Home again!

Hi to everyone out there!

We went on a little vacation, to see our DS. A great time was had by all!! And I was able to finish the little yellow sunshine quilt; I just about quilted it to death. It was great fun, and my fingers are recovering nicely, thank you.

I have made about one million (slight exaggeration) of these little heart quilts in all colors. I especially like this one. I have given away all but three I could find this morning. Hand appliqued and machine and hand quilted, and washed for the crinkle effect!

This little mini pinwheel quilt is a small version of a larger one that is cut out and aging appropriately :) Yes, it is pretty crooked....I meant it to be that way...ha ha. Seems the old wives tale of putting a mistake in all your work doesn't apply to me, it just happens naturally!! Hope I can the bed-sized version done soon. I need time, does anyone know where I can purchase some?

I also finished my Rose Sampler Supreme quilt top!! At least the center is finished.. It still needs the borders and they are appliqued...so it will be a while! The pattern is by Rosemary Makhan, I just love it!! Bonnie in Quiltville quilted one of this pattern and it is in her customer quilts section. Let me tell you, that was a lot of applique!! I use the needle turn method, and all is by hand. I have been working on this for about 18 months...

Have a wonderful day!

JulieQ

a new day, and an old quilt

Hi all; I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Laundry and chores encompassed my weekend, with a little play time in between.I am working on an Eagle quilt applique for my husband, and will show it when it gets further along...

The red and white quilt above is one I made totally on the machine for our use. It is so soft, and very worn already. I made it in 2004, and rapidly made another identical version in pink for my mother-in -law, and another one in blue for my DS. It has two sawtooth borders, so about a million half-square triangles later I was done. I rotate it on our bed quite often.

The other quilt is a E-bay rescue. I had a several month period where I would surf e-bay, and ended up rescuing (purchasing) this quilt. It was advertised to be from the 1860's. I don't know if this is true or not, but I bet you quilt scholars out there do know. Can any of you help me with a general date of when it was made?
I am not sure that the orange was around in 1860...the reds are totally shattered. It was a red print with black specks, and the black parts are almost totally gone, and the red is mostly all gone too. The orange is still there,and the green is faded to a limey green, but I think it was darker when first appliqued to the quilt. The batting has dark specks in it , cotton seeds??

The whole thing is hand quilted in stitches 12-14 per inch!!, in feathers and feathered wreaths, and is hand appliqued in tiny invisible stitches. There are some folky elements that I just love, like the leaves in two corners only, and the simple flowers on the edges. Whatever the age, I am sure it was made without lights, electricity, and all the conveniences that we all take for granted! So I bought it and will protect this little bit of history as well as I can, and remember the effort that one unknown quilter made so long ago.

I have noticed that in a lot of antique quilts, the corners are stretched out, so I am careful not to pick it up often, and never by the very corners. I will never wash it, that is for sure!! Well, I don't surf e-bay anymore to buy, but just to look and admire once in a while.

Have a wonderful day on this Monday!!!

JulieQ

old and new!!

Well, I had a 13 hour day at work, and now for some playtime!!!By the way,I love my work. Being a nurse is the most challenging, frustrating, scary, amazing, wonderful job in the whole world!! I meet the most amazing people, just full of hope, despair, courage and stories...I am privileged to care for them!!I work in a unit filled with the sickest of the sick, and the courage and tenderness I see everyday fills my heart to the brim...

The Old:

Back to the quilts! The green and cream quilt is called "box turtles". I made it in 1995-2001. OK, so I am not a fast finisher sometimes......but it did get done. Yahoo!! I patterned it from a quilt my mother-in -law Jewell had made in the 1940's that she showed me, that was pretty nearly worn out. The quilting was done by hand, utility style around each unit of the block, and mimics the original. As always, this was made for the pleasure and use of my family, and it gets used lots! As you quilting gals know, this is a take on the drunkard's pathway block, just set into turtles, with appliqued heads and tails on. I had hardly any fabric at that time, so had fun picking lots of different greens out at the fabric store. Just loved making it! I remember setting the blocks together late one night, and learned to applique because my sister showed me how. The first ones are done in a tiny whip stitch, but she showed how to really do it!

The New:

The other little quilt is a new one, just finished for fall, and was so much fun to do. I started out with hand applique, and ended up the machine applique and machine stippling. Just "get 'er done" style. Lots of fun for fall!! It is far from perfect, but I just like it anyway. If we were all perfect, It would be a boring old world, so I like it just like it is. Of course, this is inspired by another of you quilt bloggers, and I appreciate your talent, creativity, generosity and ideas!!



Have a great night!!

Working at home!

Weel, I was to have an overtime day at the hospital today, but there were not enough patients in our unit, so I am off today. So I can catch up on my housework and try to make some progress on my quilting projects. It is fall-like here, not quite so hot and just a touch of coolness in the air in the mornings...I love it!!

I am going to start "the old and the new" on my blog, so I can show you what I am currently working on and also share my old quilts and some antiques as well!!

The little yellow quilt was inspired by one of you bloggers...and I can't for the life of me figure out where the idea came from! But the minute I saw the quilt, it just looked like sunshine to me and I had to make one. I did not have any yellow fabric except two scraps, so had to go buy some, and now I have a selection of yellows to go in my quilts, too.


The other quilt is my cat quilt (inspired name, huh!). I had fun quilting it from the back, using the star patterned backing fabric as my guide. Sheer fun!

Have a fun Monday, all.

Juliek

questions?

I know I am slow, but how do I put lists of yall's blogs on the side of mine? So I can just click on them?

Thanks!

Well, today has been nothing but a play day!! I have done nothing of consequence all day, and it was just great! We went out to eat, to a home and garden show, to watch the Texas Longhorns win over Florida in the football game, and took a nap....so incredibly decadent!! I am going to do laundry now, and back to work tomarrow.

At our work yesterday, we had a silent auction for the American heart Association. As my DH has had a heart attack, this organization is near and dear to my heart. So a dear friend and I made a quilt to auction. I have had this top for a few years (aging suitably), and I thought it would be perfect to finish and donate. The fabric has bible verses, and the rows are all flying geese. This fabric is dated!! but still fun. My friend has a longarm quilting machine, and she quilted it in nothing flat. This picture was without the binding, and not quite straight :)

This quilt was inspired by Elaine Adair, who showed a similar quilt on her blog. I changed it a little and enjoyed every minute of making it, so thanks for the inspiration Elaine!!

hmmmmm....why does blogger put the pictures where it wants to? I wish I knew more about computers!! The top one is the one with the baptist fan quilting...

So, off to that laundry....have fun all!!

To begin!

Well, I have been enjoying all your blogs and pictures for several months, so my son created a blog for me so I can share my pictures too! I love all aspects of quilting, and love a fast finish, quick project, but also have several "masterpiece" projects working for the last several years. I have been quilting for many years, having learned at my mother's knee. I have really gotten more active in the last ten years. I love antique and vintage quilts, and have several from my Mom and one from my Grandma, which I just love. I will add pics when I figure out how, since I am new to blogging....and having troubles with file size! Have a great night, all...