A few months ago while reading a few of
my favorite blogs I came across the Slow Stitching Sundays post and
thought to myself this is a site I could add a post after all I do
quite a bit of hand stitching and often times I'm slower than I'd
like to admit, so why not. Last Sunday I posted my first Slow
Stitching Sunday post linking up here on
http://www.kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/
For this week I once again have my hand
embroidery progress on the Holly King piece but first I want to tell
you about my other project I have been stitching on since early
morning. The first quilt I ever pieced started back in January 1991,
this Log Cabin quilt garnered many memories while piecing it
together, many bittersweet, I suppose it's the reason I have put off
completing the quilt until now.
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| just a glimpse of the twin size log cabin quilt hand pieced |
Originally it started on a cool crisp
October morning in 1989 when my dear friend Sandy and I were shopping
for fabrics for my quilt at our local So-Fro fabrics. We spent a few
hours lugging bolts back and forth while I decided which colors,
prints, etc I favored. After I had made my choice and was replacing
bolts I didn't want, I turned around only to see most of my chosen
fabrics were gone, my son being helpful soul he is had put back some
of the bolts too. Yikes! It didn't take long to find my chosen
fabrics again, then it was off to the cutting table.
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| last block I quilted the white thread is where I left off |
Along with the fabrics I chose for the
Log Cabin quilt I found a sweet panel to make a patchwork pillow with
a strip of little patchwork hearts which I would later decide to use
in the center of alternating log cabin blocks, I remembered reading
traditional log cabin quilts used a red fabric in the center to
represent the heart of the home so I decided to use those hearts as
my block centers, but not for all the blocks. I was all set to trace
templates, add seam stitching lines and grab my trusty scissors and
begin cutting all my pieces for the quilt.
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| hand quilted block |
I was midway through tracing the
patterns onto the fabric when on December 29th 1989 I
slipped on a small patch of ice and fractured my left humerus in 3
places, needless to say with a plaster cast from shoulder to
fingertips for several months it would be a very long time before I
would continue on with the log cabin quilt. After the final cast was
removed (there were many), a few set backs to the recovery it took me
nearly a year to trace and cut all the pieces for the quilt, which is
only twin size, In January of 1991 I sewed the first pieces to the
first block together.
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| back side of quilt |
If I didn't mention it before I am a self
taught quilt maker, I love traditional quilt patterns and while
planning the log cabin I had many other patterns I wanted to make and
eventually I would. I have made most of my quilts by hand, and have
always hand quilted my quilts or used the tied method. Last year I
ventured into a basic quilt making class mainly because most new quilt
publications have instructions for cutting methods I had no clue how
to do, I needed to learn how to use all those rulers, grids and
the Rotary cutter. I will admit while I loved learning to use
the rulers and cutting strips etc. I didn't care for all the stress
of piecing the quilt together by machine. There was no actual
pleasure in it for me, aside from the fact it worked up quickly, to me I felt no joy, no calm that I feel when I hand piece.
I do admire people who make machine pieced quilts, my late friend Sandy would put out 20 to 30 quilts while I completed one. I think for me hand sewing, hand embroidery, hand quilting brings me a state of peace and calm. Every thing in my life slows down when I have needle and thread in hand, and I can breathe.
For some inexplainable reason I am determined to finish the quilt this year, I have learned much from making this quilt, I can spot just about every imperfection, crooked line, wobbly stitches etc. but I wouldn't change a thing about it. I always said I'd know when it was time to close the chapter on this UFO and the time has come.
Here are a few fun facts about me and my quilts:
Almost every one of my quilts have green fabric in them somewhere.
When I am shopping for fabric I am always drawn to greens first.
Green has never been of a particular interest to me not even as a favorite color.
I have made 3 Irish Chain, 4 Nine Patch, 7 Four patch, 2 Double Wedding Rings, with green as the dominate color.
And now a look at the progress of the Holly King hand embroidery piece I will be working on this evening.
There are only a few more Holly Leaves to stitch, then on to the longer green leaves and the face. I am looking forward to completing the hand embroidery for this piece I am quite pleased with how it looks so far.
