Time to Quilt

Why Quilters Share: Expression or Validation?

(Reposted from archive)

I read this quote last year attributed to President Harry S. Truman:

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

After reading it, I spent the next several months making and donating quilts without taking photos of them or even telling my friends. I wanted to see if it affected my enjoyment of the process. Would I still feel excited about the finished quilt and eager to begin the next one? I didn’t know, but I was curious to find out.

We give because it makes us feel good, as it should. I learned that the desire to share a photo of a quilt we chose to give away isn’t to fill a need for validation or, about seeking some sort of arbitrary credit for donating it. Whether I chose to tell everyone, or tell no one, the pride and joy I felt were the same.

It quickly became clear that as quilters, we’ve always shared our ideas and felt proud to show our quilts to others. Blogging is just one of the ways our generation does it. I’m often inspired by seeing another quilter’s photo. Sometimes it’s a pattern I’ve never seen or a color combination that reminds me of something I have tucked away. Other times just seeing something beautiful that motivates me to create too.

Truman was may have been right that seeking credit can affect accomplishment. But, I’m no longer concerned that quilters are seeking recognition when we share our photos.

We share our creations for the same reason a ballerina, an actor, a musician, or a singer steps on stage. Much like those performers, we showcase our quilts with the simple hope that others will enjoy seeing them. ♥

Women of Appalachia posing with their handmade quilts.

No ‘mo Mojo

Yesterday wasn’t a fun day to sew. I did it to further my goal – prepare as many little flimsies as I can this month – but, it wasn’t fun. My mojo got squashed like a bug. 😦

I’m a bit off today . I’m not sure it it’s the dreary weather or I need to take a little break from sewing. Nah… probably just the weather!

This was Tuesday’s flimsy. I’ll take one of Wednesday’s as soon things dry up a bit. I’m happy to be getting these little kits pieced but dreading the quilting pile that’s growing higher by the day!

Piecing

I finished two more little 3-Yard quilt tops today. I’ve decided to leave the narrow borders off the quilts I’m making with children’s novelty prints. I’d much prefer not having to piece backings for an extra one inch.

These simple quilts are so much fun to make and a nice break from working on getting those old UFOs finished!

Quick gift quilts from UFOs

I’ve decided to donate some of the quilts I’ve finished this year to a local nursing home. Specifically, the quilts will be given by the staff at Christmas to folks who have no visitors (hippa regulations prevent me from knowing anything about the residents).

I also want to add some additional quilts to the pile. I have a fabrics pulled to make quilts from the Fabric Cafe 3 Yard Quilt books. Before I start those I’m taking a look at my remaining UFOs to see if any of them can be completed quickly. Most are large quilts. Well, larger than I enjoy making that is.

I should be able to get two quilts out of several of them. This is the one I began with today. It was a “Mystery by Mail” project from the Glad Creations Quilt Shop (which closed it’s doors in 2019 after being in business for 43 years). UFO #14 was one of those mysteries and, I finished many of the steps until the last couple of clues with the photo came in the mail. I wasn’t crazy about the pieced border.

My tastes have changed and I’m no longer enjoy working with Civil War style fabrics. (This is a good reminder why I rarely buy fabric if it’s not for a current project. The only exception is backing & background when there on sale.)

The center of this quilt top was 71″ square. I’m not a fan of square quilts and that size doesn’t work well for a nursing home quilt. I’ll do some reverse sewing to bring the top to a functional size.

I also have the 22 stars made that were intended for the border and a lot of strips cut that were to be used with them. I’m hoping I’ll have enough bits and pieces to make another quilt top. It’ll be good to get this project finished and the quilts off where they’ll be used.

How to make a jean quilt

(Originally posted February 5th, 2021)

I originally had another denim stained glass pattern in mind but, our friend was small so I wouldn’t have been able to cut any 12″ squares (unless I left some leg seams in them which I thought might make the quilt even heavier and not as comfortable to use).

I saw the idea for this quilt on The Flemings Nine blog. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern for it. Stained glass quilts are pretty popular these days so a quick search will give you plenty of free blocks patterns to choose from. Just make sure you look the pattern over before you begin cutting the pieces so you can adapt it to the size pieces you’re able to cut.

Alternately, you can just check out the cutting info below for the quilts I made. I deliberately chose a stained glass design so none of the denim pieces are sewn together. Having that strip of regular black quilting cotton between them made would make the seams less bulky and the quilt more comfortable to use.

These quilts were composed of 48 blocks each and measure 60″ x 80″ finished.

I’m included photos I took as I was constructing the second one along with a breakdown of the size pieces I used.

Press all seams toward the black fabric.

Each block denim:

5″ x 10″
5″ square
5″ x 2 1/2″
(2) 2 1/2″ squares

Each block black:

1″ x 10″
(2) 1″ x 5″
1″ x 2 1/2″

Sashing:

1″ x 10″ between blocks (40 pieces for this quilt) and 1″ x length of finished rows. The blocks should measure 10″. Because several of the jeans I used were stretch denim, I did have to square the blocks up a bit before joining them.

If you’re using women’s jeans which often have a little stretch in them, measure the completed rows and use the average measurement before you cut the sashing strips to sew between the rows.

I used 3 1/2″ binding strips so the outside edge would be the same 1/2″ finish as the rest of the black pieces in the quilt.

Click on the photos to view a larger image.

Begin by sewing black strips to the block pieces but, only sew them on half of the 2 1/2″ squares.

Sew 2 1/2″ squares with the black strip to a 2 1/2″ without the black.

Sew the black edge of the 2 1/2″ x 5″ strip to the squares.

Sew the black edge of the 5″ square to the previous unit.

Add the black edge of the 10″ x 5″ square to the side of the previous unit. Construct all of your blocks with the pieces positioned in the same way.

Next, lay your blocks out in pairs rotating one block 90°. You can see the top block has been rotated one clockwise turn to the right.

Sew a 10″ black strip to the lower edge of the top block. Sew the bottom block to the top unit.

My rows are 6 blocks across (3 pairs of blocks laid end to end).

Add a 10″ black strip between each pair of blocks.

DO NOT add a black strip to the beginning or to the end of each row.
The wide black binding will complete the design.