Pictures from Houston Show

Here's a link to some pictures I took at Houston last week. There were some amazing quilts this year. I did notice that there were a lot of "art" quilts. Marty Michell sponsored an exhibit of traditional patchwork which was very nice. The Japanese quilts are so intricate and so beautiful - I took a few pictures of them including some close-ups so you could see the tiny handpieced work. And the Canadian Quilt of Remembrance was spectacular - very nicely displayed. I did not take a picture because it was impossible to get the full effect. http://community.webshots.com/user/mnglynn NancyH

bindings

when i do charity quilts, or any other quilt that will get alot of use (washings), i put my binding on by machine. i use double fold bias and attach it to the back of the quilt, then wrap it around to the front. i use the serpentine stitch on my machine keeping the center of the foot right on the binding edge -- looks kinda like this:
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which enables the stitches to land on both the binding and the quilt top. that way it doesn't have to be exact and precise, matching on the back too. it puts lots of stitches in each part of the curve (maybe 5-6) so it is held on very well. i used to try to straight stitch along the edge and catch the ditch on the back, but that was SO hard. when i get to the corners i put it in reverse and it kinda makes a little circle right where the miter is so it catches everything.
dutchrose ---{-@

i'm here ... thanx judypete

OK, i guess i just don't post often enough to remember on my own. i did get to the "blogger" page before, and i was signed in at the time, but i just didn't see the "new post" option. and since it looks so different than the wwqp webpage, maybe i just thot i wasn't connected up to the wwqp page anymore. so thanx judypete! thanx also to judy in ohio... i use firefox on a pc and was ready to try your technique if this hadn't worked.

so now i'm not sure what it was that i wanted to post originally :) guess the grey matter is getting old. i'll go back and read up, maybe that'll jog something. in the meantime tho, we are home from travelling and winter is beginning to set in so i will be here more often now.

dutchrose ---{-@

Sandi's article in QNM

I saw it, too, and it's a great article! Congrats, Sandi!


Doris W. in TN

Houston pictures

Has anyone posted or know where there are pictures of Houston quilts? I was wondering if anyone knew of a blog with them? I found the winners quilts, but was looking for individual's pictures for the non winners.
Marge in Louisiana

Sandi

Just a quick note to tell everyone that Sandi Irish has an article in Quilters Newsletter
this month! It's on machine trapunto!
Someone may have mentioned this but I haven't read in a few days....but if so...worth mentioning again :)
I wrote a nice long post over the weekend & for the 2nd time I hit the wrong button,
aaaargh....maybe someday I'll learn! Jill

Signing In is Tricky, Depending on Your Browser ...

JudyPete may not realize that signing in varies depending on which browser you are using on your computer. I happen to use Firefox on my iMac and I am quite sure my experience is different from those who use some form of Windows on their computers.

In any case one key thing to be aware of is that when you are signing in and you are asked for "user name" and "password", the blogger box really wants your email address in that box and your blogging password. In other words, I don't put Judy in Ohio as my blogging "user name", I put in my actual email address. That was something that stumped me the first few times I tried to use this new blogging adventure.

Also, when I come to the "sign in" page I get something that has a nice arrangement of items to choose from and I must click on "View Blog" next to "WWQP Bulletin Board" to actually go to our WWQPBB.
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Using this site is not easy the first few times ... you feel like you are fumbling around like a clumsy child. But then driving a car was not easy the first few times either and you eventually figured that out so we hope more BBers find their way back.

Judy

More on the Mini-Quilt made of Vintage Fabrics

Harriet asked me to tell "the rest of the story" in regards to the bits of vintage fabrics that I used in the mini-quilt shown below.

Many of the shirting fabrics (the light colors) were from two sets of samples from a small family-owned department store in Sioux City, Iowa. I'm guessing this store was in business in the early 1900s. I was thrilled when I found these samples in a small box of fabric purchased at an estate sale of a dear friend. Small squares of fabric were stapled in two sets which were, I assume, something that a homemaker could ask the store to mail to them and which she could use to select fabrics for purchase. You can see a photo of these fabrics in a post on April 19 by clicking on the link of archived posts at the bottom right of this page. Some might think I should have saved these sample packets for some museum somewhere. However, I believe there are plenty of antique and vintage fabrics in much larger collections that are properly preserved for posterity. I'm preserving these pieces in a stitched format. LOL.

The other fabrics were from a number of vintage blocks that I have purchased over the years and which were not suitable to finish into a quilt for one reason or another. Either the construction was poor or adjacent fabrics were damaged. I washed all of these fabrics by simply swishing them in warm water, blotting dry, then pressing.

If you check the archived post, you will see above it a post by Judy in Ohio wherein she posted a photo of the doll-quilt I made several years ago for her heirloom doll cradle. The current quilt is slightly smaller, but otherwise is a duplicate of that first quilt.

Not very exciting, but that's the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might say.

JudyPete

How to post on the BB

Dutchrose asked how to post to the BB. First you must be signed in. Click on the sign-in link in the upper right hand corner of the BB. This will open up a page where you will see the name of the WWQP. Click on New Post. This brings up a page in which to type your message. When done, click on Publish Post. Sometimes it takes a few moments to appear. In fact, earlier today it took hours, which was a strange and unusual thing.

Hope this helps. Play around with it. I may have missed something in my advice, but hope this is helpful.

JudyPete

Moon paper piece pattern

I know I made some, but I can't find my pattern. Does anyone know of a free pattern for a paper piece moon? Thanks
Osageabluffquilter

Thanks again for the binding advice! The Halloween quilt is finished! and only 4 days after Halloween! I even slept under it last night when it turned cold and DH was hogging the other quilt! LOL

I used my regular double fold binding, stitched it on the back, and used a feather stitch to top stitch it. It worked well. I did find out that I had better luck when used the snap hairclips to anchor it for about 12 inches ahead of the needle (like I do when I stitch binding by hand). I used black thread on a black tone on tone fabric, so it camoflaged a lot of problems. I doubt that anyone will ever take a really close look at it anyway!

Now the next UFO taken out of the closet is a flannel raggy snowman quilt. I am not sure whether I will keep it or give it away. I am glad those frayed seams will cover some of the sloppy stuff I am finding as I assemble it! I think there will be enough scraps left to make a flannel baby quilt when I am done.

Thanks again, Laurel in Iowa

Mini-Quilt from vintage fabrics

I've been wanting to make this mini-quilt for quite some time. Several years ago I made a similar one for a friend. The fabrics are vintage fabrics from around 1900. Each square was cut at 1-3/8 inch. Seams were 1/8 inch which was easy to do on my Singer 301 for it has its original pressure foot that was narrow on the right edge. You probably wondered why so many vintage quilt tops have such narrow seams? Its because the pressure foot on those old machines had that narrow right edge.

Anyway, the finished blocks are one inch in size. I was able to find enough of the blue to make the border. For batting I will take a thin cotton batt, peel it apart so that I have only half a layer. This will keep the quilt very thin. The back will be a modern cotton ... the kind that has a flannel feel to the back side.

I noticed that many of these antique fabrics were similar to that flannelette ... the right side of the fabric appeared to be plain cotton. The back had the soft fluff of flannel. I'm guessing these were winter dress fabrics and it made me wonder if today's quilt-shop flannelettes would make warm and comfy winter blouses if sewn with the flannel side to the inside of the garment. Anyone done that??

JudyPete

P.S. If you go to the archives below and click on the archived page for April 15, you will see the "original" vintage mini-quilt upon which this one is based. That quilt now resides in the home of Judy in Ohio. You will also see a post by my wherein I show some of the vintage shirting fabrics ... a selection of samples by a local department store in the early part of the 20th century. Those samples are now in this quilt top. Only took my six and a half months from there to here. LOL

Houston Quilt Festival

I am just back from Houston and want to tell you about a fantastic quilt called "The Quilt of Belonging". It is a Canadian project and this is the web site www.invitationproject.ca It is beautiful and very impressive. At this site you can bring up every block and read about it. I think it has been mentioned before, but I never thought I would see it.

The block for Belize was done by Rose Marie Chui or Chie, can't read my writing but the Mississauga,Canada address caught my eye. Isn't that in your area Rosie?

Marge in Louisiana