The Reason Hannah's quilt won't see much progress this month!

I took a class on t-shirt quilt making at Quiltology in Chicago's Lincoln Park. This is the result of the class. It is also the reason that not a lot of work went into Hannah's quilt this month. I had wanted to make a t-shirt quilt for Sarah, my younger niece, but she won't let me cut up her t-shirts. Oh well, her loss.

Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia: Fall Trip 2008

In this first picture you will have to try very hard to see the quilt flower (well, actually, we made a day trip into Bosnia and I FORGOT to bring the flower along!!). The flowers did however travel across Bosnia, in addition to this day trip, we crossed the Bosnia/Croatia border 4 times. The picture was taken in Mostar, a beautiful city with many bridges and mosques. This bridge was destroyed in the 1992 war, but was later rebuilt using the same stones. When you are walking across the bridge you can not tell that it was only reconstructed in the last few years (you can tell from the side view).




Croatia has several national parks that have beautiful waterfalls. Plitvice and Krka are two that we visited. This illustrates just one of hundreds of falls.



The jewel of the Adriatic is Dubrovnik. This picture was taken from the island of Lokrum looking at the fortified walls of the old city.




This picture was taken from the roof of our hotel in Istanbul. The view of the Blue Mosque is pretty good from up there. As you can see in the photo, this particular flower was in the very early stages of being put together.




Not a lot of progress has been made on the quilt in the last month. I am taking a quilting class at Quiltology in Chicago and learning how to make a t-shirt quilt. The quilt I am making for the class is composed of old travel tees. I wanted to make one for my second neice, Sarah, but she refuses to let me cut up her shirts! Maybe once I complete the quilt from class she will change her mind. I'll post a picture of that quilt here too.
Til next month!

October - 1/3 of the Way There!

October Update...
The Quilt top is 1/3 of the way completed. Five, count them, five rows finished. In the above photo, the quilt is on our king size bed. You can see that it stretches from side to side, the size will be perfect. Also visible is the king size duvet cover that I made in September. Weren't really happy with anything in the stores, so just whipped this one up. My poor old sewing machine hasn't been used much in the last few years, so it is in need of maintainence. The wonderful folks at Quiltology in Chicago have sewing machines and workspace that you can rent, at a bargain price. Anyway, couldn't have done it without them. (And of course Joe who discovered that they rented machines)
This month the quilt will be traveling to some exotic locals, tune in the beginning of November... you won't be sorry. 'til then.

September Update

I've decided how to mark the front of the quilt to show where the various flowers were completed. I'm going to embroider the city/state/county and the date that the flower was assembled on the hexagon to the right of center. I am going to use thread that matches the color of the stripes, and will place the information on alternate white lines. Below are pictures of the two that I tried out. The purple flower was made in Paris France Oct 2007 and the orange flower was completed in Brussels Belgium Oct 2007. First are close ups of the embroidery. Following is a picture taken from a distance. The goal is to convey the information without distracting from the design of the quilt. I think this goal has been accomplished. The plan is to now mark each flower that was completed in a location other than Chicago. The final photo shows the state of the quilt as of September 1st. I've again placed a yard stick near the quilt to get a better feel for the size. By October 1st, I hope to have the fifth row completed, and also complete more of the straight edge along the bottom. Tune in next month to see how much progress I've made. Oh, a hint at what's to come... part of the quilt will be making another trip soon. Where in the world could it be headed? A future flower may be featured, straddling two continents?!?! Where could it be. Oh, the suspense is killing me.

The Other Coast

In July the quilt did make it to the East Coast, Florida. But first, take a look at this first picture. This is the reverse of the quilt held up to the sun. I love the way the light plays through the fabric. To me it looks more like a stained glass window than a quilt, but that's me. The different shades of color where the fabric is folded is beautiful. Click on the picture to make it larger and get the full effect.



Here is the state of the quilt on August 1st. Several more flowers have been added and, if you look closely, you'll notice that more edging has been added to the lower left corner to enlarge the straight edge. I think I'll add a little each month.





Have no fears, even though I'm topless in this photo, the site is still "family friendly"! This is pool side in Miami Beach.


And now for a couple of sunset pictures overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. We stayed in Madiera Beach and a couple of the sunsets were quiet colorful. Did manage to get birds in each of the shots. I'm wearing my back-up pair of glasses and I hate them. Makes my face look washed out. I've got my regular glasses back now.

The quilt should grow in August. I was able to make 3 complete flowers on the drive down and back. I'm hoping to finish the current row, Row 5, in September. It'll take lots of work, but I've got to get busy or Hannah will be 53 before I finish ; )

Hannah and the Quilt meet.

Finally, after two years of keeping quiet, I could keep quiet no longer. Hannah has now met her quilt. The two got together recently for the quilt's second birthday bash. It was a noisy affair, but a good time was had by all. Hannah, who lives in an undisclosed location in the state of Illinois (several people have reportedly "threatened" that THEY want the quilt), was visiting to go to Taste Of Chicago. The parting was teary, but the quilt must remain in my custody until it is completed. Hannah states emphatically that she WILL be back to visit often, and will keep in contact with the quilt via this blog.

From one coast to the other!

The quilt traveled to the West Coast in June. The American Library Association had the annual conference in Anaheim California. I went to help recruit librarians to come work at my library.

Although I was very busy with the conference, I was able to go birdwatching in the early mornings, like here at the Irvine Regional Park.

and in the evenings I went to the beaches to have supper with my co-worker JRo.

Now in July, the quilt will again travel to Florida.

July 4th - The US turns 232 and the Quilt turns 2

Where have I been?

We've had computer woes, virus attack. Computer was out of commission for a while. Finally I think it is back to about normal. In the mean time, the quilt has grown quite a bit. Latest flowers were made in Door Co. Wisconsin. Next month, the quilt turns 2!!

How to get a straight edge?

One of the problems with this pattern is the uneven edge that results. This makes it very difficult for binding. I've been working on different ideas around the problem and have settled on this, 1/2 hexagons on one edge (cut long-wise as seen on the top edge in photo), and 3/4 hexagons on the other edge (basically a point cut off as seen on the left side in photo). The resulting edge, as you can see, is straight. The plan will then be to add a strip of black fabric about 6 inches wide around the complete quilt. This will help frame the flower design and add size to the finished quilt.

Watch next month as there should be dramatic progress! (I hope)

Question: Where did the quilt go this time? Galapagos & Ecuador

Not a lot of work got done on the quilt. I was too busy having a good time. I can't believe that the only pictures of the quilt in the Galapagos are underwater. Oh, well. Now I have several flowers to add to the quilt.

On the Equator, just north of Quito.


By the teleferico on Pichincha volcano, overlooking Quito.



Underwater, in the Galapagos!



Looking over at the Panecillo, symbol of Quito.


Overlooking river valley between Mindo and Milpe.

A Look at February

It doesn't look like too much got done this month on the quilt, but don't be fooled. I worked quite a bit to get things ready for my next trip. I will be gone for 18 days. Not telling where, you'll have to wait for the pictures. Just be on notice, it will be EXCITING! You will see pictures of a quilt where I can Guarantee you have never seen them before. Don't believe me, just check back mid-March. I probably won't be able to attach any of the flowers that I make on this vacation, but I think I will be able to make quite a few. I've got the hexes all made for the next 7! Well, so much about the future, let's check out the state of the quilt now:

Ever so slowly, the pattern becomes apparent.


I love these angle shots.


In order to get the whole quilt in the picture, I have to stand on a chair.


Detail of big yellow flower


Close-up of a small blue flower

New Year's Day 2008

Here is the state of the quilt on New Year's Day. I'm a little late getting the picture posted, but this is what it actually looked like on 1/1/08.



Close-up of the new additions:


Art shot showing an interesting angle.

I've already got another flower to sew on, so I know I'll get a couple more added for January. Til next month.