A Mansion and a Bear Claw Cabin Quilt

Summer's Finally Here!

I am just returning from a visit with my Aunt in New York. My sister comes up from the Phoenix area, and then we travel on together to Rochester. Our Aunt lives in Bath, which we both affectionately call the town that time forgot. We always plan on doing whatever she needs - she is in her 80's and does not get around very well - as well as getting her out to do some exploring. Bath is in the Finger Lakes region of NY, and is an incredibly beautiful area with rolling hills, lots of gardens, old Victorian homes, and scenic winding roads.

The Sonnenberg Mansion

This year, we made it up to the Sonnenberg Gardens, where you can enjoy a garden and home tour for only $10! The original mansion was built by New York City bank financier Frederick Ferris Thompson and his wife, Mary Clark Thompson, the daughter of New York State governor Myron Holley Clark. We spent a whole day visiting, and because our Aunt was in a wheel chair, received a royal tour which included lots of history and tidbits. There are a variety of gardens, all worth exploring. The many and various trees on the property are attributed to the fact that Mrs. Thompson had every visiting dignitary plant one! (Well, to me this was a fascinating fact.) Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit, even if we didn't get to plant a tree.

So, my little vacation is over and I am back to work. Here is one of my latest quilts - which will reside at the owners cabin once she gets the binding on- the perfect place for this quilt.

A view of the whole quilt.

The Bear  Claw blocks with a maple leaf quilted pattern.

The inner border with squiggles in the log cabin blocks
and oak leaf motifs in the triangles.

Outer border with appliques details,some oak leaves quilted in, and
all echoed around.

Quilted detail in the flying geese with leafy
bracketing borders.

I have a lot of catching up to do, so until next time - Happy Quilting!

Cathy

Verse for the week: "Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths." (Ps. 4:2)

Embroidered Roses

Hi, everyone. Hope this day finds you well and thankful!

This elegant quilt of hand embroidered roses is a special treat for me. I don't often receive embroidered tops to quilt, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this one. My picture of the whole quilt is not the greatest, but with the close up photos I think you can get a better idea of what the finished work looks like.















There were large white blocks in the center, and since this is a traditional quilt, a feathered wreath seemed a perfect fit here. This one has a few additional ribbons and leaves which adds to the frilly look of the quilt.

 The setting triangles received a similar look.













For the borders, a rose swag was chosen to go with the theme and enhance the overall look.

 The embroidered blocks themselves simply required a bit of  complimentary outlining and detail to give them a quilted look without taking away from the hand work.


The binding on this quilt will be red, and I hope my client will let me see it when she is finished. The hand work is stunning, and I hope I did justice to her hard work!

Until next time, Happy Quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the week: "Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know what day your LORD will come. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." (Mathew 24:42,44)

A Funky Autumn Sampler

Quilting Fun!

This sampler had blocks that I have not seen before, some of them really funky looking. It also had some very plain blocks which needed to fit in with those funky looking ones - I had to get my creative juices going! I had this quilt hanging on my design wall for a while, wondering what I was going to do with it. It was not until I loaded it and started working on it that it all came together.













I started with one of the more unusual blocks, adding design elements (curves and zigzags) that were consistent with the shapes in the  block. Adding in the "peas in a pod" circles made a statement, which I continued with for the remaining sampler blocks. Figure 8's and continuous curves were added as needed for some of the block shapes.

The design elements were added to the more  more simple looking blocks to give them the same character as the more complex ones.

The setting triangles were completed with a curved crosshatch pattern for additional texture, which I have shown on the back of the quilt, since it is hard to see here with the busyness of the fabric.The sashings and parts of the border patterns can also be seen here.

Well, that's it for today. I am now working on some embroidered roses, which I hope to show you soon!

Until next time, Happy Quilting!!!

Cathy

California Grandchildren

Happy Spring!
My daughter in California sent us this wonderful Easter gift - photos of 2 of our beautiful granddaughters.

This is Samantha. She is 9 years old, and what a surprise this photo was. Last time I saw her, she was quite the tomboy, and would not even think of wearing a dress, but I guess things have changed!

And this is 7 yr. old Emily who has always been a girly girl. She has the sweetest personality, which I think really shows up here in her beautiful smile.



Sarah also sent this photo of her son Ryan not too long ago - he just turned 16 and towers over mom!

I am so looking forward to seeing these precious grandchildren again this summer!! We don't get to see them often enough, and our time together always is too short, but we have lots of fun and laughter and do lots of crafty stuff, take walks, play cards, etc.  I get to be a kid again when I am with them!


Thank you for indulging this grandma - if you are one, I know you understand!!

Until next time,
Cathy

Getting Bulk Out of Those Pinwheels

A Piecing Tip for my Lovable Quilting Friends:

One of the things that I deal with often is bulky seams (to the point where I sometimes break a needle during the quilting!), and one of the culprits are pinwheels. The reason for this is the centers all come together at the middle of the wheel, and this can create a very bulky center. This is the technique I use to eliminate that bulk so that the completed block will look more professional, and definitely less lumpy! I use this technique on other blocks also, like stack and whack, where the centers come together in such a way that there is a big clump of fabric on the back, which can show up as a pucker on the front.

Press the seams  towards
the dark.

For a pinwheel block, the first thing we usually make is 4 half square triangle blocks - make sure that you press your seams in the same direction on all four - I usually press towards the dark fabric.

Lay out the 4 triangle blocks in
a pinwheel pattern.

Once we have four of these, we arrange them in a pinwheel shape and then sew two sets of the squares together.

Again, press the seams towards
to dark.

Once the two sets are sewn, it is important to press the seams again. I continue to press them towards the dark. This will allow me to "nitch" the seams together when they are sewn, with the seams pressed opposite each other. ("Nitch" is basically is placing the two sets right sides together such that the seams fit together perfectly when the seams are pressed opposite each other. You can feel with your fingers when there is a gap, or if there is overlapping of the seams. If either of these is the case, you are not properly "nitched", and your seams will not line up after sewing.)

Snipping seam at center.

The next step is to sew these two pieces together, making sure the seams nitch together. This will ensure that the seams of your completed block will line up perfectly in a pinwheel shape. Once these are sewn, flip your block to the back side. You will need to snip right along the center seams, close to the sewn line. Flip your block to the other side and repeat for the seam on that side.

Press one side up, and
the other side down.

Now press one side of the seam up and the other side down, ignoring the center area.


You're almost done! Open up the center area, fanning it out so it looks like a checkerboard, and press it open.

Center of block pressed into
a checkerboard pattern.

Finished pinwheel.

Now flip it over and iron it - you should have a nice pinwheel without that huge lump in the center. It's time to admire your beautiful workmanship!




I hope you found this technique helpful. One of my goals is to help you be as professional looking as possible, and always proud of your finished work!

This week's verse:
"Remember the former things long past, for I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying 'My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.' " (Is. 46: 9-10)

May your Easter be blessed from above, and may you recognize all He has done in His love for you!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

A Card Trick Quilt

Happy Spring!

I am so ready for it! It seems like it has been a long, cold and snowy winter, and I am looking forward to working in my garden again and enjoying some warmer weather. I have seen some daffodils and hyacinths blooming, a sure harbinger of spring, and also a few trees beginning to leaf out! I am sure you are as anxious as I am.





The card trick block is an old favorite. This quilt was made for a special granddaughter who is into those pink and brown colors. I have this child in my Awana's group, and she is definitely a modern girly girl, so I tried to design the quilting to match her personality.

Even though the block is traditional, the quilting does not have to be, so I ended up with a bit of a mix in my quilting patterns. I combined all 3 borders and used a more modern feather pattern.

Feathered border

Card Trick block

I thought the blocks themselves needed a more contemporary pattern, so I got out my sketchbook and started doodling. I played with hearts, swirls, feathers, curls, etc., but was not really getting what I wanted, then I ran across this pattern by Quilter's Niche, and thought it was perfect.






For the sashings, I chose a simple feather pattern, adding in a sashiko corner for a different look. I have included a photo of the back of the quilt so you can get a different view and see how the patterns work together.

Back of quilt

Well, I have to get my exercise in and then get to work, but I think the pink backing on this quilt leaves me in the pink with happy thoughts, and inspires me for the blocks on my next quilt. Though it is a little cooler today (with predictions of snow even!) spring is in the air, and I hope we will all be able to enjoy it soon.

Until next time, happy quilting!

Cathy

 

February Pantographs

Dear fast and furious quilters,

I know you have been hard at work during our cold and snowy winter, since I have so many quilts in my queue! February was primarily edge to edge work, so I thought I would show you what I have been busy with.

For this quilt, K wanted an all over pattern, but I did not want to mess up her beautiful embroidery, so I did a meander instead. (If you do not know what this is, basically, I decide on what motifs to use, how I will connect them, and then do an all over free motion quilting pattern.) This works really well when you have specific areas that you do not want any quilting to cover. It costs a bit more than edge to edge, but less than custom.

This one is a contemporary baby quilt. The large fabric area allows the quilting pattern to become part of the look of the quilt.


















This is a vintage Dresden plate quilt done by B's mom. When her mother passed away,
the family found several quilt tops and split them up among the family members. (It is my hope that someday my family will think my quilts are just as precious and B does.) Since B did not want to spend a lot of money on the quilting, she decided to do and overall pattern. I think what she selected for this quilt works very well, and allows the actual piecing details to really stand out. You see -  it is okay to have an edge to edge quilting on something of this vintage, and is certainly better than leaving the quilt top in the closet where it cannot be enjoyed!

before quilting

after quilting

B had two of her mother's quilts, and the blocks on this one were apparently done by members of her quilt group, as there were several signatures found on the quilt. Some of the blocks had some issues (see photo - before quilting), so a more dense quilting pattern was selected in order for the ripples and bulging  to be disguised. I'm sure B's mom had quite the time trying to fit varying block sizes together. Now we have ways to insure our 1/4 inch seams and piecing squares are more standard, but it is still sometimes difficult to fit together blocks done by many hands!

After quilting, the creases and ripples seem to have disappeared - oh the magic!

J's quilt is planned as a gift for her son (who is in the service - bless our military!) and his wife. This one is a sampler quilt, and looks great with an overall quilting design.


This last quilt is a simple block quilt, but the colors are wonderful. She picked an all over feather pattern, and it has some secondary patterns that show up throughout.









Well, that's it for now. The weather is showing signs of spring, and I can hardly wait to begin working in my garden!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy