“It’s Just a Quilt”

“It’s just a quilt!” I told myself. It’s a quilt I’ve been working on for about six years, and it isn’t even that big. I was going to hand quilt it all, then I machine quilted part of it, but couldn’t think of what to do in the large star centers.

Today, I knew just what to do. There is a wonderful article by Lea Day in the new Quilter’s Newsletter which I have to admit is my favorite quilting mag of all) on machine quilting.

I know how to machine quilt. I also know that there is a lot I don’t know, and that I can do better if I practice. Lea Day gives us challenges, she shows us exactly hot to do it and then tells us to just get started. The first ones won’t be so hot, she tells us, but by the end of your practicing, you’ll definitely see signs of improvement and increased confidence.

No, no, those aren’t all from Leah Day, but Lea Day’s article got me started. There are some ideas I’ve been playing around with and this rainy day and her article gave me the idea to play around. Play is learning for a quilter, so my results aren’t perfect but this is “just a quilt,” and it’s a great place to play with some new quilting techniques and work on some ideas for the important quilts I am making for a couple young women having babies.

Charity Baby Quilts

I love these because they get all fluffy and soft, and what do kids love more than fluffy and soft? I also love making them because they are quick and easy. The guild and the bee I am in both ask for at least one quilt a year for charitable projects, so now I have completed the minimum and can move on. . . I have a lot more flannel and a lot more ideas

Rag Quilts

At my first meeting with my new group, the leader demonstrated Rag Quilts. I’ve always loved the look, and I’ve heard explanations of how to do them, but none of the explanations made it sound so easy as these ones.

I was excited. I went to the fabric shop and bought fabrics, as it turned out barely enough for a little 40″ x 40″ quilt. These rag quilts are easy, but fabric intensive.

I did not use batting, because this is Florida, and the quilts are flannel, but I think I may do a couple with batting for colder climates – it makes great use of leftover batting.

On these, I cut the squares 8.5 inches, used seams about 1″, and bought the special scissors our group leader recommended, Fons and Porter scissors specially designed for rag quilts. They are short blades, and very, very sharp. They make cutting the seams a breeze.

On the first quilt, the jungle quilt, I attached stars, again, very easy, as it also served as quilting, front, back and star. I echo quilted again once outside the star, and quilting is done, Wooo HOOOO!

Seams are to the front, and when all the pieces are together, you sew twice around the border, 1.25 inches in, so when you cut, you get a nice shaggy border. You clip all the inner seams, and then wash, which makes it go all fuzzy.

You don’t have to use flannel. I have seen this done with hopsack weave cloth, with equally satisfactory results.

On the second quilt, a blue and white flannel, instead of applying stars, I varied block pieces, 1 strip 5″ x 8.5″, two pieces 5″ x 5″. I pieced the two 5×5′x, then attached them to the 5″ x 8.5″, so that the final blocks were 8.5 inches. I rotated blocks so they would all be different, sewed the blocks together and cut the seams and edges. I don’t think it took half a day, start to finish, and I love the results.

These are SO easy! I’ve always loved the soft look the raggy edges give these quilts. I don’t imagine they last as long as quilts from more closely woven fabrics, but they have a great soft look.

Update: These quilts are so much fun I just did one more:

Animal Friends League Charity Bazaar

“Where’ve you been?” my friends are asking, “you haven’t posted anything for ages!”

I’ve been having too much fun.

Mostly I have five or six or seven quilts going all at once, a hand applique, a quilt or two that needs some piecing, or needs some quilting designs chalked on, or some quilting done . . . but the last few months, I got busy on a lot of smaller stuff, things which will go into a much larger pile of hand made items for the Animal Friends League Charity Bazaar.

Several people have been working on this annual fund-raising effort to help support the Animal Friend’s League efforts to rehome abandoned, mistreated and homeless pets in Kuwait. This is just a small sample of some really fun, unique, and beautifully crafted stuff:

There will be many other vendors with unique items to help you solve your Christmas shopping dilemmas, AND . . . there will be a baked / home made goodies table, with famous salsa, famous mince pies and assorted delectables for your enjoyment.

See you there!

The Quiltathon

The Quiltathon held March 24th at the Dar Al Cid was a huge success! Actually running from 8 in the morning to 9 at night, more than 50 women dropped in, some staying the entire day, some working in the morning, some working in the afternoon, some in the evening – and the group made – ta da! – either 33 quilts or 35 quilts, depending on who you talk to.

Not all the quilts are finished, there is still work to do – but hey, we definitely accomplished our goal! Wooo Hoooooo q8Quilters!

And we got good press, too!

Kuwait Times:

Arab Times:

Three Orphan Quilts

These are the quilts I made for Alanna’s Orphans. I tried a new technique – it looked so easy when our friend did it. For me, sometimes the “easier” techniques turn out to be harder. Like for me, the dreaded applique comes easy. For me, it is fast. This one was – for me – HARD!

I found myself jumping back and forth from cutting to sewing. I did all the quilting at the end. If I were to do another one, I would maybe quilt as I go, but that means a lot of changing threads. . . no, I don’t think I will do any of these again. Sewing through six layers is difficult to do with accuracy, and then doing the quilting – for me – is not easy. I’m glad I tried it, I’m glad I finished the quilts, and I think I will stick to techniques that work better for me.  

This coming Monday, March 24, all quilters in Q8 are meeting in a huge Quiltathon to put together quilts for the orphanage. Our goal is 20 quilts. I am secretly hoping we complete more!

New Page

In support of the Q8Quilters goal of sending 20 quilts to  Alanna’s Orphans project to provide quilts for an orphanage in Kurdistan, I have posted a new page with simple quilts that can be made quickly for charitable projects.

The quilts for Alanna’s project are supposed to be 55″ x 77″ (more or less). Alanna has said AROUND 55″ x 77″ as the kids range in age from 5 – 15, and the quilts will be used as bedding.

Any of the quilts can also be made smaller. They are all good for using up perfectly good fabrics left over from earlier quilting projects.

Over on the right, under “Pages” you will see a page called Quick Quilts for Charity. They are very basic quilts, and you are free to use them and modify them any way you wish.