The Purple Iris Quilt

After months of waiting in line the gifted Irish quilt top has made it into the rotation.  I'm loving how it's looking so far.  Today I'm going to share with you what it took to get this quit to this point.

 It all started with this very loved and wonky quilt top, not made by me. But someone put many hours into her so she deserves to become a beautiful finished quilt.  I feel it's important to make her shine.  My thoughts are, should I leave unfinished projects behind someday, I would hope someone would take the time to make them shine and give them life to the best of their abilities.

She has her issues but nothing that can't be fixed or overlooked.  The embroidery work isn't the best but it finished and it was still a lot of work.  So the first thing to do to start this makeover is to take the blocks apart in order to fix the wonkiness of the quilt top.

After separating the blocks and giving them a good look I thought maybe the maker tried to "fix" the wonky block issues by adjusting the seam allowance widths.  Notice I used a plural... WIDTHS.  The seam allowance was all over the place.  Too large in some spots, too narrow in other areas.  Maybe the maker had poor eyesight.  We'll never know but I'm sure whatever was going on they did their best.  I might sound like I'm being critical but I'm just trying to build a story that makes sense in my mind.  I too have made some pretty wonky quilts.  So, I'm not judging the quilt just trying to understand. 

At the same time I must give credit where credit is due, the maker backstitched at all stops and starts.  Good for her, bad for me when ripping out seams but it was the right thing to do especially if the plan was no borders.  Anyway, since the quilt blocks were so wonky and had a couple dirty spots why not give them a nice gentle hand washing.  Of course I let them air dry...for about a week. HAHA!

 

I thought the washing might allow the fabrics to naturally go back into a more square shape.  WRONG!   In my opinion, they shouldn't look like this from a gentle hand washing and soaking in warm water for about two hours.  Sigh. 

The only thing I could do is iron the heck out of them.  Hopefully in the end the quilting will help keep the super shrinkage under control or at least not so noticeable.  

The first block was squared up to 16.5" and became the template for the remaining blocks.

The squared block was laid on top of the next block to be squared.

Then pins were place through the embroidery at matching points.  Look closely and you'll see the pin head through the fabric. The pin goes through the embroidery at the same place on both blocks and stuck into the cardboard underneath.

Once the blocks were matched up the pins were secured in place, and I used a light touch to smooth out the fabric of the block on top making sure not distort the fabric or the embroidery. 

These blocks are 16.5", I don't have a square up ruler that large.  That's why I chose to square up the blocks in this manner.  One side at a time using the 6.5" x 24" ruler. 

Once trimmed to size it was time to put them on the design wall and sing a little Sesame Street song....One of these is not like the others, one of these doesn't belong....  Do you see it?

Let's take a closer look.  The one on the left is the oddball.  There's several differences.  Maybe it was a test block, maybe the maker ran out of thread.  We'll never know.  I like the the whimsy it gives to the quilt, just a tad bit of character and something to make you go...hmmm?

 

Once on the wall I could start playing with the fabrics curated over the last two months.  Many hours were spent looking for what I thought was the perfect fabrics. 

  The two fabrics in the middle came from my stash.  The other two are purchases just for this quilt.  The one on the bottom from a quilt shop in Alabama called Coffee Cup Quilting. She used to have a shop here in Indiana. They don't have website but you can find her on on Facebook.  If you can' t find what you need, give Claranna a call, she might have it.   Anyway...When I couldn't find what I needed locally or online I called her and asked if she had anything with purple flowers and white background.  She sent a photo of the fabric to my phone and I too thought it would be my best option for the sashing in my original quilt plan.

A few weeks later a Judy and I went fabric shopping at a couple new to me shops, that are a little farther than I care to drive for fabric. She on the other hand loves the drive and the adventure.  The adorable Georgia fabric by Brenda Riddle was found at Klaiber's Sewing Center, it's on the top of the picture below.  The quilty wheels started turning and I decided to change the layout from solid sashing pieces to striped with nine patch cornerstones and use the fabric from Alabama as the backing.

When it came time to audition my fabrics I was so excited to finally be at the reconstruction phase.

I cut a few lavender pieces to make sure it was the perfect fabric and.... I didn't like it, it just seems sort of BLAH. 

And so the purple fabric dig began again.  Let's see how this purple dot looks.  Nope not this one, the print is too bold and the color is muddy.

A couple more... one is too pastel the other looks too dirty compared to the purple in the Iris. 

I liked the movement and color of this plaid but sadly I didn't have enough.  That was all the purple in my fabric stash that doesn't have other weird colors on it like orange and red.

All that was left for me to do was explore the other colors in the quilt. Yellow and green. Both of which are plentiful in my stash.

I love yellow, so happy yellow was the first stash dig.  And again....a big fat NOPE not for this quilt.  She is screaming at me... "I'm the star of this show, look over here, look at me now!"   But, it's still better than the purples so it could work if it's all I can find in the stash.  

At this point it dawned on me that the problem with the purple fabrics might be all in my head because I don't really care for purple.  In all honesty, most of those purple fabrics would work well with this quilt.   But before throwing in the towel and settling something that doesn't make me happy I have to see all my options.

A few small scraps of green were pulled and placed on the wall.  I like it much better than the yellow and definitely more than the purples.  But the green could be a little lighter even though the green in the blocks are much darker.

So the next problem was could I find the right shade of green yardage in the stash.  And you already know the answer...YES!  A soft green mini gingham,  Perfect!  It plays well with the tiny purple rose buds in the background print and allows the Iris to be the star.  It has all the right things to say.  It's a softer voice... "I'm here to protect my pretty Iris and make her shine". 

Don't tell anyone I said this....I'm loving this purple/green quilt.  It's going to be hard to let her go but I will.   I know just the right person for this quilt, it will be loved more than I could ever love her.

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More embroidery finished

......sharing progress

~Lea Anne~

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Doing Cartwheels

Another finished block.  This one gave  me some trouble.  If I could stick to a pattern things would be easier but in true Lea Anne fashion.... changing it up to make it my own.  Those blue and white flowers were my downfall.  They started out pink and white, then pink and blue, finally the 3rd times the charm, blue and white.

 Here's the original pattern.  The little cup reminded me of the Kool-aid man.  It had to go. 

 So I folded the paper in half traced the cup in reverse in order to make the raw edge applique.   

 Here's the next little cutie.  I'm thinking about using fabric for the little musical note flags.  (is that what they are called?)  Since they are so tiny maybe a heavier fusible could be used with no stitching around them, whatcha think?   It's about time to make a layout plan in EQ with some simple patchwork joining all these blocks.  If your interested in any of these patterns you can find them here on pinterest.  I'm becoming a pin-o-holic.   It's where I save inspirations and ideas.  Much better than the old way of bookmarks or pictures on the computer or flash drive.

 Slowly but surely on the big pink quilt.  

 I could have popped this out in a day had my back been more cooperative.   Thanks for all the well wishes from my faithful readers.  I'm doing better but not turning cartwheels yet.  Yes I can still do them!  Maybe not as pretty or graceful as when I was a teenager but I can do them, that's all that matters.  Not a pretty site I'm sure.

~Lea Anne~

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Spring has sprung!

Who's ready for spring?  ME!   Every year right after the holidays I'm ready for spring.   The only time snow needs to be on the ground is Christmas Day and then things can get back to normal.  Okay maybe just long enough for the super bowl an then that's it....Snow be gone!  I've already started planning for the veggie garden.  We'll be placing our order for seeds within the next couple of weeks.  Only eight more weeks till the planting begins.  Are you ready?   Until then these little cuties will just have to do.

 This little umbrella is my favorite so far.  It was originally supposed to be all embroidery.  I decide to add some gingham.  Here's the original pattern.

 Another free one found here.  Tons of free embroidery patterns on this site.  

~ Lea Anne~

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This Old Quilt

At last it's done!  Yeah!  There's still some work to be done, we've gotta find a way to get the pre stamped lines off the quilt.  I've tried oxiclean, q-tip with bleach, white vinegar and peroxide, and synthropol on a q-tip...none of these worked, so it sits now in a plastic garbage bag, still wet.  Today I'm going to town to see what other harmful chemicals I can try...LOL  If I remember correctly RIT makes a color stripper. Gonna put that on a q-tip and see what happens, maybe some Retayne?  I think that's the name of it...they sell it in quilt shops along with the synthropol.  Well here she is with all her ugly factory  markings.  Momma started these squares back in the late 70's early 80's, they've been finished for years, all they needed was for the blocks to be sewn together and quilted.  I've had them in my possession for over a year.  My first intentions were to hand quilt...well the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

 Even though momma gave me the freedom to quilt as desired, I chose to stay fairly simple, letting the quilt still have the fluffy feel that most older quilters like.  

We decided that 100% poly was best, because again older people seem to like it, and momma didn't like the price of wool.  However I splurged and used 100 wt. invisafil white thread.  You should have seen her face when I told her what a cone of that cost...non quilters have no idea!

 Even if I can't get out those factory markings she could turn it over and enjoy the back.  I'm a sucker for the back...Baby got Back!

Momma won't get to see it for a few more days, hopefully without the ugly factory paint.

Until next time "Quilt out of your Comfort Zone!"

Lea

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Uncomfortable comfort zone

The last week hasn't been good for quilting.  A couple of days ago I tore apart my quilting machine and pulled out my hair for two hours only to find that it was operator error.  And then today I ended up calling customer service for my Baileys  Home Quilter.  Luckily it was something I could fix in jiffy.  But of course before I called I spent about an hour trying to figure it out myself.  Good news is I'm quilting again!  So during my break while the sun was shining in the window I managed to get a really go picture of the progress.  Don't look at my stray threads that still need to be buried. 

With all the frustration I decided I needed some comfort food.  This is a wonderful dish if you don't mind a ton of calories.  And its super easy and quick.

Ingredients:

1 (19oz) bag of frozen cheese tortellini 

1 small bag of fresh spinach ( I used about half of a 5 oz package)

2 (14.5 oz) cans of Italian style diced tomatoes, drained

1 block (8 oz) of cream cheese or neufchatel (less fat)

1 lb. of ground sausage or chicken/turkey sausage

4 cups of chicken broth 

Brown and drain the sausage and put all ingredients in crockpot,

chunking up the cream cheese.

Cook on low for 4-6 hrs.

I made this on the stove top on low heat and it cooked up in about an hour.  Severed with homemade Italian bread and homemade garlic butter.  Comforting and YUMMY!

Until next time "Quilt out of your Comfort Zone!"

Lea

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Slow progress

The last couple of days has been spent finishing the border on the quilt in the last post and piecing these blocks that my momma made many years ago.  When asked she said "Its been so many years I don't know, all I know is that I bought them when we bought the house."  Well she's lived in the same house for almost 40 yrs!  Not sure if I should quilt around the yellow flowers or not...we'll play it by ear.

 This is my plan for between the blocks. 

...Played around with some of the 790 hst's

 I wasn't gonna show you this because I knew how jealous it would make all of you....LOL....my honey is such a romantic.  This was found on the kitchen counter yesterday morning.  6 years ago yesterday, at work, my sweetie(at the time a co-worker) gave me one single rose to let me know he was interested...and the rest is history

Until next time "Quilt out of your Comfort Zone!"

Lea

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