Category: Quilting and Sewing

Who were you ten years ago?  I finished a book recently and happened to skim through the acknowledgments at the end, and last few sentences struck me.  The author finished by writing, “And to the woman I used to be.  Thank you for getting me here.  I’m so grateful for you.”  I’ve been thinking about it ever since.  What would you say to your past self?  What are you grateful for? And who will you be ten years from now?  It’s an interesting thing to think about.  And that’s exactly what I did as I put the final stitches in the binding of my Decades Quilt.

As I wrote about here, this quilt means a lot to me.  It’s a tribute to my cherry tree, and a fun modern take on the tree of life quilt.  It’s also a reminder of growth and becoming someone better.   To make it more fun, I also wrote the pattern, which is now available here.

I had my Decades quilt quilted in large stacking circles, which I wanted to represent fruit.  So much fruit, all stacked up to overflowing.  It reminds me of my cherry tree last summer, so covered in cherries that it looked more red than green.

I bound the quilt in the same blue I used in the border.  I like the way it matches the corner star background.  This Dresden border originated with my Awake Quilt, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to use it as a full border.

I also pulled out a lovely linen blend print I’ve been saving for years to use as backing.  It’s a pretty floral and geometric design which will only get softer with time.  The colors are perfect.

Mostly I’m happy to have my Decades quilt finished.  It’s one of those “me” quilts, very personal, and was also fun to design.  I need to make more of them.  For now, we will enjoy this one while we wait out the winter and hope the cherry tree survives.

Happy sewing!  I hope you’re working on something fun!

A few years ago my daughter Marian and I took a trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  Neither of us had been there before, and my brother invited us to join him and his family for spring break.  I loved it.  Sunrise at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, long walks on the sand, sea birds, and lighthouses.  When we got home I decided to make a quilt to preserve the memories as a thank you gift for my brother’s family.  This is it.  My Signal quilt.

I chose lighthouses as my focus for several reasons.  One reason was the memories our kids made together at the Bodie Island lighthouse.  To this day, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen my daughter laugh harder.   Additionally, I wanted to explore the shape in a quilt.  Two of the three lighthouses, Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island, are reflected in the stripes.  The other I used to create symmetry in the design.

The colors are all from Art Gallery Pure Solids, (my favorite solids since making this quilt) and they represent my sister-in-law’s favorite beachy colors.  I used them to compose a quilt that feels a little bit like a vintage postcard.  The checkers remind me of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. I used them as a center line across the middle of the quilt, and then created a “reflection” in the bottom half, a nod to our time on the beach and my love of the ocean.

That cute little diamond strip makes me smile.  Also, it pulled the whole quilt together.

As for the quilting, I thought of a windy evening when I was out alone on the bridge, watching the flash of the Hatteras lighthouse from our rental.  It was SO DARK, and that signal was beautiful.  I stood there in the wind, watching it go off and on in it’s own unique pattern.  Appreciation settled deep in me, and I dearly wanted to remember the moment.

Therefore, I decided to quilt my Signal quilt using the light patterns of the two lighthouses.  For the top row, and then every “odd” row after that, I quilted the pattern of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.  Tall loops represent one second on, short loops one second off, straight lines for 1/2 seconds.  Beginning with the second row, and through all even rows after that, is the signal for Bodie Island.

I paused many times to double check my loops, but gratefully I got the signals correct.  I suppose it could be an odd quilting pattern.  But at least it’s meaningful!  I like the way it pulls my eye to figure out what the pattern is.

I completed the quilt with an ombre binding, going from the warm orange to a burnt red.  It’s the same red in the middle of the quilt.

Do you label your quilts?  I want to get better at it.  I couldn’t mail the Signal quilt away without one.

When I finished this quilt, I felt so much gratitude and pride.  I’m grateful I could design and make something like this to preserve a memory.  THIS is why I quilt.  And oh, how I love it!

We’re officially mid-way through January, and according to research, most New Year’s resolutions have been abandoned by now.  In fact, I learned recently that some call the second Friday in January “quitter’s day” because so many resolutions are broken by then.  Kind of sad.  But I’ve always maintained that there’s nothing special about January 1st. Every day is a good day to start living better.  And every day is a good day to show up for our commitments.  So it seems like a good day to share my Dainty Show Up Quilt, all finished.

This Dainty Show Up quilt is a small, 48″ star made with half rectangle triangles.  It’s a block I once feared, but now favor.  I learned a way to make half rectangle triangles without a special ruler, and never looked back!  The Show Up star is a smaller version of my Serve Quilt, and the pattern includes instructions for both sizes.

I quilted this little quilt far more densely than I typically would for a child.  The background is filled with “pebble quilting” – thousands of tiny circles.  My reason is simple.  I wanted the smaller stars to stand out.  With so little contrast in color or value, I turned to texture for help.  You can see how they puff up against the pebbles.

To help with all the dense quilting, I chose a floral flannel for the back, and needed a strip of cotton to make it large enough.  I like the soft colors AND the soft feel of flannel.

And sometimes it’s more fun to see the quilting on the back than on the front.

I opted for an orange peel design in the pink and green squares and rectangles.  They were fun to sew.  Plus, I needed an excuse to admire that darling green floral a little more.  So cute!

I bound this Dainty Show Up quilt with the same pink print found in the star.  Rather than hand sew through all that quilting, I attached the binding by machine.  Pink looks great with both front and back!

Soft, crinkly, and complete.  I love this little quilt.  I hope it will be much used!

After all, quilts are art we wrap around people we love.  It’s the best kind of art, if you ask me!