recycled quilt

I have been working hard. The holiday season was very busy in the quilt factory. Some choices presented themselves and Ive been trying to think of ways to do as many of the things I want to do as possible. The big decision is.. that I decided to try to start the MFA program I was accepted to. I live two hours away from the school - so all of the other decisions are based around how to make that happen. Ive thought of very simple (but time consuming and expensive) solutions like, buy a car and commute the two days a week Ill have and, I have thought of some insane ideas like, sell the house, find a new home for George and live on campus. Those are some of the things Ive been working on and thinking about. As much as I have grown to hate cars I think trying to buy one and using it to commute and using it to travel outside of my city is a good idea. I think a good portion of my frustration is actually claustrophobia. If I could drive, I imagine how many more places would o

For the few years Ive been gathering used/salvaged pieces of wood. Some parts I bought from the re-store, others came from building projects Ive seen near my house. Ive picked up some as "trash" and Ive picked up some in trade for loading dumpsters. There was a work site next door and I went aver and asked if I loaded a dumpster if I could pick what I wanted. I got some good stuff. - Here is the bed Ive been working on. The doors are about 36 inches wide. Im excited to cut off a few inches of the twin mattress and have a thin little canopy bed with a MASSIVE amount of hidden storage under it! See the doors? There is also a door as the flat part of the frame. So far, I have only bought screws. But I think I will have to buy some pieces to frame the top. We will see what happens. I could go look for more doors. The bed will stay in back of the couch and eventually it will get a top and nice curtains to block off the rest of the room. I usually have a housemate and thi

Ive been piecing together scraps without a foundation to make larger pieces for as long as I have been quilting.  I love how this sort of fabric building does not require a foundation - -and it also does not build the directional lines that traditional string piecing does. Im sure many people do this - but, here is how I do it.  I love making fabric because, I can use the fabric as new yardage and cut new sizes out of it.  See how these scraps remain scrappy and do not go together in strings to make a new directional pattern on the quilt top?  Here is a video on how I do it -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl9vRQCVbq8 (Im not happy that blogger.com will not find my youtube videos in the tools sections anymore - but youtube is loading all comments to google+)

Living small works great for me. I have a micro condo, 250 sf. Look for more posts about the small house goals and cheap living skills I'm trying to develop. One goal is trying to make myself eat more veggies. Not any specific food goal besides eating tons of veggies and less garbage. Dont look for chef made foods - not a foodie - and do not aspire to be. But, look for things that are simple and try to be high quality. Posting pics and trying to fine more people to chat with about small homes, living with less by choice, having more time to do the things I love. Every hour that I dont spend working for someone else I get to enjoy my own hobbies. Ive been eating better foods for about 8 days. (Today is November 8, 2013.) I am diabetic (type 2) and have been tired for the entire last year, when I was first diagnosed as diabetic. Medication did not really work and gave me unacceptable side effects. Anyhow - I got this stuff at the grocery store today. Im making steam

Before I bought the house - before the economy crashed and changed my financial and emotional life, I was a vegan. I was vegan for about 2 years. When I ate that sort of food I felt really great and was able to lose some weight. Here are some pics of the food I made last night. Simple. Steamed squash, mashed up. Vegan. It felt good to east some healthy food again. My friend bartered some handmade pottery for a quilt. I made the napkin. Homesteading interests me, as does tiny house living. I live in a small city. My goal is to post more about the things I do to try to make my small city life reflect beliefs I have. Nothing aims to be perfect. I only want to try.

I am working on a quilt that will have the 7 continents appliqued onto the top. The background is just a light blue. More pics to follow but, here are some process pics. I plan to have the continents bright colored.

Hi - I wanted to post a video that demonstrates a few of my quilty ideas. This video shows the Pfaff Grand Quilter sewing, we need more videos that show the machines actually doing their work. Finishing quilts with Straight Stitch quilting does a few things. It brings every sewing machine into the quilting game. Every machine does a Straight Stitch with no extra foot needed. Old machines are great - and cheap - and you can buy one and work it! The other great things about Straight Stitch quilting is, it finishes work in a fast utilitarian way. Utilitarian is beautiful. Remember the phrase "Form follows function?" You already know how to Straight Stitch - no need to learn Free Motion Quilting. I also think most quilt teachers advocate for much more basting than is necessary. My goal is never perfection - my goal is to enjoy the process. Quilt tops that are flat will quilt flat even if you only use a few basting pins. Quilt tops that are poorly pieced will be poorly pieced

A few years ago I made a few video tutorials that I posted on youtube. Here is one -  Piecing on my Singer 15-91 I am thinking about making some videos using old house keeping instructions to make products for my house. Could be hilarious. Could Stink. There is also a new sewing machine review to do. Im not telling what kind yet. Or maybe Ive talked about it before? Soon I will make a new video review of the machine.

Still making quilts from recycled fabrics and scraps. This one is made from string sets and some flip and sew piecing.  It is a king size quilt and was made as a commission. The background fabric is new, Kona fabric.

I love being on Facebook - I hang out there all day long. The hope is, that I will update quilt information more often and get to interact with more quilters on the facebook site. If you are on facebook - come join me. https://www.facebook.com/MaineQuilt I had a couple of people looking and giving positive feedback from the start. Patty - thank you for the conversations and feedback.

I made this quilt from about a 50 % blend of recycled and new fabrics. It is a queen size with a 100% cotton batting. And, the Dog - is my George.

I finished an other table cloth quilt -

I took some quilts to the art walk tonight. Lots of people seemed interested in visiting the website and looking at more quilt pics.  If you are one of those people - hello!  My site is simple but, I try to update it often and keep the content to pictures of quilts. I hope you enjoy looking at the site. Leave comments if you like. I usually answer them. A few people follow and comment often. I appreciate the conversation. 

All of my scrap bins are overflowing!  I pieced the back of this quilt from pulling pieces directly from the bin and piecing like mad. The quilt ended up being a king size quilt and, it quilted very flat. I would have been pretty disappointed if it ended up all wrinkled and a mess.   Tomorrow, when the sun is out - Ill take better pics. If the sun come out. It is raining tonight and the temperature fell again. Almost to a point where using a quilt at night to stay warm would be a smart idea. For the last few days it was so hot that sleeping was a terrible tragedy. 

I saw this quilt in a pattern book and thought "that would use lots of scraps" and decided to make it. I was very lucky this pattern allowed me to use the AccuQuilt. I cut all of the 2.5 inch squares with it. And, used up 4 bags of scraps in the process!  Yeah - George is a cute dog. And, I hate sun in my face. I love on the Ocean. Oh -- back to quilts - That fabric is going to be the border.

I made enough 4 patch blocks to make two quilts. The second one needed to be mine. I made the first one to look like the one in the book. Why do that? Awhile ago I bought some fabric with roses on it that I was in love with but was afraid to use. I decided it was time. Here is how it came out - What do you think? Does the floral overpower the blocks? Is that a bad thing (if it does)?  For me, the blend is perfect. I am dreaming about the bed on the porch of my childhood camp. It was iron and sometimes had a hornets nest somewhere inside. That is the truth!  But, it was on a screen porch near the lake. I loved it there. And, this quilt is now part of the memory even though it never was.  Here is the first quilt. 

I just made this quilt. I am in love with it. I love the quilt. I used recycled shirts for all of the 4 patch blocks and a salvage piece of french ticking for the background. Im really in love with the quilt. Does it look more primitive or cottage? I guess I dont know. I love it.