Free Pattern - Red and White

Click here to get the pattern

Here is a free pattern from Fairfield. Sometimes I want to start a quilt, but don't want to spend time sorting through my stash to select colors - this is when I really like two-color quilts, not a whole of thinking on the selection phase. Of course you could do this scrappy as well, just mix lights and darks. Consistently use darks in place of reds and lights in place of whites. Would be a great quilt to use a fat quarter bundle.

Call for Quilts - Davies Homeless Shelter

I have never posted anything like this before, so I am a little nervous. I certainly don't intend to offend anyone, but I do know that quilters are a very generous bunch and often look for opportunities to share.

I am on the board of the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, located in Rome, GA. Until now, we have operated out of rented spaces. Last year we started an incredible journey of building our own building. This building is designed to house 16 men and will be opening in August/September. We will have 16 beds for men who are homeless and transitioning in life. I think that homemade quilts would go a long way to make their environment feel like a home.

I would like to request twin size quilts for the beds. The beds are 80" long. Please consider making one and donating. They are all men's beds, so colors should be masculine. Please let me know if you can do one. You can e-mail me directly at: michele.hester@gmail.com

The Shelter is not a permanent home, but a transitional home, while these men get the things in place to move into their own housing. Please visit our website to learn more about what we do for these men:: http://daviesshelter.com/ We are a 501(c)3 and donations are tax deductible.

Flour Sack Strip Quilt

Jean Bray – a sister quilter in our guild – gave me these “scraps” of fabrics she had left over from a quilt she had made. The “scraps” are pieces of feed sacks - probably from the early 1900’s.

I used the pieces of fabric just as they were given to me. I didn’t cut them, just designed the quilt based on the fabrics as they were. Long narrow strips of fabric are referred to as “strings."

Anyone who knows Jean, appreciates her sense of humor. It is this sense of humor that endears her to me. In keeping with her sense of humor, I respectfully (and lovingly) named the quilt “String Jean.”

This quilt is a great mixture of old and new. The design and quilting would be considered modern, yet the fabric is older than the maker of the quilt.

Rosa Parks - a piece of history

The Library of Congress recently announced that they had digitized Rosa Parks' personal collection of papers, letters, and photographs. Amongst the papers was a hand written recipe for "Featherlite Pancakes." My children and I tried the recipe today and I was truly amazed by how light they are! Try some - and truly share in a taste of history.

 

 

Sift:
1 cup flour (140 grams)
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Mix:
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter melted
1 tablespoon melted shortening or oil

Combine both wet and dry ingredients.

(Note this batter seems really runny, but it works. Make sure your griddle/skillet is hot before you start.)

May I show you my backside?

Of my quilt in progress silly!  Remember this quilt top?

I used the leftover half square triangles from the blue/white X squares that look like this:

  

Seemingly insignificant right? How many times have you thrown away these scraps?

We'll  instead of throwing them away - I made these!

These will be on the back side of this quilt. Each blue/white half square triangle is 1 inch...the total pieced star part of this block is 4 3/4". It was fun to see these come together....what will you do with your scraps?

Embroidered quilt labels

We are hanging our annual quilt show tomorrow at the Rome, GA library.  It is always so exciting to see the quilts adorn the walls and staircase.  In preparation, I needed to label my two quilts that will be hanging.  I made them using my embroidery machine.  I went ahead and made 4 of them, so I guess that means I am committed to two more finishes in 2014!

I used fusible webbing on the back, so all I had to do was iron it on.....have I ever mentioned how much I hate handwork?

Sewing corner to corner NO MARKING

Whether you are joing pieces for binding, making half square triangles or snowball blocks, any time you need to sew corner to corner, this video has a fantastic tip. The video is filled with other great tips too, I just thought the last one was the best and will to be a huge time saver.