family heirloom

This last Friday, my husband and his siblings went through their fathers things.  Previously we had gone through his items stored from his 'junk shop', but this time we were going through things he had in his house - items passed down from the family and items he used in the past.  I had spied this quilt when we were setting things out for viewing, and mentioned to hubby that I would LOVE to have this quilt.

They divvied up their dads belongings by taking turns picking things.  After everybody had 2 turns, hubby spoke up and said that I had done a lot of work to put the items together for viewing and all I wanted was the quilt - and everybody agreed I should have the quilt.  I was almost in tears!  I know how much work goes into a quilt like this.  Now I need to try to find it's history since it has no label.

This is the quilt pre-washing.  I soaked it in oxy-clean and a half box of color catchers and washed it on delicate - and dried it as normal.  I could tell that it was in very good condition and could tell it was washed before, so I felt safe doing that.  It didn't get out all the stains, but it FEELS good again, like a normal quilt (instead of an old dingy quilt!)  There are some rust stains in the back, but I can live with that.  The binding is actually the backing that is folded over to the front, and it will just need repaired in a few spots.

It's hand pieced and hand quilted.  It's quilted in about 1'' diamonds in the sashing and about 1/4'' in on the edges and curves of the drunkards path blocks. Each of the DP pieces measure just about 2 5/8''-2 3/4'' and the blocks of 16 measure about 11'' finished.  The quilt is about 64x70.  I am still trying to figure out a way to display it.  Today, I am loving it displayed on my bed, but I am thinking maybe I will make it my ''headboard'' hanging on the wall above the bed.   That would involve adding a sleeve, so I will have to mull that idea over.....

Flea Market Fancy string quilt finished

I actually finished this quilt over a week ago, but I had to wait until I got my clothesline back up to take pictures :)   You see, my clothesline was no-more after the 'tail hold' tree was removed due to it's lean over the garage.

So, I went and picked up a pressure treated 4x6 and some lag screws, and hubby cut a flat spot in the stump to bolt the timber to.  I am SO happy to have my clothesline back up!

I should have taken the ladder down before I took the picture, but you get the idea.  The clothesline goes from my second story back deck, so it has lots of lift on that end.  It does need to have a support between the clothesline, but it doesn't sag enough for the quilts to touch the ground, so that's all that matters :)

I love the texture of the swirl quilting.  This quilt has not been washed yet (I will let the new owners have the priveledge), and I have yet to add a label.  I am waiting until closer to a wedding that I think this will be the wedding gift for :)  Although I kinda want to keep it, I love it so much!  Can't keep them all though :)  Gotta give/sell some of them so I can continue to make MORE :)

Gypsy Wife filler blocks

A few of the filler blocks for the Gypsy wife quilt done :)

Gypsy Wife from the heart and colour wheel

Two more Gypsy Wife quilt blocks done yesterday!  I should probably work on some of the filler pinwheel blocks now :)

Colour Wheel - I really like this one!

From The Heart - I am not fond of heart blocks, but this one I can live with :)  The pieces are tiny - this is a 6.5'' block (unfinished)!

Gypsy Wife pershing block

I made my Pershing block last night:

It's not perfect, but it looks decent.  I am a little bummed that it's not the full 9.5'' though - I have a feeling that the fabrics shrunk as I tend to steam the heck out of blocks with lots of pieces.

So, today, I am on a mission to get all my fabrics steam pressed/starched so hopefully this won't happen again ::crossing fingers::  I really don't want to wash these small cuts of fabrics since they tend to ravel in the wash and I don't want to loose any fabric in the process.

I'm a Gypsy Wife

I have decided to join the Gypsy Wife quilt along on Flickr - I am a little behind, but this is a whole-year project, so I am pretty sure I can catch up :)

I found my copy of the booklet on Etsy :)

And I got my fabrics from JoAnn's when they were 30% off plus a 20% off total purchase coupon, yaa for coupons!   Here are most of the fabrics I am using:

Mostly the latest DSQuilts prints with a couple grays thrown in - I will probably add a few basic solids here and there too.  I have a quarter yard cut of each of these 25 prints, so I will probably have plenty of fabric - I do intend to make the quilt bigger than it calls for though.  I will just add more rows to the sides and make the strips at the bottom longer than called for.

wrangling the binding

I have always just let the binding puddle on the floor beside me as I stitched it on..... until today!  I figured out a new trick and it worked exceptionally well!

No muss, no fuss, and better yet - NO tangled binding!

I do have a finished quilt too - but one end (a birch tree in my back yard) of my pulley clothesline that I use to take picture of quilts is now firewood :*(  I need to figure out how to get my clothesline back up ASAP!

dog park disaster

I have been trying really hard to socialize our little Lucy so that she continues to love everybody and everything.  She is really the most social animal I have ever owned, and she LOVES going to the dog park.  Not only to play with the other dogs, but to meet the owners too.

Well, yesterday turned out to be a nightmare day at the dog park.  I won't go into detail, but she was attacked by a dog that the owner KNEW had been previously aggressive to other dogs.  After the attack, he said ''he's done this before''.

If you KNOW your dog is agressive to other dogs, it does NOT BELONG at a dog park.  Period!

Now my dear sweet puppy has to pay the conciquences of that dog owners ignorance!

Sleeping off the sedatives after surgery:

This morning:

 Stitches in both lids and a drain in her cheek.  Makes me sick to my stomach to see her like this :*(

We will have lots of indoor time the next couple weeks.  So, maybe I'll get some quilting done between pampering my little sweetie.

a treasure hunt

Many years ago, my hubby's dad had a 'junk shop' (and recycling business).  When he closed shop, he loaded it all up into a box truck and a semi-truck trailer and parked it behind my brother-in-laws house.  Since then, he has passed away, and my BIL has decided to sell his house to downsize.....  So, as a family, we must all go through Ted's 'stuff'.  Not treasured family heirlooms, just his 'stuff'.  We have found a few treasures to keep for ourselves though (and garage-saled a TON of stuff as we unload boxes).  This was my find of the day on Sunday:

Vintage quilt blocks.   These are 18'' blocks and there are 10 of them and about a yard of the orange material.  The Dresdens are feed-sackish materials, but the orange is probably newer materials.   The orange is quite bright.  Wouldn't have been my choice, but the choice was already made, so I am going to 'go' with it :)

I will probably just make 9 of them into a quilt with wide sashing and orange cornerstones and a wide border matching the sashing.  Then, with the 10th block, I will probably make a pillow cover.

Any suggestions for the sashing color?  Thinking maybe a white with a small orange polka dot?

I also found a vintage sheet I was hoping to use as a backing, but after evaluating it after washing, I decided it should be cut up - the center is too worn to be used as a backing :(