Piney’s Needle

When I moved home about 12 years ago, to the farm on the Piney River in Pinewood, TN, I started having this dream of a little shop.

It’s a dream that my grannie put in my head and I’ve passed down to my daughter.

I could just see a quilt shop nestled in the pine trees along the river, ladies gathering to sew and quilt, encouraging each other or just chatting.

Maybe…one day.

The name of that shop would be Piney’s Needle.

Well, the river is here, the pine trees, the needles and sometimes, the ladies.  Just need the shop now.

But until there is an actual building, I’ve got the on-line version.  I’ve revamped my quilting blog and will start putting my sewing/quilting themed posts there.  I’m working on getting my Etsy shop up to date and will start selling some of my quilts there.

So hop over to Piney’s Needle and follow my posts there.

Saving a Stitich in Time

About, oh, say 4 or more years ago, my mom cut out the fabric pieces to make three Drunkard’s Path quilts; one for her, one for Grannie, and one for me.  She and Grannie finished theirs up right away and I’ve been trudging along stitch by stitch.

My idea was to make mine, all by hand (pieced and quilted), and give it to Adam for his high school graduation (like I did for Sally).  However, like I did with Sally’s…I didn’t finish it in time for his high school graduation.  But I’m still working.  Click here for a link about the long journey of this quilt.

Well, coming back from the quilt show, I was inspired to get my needle going on this quilt again, but hand piecing just takes so much time.  I know…I love hand piecing and the time it takes is part of the journey, but I’m ready to be done with this journey.  Putting my desire to make the quilt all by hand aside, I went to the machine…first I went to an on-line video and then to the machine.

Things moved much quicker after that.

Here’s the basic blocks.  2 pieces of a square.

I’ve already gone through and marked my 1/4 inch seam on my pieces (not really needed for machine piecing).  With hand piecing you mach the center of the curve, the machine technique is completely different.  With right sides together you match the sides with the small curved piece pointing to the left and the large curved piece pointing to the right.  The trick is to sew the pieces with the bottom piece right up against the 1/4 inch bar on the presser foot.

I set the stitch length very small 1.5, so that the curve could be taken.

As I moved the bottom piece through the machine, I gently guided the top piece and believe it or not, it pretty much follows that curve.  Occasionally I might have to gently tug the top and use my new handy-dandy pointy thing to guide the bottom piece.

At the half-way mark, I pulled the top piece around more firmly, careful not to stretch it.  The video I watched suggested using a long pair of tweezers (like from a serger machine) to handle the top piece because you quickly run out of anything to hold on to.  I couldn’t find mine, so I continued with the pointy thing.

At this point it doesn’t look like it is going to work out.  I had my doubts too!  But by tugging the top piece over and using that pointy thing, it actually did match.  The trick is to now match the sides, keeping them even.

While holding it with that pointy thing, I held the top and bottom piece even and stitched it on through the machine.  (Sorry for the blurry image, hard to take a picture one handed sometimes.)

I iron all my seams to the large piece.

What do you think?  Not too bad I think and I got two blocks done in the just a couple of hours (made up of a bunch of those little blocks)!  Sorry, no pictures of the finished blocks.  One more strip of blocks and a few partial blocks and I just might finish it this year!

Quilt Week 2013 – Quilt Displays

Quilt Week 2013 – Quilt Displays, a set on Flickr.

Here are the first pictures from the quilt show, Paducah, KY. These were the award winners. I don’t have names or quilt patterns for any of these. There were so many people admiring the quilts, all I could do was snap a picture and be pushed along with the tide.

Quilt Week 2013, Paducah KY – The Classes

Quilt Week 2013, Paducah KY, a set on Flickr.

Just a week ago I was recovering from my few days away from my first trip to quilt week, held each year at Paducah, KY.  My last post was about why I wanted to go, in honor of my mother and my grandmother.  You can read about that here.

I scheduled all my classes and registered for the event in January, as kind of a birthday gift for me from them.  However, when I started trying to find a hotel, the task was a bit daunting.  There was literally “no room in inn” for me.  It seems this is a common problem and the Chamber of Commerce of Paducah work with the American Quilters Society and find people in the area that are willing to open their homes to the crazy quilt people.  The lady at the Chamber of Commerce was so helpful, Clara Faye Downs, and after hearing that I was making this journey on my own and why, she promised to find me the perfect family for me to stay with…and she did.

Brent & Sarah Housman opened their doors and welcomed me with opened arms into their home and into their family.  And such a precious family it was.  4 children, ranging from 14 years to 18 months old, have now claimed me as their “quilt lady”.  The sweetest prayers were prayed over me each morning by those children.  I felt welcomed beyond measure.  One more family member made everything complete, Sarah’s mother.  Ms. Mary lives with the family and was the icing on the cake.  We spent quite a bit of time talking about the show and our families….and of course quilting.  God truly blessed me with this family.

I arrived Wednesday afternoon, after having lunch with my son at Murray State University.  My first class was a lecture on using my home sewing machine to quilt.  4:00….I felt comfortable that I had plenty of time.  There was a parking area outside of town where we could leave our cars and they would bus us into the event area.  They were expecting over 32,000 people.  I was a little worried about the traffic, but it really wasn’t so bad.  I made it to the parking area  but unfortunately, what I didn’t know was that the buses ran about 30 minutes prior to the scheduled classes…so of course, I missed the bus.

Should I drive on my own and try to make it, having no idea where I was going or how bad the traffic would be?

I was standing in  a large warehouse (finding out about the busing) and realized that it was the Quilt in a Day warehouse.  (Photos on the Flickr site above.)  I only know about a handful of “famous” quilters.  Eleanor Burns is on that list.  I’ve only done one of her blocks for a sampler that several ladies did in our county for the local quilt show.  However, my mother loved her….or seemed to since she had most of the books and had done many of her patterns.  Those books and patterns are now in my library…along with a couple of her books that I already had.

One of these books holds a special memory for me.  See that one on the bottom, that looks like it’s got air-mail tape around the edges?  That one got used a lot by Mom.  She just about wore it out.

  

As you can, she had to doctor the book some.  I love finding her notes in the books about what she made and who for.

But this book got used differently toward the end of her life.  When Mom was too weak to go into the kitchen to eat her meals, Daddy would bring them to her, and she would pull out this book and use it as a table of sorts.

Standing there in the warehouse, I had to decide to rush downtown and hope to find parking and where I needed to be….or go right across the parking lot and attend a free presentation by….Eleanor Burns, starting at 4:00!

Guess which one I attended?

I slipped into the back and right me behind me was the woman herself preparing for her presentation and she put on a great show (see the photos above).  I stayed through most of it, but towards the end I went back to the warehouse.  It was fairly empty since most people were at the show.  I just wondered around looking at all the fabrics….soooo many fabrics.  I pretty much fell in love with the quilt that was in her presentation, the quilt on the cover of Quilts from El’s Kitchen.  My thoughts were that it would make a good class to teach since it was a sampler.

A sales lady approached and asked me about my hair.  She said she tried so hard to get the streaking in her hair like I had in mine….you know, the gray/white streaks.  We laughed…she knew my white was all natural.  She was putting together a display of the book mentioned above and precut kits of all the material needed to make that quilt.  There was a sign that said Eleanor would be there after the show to sign books.  I wanted a book and I wanted to meet Eleanor…God put me in just the right spot.  I was first in line.

I got to share with her Mom’s story and it seemed to mean a lot to her.

Unfortunately, I decided to wait about buying the precut kit.  I mean…it was my first stop!  Surely I would fall love just as quickly at my next…and my next…and my next.  I didn’t.  I kept thinking of that quilt done in all vintage 1930s prints.  But by the time I made it back to the store the next day…all the kits were gone and all that line of fabric.

Guess I wasn’t the only one that fell in love.  So I did what any good quilter would do….I just simply bought other fabric.

I came away from quilt week excited to put to work the new applique stitches and techniques I had learned (shown in the Flickr photos) and a desire to do the El’s Kitchen quilt, the material to do it and the material to do another purple quilt for pancreatic cancer awareness (all bought at either Eleanor Burns shop or warehouse).

It was a great show.  I would have liked to have had someone with me, just to say “oh…look at that!”….maybe next year.

For the Ladies

I’m getting ready to go on an adventure..actually I should be packing right now.  I’ve been putting that part off until the last minute, because, honestly…when you’re going away for a 4 day quilt show/retreat…who cares what you wear?  I’ve been more concerned with what material I’m taking with me and making sure I have it all ironed before I pack it away.  Then finally at midnight last night, I simply just picked all my favorite colors and put them in the case.  I’ll decide later what I’m going to use.

Traditions have a very strong pull for me.  I can’t recall off hand how many American Quilter’s Society quilt shows my mom, my grandmother, and I attended when they held their shows in Nashville, however every year I made sure I was in Tennessee the last weekend of August (while I was living out of state).  The three of us would go every year and the kids when they were younger and forced to go too.  Sally seemed to enjoy the shows, but then she is more artistic with needle and thread, even at a young age.  I have pictures of Adam with his GameBoy sitting on the floor in the aisle.  He would sit at the end of the aisle while we were oohing and aahing over everything  and wait for us, then go to the end of the next aisle and wait for us again.  The last show in Nashville, it was just me, Mom, & Dad.  Grannie just wasn’t able to go, but she wanted to see all the pictures afterwards and see what we bought.

Grannie said that some people say that they won’t attend another quilt show until they use up all the patterns and materials they bought at the last…but then we’d never get to go to another show since we always had projects going and sometimes finished…but mostly not!  So we didn’t go by that rule.  Well, Mom could have gone by that rule, because she always finished her projects…I’m more like Grannie in that area.

Grannie was in a wheelchair for these shows and it was an honor to guide her through the stalls of supplies and displays of quilts.  We always had our picture made at the event and this morning I happened to come across one of those pictures.

So today, I leave for a trip that the three of us talked about going on many, many times.  I’m headed to AQS Show, Quilt Week, in Paducah, KY.  I’m taking classes and listening to lectures, walking through displays and booths and just soaking up the inspiration.

And I’m remembering those that taught me with needle and thread, with their own beautiful creations.

I take them with me today, their hands will work with mine and I’ll be using their materials in my classes.  (4 generations of women that worked/work with needle & thread in this picture)

And because I couldn’t find a hotel room, some wonderful people have opened up their home for me to stay with them.  Someone said that I was brave to be staying with complete strangers, but it was completely a God thing, so there is no fear and I’m excited to see what God is going to do with me this week through His orchestration of this situation.

I’ll be posting lots of pictures on Instagram if you want to follow me there.  Got to go pack and hit the road!!!

Anguish to Joy – James – Mercy Triumphs

About 2 years ago, I had the opportunity to be in a couple of the filmings for the Beth Moore bible study, James – Mercy Triumphs.  That is the same time frame where I was pretty much a basket case, spiritually and mentally.  I was looking for something to bring me out of the pit of despair that I was in and I figured if Beth Moore couldn’t do it, no one could.  So I went.

I finally decided to do the study and see if the cameras picked up my teared stained face.

Thankfully…they didn’t!  I don’t see how they didn’t, because I seem to recall crying from the moment Beth started to teach.

I just love Beth and so far, every one of her studies have been life changing for me.

There’s the back of my head (to the left, above “Romans”).  No white hair in the back (then!)…I didn’t plan it that way.  I finally just got tired of trying to cover the white in the front and stopped dying my hair.  I have naturally white streaks in my hair that start in the front and are growing at a rather alarming rate.  I call them my “power streaks”.  You know, like Rogue, from the X-Men?  The more I use my power, the whiter & wider that streak gets.  Oh my, I didn’t realize I had used so much power until today!!

 

Anyway…I watched the video for session 3 last night, expecting a flood of tears again, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what caused me to cry so much at the taping.  I mean, the session was really good, but it didn’t bring the onslaught of tears like the first time I heard it.  In fact, it spoke in some completely different ways to me this time.

Oh, I know that the topic of anguish and joy two years ago triggered all the emotions from just losing Mom & Grannie…that is why I cried so much then, I was focused more on the anguish of her teachings than the joy.  But this time, I focused on the joy side of Beth’s teachings.

James 1:2-3…My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience (KJV)

HCSB – Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

NLT – Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

I’m no Bible scholar, but do you see that there are different translations in these three versions?

“Divers temptations – Various trials – Troubles”

So is it a trial, temptation or does it not matter…you just know that you’re in trouble?  No matter what it is, I like the NLT’s version, that it becomes an opportunity for great joy.

Beth teaches that joy and anguish can co-exist, can trade places, and can morph into each other.  I like that.  What starts out as anguish can be changed to joy….like the birth of a child….or a passion….or a restoration of a relationship.  Like childbirth, when you think you can’t stand the anguish another minute…then it happens…joy arrives.

I think most people would say that they are living with lots of anguish.

Don’t give up!

Look for the joy that can co-exist with anguish or the anguish that can be traded for joy.

Wait for that moment when anguish explodes and joy dances!

Memories of a Little Girl

When Leah showed up at my house several months ago…well over a year now I’m sure…I wasn’t sure what I was really going to do with her treasures.  Two buckets, one of men’s clothes and one of a little girl’s.  You can read about Chris’ quilt by clicking “here”.    I focused on the men’s clothing first and made Chris’s Memory Quilt.  Then we decided on a pattern for the memory quilt for Leah’s daughter.  There was no rush, as long as it was done before her graduation.

Ya’ll….graduation is next month!

Anna has decided to do some mission work, so her mother wanted to do a quilt with a cross prominent on it….so we did lots of crosses…or plus signs…but for this quilt, they are crosses.

I laid out all the clothes getting a color scheme, lots of pinks, of course, and light colors.  Most of the clothes are from Anna’s very early years and preschool.  I had some fun with the little outfits (after that first snip-snip of those precious clothes).  See that little stripped block?  That’s the little cap Anna wore right after she was born, the one the hospital puts on the baby’s head.

I cut up the outfits, cutting mostly up the seams and around the collar.  Then laying it flat, I tried to get at least 3 – 3inch blocks off each piece…some were too small for up to 3, so I got one 1 block of some things…even little stockings!  For those outfits that had little buttons or smocked fronts, I tried to highlight those in the 5-piece block making up the cross.

I laid out all the blocks (and only knocked them off to the floor a couple of times, referring back to these photos to see how I had them laid out).  I had to completely lay out the blocks before starting to sew, making sure I got the pattern right (only having to rip some out twice when I turned them wrong when sewing).

So, here it is…all pieced together.  I didn’t measure it last night, but it’s laid across the end of my queen size bed in the photo, almost up to where my pillows are laying, so it will be a nice size for a college girl to cover up under in her college dorm.

Here’s some close-ups of the blocks.  The blue is from the skirt of a cheerleading outfit.

I was able to get some of the little pockets into my blocks!

But this one is my favorite, with the pink bow and buttons.

Now for the quilting!