Sweet Serendipity

Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.

A few weeks back, my lovely son phoned from New York. He is 21 years old and he phoned to let me know that the flannel pillow case I made for him more than 6 years ago has finally passed away. It was literally threadbare the last time I saw it, and quite honestly, I can not believe it made it this long (makes me wonder how many times it actually was washed since last I saw it...). All that being said, he then asks me if I could please make it out of the very same flannel I used the last time? Now, keep in mind that I moved from New York to Florida, and six years have passed! So I explained to my son, as gently as I could, that there was absolutely no way I would ever find that "moose tracks" flannel again. No way.

Cut to this past Saturday morning. I head over to the "End of Month, End of Bolt" sale at my favorite quilt shop, Country Quilts and Bears (30% off if you buy the end of the bolt!). I head straight to the flannel (living in Florida, it wasn't real busy on the flannel side of the store) and I start looking for the bolt with the least amount of fabric on it. I don't care much what the flannel is, and I don't give a single thought to finding the flannel I bought for him all those years ago. It doesn't even enter my mind... until I see this rather thin bolt, and look closer at it because I just can not believe what I am seeing. The EXACT same fabric that I used to make the original pillowcase! I buy it all - without even thinking, and make him two (maybe that will promote more frequent washings).

Serendipity, if you ask me...

The Big Closing

Well, we did it! My husband and I are in the real estate business, and after four years of marketing a particular building in Key West, Florida, we have finalized a deal. It will close on July 25th, and I could not be more excited and pleased. I saw a ticker on another blog this morning, and said to myself, if ever there was a time for me to post a ticker, it is today.

I can assure you that on July 26th, I will be busy. There is a particular Janome that has been calling my name for years... Can't you hear it? "...Susan....Susan...time to upgrade your machine..." I must comply. It is the right thing to do.

Scrap Happy Quilt with Borders

As promised, here is a photo of the quilt with borders and pinned, ready for me to quilt myself. I intend to use a medium dark purple 30s fabric to bind it - that will frame it nicely, I believe. For those who asked, the flower blocks are 9.5 inches unfinished, 9 inches finished. The logs in the border are 2 inch by 4 inch, unfinished. The quilt top is a total of 54 inches square.

Have a great Father’s Day everyone! May all your cookouts be rain free, happy events!

Scrap Happy Quilt

Here is my latest completed quilt top (YEAH – crossed it off the list!!). I made this for my ever so sweet niece, who lives in New York. It is made entirely out of my stash. I had purchased an unbelievably large quantity of four inch charms years ago, for some project or other that I was doing at the time. As luck would have it, I didn’t use all the charms up. In fact, the Depression Quilt that is shown two posts back is made entirely out of those very same left over four inch charms. That gives you some idea as to how many charms I had laying about. That quilt didn’t even use them up!

I drew the flower pattern freehand, making sure that each four inch charm would produce two petals. Waste not, want not, as my Grandmother used to say. Then for each of the logs that make up the inner borders, I simply cut a four inch charm in half. That also helped to use up a good quantity of charms. To make the flower blocks, I used a fusible product (Wonder Under) to adhere the petals and flower centers to the white on white fabric scraps, then top stitched them all down very carefully using my machine’s blanket stitch. I like to use a rather close setting on the stitch regulator when using the blanket stitch for appliqué. This way I am sure there will be no raveling after years of washing.

To finish this one off, I plan to use a medium to dark pink binding to “frame” it up. I need to figure out what to use for the backing first. All in all, I am quite pleased with this very simple, very happy little quilt. And again, nothing but stash!

I intend to complete, before Christmas, three more quilts for her siblings (egads!). I really would like to give them each a quilt for Christmas. I probably should have started in January…

**Post Script - I just discovered that Hubby took our digital camera with him on a business trip! Rather than hold back the post until he gets back with the camera, I decided that I would use the photo of the quilt top without borders and replace it with the finished one when he returns. Big Sigh...

Appreciating All Things Old

My husband and I purchased a home almost exactly one year ago, and have been remodeling it ever since. It is a 1925 Craftsman style house and surprisingly this house was very near it's original condition. What I mean by this is that nothing had been updated since it was built, well, except for the addition of many, many layers of paint. We have tried to maintain the integrity of the original design while updating it to what I feel to be a minimum standard of living. For example, we live in Clearwater, Florida and this house did not have central air conditioning. In my humble opinion, that would be the equivalent of living in Mishicot, Wisconsin and not having heat in your house. It still had the original porcelain sink mounted on the wall in the kitchen and typical to the period, it had no kitchen cabinets to speak of. We had to completely remodel the kitchen, in addition to many other “minor” projects like re-drywalling all the walls and ceilings, rewiring the entire house, and sanding every single Dade County Pine floor….

It’s been a very long journey, but right now I would have to say that I am most pleased, not with freshly restored wood floors or the crown moldings throughout every room, and not even with the brand new kitchen. What I am most delighted with is the restored glass and brass interior door knobs! I smile every time I touch one. I can not even begin to guess how many layers of paint had built up on the key holes and brass fittings to these door knobs. I soaked every last layer of paint off (thank you Martha Stewart for you website tips), and with the help of my husband we have reinstalled them to the original solid wood doors. I even stripped the brass hinges, and honestly I couldn’t be more proud of this hardware. As I was gazing at them again tonight, it occurred to me that just as I admire the craftsmanship of the quilts of yesteryear, I feel much the same about these door knobs and doors. Back in the 1920’s when these doors were made, they were done by hand, just as the old quilts were. They were not created on an assembly line, nor was machinery used that you just “fed” the doors through to get the holes drilled out properly to fit the knobs. They really were "crafted".

Though I love the way I assemble quilts today, I can’t help but think back with admiration to the methods that led up to the way we create things now.

I had to show off the hibiscus that came with the house and grows in the front yard. It is ancient, and over the last year, with lots of love, natural pesticides and plant food, I have coaxed it back in to bloom. I do so love old things!

One of My Favorites

This weeks topic was to discuss our favorite quilt. I have so many categories of favorites it is a very difficult task for me to choose just one favorite. I made this quilt about a year ago. I had found the pattern at Marcia Horn's website, The Quilter's Cache. It is called the Depression Block and it was the first time I used a block where color created the pattern. I really had fun with this one and it used so much of my stash. I also met a new long arm quilter and had her do the quilting because it was just too big for me to tackle. I know, I am getting a bit lazy on that end.

It is funny how a quilt you have completed can take you back to the time you were making it. I just got this one out of the closet and I instantly traveled back to that time. I had just moved to Florida from New York and everything was so new. Sometimes all the newness was exhausting and when I was feeling overwhelmed, I could just slip back to my sewing room and sew a block or two and be instantly revived. Quilting is so relaxing - it cures everything!

Oh, and this is also an example of a quilt that I made where I didn't follow the pattern exactly. I had tons of 4" blocks and decided to use them without trimming them down to the called for size of 3-7/8 inch blocks. It worked out wonderfully and if I didn't mention it, no one would know.

I had my husband hold up the quilt and since it is so big, we had quite a time with it. I decided to use the photo of him peaking over the top rather than make him help me take another one. Sometimes this can lead to many shots and my "quilt rack" can get a bit tired of the process while I struggle to get that perfect shot!

Sewn Block Swaps

Here are some of my most prized quilts. You can tell they are my most prized because I still own them! Obviously, I could never give these away. They were made with the help of my friends at "About Quilting" and honestly I love these quilts most of all. I enjoy participating in the block exchanges that are hosted on the quilting forum and I take great pleasure in the camaraderie that I have found on that site. I think you can feel the kindness and love in the finished quilts. Corny, I know, but I can't stop myself from telling anyone that will listen how these quilts came to be. “These quilts were made by the loving hands of women from all over North America and a few foreign countries….”

Once on the "About Quilting" site, go to the forums (on left hand side of page) and you will find one of my favorite quilting hang outs. There, divided by topic, you will find fabric swaps, sewn block swaps of every skill level and style, general quilting discussions and even a beginning quilters area where you can post any question and get very good answers in return. I especially love the “Show and Tell” forum where quilters show off their finished projects. It was in these forums that I stumbled on to some of the best Scrappy Quilt Block Swaps ever. The concept is really quite simple - using the pattern provided by the hostess, you make sets of ten blocks. When the blocks are completed, you send them in to the hostess. In return, the hostess sends back to you ten blocks all made with different fabric . This allows you to make a very scrappy looking quilt with fabrics that you don't actually have.

The first quilt I have shown here was from a swap that a woman in Hawaii always hosted, and sadly, I simply can not remember the name of that series of swaps. The second quilt I am showing off is from the “Penny Pincher” series. That quilt came from the “Penny Pincher Ho Ho Ho” block swap. In this photo I hadn’t finished putting on the border, but it is now boxed up and ready to ship to a long arm quilter. The next time a Penny Pincher block swap is posted, I will post a note on my blog so if you are interested, you can join in on the fun.