Wordless Wednesday

Stash Busting

Looking through my fat quarters

I found some nice summer colors

to play with.

As I enjoy making functional quilts 

for table tops, lap tops and or beds;
 
I decided to make something simple.

Sunkissed

 Nice cheery colors for summer!

I also decided to do some simple

machine quilting on it.

 Just nice simple lines.

I also am very happy that I finished

another UFO quilt.

I blogged about awhile back http://uniquelyyourscreations.blogspot.com/2009/02/improvisional-quilts-2.html">
here

It's all hand pieced and I also hand

quilted it. It has been sitting in

my closet patiently waiting. I was

unsure how to quilt it until I had

an idea.

 I could use various colors and 

different weights of threads - 

thinking that it would give the 

quilt a nice textured look.

And I think it does!

I Blended Big stitch quilting along 

with traditional quilting; I created

a maze with stitches. They are not 

meant to be perfect as the blocks

are not. I also decided, as it's

an artsy kind of quilt; to make it

a wall hanging and added a sleeve

in the back. 

 I titled it "Chasing Rainbows"

because it just reminds me of one.

I think that it's a very happy 

looking quilt; and I'm very satisfied

about the way it turned out.


The weather here in Lancaster has

been very hot! I went out to water

my garden and found that....

 they're back! Beetles doing their

business on my roses! Ugh!

 The Marigolds are blooming and they're

huge! 

The phlox are just gorgeous and

beautiful shades of pink.

And the spiders are still hanging 

out having lunch (-:

Walking through the garden is such

an adventure! 

Now back to my stash to find more

fabric to use.

Have a great week and stay cool!

This n That

The weather has been crazy...

hasn't it? First hot then cold.

Now it's raining and I can tell

that my garden is very happy!

Last week I added some plants

to my border along the walk.

I just noticed that big weed!

I used to have lavender plants along

here which I loved but I had to pull

them out as they were all woody. I 

decided to divide my hosta and they

are doing very well. 

I was racing to get it all done before

I had to have my surgery. I had Surgery

and have to take it easy for awhile. 

That went well but afterward -

the  anesthesia  made me very sick!

Anyway, Thank God that's over and I'm

very happy that the roses are in full

bloom!

They are so beautiful and hopefully

they will be blooming all summer.

Meanwhile, I have to relax for awhile,

no heavy lifting, etc.

So, I have my handquilting to keep

me busy and also as I am an big

Historical Fiction fan I found a new

author (for me). 

 I have read about Mary Stuart - Mary I

of Scotland in other novels but this

book is devoted just to her. So far, I

have found that she is the complete 

opposite of her cousin Queen Elizabeth.

It's a thick book - 870 pages! It will

take me awhile but I'm enjoying Margaret

George's writing.

Have a Great Week!

Spring.....really?

It's late May and I have the heat on in
my house. Who would know it's spring?

If it weren't for the flowers blooming
in my garden....I wouldn't know.

My cousin showed a photo on Facebook
of snow in the Catskills in upstate New York --
Crazy!

Yet, the flowers thrive, and the frogs keep
coming to the creek....

I made yet another one of my
Baltimore Album blocks into 
a small wall hanging with hand
quilting. I really like the way
it came out.

 

 I added some beads and metalic
thread out lines the leaves -
something different from the others
that I have made.

I'm in the process of making another
one. 

Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday

Welsh Quilting

I bought this book a couple of years ago. Living in Amish country here in Lancaster;
I always wondered where the Amish learned the art of quilting.
Did they bring it with them when they came here to Pennsylvania? Or were they
influenced by their English neighbors. The Amish usually called all people (other than
themselves English)
*In researching the Welsh in Pennsylvania; I discovered that the settled
here about 1681 - by 1700, the numbered about 20,000. Most of them being
Quakers. They settled around the Philadelphia and southeastern Pa.


*By 1729 the county organized townships, two of which were Welsh -- Caernarvon and
Lampeter.

Brecknock
    1740, Welsh place name

Caernarvon
    1729, Welsh, Castle of Narfon

Lampeter
    1729, Welsh, "Llanbadr," Church of St.Peter. Divided into East and West Lampeter in 1841

 Six were English - Warwick, Lancaster, Martic, Sadsbury, Salisbury
and Hempflield. -----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was inspired by a recent discussion on Facebook by a group that I belong to "Celebrate Hand Quilting" - it was about quilted Welsh whole cloth quilts.

It was then that I took the book off
of the shelf and go through it again.

I love the quilts and the quilting
motifs in them. I decided to try one.

This is my first attempt at Welsh quilting -  (a sample)

 This one is one of my favorites!

The motif comes from the book "making Welsh Quilts" by Mary Jenkins and Clare Claridge.

I used my hand dyed cotton sateen fabric.
For the quilting I used Superior Threads
for hand quilting in a rusty orange color.
I love this thread; it slides right through
the sateen.

The back is very important also in Welsh
quilting.

Here I used muslin because I didn't
have enough of the sateen. 

 A quote from the book about stitches:

 "..Welsh quilters of old did not pride themselves so much on being able to work a certain number of stitches per inch...
but on originality of design."




Each quilter designed there own motifs
and did not copy from one another.
Most used simple items for shapes from
their kitchen - dishes, glasses, cups, etc.

With enough practice; hopefully there is
a quilted whole cloth in my future.

I really enjoy hand quilting - it's 
meditative and relaxing and best of
all I can sit out on my deck.

There is so much to learn about the 
History of Quilting! 

Here are some references:
The Amish Quilt
http://www.theamishquilt.com/history.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilt

History of English quilts.....
Otherwise known as Durham quilts, North Country quilts have a long history in north-east England, dating back to the Industrial Revolution and beyond. North Country quilts are often "whole-cloth" quilts, that emphasize the quilting. Some are made of sateen fabrics, which further heighten the effect of the quilting.

Patchwork
http://www.quilthistory.com/ukquilts.htm

The earliest surviving dated patchwork bedcover is the 1718 silk coverlet discovered in 2000 and purchased by the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles  The coverlet is pieced over papers, even the curved bits.

 British Quilt Study Group.
----------------
*http://www.lancasterhistory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=78

*http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/groups/4286/welsh/471948

*http://www.lancasterhistory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=76

 Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday