Thoughts About Quilting, Part 1

Today, I am finally going to begin a series about quilts. I have been wanting to for a long time, but have never made time to for it. Now, every Monday, I am going to post something about quilting. It could be a step-by-step for a specific block, piecing techniques, tips on buying/coordinating fabrics, pattern ideas, or just a "things-I've-learned-from-mistakes" post -- I think I could write a book with just those. :)


Anyway, today's post is just a few thoughts about quilting in general and why I began. I became interested watching Simply Quilts on HGTV. The complicated, beautiful patterns those quilters showcased were so inspiring! I had to learn how to quilt after seeing theirs. My first quilt was a variation on a nine-patch, strip-pieced by machine, and hand quilted. This was definitely my "learning" quilt. Even in the picture, you can see all the seams that didn't meet. I love this quilt, though, just because it was my first complete one. I had it with me in some of my senior portraits.



This quilt was my second try. It is a wall hanging, instead of a full-size, but it was actually more complicated than the blue one. I still don't know if I'll ever have the courage to try applique again. Sorry for the funny picture -- I had to drape it over a low chair to show the full pattern. I will try to find a better way when I use it as an example in another post.
The pattern outside the applique blocks is Flying geese. Again, you can see that my seams don't meet as they should, especially on the green side. If you look closely, you can find all four of these fabrics again in my wedding ring quilt and all except the pink in my spring quilt.

After this, I did my Christmas quilt, then my Fan Quilt, then my Double Wedding Ring quilt, and finally, my Spring Quilt. Next Monday, I'll post about the first of three basic steps of quilting:

1. Choosing the pattern, layout, and colors. This is my favorite step and, in my opinion, the most important to take your time with!
   
   
2. Piecing the quil top
   
   
3. Assembling, quilting, and binding.

My Spring Quilt

I finally finished my spring quilt last night -- just in time for spring!! My room already looks so much brighter. If only I could paint the walls light blue. Sigh. Anyway, here is the finished quilt:

This quilt has a little story, too. I think all quilts have stories. It all started when I saw the pale green and pale blue fabric with coordinating patterned fabric at Walmart. I was trying to finish up my Double Wedding Ring Quilt, so I knew I didn't need to start another. I just could not pass by that those bright, cheerful fabrics, though.
I bought a very small amount of each fabric, probably a half a yard, then began sorting through my scrap bags to see what other springtime fabrics I had.
The yellow fabrics are some of my favorites. So are the china blue and rose pink fabrics. I found enough scraps in my bag to make a quilt top using a nine-patch block in an Around-the-World pattern. So, for about $10 out of my pocket, I got this quilt top. My favorite thing about it, is that it reminds me of a garden, with all the bright colors, the floral fabrics, and even some strawberry patches!!
Since I was still working on the other complicated quilt and this was a simple square pattern, I machine pieced it together. Then, I was so tired of quilting that I folded it away on my quilt rack all winter. I pulled it off just a few weeks ago and set to work on it. I was determined to have it done before April and I just did manage it. Now I'm so glad I decided to make it!!

An Old Fashioned Girl

I got An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott from the library just a few days ago -- and I finished it just yesterday. It was such a good book! I loved the sweet storyline and the simple lessons woven into the characters' everyday lives. It made me want to read Little Women... again. :)

There is a confusing aspect to Alcott's writing for me, though. Any short biography on the inside jacket of one of her books will tell you that she was a feminist -- an ardent advocate for the Women's Rights movement. The majority of her characters, however, were young girls who tried with all their hearts to make their homes pleasant and happy. Only occasionally can you see the feminist influence in Alcott's writing. In this book, for example, the girls see a statue of "The Modern Woman" who is supposed to be more than a housekeeper, a mother, a nurse, etc, for she will have the right to vote, to work, etc. It's a small portion of a big book, only two paragraphs long, perhaps, but it showed the influences in Alcott's life. What confuses me is that the rest of the book seems in direct contrast to this "powerful woman" image. Polly is a sweet, dutiful girl who works quietly in her home to make others happy. When the girls marry in the end (I'm not spoiling the ending for anyone, I hope), they talk about encouraging their future husbands, helping him in his work, and hoping to make his home happy. So, when I read Alcott's writing, I can't decide if she wasn't as much of a feminist as the biographies make her out to be, or if she tried to tame her ideas in her writing to make it palatable for young girls.

I really liked this book, though. I think it is one that every young girl should read. Tom is a funny, wonderful character who seems practically real and the contrasts that are brought out time and again between Polly and Fanny are definitely thought-provoking. Anyone who likes Little Women or Eight Cousins will love it.

He Is Risen

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia! Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia! Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia! Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia! Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia! Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia! Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!
King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia! Everlasting life is this, Alleluia! Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia! Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!
Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia! Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
But the pains that He endured, Alleluia! Our salvation have procured, Alleluia! Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia! Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!
Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

words by Charles Wesley

source: http://www.cyberhymnal.com/

Pictures!!

Okay, by request I'm posting pictures of my new clothes! The photography isn't too great, but you'll get to see what everything looks like. These are my new shirts:

You can't tell a lot about them from the picture, but I love these tops. The neckline is square and reminds me of a Regency dress. It's hard to see, but one is black and one is royal blue. I look for shirts that I can dress up and dress down, with skirts or slacks or khakis. These were just what I was looking for and the price was great!
Here is my skirt set. The shirt is chocolate brown with a drape neck and an empire waist band.
I love the colors in the skirt. They are much more vibrant in person. The leaves at the bottom are chocolate brown, the other leaves are aqua blue and lime green, and the main part of the skirt is robin's-egg blue.

Here is the polka dot dress. Of course, I'll wear it with a white shirt underneath. :)

You can see the print better in this picture. The main color is chocolate brown, then there are white and pale blue polka dots.

This dress was my mom's favorite, which surprised me because she doesn't usually like big prints. The pattern reminds me of a peacock.
Here is a close-up. The pattern is mint green with blue-gray and beige highlights. The necklace we chose is draped around the hanger.

I always wait until after Easter to start wearing my spring dresses, so I haven't worn any of them yet. I should start putting away some of my heavy sweaters, too -- even if the weather is still pretty chilly.

Cute story: I was standing at the cash register last week when this cute little girl, about five years old, ran up to the counter beside her mom and handed me a little pink shoe box.

"These are my new sandals!" she told me, so excited.

"They are?" I said. "They're really cute."

"Yes," she said, " they are sooo pretty. When I get home, I'm going to put them on and wear them inside my room and pretend like it's warm outside!!!"

Everybody nearby laughed about that one. We're all beginning to buy spring clothes, short sleeved tops, and lots of people last week were even buying swim suits. I guess we all want to pretend it's already warm outside!

New Clothes

We went shopping today for spring dresses. I wasn't expecting to find a lot of options because....well, you girls know how hard it can be to find a dress that isn't too short, too low, too tight, etc. I was surprised to find a lot of nice dresses and took several to the dressing room. There were two that I liked, but they were made with little sweaters to go with them and I felt like the sweaters would be too hot when the weather gets warmer. Then I tried one that I really liked. It was black with white polka dots and a short-sleeved pink jacket. The last two I tried on turned out to be my favorites. One was a mint green print and the other was chocolate brown with white and pale blue dots. My mom bought me the mint green one and a pretty necklace to go with it! I decided to buy the brown one myself. Dresses are so hard to find that when I find a good one it's hard to pass by. I also bought two simple shirts in royal blue and black for work/everyday. Last Friday, I did some shopping during my break at work, too. I found a really cute skirt and shirt set. I really do need new clothes for the spring/summer, so all these finds are great! I can't wait for the weather to turn warm enough for me to wear them!

Christy: the TV series

I remember when this series came out in the early nineties. I loved it then. I couldn't wait to see the next episode and was so disappointed when the series was cancelled after only two seasons. They didn't even let me know who Christy finally decided to marry, David or Neil! When my mom bought me the complete series on DVD for Christmas, I wondered if I was going to like it as much this time as I did then. My sister just knew she was going to hate it. We worked through the series one episode at a time and finished it just a few weeks ago. Just like before, there just weren't enough shows -- and Gabrielle liked it. When the final episode left Christy trying to decide between David and Neil, she spun around in her chair and said, "THAT'S HOW IT ENDS?!?!?" lol.

I really enjoyed the series. It isn't perfect, of course, and this time I can see why it ended -- aside from the David/Neil dilemma, they had probably carried the story as far as they could for a TV series. I just wish they had wrapped it up with good movie that tells the story of who Christy finally chooses. Hallmark did make two movies a few years ago that tried to do that. I checked them out from the library to sort of "finish" the series. In my honest opinion, neither one of the movies is very good. If you haven't seen the series, you might enjoy them, but if you are used to Kellie Martin as Christy, Randall Batinkoff as David, and Tyne Daily as Miss Alice, the replacement actors in the movie just don't fill their shoes. The movie Christy has a rather arrogant, I'm-so-smart attitude that was in stark contrast to the TV Christy's sweet personality. The movie David was even worse. He just had no personality at all. Only having the original Neil in the cast helped the movie. He was one of my favorite characters from the series anyway. Then again, I liked all the characters and actors in the series. :)

WHEN IS SPRING GOING TO BE HERE???

A Bad Combination Is......

A thirty-hour work week and a case of of bronchitis. Argh. I'll be glad when Saturday is here.

Finally!!!!!!!!!

I finally went to the fabric store today and bought filling and backing for the quilt top I completed last year. It is meant to be spring quilt, so I really want to have it done by April. I might have mentioned before that I'm planning to do a quilting series here. That is slightly postponed because I haven't chosen all the fabrics for the pattern yet, but I'm still planning to do it. I may even start it up soon with a few quilting basics/thoughts/tips.

Also, I have finally gotten my photos organized this weekend! The only bad thing about taking lots of photographs was that I had nowhere to put them when I got them developed. Until now, I was just stacking the photo envelopes in a shoe box. My first purchase at the place I work was a photo album. People had been coming through my line all day with dozens of albums each, so I knew they were on a good sale. I picked one that would hold 300 pictures. I think I have more like 500 pictures, but as I have sorted and organized my photos, I have managed to select 300 that will go in this book. Now, I need 2-3 more albums. One for old pictures that I have reprinted, one for my reference photos, and one for all the pictures that I am sure I will end up taking this year. The first two can wait, because I haven't accumulated a big collection of them yet, but I would like to go ahead and get a 2008 album so I don't get behind with storing my pictures again. I have a list of so many pictures to develop. My aunt took lots of pictures of our family at Christmas and I want to have copies of all of them made. We have three one-time use cameras and a zip-lock bag with dozens of rolls of film in it that I want to start working through one by one. Pictures are so important to me. Even if it is an aggravation to sort them all, the end result of an organized album full of memories is worth it.