Kiwi Jam 12-31-12

It's Kind of odd that my last blog of the year should be about garden stuff instead of quilting but I had to make this batch of jam today or risk the fruit going bad.  And the story behind the kiwi's is one of my bigger garden accomplishments this year!  How you ask?  

 Well first off, once planted, Kiwi vines take a number of years to reach fruition. Secondly they are one of those funny flowering plants that have both male and female flowers on separate vines and you have to have both sexes growing in close proximity to ensure fruit!  So we planted 1 male plant between 2 females plants.  What a lucky vine!  Well a couple of years back ( before they started fruiting)  the male dies, I know go figure!  We had to plant a new male vine, delaying the fruiting action a few more years.  
This year we actually had enough fruit to make a batch of jam!  I always feel like I've really accomplished something when my garden produces enough of some fruit or veggie that I can can-it!

3lbs. of fruit made almost 9 cups of jam.  There are only 7 jars pictured because one was only half full and one jar broke in the processing.   I think the jar was cracked to start and I just did not see it. 
 I won't pass along the recipe 'cause it was too sweet, definetly got to back down on the sugar and it did not jell very well.  But ya gotta start somewhere!

        
      May your garden fruit 'aplenty and your jam always Jell!  
                         Happy New Year!  Claire W.

Home Spun Fun

I treated myself to a little retail therapy before xmas.  A 1 pound bag of homespun plaid scraps!  The scraps turned out to be a whole stack of selvage to selvage strips 4" to 5" in width.  They were pretty but the quality of weave was not great so they weren't going to make good fabric for fine piecing so here's what I did. This is a quick technique to turn those strips into scrappy blocks like those pictured above.

First cut off about 5" from the selvage end of each strip. Generating a nice stack of patches. Some square, some not-so-much, but for these wonky blocks it will work just fine.

Next cut the remaining wide strips into 2" and whatever was to the right of the ruler, some strips will be a little less than 2" and some a little more.

Then I match-up each patch to a strip.  Since they were all in the green, red, brownish family they all coordinated pretty well together. Then each patch got sewn to one end of a strip. Sew one after the other assembly line style. Don't iron yet!

Grab that pile, snip the connecting threads, take the other end of the strip and sew it to the opposite side of the patch. Take that pile of strip / patches to the ironing board and snip and iron.

Yup, I use a pair of scissors.  What you lose in accuracy and fabric you gain in time and the wonkiness will get dealt with in the end. 

Stack your ironed units with the corresponding strip.  and go back to the sewing machine for round 2.

Notice The strip follows the edge of the patch so's to get all the edges.  Feed the batch through and turn around and sew the other side.

Back to the ironing board for some more snips and ironing.

Even stopping to take pictures I still managed to crank out about 36 of these blocks in about 2.5 hours. You may be wondering how I get all those different sized blocks into a top.  There are a number of ways,  which I will detail in my next blog after the New Year. I know that's kinda sneaky but I hope I've peaked your curiosity!  In the mean time here are some other quilts in which I have used this general technique.  Some used uniform patches and strips which made the blocks all the same size but all used this assembly line style construction.

I hope your New Year is full of good health, happiness and prosperity. Cheers, Claire W.

Oy, Another Medallion

I finished another Medallion quilt, this one is really simple, but the fabric really makes the quilt.  Picking an interesting fabric for the center can make all the difference.

When quilting I treat each border separately,  When I use an interesting print I try not to cross over the design with quilting.  Usually, I echo quilt like here.  It's one of the advantages of using a longarm

More echo quilting.

When I have a open space I try to design a free motion doodle that fills the space.  I practice drawing it on paper until I can draw it fairly accurately in repeat.

On the border I used parallel wavy lines.  I use these a lot on borders instead of stippling cause I think it's less distracting over a pretty print like this one.  Something about the regularity of the design, I think.

This quilt is another one to be donated to  The City of Hope for a cancer patient.

Happy Holidays!  Claire W.

How Much Does 10 FQs Weigh?

Why do I ask?  Well the blog Hop is over.  And I need to mail out some FQs!  The fellow at the USPS said under 13oz. could be sent by flat rate for $1.70 any where in the US. I wonder if I can find an envelope that only weighs .2 oz?!
I'd like to thank all the people who left helpful comments.  There were many and I am absolutely going to implement some of them as soon as I can consult with my techno support. So for my 'judges choice award'  there were two gals who really out did themselves I couldn't choose so I am giving them each 10 FQ's.  I hope you will agree these were both pretty clever submissions!?

First Carol M wrote:
CaroleMDecember 10, 2012 1:05 PM

I make the effort this afternoon
to leave a comment that will make you swoon
a poem, a rhyme, a bit of prose
I hope may leave a sweet scent in your nose.

Might I admit, if it is okay
that blog hopping tends to eat up my day
I come across so many wonderful stops
from page to page I seek and bops

And under the "C"s did I land here -
a pot holder tutorial from a quilting peer
And before my brain stretches any more
I'll end this poem and head for the door :)

Then Alice wrote:

AliceDecember 12, 2012 6:32 AM

 I have a new "comment", inspired by Carole M, a little poem about YOU!

Just who IS this quilter named Claire?
Well, read this as you pull up a chair.
She teaches, she quilts, she’s a mother and wife.
Like many of us, she has a full life.

I’ve checked through the posts she’s put on her blog
And wow does she ever do a good job
Of showing us quilters a thing or two
About just what in the world we should do
With all of these scraps that form a huge heap!

My favorite post’s called Scrap Strategy Two
Where she carefully shows us just what to do
To turn all of these scraps that drive us all crazy
Into a fun quilt that shows we’re not lazy.

Fun potholders here on this post can be seen—
Make one for a friend—she’ll call you Quilt Queen!

And the other lucky winners are:

Jmniffer = Grand prize winner
Thearica= 1st runner up
(Thearica was a close 2nd on the Judge's award, see it for a good example of constructive commenting)
Lou= 2nd runner up
Tammy= 3rd runner up
Rhonda= 4th runner up

Thanks to everyone who participated in the blog hop.  It was great fun, I made some new friends, learned a lot and I hope I can keep up with all the new correspondance. As Carol M wrote:

 "Might I admit, if it is okay
that blog hopping tends to eat up my day
I come across so many wonderful stops
from page to page I seek and bops"

 

Happy Holidays everyone!! Claire W.

Blog Hop and Quick Holiday Potholders!

Another Give-Away! Yahoooo!

I am participating in the Quilt Gallery Birthday -Blog Hop Party w/ Give-Away. (link to the right)
In the last blog hop I offered the following give-away:  

I’ve been collecting fabric seriously for more than 20 years.  So here’s my give away.  TEN - Fat Quarter’s (that’s a $25-$30.00 value) selected from my stash tailored to the request of the winner!   I’ve pretty much got it all; batiks, repro’s from the 1930’s and 1800’s, all colors, kids fabrics, bugs, food, flowers, oriental, flannels, plaids, etc...  The winner can request a smorgasbord or all of one kind.  Fun for you to make a wish list, fun for me to tailor a collection just for you.

Based on the comments people seemed to like that a lot!  So I'm going to offer that again as my Grand Prize.

But since I had soooo many visitors the last time I thought I'd better add a few secondary treats for 4 runners-up. Since it is the season to be jolly ( and I have a lot of Holiday fabric...)

Give away #2- 5 fat eighths of contemporary Christmas fabric.

Give away #3 = Olivia in Xmas red and green with coordinating  fabs.  5- fat eighths

Give away #4 = Olivia Xmas stocking print, set of two.

 And for people who celebrate Hanukkah...

Give away #5 = A misc. selection of Hanukkah fabric about a yard all together.  ( If the 5th winner is not a celebrator of Hanukkah I will substitute Xmas fabric)

What do you need to do?  Leave me a comment about my blog at the end of this blog ( please, just one comment per visitor) and a way I can contact you if you are one of the lucky winners.  I will even cover over seas shipping! 

And just to make things a little more interesting I'm giving out one more gift to:  My favorite comment, Kind of like a Judges choice award.  Flattery is nice but astute observations are even more appreciated, that's how I learn. It does not have to be long just something that you've observed about my blog, this one or a previous one that you think would be helpful.  And I will make it worth your while.  A gift similar to the Grand Prize, Yup, 10 Fat Quarters of your choice.  Of course if you don't want to play this part of the game you can just leave a generic comment and you will still be entered into the regular, random drawing for the other prizes. Happy Holiday Hopping!  Cheers, CW

And now...Did I mention Quick Holiday Potholders?!

I like making potholders for holiday hostess gifts etc.  but I'm not a big fan of putting on bindings so I've developed this quick way to finish potholders.  It's really just a variation of the old quick turn method with a little refinement. 

I mostly just make scrappy tops with holiday fabric, with a border strip to frame it.  

 I pick backing fabs that kinda match but aren't holiday fabs so the backside can be used all year long if desired. Cut a backing about an 1" to 1.5" longer and the same width as the top.

Then cut the batting.  In this case all I had on hand was thin batting so I cut two layers.  One to-size and one about a 5/8" trimmed smaller so as not to have too much bulk in the edge seams.

When all the layers are cut and ready to go I cut the backing in such a way that the cut will more less correspond with one of the top's seams.  Probably easier just to look at the next picture...

With right sides together simply iron a fold in the backing to overlap with one of the seams on the front then lay the raw edge side of the backing over the folded edge.

Don't forget to put a loop in one corner if you want something to use for hanging your potholder.  I like double sided satin finish ribbon.  1/4" or 3/8"  it's pretty, strong and does not add a lot of bulk to the seam.

Lay the first layer of batting under the top, pin baste all three layers together and sew 1/4" seam all the way around the edge using a walking foot.

Trim the corners to decrease bulk. Be careful not to trim into the seams (see lower edge of photo above).  Quick turn the first half of the backing to the right side.  Work the edges of the seam and corners with your fingers to get them to lay down flat (but don't iron yet).  Take the smaller piece of batting (if you are using one for extra thickness) and work the corners into the end of the pocket.

 Quick turn the other end of the backing.  Repeat the finger work around the edges and getting the second layer of batting straightened into place.  Give the center and edges a good press and pin baste for the quilting.

I generally quilt  in the ditch with a few x's where needed. Making sure that the folded edge of the opening on the back gets sewn down when the corresponding seam on the front is quilted.  When you quilt the strip around the edge in the ditch it's not precisely a binding but it does give the potholder a more finished look.

Of course potholders travel in pairs, another reason this technique is so convenient.  I know,  they don't match.  Like I said, I mostly just use scraps, the one on top just got lucky 'cause I had some QSTs lying around to make it a little fancier.  I mostly just make the tops in between other projects when I need a quick diversion.   You can really crank these puppies out once you get the rhythm of it.  I made 5 pairs = 10 potholders this week while I was doing a bunch of other stuff in my sewing room (Which looks like a tornado hit it)!  ahhhh the Holidays!  I hope you all have Fun on the blog hop and have a wonderful Holiday season full of Joy and Light!  Cheers, Claire W.

Done Duh Done Done

So while I was away from home, I managed, with the help of my trusty Featherweight to sew 6 tops!  What with all the chores that greeted us when we got home it took awhile to circle back around to my sewing room to get some of those tops quilted.  I’ve managed to get 4 tops quilted and bound in the last couple of weeks. Of course it helps that I have a Longarm, that shortens the quilting time considerably!

-I really like the way this one turned out.  Pink and green is always a winning color combo.

-I used a couple of ‘old stand-by’ free motion patterns; I call the one in the squares the Amoeba because it can kinda takes the shape it needs to fill, whatever space that is.

- And it all creates a pretty nice pattern on the back.

-This quilt is so simple I wanted the quilting to be a little fancier.

-I made kind of an open square-ish feather wreath.  That worked pretty well but when it came to the same block in the third quilt I tried a simpler version, which I think worked even better.

Some how I managed to Not get an overall picture of this quilt but here's a picture of the top without that border.

- Since I was away from home  these three quilts were made primarily with FQs from a FQ ‘Spring Scrap Bag’ from Keepsake quilter’s bargain bin which I had shipped to my home away from home. The cost was $1.00 / FQ!  ( See that blog here) There were plenty of colors and prints to choose from in this bundle.  It was really fun, efficient and somewhat liberating to limit myself to this small stash of FQs instead of being overwhelmed (as I often am) by my stash at home.  These 3 quilts are all about 53" x 63".  I donated them to City of Hope to be given to cancer patients at the hospital there.

The fourth finished quilt was inspired by orphan blocks from my friend Randy. This quilt will be given to the wheelchair bond veterans quilt project.  It's about 36" x 48".

I'm still working on hand quilting my "Primitive " quilt and I made another top that I think would make a great Mystery project so I'm not going to show it just yet.  cheers, CW