Category Archives: My Memories

Personal Quilt Records

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

Why didn’t I think of documenting who and where my quilts went 30+ years ago when I started quilting?  My answer is that I didn’t think of it back in the days of my early quilts.

After a few years, I did start to take photos of the quilts and afghans I made.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get name the photos so I could remember just who the gift went to.  So I have a stack of photos as a reminder, but I am not sure I could tell anyone who the items were given to.

After I was diagnosed with MS and we realized the extent of the loss of my short- and long-term memory problems, I started asking the recipients of my quilts to take a digital photo and send it to me, so I could refer back to it and know who my quilts went to.  Unfortunately, my request hasn’t always been honored.

There’s also a reason to document your quilts if you ever need to show your work to someone who is interested in purchasing or commissioning a quilt from you.  The stack of photos I have has been passed along to others many times and many quilts have been made based on quilts I had made in the past via those photos.

But, here are a few suggestions for documenting quilts (or any type of handmade gift) that you make and give or gift away:

  1. Photo album:  A photo of the finished quilt before it is sent to its new home, plus a photo of the recipient (if possible) with their new quilt.  But take this one step further and write or type a little note, adding the information on where the quilt went and who it went to.  A date would be great, too.  If nothing else, take a photo of the tag on the quilt, then you could eliminate any further need to write anything.
  2. Write out information about your quilts.  This is a pretty thorough list items to help you:  https://www.reddawn.net/quilt/documnt.htm.  This is even a more thorough form you can print and use:  https://oregonquiltproject.blogspot.com/
  3. “Personal Quilt Registry“, a book written by Lynne Fritz, offers a seemingly excellent opportunity to keep a record of your quilts – not just what you’ve gifted away but also those you have kept.
  4. Make a quilt journal:  https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/05/how-to-make-a-quilt-journal/.
  5. There’s also software you can purchase and use on your computer to document your quilts:  https://softexpressions.com/software/organ/index.html#Quilters.

There are many options for you to choose from to help you keep a record of your quilts.  What’s your favorite way?


Let’s Talk About the Quilt Ruler-Splosion!

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

When I started quilting 30+ years ago, there was no such thing as using a quilt ruler, rotary cutter and mat.  At least not that I recall.  I learned to quilt using templates.  Lots and lots of templates traced onto fabric and cut apart with a good pair of sewing scissors.  I made my first Lone Star quilt within a year of learning how to quilt, just by using templates.  I wouldn’t say it was pretty, especially if you looked at it close enough…but, my brother loved it and that is what makes a quilter’s heart go pitter-patter.  A quilt that is loved and is used is the best kind!

I certainly cannot recall when the rotary cutters, quilt rulers and mats made their appearance for quilters but I do recall MY first quilt ruler – and I recall it because I’ve bought a half-dozen of them over the years!  I still USE the very first quilt ruler I ever purchased all those years ago.  It’s nothing special, lightweight plastic and easy to accidentally cut if you don’t pay very close attention to where your rotary cutter is cutting.  🙂

My first quilt ruler was a Dritz Quilting See-Through Drafting Ruler.  When I looked it up with a search engine, I giggled because it not only showed up at sewing places such as Joann’s but it also showed up at Sears!

DritzRuler

Dritz Quilting See-Through Drafting Ruler

(source)

After a while, some better crafted quilt rulers came on the market.  The new rulers were still just straight rulers, though they varied in the color of the lines, the size and the markings on the rulers.  I think this is the second quilt ruler that I purchased:

OmniGripRulter

Omnigrip Neon Quilter’s Ruler-8-1/2″x24″

(source)

But WOWSER, in the last five (at least) years, there’s been a quilt ruler-splosion!!!  I cannot believe the number of quilt rulers that have cropped up lately!  There are numerous quilt pattern books that require a special ruler all over the place -from proprietary usage to universal usage!  There are professional and amateur quilters who have designed their own rulers, to be used with their own patterns or with other patterns.  And there are professionals who have designed their own special quilt rulers, who have gone on to sign the rights away to a larger company to distribute them for the designer.

I believe I now possess the following quilt rulers beyond the two that I mentioned above:

  • Omnigrid Quilting Square Ruler 12.5″ x 12.5″
  • Omnigrid Quilting Ruler 6″ X 12″
  • Omnigrid Right Triangle-Up To 8″
  • Omnigrid Quilting Grid Ruler 6.5″ X 6.5″ Diagonal
  • EZ Quilting Easy Rule Jr. Acrylic Ruler 3 1/2″ x 9 1/2″

Not a whole lot but they fulfill all of my quilting needs perfectly.

Besides these basic shaped rulers, I have noticed something else about the new quilt ruler-splosion…many of them have truly created templates into rulers.  We’ve come full circle from when I learned to quilt 30+ years ago to today.  Templates are fabulous and I would recommend any new quilter learn to quilt the more difficult way (with templates) than staring anew with a quilt ruler, rotary cutter and mat.  They will learn the true basics of quilting and then increase their quilt knowledge through independent study (aka trial and error) or by taking quilt classes.

The quilt ruler-splosion doesn’t seem to be stopped anytime soon, but make the most it while it lasts!


Join Us for the March Quilt Dash!

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

I always have so much fun designing the patterns that are offered for free, once a Quilt Dash member completes the Quilt Dash!  This month’s quilt is called “Memories of Mike” and it is a super-special quilt to me.  Mike was my older brother.  When I was 19, I was a pretty lost soul.  I had lived in four different foster homes and had no true sense of myself.  Then, I was offered a job by a cousin, and a chance to live where my brothers had grown up (they were raised by an aunt and uncle after our folks died), I jumped at it.  As we created new sibling relationships as adults, Mike and I became best friends.  I truly ‘found’ myself with that relationship.  Unfortunately, I got a phone call that will forever be etched in my memory – Mike died at the age of 34 – of a brain aneurysm (our dad died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 36 in 1976…Mike’s death was in 1997).

This quilt design has two of the elements that are actually carved on Mike’s headstone – four log cabin blocks and a number of mountain blocks.  Mike’s biggest dream was to move to Colorado and live in a log house on or near mountains.  He never got the chance to do it.  But, now I will always have this special quilt pattern to remind me to dream big!

MemoriesOfMike

Please join us at Quilt Dash this month!  If you are not a member, just create an account and start Dashing!  Once you complete the Quilt Dash, you will be emailed an email (within 24 hours) with the link to this free pattern in the body of the email.

Help me keep the Memories of Mike alive!

Big Sister, Little Sister Quilt

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

The t-shirt quilt I have been making is for a young woman who graduated from high school in May.  I knew this little baby since her mom first found out about being pregnant (I was the second person to know of her pregnancy).  Her mom and I worked together in a law office in 1993 and then we worked together again about five years later as I sold online advertising for her website for 11 years.  I have watched this little girl, through photos and stories from her mom, for 18 years.  The interest for me has been that this young lady’s last name is also my maiden name.  We do know she’s not a direct relative of my family’s, but at some point, we are related.

As lives move forward, family dynamics are always changing.  For better or worse does not always work out, and for the Mom of the young lady, that was definitely the case.  She has since remarried and now they have a blended family with his, hers and ours.

The graduate has a little sister who is going into the first grade this coming fall while the graduate heads off to Texas A&M University.  When I saw how much leftover fabric I had from her t-shirt quilt, I offered to make her little sister a “doll-size” quilt.  Although she does not play with dolls, she has a lovely lab as a playmate and her mom assured me that the ‘doll-size” quilt would be put to good use with her trusted doggie by her side.

Fortunately for little sister, I have no concept of SMALL.  The suggested 15″ “doll-size” quilt morphed into a 42″ square baby quilt!  I just kept cutting the leftover fabric and ended up with a quilt a bit bigger than I intended (blush).

While I’m not quite ready to reveal the final big sister t-shirt quilt, I can show you the “doll-size” little sister quilt!

PeytynPyleQuilt

I should have the binding completed on the big sister quilt this evening, if all goes well and my MS doesn’t cause me any troubles.  Can’t wait – because I have a quilt at-the-ready for my own daughter’s birthday to finish!

Happy 4th of July!

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

Old quilt patterns never die – they just sit in your sewing room until you uncover them and find yourself with a compulsion to complete them.  This one I unearthed from my 2007 block of the month named “TT Calendar Quilt“.  I had pieced the squares and blocks and even put it all together – except the quilting.  Unfortunately, we were living in the camper at the time and sewing space was extremely limited so I didn’t get to complete a lot of the blocks and found a treasure trove of them in my files!

July450

Get your quilting groove on and piece this delicious set of July blocks – took me less than 30 minutes to quilt it and I have no clue how much time it took me to put the blocks and squares completed.

Quilt On!