Labeling Quilts

With all the quilts I've finished in the past few months, I realized I was way overdue for making labels. But in a way, that's a good thing.

Since I use 8½" X 11" sheets of EQ Printables for making labels, it's most efficient to print a whole page of labels, rather than print one or two labels, piecemeal, and then have small leftovers of EQ Printables that aren't easy to feed through the printer. 

To make six quilt labels, I used two pages of EQ Printables. As you might notice, one label - the one for the group quilt, Pot Luck - was quite large because I included a complete description of how the quilt came together, as well as a color key with everyone's names and initials on top of the blocks each person made.

I like to make a fabric border around each label because it's easier to hand stitch through fabric than through the EQ Printables.

I cut 1¾"-wide strips that, after being sewn to all four sides, I press with Quilting and Crafting Spray. I won this product in an Instagram giveaway, and found I like it for the way it enhances pressing, but doesn't give it a starched feel.

After pressing flat, I fold each raw edge in half to the inside, meeting the seam.

Every quilt label includes:

• quilt name
• quilt dimensions
• description - credit to the designer (if made from a pattern), or made for a challenge
• type of quilting - free motion, walking foot, or ruler work
• machine I quilted on
• my name, with maiden name
• my city, state
• month, year finished; and if know, the start month and year

Here are the labels I made bordered with fabrics from each quilt. 

Each was hand-sewn to the lower right corner of the quilt back.

A necessary job, and a good feeling of accomplishment.

Two of these quilts are heading to Austin for QuiltCon judging. One is a donation. The others? For now, they're joining stacks of older quilts in the top of the closet. 

Linda

Time Flies

Time flies when you have company! Days whizzed past last week when our son and two grandsons from Texas came for an almost-six day visit. I love having them here.

Three extra people meant turning my sewing room into a bedroom, and that's a good time for some deep cleaning. Dust and fibers were vacuumed off the blinds and design wall, baseboards were wiped down, and every surface was generally decluttered and swiped clean. As we know, it won't last, but it's nice to have a refresh. 

Our timing for their visit wasn't the best. Between the high heat and Tropical Storm Debby we were kept from outdoor activities. It can be a little challenging for 10 and 14 year-old boys to find indoor things to do. Anticipating their visit, I bought another Lego flower set - Flower Bouquet. Both boys made flowers - roses, poppy, aster, lavender, snapdragons, daisies.

I've added them to the Wildflower Bouquet they during their last visit, so it's pretty impressive. Best; they never fade.

We played Rummikub, Uno, and Concentration; saw the movie Twisters; went to a local flea market; played indoor miniature golf, and bowled. But one form of entertainment that has been the most enduring, is playing with empty Publix yogurt cups! Who knew?!

I saved yogurt cups about ten years ago, thinking they'd be good for toddlers. And they were! Surprisingly, they're still popular!

Luke stacked 55 cups, and then, going from the top down, he quickly made stacks. He even had fun sorting them by types and flavors! Easy, free entertainment.

 

During down time, mostly while watching Olympics, I hand stitched (with #8 perle cotton) all of the third wedge of the modern potholder quilt, Pot Luck.

And since returning my sewing room to useable status, I sewed labels on two quilts - Prudence and Satisfaction. 

I also made blocks for the Like Totally BOM being offered through the Seattle MQG. August blocks are three inset circles.

Though I've made many inset circle blocks, I tried the new-to-me method offered in a tutorial. It involves freezer paper, a glue stick, and Elmer's school glue, and worked very well - a nice, precise way to ensure a circle sews perfectly into a hole. The inset circle tutorial is by Louise Wackerman @imfeelincrafty who also designed this Like Totally BOM. 

Book Recommendation

I was on a waiting list to listen to Ruth Ware's new book One Perfect Couple. For the second time, Ware disappointed me. 

The premise for this long story is that a producer is making a TV series based on five high-profile, unmarried couples - social media successes - who meet on a tropical island to face challenges that lead to determining which two people are most perfect as a couple. 

Lyla is unwillingly along for the ride, so to speak. She's a scientist and it's her boyfriend, Nico, who has aspirations of being a successful actor. One Perfect Couple is his big break; Lyla anticipates she will be kicked out within two weeks. What no one expects is a tropical storm that knocks out power and the island's desalination facility. The turmoil and anxiety that follows involves food and water rationing, and nine (remaining) distinct personalities, each one selected by the producer to create strong opinions and entertaining dissension. 

While the story itself is good, I was overwhelmed (again) by the foul language. My rough mental tally heard 87 uses of the disgusting four-letter word. Why? Also, narrator Imogene Church sounded too familiar. While she's good (according to the Internet, among the top five audiobook narrators) I've heard her too often. 

So, for the story I'd give this book a 3.6; for the language, I give it a big fat zero.

Linda's score: 3.6/5.0

I was also on a waiting list for Shari LaPena's book What Have You Done? This one was definitely worth the wait!

From the moment I began listening, I was hooked on the story of Diana Brewer, a 17 year-old whose body is found in a field near the small community of Fairhill, Vermont. Diana's boyfriend is devastated, but quickly becomes a suspect, as do several other men, enticed by Diana's beauty. While teenagers and parents try to understand who would murder such a popular, well-liked girl, secrets being kept by several people may have prompted her death. 

Excellent narration by January LaVoy, Jorjeana Marie, and Barrett Leddy made the story very entertaining.  

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0 

  

Linda

Summer Days

It's been a week since I posted because I haven't felt very productive lately. Blame it on lazy summer days,

I completed big stitch hand quilting and binding on a second wedge for the modern potholder quilt, we're calling Pot Luck. It has been in the hands of 16 modern quilters, and I'm adding wedge shapes on four sides to make the whole thing tilt, and give it more interest. 

The latest wedge I added is on the bottom, so now that top and bottom have wedges. I will sandwich the two sides, big stitch hand quilt them, and bind one side to add to the quilt center. When all four sides are attached, I will bind the entire perimeter. Just not sure yet whether that binding fabric will be Aruba (blue) like the wedges, or the gray-white stripe. 

In assembly line style, I'm piecing the last six blocks of 30 blocks for the Bibliography quilt (an Amy Friend design) made mostly from selvedges. As you can see, I will have lots of selvedges left over. (sigh)

Lastly, my go-to handwork continues to be my #30DaysofImprovQAL quilt from 2023! I thought I would be done with it by now, but I find myself big stitch hand quilting more densely than I anticipated (no machine quilting). Besides straight line and curved quilting, I'm adding decorative stitches like X-stitches, herringbone, and fly stitches. With August 1 coming very soon - typically when #30DaysofImprov QAL begins - I wonder if Shannon Fraser @shannonfraserdesigns will be repeating this activity. 

Central Florida MQG has two group charity quilt efforts going on that were introduced in the past month. Coincidentally, they're both using a theme of lines and bars in a "Dreamlines" (à la Brenda Gael Smith), and are in very similar color palettes! One group quilt was spontaneously planned by several members, and the other group quilt is for QuiltCon's Community Outreach Challenge. 

These two strips on the right are those I made for the "spontaneously-planned-by-several members" group quilt. We were to use two colors from their palette, and add a "dash" of Oyster (Painter's Palette). 

Gosh, I love me some curves!

At last Saturday's Central Florida MQG meeting, during Show and Tell I share my finished 66½" X 72" Large Scale Minimal Improv quilt, begun in a QuiltCon workshop in late February. It's name is Infrastructure thanks to a suggestion by my friend, Amy Friend @duringquiettime, who has a real knack for giving a quilt a one-word name. 

The quilt is labeled too! I use EQ Printables to make labels. And yes, the quilt is bound following my "No Tails Binding: Mitered Corners by Machine" blog tutorial here, that one Anonymous commenter recently wrote unkindly about. 

On Saturday I'm teaching a small group of Central Florida MQG friends how to make Kawandi. My samples, demo piece, and notions are all set to go.

Book Recommendation

My latest audiobook finish is The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Hamel. It's yet another novel that mostly takes place in WWII France. The story begins with octogenarian Eva Traube Abrams, a librarian living in Florida. A newspaper article about books found and confiscated during WWII that are now in Berlin, makes Eva rush to Germany. As she does, she remembers what took place in Paris and Aurignon when she was in her twenties.  

Back then, Eva and her Jewish parents were living in a Paris apartment when French soldiers took her father. In spite of forged papers to obtain his release, Eva learns he's already been taken to Auschwitz. Eva and her mother then use forged papers to flee to the Free Zone of France. Intending to create forgeries that will get them to Switzerland, Eva is pressed into staying to help the underground by utilizing her remarkable forging skills. Eva remains, putting in long hours to create documents to save innocent people, mostly children. All the while Eva's mother, Mamusha, frequently reminds Eva that she's being selfish and uncaring about her family. 

This was a good story, and I had warm feelings toward Eva who faced her fears in order to help others. But Mamushka... I didn't like her. She had no compassion, and her attitude made me want to slap her. I had a difficulties believing a mother would make such self-centered demands of a daughter.  

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

Driving my golf cart home from line dancing Thursday afternoon, I found myself following this golf cart. It never ceases to surprise me what you'll see on a golf cart around town... groceries, a dog, a ladder, a person dressed as a clown, and even an airplane!

 

Linda

Sleeves and Labels and Books

Though it seems like all I've been doing is making quilt sleeves and labels, I did get to attend two quilt groups' holiday parties. Big Cypress Quilters' party was Tuesday, December 6, and Central Florida MQG was Saturday, December 10.

I made a quilted case, about 6" X 28" for my collapsible camera tripod...

...where I can tuck my camera in the top, drawstring it closed, and put it over my shoulder for carrying. 

Thus, I was equipped to be a designated photographer for both holiday gatherings.

My Central Florida MQG friends know what to expect when I'm put in charge of taking a group photo. Always "normal" first; then "crazy."

Other than these diversions, and the usual line dancing, ukulele-playing, and Bible study, it's been nothing but making and hand-sewing sleeves onto quilt backs - the three going to QuiltCon - and label-making and affixing.

I'm also thoroughly checking each quilt to smooth out thread nests; re-quilt missed stitches; bury missed threads; clip missed threads, and run a lint-roller over all the surfaces. Now it's time to hunt-down a large box in which to ship them to Austin, Texas. 

I've also attached labels to these three 36" X 48" baby quilts that are ready to be donated in January to Healthy Families Florida. Labels were purchased as yardage from Spoonflower where our CFMQG logo-designer, Emma, turned our logo into labels and fabric. 

Book Recommendations

The Record Keeper is book #3 in the Murphy Shepherd series by Charles Martin. This title was released in July. Since finding Charles Martin's books, and discovering that, thus far, I have thoroughly enjoyed every book I've read, I'm trying to "ration" my reading of his titles. 

The Record Keeper follows The Water Keeper (#1) and The Letter Keeper (#2) to continue the story of Murphy and Bones as they try to get to the man at the head of an international sex trafficking business that's been keeping the two of them busy rescuing young girls and boys. Though friends for decades, Bones finally reveals to Murphy the truth of his upbringing: a drugged-up mother who gave birth to twin boys; the twins being passed along, owned, and used; and how each of them handled enforced confinement by priests in an Italy monastery. Frank, Bone's brother is the man heading the organization that's enticing and using these kids, so when Bones is abducted, Murphy must gather his physical strength (since his recent near-death), and with the help of Free Town's tech team, find and rescue Bones. 

Linda's score: 4.5/5.0

Intentionally saving another Charles Martin title for later, I listened to The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. She's the same person who authored Hamnet. Read my Hamnet review here.

The Marriage Portrait began a little slowly, following the upbringing of Lucretia, one of eight children born to an Italian Duke and Duchess who live in the 1550s to 1560s. Lucretia is different from her siblings who tease and exclude her. When her betrothed older sister suddenly dies, Lucretia becomes the 13 year-old replacement bride to the 26 year old Duke of Ferrara who is desperate for an heir.  Lucretia reluctantly marries him, moves to his country home, and eventually goes to court in Ferrara. Her life is entirely controlled by her husband, but she finds escape in drawing, painting, and riding her white donkey. Lucretia senses that things are being kept from her, and her concerns are affirmed by her sister-in-law. When a portrait painter and his apprentices are hired to paint Lucretia's marriage portrait, she becomes more certain about what her future holds. She's urged to escape before it's too late.

The author's note explains that this work of fiction is based on real people and incidences. I always like that... thinking I've learned something while enjoying the story.

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0 

Delving into Advent, I've been participating in a weekly Bible study called The Wonder of Advent. Each week there's a video to watch, followed by five days of workbook study/questions. It's been very worthwhile, especially the Wednesday morning time spent with my virtual friends at Lutheran Church of Hope (West Des Moines, Iowa). We've been discussing Hope, Joy, Peace, and next week, Love. Did you know these are each represented as a candle in a four-candle Advent wreath? 

In January, this same virtual group will use The Chosen (at Angel.com) as a study. The Chosen is an excellent movie-quality series that portrays the life of Jesus. We'll watch season 1 episodes and follow The Chosen Season 1 study guide. 

Have you seen The Chosen? Season three has just been released. To watch all episodes for free, go here. Linda

Labels, Hotpad, Bag, Pillow; No Quilts

Quilt-making has come to a halt, but that doesn't mean my hands have been idle.

Label-Making

It was past time to make labels for eight of the ten quilts I've made thus far in 2020. 

I design labels on my computer. Being on a MacBook means I design in Pages. The PC version would be Word. For me, creating a label isn't about making something pretty, but to provide information. I tend to add details, imagining that sometime in the distant future, someone will come across one of my quilts and be curious about it. 

My labels usually include:

• quilt name
• quilt dimensions
• "my original design" or pattern name
• piecing technique - example: English paper piecing; foundation paper piecing
• domestic machine quilting info - walking foot; ruler quilting; free motion quilting
• sewing machine brand and model number
• who it's been made for
• my full name including my maiden name
• my blog/Instagram name
• month/year started and/or month year finished
• city/state I live in
• special characters like a palm 🌴 and a Christian cross ✝
• optional: a photo pertinent to the quilt

When several labels are laid out, leaving about ¾" between labels, print on paper first, for proofreading. Inevitably, I find an error or two, so it's worth taking the time for a review before printing on fabric.

 

In the past, I've use Printed Treasures brand of paper-backed fabric for labels. However, after purchasing Printed Treasures that did not work as directed - the paper backing is impossible to peel off the back, and must be soaked in water and scraped to remove - I found another brand that's much better.

⇦ EQ Printables is also fabric, but backed with clear plastic for an inkjet printer. I purchased a 6-sheet package for $16.95. (I have no affiliation.) 

The negative about printing labels on a 8½" X 11" page is that, to make it economical, several labels should be printed at once. That means "saving up" labels to print four or five to a page. It's nearly impossible to lay leftover label fabric pieces in the printer tray, though I've been known to try by taping it onto a sheet of regular paper to send it through the printer. It doesn't always feed properly. So, play it safe and print multiple labels on one page,

After printing and cutting out each label, leaving ⅜” on each side, I piece narrow fabric strips to all four sides. It’s easier to hand-sew through fabric than the stiffer edges of the label fabric. 

Blank places are where personal information has been removed

The blue-edged label in front was printed on EQ Printables. The rest were printed on old Printed Treasures fabric (trying to use it up) that had to be soaked and scrubbed to remove paper. Also, the printer colors appear brighter and clearer on EQ Printables. 

Other makes...

Crocheted Hot Pad

My friend, Selina (the same friend who sold me her peg loom) posts her makes on her Selina Quilts blog. When I saw the crocheted hot pads she's been making, I asked for the pattern. This free Turn on Itself Hotpad is made with Sugar 'n Cream yarn, a size H hook, and a single crochet stitch. It took only an evening to make my 7¼" X 7¼" hot pad (without the hanging loop). Once it's been hubs-tested and approved for usability, I may/may not make more.

     L: starting side with 42 chain stitches   R: finish side with slip stitches

Peg Loom Bag

I made a bag for my peg loom! After seeing it, hubs commented that I obviously "don't have enough to do," but I thought I was being pretty creative. I used an already cut-up pair of old blue jean legs and pocket to fashion this bag. The pocket holds the loom's 24 pegs, and the package of floss threaders used to thread the pegs. My order of 4/4 cotton warp thread just arrived from The Woolery, so I'm all set to begin my next peg loom weaving project using fabric. 

Pillow-Making

The English paper pieced square in my previous blog post is now a 16" X 16" pillow.

I machine appliquéd the square onto a background square, sandwiched it with white Quilter's Dream Cotton Request batting and white muslin, and walking foot quilted with Mettler Transfil (invisible thread) with 50-weight Aurifil in the bobbin.

For the envelop back, I used Christina Cameli's Moongate fabric (purchased locally at Sew Together Quilting) and I was happy to discover the print had a diamond-shaped design that could be walking foot quilted to make a diamond grid! Without marking, it took no time at all to quilt! I used 50-weight silver-gray Aurifil. 

With an envelop backing a pillow form can be removed when the pillow needs to be washed.

It's easy to assemble a pillow with a binding. Just place the pillow parts wrong sides together, baste around the sides, add 2¼"-wide binding by machine, and finish with machine edge stitching. Love my Bernina edge stitch foot #10D for easily accomplishing that! Doesn't it look like cording?

I continue to have a love-affair with Dalgona. I find it's very filling, perhaps because it's on top of iced milk. This has to be good for me, right?

Book Recommendation

Another great read! American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins follows Lydia and her eight year-old son Luca, the only two people who survive a massacre of 16 family members. While fleeing Alcapulco, trying to second-guess how widespread may be the reach of the cartel tracking their escape, Lydia recalls meeting the charming Javier who is head of the cartel, and Lydia's journalist husband who writes about Javier.

The story is riveting - about middle class people escaping for their lives. How desperate la migra/immigrants leave Mexico on la bestia/trains to go el norte/North, and face the uncertainty of what they're running toward.

Narrator Yareli Arizmendi was excellent, speaking English, but also Spanish. In context, it wasn't difficult to understand. Linda's score: 4.5/5.0

My goodness. This is my 45th book finish in 2020! I read 43 books in all of 2019. That’s what a pandemic will do for your literary enlightenment! Linda