Antique Quilt Field Trip

Tuesday was a bee group day and we made arrangements to work at the U Of Alberta textile department. Three of us were able to help them work on some antique quilts. A few years ago the department took a very large quilt collection and now they are wanting to display some of them. To display them they are adding a muslin backed Velcro strip to the top back of the quilts. They are all hand sewn to the back of the quilts. We got to handle the quilts with no gloves (washed our hands lots). 

This was quilt #3. I got to work on it. It is a hand pieced log cabin pineapple quilt. It had no batting. It was all hand pieced except the binding ( which I think was added much later to make it looked finished). The last row was a little different also. Like they were running out of the fabric they had in the other rows or was done a few years later. Many of the fabric are men's shirting. Love the Cheddar colour.  

Here is a photo of the back of the log cabin pineapple quilt. You can see the Velcro strip I am added on the bottom of the photo. There were some feed sacks and some very worn out prints used on the back. Some still showed the pencil lines the quilter used. You can see the blocked were pieced together and the seams showing on the back. There were no quilting stitches added, only the piecing was done. I think of this as more of a quilt top, not a finished quilt. Still very old and interesting and shows how it was made. 

Here is my mom working on a flying geese quilt. We just love that bubble gum pink.

Laurel`s Big Black and Cream Quilt

Last week I worked on this great quilt for my Bee Group friend Laurel. She wanted this king size quilt to be covered with feathers in the large triangles and the boarders. I knew what I wanted to do when she said feathers. It has turned out so well. Laurel was pretty excited to see it done, that she said she should find a quilt show to put the quilt in.

Here are some close ups of the quilting. I was daring enough to use black thread on cream fabric and cream thread on black fabric. It did mean I could see were I was quilting. 

Last week, we had some very hot days and evenings. The basement was the best place to hang out and I did quilt many nights. One night it was around 2:30am when I finally went to bed, I was quilting. I laughed because sometimes I have been asked when do I sleep. My answer should be between 2am and 9 am.

Sorry these last two photos will not turn the other way. I do not have an editing program that fixes this trouble easily. Time to talk with my husband again about this.

Here is the back of the quilt. You can see the star block better on the back as I did match the thread colour on the star.

I have a second one of these quilts to do later this winter and she has seen what I did here and wants the same quilting.

Bee Group and Shopping

I wanted to share this quilt with you. My Bee group friend bought this quilt at the Red Deer Quilt Show (only 1/4 of the quilt is showing). It was a sample quilt for a pattern by Prairie Quilt Mercantile.  They were selling some fully finished quilts and for cheep. You could not have bought the fabric for the price they were asking.  

I have added this post to Linky Party Tuesdays #20

I picked up the old spools at a local garage sale this past weekend. I love them. So glad I stopped at the garage sale. I knew the lady at the sale was a fellow crafter and should have good stuff. I also got some large Rick Rack for $1.

Do you know what this is? I had one in my room as a child. It is the glass ball that covers a celling light bulb. My mom picked it up for me to use in my garden. Now to find a good spot for it.

Arley's Big String Quilt

This is a very large string quilt made by my Aunt Arley (smiley quilter). I got the machine quilting done for her a while back but forgot to ask if I could make a post about it. She has done the string piecing on the old phone book pages, the way that Bonnie Hunter does. I love the sashing the nine patches and the three bars. I did a quilt with this sashing years ago but gave it way to me sister in law.

I have quilted this one with leaves and loops in a medium green thread. This quilt has a wool batting in it and I believe it is to be her new Winter quilt. It is so large that she had to get me to quilt it form her, her frame is too small for it.  I should help keep Uncle Dave warm and cosy. I have added this to the String Thing Along.

I must tell you my Aunt Arley is the one who pointed me toward the Quiltville web site. She is the one who has been doing the mystery quilts and made me think I should try this or that. It is so much fun to have a fellow quilt buddy to point you in the direction of new quilts to try. I am so lucky to have so many good quilter's in the family. My mom Betty, Aunt Arley and my other Aunt Myrna are all great quilter's that I have. Now to get one of my sister in laws to sew. It is fun to influence our friends and get them to be as bad as we are, starting new quilts or shopping for more fabric.

Tuesday once was Bee Group ( more ladies to get into trouble with) day, So I love to show some quilting off. Some of our Bee group has planned a road trip to the Red Deer Quilt show on June 8th (and 9th). We will stop and shop on the drive. This show has a big market mall with shops across Western Canada. I best get some more customer's machine quilting done so I can go shopping.

Quilted Spool Quilt

It is Tuesday and our Bee group is meeting at mom's house, today. I have a quilted another great quilt from a bee group member again. She loves feathers and wanted something special for this quilt. So of course what else am I to do but feathers.

I love these little feather wreaths.

This is the back of the quilt. I did a feather boarder on the red boarder but it did not show in the photos of the front. The spools also got the little back and forth like it is thread on each spool.

Machine Quilting

Today is Tuesday and normally it would be a 'Bee Group Day'. I have always liked to show you something quilting on Tuesday, so today you get to see one of the quilts made my a Bee Group Friend. She does great appliqué quilts. I forgot to take an all over photo but here is the details of the machine quilting I did for her. The star blocks got some cross hatching as she like the tradition look of cross hatching. I will say I have been doing quilting for her for so many years she just drops off her quilts and leaves it to me. I love that it gives me time to think about what I think will look the best. I know her tastes and what she likes and does not like. When I think about it I have know her for more that 15 years. WOW we are getting old together. He he.

Machine Quilting

Today I had some good friends (and customers) come and pick up their quilts and I remembered to ask if I could post the photos I had taken. They of course have said yes go a head. Here is the sampler quilt made with so much great floral fabric. I love how she has used some of the different prints. The sashing is a strip and the dark rose colour for a the sashing star. Soft green and pinks are some of my favourite colour to quilt with. I have a quilt top in the closet that is a sampler and uses a rose print in navy and pinks. Some day I will have to quilt mine.

Because it is a sampler quilt I made each block's quilting a little different. I did not take photos of all the blocks but these two blocks gives you some idea of what I did. Part of what does not show up in photos is the quilting on the darker fabrics. I did some roses in the out boarder in the rose thread and then leaves and loops in the boarder in green thread.

I hope you enjoy seeing some of my customers work. I am planning to sew with Mom on Saturday as our mother daughter day. Then Sunday is going to be with my In-laws and my mom is with my brother's family.

Toffee for my sewing group

It is the night before my sewing group or Bee group. We are meeting at my mom`s house tomorrow. I think she is planning on making muffins. I wanted to make something sweet. I have made toffee. I found this recipe in a magazine a few years a go. Here is a link for the recipe Land of lake
I do not use the pecans. If I was to add nuts it would be toasted Almonds. I always make sure to boil the mixture enough. I boil it 9 minutes or till the mixture changes colour. I want the colour to be a light brown. The times I have not cooked it enough it is softer and not crunchy.
We will miss you Shawna.

Christmas aprons and my quilting friends

This is me modeling an apron I made for the Leduc Quilt Guild gift exchange at Christmas. My friend Jean got my apron and have a great time modeling it. She is a great cook and wears aprons in the kitchen. The pattern was a called a Saturday Night Apron.
This is my friend Liz at our quilting bee group Christmas party, I drew her name this year. She loves to entertain and loves Black and White. She was very pleased to receive this gift. I made two other aprons as gifts this year. One black and white for my sister in law Gaylene and a Blue cupcake one for Joni in the Betty swap 5 baking exchange.
I hold up my gift I got in the bee group exchange. My dear friend Marge drew my name. I guess she was really stuck was to what she was going to make me. She called this her 8 day project because she worked on it for 8 days before. If you have seen my blog much you will know I love my horses. Marge's Kids that are my age also trail ride horses. I love it and was in tears to see what she had made me. Marge used a piece of hand painted sky she made, she called it one of her best pieces. The tree branches are lots of fine thread play.
Here is all of the Bee group together holding our gifts. My mom, Betty is in front on her knee. We have been meeting in each others homes for at least 12 years now. We meet about twice a month on average. The last few winters some of the ladies are traveling to warmer climates so we have been meeting in the summer and sometimes have a month or two in the winter were we do not meet. I am the youngest of the group. These ladies are some of my best friends. I love them all dearly. We have been through a lot together. My babies being born, death, skin cancer and one new marriage and many many other life happenings. We are all masters of the needle and thread.