A Visit to the Mothership

Two weeks ago we left for what  (we thought) was going to be a week-long vacation on Key Largo.  Since Joe and I carry the dubious distinction of being the oldest people from Gloucester that have never been to Florida  it was kind of a big deal.  We had a wonderful time, realized that the ocean in Florida was just like Gloucester (only warmer and with palm trees) and managed to be spoiled rotten by our wonderful host and bestest-buddy ever.  Things came to a screeching halt about four days in to the trip when we got the call that my darling Dad had joined my mother in eternal rest. (That is about all I can say about that right now.... I need some time.....)

We found ourselves at the mercy of American Airlines  ( FYI - they HAVE no mercy) and flew back to Gloucester, dumped all the summer clothes in the dining room, repacked the late-winter clothes and flew off the next day (on Delta, thankyouverymuch)  to Lincoln, Nebraska.  The next few days are a bit of a blur (again,  I need some time here......) but on the day before we flew back to Massachusetts my sister-in-law and I made a visit to the International Quilt Study Center (AKA "THE MOTHERSHIP") in Lincoln.  I always go when I am home  and it never disappoints.  With luck (and the divine intervention of my quilting mother) the Marseille: White Corded Quilting  exhibit was there to give us a fall-down-on-the-floor,  shut-my-mouth-wide-open look into the stunningly beautiful art of French quilted and corded needlework.  I was so blown away I forgot to get the exhibition catalog.  RATS.  (I'll order it from the IQSC because they need the funds much more than Amazon and for pete's sake  you have got to SUPPORT these places, people.)

As luck would also have it, the other exhibit was Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers. We have covered (at great length) my goobering admiration of the quilts of  "Amazing" Grace Snyder.  My personal favorite, Mrs. McGill's Cherries, was there hanging in all it's glory:

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IMPORTANT NOTE:  The IQSC allows photography (no flash) in the galleries.  It is very important to take note of and respect ALL  museum photography policies.  I'm just sayin'......  These are grainy because they were done on my phone, sorry.

It was so nice to have another  up-close  look at Grace's fantastic quilt.  It reminded me that my attempt at copying it has languished, needs to be revived,  and put on the very top of my list.   This was all made very clear to me by the fact that not only was I standing in front of it (duh), but 24 hours prior I was putting flowers on the grave of my Grandpa and Grandma (wait for it......) McGill.  It also marked the 100th anniversary of her arrival on Ellis Island on board the RMS Campania.   How great is all of that?   Jack and Mac are back together and Mrs. McGill's cherries (in the form of her children, grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren)  were all there in the ultimate celebration of life, love and the Resurrection.

A blessed Easter to you and all you love.

Deja Pallooza

Okay.  Not 30 seconds after I sat down at my Bernina to work on my iBuddy tote bag, the machine stopped working.  Specifically, the needle stopped going up and down.  The machine hummed, the feed dogs fed - but nadda from the needle.  WHASSUP WITH THAT?  After a frantic phone call to the Bernina place that just did the brain transplant, cleaning and repair, I found out it was a "mechanical issue" and was not covered in my 6 month "all work, etc. " warranty.  Seriously.  SERIOUSLY?  I'll give you seriously - I'm seriously pissed off.  I need to get it fixed, but I'm shopping for a new repair place.

Back to the drawing board - back to my cherry pallooza tribute wall hanging.  It's all hand sewing, so I guess I can do that without a machine, right?  Rats. I was SO in the mood.

The NASCAR of Quilting

The wait for the Bernina repair has begotten a  palooza-monster.  I've got enough cherries made for my wall hanging and I could stop - but I'm still in the zone.  By "in the zone" I mean I can whip a basting stitch around a 1 inch circle, yank it over a mylar template, pull the thread tight and cut the cord in record time.  Kind of  the equivalent of a NASCAR pit crew -  or maybe it's a rodeo calf roping thing - except I don't  pull the cord and jump up and throw my hands up in the air.  (Or yell, "Boogedy boogedy boogedy, let's go racing boys!")

Until I get the leaf pattern for Mrs. McGills Cherries drafted and cut, I wanted to keep going with this newfound talent.  I have some shades of solid purple  in my stash (for the day when I would appliqué a grapevine quilt I saw on Martha's Vineyard about 15 years ago) and that day has apparently arrived.  I'm now in the  purple-palooza zone.  My quilting Sherpa Debbie has schooled me on Mettler thread weights for appliqué and I have the background fabric all ready to go.

I'm feeling much less separation anxiety about the Bernina, too.

A Funny Thing Happened At Cherrypalooza

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So I'm working along, thinking I'll use yo yo's for the flower parts of the block and the authentic cherry appliqué circles for the "buds" part of the block when a strange thing happened. I made about 180 little yo yo's and was pleased to find I had developed blistering speed and accuracy in my yo yo-age.  Nice.  Then came the time to grit my teeth and begin the appliqué circles again.  Started, and failed.  Got some helpful advice from my quilting sherpa Debbie ("Starch the HELL out of them) .... and it worked!  None of this namby pamby 'brush the sides with a little starch' thing. Oh no.  STHOOT.  And it works.   So I started back in.....and the strangest thing happened.  I developed some serious technique.  I like doing them. The AC is on in the family room, so when I'm home I hole up there and sit and whip these things out. Then I run upstairs and iron/starch them, let them cool, pull the mylar templates out of them, and run back downstairs to cooler climes and do another batch.  It  rocks.  I'm close to having enough cherries and yo yo's to do  a 4-block wall hanging (a big one at that) done! The pictures above show them in the initial freezer paper cutting process and the ironing/flipping them over process. I press both sides.  PRESS. Not iron.  And I leave the little thread tails on them, it's cute and I can give them an extra tug when I finally pin them down to appliqué them on to the background fabric.

Here is the rub.  I think I could make a million of these little cherry things. Honest. I know I didn't get enough Kona Chinese Red to  do an entire quilt top.  Dye lots are sketchy - I doubt I could match the fabric, and I bought the last 2 and a 1/4 yards on that bolt.  The bonus?  I have a new-found talent and that makes me very happy. I will never again feel intimidated by a technique that is new to me, knowing that it really IS just a matter of careful repetition. The minute it clicks and you start exhibiting such skill is just magic.

Going in Circles

Cherrypalooza has begun in earnest. I'm not smart enough to hide my scissors during hormonal surges (guess who cut her own hair today....) but I am smart enough to figure out that if each of these blocks needs 52 cherries  I sure as hell better figure out a way to make that many without completely losing my mind.

So far, it's a draw.  I have a 0ne and 1/2  inch hole puncher thingie, so I'm punching out perfect circles from freezer paper. I then ironed those on to the fabric,   experimenting with cutting out different sizes of seam allowance.  Then I put the heat-resistant mylar circle (cut with the same punch!) in the middle of the fabric circle, dabbed a little starch around the edges and ironed them over the rounded edge. Meh.   A little wonky, with occasional points where it did not fold over so nice.

Second attempt - I took the red circles and ran a quick basting stitch around the seam allowance.  I placed the mylar circle in the center and pulled on the thread to gather the fabric around the edges of the mylar circle.  Semi-meh - a better appearance, but not that lovely, round, perfect red circle I'm looking for.   I read up on a few other methods  (using interfacing, flipping them inside out,  wet toothpick, etc.) but nothing really jumped out as the answer.

Then it dawned on me.  Grace probably had a quarter and a pencil.  She put the quarter on the fabric, traced around it, cut it out with a little turn-over-the-edge fabric to spare and JUST HAND SEWED THE DAMN THINGS IN PLACE.  That is why this quilt is so spectacular.  It was done the old-fashioned way.  I'm always looking for the quicker, easier, better way.  Sometimes, there just isn't one.  This is not to say I'm giving up on my freezer paper and basting stitch. I figure by the time I make a couple of hundred I'll have it down pat, right?  If my brain snaps, I'll  go to plan B and just make little yoyo's and do it with them.

With the Help of Amazing Grace

Grace Snyder is my quilting idol. I am unabashedly a groupie.  I even have some of the Salem China company dishes that inspired the Flower Basket Petit  Point quilt - the holy grail of quilts.  Seriously.  There is plenty about her on the internet, but if you want to get the real story you must read No Time On My Hands.    Even if you aren't in to history, the story of this woman's life and what she accomplished is inspiring and amazing.

I've had the book Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers for many years and have always enjoyed looking at Grace's quilts in that book.  The one that really GETS me is Mrs. McGill's Cherries.  It's gorgeous, it's timeless, and my Mom's maiden name was McGill - so, total sign from God, right?  As if.

Yesterday I skated out of work to get to the Fabric Corner in Arlington, Massachusetts.   Yes, it is a schlep from Lowell.  Yes, they were having a sale, and my quilting sherpa Debbie raves about the place.  So I checked it out - and it was terrific.  I got there about 1/2 hour before closing time, but managed to scope out the place and establish it in my head as a "definitely go back to" resource.  I also ran smack dab into a bolt of Kona cotton CHINESE RED.   "Oh heavens," I thought, "these would make the most beautiful cherries....."  About $14 later, I left the store with the red (and a nice sold green) and decided to take a whack at my own cherry tree. I'm not sure if it will end as a single block (probably) or a wall hanging, but as long as the Bernina is out of commission, I need some focused hand sewing and this might just be IT.  Wish me luck - I'll need it.