Quilting for Woman’s Best Friend

Challenge # 1: free motion quilting requires a lot of practice.  Challenge #2: I needed more blankets on the couch to keep the couches clean and to make Bandit, the dog who adopted us last winter, more comfortable. Solution: I made a doggy blanket for Bandit and practiced my free motion quilting. It was a win-win situation. No matter how good or bad the quilting, Bandit won’t complain. That’s one of the reasons he’s our BF!

Bandit on the pink blanket

There are several blankets already on the various chairs and couches around the house, but none had been made specifically for our Bandit. Here’s Bandit on one of my very pink quilt. It’s a good thing that he’s quite confidant in this masculinity!

While I was in Philadelphia, I bought a few doggie fat quarters. Unfortunately, the colour palette leaves a lot to be desired – brown, grey, beige and black. I know that dogs are colour blind, but I’m not!

The Gallery pattern adapted to lap size

Thank goodness one of the fabrics had a hint of a teal blue on the dogs’ collars. I also picked up an interesting promotional pattern on that trip. The pattern is The Gallery by Heidi Pridemore that was used to feature the Illustrations fabric collection by P&B Textiles.

Free motion bones

Free motion hearts / leaves

I wanted to make Bandit’s quilt lap-size so one evening I sat and adapted the pattern. That was trickier than I expected, particularly keeping track of those ¼ inch seams. I made a few minor calculation mistakes, like the top-right panel that’s a couple of inches too large.  Since I’m trying to keep my quilting in perspective (i.e. it’s a practice piece for the dog), I didn't redo the block.

Writing on the quilt

I had a great time free motion quilting it. I did quilt some bones but I didn't see myself quilting bones for 5 or 6 hours! I loved the heart/leaves that I came up with.

To keep practicing and for variety, I wrote out Bandit’s name and “Woof” a few times. I also quilted a design by Leah Day – Icicle Lights. I included them on the quilt since they look like snowflakes and Bandit loves to eat snow. He’s originally from Florida so his first winter here was an adaptation. Bandit loves to eat and it was a momentous occasion when he discovered that 1) he could eat snow chunks and that 2) they were everywhere! He’s now a huge fan of winter!


 Here's Bandit enjoying his quilt.




Lessons learned:

• Adapt patterns when you’re mind is fresh – not after a full day’s work! It will probably lead to fewer miscalculations.
• The amount of un-sewing on a quilt should depend on the context (like who gets it and what it’s for).
• Even if a free motion stitch is easy, practice it on a scrap before using it on the quilt. That’s why there are no pictures of that lovely Icicle Lights pattern. It’s worth checking it out.

Grandmother’s Choice: Women’s Rights and Issues

I have a soft spot in my heart for political activism. I really admire people who work tirelessly to protest, write or blog for a cause that they believe in. I am generally too much of a cynic and a chicken to take to the streets but if there’s something that I can do to help through quilting, then that’s a different story. Being my mother’s daughter (she was a feminist to her core!) I find issues affecting women particularly moving. You may have seen my blogs concerning the “Walking with our sisters collective art project”.

Here’s a very different project. Barbara Brackman is a quilt historian and author of many books and blogs. One of her projects, Grandmother’s Choice, started over a year ago. I’ve been following it almost since the beginning but I only started making the blocks about a week ago. Every week she published a block and included all kinds of amazing historical facts about one aspect of women’s rights. Most of the history is American but there are tidbits about England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Block #1 - Grandmother's Choice

The first block, Grandmother’s Choice, encourages us to look at our grandmothers or great-grandmothers’ lives to see how having the right to vote might have affected them. In the US, many states gave and took away women’s right to vote. It was only in 1920, when the right to vote became a part of the U.S. constitution, that women were guaranteed their right to vote.

In Canada, some women, were given the right to vote from 1917. It seems that it was in January 1, 1919 that the qualifications of both men and women to vote became the same (i.e. British subjects of a certain age). Even if, in theory women and men were both allowed to vote, this right was far from universal. It wasn't until 1950 that the Inuit were given the right to vote; and status Indians didn't get this right until 1960! (Canadian Encyclopedia)

Block #3 - Union Square: Red for Rebellion

Block number 3, Union Square: Red for Rebellion acquaint us with England’s National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, a group committed to attaining the vote for British women. They realised that marching in protest could be very effective. Their colours were originally white with red accents; red being the colour of rebellion.

Block # 5 - New Jersey: Suffrage Pioneer

My next block is the fifth in the series: New Jersey: Suffrage Pioneer.  As in Canada where provinces were allowed to give women the right to vote on the provincial level, in the U.S., an individual state could give women the right to vote if the issue hadn’t been addressed at the federal level. When the New Jersey constitution was adopted in 1776, voters were defined as propertied adult residents of the state. By the early 1800’s, it seemed that the percentage of women voters was “alarming” and the state changed its laws to allow only free, white men over the age of 21 to vote.

This block was created to remind us that at one time, the right to vote could be given as well as taken away.  In the 19th amendment of the US constitution, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Block # 7 - Alice's Star

My fourth block this week is the seventh in the series: Alice’s Flag. Alice Paul created a Ratification Banner where she would sew a star every time that one of the states ratified the 19th Amendment. To take effect, the amendment required that 36 of the 48 states vote in favour. This finally happened in 1920.

I’ll be creating more of the blocks in the Grandmother’s Choice project. I will also do some research about women’s rights and issues in Canada at that time.

Here are my 4 blocks to date.

Blocks completed to date

What I learned:

• The patterns for each block and the measurements of the pieces are included on the website but only the more difficult patterns have instructions. I realise that I know more about quilting than I thought.
• I sure know more about the history of women’s issues.

In this post, all of the information about women voters was taken from the Grandmother’s Choice website unless specifically stated.

Patches the Pumpkin Patch Protector

It's completed! Patches the Pumpkin Patch Protector, whose pattern is by Jaynette Huff is done! I downloaded this pattern from Martingale - it was free and I couldn't resist....but I didn't expect to make it for a while. One day, I felt like starting something new and voila! The rest is history.

I blogged about Patches in my last post, but I'm so happy with the result that I had to share it (aka show off!).  My husband's comment was: "No offence, but he rather looks like a Calvin Klein scarecrow". No offence taken...I'll choose to take that as a compliment (it might be the white linen shirt!)

Patches the Pumpkin Patch Protector, pattern by Jaynette Huff

Here he is in all of his glory!  For now, he resides at work - it's frankly too large to put on the wall at home! That's what happens when you don't look at the measurements of a project before you start.

I want to thank Martingale for the free pattern and I need to give credit to Craftsy: First to Carol Doak for her Mastering Foundation Paper Piecing course and then to Leah Day for her Free Motion Quilting a Sampler.

I also hand appliquéd the birds - and I used the skills I learned in Kathy Wylie's class.



Free-Motion Process:

• I marked the clouds so that I would get them right.
• I used multi-coloured thread to stitch the wheat - both on the wheat fabric and on the horizon. I like the way it came out.
• Quilting around the pumpkins makes them "pop".
• You can't seem them in this picture, but the black border has pumpkins quilted on them. I made a template so that the pumpkins would all be the same size and also made a template of a pumpkin leaf since I had the horrible time trying to draw them!

Isn't it great to be putting all that learning into practice? Don't give up - it is all about practice!

Ambitious Paper-Piecing Project

I’m not sure why I started this project. I had many projects in mind that I was going to make. This one wasn't even near the top of the list but somehow it was at the right place at the right time (on the top of the pile when I got bored!)

It’s the perfect time to make this project since it’s a fall scarecrow with pumpkins. I also didn't realise how large it would end up being (it’s 24 by 36 inches). The project, Patches the Pumpkin Patch Protector by Jaynette Huff, was free on one of my favourite book publishing  internet sites – Martingale. You just have to sign up. They’ll ask you to get their newsletter, which is great if you want to find out about the books that are coming out and if you want to know more about their authors. It’s one of the few newsletters that I read fairly regularly.

Here’s a picture of the pattern as well as my unfinished version.  I just need to add the patches and finishing details and then quilt it. Doesn't that black border scream for some cool quilting?

I was going to make an elaborate backing using the four pumpkins in the corners of the original pattern….but then I got side tracked with needle-turn appliqué. I also found some great backing fabric when I was taking the course last week, so I may actually finish this project before winter comes!

I have no idea where Patches is going to reside, but he’s sure to spend a few days at work with me.

What I learned:

• It might be a good idea to look at the size of the finished quilt before starting it (I keep saying that but I’m having problems learning that one!)
• I had the perfect hand-dyed fabric for this quilt – but I didn't want to use it! After some serious self-talk, it’s in the quilt!
• The pattern called for 1/3 of a yard of fabric for the field background. I only had a fat quarter – but that’s the fabric I wanted. Thank goodness, it turns out that you can do a lot of fudging with paper piecing!

Happy fall from Patches and Andrée!

Learning Needle Turn Appliqué from an Expert

I had the pleasure last week of taking a hand appliqué course with international award winning quilter, Kathy Wylie. Wow, this lady knows appliqué! She was the speaker at our guild meeting last Tuesday. She’s funny, smart, knowledgeable and really down to earth. Her work is meticulous and has won many prizes. Those are actually the kind of quilts that I see at quilt shows and in magazines and automatically think that I’ll never be able to do that. Both the appliqué and the quilting are really unbelievable. She has sure earned those prizes.

I registered for the course this summer, before even knowing what we would be appliquéing. It’s just as well, or I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to take the course. We learned to appliquéd a small section of her pattern, Flourish on the Vine. Our pattern is one of the horizontal stem pieces coming out of the centre. It’s placed at both ends of the runner.

Flourish on the Vine by Kathy Wylie

Applique project

I thought I was exhausted coming home after the workshop, but once I got some supper in me, I kept going and finished the section we were working on. I even transferred the rest of the pattern onto freezer paper. It’s now all ready to cut out and be appliquéd.

Butterfly

Applique Inside the Lines

I've only done needle-turn appliqué a couple of times before. Based on the book, Appliqué Inside the Lines: 12 Quilt Projects to Embroider and Appliqué by Carol Armstrong, I embroidered and appliquéd two projects that are in my cubicle.

I put aside the Flourish on the Vine project to practice a little more. I’m working on the feather project from the book that I had started but never finished. I’m doing the project as fall coloured leaves. I know that quilters will recognize them as feathers but anyone else will see leaves!

Dresden Plate

What did I learn?

• Like anything else, the more you practice the better you get.
• Appliqué is addictive.
• It’s best to appliqué in really good light. It makes all the difference!
• It’s important to have a ¼ inch to do the needle-turn. Less is NOT a good thing!
• Kathy taught us to mark the pattern onto the fabric before doing the appliqué. It really helps! 
• It’s also important to mark the appliqué piece on the fabric before cutting it a ¼ inch larger. This helps you guide where you should be turning and appliquéing. 
• We learned many other things, but I’m not going to reveal all of Kathy’s secrets here. Instead, I’ll encourage you to take one of her classes!

Too Much of a Good Thing?

The quilting world seems to be enamored with quilts that are covered in free motion quilting. As I’m learning to free motion quilt, I can see the appeal – up to a point. A heavily quilted area will make a less quilted area pop. The effect can be quite stunning.

Partially quilted wall hanging

This is what I did with my paper pieced wall hanging. Originally, I lightly quilted the border and some of the design elements. The star and the area surrounding it were only stitched-in-the-ditch. After seeing that “popping” effect on quilts at the Philadelphia quilt show, I went back and stippled the blue area surrounding the star. What a difference this makes (the pictures, unfortunately, don't do it justice).

In this case, and because it’s a wall hanging, some background free motion quilting makes a lot of sense. What I’m not convinced of is doing this much quilting on a quilt that is made to be cuddled, such as a

Finished Sunflower Fun Wall Hanging

throw or bed cover.

A few years ago, I took a machine quilting course. To practice, I decided that I would machine quilt one of the cuddle quilts that I was making. Our guild gives these to the local hospital for premature newborn babies to help keep them warm and to brighten up the room. So, on I went to quilt the cuddle quilt with a few different motifs I had learned. It wasn't quilted densely, but more than just stitch-in-the-ditch. That practice quilt was so stiff that even Boots, my brother’s dog, wouldn't sleep on it!  I’m sure that some of that stiffness can be reduced by using different batting, but I've decided that I’ll keep practicing my free motion quilting on wall hangings and table runners and keep my quilts cuddly!

Learning from the Quilt Show

I just spent an amazing week in Pennsylvania. I went with a bus full of women to the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XX.  We stayed in Lancaster PA and traveled each day to quilt shops, the quilt show as well as one day touring Philadelphia. Here are some of the quilt shops we visited – I highly recommend all of them!

My favourite was Burkholder Fabrics in Denver PA. It’s huge and bright. The prices are great and the personnel very friendly and helpful. On our way to Lancaster, we stopped in a Sauder’s Fabric. There was a lot of fabric, good prices and helpful personnel.

During our shopping day, we went to Intercourse PA. It’s a quaint village in Amish / Mennonite country. There is a small but lovely quilt museum over The Old Country Store that is worth visiting. The Old Quilt Store also has gifts and fabric at the back of the shop that you’ll want to  check out. Don’t forget to stop in at the Intercourse Canning Company down the street for samples of their jams and pickled products! Thanks to these guys, I will have lovely pickled beets for the winter (‘cause who wants to stop quilting to do canning....not me!) I also bought some pickled sweet brussel sprouts – they are awesome! For my daughter, who loves all things bacon, I picked up some bacon lip gloss at the Intercourse Canning Company (to quote her “to grease up those lips”) and some candied bacon at a small vendor! I tasted the candied bacon – delicious. Enough about shopping except to say that I now have enough notions, batting and fabric for the upcoming year (or two). Notice books, patterns and courses are not on that list!

Wonderful mural in Philadelphia

The Quilt Show had some wonderful special exhibits and quilts. As well as looking at the quilts as works of art, which they are, it was also very educational. Now that I've tried my hand at free motion quilting and art quilts, I can now look at quilts in the same way that aspiring artists look at paintings in a museum – with a view to learn from them. I took about a hundred photos – to learn about composition, colour, the use of embroidery and embellishment, and of course quilting. One of the first things I did when I got home, other than start washing all that fabric, was to organise the photos in categories so that I can refer to them when I want ideas and inspiration.

I was sure that I wouldn't be doing any shopping at the quilt show since I had bought so much on the way there – right! Some of the vendors had great prices, but the best part was meeting the authors of patterns, books, rulers, etc. I know that it’s a lot of work, time and expense to have a booth at this type of show but it really was great to thank these authors and creators for their work. 

What I learned during my trip:

• There is such a thing as too much shopping (I never in a million years thought I would say that!)
• My girlfriends were right – to do that much shopping, you have to be really well organised and have a good idea of what you want to buy.
• You can fit an awful lot of fabric in a large suitcase (though it will weigh a ton!)
• Travelling with a bus full of quilters you’re not sure you know is not risky – we have so much in common, it’s easy to make friends.
• I have no idea where most of the States are located – so I bought a cute little app that will help me learn them. After those 50 states, the rest of the world!
• After thinking about quilting all week, I thought I would be dying to start quilting – but I seem to be exhausted and am spending my free time reading!