April 22, 2016 by timquilts

Re piecing

Yesterday I posted a picture of this vintage top. Whoever made it did a nice job making the individual blocks but not putting the blocks together into a top.

I spent some time taking it apart and fixing the layout today.

I still need to sew the blocks back together but it sure looks better now that the blocks are in the right order.

Here is a side by side to show the difference

I think I’ll look for a coordinating fabric to add a border. It is a bit small now.

I also made a few more blocks

but I got distracted playing with the vintage Viking sewing machine. I have had it for awhile but didn’t have any bobbins but they came in the mail so I had to try it out . It needed a cleaning and oiling

It is running great now .

I posted pictures of some of my machines yesterday……here are 2 more

Singer 301A and 600

I also have my first machine, a Kenmore that I bought new about 25 years ago to make a slipcover (way before I was a quilter) and a 99 dollar brother machine that I bought to replace the Kenmore when I started quilting. The brother drives me crazy and that was the reason I bought the Singer 301 and started collecting.

A few things blooming today

Teddy says HI

Happy Quilting

Tim

February 28, 2015 by timquilts

Finished Melon Patch Top

Yesterday I posted pictures of the finished blocks for the melon patch quilt.

Teddy and I decided to add a border to make it a better size.

It was 60″ x80′

Here it is after I placed the side borders .

I know that red looks like plain dots but it really has more of a pattern

To get the proportions I wanted I made the top and bottom border narrower

It is Now 80″ x 88″

I think Teddy likes it

It really looks a lot better once I erase the background.

Now it is time to find a backing. I will look for something to match all the fabrics

Or maybe I will just use white 🙂

Happy Quilting

Tim

December 21, 2014 by timquilts

Finished quilt top

In an effort to clean up the work area by reducing the pile of works in progress I finished piecing a quilt top today. I posted some layout options over the last few days, ( http://timquilts.com/2014/12/20/more-layouts/, http://timquilts.com/2014/12/19/room-to-work/) but I kept the original as planned. I do plan to do a few more tops with this block in the future and I will use some of the other options.

With the added borders It finished at 64″ x 76″

Here are a bunch of pictures of the top. (click pictures to enlarge) I really need to take pictures in daylight to get truer colors, the colors are duller without a flash and brighter than reality with a flash.

Hand quilting will have to wait a while on this one….I have too many in progress already.

Now on to the next pile in the mountain

Happy Quilting

Tim

September 19, 2014 by timquilts

Clearing the deck with a wonky nine patch

I made a new top today. I decided it was better to use up the piles of fabric on the work table (which is actually the dining room table…but if you never put away the sewing machine you can call it a studio) than to put them away. It seems like when I put things away they are gone forever.

Anyway I made a new top with 12 fat quarters.

I started by cutting them all into 9 inch squares (4 per fat quarter)

pick 2 and stack them (right sides up)

then cut them into 9

no measuring! In fact you want them to be odd and wonky …the more asymmetrical the better (at least for me).

Next you separate them into two nine patch groups (remember there are 2 different fabrics in the pile)

sew them into rows

press the seams in alternating directions

sew the rows together

press

one block done

repeat for the other block

after all 48 blocks are done arrange them in whatever way you like

sew them all together

I added 2.5″ x 8″ strips (made from the leftovers) on the 2 sides to make it a bit wider….finished size is 50″ x 60″

I found some plaid flannel in my stock pile for the backing.

I think very simple hand quilting is in order

The design is based on one In the new book I posted about, Unconventional & Unexpected American Quilts Below the Radar 1950-2000, http://timquilts.com/2014/09/15/new-top/

Happy Quilting

Tim

July 14, 2014 by timquilts

Piecing progress

I am making progress piecing the vintage blocks for the new quilt top.

I Have one more row to add and then I will fill in the edges and then add a border. I will need to go back and make some adjustments since every circle was a different size it takes some adjusting and a lot of pressing to make it all fit.

What I love about this is the secondary pattern that forms when the wheels are joined.

It starts as this.

and when they are joined you can see some other patterns emerge.

Teddy seems happy with them.

Here are few more pictures (click pictures to enlarge)

Happy Quilting

Tim

June 1, 2014 by timquilts

Quilt tops and garden

I finished my liberated basket quilt top last night and the weather this morning was so beautiful that I decided to take a few pictures of it outside. The colors always seem to be better in the sunlight.

I will hand quilt it (hopefully this year LOL)

I also had a few more vintage tops to photograph

And here is the garden update (click pictures to enlarge)

: Front Yard

: Front Yard

: Front Yard

: Peony

: Planter tower

: Deutzia

: First Roses are opening

: salvia

: chives (make pretty flower garden plants)

: Climbing Hydrangea

: Fern

: Peony

: Peony

: tomato

: Viburnum

: viburnum

: Nine Bark (Diablo)

: spirea

: back garden

: Lupine

: lupine

: amsonia

: Lilac

: Lilac

: Weigela

: Pinks (they smell so good!)

: First of the Siberian Iris

: lupine

: lupine

Happy Quilting, Happy Gardening, Happy June

Tim

May 12, 2013 by timquilts

Bridal Bouquet Quilt Top

A few Days Ago I wrote about some Bridal Bouquets that I made .

I was reminded that there is a quilt pattern from the 30’s called Bride’s Bouquet. It is also called The Nose Gay.

You may not be surprised to know that I have a quilt top in my collection in this pattern.

When I bought the quilt the blocks were arranged differently, they were placed together so that they looked like complex stars.

The most traditional setting is with the blocks set on point as in this example from the quilt index.

The blocks are also usually made with all the bouquet handles in the same color, usually green as in this example.

Mine were all different, and I took them all apart and set them back together like this.

It also has an ice cream cone border. The finished size is 80″ x 90″.

many of the pieces have seams which I presume to be from when they were feed sacks

I had planned to quilt this right away, and then new projects kept piling up on top of it and I forgot all about it.

but I really like it, I think I have to move it up in the stack and get it quilted. Here are a bunch more pictures (click to enlarge)

Happy Mother’s Day

and Happy Quilting

Tim

March 19, 2013 by timquilts

Hippy Teddy

I had to give a new idea a try. Last year I bought a few tie-dyed panels.

I got some gray fabric at the show last week to use with it to make a quilt top.

Teddy is very anxious to see what it turns out like…it will be a hand quilted project as always, but likely with big stitch quilting.

I have a lot of sewing yet to do before I finish the top….but the colors are great for Teddy

January 10, 2012 by timquilts

New Quilt Top

I have been working on hand quilting the antique log cabin quilt and it reminds me of another quilt top that I recently purchased.

It’s not a log cabin but it does remind me of one. The fact is I don’t know what the pattern is.

If anyone knows the pattern name I’d love to hear from you.

Here is a block outlined in red, and sashing in green

I love the fabrics and colors and pattern. The top is newly made and lies nice and flat. My only problem is that it could be bigger. I like quilts that are big enough to use on a full-sized bed. This top is about 64″ x 80″ so I will likely add a border to bring it up to size. Since I did not make it I likely wont be able to match the fabric so I think it will be a white border.

I have been thinking about sawing machines again. Before I found the Singer 301 (see post here) I bought a Singer 7462

I never even opened the box. So I have a new machine that I have no intention of ever using. I think its going to have to go on eBay. Does anyone need a new machine? I can offer a good deal.

Happy Quilting

Tim