Ta-Da! Tumbler Finished!

14" X 18"

Here it is - hand quilted and bound. I've finished two projects in recent weeks....I think I'm on a roll!



I usually wash my finished pieces but since I used fabric taken out of a hundred year old quilt top, and washed and pressed the pieces before I started, I decided not to push my luck. (Click here to see the post with the original top)

Here's an actual glass tumbler from about the 1940's. It has a special good luck horseshoe at the bottom.  Could it be an incentive to finish your milk?

I quilted an overall fan at about 3/8". I decided to try doing it without marking. It was fun and freeing....and the lack of precision actually makes it more interesting to me. ( I'm not just making that up.)

I had a nice vintage piece of woven black and white check which was perfect for the back.

At first I thought I'd just bring the backing to the front for binding but it didn't enhance the quilt so I had to use a reproduction for the binding.

Another motif inspired by an ordinary household object is this Goblet pieced block.  Quite a few are seen in blue and white - which happen to be the colors of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.


This quilt is in the Quilt Index.

When only one shape is used in the entire quilt, as in my little Tumbler, it may be referred to as a 'one-patch'. It's fun to see how interesting and appealing a quilt can be using just one simple shape.

Next Post: A few more One-Patch designs from my collection.

Tumbler Top

My little Tumbler top is done!
I guess I hadn't trimmed the long edges before I shot this photo.....but quite soon I will show you the completed doll quilt.
I took it along to the AQSG seminar in New Jersey last week and got about halfway through the hand quilting in 'found' moments...it's one of the really nice things about working in this size!

Here's a look at the back side. I do love how nicely the seams work with hand piecing.

And the pressing.....this is my nifty little vintage GE travel iron. You screw the little plastic water bottle onto the side when you want steam. I got this at an antique shop very inexpensively and have seen them quite often. It's a nice size to have on my small pressing pad near the machine. I use a hand towel over the surface of the pad when pressing tops or applique blocks for a nice flat finish.

While I'm thinking of it I must respond publicly to the comment/question my non-quilting friend posted about my Bull's Eye quilt post. She said, "Is this a historic thing? Would all the pioneer women sit around and spend time putting circles together, cutting them apart, and putting them back together??" 
Dearest friend I love your input and I love knowing that a non-quilter (though a friend of over 50 years!) - is interested in my ramblings.

I would say no, of course, to your specific question. But you are not alone in being curious about why quilters cut fabric into small pieces only to sew it back together again in some form or fashion.
Quilting has evolved as have other arts and crafts over time. Today's quilters have many more options and resources. The scope is broadened as the artistic aspects of the art join the desire to make useful bedcovers. People who love textiles can't stop exploring new and exciting ways to be creative within their medium.

One of the research papers just presented at the AQSG seminar included a quote from sociologist Marybeth C. Stalp. She may provide some insight,  "...it is non-quilters who admire and focus solely or primarily on the product - the finished quilt - while quilters give far more emphasis to the process of quilting. The production of a quilt is often as important as, or even more important than, the finished quilt itself." (Uncoverings 2011 p.98)

Most of us have made all the quilts we NEED. The joy can be in the 'doing' - the many components of the process from design to trying new techniques - that gives us pleasure separate from the end product. Maybe that's why some of us can never get enough and why we can't always answer the question "Who is this for?" or "Haven't you made enough quilts?"

Quilters, currently for you.....

  Process or Product ?

Please share your thoughts by clicking Post a Comment below this post

Peace and Quiet and Quilting - 'Up North' in Minnesota -

I recently returned from five days 'up north' at our cabin in the woods. Here we find respite from phones, airplanes, and all the trappings of the real world and experience a quiet that makes your ears ring and a serenity that we crave.

The lake is small - no motor boats or jet-skis. We have an old red Coleman canoe and a row boat - which I believe leaks - no one has used it in a long time! The kids used to fish but these days we mostly swim or sit on the dock and read, take walks and enjoy the smell of a fresh pot of coffee brewing in the morning.

Relaxing to me includes quilting. I don't seem to need a break from that. In fact, with no other obligations I sew totally guilt-free in the woods! I always bring more than enough sewing projects. Here's what I brought this time:

..... the Tumbler. I love this project!  I am using those rectangles from the c. 1900 top I ripped apart - (see three entries last May) 

...my growing pile of yo-yo's - I'm now in the assembly stage.

...my little crazy quilt - the project I put off the most...not sure why....

....an old Log Cabin quilt that needs some repair. 

I brought some pre-cut strips to applique over the worn ones. Didn't get much done on that. It will be on-going!

...some Flying Geese strips. I leave my old SewMor mechanical machine at the lake. No photos of the boring strips but how about this machine!

 I call it my Cadillac!

We have a small 'fat' tv which is only good for movies. If we get really desperate we watch one - or a DVD of old Alfred Hitchcock episodes.
If we think of it we turn on the radio once a day - on the hour - to hear a bit of news....usually they cover one or two stories briefly plus local weather - sometimes a baseball score.
Mostly we prefer the sounds of the woods; the loons with their many vocalizations from peaceful to frantic but always somewhat haunting, owls who-who-who-who-ing, hummingbirds - you got it - humming (and squawking) as they dive bomb each other for the sugar water in our feeder, the breeze gently ruffling the leaves above, grey squirrels scurrying below, and if we're really lucky the lights flicker and a loud clap of thunder warns of a coming summer storm.

By the way, my husband may not quite agree with the idyllic picture I've painted. Turns out there IS some work to be done now and then!

I hope you, too, have been able to get away from it all for at least a little while this summer and that you had your quilting and a good book along for company ....and maybe someone to do the heavy lifting.