Sometimes... You Just Run Out of Time!

I love quilting - it is my absolute passion. It draws me in, it defines a part of me, it soothes my soul, it is therapy, it is a creative outlet, it is fun, it represents friends and community, it is a source of income, it is beautiful to look at... I could go on and on and on. But... no... I don't have time! This past month, I worked harder than ever - on quilting, on family issues, and more... and so only now have I forced myself to update my blog... which I committed to update by the 1st of each month. So much for commitments! And so now I'm rushing through the evening, trying to throw things into my blog so that I can cross updating it off of my list and get it out of my job jar. I usually show you what I've been working on over the past few weeks... or show you sets of quilts that have lessons in them. Tonight... it's mostly what I've been working on over the past few weeks -- starting with Borrowed Roses. Here is the quilt, just as a reminder... the photo is poor, but you'll find a nice one here next month, once I totally finish the quilt. Right now, I'm in the midst of machine quilting it. So here goes.... Above is my quilt; below is a photo of the original 1929 quilt.... notice the detailed quilting in it. Rose Kretsinger, an extraordinary quilt designer who designed this pattern using classic blocks and motifs, designed all of the quilting patterns for her quilts, though she never quilted the tops herself; she hired out that job. I like the quilting patterns she chose, so my quilt is quilted much like the original.

First, I quilted in the ditch around all of the appliqued pieces. Then came flowing feathers...

With cross-hatching joining everything together. In the photo below, you can see the flowery backing fabric that I chose. I needed something that would hide all of the cream-colored thread used in the background, along with dark green, gold, and red thread; the print needed to be fairly busy.

And here's another picture that shows the feathers and the cross-hatching. My guild has chosen to make a quilt using this pattern for its annual raffle quilt (and so you can see a gorgeous picture of their quilt at www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org after September 19th...), which will be unveiled at the next guild meeting.

And yet another photo. Can you tell that I love feathers that knock your socks off?!!!

One item that has been under wraps is the next issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks; it will be out in November, but I'm going ahead and ringing their bells NOW so that you'll be on the lookout for this issue. They have included another one of my blocks in it - one that I call Reel Roses.

And so here is a sneak peak... of Reel Roses. It is an easy block to make, though I admit it has a lot of applique perimeter! The nice thing about the Quiltmaker 100 is that you get patterns for all of the blocks in the magazine. Wheee!

And so what else have I been working on? Aaaahhhhh... I'm glad you asked! I am reviving a quilt made in the mid 1800s by Sarah Holcombe; it will be called Sarah's Revival. It has 36 appliqued papercut blocks in it. Here are nine....

And another nine....

And yet another nine...

I've actually finished all 36 blocks and 1-1/2 borders and one cornerstone. How did I get all of that done in the last 5 weeks? Easy! I set a goal: applique one block per day, come heck or high water... and so I did. I have finished all the drawings for the patterns, including the borders and the cornerstones, and I have precut all of the sashings... so now it's only a matter of finishing up those last 2-1/2 borders and the cornerstones. I'm on a roll here... this quilt is growing on me, so when you see it, I think you'll like it too. At least I hope so! If I had more time, I'd photo the blocks and the borders that are laid out on my floor, ready to be sewn together. Yes... if I only had more time. Sometimes, you just run out of it!

Until next month (which will be sooner since I'm so far behind this month!), happy sewing --

Sue

(c)2011 Susan H. Garman