The General's Wives Civil War Tribute Quilt

Dear Quilting Friends,

I cannot believe we are approaching the end of January already! I think the reason this month seems to slip by so quickly is we are busy putting our Christmas stuff away, then trying to get our lives back to "normal" again, and before we know it, it's the end of the month.

One of the great things about the winter months is that it does give us plenty of opportunities to get our projects done. As I write this, it is cold and snowy outside, a perfect day for some sewing, providing you do not have to be somewhere. (This is one of the reasons we quilters have stashes - we must have something to work on whenever the opportunity presents itself!)



As I mentioned in my last blog, I have been working on a quilt titled "The General's Wives," a king size quilt that took over year for my client to complete. Since this is a Civil War tribute quilt, I tried to keep the quilting consistent with the period, and incorporated as many feathers and stars as possible throughout the quilt. The fabrics used are fairly busy, so since it is a little difficult to see the quilting on the blocks, I have tried to show you portions of the back of the quilt as well. The center of the quilt has 5 appliqued stars to represent the wives of 5 Civil War generals. A star was quilted into the pentagon center with stippling in the background to allow the stars to stand out. Feathers in the outer blue star points help the center area to look like one big star.

For the outer 4 corner blocks, to make it look general-ish (is that a word?) a feathered wreath with a star in the center was quilted. The feathered sashing can also be seen here.

The outer border area is also a feathered pattern, as well as the inner border blocks. Lots of feathers in this quilt for those of you who are crazy about feathers!

It is difficult to see the quilted patterns, so here is a shot of the back of the quilt.

For the various pieced colored blocks, I used continuous curve, feathers (of course), curls, and stars wherever possible. In this block, the stars are in the center and corners.

Below is an overall photo of the back of the quilt so, although they are small,  you can get an idea of the various quilting patterns:

As you can see, there are feathers everywhere! I hope you have enjoyed looking over this quilt with me.

 I had thought things would slow down at bit, with Christmas being behind me, but then again - it is still winter, (when we quilters quilt), so I am as busy as ever. I am currently working on a card trick block quilt, so you will be seeing that one next!

Until then, happy quilting! Cathy

Destressing With A Couple of Recent Quilts

Happy January, dear quilting friends!
As some of you know, I have experienced a few problems with Louise (my longarm) lately. Well, I think all has finally been resolved, and she is actually behaving herself now. Both my computer and my machine are up and running again. Here are a few recent quilts for you to check out.

This one is a child's quilt that was supposed to be done

before Christmas, but Louise was uncooperative. (ARRGGGH!!!!)  I am so thankful for good, understanding quilting friends that try to help me de-stress! My rep was here for one day, ordered new motor wheels, and we both thought I would be up and running as soon as they arrived and I installed them. Well, we were wrong - I started this quilt, and all looked fine, at first. As the sewing continued, the pattern moved down the quilt, so that by the end of the row what was supposed to be at the top was actually almost 4" down from the top! It is a good thing I am such an expert with my seam ripper - have had lots of experience there!!
My rep was back out for a couple of days as we tried to solve the problem, which seemed to puzzle all involved. I finally had to resort to the old (low tech) method - a paper pattern hand guided - to get an  edge to edge angel wing pattern on this quilt, and completed it the day after Christmas. Again, I am sooooo very thankful for understanding quilting friends!

The next time my rep arrived, she brought her motors with her. When these were installed, all was well. We ended up replacing the wheels on my motors with the ones from her motors and this solved the problem, so the factory sent a different kind of wheel. (Thank goodness for warranties!)This did the trick, and I am thankful to say that all has been well since.

This was my next quilt once my computer was back up and running, sent to me by an out of town client. I am not normally an orange person, but I thought  the color combination in this quilt was well selected and very pleasing. This one just has an overall feather pattern, and I am so relieved to say that I did not have a single problem with my machine during the entire quilting process! I am currently working on a quilt titled "General's Wives", and hope to post that for you to view shortly.

 

Until next time, may this new year bring you much joy as you quilt away!
Cathy

Batting for Children's Quilts

When we think of batting, we think about things like dimension (loft, thick or thin), cost, warmth, etc. I keep quilted samples of the batting I carry on hand so my clients can determine the look they might like best. However, there is another vital thing we need to consider for use in baby, children, and invalid quilts.

When I am given a cute baby top for quilting, my first question is always "what are you considering using for batting in this quilt?" Years ago, I had a co-worker whose daughter was badly burned by sleeping too close to the fire with a non-fire retardant blanket. This memory is one reason I am biased as to what type of batting goes into a child's quilt. (I do tend to make very strong recommendations.) Children tend to drag their quilts around for years, and that favorite "banky"
being drug around is more likely to find a flame to ignite it.

You may not be aware that the worst batting you could use for a child's quilt, or an invalid's quilt for that matter, is polyester or a polyester blend. Put a match to either of these, and they will burn very quickly and melt. The melt is what actually sticks to the skin and causes the most severe burn damage. Children who have suffered from polyester burns go through very painful therapy, including debridement (scrubbing the polyester from the body).

A couple of years ago I found an article by Beth Kurzava in IMQA (International Machine Quilters Association) magazine. The full article can be read at: http://www.imqa.org/media/uploads/2011/11/17/files/BattingArticleFall2011_1.pdf

Beth performed burn tests on several types of batting. In each test, she lit an 8" square of batting, taking photos for 3 seconds. Below are her findings.

Polyester burn - 3 second lapse from start to finish
 

Cotton/poly blend - 3 second lapse from start to finish


I have had some customers who have believed that 100% cotton is the way to go, but Beth's testing shows that this is not the best choice either: (100% cotton burn sample - 3 second lapse from start to finish.)





So, I am sure you want to know what is safe to use. Well, there is 100% cotton, flame retardant batting out there, and the one I carry and recommend for use in children's and invalid's quilts is Dream Angel (by Quilters Dream Batting). The burn sample below is a 100%cotton fire retardant batting, but the manufacturer is unnamed in the article. (These photos also show a 3 second lapse from start to finish.)

 

Below is a photo quilt that I made for my granddaughter Emily - you can bet that I used a flame retardant batting for this quilt. Life is too precious, and she is too cute! (Sorry, but I could not seem to make the program display this one upright.)

 

 

So, next time you consider batting for that special loved one, consider carefully what you choose! In the meantime, Happy Quilting!

Until next time,

Cathy

Photos are courtesy of IMQA Magazine, Fall 2011.
http://www.imqa.org/media/uploads/2011/11/17/files/BattingArticleFall2011_1.pdf