Taking a moment to remember………

The Memorial Day weekend is soon upon us. Graduations, summer activities, vacations being planned, kids home from school, etc, etc, etc.  Memorial Day…..a day set aside to remember, and be thankful for, those who have gone before and given (and are giving) much.  Around here, Freedom Honor Flights allow our honored veterans to fly out and experience some of the military monuments in Washington, DC, that exist because of the heroic sacrifices they have made….all this at no charge to them! I hope we all can spend some time remembering those family members no longer with us and those who have fought to give us these fabulous freedoms we all enjoy. Have a great weekend……..and wave that flag proudly!!!!!           

“Happy Trails”………

Is the title I have given to the lap quilt just completed for DH’s cousin. I have been on the look-out for fabric since last July when the first pieces were discovered at a cute shop just outside Jessup,IA. Named “Merry’s Stitchins”, it is located on a lovely rural property AND she has just moved across her driveway into her beautiful new building!!! Slowly the fabric acquisitions have continued and were completed last February when I visited a very cute shop in Cresco,IA, named “Quilter’s Garden”. You can read more on that here. This top became this as of Tuesday afternoon.   The quilting went super fast and I call it “Loopy Lollipops”. The quilt pattern is from the  Spring   2010 issue of “Quilts and More” and is called ‘Flower Show’. Once again, I used water soluble thread (top thread)/all purpose (bobbin thread) to machine baste the 3 layers together for quilting. So freeing not to have to worry about avoiding pins when FMQ. The fabrics come from a variety of sources: Maywood Studio “Are We There Yet” (campers, marshmallows on sticks), Marcus Fabrics (mosquito fabric), Connecting Threads “Quilters’ Candy” and borders/sashings were from Thimbleberries for RJR. It is now washed, dried and cozy, just awaiting it’s special label.

Hope to get it in the mail and headed West shortly….Yay!…..another UFO completed! Now, on to some needlefelting………….

Yesterday was spent…….

 

Together with a couple of quilty friends,  journeying to a friend’s quilting studio near Decorah, IA, to see a commissioned quilt she had been working on for several years. Jean belongs to the Spring Grove quilt group and we have been asking about this project for a while. The quilt is still in progress and too large to bring to a meeting for “show and tell” so she decided to open her studio for a few hours and invite the gals to come for a look/see. The studio was built by her hubby some years ago and is a “stone’s throw” from her back door. Idyllic doesn’t even begin to describe it!! With the birds singing and the wildflowers in bloom we walked up the grassy path with many pauses to admire the surroundings. The commissioned quilt is easily 8′ tall and “close” to completion. Although the photo at right doesn’t come close to showing all the detail work, the use of such a large number colors, shades and gradations forming the ‘color wash’ pieced sky is breath taking! It almost has a prism effect because of approach she used. There are larger, irregular pieces down to quite small HSTs. That, plus the various floral features and birds and her interpretation of the strip farming, done in this area, and rock side hill leading down to the flowing waters causes the viewer to be drawn in to the scene, to linger, to pause and be still. This will not be quilted but, rather, stretched on a frame which will further accentuate the picture quality of the piece. So lovely. I can’t finish this without a few pictures of the interior of the studio. A longarm, several sewing machines. much storage (but never enough!), cutting/pressing areas and design walls complete the spacious area.  Jean is kept quite busy with requests for her creations. Her rural setting  and love of gardening  and nature influences all of her pieces and, combined with her lovely farm home and out buildings, serves as beautiful inspirations for future work. An altogether lovely way to spend a Mother’s Day, sunny, warm Springtime afternoon!

 

Some days…….

Are just too beautiful to keep me indoors…….even to quilt!!!!

A couple more…….

Projects completed AND spent some quality time on the motorcycle!!! 76F, sunny, & a beautiful breeze, DH and I headed out for a short ride through the beautiful hills in the Peterson, Rushford, Houston (MN) area. Lunch at a very nice eatery in Rushford, Lynndyn-Bridge Restaurant. Home again and back to the sewing machine to complete a couple more gifts that will be needed in the coming weeks. Hot pads/pot holders are another of my “go to” gifts for little thank-you’s or, combined with other items, a birthday gift. I mean, really, take a look at what you have tossed on the back of the stove or in a drawer (where no one can see them!). When was the last time you really thought about them!?! Stained, burned/singed, full of holes! Throw them away…..Make new ones!!! It really is so easy…and inexpensive!! Using some of my “Burrito” fabric was the perfect choice for these little cuties. They will be finding a home, shortly, out in the Black Hills with friends. The next set of hot pads will be paired with some other outdoor grilling items and will be a birthday gift for our youngest son. He, & wife, spend most weekends at their camper located on the Mississippi at a campground near La Crosse, WI. He loves to grill and has an awesome smoker,on  which he did a custom tribal flame paint job  before using. The tribal flame theme continues on to his golf cart (the vehicle of choice at most campgrounds!). Chrome wheels, & other extras, complete “the look”! Anyhow, tribal flames were a must for his gift. ‘Stay tuned’ as birthdays, etc, abound in the coming 4 months!!!! Quilting will be put on hold for a bit til…..

Embellishments……..

 

Can take the ordinary and push it to extraordinary. Yesterday’s post showed some totes I had made as gifts. The 3 in the upper picture were taken up a notch using a technique I had used years ago in my sewing business. Using purchased silk flowers, remove the flowers from the wire stems, being careful not to lose some of the smaller centers (may or may not use). Arrange the petals/flowers in a pleasing manner on the item/garment and pin. I used Sulky “Sliver” to stitch down the flowers (all purpose sewing thread in the bobbin). Some machines do not take kindly to this ‘thread’. Adjust the tension dial(s) down and use a metallic needle. “Sliver” is flat rather than round and can stick to the tension disks creating ‘drag’ and very poor stitching. Also, it seems that it must feed horizontally(spool is vertical) off the spool, rather than vertically, which creates too much twist causing breakage. Having said all that, the “sparkle” quotient is off the scale. Metallic thread would work as well but wouldn’t give as much glisten. In the example at the right I, also, used silk ribbon and pearl beading in the flowers centers….all applied with the machine (very carefully!!) Another technique I have used is taking a fabric with a nice floral (or other) motif, fussy cutting it and pinning it in place. Then I stitch it down using the above procedure. Yes, it is raw edge. No, I do not fuse it, nor do I use a stabilizer underneath the garment. FMQ a leaf/vine motif extends beyond the applique and may go over the shoulder onto the back. Again, pearls add some interest to the whole. Inserting pieces of lace doilies adds dimension and variety, also. There are really no limits to this!! These are quite washer/dryer friendly as the stitching very much stabilizes and protects the motifs. I hope that these ideas have given your creative mojo a boost to come up with some personalized spin-offs. All of these would be quilt friendly for that little added “extra” in a quilt canvas. Motto for the day: Go Forth and Embellish……..

Busy days………

Along with the usual busyness of the warmer weather, our family begins our birthday and anniversary season. Gifts needed. Special friends visited. Gifts needed. “Just because”…… Gifts needed! Over the years I have come up with a ‘go to’ pattern for a tote (long before it was the “green” thing to do!).  I made up some for last year’s Christmas  gifts and they were well received.  Tell me, can anyone ever have too many of these?? I keep them all over…..in the car, by the back entry, with my quilting things….even in Tom’s truck (ya just never know!). So, because we are kinda getting ready to make our first trek to South Dakota to open up the camper for the summer and catch up with our many friends out there, a few more little items are needed.  To the sewing machine I go and , once again,  put together these nifty little ‘numbers’! The base material is black denim (I use this for pretty much all the totes) and the pockets are both from Alexander Henry fabrics. “Senor Burrito” (left) and “Meadow Lark” (right). These have no additional stitching/quilting on them. The 3 above are silk flowers which I have applied using a FMQ meander with leaves. I used Sulky “Sliver” giving them additional sparkle. Just a few more items to make, yet, before we leave in June. So many projects/ideas “waiting in the wings”……….

For documentation…….

Yesterday, I finally finished the binding on the lattice quilt. Done! Yay! Loved doing it! Already thinking of another similar project…hmmmm..….

 

 

Am so totally “blown away” by the texture and see so many other design possibilities/applications. Have not ‘signed’ it, as yet, cuz I think it will be reversible. So will probably do a free-hand machine sewn script signature on one of the borders. I’m thinkin’ tablecloth, even though there was much negative feedback at quilt group when this was mentioned!!! I figured since it looked pretty good on both sides and since it washed up so beautifully (when I did the needed wash/dry to remove the blue markings) that such a usage would be pretty safe!?! Will have to watch it with the inevitable chili and pizza suppers!  On to the sewing machine to start the quilting on DH’s cousin’s creation. Stay tuned……….

All but the binding…….

Borders are quilted, outer edges squared…..just waiting for binding. Well, so much for finding everything I needed in my stash! Hot pink? Not hardly!! Oh dear, “a shopping we must go”!!! Hehe! Tomorrow! The backing was a piece from my stash. For some reason, at the time it made sense, I didn’t use the white–don’t know why now!?! Oh well, it does make for an interesting flip side. The border quilting took care of most of the extra waviness at the edges but not all. Am really hoping that the binding application will help a bit and I have yet to wash and dry it to wash out the blue marker. Blocking will help, also, of course. I learned a lot on this project. The borders were quilted with FMQ feathers once I marked the “ribbon”/spine. The thread is a bright pink which gets a bit ‘lost’ in the print border but shows up nicely on the back! My sewing machine performed well with minimal issues (which turned out to be me not the machine!). A quick trip to Winona tomorrow and finish it up, then……..

Almost done……..

This latest project, although small in size, has taken more time than any other I have done……but has given me the most pleasure! I am still intrigued by the whole “micro-stippling” technique and how the resulting texture is so well defined! I have said it before: I am hooked!! On to the borders……….

I am, also, including the inspiration for my “Treadlemusic” name. It is a treadle sewing machine I received from my grandmother. It is a circa. 1918 vintage and has worked great over the years. I did purchase a new belt for it some time ago but never installed it as my boys, their kids and, I’m sure, the g. grand would/will sit by the treadle and push it with their hands and listen to the ‘whirring’–fascinated!! I haven’t used it in years. All the attachments and manual are intact, also! It is a treasure for me! The name of my blog comes from this and the fact that I am a classically trained pianist, but, when I thought about the name further, I realized that these machines created such a soothing “music” when used that the name held value on many levels!!

Now I really must go quilt!! Have a wonderful day……..