USA Quilting 1

I got my least favorite part of the quilt process done yesterday - the sandwiching of the layers.

I was going to use a white backing, but the fabric I had available was white-on-white one of which was too thin and the other to painty. I opted for a red Ikea cotton sheet that I had already pre-washed, but needed ironing.

While I was wishing that I had some really white batting in the stash, it occurred to me that easy stitching was priority because of all the piecing.  I decided to use another piece of the wool I've been saving.  Interestingly, I think that the patterning of the white-on-white backgrounds stands up more with that cream colored layer.

I also discovered at this point that despite my careful stitching, the outer border has a little bit of a wave to it.  It's the result of having a bias edge of triangles all around the outside.  That problem should quilt out with this somewhat lofty batting.

I pin basted and started with a block near the center.

Windblown Square for North Dakota

Algonquin Square for Rhode Island.

After the outline stitching, I plan to do some echoing like this but in a way that merges with or flows to the stitching of the next block.

Third finished block for Sunday was Salt Lake City, for Utah (obviously).

 You may remember from a previous post on this quilt, that there are several rows that got off-grid from the others.  I can see now that there's going to be some clever stitching to camouflage the problem.

This block, for example is about 1/4" smaller than the one below it, but lined up on the right side. It's only noticeable when you try to line up the center points of each block.   A little "fool the eye" quilting and no one will notice.

East Meets West

Ta-Da!  Here's my finished sashiko experiment.
At this distance it's quite lovely.  Up close, you can see the irregularity of the stitches caused by the gigantic needle and rope really thick thread it was pulling.  I enjoy seeing this kind of work, but I don't anticipate ever doing it again.  I do, however, love the  quilt patterns and will try reproducing them with quilt thread and tiny needles.

The fabric on the inside is actually a flour sack.  Really.  I was at the grocery store and saw flour in a fabric sack.  I justified the higher price of the flour because of the yard of fabric that came with it.  I won't show you close ups of the binding...it won't win any awards on the inside corners.  As a quilter, I rock at outside corners...but what is the secret to inside corners?  And there wasn't quite enough of the of the white-on-white fabric 2" strip...so there's a different fabric for the top flap.

And now you can see the purpose of the project.  It's a quilt block holder for my 6.5" USA state blocks.  I only have 4 done, but have fabric from many of the states thanks to friends...and a long road trip.  I'm using the blue dragon-fly pin to hold the packet together.

Keep and eye on my USA quilt page, and let me know if you can send me fabric from my "missing" states.

The First 4 State Blocks

"Corn & Beans" - Iowa
"Ohio Star" -Ohio
"Crockett Cabin" - Tennesee
"Anvil" - Pennsylvania.


I've been talking with friends and family in several states, but realize that I don't have connections in some states.  If you live in or will be visiting one of the following states, would you be willing to buy 1/8 yard of red for me?

Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas Minnesota, Missisipi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota

Block 1 - Pennsylvania

 My first fabric Treasure Hunt care package came today from my QBFF Laurel H at Lively Stitches.com .  I was supposed to be packing, cleaning, and generally preparing for vacation.  And technically, I did wash the fabric she sent along with the clothes I'll be packing.  While Guitar Girl drives over the river and through the woods to G'mas house...I'll be stitching this beauty by hand.

And since every good quilt has a story...here's my thoughts behind this block.  In my original planning for this quilt, I tried to match traditional block names to states.  I'm sure that I picked Anvil in honor of the Steel industry.  But I'm also a football fan.  And Merril Hodge is an Idaho boy who played for the Steelers (87-94) after he played for Idaho State University in the only years we actually had a winning season.   Maybe it's a stretch, but it works for me.

I'm actually very pleased that I've made a decision on the PA block.  I'm not having nearly as much luck on the Oregon block.  My original plan was Tall Pine Trees.  Guitar Girl wants Ducks.  Skater Girl is emo...so her converstion wanders off about how depressing Fort Clatsop & the Whitman Massacre were. Harley Dude suggests volcanoes and lava...but would settle for a big circle to symbolize Crater Lake.  Now they're talking about onions. [SIGH] Why do I ask?   I've been thinking about ferns...symbolizing the west coast humidity as well as the John Day fossils.  Well...at least I have the fabric.

Handwork Holiday

I will be taking a vacation in July, with plans to do hand work while I travel.  I've decided to commit to not using my sewing machine for the whole month of July.

That means packing up some partially finished projects.  Tereece Beesley fans, you are excused until Aug 1.  The bottom right background sections are mostly pieced now.  Having put together 100+ unique pieces for the cartoons, I'm looking forward to how fast the popsicles themselves should go.

And Monet needs a little break so I can get excited about it again.

But I finally get to start on the hexies...which will look a little like this.  This quilt is for my sister-in-law Rita.  I have over 1050 hexes cut out with 126 glue basted and ready to stitch.

Any leftovers will be rolled into a scrapier hex quilt for my niece Hillary.  Hers will be lighter pinks and greens that have a more yellow undertone.  I did discover that one of the fuschia fabrics had a streak of a rather brown shade of burgundy.  Looks like I'll be hosting a hex scrap give-away later in the summer for those blocks.

I have also been working drafting 6" blocks for the USA quilt.  Since I don't have the EQ software, I'm relying on my Power Point graphics skills.  I figured out how to save them as a PDF...next step...figuring out how to load a document onto the blog.   I am planning to sew this quilt by hand, so I could get started this month...but I'm nervous about reds bleeding so I will pre-wash the fabrics in batches before I start.

Update:  I discovered a way to upload PDFs to Scribd.com and add the links through Blogger.  I added the first 8 blocks that I drafted on the side bar.   No particular logic to the order...though I did start with 9 patch blocks figuring they would be easiest.  I will be hand stitching these, with the more detailed ones using English piecing.  I'll post pictures & tutorials when I get started on them.