It arrived, I can blog

This above quilt started in my head in September last year. We went to Jena, Germany, to celebrate the wedding of Alex and Dolores. We stayed at my cousin Eva's house, mother of the groom.

Eva lost her husband Arno in November the previous year due to illness. We got to know Arno when we visited Jena before and when Arno, Eva and Alex came to Virginia for Sarah and Wade's wedding in 2011. We had such a great time then.
I asked Eva whether she still had some of Arno's shirts and she did. She gave me 8, all cotton. It was a bit of a challenge because we already had more luggage then we should have but everything made it home ... a day after us. Sure it wasn't the shirts fault,

First I cut the shirts apart at the seams.

I had seen this quilt here http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com and liked it. The original seems to be 100+ years old. As you can see its a very old pattern ... except that I didn't have a pattern. Well, don't really need one.

I had 8 shirts and cut 9 squares each. So I cut:
72 squares 6 1/2 x 6 1/2
180 sashes 2 1/2 x 6 1/2
90 cornerstones 2 1/2 x 2 1/2
720 star points 1 1/2 x 1 1/2
Btw, the "pastel pink" sashes (I googled to find a correct name > it also could be close to a Mountbatten pink) are from a shirt James had to sacrifice.

I like to be efficient and do "chain sewing" when I work on quilts. I learned quickly that when I sew the first star point from the middle to the outside ...

... and the second star point from the outside in, they come out much better.

Since I didn't have a pattern I had to make my own decisions. I decided to cut the middle out but leave the back fabric. This is usually not done but it made a much more accurate work when I sewed the squares and sashes together (lining up the sashes and not the points).

I pushed to have it done just before we went to visit with Helen and family so it could be quilted by my "longarmer" Linda in Nashville (pattern: crazy puzzle) and is about 66 x 75 inches.

One of the squares I fuzzy cut to incorporate one of the pockets which all had Arno's initials AS on them. It's on the very right of the third row from the bottom. That's were I put the card when I mailed it.

I had asked Linda to please not to quilt over it so the pocket would be closed. She was concerned when I picked it up that there was a bit of a "bare" patch on the back. She thought I needed to put some "fake" stitches on the back. I told her not to worry. Perfect place for the label!

Yeah! Finished! James is looking for a box for mailing. He brought in a couple of sizes. Caleb just happened to visit and thought boxes were fun.

The needle is still hot (from hand sewing the binding) and James Is on the way to the post office.

And these pictures just arrived from Germany. The parcel has arrived.

I think she likes it!

Posted with Blogsy

I won it!

It must have been before Christmas 2003 when I went to a church bazaar close to where we lived in the Pines Subdivision in Paducah Kentucky. I was too late and the bazaar was picked over but in the entrance sat a lady I knew. I had given one of Ina's daughters German lessons many years ago when we still lived at the lake.
Ina was a member of a quilt group and was selling raffle tickets to benefit the Human Society ... $1 a ticket or 6 for $5. I give her $5 and said "here is my donation" and wanted to go on. She insisted that I would fill out the tickets. I told her that I knew it was a donation "I never win!"
She made me fill out one and said she write the others for me. She was bored.
Couple of weeks later I got a phone call from her that I had won. "Won what?" The quilt! She told me that I had won on my ticket. It wasn't one she had filled out because it wasn't her handwriting. My comment: I could have won on just one ticket?
It is a very cute quilt and we hang it in Nashville in our bedroom. Cats and dogs!

This is the label on the back side. It says:
This quilt was made by Massac Quilter's Guild members in honor and memory of Miriam Houchins, a victim of 2003 Massac County Tornado. Massac Quilter's Guild donated this quilt to Project Hope Humane Society to be used as a fund raiser. Miriam was a member of both groups.
Metropolis, Illinois 2003
 

Posted with Blogsy

Helen's Block Lotto Sampler 2012

Thursday

I told in one of main blogs that I am in Nashville and that I had a quilt top finished ready for the longarmer. I suggested to Helen to finish her sampler because I wanted to pay for it to get quilted as a birthday gift. Both quilts were quilted and I picked them up on Monday.

I did the trimming and today Helen sewed the sleeve for hanging and the binding on. Her comment: it's a good time for hand sewing the binding because it's too hot in summer. Nice and cozy this time of the year. The size is about 55 x 77 inches.

James and Helen are holding it up so I can take a good picture. Top and bottom rows are the monthly blocks in the order of the year. She made 4 of each month's pattern. She stuck to the color scheme given with the "rules" for each month. That's why it is so vivid and lively. I usually use more subdued colors myself but I so love this one!!!

Well done, Helen! It was a learning experience for you but you sure took each step. Mutti is proud of you. And your grandmother Oma Ulla is looking down from heaven very happy.

If you want to know more about BLOCK LOTTO click here.

For the 2012 patterns click here.

Posted with Blogsy