September Star

In late August, I loaded my frame with a beautiful Judy Niemeyer Glacier Star quilt, pieced by Leslie Kiger of St. Simons Island, Georgia. You may remember my trip to Louisiana in March, and my visit to the Gulf States Quilt Association show in Slidell while we were traveling for Dennis's consulting work. Well, Leslie had a magnificent quilt in that show, and I blogged about the show here (you can see Leslie's navy quilt, from Laundry Basket Quilts "Eldon" pattern in two of my pictures), as well as featuring it prominently on my Facebook page. To be polite, I sent Leslie a note via Facebook Messenger just to let her know how much I'd enjoyed her quilt, and to ensure she knew I'd posted a couple of pictures of her quilt hanging in the show. I would hate for someone to pin a picture of one of my quilts, without crediting me, and I hoped she would realize I wasn't trying to take credit for her work.

To my surprise and delight, Leslie contacted me soon afterwards to ask me if I'd be willing to quilt a Glacier Star for her. Honestly, I was afraid I'd bitten off more than I could chew when I told her that I would. I'm a longtime quilter, but have only done this longarm business for a little more than a year, so most of my work is computerized edge to edge. But it seemed like a great opportunity, so I said yes. Leslie worked out a time on my calendar that coincided with her schedule, and she shipped it to me to finish for an entry in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi quilt show October 3-5, 2014.For more information, go to the Pine Belt Quilters website.

I spent a couple of days basting the quilt along all the curvy edges, and getting it square in my frame. It finishes 90" x 90" in the queen-size version of the Glacier Star, so I wanted to make sure nothing was going to shift around. I quilt on a fairly small machine (only 18" throat) for a longarmer, so I knew I was going to have to turn the quilt numerous times, plus there would be a LOT of rolling.

I stared at that quilt in my frame for three or four days. I was PETRIFIED to get started. Finally, I just buckled down and quilted the center star. Success!

Then, I stared at it for a couple more days. Finally, in desperation, I posted a question to the Professional Long Arm Quilters group I participate in on Facebook, and learned that there were several designers who had digitized patterns that fit the sections of the Glacier Star. I decided to invest in the digitized design by Laurie Thomas at It's A Quilt Thing. It was a great decision. Laurie was a load of help. My machine's software isn't as flexible as some machines, so she quickly helped me with a couple of questions on the fly, and gave me great support.

Once I started going with Laurie's designs, the thread really flowed. It was just a matter of taking it one step at a time. Here are feathers in the center diamonds:

The middle after the feathers began taking shape:

I liked the curly sections around the points.

I absolutely loved the modern look to these traditional feathers.

I was about halfway finished here, with 80% to go (sorry, old joke)...this quilt took me many hours every day.

I loved the feathers on the curved flying geese. Leslie's piecing was so accurate!

I agonized about this purple thread on the yellow section of the quilt. Leslie had requested that I not "quilt it to death" and that the thread match as much as possible. So, since this large area was treated as one feather in Laurie's design, should I use purple on yellow, or yellow on purple? In the end, I went with the purple...and decided it was a good choice.

On the very last border, I had some placement issues. It wasn't the design's fault, and my machine was stitching well. It was just me, and the way I have to measure around those curves and get things placed "just so." Anyway, I wouldn't want anyone to think that this stuff just happens magically by a computer. I had to sew, swear, rip, sew again, swear louder, rip again, then sew ONE MORE TIME...but it finally came together. FYI, those pin holes from the needle go away pretty well with sizing and steam, and a clean toothbrush rubbed across the area. I think batiks are the worst about showing needle holes after ripping, due to their tight weave.

Also, as much as I *love* and adore Glide thread by Fil-Tec, it is a struggle to rip it when the tension is just right, especially after it's locked into batik cotton fabric. Slow and tedious unsewing!

I had to turn the quilt in my frame on point to reach the long borders on the inside star, and then square again for the long borders on the queen-edge...and then back on point to get these half circle geese units. I think I counted that I loaded this quilt in my frame 12 or 14 times.

But, I finished it on September 24, 2014, about a month after I began!

The backing fabric was initially a surprise to me. Leslie had such a vibrant quilt top, I was amazed she'd chosen a dull brown and grey backing fabric. But I was able to use gray or linen bobbin thread through most of the quilt with great success, and so the back ended up just lovely with texture.

Here's a corner. I loved that color combo of Tidewater, Iris and Bone Glide thread. I also used Cornflower and Bright Gold Glide in the appropriate yellow spots. I even used just a touch of Sprout on those star tips. So many thread changes, so many times in and out of the frame...so much to learn.

I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of this quilt hanging in the Pine Belt Quilters show next week. I have never had a show quilt before! I've always been so self-critical. Honestly, I was my own worst enemy on this quilt, too. I saw every flaw, and agonized over it. But when it was finished, I was pleased with the quilt's overall effect. Fortunately, Leslie was pleased as well.

The nicest part of the entire process was realizing that since Glacier Star is a paper-pieced pattern, and I have already invested in the digital pattern for quilting, I can make one of these "for my very own"! I think I'll put that on my schedule for next year. It's a gorgeous quilt, and it was a great learning experience for me.

Happy Quilting!

Lori

Where did August go?

August came and went, and now September is nearly gone...and I've been too busy to blog! Time to catch up on some of the activities that ended my summer quilting spree.

I finished my summer Bible study with Beth Moore's Children of the Day, and had a small window of time before many deadlines were going to hit, so we made time for us. My hubby and I got to take a quick trip to our favorite getaway, Ocracoke, NC. We actually made a fun trip of it, flying over to First Flight, then Manteo for the aquarium, and around the point at Hatteras, and spending two days biking on Ocracoke Island. Lots of vacation packed into an overnight trip!

We came back just in time for the big announcement from our daughter and son-in-law. They are expecting a second girl, due New Year's Day, and already named Beverly Ruth after both great-grandmothers. We have a big sister who is very excited.

I had the opportunity to quilt this cross-stitched quilt. My client had finished an UFO that her sister had begun, and I helped finish it out with an all-over hand-guided meander. I even had the opportunity to bind this one, so I got to see it completely finished.

I have a friend who had three quilts ready for me, and I finished them in just two days.

Did you know I have a Facebook page? If you follow me on Facebook, you can see many more pictures of these quilts and more! I try to build a photo album there of every quilt I finish. Island Time Quilting on Facebook

Another regular client brought me three wall-hangings, and I particularly enjoyed how diverse they were. It's nice to meet someone who has as eclectic preferences as I do!

And then, this little person keeps me pretty busy. I love being her Grams, and she is my Gingersnap. (Although, she says, "My name is Erin Mina Bosse'; you can call me Erin.") We've had a couple of slumber parties.

Her mom and I are participating in the Community Bible Study here in town for the school year, so now I get to see her every Thursday morning, and even have lunch afterwards. We are on the "Best Macaroni and Cheese" tour of our local restaurants. So far we've tried McAlister's Deli and Olive Garden. Both have received rave reviews from our critic.

Last but not least, my beautiful college ladies had a terrific recruitment this fall. Alpha Omicron Pi has a new member class of 73 women, and a chapter total of 175. That's so fabulous to me. When I started advising at East Carolina University, the chapter total was smaller than this pledge class!

I've been incredibly busy just this week with a huge custom quilting project, plus several quick quilting projects for some special customers. I'll catch up on those sometime this weekend! Thanks for reading my blog. It always surprises me that anyone other than my mom was here...so please leave me a comment. It'll make my day.

Lori

Island Time Quilting

Aftermath: Quilts of Compassion

My daughter Mallory and I had the honor to join Janice Grimes, Executive Director and founder of Quilts of Compassion, during her mission for the Tupelo and Louisville, Mississippi areas portion of the "Quilts for the South" deployment. I blogged last month about the way God combined my Eight Days of Hope timeline with my quilting passion and connected me with Janice's ministry. After volunteering to longarm a stack of quilts, and adding a bunch donated by my friends all over the country, I brought 25 quilts to add to QOC's 650+ quilts and assisted in distributing them to people affected by the April 28 tornadoes.

The Quiltmobile dragged a trailer from Toledo, OH, full of quilts for the area. We unloaded the trailer at Anchor Church in Tupelo to reload the Quiltmobile for driving through the affected neighborhoods.

Quilts of Compassion began the disaster response portion of their mission after the Joplin tornado in 2011.

Anchor Church loaned us their youth room for staging.

The quilts arrived bagged with numbers of quilts in each bag. 

We sorted them by infant, kids, adult and lap quilts. The lap-sized prayer quilts are provided abundantly by the sewing groups dedicated to Quilts of Compassion's ministry. I think any individual out there who wants to donate to the ministry should consider adult masculine and feminine quilts a priority based on what I saw. Twin to queen sized quilts are really necessary for families who have lost everything.

On the other hand, these "pocket prayer quilts" are an amazing tool to share the ministry with extended family, caregivers, first-responders, and community members who can carry the tiny quilt in a pocket or purse. Mallory and I left the week with lots of plans to make many more of these to share with others, and to send to Janice. Stay tuned for some great patterns here in the future!

Our first morning, WCBI, a local television news station, interviewed Janice and provided great coverage of our mission. http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/video-group-ministers-to-tornado-victims-through-quilts

And Janice did a great job of outfitting us in polos and caps...very official! After a few homeowners related the stories of scammers and insurance woes, I quickly saw why it was important for us to be professional in our appearance. The LAST thing these people needed was to feel mistreated or fear manipulation or exploitation.

Since I had already established a relationship with several families during my week in Tupelo, we started with those names that either I knew, or someone from Anchor Church knew, had been affected by the storms.

Charles received a brand-new home from the ground up from Eight Days of Hope, and three new quilts from Quilts of Compassion.

Roy and Delilah received many man-hours of construction...and these beautiful quilts. 

We just went door to door, following the Lord's leading, and distributed quilts as we could to families still dealing with disaster rebuilding and clean up.

I loved seeing just how precious the quilts were to their recipients, and how the people who received them were encouraged by the prayers that we said with them, and continue to pray for them. To know "I am not forgotten" months after the storm...to hear God is faithful, and God loves them.

On our second day in Tupelo, Christian Televion Network interviewed Janice. I was blessed to learn more about her calling to this ministry. God works through quilts...I saw so much evidence day after day.

I was blessed to bestow Tupelo Strong, the special quilt I pieced and quilted and prayed over for Tupelo, to a sweet pharmacist who works at crosstown, right in the heart of our city.

The third day we went to Louisville, two hours south of Tupelo. We'd heard they were hit even harder than Tupelo...but I still wasn't prepared for the emotional day we had. Their hospital was destroyed.

Homes were just gone.

Lives were lost. 

But there was still hope. We met some lovely people, who have strength and determination to rebuild. Our quilts are with them to remind them we are praying, we love them, and God loves them.

We even commissioned some people to pass quilts on to others we could not reach in our one day in town.

Nikki took on as many quilts as she could carry. She lost her home and family members in the storm, so it's even more precious to see her love for her community and friends, and willingness to be His hands and feet to show compassion to the hurting.

On our last day in Tupelo, we distributed as many more quilts as we could into the hardest hit areas.

Janice took time that morning to share her testimony in my parents' Sunday School class, and gave everyone there a lap quilt to distribute to someone that needs comforting. The act of giving away comfort means just as much to the giver as the receiver. Trust me. My heart is full to overflowing of all the stories I simply cannot type in a simple blog post.

My hubby Dennis, dad Roy, and Janice just before she drove away to continue on to Alabama and Tennessee...Dad coveted one of the quilts we gifted so much that I know what his Christmas gift needs to be.

It was amazing to witness all the love of God through and to His people, truly blanketing them with the Peace that passes understanding, and the Hope, Grace and Compassion through Christ Jesus...all from the comfort of a quilt.