PatriciaFayeMcLaughlin
Patricia Faye McLaughlin sent me a photo of her Backyard Birds quilt, saying:
I wanted to share my completed Backyard Birds Quilt that was our 2015 project on the Quilters Club of America Applique’ Group.
It is one of my very favorite quilts. I did the FMQ on my domestic machine. Thank you so much for such a fun quilt pattern.
I love it! Well done, Patricia!
Linda sent me this photo of her fabric stash. She is using hanging shoe and sweater organizers and they look a lot better than I thought they would. In fact, if I did not already have shelves in my own fabric closet, I’d use this system. I like the way the fabric is compartmentalized.
Linda’s Fabric Stash
Linda has a lot less fabric than she used to have, and a lot less than I have. But you know what? This looks like a really good size for a stash. I know I have too much fabric (again). It’s too hard to find what I’m looking for, especially when I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Having too many choices can make choosing harder, not easier. I am looking at Linda’s very tidy closet with envy :-).
In other news, my foot is doing really well! The doctor had me cut the bandage to relieve the pressure on my foot on day two and that took the pain away. I can even put a little weight on it today (as per doctor’s orders). I’m still only allowed to be up only 5 minutes at a time. The rest of the time I have to sit with my foot up. The better I feel, the harder that is to do, but I’m sticking to it.
My mom began this quilt in May of 2012. The finished quilt went on her wall a couple of weeks ago…
Mom chose some fabric from my stash and then I brought more fabric. I offered to give her ‘help’ but she was very happy do make this on her own. She did it her way and it’s perfect!
The top was finished in time for it to hang on her wall last year, un-embellished. I quilted it this summer and she spent the following weeks adding embellishments. Can you tell that my mom really likes sequins :-)?
None of this was easy for her. She struggled with her glasses, arthritis and neuropathy in her fingers. Threading the needle and dealing with the little sequins and beads was a challenge—but she did it! Click the arrows on the slideshow, below, to see more of the blocks.
Have I said that I’m proud of my mom for sticking with this? I am! It has a folk art vibe that just can’t be beat. Way to go, Mom!
Susan sent me photos of her lovely Backyard Birds quilt. Isn’t it lovely! Way to go, Susan.
She said:
I have sewn for years but as I work full time I have never had the opportunity to develop my patchwork skills beyond a simple sampler quilt. I am undergoing medical treatment since July and I am using my time off work and getting treatment to patchwork, learning new techniques and work on creating some wonderful quilts.
I quilted the blocks separately. I attended a quilt group at Coles Sewing Centre, Nottingham England, and my lovely teacher Gilli Theokritoff helped me through the tricky bits!! I had never done free motion quilting before and Gilli pointed me in the direction of youtube and watching Leah Day. I started off just drawing, then practising on practice blocks and can say after a lot of effort I now have a work of art on my wall. When I read Linda’s intro in the booklet and the comment re getting through cold winter and difficult times I really wanted to agree I cant wait for the spring when all the treatment is over and the song birds return.
I like this choice of background fabric. I don’t know that I would have chosen it, but it’s very pretty. Susan also included a photo of her detailed documentation patch. I’m impressed!
Susan added:
I am getting on well with my treatment looking forward to the spring when I get back into work, with some wonderful skills learnt, new friends made and several quilts sewn.
And this…
Breast cancer, 1 in 10 women my age get it…Luckily I had a routine screening in May and something was picked up,
My advice to you all is if you have any concerns, LUMPS bumps whatever as soon as you can go to your doctor. If you get the opportunity to have screening Take it. I am so lucky routine screening found it, and it’s treatable. Don’t be frightened to say I am worried about this. Do something about it. With love, Susan
I agree with Susan on this point. I’m a big believer in treating your body like a used car—one that you want to drive forever. If something isn’t working, get it looked at.
Lorna and Chris have a king size bed and Lorna needs a new cover for it. Not a pieced quilt, but still a quilt. She fell in love with two fabrics that I have (had) on the bolt—one is Tula Pink’s huge dot (printed on wide fabric) and the other is a floral print by Amy Butler printed on sateen.
After much thinking, I decided that it would be best to make this a quilt without binding. Instead we would layer the top and back right sides together with the batting against the top, sew the edges, turn it inside out, and then quilt it. It was not nearly as easy as it sounds.
We cleared out my living room and vacuumed. Then we placed the batting on the floor. After a few false starts, we did manage to use basting spray to stick the the top to the batting. It took more than an hour and I did let slip a few choice words.
Lorna trimmed the batting even with the edges of the top fabric. Next we placed the backing right side down on the top. I then pulled out all of my mats and many rulers and we squared up the outer edges.
Lorna used Clover’s basting clips to hold all the edges together. I took it to my machine and sewed all the way around this monster, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn it through. This quilt is a lot heavier than I thought it would be.
The walking foot came in very handy.
Lorna had to leave so I trimmed the corners and then turned the whole thing inside out which was surprisingly satisfying.
I tidied and pressed the edges, finished the opening, and top stitched all the way around, 1/2″ from the finished edges.
It’s not done yet because it has to have some quilting. Otherwise the batting will fall apart with use and washing. Steve is going to do a little basting on it this weekend to help keep everything together during the quilting process.
Lorna wants to quilt it and it will be quite a job for a new sewer. We’re thinking of a diagonal grid, between the big dots. I may try to get some of the longest lines sewn for her if there’s time before my foot surgery on December 3. Otherwise I’ll be shouting encouragement from the other room while she sews :-).
I love show and tell! Today I have two quilts to share with you… should it be show and tells? First up is Sharon Hendrix’s version of Lorna’s Vine…
She wrote:
I recently completed one of your patterns, Lorna’s Vine, from your book Amish-Inspired. I hand applique and hand quilted the quilt. Thru the years I have completed many Piece O’ Cake quilts.
My piece is hand quilted by me in Gutterman thread in a lime green color, it reads very neutral against the red fabrics.
Sharon, you did a fabulous job! I love the change you made to the wheel block. I don’t know that I would have thought to use lime green thread but it definitely works.
Next up is Lynn Tubbe’s version of A Walk In The Mountains, made with wool…
Lynn wrote:
This quilt hung at the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) last year, and was awarded Best Use of Embellishment in the traditional category. I really enjoyed modifying your pattern in order to highlight all my wools. I thought the plaid leaves were especially fun.
This is also a spectacular quilt! I want to congratulate both Sharon and Lynn—very nicely done, indeed!
Piece O Cake Blog 