Be There, Get your Square – Block #6

Be There, Get your Square – Block #6

September 25, 2014 by · 1 Comment
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Block

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Block

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, this block has given me FITS, and it still isn’t 100% correct.  Some of my seams do not match.  However, in reviewing the colors I chose for this block, I am going to make it again.  Yes, I know.  A block I didn’t particularly care making the first time, I’m going to go back and make it again.

With 1 trial run under my belt, I’m HOPING that I have a better understanding and appreciation for the whole process of traditional piecing, and an engineered block.  With that said, I am pretty pleased that I didn’t let this block defeat me.  It also gives me a much bigger appreciation for how quilters used to put their blocks together without our modern conveniences.  (Rulers, rotary cutters, etc.)

Block of the Month Information:
“Voices of the Past II – Women in History” by Kaye England
Hosted by:  Inspired to Sew in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Filed Under: BOM, Fabric Designers, LQS, Quilts
Kathleen Ware, Quiltmaker

Kathleen Ware, Quiltmaker

September 22, 2014 by · 2 Comments

In my research for making a Lone Star quilt I found this video again.  It’s a short film (33 minutes) about a quilter named Kathleen Ware (1920–2001).  The film was released in 1979, and follows Ware through making a Lone Star quilt.

The thing I find fascinating about this short film is that it’s before rotary cutting, before fancy plexiglass templates or rulers.  She makes a quilt armed with her sewing machine, a pattern book, and a template made from a heavy paper.  She also is seen doing the “snip and rip” on her fabric.  Once the top is done, she loads it in her frame and hand quilts it.  The price for a Queen size quilt that was machine pieced and hand quilted in 1979….$150.00.

It makes me wonder if I would have the same passion for quilting as Kathleen did, only being able to use the tools that were available to her.  I believe Kathleen was a wonderful artist, who happened to work with fabric.  She was always creating, and from all of the quilts around in the bins at her house, she had a wonderful body of work.

So if you have 30 minutes to spare, take a peek!

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized
Be There, Get your Square – Block #5

Be There, Get your Square – Block #5

September 21, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Sojourner Truth Block

Sojourner Truth Block

Well I got another one down, but it still wasn’t the Jackie Kennedy block….I’m taking a new tact on that one, hopefully to be completed soon.  I did finish this block though.  This block was named after Sojourner Truth.  (Follow the link to see a short video about her life, a fascinating woman and story.)

This block did mark a quilting milestone for me, carefully measuring and marking a rectangle piece to create the block.  The center block in the top row has to be carefully measured, and then the green fabric sewn along a line you draw.  It was a tad tedious, however there were only 4.  If I had to make a whole quilt with this block I would just end up making my own paper piecing template, so I wouldn’t have to mark the lines each time.  (Which incidentally is what I’m going to be doing for the Jackie Kennedy block….wish me luck!)

Other than those 4 units everything else was super easy (and even those units weren’t “hard” just time consuming from what I’ve been used to doing.  Up next….Jackie…..Jackie I WILL get you put together correctly and all of those little points WILL be perky!!   😀

Block of the Month Information:
“Voices of the Past II – Women in History” by Kaye England
Hosted by:  Inspired to Sew in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Filed Under: BOM, Fabric Designers, LQS