Becky's quilt obsession

My last Scrap Squad project is finished – a king-size quilt for our bed. We haven’t had a “bedspread” on our bed in the entire 8 years we have been married. We had two quilts on our bed, one for me, one for DH. But without further ado – here’s what it looks like now: Linda’s quilting: It covers all of the mattresses: Happy Quilting, Becky

Remember this quilt that I had so many problems making? I even had trouble with the quilting because I used both a cotton and a wool batting. It ended up really thick and it doesn’t drape well. I had to block it to remove the “C” cups in the center of the star. Enter the polar vortex. My chair is near the fireplace. We had such a cold draft coming in I put an extra outdoor thermometer there and it measured 42 degrees F. at the bottom vents. I took a quilt and wedge it up against the bottom vents, but later realized it was coming in the top vents, the door, the sides, etc.  I finally convinced DH that we had to do something and he looked it up on the net. We ordered a balloon for the flue and some magnetic vent covers. Magnetic? It sparked a thought – I hang quilts with magnets. We measured the fireplace and I began searching for an appropriate size quilt, preferably one that already had a hanging sleeve on it. Viola! A nice, thick quilt that had been blocked to lie flat – aga...

There’s a new post from a Scrap Squad 2013 member, Christa Marcotte, over at the Quilty Pleasures Blog . I love what she’s done with this wonderful pattern. There is also a great give-away there, so be sure and visit! Happy Quilting, Becky

I somehow managed to not blog about my 5th finish for Scrap Squad, a quilt I really like as I finally found luminosity. This is from Carolyn McCormick’s pattern Star Struck, which appeared in Quiltmaker in Oct-Nov, I believe. DH made acrylic templates for it down in the shop as the star points and even the central “diamond” were unusual shapes for which no commercial templates are available. I’m so fortunate that he can do this for me. I quilted this one using the Circle Lord frame and a spiral circle, not my usual long boards. This way I was able to center the spiral in each diamond. I picked yellow thread (Superior So Fine, with Bottom Line pre-wound bobbins) for all the quilting, but have mixed feelings about how it shows on the black as I had starts and stops that I, at first, was not good at hiding. I did improve on this. On a side note, my quilting friend, JoAnne, who made these quilt s had a house fire the night before Thanksgiving. She had smoke and water damage in...

This is my final Scrap Squad project, back from my wonderful friend Linda Kriesel, who took pity on me and quilted this huge thing on her 14’ long arm. I love the panto – Bountiful Feathers, designed by Hermione Agee for Lorien Quilting. I managed to trim it on Sunday, and am working on the 550” of binding. I used a Quilters Dream wool batting so we might be able to turn over when sleeping under it. That may never happen, but at least we will have a “bedspread” for when guests are here. On the design wall next to the piecing machines is this memory quilt I’m making for a friend. I’ve used it as a leader / ender all year and now it is time to put it together. The shirts are a poly blend, so I have to press it when the iron is turned down so it’s a bit of a PITA. I hope to have it ready for the quilting machine soon. It will have to be a freehand pattern so I can avoid buttons and pockets and such. I was going to include the front of some overalls, but they were just too heavy with th...

A year of scrap squad doesn’t make for a lot of other quilting finishes. The last two above are the only ones not made specifically for Quiltmaker’s Quilty Pleasures Blog . Pictures 5 and 6 above are the same quilt, just front and back. The most challenging was my Glacier Star – it was finished prior to this year, but it wasn’t quilted until August. Blocking it was a major undertaking. The most difficult to get through was the eagle quilt for a niece. I cried a bucket or two of tears during the quilting of this. It has messages of hope for her. By the way, she is doing amazingly well after such extensive, life-altering surgery. As she said yesterday, she didn’t have another choice if she wanted to live. She said the quilt continues to help a lot. That’s the year 2013’s quilting output for me. Happy Quilting, Becky

Gorgeous quilt alert!! Please go on over to Quilty Pleasures blog to read about Gina’s fall quilt of stars. It is so beautiful. Take time to admire the quilting as shown on the back. Oh, I wish I could do as well. Maybe when I grow up (says the old lady of the scrap squad). Oh, my, until I just looked at the thumbnail I didn’t realize how careful she was with color placement. Look at the great secondary diamonds. Way to go, Gina. Happy Quilting, Becky

It’s so great being a member of this year’s Scrap Squad for Quiltmaker magazine. Last Friday, my baby quilt rendition of Western Waltz was posted on the Quilty pleasures blog. Today, they are kicking off a campaign for the new magazine of quilts made from the 100 Blocks series. I’m enjoying watching the videos of the editors giving instructions and ideas about some of the blocks included in the new issue. Head on over there and leave a comment to be included in the drawing for 25 free issues of the magazine. Happy Quilting, Becky

Glacier Star is drying in the dining room – there’s no room to walk when the Styrofoam boards are up. It started as 93 x 93 prior to quilting, now it is about 87”. It has both a wool and cotton batting, and I put it in the washer for a hand wash cycle to rinse out the glue stick and to wet it thoroughly. DH and I pulled and measured and pulled some more, and I finally had to say “enough”. I will measure today after it is dry, and begin the process of trimming, stabilizing the edge and then binding the monstrosity. I would like to take it to guild next week; it will hang in the guild quilt show later in September. It was quilted by Angela Walters . She put in an enormous amount of extremely gorgeous quilting. Here are some teaser photos for you. after it is bound I’ll take some “glamour shots”. On my design wall is the beginning of my next Scrap Squad project. I’m finally cutting into the pieces of Rowan fabrics I’ve been gathering for a couple of years. I’ve been rearranging them ...

My latest scrap squad project will be posted Friday. I pulled some really old fabrics from when the local quilt store was first open (now deceased). When I was finished with the top, I sewed all the leftovers into the backing. I first sewed all the scraps together, but there were not enough of them to make much. I cut apart the remaining panel, and used strips of scraps and such to bring them up to about 16”. I then joined them with fabrics I had pulled but not used on the front, and made it big enough for a backing. I love what happened with the triangles! I was a bit worried about  how it would quilt, but it just wasn’t a problem. Here’s the back – you can see the front on Friday on the Quilty Pleasures blog . Right now the link will take to you the wonderful Christmas quilt made from the same pattern. The top bulk is the hanging sleeve, just pinned on. Happy Quilting, Becky

Our final train trip this time was in Leadville, CO, one of the highest places to live. I didn’t have as much trouble breathing here, I think I was becoming acclimated. Our train ride included an area that had a forest fire last year, and erosion. I was amazed at the tenacity of the trees even when their roots we so exposed. I loved the wild flowers as well. The old freight station was appropriately labeled with a quilt block! Leadville has a really old Opera House that we visited, but it still needs a lot of reclamation work. There is an antique mall in a very old Hardware Store that is intriguing. It still has all the old drawers, shelves and ladders that were part of every hardware store ages ago. The only quilt store in Leadville is a vintage store. There’s no place to buy the latest fabrics there. This store – I forgot to take a picture – had old quilt tops, fabrics, embroidery, thimbles, sewing items – the list goes on and on. DH found something there and I bought a silver thi...