A back for the quilt with borders

I should give this quilt a name or forever I will think of it as 'The quilt with borders'. But no name comes to mind.

About the back. I generally by half yards pieces of fabric. Hardly ever a piece big enough for a back. I'd rather have fun six times buying smaller pieces than only once getting that one fabric for the back.

I like the look and because  I press all seams open to reduce any possible bulk, my backs lay nice and flat. Now on to the quilting.

I find that it works best to build a back on the wall. I hang the quilt up, and proceed to pin the largest pieces up.

Filling in as necessary from my scrap boxes (note the 6" squares and 2 1/2" strip).

The finished border for the quilt with borders

Sorry that I can't take a fast picture of the whole quilt, but here it is with the border. I think it looks great. I met my goal, finish the top and cut no yardage. Did you notice in order to not cut the yardage, I drifted from brown to purple and even some red? I think this adds to the richness of the quilt.

Now on to the back.

About Borders

This top just cries for a border.

I am trying to catch up and finish all older projects. I set myself some parameters. I want to use only scrap fabrics, not cutting yardage. The blocks are composed of 4" and 2 1/2" squares.

One row of 4" squares doesn't seem to be enough of a frame.

Two rows of 4" squares is too much.

One row of each 4" and 2 1/2" squares is just right.

Generally these are the guidelines I follow.

·        Keep in mind: Measure the bed or wall, if possible, to be sure that the quilt will fit. The quilt will probably finish smaller than the planned size because of the quilting.

·        Make the corners pretty

·        Total width of border usually looks in proportion to blocks if borders and blocks are the same size

·        Block borders

            Change colors in every other block

            Use separator strips

            Border block different value than center blocks

·        Look at the blocks for border shapes

·        All borders do not need to be the same size

·        Consider making every corner different or make opposite corners that match

·        If you want to use pieces of a different size than those in the quilt, make them smaller

·        Borders are constructed of 'units.'  To make borders that fit, each unit size must be compatible with the block size (or previous border) in the quilt.

The Historic El Tovar

We were fortunate to get reservations for this historic lodge at the last minute. The El Tovar, is a former Harvey House hotel situated directly on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The hotel was designed by Charles Whittlesey, Chief Architect for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway and was opened in 1905 as one of a chain of hotels and restaurants owned and operated by the Fred Harvey Company in conjunction with the Santa Fe railway. The hotel is one of only a handful of Harvey House facilities that are still in operation, and is an early example of the style that would evolve into National Park Service Rustic architecture.

The El Tovar sits right on the South Rim.

The Grand Canyon

To finish out two week tour of Arizona we visited my favorite place in the whole world, the Grand Canyon! 

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile. Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.                                       There are no words to describe it's stunning beauty!

Quilter's Store Sedona

Please don't think that there was a chance I missed any opportunity to visit a quilt shop or two. The Quilter's Store Sedona was a lovely respite from all the unfamiliar blue sky!

The Quilter's Store Sedona is a quilter's dream located across from Thunder Mountain in Sedona, Arizona.  The store is stocked with over 2,000 bolts of 100% cotton fabrics that include a sweeping colorwall, batiks, the latest collections and southwest designs.

The Quilter's Store Sedona
3075 W. State Route 89A
Sedona, AZ 86336
928-282-2057 

Pat Rosenthal Shares Her Label Ideas

A MONTH FOR HEARTS  (#2004-5-128) commemorated  a momentous month that year
1) my 33rd wedding anniversary –we just celebrated our 43rd.
2) my brother’s 2nd heart surgery – he’s still going strong
3) our daughter’s 22nd birthday
4) Valentine’s day
5) I drew the 8 of hearts in a challenge at the quilt guild

Hello Melody,

I always enjoy your newsletter and then remember to check on your blog.   I live ½ time on Oahu now and love to be tied back to Puget Sound when I am away through your blog and other’s on the internet. I wanted to comment on your “Labeling Your Quilt” information.  I have always labeled my work because my grandmother who made many, many quilts in her lifetime NEVER did put her name on any of them.  My cousins and I all have one or more but when some have been passed on to children or grandchildren by my non-sewing or non- quilting cousins, the maker (Gramma Katie),  has been lost.

Most of the younger kids have no idea anymore who made the quilts that are passing on because they have no idea the time and love that Gramma put into her beautiful creations.  About 10 years ago I decided to make a quilt for every child under 12 at the family reunion at Lake Chelan.  Every one of the over 50 quilts I have given away to relatives there has my label on the back  -AND-  every child has received a simple print out to indicate their place, my place and Gramma Katie’s place in our large family tree.

I mostly wanted to tell you about a woman I met in Bath, England  in August 1999, at the quilt shop there.  She suggested I begin to label and keep a log of my work.  I told her I already did attach a label.  Then she suggested (rather forcefully) that I start to add a log number to each completed piece of work, from small wall art to king-sized bed quilts.

January 2000 I put my first log number ( 2000-1) on the first piece I completed in 2000.  In January of 2001 I decided to add a running count number so I would know the number of quilts for that year and the total number since I started counting. My last completed quilt (which was donated to Oahu foster children’s care) was numbered 2013-14-332.  That’s 14 completed quilts in 2013 and the 332nd since I started counting.

I make a lot of quilts for charities and family.    I don’t have a long-arm machine so I quilt by the ‘divide and conquer’ method. Since January 2000 only 3 very, very large pieces have been sent out to someone else to quilt.   The circle, oval, square, and spiral templates some long-armers  use are wonderful to sew  around and then fill in with whatever design I like.  

Your books are wonderful.  Keep writing and I’ll keep buying.
~Yours -- Always quilting or thinking about quilts,
                                                                                                                                                                    Pat Rosenthal

ANTARCTICA NIGHT   (#209-2-248) made to remember a MOST fantastic vacation to Antarctica

Back of ANTARCTICA NIGHT -label-photos of me on a black sand beach-and Mom and Les and me at the U.S. Antarctica Station

Celebrate International Quilting Day

Celebrate International Quilting Day with me and TheQuiltShow.com beginning Friday, March 14 through Sunday, March 16. Everyone who signs on to TheQuiltShow.com will have FREE access to over 160 WebTV shows featuring some of the top quilting instructors in the world. You can also enter the TQS prize drawing with a grand prize of a BERNINA 550QE and wonderful fabric prizes. So check in at www.thequiltshow.com on Friday, March 14, and enjoy the shows and exploring The Quilt Show website. You can start with my show, Episode #312.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located on the Tohono O’odham San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was named in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino for a pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order), Francis Xavier. The mission is also known as the “place where the water appears”, as there were once natural springs in the area.
Outside, San Xavier has a white, Moorish-inspired design, elegant and simple, with an ornately decorated entrance. No records of the architect, builders, craftsmen or artisans responsible for creating and decorating it are known. Most of the labor was provided by the local Indians, and many believe they provided most or all of the artisans as well. Visitors entering the massive, carved mesquite-wood doors of San Xavier are often struck by the coolness of the interior, and the dazzling colors of the paintings, carvings, frescoes and statues. The interior is richly decorated with ornaments showing a mixture of New Spain and Native American artistic motifs.

Tombstone

After all that educational, arty stuff Tombstone was a campy bit of fresh air!

Allen Street today. One of the most notorious streets in the old west is alive and well in Tombstone. Throughout the past 140 years it has survived two major fires, the loss of the mining industry, and countless violent  encounters. Each year many thousands of visitors walk where old west heros and villains lived, worked and fought.
From boomtown to bust this little city earned its nickname, "The Town Too Tough To Die".


Take time to see a re-enactment of the The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The real a fight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, and is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the American Old West. The gunfight, believed to have lasted only about thirty seconds, was fought between the outlaw Cowboys Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury, and the opposing town Marshal Virgil Earp and his brothers Assistant Town Marshal Morgan and temporary lawman Wyatt, aided by Doc Holliday designated as a temporary marshal by Virgil. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight unharmed, but Ike's brother Billy Clanton was killed, along with both McLaurys. Lawmen Virgil and Morgan Earp were wounded. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday came through the fight unharmed. The fight has come to represent a time in American history when the frontier was open range for outlaws opposed by law enforcement that was spread thin over vast territories, leaving some areas unprotected.

The bonus was the small quilt show at the art gallery!

Tucson Botanical Garden

A  5 1/2 acre urban garden, Tucson Botanical Gardens is a lush and tranquil oasis in the heart of the city. Built from the historic nursery and home of the Porter Family, the shaded Historic Gardens and the Porter House Gallery offer visitors the opportunity to enjoy eleven rotating exhibits annually; these focus on emerging and established local and regional artists whose themes interpret the flora, fauna, and landscape of desert regions.

Paths lead through a diverse selection of residentially scaled specialty gardens, including a Zen Garden, Prehistoric Garden, Barrio Garden, Butterfly Garden, and Children’s Garden. The Stonewall Foundation Tropical Exhibit is home to orchids, bromeliads, and jungle vegetation. During the months of October to April, the Exhibit hosts Butterfly Magic, a display of live tropical butterflies with species representation from five continents.

Quilt Shopping

The owner of Seams Sew Right, Maylee Collins says "To describe my love for quilting is simple: I have a love for color, the feel of great fabric and the excitement of the next new project and or projects. I always have more than one quilt going on, much like the rest of you out there. I learned early on that shopping for fabric is not about need. It’s about want. I wanted it all in my stash. So over the past 20 years (where does the time go?) there have not been too many Houston International Quilt Festivals I have missed."

Seams Sew Right
220 West Goodwin St.

Prescott, Arizona 86303

928-771-1200

 
Across the mall from the back door of the quilt shop is Love It Again! Fabrics ’N Fun Stuff . This is resale store at the Old Firehouse Plaza in Prescott, Arizona.  The store has fabrics, notions, trims, books, machines and Fun Stuff at a discount price. The inventory comes primarily from personal stashes. They sell unused fabrics, notions and trims as well old machines at Love It Again! The store is a great shopping experience for all quilters, sewist, crafters and beginners.



Love it Again, Fabrics 'n Fun Stuff Quilt Shop
218 W. Goodwin Street #102
Prescott, Arizona 86303

928-778-7080

The Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix

The Desert Botanical Garden is a 140 acres botanical garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded by the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society in 1937, the garden now has more than 21,000 plants, one-third of which are native to the area, including 139 species which are rare, threatened or endangered. Of special note are the rich collections of agave and cacti. Plants from less extreme climate conditions are protected under shade houses. It focuses on plants adapted to desert conditions, including an Australian collection, a Baja California collection and a South American collection.

Dale Chihuly was featured at the Desert Botanical Garden with a stunning exhibition of his work.

 Chihuly (born September 20, 1941), is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur. His works are considered unique to the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture". The technical difficulties of working with glass forms are considerable, yet Chihuly uses it as the primary medium for installations and environmental artwork.

Casa Grande National Monument

Archeologists have discovered evidence that the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built the Casa Grande also developed wide-scale irrigation farming and extensive trade connections which lasted over a thousand years until about 1450 C.E.

The Casa Grande was abandoned around 1450 C.E. Since the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built it left no written language behind, written historic accounts of the Casa Grande begin with the journal entries of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino when he visited the ruins in 1694. In his description of the large ancient structure before him, he wrote the words "casa grande" (or "great house") which are still used today. More became known about the ruins with the later visits of Lt. Col. Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition in 1775 and Brig. Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny's military detachment in 1846. Subsequent articles written about the Casa Grande increased public interest. During the 1860's through the 1880's more people began to visit the ruins with the arrival of a railroad line twenty miles to the west and a connecting stagecoach route that ran right by the Casa Grande. The resulting damage from souvenir hunting, graffiti and outright vandalism raised serious concerns about the preservation of the Casa Grande.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Just down the road from Ajo, is the wonderful Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. (You do realize that this isn't a short 'down the road'?) This cactus species has several narrow stems that rise vertically, growing from a single short trunk just above the ground level. These stems are about 6 inches thick and grow to a height of 16 feet.It takes 150 years to reach maturity.

T

And some of the straightest roads I have ever seen! It looks like someone used a ruler to plan them!

International Quilt Festival - Houston TX

Save the date: International Quilt Festival - Houston TX

October 30-November 2, 2014
Preview Night October 29
Classes begin October 27

I'll be there with lots of workshops something for every one! 

 

Interested in quilting design? Two classes Stitching Through the Layers, The Art and Elegance of Straight Line Quilting Design 

 

A Fine Line: Creating the Quilting Design.

Fast finishing techniques?

Super-Fast Binding and Piping 

        

 Joining the Blocks-Quilt-As-You-Go Style.

 

Decorative stuff? 

Fun & Fancy - Make a Purse

 

  Fantastic Fabric Foiling

 Decorative Threads.

 

Anything else? 

 For the Love of Color

 Borders; the Final Chapter. 

A laugh filled lecture? So Many Ideas; Sew Little Time.