Working on Quilts Through Several States

 My on-going quilt projects. 

Teddy Bear Baby Quilt. This is a multi-color Teddy Bear baby quilt, as you can see.  I was inspired to make it by a Teddy Bear quilt I saw in a quilting book. Below is a picture of it after I finished the Teddy Bear face appliques, done by hand, and pieced all the blocks together.  Now I am in the process of quilting the three layers, by hand. The backing is of the same black and white material that is used in between the white Teddy Bear squares.  The binding is of the same hot pink used in the tiny squares in the center corners between the white Teddy Bear squares and between the black and white strips.

I've got the center strip of Teddy Bear squares quilted.  If you look closely, you can still see my hand basting that is holding the three layers together.

 Below is a picture of the Teddy Bear quilt before I'd finished hand appliqueing the Teddy Bears and before I basted the three layers.

If you look close, you will see all the Teddy Bear face applique pieces are held on with applique pins.  They work OK, and definitely better than the large straight pins, but they still snag on things.  I later read in one of my dozens of thrift shop/used book store-purchased quilting books, that an alternative way to hold appliques in place is with children's glue sticks.  It holds well enough to keep the pieces in place, doesn't show or stain, and washes out.

 Below is a closeup of hand appliqueing the eyes, nose and mouth, using black fleece.  I wanted texture for these pieces, but the fleece just didn't seem like a good choice as I worked with it - too loose and hard to "grab" with the needle and thread. Thus, I went round and round by hand, and hope it holds.  Maybe I'll try wool next time.

I used fleece to do the eyes, mouth and nose.  I hand appliqued it very carefully.  I am not sure how it will wear though and I won't use fleece again. 

Sewing in Various States and Conditions. Below is a picture of my work station in the garage portion of our RV.  I think this was done in either Montana or South Dakota last Fall. This is where I started the Teddy Bear baby quilt.

This is my sewing station in the garage of our "5-er" as my husband calls it, (our 5th wheel toy hauler trailer).  My machine was set up here where the motorcycle gets tied down when we are traveling.  Right behind my painted stool are two long-distance bicycles which ride on the back hitch outside the toy hauler when we are traveling.  The bicycles are leaning up against a floor stand holding two kayaks.  So this definitely is a toy hauler. 

Toys: Kayaks on the left, Surley long distance bicycles leaning up against them, and my sewing machine and table sitting where the motorcycle is usually stored.  As you can see, I really am a Bohemian Fabric Artist.

I sewed in New Hampshire, at my sister-in-law's lake house.  That is where I started the Sun Bonnet Sue quilts.  I also sewed in Maryland, my friend's house.  Below are pix of the room in my friend's Maryland house.  She is in Africa, Tanzania, for three months, working as a volunteer nurse at hospital operated by Maryknoll nuns. 

I took these two pictures after I put my sewing machine and cutting table away.  Beautiful, light-filled room - with fire place!!!

Sun Bonnet Sue Baby Quilts. I am in the process of making two other baby quilts. The designs are a cross between the Teddy Bear quilt and a friend's old Sun Bonnet Sue quilt made by her grandmother but badly worn and damaged from years of good use.  I "rebuilt" that Sun Bonnet Sue quilt when my quilting skills were in their infancy. 

The two latest ones are going to be Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilts but with the little cross strips ad squares used in the the Teddy Bear quilt. And rather than the 12 squares of Teddy Bears, there are 18 diamonds with little Sun Bonnet Sue's. 

The applique pieces on these two Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilts are held on with the children's glue stick.  I've only appliqued one of the Sun Bonnet Sue squares on this quilt so far and the glue stick holds the pieces on nicely.  I started designing and cutting out these two Sun Bonnet Sue quilts while at Squam Lake in New Hampshire this fall after coming back to Maryland from the Upper Midwest. So we certainly get around and so do my quilts.  I appliqued the one piece just to show my sister-in-law, whose lake house we were staying at.  We ended up being in New Hampshire for almost a month because our truck broke down.  We'd left our 5th wheel toy-hauler trailer on a friend's farm in Maryland and drove just our truck and our motorcycle trailer with the motorcycle (our son keeps the trailer and uses it when we are on the road).  It's a good thing we had the motorcycle with us because our truck was in two different shops three times, for a total of two weeks and several thousand dollars.  It did get a bit nipply riding that motorcycle though, as the temps dropped into the low thirties here and there.  Anyway, I did the applique square to show to my sister-in-law who came to her lake house on the weekends.  That baby quilt is for her recent granddaughter, my grand-niece. 

The one below is in blues and greens - mostly aqua's.

These are the pieces to a Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt that was inspired by the Teddy Bear quilt and a vintage quilt that I rebuilt for a friend. I have it all laid out here on the backing, just to make sure I have all the pieces I need and that they are cut right. The backing fabric is facing the carpet, as it will be once I get the topper appliqued and the patches sewn, add the batting and get ready to baste. The backing is the same pattern that is on the triangles.  The binding, not pictured, is also done (in one piece and ironed) and is of the same fabric as on the long, narrow strips surrounding the squares/diamonds.

 Below is the other Sun Bonnet Sue quilt that is queued up.  This one will be for another niece's baby girl. It is in pinks and greens.

Here is everything I need, minus batting, thread, my sewing machine, et cetera, to make the second Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt.  

 I am improving on my basting of the quilt layers.  My major error on the old Sun Bonnet Sue quilt was that I just didn't really understand how critical the basting was or how to best effect it. I had just used basting safety pins, starting in the center and working outwards, but that didn't keep the backing taut enough and I had little wrinkly tufts when I finished hand quilting.

In my quilting books (I now have dozens in the RV, and they tend to be big, meaty books) I learned to lay them on the floor with the topper face down, tape it with masking tape or painters tape, then lay on the batting and backing, with the backing a bit larger, and tape it down too. When taping, I pull the topper, and later the backing, taut, being careful not to stretch it.  Then I use a curved needle and long pieces of thread to baste the layers, starting in the middle and working outwards.  This is not easy to do in an RV.  I can handle the baby quilts OK, but for larger quilts I need to be in someone's house, with a clean, non-carpeted floor.  But even if you have a large space and a bare wood or tile floor, physically it is difficult to baste the quilt if it is a large quilt. I got stomach cramps, leg cramps and butt cramps as I crawled around.  I used a pillow for my knees as I scooted around the edges.  But in the center areas, I had to carefully put my weight onto the fabric and sit very still without scooting which would stretch the fabric and defeat the purpose. Physically, it made me think of yoga!  Maybe I invented quilting yoga! I had to hold my poses and lift my weight straight up and move very slowly.

Here is a basting job I did on a quilt I am making for my dad who had a stroke in September and is now in a nursing home.

This is the center of a single bed sized quilt when I'd just started basting the backing.

Here is the backing taped down, as is the topper underneath.  The batting, of course, is in the center.  It took me a long time to baste this.

 Below is the topper to the quilt before I started the basting process.  I rolled up the area rug in my friend's house, carefully washed and dried the wooden floor, then flipped the topper and taped it down with masking tape.  My husband helped.  Then I laid the batting on it.  Then I laid the backing over top.  I'd made sure to cut the backing larger so I could also tape it down without the tape attaching to the topper or getting stuck in the batting.  This quilt is made from flannel patches.