Fun With Backgrounds

We made it up to the snowy North Carolina mountains.  My brother Chris and his wife Debbie made the trip from Boone to our cabin to pick up her grandmother's Double Wedding Ring quilt.  We had lunch along with my sister Katy.  It was a nice family afternoon on a cold mountain day.

After they left I got out my watercolor paints, a few acrylics, some homemade stamps...and had a fun afternoon making some background pages for collages or journals.

Sitting by the fire...drinking wine...Life is Good!

Double Wedding Ring Quilt- Finished!

I finally got the binding completely done on this double wedding ring quilt.

It took longer than usual because of the scalloped edge.  It was already cut out by the maker.  I made a bias binding and did the best I could on those curves.  Clipping the inside curves helped.

Now all I have to do is sew on the label and deliver it to my sister-in-law this weekend.  That is, if we can make it to the mountains.  We have had a snow/sleet event and the roads are icy.  Everyone stayed home today, even my husband who almost always goes to work on "snow days."  

Here is something to warm this cold day...the beautiful roses he gave me for Valentines' Day.

Double Wedding Ring Antique Quilt

Here it is, fresh off the long arm machine...a double wedding ring antique quilt!  This is another top made by Helen Stewart, my sister-in-law Debbie's late grandmother.  To see some of the other completed ones, please visit this page.  And here is another with a picture of Helen holding Debbie's daughter, Rachel, when she was a baby.

I have to admit that I did not like this one much at first.  The background fabric is a flowered sheet.  I thought it was too busy for all that piecing.  But, it has grown on me and now I think it is very cheerful.

This quilt top had some issues, the two biggest being that it did not lie flat, and that the piecing seams were not very strong.

Instead of spending a lot of time making repairs to the top before quilting, I decided to just use a curvy overall meandering pattern and Make This Sucker Lie Down Flat!  It worked pretty well.  I decided I would not worry about any pleats formed by stitching through the extra fabric.  And I was able to catch a lot of the seams as I went, strengthening them at the same time.

I also used a very thick polyester batting, Quilters' Dream Puff, which helped ease a lot of the fullness.

My plan worked splendidly!

Hettie quilted the old-fashioned way, by using up fabric from sheets, clothing, and curtains.  I recognize some of the fabrics from other quilts that I finished for Debbie. And she recognizes some of the dresses that her grandma lovingly sewed for her.

The backing is white-on-white muslin.  I used a Seafoam green thread in a leafy vine to somewhat echo the floral vine print on the background fabric.

Now to bind around all those scallops and get this one done!  (I've only had it for three or four years.)

We took a last October trip to the mountains last weekend, and were rewarded with clear blue skies, colorful foliage, and warm temperatures.

Next weekend we will stay in Raleigh to help host our annual pig picking.  It has been a great October!
                                         

Art Quilt: Connections

I went to the PAQA-South quilt exhibit at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary yesterday, thinking that I would linger and take some photos prior to my art quilt group going out there for our November meeting.  I took a few photos in the foyer of the old house, and was told by the lady at the desk that I could not take individual photos of the quilts.  I could only take shots of the quilts from across the room.  Well, that is the first time anyone has stopped me from taking pics at this venue.

In the display case at the entrance, there is a colorful arrangement of prayer flags made by members of PAQA-South.  I must have missed the memo asking us to make these.  They look great!

I found my quilt upstairs on the second floor.  The room is not nearly as lovely as the downstairs parlor with the gorgeous wood floors, grand piano, and fireplace.  It is just a meeting room.  But I liked the quilts upstairs.  Mine is the little guy at lower center.

Here is the wall at the far end of the room.  The two quilts on each end are by Raleigh quilter Roxanne Lessa.

Here are some more on a different wall upstairs.

 And these are on the wall opposite my quilt.  My friend Roberta Morgan's quilt is the one with the faces next to the window.

It has been beautiful in Raleigh.  I took my dog for a walk at Umstead State Park, which actually adjoins my neighborhood.  Instead I drove to the entrance off Glenwood so we could walk around Big Lake.  The leaves are just starting to change there.

We are now in the mountains, where it is quite chilly and there is a freeze warning for tonight.  I started quilting an antique quilt top this afternoon.  It is going well, and I should finish quilting it this weekend.  Photos to come in a future post.  Here is a teaser: