Spring Textures

Posted on April 17, 2010 by katyquilts

It has been a lovely week here in Michigan for a change! I took advantage of the warmth on Thursday to get out and take a few pics in my yard. Lovely textures….

More to come!

Until next time….

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ISMACS Block Swap Quilt

Posted on April 14, 2010 by katyquilts

ISMACS stands for the International Sewing Machine Collectors Society. I joined thisgroup  too long ago to remember and have learned so much from them. They have a daily e-mail digest that is free so if you love old sewing machines, sign up on their web site!

More than ten years ago, someone from this group organized a quilt block swap. The rules were that you had to make a 6 inch fence rail block using fabrics to represent your geographic location and a vintage sewing machine had to be used to make the blocks. The center strip was used to write your name, location, and the year and model of vintage machine used.

Here is the quilt made from these blocks and a few closeups of some blocks (names removed).

So any of you ISMACS people want to do this again? Shoot me an e-mail at sew4given AT aol DOT com.and let me know! Please put ISMACS Block Swap in the title of your e-mail. Thanks!

BTW, here are pictures of the machine I used for this swap, my 1956 Singer Model 128 HandCrank Machine:

Isn’t she a beauty?I am not sure if you can see it but this one has the striated face plate. It also has the oak extension table (should have taken a pic of that).  I picked this lovely machine up for 10 pounds at a boot sale in Canterbury, England :). Ah, the memories…..

Also, in case you haven’t visited before, scroll down to enter my 100th post blog give-away!

Until next time…..

Posted in Sewing Machines, Traditional, Uncategorized, Vintage Singer Sewing Stuff | 3 Comments

Not free for the taking……

Posted on April 13, 2010 by katyquilts

A note to all my readers…….the pictures I post on my blog are MINE! To state a bit more clearly, they are not free for you to lift and manipulate and repost as your own! They are considered copyrighted and it is against the law to take and use them!

Clearly most of you know this  and I hate to even have to post this reminder but yes, today, I found some of my photos on someone else’s blog.

I am upset….more than a little. I left a comment and am hoping he will do the right thing.

Just when I thought blogging was so much fun…..

UPDATE~ Just received a note from the person who used my photos. The post has been removed, apologies and forgiveness extended. I am very appreciative that this has been resolved. 

Also, a reminder that my 100th post happened this morning. Please scroll down for an opportunity to enter my give-away gift!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

100th Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on April 13, 2010 by katyquilts

Wow! 100 and counting….who knew blogging could be so much fun? Yes, there are times I go quite a while without posting but I have enjoyed this little endeavor greatly. I know I promised this about a week ago but an impromptu trip to the west side of the state with my daughter delayed things a bit.

So here is the promised give-away to celebrate…….

Actually, I couldn’t decide what to give so here is a choice! I love both traditional and art quilts and know I have readers of both persuasions so here is Choice #1:

Traditional: If you choose this option you will receive this machine pieced, machine quilted miniature quilt made with repro vintage fabrics.

Choice #2 for my art quilt readers are the following three pieces of fabric (all three are a bit bigger than a FQ).  The first is one of my labyrinth designs created with acrylic paint. It was an experiment and has a bit of texture to it.

Also included are two pieces of my dye painted fabrics:

With either option I will include the “Element(s) of Surprise” because every good give away should have a surprise inside, right?

So leave me a comment telling me which option you would like and make sure I can contact you for an address should you win. It would be helpful to me if you could tell me what you like or don’t like about my blog as I am all abotu continuous improvement! Having said that, it is not necessary to win either. I will have one of my darlings help me choose a winner via a random drawing later this week. Yep, my blog so I reserve the right to keep the give away open for up to a week!

Until next time…..

Posted in Give Away | 32 Comments

Post 99 and a brief intermission….

Posted on April 8, 2010 by katyquilts

Getting closer! But I have also decided to take an impromptu overnight trip to the western side of the state with my youngest daughter…..so post number 100 will happen when I return. I may just find the perfect giveaway item(s) while away!

Here is a little quilt I made eons ago. It is hand pieced and hand quilted from my very first repro 30s FQ bundle along with some vintage solids. I used half of a cotton batt so it wouldn’t be too thick. I still love this one. This is how I got hooked on hand piecing hexagons.

I think this measures about 12″ x 17″ or so. And just for good measure, here is another hand piced mini done soon after:

This one was published in QUILT or Quilt Almanac quite a long time ago. I would have to look it up to find the exact issue and right now, I have to get ready to travel!

Have a glorious weekend and I promise the giveaway post will be revealed on Monday!

Until then….

Posted in Doll Quilts, Miniature, Traditional | 2 Comments

Feathered Star

Posted on April 7, 2010 by katyquilts

My one and only feathered star! I made this one years ago. I know it was a long time because not only is it hand quilted, I used poly batting! I have used that in more than ten years! These are very early Fons and Porter fabrics.

I think I got this pattern from a marti Michell book which is another clue that it is ancient. I haven’t followed someone elses pattern in years either! I had this hung up for a long time and took it down to wash and give it a rest and decided to give you all a peak at my earlier quilting days :). I believe this measures about 20″ square.

BTW, this is post number 98…..the giveaway is coming on number 100!

Until next time…

Posted in Give Away, Traditional | Leave a comment

If you need a giggle….

Posted on April 5, 2010 by katyquilts

Check out these specials that  Dharma Trading Company offered on April 1st!

BTW, my 100th post is coming up and I am planning a give-away so check back to see what it will be!

Until next time….

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

He is Risen!

Posted on April 4, 2010 by katyquilts

I think of this quilt as the Easter quilt. I also think of this as Grandma’s magnum opus quilt. She did her finest work here and was justifiably proud of this quilt. The work here is exceptionally fine. This piece is large, measuring approx 72″ x 90″, making it difficult to get a good picture. I took this one from the second story of the kids clubhouse looking down!

It ended up in my husband’s hands due to the fact that purple has always been his favorite color. Here are closeups of the individual blocks. Take a journey with me through the life of Jesus as told by the blocks of this beautiful old quilt:

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for coming to a lost a broken and broken world  to live with us. Thank you for dying on the cross and rising again that one day, we might live with you in heaven.  Amen.

Until next time…

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Grace….

Posted on April 3, 2010 by katyquilts

….is the name of this piece that I showed you a few posts back. It seems apporpriate this weekend to share the meaning behind it:

Here is my artist statement for this piece:

My world and my faith are inseparable. This quilt is an expression of Ephesians 2:8-9 that says it is by grace that I am saved through faith, not by my good works or good intentions. Though at times, I have tried to reach a place of communion with my Creator by means of good deeds,  truly I can only reach this place by means of His grace. This quilt is a reminder to me that I don’t have to be good enough because His grace is sufficient. When I couldn’t reach Him, He reached me.

Here is a detail of the very heavy quilting:

Until next time….

Posted in Ladders Series, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Early machine applique

Posted on April 2, 2010 by katyquilts

Here is another quilt made by Grandma S. This is the only quilt I have seen that she machine appliqued. I know she was quite proud of her Pfaff Dial-A-Stitch machine and it was ancient when I entered the family. I am guessing this was her first shot at machine applique and it is charming! Sorry for the bad pics. This is a big quilt and I didn’t have a good place to photograph it,

She used all different colors of mini checked ginghams for the animal bodies.  She used a narrow zig zag on the edge and not a bit of fusible! Even the animal names she did in a very narrow black zig zag. She must not have had enough of one yellow because there are two different shades used in the border. Here is a close up of the “squirrel! block:

All the embroidery was done by machine. The batting is cotton. It is fairly thin but heavy and in pretty good shape.

Grandma lived with my mother in law for a time when I first started quilting. I learned everything I knew from library books and Kay Woods PBS series! One time, my mother in law had to go out of town for a week and I went and stayed with Grandma everyday while she was gone. I had just started quilting my second quilt. It was a queen sized Amish bars style quilt (terribly ugly!). I was quilting it using a large hoop. Grandma had never quilted anything without a floor frame. I bought an extra hoop for her to use and brought it over and asked her to help me quilt, She worked on one end and I worked on the other. Over and over she said, “I just never heard of doing it this way.” I could tell this really rocked her world! But I loved being able to work on a quilt with her and will always cherish those memories. (BTW, her stitches were the nicest part of that quilt!)

Until next time….

Posted in Vintage Quilts | Leave a comment