The Quilted Librarian

Birthday Bunting

2012-01-31T05:55:00.000-05:00

I made some tiny pennants (or bunting as the Brits call them) for my friend, Ramona's birthday.

Here they are all lined up on the ironing board with the iPhone for comparison. They are just raw cuts that I then stamped letters on and sewed together on a thin piece of ribbon.

These are the stamps that look like typewriter letters. I made a card, too. Quilted Librarian is off to school.

Baby quilt update: Top with borders and a peek at the back

2012-01-16T12:29:00.000-05:00

The top of the new baby quilt is finished. That large polka dot fabric is a Denyse Schmidt design.

This is the backing fabric. I just love the trucks and construction vehicles. I grabbed the black on white fabric for binding because it looked like tires to me. Hopefully, this will be a quilt that will go beyond babyhood.

First New Baby Quilt of 2012

2012-01-15T09:10:00.002-05:00

One of the babies I made a quilt for in the past has a new baby brother, so I got busy yesterday. This is the top chain pieced in rows across. Next I will sew all the rows together. Follow this link to some older posts about this Kaffe Fassett African Stripe Baby Quilt pattern. I'll update through the day to report my progress.

Update: 15 January 11:43am

Only five rows to go and the blocks will be all pieced together.

"Death Comes to Pemberley" as a drive-by

2012-01-01T11:35:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year, and, yes, I have been MIA, but reader's outrage has brought me back. I apologize to those of you who are not interested in Jane Austen fan fiction, but I needed a platform, so here goes. The latest entry in the "what happens after Elizabeth and Darcy get married" varied collection of writing is P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley. Now I have read many of the other candidates in this pool so I feel that I have some "street cred" to critic this one and let me say that if it had been written by someone without James' reputation as a mystery writer, it never would have seen the light of day.

While not one of my favorite mystery writers, James is a best-selling author whose work sells has been dramatized on the PBS series Mystery--she created detective Adam Dalgliesh. According to an NPR interview with her that I heard, she is also a Jane Austen fan. That may be, but if you are looking for sparkling, witty dialogue, there is no need to apply here. Elizabeth is a cipher in the proceedings which focus mainly on Darcy, his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Wickham. As for a mystery, give me Dorothy Sayers or Laurie King any day. Wickham is discovered bloody and crying over the lifeless body of his only friend, Captain Denny. Oh, he's holding a pistol for good measure, too. After much time spent detailing the lives of a servant who lives in a cottage in the Pemberley woods, we know where this is headed. The investigation is hamhanded with lots of obvious mistakes. (No one thinks to question Lydia and how did Denny and Wickham have a heated argument that she can't know anything about in a coach she was in?) There is no real detective and the story unfolds more like a treatment than a novel. James can't settle on who is narrating the story. The resolution of the crime is a trite, deux ex machina trick. The final chapter has more than a faint whiff of the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Esquire triology in its wrapping up of loose ends. ( In canvasing the various reviews of this book, it is apparent that most of these reviewers think that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the first time someone thought to continue the story of Elizabeth and Darcy! Really?)

For a mystery with the Jane Austen touch, you cannot beat the brilliant Stephanie Barron and her Jane Austen mysteries. If you are a true Janeite, leave this sleeping dog where it lays.

Christmas quilt is finished

2011-12-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

Greetings to all and happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends! The quilt I made for Mom is finished and will be off to Florida tomorrow. It is another in a series of "Single Girl" quilts I've made in the last few years and has a warm, fleecy back to keep her warm and cozy.

Here's a close-up of the tag. You can read about the title here.

I heartily you will find the moments to enjoy this joyous season. As we age, I think it becomes increasingly difficult to rise above all that there is to be sad or worried about in our personal lives and in the world. I feel blessed that I am surrounded during the week by lots of little folks who are happy and full of energy. They provide me with a wonderful example to follow. Happy Holidays.

"Steppdecke für Katz": in the hoop

2011-11-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the three-day weekend, I was finally able to get back into the studio to finish the top for the Christmas quilt for Mom. The photo above is the beginning of the marking process.

I'm still fussing with the Nikon. About every other photo isn't sharp enough for my taste.

I made a set of plastic templates based on Denyse Schmidt's recommended quilting pattern for this Single Girl patterned quilt. Not only is it attractive, it's very well designed to catch up every piece in the quilting. For a quilt that will get lots of handling, that's the best kind IMHO.

Here's the start on the quilting in the early morning light of Sunday.

Treasures from Mary Jo's

2011-11-12T09:14:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that I have finally been able to visit the fabled Mary Jo's Cloth Shop in Gastonia, North Carolina. Let me state that it is all that AND a bag of chips, as Anna would say. The Japanese-style fabrics above actually came from one of the vendors at the Barnful of Quilts that I visited the same day, but since this is a fabric post, I've included them, too.

The sheer number of fabrics is overwhelming and I limited myself to looking for things for two upcoming baby quilts. The next time I go, I will take a list.

This is a Robert Kaufman print that I just loved. One of the babies is a boy and the other a girl so I found inspiration for both.

These darling remnants were less than a dollar each. Not only is the selection incredible, the prices are 30 to 40 percent less than the average fabric store.

All of these photos were taken with the new Nikon. I'm still not thrilled with the focus, but I'm getting better.

Thanking my dear veterans

2011-11-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

On this Veterans Day, I want to thank all those who fought and are fighting still, but most especially, my own dear veterans. My father, Dan, is an Army veteran of World War II and at nearly 92, still very active and fit. In the photo above, taken during World War II, he is standing with his youngest brother, Bobby, in front of their family home in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Bobby enlisted right out of high school and became a Marine. He was wounded in the Pacific campaign. My father's brother, John Thomas, was also a Marine who was on a carrier in Tokyo Bay the day the Japanese surrendered. These men and women give the best years of their lives and I am humbled and grateful. Thank you, Dad. Thanks, Uncle Bobby and Uncle Tom.

Coming up for air or Good Lord, it's November already!

2011-11-05T08:59:00.000-05:00

The Quilted Librarian has been absent from the cyber realm of late, but we have definitely turned the corner at school in terms of getting things moved where I want them and arranging the library media center the way I want it. Last week, I actually came home right after school twice!

Last weekend, Jim and I had a wonderful breakfast reunion with my childhood friend, Laurel Lea Schaefer. We went to Bexley High School, attended the Columbus Junior Theatre (now called the Columbus Children's Theatre), and did lots of plays together. In 1972, she became Miss America and after she finished the responsibilities of that job, she moved to California. While we hadn't seen each other in many years, we always kept in snail mail and email touch, but it was delightful to catch up in person. Jim took the photo of the two of us above and Laurel took this great shot of Jim and me.

This weekend, Jim and I are enjoying some unstructured time--he's in his study finding music for the play he's directing and I'm finally back in my studio trying to get back on track there. Hoping you are all enjoying a restful and productive weekend.

Barnful of Quilts 2011 with some new friends

2011-10-16T17:34:00.001-05:00

The Internet is an amazing thing. Thanks to Google+, several art quilters from my area found me and sent me email. Last Saturday, they invited me to join them on a trip to visit the Barnful of Quilts on the Fox Family Farm in a gorgeous horse barn near historic Waxhaw, North Carolina. It was a perfect day and the barn and pastures were a perfect backdrop for the beautiful quilts.

This is the barn--lucky horses!

There were llamas to pet and photograph and one of the vendors featured articles made from the wool, as well.

The quilts displayed along the fence were for sale to benefit Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization.

The horses vacated their stalls for the vendors.

The rafters were a great place from which to hang large quilts.

The exercise ring was the backdrop for some amazing quilts of the group called Fiber Art Options. Several of these artists are also members of PAQA-South as are my new friends.

My friends are checking out some of the beautiful work.

After we enjoyed the quilt show, we had some lunch, and then they took me Mary Jo's Cloth Shop in Gastonia. WOW! It's overwhelming and the next time I go, I'm making a list. This fantastic quilt and fabric journey also provided time for us to get acquainted. It was a lovely Saturday.

Virtual Dialogue with SLIS Students 2011

2011-10-12T05:00:00.002-05:00

Last fall, my former IU professor, Dr. Larry Johnson invited me to be a virtual visiting professional for his online Library Media Specialist class. This year he's invited me to participate again. Since my helper, Sue and I have been making lots of physical changes to the library media center at my new elementary school, I thought I would take some more photographs to share for my introduction to Larry's students, but it's book fair time, so those will have to wait for two weeks.

Larry has started off the discussion with the question, "What is it that people don't get about your job?" Stop by the class blog and check out the discussion as it progresses in the comment area.

"I'm blogging this."

2011-10-07T20:05:00.001-05:00

This is what I decided to do with the box of old catalog cards I've been saving. A little rubber stamp action on the left and then I printed out the QR (quick response) code for the blog's URL on sticker paper and a new business card is born. Old school meets 21st century! Since everything I'm talking about during my session at the NCSLMA conference is on the last two blog posts, I'm going to give them out to the attendees.

My presentation was largely a disaster. Not only was there no Internet connection, but I was assigned to a room that was right next door to the rapper with a microphone, big amplifier, and an electric guitar. My little group moved upstairs and outside. They were very sweet and attentive, but I was really disappointed.

I loved Gwyneth Jones' keynote and her presentation on QR codes in the library. Heather Moorefield-Lang gave a great workshop on bringing the arts into the library. Dr. Sue Kimmel did some excellent booktalks on multicultural books and I got some helpful information on Google Docs from the last workshop I attended.

Nancy and Joanne, two of my colleagues, held up a sign to gather Guilford Association of School Librarians to the lunch tables. We had a strong presence at the conference, but it helped that we are all less than an hour away and don't have to stay in a hotel overnight. The economy definitely had a negative effect on attendance, but it was a valuable day for those who were able to attend.

Blogging Basics

2011-10-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

A blog (a blended word for web log) is a virtual journal. Starting a blog is very easy. Maintaining it, not so much. If you do want to create a blog, I recommend Blogger, which is free, well supported, and part of the Google platform of Web 2.0 tools. There are lots of tutorials out there to help you and here's one I particularly like from about.com that lets you look at the process before getting into Google. Once you have a Google account, you can also use their embedded tutorials.

My blog combines my major avocation, quilting, with my vocation, school librarianship. While it is weighted more on the side of my avocation and life out of school, you will find the occasional post dealing with books, technology, and school librarianship. That's the primary plus of a blog for me--I get to control the content.

If you've made the decision to create a blog, the implication is that you want others to read it. A recent post on Mashable, Shane Snow provided seven suggestions for making a blog “stickier,” or more engaging to its readers. It provides a nice scaffold for discussing various features of blogging.

Tip one suggests making your blog content a combination of original, personal composition and curated links. Last year, I participated in a virtual class discussion for my former IU professor, Dr. Larry Johnson. His Library Media Specialist class asked me questions about being a working school librarian. In this post, I provided a personal introduction for his class that is a mix of stock (personal content) and flow (curated links).

Personalizing your blog is the second tip. While Shane is referring more to the type of personalization achieved by Amazon.com with their suggestions of things you might enjoy based on what you have purchased in the past, we smaller scale bloggers can still take this one to heart. This is certainly the feature that keeps me coming back to many of the blogs I read. I'm going to give you examples of two of the blogs I read that fall into my miscellaneous category. Attic 24 not only offers great photographs, but wonderful content about the life of its author, a young mother of three in the North of England. Tales of a Junkaholic is almost entirely a photo-chronicle, with little more than captions for the pictures, but Artemis Russell manages to tell the story of her very interesting life as a collector and young wife.

Repackaging your blog on other social media is tip number three. Facebook has an app called Networked Blogs in which you can register your blog to automatically appear in your status each time you publish a new post. I've learned from my Blog Tracker statistics that FB's Networked Blogs is usually one of my top three referrers.

Twitter has a similar feature that creates an automatic tweet with a tiny url each time one makes a new post. Back in April of 2009, I posted about Twitter.

Series posts are Shane's fourth tip. When I blog about my quilting projects, it is often in the form of a series as the work takes weeks or months to complete. Here are a series of posts about making baby quilts and another about making several quilts in the Single Girl pattern. In addition to creating series posts, I often add a small tutorial aspect to these posts that many other quilters find helpful.

The fifth tip is emailing your blog out to your subscribers. I must confess to never having tried this. I do occasionally post a link to a blog post on a large listserv in which I participate called QuiltArt and that brings me a ton of visitors. I use it sparingly, though, and try to curate the link so that people will be curious about my post and follow the link.

I feel like the poster girl for tip number six which is linking back internally "like mad." This means providing links to older posts you have published in your current post to get readers to look back through your blog. Here's an example.

Shane's last tip is suggesting more content. I usually do this with internal linking, too, as you will notice from the examples above.

I would like to add three suggestions of my own. First, be sure to title your posts because this is the first thing the aggregator picks up. I posted about this here. Labeling or tagging your post is also very important. Blogger provides you with a convenient little box. Labels make your blog more searchable. Secondly, I think tracking your blog is also extremely helpful. To track your blog, there are also several free tools. I use Blog Tracker by Ice Rocket. This is a post I did about why tracking is so important. Finally, answer the people who take the time to leave a comment on your blog. I have my g-mail account set up to copy me on any comment that's left. I write an email in response and then copy it to the blog. Blogger provides various levels of control over comments, too.

As Shane Snow tells us, people look at blogs to find out information or because they seek entertainment. Once you have found your voice as a blogger, done a little marketing, and established some consistency of publishing posts, your readers will find you and hopefully stick with you as your blog develops.

What is RSS?

2011-10-07T05:00:00.002-05:00

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feed-icon.svg

RSS, which stands for Rich Site Summary and is also known as "really simple syndication," is "a format for delivering regularly changing web content." (OK, I know--in English.) Simply put, RSS allows web sites, blogs, and news sources that update frequently to get that word out to the people who want to know. (The symbol above appears on a blog or web site to let you know that an RSS feed is available.) To make it easier for the people who want to know, aggregators (a web site or software that collects information from multiple online sources) or web feed readers came into being. My reader of choice is Google Reader.

Google Reader is a free web feed reader. There are others, but since it's the one I'm familiar with, I will use it as an example. To get started, all you need is a Google account which is free. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I'm going to refer you to a good series of tutorials on using it. Google also offers their own tutorials as you make your way through their various products including Reader.

Having a feed reader means that you can see changing content in one place without having to navigate to lots of different sites on the chance that there might be something new to view. THIS IS BIG and an incredible time saving device.

I have my feeds divided into interest areas. With the news sources, I basically scan headlines and only go to the article if it's something I'm very interested in or something I might forward to one of my teachers at school. Things of general interest, I post to my Facebook page. The library topic area often provides articles or links that I send to the school librarians' listserv in our corporation. The NCSMLA keynoter, Gwyneth Jones, has a great blog, The Daring Librarian, that I have followed since hearing her at AASL in Charlotte. Speaking of AASL, they also maintain a blog that updates the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning list maintained by Heather Moorefield-Lang, another one of the presenters at NCSLMA. I follow a non-fiction author blog called I.N.K. (Interesting Non-Fiction for Kids) and met Sue Macy at AASL in Charlotte because of a post she published on it. Several library blogs I read review books. One of the bloggers, Melissa Rabey of Librarian by Day, asked for guest bloggers when she was going to be busy for a month. I contributed this post for her. (Nerd alert.) I read a Harry Potter fan aggregator called The Leaky Cauldron and the blog for Jo Rowling's new site, Pottermore Insider. Of course, I follow my son's blog and mine so I can see how it displays for others. The other feeds I read are about quilting, fiber and domestic arts, and Playbill to get the theatre news. I also have a miscellaneous category for those blogs that don't fit any other.

Google Reader also tells me, via a feed, if anyone backlinks to my blog. This lets me know if the people who are reading my blog are sending their readers to me. Google uses this data to determine the Page rank of a web site. More on all of this in the next post.

Google Reader is a remarkable Web 2.0 tool and I leave you with a link to a post on Mashable, one of my favorite tech sites, called "HOW TO: Use Google Reader like a Rockstar." Go, Google and be a rockstar.

North Carolina School Library Media Association Conference 2011

2011-10-01T13:47:00.001-05:00

The North Carolina School Library Media Association (NCSLMA) is meeting in Winston-Salem later this week for its annual conference. I will be presenting at 11:15 on Friday during the second concurrent session on Blogging and RSS. If you can't attend the conference, you will still be able to follow the action on Twitter using the hash tags #NCSLMA11. NCSLMA also maintains a blog.

Our keynote address will be delivered by Gwyneth Jones, a middle school teacher librarian, who blogs at The Daring Librarian. The line-up of authors and tech-savvy librarians is impressive. I'm very excited to be a part of this gathering.

A brief recess to remember a wonderful soul

2011-09-25T06:44:00.001-05:00

In addition to the extra time I've lately devoted to my new job, we were called to New Jersey on Labor Day weekend because of the sudden illness and then death of Jim's wonderful younger brother, Scott. That's Anna, above, with her Uncle Scott in 1989 when we all gathered to see Jim's Dad receive an honorary degree from Seton Hall Law School. Scott was a librarian, so he and Peanuts and I had lots in common. He began as a school librarian and then rose to be in charge of several law libraries for a large law firm. He loved Harry Potter and mysteries, so we shared lots of good talks about books. His nieces and nephews were devastated by his passing as were all of us in his family. He will be greatly missed and sadly mourned. Thanks for visiting the blog. More posts when time allows.

Quilted Librarian has a new library

2011-09-03T14:42:00.001-05:00

I know it's been almost a month and I haven't even posted my Chicago pictures yet, but it's been some wild ride lately. I am now happily ensconced at a new school. This one is elementary, so I am going back to the little folks and I'm loving it. When things settle down a bit, I will catch you up. For now, here are some views of my sweet little library and some of the new plants and tea set planters that I've added.

"Steppdecke für Katz"

2011-08-06T05:00:00.001-05:00

I know I promised, but the Christmas elf made me do it. I never know what to get my mother and it occurred to me that she's always cold now, so a nice lap quilt might be in order. Our family heritage is German and as a youngster, Mom was called Katz--short for Kathleen. Steppdecke is the German word for quilt , so this is the quilt for Katz.

This is the fabric pull. The fleece for the back is in the foreground of the photo and was the color inspiration for the rings.

The final nine pieces are being fussy cut here. My mother loves roses, so I pulled several fabrics with large rose designs. You can see the turquoise tone on tone fabric that I'm using for the background of the rings.

The bias binding is all made, too.

The fabric plot is finished and the first quarter of a ring is laid out.

This is the second quarter of the ring. I always try to include large and small scale designs as well as a mix of florals and abstract designs. I want your eye to move around the rings when you look at the quilt.

The first ring is finished. It's so bright compared with my woobie, but I'm liking it.

Speaking of my woobie, it's in the hoop and I'm hand quilting it in the living room.

Update: August 8, 2011

Three rings finished.

"Each Pink Triangle Has His Own Story"

2011-08-05T15:40:00.000-05:00

Rudolf Brazda, the last survivor of the so-called "Pink Triangles," men who were interned in concentration camps by the Nazis because they were homosexual, died this week at 98. It is so important that we remember all of those affected by the Holocaust, so I thought this would be a good time to share some photographs of an old quilt of mine titled "Each Pink Triangle Has His Own Story."

Made in 1994, it was inspired by a dear friend of mine who had learned he was HIV positive. He was a long-term survivor, but we lost him in 2004. I chose the pink triangle as the primary symbol because it was being used then and now by ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), an organization devoted to educating people about AIDS. The playwright, Larry Kramer and the artist, Keith Haring are two of its more illustrious members.

Because the aim of the Nazi system of labeling people was to remove their individuality, I decided I wanted to make a large pink triangle composed of lots of little individual ones. The equilateral triangle is very cooperative in that way.

I used lots of non-traditional quilt fabrics like brocades, lamé, satins, and suit knits, along with the cotton fabrics. Some fabulous fabrics were essential.

This is the label on the back. I chose the title because a gay man's story is the unique narrative of his life journey and is something he shares with his friends and family.

Making curtains

2011-08-03T10:50:00.001-05:00

Anna recently painted her office which was an odd purple color and she asked me to make some new curtains to go with the new soft blue color. I went to Hancock's last week and scored this gorgeous Kaufman decorator fabric that was regularly $40.00 a yard for $4.00 a yard. She has two windows side by side and wants short, café style curtains. The panels are all sewn together (I usually make the curtain about two and a half times as wide as the window.) and I've made 400 inches of single bias to finish the edges.

Like the curtain I made for my studio, Anna's will be lined. They wear much longer and have a more substantial look if they are lined.

This is a detail showing the bottom edge finished with bias and a little look at the lining.

Anna's curtains will be more in the style of the one I made for the kitchen window that faces the front yard. She's like me and likes lots of light to come in the windows.

The binding is sewn to the front side and then brought around to the back to be hand sewn to the lining.

This is the first line of sewing to create the channel for the curtain rod.

I taped the Ruby Beholder to the machine to mark one and a half inches from the needle.

The first panel is all finished. I'm off to Safety Pin Studio to finish the second one.

Basting when it's beastly

2011-07-29T15:11:00.002-05:00

This is the back of my woobie quilt that I pieced this morning. (In the background you can see the roll of gorgeous Kaufman decorator fabric I scored at Hancocks. I'm making some café curtains for Anna's office. More on these in a later post.)

The big table on the screened porch is great for basting large quilts, so even though it's supposed to be 98 degrees today, I'm anxious to get started. Thread basting takes a lot longer than pin basting, but with a quilt this large, thread basting is a must. I can work for about 20 or 30 minutes, then I have to go inside to cool off and drink gallons of water. And, yes, it is hot enough for me.

The upholstery needle doesn't show up in this picture, but that's what I use. I'm planning to do the quilting pattern that Denyse Schmidt designed for the Single Girl pattern. I got a thread that is in the same color family as the little dots on the background fabric--a sort of brown gold.

Camp Fisher: Missing its younger campers

2011-07-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

When our children visited recently, I gave everyone one of these t-shirts. They come from a great little company called Inkpixi. We all have Fisher University shirts from them as well. It characterized this visit-- relaxing, easy-going, family fun. Right now, we older campers are really missing the younger ones. Craft fun is still going on in Safety Pin studio, however.

My birthday pennants have now taken up residence in the studio to keep me company. I couldn't put them away yet.

My "Single Girl"(design by Denyse Schmidt) woobie is all pieced and I will try to brave the heat to baste it on the screened porch tomorrow.

Still hot...still cooking

2011-07-25T09:54:00.000-05:00

Well, it's still hot, so I'm still cooking. We had this wonderful savory summer pie when we were last with our great friends, the Penlands. I've had all the ingredients in the pantry for weeks, but when we got such fantastic German Johnson tomatoes at the Farmers' Market, I took the plunge and made it for our lunch yesterday. The recipe is from this month's issue of Our State magazine and they kindly shared it online.

The only thing I did that was different from the recipe was to use Pepper Jack cheese because that's what our friend Noni did when she made it. Yummy! if I do say so myself.

Where I Sew

2011-07-23T21:16:00.001-05:00

Just read a post from Nova who blogs at a Cuppa and a Catch up, and I got in on Pink Chalk Studio's Where I Sew virtual tour. (Nova was one of the organizers of the Single Girl Quilt Along.) It's a great chance to see the work spaces of other quilters. My link will take you to a virtual tour of Safety Pin Studio.
With the temperatures still hovering at or above the century mark, I've spent lots of time in the studio the last few days. Thanks to Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Studio for the great idea.

Beating the heat by staying indoors

2011-07-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

The forecast calls for 99 degrees that feels like over 100 here in the Piedmont today. It's been one of those weeks when you thank your lucky stars you have AC. While we got lots of porch-sitting in while Anna and Dan were here, I've been holed up indoors today... cooking!

First, I put a turkey carcass on to make stock. I use Julia Child's basic stock recipe for fowl. It smells heavenly and will probably become turkey soup with brown rice later.

Next, I put some red potatoes on the boil for potato salad to go with our Reubens at dinner. Jim loves potato salad made using the Fannie Farmer recipe. The panini press that Jim got me for my birthday is terrific and we made panini several times while Anna was here. It also means we don't have to heat up the oven and thus the kitchen.

To those of you who are also experiencing this heat, stay cool, and drink plenty of water.

Dana's new woobie: yet another Single Girl quilt

2011-07-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

I know what you're thinking: When is she going to move on, already? There is something very seductive about this Single Girl pattern that I'm finding hard to let go of, but I promise I am going to make other quilts. The fabrics I chose for this quilt will go with the one I made for Jim. There are even some repeats. Fabrics from Anna's wedding quilt are also included. Above is the first quarter of the ring. It's got a Liberty print and a great conversational fabric with pens and calligraphy on it.

This is the second quarter. Note the owl fabric.

Here's the third quarter. It's got the Big Ben fabric and several fabrics from Anna's wedding quilt.

Now the final quarter which features a Paula Nadelstern fabric, fish fabric, and the background fabric from Jim's woobie quilt.

The first ring is completed. I love using batiks for the background fabric because of the variance in color. It makes such great visual texture. No more now until it's all done, I promise.

Back in the saddle...er, studio...again

2011-07-19T13:06:00.000-05:00

Jim and I had a wonderful visit with Dan and Anna, highlighted by a trip to the International Civil Rights Museum and watching the last (sigh) Harry Potter film together. We cooked together, watched movies, sat and read on the porch (thanks to a break in the weather), played Sporcle on the computer, put puzzles together, and talked and talked. It was beyond wonderful.

I cannot say enough good things about the International Civil Rights Museum--the exhibits are state-of-the-art, but at the the same time, actually walking into the Woolworth's lunch counter where the sit-in took place transports one back to the 1960's in a segregated country. If you are anywhere nearby, you need to come and visit.

Millions of words have already been written about the Harry Potter films, but just let me say that I think this series of movies is a very special achievement. They certainly don't replace the books, but they definitely captured the world that Jo Rowling so lovingly created. I'm happy that I will always have the books and the films to draw me back into that world.

Now that things are quiet again, I'm back to the studio to work on my woobie quilt and, hopefully, finish the Brownies quilt. Happy July to ya'll from the hot and steamy Piedmont.

A new sofa cushion cover

2011-07-10T07:15:00.001-05:00

The sofa on the screened porch finally has a proper foam cushion and that cushion now has a cover. Using a combination of a sale and a great coupon, I was able to get the foam for about half price--a huge help. I found some decorator fabric at Hancock's that was a very close match to the pillows I'd already made, so I was ready to go.

With the fabric doubled and wrong sides out, I drew around the foam for the top and bottom pieces.

The side piece was cut and seamed so that it is like a ring. I needed continuous bias binding and cording for top and bottom edges. The Quilter's Strip Ticket provided the correct large square size. Above, the square is now resewn and ready to be cut into a strip.

Cording goes into the bias binding and is then pinned to the edges of both the top and bottom pieces.

Using a zipper foot on the machine, piping is sewn to the edges of both the top and bottom pieces. All corners are rounded making application of the continuous piping easier.

Next, the side piece is pinned to the top piece over the piping.

Here's the top piece with the side piece attached to it all the way around.

Then the bottom piece and the side are sewn together, leaving the back open to insert the foam.

The foam is inserted into the cover and pinned closed.

Back seam is hand stitched closed. All finished.

Dan was lucky enough to get to meet little Demos last week and took an iPhone picture of him and his lovely mommy with his new quilt.

What a birthday!

2011-07-06T12:26:00.000-05:00

Well, my sixty-second birthday was quite a show. Anna brought these great little pennants from Paper Source to open the celebration and also made me a birthday cake. There was a major stack of presents, and beautiful flowers from my dear husband.

Look at some the lovely gifts I got--a panini maker from Jim, a wonderful bag filled with rubber stamps, ink, colorful cards, stencils, coasters, and ecological sandwich bags from Anna, a gorgeous pashmina from Dan, and a beautiful bag from my dear friend, Diane (Flora's grandma).

From our friends, the Penlands, I got this amazing carnivourous plant,

this lush fern,

and these snappy, pink geraniums.

Of course, the very best present was having my dear children and my darling husband with me to celebrate the day.

Recovering the kitchen chairs

2011-07-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Starting out with a photo of the finished product makes for a more interesting picture in the various RSS formats I use, so I'll cheat a little. Every three years or so, I get the bug to change up the covers on the kitchen chairs. I was shopping for fabric for another house project and saw this wonderful (and irresistible) poppy fabric. The old covers were getting a little sad, so I added this project to the list.

Now to go back and show the tasks in order: first, I use my trusty cordless drill to remove the screws on the bottom of the chair that secure the cushion in place. ( Jim always jokes that I get more excited about getting tools for presents than jewelry.)

Next, using my staple remover, I take off the old covers and cording.

I reuse the cording and employ the first old cushion cover as a pattern to cut the new ones--good reverse engineering tricks to insure that you cut the fabric big enough to stretch over the seat and make the bias cord covers long enough.

Measuring the length of one of the cord covers, I use the wonderful Quilter's Strip ticket to make enough continuous bias binding for all four chairs. (As I've said before, the best "less-than-six-dollars" you will ever spend.)

Switching out the quarter-inch foot for the zipper foot, I stitch the cording inside the bias binding.

Next, the new covers are stapled on the seat (wooden base covered by thin layer of foam).

Once the seat cover is in place, the cording covered with the binding is ready to go around the edges.

The cording is stapled down and then the seat is ready to be reinstalled on the chair. This is an easy job if you have the right tools.

Flora's Quilt: In the home stretch

2011-07-02T10:51:00.000-05:00

Hand quilting is now completed on Miss Flora's quilt and the continuous bias binding is finished.

Edges were cleanly trimmed and hand basting was removed after the binding was machine sewn on the front side. You can look at this older post for more details of that process.

Now the binding needs to be turned to the back, pinned, and hand sewn. This should be accomplished by tomorrow night as we watch the last of the new Hercule Poirot's on PBS Masterpiece. Right now I'm finishing up some house projects before the children arrive on Monday and Tuesday. More on that tomorrow.

Flora's quilt: Hand quilting progress

2011-06-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to lovely weather this weekend, I was able to spend large chunks of time on the screened porch hand quilting Flora's quilt. The center area is finished as are all four corners.

The large half hoop makes it possible to finish one of the short sides all at once. A quick wash at the end will take out the yellow marking chalk.

Cat-approved quilting

2011-06-27T06:30:00.001-05:00

Henry's mother sent me this wonderful picture of their cat, Benno, very much approving the first version of Henry's quilt that got ruined by the bleeding fabric. ( See this post.)
Update 6/28/2011
Still more cat-approved quilting: this is Rockette, my niece's cat on the quilt I made her for Christmas last year.

Flora's quilt: Pin basted

2011-06-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Flora's quilt is all pin basted. My friend Chris Schaefer showed me this trick of closing the pins with a grapefruit spoon. She even gave me the spoon! Hand quilting begins today.

Be prepared

2011-06-23T07:50:00.000-05:00

This little plastic bag has been in my purse since I started working on the Brownies quilt. Yesterday, I was really thankful that I had it because I was stuck at the Toyota dealership for nearly three hours waiting for new tires to be installed on my Prius. Normally, if I know I'm going to have to wait somewhere, I bring a book or knitting or some other hand sewing project. Thinking I was only going to be there for a few minutes, I was almost caught out yesterday, but thanks to my little bag, I was prepared! BTW, I am determined to get back to the Brownie quilt this fall. More on this later.

Flora's quilt: borders going on

2011-06-21T06:38:00.000-05:00

Since I was chained to the house yesterday because of the plumber being with us for hours (We now have a new water heater among other things!), I got a lot of sewing done. The borders are on Flora's quilt and I'm going to sandwich it and pin baste today. The colors please me tremendously.

Kaffe Fassett's African Baby Stripe quilt: A new version of an old favorite

2011-06-20T05:00:00.002-05:00

The fabrics for tiny baby Flora's quilt are pre-washed and ready to be cut out. There's a lovely, soft flannel for the back with pink, blue, and leaf green flowers, two kinds of polka dots for the borders, and nine striped fabrics for the body. I'll also bind it with a striped fabric. By this time, I have made more than twenty of these African Striped Baby Quilts using Kaffe Fassett's pattern (with a little tweaking on my part) and it's the random nature of the pattern that most appeals to me. I never get tired of making them because each one is so unique.

The body is laid out on my work table and ready to be chain pieced. You can see this old post for more detailed information.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T05:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to my dear husband, Jim. I think Dan and Anna would agree that he's been a remarkably great dad over the years.

Happy Father's Day, too, to my Dad. Above, we are seen playing shuffleboard at Mitiwanga in Ohio a fair number of years ago. He has the patience of a saint and was always a great teacher. I love that he taught me how to use tools and read maps and put things together and make a bed the Army way. That's him below when I visited in April--still raging. Thanks, Dad. Have a happy day.

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

~Dylan Thomas

Have sewing machine. Will travel.

2011-06-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

The weather was so lovely, that I couldn't think of going in the house to sew on the binding. Since I needed to use the portable Viking with its walking foot, I decided to move it out to the screened porch. The binding is sewn on the front by machine and now I can sit on the porch to bring it around to the back, pin it, and sew it down by hand. Henry's quilts will be in the mail to him by the weekend.

Babies, babies, babies!

2011-06-16T06:36:00.003-05:00

School is finally out. I scanned my last item around noon yesterday to finish an inventory of our entire collection--14,000 and change and I scanned every one of them. Now I can get on with the really important tasks of finishing baby quilts because two more tiny ones have joined our little friend, Henry on this earth and a little ahead of schedule. This one above is for Demos and will go in the mail today. It was made with the Kaffe Fassett African Stripe pattern.

This is Demos with his beautiful mommy.

This little miss is Flora with her grandmother, my dear friend Diane, and her big brother, Angus who was also the recipient of a baby quilt.

These are the fabrics I've chosen for her quilt which will also be in the African Stripe pattern--all PRE-WASHED, I might add!

Finally, little Henry will get both of his quilts by the end of the week. (The ruined one will make a great beach blanket.) For those readers unfamiliar with this little drama, this quilt and its brother where made using the Denyse Schmidt's Single Girl pattern.

Henry and his friend look blissfully happy.

Rolling Quiet: A Lightning Fast trip to the Nation's Capital

2011-06-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

We made a quick trip to Washington, D.C. to see "Follies" at the Kennedy Center. (Apologies to friends there for not calling. It was a spur-of-the-moment trip and very fast.) It's been many years since I was last in Washington--pre Kennedy Center, Vietnam Memorial, etc. This little tease of a trip made me want to go back for a much longer stay.

School is nearly done for the year and I am counting the days. We are up to our eyes in end of the year testing and trying to get the library books all back and inventoried. Happy June to everyone, but where did May go?

Weekend in review

2011-05-22T18:02:00.000-05:00

The Piedmont Triad was treated to a glorious weekend. After a wonderful breakfast at the Smith Street Diner on Saturday morning, Jim and I went to the Greensboro Curb Market and then spent the afternoon on the screened porch. He was reading and I was finishing up the quilting on this African Striped Baby Quilt. To see more baby quilts, click on Kaffe Fassett or baby quilts or African Striped Baby quilts in the labels.

Since I had finished piecing Henry's new baby quilt, I pieced a back and made bias binding. I'm using the bamboo/cotton blend batting that I got at JoAnn Fabric with my 40% off coupon.

The big table on the screened porch makes a great place to baste. Here's the back taped down with the centers marked.

The quilt sandwich is made and I am ready to baste. You can see more examples of Denyse Schmidt's "Single Girl" pattern by clicking on that phrase in the labels.

New Doorknob Art May, 2011

2011-05-15T14:45:00.000-05:00

This is the front and back of some new Doorknob Art for my wonderful yoga teacher. It's been a rocky spring and yoga has really been a fantastic oasis throughout it all. The monkey fabric is what I used for the quilt I made for my class. Quilted Librarian is now off to the movies with my dear husband.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! These are the beautiful flowers that my darling Anna sent me from The Farmer's Wife. That's the wonderful Greensboro shop that did her wedding flowers.

I sent an azalea to my mother in Florida. Here she is in about 1951. That's me in the snappy hat and white shoes.

Here she is last month. Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

May Day 2011

2011-05-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

It's been one of those incredibly beautiful weekends, so I had to get out and work in the yard and clean the porch off. Hopefully, the pine pollen has peaked, but if not, I can always run the vacuum again. I planted herbs, cleaned off the Adirondack chair and got a beautiful hanging basket of geraniums for this great little spot outside the porch.

All the furniture got washed down with Murphy's Oil Soap, as did the fan blades, and I swept and swept to get up leaves, pollen, and winter dirt and dust that gets through the screens. Finally, the porch is all put back together and ready for sittin'. We're having dinner out here tonight.

Happy May Day to you all.

World Workers, whatever may bind ye,
    This day let your work be undone:
Cast the clouds of the winter behind ye,
     And come forth and be glad in the sun.
   ~from "The Worker's Maypole" by Walter Crane (1894)

Henry's baby quilt redux

2011-04-24T20:55:00.000-05:00

This is a tough confession for a perfectionist, but I made a spectacular mistake. I had finished the baby quilt for Henry completely and then I washed it. One of the fabrics (a batik) bled all over the light background fabric. If that wasn't bad enough, I tried to removed the bleeding and ended up taking the color out of the background fabric. I've started over. All the pieces are cut AFTER being pre-washed and I eliminated the bleeder. One ring is finished; three to go now.

Sorry for the lack of posts this month. April has been quite a roller coaster ride. I think we are on firmer ground now. Hopefully, you are all enjoying a lovely spring now.

Quilted Librarian on holiday

2011-04-22T12:15:00.002-05:00

I'm taking a few days of my spring break to visit my parents in Florida. The weather is incredible and we had grouper sandwiches for lunch at the beach. I'm hanging by the pool now while my folks nap. It doesn't get much better than this.

"Single Girl" Support Group: Finishing touches

2011-03-30T16:15:00.000-05:00

Quilting has been completed. The next step is to trim the edges.

For several years now, I've made tags for my baby quilts. The tag goes on first and then the binding.

This is a walking foot. It makes all layers of fabric go under the needle at the same time. If you are going to do your own binding, it is a must-have tool.

Once the binding is sewn on, I removed the basting stitches.

Continuous bias binding is the only way to fly. I posted a tutorial earlier about applying it. You can find it here.

Once the binding is sewn on, it is turned to the back and sewn down by hand.

Here's a look at the front and the back. This is why I love using striped fabric for binding.

Here's a finished corner. I have one more side to sew down so the next post will be the final reveal.

"Single Girl" Support Group: Nearly finished quilting

2011-03-26T12:36:00.000-05:00

The baby quilt is nearly quilted. I'm using the large half hoop to finish the edges.

Continuous lines of quilting are so much easier to quilt. My goal is to get the binding on by tomorrow.

One Year out: Missing Mae

2011-03-21T19:47:00.000-05:00

It's been one year since we lost Jim's mother, Mae "Peanuts" Fisher. We are still feeling her loss keenly and can hardly believe it's been a year. Dan has a post about his grandma today, too. At certain times, I sense her presence. For example, on Sunday, we had breakfast with our niece, Cilloran, who had been home in New Jersey during spring break. She and her sister had helped Jim's brother Scott go through Mom's extensive collection of cats to pick out some for each of the grandchildren and the rest of us. Cilloran handed me a little cat figurine that was carved and said it had reminded them all of me and they thought I should have it. It was one I had given Mom years ago and now it has come back to me.

Why should I be out of mind

Because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you for an interval

Somewhere very near

Just around the corner

All is well.

~Canon Henry Scott Holland from

"Death is Nothing at All"

"Single Girl" Support Group: Marking and quilting

2011-03-15T19:55:00.000-05:00

I have hand quilted each of the three "Single Girls" I've made differently. The first one (Anna's wedding quilt) is quilted with a sashiko embroidery design called the seven treasures of Buddha. I ordered an extra large 360° protractor to mark it.

The second one (Jim's woobie quilt) is done in the large meandering or stippling stencil.

For the third one (Henry's baby quilt), I'm going to do the design recommended in the pattern. The photo above was taken during the basting process. I tape the back down to the table and mark the center of the backing with pins, then I can line it up with the top.

Now it's all basted and ready to be marked.

I decided to make templates of the quilting design. The inner four were small enough that I made a templates of the entire shape. After that, I only made quarters.

Here are the little ones. I marked the center and the four seams to help line them up. I use a little chalk wheel to mark because it brushes off easily.

Here's the center marked.

And we're off to the races!

"Single Girl" Support Group: Joining ring sections, Borders and getting ready to quilt

2011-03-13T07:29:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, this current quilt is the third version of the "Single Girl" pattern that I've made. I have added thin borders to each of the quilts I've made because I wanted some visual space (and actual fabric) between the rings and the binding. Above is the border on Jim's woobie quilt. The border on this quilt was the same as the background fabric and that's what I've done for Henry's baby quilt. For Anna's wedding quilt, I used a similar color to the background fabric.

I left my hand in the photo for scale. You can see that joining ring sections leaves you with barely one quarter inch of fabric. Adding binding to this would mean it would end up right on top of the ring.

Two ring sections joined leaves only one half inch.

I have been using borders that are cut one and three-fourths inches wide. Borders are measured at the center of the quilt. See this tutorial on borders that do not ripple.

Sew with the border strip on top and then press towards the border.

This is Henry's quilt. Four rings and borders works out to about 45 inches square.

Continuous bias binding is all made. See tutorial for that here. The green jungle fabric is the backing.

"Single Girl" Support Group: Joining up the quarters to make a ring and some thoughts about "squaring up" the blocks

2011-03-12T13:35:00.001-05:00

First off, let me apologize to those of you who have never made or don't even have plans to make a "Single Girl" guilt. I will be moving on to other things soon.

I have been concerned about the postings on the Flickr group because it seems that many people are experiencing frustration with the construction of this pattern. "Single Girl" is a very well constructed pattern, but not really one that you want to cut your teeth on if you are a newbie quilter or sewer. The teacher in me can't help but want to address some of the questions, so here is a short tutorial on putting the quarters together into a ring.

You now have four quarters finished. The next step is to join two of them together.

I pin the two sections of the ring first. Fold down one side so that you can put the seams together, then pin. Do the same with the other side, then pin the background areas together.

I start sewing in the background area. It is much easier than starting the other way. When you connect the two halves, you will have to start sewing near a ring section, but I have a little trick to make that easier, too.

Do not sew over the pins. Stop your machine before you get to the pin and pull it straight out to the side. When you get to the ring sections, sew onto the ring seam allowance, then pull out the pin. Having your needle in that seam allowance before you take out the pin will mean that you have a better chance of keeping the seams of the ring lined up.

Press the seam open. You want to minimize thick seams at this stage.

The two sides of your ring should line up.

Sew the other two pieces in the same way so that you now have two halves ready to go together.

Fold down one side to line up your center seams and pin.

After the centers are pinned, I pin the two ring sections, then work my way to the center on each side pinning the background fabric.

When you join the two halves, you have to start with the ring side and with most sewing machines, the pin being so close is going to cause problems getting started. Life up the presser foot and lower the needle into the fabric, then remove the first pin. Lower the pressure foot and begin sewing. Press this seam open as well and your ring is complete.

Some thoughts on "squaring up the blocks"

Many people have posted on the Flickr group about squaring up the blocks both at the quarter ring and/or the finished ring stage. Personally, I question the wisdom of this. I put a ruler on the template for the outer background piece for the above photo. Think about it. Before you have seamed this piece, it is only 5/8 of an inch in width. Take away 1/4 of an inch for the ring seam and another 1/4 for connecting it and you are not left with a lot of fabric. If you trim anything off to square up the block, your finished rings are going to be right on top of each other or even overlapping. Personally, I think it is much easier to be accurate with your templates, cutting, and piecing, and skip the squaring off.

"Single Girl" Support Group: Piecing an arc

2011-03-05T14:37:00.001-05:00

The organizers of the "Single Girl" Quilt Along are taking turns sharing construction tips and techniques, so I thought I would join in the sharing. All of us working on these quilts are using Denyse Schmidt's very well-designed pattern. This is not a quilt that you can "fudge" on and get good results and this starts at the very beginning of the process. Since I'm working on my third "Single Girl" quilt, I am speaking from experience with the pattern as well as nearly 50 years of sewing. Accuracy is extremely importance from tracing templates, to cutting fabric pieces, to maintaining a quarter-inch seam in piecing.

Because you are piecing curves, the pieces do not line up perfectly as they go when you are piecing squares. I've shown the quarter-inch gauge next to the little corner of the fabric that hangs out when you start to piece.

The first two pieces are sewn together and pressed. They should be even at the top and bottom.

I press all the seams in one direction. Pressing is something else that is important. Not only does it make your piecing look nice, it helps with accuracy when piecing two sections together.

Here's another view of the little tail of fabric.

If you are having trouble getting the pieces even at the top and bottom, try this little test. Put two pins parallel to the edge of the fabric right where your quarter-inch seam will be.

Next, flip open the fabric to see if the two pieces are even at the top and bottom. Once you've sewn a few rings, you will get better at "eye-balling" where the pieces need to go.

I sew the larger quarter circle piece to the arch first. I fold it in half and finger press it at the center.

Next, I fold the arch in half and finger press it at the center.

I marked the photo with a red line so you can see where the creases are.

Bring the two creases together with right sides together and pin.

Pin one edge. The arc and the background fabric should be even.

Next, pin the other edge.

If you have "fudged" with the templates, the cutting, or the piecing, this is where it will all come to roost.
If you've been accurate, the arch and the background pieces should go together without much fuss.

This is a quarter-inch foot. If you are a quilter, it is worth every penny it may cost to purchase one for your machine. It eliminates guessing or the need to mark a quarter inch seam line. Get the right tools for the job.

I press the seam toward the background pieces. It will minimize a bunchy-looking seam.

To put on the smaller background piece, fold it in half and finger press at the center and then do the same with the piece you just sewed at the top of the arc.

Pin the center, then each of the ends and work to the middle.

The block after the final press.

SPRING!!!

2011-03-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

The cherry blossoms are blooming and the other flowering trees are coming quickly behind them. This is my maple tree in the backyard.

The tulips are up and about to show.

Parsley came back in the herb planter.

I saved the best for last--beautiful jonquils.

"Single Girl" Quilt Along and Support Group

2011-02-24T19:57:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my friend, Mary who blogs over at Mary on Lake Pulaski, I found out about the "Single Girl Quilt Along." It was the brainchild of several bloggers, among them, Katy at I'm a Ginger Monkey, Nova at A Cuppa and a Catch up, and Megan at Lucy and Norman. They have gathered a fairly large group of people who are all working on creating quilts using Denyse Schmidt's wonderful "Single Girl" pattern. There's a Flickr group, the "Single Girl Support Group," and the pictures are fantastic. There are so many wonderful color combinations coming together.

Since I'm working on my third "Single Girl" quilt, Mary figured I would be interested. I have to get moving on my latest one because the baby I'm making it for was born last weekend! Here's a small photo update.

Finishing up the yoga quilt

2011-02-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

My yoga quilt is nearly finished. The binding was sewn on last night and today I am sewing it down. I've decided to make a bag that will hold my mat and the quilt rather than making the small mat bag. The baby quilts will take precedence for the moment, but I'll get working on the bag soon.

On the Sketchbook Challenge front, I've got an idea page started for the February theme which is "Opposites." For more information about the Challenge, just click on the button to the right.

Here's the top with the label pinned in place. How apropos that upward facing dog is so close. It's a pose that reminds me how much strength I've lost.

Thanks, some thoughts in praise of Susan Piver, and a little rationalization: an all-sorts blog post

2011-02-12T08:01:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Rev. Danny Fisher for the nice shoutout on his blog concerning a great quote from Susan Piver that I posted on Facebook. It came from an interview she did with Jenna, the author of the blog, Drinking to Distraction and was in response to a question that dealt with issues of vulnerability.

"I think the attunement with your essential vulnerability is the same thing as attunement with your highest wisdom and your deepest creativity and your heart of hearts. It’s difficult to be human. It’s difficult to walk around with what we know is true, which is that we each have a raw and open heart that is without protection at any time."

I love her writing and I think she has a wonderful ability to home in on the heart of complex issues. I've written before about my own struggles with anxiety and Susan's words made me realize how much time I spend trying to protect myself from my various vulnerabilities. This idea of making peace with them, embracing them as you do your wisdom, your creativity, and your own true heart, just took my breath away. At the same time, I can think of artists, writers, musicians, who have channeled their own vulnerabilities to produce stunning creative works. Think of nearly any self-portrait by Frieda Kahlo. This is the most difficult piece for me. Much work still ahead.

I know I haven't posted in days and days, but it's been crazy at school and we seem to have so much to do in the evenings that there's never any time then either. Last weekend was our 34th anniversary and we had a lovely celebration. I have been quilting on the yoga quilt when I've had any time at all and it's nearly finished. Pictures of that will follow soon.

One ring finished : the new baby quilt

2011-02-05T13:41:00.000-05:00

Three quarters of the ring finished.

And finally, one ring all completed. Back to the studio to make more rings.

First quarter of a Ring: new baby quilt

2011-01-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

This is the first quarter of the ring for the new baby quilt. I think it will be really cute. The "Single Girl" pattern is really one of my favorites. Using lots of fabrics is something I love and each ring has 32 different ones. We're off to the theatre this afternoon, but I'll do more piecing tonight before "Downton Abbey" starts.

Pin basting the yoga quilt

2011-01-29T20:49:00.000-05:00

The work table was cleared so I could pin baste the yoga quilt. I just have to thread baste the edges and it will be ready to go into a hoop. Tomorrow I will piece the first ring of the new baby quilt.

"Gemini" is pieced and a new "Single Girl" begins

2011-01-27T08:34:00.000-05:00

The "Gemini" top that I'm making for my yoga class is now pieced. It was a bit like working with the bento box pattern when I made the wedding quilt last spring: lots of colors and many stages of light and dark. I nearly pulled back and made blocks of the same colors, but then decided to go for it. I did have a few blocks sprinkled in that are lights and darks of the same color and generally, I think it works even if the colors are "bossier"(Nancy Crow's word) than those in the first bento box quilt I made for my niece.

As you can see from this detail, some of my fabric has been in my stash for a LONG time. I'm slightly amused when I read the blogs of new, young quilters who are "destashing" fabrics that are maybe six months old.

This is the fabric pull and the pieces for a new "Single Girl" quilt for a baby. It will have four rings. This pattern is so wonderfully versatile in its look and size.

Here's the fabric map in progress with three-fourths of the fabrics present.

This is the last quarter of the ring on the background polka dot fabric. The jungle print will be the back and the stripes (of course) will be the binding. Looking forward to putting the first ring together. We have a two-hour delay this morning, so I'm going to get started sandwiching the yoga quilt.

Quilt for yoga class

2011-01-17T18:32:00.001-05:00

This is the fabric pull for my new projects. I bought some great Michael Miller fabric called "Yoga Monkey" to make a bag for my mat.

After it came, I decided I needed a quilt, too. I'm using a pattern by Janine Burke called Gemini. She is one of the designers for a great site called Blue Underground Studios. Their sample quilts make wonderfully strong color statements and they seem to love scrappy quilts as much as I do. Their patterns, while based firmly on tradition, have a great modern feel largely due to their fabric choices.

There will be 60 different fabrics in this quilt--all from my stash.

This is a little bonus shot of the safety pin fabric pennants. All of the photos today were taken with my newish camera. I decided I'm just going to make myself use it and try to get better. I'm still not thrilled with the focus, but I'll keep trying. It also likes natural light better than artificial. The colors are really off. Back to the manual....

What I did on my snow day and a half

2011-01-14T08:41:00.001-05:00

Finally, after four snow days, the kids are coming back to school today, albeit with a two-hour delay. With the crazy system down here, teachers have to report on snow days unless you have personal days to use. I did take off Tuesday and Wednesday morning because of the ice and got another baby quilt started during that time. More later. I'm off to Safety Pin Studio for a few more minutes.

Beginning the new year with some little projects

2011-01-09T12:54:00.000-05:00

Now that my niece's quilt is finished and on the way to her, I'm starting out the new year with some little projects. I made two sets of these little pennants using Christmas fabric for my two dear friends here who are sisters. They have little loops on each end so they can be hung on the tree. I made a set for our tree, too.

I decided to make a set for Safety Pin Studio using some of the safety pin fabric in my stash. I made them just like the large pennants but rather than using bias tape to string them, I just zigzag the raw top edges to the ribbon.

Speaking of stash, I've been hoarding all of these gorgeous William Morris reproduction fabrics for years and I finally decided to use one of them to make a cloth shopping bag for Anna. Here's hoping your new year is happy, healthy, and productive.

Confession: Cat quilt, not quite finished

2011-01-06T06:47:00.000-05:00

OK, true confessions, here. I didn't get my niece's quilt finished in time for Christmas, but I'm nearly there. Rounding third and headed for home. This is the back with the binding on the third side being sewn down.

This is the front in a place where the two binding fabrics meet. (You may remember that I used two animal print fabrics to make the bias binding. Check out the original post here.)

A mash-up kind of morning

2011-01-02T15:05:00.000-05:00

I've been having a really amazing mash-up kind of morning. First of all, my sketchbook, open to the first page, has been projecting its emptiness at me since yesterday when the first theme for the Sketchbook Challenge went up and I got nothing in the way of ideas. As I read my email and then opened Google Reader this morning, several great things happened: the BBC news feed had an interesting article about diarists and as I was reading, I thought about how bloggers are really becoming the diarists of this age--little versions of Pepys, all of us. At the end of the article was a marvelous quote by Virginia Woolf about what she wanted her diary to be and it really fitted what I want my sketchbook to be, so that first page is no longer empty. At least I now have an inspiration and a sort of framework.

The second thing that entered into this mash-up was a quote by Gardner Cox (American painter, 1906-1988):''

"I do a bale of sketches, one eye, a piece of hair. A pound of observation, then an ounce of painting."

For me, who is often paralyzed by perfectionism that prevents me from doing anything because I fear it won't be perfect, this was a very important group of words. I need to remember just to sketch. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's an observation, visual note-taking, not a final product. Words are often inspirational to me and they will definitely be a part of this sketchbook. And now, feeling comforted and inspired, here we go.

The Sketchbook Challenge

2011-01-01T05:00:00.001-05:00

Jamie Fingal who blogs at Twisted Sister is one of my favorite art quilters. Her work is original, imbued with her talent for drawing, and often displays her delicious sense of humor. In a recent post, she announced her participation in a brilliant new project called The Sketchbook Challenge. Each month, a theme will be announced and Jamie and the other organizers will share their sketches, talk about inspirations, and share techniques. The brilliant part is that they are inviting their readers to join in the challenge and share as well. I decided it would be a great way to get myself back into the sketching discipline in preparation for a summer class I plan to take that will involve lots of drawing. If you would like to participate as well, go to the Sketchbook Challenge blog and pick up a badge, then get your drawing tools ready and start drawing!

White Christmas in Greensboro

2010-12-26T07:50:00.000-05:00

The snow started Christmas morning, but it was several hours later before it began to stick. The photo above was taken right before dusk.

This is the same vantage at about 7:40AM on Boxing Day. We are cozy inside with plenty of food and can appreciate just how beautiful it is out there.

More Christmas presents

2010-12-26T05:00:00.003-05:00

With all of the purple fabric scraps I had left from the wedding, I've made two different kinds of ornaments. You will remember that I made pennants for porch and prayer flags for wedding decorations.

First I cross stitched Anna and Matty's names and the date of their wedding on canvas.

Next, I did some crazy piecing around the canvas to create the front of the ornament.

Here they are all ready to stuff. One is for Matty's mom and dad, one for Anna and Matty, and one for us. As doorknob art, ours will hang on the door of Anna's room.

This is a gift for Anna. The lavender was in her bouquet. I dried it and made a little bag with the netting that we used to make bows on some of the guest chairs at the wedding. The binding is made from the purple scraps and the bow is from the ribbon on her bouquet. The little tag at the top says all of that.

"C is for Cat and Caylan"

2010-12-25T05:00:00.003-05:00

Since this is a Christmas present, I'm putting this post together to go up on Christmas Day. My niece, Caylan, is an artist and adores cats. She works in a cat hospital in between making art. I've had this fabric for years and wanted to try to find a way to use it in a quilt for her.

Back in 1999 when Jim and I were in London for the summer, I went to a British quilt show and bought a charm package that was all cat fabrics. I wanted to use those in the quilt, too. I finally settled on the snowball block. Above is Sharon Hultgren's Easy Angle ruler™ that I use to cut the half square triangles.

Here's the first block laid out.

Four together.

Nine together.

All the blocks are assembled and the borders are on.

The backing fabric is flannel. Everything is all basted and ready for quilting.

The continuous bias binding is a combination of two animal prints.

This is the tag that will go on when the bias is sewn on.

The large meandering or stippling stencil is a great compliment to linear blocks.

Really, I'm still here but you know what it's like during the holidays...

2010-12-18T10:01:00.001-05:00

OK, I know it's been ten days, but in my own defense, I'm making Christmas presents that I can't post pictures of until later. There are already two pre-scheduled posts that are all finished. We wrapped and mailed off everything to family out of state last Monday and Tuesday. I've been wrapping things here and I made some of the tags. (Click on the photo above to make it bigger and you can see them.) Dan arrived last night from LA and Anna is in flight as I write this. It is such a blessing to be together for the holidays. Matty will arrive in the middle of the week.

Quilted Librarian is out to finish Christmas cards and make more cookies!

Making cookies with Munchie

2010-12-05T19:39:00.000-05:00

My dear niece came over today and helped me make a ton of Christmas cookies for Jim's faculty and staff.

Here's her first batch cooling. They are called Peanut Butter Blossoms and are a family favorite.

Gingerbread snowflakes came next. Thanks for the great help today, Munchie!

SNOW!

2010-12-04T13:27:00.001-05:00

Look at this! Our first snowfall in North Carolina. It wasn't supposed to stick, but it's still coming down and it's definitely sticking. Christmas cookies are on the schedule this weekend and the snow will put me even more in the holiday mood.

Update at 4:00 PM

Guest bathroom reveal

2010-11-28T15:03:00.000-05:00

There's just a little more painting to do around the new tile in the tub, but the vanity area is all finished.

Here's the left side of the vanity. I still have sanding to do in our bathroom before I paint in there. Pictures will go up when that's completed.

"Small Saturday": Love the concept

2010-11-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

Victoria Vargas who blogs over at Smaller Living has proposes that rather than participating in the hysteria of Black Friday, we think about supporting local businesses and independent artists when buying Christmas presents--something she's calling "Small Saturday." I love this concept and we certainly have tried our version of it over the years. I would also encourage you to make as many presents as you can. I think people really appreciate handcrafted gifts more and more.

Last month, I attended the annual pottery show at our local Farmer's Curb Market in Greensboro. I found some amazing work by Leanne Pizio at Three Dogs Pottery in Oak Ridge, North Carolina. Now I have several unique and beautiful gifts for family members AND I've helped support a local artist.

When Dan and Anna were growing up in Indiana, Black Friday became a traditional day for us to take the kids shopping in downtown Crawfordsville so they could buy our gifts. I took one child, Jim took the other, and after shopping, we met for lunch at Arthur's Café. After lunch, we switched children and found the other gifts. The children enjoyed it so much, that we kept doing this even through their college years. We all got to spend a calm, quiet family day AND support local businesses.

Last year, I made lots of fold-up cloth shopping bags for Christmas gifts. These were very simple to make, but were truly appreciated by the recipients. This year's gifts will have to remain secret for now, but I will reveal lots of them in a Christmas Day post.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and please, leave me a comment about your thoughts and ideas on "Small Saturday." Thanks to Victoria for inspiring this post today. The photo above was taken by Jim and is of Anna and Dan in front of our house in Crawfordsville probably around 1983.

Nerd Alert

2010-11-21T16:20:00.001-05:00

I'm in the movie theatre waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 to start. Color me excited!

Bathroom painting and HP 7

2010-11-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

This will be a short post. I am painting in the guest bathroom and still working to take that awful wall paper paste off both bathrooms. Once the painting is done, I will reward myself by seeing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1."

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm certainly looking forward to Thanksgiving and some serious vacation time. Quilted Librarian is back to the paint ladder.

Gorgeous gingko

2010-11-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

Jim and I took our lovely niece out for lunch today to celebrate her 21st birthday, then we went to a matinee at UNC-G. Right outside Jim's office is a beautiful little courtyard made spectacular in the fall by this incredible gingko tree.

I love the shape of the leaves and the way they are clustered on the branch.

We have enjoyed another warm and beautiful weekend here in the Piedmont Triad. I hope yours was wonderful in your part of the world as well.

New Woobie revealed: Happy birthday, Jim

2010-11-08T05:00:00.001-05:00

Happy sixtieth birthday to my dear husband. Here he is modeling his new woobie of which he highly approves. The weather is just chilly enough here to make him happy to have it around him in the evenings. You can check out the posts about the construction by clicking on woobie quilt over on the right under Labels. This is the second quilt I've made using the "Single Girl" pattern. You can also click on that to see posts about the first quilt.

Guest posting on a library blog and other librarian news

2010-11-05T10:33:00.000-05:00

I hope you will click over to Melissa's Librarian By Day blog where I have the guest post today. She put a call out for posts on historical fiction for young adults and I wrote one about a Margaret Peterson Haddix novel I really liked.

In other library news, Stephen Abram published the results of his librarians' hobbies survey on his blog,
Stephen's Lighthouse. Not surprisingly, recreational reading topped the list. Knitting was tenth, but quilting was really an "also-ran," way down on the list. I suspect there are more of us out there, just from the people I've heard from and met at conferences and quilt shows.

Why I always vote

2010-11-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

I always exercise my right to vote because so many of my sister ancestors, the American suffragists, devoted their lives, ruined their health, and suffered countless disappointments to secure it for me. Pulitzer prize winner, Connie Schultz of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote a column in 2004 after see the HBO presentation of "Iron Jawed Angels" that more than went viral on the Internet. She wrote an update in 2008 that I recommend you read if you are hesitating about making the trip to vote.

Mining a source of inspiration to create a new quilt: Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2010

2010-10-29T03:38:00.010-05:00

Welcome to the Blogger's Quilt Festival, Fall 2010. Because I had such good response to my spring post for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I've decided to follow a similar plan of updating my original post as I construct a new piece during the fall festival. My inspiration again comes from Wonderland's Alice. This time, rather than the images of John Tenniel, it comes from the words of Lewis Carroll.

The quote appears in the first chapter of Through the Looking Glass and comes from the Red King. I love the concept of the pencil being uncontrollable, having a will of its own. I have some vague mental images rolling around in my head involving mark-making on fabric with different size pens combined with lots of black, white, and grey fabrics with graphic designs. Like many quilters, I fight against the urge to "go literal" with an image. I don't want to make a quilt that features the image of a giant pencil ! ( Elizabeth Barton has a great post about this, by the way. You can check it out here.) My imaginings center much more on the writings of this pencil Lewis Carroll talks about. What do "all manner of things that I don't intend" actually look like? Here's some of the fabric with graphic images.

The fabrics with pencil and pen designs will probably show up on the back or in the binding, but who knows?

Here's a look at the first constructions using some new millennium fabric.

This piece will be improvisationally pieced on an intuitive basis and we will see where it leads over the days of the festival. Thanks for reading and I hope you will check back as I update this post.

Update: Friday, 29 October 9:40PM

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby today for more marking tools and stencils.

This is the beginning of a white on black letter.

Here it is on the background fabric. As the components start to appear, I am getting a clearer idea of what the whole might look like.

Update: Saturday, 30 October 12:45PM

This is not a composition, but rather just some of the elements grouped together for a picture. I'm really pleased with the look of things so far. Back to Safety Pin Studio!

Update: Saturday, 30 October 4:00PM

I've decided to do all the letters in the alphabet but in different fonts and cases. Here's my "i" unit that I printed with typewriter font rubber stamps. The back of the fabric is stabilized with freezer paper that I iron on and then pull off once it's stamped.

Here are the units so far. There's going to be another repeated letter unit for the "e."

Update: Sunday, 31 October 7:45AM

Good Halloween morning to all of you festival visitors. Here are my next two "repeater" elements. The wonderful black fabric that the "e's" are on was designed and made by Laura Wasilowski. I've been hoarding it for years and now I'm thrilled to use it in this quilt.

Now that the composition is coming together, the shapes of the various elements is being dictated by where I need to fill in an open space. I like this kind of creative problem-solving. Today shouldn't be as interrupted as Saturday was, and I'm hoping to get close to finishing the front. More later. Now, it's back to the studio.

Update: Sunday, 31 October 9:00AM

I'm constantly moving the elements around and now that I see this photo, I can see another move I want to make. Back I go to Safety Pin Studio.

Update: Sunday, 31 October 1:40PM

Nothing is sewn together yet, but I think this composition will work. There's more Laura Wasilowski fabric in the "y" repeater element. I'm thinking a grey first border and then some of the white on black fabric with cursive writing all over it for the second border. I used the black on cream fabric with print letters to fill in the spaces between elements.

I'm taking a little lunch break and then back to work.

Update: Sunday 31 October 8:30PM

Here's the top sewn together with a grey border. One border is going to be enough, I think.

The border fabric is by Debra Lunn and Michael Mrowka for Robert Kaufman. It's an oldie from my stash. I will use the white on black cursive writing fabric for bias binding. Quilted Librarian is out for tonight.

Update: Tuesday, 2 November 8:30PM

This is the beginning of the title block. I'm using my typewriter font rubber stamps on fabric that's been stabilized with freezer paper on the back.

There's nearly enough pencil fabric for the back. The black on white cursive writing fabric may work around the edges.

Quilted Librarian goes mobile!

2010-10-23T11:31:00.002-05:00

I've finally gotten around to uploading some social networking apps for my iPhone so I can go mobile. This won't be my preferred form of posting, because it's too hard to type, but great to have in place. Thank you BlogWriter Lite. Happy weekend.

Blogger's Quilt Festival, Fall 2010

2010-10-22T06:21:00.000-05:00

The ever amazing Amy is doing it again: the best online quilt festival ever for the fourth time. I'm very excited to participate again. Come back on the 29th of October for the start of the fun. You can click back to my old posts using these links:
Festival #1 post
Festival #2 post
Festival #3 post

Thanks, Amy. You rock.

Jim's New Woobie: Finishing touches

2010-10-17T06:41:00.000-05:00

This is the large half hoop when I was just about finished quilting Jim's new woobie yesterday afternoon. It was a little cool on the porch, so I was happy to have the quilt resting on my legs.

I made the continuous bias binding earlier in the week. I use my Viking with the walking foot to sew on binding. Here's a link to a tutorial on continuous bias binding.

Here's the front side of the tag...

...and the back. I sew the tags to the back above the binding line of quilting and then turn the binding down and hand sew it to secure the tag. I've made several tags lately. See this post and this one.

Here's a little detail of the binding and the hand quilting.

Fall color and a look at the remodeling

2010-10-16T10:05:00.001-05:00

I'm having a Jane Brocket kind of color and domestic artist day. Jim bought me these wonderful zinnias at the Farmer's Market and the colors are just intoxicating. We went for vegetables, but he knows how I love flowers.

The vegetables are cut up and ready to go into the pot as I poach a whole chicken. We will have the breast meat tonight and I will make chicken and noodles for my lunches next week with the broth and the dark meat.

This is a little look at the bathroom remodeling. They started with the guest bathroom. This is the new porcelain tile floor. Was I glad to see the last of that ugly linoleum! I had them use tile rather than wood mop boards.

This is the same view with the new vanity in place as well as the high profile/ecologically friendly toilet. You can see what the wall color will be, too. The new lights should go in on Monday and then they will tear out our bathroom. Quilted Librarian out to finish quilting Jim's new woobie.

Pennants on display

2010-10-11T17:51:00.000-05:00

Here are the pennants on display. It was tough to get a good picture without reflections.

A memory of Mae and her mother

2010-10-09T07:26:00.000-05:00

Some of Jim's mother's things that she had intended for us arrived this week. This is a work bag that belonged to Mae's mother, Anna (the namesake of our Anna). It was always in Mom's bedroom taking pride of place right by the door. I never got to meet the first Anna, but did speak to her on the telephone shortly before her death. She knew that Jim and I were engaged and seemed pleased and was very sweet to me.

This is a wonderful old photo of the first Anna and I can definitely see our Anna's resemblance to her. She was also a needlewoman and that's one of the reasons I will particularly cherish this memento. Thanks, Mom.

Jim's woobie quilt: quilting update

2010-10-03T19:22:00.000-05:00

Jim's new woobie quilt is about halfway quilted. I'm using the large half hoop on the edges. We've had gorgeous weather this weekend and I've spent every moment I could hand quilting on the screened porch. I spent some time this afternoon helping to drop the Piedmont Quilters Guild show and both of my quits are safely back home. I got some nice comments from the judge, but no ribbons. I'm planning a new quilt for the spring PAQA-South show. That should be a better venue for my type of work. I hope you are all enjoying some lovely October weather.

Piedmont Quilters Guild Show 2010

2010-09-30T05:00:00.002-05:00

I have entered two quilts in the Piedmont Quilters Guild Show which opens tomorrow and continues through Sunday, October 3. If you are in the Piedmont Triad area, I hope you will try to attend. The quilt above is called "Mérida Remix". You can read about the construction of this quilt at these post.
The quilting and finishing of it can be seen here.

This one is called "Curiouser and curiouser." Read more about it at these posts.

Chatting with SLIS students

2010-09-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

When I was in library school at Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science, my favorite courses were taught online by Dr. Annette Lamb and Dr. Larry Johnson. Not only were they challenging and informative, they were also fun. Last year at the AASL conference in Charlotte, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting both of them in person for the first time. Recently, Larry asked me to serve as a virtual visiting professional and dialogue with the students in his Library Media Specialist class via their class blog. In honor of that, I thought I would feature the One Million Books quilt that hangs in my office at school and a new set of pennants I'm making for the library media center.

Using the same technique that I employed for the letters of the OMB quilt, I cut out letters to spell out, "Read one million books." Black seemed to be the best background color for the pennants themselves. The pattern was developed last summer when I made a string for Anna and Matty's wedding. For the moment, I think they will hang in the display case outside the library media center.

While my blog is called The Quilted Librarian, it tends more toward the "quilt" end of the spectrum than the "librarian" end, but, on occasion, I do let my inner librarian/information specialist speak. In this post, I talked about the unique and useful information provided by tracking one's blog. The importance of titling and tagging a blog were the subjects of this post. My first experiences with Twitter are discussed in this post. Banned Books Week rated a post, too. This post involves my responses to a reading meme. You can look through the labels to the right for other library-related topics.

Technology and social media figure into what I do every day. When I create a new blog post, it's automatically Tweeted and appears as a wall post on my Facebook page. I keep up with news and what's happening in the various blogospheres with Google Reader. A digital camera is always in my purse as is my iPhone.

I love reading about how many school librarians are using cutting-edge technologies with their students and it makes me wish that my own students had more access to technology. The digital divide is unfortunately very real and it's going to take lots of money to make things more equitable. I've had two very different job experiences as a library media specialist--the first in a small, rural corporation with lots of technology and a strong budget for materials and the second in a sprawling, urban corporation with very little technology and an almost non-existent materials budget. I'm sure the SLIS students will have lots of good questions. Hopefully, I will be able to provide some insightful answers.

Pennants and porch quilting: a weekend round-up

2010-09-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

The morning has been spent moving between Safety Pin Studio and the screened porch. I made the bias tape for the pennants since I had all of the "READ" pennants finished.

Here's the R going on the raw edge of the bias.

Once the pennants are sewn down to the raw edge, it is pressed up and the other raw edge (that's been pressed under one-quarter inch) is brought over to cover the first stitching and pinned down.

The second edge of tape is topstitched through all the layers and grommets are added to each end so the string is ready to hang.

A Great Weekend for Getting Things Done

2010-09-19T18:38:00.000-05:00

While I did spend some time quilting on the porch on Saturday, the weekend was mostly given over to a variety of jobs around the house. Nearly all of the supplies are now here for the bathroom remodeling. (More on that in the days to come.) I took off the last of the wallpaper borders in our bathroom and we are ready for the demolition and then, the new floor and fixtures. The front beds are weeded and ready for the fall and a large limb that came down in the backyard is cut up and ready to be collected by the city tomorrow. I made Thanksgiving for Jim and our niece and we are all nursing food babies at the moment. I hope your weekend was enjoyable and productive, too.

Screened Porch Quilting on Jim's Woobie

2010-09-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

Another gorgeous day in the Piedmont Triad, so I was out on my screened porch quilting on Jim's woobie quilt.

The stippling design shows better on the back side. I'm loving the 80/20 batt and the soft backing fabric. They quilt like a dream.

Basting Jim's New Woobie Quilt

2010-09-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

Since it was lovely and cool today and the table on the porch is the perfect size and height, I basted Jim's new woobie quilt. You can search the labels on the right to see other posts about this Denyse Schmidt pattern called "Single Girl."

I use a curved upholstery needle for basting which should be not further apart than the hand. Miraculously, I didn't stab myself with it this time. There's an old tradition among quilters that it's good luck to bleed on the quilt you are making. That should make me a very lucky person. If you do bleed on the quilt you are working on, your own saliva is the very best stain remover.

This long, thin table is ideal for basting. I tape the back down to the table to keep it still and mark the side centers with pins. The batting comes next and then the top with the side centers also marked with pins. I line up the centers, secure with long pins and begin basting. Starting in the center with the excess resting on the chairs, I use long threads and baste the entire center area, then move the quilt to the two extremes to finish.

I've decided to use the large stippling stencil to quilt this one. More on that process later.

Finishing up the doll quilt and a weather change

2010-09-05T07:21:00.001-05:00

We awoke Saturday morning to a lovely change in the weather--beautiful deep blue skies and temperatures in the high seventies and low eighties. I spend a large part of the day on the screened porch finishing up the hand quilting on the doll quilt.

The quilting is finished and the continuous bias binding is all machine sewn. Now I just have to bring it around to the back and hand sew it down. The tag has my name and the washing instructions on the reverse side.

Here's the lovely little lady who will soon be covering her babies with the quilt. Dan took this photo of Zoe at Anna and Matty's wedding.

One third of the woobie quilt

2010-08-29T10:22:00.000-05:00

I'm making some progress of Jim's woobie quilt this weekend. Ring five is under construction, but here are the first three sewn together. There will be nine rings in total. This is Denyse Schmidt's "Single Girl" pattern. Click on the tag over on the right side of the blog to see posts about Anna and Matty's wedding quilt that I made using this pattern.

A doll-sized version of the African Striped Baby Quilt

2010-08-27T19:04:00.000-05:00

One of the little girls for whom I made a baby quilt is now an active toddler who loves to take care of her dolls. She is particularly fond of tucking them in for naps. When I discovered this, I determined that I had to make a doll quilt for her upcoming birthday. Using Kaffe Fassett's African Striped Baby quilt as an inspiration, I cut the basic block size down by an inch and came up with the perfect measurements. (Click on the tags at the right to see previous quilts from this pattern.)

These are the fabrics I chose from the back, binding, and the two borders. My palette for the striped fabric was pink, brown, cream, and yellow.

Here are the striped fabrics.

The top comes together.

The center is quilted and I'm working my way around the edges now. This has been great fun.

An Incredible performance of "Litany" by Billy Collins

2010-08-24T06:04:00.000-05:00

If you've read this blog for very long, you know that I love poetry. Dan sent me the link to this today and I had to share it. It is so much more than a little child memorizing something adult. He really seems to "get" it and he rolls the words around like an old master. Enjoy.