AAQI July Quilt

Details from my July AAQI submission. I wove strips of fabric together, machine quilted, embellished with embroidery, lace, crocheted flowers, beads, ribbon. Lots of fun  - let's hope it sells.

Gorgeous

You need to scoot over to Debra's
Etsy shop and take in this stunning art quilt called Our Lady of the Frontier. Debra has done a series of Madonna quilts, each one more beautiful than the next. While you're there, feast your eyes on her other incredible and original quilt art. Then buy one!!

More Tshirt Quilt Tops

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I put these together yesterday. Finally came to my senses and made the simplest quilt top possible: 6" squares, serged together randomly. I buy XXL tshirts, wash them, cut them across the body and that way I believe I get the maximum number of squares possible. I use the other parts for smaller projects, like pillow tops. This time I found shirts in different colors, and I particularly love that spring green.

Looking for fleece to back them then they are off to be quilted. Look for these in my Etsy Store, Barefoot Girl soon!

Making A Small Quilt From Vintage Linens

This is easy.

The hard part is cutting up your Mom's or Grandma's dresser scarves. This time it was pretty easy for me since it's raising money to defeat Alzheimer's Disease- which is what took my mother and gradmother from this world.

In this case, I had a dresser scarf that had the same embroidered design on each end with empty space in the middle. It happened to be just about the right size for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiatve if I cut it in half (an indication to me that I was supposed to use it for this purpose!). I cut it down to a size that I could use & still put a border around it. AAQI quilts must not be larger than 9 x 12.

Usually these little scarves have nice vintage crocheted edgings. SAVE THIS FOR OTHER PROJECTS.


Then, find some beautiful cotton that coordinates with the embroidered design to use as a border. I was mulling this over when I glanced up at my boxes of fabric and saw this beautiful floral stripe I had bought for another (as yet unfinished) quilt. It was perfect - the color, the slightly vintage look of it. It was kismet, I tell you!

Then just stitch on your borders as wide as you want, or as wide as you can and still meet the AAQI size requirements! I've become slightly fanatical about mitering borders and binding, but I think it's worth trouble for the difference it makes in the look of the quilt, especially if you're using a stripe. Not as evident in this little piece, but in bigger ones, definitely miter.
I use these inexpensive, white fleece blankets  from IKEA (about $3.00 each) for batting for these little quilts. It is perfect. It is easy to stitch through if I'm hand quilting, gives it a nice feel, it's drapey enough, not stiff, and seems to hold up well. Of course, these are artsy quilts that are going to hang on the wall so wear and tear is not much of an issue. Sandwich the batting between the linen piece and backing, which should be another nice 100 % cotton for backing.

Quilt as desired. I started handquilting this piece but the scarf fabric was too difficult so I resorted to machine quilting. I'm not much of a pro at this but I think this turned out well. I just stitched around the embroidered motifs. I like the result.

 At first I could not imagine cutting up my Mom's things like this but then I thought - I have dozens of these just sitting in a box. I'll probably never use them as they were intended, so what better way to display and put them to good use? If you don't have a box full, they are everywhere - Etsy, Ebay, antique shops, and they aren't all that expensive.

I think Mom would be pleased.

Quilt A Month Club

Sign up for the Quilt A Month Club at the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative web site. Details are in the post but here is a brief description of the challenge:

Each month you will email Kathy with the registration number of the Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt you make OR purchase for that particular month. Badges for each month will appear by your name sometime during the first week of the next month so you can brag about your progress to all your friends and relations.

Each month will have at least one challenge. It is optional. You can ignore it or "go for it!" The challenge will be issued a few days before the end of the previous month on the AAQIUpdate blog. (You should go there now and sign up to get the posts delivered to your email box as soon as they are published.)

Read more: http://www.alzquilts.org/qu.html#ixzz1BjQr7T14

Ami Simms Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative has raised more than $500,000 for Alzheimer's research.

"We cannot to great things on this earth. We can only small things with great love"--Mother Theresa

DTRH Challenge - Clue Four

Here they are, six pieces reassembled and embellished.



I asked my husband what he thought and he said, "I don't know what it is." LOL. Neither do I! It's an exercise, that's what it is!

Wonder where Clue Five will take us?

Thanks to all for your nice comments!

Clues Three and Four

Clue Three: quilt.

I used some variegated thread and a monofilament which I don't think really shows up in this photo. But it turned out very nice.

Here's a close up:

Clue # 4: cut into at least six pieces and rearrange in a non rectangular shape. Okay.

I wanted to keep the ragged ends of the strips and incorporate into the finished quilt somehow but that didn't work out for this project. I decided to just zig zag the edges.

Oh and I used a piece of a fleece blanket from Ikea for batting. I've been doing that a lot lately. I like the feel of the blanket and it quilts very easily even by hand. They cost a whopping $3.00 (about) and come in red, white, and black. AT least they did the last time I was there. It's perfect for this type of project where I don't want to waste batting.

Stay tuned for the big finale.

I'm Late! I'm Late!

For the Down the RAbbit Hole Blind challenge at Dog In The Hole Studio!
But I'm jumping down the hole anyway. Here's my first clue:

I took a plain piece of muslin and ironed some light weight interfacing to it.





Then I took some torn strips of a Laurell Birch fabric scrap and stitched to the muslin diagonally.





The next step is to quilt this piece using a variety of threads. So we'll meet back here tomorrow for my Clue Two results.