My Quip – Grandma Remembers – Update and Progress – Refurbished

Good Day,

Well our work continues. The extraction of salvageable fabric that we are able to give some new life for our Grandma Remembers project seems to be progressing like a bat-out-of-hell… (No reference to Meatloaf, of course.)

Andy has cut and fused all 2 ½” squares and he has sewn the preliminary part of my design. We are now deciding on the background color and shade for our refurbish scheme.

You should see the boardwalk on the side of the house… It is covered with little bits of deteriorated batting. The “un-rescueable”, (if that is such a word), fabric and batting have been trashed with some pomp and circumstance, amidst a number of sneezes and “bless-you’s”.

Before

After

Stay tuned for our simple, yet eye-catching remembrance design, Grandma Remembers.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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My Quip – A New Project – Old into New – Quilt into Wall Hanging – Grandma Remembers

Good Day,

And immediately out of our mouths… “We do NOT repair or refurbish old, old, old quilts!” “No, no, no, no…”

“Can you make something new out of this? I would like to give a new creation, using the old as a gift. I would like you to create a remembrance of his Grandmother.”

How does one say no?

Andy and I are tackling another new project, Grandma Remembers. And this is what we received…

We have been asked to use this old quilt. It was a tied quilt. The fabric squares in the top were falling apart. The batting was beyond the stage of deterioration. We could cut it up, if necessary. “Could we make something new?”

My first thoughts was a lap quilt; maybe a wall hanging. Both ideas were accepted, and both were liked. We have settled on a wall hanging, one that would incorporate the fabric from the top that we could rescue.

Once the fabric pieces were chosen, we cut the 3” sewn squares down to 2 ½”. Each 2 ½” square was attached to fusible interfacing to give the old fabric some structure and lasting substance. The design of the wall hanging has been completed in keeping with the elements and construction of the old quilt. I have given the design a wee bit of a twist… and that is all I am going to reveal right now.

Check back to Quilts SB for our progress on Grandma Remembers.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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My Quip – Hexi-Abuelita Quilt – Progress Update

Good Day,

The backing fabric for Hexi-Abuelita quilt has finally arrived. It is a Michael Miller Pink Cotton Couture Broadcloth. The top of the quilt is created of half-hexagons from great-grandmother’s clothes. The three parts of the quilt sandwich have all been loaded to our Rack.

The approximate dimensions of the finished Hexi-Abuelita quilt will be: Width – 62”; Length 81”.

Some more images of Hexi-Abuelita on The Rack.

Santa will be pleasing a little girl with some pleasant memories.

You can follow our history of Hexi-Abuelita at the following links.

- The Beginings of Hexi-Abuelita

- A Conversation – Hexi-Abuelita Quilt

- Hexi-Abuelita – The Strategy Continues

- Top of Hexi-Abuelita Quilt Completed

- We Are Working on Quilts – In Progress and Update

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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My Quip – EssbeeCon Quilt – Top Completed

Good Day,

The top of our new and original EssbeeCon quilt has been completed. The borders have been attached. Take a gander.

Thanks for the many suggestions regarding the possibility of quilting design. We have decided that in keeping of the geometric nature of EssbeeCon configuration that we needed a simple and complementary quilting configuration.

The approximate dimensions of EssbeeCon are now nearing 85” by 85” before the addition of the binding. The backing has been selected. It will balance the top, and again it will be a solid shade of color.

And a couple more images.

We will be using three methods of sewing to complete our EssbeeCon: freeform Longarm; freeform domestic; and hand stitching.

Stay tuned for our updates as we round the corner to completion.

Also check out, if you are interested, my two other blogs, A Genealogy Hunt and Jim’s Trek.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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My Quip – EssbeeCon Quilt Redesign Revealed

Good Day,

Thanksgiving is done. Everyone is satiated… methinks. Now the next stages of the Holiday Season begin to unfold. And somehow we need to fit in the issue of the Mayan ideas of December 21st. Be considering that the December Solstice this year, the same time and date that the Mayan calendar runs out, is 21 December 11:12 (UTC)… Also the new moon reaches its peak on my 61st. Will we see each other on the other side? Which side?

Andy and I are now ready to begin the top of our next quilt. All 100 8 ½ -inch square blocks for our new and original quilt, EssbeeCon, have been completed.

Each block is a paper-pieced construction that includes a set that has to be sewn together before it is added to the paper foundation. Not including the framing borders, EssbeeCon will approximate 80” by 80”.

Here is a sneak preview of our original EssbeeCon design. The construction of the top has begun.

This is our ninth draft of our design, and we have decided that this is what we will settle on, even after the changes that we have made for our first draft. We are still working and developing the complimentary plan of the quilting.

Keep in touch with our status and updates.

Enjoy,

Andy and Jim

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My Quip – EssbeeCon Quilt Progress

Good Day,

The piecing of 100 blocks continues. Andy has been painstakingly piecing and sewing each individual block that eventually will be a part of the construction of our original quilt design, EssbeeCon.

Each block is paper-pieced from our original pattern… and the construction requires the piecing of each to be completed in fifteen parts. And we have tapped the term; segmented-piecing, sort of. Each block is pieced to only one drawn paper pattern.

There are two cuts that are sewn together from a created template prior to combining, sewing together with the block construction. In creating the block design we wanted the paper pattern to be a single unified construction. (It makes sense to us…)

Thanks to all, who have proffered thoughts and advice regarding the eventual quilting design. EssbeeCon is turning to be quite a challenge.

Stay tuned for our progress and updates.

Enjoy,

Andy and Jim

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My Quip – The Amulet – In Progress – Quilting Errors Unpicked – Ready To Start Again

Good Day,

Well the unpicking of the first chance run of quilting of The Amulet has been finished. Talk about a pain. And our reason for unpicking… we did not like the thread which we had chosen for the top and used it simultaneously for the back. At the time it just seemed so right, but it was so wrong. New thread for the back has been decided upon.

The Amulet, our original design, is inspired by the work of artist Richard Tsosie. We have attempted to capture the spirit of one of the pieces of his art.

The top of The Amulet has been completed. We are now fine-tuning our piecing and reviewing the work. The Amulet will approximate the size of a Double-size quilt. The dimensions are about – Width: 72” (183 cms) and Length: 94” (239 cms). The top is constructed of 120 parts of fabric which have been pieced to create mirror images.

Here are a couple more preview images. You can see the square and rectangular construction of the fabric pieces. The backing is a corresponding light blue. My camera my not do justice to the actual coloring of the fabrics.

And boy, have we learned a lesson. Going forward, we will attempt to test-quilt on a sample piece in order to determine the complimentary and conforming thread choice.

Stay tuned to our progress.

Enjoy,

Jim

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