Emma's Rails

When my friend Janice asked me last week if I wanted her mother's quilting stuff - fabric and books - I immediately said yes.  I never met Emma, but she was a member of both of the guilds that I belong to.  As I was sorting through all of the fabric, I felt like I'd hit a Civil War goldmine. About 70% of the fabric was Civil War colors - muted burgundy, navy, brown, green, and neutrals.  There was also a bunch of flannels, a few yards of homespuns and ginghams, and the rest was scraps.  I spent the first couple of days cutting up the Civil War fabric into pieces for Home of the Brave quilts.  I'm about 2/3 of the way through that fabric, and so far have enough blocks for 2 complete quilts and 3 more quilts that need sashing. I'll be giving those to Cathy, the national Home of the Brave coordinator, at the next guild meeting so that someone else can piece the tops while I'm in Yellowstone. 

The flannels and homespuns will go to our guild's Sew What room, where they'll be sold to someone in the guild who will put them to good use.

As I was going through the scraps, I found the makings of an uneven rails top. Apparently Emma was in the process of piecing the blocks - there were about 20 completed but untrimmed tops, and enough fabric for more.

 I'm not sure about this fabric - it's not Civil War, it's not 30's reproduction - but it's clearly from an era of a long time ago. 1920s? 

This was my favorite - crickets shooting pool. 

First, I trimmed the blocks she'd made, and discovered that about half of them were trimmable to 6 1/2", but the rest could only go to 6 1/4".  So I trimmed them all to 6 1/4".  Next, I calculated that there was enough fabric for another 22 blocks, so I made them yesterday.  There are three 1 1/2" strips and 2 2" strips in each block. This left me with 42 blocks, so I sewed them into a 7x6 setting. Emma had also left a big piece of some navy fabric that went well with the blocks - I'm going to assume she intended it for the border as there was almost exactly the correct amount to make 5" borders. 

So here's the completed top: 

Janice, since I made you read this, this question is for you:  Do you want this?  You can get it sandwiched and quilted at Cherry Berry Quilts in Calimesa, and you'd have to spend a bit for some backing fabric (less than 2 yards) and some batting.  I can put on some binding for you.  You know how to get in touch with me. I think it would be a nice remembrance of your mother.

Strings quilt and floating triangles top

First, here's a picture of the string top I used as the class sample for the class I taught Thursday:





This is a top in progress--I'm calling it floating triangles, though the official title is "Up, Up, and Away." The pattern is in the book _Sunday Morning Quilts_, an excellent book I bought in Bishop about storing and using every bit of your scraps.




I should finish piecing the top tomorrow.



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Back from Bishop

We just got back from 10 wonderful days in Bishop. For those of you unfamiliar with California, it's a town about 5 hours north of here at the edge of the Eastern Sierras, known for its big Mule Days celebration and rodeo every Memorial Day. It's also the home of Galen Rowell, who was a famous rock climber turned photographer. There's a wonderful museum of his photography that I make sure to visit every time we go to Bishop.

We spent the first three days west of town on the Owens River at Pleasant Valley Campground. It's an Inyo County campground, has no hookups, and costs only $10 a night.

We like to take a spot on the south side of the river under the Chalk Cliffs, and usually we have the place to ourselves. We had some neighbors about 100 yards away - never a peep. Don was able to go walk the river every day, and I read, did some hand-stitching,  and made a couple of trips into town.

After 3 days with no hookups, and with cool weather, we moved into town just in time for the temps to get warmer. We went to Highlands RV Park, where I was able to have electricity and pull out the sewing machine. It was also nice to watch TV - I'm addicted to the Jodi Arias trial.

There's a great quilt shop in Bishop - Sierra Cottons and Wools - and one of the co-owners is Barri Sue Gaudet, who has numerous wool designs out under the Bare Roots name.  The quilt shop is right next door to the RV park, so I was able to walk over there several times. 

These are the store samples of two wool projects I'm working on - the first is a pillow, and the second is a block of the month quilt.

After 3 days at Highlands, we were going to go to Lone Pine for 3 days so Don could fish Diaz Lake in his float tube.  But the fishing was so good on the river (it's a wild trout stream, catch-and-release fly fishing only), that he came back to the trailer and announced, "I can fish Diaz Lake when I'm old. I won't always be able to fish rivers like this. Can we stay?"  I was glad to stay in Bishop for 3 more days, where I continued to sew, read, watch TV, and relax.

I finished 3 tops - all from charm squares. The top one is turned sideways!  It'll be bound in a black that has little tiny colored hearts on it - the black I used for the cornerstones.

This next one needs a border or two - and I'll be picking out some orange and gray soon for it. 

This next one is called Kylee's Kite - a pattern by Eleanor Burns, using a special ruler. It'll make a great baby quilt, won't it?!

Now I'm home, sewing away as usual, and here's my next big project: 

It's called Up, Up, and Away, and it's from the book Sunday Morning Quilts. It'll have 589 squares in it, and each square has a triangle in one corner. Turn the squares on point, and it looks like the triangles are floating on the background of white/neutral. I started sewing the rows together today - a pretty simple but tedious process.  I should finish the top in the next 2-3 days. 

Strings Class

Today I taught my first class at my local quilt shop. It was on how to make string quilts, like the ones I learned on Bonnie Hunter's site Quiltville.com.

This is one of the tops I showed them.




I showed them how to make the string blocks, and they went to town!








Each gal had different color palates--while I make all of mine in a random "scrappy" palate.

Janet made her blocks bright and bold:



Linda was using jewel tones:




Sharon had brought some lovely greens and pinks:




Diane and Peggy were using assorted colors--I forgot to snap a picture of Peggy's blocks, but here are Diane's:




All 5 gals told me they were really happy with the class, so I feel it was a successful day!


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March 3 update

I've been busy!  Here are some March BOM blocks I've made the past couple of days:

Quilt Doodle Designs BOM - February

Rail Fence - Quilt Doodle Designs BOM - March

Forget Me Not - Sugar Block Club BOM - March

Ninja Star - Lucky Stars BOM - March - 12"

Ninja Star - Lucky Stars BOM - March - 6"

I decided I didn't like the colors I was using for the 12" blocks in the Lucky Stars BOM - I'd been using random scraps on a cream background.  I picked up a nice FQ bundle at Eleanor Burns' store a couple of weeks ago, and they are bright, cheery colors. I re-did the January and February blocks (below) and am making sure there is always at least one fabric in common from month to month.

Exploding Star - Lucky Stars BOM - February - 12"

Funky Star - Lucky Stars BOM - January - 12"/

Sisters' Ten BOM - School Girl's Puzzle

Sisters' Ten BOM - School Girl's Puzzle

Block Lotto
- January blocks completed
- February blocks completed
- March blocks completed
Block Swap Adventure
- January block completed
- February block completed
- March block completed
Modern Monday - all blocks completed
Pieceful Kwilter SAL - 7 parts completed, ready to start part 8
Quilt Doodle Designs BOM
- January block completed
- February block completed
- March block completed
Sew Bee Wonky
- January blocks completed
- February - It's my month, so I don't have to make any!
Sisters' 10 BOM - Gen X Quilters
- January blocks completed
- February blocks completed
- March blocks completed
Stash Bee
- January blocks completed
 - February blocks completed
Sugar Block Club
- January block completed
- February block completed
- March block completed
Traditional Tuesday - all blocks completed

UFOs (tops that need to be quilted or donated)
1. Lighted Forest - paper-pieced/batiks - at the quilter's
2. Batik New York Beauties - quilted, needs binding
3. granny squares on white - quilted, needs binding
4. 5 1/2" strings w/red border - quilted, needs binding
5. scrappy +x blocks
6. striped +x blocks
7. selvage strings w/white border
8. HSTs BOM
9. Sow-Along - 30's fabric w/white border
10. Bumblebeans large color challenge
11. Quatrefoil
12. cheddar bowties
13. 100-patch
14. crumby log cabins
15. green Bento box
16. Laurel Burch Christmas
17. 4 hearts/1" blocks

WIPs (tops in progress)
1. Boomerang blocks - turquoise
2. Block Lotto tall fly blocks
3. scrappy rag quilt
4. string quilt #4
5. Mondern Monday
6. Traditional Tuesday
7. bold stars on white
8. Bumblebeans small color challenge
9. Discontinuity

Making Quilt Kits

Last week and yesterday I spent some time cutting fabric and making some kits for 4 quilts. I plan to take two of them to Bishop with me on Friday - we're going up there for some fishing (him) and relaxation (me). There will be 4 days in Bishop and 2 in Lone Pine when we'll have hookups, so I'll take the sewing machine and get some piecing done. The 4 days we'll be without hookups I plan to do some hand work on a woolies project, read, and visit the quilt shop in town.

The kit on the right in the bottom photo is from this book, which I picked up at JoAnn.  I have a bunch of 5" charms, and need to start using them.

The two larger kits in the top photo are going to be quilts from this book, which I got at my local quilt shop (Cherry Berry Quilts). I had so many 2 1/2" strips that I think I can make every quilt in that book and still have leftovers.

The fourth quilt will be a small one, using a ruler and pattern I picked up at Eleanor Burns' shop a couple of weeks ago. It's going to use up 28 of my 5" charms.

Two Classes I'm Teaching

I get to teach two classes at my favorite quilt shop! The first will be in March, and the second in April. Both will be at Cherry Berry Quilts in Calimesa.  I just finished making these two quilts, had them quilted by January (who owns Cherry Berry), and now they're hanging at the store so people can sign up!



This will be basic string piecing, using Bonnie Hunter's technique and paper from phone book pages.




This one is New York Beauty foundation paper-piecing - I'll be providing patterns and the participants can do them however they want (scrappy or planned, batiks, prints or solids). Maybe this is the start of something good!

Today was the first day of the Valley Quilters' Quilt Show - everyone calls it the Hemet Quilt Show, even though it's in next-door San Jacinto.

I drove down this morning, and was there about half an hour after it opened. They set it up inside the community center, with quilts in the center rows and vendors around the sides. I loved all the quilts, but took photos of only a few of my most favorites.

"A John Muir Moment at 9300 feet" by Phyllis Binkley

"Echos of the Past" by Patti Blackman, quilted by Karen Gehring

"Out of the Ruins, a Nation Thrives" by Phyllis Binkley

"Double Wedding Ring" by Pamela Miller, quilted by Cindy DeWall

Here's why I liked the double wedding ring - it's scrappy!

Another scrappy one! "Crabapples" by Joan Torbett, quilted by Kerry Marksbury

"It's Me Jeani" by Jeani Campbell, quilted by Betty Barney

Jeani's suitcase - all the places she's gone

I finally got to meet Paulette!  For several years I followed a bunch of full-time and part-time RV-ers' blogs, as Don and I had once thought about going full-time in our own trailer or RV.  Her husband Rick's blog was one of the ones I read often, and he occasionally mentions his wife Paulette and her quilting blog. I switched to hers (sorry Rick) and have become a big fan. Paulette and Rick are from Canada, and every winter they come down to Desert Hot Springs, which is only an hour from here. She's a prolific quilter, and from what I've seen her biggest passion is the primitives - woolies. I asked  her earlier this week if she was going to the Hemet show, and she said she'd be there on Friday.

And guess where I met her?  Right next to the vendor for the woolies!  (And I don't know her name - perhaps Paulette does.)

What I've been up to lately

I think it's time to get organized here on the blog. One of the quilting blogs I follow has a list at the bottom of each post of the WIPs and UFOs the author is working on, and updates that go with them. That's a wonderful idea.  I'll give it a try.

First, here are some blocks I made yesterday and today:

30's Pinwheel in a Block - Block Swap Adventure - February

Low volume string hearts - Block Lotto - February

Wonky Houses - Stash Bee - February

Lucky Stars BOM - February blocks - Exploding Star

Susannah - Sisters' 10 BOM - February blocks

Block Lotto
- January blocks completed
- February blocks completed
Block Swap Adventure
- January block completed
- February block completed
Modern Monday - all blocks completed
Pieceful Kwilter SAL - 7 parts completed, ready to start part 8
Quilt Doodle Designs BOM
- January block completed

Sew Bee Wonky
- January blocks completed
- February - It's my month, so I don't have to make any!
Sisters' 10 BOM - Gen X Quilters
- January blocks completed
- February blocks completed
Stash Bee
- January blocks completed
 - February blocks completed
Sugar Block Club
- January block completed
- February block completed
Traditional Tuesday - all blocks completed

UFOs (tops that need to be quilted or donated)
1. Lighted Forest - paper-pieced/batiks - at the quilter's
2. Batik New York Beauties - quilted, needs binding
3. granny squares on white - quilted, needs binding
4. 5 1/2" strings w/red border - quilted, needs binding
5. scrappy +x blocks
6. striped +x blocks
7. selvage strings w/white border
8. HSTs BOM
9. Sow-Along - 30's fabric w/white border
10. Bumblebeans large color challenge
11. Quatrefoil
12. cheddar bowties
13. 100-patch
14. crumby log cabins
15. green Bento box
16. Laurel Burch Christmas
17. 4 hearts/1" blocks

WIPs (tops in progress)
1. Boomerang blocks - turquoise
2. Block Lotto tall fly blocks
3. scrappy rag quilt
4. string quilt #4
5. Mondern Monday
6. Traditional Tuesday
7. bold stars on white
8. Bumblebeans small color challenge
9. Discontinuity