A surprise for my brother

Yes, it's the tie quilt again, except this is a second tie quilt.  I made this one as a surprise for my brother, and he was blown away.  He didn't know how much he wanted his own until he saw the one he had me make for Joanie.   He was thrilled when I surprised him with his own quilt made from David's ties.

I quilted this one differently, a bit more quilting and I am really happy with the texture it gives the quilt.

The back is stunning.  (can you see where I missed the continuous  curves on one square?  I had to re-load the quilt and finish that block)

So, I do think this is the last post on the tie quilts.  I loved the challenge, and the results of this project, and I think I made my brother very happy.

Now, I am looking at my next quilt.  A customer brought me a bag of  T-shirts.  Yep, I am making a quilt out of them.

Thank you for following the tie quilts journey with me, I appreciate it.

Esther

"David's Ties"

Well, the tie quilt is almost finished. (finally) I am stitching the binding, sleeve and label, and then I will be taking this quilt to my brother later this week.

So, some thoughts and facts behind this quilt.  A year ago (June 27, 2011) my brothers partner, David passed away.  David was a  pulmonary specialist in the Bay Area, and also an accomplished cello player.  The bag full of ties were David's.  My brother (Dan, he does have a name after all) asked me to make a quilt out of the ties, and he wanted to give the finished quilt to David's sister Joanie. That is how this all started.

While blogging about the process of this quilt, I received many comments, the most thoughtful and profound one for me was, "Picture all of the people he helped while wearing the ties."   Wow, this comment gave me a whole new perspective.  My original thoughts on this project were all the memories the ties held for my brother.  Were they gifts, bought on a shopping trip, bought while traveling, worn to a special event?  That kind of thing.  I never thought about how many people were helped while David was wearing these ties.

I do go on and on, but after months of this project I have many thoughts.  One of them was what to call this quilt.  I went round and round and ended up with,  "David's Ties".  That summed it all up.

Label for the back of the quilt, stitched on tie fabric

 Now for some pictures of the almost finished quilt.

The setting squares were made from bow ties.  I did feathers in the raw silk sashing, and in the blocks I did mostly stitch in the ditch, and a simple geometric design on the large tie shaped pieces that formed the center of the block.

 Because of the prints and all that is going on in the blocks, you don't see the quilting very well, but you sure see it on the back.

I used Silk Radiance for the backing, and it is just beautiful.  It actually is a teal color, (this blue is just a trubute to my great photography skills.)

I am so pleased with this quilt,  it is 74" square, a nice generous size.  There is a bit more I want to tell you about this project, but some of it is a surprise to my brother, so I will wait until I deliver this and show him first.  

Thanks for sharing my journey and progress, it is appreciated.

Esther

Happy Birthday Birdie

Yesterday was my sisters birthday, and I made her these two little birds.  I will give them to her when we go to lunch today.  

These little birds were fun and easy to make, but what will make them special for my sister is that they are made from two jackets that my mom used to wear.  When packing up my mom's belongings after her death, I saved a few of her garments, not really having anything in mind at the time, they were just a few of her special things.

So, I used them to make these little birds.  

I have been saving the tutorial for these birds for years, finally making them.  I am sure I will be making more because each one is unique and has it's own personality.  And the possibilities are endless with your fabric choices.  Celebrate today because it is today, and thanks for sharing part of it with me.  I appreciate it.

Esther

Quilting the Tie Quilt

I have the tie quilt loaded and have started quilting.  I am using wool batting, which I love.  Wool is my favorite batting of all time, it is soft, drapes well, does not hold a crease, breaths in summer and winter, and is so wonderful to quilt on.   There is enough loft to show off the quilting without being too thick and heavy.

Here is a peak of the quilting, most of which will show up on the back better than the front which will make this quilt even more special.  I am getting very excited to deliver the completed quilt to my brother hopefully later this month.  I better get it finished.

Thanks for reading, and the inquiries and comments I really do appreciate them.

Esther

Happy Father's Day

This cute polo shirt was made by my DIL.  She traced her baby Micah's hand, and looked up the size of her growing baby (in utero) and embroidered them onto a polo shirt.  The day and date were added, and  unique gift was made.  To all the fathers out there, Happy Day to you.  Enjoy your Sunday, and again thanks for sharing some of your time with me, I do appreciate it.

Esther

Just what I wanted

I love my new labels!  My daughter ordered these for me, and I am so happy with them.  I asked her to order some labels that I could use on my quilts and on things I make for my grand babies.   My g'babies call me Meme (me me) so these little sew in labels are perfect.  I also wanted a label that I could stitch into the binding of quilts I make for my family and friends, so the Sew Special labels are just the ticket.  These are just what I wanted, and I thank my daughter for ordering them for me.  She ordered them from Jennifer's Jewels Etsy shop.

Glad, sad, and glad

Well, camping was wonderful.  We had a great time. The weather was ideal, cool, but not foggy or wet.   No shortage of awesome camping food, campfires, and the kind of relaxation that makes you tired and glad to come home.  I think my favorite two things were watching my dogs run and run and run on the beach.  I have a Vizsla, and he is absolutely beautiful to watch run, and run he did. He and I were both very happy.

My other favorite weekend activity was a hike we took through the Lady Bird Johnson Redwood Sanctuary.  It was unbelievable, beautiful, humbling, thought provoking, and so much more. Walking through huge trees that are hundreds of years old was so cool.   That made me glad.  I was sad though when the camera battery went out on day one.  Please use your imaginations and visualize wonderful camping memories.

I am very glad to be home.  I love coming home. And I came home to fabric that made me very glad.

This is the Silk Radiance that will be the backing for the tie quilt.  Very excited to start quilting this.

Catching up on news from blog land and Facebook, I read two things that made me very sad.  From my Facebook friends, and the dog community I am proud to be involved with, I found out that a fellow agility friend and her dogs were in a terrible automobile accident in AZ.  Two of her dogs were killed, and one was missing in the AZ desert.  The missing dog was found and we are all so grateful for that news, but still incredibly saddened for the loss of her other dogs  Another friend just posted that her dog Rally, who was a semi-finalist in Canada's Got Talent, was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. I know these people and their dogs, and I am grieving with them.  I apologize for all this sad dog news, but dogs and their owners are a huge part of my life beyond quilting, and I just had to give them some notice.

And on the quilting side of things, I was sad to read the latest Green Fairy post that her book deal was canceled.  I was SO looking forward to this book, and I can only imagine Judi's frustration and sorrow.

Enough of the downer post especially after a great and happy weekend.  I am off to load the tie quilt, and that makes me very happy.

Thanks for sharing my ups and down, I appreciate it.

Esther

Going Camping

I have a perfect little trailer that I absolutely love.  I used to use it about three weekends a month.  It is my own little happy place.  I haven't used it in months and months, way too long, so I am super excited to take it camping.  We are going to Patricks Point on the northern CA coast.  Cool and foggy from what I'm told, I have never been there before.

To keep me busy and happy, I am taking some hand work.  I started a quilt called Grandmother's Flower Pots, and am slowly making my way through the blocks.  I don't think I have worked on this for about as long as I have not used my trailer.  Hmmm, 

I am looking forward to some time away from home, time with family and friends, and time to relax and just go camping.  S'mores, campfires, no set schedule, sounds like a great time.

Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for reading, I appreciate it.

Esther

Very busy not sewing

Well, that's what is going on here, a lot of everything but sewing. Birthdays, swim lessons, cleaning of trailers, packing, camping food prep, and other assorted things that need to be done, and are keeping me from much sewing and quilting.  I did load a Swoon top to quilt up for my daughter who wants a new bed cover, but after getting it loaded and ready to quilt. she/we decided it would really be much better as a bed spread if it was bigger.  I know right? Bigger than a Swoon is already? (they finish at 80" x 80") I am glad that she wants it and will use it, so if I need to make it bigger, that I will do. Fabric is ordered for that project, so updates will follow.

I am packing my hand sewing project to take camping, and looking forward to that type of sewing this weekend.  Enjoy whatever you are working on, and thanks for reading, I do appreciate it.

Esther

I'm so happy

First off I found my camera.  Of course, it was in the last place I looked, because after I found it I quit looking for it. :)

Second, I love my new header and a few gadgets on my page, thanks to help from Emily, my DIL.  I am listing the audio books I have listened to this year.  I liked all of them, Prodigal Summer, Outlander and Hunger Games topping the list.  A Single Thread is a nice read (or listen) about a woman who finds herself changing directions and opening up a quilt shop.  I subscribe to audible.com and love it. They have a huge selection of audio books, that I download to my computer, then to my I-pod.

Things here are busy with all sorts of non sewing activities, but I hope to get some sewing in this week before we go camping!

I can't find my camera!

This is so annoying.  I loose, or misplace or forget where I put my camera, all the time.  It is driving me nuts.  It seems now with a blog, I am using my camera more often, it is "lost" more often.  Each time this happens, and I finally do find it, I think of a plan (that doesn't seem to work) so I won't loose it again.  Does this happen to you?  Anyway, I finished all the sweatshirts that I was up to my ears in, and even did some quilting.  Sorry there are no photos, but enough said about that.

I made a decision for the backing on the tie quilt.  Silk Radiance, I am so excited.  I debated if I should use it or not, considering is is pricier than most other suitable backings, but then I decided that good quilting fabric is easily $10.00 a yard these days (yea, I know about sales, and bargains, but sometimes you need something really specific) so with all the work, memories and emotions in this tie quilt, I decided the $6.00 a yard extra was well worth it.

Thanks for reading, and any tips you have to not loose your camera, I do appreciate it.

Esther