Cotton Quilters' Guild January Meeting

The Cotton Quilters' Guild meets on the first Monday of each month.

Mrs. Mary showed us how she makes these little catch-all boxes.

 Ingrid comes in with beautiful, traditional items every month.

Another stunner by Cleo.

Irma and Mary collect money, take notes, and other official duties. I'll admit, it was enjoyable to sit back and calmly be a member again.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Wedding Rings

I've had reason to think about wedding rings lately. A friend's daughter recently married. Someone else recently became engaged. We wonder why a particular couple has yet to make the big announcement. You know, the stuff of small towns: everyone's business is everyone's business. (I just thought of that little truism.)  Especially weddings and engagements and such. 

Wedding rings come to mind at this time of the year and it occurred to me that we should look at how wedding rings have inspired quilts. Ahh, we must remedy this with a few wedding rings...

And a few quilts...

Pillow Patter Needed for a Finish

Last weekend I decided to give the Double Wedding Ring block a try. Actually, my plan was to make a small quilt. That plan evolved into a pillow.  At the beginning I loved the fabrics I chose. 

Then I found that they were too traditional. I tried a couple of different approaches, but nothing really worked. 

 Then I hit on the idea to par down the project into a pillow that would require less of what I was afraid I would not like.

I'm not sure that my idea was an easy one. I had to rethink the process several times since I didn't have either a pattern or a clear idea of what to do or how.

Never the less, I had fun figuring it out. Once the two round pieces were sewn, I discovered that I had to float them on the long-arm to quilt them. Floating a quilt means just placing the top on the batting but not pinning or attaching it in any way. 

This allows the fabric to move outward as the quilter works from the center toward the outer edges. It takes patience and slow moving to make sure that you don't quilt one section too much because that will cause creases and distortion. 

I also wanted to use different motifs to add dimension and texture to the pillow.  I was afraid that might cause problems, but working slowly and methodically seems to have been the answer.

Of course, because it's round, there are some dimples on the outer edges, which will take a great deal more work to move the filling around, but I didn't have the time or patience.  I'm sure a grandchild will gladly pat the pillow for a while this weekend.

I'll gladly reward the pillow patter if it means I don't have to work the filling toward the edges.

 Have you paid a pillow patter? I'm curious what the going rate is. 

And, my goodness, I have joined some linky parties this week! I thought that since I have such a good resource of bloggers who hold linky parties, I should take full advantage. If you'd like to do the same, click on the link at the top of the page that reads, "50+ Linky Parties."  Really, there are over 50...I counted!

So this week we're linking up with

Really Random Thursday at Live a Colorful Life

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

TGIFF hosted by Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Sew Fresh Quilts  (Let's Bee Social)

Free motion Mavericks at Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing
Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

A very special thanks to our many hosts.  Now, go! Visit! Have fun linking up with like-minded quilters.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration

I'm going to mix it up just a little today: first some photos of double wedding ring quilts that I found on Pinterest lately.  Some of these are stunning.  I've been thinking that it's time to get to this pattern, but then I chicken out. 

There's no other way to say it....I'm scared.  There are so many pieces and even if I were to manage, somehow, to get the top done, I'm certainly not ready for the quilting! 

Therefore, I'm sharing these pictures so that if you've been thinking of tackling a DWR, maybe they will inspire you. 

Here's the reason that I'm not ready and I may never be ready: DWR requires the same quilting in the background. 



It's just necessary if the quilt is going to look right and, while I can perhaps create something almost this pretty once, I can not do it over and over and over again.....let alone 42 times! 

And wait, there's more! [said in a commercial voice] For every one of those 42 large blocks, there are two of the side windows that require the SAME design--a vertical and a horizontal. 

Nope, not me, not yet.   Sure, I could stipple or do some other lazy-dazey design, but a truly good design----no. 


The question as to whether I'll ever be ready....the answer is only if I'm really drugged.  You know, with some powerful ADHD meds that block all thoughts of _______

Well, all thoughts.

Luckily I don't write while quilting because my stream-of-consciousness is strange to say the least.

Okay, enough about something I may never do.  Here's a little something I have been doing. 

Of course I have only horrible pictures to show you. Anything better would be some another person had taken!   I'm hoping that you can see the quilting in these photos, though.  I'm quilting a modern version of "He Loves Me."  I cut the Dresden plates out last summer and finally finished the applique during the Easter break.  If all goes well, I'll be putting binding on next weekend. 

I'm hoping the waves or scrolls add movement to the quilt since the petals are supposed to be floating in the breeze. 

Neither of these pictures shows the entire quilt so you need the idea of a little girl pulling the petals off the flower and tossing them away. Each one flutters as it falls to the ground.  The bottom of the quilt has piles of loose petals. 

It's a fun quilt to make and I love this setting with the green and yellow, but the new version has a natural background, the flowers and the petals.  Nothing to detract from the idea. 

There's lots of quilting and negative space.  I thought it would be a good idea to create movement with the quilting. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to show you the modern version in a week or so.  While photographing the new version, I'll have to snap a few of this one also, don't you think? 
Happy Quilting,
Mary