Inherited Quilt Blocks

I inherited some simple blocks that my Grand-mother made. Each of them have the same aqua square in the center. I set the blocks in a diamond pattern with a lighter aqua dotted fabric and chose a small aqua flowered print for the border and backing.  I love seeing all the vintage fabrics, which were scraps from shirts, dresses, and curtains. I remember seeing my aunts and uncles wearing many of these prints, so it's very special.

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Vintage Star Quilt

I recently had some overnight guests and realized that my own quilt supply is very sad. I still have some quilts that are 46 years old and I cherish them, but they truly show how much they have been loved. So it was the perfect time to make a quilt with some vintage star blocks that my grandmother made.

I grew up in a family of sewers and quilters. Grand-mothers, Aunts, and even Uncle Charley hand-stitched at the quilt frame. My family did not have the money or luxury of new fabrics at their fingertips. All of the fabrics in these blocks were cut from scraps left from sewn curtains and clothing, and sometimes from used clothing. 

When I look at this quilt, I see my uncles in plaid shirts, and my grand-mother and aunts in flowered house dresses. I remember the prints.

I love this quilt. It proudly decorates the sofa in my sewing room, waiting for our next quest. It gives me inspiration while I quilt, and reminds me of my family of quilters.

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Sampler Quilt

I just finished working with quilt blocks that I inherited from my Mom.  I made a quilt for my son, Greg, who was happy to pose for the photo. The sampler blocks that went into this quilt are all different colors, with flower prints.  Greg loves vintage, but knew I would need to give the flower prints a masculine feel, so I used a dark gray for the sashing, borders, and straight line machine quilting.  The graphics are bold and the quilt doesn’t feel feminine at all.

When I saw the Tim Holtz “Communication” fabric, I knew Greg would love it for the backing.  It has vintage type and typewriters, and the classic Tim Holtz grunge look.  I was so tickled to see he has a fabric line, because I use so many Tim Holtz products to make cards.

Greg loves his quilt.  I certainly loved making it... and mom lives on.

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Shower Curtain Quilts

Many years ago, mom made a Patchwork Shower Curtain that I fell in love with.  After all the compliments I gave her, she made a similar one for me. Over the years, we both installed glass doors on our tubs and the shower curtains got packed away.

I couldn’t let them go, and I wanted them to be used. After a few repairs and some minor modifications, I made throw quilts for my brother and sister.  I got to re-make something lovely and they got something to remember mom.  

Shhh!  Let's make this our secret. They will never remember the shower curtains.

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Mistake or Home-Made?

My dad got the next finished quilt from the tops I inherited from my mother.  It is a new fixture on his couch, and someone is always snuggling in it. 

This was the most recent project she was working on and it was not in a completed state.  I had to put some blocks and rows together and add the blue border.  In that process, I didn't actually see the pattern the small squares made.  I realized I had put one of the small block portions together incorrectly, long after the border was sewn.  I decided to keep it that way.  It is very hard to find and it makes me smile to remember how precise my mom's work was.  

Some will disagree, but I believe that some mistakes help define "home-made" gifts and make them even more precious.

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Surprises Are Wonderful

I inherited a few more quilt tops from my mother.  I will post them in the coming weeks.  I finished this beauty for my brother.  My mom's sewing on this top is so precise and exquisite.  I varied the distance between the rows in my straight line machine quilting to create a pattern, but it's not highly noticeable.  I just did it to make the quilting fun.  I really wanted the piece work to shine.  The fabric and overall simplicity make it beautiful.  

Best of all, my brother and sister-in-law absolutely love it.  They were very surprised when UPS delivered it, and surprises are wonderful.

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Dresden Plate Quilt

I inherited some vintage pieced dresden plates.  I think they were pieced by my grandmother, so they are very special.  I made the quilt for my beautiful daughter.  

Two of the plates had a pale yellow center, but Lisa loves white, so I replaced those.  I appliqued the plates on a white background, added a bright backing, and scalloped the edges.  Hand quilting is too slow for me, so I straight line quilted it on my machine with a walking foot. What a great experience.  I loved making the quilt and we both love the results.  I was happy she wanted to show it off in the photo.

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New Sewing Room

It’s been a month since I’ve posted, but I've been very busy.  I got some cabinets and an oak table top for Christmas.  I was so excited.  After we got the furniture all set up, I was able to sift through some boxes that I inherited from my mom.   

I have lots of tools and thread that I store in the IKEA drawers.  My fabric stash is not huge, so it fits in the corner shelves.  I have a huge closet behind this view to store white fabrics, yarn, and other supplies.

I have IKEA shelves to store projects that my mom had started.

I also inherited a craft table for cutting and ironing that I move next to the oak sewing table to layout and baste my quilt layers.

I have a linen texture on the walls, which I laugh about now, because its' not new, but I love it.  I do need more artwork for inspiration.  I love working in my new space.  

I have finally started quilting and have 4 completed.  I hope you visit to see how they turned out. 

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Jewelry Dish

I have one more gift item that would have spoiled surprises by posting before Christmas. I made jewelry dishes from air dry clay. I got 6 small dishes from one block of DAS clay. 

I kneaded the clay until it was workable and rolled it out directly on my granite counter top.  Then I used a craft knife to cut around a scallop die that I pressed onto the clay. In the center, I pressed a Hero Arts rubber stamp to make the lace impression.  Then I laid and formed the shape in a small cereal bowl and let it dry for about 2 days until it released.  I let it dry for 2 more days, painted it with silver water based paint, and sealed it with Krylon Triple Thick Glaze.

The little bracelet is from a pattern I saw on Purl Soho.  I used some cord from my card making stash and vintage buttons from my mom’s button box.  The knots can be adjusted to fit each person comfortably.

Who said you can’t use card making supplies for other goodies? 

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Knitted Scarves

I am posting this after Christmas because some surprises would have been spoiled. It’s getting to be a tradition that our girls all get a newly knitted scarf for Christmas and I love making them.  This pattern was a simple 12 row repeat that was easy to do in front of the TV, with just enough variety to make it fun to knit.  The pattern is included in “6 Simple Scarves” knit pattern book that I purchased from Annie's Craft store on-line.  I love that I can download my patterns and get right to work.  I used Caron Cakes yarn, which creates fun stripes. I added some matching wrist warmers and the gifts were a big hit.

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Knitted Gloves

Our guys are all getting knitted wrist warmers this year.  These wrist warmers are a great way to use up stash.  I found a simple pattern on Yarnspirations that I adapted slightly.

Inspiration for the wrist warmers came from a recent trip we took to Franklin, Tennessee.  It was a windy crisp day, but we found our knitted wrist warmers to be a great solution to keep our hands warm while we snapped photos of the grounds. 

A major Civil War battle took place at the Carter House in Franklin.  The family, servants, and a few neighbors took refuge in the cellar while the battle raged in their yard.  I would not have been able to imagine their plight without visiting the site.

The Carnton Plantation, in Franklin, was used as a Military Hospital during and after the battle.  After the war, the owners of the plantation donated ground for a Confederate Cemetery.  The soldiers were buried by State, and curators of the estate still escort family members to individual graves when they visit, just as the original family did so many years ago.

Our trip was an eye opener for us.  You can read about things that happen historically, but the stories of the historians at the sites, brought it all to life.

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Christmas Cards for Shut-ins

I host a group of friends at my home every other month or so to make cards for our All Saints Parish Shut-ins.  We like to make them feel included all through the year.  I picked a tri-fold design this year with a peek-a-boo ornament cut out and die cut sentiment on the front.  The middle fold completes the ornament and the sentiment.  We will write a nice message on the inside.  I embossed a super fun stamp set and used Copic markers to add color.

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Christmas Cards for Mom

I make Christmas Cards for my mother-in-law to mail out each year. This year I chose a stamp set from Gina K.  I embossed the string of ornaments and used Copic markers to add color.  I think they are very simple and festive. 

 

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Christmas Tags

Honestly, I never usually manage to make tags for gifts, but I had several extra images from my River Birch ornaments in my last post. I die cut the tags, added a line of Washi Tape for some tags, and a sentiment on others.  I glued the extra Christmas images and completed the task in a couple of hours. If only my Christmas gift list and shopping were that easy.

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Christmas Ornaments

We had a huge River Birch tree that we planted the first year in our current home. It came down during a Wind Burst this summer. We really miss the shade and cozy feeling in our back yard. I decided to cut slices of some of the smaller branches and make rustic Christmas ornaments. 

I sanded and sealed the slices. Then, I stamped some of my favorite Christmas images, colored them with copic markers, and fussy cut them. I glued the images and applied several coats of Mod Podge. I added an eye hook in the top of each slice to catch an ornament hook and tied a bow to dress them up. Now we can still enjoy the tree in a small way.

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I'm gearing up for Christmas and made a simple scarf for a holiday gift.  I love keeping my hands busy in the evening.  To be truthful, sitting still is just not my thing and knitting is very soothing.  I think this scarf will be going to my new daughter-in-law’s mother.  She is such a sweet, strong woman.  She can’t do enough for her children and grand-children and she has a kind word for everyone.  We don’t get to see her enough, but she is moving closer very soon, so we are looking forward to catching up again over the holidays.

Back to the scarf, the pattern is Frost Point, by Sara Gresbach.  I purchased and downloaded it from at this address:   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frost-point.

If you are a knitter and haven't joined Ravelry, you are missing out. The patterns and inspiration are seriously cool.

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More Christmas Cards

I’m still working on Christmas Cards and still hooked on water coloring. The foundation for these cards is Jet Black Archival Ink, which I did not emboss.  I used Spectrum Aqua markers directly on the cold press watercolor paper and moved the color with a brush.  The mice stamp is  Stampendous, Monica and Friends. I added Wink of Stella to give this card some shimmer.  

I love Sheena Douglass’ A Little Bit Festive Series.  The truck is titled “Christmas is Coming” and the Merry Christmas wording is from the Color Layering Wreath clear stamp set by Hero Arts.  

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New Inspiration

Fall is my favorite time of the year to get busy making all sorts of things.  I have decided that I need some new inspiration and motivation.  So, I'm going to try to post something each week to make sure I do something creative.

I thought I’d start with a Card….since that’s part of my blog name.  My beautiful daughter got me started making cards and I am soooo hooked.  I can spend hours “mangling” paper.  Sometimes they look great and sometimes they look mangled, but I still love the creative process.

I send out quite a lot of Christmas Cards, so I start early and make several varieties so I don’t get too bored with the production work.  For this card, I started with the Penny Black, Winter Pine stamp which I embossed.  I used Spectrum Aqua Watercolor Markers.  My daughter gave them to me for my birthday and I love their versatility.  I put them directly to the cold press watercolor paper and moved the color with a brush.  I used Fine Tec metallic gold water color for the bow and splashes.  This card kept my attention through all the production work and I still like it.

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