Placemat suggestions

I haven't been here in a while. Got a part-time job that is seriously cutting into my quilting time! I have to make several sets of placemats for a church event and find myself stumped as to ideas for something simple, yet attractive. I don't have a lot of time and don't really want to work with lots of pieces (i.e. half-square triangles for star points). I'd like to just use some really "now" fabric colors and let the fabric be the focus. Any good ideas?? Thanks so much...NancyH

quilt festival goes hollywood?

I was just surfing through the International Quilt Festival web site and saw there's gonna be a festival in Long Beach, July 25-27, 2008.

Wonder how it will compare with Road to California (January.)

SeamSTRESS Sally

2 1/2 inch squares!!!

You hit a nerve there Judy! As material gets used up I cut 2 1/2 inch strips and at the very last I do the squares. I've made a couple of single sized bed quilts with them and I love the way they look. It's such fun to see all the old material - some of it was quite ugly, by the way.
Some day when I feel like doing something peaceful I'll start putting them into pairs, then blocks, etc. I also have a favorite pattern that I've used twice that uses the 2 1/2 size very nicely.
Milli

Y2K Quilts

Hello Ladies,
I haven't been for some time now. Have been busy with family and music.
I remember the Y2K Judy :) I did the 3" squares which would have been enormous. However as I did the blocks for it, I got pregnant unexpectedly and much waited for, so waited and did 2 quilts with 1000 in each instead. They are good for single beds now, and the girls will inherit one each.
I haven't touched my sewing machine for ages, but made and sewed the binding on a table runner made from 4 double wedding ring blocks.
Now I am sorting out my sewing table. I had a few unfinished items in varying stages. I looked at the one last night, a paper pieced Noahs Ark quilt. I haven't started the sewing. It doesn't call to me any more, so I shall put the fabric away and do something that does.
Best Wishes to all
Beverley in a very rainy Britain where there are floods.

Remember the Y2K Charm Quilts?

Now I'm wondering....remember when so many BBers were swapping packets (squishies) of 2.5 inch squares of 25 different fabrics plus a siggy square? I swapped with about 80 other quilters and made one of those Y2K quilts, using the proscribed 2000 Different fabrics. I have a confession to make...ever since, whenever I cut into a new fabric, I always cut a 2.5 inch square and set it aside. I have a fairly large tupperware container of these squares! I'm aghast at myself! I'm wondering how many others of you have continued cutting 2.5 or 3.0 inch squares for your particular charm stash?

One of these days I'll dig out that container, sort those squares, and make another charm quilt. Only I don't think I'll use 2000 fabs. That quilt was huge. This one will be smaller...these days I tend to make nap quilts...they go together faster.

In the meanwhile, I find myself doing the same with the shirt fabrics...I have quite a small stack of charm squares cut from shirts.

I think I'm strange. (And perhaps you do, too.) LOL

JudyPete

Today's Block

Those of you who remember reading my past posts know that I make "shirt quilts", using quality 100 percent cotton fabrics from men's shirts and women's blouses. Sometimes a child's shirt as well, when I find one I like. I find these at yard sales, the Goodwill, my hubby's closet (when he's not looking). If the collar and cuffs are clean and like new, I know the fabric is still strong and sturdy.
Some time back I found an X-large man's shirt with this wonderful patriotic red toile fabric. This fabric may be in quilt shops as well, but it's been so long since I've been inside one, that I don't know that for certain.
I liked its patriotic theme.
Today DH and I attended the funeral for one of our fallen, a young man who graduated from our local school. I know many members of his extended family and one of his aunts has been one of my closest friends.
This block is in memory of this fine young man. I fussy cut the toile to include faith, freedom, and the blessing of home.
May God bless him and his family. And may God bless us all.

Treadling

JudyPete, you have a lovely machine. I've been doing some piecing on my Davis Vertical Feed treadle lately, since it's so accurate. I have it set up with a seam guide all the time, set for a scant 1/4 inch. I test it by sewing 3 strips together that are 1 1/2 inches wide, then measuring to make sure that the final piece is exactly 3 1/2 inches wide. I fuss with it until it's just right. Then, I leave it set up that way until I need to do some straight line quilting. The Davis has no feed dogs--the needle goes down into the fabric, and then the mechanism moves the needle and all the layers of fabric back, so there are no annoying puckers on the back. Can you tell I love this machine? I used to have a Singer 66 Redeye, but passed it along to another quilter several years ago. Treadles are so controllable. By stopping my feet, I have needle up/needle down whenever I wish.

Pat in Rockport, TX

Judy Pete

See my response to your comment.

Jane

Welcome

Thanks Judy for the nice welcome to the page!

I have been a quilter for over 20 years and loved the shared info on the wwqp. I love the show and tell of pictures on this new site and hopefully I will be able to post a few in the future. My favorite method is machine applique--I think it has something to do with how long it takes me to finish anything!!!

I loved the combination of fan's and 9 patches in the quilt that was pictured, but is it possible to get a picture of the quilting?? Even though I hate doing hand quilting, I love to admire it.

Got to send the daughter off to swim lessons now and the son off to work so have a great day everybody!

Shelli

Absolute Control

Jane in NC left a comment on my previous post, mentioning that her mother loved the absolute control that the treadle provides. She is correct. Once you get the hang of treadling so that the handwheel is ALWAYS going in the correct direction (not backwards, LOL), you can sew as slowly as you want, one stitch at a time. Those old machines came with an assortment of attachments that allowed the seamstress to sew fine, meticulous seams that allowed them to attach laces, make dainty seams, add piping, etc., all with absolute control. One of these days I plan to dig out the attachments and try out each one of them to see just what all they can do.
JudyPete

Elizabeth Redeye

I wanted to share with you how much I am enjoying using an old vintage Singer 66 treadle sewing machine. This machine is almost an exact duplicate of the one I learned to sew on and it was given to me by a dear quilting friend several states away. She had named the machine Elizabeth Redeye, the Elizabeth being the name of a grandmother in the family, and Redeye because this particular machine has gorgeous decals including a red elliptical that collectors of vintage Singers have likened to a "red eye". I am loving this experience...you can sew slow and very accurately on a treadle. There is one feature that I had forgotten...if you are not careful when you complete the seam, gravity may cause the wheel to reverse its direction, causing the machine to sew backwards and breaking the thread. I'll get the hang of it, though, as I go along.
JudyPete

ANNA

Can someone explain Anna's need to have two invites, one for each board? When I sign in with my email and my password I get access to both boards. When I hit the post button it comes up with the dashboard listing both sites and I can post on either or both. I use a single user name and a single password. Am I suffering from loss of memory here or what?

To make this quilty I'm almost caught up with the guild mystery. There is a little bit of piecing left on the blocks then I start on the June (and last) portion. We are under strict orders to have a top done at the next meeting on 7/9. I have one of nine blocks done and it turned out to be a clever meld of snail's trail and friendship star. Of course I'm doing the 52"x52" wall hanging. Some are doing bed sized quilts. Yikes, I would have another UFO for my vast collection had I tried that.

Judy's recommendation to paper piece square in a square is one well taken. I got the advice too late for this project but will bear it in mind in the future. It would not be too challenging to make one's own paper piece patterns and would make a biiiig difference in accuracy. I've lost a bunch of points not having done that. Since it was a blind step by blind step job, the first step being cutting, that opportunity was lost. Oh well, I'll just tell people it's a square in a snowball, a block of my own invention. Prepare yourselves to see a post of my invention on the board sometime before 7/9.

Jane in the chilly, beautiful mountains of western NC

Color Dots on Selvedge

Is there a special name for the little color dots on the selvedge of print fabrics?
Is there a separate printing for each of the dots? Any other "secrets" these dots hold?
Thank you for your help! Harriet

Trying again

I tried to post this photo a few days ago and either the board was busy or something didn't work. This is the quilt top Ginny in FL made, and I hand-quilted. Since she has a larger bed, she took a strip of squares off for me and that left enough to make a lap-quilt, DH requested I arrange the "fans" on the lap quilt to form "sunflower" shapes and use the leftover 9 patch motifs as top and bottom "borders." I don't have a pic of that one.

How long does it take?

Just a question...Eric sent me 2 invites to this board, but I see that you need a separate invite (from a different addy) to access the chatboard. I requested one last Saturday (would have been Friday in the States with the time difference) and so far no reply. How long does it usually take to get the invitation to the chat board? Someone said about ten days--oh my poor fingernails!

Could someone who is active on both boards please enlighten me?
anna

woops, sorry

That was supposed to go to the Chat board.
Fran

DUG No. 3

Dear Marion, I am hurt and confused. I actually posted a couple of days before your second to last post and asked you some questions. I think I am still thought of as a DUG.
Just joking.

Bee: Great to hear from you. I was wondering how things have been with you and yours. So pleased to read that your DGD is getting there slowly.

I will ignore both your references to your western neighbour LOL

Fran in S. Aust.

Thanks, Vicki, for sharing the challenge quilts

Vicki, I am always amazed at the wonderful creations that quilters come up with in response to a Challenge. Thanks for sharing. Cool Quilts!
JudyPete

Also mainly a lurker!

Hello quilters! Well, Judy in Ohio, your plea to come out from under my stash worked, tee hee. Sorry to hear that you are bummed up. It has been dry here in SW Pa too. Taking a walk yesterday I noted how "crunchy" the grass was in places, more like August conditions.
I was just noticing how many Vicki, Vickie and other variations there are on the list. I think I counted 4, now how many are Victoria's? I am just Vicki not Victoria. How many are 1950 era babies? Just curious.
Hmmmmm, I should think of something to make this quilt related Oh! I know! I will show photos of our quilt guild's challenge for this year. The challenge fabrics were the butterfly, blue and yellow print. I think you will enjoy seeing them, and no, none of the quilters are me. It was fascinating to see what everyone came up with!

Vicki in SW PA

Welcome, Shelli

Shelli, you've just shown the other long-time lurkers that a BBer can make a posting and the WWQP just chugs right along, accepting your message and letting the world read it with no problem. Perhaps this will encourage other long-time lurkers (Hello, Mary!) to make a posting once in a while. For all we know there are dozens and dozens of you out there hiding behind your stashes.

My stash of fabrics is being ignored temporarily .... I've been dragging the hose and the sprinkler around my perennial garden (how dry can it get here in Ohio?) and my back muscles on my right side have put up a very loud protest after one vigorous yank on a very long hose. There is a big-time "hitch in my git-along" today which is a good reason to flop on the couch and read a book.

Judy

First posting ever

Hi! My name is Shelli and I have lurked on the wwqp bulletin board for many years (I always posted on theprayers/hugs page for my niece Maggie) so here goes nothing...!

Lonna from WI where are you in WI? I am down near Milwaukee in Washington Cty.

I am not real computer savvy so hopefully this works!

Shelli

Shops between Virginia & Illinois

Hi, haven't been on the BB is quite some time....maybe someone will remember me. lol
I'm interested in knowing if there are any recommended quilt shops close to Interstate I-70 driving from Columbus, Ohio to Indianapolis, Indiana and then near I-74 from Indianapolis to Champaign, Illinois.

Thanks,
Betty in VA