Monday, January 21, 2013

Back To Work


Although I am still recovering from my bout of flu we are back to work here on the farm. O Wise One had the flu but for him it was only a 24 hour ordeal. Baby O never caught it! 

The snow is mostly gone now due to a warm up over the weekend to the 60's. It did not last long though because the mercury is supposed to fall again for the rest of the week. O Wise One continues to trap daily and is having pretty good luck this season but is amazed at the number of people trapping this year. With the bad economy I imagine everyone is looking to make extra money however they can. The pelt prices continue to remain pretty good though even with the large number of trappers.  


Baby O helped me stretch and baste a quilt yesterday. You can see here it is a large scrappy log cabin done in blues. This is an oversize queen quilt with a blue patterned flannel backing. I am making it for myself !! Or I say that until someone comes along and wants it. You can tell blue is one of my favorite colors and I had so much in my fabric stash that I felt I just needed to use some of it.  We stretched the backing and batting and taped them to the floor with masking tape. Then pinned the quilt top on top and basted it down to the other two layers. I don't always baste my quilts but on the really large ones it helps to stabilize it while getting it on the floor frame.  I was very happy with the job I did as you can see the quilt laid beautifully. No ridges or buckles to be found.  Notice the large white temporary basting stitches going through the middle of the quilt. Nothing like sewing on your hands and knees to make a girl feel her age. Thank goodness I had Baby O to help. What am I going to do when that girl goes to college? Wonder if I could find an apprentice....


Once I had the top positioned I took a large curved needle and crochet cotton and basted all around the edges and down through the middle of the quilt to hold it together until it is quilted with the final quilting . You can see the big curved needle laying directly in front of the ball of cotton on the quilt. I hear they have some sort of spray out now that glues to layers together basting them. I have not tried it though. Just another cost added to quilting that is probably unnecessary. After all I have manged to quilt lots of quilts over the last 30 years without it.


Once basted we removed the tape and transferred the basted quilt to the frame. And another quilt awaiting many hours in that old rocker adding stitches to. 

Before I really start this one I have a top at the sewing machine that I am still working on too. And I am still cutting up strip for rugs out of all those old jeans and T shirts from Baby O's closet clean out. So as you can see I am slowly recovering from my flu and moving slowly but still moving. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

The Chicken Chick



24 comments:

  1. well I learned something today, I never thought to lay a quilt in the floor & baste it,love the quilt!
    Helen

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    Replies
    1. Sweep and mop the floor good and it works great. Good masking tape holds it snug while you work out and wrinkles. Once it is flat then the top can be basted easily with a curved needle. Once the needle goes through the fabric and hits the hard floor below it automatically curves back up and back through the top. When you have a really large queen or king the floor is great.

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  2. There is a spray that is helpful but it's also difficult to lay out a large quilt completely flat since it is immediately sticky, if you had help it would work better. I don't quilt large quilts so the spray is easy for little table runners and place mats although I pin here and there too. Your quilt is really pretty. Glad you are feeling better.

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    Replies
    1. I saw the spray in my local WalMart but it looked expensive and I was unsure it works. Some new things are great such s my rotary cutter but I like to keep the cost of my quilting down as much as possible. I was also unsure as to whether it would gum up my needle and make it sticky during quilting?

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  3. I've been citified for too long. I hadn't thought of Missouri still in the pelt business, or quite a few of the other States, for that matter. I know Alaska still does. I should keep up.

    I remember my grandmother quilting long ago. My mother took it up and might still do one or two for a newborn.

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    Replies
    1. I remember my brother at 16 in Louisiana had a trapline and that was how he made his gas money. O Wise one paid for my dehydrator many years ago skinning deer for people and has been an avid outdoorsman since very young. His grandfather was a trapper.He pulls in a small income every year trapping and helps to keep down the skunk/possum/coon population as well on the property. There for a few years when he was too sick to trap they had become so thick and we had a rabies outbreak. You would see animals just wandering around in circles disoriented in the middle of the day. The skunks this year are super thick again.

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  4. I am a baster too, but it never occurred to me how much easier basting would be with a curved needle. Winter or Summer...always something to learn from you Mrs.CQ

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  5. A. I want the quilt.
    B. I want to be your apprentice.
    C. I can't even sew a hem.
    D. I am in awe of you.
    :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

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    Replies
    1. A. The job is yours...
      B. The pay is lousy...
      C. The commute is terrible..
      D. The food is plentiful and edible...
      E. I will teach you....
      F. I am in awe of all my readers but thanks..

      Hugs CQ

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  6. What a pretty log cabin! I made one quite similar about ten years ago in red tones. They are a fun pattern. Great for scraps. I machine sewed mine from start to finish though. I may be good at needlepoint and embroidery but I am not a great hand quilter, or hand sewing. Its odd, but true! Love your quilt, glad to hear you're moving along!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Like quilting I think hand sewing is becoming a forgotten art. My daughter took Home Ec and I was furious at how they taught them to sew on the machine exclusively but spent no time on teaching them hand work. I think that once you master handwork then you understand sewing so much better. My mother was a true professional seamstress and you never hemmed a garment of any kind by machine. There are just so many things that are so much more beautiful by hand. I love the detail work best of all.

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    2. We are buying our 8 year old her first machine for her birthday next week. But... she has first spent the last year hand sewing her doll clothes! No machine at our house until you can sew by hand :-)

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  7. Glad you are feeling better. Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous! I have never tried my hand at quilting even though I love needlework. Love the blues too!

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  8. Love both the log cabin quilt and the wedding ring quilt. I never thought of using a curved needle for basting. I'll definitely be doing that for my next quilt.

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  9. So glad to hear you are feeling better! I was worried when you hadn't posted for a few days. Beautiful quilt! I love the log cabin pattern:)

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  10. What a beautiful quilt. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!



    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino

    The Chicken Chick

    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  11. I have really enjoyed your blog since finding a few months back. Your quilts are beautiful!
    Our family moved this past summer to a 42 acre farm. We have some gardening experience and hope to expend that this year. I have read through some older post on starting seeds as that is what I would like to do. I have few questions I was hoping you could help me with if you get time. I have a large unheated room with tons of windows, Would I still need a grow light and would it be warm enough for seedlings? I saw a pictures of your cold frame, how is that made and do you take the plants out there when they are big enough and leave them or bring them back in at night? Any other advice for someone starting from seeds for the first time? I saw where you plant seeds early, I'm in TN, how soon do you think I should start mine?

    Glad you are feeling better!

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  12. Your quilt is drop dead gorgeous! I too am so glad you are back to feeling better!

    As you know, I had to give up my homestead blog due to time restraints. Just too much to do.... However, I have decided to use a blog as a sewing journal rather than a spiral notebook LOL If you're interested in taking a peek, it's http://abobbinwindingmama.blogspot.com/

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  13. CQ,

    Glad to see your feeling a little better. This year the flu has really hit alot of folks.
    Your quilts are gorgeous, I would love to be as talented as you.

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  14. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, too. Doubly glad to hear that Baby O did not catch it this year.
    Have a blessed week!

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  15. Patsy Thompson has a tutorial on making and using a spray basting wall. She has a series of tutorials here: http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/free-video/ The basting wall is #2. I love this method. No more crawling around on my knees. I bought two pieces of 2" rigid foam insulation since mine is not attached to a wall like hers. I prop them up against a wall in the basement, open a window and baste away. I've not had a problem with either hand or machine needle gumming up.

    I can't remember if she covers how to use the basting wall with a queen or king size quilt in the online tutorial but she does in her first Fast and Free DVD.

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  16. I'm a hand quilter too (just a couple years now) and I'd never thought to use a curved needle for basting. Thanks for the tip.

    I heard on the radio that a lot of food pantries that normally receive venison and other wild meats from hunters who have more than they need, are getting little to none this year. I thought of it when you said a lot more people are hunting for pelts this year. Nothing like tight times to help us remember skills/tips from earlier times.

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Feel free to challenge me, disagree with me, or tell me I’m completely nuts in the comments section of each blog entry, but I reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason whatsoever (abusive, profane, rude, or anonymous comments) – so keep it polite, please. Also I am not a free advertisement board if you want to push a product on my comments I will delete you fast !!!

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