What's the problem?

This is just a quilty picture from one of our favorite quilt shows in Topeka, Indiana. It used to be held at the United Methodist Church in that town and we went every year to look and sometimes to buy. The first time we went was the day before my second son was born. It was so neat, but a lot to absorb. So, the next day, while I recovered from my spinal anesthesia, my husband went back to the sale and brought back a bunch of wall quilts to decorate my hospital room. Within in a month I went back to the hospital with some problems and the quilts came with me. Do not underestimate the healing power of quilts! Those quilts still hold special meaning to me.

I am waaaay behind in blogging. I've had good intentions, though. My husband and kids went to his father's over spring break because I couldn't get off from work. I thought, "What a great time to post on the blog!" But that week, he had installed some new spyware that wouldn't let me get into Google reader, so I was locked out. Waah!

And every time I want to take some pics for you, the battery on the camera is dead, or the SD chip is gone. It's unbelievable. I have so much to show you (well, don't get too excited). I've made some progress on my promise stitching projects. I'm doing 2 BOM's, one with my quilt guild from the Women of Influence book and another from the new quilt shop in my home town. I'll have pics of those blocks soon, too.

My husband and I went on a quilt shop hop in March, here in northern Indiana and western Ohio. We were shocked and amazed when he won the grand prize from the shop hop, a Janome DC 2010 sewing machine. I finally used it this week, putting together one of my BOM's. It is sweet! I really love the 1/4 inch foot!

So, here I am, once again promising pictures, but at least you've heard from me. I'm still alive. There's just so much going on with the kids and work! At least I'm getting some sewing done, which is amazing for me. Usually that's the first thing that goes to the side.

I'll be back soon, I promise.

Sunny Days!

Of course, that means I can't stay inside and sew! Actually, this weekend I dragged by boys on a jaunt to 2 shops that are on shop hop this weekend. They were really, really patient and let me do a little shopping even. I had to reward them with a trip to one of their favorite parks and ice cream afterward. Bribery works every time!



So, I purchased my first jelly roll on the shop hop, Garden Party by Blackbird Designs. I just couldn't resist all those soft springy colors. I've been studying Bonnie Hunter's Sister's Choice pattern as one option to use it. I've always loved the block and Bonnie's method for making 9 patches from one strip set is fabulous. You can find her directions here.



I started a Sister's Choice quilt once, using solids and a cream background, but there were all these HST's to make... (whine, whine!) This technique might be my salvation. Thanks, Bonnie!



The last few weeks have been hectic for me, but our workload has been down at work, too, so I've been able to take a couple of extra days off. Tomorrow, my DH and I are going out to do the eastern leg of the shop hop. Then I have to hunker down and get back to work again.



Unfortunately, all the running around means I'm not sewing much. I finished the blocks of a Quilts for Kids project, so that's ready for borders.



I'm still working on my Promise Stitch pillow. I'm putting applique on the back, as is usually done. I have some quilting to do on the front panel and I've finished my hand crocheted lace for the sides of the pillow.



I'm doing a BOM quilt with my quilt guild. I got the first block done. I'm still picking colors for the second block. This block is all applique and I like to do that by hand. I'm doing it in Civil War fabrics. I'd better get started this week.



Sorry, no pictures again. I have mislaid the camera...again. It will surface when I least expect it.

Hope things are sunny in your world today!

Where did I get all this stuff?

I'll bet I'm not the first in blogland to sort through their sewing room and be amazed, nay, horrified at how much fabric is in there. What's the matter with me? What right do I have to buy more? I have so many fabrics that I bought enough to do a significant project and (hopefully) not run out. This is a hoarding mentality.

Jo told me that one of the next projects for Promise Stitching is to do a 9 patch and Snowball quilt using 1 yard each of 2 fabrics. The goal is to make the biggest quilt you can and have the least amount left over. The point of this exercise is to show you how to get the most out of your fabric.

I think this is just what I need.

Jo said that she bought over 10 yards of fabric to make her first quilt (twin size) because she had no idea how much fabric she would need. I've bought so many yards because it was a "good price." And there it sits in my cabinet.

But this is going to change. I've already pulled out some fabrics to make some Quilts for Kids and some pillowcases. I'm going to start working through my stash like I've seen so many in blogland do.

One of the interesting things about Promise Stitching is the idea of sharing. Suze told me that when she evens out her fabric, she cuts one string off of one end to use herself and one off the other to share. That's a great idea, I think, and helps to build your scrap stash.

I know I can always share with my quilt club members. A friend of mine volunteers teaching sewing projects to some women who can't afford much fabric. It's good to pass on our good fortune to others. And I might be able to walk around in my sewing room!

I'm sorry I don't have my camera charged for photos. Words will have to do. I'm always jealous of the finishes everyone has to show. I'm still working on my DH's (belated) Valentine. I'm working on my Promise Stitch pillow and some more string pieced blocks. I actually finished a BOM block for my quilt club. I'm doing it in repro fabrics, which I love. Usually, I don't participate because I never have time to sew. But I think I can at least expect to finish one block a month!

Speaking of Promise Stitching, I heard from a blog reader about another blogger who has been in contact with another of Linda Lee Peterson's teachers. Carol Jo's information that she shared with Tammy here correlates with all that I have learned. I should also mention Linda Lee's website again, www.thepromisestitcher.com You will be amazed by the beautiful quilts there.

Keep warm and keep stitchin'!

Promise Quilting 2: The Sequel?

If you saw my original post about Promise Quilting some time ago, I would like to direct you to my latest posting on the subject. Unfortunately, it didn't post as the date I published it, but as the date I started the draft. So, it is out of sequence with my last posting. Weird! I didn't expect that.

This week I've been working on a little quilt that I'm making for my husband as a belated Valentine's gift. I made a quilted Valentine long ago, in the first year or so of our marriage. I made a crazy quilt heart (with a real piece of red velvet in the middle), appliqued it to a background and hand quilted it with my newly learned skills. It's cute and he liked it a lot.

This project is giving me fits, kind of. I'm making it up as I go along. I'd think, "Oh, that color will go great with that", then when I do it, it's kind of blah. It's all because of value, or rather the contrast of value. I'm stuck in the "muddy middles" again!

So, I added some red beads which punched it up a bit. Now I have to finish the words. I want to print them out on the printer and then add them to the piece. New things to try every day.

I guess I better get back to the sewing room!

I'm a winner!

I have been really slow about getting this onto my blog. I have some really cool news! Recently I left a comment on Susan Brubaker Knapp's blog interview of Pat Sloan. She was giving away a signed copy of Pat's most recent book. It came a week ago Friday. What a great book! Thirteen great designs for each month of the year (and one extra). I'm a big fan of Susan's contributions to the quilting world, both her quilts and her teaching videos. Pat is such a wonderful, outgoing creative artist. She is absolutely everywhere!

Thanks to both of you for sharing your knowledge and talents with all of us!

Promise Quilting 2

The teacher who taught Jo, my friend, about Promise Quilting is here for the opening of Jo's shop. So, recently, she came to our In Stitches meeting and taught us more about this quilting tradition. Her name is Suze and she is Jo's aunt. Suze learned Promise Quilting from Linda Lee Peterson, a Cherokee woman from western Montana.



Like many things, what seemed so simple and easy to do is much more complex than I originally thought. Promise Quilting is the technique of the sewing and it is also a whole tradition of quilt patterns and even has its own language. Names we have learned in other traditions do not apply in this context.



For instance, the right side of the fabric is called the "pretty side", the other side is the "plain side." And setting on point is called "on diamond." So, already I'm learning about the right way to learn about this. First, you can't just assume that because it looks the same it is the same. Second, you must learn things from the beginning.



Suze brought a trunkful of quilts and tops, most of them made by Linda. They are very precious because all of the patterns are being learned and written down as Linda makes them. She is 70 and she learned this when she was a child. The quilts and their patterns are beautiful, but one of the special elements of this type of quilting is the ornaments that are applied. A three-dimensional embroidery technique is used to make ladybugs and caterpillars and other figures from nature. Applique flowers that look lifelike are also applied to some of the blocks.



Every thing in Cherokee tradition is either female or male. The needle is male, the thread is female. When the needle is threaded, the thread tail is pierced three times which keeps the thread from pulling out of the needle. This is called marrying the thread. A quilt is female and a pillow (as I described in my last post) is male. Each quilt is signed with embroidery in the signing stitch on the front because it is female. A pillow is male and is signed on the back.


In the tradition, a learner does a pillow as her first project. The techniques you learn in doing the pillow give you everything you need to know to make the quilts. Then you do 3 quilts in basic patterns (which my teacher has not yet told me about) before you move to the more advanced ornaments and patterns. The teacher decides when the student is ready for the next step. This is where the patience comes in. I'm still working on my pillow. Jo has been busy and we haven't had another class yet. I think we'll do it this next week. Meantime, I'm working on some flannel-pieced string blocks because they're fun and easy and soon I'll have enough for a small top, maybe even lap sized.


This is the lore of Promise Quilting. All of this is carried from generation to generation through a largely oral tradition. Some of the Montana quilters are writing down some of this important history. I've been told that Promise Quilters have Gatherings at different times where they share their quilts and quilting.


Yesterday, I found Linda's website www.thepromisestitcher.com that has lots of pictures of the quilts and ornaments I was talking about. Jo's shop, Quilts 'N Ladybugs, has a fan site on facebook. I'll let you know when I learn something new.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to show today. I'll work on that!

Promise Quilting 1

On Wednesdays I've been going to the quilt group called In Stitches that meets at the Methodist Church in our town. Jo, one of the leaders of the group, teaches a method of hand quilting that she learned from her aunt in Montana. Her aunt is Cherokee and teaches Promise Quilting. What's special about Promise Quilting? There are specific rules of construction that reflect the culture and heritage of the Cherokee people. The name refers to the maker's promise to not use anything mechanical to make the quilts, i.e. sewing machine, iron, pins. As a promise quilter, you also promise to pass along the techniques that you have learned to others. I am not going to claim to be an expert in this. I am taking the beginning class from Jo now. Several years ago she taught our quilt group some of the techniques and I remember some of that information as well.

The first project that one makes in Promise Quilting is a pillow. Traditionally, a young woman would begin her pillow at the time she was coming of age to be married. In making the pillow, she would learn all the techniques she needed to make a quilt of any size and also sew for her family. While she was learning the technique, her father would carve her a special button that she would sew on the front of the pillow when she was done.

There are more interesting aspects about all the special techniques used and what they represent in the Cherokee culture. I don't want to get the details wrong, and I don't want to make this post too long. I just thought I would share my Promise Quilting project with you.

So, I began my pillow last week. Using squares measuring about 2 1/2 inches, I sewed together the 25-patch block. The seams are sewn by hand with a running stitch in the usual way. When you get to the end of the seam, you fingerpress the seam allowance to one side. Then you open the two layers and topstitch with a running stitch through the seam allowance in a line parallel to the seam. This is an uncropped picture of the front of my pillow which doesn't have a border yet.



The picture below shows a close picture of the topstitching. You are not supposed to use pins, so if you want to hold two pieces together as you are sewing, you tack with a short loop of thread. I chose my fabrics from a bucket of scraps Jo provided for us. I love these colors.


The next step, which doesn't have a picture yet, is to apply borders in the same manner as you sewed the squares together. When you are done with the front, you make a sandwich with double sided flannel as batting and muslin for backing. Now you will be quilting through all 3 layers along the seams that don't have topstitching.

What I like about this is the simplicity. This can be done with scissors, needle, thread and fabric. It can be worked anywhere. Working by hand is also very relaxing. The measurements used are supposed to be based on the proportions of your own body For instance, the squares are approximately the width of 3 fingers on my hand. So the project reflects the quilter very personally. A lot of the projects are worked with scraps. I love making new fabric from virtually nothing.

Years ago when I first learned about this, Jo demonstrated making string pieced blocks pieced with the double sided flannel as foundation. I made a bunch of little blocks, about 5 inches or so in size. Now I am learning what to do with those blocks.

Jo does all kinds of quilting. She machine pieces some of her quilts. She has done a lot of hand quilting, but she also has some of her tops machine quilted by area longarm quilters. But, according to the philosophy of Promise Quilting, each quilt you make is like a child to you. Her Promise quilts are some of her favorites. "It instantly relaxes me when I sit down to work on my Promise Quilting," she says.

This blog is meant to record my accomplishments in quilting and creativity, so I thought I'd include this entry about what I am working on today. It's very addictive. I'll show more pictures later.