In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Three Perfect Shots. Take a subject you’re familiar with and imagine it as three photos in a sequence. Tackle the subject by describing those three shots.
How to make a quilt in three perfect shots … well, not exactly perfect shots. I used photos of three different quilts because each is in a different stage of development, but you’ll get the idea.
Cut up perfectly good fabric into little pieces to sew back together
First you take several beautiful, very expensive, perfectly good, 100% cotton quilting fabrics and cut them into little pieces. Then you sew the pieces back together to form a pattern. This is your quilt top.
Take a large piece of fabric for the back of your quilt, place batting on top of the backing fabric and place your quilt top on the batting. This is your quilt “sandwich” that is now ready to quilt. Quilting can be done by hand (think quilting bees), by a regular domestic sewing machine or by a long-arm machine. I am fortunate to have a Gammill longarm machine. My Gammill is not electronic so, yes folks, I hand guide that large machine back and forth sewing a thread pattern into the quilt sandwich. This is what holds the three pieces of fabric together to form a quilt.
Make a quilt “sandwich”. I quilt on my Gammill long-arm machine
After quilting, sew on the binding around the edges to finish the quilt. There’s nothing like sleeping with a hand-made quilt … sweet dreams guaranteed.
Quilts are made with love. Sweet dreams guaranteed!
Posts Tagged With: Daily Prompt
Making a Quilt – Three Perfect Shots
My Plot of Earth
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “A Plot of Earth.” You’re given a plot of land and have the financial resources to do what you please. What’s the plan?
I received my forested plot of earth surrounding a large blue lake atop a ridge in the Allegheny Mountains. We gifted our four children with acreage on my mountaintop and built them each a small cottage near the lakeshore with outbuildings for their workshops. My son-in-law has an art studio and a dark room; my daughter a quilting studio. Her brother has an exercise studio with space for his bonsai and other passions and his wife received a sewing and design studio. Our other son-in-law’s workshop is used to design his outdoor line of products while our other son produces natural ginger beer and vinegars in his workshop. Guest quarters are located above each workshop and the cottages are designed for easy expansion.
We have cleared pathways between the cottages for our grandchildren. They can easily find their way to the communal building with the large country kitchen where there’s usually someone baking something. A vintage wooden table can seat 18 or can serve as a craft table for the kids. Our children are extremely competitive and enjoy cooking, and out-cooking each other, so we often enjoy wonderful meals together with lots of sarcasm, puns, sick jokes and occasionally arm-wrestling. A family room with a large fireplace, comfortable seating and a huge flat screen TV overlooks the play area with gaming tables and toys. A stock of my favorite books provides entertainment when the TV is turned off.
There’s a dock on the lake for fishing and boating. No motor boats; just kayaks, canoes and paddle boards. We built a campfire circle with lots of Adirondack chairs. Hammocks are strung between the trees and plenty of tire swings are available for the grandkids. A large shed holds our toys — sleds, skis, snowmobiles, snowshoes, rafts, badminton sets, volley and soccer balls, skates, hula hoops, tents, sleeping bags, fishing poles, life vests, paddles and oars.
The most fun part of this fantasy is the tree house we built in the large oak tree behind my cottage and the zip line that runs from the treehouse down to the lake. The shrieks and laughter gladden my heart, and that’s just from the adults. The grandkids aren’t old enough to use the zip line yet.
If I was given a plot of earth and unlimited resources I would create a Walton’s Mountain for my family. A place of security, serenity, safety and love; a place where my children and their children could support and protect each other. We would call it, Jodi’s Mountain … or we could call it heaven.
Good night John Boy.
Think Global, Act Local
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Think Global, Act Local.”
I don’t quite understand it but hear that global warming is responsible for the bitter winters the U.S. has been experiencing. If true, perhaps residents of the frigid northern states will overrun Florida, purchasing every available property and my home will become immensely valuable. I could then sell it for a ridiculous sum of money and trade in my 17-foot Casita travel trailer for a large ostentatious RV and follow the sun wherever I wish. Or not.
An Offer I Couldn’t (and didn’t) Refuse
Daily Prompt – Race the Clock: Here’s the title of your post: “An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse.” Set a timer for ten minutes, and write it. Go!
“Hey, Mom! Whatcha’ doing this weekend?”
“Nothing special. What’s up?”
“Well, you know that seminar in Washington, DC I’m speaking at? I just found out that I have the suite they booked for me through the entire weekend and my last talk is Friday morning, so why don’t you hop on a plane and come play with me?”
Are you kidding? I was packed, had my boarding pass printed out, my credit cards burning a hole in my pocket and was half-way to the airport before my daughter could say goodbye.
I had never been to Washington DC and I knew that with Heidi I would get to see and do everything I wanted.
United States Capitol Building
I arrived on Friday morning and as soon as I threw my suitcase on the bed in her beautiful hotel room, we were off! First we hopped on the metro for Georgetown. As we rode the escalator up to the street, her little nose began twitching as she sniffed the air. “I smell Lush”. Sure enough, there was a Lush store on the first block and we spent our first few minutes sight-seeing buying bath bombs and salts. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, stopped for drinks at cute outdoor cafes several times and staggered back to the hotel for an early bedtime.
Early Saturday morning we jumped on a tour bus and did all the touristy things: Ford Theatre and the Lincoln Museum, Arlington Cemetery, raising the flag at Iwo Jima, saw all the monuments, Lincoln Center, etc. We ate and drank our way around the city. Sunday was the Smithsonian. I think we made it through only five of the museums, the capitol, the White House because at 5:30 p.m. we met our tour guide for an night-time walking tour of the memorial monuments.
Washington Memorial and Reflecting Pond
The monuments are spectacular during the day but at night they are magnificent. The Viet Nam Wall, WWII, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and the Korean War Memorial. By the time we finished the tour, my little 4 foot 10 inch daughter was walking behind me pushing my butt up the hills. We arrived back at the hotel too tired for dinner, had a vodka tonic and slept like babes.
Lincoln Memorial
Monday morning we rode the metro and took a bus out to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. We took a walking tour through the house and grounds and were duly impressed imagining our country’s first president entertaining there. Then back to the hotel to take a taxi to the airport and home.
Korean War Memorial
Time’s up!
(I only had 10 minutes to write this, but I’m taking a few more minutes to insert some pix. So, sue me.)
Morton’s Fork
Daily Prompt – If you had to choose between being able to write a blog (but not read others’) and being able to read others’ blogs (but not write your own), which would you pick? Why?
This past week I have looked through the windows of homes in Turkey and Greece; visited the Churchill Museum in London, gone kayaking in Austrailia and mountain biking in New Zealand. I have learned about the pain and humiliation of bipolar disorders and about the inside of mental hospitals. I know where to get a tattoo in Ireland. I saw a master quilter finish an antique quilt and turn it into a work of art. If my hands are ever bound with duct tape, I know how to free myself and I know what to pack to survive a zombie apocalypse. I’ve visited museums throughout Italy and gone diving with sharks. I’ve acquired some wonderful recipes and learned how to make my lips plumper.
I don’t want to choose between writing a blog and reading the offerings of other bloggers, but if the threat was dire enough, I would choose to continue reading blogs from around the world; going, doing, seeing things I may never experience otherwise.
However, now that I know what to pack, nothing short of a zombie apocalypse will keep me from writing my blog, too.
Do or Die
Daily Prompt: You have three hundred words to justify the existence of your favorite person, place, or thing. Failure to convince will result in it vanishing without a trace. Go!
It is my refuge, my office, my sanctuary, my sanity. Parked in my driveway or in a grove of oak trees next to a river, it is my younger years denied, the dolls and toys I never had, and the places I never experienced. It is my first and second childhood. I need only my computer, my books, my phone, some food, a couple of bottles of red wine and a full tank of gas. Then I hook up my little Casita camper and go exploring for a safe place to reflect, refresh and rejuvenate my spirit. My camper provides the freedom I crave to discover myself in new sights and sounds, to meet people and explore places I’ve spent a lifetime bypassing.
When I am ready to return to my beloveds, I am calm and eager to join them in our daily real world adventures.
Adventures
Wander Woman 