Rag Quilts

Finally I finished them!  I have been saving old denim pants for at least 30 years.  I'm not sure how much denim I have left.  It took me 3-4 days start to finish working everyday, all day working on the top quilt.  The bottom one took much longer.  I think things would have gone a lot faster if I had the scissors I bought at the Quilters Nook in Custer, SD.  They are wonderful, very sharp and just the right kind of leverage when gripping the scissors.  They made cutting through two layers of heavy denim and two layers of flannel much easier.

Jacob's Birthday Quilt

1. Cut 7" denim and flannel squares.
2. Sew the squares together with an X going from corner to corner.
3. Sew the squares together (flannel sides together) in long strips length wise.
4. Sew the strips together by staggering the seams.
5. Clip the raw seams. I suggest you do that regularly or you’ll have a real mess on your hands
6. Bind off with a flannel.
7. After the quilt is bound take it to the local Laundromat and wash it. This will fray the edges. Don’t put you washing machine through that kind of an ordeal. Then run it though the dryer.

*I probably won't be making a quilt of this size again. My hands still hurt and you need scissors with very sharp tips.

All We Need is a Grandbaby to Wrap It Up In

I've had this fabric aging in my sewing room for years just waiting for a little girl. Maybe in the next two week she will be here!

Green Fairy Quilts

I just found this site that sells all kinds of wonderful fabric. About a year ago I purchased several panels of Flower Fairy fabric. I've been trying to figure out a way to use them. I think this quilt pattern will be just the thing I need. I know the picture is kind of fuzzy but you get the idea. Now I just need to get busy and finish all the other projects I have lined up. Oh I forgot I also need to find time between teaching Kindergarten during the day and ESL classes at night. Anybody have any extra time they don't need and are willing to pass it on to me?

Oh Happy Flower Fairy Day!

I love flower fairies. One of my nieces told me about fabric.com. No I haven't bought them out but I'm working on it. Now I just need to figure out what to make with all this fabric. As for now I'm just looking at and stroking all my flower fairy fabric

Childhood Memories

While sewing this quilt top together I kept having flashbacks to Persian Yellow roses that grew along side my great grandfather's house. I could picture crawling between the house and the roses. I could feel the heat of the summer and the sweet over powering smell of the roses. The last time I was at the old family farm all the roses had died from neglect and drought.



Yesterday I went to a wedding reception out at the old family farm. I found these rose bushes. I thought they were all gone. With them a flood of childhood memories came back. I remember my grandfather lifting me up and setting me on the refrigerator. At age two picking my brother, two years younger than me, up from off the bed and then somehow getting him back on the bed before my mother found me with her darling boy. Driving a truck at age 2 ½ while my father was feeding the cattle. The washing machine with a lawn mower engine and a hose that took the exhaust fumes out of the house. And the most outstanding memory was the rattle snake that was playing with my cat in the front yard. I think that is when my feelings towards snakes was formed.

The Bear's Blanket for When He Goes into His Cave.

Never follow a bear into his cave.

Finishing Touches

I am almost finished! I now need to know should I add a yellow border or just leave it with the green.

I love the green and would bind it with the dark pink.


I also love the yellow and would bind it with green or pink.


When I look and this quilt I can almost smell the sweet aroma of yellow Persian roses that were around my great grandfather’s farm house. In the summer I would sit between the roses and the house just smelling the roses. I really need to get some yellow Persian roses for my back yard.

Jane Austen's Quilt

This is the quilt that Jane, her mother, and sister made. It is a summer quilt with no batting in between the layers of fabric. I had tried to make the large diamond in the middle but it wasn't working out so I just scrapped it. I'm just about finished and will post my more modern version soon.

Which do You Like Best?

A




B


I found these two pieces of fabric that I just couldn't live without. Both would workout great and I have enough of both to do either one. Thanks Sarah for inspiring me to look for something better. And I didn't even have to go to Hobby Lobby.

JA Quilt Update

For the last two weeks I've been out of school. About all I have done is work on this quilt top. I'm just about finished! All I need to do is put some borders around it.


I've been trying to think of what kind of borders I should use. I kind of like this one. I want something that has some of the pink colors in the pieced part of the quilt. The problem is that there are so many to choose from. I could go from pale pink to bright hot pink to bright red.


Tell me what you think.

Jane Austsen Quilt

Several years ago one of my daughters in law started me down this path. She gave me the initial fabric for this quilt. Ever since I've been collecting fabric. I've also been trying to finish other quilts that I have started but not finished. I know have finished as much as I can do on these quilts. Last night I started my version of the Jane Austen quilt. I have no idea how this is quilt is going to be finished. I love the colors and can't wait until I'm finished.

My Mother's & Grandmother's Quilt

I don't know when my mother's mother, "Grandma Zina", started this quilt. I do know that the flower's fabric came from at least the 1930's. In 2003 my mother took up the task of working on this quilt while she went through chemo treatments for bone cancer. Mom finally finished this quilt this year, 2009. WOW! Mom thanks that took a lot of work and love to put this quilt together. Thanks!

p.s. We all share the same name, Lenore.

One Happy Boy

My daughter brought me her little boy's crib blanket. He was going to get a "Big Boy" bed. The crib blanket was too small for the new bed. I took the blanket apart and redid to fit the new bed. Ben's smile tells how he felt. To bad I couldn't post the sound he made when he first saw his favorite blanket back.