Cheddar Bow-Ties!! 2011 Leader/Ender Challenge!

Every year there is at least ONE quilt that we ALL fall in love with.

This year it was a bowtie using a cheddar solid as a background. Do I have to remind you of how much I love solid cheddar? When I look at antique quilts, those with solid cheddar in them are the ones that jump out at me and straight into my heart.

We decided that this year we would use this quilt as a Leader/Ender project --- not to be completed by this time next year necessarily,but to at least show how far we could get in a year if we used these pieces strictly as leaders and enders in between the seams of other lines of chain piecing on current projects.

This was my first glimpse of this lovely quilt hanging over one of the racks in the antique quilt booth. Did you spy it in the slide show the other day on my post of the antique quilts?

Here it is spread out a bit better….I love that there are no borders, it is just bound with a terrific old indigo blue!

Would you like to join us in the 2011 Bow Tie Challenge? There are no rules, no deadlines, no finished size, no muss no fuss. Basically, all you have to do is cut the pieces ahead of time, keep them by your machine, and when you are in the need of a leader/ender, you’ll use the bow tie pieces and watch them grow in number until this time next year!

Click HERE for printer friendly version!

To get started:

Directions make 3" finished bow tie blocks!

From cheddar background cut: (2) 2” squares.

From bow tie fabric cut: (2) 2” squares and (2) 1-1/4” squares!

((I know 1-1/4” is a strange size,and not one that I keep on hand, so I am cutting all my “sets” for the bow ties from my drawer of 2” strips. I can get the pieces for one bow tie block out of a 2" X 7” strip with 1/2” left over for squaring/trimming!))

Lay the (2) 1-1/4” squares on top of the (2) 2” cheddar background squares as shown….You are going to sew those on the diagonal as for snowball corners!

You don’t have to trim the excess, but I do. These bow ties are going to finish at 3” square, and you don’t want a lot of bulk where these seams are going to come together. I just aim for an approximate 1/4” with my scissors and snip!

The sew the connector units to the bow tie squares in four patch fashion! Press the seams toward the unpieced bow tie squares. Sew the two halves together, and you have ONE bow tie completed!

It takes FIVE seams to complete each bow tie block. So every time you need a leader/ender --- just know that you ARE building something and these ties will add up in no time!

While Lori was working on her Triple Irish Chain quilt this weekend…she was able to complete THESE in no time at all:

Isn’t this going to be fun! I can hardly wait to get home and into my 2” scrap bin to start kitting some of these up. I want to use up a lot of recycled plaids and stripes too.

Out comes the 5 yard piece of solid cheddar I’ve been hoarding!

Lori wants to continue to do hers with cheddar prints, and I’m a solid cheddar girl, so we’ll see how different these look as they take shape!

Randy, getting in on some camera action too! Oh we have had just the BEST time this year!! And this crazy woman is already making 2" finished ((YES FINISHED at 2"!!)) bow ties as HER leader/ender project. Be watching her blog for updates!

Are you game? Let’s do it!

So What Did She Buy?!

Every year I tell myself that I don’t NEED to BUY another quilt…seriously. Where can I put another one? Isn’t enough enough? It’s like adopting kittens, but at least I don’t need to feed them. What will I do with them in the long run? I have no idea --- have one heck of a yard sale at some point I guess, or flood ebay with listings?

I figure they will live with me as long as I need them to live with me. As long as they give me inspiration and add to my life, I’ll rotate them out and enjoy them.

Do I feel guilty about the price? Not really. Most of the ones I buy are on the cheap side, under $100, and I can’t hardly buy good running shoes for much less than that.

My purchases usually stick to the "antique quilt or top" category -- But look! This little quilt is NOT an antique!

There was a booth selling small quilts, and the money was going for scholarships. I spied this one that Kristin made, and snatched it up right away. JUST LOVE IT! Thanks so much, Kristin! It is going live in my studio, I am so happy with this!

I also bought THIS beauty:

I just fell in love with the pattern of this "Jack in the pulpit" variation and the fabrics in it. The sashings look brown, but they were once upon a time green. You can tell when you look close.

One of the things we do when we get home is spread our goodies on Randy's bed for close inspection! I'll let Lori and Randy show their own, so check their blogs for updates.

Some of the fabrics in this quilt are pretty cheesy and loosely woven, but the piecing is pretty dang good! The date on it says circa 1900, but there are fabrics much older than that in this quilt. And that’s how it would be if anyone were dating my scrap quilts 100 years from now. Just this week I was sewing a 30 year old piece of calico I bought in 1981 into a quilt. It’s easy to see how a quilt can contain many decades of wonderful fabrics.

Jack In The Pulpit, Sisters, OR 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

You can click the above to see close ups of my favorite blocks! This quilt NEEDS a bath. And I’ll probably do a soak in the tub with orvis soap when I get it back home just to see if I can help lift some of that old age and plain ole dirty musty-ness out of it.

The backing is homespun! And you can really see the quilting detail on the back side:

It’s a very nice piece of history, an unusual block design, great quilting, and I will love having it around!

I also found this top, for the way too cheap price of $30.00:

The spools are adorable, even if they are plenty lumpy! At some point it looks like someone has added extra blocks to turn this into a top. The fabrics added seem to be from the 1980s. That includes the green border……which may or may NOT need to be removed for me to like it. Maybe it’s growing on me, or maybe it just doesn’t look THAT bad in this picture…but I think I might change it to something else. The other fabrics in the quilt are much older..there are 1930s and 40s and possibly some 50s in here.

I love these giant green polka dots! This block reminds me a lot of the spool block I did for Quiltmaker Magazine a couple months back…only…I wimped out and did NOT use the set in Y seam method. ((Or as I call it the W-H-Y seam method!!))

Isn’t this wild 1940s red FUN! Many of the blocks were hand pieced, and then set together by machine.

Loved this block with the funky stripes too…..and here you can see a bit of that 1980s green border. What do you think? Does it need to go?!

This is a top that is sturdy enough to machine quilt up nice and cute and actually USE it on a bed…so that’s my plan for it.

There were a few other quilts seen around town, here and there that didn’t make it into my previous slide show….so just to re-wet your whistle:

		More Antique Quilts, Sisters 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I wished I could take them ALL home, really --- but just like cats, where would I put them!? Still-- aren’t photos just grea for inspiration?

Best of all, it was fun to share in the excitement with friends who feel the same way about them as I do. It’s infectious!

I already can’t wait for next year…..do you think this quilt will be back again?! We’ll have to wait and find out!

Just a “LITTLE” Walk!

One of the things I love most about coming to Sun River, Oregon is the simple ability to just put on the running shoes, open the front door, and GO. And we do! OFTEN!

I will admit that I wimped out on Sunday ---- I had a low grade headache most of the day and just felt kind of crummy. I think lack of sleep and over excitement just finally made me take an easy day…

But yesterday, Lori, Randy and I headed off in the morning to get some power walking in.

We wanted to head down by the Deschutes River, and the morning was perfect. Can you smell the pines from here? I wasn’t fast enough with my camera, there were several deer hanging out on the edge of the road, and when they saw us get closer, they all moved off into the brush and disappeared.

Lori and Randy stopping a bit in the shade! I just love being surrounded by nature. ((However, that doesn’t include the copious amounts of ants that have invaded Randy’s drive way and patio!! I think the world could do well without ants….just sayin’))

Hot, Sweaty, Dusty, and worth it! And yes, I was the one who thought it was too cold to be out in shorts, so I opted for denim capris….I was regretting it by the time we hit the river, I could have just jumped in! Temps change rapidly in central Oregon. Even though it was really chilly early in the am, it was 80 by the time we hit the river….

How far did we go? 6.6 miles! Whew!!

And in case you think we’ve been slacking on the quilting front? THINK AGAIN!

The machines have been going non-stop every other minute of the time we’ve spent together.

Lori had to leave yesterday afternoon --- we miss her already! We are like a tricycle with two wheels….we are leaning to one side without her as our third wheel to balance us! And I can hardly wait until the end of August when Lori is joining me as my assistant for the Caribbean Cruise I’m teaching on with Sew Many Places! I know the weeks are going to fly and we’ll be together again soon.

Addicted To Scraps! The Low Down!

I love getting emails from my editors!

On Friday, an unexpected fun one came in from June at Quiltmaker --- She said she was doing a feature on the Addicted to Scraps column in their next e-newsletter and it would go live on Tuesday. ((YEP! That’s today!!))

Did you KNOW that Quiltmaker had an e-newsletter? NO!? Well, you better continue reading to find out more about it…..

The Quiltmaker.com website is full of fun information, so be sure to take some time wandering through it and discovering all that is there...and while you are there...be sure to check out my Addicted To Scraps Column links!

And since I can’t make the text in the screen capture above clickable, we’ll make it easy for you…

At Quiltmaker.com click on the Magazines tab and a drop down menu will appear for you to choose either Current Issue or Past Issues to find the different Addicted to Scraps Blocks! HAVE FUN WITH THEM!! And send in your pictures, because just like Fern Hamlin, of South Bend, Indiana, your version of the quilts made with the Addicted to Scraps blocks might just be chosen for a Quiltmaker.com post!

You can also sign up for the free e-newsletters right there on the Quiltmaker.com front page…look for the blue box on the right and fill in your info and you will be set to not miss a single thing!

And just to give you a heads up --- while I’m here in Oregon, I’m working hard on putting together next year’s great selection of scrappy blocks for future issues all the way through 2012! It’s going to be another great year for scrappy fun, so stay tuned!

If you are new here, and followed the link on the above Quiltmaker.com page to find my website or my blog --- Thank you for your visit! I hope you will come back often. There is something quilty going on here on the blog nearly every day. You can find the “Google Friend Connect” widgit in my right side bar. Click it, so you won’t miss a post!

We also have a large group of scrap quilt fanatics on our Quiltville Friends Page for Facebook! If you are on facebook…simply go over the right side bar and find the widgit and click LIKE to join us! If you have a question or a comment for me, you can post it there and I’ll be happy to answer you!

Life is definitely more fun on the scrappy side!

Antique Quilt Paradise!

THIS is the MECCA spot of our yearly visit to the Sisters, Oregon Quilt Show……We’ve been coming for years, and this is the first place we always hit --- early, early, up with the birds.

Many of the quilts aren’t even hung yet when we arrive, eager to see what lovelies will stop us in our tracks as we help unfold, spread out, discover. And we weren’t disappointed!

Remember my telling you that it was something silly like 38 degrees when we woke up on Saturday morning? It didn't deter us from getting in there and seeing all there was to see! The sun did warm up through the day, all the way to about a blissful 81 degrees. I wimped out....wore long jeans and a sweatshirt, but Lori and Randy are seasoned Oregonians and came in SHORTS!

The charm for me about photographing this booth is also the “Forest” approach. I love seeing all of the quilts folded and hung side by side…even more than I love seeing them all spread out individually. Look at these beauties!!

Everywhere you turn, wonderful quilts are hung from tent rails, on fences, folded in piles….Some simply, some extravagant….each one a masterpiece!

Some pieced, some applique, some a combination of both….colors? Oh yes, every color under the sun, and just not one specific time period, but everything from early early 1800’s into the 1950’s!

I am in love with that birds in the air quilt on the bed! Isn’t it great??

Lots of close ups of blocks for study! This one didn’t come home with me, it was outside my price range, but I just LOVED it!

Birds In The Air, Sisters, OR 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Click to view the block close ups! Weeeee!

This quilt was also on the bed when I walked into the booth ((The quilts are stacked many high on the bed, princess and the pea style!)) And if you were walking by it, I’m sure you would have thought to yourself….Oh, Bonnie is going to LOVE this one! And you would have been right! Isn’t it great?

There was one other string star that really caught my eye…..not quite as old as this one, but the use of the tiny tiny strings was just SO fun!

Look at these little tiny slivers added in hodge podge fashion to these string star diamonds! It just sparkles!

I didn’t get a full pic of this one as there was no where to lay it out at this point, but I just was in love with how she almost sewed the strips log cabin or braid style to the diamonds. FUN!

Love the bits of solid red that sparkle here and there….and I think you can see a bit from the red border, that the border was pretty shredded. Great for pics and inspiration but not one that I wanted to take home.

		Sister's Quilt Show Antiques 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

There are more! But take some time to click to view the photos full size….they are wonderful!

Hanging with these girls is just a riot! Here is Randy discovering HER purchases for the day!

Lori, fondling a fabulous border print on an 1800s ohio star with very BRIGHT Chrome Yellow!

And I want to get back to sewing, and we want to take a long walk this morning….so I’ll let you drool over these a while and there will be more to post later!