As I stated in Amazing Grace, I started about 4 different quilts before I settled on the one for that occasion. This was one of the quilts I started. Yet, when I posted a picture of the first block, the Barbara Frietchie star, to Facebook, one of my great nieces said that she loved it.
Well, generally, family takes precedence and, since I had already given both her brothers their quilts, I decided it was time for her to get hers.
It's interesting that the purpose for which I originally purchase fabric is not necessarily what it becomes, or for whom. this batch of fabric went through a couple of different recipients before it became my niece's. I had purchased the dark green, brown and yellow fabric, but when I looked at the block pattern again, I realized that I needed another colour. I found this red in my stash that was left over from my Canada 150 quilt, and felt that it worked quite well. This is the first quilt I planned on using the farm panel in, but the unit clerk's impending retirement made Farm Friendship a higher priority. Personally, I prefer this one over that one. But I designed them both myself.
I fiddled with the brown fabric to make all of the pieces with the farms right side up. It worked in the Barbara Frietchie blocks, but not in the flying geese. I used the no-waste method and I couldn't figure out if it was even possible to end up with all of the farms oriented in the same direction. So, it didn't happen. As my mother used to say, "A blind man will never see it." And I used the easy eight method for the HSTs in the Barbara Frietchie blocks. Originally, I was going to use part blocks of the Barbara Frietchie star to surroud the panel and not use the flying geese, but then felt this might look better. And I'm pleased with the results.
The quilt is packed up now and hopefully, I will get it in the mail tomorrow.
Under ordinary circumstances, I try to coordinate the backing and the pantograph with the quilt top. But this, this is no ordinary circumstance.
What can you do, what can you say when you find out that a young friend has been taken advantage of sexually by a pastor she knew and trusted? And it devastated her to the point where she attempted suicide. And I knew him as well, at least I thought I did. I ate in his home, I laughed with him, shared with him and prayed with him. But I guess none of us really knew him. My feelings ranged from being dumbfounded, to murderous rage, to heart-rending grief. And what do you do with those impotent emotions?
Quilting has long been my creative outlet - for stress, anxiety, depression and compassion. It started as just a hobby, but has become almost an obsession because I can use it to work out toxic emotions and frustrations. For me, when the going gets tough, the tough get quilting. I have made quilts for people who have lost a loved one, for people experiencing health challenges. But this is the first time I have made a quilt for such a reason. So, this quilt is rather unique.
First, I found out that the young lady's favourite colour is dark turquoise. Well, I had plenty of leftovers from Audacious (and still do), which includes dark turquoise. I had picked up a second panel with Bible texts/inspirational thoughts and I wanted to include something from there in this quilt. So, I had to find a pattern that I could fit it into, preferably one that would work up quickly.
I turned to my vast library and came up with the book, Supersize 'Em by Debby Kratovil. I decided to use the Starry Starry Brights pattern, because I could fit the panel in the middle. I had to use partial seams to do it, but those are a lot easier than Y-seams! I eliminated the final border because I just wanted a throw size quilt and with this border, it would have been bigger than I wanted.
I had to decide which Bible verse I wanted to include and had narrowed my choice down to "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10, and "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13. I finally settled on Philippians 4:13 because I wanted to give her courage that, with Christ in her life, she can get through anything.
I had plenty of the Stonehenge Solstice fabric, but no pieces big enough to make a backing. And as I pondered this quilt, I thought about the fact that this young lady is still a teenager, and decided that it needed a backing that would liven it up. The Stonehenge fabric is beautiful, but it is rather solemn. So, I found this.
There was some of the same fabric in a dark turquoise, but not enough for backing. This one still has dark turquoise in it and it's very cheerful. I had a hard time convincing myself to use this as a backing fabric because it really doesn't coordinate with the quilt top. But the goal was liveliness and cheerfulness, and I decided to go with it.
Then I had to decide on a pantograph. What would coordinate with both the top and backing? Nothing! I could have chosen a nondescript feather or swirl or paisley. But this young lady is entering nursing school this fall and I do want to let her know that she still has a life and a future and not to lose sight of her goals. So, I went with Lady with the Lamp.
You can see the nursing cap in this picture, plus part of an ECG tracing (above and below the nursing cap to the right) and the end of a stethoscope on the left. Also included are bandaids and needles/syringes. A fun pantograph by Dave Hudson from Urban Elementz. I love how the nursing cap ended up right in the centre of the quilt. Even though we don't wear caps any more.
Finally, I had to come up with a name for this quilt. Starry Starry Brights didn't work because the quilt top really isn't bright. A lot of the Stonehenge fabric has stone-like texture, so I played around with that a bit, and came up with The Solid Rock. There are many Bible texts and hymns that liken Jesus to a solid rock, and I wanted my young friend to remember that Jesus can be depended on, He never fails. And, of course, there's this hymn.
Another signature quilt for a colleague that's retiring. This time it's a unit clerk on acute care. And I surely will miss her. She's a great unit clerk, as well as a wonderful person. But I wish her well. She's also a quilter. She makes rag quilts out of flannel, and makes one for each acute care nurse that retires. So, I definitely could not let her retire without receiving a quilt of her own, though I'm not planning on taking up her mantle and start making quilts for the retiring acute care nurses. Technically, I'm part of the home care team and will spend enough time and money making quilts for my team, in addition for all of my other projects.
I find it interesting when I start out making a quilt for someone, and decide I like it too well and plan to keep it. So, I have to come up with another quilt to gift to the individual, and end up producing something that I think will suit them even better. That happened with Amazing Grace, and it happened with this one. Originally, I was going to give the recipient Fiesta, and I think anyone would be happy with that one. I certainly am. And then I started on this one. And I found out how much she likes horses. So, this quilt is perfect.
I have several of this panel, and am in the process of using another one for a quilt for one of my great nieces. But for this one, I had to decide what to surround the panel with that would work for signatures. I wanted something that would work up relatively quickly. Then I found this MSQC video.
Yes, I could make the Friendship Braid work, using solid cream coloured fabric as alternate strips for the signatures. And for the print strips, since this panel is an autumn scene, I was able to use leftovers from my daughter's quilt. I didn't quite have enough, but did have enough of the black print that I used for the binding as well as some of the setting triangles and some strips.
Here's the backing:
I really love it when I can coordinate a quilt so well, including the pantograph.
This is Wild Horses Grande by Deb Geissler from Urban Elementz. I debated on this one versus Mustang Stampede from Meadow Lyon, and this one won out (they've changed Mustang Stampede, by the way - the one in the link is the newer version, which I don't like quite as well, and it's 15" so would be about the limit of my throat space).
Now I have to try and keep this quilt a secret while gathering signatures.
By the way, in case you can't read it, the backing says, "Count Your Blessings" and "Be Grateful for All Things". Isn't that a great message? Every time I worked with it, I started singing.
I honestly did not set out to make a quilt block that looks like a Transformer. It's actually supposed to be a tulip. A Tennessee Tulip, to be precise. But my choice of fabrics for this Sew Along resulted in this block looking more like a Transformer than a tulip.
See what I mean? I have therefore nicknamed this block Tulip the Decepticon. It's Brackman 785.7, if you know what that means. Brackman, as in Barbara Brackman, the author of the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. I finally own my own copy, the newest third edition, just out last year. As someone who loves trying new blocks, this comprehensive volume has been on my Amazon wishlist for quite some time. But then I found out that Electric Quilt was bringing out a new edition. Why pay $150 for a used second edition when I can get a brand new third edition for far less than that? Yay! In addition, they also brought out an updated version of the BlockBase software, Blockbase+. Double yay! So, instead of drafting the blocks myself from 2" line drawings, I have software that will print out rotary cutting instructions, foundation pieces and/or templates in whatever size block I want. That makes me a very happy quilter!
And then I found out that Electric Quilt was having a sew along to teach participants how to use the BlockBase+ software. What better way to learn the software that learning by doing? So, I joined in.
This are the fabrics I chose for the project. And here's the first block, Brackman 1273.
Since some blocks have many names, and some names refer to several different blocks, Barbara Brackman assigned each block a number. That way it's much easier to keep track of which block is being referred to.
But before I started this sew along, Bernina started an Old Block Quilt Along. I don't usually join in on these things because I generally have more than enough projects on the go. But I love old, traditional blocks, and I love trying new blocks. Besides, at the end of the year, I could win a Bernina! What's not to love about that? Owning a newer Janome, and a Brother (plus my vintage Singer...), I figured I would give the Bernina to my daughter if I won it. She just had a cheaper Singer, but then she told me that she bought herself a heavy duty Singer, plus she will someday get my mother's Janome, which is currently in my possession, and I figured I will keep the Bernina if I win it. I can't have my daughter owning more sewing machines than me. LOL!
So, here are the fabrics I purchased to use in the Bernina project:
These fabrics are stunning and I think I could make the ugliest quilt blocks around and people would still love them just because of how beautiful the fabrics are.
Here's the first block, Brides Bouquet.
By the time I made up my mind to join these projects and purchased the fabric, I had some catching up to do.
Quilter's Delight
Bird's Nest, which I christened Rat's Nest, because it was such a mess. Still people loved the block just because the fabric is so pretty.
Cross and Star. So, having caught up on the Bernina project, I then had to catch up on the BlockBase+ one.
Brackman 2898
Brackman 1638
Brackman1915b.
The Bernina Quilt Along is one or two blocks a month over a year, for a total of 20 blocks (I think) and the quilt will be a maximum of 60"x80". The blocks are different sizes, so it will be interesting to see how they are all arranged together.
The BlockBase+ Sew Along, on the other hand, has only 8 blocks, one block every 2 weeks. The participants can chose what size to make the blocks. I chose a uniform 12" for all of the blocks and decided to add more blocks to make it at least a throw size.
Brackman 1232, one of my own additions. There are some incredibly challenging quilt blocks in this book.
Morning Star. Still having to keep up with the Bernina project.
Brackman 2328, another one of my additions. I messed this one up because it should have had two of the solid purple triangles on the top and bottom, and two of the print triangles on the sides, instead of one of each on all four sides. But with all of those bias edges, I didn't really want to start ripping out seams. And I really wasn't that happy with my choice to use all purple fabrics.
Brackman 3953. This one used a combination of foundation paper piecing, regular piecing and applique. And I think it's a truly amazing block. I likely would have never attempted some of these more challenging blocks if I didn't have BlockBase+, but this is one I chose to include.
Mill and Stars. For the Bernina Quilt Along, my goal is to use some of all 7 of the fabrics (6 coloured fabrics, plus the grey texture for background) in each block. (The 8th fabric in the picture, the border print, is for the backing). This makes it challenging to keep it from looking like a "rat's nest" because the fabrics are rather busy. But I'm hoping I learned from the Bird's Nest block.
Brackman 2734. For the BlockBase+ Sew Along, I chose not to use all of the fabrics in each block, generally following the guidelines for the number of fabric choices by the number of colours in the book and software.
Because I got started on making some of the most challenging quilt blocks in Brackman's Encyclopedia, I asked in a Facebook Quilting group for recommendations on what they considered challenging quilt blocks. Someone recommended Brackman 3806.5. This one has 8 mini stars, each less than 2 inches square, as part of the design, including 8 tiny Y-seams! There is no way to make these stars using foundation paper piecing. I tried using the templates, but the pieces are so small that it's virtually impossible to stitch on a sewing machine. Hand stitching? Not my forte. And then I thought of English paper piecing. Yes, it's still hand stitching, but the cardstock would give a little more structure to the pieces while being stitched. So, the above picture is the first of the mini stars. Far from perfect, but still recognizable as a star. You'll have to watch this blog to see if I actually end up completing this block.
Meanwhile, I've got several quilts that are works in progress and I want to get them finished, so I'll get to those projects and put these blocks on the back burner for now.
I hadn't intended to enter the Johnson's Sewing Centre quilt challenge this year. I pretty well always have more than enough projects of my own to complete, without joining QALs, BOMs or quilt challenges. But I intended to make a signature quilt by making HST units from a charm pack of print and a charm pack of white. And this year, the challenge fabric was a charm pack of bright, cheerful tonal fabrics. Perfect, so I decided to "kill 2 birds with one stone" and bought the challenge charm pack.
The challenge is that you have to use some of each fabric on the front of the quilt and you can add whatever other fabrics that you want and the quilt can be whatever size you want. Some entrants even made bags and clothing.
I had a pretty good idea what I was going to do with the centre of my quilt. I just had to determine what to do with the rest of it. I already had the solid white charm pack in my stash, and ordered 8 different coordinating colours of Kona from Mad About Patchwork. The ideas for what to do just sort of progressed as the quilt did. It was already March when I started my project and entries were due by March 31, so I didn't have time for really elaborate stuff. But if I wanted to win, it needed to have the "wow factor." And I think it does. How can you miss with those colours?
I wasn't sure what I was going to call this quilt. Initially, I was thinking "Whirlwind" after the centre motif, but as the quilt grew, I felt it was taking on a Latin American "flavour" and so ended up with Fiesta. To coordinate with this, I quilted it with the pantograph "Sol" by Patricia Ritter for Urban Elementz. Sorry, I didn't snap a close up of the quilting.
The only unfortunate thing is I think I like it too much to give it away. So, I have started on a different signature quilt. If you want to view all of the entries in this quilt challenge, you can view them on Johnson's Sewing Centre's Facebook page. There are some amazing entries this year, pretty stiff competition. And if you want to vote for mine, it's number 27.
Well, no, I haven't gone golfing. Aside from mini golf and a very brief try on my Wii, I've never been golfing, and likely never will. The title of this post refers to this quilt.
A member of our management team is retiring and I determined to make her a signature quilt. No one seemed to know her favourite colour(s) from which to compose her quilt, but then I remembered that she likes to golf. It's not very easy to find golf-themed fabric. I don't know why. But I was able to find this pattern by googling. I could pay and download it right away, which was important since the recipient didn't give us much notice. So, I really didn't have time to wait for a pattern - or fabric, for that matter - to arrive in the mail. And I could also figure out how to turn this quilt into a signature quilt by changing the squares into signature blocks.
I was dropping off my Fiesta quilt, which I haven't blogged about yet, at Johnson's Sewing Centre in Edmonton for their quilt challenge and checked out their sale fabric section. Yes, they had the colours I needed in batiks. I picked up the Deb's Golf pantograph at Sparrow Quilt Co on the same trip, and found some appropriate backing fabric at Fabricland. The pink, the cream for the signatures, the white for the golf balls, the grey for the clubs and the batting all came from my stash.
I really love being able to coordinate my pantograph with the theme of my quilt.
I chose green for the thread colour, because what other colour could represent golf? However, if I had to do it over again, I may have chosen a thread that matched the light blue. It wouldn't have stood out as much. But I'm still happy with it. And I'm hoping the recipient will be, too.
Another signature quilt is in the works because we have a unit clerk retiring in July. She has made rag quilts for every nurse in acute care that has retired, so I asked the unit manager if there was anyone besides me that would make her a quilt. No, there isn't and I can't let her retire without getting her own quilt.
The husband of a friend from my homeschooling days was dying. We weren't really close friends and I hadn't spoken to her in years. We lived in different communities, attended different churches, and I was on a dramatically different path from what I had been when we knew each other. I went from being a homeschool mom and "housewife" to divorced career woman. Regardless, I still considered her a friend, so, when I heard the bad news about her husband, I determined to make her a quilt.
I actually started four different quilts before finally settling on this one. And I really think it's the best one for the sad occasion.
A few years ago, I purchased a panel that was composed of several smaller panels with words: Amazing Grace, the Prayer of Serenity, the Prayer of St. Francis, the Beatitudes, plus some smaller pieces that could be quilt labels and bookmarks. I had never used any of it before, but figured this was a good occasion to use Amazing Grace. So, I rummaged around in my stash trying to find something that would work with it. I found a quilt kit that I thought I could make work. It consisted of 4-patches on point in a square, alternating with fussy cut squares from a fabric that was printed as a cheater double wedding ring quilt. The instructions said to fussy cut 32 squares, but I figured I could get by with less, since I was adding a small panel. However, when I started cutting it, I realized that I was only going to get 16, or 20 at most out of the fabric, nowhere near what I needed. So, I decided not to fussy cut and try just cutting regular squares, but that looked terrible with the printed pattern. Then I pulled another fabric out of my stash that I could use as a focus fabric for the alternate squares instead. Meanwhile, I was noticing the poor quality of most of the fabric from the quilt kit: thin, cheap, not quilt-shop quality. And the alternate yardage that I pulled from my stash was even worse - it was so thin you could see through it! That stuff was given to me and I hadn't paid that much attention to it when I received it. Now I realized that there was no way I could gift a quilt made out of such cheap junk. I would use it some day to practice free motion quilting. Or something. But definitely not for a gift quilt!
Back to the drawing board and back to the stash. This time I decided to try one of the stained glass panels that I have as I had purchased sufficient fabric to coordinate with the panel.
It's interesting that I had not long before this spoken with my co-worker, who is a potter, about not being able to part with certain projects. And this was one of mine. I have never had such a strong reluctance to part with a quilt. And I don't even know what colours my friend likes. What if she doesn't like purple? Or green? What if this quilt doesn't speak to her heart the way it speaks to mine? Somehow I just didn't feel that this was the right quilt for my friend.
Rummaging once more in the stash, I next started Home on the Farm, a quilt for which I had all of the fabric I needed.
But when I posted the first finished Barbara Frietchie block to Facebook, one of my great nieces, who has yet to receive a quilt from me, loved it, as well as the panel I was coordinating it with.
And so this quilt will likely go to her. Originally, I had planned on just surrounding the panel with the blocks, but wasn't sure if I would like the final look. And instead I added the flying geese, which I'm quite happy with. We'll see how it looks when it's finished.
I decided to go back to the Amazing Grace panel and try some other sort of stained glass look. Then I remembered some cuts of batiks that I had purchased in rainbow colours. I thought they were full metres, but it turned out that they were half metres. And that was sufficient, except that I ended up doing some creative piecing because of incorrect cuts. And I had my bolt of black Kona that I had recently purchased to use in between the batiks.
I'm really happy with the final product and I trully believe this is the right quilt for my friend. I used the Faith, Hope and Love pantograph.
You can see hearts, crosses and doves in the stitching. I also wanted a special thread and so ordered Fantastico in the Stained Glass colourway.
It was the first time I've tried this thread and I was quite pleased with it. I used a blue Glide in the bobbin (I don't remember which particular blue).
Sometimes I put a lot more meaning into a quilt than just "a quilt," and that's what I did with this one. First of all, there's the hymn, Amazing Grace. For this occasion, I wanted to especially focus on the last two verses,
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.
Yes, my friend will get through this trial of losing her husband by God's grace, and will be reunited with him when Jesus returns and spend eternity praising God for His goodness, His love and His grace.
As I was stitching the pantograph, with all of its crosses, the song "It's About the Cross" kept running through my mind, especially the chorus.
It's about the cross It's about my sin It's about how Jesus came to be born once So that we could be born again
It's about the stone That was rolled away So that you and I could have real life someday It's about the cross.
"Real life someday." Yes, Jesus promised us not just a more abundant life in the here and now. (John 10:10), but He promises an even better life in His eternal kingdom when He comes again, a place where... "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4.
Christians refer to the second coming of Jesus as the "blessed hope." Titus 2:13. And it is with this in mind, that I chose the backing fabric. I wanted something that would remind her of that Blessed Hope.
The fabric is called "First Light" and it makes me think of a couple of songs. The first is a little chorus that we used to sing years ago, Some Golden Daybreak.
Some golden daybreak Jesus will come
Some golden daybreak, battles all won
He’ll shout the victory, break through the blue
Some golden daybreak, for me, for you.
And the second is the hymn, Gleams of the Golden Morning:
The golden morning is fast approaching: Jesus soon will come To take His faithful and happy children
To their promised home.
O, we see the gleams of the golden morning Piercing through this night of gloom! O, we see the gleams of the golden morning That will burst the tomb.
Amen, Jesus will be bursting open the tombs and graves of those who loved Him, resurrecting them to reunite them with their loved ones and take them home with Him.
You'll also notice that there are some dark clouds in the backing fabric. These remind me of a quote from one of my - and that of my friend's - favourite authors, Ellen G. White in the book, The Great Controversy, p. 640:
Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a “Man of Sorrows,” to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead.
Notice in the quote "the rainbow of the covenant." We also know, from Revelation 4:3 that there is a rainbow around the throne of God and that the foundations of the New Jerusalem are arranged in the order of the rainbow (Revelation 21:19-20), in addition to the rainbow of promise after the flood (Genesis 9:12-17). So, I chose a rainbow of colours for the fabric in the quilt top as well as the thread to quilt it with. It's a reminder that God is faithful, that He keeps His promises and that He will come again.
Finally, as I was considering fabric for the binding, the verse came to mind, "The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2). These are the leaves of the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem. And so I chose a fabric with leaves as a reminder that God will heal us physically, emotionally and spiritually.
So, it's my prayer that my friend will find this quilt a comfort and a reminder of God's promises. Now to get it packed up and ready for the mail tomorrow.
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Well, generally, family takes precedence and, since I had already given both her brothers their quilts, I decided it was time for her to get hers. 
