Just felt like posting some photos of other quilts I’ve made. A place to record by achievements!
African-themed quilts for Derek & Melody
Made for Aimee & Paul for their wedding
For Julie & Ryan - wedding gift
Baby quilt for Lori & Bryan's little baby
Wedding gift for Rengie & Kourtnie
uncomplete - batik circles
Janelle's bed in Savannah
Well, the weather man says it will be in the air by this evening. I keep checking outside – still pretty humid, although, not as hot as it was over the weekend. So, in Florida, we do our Fall cleaning in the air conditioned comfort of our homes.
Last night I finished the rag quilt I’ve been working on for weeks. When it was finally complete, I needed to clean my sewing room – there was thread all over the floor. Then I started organizing my table tops and counters to get ready for a new project. That lead to dusting and scrubbing and vacuuming… it’s getting there. I’m almost ready to start a new project.
Before I start something new, I want to post photos of this challenging little quilt that will be sent up to FAWN in the historical district of Sanford so someone can make it their own! As much as I love it, I can’t possibly find a use for all of the quilts I want to create.
For those of you that quilt, I thought it might be fun to show some of the steps in putting together this quilt. It’s a different approach than “normal” quilting. In some ways it was easier, but in others it was much more time consuming. Not sure if I’ll tackle this style again for a while – except for maybe a pillow – something much smaller.
“Sweet Annie”, this quilt’s name. It’s from the book “Cut, Sew, Quilt as you go.” The first page reads: “Looking for a fast and fun quilting project? Our wonderfully cozy lap quilts and throws with ragged, exposed seams are just what you’ve been waiting for! They’re a cinch to make using our easy techniques for frayed-edge patchwork and simple machine applique.”
“Just cut, sew and quilt one section at a time and clip the exposed seams as you go. Then machine wash your finished quilt and tumble it dry to create the soft, fluffy three-dimensional texture. The more you wash, the softer the seams become.”
Sounds like fun, right? I guess it was, but I got board with the layering of each piece with quilter’s spray adhesive – no pinning, but lots of spray adhesive. Not crazy about the mess, the fumes, and the cost of the spray. There is no batting in these quilts. You layer like this: one piece of fabric face down, one piece of osnaburg, and one piece of fabric face up – with spray adhesive between each layer – you end up with a small layered piece to applique and quilt. You do this with each piece, before you piece them together. I didn’t photo the assembly line of spray basting the layers together, but here’s a picture of some of the pieces before they became a quilt:
Each of these little pieces are layered as described. These smaller pieces did not need quilting or applique, they just were sewn together in strips to make sashings:
The clipping of the seams comes after you start assembling the quilt. This particular quilt pattern has applique in the main blocks. By appliqueing and quilting each block before assembling into a larger piece, it was easier to handle under the machine needle. Next picture shows the larger blocks being assembled to the sashings. You can see the clipped seams here.
And here’s the finished project – after machine washing and tumble drying with tennis balls. Nice look, I think. But, as I said, a tedious project over all. Hope you enjoy it. You can see it at FAWN in downtown, historical Sanford, Florida.
Well, I’m going to check on the weather to see if the cool air has arrived yet! 
On the supply list for my first quilting class (Starting From Scratch on quiltuniversity.com), the instructor, Carol Miller, recommended “Dr. Scholl’s Foot Padding or Moleskin” under “miscellaneous”. It wasn’t until the very end of lesson two did we get to actually sew – after extensive instructions about fabrics and colors and patterns… and then measuring and learning to cut with a rotary cutter… and then cutting all our pieces. Finally we were ready to sit at our machine to attempt a perfect 1/4″ seam, but first a long explanation on the importance of an accurate 1/4″ seam. Since this was my first quilting experience, I took every detail seriously – but somehow thought that the 1/4″ seam thing should be easy enough to do by just running my fabrics under the pressure foot at the 1/4″ line. Well, it turns out that’s not as easy as it looks. So I used the moleskin to line up my seams and my squares were much more accurate. It’s amazing how a tiny, fraction of an inch will cause your quilt square to no longer be square!
Then, my mother bought me an amazing new sewing machine for my new quilting passion. It came with a 1/4″ foot – so I didn’t use the moleskin any more. This week I started a project that required my squares to be square (some projects you can get away with them not being exact) and was having trouble getting them to come out to the required 8 1/2″ square. I remembered the moleskin trick, so drug it out and stuck it on my new machine. And now each square is just right… such an easy trick. And really takes the stress out of trying to stretch your fabric into a square!
Moleskin for 1/4" seams
Here’s my project that requires perfect 1/4″ seams…
Batik squares for baby quilts
My dear friend, Linda, forwarded an email to me this morning. Just what I’ve been looking for. An organization( in my area) making a difference in the lives of children all over the world – specifically children that are sold into sex slavery. Please take a minute and watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHro8wJFVqg and then go to www.born2fly.org and get involved. During the time it takes to read the next few paragraphs—about 30 seconds—another child will be trafficked for sex somewhere in the world.
My daughter and her husband are working to bring awareness to human trafficking in the San Francisco area. Their church family has a series of workshops each year to help others understand the reality of this in our world today – they call it the “Abolition Project”. This is a huge issue in their part of our country. It’s also about buying your stuff from companies that are “Fair Trade” and that do not use slaves (children & adults) in the production of their goods. Have you ever noticed the “Fair Trade” label on coffee, chocolate, etc? Those are common items we enjoy everyday that, often, are harvested by human slaves. Become aware and find out where your food, clothing, and other items were made. And how were they made?
October is Fair Trade Month: learn about fair trade – Day 18: Fair Trade, the Market, and You. Fair Trade Certified producers are also empowered by the Fair Trade system to form cooperatives that enable them to create sustainable working and living conditions within their communities.
Poster by Derek Hansen (my son-in-law) http://abolitionsf.reimagine.org/
Janelle is my lovely daughter who is currently living and studying fiber & art in southern France with her college – Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, GA. She is a senior now and will graduate in May 2010! Be sure to check out her blog and see the interesting embroidery diary she just finished for a class.
Today we were able to skype – always fun!
Janelle - skyping from Lacoste, France
Another picture with Kara – her sweet roommate:
Kara & Janelle!
They are so cute & fun! Always make me smile.
Later this week they head to Paris for a few days of sightseeing and learning more about all the arts in Paris! Wish I were there too.
Stay warm, my little Janelle. Je t’aime et profiter de Paris!
My daughter, Melody, was married this summer on August 8. It was such a lovely affair and I still cherish the wonderful feelings from seeing my daughter marry the man of her dreams with the wedding of her dreams. I miss her a lot – as she lives in San Francisco and I live in Orlando. Yes, the name for my blog and quilting business, “Quilted Melodies”, is named in her honor.
I had a lot of fun creating a quilt for her wedding gift. She and Derek live in a typical San Francisco flat – with that vintage air. She has definite design/decorating tastes and I had to choose fabrics that I thought would fit her style – vintage looking, but contemporary. I spent hours searching for fabrics online and in the end chose Charisma by Chez Moi for moda. I am waiting for my daughter to photograph the quilt for me (she’s a professional photographer), but here are a few photos of it in process and when it was presented to them before the wedding:
Charisma fabrics
WIP
The wedding quilt
So… I’m waiting for some photos of it in her SF apartment! It was a fun one to make – especially since it was for their wedding gift!
Have to include some photos of the lovely bride and handsome groom on their wedding day:
Mr. & Mrs. Derek Hansen
Well, I started this blog with the idea of posting regularly and telling stories of my life – which often include my two cute beagles, but right after I started the idea I got involved with a creative project that requires a lot of time sewing quilts. A sweet, young friend of mine (and her mom, sisters, and brother) have opened an adorable shop in the historic district of Sanford, Florida. It is a co-op venture with many creative artisans contributing their handmade created items to the shop to sell. The focus is babies, children, and hip moms! Check it out at www.fawnmom.com.
Fawn Shop window
So, I’ve been busy creating… my business name is “Quilted Melodies” and this is what I’ve finished for the shop so far:
"Friend & Flowers" quilt
"Through the Garden Gate" quilt
Quilting - another passion - M & L helping!
Inspired by the movie “Julie & Julia”, I have decided to blog, with the purpose of getting motivated to help my over-weight beagle, Lucy, get into better shape! With my daughter’s wedding last weekend, I realize life is moving forward and I need to find things that make me happy and pursue them with a more vigorous effort.
So…
Lucy loves Melody!
Miles love his mommy (me)!
I have two sweet, adorable beagles. Lucy is almost 7 years old – is at least 25 pounds overweight, plus she has hip dysplasia – making it difficult for her to stay active – therefore, the extra pounds. Living in hot, humid Florida, makes it difficult to get out and walk very often… it’s so uncomfortable out there! But… in addition to Lucy running around chasing lizards while my husband works in the yard, I am determined to get her to run at least 10 minutes every other day or so. I hop on my bicycle and she follows me… but too often follows her nose too and forgets we are on a “walk” – meaning she needs to keep going!
Miles is my other little beagle. He’s 4 years old and in tip top condition. He would run and chase and jump everyday if he had the opportunity. He’s my little sweetheart – with an “evil” side when he wants to hoard his treat and tempt Lucy to fight him for it!
In Central Florida we have a Beagle group that meets every weekend at a different dog park… we’ve only gone once – when it was winter and not so hot. My two dogs didn’t seem too interested in meeting any other dogs, but enjoyed the time in a new environment. I hear that there are so many germs at dog parks, so I worry a little about going too often. Our vet is “alternative” and does not believe in over immunizing, so we don’t do the “shot” thing every year. It’s cool, as the vet does titers on them to determine if they still have enough of the last vaccine still active in their system. It makes so much more sense than just routinely filling them with those poisons.
Tomorrow I’m going to see “Julie & Julia” again. It’s so fun! I have thought so much about what is it in my life that “makes me happy” and that I should pursue to give me that pleasure. Well, my dogs are one of those things… being healthy is another. So I’ve decided to work harder on making us all healthier and happier.
