Becky's quilt obsession

It’s growing! Happy Quilting, Becky

I can’t seem to include all of this layout in the picture. I’m leaning back over Black Bart as far as my back will bend (not far), but this is close.  I see one sashing I need to turn around near the black background large one – it will be lost when it is seamed. I already fixed the 3rd from the left top sashing so the light doesn’t blend into the light. The white around the large blocks will disappear when the seams are sewn. I could turn / rearrange these blocks forever. These colors aren't quite true tonight, but close.  I had a rare day for this summer without DGKs that allowed me to make and trim 75 4-patches and put this up today. School starts here next Wednesday, but I’m pretty busy until September with all the dentist, doctor, etc. that comes around. Just Beachy will probably be up on the design wall for a while.  I hope you are having some fun as our summer draws to an end, but not the end of heat – 102F today in Kansas City, MO. Happy Quilting, Becky

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...

Last week my version of Karen Stone’s Beachy re-emerged from the UFO pile. It was started with 2 other quilty friends – we were all making one, in 2004. It was on the design wall until 2005, but then we started building this house, moving into this house, getting married, life in general. It’s now making a comeback I decided to make it larger than the pattern. All the blocks were finished, with some of the sashing as well. I think I will make additional sashing to make the first border. It is supposed to have a row of 1” squares for the inner border, but I think it will be easier to make the sashings and 4-patch cornerstones. There’s one more pieced border – cut wavey, but it will be straight until after I quilt it. Thanks to Judy L for hosting DWM. Happy Quilting, Becky

The string blocks are finished to flimsy (top) stage. The inner border of yellow print is an eBay find, followed by the same aqua solid that forms part of the blocks. I cut it 5" wide, but I don't know if I will leave it that wide. That much solid leaves a lot of room for quilting, and that isn't my strong suit. I pulled a practice top, an apple core top of 30's fabrics (originals) that I'm going to load on Black Bart. I think I will practice doing various freehand fills, and see if DH can help me adjust the machine so the wheels move easier. Someone on the Nolting group described a problem like I have, so we will see if the same fix will work.   Happy Quilting, Becky

I’ve made a total of 96 string blocks. There are no scraps left. I’m now into the stage of joining them into 4 patches, then 16 patches. I have these 4 of 6 total finished. It will have a small yellow 30’s fabric border then more of the aqua to finish it off. The previous post has more information about this UFO of my grandmother’s. Hopefully I will finish piecing this week. Happy Quilting, Becky

My mother’s mother was a quilter. Most of her quilts were utility quilts, made to be used. She made a lot of quilts! There were about 50 grandkids, and she made us all quilts. She had a total of 13 children, 10 that lived to adulthood. She lived on a farm, had a treadle sewing machine, and must have made a lot of clothes as well as quilts. Grandma died in 1968. My mother lived in California then, but flew back to Missouri and helped with the disbursement of Grandma’s things. One thing she did was clean up Grandma’s sewing area. I don’t know how she managed to pack everything up, but I’ve been amazed at all she had. In 1998 my mother decided to share Grandma’s blocks with me. She had asked me to make her a top out of some earlier, but I didn’t have any idea how to work with the odd stuff then. I’ve gained some experience, read some books on finishing antique blocks, and have periodically worked on some of Grandma’s UFOs. One quilt top that was in poor condition was one made of string...