T-shirt quilt update

The new tactic for quilting the T-shirt quilt is going MUCH better!

Just look as some of the quilting. This is free motion quilting. I just embraced and went with it. There is some straight line quilting, mostly to outline the blocks.

I was not enjoying free motion quilting when I started. I was pushing the pedal to the floor and trying to keep up with my hands.Then I read somewhere that there is no need to hit the pedal at full speed. We are not in a race. Sewing machines, much like a cars, have different speeds that we control through the pedal.

I had not thought about that, and it changed how I was sewing. 

"You are here" in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Echo quilting and a little water like quilting.

Reminds me of water flowing.

I don't know how this happened. I just started sewing and my hands just moved to create it. I think it is very cute.

My husband said this looks like electric guitars. Which is what I thought. It is the same as the water above, just positioned differently.

Scallops/ shells

back of the scallops/ shells

This is what the back looks like. I would not have chosen white for the back, but I am very fond of it. It does show my mistakes, but it also shows the designs. Very dramatic.

This quilt is not far from being finished. Just a little more quilting, burying the rest of the threads, and the binding. I hope to have this finished in the next two weeks. I better get busy.

Quilting Some

I have started quilting on the most recent T-shirt quilt.

I don't know what I am doing wrong, but this quilt is being difficult. It is not difficult to quilt it; it is difficult to keep the backing tight. I am picking out two of the three straight stiching lines that I quilted and will quilt it a different way. Maybe this tactic will work better.

Canning

I have a garden that is bursting with tomatoes.

So, I have spent some time this summer canning them.

Canning is not something I remember my mother doing. I am sure that my grandparents canned, but since we never lived near, within driving distance, or even in the same state as them, I was unable to be a part of their canning ventures.

One thing I learned from my mother was that being prepared to feed your family is important. She did this by compiling a large pantry of food, almost to the point of hoarding.

With that in mind, I put away what I can from my garden. I use to only freeze my vegetables, but last summer I learned how to can pickles and tomatoes. My husband LOVES the pickle,s and I really enjoyed not having to purchase canned tomatoes. Opening a jar of tomatoes that I canned was bliss this past winter, especially with the limited budget we were on during my student internship.

So, while I have not been sewing or making things, this is what I have been doing: picking, rinsing, and canning.

Boiling water to loosen the skin

Cool down

peeled and put in jars

thinking of winter already with that towel

water bath

my canning products that have not already been eaten or given away

salsa, pickles, tomatoes, and jalapenos

Are you canning anything this summer?

Loss

The sadness that I alluded to in this post has manifested into loss.
On June 7 we lost my father-in-law.
He began battling pancreatic cancer in 2009 and seemed to be doing very well after surgery and chemotherapy.
Last summer, he developed liver cancer.
On March 7 his doctor told him that he had three to six months without chemotherapy and six to nine months with chemotherapy.
With this knowledge he decided to stop chemotherapy.
It was very hard for the family to watch him in pain, slowly slipping away.
It seems surreal knowing that he is gone.
There is so much that he will miss, and we will miss he so much.
Even with all of this, we know that he will never feel pain again, and that gives us comfort.

New Iron

Five years ago I broke my iron. So that I could finish the baby quilt I was working on for the arrival my nephew, I "borrowed" an iron from my mother-in-law (this was her second grand baby). She told me at that time to not worry about it because she had bought a new one anyways. (Thank you Lisa for loaning me the iron.)
Well, it never made its way back. I have used it well making many quilts in these past five years.

I do not know its age exactly, but I think that it is over ten years old. It has my sister-in-law's (the one who had the baby) name on it from when she took it to Atlanta when she was a senior in high school. That was about ten years ago.

It is not fancy. It does not have a timer to shut off, a sprayer on the front, or anything else fancy like that, but it has worked great. Just right for pressing quilt pieces.

This past winter my husband and I were watching "Quilty" on PBS. Mary Fons was using an iron that would lift up on its own. Right away my husband said that I should get an iron like that.

I am one of those people who doesn't replace something that isn't broken. My "borrowed" iron worked just fine, thank you. Still we looked a little for irons, but I was just not going to get an iron while I still had a working one.

Well, about three weeks ago my "borrowed" iron began to leak. It was leaking brownish water on my fabric. Let me tell you it was a sad day.

I went on-line and found the iron and in just a little while it arrived on my porch.

So far I have been enjoying it. It doesn't leak on my fabric, so that is a plus.

Check out Quilty's homepage. I find it helpful and fun.

Computer Results

So, I what I thought was Ms. Computer having an attitude turned out to be old age. She is about six-years-old. She was in need of a new fan and a new modem for starters. I was told that it would cost about as much to fix her as to replace her.

I am not giving up on her though. I am going to take her to a family member who, hopefully, can help her a little.

As for now, I have already made arrangements to replace her.

So, if we can get her to work a little longer then she will be appreciated, so that we will not have to divide time with her anymore (between my husband and me).

It seems that electronics just do not last!

Ms. Computer

The computer is in the shop. Hope to be back by the 4th.

Computer Issues

So, my computer is putting up a fight. It freezes up, mostly.
It seems it only wants to work when it wants to work.Which SUCKS!

I will keep you up-to-date as best I can about my crazy creations.
Hopefully miss computer will be on the mend soon.

New T-shirt flimsy

My latest T-shirt quilt top is finished.

I used as much of the shirts as I could by using the T-shirt backs and what was left from the T-shirt front to make the border.

Bonus-you get a peek of my garden.

I really really wanted to have this quilt FINISHED by Father's Day, but, alas, it was not to be. I did, however, finish the top and will start quilting it by Father's Day.

You know you love my retro kitchen floor

I really like the borders. What do you think?

Replacing a Lost Quilt: Mission Accomplished

Mission accomplished!

in the shade

I put all of the blocks together and took this picture before putting the borders on.

Don't you love the speaker and part of my computer in the picture?

almost a finished top

After I had the blocks sewn together long way (top to bottom) with the sashes between the top and/or bottom of each block, I measure how long it was so that I could get a measurement for the remaining sashes. I was hoping that it would not measure over 44" so that I could just cut from selvage to selvage.

Unfortunately it was bigger. I do not like to sew sashes together if I can help it. I just prefer the look of one long slender cut. So more thinking cap...

Fortunately I was given approximately six yards of the green fabric for this project. If I was careful I would have enough to cut the sashes, borders, and binding and still have enough for the backing.

I did the math and thankfully it was close enough (math is not my strong point).

With the sashes being two and half inches finished I started cutting. Instead of adding half and inch for seams (so three inches), I cut it two and a half inches! So, I just put it aside for the binding. I still had more than enough for the borders, the sashes, and the binding left, but still. Talk about being nervous!

I finished the top and started quilting.

I marked lines in between the blocks and started quilting.

setting sunlight

It has minimal quilting. I wanted to quilt it more, but I could not really quilt in the blocks and it was not easy to see on the fabric.
This quilt turned out to be a LOT bigger than I expected. Measuring: 53x55"
Doesn't it look so different in the setting sunlight?

backing

I am happy to report that the recipient loved it.
Can you tell which three has muslin behind them?