Saturday, January 29, 2011

Stashbuster 1-30-11

Remember the Civil War quilt my husband asked me to make for him? And remember the 10+ yards I bought for said quilt last week at the big quilt show I attended? Well, I HAD to buy border fabric, right? Two yards out of the Hancock's of Paducah catalog--the fabric with the Civil War generals depicted on it. ? That's it!

The 2.5 yards I used was a vintage tablecloth my grandmother embroidered in the '50s. I cut it up to make a blouse/jacket. (See my Design Wall Monday post tomorrow!)
    Yardage purchased this week: 2
    Yardage purchased year to date: 17 yards
    Yardage used this week: 2.5 yards
    Yardage used year to date: 25.5
    Net used 2011: 8.5
Happy quilting!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Garment on my Design Wall

I went to the Road 2 California quilt show last week and among the great vendors there, I found one specializing in antiques: antiques quilts, tablecloths, hankies, blocks, etc. I collect antique quilts and give a lecture to guilds on the history of fabric in America but I swore to be a good girl and not buy another for my collection. I came close to buying 2 redwork pillowcases with sayings that really got to me: the first one said, "I slept and dreamed that life was beauty", depicting butterflies and blossoms. The second one read, "I woke and found that life was duty" with an image of a woman with a broom in her hand. Sad, huh? Didn't buy them.

Then I saw a rack of blouses made out of vintage tablecloths, doilies and cutter quilts. OMG! They were wonderful! But at $110 to $150, a little pricy. Then, a lightbulb went off above me! I have 4 drawers full of embroidered and crocheted items that my grandmother and mother made and they've been sitting there, unused, for a couple of decades! I don't use them because they are stained and not the right size for my tables. Making them into garments I would wear would be a tribute to my forbears as well as the ultimate recycling of otherwise unusable items.

So, I found a simple, non-dart blouse pattern, chose an embroidered tablecloth my grandmother made eons ago and put it on my design wall. I made some calculations, marked it up and started cutting.

This is the back. It started as a 50" round tablecloth that fit a table my mother replaced with a rectangular one when I was about 10 (1963). It's the one I chose to make first because it's the least 'special'. If this one turns out as great as I think it will, I'll cut into the really pretty ones and make more! Can't wait to finish it and wear it!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

UFO #6 FINISHED!


Six days early too! I'm so proud of myself! I really didn't want to finish this quilt--didn't really like it that much. (See the 'before' photo of #6 here). See, I made this on a mystery quilt retreat and I wanted it to be a Christmas quilt, thus the red and green fabrics. The pattern turned out not to look very Christmassy so I was disappointed. But, of course, now that it's quilted, I like it a whole lot more! You like the quilting? I did it on my regular machine, a Janome 6600. It's 60" x 76" and I'll probably donate this quilt to the next community service organization that holds a silent auction for some good cause. This is a quilt both men and women will like.

Looking forward to February 1st when Judy pulls the next UFO number. THANKS, JUDY!