have an embroidery machine, but I do have a few basic fonts.  I decided that it would be good to add my name to my quilts using these fonts.  If I know the exact year it was made I also include the year.   

Once I prepare my binding and iron it in half,  I sew my name on the binding before it is attached to the quilt.  I keep the sewn name side to the back of my quilts.  I guess I could also sew my name to the backing, but it is a little harder to figure out where to place it before it is quilted and once its quilted it's too late to add.

Now I just have to remember to sew my name on the binding before attaching it.

This time when I attached the binding on this quilt I used my walking foot.  I've owned a walking foot for years and with each of my three sewing machines ago, but only used it when I was machine quilting - which wasn't very often.  After reading so much about the "walking foot" I decided to give it a try with the binding.  Wow, what a difference that foot made.  I've always pinned my binding to the quilt first and than would sew it on.  Needless to say I would always end up with a good five inches more binding than what I originally pinned on.  With the walking foot the top binding fabric didn't move and my binding was exactly how I pinned it.

Walking feet are a little pricey, but I think it's a great investment.  You get nickel dimed with all these sewing gadgets and sometimes not even use what you bought.  However, I think you'll get your monies worth with this foot.  For now on, I will always use my walking foot to attach and sew on my bindings.

Spring has sprung?

Easter is a week away.  Today I was filling Easter baskets, planting seeds indoors and decorating the house with some spring touches.   I no sooner got done and look what Mother Nature has tossed my way.  It's almost a white out.  Just a few minutes ago there was no snow.   Will spring ever make its way to my neck of the woods?

While unpacking some of my spring decor I decided to put this nice bright runner on my table.  I made this runner a few years back.  I especially love the prairie points running along the sides.  It was my first attempt to make prairie points and it was very easy.  You space the prairie points as close or far apart as you would like to fill in the space.  

Making table runners is a quick and easy way to learn a new technique without committing to a whole quilt.  Table runners are also a good way to practice and learn how to quilt your own quilts.  This was the first time I attempted to quilt straight (well sort of straight) lines. 

None of your beeswax

Well, the post really doesn't have much to do about "none of your beeswax".
I was using up more scrap fabric making beeswax wraps for food.  I chuckled while making these wraps "none of your beeswax" came to mind.
I remember as a kid in the 50s and 60s hearing "none of your beeswax".  I don't remember who I heard it from, if it was from my parents, grandparents, teachers, babysitters, friends or all of the above.  But I did know that it meant, mind your own business.
Where did such a strange saying come from?  Well,  thankfully the internet has a wealth of information including the definition of "none of your beeswax", well sorta.
 According to Wikipedia: In the 1930s, a slang version rendered the saying as "Mind your own beeswax".  It is meant to soften the force of the retort.  Folk etymology has it that this idiom was used in the colonial period when women would sit by the fireplace making candles together, though there are many other theories.
Now back to business. Making beeswax wraps replaces the use of plastic wrap and bags.  Also, beeswax is a natural antibacterial product.  What a great way to wrap up your lunch.  As an avid recycler I think these are a grand idea.
I searched the internet and found an easy technique to make these wraps.  I preferred the brush the melted wax on the fabric technique verses melting the wax in the oven and dipping the fabric.  With just three ingredients melted together: 1cup natural beeswax, 1/4 cup tree resin and 2 tablespoons of jojoba oil, I was whipping up these wraps in no time.
I've made a few wraps for each of my kids to include in their Easter baskets.  They'll be the final judges if these wraps are such a grand idea.

Beeswax food wraps

More hearts

In January 2018 I posted the matching heart quilt (Don't you want somebody to love).  Well today I am expanding on this quilt post with the finish of UFO number 12.  What would you do with leftover blocks?  Well more heart blocks can make great matching pillows.
As you can see, I had quite a few extra heart blocks to create two ruffled pillow shams and a 20 inch square double sided throw pillow.  The pillow shams have a fold-over back to easily insert bed-size pillows.  The throw pillow has a zipper on the bottom to insert a pillow form.  Having an opening for the throw pillow will make it easier for washing.

I can visualize these pillows with the heart quilt in an adorable girls room.

My UFOs are dwindling down, but still more to go.  As I moved my sewing stuff from totes in the basement to my upstairs studio I purposely didn't leave a space for UFOs - after all, they are all going to be completed.  Right? My mission - No UFOs!  Once I get caught up finishing these quilts my plan is to finish each quilt completely - no more UFO piles.  So far my plan is working wonderfully. I have  the time, tools and confidence for this mission.  I'm feeling good and a great weight is being lifted off my shoulders as I'm working my way down the pile of quilts.  Most of these quilts even have the backing material folded with them making no excuse not to finish them up.
Still not counting how many more quilts are in the pile - it's time to load another quilt on my long arm.  I do think I should count how many I have completed from this pile.

The Dresden plate

The Dresden plate block is a beauty.  Creating this quilt was a great challenge - piecing and appliquéing - lots of corners to sew around.  The appliquéing was done with the blanket stitch by machine, but the edges were turned with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Unless my appliqué is a wall hanging I prefer to turn the edges to avoid raveling with the wear and washing of quilts.
Quilting it was a challenge too.  Feeling more confident to try different designs on my long arm quilting machine I decided to quilt a separate design in the borders of the Dresden plates and the outside border. I watched a Utube with Angela Walters demonstrating how to quilt a continuous leaf design - this worked good for me to apply to the borders.  I am very pleased with the final result and will use this design in the future and I've just completed UFO number 11.

Dresden plate block

No scrap left behind

Pulling this quilt from my UFO pile made me chuckle.  I'm a big recycler, repurposer and composter - this definitely applies to my quilting too.  I hate throwing things away or wasting things.  I even find great pleasure in being able to use a pencil or a pen until it doesn't write anymore - which doesn't happen often.  This flannel quilt is a perfect example.  This quilt is made up of left over blocks and fabrics from a previous flannel quilt that I made as a Christmas present for my older son a few years back called The Fireside Flannel Quilt.
I don't follow quilt patterns to the tee, I expand the design to fit my purpose.  Of course during this process I end up making more blocks than what I need.  Since I'm not sure how big the finish quilt will be I end up purchasing more fabric than what is called for.   Fabric buying is all a guesstimate.  Most of the time I purchase too much fabric, but sometimes I desperately try to find more of a certain fabric to finish a quilt.  Looking through my quilts you will see the same fabric in two or three different quilts - sometimes a lot of a fabric or other times just a few squares.
Although the outside blocks are the same as the original quilt - the center is very different.  In fact, when I unfolded this quilt I forgot how I inserted the middle block with no seams in the background fabric - which would be a traditional way to sew this.  Looking on the back of this quilt it looks like I folded the background fabric in fours to find the center and the four corners to insert the square block.  I then drew a square the same size as the block to be inserted in this area and measured a 1/4 inch seam allow inside the square and cut it out.  I preceded to sew the square in this hole leaving the 1/4 inch seam allowance at each corner so I could easily turn the corners.  It lays nice and flat so my method worked.
So now number 10 is completed from my UFO pile.

This quilt was made from the leftover fabric of the quilt below.
I love the buffalo check flannel fabric in the center of this quilt.  This is a nice cozy quilt.

Here is the original Fireside Flannel Quilt

Fireside Flannel Quilt closeup

April fools

Well no fooling here - glad that April finally arrived.
Yesterday was a marathon of posting to catch up with UFOs and other finished projects.   I still have some pictures of quilts from the past to post, but most importantly I realized that I need to post more often so I don't have to spend a whole evening on my computer.
Pretty soon I will be caught up with posting, but until then I will post every week or two.  I guess you could call posting one of my UFOs too.
April reminds me that there are only a few weeks left of serious quilting, so back to the studio.   Until my next posting keep on stitching.