Becky's quilt obsession

Getting ready for a retreat next weekend. This is my project as we will have a work on anything session with a certified Quiltworx instructor, Eileen Eubanek. I’ve cut my own jelly roll strips as this is to hang next to my Glacier Star on the stairwell. It will have a blue black as well. I've been sorting UFO’s, seeing if I can kit some up for the Guild’s Boutique since I am in charge of it this year. I unearthed these, but I’m not ready to give up on them, yet. What to do with these? I thought I would do the Iron challenge at Missouri Star Quilt Company so bought the charm packs. I thought I would do a fractured quilt from the Material Obsession’s book, but . . . . I’m also cutting up some Dr Seuss fat quarters to make this quilt – I think. . . . Can I make a table topper out of this orphan? It’s too much trouble to make these blocks . . . . I’m not sure what to do with the rail fence blocks, another UFO that didn't sell at last year’s Boutique. This doll bed is an e...

One of the sets of unfinished blocks from my grandmother’s sewing area were these 6 pointed stars set with a hexagon in the middle. I think of them as star flowers. I don’t have early pictures of these, but they all had been set at some time, and then ripped apart, with a LOT of thread tails remaining in the fabric. They smelled like my mother’s house, which had been in Missouri’s 1993 flood up to her floorboards. I remember spreading out these blocks and using a lot of Febreeze on them. By the time I finished I hated the smell of Febreeze mixed with musty! I remember taking them with me on one of my flights to see now DH in California. The flight is about 3 1/2  hours long, not counting the waiting time. I took a tape roller with me, and teased out all the threads. Grandma had a treadle machine, and sometimes it made really tiny stitches. Grandma’s quilts were unique. She worked with the fabrics at hand, and if a quilt was for a specific person, she used scraps sent to her by...

There was a request on HeartStrings yahoo group quite a while back for someone to finish up some blocks left after a member’s mother had died. The member felt unable to work on them, as they were the last blocks her mother had made prior to going blind, and then dying. The request was unusual, as they were described as already having batting quilted on them. I thought they were “quilt-as-you-go” blocks, and volunteered to tackle this project. This is the way the box arrived. I laid the blocks out, and each owl was quilted to just batting – no backing. There was a new sheet enclosed to use as backing. My first thought was to just cut off the batting, but then I took time to examine the blocks. Each of the twelve owls were different, and each was quilted in a different pattern. I just couldn’t willy-nilly go at them and destroy that work. They went back in the box for a long time as I thought about what to do with them.   The above is how I finally decided to treat each block. T...

6. Fall Chinese coins When I finished the Pineapple Blossom quilt pictured, I cut up the remaining scraps into Chinese Coins, and sewed, and sewed, until they were all in the coin strips. There are different sizes of columns. Both of these projects were made from scraps from 2 other quilts – all cut from quarter-yard cuts of autumn fabric. The only fabric I had to add was the various yellows. The pineapple and Chinese coins came from stash/scraps – no fabric was purchased. I plan to make the Chinese Coins into a wall hanging that fits above the king-size bed pictured above. I found a cool setting using black and white Greek something in between the columns. This project was put away because I was busy making a lot of Heartstrings quilts out of Chinese coins, and I wanted them finished for Alycia’s goal of 400 QOV that year. 7.Blue Braid (King) Another class project with Bonnie Hunter . I wanted to make a monochromatic quilt for a long time, so did this. I knew when I started it ...

Lone Star (large wall hanging) I’ve started this one in Oct with a class at Des Moines AQS – Jan Krentz. I have one large diamond made, which I can’t find today, but it is pinned to a portable ironing surface, so I’m sure I will find it when the number comes up. This is wall hanging (large) size. It was a wonderful class. I’m looking forward to working on this one because the technique she taught us was so cool. I bought the DVD so I could refresh my mind (it will need it) when I start working on it again. 2. First ever blocks (queen) In the 70’s I decided I wanted to make a quilt like my grandmother did. I made several Sun Bonnet Sues, but then decided I could applique some regular blocks. The only book I had was one by Ickles (?) so I drew out the blocks, then made them, figuring things out as I went. The fabric of the times was poly cotton, so these are appliqued on poly/cotton squares, with poly prints. Never again! A few years ago I decided to finish this quilt, and finally ...

Oh, my, I've done it now. Over on the Stashbuster Yahoo Group I posted a personal challenge to finish 50 quilts from my stash without buying any fabric except WOW for backgrounds. I'm even NOT buying backings, but using up all I have, then piecing the rest! Now others want to join in!! It all started with a discussion with DH about how I thought I could make 500 quilts from the fabric in the house. I thought that was too high a number for a goal, so brought it down to 50. I have a database in Excel that I use to track UFO's, and I listed 34 that needed finishing, so I think I can do both - finish UFO's and work on WHIMMs (works hidden in my mind). The finished quilts can be any size, from doll (or miniature) size, on up to HUGE. When I have more time, I'll figure out how to set up a Mr Linky so others can report finishes as well, or some other way for others to report their numbers. There's no time limit, I just can't buy anymore fabric until 50 quilts ar...