July 2002
I received my first sewing machine as a gift from my wife, Joanna, on Father's Day, 2002. This started the sewing adventures.
I made the first "Christmas Quilt" from old dish towels. I cheated by simply sewing ribbon along each side of the towels, then using that ribbon to join the towels together. The finished quilt looked fine from the front, but the quilting on the back was not very good. I may remove that quilting and do it again after I am more experienced. The backing on the quilt is the same burgundy that matches the master bedroom and bath. By folding the quilt so the backing shows, it can be stored on the foot of the bed where it makes a nice addition to the room.
Christmas Quilt - July 2002
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August 2002
I started my first 'real' quilt, the "Wallpaper Quilt" from fabric that matches the wallpaper in the kitchen. The block is "Fool's Square." It is a 10" block and the quilt will be 6 blocks wide and 7 blocks long. Two versions of the Fool's Square are shown on the right: One that is dark on light and the other, light on dark. I am using the dark on light pattern. (Left)
Fool's Square Blocks
I purchased a Bernina Virtuosa 153 Quilter's Edition sewing machine on September 5, 2002.
I started "Darlene's Baby" - a baby quilt for Darlene's baby, due in February 2003. We know the baby is a girl. The block is "Fool's Square" (not that the baby or her parents are fools). The quilt will be 4 blocks wide and 4 blocks long, approximately 40" X 40" unfinished. Nichole chose the fabric, a pink/blue/yellow background with pictures of bears, birds, alphabets, etc. for the light color, and a small white pattern on dark pink for the dark color. I'm going to try to quilt it with horizontal and vertical parallel lines 2" apart, making little 2" squares. The Bernina has a walking foot that should help.
I made curtains for the living room in Susan's dorm at the University of Tennessee. Simple, straight, with a 1/2" border rolled under.
I removed the original quilting I did from the "Christmas Quilt" and re-quilted it using the walking foot on the Bernina. The quilting was 2" squares. The top was quilted using invisible thread and it looked pretty good, although it took almost 6 hours. I think I will use the same quilting on Darlene's baby quilt, although I may quilt it diagonally.
Nichole has chosen fabric for a quilt like one she saw at Penney's. It will be simple, there is no piecework required. It has a large center, with multiple 2" border rows around it. The center is a large flower print; the borders are green plaid and smaller purple flowers, or a pattern on purple background.
I found a simpler pattern than "Fool's Square." It is called "Trip Around the World." I started a quilt that will be 44" x 44". I used some fat quarters that I had purchased some time ago. The quilt requires 5 colors, and I can make a baby quilt with two fat quarters of each color.
Trip Around The World Quilt Pattern
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Here is a picture of the completed Around the World quilt. Two fat quarters will yield about 24-four inch squares. The quilt requires exactly 24 squares of each color. For the color in the upper right corner, 25-four inch squares are required, so I was one square short for that color. However, one of my other fat quarters yielded 26-four inch squares, so I used that color for the center square. Fortunately, it was the equivalent to the red fabric in the pattern above, so it actually blended nicely.
Trip Around The World Quilt
44" x 44"
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I made a "Barbie" blanket for Alyssa's 4th birthday in October. A piece of fleece material - and I only had to put a border of bias tape around the outside. Just for fun, I made two small (12" X 8") blankets for the beds in her Barbie house, and machine embroidered her name on each one.
October 2002
I started attending the sewing classes for the Bernina. The first class, held on October 5, was an introduction to the machine. Even though I am going to do primarily quilting, it is interesting to see the other things that this sewing machine will do. I learned the value of the many other feet that I have and the importance of using the correct needles and thread.
I made a "Palm Tree" blanket for the new guest room. A piece of fleece material that I only had to put a border of bias tape around the outside. Fleece is difficult to use. It stretches a lot, so it is difficult to keep the piece square.
I attended my first quilting class - a class on machine quilting taught by Margie Engel. I discovered that I will be able to do this after a little practice. By looking at the quilts that the instructor brought to class, I got many new ideas about quilting a quilt and about ways to bind it. After attending the class on Friday afternoon, I made a complete 'Stack 'n Whack' quilt over the weekend. That includes cutting, piecing, quilting and binding.
Stack 'n Whack Quilt
44" x 40"
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I have completed Darlene's baby quilt top. I would have liked more contrast in the colors, but I was overruled by the "fabric selection committee" consisting of my wife and daughter, when choosing the fabric. You have to look hard to see the pattern of the Fool's Square. Quilting and binding are next.
Fool's Square Quilt - October 2002
40" x 40"
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November 2002
December 2002
I finished the Pinwheel quilt
At least the dogs liked it and found it comfortable. Every time I sat down to finish binding the quilt, which I did by hand, the dogs would find a place and go to sleep.
Pin Wheel Quilt - binding it while the dogs sleep.
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The finished pinwheel quilt on a king size bed.
Finished Pin Wheel Quilt
80" X 96"
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"Butterfly Garden - a Christmas
gift."
I started a quilt for my mother, who loves butterflies. I am going to make it out of 5" squares, 11 squares across and 11 squares down. I have a light blue fabric to represent the sky, and a floral pattern for the flowers. I will alternate the two fabrics for the background. I am going to appliqu� three large butterflies to the background and use a 5" border of a butterfly print. Mom is almost blind but we hope that she can see the butterflies if I make them large enough.
Of course, I will complete it for Christmas.
15-Jul-04: Note: Mom passed away on the last day of June 2004. After she got this quilt, she wouldn't sleep under anything else, so she was buried with the butterfly quilt on her lap.
Finished Butterfly Garden, 60" X 60".
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Closeup of a Butterfly.
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Aunt Shirley, who will hand deliver the Pinwheel Quilt for me (I live in Florida, the recipient is in Indiana), asked for a quilt for her bedroom. I found some fabric with a pre-printed Pinwheel pattern, and made her a mini-quilt that is 14" X 14". After much buildup during phone conversations, she believes that she is getting a quilt comparable to the large Pinwheel quilt that she delivered. We sent it to her for Christmas. I hope she gets the joke.
Finished MiniPinwheel, 14" X 14".
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MiniPinwheel - Close-up
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I also made curtains for the bedroom in Susan's (neice) dorm at the University of Tennessee.
September 2002
I have finished quilting and binding the "Trip Around the World" quilt.
I also finished quilting and binding Darlene's baby quilt. 400-2" blocks, 3 sewing machine needles and a lot of patience. I'm glad to be done with this one, although I'll probably try another in the future.
I am planning a Pin Wheel Quilt for a friend of the family. It will be my largest quilt to date, approximately 80" X 96" unfinished. The pattern is on the right. The lady is almost blind, so I chose very bright colors so that she may be able to see the pattern. Also, I am planning to use 8" blocks so they will be highly visible. An 8" block makes a pin wheel that is 16" on a side. Maybe I will specialize in making quilts for the blind - it seems to me that they will not be very picky about how they look.
Pin Wheel Quilt Pattern
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