It's About Time or Thankfully, It's Done!

Well, ladies, it took me two years to make this quilt...not that I worked on it full-time. Quilting has evolved from a "passion" with me to "handwork to pick up now and then".

I pieced this quilt on my trusty Singer 403, circa 1960, about a year and a half ago. In the closet, high on a shelf, sat several batts (we quilters all buy in quantity, right?). One of those was a Hobbs wool batt that I had been yearning for years to try. I'd heard so many comments that for hand quilting it "quilts like butter". I'd previously used Hobb's Heirloom 80/20 as well as Dream Cotton's "Request", both of which hand quilt very nicely. But I had a yen to try the wool. So I purchased the wool batt...about ten years ago and there it sat. On the shelf. Unused for ten years. (call me a procrastinator)

Well over a year ago I layered my latest shirt quilt using the wool batt. For a backing I used a name brand cotton sheet that I found at the department store for 75 percent off. Ralph Lauren brand??? Can't remember. And I began hand quilting using a saucer, a cereal bowl and a cup from my dinnerware for the "templates".

This poor quilt has had numerous hiccups along the way. Last January I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, had debulking surgery followed by six sessions of chemo and numerous neupogen shots to boost my lowered white blood cell count. Talk about a roller coast of an adventure...not as exciting, of course, but certainly a lot of ups and downs. Needless to say, I had no motivation to quilt. Hah! My preferred activity was lying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, thinking I really should get up and do SomeThing! Then rolling over to the other end of the sofa, and staring some more. It's easy to look back on it now and think, "It wasn't so bad!" But it was. Not as bad as some have it, but bad. And before I (and you) get maudlin, I want to add that all went well, I finished chemo in July, and I feel better now than I did a year ago before my diagnosis. God grant me that this continues.

Another hiccup was that, forgetting that my dishes were my templates, I gave away that particular set of dishes and put my old set back in the cupboard. The next day I went to mark another block to handquilt, and remembered that my templates now resided next door! Do you think I went next door and asked for a plate, a soup bowl and a cup? No, I couldn't bear to confess and instead dug around in the cupboard until I found dishes that were "close" in size. Betcha can't tell by looking at the quilt. (big smile)

Aw, got to wandering there. I started to say that during those months of chemo I picked up this quilt a couple times and forced myself to quilt a block or two. But progress was slow. Then in August, after treatment was done, I began quilting in earnest again and I finished the binding just yesterday! It's a largish sofa size nap quilt.

I told a friend yesterday I have no inclination to make another quilt. Instead of quilt pox I now have quilt lethargy (even though I myself am not lethargic). But that's not quite true. I'd love to recreate my Y2K quilt in smaller form. My DD loves that quilt and would like to hang it in her home. But the thing is huge! About 80x90 inches! And she doesn't have a wall large enough for an appropriate display. So I'd like to recreate it using 2-inch squares instead of 2.5 inch pieces. I have a rubbermaid box full of 2.5 inch fabs, cut from my stash long ago. I'd have to trim them down and I'd like to sew them on my treadle which was fondly named Elizabeth Redeye by its previous owner.

And...ladies...did you know that when you type a post you can add a "label" at the bottom (you'll see the space do do that at the bottom of the "create a post" page. You will notice that I've added labels of "shirting quilts, shirt quilt, shirt fabric for quilts". Click on "show all" and it will bring up all the labels previously used by those of us who post here. Use only "your" labels and not someone else's. That way, if you click on any of my labels, for instance, the WWQP will bring up a view of all my posts that include that particular label. Click on one of my labels and check it out.

I've had my coffee this morning, but not yet my oatmeal. Coffee makes me jabber. Whether in your ear or on this blog. The oatmeal is in the microwave...time to eat. And if you want to check out my WhiteStone blog (separate from the WWQP-BB, click here. Love to see you there.

Y2K

I made two Y2K quilts, and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I've decided that any fabric that gets smaller than a fat eighth needs to be cut into the largest possible square(s). This means that I have a rubber maid container of 5 inch squares, a few 4 inch squares mixed into my 5 inch container, a container of 3 inch squares, 2.5 and 2 inch squares. I have an entire box of 2 inch squares. I used up all the signature squares in my 2 Y2K quilts though.
I also keep buying the sample packs with 5 inch squares too. I've been thinking of using all these squares with the disappearing nine patch pattern.
I'll have to try that this summer, after completing my mother's quilt.
I've discovered why I no longer have time to quilt during the school year. The job I took 3 years ago, while great, is basically half an hour farther away than the one I left; that costs me an hour a day. I am also the academic team coach. I had not added up the hours, but my principal asked me to figure out the time I was spending, and it added up to 93 hours in January, mostly on the weekends. Add to that papers to grade, and now I know where my life has gone. 3 1/2 weeks until exams...
Laura in Alabama

Better Late Than Never Quilt (aka Y2K)

I will guess that Marilyn's Y2K quilt was made when most of the serious Y2K quilt fans were busy cutting, swapping and collecting their squares of fabrics. At the time all of that activity was going on I thought to myself "I'm never gonna sew 2,000 squares of fabric together!" Many of the serious Y2K quilters also had the goal of finishing their Y2K quilts before the year 2000 began.

Being a slow learner I wasn't even interested in working on a Y2K quilt until I saw JudyPete's beauty in 2003 and I realized that a beauty could be made from peculiar and odd bits of fabric . I found a set of Y2K squares for sale on eBay and won the auction as I was the only bidder. The eBay seller told me that her sister had collected the fabrics but then procrastinated about designing a quilt until she died. I think there's a moral to that story.

By 2003 hundreds of quilters had posted online photos labeled "Y2K quilt" or "millenium quilt" at Webshots.com so I spent some time cruising that site looking for inspiration. I realized that the design that really struck my fancy seemed to have a lot more pastels or "lights" than I had in my box of squares. What to do? I cheated. Using eBay again I bought sets of squares of pastels, shirtings and other lights. I discarded some of the fabrics that came in my original box of Y2K fabrics and replaced them. If there are Y2K Police out there (a subset of the notorious Quilt Police) then I am in deep trouble. LOL

Judy

Question

I noticed the comment button, but we can't see the comments without clicking on them!

The quilt I'd grab in a fire would be my Y2K quilt. I didn't actually worry about repeating a fabric. Instead, I obsessed over matching colors. Most of the squares are from different fabrics though.

I've sure missed all the posts on the chat page since the porblems with access began, and after the last flare-up of anonymous posings. I hope we can continue to talk about everything... I guess Sue and Eric need to clarify.

Lovely grandchildren! I guess that's one of the down sides of never having had any children of my own; I have to borrow other people's grandchildren.