Our cabin quilt hangs on the back of the couch, ready to be snuggled under.
Fergusons’ Carolina Cabin 1996
We are in North Carolina at our mountain cabin in the High Country, between Boone and Banner Elk, the source of inspiration for this quilt. As usual, one of the first things we did was check the quilt to see if it had suffered any noticeable wear and tear from our guests. As usual, the quilt was fine and we took a quick stroll down memory lane as we examined it. Continue reading
I hope you are not yet tired of the details of Sewing at the Beach 2011 because I am still enjoying the fresh memories of a great school.
The young man in the handsome blazer was a doll and a great escort for the cutie pie in the smocked dress. She had been well-coached to smile at people. But the minute her eyes turned away from a member of the audience, her dazzling smile warped into bored fatigue. It was late for little ones.
As a wrap up, I would like to share with you a few photos of the students projects, fashion show and banquet table party favors.
Then I want to introduce you to living proof that sewing is, indeed, a bona fide Elixir of Youth.  Continue reading
Antique lace and embroideries are my favorite things in the whole world, after grandchildren and chocolate. I love the fine workmanship, the intricacy of patterns, the elegant combinations of laces and embroidery.
This is part of a 90" petticoat hemline. Surely it must have been allowed to peek out from under a skirt. This is an exquisite trim, further embellished with 6 tiny tucks above the edge.
Actually, I love everything about them.   So this lacy sort of crazy patch quilting is a natural outlet for my appreciation and use of the materials.
An earlier post addressed the quilt shown at the left,  In the Pink, so I won’t go into details about it. But since one of the classes I will be teaching at Sewing at the Beach, in Myrtle Beach, SC, is titled Lace Crazy Patch, I wanted to share with you photos of some of the lovely textiles that will be included in the student kits.
Today’s laces are beautiful, no doubt. But I think back to comments made some time ago by Joyce Oakley, who at that time had been vice president of Capitol Imports for several years. She explained that the number of background patterns in a lace contribute mightily to the cost. In today’s market, the lace becomes so expensive that it is almost impossible to generate enough sales to offset the cost of making the elaborate laces of yesteryear. Continue reading
Posted in antique textiles, heirloom sewing, quilts
My Puerto Rican friend Haydee made this cheery set for her kitchen. The set hangs on the wall, adding color and warmth to the decor. Meanwhile, it is ready in an instant for coffee or tea with a drop-in friend.
The centerpiece is thick enough to protect her table from a hot tea pot and the button-on coasters are always handy.
As mentioned in earlier posts, Haydee is relatively new to sewing and machine embroidery. Applique’ seems to be her passion.
She has an innate sense of color and balance. I especially appreciate her attention to detail, as evidenced by her placement of the red coaster border at the upper edge of the top coasters and the lower edge of those on the bottom. Continue reading
Posted in home dec, machine embroidery, quilts
Laurel did not finish her quilt before she and her brother went home today. But she did manage to stitch out this quilt label.
While their parents enjoyed a mini vacation to celebrate their 15th anniversary, our grandchildren gave us four fabulous, fun filled, hectic days.
Aside from doing their regular homeschool work, Laurel quilted with me and Robert worked on a woodworking project with his grandfather.  They roasted marshmallows over a roaring bonfire, made 5-minute artisan bread (recipe below), spent an afternoon at the library….and more.
Grandchildren are such fun. They make us feel so young when we are with them, and so old–and tired–after they have gone home. Now Bob and I need a mini vacation.
Today, in a flurry of activity before our time ran out, Laurel managed to stitch out her quilt label. Because her sweet little Brother PE 300S machine has only a 4×4 embroidery field, she stitched the label on my ULT2003D, using the largest hoop. She loved the upgrade but confided that she is more comfortable with her own machine. Continue reading
Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, quilts, recipes
Laurel with finished quilt top
Laurel is so eager to finish her quilt. Even though she hasn’t taken a nap for 3 1/2 years, she declares that she needs one now and wants her quilt for a cover.   So we are rushing to finish this project so the poor child can get some rest.
Yesterday, she finished joining all the blocks together and today managed to sew on the borders. She is sewing on a wonderful little Brother machine, a Pacesetter 300S. The machine is probably 10 years old but it is a honey.
This petite sweet thing weighs only 11 pounds, making it very portable. It has an embroidery unit with a 4 x 4 field, several built in alphabets, more than 70 built in designs and more than 30 stitches, including a pin stitch and other heirloom favorites.  The original suggested manufacturer’s retail price was $2500, and worth every penny. Recently I saw the new and improved version at WalMart with built in Disney designs for just $450! If I didn’t have this one in perfect working order, I’d be tempted to snatch up this bargain.  It is just a great little machine.
The quilt design I came up with works so well for children or beginning quilters. With 7 machine embroidered redwork designs and 8 foundation pieced blocks stitched on 10″ squares, it was easy to cut them down to 9″. Had there been any major mistakes, they could have been selectively reduced to 7″ or 8″.   Continue reading
Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, quilts
Tagged child quilter, tips junior for quilter
sewing blocks together
Laurel is making her first quilt. I don’t know who is more excited, my little granddaughter or her Nana.
We started this project mid-summer as part of our homeschool curriculum. While she sewed, 5 year old Robert had shop class with Granddad. But one thing and another seemed to impede our progress and by the end of September, she had only embroidered 9 blocks, more than enough for this quilt.  But piecing had not yet begun.
Children do not have great attention spans. I learned long ago when teaching my Rebecca to sew that they need completion in a relatively short period of time. By Oct. 1, Laurel’s quilt was already in overtime as we began piecing. She absolutely loved selecting the fabric strips and sewing up those blocks.  I knew we had to keep our momentum and wrap this up soon.
But it’s football season.  On Saturdays, our family gathers here to watch the  day’s games so very little sewing gets done. The Florida had a bye this week—a blessed relief for the Gator Nation considering the way the season is going—so we could enjoy college football without biting our nails and groaning and wailing. This also gave me a chance to sew today with Laurel, whose limited but growing knowledge of college football prevented her from understanding that the Gators did not play today. Still, she arrived decked out with her Gator cap and ever-faithful game day companion, Gator Barbie. Continue reading
Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, quilts, techniques
Recently, there was a post entitled Flannel Board Quilting. This quilt a variation of that technique which I so enjoy.
The technique of what I call flannel board quilting requires a solid fabric (a wholecloth quilt top) with a carefully measured grid for placement of raw edged pieces. These are then stitched in place and the raw edges covered with decorative stitching. It is a simple, almost primitive technique, though there is nothing primitive about this quilt. Continue reading
Posted in home dec, machine embroidery, quilts, techniques
24″ quilt for American Girls dolls
I’ve always wished I could come up with a catchier name for this technique, but Flannel Board Quilting is the best I can do. Through the years in various classes taught and articles written, I have called it Grid Quilting or Faux Quilting, but none of those titles pleased me any more than Flannel Board, which has a meaningful basis.
 But enough about the name. This is a very useful technique for quick and easy projects. Let me tell you about it.
The idea for this method originated from a request by sweet Debbieanne Prusserman, hostess of the New England Academy of NeedleArts doll school held on Cape Cod some years ago. Mildred Turner and I were the teachers and had been charged with designing an American Girl’s wardrobe. The school was fabulous and we had a grand time, staying in Debbieanne’s historic 1790 home and teaching in her studio with a group of wonderful ladies. Continue reading
Posted in home dec, machine embroidery, quilts, techniques
Tagged AG doll quilt. American Girl doll quilt, mini quilt, quick quilt
made for me by my teenage daughter (Liberty from my stash) while I was out of town. It is flat but was flapping in the breeze.
This triple Irish Chain quilt was made by my daughter, Rebecca, when she was 16 years old. Fifteen years ago, it was my birthday present. It was also my Liberty of London tanna lawn, but no matter. My Liberty is Rebecca’s Liberty. And I love this quilt.
Rebecca was introduced to needlework at age 5. She smocked a little bonnet and bishop dress for her favorite doll, an Alice in Wonderland by Madame Alexander.  Alice in Wonderland. Becca always called her Allison Wonderland.
