Harley Davidson Memory Quilt ~~ Quilting Finish

 And so the Harley Davidson memory quilt is quilted. I still need to sew on the binding, but if all goes well, that will happen tomorrow. I was thinking that I’d use the charcoal Kona for binding, but tonight I’m thinking that a black Kona would be a better idea. Harley Davidson colors are orange and black but I like the frame of a black binding.

I took these pictures very quickly after I pulled the quilt off the long-arm and trimmed the rough edges off. So typical of the way I do things, I misjudged the amount of backing I would need. 

Actually, what I did was to use one strip of tee-shirts on the back so that the quilt would not be so large and heavy. Thank goodness I did! This quilt took five days to quilt. Of course, I did much more babysitting than quilting, and I do have a sinus infection that has me sleeping late every morning. Oh, and I should not forget that I visited the in-laws which always takes a couple of hours.  Nevertheless, I spent a couple of hours every day this week quilting.

Every tee shirt got its own custom quilting design. One has stippling with a small Harley Davidson logo stitched in. Another has palm leaves; the Florida shirt has tiki huts, Texas (maybe) has stars. Memphis has music staffs stippled in. And so on.

There are several advantages to quilting a memory quilt this way. First, it adds to the depth of energy in the quilt and, second, gives the viewer something to look for. Third, it’s great practice for the quilter. Fourth, (my favorite) it’s an opportunity to create new motifs.

For the Alexandria, Louisiana, tee, I created a new motif. The focus of the quilt is the Indian motorcycle logo, so I attempted to recreate the Indian headdress. The first couple are okay but by the time I got to the end of the tee, I’d figured out a few problems and improved the design. 

So why didn’t I rip out the first ones, you ask? Well, it’s too much work but, also, I avoid ripping out because it so easily damages the fabric. Remember, these are old tee-shirts that have been worn and washed many times. They come apart easily if pulled on or poked with the seam ripper. What do you like most about quilt a tee-shirt memory quilt? 

Link Ups!

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!) 

Name tag and Studio Pics

I made a quick name tag to wear at our monthly guild meetings. I've escaped having to do that for several years because I was rarely able to attend. 

Now that I can attend every month and am president, I need to set a good example. Am I right? Besides there's a $1 fine every time I show up without a name tag. That was also okay but, let's face it, the fines will begin to add up now.

I've joined several sewing/quilting groups on Facebook recently. One of them is all about craft rooms. People share their rooms, spaces, closets, wherever they craft. They also discuss ideas and ask questions. Chatting is nonstop. 

I have been enjoying reading these group discussions and have participated in several. Finally I decided it was time to take a few pictures of the studio and share them. 

Then it occurred to me that I had a rough sketch of the floor-plan from when we last worked on it and found it among the many jpeg files I have saved. It may give you an idea of where things are and how I have set up my little work-space. 

Sewing table

Having cleaned up a bit, I thought I'd share them with you, also. The cleaning is far from complete, but maybe it's not so bad that I need to be embarrassed. My daughters-in-law noticed the difference, so there's some progress, anyway.

Accuquilt Studio cutter

Fabric and notions

Ahh, the mess that I'm working on.

 Areas are now well-defined so that each table, shelf, etc. has its job to do. No more of this playing around and thinking, "Well, I can do this here." Or, "If I put this here, I'll remember to come back to it." And, "Maybe I can do two things in this place." I'm finally resolved to keeping things in the area where they belong. 

Thread storage

Innova long-arm machine

I really like this set up and hope I can maintain it until it becomes a habit. There are, surely, some more things to do: figure out what to do with all that extra fabric, give away some of the books that are hanging out under the long-arm, and arrange those odd things that I'm not sure what to do with. All in time, I suppose. 

Next week I'll tell you how I have solved some of the storage problems that come with having lots of stuff.  

Back to Beta and a fabric sale

Convention theme: Beta on My Mind

I'm pretty far behind blogging about the things I've been up to. For example, I haven't reported back on my trip to Beta Convention. I really had a great time catching up with old friends, getting some "away" time, and helping others. 

Visiting state and national officers lined up for an intro

 My job at convention is to manage backstage: call groups to the back, line people up so they are ready when it's time to go on, and get people out of the way (back to their seats) when they're done.

Just a few thousand teenagers

and they love to support their clubs, even
if it means sitting on the floor

 I'm sorry that the pictures are so bad, but it's actually a good thing. These days we post all the pictures that we want, but I still hold by the adage that children don't have the mental capacity to decide for themselves what is safe. 

BHS students who were in the club I sponsored before retiring

Parents are quick to complain and sue if they think their child has been exploited. Of course, that's a parent's job, so I agree. But because there are always those who take things too far, I don't post clear pictures or names of students under the age of 18. Now that I'm retired, I don't have to be concerned so much but old habits tend to hang-on to a person.

When I returned home from convention, I got busy cleaning the studio again. I'm going through some of the fabric that I know I'll never put in a quilt and am trying to sell it online. I've joined several FB groups, some of which allow people to post ads. To find my ad, just click on this link.

Hopefully I'll sell some of this rather than give it away. I can't toss it, that's for certain. I struggle to toss out even the stuff that I know is not good because of stains, fading, damage, etc. I suppose it's time to say I might be a fabric collector!  :)

Pin It Weekly #233

After taking Jolie to get her new pointe shoes and hand-sewing the ribbon and elastic on them, I had ballet on my mind. Of course, that meant finding some ballet shots to add to my Pinterest.

Zsa Zsa Bellagio

When I had a minute to do some pinning, I added a few pins to my "ballet, dance" board.

Marianela Nunez as Giselle

I guess I got a little carried away. My original intention was simply to pin a few pictures and share the board with Miss Prima Ballerina herself, but I just kept pinning. There are over 200 pins on this board, but maybe Jolie will scan through and pick out some favorites for her Snapchat.  In the meantime, I'm having great fun. Hope you do, too.

Myriam Ould-Braham and Mathias Heymann in Cranko’s Onegin

Killing Time and Ballet on Pointe

I finished the Harley Davidson quilt top last week but didn't have the backing fabric that I wanted. While I had a few days of down time, I decided to sew some blue scraps together to make some small blocks. The blue bucket was spilling over. It's not that bad now, but it sure seems that I didn't reduce the volume by much.

I have a new set of rulers that we bought about a month ago. I wanted a 15" square ruler to make cutting tee shirts easier, but the set of four was cheap enough that I got the two smallest rulers at no cost. I didn't think I'd use the small rulers (4" and 6") but found that I was able to put them to use with the blue scraps.

I simply sewed pieces together until I had enough to cut out either 4" squares or 6" squares. Later, when I have time again, I'll make some 10" squares. Then it will be time to decide what to do with them. I've started with 12 of each size and am already finished with the smaller sizes. 

While it seems that I didn't use up a great deal of fabrics, this trash basket holds the cut off. Most are slivers smaller than a 1/2".  

All of that will come back into play when I have the HD quilt finished. Hopefully I'll be able to load it onto the long-arm tomorrow.

On Pointe
Since I needed some backing fabric for the HD quilt and Jolie needed some ballet toe pointe shoes--hers were destroyed in the fire--we decided to make an afternoon trip to Lafayette. Her dance school purchases all of their ballet shoes at The Ultimate, so that's where we headed. 

I loved the store! The two ladies were very kind and helpful. Once they learned that Jolie lost her first pair in the fire and had had them only a month, they gave her a few of the accessories that she needed. 

 The store is beautifully decorated with many ballet shoes in flower arrangements, as part of a collage of photos and mementos, and scattered around the room on small tables and in dishes. I kind of wanted to ask them to let me make an arrangement using some shoes. 

Once we got home, Jolie wasted no time in asking me to do some hand sewing. The sales lady pins the elastic and ribbon in place, but someone has to sew them in. It took me a while to figure how to stitch each piece because the thread is really a thin cord and the inside fabric of the shoe is leather. 

Poke and pull sewing is not fun. It took me an hour to sew in the elastic, so I decided to put the rest of the sewing off until tomorrow. 

Jolie called at 9:30 to beg me to finish so she could dance tonight and "break in the shoes." I don't think she will accomplish that tonight, but who knows. How about this picture of Jolie trying on the shoes. I knew she could stand on pointe, but seeing her with the ballet shoes on and in position really made it hit home. How beautiful is this picture?

Eventually I got the stitching completed. She was extremely happy to race in to pick up the shoes. 

Can you see my stitching on the side of the shoe? There are two places: on top of the elastic where it meets the heel and to the front of the elastic where the ribbon is attached.

 As a child I wanted to learn ballet and have a pair of toe pointe shoes. I guess it is possible to live life through your children and grandchildren. I can only hope that I would have sported a pair as gracefully as my beautiful granddaughter does. 

While I've repaired many strange items and I've made baby booties, I've never finished a pair of real ballet shoes. It was fun and required a bit of creative problem solving, but I think it was a success. 

And because I have a video of Milly on the move, here's a copy

Millie on the Move!