Christmas 2012

"Feliz Natal e Prospero 2013!"
Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2013!


With lot's of time to create in the new year.

I am unable to add pictures to my blog for now. I am waiting on my new computer. The one I bought had to be returned to the manufacturer and I still don't know what will happen to it. But I  keep quilting and knitting; and soon will post more.

Museum of History

The North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh ncmuseumofhistory.org, has a wonderful collection of quilts. Some of them are in permanent display throughout the museum. In the previous post, I featured the Cotton Bowl quilt that is on the third floor with some amazing furniture made here in NC by Thomas Day.
But back to quilts. The one below is made with "feed sacks" You can also see some of the fabric in the center of the picture under the quilt. Everything in this display is made of feed sacks.

Feed sacks

Now, this next quilt will break your heart. It was made during the American Civil War. The caption is below. I did not know my flash was on. Sorry about that. The camera was in auto.

Tar Heels is the nickname for a North Carolinian.

Details of the quilt above

This museum is one of three in the same block. They are free admission, except for special exhibits. If you go leave some time to tour the old capitol and also the Science Museum. It will be a very fine day in your life. Specially if you bring loved ones.

Silent Sunday Dec.2 2012

2012 DOQ Holiday Blocks

As a member of DOQ ( my quilt guild), I like to participate on as many guild activities as possible. I think that is why I belong, so I can do quilt related activities with the group.
Every end of the year, we have a challenge to make quilt blocks with some fat quarter fabrics that we buy from the guild.
This year we have 2 fabrics, a snow man one and an African panel one.
We receive the guidelines to make the blocks when we buy the fabrics.
 In this case, we were to make a 12" block with the snow man fabric and a block that is a multiple of 2 with the Blue panel.
The 4 blue ladies were all together on the original panel, but we could separate them for the blocks as long as we did not chop them in any way. So, this is what I did, I made 2 blocks.

3 ladies in the panel, added a border with blue and white fabrics and a  coping strip at the bottom to make it an even size

1 lady panel, added the border with 1" blue and white squares

The snow man fabric was a fat quarter, so I added some of my own fabrics and made 3 blocks. They are all basically the same block with fabrics of different values. It took me very little time to make them. I used the easy angle and the companion rulers, so all the strips were cut the same size. The center block is 6 1/2".

Snow man on center of the block is the challenge fabric

Every block you make is a chance to win all the blocks our December meeting.
I can't wait to see what the talented people of this guild will make with their fabrics.

Oh, and we also have a red work embroidery block that I am finishing up.

Due to an increased amount of spam comments, I am resetting "word verification" for comments. It is also a good thing for humanity. This word verifications help more books and other documents to become available electronically.

Mug Rugs

I have a lot of people to thank lately. Life is really good when you can say that.
So, to show my appreciation for the nice things they have done for me, I made "mug rugs."
A mug rug is a fun small quilt that one can use to put a cup of the preferred beverage and a cookie or a treat. Most rugs are about 4" by 6"; but there are no laws about the size, so mine have different sizes.




http://pinterest.com/










The one made with fabric salvages is about 4"X 6"; but the others are about 5 inches square.
The salvage rug was made with a modified sew and flip method, since one side won't ravel, that is the side that stays on top, no need to flip.

I have made the cup and the apple ones using a paper piece method shown by Marjorie Rhine on the November 2012 issue of American Quilter Magazine (page 70).
Using her method, there is no need to remove the paper later; and at the end, the foundation is intact and can be reused.
I have to admit that it is a lot more fun not to have to make many copies of the pieces and most importantly not to have to remove the paper later.
Rhine suggests that one should add pins as one goes to keep the accuracy of the task. This is very important.
I also would like to suggest that you use this method with larger pieces. I have some pieces that were about 1/4 inch finished and those were very hard to keep in place with this method. But after a few trials, like anything else, it became really easy.

 These are my foundations. The apple, I had to make in 4 separate parts; So I cut the picture in parts A to D and than re-assembled; but the cup is the same paper foundation that I use for the mug rug above, it has some pin marks but it is good enough to reuse.
The apple was also the first foundation that I designed myself with an inspiration from an apple I saw on Madame Sam's blog. The cup was a free download that I can't find the source now.

 

I have a new computer with Windows 8. I am very happy with it; but the learning curve is high. So, no editing photos or retrace my downloads possible. Soon, I will have a class on how to use this new computer. No promises of improvements.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quilts for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Hurricane Sandy caused a lot of devastation to many lives as we all know.
Around North Carolina, many quilters are getting really busy making quilts to help keep the affected people warm; and to let them know that we care and feel their pain.
I have donated this star quilt last week via a local store called  Wish Upon a Quilt. This lovely store was collecting quilts to mail to New Jersey.

close up of the blocks

At the same time, I was busy finishing up this other quilt (see below), that I started on a retreat  last year.
The original idea was to make a "Lego Quilt" with 2" strips. After several blocks were made, I can honestly say that it was the ugliest thing I have ever seen. I had made 10 inches block with any fabric that I took from a pile of strips. Not a pretty picture.
So, plan B came to fruit.
 I cut all the original 10" blocks in half once; and I did sew the halves again as a long strip.  I trimmed this strip to 4 1/2" by 82" and alternated the pieced strips with a bright red one.
The finished quilt is a twin size quilt. It is 61" by 82".
My friend Diane H. did the gorgeous long arm quilting.

I hope the person who receives it will enjoy the warmth we are sending his/hers way.

DOQ 2012 show

The 2012 DOQ http://durhamorangequilters.com/  quilt show was a really great show. We have a biannual show and it is always a treat to see all the work from this talented group. Unfortunately, my photos are lost, I will try to get some photos from friends to post here. Meanwhile, this is what I can post:

First place for pieced large quilt. One of my favorites

These little treasures are quilts that were donated for a silent auction. This year the benefits from this auction will be given to the Make a Wish Foundation.

Here we have some of the miniatures and small quilts. All so pretty.
There were almost 300 quilts at the show. Hopefully, I will able to get more pictures soon.

More NC State pictures

Here are a few more quilts from the NC State Fair, 2012.

The Lone star quilt below is mine. It does have a red ribbon. :-)

This is how the quilts are displayed at the fair. It is efficient; but not too fun. There were ladies there to flip 

the stands so we could see all the quilts.

My Star of Lisboa quilt

One of the ladies that showed the quilts. She did a awesome job of describing the quilts and the techniques.

Nice applique quilt

A lovely Cathedral Window quilt

Quilts at North Carolina State Fair 2012

These are a few of the hundreds of quilts at the NC State Fair in October 2012. The quilts this year were very pretty. The quality of the quilts have improved a lot this past decade that I have been living here. 

The next 3 photos are from this quilt that has these lovely creatures embroidered among the leaves. See the 2 photos below. Now look back on the top photo and you can see the other animals camouflaged among the leaves. 

 Bellow are more quilts that have ribbons.

Gorgeous applique and hand quilting

Quilt made with man ties

The quilts are displayed in a very small area, and viewing them as well as photographing them was very difficult. With so many beautiful quilts, they need to consider to increase the display are a little bit.

Quilt Show Children Challenge Quilts

Our DOQ (Durham-Orange Quilt Guild), Quilt Show for 2012 is only a few days away. If you are in the Piedmont area of NC and want to see a great show go to the attached link for more information. The show will be from October 19-21, 2012 in Durham.   http://durhamorangequilters.com/2012-quilt-show/

Below are my "challenge fabrics" donation quilts. The idea is that you buy a piece of the fabric from the guild and make a quilt for a child. I bought 2 of the fabrics available this year; the car one and the Winnie the Pooh one. Those are the quilts I made. I hope they will be loved to pieces by some little ones.

I will try to get a better photo of the Winnie quilt at the show. 

Car Quilt

Winnie the Pooh  Quilt

This last quilt, is the one that I will donate to the silent auction. Every show we also make small quilts that are used for a silent auction.

The guild donate all the  proceedings to a good cause. 

This year the silent auction money will  be donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. 

As you can see, I was able to save it with 5 sheets of  "Catch All" and two days of rinsing. 

Wedding Ring Quilt

I hope to be able to post pictures of the show soon. Cheers!

September BOM block

I have made the September BOM block as soon as it was posted. (There is a link on the button to the right).

I have made this block as a whole quilt before. I just cut really big squares and half square triangles. I have not saved my draft; but it is really easy to do. 

I donated it to a child that was victim of hurricane Katrina in NOLA; but I never took a picture of that quilt.

September the last block of this sew a long

 Below are all 13 blocks together on my design wall. In October, we will get the last installment of this sew-a-long and ideas to put them together.
I will make a wall hanging with my blocks; but this picture is just to see them together. It is not my final setting.
It is hard to believe that 13 months have gone by.

All 13 blocks together

I have seen so many mushrooms on my walks lately as this is the time for them around here. I really like the shape of these ones on the grass, so I decided to share.

Saw them on my walk

Wash your fabrics

Wedding Ring

Last year, I was inspired by a post from this link: http://ipleadquilty.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
 She had made this incredible quilt for a contest and won first place. I knew she would win. Her block is lovely. She made it 17 inches square and used 2 inch squares of fabric given to her. You can see her post on the link above.
I had decided to make a similar one; but with my spin on her idea. Mine is a rectangle and I did draft it by hand. (I do like hers much better); but I was thinking about making and donating mine to our Guild silent auction that will benefit the Make a Wish Foundation.
My intention was to see if I could do it, send a photo to her and ask permission to donate and give her credit on the design, of course.
This is the picture I was going to send her while I was almost finished with the binding.
Well, it all changed when I washed the quilt. Many of the colors have run. Three washes later with as many catch all sheets and the top is still a mess.
So, I will try wash once more and try other stain removers; and if it works, I will ask her if I can donate it. Otherwise, it will live in my studio where everything is loved even if not perfect.
I will have to come up with another donation soon. The silent auction is in October.
Note:  5 washes and as many catch all sheets did the trick. The quilt is looking OK again.

Thank you and work in progress

This is a thank you very much and work in progress post.

Back in July, Sheila from quiltinginsouthcarolina.blogspot.com had a blog hop and give away. Since I am a follower and liked her post so much, I entered her give away; and I won. Hurray!

But I was out of the country and my reply to Sheila was lost in cyber space. Long story short, she saved my prizes and mailed to me weeks later when we got in touch again. I love everything she sent me. I can't thank her enough for her generosity.

These are my wining prizes from Sheila ^-^


Now with the work part.
These 2 blocks are the last  two installment of the BOM sew along. (See link on the right).
We are almost done with the sew along.
I like this sew one block a month so much. I can sew at my own pace and I am often behind. But I eventually I make them.

BOM blocks for July and August

This is my "Lisboa" quilt in progress

My long term hand quilting is done. I had just added the biding by machine when I took this picture. But I still have to finish the binding by hand.

I called it "Lisboa" which is "Lisbon" in Portuguese. 

The quilt was all drafted by me. Yes, I know that there are many patterns available; but I like to draft, so I do it. My quilt is 58 inches square.

It all started when I bought a jelly roll of a fabric line by April Cornell called "Portugal." Since I am half Portuguese, I had to have it, of course. 

This past June, I was in Lisbon and I LOVED the city, hence the name of the quilt.

 Now back to binding.

Thanks again Sheila.

African American Quilts at Hayti in Durham, NC

The African American Quilt Circle of Durham, North Carolina has an annual quilt show that is a must see if you are in this area. The current show, pictured here, will end September 30th; 2012.

The name of this year show is: "Woven Melodies." The statements with the quilts explain so beautifully the creation process of the art pieces. There are a lot more quilts than what are pictured here. Hope you go and check it out. The link below has the information on time, place, directions, etc.

EXHIBITION: "Woven Melodies" by African American Quilt Circle ...

Beyond the Cherrie Tree: 4 more blocks

I have finished 4 more blocks of my Beyond the Cherrie Tree quilt. I still cannot figure out why the photos are not so good. I will have to take a photography class for sure. It is either too dark or too light. In addition,  when I try to crop the pictures in this computer, it shows as cropped; but doesn't save like that.

Well enough of sad stories. Here they are the last 4.

Blocks 17, 14, 10, 13

Block 10

Block 14

Block 10

 

Block 13 (not the real colors)

Next one in progress

 None of them are trimmed. I will do the trimming only when I have all the blocks done.
The little fella to the right (last photo) is a block from "Star and Sprigs" sneaking in the picture.