Finish: The Road to Tennessee Quilt

 This quilt is a recent finish...my interpretation of the vintage pattern, Road to Tennessee.  The individual components are called Indian Hatchets I think.  Putting them together this way is what I believe is called Road to Tennessee. The fabric is Modern Workshop by Oliver&S for Moda.  It's bound in Kona Coffee.

Lookie there...my DIY quilt label!  It washed up just fine.

 This is a charm pack quilt...this size (45"x54") requires 3 charm packs.  You could do a baby size 36x45)with 2 charm packs.  Each hatchet is 5" unfinished.  I think I used 2" squares to snowball the corners.  I think bigger snowballs would have been even better.

I've heard many quilters say you have to throw an ugly fabric into the mix to make a great quilt.  I have never prescribed to that, but this quilt has many fabrics that are...um..not my taste and it turned out fine.  I love the colors.  It's definitely better from a distance, but still something I would feel good about giving to someone I love.  Do you like to throw some uglies into the mix when you're making a quilt?

Bama Bound Quilts...

I literally just ran across the blog Bama Bound Quilts while reading one of my favorite blogs, Diary of a Quilter.

A lady by the name of Michelle Kizziah is organizing quilt donations for displaced children of Alabama. I am so thankful she has stepped up with a great idea to help. Here is what you can do taken directly from their blog:

Please send finished handmade, baby-size (crib- 50"x53") and child-size (toddler- 35"x45"; Child- 40"x60") quilts. They need to be washable, pin-free, and from a smoke-free environment (due to allegries). Please launder in Dreft or other children's detergent to remove any residual dyes or chemicals. Label quilt "Bama Bound Quilts" and include the maker's name, location and date. Send the quilt in a medium size, coordinating tote bag with at least one front pocket. Please include a small stuffed animal in the pocket. Please send to the contact address below.

Bama Bound Quilts
c/o Michelle Kizziah
PO Box 651
McCalla, AL 3511

If you have any more questions you can direct them to bamaquilts@yahoo.com

www.facebook.com/bamaboundquiltspage

I know THIS Alabama girl sure is glad Michelle got this together so I will be putting a package together soon.  I am also going to throw in a thank you for any of the Tulip Patch followers who complete a quilt/tote/animal for Bama Bound Quilts...a free PDF pattern of your choice.  I know that it's not much, but I wanted to say thanks to those donating their time and materials to help those in my home state.  Just email me a pic of your quilt.  If you have a blog and don't mind me sharing the link/pic in the future, please let me know. 

Best thrift store find ever. EVER!

No, I didn't find that little patchwork in a thrift store.  I just made that out of scraps last night.  What is that white surface it's laying on?  Well I am so glad you asked...

I found THIS hoosier cabinet in the salvation army this week.  YES!  I have wanted one of these for over 10 years but I never thought I'd find one in my budget.  It all started on the last week of preschool...  I had no need to do anything but I wasn't about to waste my last week of freedom quality childcare on cleaning and grocery shopping.  I made the rounds at some thrift stores in another town over and I saw this beauty...the doors were covered in ugly 70s wallpaper and the knobs had been replaced with little rose knobs I didn't care for.  It was marked $225 and I asked the manager if she would take less.  She said "50 percent" and I could not pull my van to the back fast enough.  $112!

The enamel top had been covered in latex paint, but I poured a bottle of fingernail polish remover on it and started peeling.  Girl power!  Why would somebody cover white enamel in white paint???  I thought about refinishing this to the original Depression Green color, but that would involve at least 2 types of stripping agents and I'm not sure I'm that into it.  There is a label on the back that this was made by Marsh Furniture in High Point North Carolina and shipped to a furniture store in Baltimore, Maryland.  That's neat because my mother is from Maryland so this piece *could* have been her family's at one time.  Probably not, but let's daydream about it.
 

The top is now holding my stash...yardage and quilt tops are on the left.  The double section now holds my American Jane so I can look at it regularly along with the Kona Solids I won in the MQG Monochrome Challenge and the few quilting books I own.  I don't read a ton of books or blogs because I don't want to get too many ideas in there and unintentionally copy someone.

This is where the pots and lids would go.  Now I have scraps, basting supplies and patterns.  The narrow drawer above it holds my receipts and graph paper...you know, in case I ever actually come out AHEAD in this little venture of pattern selling!

I moved my junior chifferobe to my dining room.  I've always wanted a buffet in there to hold games and play dough so this will do.  It's fun to have it all in there right by the table & ready for action.  I have a huge closet downstairs they WERE in, but I don't like the kids going in there because of lots of wedding pictures and DVDs that they don't need to be touching or breaking.  My ritzy cracker quilt is up there being a table runner.  I would have never made that quilt in those fabrics had it not been for Moda Bakeshop, but I'm so glad I did.  I have such a disconnect between my quilts and the way my house is decorated.  I'd like to change that...just not sure if I want to make my house more vintagey or my quilts less vintagey.

We've got games in the drawers..the few we have kept up with all the pieces.  They love Don't Spill The Beans and Don't Break The Ice.  My oldest loves Trouble but he's super competitive.  He loves Monopoly but I don't have the attention span for that.  As a girl I hung my Sunday Dresses in the long part on the side and put my dress shoes in the bottom.  I remember it was always a struggle for my little hands to open that bottom drawer.  Chutex&Ladders and Candy Land are now in that drawer because I hate playing those 2 games.  BWA-HA-HA!!!!!! 

The long part of the chifferobe has a wicker dresser with Play doh and Zingo.  Zingo is my new favorite game to play with the kids.  It's like Bingo.  The twins love being the person who calls the Bingo Pieces.  We all love play doh.  I still remember my sister making me play doh babies to play with when I was little.  Good times.

And a slightly less fabulous thrift find...a $1 vintage apron.  I discovered I now have the reputation of being the girl at church who always has thread on her clothes.  Gotta fix that.  Then again, it's better to be described like that than "the chunky girl", right?

Blogger's Quilt Festival: My 1st King Size Quilt!

 After learning about Diane Rose, the blind quilter, making king sized quilts, I decided to put my fear aside and start a king size quilt.  About the same time, I bought the picnic colorway of the new Denyse Schmidt fabric and I knew that if I combined it with my beloved American Jane stash I'd have enough fabric to do a quilt for our bed as well as a quilt that made me happy.

 I kept everything very manageable here.  I used a staggered bricks pattern just to keep from having to match points on such a large piece.  I also added a 9" border of my favorite print.

 I did very minimal quilting on this.  Partly it's because I didn't like having to quilt such a big quilt.  My husband is also not a fan of my "rumply" (free motion quilted) quilts.  He wanted this quilt to be softer, so I quilted vertically every 3.75" and then echoed the borders.

 I have loved sleeping under this!

The other day I was laying in bed and I looked down at my cozy quilt and was soooo glad that I was able to snuggle up under this thing.  If you've never tackled a quilt for your bed, go for it!  It doesn't have to be a double wedding ring or some super intricate quilt to keep you warm and give you a great sense of satisfaction every morning when you wake up.

Go visit the other great quilts at Amy's Creative Side

My bidness.

I normally keep my personal life very separate from this blog. Don't feel bad, I'm just private like that...even in real life. I used to be an open book, but I learned the hard way that it's not easy being an open book in a world short on grace. I closed the book. My phrase to my husband is "don't you be tellin' folks my bidness." Did I mention I think everything is my bidness???

Well let me open up a little to say that this past month or so has been rough. I've been overwhelmed by emotions and circumstances. We live away from all of our family and raising 3 little boys 7 and under (with very active 4 year old twins as part of that number) can be hard. On top of that, I've been feeling super emotional, having some other symptoms, and I've gained 14 lbs in a month or so. UGH. I went for tests yesterday at the medical center in Houston and found out I have an benign ovarian cyst...it will be ok. The prognosis: there will be more. The treatment: Take 2 suck-it-ups and don't call me in the morning...oh yeah, it can be incredibly painful so you have that to look forward to.

I am relieved it's not worse but upset that it doesn't really answer the other questions.  I think my hormones are outta whack but they wouldn't run bloodwork on me even though I asked. Anyway, I get home and my twin's former preschool teacher (who I am happy to now call a friend) told me she was sewing and God laid on her heart to tell me everything will be ok and to show me Isaiah 43:2 (and part of 3)

When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I never told her what was going on.  That would be under that umbrella of things too personal to share.  I was really touched and I'm glad she opened her book up a little to share with me.  I wrote back and told her what had happened and thanked her. 

Anyway, in other "bidness", I have been quilting but I can't show it all yet.  I really hate when people tease with the "super secret project" stuff, so I will be open once again today and say that my best friend Amie and I are trying to get a book proposal together.  I realize in saying that I may fail miserably, but that's ok.  It's my quilty dream to write a book and it's also been one of those things Amie and I have always talked about..."girl, let's write a book full of real stories about people in the south."  "girl, let's write the next Jane Eyre together."  "girl, let's write a quilt book."  Thanks to Andie Johnson for the gumption.  If nothing else, we will have a pile of quilts we love that we can hand out at Christmas and maybe a pattern or two out of the work.  We're going to be quilting anyway, why not!

An update on the update...

The cross still stands and a sign serves as a reminder from the Bible that the people are the church...and what they meet in is just a building.

Ok, now I have the picture situation figured out. (Thanks Sherry for your patience).  There are a lot of pictures but no more than your average tutorial so I think it should be ok as far as loading time.  It's important for people not there to see this from the eyes of someone who is there.  I think so many times our national media hops to the next big story.  As Willa said in an email, once Osama Bin Laden was killed this story was off the radar for the national media.  This is important and I want you guys to know that just because CNN might have moved on, I haven't.

That's a brick house up there...wow.

This is my favorite.  She should enter this in a photography contest.  What a story it tells.

This is the other church near my brother's house and one wall remained standing and look at what it said:

Wow.

Lemme repeat myself here:
The photographer who captured these images, Sherry Wilson Davis, said evidence of God's love and mercy is all around even in the midst of this destruction. She is an amazing photographer with an ability to really capture things whether it be a sweet smile, an emotion, an idea, or a moment.  Her facebook fan page is here.  If you live in in or around North Alabama, you should really check out having a session with her through her business, Sweetest Memories Photography.  She's a really sweet person who normally takes pictures of sweet children and families but was moved to capture the images going on around her (I think she thinks about photography as much as I think about quilting). 

Sweet Home Alabama...part 2 (an update that is actually quilt related!)

Update: Pics are now loading on this post.

The sign was added to the cross reminding the community "For WE are the Temple of the Living God " 2Cor6:16

My home county is still dealing with terrible aftermath from the tornadoes that came through last week. Many people in the affected areas still don't have electricity. It's very much like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that my in-laws in Mississippi dealt with. Don't stop praying for them if you have been...they need it!  The photos in this post are borrowed with permission from a family friend and great photographer, Sherry Wilson Davis.  I have info on her at the bottom of this post.  The photos are not related to the story but they are images from the area.



Just wanted to share an amazing update about my brother-in-law's mom (Mrs. C) who lost her home in the tornado. If you recall, she had fallen in her home and my brother-in-law had her at their home so he could help her get to an appointment. Her life was saved because she had that fall, because her home was completely destroyed.

I remember my sister saying that Mrs. C seemed very upset that the quilt tops she had made for her grandchildren on their wedding day were probably destroyed or who knows where. My sister said people have been finding debris from Mississippi in Alabama. She told me people in Tennessee had found debris from Alabama. Things were looking grim. My brother-in-law and his family went to look for what they could salvage from her home. Literally all that is now there is a wooden front railing, some foundation pieces, and a patch of dead dirt where a house used to be.

Y'all wanna guess what they found???

ALL of the quilt tops she made for her grandchildren on their wedding day...

The war medals her late husband had earned fighting for this country.

A kimono and shoes her brother brought her back from his time in Japan during WW2.

Love letters her late husband had written to her.

No furniture. No electronics. Nothing "valuable" to the rest of the world, but everything priceless to her and those who love her.

I don't call that a coincidence. I call that God showing that He not only cares for us, he intimately knows us and what is important to us.

The only wall left standing in this particular church had this mural on it...

The photographer who captured these images, Sherry Wilson Davis, said evidence of God's love and mercy is all around even in the midst of this destruction. She is an amazing photographer with an ability to really capture things whether it be a sweet smile, an emotion, an idea, or a moment.  Her facebook fan page is here.  If you live in in or around North Alabama, you should really check out having a session with her through her business, Sweetest Memories Photography.  She's a really sweet person who normally takes pictures of sweet children and families but was moved to capture the images going on around her (I think she thinks about photography as much as I think about quilting).  No, she didn't pay me for my good opinion (y'all should know by now nobody ever pays me for my opinions!), she earned it the old fashioned way.  She did cure my first born of all day crying and give me my sanity back so she's a saint in my book all the way around. 

UPDATE: I am getting emails that the pics are not coming through.  For me, they are, but the load time is longer than normal.  Blogger would not let me resize these below XLarge.  I usually use medium or large.  Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Another UPDATE: Bloggie Friend Willa emailed me that Pioneer Woman has some relief efforts going on on her blog.  It does my heart good to see people outside the US show love and support.  Here is THE LINK .  She's donating 25 cents for every comment and doing a giveaway to to charities.  Go pitch in!

Tutorial: Quilted Eyeglass/Sunglasses Case

I know most of you can probably figure out this simple project, but I'm going to do a tutorial because some people wanted one and sometimes it is nice to have a fun project with no thinking and no math.

 First make an outside.  This piece will be 6.5" high by 7.5" wide.  Feel free to use a single fabric, pieced scraps, or an orphan quilt block.  I pieced together some 1"ish strips and added some denim to the top.  I placed ricrac where those 2 joined.  This is a great use for leftover ric rac.

 Now we will make a hanging loop in case you use this for sunglasses.  You can skip down past this step if you don't need a loop.  Take your loop fabric (mine was 5" long and 2" wide) and fold it in half and press with an iron.

 Fold your edges to the crease and press again.

 Fold in half once more covering your raw edges.

 Topstitch along the edge to secure.

 Layer your fabric pieces:
Lining: wrong side up
Batting
Exterior: right side up

 Quilt as desired.

 Turn over and secure your hanging tag (if you made one) to the top edge an inch or two away from the side.  I backstitched several times to make sure it was secure.

 Now take a leftover binding strip (2.25" wide strip that is folded/pressed in half) and secure the raw edge to the top edge of your exterior side.

 Turn over and attach to the back side by hand or machine...your preference.

 Fold in half lenthwise and sew along the side and bottom.  Trim your corners.

Zigzag, serge, or pink your edges to minimize fraying.

Turn right side out and press.
If you make one, I hope you have fun doing so!