Posts Tagged With: quilting

Making a Quilt – Three Perfect Shots

Posted on February 25, 2015 by queenbookworm

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!

Categories: Daily Prompt, Life, Quilting, Uncategorized | Tags: Daily Prompt, quilting, quilts | 1 Comment

Welcome to My Neighborhood

Posted on January 14, 2015 by queenbookworm

Blogging University 101, Assignment 8: Get out your calling cards, and leave comments on at least four blogs that you’ve never commented on before.

Well, how easy is this assignment? I could do it all day standing on my head. There are hundreds of interesting blogs by people I would love to invite over for cocktails and a chat. Unfortunately, I have a gazillion things on my agenda today so I was a good girl and limited myself to only four new comments as prescribed by the assignment.

I read a charming post by Ace who seems to be gentleman describing how to treat a lady. How’s that for unusual in this modern world? The daily writing and photography of Marilyn Armstrong (Serendipity – Searching for Intelligent Life on Earth) is always delightful and thought provoking. Today’s blog was about struggling with the realities of retirement. Stuff My Dog Taught Me (and stuff I’m figuring out on my own), is always good for a smile with a humorous twist on real life situations. Then there’s The Creek, a slightly off kilter, quirky look at life while living on a creek with a couple of dogs. OK, OK – one more. For quilters, there’s Tim Latimer’s blog just in case you want to feel totally inadequate, I mean totally motivated.

There appears to be something for everyone and WordPress Reader makes it so easy to stay in touch. I always enjoy meeting new people … make a comment so we can get to know each other, neighbor.

Categories: Humor, Life, Uncategorized | Tags: blogging 101, blogging comments, humor, neighborhood, quilting | 4 Comments

Winter Wonderland or the 9th Circle of Hell?

Posted on November 27, 2014 by queenbookworm

Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell – a lake of ice

My winter wonderland

When I moved from Florida to Ohio as a young bride I had no concept of “cold”.

I believed:

That snow is pretty, white and fluffy – when in fact snow is also wet, cold, slushy & gets dirty
That winter fashions in magazines are beautiful leather, wool, plaids, boots, sweaters, overcoats, scarves, socks & boots – when in fact, by the time I bundled up to be warm enough to survive, I couldn’t fit behind the steering wheel of my VW Beetle;
That ice filigreed trees, snow-covered walks, icicles, frozen lakes and rivers are picturesque – when in fact I slid on the ice and fell on my ass every time I walked out the front door;
That the cold air is crisp and invigorating – when in fact it burns your skin, covers your face in snot, chaps your lips and generally makes you look ugly;
That children are adorable in their snowshoes and mittens – when in fact, by the time you get them stuffed into their snow pants, zippered into their winter jackets and shoved into their boots and mittens, they have to pee;
That our home would look like a Currier and Ives print with sunny blue skies and pristine snowfall – when in fact, after Christmas there are still three months of dark, dreary days until Spring.

I spent 11 winters dreaming of moving home to Florida and have spent the past 30 years enjoying sunny, warm winters. Why am I now planning to spend a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the northern woods of Michigan and hoping for snow?

I’m retired and have a cute little cottage on the shores of Lake Huron where I can retreat and do nothing but the things I want, no responsibilities or schedules. If it’s bright and sunny maybe we’ll go snowshoeing; if it’s miserable maybe I’ll set up my sewing machine in the kitchen & quilt or maybe I’ll sit in front of the fireplace and read until I get tired enough to shift to the sofa for a nap. On clear days we’ll put on our weatherproof boots and walk along the shore of the lake taking pictures of the frozen fractals.