Bachelor's Puzzle

Today's pattern is Bachelor's Puzzle. I like it because it's easy to piece and has a 3-D effect. I've been working on reorganizing my web pages, so if you haven't been able to get one of the patterns this evening, that's why. I think I've got them all done now, so they should all work. If one of the links doesn't work, just drop me an email so I can fix it.

This weekend I'm going to St. Charles, IL. It is a small town just outside Chicago. We've got tickets to see David Brenner on Friday night and will be meeting friends too. On Saturday we'll all be taking the train into Chicago to visit Katy. I'm hoping to see the Christmas windows at Macy's and stay in the city long enough for it to get dark and see the lights on Michigan Ave. I'm hoping the driving will be good. The northwest corner of Indiana and the southeast corner of Michigan is a real snow belt and can get quite treacherous.

The Spartan basketball team defeated IU-Fort Wayne tonight. It was only on the radio, which tees me off, after all the hub-bub about the Big 10 Network. They claimed they were going to carry all the games that the networks didn't carry. Oh well, at least we won. Saturday is the Penn State game. If Ohio State loses to U of M (this will be one of the few times I root for U of M) and we beat Penn State we go to the Rose Bowl! Go Green! Go White!
Till next time...Happy Quilting.

Finishing the Desert Sampler

I've given all the blocks for the Desert Sampler quilt. Project Page 1 gives instructions for finishing the top. Next week I'll start a new quilt, Sampler with Art Square Corners. The blocks will again be 12" so they are compatible with the Desert Sampler blocks. The setting is made using 3 strips for the sashing and Art Squares for the cornerstones. The finished sizes of the sashing is 3" x 12" and the cornerstones are 3" x 3". This makes the Quilt Layout Chart still useful for quilt planning. If you choose to make more blocks and a larger quilt, the Fabric Yardage Chart and Quilt Layout Chart are helpful.

I'm watching an old movie again. It's called "We Live Again" made in 1934 and stars Anna Sten and Frederic March. It's based on Leo Tolstoy's novel Resurrection. Frederic March is an aristocrat who falls in love with, then ruins a peasant girl. There are scenes in the girl's bedroom and there is a quilt on the bed. The movie is in black and white so it is hard to tell the colors, but it might be pastels. The pattern is a broken dishes, alternating with a plain block, all set on point. The quilt is also tied. The story is set in 1875, so the quilt is probably not historically accurate. I'm enjoying the movie more than usual because we just got a 50" HD TV. Very fun, especially for sports. The TV is in the basement which is also my sewing room, so I'm one lucky quilter.
Till next time....Happy Quilting.

Best Friend

The last free quilt pattern for this lap size quilt is called Best Friend. It's a variation of the Bear's Paw pattern. I think this is a great name for a quilt pattern because so many quilters have found their Best Friends through this activity.

It's the night before election day. I'm hoping to vote at 7am so I can get to work. The MSU Museum has the quilt exhibit To Honor and Comfort scheduled to ship either tomorrow or Wednesday. I've packed most of it, but need to be around to make sure everything gets picked up okay. So hopefully the voting lines won't be too long.

My daughter Katy lives in Chicago. She works just a few blocks from Grant Park where Obama will have his rally tomorrow evening. They are expecting 1,000,000 people! Katy thinks she'll stop by early in the evening on her way home to get a taste of the party. I'm anxious to hear what Chicago is like, especially if Obama wins.

Tom and I went to the MSU football game last Saturday. We won in the last seconds. I'd like to say it was a fun game, but we trailed most of the game, which wasn't fun. But the weather was gorgeous, and the end was fabulous. This weekend is Purdue and if we win we'll be 9-2!! Go Green! Go White!

Time for Saturday Night Lives Election Special and I do love the Sarah Palin parodies.
Till next time.... Happy Quilting.

Coffee Break

Today's free quilt pattern is Coffee Break. This is an original block and I really like the way it turned out. I'm a coffee girl. Every morning I have one cup of instant with caffeine. I love Nescafe because that's the brand my father always drank. My husband think's I'm crazy, but the stuff he makes is too weak.








This morning I began machine quilting my second President's Quilt. I've been struggling with the quilting pattern. I really wanted a feather pattern, but couldn't find a feather template that would fit, so I altered a feather from a Sue Nickels and Pat Holly book. I tried many different tools to carve my drafted feather into template plastic but none of them worked. I finally ordered some quilting paper. I traced my feather onto the paper, then hand basted the paper to my quilt. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but I don't mind extra work if the result is good. The first picture shows the quilt after I quilted, but before I tore off the paper.






The second picture is harder to see. It's after I quilted and after I tore off the paper. So far I'm pleased with the result. In fact I think it looks so good, I 'm ready to use contrasting thread. I don't want to count the number of times I have to do this because that will be too discouraging. I didn't have too much trouble tearing away the paper. I think I will just trace, quilt, and tear paper, one feather at a time, otherwise any one part will be overwhelming.


The Michigan State/Michigan game just started so it's time to go (Green!). Till next time....Happy Quilting!

Mosaic

This week's free quilt pattern is Mosaic. It is a variation of the very common Ohio Star block. Its history is the perfect example on why it is impossible to come to a definitive name for any quilt block. I found more than 40 blocks that were either named Mosaic or had Mosaic as part of their name. Click on the free pattern to see four pages of blocks all called Mosaic.

Saturday was a beautiful day for football. Tom and I went to the game and were disappointed with the score, but we did have new whitewalls on the Tandem! It's a green Schwinn with white S's, vintage 1967, it's a great ride.

Till next time....Happy Quilting!

Town Hall

I love house blocks. I think for my next block exchange quilt I'm going to choose a traditional red and white school house. It's also fun to change a line or two here and there to come up with a new building. I call this one Town Hall, but add a bell or cross and you have a school or chapel. The construction is also fun because all the shapes that are cut are rectangles. By drawing on diagonal lines that you stitch on, then cutting away the extra you get great shapes with no biases to stretch.

What a beautiful weekend here in Michigan. On Saturday I gave a quilt tour at the MSU Museum to some members of the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild. We had a really good time. On top of the $15/per person fee, they made a generous donation to the Museum. Thanks Ann Arbor Quilters! After the tour Tom (the husband) and I took a bike ride on the River Trail. They've just added a branch that goes from the Potter Park Zoo to Hawk Island Park. The ride was about 15 miles and very fun. We got home just in time for the MSU football game against Northwestern which we won! All in all a great day.

Today was my annual visit to the Country Wood Mill in Potterville. There's nothing like fresh cider and a donut.

During this week I started to practice machine quilted free hand feathers. They weren't great, but they weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I also purchased some papers you can trace on, then machine quilt over. I'm not sure whether I'll like them, but I know my free style machine quilting is not as good as I want it to be, and I'm anxious to finish some projects.

Till next time.....Happy Quilting

Hull's Victory

It's Sunday afternoon, my favorite time to quilt. After this blog I'll be machine quilting some stars. I just bought two new light bulbs for my Bernina, but they aren't working. I've rigged up alternative lighting until I can get the lights repaired.

Today's free quilt pattern is Hull's Victory. I think the Hull in the title refers to Isaac Hull, captain of the Constitution aka "Old Ironsides." It seems Isaac was a little on the hefty side and split his trousers during the battle. You can read more on the free pattern.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for football as Iowa fell to MSU, Go Green! Inside the stadium is always 15 degrees warmer than outside the stadium, so 50 degrees is great football weather.

On Thursday I went to see Barrack Obama speak at MSU. It was three hours of waiting before he began speaking. It was cloudy, but did not rain and I enjoyed being in a crowd of so many college students all interested in voting. In person Obama is much more engaging than he appears on TV. All in all, a fun week.

Till next time....Happy Quilting!

Friendship Stars

Today's free quilt pattern is Friendship Stars. It's a variation of a pattern my friends and I made using 1, 6" star per block. I drafted 4 blocks to bring it to 12". I love the way the triangles make the stars weave in and out.

Yesterday a roofing company dropped off shingles for our roof. Maybe in two weeks we'll have that job done. We've been lucky there's been no rain.


This morning I conducted a quilt tour for MSU's Evening College. I chose 10 quilts that represented a brief history of American quiltmaking. The class was full and I met many lovely people. There were 14 women and one man. The man had brought his wife for a surprise adventure. He knew she liked quilts and so he signed them both up for the tour! I think he's a keeper.

If you'd like to take the tour, just click on the quilt name to view the quilts.
The first quilt was a Wholecloth made c1780.
Next was a Broderie Perse c1820.
Quilt #3 brought us into the 1850s with a 4-Block Pot of Flowers applique.
Next we saw a Civil War era Railroad Crossing quilt.
Then a wonderful 1870s Ducks in the Pond made in Birmingham, Michigan.
For the 1880s we saw a Crazy Quilt made in Elsie, Michigan.
A Redwork based on Nursery Rhymes represented the 1890s.
A LeMoyne Star made on a farm in the Thumb was from the turn of the century.
A Memory Bouquet made in Detroit was from the 1930s.
Our last quilt was the Missouri Tree Rose made by Mary Schafer and her friend Betty Harriman in the 1970s.

If you'd like to see the quilts in person you can organize your own quilt tour. Go to our Behind the Scenes Tour page to get started.

Michigan State beat Indiana today. Go Green, Go White!

Till next time.....Happy Quilting!

Pretty Pastel Sampler

This is Susan Smith. She's standing in front of a quilt made from patterns from my book Block By Block. She is the president of the Pass Patchers Quilt Guild of Beamont, California. Susan gave this quilt to her daughter for a silent auction for the White Oak School in Baltimore, Maryland. The school is a special education school and this was auctioned at their Fall Family Fun Fair.

It was sent to me by Geri Yeakel of Redlands, CA, one of her fellow guild members. In March of 2006 this guild began using my patterns for a block of the month group. I hope they continue on using the free patterns on this blog. I'd love to see other quilts from these (or any other patterns!) Just email them to me and I'll put them up.

Spools and Bobbins

Wow, it's been a busy few weeks, but I finally got a new pattern written. It is called Spools and Bobbins and is an original pattern. Page three of the pattern shows my influences and explains how this pattern came to be. As always it is a free quilt pattern. Just click on the name Spools and Bobbins and you will be sent to a free PDF that you can either print or save to your own computer.

Last week when Hurricane Ike hit Houston, it also hit Lansing, Michigan. We had a roof leaf in our bathroom right before the storm. Three days of hard, heavy rain soaked our insulation and our bathroom ceiling caved in! My daughter was home and called to say the dog heard the crash and ran to her room for protection! So much for a brave guard dog.

I watch a lot of old movies. My favorite TV station is Turner Classic Movies. Last week I saw two movies with quilts in them. When Harry Met Sally is a great movie starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. In one scene Harry and Sally are watching Casablanca on TV, each in their own apartments, in bed, while talking on the phone (a send up of Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson and Doris Day). Sally is tucked under a Windblown Tulips quilt with yellow tulips. The other movie was My Bill starring Kay Francis from 1938. It's the story of a mother of four with money troubles and how her son Bill saves the family. Bill befriends a crabby old neighbor lady. In one scene the lady is lying under a log cabin quilt. It appears to be a silk one, where one half of each block is black. The strips are very narrow. In another scene the old woman is lying under a Dresden Plate quilt. I can't tell the colors since the movie was in black and white.

Last Thursday the guest speaker at our quilt guild was Patsy Thompson. She specializes in machine quilting and does excellent work. I admired her skill, but wasn't inspired to make quilts like hers. The more I quilt the more I realize how traditional I am. However, the more I watched, the more I realized how many good techniques she was describing and how much of it I could incorporate into my work. I especially want to learn to machine quilt feathers without marking them. I am now inspired to get out the muslin and scraps of batting and practice, practice, practice. Thanks Patsy!

The next pattern will by Friendship Stars.

Jack in the Box

It's a beautiful Saturday morning and I'm taking a break from pin basting my quilt. It will be machine quilted in strips. Boomer is reclined at my feet beside the computer. When I move to stand at the bar to pin baste, he moves so his head is right between my feet. He's so loyal when I don't need him and so active when I want him to behave!

While blogging and basting I'm watching the Katharine Hepburn version of Little Women from 1933. Beth has contracted scarlet fever and is sick in bed. The story takes place during the Civil War and the quilt on the bed is a Double Wedding Ring. Not historically correct, but it's hard to blame the art director when this pattern was advertised at the time as from the Colonial Era. During Beth's death scene the quilt is an Ocean Waves. Since the movie is black and white you can't tell the colors, but it seems a little more accurate to the time frame.

Today's free quilt block pattern is Jack in the Box. I did a little research into the history of the pattern and it appears to have been first published in the 1930s. Check out the free pattern to see the full results of my research.

Tonight is the first football game of the Spartan season. Go Green!

Windmill

Today's free quilt pattern is the Windmill. This block is easy to piece and has many triangles which makes for many pattern possibilities. I think my example turned out a little busy, so experiment with the values yourself. I'd love to see variations of this block, so send me images of what you come up with.

I did a little research on the history of the pattern name, Windmill. I used Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, Electric Quilt 5 and Block Base 2, to come up with 28 patterns all called Windmill or with Windmill as part of their title. Some of the blocks had the same construction, but different shading. Some had the same shading and different construction. Some had the same name and different geometries, and some the same geometry and different names. Check out the free Windmill pattern to compare the blocks, their shadings and their sources.

This has been a very busy two weeks for me. I just got new responsibilities at my job at the MSU Museum and the Museum just finished it's Great Lakes Folk Festival. Not only have I not updated my blog, but I haven't sewn either. I'm still working on making a quilting template for my Ohio Star President's quilt that is set in a streak-of-lightening setting. I've hit a snag. The cutting tool I was planning to use needs sharpening. So I bought a tool that burns wood and said it burned plastic, too. I've been trying it and although it melts the plastic, it doesn't make a large enough groove for a marking pencil to fit. Back to the drawing board!

Next week the pattern will be Jack in the Box.