Father Time Prepares for a New Year

My Hubby saves everything... including this postcard from Germany sent to HIS grandparents on December 28, 1909. Can you believe it? It was addressed by name and city in California. Thats it! It got to them. U.S. Postage was one cent! Here comes 2012!!!

Signing Off and Let's Face IT

I've said before I love signing my quilts NOT because I like looking at my name but because it means the QUILTING IS ALL DONE!!!!! Yeah. I usually sign my name in a less obvious place so as not to take any attention from the central image. This piece, being an exhibition piece is meant to have viewers know who did it so it will be a bit more prominent than some of my pieces... I first use a ruler to draw washout blue lines for upper, mid, lower positioning of each letter. I do everything in lower case because it feels right and is easier as well. I use 40 wt thread , sign each word/name forward... then backward thus ending where I began. I then move on to the next word/name and do the name, ending with a dot on the "i".

Trim threads, spray wet with water and allow to dry.

When you have clearly squared and trimmed your quilt, it's time to bind... or in this case FACE IT! I generally prefer this method on art pieces. I cut 2" strips that match the backing and sew them on the edges like a second border. IMPORTANT... I sew approximately a 1/8" seam as this will later be turned toward the back and offer less bulk. This looks a bit strange, I know...

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Next, I iron turn under about 1/4" of the raw outer edge.

From the front, stitch that turned edge down.

One more round of stitching from the front...this time on the 1/8" seam where the 'border' is attached to the quilted piece. This stitching is done just a 1/16" off the seam ditch.

From here we begin working on 2 opposite sides first... then the remaining 2 opposite sides. This will take some time but will be well worth the effort as you will have clean/tight turns front to back... a nice finish!!!!!
Work on 1 side... spray wet the 1/8 in seam and slowly, forcefully roll and iron press the 'border' to the back... (When you see that 1/16 stitch line rolled toward the back... you've done well.) I use plenty of straight pins to pin this 'til it completely dries and holds shape. You then hand stitch the turned edge to the back. Repeat this process on the opposing side of the quilt.

When both of the 2 turned back sides are hand stitched down at the turned edge, you move on to the next opposing sides which are done the same way THOUGH you may end up trimming away some bulk at the corners where you have multiple layers of fabric.

Once these 2 final opposing sides are hand stitched down.... It's time for a sleeve.

Fox Quilting Part IV

Almost done quilting... as now we move to the foreground where massive white snowdrifts appear. This will go relatively fast. It is common for me to work upside down when it seems easier to manage so thats the starting point here. This effort is sort of like taking the kind of echo lines you would see in Hawaiian quilting and mixing it with the kind of flow lines you might see in a slow moving stream.

This area is where having the poly batting directly beneath the top pays off. The snow looks kind of fluffy. Some directional changes in separated sections can add interest.

Once thats all done, it's time to prepare for squaring up.

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But before squaring up, I like to block the piece if there is even the slightest distortion from the quilting process. There was little to none on this piece partially because it is relatively small but here's the process.

Spray the quilt top with a clean water mist. Lay the dampened quilt on a pin-able surface (this is small so I can use my big board ironing board). Using your clean hands,"smush" the piece flat and insert straight pins to hold in place while it air dries. A more distorted piece would likely require many more pins than seen here.

After this dries, we'll sign and prepare to put a fine finish on the edges.

Fox Quilting Part III

Now we can quilt out from the central figure Fox beyond the initial darker background thread work. I changed to a rayon icy light blue to begin working toward the limbs of the snowbound tree.

I've decided "not" to do thread work on the limbs but instead quilt around them.

I like the ink painted limbs so see no reason to 'over quilt' this piece. Quilting the cool background though makes a big difference. The temperature gets colder !!

Lastly, I'll finish quilting around the slushy background snow.

In the next step, we'll move to the snow banks in the foreground and soon be done quilting.

Fox Quilting Part II

So this is where we were when the quilting sandwich was first put together. The white fox had been backed with a stabilizer when it was only a "TOP" piece. Then fairly heavy thread work was done on the fox itself...making certain the outer edge of the contour was not fully quilted as I planned to finish that area after the quilt sandwich was complete and the background area immediately surrounding the animal was quilted. That's exactly where we are now.

The original thinking was that I would more heavily quilt the fox than any other areas and the first 'pre sandwich' step would minimize the potential for surface distortion. That said, here we go... I first rethreaded the machine with the same white thread I used earlier, and then quilted/integrated the fox with the background by allowing some white fur stitches to overlap with the background.

At this point, I acknowledged the earlier discomfort I felt with the puffiness on the Fox body. So, since we get to change our mind from the original plan, I used the white thread to add some texture quilting atop the threadwork originally done. I definitely appreciate the improvement in the natural look of the Fox. He simply has more character now.

Favorite Gifts

My least favorite gift is the head pounding cold that arrived Christmas a.m. and isn't leaving anytime soon. BUT.... Check out this beautiful handmade wool pincushion from quilter friend Loretta Beaumont. Too special. Glad I got it!

Hope to be back at "THE FOX" shortly!

Mary's Son...Our Father

To all Mothers... On this day so very long ago, a young Mary held her new born son unaware of the full impact he would have on our world.

My favorite Song Of The Season.... click here to see the most beautiful words to "Mary Did You Know"