Estonian Lace Intermission

The Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in Berkeley, CA is featuring an exhibit of 'Knitted Lace of Estonia' (slideshow).  Haapsalu, Estonia (a tiny Baltic nation) became a popular health resort in the mid 1820's drawing wealthy vacationers who recognized the value of local needleworkers.  By mid century the shawls were available in major European and Russian cities.  Shawl knitting became a major source of additional income for many families.   The nupp stitch (bobble) is a trademark of the Estonian shawl.  The price of the shawl was determined by its weight; the nupp increased the weight and, therefore, the price.

Willow leaf was one of my favorites -

 

Below is a comparison of Estonian and Orenburg lace shawls (Estonian on left and Orenburg on right).  Orenburg shawls are made from the hair of Ural Mountain goats.  These shawls have the reputation of being able to pass through a wedding ring.

More lace

                        

The exhibit included a small display of Estonian mittens

The Lacis Textile Center and Retail Store is an amazing resource for all textile arts - tatting, beading, knitting, hat making...  My souvenir was a curved abalone crochet hook!  Take a peek -

Antique Triangle Quilt

This fabulous triangle quilt was brought in to Needle & Thread, the quilt store that is oh-so-handily just down the street from my house.

It just needed a few minor repairs, and Marlene, the store's proprietress, offers that service to customers.

Isn't it just wonderful? Great fabrics, and a simple, effective quilting design. Love it!

In Defense of Stash

I've been collecting fabric for a long time.  During some of my fabric buying years, there wasn't time in my schedule for sewing.  Didn't stop me; I continued to add to stash.  Quilting has become a higher priority for me - family demands are lighter and the years aren't slowing down.  At times I've felt guilty about the size of my stash, but not anymore.  My stash is one of my favorite things!

Anne (Blue House Quilting) did a quick turn-around on Lexie's quilt.  Picking binding fabric was a challenge - finding a fabric that worked with both the quilt front and back was difficult.  I just kept digging thru the bins until I found a fabric I was happy with (close-up at left).  The binding is complete and the quilt has run thru washer/dryer.    

Pinwheels close-up 

    

Quilt back (sorry for the shading)  

Toile close-up

Back binding 

With Lexie's quilt complete, I focused on Jared's during the sew-in.  First step was to pick a design.  Windy Sister by Country Threads was the winner.  I wanted to cut the pieces from leftover strips (lots of pinwheels and 4 patches), but I never have enough lights.  So, back to the stash to find four complementary lights.  I've made good progress, but there are alot of blocks.  A 4 patch is turned wrong in the pic - no worries, just stuck up on the design wall.

 

Retreat Report

Vicki and I had a retreat at her beautiful house this past weekend. This is all that I accomplished - about 100 4patchs for the blue irish chain variation that I wrote about in my last post. We had a great time out in the country, watching Cranford (Masterpiece Theater), drinking tea, and sewing.

The blocks will need to go on my design wall, so these hourglass blocks that I made from swatches will have to come down. They were made quite a while ago, and I just wanted to see how they were looking. Today, I played catch-up around the house, but tomorrow, I hope to get back to the "blues".

Ta and Da

Next weekend Jan and I are having a sew-in at my house.  We've got plenty of firewood and good movies, but we were missing a design wall.  So, after a trip to Jo-Ann's for batting (50% off coupon - Woo Hoo) and the big-box store for insulation board, we now have two 4x8 walls hanging down my hall!  As my hubby says, 'Ta and Da!'  What a treat - hoping I'm motivated to finish some projects that have been languishing in boxes (like the two in the pic at right).

Jan and I took a trip to the quilter's yesterday for drop-off/pick-up.  We stopped at two great IL quilt shops - Quilt Merchant in Winfield and Prairie Stitches in Oswego.  Prairie Stitches is a featured shop in the current Quilt Sampler.  Their quilt is on the cover - what a beauty in person! 

Docia from Quilt Merchant graciously allowed the following pics to share on the blog:  

Halloween fun

New BOM

Geoff's Mom Pattern Co - The Storyteller

Jan and I both loved this doll quilt - looks old, but is new

Never say never!  Over lunch I mentioned to Jan that I don't buy fabric for a particular project - always adding to stash.  Within an hour, I added a new project and purchased 4 yds of the following Jo Morton fabric for background.  Stay tuned!

Progress Report/Birthday Blocks for Bev

Well, as expected, I just couldn't strip piece these light blues for the irish chain. It may not take much longer to piece as individual squares, and will probably follow the piecing plan from the Atkinson pattern. This is just a preview to see if I liked how it was looking, and you can see the odd choice for the chain. The colors here are quite accurate, so don't blame your computer! It is a browney-green, and I quite like the unexpected look of it, and am ready to start sewing!

These are birthday blocks for our quilting buddy Bev. You may remember that we piece blocks for each other when a birthday ends in zero. This will be the last time that we make blocks since we all have received them - with ages ranging from 40 to 60! This time Pat chose this block for Bev, and asked that we use three fabrics per block, including a lightish background. We all like reproduction fabrics, and Bev is partial to florals so they were added into the mix.

Progress

My mom loved this machine.  She said it would sew lace or leather - same beautiful stitch.  I learned to sew on this machine.  It's sewed dining room curtains; school clothes; my prom dress; my sister's wedding dress; and now, my Lexie's snuggle quilt.  The top is together!

It turned out just as I'd pictured.  I'm very pleased.  Here's a peak at the backing.  I have a square piece of French General Toile from the Lumiere de Noel line (picked up at Hancock's during quilt show frenzy).  I'm framing the square with an oldie from stash.  I've ironed the toile, but the creases keep coming back.

I'm planning on adding the back label prior to long-arm quilting.  Any comments on pro's/con's to this approach?